Mood Matters: Negative Mood Induction Activates Dysfunctional Attitudes in Women Vulnerable to Depression

Cognitive theory holds that dysfunctionalattitudes are important risk factors for depression.Critics have questioned this view, noting that, althoughdysfunctional attitudes are elevated in depression, they are not evident in vulnerable individualswho are asymptomatic. To deal with this criticism,Miranda and Persons (1988) have advanced the mood-statedependent hypothesis, which suggests that cognitive vulnerability factors are indeed present invulnerable individuals, but remain dormant untilactivated by negative mood. To test this hypothesis, 33women with and 67 women without histories of depression reported dysfunctional attitudes before andafter a film negative mood induction. As predicted,vulnerable subjects who reported increased negative moodreported increased dysfunctional attitudes.Unexpectedly, nonvulnerable subjects who reported increasednegative mood reported decreased dysfunctionalattitudes. These findings support the mood-statedependent hypothesis, and suggest that a deficit in theability to regulate negative emotions may be animportant feature of vulnerability todepression.     

Neuron-specific enolase and malignant lymphomas (23 cases)

Summary The immunoreactivity of polyclonal antiserum to neuron-specific enolase (NSE) has been investigated. Twenty-three cases of malignant lymphoma (ML) were studied and compared with previously published reports. In our study 11 out of 23 cases showed strong or weak NSE positivity; any type of ML could be positive or negative even among B or T cell ML. This study indicated that polyclonal NSE is not a specific marker; it might be an inconstant marker of ML with no apparent correlation between reactivity and morphology or phenotype.     

Novel pluripotential neural progenitor lines exhibiting rapid controlled differentiation to neurotransmitter receptor‐expressing neurons and glia

The immortalization of progenitor cells from embryonic murine hippocampus using oncogene‐carrying retroviral vectors is described. Use of a vector encoding the oncogene v‐myc results in lines of nestin‐positive progenitor cells. Limited differentiation ensues if the cells are cultured in the presence of dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate. In contrast, use of a vector in which the extracellular portion of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor is fused to the neu tyrosine kinase generates lines of pluripotential nestin‐positive progenitor cells, which differentiate upon withdrawal of EGF into neurons and glia. Differentiated neurons expressing action potentials and neurotransmitter receptors make up a high proportion of the cells. These cell lines are useful tools to investigate the characteristics of differentiating neurons and glia, as well as to screen neuroactive drugs. This work has been reported in preliminary form as an abstract (1996 Society for Neuroscience Abstract, #606.20, p. 1537).     

Studies on mutants deficient in the photosystem I reaction centers in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Summary Genetic analysis of 25 nuclear mutants defective in the chlorophyll-protein complex CP1 was undertaken. The mutants belong to 13 complementation groups scattered throughout the nuclear genome. All these mutants lack the apoprotein of CP1 and, in addition, a specific set of six low molecular weight thylakoid polypeptides. System I particles obtained by treating WT thylakoid membranes with detergent specifically contain those polypeptides which the mutants lack. These observations suggest that a particular sub-structure of the thylakoid membrane associated with the photosystem I activity is missing from all 25 mutants studied, and that this general phenotype can result from mutation at any one of several unlinked Mendelian loci.     

Analysis of very long-chain fatty acids using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Elevated levels of very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFA) in plasma and tissues are the biochemical hallmark for patients with X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD). Current methods for the determination of VLCFA levels are laborious and time-consuming. We describe a rapid and easy method using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) with deuterated internal standards. VLCFA are hydrolyzed, extracted, and quantified in less than 4h. This includes 2h of hydrolysis and 4min of quantification. We validated the method by analyzing 60 plasma samples from controls and patients with X-ALD or Zellweger syndrome using both the ESI-MS protocol and an established method for VLCFA analysis using gas chromatography (GC). The C26:0 concentrations determined with ESI-MS in plasma and fibroblasts of X-ALD patients are in good agreement with those reported previously for GC and GC-MS. Besides saturated straight chain VLCFA, we also determined the concentrations of the mono-unsaturated VLCFA C24:1 and C26:1 and established that while C24:1 levels are not elevated, C26:1 levels are elevated in both plasma and fibroblasts from X-ALD patients.