Inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase induces embryonal carcinoma cell differentiation

Murine embryonal carcinoma cells can be induced to differentiate in vitro by various physical and chemical means. We report here that inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase activity with a specific enzyme-activated inhibitor, alpha-difluoromethylornithine, can induce differentiation in embryonal carcinoma cells. The differentiated phenotype can be distinguished from undifferentiated embryonal carcinoma cells by altered cellular morphology, biochemical and cell surface antigenic properties. These results suggest that alterations in the levels of cellular polyamines may play a role in embryonal carcinoma cell differentiation.     

Isolation and characterization of a human interleukin 2 gene

An interleukin 2 (IL-2) gene was isolated from a Charon 4A human gene library. Electron microscopic examination of 15 heteroduplexes formed between the genomic DNAs and the IL-2 cDNAs demonstrated that the size of the IL-2 gene is about 5.1 +/- 0.5 kb and that there are at least two introns in this gene. Nucleotide sequence of the 5' flanking region of the IL-2 gene showed a homology with that of the corresponding region of the human immune interferon gene.     

Syntheses and biological activities of azido ubiquinone derivatives

A general method for the synthesis of azido-ubiquinone derivatives has been developed directly by substituting one hydrogen atom on the benzoquinone ring with an azido group under weakly acidic conditions. The reaction takes several hours and the yield is generally low. The azido-ubiquinone was purified by preparative thin layer chromatography, and identified by NMR, IR and mass spectra. All the synthesized azido-ubiquinone derivatives show partial activity in mediating biological electron transfer in the dark, and show partial or complete inhibition upon photolysis.     

Capacitance--voltage relationship in phospholipid bilayers containing gangliosides

Changes in the position of the minimum of the parabolic capacitance-voltage curve allow the measurement of the amount of ganglioside present in artificial bilayers made with phosphatidylcholine-ganglioside mixtures and asymmetrically shielded with Ca2+. The screening effect of the ionic solution must be considered. With ganglioside/phospholipid molar ratios of up to 15%, all glycolipids can be found at the membrane surfaces.     

Comparison of the enthalpy state of vesicles of different size by their interaction with α-lactalbumin

The characteristics of small unilamellar, large unilamellar and large multilamellar vesicles of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine and their interaction with α-lactalbumin are compared at pH 4. (1) By differential scanning calorimetry and from steady-state fluorescence anisotropy data of the lipophilic probe 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene it is shown that the transition characteristics of the phospholipids in the large unilamellar vesicles resemble more those of the multilamellar vesicles than of the small unilamellar vesicles. (2) The size and composition of the lipid-protein complex formed with α-lactalbumin around the transition temperature of the lipid are independent of the vesicle type used. Fluorescence anisotropy data indicate that in this complex the motions of the lipid molecules are strongly restricted in the presence of α-lactalbumin. (3) The previous data and a comparison of the enthalpy changes, $\text{ΔH}$, of the interaction of the three vesicle types with α-lactalbumin allow us to derive that the enthalpy state of the small unilamellar vesicles just below 24°C is about 24 kJ/mol lipid higher than the enthalpy state of both large vesicle types at the same temperature. The abrupt transition from endothermic to exothermic $\text{ΔH}$ values around 24°C for large vesicles approximates the transition enthalpy of the pure phospholipid     

Fluidity,permeability and antioxidant behaviour of model membranes incorporated with α-tocopherol and vitamin E acetate

Magnetic resonance studies reveal a marked difference between the binding of α-tocopherol and that of the corresponding acetate (vitamin E acetate) with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) vesicles. This is reflected in differences in the phase-transition curves of the DPPC vesicles incorporated with the two compounds, as well as in the ¹³C relaxation times and line widths. A model for the incorporation of these molecules in lipid bilayers has been suggested. α-Tocopherol binds strongly with the lipids, possibly through a hydrogen bond formation between the hydroxyl group of the former and one of the oxygen atoms of the latter. The possibility of such a hydrogen bond formation is excluded in vitamin E acetate, which binds loosely through the normal hydrophobic interaction. The model for lipid-vitamin interaction explains the in vitro decomposition of H₂O₂ by α-tocopherol. α-Tocopherol in conjuction with H₂O₂ can also act as a free-radical scavenger in the lipid phase. The incorporation of α-tocopherol and vitamin E acetate in DPPC vesicles enhances the permeability of lipid bilayers for small molecules such as sodium ascorbate.     

Cerebral Blood Flow and Oxidative Metabolism in Conscious Fischer-344 Rats of Different Ages

Abstract: The cerebral metabolic rates for O₂ and for glucose were measured in conscious, fasted male Fischer-344 rats at the ages of 3, 12, and 24 months, and cerebral blood flow was determined with ¹⁴C-iodoantipyrine. The metabolic rates for oxygen and glucose were obtained by multiplying blood flow by the O₂ and glucose concentration differences, respectively, between blood in the femoral artery and in the superior sagittal sinus. Mean cerebral blood flow and the metabolic rates for oxygen and glucose did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) between 3 and 12 or between 12 and 24 months. Nor did the arteriovenous differences for O₂ and for glucose change significantly with age. Because the superior sagittal sinus drains blood mainly from the cerebral cortex, the results indicate that average cerebral cortical oxidative metabolism, and the coupling ratios between the cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen and cerebral blood flow and between the cerebral metabolic rate for glucose and cerebral blood flow, do not change significantly with age in the Fischer-344 rat.     

Levonorgestrel as a new radioligand for determination of sex hormone binding globulin in human plasma

Levonorgestrel which binds with high affinity to SHBG, is suggested as a new radioligand for estimation of SHBG in human plasma. Using 3H-levonorgestrel as a ligand, a number of samples from men, women pregnant and non-pregnant were analysed. The SHBG content was lowest in men, low in women and rose to higher level during pregnancy. The results of the present study suggest that levonorgestrel appears to be a better ligand than dihydrotestosterone for measuring SHBG.     

The steroids and fatty acids of the basidiomycete Scleroderma polyrhizum

The fruit bodies of the Basidiomycete Scleroderma polyrhizum have been shown to contain the steroids ergosta-4,6,8(14) 22-tetraen-3-one and 5α,8α-epidoxyergosta-6,22-dien-3β-ol and also palmitic and oleic acids.     

Some variations in the composition of suberin from the cork layers of higher plants

The monomeric composition of the suberins from 16 species of higher plants was determined by chromatographic methods following depolymerization of the isolated extractive-free cork layers with sodium methoxide-methanol. 1-Alkanols (mainly C₁₈C₂₈), alkanoic (mainly C₁₆C₃₀), α,ω-alkanedioic (mainly C₁₆C24), ω-hydroxyalkanoic (mainly C₁₆C₂₁), dihydroxyhexadecanoic (mainly 10,16-dihydroxy- and 16-dihydroxyhexadecanoic), monohydroxyepoxyalkanoic (9,10-epoxy-18-hydroxyoctadecanoic), trihydroxyalkanoic (9,10, 18-trihydroxyoctadecanoic), epoxyalkanedioic (9,10-epoxyoctadecane-1,18-dioic) and dihydroxyalkanedioic (9,10-dihydroxyoctadecane-1 18-dioic) acids were detected in all species. The suberins differed from one another mainly in the relative proportions of these monomer classes and in the homologue content of their 1-alkanol, alkanoic, α,ω-alkanedioic and ω-hydroxyalkanoic acid fractions. C₁₈ epoxy and vic-diol monomers were major components (32–59%) of half of the suberins examined (Quercus robur, Q. ilex, Q. suber, Fagus sylvatica, Castanea sativa, Betula pendula, Acer griseum, Fraxinus excelsior) where as ω-hydroxyalkanoic and α,ω-alkanedioic acids predominated in those that contained smaller quantities of such polar C₁₈ monomers (Acer pseudoplatanus, Ribes nigrum, Euonymus alatus, Populus tremula, Solanum tuberosum, Sambucus nigra, Laburnum anagyroides, Cupressus leylandii). All species, however, contained substantial amounts (14–55 %) of ω-hydroxyalkanoic acids, the most common homologues being 18:1 (9) and 22: 0. The dominant α,ω-alkanedioic acid homologues were 16: 0 and 18: 1 (9) whereas 22: 0, 24: 0 and 26: 0, and 20: 0, 22: 0 and 24: 0 were usually the principal homologues in the 1-alkanol and alkanoic acid fractions, respectively. The most diagnostic feature of the suberins examined was the presence of monomers greater than C₁₈ in chain length; most of the C₁₆ and C₁₈ monomers identified in the suberins also occur in plant cutins emphasizing the close chemical similarity between the two anatomical groups of lipid biopolymer.