Biomedical subjects

S M Morris

Publications and source records attributed to S M Morris.

185 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Flow cytometric analysis of the cell-cycle distribution of spleen lymphocytes isolated from Fischer 344 rats exposed to ethyl nitrosourea.

Current studies in our laboratory are designed to determine the frequency of genotoxic responses induced in lymphocytes isolated from Fischer 344 rats. To evaluate the effect of a model compound, N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU), on the cell-cycle distribution of spleen lymphocytes, 8-week old, female Fischer 344 rats were injected i.p. with ENU and sacrificed 1, 2, 4, and 6 weeks after exposure. Four replicate cultures per dose per exposure period were established and cells were cultured for 66 hr. Colcemid, an agent which blocks cells in mitosis and induces an accumulation of cells in the G2 + M peak, was added to two of the four cultures as a positive control. After a 3 hr incubation, the cells were harvested, the nuclei stained with propidium iodide, and the DNA content of the individual nuclei was quantified by flow cytometry. As expected, exposure to Colcemid resulted in an accumulation of cells in the G2 + M phase of the cell cycle, which was accompanied by a decrease in the G0 + G1 population. The increase in the G2 + M population was significant (p < 0.05) in cultures of lymphocytes assayed at 4 and 6 weeks after exposure. The effect of increasing ENU concentration was an increase in the percentage of S-phase cells (p = 0.05) and a decrease (p < 0.02) in the percentage of G0 + G1 cells. This finding was observed only in those lymphocytes isolated 1 week after exposure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Correlation between specific DNA-methylation products and mutation induction at the HGPRT locus in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Suspension cultures of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were exposed to methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) or methylnitrosourea (MNU) and assayed for mutation induction (6-thioguanine resistance) and for specific DNA adducts. DNA methylation at the 1-, 3- and 7-positions of adenine, the 3-, O6- and 7-positions of guanine, and phosphate was detected in cultures exposed to MMS, while MNU produced 3- and 7-methyladenine, 3-methylcytosine, 3-, O6- and 7-methylguanine, O4-methylthymidine and methylated phosphodiesters. When mutations induced by MMS and MNU were compared by linear correlation analysis with levels of each of these adducts, only O6-methylguanine displayed a strong correlation with mutations (r = 0.879, p less than 0.001). The relationship between O6-methylguanine and induced mutations in CHO cells is similar to that previously reported in CHO cells for O6-ethylguanine and mutations (Heflich et al., 1982) and indicates that alkylation-induced mutations at the HGPRT locus in CHO cells are primarily associated with O6-alkylguanine formation.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Nitric oxide, sepsis, and arginine metabolism.

Nitric oxide is one of the most versatile molecules produced by mammalian cells. Its role in sepsis and inflammation has been the subject of intense investigation since its discovery as a cell product in 1987. The role of arginine in sepsis and trauma has also received considerable attention, but most of the earlier studies on arginine preceded the studies on nitric oxide and the discovery that arginine serves as the nitrogen donor for nitric oxide synthesis. This review will explore the role that nitric oxide plays in sepsis and the effects of arginine metabolism on nitric oxide synthesis.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The not-for-profit dilemma: business approach or bankruptcy?

Not-for-profit hospitals are facing a lack of access to capital, management skills for a competitive marketplace, and boards that find it difficult to wear business hats in their decision-making processes. They must act now. If not-for-profits do not overcome their one-room school house syndrome of local control, give up autonomy to form national networks, and create new ways to generate capital, they will lose quality of care, and for-profits or government will assume healthcare leadership in our country. The following article addresses this dilemma.

Commerce↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of retinoic acid on cell differentiation and reversion toward normal in human endometrial adenocarcinoma (RL95-2) cells.

BACKGROUND: All-trans retinoic acid is currently used in clinical trials in combination with tamoxifen to treat breast cancer, and 13-cis retinoic acid is used with a-interferon to treat metastatic endometrial cancer. We examined the effects of all-trans retinoic acid and 13-cis RA alone on endometrial adenocarcinoma (RL95-2) cells to investigate the cell biological mechanisms by which retinoic acid may reduce the metastatic phenotype and induce differentiation. METHODS: RL95-2 cells were seeded onto 4-chamber plastic slides and treated with 13-cis retinoic acid or all-trans retinoic at 0.5 microM, 1 microM and 5 microM doses for 90 minutes at 37 degrees C and stained for F-actin. RESULTS: Untreated RL95-2 cells exhibited staining of disrupted aggregates of F-actin only near the cell periphery. Cells treated with the three doses of 13-cis retinoic acid exhibited a dramatic reorganization of F-actin throughout the cells. When cells were treated with 0.5 microM all-trans retinoic acid, actin filaments reorganized. Cells treated with 1 microM all-trans retinoic acid and 5 microM all-trans retinoic acid displayed increased organization of F-actin and cell size increased. The percentage of S-phase cells increased at the high doses of retinoic acid treatment. This effect was apparently transient, since retinoic acid did not significantly affect cell growth. CONCLUSION: An organized cytoskeleton and an increase in cell size are associated with differentiation. We suggest that retinoic acid exerts its effects on these transformed cells by reorganizing actin filaments, and inducing differentiation, thus inducing a more stationary phenotype.

Actins↗