Immunological studies of injuried connective tissue. Serological and biological properties of antisera to normal and to streptococcal cell wall injured rabbit skin

Guinea-pigs were immunized with extracts of normal rabbit skin or with extracts of skin lesions induced by intradermal injection of cell walls of group A streptococci. In passive haemagglutination, antisera to lesion extracts were selective for polymorphonuclear leucocyte antigens while antisera to extracts of normal skin reacted equally well with extracts of normal skin and extracts of lesions. Upon intradermal injection into rabbits, antisera to normal skin induced a biphasic intermittent reaction, characterized by mononuclear cell infiltration and persisting for 2–3 weeks. A chronic phase was not seen in rabbits presensitized to guinea-pig serum. Antisera to lesion extracts induced only an acute inflammation which was diminished by 3 days and was gone by 12 days. Reactions were more severe when antisera and streptococcal cell walls were injected into the same site.

Enumeration of tubercle bacilli in sputum of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

A method for precise microscopic enumeration of acid-fast bacilli in the sputum of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis is described. The total number of acid-fast bacilli and the number of culturable cell units of tubercle bacilli per milliliter of sputum were determined in 269 specimens from 28 patients collected prior to and/or during chemotherapy, to establish the usefulness of the procedure for evaluation of the effects of chemotherapy. Prior to or very early in the course of therapy, there was good agreement between microscopically and culturally measurable bacilli in 27 of 28 patients. Thereafter, there were systematic divergences in five patients and occasional divergences in most others. Yet, in general, in 20 of the 28 patients, the microscopically determined population provided a useful measure of the number of culturable tubercle bacilli present. Although the microscopic procedure does not allow species identification of mycobacteria or differentiation between viable and nonviable cells, it often provided, within hours rather than days or weeks, useful information on the residual burden of acid-fast bacilli in sputum during chemotherapy. The nature of the disease in those patients in whom microscopy failed to provide useful information is discussed.

Thio reduction of human 2 -macroglobulin. The subunit structure

1. Human alpha(2)-macroglobulin was prepared from a fraction obtained during the large-scale separation of normal human plasma proteins for clinical use. 2. Sedimentation-equilibrium measurements indicated a molecular weight of 725000. A value of 18.1S was obtained for s(0) (20,w). 3. The dissociation that occurs in the pH range 4.5-2.5 and in the region of neutrality in urea-containing solutions is consistent with a dimeric structure of the molecule. 4. The effects of the thiol reagents mercaptoethanol, mercaptoethylamine and N-acetylcysteine were investigated over a range of experimental conditions. Distinct components having sedimentation coefficients of 15, 12 and 8.5S were identified. 5. Conditions were found under which limited reduction with thiol liberated a subunit with a molecular weight approximately one-quarter of that of the intact molecule. This subunit retains the serological specificity of the whole molecule.

Treatment conditions, dogmatism, and perception of demand characteristics

In an attitude study 158 Ss' perceptions of demand characteristics were investigated in relation to treatment condition and dogmatism (Rokeach, 1960). Ss receiving the experimental treatment were expected to show greater awareness of E's purpose than control Ss because of less confusing cues for the former Ss. Dogmatism was expected to be either negatively related to accurate perception of demand cues or unrelated to such awareness. Analysis of responses to a five-question awareness scale was performed by a 3 by 2 analysis of variance using the method of unweighted means (Winer, 1962). Experimental Ss showed significantly more accurate perceptions of demand cues ( p < .01) than control Ss, but dogmatism had no significant effects. Tentative interpretations of these data were provided in terms of the phenomena of perceptual synthesis and perceptual analysis (Levy & Rokeach, 1960), and suggestions for further research were given.

The biological activity of subfragment 1 prepared from heavy meromyosin

1. The action of trypsin, chymotrypsin and subtilisin on the adenosine-triphosphatase and actin-combining activities, as measured by viscometric means, of H-meromyosin were compared. 2. Subfragment 1 produced by prolonged tryptic digestion has a molecular weight of 129000. 3. The preparations isolated by gel filtration and actin combination were shown to be similar. 4. Subfragment-1 preparations possess appreciably higher adenosine-triphosphatase activities than H-meromyosin when related to total nitrogen. 5. Chromatographic and gelfiltration studies indicated that adenosine-triphosphatase activity is not distributed uniformly in all fractions of subfragment 1. 6. The Ca(2+)-activated adenosine triphosphatase of subfragment 1 was stimulated by thiol reagents in a similar fashion to myosin and H-meromyosin. 7. Subfragment 1 differed from myosin and H-meromyosin in that its adenosine triphosphatase was only slightly activated by Mg(2+) in the presence of actin. 8. A subfragment-1-like component was obtained by chymotryptic digestion of H-meromyosin. 9. The results obtained from enzymic and hydrodynamic studies and from amino acid analyses are compatible with the concept of one molecule of H-meromyosin giving rise to one molecule of subfragment 1 on proteolytic digestion.