Artur Ber

Acidic glycosaminoglycan composition of the gills of Cyprinus carpio

Abstract 1. 1. Crude preparation of acidic glycosaminoglycans was isolated from the soft tissue of the gills of carps ( Cyprinus carpio ) and fractionated by precipitation with cetylpyridinium chloride in the presence of various concentrations of NaCl. 2. 2. The major part of glycosaminoglycans found in the gills appears to be a mixture of chondroitin sulfates at various levels of sulfation and of glucosamine-containing substances which likely belong to the heparan sulfate or heparin groups. 3. 3. Anticoagulant activity was found in most fractions particularly in the glycoproteinic one. 4. 4. The presence of anticoagulant glycosaminoglycans in connective tissues was discussed in relation to the biology of gills in the fish.

The influence of thiamine and related compounds on the iris of the frog

Abstract Injection of thiamine to Hyla arborea and Bufo viridis causes closing of the iris, and the time of closing is roughly proportional to the dose used. The thiazolic and pyrimidinic components of thiamine are inactive. Thiamine monophosphate, thiamine diphosphate, pyrithiamine and oxythiamine, act similarly to thiamine, but in higher doses. Acetylthiamine is effective almost in the same dose as thiamine. Thiamine probably acts directly on the iris, while the other compounds must undergo hydrolysis and free thiamine must be produced in order to show activity. Thiamine monophosphate in high doses is ineffective and its previous administration inhibits the action of thiamine diphosphate but not of thiamine. It is supposed that there exist two different thiamine-phosphatases: Th-pyrophosphatase and Th-orthophosphatase, which contain the same or similar coenzymes but different apoenzymes.

Ethnic and Constitutional Differences and their Relation to Breast Diseases in Israel: Educational and Socio-Economic Status

An Israeli Jewish population group consisting of 1298 cases of breast cancer and 1816 cases of benign mastopathy hospitalized in 1960-64 and 10,604 properly selected control women was studied with respect to the relationship of breast diseases to ethnic origin, educational background and socio-economic status. It was found that the percentage of Israeli-born and Orientals was higher in the benign mastopathy group than in the cancer group. For the Westerners the opposite was true. Educational level and socio-economic status were considerably higher in patients than in controls, regardless of ethnic origin. They were also higher in Westerners than in Orientals and among the Orientals higher in Iraqis than in Yemenites. The population groups with high breast cancer incidence rate appear to be on a higher educational and socio-economic level than those with a low incidence rate.

The pattern of urinary glycosaminoglycans excretion in relation to age in man: II. Isolation, proportions, and properties of the fraction resistant to testicular hyaluronidase

Abstract Crude urinary glycosaminoglycan preparations were fractionated by a procedure consisting of a digestion with testicular hyaluronidase, a gel filtration through a column of Sephadex G-75, a papain digestion of the peak emerging first and a gel filtration of the papain digest. This procedure permitted the separation of the glycosaminaglycans resistant to testicular hyaluronidase from those susceptible to the enzyme and from breakdown products of small molecular weight and was applied in the study of age-related differences in the composition of preparations isolated from urines of seven healthy males aged from 3 to 83 years. In terms of uronic acid the glycosaminoglycans resistant to hyaluronidase represented for the various individuals 6–45% of the total and increased with advancing age, thus confirming our previous findings obtained by a series of different techniques. Determination of aminosugars showed that glucosamine-, uronic acid-containing glycosaminoglycan (s), likely heparan sulfate, appears to be mainly responsible for the increase with age of this fraction of urinary glycosaminoglycans.

Studies on the sensitivity of the iris of amphibians (Hyla arborea and bufo viridis) to epinephrine and norepinephrine

Abstract 1. 1. Epinephrine and norepinephrine administered to Bufo viridis and Hyla arborea by injection, by dripping into the conjunctival sac and per os as well as in vitro, on isolated eyes, were found to cause mydriasis. 2. 2. Hyla arborea were almost equally sensitivie to both catecholamines and showed, in the majority of cases, a higher sensitivity when compared to Bufo viridis, which however, exhibited a better response to injected epinephrine than to norepinephrine. 3. 3. By using other routes of administration both substances were in general less effective, probably on account of their vasoconstrictive activity on the conjunctival and intestinal capillaries, which decreases penetration. 4. 4. The results showed that in amphibians, as well as in mammals, no correlation exists between the physiological proportion of both catecholamines in nerves and their pharmacological mydriatic activity, and a possibility that neurohormones of adrenal medullar source might participate in the physiological mydriatic mechanism was suggested.

Quantitative and qualitative examination of histones from juvenile and adult bovine ovarian tissues

Abstract Histone groups F1, F2a, F2b and F3 have been isolated from bovine juvenile and adult ovaries and studied by chromatography on Amberlite CG-50 columns, polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and amino acid analysis. No quantitative differences were found in the total yields of histones and proportions of histone groups from juvenile and adult ovaries. F1 histone groups from both juvenile and adult ovaries were found in much lower proportions than in calf thymus whose histone groups were studied for comparison. In contrast, the F2a groups were found in higher proportions in ovaries. Chromatography on Amberlite columns revealed quantitative differences between both types of ovaries and calf thymus in the patterns of distribution among the two eluting systems, 7–14% guanidinium chloride and 40% guanidinium chloride. Gel electrophoresis showed variabilities in the patterns, especially of the F2a groups which consisted of only one band in juvenile ovaries and calf thymus, in contrast to the F2a group from adult ovaries which provided several subfractions. Homologous histone groups from juvenile and adult ovaries showed good agreement in their amino acid compositions. However, some differences in the percentages of a number of amino acids in homologous groups of histones from ovaries and calf thymus were found.

Pigment formation from tyrosine derivatives by UV-irradiation in thin-layer chromatography

Nach Bestrahlung mit UV- und ge-, wöhnlichem Licht entstehen in Dünnschichtchromatogrammen von Tyrosin, Thyronin und ihren Jodderivaten wie auch Dopa und Dopamin dunkle Flecken an den entsprechenden Stellen dieser Substanzen. UV-Licht ist für das Auftreten der Pigmente verantwortlich, welche melaninähnliche Polymere zu sein scheinen.

The behaviour of histone groups from bovine ovaries, testes, adrenals, pancreas and calf thymus in solutions, in respect to turbidity development under various conditions of pH and ionic strength

Abstract 1. 1. The behaviour in solutions of histone groups from bovine ovaries, testes, adrenals and pancreas and from calf thymus, with respect to turbidity development, was examined in various pH and ionic strength conditions without and with 1.1 M trichloroacetic acid. 2. 2. For control histones in water mixed with trichloroacetic acid were tested for optical densities. 3. 3. In water and under various pH and ionic strength conditions histone groups show various optical densities, due probably to various tendencies to produce aggregates.

Histones in bovine testes, adrenals and pancreas

Abstract 1. 1. Histone groups H1, H2A, H2B and H3 were isolated from bovine testes, adrenals and pancreas. 2. 2. The total yields calculated by summing up the amounts of the four groups were 4.6–10.5 times smaller than those of calf thymus. 3. 3. Of significance were the differences in the proportions of H1 groups, which were considerably lower, and of H2A which were much higher, as compared to calf thymus.

Mydriatic response to phenylalanine, tyrosine, dopa, and dopamine in Bufo viridis

Abstract 1. 1. The influence of phenylalanine, tyrosine, dopa, and dopamine on the iris of Bufo viridis was investigated in vitro and in vivo . 2. 2. It was found that phenylalanine, tyrosine, and dopa have no mydriatic activity when tested in vitro . In vivo , however, they exhibit activity probably through transformation to catecholamines or by release of stored catecholamines which are mydriatically active. 3. 3. Dopamine was found to be active in vitro and in vivo and, since chelating agents only slightly decreased the reaction to dopamine, the supposition was made that this substance has direct mydriatic activity, being, however, simultaneously partly transformed to norepinephrine.