[Environmental problems of long-term technogenic pollution of the soil in the Irkutsk region].

Soil contamination with heavy metals, arsenic, and their impact on human health continues to be one of the most pressing problems. The results of studies performed in various industrial centers of the Irkutsk region are presented. Toxic substances are found to be accumulated in soils and biosubstrates of the children population.

[Tolerance of different cell types for hypotonic action]. / Ustoichivost' raznykh tipov kletok k deistviiu gipotonii.

The behavior of cells with different structure of cytoskeleton was studied in the hypotonic media: protoplasts, embryonal mouse fibroblasts and transformed mouse fibroblasts (L-line). Protoplasts were most sensitive to the hypotonic media. They began to disrupt in the hypotonic medium 4:1, and in the hypotonic medium 1:7 a complete lysis of cells was observed. Transformed mouse fibroblasts were disrupted in the medium diluted 1:15, while embryonal mouse fibroblasts were not disrupted in the medium diluted 1:31. Moreover, in the hypotonic conditions an essential difference was observed between the cells studied. Embryonal mouse fibroblasts are more tolerant to the hypotonic conditions than L-cells and protoplasts. It is suggested that the cytoskeleton may define the cell tolerance in hypotonic media.

[Adaptive properties of the cultured cells from a pig embryo kidney exposed to hypotonic media]. / Adaptatsionnye svoistva kletok kul'tury SPEV pri deistvii gipotonicheskikh sred.

A high tolerance of the cultured SPEV-cells was found under vital examination of their behaviour in hypotonic conditions. The dilution of cultured medium 1:1 hardly affects the cell morphology. With a 1:3 dilution, some minute alterations in the cells were noticed associated with the cell shape and the structure of the nucleus and of the cytoplasm, which later gradually disappear. A marked tendency of morphological alterations in the cells increases with increasing the medium dilution (1:7 and 1:15), however no cell destruction was observed. The complete lysis of the cells occurs only in the medium diluted by 32 times (1:31).

[Functional evaluation of cultured cells under hypotonic conditions by intravital staining with neutral red]. / Otsenka funktsional'nogo sostoianiia kul'tiviruemykh kletok, pom eshchennykh v gipotonicheskie usloviiakh putem prizhiznennogo okrashivaniia neitral'nym krasnym.

A high stability of pig embryo kidney-cells to hypotony was shown with neutral red vital staining. In the medium, diluted 1 : 1, the cells kept their ability to make granules during 6 days. In the medium diluted by water 1 : 3, both granular and diffuse staining of cells was shown within 6-12 hours. Later (18-48 hours) the cell ability to make granules was kept, but the neutral red was deposed as large vacuoles. In the normal medium the cell ability to make granules was kept too. In the medium, diluted by water 1 : 7, the cells lost their ability to make granules. The ability was recovered when cells were returned to the normal medium. Thus, after 6-18 hours of incubation in such a hypotonic medium, the cells produced small granules of neutral red, and 24-48 hours later they made large granules.

[Effect of ouabain on an SPEV culture]. / Deistvie oubaina na kletki kul'tury SPEV.

The presence of ouabain at a concentration of 4.10(-4) M in the culture medium is shown to lead to cytophysiological and morphological alterations in the cells. The synthetic and mitotic activity of the cells is reduced after 6 hrs of the experiment. The ultrastructure of all cell organelles changed simultaneously with their metabolic activity. The dynamics of ultrastructural alterations of the cells was observed. However, changes caused by ouabain did not result in death of the cell.