Isolation of virulent and intermediately virulent Rhodococcus equi from soil and sand on parks and yards in Japan.

Rhodococcus equi is an emerging opportunistic pathogen of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. However, little is known about the distribution of virulent and intermediately virulent R. equi in human environment.

Identification of intermediately virulent Rhodococcus equi isolates from pigs.

We recently reported the existence of Rhodococcus equi isolates with at least three virulence levels, isolated from AIDS patients: virulent R. equi having 15- to 17-kDa antigens that kills mice with 10(6) cells, intermediately virulent R. equi having a 20-kDa antigen that kills mice with 10(7) cells, and avirulent R.

Oncocytic hepatocellular carcinoma with numerous globular hyaline bodies.

Two well circumscribed tumors, oncocytic and non-oncocytic, were removed from the non-cirrhotic liver of a 67 year old male. The large oncocytic tumor (OCT), occupying the entire left lobe, was multilobulated with focal coagulation necrosis and areas of hemorrhage. Light microscopy revealed that it consisted of exclusively large, granular oxyphilic cells with moderate nuclear atypia and occasional mitotic figures, which were trabecular and/or pseudoglandular in structure, but no lamellar fibrosis was seen.

Expression of virulence-associated antigens of Rhodococcus equi is regulated by temperature and pH.

We recently reported that there are two different virulence-associated antigens correlated with virulence levels in Rhodococcus equi isolates from AIDS patients: virulent R. equi that kills mice with 10(6) cells expresses 15- to 17-kDa antigens and intermediately virulent R. equi that kills mice with 10(7) cells expresses a 20-kDa antigen.

A recombinant bcl-x s adenovirus selectively induces apoptosis in cancer cells but not in normal bone marrow cells.

Many cancers overexpress a member of the bcl-2 family of inhibitors of apoptosis. To determine the role of these proteins in maintaining cancer cell viability, an adenovirus vector that expresses bcl-xs, a functional inhibitor of these proteins, was constructed. Even in the absence of an exogenous apoptotic signal such as x-irradiation, this virus specifically and efficiently kills carcinoma cells arising from multiple organs including breast, colon, stomach, and neuroblasts.

Identification of virulence-associated antigens and plasmids in Rhodococcus equi from patients with AIDS.

Rhodococcus equi is an emerging opportunistic pathogen of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. However, little is known about the characteristics of R. equi isolates from humans.

Differential expression in Escherichia coli of the Vibrio sp. strain ABE-1 icdI and icdII genes encoding structurally different isocitrate dehydrogenase isozymes.

The expression of two structurally different isocitrate dehydrogenase isozymes of Vibrio sp. strain ABE-1 in Escherichia coli was examined. At a low temperature (15 degrees C), a thermolabile and monomeric type isozyme (IDH-II), which is quite different in amino acid sequence from the E.

Down-regulation of topoisomerase I in mammalian cells following ionizing radiation.

Modulators of the DNA unwinding enzyme, topoisomerase I (Topo I), inhibit DNA repair and augment the lethal effects of X-rays and other agents that create breaks in DNA. To investigate the role of Topo I in DNA repair, we examined Topo I activity before and after X-irradiation using confluence-arrested hamster and human cells. Topo I activities were higher in unirradiated neoplastic compared to normal hamster or human cells.

Genes encoding two isocitrate dehydrogenase isozymes of a psychrophilic bacterium, Vibrio sp. strain ABE-1.

The genes coding for two structurally different isocitrate dehydrogenase isozymes (IDH-I and IDH-II) of a psychrophilic bacterium, Vibrio sp. strain ABE-1, were cloned and sequenced. Open reading frames of the genes (icdI and icdII) are 1,248 and 2,229 bp in length, respectively.

Isolation of x-ray-inducible transcripts from radioresistant human melanoma cells.

Twelve x-ray-induced transcripts (xips), differentially expressed 8- to 230-fold in x-irradiated versus unirradiated radioresistant human melanoma (U1-Mel) cells, were isolated as cDNA clones (xip1 through xip12) after four rounds of differential hybridization. Northern analyses revealed rare, medium, and abundant xips, ranging in size from 1.2 to 10 kb.

Purification and characterization of monomeric isocitrate dehydrogenase with NADP(+)-specificity from Vibrio parahaemolyticus Y-4.

NADP(+)-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase [IDH: EC 1.1.1.

Effect of Ca2+ and K+ on the intracellular pH of an Escherichia coli L-form.

The L-form NC7, derived from Escherichia coli K12, grew in a complex medium containing 0.2 M-CaCl2 as osmotic stabilizer, but not at pH values above 7.8.

Enhanced induction of tissue-type plasminogen activator in normal human cells compared to cancer-prone cells following ionizing radiation.

Normal human fibroblast (i.e., GM2936B, GM2907A, and IMR-90) and cancer-prone human fibroblast (i.

Osteoma of the testis with its histogenetic consideration.

Although a few cases of osteoma in renal pelvis and urinary bladder have been reported, no cases of osteoma in the testis have been presented. A case of so-called osteoma of the testis incidentally found in a 30-year-old man was presented with discussion for its histogenetic considerations.

Mechanism of biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids in Pseudomonas sp. strain E-3, a psychrotrophic bacterium.

Biosynthesis of palmitic, palmitoleic, and cis-vaccenic acids in Pseudomonas sp. strain E-3 was investigated with in vitro and in vivo systems. [1-14C]palmitic acid was aerobically converted to palmitoleate and cis-vaccenate, and the radioactivities on their carboxyl carbons were 100 and 43%, respectively, of the total radioactivity in the fatty acids.

Isozymes of isocitrate dehydrogenase from an obligately psychrophilic bacterium, Vibrio sp. strain ABE-1: purification, and modulation of activities by growth conditions.

Each of the two isozymes, which are different in thermostability and quaternary structure, of isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP+) [IDH: EC 1.1.1.

[An autopsy case of Prader-Labhart-Willi syndrome].

An autopsy case of 23-years-old man with Prader-Labhart-Willi syndrome (P-L-W syndrome), who had died by acute renal failure due to burn injury, was reported. P-L-W syndrome was constituted by hypotonia, hypogonadism, hypomentia, obesity and other minor anomalies, however, CNS anomaly had not been reported. The patient sat at 3 years of age, walked at 4 years old, began to utter single words at 3-4 years, and he began to obese at 4 years of age.

Blue nevus of the uterine cervix. An ultrastructural study of two cases.

Two cases of blue nevus of the uterine cervix were studied ultrastructurally. Both were incidental findings in hysterectomy specimens. The pigmented cells were characterized by both solitary and compound melanosomes at different stages of development and by basement membrane surrounding the interdigitated cytoplasm.

An animal model of cerebral infarction. Homologous blood clot emboli in rats.

An experimental model of cerebral infarction is created in rats by intracarotid injection of their homologous blood clots. This is the first small animal model in which embolization was achieved by homologous blood clots. The infarcts were produced predominantly in the territory of the middle cerebral artery.

Purification and some properties of two NADP+-specific isocitrate dehydrogenases from an obligately psychrophilic marine bacterium, Vibrio sp., strain ABE-1.

Two isozymes of NADP+-specific isocitrate dehydrogenase [ICDH; EC 1.1.1.

Congenital cerebellar hypoplasia in newborn calves.

A sporadic outbreak of congential cerebellar ataxia (CCA) was seen in calves. The abnormality of this disorder of the central nervous system characteristic was cerebellar hypoplasia, which was observed in eight calves. The cerebellum was almost completely absent in some of these calves and approximately one-fifth of the normal size in some others.