Influence of a corpus luteum tissue extract on rabbit ovarian mesothelial cells.

This study investigates rabbit ovarian mesothelial (OM) cells exposed in vitro to a crude corpus luteum extract (CLE; 60 micrograms/ml). The growth of OM cells was evaluated by measuring the change in cell number (mean % +/- standard error of mean, SEM), the number of cell population doublings (CPD +/- SEM), and the cell population doubling time in hours (CPDT +/- SEM) after 7.5 days of culture in a serum-poor medium. Quantitative estimates of surface morphology changes were obtained by analyzing the total number (mean no. +/- SEM), density (mean no./100 microns 2 +/- SEM), and length-to-diameter ratio (mean L/D +/- SEM) of microvilli. OM cells in control medium formed loosely cohesive monolayers, and grew 152.53 +/- 11.01% with a CPD of 0.59 +/- 0.08 and a CPDT of 117.29 +/- 6.43 hours. The exposed surface area of these cells was over 8,000 microns 2 and was covered in its epinuclear region by long and slender microvilli with a L/D of 6.01 +/- 0.29. The total number of microvilli in each control cell was 1977.52 +/- 120.49 with a density of 0.58 +/- 0.03/100 microns 2 in the epinuclear region and of 0.05 +/- 0.003/150 microns 2 in the remaining surface area (5,161.62 +/- 354.43 microns 2). In contrast, CLE-rich cells cultures grew 329.57 +/- 16.65%, with a CPD of 1.71 +/- 0.07 and a CPDT of 53.43 +/- 2.93 hours.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Elastofibroma. A pseudotumor of myofibroblasts.

The fine structure of the cell of origin in elastofibroma showed features of both fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells with fibrils that formed parallel stacks 100 A in diameter and 100 A apart and occupied large areas of the cytoplasm of some cells and an abundance of rough endoplasmic reticulum. The myofibroblast has been reported in a variety of lesions and is also present in granulation tissue and hypertrophic scars. It is postulated, in accordance with previous reports, that myofibroblasts are instrumental in the repair process and that elastofibromas are a product of constant subclinical trauma and repair.

Isolation and description of a menaquinone mutant from Bacillus licheniformis.

A menaquinone mutant (SG1) of Bacillus licheniformis has been isolated by selecting for colonies that are resistant to low levels of kanamycin (1.5 mug/ml) but sensitive to the same concentration of kanamycin in the presence of shikimate (25 mug/ml). The wild type (IU1) contained 0.38 +/- 0.02 nmol of menaquinone-7 (MK-7) per mg (dry weight) of cells when grown +/- shikimate, whereas SG1 had less than 0.01 nmol of MK-7 per mg (dry weight) of cells when grown in the presence of shikimate. SG1 had a generation time of 85 min, as compared to 24 min for IU1 grown +/- shikimate. SG1 doubled with a generation time of 28 min when grown in the presence of shikimate. IU1 consumed O2 at various rates depending on the stage of growth. A triphasic O2 consumption curve with maxima at mid-exponential phase, the transition from exponential to stationary phase, and early stationary phase was found for IU1 +/- shikimate and SG1 + shikimate. SG1 grown without shikimate consumed O2 at a low level (10 to 20% of IU1). Normal respiration could be restored to SG1 8.5 min after shikimate addition, whereas normal growth was not restored until 40 min after shikimate addition. Electron microscopic studies of SG1 and IU1 have indicated a morphological alteration in the mutant. SG1 is a dwarf cell as compared to IU1, when grown without shikimate. However, SG1 grown with shikimate became morphologically indistinguishable from IU1.