Marine biopolymers with cell specificity. II. Purification and characterization of agglutinins from mucus of windowpane flounder Lophopsetta maculata

The windowpane flounder, Lophopsetta maculata, was found to have proteins in the body mucus which agglutinate mouse leukemia cells, L5784Y but not L1210. They also agglutinate rabbit and mouse erythrocytes, a marine yeast and a bacterium, and have weak activity against mouse sarcoma 180 cells, human B, guinea pig, and horse erythrocytes. The hemagglutinating activity was not affected by the treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol, trypsin, or pronase, but was inhibited by a high concentration of N-acetylneuraminic acid. The major active component was purified and found to be a protein having a molecular weight of 68 000 which dissociates into subunits of equal size (16 000). Isoelectrofocusing gave two sharp bands, close together, at pI 4.7 +/- 0.1. The protein contains high amounts of aspartic acid, glutamic acid and glycine, and very little histidine and half-cystine.

Marine biopolymers with cell specificity--III--Agglutinins in the red alga Cystoclonium purpureum: isolation and characterization

The red alga, Cystoclonium purpurcum, contains agglutinins which selectively agglutinate mouse leukemia cells L5178Y but not L1210. It also agglutinated erythrocytes, lymphocytes, and a marine bacterium. The major component was a glycoprotein having a molecular weight of 12,500 daltons. It contained 5.6% carbohydrates and consisted of two subunits.

In vivo direct effects of cholinergic agents on the inferior mesenteric and cardiac ganglia with relation to their receptors in the dog

The relative contribution of nicotinic and muscarinic receptors to the cholinergic transmission of the inferior mesenteric ganglion was studied in spinal dogs by recording changes in perfusion pressure of the inferior mesenteric artery as an indicator of ganglionic function. Preganglionic stimulation elicited a frequency (2.5--320 Hz)-dependent rise in the perfusion pressure, which was inhibited by i.v. hexamethonium (C6) (10 mg/kg) or atropine (0.1 mg/kg) administered after C6. Acetylcholine (ACh) (0.1--1000 microgram) administered into the inferior mesenteric artery to reach the mesenteric ganglion induced a dose-dependent rise in perfusion pressure and this dose-response curve was shifted to the right by C6 or atropine. Bethanechol (1--1000 microgram) i.a. produced a dose-dependent rise in the pressure, which was abolished after i.v. atropine. Tetramethylammonium (1--300 microgram) i.a. elicited an increase in the pressure thought the effects were decreased at larger doses, and these effects were strongly inhibited by i.v. C6. ACh (5--100 microgram) administered into the right subclavian artery to reach the cardiac sympathetic ganglia caused a dose-dependent positive chronotropic effect, which was inhibited by i.a. C6 or atropine. The results suggest that the inferior mesenteric ganglion seems to differ from the cardiac ganglia in relative contribution of nicotinic and muscarinic receptors to the cholinergic transmission.

Effect of ionic environment on densities of membrane-associated particles in presynaptic membranes observed in freeze-fractured synaptosomes

The effects of high-K and high-Ca in the incubation medium on membrane-associated particles of the presynaptic membranes were examined. There was a marked increase in the density of protoplasmic fracture face after incubation in the high-K or high-Ca medium.

Purification and characterization of an agglutinin in the red alga Agardhiella tenera

The red alga, Agardhiella tenera was found to contain a glycoprotein which agglutinates mouse leukemia cells, L5178Y but not L1210. It also agglutinates guinea pig and rabbit erythrocytes, and has weak activity against human A, B and O, mouse, horse and sheep erythrocytes and hamster and mouse lymphocytes. The agglutination was not inhibited by simple sugars. The major active component was purified and determined to be a beta-structure protein containing 2.7% glucose as sugar moiety. The molecular weight was estimated to be 12,000 by gel filtration and 13,000 by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate. Its isoelectric point was 6.1, and it contained high amounts of glycine, serine and threonine, but no half cystine or histidine. It had no subunit structure, and the C- and N-terminal amino acids were threonine and arginine, respectively.

Diagnostic skin test reactions with varicella virus antigen and clinical application of the test

Varicella virus antigen was prepared and used in skin testing of 75 children one to 17 years old. Results of skin tests were analyzed in relation to history of varicella, presence of absence of neutralizing antibody, and susceptibility to clinical varicella. All 22 children with no history of varicella and no neutralizing antibody were negative in the skin test when an erythematous change of greater than or equal to 5 mm in diameter was taken as a positive result. Of the 53 children with neutralizing antibody, only three were negative in the skin test. The skin test was applied clinically in an institution for mentally retarded children immediately after varicella infection occurred in a patient. A total of 65 patients were examined by the skin test, and 24 children with negative results were given live varicella virus vaccine. As a result, no spread of varicella was observed except for three cases, which developed two weeks after onset of illness in the index case. Thus the skin test seems clinically useful in the determination of susceptibility of individuals to clinical varicella.

Application of a live varicella vaccine in children with acute leukemia or other malignant diseases

A live varicella vaccine was used in 11 susceptible children in remission from acute leukemia, ten of whom had been in remission for six months or less, and in 6 children with neuroblastoma and retinoblastoma. In the immunological checkup before vaccination, most of them showed a positive reaction in the skin tests with dinitrochlorobenzene, phytohemagglutinin, purified protein derivative, and viral antigens. Leukopenia (three cases, less than 3,000/cu mm) and decreased IgG level (two cases, 380 mg/dl and 445 mg/dl) were observed in the children with leukemia. Anticancer medication was suspended from one week before vaccination to one week after vaccination. The only clinical reaction was a minute rash that appeared three weeks after vaccination in two children with leukemia and that disappeared within three days. Serological responses by complement fixing and neutralizing (NT) tests were detected in all the vaccinated children four weeks after vaccination, and NT antibody was still detected 28 months after vaccination in the two patients tested. Three of the vaccines were exposed to natural varicella at home and in the classroom 2 to 18 months after vaccination, but they were free from any varicella symptoms.

Five-year survivors among children with acute leukemia in Japan

This Japanese nation-wide survey was carried out on long-term survivors among children with leukemia, i.e. those who had survived more than 5 years by October of 1974. Eighty-three children were surveyed. This was about 2.5 times as many as the 31 children surveyed in the first Japanese nation-wide survey in 1971. Clinical and laboratory data were also analyzed statistically and compared to that of the first survey. Most of the children had received inductive therapy according to the old protocol, but 10 children were treated with a combination of VCR and steroids. Nine of these 10 were still in a state of remission. CNS involvement occurred in 15.3% of the cases and a late onset of this complication implied a prognostic significance: among the 9 children whose complication had occurred 3.5 years after onset of the disease, 6 died. The relapse rate decreased between the 4th and 5th year after initiation of maintenance therapy. The percentage of the risk of death became zero after the 9th year.