Deletion in one allele and a rare neutral DNA alteration in the other allele of the RB1 gene in a patient with bilateral retinoblastoma.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to B Albrecht.
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Fibroblasts represent one of the in vivo sites of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) production. In this study rat dermal fibroblasts in culture were used as a model system to assess the effect of activation of protein kinase-C on the levels of the mRNAs encoding IGF-I and another growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). IGF-I and bFGF mRNA levels were determined using a solution hybridization/RNase protection assay. Treatment of cells in serum-free medium containing 0.25% BSA (MEM + BSA) with the tumor-promoting phorbol ester phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) decreased IGF-I and increased bFGF mRNA levels in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. The peak effect of 100 nM PMA on IGF-I mRNA levels occurred at 9 h, whereas the peak effect on bFGF mRNA levels occurred after 3 h of incubation. In dose-response studies, half-maximal inhibition of IGF-I mRNA levels was achieved with approximately 0.08 nM PMA, while half-maximal stimulation of bFGF mRNA levels was achieved with approximately 3 nM PMA. Inhibition of protein synthesis with cycloheximide abrogated the effect of PMA on bFGF mRNA levels, but only partially inhibited the effect of PMA on IGF-I mRNA levels. Studies employing sphingosine or staurosporine to inhibit protein kinase-C or preincubation in high doses of PMA to down-regulate protein kinase-C suggested that the effect of PMA on IGF-I and bFGF mRNA levels was mediated by activation of protein kinase-C, although both staurosporine and sphingosine had independent effects on the levels of these mRNAs and down-regulation of protein kinase-C had a sustained effect on IGF-I mRNA levels. Ligands known to activate protein kinase-C were then tested. Treatment of cells with 100 micrograms/ml of the synthetic diacylglycerol 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol decreased IGF-I mRNA levels to 25% and increased bFGF mRNA levels to 520% of the level present in cells maintained in MEM + BSA. Treatment of cells with thrombin or bradykinin also decreased IGF-I mRNA levels and increased bFGF mRNA levels, but whereas the effect of thrombin on IGF-I mRNA levels was marked, the effect of bradykinin was minimal, and whereas the effect of thrombin on bFGF mRNA levels was sustained, the effect of bradykinin was transient.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Utilization of various phosphonates as source for phosphorus by the glyphosate degrading strain Pseudomonas spec. GS was investigated. Metabolites of phosphonate degradation were characterized indicating the cleavage of the C-P-bound as primary step of breakdown. The phosphonate N-(phosphonomethyl)-4'-nitroazobenzene-4-amine (azophon) was characterized as a suitable substrate for detection of C-P-bond splitting activity in vivo. Pseudomonas cells permeabilized by toluene treatment were also capable of phosphonate degradation whereas no in vitro activity of a putative C-P-bond cleaving enzyme was detectable after cell disruption.
Pseudomonas spec. GS grown in the presence of 14C-labelled glyphosate metabolizes the herbicide to inorganic phosphate as well as in respect of utilization of the C-skeleton. Furthermore it was shown that the primary step of degradation is the breakdown of the C-P-bond, because sarcosine was found as a transient metabolite.
We have studied the effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) on bone mass and bone mineral appositional rate in intact rats and rats with inflammation-mediated osteopenia (IMO), where osteoblast number and mineral appositional rate are decreased. 1,25(OH)2D3 prevents IMO-specific bone loss when given in a daily dose of 25 ng per rat, but does not when given in higher doses. The hormone was effective, when given over the complete duration of the experiment (21 days), but not when given over shorter time periods (7 and 14 days, respectively). 1,25(OH)2D3 prevents IMO-dependent reduction in mineral appositional rate and leads to an only moderate increase in intact rats. We conclude, that 1,25(OH)2D3 is more effective in stimulating mineral appositional rate in rats with IMO where mineral apposition is impaired.
We studied past contraceptive use in 283 nulliparous infertile women who had a diagnosis of tubal adhesions or occlusion and in 3833 women admitted for delivery at seven collaborating hospitals from 1981 to 1983. The relative risk of tubal infertility associated with barrier contraceptive use or oral contraceptive use was calculated using multivariate logistic regression to control for confounding by region, age, religion, education, smoking, number of sexual partners, time since menarche, and use of other contraceptive methods. Women who had ever used barrier methods of contraception were at a significantly decreased risk of tubal infertility (relative risk = 0.6; 95% confidence limits, 0.5 and 0.8). When type of barrier method used for the longest time was evaluated, those who used the diaphragm or condoms plus spermicides were at lower risk than those who used condoms or spermicides alone. Overall, past use of oral contraceptives neither increased nor decreased a woman's risk of tubal infertility, but there was evidence that the association between oral contraceptives and tubal infertility may vary by the amount of estrogen and type of progestogen in the oral contraceptive used. We conclude that contraceptive users who use barrier methods that combine both a mechanical and chemical barrier, such as diaphragms, cervical caps, and condoms plus spermicides, have the clearest protection against tubal damage.
Smoking histories were compared in 901 women with infertility of different types and 1264 women admitted for delivery at seven collaborating hospitals. The relative risk for infertility associated with cigarette smoking prior to the infertility diagnosis for nulliparous cases or first live birth for controls was calculated using a multivariate logistic-regression model to control for potential confounding factors, including center, age, religion, education, number of sexual partners, and contraceptive use. The adjusted risk for infertility attributed primarily to cervical factor (n = 96) was 1.7 (P = 0.04), to tubal disease unrelated to endometriosis (n = 225) was 1.6 (P = 0.009), to ovulatory factor (n = 389) was 1.0 (not significant [NS]), and to endometriosis (n = 191) was 0.9 (NS). The authors conclude that cigarette smoking is significantly associated only with certain types of primary female infertility.
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