Lymphatic metastasis of tumour; persistent transport of cells

Summary A model of lymphatic metastasis established by injecting Walker rat carcinoma cells into the rat footpad was used to study the output of tumour cells from the footpad. The lymphatic efferent from the footpad was cannulated in a group of rats with advanced neoplasm; it was shown that the output of tumou cells was continuou over periods up to 90 min and ranged from 10²–10⁵ cells/min.Acknowledgment. This work was supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute of Canada to C.R.F. and I.C. We are grateful to Mrs W. Kao and Mr I. Etches for meticulous technical help and to the Photographic Section, Department of Pathology for illustrations. Dr V.S. Gupta of Veterinary Physiology, University of Saskatchewan supplied the tumour for transplantation.     

Splenic cellular responses in vitro after tumour-immunization

Résumé L'incorporation de³Htdr, en l'absence de PHA, a obtenu un niveau élevé chez les animaux immunisés. Les cellules témoins montrèrent une radioactivité faible, à moins qu'elles n'aient été stimulées par la PHA. Les cellules spléniques des souris immunisées ne présentèrent aucune stimulation significative par l'utilisation d'une dose optimum de PHA.     

Drought-induced guard cell signal transduction involves sphingosine-1-phosphate

Stomata form pores on leaf surfaces that regulate the uptake of CO2 for photosynthesis and the loss of water vapour during transpiration. An increase in the cytosolic concentration of free calcium ions ([Ca2+]cyt) is a common intermediate in many of the pathways leading to either opening or closure of the stomatal pore. This observation has prompted investigations into how specificity is controlled in calcium-based signalling systems in plants. One possible explanation is that each stimulus generates a unique increase in [Ca2+]cyt, or 'calcium signature', that dictates the outcome of the final response. It has been suggested that the key to generating a calcium signature, and hence to understanding how specificity is controlled, is the ability to access differentially the cellular machinery controlling calcium influx and release from internal stores. Here we report that sphingosine-1-phosphate is a new calcium-mobilizing molecule in plants. We show that after drought treatment sphingosine-1-phosphate levels increase, and we present evidence that this molecule is involved in the signal-transduction pathway linking the perception of abscisic acid to reductions in guard cell turgor.     

Plasma sheet stretching accompanied by field aligned energetic ion fluxes observed by the NUADU instrument aboard TC-2

The NUADU (NeUtral Atom Detector Unit) instrument aboard TC-2 recorded 4л solid angle images of charged particles (E >180 keV) spiraling around the magnetic field lines in the near-Earth plasma sheet (at ~ -7 RE, equatorial dawn-to-night side) during a geomagnetic storm (Dst =-219 nT) on August 24, 2005. Energetic ion beam events characterized by symmetrical, ring-like, solid angle distributions around ambient magnetic field lines were observed during a 34-minute traversal of the plasma sheet by the TC-2 spacecraft. Also, observations during these multiple crossings of the plasma sheet were monitored by the magnetometer experiment (FGM) aboard the same spacecraft. During each crossing, a whistler-mode chorus enhancement was observed in the anisotropic area by the TC-2 low frequency electromagnetic wave detector (LFEW/TC-2) at a frequency just above that of the local lower hybrid wave. A comparison of the ion pitch angle distribution (PAD) map with the ambient magnetic field shows that an enhancement in the field aligned energetic ion flux was accompanied by tailward stretching of the magnetic field lines in the plasma sheet. In contrast, the perpendicular ion-flux enhancement was accompanied by a signature indicating the corresponding shrinkage of the magnetic field lines in the plasma sheet. Since both parallel ion-flux and perpendicular ion-flux enhancements occurred intermittently, the data were interpreted to imply a dynamical, oscillatory process of the magnetic field line (stretching and shrinking) in the near-Earth plasma sheet, which might have acted to help establish an interaction region in this area which would support continuous aurora-substorm triggering during the ongoing magnetic storm. The whistler-mode chorus may have been produced due to ion gyro-resonance during particle pitch angle diffusion after the plasma sheet compression.     

Mutations in 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase cause primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy

Digital clubbing, recognized by Hippocrates in the fifth century BC, is the outward hallmark of pulmonary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, a clinical constellation that develops secondary to various acquired diseases, especially intrathoracic neoplasm. The pathogenesis of clubbing and hypertrophic osteoarthropathy has hitherto been poorly understood, but a clinically indistinguishable primary (idiopathic) form of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (PHO) is recognized. This familial disorder can cause diagnostic confusion, as well as significant disability. By autozygosity methods, we mapped PHO to chromosome 4q33-q34 and identified mutations in HPGD, encoding 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase, the main enzyme of prostaglandin degradation. Homozygous individuals develop PHO secondary to chronically elevated prostaglandin E(2) levels. Heterozygous relatives also show milder biochemical and clinical manifestations. These findings not only suggest therapies for PHO, but also imply that clubbing secondary to other pathologies may be prostaglandin mediated. Testing for HPGD mutations and biochemical testing for HPGD deficiency in patients with unexplained clubbing might help to obviate extensive searches for occult pathology.     

Hyperprolactinemia and estrogen-induced rhythms in LH and prolactin release in the ovariectomized rat

Short-term (9 days) hyperprolactinemia induced by pituitary grafts reduced basal plasma LH levels in ovariectomized rats whereas long-term (31 days) grafts increased basal LH levels. Although long-term grafts inhibited estradiol-induced prolactin surges, hyperprolactinemia had no effect on the LH surge. It is concluded that the estrogen-treated ovariectomized rat is not suitable for studying the effects of hyperprolactinemia on LH release.