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Biomedical subjects

D T Brown

Publications and source records attributed to D T Brown.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

Characteristics of Sindbis virus temperature-sensitive mutants in cultured BHK-21 and Aedes albopictus (Mosquito) cells.

A number of the temperature-sensitive mutants of Sindbis virus originally isolated and characterized by Burge and Pfefferkorn (1966, 1968) were reexamined for their abilities to grow and complement one another in cultured BHK-21 and Aedes albopictus (mosquito) cells. The response of the mutants to conditions of high and low temperature was similar in cultured cells of both the vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. Complementation experiments in BHK-21 cells produced growth patterns similar to those described by Burge and Pfefferkorn for chicken embryo fibroblast cells (1966) and placed the mutants into six nonoverlapping complementation groups. When examined in the cultured mosquito cells, only three of the nine mutants used in this study demonstrated complementation under a variety of experimental conditions. Homologous interference experiments demonstrated that the unusual patterns of complementation obtained in the A. albopictus cells did not result from an inefficient infection of the invertebrate cells by the mutants.

Aedes↗
PubMed1975

Morphology of BHK-21 Cells Infected with Sindbis Virus Temperature-Sensitive Mutants in Complementation Groups D and E.

BHK-21 cells infected with temperature-sensitive mutants of Sindbis virus in complementation groups D and E differed in their appearance under nonpermissive conditions. Cells infected at nonpermissive temperature with virus defective in complementation group E had nucleocapsids attached in large numbers to the inside surface of the host plasma membrane. Infection with a group D mutant produced nucleocapsids that did not attach to the plasma membrane but rather remained free in the cell cytoplasm.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1975

Structure and composition of the adenovirus type 2 core.

The structure and composition of the core of adenovirus type 2 were analyzed by electron microscopy and biochemical techniques after differential degradation of the virion by heat, by pyridine, or by sarcosyl treatment. In negatively stained preparations purified sarcosyl cores reveal spherical subunits of 21.6-nm diameter in the electron microscope. It is suggested that these subunits are organized as an icosahedron which has its axes of symmetry coincident with those of the viral capsid. The subunits are connected by the viral DNA molecule. The sarcosyl cores contain the viral DNA and predominantly the arginine/alanine-rich core polypeptide VII. When sarcosyl cores are spread on a protein film, tightly coiled particles are observed which gradually unfold giving rise to a rosette-like pattern due to the uncoiling DNA molecule. Completely unfolded DNA molecules are circular. Pyridine cores consist of the viral DNA and polypeptides V and VII. In negatively stained preparations of pyridine cores the subunit arrangement apparent in the sarcosyl cores is masked by an additional shell which is probably formed by polypeptide V. In freeze-cleaved preparations of the adenovirion two fracture planes can be recognized. One fracture plane probably passes between the outer capsid of the virion and polypeptide V exposing a subviral particle which corresponds to the pyridine core. The second fracture plane observed could be located between polypeptide V and the polypeptide VII-DNA complex, thus uncovering a subviral structure which corresponds to the sarcosyl core. In the sarcosyl core polypeptide VII is tightly bound to the viral DNA which is susceptible to digestion with DNase. The restriction endonuclease EcoRI cleaves the viral DNA in the sarcosyl cores into the six specific fragments. These fragments can be resolved on polyacrylamide-agarose gels provided the sarcosyl cores are treated with pronase after incubation with the restriction endonuclease. When pronase digestion is omitted, a complex of the terminal EcoRI fragments adenovirus DNA and protein can be isolated. From this complex the terminal DNA fragments can be liberated after pronase treatment. The complex described is presumably responsible for the circularization of the viral DNA inside the virion. The nature of the protein(s) involved in circle formation has not yet been elucidated.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed1975

Morphogenesis of Sindbis virus in cultured Aedes albopictus cells.

Cultured mosquito cells were found to produce Sindbis virus nearly as efficiently as BHK-21 cells at 28 C. In virtually all of the cells observed in the electron microscope, virus morphogenesis was found to occur within complex vesicular structures which developed after viral infection. Viral nucleocapsids were first seen in these vesicles and appeared to be enveloped within these structures. The process of envelopment within these inclusions differed in some respects from the process previously described for the envelopment of nucleocapsids at the plasma membrane of vertebrae cells. Free nucleocapsids were only rarely seen in the cytoplasm of infected mosquito cells, and budding of virus from the cell surface was detected so infrequently that this process of virus production could not account for the amount of virus produced by the infected cells. The vast majority of extracellular virus was produced by the fusion of the virus-containing vesicles with the plasma membrane releasing mature virions and membrane nucleocapsid complexes in various stages of development.

Aedes↗
PubMed1975

Interfering passages of Sindbis virus: concomitant appearance of interference, morphological variants, and trucated viral RNA.

Serial passage of Sindbis at high multiplicities of infection resulted in cyclical variations in virus titer. Decreases in virus titer were correlated with the appearance of smaller-sized virions, interference and truncated viral RNA. The smaller particles were 37 nm in diameter, exclusive of the hemagglutinin spikes as compared with a diameter of 50 nm for standard virions. Passages which contained 37-nm partilces also interfered with infectious center formation by standard, plaque-purified virus. Polyacrylamide gel analysis of RNA isolated from virions present in interfering passages demonstrated the sequential appearance of three RNA species smaller than standard RNA with approximate molecular weights of 3.3 X 106, 2.7 X 106, and 2.2 X 106. The 3.3 X 106 RNA was evident in passage 5, by passage 8 both the 3.3 X 106 and 2.7 X 106 RNAs were present, and by passage 13 all three were present with the 2.2 X 106 RNA predominating.

Cell Line↗
PubMed1973

Membrane characteristics and osmotic behavior of isolated rod outer segments.

Freshly isolated frog rod outer segments are sensitive osmometers which retain their photosensitivity; their osmotic behavior reveals essentially the same light-sensitive Na(+) influx observed electrophysiologically in the intact receptor cell. Using appropriate osmotic conditions we have examined freeze-etch replicas of freshly isolated outer segments to identify the membrane which regulates the flow of water and ions. Under isosmotic conditions we find that the disc to disc repeat distance is almost exactly twice the thickness of a disc. This ratio appears to be the same in a variety of vertebrate rod outer segments and can be reliably measured in freeze-etch images. Under all our osmotic conditions the discs appear nearly collapsed. However, when the length of the outer segment is reduced by hyperosmotic shocks the discs move closer together. This markedly reduces the ratio of repeat distance to disc thickness since disc thickness remains essentially constant. Thus, the length reduction of isolated outer segments after hyperosmotic shocks primarily results from reduction of the extradisc volume. Since the discs are free floating and since they undergo negligibly small changes in volume, the plasma membrane alone must be primarily responsible for regulating the water flux and the light-sensitive Na(+) influx in freshly isolated outer segments. On this basis we calculate, from the osmotic behavior, that the plasma membrane of frog rod outer segment has a Na(+) permeability constant of about 2.8 x 10(-6) cm/s and an osmotic permeability coefficient of greater than 2 x 10(-3) cm/s.

Animals↗
PubMed1973

Surface structure of gliding bacteria after freeze-etching.

Ultrastructural studies of gliding bacteria demonstrate 10- to 11-nm beads on the inner surface of the outer bilayer of Cytophaga columnaris. These were not found in Myxococcus xanthus. On treatment with glutaraldehyde and ethanol, the beads appear in linear arrays.

Cytophaga↗
PubMed1973

Penetration of host cell membranes by adenovirus 2.

Highly purified human adenovirus type 2 directly penetrated the plasma membranes of KB cells. The process of membrane penetration resulted in the appearance of large numbers of adenovirions free in the cytoplasm of the infected cells. The virions underwent a morphological change as they penetrated the cell surface. Penetration of the plasma membranes and the accompanying alteration in virion morphology was dependent on a function associated with the intact cells, because neither event occurred when purified virions were added to isolated cell membranes. Inactivation of the adenovirions with heat or antibodies before inoculation of the cells reduced the infectivity of the virus population and prevented the appearance of virions free in the cytoplasm. The inactivation of the virions did not significantly reduce the number of virus particles which were found in cell vacuoles and pinocytotic vesicles.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed1973

Morphological variants of Sindbis virus obtained from infected mosquito tissue culture cells.

Tissue-cultured Aedes albopictus cells infected with morphologically homogeneous Sindbis virus were found to produce progeny virions which could be divided into three classes based on size. The thickness of the envelope was constant on all three sizes of progeny virions suggesting that the variability in size rested with the viral nucleocapsid. It is suggested that the three classes of virions have icosahedral nucleocapsids composed of common subunits organized in decreasing triangulation numbers.

Aedes↗
PubMed1972

Morphology and morphogenesis of Sindbis virus as seen with freeze-etching techniques.

Freeze-etch electron microscope studies of the morphogenesis and morphology of Sindbis virus confirmed results obtained by other workers employing thin-sectioning techniques. The 68-nm virion was found to have a nucleocapsid 36 nm in diameter surrounded by a double-layered, unit membrane. The membranous envelope is acquired as the capsid buds through the plasma membrane of the infected cell. The freeze-etch technique also provided the following new information. (i) At any one time, budding occurs in patches rather than evenly over the cell surface. (ii) The nucleocapsid is composed of capsomers 7 nm in diameter. (iii) The capsid interacts strongly with the membrane, both prior to budding and after maturation. (iv) The 7- to 10-nm particles characteristic of the internal faces of plasma membranes, which presumably represent host membrane proteins, are present in early stages of budding but disappear as morphogenesis progresses. (v) Fusion of the cell membrane at the base of the budding virion is a two-step process; the inner leaflet fuses into a sphere before the outer one. (vi) The outer surface of the viral envelope is covered with 4-nm subunits with a center-to-center spacing of 6 nm.

Animals↗
PubMed1972

Inhibition of Sindbis virus release by media of low ionic strength: an electron microscope study.

Release of Sindbis virus from infected cells is inhibited by lowering the ionic strength of the medium. To determine the nature of the inhibited step, we examined, by electron microscopy, both freeze-etched and thin-sectioned preparations which had been fixed with either glutaraldehyde or formaldehyde. Inhibitory medium had two different effects on Sindbis virus release: virus budding was partially inhibited, and those virions which did mature were precipitated on the surface of the cell. Freeze-etched, inhibited cells showed very few viral buds. After shift to normal medium, the number of budding virions increased dramatically, far exceeding the quantity found in normal controls. Thus, low ionic strength medium clearly inhibited an early stage of virus maturation. The results were the same regardless of the fixative. Thin sections of glutaraldehyde-fixed, inhibited cells contained large extracellular aggregates of mature virus which were not present in similar, formaldehyde-fixed preparations. Fixation of radioactively-labeled, inhibited cultures revealed that approximately half of the virus that could be released from inhibited cells by raising the ionic strength of the medium could also be released by formaldehyde, but not by glutaraldehyde. This fraction probably represents mature virus attached to the cell surface by the ionic conditions.

Aldehydes↗
PubMed1972

Morphology and physical properties of Staphylococcus bacteriophage P11-M15.

The Group B Staphylococcus phage P11-M15 is shown to be 51% protein and 49% deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The intact virion has a molecular weight of 66.7 x 10(6) daltons. The purified viral DNA has a molecular weight of 32.7 x 10(6) daltons. The intact virion is shown to be composed of a polyhedral head which is attached at one of its vertices to a flexible tail having helical symmetry. The tail structure is terminated by a complex baseplate which has sixfold symmetry. The virion contains a single molecule of double-stranded DNA which has no apparent single-strand nicks or single-stranded terminal redundancies.

Centrifugation, Density Gradient↗
PubMed1971

Mode of host cell penetration by bacteriophage phi X174.

Bacteriophage phiX174 is an icosahedral phage which attaches to host cells without the aid of a complex tail assembly. When phiX174 was mixed with cell walls isolated from the bacterial host, the virions attached to the wall fragments and the phage deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was released. Attachment was prevented if the cell walls were treated with chloroform. Release of phage DNA, but not viral attachment, was prevented if the cell walls were incubated with lysozyme or if the virions were inactivated with formaldehyde. Treatment of the cell walls with lysozyme released structures which were of uniform size (6.5 by 25 nm). These structures attached phiX174 at the tip of one of its 12 vertices, but the viral DNA was not released. The virions attached to these structures were oriented with their fivefold axis of symmetry normal to the long axis of the structure. No virions were attached to these structures by more than one vertex. Freeze-etch preparations of phiX174 adsorbed to intact bacteria showed that the virions were submerged to one half their diameter into the host cell wall, and the fivefold axis of symmetry was normal to the cell surface. A second cell could not be attached to the outwardly facing vertex of the adsorbed phage and thus the phage could not cross-link two cells. When the virions were labeled with (3)H-leucine, purified, and adsorbed to Escherichia coli cells, about 15% of the radioactivity was recovered as low-molecular-weight material from spheroplasts formed by lysozyme-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. Other experiments revealed that about 7% of the total parental virus protein label could be recovered in newly formed progeny virus.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1969

Effect of host cell wall material on the adsorbability of cofactor-requiring T4.

The adsorbability of T4 on host cells was determined as a function of time after their liberation from infected cells. Freshly liberated (nascent) particles are readily adsorbed but lose their adsorbability with a half-time of about 2 days at 5 C, but only about 20 min at 37 C. They can be made adsorbable again with an alpha-amino acid cofactor like l-tryptophan, and this state of adsorbability can be stabilized by cell wall material from Escherichia coli. Such stabilized particles lose their adsorbability at a rate similar to that at which nascent particles lose theirs. Most freshly liberated particles are observed by means of electron microscopy to have "debris" attached to their baseplates and to have most of their six, long tail fibers free, whereas "old" particles that have lost their adsorbability appear relatively "clean" with most of their tail fibers wrapped around their sheaths. Nascent particles have densities that are lower than those of old particles. The material responsible for nascent adsorbability seems to be a fragment of the host's cell wall, for nascent adsorbability is destroyed by lysozyme. Furthermore, nascent T4 particles liberated from host cells with radioactively labeled walls carry the label in density gradients but lose it as they lose adsorbability. In addition, only a small proportion of particles liberated from infected spheroplasts are nascently adsorbable, whereas most particles liberated from intact cells are adsorbable.

Adsorption↗