Intraspinal Tumors in Children

Thirty cases of intraspinal neoplasms occurring during the first two decades of life are reviewed. Histologic examination showed 13 of these to be astrocytomas, 6 neuroblastomas, 5 sarcomas, 3 ependymomas, 2 neurofibromas and 1 a schwannoma. Orthopedic deformities developed or worsened in 60 percent of patients surviving longer than a year after diagnosis. In five patients some form of endocrine deficiency developed after irradiation. For treatment of radiosensitive extradural malignant lesions, biopsy followed by irradiation is advocated.     

Block by phencyclidine of acetylcholine and barium induced adrenal catecholamine secretion

Activation of the sympathetic system by phencyclidine (PCP) should result in catecholamine release from the adrenals. However, adrenalectomy does not reduce PCP-induced hypertension. In an attempt to rectify this inconsistency, the direct effects of PCP on the bovine adrenal medulla were examined. At (3×10^?6M), PCP reduced the acetylcholine-(ACh)-induced catecholamine release by 50%. Surprisingly, barium-induced secretion of catecholamines was also reduced by PCP. ACh-induced catecholamine release was not altered by 10^?3M 4-aminopyridine (4 AP), the potassium channel blocker. Thus, calcium antagonist actions of PCP and consequent block of catecholamine secretion from adrenal medulla may explain the lack of effect of adrenalectomy on PCP-induced hypertension. Possible contributions of calcium and/or potassium channel blockade to other manifestations of PCP overdosage are discussed.     

Developmental regulation of myelin basic protein expression in mouse brain

Developmental regulation of myelin basic protein expression in mouse brain has been examined by comparing the myelin basic protein coding potential of mRNA in vitro with the accumulation of myelin basic protein-related polypeptides in vivo. In vitro translation of mRNA isolated from mouse brain generated eight myelin basic protein-related polypeptides with apparent molecular weights of 34K, 30K, 29K, 26K, 21.5K, 18.5K, 17K, and 14K. A similar set of eight myelin basic protein-related polypeptides with corresponding molecular weights was identified in vivo when total brain proteins were analyzed by immunoblotting. Each of the myelin basic protein-related polypeptides shows a characteristic developmental profile in terms of mRNA level and rate of accumulation implying a complex developmental program of myelin basic protein gene expression with regulation and modulation at several different biosynthetic levels.     

Mercuric chloride-induced nephrotoxicity in the rat following unilateral nephrectomy and compensatory renal growth

The nephropathy induced by mercuric chloride was assessed in unilaterally nephrectomized (NPX) and sham-operated (SO) rats using histological and urinalysis techniques. This assessment was carried out in order to test whether or not rats are more susceptible to the nephrotoxic effects of mercuric chloride after unilateral nephrectomy and a period allowing for compensatory renal growth. Twelve days after surgery both NPX and SO rats were given a single 1.5, 2.0 or 2.5 mumol/kg dose of mercuric chloride (i.v.). Twenty-four hours after the 1.5 or 2.0 mumol/kg dose of mercuric chloride was administered, cellular and tubular necrosis in the pars recta segments of proximal tubules in the outer medulla was more severe in NPX rats than in SO rats. Moreover, the urinary excretion of a number of cellular enzymes (e.g. lactate dehydrogenase) and plasma solutes (e.g. albumin) was greater in NPX rats than in SO rats. At the 2.5 mumol/kg dose of mercuric chloride, renal tubular damage was quite extensive in both groups of rats; to such an extent that possible differences in renal tubular damage between the NPX and SO rats could not be determined histologically. However, the urinary excretion of alanine aminopeptidase was greater in the NPX rats than in the SO rats. Therefore, based on the aforementioned findings, rats that have undergone and adapted to a reduction in renal mass (i.e. unilateral nephrectomy) appear to be more vulnerable to the nephrotoxic effects of mercuric chloride than rats with two normal kidneys.     

Dehalogenation of 4-chlorobenzoate by 4-chlorobenzoate dehalogenase from pseudomonas sp. CBS3: an ATP/coenzyme A dependent reaction

Pseudomonas sp. CBS3 was grown with 4-chlorobenzoate as sole source of carbon and energy. Freshly prepared cell-free extracts converted 4-chlorobenzoate to 4-hydroxybenzoate. After storage for 16 hours at 25 degrees C only about 50% of the initial activity was left. Treatment at 55 degrees C for 10 minutes, dialysis or desalting of the extracts by gel filtration caused a total loss of the activity of the 4-chlorobenzoate dehalogenase. The activity could be restored by the addition of ATP, coenzyme A and Mg2+. If one of these cofactors was missing, no dehalogenating activity was detectable. The amount of 4-hydroxybenzoate formed was proportional to the amount of ATP available in the test system whereas CoA served as a real coenzyme. A novel ATP/coenzyme A dependent reaction mechanism for the dehalogenation of 4-chlorobenzoate by 4-chlorobenzoate dehalogenase from Pseudomonas sp. CBS3 is proposed.     

Effects of detergent on substrate binding and spin state of purified liver microsomal cytochrome P-450LM2 from phenobarbital-treated rabbits

Spectral changes accompanying the binding of the nonionic detergent n-octyl beta-D-glucopyranoside (n-octyl glucoside) to cytochrome P-450LM2 purified from liver microsomes of phenobarbital-treated rabbits have been compared to changes in catalytic activity obtained in a reconstituted system consisting of various levels of detergent, P-450LM2, and NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase. In the absence of substrate and reductase, addition of n-octyl glucoside to 2-3 mM resulted in a difference spectrum (detergent-bound minus detergent-free cytochrome) characterized by a small maximum at 390 nm and a minimum at 410 nm, suggestive of a slight stabilization of the high-spin (S = 5/2) state of the cytochrome. As the detergent concentration was increased to 4-8 mM (corresponding to maximal activity and pentameric or hexameric P-450), a new peak appeared at 427 nm while the minimum remained at 410 nm. Between 10 and 30 mM n-octyl glucoside (conditions which produced catalytically inactive and monomeric P-450) the minimum in the difference spectrum shifted to 390 nm and the maximum to 425 nm, characteristic of a shift in spin equilibrium toward low-spin (S = 1/2) cytochrome. At low and high detergent concentrations, substrate [d-benzphetamine with n-octyl glucoside or cyclohexane with the zwitterionic detergent 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS)] was bound to P-450LM2 with formation of high-spin P-450, although the increase in high-spin cytochrome was less at high detergent levels than at low. The affinity of P-450 for substrate decreased by 2-3-fold at high detergent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Relative performance of monohaploid potato clones and their diploid parents at plant level and after protoplast isolation and subsequent fusion

Summary Plant growth performance was studied in 118 potato monohaploids and in their diploid parents. Of these monohaploids 76 were also investigated at the protoplast level and eight of these were used in protoplast fusion experiments as well. No correlation was found between relative performance of greenhouse grown and in vitro grown plants. No or only weak correlations were found between different in vitro characteristics such as plant growth, protoplast yield per gram plant material, plating efficiency and callus growth. This indicates the unpredictability of these characters.The protoplast fusion experiments indicated that only in some genotype combinations increased callus growth rates may be found. However, it is not clear whether such calli were hybrids or not. In protoplast monocultures only diploid and tetraploid regenerants were obtained. After fusion, tetraploids but also some triploids could be regenerated. The finding of triploids indicates that monoploid protoplasts were involved in fusion. Isozyme analysis and morphological assessment of the plants pointed out that the majority of the fusion regenerants were hybrids. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Chlamydomonas alpha-tubulin is posttranslationally modified by acetylation on the epsilon-amino group of a lysine

Previous work has shown that the principal alpha-tubulin within Chlamydomonas reinhardtii flagellar axonemes differs from the major alpha-tubulin in the cell body. These two variants of alpha-tubulin are related to one another since posttranslational modification of the cell body form converts it to the axonemal form. When flagella are induced to assemble in the absence of de novo protein synthesis, tritiated acetate can be used to posttranslationally label alpha-tubulin in vivo, and under these conditions, no other flagellar polypeptides exhibit detectable labeling [L'Hernault, S. W., & Rosenbaum, J. L. (1983) J. Cell Biol. 97, 258-263]. In the present report, this labeling method has been used to provide material for chemical analysis of the tritiated moiety that is posttranslationally added to flagellar alpha-tubulin. This radioactivity was volatile after acid hydrolysis, suggesting that the posttranslational modification is the addition of neither an amino acid nor carbohydrate. Treatment of posttranslationally 3H-labeled alpha-tubulin with hydrazine yields radioactive acetylhydrazine, indicating that the moiety involved in posttranslational modification is an acetyl group. Analysis of complete proteolytic digests by thin-layer chromatography has revealed that this acetyl group is located on the epsilon-amino group of a flagellar alpha-tubulin lysine residue.     

Intestinal synthesis of 24-keto-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. A metabolite formed in vivo with high affinity for the vitamin D cytosolic receptor

24-Keto-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 has been identified as an intestinal metabolite of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 by ultraviolet absorbance, mass spectroscopy, and chemical reactivity. The metabolite was produced from 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and 1,24R,25-trihydroxyvitamin D3 in rat intestinal mucosa homogenates. 24-Keto-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 is present in vivo in the plasma and small intestinal mucosa of rats fed a stock diet, receiving no exogenous 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, and in the plasma and small intestinal mucosa of rats dosed chronically with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. 24-Keto-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 has affinity equivalent to 1,24R,25-trihydroxyvitamin D3 for the 3.7 S cytosolic receptor specific for 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in the intestine and thymus. In cytosolic preparations contaminated with the 5 S vitamin D-binding protein, both metabolites are about 7-fold less potent than 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. In contrast, in cytosolic preparations largely free of the 5 S binding protein, both metabolites are equipotent with the parent compound. No evidence was obtained supporting a substantial presence of 23-keto-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in vivo; nor was the latter compound generated in detectable amounts from 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 by intestinal homogenates. Thus, C-24 oxidation is a significant pathway of intestinal 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 metabolism that produces metabolites with high affinity for the cytosolic receptor which mediates vitamin D action.