Frequent rearrangement of chromosomal bands 1p22 and 11q13 in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck

We report the finding of clonal structural chromosome abnormalities in short-term cultures from 15 squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck region. When the distribution of chromosomal breakpoints in these 15 tumors and in the 16 head and neck carcinomas previously described are assessed, a marked clustering is seen at bands 1p22 and 11q13, which are rearranged in eight and nine tumors, respectively. No other band was involved in aberrations in more than five tumors. Cytogenetic evidence of gene amplification was seen in four tumors, three times in the form of homogeneously staining regions (twice located in 11q13), and in one tumor as double minutes. Among the candidate genes for such amplification are BCLI, INT2, and HSTI, all of which map to 11q13, and NRAS, which maps to 1p22. All these oncogenes have previously been shown to be amplified in subsets of head and neck carcinomas. We conclude that bands 1p22 and 11q13 are nonrandomly involved in chromosomal rearrangements in head and neck carcinomas and suggest that activation of oncogenes located in these bands may proceed via cytogenetic mechanisms.     

Tacrine restores cholinergic nicotinic receptors and glucose metabolism in alzheimer patients as visualized by positron emission tomography

Three patients with Alzheimer's disease, a 68-year-old woman with mild dementia and 2 men (aged 64 and 72 years) with moderate dementia were treated orally with the cholinesterase inhibitor tacrine (tetrahydroaminoacridine), 80 mg daily, for several months. The patients were investigated using positron emission tomography (PET) prior to, and after 3 weeks and 3 months of treatment. The PET studies involved a multi-tracer system consisting of [¹⁸F]-fluoro-deoxy-glucose (¹⁸F-FDG) (tracer for glucose metabolism); ¹¹C-butanol (cerebral blood flow) and (S)(−)- and (R)(+)-[N-¹¹C-methyl]-nicotine (nicotinic receptors; cholinergic neural activity). Tacrine treatment increased the uptake of ¹¹C-nicotine to the brain. Significant reduced difference in uptake between the two enantiomers (S)(−)- and (R)(+)¹¹C-nicotine was observed in the frontal and temporal cortices after tacrine treatment in all three patients. The kinetic analysis indicated increased binding of (S)(−)¹¹C-nicotine in brain compatible with a restoration of nicotinic cholinergic receptors. The most pronounced effect was observed after 3 weeks and 3 months treatment in the patient with mild dementia. An increase in cerebral glucose utilization was found in the 68-year-old patient with mild dementia but also slightly in the 64-year-old man with moderate dementia when treated with tacrine for 3 months. Tacrine administration did not affect cerebral blood flow. The PET data obtained after 3 weeks of tacrine treatment was paralleled by improvement in neuropsychological performance. This study shows in vivo by PET neurochemical effects induced in brain by treatment with tacrine to Alzheimer patients. Intervention with tacrine in the early course of the disease might be necessary for clinical improvement.     

Consequences of vanishing twins in IVF/ICSI pregnancies

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous reductions are a possible cause of the increased morbidity in IVF singletons. The aim of this study was to assess incidence rates of spontaneous reductions in IVF/ICSI twin pregnancies and to compare short- and long-term morbidity in survivors of a vanishing co-twin with singletons and born twins. METHODS: We identified 642 survivors of a vanishing co-twin, 5237 singletons from single gestations and 3678 twins from twin gestations. All children originated from pregnancies detected by transvaginal sonography in gestational week 8. By cross-linkage with the national registries the main endpoints were prematurity, birth weight, neurological sequelae and mortality. RESULTS: Of all IVF singletons born, 10.4% originated from a twin gestation in early pregnancy. Multiple logistic regression analyses adjusted for maternal age, parity and ICSI treatment showed for birth weight <2500 g an odds ratio (OR) of 1.7 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2-2.2] and for birth weight <1500 g OR 2.1 (95% CI 1.3-3.6) in singleton survivors of a vanishing twin versus singletons from single gestations; corresponding figures were seen for preterm birth. This increased risk was almost entirely due to reductions that occurred at >8 weeks gestation. We found no excess risk of neurological sequelae in survivors of a vanishing co-twin versus the singleton cohort; however, OR of cerebral palsy was 1.9 (95% CI 0.7-5.2). Furthermore, we observed a correlation between onset of spontaneous reduction, i.e. the later in pregnancy the higher the risk of neurological sequelae (r = -0.09; P = 0.02). Adjusted OR of child death within the follow-up period was 3.6 (95% CI 1.7-7.6) in the survivor versus the singleton cohort. CONCLUSIONS: One in 10 IVF singletons originates from a twin gestation. Spontaneous reductions that occur at >8 weeks gestation are one of the causes for the higher risk of adverse obstetric outcome in IVF singletons.     

Lactate dehydrogenase activity and isoform distribution in normal and hypertrophic smooth muscle tissue from the rat

The lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and isoform distribution of LDH were investigated in tissue samples from the rat portal vein, aorta and urinary bladder. In addition, samples were obtained from hypertrophic urinary bladder. The total LDH activity per unit smooth muscle volume was higher in the urinary bladder compared to that in portal vein and aorta. Five LDH isoforms, reflecting different combinations of the two polypeptide chains denoted H and M, could be separated by agarose gel electrophoresis. The aorta contained more of the H form compared to the portal vein and urinary bladder. This difference suggests that the aorta, which is a slow smooth muscle, is more adapted for aerobic metabolism than the faster muscles of portal vein and urinary bladder. In the hypertrophic urinary bladder a shift in LDH isoform pattern towards less of the H form was found, which correlates with a better maintenance of contraction in anoxia in this type of hypertrophic smooth muscle.     

Antibody response in laying hens with small amounts of antigen

Chicken antibodies offer many advantages over the traditional mammalian ones. A laying hen produces large amounts of yolk antibodies and the use of yolk antibodies eliminates the painful procedure of collecting blood from the animal. Thus, the use of chicken antibodies will reduce both the number of animals required to produce antibodies and also animal distress. Chicken antibodies also have several biochemical advantages compared to mammalian antibodies: they often increase the signal and reduce interference in many assays. However, the species chosen for antibody production have usually been mammals. This is probably due to tradition, but also to limited knowledge about the production of chicken antibodies. We studied the immune response in the chicken using small amounts of mammalian antigen, and show that a good immune response can be obtained with 0.1–1.0 μg of bovine serum albumin.     

Immunization with glycosylated Kb-binding peptides generates carbohydrate-specific,unrestricted cytotoxic T cells

Cytotoxic T cells (CTL) recognize target proteins as short peptides presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I restriction elements. However, there is also evidence for peptide-independent T cell receptor (TCR) recognition of target proteins and non-protein structures. How such T cell responses are generated is presently unclear. We generated carbohydrate (CHO)-specific, MHC-unrestricted CTL responses by coupling di- and trisaccharides to K^b- or D^b-binding peptides for direct immunization in mice. Four peptides and three CHO have been analyzed with the CHO either in terminal or central positions on the carrier peptide. With two of these glycopeptides, with galabiose (Galα1-4Gal; Gal₂) bound to a homocysteine (via an ethylene spacer arm) in position 4 or 6 in a vesicular stomatitis virus nucleoprotein-derived peptide (RGYVYQGL binding to K^b), CTL were generated which preferentially killed target cells treated with glycopeptide compared to those treated with the core peptide. Polyclonal CTL were also found to kill target cells expressing the same Gal₂ epitope in a glycolipid. By fractionation of CTL, preliminary data indicate that glycopeptide-specific K^b-restricted CTL and unrestricted CHO-specific CTL belong to different T cell populations with regard to TCR expression. The results demonstrate that hapten-specific unrestricted CTL responses can be generated with MHC class I-binding carrier peptides. Different models that might explain the generation of such responses are discussed.     

Discrimination of human pathogenic subspecies of Francisella tularensis by using restriction fragment length polymorphism

We describe the use of two insertion sequence elements (ISFtu1 and ISFtu2) in Francisella tularensis to type strains by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The RFLP profiles of 17 epidemiologically unrelated isolates were determined and compared. Our results showed that RFLP profiles can be used to assign F. tularensis strains into five main groups corresponding to strains of F. tularensis subsp. tularensis, F. tularensis strain ATCC 6223, strains of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica, strains of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica from Japan, and F. tularensis subsp. mediaasiatica. The results confirm the genetic identities of these subspecies and also support the suggestion that strains of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica from Japan should be considered members of a separate biovar. These findings should support future studies to determine the genetic differences between strains of F. tularensis at the whole-genome level.