Superoxide dismutase activity in rabbit reticulocytes

Summary Reticulocytosis was induced in rabbits by bleeding anemia and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activity was determined. Reticulocytes were found to contain about 1.3 times as much activity as mature erythrocytes.This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid from the Japan Medical Research Foundation and a Grant-in-Aid (Project No. 56570363) from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.     

A basic protein from bovine brain that co-precipitates with tubulin in vitro

A 193 kDa protein consisting of 58 kDa subunits, which has pI values of 8.50 and 8.65, was purified from bovine brain cytosol. It formed heavy precipitates with tubulin, and the molar ratio of tubulin dimer to this protein in the precipitate was 3.2. In contrast to microtubules containing ordinary microtubule-associated proteins, these complexes remained stable against cold and 1 mM CaCl₂.Acknowledgments. This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.     

T-cell leukemia induced by 1-propyl-1-nitrosourea in Fischer rats

Summary T-cell leukemia was induced at a high rate in female Fischer rats by continuous oral administration of 1-propyl-1-nitrosourea. No association of oncorna viruses were found in the leukemogenesis.The authors are greatly indebted to Professor K. Yokoro of the Department of Pathology, Research Institute for Nuclear Medicine & Biology, for his valuable suggestions. This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan.     

Effect of carbon particles on the recovery of bone marrow stem cells after irradiation in LPS-resistant C3H/HeJ mice

Summary Effect of RES-blockade on bone marrow cells was studied serially after irradiation in LPS-resistant mice. Injection of carbon particles reduced damage and accelerated recovery of marrow hemopoietic stem cells, indicating that LPS-resistant mice can react normally to RES-blockade.This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan.     

N-Nitrosospermidine: the principal nitrosation product of spermidine

Summary N-(4-Aminobutyl)-N-(3-aminopropyl)nitrosamine (N-nitrosospermidine) was identified as a major product in the reaction between spermidine and nitrous acid. N-Nitrosospermidine was not significantly mutagenic in the Ames assay.Acknowledgment. This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research (50-2) from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan.     

Antidiuretic activities of substance P and its analogs

Summary Substance P (SP) and analogs, including 5 nucleoside (ARA or HRA)-peptides, were examined for antidiuretic activity in ethanolized rats. The activity was potent in the analogs embodying the C-terminal hexapeptide, weak in the nucleoside-pentapeptide, and negligible in the nucleoside-tetrapeptide. In addition, the activity was increased by acylation of the hexapeptide. The antidiuretic potencies were also compared with the hypotensive potencies.This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan, and by a grant from the Imanaga Foundation, Nagoya, Japan.     

Opsonic activity against zymosan of normal human serum of different blood types

Summary Serum opsonic activity against zymosan was found to be decreased more markedly in highly diluted O type serum than in the other 3 types, among which no difference was noted. Heat-killed bacteria were equally well opsonized with any type of serum. This peculiar activity of O type serum against zymosan was not affected by the removal of isohemagglutinins. No inhibitory activity was demonstrable in O type serum.This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid from the Japan Medical Research Foundation and Grants-in-Aid (Project Nos. 157253 and 544050) from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.     

A thiol protease of peritoneal macrophages in the guinea pig

Summary Proteolytic enzymes of the guinea pig peritoneal exudate macrophages were investigated using synthetic fluorogenic peptide substrates. Among several enzymes, t-butyloxycarbonyl-phenylalanyl-seryl-arginine 4-methylcoumaryl-7-amide cleaving enzymes had the highest activity, and the activity in exudate macrophages was about 3 times tronger than that in resident thiol-blocking reagents, suggesting a thiol protease.We thank Dr Yoshiaki Motozato, Kumamoto University, for kind donation of Cellulofine GC-700 and valuable discussions. This work is supported in part by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.     

Quantitation of proinsulin mRNA sequences in hamster insulinoma cells in culture by molecular hybridization

Summary The content of proinsulin mRNA sequences was measured in a cultured cell line established from a transplantable hamster islet cell tumor, by hybridization with proinsulin cDNA. The cells cultured in vitro were found to contain a significant amount of proinsulin mRNA sequences, compared with non-insulin-producing hamster tissues, and seem to be a useful system for the study of insulin gene expression.This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid Scientific Research (248129, 387065, 337013, 378052) and a Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research (301538) from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan.     

Axoneme patterns of spermatozoa of Asian horseshoe crabs

Summary Ultrastructural studies of flagella of spermatozoa of horseshoe crabs revealed that three Asian species (Tachypleus tridentatus, T. gigas andCarcinoscorpius rotundicauda) had a 9+0 axoneme pattern that was different from the usual 9+2 pattern ofLimulus polyphemus. This difference is consistent with the phylogeny of horseshoe crabs.Contribution No. 40 from the Shimoda Marine Research Center. Supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.     

Ultrastructural changes in uterine myometrium of mice with experimentally-induced adenomyosis

Summary Ectopic pituitary transplantation induced a high incidence of adenomyosis in SHN mice. Early signs of the development of adenomyosis were the penetration of stromal connective tissue into myometrium followed by uterine gland invasion. Associated with these changes, the inner layer of myometrium showed the involution of smooth muscle cells and distended intercellular spacesThis work was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan     

Involvement of a sperm aminopeptidase in fertilization of the sea urchin

Summary Inhibitory efficiencies of bestatin methyl ester and its nine analogs for sea urchin sperm aminopeptidase activity were similar to the efficiency of the same compounds as inhibitors either of sperm respiration or of fertilization. This suggests that a sperm aminopeptidase plays a role in fertilization in the sea urchin, possibly through its involvement in sperm respiration.Acknowledgment. We are grateful to Dr Wataru Tanaka of Nippon kayaku co. for his gifts of bestatin and its analogs. We are also indebted to Mrs Akiko Tsuchida-Watanabe for her technical assitance, and to the staff of Asamushi Marine Biological Station, Tohoku University, where part of this work was carried out. This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.     

An enzyme immunoassay for mouse epidermal growth factor utilizing a liquid phase double-antibody system

Summary An enzyme immunoassay for mouse epidermal growth factor (EGF) involving a liquid phase double-antibody system was developed. The EGF--galactosidase conjugate prepared was stable for at least 8 months. By this method, EGF was detectable at a concentration as low as 20 pg per tube. The concentrations of EGF in various tissues of mice are also presented.This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.     

Morphological alterations of basal cells of vaginal epithelium in neonatally oestrogenized mice

Summary Neonatal oestrogen treatment results in the development of vaginal cancers in the mouse. A morphological sign which probably indicated early invasion of altered vaginal cells into the stroma through gaps in the basal lamina was first seen at 10 months of age in neonatally oestrogenized C57Black mice. Prior to this, a decrease in the numbers of cellular attachment organelles such as half desmosomes and desmosomes was observed by 3 months.This work was supported by Contract NO1-CP-55650 of National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health, Public Health Service, USA, and by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.     

An uptake of fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled neocarzinostatin into the cancer and normal cells

Summary An uptake of fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled neocarzinostatin into normal and cancerous epithelial cells from bladder was investigated. Results showed that neocarzinostatin traversed the cell membrane into cytosol and nuclei, and it appeared to have a preferential cytotoxicity for the cancer cell.This investigation was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for cancer research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (H.M.) and from the Ministry of Welfare (O.J.).     

Effect of pulsing electromagnetic fields on DNA synthesis in mammalian cells in culture

Summary DNA synthesis in Chinese hamster V79 cells was significantly enhanced when they were exposed to weak, pulsing electromagnetic fields generated by specific combinations of the pulse width (25s), frequency (10, 100 Hz) and magnetic intensity (2×10^–5 8×10^–5T). Conversely the DNA synthesis of cells in the fields at 4×10^–4 T was repressed to 80% of that in controls not exposed to the fields.This work was supported by Kaken Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Tokyo, Japan, and in part by a Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan and from the Foundation for Life Science Promotion Tokyo, Japan to I.K.     

Sperm chymotrypsin-like enzymes of different inhibitor-susceptibility as lysins in ascidians

Summary Inhibitory effects of three peptidyl phenylalaninals on fertilization and on chymotrypsin-like enzyme activity of sperm in three species of ascidians were examined. The results suggest that a sperm chymotrypsin-like enzyme is indispensable for the fertilization in each of the ascidians, and that these enzymes have different susceptibilities to inhibitors.12 November 1986Acknowledgments. We are indebted to Dr M. Hoshi of Tokyo Institute of Technology for his helpful discussion. This work was supportd by a Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.     

Structure-activity relationship of the cardenolide,with special reference to the substituents and configurations at C-14 and C-15

Zusammenfassung Es wurden die kardiotonischen Wirkungen sechs neuer Derivate von 14-Deoxy-14H-digitoxigenin und 14-Deoxy-14-chloro-digitoxigenin auf das isolierte Froschherz untersucht, sowie die Beziehungen zwischen deren chemischen Strukturen und Wirkungen diskutiert.

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This study was supported by a research grant (No. 78 7012) from the Ministry of Education, Japan, and by a Grant-in-Aid from Tokyo Biochemical Research Foundation.     

Immigration of lymphoid precursor cells into the thymic rudiment inXenopus

Summary The origin of thymic lymphocytes was investigated, using a new reliable method to mark cells inXenopus. It was easily observed that extraneous cells immigrated into the thymic rudiment 4 days after fertilization and differentiated into a cell population identified as thymic lymphocytes in a fully developed thymus. Clearly, lymphoid precursor cells are of extrinsic origin.This work was supported in part by a grant from the Ministry of Education, Science and culture of Japan (No. 59770026).     

Characteristic changes of cerebellar proteins associated with cerebellar hypoplasia in jaundiced Gunn rats and the prevention of these by phototherapy

Summary In the cerebellar particulate fractions from Gunn rat homozygotes 3 protein bands with apparent mol.wts of 250,000, 50,000 and 33,000 in SDS-polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis underwent major changes, and phototherapy of the newborns could effectively prevent the changes.A part of this research was supported by grants from the Ministry of Education in Japan (No.448131) and the Japan Association for Maternal Welfare.