Aminotransferase study ofNeurospora crassa ser-3 versus wild type ST4A

Summary TheNeurospora crassa serine auxotrophser-3 and the wild type ST4A were compared with respect to their phosphoserine and serine aminotransferase activities. The results obtained indicate no deficiency of either of these enzymes in the mutant strain.This work was supported in part by a grant to D.G. from the California Foundation for Biochemical Research. The authors also wish to thank Dr Robert G. Wolcott, formerly of the Department of Chemistry, California State University, Northridge, for his valuable advice and for the use of his department's liquid scintillation counting system. We acknowledge with appreciation the skilled technical assistance of Mr Tom Harper.     

Ultrastructural and histochemical studies on the mucous granules in the tube feet of the starfishEchinaster brasiliensis

Resumen Es estudiada la ultraestructure y la histochimica de gránulos de secreción de células glandulares mucosas del pié ambulacrario de la estrella de marEchinaster brasiliensis. Estos gránulos secretores tienen una organización distincta comparada con aqueles encuentrados en la estrella del marAsternia stellifera anteriormente estudiada. Así son organizados en forma de circolos concentricos en torno du un eixo.

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Acknowledgments. The authors wish to express their thanks to Mrs.Arlene Mayhugh for her valuable technical assistance. This work was, in part, supported by grants from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil.

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Pesquisadora-Conferencista do CNPq (TC 308-Proc. 9051/70).     

Electrically-induced mechanical activity of the isolated guinea-pig sciatic nerve. Influences of calcium and anoxia

Summary The electrically induced motility of isolated segments of guinea-pig sciatic nerves is reported. This motility was characterized by waves of tensional variations. The removal of Ca²⁺ from the suspending solution, the addition of EDTA as well as anoxia, resulted in a decrement of tension accompanied by a prolongued duration of the cycles of mechanical activity.This work was supported by grant 6638, from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas de la República Argentina (C.O.N.I.C.E.T.).     

Calcitonin in tissues of thyroidectomized monkey

Summary Immunochemical studies indicate that immunoreactive calcitonin (iCT) is present in many tissues of monkey following thyroidectomy (thx) (e.g. liver, thymus, lung). Extrathyroidal iCT may play a role in calcium metabolism.Supported by the Ella O. Latham Trust, George Washington, NCI Grant RO1CA22137-02, and the Veterans Administration.     

Control of flowering and storage organ formation in potato by FLOWERING LOCUS T

Seasonal fluctuations in day length regulate important aspects of plant development such as the flowering transition or, in potato (Solanum tuberosum), the formation of tubers. Day length is sensed by the leaves, which produce a mobile signal transported to the shoot apex or underground stems to induce a flowering transition or, respectively, a tuberization transition. Work in Arabidopsis, tomato and rice (Oryza sativa) identified the mobile FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) protein as a main component of the long-range 'florigen', or flowering hormone, signal. Here we show that expression of the Hd3a gene, the FT orthologue in rice, induces strict short-day potato types to tuberize in long days. Tuber induction is graft transmissible and the Hd3a-GFP protein is detected in the stolons of grafted plants, transport of the fusion protein thus correlating with tuber formation. We provide evidence showing that the potato floral and tuberization transitions are controlled by two different FT-like paralogues (StSP3D and StSP6A) that respond to independent environmental cues, and show that an autorelay mechanism involving CONSTANS modulates expression of the tuberization-control StSP6A gene.     

庆大霉素/水杨酸/壳聚糖复方纳米粒的制备及体外释放

通过壳聚糖与三聚磷酸钠的离子交联作用制备了具有拮抗庆大霉素耳毒性功效的庆大霉素/水杨酸复方壳聚糖纳米粒。用紫外分光光度计、纳米粒度仪和Zeta电位仪、透射电子显微镜、扫描电子显微镜、傅里叶变换红外光谱仪和X射线衍射仪等考察了壳聚糖纳米粒的粒径、zeta电位、形态、载药能力及体外释放行为。结果显示复方纳米粒为球形,平均粒径为40 nm;庆大霉素与水杨酸的包封率分别为(91.24±0.24)%和(80.75±0.15)%,载药量分别为(34.15±1.02)%和(38.35±0.48)%;在体外释放试验中,庆     

Intravenous delivery of a multi-mechanistic cancer-targeted oncolytic poxvirus in humans

The efficacy and safety of biological molecules in cancer therapy, such as peptides and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), could be markedly increased if high concentrations could be achieved and amplified selectively in tumour tissues versus normal tissues after intravenous administration. This has not been achievable so far in humans. We hypothesized that a poxvirus, which evolved for blood-borne systemic spread in mammals, could be engineered for cancer-selective replication and used as a vehicle for the intravenous delivery and expression of transgenes in tumours. JX-594 is an oncolytic poxvirus engineered for replication, transgene expression and amplification in cancer cells harbouring activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/Ras pathway, followed by cell lysis and anticancer immunity. Here we show in a clinical trial that JX-594 selectively infects, replicates and expresses transgene products in cancer tissue after intravenous infusion, in a dose-related fashion. Normal tissues were not affected clinically. This platform technology opens up the possibility of multifunctional products that selectively express high concentrations of several complementary therapeutic and imaging molecules in metastatic solid tumours in humans.