Multiple glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient variants correlate with malaria endemicity in the Vanuatu archipelago (southwestern Pacific).

In studying the relationship between genetic abnormalities of red blood cells and malaria endemicity in the Vanuatu archipelago in the southwestern Pacific, we have found that of 1,442 males tested, 98 (6.8%) were G6PD deficient. The prevalence of GdPD deficiency varied widely (0%-39%), both from one island to another and in different parts of the same island, and generally correlated positively with the degree of malaria transmission. The properties of G6PD from GdPD-deficient subjects were analyzed in a subset of 53 samples. In all cases the residual red-blood-cell activity was < 10%. There were three phenotypic patterns. PCR amplification and sequencing of the entire coding region of the G6PD gene showed that the first of these patterns corresponded to G6PD Union (nucleotide 1360C-->T; amino acid 454Arg-->Cys), previously encountered elsewhere. Analysis of samples exhibiting the second pattern revealed two new mutants: G6PD Vanua Lava (nucleotide 383T-->C; amino acid 128Leu-->Pro) and G6PD Namoru (nucleotide 208T-->C; amino acid 70Tyr-->His); in three samples, the underlying mutation has not yet been identified. Analysis of the sample exhibiting the third pattern revealed another new mutant: G6PD Naone (nucleotide 497G-->A; amino acid 166Arg-->His). Of the four mutations, G6PD Union and G6PD Vanua Lava have a polymorphic frequency in more than one island; and G6PD Vanua Lava has also been detected in a sample from Papua New Guinea. G6PD deficiency is of clinical importance in Vanuatu because it is a cause of neonatal jaundice and is responsible for numerous episodes of drug-induced acute hemolytic anemia.     

In vitro study on release of thyroid hormone in solitary autonomously functioning thyroid nodules using cell culture method

In vitro release of thyroid hormone was investigated under basal and TSH-stimulated conditions in the solitary autonomously functioning thyroid nodules (AFTN). A small portion (0.5 g of wet weight) of the nodules and adjacent thyroid tissues removed surgically from five patients with solitary AFTN were prepared for the dispersed cell culture. In the experiment on non TSH-stimulated (basal) conditions, those culture media which were totally replaced on the 5th day after primary culture were utilized for the determination of thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) by radioimmunoassay. T4 and T3 levels in culture media of the functioning nodules were 1.15 +/- 0.33 microgram/dl (mean +/- SEM) and 2.72 +/- 0.68 ng/ml, contrasted with levels of 0.67 +/- 0.09 microgram/dl and 1.24 +/- 0.22 ng/ml in the paranodular tissues. The mean ratios of T3/T4 of the nodules and paranodular tissues were 0.25 +/- 0.02 and 0.19 +/- 0.02, respectively (p less than 0.05). Meanwhile, in another experiment under TSH stimulatory conditions employing 40 and 80 microU/ml of human TSH, there were no significant differences in T4 and T3 releases when the two groups were compared.     

Alteration in two enzymatically active forms of valyl-tRNA synthetase during the sporulation of Bacillus subtilis.

Two enzymatically active forms of valyl-tRNA synthetase [EC 6.1.1.9] were found in the cells of Bacillus subtilis. The aminoacylation activities of the two forms were altered during the sporulation of B. subtilis. The tRNA'S acylated by these enzymes were analyzed by methylated albumin-Kieselguhr column chromatography.     

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.     

Functional properties of the glycosylated minor hemoglobins A1a-1,A1a-2 and A1b. EPR evidence for increased stability of the low affinity quaternary structure and decreased susceptibility to organic phosphate

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of the glycosylated minor hemoglobins A1a-1, A1a-2, A1b and A1c and the major hemoglobin A0 in the nitrosyl form have been obtained in the absence and presence of inositol hexaphosphate. In the absence of inositol hexaphosphate, nitrosyl hemoglobins A1a-1, A1a-2 and A1b exhibited a triplet hyperfine structure centered at g = 2.009 which has been shown to be diagnostic of the low affinity (T) quaternary structure. Addition of inositol hexaphosphate to nitrosyl hemoglobins A0, A1c, A1b and A1a-2 developed a triplet hyperfine structure of the EPR spectra but the magnitude of the hyperfine was decreased in the order of hemoglobins A0, A1c, A1b and A1a-2. However, inositol hexaphosphate had essentially no effect on the EPR spectrum of nitrosyl hemoglobin A1a-1. The present results account qualitatively for the oxygen binding properties of these glycosylated minor hemoglobins in the framework of a two-state allosteric model.     

A Burkitt-lymphoma variant translocation (2p-; 8q+) in a patient with ALL,L3 (Burkitt type)

Summary A patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) whose cells had L3 (Burkitt-type) morphology was found to have a variant translocation t(2;8)(p13;q24), that has been reported only in Burkitt lymphomas. This observation provides additional evidence for a close association of particular karyotypic abnormalities with both Burkitt-type ALL and Burkitt lymphoma.     

Synthesis of desmosterol and epidesmosterol from hyodeoxycholic acid

A new synthesis of desmosterol was described using hyodeoxycholic acid (3,6-dihydroxy-5β-cholanic acid) as a starting material. Epidesmosterol (3-hydroxycholesta-5,24-diene) was also synthesized for the first time from the same starting material.     

Microbiological studies of Tokyo Bay

The generic composition of the heterotrophic bacterial population of Tokyo Bay, which is now highly polluted and eutrophic, was compared with that of the adjacent, less polluted regions of Sagami Bay and Suruga Bay. Members of Vibrionaceae predominated in the bacterial flora of seawater and zooplankton samples from Sagami Bay, Suruga Bay, and the mouth of Tokyo Bay. However,Vibrio spp. formed only a small proportion of the bacterial population of the water and sediment samples from the inner Tokyo Bay; there the Gram-negative, nonmotile, nonpigmented bacteria, which were tentatively identified asAcinetobacter, were predominant. The result of experiments, in which seawater samples from Tokyo Bay were incubated under various experimental conditions, indicated that two significant factors apparently control the growth ofVibrio spp. in seawater; (1) a direct antagonism betweenVibrios and phytoplankton undergoing rapid growth, and (2) a limiting organic nutrient forvibrios.     

Cis-5-hydroxy-L-pipecolic acid from Morus alba and Lathyrus japonicus

cis-5-Hydroxy-L-pipecolic acid was isolated and characterized from the leaves of Morus alba and the seeds of Lathyrus japonicus. The trans-form was also obtained from the former.