Detection of human blood by cloth-based enzyme immunoassay of immunoglobulin G

A specific and sensitive assay for the detection of human blood was developed using polyester cloth coated with goat anti-human IgG antibody to capture human IgG, an abundant and stable protein in blood. The captured IgG was detected by the reaction between goat anti-human IgG antibody-peroxidase conjugate and a chromogenic peroxidase substrate. Because the assay is simple and rapid, and permits simultaneous analysis of multiple samples, it has the potential to be used as a forensic test for human blood.     

Kinetics of DNA replication in the Indian muntjac chromosomes as studied by quantitative autoradiography

DNA replication patterns of individual chromosomes and their various euchromatic and heterochromatic regions were analyzed by means of quantitative autoradiography. The cultured cells of the skin fibroblast of a male Indian muntjac were pulse labeled with ³H-thymidine and chromosome samples were prepared for the next 32 h at 1–2 h intervals. A typical late replication pattern widely observed in heterochromatin was not found in the muntjac chromosomes. The following points make the DNA replication of the muntjac chromosomes characteristics: (1) Heterochromatin replicated its DNA in a shorter period with a higher rate than euchromatin. (2) Two small euchromatic regions adjacent to centromeric heterochromatin behaved differently from other portions of euchromatin, possessing shorter Ts, higher DNA synthetic rates and starting much later and ending earlier their DNA replication. (3) Segmental replication patterns were observed in the chromosomes 2 and 3 during the entire S phase. (4) Both homologues of the chromosome 3 showed a synchronous DNA replication pattern throughout the S phase except in the distal portion of the long arms during the mid-S phase.     

Formation of porphyrin pi cation radical in zinc-substituted horseradish peroxidase

Zinc-substituted horseradish peroxidase is oxidized by K2IrCl6 to a characteristic state which retains one oxidizing equivalent more than the zinc peroxidase. The oxidized enzyme gives an optical absorption spectrum similar to that of compound I of peroxidase and catalase, and a g = 2 electron paramagnetic resonance signal which has an intensity corresponding to the porphyrin content. It is reduced back to the zinc peroxidase by a stoichiometric amount of ferrocyanide or by a large excess of K3IrCl6. From the equilibrium data, the value of E0' for the zinc peroxidase couple is estimated to be 0.74 V at pH 6. The oxidized zinc peroxidase is also formed by the addition of H2O2 or upon illumination with white light. The rate constants for the oxidation by K2IrCl6 and H2O2 at pH 8.0 are 8 x 10(5) and 8 x 10(2) M-1 s-1, respectively. No essential spectral change can be observed when K2IrCl6 is added to the metal-free peroxidase (protoporphyrin--apoperoxidase complex) or to zinc-substituted sperm whale myoglobin.     

Immobilization of nucleoside diphosphatase at its allosteric site using immobilized derivatives of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate

3-O-Immobilized and 6-immobilized pyridoxal 5′-phosphate analogs of Sepharose were bound to the allosteric site of nucleoside diphosphatase with very high affinity. Active immobilized nucleoside diphosphatase was prepared by reduction of the Schiff base linkage between the enzyme and pyridoxal 5′-phosphate bound to Sepharose with NaBH₄. 3-O-Immobilized pyridoxal 5′-phosphate analog gave more active immobilized enzyme than the 6-analog; the immobilized enzyme on the 3-O-immobilized pyridoxal 5′-phosphate analog showed about 90% of activity of free enzyme. The immobilized enzyme thus prepared was less sensitive to ATP, an allosteric effector, and showed a higher heat stability than the free enzyme. When an assay mixture containing inosine diphosphate and MgCl₂ was passed through a column of the immobilized enzyme at 37 °C, inosine diphosphate liberated inorganic phosphate almost quantitatively. Properties of the immobilized enzyme on the pyridoxal 5′-phosphate analog were compared with those of the immobilized enzyme on CNBr-activated Sepharose.     

Test for Selection on Polymorphic Isozyme Genes Using the Population Cage Method

Published experimental data of several species of Drosophila using the population cage method were reexamined. The authors of these works have claimed that selection operates on polymorphic isozyme genes. Since selection coefficients (s) estimated by us for the above data, assuming overdominance, or for some cases, additivity between alleles, were too large (s > 0.1), we conclude that these experimental results do not reflect the effects of the single loci in question; rather, we suggest that careful experimentation and judgment are required for testing with the population cage method whether or not selection actually operates on single genes.     

Adsorption of Saccharomyces cerevisiae onto cellulose and ECTEOLA-cellulose films for ethanol production

Epichlorohydrin-triethanolamine (ECTEOLA)-cellulose films (paper and cloth) have been found to bind Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells which were able to develop metabolically active colonies on the surface of the films. Unmodified cellulose films also bound the yeast but to a lesser extent. Film fermenters were constructed by coiling a double layer of the cloth and copper screen and vertically placing the resulting cartridge into a column. These film fermenters were able to convert the sugars (14%) in the hydrolysate of a Jerusalem artichoke tuber into ethanol, with 90% of the theoretical yield after 6 h of fermentation. The bound yeast produced ethanol at a specific rate of 1.0 g ethanol per g cell per hour.     

Differences in the pregnancy-terminating effectiveness of an LH-RH analogue by subcutaneous, vaginal, rectal, and nasal routes in rats

A long-acting analogue of LH-RH, des-Gly10-[D-Leu6]-LH-RH-ethylamide (TAP-144), was administered once or twice on day 9 of pregnancy by subcutaneous, vaginal, rectal, and nasal routes to rats; the pregnancy-terminating effectiveness of these routes was determined on day 14. When rats were given a single dose of TAP-144, the ED50 value was 1.2 micrograms/100 g body weight by the vaginal route, the effectiveness being 752 and 1,221 times higher than those by the subcutaneous and rectal routes, respectively. Nasal administration was not effective in terminating pregnancy even at a high dose of 2,000 micrograms/100 g body weight. The addition of a surfactant (BL-9) did not increase the effectiveness by the rectal route. When TAP-144 was administered twice a day, the effectiveness was markedly increased by every route. The ED50 values were 0.32 microgram/100 g body weight/time by the subcutaneous route, which was comparable to that of the vaginal route, 14.2 micrograms of the rectal route, and 84.6 micrograms of the nasal route. The addition of the surfactant increased the effectiveness 26 times by the nasal route but not by the rectal route. The pregnancy-terminating effect of TAP-144 was reversed by treatment with progesterone.     

Enzymatic preparation of organometallic compounds with second-order optical nonlinearities

Twelve species of optically active metallocene derivatives having a 4-nitrophenyl group were prepared with horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase- or lipase-catalyzed optical resolution as the key step. The second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiently of these products was measured by the power method using the fundamental light from the Nd:YAG laser. (-)-1- (4-Nitrophenylthio)ethylferrocene (9), (+)-1-(4-nitrophenylthio)ethylruthenocene (16), (+)-1-(4-nitrophenylthio)ethylosmocene (19), (+) -1-(5-nitro-2-pyridylthio)ethylruthenocene (21), and (+) -1-[(4-nitrophenylhydrazono)methyl] -2-methylferrocene (12) showed SHG signals. The highest SHG efficiency was found with (+) -16, being 27 times more intense than the commonly used urea standard.     

Random screening of promoters from Escherichia coli and classification based on the promoter strength

Five hundred fifty DNA fragments 100-500 base pairs in length were cloned from total chromosomal DNA of Escherichia coli, each capable of promoting the synthesis of beta-lactamase when inserted upstream of the ampC structural gene without its own promoter in a promoter-probe plasmid. All clones in this library of putative promoters were classified based on the level of resistance to ampicillin, which ranged from 10 to more than 1,500 micrograms/ml. Most of the higher levels of drug resistance (more than 1,000 micrograms/ml) were due not only to an increase in gene expression but also to an increase in plasmid copy number. The DNA fragments which produced the highest level of drug resistance all mapped at 5.7 min on the E. coli chromosome and shared the same nucleotide sequence. In these fragments, a strong promoter was found, which carries an up stream AT-rich sequence in addition to -35 and -10 signals of the promoter consensus.