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Biomedical subjects

J N Webb

Publications and source records attributed to J N Webb.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

Virus-like particles in paraspinal muscle in scoliosis.

Biopsy material from the skeletal muscle (paraxials) of 21 patients with scoliosis was examined by light and electron microscopy. Virus-like particles, 17 nm in diameter with a crystalline structure, were identified in the skeletal muscle fibres of four patients. Associated changes in the sarcoplasm included swelling of mitochondria, presence of lipid droplets, and vesicular structures. Serological studies and culture for virus isolation gave negative results. An excess of lipid (predominantly in type 1 fibres) was noted in the skeletal muscle of several other cases. The significance of these findings is obscure, but the morphology of the paraxial muscles of patients with scoliosis and controls is currently being investigated in greater detail.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Tumours arising in skeletal muscle in adults.

A review has been made of 30 cases of tumours arising in skeletal muscle seen over a 21-yr period (1954-74) in the Department of Pathology, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh. There were 17 females and 13 males in the series. The age range was 15 to 88 yr. The commonest site was thigh muscles (18 cases). Seven of the 14 benign tumours were myxomas: the other benign tumours included two solitary myositis ossificans, two haemangiomas and three lipomas. The three tumours which might be considered as being of borderline malignancy were two haemangiopericytomas and one desmoid tumour. There were 13 malignant tumours in the series: five fibrosarcomas, five liposarcomas, two rhabdomyosarcomas and one undifferentiated (pleomorphic) sarcoma. The average length of survival of the nine patients with malignant tumours who have died was only 15 mth. The fibrosarcomas in particular behaved in a highly malignant fashion. These 13 intramuscular sarcomas accounted for approximately 11 per cent, of all mesenchymal (non-lymphoid) sarcomas seen during the period of study.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Stability of subtilisin and lysozyme under high hydrostatic pressure.

The stabilities of subtilisin and lysozyme under hydrostatic pressures up to 200 MPa were investigated for up to 7 days at 25 degrees C. Methods were chosen to assess changes in tertiary and secondary protein structure as well as aggregation state. Tertiary structure was monitored in situ with second derivative UV spectroscopy and after pressure treatment by dynamic light scattering and second derivative UV spectroscopy. Secondary structure and potential secondary structural changes were characterized by second derivative FTIR spectroscopy. Changes in aggregation state were assessed using dynamic light scattering. Additionally, protein concentration balances were carried out to detect any loss of protein as a function of pressure. For the conditions tested, neither protein shows measurable changes in tertiary or secondary structure or signs of aggregation. Lysozyme concentration balances show no dependence on pressure. Subtilisin concentration balances at high protein concentration (4 mg/mL and higher) do not show pressure dependence. However, the concentration balances carried out at 0.4 mg/mL show a clear sign of pressure dependence. These results may be explained by protein interaction with the vial surface and appear to be rate limited by the equilibrium between active and inactive protein on the surface. Pressure increases protein loss, and the estimated partial molar volume change between the two states is estimated to be -20 +/- 10 mL/mol.

Enzyme Stability↗