We compared transmission characteristics for prions from L-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy and MM2-cortical sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the Syrian golden hamster and an ovine prion protein-transgenic mouse line and isolated distinct prion strains. Our findings suggest the absence of a causal relationship between these diseases, but further investigation is warranted.

Five datasets were constructed from ligand and bioassay result data from the literature. These datasets include bioassay results from the Ames mutagenicity assay, Greenscreen GADD-45a-GFP assay, Syrian Hamster Embryo (SHE) assay, and 2 year rat carcinogenicity assay results. These datasets provide information about chemical mutagenicity, genotoxicity and carcinogenicity.

The BIO14.6 hamster is a widely used model for autosomal recessive cardiomyopathy. These animals die prematurely from progressive myocardial necrosis and heart failure. The primary genetic defect leading to the cardiomyopathy is still unknown. Recently, a genetic linkage map localized the cardiomyopathy locus on hamster chromosome 9qa2.1-b1, excluding several candidate genes. We now demonstrate...

Introduction Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is the classic example of an endocrine disruptor and exemplifies the damage done by xenoestrogens. DES is a non-steroidal, synthetic estrogen that was developed to supplement a woman's natural estrogen production. DES was first prescribed by physicians in 1938 for women who experienced miscarriages or premature deliveries that were believed due to insuffici...

Ultrastructural observations by scanning electron microscope (SEM) of preor neoplastic tracheal lesions in Syrian golden hamsters induced by diethylnitrosamine (DEN) were investigated. Twenty five, six-week-old, male Syrian golden hamsters were injected subcutaneously twice a week for 12 weeks with 18mg/kg body weight of DEN. Six hamsters were injected only vehicle and served as control. At wee...

Three dimensional gels of native type I collagen fibres have been used as a substratum for the growth and migration of Chinese hamster ovary cells (fibroblastoid cell line) and RPMI-3460 melanoma cells (tumorigenic cell line from Syrian hamster). Quantitative data concerning the migration of these cells from the gel surface into the 3-dimensional collagen gel matrix have been obtained. The migr...

Of a series of ninety-six young male Syrian Golden hamsters, 13% developed lethargy, anorexia, diarrhoea and colocolic intussusception when their diet was changed from a basal laboratory-grade rodent chow to a nutritionally complete semi-purified diet. Histologically, the colon of the hamsters with intussusception had markedly reduced mucus production. Plasma levels of gastric inhibitory polype...

Alternating patches of black and yellow pigment are a ubiquitous feature of mammalian color variation that contributes to camouflage, species recognition, and morphologic diversity. X-linked determinants of this pattern--recognized by variegation in females but not in males--have been described in the domestic cat as Orange, and in the Syrian hamster as Sex-linked yellow (Sly), but are curiousl...

Three cell lines, spontaneously transformed in vitro, MWE-l and MWE-2 originating from C3Hf/Bi mouse whole embryos and NHLu-l originating from newborn syrian hamster lungs were obtained. These transformed cell lines were characterized by short generation time, marked aneuploidy in chromosome numbers and tumor induction in vivo. Histological appearance of the tumors induced by MWE-l was fibrosar...

An insulin-secreting islet cell tumour of the Syrian hamster has been transplanted serially in the congenitally immune-deficient nude mouse, in order to test the potential usefulness of this mouse mutant as a graft carrier of heterologous tumours with stable differentiated phenotypes. The incidence of tumour growth was very high, and the hamster tumour retained its functional and histologic cha...