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The Eck fistula in animals and humans.

In all species so far studied, including man, portacaval shunt causes the same changes in liver morphology, including hepatocyte atrophy, fatty infiltration, deglycogenation, depletion and disorganization of the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) and its lining polyribosomes, and variable but less specific damage to other organelles. Many, perhaps all, biosynthetic processes are quickly depressed, largely secondary to the selective damage to the RER, which is the "factory" of the cell. These structural and metabolic changes in the liver after portal diversion are caused by the diversion around the liver of the hepatotrophic substances in portal venous blood, of which endogenous insulin is the most important. In experimental animals, the injury of Eck's fistula can be prevented by infusing insulin into the tied-off hilar portal vein. The subtle but far-reaching changes in hepatic function after portal diversion have made it possible to use this procedure in palliating three inborn errors of metabolism: glycogen storage disease, familial hypercholesterolemia, and alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency. In these three diseases, the abnormalities caused by portal diversion have counteracted abnormalities in the patients that were caused by the inborn errors. In these diseases, amelioration of the inborn errors depends on the completeness of the portal diversion. In contrast, total portal diversion to treat complications of portal hypertension is undesirable and always will degrade hepatic function if a significant amount of hepatopetal portal venous blood is taken from the liver. When total portal diversion is achieved (and this is to be expected after all conventional shunts), the incidence of hepatic failure and hepatic encephalopathy is increased. If portal diversion must be done for the control of variceal hemorrhage, a selective procedure such as the Warren procedure is theoretically superior to the completely diverting shunt. In practice, better patient survival has not been achieved after selective shunts than after conventional shunts, but the incidence of hepatic encephalopathy has been less.

Animals↗

Mitochondrial membrane potential in cardiac myocytes.

Mitochondria are involved in cellular functions that transcend the traditional role of these organelles as the energy factory of the cell. Their relative inaccessibility and the difficulties involved in attempts to study them in their natural environment -- the cytosol -- has delayed much of this understanding and they still have many secrets to yield. One of the relatively new fields in this respect is undoubtedly the analysis of mitochondrial membrane potential. The realization that its alteration may have important pathophysiological consequences has led to an increased interest in measuring this variable in a variety of biological settings, including cardiovascular diseases. Measurements of mitochondrial membrane potential tell us much about the role of mitochondria in normal cell function and in processes leading to cell death. However, we must be aware of the limitations of using isolated mitochondria, single cells and different fluorescent indicators.

Animals↗

[Significance of mitochondria in the heart muscle].

Besides their traditional role as the energy factory of the cell, mitochondria play an important role in other aspects of cardiac cell functioning under physiological and pathological conditions. They are involved in the regulation of calcium homeostasis, production of reactive oxygen species as well as in the process of cardiac cell death. Recently, the interest in their participation in ischemia-reperfusion injury and potential role in cardioprotective mechanisms, with particular attention to developmental aspects has markedly increased.

Animals↗

N-glycoprotein biosynthesis in plants: recent developments and future trends.

N-glycosylation is a major modification of proteins in plant cells. This process starts in the endoplasmic reticulum by the co-translational transfer of a precursor oligosaccharide to specific asparagine residues of the nascent polypeptide chain. Processing of this oligosaccharide into high-mannose-type, paucimannosidic-type, hybrid-type or complex-type N-glycans occurs in the secretory pathway as the glycoprotein moves from the endoplasmic reticulum to its final destination. At the end of their maturation, some plant N-glycans have typical structures that differ from those found in their mammalian counterpart by the absence of sialic acid and the presence of beta(1,2)-xylose and alpha( 1,3)-fucose residues. Glycosidases and glycosyltransferases that respectively catalyse the stepwise trimming and addition of sugar residues are generally considered as working in a co-ordinated and highly ordered fashion to form mature N-glycans. On the basis of this assembly line concept, fast progress is currently made by using N-linked glycan structures as milestones of the intracellular transport of proteins along the plant secretory pathway. Further developments of this approach will need to more precisely define the topological distribution of glycosyltransferases within a plant Golgi stack. In contrast with their acknowledged role in the targeting of lysosomal hydrolases in mammalian cells, N-glycans have no specific function in the transport of glycoproteins into the plant vacuole. However, the presence of N-glycans, regardless of their structures, is necessary for an efficient secretion of plant glycoproteins. In the biotechnology field, transgenic plants are rapidly emerging as an important system for the production of recombinant glycoproteins intended for therapeutic purposes, which is a strong motivation to speed up research in plant glycobiology. In this regard, the potential and limits of plant cells as a factory for the production of mammalian glycoproteins will be illustrated.

Animals↗

Intranuclear targeting of DNA replication factors.

Mammalian nuclei are highly organized into functional compartments. Major nuclear processes like DNA replication and RNA processing take place in distinct foci. These microscopically visible foci are formed by the assembly of, for example, DNA replication factors and associated proteins into megadalton complexes often referred to as protein machines or factories. Thus far, two proteins, DNA ligase I and DNA methyltransferase (DNA MTase), have been analyzed in greater detail. In both cases, the assembly process appears to be controlled by distinct targeting sequences that were attached to the catalytic protein core in the course of evolution and mediate the association with replication factories in mammalian cells. The dynamics of these nuclear structures throughout the cell cycle are analyzed using green fluorescent protein (GFP). Further studies are needed to elucidate the architecture, regulation, and role of these subnuclear structures.

Animals↗

In and out of the replication factory.

In this issue of Cell, use live-fluorescence microscopy to monitor individual genomic loci as they replicate in budding yeast. They confirm that DNA is recruited to replication factories and show that sister replication forks initiated from the same origin are held together within a single replication factory.

DNA Replication↗

Reovirus serotypes 1 and 3 differ in their in vitro association with microtubules.

Utilizing negative-stain electron microscopy in which similar concentrations of reovirus types 1 and 3 are incubated with a carbon support film containing chick brain, rabbit brain, or HeLa cell microtubules, 81% of the type 1 and 56% of type 3 exhibited an association with the apparent "edge" of the microtubule. This implies that there is a high level of specific affinity for type 1 but not for type 3 to microtubules, since it has previously been determined that only 50% of randomly associated particles would be associated with the edge. The high edge binding of reovirus type 1 is virtually independent of the origin of microtubule, or of whether microtubules or virus has been initially adhered to the support film. On the other hand, reovirus type 1-specific antiserum reduced the edge binding or reovirus type 1 to 45%, whereas type 3 specific antiserum caused no less (within the variability of the assay) of the edge binding of reovirus type 1 to microtubules (76% edge bound). High edge binding of reovirus type 1 to microtubules is correlated with the presence of type 1 or sigma 1 polypeptide. This minor outer capsid polypeptide is encoded in the S1 double-stranded RNA segment and is the viral hemagglutinin and neutralization antigen. Recombinant reovirus clones containing the S1 double-stranded RNA segment of type 1 (80 and 802) show about 85% edge binding, as compared to a value of 42% for clones and the S1 gene of type 3 (204. Electron microscopy of purified reovirus types 1 and 3 by negative staining reveals that type 1 and 802 capsomers are distinctly visualized, whereas those of type 3 and 204 appear diffuse. Thus, the greater in vitro binding of type 1 to microtubules may reflect an increased accessibility of certain of its outer capsomers, and thereby, sigma 1 polypeptides to microtubules. Examination of its outer sections of reovirus type 1- and 3-infected cells at 24 to 48 h postinfection at 31 degrees C showed that about eight times as many viral factoris in type 1-infected cells exhibited an extensive association of virus particles with microtubules, as compared to viral factories of type 3-infected cells. Thus, both in vivo and in vitro there appears to be a greater specificity for the association of reovirus type 1 particles with microtubules, as compared to reovirus type 3 particles.

Animals↗

Replication factories and nuclear bodies: the ultrastructural characterization of replication sites during the cell cycle.

Sites of replication in synchronized HeLa cells were visualized by light and electron microscopy; cells were permeabilized and incubated with biotin-16-dUTP, and incorporation sites were immunolabelled. Electron microscopy of thick resinless sections from which approximately 90% chromatin had been removed showed that most DNA synthesis occurs in specific dense structures (replication factories) attached to a diffuse nucleoskeleton. These factories appear at the end of G1-phase and quickly become active; as S-phase progresses, they increase in size and decrease in number like sites of incorporation seen by light microscopy. Electron microscopy of conventional thin sections proved that these factories are a subset of nuclear bodies; they changed in the same characteristic way and contained DNA polymerase alpha and proliferating cell nuclear antigen. As replication factories can be observed and labelled in non-permeabilized cells, they cannot be aggregation artifacts. Some replication occurs outside factories at discrete sites on the diffuse skeleton; it becomes significant by mid S-phase and later becomes concentrated beneath the lamina.

Biotin↗

High-voltage electron microscope study of the release of vaccinia virus from whole cells.

High-voltage (1,000-kV) electron microscope examination of whole BSC-1 cells infected with vaccinia virus at different times after infection revealed the presence of increasing numbers of virions no longer confined to factories but situated along the cell periphery of monolayer cells. Stereoscopic images showed each virus enclosed within a membrane-like component of the host cell cytoplasm. Viruses within factories appeared to lack similar enclosures. Cytochalasin B, but not vinblastine, caused the enclosures to disrupt. Vaccinia viruses were observed to escape the host cell individually from the tips of microvillie and within packets of cytoplasm. Observations suggest that the intracellular movement and release of vaccinia virus utilize a host cell cytoplasmic network that involves microfilaments for stability.

Cell Line↗

Active genes dynamically colocalize to shared sites of ongoing transcription.

The intranuclear position of many genes has been correlated with their activity state, suggesting that migration to functional subcompartments may influence gene expression. Indeed, nascent RNA production and RNA polymerase II seem to be localized into discrete foci or 'transcription factories'. Current estimates from cultured cells indicate that multiple genes could occupy the same factory, although this has not yet been observed. Here we show that, during transcription in vivo, distal genes colocalize to the same transcription factory at high frequencies. Active genes are dynamically organized into shared nuclear subcompartments, and movement into or out of these factories results in activation or abatement of transcription. Thus, rather than recruiting and assembling transcription complexes, active genes migrate to preassembled transcription sites.

Animals↗

Relations between PM10 composition and cell toxicity: a multivariate and graphical approach.

Previous studies have used particle mass and size as metrics to link airborne particles with deleterious health effects. Recent evidence suggests that particle composition can play an important role in PM-toxicity; however, little is known about the specific participation of components (individually or acting in groups) present in such a complex mixture that accounts for toxicity. This work explores relationships among PM(10) components in order to identify their covariant structure and how they vary in three sites in Mexico City. Relationships between PM(10) with cell toxicity and geographical location were also explored. PM(10) was analyzed for elemental composition, organic and elemental carbon, endotoxins and the induction of inhibition of cell proliferation, IL-6, TNFalpha and p53. PM(10) variables were evaluated with principal component analysis and one-way ANOVA. The inhibition of cell proliferation, IL-6 and TNFalpha were evaluated with factorial ANOVA and p53 with the Welch test. The results indicate that there is heterogeneity in particle mass, composition and toxicity in samples collected at different sites. Multivariate analysis identified three major groups: (1) S/K/Ca/Ti/Mn/Fe/Zn/Pb; (2) Cl/Cr/Ni/Cu; and (3) endotoxins, organic and elemental carbon. Groups 1 and 3 showed significant differences among sites. Factorial ANOVA modeling indicated that cell proliferation was affected by PM concentration; TNFalpha and IL-6 by the interaction of concentration and site, and p53 was different by site. Radial plots suggest the existence of complex interactions between components, resulting in characteristic patterns of toxicity by site. We conclude that interactions of PM(10) components determine specific cellular outcomes.

Air Pollutants↗

[Morphological characteristics of cell populations in bronchial biopsy from mining-chemical factory workers].

A clinicomorphological examination of bronchial and transbronchial biopsies from the workers of a mining and chemical enterprise in Zheleznogorsk has demonstrated that long-term exposure to low-dose radionuclide radiation induces essential inflammatory and scleroticatrophic changes in the bronchopulmonary tissue. All the cell populations of the bronchial epithelium and stroma as well as a respiratory part of the lungs are involved into the pathological process. Squamous metaplasia of the bronchial epithelium is observed in 50% cases, in half of them various dysplastic processes occur. The complex of the above morphological alterations evidences for an oncological trend in pathological processes in the lungs of workers exposed to radionuclides.

Biopsy↗

Visualization of replication factories attached to nucleoskeleton.

HeLa cells in early S phase were encapsulated in agarose microbeads, permeabilized, and incubated with biotin-11-dUTP in a "physiological" buffer. Sites of DNA synthesis were then immunolabeled. As others have found, approximately 150 focal sites of synthesis were visible in each nucleus by light microscopy; they also contained DNA polymerase alpha and proliferating cell nuclear antigen. Electron microscopy of thick resinless sections from which approximately 90% of the chromatin had been removed revealed a similar number of dense, morphologically discrete ovoid bodies strung along a nucleoskeleton. The ovoids remained morphologically and functionally intact despite the removal of most of the chromatin. After 2.5 min of incubation with biotin-11-dUTP, the incorporated analog was associated only with ovoids; after 5 min it began to spread into the adjacent chromatin, which became extensively labeled after 1 hr. This provides visual evidence for polymerization "factories" fixed to a skeleton, with replication occurring as the template moves through them.

Biotin↗

Effects of Nocardia rubra cell wall skeleton on lymphocyte subsets in former poison gas factory workers.

Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were determined in former workers of the Okunojima Poison Gas Factory (poison gas workers) having a high incidence of lung cancer, and the effect of administration of Nocardia rubra cell wall skeleton (N-CWS) was studied. In poison gas workers not receiving N-CWS, both the percentage and absolute number of Leu-2a+ cells were significantly increased as compared with normal controls, while both the percentage and absolute number of Leu-7+ cells as well as the Leu-3a/Leu-2a ratio were significantly decreased. In poison gas workers receiving N-CWS, the percentage of Leu-2a+ cells was significantly decreased when compared with poison gas workers not receiving N-CWS, while the percentage of Leu-1+ cells and both the percentage and absolute number of Leu-7+ cells as well as the Leu-3a/Leu-2a ratio were significantly increased. When N-CWS was administered to poison gas workers, the percentage of Leu-2a+ cells significantly decreased, with a minimum two weeks after administration, while the percentage of Leu-3a+ and the Leu-3a/Leu-2a ratio significantly increased and the percentages of Leu-1+ and Leu-7+ cells also increased. Furthermore, the absolute number of Leu-3a+ cells increased markedly with a peak two weeks after administration. The absolute numbers of both Leu-1+ cells and Leu-7+ cells as well as total lymphocytes also significantly increased, but that of Leu-2a+ cells showed hardly any change. It is considered that a single administration of N-CWS transiently corrects the abnormality of lymphocyte subsets, and that repeated administration of N-CWS once every three months may maintain the lymphocyte subsets of poison gas workers at normal levels.

Aged↗

Functional Domains within the Nucleus of a Cell Infected with HSV-1.

HSV-1 is a nuclear replicating DNA virus capable of establishing both lytic and latent infections in mammalian cells. Expression of the more than 80 HSV genes (the majority of which do not contain introns) requires complex coordination of viral and cellular factors both temporally, at appropriate points during the infectious cycle, and spatially as the virus transcription, replication and DNA packaging factories develop in the cell nucleus. Whilst the HSV genome encodes sufficient proteins to sustain viral DNA replication, it is reliant upon its host cell for RNA polymerase II and RNA processing machinery, in addition to an increasing number of cellular cofactors, for gene expression. As HSV establishes a lytic infection, cellular gene expression and splicing are inhibited as cellular chromatin is displaced and a dramatic reorganisation of the host cell nucleus occurs. The formation of large protein-rich factories synthesising viral RNA and replicating and packaging the viral genomes is the most striking alteration. In addition to the synthetic factories, large clumps of cellular and viral intron-containing RNAs accumulate in the nucleus as a result of the inhibition of splicing, at locations which colocalise with splicing factors, but are separate from transcription sites. An essential HSV protein IE63, discussed here, has been identified with a role in the organisation of the nucleus at many levels including replication and transcription site formation, splicing factor organisation and the transport of RNA. This review is a summary of our present understanding of the organisation of the HSV infected cell nucleus, relating viral genomes, RNA, DNA and proteins in the context of the nucleus. However this is a rapidly evolving field and new factors (both viral and cellular) involved in the regulation of these functional domains are constantly being identified. Copyright 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Journal Article↗

Low CD4 T cell counts before HIV-1 seroconversion do not affect disease progression in Ethiopian factory workers.

BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-uninfected Ethiopians have lower CD4 T cell counts than do other populations in Africa and industrialized countries. We studied whether this unique immunological profile results in shorter survival times in HIV-1-infected Ethiopians. METHODS: Data from an open cohort study of 149 HIV-1-infected factory workers in Ethiopia for 1997-2002 were used. To estimate survival times, a continuous-time Markov model was designed on the basis of CD4 T cell counts and World Health Organization clinical staging. By use of a random-effects model, decline in CD4 T cell counts was compared between HIV-1-infected Ethiopian and Dutch individuals. RESULTS: Median survival times were in the range of 9.1-13.7 years, depending on the approach used. This range is similar to that for populations in industrialized countries before the advent of antiretroviral therapy. Ethiopians had a lower annual decline in CD4 T cell counts than did Dutch individuals, which remained when groups with similar CD4 T cell count categories were compared. Moreover, the slower decline in CD4 T cell counts was not due merely to lower HIV-1 RNA loads or an absence of syncytium-inducing/X4 HIV-1 subtype C strains in Ethiopians. CONCLUSIONS: Low baseline CD4 T cell counts do not imply shorter survival times in Ethiopians than in other populations, presumably because of a slower decline in CD4 T cell counts.

Adult↗

EDEM contributes to maintenance of protein folding efficiency and secretory capacity.

A stringent quality control process selects misfolded polypeptides generated in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) for ER-associated degradation (ERAD). Here we assessed the maintenance of efficient glycoprotein folding in cells with defective ERAD caused by lack of adaptation of the intralumenal level of ER degradation-enhancing alpha-mannosidase-like protein (EDEM) to an increase in the ER cargo load. When these cells were converted into factories for production of high levels of human beta-secretase, maturation of this N-glycosylated aspartic protease progressed as in wild-type cells initially to gradually become less efficient. Up-regulation of EDEM to strengthen the ERAD machinery (but not up-regulation of calnexin to reinforce the folding machinery) was instrumental in maintaining folding efficiency and secretory capacity. Our data underscore the important role that the degradation machinery plays in maintaining a functional folding environment in the ER.

Animals↗