Primary structure of myosin from the striated adductor muscle of the Atlantic scallop, Pecten maximus, and expression of the Regulatory Domain

We have determined the complete cDNA and deduced amino acid sequences of the heavy chain, regulatory light chain and essential light chain which constitute the molecular structure of myosin from the striated adductor muscle of the scallop, Pecten maximus. The deduced amino acid sequences of P. maximus regulatory light chain, essential light chain and heavy chain comprise 156, 156 and 1940 amino acids, respectively. These myosin peptide sequences, obtained from the most common of the eastern Atlantic scallops, are compared with those from three other molluscan myosins: the striated adductor muscles of Argopecten irradians and Placopecten magellanicus, and myosin from the siphon retractor muscle of the squid, Loligo pealei. The Pecten heavy chain sequence resembles those of the other two scallop sequences to a much greater extent as compared with the squid sequence, amino acid identities being 97.5% (A. irradians), 95.6% (P. magellanicus) and 73.6% (L. pealei), respectively. Myosin heavy chain residues that are known to be important for regulation are conserved in Pecten maximus. Using these Pecten sequences, we have overexpressed the regulatory light chain, and a combination of essential light chain and myosin heavy chain fragment, separately, in E. coli BL21 (DE3) prior to recombination, thereby producing Pecten regulatory domains without recourse to proteolytic digestion. The expressed regulatory domain was shown to undergo a calcium-dependent increase (7%) in intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence with a mid-point at a pCa of 6.6.     

Lipoblastoma and lipoblastomatosis in infancy and childhood: histopathologic, ultrastructural, and cytogenetic features

Lipoblastoma is a relatively rare tumor that occurs in infancy and early childhood and arises from embryonic white fat. Although a benign tumor, lipoblastomas tend to recur and may resemble myxoid liposarcoma. The authors report 26 cases over a 15-year period at Texas Children's Hospital. There was a slight female predilection (14F:12M). The most common symptom was a painless mass with or without increasing size. The trunk, extremities, head and neck, retroperitoneum, inguinal canal, peritoneal cavity, and lung were the tumor sites. Most tumors were circumscribed lipoblastomas and the minority were diffuse infiltrative lipoblastomatosis. Reexcision for residual or recurrent tumor was necessary more frequently in patients with lipoblastomatosis. Histopathologic examination and ultrastructural examination revealed cellular neoplasms composed of immature adipocytes with relatively well-defined septa, frequent lipoblasts, a fine vascular network, and often a myxoid appearance resembling myxoid liposarcoma. Cytogenetics was performed in 4 cases with chromosome 8q abnormality being most common. The major concern with lipoblastoma in children is to completely excise the tumor to avoid leaving residual tumor and to prevent recurrences. Confusion with myxoid liposarcoma, well-differentiated liposarcoma, and typical lipomas may occur. Although asymptomatic, lipoblastomas may cause dysfunction of other organ systems due to mass effect. Complete surgical excision with at least 2 years of follow-up is the preferred therapy.     

Studies on carboxymethylcellulose: Conductivity measurements of solutions, 2

The conductivity behaviour of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) solutions was studied using different types of neutralizing reagents (LiOH, NaOH, KOH); the following order of conductance of CMC solutions was observed: Li⁺ < Na⁺ < K⁺. This conductance behaviour of CMC solutions with respect to the size of counterions is explained qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Binding of Li⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺ ions onto the polymer molecule and the influence of the degree of substitution, ,DS , on the conductivity of CMC were also investigated. The conductivity of CMC solutions as well as the fraction of bound counterions increase with increasing DS , at a given degree of neutralization (α) for each type of counterion. The effect of DS on the polymer charge fraction, i/s, is in line with the counterion condensation phenomena of Oosawa. The results regarding the dependence of the equivalent conductance of the polyion, Δ_p, on DS are compared with literature data.     

Early experience in using and 18 Me V linear accelerator for mycosis fungoides at Howard University Hospital.

This paper describes the problems and solutions in using 18 MeV linear accelerator, with minimum 6 MeV electron capability, for total skin irradiation for mycosis fungoides. The 6 MeV electron energy can be degraded to acceptable electron energy of 3.2 MeV by interposing a plexiglass sheet of 9.6 mm in the beam. To minimize the bremsstrahlung, the degrading plexiglass should be kept away from the machine head. A wide area with uniform dose distribution over single plane can be achieved by using dual fields but homogenous dose distribution over irregular body surface cannot be achieved mainly because of self-shielding. The nails and the ocular lens can be easily shielded from the low energy electrons with 1.5 mm lead shield.     

Identification of two mutations in a compound heterozygous child with dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase deficiency

An infant girl with elevated blood lactate, pyruvate, and plasma branched-chain amino acids was diagnosed with dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (E3; dihydrolipoamide: NAD+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.8.1.4) deficiency. Activities of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex and E3 from patient were 26 and 2% of controls in blood lymphocytes, and 11 and 14% in cultured skin fibroblasts, respectively. Western blot analysis demonstrated that the amount of E3 protein in fibroblasts from the patient and her father was about half of controls, while Northern blot analysis showed normal amounts of E3 RNA. DNA sequencing of cloned full-length E3 cDNAs from the patient revealed two mutations in separate alleles. One is a single base insertion of an extra adenine in the last codon of the leader peptide sequence (TAC-->TAAC) leading to a nonsense mutation which results in the premature termination of the precursor E3 polypeptide (Y35X). The other is a missense mutation due to substitution of guanine for adenine, causing an Arg-->Gly substitution at amino acid 460 of the mature protein (R460G) which triggers the loss of E3 activity probably by structural change in the E3 dimer. DNA sequencing of E3 cDNAs from the parents demonstrated that the nonsense mutation was inherited from the father and the missense mutation was inherited from the mother.      

An unusual localization of mucormycosis diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology: a case report

Mucormycosis is an uncommon fungal infection, occurring mainly in patients with acidosis, chronic illnesses and malignancies. The most frequent site of involvement in patients of hematological malignancies is the respiratory tract. Isolated subcutaneous localization of mucormycosis in such patients is extremely rare. We report a case of a young patient of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on chemotherapy who presented with a subcutaneous swelling on the anterior aspect of right thigh. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) smears from the swelling revealed numerous characteristic broad, irregularly contoured and pleomorphic hyphae of mucormycosis. This fungus seldom grows in culture and confirmation of the diagnosis depends on cytological or histological examination of infected tissues. Our case report documents a rare site of isolated mucormycosis infection and emphasizes the role of FNAC as a simple, rapid, accurate, and useful method of diagnosing fungal infections.     

Fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) of leukaemic cell N-acetyl beta-D hexosaminidases

Leukaemic myeloid and lymphoid cell N-acetyl beta-D glucosaminidase (hexosaminidase) enzymes were fractionated by Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC) using high-resolution ion exchange (Mono-S and Mono-Q), gel filtration (Superose-6) and chromatofocusing (Mono-P) columns. Although only one molecular weight species was detected in haemopoietic cells, with an apparent mass of 129 kD, "isoenzyme" variants defined by differences in molecular charge were considerably more diverse than previously thought. Separation of the major Hex forms (A and B) by chromatofocusing indicated that intermediate (I) components were present in most acute leukaemias irrespective of lineage supporting the concept that the I form is a non-specific marker of haemopoietic immaturity. Substrate and inhibitor studies further revealed that leukaemic cell hexosaminidases hydrolyse galactopyranosides at significantly lower rates than glucopyranosides and that the hydrolysis of N-acetyl beta-D glucosamine is inhibited by both glucosamine and galactosamine products.     

Surgonomics: the cost dynamics of craniotomy

Prospective payment systems using the diagnostic related group (DRG) mechanism are being phased in for Medicare inpatient hospital care. The purpose of this study was to examine a common neurosurgical procedure (001), craniotomy without trauma, and characterize the cost dynamics of this DRG. All patients (n = 50) treated in this DRG at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center during 1983 had their financial charges exclusive of physician fees examined. The findings were: (a) each hospital service category had wide charge variances around the mean; (b) emergency (ER) admissions were 200% more expensive than nonemergency (non-ER) admissions; (c) ER admissions seemed to have no greater severity of illness than non-ER admissions, but had a significantly different referral pattern (i.e., admission from the ER to a nonneurosurgical service with a subsequent neurosurgical referral); (d) this DRG when grouped into clinical "subproducts" (i.e., craniotomy for tumor, hematoma, hydrocephalus, aneurysm, benign cyst, and other) showed marked charge differences; and (e) the most expensive 25% of patients had five times higher charges than the least expensive 25% for both ER and non-ER admissions. This type of financial analysis may give surgeons a methodology with which to address the problems of cost containment in a more serious manner.