Cationic ferritin uptake by cultured anterior pituitary cells treated with the proteinase inhibitor, BOC-DPhe-Phe-Lys-H

Cultured cells from the anterior pituitary glands of adult rats were treated with the tripeptide aldehyde proteinase inhibitor, BOC-DPhe-Phe-Lys-H. The addition of this tripeptide aldehyde decreased the in vitro release of prolactin to 25% of the control value, while the release of growth hormone in the same cultures decreased to 33% of the control value. Prolactin immunostaining was stronger in semithin sections of proteinase-inhibitor-treated cultures than in control sections. After 2 h treatment with the inhibitor, prolactin- and growth hormone-containing secretory granules were numerous, and the number of crinophagic vacuoles had increased. In the presence of the inhibitor, the overall cytoarchitecture of parenchymal cells was well preserved, and the pathway of the uptake of cationic ferritin appeared to be unaffected.     

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis for genotypic comparison of Rhizobium bacteria that nodulate leguminous trees

Abstract Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was applied to characterize Rhizobium bacteria isolated from the root nodules of Acacia senegal and Prosopis chilensis trees growing in Sudan and Keya. For the electrophoresis, the total DNA of 42 isolates, embedded in agarose, was digested by a rare-cutting restriction endonuclease, Xba I. The PFGE run resulted in good resolution of the DNA fragments and gave the strains distinctive fingerprint patterns. The patterns were analysed visually and using automated clustering analysis, which divided the strains into groups resembling the results generated by numerical taxonomy. However, several strains had unique banding patterns, which indicates that these strains are genetically very diverse.     

Action potentials of the rabbit, guinea pig, dog and albino rat working ventricular myocardium under interpolated extrasystole conditions during postnatal ontogenesis

Experiments were carried out on the working myocardium of the right heart ventricle of newborn and adult rabbits, guinea-pigs, dogs and albino rats. In the dog, the guinea-pig and the rabbit, after ten action potentials (AP) elicited with 1 Hz frequency we always interpolated an extrasystole at an interval (TE) of 100-900 ms. In albino rats we used a basic frequency of 2 Hz and a TE of 30-370 ms from the last regular AP. Using glass microelectrodes, we recorded the extrasystolic AP (EAP) and the next subsequent AP (2AP). The results were evaluated by constructing graphs of the correlations of the duration of the plateau phase (D0) to TE and of the duration of repolarization to -60 mV level (D60) to the TE. In the myocardium of newborn rabbits, guinea-pigs and dogs, with short TE both D0 and D60 of the EAP are shorter than in the steady state (SS), while for the 2AP the same parameters are influenced only a little. As the TE lengthens, the EAP gradually acquire a length corresponding more to the SS. With TE longer than half the duration of the cycle in the steady state the EAP return to normal, while the 2AP become shorter. The effect of extrasystole on the rat EAP and 2AP diminished with advancing age. In the myocardium of adult rabbits and adult guinea-pigs, and slightly in the myocardium of adult dogs and newborn rats, we observed that the duration of the EAP, with certain TE, was greater than in the steady state.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)