Embryonic development and incidence of aneuploidy in two rabbit strains of different fecundity

The correlation between strain fecundity and (i) development and (ii) rate of aneuploidy was studied in rabbit preimplantation embryos obtained from 2 strains of different fecundity. Embryos were investigated at Days 3-6 (preimplantation development) or Days 2, 4 and 6 post coitum (aneuploidy). Embryonic size and cell proliferation varied on the days of investigation, but with no consistent tendency in favour of one strain. The incidence of aneuploidy did not differ significantly between embryos from the 2 strains (P greater than 0.05). The multifactorially determined criterion of prolificacy was not selectively correlated with overall differences in embryonic preimplantation growth and rate of aneuploidy.     

The effects of in vivo administration of endotoxin on the functions and interaction of hepatocytes and Kupffer cells

It was the purpose of this study to determine the effects of the in vivo administration of endotoxin on certain in vitro hepatocyte and Kupffer cell functions. An Alzet osmotic pump that contained endotoxin (LPS, 2.5 mg/100g) was implanted into the peritoneal cavity of 300g guinea pigs and delivered the endotoxin over a period of four days. In vivo administration of LPS did not cause a change in the in vitro release of albumin by isolated hepatocytes. However, when hepatocytes were co-cultured with Kupffer cells there was a significant decrease in albumin release for both control and LPS-treated animals. There was no difference between control and LPS-treated animals in the release of C3 by hepatocytes. However, there was a significant increase over the control group in C3 release by Kupffer cells from LPS-treated animals. When hepatocytes and Kupffer cells were cultured together, their release of C3 was not additive. Kupffer cells from LPS-treated animals released significantly greater amounts of PGE2 than control animals when stimulated in vitro with LPS. Thus, these Kupffer cells appeared to be primed to respond to an in vitro challenge of LPS. Kupffer cells from LPS-treated animals had significantly depressed antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). This endotoxin model is useful for determining the in vivo effects of endotoxin on cellular function and gives some indirect evidence for the detrimental effects of LPS on the immune system and host defense.     

Cloning of PI3 kinase-associated p85 utilizing a novel method for expression/cloning of target proteins for receptor tyrosine kinases.

A novel method has been developed to allow cloning of protein targets for receptors with tyrosine kinase activity. By utilizing the carboxy-terminal tail of EGF receptor (EGFR) as a probe to screen lambda gt11 expression libraries, several EGFR-binding proteins have been cloned; two have been analyzed and contain unique SH2 and SH3 domains. One gene (GRB-1) has been fully sequenced, is expressed in various tissues and cell lines, and has a molecular mass of 85 kd. Interestingly, GRB-1 encodes the human counterpart of the PI3 kinase-associated protein p85. Advantages of this technique include the ease of cloning tyrosine kinase receptor targets present at low levels and the ability to identify proteins that are related in their capacity to bind activated receptors but contain no significant DNA sequence homology. This method, termed CORT (for cloning of receptor targets), offers a general approach for the identification and cloning of various receptor targets.     

Human neutrophil response to recombinant neisserial Opa proteins

Interactions of human neutrophils with recombinant Escherichia coli expressing gonococcal outer membrane Opa proteins were examined using chemiluminescent and biological assays. Seven opa loci from Neisseria gonorrhoeae MS11 4.8 were expressed as beta-lactamase-Opa fusion proteins that contained all but the mature N-terminal amino acid of the full-length Opa protein fused to three N-terminal amino acids derived from the mature beta-lactamase. The Opa fusion proteins were exported and assembled in the outer membrane of E. coli in a manner similar to that of Opa in N. gonorrhoeae, as evaluated by antibody binding and in situ proteolytic cleavage. All fusion proteins exhibited the characteristic heat-modifiable migration in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis that typifies Opa proteins of neisseriae. Opa fusion proteins conferred on E. coli the ability to stimulate a chemiluminescent response from human neutrophils in the absence of antibody or complement. The nature of the response in terms of chemiluminescence, phagocytosis, and killing was in all cases analogous to that seen using N. gonorrhoeae expressing the equivalent Opa protein. Neither E. coli nor gonococci expressing OpaA elicited a response from neutrophils. Use of E. coli expressing Opa fusions should be useful in defining their biological activities and pathogenic roles.     

Demonstration that the leukocyte common antigen CD45 is a protein tyrosine phosphatase

It has been proposed on the basis of amino acid sequence homology that the leukocyte common antigen CD45 represents a family of catalytically active, receptor-linked protein tyrosine phosphatases [Charbonneau, H., Tonks, N. K., Walsh, K. A., & Fischer, E. H. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85, 7182-7186]. The present study confirms that CD45 possesses intrinsic protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTPase) activity. First, a mouse monoclonal antibody to CD45 (mAb 9.4) specifically eliminated, by precipitation, PTPase activity from a high Mr fraction containing CD45, prepared by gel filtration (Sephacryl S200) of a Triton X-100 extract of human spleen. Second, PTPase activity was demonstrated in a highly purified preparation of CD45 that was eluted with a high pH buffer from an affinity column, constructed from the same antibody. Third, on sucrose density gradient centrifugation, PTPase activity was only found in those fractions that contained CD45 as determined by Western analysis. When CD45 was caused to aggregate, first by reacting it with mAb 9.4 and then adding a secondary, cross-linking anti-mouse mAb, the PTPase activity shifted to the same higher Mr fractions that contained CD45. No shift in CD45 or PTPase was observed following addition of a control IgG2a. On this basis, it is concluded that CD45 is a protein tyrosine phosphatase.     

Transformation of endometrium and fertility in late stages of pseudopregnancy in the rabbit

Ovulation was induced in rabbits between Days 14 and 18 of pseudopregnancy by an intravenous injection of hCG. Induction of ovulation from Day 16 onwards led to normal progestational endometrial transformation. In rabbits injected on Day 14 or 15, a normal preimplantation endometrial morphology developed, but not earlier than 7 days after hCG (Day 14/15 + 7). Uteroglobin secretion was advanced during the second pseudopregnancy. After mating or artificial insemination, fertility was greatest on Day 18 of pseudopregnancy. Conception failed on Day 14 and embryo transfers were unsuccessful on Day 14 + 1. Transfers performed on Day 14 + 3, however, led to implantation and offspring, even though endometrial morphology did not correspond to the normal Day 3 preimplantational morphology at the time of transfer. We conclude that endometrial transformation typical of normal pseudopregnancy can be induced by ovulation during the regeneration phase of pseudopregnancy from Day 16 onwards; fertilization and implantation can be achieved as early as Day 15 of pseudopregnancy; an oestrous period with high mating activity and fertility occurs about 3 days later; and Day 14 after hCG represents a limited time of functional change from pseudopregnancy to a fertile uterine cycle in the rabbit.     

Comparative action of glyphosate as a trigger of energy drain in eubacteria.

Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, each possessing a 5-enolpyruvylshikimate 3-phosphate synthase that is sensitive to inhibition by glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine], provide a good cross-section of organisms exemplifying the biochemical diversity of the aromatic pathway targeted by this potent antimicrobial compound. The pattern of growth inhibition, the alteration in levels of aromatic-pathway enzymes, and the accumulation of early-pathway metabolites after the addition of glyphosate were distinctive for each organism. Substantial intracellular shikimate-3-phosphate accumulated in response to glyphosate treatment in all three organisms. Both E. coli and P. aeruginosa, but not B. subtilis, accumulated near-millimolar levels of shikimate-3-phosphate in the culture medium. Intracellular backup of common-pathway precursors of shikimate-3-phosphate was substantial in B. subtilis, moderate in P. aeruginosa, and not detectable in E. coli. The full complement of aromatic amino acids prevented growth inhibition and metabolite accumulation in E. coli and P. aeruginosa where amino acid end products directly control early-pathway enzyme activity. In contrast, the initial prevention of growth inhibition in the presence of aromatic amino acids in B. subtilis was succeeded by progressively greater growth inhibition that correlated with rapid metabolite accumulation. In B. subtilis glyphosate can decrease prephenate concentrations sufficiently to uncouple the sequentially acting loops of feedback inhibition that ordinarily link end product excess to feedback inhibition of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase by prephenate. The consequential unrestrained entry is an energy-rich substrates into the aromatic pathway, even in the presence of aromatic amino acid end products, is an energy drain that potentially accounts for the inability of end products to fully reverse glyphosate inhibition in B. subtilis. Even in E. coli after glyphosate inhibition and metabolite accumulation were allowed to become fully established, a transient period where end products were capable of only partial reversal of growth inhibition occurred. The distinctive metabolism produced by dissimilation of different carbon sources also profound effects upon glyphosate sensitivity.     

Mechanistic studies of lanosterol C-32 demethylation. Conditions which promote oxysterol intermediate accumulation during the demethylation process

Conditions have been established which promote the accumulation of the dihydrolanosterol C-32 demethylation intermediates lanost-8-en-3 beta,32-diol and 3 beta-hydroxylanost-8-en-32-aldehyde with intact hepatic microsomes. Accumulation of dihydrolanosterol-derived oxysterols occurs with a variety of assay manipulations which include short incubation times, limiting enzyme amounts, high pH, and increasing substrate concentration. In addition, competitive inhibition of dihydrolanosterol demethylation by lanosterol, or the reciprocal inhibition of lanosterol demethylation by dihydrolanosterol, leads to oxysterol accumulation at the expense of demethylated end product. Similarly, the nonsteroidal demethylase inhibitors miconazole and ketoconazole promote oxysterol accumulation in a concentration-dependent manner. Finally, cholesterol loading of isolated microsomes results in changes in the measured kinetic constants, Km and Vmax, and results in enhanced oxysterol accumulation above that seen in control microsomal preparations. The major oxysterol intermediate accumulated under all the conditions described above is the C-32 aldehyde in an approximate 3:1 ratio to the C-32 alcohol. These data support the conclusion that a single enzyme species is responsible for all three oxidations of the C-32 demethylation sequence. In addition, intermediates which do not routinely accumulate during demethylation are freely diffusible from the enzyme when appropriate conditions are established to prevent their further metabolism.