Sound affects the human physiology. Cells vibrate dynamically and may transmit information via harmonic wave motions. We compared the effects of 'primordial sounds' (Sama Veda from the Ayurveda system of natural health care), or hard rock music (AC/DC, Back in Black), and no sound on the growth of cells in culture. Five human tumor cell lines (lung, colon, brain, breast and skin) and one normal cell line (fibroblasts) were tested in triplicate for each of an average of four experiments. The recordings of Sama Veda and Back in Black were normalized to maintain the same maximum amplitudes, with no significant effect on the results. Primordial sound significantly decreased the average growth across cell lines (p = 0.005 ANOVA). In the presence of hard rock music, growth of cells was significantly increased (p = 0.03) but the effect was not consistent. We conclude that sound has an effect on the growth of neoplastic and normal human cells in vitro.

Human /3-¡nterferon(IFN) induced an antiviral state in two fetal brain and six glioma cell lines. The growth-inhibitory effect of IFN was most pronounced on three glioblastoma lines and least on fetal brain and oligodendroglioma cells; IFN growth inhibition of one schwannoma and one anaplastic cell line was intermediate between the two other groups. Thus, the growth-inhibitory effect of IFN generally correlated with the degree of anaplasia of the tissue from which the cells were derived. IFN (1000 units/ml) had to be present for 24 to 48 hr to have a significant inhibitory effect on growth of glioblastoma (12-18) cells. However, growth inhi bition of 12-18 cells exposed to IFN for 3 days persisted for 3 weeks. Both sialic acid-A/-acetylgalactosamine ganglioside and a mixture of normal human brain gangliosides (50 U.M)inhibited growth of fetal brain (CHII) but not glioblastoma 12-18 cells. However, preincubation of cells with either sialic acid-A/-acetylgalactosamine or a mixture of gangliosides did not augment the growth-inhibitory effects of IFN on either CHII or 12-18. These results indicate that gangliosides and IFN may be operating through different mechanisms to cause growth inhibition.

The Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi program are widely practiced mental techniques which have been reported to have therapeutic value in relieving mental and physical tension and to unfold each person's natural capacity for happiness. In the early 1970s, Wallace [1] reported physiological changes during meditation which indicated a state of deep relaxation along with mental alertness. Some of the physiological changes described included decreased oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide elimination, respiratory rate ltnd minute ventilation with no change in respiratory quotient, and increased skin resistance. Later work by Wallace [2] and associates reported the effects of the TM program on specific autonomic and sensory processes resulting in significantly younger biological ages in long-term meditators. Since the TM program produces such wide-ranging physiological effects, we planned an experiment to study its effect on the basic controller of cellular function, i.e., DNA. If the repair mechanism of the DNA could be affected by the TM technique, then it would result in an even broader range of changes in the physiological parameters of the body than have been reported.

A simple, quantitative method for determining the plasmalogen content of small samples is reported here. The method uses the different susceptibility to acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of the alkyl, alkenyl and acyl linkages to separate the plasmalogen subclass from the other two non-labile subclasses. Hydrolysis of plasmenylethanolamine and plasmenylcholine was complete after 4 and 1 min of acid treatment, respectively. The acid-catalyzed hydrolysis did not alter the phospholipid fatty acid composition, making this method useful for fatty acid compositional analysis of the plasmalogen subclass. High-performance liquid chromatography was used for separations, and phospholipids were quantitated by assay of lipid phosphorus or by direct quantitation of peak area. Using this method, small amounts (10 nmol) of ethanolamine glycerophospholipid and choline glycerophospholipid are subjected to acid-catalyzed hydrolysis and subsequent separation of the resulting lysocompounds obtained from plasmalogens from the more acid-stable alkylacyl and diacyl glycerophospholipid fractions. Our values for plasmalogens from commercial preparations of choline and ethanolamine glycerophospholipids agree with literature values. The usefulness of the method is demonstrated for small glycerophospholipid samples that are equivalent to samples from cultured neural cells.

Desmosinol, a novel cycloartane triterpenoid was isolated from the stem of Desmos cochinchinensis Lour. (Annonaceae). Its structure was established by spectroscopic methods. Key Words: DesmosinolDesmos cochinchinensisAnnonaceaeMS 1H- 13C-NMR

Detailed analyses of the phospholipid compositions of cultured human endothelial cells are reported here. No significant differences were found between the phospholipid compositions of cells from human artery, saphenous and umbilical vein. However, due to the small sample sizes, relatively large standard deviations for some of the phospholipid classes were observed. A representative composition of endothelial cells is: phosphatidylcholine 36.6%, choline plasmalogen 3.7%, phosphatidylethanolamine 10.2%, ethanolamine plasmalogen 7.6%, sphingomyelin 10.8%, phosphatidylserine 7.1%, lysophosphatidylcholine 7.5%, phosphatidylinositol 3.1%, lysophosphatidylethanolamine 3.6%, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate 1.8%, phosphatidic acid 1.9%, phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 1.5%, and cardiolipin 1.9%. The cells possess high choline plasmalogen and lysophosphatidylethanolamine contents. The other phospholipids are within the normal biological ranges expected. Phospholipids were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography and quantified by lipid phosphorus assay.

✓ Using an in vitro monolayer natural killer (NK) cytolysis assay, the authors examined the effects of serum concentration and epidermal growth factor (EGF) on sensitivity to NK cytolysis. It was found that target cells cultured in high concentrations of serum (10% fetal bovine serum (FBS)) had higher cytotoxicity levels than those in low serum concentrations (0% to 0.5% FBS). Exposure of target cells to EGF had no effect on their sensitivity to NK cytolysis. Both glioma cell lines showed decreased NK cell sensitivity with longer times in culture. The results of cytofluorometric studies on these cell lines indicate that the differences in NK cell sensitivity may reflect the growth fraction of the target population and that a population with a higher proportion of cycling cells is more susceptible to lysis by NK cells. Whether it is possible to separate the proliferative rate of these cells from their NK cell sensitivity is unknown, but worthy of consideration.

Using computer-assisted digital image-analysis, the level of ras and gli messenger RNA (mRNA) in neoplasms of meningeal and glial origin was determined in an attempt to correlate these parameters with histological tumor severity. We used single-stranded, asymmetric, radiolabelled RNA probes to detect the amount of ras and gli mRNA present in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor material. Such archival material can provide an immediate, larger sample base than with fresh samples. The extent of ras mRNA expression in 25 brain tumors was not significantly different than normal cerebellum. However, five of 74 astrocytomas of relatively high malignant potential demonstrated gli mRNA levels above normal cerebellum.

We found a direct correlation between increasing ras p21 protein immunopositivity and severity of human glioma using computer-assisted, digital-image processing to quantify the amount of p21 immunoreactive to the monoclonal antibody RAP-5. We determined that there was a significant difference in reactivity between glioblastoma multiformes and more-differentiated astrocytomas (experiment-wise error less than 0.05). This result confirmed the conclusions made on the same tumors using standard light microscopy and visual examination. Immunohistochemistry quantized by automated image analysis may be a useful adjunct to current histopathological strategies since it decreases assay subjectivity and variation.

We have developed an in vitro assay for Natural Killer (NK) cell cytolysis of and binding to substrate attached human glioma and fetal brain cells. The monolayer cells were labeled with [51Cr] and the effectors were directly sedimented onto these substrate attached target cells. Using this method we screened several glioma and fetal brain cell lines. The results indicate that the majority of gliomas are NK resistant, however two of the tested lines (U251MG and BN3) were relatively sensitive as were the fetal brain cell lines (CHI and CHII). We conclude that this monolayer assay for NK cytotoxicity and binding of glioma targets is a reproducible and valid method for assessing NK sensitivity, and should have applications in the study of other cultured solid tumors and substrate attached cells.

Sialyltransferase-1 activity was studied in cultured 12–18 human glioma cells. The apparent Km and Vmax with variable LacCer concentrations were 32μM and 197 pmoles/mg protein/hr and with variable CMP-NeuAc concentrations were 172μM and 877 pmoles/mg protein/hr., respectively. The pH optimum towards exogenous LacCer was 6.0 and towards endogenous acceptors was 6.2. The optimum protein:detergent ratio was 1:1. Humanβ interferon (1000 units/ml medium) increased sialyltransferase-1 activity only slightly on a protein basis but increased it 47% on a per cell basis. These results demonstrate that one of the biochemical effects ofβ-interferon on 12–18 human glioma cells is to stimulate ganglioside synthesis.

This research assessed differences in DNA repair in lymphocytes from high- and low-distressed individuals. A median split on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Scale 2 divided 28 newly admitted nonpsychotic psychiatric inpatients into high- and low-distress subgroups. The high-distress subgroup had significantly poorer DNA repair in lymphocytes exposed to X-irradiation than low-distress subjects. We also found that lymphocytes obtained from this psychiatric sample had significantly poorer DNA repair than lymphocytes from nonpsychiatric control subjects when compared 5 hr after X-irradiation. A high level of distress therefore appears to be associated with significant dysfunctional differences at the molecular level which may have important implications for health. These data provide evidence for a direct pathway through which distress could influence the incidence of cancer.

The effect of the polyamine spermidine on the growth of crown gall tumors was determined using the potato disc bioassay. Addition of lmM spermidine resulted in a 30–50% increase in tumor growth. The spermidine effect was found to be biphasic, with lmM being optimal. Closely related polyamines including spermine, as well as other nitrogen containing compounds such as arginine and alanine, failed to promote tumor growth or inhibited the growth of these tumors. Endogenous levels of spermidine in crown gall tumor tissue were consistently greater than those of corresponding normal potato tissue. Rapidly dividing normal potato tissue derived from buds also contained elevated spermidine levels.

Density dependent chain elongation of neutral glycosphingolipids (NGSL) is associated with contact inhibition of mitosis in several normal cultured cell lines. Transformed non-neural cell lines which have impaired contact inhibition frequently lose this biochemical response. To determine if either of these phenomena occur in human neural cells we determined NGSL compositions of cultured glioblastoma multiforme and normal fetal brain cells. Fetal cells generally had more total NGSL than the tumor cells. As a percentage of total NGSL, both cell lines at higher cell densities had larger proportions of ceramide trihexoside and globoside, but smaller proportions of cerebroside. This decrease was mainly in non-hydroxy fatty acid cerebroside of glioma cells, but in hydroxy fatty acid cerebroside of normal fetal brain cells. These results demonstrate that although glioblastoma multiforme cells have markedly impaired growth control, they still preserve density dependent chain elongation of NGSL. A role for this phenomenon in normal cellular growth control has yet to be established.