Serum protein profile in normal pregnancy and in relation to parity

Forty pregnant females of third trimester and their twenty non-pregnant controls were screened for Hb%, PCV and serum protein differentials in relation to parity. Paper electrophoresis method revealed significant rise in mean levels of serum alpha 1, alpha 2 and beta-globulins in pregnant females as compared to non-pregnant controls, which may be due to the rise in pregnancy-associated-proteins. Radial immunodiffusion method revealed rise in mean serum IgM level with increasing parity, whereas a decrease in mean serum IgG level was observed which might be due to the placental membrane-transfer and/or decreased IgG synthesis. Haematological investigations revealed decreased Hb% and PCV which may have been caused both due to increased demand of nutrients as well as by haemodilution, associated with water retention during pregnancy.

Alcohol inhibits morphological and biochemical differentiation of C6 glial cells in culture

Cultures of glial cell lines (C6) were exposed to 10-micromilligram Dexamethasone which is known to cause morphological differentiation and induction of 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase (CNP) in these cells. Ethanol in a concentration of 1.5% abolished these responses, and at 1% diminished them.

Coping with perinatal death

After the death of a newborn baby, parents experience a grieving process much the same as any other form of grief. This process should be recognized as a normal event. It may be especially traumatic when siblings must share in the process. Parents go through the various stages of grief. The health care provider should fulfill his or her role in the grieving process by recognizing the stages of grief and providing help and support to the family at appropriate times. From the time of the baby's death until many months after, health professionals should help make the grieving process more tolerable.

Biochemical studies on pulmonary response to inhalation of methylene chloride

Biochemical response to the toxic lung damage induced by inhalation of methylene chloride was studied. Significant increases in protein, hexose, sialic acid, lactate dehydrogenase, acid and alkaline phosphatase content were observed in the cell-free lavage effluents from lungs of exposed rats compared to the control animals. This was interpreted as increased cell damage accompanied by enhanced pulmonary secretions, perhaps of glycoproteins and mucins, as a result of inhalation toxicity.

Characterization of a 130,000-dalton glycoprotein isolated from pulmonary secretions of patients with alveolar proteinosis

A new glycoprotein with an apparent molecular weight of 130,000 was isolated, purified, and partially characterized from the pulmonary secretions which accumulate so massively in the lungs of patients suffering from pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. The amino acid analysis of the glycoprotein showed the presence of relatively high amounts of glycine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, leucine, and valine, and small amounts of hydroxyproline, but no hydroxylysine. It contains approximately 6% hexose, 3% sialic acid, and 4% glucosamine. The neutral sugars are galactose, mannose, and fucose. This alveolar glycoprotein cross-reacted with an antiserum prepared in rabbits against a larger glycoprotein (250,000 mol wt) isolated from the same source, suggesting that the larger alveolar glycoprotein may be the precursor of the smaller one.

Isolation and characterization of proteoglycans from porcine lungs

Proteoglycans were extracted from porcine lungs with 4 M guanidinium chloride. The extract was subjected to associative density gradient centrifugation, and four equal fractions, labeled A1 through A4 from the bottom to the top of the gradient, were obtained. The pooled A1 fractions containing proteoglycan aggregates were further fractionated by dissociative density gradient centrifugation to yield four equal fractions labeled A1D1 through A1D4 from the bottom to the top of the gradient. These fractions were analyzed for their protein, uronic acid, glucosamine, galactosamine, hexose, and sialic acid content. The fraction A1D1 with the highest buoyant density had the highest content of uronic acid and galactosamine, and lowest content of protein, indicating the enrichment of proteoglycan monomers at the bottom of the dissociative density gradient. As the density of the gradient decreased, the protein, hexoses, and sialic acid content increased, whereas uronic acid and galactosamine content decreased. The amino acid analysis showed similar composition for all four fractions with aspartic acid, serine, glutamic acid, proline, glycine, alanine, valine, and leucine as the major constituent amino acids. No hydroxyproline was detected in any of the fractions. As the buoyant density of the fractions decreased, the aspartic acid content increased and glycine content decreased.

Characterization of a high-molecular-weight glycoprotein isolated from the pulmonary secretions of patients with alveolar proteinosis

A high-molecular-weight glycoprotein was isolated, purified and partially characterized from the insoluble pulmonary secretions accumulating in lungs of patients suffering from pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. On electrophoresis in 5% polyacrylamide gel in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate and 2-mercaptoethanol, the purified protein gave one major band as detected by Coomassie Blue as well as with periodic acid/Schiff staining. An apparent mol.wt. of 250000 was estimated for this glycoprotein. Amino acid analysis showed that it contains hydroxyproline, and relatively high amounts of glycine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid and leucine. It contains approx. 6% hexose, 3% sialic acid and 2% glucosamine. The neutral sugars are galactose, mannose and fucose. An antiserum prepared in rabbits against this high-molecular-weight glycoprotein cross-reacted with two smaller glycoproteins (mol.wts. 62000 and 36000) isolated from the same pulmonary secretions of these patients. A complementary observation was also made when this large alveolar glycoprotein cross-reacted with an antiserum prepared in rabbits against the smaller glycoprotein (mol.wt. 36000). It appears that this high-molecular-weight glycoprotein may be the precursor of the two smaller glycoproteins present in the same diseased pulmonary secretions.

Hyaluronic acid in the pulmonary secretions of patients with asthma

Hyaluronic acid was the only glycosaminoglycan found in the pulmonary secretions of patients with asthma. The compound had a hexuronate/hexosamine molar ratio of about 1:1. Glucosamine constituted over 98% of the hexosamines, the remaining being galactosamine. The compound moved as a single spot with the mobility of standard hyaluronic acid on cellulose acetate electrophoresis, and this spot disappeared after digestion with testicular hyaluronidase. Even after extensive proteolysis and purification, the compound was associated with small amounts of protein, the major amino acids of which were aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glutamic acid, glycine and valine.

Hyaluronic acid in the pulmonary secretions of patients with alveolar proteinosis

Hyaluronic acid was the only glycosaminoglycan found in the pulmonary secretions of patients with alveolar proteinosis. The compound gave a hexouronate/hexosamine molar ratio of about 1:1. Glucosamine constituted over 98% of the hexosamines, the remaining being galactosamine. It moved as a single spot with the mobility of standard hyaluronic acid on cellulose acetate electrophoresis, and this spot disappeared after digestion with hyaluronidase. It was associated with small amounts of proteins, the major amino acids of which are aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, and leucine.

Lipid composition of sputum from patients with asthma and patients with cystic fibrosis

Lipids from the sputum of patients with asthma and with cystic fibrosis were isolated and characterized. In both cases, lipids constituted approximately 30% of the dry material. Phosphatidlycholine was the most abundant lipid, Significant amounts of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol were present. Hexosyl ceramides, sphingomyelin, phosphatidylinositol, lysophosphatidylcholine, and lysophosphatidylethanolamine were present as minor lipid components. Apperciable quantities of neutral lipids were present, of which triglycerides and cholesterol were the main constituents. Phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, and phosphatidylgycerol were highly saturated. Large amounts of phosphatidylcholine containing mostly palmitic acid, particularly in the asthmatic sputum, suggest htat this highly saturated. Large amounts of phosphatidylcholine containing mostly palmitic acid, particularly in the asthmatic sputum, suggests that this highly saturated phospholipid is synthesized in the upper airways for reasons other than its beneficial surface-active properties in the alveoli.

Characterization of phospholipase A from pulmonary secretions of patients with alveolar proteinosis

Phospholipase A2 (EC 3.1.1.4) from the insoluble pulmonary secretions that accumulate in the lungs of patients with alveolar proteinosis has been purified. The pure enzyme gives a single sharp band upon sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Amino acid analysis of the protein shows high content of cystine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, glycine, leucine and lysine. Only one N-terminal residue, alanine, can be detected. Gel filtration as well as sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicate an apparent molecular weight of 75 000 for the enzyme. The enzyme activity has a pH optimum between 7.5 and 8.5 and is stimulated by sodium deoxycholate and CaCl2.

Metabolism of arachidonic acid in rabbit alveolar macrophages

Rabbit alveolar macrophages incorporated radioactive arachidonic acid primarily into phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin, and triglycerides. When these cells, so labelled, were washed and treated with polystyrene beads, there was a distinct and reproducible decrease in the radioactivity of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and triglycerides. This decrease was accounted for by the appearance of two major prostaglandins, PGE2 and PGF2alpha, and uncharacterized hydroxy fatty acids, which may be 12-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid, 5-hydroxy-6,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid, and/or 8-hydroxy-9,11,14-eicosatrienoic acid.

Phospholipase A in pulmonary secretions of patients with alveolar proteinosis

This report presents evidence for the presence of phospholipase A2 (EC 3.1.1.4) activity in the insoluble pulmonary secretions of patients with alveolar proteinosis. The enzyme activity has a pH optimum between 7.5 and 8.5 and is stimulated by deoxycholate and Ca2+.

Lipid chemotaxins isolated from culture filtrates of Escherichia coli and from oxidized lipids

Lipid extracts of sterile culture filtrates of Escherichia coli were shown to contain approximately 75% of the chemotactic activity for human polymorphonuclear leukocytes and rabbit alveolar macrophages. Fractionation and purification of these lipids revealed the presence of many unknown lipids of widely different properties, but all were anionic and at very low concentrations, chemotactic. The only one of active molecules that could be identified was an unsaturated ultraviolet-absorbing hydroxy fatty acid, which, following catalytic reduction with hydrogen, was found to be hydroxyeicosanoic acid. This fatty acid's chromatographic behavior was very similar to that of 12-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (HETE), which is a potent chemotaxin for polymorphonuclear leukocytes and macrophages. Unknown chemotaxins could be generated by the oxidation of known unsaturated lipids. Prostaglandins A2 and E2 produced potent chemotaxins upon aerobic oxidation. Malonaldehyde, a peroxidation product of unsaturated lipids, when reacted with phosphatidylethanolamine in aerobic conditions, also produced strong chemotactic agents. The chemotactic activity of these products could be destroyed by catalytic reduction with hydrogen and by methylation with dry methanolic HCl. These data indicate that the nonenzymatic oxidation of unsaturated lipids generates some products that are potent chemotaxins for mammalian inflammatory cells.

Lipid composition of airway secretions from patients with asthma and patients with cystic fibrosis

Lipids from the particulate material obtained from pulmonary lavage of patients with asthma and cystic fibrosis were isolated and characterized. In both cases, lipids constituted 30 to 40 per cent of the dry insoluble material and phosphatidylcholine was the predominant lipid. Significant amounts of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidyglycerol were present. Hexosyl ceramides, spingomyelin, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, and lyso(bis)phosphatidic acid were present as minor lipid components. Appreciable quantities of neutral lipids were also found. Significant amounts of lysophosphatides and free fatty acids were present only in the lavage sediment from patients with asthma, and not in patients with cystic fibrosis. Phosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidycholine, sphingomyelin, and phosphatidylglycerol of asthmatic lavage, but not cystic lavage, were highly saturated, containing mostly palmitic acid.

Light-induced absorption changes in photosystem I at low temperatures

Light-induced absorption changes associated with the primary photochemical reaction and dark relaxation in Photosystem I were measured at various low temperatures. A possible temperature-dependent long-range electron tunneling process was suggested to account for the unique temperature dependence of the dark decay process. The kinetics of the light-induced absorption changes are in good agreement with the light-induced EPR changes reported earlier (Ke, B., Sugahara, K., Shaw, E.R., Hansen, R. E., Hamilton, W. D. and Beinert, H. (1974) Biochim, Biophys. Acta 368, 401--408) for the same Photosystem I subchloroplast fragment at comparable temperatures. All absorption changes between 400 and 725 nm at 86degreesK have identical kinetics. The light-minus-dark difference spectrum is very similar to that of P-700 at room temperature, with an additional prominent positive change at 690 nm. Possible contributions by P-430 to the blue and red spectral changes were discussed. It was demonstrated that the intensity of the measuring beam has a drastic effect on the light-induced absorption changes of Photosystem I at low temperatures. Various pretreatments of the Photosystem I fragments such as those that photochemically (or chemically) oxidize the primary donor or photoreduce the primary acceptor abolish the subsequent photochemical reaction. Continuous illumination of the Photosystem I fragments before and during freezing has the same effect. In the temperature range of --20 to --60degreesC, an unusual counter absorption change as well as a counter EPR change were observed.

Lipids found in pulmonary lavage of patients with alveolar proteinosis and in rabbit lung lamellar organelles

Lipids from the insoluble material obtained by pulmonary lavage of 6 patients with alveolar proteinosis and from lamellar organelles of normal rabbit lungs were isolated and characterized. In both types of samples, dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine was the predominant lipid. Phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, lysophosphatidylglycerol, and 2 glycolipids, GM3 and GL1 were also present in both types of preparations. Sphingomyelin, lysophosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidyl-N, N-dimethylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, and lyso(bis)phosphatidic acid were found in the sedimented lavage material from humans but were not detected in lamellar organelles from rabbits. Significant quantities of neutral lipids were present in the lavage material, but only trace amounts, mainly as cholesterol and triglycerides, were detected in lamellar organelles. Phosphatidylcholine and the 2 glycolipids contained mostly saturated fatty acids and essentially no polyunsaturated fatty acids. Sphingomyelin, lysophosphatidycholine, and phosphatidyl-N, N-dimethylethanolamine, found only in the lavage, were also highly saturated. In addition to the fact that several phospholipids found in the lavage were not present in lamellar organelles, another striking difference between the lipids from these 2 sources was that phosphatidylglycerol of lamellar organelles contained predominantly palmitic acid, whereas the phosphatidylglycerol obtained by lavage of humans contained large amounts of stearic and oleic acids.

Structural studies on a glycoprotein isolated from alveoli of patients with alveolar proteinosis

A major glycoprotein 36 000 molecular weight) has been isolated from lung lavage of patients with alveolar proteinosis and found to contain five residues of hydroxyproline, fifty residues of glycine, three residues of methionine, 3 mol of sialic acid, 4.4 mol of mannose, 4.0 mol of galactose, 6.0 mol of glucosamine, and 1 mol of fucose. Cyanogen bromide (CNBr) treatment of the glycoprotein resulted, as expected, in four peptides of apparent molecular weights of 18 000, 12 000, 5000 and 1000, respectively. The chemical compositions of the CNBr peptides indicate the presence of hydroxyproline and high amounts of glycine in all but one of the peptides; two of the four CNBr peptides contain carbohydrate. Gel filtration, acrylamide gel electrophoresis and end-group analyses of the native glycoprotein and its CNBr peptides indicate that the peptides are homogeneous. End-group analyses of the CNBr cleavage products assign the 18 000 molecular weight peptide to the NH2-terminal portion and the 1000 molecular weight peptide to the COOH-terminal portion of the native glycoprotein molecule. Pronase digestion of the 36 000 molecular weight glycoprotein, followed by gel filtration and cation exchange chromatography, resulted in two fractions. One fraction was acidic and contained all the carbohydrate, a high content of aspartic acid and no hydroxyproline. The other fraction was basic and contained 8.4% hydroxyproline, 14% proline, 28% glycine and no carbohydrate, suggesting the presence of collagen-like sequence in the peptide chain. Paper electrophoresis of the basic fraction demonstrated two components, the amino acid compositions of which are identical to those of collagen. Partial amino-terminal sequence analysis of one of the CNBr peptides (18 000 molecular weight) indicated the presence of -Fly-Pro-HyP-Gly-sequence in the peptide chain, which confirms our suggestion that collagen-like regions are present in the native glycoprotein molecule. Limited acid hydrolysis of the acidic fraction and subsequent fractionation of the acid hydrolysate using Dowex column yielded a fraction which produced brown colour with ninhydrin reagent. Paper chromatography of this fraction demonstrated a large component which also stained brown with ninhydrin reagent. After acid hydrolysis, this component was found to consist of equal amounts of asparitic acid and glucosamine, indicating that the N-acetylglucosamine of the oligosaccharides is linked to the asparagine residue of the peptide. No serine or threonine linkages are present.

Crosslinking and carbohydrate studies on the hydroxylated glycopeptides which accumulate in alveoli and lamellar bodies

These data suggest that the alveolar lining layer and lamellar body membranes contain the same saline-insoluble proteins, two of which are unusual in that they contain hydroxyproline and large amounts of glycine. Neither the function nor the origin of these glycopeptides has been established, and we are currently evaluating methods of stimulating their production in animals for further study.

Quantum accumulation in photosynthetic oxygen evolution

Three independent methods have been used to determine the size of the quantum accumulation unit in green plant photosynthesis. This unit is defined as that group of pigment molecules within which quantal absorption acts must take place leading to the evolution of a single O(2) molecule. All three methods take advantage of the nonlinearity of oxygen yield with light dose at very low dosages. The experimental values of this unit size, based on an assumed model for the charge cooperation in O(2) evolution, ranging from 800 to 1600, suggest that there is either limited energy transfer between energy-trapping units or chemical cooperation among oxygen precursors formed in several neighboring energy-trapping units. Widely diffusible essential precursors to molecular oxygen are ruled out by these results. Inhibition studies show that O(2) evolution is blocked when 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) is added to chloroplasts after two preliminary flashes and before a third flash which would have yielded O(2) in the absence of DCMU. This experiment is interpreted as evidence that the site of DCMU inhibition is on the oxidizing side of system II. Pretreatment of chloroplasts with large concentrations of Tris, previously believed to destroy O(2) evolution by blocking an essential reaction in the electron chain between water and system II, may be alternately interpreted as promoting the dark reversal of the system II light-induced electron transfer.