Uncoated DNA molecules marked with an activated tris(l-aziridinyl) phosphine oxide (TAPO) solution were deposited on gold substrates and imaged in air with the use of a high-resolution scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Constant-current and gap-modulated STM images show clear evidence of the helicity of the DNA structure: pitch periodicity ranges from 25 to 35 angstroms, whereas the average diameter is 20 angstroms. Molecular structure within a single helix turn was also observed.
The cuticle of five species of Oligochaeta, chosen to represent differences in size and a variety of biotopes, was studied electron microscopically after fixation with the acrolein-TAPO-osmium tetroxide method. Five distinct layers in the cuticle of all studied species were found. Staining with lead and uranyl ions or with silver proteinate visualized basically the same structural components of the cuticle, but the degree of electron opacity and the distribution of the electron-opaque stain in these components differed according to the staining method used. Since the acrolein-TAPO-osmium tetroxide method visualized the cuticular zones preferentially stained by Thiery's silver proteinate method, it was concluded that the TAPO method may be considered suitable for the visualization of polysaccharides. Staining with phosphotungstic acid provided some information on the composition of the cuticle of Oligochaeta not obtained by staining ultrathin sections with lead and uranyl ions nor with silver proteinate. The conclusion is that phosphotungstic acid binds to polysaccharides which do not contain vicglycol groups nor active sites responsible for the positive reaction with lead and uranyl salts. Structural components in the cuticle of the oligochaetes studied were characteristic for each species. The taxonomic value of such components, however, must be confirmed by examination of a larger number of species of oligoc h ae tes.
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Strongly adhesive, highly flattened clones (FF clones) can be selected from Friend leukemia cells (FLC) cultivated on top of monolayers of human embryonic fibroblasts (HEF). The flattened phenotype of FF clones is stable during cell replication either in soft agar or in vivo. With the number of passages of FLC on HEF the fibronectin (FN) sensitivity of FF clones increases with a proportional reduction of their tumorigenicity. The FN-sensitivity was defined as the ability of a certain dose of FN to flatten 50% of cells of a given FF clone. Tumorigenicity was defined as the number of FF cells able to give palpable tumors, in 50% of inoculated mice. Exogenous FN does not modify the duplication time of FF clones but strongly influences their growth behavior. In the presence of FN, the growth rate of FF cells is controlled by the size of the growth are available. Highly FN-sensitive FF cells grown on FN-coated substrata die at confluency while FF cells not adherent to substrata escape cell death and grow in suspension. We conclude that the high intrinsic FN-sensitivity of FF cells and FN availability at the site of tumor inoculation could be responsible for the reduced tumorigenicity of highly flattened FF clones.
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