NUT1, a major nitrogen regulatory gene in Magnaporthe grisea, is dispensable for pathogenicity.

NUT1, a gene homologous to the major nitrogen regulatory genes nit-2 of Neurospora crassa and areA of Aspergillus nidulans, was isolated from the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe grisea. NUT1 encodes a protein of 956 amino acid residues and, like nit-2 and areA, has a single putative zinc finger DNA-binding domain. Functional equivalence of NUT1 to areA was demonstrated by introducing the NUT1 gene by DNA-mediated transformation into an areA loss-of-function mutant of A. nidulans. The introduced NUT1 gene fully complemented the areA null mutation, restoring to the mutant the ability to utilize a variety of nitrogen sources. In addition, the sensitivity of Aspergillus NUT1 transformants to ammonium repression of extracellular protease activity was comparable to that of wild-type A. nidulans. Thus, NUT1 and areA encode functionally equivalent gene products that activate expression of nitrogen-regulated genes. A one-step disruption strategy was used to generate nut1- mutants of M. grisea by transforming a rice-infecting strain with a disruption vector in which a gene for hygromycin B phosphotransferase (Hyg) replaced the zinc-finger DNA-binding motif of NUT1. Of 31 hygromycin B (hyg-B)-resistant transformants shown by Southern hybridization to contain a disrupted NUT1 gene (nut1 : : Hyg), 26 resulted from single-copy replacement events at the NUT1 locus. Although nut1- transformants of M. grisea failed to grown on a variety of nitrogen sources, glutamate, proline and alanine could still be utilized. This contrasts with A. nidulans where disruption of the zinc-finger region of areA prevents utilization of nitrogen sources other than ammonium and glutamine. The role of NUT1 and regulation of nitrogen metabolism in the disease process was evaluated by pathogenicity assays. The infection efficiency of nut1- transformants on susceptible rice plants was similar to that of the parental strain, although lesions were reduced in size. These studies demonstrate that the M. grisea NUT1 gene activates expression of nitrogen-regulated genes but is dispensable for pathogenicity.

Monoclonal antibody therapy in malignant melanoma: factors effecting in vivo localization.

Thirteen patients with metastatic malignant melanoma received intravenous therapy with the murine antimelanoma monoclonal antibody 9.2.27. Five patients were entered on a dose escalation protocol with twice weekly escalating doses of 10-500 mg, in an extension of a previously reported trial. These patients demonstrated near saturation of available antibody binding sites in vivo following the 500 mg dose, with minimal toxicity. The remaining patients were entered onto a dose schedule comparison study, with a 500 mg dose administered either in a single 2 h infusion or as five daily 2 h infusions of 100 mg to examine the effects of different dose schedules and of an interrupted schedule on subsequent therapy with the same antibody. Intratumor localization of the monoclonal antibody did not appear to vary with respect to the dose schedule; however, interruption in therapy for 4 weeks was accompanied by somewhat poorer localization of antibody. This effect appeared to be primarily attributable to development of human antimurine antiglobulin in 25-30% of patients with resultant decrease in intratumor localization of antibody and more rapid clearance of the 9.2.27 antibody from the circulation. Earlier reports with other antibodies notwithstanding, initial infusions of 500 mg of 9.2.27 did not induce tolerance to the murine immunoglobulin. This study confirms and extends the findings of our initial trial of the 9.2.27 antibody by demonstrating that, although clinical responses were not observed, the antibody can be safely administered at doses up to 500 mg, with good intratumor localization of antibody. The diminished localization of antibody associated with antiglobulin responses indicates the importance of monitoring antiglobulin levels during therapy, and the necessity of controlling or preventing this phenomenon when monoclonal antibodies are administered in multiple doses as drug, toxin, or radionuclide immunoconjugates.

Simultaneous determination of niacinamide, pyridoxine, riboflavin, and thiamine in multivitamin products by high-pressure liquid chromatography.

A high-pressure liquid chromatographic assay was developed for the determination of four water-soluble vitamins: niacinamide, pyridoxine, thiamine, and riboflavin. The four vitamins are assayed simultaneously in multivitamin products not containing minerals. Thiamine currently is not quantitated in formulations containing minerals because it is not stable under the extraction conditions. The method was applied to the analysis of at least 12 different multivitamin products, including various formulations of sterile products, fluids, compressed tablets, and coated, compressed tablets. The method is stability indicating and is applicable to single-tablet assays.

Comparison of two high-pressure liquid chromatographic assays for carboprost, a synthetic prostaglandin.

A high-pressure liquid chromatographic assay for carboprost tromethamine as the bulk drug and in a sterile solution formulation is described. The procedure involves derivatization of the prostaglandin to form the UV-absorbing naphthacyl ester, which then is chromatographed on a silica gel column using methylene chloride-1,3-butanediol-water (496:4:0.25) as the mobile phase. This procedure is compared with a nonderivatization procedure with refractive index detection. Both procedures separate the 15R-epimer of carboprost from carboprost, but only the derivatization procedure separates the 5-trans-isomer of carboprost. Possible reasons for the better separation using the derivatization procedure are discussed. Both procedures gave a coefficient of variation of approximately 1% for carboprost. The derivatization procedure gave a coefficient of variation of approximately 7% for the 15R-epimer and 5-trans-isomer when present at 2% of the carboprost level.

Determination of potential content of vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) in gelatin-coated beadlets, oil-based mixtures, and multivitamin tablet and capsule formulations.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure was used to determine routinely the potential vitamin D content in raw materials and multivitamin formulations. The method employs a microparticulate silica column to separate vitamin D from its degradation products as well as other fat-soluble vitamins. Sample preparation is simple, and the chromatographic time is less than 20 min when progesterone is added to the injection mixture as an internal standard. Replicate analyses of complex multivitamin formulations demonstrate precision with a relative standard deviation of less than 4%. Spiked placebos typically show 98--100% recovery and a linear chromatographic response. The use of bulk drug as a working reference standard is recommended for the determination of the potential vitamin D concentration in pharmaceutical multivitamin preparations.