The separation and characterization of salivary mucins is not straightforward because of their large size, heterogeneity, and molecular interactions. The MUC5B and MUC7 mucins are major glycoprotein components of saliva that are thought to play a vital role in maintaining oral health. MUC5B is also a major component of respiratory mucus and is produced by the tracheal and bronchial glands, while MUC7 has a more limited pattern of expression in the bronchial tree. MUC5B is a gel-forming mucin and thus confers viscosity, whereas MUC7 is much smaller. MUC7 has anti-fungal activity, and both mucins interact with bacteria. The aim of this work was to produce new monoclonal antibodies that can be used to quantify and characterize these mucins by standard laboratory procedures. Peptide sequences in non-conserved and non-glycosylated regions were selected and monoclonal antibodies produced by an efficient immunization and cloning strategy, and screening against purified mucins. Three new antibodies-EU-MUC5Ba and EU-MUC5Bb (against MUC5B) and EU-MUC7a (against MUC7)-were isolated that do not show cross-reactivity with other gel-forming mucins. All work on immunohistochemistry can be used for semi-quantitative immunoblotting after agarose gel electrophoresis. These reagents are valuable tools to study changes in these mucins in oral and respiratory disease, and unlike other monoclonal antibodies to these mucins they recognize epitopes that are not affected by glycosylation.

Properties of the acid alpha-glucosidase, GAA2, the product of the GAA*2 allele have been compared with those of the common allele product GAA1, GAA2 has an altered affinity for glycogen but resembles GAA1 in its affinity for low molecular weight substrates, and also in its processing, as judged by immunoblot analysis of the denatured polypeptides. Starch gel electrophoretic analysis of fibroblasts from 15 patients with late onset glycogen storage disease type II (GSDII) failed to reveal either homozygotes or heterozygotes for the GAA*2 allele (GAA2-2 or GAA2-0) providing evidence that neither of these genotypes lead to late onset GSDII despite the impaired activity of the enzyme towards glycogen.

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Guru cults are an increasingly prominent feature of Indian religious life today, especially in the towns and cities, and among the urban middle classes. Many of these gurus are actually worshipped by their followers, who believe that they have magical powers; and in most cults the devotional element is strong. Since independence there seem to be more gurus in India; more of them have a more than local following; their followings are growing rapidly, and the cults are receiving more publicity, which reflects their discernible impact on the Indian scene. The godmen, as they are called, are often somewhat ostentatious; their travels, by air, road or rail, are widely reported in the press, and their followings are known to include numerous high ranking and well known figures in the worlds of politics, business, the professions and academia. Courted and feted, they preside over anniversary functions, commemorations, and installations, and their pictures and books are to be found on bookstalls throughout the subcontinent. In part, the publicity given to the gurus and godmen of India reflects the growing popular interest in them among western followers: the antics of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, in Oxford Street or in Berkeley, California; the Transcendental Meditation Movement of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, with a following of as many as four hundred thousand in the west; the powerful vogue in America for the boy Guru Maharaj; and the ecstatic cult of Bhagwan Rajneesh, which attracts hundreds to Poona, are just a few of the more notorious examples.

The pancreatic stone protein (lithostathine) secreted by the exocrine pancreas is an inhibitor of CaCO3 crystal growth. This protein, which is also present in endocrine pancreas, has also been called the regeneration protein (reg). Here we report the mapping of the REG gene to chromosome 2 using the polymerase chain reaction for the specific amplification of human reg sequences in rodent/human somatic cell hybrid DNA. A regional assignment has been made by in situ hybridization to metaphase chromosomes using two different fluorescently labelled genomic probes corresponding to the REG gene and a related gene REGL. Both probes hybridized to chromosome 2p12 suggesting the tandem organization of these genes.