Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G E Morris

Publications and source records attributed to G E Morris.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Recurrence rates following local anaesthetic day case inguinal hernia repair by junior surgeons in a district general hospital.

Four hundred and seventy one inguinal hernia repairs were performed by surgeons in training as day cases using local anaesthesia between September 1979 and December 1982. All patients were sent questionnaires relating to the possibility of a recurrence or an unsatisfactory outcome of the operation at a mean of 34 months after surgery. A 96.8% retrieval rate was achieved. As a result of answers received 62 patients were examined. Nineteen recurrences (4.2%) were diagnosed by an independent assessor; a rate of 2.2% for indirect and 8.2% for direct inguinal herniae. No UK series approaches this operation frequency and none has junior surgeons as the sole operators. The recurrence rate is comparable with many in-patient and short stay series. As a result of this day unit, local waiting times for hernia repairs have dropped from 2 years to 6 weeks.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Monoclonal-antibody studies of creatine kinase. The proteinase K-cleavage site.

Proteinase K cleaves a small peptide from native muscle-specific creatine kinase. We present evidence, from the binding of two monoclonal antibodies to formic acid-cleavage fragments and proteinase K-digest fragments of chick muscle creatine kinase, that the proteinase K-cleavage site is in the C-terminal region of the molecule. This specificity of proteinase K, which is not normally a highly specific enzyme, and the continued association of the two peptide fragments after cleavage suggest an unusual conformational feature in the cleavage-site region. By applying predictive methods for hydrophobicity and secondary structure to an amino acid sequence in this region, we suggest possible structural features at the cleavage site that are evidently conserved across avian and mammalian species. The most likely site is next to, or within, a beta-turn on the surface of the molecule.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1985

Persistence of serum IgA antibodies to herpes simplex, varicella-zoster, cytomegalovirus, and rubella virus detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to detect IgG and IgA antibodies to herpes simplex virus (HSV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and rubella virus in sera from 68 adult female gynaecological patients. Of the patients who had virus-specific IgG antibodies, the proportion who also had virus-specific IgA was 98% for HSV, 75% for VZV, 73% for rubella virus, and 42% for CMV. IgA antibodies to all four viruses were only found when specific IgG antibodies were also detected in the serum. These results suggest that virus-specific IgA may persist for several years; possible explanations for this are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Monoclonal antibodies to intermediate filaments in chick muscle cell cultures.

Two monoclonal antibodies, FIFI and PHIL, have been prepared using detergent-washed myogenic cells as immunogen. On Western blots of total protein extracts of muscle cells, both antibodies bind to vimentin (52 kD) and its degradation products (major band at 42 kD), but do not bind to mouse proteins or to actin (42 kD). Specificity for a determinant common to vimentin and desmin was confirmed by 2-D gel electrophoresis of muscle cell extracts and purified desmin. Western blots with FIFI reveal particularly well the extreme sensitivity of intermediate filaments (IFs) to proteolysis, which was preventable in brain tissue only by boiling in 1% SDS, although it could be reduced in both brain and muscle by less extreme methods. Western blots suggest a large increase in IF content of differentiating myoblast cell cultures at the time of cell fusion and an increase of at least 4-fold is confirmed by a quantitative immunoassay using a direct ELISA method. Immunofluorescence microscopy shows that this increase is due to the appearance of high concentrations of the intermediate filament antigen at the ends of early myotubes, preceding the appearance of cross-striations in myofibrils. Furthermore, whereas the polar filaments detected by FIFI run right to the ends of the early myotubes and only sparingly penetrate the central area, cross-striated myofibrils (as detected by the monoclonal antibody, SAM) run the length of the myotube but do not reach the ends. Colcemid and colchicine cause the vimentin filaments in fibroblasts to collapse into perinuclear rings or caps, but do not have this effect on the polar fluorescence in early myotubes. Heat shock (2 h at 45 degrees C) has a similar differential effect. The results suggest that early in muscle differentiation intermediate filament proteins accumulate rapidly at myotube ends, where they are organized differently from those in fibroblasts.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Monoclonal antibodies against a nucleolar protein from differentiating chick muscle cells.

Two monoclonal antibodies, NORM and NORA, bind specifically to a 37 000 molecular weight protein in total protein extracts of chick skeletal muscle cell cultures. They have been used to follow changes in the amount and distribution of this protein during terminal differentiation and the associated cessation of cell division. Immunofluorescence microscopy shows that the antigen is found almost exclusively in the nucleolus in interphase cells and is dispersed in the cytoplasm during mitosis. Low doses of actinomycin D cause segregation of nucleoli into DNA fibrils and ribonucleoprotein granules, and the antigen is clearly associated with the latter. High doses of actinomycin D cause shrinkage of the nucleolus and the antigen is dispersed within the nucleoplasm, but not released into the cytoplasm. The amount and distribution of antigen is similar in all cell types (myoblasts, myotubes and fibroblasts) and there are no major changes during muscle differentiation. From known changes in ribosomal RNA metabolism during myogenesis and after actinomycin D treatment, we suggest that the 37 000 Mr protein is involved in some post-transcriptional aspect of ribosome production and that its concentration and distribution may be related to the concentration of ribosomal RNA in the nucleolus.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

The changing trend in prostatectomy in a district general hospital.

The results of 600 prostatectomies performed at Kingston Hospital are reviewed with particular reference to morbidity and mortality. The indication for surgery was prostatism in 61% of patients and retention in 34.5%. Transurethral resection (TUR) was performed in 65.5% of the operations. The mean postoperative stay for TUR was 6 days but for open operation 10 days. The overall complication rate including urinary tract infections was 14.8%, with an overall mortality of 1.3%. The results show the trends and improvement in service achieved since an earlier report of 600 cases published in 1979.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Immunoassay of muscle-specific creatine kinase with a monoclonal antibody and application to myogenesis and muscular dystrophy.

A competition e.l.i.s.a. (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) is described that enables direct measurement of the muscle-specific polypeptide of chick creatine kinase (M-CK) in extracts of differentiating muscle-cell cultures and in blood plasma samples, even in the presence of embryonic, or brain-type, creatine kinase. The characteristics of the assay can be considerably improved by the use of a monoclonal antibody, CK-ART, instead of rabbit antisera, and we offer an explanation for this in terms of heterogeneity of antibody affinities in polyclonal antisera. In addition to native enzyme, the assay will measure creatine kinase unfolded and inactivated by 8 M-urea treatment. During chick muscle differentiation in vitro, M-CK increased from 7.5% of the total creatine kinase at 24h to 76.0% at 143h, in good agreement with isoenzyme separation data. As a percentage of the total cell protein, M-CK increased by 156-340-fold over the same period and constituted 0.38-0.56% of the total protein in late cultures. E.l.i.s.a. measurements on 17-20-day embryonic thigh-muscle extracts, which contain almost exclusively M-CK, agree well with enzyme activity and radioimmunoassay. M-CK constituted 0.7-1.6% of the total protein in 17-19-day embryonic thigh muscle. Plasma M-CK concentrations in normal 2-8-week-old chickens were found to be in the range 0.5-0.9 micrograms/ml. Plasma concentrations of 32-56 micrograms/ml were found in 8-week-old dystrophic chickens by both e.l.i.s.a. and enzyme-activity measurements. The results suggest that inactive or unfolded forms of M-CK do not normally exist, in any significant amounts, in cell and tissue extracts or in freshly prepared samples of plasma.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Histone acetylation in differentiating chick myoblast cultures.

Histone acetyltransferase activity in cell extracts from chick myoblast cultures increases up to 24h of cell culture and then decreases steadily to about 30-40% of the 24h value after 6 to 7 days. The decrease in specific activity is independent of the initial cell density. Histone acetylation in intact cells has also been studied by tritiated-acetate labelling. Most of the radioactivity is found in histones H2b, H3 and H4 when separated on acid-urea gels, and is not prevented by puromycin.

Acetylation↗