Recombinant prion protein induces a new transmissible prion disease in wild-type animals

Prion disease is a neurodegenerative malady, which is believed to be transmitted via a prion protein in its abnormal conformation (PrP^Sc). Previous studies have failed to demonstrate that prion disease could be induced in wild-type animals using recombinant prion protein (rPrP) produced in Escherichia coli. Here, we report that prion infectivity was generated in Syrian hamsters after inoculating full-length rPrP that had been converted into the cross-β-sheet amyloid form and subjected to annealing. Serial transmission gave rise to a disease phenotype with highly unique clinical and neuropathological features. Among them were the deposition of large PrP^Sc plaques in subpial and subependymal areas in brain and spinal cord, very minor lesioning of the hippocampus and cerebellum, and a very slow progression of disease after onset of clinical signs despite the accumulation of large amounts of PrP^Sc in the brain. The length of the clinical duration is more typical of human and large animal prion diseases, than those of rodents. Our studies establish that transmissible prion disease can be induced in wild-type animals by inoculation of rPrP and introduce a valuable new model of prion diseases.     

Temperature sensitivity of human perforin mutants unmasks subtotal loss of cytotoxicity,delayed FHL,and a predisposition to cancer

The pore-forming protein perforin is critical for defense against many human pathogens and for preventing a catastrophic collapse of immune homeostasis, manifested in infancy as Type 2 familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL). However, no evidence has yet linked defective perforin cytotoxicity with cancer susceptibility in humans. Here, we examined perforin function in every patient reported in the literature who lived to at least 10 years of age without developing FHL despite inheriting mutations in both of their perforin (PRF1) alleles. Our analysis showed that almost 50% of these patients developed at least 1 hematological malignancy in childhood or adolescence. The broad range of pathologies argued strongly against a common environmental or viral cause for the extraordinary cancer incidence. Functionally, what distinguished these patients was their inheritance of PRF1 alleles encoding temperature-sensitive missense mutations. By contrast, truly null missense mutations with no rescue at the permissive temperature were associated with the more common severe presentation with FHL in early infancy. Our study provides the first mechanistic evidence for a link between defective perforin-mediated cytotoxicity and cancer susceptibility in humans and establishes the paradigm that temperature sensitivity of perforin function is a predictor of FHL severity.     

Tuberculosis morbidity in the Sverdlovsk region

Childhood and adolescence tuberculosis morbidity rates are higher in girls than in boys. Adult males fall ill 5.3 times more frequently than adult females. Males fall ill with destructive (6.1 times), bacillary (4.1 times), pulmonary tuberculosis (5.3 times) more frequent than females. Females experience extrapulmonary tuberculosis 1.6 times as high as males. Convicts and those under investigation are ascertained to have earlier forms of respiratory tuberculosis than in the general population. At the same time, the facilities of the RF Ministry of Justice do not record extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Goal-oriented work with these facilities has caused a reduction in tuberculosis morbidity in the whole Sverdlovsk region.     

Dietary energy restriction-induced modulation of protein kinase C ζ isozyme in the hamster pancreas

Dietary restriction in experimental animals enhances life span, delays disease, inhibits immunological perturbations, and ameliorates cancer. Protein kinase C(a) isozymes mediate signals generated by hormones, growth factors, and neurotransmitters for cell proliferation and differentiation. The results of our study showed that a C-terminally directed anti-PKC ζ antibody detected an 81–kDa band in the pancreases of control and energy-restricted hamsters. Syrian golden hamsters were fed energy-restricted diets formulated such that the hamsters received 90%(10% energy restriction(a) ), 80%(20% ER), or 60%(40% ER) of the total energy consumed by control hamsters, with the energy reduced proportionally from fat and carbohydrate. ER decreased PKC ζ isozyme levels by 40–75% in hamsters fed 10, 20, and 40% ER diets for 8 wk. PKC ζ isozyme expression was decreased by 75–80% in hamsters fed ER diets for 15 wk. Although ER caused significant decreases in PKC ζ isozyme levels compared with those of control hamsters at both time points, the relative differences in PKC ζ levels between the dietary ER groups(10, 20, and 40%) were small and not significant. A significant decrease in the body weights of ER animals compared with those of controls was observed at both time points. No differences in tomato lectin and phytohemagglutinin reactivity were observed between control animals and animals fed 10, 20, and 40% ER diets. Furthermore, the cellular expression of PKC ζ in the hamster pancreas did not differ among hamsters fed the various ER diets. These observations may be important for understanding not only the role of dietary ER in pancreatic cancers but also PKC ζ signal transduction mechanisms in normal pancreatic physiology.© 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc     

Aziridines and aziridinium ions in the practical synthesis of pharmaceutical intermediates--a perspective

Recent methods for the synthesis of aziridines and aziridinium ions, the mechanisms of their nucleophilic ring-opening reactions and applications to the practical synthesis of pharmaceutical intermediates are reviewed.