Effect of DNA repair on the cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of polycyclic hydrocarbon derivatives in normal and xeroderma pigmentosum human fibroblasts

The cytotoxicity of the “K-region” epoxides as well as several other reactive metabolites or chemical derivatives of polycyclic hydrocarbons was compared in normally-repairing human diploid skin fibroblasts and in fibroblasts from a classical xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) patient (XP2BE) whose cells have been shown to carry out excision repair of damage induced in DNA by ultraviolet (UV) radiation at a rate approx. 20% that of normal cells. Each compound tested exhibited a 2- to 3-fold greater cytotoxicity in this XP strain than in the normal strain. To determine whether this difference in survival reflected a difference in the capacity of the strains to repair DNA damage caused by such hydrocarbon derivatives, we compared the cytotoxic effect of several “K-region” epoxides in two additional XP strains, each with a different capacity for repair of UV damage. The ration of the slopes of the survival curves for each of the XP strains to that of the normal strain, following exposure to each epoxide, was very similar to that which we had previously determined for their respective UV curves, suggesting that human cells repair damage induced in DNA by exposure to hydrocarbon derivatives with the same system used for UV-induced lesions.To determine whether the deficiency in rate of excision repair in this classical XP strain (XP2BE) causes such cells to be abnormally susceptible to mutations induced by “K-region” epoxides of polycyclic hydrocarbons, we compared them with normal cells for the frequency of induced mutations to 8-azaguanine resistance. The XP cells were two to three times more susceptible to mutations induced by the “K-region” epoxide of benzo(a)pyrene (BP), 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA), and dibenz(a,h)anthracene (DBA). Evidence also was obtained that cells from an XP variant patient are abnormally susceptible to mutations induced by hydrocarbon epoxides and, as is the case following exposure to UV, are abnormally slow in converting low molecular weight DNA, synthesized from a template following exposure to hydrocarbon epoxides, into large-size DNA.     

Immunologic studies on hamsters infected with Entamoeba histolytica.

The serologic and cell-mediated immune responses of hamsters exposed to 2 strains of Entamoeba histolytica (HM-1 and HM-19) were evaluated by a series of in vitro tests. The pathogenicity of the 2 strains was evaluated in terms of their ability to produce liver abscesses and spleen enlargement. Antibody response was evaluated by the indirect hemagglutination test. The cellular immune response was assayed by increased DNA synthesis by lymphocytes and migration inhibition of macrophages.     

Glutamic acid decarboxylase activity in striatal slices: Persistent increase following depolarization

When slices prepared from rat corpus striatum were preincubated for 15 min in potassium-enriched Krebs Ringer-Phosphate medium (K⁺-KRP), the activity of glutamic acid decarboxylase measured upon reincubation in normal Krebs-Ringer-Phosphate (KRP) was doubled as compared to GAD activity in slices preincubated in normal KRP. Similarly, when striatal slices were preincubated in KRP containing 100 μM veratridine, GAD activity upon reincubation in normal KRP was increased 66% as compared to activity in slices preincubated in normal KRP. The observed increase in GAD activity was not a function of alterations in glutamate uptake by the slices. These results suggest that GABAergic neurons may regulate transmitter synthesis during the process of depolarization by increasing GAD activity.     

Silver Staining for Nucleolar Organizing Regions of Vertebrate Chromosomes

Refinements to a simple, one-step silver staining technique for nucleolar organizing regions are described. These include fixation of silver stained material with sodium thiosulfate and standardization of silver development conditions for different groups of vertebrates. The central advantages to the method are that it is rapid, reliable, simple, and inexpensive. Additional benefits include (i) consistent and uniform silver staining of nucleolar organizing regions, (ii) few reduced silver deposits elsewhere on the chromosomes or on the slides, (iii) generally unaltered chromosome morphology after silver treatment, and (iv) relative permanence of Permounted preparations. The method works equally well on chromosomes made from cell cultures and from solid tissues of live specimens.     

Mutational analysis of antigen receptor regulation of B lymphocyte growth. Evidence for involvement of the phosphoinositide signaling pathway.

Stimulation of the antigen receptor of WEHI-231 B lymphoma cells with anti-receptor antibodies (anti-IgM) induces irreversible growth arrest. Anti-IgM stimulates two kinds of transmembrane signaling events, phosphorylation of proteins on tyrosyl residues and breakdown of inositol phospholipids, which results in increases of inositol phosphates, diacylglycerol, and calcium. The roles of these reactions in mediating the growth arrest of the B lymphoma cells have not been established. To examine this issue, we took a genetic approach. Mutants of WEHI-231 cells were isolated that were resistant to anti-IgM-induced growth arrest. Five out of seven independent mutants analyzed had normal cell-surface expression of antigen receptors. Although each of these five mutants had tyrosine protein phosphorylation patterns comparable to wild-type cells, they exhibited alterations in the phosphoinositide signaling pathway. Four of the mutants had decreased phosphoinositide breakdown, probably due to an alteration in phospholipase C. Decreased second messenger production may be responsible for the growth-resistant phenotype. Full growth arrest was restored upon addition of the calcium ionophore ionomycin, suggesting that the limiting second messenger was intracellular free calcium. The final mutant appeared to be altered in a component(s) that responds to diacylglycerol and calcium. Taken together, these results provide further evidence that the phosphoinositide pathway is at least partly responsible for mediating antigen receptor regulation of B lymphoma cell growth.     

Influence of mRNA determinants on translation initiation in Escherichia coli.

We have studied the classic initiation elements of mRNA sequence and structure to better understand their influence on translation initiation rates in Escherichia coli. Changes introduced in the initiation codon, the Shine and Dalgarno sequence, the spacing between those two elements, and in the secondary structures within initiation domains each change the rate of 30 S ternary complex formation. We measured these differences using extension inhibition analysis, a technique we have called "toeprinting". The rate of 30 S initiation complex formation in the absence of initiation factors agrees well with in vivo translation rates in some instances, although in others a regulatory role of initiation factors in 30 S complex formation is likely. Nucleotides 5' to the Shine and Dalgarno domain facilitate ternary complex formation.     

Relation of transition probabilities in the Leslie model to those from experimental cumulative distributions

We explore the relationship between transition probabilities in the Leslie model and those derived from experimental cumulative distributions. The nature of the two kinds of probabilities are discussed, and a formula derived for converting from one to the other. A numerical example is given to illustrate the differences.