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F Fuller

Publications and source records attributed to F Fuller.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Expression cloning of neurotrophic factors using Xenopus oocytes.

We have explored the potential for cloning novel neurotrophic factor cDNAs via assay of neurotrophic activities following expression in Xenopus oocytes. In this report, we describe the successful application of the method to tract rat ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) activity from mRNA purified from cultured cells and from mRNA synthesized by in vitro transcription of a cDNA library. Rat C6 glioma cells, which had been previously shown to have CNTF-like activity (Westermann et al., 1988), were used as source material. We tested protein extracts of C6 cells using an in vitro assay of primary neurons from the chick ciliary ganglion (CCG assay) and detected a CNTF-like activity. RNA isolated from C6 cells was shown to direct the synthesis of the activity following microinjection into Xenopus oocytes and one-step fractionation of Xenopus extract. C6 mRNA was size-fractionated, and fractions encoding CNTF-like activity were cloned into a lambda phage vector at a site distal to a T7 promoter. Synthetic RNA transcribed from total library DNA was injected into Xenopus oocytes, and a CNTF-like activity in the oocyte extract was detected by the CCG assay. Further fractionation of library clones narrowed the presence of the clone encoding the CNTF-like activity to a pool containing 20,000 members. The presence of a full-length CNTF cDNA clone in this pool and partial clones in other pools was confirmed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) using oligonucleotides from the rabbit CNTF cDNA (Lin et al., 1989) as primers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1992

The surface envelope protein gene region of equine infectious anemia virus is not an important determinant of tropism in vitro.

Virulent, wild-type equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is restricted in one or more early steps in replication in equine skin fibroblast cells compared with cell culture-adapted virus, which is fully competent for replication in this cell type. We compared the sequences of wild-type EIAV and a full-length infectious proviral clone of the cell culture-adapted EIAV and found that the genomes were relatively well conserved with the exception of the envelope gene region, which showed extensive sequence differences. We therefore constructed several wild-type and cell culture-adapted virus chimeras to examine the role of the envelope gene in replication in different cell types in vitro. Unlike wild-type virus, which is restricted by an early event(s) for replication in equine dermis cells, the wild-type outer envelope gene chimeras are replication competent in this cell type. We conclude that even though there are extensive sequence differences between wild-type and cell culture-adapted viruses in the surface envelope gene region, this domain is not a determinant of the differing in vitro cell tropisms.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

The lack of effect of basic and acidic fibroblast growth factors on the naturally occurring death of neurons in the chick embryo.

In vivo treatment of developing chick embryos with acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors (aFGF and bFGF) failed to affect the differentiation and survival of several populations of developing neurons in the CNS and PNS. All of the neuronal populations examined are known to undergo naturally occurring cell death, and they include spinal and cranial motoneurons, dorsal root ganglia, sympathetic ganglia, nodose ganglia, ciliary ganglia, and sympathetic preganglionic neurons in the PNS, as well as the accessory oculomotor nucleus, the isthmo-optic nucleus, and the brainstem auditory nuclei laminaris and magnocellularis in the CNS. Despite the lack of effect of bFGF on neuronal survival and differentiation, in vivo treatment increased the serum levels of bFGF and stimulated the proliferation of non-neuronal cells in the spinal cord. Therefore, although the administration of exogenous FGF to the developing chick embryo in vivo clearly has some biological activity in the CNS, it was nonetheless ineffective in promoting neuronal survival or differentiation. These data do not support the idea that FGF is a physiologically relevant neurotrophic agent in the developing avian nervous system.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Sequence and structural organization of the human gene encoding ciliary neurotrophic factor.

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is a potent polypeptide hormone whose actions appear to be restricted to the nervous system where it promotes survival, neurotransmitter synthesis and neurite outgrowth in certain neuronal populations. We have cloned the gene encoding human CNTF (hCNTF) and have characterized its structure and organization. The hCNTF gene appears to be a unique-copy gene with a simple genetic organization, since only a single intron interrupts the coding domain. The hCNTF gene is located on chromosome 11, as determined using human-hamster somatic cell hybrids. The CNTF protein is highly conserved in evolution. The amino acid (aa) sequences of rat and rabbit CNTF translated from cDNAs display approx. 85% homology with the deduced aa sequence encoding hCNTF.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1979

The conceptually-oriented physician.

This article is based on the authors' book "Physician or Magician: The Myths and Realities of Patient Care" (McGraw Hill and Hemisphere, 1978). In this paper, the authors contend that the main problem confronting medical practice and medical education today is that there is no consensus on what physicians should be doing. Should they be technologists or should they be conceptually-oriented? The authors further state that these two types of physicians are trained in different approaches to problem solving. They conclude by saying that both types of physicians are needed if the quality of patient care is to improve while containing cost, but that the conceptually-oriented physician--the primary physician--should be in charge of all treatment patients receive. This is because the primary physicians as well as the Cartesian approach. Therefore, they would be better able to determine the risks and benefits to each patient of various technological regimens.

Decision Making↗
PubMed1978

Construction and characterization of a 2.5-kilobase procollagen clone.

Recombinant bacterial plasmids have been constructed by inserting double-stranded chicken procollagen cDNA sequences linked to chemically synthesized decanucleotides containing HindIII sites into the HindIII site of pBR322. After transformation of Escherichia coli chi1776, colonies were selected by ampicillin resistance and recombinants containing procollagen sequences were identified by colony hybridization to 32P-labeled procollagen cDNA. The inserts from three recombinant plasmids, pCg10, pCg13, and pCg45, were 1200, 2200, and 2550 base pairs long respectively. Their sequence homology has been established by restriction mapping and crosshybridization of nick-translated plasmids to Southern blots of Hpa II fragments of the inserts, pCg45 has been positively identified as containing the pro alpha2 collagen sequence by partial determination of the DNA sequence of its ends: it has a short thymine-rich sequence at one end and a sequence coding for residues 478--499 in the chicken alpha2 chain at the other end.

Animals↗