Mutations of ZFPM2/FOG2 gene in sporadic cases of tetralogy of Fallot

Two out of 47 patients with sporadic tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), the most common cyanotic conotruncal heart defect (CTD), showed heterozygous missense mutations of the ZFPM2/FOG2 gene. Knockout mice carrying mutations in the ZFPM2/FOG2 gene have similarly been found to exhibit TOF. While both mutant ZFPM2/FOG2 proteins, E30G (c.88A>G) and S657G (c.1968A>G), retain the ability to bind the partner protein GATA4 and repress GATA4 mediated gene activation, the S657G, but not the E30G, mutation is subtly impaired in this function. ZFPM2/FOG2 gene mutations may contribute to some sporadic cases of TOF.     

Evaluation of 10 aliphatic halogenated hydrocarbons in the mouse bone marrow micronucleus test

Ten halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons (carbon tetrachloride, 1-chlorohexane, 2,3-dichlorobutane, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethylene, 1,3-dichloropropane, hexachloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, 1,2,3-trichloropropane and 1,1,3-trichloropropene), previously assayed in genetic assays in fungi, were evaluated in the mouse bone marrow micronucleus test in order to assess their genotoxicity in vivo. All chemicals were administered once i.p. at 40 and 70-80% of their respective LD50 to male and female CD-1 mice, 24 and 48 h before killing. All treatments produced evident clinical symptoms, but no marked depression of bone marrow proliferation. No statistically significant increases in the incidence of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes over the control values were observed at any sampling time with any of the 10 halogenated hydrocarbons assayed. The comparison of the results obtained in this study with the findings provided by in vitro micronucleus assays on the same chemicals, reported by other authors, indicate that mouse bone marrow is weakly sensitive to the genotoxic effects induced by halogenated hydrocarbons in other test systems. This suggests that the role of such an assay in carcinogen screening may be questionable for this chemical class. An examination of mouse bone marrow micronucleus test results with the halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons classified as carcinogens by IARC supports this conclusion.     

Cloning and characterization of two catechol 1,2-dioxygenase genes from Acinetobacter radioresistens S13

Two novel catechol 1,2-dioxygenase (C 1,2-O) genes have been isolated from an Acinetobacter radioresistens strain that grows on phenol or benzoate as sole carbon and energy source. Designated as catA(A) and catA(B), they encode proteins composed of 314 and 306 amino acids, whose deduced sequences indicate that they have approximately 53% identity, whereas their NH2-terminal and COOH-terminal regions have no sequences in common. This may explain their different thermal and pH stability. Polyclonal antibodies raised against an amino-terminal CatA(A) peptide or the whole CatA(B) protein were used to establish their inducible and differential expression patterns upon bacterial growth in phenol or benzoate. The CatA(A) protein (IsoA) was induced by both phenol and benzoate though with different kinetics, whereas the catA(B) product (IsoB) was constitutively produced at low levels that increased only during growth in the presence of benzoate.     

Alterations in the expression of uvomorulin and Na+,K(+)-adenosine triphosphatase during mouse skin tumor progression.

Uvomorulin (E-cadherin), a cell adhesion molecule, and Na+,K(+)-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase), a marker protein of the basal-lateral cell membrane domains of polarized epithelial cells, were investigated in a group of mouse skin tumors induced by a two-stage chemical carcinogenesis protocol and in cell lines derived from mouse skin papillomas and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). Although these two markers were present in benign tumors and in nontumorigenic cell lines, the Na+,K(+)-ATPase showed an altered pattern of distribution that included the presence of enzyme not only in the basolateral domain but also on the apical domain of the cell membrane of basal and spinous cells in well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). In higher grade SCC, a loss of Na+,K(+)-ATPase immunoreactivity was simultaneously detected with a marginal or absent expression of uvomorulin. The more differentiated SCC and papillomas expressed less uvomorulin immunoreactivity than normal epidermal cells. Both markers were seen in tumor cell lines that produced well-differentiated SCC after subcutaneous inoculation into nude mice. Neither Na+,K(+)-ATPase nor uvomorulin could be detected in cell lines that produced high grade, poorly differentiated SCC. Northern blots confirmed the absence of uvomorulin mRNA in these highly malignant cell lines. These data indicate that progression from premalignant papilloma to low-grade SCC and subsequently to high-grade SCC is accompanied by loss of epithelial cell polarity as detected by changes in Na+,K(+)-ATPase and by decreased or absent expression of uvomorulin in tumors and cell lines characterized by an advanced malignant phenotype.     

Different patterns of replication in influenza virus-infected KB cells

Summary When KB cells were infected either with the fowl plague (FPV) Rostock strain (Hav1N1) or the WSN (H0N1) strain of influenza A virus the yield of cell-associated haemagglutinin and neuraminidase polypeptides was essentially comparable, but virus particles were not produced in the FPV-KB system. WSN virus-infected KB cells synthesized normal amounts of mature virus particles and had all the characteristics of a permissive replication cycle. Biosynthesis and transport of RNP antigen from nucleus to cytoplasm of infected cells were traced by immunofluorescent staining at 4 and 8 hours after the beginning of infection. While the fluorescent-stained material was totally confined to the nuclei in FPV-infected KB cells, RNP antigen migrated out of the nucleus during the replicative cycle of WSN virus in the same host cell. Patterns of virus-specific protein synthesis were studied by pulse-labelling with³⁵S-methionine. The most significant feature concerned the amplification of synthesis of virus-induced matrix (M) protein which did not occur in FPV-infected cells but occurred normally during WSN infection. The different patterns of replication in the same host cell when infected by different influenza A viruses is discussed.With 3 Figures     

Mast cell heterogeneity in response to cholinergic stimulation

Mast cell heterogeneity in response to acetylcholine has been evidentiated by the virtual lack of sensitivity or by the full reaction to nanomolar concentrations of acetylcholine, observed in samples of serosal mast cells isolated from the same animal species. The incubation with IgE of isolated rat mast cells renders the originally heterogeneous response homogeneous, the release of histamine evoked by acetylcholine being proportional to the IgE concentration. The histamine release induced by acetylcholine is due to the activation of muscarinic receptors, since it is blocked by atropine, not reproduced by acetylthiocholine and potentiated by exposure of the cells to the specific antigen.