Structure of the human zinc finger protein HIVEP3: molecular cloning, expression, exon-intron structure, and comparison with paralogous genes HIVEP1 and HIVEP2.

Here we report the cloning and characterization of HIVEP3, the newest member in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 enhancer-binding protein family that encodes large zinc finger proteins and regulates transcription via the kappaB enhancer motif. The largest open reading frame of HIVEP3 contains 2406 aa. and is approximately 80% identical to the mouse counterpart. The HIVEP3 gene is located in the chromosomal region 1p34 and is at least 300 kb with 10 exons. RNA studies show that multiple HIVEP3 transcripts are differentially expressed and regulated. Additionally, transcription termination occurs in the ultimate exon, exon 10, or in exon 6. Therefore, HIVEP3 may produce protein isoforms that contain or exclude the carboxyl DNA binding domain and the leucine zipper by alternative RNA splicing and differential polyadenylation. Sequence homologous to HIVEP3 exon 6 is not found in mouse nor are the paralogous genes HIVEP1 and HIVEP2. Zoo-blot analysis suggests that sequences homologous to the human exon 6 are present only in primates and cow. Therefore, a foreign DNA harboring a termination exon likely was inserted into the HIVEP3 locus relatively recently in evolution, resulting in the acquisition of novel gene regulatory mechanisms as well as the generation of structural and functional diversity.

Holistic concepts and the professionalization of public health nursing.

The sociology of knowledge provided the conceptual and methodologic basis for this study of the relationship between the philosophic concept of holism and the professionalization of public health nursing. Set in the context of the history of ideas, the discussion examines the various meanings of holism and the circumstances surrounding their adoption, modification, and use in public health nursing. The nursing literature from the late 1800s to the 1980s was analyzed to explicate the pragmatic consequences of holism for public health nursing, and to examine holism's moral value and its part in establishing and extending public health nursing's professional domain.

Antimicrobial supplementation of growing pigs: the effect of porcine sera fractions on in vitro muscle cell proliferation.

Sera obtained from pigs before and after subtherapeutic levels of ASP250 supplementation (pre and post serum pools) have been subjected to comparative fractionation by using gel filtration and affinity chromatography on immobilized Cibacron Blue F3G-A. Comparable serum fractions obtained from pre- and post-ASP250 blood sera were assayed in muscle cell culture bioassays designed to measure their effect on proliferation. Pre- and post-ASP250 sera were subjected to gel filtration and divided into the following fractions: fraction 1, Kav less than .17; fraction 2, Kav = .17 to .41; fraction 3, Kav = .41 to .59. Post-ASP250 fractions 2 and 3 increased proliferation rate in cultured muscle cells to a greater extent than comparable pre-ASP250 fractions (P less than .001). Chromatography of fraction 3 on immobilized Cibacron Blue F3G-A showed that both pre- and post-ASP250 fraction 3 contained a putative inhibitor of myogenic cell proliferation as well as mitogenic factors. However, negative growth factor activity was greater in pre-ASP250 fraction 3 than in post-ASP250 fraction 3 (P less than .05). Additionally, positive growth factor activity was lower in pre-ASP250 fraction 3 than in post-ASP250 fraction 3 (P less than .05). These data suggest that levels and(or) activities of both positive and negative muscle growth factors in serum may be altered by the addition of antimicrobials to the diets of growing pigs.

In vitro muscle cell proliferation and protein turnover as affected by serum from pigs fed antimicrobials.

The effect of antimicrobial supplementation of pigs on the capacity of their sera to influence proliferation and protein turnover in cultured muscle cells was evaluated. Mitogenic activity of sera increased when pigs were fed ASP250 (P less than .005) or carbadox (P less than .001), whereas the mitogenic activity of serum from pigs receiving the basal diet remained unchanged (P = .5). Additionally, sera from ASP250-fed pigs significantly decreased (P less than .001) total cellular protein degradation compared with sera obtained from the same pigs prior to supplementation. Neither ASP250 nor carbadox stimulated proliferation of myogenic cells when added to the culture media. Inclusion of ASP250 in swine diets altered the composition of their sera in a way that stimulated muscle cell proliferation and reduced the rate of protein degradation in cultured myogenic cells. Likewise, the inclusion of carbadox in swine diets increased the ability of their sera to stimulate cultured muscle cell proliferation.

The effects of vitamin E depletion and repletion on prostaglandin synthesis in semitendinosus muscle of young rabbits.

The effects of dietary vitamin E-depletion and repletion on the cyclooxygenase activity was studied in the semitendinosus muscle of rabbits. The prostaglandin (PG) cyclooxygenase system in rabbit semitendinosus muscle was characterized and found to depend on reduced glutathione and 1-epinephrine as cofactors. Skeletal muscle cyclooxygenase generates PGE2 and PGF2 alpha at a ratio approximately equal to one. Weanling New Zealand white rabbits were fed a vitamin E-deficient diet for 4 to 5 weeks. Controls received 50 mg dl-alpha-tocopherol acetate twice weekly. Vitamin E deficiency caused a significant reduction in cyclooxygenase activity but did not change the PGE2/PGF2 alpha ratio. Oral supplementation of tocopherol acetate promptly returned the cyclooxygenase activity back to the control values within 48 hours. The decreased cyclooxygenase activity explains in part the increased level of arachidonic acid in skeletal muscle phospholipid previously reported in this laboratory. The possible involvement of decreased prostaglandin endoperoxides with platelet aggregation in vitamin E deficiency is discussed.

The effects of vitamin E depletion and repletion on prostaglandin dehydrogenase activity in tissues of young rabbits.

The key enzyme controlling prostaglandin (PG) catabolism, 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (PGDH), was characterized in rabbit tissues. The apparent Michaelis constant (Km) using PGE2 as substrate was found to be 5.3, 4.0, 4.0 and 7.1 microM for semitendinosus and soleus muscles, heart and kidney, respectively. The effect of dietary vitamin E depletion and repletion on the PGDH activity in these tissues was studied. Vitamin E deficiency caused an elevation of PGDH activity in rabbit skeletal muscles but not in the heart and kidney. Oral supplementation of tocopherol acetate to the deficient animals did not affect the skeletal muscle PGDH activity. A long period of refeeding (30 days) was required to suppress the elevated PGDH level to the control values. The data indicates a higher turnover of the PGs in the vitamin E-deficient rabbit skeletal muscles. The significance of such a change in connection to prostaglandin metabolism is discussed.