Myocardial infarction associated with phenylpropanolamine.

Phenylpropanolamine is a sympathomimetic agent widely used in over-the-counter and prescription decongestant medications. We describe a young woman without cardiac risk factors who sustained myocardial infarction after unintentional overuse of a nasal decongestant containing phenylpropanolamine. The pathophysiology of myocardial injury and current management strategies as related to this agent are discussed.

Construction of new cloning vehicles with genes of the tryptophan operon of Escherichia coli as genetic markers.

In vitro recombination techniques were used to construct a series of new cloning vehicles with genes of the tryptophan (trp) operon of Escherichia coli as selective marker. To construct these plasmids we have made a restriction cleavage map of the trp operon for the enzymes AosI, AvaI, BglI, BglII, HindIII, HpaI, PvuII, SalI, SstI and XhoI. The constructed plasmids pHP39, pEP392, pEP3921 and pEP3923 are derived from the amplifiable plasmid pBR345 and carry two or more genes of the trp operon, which are controlled by the trp regulatory elements.

In vitro excision-repair of ultraviolet-irradiated transforming DNA from Bacillus subtilis.

The biological activity of UV-inactivated Bacillus subtilis DNA is partly restored after incubation with a UV-specific endonuclease from Micrococcus lutens in conjunction with DNA polymerase and DNA ligase, both isolated from Escherichia coli. The restored activity is not further increased by photoreactivation. Pyrimidine dimers are specifically liberated when irradiated DNA is exposed to the three enzymes.