Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G Sawa.
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The genes of Bacillus stearothermophilus K1041 encoding cytochrome b(6) (Bacillus cytochrome b is referred to as cytochrome b(6) for its resemblance to plastid b6) and subunit IV of the quinol:cytochrome c oxidoreductase (bc1 complex) were cloned and sequenced. For preparation of the probe for cloning, polymerase chain reaction was carried out using oligonucleotide mixtures targeting for N-terminal regions of cytochrome bc and subunit IV of the thermophilic Bacillus PS3. The deduced amino acid sequences contained 224 residues of 25,425 daltons for cytochrome b(6) and 173 residues of 19,371 daltons for subunit IV, and both open reading frames were separated by 67 base pairs. Cytochrome b and subunit IV contained 4 and 3 hydrophobic transmembrane segments, respectively, indicating that the fourth segment of subunit IV (eighth segment of cytochrome b) is lacking. Four histidine residues supposed to ligand two protohemes were conserved, but the two His in the fourth segment were separated by 14 amino acid residues like cytochrome b6, not like mitochondrial cytochrome b. The residues that might have conferred the two quinol-binding sites were mostly conserved, but especially the third His residue in the fourth segment of mitochondrial cytochrome b was replaced by Arg in Bacillus cytochrome b6 as in cytochrome b6. These characteristics and quantitative comparison of the protein sequences indicate that this Bacillus sequence is unique and meanwhile rather close to the cyanobacteria-plastids type than the purple bacteria-mitochondria type.
A systematic psychiatric evaluation was performed on 100 consecutive patients attending a multiple sclerosis clinic. Forty-two percent of the patients had lifetime history of depression, and 13% fulfilled criteria for manic-depressive illness. Only 28% of the patients had no psychiatric diagnosis. The relationship of psychiatric disorder to neurologic dysfunction and other aspects of multiple sclerosis are presented. Clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
There is a high prevalence of affective illness, both depression and bipolar disorder, in patients with multiple sclerosis. In this study, the family history method was used to assess the prevalence of affective illness in first-degree relatives of patients with multiple sclerosis. There was not an excess of affective illness in the relatives suggesting that affective disorder associated with multiple sclerosis does not have a familial pattern similar to primary affective disorder. Clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.