Many cell adhesion-dependent processes are regulated by tyrosine phosphorylation. In order to investigate the role of tyrosine phosphorylation of the utrophin-dystroglycan complex we treated suspended or adherent cultures of HeLa cells with peroxyvanadate and immunoprecipitated (beta)-dystroglycan and utrophin from cell extracts. Western blotting of (β)-dystroglycan and utrophin revealed adhesion- and peroxyvanadate-dependent mobility shifts which were recognised by anti-phospho-tyrosine antibodies. Using maltose binding protein fusion constructs to the carboxy-terminal domains of utrophin we were able to demonstrate specific interactions between the WW, EF and ZZ domains of utrophin and (beta)-dystroglycan by co-immunoprecipitation with endogenous (beta)-dystroglycan. In extracts from cells treated with peroxyvanadate, where endogenous (beta)-dystroglycan was tyrosine phosphorylated, (beta)-dystroglycan was no longer co-immunoprecipitated with utrophin fusion constructs. Peptide ‘SPOTs’ assays confirmed that tyrosine phosphorylation of (beta)-dystroglycan regulated the binding of utrophin. The phosphorylated tyrosine was identified as Y(892) in the (beta)-dystroglycan WW domain binding motif PPxY thus demonstrating the physiological regulation of the (beta)-dystroglycan/utrophin interaction by adhesion-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation.

Historians have long used maternity records to understand the evolution of maternity services. More recently, epidemiologists have become interested in obstetric hospital records as a source of data (e.g. birth weight, social class), to study the influence of early life on future health and disease: life course epidemiology. Edinburgh and Aberdeen are unusual in holding detailed records from several maternity institutions. The records of 1936 are of particular interest because all children born in this year and at school in Scotland at age 11 sat a cognitive ability test, the Scottish Mental Survey 1947. This study aims to describe the maternity services in Edinburgh and Aberdeen in 1936, between the First and Second World Wars. Understanding the richness of data in birth records, the manner in which they were recorded, and the context of the institutions in their community is essential for interpreting life course epidemiology studies.