Control of normal differentiation of myeloid leukemic cells. VI. Inhibition of cell multiplication and the formation of macrophages.

D+ but not D- myeloid leukemic cells can be induced by the appropriate conditioned medium or by serum from endotoxin treated mice, to undergo cell migration in agar, cell attachment to the surface of a Petri dish and differentiation to mature macrophages and granulocytes. Inhibition of cell multiplication by cytosine arabinoside, hydroxyurea, mitomycin C, thymidine, 5-bromodeoxyuridine, 5-iododeoxyuridine, 5-fluorodeoxyuridine or actinomycin D, but not by vinblastine or cycloheximide, induced cell migration, cell attachment to the Petri dish and the formation of macrophages in D+ cells. There was no induction of cell migration or formation of macrophages and a much lower induction of cell attachment in D- cells. The induction of these changes in D+ cells required protein synthesis and the inhibitors showed the same toxicity for D+ and D- cells. The results indicate, that the inhibitors induced specific surface membrane changes in D+ but not in D- cells.     

Quantitation of conductance pathways in antral gastric mucosa

The magnitude of cellular and shunt conductance of Necturus gastric antral mucosa was studied by (a) comparing the cellular PD response to transepithelial PD response during changes of ionic activity in the serosal bathing solution and (b) by measurement of current spread within the epithelial sheet. Using constant product KCl changes cellular resistance was 6,788 omegacm2 and shunt resistance was 1,803 omegacm2. Deletion of HCO3- from the serosal solution produced similar but quantitatively smaller changes in PD. Using HCO3- deletion cellular resistance was 7,338 omegacm2 and shunt resistance was 1,973 omegacm2. Measurement of current spead within the mucosa avoids changing ionic gradients yet gave very similar results; cellular resistance was 8,967 omegacm2 and shunt resistance was 2,947 omegacm2. The shunt contribution to transepithelial conductance ranged from 75.2 to 79.0%. Shunt selectivity was assessed using KCl dilution potentials, where mucosal dilution gave a small change in tissue PD compatible with an anion/cation selectivity ratio of 1.16 across the shunt, whereas serosal dilution effect was dominated by a PD change across the serosal membrane of the cell.     

Sugar transport by renal plasma membrane vesicles. Characterization of the systems in the brush-border microvilli and basal-lateral plasma membranes.

Uptake studies of D- and L-glucose were performed on vesicles derived from brush-border and basal-lateral membranes. The uptake of the sugars into the vesicles was osmotically sensitive and independent of glucose metabolism. In brush-border vesicles D-glucose but not L-glucose transport was Na+ -dependent, was inhibited by phlorizin, and showed a transitory vesicle/medium ratio greater than 1, in the presence of an initial Na+ gradient. Basal-lateral membranes take up D-glucose faster than L-glucose, but the D-glucose uptake is significantly less sensitive to sodium removal and only moderately inhibited by phlorizin as compared to the brush-border fraction.     

THE ROLE OF CYTOKININS IN THE “FASCIATION” DISEASE CAUSED BY CORYNEBACTERIUM FASCIANS

The disease caused by Corynebacterium fascians can be imitated by treatment with kinetin. Cultures of the bacteria were grown on a purine-free medium of known composition. They require thiamine. Two assays for cytokinin were developed; one depends on the release of lateral pea buds from apical dominance and is highly specific but of only moderate sensitivity. The other depends on the retention of chlorophyll in senescing oat leaves and is very sensitive (detecting 2 × 10^–4 μg of kinetin equivalents), though it is somewhat less specific and, therefore, requires care in usage. Both give results in 3–4 days and are thus far more rapid than tissue culture methods. With these assays C. fascians has been shown to produce a chloroform-soluble cytokinin active in both tests. The substance is stable to heat in acid or basic media, is soluble in non-polar solvents, and behaves as a base. It is precipitated from water solution by Ag ions and may, therefore, be a purine derivative. Pea tissue infected with C. fascians, but not uninfected tissue, yields a compound of similar solubilities and biological activity. Reasons are given for believing that the synthesis of cytokinins may be important, not only for C. fascians, but also for many other plant parasites.     

Yaw stability in gliding birds

A new concept for describing the yaw stability in gliding birds is presented. This concept introduces dynamic stiffness in yaw as an appropriate indication of stability. Other than the conventional metric of static yaw stability given by the gradient of the aerodynamic yawing moment with respect to the sideslip angle, the dynamic stiffness does not only provide a qualitative indication of stability but also a precise quantitative measure of the restoring action in the yaw axis. With the use of scaling relations, it is shown that the dynamic stiffness of birds is sufficiently high though their static yaw stability may be very small. The underlying mechanism is that the yaw moment of inertia is more reduced with a decrease in size than the restoring aerodynamic moment. Reference is made to the yaw stability in aircraft and related flying qualities requirements. Thus, numerical values are derived which can be used as a standard of comparison providing a rating basis for the dynamic yaw stiffness in small flying objects, like birds. Furthermore, it is shown that the wings of birds produce yawing moments due to sideslip so large that a sufficiently high level of dynamic yaw stiffness can be achieved. From the results derived in this paper, it may be concluded that birds—unlike aircraft—need no vertical tail for yaw stability.