A low molecular weight beta(2)-globulin (beta(2)-microglobulin), albumin, and total protein were measured in concentrated 24-hr urine specimens from 20 healthy subjects and 30 patients with clinical proteinuria of glomerular or tubular type. Classification of proteinuria was made on the basis of clinical diagnosis and size distribution of urinary proteins after gel chromatography. The molecular...

The growing and shortening dynamics of individual bovine brain microtubules at their plus ends at steady state in vitro, assembled from isotypically pure alpha beta II, alpha beta III, or alpha beta IV tubulin dimers, were determined by differential interference contrast video microscopy. Microtubules assembled from the purified alpha beta III isotype were considerably more dynamic than microtu...

The adrenocorticotrophic and melanocyte-stimulating peptides of the human pituitary were investigated by means of radioimmunoassay, bioassay and physicochemical procedures. Substantial amounts of adrenocorticotrophin and a peptide resembling beta-lipotrophin were identified in pituitary extracts, but alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, beta-melanocyte-stimulating hormone and corticotrophin-li...

Expression of the urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) increases during the progression of colorectal tumors from adenomas to carcinomas. The highest amounts of uPA are found at the invasion front of carcinomas, which also displays a strong expression of nuclear beta-catenin and is therefore a region expressing beta-catenin target genes at high levels. Here we show that beta-catenin contribute...

The thalassemias are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by accumulation either of unmatched alpha or beta globin chains. These in turn cause the intramedullary and peripheral hemolysis that leads to varying anemia. A partial explanation for the hemolysis came our of our studies on material properties that showed that beta-thalassemia (beta-thal) intermedia ghosts were very rigid b...

The level of Hb C in the erythrocytes of individuals with Hb C trait decreases significantly in the presence of coexisting alpha-thalassemia. This relationship may result from the higher affinity of beta A than beta C for limiting amounts of alpha-globin during hemoglobin assembly. This mechanism would predict that the beta A and beta C synthetic capacity in alpha-thalassemic individuals with H...

Smooth muscle cells were dissociated from normal rabbit aorta by incubating the tissue in Hanks' solution containing elastase, collagenase, and hyaluronidase. The isolated cells contained significant amounts of the following acid hydrolases: N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, N-acetyl-beta-galactosaminidase, beta-galactosidase, beta-glucuronidase, alpha-mannosidase, beta-glucosidase, acid phosphata...

To define the quality and relative quantity of beta and alpha messenger RNA in human nonthalassemic and thalassemic reticulocytes, intact cells were incubated with [(35)S]methionine. The relative amounts of beta- and alpha-nascent chains on polysomes of different sizes were measured by tryptic digestion of pooled polysomes and by determination of the specific activities of beta and alpha peptid...