Enzyme-based flow injection analysis system for glutamine and glutamate in mammalian cell culture media.

We present the setup of a flow injection analysis system designed for on-line monitoring of glutamate and glutamine. These amino acids represent a major energy source in mammalian cell culture. A cycling assay consisting of glutamate dehydrogenase and aspartate aminotransferase produces NADH proportional to the glutamate concentration in the sample. NADH is then measured spectrophotometrically. Glutamine is determined by conversion to glutamate which is fed into the cycling assay. The conversion of glutamine to glutamate is catalyzed by asparaginase. Asparaginase was used in place of glutaminase due to its relatively high reactivity with glutamine and a pH optimum similar to that of glutamate dehydrogenase. The enzymes were immobilized covalently to activated controlled pore glass beads and integrated into the flow injection analysis system. The application of the immobilized enzymes and the technical setup are presented in this paper.

[Sarcomas of the female genitalia: therapy and prognosis (author's transl)]. / Sarkome des weiblichen genitale: therapie und prognose.

216 sarcomas of the female genitalia were treated at the University hospitals for women of Freiburg and Tübingen between the years 1957 to 1977. 76% originated from the uterine corpus; 28% (46/164) of the sarcomas of the corpus uteri were detected as incidental findings. The 5 year survival rates is 54% in stage I, 25% in stage II, and 40% in all stages (52/131). Postoperative irradiation of stage I cases of sarcomas of the corpus uteri diminished local recurrence but not metastases. Extirpation of the ovaries has no influence on local recurrence. Sarcomas of the vulva and cervix have a comparatively good prognosis, whereas the prognosis of the sarcoma of the ovary is very bad. The bad prognosis of sarcomas of the female genitalia points out the necessity of developing cooperative clinical trials on the effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy.