Characterization of epithelial cell islets in primary monolayer cultures of human breast carcinomas by the tetrazolium reaction for glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase

Epithelial cell islets in primary monolayer cultures of human breast biopsies were characterized by combined immuno-, enzyme- and DNA cytochemistry as well as by analysis of attachment-, spread- and growth patterns. For cultivation we used explants from reduction mammoplasties, benign lesions, primary carcinomas and metastases. Milk fat globule membrane antigen (MFGM-A) was detected with a monoclonal antibody, and the tetrazolium reaction for glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) as well as DNA content of the cultured cells were quantified. Spreading and growth of individual islets were studied by image analysis. Fibroblast-like cells did not express MFGM-A, and whereas epithelial (MFGM-A positive) cell islets of normal and benign origin showed cells with no or low G6PDH reaction, respectively, the majority of epithelial cell islets from 11 out of 21 carcinomas showed strong reaction. Cell islets with strong G6PDH reaction were sometimes hyperdiploid. Moreover, whereas cell islets with no or low reaction from both benign lesions and carcinomas readily attached and spread in a serum-free medium and showed population doubling times of 30 to 110 h, cell islets with strong reaction from carcinomas and metastatic lesions required serum for attachment and their growth rate was too low to be determined.     

ESTABLISHMENT OF FRIABLE EMBRYOGENIC (TYPE II) CALLUS FROM IMMATURE TASSELS OF ZEA MAYS (POACEAE)

Type II callus cultures were initiated from immature tassels of a maize genotype with an A188/B73 genetic background using N6 medium containing 1.0 mg/liter 2,4-D, 100 mg/liter casamino acids, 25 mM proline, and 0.2% phytagel™. Inclusion of 10 μM AgNO₃ in this medium significantly increased the frequency and vigor of the type II callus response. Friable calli emerged from these explants after two consecutive 2-week subculture intervals. Tassels from 10 to 30 mm long were capable of producing type II cultures. The plants regenerated from these cultures were green and indistinguishable from plants regenerated from immature embryo-derived calli.     

Time dependent stimulating effect of glucagon on the capacity of urea-N synthesis in rats

The effect of glucagon on the capacity of urea-N synthesis was examined in 24 rats as a function of time. First, the conditions for saturation of urea synthesis under glucagon influence were studied by the kinetics of urea-N synthesis rate in relation to arterial blood alpha-amino-N concentration between 5 and 17 mmol/l in 21 nephrectomized rats given zinc-glucagon (20 micrograms s.c. per day) for 14 days. Alanine was infused so that steady state concentrations of total alpha-amino-N was attained in each rat. The urea-N synthesis rate was calculated as accumulation in total body water corrected for intestinal hydrolysis. The relationship suggested a barrier limited substrate inhibition kinetics, as earlier found in control rats, and data were examined accordingly by non-linear regression analysis. The estimated kinetic constants were: Vmax = 71 mumol/(min X 100 g body wt), Km = 5.4 mmol/l, Ki = 2.4 mmol/l, and the barrier = 4.4 mmol/l. Vmax was increased three times compared with controls. The capacity of urea-N synthesis, i.e. the zenith of the relation, was attained in the concentration interval 7.5 to 12.0 mmol/l, as in controls. The capacity of urea-N synthesis was determined during i.v. infusion of zinc-glucagon (0.15 microgram per min) and after 2, 8, and 14 days of daily s.c. injections of 20 micrograms zinc-glucagon. Rats given zinc-protamine solution were controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

l-Phenylalanyl-l-Glutamate-Stimulated, Chloride-Dependent Glutamate Binding Represents Glutamate Sequestration Mediated by an Exchange System

Stimulation of glutamate binding by the dipeptide L-phenylalanyl-L-glutamate (Phe-Glu) was inhibited by the peptidase inhibitor bestatin, suggesting that the stimulation was caused by glutamate liberated from the dipeptide and not by the dipeptide itself. It further suggests that this form of glutamate binding should be reinterpreted as glutamate sequestration and that stimulation of binding both by dipeptides and after preincubation with high concentrations of glutamate is likely to be due to counterflow accumulation. Several other criteria indicate that most of glutamate binding stimulated by chloride represents glutamate sequestration: Binding is reduced when the osmolarity of the incubation medium is increased, when membranes incubated with [3H]glutamate are lysed before filtration, and when membranes are made permeable by transient exposure to saponin. Moreover, dissociation of bound glutamate after a 100-fold dilution of the incubation medium is accelerated about 50 times by the addition of glutamate to the dilution medium. This result would be anomalous if glutamate were bound to a receptor site; it suggests instead that glutamate is transported in and out of membrane vesicles by a transport system that preferentially mediates exchange between internal and external glutamate. Glutamate binding contains a component of glutamate sequestration even when measured in the absence of chloride. Sequestration is adequately abolished only after treating membranes with detergents; even extensive lysis, sonication, and freezing/thawing may be insufficient.     

Purification of an extracellular cellulose-binding endoglucanase of Cellulomonas sp. ATCC 21399 by affinity chromatography on H3PO4-swollen cellulose

A cellulose-binding endoglucanase (endoglucanase A) of Cellulomonas sp. ATCC 21399 was purified to immunological homogeneity by affinity chromatography ob H(3)PO(4)-swollen cellulose. This method of purification turned out to be an easy and very gentle method for obtaining a high yield of cellulose-binding endoglucanase. The purified enzyme was immunologically homogeneous but appeared heterogeneous when analyzed by denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In addition to the cellulose-binding of endoglucanase A, the enzyme also had a strong affinity for Concanavaline A, indicating that the enzyme was glycosylated. Purified endoglucanase A showed an endo mode of action on carboxymethylcellulose. The enzyme could hydrolyze microcrystalline cellulose when acting alone, and the enzyme had a high specific activity on H(3)PO(4)-swollen cellulose.     

Epithelial differentiation in Drosophila pupae

The construction of cell hairs on the wings in developing pupae of Drosophila provides a unique system for studies of the regulation of differentiation in the absence of cell division. Early steps in hair construction are the extrusion of cell hairs and the deposition of the external impervious layer called "cuticulin." Some properties of six of the most abundant proteins that are present during the early stages of hair construction are described. These proteins make up about 40% of the total protein of the preparation.