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Biomedical subjects

R G Tissot

Publications and source records attributed to R G Tissot.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Developing and implementing a "basic science clerkship" for first-year students.

For over 15 years, human genetics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago (UICMC) was taught exclusively through lectures. In 1989-90 the authors revised this course for the graduating class of 1993 in order to incorporate many features found in a clerkship experience, such as oral presentations and the exploration of differential diagnoses through patient cases. In addition to lectures, the revised course consisted of small-group work in concentrated blocks of time, involving both a library research project and problem-based learning, each of which contributed to (1) significant gains in student achievement compared with data from the class of 1992 and (2) extremely favorable assessments from the students and faculty. The format of a basic science clerkship is being adopted by other departments at UICMC. The authors suggest that this format could be used by other medical schools to integrate the basic and clinical sciences.

Clinical Clerkship

The swine leucocyte antigen (SLA) complex and Sinclair swine cutaneous malignant melanoma.

Cutaneous malignant melanoma of Sinclair swine (SSCM) is an inherited neoplasm present at birth in a majority of affected animals. We have characterized the swine leucocyte antigen (SLA) complex of the Sinclair herd at Texas A & M University using a one-way mixed lymphocyte test and found that one particular haplotype, arbitrarily identified as haplotype B, is associated with the expression of SSCM. Only a single dose of the B haplotype is required for a dominant allele at a 'tumour initiator' locus to be fully penetrant. In addition, swine homozygous for haplotype B develop more primary tumours between birth and weaning than those heterozygous for the B haplotype. Taken together, these findings indicate that tumour initiation, in utero, and expression between birth and weaning may involve different mechanisms.

Animals

Rabbit major histocompatibility complex. III. Multiple class II DR beta genes and restriction fragment length polymorphism of the class II alpha and beta genes.

Several class II alpha and beta chain genes of the rabbit MHC have been cloned and classified into three distinct subregions, R-DP, R-DQ and R-DR, based on their homology to the corresponding HLA-DP, -DQ and -DR genes. The organization of the rabbit MHC class II genes has now been studied in greater detail by analysing genomic DNA of an inbred III/J strain and several other RLA-D homozygous rabbits, with DNA probes derived from cloned R-DR beta genes. Eight previously cloned R-DR beta genes were shown to be allelic forms of five R-DR beta loci. Genomic blot analyses of DNA from seven rabbits homozygous for different RLA haplotypes revealed that the germline contains a total of approximately seven class II beta genes, one DQ beta, one DP beta and five DR beta. Extensive allelic polymorphism was identified by RFLP analysis using DQ and DR probes; limited RFLP was observed with DP probes. RFLP analyses allowed us to distinguish two haplotypes which had not been previously distinguished by MLR. Such RFLP analyses will be useful for identifying MHC 'compatible' rabbits for various immunobiological studies, including transplantation.

Animals

Stable chimerism induced in noninbred rabbits by neonatal injection of spleen cells from allotype-suppressed adult donors. I. Replacement of hemopoietic tissue by donor cells.

In the course of experiments designed to demonstrate an active mechanism of allotype suppression in rabbits, spleen cells from adult donors were transferred to newborn recipients. Among 23 rabbits that received injections, 4 stable chimeras were formed, as determined by the production of serum immunoglobulins marked with light and heavy chain allotypes. The other rabbits that survived the immediate postinjection period displayed a temporary chimeric state lasting up to several weeks, after which they either succumbed to graft-versus-host disease or rejected the donor cells. One chimeric animal was apparently repopulated by the hemopoietic cells of the donor's spleen. Insofar as could be determined, the recipient's blood cells became phenotypically identical to those of the donor. This condition manifested itself as a loss of the recipient gene products associated with both lymphocyte and erythrocytes, accompanied by a seemingly total replacement with those of the donor.

Aging

Histocompatibility in the rabbit. The effect of imbreeding on skin graft survival time.

Skin grafts were exchanged between siblings from 16 inbreeding lines of rabbits. Progressive inbreeding and genome fixation through 12 generations of brother X sister matings does not produce a concomitant increase in graft survival time but instead produces a heterogenous response reflecting the residual segregation of individual histocompatibility loci. Grafts exchanged between RL-A incompatible siblings were not maintained for more than 12 days, regardless of the degree of inbreeding. The frequency distributions of the survival times of grafts exchanged between animals from all inbreeding lines from each generation, F5 through F8, agree best with the expected values calculated by assuming that 17 independent histocompatibility loci, with 95% confidence limits of 11 and 28 loci, must be matched to assure acceptance of skin grafts for 60 days or more. However, in animals from line Sh5b, only 3 significant histocompatibility loci appear to be segregating. Two of the significant histocompatibility loci segregating in line Sh5b have not geen identified;the third significant locus is either the Hg blood group locus or is linked to the Hg locus. Established loci that remain polymorphic during intensive inbreeding may be important in the development of a model transplantation system; as inbreeding progresses these established loci may be maekers for histocompatiblity loci thathave a significant effect on allograft survival time.

Animals

Histocompatibility and tooth transplantation in the rabbit.

Allogeneic orthotopic tooth transplants in the rabbit appear to stimulate transplantation immunity reactions comparable to those encountered with the transplantation of other organs. Intact untreated teeth were shown to be as quantitatively immunogenic as skin grafts between unrelated animals. Histocompatibility matching of donor and recipient and removal of pulpal tissues were demonstrated to be effective means of ameliorating the immune response to allogeneic orthotopic tooth transplants in the rabbit.

Animals