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Biomedical subjects

J L Hamerton

Publications and source records attributed to J L Hamerton.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Cytogenetic characteristics of 26 polyethylene glycol-induced human-hamster hybrid cell lines.

A cytological analysis of 26 polyethylene glycol (PEG) induced human/hamster hybrid lines has shown that such lines are similar to inactivated Sendai virus (ISV) induced hybrids in respect to stability, retention of specific chromosomes, and cell selection. The evolution of stable hybrid cell lines carrying variable human chromosome complements depends upon a balance being established between the retained human and hamster genomes. This balance is a result of random loss of human and hamster chromosomes followed by selection of the fittest stem lines. A major mechanism ofchromosome loss may be fragmentation and elimination of acentric fragments. Twelve of the 26 lines had stabilized by the 30th passage, an incidence similar to that found with ISV-induced hybrids studied in this laboratory. Thus, PEG may be considered to be an ideal chemical for inducing somatic cell hybrids for genetic analysis.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Biochemical investigations in cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy were studied with a double-labeling procedure. Preliminary evaluation of the growth characteristics and average viability of dystrophic cells did not show any major abnormalities. Analysis of doubly labeled fibroblast mixture did not disclose any consistent anomaly in the distribution of subcellular fractions or in the major protein components of dystrophic fibroblasts.

Cell Count↗
PubMed1978

Down syndrome and recent demographic trends in Manitoba.

Two hundred and thirty-three children born in Manitoba with Down syndrome between 1965 and 1974 were ascertained and the maternal ages obtained. Mean maternal age was found to have declined in this period both for all livebirths and to a greater extent for Down syndrome children. Though the proportion of mothers of Down syndrome infants with a maternal age of less than 35 years remained the same, the proportion of mothers aged 35 to 39 years increased and the age specific incidence of Down syndrome became significantly greater for women in this age group. Reduction in the proportion of Down syndrome births to women over 40 years and the increased incidence of Down syndrome in children of women aged 35 to 39 years has important consequences for the planning of amniocentesis programmes.

Birth Rate↗
PubMed1978

Searching for molecular abnormalities in genetic diseases by the use of a double labeling technique. II. Deficiency of a basic protein in fibroblasts of patients with Pompe's disease.

We used a double labeling technique to search for molecular defects in two fibroblast strains obtained from patients with Pompe's disease. Analysis of the double labeled subcellular fractions by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) electrophoresis did not reveal any abnormalities except in the "mitochondrial-lysosomal" fraction. In this fraction ratio deviations indicated that in Pompe's disease there was a significant decrease in counts of a protein with molecular weight of about 29,000. After solubilization by freeze-thawing this protein was shown to have an isoelectric point of 7.9 in contrast to the alpha-glucosidase which focused at about pH 4.7. Two-stage gel studies demonstrated an estimated 90% reduction of this protein in Pompe's disease. Two-stage studies of acid alpha-glucosidase did not show any abnormal ratios of leucine incorporation. Similar although quantitatively less pronounced results were obtained in the study of skin fibroblasts from a patient with adult glycogen storage disease type II.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Prenatal diagnosis of genetic disease in Canada: report of a collaborative study.

A study of 1223 amniocenteses carried out during 1020 pregnancies in 990 women showed that 2nd-trimester amniocentesis at about 16 weeks' gestation is a safe, accurate and reliable procedure for the diagnosis of certain classes of genetic disease when it is monitored by ultrasound, performed by a trained obstetrician and carried out in a major health sciences centre. The percentage of fetal losses (4.7%) and neonatal deaths (0.5%) during the study was not greater than in control samples for women 35 years of age and older. The best results were obtained when needles of gauge 20 or 21 were used. The use of needles of gauge 19 or larger and more than two insertions during a single amniocentesis were associated with a significantly greater frequency of fetal loss than a second or even a third amniocentesis during the same pregnancy. For 39 fetuses (3.8%) a diagnosis of a genetic abnormality was made and 23 male fetuses were found to be potentially hemizygous for an X-linked gene. There were 51 therapeutic abortions as a result of the diagnosis. Sixty-six tests (5.4%) gave an inconclusive result and seven (0.6%) gave an erroneous diagnosis; five of the latter (two false-positives and three false-negatives) resulted from the alpha1-fetoprotein test for neural-tube defects and in two cases the sex was incorrectly determined. The frequency of all chromosome abnormalities was 1:20 when the mother's age was 40 years or more and 1:60 when the mother's age was between 35 and 39 years. When a mother had previously had a child with a chromosome abnormality the risk of recurrence of such an abnormality was 1:100 when the age of the mother was 35 years or more.

Abortion, Therapeutic↗