A rinsing and incubation chamber used for immunocytochemistry of vibratome sections

Summary This paper describes the construction and use of a washing/incubation chamber that may be used for peroxidase-antiperoxidase immunocytochemistry of vibratome sections. The advantages of the chamber include: all sections are processed simultaneously with exception of exposure to the primary antiserum; the exposure of the sections to DAB substrate can be precisely controlled; and also the sections are not directly manipulated during the procedure resulting in a much greater integrity of the tissue. Use of the chamber reduces the amount of labor normally required to wash the sections thorughout the procedure. Application of this system to the development and standardization of quantitative immunocytochemical techniques is also discussed.     

Swelling and ion uptake in cat cerebrocortical slices:

Cat cerebrocortical slices incubating in medium containing normal K+ concentrations were exposed to a number of different transmitters. Norepinephrine, histamine and adenosine or 2-chloroadenosine caused increased swelling of the slices associated with an increased Na+ and Cl- content. These effects were seen only when both Cl- and HCO3- were present in the medium, and were inhibited by a number of anion transport inhibitors. These characteristics were identical to those of the HCO3(-)-dependent component of the swelling induced by high K+ levels in the medium. Other transmitters, namely 5-hydroxytryptamine, dopamine, and gamma-amino butyric acid, were ineffective. The effects of norepinephrine, histamine and 2-chloroadenosine were antagonised by propranolol and phentolamine, chlorpheniramine and diphenhydramine, and theophylline respectively. These antagonists also inhibited HCO3(-)-dependent, K+-stimulated swelling. The transmitters which induced swelling also stimulated the carbonic anhydrase activity of cerebrocortical slices. We conclude from these data that the HCO3(-)-dependent component of K+-stimulated swelling may be due to K+-stimulated release of transmitters. Furthermore, the fact that the transmitters which induce swelling have also been reported to be most effective in increasing cAMP content in both brain slices or cultured astrocytes is consistent with the swelling response being mediated via cAMP-induced changes and being predominantly localized to astrocytes.     

Prediction of microorganism resistance to the immobilization process in polyacrylamide gel

It is shown that the immobilization of bacterial cells in polyacrylamide gel or their exposure to monomer acrylamide results in a quantitatively similar decrease of their viability. It is indicated that acrylamide treatment may be used as a test for measuring the resistance of microbial populations to polyacrylamide gel immobilization and predicting the survival rate of microorganisms incorporated.     

Social and emotional complications in a clinical trial among adolescents with diabetes mellitus.

Observations are reported on the social and emotional events occurring among children with diabetes mellitus and their families while taking part in a demanding clinical trial. Participants were selected on the basis of: (1) age over 10 years, (2) "informed consent," (3) cooperation with diabetic care, and (4) family stability. Despite endeavours to apply these criteria, it subsequently emerged that one father had doubts about his daughter participating; one family was suffering from severe marital discord; a girl (11 years) and a boy (10 years) were unexpectedly distressed by the venepunctures required; and another girl (13 years) was falsifying the results of her urine tests. All the families wished to complete the trial, and only one did not because of recurrent hypoglycaemia. The psychosocial problems encountered during the trial were unpredictable and occurred despite selection. Documentation of these problems allowed appropriate emotional support to be offered to the children and their families and provided for a fuller and more reliable interpretation of the trial results than would have been possible from the numerical data alone.     

Effect of amino acids on exoprotease synthesis by Bacillus thuringiensis

The influence of certain L-amino acids and their mixtures on the synthesis of exoprotease from Bacillus thuringiensis was studied. Physiological experiments showed that the mixture of 20 amino acids added to the artificial medium repressed the synthesis of exoprotease. Among the compounds studied there are both the compounds which stimulate the synthesis of exoprotease (glutamic and aspartic acids, glycine), and the compounds which repress the synthesis of the enzyme (proline, tryptophane, tyrosine, asparagine, serine, cystein). None of the amino acids caused a change in the exoprotease activity. It has been assumed that the repression of the protease synthesis in the presence of the amino acids is accomplished by ammonium ions, which are formed when using the amino acids of Bac. thuringiensis. The glutamine synthetase activity of cells was determined during the growth of Bac. thuringiensis both on a medium containing triptone and after the addition of certain amino acids to the cell suspension. The correlation between the influence of different amino acids on the synthesis of exoprotease and the glutamine synthetase activity was demonstrated.     

Mechanism of metabolic regulation in photoassimilation of propionate in Euglena gracilis z

Euglena gracilis showed a typical photoassimilation of propionate when cultured on propionate as a sole carbon source. While the acid is metabolized by the methylmalonyl-coenzyme A (CoA) pathway under illumination, supporting growth of Euglena (K. Hosotani, A. Yokota, Y. Nakano, and S. Kitaoka, 1980, Agr. Biol. Chem.44, 1097–1103), it does not allow the protozoon to grow in the dark although it was actively taken up and metabolized. Kinetics of incorporation of radioactivity of labeled propionate, trapping effect of exogenous lactate in the incorporation of labeled propionate and radiorespirometric pattern revealed that propionate was metabolized by the lactate pathway in Euglena in the dark. Enzymes involved in the lactate pathway were located in mitochondria. The reason why Euglena can not grow on propionate in the dark is explained by the failure of producing C₄ dicarboxylic acids essential for biosynthesis of amino acids and sugars, like the mitochondrial oxidation of fatty acids in higher animals. The Euglena cells cultured in the dark contained enzymes of both methylmalonyl-CoA and lactate pathways, but lack of photosynthetically generated ATP has been suggested to force Euglena to select the less-ATP-requiring but futile pathway.     

Light-dependent conformational change at rhodopsin's cytoplasmic surface detected by increased susceptibility to proteolysis

Rhodopsin in bovine photoreceptor disk membranes was subjected to limited proteolysis by thermolysin, removing twelve amino acids from rhodopsin's carboxyl terminus. (1) The rate of proteolysis is significantly faster with rhodopsin following exposure to light than with unbleached rhodopsin, provided that the incubation conditions (pH, temperature) favor the formation of metarhodopsin II. (2) If the disk membranes are illuminated under conditions in which metarhodopsin I is the predominant photoproduct (pH 8.5, 0°C), no increase in the rate of proteolysis is observed compared to unilluminated membranes. (3) The light-induced increase in the rate of proteolysis is transient: it slowly decays in the dark to the original rate found for unbleached rhodopsin. The enhanced susceptibility to proteolysis appears to measure a conformational change at rhodopsin's cytoplasmic surface which is first exhibited at the metarhodopsin II stage. This and possibly other light-dependent changes may allow rhodopsin to mediate its signal as a light-receptor protein by binding to and activating certain rod cell enzymes.     

Process optimization of a continuous airlift tower-loop reactor

Based on the experimental investigations with H. polymorpha and Methylomonas M 15 in bench-scale airlift tower-loop reactors, a general distributed parameter model was developed and used to simulate to cultivation process in a 40-m-high production reactor. This general model was simplified with regard to the gas phase and loop balances and was employed to optimize cell productivity and/or profit in a 20-m-high pilot-plant airlift tower-loop reactor. Maximum cell productivity always occurs in the oxygen-transfer-limited growth range. In case of a high "penalty factor" for nonconsumed substrate, maximum profit is attained at the boundary between substrate and oxygen-transfer-limited growth. Oxygen-transfer limitation exists in the lower half of the tower, whereas in the upper half, substrate limitation prevails. The longitudinal dissolved oxygen concentration passes a minimum in this case as has been determined experimentally in the bench-scale column. The simulation results agree fairly well with the data measured in the pilot plant.