Sequence analysis and characterization of FAR-17c, an androgen-dependent gene in the flank organs of hamsters

This study reports on the isolation and characterization of a cDNA clone, regulated by androgen transcriptionally, in male Golden hamsters' flank organs. Previous studies have reported on the cloning of an androgen-dependent gene, FAR-17a, from the same hamster organ. After castration, the FAR-17c transcription rate decreases faster than FAR-17a but is not suppressed completely. The recovery of transcription by androgen injection is also faster than FAR-17a. In male hamsters, it is expressed strongly in the sebaceous glands and liver, and weakly in the lungs and brain. It has never been expressed in the testes. In the female, it is strongly expressed in the liver and brain and weakly in the lungs and flank organs. Sequence analysis shows that FAR-17c has a long 1062 bp open reading frame and its deduced amino acid sequence (354 residues) is highly homologous to the stearyl-CoA desaturases of the rat liver and mouse adipocytes. Stearyl-CoA desaturase, either in the liver or adipocytes appears to be independent of androgen regulation. Since stearyl-CoA desaturase plays a key role in fatty acid metabolism, further studies on its regulation by androgen are warranted in relation to acne vulgaris.

Strain combination-dependent genesis of necrotizing arteritis in anti-ICAM-1 antibody-perfused renal allografts in the rat

Rat kidneys were perfused with anti-intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (anti-ICAM-1) monoclonal antibody prior to allotransplantation. In the two strain combinations examined, LEF-to-WKAH transplants resulted in accelerated graft loss, and no prolongation of graft survival. The accelerated graft loss was the result of frequent occurrence of necrotizing arteritis within the grafts. In contrast, TO-to-WKAH transplants resulted in no change in graft survival and no arteritis. Necrotizing vasculitis in the LEJ-to-WKAH grafts was characterized by fibrinoid necrosis, collection of cellular infiltrates and serum macromolecular protein entrapment. The F(ab1)2 form of anti-ICAM-1 antibody partially preserved the antibody's capacity to accelerate graft loss. Therefore, although endothelial injury by Fc-mediated cytotoxicity may be involved in vascular damage, other mechanisms also come into play. The amount and distribution pattern of ICAM-1 antigen were identical in both TO and LEJ strains. Intravenous anti-ICAM-1 antibody administration combined with lipopolysaccharide, Poly(I)-Poly(C), warm ischemia to the kidney, or subcutaneous immunization with allogeneic spleen cells, but without renal transplantation, did not generate necrotizing vasculitis or proteinuria. These observations plus our previous data on the rat liver transplantation model clearly show that graft perfusion with anti-ICAM-1 monoclonal antibody invokes extensive vascular damage within allografts by Fc-mediated and Fc-independent mechanisms, depending on the donor-to-host combination.

Straying phenomenon of migrating LHRH neurons and highly polysialylated NCAM in the chick embryo

The present study on unilaterally incompletely placodectomized chick embryos revealed that arrival of migrating LHRH neurons into the forebrain area is dependent on the presence of a central projection of the olfactory nerve. When a fragment of the lateral and medial olfactory epithelium was spared the damage, a small number of LHRH-ir cells were found to migrate into the forebrain along a thin NCAM-H-expressing fiber bundle of the olfactory nerve. In embryos with large lesions which destroyed the lateral olfactory epithelium, the poorly developed NCAM-H-positive olfactory nerve fibers were arrested where they meet the NCAM-positive medial nasal branch of the ophthalmic nerve and frequently fused with this branch fiber bundle. In these embryos, no LHRH-ir cells were detected in the forebrain area. They were deviated from their regular migratory course to the NCAM-H-positive medial nasal branch fiber bundle. This straying phenomenon indicates that some structural support is apparently needed for the migration of LHRH-ir cells, but their migratory route is not completely programmed in their precursor cells in the olfactory placode. In cultures of placodal tissues, the coexistence of migrating LHRH-ir cells with NCAM-H-expressing neural elements was always confirmed. It is suggested therefore that not only the structural support for the migration but also the interaction between LHRH-ir cells and NCAM-H-expressing neural elements is a prerequisite for successful LHRH neuronal migration.

In vivo occurrence of p16 (MTS1) and p15 (MTS2) alterations preferentially in non-small cell lung cancers

Frequent homozygous deletions of the p16 (MTS1) gene encoding a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor were recently reported in various tumor cell lines including examples derived from lung cancers, but direct evidence for their occurrence in lung cancer patients has not been reported thus far. In the present study, alterations of p16 and/or p15, a p16-related cyclin-dependent kinase, were observed not only in lung cancer cell lines but also in the corresponding tumor specimens in vivo, excluding the possibility of in vitro artifacts. Interestingly, a clear specificity was also noted in terms of the affected histological subtype; i.e., only non-small cell lung cancers carried alterations (6 of 20 as compared to 0 of 20 small cell lung cancer cell lines).

Studies on agents with vasodilator and beta-blocking activities. II

A series of phenoxypropanolamines having a hydrazinopyridazinyl moiety was synthesized. Their hypotensive and beta-blocking activities were evaluated after intravenous administration of the compounds to anesthetized rats. Some of them exhibited both activities. In particular, compound 20k is a candidate for clinical use due to its hypotensive activity, equal to that of hydralazine, and its beta-blocking activity, 2.7-fold more potent than that of propranolol.

In vivo effect of a selective endothelin receptor antagonist, BQ-123, on renal function in cyclosporin A-treated rats

To investigate the possible involvement of endogenous endothelin (ET) in cyclosporin A (CsA) nephrotoxicity, we examined the renal effects of the selective [125I]ET-1 binding to porcine aortic membrane (ETA) receptor antagonist, BQ-123 (BQ), on CsA-treated rats. An osmotic minipump filled with BQ or its vehicle (saline), was subcutaneously implanted and animals were treated with CsA (50 mg/kg/d, i.p.) for 4 d. In both BQ- and its vehicle-treated rats, the 24-hour urine volume, urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) excretion, urinary Ca/creatinine (Cr) and urinary NAG/Cr ratios were significantly increased compared with those before administration of CsA. In contrast, after administration of CsA, urinary Cr excretion was significantly decreased in both rat groups. Although urinary NAG excretion and the NAG/Cr ratio in the rats treated with BQ were significantly increased compared with those treated with saline, the serum Cr levels in BQ-treated rats were significantly lower than those in saline-treated rats. Urinary immunoreactive ET-1 (irET-1) excretion in all animals was significantly increased after administration of CsA. There were no significant differences in urinary irET-1 excretion in both BQ-treated and saline-treated rats with and without CsA. Expression of irET-1 was seen in the cytoplasm of renal tubules, but the degree of expression was similar in the BQ-treated and saline-treated rats on CsA. In the BQ-treated rats, small round areas with high grain densities over the glomeruli in the cortex and vesa recta bundles in the outer medulla were masked by the antagonist action of BQ.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A mutant form of the Ran/TC4 protein disrupts nuclear function in Xenopus laevis egg extracts by inhibiting the RCC1 protein, a regulator of chromosome condensation

The Ran protein is a small GTPase that has been implicated in a large number of nuclear processes including transport. RNA processing and cell cycle checkpoint control. A similar spectrum of nuclear activities has been shown to require RCC1, the guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Ran. We have used the Xenopus laevis egg extract system and in vitro assays of purified proteins to examine how Ran or RCC1 could be involved in these numerous processes. In these studies, we employed mutant Ran proteins to perturb nuclear assembly and function. The addition of a bacterially expressed mutant form of Ran (T24N-Ran), which was predicted to be primarily in the GDP-bound state, profoundly disrupted nuclear assembly and DNA replication in extracts. We further examined the molecular mechanism by which T24N-Ran disrupts normal nuclear activity and found that T24N-Ran binds tightly to the RCC1 protein within the extract, resulting in its inactivation as a GEF. The capacity of T24N-Ran-blocked interphase extracts to assemble nuclei from de-membranated sperm chromatin and to replicate their DNA could be restored by supplementing the extract with excess RCC1 and thereby providing excess GEF activity. Conversely, nuclear assembly and DNA replication were both rescued in extracts lacking RCC1 by the addition of high levels of wild-type GTP-bound Ran protein, indicating that RCC1 does not have an essential function beyond its role as a GEF in interphase Xenopus extracts.

Regulation of the transfer genes of Streptomyces plasmid pSN22: in vivo and in vitro study of the interaction of TraR with promoter regions

Expression of the tra operon, essential for conjugative transfer of the 11-kb Streptomyces nigrifaciens plasmid pSN22, is negatively regulated by traR, which is located upstream of the tra operon and transcribed in the opposite orientation. The transcriptional start points for the tra and traR mRNAs were determined by primer extension; they are 72 bp apart and have identical -10 promoter sequences. The TraR protein was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and used for gel retardation and DNase I protection experiments. It bound specifically to the bidirectional tra-traR promoter region and protected four DNA regions, each of which contains a similar 12-bp sequence. The binding was strongest to the region downstream of the tra promoter, probably ensuring that expression of the potentially lethal traB gene is turned off before traR. The efficiency of intramycelial plasmid transfer was decreased by the mutation at the downstream region.

Flies in the group Cyclorrhapha use (3S)-3-hydroxyretinal as a unique visual pigment chromophore

In the class Insecta, retinal and 3-hydroxyretinal are used as chromophores of visual pigments, but the absolute structure of the 3-hydroxyretinal chromophore has yet to be clarified. This study investigates the chirality of 3-hydroxyretinal in the compound eyes of five representative orders of insects. In the orders Odonata, Hemiptera, Neuroptera and Lepidoptera, and suborders Nematocera and Brachycera of the Diptera, only (3R)-3-hydroxyretinal isomers were detected, but dipterans of the suborder Cyclorrhapha (higher flies) had the (3S)-11-cis enantiomer and a mixture of (3R)-all-trans and (3S)-all-trans 3-hydroxyretinal enantiomers; the ratio of the (3R) enantiomer to the sum of both enantiomers of the all-trans isomer was in the range 9-32%. Despite differences in feeding habits, including one species that is a butterfly parasite, all higher flies analysed to date share the same pattern of 3-hydroxyretinal enantiomers, making them a unique group with regard to the nature of the visual pigment chromophore.

Expression of CD44 variant isoforms in normal and neoplastic cells of the lung

CD44 is a cell surface receptor that has been implicated in lymphocyte homing, hematopoiesis, cell migration and possibly also tumor metastasis. In the present study, expression of CD44 variant (CD44v) isoforms was analyzed in 23 lung cancer specimens together with corresponding normal lung tissues by Southern blot analysis coupled with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction amplification. We found that CD44v isoforms were expressed in all lung cancer specimens, suggesting a possible role in the establishment of metastases by these highly malignant tumors, but normal tissues were also positive. This is in marked contrast to the previous reports of essentially negligible expression of CD44v isoforms in normal colon and breast, and suggests a physiological function in the lung.

Preoperative diagnosis of the follicular variant of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid: discrepancy between image and cytologic diagnoses

Preoperative diagnosis of the follicular variant of thyroid papillary carcinoma has not been examined sufficiently. The preoperative diagnosis of six patients with the follicular variant was investigated retrospectively as compared with 46 cases of the common type of papillary carcinoma (papillary structure dominant type), four of follicular carcinoma, 27 of follicular adenoma, and 42 of adenomatous goiter. Cervical soft radiography of the disease exhibited calcification in three of six cases (50%), all of which showed coarse calcification not accompanied by minute type. 201Tl scintigraphy of the disease revealed that four of six cases (66.7%) showed abnormal accumulation in the delayed phase. Four cases had favorable washout and one (16.7%) unfavorable washout. On ultrasonography, one of six cases (16.7%) was diagnosed as papillary carcinoma, four as follicular adenoma, and one as adenomatous goiter. In fine-needle aspiration cytology, two of five cases were diagnosed as papillary carcinoma of class V, two as papillary carcinoma of class IV, and one as follicular tumor suspected of class IIIa. On the other hand, true positive diagnostic rates of the histological types of tumors other than follicular carcinoma by ultrasonography or fine-needle aspiration cytology were approximately 80% and relatively satisfactory. Fine-needle aspiration cytology was the most useful method of diagnosing the follicular variant of papillary carcinoma. It seems necessary to consider the possibility of the follicular variant in diagnosis when papillary carcinoma is suspected from fine-needle aspiration cytology by preoperative diagnosis, while imaging suggests follicular tumor.

The effect of different routes of administration on the metabolism of morphine: the disposition of morphine and its metabolites after topical application

The disposition of morphine (MOR) and its metabolites in the rabbit was measured after topical administration of its hydrochloride salt (MOR.HCl), and their time course was compared with those after intravenous and oral administration. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) ratio of metabolites/MOR after the topical application of MOR.HCl was similar to that after intravenous injection, but differed from that after oral administration. Pharmacokinetic parameters of the disposition of MOR and its metabolites were obtained by a general curve fitting of the time course of plasma concentrations of these compounds after intravenous injection of MOR.HCl and its metabolites, respectively. On the other hand, the time courses of plasma concentrations of the metabolites after intravenous, oral, and topical administration of MOR.HCl were simulated using a simple compartment model without consideration of enterohepatic circulation and the pharmacokinetic parameters obtained as above. The resulting curves of the metabolites agreed well with the observed values except for those after oral administration. These results suggest that no first-pass metabolism of MOR.HCl occurs after percutaneous administration, and that topical administration of this salt is more advantageous than oral administration in terms of bioavailability.

Expression of basic fibroblast growth factor in hyperplastic parathyroid glands from patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type I

Primary hyperparathyroidism was investigated using the presence of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) from the immunohistochemical viewpoint with an anti-bFGF antibody in hyperplastic parathyroid glands of patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type I (MEN-I) and of patients with non-MEN. The results corresponded well with the data from the DNA analysis. Twenty-five hyperplastic parathyroid glands from 11 patients with MEN-I and 38 glands from 20 patients with non-MEN primary hyperparathyroidism were stained immunohistochemically according to the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex procedure. When 50% or more of the cells appeared uniformly stained, it was judged positively stained. In addition, 18 hyperplastic parathyroid glands from patients with MEN-I patients and 24 hyperplastic parathyroid glands from non-MEN patients were also analyzed for DNA using flow cytometry. The ratio of positively stained hyperplastic parathyroid glands was 72% in MEN-I patients and 18% in non-MEN patients. The difference between the two groups was significant (p < 0.01). The nodules consisted of oxyphilic cells in 7 of 25 hyperplastic parathyroid glands from MEN-I patients and in 10 of 38 hyperplastic parathyroid glands from non-MEN patients, and all the cells were positive for bFGF. There was no significant correlation between bFGF staining and the DNA ploidy pattern. bFGF possibly plays a role in the development of parathyroid gland hyperplasia, especially in MEN-I patients. The increase of oxyphilic cells may be correlated with the expression of bFGF.

[Dobutamine stress body surface mapping in Kawasaki disease]

The dobutamine (DOB) stress body surface mapping tests were carried out to detect myocardial ischemia in 23 patients who had Kawasaki disease previously. Eight of 23 patients (group A) had coronary stenosis of 75% or more diameter reduction in major coronary arteries without sufficient collateral flow, as shown by the coronary angiography, but without myocardial infarction. Nine patients (group B) showed no ischemic change exercised 201Tl myocardial scintigram. Six patients (group C) had myocardial infarction due to Kawasaki disease. ST segment potential mapping (0.04 sec after the J point in QRS) and ST-T Isointegral mapping were performed using CVM-3000 system (87 leads), and the following calculations were made: number of leads with horizontal or down-sloping ST depression of 0.10 mV or more, lasting 0.08 sec (nST); row number of the minimum lead in the Isointegral map (Imin); number of positive leads on the seventh row in Isointegral mapping (I-7); number of positive leads on the first row in Isointegral mapping (I-1) and I-7/I-1 ratio. Based on these calculations the criteria for detecting myocardial ischemia (nST < or = 2, Imin < or = 2, I-7/I-1 > or = 1) were created and their usefulness was tested using findings of coronary angiography and exercised 201Tl myocardial scintigram as the golden standard. For the diagnosis of ischemic lesion, the DOB stress body surface mapping test in group A had higher specificity (nST: 100%, Imin: 89%, I-7/I-1: 100% vs. 78%) and higher sensitivity (75%, 50%, 63% vs. 38%), than those by the Treadmill test, while ischemic changes were not detected in group C by this test. From these results it is concluded that it is useful in evaluating ischemic heart disease in children who can not perform Treadmill exercised test adequately.

[Estimation of localization of the accessory pathway in WPW syndrome with a standard 12 lead electrocardiogram. Development of new criteria for children]

In 128 children with WPW syndrome, localization estimation was based on the accessory pathway (ACP) localization criteria of the standard 12 lead electrocardiogram for adults proposed by Gallagher et al., Iwa et al., Lindsay et al., and Reddy et al. The rate of consistency of each set of criteria with body surface mapping (BSM) (based on the criteria of Kamakura et al.) was examined along with evaluation of reliability. Among the localization criteria, the most reliable set for children was that developed by Iwa et al. The addition of the precordial lead QRS transitional zone to the criteria established by Iwa et al. was proposed as a means of making the criteria were appropriate for children with WPW syndrome. The consistency rate of localization with this new criterion was added with the results of BSM reached 93% including interpolations. Thus this new localization criterion was considered effective for the estimation of ACP localization in children with WPW syndrome.