PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S S Deeb

Publications and source records attributed to S S Deeb.

104 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

The molecular basis of beta-thalassemia in Lebanon: application to prenatal diagnosis.

A study of the molecular lesions of beta-thalassemia in Lebanon revealed the presence of eight different mutations in 25 patients with Cooley's anemia. The IVS1 position 110 mutation predominated with a frequency of 62% and was almost invariably associated with Mediterranean chromosome haplotype I. Five other mutations commonly found in the Mediterranean area occurred with frequencies of 2% to 8%. In addition a G----C substitution in IVS1 position 5 (a lesion previously found in Chinese and Asian Indians) was demonstrated in a patient with Mediterranean haplotype IX. A new mutation at codon 29 was found in two other patients with haplotype II. The characterization of these beta-thalassemia mutations should allow the implementation of a prenatal diagnosis program in that country.

Globins↗

Chromosomal localization of the human apolipoprotein B gene and detection of homologous RNA in monkey intestine.

A cDNA clone of the human apolipoprotein B-100 was used as a hybridization probe to detect homologous sequences in both flow-sorted and in situ metaphase chromosomes. The results indicate that the gene encoding this protein is on the distal end of the short arm of chromosome 2 (2p23-2p24). RNA isolated from monkey small intestine contained sequences (6.5 and 18 kilobases) homologous to the cDNA of apolipoprotein B-100. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that one gene codes for both the intestinal (B-48) and the hepatic (B-100) forms.

Animals↗

A partial cDNA clone for human apolipoprotein B.

A human liver cDNA library was screened for sequences coding for apolipoprotein B (apo B), the major protein of human low density lipoproteins. A mixture of synthetic oligonucleotides (26 bases long) coding for an amino acid sequence known to exist in apo B was used as a hybridization probe. A clone was identified that had a cDNA insert of 593 base pairs and that contained sequences coding for a peptide of 24 residues that had earlier been isolated from apo B by limited proteolysis. The entire nucleotide sequence of the cDNA insert consists of one open reading frame coding for 197 amino acids. Apo B-related RNAs were found in human liver, baboon liver, and the human hepatoma cell line HepG2. None were detected in placenta, simian virus 40 (SV40)-transformed fibroblasts, and a lymphoblastoid cell line. The length of the mature apo B mRNA was estimated to be 18 kb, enough to code for a protein with a molecular weight in the neighborhood of 500,000.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Globin synthetic ratios in homozygous beta-thalassemia patients from Lebanon.

We have studied patients with beta-thalassemia from a Lebanese population having a high rate of consanguineous matings. This population exhibits both elevated and normal levels of Hb A2 associated with high levels of Hb F in homozygotes. The clinical course of the anemia suggests that this population consists of the severe Mediterranean type. Twenty-three unrelated homozygous beta-thalassemia patients investigated for globin synthetic ratios, consisted of 18 beta+ and 5 beta 0 with a non-alpha/alpha range of 0.158-0.465 and 0.25-0.41, respectively. The percentage of G gamma chains in Hb F was determined for 21 of these patients and a mean value of 59% G gamma chain content was found.

Electrophoresis, Disc↗

Stability of Lambdoid bacteriophage heads: antagonism between polyamines and tryptamine.

The biological activity of heads of bacteriophages phi 80 and lambda in in vitro assembly with tails was inhibited by dialysis, filtration on gels, and treatment with tryptamine. Inhibition by these three treatments could be prevented but not reversed by putrescine. Other diamines with shorter or longer carbon chain lengths were either less effective or not effective at all. It is suggested that tryptamine acts by loosening the tightly packed DNA in heads, whereas putrescine stabilizes it.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

Involvement of a tryptophan residue in the assembly of bacteriophages 80 and lambda.

The assembly of infective particles of bacteriophages lambda and phi80 from heads and tails was found to be inhibited by l-tryptophan and some of its analogues, most notably tryptamine. Both the rate of assembly and the final yield of phage were inhibited. The amino acid l-phenylalanine had a slight inhibitory effect, whereas all other amino acids found in proteins were ineffective. Evidence was presented to show that the binding of heads to tails was the affected process in the assay for assembly of infective units. The plaque-forming ability of preassembled phage was not affected by these inhibitors. Results of three different types of experiments suggest that inhibition is due to interaction of inhibitors with the head substructure. The assembly reaction is highly dependent on pH, ionic strength, and the presence of detergents.

Binding Sites↗

Morphogenesis of bacteriophage phi 80: identification of the cistron 13 product.

An in vitro complementation reaction leading to the assembly of bacteriophage phi80 tails from component proteins is described. Tail assembly occurs when a lysate of any mutant in cistron 13 is mixed with a second lysate of a mutant in any of the other cistrons involved in tail formation. Lysates of mutants that are blocked in tail formation contain phage heads that can unite with free tails to form infective particles. The rate of the complementation reaction shows little dependence upon temperature, suggesting that the assembly depends largely upon the kinetic encounter of the interacting components. The tail component missing in cistron 13 mutant lysates was purified approximately 55-fold and shown to be, at least in part, a protein having a molecular weight of approximately 22,000. This protein was also released from highly purified infective phi80 particles after osmotic shock followed by heattreatment, suggesting that it most probably is an integral structural protein of the phage tail. Lysates of mutants of bacteriophage lambda that are defective in tail formation were shown to contain a tail component identical with or similar to the phi80 cistron 13 product.

Ammonium Sulfate↗

Studies on the in vitro assembly of bacteriophage phi 80 and phi 80-lambda hybrids.

Suppressor-sensitive (sus) mutants of bacteriophage phi80 defective in late functions were classified, by means of in vitro assembly tests, into two complementation groups: head donors and tail donors. Each group of mutants was subdivided, by means of two-factor crosses, into six cistrons. Deletion mapping revealed clustering of tail and also of head cistrons. The two clusters were located in the left arm of vegetative phi80 (the tail specifying cluster being distal). In vitro cross complementation between phi80 and lambda sus mutants revealed that whereas lambda heads could quite efficiently bind phi80 tails to form viable phage, the union of phi80 heads and lambda tails was very much less efficient. Deletion mapping of the phi80 sus mutants, using both phi80 and i(phi80)h(lambda) deletion lysogens indicated congruent gross gene arrangement in the two related bacteriophages.

Coliphages↗