Specific antigen of granular cells of the human endometrium

Rabbits were immunized by homogenates of endometrium obtained from women during 10-12 weeks of gestation. A specific antiserum was obtained by absorption of the crude antiserum by blood cells and plasma proteins of men with different kinds of ABO and Rh antigens, till disappearance of positive reaction with men's serum protein in the Ouchterlony test. Such an adsorbed specific antiserum continued to react with the sera of pregnant women. Two antigens, numbers 1 and 2, respectively, were determined by the Ouchterlony test. Another group of rabbits was immunized by antigens detected in the precipitation test. A monospecific antidecidual antiserum (ADS 1092) was obtained against number 2 antigens. This antiserum revealed only one antigen in sera of women with gestation and did not react with sera of non-pregnant women. In the slides of endometrium of pregnant women of 10-12 weeks of gestation ADS 1092 had a strong positive reactive with the cytoplasm of one type of endometrium cells. The immunomorphological analysis by the non-direct Coons test and the PAP-test permits to identify cells with the positive reaction as granular cells. It is concluded that the granular cells may be a source of one of the serum antigens detected in women with gestation.     

Big flies, small repeats: the "Thr-Gly" region of the period gene in Diptera

The region of the clock gene period (per) that encodes a repetitive tract of threonine-glycine (Thr-Gly) pairs has been compared between Dipteran species both within and outside the Drosophilidae. All the non- Drosophilidae sequences in this region are short and present a remarkably stable picture compared to the Drosophilidae, in which the region is much larger and extremely variable, both in size and composition. The accelerated evolution in the repetitive region of the Drosophilidae appears to be mainly due to an expansion of two ancestral repeats, one encoding a Thr-Gly dipeptide and the other a pentapeptide rich in serine, glycine, and asparagine or threonine. In some drosophilids the expansion involves a duplication of the pentapeptide sequence, but in Drosophila pseudoobscura both the dipeptide and the pentapeptide repeats are present in larger numbers. In the nondrosophilids, however, the pentapeptide sequence is represented by one copy and the dipeptide by two copies. These observations fulfill some of the predictions of recent theoretical models that have simulated the evolution of repetitive sequences.      

Evolutionary origin of human and primate malarias: evidence from the circumsporozoite protein gene

We have analyzed the conserved regions of the gene coding for the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) in 12 species of Plasmodium, the malaria parasite. The closest evolutionary relative of P. falciparum, the agent of malignant human malaria, is P. reichenowi, a chimpanzee parasite. This is consistent with the hypothesis that P. falciparum is an ancient human parasite, associated with humans since the divergence of the hominids from their closest hominoid relatives. Three other human Plasmodium species are each genetically indistinguishable from species parasitic to nonhuman primates; that is, for the DNA sequences included in our analysis, the differences between species are not greater than the differences between strains of the human species. The human P. malariae is indistinguishable from P. brasilianum, and P. vivax is indistinguishable from P. simium; P. brasilianum and P. simium are parasitic to New World monkeys. The human P. vivax-like is indistinguishable from P. simiovale, a parasite of Old World macaques. We conjecture that P. malariae, P. vivax, and P. vivax-like are evolutionarily recent human parasites, the first two at least acquired only within the last several thousand years, and perhaps within the last few hundred years, after the expansion of human populations in South America following the European colonizations. We estimate the rate of evolution of the conserved regions of the CSP gene as 2.46 x 10(-9) per site per year. The divergence between the P. falciparum and P. reichenowi lineages is accordingly dated 8.9 Myr ago. The divergence between the three lineages leading to the human parasites is very ancient, about 100 Myr old between P. malariae and P. vivax (and P. vivax-like) and about 165 Myr old between P. falciparum and the other two.      

Participation of the antibiotics of Bac. pumilus and Bac. subtilis in the regulation of bacterial spore formation]

Sporulation and antibiotic production, as well as the effect of exogenic antibacterial substances on bacterial sporogenesis were studied in various strains of Bac. pumilus and Bac. pumilus and Bac. subtilis. The bacteria were grown on a solid sporulation medium with and without the antibiotics. After 5-day incubation the presence of refractyl spores was determined with a phase-contrast method. It was found that in the strains of Bac. pumilus producing antibacterial substances the sporulation was normal. The loss of the capacity for synthesizing such substances resulted in asporegenicity or oligosporogenicity. This allowed a conclusion on existence of phenomenological connection between sporulation and antibiotic production. The study of the antibiotic effect on bacterial sporogenesis showed negative results which are discussed in the paper along two directions: (1) the antibiotics did not probably participate in regulation of the bacteria cell differentiation, (2) the antibiotics regulated the bacterial sporogenesis though their effect was not as yet detected because of methodical difficulties. Therefore, the problem of the antibiotic participation in regulation of sporulation in Bac. pumilus and Bac. subtilis remains open.     

Excitation of System I and System II in Photosynthesis as a Possible Control Mechanism of Glycolate Metabolism in the Blue-Green Alga Anacystis nidulans

Photosynthetic enhancement studies performed at 619 nm (excitation of Systems I and II) and at 446 nm (mainly excitation of System I) revealed an 18% photosynthetic enhancement simultaneously with a 31% reduction in glycolate excretion. This observation supports the hypothesis that some glycolate may be consumed in an oxidation process associated with System I when System II is poorly excited and the supply of electrons from the water splitting process of photosynthesis is low.     

The anabolic action of intermittent parathyroid hormone on cortical bone depends partly on its ability to induce nitric oxide‐mediated vasorelaxation in BALB/c mice

There is strong evidence that vasodilatory nitric oxide (NO) donors have anabolic effects on bone in humans. Parathyroid hormone (PTH), the only osteoanabolic drug currently approved, is also a vasodilator. We investigated whether the NO synthase inhibitor L‐NAME might alter the effect of PTH on bone by blocking its vasodilatory effect. BALB/c mice received 28 daily injections of PTH[1–34] (80 µg/kg/day) or L‐NAME (30 mg/kg/day), alone or in combination. Hindlimb blood perfusion was measured by laser Doppler imaging. Bone architecture, turnover and mechanical properties in the femur were analysed respectively by micro‐CT, histomorphometry and three‐point bending. PTH increased hindlimb blood flow by >30% within 10 min of injection (P < 0.001). Co‐treatment with L‐NAME blocked the action of PTH on blood flow, whereas L‐NAME alone had no effect. PTH treatment increased femoral cortical bone volume and formation rate by 20% and 110%, respectively (P < 0.001). PTH had no effect on trabecular bone volume in the femoral metaphysis although trabecular thickness and number were increased and decreased by 25%, respectively. Co‐treatment with L‐NAME restricted the PTH‐stimulated increase in cortical bone formation but had no clear‐cut effects in trabecular bone. Co‐treatment with L‐NAME did not affect the mechanical strength in femurs induced by iPTH. These results suggest that NO‐mediated vasorelaxation plays partly a role in the anabolic action of PTH on cortical bone. © 2016 The Authors. Cell Biochemistry and Function published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Repeated immunostaining of the same tissue section using alkaline phosphatase as a reporter

One can determine the best dilution of a primary antibody for immunohistochemistry that uses horseradish peroxidase conjugated to a secondary antibody by testing increasing concentrations sequentially on the same tissue section. When the same tissue section is incubated repeatedly with increasing concentrations of primary antibodies to epithelial membrane antigen, smooth muscle α-actin, or vimentin using alkaline phosphatase conjugated to a secondary antibody as the reporter, the best staining was obtained with a less concentrated primary antibody than was optimal for a single staining test. The best concentration of primary antibody for single run staining using an alkaline phosphatase reporting system is usually four times the best concentration for staining with multiple runs. The optimal concentration can be determined by denaturing the residual alkaline phosphatase and extracting residual stain by incubating the section in 4:1 diglyme:phosphate buffered saline for 20 min at 80^o C between tests of primary antibody concentrations. I tested the method for four chromogens from one supplier and one chromogen from a different supplier.     

Barley microgreen incorporation in diet-controlled diabetes and counteracted aflatoxicosis in rats

Increased environmental pollution and unhealthy lifestyle are blamed for escalated chronic diseases. Exposure to aflatoxins was recently suggested to have a role in the increased incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diet modification and consumption of different functional food are now gaining attention, especially in diabetes management. This study investigates the effect of a diet containing barley microgreen against diabetes induced by streptozotocin with or without aflatoxin administration in rats. Barley microgreen was rich in 3′-Benzyloxy-5,6,7,4′-tetramethoxyflavone (48.8% of total) followed by 5β,7βH,10α-Eudesm-11-en-1α-ol (18.46%). Streptozotocin injection and/or aflatoxin administration significantly elevated glucose level, decreased insulin level, decreased β-cell function, deteriorated liver and kidney function parameters, and induced oxidative stress in the liver. Histopathology revealed irregular small-sized islets and decreased area % of insulin-positive beta cells in the pancreas, hepatic degeneration, nephropathy, and neuropathy in diabetic and/or aflatoxin administered rats compared to control. Barley microgreen diet fed to diabetic rats with or without aflatoxin alleviated all evaluated parameters. Barley microgreen diet also ameliorated the toxic effect of aflatoxin. In conclusion, exposure to aflatoxin aggravated diabetes and its complication. The incorporation of barley microgreen in the diet was able to control type 2 diabetes mellitus and the improved outcomes observed with barley microgreen treatments involved or occurred in conjunction with improved biomarkers of oxidative stress.     

Synthesis and Properties of Bacteriorhodopsin Analogs Containing Electron-Density Labels in the Chromophore Moiety

A method for synthesis of retinal analogs labeled with electron-density groups is suggested. The interaction of these polyene compounds with bacterioopsin in apomembrane of Halobacterium salinarum was tested. A retinal analog containing a crown-ether receptor group is able to interact readily with bacterioopsin giving rise to rapid formation of a pigment with absorption maximum at 460 nm. This pigment is capable of undergoing cyclic photoconversion. The crown-bacteriorhodopsin photocycle is extremely slow and its quantum efficiency is very low (3% of that in native bacteriorhodopsin). This photocycle includes an M-like intermediate with a differential absorption maximum at 380 nm. A retinal analog in which the -ionone ring is replaced by ferrocene moiety forms a stable chromoprotein with the main absorption band at 483 nm and a shoulder near 590-610 nm.     

Saturated C21-C33 hydrocarbons are involved in the self-regulation of Pseudomonas fluorescens adhesion to a glass surface

One of the two putative groups of antiadhesions was identified in Pseudomonas fluorescens by the method of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A mixture of high-molecular unbranched hydrocarbons (HC) with a chain length from 21 to 33 carbon atoms reduced cell adhesion to a glass surface. These HC accumulated in the culture liquid to a total concentration of 10-15 micrograms/l; the concentrations of individual HC ranged from 0.1 to 3.0 micrograms/l. After the addition of individual HC to the bacterial culture, the number of cells attached to the glass surface decreased. This decrease in cell adhesion was due to the enhanced aggregation of the bacterial cells, which promoted mechanical (hydrodynamic) cell detachment from the surface.