Current concept of structure and function of the Golgi apparatus. On the 100-anniversary of the discovery by Camillo Golgi

Early pregnancy factor (EPF) has been identified as a homologue of chaperonin 10 (cpn10) with immunosuppressive and growth factor properties. As a homologue of cpn10, it belongs to the heat shock family of proteins (hsp) but, unlike other members of this family, EPF is detected extracellularly. Early pregnancy factor was first discovered in pregnancy serum by the rosette inhibition test, and the novelty of its discovery was that its presence could diagnose pregnancy within 6-24 h of a fertile mating. As well as being a monitor of the presence of a viable embryo, it is necessary for embryonic survival. In this capacity it acts as both an immunosuppressant and growth factor. Early pregnancy factor is also a product of proliferating primary and neoplastic cells and functions as an autocrine growth factor both in vivo and in vitro. It has a modifying effect on the outcome of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of multiple sclerosis. Early pregnancy factor is considered to be one of the major factors involved in the modification of multiple sclerosis observed during pregnancy.     

Measurement of thermal and electrical conductivities of small cross section samples in the 80–400 °K range

A procedure is described for measuring thermal and electrical conductivities of samples of thermoelectric materials having small cross sections and thicknesses of 1–0.01 mm. The thermal conductivity is determined from the change in resistance of the sample as a result of Joule heating within it. The method does not require a direct measurement of temperature of the sample.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 527–533, March, 1971.     

A morphofunctional analysis of the changes in the Golgi apparatus in the epitheliocytes of the frog bladder under conditions of the vasopressin stimulation of water transport

Structural and chemical peculiarities of the Golgi apparatus elements in granular cells of the normal frog urinary epithelium and under vasopressin stimulation of water transport have been studied with different electron microscopic methods: standard chemical fixation, prolonged osmification, freeze-substitution, freeze-fracture, immunocytochemistry, and electron-probe X-ray microanalysis. The structure of the main Golgi elements and its derivatives in normal cells and under the stimulation of water transport has been described. The association of microtubules with the Golgi cisternae was shown. Microtubules are supposed to participate in the support of integrity of the Golgi complex (in normal cells). Under stimulated water transport, depolymerization of microtubules seems to occur, resulting eventually in the Golgi fragmentation. Participation of some specific granules, that are the Golgi derivatives, in the increase of apical membrane water permeability has been shown as the insertion of water channels. Besides, under big water flows, the Golgi cis-cisternae were shown to participate in the formation of large vacuoles containing low potassium. A supposition is put forward that these vacuoles may perform an osmoregulative function in the cell, similar to that of contractile vacuoles of Protozoa.     

Test systems and a method for express detection of synthetic food dyes in drinks

In this study, new test systems and express method were developed for the rapid detection of synthetic food dyes in drinks including alcoholic drinks, fruit juices, soft drinks and other non-alcoholic drinks. The detection is based on selective adsorption of synthetic food dyes from a drink by the specific adsorbent contained in the developed test system. The method allows screening of samples for synthetic food dyes in the presence of natural colors by differential spectrophotometry following adsorption. The said adsorbent provides adsorption of synthetic food dyes and substantially does not interact with natural dyes of drinks. Therefore, when a drink contains synthetic dyes, the color of the sample changes, whereas the color of a drink having only natural dyes stays substantially the same. This test can be used as a first step analysis for screening. So, only in a case when the test showed the presence of synthetic dyes in a drink, further laborious identification and quantitative determination of the revealed dyes could be performed. The use of such an approach reduces the time and costs required to perform the analysis.