Cytochrome b deficiency in an autosomal form of chronic granulomatous disease. A third form of chronic granulomatous disease recognized by monocyte hybridization

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Vitamin D-endocrine system.

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N H Bell

Prostacyclin production by the deendothelialized rabbit aorta.

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The acute effect of in vitro deendothelialization on the production of prostacyclin (PGI2) by the rabbit aorta has been investigated. The effectiveness of removing endothelium by rubbing it against filter paper or scraping it with a scalpel was demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy and en face examination after silver staining. Endothelium removal produced an immediate stimulation of PGI2 release, resulting in 408% of the control after rubbing and 367% of the control after scraping, during the first 30-min period of incubation. This increased production of PGI2 gradually declined over time to reach values similar to the control after 2h. At that time, the deendothelialized aorta was totally unresponsive to the stimuli that increase PGI2 release in the intact aorta (acetylcholine, ADP, ionophore A23187, and arachidonic acid). The enhanced production of PGI2 in the deendothelialized aorta was associated with an increased release of free arachidonic acid (353% of the control): in contrast with PGI2, this stimulation was maintained for at least 150 min. A transient exposure of the deendothelialized aorta to ibuprofen (250 microM) was followed by a rebound of PGI2 production, which was also prolonged by BW-755C (3-10 microM). In conclusion, removal of the endothelium triggered an immediate and sustained mobilization of free arachidonic acid in the rabbit aorta: the resulting increase of PGI2 production was short-lived, probably as a consequence of cyclooxygenase self-inactivation. Our results indicate that the subendothelium has a significant capacity to produce PGI2, but that this capacity is expressed only briefly.

Authors

J M Boeynaems, N Galand, P Ketelbant

Measurement of regional neuronal removal of norepinephrine in man.

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We describe here and validate an in vivo technique to measure the regional proportionate removal of norepinephrine (NE) by neuronal uptake (Uptake1) in man. The measurement is based on the steady-state arterial and venous concentrations of tritiated NE and tritiated isoproterenol (ISO) during simultaneous infusion of both. The validity of this technique depends on the removal of circulating NE, but not of ISO, by sympathetic nerve endings and on there being no other factor contributing to the net difference in the plasma disappearance of these catecholamines. To test these hypotheses, we compared the removal of NE in the arm with that of ISO in 14 people and the effects of pretreatment with the specific inhibitor of Uptake1, desipramine, in 8 people. In all the subjects a greater percent of NE than of ISO was removed during passage of blood through the forearm (54 vs. 46%, P less than 0.0001). Pretreatment with desipramine decreased significantly the removal of NE to virtually exactly that of ISO. The difference in NE and ISO clearances by arm tissues was therefore completely accounted for by Uptake1. About 15% of infused NE which is removed in the arm is removed by Uptake1. The ability to measure regional Uptake1 should contribute to better understanding of the relationship between circulating levels of plasma NE and sympathetic neural activity and may allow detection of abnormalities of neuronal norepinephrine removal in clinical disease states.

Authors

D S Goldstein, R Zimlichman, R Stull, J Folio, P D Levinson, H R Keiser, I J Kopin

Insulin receptor down-regulation is linked to an insulin-induced postreceptor defect in the glucose transport system in rat adipocytes.

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We have examined the relationship between insulin-induced receptor downregulation and the induction of a postreceptor defect in the insulin-stimulated glucose transport system in rat adipocytes, and found that downregulation was linked to the expression of the postreceptor defect. When recycling of insulin receptors was inhibited by 20 mM Tris, insulin pretreatment (100 ng/ml) for 4 h at 37 degrees C induced both net loss (65%) of cell-surface receptors and a 63% decrease in maximal insulin responsiveness. In contrast, when cells were treated with insulin alone for 4 h at 37 degrees C so that receptors could recycle, or treated at 16 degrees C with Tris plus insulin to inhibit receptor internalization, neither receptor downregulation nor a postreceptor defect was observed. Induction of the postreceptor defect was specific for insulin under conditions when downregulation would occur, since treatment of cells with Tris and the insulin mimicker spermine did not result in receptor loss or the postreceptor defect. Other experiments revealed that receptor downregulation occurred first without loss of insulin responsiveness, but, once the postreceptor defect appeared, its severity was correlated to the degree of further receptor loss, as a function of insulin dose and exposure time. Tris (20 mM) alone acutely decreased maximally stimulated glucose transport rates slightly (22%), but this effect was rapidly reversible after Tris removal and could not have been directly responsible for the lasting and profound postreceptor defect seen after pretreatment with insulin plus Tris. Taken together, these data suggest that insulin-induced receptor loss is linked to the induction of the postreceptor defect. The postreceptor defect was due to an inability to maximally increase the maximum velocity of glucose transport. Furthermore, the expression of the postreceptor defect depended upon the extent to which the glucose transport system was allowed to deactivate; maintaining the glucose transport system in an activated state prevented its expression. Thus, the mechanism could involve rapid inactivation or sequestration of glucose transporters during deactivation such that they become refractory to the subsequent stimulatory effects of insulin. In conclusion, (a) insulin does not acutely induce a postreceptor defect in the glucose transport system of adipocytes without loss of cell-surface insulin receptors; (b) the defect in stimulated glucose transport has been induced distal to the insulin receptor via a mechanism linked to receptor loss; and (c) the postreceptor lesion is due to decreased number of intrinsic activity of glucose transporters on the cell-surface in the presence of a maximally effective insulin concentration. These data suggest that insulin receptor downregulation and postreceptor defects in insulin action, which frequently co-exist both in vivo and in vitro, may be linked mechanistically.

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W T Garvey, J M Olefsky, S Marshall

Role of the kidneys in the metabolism of plasma mevalonate. Studies in humans and in rhesus monkeys.

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Studies were carried out in humans and in rhesus monkeys to determine the role of the kidneys in the metabolism of circulating mevalonic acid (MVA). Following intravenous infusion of [14C]MVA and [3H]cholesterol, there was a rapid appearance of [14C]squalene in the kidneys that exhibited a significantly longer half-life than plasma or hepatic squalene. In man and in rhesus monkeys there was a rapid equilibration between newly synthesized cholesterol from MVA and exogenously administered cholesterol in all tissues except the kidneys, where the specific activity ratio of newly synthesized to exogenous cholesterol was significantly higher. Estimates of the quantitative metabolism of intravenously infused radiolabeled MVA in the monkey demonstrated that 23% was excreted in the urine, 67% metabolized to cholesterol (58% in nonrenal tissues and 9% in the kidneys), and 10% catabolized to CO2 and nonsteroid products. Measurements of MVA metabolism in anephric and uninephric patients demonstrate that, in the absence of renal uptake of MVA, exogenous and newly synthesized cholesterol achieve almost instantaneous equilibrium in the plasma; whereas in control subjects with normal renal function, this equilibration required at least 21 d for the two cholesterol decay curves to become parallel. These results suggest that the kidneys are solely responsible for the observed disequilibrium between newly synthesized and exogenous cholesterol; we suggest that this was due to the delayed release of newly synthesized cholesterol from the kidneys into the plasma compartment following intravenous infusion with radiolabeled MVA. The data document the importance of the kidneys in the metabolism of circulating MVA. However, calculation of the quantitative significance of this pathway in relation to whole body MVA metabolism indicates that renal metabolism of MVA accounts for approximately 0.1% of daily MVA turnover, and that alterations in this pathway due to any form of renal pathology would not result in significant changes in hepatic or whole body sterol synthesis rates. We urge caution in the use of radiolabeled MVA in long-term kinetic studies of sterol metabolism because our data show that the plasma compartment of MVA is not necessarily in isotopic equilibrium with tissue MVA.

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D J McNamara, E H Ahrens Jr, T S Parker, K Morrissey

Antigenic characterization of human hepatocellular carcinoma. Development of in vitro and in vivo immunoassays that use monoclonal antibodies.

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Several libraries of monoclonal antibodies have been produced by immunization of Balb/c mice with single cell suspensions of nontrypsin-treated human hepatocellular carcinoma cell (HCC) lines in order to study the antigenic properties of transformed hepatocytes. The antibodies were characterized with regards to specificity for hepatoma-associated antigens and their capability for use as reagents in radioimmunoassays (RIAs) and tumor localization in vivo. Three such antibodies namely, P215457, PM4E9917, P232524 of the IgG2a, IgG2a, and IgG1 isotypes, respectively, not only recognized separate and distinct antigenic determinants on four human hepatoma cell lines but also reacted with epitopes present on chemically induced rat hepatoma cell lines. In contrast, only 1 of 38 other human malignant and transformed cell lines demonstrated reactivity with the three antibodies; normal human tissues were also found to be unreactive. Monoclonal antibody P215457 densely stained the plasma membrane by indirect immunofluorescence, showed rapid binding activity to HCC cells in suspension, and precipitated a 50,000-mol wt cell surface protein; antibody PM4E9917 also stained the plasma membrane and precipitated a 65,000-mol wt protein, whereas P232534 recognized cytoplasmic antigenic determinants. With these antibodies "simultaneous sandwich" RIAs were established that detect soluble hepatoma-associated antigens in culture supernatants. Finally, the Fab fragment of P215457 was found to be useful in tumor localization in vivo. This antibody fragment when labeled with 131I was shown to localize by radionuclide-imaging studies in human hepatoma grown in nude mice. Thus, these investigations demonstrate that monoclonal antibodies may be produced against epitopes that reside almost exclusively on transformed hepatocytes and such antibodies may be successfully employed in the development of in vitro and in vivo immunoassays.

Authors

R I Carlson, E Ben-Porath, D Shouval, W Strauss, K J Isselbacher, J R Wands

Immunogens consisting of oligosaccharides from the capsule of Haemophilus influenzae type b coupled to diphtheria toxoid or the toxin protein CRM197.

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Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) capsular polysaccharide (PRP) was selectively hydrolyzed to reducing oligosaccharides, and the fraction containing 3-10 ribosylribitolphosphate repeating units (VS) was conjugated by reductive amination to diphtheria toxin (DTx), its nontoxic derivative CRM197 (Dcr), or diphtheria toxoid (DTd). Conjugate DTx-VS retained approximately 1% of native toxicity, which was eliminated by treatment with formalin. Immunization of rabbits with the conjugates elicited antibody (Ab) to PRP and to DTx but not to a model for the linkage determinant. Human adults given single subcutaneous injections had rises in serum Ab to PRP and in bactericidal activity in vitro; the Ab protected infant rats challenged with Hib. Adults had rises also in Ab to DTd, and these Ab protected rabbits against DTx. A series of two injections of the conjugates Dcr-VS and DTd-VS was tested in infants beginning at 19-23 mo of age. Rises in anti-PRP Ab after the primary resembled the rises after PRP vaccine. In contrast to PRP, the conjugates elicited large rises after the secondary vaccinations and a substantial IgG component. Development of bactericidal activity paralleled the rises in anti-PRP Ab. Secondary rises after Dcr-VS were higher than after DTd-VS. In infants 12-16 mo of age, Dcr-VS (but not DTd-VS) elicited strong primary and secondary Ab responses that included IgG and bactericidal activity. Both conjugates produced consistent rises in Ab to DTd.

Authors

P Anderson, M E Pichichero, R A Insel

Differentiation and activation phenotypes of lung T lymphocytes differ from those of circulating T lymphocytes.

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We used dual laser two-color flow cytometry to compare the expression of surface markers associated with activation and with differentiation in lung and peripheral blood T lymphocytes from normal subjects. T cell subsets, defined based on their reactivity with monoclonal antibodies (MAb) OKT3, OKT4, and OKT8, were analyzed for expression of activation antigens as detected by MAbs to the interleukin-2 receptor, the transferrin receptor, and HLA-DR determinants. Whereas circulating T lymphocytes expressed the three activation antigens at low levels, and the total of T4+ and T8+ cells always approximated the number of T3+ cells, lung T lymphocytes of the T3+, T4+, and T8+ populations expressed the activation antigens at variable levels in combinations not seen in circulating lymphocytes, and the sum of T4+ and T8+ cells always exceeded the T3+ total. A proportion of T4+T8+ cells was detected in lung lymphocytes.

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B L Davidson, J Faust, S Pessano, R P Daniele, G Rovera

Hamster female protein, a sex-limited pentraxin, is a constituent of Syrian hamster amyloid.

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Female protein (FP) is a pentraxin of Syrian hamster which is a homologue of two human pentraxins, C-reaction protein (CRP) and amyloid P component (AP). Functionally, FP has been shown to be similar to CRP, although FP has more homology at the amino terminus with AP. The present work investigated amyloid in the Syrian hamster to determine whether FP was involved in a manner analogous to AP. FP was found to be a constituent of Syrian hamster amyloid. This conclusion was based on the following results: (a) FP was consistently detected in amyloid deposits by fluorescent microscopy with specific antisera; (b) The amount of FP extractable from hamster livers directly correlated with the presence of amyloid; and (c) 125I-FP injected intravenously into amyloidotic hamsters rapidly left the intravascular compartment and was found subsequently in amyloid deposits. This unusual alteration of plasma metabolism and amyloid localization of 125I-FP was a characteristic finding in amyloidotic hamsters and was specific for 125I-FP. Therefore, as an amyloid component, FP appears to be functionally similar to human AP. However, FP synthesis is under sex steroid control and the unique sex-limited expression of this pentraxin was associated with an equally novel propensity for deposition of amyloid in female hamsters under normal or experimental conditions. Thus, a high serum level of FP, as found in normal females or diethylstilbestrol-treated males, was associated with enhanced amyloidosis. Although speculative at present, a primary role for serum FP in hamster amyloid deposition may be experimentally approachable by hormonal manipulation of FP synthesis.

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J E Coe, M J Ross

Molecular analysis of the bare lymphocyte syndrome.

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The bare lymphocyte syndrome is a disorder in which class I histocompatibility antigens fail to be expressed normally on the surface of lymphocytes. Utilizing complementary DNA probes for both beta 2-microglobulin and class I genes, the molecular basis for this syndrome was investigated in a family with two siblings exhibiting the bare lymphocyte syndrome. Southern blot analysis demonstrated no gross internal defect in either class I or beta 2-microglobulin genes. Northern blot analysis of class I and beta 2-microglobulin messenger RNAs also revealed no qualitative difference between affected and unaffected family members. In contrast, quantitation of both class I and beta 2-microglobulin transcripts demonstrated each to be decreased in patients when compared to controls. Moreover, the decrease in both transcripts was coordinate. These results suggest that the bare lymphocyte syndrome may represent a pretranslational regulatory defect of both class I and beta 2-microglobulin gene expression.

Authors

K E Sullivan, J D Stobo, B M Peterlin

Resistance of human tumor cells in vitro to oxidative cytolysis.

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Nine human cell types, six of them malignant, displayed a marked resistance to lysis by hydrogen peroxide (LD50, 2-20 mM). Of the reactive oxygen intermediates generated extracellularly, only H2O2 lysed all the cell types. OH was lytic to one of four, OI- to one of one, and O-2 to none of four cell types tested. Resistance to oxidative lysis did not correlate with specific activity of catalase, glutathione (GSH) peroxidase, other peroxidases, or glutathione disulfide reductase, or with specific content of GSH. Resistance to H2O2 seemed to occur via mechanisms distinct from those responsible for cellular consumption of H2O2. Consumption was inhibitable by azide and was probably due to catalase in each cell type. In contrast, resistance to oxidative lysis occurred via distinct routes in different cells. One cell type used the GSH redox cycle as the primary defense against H2O2, like murine tumors previously studied. Other cells seemed to utilize catalase as the major defense against H2O2. Nonetheless, with both catalase and the GSH redox cycle inhibited, all the human cells tested exhibited an inherent resistance to oxidative lysis, that is, resistance independent of detectable degradation of H2O2.

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J O'Donnell-Tormey, C J DeBoer, C F Nathan

Influence of a 60-hour fast on insulin-mediated splanchnic and peripheral glucose metabolism in humans.

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A brief period of starvation (2-3) depletes the hepatic glycogen stores but results in only a limited reduction of the muscle glycogen depots. In this situation insulin resistance contributes to the glucose intolerance, but it is not known which tissue or tissues are responsible for the decreased insulin sensitivity. The present study was therefore undertaken to examine the influence of a 60-h fast on insulin sensitivity in splanchnic and peripheral tissues in normal humans. Euglycemic (95 mg/dl) 1-mU insulin and hyperglycemic (215-225 mg/dl) glucose clamp studies were conducted for 2 h in overnight (12 h) and prolonged (60 h) fasted nonobese subjects. Splanchnic exchange of glucose and gluconeogenic precursors was measured using the hepatic vein catheter technique. During the euglycemic clamp, insulin infusion resulted in similar steady state insulin levels in 60-h and 12-h fasted subjects (73 +/- 7 vs. 74 +/- 5 microU/ml). Total glucose disposal was reduced by 45% after 60 h of fasting (4.0 +/- 0.3 vs. 7.6 +/- 1.1 mg/kg per min, P less than 0.05) and the splanchnic glucose balance reverted from a net release in the basal state (12 h fast, -1.7 +/- 0.2, and 60-h fast, -0.9 +/- 0.1 mg/kg per min, P less than 0.01) to a net uptake during the clamps that was similar after 60 h and 12 h of fasting (0.6 +/- 0.1 vs. 0.6 +/- 0.2 mg/kg per min). During the hyperglycemic clamp, insulin levels rose rapidly in all subjects. In the 12-h fasted group this rise was followed by a further gradual one, reaching significantly higher values than in 60-h fasted subjects during the second hour (67 +/- 15 vs. 25 +/- 2 microU/ml, P less than 0.05). Total glucose disposal was lower, though not significantly so, after the 60-h fast (2.6 +/- 0.4 vs. 5.4 +/- 1.3 mg/kg per min, 0.05 less than P less than 0.10), and as with the euglycemic clamp, the splanchnic glucose balance was altered from a basal net release to a net uptake during the clamp (1.3 +/- 0.2 vs. 1.1 +/- 0.2 mg/kg per min). After an overnight fast, splanchnic lactate uptake fell and the arterial lactate concentration rose in response to both hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, whereas these variables were unchanged in the 60-h fasted subjects during both types of clamp studies.

Authors

O Björkman, L S Eriksson

Binding of diamine oxidase activity to rat and guinea pig microvascular endothelial cells. Comparisons with lipoprotein lipase binding.

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Microvascular endothelial cells from rat and guinea pig fat pads were shown to bind diamine oxidase (DAO) activity when incubated with soluble extracts of placenta (33 DAO U/mg of placenta) and a purified placental enzyme preparation (94 U/micrograms of protein). The extent of binding was dependent on the concentration of enzyme activity and tissue. Saturation of binding sites with 5,000 U of DAO/ml resulted in levels of bound activity (up to 11-13 U/mg of endothelial cells) in excess of that observed in all tissues except placenta. Scatchard plots suggested that there were at least two DAO binding sites (apparent Km 92 and 2,450 U/ml). Although the same cell preparations bound 125I-labeled lipoprotein lipase (LPL), the presence of LPL on the endothelial cell surface did not interfere with the binding of DAO activity except when cells were exposed to high concentrations of LPL. Alternatively, bound DAO activity was partially displaced (up to 33%) only with high concentrations (30 micrograms/ml) of LPL. DAO activity may thus be bound to at least two populations of sites, one of which may bind LPL. Both enzymes, however, were displaced by heparin (0.05-5 U/ml) and DAO binding was impaired by prior treatment of cells with proteolytic and glycosaminoglycandegrading enzymes. The demonstration of DAO binding to vascular endothelial cells provides a further example of the ability of these cells to bind enzymes at their surface and thereby act on biologically active substances in the circulation.

Authors

A Robinson-White, S B Baylin, T Olivecrona, M A Beaven

A new murine monoclonal antibody reports an activation-dependent change in the conformation and/or microenvironment of the platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa complex.

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Considerable evidence indicates that the glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa complex on human platelets functions as a receptor for fibrinogen, but little is known about the mechanism of receptor "exposure." To investigate this mechanism, our previously described murine monoclonal antibody (10E5) and a new monoclonal antibody (7E3), both of which block the binding of fibrinogen to platelets and bind to GPIIb and/or GPIIIa, were radiolabeled and their rates of binding to native and ADP-activated platelets were studied. At low concentrations, 125I-10E5 bound nearly equally rapidly to both native and activated platelets, whereas 125I-7E3 bound slowly to native platelets and much more rapidly to activated platelets. This increased rate of 7E3 binding is unlikely to be due to an increase in the number of GPIIb/IIIa sites on the surface of activated platelets because: (a) the rate of 10E5 binding was unchanged; (b) the total number of surface GPIIb/IIIa sites increased by only 2-10% with activation as judged by equilibrium binding of near-saturating concentrations of 10E5 and 7E3, and (c) there was less than 1% release of platelet factor 4 with activation, indicating minimal fusion of alpha-granule membranes (a potential source of GPIIb/IIIa) with the plasma membrane. Other activators (epinephrine, thrombin, and ionophore A 23187) also increased the rate of 7E3 binding, as did digestion of platelets with chymotrypsin. Aspirin did not affect the rate of binding of 7E3, whereas apyrase, prostaglandin E1, and dibucaine all inhibited the enhancement of the 7E3-binding rate produced by ADP. These data provide evidence for an activation-dependent change in the conformation and/or microenvironment of the GPIIb/IIIa complex, and offer a method of studying the receptor exposure mechanism that does not rely on the binding of fibrinogen itself.

Authors

B S Coller

Increased insulin sensitivity and responsiveness of glucose metabolism in adipocytes from female versus male rats.

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This study was undertaken to examine whether there were sex-associated differences in the action of insulin on glucose metabolism in adipocytes. Insulin binding and the dose-response curves for glucose transport (assessed by measuring the cell-associated radioactivity after 15-s incubation with 50 microM [6-14C]glucose) and [U-14C]glucose (5 mM) metabolism into CO2 and lipids were compared in retroperitoneal adipocytes from age-matched (84 d) male and female rats. In addition, the activity of fatty acid synthetase, one of the key lipogenic enzymes, was determined. Fat cell size was not significantly larger in females than in males (0.238 vs. 0.209 microgram lipid per cell). At insulin concentrations less than or equal to 1.6 nM, adipocytes from females bound significantly more insulin than did adipocytes from males, due to an increased apparent affinity of the receptors for insulin. Accordingly, the sensitivity of glucose transport to insulin was greater in females than in males: insulin concentration eliciting half-maximal stimulation (ED50) = 0.19 nM vs. 0.41 nM. At maximal insulin stimulation the rates of glucose transport (12 times the basal values) were similar in the two sexes. In contrast, the maximal effect of insulin on glucose conversion to CO2 plus lipids was much greater in the adipocytes from females than males (increment over basal: 472 vs. 249 nmol/10(6) cells per 2 h). Fatty acid synthesis contributed approximately 40% of the incremental difference between the two types of adipocytes, while glyceride-glycerol synthesis contributed less than 10%. The insulin dose-response curves for adipocytes from females were shifted to the left for all the metabolic pathways investigated. The mean ED50 for total glucose metabolism in females was 50% of that in males (0.07 nM vs. 0.15 nM). Marked sex-associated differences in the action of insulin on glucose metabolism were also observed in subcutaneous inguinal adipocytes (increment over basal: 137 and 56 nmol/10(6) cells per 2 h, ED50 = 0.13 nM and 0.30 nM in females and males, respectively). The intracellular capacity to metabolize glucose through the fatty acid synthesis pathway, as assessed by FAS activity, was higher in adipocytes from females than in those from males and was greater in retroperitoneal than in inguinal adipocytes. Furthermore, by plotting the individual data, a highly significant correlation (r = 0.92, P less than 0.001) was found between the absolute effect of insulin on glucose metabolism at maximal stimulation and the fatty acid synthetase activity of the cells. These results indicate that the response of glucose metabolism to insulin in adipocytes from female as compared with male rats is characterized by two main features: (a) an increased sensitivity primarily due to an increase in insulin binding, and (b) an increased responsiveness closely associated with a postreceptor increase in the lipogenic capacity of the cell. These findings might be relevant to the differential disposition of male and female rats to develop fatness.

Authors

M Guerre-Millo, A Leturque, J Girard, M Lavau

Human factor VIII procoagulant protein. Monoclonal antibodies define precursor-product relationships and functional epitopes.

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The human Factor VIII procoagulant protein (VIII:C) purified from commercial Factor VIII concentrate consisted of a polypeptide doublet of 80,000 mol wt, a 92,000-mol wt polypeptide, and additional polypeptides of up to 188,000 mol wt. Thrombin digests contained a doublet of 72,000 mol wt, as well as 54,000- and 44,000-mol wt fragments. Proteolysis studies of purified VIII:C using thrombin and activated protein C have suggested that the 92,000- and 80,000 (or 72,000)-mol wt polypeptides comprise activated VIII:C. We have now used seven monoclonal antibodies raised against purified VIII:C to construct a preliminary epitope map of these VIII:C polypeptides. The specific VIII:C polypeptides with which the monoclonal antibodies reacted were determined by immunoblotting of VIII:C onto nitrocellulose sheets after reduced NaDodSO4-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A minimum of five distinct epitopes were defined by these monoclonal anti-VIII:C antibodies. Identification of polypeptides bearing these epitopes allowed localization of distinct thrombin cleavage sites to the 92,000- and 80,000-mol wt chains, helped define polypeptide chain precursor-product relationships, and suggested that both the 92,000- and 80,000-mol wt polypeptides are necessary for VIII:C function. These data and their interpretation are consistent with the published description of the complete primary structure of VIII:C and its thrombin cleavage products. The 92,000- and 80,000-mol wt chains have been located at the amino- and carboxy-terminal ends of the molecule, respectively.

Authors

C A Fulcher, J R Roberts, L Z Holland, T S Zimmerman

Expression of class II transplantation antigen on vascular smooth muscle cells in human atherosclerosis.

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A large proportion of the cells of the human atherosclerotic plaque is assumed to be derived from medial smooth muscle cells. In contrast to these, the cells of the plaque have the capacity to accumulate lipid, and they also proliferate at a higher rate than medial cells. It has therefore been suggested that smooth muscle cells undergo a change of phenotype during atherogenesis, but there has been no evidence for such a change on the molecular level. We have now analyzed carotid artery plaques using a battery of antibodies against cell surface and cytoskeletal antigens, and found that most of the cells express the class II transplantation antigen (Ia antigen) HLA-DR. Also, the beta chain of HLA-DR was detected by immunoblotting of plaque extracts with the OKIa1 monoclonal antibody. HLA-DR is normally present on cells of the immune system, but only 60% of the DR-positive cells of the plaque reacted with monoclonal antibodies specific for macrophages and lymphocytes. Many of the remaining DR-positive cells contained the muscle-specific intermediate filament protein, desmin. This indicates that smooth muscle cells of atherosclerotic plaques express DR antigen. In contrast, very few DR-positive cells were found in normal human arteries. This suggests that expression of class II antigen is part of a phenotypic change in smooth muscle cells in atherosclerosis.

Authors

L Jonasson, J Holm, O Skalli, G Gabbiani, G K Hansson

Control of sodium and potassium transport in the cortical collecting duct of the rat. Effects of bradykinin, vasopressin, and deoxycorticosterone.

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Several factors interact to maintain precise control of electrolyte transport in the mammalian cortical collecting duct. We have studied the effects of deoxycorticosterone, arginine vasopressin, and bradykinin on net transepithelial sodium and potassium transport in isolated, perfused rat cortical collecting ducts. Chronic administration of deoxycorticosterone to rats increased both sodium absorption and potassium secretion above very low basal levels. Consequently, deoxycorticosterone-treated rats were used for all remaining studies. Arginine vasopressin (10(-10) M in the bath) caused a sustained fourfold increase in net sodium absorption and a sustained threefold increase in net potassium secretion. Bradykinin (10(-9) M in the bath) caused a reversible 40-50% inhibition of net sodium absorption without affecting net potassium transport or the transepithelial potential difference. In the perfusate, up to 10(-6) M bradykinin had no effect. We conclude: As in rabbits, chronic deoxycorticosterone administration to rats increases sodium absorption and potassium secretion in cortical collecting ducts perfused in vitro. Arginine vasopressin causes a reversible increase in net potassium secretion and net sodium absorption. Bradykinin in the peritubular bathing solution reversibly inhibits net sodium absorption, possibly by affecting an electroneutral sodium transport pathway.

Authors

K Tomita, J J Pisano, M A Knepper

Platelet-derived growth factor enhances in vitro erythropoiesis via stimulation of mesenchymal cells.

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The growth of erythroid colonies (from erythroid colony-forming cells) and erythroid bursts (from burst-forming cells [BFU-E]) is enhanced in the presence of serum as compared with plasma. A significant proportion of the enhanced growth is due to the platelet release product, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). Colony growth in cultures of whole marrow cells in platelet-poor plasma-derived serum (PDS) and erythropoietin was enhanced in a dose-dependent fashion by increasing concentrations of purified human PDGF with optimal enhancement at 12.5 ng/ml. However, no effect of platelet-release products or PDGF was observed on nonadherent human marrow cells or peripheral blood BFU-E, suggesting that an accessory cell population was required for the effect of PDGF on hematopoietic progenitors. In a two-layer culture system, pure populations of fibroblasts or smooth muscle cells, known to be present in the marrow microenvironment, restored the response of nonadherent marrow cells in the overlayer to PDGF and also conferred responsiveness to peripheral blood BFU-E. Endothelial cells in the two-layer culture system and macrophages, in contrast, lacked the ability to restore the enhancing effect of PDGF. Because other platelet-release mitogenic products are also found in serum, a monospecific anti-PDGF IgG preparation was added to cultures grown in platelet rich plasma-derived serum. Only partial reduction in colony and burst growth was seen, suggesting that other platelet-release products were acting in this system. These results demonstrate that PDGF enhancement of human hematopoietic progenitor cell growth requires mesenchymal cells, and provide an example and mechanism by which growth factors may influence hematopoietic progenitors via cells of the marrow microenvironment.

Authors

F Delwiche, E Raines, J Powell, R Ross, J Adamson

Human fibronectin metabolism.

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The metabolic behavior of fibronectin (Fn), a highly adhesive glycoprotein (440,000 mol wt), was studied in eight healthy control subjects and in 11 patients, six of whom were critically ill. Fn was purified from fresh human plasma, radiolabeled, and shown to retain function both in vitro and in vivo. Results showed that, in normal controls, Fn is a rapidly catabolized protein with a fractional catabolic rate (FCR) of 4.81%/h (range, 4.00-6.27), a half-life (t1/2) of 25 h (20-30), extravascular/intravascular diffusion ratio (EV/IV) of 2.04 (1.52-3.30), and a synthesis rate (SR) of 0.71 mg/kg body weight per h (0.61-0.87). There was evidence for extravascular catabolism in each subject. Plasma levels correlated with SR but not with t1/2 or FCR. Patients had a lower EV/IV ratio, and in two critically ill patients with low plasma Fn concentration the SR was markedly depressed. These findings suggest that reduced synthesis of Fn, rather than increased FCR or increased extravascular distribution, is responsible for Fn deficiency in critically ill patients.

Authors

B A Pussell, P W Peake, M A Brown, J A Charlesworth

Effects of insulin on peripheral and splanchnic glucose metabolism in noninsulin-dependent (type II) diabetes mellitus.

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Abstract

The mechanism(s) and site(s) of the insulin resistance were examined in nine normal-weight noninsulin-dependent diabetic (NIDD) subjects. The euglycemic insulin clamp technique (insulin concentration approximately 100 microU/ml) was employed in combination with hepatic and femoral venous catheterization and measurement of endogenous glucose production using infusion of tritiated glucose. Total body glucose metabolism in the NIDD subjects (4.37 +/- 0.45 mg/kg per min) was 38% (P less than 0.01) lower than in controls (7.04 +/- 0.63 mg/kg per min). Quantitatively, the most important site of the insulin resistance was found to be in peripheral tissues. Leg glucose uptake in the diabetic group was reduced by 45% as compared with that in controls (6.0 +/- 0.2 vs. 11.0 +/- 0.1 mg/kg leg wt per min; P less than 0.01). A strong positive correlation was observed between leg and total body glucose uptake (r = 0.70, P less than 0.001). Assuming that muscle is the primary leg tissue responsible for glucose uptake, it could be estimated that 90 and 87% of the infused glucose was disposed of by peripheral tissues in the control and NIDD subjects, respectively. Net splanchnic glucose balance during insulin stimulation was slightly more positive in the control than in the diabetic subjects (0.31 +/- 0.10 vs. 0.05 +/- 0.19 mg/kg per min; P less than 0.07). The difference (0.26 mg/kg per min) in net splanchnic glucose balance in NIDD represented only 10% of the reduction (2.67 mg/kg per min) in total body glucose uptake in the NIDD group and thus contributed very little to the insulin resistance. The results emphasize the importance of the peripheral tissues in the disposal of infused glucose and indicate that muscle is the most important site of the insulin resistance in NIDD.

Authors

Ralph A. DeFronzo, Rolf Gunnarsson, Ola Björkman, Maggie Olsson, John Wahren

Evidence for the presence of xenopsin-related peptide(s) in the gastric mucosa of mammals.

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Abstract

Using immunohistochemistry and radioimmunoassay, substance(s) related to the amphibian octapeptide xenopsin (XP) were demonstrated in the gastric mucosa of humans and dogs. Immunohistochemistry localized XP-immunoreactive epithelial cells in the gastric antral mucosa. The reaction was abolished by preabsorption of the antiserum with XP but not by neurotensin or other peptides. Immunoreactive XP (iXP) was found by radioimmunoassay in extracts of both the antrum and body of the stomach prepared with acid/acetone or acetic acid. A study of its distribution in the dog indicated that the level of iXP was highest in the stomach, lower in the pancreas and duodenum, and not measurable in the jejunoileum and colon. Gel chromatography on Sephadex G-25 indicated the presence of at least two forms of iXP, one larger and the other about the same size as XP. Reverse-phase high pressure liquid chromatography on mu-Bondapak C-18 yielded several peaks of iXP, one of which eluted at the position of synthetic XP. The results of immunochemical analyses using four different antisera towards XP were consistent with structures for canine iXPs that were closely related to XP only in their C-terminal regions. These results suggest that mammalian counterparts to amphibian XP reside within endocrine cells of the gastric mucosa. It seems possible that these peptides function as gastrointestinal signals.

Authors

G E Feurle, R E Carraway, E Rix, W Knauf

Plasma immunoreactive gamma melanotropin in patients with idiopathic hyperaldosteronism, aldosterone-producing adenomas, and essential hypertension.

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Abstract

A non-ACTH aldosterone-stimulating factor(s) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of idiopathic hyperaldosteronism (IHA). Although this factor has not been fully characterized, some evidence suggests that it may be related to a pro-gamma-melanotropin (pro-gamma-MSH), derived from the NH2-terminal region of pro-opiomelanocortin. In the present study, plasma immunoreactive (IR-) gamma-MSH levels at 0800 h in patients with IHA were evaluated (90 +/- 17 fmol/ml; range: 13-173 fmol/ml) and found to be significantly higher (P less than 0.05) than those in subjects with aldosterone-producing adenomas (33 +/- 8 fmol/ml), essential hypertension (33 +/- 6 fmol/ml), and normotensive controls (19 +/- 2 fmol/ml). Seven of nine IHA subjects had circulating IR-gamma-MSH levels above the normal range (greater than 35 fmol/ml). In plasmas sampled at 1200 h, IR-gamma-MSH was significantly higher in patients with IHA (95 +/- 26 fmol/ml) and adenomas (63 +/- 23 fmol/ml), as compared with essential hypertensives (31 +/- 6 fmol/ml) and normotensives (19 +/- 3 fmol/ml). Mean plasma IR-ACTH, plasma cortisol, and urinary cortisol levels did not differ significantly between any of these groups. In order to evaluate the effect of a pro-gamma-MSH in vitro, adrenal adenoma tissue was obtained from two patients, one with elevated IR-gamma-MSH (61 fmol/ml) and a second with low IR-gamma-MSH (12 fmol/ml). Aldosterone secretion by dispersed adenoma cells from the former, but not the latter, underwent a fourfold dose-dependent (10(-14)-10(-9) M) increase in response to human Lys-gamma 3-MSH. These data suggest that a pro-gamma-MSH may be implicated as a pathogenic factor in a subset of patients with primary aldosteronism, particularly among those differentially diagnosed as having IHA.

Authors

G T Griffing, B Berelowitz, M Hudson, R Salzman, J A Manson, S Aurrechia, J C Melby, R C Pedersen, A C Brownie

Modulation of renal sodium-potassium-adenosine triphosphatase by aldosterone. Effect of high physiologic levels on enzyme activity in isolated rat and rabbit tubules.

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the nephron site, time course, and mechanism of mineralocorticoid action on renal tubular Na-K-ATPase in rats and rabbits, without dietary manipulation and by using the natural mineralocorticoid aldosterone. Sustained, high physiologic levels of circulating aldosterone mimicking those produced endogenously during potassium loading or sodium deprivation were provided by constant delivery of the hormone in doses of 5 or 50 micrograms/100 g body wt per 24 h, respectively, from osmotic minipumps implanted subcutaneously. In adrenal-intact rats receiving the 5-microgram dose, aldosterone levels were similar to those seen in animals fed a high K diet and produced a time-dependent increase in Na-K-ATPase activity in the cortical-collecting tubule (CCT) to a level 103% higher than in controls after 7 d (2,007 +/- 178 vs. 989 +/- 72 pmol/mm per h, P less than 0.001); the enzyme activity in the proximal convoluted tubule, medullary thick ascending limb, and the inner stripe of the medullary-collecting tubule did not change significantly. The increment in CCT Na-K-ATPase was larger (142%) in animals receiving for the same period of time the 50-micrograms dose, which produced circulating aldosterone levels similar to those of sodium-deprived rats. A significant stimulation of Na-K-ATPase activity was seen in the CCT of adrenalectomized rats after 24 h of treatment with either dose of the hormone, and at 12 h only in animals receiving the 50 micrograms/100 g per 24 h regimen. To determine whether the enhanced Na-K-ATPase activity produced by aldosterone is due to synthesis of new enzyme units or to alteration in its kinetics, we examined the ouabain-binding capacity and the affinity for Na and K of the enzyme from CCT of rabbits treated with 5 micrograms/100 g body wt per 24 h aldosterone for 3 d. These experiments revealed a parallel increment on Na-K-ATPase activity and specific [3H]ouabain binding in aldosterone-treated rabbits, while the affinity of the enzyme for either sodium or potassium was unaltered. The results of this study indicate that high physiologic levels of aldosterone simulating those measured during K loading or Na deprivation lead to a segment-specific increase in Na-K-ATPase activity in the CCT. This effect was time-and dose-dependent and was due to an increase in the number of active enzyme units. The segmental specificity and time course of the increase in enzyme activity suggest that modulation of Na-K-ATPase by aldosterone plays a role in the chronic adaptation of the CCT to altered availability of sodium and potassium, and therefore in the homeostasis of these cations by the kidney.

Authors

S K Mujais, M A Chekal, W J Jones, J P Hayslett, A I Katz

Androgen receptors influence the production of pulmonary surfactant in the testicular feminization mouse fetus.

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Abstract

A sexual dimorphism in fetal pulmonary maturation has been described in which the female fetal lung produces surfactant earlier in gestation than the male fetal lung. This is felt to be related to the increased incidence in male newborns of the Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Dihydrotestosterone will delay surfactant production in the female fetus, and a relationship between fetal sexual differentiation and fetal lung maturation has been proposed. We hypothesized that the dimorphism in fetal surfactant production is dependent on androgen receptor function. We measured phosphatidylcholine (PC), saturated phosphatidylcholine (SPC), and sphingomyelin (S) in the amniotic fluid of fetal mice of the mouse model of testicular feminization (Tfm mouse). In this model, male carriers of the X-linked Tfm gene have no functional androgen receptors. The mean amniotic fluid phosphatidylcholine to sphingomyelin ratio (PC/S ratio) was 28% higher in females than in normal males, and the amniotic fluid PC/S ratio of the Tfm male fetuses was the same as the females. The ratio of amniotic fluid saturated phosphatidylcholine to sphingomyelin (SPC/S ratio) was lowest in males, intermediate in females, and highest in Tfm males. A significant relationship between the fetal groups and the amniotic fluid SPC/S ratio was identified by analysis of variance. There were no differences in the whole lung phospholipid content between the three groups. To substantiate the effect of androgen receptors, dihydrotestosterone was injected into pregnant carriers of the Tfm mutation, 2.5 mg/d from day 10 of gestation through the day of sacrifice. The amniotic fluid PC/S ratio was decreased in the female fetuses (consisting of both homozygous normal and heterozygous carriers of the Tfm gene), but not in the Tfm male fetuses. The overall result was no significant difference between the male and female amniotic fluid PC/S ratio while the Tfm amniotic fluid PC/S ratio remained at the level of the untreated females. We conclude that androgens affect fetal lung development via a mechanism dependent on the presence of androgen receptors.

Authors

H C Nielsen

Autoantibody to the C3b/C4b receptor and absence of this receptor from erythrocytes of a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus.

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Abstract

A 29-yr-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was found to have no detectable C3b/C4b receptors (CR1) on her erythrocytes (E) when they were assayed by the binding of rabbit polyclonal and murine monoclonal (Yz-1) anti-CR1. Analysis by two-color fluorescent flow cytometry of CR1 expression on the patient's B lymphocytes that had been stained indirectly with monoclonal anti-B1 and rabbit F(ab')2 anti-CR1 also revealed a marked deficiency of CR1. Total cellular CR1 of neutrophils, assessed by a sandwich radioimmunoassay, was about half that of neutrophils from normal individuals. Because her E had expressed 173 sites/cell 2 yr before, the CR1 deficiency was considered to be acquired and a possible mechanism was sought. Autoantibody to CR1 was measured by a radioimmunoassay in which serum or its fractions were incubated in microtiter wells that had been coated with purified CR1, and binding of immunoglobulin to the wells was quantitated with 125I-labeled goat IgG antihuman F(ab')2. The CR1-specific binding of immunoglobulin from the patient's serum was 19.1 ng/well of the detecting antibody when her E had eight CR1 sites per cell; that of 28 healthy donors was 1.3 +/- 0.5 ng/well (mean +/- SEM), and that of 34 additional patients with SLE was 0.5 +/- 0.3 ng/well. The activity was present also in purified IgG and its F(ab')2 fragment, indicating that the binding of serum immunoglobulin to CR1 was not mediated by C3 fragments. The specificity of the patient's IgG for CR1 was confirmed when pretreatment of the CR1-coated wells with affinity-purified rabbit F(ab')2 anti-CR1 was shown to inhibit by 68% the binding of the IgG. The autoantibody also interacted with CR1 in cell membranes, as assessed by its capacity to inhibit the binding of indirectly fluoresceinated Yz-1 to neutrophils, and, when combined with goat IgG antihuman F(ab')2, to diminish the binding of dimeric C3b to normal E. During the period of the marked deficiency of CR1 the patient experienced an exacerbation of disease activity which was treated with prednisone. Clinical improvement was accompanied by a decrease in the serum concentration of anti-CR1 to levels present 2 yr earlier, and an increase of CR1 to 170 sites/E. The temporal association between high titers of an autoantibody to CR1, absence of CR1 from E, and heightened activity of SLE suggest that the former may have had a role in the other manifestations of the patient's disease.

Authors

J G Wilson, R M Jack, W W Wong, P H Schur, D T Fearon

Influx of kininogens into nasal secretions after antigen challenge of allergic individuals.

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Abstract

We have recently demonstrated that kinins are generated in vivo after nasal challenge with antigen of allergic, but not nonallergic, individuals. The present study was undertaken as a first step in determining the mechanism(s) of kinin formation during the allergic reaction and was directed towards establishing the availability and origin of kininogens in nasal secretions. Allergic individuals (n = 6) and nonallergic controls (n = 5) were challenged with antigen; and by using specific radioimmunoassays, nasal washes, obtained before and after challenge, were assayed for high molecular weight kininogen (HMWK), total kininogen (TK), albumin, and kinins. Dramatic increases in HMWK (1,730 +/- 510 ng/ml), TK (3,810 +/- 1035 ng/ml), kinin (9.46 +/- 1.75 ng/ml), and albumin (0.85 +/- 0.2 mg/ml) were observed after challenge of allergic individuals which correlated (P less than 0.001) with increases in histamine and N-alpha-tosyl-L-arginine methyl esterase activity and with the onset of clinical symptoms. For nonallergic individuals, levels of kininogens, albumin, and all mediators after antigen challenge were not different from base line. Linear regression analysis revealed excellent correlations (P less than 0.001 in each case) between increases in HMWK, TK, kinin, and albumin during antigen titration experiments and between the time courses of appearance and disappearance of HMWK, TK, kinin, and albumin after antigen challenge. Gel filtration revealed no evidence of degradation products of kininogens in nasal washes. For each allergic individual the ratio of HMWK/TK in postchallenge nasal washes was similar to the ratio of these two proteins in the same individual's plasma. These data suggest that, during the allergic reaction, there is an increase in vascular permeability and a transudation of kininogens from plasma into nasal secretions, where they can provide substrate for kinin-forming enzymes.

Authors

C R Baumgarten, A G Togias, R M Naclerio, L M Lichtenstein, P S Norman, D Proud

Cationization of catalase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase. Effect of improved intraarticular retention on experimental arthritis in mice.

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Abstract

Several enzymes and other proteins were made cationic either by coupling to polylysine or by shielding of anionic sites. These cationic proteins, all having an isoelectric point greater than 8.5 exhibited excellent retention in articular structures when injected in mouse knee joints. Autoradiography and histochemistry showed that cationic forms of catalase, superoxide dismutase, and horseradish peroxidase were firmly retained by synovial and cartilaginous tissues. The half-life of these enzymes in the joint is thus significantly extended compared with native enzymes. The native enzymes and their cationic derivatives were tested for antiinflammatory properties in mice, using antigen-induced arthritis and zymosan-induced arthritis. It was found that injection of cationic catalase or peroxidase induced a marked suppression of some parameters of the inflammatory response in both types of arthritis, as measured by 99m technetium pertechnetate uptake and leakage of 125I-labeled albumin. Native catalase and peroxidase were less, or not at all effective. Cationic superoxide dismutase or cationic nonenzyme proteins did not suppress inflammation. The observed suppression of two different types of inflammation (an immune and a nonimmune arthritis) by catalase and peroxidase suggests that elimination of peroxides contributes to the suppression of an inflammatory response. We would hypothesize that cationic enzymes offer the possibility for investigating the mechanisms of inflammation and, in addition, might be interesting from a therapeutical point of view.

Authors

J Schalkwijk, W B van den Berg, L B van de Putte, L A Joosten, L van den Bersselaar

Oxygen-independent intracellular and oxygen-dependent extracellular killing of Escherichia coli S15 by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

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Abstract

Effective killing of bacteria by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) is generally assumed to require intracellular sequestration and, depending on the bacterial species, can be both O2-dependent or O2-independent. Killing of several strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli by rabbit PMN does not require O2 and is apparently due to a granule-associated bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) present in rabbit and human PMN. In this study we examined the O2 dependence of the killing of E. coli (S15) by human PMN. Ingested and noningested E. coli were separated by centrifugation after incubation with PMN in room air or under N2. In the presence of heat-treated serum approximately 50% of E. coli (10 bacteria/PMN) were taken up by PMN and rapidly (5-15 min) killed both in room air and under N2. The remaining extracellular bacteria (approximately 50%) were killed during 30-60 min of incubation in room air but not under N2. When uptake of E. coli by PMN was increased to approximately 80% by the use of C6-depleted serum (retaining heat-labile opsonins), bacterial survival under N2 was reduced from 54 +/- 7.6% to 13 +/- 5.5%. PMN from a patient with chronic granulomatous disease killed PMN-associated but not extracellular E. coli. BPI was detected, by indirect immunofluorescence, on the surface of PMN-associated E. coli within 5 min of incubation of E. coli with PMN both in room air and under N2. In contrast, at no time was BPI detected on the surface of extracellular E. coli, indicating that the non-PMN-associated E. coli had not been previously ingested. Thus, killing of ingested E. coli S15 by human as well as rabbit PMN does not require O2 and appears to be BPI-mediated. However, when ingestion is limited, extracellular bacteria can also be killed but principally by O2-dependent mechanisms.

Authors

J Weiss, L Kao, M Victor, P Elsbach

Cobalamin inactivation decreases purine and methionine synthesis in cultured lymphoblasts.

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Abstract

The megaloblastic anemia of cobalamin deficiency appears secondary to decreased methionine synthetase activity. Decreased activity of this enzyme should cause 5-methyltetrahydrofolate to accumulate intracellularly, and consequently, decrease purine and DNA synthesis; this is the basis of the "methylfolate trap" hypothesis of cobalamin deficiency. However, only some of the clinical and biochemical manifestations of cobalamin deficiency can be explained by the methylfolate trap. We investigated cobalamin deficiency by treating cultured human lymphoblasts with N2O since N2O inhibits methionine synthetase activity by inactivating cobalamin. We found that 4 h of N2O exposure reduced rates of methionine synthesis by 89%. Rates of purine synthesis were not significantly reduced by N2O when folate and methionine were present at 100 microM in the medium; however, at the physiologic methionine concentration of 10 microM, N2O decreased rates of purine synthesis by 33 and 57% in the presence of 100 microM folate and in the absence of folate, respectively. The dependency of rates of purine synthesis on methionine availability would be expected in cells with restricted methionine synthetic capacity because methionine is the immediate precursor of S-adenosylmethionine, a potent inhibitor of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate synthesis; methionine serves as a source of formate for purine synthesis; and rates of purine synthesis are dependent on the intracellular availability of essential amino acids. We conclude that cobalamin inactivation decreases purine synthesis by both methylfolate trapping and reduction of intracellular methionine synthesis.

Authors

G R Boss

Human alveolar macrophages produce a fibroblast-like collagenase and collagenase inhibitor.

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Abstract

Human macrophages have been implicated in connective tissue remodeling; however, little is known about their direct effects upon collagen degradation. We now report that human alveolar macrophages in culture produced both a collagenase and a collagenase inhibitor. The collagenase was secreted in latent form and could be activated by exposure to trypsin. Collagenase production could be increased three- to fourfold by incubating the cells with lipopolysaccharide, but synthesis was largely unaffected by exposure to phorbol myristate acetate. By several criteria, macrophage collagenase was the same as the collagenase secreted by human skin fibroblasts: (a) they were antigenically indistinguishable in double immunodiffusion; (b) both degraded type III collagen preferentially to type I, had little activity against type II collagen, and none against types IV and V, and (c) their affinity for susceptible collagens was equivalent, Michaelis constant = 1-2 microM. Collagenase inhibitory activity was also present in the macrophage-conditioned medium, and was accounted for by an antigen that showed immunologic and functional identity with the collagenase inhibitor secreted by human skin fibroblasts. The amount of inhibitor released by unstimulated cells, approximately 100 ng/10(6) cells per 24 h, was substantially augmented by both phorbol and lipopolysaccharide, although considerable variability in response to these agents was observed between macrophage populations derived from different subjects. As negligible quantities of collagenase or collagenase inhibitor were detectable intracellularly, it appeared that both proteins were secreted rapidly after synthesis. Thus, human macrophages have the capacity to modulate collagen degradation directly by production of collagenase and collagenase inhibitor.

Authors

H G Welgus, E J Campbell, Z Bar-Shavit, R M Senior, S L Teitelbaum

Immune complex hyperlipidemia induced by an apolipoprotein-reactive immunoglobulin A paraprotein from a patient with multiple myeloma. Characterization of this immunoglobulin.

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Abstract

An antibodylike paraprotein has been isolated from a patient with multiple myeloma and autoimmune hyperlipoproteinemia. The paraprotein bound to apolipoprotein B (apo B)-containing lipoproteins that formed macromolecular aggregates, and globules thought to be aggregated complexes of lipoproteins and reactive immunoglobulins were observed circulating within the retinal blood vessels of this patient. This binding specificity permitted purification of the paraprotein from both the agglutinated immune complexes and from the plasma. The protein is an IgA, kappa-immunoglobulin which exists primarily in a polymeric state. Capillary immunoprecipitation demonstrated reactivity with very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and low density proteins (LDL), but not with high density lipoproteins (HDL). Delipidated apo B and apo E, but not apo A or apo C, formed precipitates with this immunoglobulin. In using a radioimmunoassay format, the affinity of the immunoglobulin was greatest for VLDL and decreases sequentially for intermediate density lipoproteins and LDL. No binding occurred with a dispersion of LDL lipids or with HDL. Deglycosylation did not change the binding to LDL. The apolipoproteins B and E bound with similar affinity, but no binding occurred with apo A-I or apo A-II. Weak binding appeared to occur with apo C. This paraprotein immunoprecipitated apo B-containing lipoproteins from all classes of vertebrates tested. Displacement of the lipids of LDL by Triton X-100 resulted in the formation of an apo B-Triton complex which, however, did not bind to the immunoglobulin; apparently the binding site on apo B was lost. Upon enzymatic digestion with the IgA-specific protease from Streptococcus sanguis the immunoglobulin was cleaved into Fc and Fab fragments, and the binding of LDL occurred only with the latter, consistent with the behavior of an immunoglobulin. The immunoreactivity of this paraprotein with apo B and apo E raises the interesting possibility that it may be binding to a site on these apolipoproteins which is reactive with the apo B, E receptor of the plasma membrane, a site which is conserved throughout the vertebrate phylum.

Authors

L L Kilgore, B W Patterson, D M Parenti, W R Fisher

Inhibition and subsequent enhancement of platelet responsiveness by prostacyclin in the rabbit. Relationship to platelet adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate.

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Abstract

Methods were developed for measuring changes in platelet sensitivity to a release-inducing stimulus and in platelet cyclic AMP in fresh whole blood samples from rabbits. These techniques permitted detection of the effects of exogenous and endogenous prostacyclin on circulating platelets. In these methods, rabbit platelets were labeled in vitro by incubation with [14C]serotonin and [3H]adenine and then transfused into other rabbits. Release of platelet [14C]serotonin by a standard dose of synthetic platelet-activating factor (40 pmol/ml) and the platelet cyclic [3H]AMP levels were then measured in citrated blood from the conscious animals within 2 min of arterial puncture. Bolus intravenous injections of prostacyclin (1-10 nmol/kg) caused concentration-dependent increases in platelet cyclic AMP after 2 min, which decreased approximately 75% by 5 min, and disappeared after 30 min. Significant inhibition of the platelet release reaction was detected 2 min but not 5 min after injection of 10 nmol of prostacyclin per kilogram. With lower doses, significant enhancement of the release of [14C]serotonin was observed after 5 min. Similar changes in platelet responsiveness and cyclic [3H]AMP were observed after release of endogenous prostacyclin by intravenous injection of angiotensin II (5 nmol/kg); inhibition of the release of [14C]serotonin after 2 min was followed by potentiation after 5 min, though platelet cyclic [3H]AMP remained above control values. In these experiments, the time course of the changes in platelet cyclic [3H]AMP correlated closely with values for blood prostacyclin obtained previously (Haslam, R.J., and M.D. McClenaghan, 1981, Nature [Lond.]., 292:364-366). Prostacyclin also had a biphasic effect on the release of [14C]serotonin when added to citrated blood in vitro, though both the increase in sensitivity to platelet-activating factor and the return of platelet cyclic [3H]AMP towards control values took place more slowly. At all times, addition of platelet-activating factor decreased platelet cyclic [3H]AMP towards but not below the control level observed in the absence of prostacyclin. Our results indicate that although transient increases in platelet cyclic AMP cause an immediate decrease in platelet responsiveness in vivo or in vitro, a period of enhanced platelet sensitivity follows as platelet cyclic AMP falls.

Authors

M Vanderwel, R J Haslam

Rat lung fibroblast collagen metabolism in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

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Abstract

Endotracheal bleomycin administration in rats and other animal species causes rapid development of pulmonary fibrosis, characterized by increased lung collagen synthesis and deposition. To clarify the mechanism, lung fibroblasts from bleomycin-treated rats (BRF) were isolated and maintained in tissue culture. They were then compared with those from normal untreated control animals, with respect to several key parameters of collagen metabolism. BRF synthesized collagen at a rate 35-82% above normal rat lung fibroblasts (NRF). This difference did not appear to be due to the selection of a clone by the subculture process. Furthermore, analysis of newly synthesized collagen type composition, revealed a significantly lower ratio of type III to type I collagen. Noncollagenous protein synthesis, however, was not significantly different from normal. Collagenase production and growth rate were also unaffected. BRF, however, was morphologically indistinguishable from NRF, even at the ultrastructural level. Upon further bleomycin (1 microgram/ml) exposure in vitro, BRF could be further stimulated to synthesize collagen at 82% above the rate for untreated BRF. This is comparable to the 90% increase in NRF treated in vitro (compared with untreated NRF). These results would favor the conclusion that bleomycin induces pulmonary fibrosis, by causing directly and/or indirectly lung fibroblasts (or a certain line of lung fibroblasts) to synthesize collagen at a higher rate without any associated increase in growth rate. The data, however, do not rule out the possibility that the fibroblast isolation procedure has selected for a certain population of fibroblasts that may not be typical of the in vivo situation.

Authors

S H Phan, J Varani, D Smith

Discordance between surface and cytoplasmic expression of the Leu-4 (T3) antigen in thymocytes and in blast cells from childhood T lymphoblastic malignancies.

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Abstract

We have examined the expression of the Leu-4 (T3) antigen on the cell surface and in the cytoplasm of blast cells from 23 patients with T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. In the majority of cases (17), the Leu-4 antigen was absent from the cell surface; however, in 16 of these 17 cases, blast cells demonstrated cytoplasmic expression of Leu-4. This discordance between surface and cytoplasmic expression of Leu-4 was also found in thymocytes and appeared to be restricted to Leu-4, in that tests of other T cell antigens rarely revealed discordance between surface and cytoplasmic expression. To study further the cytoplasmic determinant identified by anti-Leu-4 in malignant T lymphoblasts, immunoprecipitation studies were performed that utilized biosynthetic labeling of established T cell lines derived from T lymphoblastic malignancies. By one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, identical Leu-4 polypeptide families were immunoprecipitated from surface Leu-4+ and surface Leu-4-/cytoplasmic Leu-4+ cell lines. Because T lymphoblastic malignancies represent proliferations of immature T cells, and because the cases studied demonstrated surface phenotypes corresponding to all of the proposed stages of T cell ontogeny, it appears that cytoplasmic expression of Leu-4 occurs early in T cell development. The reason for the failure of these immature T cells to transport the Leu-4 molecule to their surface remains to be elucidated.

Authors

M P Link, S J Stewart, R A Warnke, R Levy

Human dermal fibroblasts present tetanus toxoid antigen to antigen-specific T cell clones.

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Abstract

Cultured human dermal fibroblasts treated with immune interferon express HLA-DR antigens. We report here that DR-positive fibroblasts present tetanus toxoid (TT) to autologous TT-specific monoclonal helper T cells vigorously depleted of monocytes by passage over Sephadex G10 columns followed by treatment with the monoclonal antibodies (mAb) OKM1 and Leu M1 plus complement. The extent of T cell proliferation in response to TT presented by DR-positive fibroblasts was similar to that elicited using monocytes as antigen-presenting cells. The proliferative response was TT dependent, antigen specific, depended upon DR expression by fibroblasts, appeared MHC restricted, and was completely blocked by mouse mAb to HLA-DR but not by mAb to HLA-A,B, or DQ. DR-positive fibroblasts pulsed with TT were similarly effective in antigen presentation. In summary, immune interferon-stimulated human dermal fibroblasts can substitute for classical antigen-presenting cells in antigen-specific proliferative responses. Since fibroblasts are a ubiquitous cell type in the body, they may play a significant role in the immunobiology of the host.

Authors

D T Umetsu, J S Pober, H H Jabara, W Fiers, E J Yunis, S J Burakoff, C S Reiss, R S Geha

Effects of plasmin on von Willebrand factor multimers. Degradation in vitro and stimulation of release in vivo.

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Abstract

von Willebrand factor (vWF), a multimeric protein that mediates platelet adhesion, circulates in association with the procoagulant Factor VIII (FVIII). In previous reports, plasmin was shown in vitro to inactivate FVIII and cleave the vWF subunit extensively, but to cause only a modest decrease in vWF platelet-agglutinating activity. In the present study, the digestion of vWF multimers by plasmin was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-agarose gel electrophoresis and radioimmunoblotting. In vitro, plasmin degraded the large vWF multimers to smaller forms that could be distinguished from the small multimers present before digestion only by a slightly increased electrophoretic mobility. These plasmin-cleaved "multimers" were composed of disulfide-linked fragments with no intact vWF subunits. Thus, many plasmin cleavages occur within disulfide loops. The slight increase in mobility of plasmin-digested vWF is in part explained by the early cleavage from the multimers of a 34,000-mol wt peptide, which was purified and partially sequenced. The amino-terminal sequence (33 residues) agrees with the previously reported sequence (15 residues) for the amino terminus of the intact vWF subunit. Analysis of plasmin-digested vWF allowed deduction of a model for the native vWF structure, including the approximate location of the interprotomer disulfide bond(s). To determine whether plasmin would digest vWF in vivo, plasmas from 12 patients and 2 normal volunteers who received intravenous streptokinase (SK) were analyzed. Rather than vWF digestion, a two- to threefold rise in vWF antigen and platelet-agglutinating activity occurred within 2 h after a single SK dose, and the increase was greatest among the largest multimers. In contrast, FVIII clotting activity dropped to 10-20% of pre-SK levels. Thus, although plasmin destroys FVIII, a pharmacologically induced fibrinolytic state is associated with significant release of vWF from endothelial cells, platelets, or some other storage pool.

Authors

K K Hamilton, L J Fretto, D S Grierson, P A McKee

Cultured endothelial cells synthesize both platelet-activating factor and prostacyclin in response to histamine, bradykinin, and adenosine triphosphate.

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Abstract

Cultured human endothelial cells synthesize prostacyclin (PGI2), a potent inhibitor of platelet function, when stimulated with histamine, bradykinin, or ATP. Paradoxically, we report that these agonists also induced the rapid and sustained synthesis of platelet-activating factor (PAF) by endothelial cells. In fact, the synthesis of this potent activator of platelets and neutrophils was induced by stimulation of the same receptor subtype that induced PGI2 synthesis: stimulation of a histamine H1 or a bradykinin B2 receptor induced both PAF and PGI2 synthesis. However, two physiologically important differences exist between the production of PAF and PGI2 by endothelial cells. The synthesis of PGI2 proceeded for only 7.5 min before the abrupt termination of synthesis, whereas the synthesis of PAF was clearly detectable even 45 min after stimulation. Although maximal accumulation of PAF occurred after 10-15 min of stimulation, the prolonged synthesis resulted in the presence of PAF for up to 1 h after stimulation. Secondly, whereas PGI2 was released from the cell monolayer, PAF remained cell-associated without significant release to the external medium. Endothelial cell-generated PAF, therefore, does not function as a hormone. The prolonged association of this potent activator of platelets and neutrophils with endothelial cells may mediate some of the inflammatory properties of histamine and bradykinin. It may also be a factor in the formation of a thrombogenic vascular surface, an event suggested to play a primary role in the pathogenesis of thrombosis and atherosclerosis.

Authors

T M McIntyre, G A Zimmerman, K Satoh, S M Prescott

In vivo externalization of phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine in the membrane bilayer and hypercoagulability by the lipid peroxidation of erythrocytes in rats.

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Abstract

Phospholipid distribution across erythrocyte membrane bilayer is asymmetrical. In normal erythrocytes, entire phosphatidylserine (PS) and most of the phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) is present on the cytoplasmic side of membrane bilayer, whereas phosphatidylcholine (PC) and sphingomyelin (SM) are predominantly present at the outer side of membrane bilayer. The present study was undertaken to determine whether membrane lipid peroxidation has any effect on the distribution of PS, PE, and PC across erythrocyte membrane bilayer in vivo in an animal model. Erythrocyte membrane lipid peroxidation was induced in rats by administering phenylhydrazine, an oxidant drug. Membrane phospholipid organization was determined by using bee venom phospholipase-A2 and indirectly by measuring clotting time on recalcification of normal human platelet-poor plasma in the presence of Russell's viper venom. Phenylhydrazine administration to rats caused significant membrane lipid peroxidation as measured by the accumulation of malonyldialdehyde (MDA), an end product of fatty acid peroxidation, as well as externalization of a significant portion of PS and PE from the inner to the outer side of membrane bilayer in erythrocytes. There was a significant positive correlation (r) between the amount of MDA accumulated in the erythrocytes and the movement of PS (r = 0.92) and PE (r = 0.96) from inner to the outer membrane bilayer and PC (r = 0.81) from outer to the inner membrane bilayer. Erythrocytes of phenylhydrazine-treated rats also showed significantly reduced clotting time. This reduction in clotting time had a significant positive correlation with MDA accumulation (r = 0.92) and PS externalization (r = 0.90). Both the effect of phenylhydrazine on erythrocyte membrane lipid peroxidation and alterations in phospholipid organization and coagulability were blocked when rats were simultaneously administered with vitamin E or C antioxidants.

Authors

S K Jain

Detection of cross-reactive anti-DNA antibody idiotypes on renal tissue-bound immunoglobulins from lupus patients.

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Abstract

Cross-reactive anti-DNA antibody idiotypes have been identified on tissue-bound immunoglobulins in a study of renal biopsies from 26 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. 12 (46%) biopsies were shown to have one or both the idiotypes tested for by anti-idiotypic reagents. The idiotypes were identified in the glomerular basement membrane, the mesangial cell cytoplasm, and in focal tuft proliferations. In contrast, in none of 24 immunoglobulin-positive disease control biopsies could either idiotype be demonstrated. Blocking studies in two patients indicated that the idiotypes were on anti-DNA antibodies. These findings indicate that some tissue-bound auto-antibodies are derived from related families of high-frequency germ line genes that are expressed in SLE patients. The potential role of anti-idiotypic therapy in SLE is discussed.

Authors

D A Isenberg, C Collins

Effect of hydrogen peroxide on prostaglandin production and cellular integrity in cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells.

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Abstract

Oxidative damage to the vascular endothelium may play an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and aging, and may account in part for reduced vascular prostacyclin (PGI2) synthesis associated with both conditions. Using H2O2 to induce injury, we investigated the effects of oxidative damage on PGI2 synthesis in cultured endothelial cells (EC). Preincubation of EC with H2O2 produced a dose-dependent inhibition (inhibitory concentration [IC50] = 35 microM) of PGI2 formation from arachidonate. The maximum dose-related effect occurred within 1 min after exposure although appreciable H2O2 remained after 30 min (30% of original). In addition, H2O2 produced both a time- and dose-dependent injury leading to cell disruption, lactate dehydrogenase release, and 51Cr release from prelabeled cells. However, in dramatic contrast to H2O2 effects on PGI2 synthesis, loss of cellular integrity required doses in excess of 0.5 mM and incubation times in excess of 1 h. The superoxide-generating system, xanthine plus xanthine oxidase, produced a similar inhibition of PGI2 formation. Such inhibition was dependent on the generation of H2O2 but not superoxide in that catalase was completely protective whereas superoxide dismutase was not. H2O2 (50 microM) also effectively inhibited basal and ionophore A23187 (0.5 microM)-stimulated PGI2 formation. However, H2O2 had no effect on phospholipase A2 activity, because ionophore A23187-induced arachidonate release was unimpaired. To determine the effects on cyclooxygenase and PGI2 synthase, prostaglandin products from cells prelabeled with [3H]arachidonate and stimulated with ionophore A23187, or products formed from exogenous arachidonate were examined. Inhibition of cyclooxygenase but not PGI2 synthase was observed. Incubation of H2O2-treated cells with prostaglandin cyclic endoperoxide indicated no inhibition of PGI2 synthase. Thus, in EC low doses of H2O2 potently inhibit cyclooxygenase after brief exposure whereas larger doses and prolonged exposure are required for classical cytolytic effects. Surprisingly, PGI2 synthase, which is known to be extremely sensitive to a variety of lipid peroxides, is not inhibited by H2O2. Lipid solubility, enzyme location within the EC membrane, or the local availability of reducing factors may explain these results, and may be important determinants of the response of EC to oxidative stress.

Authors

A R Whorton, M E Montgomery, R S Kent

An adenosine triphosphate-dependent calcium uptake pump in human neutrophil lysosomes.

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Abstract

Regulation of the cytosolic free calcium concentration is important to neutrophil function. In these studies, an ATP-dependent calcium uptake pump has been identified in human neutrophil lysosomes. This energy-dependent Ca++ uptake pump has a high affinity for Ca++ (Michaelis constant [Km] Ca++ = 107 nM) and a maximum velocity (Vmax) of 5.3 pmol/mg of protein per min. ATP was the only nucleotide that supported Ca++ uptake by lysosomes. The Km for ATP was 177 microM. ATP-dependent Ca++ uptake by neutrophil lysosomes was temperature- and pH-sensitive with optimal Ca++ pump activity at 37 degrees C and pH 7.0-7.5. Mg++ was also essential for ATP-dependent Ca++ uptake by lysosomes. Azide and antimycin A had no effect on the energy-dependent uptake of Ca++ by neutrophil lysosomes. The chemotactic peptide formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine inhibited ATP-dependent Ca++ accumulation by isolated lysosomes. Butoxycarbonyl-phenylalanine-leucine-phenylalanine-leucine-phenylalanine , a competitive antagonist of the chemotactic peptide, blocked this inhibitory effect. These studies demonstrate the presence of an ATP-dependent Ca++ uptake pump in human neutrophil lysosomes that functions at physiologic intracellular concentrations of Ca++, ATP, and H+ and may be important to regulating neutrophil function by modulating cytosolic Ca++.

Authors

M S Klemper

Isolation and characterization of a colonic autoantigen specifically recognized by colon tissue-bound immunoglobulin G from idiopathic ulcerative colitis.

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Abstract

Patients with idiopathic ulcerative colitis (UC) have a colonbound antibody (CCA-IgG) that reacts with colon tissue extracts. We have partially characterized a colonic protein that is specifically recognized by CCA-IgG. CCA-IgG was eluted from operative colon specimens from 10 patients with UC. A colon tissue-bound IgG was similarly eluted from six patients with Crohn's colitis, two with ischemic colitis, and one with diverticulitis. Purified serum IgG from patients with Crohn's disease, from normal subjects and a patient with myeloma were also used as additional controls. For detection of antigen(s), tissue extracts were prepared from 26 specimens of colon (UC, 12; Crohn's disease, 6; normal, 4; other controls, 4), 8 specimens of human normal stomach, duodenum, ileum, and liver (2 each). Tissue extracts were also prepared from rats and mice, including germ-free rat colons and rat's fetal colons. Immunorecognition of CCA-IgG to the tissue extracts was examined by affinity-column chromatography and by transblot analysis. Tissue-extracted proteins were electrophoresed in SDS-polyacrylamide gel, transferred to nitrocellulose sheet, and probed with iodinated CCA-IgG, colonic IgG from other inflammatory bowel disease patients, UC serum IgG, and control serum IgG. Although many proteins were present in colon tissue extracts, 9 of 10 CCA-IgG consistently recognized a protein of 40 kD. None of the nine IgG preparations from colon specimens of patients with Crohn's colitis and other colonic inflammatory diseases reacted with the 40-kD protein. Five of six symptomatic UC serum IgG and none of eight control serum IgG reacted with the 40-kD protein. The 40-kD protein was present in all colon specimens and it appeared to be organ specific. It was absent in mouse and rat tissues, including colon. The 40-kD protein is not actin and nor a part of the Ig molecule. These results suggest that the 40-kD protein is a colonic "autoantigen" that may initiate a specific IgG antibody response in UC.

Authors

F Takahashi, K M Das

Pretreatment of cytokinetics in acute myelogenous leukemia. Age-related prognostic implications.

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Abstract

To determine the clinical and biologic relevance of cellular kinetics in leukemia, DNA flow cytometric analysis was performed on bone marrow biopsy specimens from 148 previously untreated adult patients with acute myelogenous leukemia. The proportion of cells in synthesis, second growth, and mitosis (S + G2M) ranged from 4% to 33% with a median of 14%. The overall incidence of complete remission was not affected by the pretreatment cell cycle distribution. As in earlier studies, there was a marked decline in remission rate with advancing age from 73% for patients age less than or equal to 50 yr to 50% for those greater than 50 (P less than 0.01). Although not affecting remission induction overall, an increasing proportion of cells in S + G2M phase was favorable in patients under the age of 50 yr, but was associated with a progressive decline in remission rate in older patients (P = 0.01). This age-related divergent effect of cell cycle kinetics on initial response to therapy was confined to the less favorable subgroup of patients with karyotypic abnormalities, whereas patients with normal diploid cytogenetics had a consistently higher response rate regardless of proliferative activity. A positive correlation was also observed between percent of S + G2M cells and the proportion of diploid metaphases in young patients, contrasting with a negative correlation in the older age group. Our observations strongly suggest that the well-recognized prognostic effect of age on remission induction is not entirely host-mediated, but is at least partly an expression of disease-intrinsic differences between young and older patients.

Authors

H M Kantarjian, B Barlogie, M J Keating, R R Hall, T L Smith, K B McCredie, E J Freireich

Increased amounts of a novel penicillin-binding protein in a strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus exposed to nafcillin.

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Abstract

In addition to the four typical penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), a strain of heterogeneously methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus produced an extra 78-kD PBP (PBP 2a) that had a low affinity for nafcillin and penicillin. Addition of nafcillin to cultures of this strain caused a rapid increase in the amount of this PBP in cell membranes. This increase occurred at subinhibitory concentrations of drug within minutes of exposure, and was blocked by inhibitors of protein and RNA synthesis. This suggests that the synthesis of PBP 2a can be stimulated by exposure to beta-lactam antibiotics. This process may, in part, explain the heterogeneity in methicillin-resistant S. aureus.

Authors

H F Chambers, B J Hartman, A Tomasz

Studies of the pathogenesis of angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy.

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Abstract

We studied the immune functions of two patients with angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy (AILD) in an attempt to determine whether the B cells were primarily hyperactive or, rather, if T cell abnormalities might underlie the B cell hyperactivity observed in these patients. We found that the B cells of the AILD patients did not proliferate spontaneously, nor were they induced to proliferate excessively by fresh normal T cells. In contrast, AILD T cells induced both autologous and allogeneic B cells to proliferate and to differentiate into Ig secreting cells. Spontaneous culture supernates of T cells obtained from each patient induced substantial proliferation of B cells (B cell-activating activity) as well as proliferation in a standard costimulatory assay (B cell growth factor activity). The culture supernate of a T cell line, which was established from one patient, showed both activities. The T cell line supernate also induced Ig production by staphylococcal A Cowan-activated B cells. None of these properties of AILD T cells was found among 10 normal controls. The addition of AILD T cells to autologous or allogeneic B cells in the presence of pokeweed mitogen (PWM) led to marked suppression of both proliferation and Ig production. This was true even in the presence of fresh normal T cells. Pretreatment studies showed that suppressor cells were induced by the interaction of AILD T cells with PWM-activated B cells. The present study suggests that the B cell hyperactivity observed in AILD patients might in part be due to excessive T cell effects on B cells. In addition, our results may help clarify the paradoxical impaired responsiveness to in vitro stimulation with PWM by active B cells from patients with autoimmune diseases.

Authors

M Honda, H R Smith, A D Steinberg

Identification of the lymphokine soluble immune response suppressor in urine of nephrotic children.

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Abstract

Patients with minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) frequently have suppressed in vivo and in vitro immune responsiveness of uncertain etiology. Because increased suppressor cell activity has been associated with this disease, urines from MCNS patients were screened for activity of the lymphokine soluble immune response suppressor (SIRS), a product of concanavalin A- or interferon-activated suppressor T cells. Urines from untreated MCNS patients suppressed polyclonal plaque-forming cell responses of cultured splenocytes. This suppressive activity was identified as human SIRS by the following functional and physical criteria: molecular weight estimated by gel filtration; kinetics of suppression; inhibition of suppression by catalase, levamisole, and 2-mercaptoethanol; abrogation of activity by acid or protease treatment; elution pattern on high performance liquid chromatography; and cross-reactivity with monoclonal antimurine SIRS antibodies. Suppressive activity disappeared from urine after initiation of treatment but before remission of symptoms. Urines were tested from 11 patients with MCNS, all of whom excreted SIRS. In addition, two nephrotic patients with acute glomerulonephritis and three nephrotic patients with membranoproliferative disease excreted SIRS, but other nephrotics and all nonnephrotic patients did not. These results indicate that excretion of SIRS occurs in certain cases of nephrotic syndrome and that the presence of SIRS in the urine is not accounted for solely by the presence of proteinuria or nephrosis. Serum from four nephrotic patients also contained SIRS, whereas neither serum nor urine from six normal subjects contained SIRS activity. The systemic presence of SIRS in these four patients, and the identification of SIRS in urines from a larger group of patients, suggest a possible role for SIRS in the suppressed immune responses often found in nephrotic syndrome.

Authors

H W Schnaper, T M Aune

Carboxyterminal peptide fragments of the beta subunit are urinary products of the metabolism of desialylated human choriogonadotropin.

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Abstract

Previous investigations of patients with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia have shown that their urines often contain carboxyterminal peptide (CTP) fragments of the choriogonadotropin (hCG) beta-subunit as well as forms of hCG deficient in sialic acid. In order to determine whether beta-CTP fragments are among the urinary products of the peripheral degradation of desialylated hCG (as-hCG), using a continuous infusion technique, we gave highly purified as-hCG to humans. Six healthy subjects were given a loading dose of 0.8 mg of as-hCG followed by an infusion of the same preparation. An overall mean infusion rate of 62.9 micrograms/min was maintained for 6 h, and the mean serum concentration of as-hCG achieved during the infusion was 72.1 ng/ml. In all six subjects, beta-CTP fragments were the predominant immunoreactive forms of as-hCG in urine obtained during the infusion. In contrast, the urine of subjects infused with hCG has been shown to contain hCG itself, but nil beta-CTP fragments or as-hCG. After the as-hCG infusion was stopped, the excretion of the beta-CTP fragments in urine declined rapidly. There were no beta-CTP fragments detectable in sera obtained during the infusion or in sera incubated with as-hCG at 37 degrees C. After incubation with as-hCG for 4 h, the urine of normal subjects contained small amounts of beta-CTP fragments; however, the apparent proteolytic activity was too low to account for either the quantity of beta-CTP fragments produced during the infusion or the extremely low levels of as-hCG in the urine. These data demonstrate the existence in humans of a peripheral metabolic pathway that cleaves beta-CTP fragments from as-hCG and allows their excretion in urine. Thus, the frequent presence of beta-CTP fragments in the urines of patients with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia can be accounted for in part by the metabolism of the forms of hCG that bear an altered carbohydrate structure, which are prevalent in this disease.

Authors

S Amr, C Rosa, S Birken, R Canfield, B Nisula

Effect of insulin on the distribution and disposition of glucose in man.

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Abstract

Understanding the influence of insulin on glucose turnover is the key to interpreting a great number of metabolic situations. Little is known, however, about insulin's effect on the distribution and exchange of glucose in body pools. We developed a physiological compartmental model to describe the kinetics of plasma glucose in normal man in the basal state and under steady-state conditions of euglycemic hyperinsulinemia. A bolus of [3-3H]glucose was rapidly injected into a peripheral vein in six healthy volunteers, and the time-course of plasma radioactivity was monitored at very short time intervals for 150 min. A 1-mU/min kg insulin clamp was then started, thereby raising plasma insulin levels to a high physiological plateau (approximately 100 microU/ml). After 90 min of stable euglycemic hyperinsulinemia, a second bolus of [3-3H]glucose was given, and plasma radioactivity was again sampled frequently for 90 min more while the clamp was continued. Three exponential components were clearly identified in the plasma disappearance curves of tracer glucose of each subject studied, both before and after insulin. Based on stringent statistical criteria, the data in the basal state were fitted to a three-compartment model. The compartment of initial distribution was identical to the plasma pool (40 +/- 3 mg/kg); the other two compartments had similar size (91 +/- 12 and 96 +/- 9 mg/kg), but the former was in rapid exchange with plasma (at an average rate of 1.09 +/- 0.15 min-1), whereas the latter exchanged 10 times more slowly (0.12 +/- 0.01 min-1). The basal rate of glucose turnover averaged 2.15 +/- 0.12 mg/min kg, and the total distribution volume of glucose in the postabsorptive state was 26 +/- 1% of body weight. In view of current physiological information, it was assumed that the more rapidly exchanging pool represented the insulin-independent tissues of the body, while the slowly exchanging pool was assimilated to the insulin-dependent tissues. Insulin-independent glucose uptake was estimated (from published data) at 75% of basal glucose uptake, and was constrained not to change with euglycemic hyperinsulinemia. When the kinetic data obtained during insulin administration were fitted to this model, neither the size nor the exchange rates of the plasma or the rapid pool were appreciably changed. In contrast, the slow pool was markedly expanded (from 96 +/- 9 to 190 +/- 30 mg/kg, P less than 0.02) at the same time as total glucose disposal rose fourfold above basal (to 7.96 +/- 0.85 mg/min kg, P less than 0.001). Furthermore, a significant direct correlation was found to exist between the change in size of the slow pool and the insulin-stimulated rate of total glucose turnover (r=0.92, P<0.01). We conclude that hyperinsulinemia, independent of hyperglycemia, markedly increases the exchangeable mass of glucose in the body, presumably reflecting the accumulation of free, intracellular glucose in insulin-dependent tissues.

Authors

E Ferrannini, J D Smith, C Cobelli, G Toffolo, A Pilo, R A DeFronzo

In vivo differentiation of blast-phase chronic granulocytic leukemia. Expression of c-myc and c-abl protooncogenes.

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Abstract

A patient with chronic granulocytic leukemia in acute blastic transformation was treated with mithramycin, an RNA synthesis inhibitor, after in vitro exposure of her leukemic cells to mithramycin showed differentiation to normal appearing granulocytes. Mithramycin therapy in vivo resulted in a prompt and dramatic hematologic response. Before therapy, the patient's leukemic cells had high levels of transcription of the cellular myc and abl protooncogenes. After initiation of therapy, protooncogene mRNA decreased rapidly. These observations indicate that mithramycin can induce differentiation both in vitro and in vivo and suggest that such changes may be associated with altered oncogene expression.

Authors

C A Koller, V W Campbell, D A Polansky, A Mulhern, D M Miller

Evidence for alteration of the vitamin D-endocrine system in obese subjects.

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Abstract

Serum immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (PTH) is increased in obese as compared with nonobese subjects and declines with weight loss. To determine whether alteration of the vitamin D-endocrine system occurs in obesity and whether ensuing secondary hyperparathyroidism is associated with a reduction in urinary calcium, a study was performed in 12 obese white individuals, five men and seven women, and 14 nonobese white subjects, eight men and six women, ranging in age from 20 to 35 yr. Body weight averaged 106 +/- 6 kg in the obese and 68 +/- 2 kg in the nonobese subjects (P less than 0.01). Each of them were hospitalized on a metabolic ward and were given a constant daily diet containing 400 mg of calcium and 900 mg of phosphorus. Whereas mean serum calcium, serum ionized calcium, and serum phosphorus were the same in the two groups, mean serum immunoreactive PTH (518 +/- 48 vs. 243 +/- 33 pg/ml, P less than 0.001), mean serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D] (37 +/- 2 vs. 29 +/- 2, P less than 0.01), and mean serum Gla protein (33 +/- 2 vs. 24 +/- 2 ng/ml, P less than 0.02) were significantly higher, and mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) (8 +/- 1 vs. 20 +/- 2 ng/ml, P less than 0.001) was significantly lower in the obese than in the nonobese men and women. Mean urinary phosphorus was the same in the two groups, whereas mean urinary calcium (115 +/- 10 vs. 166 +/- 13 mg/d, P less than 0.01) was significantly lower, and mean urinary cyclic AMP (3.18 +/- 0.43 vs. 1.84 +/- 0.25 nM/dl GF, P less than 0.01) and creatinine clearance (216 +/- 13 vs. 173 +/- 6 liter/d, P less than 0.01) were significantly higher in the obese than in the nonobese individuals. There was a significant positive correlation between percentage of ideal body weight and urinary cyclic AMP (r = 0.524, P less than 0.01) and between percentage of ideal body weight and serum immunoreactive PTH (r = 0.717, P less than 0.01) in the two groups. The results provide evidence that alteration of the vitamin D-endocrine system in obese subjects is characterized by secondary hyperparathyroidism which is associated with enhanced renal tubular reabsorption of calcium and increased circulating 1,25(OH)2D. The reduction of serum 25-OHD in them is attributed to feedback inhibition of hepatic synthesis of the precursor by the increased serum 1,25(OH)2D.

Authors

N H Bell, S Epstein, A Greene, J Shary, M J Oexmann, S Shaw

Leukotriene C4 binds to human glomerular epithelial cells and promotes their proliferation in vitro.

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Abstract

In human and experimental glomerulonephritis, glomerular hypercellularity results both from accumulation of macrophages and proliferation of resident glomerular cells. The recent identification of macrophage-derived factors that stimulate mesangial and epithelial cell proliferation suggests that these factors might contribute to the hypercellularity. To determine the identity of such macrophage-derived growth factors, we studied the effect of leukotrienes (LTs), products that are released from macrophages and leukocytes, on proliferation of human glomerular epithelial cells in culture. Dose-dependent (1-100 nM) stimulation of [3H]thymidine incorporation, an index of cell proliferation, was observed in cells incubated with the sulfidopeptide LTs, LTC4 and LTD4, but not with LTB4. The response was 248 and 172% of control values at 100 nM LTC4 and LTD4, respectively. This effect of LTC4 was abolished by FPL 55712. Subsequent binding studies demonstrated that glomerular epithelial cells possess specific receptors for LTC4. [3H]LTC4 bound rapidly at 8 degrees C to the cells. There was a plateau after 40 min incubation. Maximum specific binding was 70-90% of total binding. Specific binding was totally reversible with addition of an excess of unlabeled LTC4. Analysis of time-course association slopes at two concentrations of [3H]LTC4 and of the competition between a single concentration of [3H]LTC4 and increasing concentrations of unlabelled LTC4 allowed calculation of dissociation constants (Kd) of 220 and 217 nM, respectively. Both LTD4 and LTE4 exhibited ED50 values that were at least one order of magnitude higher than for LTC4. Thus, our findings suggest that LTC4 binds to specific receptors of glomerular epithelial cells, promotes proliferation of these cells, and could contribute to epithelial hypercellularity found in glomerulonephritis.

Authors

L Baud, J Sraer, J Perez, M P Nivez, R Ardaillou

Posttranslational cleavage of proinsulin is blocked by a point mutation in familial hyperproinsulinemia.

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Abstract

Familial hyperproinsulinemia is characterized by the accumulation of proinsulin-like material (PLM) in the plasma of affected patients. This disorder is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. The accumulation of PLM is thought to be due to the impaired conversion of proinsulin to insulin. Although PLM has been suggested to have an amino acid substitution, it has been impossible to locate and identify a substituted amino acid, due to the difficulty in isolating sufficient amounts of PLM from plasma samples. Therefore, we analyzed leukocyte DNA from one member of a proinsulinemic family, and we found a point mutation that changed guanine to adenine in the insulin gene. This transition implies that a substitution of histidine for arginine has occurred at amino acid position 65. Furthermore, it indicates that arginine at 65 is essential for the conversion of proinsulin to insulin. Our results suggest a novel mechanism by which disease can be incurred: a heritable disorder can result from a posttranslational processing abnormality caused by a point mutation.

Authors

Y Shibasaki, T Kawakami, Y Kanazawa, Y Akanuma, F Takaku

A defect in the regulation of major histocompatibility complex class II gene expression in human HLA-DR negative lymphocytes from patients with combined immunodeficiency syndrome.

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Abstract

Patients with an autosomal recessive combined immunodeficiency are characterized by an HLA negative phenotype of activated T and B lymphocytes. To determine the molecular basis of this syndrome we have studied the biosynthesis of class I and II antigens and the expression of relevant genes in these patients. The synthesis of the HLA A, B, and C heavy chain is markedly decreased, while beta 2 microglobulin is made in normal amounts. Biosynthesis of HLA-DR alpha-chain and beta-chain is abolished in the lymphocytes of these patients and there is a total absence of mRNA for either alpha-chains or beta-chains of HLA-DR. This indicates that the lack of class II antigen on these lymphocytes results from a block in the expression of HLA-DR genes. The Ii-chain, the invariant polypeptide associated intracellularly with HLA-DR, and its mRNA are made in normal amounts. Since the structural genes coding for class II polypeptides do not seem to be affected, the reported genetic defect in the patients concerns the regulation of the expression of HLA-DR genes.

Authors

B Lisowska-Grospierre, D J Charron, C de Préval, A Durandy, C Griscelli, B Mach