Inhibition of growth of MOPC 104E cells in immunosuppressed mice

In this report we provide evidence that suggests that MOPC 104E may come under regulation in highly immunosuppressed hosts depleted of T cells. Mice that are adult thymectomized, total body irradiated, and transplanted with bone marrow cells were able to resist the growth of MOPC 104E cells. Spleen cells from such animals had low NK activity and no cytotoxicity against MOPC 104E, and poor response to Con A, PHA, and LPS. The animals were deficient in Lyt-1+ and Lyt-2+ cells. The growth of MOPC 104E cells was measured by using the circulating level of MOPC 104E IgM in vivo in mice treated by different modalities. We observed that inhibition of tumor growth in vivo varied with the treatment of the host. Growth was inhibited in the host in the following order: ATXBM greater than XBM greater than NORMAL greater than ATx mice.     

Cleavage in a saponin model of the sea urchin egg

A cell model, in which cleavage could be induced, was obtained from fertilized sea urchin eggs by putting eggs that were in the first cleavage into a solution containing 3 X 10(-5) g/ml saponin and suitable amounts of ATP and Ca2+. The cell membrane became freely permeable to ATP and Ca2+ within 1 minute. The respective optimal concentrations of ATP and Ca2+ that advanced the cleavage furrow in this model were 2 mM and 10(-8) M. With the optimal ATP and Ca2+ concentrations, the cleavage furrow of the model advanced at a rate that differed little from that in living eggs. The cleavage furrow soon receded, however, when the concentration of ATP was decreased to less than 1 mM or increased to more than 3 mM, as well as when the concentration of Ca2+ was increased to more than 10(-7) M.     

DNA strand-breaking activity and mutagenicity of 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one (DDMP), a Maillard reaction product of glucose and glycine

Aqueous solution of glucose and glycine was heated under reflux for 4 h and extracted with ethyl acetate. Reversed phase HPLC of the extract revealed a new DNA strand-breaking substance, which was purified by repeated HPLC and identified as 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one (DDMP). DDMP induced DNA strand breaking in a dose- and time-dependent manner. It was active to break DNA strands at pH 7.4 and 9.4. Its pyranone skeleton was destroyed at the pH values. DNA strand breaking by DDMP was inhibited by superoxide dismutase, catalase, scavengers for hydroxyl radical, spin trapping agents and metal chelators, and the breaking was enhanced by Fe(III) ion. A mixture of DDMP and a spin trap DMPO gave electron spin resonance signals of a spin adduct DMPO-OH, indicating generation of hydroxyl radical. DDMP was found to be mutagenic to Salmonella typhimurium TA100 without metabolic activation. These results show DDMP generated active oxygen species to cause DNA strand breaking and mutagenesis.     

Quality control of Photosystem II: an FtsH protease plays an essential role in the turnover of the reaction center D1 protein in Synechocystis PCC 6803 under heat stress as well as light stress conditions.

The role of an AAA protease FtsH (slr0228) in the turnover of the D1 protein was studied under moderate heat stress conditions using wild-type cells of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 and the mutant cells lacking a homologue of FtsH (slr0228). When the growth temperature of the wild-type was shifted from 30 degrees C to 40 degrees C, growth and oxygen-evolving activity were partially inhibited. Under the same heat stress, growth of the mutant was inhibited more significantly (63% inhibition after 5 days heat stress, compared with 26% inhibition with the wild-type cells) and the oxygen-evolving activity was also impaired in parallel. With heat stress at 42 degrees C, the level of the D1 protein of wild type cells was decreased, whereas that in mutant cells was not. The responses of cyanobacterial cells to heat stress observed here are quite similar to those to light stress that were reported previously. From these results, we suggest that the FtsH protease (slr0228) is responsible for both the heat-induced and light-induced degradation of the D1 protein. Notably, the amount of FtsH increased when the wild-type cells were exposed to heat stress or light stress, indicating that the up-regulation of the FtsH protease in the thylakoids is crucial for the cyanobacterial cells to cope with these abiotic stresses.     

Nuclear Involvement in Localization of the Initiation Site of Surface Contraction Waves in Xenopus Eggs

The initiation site of surface contraction waves (SCWs) was examined in fertilized, parthenogenetically activated and enucleated Xenopus eggs after either rotation through 90° off the vertical axis or injection of colchicine. In enucleated eggs, SCWs always started from a top site of the egg under all conditions examined. In fertilized or activated eggs, SCWs started, depending on the experimental conditions, from either the sperm entry point, the animal pole region located sideward or the top site of the egg. Histological examinations of fertilized and activated eggs revealed that the nucleus was in most cases positioned close to the initiation site of SCWs under various experimental conditions. It is suggested from these results that the egg cytoplasm has an intrinsic capability of causing the surface to generate SCWs, and that the nucleus is generally involved in localizing the initiation site of SCWs in fertilized or activated Xenopus eggs. A possible mechanism for localizing the initiation site of SCWs in Xenopus eggs is proposed.