Central nervous system-immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome presenting as varicella zoster virus-mediated vasculitis causing stroke.

Varicella zoster virus (VZV)-mediated vasculitis is a rare cause of stroke, but should be considered in HIV patients where vasculitis can occur in association with central nervous system - immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (CNS-IRIS). A literature search revealed 7 reports of VZV vasculitis over the years with no unifying management strategy, highlighting the difficulty in managing rare conditions in the absence of clear guidelines. This is the first documented case of VZV-mediated vasculitis presenting as stroke in the United Kingdom. Our patient made a full recovery with multidisciplinary input from HIV, neurology and radiology specialists.

Measurement of water transport during freezing in cell suspensions using a differential scanning calorimeter.

A new technique using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) was developed to obtain dynamic and quantitative water transport data in cell suspensions during freezing. The model system investigated was a nonattached spherical lymphocyte (Epstein-Barr virus transformed, EBVT) human cell line. Data from the technique show that the initial heat release of a prenucleated sample containing osmotically active cells in media is greater than the final heat release of an identical sample of osmotically inactive or lysed cells in media. The total integrated magnitude of this difference, Deltaqdsc, was found to be proportional to the cytocrit and hence also to the supercooled water volume in the sample. Further, the normalized fractional integrated heat release difference as a function of temperature, Deltaq(T)dsc/Deltaqdsc, was shown to correlate with the amount of supercooled cellular water which had exosmosed from the cell as a function of subzero temperature at constant cooling rates of 5, 10, and 20 degrees C/min. Several important limitations of the technique are (1) that it requires a priori knowledge of geometric parameters such as the surface area, initial volume, and osmotically inactive cell volume and (2) that the technique alone cannot determine whether the heat released from supercooled cellular water is due to dehydration or intracellular ice formation. Cryomicroscopy was used to address these limitations. The initial cell volume and surface area were obtained directly whereas a Boyle-van't Hoff (BVH) plot was constructed to obtain the osmotically inactive cell volume Vb. Curve fitting the BVH data assuming linear osmometric behavior yielded Vb = 0.258V0; however, nonlinearity in the data suggests that the EBVT lymphocyte cells are not "ideal osmometers" at low subzero temperatures and created some uncertainty in the actual value of Vb. Cryomicroscopy further confirmed that dehydration was the predominant biophysical response of the cells over the range of cooling rates investigated. One notable exception occurred at a rate of 20 degrees C/min where evidence for intracellular ice formation due to a DSC measured heat release between -30 and -34 degrees C correlated with a higher end volume but no darkening of the cells during cryomicroscopy. For the cooling rate tested (5 degrees C/min) the cryomicroscopy data correlated statistically very well with the DSC water transport data. A model of water transport was fit to the DSC water transport data and the average (5, 10, and 20 degrees C/min) biophysical parameters for the EBVT lymphocytes were found to be Lpg = 0.10 micro m/min-atm, ELp = 15.5 kcal/mol. Finally, the decrease in heat release from osmotically active cells measured by the DSC during repetitive freezing and thawing was found to correlate strongly with the viability of the cells measured during identical freeze/thaw protocols with cryomicroscopy. This shows the additional ability of the technique to assess freeze/thaw injury. In summary, this DSC technique is a promising new approach for measuring water transport in cellular systems during freezing.

Requirement for a phospholipase C in odor response: overlap between olfaction and vision in Drosophila.

A central problem in sensory system biology is the identification of the signal transduction pathways used in different sensory modalities. Genetic analysis of transduction mutants provides a means of studying in vivo the contributions of different pathways. This report shows that odorant response in one olfactory organ of Drosophila melanogaster depends on the norpA phospholipase C (EC 3.1.4.3) gene, providing evidence for use of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) signal transduction pathway. Since the norpA gene is also essential to phototransduction, this work demonstrates overlap in the genetic and molecular underpinnings of vision and olfaction. Genetic and molecular data also indicate that some olfactory information flows through a pathway which does not depend on norpA.

OS9: a novel olfactory gene of Drosophila expressed in two olfactory organs.

A novel olfactory gene, OS9, has been identified in Drosophila by subtractive hybridization. OS9 transcripts have been detected in the third antennal segment, the primary olfactory organ in Drosophila, and in the maxillary palp, which has recently been shown to have olfactory function. The OS9 gene thus represents a molecular link between two distinct olfactory tissues in Drosophila. Little if any OS9 expression has been detected in other segments of the antenna or in other tissues examined. The gene is located in region 38AB on the cytogenetic map. OS9 encodes a protein of 159 amino acids, which contains a putative leucine zipper. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the C-terminal half of the encoded protein react with a 24 kD antennal protein. Antisera raised against both C-terminal and N-terminal halves of the OS9 protein appear to react with cell nuclei in both the third antennal segment and the maxillary palp; interestingly, both antisera also stain cells in the head, including photoreceptor nuclei, as if OS9 were an olfactory-specific member of a family of nuclear proteins, possibly transcription factors.

Dose-dependent effect of Baryta carbonicum and Baryta muriaticum in homoeopathic trituration on experimentally induced high serum lipid concentration in chickens

Concentration of various serum lipids was experimentally increadsed in chickens. Feeding Baryta carbonicum and Baryta muriaticum resulted in reduction of serum total cholesterol, phospholipid, triglyceride, total lipids and total cholesterol and phospholipid ratio (c/p). Results obtained with various doses of Baryta carbonicum and Baryta muriaticum were compared with a standard hypocholesterolaemic drug, clofibrate

Molecular and developmental analyses of the protein encoded by the Drosophila gene ectodermal.

The Drosophila gene ectodermal (ect, located at 67D8-10 on chromosome 3) is expressed for a short period at mid-embryogenesis in all ectodermally derived tissues except the nervous system. During this stage the tissues involved form tubular structures by a process of invagination followed by cell fusion. Here we report the sequence of the ect protein as deduced from the longest ORF (280 codons) of an ect cDNA. The principal molecular features of the ect protein are: 1) a consensus leader sequence for targeting to the rough ER; 2) a central domain containing a remarkably high density of acidic residues arranged in large clusters separated by smaller clusters of hydrophobic residues; 3) a consensus nuclear-targeting sequence near the C-terminus; 4) a single tyrosine residue located at a potential tyrosine-sulfation site. The antibody staining pattern of the ect protein corresponds to the in situ hybridization pattern of the transcript. A possible role for the ect protein in the complex process of tubular formation that occurs in embryonic ectodermal tissues is discussed.

cDNA cloning of ß-tubulin gene and organization of tubulin genes in Vigna radiata (mung bean) genome.

We isolated an almost full-length cDNA clone containing ß-tubulin gene from a partial cDNA library of mung bean using chicken cDNA as probe. Cross-hybridization with chicken ß-tubulin cDNA and positive hybridization-selection and translation of mung bean mRNA established that this clone contains ß-tubulin sequences. We studied the organization of tubulin genes in mung bean. In this plant tubulin genes are organized in tandem repeats of alternating α- and ß-tubulin genes. The 5.6 kb basis repeat unit which contains both α- and ß-tubulin genes is repeated twenty times per haploid genome.