Inhibition of apoptosis in human tumour cells by okadaic acid

Gamma-radiation, tetrandrine, bistratene A, and cisplatin were all found to induce pronounced morphological changes characteristic of apoptosis and extensive DNA fragmentation in the human BM13674 cell line 8 h after treatment. Apoptosis induced in BM13674 cells by these diverse agents was markedly inhibited by 1 microM okadaic acid, a tumour promoter that inhibits protein phosphatases 1 and 2A. This compound also inhibited the appearance of apoptosis in fresh human leukaemia cells that had been exposed to gamma-radiation. The inhibition of apoptosis was confirmed using fluorescence microscopy and DNA gel electrophoresis. Dephosphorylation of a limited number of proteins was shown to be associated with apoptosis and okadaic acid prevented these dephosphorylations. Previous studies on the BM13674 cell line showed that an inhibitor of protein synthesis failed to prevent apoptosis in these cells. The present data provides further support that posttranslational modification of proteins, in particular, phosphorylation/dephosphorylation status, plays an important role in inhibition/activation of programmed cell death in different human cells after exposure to several cytotoxic agents.

Mutagenesis of the Glu-89 residue in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV-2 reverse transcriptases: effects on nucleoside analog resistance

A Glu-89-->Gly alteration in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase (RT) was previously shown to result in resistance to several dideoxynucleoside analogs and to phosphonoformic acid (PFA; foscarnet). This residue was altered to Ala, Val, Ser, Thr, Gln, Asp, Asn, or Lys, and the ddGTP and PFA sensitivities of the mutant RTs were measured. Replacements with Ala, Gly, Val, and Thr led to resistance to inhibition by ddGTP, while mutants with amino acid Ser, Gln, Asn, Asp, or Lys displayed only moderate or no resistance. A similar result was obtained with inhibition by PFA, except that the Asp-89 mutant also displayed resistance. Furthermore, the introduction of Glu-89-->Gly alteration into the RT of human immunodeficiency virus type 2 likewise rendered it resistant to both ddGTP and PFA.

Reconfigurable interconnections using photorefractive holograms

Using coupled wave theory and the law of refraction, diffraction properties of volume holograms are discussed. Reconfigurable interconnections by either wavelength tuning or spatial division techniques are proposed. Reflection type volume holograms can be used for a large number of reconfigurable interconnections in terms of finite wavelength tunability. Transmission volume holograms encoded in pinhole holograms can be easily reconfigured by spatial light modulator. Experimental demonstrations obtained by using these methods are presented.