Differences in benzo(a)pyrene metabolism between rodent liver microsomes and embryonic cells.
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Differences in benzo(a)pyrene metabolite pattern have been shown by rodent liver microsomes (Sprague-Dawley) and rodent embryo cells from Syrian hamsters and NIH Swiss mice. Rodent liver induced by methylcholanthrene shows marked quantitative variation between species. Additional pattern changes were found in mouse and hamster embryo secondary cultures with a reduction of the K-region metabolites and a marked increase in 9-hydroxybenzo(a)-pyrene. These results are indicative of a region-specific attack on the carcinogen by the cell monooxygenases which is distinct from the liver attack of microsomal enzymes on benzo(a)pyrene. These results suggest that activation and detoxification of benzo(a)pyrene may be species and tissue variable, and susceptibility and resistence to malignant transformation may be predicted on induction of a fortuitous combination of intermediate metabolic steps. (+info)
Morphogenesis of callosal arbors in the parietal cortex of hamsters.
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The morphogenesis of callosal axons originating in the parietal cortex was studied by anterograde labeling with Phaseolus lectin or biocytin injected in postnatal (P) hamsters aged 7-25 days. Some labeled fibers were serially reconstructed. At P7, some callosal fibers extended as far as the contralateral rhinal fissure, with simple arbors located in the homotopic region of the opposite cortical gray matter, and two or three unbranched sprouts along their trajectory. From P7 to P13, the homotopic arbors became more complex, with branches focused predominantly, but not exclusively, in the supra- and infragranular layers of the homotopic region. Simultaneously, the lateral extension of the trunk axon in the white matter became shorter, finally disappearing by P25. Arbors in the gray matter were either bilaminar (layers 2/3 and 5) or supragranular. A heterotopic projection to the lateral cortex was consistently seen at all ages; the heterotopic arbors follow a similar sequence of events to that seen in homotopic regions. These observations document that callosal axons undergo regressive tangential remodeling during the first postnatal month, as the lateral extension of the trunk fiber gets eliminated. Radially, however, significant arborization occurs in layer-specific locations. The protracted period of morphogenesis suggests a correspondingly long plastic period for this system of cortical fibers. (+info)
An ultrastructural study of implantation in the golden hamster. II. Trophoblastic invasion and removal of the uterine epithelium.
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Sixty six implantation sites from 18 golden hamsters were examined with light and electron microscopy between 4 and 5 1/2 days of pregnancy (post-ovulation). At 4 days some blastocysts began to invade the uterine epithelium, with trophoblastic processes penetrating and engulfing portions of the uterine epithelium. The majority of epithelial cells appeared normal before invasion, although at two implantation sites three or four adjoining epithelial cells were necrotic before penetration by the trophoblast. In general the epithelial cells were degenerating at the time the trophoblast invaded the epithelium. Inclusions, representing portions of the engulfed epithelium, and varying in size and electron density, were present throughout the invading trophoblast cells at 4 1/2 and 5 days of pregnancy. At 5 1/2 days the uterine epithelium had disappeared and the embryo was now almost completely surrounded by blood lacunae. (+info)
A novel trans-complementation assay suggests full mammalian oocyte activation is coordinately initiated by multiple, submembrane sperm components.
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To initiate normal embryonic development, an egg must receive a signal to become activated at fertilization. We here report that the ability of demembranated sperm heads to activate is abolished after incubation over the range 20-44 degreesC and is sensitive to reducing agents. On the basis of this observation, we have developed a microinjection-based, trans-complementation assay in order to dissect the heat-inactivated sperm-borne oocyte-activating factor(s) (SOAF). We demonstrate that the failure of heat-inactivated sperm heads to activate an egg is rescued by coinjection with dithiothreitol-solubilized SOAF from demembranated sperm heads. The solubilized SOAF (SOAFs) is trypsin sensitive and is liberated from demembranated heads in a temperature-dependent manner that inversely correlates with the ability of sperm heads to activate. This argues that SOAFs is a proteinaceous molecular species required to initiate activation. Injection of oocytes with mouse or hamster sperm cytosolic factors, but not SOAFs alone, induced resumption of meiosis, further suggesting that these cytosolic factors and SOAF are distinct. Collectively, these data strongly suggest that full mammalian oocyte activation is initiated by the coordinated action of one or more heat-sensitive protein constituents of the perinuclear matrix and at least one heat-stable submembrane component. (+info)
Pharmacology of LY315920/S-5920, [[3-(aminooxoacetyl)-2-ethyl-1- (phenylmethyl)-1H-indol-4-yl]oxy] acetate, a potent and selective secretory phospholipase A2 inhibitor: A new class of anti-inflammatory drugs, SPI.
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LY315920 is a potent, selective inhibitor of recombinant human, group IIA, nonpancreatic secretory PLA2 (sPLA2). In a chromogenic isolated enzyme assay, LY315920 inhibited sPLA2 activity with an IC50 of 9 +/- 1 nM or 7.3 x 10(-6) mole fraction, which approached the stiochiometric limit of this assay. The true potency of LY315920 was defined using a deoxycholate/phosphatidylcholine assay with a mole fraction of 1.5 x 10(-6). LY315920 was 40-fold less active against human, group IB, pancreatic sPLA2 and was inactive against cytosolic PLA2 and the constitutive and inducible forms of cyclooxygenase. Human sPLA2-induced release of thromboxane A2 (TXA2) from isolated guinea pig lung bronchoalveolar lavage cells was inhibited by LY315920 with an IC50 of 0.79 microM. The release of TXA2 from these cells by N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine or arachidonic acid was not inhibited. The i.v. administration of LY315920, 5 min before harvesting the bronchoalveolar lavage cells, resulted in the inhibition of sPLA2-induced production of TXA2 with an ED50 of 16.1 mg/kg. Challenge of guinea pig lung pleural strips with sPLA2 produced contractile responses that were suppressed in a concentration-dependent manner by LY315920 with an apparent KB of 83 +/- 14 nM. Contractile responses induced by arachidonic acid were not altered. Intravenous or oral administration of LY315920 to transgenic mice expressing the human sPLA2 protein inhibited serum sPLA2 activity in a dose-related manner over a 4-h time course. LY315920 is a potent and selective sPLA2 inhibitor and represents a new class of anti-inflammatory agent designated SPI. This agent is currently undergoing clinical evaluation and should help to define the role of sPLA2 in various inflammatory disease states. (+info)
The degenerative fate of germ cells not conforming to stage in the pubertal golden hamster testis.
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In the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus), pubertal establishment of spermatogenesis includes a defined period (d 26-30 of life) during which elongation of spermatids is selectively arrested. The resulting appearance of germ cell associations not conforming to stage and the phenomenon of desynchronisation-related germ cell degeneration are analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively by means of light and 'retrospective' electron microscopy. From d 26 onwards, the portion of tubules containing non-stage conforming germ cell associations gradually increases up to 37.5% of sectioned tubules on d 32. Concomitantly, the degree of desynchronisation rises to a maturational gap between spermatids and associated younger germ cells of 7 stages of the seminiferous epithelium cycle, i.e. of fully half a cycle. Beyond d 32, the frequency of desynchronised tubule segments decreases again. Some of the arrested round spermatids and, eventually, all belatedly elongating spermatids degenerate and are lost from the epithelium. Thus a regular maturation of advanced spermatids does not succeed under non-stage conforming conditions. Possibly it is not the desynchronisation between the associated germ cell generations and the spermatids by itself that impedes normal further development of the latter cells. Instead this may be due to the maturational delay of the stage-aberrant cells by several stages compared to the seminiferous epithelium as a whole and, especially, in relation to the stage-conditioned functional state of the neighbouring Sertoli cells. (+info)
Immunising potency of Leptospira interrogans serotype canicola after heat inactivation at different temperatures.
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The immunogenicity of Leptospira interrogans serotype canicola suspensions inactivated by various degrees of heat exposure was examined in hamsters. No differences between leptospires killed at 50 degrees C and at 98 degrees C were shown. After exposure to 121 degrees C, suspensions retained their ability to protect against lethal infections but lost their ability to prevent leptospiruria. Tests with vaccines inactivated at or below 98 degrees C showed that the doses required for complete protection varied with the interval between vaccination and challenge. Larger doses were required to prevent the development of leptospiruria than to prevent death. (+info)
Efflux-mediated aminoglycoside and macrolide resistance in Burkholderia pseudomallei.
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Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, is intrinsically resistant to a wide range of antimicrobial agents including beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, macrolides, and polymyxins. We used Tn5-OT182 to mutagenize B. pseudomallei to identify the genes involved in aminoglycoside resistance. We report here on the identification of AmrAB-OprA, a multidrug efflux system in B. pseudomallei which is specific for both aminoglycoside and macrolide antibiotics. We isolated two transposon mutants, RM101 and RM102, which had 8- to 128-fold increases in their susceptibilities to the aminoglycosides streptomycin, gentamicin, neomycin, tobramycin, kanamycin, and spectinomycin. In addition, both mutants, in contrast to the parent, were susceptible to the macrolides erythromycin and clarithromycin but not to the lincosamide clindamycin. Sequencing of the DNA flanking the transposon insertions revealed a putative operon consisting of a resistance, nodulation, division-type transporter, a membrane fusion protein, an outer membrane protein, and a divergently transcribed regulatorprotein. Consistent with the presence of an efflux system, both mutants accumulated [3H] dihydro streptomycin, whereas the parent strain did not. We constructed an amr deletion strain, B. pseudomallei DD503, which was hypersusceptible to aminoglycosides and macrolides and which was used successfully in allelic exchange experiments. These results suggest that an efflux system is a major contributor to the inherent high-level aminoglycoside and macrolide resistance found in B. pseudomallei. (+info)