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Biomedical subjects

B Otto

Publications and source records attributed to B Otto.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

[The limits of Bruno Bettelheim's milieu therapy].

In this essay a position is taken concerning the reproaches against Bruno Bettelheim. Shortly after his death grave reproaches were risen by a former client of him. The reproaches cannot be refuted. But they have to be discussed in connection with Bruno Bettelheim's activities at the Orthogenic School of Chicago. By this example the authors tries to demonstrate the problem of over-taxing in psychiatric activities.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Carboxy-terminal truncated rhuIFN-gamma with a substitution of Gln133 or Ser132 to leucine leads to higher biological activity than in the wild type.

The biological function of the 20 C-terminal amino acids of human interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was examined by recombinant DNA methodology. Six truncated IFN-gamma analogues were produced by modification of the 3' end of the coding sequence of the cloned gene, insertion into a vector with the trc promoter and expression of the recombinant IFN-gamma analogue genes in Escherichia coli strain JM 105. The IFN-gamma analogue proteins were shortened by 10 (C-10L), 11 (C-11, C-11L), 14 (C-14L), 19 (C-19L) and 20 (C-20) amino acid. Four of these constructs were modified to have a C-terminal leucine. The expression rates of precipitating IFN-gamma variants in E. coli cells (wild type, C-10L, C-11, C-11L) amount to 35-40% of the total protein, in contrast to 14-21% for the mainly soluble ones (C-14L, C-20). The variant C-19L has an exceptional position in its solubility behaviour with a nearly 1:1 distribution between its soluble and insoluble form by an expression rate of 8%. The purification protocol of the insoluble variants contains a denaturing and a renaturation step. The characteristic step for purification soluble IFN-gamma is HPLC cation-exchange chromatography. The antiviral activities of the variants lacking 14 or more amino acids are less than 2% of the wild-type activity. The variants C-10L, C-11 and C-11L show higher biological activities than wild-type IFN-gamma. The most active variant, C-10L, with leucine as the last C-terminal amino acid, has a fourfold higher specific antiviral activity (A549 cells, encephalomyocarditis virus). Removal, but not replacement of the leucine, represented by the variant C-11, reduces the biological activity compared with variant C-10L. The activity of C-11 is, nevertheless, higher than in the wild type. Comparing the secondary structures, as judged by CD analyses, no significant differences for C-10L, C-14L and C-20, compared with wild type, are observed. Also, all molecules, including the wild-type protein, exist as dimers under physiological conditions. There is a correlation between the grade of truncation and the pI values, which range from pI = 10.4 (wild type) to pI = 8.0 (C-20). The variant C-10L demonstrates a higher temperature stability (tm = 55 degrees C) compared with wild type (tm = 53 degrees C). Perhaps this higher stability will result in a longer half-life in vivo.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Cyclic temperature treatments of dark-grown pea seedlings induce a rise in specific transcript levels of light-regulated genes related to photomorphogenesis.

Dark-grown pea seedlings exposed to cyclic heat shocks or daily temperature changes undergo a morphogenetic development similar to that induced by far red light. The morphological changes observed include expansion of the leaves, shortening of the stems and opening of the hooks. Compared with control etioplasts, plastids of heat-treated seedlings are as large as fully mature chloroplasts and contain well developed, unstacked membranes. These morphogenetic changes correlate with elevated levels of SSU and LHCP mRNAs which, under these conditions, fluctuate in a circadian manner. In contrast, the ELIP mRNA remains under strict light control and shows circadian fluctuations only if the plants are exposed to a short period of illumination. We propose that periodic temperature changes, like light treatment, might serve as a 'Zeitgeber' signal for circadian rhythm. The data indicate a correlation between the existence of circadian oscillations and morphogenetic development.

Chloroplasts↗
PubMed1991

Removal of 3' nontranslated cDNA sequence improves interferon gamma synthesis in Escherichia coli.

The cDNA coding for human interferon gamma contains approximately 600 basepairs not translated sequence with 4 adenine/thymidine (AT)-rich clusters at its 3'end. The influence of this sequence on the expression of recombinant human Interferon gamma in Escherichia coli was investigated. Removal of the non-translated sequence and especially of the AT-rich clusters yielded an increase in expression of interferon gamma from 10 to 40% of total protein. These results may also be important for the production of other recombinant human proteins with similar 3' sequences in their cDNA.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1989

Seminal carnitine, epididymal function and spermatozoal motility.

The carnitine content of semen from azoospermic subjects and subjects with either impaired motility or forward progression is reported. Within the azoospermic group, the values were not significantly different between those with testicular failure or obstruction. The patients with impaired motility (less than 40%) or impaired forward progression (less than 3) had a lower mean seminal carnitine content than those with good motility and forward progression (P less than 0.05). Seminal carnitine concentration was not an index of epididymal patency and could not be regarded as useful for locating the level of obstruction in the epididymis. Since carnitine plays an important role in the maturation process when sperm acquire motility, it would seem that seminal carnitine might be an indicator of epididymal dysfunction.

Carnitine↗
PubMed1988

Circadian Control of the Accumulation of mRNAs for Light- and Heat-Inducible Chloroplast Proteins in Pea (Pisum sativum L.).

The levels of the mRNAs for light-inducible, nuclear-coded chloroplast proteins vary rhythmically in pea (Pisum sativum L.) plants either grown in a dark-light cycle or under constant light conditions. This has been observed for the early light-inducible protein, the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein, and the small subunit of the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase. The mRNA levels are high in the morning, exhibit a minimum in the first half of the night, and increase again during the second half of the night. The amplitude of fluctuation is between 5- and 10-fold. A similar change in the mRNA abundance was found for four nuclear encoded heat-shock proteins of 18, 24, 26, and 30 kilodaltons. The ability of plants to transcribe heat-shock genes upon heat-shock for 2 hours varies through the day. The maxima for induction are found in the second half of the night and the morning. The minima are reached during the afternoon. The degree of fluctuation is between 3- and 5-fold. The levels of mRNAs for cytosolic as well as for plastid heat-shock proteins oscillate in parallel.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1985

Analysis of antibody response in patients receiving recombinant Escherichia coli-derived human interferon-gamma.

Recombinant Escherichia coli-derived human interferon-gamma (rIFN-gamma) was given to a total of 20 patients by iv bolus injection at various doses once a week for 4 weeks. The sera obtained 7-10 days after the final injection were analyzed for antibodies against both rIFN-gamma and natural human IFN-gamma. Biological assays demonstrated that the postinoculation sera of the patients did not neutralize the antiviral activities of either rIFN-gamma or natural human IFN-gamma. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that no detectable antibodies against rIFN-gamma were elicited. These results indicate that this rIFN-gamma preparation is not a potent antigen and may be suitable for longer-term clinical trials and applications in the future.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Recombinant human interferons.

The genes for several human interferons (IFN) alpha, of IFN beta and IFN gamma have been cloned and expressed in bacterial cells. Recombinant interferons have been purified from these cells and shown to be as biologically active as their natural counterparts. The expression systems, purification schemes and the biochemical properties of these interferons are discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1985

[Animal experiment studies on the effect of unilateral tooth extraction on the growth of the skull and masticatory muscles. III. The masticatory muscles].

All continuous teeth were unilaterally extracted on the right side of the upper and lower jaws of 57 male and female Vietnamese belly pig. The animals were slaughtered 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 after the extraction. Our investigations into quantitative changes in the masticatory musculature after unilateral extraction showed the dry weight of the musculature on the extraction side was reduced. This reduction was greatest in the case of the M. temporalis. The findings relating to the muscles are consistent with the results of the skull evaluations reported in the first 2 publications, with indicated that tooth extraction leads to only local changes in the jaw during postnatal development. The findings published in the 3 publications of this series relating to the bones and muscles are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

A new mass-spectrometric C-terminal sequencing technique finds a similarity between gamma-interferon and alpha 2-interferon and identifies a proteolytically clipped gamma-interferon that retains full antiviral activity.

A novel mass-spectrometric technique is described that permits the identification of the C-terminal peptide of a protein. The technique involves the incorporation of 18O into all alpha-carboxy groups liberated during enzyme-catalysed partial hydrolysis of the protein, followed by mass spectrometry to identify as the C-terminal peptide the only peptide that did not incorporate any 18O. The technique has been used to identify the true C-terminal tryptic peptide of a bacterially produced gamma-interferon and to distinguish it from a peptide produced by anomalous tryptic cleavage. It was found that a closely similar sequence segment of bacterially produced alpha 2-interferon undergoes an analogous cleavage. The technique was also used to identify the C-terminus of a clipped gamma-interferon that retains full antiviral activity.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1982

Subtle but distinct impairments of rats with chemical lesions in the thalamic mediodorsal nucleus, tested in a radial arm maze.

The performance of rats trained in a radial arm maze was tested before and after chemical lesions of the thalamic mediodorsal nucleus or the ventral tegmental area. Their behavior was compared with that of a sham-operated control group. Lesions were produced with ibotenic acid, a compound that selectively destroys neurons while apparently leaving fibers of passage intact. Results revealed no intergroup difference in the number of errors performed when all six trials were given in one session without interruption. The group with mediodorsal lesions made, however, significantly more errors than either of the other two groups when a delay of 1 hr was interposed between the first four and the last two trials. Furthermore, these rats differed from rats of the other groups in the number of sessions necessary to reach criterion, in the time needed to finish a session, and in the directness with which a goal was approached. Rats with lesions of the ventral tegmental area did not differ from rats of the sham-operated control group in any of the measures taken. It is suggested that the deficits of rats with mediodorsal lesions resemble qualitatively those found in human patients with lesions of the mediodorsal nucleus.

Animals↗