Zur Frage der Verteilung des Rh(D)-Faktors bei erstgeborenen und nachgeborenen Kindern

Summary The frequency of the occurrence of the Rh(D)-factor was compared in 1185 first-born babies with that among 2246 children from 2nd and later pregnancies. Among the first-born children 14,2% were Rh(D)-negative, and among the later-born 14,7% were Rh(D)-negative. In children with the Blood group O the distribution of the Rh(D) bloodgroup was the same in both first-born and later-born children. Among the Rh(D)-positive children there seem to be less boys.     

The effect of homocysteine thiolactone and its alpha methylated derivative on bone matrix in the mouse

Summary Homocysteine (HC) is a radiation protector but toxic to bone. Its derivative homocysteine thiolactone (HCTL) and the alpha-alkylated analogue (A-methyl-HCTL) was fed to mice for a period of six weeks in a daily dose of 50 mg/kg body weight. Parameters for bone matrix as collagen content, acid solubility of bone collagen, urinary bone collagen cross links (pyridinolines) and urinary acid glycosaminoglycans were determined. Urinary acid glycosaminoglycans were significantly reduced in the HCTL treated group but not in the alpha-methyl-homocysteine thiolactone (A-methyl-HCTL) group (controls: 45 ± 7 mg/mmol creatinine, homocysteine thiolactone 38 ± 5 mg/mmol creatinine, A-methyl HCTL 45 ± 6 mg/mmol creatinine).No differences were found for the parameters of bone collagen between the groups. The potent radiation protecting methylated derivative therefore did not change bone matrix and should be a candidate for further toxicological studies.     

Light-regulated modification and nuclear translocation of cytosolic G-box binding factors in parsley.

Functional cell-free systems may be excellent tools with which to investigate light-dependent signal transduction mechanisms in plants. By evacuolation of parsley protoplasts and subsequent silicon oil gradient centrifugation of lysed evacuolated protoplasts, we obtained a highly pure and concentrated plasma membrane-containing cytosol. Using GT- and G-box DNA elements, we were able to demonstrate a specific localization of a pool of G-box binding activity and factors (GBFs) but not one of GT-box binding activity in this cytosolic fraction. The DNA binding activity of the cytosolic GBFs is modulated in vivo as well as in vitro by light and phosphorylation/dephosphorylation activities. The regulation of cytosolic G-box binding activity by irradiation with continuous white light and phosphorylation correlates with a light-modulated transport of GBFs to the nucleus. This was shown by a GBF-antibody cotranslocation assay in permeabilized, cell-free evacuolated parsley protoplasts. We propose that a light-regulated subcellular displacement of cytosolic GBFs to the nucleus may be an important step in the signal transduction pathway coupling photoreception to light-dependent gene expression.     

Five 3β, 6α-dihydroxysterols in organ-pipe cactus

The sterol diol fraction from the lipids of organ-pipe cactus, Stenocereus thurberi, was separated into five compounds: macdougallin, peniocerol, cyclostenol, stenocereol and thurberol. The last three compounds have not been described before. All compounds were characterized by physical and spectroscopic properties.     

Zur Frage der Selektion von Kindern in ABO-blutgruppenunverträglichen Ehen

Zusammenfassung In der Annahme, daß Blutgruppeninkompatibilität sich häufig erst nach Immunisierung der Mutter durch eine vorausgegangene Schwangerschaft für die nachfolgenden Kinder deletär auswirken dürfte, kamen wir zu der Vermutung, daß die der Selektion verfallenen Blutgruppen bei nachgeborenen Kindern seltener angetroffen werden müßten als bei Erstgeburten, während vor allem die Blutgruppe O eher vermehrt zu finden wäre. Wir haben daher die Blutgruppen-verteiling bei 1186 estgeborenen derjenigen von 2112 nachgeborenen Kindern gegenübergestellt. Es zeigt sich, daß die Blutgruppe O bei den weiteren Kindern häufiger vorkommt als bei den erstgeborenen, die Blutgruppen B and AB dagegen seltener. Ein vermehrter Ausfall von Knabengeburten als Folge der größeren Anfälligkeit des männlichen Geschlechtes scheint nach unseren Ermittlungen nur für Erstgeburten zuzutreffen. Gleichartige Veränderungen der Häufigkeitsverteilung Rh-positiver Individuen scheinen in viel geringerem Ausmaße vorzukommen.

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The ABO blood group distribution was compared in 1186 first born and 2112 later born children. Among the later born children group 0 is significantly more frequent, whereas groups B and AB are rarer. Additionally, the number of firstborn males seems to be reduced due to selection. The influence of selection by incompatibility seems to be smaller in the Rh than in the ABO system.

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Ärztl. Leiter: Prim. Dr. W. Kircher     

Positive Facial Affect – An fMRI Study on the Involvement of Insula and Amygdala

Imitation of facial expressions engages the putative human mirror neuron system as well as the insula and the amygdala as part of the limbic system. The specific function of the latter two regions during emotional actions is still under debate. The current study investigated brain responses during imitation of positive in comparison to non-emotional facial expressions. Differences in brain activation of the amygdala and insula were additionally examined during observation and execution of facial expressions. Participants imitated, executed and observed happy and non-emotional facial expressions, as well as neutral faces. During imitation, higher right hemispheric activation emerged in the happy compared to the non-emotional condition in the right anterior insula and the right amygdala, in addition to the pre-supplementary motor area, middle temporal gyrus and the inferior frontal gyrus. Region-of-interest analyses revealed that the right insula was more strongly recruited by (i) imitation and execution than by observation of facial expressions, that (ii) the insula was significantly stronger activated by happy than by non-emotional facial expressions during observation and imitation and that (iii) the activation differences in the right amygdala between happy and non-emotional facial expressions were increased during imitation and execution, in comparison to sole observation. We suggest that the insula and the amygdala contribute specifically to the happy emotional connotation of the facial expressions depending on the task. The pattern of the insula activity might reflect increased bodily awareness during active execution compared to passive observation and during visual processing of the happy compared to non-emotional facial expressions. The activation specific for the happy facial expression of the amygdala during motor tasks, but not in the observation condition, might reflect increased autonomic activity or feedback from facial muscles to the amygdala.     

Differential conjugation of tat peptide to superparamagnetic nanoparticles and its effect on cellular uptake

Surface modification of superparamagnetic contrast agents with HIV-1 tat peptide has emerged as a promising means for intracellular magnetic labeling and noninvasive tracking of a large number of cell types with MRI. To achieve efficient intracellular delivery of the nanoparticles, we investigated the effect on cellular uptake of superparamagnetic iron oxide particles by varying the number of attached tat peptides. First, we report here a modified P2T method in measuring the numbers of surface attachments per particle through disulfide linkage. The method was shown to have desirable simplicity and reproducibility. With the P2T method as a tool, conjugates with progressively higher ratios of peptide-to-particle were synthesized. We were able to demonstrate that higher numbers of tat peptide facilitate the cellular uptake of iron oxide nanoparticles in a nonlinear fashion. Cells labeled with these optimized preparations were readily detectable by MR imaging. The increase in sensitivity could allow in vivo tracking of 100-fold lower cell concentration than currently described.     

Nucleo-cytoplasmic partitioning of the plant photoreceptors phytochromes

Phytochromes in harmony with blue light photoreceptors play a major role in controlling plant growth and development from germination to seed maturation. Light absorption by phytochromes triggers a signaling cascade, phototransduction, which culminates in regulated gene expression. A major regulatory step at the cellular level, which affects specificities of light-induced physiological responses, seems to be the light-quality and light-quantity dependent nuclear import of the phytochromes themselves. The correlations found between the nuclear import of phytochromes (phyA and phyB) and various physiological responses regulated by these photoreceptors provides strong support for this hypothesis.     

Near infrared spectroscopy in fermentation and quality control for amino acid production

The application of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for in-process and quality control of fermentative production of L-lysine and L-threonine in industrial scale is presented. NIRS is a helpful tool for predicting optical density, ammonia, L-threonine and L-lysine in fermentation broth. For dry and solid product, Biolys^®60, NIRS is suitable to give a quick estimation of L-lysine and water content.