Detection of human papillomaviruses in exfoliated cervicovaginal cells by in situ DNA hybridization analysis

A total of 851 specimens of exfoliated cervicovaginal cells and 27 specimens of male urethral smears obtained from 706 individuals with various clinical findings were examined for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, and 33 by in situ DNA hybridization analysis. The nonradioactive DNA in situ hybridization method used in this study showed no detectable cross-hybridization either among different types of HPV (except between types 6 and 11) or between HPV DNA and human cellular DNA. Furthermore, this system was found to be more sensitive than the Southern blotting method in detecting HPV. HPV was found in 233 of 276 (84.4%) and in 34 of 47 (72.3%) samples of cervicovaginal cells from patients with urogenital condylomata and cervical dysplasia, respectively. HPV was also detected in 6 of 39 (15.4%) women with normal cytological findings who were also symptom-free. Young women who were at low risk but were infected with HPV showed significantly reduced ratios of helper-inducer T lymphocytes to suppressor-cytotoxic T lymphocytes compared with those of uninfected normal controls (1.28 +/- 0.31 versus 2.47 +/- 0.64; P less than 0.001). This in situ DNA hybridization method can have broad application to the screening of HPV in early lesions and in normal-looking tissues and may be used to identify patients at risk of more serious or possibly malignant progression.

Urodynamic studies in acupuncture for women with frequency, urgency and dysuria

Urodynamic measurements were performed before and after acupuncture at 2 different points in 52 women who presented with frequency, urgency and dysuria. Measurements included cystometry, anal sphincter electromyography, urethral pressure profilometry and uroflowmetry. The results of this study showed a significant increase in maximum cystometric capacity and a decrease in peak urinary flow rate after acupuncture at the Sp. 6 point, which has traditionally been used for the treatment of urinary problems. During acupuncture at the Sp. 6 point there were periodic increases in intraurethral pressure at the distal urethra, which were measured with a microtip transducer. Acupuncture-induced detrusor inhibition and external sphincteric contractions were demonstrated. Clinically symptomatic improvement was noted in 22 of the 26 patients who were treated by acupuncture at the Sp. 6 point. Our studies indicated that acupuncture could be used as a simple and effective method to treat female patients with frequency, urgency and dysuria.

Effect of ammonium chloride on subcellular distribution of lysosomal enzymes in human fibroblasts

Three subcellular fractions enriched in lysosomal enzyme activities have been isolated recently from human cultured fibroblasts with Percoll gradients: the dense lysosomes (DL), light lysosomes (LL), and light membranous vesicles (LM). They were shown to have different morphological, cytochemical, biochemical, and immunological properties. We now report on the dramatic but different effects of a primary amine, NH4Cl, on these subfractions. The lysosomes, as detected with a specific ultrastructural cytochemical stain for the lysosomal enzyme, arylsulfatase A, were swollen significantly in all these fractions, increasing their volumes by 64% (DL), 53% (LL), and 95% (LM), respectively. When arylsulfatase A enzyme activity was monitored, about half of the DL content was diverted to the LL. However, when newly synthesized arylsulfatase A enzyme protein was monitored with metabolic labeling and immunoprecipitation, about 80% of the enzyme protein was depleted from both the DL and LL. In contrast, neither the enzyme activity nor the newly synthesized enzyme protein of arylsulfatase A was greatly altered in the LM fraction by the treatment. Since primary amines caused newly synthesized lysosomal enzymes to diverge from the lysosomal route to a secretory pathway, it was deduced that (i) the LM fraction corresponded to a prelysosomal compartment whose lysosomal enzyme content was not affected by the amine and was thus proximal to the point of diversion between the secretory and lysosomal pathways; (ii) the LL and DL fractions were distal to the point of diversion since both fractions were depleted of their newly synthesized lysosomal enzyme; and (iii) the sorting of newly synthesized lysosomal enzyme may be different from that of the preexisting pool of the same enzyme since the LL fraction was depleted of its newly synthesized enzyme protein while accumulating excessive enzyme activity.

Pseudo arylsulfatase A deficiency. Biosynthesis of an abnormal arylsulfatase A

Pseudo arylsulfatase A deficiency, an asymptomatic condition, and metachromatic leukodystrophy, a severe neurodegenerative disease, are both associated with profound reductions of arylsulfatase A activity in man. We now report that with metabolic labelling, cultured pseudo deficient cells synthesized about 20% of the normal amount of arylsulfatase A at a reduced rate of apparent synthesis and increased rate of degradation. However, in the presence of ammonium chloride which stimulated secretion of lysosomal enzymes, these cells synthesized about 80% of the normal amount of enzyme protein. Hence, the defect in pseudo arylsulfatase A deficiency is associated with labile arylsulfatase A molecules which can be stabilized if they are diverted from intracellular storage.

Somatic cell hybridization of Roberts syndrome and normal human fibroblasts transfected with plasmids carrying dominant selection markers

Roberts syndrome (RS) is a rare human recessive disorder involving, in the chromosomes of some patients, a characteristic puffing or splitting apart of the constitutive heterochromatin (the RS effect). We carried out somatic cell hybridizations between an RS cell strain (R22) with the heterochromatin abnormality and a hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase-deficient cell strain (GM1662) with normal chromosome structure to determine if the presence of the normal genome would correct the RS effect in the hybrid cells. In order to provide the fibroblast strains with dominant selection markers for the hybridizations, GM1662 was transfected with the plasmid pSV3neo which conferred resistance to the antibiotic G418, and R22 was transfected with the plasmid pSV3gpt which provided resistance to mycophenolic acid. Two somatic cell hybridizations were carried out: (1) R22 X GM1662 pSV3neo and (2) R22 pSV3gpt X GM1662 pSV3neo. The RS effect was found to be absent in 95% and 92%, respectively, of the 200 hybrid cells examined in each experiment. This indicated that the GM1662 genome was able to correct the RS effect. The presence of the RS effect in a few of the hybrid cells was attributed to the unstable karyotype resulting from pSV3 transfection which presumably caused the loss of the normal allele(s) of the RS gene in these hybrid cells.

Pharmacological study on phospholipases A2 isolated from Naja mossambica mossambica venom

The pharmacological properties of three phospholipases A2 (CM-I, CM-II and CM-III) purified from Naja mossambica mossambica venom were studied. The order of their catalytic and indirect hemolytic potencies was CM-I = CM-II greater than CM-III. Among them, only CM-III had a direct hemolytic action on the guinea-pig RBC, which was greatly inhibited by heparin. In the chick biventer cervicis nerve- muscle preparation, both CM-II and CM-III caused neuromuscular blockade with a gradual contracture and a decreased sensitivity to ACh and KCl, whereas no complete neuromuscular block was observed with CM-I up to 30 micrograms/ml. In the mouse phrenic nerve-diaphragm preparation, these three PLA2s abolished twitches evoked by indirect stimulation earlier than those by direct stimulation. Contracture was also produced by CM-II and CM-III. However only the latter was inhibited by pretreatment with heparin. These PLA2s caused myonecrosis in the hind-leg muscle of the mouse when injected intramuscularly. From these results, it is concluded that all of these PLA2s are both neurotoxic and myotoxic.

Tissue-specific expression of human arylsulfatase-C isozymes and steroid sulfatase

Steroid sulfatase (STS; E.C.3.1.6.2), which acts on 3-hydroxysteroid sulfates, and arylsulfatase-C (ARC; E.C.3.1.6.1), assayed with aromatic artificial substrates, are both membrane-bound, microsomal enzymes with alkaline pH optima. Although they copurify during preparation and their gene loci are mapped to the short arm of the human X chromosome where they appear to have escaped from X inactivation, it has not been settled whether STS and ARC are the same enzyme or not. Recent work from our laboratory has shown that ARC exists in two electrophoretically distinct forms in human fibroblasts. We now report that these two forms--the faster migrating (F) and more slowly migrating (S)--occur in human tissues. Each of 11 human tissue types from 10 subjects showed a consistent pattern of ARC isozymes. Thyroid, heart, spleen, skeletal muscle, and adrenal tissue mainly had the S form. In contrast, kidney, liver, and pancreas tissue had mainly the F form, while gonadal, lung, and intestinal tissue had both the S and the F forms. The question of escape of their gene locus from X-chromosome inactivation was examined by comparing the specific activities of ARC and STS in male-derived vis-à-vis female-derived tissues. The majority of the tissues did not show any significant difference in these activities between the sexes, the exceptions being heart muscle, gonadal, and kidney tissue. None showed the 1:2 ratio between male- and female-derived tissues expected of a locus that had escaped X inactivation. The question of identity between ARC and STS was examined by comparing the ratios of their activities in these tissue types: if the enzymes were identical, the ratios of their activities should have remained constant across the different tissue types. It was thus shown that ARC activity varied by as much as 100-fold, depending on the ARC isozymic pattern of the tissue. STS, measured as estrone sulfatase and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfatase, did not show similar variations. This provides further evidence that ARC activity is not necessarily identical to that of STS.

Transformation of human cultured fibroblasts with plasmids carrying dominant selection markers and immortalizing potential

The disadvantages of using human cultured cells for biochemical and genetic studies are their limited lifespan in vitro and their lack of chemical selection markers. These problems are now overcome by transfecting human cultured fibroblasts with the pSV3-gpt and pSV3-neo plasmid DNA which carry genes coding for the immortalizing SV40 large T-antigen and dominant selection markers. Transformed human fibroblasts were obtained at a frequency of about 10(-5) with both selection systems. These transformed cells showed a twofold increase in growth rate and three to tenfold increase in cell number at confluence. The improved growth characteristics were associated with the expression of the SV40 T-antigen detected with immunoprecipitation. These cell lines also changed from their usual spindle shapes to an epithelioid morphology characteristic of transformed cells. From 60 to 100% of the cells transfected with pSV3 plasmid DNA demonstrated numerical and structural abnormalities in their karyotypes. Cells transfected with DNA from a similar plasmid, pSV2-neo, which differed from the pSV3-neo plasmid only by missing the sequence encoding the complete early region of SV40, neither expressed T-antigen nor showed any change in morphology, improvement in growth characteristics or abnormalities in karyotype. However, they were still selectable with the aminoglycoside G-418. Therefore, by appropriate choice of vector plasmids, dominant selection markers and improved growth characteristics can be imparted separately or simultaneously to human fibroblasts. The morphological, biochemical and chromosomal changes resulting from such transformations must be recognized in using this approach for biochemical and genetic studies.

Association of steroid sulfatase with one of the arylsulfatase C isozymes in human fibroblasts

When arylsulfatase C, a microsomal membrane-bound enzyme, is assayed with its natural substrates, the 3-beta-hydroxysteroid sulfates, it is also known as steroid sulfatase. Whether arylsulfatase C and steroid sulfatase are identical enzymes or not, however, has long been disputed. We now report that two electrophoretic variants of arylsulfatase C occur in normal human fibroblasts: one has a single anodic band of activity, "s," and the other has an additional faster migrating band, "f". The two types, s and "f + s", occur in cells from either sex. When fibroblast strains with the f + s forms of arylsulfatase C were cloned, two types of primary clones were always obtained: s and f + s. A single f band was never seen. When these primary clones were subcloned, however, the arylsulfatase C phenotype remained unchanged: primary s clones gave rise to s subclones and f + s clones to f + s subclones only. Therefore, these forms were clonal in origin and demonstrated a novel inheritance pattern in human cultured cells. The appearance of increasing amounts of the f band was correlated with up to 4-fold increase of arylsulfatase C activity, whereas the steroid sulfatase activity remained constant, thus demonstrating that arylsulfatase C was not identical with steroid sulfatase activity. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the s form immunoprecipitated activities of the s form of arylsulfatase C and steroid sulfatase but not the f form of arylsulfatase C. Therefore, we conclude that only the s form of arylsulfatase C is immunologically related to steroid sulfatase so that arylsulfatase C per se is not necessarily identical with steroid sulfatase. In addition, a novel form of genetic heterogeneity of isozymes in human fibroblasts is demonstrated.

Obstructive uropathy caused by bilateral synchronous ureteral carcinoma: report of a case

We report on a 67-year-old man with bilateral, synchronous, ureteral transitional cell carcinoma. He presented with bilateral flank pain accompanied by nausea, vomiting and oliguria. Bilateral hydronephrosis with upper ureteral filling defects was found on antegrade pyelogram. After urinary diversion with bilateral percutaneous antegrade drainages for 6 days, serum creatinine fell from 10.1 to 4.7 mg/dl. Exploration revealed bilateral upper ureteral tumors. Right nephroureterectomy and left ureterectomy with left nephrostomy were done.

Interaction of Pseudomonas putida ATCC 12633 and Bacteriophage gh-1 in Berea Sandstone Rock

Measurements of the passage of Pseudomonas putida ATCC 12633 and a phage-resistant mutant through Berea sandstone rock were made. When bacteriophage gh-1 was adsorbed within the rock matrix, a reduction in the passage of the susceptible but not the resistant cells through the rock was observed.

Biochemical characterization of arylsulfatase-C isozymes in human fibroblasts

Arylsulfatase-C and sterol sulfatase were thought to be identical enzymes whose X-linked locus escapes inactivation. However, recent evidence shows that they are not identical but that arylsulfatase-C in human fibroblasts exists in two isozymic forms, designated as slow and fast. We now report that the two forms are enzymatically different. When assayed with an artificial fluorogenic substrate, the slow form showed a pH optimum of 8.00 and a Km of 228 microM. In contrast, the fast form showed a pH optimum of 7.67 and a Km of 86.7 microM with substrate inhibition occurring above 0.33 mM. The heat stability of the fast form was slightly below that of the slow form. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the slow form did not cross-react with the fast form. Hence, the two isozymic forms of arylsulfatase-C are enzymatically and structurally different and the slow form is associated with sterol sulfatase activity.

Clinical correlations of ovarian cancer antigen NB/70K: a preliminary report

NB/70K is a glycoprotein extracted from human ovarian cancer tissue. It was measurable postoperatively in the plasma of 89% of 127 women with epithelial cancer of the ovary; 60% of these women had levels in excess of 11 kU/mL compared with 5% of control subjects. The level of NB/70K correlated with FIGO stage and amount of residual tumor, but not with pathology subtype or tumor differentiation. Elevated NB/70K plasma levels also were found in patients with benign gynecologic neoplasms and a variety of systemic carcinomas, and modest elevation was observed in association with hepatic and renal decompensation. The highest levels, found preoperatively in women with ovarian cancer, decreased after tumor resection. These preliminary data indicate that the NB/70K assay has high sensitivity in epithelial ovarian cancer, and plasma levels appear to correlate with tumor volume.

Action of surface-active agents on arylsulfatase-C of human cultured fibroblasts

Arylsulfatase-C is a microsomal membrane-bound enzyme with unusual biochemical and genetic properties. Whether it is a single enzyme hydrolyzing different sterol sulfates or a complex of enzymes, with each enzyme hydrolyzing a specific substrate, has not been resolved. Its locus has been mapped to the human X chromosome but appears to escape inactivation. As a first step to clarify its biochemical properties, a systematic search was undertaken for a suitable detergent that can release this enzyme from human cultured fibroblast membranes in a form that is biologically active and electrophoretically mobile. Four non ionic (Triton X-100, Nonidet P-40, Digitonin, and saponin) and four amphoteric (lysolecithin, Zwittergent, Miranol, and Chaps) detergents were studied. At 1% concentration, they released more than 80% of the activity into a low-speed supernatant fraction, except for Saponin which had no effect. With Triton X-100 and Miranol representing the two groups of detergents, significant release occurred only when the detergent concentrations exceeded their respective critical micelle concentrations, thus indicating that arylsulfatase-C is an integral membrane protein. The apparent molecular weight of the detergent-enzyme complex, ascertained by gel filtration, was 85,000 in the presence of Triton X-100 and 335,000 in the presence of Miranol. However, only the preparation solubilized by Miranol (and Chaps, to a lesser degree) permitted migration of the enzyme in nitrocellulose acetate during electrophoresis at pH 7.0, while the enzyme extracted with all other detergents remained at the origin. Therefore, the amphoteric detergent, Miranol, appears to fulfill the requirements for further characterization of the membrane-bound arylsulfatase-C in human cultured fibroblasts.

Retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase by the rat sympathetic neurons

Seven hours after injection of 5 mg of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) dissolved in 10 microliter normal saline into the anterior chamber of the eye directly into the iris of rats, sympathetic ganglion cells projecting to these regions were detected by numerous HRP-positive granules in their cytoplasm. By light microscopy, these HRP-labelled granules appeared as heavy brown granules, ultrastructurally they were demonstrated in the vesicles and tubules of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and in the lysosome-like dense bodies in the perikaryon of the neuron. The HRP reaction product was also detected in the vesicles and tubules of smooth endoplasmic reticulum within the axons in the superior cervical ganglion. The neurons projecting to the iris dilator muscles, which showed an HRP-positive reaction were scattered in the ganglion, and the rate of retrograde axonal transport of HRP was 4 mm/hour. The present study revealed that the greatest amount of strong reaction product was found in the neurons from animals 2 days after injection of HRP, and that HRP-labelled ganglion cells also have the capacity for dendritic transport of HRP. The HRP reaction product that disappeared from ganglion cells by 7 days post-injection of HRP was probably due to the lysosomal degradation.

An electron microscopic observation on the developing sympathetic ganglia of hamsters

An electron microscopic observation has been made on the superior cervical ganglia of 2-day-old hamsters, in which most nerve cells were still immature and were named as primitive sympathetic nerve cells. They were small in size and 2 or 3 cells were grouped together to become many cell clusters. Only the periphery of each cell cluster was enclosed by the satellite cell cytoplasm. In these primitive nerve cells, only mitochondria, granular endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus were relatively prominent and the other cytoplasmic organelles were poorly developed. Axo-somatic synapses were found in the ganglia. Many unmyelinated nerve fibers were present in the ganglia. These nerve fibers were surrounded by the Schwann cell cytoplasm. Active mitotic divisions of the nerve cells were found in the superior cervical ganglia of 9-day-old hamsters and resulted in an increase in the number of nerve cells. The size of the nerve cells also increased and became young sympathetic nerve cells. In the 10-day-old hamsters, each young nerve cell was entirely enclosed by the satellite cell cytoplasm. The number of cytoplasmic organelles was increased considerably. Axo-somatic and axo-dendritic synapses were also observed in the ganglia of 10-day-old hamsters. The present study revealed that the developed cytoplasmic organelles in the young nerve cells of the 30-day-old young hamsters reached the level of the mature nerve cells in the ganglia of the adult hamsters. Multiple desmosomes were detected in the ganglia of both the young and adult hamsters.

Diagnosis of pseudo-arylsulfatase A deficiency with electrophoretic techniques

Deficient arylsulfatase A activity in man has long been associated with the neurodegenerative disease, metachromatic leukodystrophy. However, similar deficiency has been noted in clinically normal individuals, and is referred to as the pseudoarylsulfatase A deficiency condition. Although direct quantitative analysis of arylsulfatase A activity failed to differentiate between these two conditions, analysis of residual arylsulfatase A activity with either Cellogel electrophoresis or isoelectric focusing in polyacrylamide gels now has been shown to distinguish between them unequivocally. With both techniques, cultured fibroblasts from patients with pseudo-arylsulfatase A deficiency showed faint but clear bands of arylsulfatase A activity. Under identical conditions, fibroblasts from patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy showed no trace of activity. These methods can be adapted easily for general laboratory analysis in cases when results from quantitative arylsulfatase A assays are noninformative.

A specific ultrastructural stain for arylsulfatase A activity in human cultured fibroblasts

A staining reaction was developed to specifically detect arylsulfatase A activity in the presence of arylsulfatases B and C. Nitrocatechol, generated by all arylsulfatases from the substrate p-nitrocatechol sulfate, can be coupled to produce Hatchett 's brown which reacts with 3,3'-diaminobenzidine to yield an osmiophilic polymer visible under the electron microscope. The reaction was made specific for arylsulfatase A by inhibiting arylsulfatase C activity with low pH and arylsulfatase B activity with pyrophosphate. The specificity was confirmed both by electrophoretic analysis and by patient fibroblasts deficient only in arylsulfatase A activity. Under optimal conditions for preserving structural integrity and enzyme activity, enzyme reaction deposits were found mainly around vesicles. Some of these vesicles were large and heterogeneous (48-330 nm in diameter), distributed randomly within the cytoplasm, but most of the positive-reacting vesicles were uniform in size (86 +/- 18 nm in diameter) and distributed in a peripheral zone about 0.1-0.5 micron wide. These periplasmic vesicles might be partly fused with each other or with the plasma membrane. In conclusion, a specific stain for arylsulfatase A activity suitable for light and electron microscopy and the optimal conditions for structural and enzymatic preservations were developed. Although this enzyme has been considered to be lysosomal in origin, most of the activity was detected in periplasmic vesicles near the cell surface.

Interaction of Escherichia coli B and B/4 and Bacteriophage T4D with Berea Sandstone Rock in Relation to Enhanced Oil Recovery

Much research and development is needed to recover oil reserves presently unattainable, and microbially enhanced oil recovery is a technology that may be used for this purpose. To address the problem of bacterial contamination in an oil field injection well region, we connected each end of a Teflon-sleeved Berea sandstone rock to a flask containing nutrient medium. By inoculating one flask with Escherichia coli B, we could observe bacterial growth in the uninoculated flask resulting from the transport and establishment of cells across the rock. Differences in bacterial populations occurred depending on whether bacteriophage T4D was first adsorbed to the rock. The results of these experiments indicate that the inhibition of bacterial establishment within a rock matrix is possible via lytic interaction. Some nonlytic effects are also implied by experiments with B/4 cells, which are T4D-resistant mutants of E. coli B. A 10 to 40% retention of T4 by the rock occurred when it was loaded with 10 5 to 10 6 PFU. We also describe a lysogenic system for possible use in microbially enhanced oil recovery techniques.

Pseudo arylsulfatase-A deficiency in healthy individuals: genetic and biochemical relationship to metachromatic leukodystrophy

Metachromatic leukodystrophy is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder in man associated with deficient arylsulfatase-A activity (aryl-sulfate sulfohydrolase, EC 3.1.6.1). The same enzyme deficiency has been noted in clinically normal individuals, a condition known as pseudo arylsulfatase-A deficiency. With a nonselective method, somatic cell hybrids were obtained from cultured fibroblasts of these two types of individuals; the hybrids showed no restoration of arylsulfatase-A activity. Thus, metachromatic leukodystrophy and pseudo arylsulfatase-A deficiency are allelic conditions. Although these conditions cannot be distinguished by simple quantitative arylsulfatase-A activity assays, they can be differentiated with sucrose density gradient centrifugation, Cellogel electrophoresis, or isoelectric focusing in polyacrylamide gels. In each case, a small amount of activity with characteristics of arylsulfatase-A was found only from fibroblasts of pseudo arylsulfatase-A-deficient individuals and not from those of metachromatic leukodystrophy patients. This residual enzyme has the same pH optimum, heat stability, inhibitor sensitivity, and Km as the normal enzyme but slightly different isoelectric points. In conclusion, although pseudo arylsulfatase-A deficiency and metachromatic leukodystrophy have very different clinical outcomes, they are due to mutations of the same structural gene, coding for arylsulfatase-A. These two conditions can be differentiated now by simple electrophoretic analysis of the residual arylsulfatase-A activity.

Urodynamic studies before and/or after abdominoperineal resection of the rectum for carcinoma

Urodynamic studies were performed on 62 patients who underwent abdominoperineal resection of the rectum during the last 14 months. Of these patients 20 were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively, and 42 were studied postoperatively only. Urodynamic studies consisted of cystometry, urethral sphincter electromyography and uroflowmetry. The results of these studies revealed a significant decrease in effective bladder capacity, and increases in first sensation to void and residual urine postoperatively. The peak and average urinary flow rates also were decreased significantly. No significant changes could be found in urethral sphincter electromyography. The incidence of complete denervation of the bladder in our study was 11.3 per cent. More severe voiding dysfunction was found in patients with stage C2 anorectal tumors than in those with stage B2 disease and in patients with tumors 4 to 8 cm. from the anal verge. Urodynamic evaluation, especially cystometry, is necessary after abdominoperineal resection to detect voiding dysfunction.

Mucolipidosis II. The clinical, radiological and biochemical features in three cases

We report on the clinical, radiological and biochemical features of mucolipidosis II in three infants. One with subtle phenotypical findings died at 2 weeks of age without a specific diagnosis. A sibling who died at 2 years of age and another infant, presently 3.5 years of age manifest all the characteristic features of mucolipidosis II: extreme psychomotor delay and failure to thrive, coarse facial features, gingival hyperplasia, joint stiffness, inguinal hernia and skin induration. The corneae were normal and there was no mucopolysacchariduria. Radiologically, these infants show changes which are characteristic but not specific for mucolipidosis II. Cytologically, skin fibroblasts from these patients demonstrate the lysosomal inclusions typical of I-Cell Disease. Biochemically, cultured skin fibroblasts show deficient activity of arylsulphatase A and B and hexosaminidase A and B. These acid hydrolases were increased markedly in plasma and in the culture medium of the skin fibroblasts.