[The obtaining and analysis of physiological activity of secreted proteins of Noggin family].

We have developed methods for producing recombinant proteins of Noggin family (Noggin1 and Noggin2 of the Xenopus laevis frog) that can interact with BMP factors of TGF-beta superfamily. The genetic constructs which allow one to effectively obtain Noggin1 and Noggin2 from synthetic mRNA microinjected into Xenopus laevis early embryos, as well as in the prokaryotic expression system, were generated. The obtained proteins contain three Myc-tag epitopes on their N-terminus. This allow one to compare the expression levels of Noggin1 and Noggin 2 constructs, to purify them on the affine immunosorbent and to show the activity of Noggin proteins by analyzing their ability to bind BMP4 factor TGF-beta surperfamily by co-immunoprecipitation.

[Effect of lighting oscillations on growth and energetics of the goldfish Carassius auratus]. / Vliianie kolebanii osveshchennosti na rost i énergetiku zolotoi rybki Carassius auratus.

Periodic oscillations of illumination exert a positive, rather than negative, effect on goldfish growth and energetics. In a variable light regime, the fishes grow of a higher rate, have decreased oxygen and food requirements, improve the utilization of consumed food for growth, and decrease the oxygen expenditure per increment of unit body mass. The goldfish reactions to the frequency of illumination oscillation and the succession of the stationary light regime by the oscillatory regime were described.

[The Technicon H-1 automatic blood analyzer in the hematology clinic]. / Avtomaticheskii analizator krovi "Tekhnikon H-1" v gematologicheskoi klinike.

Technicon H-1, an automated flow blood analyzer with determination of the leukocytic formula of cellular peroxidase activity for differentiated estimation, is used at the laboratory of N. N. Blokhin Cancer Research Center, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. Analysis of the incidence of changes in the basic and additional characteristics recorded by the device in analyses of peripheral blood from 76 hematological patients, mainly with hemoblastosis variants, showed that if the number of blast cells were up to 45%, the analyzer recorded from 3 to 7 additional "alarm" signals, and a "blast+" signal in approximately 52% of these; if the count of blast cells were over 45%, the signal "blast+" was shown by the analyzer in 100% cases. A peroxidase channel helps detect the lymphoid or myeloid trend of leukemic cell differentiation.

[The morphoimmunological correlates in the leukemic degeneration of prolymphocytic lymphosarcoma]. / Morfoimmunologicheskie korreliatsii pri leikemizatsii prolimfotsitarnoi limfosarkomy.

Morphocytochemical and immunologic features of the bone marrow and peripheral blood lymphoid elements were studied in 40 patients with B-prolymphocytic lymphosarcoma in the stage of leukemic degeneration. Four types of pathologic lymphoid cells were distinguished: large prolymphocytes expressing pan-B CD19 and HLA-Dr antigens, medium-sized prolymphocytes with round nuclei, characterized by activation CD38 and CD45Ra antigens, prolymphocytes with split nuclei containing light and heavy immunoglobulin chains, and leukemic lymphocytes containing, besides pan-B antigens and immunoglobulins, antigens of the early hemopoietic (CD34) and early B-(CD10) precursors. The content of the RAS-positive substance in the prolymphocytes was inversely proportional to the parameters of activation antigens expression. Acid phosphatase activity correlated with the expression of CD22 and CD45Ra antigens.

[alpha-Naphthyl acetate esterase--a cytochemical marker of the T-helpers]. / al'fa-Naftilatsetatésteraza--tsitokhimicheskii marker T-khelperov.

The authors analyze the correlation between the frequency of detection of alpha-naphthylacetate esterase in peripheral blood lymphocytes and T helper/inductor ratio determined by immunological methods from CD-4 MCAB expression. The results indicate that the counts of esterase-positive lymphocytes cytochemically detected by alpha-naphthylacetate esterase activity reliably correlated with T helper counts assessed by immunoperoxidase method with Technicon H-1 flow analyzer.

[Immunophenotype of lymphocytes of patients with malignant melanoma and its dynamics during immunotherapy with interleukin-2]. / Immunologicheskii fenotip limfotsitov bol'nykh so zlokachestvennoi melanomoi i ego dinamika v protsesse immunoterapii interleikinom-2.

A Mab set was used to study immunological phenotype of lymphocytes of five patients bearing stage IV malignant melanoma and its changes developing in the course of interleukin-2 (Euro cetus) immunotherapy. Patients were shown to have lowered counts of T cells (mainly due to T-helper/inducers), B cells and lymphocytes expressing adhesion and activation molecules as well as abnormal immunoregulatory cell ratio. Two patients receiving interleukin-2 achieved a response. Follow-up of antigen expression revealed a rise in natural killer and immunoregulatory T lymphocyte levels in the responders whereas activation antigens and B cell levels were increased in all the patients.

[Diagnosis of postoperative coagulopathic hemorrhage in oncology patients]. / Diagnostika operatsionnykh koagulopaticheskikh krovotechenii u onkologicheskikh bol'nykh.

The condition of the hemostatic system during operation and in the early postoperative period was studied in 288 oncological patients in blood loss of different volumes. A relation of changes in hemostasis to the amount of blood lost was found. The increase in the volume of blood loss was caused first of all by the traumatic character of the operation itself, i.e. surgical hemorrhages, while the coagulopathic hemorrhages were of a secondary character. They evolve as acute and subacute syndrome with generalized, hypercompensated or moderate fibrinolysis in the form of hemodilution coagulopathy with predominant reduction of the number of platelets and their dysfunctions, or are mixed in character. A complex of rapid methods for the diagnosis of coagulopathic hemorrhages is recommended.

[Use of automatic blood analyzer, Hemalog D, in cancer patients during radiotherapy and chemotherapy]. / Primenenie avtomaticheskogo analizatora krovi "gemalog D" u onkologicheskikh bol'nykh v protsesse luchevoi i khimioterapii.

The Hemalog D automatic cytochemical analyser was used to assess changes in the levels of neutrophil peroxidase and monocyte non-specific esterase in 194 cancer patients undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. Radiotherapy in the dose of 30-48 Gy did not affect functional activity of blood leukocytes. Combination chemotherapy induced moderate or severe leukopenia in 72.7% of cases. A decrease in the enzymatic activity of neutrophils and monocytes was observed in patients with normal and slightly decreased leukocyte counts. In patients with severe leukopenia, elevated levels of peroxidase and non-specific esterase in leukocytes were found.

[Leukemization of hematosarcomas with primary involvement of the skin]. / Leikemizatsiia gematosarkom s pervichnym porazheniem kozhi.

Clinicomorphological investigation of 81 patients with different types of skin hematosarcomas was conducted. Stage IV of disease was diagnosed in 53 patients, leukemic involvement developed in 18 of them (34%). Leukemic bone involvement was shown to be the main cause of death in myelosarcomas and lymphoblastic lymphomas. There were no significant differences in the frequency of leukemic bone marrow involvement with relation to the site and nature of primary skin involvement. A clinical course of disease was determined by a skin tumor histological type. Some morphological features of bone marrow lymphoblasts in leukemic bone marrow involvement in skin hematosarcomas (irregular cell shape, a moderate nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio, azurophilic granulation, fine-grained patterns of PAS-positive substance) distinguished them from lymphoblasts in leukemic bone marrow involvement in hematosarcomas with a primary focus of another site.

[Morphofunctional characteristics of blasts in lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoblastic lymphosarcoma]. / Morfofunktsional'naia kharakteristika blastov pri ostrom limfoblastnom leikoze i limfoblastnoi limfosarkome.

The authors investigated morphocytochemical and immunological indices of blast cells of 81 patients with acute leukemia and 70 patients with lymphosarcoma at the stage of leukemization. Blast cells in acute leukemia were shown to have the phenotype of early hemopoietic precursors whereas in lymphosarcoma blasts were more differentiated. Morphologically in leukemia blasts were characterized by homogeneity, and in lymphosarcoma by considerable polymorphism and a higher mitotic activity.

[Acute plasmablastic leukemia in multiple myeloma]. / Ostryi plazmoblastnyi leikoz pri mielomnoi bolezni.

Five cases of acute plasmablastic leukemia (APL) in patients with a history of multiple myeloma (MM) are described. MM lasted from 3 months to 7 years. During APL, blast metaplasia in the bone marrow was detected in all the cases while in 3 patients it was found in the blood. The treatment ended in failure in 4 patients. The duration of APL in those patients did not exceed 6 months. In one of the patients, the duration of APL, in the presence of a partial remission, exceeded 19 months. The patient remains under observation.

[Morphofunctional characteristics of the blast cells in acute myelomonoblastic leukemia]. / Morfofunktsional'nye osobennosti blastnykh kletok pri ostrom mielomonoblastnom leikoze.

Morphocytochemical and immunological characteristics and indices of the cloning effectiveness were studied in agar cultures. Three types of leukemic cells were found whose ratio in the bone marrow varied in a rather wide range. The lymphoid markers (of cOLL and T-antigens) were detected on blast cells. It is established that histogenetic characteristics of the blast cells determines peculiarities of their growth in the agar culture.