Gastrointestinal microflora,food components and colon cancer prevention

Evidence that the intestinal microbiota is intrinsically linked with overall health, including cancer risk, is emerging. Moreover, its composition is not fixed but can be influenced by several dietary components. Dietary modifiers, including the consumption of live bacteria (probiotics) and indigestible or limited digestible food constituents such as oligosaccharides (prebiotics) and polyphenols or both (synbiotics), are recognized modifiers of the numbers and types of microbes and have been reported to reduce colon cancer risk experimentally. Microorganisms also have the ability to generate bioactive compounds from food components. Examples include equol from isoflavones, enterodiol and enterolactone from lignans and urolithins from ellagic acid, which have also been demonstrated to retard experimentally induced cancers. The gastrointestinal microbiota can also influence both sides of the energy balance equation, namely, as a factor influencing energy utilization from the diet and as a factor that influences host genes that regulate energy expenditure and storage. Because of the link between obesity and cancer incidence and mortality, this complex complexion deserves greater attention. Overall, a dynamic interrelationship exists between the intestinal microbiota and colon cancer risk, which can be modified by dietary components and eating behaviors.     

Antitumour activities of levans produced by Zymomonas mobilis strains

Levans produced by four Zymomonas mobilis strains showed antitumour activity against sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich carcinoma in Swiss albino mice. Levans from two strains (ZAP and CP4) had the highest effects. NMR analysis showed that the polymers were composed only of fructose units. The results suggested that the antineoplasic effect is associated to the polysaccharide molecular weight and that a particular molecular weight range may be responsible for this effect.     

Regulation of DNA synthesis in human fetal hepatocytes by placental lactogen, growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factor I/somatomedin-C

Hepatocytes were isolated by gentle collagenase digestion of liver fragments from human fetuses of 8-16 weeks gestation obtained following prostaglandin-induced pregnancy terminations. They were maintained on collagen-coated tissue culture dishes in selective arginine-free medium for up to 72 hr, and the action of hormones and growth factors on DNA synthesis was studied by autoradiography following incubation with 3H-thymidine. The labeling index of hepatocytes was consistently enhanced by 25-250 ng/ml human placental lactogen (HPL), 25-250 ng/ml human growth hormone (HGH), 10-50 ng/ml insulin-like growth factor I/somatomedin-C (IGF I/Sm-C), and 10% dialyzed fetal calf serum, reaching a maximum of three- to four-fold greater than in basal medium alone. Under basal conditions, 30% of hepatocytes stained positively for the presence of IGF peptides using a monoclonal antibody raised against purified human IGF I/Sm-C. Although this proportion did not change following treatment with HGH and HPL, IGF I/Sm-C released by cells into culture medium was considerably increased in the presence of both hormones. Incubation with the SmC 1.2 monoclonal antibody abolished the increase in labeling index in response to IGF I/Sm-C and partially blocked the response to both HPL and HGH. These results indicate that both HPL and HGH stimulate DNA synthesis in human fetal hepatocytes and suggest that this effect is at least partly indirect through the release and paracrine action of IGF I/Sm-C.     

Mutations for the autosomal recessive and autosomal dominant forms of polycystic kidney disease are not allelic

Summary The autosomal dominant form of polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) has been linked to the -globin gene locus on 16p. Linkage studies between the autosomal recessive type (ARPKD) and the 3 HVR of the -globin gene cluster showed that the ARPKD and ADPKD are not allelic.     

The influence of age and sex on selenium distribution and glutathione peroxidase activity in plasma and erythrocytes of selenium-adequate and supplemented rats.

The experiment was performed on Sprague-Dawley male rats weighting 203, 103 and 53 g, and female 99 g. Animals were fed for 2 weeks a diet containing 0.1 and 2.0 ppm of Se (Na2SeO3 added). It was observed that the daily Se intake per kg of BW is lowered with an increase in animals body weight. Se-supplementation caused a significant increase of Se content in plasma and red blood cells. The highest concentration of Se in plasma and in RBC was found in females. GSH-Px activity was higher in RBC of all male rats receiving a Se-supplemented diet, but not in females. In plasma these differences between Se-adequate and supplemented rats were significant in youngest male rats and in females. These results suggest that age and sex of rats affect the concentration of Se and GSH-Px activity in plasma and RBC of rats.     

Parameters of growth in primary cultures and cell lines established from Drosophila imaginal discs

We have further characterised our tissue culture system for the growth in vitro of Drosophila imaginal disc cells, including the culture medium requirements for optimum growth and we have adjusted the protocol recommended for the initiation of cultures. Many imaginal disc fragments become organised into vesicles, and some of these secrete extracellular material into the lumen. Sensory axons differentiate in primary disc cultures, in the absence of bristle formation. The early stages of cell division to form a cell line are recorded.     

Molecular and symbiotic characterization of exopolysaccharide-deficient mutants of Rhizobium tropici strain CIAT899

We studied the symbiotic behaviour of 20 independent Tn5 mutants of Rhizobium tropici strain CIAT899 that were deficient in exopolysaccharide (EPS) production. The mutants produced non-mucoid colonies, were motile, grew in broth cultures at rates similar to those of the parent, and produced significantly less EPS than did CIAT899 in broth culture. A genomic library of strain CIAT899, constructed in pLA2917, was mobilized into all of the mutants, and cosmids that restored EPS production were identified. EcoRI restriction digests of the cosmids revealed nine unique inserts. Mutant complementation and hybridization analysis showed that the mutations affecting EPS production fell into six functional and physical linkage groups. On bean, the mutants were as efficient in nodulation and as effective in acetylene reduction as strain CIAT899, induced a severe interveinal chlorosis, and all but one were less competitive than CIAT899. On siratro, CIAT899 induced nodules that were ineffective in acetylene reduction, whereas the EPS-deficient mutants induced effective nodules. Microscopic examination of thin sections showed that nodules from both siratro and bean plants inoculated with either CIAT899 or an EPS-deficient mutant contained infected cells. These data indicate that EPS is not required for normal nodulation of bean by R. tropici, that it may contribute to competitiveness of R. tropici on bean, and that the loss of EPS production is accompanied by acquisition of the ability to reduce acetylene on siratro.     

The expression of PS integrins in Drosophila melanogaster imaginal disc cell lines

Summary Drosophila imaginal disc cell lines show a characteristic pattern of aggregation in culture, which appears to be due to cell-cell rather than cell-substrate interactions. We have examined the distribution of PS integrins in wing and leg cell lines, and find that these integrin homologues are expressed preferentially in aggregates. Cell sheets, small cell clumps and chains of cells express antigen at points of cell-cell contact only.