Induction of cell cycle progression by adenovirus E1A gene 13S- and 12S-mRNA products in quiescent rat cells.

Rat 3Y1 cell lines that express either adenovirus type 12 E1A 13S mRNA or 12S mRNA in response to dexamethasone treatment were established by introduction of recombinant vector DNA containing the E1A 13S- or 12S-mRNA cDNA placed downstream of the hormone-inducible promoter of mouse mammary tumor virus. These cell lines were growth arrested, and the induction of cell cycle progression was analyzed by flow cytometry after switch on of the cDNA by the addition of dexamethasone. The results indicate that the 13S- or 12S-mRNA product alone has the ability to cause progression of the cell cycle at a similar rate. The simultaneous addition of epidermal growth factor accelerated the rate of cell cycle progression in the transition from the G0/G1 phase to the S phase.     

Resilience and local stability in a nutrient-limited resource-consumer system

The “paradox of enrichment” predicts that increasing the growth rate of the resource in a resource-consumer dynamic system, by nutrient enrichment, for example, can lead to local instability of the system—that is, to a Hopf bifurcation. The approach to the Hopf bifurcation is accompanied by a decrease in resilience (rate of return to equilibrium). On the other hand, studies of nutrient cycling in food webs indicate that an increase in the nutrient input rate usually results in increased resilience. Here these two apparently conflicting theoretical results are reconciled with a model of a nutrient-limited resource-consumer system in which the tightly recycled limiting nutrient is explicitly modelled. It is shown that increasing nutrient input may at first lead to increased resilience and that resilience decreases sharply only immediately before the Hopf bifurcation is reached.     

A dicarba analog of beta-atrial natriuretic peptide (beta-ANP) inhibits guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate production induced by alpha-ANP in cultured rat vascular smooth muscle cells

The synthesis and biological properties are described of [Asu7,23']-beta-ANP-(7-28) (Asu, L-alpha-aminosuberic acid), a dicarba analog of beta-atrial natriuretic peptide (beta-ANP, an antiparallel dimer of human alpha-ANP with the chains linked by 7-23' and 7'-23 disulfide bonds). This Asu-analog (referred to as analog III) displaced 125I-alpha-ANP specifically bound to cultured rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) with an apparent Ki of 2.1 x 10(-8) M, but did not stimulate formation of intracellular cGMP at 10(-8) -10(-5) M. Analog III inhibited the alpha-ANP-stimulated cGMP production in VSMC competitively with a pA2 value of 7.45 and behaved as an antagonist of alpha-ANP in rat aorta smooth muscle relaxation. In addition, beta-ANP was also shown to inhibit the alpha-ANP-induced cGMP production in a dose-dependent manner. The mechanism of action of beta-ANP is also discussed.     

Amino acid sequence and relative biological activity of eel atrial natriuretic peptide

A peptide exhibiting vasodepressor and natriuretic activities in rats was isolated from eel atria, and its primary structure was determined as H-Ser-Lys-Ser-Ser-Ser-Pro-Cys-Phe-Gly-Gly-Lys-Leu-Asp-Arg-Ile-Gly-Ser-Tyr-Ser- Gly-Leu-Gly-Cys-Asn-Ser-Arg-Lys-OH. This peptide, termed eel atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), has sequence homology of 59% to mammalian (human or rat) ANP, 52% to fowl ANP, and 46% to frog ANP. When the biological activity of synthetic eel ANP was compared with that of human ANP, the eel peptide was 110 times more potent for the vasodepressor activity in eels, nearly equipotent for the vasodepressor activity in quails, and 20 times less potent for the vasodepressor and natriuretic activity in rats.     

Constitutive and interleukin-1 (IL-1)-inducible factors interact with the IL-1-responsive element in the IL-6 gene.

The interleukin-6 (IL-6) promoter is rapidly and transiently activated with other cytokines, including IL-1, tumor necrosis factor, and platelet-derived growth factor, as well as phorbol esters and agents that increase intracellular cyclic AMP. In this study, we have investigated cis-acting regulatory elements and trans-acting factors responsible for IL-1-induced IL-6 gene expression. Studies on the 5' deletion mutants of the human IL-6 gene suggested that the IL-1-responsive element was mapped within the IL-6 promoter region (-180 to -123) which was homologous to the c-fos serum-responsive enhancer element. Gel retardation assay identified two types of nuclear factors that bound to this region, one constitutive and the other inducible. These two factors recognized a 14-base-pair (bp) palindromic sequence, ACATTGCACAATCT. Furthermore, three copies of this 14-bp palindrome conferred IL-1 responsiveness to the basal enhancerless IL-6 promoter, indicating that a 14-bp-dyad symmetry sequence was an IL-1-responsive element in the IL-6 gene.     

Localization of a determinant mediating partial macrolide resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

Four out of more than 8,200 Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated in Japan between 1961 and 1980 were constitutively resistant to a variety of macrolide antibiotics except tylosin and rokitamycin, but susceptible to lincosamide and streptogramin type B antibiotics (PM). The data obtained by agarose gel electrophoresis, CsCl-ethidium bromide density gradient analysis, diagnosis with ATP-dependent deoxyribonuclease, and a test transducing into a rec- mutant with phage 80L2 propagated on PM-resistant S. aureus all suggested that the determinant for the PM-resistance is located in chromosome.     

Prostaglandin E2-mediated suppression of murine lymphokine-activated killer cell activity generated from tumor-bearing hosts by interferon-gamma

The effect of mouse recombinant interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) on murine lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cell activity was investigated using a natural killer-resistant, LAK-sensitive, spontaneously developed, weakly immunogenic, syngeneic murine mammary adenocarcinoma, a tumor model mimicking that of human disease. When all of the splenocytes prepared from tumor-bearing mice were cultured with recombinant interleukin-2 (IL-2) and IFN-gamma, LAK cell activity was suppressed in an IFN-gamma dose-dependent manner. An increase in the prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) content in the corresponding culture media was detected, as was IFN-gamma dose dependent. The suppression of generation of LAK cell activity by IFN-gamma was abrogated, accompanied by the elimination of the increase in PGE2 content, when plastic dish and nylon wool-treated nonadherent macrophage-depleted splenocytes were used. These results indicated that IL-2-induced LAK cell activity generated from the splenocytes of tumor-bearing mice was suppressed by IFN-gamma, and that PGE2 secreted from the macrophages of the splenocyte cultures served as the mediator in this IFN-gamma dose-dependent suppression of IL-2-induced LAK cell activity.     

Studies on detection of Candida antigen in the sera of mice inoculated orally with Candida albicans

Summary The authors succeeded in establishing a murine model of systemic candidiasis being disseminated from the primary gastrointestinal lesions caused by oral inoculation of Candida albicans. Using this model, an attempt was made for detecting the Candida antigen by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using avidin-biotin (AB-ELISA) from the serum of infected mice.Gastrointestinal candidiasis was formed in all of the 20 mice treated with the drugs (antibiotics, antineoplastic agents, hydrocortisone, etc.) and inoculated orally with C. albicans. Fourteen of these mice suffered from submucosal candidiasis, and C. albicans was cultured from the visceral organs in 12 of them. The assay by AB-ELISA was able to detect 1.0 ng/ml Candida mannan in the mouse serum. The Candida antigen was detected in the sera of 11 of the 14 mice with submucosal candidiasis. However, the antigen could not be detected in the sera of the 6 mice with intramucosal candidiasis.The assay by AB-ELISA is more sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of systemic candidiasis than other serological assays.     

Induction of tumor growth inhibitory factor (TGIF) in human mononuclear cells by OK-432, a streptococcal preparation

Summary A tumor growth inhibitory factor (TGIF) was induced in the culture supernatant from mixed culture of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and a streptococcal preparation, OK-432, in vitro. The activity generated in the supernatant increased in a time-dependent fashion and first appeared 6 h after the initiation of culture, reaching its maximum around 48 h. The TGIF was cytostatic against seven of ten human tumor targets, but not against three murine tumor targets. Tumor cell growth was inhibited by a transient contact, i.e., 1 h, with TGIF. The TGIF was produced by lymphocytes but not by monocytes, because the activity was usually enhanced by elimination of plastic-adherent cells from the original PBMC fraction. The TGIF was relatively stable against heating at 56° C for 30 min, but the activity was totally destroyed after heating at 70° C for 5 min. The molecular weight of TGIF was estimated to be about 43×10³ daltons by gel filtration. No interferon (IFN) activity was detected in the TGIF-positive fractions obtained by gel filtration, and the TGIF-positive fractions did not inhibit the growth of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-sensitive mouse L929 cells. The TGIF activity was not significantly affected in neutralizing tests using specific antibodies against human IFN and TNF. The OK-432 was administered i.p. for management of cancer patients with malignant ascites. Ascites-derived mononuclear cells (ASMC) were obtained before and 3 to 5 days after OK-432 injection. The ASMC obtained after the injection produced TGIF in vitro in the absence of OK-432; the preinjection ASMC showed no such production. A positive correlation was found between TGIF-producing activity by ASMC and the effect of OK-432 injection on ascites volume. These results indicate that TGIF is induced in mononuclear cells by OK-432 not only in vitro but also in vivo and plays an important role in inhibition of tumor growth in cancer patients.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of pNPY fragments

Peptide fragments of pNPY corresponding to the C-terminal segments (13-36) and (25-36), the N-terminal segments (1-12) and (1-24), the segments (6-14) and (7-20), which contain a putative beta-turn, and the internal segments (13-24) and (20-30) were synthesized using solid phase methodology. These fragments were assayed for NPY receptor binding activity in the rat hypothalamus membrane preparation, enhancement of food intake in the rat following ivt administration and inhibition of electrically stimulated muscle contraction in the rat vas deferens. Only the C-terminal fragment (13-36) retained some of the activities of pNPY, appearing to act as a weak agonist, having an additive effect with pNPY on the inhibition of muscle contraction and prolonging the duration of action of pNPY in the feeding assay. It also had considerable alpha-helical character, as did pNPY. None of the other peptide fragments had any agonist or antagonist activity. These results suggest that the expression of full biological NPY activity requires both the C- and the N-terminal segments as well as a putative amphiphilic alpha-helical segment (14-31).