NO-dependent regulation of lectin- and menadione-induced H2O2 production by cells from pleural effusions of lung cancer patients and by immune cells

Molecular mechanisms of interplay between reactive oxygen (superoxide, hydroxyl radical, H2O2 etc.) and nitrogen (nitric oxide - NO, ONOO-, NO2-, NO3- etc.) forms are proposed to be of key importance for cell and tumor biology. Considering NO as a signal molecule we have studied the impact of NO release on processes of generation of H2O2 in different experimental systems including pleural effusions (PE) of lung cancer patients, human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), and rat thymocytes. It was found that PE of lung cancer patients contain a high level of [NO2-+NO3-], i.e. 43.4 25.6 microM (n=15), and PE cells could effectively generate H2O2 in response to lectins from Viscum album (VAA), Phaseolus vulgaris (PHA), and Pisum sativum (PSA) as well as to menadione. A positive correlation between the [NO2-+NO3-] concentration and menadione-induced H2O2 generation (r=0.1964) was found, whereas the [NO2-+NO3-] concentration and lectin-induced H2O2 generation (PHA, r=-0.4099; PSA, r=-0.3949; VAA, r=-0.3225) were negatively correlated. Notably, an increase of H2O2 generation by PE cells was determined in the range of 20-35 microM [NO2-+NO3-]. When PMNs and rat thymocytes were treated with a donor of NO (sodium nitroprusside), the release of H2O2 in response to lectins or menadione was decreased in a dose-dependent manner. The end products of NO biochemistry, assayed as KNO2 and KNO3, were not able to affect significantly the H2O2 generation processes. In conclusion, the data indicate that the potential for triggered H2O2-generation of cells is modulated markedly by the presence of NO or derived reaction compounds. This relation may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PE malignancies with potential relevance for therapeutic strategies.     

Carbohydrate-binding proteins (plant/human lectins and autoantibodies from human serum) as mediators of release of lysozyme,elastase, and myeloperoxidase from human neutrophils

Analysis of cell surface glycosylation not only provides information about cell properties such as their state of differentiation or histogenetic lineage. The carbohydrate chains also provide potentially functional binding sites to endogenous carbohydrate-binding proteins. This interaction can elicit consequent signalling processes. Because of the importance of neutrophils in the host defence system, we monitored the effect of the binding of such sugar receptors to their cell surface on the release of the enzymatic activities of lysozyme, elastase, and myeloperoxidase. Besides the mannose-binding lectin concanavalin A and the immunomodulatory α/β-galactoside-binding lectin fromViscum album L., three preparations of human sugar receptors—β-galactoside-binding lectin (M _r 14 kDa) and two affinity-purified polyclonal IgG fractions from serum with the capacity to recognize α- or β-galactosides, respectively—were used. Two animal lectins from chicken liver and intestine that bind β-galactosides, as well as the lectin-like human serum amyloid P component, were included in order to assess the importance of slight differences in ligand recognition. Cytochalasin B-enhanced enzyme release was invariably seen with the two plant lectins and the chicken liver β-galactoside-binding lectin, but the related intestinal lectin did not increase enzyme release. The mammalian homologue of these avian lectins triggered lysozyme secretion, and the lactoside-binding IgG fraction enhanced the amount of extracellular elastase activity slightly but significantly. Thus, the actual lectin, not the nominal specificity of sugar receptors, is crucial for elucidation of responses. Due to the highly stimulatory activity of the two plant lectins, neutrophils from patients with non-cancerous diseases and from patients with lung cancer were monitored for the extent of lectin-mediated enzyme release. Only the concanavalin A-mediated reactivity of the neutrophils was associated with the type of disease.     

Time budget, progress, and adaptation in school-university profile class pupils

The paper considers the hygienic aspects of optimization of daily and weekly time budgets, the formation of healthy lifestyle choices in 10th-to-11th-form pupils from the vocational guidance classes of comprehensive secondary schools during intensified school lessons and adaptation of first-year students.     

A radiomodifying effect of acute hypoxia on neutron-irradiated mice and dogs

Anoxia increased the survival of neutron irradiated mice with DMF = 1.66. As to haemopoietic stem cells neutron irradiated in vivo, DMF was 1.8. With X-irradiation DMF was 2.49 and 2.94, respectively. Anoxia decreased the damage of the intestinal mucous membrane after a whole-body neutron irradiation with a dose 3.0 Gy. A protective effect of acute hypoxia was demonstrated on dogs exposed to fast neutrons (4.0 Gy). Breathing of 10% gas hypoxic mixture protected more than half of the exposed animals from death and provided the development of a light form of radiation sickness instead of a serious one.