Concerted generation of Ig isotype diversity in human fetal bone marrow

The human fetal bone marrow B cell compartment of 14- to 21-wk gestational age was examined phenotypically and with respect to Ig H chain commitment and diversity. A dramatic expansion of fetal marrow B cell pools at 16- to 18-wk gestational age characterizes a rapid and concerted chain of differentiation events. Transiently up to 1/4 of nucleated marrow cells are CD20+/CD21+ cells which begin to express surface Ig other than IgM. Limiting dilution analysis of EBV-infected marrow cells delineated a virtually exclusive commitment to IgM production until 15 wk and the absolute and relative number of these cells were small (approximately 5% of comparable adult values). In parallel to the rapid increase in total B cell pools size, cells committed and able to secrete any of the five Ig isotypes are generated by 16-wk gestational age and by 18 wk the frequencies of these cells rapidly reach levels typical for adult peripheral tissue such as blood or lymph node. Fetal L chain diversity always anticipated that observed in adult serum. In addition to rising pool sizes and diverse IgH expression, EBV transformability is a major variable during this period of B cell development with up to 2/3 of B lineage cells transformable, about half of which are pre-B cells. By 21-wk gestational age transformable pre-B cells have disappeared and (as in adult tissue) approximately 10 to 20% of CD20+ cells are transformable. The rapid, concerted expression of full H chain diversity during a narrow period in fetal development is unique to marrow and implies a lymphopoietic process in a privileged site rather than an immunologic differentiation event. During this event, the relative proportions between the different IgH classes expressed, resembled that found in adult tissue, perhaps suggesting that B cell inherent programming rather than only antigenic forces determine heavy chain choice. The staggered expression, early in postnatal life, of IgH regions 3' of the C mu locus may reflect regulatory functions rather than inherent immaturity of the B lineage.     

Comparison of copper status in rats when dietary fructose is replaced by either cornstarch or glucose

The purpose of this study was to determine what levels of starch or glucose replacement for fructose in the copper-deficient diet (copper) can minimize the fructose-copper interaction. Experimental diets contained either 100% fructose as the carbohydrate source, or the fructose was partially replaced with 50% starch, 50% glucose, 75% starch, or 75% glucose. Diets were either copper adequate (7-8 ppm) or inadequate (less than 1 ppm). Male weanling rats were fed their respective diet for 5 weeks and then fasted overnight. After decapitation, blood was collected and liver and heart were removed. Plasma copper was significantly reduced and ceruloplasmin was not detected in all copper-deficient groups. Copper deficiency increased plasma cholesterol, as well as heart and liver weight in the glucose groups, but not in the starch groups. Those organ weights were heavier in glucose-copper than starch-copper rats. Erythrocyte copper-zinc-superoxide dismutase activity was greater in starch-copper rats. Erythrocyte copper-zinc-superoxide dismutase activity was greater in starch-copper than glucose-copper rats regardless of carbohydrate amount. Hepatic copper concentration of the group fed starch-copper was twice levels observed in glucose-copper. The 50% glucose rats had lower hepatic copper than the 75% glucose rats. Hepatic copper-zinc-superoxide dismutase activity showed patterns similar to hepatic copper. Cardiac copper was greater in starch-copper than glucose-copper rats. Cardiac copper-zinc-superoxide dismutase activity was equally reduced in all copper-deficient groups. The 50% starch-replaced diet was more effective in minimizing copper deficiency than the 75% glucose-replaced diet. This poorer improvement of copper deficiency by glucose than starch may partially be due to a more severe reduction of food intake in glucose than in starch diets.     

Minimal sequence requirement of thrombin receptor agonist peptide.

A site-specific proteolytically generated neoamino terminus of the thrombin receptor having a sequence SFLLRNPNDKYEPF- has been reported to be a functional ligand of the receptor. This discovery raises question on the precise structural requirements of the "tethered ligand" responsible for receptor activation and signal transduction. By examining the agonist activity of a panel of synthetic sequence analogues of thrombin receptor agonist peptides (TRAP) on human platelet aggregation, we determined that the minimal sequence of the human platelet thrombin receptor ligand is SFLL-amide (TRAP1-4, EC50 = 300 uM). An extension of TRAP1-4 by an additional Arg-Asn segment yielded the most potent agonist among the series (TRAP1-6, EC50 = 1.3 microM). Based on the structure-activity relationships, we hypothesized a model of the ligand-binding site of the human platelet thrombin receptor that accommodates a hexapeptide structure. TRAP1-6, when administered intravenously, induced marked intravascular platelet aggregation in the anesthetized guinea pigs.     

家兔脊髓蛛网膜下腔注射乙酰胆碱对血压和心率的影响

将乙酰胆碱(ACh)注入麻醉家兔脊髓蛛网膜下腔,观察其对心血管活动的影响。结果表明:(1)脊髓蛛网膜下腔注射50～100μg ACh可使血压下降,心率减慢;(2)预先由脊髓蛛网膜下腔注射阿托品,可阻断ACh引起的降压和降心率作用;(3)脊髓蛛网膜下腔注射六甲双铵、酚妥拉明或心得安均不能阻断上述ACh的心血管反应;(4)切断两侧颈部迷走神经,ACh不再使心率减慢,但其降低血压的作用不受到任何影响。 脊髓中ACh水平升高可通过激活胆碱能M-受体引起血压下降和心率减慢。ACh的这种降压作用既没有中枢肾上腺素能受体活动参与,也不是通过迷走神经实现的,可能是由于脊髓交感血管中枢紧张性降低所造成的。     

小麦×玉米杂交后代的蛋白质及酯酶同工酶分析

以８ 个普通小麦（Ｔｒｉｔｉｃｕｍ ａｅｓｔｉｖｕｍ Ｌ．）品种为母本,２ 个栽培玉米（Ｚｅａ ｍ ａｙｓ Ｌ．）品种为父本杂交所获得的Ｆ２ 代在形态上出现了明显变异。对其籽粒进行蛋白质电泳分析,得到了如下主要结果：杂交后代的蛋白质谱带较母本有了很大的变异,主要集中在高分子量麦谷蛋白（ＨＭＷ－Ｇｌｕ）区域。杂交后代的蛋白质谱带由５ 种类型构成：１．母本型,占全部测试籽粒的２２．６％ ;２．附加型,占１４．３％ ;３．互补型,占１５．５％ ;４．杂种型,占３０．９％ ;５．缺失型,占１６．７％ 。对“矮杆早”ד紫粘”的Ｆ２ 代籽粒进行酯酶同工酶电泳分析发现,变异主要发生在ＥＳＴ－１ 区。由此看来,小麦×玉米的杂合子中玉米染色体在被排除前后,可以诱发小麦染色体组发生遗传变异     

Human neurotrophin-3: A one-step peptide mapping method and complete disulfide characterization of the recombinant protein

Human neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) is a member of the nerve growth factor (NGF) family of neurotrophic factors, and the recombinant protein is being developed as a therapeutic for neurodegenerative diseases. The final product purity and lot-to-lot variation are monitored routinely by peptide mapping. However, only the N-terminal region of NT-3 was susceptible to proteolysis under native conditions. Complete digestion required that the protein be chemically modified by reduction and S-alkylation prior to proteolysis. Complete proteolytic degradation of the protein was achieved simply by an intial denaturation of NT-3 in 6 M guanidinium chloride (pH 6) for 2 hr at 37°C, followed by a tenfold dilution with the digestion buffer (0.1 M Tris-HCl, 1 mM CaCl₂ at pH 7.0) and immediate addition of chymotrypsin at 1% by weight. Direct comparison of the peptide map with an identical aliquot that had been reduced and alkylated also allowed the establishment of the cystine linkages present in NT-3: Cys¹⁴ to Cys⁷⁹, Cys⁵⁷ to Cys¹⁰⁸, and Cys⁶⁷ to Cys¹¹⁰. This disulfide structure is homologous to the NGF family of neurotrophic factors.     

Role of ω-3 fatty acid desaturases in the regulation of the level of trienoic fatty acids during leaf cell maturation

Trienoic fatty acids, namely -linolenic acid and hexadecatrienoic acid, present in leaf lipids are produced by -3 fatty acid desaturases located in the endoplasmic reticulum and plastid membranes. The changes in the level of trienoic fatty acids during leaf maturation were investigated in wild-type plants of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. and in the fad7 mutant deficient in the activity of a plastid -3 desaturase. The levels of trienoic fatty acids increased in 26 °C- and 15 °C-grown wild-type plants with maturation of leaves. The increase in trienoic fatty acids was mainly due to galactolipids enriched in plastid membranes. In addition, the relative levels of trienoic fatty acids in major glycerolipids, including phospholipids enriched in the endoplasmic reticulum membranes, also increased with leaf maturation. By contrast, when the fad7 mutant was grown at 26 °C, the relative levels of trienoic fatty acids in individual lipids decreased with leaf maturation. The decreases in the levels of trienoic fatty acids, however, were alleviated when the fad7 mutant was grown at 15 °C. These results suggest that the plastid -3 desaturase plays a major role in increasing the levels of trienoic fatty acids with leaf maturation.Abbreviations 163 hexadecatrienoic acid - 183 -linolenic acid - DGD digalactosyldiacylglycerol - MGD monogalactosyldiacylglycerol - PC phosphatidylcholine - PE phosphatidylethanolamine - TA trienoic fatty acid - WT wild type - -3 refers to the position of the double bond from the methyl end of a fatty acid This research was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific research (#07251214 and #06804050 to K.I.) from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan, and by the research grant from Shorai Foundation.     

Genetic exchange in soil between introduced chlorobenzoate degraders and indigenous biphenyl degraders.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa JB2, a chlorobenzoate degrader, was inoculated into soil having indigenous biphenyl degraders but no identifiable 2-chlorobenzoate (2CBa) or 2,5-dichlorobenzoate (2,5DCBa) degraders. The absence of any indigenous chlorobenzoate degraders was noted by the failure to obtain enrichment cultures with the addition of 2CBa, 3CBa, or 2,5DCBa and by the failure of soil DNA to hybridize to the tfdC gene, which encodes ortho fission of chlorocatechols. In contrast, DNA extracted from inoculated soils hybridized to this probe. Bacteria able to utilize both biphenyl and 2CBa as growth substrates were absent in uninoculated soil, but their presence increased with time in the inoculated soils. This increase was related kinetically to the growth of biphenyl degraders. Pseudomonas sp. strain AW, a dominant biphenyl degrader, was selected as a possible parental strain. Eight of nine recombinant strains, chosen at random, had high phenotypic similarity (90% or more) to the inoculant; the other, strain JB2-M, had 78% similarity. Two hybrid strains, P. aeruginosa JB2-3 and Pseudomonas sp. JB2-M, were the most effective of all strains, including strain AW, in metabolizing polychlorinated biphenyls (Aroclor 1242). Repetitive extragenic palindromic-PCR analysis of putative parental strains JB2 and AW and the two recombinant strains JB2-3 and JB2-M showed similar fragments among the recombinants and JB2 but not AW. These results indicate that the bph genes were transferred to the chlorobenzoate-degrading inoculant from indigenous biphenyl degraders.     

二核苷酸重复多态性的非同位素检测及其在基因诊断中的应用

本文报道了一种检测二核苷酸重复多态性的简便的非同位素法,利用重复序列两侧的特异引物进行ＰＣＲ扩增,产生的等位片段在薄层变性聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳上分离,再用灵敏的银染法显色。该方法不需要标记ＰＣＲ产物,简便、快速,分辨率可达１ｂｐ,并可用多对引物同时进行多重ＰＣＲ分析。用此方法对ＤＭＤ家系成员ｄｙｓｔｒｏｐｈｉｎ基因的５＇－脑型外显子止游区和３＇－非翻译区的两个（ＣＡ）。位点进行了扩增片段长度多态性分