Application of a magnetic fluid seal to rotary blood pumps.

A magnetic fluid seal enables mechanical contact-free rotation of a shaft without frictional heat and material wear and hence has excellent durability. However, the durability of a magnetic fluid seal decreases in liquid. The life of a seal applied to a rotary blood pump is not known. We have developed a magnetic fluid seal that has a shield mechanism minimizing the influence of the rotary pump on the magnetic fluid. The developed magnetic fluid seal worked for over 286 days in a continuous flow condition, for 24 days (on-going) in a pulsatile flow condition and for 24 h (electively terminated) in blood flow. The magnetic fluid seal is promising as a shaft seal for rotary blood pumps.

Heterologous transfection with bacteriophage phiX174 DNA: and improved system.

A highly efficient and much more reproducible system for the heterologous transfection of several kinds of Gram-negative bacterial spheroplasts with bacteriophage phiX174 DNA was established. By mild washing of the speroplasts, the efficiency of transfection of all non-host heterologous bacterial species tested increased one or more orders of magnitude in producing the progeny phages and/or the infectious intermediates. Using the improved heterologous transfection systems, it has become clearer that a strong suppression system operates on the processes of phiX174 progeny phage production and not on those of phiX174 dougle-stranded replicative form DNA synthesis in the heterologous bacterial cells. Similar stimulatory effects of this washing procedure were observed in the homologous transfection. With this improved assay system, even less than 100 molecules of phage phiX174 DNA can be detected and the number of molecules can be determined with accuracy.

Heterologous transfection with bacteriophage phiX174 DNA. Unusual heterogeneous products.

Hydroxylamine-resistant infectious materials (HARIM) synthesized in natural non-host and progeny phage low productive bacterial spheroplasts upon transfection with bacteriophage phiX174 DNA were found to be unusually heterogeneous in their forms. Using Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a source of HARIM, it was shown that they have the following unusual features. (1) Almost all of the HARIM are denser than normal single-stranded (SS)- and double-stranded replicative form (RF)-DNAs of phiX174 found usually in the phage-infected host cells. (2) A great part of these heavy HARIM (approximately 84%) contain a variable length of single-stranded RNA associated with their infectious elements. (3) For most of the HARIM (approximately 80% of total molecules as the infectious elements of the heavy HARIM), the infectious elements are phiX-RFI-DNA. The wide-spread system for phiX-HARIM synthesis was shown to be present in many gram-negative bacterial cells.

Trinitrophenylation of nucleic acids and their constituents.

1. Under relatively mild conditions, nucleic acids and their constituents were trinitrophenylated with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonate (TNBS) in aqueous solution (pH 8-11), yielding reddish-orange trinitrophenyl (TNP) derivatives. Guanine residues were trinitrophenylated on the base residues at the 2-amino group (N2-TNP derivatives), and in addition, 2'- and 3'-hydroxyl groups of the ribose moieties of nucleosides or nucleotides were trinitrophenylated to form Meisenheimer complexes. 2. The preparation of TNP derivatives (N2-TNP-guanine, -guanosine, N2, O-bis-TNP-guanosine, O-TNP-guanosine, -adenosine, -cytidine , and -uridine), their rates of formation, absorption spectra (UV, visible, and infrared), molar extinction coefficients, Rf value, electrophoretic mobilities, and stability in acid or alkaline solution, are presented. 3. Trinitrophenylation of several kinds of nucleic acid was investigated. Calf thymus DNA and yeast transfer RNA showed a resistance to trinitrophenylation compared to guanosine 3'(2')-phosphate, yeast RNA or denatured calf thymus DNA. TNP-RNA showed resistance to the action of ribonucleases T1 and T2 [EC 3.1.4.8 and 3.1.4.23]. 4. Trinitrophenylation reactions using 2,4,6-trinitrochlorobenzene and 2,4,6-trinitrofluorobenzene were compared with that using TNBS as regards specificity and reaction rate.

Lytic enzyme produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa concomitantly with bacteriophage PS17. Purification, characterization, and comparison with PR1-lysozyme.

A bacteriolytic enzyme was found to be produced, concomitantly with the progeny phage, in Pseudomonas aeruginosa P14 infected with phage PS17. The enzyme, named PS17-lysozyme, was purified by acrinol treatment, two cycles of Amberlite CG-50 chromatography, and SP-Sephadex C-50 chromatography. Homogeneity of the preparation was demonstrated by three electrophoretic techniques. PS17-lysozyme behaved like a basic protein (pI, 9-10) consisting of a single polypeptide chain (molecular weight, 24,500) and showed the substrate specificity as hen egg-white lysozyme. The enzyme exhibited much higher specific activity than the egg-white enzyme when assayed with chloroform-killed P. aeruginosa P14 as a substrate. These characteristics, as well as the amino acid composition, were very similar to those of PR1-lysozyme; a bacteriolytic enzyme produced in mitomycin C-induced P. aeruginosa P15 concomitantly with a phage-tail-like bacteriocin, pyocin R1 (Ochi et al. (1978) J. Biochem. 83, 727-736). However, the behavior of these two lysozymes from P. aeruginosa in Amberlite CG-50 chromatography and some other properties indicated that they were not identical, though they were similar. The results are in accord with the view that pyocin R1 may be a defective form of a bacteriophage closely related to but not identical with phage PS17.

Sulfhydryl groups of pyocin R1. Morphology and activity modified with sulfhydryl reagents.

Electron microscopic observation of pyocin R1 with the negative staining technique demonstrated that pyocin R1 retained its phage tail-like shape of an extended sheath even when it was inactivated by treatment with p-chloromercuribenzoic acid (PCMB) or 4-(p-sulfophenylazo)-2-mercuriphenol (SAMP). Thus it was shown that the contraction and extension of the sheath does not occur reversibly on the modification of sulfhydryl groups accompanying the change of activity. The activity lost under these conditions was restored to the original level by treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME). Numbers of sulfhydryl groups in the pyocin R1 particle were determined to be 208 mol and 152 mol per mol (11.8 x 10(6) daltons) by spectrophotometric titration with SAMP and by membrane-filter assay with radioactive PCMB, respectively. Most of these cysteine residues appeared to be localized in the substructure other than the sheath and core. It was also shown that all of these sulfhydryl groups were not necessary for expression of its activity but a part of them were essential for adsorption to the sensitive cells.

Bacteriolytic enzyme induced from pyocinogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Purification and characterization of PR1-lysozyme.

A bacteriolytic enzyme, PR1-lysozyme, has been purified from the lysate of mitomycin C-induced pyocinogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa, by acrinol treatment, Amberlite CG-50 chromatography, ammonium sulfate fractionation, Sephadex G-100 gel filtration and two cycles of SP-Sephadex C-50 chromatography. Homogeneity of the preparation was demonstrated by three electrophoretic techniques. PR1-lysozyme is a basic protein (pI, 9.4) and consists of a single polypeptide chain having a molecular weight of 24,000. The amino acid composition of the protein was analyzed, and no cystein residue was found among more than 210 amino acid residues. The optimum pH for enzymatic activity was 6.4 and the enzyme exhibited about 50 to 70 times greater specific activity than hen egg-white lysozyme when assayed with chloroform-killed P. aeruginosa as a substrate. By analyzing the products of enzymatic action on purified peptidoglycan of P. aeruginosa, the enzyme was identified as an N-acetylmuramidase, i.e., the same classification as hen-egg-white lysozyme. PR1-lysozyme did not show any activity towards intact cells of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria tested. However, the enzyme was able to lyse chloroform-killed gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.

Amniotic fluid embolism and leukotrienes.

Extracts of experimental amniotic fluid embolism from rabbit lungs showed the same biologic activities as leukotrienes and a peak on high-performance liquid chromatography at the same retention time as leukotriene D4. Acute death was prevented by administration of 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor. These results suggest the possibility that leukotrienes contribute to the clinical and pathophysiologic features of amniotic fluid embolism.

Induction of bacteriolytic enzyme from pyocinogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa and its enzymatic properties.

Mitomycin C induced a pyocinogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa P15 to produce a bacteriolytic enzyme, PR1-lysozyme, together with pyocin R1. No significant accumulation of the enzyme was observed inside the induced cells. The enzyme was partially purified by acrinol treatment and Amberlie CG-50 column chromatography. The mode of action of the enzyme on the host bacterial cells as well as on Micrococcus lysodeikticus cells or peptidoglycan isolated from Salmonella typhimurium, was compared with that of hen egg-white lysozyme or phage lambda-lysozyme. It is suggested that PR1-lysozyme should be classified as a glycosidase, rather than an amidase or an endopeptidase.

Placental transfer of cefotiam dihydrochloride.

The concentrations of cefotiam dihydrochloride (CTM) in maternal and fetal blood and in amniotic fluid were determined by bioassay in 38 women at parturition. With an intravenous infusion of 1 g of CTM, the decline in concentration of CTM in maternal blood was biphasic; CTM was not detectable at 6 h after administration. Peak levels of CTM in umbilical cord blood (13.0 to 23.9 micrograms/ml) were attained between 15 and 28 min after intravenous infusion; those in amniotic fluid (19.6 to 23.5 micrograms/ml) were attained at ca. 2.5 h.

[The influences of prostaglandin E2 on hormones in maternal-fetoplacental unit].

The influences of PGE2 on hormones in maternal-fetoplacental unit and the initiation of labor were studied in full term pregnant women. PGE 2 (500 micrograms, 1tab.) was administered every hour, 6 times and serum unconjugated estriol (E3), progesterone (P), human placental lactogen (hPL), prolactin (Prl) and cortisol (C) were assayed before and during PGE2 administration. In 13 pregnant women (Group A) in whom uterine contractions were induced, E3, hPL and C were higher, though not significantly, than those in 6 women (Group B) in whom uterine contractions did not occur. On the other hand the P level in Group A was lower than in Group B. E3 levels during PGE2 administration rose slightly in both groups. P decreased 16.8% of basal levels in Group A, 7.3% in Group B. Prl decreases were 11.7% and 24.8%, respectively. These drops were not as significant as the changes in hPL and C. These results suggest that the method and dosage of PGE2 used in this study do not affect hormonal regulations in the maternal-fetoplacental unit and that we may use hormonal levels as an indicator of fetal well-being even during PGE2 administration.