No abstract

This study aims to explore the structural characteristics of the inhomogeneous top layer of thin-film composite membranes when pretreated by different methods: room temperature−oven, ethanol−hexane in a solvent exchange process, and freeze-drying. An evaluation of the nano-order free-volume pore size of the polyamide samples was carried out by nanopermporometry (NPP) and was quantitatively compared with the free-volume pore estimated from normalized Knudsenbased permeance (NKP) and with positron annihilation characterization (PALS). NPP results denoted a bimodal polyamide membrane structure described by a dense matrix and highly permeable regions. The application of different condensable vapors (water, hexane, and isopropanol) resulted in a free-volume pore size smaller than d p = 0.6 nm for dense regions, which was confirmed after NKP and PALS. In addition, the influence of highly permeable regions on permeance decreased in the following order: ethanol−hexane > freeze-drying > room temperature−oven samples, demonstrating an effective membrane structure alteration after different pretreatments.

Aphanothece sacrum, an edible freshwater unicellular cyanobacterium, was isolated by using novel synthetic media (designated AST and AST-5xNP). The media were designed on the basis of the ratio of inorganic elements contained in A. sacrum cells cultured in a natural pond. The isolated strain exhibits unicellular rod-shaped cells ϳ6 m in length that are scattered in an exopolysaccharide matrix, a feature similar to that of natural A. sacrum. DNA analysis of the isolated strain revealed that it carried two ferredoxin genes whose deduced amino acid sequences were almost identical to previously published sequences of ferredoxins from natural A. sacrum. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene and ferredoxin genes revealed that A. sacrum occupies a phylogenetically unique position among the cyanobacteria.

UC 729-6, a 6-thioguanine-resistant human lymphoblastoid B-cell line, was fused with normal and malignant human lymphocytes. Parent UC 729-6 cells were diploid with a 21p+ marker chromosome, expressed surface and cytoplasmic IgM Kc, and doubled every 17 hr. The resulting human-human hybridomas were pseudotetraploid containing the 21p+ marker, doubled every 20-30 hr, and secreted 3-9 jig of human Ig per ml per 106 hybrid cells for >9 months in continuous culture. Human Ig-secreting hybridomas were generated in 88% (14/16) of the fusions carried out and were cloned by limiting dilution (one cell per three wells) without the use of feeder layers. The mean fusion frequencies (number of wells, plated at 105 cells per well, showing hybrid growth per 106 lymphocytes fused) of UC 729-6 with normal lymphocytes ranged from 0.45 to 2.9 and with malignant B lymphocytes, from 3 to 10. Analysis of the human-human hybridomas derived from lymphocytes isolated from regional draining lymph nodes of cancer patients revealed several that secreted human monoclonal antibody that reacted by an enzyme immunoassay with some carcinoma cell lines but not with normal fibroblast cell lines. These data suggest that (i) UC 729-6 can be fused with human lymphocytes to generate stable human-human hybridomas, some of which secrete antibody reactive to human cell surface antigens, and (ii) UC 729-6 can be used to rescue Ig from nonsecretory malignant B cells and thereby allow for the production of anti-idiotype antibodies.The use of somatic cell hybridization to produce monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) of predefined specificity, as pioneered by Kohler and Milstein (1), has revolutionized many areas of human biology. However, since most of these mAbs are of rodent origin their application to in vivo use in humans may be limited. Therefore, the production of human mAbs could potentially be of considerable value and in many instances may offer advantages over mAbs of other species.Currently available human mAbs have been obtained by mouse-human hybridizations (2-4), by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transformation of human immune lymphocytes (5-7), and by human-human hybridization (8-10) and has recently been reviewed (11). However, each of these approaches suffers from individual difficulties and each has met with limited success. Mouse-human hybrids preferentially lose human chromosomes and, therefore, are genetically unstable (12, 13). EBV transformation yields cell lines that produce small quantities of Ig (5-7). The reproducibility of generating human-human hybridomas is limited by the lack of a suitable fusion partner in that currently available cell lines for fusion (8)(9)(10) 6327The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.

No abstract