Locus controlling Bordetella pertussis-induced histamine sensitization (Bphs), an autoimmune disease-susceptibility gene, maps distal to T-cell receptor beta-chain gene on mouse chromosome 6.

Pertussis toxin (PTX) is the primary component responsible for eliciting the majority of biological activities associated with Bordetella pertussis, including the induction of several tissue-adjuvant models of organ-specific autoimmune disease. PTX, when administered in vivo, enhances vascular permeability, which is made manifest by a concomitant increase in sensitivity to a variety of agents and treatments affecting the vascular bed. One such agent is histamine, and the response to PTX, as measured by hypersensitivity following vasoactive amine challenge, is genetically controlled by the Bphs locus. Susceptibility to the induction of both experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) and experimental allergic orchitis (EAO) in mice is associated with, and in the latter case linked to, a susceptible allele at this locus. We report here the mapping of the Bphs locus to mouse chromosome 6, telomeric of Tcrb and centromeric of Prp (D6Nds8). This region also contains a number of loci of immunologic relevance including Igk, Ly-2, Ly-3, Il-5r, Ly-35, Ly-4, and Tnfr-2.

The identification of Y chromosome-linked markers with random sequence oligonucleotide primers.

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based technique of random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) is extremely useful for developing DNA-based markers. We previously identified a linkage group of eight unmapped RAPD markers that distinguish C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice (Mammalian Genome 3: Woodward et al., 73-78, 1992). In this study, we report that all eight markers are Y Chromosome (Chr)-linked. One additional Y-linked RAPD was discovered serendipitously during the screening of a C3H/HeJ x (C3H/HeJ x SJL/J)F1 BC1 population. The segregation of all nine markers was analyzed with a panel of 14 independent inbred strains of male mice. The nine markers could be divided into three distinct groups: (1) DYByu2, DYByu5, DYByu6, and DYByu8 identify both the M.m. musculus and M.m. domesticus type Y Chr; (2) DYByu1, DYByu3, DYByu4, and DYByu7 are specific for the M.m. musculus type; and (3) DYByu9 is specific for the M.m. domesticus type. The results clearly indicate that the RAPD technique can be used to identify Y Chr-linked, DNA-based markers in mammalian species.

Endometrial hyperplasia: a five-year study.

Because of the recent controversy concerning estrogen and endometrial cancer, we studied the possible potential precursor lesions of the endometrium, reviewing 263 patients hospitalized in a community teaching hospital. The estrogen hormonal status, either exogenously or endogenously produced, plays a large role in the histologic structure of the uterine endometrium and may lead to difficulty in determining the exact histologic diagnosis or its potential to progress to endometrial adenocarcinoma.