Identification of Escherichia coli and Bacillus stearothermophilus ribosomal protein binding sites on Escherichia coli 5S RNA

E coli [32P]-labelled 5S RNA was complexed with E. coli and B. stearothermophilus 50S ribosomal proteins. Limited T1 Rnase digestion of each complex yielded three major fragments which were analysed for their sequences and rebinding of proteins. The primary binding sites for the E. coli binding proteins were determined to be sequences 18 to 57 for E-L5, 58 to 100 for E-L18 and 101 to 116 for E-L25. Rebinding experiments of purified E. coli proteins to the 5S RNA fragments led to the conclusion that E-L5 and E-L25 have secondary binding sites in the section 58 to 100, the primary binding site for E-L18. Since B. stearothermophilus proteins B-L5 and BL22 were found to interact with sequences 18 to 57 to 100 it was established that the thermophile proteins recognize and interact with RNA sequences similar to those of E. coli. Comparison of the E. coli 5S RNA sequence with those of other prokaryotic 5S RNAs reveals that the ribosomal proteins interact with the most conserved sections of the RNA.

Sodium etidronate in the treatment of Paget's disease of bone. A study of long-term results

Subjects (109) with symptomatic Paget's disease of bone were treated with 5, 10, or 20 mg of sodium etidronate (EHDP)/kg body weight - day for 6 to 24 months. Significant decreases in serum alkaline phosphatase and urinary hydroxyproline were noted after 6 months of therapy; no significant further improvement resulted after prolonged therapy. Some patients maintained biochemical remission after withdrawal of EHDP but others showed a relapse, related primarily to the pretreatment severity. Clinical improvement was noted in 61% of the patients. Similar findings were seen after a second course of EHDP. No side-effects were noted in patients treated with 5 mg of EHDP/kg body weight - day. In patients treated with 10 or 20 mg of EHDP/kg body weight - day, severe diarrhea, bone pain, and nontraumatic fractures were noted in 3, 13, and 12 patients respectively. Quantitative histomorphometry showed mineralization delay in patients receiving 10 or 20 mg of EHDP/kg body weight - day but not in those receiving 5 mg/kg body weight - day. Five milligrams of EHDP/kg body weight - day was effective and appears to be safer than the higher doses.

Adrenoleukodystrophy (Siemerling-creutzfeldt disease): Heterozygote with two clonal fibroblast populations

On the fifth day after subcultivation,, fibroblasts of two unrelated patients with adrenoleukodystrophy (Siemerling-Creutzfeldt disease (SCD)) developed typical morphologic anomalies which could be seen by light microscopy. From skin biopsy material of an obligatorily heterozygous womam, both normal and morphologically defective colonies could be isolated. These findings suggest that the morphologic alterations are an expression of the defect in Siemerling-Creutzfeldt disease. Futhermore, they suggest that the SCD locus is subject to lyonization.