Playback experiment to test maternal responses of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) to their own infant's call when the infants were four to six months old.

Calls emitted by infants when the infant loses sight of its parents are useful to estimate the infant's requirement for parental care. When an Old World monkey infant loses sight of its mother it emits whistles. Therefore, it would be interesting to determine whether mothers could distinguish their own infant's whistles from the whistles of other infants. The response of each of seven Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) mothers to her own infant's whistle was compared with their responses to another infant's whistle. Matched control playback experiments were performed when the infants were four to six months old. The results showed that each mother could distinguish her own infant's whistle from that of another infant when the infants were four to six months old. Although a stricter experimental plan is required to further examine the issue, we found that the dominance rank of the infant's mother was another important factor in the female response to the infant's call. The finding suggests that females can associate a call emitted by an infant with its mother's rank, even before the infant begins to wander far from its mother.

Direct duodenal invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma. Intestinal hemorrhage treated by transcatheter arterial embolization.

This report describes a case of direct duodenal invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma with massive intermittent gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Progressive anemia was intractable by supportive therapy alone, and repeated blood transfusion was necessary. Transcatheter arterial embolization was finally carried out, which dramatically reduced the amount of transfusion. Owing to severe blood loss, patients with GI tract involvement generally have a poor prognosis.

Influence of Phytate Removal and Structural Modification on the Calcium-binding Properties of Soybean Globulins.

The calcium-binding properties of soybean globulins that have been deamidated or enzymatically hydrolyzed after the removal of phytate were physicochemically investigated. The level of calcium was reduced from 0.32% to 0.013% and that of phosphorus was reduced from 1.1% to 0.050% by treating with cation- and anion-exchange resins. The calcium-binding properties of soybean globulins were described by the Langmuir equation, the maximum amount of bound calcium (N) and the affinity parameter for calcium (K) being obtained for each sample. The value of N was decreased by the removal of phytate, while the deamidation caused the value of N to increase. As hydrolysis proceeded, the value of N increased to a degree of hydrolysis of 32%, and then decreased. Based on this result, there seems to be an optimum molecular weight of hydrolyzed soybean globulins for the amount of bound calcium. In addition, the value of K for every soybean globulin sample was much lower than that of phytic acid, indicating that the globulins had proper calcium-binding properties for calcium absorption in the small intestine.

Neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells is suppressed by wortmannin, a specific inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase.

The effects of wortmannin (WT), an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase, on differentiation of PC12 cells were analyzed. WT inhibited PI 3-kinase activity of PC12 cells at a concentration of 10(-7) M in vivo and in vitro. Transient inhibition of PI 3-kinase activity at the time of nerve growth factor stimulation had no effect on activation of the ras protein or neurite formation by the cells. However, continuous inhibition of PI 3-kinase blocked differentiation at the step just before neurite formation. When WT was applied to cells growing neurites, elongation of the neurites was stopped at that step. These results suggest that PI 3-kinase may be involved in neurite elongation.

Structure of 85 kDa subunit of human phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase analyzed by using monoclonal antibodies.

An 85 kDa subunit (p85 alpha) of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI-3K) has one SH3 and two SH2 regions [SH2(N) and SH2(C)], which direct protein-protein interaction. We have established eighteen hybridomas producing monoclonal antibodies against p85 alpha to study the structure-function relationship of this protein. Epitope mapping using a series of deletion mutants expressed in E. coli showed that the monoclonal antibodies bound to at least 5 distinct epitope regions, which were well dispersed on p85 alpha except for its carboxyl-terminus. Monoclonal antibodies against amino-terminal regions and polyclonal antibodies against carboxyl-terminal regions immunoprecipitated p85 alpha expressed in human cells and in E. coli. On the other hand, monoclonal antibodies against the central part of p85 alpha failed to immunoprecipitate p85 alpha efficiently; however, they could immunoprecipitate p85 alpha mutants with deletion of either the amino- or the carboxyl-terminal region. Similar results were obtained by immunocytochemistry using confocal microscopy. These results suggested that steric hindrance prevents binding of monoclonal antibodies to the central part of p85 alpha where SH2(N) is located. The SH2(N) may have a distinct function from SH2(C), which is located at the carboxyl-terminal region and has been shown to mediate the binding of PI-3K to activated growth factor receptors.

[An autopsied case of chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection with various symptom].

A 19-year-old boy, who complained of fever and fatigue was hospitalized in November 1986. On physical examination, he had a temperature of 37 degrees C, cervical lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly. Serum transaminase was elevated moderately, while serum alkaline-phosphatase was elevated severely. Extremely elevated antibody titers to the EBV capsid antigen (IgG: 2560x, IgA: 160x), early antigen (IgG: 1280x, IgA: 160x) and nuclear antigen (160x) were noted. PPD and DNCB skin test were negative. Severe mobilization of Kupfer cells and mild proliferation of pseudoductule were seen in liver biopsied specimen. Cervical lymphnode biopsy showed necrotizing lymphadenitis associated with proliferation of histiocyte. In February 1987 his temperature was elevated to 40 degrees C and he had arthralgia and exanthema. Intravenous Acyclovir (500 mg every 8 hours) and Interferon alpha (6 million u/day) were administered together for 1 month. After that he improved for about a week. In March 1987 he had dyspnea. Arterial blood gas analysis in room air showed a PO2 of 51.8 mmHg, a PCO2 of 28.9 mmHg. A chest radiograph showed thickening of bilateral bronchial walls and obscurity of pulmonary vascular shadows. The effects of transfer factor and Interleukin-2 were unremarkable. High antibody titers to EBV, liver dysfunction and hypo-oxygenemia continued. He died of respiratory and heart failure on 24 October 1987. The most interesting finding of autopsied specimens was stenosis of pulmonary artery associated with interstitial pneumonitis. Hemophagocytosis was seen in liver, spleen and bone marrow.