"I speak a different dialect": teen explanatory models of difference and disability

What do teens with disabilities believe about their conditions, and what do they understand to be the causes, correlates, and consequences of disability? We elicited a cultural explanatory model (EM) of disability from a longitudinal sample of 23 European American adolescents with varied cognitive disabilities and delay. We asked teens how they were similar to or different from others; the name of this difference; its causes, severity, course, effects, associated problems and benefits; and need for treatment. IQ and type of disability strongly affected quality of responses only from the lowest functioning teens. A majority of teens had a reasonably rich and coherent EM, blending typical and disability themes of cultural knowledge and identity. The EM is a window into social context (schools, services, parents, and peers) as well as personal experience. Eliciting explanatory models from teens with disabilities is not only possible but also can enhance understanding of identity, family influence, and appropriate services.     

The cell-wall phosphatase of cotton (Gossypium) is inhibited by kelthane.

Kelthane [4,4'-dichloro-alpha-(trichloromethyl)benzhydrol] was previously shown to decrease the limited tolerance of susceptible varieties of cotton (Gossypium) to Verticillium wilt. Kelthane was shown in the present study to inhibit the cell-wall p-nitrophenyl phosphatase of cotton. In view of information already establishing the cell wall as a primary site of action of Verticillium wilt, the data are interpreted as suggesting an as yet undefined interaction between Kelthane, cell-wall phosphatase and verticillium-resistance mechanisms of the cell wall.     

Regulation of stem cell therapies under attack in Europe: for whom the bell tolls

At the time of writing, the Italian Parliament is debating a new law that would make it legal to practice an unproven stem cell treatment in public hospitals. The treatment, offered by a private non‐medical organization, may not be safe, lacks a rationale, and violates current national laws and European regulations. This case raises multiple concerns, most prominently the urgent need to protect patients who are severely ill, exposed to significant risks, and vulnerable to exploitation. The scientific community must consider the context—social, financial, medical, legal—in which stem cell science is currently situated and the need for stringent regulation. Additional concerns are emerging. These emanate from the novel climate, created within science itself, and stem cell science in particular, by the currently prevailing model of ‘translational medicine’. Only rigorous science and rigorous regulation can ensure translation of science into effective therapies rather than into ineffective market products, and mark, at the same time, the sharp distinction between the striving for new therapies and the deceit of patients.     

Direct comparison of bromodeoxyuridine and Ki-67 labelling indices in human tumours

Direct comparison of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) and Ki-67 labelling indices was achieved by selecting similar areas from serial sections of human tumours. Fifteen patients were selected who had been administered BrdUrd in vivo and both proliferation markers were assessed by immunohistochemistry. The data show a good correlation between both BrdUrd LI and MIB-1 LI and T_pot (calculated using the flow cytometry derived duration of S phase) and MIB-1 LI. The contribution of BrdUrd LI to growth fraction varied as a function of proliferation characteristics. In tumours with a high LI, the number of DNA synthesizing cells represented half the growth fraction, whilst in tumours with lower LI's (<10%) the ratio of DNA precursor labelled cells as a function of growth fraction fell to between 10% and 20%. T_pot showed a linear correlation with MIB-1/BrdUrd ratio with a slope approaching unity. It was apparent that both intra- and interpatient variation in proliferation index was greater for BrdUrd labelling than for MIB-1 expression.     

Hyperglycemia increases endothelial superoxide that impairs smooth muscle cell Na+-K+-ATPase activity

Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in the control of numerous vascular functions including basal Na+-K+-ATPase activity in arterial tissue. Hyperglycemia inhibits Na+-K+-ATPase activity in rabbit aorta, in part, through diminished bioactivity of NO. The precise mechanism(s) for such observations, however, are not yet clear. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of superoxide in modulating NO-mediated control of Na+-K+-ATPase in response to hyperglycemia. Rabbit aorta incubated with hyperglycemic glucose concentrations (44 mM) demonstrated a 50% reduction in Na+-K+-ATPase activity that was abrogated by superoxide dismutase. Hyperglycemia also produced a 50% increase in steady-state vascular superoxide measured by lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence that was closely associated with reduced Na+-K+-ATPase activity. Specifically, the hyperglycemia-induced increase in vascular superoxide was endothelium dependent, inhibited by L-arginine, and stimulated by N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine. Aldose reductase inhibition with zopolrestat also inhibited the hyperglycemia-induced increase in vascular superoxide. In each manipulation of vascular superoxide, a reciprocal change in Na+-K+-ATPase activity was observed. Finally, a commercially available preparation of Na+-K+-ATPase was inhibited by pyrogallol, a superoxide generator. These data suggest that hyperglycemia induces an increase in endothelial superoxide that inhibits the stimulatory effect of NO on vascular Na+-K+-ATPase activity.     

Mutations of the Yku80 C terminus and Xrs2 FHA domain specifically block yeast nonhomologous end joining

The nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway of DNA double-strand break repair requires three protein complexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: MRX (Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2), Ku (Ku70-Ku80), and DNA ligase IV (Dnl4-Lif1-Nej1). Much is known about the interactions that mediate the formation of each complex, but little is known about how they act together during repair. A comprehensive yeast two-hybrid screen of the NHEJ factors of S. cerevisiae revealed all known interactions within the MRX, Ku, and DNA ligase IV complexes, as well as three additional, weaker interactions between Yku80-Dnl4, Xrs2-Lif1, and Mre11-Yku80. Individual and combined deletions of the Yku80 C terminus and the Xrs2 forkhead-associated (FHA) domain were designed based on the latter two-hybrid results. These deletions synergistically blocked NHEJ but not the telomere and recombination functions of Ku and MRX, confirming that these protein regions are functionally important specifically for NHEJ. Further mutational analysis of Yku80 identified a putative C-terminal amphipathic α-helix that is both required for its NHEJ function and strikingly similar to a DNA-dependent protein kinase interaction motif in human Ku80. These results identify a novel role in yeast NHEJ for the poorly characterized Ku80 C-terminal and Xrs2 FHA domains, and they suggest that redundant binding of DNA ligase IV facilitates completion of this DNA repair event.     

Modulation of macrophage phenotype by soluble product(s) released from neutrophils

The regulation of macrophage phenotype by neutrophils was studied in the s.c. polyvinyl alcohol sponge wound model in mice made neutropenic by anti-Gr-1 Ab, as well as in cell culture. Wounds in neutropenic mice contained 100-fold fewer neutrophils than those in nonneutropenic controls 1 day after sponge implantation. Wound fluids from neutropenic mice contained 68% more TNF-alpha, 168% more IL-6, and 61% less TGF-beta1 than those from controls. Wound fluid IL-10 was not different between the two groups, and IL-4 was not detected. Intracellular TNF-alpha staining was greater in cells isolated from neutropenic wounds than in those from control wounds. The hypothesis that wound neutrophil products modulate macrophage phenotype was tested in Transwell cocultures of LPS-stimulated J774A.1 macrophages and day 1 wound cells (84% neutrophils/15% macrophages). Overnight cocultures accumulated 60% less TNF-alpha and IL-6 than cultures of J774A.1 alone. The suppression of cytokine release was mediated by a soluble factor(s), because culture supernatants from wound cells inhibited TNF-alpha and IL-6 release from LPS-stimulated J774A.1 cells. Culture supernatants from purified wound neutrophils equally suppressed TNF-alpha release from LPS-stimulated J774A.1 cells. Wound cell supernatants also suppressed TNF-alpha and superoxide release from murine peritoneal macrophages. The TNF-alpha inhibitory factor has a molecular mass <3000 Da and is neither PGE2 nor adenosine. The present findings confirm a role for neutrophils in the regulation of innate immune responses through modulation of macrophage phenotype.