[Impact of endogenous porphyrin-photosensitized exposure on peripheral lymphocytes in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis].

Peripheral lymphocytes (PL) were studied in 63 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and 28 donors. The study revealed the elevated levels of lipid peroxidation products, altered membrane potential, and diminished PL viability in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis as compared with healthy donors. Analysis of the time dependences of cell viability and production of active tuberculosis products after endogenous porphyrin-photosensitized exposure suggests that the lymphocytes from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis are more exposed to the damaging effect of free radicals than the cells from healthy individuals. This is more apparent 18 hours of dark incubation after cell illumination in the presence of ALK-induced porphyrins in doses of 47.4 kJ/m2 or more. The findings suggest that the changes occurring in PL from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis may substantially cause immune disorders and contribute to the progression of a tuberculous process.

[A research into the possibility of biological control over technophilic microorganisms using KSAP-U, a military device for biological reconnaissance].

The paper is dedicated to the detection of technophilic microorganisms, able to affect fuels, lubricants, and construction materials. The study demonstrated that indicator paper used in KSAP-U, a biological reconnaissance device, was able to detect technophilic test microorganisms in samples of rubber, turbonit, and the water phase of the "fuel-medium" system even when the degree of material affection was minimal. The authors suggest the practical application of these means for the express indication of technophilic microorganisms in technical objects.

[The development of peroxosolvate-based composites and the evaluation of their effectiveness against extremely dangerous infective pathogens].

The article contains the results of the test of PFK-M composition bactericidal activity against a range of extremely dangerous infective pathogens. The preparation proved to be highly effective for the disinfection of surfaces, sanitary and technical equipment, linen, dishes, and medical utensils contaminated by plague, cholera, and anthrax pathogens. The study found that the antimicrobial activity of the preparation increased after heating and lowered when the object to be disinfected was contaminated with protein admixtures. According to the results of the disinfectological expertise, the preparation was recommended for practical application.

[A research into the possibility of the application of new peroxosolvate-based compounds as chemical disinfectants].

A newly synthesized peroxosolvate, ammonium sulphate peroxosolvate, can be used in disinfectology and other areas along with other hard forms of hydrogen. Optimal conditions for ammonium sulphate peroxosolvate synthesis were determined by this study. It was established that (NH4)2SO4 . H2O2 stabilized with carboxylic acids did not lose active oxygen when stored in dry atmosphere. The sporocidal activity of the compound against the suspension of B. cereus var. anthracoides 250 was studied. The results demonstrate that thanks to the high decontaminating activity of the solvate its solutions can be used to produce disinfecting preparations.

[The relationship between the conditions of cultivation and sporification of various Bacillus strains and the results of the evaluation of the sporocidal activity of chemical desinfectants].

The researchers compared the main microbiological characteristics of some Bacillus antracoides strains after their cultivation in different nutrient media. The study found that the growth and sporification rate, R-S dissociation ability, and sensitivity to disinfectants are strain properties and significantly depend on the composition of the nutrient medium.

[Chemicals for disinfection and decontamination used and being designed for eliminating the aftermaths of biological contamination]. / Khimicheskie sredstva dezinfektsii i dekontaminatsii, primeniaemye i razrabatyvaemye dlia likvidatsii posledstvii biologicheskogo zarazheniia.

The efficiency of the key classes of disinfecting and decontaminating chemicals, used to eliminate a biological contamination of the human habitat, was analyzed in the paper. It is underlined that, should any biological agents with unknown properties (biological terror, military threat) be detected, it is advisable to choose the ecologically less hazardous disinfectants based on hydrogen peroxide, aldehydes and chlorine-containing compounds.

[The sporicidal activity of disinfectants based on hydrogen peroxide]. / Sporotsidnaia aktivnost' dezinfitsiruiushchikh sredstv na osnove peroksida vodoroda.

The authors analyzed the experience of disinfection experts related with the designing of new disinfection chemicals and of their composition variations. The key regularities were defined, which are important for the designing of effective disinfectants with preset properties capable of rapidly and safely inactivating a microbe contamination of different objects in the human habitat. A high antimicrobial activity and good outlooks are demonstrated for disinfectants made on the basis of hydrogen peroxide.

[Problems of disinfection and decontamination in the biological protection and prevention of contagious diseases]. / Problemy dezinfektsii i dekontaminatsii v sisteme biologicheskoi zashchity i profilaktiki infektsionnykh zabolevanii.

The problems of biological protection of the general population and military staff against biological hazard sources, primarily against biological terrorism and military threat underlie works on the design of new disinfectants having a universal spectrum of antimicrobial action and less ecological hazard than currently available ones. Elimination of biological hazard require effective chemical disinfectants that can completely inactivate microbes of unknown etiology as rapidly as possible and that cause the minimum damage to environmental objects. The disinfectant PFK of various modifications is evaluated in terms of the requirements of that ecological and chemical concept aimed at testing chemicals entering the environment.

[Preparation and use of chemical disinfectants in biological protection and prevention of contagious diseases : ecological aspects]. / Ekologicheskie aspekty polucheniia i primeneniia khimicheskikh sredstv dezinfektsii v sisteme biologicheskoi zashchity i profilaktiki infektsionnykh zabolevanii.

Ecological requirements to reduce negative effects of chemical disinfectants were one on major determinants the line of works to develop and introduce novel compounds that are environmentally safe hydrogen peroxide derivatives. The paper analyzes the possible routes of entering different fluorine compounds into the environment when disinfecting measures are made at therapeutical-and-preventive institutions, when emergencies occur at microbiological synthesis plants. The maximum concentration of a chemical that has no effect on biochemical processes when it is continuously used at sewage works is chosen as a safe (permissible) level. Preliminary calculations show that the use of PFK for disinfection will not pollute the environment with fluorides.

[The group identification of the causative agents of infectious diseases in environmental objects]. / Gruppovaia identifikatsiia vozbuditelei infektsionnykh zabolevanii v ob''ektakh okruzhaiushchei sredy.

Drop colorimetric reactions were studied for group identification of microorganisms referring to as viral rickettsial bacterial vegetative and bacterial sporal taxonomic groups. For their determination, the authors proposed a number of well-known reactions for preliminary detection of microorganisms if there was protein or protein components in a sample, as well as a series of reactions characteristic of some groups of microorganisms and their vital activity. The list was proposed to include not only tests for dehydrogenase and peroxidase activities and for inorganic phosphates, but also those for the ability of suspension production, etc, which were specific signs of the presence and vital ability of microorganisms. Drop reactions were made with eight indicator papers and a set of reagents used for control of the reactions, and with a set of wetting solutions for liquid-phase reactions. A set of reagents and accessories provided the identification of 40 samples of microorganisms, the analysis of one unknown sample took less than an hour. The authors developed an algorithm for the sequence of tests depending on the combination of positive and negative effects of indicator means, namely an algorithm for relating microorganisms to the above taxonomic groups.

[The development of a technology for producing a new disinfecting agent with a universal spectrum of antimicrobial action]. / Razrabotka tekhnologii polucheniia novogo dezinfektsionnogo sredstva s univeral'nym spektrom antimikrobnogo deistviia.

The paper summarizes the findings of the physicochemical and potency of potassium fluoride peroxohydrate (PFP-1), a new Russian disinfecting agent having a universal spectrum of antimicrobial effects. It also summarizes the results of long-term practical use for the routine and final disinfection of rooms, sanitary engineering equipment, glassware, medical instruments against both sanitary indicative microorganisms, and actual pathogens of disease in infective and somatic hospitals, tuberculous dispensaries, sanatoria, schools, kindergartens, military hospitals, maternity houses of Russian different cities, towns, and localities. The paper presents comparative data on the mechanism of action of various modifications of PFP on microbial spores, on the stability of agents and their solutions during storage, on the damaging activity on the materials of the processed objects, on toxicological and ecological risks. The results of comparative studies of the bactericidal and sporicidal activities of the modifications PFP-1, PFP-2, PFP-3 confirmed that it is necessary to develop a procedure for preparing modifications containing high levels of hydrogen peroxide in the dry preparation and that they can be obtained at the pilot unit developed to prepare PFP-1 modifications.

[The effect of cytoskeleton modification on the process of trypsin-induced cell aggregation]. / Vliianie modifikatsii tsikoskeletona na protsess tripsinindutsirovannoi agregatsii kletok.

Studies were performed on the influence of cytoskeleton modification (by colchicine, vinblastine, and cytochalasin B, and by neoplastic transformation) on cell aggregation induced by small trypsin concentrations (the final concentrations equal to 1-100 mg/ml) added to a suspension of chick embryo fibroblasts dispersed from a monolayer with EDTA. It was shown that alteration of microfilaments resulted in the loss of the ability of plasma membranes to structural rearrangements. It is suggested that aggregation of these cells is realized due to a gradual exposure of adhesive sites along with proteolytic splitting of protein components of plasma membranes.

[Interaction of bromophenol blue with serum albumin: criteria for using dyes for assessing the state and quantity of protein]. / Vzaimodeistvie bromfenolovogo sinego s syvorotochnym al'buminom: kriterii ispol'zovaniia krasiteliia dliia otsenki sostoianiia i kolichestva belka.

The optical properties of the complexes of the pH-dependent dye bromophenol blue (BPB) with human serum albumin were investigated by the spectrophotometric method. The solvatochromic longwave displacement of bound BPB-2 absorption and BPB-1/BPB-2 redistribution were shown to form the optical signal of complexes. Because of the distortion of the bound BPB-2 signal its quantity was determined as delta A630 = A630 - A660 and the use of lambda max as structural parameter was limited to low pH less than or equal to 3. The conclusion was made that BPB is inapplicable as a structural probe on account of low structural dependence of delta A630 and pH-limitation of lambda max used. The maximal absorption delta Amax = Amax - A660 and its structural independence were obtained in the region of 70-100% occupation of the dye-binding centers of the protein. It is the optimal conditions for the quantitative determination of protein. After maximal dye binding (15-16 molecules of BPB per 1 molecule of albumin) the aggregation and precipitation of the complexes occurred.

[Structuro-functional characteristics of aldolase from rabbit muscles in diabetes]. / Strukturno-funktsional'nye osobennosti al'dolazy myshts krolikov pri diabete.

The structural peculiarities of rabbit muscle aldolase accompanying enhancement of the aldolase activity in diabetes are described from the data of tryptophan phosphorescence at the room temperature and fluorescence polarization. It is shown that the pathology-concomitant conformational changes occur in both the hydrophobic part and NAD-binding site of the enzyme. The character of the structural changes in the hydrophobic part of the protein in diabetes and an increase in the enzymic activity are similar to that observed in normal aldolase after its interaction with NADH and are believed to be associated with the enhancement of the rigidity in the Trp-147 environment.

[Study of the equilibrium dynamics of cell protein structure using the tryptophan fluorescence method at room temperature]. / Issledovanie ravnovesnoi dinamiki struktury belkov kletki metodom triptofanovoi fosforestsentsii pri komnatnoi temperature.

Room-temperature tryptophane phosphorescence (RTTP) of liver tissue cells has been studied. It is shown that over a millisecond range RTTP is absent in soluble proteins of the cytoplasm, karyoplasm, mitochondrial matrix, and the phosphorescent signal is controlled only by proteins of the subcellular structures incorporated into the membranes. It is concluded that, unlike the membrane proteins, the cytoplasm and organelle matrix-soluble proteins are characterized by a high level of intramolecular equilibrium mobility, which causes RTTP quenching following a dynamic mechanism. In membrane proteins, which fluoresce in a millisecond range the level of equilibrium conformation motions is limited, probably, due to protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions.

[Mechanisms of protease-induced cell aggregation. II. The effect of trypsin on the structural state of the plasma membrane of chick embryo fibroblasts]. / Issledovanie mekhanizmov proteazo-indutsirovannoi agregatsii kletok. II. Vliianie tripsina na strukturnoe sostoianie plazmaticheskoi membrany fibroblastov kurinogo émbriona.

Using freeze-etching, registration of kinetics of tryptophane phosphorescence quenching at room temperature, and measuring the cell electrophoretic mobility, a study has been made of the influence of a short-term treatment (5-10 min) with a low concentration of trypsin (2-100 microgram/ml) on the chick embryo fibroblasts removed from the monolayer with EDTA and suspended in the Henks solution. It is shown that trypsin induces a structural rearrangement of the plasma membrane which is manifested in clustering intramembrane globular particles. Trypsin-induced rearrangement of the plasma membrane is accompanied by an increase in the negative charge of the cell surface. The results obtained by the phosphorescence method show that structural rearrangements involve alongside with plasma membranes the majority of intracellular proteins.

[Study of the mechanisms of protease-induced cell aggregation. I. Effect of trypsin on the aggregating capacity of chick embryo fibroblasts]. / Issledovanie mekhanizmov proteazo-indutsirovannoí agregatsii kletok. I. Vliianie tripsina na sposobnost' k agregatsii fibroblastov kurinogo émbriona.

The administration of trypsin (1-100 mcg/ml) to the chick embryo fibroblast suspension, removed from the monolayer by means of EDTA, causes a pronounced aggregation of the cells. The aggregation completes within a few minutes and occurs in two steps. On the first step of the trypsin-induced aggregation, the amount of aggregating cells, grows rather slowly and monotonously, whereas on the second step, a sharp and non-linear acceleration of the aggregation process is observed. The data presented favour an assumption that the second stage of the fibroblast aggregation may be due to a structural rearrangement of cytoplasmic membranes that involves a splitting of a small, critical number of peptide bonds of cell surface proteins.