Dietary restriction and fetal development

Summary The effect of deficient nutrition of pregnant Wistar rats on the fetal weight has been studied. It has been established that the fetal weight of the group of rats fed with a restricted amount of stock diet lags behind the fetal weight of the group receiving unrestricted amounts of the same stock diet. The differences in weight between the 2 groups were, on each day of the observation period, significant at the level of p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively.This work was supported by a grant of the Republic Research fund of Croatia No. 18-04-06/19-1975.     

Origin and development of neuroepithelial bodies in fetal rabbit lungs

Summary Light-microscope studies concerning the embryological development of fetal rabbit lungs revealed the occurrence of argyrophilic neuroepithelial bodies in an early gestational stage (i.e. already in the glandular period and from the 18th day onwards). Their morphological characteristics and further differentiation towards birth are detailed.Supported by a grant from the Nationaal Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek — Fonds voor Geneeskundig Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Belgium). We thank E. Swinnen. H. Van den Bosch and M.R. Van hamme for technical, G. Pison for photographical and L. Lauwers for secretarial assistance.     

Loss of FrmA leads to increased cell-cell adhesion and impaired multi-cellular development of Dictyostelium cells

Cell-cell adhesion is a critical property of all multi-cellular organisms and its correct regulation is critical during development, differentiation, tissue building and maintenance, and many immune responses. The multi-talin-like FERM domain containing protein, FrmA, is required during starvation-induced multi-cellular development of Dictyostelium cells. Loss of FrmA leads to increased cell-cell adhesion and results in impaired multi-cellular development, slug migration and fruiting bodies. Further, mixing experiments show that FrmA null cells are excluded from the apex of wild-type mounds, to which cells that normally form the organising centre known as the tip sort. These data suggest a critical role for FrmA in regulating cell-cell adhesion, multi-cellular development and, in particular, the formation of the organising centre known as the tip. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Received 28 August 2008; received after revision 10 October 2008; accepted 21 October 2008     

Kinins and kininogen in endotoxin shock

Résumé Aucune quantité détectable de kinines ne fut trouvée après administration d'endotoxine et l'on n'obtint pas de différence significative dans le contenu plasmatique en kininogènes après l'injection. Nos résultats n'attribuent aux kinines aucune participation significative à l'hypotension du choc endotoxique.

---

---

Supported in part by a grant of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CNICT), Argentina.     

Shwartzman phenomenon without endotoxin preparation

Zusammenfassung Kasein, Pepton bzw. Baktokasiton wurde als präparierende Erstinjektion für lokalisiertes Shwartzman-Phänomen an Kaninchen verwendet. Nach provozierender i.v. Endotoxininjektion kommt es zum typischen Shwartzman-Phänomen. Da die verwendeten Substanzen Chemotaxis von Leukozyten verursachen, ist anzunehmen, dass die an Stelle der präparierenden Injektion angesammelten Leukozyten in der Ausbildung des Shwartzman-Phänomens eine vorwiegende Rolle spielen.     

Lack of endotoxin effect on the microcirculation after pretreatment with detoxified endotoxin (endotoxoid)

Zusammenfassung Die Endotoxin-bedingten Störungen an der Mikrozirkulation — geprüft an der Hamsterbackentasche und dem Meerschweinchenmesenterium — bleiben aus, wenn den Tieren 24 h zuvor detoxifiziertes Endotoxin verabreicht wurde.     

Dithiols simulate endotoxin in theLimulus reaction

Summary Dithiothreitol, dithioerythritol and bacterial lipopolysaccharides increase optical absorbance and clotLimulus lysate. Purification of dithiothreitol from possible endotoxin contamination by vacuum sublimation or chromatography does not abolish the reaction with lysate. The dithiols reported active here represent the smallest molecules capable of simulating endotoxin in theLimulus test.Acknowledgments. This investigation was supported by grant No. P30 14194 and CA 12635, awarded by the National Cancer Institute, Dhew.     

Bacterial oligopeptide-binding proteins

This review focuses on bacterial oligopeptide-binding proteins, which form part of the oligopeptide transport system belonging to the ATP-binding cassette family of transporters. Depending on the bacterial species, these binding proteins (OppA) capture peptides ranging in size from 2 to 18 amino acids from the environment and pass them on to the other components of the oligopeptide transport system for internalisation. Bacteria have developed several strategies to produce these binding proteins, which are periplasmic in Gram^– bacteria and membrane-anchored in Gram⁺, with a higher stoichiometry (probably necessary for efficient transport) than the other components in the transport system. The expression of OppA-encoding genes is clearly modulated by external factors, especially nitrogen compounds, but the mechanisms of regulation are not always clear. The best-understood roles played by OppAs are internalisation of peptides for nutrition and recycling of muropeptides. It has, however, recently become clear that OppAs are also involved in sensing the external medium via specific or non-specific peptides.Received 10 February 2003; received after revision 9 April 2003; accepted 24 April 2003     

Changes in hepatic glycosaminoglycans following endotoxin administration

Summary Incorporation of [35]S-sulfate into hepatic glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) is affected by intravenous administration of endotoxin. There are significant increases in total labeled glycosaminoglycans and in the percentage of labeled dermatan sulfate 72 h post-endotoxin.     

Enhancing effect of insulin on endotoxin lethality

Résumé Nous avons constaté que les souris traitées à l'insuline possèdent une sensibilité élevée à l'endotoxine de bactéries à gram négatif. Ce résultat concorde avec l'hypothèse d'une relation inverse entre la quantité de glucose dans le sang et la sensibilité d'un hôte à une grande variété de «Stressors».     

Intracellular localization of alpha-fetoprotein and serum albumin in the central nervous system of the rat during fetal and postnatal development]

The morphological localisation of alphafetoprotein (AFP), serumalbumin (SA), transferrin and immunoglobulins (IgG) has been studied in the developing central nervous system of the Rat by immunocytochemical methods. Evidence is presented of a highly selective staining for AFP and SA, both proteins exhibiting the same topographical distribution. Practically all the areas of the brain and the spinal cord are stained at a given moment of the developmental process. The labeling is cytoplasmic and in the neuronal elements extends to their axonic and dendritic prolongations. The localization of AFP and SA in the nervous system may be related to the well known binding properties of these proteins for varied substances (estrogen and/or fatty acids). The morphological data presented here suggest that both proteins may be actively involved in the uptake of such substances by the cellular structures of the nervous tissue.     

Bacterial suicide through stress

Outside of the laboratory, bacterial cells are constantly exposed to stressful conditions, and an ability to resist those stresses is essential to their survival. However, the degree of stress required to bring about cell death varies with growth phase, amongst other parameters. Exponential phase cells are significantly more sensitive to stress than stationary phase ones, and a novel hypothesis has recently been advanced to explain this difference in sensitivity, the suicide response. Essentially, the suicide response predicts that rapidly growing and respiring bacterial cells will suffer growth arrest when subjected to relatively mild stresses, but their metabolism will continue: a burst of free-radical production results from this uncoupling of growth from metabolism, and it is this free-radical burst that is lethal to the cells, rather than the stress per se. The suicide response hypothesis unifies a variety of previously unrelated empirical observations, for instance induction of superoxide dismutase by heat shock, alkyl-hydroperoxide reductase by osmotic shock and catalase by ethanol shock. The suicide response also has major implications for current [food] processing methods. Received 29 March 1999; received after revision 14 May 1999; accepted 17 May 1999     

Bacterial protein toxins and cell vesicle trafficking

A group of bacterial protein toxins interfere with vesicular trafficking inside cells. Clostridial neurotoxins affect mainly the highly regulated fusion of neurotransmitter- and hormone-containing vesicles with the plasma membrane. They cleave the three SNARE proteins: VAMP, SNAP-25 and syntaxin, and this selective proteolysis results in a blockade of exocytosis. TheHelicobacter pylori cytotoxin is implicated in the pathogenesis of gastroduodenal ulcers. It causes a progressive and extensive vacuolation of cells followed by necrosis, after a cytotoxin-induced alteration of membrane trafficking by late endosomes. Vacuoles originate from this compartment in a rab7-dependent process and swell because they are acidic and accumulate membrane-permeant amines.     

Overcoming of endotoxin - mediated immunosuppression byBordetella pertussis

Zusammenfassung Die endotoxin-induzierte Suppression der Antikörperbildung gegenüber Schaferythrocyten beschränkt sich nicht nur auf die Primärreaktion, sondern findet ihren Ausdruck auch in einer signifikanten Verminderung der Präparation des lymphoretikulären Gewebes für die anamnestische Reaktion. Beide Suppressionseffekte lassen sich überwinden, wenn man den mit relativ hohen Endotoxindosen vorbehandelten Mäusen simultan mit dem Erythrocytenantigen abgetötete Zellen vonBordetella pertussis verabfolgt. Diese Aktivität dürfte darauf zurückzuführen sein, dass neben dem Endotoxin noch andere Strukturbausteine vonB. pertussis adjuvante Aktivität besitzen.

---

---

We acknowledge financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.