Exon switching and activation of stromal and embryonic fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-FGF receptor genes in prostate epithelial cells accompany stromal independence and malignancy

Stroma and the heparin-binding fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family influence normal epithelial cell growth and differentiation in embryonic and adult tissues. The role of stromal cells and the expression of isoforms of the FGF ligand and receptor family were examined during malignant progression of epithelial cells from a differentiated, slowly growing, nonmalignant model rat prostate tumor. In syngeneic hosts, a mixture of stromal and epithelial cells resulted in nonmalignant tumors which were differentiated and slowly growing. In the absence of the stromal cells, epithelial cells progressed to malignant tumors which were independent of the stroma and undifferentiated. The independence of the malignant epithelial cells from stromal cells was accompanied by a switch from exclusive expression of exon IIIb to exclusive expression of exon IIIc in the FGF receptor 2 (FGF-R2) gene. The FGF-R2(IIIb) isoform displays high affinity for stromal cell-derived FGF-7, whereas the FGF-R2(IIIc) isoform does not recognize FGF-7 but has high affinity for the FGF-2 member of the FGF ligand family. The switch from expression of exclusively exon IIIb to exclusively exon IIIc in the resident FGF-R2 gene was followed by activation of the FGF-2 ligand gene, the normally stromal cell FGF-R1 gene, and embryonic FGF-3 and FGF-5 ligand genes in malignant epithelial cells. Multiple autocrine and potentially intracrine ligand-receptor loops resulting from these alterations within the FGF-FGF-R family may underlie the autonomy of malignant tumor cells.

Exon skipping causes alteration of the COOH-terminus and deletion of the phospholipase C gamma 1 interaction site in the FGF receptor 2 kinase in normal prostate epithelial cells

Polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed an mRNA in rat prostate that results from alternate splicing of exon 16 in the heparin-binding fibroblast growth factor receptor kinase type 2 gene (FGFR2). The absence of exon 16 and the shift in reading frame at the exon 15-17 junction predicts an expression product (FGFR2-2) with a unique COOH-terminus that does not exhibit the major autophosphorylation site (tyrosine 789) required for interaction of phospholipase C gamma 1 with the full-length FGFR2-1 isoform. Nuclease protection analysis revealed that the FGFR-2 splice variant is expressed in quantities equal to or greater than the FGFR2-1 isoform in normal prostate tissue. When combined with the same FGFR2 extracellular domain, co-expression of the two COOH-terminal variants may mediate effect of the same FGF ligand on different signal transduction pathways.

Quantitation of total protein deposits on contact lenses by means of amino acid analysis

PURPOSE

This study was done to characterize and quantify the protein deposits on worn contact lenses and to measure the residual deposits after extraction in 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate and the total protein deposits on worn vifilcon, atlafilcon, and tefilcon lenses (Food and Drug Administration Types IV, II, and I, respectively).

METHODS

Contact lens extracts were separated with gel electrophoresis, and the amount of protein was estimated after silver staining and densitometry. To determine the residual deposits, the contact lenses were hydrolyzed, and amino acid analysis was carried out by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography after precolumn derivatization with phenylisothiocyanate. Refinement of the hydrolysis conditions was undertaken to minimize interference by the lens polymers.

RESULTS

The extraction removed only approximately 25% of the protein deposits. Mild hydrolytic conditions, 20 hr in 6 N HCl at 105 degrees C, were found to cause minimal polymer interference. Of the 350, 10, and 20 micrograms of protein typically determined on whole vifilcon, atlafilcon, and tefilcon lenses, the polymers were estimated to account for 4, 0.5, and less than 0.4 micrograms, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Hydrolysis of worn contact lenses with subsequent amino acid separation can be applied to determine the total protein deposits without the uncertainty inherent in extraction of the deposits.

Physician supply in rural areas with large minority populations

While much research has been conducted into physician supply in rural areas, very little is known about physician supply in areas with heavy populations of ethnic minorities. This study finds that in 1990 the number of physicians per thousand residents was lower than the national average in counties with predominantly black and Hispanic populations. For counties largely populated by Native Americans, the mean number of physicians was slightly higher than the national average.

Heparin-binding keratinocyte growth factor is a candidate stromal-to-epithelial-cell andromedin

The growth of isolated epithelial and stromal cells from both androgen-dependent normal rat prostate and an androgen-responsive model rat prostate tumor is androgen-independent. When added to co-cultures of epithelial and stromal cells separated by a semipermeable membrane, androgen stimulated epithelial cell growth without an effect on stromal cell growth. Northern blot and nuclease protection analysis of mRNA revealed that stromal cells specifically expressed an androgen-sensitive secreted member of the heparin-binding fibroblast growth factor family [keratinocyte growth factor (KGF)/fibroblast growth factor-7]. KGF was mitogenic for epithelial cells, but not for stromal cells. Epithelial cells expressed specifically a splice variant of the bek receptor gene that specifically binds KGF. Expression of the bek receptor gene in stromal cells was undetectable by Northern blot and nuclease protection analyses. The results suggest that stromal cell-derived KGF has the properties of an andromedin, which mediates the indirect control of epithelial cell proliferation by androgen through a directional stromal-to-epithelial cell paracrine mechanism.

Changes of brain response induced by simulated weightlessness

The characteristics change of brain response was studied during 15 degrees head-down tilt (HDT) comparing with 45 degrees head-up tilt (HUT). The brain responses evaluated included the EEG power spectra change at rest and during mental arithmetic, and the event-related potentials (ERPs) of somatosensory, selective attention and mental arithmetic activities. The prominent feature of brain response change during HDT revealed that the brain function was inhibited to some extent. Such inhibition included that the significant increment of "40Hz" activity during HUT arithmetic almost disappeared during HDT arithmetic, and that the positive-potential effect induced by HDT presented in all kinds of ERPs measured, but the slow negative wave reflecting mental arithmetic and memory process was elongated. These data suggest that the brain function be affected profoundly by the simulated weightlessness, therefore, the brain function change during space flight should be studied systematically.

Expression and transforming activity of a variant of the heparin-binding fibroblast growth factor receptor (flg) gene resulting from splicing of the alpha exon at an alternate 3'-acceptor site

Splicing at an alternate 3'-acceptor site results in deletion of a CCCAG in the 5'-sequence of the exon coding for the NH2-terminal immunoglobulin-like disulfide loop of the heparin-binding fibroblast growth factor receptor (flg) alpha isoform. The result is an in-frame stop codon 138 base pairs after the first flg consensus translational initiation site. The next more favorable site predicts the same two loop intracellular receptor isoform, gamma, which was predicted from two different human cDNAs that arise by alternate use of two exons at the same site. Although expressed in normal tissue, the gamma mRNA is increased in rat prostate tumors and confers ability of anchorage-dependent cells expressing non-secreted heparin-binding fibroblast growth factors to grow in soft agar.

Penicillin-enhanced chemiluminescence of the luminol-H2O2-Co2+ system

The luminol-H2O2-Co2+ system has been widely used in chemical and biological analysis. We report here an investigation of the observation that penicillins have the ability to prolong and enhance the intensity of chemiluminescence from luminol. The basis of this phenomenon appears, as revealed by difference spectroscopy, to be the formation of a complex between the beta-lactam and the superoxide ion. The latter is the oxidizing species responsible for the oxidation of luminol in alkaline solution and has a mean lifetime, in solution, of milliseconds. The stabilization of the superoxide ion by penicillin complexation extends the effective lifetime of the superoxide ion by a few orders of magnitude and thereby allows for more efficient oxidation of the beta-lactam. Several penicillins were determined by their enhancement of luminol chemiluminescence. A detection limit of 100 ng mL was obtained for penicillin G with a less-than-ideal detection system.

[Distribution and eclosion of Hierdula patellifera Servill's eggs]

A study has been made on the distribution and eclosion of the eggs of Hierdula patellifera as well as on the behavior of their nymphs. The study may serve as a guideline for biological and ecological studies of the insect.

CD69 in resting and activated T lymphocytes. Its association with a GTP binding protein and biochemical requirements for its expression

CD69 is a phosphorylated disulfide-linked homodimer that appears on the surface of human T, B cells and thymocytes in the early steps of activation; its molecular mass is 28 to 34 kDa under reducing conditions. This molecule is able to mediate positive signals to the lymphocytes as the anti-CD69 mAb (MLR3, AIM, Leu 23) in synergism with phorbol esters induce IL-2 production and proliferation of lymphocytes. Here we show that this molecule is associated to a GTP binding protein that is a substrate for Bordetella pertussis toxin. The relevance of CD69 in the activation process is also suggested by the broad range of signals able to modulate CD69 on T cells. In fact, not only the mitogens or the CD3-promoted activation, but also the alternative pathways mediated by CD2 or CD28 are accompanied by CD69 expression; moreover a very rapid and transient appearance of CD69 on the cell surface is observed also in response to a stimulus not specifically involved in T cell activation such as heat shock. Finally we demonstrate that CD69 is present in the cytoplasm of nonactivated T cells; accordingly its surface expression at the onset of activation is independent on a new RNA or protein synthesis.

CD69 in resting and activated T lymphocytes. Its association with a GTP binding protein and biochemical requirements for its expression

CD69 is a phosphorylated disulfide-linked homodimer that appears on the surface of human T, B cells and thymocytes in the early steps of activation; its molecular mass is 28 to 34 kDa under reducing conditions. This molecule is able to mediate positive signals to the lymphocytes as the anti-CD69 mAb (MLR3, AIM, Leu 23) in synergism with phorbol esters induce IL-2 production and proliferation of lymphocytes. Here we show that this molecule is associated to a GTP binding protein that is a substrate for Bordetella pertussis toxin. The relevance of CD69 in the activation process is also suggested by the broad range of signals able to modulate CD69 on T cells. In fact, not only the mitogens or the CD3-promoted activation, but also the alternative pathways mediated by CD2 or CD28 are accompanied by CD69 expression; moreover a very rapid and transient appearance of CD69 on the cell surface is observed also in response to a stimulus not specifically involved in T cell activation such as heat shock. Finally we demonstrate that CD69 is present in the cytoplasm of nonactivated T cells; accordingly its surface expression at the onset of activation is independent on a new RNA or protein synthesis.

[Changes in refraction after cataract extraction and IOL implantation]

The refraction changes were followed up in 61 eyes 1 week to 3 years after extracapsular cataract extraction and posterior chamber IOL implantation. The variation in spherical power during follow-up was not significant, while the changes in astigmatism were very significant at end of the first week, when the mean value of cylinder power was 4.21 D and the axis in 82% of the eyes was with-the-rule. After 3 months, the astigmatism became reduced and relatively stable, when the mean power was 1.90 D and the axis in 65.6% of the eyes against-the-rule. The astigmatism continued to change afterwards, especially in the position of axis.