Analysis of Salmonella serovars in Taiwan by the phase induction method

Major strides in the molecular biology of essential hypertension are currently underway. This has tended to obscure the fact that a number of inherited disorders associated with low blood pressure exist and that these diseases may have milder and underrecognized phenotypes that contribute importantly to blood pressure variation in the general population. This review highlights some of the gene products that, if abnormal, could cause hypotension in some individuals. Diseases due to abnormalities in the catecholamine enzymes are discussed in detail. It is likely that genetic abnormalities with hypotensive phenotypes will be as interesting and diverse as those that give rise to hypertensive disorders.     

Mood and anxiety fluctuation in Parkinson's disease associated with levodopa infusion: preliminary findings

Pilot data on mood and anxiety changes in 15 Parkinson's disease patients with motor fluctuations are described based on ratings every 30 min for 5 h bracketing a 2-h constant-rate levodopa infusion. Robust mood and anxiety effects slightly preceded but temporally paralleled fluctuations in motor tapping scores. Research nurse ratings blind to patient ratings corroborated the changes. The magnitude of changes in mood and anxiety scores did not correlate with the magnitude of changes in tapping scores. The findings of this uncontrolled study suggest mood and anxiety fluctuations may be a common and potentially important component of levodopa-induced fluctuations.     

A novel glycoprotein in the olfactory and pituitary systems of larval and adult lampreys

A novel homodimeric glycoprotein was isolated and characterized from the pituitaries of adult sea lampreys, Petromyzon marinus, modern representatives of the earliest vertebrates. The monomer consists of 121 amino-acid residues in a sequence that has no resemblance to any known pituitary hormone. Whereas this protein is localized in most cells of the rostral pars distalis of adult lampreys, we have chosen to name it, nasohypophysial factor (NHF), because it first appears in the olfactory system of developing larval lampreys. Not only may NHF be a new pituitary hormone but a useful probe for examining the ontogenetic and phylogenetic relationships of the pituitary and olfactory systems in vertebrates.     

Activated protein C resistance: What have we learned now that the dust has settled?

Adenovirus-induced liver necrosis is rare. Because the era of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) this entity was seen predominantly in infants suffering from inborn immunodeficiency syndromes or from iatrogenic immunosuppression because of bone marrow or liver transplantation. Here, we report a case of a 30-year-old woman with AIDS who developed fever and rapidly progressing liver failure. A frozen section from a needle biopsy of the liver allowed a quick diagnosis of viral liver necrosis. The light-microscopic and electron microscopic aspects were typical of adenovirus infection and should be known to the surgical pathologist. The diagnosis was confirmed by immunohistochemistry and DNA hybridization analysis.     

Selective ligand-induced intracellular calcium changes in a population of rat isolated gastric endocrine cells

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Peripheral regulation of acid secretion depends mainly on stimulation or inhibition of the three major gastric endocrine cells (enterochromaffin-like, gastrin, and somatostatin). The aim of this paper was to define physiological responses of enterochromaffin-like, gastrin, and somatostatin cells in a mixed endocrine cell population by measuring ligand-selective changes of intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) in individual cells. METHODS: Endocrine cells were enriched from a rat gastric cell suspension by elutriation, a density-gradient fractionation, and a 48-hour short-term culture. [Ca2+]i responses of individual cells to various ligands such as gastrin/carboxy-terminal cholecystokinin octapeptide and selective cholecystokinin antagonists, carbachol, and gastrin-releasing peptide were monitored using video imaging in a perfusion chamber. Characteristic [Ca2+]i changes distinguished the three cell types, confirmed by immunostaining. RESULTS: All enterochromaffin-like cells respond to cholecystokinin-B receptor stimulation, but only a few respond to carbachol. Gastrin cells respond to both gastrin-releasing peptide and carbachol but not to cholecystokinin-receptor agonists. Somatostatin cells have both stimulatory cholecystokinin-A and cholecystokinin-B receptors and inhibitory muscarinic receptors. All cells have inhibitory somatostatin receptors. CONCLUSIONS: Calcium-signaling responses of gastric endocrine cells are distinctive. This allows individual cell types in a mixed population to be characterized and permits an analysis of the hormones and transmitters that act directly on a specific cell type.     

A gain-of-function of an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-associated Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase mutant: An enhancement of free radical formation due to a decrease in Km for hydrogen peroxide

Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) is known to be a locus of mutation in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS). Transgenic mice that express a mutant Cu,Zn-SOD, Gly-93--> Ala (G93A), have been shown to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) symptoms. We cloned the FALS mutant, G93A, and wild-type cDNA of human Cu,Zn-SOD, overexpressed them in Sf9 insect cells, purified the proteins, and studied their enzymic activities for catalyzing the dismutation of superoxide anions and the generation of free radicals with H2O2 as substrate. Our results showed that both enzymes contain one copper ion per subunit and have identical dismutation activity. However, the free radical-generating function of the G93A mutant, as measured by the spin trapping method, is enhanced relative to that of the wild-type enzyme, particularly at lower H2O2 concentrations. This is due to a small, but reproducible, decrease in the value of Km for H2O2 for the G93A mutant, while the kcat is identical for both enzymes. Thus, the ALS symptoms observed in G93A transgenic mice are not caused by the reduction of Cu,Zn-SOD activity with the mutant enzyme; rather, it is induced by a gain-of-function, an enhancement of the free radical-generating function. This is consistent with the x-ray crystallographic studies showing the active channel of the FALS mutant is slightly larger than that of the wild-type enzyme; thus, it is more accessible to H2O2. This gain-of-function, in part, may provide an explanation for the association between ALS and Cu,Zn-SOD mutants.     

Activation of stimulus-secretion coupling in pancreatic beta-cells by specific products of glucose metabolism. Evidence for privileged signaling by glycolysis

The energy requirements of most cells supplied with glucose are fulfilled by glycolytic and oxidative metabolism, yielding ATP. In pancreatic beta-cells, a rise in cytosolic ATP is also a critical signaling event, coupling closure of ATP-sensitive K+ channels (KATP) to insulin secretion via depolarization-driven increases in intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i). We report that glycolytic but not Krebs cycle metabolism of glucose is critically involved in this signaling process. While inhibitors of glycolysis suppressed glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, blockers of pyruvate transport or Krebs cycle enzymes were without effect. While pyruvate was metabolized in islets to the same extent as glucose, it produced no stimulation of insulin secretion and did not block KATP. A membrane-permeant analog, methyl pyruvate, however, produced a block of KATP, a sustained rise in [Ca2+]i, and an increase in insulin secretion 6-fold the magnitude of that induced by glucose. These results indicate that ATP derived from mitochondrial pyruvate metabolism does not substantially contribute to the regulation of KATP responses to a glucose challenge, supporting the notion of subcompartmentation of ATP within the beta-cell. Supranormal stimulation of the Krebs cycle by methyl pyruvate can, however, overwhelm intracellular partitioning of ATP and thereby drive insulin secretion.     

Reduction of radiation-induced chromosome aberration and apoptosis by dithiothreitol

We have examined in vitro and in vivo radioprotective effects of a well-known thiol-containing compound, dithiothreitol (DTT). The treatment of both 0.5 and 1 mM of DTT significantly increased clonogenic survival of gamma-ray irradiated Chinese hamster (V79-4) cells. In order to investigate the possible radioprotective mechanism of DTT, we measured gamma-ray induced chromosome aberration by micronucleus assay. In the presence of 0.5 mM or 1 mM DTT, the frequencies of micronuclei were greatly reduced in all dose range examined (1.5-8 Gy). Slightly higher reduction in micronucleus formation was observed in 1 mM DTT-treated cells than in 0.5 mM DTT-treated cells. In addition, incubation with both 0.5 and 1 mM of DTT prior to gamma-ray irradiation reduced nucleosomal DNA fragmentation at about same extent, this result suggests that treatment of DTT at concentrations of 0.5 and 1 mM reduced radiation-induced apoptosis. In vivo experiments, we also observed that DTT treatment reduced the incidence of apoptotic cells in mouse small intestine crypts. In irradiated control group 4.4 +/- 0.5 apoptotic cells per crypt were observed. In DTT-administered and irradiated mice, only 2.1 +/- 0.4 apoptotic cells per crypt was observed. In vitro and in vivo data obtained in this study showed that DTT reduced radiation-induced damages and it seems that the possible radioprotective mechanisms of action of DTT are prevention of chromosome aberration.