Antitumor Properties of Aqueous Extracts from Inonotus rheades Mycelium and Their Evaluation under Various Cultivation Conditions.

The antitumor properties of aqueous extracts of Inonotus rheades basidiomycete mushrooms were evaluated when the fungi were cultured on wood discs and wood shavings (birch) at 25 ± 1°C in the dark and under constant illumination with blue light (12.8 W/m). The aqueous fraction containing water-soluble polysaccharides was isolated and analyzed: WS-5 fraction cultured on wood discs under blue light illumination, WS-8 fraction grown under similar conditions on wood shavings; WS-6 fraction grown in the dark on wood discs; and WS-7 fraction grown under similar conditions on wood shavings.

Complexes of ortho-Phthalic Acid in Spontaneous Animal Tumors.

The presence of diethyl-, dibutyl-, and 2-ethylhexyl phthalates in spontaneous animal tumors was determined for the first time. Small-cell breast cancer of the dog and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma with the cells are particularly rich of these compounds. It is assumed that the level of phthalates in these cells is due to the activity of expression of nuclear receptors for estrogens and progesterone, as well as the peculiarities of the metabolism of xenobiotics.

Potentiometry as a method of antioxidant activity investigation.

Problems of terminology applied for antioxidant properties of substances are being discussed. Selection of the term 'Antioxidant Activity' is being proved. New method of the determination of this index is offered, where electrode potential shift as a result of redox chemical reaction between substance to be determined and oxidized form of mediator system serves as a source of information.

A telomeric satellite in Drosophila virilis and its sibling species.

Telomere elongation by telomerase is the most widespread mechanism among eukaryotes. However, alternative mechanisms such as homologous recombination between terminal satellite DNAs are probably used in lower dipteran insects and in some plants. Drosophila melanogaster uses the very unusual telomere elongation pathway of transposition of telomere-specific retrotransposable elements.

Superoxide dismutase: determination of activity by inhibition of photosensitized chemiluminescence of glycyltryptophan.

A technique for quantitative determination of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in biological material is described. The technique is based on the riboflavin-photosensitized oxidation of Gly-Trp, which is accompanied by chemiluminescence. Formation of the luminescent product is inhibited by SOD.