Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and associated condylomatous lesions. A preliminary report on 4,764 women from Northern Israel

During the period spanning the years 1973 to 1981, 4,764 women visited the Gynecology Out-Patient Clinics and Colposcopy Unit of the Nahariyya Hospital to be examined colposcopically and cytologically (and histologically whenever indicated) for precancerous and cancerous lesions of the cervix. Of these women, 2,614 (55%) were referred because of symptoms of cervical pathology and 2,150 (45%) for other (prophylactic) reasons. The subdivision of all women according to their demographic backgrounds afforded a comparison of the findings in Israeli-born Jewesses with those of foreign-born Jewesses and non-Jewish females living in the same geographic area of the Western Galilee district of Israel. Despite the low prevalence of cervical cancer in Jewesses throughout the world, the preliminary report of our pilot study demonstrated that the percentage rates of all degrees of dysplasia/cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN I, II and III) of the uterine cervix of Israeli-born Jewesses was 5.4% in patients with cervical pathology and 3.24% in noncervical-pathology patients. These rates were the highest recorded for any of the demographic groups: 2.06% and 0.33%, respectively, in Moslem women; 1.23% in Christian women with cervical pathology; 2.38% and 1.78%, respectively, in European/American-born Jewesses; and 1.63% and 0.48%, respectively, in Asian/African-born Jewesses. The highest proportion of CIN lesions occurred in the 15- to 30-year-old age groups. Of 100 CIN lesions found in all patients, 45 were cytohistologically associated with the cells of condylomatous lesions. Of 36 patients in whom cervical squamous-cell carcinoma lesions were detected, 18 (50%) were staged (FIGO) as carcinoma in situ (stage 0); the remainder were in stages IA, IB, IIA and IIB, with none in stages III or IV.     

Improvement of the nutritional value of rye products by solid-state fermentation with fusaria

The use of some cereals in animal nutrition, e.g. rye, is limited because of some constituents. By solid-state fermentation using selected Fusaria it is possible to enhance the nutrition value and to enrich the fermented material with free and essential amino acids and vitamins. The fermentation method is described and the results of analytical assays are discussed.     

Au-nanoparticles as an electrochemical sensing platform for aptamer-thrombin interaction

A novel electrochemical method for the detection of bioaffinity interactions based on a gold-nanoparticles sensing platform and on the usage of stripping voltammetry technique was developed. The oxidation of gold surface (resulted in gold oxide formation) upon polarization served as a basis for analytical response. As a model, thrombin-thrombin binding aptamer couple was chosen. The aptamer was immobilized on a screen-printed electrode modified with gold-nanoparticles by avidin-biotin technology. Cathodic peak area was found proportional to thrombin quantity specifically adsorbed onto electrode surface. Sigmoid calibration curve as is typical for immunoassay was obtained, with thrombin detection limit of 10(-9)M. Linear range corresponds from 10(-8) to 10(-5)M thrombin concentration or 2 x 10(-14) to 2 x 10(-11)mol/electrode (R=0.996). Binding of thrombin to an aptamer has also been detected using the ferricyanide/ferrocyanide redox couple as electrochemical indicator.     

Microsatellite Loci Polymorphism of Apple (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Malus domestica</Emphasis> Borkh.) Genotypes with Different Ploidy Level

In this paper, the microsatellite (SSR) loci analysis was used to study apple genotypes with different levels of ploidy. A total of 47 samples were studied (9 diploids, 21 triploids, and 17 tetraploids) for seven microsatellite loci (GD147, Hi02C07, CH02c11, CH04c07, CH03d07, CH02c09, and GD12). It was possible to refine the pedigrees for some forms. It was established that the tetraploidss 20-9-30 and 20-9-27, selected in a hybrid family from the crossing of Wealthy 4x and Antonovka Obyknovennaya, were probably obtained from the self-pollination of the maternal form, since in the most loci they did not inherit alleles from the paternal form. As a result of the alleles distribution analysis, the spontaneous triploid cultivars Nizkorosloe and Sinap Orlovsky were revealed to be formed from the merge of an unreduced ovum and haploid pollen, since in the heterozygous loci both alleles are inherited from the maternal form and only one from the paternal form. According to the obtained data, studied tetraploids may be divided into two groups, which also reflect the features of tetraploids origin. The first group includes tetraploids inherited alleles from one initial diploid form (including spontaneous and induced tetraploids, as well as forms from self-pollination of the tetraploid maternal form). These teraploids, like diploids, amplify 1–2 alleles per locus (on average, for all 7 loci, one genotype amplifies 13 alleles). The second group includes tetraploids carrying alleles from several initial diploid forms. Tetraploids of this group are highly heterozygous and amplify 3–4 alleles at most loci (the maximum number of alleles at all loci, 24 alleles, was identified in the form 30-47-88). Tetraploids of the second group have a greater potential for the genetic diversity of its offspring. Analysis of polymorphism of microsatellite loci can be used (1) as an alternative or additional method for identifying the triploid hybrids from heteroploid crosses of orthoploid forms, which is based on the analysis of the loci most polymorphic in parental forms, and (2) for the analysis of true hybridity (verification of pedigrees), including tetraploid forms. Moreover, we identified the most polymorphic loci suitable for the above purposes. The aspects of qualitative and quantitative interpretation of the fragment analysis of microsatellite loci results are considered. The possibilities and limitations of the SSR analysis for detection of apple ploidy level are discussed.     

Altered somatic mutation level and DNA repair gene expression in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis> exposed to ultraviolet C,salt, and cadmium stresses

It is known that somatic mutations arising during animal growth and ageing contribute to the development of neurodegenerative and other animal diseases. For plants, several studies showed that small-scale somatic DNA mutations accumulated during Arabidopsis life cycle. However, there is a lack of data on the influence of environmental stresses on somatic DNA mutagenesis in plants. In this study, we analyzed the effects of ultraviolet C (UV-C) irradiation, high soil salinity, and cadmium (CdI₃) stresses on the level of small-scale somatic DNA mutations in Arabidopsis thaliana. The number of DNA mutations was examined in the Actin2 3′UTR (Actin-U1), ITS1-5.8rRNA-ITS2 (ITS), and ribulose-1,5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rbcL) DNA regions. We found that somatic mutation levels considerably increased in CdI₃-treated Arabidopsis plants, while the mutation levels declined in the UV-C- and NaCl-treated A. thaliana. Cadmium is a mutagen that is known to inhibit DNA repair processes. The detected stress-induced alterations in somatic DNA mutation levels were accompanied by markedly increased expression of base excision repair genes (AtARP, AtDME, AtDML2, AtDML3, AtMBD4, AtROS, AtUNG, and AtZDP), nucleotide excision repair genes (AtDDB1a, AtRad4, and AtRad23a), mismatch repair genes (AtMSH2, AtMSH3, and AtMSH7), and photoreactivation genes (AtUVR2, AtUVR3). Thus, the results demonstrated that UV-C, high soil salinity, and cadmium stresses influence both the level of DNA mutations and expression of DNA repair genes. Salt- and UV-induced activation of DNA repair genes could contribute to the stress-induced decrease in somatic mutation level.