At-risk behaviors with regard to HIV and addiction among women in prison.

The bulk of studies pertaining to addiction among delinquents have been conducted on male subjects. However, the few studies examining female inmates show that a significant proportion of them present an addictive disorder. Furthermore, the HIV infection rate is higher among these women than among incarcerated men. This study attempts to verify if women presenting a combination of criminal and addictive behaviors are at a higher risk of developing an earlier and a more severe delinquency than other delinquent women. Another goal is to determine whether women showing this comorbidity present a higher incidence of HIV-related risk behaviors. The study was conducted on a sample of 210 women from the Montreal detention center. It shows that addicted inmates present earlier onsets of both drug use and criminal behaviors compared to other female inmates. Addicted women also exhibit significantly more HIV-related risky behaviors, both in their drug use and in their sexual practices.

Characterization of a C-type retrovirus isolated from an HIV infected cell line: complete nucleotide sequence.

As previously reported, a C-type retrovirus, referred to as retrovirus X was isolated from HIV infected cells. In order to further characterize this virus, the proviral DNA was cloned and sequenced. The organization of the genome (8379 bp) appeared to be typical of the mammalian type C retroviruses. The virus was shown to be closely related to the gibbon ape leukaemia virus (GALV) with 87% similarity when the sequence was compared with the published genome of the Seato strain of GALV. At the level of the long terminal repeat where comparison was possible with other strains, the closest relationship was found with the San Francisco strain of GALV and with the simian sarcoma virus. These results suggest that the isolate should be considered as a strain of GALV.

Cytokeratins are exposed on the outer surface of established human mammary carcinoma cells.

Normal human mammary epithelial cells and established tumour cells of the same origin express three to eight cytokeratins, which are distributed throughout the cytoplasm in the form of intermediate filaments. The combined use of the iodogen and the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis methods has allowed us to demonstrate the presence of cytokeratins 8, 18 and 19 on the outer surface of established human mammary carcinoma cells, in particular MCF-7 cells, while they were absent from the surface of normal mammary cells in primary culture. By ultrastructural immunocytochemistry, these cytokeratins were localized on blebs formed by the cell surface. Cytokeratins 8, 18 and 19 were also detected in the culture medium of mammary carcinoma cells.

Expression of rat hepatocyte plasma membrane antigens in hybrid clones: assignment of genes coding for two antigens of the basolateral domain to chromosomes 11 and 13.

Expression of three rat hepatocyte plasma membrane antigens defined by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was examined by immunofluorescence in mouse hepatoma x rat hepatocyte hybrid clones segregating rat chromosomes. The antigen defined by mAb B1, a marker of the lateral domain of the hepatocyte plasma membrane in vivo, was expressed in hybrids retaining the rat chromosome 11. The antigen defined by mAb A39, mainly located on the sinusoidal (basal) domain of the plasma membrane in vivo, was expressed when chromosome 13 was present. The genes coding for these two antigens were thus assigned to chromosomes 11 and 13, respectively. The antigen defined by mAb B10, exclusively located on the canalicular (apical) domain of the plasma membrane in vivo, was not expressed in most hybrid clones, and the chromosome location of the gene could not be determined.