Determination of small quantities of sulfate (0-12 nmol) in serum, urine, and cartilage of the mouse

The colorimetric benzidine method of K. S. Dodgson and B. Spencer (1953, Biochem. J. 55, 436-440) for the measurement of inorganic sulfate can be scaled down about 100 times by using disposable 96-well microplates instead of individual cuvettes. Ten-microliter samples of serum and urine, derived from mice, can be analyzed in a simple, rapid, and reliable way without sacrificing the animals. Without prior isolation of sulfated glycosaminoglycans, ester sulfate in mouse patellar cartilage is liberated quantitatively as inorganic sulfate upon acid hydrolysis in 3 M HCl for 16 h at 80 degrees C. To this end the articular cartilage layer of the patella must be separated in toto from the underlying bone. Subsequent hydrolysis in polypropylene tubes gives accurate results. In contrast, hydrolysis in borosilicate glass vials is useless, since nanomoles of sulfate added cannot be recovered adequately. The thin patellar cartilage layer obtained from 10-week-old male mice contains about 5 nmol of sulfate, an amount easily measured with the developed microplate benzidine method.     

Use of a biotinylated probe and in situ hybridization for light and electron microscopic localization of P 0 mRNA in myelin-forming Schwann cells

Summary A biotinylated P ₀ glycoprotein cDNA was hybridized in situ to aldehyde-fixed vibratome sections and to aldehyde-fixed thin sections of Lowicryl-embedded trigeminal ganglia of 15 day old rats. Alkaline phosphatase and peroxidase detectors were used for light microscopic (LM) studies and peroxidase or colloidal gold were employed for electron microscopic (EM) detection. In both LM and EM sections, probe was found in cytoplasmic areas of myelinforming Schwann cells that were enriched in granular endoplasmic reticulum, demonstrating that these regions contain P ₀ mRNA. Interestingly, P ₀ mRNA tended to cluster in regions close to the developing myelin sheath. Relatively simple methods are here described for EM detection of mRNA with reasonable tissue preservation and high resolution. These methods may be useful for developmental and disease-related studies of specific mRNAs in mammalian tissues.     

On the shoulders of giants: the discovery of atrial natriuretic factor

Investigations culminating at the beginning of this century clearly established that the cardiac muscle cell (cardiocytes) is differentiated for excitation, conduction, and contraction. All of the physiology and pathophysiology of the heart was developed subsequently based on this concept. However, morphological investigations in the mid 1950s suggested a secretory function for mammalian atrial cardiocytes. These cells contain storage granules, the specific atrial granules, which resemble granules found in polypeptide hormone-producing cells. The development of techniques for the study of these granules using a combined biochemical-morphological approach during the 1970s defined their general chemical nature and their behaviour under different experimental conditions. Because the number of atrial granules change dramatically following upsets of water and electrolyte balance, atrial muscle extracts were tested for effects on kidney function. In 1981, it was reported that atrial extracts contain a natriuretic factor (ANF) capable of inducing massive diuresis, increases in hematocrit, and lowering of blood pressure. It was demonstrated soon thereafter that ANF is stored within specific atrial granules. More recent work has defined ANF as a polypeptide hormone that appears to modulate or antagonize the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Current work attempts to define the physiological and pathophysiological role for ANF as well as possible therapeutic uses.     

Molecular and classical genetic analyses of his-3 mutants of Neurospora crassa. I. Tests for allelic complementation and specific revertibility

A collection of 81 his-3 mutants of Neurospora crassa was analyzed in assays for allelic complementation and specific revertibility. In these studies, the linearity of the complementation map of the his-3 cistron (Webber, 1965) was confirmed and mutants were classified as complementing with non-polarized or polarized complementation patterns, or non-complementing. In the assays for spontaneous or induced revertibility, 89% (71/80) of the mutants reverted either spontaneously or after treatment with the chemical mutagens N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, ethyl methanesulfonate, 2-methoxy-6-chloro-9-(3-[ethyl-2-chloroethyl]aminopropylamino) acridine dihydrochloride, nitrous acid or hydroxylamine. The frequency of revertible mutants among the non-polarized complementing mutants was 96% (45/47), and 79% (15/19) for the polarized complementing and 79% (11/14) for the non-complementing mutants. The results of these classical genetic assays for allelic complementation and specific revertibility suggest a correlation between complementation pattern and presumptive genetic alterations at the molecular level among his-3 mutants similar to that found with ad-3B mutants induced by nitrous acid (Malling and de Serres, 1967), ethyl methanesulfonate (Malling and de Serres, 1968), or ultraviolet (Kilbey et al., 1971).     

TheRhizobium-legume symbiosis Two methods to discriminate between nodules and other root-derived structures

Summary Two methods have been developed in order to discriminate between lateral roots, nodules and root-derived structures which exhibit both root and nodule histological features and which can develop on legumes inoculated with certainRhizobium mutants. The first method, known as the clearing method, allows the observation by light microscopy of cleared undissected root-structures. The second, known as the slicing method, is a complementary technique which provides a greater degree of structural information concerning such structures. The two methods have proved invaluable in defining unequivocally the nature of the interaction between a rhizobial strain and a legume host.     

A division inhibitor and a topological specificity factor coded for by the minicell locus determine proper placement of the division septum in E. coli

The E. coli minicell locus (minB) was shown to code for three gene products (MinC, MinD, and MinE) whose coordinate action is required for proper placement of the division spetum. Studies of the phenotypic effects of expression of the three genes, alone and in all possible combinations, indicated the following: cell poles contain potential division sites that will support additional septation events unless specifically inactivated; the minC and minD gene products act in concert to form a nonspecific inhibitor of septation that is capable of blocking cell division at all potential division sites; and the minE gene codes for a topological specificity factor that, in wild-type cells, prevents the division inhibitor from acting at internal division sites while permitting it to block septation at polar sites.     

Simultaneous analysis of skin response to the different L.E.T. regions of a 55 MeV helium ion beam

Summary Rat tail epidermis was used to analyze the in vivo response of a biological system to heavy particle irradiation. The conical configuration of the rat tail gives rise to a variable energy degradation of the beam thus yielding information on the damage elicited by 2 different L.E.T. regions of the helium beam at different sites on the same sample. Cytochrome oxidase activity and epidermal thickness were used to analyze the metabolic and structural radioinduced response. Quantitative evaluation of radiation damage revealed marked variations within a few micrometers of tissue.     

Differential effects of the destruction of Leydig cells by administration of ethane dimethane sulphonate to postnatal rats

Ethane dimethane sulphonate (EDS) is a cytotoxic drug that selectively destroys Leydig cells in adult testes. This study has examined the effect of a single injection of EDS on the Leydig cell populations present in the testes of rats aged 5, 10, or 20 days. Microscopic examination of the tissue demonstrated that the fetal Leydig cell population was destroyed at all ages, but that subsequent development of the adult population of Leydig cells was not affected. Whilst the destruction of the fetal Leydig cells in this acute phase of EDS on 5-day-old rats was accompanied by a decline in serum testosterone levels, there was no apparent effect on this hormone when EDS administered at 10 or 20 days of age, despite the destruction of fetal Leydig cells in these rats. The long-term effects of EDS on Day 5 of age resulted in proliferation of the intertubular tissue in which more Leydig cells were observed, but serum testosterone and testosterone levels in response to human chorionic gonadotropin stimulation in vitro were normal despite moderate or severe disruption of the seminiferous epithelium. These data show that the fetal Leydig cells of immature testes are sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of EDS in the adult, but the response of the testes differs depending on the age at which the drug is administered.     

Factors affecting the activity patterns of black-backed jackals Canis mesomelas

Daily activity levels of black-backed jackals Canis mesomelus were determined in southern Africa through direct observation and radio-tracking. Jackals have a bigeminus activity pattern that is closely paralleled by the activity levels of some of their most important prey. Although differences due to sex, age, study area and season of year were found, this activity pattern was most markedly influenced by light conditions during both the crepuscular and the nocturnal periods.