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Biomedical subjects

J R Pierce

Publications and source records attributed to J R Pierce.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Differences and similarities in the repair of two benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide isomers induced DNA adducts by uvrA, uvrB, and uvrC gene products.

We have determined the role of the uvrA, uvrB, and uvrC genes in Escherichia coli cells in repairing DNA damage induced by three benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide isomers. Using the phi X174 RF DNA-E. coli transfection system, we have found that BPDE-I or BPDE-II modified phi X174 RF DNA has much lower transfectivity in uvrA, uvrB, and uvrC mutant cells compared to wild type cells. In contrast, BPDE-III modification of phi X174 RF DNA causes much less difference in transfectivity between wild type and uvr- mutant cells. Moreover, BPDE-I and -II-DNA adducts are much more genotoxic than are BPDE-III-DNA adducts. Using purified UVRA, UVRB, and UVRC proteins, we have found that these three gene products, working together, incise both BPDE-I- and BPDE-III-DNA adducts quantitatively and, more importantly, at the same rate. In general, UVRABC nuclease incises on both the 5' (six to seven nucleotides) and 3' (four nucleotides) sides of BPDE-DNA adducts with similar efficiency with few exceptions. Quantitation of the UVRABC incision bands indicates that both of these BPDE isomers have different sequence selectivities in DNA binding. These results suggest that although UVR proteins can efficiently repair both BPDE-I- and BPDE-III-DNA adducts, in vivo the uvr system is the major excision mechanism for repairing BPDE-I-DNA adducts but may play a lesser role in repairing BPDE-III-DNA adducts. It is possible the low lethality of BPDE-III-DNA adducts is due to less complete blockage of DNA replication.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1992

Acute pancreatitis associated with ketoprofen.

An 80-year-old man had acute pancreatitis during the fourth week of antibiotic therapy for enterococcal endocarditis and 12 days after initiation of ketoprofen therapy for osteoarthritis of the hip. Pancreatitis resolved after discontinuance of ketoprofen therapy and while continuing antibiotic therapy for endocarditis. Common causes of pancreatitis were excluded by laboratory testing. Ketoprofen may have been the cause of pancreatitis in this case; we have suggested two possible mechanisms related to prostaglandin inhibition.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1992

Transmission of tuberculosis to hospital workers by a patient with AIDS.

A patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was admitted to a hospital with cough and fever and after 29 days was transferred to a hospice. He was eventually shown to have active pulmonary tuberculosis. This diagnosis was obscured clinically by simultaneous infection with Pneumocystis carinii and Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). Laboratory recognition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was delayed because of overgrowth of cultures by MAC but was later established using DNA probe techniques. Thirty (19 percent) of 158 health care workers who had been exposed to this patient had conversion of their tuberculin skin tests. Diagnostic difficulties and nosocomial transmission of tuberculosis may occur when patients with AIDS have mixed mycobacterial infections.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1991

Repair of helix-stabilizing anthramycin-N2 guanine DNA adducts by UVRA and UVRB proteins.

The transfectivity of anthramycin (Atm)-modified phi X174 replicative form (RF) DNA in Escherichia coli is lower in uvrA and uvrB mutant cells but much higher in uvrC mutant cells compared to wild-type cells. Pretreatment of the Atm-modified phage DNA with purified UVRA and UVRB significantly increases the transfectivity of the DNA in uvrA or uvrB mutant cells. This pretreatment greatly reduces the UVRABC nuclease-sensitive sites (UNSS) and Atm-induced absorbance at 343 nm in the Atm-modified DNA without producing apurinic sites. The reduction of UNSS is proportional to the concentrations of UVRA and UVRB and the enzyme-DNA incubation time and requires ATP. We conclude that there are two different mechanisms for repairing Atm-N2 guanine adducts by UVR proteins: (1) UVRA and UVRB bind to the Atm-N2 guanine double-stranded DNA region and consequently release the Atm from the adducted guanine; (2) UVRABC makes an incision at both sides of the Atm-DNA adduct. The latter mechanism produces potentially lethal double-strand DNA breaks in Atm-modified phi X174 RF DNA in vitro.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1991

Periodicity and pitch perception.

There has been experimental evidence pointing to at least two pitch mechanisms, the first involving low-order harmonics that are resolved along the basilar membrane, and the second a periodicity mechanism that depends only on the repetition rate of the time waveform on the basilar membrane. If this time waveform is derived from repeated bursts of sinusoidal tone, the second mechanism might be the sole pitch mechanism. It is found that this can be so up to rates as high as 250 bursts of 4978-Hz tone per second. The stimuli used are periodic patterns of equally spaced tone bursts, with either successive tone bursts in the same phase, or every fourth tone burst 180 degrees out of phase with respect to the rest. Up to a critical transitional rate of tone bursts a second, the two sequences sound exactly the same, despite their different fundamental frequencies and frequency separation of harmonics. Critical rate data are given for sinusoidal bursts of seven different frequencies. Critical rates appear to be closely related to the critical bandwidth. Pitch matching appears to be consistent with these observations; it is on rate below the critical rate and can be on fundamental frequency above the critical rate.

Attention↗
PubMed1991

Health care for the children of Army service members: cost of alternatives.

The United States Army is committed to providing quality health care for active-duty service members, their dependents, and retired service members. Historically, the Army has never had enough active-duty physicians to provide care for all its beneficiaries. Alternatives utilizing civilian health care providers have been established to provide the balance of the medical services. In this review, the cost of each of the civilian health care providers in the Ft. Hood, Texas area is compared to that of the Army pediatrician. The Army pediatrician proves to be the least expensive of the health care providers.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Recognition and repair of 2-aminofluorene- and 2-(acetylamino)fluorene-DNA adducts by UVRABC nuclease.

Recognition of damage induced by N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene (N-OH-AF) and N-acetoxy-2-(acetylamino)fluorene (NAAAF) in both phi X174 RFI supercoiled DNA and a linear DNA fragment by purified UVRA, UVRB, and UVRC proteins was investigated. We have previously demonstrated that N-OH-AF and NAAAF treatments produce N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-aminofluorene (dG-C8-AF) and N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-(acetylamino)fluorene (dG-C8-AAF), respectively, in DNA. Using a piperidine cleavage method and DNA sequence analysis, we have found that all guanine residues can be modified by N-OH-AF and NAAAF. These two kinds of adducts have different impacts on the DNA helix structure; while dG-C8-AF maintains the anti configuration, dG-C8-AAF is in the syn form. phi X174 RF DNA-Escherichia coli transfection results indicate that while the uvrA, uvrB, and uvrC gene products are needed to repair dG-C8-AAF, the uvrC, but not the uvrA or uvrB gene products, is needed for repair of dG-C8-AF. However, we have found that in vitro the UVRA, UVRB, and UVRC proteins must work in concert to nick both dG-C8-AF and dG-C8-AAF. In general, the reactions of UVRABC nuclease toward dG-C8-AF are similar to those toward dG-C8-AAF; it incises seven to eight nucleotides from the 5' side and three to four nucleotides from the 3' side of the DNA adduct. Evidence is presented to suggest that hydrolysis on the 3' and 5' sides of the damaged base by UVRABC nuclease is not simultaneous and that at least occasionally hydrolysis occurs only on the 3' side or on the 5' side of the damage site. The possible mechanisms of UVRABC nuclease incision for AF-DNA are discussed.

2-Acetylaminofluorene↗
PubMed1989

Pharmacokinetics of intravenous immunoglobulin in neonates.

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) may be a therapeutic adjunct to antibiotic treatment of neonatal infections. We examined the pharmacokinetics and safety of IVIG in human neonates. Thirty neonates with suspected sepsis were randomly assigned either to a treatment (receiving either 250, 500, or 1,000 mg/kg of IVIG plus antibiotics) or control (antibiotics alone) group. The 500 mg/kg dose produced a rise in total IgG for greater than 8 and in group B streptococcus (GBS) type-specific IgG for greater than 4-14 days. The type-specific antibody elevation varied with the amount of pathogen-specific antibody and dose of IVIG. Pharmacokinetic analysis suggests a Vdss of 42 ml/kg, Cl of 3.0 ml/kg/day, a biphasic elimination curve, and a terminal elimination half-life of 24.2 days. No toxicity was observed. These data may be valuable in determining optimal dosing schedules for IVIG in treating or preventing neonatal infections.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1988

Biochemical analysis of spontaneous fepA mutants of Escherichia coli.

The fepA gene of Escherichia coli encodes the outer-membrane receptor protein for ferrienterobactin. Previous genetic studies indicated that fepA mutations occur frequently and suggested that most of the mutations were deletions. In this work seven spontaneous fepA mutations were analyzed by enzyme assay (enterobactin synthase and enterobactin esterase) and by DNA hybridization studies. In two strains, UT500 and UT700, the mutations were confined to the fepA gene. In the remaining mutants, the mutations were large deletions; in several cases, 27 kb or more of DNA had been lost. The deletions, all of which eliminated approximately the left half of the enterobactin gene cluster, extended from the vicinity of the fepC gene counterclockwise into the chromosome. A minimum of three clockwise endpoints were identified and at least two counterclockwise endpoints were detected. The variation in endpoints among the deletions argues against the involvement of a normal transposon in their formation. Also, unexpected homology was found between enterobactin gene cluster DNA and lacPOZ and pSC101.

Autoradiography↗
PubMed1986

Escherichia coli K-12 envelope proteins specifically required for ferrienterobactin uptake.

Escherichia coli genes specifically required for transport of iron by the siderophore enterobactin are designated fep. The studies reported here were initiated to identify and localize the fepB product. The plasmid pCP111, which consisted of an 11-kilobase E. coli DNA fragment containing fepB ligated to pACYC184, was constructed. The fepB gene was subcloned; in the process, complementation tests and Tn5 mutagenesis results provided evidence for the existence of a new fep gene, fepC. The order of the transport genes in the ent gene cluster is as follows: fepA fes entF fepC fepB entE. Minicell, maxicell, and in vitro DNA-directed protein synthesizing systems were used to identify the fepB and fepC products. The fepC polypeptide was 30,500 daltons in standard sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. The fepB gene was responsible for the appearance of three or four bands (their apparent molecular weights ranged from 31,500 to 36,500) in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, depending on the gel system employed. The largest of these was tentatively designated proFepB, since it apparently had a leader sequence. Localization experiments showed that FepC was a membrane constituent and that mature FepB was present in the periplasm. An additional polypeptide (X) was also encoded by the bacterial DNA of pCP111, but its relationship to iron transport is unknown. The results indicated that ferrienterobactin uptake is mediated by a periplasmic transport system and that genes coding for outer membrane (fepA), periplasmic (fepB), and cytoplasmic membrane (fepC) components have now been identified.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1978

Effectiveness of optometric vision therapy.

One hundred consecutive optometric vision therapy patients' records were evaluated to determine what changes occurred in the visual processing system. An ordinal visual performance scale was utilized to rate visual functioning on a one hundred point scale. The scale divides the visual processing system into 10 functions of 10 points each. Each of the 10 functions improved at the .001 level of significance as a consequence of the binocular vision therapy treatment program.

Accommodation, Ocular↗