Spierule cells inDrosophila species

Summary Spherule cells are restricted to the larval stage and make up 5–16% of cells in the hemolymph. Their morphology varies between species, mainly due to the shape of their inclusions which may be oval (spheroidocytes), polyhedral (crystalloid cells), or clearly crystalline (crystal cells). These inclusions are very rich in tyrosine. They liquefy rapidly in vitro, whereby the cells become hyaline (coagulocytes).Acknowledgments. We thank Mr B. Barandun for excellent technical assistance. This investigation was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, grant No. 3.792.076.     

Experimental desquamation of intestinal epithelium for in vivo studies of regeneration

Summary Complete removal of villous as well as upper-crypt epithelium was achieved in vivo by vibration of an intestinal segment using tetraphenylboron sodium (TPB) as a disassociation agent.Acknowledgments. The authors thank Hicol Industrieterrein De Bosschen for supplying TPB. Research was supported by MR-II 1.3.14.p.2 grant.     

Occurrence of Hyp3-bradykinin in methanol extracts of the skin of the South African leptodactylid frogHeleophryne purcelli

Summary Methanol extracts of the skin of the South African amphibians belonging to the genusHeleophryne (H. purcelli purcelli, H. purcelli depressa, H. purcelli orientalis, H. natalensis) contain large amounts (20–500 g/g fresh tissue) of Hyp³-bradykinin.Supported by grants from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy, and from the Ministry of Education, Japan.     

Blocking by picrotoxin of nigra-evoked inhibition of neurons of ventromedial nucleus of the thalamus

Summary The transmitter substance released by nigro-thalamic fibres is proposed to be -aminobutyric acid, since picrotoxin blocked nigra-evoked monosynaptic inhibition of thalamic neurons.Supported by grants Nos 212009 and 311410 from Ministry of Education of Japan.The authors wish to thank Dr Marjorie Anderson, University of Washington, Seattle, for improving the English.     

Chemotherapeutic effects of 4-isothiocyanato-4′-nitrodiphenylamine (C9333-Go/CGP 4540) on infections withNematospiroides dubius,Hymenolepis diminuta,Hymenolepis nana andSpirometra mansonoides

Summary 4-Isothiocyanato-4-nitrodiphenylamine possessed anthelmintic activity againstNippostrongylus dubius andHymenolepis nana in mice andH. diminuta in rats as determined by both egg counts and recovery of parasites at autopsy. No activity was detected against the cestode,Spirometra mansonoides, in cats.This investigation was supported in part by grants AI-10512 and AI-09483 from the National Institutes of Health. The authors are indebted to Dr P.P. Weinstein for providing animals infected withSpirometra mansonoides.     

Release of nonspecific esterases from the roots ofVicia faba L

Summary Roots ofVicia faba L. immersed in a buffer solution were found to release esterases into the environment. The substrate -naphthylacetate was taken up by the roots and degraded, the hydrolysis products being released back into the surrounding medium.     

λ-Prophage induction by furocoumarin photosensitization

Summary Furocoumarin photosensitization induces -prophage from lysogenicEscherichia coli cells; this effect is clearly due to the photoreaction that furocoumarins give with DNA, and it appears connected with the formation of monoadducts rather than of diadducts (cross-links).Acknowledgments. The authors wish to express their thanks to Dr L. Conventi, Microbiology Institute of Padua University, for generously donating theE. coli strains used in this work.     

Female sex hormones and lysosomal stability in gingival polymorphonuclear leucocytes

Summary In a group of 5 women taking oral contraceptives, the concentration of polymorphonuclear leucocytes along the gingival margin and the activities of cathepsin D, -glucuronidase and elastase were found to increase significantly during the intermenstrual phases.Supported by grant 3.604.075 of the Swiss National Fund for scientific Research. The authors thank Dr M. Baggiolini and Prof. A. Linder for the helpful advices.     

Production and detection of antibody against estradiol receptor in the calf uterus. Interaction with the estrogen receptor from the hen oviduct]

The antibodies against estrogen receptor were obtained after injecting Rabbits with a cytoplasmic receptor fraction isolated from Calf uterus. The estrogen receptor was partially proteolysed by the action of trypsin and subsequently purified by affinity chromatography (purification 4,000 to 10,000 fold, to a purity of 5-20%). The affinity of the antibody for the proteolysed receptor is KD approximately 1 nM and serum titres have reached values of approximately 50 nM. The values remained constant after the third injection. Preliminary results indicate that the antibody has approximately the same affinity for "native" cytoplasmic estrogen receptor from Calf uterus, as well as for the "trypsinized" forms of estrogen receptor isolated from Calf uterine cytosol and Hen oviduct nuclei.     

Plasma growth hormone in the rabbit fetus. Relation to maturation of the liver and lung]

Day 25 after insemination is a date of peculiar importance in the maturation of several organs in the Rabbit fetus. From day 25 onward the fetal liver stores increasing amounts of glycogen and the lung stores increasing amounts of lecithins, concomitant with sudden rise in the activity of lung phosphatidic-acid phosphohydrolase. Earlier studies on decapitated fetuses established that glycogen storage in the liver is dependent on a dual hormonal control, comprising a pituitary hormone like growth hormone or prolactin (some placental hormones share the same activity) and corticosteroids (Jost, 1961). Since the variations in endogenous corticosteroids do not seem to herald these liver or lung changes (Mulay et al., 1973), a study was made of growth hormone. Plasma immunoreactive growth hormone--determined with a heterologous Rat system (Kervran et al., 1976)--increases eightfold between days 23 and 25. During the same time plasma prolactin does not change according to McNeily and Friesen, 1978, and to unpublished data obtained with Dr McNeilly. In preliminary assays, Rat growth hormone was seen to increase phosphorylase "a" activity in the lung of 18.5 day-old Rat fetuses, thus anticipating normal development. We suggest that growth hormone plays a role in initiating liver and lung maturation.