Cloning of the putative tumour suppressor gene for hereditary multiple exostoses (EXT1)

Hereditary multiple exostoses is an autosomal dominant disorder that is characterized by short stature and multiple, benign bone tumours. In a majority of families, the genetic defect (EXT1) is linked to the Langer-Giedion syndrome chromosomal region in 8q24.1. From this region we have cloned and characterized a cDNA which spans chromosomal breakpoints previously identified in two multiple exostoses patients. Furthermore, the gene harbours frameshift mutations in affected members of two EXT1 families. The cDNA has a coding region of 2,238 bp with no apparent homology to other known gene sequences and thus its function remains elusive. However, recent studies in sporadic and exostosis-derived chondrosarcomas suggest that the 8q24.1-encoded EXT1 gene may have tumour suppressor function.

Ensemble competitive learning neural networks with reduced input dimension

Conventional neural networks utilize all the dimensions of the original input patterns for training and classification. However, a particular attribute of the input patterns does not necessarily contribute to classification and may even cause misclassification in certain cases. A new ensemble competitive learning method using the reduced input dimension is proposed. In contrast to the previous ensemble neural networks which adjust learning parameters, the proposed method takes advantage of the information in each dimension of the input patterns. Since the degree of contribution of each attribute to classification is not known beforehand, the different input data sets with one dimension reduced are presented to multiple neural networks. The classification information from each competitive learning neural network is then combined to make a final decision for classification. In order to improve classification accuracy, the ambiguous output neurons are eliminated which cannot be assigned to any class after training. We use three consensus schemes to judge the classification using ensemble neural networks. The experimental results with remote sensing and speech data indicate the improved performance of the proposed method.

Helicobacter pylori infection does not increase gastric antrum mucosal cell proliferation

OBJECTIVES

Gastric carcinoma is the world's second most common cancer. Recent studies suggest an association between Helicobacter pylori and gastric carcinoma. The aim of this study was to address the effects of H. pylori infection on gastric antrum mucosal cell proliferation.

METHODS

Forty patients undergoing upper endoscopy for standard indications were included in the study. A rapid urease test was used to determine the presence of H. pylori. Epithelial cell proliferation was determined by immunohistochemical techniques utilizing monoclonal antibody to bromodeoxyuridine.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in the number of labeled cells and in the proliferation fraction (p > 0.1) when patients with H. pylori were compared with those without, and when those over the age of 50 were compared to those under 50. The presence of ulcers similarly had no effect (p > 0.1).

CONCLUSION

Helicobacter pylori infection does not increase gastric antrum mucosal cell proliferation.

Neonatal nasal deformities secondary to nasal continuous positive airway pressure

Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is being used more frequently in neonatal intensive care units to avoid endotracheal intubation and its attendant complications. Nasal deformities secondary to the nares-occluding prongs employed to deliver the CPAP in former preterm infants have been recognized, and prevention and surgical treatment of these deformities are discussed. An awareness of the potential for these deformities is important to all pediatric otolaryngologists as nasal CPAP is gaining increasing favor as a primary treatment for respiratory disease of the newborn.

Ion transport in rabbit proximal colon: effects of sodium, amiloride, cAMP, and epinephrine

Effects on ion transport of extracellular Na+ and Cl- ([Na+]o and [Cl-]o, respectively), HCO3(-)-CO2, 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8-BrcAMP), epinephrine, and transport inhibitors were examined in short-circuited rabbit proximal colonic mucosa. Net Na+ flux was independent of Cl- but partially (60%) dependent on HCO3(-)-CO2. Net Cl- flux was partially (70%) dependent on Na+ and totally dependent on HCO3(-)-CO2. Both fluxes peaked between 25 and 60 mM and decreased at higher concentrations. Apical Na+ influx but not Cl- influx obeyed the same pattern. The inhibition resulted from increases in mucosal but not serosal [Na+]o and not from increases in [Cl-]o. Amiloride and benzamil (0.2-0.3 mM) partially inhibited net Na+ absorption, as did 8-BrcAMP, but these effects were independent of the inhibition seen at high [Na+]o. Net Cl- absorption was inhibited by 8-BrcAMP but not by 0.2 mM amiloride. At high [Na+]o and [Cl-]o, there were a residual ion flux suggesting HCO3- secretion and, in the presence of 8-BrcAMP and amiloride or benzamil, net secretions of Na+ and Cl-, the former larger than the latter. Epinephrine, via alpha 2-receptors, reversed the ion-transport effects of high [Na+]o but did not stimulate a mucosal-to-serosal unidirectional HCO3- flux (as shown in rabbit ileum). 4-Acetamido-4'-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (0.5 mM) and bumetanide (10 microM) had no effect on ion transport. The results suggest 1) Na+ entry via two Na(+)-H+ exchangers, one inhibited by amiloride and cAMP and the other inhibited by high [Na+]o and stimulated by epinephrine; 2) Cl- entry via Cl(-)-HCO3- exchange; 3) HCO3- secretion at high [Na+]o and [Cl-]o; and 4) cAMP-induced secretion of Na+ and Cl- at high [Na+]o and [Cl-]o.

Human insulin receptor mutated at threonine 1336 functions normally in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Phosphorylation of threonine 1336 of the human insulin receptor (HIR) is stimulated by insulin or 4 beta-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) transfectant cells expressing the wild type receptor (CHO/HIR). To examine the role of this phosphorylation in insulin signal transduction, a mutant human insulin receptor, in which threonine 1336 was replaced with asparagine, has been stably expressed in CHO cells (CHO/HIRT1336N). CHO cell lines expressing equivalent numbers of the wild type or the mutant receptor were developed, which bound 125I-insulin comparably (Kd = 0.1 nM). After stimulation of CHO/HIR or CHO/HIRT1336N cells with insulin, the wild type and mutant receptors internalized the hormone and were down-regulated with similar rates. Hormone stimulation of the receptor tyrosine kinase activity was also unaffected by the mutation. Metabolic and mitotic effects of insulin were also unimpaired by the mutation. Thus, insulin stimulated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity, glycogen synthesis, and thymidine incorporation into DNA similarly in CHO/HIR and CHO/HIRT1336N cells. These data suggest that by itself phosphorylation of threonine 1336 has no significant effect on insulin binding, regulation of insulin receptor expression, or insulin signal transduction.

Naloxone-responsive encephalopathy in end-stage renal disease

We report the case of a 61-year-old diabetic woman with end-stage renal disease who was on hemodialysis and who developed an encephalopathy and episodes of hypotension and hypoventilation, all of which showed rapid and dramatic responses on multiple occasions to the administration of the opiate antagonist naloxone. Improvement in encephalopathy was confirmed by electroencephalography. The patient had received no exogenous opiates and had a normal beta-endorphin level. She subsequently developed myoclonus and was treated for possible aluminum overload that was of borderline magnitude. We conclude that this patient had an encephalopathy that responded to opiate receptor blockade. Because of cerebrovascular disease, episodes of diminished blood pressure due to a state of increased opiate receptor stimulation may have unmasked this underlying encephalopathy. These effects may have been secondary to increased opiate-binding sites or to elevated central nervous system levels of endogenous opiates.

Origin of a soluble truncated transferrin receptor

It has recently become evident that elevation of reticulocytes in the circulation of several species, including humans, leads to the formation of a noncellular transferrin receptor (TFR). In humans, the majority of the released receptor is in truncated form (Shih et al: J Biol Chem 265:19077, 1990). In other species (sheep, rat, chicken) the receptor is associated with a vesicle (exosome) and is full length (Johnstone et al: J Cell Physiol 147:27, 1991). In this report we show that in sheep reticulocytes incubated in vitro, the majority (approximately 75%) of the released receptor is of native size and is exosome associated. A fraction (approximately 25%) is a truncated form of approximately 80 Kd corresponding to the exofacial domain of the TFR. Herein we also address the question of whether the truncated receptor originates by proteolytic cleavage directly from the cell surface or by cleavage from exosomes. Using surface 125I-labeled sheep reticulocytes as the experimental model, we show that during in vitro maturation, 125I-TFR of native size appears in exosomes before the soluble, truncated, exofacial domain of the receptor is detected in the medium. Because cleavage and release of the exofacial domain would likely leave the truncated cytoplasmic and transmembrane domains in the originating membrane (plasma membranes or exosomes), both fractions were probed with antibodies specifically generated against the cytoplasmic domain of the receptor. Only exosomes, not plasma membranes, show the presence of a approximately 17-Kd peptide recognized by the antibody to the cytoplasmic domain of the transferrin receptor. Thus, it is concluded that the truncated, soluble receptor originates from exosomes in sheep. A 17-Kd cytoplasmic domain of the TFR was also detected in exosomes from the reticulocytes of an anemic man, suggesting that the truncated receptor in man may also originate from exosomes. Using in vitro cultures of surface 125I-labeled sheep reticulocytes, it is concluded that exosome formation is the principal route for maturation-associated loss of the TFR. A similar conclusion was made earlier (Johnstone et al: J Cell Physiol 147:27, 1991) for the nucleoside transporter of maturing sheep reticulocytes.

Interaction of the human insulin receptor tyrosine kinase from the baculovirus expression system with protein kinase C in a cell-free system

The cytoplasmic domain of the human insulin receptor (HIR) from the baculovirus expression system (BIRK) is a soluble, constitutively activated protein-tyrosine kinase. In a cell-free system, BIRK is phosphorylated on serine and threonine residues by protein kinase C (PKC) purified from rat brain. Two-dimensional tryptic phosphopeptide mapping of PKC-phosphorylated BIRK identified one phosphothreonine and three phosphoserine peptides, which were also in tryptic digests of insulin receptors from insulin- or PMA-treated Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with the HIR. After Lys-C proteolysis of PKC-phosphorylated BIRK, radioactive phosphopeptides were purified on a C8 reverse-phase high pressure liquid chromatography column. Amino acid sequence analysis identified a phosphothreonine peptide corresponding to amino acids 1331-1340 of the HIR. This peptide contains only one threonine, amino acid 1336, which is identified as a site for PKC phosphorylation in BIRK. CHO cells transfected with the wild type (CHO/HIR) or a mutant human insulin receptor (CHO/HIRT1336N), in which threonine 1336 was substituted with asparagine, were 32P labeled and then stimulated with insulin or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). Two-dimensional phosphopeptide analysis of the HIR revealed that phosphorylation of phosphothreonine peptide T, shown to be in PKC-phosphorylated BIRK, was increased by insulin or PMA. However, the corresponding peptide was not in the mutant receptor. Therefore, the present study directly identifies threonine 1336 in the HIR as a phosphorylation site for insulin and PMA. These data also show that BIRK can be used as a model for the study of the regulation of the insulin receptor kinase.

Pulmonary tuberculosis: CT findings--early active disease and sequential change with antituberculous therapy

To evaluate findings of active pulmonary tuberculosis on computed tomographic (CT) scans and their sequential changes before and after antituberculous chemotherapy, 29 patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis and 12 patients with recent reactivation were studied prospectively. The diagnosis of active pulmonary tuberculosis was based on positive acid-fast bacilli in sputum (n = 29) and changes on serial radiographs obtained during treatment (n = 12). Twenty-six patients were followed up with CT during treatment for 1-20 months. Lungs from the cadavers of nine other patients, who died of pulmonary tuberculosis, were studied to provide a pathologic basis for diagnosis. At examination with CT, centrilobular lesions (nodules or branching linear structures 2-4 mm in diameter) were most commonly seen (n = 39 [95%]); in the 26 patients with follow-up, most of these lesions disappeared within 5 months after the start of treatment. In 11 of 12 patients with recent reactivation, CT clearly differentiated old fibrotic lesions from new active lesions. Lesions in and around the small airways appear to be the most characteristic CT feature of early active tuberculosis and may be a reliable criterion for disease activity.

Growth factors, receptor kinases, and protein tyrosine phosphatases in normal and malignant melanocytes

Normal human melanocyte proliferation and differentiation is dependent on stimulation of one of three growth factor/receptor systems. They are fibroblast growth factor (FGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and mast cell growth factor (MGF), which activate the FGF receptor, c-Met, and c-Kit, respectively, known to be receptor tyrosine kinases. In contrast, human melanoma cells from primary nodular and metastatic lesions grow autonomously partially because of inappropriate production of basic FGF (bFGF) and continuous activation of the bFGF-receptor kinase. Activation of transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinases in melanocytes stimulates not only proliferation but also the expression of pigmentation. Melanoma cells constitutively express several tyrosyl-phosphorylated proteins that in normal melanocytes are stimulated in response to growth factors. This high level of phosphorylation was not due to either the presence of constitutively active Kit kinase and Met kinase nor to the absence of any of several known protein tyrosine phosphatases. Because bFGF by itself does not transform melanocytes to melanomas, there must be additional cooperating factors that confer the malignant phenotype to pigment cells.

Dietary soluble fiber and cholesterol affect serum cholesterol concentration, hepatic portal venous short-chain fatty acid concentrations and fecal sterol excretion in rats

Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets containing 7.5% dietary fiber as cellulose (control), pectin, psyllium or oat bran with or without 0.3% added cholesterol for 3 wk. Among rats fed cholesterol, liver total lipid and cholesterol concentrations were significantly lower in groups fed pectin, psyllium and oat bran compared with cellulose-fed controls. Cholesterol feeding resulted in significantly greater liver cholesterol in rats fed cellulose, psyllium and oat bran but not in those fed pectin. Among rats fed cholesterol, total serum cholesterol levels were significantly lower in those fed pectin than in those fed psyllium, oat bran or cellulose. When cholesterol was fed, the oat bran-fed group had significantly higher butyrate and the pectin-fed group had significantly higher propionate concentrations in the hepatic portal vein than did cellulose-fed controls. The groups fed psyllium, oat bran and pectin all had significantly higher fecal neutral sterols than did the cellulose-fed group when cholesterol was fed. Without dietary cholesterol only pectin-fed rats had significantly higher fecal excretion of neutral sterols than those fed cellulose. Dietary fiber did not influence fecal acidic sterol excretion. However, the addition of cholesterol to these fiber diets was accompanied by a significantly higher bile acid excretion than that of animals fed cellulose without cholesterol. The results of this study indicate that soluble dietary fibers may exert their hypocholesterolemic effect by increasing excretion of fecal neutral sterols.

Maturation-associated loss and incomplete de novo synthesis of the transferrin receptor in peripheral sheep reticulocytes: response to heme and iron

Hemin, but not iron, in the culture medium stimulates the maturation-associated loss of the transferrin receptor from sheep reticulocytes (t1/2 for loss approximately 6 hr) and its appearance in a population of externalized vesicles. A similar pattern is seen with nucleoside binding (a measure of the nucleoside transporter), where hemin increases the loss of binding activity from the cells during culture, concomitant with an increase in nucleoside binding in the externalized vesicles. Sheep reticulocytes retain the ability to synthesize the transferrin receptor, but the 35S-labeled receptors are not detected in released vesicles. Whereas hemin stimulates the loss of 35S-labeled transferrin receptors from the cell (t1/2 for loss approximately 20 hr), nonheme iron is more effective than heme. This difference in response of native and 35S-labeled receptor to hemin and iron supplements appears to be related to the differences in the two classes of receptors. Although the 35S-labeled receptor binds transferrin and both native and 35S-labeled peptides comigrate after chemical deglycosylation, the 35S-receptor is approximately 2 kD smaller than the native receptor and fails to acquire its complete size even when chased for up to 24 hr. Moreover, the 35S-labeled receptor is not expressed at the cell surface, but is retained in a nonrecycling compartment, where it is insensitive to digestion by trypsin at both 0 degrees C and 37 degrees C.

Pretarsal fixation of gold weights in facial nerve palsy

Implantation of a gold weight in the pretarsal space was performed on 17 patients with poor eyelid closure secondary to facial nerve weakness. Successful results were obtained in 14 (82%) of 17 patients. Postmortem histopathology of such a case demonstrated firm fibrous encapsulation of the weight. Although some authors advocate fixation of lid weights to the orbital septum, fixation in the pretarsal space is preferred for the following reasons: (a) "cheesewiring" is less likely to occur, (b) a limited levator recession may be more easily performed, (c) greater mechanical benefits are obtained, and (d) the potential for inferior migration is less.

Phorbol ester inhibition of Na-H exchange in rabbit proximal colon

In rabbit proximal colon, in vitro addition of phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDB, 10(-7) M) to the serosal bathing medium inhibits mucosal (m)-to-serosal (s) unidirectional Na flux (JsmNa) without altering JsmNa or unidirectional Cl fluxes. Similar results were obtained when amiloride (2 X 10(-4) M) was added to the mucosal bathing medium. No additivity of effect was seen when tissues were exposed to both agents. Measurements with carboxyfluorescein reveal that the two agents cause equal decreases of intracellular pH (pHi), an effect that is dependent on the presence of extracellular Na (Na replacement also decreases pHi). No additivity of pHi effects is seen when both agents are added together. To determine the membrane site of this PDB-inhibitable Na-H exchange, Na influx across the luminal border of proximal colon was measured and was found to be inhibited equally by PDB and amiloride. We conclude that PDB, by activation of protein kinase C, inhibits electro-neutral amiloride-sensitive Na-H exchange in the luminal membrane of proximal colon.