Genetic mechanisms of tumor-specific loss of 11p DNA sequences in Wilms tumor.

Wilms tumor, a common childhood renal tumor, occurs in both a heritable and a nonheritable form. The heritable form may occasionally be attributed to a chromosome deletion at 11p13, and tumors from patients with normal constitutional chromosomes often show deletion or rearrangement of 11p13. It has been suggested that a germinal or somatic mutation may occur on one chromosome 11 and predispose to Wilms tumor and that a subsequent somatic genetic event on the normal homologue at 11p13 may permit tumor development. To study the frequency and mechanism of such tumor-specific genetic events, we have examined the karyotype and chromosome 11 genotype of normal and tumor tissues from 13 childhood renal tumor patients with different histologic tumor types and associated clinical conditions. Tumors of eight of the 12 Wilms tumor patients, including all viable tumors examined directly, show molecular evidence of loss of 11p DNA sequences by somatic recombination (four cases), chromosome loss (two cases), and recombination (two cases) or chromosome loss and duplication. One malignant rhabdoid tumor in a patient heterozygous for multiple 11p markers did not show any tumor-specific 11p alteration. These findings confirm the critical role of 11p sequences in Wilms tumor development and reveal that mitotic recombination may be the most frequent mechanism by which tumors develop.     

Involvement of reactive oxygen species in the oxidation of tyrosine and dopa to melanin and in skin tanning

The role of reactive oxygen (1O2 and O2-.) in skin photosensitization and tanning reaction has been examined. Riboflavin (RF), hematoporphyrin (HP), 3-carbethoxypsoralen (3-CP), and 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP), upon photoexcitation under aerobic conditions, produced singlet O2 (1O2). RF, 3-CP, and 8-MOP also produced superoxide anion (O2-.). Reactive O2 produced by photosensitized RF, 3-CP, and 8-MOP was found to oxidize tyrosine and dopa to dopachrome and subsequently their conversion to melanin. HP did not oxidize tyrosine to dopachrome, and 3-CP and RF revealed substantial oxidation of tyrosine. Dopa was oxidized to dopachrome and subsequently to melanin by all photosensitizers tested at a variable rate as follows: RF greater than 3-CP greater than HPD greater than 8-MOP. UVA alone and to a lesser extent UVB also produced 1O2 which induced the oxidation of tyrosine and dopa to dopachrome and subsequently to melanin. The production of dopachrome was higher with dopa compared to tyrosine under all irradiation conditions. These observations appear to have relevance to the O2-requiring immediate tanning reaction of the skin stimulated by solar radiation and in the induction of skin photosensitization.     

Seasonal distribution of Aeromonas hydrophila in river water and isolation from river fish

The seasonal distribution of Aeromonas hydrophila in water and recovery rate from live river fish was investigated. The highest isolation rates of A. hydrophila occurred in water during the late winter followed by a progressive decline in density during the summer and monsoon seasons. The organism was recovered from fish throughout the period from which it was concluded that they form a reservoir which is unrelated to their density in water. The enterotoxigenicity of some environmental strains was tested in suckling mice and rabbit ileal loop.     

Anti-kinetochore antibodies: use as probes for inactive centromeres.

Application of a modified immunofluorescence technique using an anti-kinetochore serum enables cytogeneticists to obtain quality metaphase spreads and to localize kinetochores. In a patient with a 45, XX, -9, -11, tdic (9p;11p) constitution, we found that the dicentric marker chromosome has an intensely fluorescent kinetochore (no. 11), the functional centromere, and a less intensely fluorescent kinetochore (no. 9), the inactive centromere. The data suggest that in the process of tandem fusion (telomere-telomere between 11p and 9p), the centromere of chromosome 9 was not deleted, but, rather, inactivated.     

Glabrachalcone,a chromenochalcone from Pongamia glabra seeds

Glabrachalcone, a new chromenochalcone has been isolated along with a known chromenochalcone from an ethanolic extract of the seed oil of Pongamia glabra. The structure of glabrachalcone has been established as 2′-hydroxy-2,4,5-trimethoxy-6″,6″-dimethylchromeno(4′,3′:2″,3″)chalcone on the basis of spectral evidence and was confirmed by synthesis.     

Tissue-specific sorting of the human LDL receptor in polarized epithelia of transgenic mice

The distribution of human low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors was studied by immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy in epithelial cells of transgenic mice that express high levels of receptors under control of the metallothionein-I promoter. In hepatocytes and intestinal epithelial cells, the receptors were confined to the basal and basolateral surfaces, respectively. Very few LDL receptors were present in coated pits or intracellular vesicles. In striking contrast, in the epithelium of the renal tubule the receptors were present on the apical (lumenal) surface where they appeared to be concentrated at the base of microvilli and were abundant in vesicles of the endocytic recycling pathway. Intravenously administered LDL colloidal gold conjugates bound to the receptors on hepatocyte microvilli and were slowly internalized, apparently through slow migration into coated pits. We conclude that (a) sorting of LDL receptors to the surface of different epithelial cells varies with each tissue; and (b) in addition to a signal for clustering in coated pits, the LDL receptor may contain a signal for retention in noncoated membrane that is manifest in hepatocytes and intestinal epithelial cells, but not in renal epithelial cells or cultured human fibroblasts.     

Purification of a sarcoplasmic reticulum protein that binds Ca2+ and plasma lipoproteins

A protein in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of rabbit skeletal and cardiac muscle was identified because of its ability to bind 125I-labeled low density lipoprotein (LDL) with high affinity after sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This protein, referred to as the 165-kDa protein, is restricted to striated muscle. It was not detected in 14 other tissues, including several that contain smooth muscle, but it appears in rat L6 myoblasts when they differentiate into myocytes. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopic studies revealed that the protein is present throughout the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the terminal cisternae. It binds 45Ca2+ on nitrocellulose blots and stains metachromatically with Stains-all, a cationic dye that stains Ca2+-binding proteins. It does not appear to be a glycoprotein, and it appears slightly larger than the 160-kDa glycoprotein previously described in sarcoplasmic reticulum. The 165-kDa protein binds LDL, beta-migrating very low density lipoprotein, and a cholesterol-induced high density lipoprotein particle that contains apoprotein E as its sole apoprotein with much higher affinity than it binds high density lipoprotein. The protein is stable to boiling and to treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate, but it becomes sensitive to these treatments when its cystine residues are reduced and alkylated. The protein was purified 1300-fold to apparent homogeneity from rabbit skeletal muscle membranes. It differs from the cell surface LDL receptor in that 1) its apparent molecular weight is not changed by reduction and alkylation; 2) it is present in Watanabe-heritable hyperlipidemic rabbits, which lack functional LDL receptors; 3) binding of lipoproteins is not inhibited by EDTA; and 4) it is located within the lumen of the sarcoplasmic reticulum where it has no access to plasma lipoproteins. It is unlikely that this protein ever binds lipoproteins in vivo; however, its lipoprotein binding activity has facilitated its purification to homogeneity and suggests that this protein has unusual structural features. The role of the 165-kDa protein in Ca2+ homeostasis in the sarcoplasmic reticulum, if any, remains to be determined.     

Removal of endotoxin from antibody preparations for clinical use

Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics - Despite attempts to maintain asepsis, good manufacturing practices, and the use of terminal sterilization by millipore filtration, the nuclear practitioner is...     

Comparison of the effects of hydrophobicity,amphiphilicity, and α-helicity on the activities of antimicrobial peptides

Multiple linear regression was used to quantify the dependence of the antimicrobial activity of 13 peptides upon three calculated or experimentally determined parameters: mean hydrophobicity, mean hydrophobic moment, and α-helix content. Mean hydrophobic moment is a measure of the amphiphilicity of peptides in an α-helical conformation. Antimicrobial activity was quantified as the reciprocal of the measured minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) against Escherichia coli. One of the peptides was magainin 2, and the remainder were novel peptides designed for this study. The multiple linear regression results revealed that the amphiphilicity of the peptides was the most important factor governing anti-microbial activity compared to mean hydrophobicity orα-helix content. A better regression cf the data was obtained using In(1/MIC + constant) as the dependent variable than with either 1/MIC or In(1/MIC). These results should be useful in designing peptides with higher antimicrobial activity. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.