The Hemagglutinin of Bat-Associated Influenza Viruses Is Activated by TMPRSS2 for pH-Dependent Entry into Bat but Not Human Cells

New World bats have recently been discovered to harbor influenza A virus (FLUAV)-related viruses, termed bat-associated influenza A-like viruses (batFLUAV). The internal proteins of batFLUAV are functional in mammalian cells. In contrast, no biological functionality could be demonstrated for the surface proteins, hemagglutinin (HA)-like (HAL) and neuraminidase (NA)-like (NAL), and these proteins need to be replaced by their human counterparts to allow spread of batFLUAV in human cells. Here, we employed rhabdoviral vectors to study the role of HAL and NAL in viral entry. Vectors pseudotyped with batFLUAV-HAL and -NAL were able to enter bat cells but not cells from other mammalian species. Host cell entry was mediated by HAL and was dependent on prior proteolytic activation of HAL and endosomal low pH. In contrast, sialic acids were dispensable for HAL-driven entry. Finally, the type II transmembrane serine protease TMPRSS2 was able to activate HAL for cell entry indicating that batFLUAV can utilize human proteases for HAL activation. Collectively, these results identify viral and cellular factors governing host cell entry driven by batFLUAV surface proteins. They suggest that the absence of a functional receptor precludes entry of batFLUAV into human cells while other prerequisites for entry, HAL activation and protonation, are met in target cells of human origin.     

Staff Nurses’ Perceptions and Experiences about Structural Empowerment: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study

The aim of the study reported in this article was to investigate staff nurses’ perceptions and experiences about structural empowerment and perceptions regarding the extent to which structural empowerment supports safe quality patient care. To address the complex needs of patients, staff nurse involvement in clinical and organizational decision-making processes within interdisciplinary care settings is crucial. A qualitative study was conducted using individual semi-structured interviews of 11 staff nurses assigned to medical or surgical units in a 600-bed university hospital in Belgium. During the study period, the hospital was going through an organizational transformation process to move from a classic hierarchical and departmental organizational structure to one that was flat and interdisciplinary. Staff nurses reported experiencing structural empowerment and they were willing to be involved in decision-making processes primarily about patient care within the context of their practice unit. However, participants were not always fully aware of the challenges and the effect of empowerment on their daily practice, the quality of care and patient safety. Ongoing hospital change initiatives supported staff nurses’ involvement in decision-making processes for certain matters but for some decisions, a classic hierarchical and departmental process still remained. Nurses perceived relatively high work demands and at times viewed empowerment as presenting additional. Staff nurses recognized the opportunities structural empowerment provided within their daily practice. Nurse managers and unit climate were seen as crucial for success while lack of time and perceived work demands were viewed as barriers to empowerment.     

Electrical fusion of protoplasts from sycamore mutants and hybrid selection on hypoxanthine-aminopterin-thymidine (HAT) medium

Summary An electrical fusion method has been used to form somatic hybrids between protoplasts of two mutant cell lines of sycamore tissue culture cells. Both mutants will not grow in a hypoxanthine-aminopterin-thymidine (HAT) medium. It was possible to select the fused hybrids from homospecific fusion products and nonfused protoplasts by the use of HAT medium. In this way the viability and regeneration of the fused cells during the first few weeks of culture could be evaluated. An electron microscopic examination of the fusion process showed that it occurred at a series of points along the surface of the plasmalemma. Cytoplasmic bridges between the two cells were formed separated by vesicles which later dispersed to give complete cytoplasmic continuity between the cells.     

Sympathetic control of cerebral arteries: specialization in receptor type, reserve, affinity, and distribution

The sympathetic neuroeffector system in the mammalian cerebral circulation has a number of distinctive features that reflect its specialized role in this vascular bed: 1) there is limited alpha-adrenoceptor-mediated contraction in large vessels that becomes progressively less important with branching; 2) contraction is limited by receptor number; small branches often seem to have no functional alpha adrenoceptors; 3) adrenoceptor affinity for norepinephrine is low and so is sensitivity; and 4) the dominant alpha-adrenoceptor subtype differs in different species and may have unique characteristics in some. There is a mechanism of non-alpha-adrenoceptor-mediated contraction involving low-affinity receptor sites--extraceptors--activated by sympathetic nerves. The pig has a seemingly atypical sympathetic mechanism. On the basis of current information the sympathetic neuroeffector mechanisms of the rabbit seem most clearly related to the human. The size, pattern, and distribution of sympathetic control suggest that the role of the sympathetic nerves is to protect the smaller pial arteries against the consequences of sudden increases in sympathetic adrenal discharge. It is not an important mechanism of controlling cerebral blood flow.     

The relationship of the delta transfer factor and KColIb to the ColIb plasmid

The structures of the colicin Ib plasmid (ColIb), the delta transfer factor and a plasmid determining kanamycin resistance and colicin Ib production called KColIb, were compared. Radiolabelled mini-ColIb plasmids and isolated DNA fragments of ColIb were used as probes for nitrocellulose blots of digests of the other two large plasmids. The structure of delta was consistent with it having one large deletion of about 10 MDa in the SB fragment and two insertions of approximately 6 MDa and 12 MDa in the SB and SA fragments of the ColIb plasmid. It was hypothesized that KColIb had six small insertions in SA, SB, SE and near the junction of the SB and SD fragments. However, ColIb, KColIb and delta were homologous for at least 70% of their lengths. The highly conserved regions in the three plasmids were the regions that corresponded to fragments SA, SC and SD of ColIb. In addition, delta and KColIb differed from ColIb at similar sites. The possible evolution of these plasmids is discussed.     

Isolation and identification of a cDNA clone of rat placental lactogen II

The developing rat placenta expresses two placental lactogens at different stages of pregnancy: rat placental lactogen I from Days 11 to 13 of pregnancy and rat placental lactogen II (rPLII) from Day 12 to term. In this paper, we describe cDNA clones for rPLII, which have been isolated from a Day 18 rat placental cDNA library. The rPLII clones hybrid-select a mRNA which translates in vitro to a protein of 25,000 daltons. This protein is processed by dog pancreatic microsomes to a 22,000-dalton form, identical in size to rPLII isolated from pregnant rat serum. Both forms are precipitated by an anti-rPLII antiserum and an anti-ovine prolactin antiserum. The mRNA for rPLII is first expressed in Day 12 placenta and reaches a maximum at about Day 18 of pregnancy, in parallel with the appearance of the hormone in serum. Sequencing of the cDNA shows that, unlike human placental lactogen which is 85% homologous to human growth hormone at the amino acid level, rPLII is much more closely related to the prolactins. Thus, rPLII is 52% homologous to rat prolactin at the amino acid level, but only 34% related to rat growth hormone. This is the second placental lactogen to be fully characterized, and in the rat this hormone appears to have evolved by a route quite different from that which produced placental lactogen in humans.     

The effects of various nutritional supplements on the growth,migration and differentiation ofxenopus laevis neural crest cells in vitro

Summary This study investigates the nutritional requirements ofXenopus laevis neural crest cells and melanophores developing in vitro. A comparison is made between the growth and differentiation of cells in serum-containing medium and a chemically defined, serum-free medium that we have designed. Our chemically defined medium is more efficient than serum-supplemented medium in promoting proliferation of these cells. Several supplements are required to enhance culture development. These include insulin, α-melanocyte stimulating hormone, somatotropin, luteotrophic hormone, linoleic acid, uridine, and putrescine. In addition, collagen and fibronectin provide the most conductive environment tested for cell migration and adhesion. This work was supported by establishment and major equipment grants from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research to N. C. M. Nadine C. Milos is a Heritage Medical Research Scholar of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.     

Purification and characteristics of an endogenous alpha-amylase inhibitor from barley kernels

An inhibitor of malted barley (Hordeum vulgare cv Conquest) α-amylase II was purified 125-fold from a crude extract of barley kernels by (NH₄)₂SO₄ fractionation, ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel, and gel filtration on Bio-Gel P 60. The inhibitor was a protein with an approximate molecular weight of 20,000 daltons and an isoelectric point of 7.3. The protein was homogeneous, as assessed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Amino acid analysis indicated the presence of about 9 half-cystine residues per mole. The neutral isoelectric point of the inhibitor suggested that some of the apparently acidic residues (glutamic and aspartic) existed in the amide form. The first twenty N-terminal amino acids were sequenced. Some homology appeared to exist between the α-amylase II inhibitor and trypsin inhibitor from barley. Complex formation between α-amylase II and the inhibitor was detected by the appearance of a new molecular weight species after gel filtration on Bio-Gel P 100. Enzyme and inhibitor had to be preincubated for 5 min, prior to assaying for enzyme activity before maximum inhibition was attained. Inhibition increased at higher pH values. At pH 5.5, an approximately 1100 molar excess of inhibitor over α-amylase II produced 40% inhibition, whereas, at pH 8.0, a 1:1 molar ratio of inhibitor to enzyme produced the same degree of inhibition.     

A tightly associated serine/threonine protein kinase regulates phosphoinositide 3-kinase activity.

We identified a serine/threonine protein kinase that is associated with and phosphorylates phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PtdIns 3-kinase). The serine kinase phosphorylates both the 85- and 110-kDa subunits of PtdIns 3-kinase and purifies with it from rat liver and immunoprecipitates with antibodies raised to the 85-kDa subunit. Tryptic phosphopeptide maps indicate that p85 from polyomavirus middle T-transformed cells is phosphorylated in vivo at three sites phosphorylated in vitro by the associated serine kinase. The 85-kDa subunit of PtdIns 3-kinase is phosphorylated in vitro on serine at a stoichiometry of approximately 1 mol of phosphate per mol of p85. This phosphorylation results in a three- to sevenfold decrease in PtdIns 3-kinase activity. Dephosphorylation with protein phosphatase 2A reverses the inhibition. This suggests that the association of protein phosphatase 2A with middle T antigen may function to activate PtdIns 3-kinase.