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Biomedical subjects

L Chan

Publications and source records attributed to L Chan.

At least 505 records · Page 28Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

Susceptibility of lipopolysaccharide-defective mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO to dyes, detergents, and antibiotics.

Lipopolysaccharide-defective mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO have been isolated on the basis of their resistance to lipopolysaccharide-specific bacteriophages. These mutants have been differentiated by their agglutination in NaCl and acriflavine, phage sensitivity, and chemical analysis of the lipopolysaccharides. The susceptibility of the wild-type strain and four mutants to a series of twenty-six agents, including dyes, detergents, antibiotics, and lysozyme, was examined. The roughest mutant (AK-43) exhibited increased susceptibility to sodium deoxycholate, hexadecylpyridinium chloride, benzalkonium chloride, ampicillin, penicillin G, erythromycin, colymycin, and polymyxin B. The role of cell envelope fractions in antibiotic resistance in P. aeruginosa is discussed.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1978

Steroid hormone action: recent advances.

Pn entering the cell, steroid hormones are bound to specific cytoplasmic receptors. The hormone-receptor complexes are then translocated to the nucleus, in an "activated" form, whereupon they are bound to the target cell genome. The target cell responds by increased RNA synthesis with the transcription of specific mRNAs. The mRNAs are exported to the cytoplasm where protein synthesis takes place. Recent advances in steroid hormone action involve the purification of specific steroid hormone receptors and the preparation of specific antisera, the elucidation of the subunit structure of the progesterone receptor, the purification of a hormone-inducible mRNA and the synthesis of its DNA complement, the purification and amplification of the synthetic and natural gene for this RNA and the identification of intragenic spacers, and most recently the identification of specific precursors to the hormone-induced mRNA. We discuss here the medical significance of some of these advances.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

The nature of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO bacteriophage receptors.

Receptors for phages specific to Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO were studied. Phages 16, 44, 109, F8, and PBI are lipopolysaccharide (LPS) specific as shown by neutralization tests. The PhI50's of the LPS, adsorption rate constants with strain PAO and the plaque morphologies of these five phages were quite similar. Phages 1214 and 7 also appear to be LPS-specific on the basis of host-range studies. Phage 73 is pilus-specific, while phages 21 and 68 fall into a group which does not attach to pili, flagella, or LPS. A theoretical approach to the interpretation of phage-cell interactions is presented.

Bacteriophages↗
PubMed1977

Female steroid hormones and lipoprotein synthesis in the cockerel: effects of progesterone and nafoxidine on the estrogenic stimulation of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) synthesis.

Since progesterone is known to modulate the effects of estradiol in a number of organ systems, we have studied the effects of the two hormones on very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) synthesis in the cockerel. We have also examined the effect of an estrogen antagonist, nafoxidine-HCl, on the process. When three week-old cockerels were treated with a single injection of estradiol (1 mg) or estradiol (1 mg) + progesterone (2 mg), plasma VLDL increased within 5 h, reached a peak at 48 h and returned to baseline values at 68 h. There was no significant difference between estradiol or estradiol + progesterone treated animals. Liver slices were prepared from similarly treated animals and incubated in vitro with L-[3H]lysine for 2 h. Following homogenization and centrifugation at 105,000 X g, newly synthesized VLDL were quantitiated in the supernatant fluid by immunoprecipitation with a monospecific antibody. Radioactivity incorporated into VLDL was found to increase from low baseline levels to a peak at about 17 h after treatment. There was, again, no significant difference between estradiol and estradiol + progesterone-treated animals. Estrogen priming or progesterone pretreatment also did not significantly alter the VLDL biosynthetic response in liver slices to estradiol alone or in combination with progesterone. When the estrogen-antagonist nafoxidine-HCl (5 mg) was administered simultaneously with estradiol (1 mg), it totally inhibited the VLDL biosynthetic response in liver slices in vitro. The interaction of estradio, progesterone and nafoxidine-HCl on the hepatic synthesis of VLDL should serve as a valuable model for the study of VLDL synthesis and its regulation as well as the mode of action of the sex steroid hormones in the liver.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Estrogen induction of plasma vitellogenin in the cockerel: studies with a phosvitin antibody.

The effects of estrogen on plasma vitellogenin have been studied in the cockerel by immunoprecipitation techniques using an antiserum prepared against the egg yolk phosphoprotein, phosvitin. The antiserum gave precipitin lines of complete identity to phosvitin and to vitellogenin which was isolated from hen plasma by DEAE-cellulose chromatography and by affinity chromatography using anti-phosvitin coupled to Sepharose 4B. The cross-reactivity of vitellogenin and phosvitin adds support to the concept that plasma vitellogenin is the precursor phosphoprotein of egg yolk phosvitin. In the three-week old cockerel, anti-phosvitin produced no detectable immunoprecipitate in the plasma. However, after a single sc injection of diethylstilbestrol (2.5 mg), plasma vitellogenin levels began to increase at 4 h and reached a maximum 20-30 h after hormone administration. The increase in plasma levels of triglyceride paralleled those of vitellogenin. These studies suggest that there is no significant time lag in the estrogenic induction of plasma vitellogenesis in the cockerel, the longer lag periods observed by other investigators may be a function of the sensitivity of the assays used for detecting vitellogenin.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1976

Isolation and characterization of the major apolipoprotein from chicken high density lipoproteins.

High density lipoproteins were isolated from plasma of white Leghorn hens by ultracentrifugal flotation between densities 1.063 and 1.210 g/ml. After delipidation, the lipid-free proteins were fractionated by chromatography on Sephadex G-150 in urea; one major apolipoprotein was isolated and characterized. From its chemical, physical and immunochemical properties, the major apoprotein from hen high-density lipoproteins has characteristics similar to the major apoprotein of human high density lipoproteins, apoA-I. Thus the hen protein has been designated hen apoA-I. Hen apoA-I has a molecular weight of approximately 28 000 as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate. Its calculated molecular weight from its 234 constituent amino acids is 26 674. Hen apoA-I differed from its human counterpart by containing isoleucine. Treatment of hen apoA-I with carboxypeptidase A yielded a COOH-terminal sequence of Leu-Val-Ala-Gln. Automatic Edman degradation of the apoprotein gave an NH2-terminal sequence of Asp-Glu-Pro-Gln-Pro-Glu-Leu. Hen apoA-I had a circular dichroic spectrum typical of alpha-helical structures; the calculated helicity was 90%. Goat antisera prepared to hen apoA-I formed precipitin lines of complete identity to the hen apoprotein but lines of only partial identity to human apoA-I. These studies show that the major apoprotein from hen and human high-density lipoproteins have similar properties to each other suggesting a common physiologic function.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1976

Translation of ovalbumin mRNA in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Characterization of the system and effects of estrogen on injected mRNA populations.

Ovalbumin messenger RNA (mRNAov) purified from hen oviduct was injected into Xenopus laevis oocytes. The oocytes were incubated in culture medium containing [3H]leucine. Analysis of the oocyte cytosol on Sephadex G-15O columns demonstrated a peak of radioactivity which cochromatographed with authentic ovalbumin. Radioactive protein contained in this peak was precipitated by ovalbumin antiserum, coelectrophoresed with ovalbumin on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and urea gels at pH 8.7, and eluted with the protein at the same pH (4.8) on CM-cellulose chromatography. Injection of increasing amounts of mRNAov was found to elicit a linear response in terms of ovalbumin synthesis. Moreover, there was linear incorporation of radioactivity into microinjected oocytes over a minimum period of 91 h. Less than 1 ng mRNAov was detected in this system. Ovalbumin mRNA activity was present in RNA preparations from chicks treated with estrogen but was undetectable in animals withdrawn from the hormone. This study constitutes an initial demonstration of a steroid hormone-induced alteration in mRNA population as assayed in intact viable heterologous cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Synthesis of very low density lipoproteins in the cockerel. Effects of estrogen.

The effect of estrogen on the synthesis of plasma very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) in the cockerel was studied both in vivo and in vitro. Synthesis was studied by immunoprecipitation techniques with antisera prepared against VLDL and a major VLDL protein. VLDL were isolated from the plasma of white Leghorn hens and estrogen-treated white Leghorn cockerels by ultracentrifugal flotation at d 1.006 g/ml. After delipidation, the lipid-free proteins (apoproteins) were fractionated on Sephadex G-150 and DEAE-cellulose. Both the hen and the estrogen-treated cockerel VLDL were shown to contain an identical apoprotein with a mol wt of approximately 12,000; the apoprotein is designated fraction B. Reduction and S-carboxy-methylation of fraction B resulted in a reduction of the molecular weight by approximately one-half, indicating a dimer-monomer relationship. Antiserum prepared to the hen VLDL dimer protein gave precipitin lines of complete identity to both the hen and cockerel dimer, monomer, VLDL, apoVLDL, low density lipoproteins, and plasma; no precipitin line was formed with either hen or cockerel high density lipoproteins. After a single subcutaneous injection of diethylstilbestrol into the cockerel, plasma VLDL protein, cholesterol, and triglyceride increased, reaching a maximum 24--48 h after hormone administration. Liver slices from similarly treated animals were incubated in vitro in culture medium in the presence of [3H]lysine for 2 h. Immunoprecipitable radioactivity in VLDL increased within 2 h of diethylstilbestrol treatment and reached a maximum at 24 h; VLDL radioactivity returned to base-line levels by 72 h. At the peak of induction, newly synthesized VLDL represented 11% of the total soluble protein synthesized. When actinomycin-D (5 mg/kg) was administered simultaneously with estrogen, the induction of VLDL synthesis was totally inhibited. To determine whether the effect of estrogen on VLDL synthesis was mediated at the level of transcription, partially-purified cockerel liver mRNA was prepared from estrogen-treated animals and the mRNA activity for fraction B was quantitated in a wheat germ translation system. Fraction B mRNA was found to increase from a low base-line value to a maximum 16-24 h after estrogen treatment, returning towards baseline values at 30 h. At the peak of induction, fraction B constituted 12% of the total protein synthesized. The kinetics of induction of fraction B mRNA activity in the cell-free translation system is very similar to that observed in liver slice experiments. This finding suggests that estrogen stimulates VLDL synthesis, at least partially, by enhancing the accumulation of the mRNA for one of their major apoproteins.

Animals↗