Oxygen isotope in archaeological bioapatites from India: Implications to climate change and decline of Bronze Age Harappan civilization.

The antiquity and decline of the Bronze Age Harappan civilization in the Indus-Ghaggar-Hakra river valleys is an enigma in archaeology. Weakening of the monsoon after ~5 ka BP (and droughts throughout the Asia) is a strong contender for the Harappan collapse, although controversy exists about the synchroneity of climate change and collapse of civilization. One reason for this controversy is lack of a continuous record of cultural levels and palaeomonsoon change in close proximity. We report a high resolution oxygen isotope (δ(18)O) record of animal teeth-bone phosphates from an archaeological trench itself at Bhirrana, NW India, preserving all cultural levels of this civilization. Bhirrana was part of a high concentration of settlements along the dried up mythical Vedic river valley 'Saraswati', an extension of Ghaggar river in the Thar desert. Isotope and archaeological data suggest that the pre-Harappans started inhabiting this area along the mighty Ghaggar-Hakra rivers fed by intensified monsoon from 9 to 7 ka BP. The monsoon monotonically declined after 7 ka yet the settlements continued to survive from early to mature Harappan time. Our study suggests that other cause like change in subsistence strategy by shifting crop patterns rather than climate change was responsible for Harappan collapse.

Interleukin-1 induces transcription of keratin K6 in human epidermal keratinocytes.

Keratinocytes respond to injury by releasing the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1, which serves as the initial "alarm signal" to surrounding cells. Among the consequences of interleukin-1 release is the production of additional cytokines and their receptors by keratinocytes and other cells in the skin. Here we describe an additional effect of interleukin-1 on keratinocytes, namely the alteration in the keratinocyte cytoskeleton in the form of the induction of keratin 6 expression. Keratin 6 is a marker of hyperproliferative, activated keratinocytes, found in wound healing, psoriasis, and other inflammatory disorders. Skin biopsies in organ culture treated with interleukin-1 express keratin 6 in all suprabasal layers of the epidermis, throughout the tissue. In cultured epidermal keratinocytes, the induction of keratin 6 is time and concentration dependent. Importantly, only confluent keratinocytes respond to interleukin-1, subconfluent cultures do not. In the cells starved of growth factors, epidermal growth factor or tumor necrosis factor-alpha, if added simultaneously with interleukin-1, they synergistically augment the effects of interleukin-1. Using DNA-mediated cell transfection, we analyzed the molecular mechanisms regulating the keratin 6 induction by interleukin-1, and found that the induction occurs at the transcriptional level. We used a series of deletions and point mutations to identify the interleukin-1 responsive DNA element in the keratin 6 promoter, and determined that it contains a complex of C/EBP binding sites. The transcription factor C/EBPbeta binds this element in vitro, and the binding is augmented by pretreatment of the cells with interleukin-1. The interleukin-1 responsive element is clearly distinct from the epidermal growth factor responsive one, which means that the proinflammatory and proliferative signals independently regulate the expression of keratin 6. Thus, interleukin-1 initiates keratinocyte activation not only by triggering additional signaling events, but also by inducing directly the synthesis of keratin 6 in epidermal keratinocytes, and thus changing the composition of their cytoskeleton.

A mammary stimulating mitogen(s) from rat muscle: its possible influence in mammary tumorigenesis.

A mitogen has been shown to be present in rat abdominal muscle tissue, which could stimulate rat mammary cells grown in culture. Studies on the in vivo-stimulatory effects on the rat mammary gland, taking increase in DNA synthesis, mitotic index and wholemount preparation as the parameters, affirmed the presence of a mammary stimulating factor in the muscle tissue. Treatment of rat mammary glands with the crude mitogen preparation before and after a single gastric dose of 9,10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene (DMBA), increased the mammary tumor incidence suggesting its possible influence in carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis in rats.

A mitogenic factor from rat muscle.

A growth-promoting polypeptide has been purified about 1950-fold from rat abdominal muscle by gel chromatography, isoelectric-focusing (IEF) and reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) techniques. This factor is an acidic protein with an isoelectric point (pI) of 3.4 and a mol. wt of 12 kDa when run on SDS-polyacrylamide gels under reducing conditions. It is acid and heat-stable but is sensitive to reducing agent and protease action. It stimulates [3H]thymidine incorporation in NRK-49F and NIH 3T3 cells and induces soft agar colony formation of NIH 3T3 cells. The muscle-derived mitogen appears to differ from other known growth factors (GFs) in its physico-chemical properties.

Correlative immunohistochemistry and molecular genetic study of the inactivation of the p16INK4A genes in astrocytomas.

Loss of p16 expression can occur via homozygous deletion, point mutation, or hypermethylation of exon 1. Astrocytomas representing all World Health Organization (WHO) grades of malignancy were analyzed in a correlative study using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis to detect deletions of the p16 gene together with immunohistochemistry to detect loss of the protein in archival specimens of the same tumors. Homozygous deletions of p16 were detected in 29% (15 of 52) of WHO grade 3 and 4 tumors. Immunostaining for p16 protein was present in 26 tumors retaining the p16 gene and absent in 11 tumors with deletions of the p16 gene. A close correlation was found between the two detection methods, with all tumors lacking immunostaining showing homozygous loss of the p16 gene. Astrocytomas exhibiting inactivation of the p16 gene most often contained p53 gene mutations or amplified epidermal growth factor receptor genes, genetic characteristics associated with both the progressive and de novo tumor variants. Immunohistochemical evaluation may be a useful, rapid method to screen astrocytomas for loss of p16 gene expression, regardless of the underlying mechanism leading to p16 gene inactivation.

Ocular contact time of a carbomer gel (GelTears) in humans.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Carbomers are widely used in products for the treatment of dry eye; however, the polymer gel thins on addition of probes (for example, fluorescein salt) confounding the comparison of products by objective clinical tests such as spectrophotofluorimetry or scintigraphy. A novel method of radiolabelling carbomer gels, with minimum change to their rheology, has permitted the non-invasive evaluation of precorneal residence of the gel in volunteers using gamma scintigraphy. The technique was used to evaluate the precorneal clearance of the liquid phase and of a suspended particulate in GelTears. METHODS: Low sodium technetium-99m labelled diethylenetriaminepentacetic acid (99mTc-DTPA) was used to label carbomer 940 gel, either adsorbed onto sterile charcoal to model an entrapped drug, or added directly to the gel to a final activity of 1 MBq per 25 microliters dose. The clearance of the labelled gels was then compared with 99mTc-DTPA labelled saline in 12 volunteers. RESULTS: The addition of the low sodium radiopharmaceutical produced insignificant rheological changes in the gel compared with conventional 99mTc-DTPA labelling. The residence times on the eye of the gel formulations were significantly greater than that of the saline control. At 8 minutes postdosing, the label levels retained (mean (SD)) on the ocular surface were: saline, 7% (7%); 99mTc-DTPA gel, 42% (27%); and 99mTc-carbon gel, 42% (20%) of administered dose. There was no difference observed in the precorneal distribution between 99mTc-DTPA solution and particulate markers. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that carbomer based gels significantly extend contact of solutes or suspended solids with the corneal surface. The method of labelling does not significantly change the initial viscosity and is superior to previous methods which have used sodium salts (for example, sodium fluorescein) and therefore underestimate contact time.

Metabolism of [3alpha-3H] 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 in kidneys isolated from normal and vitamin D2-intoxicated rats.

With the availability of A-ring labelled 25OHD2, [3alpha-3H] 25OHD2, we have performed the present study to examine the metabolism of 25OHD2 using physiological substrate concentrations in perfused kidneys isolated from both normal and vitamin D2-intoxicated rats. Our results indicate that [3alpha-3H] 25OHD2 is metabolized into both 24(S),25,28-trihydroxyvitamin D2 [24(S),25,28(OH)3D2] and 24(R),25,26-trihydroxyvitamin D2 [24(R), 25,26(OH)3D2], and the amounts of these two metabolites produced in the kidney of vitamin D2-intoxicated rat were about 3-5 times higher than those produced in the kidney of normal rat. Similar results were also obtained with rat kidney homogenates incubated with [3alpha-3H] 25OHD2. Furthermore, we noted that the production of both 24(S),25,28(OH)3D2 and 24(R),25,26(OH)3D2 in the kidney homogenates of vitamin D2-intoxicated rats increased with the time of incubation and then subsequently decreased. The decrease in both 24(S),25,28(OH)3D2 and 24(R),25,26(OH)3D2 coincided with an increase in the fraction of total radioactivity distributed in the aqueous phase of the kidney homogenates. This finding suggested the possibility of further metabolism of 24(S),25,28(OH)3D2 and 24(R), 25,26(OH)3D2 into polar water-soluble metabolite(s). We then measured the radioactivity in the aqueous phase of kidney homogenates of both normal and vitamin D2-intoxicated rats incubated with [3alpha-3H] 25OHD2. It was noted that the amount of radioactivity in the aqueous phase of kidney homogenates of vitamin D2-intoxicated rats is higher than that present in the aqueous phase of kidney homogenates of normal rats. Thus, our study provides evidence for the first time for the formation of both 24(S),25,28(OH)3D2 and 24(R),25, 26(OH)3D2 under physiological conditions, and the possibility of their further metabolism into as yet unidentified polar water-soluble metabolite(s). As the formation of all these metabolites is increased in the kidney of vitamin D2-intoxicated rats when compared to normal rats, it appears that the increased rate of metabolism of 25OHD2 during hypervitaminosis D2 plays a significant role in the deactivation of 25OHD2.

Alterations of multiple tumor suppressor genes (p53 (17p13), p16INK4 (9p21), and DBM (13q14)) in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) samples were screened for alterations in multiple tumor suppressor genes (p53 (17p13), p16INK4 (9p21), and disrupted in B-cell malignancy (DBM) (13q14) by using polymerase chain reaction-based assays. Eleven percent (11 of 96) of the B-CLL cases analyzed in this study and a previous study had mutations in the p53 gene. In contrast, analysis of the p16 gene showed none of 80 B-CLL cases had mutations and five cases (6%) had homozygous deletions. Deletions of 13q14 (DBM) occurred in 18% (17 of 96) of patients surveyed. Thus, 28 of 96 cases showed an alteration in one or more of the three tumor suppressor loci examined. However, cases with p53 mutations rarely showed simultaneous loss of DBM. Our results suggest that inactivation of the tumor suppressor genes p53 and DBM may be mutually exclusive, thus providing alternate pathways for tumor development in B-CLL patients.

Inflammatory versus proliferative processes in epidermis. Tumor necrosis factor alpha induces K6b keratin synthesis through a transcriptional complex containing NFkappa B and C/EBPbeta.

Epidermal keratinocytes respond to injury by becoming activated, i.e. hyperproliferative, migratory, and proinflammatory. These processes are regulated by growth factors and cytokines. One of the markers of activated keratinocytes is keratin K6. We used a novel organ culture system to show that tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) induces the expression of K6 protein and mRNA in human skin. Multiple isoforms of K6 are encoded by distinct genes and have distinct patterns of expression. By having shown previously that proliferative signals, such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), induce expression of the cytoskeletal protein keratin K6b, we here demonstrate that the same isoform, K6b, is also induced by TNFalpha, a proinflammatory cytokine. Specifically, TNFalpha induces the transcription of the K6b gene promoter. By using co-transfection, specific inhibitors, and antisense oligonucleotides, we have identified NFkappaB and C/EBPbeta as the transcription factors that convey the TNFalpha signal. Both transcription factors are necessary for the induction of K6b by TNFalpha and act as a complex, although only C/EBPbeta binds the K6b promoter DNA. By using transfection, site-directed mutagenesis, and footprinting, we have mapped the site that responds to TNFalpha, NFkappaB, and C/EBPbeta. This site is separate from the one responsive to EGF and AP1. Our results show that the proinflammatory (TNFalpha) and the proliferative (EGF) signals in epidermis separately and independently regulate the expression of the same K6b keratin isoform. Thus, the cytoskeletal responses in epidermal cells can be precisely tuned by separate proliferative and inflammatory signals to fit the nature of the injuries that caused them.