Differential expression in glioblastoma multiforme and cerebral hemangioblastoma of cytoplasmic proteins that bind two different domains within the 3'-untranslated region of the human glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) messenger RNA.

The glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) protein is underexpressed in human glioblastoma multiforme and is overexpressed in human cerebral hemangioblastoma. To gain in-sight into possible posttranscriptional mechanisms regulating the expression of the GLUT1 protein in human brain tumors, cytosolic proteins were prepared from these two tumors and used in RNase T1 protection assays that employed [32P]human GLUT1 synthetic RNA prepared from transcription plasmids. Gel shift mobility assays and ultra-violet light cross-linking studies demonstrated the formation of specific RNA/protein complexes that migrated with a mol mass of 120, 44, and 41 kD.

The immunopathogenesis of retroviral diseases: no immunophenotypic alterations in T, B, and NK cell subsets in SIVmac239-challenged rhesus macaques protected by SIV delta nef vaccination.

Immunophenotype analysis was used to characterize circulating lymphocyte subset levels in both rhesus monkeys that were chronically infected with SIVmac239 and in those that had resisted SIVmac239 infection as a result of prior vaccination with an attenuated SIV strain. Alterations in T, NK, and B cell subsets were compared with those previously identified in humans chronically infected with HIV [8-11, 14, 22]. The well-known decrease in CD4+ cell levels was observed in the SIVmac239-infected animals.

Characterization of the calcium overload in cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes under metabolic inhibition.

We studied the calcium compartmentation of the Ca overload induced by 50 min of metabolic inhibition (MI) in cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. MI was achieved by application of 1 mM iodoacetic acid (IAA) and 10 mM 2-deoxyglucose (2-DOG) with omission of glucose in the perfusate. MI per se abolished spontaneous beating, but 10 mM caffeine pulses at 15, 30 and 45 min were able to induce contractile responses.

Noninvasive quantification of myocardial blood flow in humans. A direct comparison of the [13N]ammonia and the [15O]water techniques.

Background: [13N]Ammonia has been validated in dog studies as a myocardial blood flow tracer. Estimates of myocardial blood flow by [13N]ammonia were highly linearly correlated to those by the microsphere and blood sample techniques. However, estimates of myocardial blood flow with [13N]ammonia in humans have not yet been compared with those by an independent technique.

Clinical applications of stem cell factor.

Stem cell factor is an early-acting hematopoietic cytokine that probably functions constitutively to support the proliferation and survival of pluripotent progenitor cells and to increase their receptivity to lineage commitment and differentiation in response to lineage-specific cytokines. Stem cell factor also can induce proliferation and activation of mast cells. In vitro and in vivo, stem cell factor has demonstrated synergy with other hematopoietic cytokines.

Prenatal identification of a heterozygous status in two fetuses at risk for glucose-galactose malabsorption.

Glucose-galactose malabsorption (GGM) is an autosomal recessive disorder which presents with severe osmotic diarrhoea shortly after birth. Two proband siblings with GGM were previously demonstrated to contain a missense mutation (D28N) in the Na(+)-dependent glucose/galactose cotransporter (SGLT1) that accounts for the defect in sugar absorption. Prenatal screening for GGM was performed in two subsequent pregnancies in this large consanguineous family.

The influence of perinatal infective factors on ophthalmia neonatorum.

Background: Ophthalmia neonatorum still blinds approximately 10,000 babies annually worldwide. Identification of contributory maternal perinatal factors could possibly predict which babies are at greater risk for this disease.

Methods: In a randomized prospective study of ophthalmia neonatorum in Kenya, we studied the effect of prophylaxis with povidone-iodine, silver nitrate, and erythromycin in 3117 neonates.

Black blood dual phase turbo FLASH MR imaging of the heart.

An MR imaging scheme for dark blood cardiac images acquired simultaneously in end diastolic and end systolic phases, in breath-hold times, is presented. The sequence consists of a magnetization preparation period followed by two segmented k-space acquisitions. Image quality was investigated with respect to different sequence parameters (optimal values are indicated in brackets): (a) echo time (TE)/repetition time (TR)/ flip angle (FA) (3/6.

Effects of anticoagulant, serum, and temperature on the natural killer activity of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells stored overnight.

The effects of immediate versus delayed cell separation, storage temperature, presence of serum, and type of anticoagulation on the natural killer (NK) cytotoxicity of human mononuclear cells were assessed. The NK cytotoxicity of Ficoll-Hypaque-separated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was tested in a 3-h chromium-51 release assay with K562 cells at various effector/target cell ratios. The NK activities of PBMC from blood anticoagulated with either heparin or EDTA and then immediately separated and assayed were not different (42.

The atherosclerosis-calcification link?

Although previously believed to be a passive, degenerative process, there is increasing evidence that arterial calcification is actually an active, regulated process. In this review we address potential mechanisms of arterial calcification and, in particular, ways in which it is similar to bone formation. We also advance the hypothesis that particular factors present in atherosclerosis, such as lipids, may explain the co-localization of calcification and atherosclerosis in vivo.

Monoclonal antibody to VIP: production, characterization, immunoneutralizing activity, and usefulness in cytochemical staining.

A very stable cell line has been generated that produces monoclonal antibody to VIP designated as CURE.V55. This hybridoma was produced by fusion of spleen cells from an immunized Robertsonian mouse containing the translocated 8.

Alternatively spliced exons encode the tissue-specific 5' termini of leukocyte pp52 and stromal cell S37 mRNA isoforms.

The pp52 gene encodes an intracellular, F-actin-binding phosphoprotein (also designated LSP1 and WP34) postulated to function in cytoskeleton dynamics and cell motility. We previously reported that different mRNA isoforms are expressed from this gene in cells of the leukocyte lineage versus mesodermally derived cells. These tissue-specific mRNA isoforms are identical except for 5'-untranslated regions and sequences coding for unique N-termini of 23 and 21 amino acids, respectively.

Calcium concentration and movement in the diadic cleft space of the cardiac ventricular cell.

We model the space between the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (JSR) membrane and the inner leaflet of the transverse tubular ("T") sarcolemmal (SL) membrane, the diadic cleft, with respect to calcium (Ca) concentration and movement. The model predicts the following: 1) Ca influx via the "L" channel increases [Ca] to 1 microM within a distance of 50 nm from the channel mouth in < 500 microseconds. This is sufficient to trigger Ca release from a domain of 9 "feet.

Quantification of serial tumor glucose metabolism.

Unlabelled: We developed a method to improve the quantitative precision of FDG-PET scans in cancer patients. The total-lesion evaluation method generates a correlation coefficient (r) constrained Patlak parametric image of the lesion together with three calculated glucose metabolic indices: (a) the total-lesion metabolic index ("KT-tle", ml/min/lesion); (b) the total-lesion voxel index ("VT-tle", voxels/lesion); and (c) the global average metabolic index ("KV-tle", ml/min/voxel).

Methods: The glucose metabolic indices obtained from conventional region of interest (ROI) and multiplane evaluation were used as standards to evaluate the accuracy of the total-lesion evaluation method.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging of pediatric low-grade astrocytomas.

Despite their uniform histologic appearance, pediatric low-grade astrocytomas (LGA) often exhibit a rather unpredictable clinical course. It is presently unclear whether certain specific genetic, immunologic and/or metabolic features underlie these observed variations. In order to address this question we examined the tumor distribution of choline compounds (Cho), creatine (Cr) and N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) in seven children with midline LGA by means of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (H-MRSI).

High-resolution random mesh algorithms for creating a probabilistic 3D surface atlas of the human brain.

Striking variations exist, across individuals, in the internal and external geometry of the brain. Such normal variations in the size, orientation, topology, and geometric complexity of cortical and subcortical structures have complicated the problem of quantifying deviations from normal anatomy and of developing standardized neuroanatomical atlases. This paper describes the design, implementation, and results of a technique for creating a three-dimensional (3D) probabilistic surface atlas of the human brain.

The principles of palliative radiotherapy: a radiobiologist's perspective.

There is a dearth of knowledge on the radiobiology of palliative radiotherapy, but some of the principles relevant to radical radiation treatments can be applied to the palliative situation. Nevertheless with minimal animal or human data available, it would appear that this area can be a fertile one for future study, although many of the difficulties and problems inherent in this type of research must be acknowledged and addressed.

Vestibular and auditory disorders.

Benign positional vertigo, the most common cause of vertigo, can now be cured with a simple bedside maneuver. A series of recent publications have clarified the pathophysiology of benign positional vertigo and documented the efficacy of particle repositioning maneuvers for treating the condition. The number of genetic loci and abnormal genes associated with inherited auditory and vestibular disorders is rapidly expanding.

The Hin dimer interface is critical for Fis-mediated activation of the catalytic steps of site-specific DNA inversion.

Background: Hin is a member of an extended family of site-specific recombinases--the DNA invertase/resolvase family--that catalyze inversion or deletion of DNA. DNA inversion by Hin occurs between two recombination sites and requires the regulatory protein Fis, which associates with a cis-acting recombinational enhancer sequence. Hin recombinase dimers bind to the two recombination sites and assemble onto the Fis-bound enhancer to generate an invertasome structure, at which time they become competent to catalyze DNA cleavage and strand exchange.

Pediatric renal transplantation into the abnormal urinary tract.

Many children with end-stage renal disease have significant urinary tract problems other than irreversible loss of native kidney function. These significant other urinary tract problems, if not corrected prior to transplantation, may significantly increase recipient mortality, graft loss, and patient morbidity. These other urinary tract problems may cause hydroureteronephrosis in the transplanted kidney, lead to an increased incidence of graft rejection, be the source of sepsis after subsequent immunosuppression, and cause hypertension.

Intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes respond to systemic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection.

Intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) are a population of cells consisting mostly of CD8+ T lymphocytes. Although their function is unknown, because of their location within the epithelium it has been postulated that IEL may be involved in defense against infection of the gut mucosa by pathogens including viruses. To address this issue, we have examined IEL populations from BALB/c mice systemically infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV).