Volatile constituents of wolf (Canis lupus) urine as related to gender and season

Summary The volatile constituents of wolf urine were examined via capillary gas chromatography and compared among male, female, and castrate male. Several compounds including methyl isopentyl sulfide, 3,5-dimethyl-2-octanone, and acetophenone were clearly associated with the gender of the animal and many displayed a seasonal dependence. In addition, 2 long-chain aldehydes isolated from urine samples by an HPLC procedure also correlated with the endocrine status of the animal.This work was partially funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.We thank Dr Sharon L. Smith of IBM Instruments, Danbury, Connecticut, for recording spectra of some wolf urinary constitutents on an IBM Fourier-transform IR spectrometer.No such compounds were observed in any other animal species during our previous work with several mammals.     

Altered or increased transfer-RNA methylation in the course of Interferon action on cells in culture?

The induction of the antiviral state by Interferon might reflect the decrease of the rate of biosynthesis, the degradation or the alteration of one or several tRNAs. This could result in rate-limiting concentrations for codons common in viral RNA but rare in host mRNA. Altered methylation of tRNA could be the basis of such a phenomenon. However, we could not find an altered extent of methylation of total tRNA or an altered pattern of methylation, if mixed tRNAs were chromatographed on MAK- or BD-cellulose columns, despite a large range of conditions of pretreatment of chick embryo fibroblast cultures with interferon.     

Oxidation of cyclophosphamide by means of KMnO4

Zusammenfassung Nach Oxidation von Cyclophosphamid mit KMnO₄ lässt sich eine Verbindung gewinnen, die dünnschichtchromatographisch und reaktionskinetisch mit dem vorherrschenden Urinmetaboliten übereinstimmt. Es handelt sich um N,N-bis(2-chloräthyl) diamidophosphorsäure (2-carboxyäthylester). Da weder diese Verbindung noch das bereits als Nebenmetabolit bekannte 4-Keto-cyclophosphamids zelltoxisch wirkt, muss der Effekt des Cyclophosphamids von einem anderen Stoffwechselprodukt ausgehen. Durch modifizierte oxidative Umsetzung in vitro sollte es möglich sein, Cyclophosphamid auch in den wirksamen Metaboliten zu überführen.