[By-products of alcoholic fermentation in must production].
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Alcoholic Beverages↗
Biomedical subjects
G Fischer
Publications and source records attributed to G Fischer.
Peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase from Bacillus subtilis. A prokaryotic enzyme that is highly sensitive to cyclosporin A.
Cyclophylins are members of a class of proteins with peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase activity. These enzymes bind the immunosuppressive agent, cyclosporin A (CsA), which acts as a competitive inhibitor. The peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase from Bacillus subtilis (PPIase) was purified to homogeneity in a 4-step purification procedure, which resulted in a 100-fold protein purification with a yield of 5%. Coomassie blue-stained SDS-PAGE revealed a single band of about 18 kDa. PPIase activity was determined using synthetic peptides as substrates in a 2-step reaction coupled to chymotrypsin. Treatment of Bacillus subtilis PPIase by CsA revealed an inhibition constant of Ki = 175 nM, which differs from cyclophilin of enterobacteria such as E. coli or Salmonella typhimurium and is in the range of human enzymes.
Amino Acid Isomerases↗
[Subcutaneous apomorphine infusion in the treatment of Parkinson disease].
Apomorphine, a dopamine-agonist was applied as s. c. infusions to 7 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease. The indications were longlasting akinetic episodes (4 patients) and therapeutically resistant invalidating motoric fluctuations ("on-off") as well as hyperkinesia (3 patients) on anti-Parkinson medication. The effect of apomorphine as an anti-Parkinson therapeutic was verified using clinical scales and a portable activity-monitoring device. The s. c. infusion therapy (20-90 mg/die, or 0.025-0.01 mg/kg/die respectively) was effective in the akinetic patients interrupting akinesia and the inability to swallow. An improvement was also registered in patients with "on-off" and hyperkinesia using longlasting subcutaneous apomorphine infusions. The therapy was continued over a longer period of time with 2 patients as outpatients. The side-effects were nausea and local subcutaneous indurations at sites of infusions.
Aged↗
Monoclonal M6 antibody interferes with neurite extension of cultured neurons.
Monoclonal M6 antibody binds to the surface of murine central nervous system neurons as well as to apical surfaces of epithelial cells in the choroid plexus and proximal tubules of the kidney. M6 antigen is expressed in the central nervous system as early as embryonic day 10, most strongly in the marginal zone of the neural tube, and remains detectable in adulthood. IgG or Fab fragments of M6 antibody interfere with the extension of neurites by cultured cerebellar neurons. Effects of the antibody on neurite extension are readily detectable after 24 h. No reduction of cell viability is detected during the first 3 days of antibody treatment. Cultures maintained in the presence of antibody for longer than 5 days exhibit reduced viability of neurons. This reduction in long-term viability in the presence of M6 antibody is largely avoided when 25 mM KCl is included in the culture medium. The antibody-mediated perturbation of neurite outgrowth is not blocked by the presence of elevated KCl. The unusually short and flattened appearance of neurites in these cultures suggests that the M6 antibody selectively affects neurite extension. Time-lapse cinematography of anti-M6-treated neurons reveals no apparent effect on movement of lamellipodia and filopodia of growth cones. Only the overall extension of the neurite appears to be inhibited. M6 antigen is a 35 kD glycoprotein that can be isolated from a deoxycholate- (DOC) solubilized membrane fraction from adult mouse brain.
Animals↗
Alterations of the c-erbB2 gene in human breast cancer.
DNA amplification, RNA overexpression and p185 protein expression of the c-erbB2 oncogene were investigated in 109 cases of breast cancer with the aim of evaluating any correlation between the different methods. A correlation between Southern blotting and immunohistochemical analysis of paraffin-embedded material was found. Thus, amplification of the c-erbB2 oncogene leads to overexpression of the p185 protein. By contrast, no statistical correlation could be shown between RNA overexpression, measured by Northern blotting, and immunohistochemical p185 membrane stainings. It is of special interest that most of the cases that are positive for Northern blotting and negative for immunochemistry are negative for Southern blotting as well. Contradictory findings between RNA overexpression and lack of immunohistochemical staining of p185 give rise to the assumption that a defective protein is encoded, which cannot be incorporated into the substructures of the tumour cell membrane. When screening for point mutations in the transmembrane domain of the c-erbB2 oncogene, no point mutation could be detected, either by using the endonuclease FokI, which cuts at position 2012 (the point mutation in the neu gene of the rat), or by direct sequencing.
Base Sequence↗
[Apophyseal elements of the sacroiliac joint in the computed tomographic image].
Between the ages of 12 and 18 years apophyseal elements appear within the SI joints which fuse subsequently with the sacrum. These apophyses could be demonstrated during two autopsies on juveniles and were seen in 7 CT examinations of patients between the ages of 15 and 19. On CT they appeared as narrow, round or band-like opacities situated on the ventral aspect of the joint. The differentiation of these normal findings from pathological changes within the SI joints is discussed.
Adolescent↗
Recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor stimulates superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide production in human neutrophils.
The effect of purified recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) on the oxidative metabolism of human peripheral blood granulocytes was investigated. The respiratory burst of granulocytes was assessed in individual cells by flow cytometry utilizing the oxidation of the nonfluorescent 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (DCFH) to the highly fluorescent DCF by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Treatment with GM-CSF caused granulocytes to produce H2O2 without addition of a second stimulus. The amount of H2O2 produced correlated with the concentration of GM-CSF administered. Also, GM-CSF did not prime the granulocytes for enhanced H2O2 production in response to N-formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (f-MLP). Consecutive stimulation of granulocytes with GM-CSF and f-MLP resulted in additive production of H2O2. GM-CSF also induced granulocytes to release superoxide anion (O2-) in a dose-dependent manner, when the respiratory burst was assessed by a conventional cytochrome c reduction assay. In contrast to hydrogen superoxide production, GM-CSF significantly (p < 0.001) enhanced f-MLP-stimulated release of superoxide anion over that expected from the additive effects of the two agonists.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Dorsal horn and dorsal column dysfunction in intramedullary cervical cord tumours. A somatosensory evoked potential study.
Median and tibial nerves somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were recorded in 20 patients with intramedullary cervical spinal cord tumours. The longitudinal extent of the tumour was determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the surgeon's intraoperative observations. Somatosensory evoked potentials to median or tibial nerve stimulation were abnormal in 85% of patients. Three groups were identified on the basis of the median nerve SEP findings: Group I (20% of cases) with normal SEPs responses; Group II (30% of cases) with impaired cervical dorsal horn postsynaptic activity (abnormal N13 potential) but preserved dorsal columns transmission up to the cortex (normal P14 and N20 potentials); Group III (50% of cases) where the dorsal horn activity and dorsal columns transmission were both impaired. The isolated abolition of the N13 potential observed in Group II reflects a functional dissociation between segmental dorsal horn and dorsal columns structures and should prompt myelographic investigations. Postoperative follow-up suggests that absent N13, P14 and N20 potentials before surgery carry an ominous functional prognosis. However, postoperative recovery of the N13 potential was found to occur in a few cases, suggesting that these tumours do not necessarily produce irreversible damage to the cervical dorsal horn neurons. Thus SEPs proved to have a high sensitivity in detecting cervical spinal cord dysfunction in intramedullary tumours, provided that a selective recording of the N13 potential is performed using a cervical-supraglottal derivation.
Adolescent↗
Mip protein of Legionella pneumophila exhibits peptidyl-prolyl-cis/trans isomerase (PPlase) activity.
Legionella pneumophila is an intracellular parasite which is able to survive and multiply in human monocytes and alveolar macrophages. The Mip (macrophage infectivity potentiator) protein has been shown to be an essential virulence factor. A search of translated nucleic acid data bases has shown that the Mip protein from strain Wadsworth possesses regions homologous to those found in the FK506-binding proteins (FKBPs) of several different eukaryotic organisms. FKBPs are able to bind to the immunosuppressant macrolide FK506 and possess peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase (PPIase) activity. The gene coding for the Mip protein was cloned from the chromosome of L. pneumophila strain Philadelphia I and sequenced. It was synthesized in Escherichia coli K-12 and after purification it exhibited PPIase activity catalysing the slow cis/trans isomerization of prolyl peptide bonds in oligopeptides. Mip is inhibited by FK506 and fully resistant to cyclosporin A, as was also found for the recently characterized FKBP-type PPIases of eukaryotes. However, the N-terminal extension of Mip and/or the substitutions of the variable amino acids in the C-terminal FKBP core leads to variations, when compared with eukaryotic FKBPs, in substrate specificity with the oligopeptide substrates of type Suc-Ala-Xaa-Pro-Phe-4-nitroanilide. Nevertheless, the Legionella Mip factor represents a bacterial gene product which shares some characteristics normally found in eukaryotic proteins. In view of the activity of PPIases in protein-folding reactions, such prokaryotic FKBP analogues may represent a new class of bacterial pathogenicity factors.
Amino Acid Isomerases↗
Influence of alpha 1-adrenoceptor blockade and/or 5-HT1A agonism on blood pressure and heart rate at rest and during exercise in hypertensive dogs.
1. Antihypertensive effects resulting from alpha 1-adrenoceptor blockade and stimulation of central nervous 5-HT1A receptors were compared with the effects arising from stimulation of 5-HT1A receptors alone during arterial hypertension. 2. Urapidil and 5-methyl-urapidil were less effective in decreasing arterial blood pressure than the lowest dose of the selective 5-HT1A receptor agonist, flesinoxan. After the higher dose of urapidil, a certain dampening of barareceptor reflex was found which was also seen with flesinoxan. 3. Flesinoxan was the only drug which did not reduce the exercise-induced increase in systolic arterial blood pressure. 4. Stimulation of 5-HT1A receptors alone, which is assumed to occur with flesinoxan, exerted antihypertensive activity only at low doses, without inducing reflex tachycardia at rest. 5. Only the combined effects of alpha 1-adrenoceptor blockade and 5-HT1A receptor stimulation, as assumed to occur with urapidil and 5-methyl-urapidil, lead to both a decrease in arterial blood pressure at rest and during exercise.
Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists↗
Liposculpture 4. Fundamentals of good liposculpture technique.
The fundamentals for good liposculpture are discussed. Horizontal tunneling is to be avoided because the more horizontally the tunnel is angled, the more likely the overlying skin will drape in folds, resulting in poor cosmesis. Superficial tunneling (less than 1 cm) is to be avoided. The author believes that it is important to maintain the adhesive forces and lymphatics of the superficial layer of fat because it leads to more even healing and remodelling postoperatively. Liposuction within 3 cm of the subgluteal fold should be avoided because it can lead to ptosis of the buttocks postoperatively.
Bandages↗
Characterization of cspB, a Bacillus subtilis inducible cold shock gene affecting cell viability at low temperatures.
A new class of cold shock-induced proteins that may be involved in an adaptive process required for cell viability at low temperatures or may function as antifreeze proteins in Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been identified. We purified a small Bacillus subtilis cold shock protein (CspB) and determined its amino-terminal sequence. By using mixed degenerate oligonucleotides, the corresponding gene (cspB) was cloned on two overlapping fragments of 5 and 6 kb. The gene encodes an acidic 67-amino-acid protein (pI 4.31) with a predicted molecular mass of 7,365 Da. Nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence comparisons revealed 61% identity to the major cold shock protein of E. coli and 43% identity to a family of eukaryotic DNA binding proteins. Northern RNA blot and primer extension studies indicated the presence of one cspB transcript that was initiated 119 bp upstream of the initiation codon and was found to be induced severalfold when exponentially growing B. subtilis cell cultures were transferred from 37 degrees C to 10 degrees C. Consistent with this cold shock induction of cspB mRNA, a six- to eightfold induction of a cspB-directed beta-galactosidase synthesis was observed upon downshift in temperature. To investigate the function of CspB, we inactivated the cold shock protein by replacing the cspB gene in the B. subtilis chromosome with a cat-interrupted copy (cspB::cat) by marker replacement recombination. The viability of cells of this mutant strain, GW1, at freezing temperatures was strongly affected. However, the effect of having no CspB in GW1 could be slightly compensated for when cells were preincubated at 10 degrees C before freezing. These results indicate that CspB belongs to a new type of stress-inducible proteins that might be able to protect B. subtilis cells from damage caused by ice crystal formation during freezing.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Hearing preservation in acoustic neurinoma surgery.
The authors have reviewed hearing results obtained in 99 patients operated on via the suboccipital approach for acoustic neurinoma, who were not deaf prior to surgery (pure tone average less than 70 dB). Tumor size was less than 10 mm in four cases, 10 to 19 mm in 26 cases, 20 to 29 mm in 39 cases, and 30 mm or greater in 30 cases. Removal was macroscopically complete in 92 cases and incomplete in seven, including four cases with bilateral acoustic neurofibromatosis. Hearing was preserved in 29 patients (29.3%), of whom 23 had neurinomas smaller than 30 mm and six had tumors exceeding 30 mm in size. Postoperative hearing was good in eight cases (four with neurinomas less than 20 mm and four with neurinomas greater than 20 mm), serviceable in four cases (three with neurinomas less than 20 mm and one with a tumor greater than 30 mm), and poor in 17 cases (eight with neurinomas less than 20 mm and nine with tumors greater than 20 mm). Fifty-seven patients underwent intraoperative brain-stem auditory evoked potential monitoring: the rate of hearing preservation was found to be higher in this group than in the 42 without monitoring (p less than 0.05). A statistical study using stepwise regression analysis showed that the two preoperative factors most significantly associated with postoperative hearing preservation are a good auditory level for low frequencies measured by pure tone audiometry and a small-sized tumor. Overall results indicate that, even if hearing is more easily preserved when the neurinoma is small and the preoperative auditory condition is good, the surgeon should try to save hearing in all patients who have preserved hearing before surgery.
Adult↗
Analysis of discrepancies between serologic and DNA-RFLP typing for HLA-DR in kidney graft recipients.
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Adolescent↗
Neurofibromatosis type 2 appears to be a genetically homogeneous disease.
Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) is an autosomal dominant syndrome characterized by the development of vestibular schwannomas and other tumors of the nervous system, including cranial and spinal meningiomas, schwannomas, and ependymomas. The presence of bilateral vestibular schwannomas is sufficient for the diagnosis. Skin manifestations are less common than in neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1; von Recklinghausen disease). The apparent clinical distinction between NF1 and NF2 has been confirmed at the level of the gene locus by linkage studies; the gene for NF1 maps to chromosome 17, whereas the gene for NF2 has been assigned (in a single family) to chromosome 22. To increase the precision of the genetic mapping of NF2 and to determine whether additional susceptibility loci exist, we have performed linkage analysis on 12 families with NF2 by using four polymorphic markers from chromosome 22 and a marker at the NF1 locus on chromosome 17. Our results confirm the assignment of the gene for NF2 to chromosome 22 and do not support the hypothesis of genetic heterogeneity. We believe that chromosome 22 markers can now be used for presymptomatic diagnosis in selected families. The NF2 gene is tightly linked to the D22S32 locus (maximum lod score 4.12; recombination fraction 0). A CA-repeat polymorphism at the CRYB2 locus was the most informative marker in our families (lod score 5.99), but because the observed recombination fraction between NF2 and CRYB2 was 10 cM, predictions using this marker will need to be interpreted with caution.
Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17↗
[Muscle pain, scleroderma-like skin changes and eosinophilia following administration of a psychotropic drug].
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Depressive Disorder↗
[Early stage of liver carcinogenesis. Enzyme histochemical, immunohistochemical and microbiochemical analysis].
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Animals↗
Peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase activity as studied by dynamic proton NMR spectroscopy.
Recently the identity of the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase), which accelerates the cis/trans isomerization of prolyl peptide bonds and cyclophilin, the binding protein for the immunosuppressive drug Cyclosporin A (CsA), was discovered. The PPIase catalysis toward the substrate Suc-Ala-Phe-Pro-Phe-pNA has been studied by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Using the bandshape analysis technique the rate of interconversion between the cis and trans isomers of the substrate could be measured in the presence of PPIase and under equilibrium conditions. The acceleration is inhibited by equimolar amounts of CsA. The results provide evidence that the PPIase catalysis is more complex than a simple exchange between two states.
Amino Acid Isomerases↗