Fulminant hepatic failure due to diclofenac treated successfully by orthotopic liver transplantation.
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Diclofenac↗
Biomedical subjects
T Latham
Publications and source records attributed to T Latham.
Programmed cell death in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta: alteration in protein synthesis.
The metamorphic death of the labial glands of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, occurs during a 4 day period during larva-to-pupa metamorphosis. The earliest changes marking the death of the cell, all occurring on the first day, are a sharp drop in protein synthesis, coupled with the selective survival or upregulation of a few messages. An early rearrangement of the rough endoplasmic reticulum is presumably related to the generalized decrease in protein synthesis. Lysosomal acid phosphatase also begins to increase very early, and ultimately the bulk of the cytoplasm is destroyed in autophagic vacuoles, but activation of lysosomes does not account for the decreased rate of synthesis. The mechanism by which most protein synthesis is depressed remains under investigation.
Acid Phosphatase↗
Measurement of intracellular ionized magnesium concentration in myocytes isolated from the septomarginal band of sheep hearts.
The preparation by collagenase dispersion is described of isolated, calcium-tolerant myocytes from the septomarginal (moderator) band dissected from the sheep heart. Cells obtained were small rods (85 x 9 microns), with pronounced striations characteristic of cardiac myocytes. Isolated cells were loaded with the fluorescent ion-sensitive probes Mag-fura-2 or fura-2, for use in microspectrofluorimetry experiments to measure cytosolic free magnesium ([Mg2+]i) and calcium ([Ca2+]i) respectively; cells remained usable for up to 8 h after isolation. Glycolysis and electron transport were inhibited by a short exposure (4 min) to deoxyglucose (15 mM) and cyanide (2 mM), added simultaneously. This appeared to produce a small, but not statistically significant (P = 0.056) rise in [Mg2+]i, presumably resulting from Mg2+ liberated following consumption of MgATP. Inhibition of the Na pump by strophanthidin (20 microM), followed by removal of external Na in the presence of strophanthidin, caused an increase in both [Mg2+]i and [Ca2+]i. The time course of changes in the two ions were dissimilar, so it seems unlikely that the observed rise in the [Mg2+]i was due solely to a direct effect of [Ca2+]i on Mag-fura-2 or due to the displacement of [Mg2+]i by Ca from binding sites. Evidence is presented that suggests sodium-magnesium exchange plays a role in the regulation of myocyte [Mg2+]i.
Animals↗
Delayed internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in programmed cell death.
DNA fragmentation was evaluated in three instances of programmed cell death, interdigital cell death in embryonic mouse limbs, and metamorphic death of both the labial glands and intersegmental muscle in the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta. In the mouse, we evaluated both developmental cell death and expanded-range cell death induced by retinoic acid. The status of DNA was examined in several ways. Nuclei were examined by electron microscopy and Feulgen staining. Quantitative assessment of total DNA content in Feulgen-stained degenerating nuclei was made for the gland. In the labial gland, DNA content does not drop during the early phases of cell death; nor is an endonucleolytic ladder seen when DNA was examined by ethidium bromide staining or prelabeling with [3H]thymidine. Only by using end labeling of DNA could we detect DNA fragmentation at a very late stage in cell death, day 4 of the collapse of the gland. In contrast, WEHI 7.1 lymphoma cells display an early and extensive ladder after treatment with glucocorticoids. In mouse limb, for which cell death follows a more classic apoptotic morphology, a ladder is likewise not seen. We conclude that activation of an endonuclease is neither a trigger nor a necessary or defining component of the early phases of developmental programmed cell death, and that reported failure by others to find such a ladder may depend on limitations in the system that is under investigation.
Animals↗
Complex alleles of the acid beta-glucosidase gene in Gaucher disease.
Gaucher disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner and is the most prevalent lysosomal storage disease. Gaucher disease has marked phenotypic variation and molecular heterogeneity, and seven point mutations in the acid beta-glucosidase (beta-Glc) gene have been identified. By means of sequence-specific oligonucleotides (SSO), mutation 6433C has been detected homozygously in neuronopathic type 2 (acute) and type 3 (subacute) patients, as well as in children with severe visceral involvement who are apparently free of neuronopathic disease. To investigate the molecular basis for this puzzling finding, amplified beta-Glc cDNAs from 6433C homozygous type 2 and type 3 Gaucher disease patients were cloned and sequenced. The Swedish type 3 Gaucher disease patient was truly homozygous for alleles only containing the 6433C mutation. In comparison, the type 2 patient contained a singly mutated 6433C allele and a "complex" allele with multiple discrete point mutations (6433C, 6468C, and 6482C). Each of the mutations in the complex allele also was present in the beta-Glc pseudogene. SSO hybridization of 6433C homozygotes revealed that both type 2 patients contained additional mutations in one allele, whereas the 6433C alone was detected in both type 3 and in young severe type 1 Gaucher disease patients. These results suggest that the presence of the complex allele influences the severity of neuronopathic disease in 6433C homozygotes and reveal the central role played by the pseudogene in the formation of mutant alleles of the beta-Glc gene. Analysis of additional cDNA clones also identified two new alleles in a type 3 patient, emphasizing the molecular heterogeneity of neuronopathic Gaucher disease.
Alleles↗
Comparison of RNase A, a chemical cleavage and GC-clamped denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis for the detection of mutations in exon 9 of the human acid beta-glucosidase gene.
Gaucher disease (GD), which results from mutations in the human acid beta-glucosidase (beta-Glc) gene, was used as a model system to compare the utility of three methods capable of detecting single base substitutions. PCR-amplified beta-Glc exon 9 sequences of GD patients were screened for single base mutations by GC-clamped denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and RNase A cleavage of RNA-DNA heteroduplexes, and by chemical (hydroxylamine/osmium tetroxide) cleavage of dsDNA heteroduplexes. PCR products showing abnormal behaviour were cloned and sequenced. Three new point mutations were detected by this strategy. A G to C (Asp409 to His409) substitution was present in two Type 1 and one Type 3 GD patients; an A to T transversion (Asp409 to Val409) was detected in only a single Type 3 individual, and a G to T mutation (Val394 to Leu394) was present in one Type 1 and one Type 3 patient. GD thus exhibits extensive molecular heterogeneity, with at least five single base mutations in beta-Glc exon 9. In every case verified by ASO hybridization, DGGE had correctly identified the presence of the three new mutations, as well as the two previously described exon 9 mutations. In comparison, although RNase A and the chemical method were both able to detect some of these mutations, neither method reproducibly detected all of them. Additionally, DGGE was the only method that was able to reliably determine whether a given mutation was present homozygously or heterozygously. These results suggest that GC-clamped DGGE may be a more reliable and informative screening method for point mutation detection.
Base Composition↗
Detection of single-base mutations in DNA molecules using the solution melting method.
RNA molecules that differ by a single base pair in their highest melting domain can be separated by the solution melting method (Smith et al., 1988) due to sequence-specific melting properties of double-stranded (ds) RNA heteroduplexes. We now show that this method can be used to reliably detect single base pair differences in DNA molecules, and we define the upper limit of the high melting domain length that can be analyzed by this method for dsRNA and RNA-DNA molecules as about 250 bp and 130 bp, respectively. The usefulness of this method to detect point mutations in human genomic DNA is evaluated. X-linked genes are most amenable to study, because results are most easily interpretable when only a single allele is present. Using the human factor VIII gene as an example, we show this method is capable of detecting polymorphisms present in genomic DNA after amplification by the polymerase chain reaction. This technique should prove useful in the simultaneous rapid screening of multiple exons of X-linked genes for single-base mutations.
DNA↗
Gaucher disease: molecular heterogeneity and phenotype-genotype correlations.
Gaucher disease (GD) is the most prevalent lysosomal storage disease. This autosomal recessive trait results from the defective activity of acid beta-glucosidase (beta-Glc). Four different exonic point mutations have been identified as causal alleles for GD. To facilitate screening for these alleles, assays were developed using allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization to amplified genomic DNA sequences. Specifically, intron bases flanking exons 5, 9, and 10 were determined, and conditions for PCR amplification of these exons were obtained. Two different procedures were developed to distinguish signals obtained from the structural beta-Glc gene exons and those from the pseudogene. These procedures were used to determine the distribution of all known GD alleles in a population of 44 affected patients of varying phenotypes and ethnicity. The high frequency of one of the exon 9 mutations in Ashkenazi Jewish GD type 1 patients was confirmed, and, in addition, this mutation was present in ethnically diverse non-Jewish type 1 GD patients. Homozygotes (N = 5) for this allele were midly affected older individuals, and this mutant allele was not found in any patient with neuronopathic disease. The exon 10 mutation was confirmed as the predominant allele in types 2 and 3 GD. However, several type 1 GD patients, including one of Ashkenazi-Jewish heritage, also were heterozygous for this allele. The presence of this allele in type 1 patients did not correlate with the severity of clinical symptoms. The second exon 9 mutation and the exon 5 mutation were rare, since they occurred only heterozygously either in one type 2 GD patient or in two related Ashkenazi-Jewish GD patients, respectively. Although most GD patients (38 of 44) had at least one of the known mutant alleles, 57% were heterozygotes for only one of these mutations. Fourteen percent of patients were negative for all mutations. A total of 73% of GD patients had at least one unknown allele. The varying clinical phenotypes and ethnic origins of these incompletely characterized patients suggest that multiple other GD alleles exist.
Base Sequence↗