The family of S-100-related proteins consists of a number of small potential calcium-binding proteins of unknown function. Elevated expression of one of these proteins, p9Ka, or of its mRNA, correlates with the metastatic potential of cultured mammary epithelial cells from rat or mouse. Over-expression of p9Ka by transfection of benign rat mammary epithelial tumor cells with the gene for p9Ka induces the metastatic phenotype. At present there is little information on the occurrence of p9Ka in normal rat tissues. A specific antiserum immunocytochemically detects p9Ka intracellularly in most normal adult rat tissues studied, including smooth muscle, brown adipose tissue, and liver. In other tissues, p9Ka is localized specifically to some absorptive and keratinized epithelia, the acid-secreting parietal cells of the stomach, the neuronal cells within plexuses of the autonomic nervous system, and a proportion of cells of the immune system in spleen, lymph nodes, bone marrow, and blood. p9Ka is found widely in both arteries and veins, particularly in the smooth muscle and in the endothelium of smaller veins. In mammary gland, the pattern of staining suggests that p9Ka is extracellularly located in a region surrounding the ducts.

The transit time of a mercury loaded capsule in the small intestine was estimated in 22 pregnant subjects. The results obtained were compared with 8 non-pregnant controls. The transit time in pregnancy was significantly increased. AND

No abstract

AND SummaryThe effect of pregnancy on colonic absorption of sodium, potassium and water was studied in fifteen pregnant patients using a technique of colonic perfusion. The results were compared with five non-pregnant subjects. In pregnancy, colonic absorption of sodium and water was significantly increased. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Ultrastructural study of a hepatoma and surrounding normal liver revealed the following points of interest. In spite of the fact that under light microscopy this seemed to be a very well‐differentiated tumor, at the ultramicroscopic level the cells showed an inability to form desmosomes, lysosomes and vascular poles. No sinusoids lined with endothelial and Kupffer cells were detected either. These features were interpreted as a failure of full differentiation and some loss of function characteristic of tumor cells. The changes in the surrounding liver parallel those seen in the livers of rats bearing subcutaneous carcinogen‐induced sarcoma for in both these instances there occurs a marked increase in lysosomes, dilatation of mitochondria and the cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum. Other interesting findings were the occurrence of giant mitochondria (2 to 5μ), monoparticulate intranuclear glycogen and many areas of focal cytoplasmic degeneration the evolution of which has been traced.