Renin in mouse but not in rat submandibular glands

Summary Renin was found in the submandibular glands of male Quackenbush mice in concentrations higher than has been reported for any tissue of any strain or species. However, no renin-like activity could be detected in glands from male and female Wistar rats using either pH 5.8 or 7.4 for assay and a radioimmunoassay specific for renin's reaction product, angiotensin I. Rabbit submandibular glands contained renin.We wish to express our sincere thanks to Dr E. Hackenthal for his suggestions. This study was supported by the National Heath and Medical Research Council of Australia.     

Base pairing in messenger RNA's for small peptides

Longest runs of Watson-Crick pairing in hypothetical m-RNA's for a number of natural peptides were no greater than those in the hypothetical m-RNA's for a large number of randomized amino acid sequences from these peptides. This shown that even if base-pairing in m-RNA were a biological requirement, it would little constrain the amino acid sequence.     

Organ culture of the rat thyroid gland

Zusammenfassung Die Ultrastruktur der Rattenschilddrüse wird bis zu 8 Tagen in Organkulturen erhalten, was für radioautografische Studien der Ultrastruktur vorteilhaft ist.     

Control of Jupiter's radio emission and aurorae by the solar wind

Radio emissions from Jupiter provided the first evidence that this giant planet has a strong magnetic field and a large magnetosphere. Jupiter also has polar aurorae, which are similar in many respects to Earth's aurorae. The radio emissions are believed to be generated along the high-latitude magnetic field lines by the same electrons that produce the aurorae, and both the radio emission in the hectometric frequency range and the aurorae vary considerably. The origin of the variability, however, has been poorly understood. Here we report simultaneous observations using the Cassini and Galileo spacecraft of hectometric radio emissions and extreme ultraviolet auroral emissions from Jupiter. Our results show that both of these emissions are triggered by interplanetary shocks propagating outward from the Sun. When such a shock arrives at Jupiter, it seems to cause a major compression and reconfiguration of the magnetosphere, which produces strong electric fields and therefore electron acceleration along the auroral field lines, similar to the processes that occur during geomagnetic storms at the Earth.     

Shock induces a long-lasting elevation of blood glucose inAplysia

Glucose, and not trehalose, was found to be the main blood sugar inAplysia californica. Changes in blood glucose in response to stress produced by electric shock were measured in blood obtained both from animals dissected within ten minutes of shocking and from catheterized animals at various intervals, up to two and a half hours after the shock. Electric shock increased blood glucose levels. The rise in blood sugar continued as long as two and a half hours after shock.     

Changes in hypothalamic preproenkephalin A mRNA following stress and opiate withdrawal

The median eminence of the pituitary is rich in opioid receptors, and exogenous opioids have major effects on the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin, growth hormone (GH) and thyrotropin. Stress results in similar changes in anterior pituitary hormone secretion. Enkephalin immunoreactivity has been reported in the medial parvocellular neurons of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus which project to the median eminence, the site where hypothalamic releasing factors are secreted into the portal blood and thence to the anterior pituitary gland. The endocrine response to stressful stimuli might therefore, at least in part, be mediated through the activation of hypothalamic enkephalinergic neurons. We show that two stressful stimuli, opiate withdrawal and intraperitoneal injection of hypertonic saline, both result in very rapid and marked increases in enkephalin mRNA in the parvocellular paraventricular nucleus. The activation of hypothalamic enkephalin neurons may be important in the neuroendocrine response to stress.     

Base pairing in messenger RNA's for small peptides

Summary Longest runs of Watson-Crick pairing in hypothetical m-RNA's for a number of natural peptides were no greater than those in the hypothetical m-RNA's for a large number of randomized amino acid sequences from these peptides. This shows that even if base-pairing in m-RNA were a biological requirement, it would little constrain the amino acid sequence.