Elevation of rat intestinal permeability by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in comparison to non-toxigenic E. coli and Salmonella typhimurium. Application of fluorescent dextran 3000 as permeability probe

Abstract The effect of bacterial enterotoxins on rat intestinal permeability properties was studied by comparing the effect of toxin-positive and toxin-negative Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium inoculated into a segment of rat small intestine. Fluoresceinated dextran 3000 (FITC-D3; M _r 3000) was applied as permeability marker. The E. coli strain C922a-1 producing heat-labile (LT) and heat-stable (ST) enterotoxins and colonising factor CFA/II increased the transmural passage of the dextran probe into portal blood. In contrast, its plasmid-negative variant, a non-toxin producer lacking CFA, caused permeability changes indistinguishable from the bacteria-free nutrient broth control. Another pair of enterotoxigenic E. coli strains, 1628–14 (LT⁺, ST⁺, CFA/I⁺) and 1628–15 (LT⁺, ST⁻ and CFA/I⁻) both increased the intestinal permeability. The observations indicate that the LT⁺-only E. coli strain 1628–15 has the ability to promote permeability of rat intestine. The toxin-negative, rough S. typhimurium 395MR10 bacteria had a very small effect on the permeability, which was also achieved with culture filtrate only.
It is concluded that enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) can alter the properties of the mucosal barrier towards intermediate-sized molecules that could be of antigenic significance, or which could play a crucial role in the nutritional status of the host organism.     

The action of specific inhibitors of auxin transport on uptake of auxin and binding of N-1-naphthylphthalamic acid to a membrane site in maize coleoptiles

Using both 1-mm segments of corn (Zea mays L.) coleoptiles and a preparation of membranes isolated from the same source, we have compared the effectiveness of several inhibitors of geotropism and polar transport in stimulating uptake of auxin (indole-3-acetic acid, IAA) into the tissue and in competing with N-1-naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA) for a membrane-bound site. Low concentrations of 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA), NPA, 2-chloro-9-hydroxyfluorene-9-carboxylic acid (morphactin), and fluorescein, eosin, and mercurochrome all stimulated net uptake of [³H]IAA by corn coleoptile tissues while higher concentrations reduced the uptake of both [³H]IAA and another lipophilic weak acid, [¹⁴C]benzoic acid. Since low concentrations of fluorescein and its derivatives competed for the same membrane-bound site in vitro as did morphactin and NPA, the basis for both the specific stimulation of auxin accumulation and the inhibition of polar auxin transport by all these compounds may be their ability to interfere with the carrier-mediated efflux of auxin anions from cells. At higher concentrations, the decrease in accumulation of weak acids was nonspecific and thus may be the result of acidification of the cytoplasm and a general decrease in the driving force for uptake of the weak acids. Triiodobenzoic acid was an exception. Low concentration of TIBA (0.1–1 M) were much less effective than NPA in competing for the NPA receptor in vitro, but little different from NPA in ability to stimulate auxin uptake. One possibility is that TIBA, a substance which is polarly transported, may compete with auxin for the polar transport site while NPA, morphactin, and the fluorescein derivatives may render this site inactive.Abbreviations C1-NPA 2,3,4,5-tetrachloro-N-1-naphthylphthalamic acid - IAA indole-3-acetic acid - -NAA -naphthaleneacetic acid - -NAA -naphthalenacetic acid - NPA N-1-naphthylphthalamic acid - TIBA 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid     

Fractionation of K-562 cells on the basis of their surface properties by partitioning in two-polymer aqueous-phase systems

The K-562 cell line is a culture of human leukemia stem cells originally derived from a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis. We have subjected such cells, in the log phase of growth, to countercurrent distribution in a charge-sensitive dextran-polyethylene glycol aqueous-phase system, a method that fractionates cells on the basis of subtle differences in their surface properties, and found that: (1) The cell population is heterogeneous since it is composed of cells with different partition ratios. (2) There is a correlation between increasing cell partition ratios and increasing cell electrophoretic mobilities. (3) Cells under different parts of the distribution curve have dissimilar ratios of cells in different parts of the cell cycle, a phenomenon that may, at least partially, be the basis for the subfractionation of these cells. There is a clear tendency for cells in G₀+G₁+early S to decrease and for those in late S+G₂+M to increase with increasing partition ratios. (4) Sialic acid is a major surface charge component of the cells as evidenced by a dramatic drop in their partition ratios after treatment with neuraminidase.     

Collagen matrix deposition is dramatically enhanced in vitro when crowded with charged macromolecules: the biological relevance of the excluded volume effect

The excluded volume effect (EVE) rules all life processes. It is created by macromolecules that occupy a given volume thereby confining other molecules to the remaining space with large consequences on reaction kinetics and molecular assembly. Implementing EVE in fibroblast culture accelerated conversion of procollagen to collagen by procollagen C-proteinase (PCP/BMP-1) and proteolytic modification of its allosteric regulator, PCOLCE1. This led to a 20-30- and 3-6-fold increased collagen deposition in two- and three-dimensional cultures, respectively, and creation of crosslinked collagen footprints beneath cells. Important parameters correlating with accelerated deposition were hydrodynamic radius of macromolecules and their negative charge density.     

右旋糖酐—吡哆醛化猪血红蛋白轭合物的氧结合特性

以５－磷酸吡哆醛修饰脱氧猪血红蛋白得到的修饰衍生物ｐＨｂβ有着较低的氧亲和力,ＳＤＳ－ＰＡＧＥ显示该修饰没有产生血红蛋白亚基间的交联。生物相容性好的右旋糖酐经过甲苯磺酰氯活化,用来共轭结合ｐＨｂβ以增大它的分子量。轭合产物Ｄｘ－ｐＨｂβ氧亲合力较ｐＨｂβ高,但仍然低于无基质ｐＨｂ。醋酸纤维膜电泳显示Ｄｘ－ｐＨｂβ明显滞后子ｐＨｂβ,Ｄｘ－ｐＨｂβ在紫外区２３８ｎｍ处有着特征的吸收峰,并可以用来分析     

Fluorescence-based detection of lacZ reporter gene expression in intact and viable bacteria including Mycobacterium species

A variety of fluorescein di-beta-D-galactopyranoside (FDG)-based substrates were evaluated for measuring beta-galactosidase expression in bacteria. One substrate, 5-acetylamino-FDG (C2FDG), performed well in all bacteria tested, including the slow growing mycobacterium, Mycobacterium bovis BCG. The sensitivity of C2FDG in intact, viable BCG was similar to that of o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside in cell lysates when used to measure lacZ reporter gene activity. C2FDG was approximately 70-fold more sensitive than green fluorescent protein (GFP) in BCG when assayed in a fluorescence plate reader, and comparable to GFP when measured by flow cytometry. These assays provide an important new alternative for the rapid measurement of reporter gene expression in viable bacteria.     

低分子量硫酸葡聚糖对小鼠造血干细胞动员作用的研究

给小鼠静脉注射低分子量（＜１０￣４ｕ）硫酸葡聚糖（ＤＳ）１５ｍｇ／ｋｇ后外周血中白细胞、单个核细胞（ｍｏｎｏｎｕｃｌｅａｒｃｅｋ,ＭＮＣ）、ＣＦＵ－ＧＭ、ＢＦＵ－Ｅ和ＣＦＵ－Ｍｉｘ产率等指标出现时相性变化。给药后１ｈ开始升高,２ｈ达到高峰、分别为药前值的２．２、２．６、３．８、４．４和３．０倍,７ｈ时趋向正常。给药后２ｈ上述各类细胞在外周血中的含量随着ＤＳ的剂量增加而增加。白细胞、ＭＮＣ计数在ＤＳ１８０ｍｇ／ｋｇ时达到峰值,均为对照组的４倍。２４０ｍｇ／ｋ８时未见明显增加。不同剂量ＤＳ对各系祖细胞均有不同程度的动员作用,ＤＳ剂量１５－３０ｍｇ／ｋｇ效果最好,每升血中ＣＦＵ－ＧＭ、ＢＦＵ－Ｅ、ＣＦＵ－Ｍｉｘ的数量分别相当于对照组的５．０、１１．９和８．８倍。其峰值出现时间与白细胞、ＭＮＣ不同,表明ＤＳ对不同类型细胞的作用机制也不尽一致。经口给小鼠投以ＤＳ２４０和４８ｏｍｇ／ｋｇ后,未见外周血中白细胞、ＭＮＣ计数有显著性升高,提示对造血干细胞没有动员作用。     

天麻抗真菌蛋白对木霉菌丝的作用位点

天麻抗真菌蛋白(Gastrodia Antifungal Protein,GAFP)能强烈抑制腐生真菌菌丝的生长,在天麻限制和防止蜜环菌[Armillariella melles (Vahl.ex Fr.) Karst.]侵染球茎的防卫机制中起重要作用。本文报告GAFP抗菌机理研究的部分内容——GAFP对木霉菌丝的作用位点。用荧光试剂异硫氰酸荧光素(Fluorescein isothiocyanate,FITC)标记GAFP,试验表明,标记后的GAFP与未标记的GAFP对木霉菌丝生长均有抑制作用。在荧光显微镜下观察GAFP在木霉菌丝上的作用位点,发现被“标记GAFP”作用后的菌丝边缘有荧光,并主要集中在木霉菌丝的顶端和菌丝横隔处,表明GAFP对木霉的作用位点在菌丝的细胞壁上。     

A millipore--blue dextran affinity binding system.

Blue dextran has been adsorbed to millipore filter discs in a linkage stable under a variety of conditions. These discs have been to bind lactic dehydrogenase, which may then be specifically eluted with NADH, one of its substrates. In contrast, another enzyme, alkaline phosphatase, not expected to bind to blue dextran, was indeed completely recovered in the filtrate.     

A DNA minor groove binder shows high effectiveness as a quencher for FRET probes

A non-fluorescent quencher based on thiazole orange was incorporated into oligonucleotides. Fluorimetry and fluorogenic real-time polymerase chain reaction experiments demonstrated that the quencher is effective for fluorescein amidite dyes. The thiazole orange quencher also increased the melting temperature of DNA duplexes, which may facilitate the design of shorter and more discriminatory probes. The effectiveness of the quencher in TaqMan probes was also demonstrated.