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Biomedical subjects

D E Lynn

Publications and source records attributed to D E Lynn.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Improved efficiency in determining the titer of the Autographa californica baculovirus nonoccluded virus.

An economical and time-efficient method for titering the Autographa californica multiple-embedded nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) by the endpoint method is described. The method uses an electronic pipetting device to perform dilutions in the same 60-well microplate as is used for the assay, thus eliminating the need for test tubes or vials for making dilutions. Additionally, since small volumes are used for the dilutions, a substantial savings in medium is achieved. The effect of using three different lepidopteran cell lines in this assay for AcMNPV is also described. This test revealed that one line (the Trichoplusia ni IPLB-TN-R2 line) is at least 1.5 logs more sensitive to AcMNPV when using occlusion body formation as the measure of infection. The titer was about 6- to 12-fold higher in the IPLB-TN-R2 cell line than the other two lines when plaque assay procedures were used. The titer of a recombinant baculovirus with a bacterial beta-galactosidase gene was also measured in the three cell lines using X-gal as an indicator and showed the IPLB-TN-R2 line to be fourfold more sensitive to this virus.

Animals

A BASIC computer program for analyzing endpoint assays.

We present a computer program that is based on Karber's approximation of endpoint titers, written in GW-BASIC and provides an easy means for analyzing the results of dilution endpoint assays. The program provides estimates of standard error that are not possible from other statistical procedures for this type of data.

Indicator Dilution Techniques

Development of continuous cell lines from the egg parasitoids Trichogramma confusum and T. exiguum.

Although numerous insect cell lines have been developed over the past three decades, few of these have been from the order Hymenoptera. This report describes two new continuous cell lines from trichogrammid wasps. The extremely small size of these insects has made physiological and biochemical studies difficult. Now, with the development of the cell lines, a limitless supply of biologically active material is available for a wide variety of basic biological studies. The Trichogramma confusum and T. exiguum cell lines (designated IPLB-Tcon1 and IPLB-Tex2) were characterized by chromosome and isozymes techniques. Evidence of their utility is shown by morphological response to the developmental hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone. The morphological change in IPLB-Tex2 is accompanied by an induction of highly contractile cells which indicates this cell line may be composed of myoblast cells.

Animals

Effect of an Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virion component(s) on DNA synthesis and growth in several insect cell lines.

Thirteen different insect cell lines representing three different orders were infected with Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) whose genome had been inactivated in situ by photochemical means or by short wave UV irradiation. Changes in rates of cellular DNA synthesis, as measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation, and cell growth were subsequently measured at various times post infection. Seven cell lines exhibited a significant decline in [3H]thymidine incorporation (compared to control levels) during an initial 12 h period post infection, while three cell lines showed substantial declines in [3H]thymidine incorporation over a 4 day period post infection. All cell lines which showed a significant decline in [3H]thymidine over the duration of the experiment (4 days) also exhibited reduced cell growth rates. The role of a putative AcMNPV virion associated factor(s) in influencing these cellular events is discussed.

Animals

Inhibition of estrogen biosynthesis in the rat ovary by anordrin.

The delay in appearance of vaginal cornification associated with administration of anordiol (de-esterified anordrin) in the post-ovulatory period was confirmed. Ovarian tissue incubated in vitro for 2 h on the day which, in normal cycles, would be the day of proestrus produced negligible amounts of estradiol even in the presence of androstenedione and human menopausal gonadotropin, despite the appearance of apparently mature follicles in the ovaries. Ovaries of untreated rats produced significant amounts of estradiol when androstenedione was present. Continued incubation for 3 days resulted in significant estradiol production by ovaries of anordiol-pretreated rats in the presence of androstenedione, but less than that of ovaries of control rats. Granulosa cells of immature rats pretreated with diethylstilbestrol (DES) were unaffected by pretreatment with anordrin, whether anordrin was given before or after DES treatment. Taken together, the results indicate that anordiol inhibits development of the capacity for estrogen secretion in maturing follicles without affecting structural development, but that follicles that grow under the influence of high concentrations of estrogen (DES) are unaffected by the presence of anordrin (which is rapidly converted to anordiol in vivo). The latter result suggests that DES treatment bypasses the anordiol-sensitive step in follicular maturation.

Analysis of Variance

Changes in macromolecular synthesis of gypsy moth cell line IPLB-Ld652Y induced by Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus infection.

The aberrant replication of the Autographa californica multiple-enveloped nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) in the Lymantria dispar cell line IPLB-Ld652Y was used as a model system for the investigation of factors regulating baculovirus host specificity. A previous study of this system indicates that viral gene expression in infected cells is extremely attenuated and subsequently all cellular and viral protein synthesis is inhibited. In the present study, infection of IPLB-Ld652Y cells with AcMNPV photochemically inactivated in situ resulted in a rapid reduction in cell mitotic indices and cell growth, as well as inducing a series of distinct morphological changes in these cells. At the molecular level, infection with inactivated virus, followed by pulse labelling with [3H]thymidine, resulted in a rapid [0 to 2 h post-infection (p.i.)] and permanent inhibition of host cellular DNA synthesis. Assays of cellular DNA polymerases in isolated IPLB-Ld652Y nuclei confirmed the reduction in cellular DNA synthesis observed in intact cells and indicated an initial (0 to 2 h p.i.) reduction in the activity of aphidicolin-sensitive DNA polymerases. Activity of all cellular DNA polymerases was inhibited at later times p.i. Host cell protein synthesis was completely inhibited after 48 h p.i. Treatment of inactivated virus and virus-infected cells with various chemical and physical factors (i.e. pH and temperature) or lysosomotropic agents revealed that virus entry into cells and fusion of endocytic vesicles (containing virus) with lysosomes were essential for suppression of cellular macromolecular synthesis. The possible involvement of structural components of the AcMNPV virion in these effects is discussed.

Animals

Exercise-induced ovarian dysfunction in the rat.

The effect of treadmill running on estrous cycles was studied in the rat. Additional effects of cortisol acetate treatment and adrenalectomy were studied in both exercising and sedentary rats. Sedentary rats given the vehicle or cortisol acetate, or which had been adrenalectomized, all exhibited estrous cycles with diestrous phases that were uniformly less than 4 days. However exercising rats had extended estrous cycles; 50-62% of cycles were incomplete within 11 days and 78% of rats had cycles with diestrous phases that were more than 4 days long. There were no difference in duration of estrous cycles of running rats that received vehicle, received cortisol acetate, or had been adrenalectomized. We conclude that the running regimen resulted in a delay of the normal ovulatory period in rats, and that this effect of running was not affected by the presence or absence of glucocorticoids.

Adrenalectomy

Cell cycle analysis and synchronization of the TN-368 insect cell line.

A cell cycle analysis of the Trichoplusia ni (TN-368) insect cell line is described. By means of autoradiography and percent labeled metaphase data, the cell cycle parameters were determined to be as follows: S, 4.5 hr; G2, 8.5 hr; M, 0.5 hr; G1, 1.0 hr; the total cell time being 14.5 hr. A synchronization procedure using 50 mM thymidine in a double block procedure was used to provide a method of obtaining a large number of cells in particular cell cycle phases, especially S and G2.

Animals