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The covalently closed form of circular duplex SV40 DNA was separated from the open and linear form of SV40 DNA by agarose gel electrophoresis in a large-scale gel system. The closed circular DNA was recovered from agarose gels by re-electrophoresing the gel slices. The recovery of DNA was about 70%. Electron microscopic analysis showed that the recovered DNA did not have doube- or single-stranded breaks. The recovered DNA can be used without further purification for electron microscopy, as a substrate for experiments using restriction endonuclease and as a template for in vitro RNA synthesis.

Euchromatin specimen prepared by the usual method formed large clumps and had various shapes under electron microscopy. A method of separation of the euchromatin specimen into chromatin fractions having relatively homogeneous form was examined and partial characterization of these fractions was carried out. The heavy euchromatin fraction was a large network of thin fibrils (about 100 A in diameter) and various thick fibers. The intermediate euchromatin fraction consisted of relatively homogeneous networks of thick knobby fibers (about 250 A in diameter). The light euchromatin fraction had metworks of thick fibers. These chromatin fractions were quantitatively prepared from sonicated nuclei of mouse ascites sarcoma cells. Twenty-one or twenty-two bands of non-histone proteins besides histones were detected in these chromatin fractions by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. There were significant differences in the electrophoretic patterns of non-histone proteins among these chromatin fractions.

Levels of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) activitiy in a sample of Japanese people were determined. Blood samples were taken from new-born infants, preschool children, young and old people who had no apparent diseases and also from three anemic patients. Erythrocyte SOD activities in different age groups had a nearly normal distribution. Females had slightly lower activities than males, although the difference was statistically insignificant. The distributions of SOD activities were 12.6 +/- 2.7 (m +/- SD) unit/mg Hb in young people and 11.4 +/- 3.0 in old people, indicating that erythrocyte SOD activity falls with aging. Because of low concentration of hemoglobin, SOD activities of old people expressed as unit/ml blood were much lower than in young people. Three anemic patients had slightly lower SOD activity.

A mixture with essential and nonessential amino acids high in branched chain amino acids and low in aromatic amino acids (Fischer solution), and another synthetic mixture of branched chain amino acids containing 3 amino acids associated with the urea cycle (Hep-OU) were infused to control subjects and patients with severe hepatic disease. Alterations in serum aminograms, blood ammonia levels and electroencephalograms following the infusion were studied and compared with those obtained by a commercially available amino acid mixture. Short-term or continuous infusion of a commercially available amino acid solution to cirrhotic patients caused an increase in methionine, phenylalanine and tyrosine and a decrease in branched chain amino acids. These post-infusion results were similar to the patterns seen in hepatic encephalopathy. In cirrhotic patients, infusion of Fischer solution which contains small quantities of methionine and phenylalanine produced an increase in the concentrations of these 2 amino acids, probably because of impaired utilization by the injured liver. No marked alterations in serum aminograms, however, were observed in cirrhotic patients either immediately after, or 3 h after, the end of the Hep-OU infusion. Reduction of methionine, tyrosine and phenylalanine levels and elevation of the molar ratio of (valine+leucine+isoleucine) / (phenylalanine+tyrosine) were significant. The infusion of Hep-OU to patients with liver cirrhosis or subacute hepatitis resulted in clinical and neurological improvements and the restoration of the molar ratio of branched chain amino acids/aromatic amino acids.

Since 1903, 744 cases of megaloblastic anemia have been reported in Japan: 490 cases of pernicious anemia; 95 cases associated with pregnancy; 66 cases after gastrectomy; 22 cases of megaloblastic anemia of infants; 21 cases of folic acid deficiency other than pregnancy and 19 cases of vitamin B12 malabsorption after ileal resection. It is generally agreed among hematologists in Japan that pernicious anemia is relatively rare, as in other Asian countries. The diagnosis of pernicious anemia in Japan is usually made by stained marrow films, radioisotopic assay of serum vitamin B12, Schilling test and good response to vitamin B12 therapy. Serum folate level, intrinsic factor or its antibody, methylmalonic acid excretion, formiminoglutamic acid excretion and deoxyuridine suppression test are performed only at a small number of laboratories. The drugs of choice are hydroxocobalamin, deoxyadenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin. Cyanocobalamin has nearly disappeared from commercial sources in Japan. Vitamin B12 administration is common in patients with neurological disorders. Megaloblastic anemia due to folic acid deficiency is extremely rare in Japan. Low serum folate levels are frequently observed among patients receiving anticonvulsants or in pregnant women, but in such samples megaloblastic anemia is almost never detected. The folic acid content of hospital diets indicates that satisfactory amounts of folate are taken in Japan. The intake of folic acid from rice is well over the minimum daily requirement of folate. Other factors in folic acid deficiency, such as food taboos, severe alcoholism and malabsorption syndrome are not frequently found in Japanese. The inadequate intake of folate was the critical factor in most reported cases.

Five pairs of immature, non-hemopoietic femur and tibia from 17-day-old gestating female rat fetuses, whose sex was determined by chromosomal analysis of liver cells, were transplanted into subcutaneous tissues of adult male rats. The original bones were about 3 mm in length and they grew to about 17 mm length at 4 wereks after transplantation. Bone deformation was not evident after transplantation and bone marrow hemopoiesis developed. Bone marrow cytohistologic observations were made on smears, and chromosome analyses were performed on bone marrow cells. Active erythro-, myelo- and megakaryopoiesis were conducted by cells of recipient adult rats. Sex chromosome analysis of cartilage cells from the epiphyses of transplanted bones demonstrated that the growing bones were composed of cells from the grafted embryo. The results thus strongly suggest that the transition of hemopoiesis from liver to bone marrow in late embryonic development is conducted by stem cells migrating through circulating blood and settling in the bone marrow and not by in situ cells differentiating in the bone marrow stroma.

Phosphorylase activities (total and a form) were determined in the livers of experimental hepatic injuries with carbon tetrachloride or galactosamine and the livers of patients with liver diseases. Experimental liver injuries caused a slight decrease in total activity in later stages and a marked increase in a form activity in earlier stages. In human livers, low values of total activity were found in acute hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver with no consistent alteration in a activity. Phosphorylase activities in hepatocellular carcinomas were also low. The importance of the altered phosphorylase activities in hepatic injuries is discussed in relation to the disorder in glycogen metabolism in the injured liver.

Respiratory syncytial (RS) virus can be purified without losing its infectivity provided that each step of purification is carried out using NT buffer containing over 20% sucrose. Firstly, the virus grown on HES cells is efficiently removed from the culture fluid by precipitating with polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6,000, and the precipitate is suspended in a small amount of 20% sucrose-NT buffer, which results in about a 24-fold concentration of the original material. Then this suspension is centrifugated through 30% sucrose-NT buffer to obtain pellets, which are again suspended in 20% sucrose-NT buffer. This suspension is further centrifuged by discontinuous and linear sucrose density gradient. Finally, the specific infectivity of the purified virus was increased about 3,000-fold over that of the original material.

The female patient initially showed the acquired type of total lipoatrophy at about 8 years of age. At 12 years of age, the onset of diabetes mellitus was speculated from advanced pyodermia and dedentition. At 29 years of age, glucosuria was found, and she developed proteinuria, ascites, and pretibial edema. The physical examination revealed: hepatosplenomegaly, complete absence of subcutanous fat, cutaneous xanthomas, and emaciated facies with pronounced zygomatic arches. Diabetic retinopathy was revealed in the ophthalmological examination, and nephropathy was evident in renal biopsy specimens. She also had peripheral diabetic neuropathy. No adipose tissue was found in the mesenterium under peritoneoscopy. The hepatic biopsy specimen revealed advanced portal liver cirrhosis. Laboratory findings included: hyperlipidemia, elevation of BMR without evidence of hyperthyroidism, impaired renal function, and undetected anti-insulin antibodies and anti-insulin antibodies. Endocrinological examinations revealed normal value, except for an impaired hGH response in the arginine test. C-peptide immunoreactivity was high. Her condition was fairly well controlled by 140 units of insulin injection daily.

Effects of synthetic neurotensin on the endocrine pancreas were studied in nine normal and six hypophysectomized (10th to 14th day post-hypophysectomy) dogs. Synthetic neurotensin was administered into the superior pancreaticoduodenal artery, and plasma insulin and glucagon concentrations were measured radioimmunologically. In normal dogs, ten microgram/kg neurotensin administration brought about a mild hyperglycemic response and sharp and rapid increase of plasma insulin and glucagon concentrations in the superior pancreaticoduodenal vein. A biphasic insulin response was noted in the pancreatic vein. The results suggest that a large dose of neurotensin acts directly on the endocrine pancreas causing secretion of these hormones. In hypophysectomized dogs, basal levels of plasma insulin and glucagon were decreased and neurotensin had little effect on the endocrine pancreas even with the administration of a large dose.

To establish an experimental persistent infection of the brain with human adenoviruses, adenovirus type 6 (ad 6) was inoculated intracerebrally into young adult hamsters. Hamsters appeared languid for a few days after inoculation, but recovered rapidly. By cocultivation of tissue fragments with HeLa cells, ad 6 was always recovered from the brains of hamsters throughout their lives, as long as 29 months, indicating the establishment of a lifelong persistent infection. Except for the first few days after inoculation, however, attempts to recover virus by inoculation of tissue extracts onto HeLa cells or by cultivation of tissue fragments alone were unsuccessful.

Superoxide anion (O2-) production by neutrophils from 14 untreated patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) was significantly less than that of healthy controls (4.93 +/- 1.99 vx 6.20 +/- 1.53 nmol/min/10(6) neutrophils, p less than 0.05). In 10 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), however, it was not significantly different from the control level although 6 of the 10 patients had low levels, when individual patients were compared with the lower limit of the control range. An inverse correlation between the O2- production of neutrophils and the percentage of leukemic cells in the marrow existed in ANLL (r = -0.55, p less than 0.01), but not in MDS. Three of 4 MDS patients who died of pneumonia prior to leukemic conversion showed a low level of O2- production. The impaired O2- production by neutrophils from some MDS patients, probably due to the faulty differentiation from leukemic clones, may be one of the causes of enhanced susceptibility to infection.

Upon addition of epidermal growth factor (EGF, 0.1 microgram/ml) and insulin (0.1 microM), adult rat hepatocytes proliferated and increased 120-134% in number in serum-free primary culture. However, in the absence of the growth factors, hepatocytes decreased in number with time. The average albumin secretion per cell was much lower in the proliferating cultures than in the non-proliferating cultures. The results suggest that albumin production in hepatocytes decreases during cell proliferation.

The three-dimensional arrangement of ductular structures formed by oval cells in rats fed 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF) was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of biliary tract casts and light microscopy of sections of liver injected with india ink via the biliary tract. Both resin and india ink were well injected up to bile ductules, and the findings of each method correlated with each other. By the second week after 2-AAF administration, a few oval cells appeared in the periportal areas forming ductular structures which connected with the portal bile ducts. At the 4th week, increased ductular structures occupied two thirds of the lobule and formed networks communicating with each other, and with the portal bile ducts. At the 8th week, such ductular structures were compressed around hyperplastic nodules and appeared like a basket in biliary casts examined by SEM. Although a histochemical study of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase revealed activity both on the luminal side of the ductular structures and hepatocytes in hyperplastic nodules, no transition was observed between these two cell populations. These results suggest that oval cells have characteristics more similar to those of biliary epithelia than of hepatocytes, and have no relation to the development of hyperplastic nodules.

Natural killer (NK) cell activity, lymphokine activated killer (LAK) activity and Epstein-Barr virus specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (EBV-CTL) activity were examined in 10 children with chronic active EB-virus infection and an adult with persistently positive early antigen-antibody to EB-virus. NK cell activity against erythroleukemia cell line K-562 was significantly (p less than 0.005) lower in the patients (22.3 +/- 8.5%, mean +/- SD) than in normal controls (40.4 +/- 15.9%). Spontaneous cytotoxicity against an EB-virus transformed autologous lymphoblastoid cell line was 15.0 +/- 7.6% in the patients, and was comparable to spontaneous cytotoxicity activity in normal controls (11.7 +/- 4.3%). LAK activity against Raji cells was significantly (p less than 0.02) lower in the patients (14.6 +/- 11.4%) than in normal controls (29.2 +/- 15.9%). EBV-CTL activity against an EB-virus transformed autologous lymphoblastoid cell line was significantly (p less than 0.005) lower in the patients (11.8 +/- 5.5%) than in seropositive normal controls (33.7 +/- 14.7%). No regression of the lymphoblastoid cell line was observed when EBV-CTL activity of the patients was tested by regression assay. It is conceivable that defects in both EB-virus specific and nonspecific killer cell activities play important roles in the pathogenetic abnormalities which allow EB-virus infection to progress to a chronic active state.

Patients with multiple myeloma were treated chemotherapeutically with a combination of melphalan, ifosfamide, prednisolone, nitrosourea and vincristine (MIP-NV therapy). The M-protein kinetics during the course of MIP-NV therapy was studied. The kinetics of serum and urinary M-protein in the first cycle of the chemotherapy was classified into four patterns, and the mode of change in the M-protein level over the entire course of chemotherapy was classified into four prototypes. There were intimate relationships among M-protein kinetics patterns in the first cycle of the chemotherapy, the effect of the chemotherapy on M-protein reduction, maturity of myeloma cells, pretreatment labeling index and clinical stage of the disease. Moreover, analyzing the prototypes, it was found that both the time for maximum M-protein reduction and the rate of increase in the M-protein level after maximum M-protein reduction affected the survival time. To predict the effect of the chemotherapy on M-protein reduction and survival time, it was useful to analyze subgroups, which were classified according to the M-protein kinetics pattern in the first cycle, the time for maximum M-protein reduction and the rate of increase in the M-protein level after maximum M-protein reduction.

We studied the correlation between the cell surface markers and prognosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients treated in the Shikoku Cancer Center Hospital from 1980 to 1986. Thirty-one cases were selected on the basis of having a lymphnode as a primary lesion, having been immunophenotyped before chemotherapy, being in the intermediate histologic grade and being in stage II, III or IV. Thirteen cases of the T-cell type (T-lymphomas) and 18 cases of the B-cell type (B-lymphoma) were identified. The complete remission rate was 54% among T-lymphoma patients and 78% among B-lymphoma patients. The median length of survival was 12+ months in T-lymphoma and 26+ months in B-lymphoma. The survival rate of T-lymphoma patients was significantly lower than that of B-lymphoma patients. The importance of making surface marker studies was reappraised in our study.

The cartilage-synovium junction of knees afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis was observed light microscopically using formalin-fixed, decalcified and immunohistochemically stained tissues. Decalcification had little or no influence on immunoreactivity for lysozyme and S-100 protein. All the specimens had pannus formation, which was classified into four types: A) cellular pannus with homogeneous cell pattern, B) cellular pannus of inflammatory cells, C) fibrous pannus with many fibrous bundles, D) fibrous pannus including round cells with scattered fibrous bundles. Type A pannus may be responsible for extensive cartilage degradation, and may occur at the first stage of pannus formation. Type B pannus may occur afterwards, and may be followed by type C pannus at a later stage. Type D pannus was found in two out of 19 specimens. Round cells in type D were positive for S-100 protein and lysozyme, and were probably chondrocytes. The findings indicated that chondrocytes were responsible for cartilage degradation and pannus formation.

The rearrangement of breakpoint cluster region (ber) was examined in leukemic cells obtained from 3 patients initially diagnosed as having Ph+ acute leukemia, 2 with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and one with acute mixed leukemia. DNA was digested with Bgl II and BamH I. The ber rearrangement was present in the case of acute mixed leukemia (Case 1), but was absent in the 2 cases of ALL (Cases 2 and 3). These results suggest that Case 1 represented a type of blast crisis of chronic myelocytic leukemia which was unusual in the sense of the occurrence of a myeloid-lymphoid conversion and lack of an apparent chronic phase. Cases 2 and 3 appeared to be de novo Ph+ ALL.

Interleukin-2 (IL2) is the obligatory signal for both T cell mitogenesis and in vitro generation of alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). An investigation was made to determine whether an antibody directed against IL2 would suppress the rejection reaction of rat cardiac allografts. Rabbit anti-interleukin 2 (anti-IL2) antiserum was obtained by immunizing at 2 week intervals over a period of 8 weeks with 10(6) U of recombinant human IL2 along with complete Freund's adjuvant. The bioassay for inhibition of IL2 activity by anti-IL2 antiserum was carried out in conjunction with the IL2-dependent cytotoxic T cell (CTLL cell) assay. Cardiac allografts of F344 rats were heterotopically transplanted into ACI rats. Seven daily doses of 1 ml of anti-IL2 antiserum were administered intravenously following transplantation. IL2-driven [3H]thymidine incorporation in CTLL cells was significantly inhibited by rabbit anti-IL2 antiserum. Graft survival in the anti-IL2 serum-treated group was significantly prolonged in a dose-dependent fashion compared to control groups. In conclusion, these results indicate that rabbit anti-IL2 antiserum may prove to be of significant value as an immunosuppressive agent in clinical organ transplantation.