V R Lingappa
The ability of activated T lymphocytes to penetrate the extracellular matrix and migrate to target tissues was found to be related to expression of a heparanase enzyme (Naparstek, Y., I. R. Cohen, Z. Fuks, and I. Vlodavsky. 1984. Nature (Lond.). 310:241-243; Savion, N., Z. Fuks, and I. Vlodavsky. 1984. J. Cell. Physiol. 118:169-176; Fridman, R., O. Lider, Y. Naparstek, Z. Fuks, I. Vlodavsky, and I. R. Cohen. 1987. J. Cell. Physiol. 130:85-92; Lider, O., J. Mekori, I. Vlodavsky, E. Baharav, Y. Naparstek, and I. R. Cohen, manuscript submitted for publication). We found previously that heparin molecules inhibited expression of T lymphocyte heparanase activity in vitro and in vivo, and administration of a low dose of heparin in mice inhibited lymphocyte traffic and delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions (Lider, O., J. Mekori, I. Vlodavsky, E. Baharav, Y. Naparstek, and I. R. Cohen, manuscript submitted for publication). We now report that treatment with commercial or chemically modified heparins at relatively low doses once daily (5 micrograms for mice and 20 micrograms for rats) led to inhibition of allograft rejection and the experimental autoimmune diseases adjuvant arthritis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Higher doses of the heparins were less effective. The ability of chemically modified heparins to inhibit these immune reactions was associated with their ability to inhibit expression of T lymphocyte heparanase. There was no relationship to anticoagulant activity. Thus heparins devoid of anticoagulant activity can be effective in regulating immune reactions when used at appropriate doses.
O Lider, E Baharav, Y A Mekori, T Miller, Y Naparstek, I Vlodavsky, I R Cohen
The NADPH:O2 oxidoreductase (NADPH oxidase) of human neutrophils is converted from a dormant to an active state upon stimulation of the cells. We have studied the soluble fraction that is required for NADPH oxidase activation in a cell-free system. Human neutrophils were separated in a membrane-containing and a soluble fraction. The soluble fraction was separated on carboxymethyl (CM) Sepharose in 10 mM 4-morpholino-ethanesulfonic acid buffer of pH 6.8. Reconstitution of the NADPH oxidase activity, measured as O2 consumption, was only found when the membrane fraction was combined with the flowthrough of the CM Sepharose column as well as with a fraction that eluted at 125 mM NaCl. This result indicates that at least two soluble components are necessary for reconstitution of the NADPH oxidase activity: one that does not bind to CM Sepharose and one that does bind. These components were designated soluble oxidase component (SOC) I and SOC II, respectively. Boiling destroyed the activity in both fractions. In the soluble fraction of human lymphocytes and thrombocytes neither SOC I nor SOC II activity was found. SOC II copurified with a 47-kD phosphoprotein, previously found defective in patients with the autosomal form of chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). Inactive soluble fractions of cells from autosomal CGD patients were reconstituted with a SOC II fraction from control cells. The result of this experiment indicates that autosomal CGD patients are normal in SOC I but defective in SOC II.
B G Bolscher, R van Zwieten, I M Kramer, R S Weening, A J Verhoeven, D Roos
The production and growth regulatory activity of transforming growth factor beta were studied in human thyroid tissue. As estimated by its mRNA expression in fresh tissue samples, transforming growth factor beta was produced in normal and in diseased thyroid glands. Transforming growth factor beta mRNA was mainly produced by thyroid follicular cells and in lesser quantities by thyroid infiltrating mononuclear cells. The concentrations of transforming growth factor beta mRNA were lower in iodine-deficient nontoxic goiter than in Graves' disease and normal thyroid tissue. Transforming growth factor beta protein secretion by cultured thyroid follicular cells was also low in nontoxic goiter, but could be increased by addition of sodium iodide (10 microM) to the culture medium. Recombinant transforming growth factor beta did not affect basal tritiated thymidine incorporation in cultured thyroid follicular cells, but inhibited, at a concentration of 10 ng/ml, the growth stimulatory influence of insulin-like growth factor I, epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor alpha, TSH, and partly that of normal human serum on cultured thyroid follicular cells. This inhibition was greater in Graves' disease than in nontoxic goiter. These results suggest that transforming growth factor beta may act as an autocrine growth inhibitor on thyroid follicular cells. Decreased transforming growth factor beta production and decreased responsiveness to transforming growth factor beta may be cofactors in the pathogenesis of iodine-deficient nontoxic goiter.
B Grubeck-Loebenstein, G Buchan, R Sadeghi, M Kissonerghis, M Londei, M Turner, K Pirich, R Roka, B Niederle, H Kassal
Peroxisomal function was evaluated in a male infant with clinical features of neonatal adrenoleukodystrophy. Very long chain fatty acid levels were elevated in both plasma and fibroblasts, and beta-oxidation of very long chain fatty acids in cultured fibroblasts was significantly impaired. Although the level of the bile acid intermediate trihydroxycoprostanoic acid was slightly elevated in plasma, phytanic acid and L-pipecolic acid levels were normal, as was plasmalogen synthesis in cultured fibroblasts. The latter three parameters distinguish this case from classical neonatal adrenoleukodystrophy. In addition, electron microscopy and catalase subcellular distribution studies revealed that, in contrast to neonatal adrenoleukodystrophy, peroxisomes were present in the patient's tissues. Immunoblot studies of peroxisomal beta-oxidation enzymes revealed that the bifunctional enzyme (enoyl-CoA hydratase/3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase) was deficient in postmortem liver samples, whereas acyl-CoA oxidase and the mature form of beta-ketothiolase were present. Density gradient centrifugation of fibroblast homogenates confirmed that intact peroxisomes were present. Immunoblots of fibroblasts peroxisomal fractions showed that they contained acyl-CoA oxidase and beta-ketothiolase, but bifunctional enzyme was not detected. Northern analysis, however, revealed that mRNA coding for the bifunctional enzyme was present in the patient's fibroblasts. These results indicate that the primary biochemical defect in this patient is a deficiency of peroxisomal bifunctional enzyme. It is of interest that the phenotype of this patient resembled neonatal adrenoleukodystrophy and would not have been distinguished from this disorder by clinical study alone.
P A Watkins, W W Chen, C J Harris, G Hoefler, S Hoefler, D C Blake Jr, A Balfe, R I Kelley, A B Moser, M E Beard
To test the hypothesis that chronic exercise may improve tolerance to hypoxia in aged hearts, we compared cardiac function of exercised rats to that of their age-matched, nonexercised controls. Right ventricular papillary muscles were removed from young adult (9 mo) and old (24-26 mo) male Fischer 344 rats that were chronically exercised on a rodent treadmill and from their age-matched, nonexercised controls. During isometric contraction, hypoxia depressed contraction and relaxation in all muscles, but to a lesser extent in the exercised groups. A significant exercise effect was observed in the following variables: the maximum developed tension, the maximum rate of tension development, the maximum rate of tension decline, and the time required for the hypoxia to reduce maximum tension by 20%. The maximum rate of tension decline was more sensitive to hypoxia than was the maximum rate of tension development in all groups. Exercise also had an effect on the temperature dependence of cardiac performance during hypoxia. Thus, chronic exercise results in the preservation of both contraction and relaxation during hypoxia for aged as well as young adult hearts.
J Y Wei, Y Li, T Lincoln, W Grossman, D Mendelowitz
Oligoclonal and cloned T lines from peripheral blood or thymuses of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) were selected for reactivity against nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChR) from Torpedo california, or against a recombinant fusion peptide, X4, representing the extracellular portion of the mouse AChR alpha-chain. All cell lines expressed the CD4 membrane phenotype, and their antigen reactivity was blocked by antibodies against monomorphic HLA DR/DP determinants. Using a panel of fusion proteins of different, overlapping mouse AChR alpha-chain sequences, a major T cell epitope was localized between amino acid positions 85 and 142. This determinant was distinct from the humoral main immunogenic region, which has been identified on the sequence 61-76. The response pattern of uncloned T lines from three patients with different HLA haplotypes suggests, however, that in any one MG patient T lymphocytes may recognize more than one autoantigenic epitope on the AChR alpha-chain, and that the T lymphocyte response profiles vary among individual patients.
A Melms, S Chrestel, B C Schalke, H Wekerle, A Mauron, M Ballivet, T Barkas
Previous studies have suggested that procollagen types I and III are the major collagenous gene products of cultured human skin fibroblasts. In this study the expression of 10 different genes, encoding the subunit polypeptides for collagen types I-VI, by human skin fibroblasts in culture was analyzed by molecular hybridizations. Northern transfer analysis demonstrated the presence of specific mRNA transcripts for collagen types I, III, IV, V, and VI, but not for type II collagen. Quantitation of the abundance of these mRNAs by slot blot hybridizations revealed that type I, III, and VI procollagens were the major collagenous gene products of skin fibroblasts in culture. The mRNAs for type IV and V collagens represented only a small percentage of the total collagenous mRNA transcripts. Further analysis by in situ hybridization demonstrated that the majority of the cultured cells coexpressed the genes for type I, III, and VI procollagen pro-alpha chains. Further in situ hybridization analyses revealed the expression of type VI collagen genes in normal human skin. These data demonstrate that human skin fibroblast cultures can be used to study the transcriptional regulation of at least nine genetically distinct procollagen genes. The data further suggest that type VI collagen, in addition to types I and III, may be a major collagenous component of human skin.
D R Olsen, J Peltonen, S Jaakkola, M L Chu, J Uitto
In the present report we describe a patient with multiple myeloma and long-standing paraproteinemia who developed xanthoma in the absence of an elevation in plasma cholesterol or triglyceride concentrations. Studies demonstrated that our patient's monoclonal IgG antibody interacted with apoprotein B-100. The LDL-antibody complex isolated from our patient did not affect the degradation of LDL by human fibroblasts, indicating that while IgG derived from our patient interacted with LDL it did not alter the metabolism of this lipoprotein by the LDL receptor pathway. Since the LDL receptor pathway is the major route of LDL metabolism, this probably explains why our patient was not hyperlipidemic. In contrast to an absence of effect on the LDL receptor, our patient's LDL-antibody complex stimulated cholesterol esterification within macrophages indicating the uptake and degradation of the LDL-antibody complex. The LDL-antibody complex inhibited the degradation of acetyl LDL by macrophages (scavenger pathway), demonstrating that our patient's LDL-antibody complex was recognized as a modified LDL. Moreover, mixing Ig from our patient with normal LDL also resulted in the normal LDL increasing the esterification of cholesterol by macrophages. One can hypothesize that our patient's monoclonal IgG-LDL complex interacted with the macrophage scavenger receptor, thereby resulting in the occurrence of xanthoma in the absence of hyperlipidemia.
K R Feingold, G R Castro, Y Ishikawa, P E Fielding, C J Fielding
Based largely on evidence of increased target tissue beta-adrenergic receptor densities and responsiveness in animal and, to a lesser extent, human tissues, it is often assumed that thyroid hormone excess results in increased sensitivity to catecholamines in vivo, thus explaining several clinical manifestations of thyrotoxicosis. To test the hypothesis that thyrotoxicosis results in increased target tissue beta-adrenergic receptor densities and correspondingly increased metabolic and hemodynamic sensitivity to epinephrine in vivo, we measured these in 10 normal humans before and after administration of triiodothyronine (100 micrograms daily) for 10 d. Thyrotoxicosis increased beta-adrenergic receptor densities in fat (approximately 60%) and skeletal muscle (approximately 30%). Despite increments in beta-adrenergic receptor densities in these and probably other target tissues, metabolic and hemodynamic sensitivity to epinephrine in vivo was unaltered. An apparently adaptive increase in insulin secretion plausibly explains normal glycemic, glycogenolytic/glycolytic, lipolytic, and ketogenic sensitivity to epinephrine in the thyrotoxic state. In view of this striking homeostatic efficiency of the intact individual, the finding of altered adrenergic receptors, even in relevant target tissues, should not be extrapolated to altered sensitivity to catecholamines in vivo in the absence of direct testing of that hypothesis. With respect to the clinical issue, these data suggest that increased sensitivity to catecholamines does not explain clinical manifestations of thyrotoxicosis in humans.
S B Liggett, S D Shah, P E Cryer
We have examined the capacity of a live avirulent mutant form of the intracellular bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila to induce immune responses and protective immunity in guinea pigs. The mutant L. pneumophila is nonlethal to guinea pigs and does not revert to virulence with passage through guinea pigs. In contrast, exposure of guinea pigs to aerosols containing wild-type L. pneumophila induces a pneumonic illness that clinically and pathologically resembles Legionnaires' disease in humans. Guinea pigs immunized by aerosol exposure to mutant L. pneumophila developed a strong humoral immune response to wild-type L. pneumophila antigens with reciprocal antibody titers of 32-512 (median 256) by the indirect fluorescent antibody assay, compared with titers of less than 2 for control (sham immunized) guinea pigs. Mutant immunized but not control guinea pigs also developed strong cell-mediated immune responses to wild-type L. pneumophila antigens, as demonstrated in assays of cutaneous delayed-type hypersensitivity and in vitro splenic lymphocyte proliferation. Mutant immunized guinea pigs developed strong protective immunity to lethal aerosol challenge with wild-type L. pneumophila. In four independent experiments 40-83% of mutant immunized guinea pigs survived compared with 0% of control guinea pigs. Overall, 13 of 21 (62%) mutant immunized guinea pigs survived compared with 0 of 21 (0%) control guinea pigs (P = 0.00002, Fisher's exact test, two-tailed). Mutant immunization induced protection comparable to wild-type immunization in these studies; 8 of 14 (57%) guinea pigs immunized by wild-type L. pneumophila survived. This study demonstrates that guinea pigs immunized with a live avirulent mutant L. pneumophila vaccine (a) develop a strong humoral immune response to wild-type L. pneumophila antigens; (b) develop a strong cell-mediated immune response to wild-type L. pneumophila antigens; and (c) develop protective immunity to lethal aerosol challenge with wild-type L. pneumophila. This study demonstrates the feasibility of a vaccine against Legionnaires' disease.
S J Blander, R F Breiman, M A Horwitz
Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) localizes to the epidermis when injected in vivo, but its role in the skin has heretofore not been evaluated. As a first approach to assessing the role of TNF alpha in the skin, we evaluated the binding and biological effects of TNF alpha on human neonatal foreskin keratinocytes maintained in culture. We found that TNF alpha at 0.3-1.0 nM inhibited proliferation of keratinocytes in a reversible fashion as demonstrated by a reduction in total DNA content and clonal growth. The antiproliferative effects were most marked when TNF alpha was added in the preconfluent stages of cell growth. Accompanying this antiproliferative effect was a stimulation by TNF alpha of differentiation of keratinocytes as indicated by the stimulation of cornified envelope formation. Keratinocytes specifically bound TNF alpha, reaching maximal binding in 2 h at 34 degrees C or 8 h at 4 degrees C. Much of the apparent binding at 34 degrees C was due to internalization of the TNF alpha. At 4 degrees C the rate of internalization was much less. Confluent keratinocytes showed a single class of high-affinity receptors with 1,250 receptors/cell and a Kd of 0.28 nM. These data suggest a role for TNF alpha in the growth and differentiation of the epidermis.
S Pillai, D D Bikle, T E Eessalu, B B Aggarwal, P M Elias
The cellular mechanisms responsible for abnormalities in spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) growth and vasoreactivity are not defined. Because Na+/H+ exchange, which we have previously demonstrated in cultured VSMC, plays an essential role in mediating growth factor responses, we hypothesized that abnormalities in SHR growth regulation might be reflected in the activity of this transporter. To test this hypothesis, we studied DNA synthesis and Na+/H+ exchange (measured as the rate of amiloride-sensitive intracellular alkalinization or Na+ influx) in early subcultures (less than 6) of aortic VSMC from 12-wk-old SHR and Wistar Kyoto (WKY) animals. Serum-deprived SHR VSMC grew more rapidly in response to 10% serum with an increase in [3H]thymidine incorporation of 439% compared with 191% in WKY controls. Basal intracellular pH (pHi) values determined by fluorescent pH measurements were 7.37 +/- 0.04 and 7.27 +/- 0.03 (P less than 0.05) in early passage SHR and WKY, respectively. Acid recovery (initial pHi = 6.8) by SHR VSMC was faster than by WKY VSMC as measured by alkalinization (1.8 +/- 0.6 vs. 0.8 +/- 0.2 mmol H+/liter.min, P less than 0.05) or by amiloride-sensitive 22Na+ influx (14.5 +/- 1.2 vs. 4.0 +/- 0.5 nmol Na+/mg protein.min, P less than 0.05). In comparison to WKY cells early passage SHR VSMC exhibited 2.5-fold greater alkalinization and amiloride-sensitive 22Na+ influx in response to 100 nM angiotensin II. During serial passage, WKY cells acquired enhanced Na+/H+ exchange and growth rates so that by passage 6, these differences were no longer present. These findings in early cultures of SHR VSMC, removed from the in vivo neurohumoral milieu, suggest that increased Na+/H+ exchange in SHR may reflect alterations in Na+ homeostasis that might contribute to altered SHR VSMC function such as enhanced growth and vasoreactivity.
B C Berk, G Vallega, A J Muslin, H M Gordon, M Canessa, R W Alexander
HLA-DR4 is associated with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in many populations. Many recent studies suggest that the DR4 effect is really due to DQ3.2, an allele of the nearby DQB1 locus. We used T cell clones, MAb, and allele-specific oligonucleotides to test IDDM and control subjects for DR4 subtypes (Dw4, Dw10, Dw13, and Dw14) and for DR4-associated DQB1 alleles (DQ3.1 and DQ3.2). We find that (a) IDDM is approximately equally associated with alleles of the DRB1 locus (Dw4 and Dw10, combined relative risk, RR = 6.4) and the DQB1 locus (DQ3.2, RR = 5.9); and (b) there is significant interaction, in a statistical sense, between these DR and DQ alleles in IDDM. The only IDDM-associated DR4 haplotypes were those carrying the IDDM-associated alleles at both loci (RR = 12.1); haplotypes with Dw4 or 10 but not DQ3.2, or vice versa, had a RR less than 1. Alternative explanations include: (a) that susceptibility requires specific allelic products of both DR and DQ loci; (b) that the combination of certain DR and DQ alleles marks haplotypes with the true susceptibility allele at a third locus; or (c) that Dw4 and 10 mark haplotypes with an allele at another locus that interacts with DQ3.2. As discussed, this third locus is unlikely to be DQA1 (DQ alpha). The data thus are not easily reconciled with an exclusive effect of HLA-DQ. This information increases our ability to predict IDDM by genetic typing: in the population studied, heterozygotes DR3/[DQ3.2, Dw4] or DR3/[DQ3.2, Dw10] had a relative risk of 38.0 and an absolute risk of 1 in 15.
M J Sheehy, S J Scharf, J R Rowe, M H Neme de Gimenez, L M Meske, H A Erlich, B S Nepom
Isolated amyloid fibrils from three cases of systemic senile amyloidosis (SSA) contained subunit proteins with molecular masses of 14 (10-20%), 10-12 (60-80%), and 5-6 kD (5-10%) when fractionated under reducing and dissociating conditions. This grouping was identical to that seen in SKO, a case of familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) studied earlier. Amino acid sequencing confirmed that SSA subunit proteins were in fact prealbumin (transthyretin). Complete sequence analysis of one SSA preparation revealed the presence of a new variant Pa (TTr) molecule with a single amino acid substitution of isoleucine for valine at position 122. Further studies used an antiserum specific for SKO IV, a subunit protein of SKO previously shown to correspond to carboxy-terminal 78 residues (positions 49-127) of (TTr). Anti-SKO IV reacted with SSA in tissue at equivalent dilutions to anti-Pa (TTr) and with the 10-12-kD fraction of SSA on Western blots; reactivity was blocked by SKO IV, but not by Pa (TTr). SSA is a form of systemic amyloidosis caused by tissue deposition of Pa (TTr) and its fragments, with shared conformational or subunit antigenicity to at least one form of FAP. Identification of a new variant Pa (TTr) molecule in one case suggests further that SSA may be a genetically determined disease expressed late in life.
P D Gorevic, F C Prelli, J Wright, M Pras, B Frangione
The role of apical and basolateral membranes in aldosterone-induced active potassium (K) secretion in rat distal colon was investigated by measuring mucosal-to-serosal (Jms) and serosal-to-mucosal (Jsm) 42K fluxes (mueq.h-1.cm-2) across isolated stripped mucosa under short-circuit conditions in normal and secondary-hyperaldosterone animals. In normal colons mucosal tetraethylammonium (TEA; 30 mM) or barium (Ba; 5 mM), but not cesium (Cs; 15 mM), reduced Jsm without affecting Jms. In aldosterone animals (a) net K secretion (-0.54 +/- 0.11) was converted to net K absorption (0.63 +/- 0.15) by mucosal TEA, which produced a marked reduction in Jsm (0.82 +/- 0.07) and an increase in Jms (0.35 +/- 0.07). In contrast mucosal Ba resulted in a relatively smaller reduction in JK(sm) without altering JK(ms), whereas mucosal Cs was ineffective; (b) serosal bumetanide or the removal of serosal Na or Cl markedly inhibited JK(sm and abolished net K secretion; and (c) serosal ouabain (1 mM) produced qualitatively similar effects to those of serosal bumetanide. These results demonstrate that (a) normal rat distal colon contains apical TEA- and Ba-sensitive K channels; (b) aldosterone induces TEA-sensitive and Ba-sensitive apical K channels; (c) aldosterone-induced K secretion requires both the Na,K-pump and Na-K-2Cl cotransport for K uptake across the basolateral membrane; and (d) alteration of any of these processes results in inhibition of aldosterone-induced active K secretion simultaneously with stimulation of K absorption.
J H Sweiry, H J Binder
Specific, high affinity insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding proteins are secreted by human fibroblasts in culture. By multiple criteria, the species of IGF binding proteins produced by human fibroblasts are distinct from the HepG2/amniotic fluid IGF binding protein, but share many characteristics with the growth hormone-dependent IGF binding protein forms predominant in normal adult human plasma. Treatment of cultured human fibroblasts with growth hormone produced an increase in IGF binding protein activity in the medium, while addition of glucocorticoids markedly diminished IGF binding activity. Insulin, epidermal growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, and progesterone had no effect on IGF binding activity in fibroblast media. In comparison, HepG2 IGF binding activity was enhanced by progesterone, decreased by insulin, and unaffected by growth hormone or glucocorticoid treatment. Five molecular forms of IGF binding proteins were identified by Western ligand blots in human fibroblast conditioned medium, with Mr = 41,500, 37,000, 32,000, 28,000, and 23,000. In human fibroblast conditioned medium, the Mr = 41,500 and 37,000 IGF binding protein species were abundant, as in normal human plasma, with a major Mr = 23,000 form which was a minor component in plasma.
C A Conover, F Liu, D Powell, R G Rosenfeld, R L Hintz
Visceral leishmaniasis is associated with an antigen-specific immunosuppression during the acute disease. Patients become responsive to Leishmania antigen in both in vivo and in vitro assays after successful antimony therapy. The cell type involved in the suppression of lymphocyte reactivity to Leishmania antigen was studied by selective depletion of mononuclear cell (MNC) populations and in co-cultivation experiments. Adherent cells were depleted on plastic and by passage on nylon wool columns. High-avidity Fc+ cells were depleted by adherence to BSA-anti-BSA complexes and OKT4+ and OKT8+ cells were depleted by treatment with monoclonal antibody (anti-OKT4+ and OKT8+) and complement. Depletion of MNC preparations of adherent cells, high-avidity Fc+ cells, OKT4+ cells and OKT8+ cells failed to restore the lymphocyte reactivity to Leishmania antigen. Antimony therapy was associated with restoration of the proliferative responses of unseparated MNC (before treatment 460 +/- 76 cpm and after treatment 4,293 +/- 1,442 cpm). Co-culture of frozen cells obtained before chemotherapy with autologous MNC obtained after treatment reduced the response of posttreatment cells to Leishmania antigen by 80%. We conclude that the antigenic specific suppression of lymphocyte proliferation in visceral leishmaniasis is cell mediated.
E M Carvalho, O Bacellar, A Barral, R Badaro, W D Johnson Jr
Mechanisms governing the normal resolution processes of inflammation are poorly understood, yet their elucidation may lead to a greater understanding of the pathogenesis of chronic inflammation. The removal of neutrophils and their potentially histotoxic contents is one prerequisite of resolution. Engulfment by macrophages is an important disposal route, and changes in the senescent neutrophil that are associated with their recognition by macrophages are the subject of this investigation. Over 24 h in culture an increasing proportion of human neutrophils from peripheral blood or acutely inflamed joints underwent morphological changes characteristic of programmed cell death or apoptosis. Time-related chromatin cleavage in an internucleosomal pattern indicative of the endogenous endonuclease activation associated with programmed cell death was also demonstrated. A close correlation was observed between the increasing properties of apoptosis in neutrophils and the degree of macrophage recognition of the aging neutrophil population, and a direct relationship between these parameters was confirmed within aged neutrophil populations separated by counterflow centrifugation into fractions with varying proportions of apoptosis. Macrophages from acutely inflamed joints preferentially ingested apoptotic neutrophils and histological evidence was presented for occurrence of the process in situ. Programmed cell death is a phenomenon of widespread biological importance and has not previously been described in a cell of the myeloid line. Because it leads to recognition of intact senescent neutrophils that have not necessarily disgorged their granule contents, these processes may represent a mechanism for the removal of neutrophils during inflammation that also serves to limit the degree of tissue injury.
J S Savill, A H Wyllie, J E Henson, M J Walport, P M Henson, C Haslett
A liquid culture technique was used to study 23 synovial fluids (SF) (21 from inflammatory joint diseases and 2 noninflammatory SF) and supernatants of two cultured rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial tissues for colony-stimulating factor (CSF). The proliferative responses of human peripheral blood macrophage-depleted non-T cells treated with synovial fluids, supernatants of synovial tissue explants, and recombinant granulocyte-macrophage (rGM)-CSF were compared. Aggregates of cells that formed in long-term cultures (15 d) were similar for each applied agent and consisted of macrophages, eosinophils, and large blasts. Tritiated thymidine incorporation was proportional to the concentration of rGM-CSF and was accompanied by an increase in number and size of cellular aggregates formed in the cultures. CSF activity was observed in inflammatory SF, with tritiated thymidine uptake of 3,501 +/- 1,140 cpm in the presence of RA samples (n = 15) compared to 1,985 +/- 628 for non-RA inflammatory SF (n = 7) (P less than 0.05) and 583 +/- 525 for medium (n = 6) (P less than 0.01). The proliferative response to RA SF was often more apparent when the samples were diluted, because at higher concentrations the RA SF was inhibitory. Two RA SF were fractionated by Sephadex G100 column chromatography; low levels of CSF activity were detected in fractions corresponding to Mr of 70-100 kD, but the major CSF activity was found in the 20-24-kD fractions. A polyclonal rabbit anti-GM-CSF antibody eliminated the stimulating activity from both rGM-CSF and RA SF. Finally, a specific RIA identified significant levels of GM-CSF (40-140 U/ml) in the culture supernatants of 3 additional RA synovial tissues. These data document the local production of GM-CSF in rheumatoid synovitis and are the first description of this cytokine at a site of disease activity.
W D Xu, G S Firestein, R Taetle, K Kaushansky, N J Zvaifler
Recent findings from this laboratory suggest that the biological actions of placental lactogen (PL) in mammalian fetal tissues are mediated through binding of the hormone to a distinct and unique PL receptor. We have now purified this receptor from fetal and maternal sheep liver, characterized its binding to PL, growth hormone (GH), and prolactin (PRL), and determined its molecular weight by SDS-PAGE and by affinity cross-linking techniques. Soluble extracts containing specific, high-affinity (Kd 0.5 nM) PL binding activity were prepared by incubating ovine fetal and maternal liver microsomes with 1% Triton X-100. The detergent solubilized PL receptor was purified two- to threefold by ion-exchange chromatography and an additional twofold by gel exclusion chromatography on Sepharose 6B. The PL receptor was then purified 75,000- to 125,000-fold by affinity chromatography using a column of ovine PL (oPL) coupled to Affi-Gel 10. The molecular weight of the oPL receptor as determined by SDS-PAGE and by cross-linking techniques was 44,000 +/- 2,000 (range 40,000-48,000). The purified receptor bound 125I-oPL specifically and with high affinity (Kd 0.5 nM) but did not bind either radiolabeled ovine GH or ovine PRL. In addition, in competition studies using 125I-oPL as the radioligand, the purified PL receptor bound unlabeled oPL with a potency 30-50 times greater than that of ovine GH and 500-1,000 times greater than that of ovine PRL. These findings demonstrate the presence of a specific PL receptor in fetal and maternal sheep liver. The PL receptor, together with the GH and PRL receptors, constitute a family of distinct but related hormone receptors that differ in their relative affinities for PL, GH, and PRL. Changes in the expression of the three receptors may mediate changes in the hormonal control of growth during the transition from fetal to postnatal life.
M Freemark, M Comer
The hyperbicarbonatemia of chronic respiratory acidosis is maintained by enhanced bicarbonate reabsorption in the proximal tubule. To investigate the cellular mechanisms involved in this adaptation, cell and luminal pH were measured microfluorometrically using (2",7')-bis(carboxyethyl)-(5,6)-carboxyfluorescein in isolated, microperfused S2 proximal convoluted tubules from control and acidotic rabbits. Chronic respiratory acidosis was induced by exposure to 10% CO2 for 52-56 h. Tubules from acidotic rabbits had a significantly lower luminal pH after 1-mm perfused length (7.03 +/- 0.09 vs. 7.26 +/- 0.06 in controls, perfusion rate = 10 nl/min). Chronic respiratory acidosis increased the initial rate of cell acidification (dpHi/dt) in response to luminal sodium removal by 63% and in response to lowering luminal pH (7.4-6.8) by 69%. Chronic respiratory acidosis also increased dpHi/dt in response to peritubular sodium removal by 63% and in response to lowering peritubular pH by 73%. In conclusion, chronic respiratory acidosis induces a parallel increase in the rates of the luminal Na/H antiporter and the basolateral Na/(HCO3)3 cotransporter. Therefore, the enhanced proximal tubule reabsorption of bicarbonate in chronic respiratory acidosis may be, at least in part, mediated by a parallel adaptation of these transporters.
R Krapf
Molybdenum cofactor deficiency is a devastating disease with affected patients displaying the symptoms of a combined deficiency of sulfite oxidase and xanthine dehydrogenase. Because of the extreme lability of the isolated, functional molybdenum cofactor, direct cofactor replacement therapy is not feasible, and a search for stable biosynthetic intermediates was undertaken. From studies of cocultured fibroblasts from affected individuals, two complementation groups were identified. Coculture of group A and group B cells, without heterokaryon formation, led to the appearance of active sulfite oxidase. Use of conditioned media indicated that a relatively stable, diffusible precursor produced by group B cells could be used to repair sulfite oxidase in group A recipient cells. Although the extremely low levels of precursor produced by group B cells preclude its direct characterization, studies with a heterologous, in vitro reconstitution system suggest that the precursor that accumulates in group B cells is the same as a molybdopterin precursor identified in the Neurospora crassa molybdopterin mutant nit-1, and that a converting enzyme is present in group A cells which catalyzes an activation reaction analogous to that of a converting enzyme identified in the Escherichia coli molybdopterin mutant ChlA1.
J L Johnson, M M Wuebbens, R Mandell, V E Shih
To characterize homing receptors that are responsible for the recognition and specific binding of hemopoietic progenitor cells to the stroma, we synthesized and 125I-labeled a number of neoglycoproteins. We used these neoglycoproteins as ligand to detect receptors on the membrane of two cloned murine hemopoietic progenitor cell lines, B6SUT and FDCP-1. Both cell lines demonstrated membrane receptors with galactosyl and mannosyl, but not fucosyl, specificities. B6SUT galactosyl receptors showed a single receptor population with a Kd of about 2.3 X 10(-7) M and 10(6) receptors per cell. Mannosyl receptors demonstrated two components with high and low affinities respectively with Kd of about 2.5 X 10(-8) M and 1.0 X 10(-7) M, and respectively about 7.4 X 10(5) and 3.7 X 10(5) receptors per cell. Comparable data were also obtained for FDCP-1. Displacement experiments indicated that radioactive ligands bound to receptors could be increasingly displaced by homologous cold ligand giving typical sigmoid-shaped curves. Cold mannosyl probe could also displace radioactive galactosyl probe in a similar manner, but cold galactosyl probe displaced radioactive mannosyl ligand with a curve demonstrating two phases, further suggesting two receptor components for the mannosyl ligand. Mature murine neutrophils and red cells as well as human neutrophils, monocytes, and red cells showed no receptors. The functional significance of these receptors in binding to stromal cells was demonstrated by quantitation of the binding of 51Cr-labeled progenitor cells to the cloned stromal cell line, D2X, before and after enzymatic removal of various carbohydrate residues of membrane glycoconjugates. Enzymatic removal of galactosyl and mannosyl, but not fucosyl, residues almost totally eliminated the binding. The findings strongly suggest that these homing receptors are present on the surface of early hemopoietic progenitor cells. With maturation the cells lose their receptors, so that mature cells can be released into the blood stream.
T Matsuoka, C Hardy, M Tavassoli
This study presents the characterization of an experimental immunotherapeutic approach for schistosomiasis utilizing antiidiotypic antibodies. Antiidiotype (31-3B6) was generated in rabbits using a protective murine monoclonal antibody 31-3B6 which recognizes a 68,000-D molecular mass glycoprotein present in extracts of Schistosomiasis mansoni adult worm homogenetics. Immunization of mice with antiidiotype (31-3B6) before S. mansoni cercariae infection resulted in protection levels ranging from 16 to 41% depending on the route of administration of antiidiotypic antibody and the use of adjuvant. Levels of protection as high as 25% could be obtained with a single injection of antiidiotype (31-3B6) without the use of adjuvant. Animals noted to be resistant to infection with S. mansoni cercariae were also noted to exhibit a humoral immune response that bound components of S. mansoni adult worm homogenetics. This induced antiantigen immune response was shown to bind to the surface of S. mansoni schistosoma by indirect immunofluorescence. Further characterization of the induced antiantigen response showed that a portion (3-32%) of the induced humoral immune response portrayed the binding specificities of the murine monoclonal antibody 31-3B6. The data indicate that antiidiotype antibodies generated utilizing defined monoclonal antibodies can act as surrogate antigens in the protection of infection in schistosomiasis.
T F Kresina, G R Olds
Many nonhematologic tumors produce growth factors that may influence cellular proliferation either by autocrine or by paracrine mechanisms. In the current study, human tumor cell lines were investigated for the constitutive production of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF). Culture supernatants obtained from cell lines were analyzed using a radioimmunoassay and a radioreceptor assay specific for M-CSF. Among the various cell types analyzed, all the ovarian cell lines and a majority of the breast cancer cell lines secreted significant amount of an M-CSF-like factor. Treatment of mouse bone marrow cultures with culture supernatants from ovarian cancer cells stimulated the production of macrophage colonies. Analysis of total cellular RNA obtained from the ovarian cell lines by Northern blot showed multiple sizes of M-CSF transcripts with an abundance of a 4.2-kb message. The relative amount of M-CSF transcripts correlated with the level of immunoreactive material seen in the culture supernatants.
S Ramakrishnan, F J Xu, S J Brandt, J E Niedel, R C Bast Jr, E L Brown
Hypoxia in isolated myocytes results in accumulation of long-chain acylcarnitines (LCA) in sarcolemma. Inhibition of carnitine acyltransferase I (CAT-I) with sodium 2-[5-(4-chlorophenyl)-pentyl]-oxirane-2-carboxylate (POCA) prevents both the accumulation of LCA in the sarcolemma and the initial electrophysiologic derangements associated with hypoxia. Another amphiphilic metabolite, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), accumulates in the ischemic heart in vivo, in part because of inhibition of its catabolism by accumulating LCA. It induces electrophysiologic alterations in vitro analogous to early changes induced by ischemia in vivo. The present study was performed to determine whether POCA could prevent accumulation of both LCA and LPC induced by ischemia in vivo and if so, whether attenuation of early arrhythmogenesis would result. LAD coronary artery occlusions were induced for 5 min in chloralose-anesthetized cats. Coronary occlusion in untreated control animals elicited prompt, threefold increases of LCA (73 +/- 8 to 286 +/- 60 pmol/mg protein) and twofold increase of LPC (3.3 +/- 0.4 to 7.5 +/- 0.9 nmol/mg protein) selectively in the ischemic zone, associated with ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF) occurring within the 5-min interval before acquisition of myocardial samples in 64% of the animals. POCA prevented the increase of both LCA and LPC. It also prevented the early occurrence of VT or VF (within 5 min of occlusion) in all animals studied. The antiarrhythmic effect of POCA was not attributable to favorable hemodynamic changes or to changes in myocardial perfusion measured with radiolabeled microspheres. Thus, inhibition of CAT-I effectively reduced the incidence of lethal arrhythmias induced early after the onset of ischemia. Accordingly, pharmacologic inhibition of this enzyme provides a promising approach for prophylaxis of sudden cardiac death, that typically occurs very soon after the onset of acute ischemia, in man.
P B Corr, M H Creer, K A Yamada, J E Saffitz, B E Sobel
B cell hyperactivity present in the body in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can be detectable via almost any measure of B cell function. Nonetheless, the basis for the B cell hyperactivity is difficult to study in vitro. In this study, we have obtained the resting B cells from patients with entirely inactive SLE by collecting them sedimenting in a high density fraction on a Percoll density gradient. These resting SLE B cells proliferated in vitro at a higher rate than normal B cells when exposed to Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I (SAC). In addition, significant proliferation was observed earlier in the course of culture in SLE patients than in normal controls. Moreover, the SLE resting B cells, once triggered by SAC produced abnormally high numbers of immunoglobulin-secreting cells in response to T cell-derived soluble factors. There was less frequency of circulating Leu 1+ B cells in the SLE patients than in normal controls. Moreover, not only Leu 1+ B cells but also Leu 1- B cells of SLE patients were more responsive to SAC than those of normal controls. The results indicate that the B cell hyperactivity in human SLE can be induced by in vitro stimuli, and may not be limited to the Leu 1+ B cell subset.
N Suzuki, T Sakane
We evaluated the effects of acetazolamide on Na+-HCO3- cotransport in basolateral membrane vesicles isolated from the rabbit renal cortex. Na+ uptake stimulated by an imposed inward HCO3- gradient was not significantly reduced by 1.2 mM acetazolamide, indicating that acetazolamide does not directly inhibit Na+-HCO3- cotransport. 4,4'-Diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonate (DIDS)-sensitive Na+-base cotransport was found to be absolutely CO2/HCO3--dependent. We therefore tested whether acetazolamide-sensitive availability of HCO3- at the basolateral membrane could be rate-limiting for Na+-base cotransport under some conditions. In the presence of a CO2/HCO3- buffer system but absence of an initial HCO3- gradient, Na+ influx was stimulated fivefold by an outward NH4+ gradient. This stimulation of Na+ influx by an outward NH4+ gradient was inhibited greater than 75% by 0.6 mM acetazolamide, suggesting that acetazolamide blocked the ability of the NH4+ gradient to generate an inward HCO3- gradient. In the presence of an inward HCO3- gradient, Na+ influx was inhibited greater than 70% by an inward NH4+ gradient. This inhibition of Na+ influx was reduced to only 35% by 0.6 mM acetazolamide, suggesting that acetazolamide blocked the ability of NH4+ to collapse the inward HCO3- gradient. Similarly, Na+ influx in the presence of an inward HCO3- gradient was inhibited greater than 80% by an outward acetate gradient, and this inhibition was reduced to only 50% by acetazolamide. Thus, acetazolamide caused either inhibition or stimulation of Na+ uptake depending on the conditions with respect to pH and HCO3- gradients. The indirect interaction of acetazolamide with the basolateral membrane Na+-HCO3- cotransport system may be an important mechanism underlying inhibition of proximal tubule acid secretion by this agent.
M Soleimani, P S Aronson
We analyzed the effect of functional fascicular block (FFB) on ventriculoatrial conduction time (VACT) during orthodromic tachycardia (OT) in 32 patients with single accessory pathway (AP) of the Kent bundle type. The location of AP was left free wall (LFW-AP) in 21 patients, left posteroseptal in 6, right free wall in 2, and right anteroseptal in 3. FFB either alone or in combination with functional left or right bundle branch block (LBBB or RBBB) occurred predominantly at the onset of OT and was initiated with ventricular extrastimulus technique more often than with atrial extrastimulation. In patients with LFW-AP, isolated functional left anterior fascicular block (LAFB) produced significant prolongation in VACT (15-35 ms). A similar magnitude of VACT increase (20-35 ms) was also observed when LAFB was associated with RBBB. Although 25-45-ms prolongation in VACT occurred with functional LBBB and normal axis, an additional 20-55-ms VACT increase was seen when LAFB accompanied LBBB. Functional LAFB, alone or in combination with bundle branch block, however, did not prolong VACT in patients with other AP locations. Furthermore, left posterior fascicular block did not produce prolongation of VACT in any of the cases. It is concluded that in patients with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, evaluation of VACT during functional LAFB provides important information regarding AP localization and a clear separation of LFW-AP from all other locations.
M R Jazayeri, J Caceres, P Tchou, R Mahmud, S Denker, M Akhtar
We evaluated the effects of chronic cyclosporine (CsA) administration on the determinants of nephron filtration rate (SNGFR) using micropuncture techniques (mp) in male Munich-Wistar rats. Animals received CsA (30 mg/kg SQ) in olive oil daily for 8 d before mp. Controls (PFC) were pair fed. SNGFR, glomerular capillary hydrostatic pressure gradient (delta P), nephron plasma flow (SNPF), plasma protein oncotic pressure (pi A), and glomerular ultrafiltration coefficient (LpA) were quantitated in each experiment. CsA was associated with a lower SNGFR due to decreases in SNPF and a major reduction in delta P but no decrease in LpA. Plasma volume expansion (PVE) caused SNGFR, delta P, and SNPF to increase in both CsA and PFC without eliminating the differences between CsA and PFC. CsA/PVE rats responded normally to angiotensin II (AII) infusion indicating that the low delta P associated with CsA is not due to unresponsiveness to AII. Prior renal denervation caused SNGFR and SNPF to increase in CsA-treated animals but failed to alter the reduction in glomerular capillary pressure after CsA or to eliminate the glomerular hemodynamic differences between treated animals and pair-fed controls. This constellation of glomerular hemodynamic abnormalities suggests that the renal effect of short-term chronic CsA administration is mediated primarily by a reduction in the afferent effective filtration pressure resulting from an imbalance between pre- and postglomerular vascular resistances.
S C Thomson, B J Tucker, F Gabbai, R C Blantz
Neutrophils can be "primed" for an enhanced respiratory burst by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in concentrations measurable in patients with septic shock. Leukotriene B4 (LTB4) is the primary eicosanoid product of neutrophils and is felt to be a mediator of host defense and inflammation. We investigated the in vitro effects of LPS on neutrophil production of LTB4 and the omega-oxidation metabolites of LTB4. Incubation of neutrophils with LPS in concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 100 ng/ml did not result in production of LTB4 or metabolites in the absence of a second stimulus. Priming neutrophils with LPS and then stimulating with opsonized zymosan, phorbol-myristate-acetate or a low concentration of the calcium ionophore A23187 resulted in enhanced production of LTB4. LPS priming of neutrophils occurred in a concentration dependent manner. LPS did not result in LTB4 production in response to the chemoattractant peptide FMLP. LPS priming of neutrophils had no effect on cytosolic calcium concentrations of resting or zymosan-stimulated cells. These results suggest that LPS might effect host defense and tissue injury by potentiating the effect of other stimulants on neutrophil production of LTB4. This LPS induced enhancement may represent an important pathogenetic pathway in patients with gram negative sepsis.
M E Doerfler, R L Danner, J H Shelhamer, J E Parrillo
We have found evidence for a human alloantigenic system on the very late activation protein -2 (VLA-2) heterodimer (platelet GPIa/IIa). Sera from two patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) contained antibodies that immunoprecipitated surface molecules from platelets and fibroblasts that comigrated on SDS-PAGE and two-dimensional O'Farrell gels with platelet GPIa (VLA-alpha2 chain) and platelet GPIIa (VLA-beta chain). These SLE antibodies were alloreactive as they precipitated VLA molecules from only 5 of 22 normal donors' platelets and did not react with the lupus patients' own platelets, despite the expression of apparently normal amounts of VLA on the donors' cells. Two-dimensional O'Farrell analysis demonstrated no differences in the molecular weight or isoelectric point of GPIa and GPIIa obtained from platelets of alloantibody reactive or unreactive donors. Sequential immunoprecipitation experiments with VLA chain-specific monoclonal antibodies, and the pattern of immunoprecipitation of several different VLA heterodimers demonstrated that the alloantibody-reactive determinant was present on the VLA-2 heterodimer, and not other VLA molecules. Thus, these SLE sera demonstrate a previously unrecognized antigenic polymorphism of the VLA-2 (platelet GPIa/IIa) heterodimer, platelet alloantigen Hca.
V L Woods Jr, K D Pischel, E D Avery, H G Bluestein
To investigate the physiological role of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) in patients with hypoxic pulmonary hypertension secondary to chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD), we infused synthetic alpha-human ANF in seven such patients, and investigated the physiological correlates to circulating peptide levels in 24 patients with COLD. ANF infusion, at incremental rates of 0.01, 0.03, and 0.1 micrograms/kg.min, increased basal plasma immunoreactive (ir) ANF (136 +/- 38 pg/ml) by 3-, 10-, and 26-fold, respectively, and reduced pulmonary artery pressure (from 33 +/- 3 to 25 +/- 2 mmHg, P less than 0.001) and systemic arterial pressure (from 88 +/- 4 to 79 +/- 4 mmHg, P less than 0.001) in a dose-related fashion. Cardiac index increased by 13.5% (P less than 0.01) while heart rate was unchanged. Cardiac filling pressures decreased at 0.1 micrograms/kg.min ANF. Pulmonary and systemic vascular resistance fell by 37% (P less than 0.001) and 19% (P less than 0.001), respectively. Arterial oxygenation was impaired during ANF infusion, suggesting partial reversal of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction. Plasma renin activity remained unchanged but aldosterone fell by 44% (P less than 0.01). The levels of plasma irANF in 24 patients correlated directly with the degree of hemoconcentration (r = 0.67, P less than 0.001), respiratory acidosis (r = -0.65, P less than 0.001), and pulmonary hypertension (r = 0.52, P less than 0.01). The results suggest that ANF may serve as a potent pulmonary vasodilator involved in the circulatory homeostasis of patients with COLD.
S Adnot, P Andrivet, P E Chabrier, J Piquet, P Plas, P Braquet, F Roudot-Thoraval, C Brun-Buisson
Thrombospondin is a 420-kD platelet alpha-granule glycoprotein that binds specifically to heparin. We examined adhesion to thrombospondin of CHO K1 cells and three mutant CHO lines with varying deficiencies in glycosaminoglycan (GAG) synthesis. In an experiment in which the parent line (K1) had 78% adherence to thrombospondin adsorbed to tissue culture plastic, CHO S745 cells, with less than 6% normal GAG synthesis had 11% adherence. CHO S677 cells, with decreased heparan sulfate proteoglycan but increased chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, had 42% adherence. CHO S803 cells, with decreased heparan sulfate proteoglycan and normal chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, had 31% adherence. Heparin inhibited K1 cell adhesion to thrombospondin, but not fibronectin, in a concentration-dependent manner. Dermatan sulfate but not chondroitin sulfate was also inhibitory. There was markedly decreased K1 cell adhesion to a thrombospondin core fragment that lacked the heparin binding NH2-terminal domain. Purified heparin binding domain, although poorly adhesive when adsorbed to substratum, inhibited cell adhesion to intact thrombospondin. Adhesion was better for all cell lines tested, including three human tumor cell lines, when thrombospondin was adsorbed at pH 4.0 compared with pH 7.4. When adsorption of thrombospondin was done at pH 7.4, cell adhesion was better when thrombospondin was adsorbed in the presence of greater than or equal to 0.6 mM calcium, compared to 0.1 mM calcium or EDTA. These findings suggest that thrombospondin can adsorb to plastic with varying degrees of exposure of a cell adhesion domain. We conclude that the thrombospondin cell adhesion receptor on CHO cells is a heparan sulfate proteoglycan, and that cell adhesion to thrombospondin depends on conformation of adsorbed thrombospondin.
P R Kaesberg, W B Ershler, J D Esko, D F Mosher
Rabbit antiserum raised against a normal-derived monoclonal anti-DNA antibody KIM 4.6.3 (IgM lambda) was used for idiotype analyses. This anti-serum (anti-4.6.3 ID) was rendered specific for KIM 4.6.3 idiotype (4.6.3 ID) by absorption with normal human IgM and IgG. The specificity of anti-4.6.3 was shown by its ability to bind to KIM 4.6.3 antibody but not to normal human IgM and IgG, by inhibition of anti-4.6.3 ID reactivity with KIM 4.6.3 antibody by the homologous monoclonal antibody and by the ability of anti-4.6.3 ID to inhibit the binding of single stranded DNA with KIM 4.6.3 antibody. The 4.6.3 ID was found to be commonly expressed since it was detected among 33% (10/30) DNA and 32% (23/72) non-DNA-reactive monoclonal antibodies that were obtained from five different unrelated normal individuals. The binding to ssDNA of the majority of idiotype positive anti-DNA antibodies however was not blocked by anti-4.6.3 ID suggesting that among these other monoclonal antibodies its expression is outside of the antigen binding site. The 4.6.3 ID, which was present among some normal-derived monoclonal IgM molecules was also found at a high frequency (90%) in the sera of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) but only at a low frequency (24%) and concentration in normal sera. The level of 4.6.3 ID in SLE did not correlate with serum IgM and IgG nor with anti-DNA antibody concentrations. Idiotypic relatedness between SLE serum antibodies and monoclonal anti-DNA antibodies of normals implies the existence of a cross-reactive idiotype family and implies that a conserved common gene or closely related genes exist in the germ line encoding these 4.6.3 ID positive antibodies some of which are not exclusively associated with nucleic acid reactivity. The expression of these germ line genes in vivo thus distinguishes SLE from normals.
E Cairns, H Massicotte, D A Bell
Freeze-thaw (FT)-disrupted schistosomula or their membrane extract induced significant resistance in mice to Schistosoma mansoni infection (34 and 25%, respectively) without the use of adjuvant. Antigens identified in schistosome extracts by sera from immunized animals were then evaluated for protective potential. Immunization with schistosomal antigens of 97 and 68-70 kD resulted in significant protection that was equivalent to that obtained by FT schistosomula. Since the 97-kD antigen was suggested to be parasite paramyosin, we used a biochemical technique to purify this muscle protein. Purified schistosome paramyosin ran as a single band on 10% SDS-PAGE and was recognized both by sera from mice immunized with FT schistosomula and a polyclonal antiserum raised against the 97-kD parasite protein. Preincubation of schistosome paramyosin with sera from mice immunized with FT schistosomula resulted in the removal of reactivity with the 97-kD protein in crude worm extracts. Paramyosin was identified by Western blotting to be in the tegument of schistosomula. The purified schistosome paramyosin resulted in significant protection in three separate experiments (24, 46, and 53%) without the use of adjuvant. Addition of BCG to paramyosin resulted in enhanced protection.
T P Flanigan, C H King, R R Lett, J Nanduri, A A Mahmoud
Recent work has demonstrated that apo E secretion and accumulation increase in the regenerating peripheral nerve. The fact that apoE, in conjunction with apoA-I and LDL receptors, participates in a well-established lipid transfer system raised the possibility that apoE is also involved in lipid transport in the injured nerve. In the present study of the crushed rat sciatic nerve, a combination of techniques was used to trace the cellular associations of apoE, apoA-I, and the LDL receptor during nerve repair and to determine the distribution of lipid at each stage. After a crush injury, as axons died and Schwann cells reabsorbed myelin, resident and monocyte-derived macrophages produced large quantities of apoE distal to the injury site. As axons regenerated in the first week, their tips contained a high concentration of LDL receptors. After axon regeneration, apoE and apoA-I began to accumulate distal to the injury site and macrophages became increasingly cholesterol-loaded. As remyelination began in the second and third weeks after injury, Schwann cells exhausted their cholesterol stores, then displayed increased LDL receptors. Depletion of macrophage cholesterol stores followed over the next several weeks. During this stage of regeneration, apoE and apoA-I were present in the extracellular matrix as components of cholesterol-rich lipoproteins. Our results demonstrate that the regenerating peripheral nerve possesses the components of a cholesterol transfer mechanism, and the sequence of events suggests that this mechanism supplies the cholesterol required for rapid membrane biogenesis during axon regeneration and remyelination.
J K Boyles, C D Zoellner, L J Anderson, L M Kosik, R E Pitas, K H Weisgraber, D Y Hui, R W Mahley, P J Gebicke-Haerter, M J Ignatius
We measured steady-state levels of the human globin mRNAs in liver samples from several mid-gestational fetuses. RNA from the epsilon, gamma, beta, zeta, theta, and alpha globin genes were present in fetal liver samples isolated from 10-25-wk embryos. The abundance of all human globin mRNAs declined in older fetuses, presumably because of a gradual reduction in the proportion of erythroid precursors in the liver as development proceeds. The gamma:beta globin mRNA ratio in 10-18-wk fetal erythroblasts was 6-7:1, and in adult erythroid bone marrow the ratio was 0.02:1. In fetal liver samples, the relative abundance of epsilon transcripts was less than 1% that of gamma, and zeta transcripts less than 5% that of alpha. Embryonic transcripts declined in abundance during late fetal development and were not detected in newborn liver or adult erythroid bone marrow. theta globin mRNA also represented a minor species (less than 1% that of alpha) in fetal liver samples, but in contrast to the embryonic mRNAs, was most abundant in adult marrow samples obtained from patients with erythroid hyperplasia. These results support the hypothesis that globin protein levels are regulated by the relative amounts of each globin mRNA at various stages of erythropoietic development.
T J Ley, K A Maloney, J I Gordon, A L Schwartz
The hypothesis was tested that the field of a premature (S2) stimulus, interacting with relatively refractory tissue, can create unidirectional block and reentry in the absence of nonuniform dispersion of recovery. Simultaneous recordings from a small region of normal right ventricular (RV) myocardium were made from 117 to 120 transmural or epicardial electrodes in 14 dogs. S1 pacing from a row of electrodes on one side of the mapped area generated parallel activation isochrones followed by uniform parallel isorecovery lines. Cathodal S2 shocks of 25 to 250 V lasting 3 ms were delivered from a mesh electrode along one side of the mapped area to scan the recovery period, creating isogradient electric field lines perpendicular to the isorecovery lines. Circus reentry was created following S2 stimulation; initial conduction was distant from the S2 site and spread towards more refractory tissue. Reentry was clockwise for right S1 (near the septum) with top S2 (near the pulmonary valve) and for left S1 with bottom S2; and counterclockwise for right S1 with bottom S2 and left S1 with top S2. The center of the reentrant circuit for all S2 voltages and coupling intervals occurred at potential gradients of 5.1 +/- 0.6 V/cm (mean +/- standard deviation) and at preshock intervals 1 +/- 3 ms longer than refractory periods determined locally for a 2 mA stimulus. Thus, when S2 field strengths and tissue refractoriness are uniformally dispersed at an angle to each other, circus reentry occurs around a "critical point" where an S2 field of approximately 5 V/cm intersects tissue approximately at the end of its refractory period.
D W Frazier, P D Wolf, J M Wharton, A S Tang, W M Smith, R E Ideker
To examine the effects of serum calcium concentrations on PTH biosynthesis, rats were made hyper- (serum total calcium, approximately 3.5 mM) or hypocalcemic (approximately 1.25 mM) and steady-state levels of PTH mRNA in parathyroid cells were measured by the primer extension method using a 32P-labeled synthetic oligomer. PTH mRNA levels increased about twofold in the rats made slightly hypocalcemic by infusion of calcium-free solution and decreased slightly in those made hypercalcemic by CaCl2 infusion (120-150 mumol/h) compared with the levels present in nonfasting control rats. Infusion of calcitonin (0.5 U/h) or EGTA (90 mumol/h) with calcium-free solution increased PTH mRNA levels further (two- to sevenfold) above the levels present in animals infused with calcium-free solution alone. These changes in PTH mRNA levels were observed after 48- but not 24-h infusion, and there was an inverse correlation between PTH mRNA levels and serum calcium concentrations. The results suggest that changes in serum calcium concentrations in the near physiological range regulate the biosynthesis of PTH by affecting steady-state levels of PTH mRNA when hypercalcemia or hypocalcemia continues for a relatively long period.
M Yamamoto, T Igarashi, M Muramatsu, M Fukagawa, T Motokura, E Ogata
A human parathyroid-like protein (PLP) has recently been isolated and cloned from human tumors associated with the paraneoplastic syndrome, humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy. PLP shares NH2-terminal amino acid sequence similarity with PTH but has a unique primary structure thereafter. Studies reported to date have indicated that both native and synthetic amino-terminal PLP polypeptides display actions in vivo and in vitro that are similar to those of PTH. We report here that purified native PLP and synthetic 36Tyr(1-36)amide human PLP induce epidermal growth factor-dependent transformation of NRK 49F cells in soft agar. Further, the synthetic peptide induces a significant increase in the biosynthesis of fibronectin by human dermal fibroblasts. (1-34)PTH does not display either of these biological activities. These data indicate that there are qualitative differences between PTH and the recently identified PLP. The latter hormone appears to possess transforming growth factor-like properties that may be relevant to its physiological actions.
K L Insogna, A F Stewart, C A Morris, L M Hough, L M Milstone, M Centrella
Cellular mechanism(s) regulating atriopeptin secretion and processing by the atrial myocyte are currently unknown. Osmotic stretch of isolated atrial myocytes as well as potassium chloride depolarization were potent stimuli of atriopeptin secretion. Release was potentiated by buffering either extracellular calcium with EGTA or intracellular calcium with the intracellular chelator, BAPTA AM. Atrial release of atriopeptin was inhibited after administration of ionomycin which elevates intracellular calcium. Fetal or early neonatal ventricular myocytes actively synthesize atriopeptin. Atriopeptin secretion by ventricular myocytes was also markedly potentiated by osmotic stretch as well as KCl depolarization. Only the 126 amino acid prohormone was secreted by the stretch-stimulated atrial and ventricular myocyte. These data suggest that stretch of the myocyte plasma membrane is a major stimulus for atriopeptin secretion and that atriopeptin secretion is not stimulated by raising intracellular calcium and appears to be negatively modulated by this cation. Like the atrial myocyte, the ventricular myocyte possesses the cellular mechanism(s) necessary to secrete atriopeptin by a regulated mechanism.
J E Greenwald, M Apkon, K A Hruska, P Needleman
Type 1, liver kidney microsomal autoantibodies (LKM-1) are associated with a subgroup of idiopathic autoimmune type, chronic active hepatitis (CAH). The antigenic specificity of LKM-1 autoantibodies from 13 patients was investigated by immunoblot analysis of human liver microsomal proteins. Polypeptides of 50, 55, and 64 kD were detected with these antisera. A high titer LKM-1 serum was selected to screen a human liver lambda gt11 cDNA expression library, resulting in the isolation of several complementary (c)DNA clones. Autoantibodies affinity purified from proteins expressed by two of the immunopositive cDNA clones, HLD8.2 and HLD13.2, specifically react with a 50-kD protein of human liver microsomes and display immunofluorescence staining of the proximal renal tubular epithelia characteristic of LKM-1 sera. Determination of the sequence of HLD8.2 revealed that it encodes a recently described cytochrome P450db1. A bacterial fusion protein constructed from HLD8.2 proved to be a specific and sensitive diagnostic reagent. All sera from patients with LKM-1 positive liver disease react with this fusion protein. No reaction was seen, however, for sera from patients with other types of autoimmune liver diseases, viral hepatitis, systemic immunological disorders, or healthy controls.
M P Manns, E F Johnson, K J Griffin, E M Tan, K F Sullivan
The exact role of calcitonin (CT) in the pathogenesis of postmenopausal osteoporosis remains unknown. Whole plasma calcitonin (iCT) basal levels, metabolic clearance rate (MCR), and production rate (PR) of CT were measured in 9 premenopausal and 16 postmenopausal women, including 11 osteoporotics (OP). Basal iCT levels were statistically lower in postmenopausal women than in the premenopausal group (P less than 0.01) and strongly correlated (r = 0.72; P less than 0.001) with estrone circulating levels (E1). MCR were similar in all groups. PR were similar in eugonadal women between 22 (mean +/- SD = 30.9 +/- 9.9 micrograms/d) and 37 yr (mean +/- SD = 25.5 +/- 11.1 micrograms/d) premenopausal women. In healthy postmenopausal women PR were reduced, but not significantly (mean +/- SD = 19.5 +/- 6.95 micrograms/d), whereas osteoporotic patients presented a highly significant reduction of CT PR (mean +/- SD = 9.8 +/- 4 micrograms/d) (P less than 0.01). Because there is a strong relationship between E1 and PR (r = 0.64; P less than 0.001), CT secretory capacity appears to be modulated by estrogen circulating levels. This modulation leads to a menopause-related decrease in iCT. In osteoporotics, an independent impairment of CT production drastically lowers PR and basal iCT levels. CT might be one of the determining factors in the pathogenesis of postmenopausal osteoporosis.
J Y Reginster, R Deroisy, A Albert, D Denis, M P Lecart, J Collette, P Franchimont
During pressure-load hypertrophy of the adult heart in vivo, there is up-regulation of the mRNA encoding skeletal alpha-actin, the sarcomeric actin iso-mRNA characteristic of mature skeletal muscle and the fetal/neonatal heart. We have shown previously that during alpha 1-adrenergic receptor-stimulated hypertrophy of cultured rat heart myocytes, the induction of skeletal alpha-actin mRNA is greater than that of the mRNA encoding cardiac alpha-actin, the sarcomeric actin iso-mRNA characteristic of the adult heart. To determine if this actin iso-mRNA switch during cardiac hypertrophy reflects changes in the transcriptional status of the myocyte nucleus, we quantified the rate of transcription of actin mRNAs and total RNA, using an in vitro run-on transcription assay with nuclei isolated from the cultured myocytes after stimulation with norepinephrine (NE). Transcription of skeletal alpha-actin was increased at 3 h after NE, reached a maximum 6.1-fold increase at 12 h, and returned to the control level at 24 h. The EC50 for NE was 200 nM, and pharmacologic studies indicated alpha 1-receptor specificity. Transcription of cardiac alpha-actin was also increased rapidly by NE (maximum 4.6-fold vs. control at 3 h). However, cardiac alpha-actin transcription had returned to the control level at 6 h, when NE-stimulated skeletal alpha-actin transcription was still increasing. Transcription of the cytoskeletal (beta) actin gene was not changed significantly by NE treatment. Total RNA transcription was not increased until 6 h after NE (1.5-fold vs. control) and remained elevated through 24 h. Inhibition of protein synthesis did not attenuate NE-stimulated actin gene transcription. Thus the alpha 1-adrenoceptor mediates a rapid, transient, and selective increase in transcription of the sarcomeric actin isogenes during cardiac myocyte hypertrophy. Skeletal alpha-actin, the fetal/neonatal isogene, is induced preferentially to cardiac alpha-actin, the adult isogene. The different kinetics of actin isogene and total RNA transcription and the independence of transcription from protein synthesis suggest that transcriptional induction via the alpha 1 receptor is complex and may involve preexisting regulatory factors. These results are the first to demonstrate that the alpha 1-adrenergic receptor is a molecular mediator of transcriptional changes underlying an isogene switch that is known to be associated with cardiac myocyte hypertrophy.
C S Long, C P Ordahl, P C Simpson