Combined administration of human corticotropin-releasing factor and lysine vasopressin induces cortisol escape from dexamethasone suppression in healthy subjects

Inadequate suppression of plasma cortisol after 1-2 mg dexamethasone is frequently observed in depressive patients. To further investigate the pathophysiology underlying cortisol nonsuppression after dexamethasone we compared cortisol and corticotropin (ACTH) response to human corticotropin-releasing factor (h-CRF), lysine vasopressin (LVP), and a concurrent administration of both peptides after pretreatment with 1.5 mg dexamethasone in six male controls. Neither h-CRF nor LVP were able to produce a marked elevation of dexamethasone suppressed plasma cortisol and ACTH. If both peptides were administered in combination, a substantial escape of plasma cortisol from dexamethasone suppression was observed. ACTH responses changed in concordance with those of cortisol indicating that the LVP-CRF interaction takes place at the pituitary level. Our finding is consistent with a multihormonal control of pituitary-adrenal activity and bears several implications for interpretation of dexamethasone suppression test results in depressive illness.     

Conditioned media from cultured cystic fibrosis fibroblasts inhibits Na/K ATPase activity

Conditioned culture media taken from fibroblast cell lines derived from skin biopsies of control or of patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) were incubated with membranes of rat submandibular glands. The Na/K - ATPase activity of these membranes was inhibited when treated with CF-media, including both ouabain sensitive and insensitive activities. However, the membrane associated Mg-ATPase, Ca-ATPase, and both basal and hormone-stimulated adenylate cyclase activities were relatively unaffected. Thus, a factor or factors produced by CF-fibroblasts was shown to be active in a cell-free system derived from an exocrine gland.     

Initial stages in the course of adventitious bud formation on embryos of Picea abies

Adventitious buds on embryos of Picea abies (L.) Karst. developed after a pulse treatment with 250 μ M benzyladenine (BA) of pH 5.5 for 2 h. Light and temperature regimes were not critical during the initial stages. Adventitious buds developed faster after a pulse treatment and the variation among different experiments was lower compared to when the embryos were cultured on media supplemented with BA. Various stages of the differentiation of adventitious buds were identified: stage 1 - appearance of meristematic centres (approximately the first two weeks); stage 2 - development of adventitious bud primordia (approximately the third week); stage 3 - adventitious bud development (from approximately the 4th to the 8th week). This system may be used for further studies on bud differentiation.     

Gamma-radiolysis of N2O-saturated formate solutions. A chain reaction

In the radiolysis of aqueous formate-containing solutions a chain reaction (i, ii) proceeds in the presence of N2O. CO2-. + N2O + H2O----CO2 + N2 + .OH + OH- (i) .OH + HCO2-.----CO2-. + H2O (ii) The chain length depends on the dose rate and the N2O concentration but not on the formate concentration. Typically, G(CO2) approximately 140 molecules (100 eV)-1 is found, with an equivalent amount of N2, at a dose rate of 3 X 10(-3) Gy s-1. The rate constant for the rate-determining step in this chain reaction has been calculated at k(i) = 1600 dm3 mol-1 s-1. The possible relevance of this chain reaction in radiation biological studies is briefly discussed.     

Cell surface influenza haemagglutinin can mediate infection by other animal viruses.

We have used filter-grown Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells to explore the mechanism by which influenza virus facilitates secondary virus infection. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and Semliki Forest virus (SFV) infect only through the basolateral surface of these polarized epithelial cells and not through the apical surface. Prior infection with influenza virus rendered the cell susceptible to infection by VSV or SFV through either surface. The presence of both a permissive and a restrictive surface for virus entry in the same cell allowed us to determine how the influenza infection enhanced the subsequent infection of a second virus. Biochemical and morphological evidence showed that influenza haemagglutinin on the apical surface serves as a receptor for the superinfecting virus by binding to its sialic acid-bearing envelope proteins. Influenza virus also facilitates secondary virus infection in non-epithelial cells; baby hamster kidney cells (BHK-21), which are normally resistant to infection by the coronavirus (mouse hepatitis virus MHV-A59), could be infected via the haemagglutinin-sialic acid interaction. Facilitation of secondary virus infection requires only the sialic acid-binding properties of the haemagglutinin since the uncleaved haemagglutinin could also mediate virus entry.     

Metabolic,physiological and kinetic aspects of the alcoholic fermentation of whey permeate by Kluyveromyces fragilis NRRL 665 and Kluyveromyces lactis NCYC 571

Optimum growth conditions for the fermentation of non-concentrated whey permeate by Kluyveromyces fragilis NRRL 665 have been defined. Use of 3.75 g yeast extract l^?1, a growth temperature of 38°C and a pH of 4.0 allowed a maximum productivity of 5.23 g ethanol l^?1 h^?1 in continuous culture with a yield 91% of theoretical. Complete batch fermentation of permeate with 100 g lactose l^?1 was possible with a maximum specific growth rate of 0.276 h^?1 without any change in ethanol yield. Fermentation of concentrated permeate resulted, however, in a general decrease of specific substrate consumption rate, demonstrated by the inability to completely convert an initial 90 or 150 g lactose l^?1 in continuous culture, even at dilution rates as low as 0.05 and 0.08 h^?1, respectively. The decrease could be related to substrate inhibition, to an increase in osmotic pressure caused by lactose and salts, and to ethanol inhibition of both alcohol and biomass yield. The decrease in specific productivity could be counterbalanced by use of high cell density cultures, obtained by cell recycle of K. fragilis. Fermentation of a non-concentrated permeáte at a dilution rate of 1 h^?1 resulted in a productivity of 22 g l^?1 h^?1 at 22 g ethanol l^?1. Cell recycle using flocculating Kluyveromyces lactis NCYC 571 was also tested. With this strain a productivity of 9.3 g l^?1 h^?1 at 45 g product l^?1 was attained at a dilution rate of 0.2 h^?1, with an initial lactose concentration of 95 g l^?1.     

Internalization of blocking antibodies against mannose-6-phosphate specific receptors.

Antibodies against mannose-6-phosphate specific receptors inhibit the receptor-dependent endocytosis of exogenous lysosomal enzymes as well as the sorting of endogenous lysosomal enzymes. This inhibition was correlated with an apparent loss of the receptors. We report here that treatment of cells with the antibody results in the formation of receptor-antibody complexes that are not extracted by the procedure used for the solubilization of receptors prior to immunoprecipitation and detection of the receptor. The apparent loss of receptors is observed with both native antibody and the F(ab)2 fragments, but not with Fab fragments. In contrast the transport of lysosomal enzymes is inhibited by all three forms of the antibody. The inhibition is ascribed to masking by the antibody of the enzyme-binding site in the receptor. The inhibition of the sorting of endogenous lysosomal enzymes by antibodies added to the medium indicates that the mannose-6-phosphate specific receptors at the sorting site are in dynamic equilibrium with those at the cell surface. The receptor-antibody complexes formed at the cell surface appear to cycle between the cell surface and intracellular membranes. A fraction of the internalized antibodies dissociates from the receptors and is degraded after transfer into lysosomes. Complexing with Fab increases the concentration of the receptor in the lysosomes and decreases 2- to 3-fold the half-life of the receptor.     

Primary production data from the south-eastern Weddell Sea

Summary Phytoplankton production for three size classes (<20 m, 20–100 m, >100 m), total primary production and qualitative composition of phytoplankton populations were recorded from 18 stations in the south-eastern Weddell Sea in February/March 1983. Total primary production ranged between 80 and 1670 mg C m^-2 d^-1 with an average of 670 mg C m^-2 d^-1, nearly 70% of which was contributed by the <20 m size fraction (usually pennate and/or centric diatoms). Production of phytoplankton was in the higher range of values reported by other authors for the same region. Variations in primary production could not be attributed to composition of populations, ambient light levels or concentrations of macronutrients (N, P, Si). Phytoplankton populations had a higher diversity in the deeper parts of the Weddell Sea and coincided with different oceanographic situations. Three zones (along the shelf-ice edge from Atka Bay to Halley Bay, west of Halley Bay and off the Filchner/Rønne Ice Shelf) with different communities could be clearly distinguished.     

How signal sequences maintain cleavage specificity

The specificity of the signal sequence cleavage reaction has been postulated to reside in a signal peptidase active site that can bind only to particular (i, i + 2) pairs of amino acids. In this paper, we present further patterns of non-random amino acid utilization in a region around in vivo cleavage sites, and show that they can be interpreted in terms of selection acting to reduce the number of potential competing sites in the vicinity of the correct one.     

Temperature-sensitive mutants of MH2 avian leukemia virus that map in the v-mil and the v-myc oncogene respectively.

MH2 is an avian retrovirus that contains the v-mil and v-myc oncogenes. In vitro it transforms chick macrophages that are capable of proliferation in the absence of growth factor. Earlier work showed that v-myc induces macrophage transformation and that v-mil induces the production of chicken myelomonocytic growth factor (cMGF), thus generating an autocrine system. We describe the isolation of temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of MH2 virus. As suggested by marker rescue experiments, one mutant bears a ts lesion in v-mil, whereas the other carries a mutation in v-myc. Ts v-mil MH2-transformed macrophages become factor-dependent at the non-permissive temperature (42 degrees C), while ts-v-myc MH2-transformed macrophages cease growing and acquire a more normal macrophage phenotype at 42 degrees C irrespective of the presence of cMGF. Both phenotypes can be reversed by backshift to the permissive temperature. These results suggest that the gene products of v-mil and v-myc function independently of each other and that v-mil is necessary for the maintenance of autocrine growth, whereas v-myc is required to maintain the transformed phenotype.