Autoantibodies to c-myc protein: elevated levels in patients with African Burkitt's lymphoma and normal Ghanians.

Sera from U.S. patients with SLE, RA, and various malignancies, clinically normal individuals with sero-activity to HIV, AIDS, and from pregnant women were tested for the presence of anti-c-myc antibodies.

Acute and chronic effects of diethylstilbestrol on serum levels of alpha melanocyte stimulating hormone and prolactin in the hamster.

Continuous exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) induces renal tumors in male hamsters. The tumor formation is preceded by an increase in pituitary weight and elevation of the pituitary hormones-alpha melanocyte stimulating hormone (aMSH) and prolactin (Pr1). A decline in Pr1 (to normal levels) but not aMSH then accompanies the development of tumors and the enlargement of the intermediate lobe of the pituitary.

Immunocytochemical localization of glucocorticoid receptors in cells, cytoplasts, and nucleoplasts.

A monoclonal antibody has been used to assess the intracellular localization of the glucocorticoid receptor in rodent L-929 fibroblasts and GH3 pituitary tumor cells. Whole cells from both cell lines showed immunoreactivity in the cytoplasm and nucleus. However, when cytoplasts and nucleoplasts of these cells were examined, only L-cells showed strong antibody binding in both fractions; in contrast, GH3 cells exhibited nuclear staining and slight cytoplasmic staining.

Reticulocyte lipoxygenase, ingensin, and ATP-dependent proteolysis.

Lipoxygenase purified from rabbit reticulocyte lysate has a molecular mass of 68 kDa on SDS gel and a pI of 5.97. Lipoxygenase is inhibited by nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), 3-amino-1-(m-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-2-pyrazoline (BW755C), 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid (ETYA), salicylhydroxamate (SHAM) or hemin.

Phosphorylation of placental membrane proteins by a calcium- and phospholipid-dependent protein kinase.

The 30 000 g precipitate of homogenized rat placenta was incubated with 32P-adenosine triphosphate (ATP); several endogenous proteins were specifically phosphorylated in the presence of 0.5 mM calcium and phosphatidylserine (105K protein at mid pregnancy, and 78K protein at the latter part of pregnancy). The calcium- and phospholipid-dependent protein kinase activity in the 30 000 g precipitate was six times greater than the activity in the supernatant fraction.

Characterization and control of cytosolic binding proteins for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in the rat lung.

The presence of a high-affinity, low-capacity 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) binding complex was demonstrated in cytosol from rat lung. When analyzed by sucrose density gradient centrifugation, the 3H-TCDD binding complex sedimented at 8-9 S and 6.5 S in low and high ionic media, respectively.

A cytosolic binding protein for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in the uterus and deciduoma of rats.

The cytosol fraction of the uterus of proestrous rats and of deciduoma specifically binds 3H-2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (3H-TCDD). The 3H-TCDD binding protein has a sedimentation coefficient of 9 S in low ionic 10-40% sucrose density gradients. The binding of 3H-TCDD in the 9 S region is abolished by a 500-fold molar excess of unlabeled benzo[a]pyrene, 3-methylcholanthrene or by a 100-fold molar excess of unlabeled TCDD.

Survival from sepsis. The significance of altered protein metabolism regulated by proteolysis inducing factor, the circulating cleavage product of interleukin-1.

Amino acid (AA) arterial blood plasma concentrations, K1 (peripheral production + infusion rates), and central plasma clearance rates (K1 divided by arterial concentration) (CPCR-AA) were measured in 70 seriously septic patients. All of these people were in the "hyperdynamic" state at the time of observation. Thirty-seven recovered and 33 died.

The role of transferrin and ferritin in the fetal-maternal-placental unit.

The rapidly growing human fetus requires a large supply of iron, which is obtained from the iron stores of the mother. Iron is transported from mother to fetus against a concentration gradient. The placenta plays a key role in regulating the supply of iron in the fetus.

The uptake of [3H]estradiol by mouse preimplantation embryos in vitro.

Mouse blastocysts collected on day 4 were cultured for 20 hours in media containing various concentrations of [3H]estradiol with/without 10(-6) M unlabelled estradiol. There was a significant reduction in the radioactivity of embryos cultured at 4 degrees C compared with that of embryos cultured at 37 degrees C. The radioactivity of embryos kept in the washing solution after washing was slight lower but showed no significant difference when it was compared with that of embryos not kept in this way.

Control of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin binding protein(s) in the hamster kidney.

Hamster renal cytosol binds [3H]-2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) with high specificity. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation revealed two binding entities- one with a low sedimentation coefficient of 4-5 S which was displaced by neither TCDD nor other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and another with a high sedimentation coefficient of 7-8 S which was displaced by TCDD, benzo[a]pyrene (BP), 2-methylcholanthrene (MC), and 7,12-dimethylbenzo[a]anthracene (DMBA) but not by estradiol (E), progesterone (P), cortisol (F), testosterone (T), 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), or methyltrienolone (R-1881), a synthetic androgen. Cytosol from intact male hamsters showed maximum binding of labelled TCDD to the 7-8 S binding site.

A metabolite of riboflavin binds to the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) receptor.

A cytosolic receptor to which TCDD binds with high affinity has been reported in a number of rodent tissues, but the endogenous/natural ligand is not known. However, lumichrome, a metabolite of riboflavin, competed with 3H-TCDD for binding to the cytosolic receptor. Neither riboflavin nor riboflavin-5-phosphate competed for binding to the TCDD receptor in rat liver cytosol.

Proteins synthesized by the rat endometrium during early pregnancy.

Rat uteri from animals at pro-oestrus and Days 3-6 of pregnancy were incubated in vitro in the presence of [35S]methionine. Labelled endometrial proteins from each sample were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and resolved by fluorography. A group of 16 proteins that are synthesized only on specific days was defined.

Effect of estradiol, prostaglandin E2 and prostaglandin F2 alpha on incorporation of [3H]uridine by preimplantation mouse embryos in vitro.

To determine whether estrogen and prostaglandins have a direct effect on the preimplantation embryo, the effect of these compounds added to mouse embryos in vitro was examined. Embryos were incubated in culture media containing [3H]uridine with or without the substances to be tested. The addition of estradiol (10(-8)M) and prostaglandin F2 alpha (1 microgram/ml or 10 micrograms/ml) stimulated the incorporation of uridine into RNA.

Effect of indomethacin and prostaglandin F2 alpha on incorporation of [3H]uridine by preimplantation mouse embryo.

Indomethacin, an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis, depressed the incorporation of [3H]uridine into RNA of mouse preimplantation embryo, when it was injected in vivo or added in vitro. In contrast, prostaglandin F2 alpha decreased the inhibitory effect of indomethacin, when it was added in vitro with indomethacin. The results of these experiments suggest that prostaglandin F2 alpha plays a role in the process of implantation and that the mouse preimplantation embryo may be able to produce prostaglandin F2 alpha.

Melanocyte-stimulating hormone and prolactin secretion in cell culture of estrogen-induced pituitary tumors in the hamster.

Pituitary cells from hamsters bearing diethylstilbestrol induced renal adenocarcinomas were cultured in vitro. Dispersed cells in plastic dishes were viable for up to two weeks in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 17.5% of 6:1 horse serum to fetal calf serum.

Muscle proteolysis induced by a circulating peptide in patients with sepsis or trauma.

Accelerated proteolysis of muscle is characteristic in patients with trauma or sepsis, but its cause is not well understood. Using rat muscle in vitro, we developed a bioassay to compare the proteolytic activity of plasma from 50 patients with trauma or sepsis with that of plasma from 14 normal volunteers and from 15 patients who had undergone "clean" elective surgical procedures. The mean proteolytic activity in the plasma of patients with trauma or sepsis was found to be 190 +/- 8.

Further characterization of the dioxin receptor in the rat deciduoma.

The rat deciduoma cytosol contains a protein which binds radio-labeled dioxin and sediments as an 8-9 S entity on 10-40 per cent (w/v) sucrose density gradients. Incubation of cytosol with [3H]-TCDD at 37 degrees C for ten minutes shifted the sedimentation coefficient from 8-9 S to 4-5 S, whereas incubation of cytosol at room temperature for 30 minutes has no effect on the S value. At high concentrations of [3H]-TCDD the dioxin receptor complex tends to aggregate.

The variations of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, cAMP, ODC activity and RNA synthesis of deciduomata in pseudopregnant rats.

The present study was done to define the conditions of implantation of fertilized ovum from serial day-to-day changes in the tissue weight of deciduomata in pseudopregnancy, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), cAMP content, RNA synthesizing capacity and ornithine decarboxylase activity (ODC). Pseudopregnancy was induced in Wistar rats in the estrus morning by vaginocervical stimulation. At the 4th day of pseudopregnancy deciduomata was induced by intraluminal instillation of olive oil with simultaneous oophorectomy and intramuscular injection of 20 mg progesterone depot (the day of induction of decidualization was arbitrarily expressed as D0 and the ensuing days, as D1, D2 and so on).

Permissive role of the pituitary in the induction and growth of estrogen-dependent renal tumors.

Prolonged administration of estrogen to hamsters by implanted pellets induces not only renal adenocarcinomas but also enlarges pituitaries with hyperplastic and neoplastic changes, especially in the pars intermedia. The pituitaries of the diethylstilbestrol-implanted animals weigh 90 to 150 mg; those of control animals without diethylstilbestrol pellets weigh 7 to 12 mg. The enlarged pituitaries have 9.