Symptoms of depression and anxiety in pediatric epilepsy patients

The XPF and ERCC1 proteins form a tight complex and function as an endonuclease to incise on the 5'-side of pyrimidine dimers in DNA. Levels of both proteins are extremely low in group F xeroderma pigmentosum (XP-F) cells. We transfected XP-F cells with the plasmids expressing XPF or ERCC1 and examined levels of both proteins in the cells. Although XP-F cells are sensitive to UV and mitomycin C (MMC), cells overexpressing XPF expressed ERCC1 as well and resistance to UV and MMC was restored to the normal level. In contrast, cells overexpressing ERCC1 did not express XPF and were still sensitive to UV and MMC. These results indicate that both the XPF and ERCC1 proteins are required to repair UV- and MMC-induced DNA damage. Even though a high level of ERCC1, which has been presumed to be a catalytic subunit of the endonuclease, is stably present in XP-F cells, ERCC1 protein alone cannot carry out excision repair completely.     

Effects of gender, age and diagnosis on perceived parental care and protection in adolescents

To assess whether perceived parental care and protection varied according to age and gender of the child and whether they were associated with psychiatric diagnoses, these constructs were measured with the Parental Bonding Instrument in a cohort of non-referred adolescents (n = 762), in a clinically referred cohort (n = 1299), and in a group of adolescents from the referred cohort (n = 365) for whom DSM-III diagnoses were available. Significant differences in parental care and protection according to clinical status, age, gender and diagnosis were found. However, perceived parental affectionless control was not associated with emotional disorders in adolescents, contrary to reports in adult subjects, but with clinical status.     

Adrenal tumors and pregnancy

The lats gene has been identified as a tumour suppressor in Drosophila melanogaster using mosaic screens. Mosaic flies carrying somatic cells that are mutant for lats develop large tumours in many organs. The human LATS1 homologue rescues embryonic lethality and inhibits tumour growth in lats mutant flies, demonstrating the functional conservation of this gene. Biochemical and genetic analyses have revealed that LATS1 functions as a negative regulator of CDC2 (ref. 3). These data suggest that mammalian LATS1 may have a role in tumorigenesis. To elucidate the function of mammalian LATS1, we have generated Lats1-/- mice. Lats1-/- animals exhibit a lack of mammary gland development, infertility and growth retardation. Accompanying these defects are hyperplastic changes in the pituitary and decreased serum hormone levels. The reproductive hormone defects of Lats1-/- mice are reminiscent of isolated LH-hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and corpus luteum insufficiency in humans. Furthermore, Lats1-/- mice develop soft-tissue sarcomas and ovarian stromal cell tumours and are highly sensitive to carcinogenic treatments. Our data demonstrate a role for Lats1 in mammalian tumorigenesis and specific endocrine dysfunction.     

Arterial blood pressure responses to cell-free hemoglobin solutions and the reaction with nitric oxide

Changes in mean arterial pressure were monitored in rats following 50% isovolemic exchange transfusion with solutions of chemically modified hemoglobins. Blood pressure responses fall into three categories: 1) an immediate and sustained increase, 2) an immediate yet transient increase, or 3) no significant change either during or subsequent to exchange transfusion. The reactivities of these hemoglobins with nitric monoxide (.NO) were measured to test the hypothesis that different blood pressure responses to these solutions result from differences in .NO scavenging reactions. All hemoglobins studied exhibited a value of 30 microM-1 s-1 for both .NO bimolecular association rate constants and the rate constants for .NO-induced oxidation in vitro. Only the .NO dissociation rate constants and, thus, the equilibrium dissociation constants varied. Values of equilibrium dissociation constants ranged from 2 to 14 pM and varied inversely with vasopressor response. Hemoglobin solutions that exhibited either transient or no significant increase in blood pressure showed tighter .NO binding affinities than hemoglobin solutions that exhibited sustained increases. These results suggest that blood pressure increases observed upon exchange transfusion with cell-free hemoglobin solutions can not be the result of .NO scavenging reactions at the heme, but rather must be due to alternative physiologic mechanisms.     

Autoregulatory vasodilation of parenchymal vessels is impaired during cerebral vasospasm

OBJECTIVE: A recent study (Arnow, Kenardy, & Agras, 1995, Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15, 155-170) has reported on the development and preliminary validation of the Emotional Eating Scale (EES), a questionnaire measure of the tendency to eat in response to affective state. The EES showed high levels of validity among obese binge eaters, but there was no attempt to validate the measure among nonclinical groups. The present study assessed the validity of the EES among nonclinical women, in order to determine whether or not emotional eating is related to unhealthy eating characteristics among the general population. METHODS: The participants were 51 women with no current or past eating disorder. Each completed the EES and the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI). Validity of the EES was tested using measures of internal consistency and correlations with EDI scales. RESULTS: The EES scales showed a high level of internal consistency and specific associations with EDI scales (particularly Bulimia, Ineffectiveness, and Interpersonal Distrust). The normative scores for this population were substantially lower than among binge eaters, but similar to those found among other clinical groups. CONCLUSIONS: The EES has good levels of validity. It demonstrates that emotional eating is related to bulimic eating attitudes in the broader population, although issues of causality need to be considered. The EES may have a role in the early identification of eating problems in nonclinical groups. Its utility with other eating-disordered groups remains to be established, but there are potential roles in the targeting and evaluation of treatment.     

Distribution, diversity and evolution of the bacterial mercury resistance (mer) operon

Mercury and its compounds are distributed widely across the earth. Many of the chemical forms of mercury are toxic to all living organisms. However, bacteria have evolved mechanisms of resistance to several of these different chemical forms, and play a major role in the global cycling of mercury in the natural environment. Five mechanisms of resistance to mercury compounds have been identified, of which resistance to inorganic mercury (HgR) is the best understood, both in terms of the mechanisms of resistance to mercury and of resistance to heavy metals in general. Resistance to inorganic mercury is encoded by the genes of the mer operon, and can be located on transposons, plasmids and the bacterial chromosome. Such systems have a worldwide geographical distribution, and furthermore, are found across a wide range of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria from both natural and clinical environments. The presence of mer genes in bacteria from sediment cores suggest that mer is an ancient system. Analysis of DNA sequences from mer operons and genes has revealed genetic variation both in operon structure and between individual genes from different mer operons, whilst analysis of bacteria which are sensitive to inorganic mercury has identified a number of vestigial non-functional operons. It is hypothesised that mer, due to its ubiquity with respect to geographical location, environment and species range, is an ancient system, and that ancient bacteria carried genes conferring resistance to mercury in response to increased levels of mercury in natural environments, perhaps resulting from volcanic activity. Models for the evolution of both a basic mer operon and for the Tn21-related family of mer operons and transposons are suggested. The study of evolution in bacteria has recently become dominated by the generation of phylogenies based on 16S rRNA genes. However, it is important not to underestimate the roles of horizontal gene transfer and recombinational events in evolution. In this respect mer is a suitable system for evaluating phylogenetic methods which incorporate the effects of horizontal gene transfer. In addition, the mer operon provides a model system in the study of environmental microbiology which is useful both as an example of a genotype which is responsive to environmental pressures and as a generic tool for the development of new methodology for the analysis of bacterial communities in natural environments.     

Exchange of K+ or Cs+ for Na+ induces local and long-range changes in the three-dimensional structure of the tryptophan synthase alpha2beta2 complex

Monovalent cations activate the pyridoxal phosphate-dependent reactions of tryptophan synthase and affect intersubunit communication in the alpha2beta2 complex. We report refined crystal structures of the tryptophan synthase alpha2beta2 complex from Salmonella typhimurium in the presence of K+ at 2.0 angstrom and of Cs+ at 2.3 angstrom. Comparison of these structures with the recently refined structure in the presence of Na+ shows that each monovalent cation binds at approximately the same position about 8 angstrom from the phosphate of pyridoxal phosphate. Na+ and K+ are coordinated to the carbonyl oxygens of beta Phe-306, beta Ser-308, and beta Gly-232 and to two or one water molecule, respectively. Cs+ is coordinated to the carbonyl oxygens of beta Phe-306, beta Ser-308, beta Gly-232, beta Val-231, beta Gly-268 and beta Leu-304. A second binding site for Cs+ is located in the beta/beta interface on the 2-fold axis with four carbonyl oxygens in the coordination sphere. In addition to local changes in structure close to the cation binding site, a number of long-range changes are observed. The K+ and Cs+ structures differ from the Na+ structure with respect to the positions of beta Asp-305, beta Lys-167, and alpha Asp-56. One unexpected result of this investigation is the movement of the side chains of beta Phe-280 and beta Tyr-279 from a position partially blocking the tunnel in the Na+ structure to a position lining the surface of the tunnel in the K+ and Cs+ structures. The results provide a structural basis for understanding the effects of cations on activity and intersubunit communication.