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Biomedical subjects

M Pritchard

Publications and source records attributed to M Pritchard.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Isolation of a human DNA sequence which spans the fragile X.

To identify the sequences involved in the expression of the fragile X and to characterize the molecular basis of the genetic lesion, we have constructed yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) containing human DNA and have screened them with cloned DNA probes which map close to the fragile site at Xq27.3. We have isolated and partly characterized a YAC containing approximately 270 kb of human DNA from an X chromosome which expresses the fragile X. This sequence in a yeast artificial ring chromosome, XTY26, hybridizes to the two closest DNA markers, VK16 and Do33, which flank the fragile site. The human DNA sequence in XTY26 also spans the fragile site on chromosome in situ hybridization. When a restriction map of XTY26, derived by using infrequently cutting restriction enzymes, is compared with similar YAC maps derived from non-fragile-X patients, no large-scale differences are observed. This YAC, XTY26, may enable (a) the fragile site to be fully characterized at the molecular level and (b) the pathogenetic basis of the fragile-X syndrome to be determined.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Localization of the human GM-CSF receptor gene to the X-Y pseudoautosomal region.

Mammalian sex chromosomes share a small terminal region of homologous DNA sequences, which pair and recombine during male meiosis. Alleles in this region can be exchanged between X and Y chromosomes and are therefore inherited as if autosomal. Genes from this so-called pseudoautosomal region (PAR) are present in two doses in both males and females, and escape inactivation of the X chromosome in females. Indirect evidence suggests that there must be several pseudoautosomal genes, and several candidates have been proposed. Until now, the only gene that has been unequivocally located in the PAR is MIC2, which encodes a cell-surface antigen of unknown function. We now report the localization of a gene of known function to this region--the gene for the receptor of the haemopoietic regulator, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor. The chromosomal localization of this gene may be important in understanding the generation of M2 acute myeloid leukaemia.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Attitudes, attributions, and persuasion: how young people's ideas about drugs relate to their preferences for different strategies of prevention.

1,352 pupils, aged 14 to 15 years, completed questionnaires concerned with their beliefs about why people begin to take drugs and how they felt they could best be persuaded to stop. Endorsement of a "life-skills" approach to prevention related strongly to pupils' own social skills and self-reliance and to attributions for drug use in terms of social pressure and experimentation. In addition, a "scare" approach was favored by those who saw drug takers as lacking in morality. The data suggest that the success of any prevention program is at least partly dependent on an individual's initial beliefs about drugs and drug takers.

Adolescent↗

Control of gene expression in the P2-related temperate coliphages. IV. Concerning the late control gene and control of its transcription.

In this paper we have sequenced four amber mutants and thereby confirmed the gene D (CP65) and gene B (CP67) assignments made in the accompanying paper (Kalionis et al., 1986). We have also studied, by gel electrophoresis, the transcription patterns of gene B in vivo. In a lysogen, gene B is present on a short transcript under autogenous (negative) control. Upon prophage induction, this transcript is amplified, but later in the cycle gene B is present on a larger transcript that originates in the late region. We have detected two copies of an inverted repeat in the promoter region of the B gene that we predict is recognized by the B protein. One arm of this repeat is associated with three of four P2 late promoters, downstream from the start point of transcription. The repeat is not present in the promoter region of P2 ogr. We describe the considerable homology in amino acid sequence seen with the late control proteins 186 gpB, P4 gp delta and P2 gpOgr, and present a working model for control of late gene transcription.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Control of gene expression in P2-related coliphages: the in vitro transcription pattern of coliphage 186.

Transcription in vitro of coliphage 186 DNA generated four transcripts. The most abundant transcript was that of the late control gene B and an equivalent transcript was identified for the closely related phage P2. A second transcript was from the rightward promoter at 75% and predicted to be under CI repressor control. The remaining two transcripts initiated from the one promoter located at 95% and are apparently under LexA control in vivo. The significance of these transcripts is discussed in relation to coliphage 186.

Base Sequence↗

Mourning, mummification and living with the dead.

Six cases are reported in which the bereaved kept the decreased's body for periods ranging from one week to ten years. Some relevant anthropological and psychoanalytical observations are discussed. This phenomenon does not appear to have been reported in the literature of Western psychiatry.

Aged↗