The effect of gossypol on the frequency of DNA-strand breaks in human leukocytes in vitro

Gossypol, a human antifertility agent isolated from the cotton plant, was found to induce a dose-dependent increase in the frequency of DNA-strand breaks in human leukocytes exposed to 2-40 micrograms/ml of the drug for 1 h in serum-free medium in vitro. DNA-strand breaks were studied by alkaline elution or alkaline unwinding of DNA followed by hydroxylapatite-chromatography. No decrease of gossypol-induced DNA-strand breaks was observed after post-treatment incubation times up to 24 h, whereas X-ray-induced DNA breaks disappeared within 2 h under the same incubation conditions. Cells exposed to gossypol in the presence of 10% fetal calf serum showed no or little increase of DNA breaks, suggesting that serum proteins inhibit the DNA-damaging activity of the drug. Both optical isomers of gossypol induced DNA-strand breaks. However, the effect of (-)-gossypol was only about half of that of (+)-gossypol and the racemic form. The induction and persistence of DNA-strand breaks by gossypol, as well as the reduction of this effect in the presence of serum should be considered in the evaluation of the potential in vivo genotoxicity of the drug.

DNA cross-links in human leucocytes treated with vinyl acetate and acetaldehyde in vitro

Human leucocytes were incubated in the presence of vinyl acetate or acetaldehyde (10-20 mM) for 4 h at 37 degrees C in vitro. DNA damage was analysed by alkaline elution. None of the compounds induced a detectable increase in the frequency of DNA strand breaks. Cells exposed to 5 Gy of X-ray immediately after treatment and before alkaline elution showed a clear, dose-dependent retardation of the elution rate in comparison with X-irradiated control cells. These results demonstrate that both vinyl acetate and acetaldehyde induce DNA cross-links in human cells.

On refractory oxide crystals for continuous-wave tunable lasers

It is demonstrated that trapped-hole centers can be a detriment to continuous-wave tunable-laser action in irradiated oxide crystals operating in or near the visible region. Thermochemically reduced oxide crystals appear to be more promising.

Theoretical treatment of microtubules disappearing in solution

The origin of the two-phase (cap, no cap) macroscopic kinetic model of the end of a microtubule is reviewed. The model is then applied to a new theoretical problem, namely, the Mitchison-Kirschner [Mitchison, T. & Kirschner, M. W. (1984) Nature (London) 312, 237-242] experiment in which aggregated microtubules in solution spontaneously decrease in number (shorten to disappearance) while the surviving microtubules increase in length. The model fits the experiments without difficulty.

Characterization of a human interleukin 1 inhibitor

Human urine contains a specific inhibitor of interleukin 1 (IL 1) that is found in increased amounts during fever. This inhibitor was purified by using a sequence of ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE cellulose ion-exchange chromatography, molecular sieve chromatography on Sephacryl S-200, affinity chromatography on concanavalin A (Con A) Sepharose, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Two peaks of IL 1 inhibitory material were eluted from the polyacrylamide gels. One peak contained three proteins of 29, 32, and 67 kd, respectively, which could be visualized by silver staining. The second peak contained only a small amount of the 67 kd protein. A partially purified inhibitor fraction was found to cross-react with antisera directed against two low m.w. urine trypsin inhibitors that are cleavage products of the serum inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor. Although these findings suggest that the urine IL 1 inhibitor may be related to the inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor, a more exact identification will require either a homogeneous inhibitor preparation or a monospecific antiserum.

Characterization of a human interleukin 1 inhibitor

Human urine contains a specific inhibitor of interleukin 1 (IL 1) that is found in increased amounts during fever. This inhibitor was purified by using a sequence of ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE cellulose ion-exchange chromatography, molecular sieve chromatography on Sephacryl S-200, affinity chromatography on concanavalin A (Con A) Sepharose, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Two peaks of IL 1 inhibitory material were eluted from the polyacrylamide gels. One peak contained three proteins of 29, 32, and 67 kd, respectively, which could be visualized by silver staining. The second peak contained only a small amount of the 67 kd protein. A partially purified inhibitor fraction was found to cross-react with antisera directed against two low m.w. urine trypsin inhibitors that are cleavage products of the serum inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor. Although these findings suggest that the urine IL 1 inhibitor may be related to the inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor, a more exact identification will require either a homogeneous inhibitor preparation or a monospecific antiserum.

Stochastic free energy transduction

Theoretical free-energy coupling systems in which the free energy coupling intermediate (e.g., the proton) occurs only in small numbers of molecules per coupling unit are shown to exhibit a number of peculiar properties: (i) the reactions involving the intermediates do not follow conventional kinetic (or nonequilibrium thermodynamic) rate laws in terms of the average concentration or chemical potential of the intermediate, (ii) the variation of the output reaction rate with the average intermediate concentration (or apparent chemical potential) is not unequivocal but depends on whether the input reaction or the leak is varied to alter that concentration, and (iii) when the apparent free energy contained in the average concentration of the intermediate is compared with the average free energy recovered in the output reaction, apparent violations of the second law of thermodynamics can occur. These phenomena are reminiscent of experimental observations in proton-linked free-energy transducing systems that suggest a more direct coupling between electron transfer chains and H+-ATPases than only through a bulk proton gradient, delta muH. Consequently, the chemiosmotic coupling theory can account for those observations if it limits the number of free energy coupling protons per chemiosmotic coupling unit to small values.

Iron-montmorillonite: a spectral analog of Martian soil

Light absorption and reflectance by smectite clays containing various adsorbed ions were measured in the UV, VIS, and NIR ranges and compared to Martian dust and surface soil spectra. Structural iron in the octahedral sheet of smectites is responsible for a characteristic absorption feature in the UV at 240-260 nm, resulting from an O2 --> Fe3+ charge transfer that is similar to one observed in the Martian spectrum. Adsorbed iron affects, via crystal field absorptions, the reflectance of montmorillonite in the VIS and NIR (to 1.3 micrometers), causing stronger absorption and higher opacity in the wavelength range 0.4-0.6 micrometer, without developing any specific pronounced absorption feature. In both general appearance and presence of, or lack of, spectral features, the iron-montmorillonite reflectance spectra in the VIS and NIR are similar to the Martian spectra. At present, however, spectral similarity cannot be used as the sole criterion for constraining Martian mineralogy since several other minerals, other than Fe-smectites, show sufficient similitude to the Martian spectra; other properties have to be explored and combined to obtain a definitive identification.