Isolation and characterization of the notch ligand delta4.

Notch signaling plays a critical role in a variety of developmental programs. In vertebrates, the complexity of the process is underscored by the existence of multiple Notch receptors and multiple ligands, each of which displays a distinct expression profile. Furthermore, the ligands can be subdivided into two families, the Serrate/Jagged family and the Delta family.

Carnobacterium inhibens sp. nov., isolated from the intestine of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).

Strain K1T, isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), has the capacity to inhibit the growth of the fish pathogens Vibrio anguillarum and Aeromonas salmonicida. Strain K1T is a motile Gram-positive psychrophilic rod that lacks both catalase and oxidase, which does not grow on acetate containing media, but grows at pH 9 and in TSB with up to 6% sodium chloride content. Strain K1T is facultatively anaerobic and tryptone as a sole source of nutrient promotes growth.

A thrombopoietin receptor mutant deficient in Jak-STAT activation mediates proliferation but not differentiation in UT-7 cells.

Thrombopoietin (TPO) stimulates proliferation and differentiation of cells of the megakaryocytic lineage. It exerts its function by binding and activating c-mpl, a member of the hematopoietic receptor superfamily. Upon binding of TPO to its receptor, numerous signaling events are triggered.

[Effects of para- and diamagnetic materials in a 1.5 Tesla high field magnetic resonance tomography system].

This article shows the results of an experimental investigation of the interference by paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials on imaging in a closed 1.5 Tesla high field magnetic resonance imaging system (MRI). For different types of sequences (SE, GE, EPI) the effects of metal and non-metal profiles in producing artefacts were investigated.

The use of a ribosomal RNA targeted oligonucleotide probe for fluorescent labelling of viable Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts.

A fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique has been developed for the fluorescent labelling of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in water samples. The FISH technique employs a fluorescently labelled oligonucleotide probe (Cry1 probe) targeting a specific sequence in the 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) of C. parvum.

The thrombopoietin receptor can mediate proliferation without activation of the Jak-STAT pathway.

Cytokine receptors of the hematopoietic receptor superfamily lack intrinsic tyrosine kinase domains for the intracellular transmission of their signals. Instead all members of this family associate with Jak family nonreceptor tyrosine kinases. Upon ligand stimulation of the receptors, Jaks are activated to phosphorylate target substrates.

Increased sensitivity to apoptotic stimuli in c-abl-deficient progenitor B-cell lines.

The protooncogene c-abl encodes a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase whose cellular function is unknown. To study the possible involvement of c-Abl in proliferation, differentiation, and cell cycle regulation of early B cells, long-term lymphoid bone marrow cultures were established from c-abl-deficient mice and their wild-type littermates. Interleukin 7-dependent progenitor B-cell clones and lines expressing B220 and CD43 could be generated from both mutant and wild-type mice.

Semantide- and chemotaxonomy-based analyses of some problematic phenotypic clusters of slowly growing mycobacteria, a cooperative study of the International Working Group on Mycobacterial Taxonomy.

During previous cooperative numerical taxonomic studies of slowly growing mycobacteria, the International Working Group on Mycobacterial Taxonomy described a number of strains whose taxonomic status was ambiguous. A new study of DNA, RNA, and proteins from 66 of these organisms was performed to correlate their properties with phenotypic clustering behavior; the results of this study permitted 51 of the strains studied to be assigned to known species. The methods used to characterize the semantides included nucleotide sequencing and assessment of levels of semantide relatedness by affinity binding techniques, including whole DNA-DNA hybridization, probe hybridization, and antibody binding.

TPO and IL-3 induce overlapping but distinct protein tyrosine phosphorylation in a myeloid precursor cell line.

TPO is a recently cloned cytokine which appears to play a central role in megakaryopoiesis and platelet production. It has been shown to be the ligand for c-mpl, a member of the hematopoietic receptor superfamily. We examined intracellular tyrosine phosphorylation events induced by TPO and compared them with events stimulated by IL-3, a pleiotropic cytokine which also has activity on the megakaryocyte lineage.

Rapid identification of Aeromonas species using 16S rDNA targeted oligonucleotide primers: a molecular approach based on screening of environmental isolates.

Published 16S rDNA sequencing data for Aeromonas species were analysed and the validity of signature sequences derived from our investigations of these sequences was examined by sequencing the corresponding 16S rDNA regions of 67 environmental isolates from sewage effluents and receiving waters around Sydney and one clinical isolate, all previously classified as Aeromonas species. Species-specific probes for Aer. hydrophila and Aer.

Gene transfer of the interleukin (IL)-2 receptor beta chain into an IL-7-dependent pre-B cell line permits IL-2-driven proliferation: tyrosine phosphorylation of Shc is induced by IL-2 but not IL-7.

Expression of the interleukin (IL)-2 receptor beta chain in the IL-7-dependent pre-B cell line IxN/2B permitted growth in presence of either IL-2 or IL-7, allowing for a direct comparison of intracellular signaling events. Protein tyrosine phosphorylation was essential for IL-2 and IL-7-induced signal transduction since the tyrosine kinase inhibitor herbimycin A blocked proliferation in response to both factors. Western blot analysis of tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins revealed that both IL-2 and IL-7 stimulation led to enhanced phosphorylation of proteins of 170-, 145-, 115- and 99-kDa, as well as induction of phosphorylation of a 96-kDa protein.

Lautropia mirabilis gen. nov., sp. nov., a gram-negative motile coccus with unusual morphology isolated from the human mouth.

An organism that seems to be identical to Orskov's 'Sarcina mirabilis' [Orskov, J. (1930) Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand Suppl III, 519-541] has been rediscovered in specimens from the upper respiratory tract of humans. Six strains were studied, and the results, which conformed to Orskov's description of S.

Tyrosine phosphorylation of Shc is induced by IL-3, IL-5 and GM-CSF.

The receptors for IL-3, IL-5 and GM-CSF belong to the hematopoietic receptor superfamily and have no intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity but nevertheless indirectly induce protein tyrosine phosphorylation. In order to directly compare the effects of IL-3, IL-5 and GM-CSF on protein tyrosine phosphorylation we analyzed the murine cell line FDCP-1 which proliferates equally well in response to IL-3 and GM-CSF and the cell line B13 which responds to both IL-3 and IL-5. The protein tyrosine phosphorylation pattern induced by IL-3, IL-5 and GM-CSF in these cell lines was shown to be remarkably similar and all three cytokines induced tyrosine phosphorylation of Shc, a src homology domain-2 containing protein which has been shown to be involved in Ras activation by tyrosine kinase receptors.

Tumor-cell-targeted cytokine gene transfer in experimental models for cancer therapy.

The genetic manipulation of tumor cells to express immunostimulatory molecules provides a current approach for the analysis of immune reactions against tumor cells in vivo. Experiments with multiple cytokines have demonstrated that an array of different host effector cells can be recruited by different cytokines in vivo, but more studies are necessary to distinguish cytokine-specific effects from as yet uncharacterized influences of different tumor models. A technically feasible clinical application of this approach is to be seen in the generation of vaccines by introducing such immunostimulatory genes into cancer cells and boosting systemic immune reactions against the unmodified cells.

Mechanisms of rejection induced by tumor cell-targeted gene transfer of interleukin 2, interleukin 4, interleukin 7, tumor necrosis factor, or interferon gamma.

Interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-7, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), or interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) has been shown to be able to induce tumor rejection if produced locally by the tumor cells after gene transfer. To analyze whether the cellular rejection mechanisms are different or redundant we have expressed the cytokines in the same tumor cell line (J558L). Cell depletion experiments revealed that all cytokines required CD8+ T cells for complete long-term tumor eradication, although effective but transient host-dependent tumor suppression was also observed in the complete absence of CD8+ T cells.

Mycobacterium hiberniae sp. nov.

Strains of a new type of slowly growing scotochromogenic, rose-pink-pigmented mycobacterium were isolated repeatedly from sphagnum vegetation, true moss, and soil in Ireland. These strains grew at 22, 31, and 37 degrees C but not at 45 degrees C and possessed acid phosphatase and arylsulfatase activities. They reduced nitrate, tolerated 0.

Vaccinations with tumor cells genetically engineered to produce different cytokines: effectivity not superior to a classical adjuvant.

The potential of tumor cells (J558L) engineered to produce one of 5 different cytokines (interleukin 2, interleukin 4, interleukin 7, tumor necrosis factor, or gamma-interferon) to give rise to systemic immunity protective against a contralateral challenge with the parental cells was analyzed. The rejection of all cytokine-producing cells appeared to induce some systemic response capable of mediating the rejection of low numbers of subsequently contralaterally injected cells, but the effect was much less obvious with higher cell numbers. The injection of any possible combination of two of the cytokine producers did not reveal any synergistic effects.

Thauera selenatis gen. nov., sp. nov., a member of the beta subclass of Proteobacteria with a novel type of anaerobic respiration.

A recently isolated, selenate-respiring microorganism (strain AXT [T = type strain]) was classified by using a polyphasic approach in which both genotypic and phenotypic characteristics were determined. Strain AXT is a motile, gram-negative, rod-shaped organism with a single polar flagellum. On the basis of phenotypic characteristics, this organism can be classified as a Pseudomonas sp.

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor gene transfer into tumor cells induces macrophage infiltration but not tumor suppression.

In order to analyze the effect of a high local concentration of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF; CSF-1) on tumor growth, the plasmacytoma cell line J558L was transfected with the human M-CSF gene and injected into syngeneic BALB/c mice. In contrast to the parental tumors, M-CSF transfectants were heavily infiltrated by macrophages as evidenced by immunohistochemistry with antibodies to Mac-1 and Mac-3 and by isolation of the macrophages from the tumor. Nevertheless, tumor growth was only slightly affected by M-CSF and M-CSF-producing cells grew as tumor in all cases.

Phylogeny of rapidly growing members of the genus Mycobacterium.

The 16S rRNAs from nine rapidly growing Mycobacterium species were partially sequenced by using the dideoxynucleotide-terminated, primer extension method with cDNA generated by reverse transcriptase. The sequences were aligned with 47 16S rRNA or DNA sequences that represented 30 previously described and 5 undescribed species of the genus Mycobacterium, and a dendrogram was constructed by using equally weighted distance values. Our results confirmed the phylogenetic separation of the rapidly and slowly growing mycobacteria and showed that the majority of the slowly growing members of the genus represent the most recently evolved organisms.

Towards a phylogeny of the genus Vibrio based on 16S rRNA sequences.

The inter- and intrageneric relationships of the genus Vibrio were investigated by performing a comparative analysis of the 16S rRNAs of 10 species, including four pathogenic representatives. The results of immunological and 5S rRNA studies were confirmed in that the genus is a neighboring taxon of the family Enterobacteriaceae. With regard to the intrageneric structure, Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio campbellii, Vibrio natriegens, Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio proteolyticus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Vibrio vulnificus form the core of the genus, while Vibrio (Listonella) anguillarum, Vibrio diazotrophicus, and Vibrio hollisae are placed on the outskirts of the genus.

Interleukin 7 induces CD4+ T cell-dependent tumor rejection.

The potential of interleukin 7 (IL-7) to induce an antitumor response in vivo was analyzed. Therefore, the IL-7 gene was expressed in the plasmacytoma cell line J558L. Although the growth of IL-7-producing cells was not retarded in vitro, the IL-7-producing cells were completely rejected upon injection into mice.

The effectiveness of invitations from general practitioners in recruiting women to mammographic screening.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of general practitioner patient lists as a means of recruiting women to mammography screening.

Design: This study constitutes the first part of a comparative study of two alternative recruitment strategies involving invitation of women identified from: (i) general practitioner lists; and (ii) the electoral roll.

Setting And Subjects: The subjects were women aged 50-64 listed as patients of the first three private practices that agreed to collaborate with the South Australian (SA) Breast X-Ray Service to recruit by this method.

16S rRNA sequences of Bartonella bacilliformis and cat scratch disease bacillus reveal phylogenetic relationships with the alpha-2 subgroup of the class Proteobacteria.

The primary structures of 16S rRNAs of Bartonella bacilliformis, an isolate of the cat scratch disease (CSD) bacillus, and a strain phenotypically similar to the CSD bacillus were determined by reverse transcriptase sequencing. These microorganisms were found to be members of the alpha-2 subgroup of the class Proteobacteria. The sequence from B.

Comparative analysis of Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus cereus, and related species on the basis of reverse transcriptase sequencing of 16S rRNA.

The primary structures of the 16S rRNAs of Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus mycoides, and Bacillus thuringiensis were determined by using the reverse transcription-dideoxy sequencing method. All of the strains exhibited very high levels of sequence similarity (greater than 99%) that were consistent with the close relationships shown by previous DNA hybridization studies. The sequences of B.