Reconstructing the Temporal Origin and the Transmission Dynamics of the HIV Subtype B Epidemic in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Russia is among the fastest growing in the world. HIV epidemic burden is non-uniform in different Russian regions and diverse key populations. An explosive epidemic has been documented among people who inject drugs (PWID) starting from the mid-1990s, whereas presently, the majority of new infections are linked to sexual transmission.

[Properties of silver-containing rat ceruloplasmin].

Ceruloplasmin (Cp) was isolated from the sera of albino rats fed with silver nitrate (60 mg/kg of body weight). The oxidase activity of the enzyme was sharply decreased, while its concentration in the blood (as assayed immunologically) was slightly lower than in controls. The drop in the oxidase activity was caused by the replacement of several coppers by silver ions in the Cp molecule.

[Etiologic significance of hereditary deficiency of proteinase alpha1-inhibitor in the formation of respiratory diseases].

A study was made of the content of protease alpha 1-inhibitor and of the phenotyping of protease alpha 1-inhibitor subtypes in 666 patients with different chronic non-specific pulmonary diseases. It is concluded that pronounced deficiency of protease alpha 1-inhibitor is of importance in the formation of primary emphysema, chronic obstructive bronchitis and bronchial asthma. The clinical characteristics of obstructive pulmonary diseases marked by protease alpha 1-inhibitor deficiency have been investigated.

[Synthesis and secretion of ceruloplasmin by isolated rat hepatocytes].

The synthesis and secretion of ceruloplasmin (Cp) by isolated rat hepatocytes were investigated. Cp released by liver cells appeared to have properties similar to those of the blood-circulating protein, i. e.

[Molecular defect of ceruloplasmin synthesis and maturation in Wilson-Konovalov disease].

The radioimmunochemical study of ceruloplasmin-synthesizing polyribosomes was carried out using bioptic liver specimens obtained from fourteen homozygous patients with hepatolenticular degeneration (Wilson--Konovalov disease) and from eight control patients with various non-hereditary diseases. The measurement of binding of 125I-antibodies to the nascent polysome-bound ceruloplasmin chains demonstrated that in control patients this protein is only synthesized on membrane-bound polysomes, while free polysomes do not contribute to the synthesis of ceruloplasmin. The majority of homozygous carriers of Wilson--Konovalov mutation (eleven of fourteen) are characterized by the involvement of free, rather than membrane-bound polysomes, in the synthesis of ceruloplasmin.

Preproceruloplasmin is a primary product of cell-free translation of ceruloplasmin messenger RNA.

Biosynthesis of ceruloplasmin was studied in wheat germ extract programmed with polysomal RNA from rat liver. Optimal potassium concentration for the total protein-synthesizing activity and for the synthesis of immunoreactive ceruloplasmin was 96 and 186 mM respectively. 7-methylguanosine 5'-monophosphate caused two-fold inhibition of the cell-free synthesis of ceruloplasmin.

Intracellular distribution of rat-liver polyribosomes synthesizing coeruloplasmin.

Three independent approaches (binding of 125I-antibodies to polysomes, cell-free translation of polyadenylated mRNA in a wheat germ system and hybridization of RNA with a specific complementary DNA probe) were used to study the intracellular distribution of polysomes involved in the synthesis of coeruloplasmin as well as of coeruloplasmin mRNA sequences in rat liver. It was shown that only membrane-bound polysomes contain both nascent chains of coeruloplasmin and coeruloplasmin mRNA sequences. The size of coeruloplasmin polysomes is 16-18 monomers/mRNA molecule and their proportion is about 0.

[Molecular mechanisms of the control of ceruloplasmin synthesis by estradiol].

Mechanisms of the effect of estradiol on the biosynthesis of ceruloplasmin (CP) in rat liver were studied. The radioimmunological tests revealed that estradiol caused an increase of CP concentration in plasma. The about two-fold increase of plasma CP level was accompanied by the proportional increase of the content of CP nascent chains in membrane-bound polysomes of liver.

[Estradiol-induced formation of the polyribosomal complex synthesizing ceruloplasmin in rats].

The effects of estradiol on the oxidase activity of ceruloplasmin (CP) in rat serum and on the relative content of nascent CP chains in rat liver polyribosomes were studied. Using radioimmunological methods, it was shown that a 2--3-fold increase of the oxidase activity of CP in the blood induced by estradiol is accompanied by an increase in the amount of nascent CP chains in the polyribosomes. On the 5th, 8th, 10th and 11th post-injection days the binding of specific anti-CP 125I-immunoglobulins to the polyribosomes is increased by 17, 28, 70 and 95%, respectively.

Physicochemical properties and isoenzyme composition of hexokinase from normal and malignant human tissues.

The activity of hexokinase was studied in several normal and malignant human tissues. The enzyme activity in tumors was significantly higher. Isoenzyme studies on normal gastric mucosa and stomach cancer extracts showed that malignancy is accompanied by a "simplification" of the hexokinase isoenzyme pattern due to "deletion" of the slowest isoenzyme.

[Tumorous origin of the hexokinase in human biological fluids].

Hexokinase of the endometrium and gastric mucosa is represented by 5 isoenzymes. The "simplification" of HK isoenzyme spectrum is characteristic of cancer tissue. So, in gastric cancer there is a disappearance of the "slowest" isoenzyme, while in malignant endometrium the "fastest" one was absent.

[Identification of hexokinase synthesizing polyribosomes in human normal and tumor tissues].

Comparative study of concentrations of growing hexokinase subunits polypeptide chains in the polyribosomes from normal and tumour human stomach tissue is studied using specific antiserum to hexokinase isoenzyme from human stomach tumour tissue. It is shown by two different methods (chromatography on Sepharose 46 and sucrose concentration gradient analysis) that the content of hexokinase polypeptides in stomach tumour is several times higher than in homologous normal tissue. The acta obtained show that the high activity of hexokinase in tumour tissues is due to the increased synthesis rate of the enzyme.

[Physico-chemical and kinetic properties of hexokinase isoenzymes from human normal and tumor tissues].

Individual hexokinase isoenzymes (isoHK) are isolated from normal and malignant human stomach mucosa. IsoHK from tumour tissue are found to have KM for glucose 10 times as low as isoHK from normal tissue. Molecular weights of individual isoHK from normal and tumour tissues are similar (at the range of 112,000-125,000).

[Change in cell membrane permeability, and composition and properties of hexokinase during induced carcinogenesis].

The isoenzyme hexokinase (HK) spectrum from normal rat large intestinal mucosa consisted of 3 isoenzymes. In tumours of this localization induced by 1,2-dimethylhydrazine there proved to be a lack or marked decrease in the most rapid anodic isoenzyme. Only one HK isoenzyme was found in the metastases.