Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Robb

Publications and source records attributed to R Robb.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1977

Computerized image recognition for morphometry of nerve attribute of shape of sampled transverse sections of myelinated fibers which best estimates their average diameter.

A computerized image recognition method was used to measure various attributes of shape of cross-sections of myelinated nerve fibers. Measurements were made at intervals over 1/2 internode of each fiber on 20 fibers from each of 4 sural nerves from rats. Diameters were computed in 6 different ways from the computer measurements and compared for bias, precision, and accuracy between sections and to the diameter of an idealized cylinder reconstructed for each fiber from multiple actual cross sections. The diameter computed from cross-sectional areas of transversely sectioned myelinated fibers, converted into a circle, showed the highest precision, greatest accuracy and least bias. Fibers were classified by shape and the frequency was determined in defined regions (I1 = paranodal, I3= nuclear and I2=region between I1 and I3) of the 1/2 internode. A crenated shape is highly characteristic of the I1 region. The boomerang shape was found most frequently in I3 whereas the circular shape was found most frequently in I2. Epileptical and boomerang shapes of myelinated fibers within fascicles which have been orientated carefully to obtain transverse sections, are not due to obliquity of section. Therefore, using the minor axis to determine the diameter of such profiles, as we had done previously in our laboratory, is in error. We conclude from these studies, that in carefully orientated transverse sections of nerve trucks, the diameter calculated from measurement of area converted to a circular shape is the best among the various estimates of myelinated fiber diameter and is the most suitable one for use in computerized image recognition systems for nerve morphometry. It seems reasonable to extrapolate this general conclusion to myelinated fibers of man.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Further structural studies of the heavy chain of HLA antigens and its similarity to immunoglobulins.

The papain-solubilized fragment of the heavy chain of HLA-B7, which is the NH2-terminal part of the whole polypeptide chain, can be divided into three regions by mild acid and cyanogen bromide cleavages. The first 100 amino acids terminating in a methionine residue contain the carbohydrate moiety; this segment is followed by two others of molecular weights 9,999 and 13,000, each containing an intrachain disulfide bridge. The two intrachain disulfide bridges are separated by a stretch of amino acids containing an acid-labile aspartyl-prolHLA-2, A28, and AW25 contain this acid-labile peptide bond in their larger subunit. Sequencing from the acid cleavage site of HLA-7 through the third half-cystine revealed consideralbe homology with amino acid sequences around a half-cystine in immunoglobulin variable regions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1977

Structure of HL-A A and B antigens isolated from cultured human lymphocytes.

From these data, a model was prepared which summarizes schematically our present knowledge of the structure and orientation of the HL-A antigenic molecule in the lymphocyte membrane (Fig. 3). It seems likely that the heavy chain spans the membrane, with the hydrophobic region inserted in the membrane and the hydrophilic C-terminus inside the cell. This C-terminal region bears one (possible two) SH residue which has the potential for forming interchain disulfides. Whether or not these are actually formed physiologically remains an interesting question. There is the attractive possibility that whatever the physiological functions of HL-A antigens are, structurally these molecules provide the potential for signaling from outside the cell to inside the cell because they span the membrane. It is even conceivable that this function might be expressed via the opening and closing of disulfide bridges.

Amino Acid Sequence↗