Trout red blood cells treated with proteases fuse when placed on glass slides.

Treatment of trout red blood cells (RBC) with proteases and polyethylene glycol (PEG) either successively or concurrently caused cell fusion. Neither PEG nor protease treatment alone brought about the fusion of cells in suspension. However, incubation of RBC on glass slides with proteases caused extensive fusion.

The Skeffington-Alexander National Optometry Education Learning Center.

This article presents a review of the Skeffington-Alexander National Optometry Education Learning Center (s.a. NOEL Center) program. It presents the general philosophy behind the center's activities and further describes its clinical, educational and research activities.

DNA sequence analysis of endoglucanase genes from Pseudomonas fluorescens subsp. cellulosa and Pseudomonas sp. NCIB 8634.

The DNA of two previously isolated recombinant clones, one from Pseudomonas sp. NCIB 8634 (= Cellvibrio mixtus) (pPC71) and another from Pseudomonas fluorescens subsp. cellulosa (pPFC4) that express endoglucanase activity in E. coli was sequenced. Plasmid pPC71 had three open reading frames, two of which include portions of plasmid pBR322. The third open reading frame occurs entirely within the Pseudomonas DNA insert and encodes a protein with a molecular mass of 5845 Da. The DNA insert in pPFC4 was found to contain an open reading frame (PFC-ORF) that encodes a protein of 32189 Da. The major endoglucanase produced in E. coli cells carrying pPFC4 is about 30,000 Da. It is concluded that PFC-ORF encodes this endoglucanase. Both ribosome and catabolite gene activator protein binding sites lie upstream from the initiating codon of PFC-ORF. An interesting feature of the PFC-ORF protein is the presence of amino acid motifs Val-Ser-Ser-Ser-Ser and Val-Val-Ser-Ser-Ser-Ser-Ser that occur within a 25 amino acid span.

Effect of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate on cell-surface glycosaminoglycans in human diploid fibroblasts.

The effect of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) on the loss of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) from the pericellular compartment of human skin fibroblasts was studied. GAGs from this compartment were analyzed by anion-exchange chromatography after cultures had been labelled with both [3H]glucosamine and [35S]sulfate and then chased in either the presence or absence of TPA. In both control and TPA cultures radioactivity was found in glycopeptides, hyaluronic acid, heparan sulfate (HS), and chondroitin sulfate. The amount of radioactivity that was found in HS was reduced in the TPA cultures, whereas the amounts in the other GAGs were essentially unchanged when control and treated cultures were compared. These results suggest that TPA stimulates the loss of HS from the surface of human fibroblasts.

Isolation of Endoglucanase Genes from Pseudomonas fluorescens subsp. cellulosa and a Pseudomonas sp.

Endoglucanase genes from Pseudomonas fluorescens subsp. cellulosa and Pseudomonas sp. were cloned and characterized. DNA hybridization studies showed that these genes are homologous and that each species has one copy of the gene per genome. The DNA fragment from Pseudomonas sp. codes for, at most, a 23-kilodalton endoglucanase.

Changes in achievement scores as a result of a joint optometry and education intervention program.

This study tested the effect of a visually directed intervention program on changes in standardized test results of intelligence quotient and achievement during kindergarten. Two groups of 19 kindergarten children from equivalent schools were matched for intelligence quotient, age, and sex. Fall and Spring measurements were made in the following areas: intelligence quotient, academic achievement tests, and paper and pencil perceptual tests. A visually based intervention program involving both optometry and education was provided for the experimental group. Kindergarten children in the experimental group who received the visually directed optometry and education intervention program showed significant differences in the rate of change in four of the eight tested areas when matched to the control group.