Topography of the subunits of Micrococcus lysodeikticus F1-ATPase

Summary The combined use of proteolytic digestion and lactoperoxidase catalyzed labelling with [¹²⁵I] applied to membrane-bound or soluble pure F₁-ATPase from Micrococcus lysodeikticus has allowed us to establish the topography of its , , and subunits within the protein molecule and with respect to the plane of the membrane.The subunit is most externally located to the membrane bilayer looking towards the cytoplasmic face, a position consistent with its proposed catalytic role. The and subunits lie in an intermediate layer between the subunits and the membrane, in which the subunit occupies a central position within the F₁-ATPase molecule in contact with the subunit. The subunit appears to be tightly bound to the F₀ component of the ATPase complex, probably buried in the membrane bilayer. A molecular arrangement of M. lysodeikticus ATPase is proposed that, taking into account the subunit stoichiometry _{3 3 2 2} (MW 420 000), accommodates the role assigned to each subunit and most, if not all, the known properties of this bacterial energy-transducing protein.     

Antigenic relationships between Aracoccidioides loboi and other pathogenic fungi determined by immunofluorescence

Summary The fluorescent antibody technique was used to study antigenic relationships betweenParacoccidioides loboi and other pathogenic fungi. The findings suggest thatP. loboi is more closely related antigenically to certainP. brasiliensis strains than to others and that it has antigens in common with the yeast form ofHistoplasma capsulatum, H. duboisii, Blastomyces dermatitidis, Candida albicans and also the mycelial form ofCoccidioides immitis. Serum globulins from 3 cases of keloidal blastomycosis were labelled with fluorescein isothiocyanate. These conjugates showed slight or no reactivity withP. loboi, the yeast forms ofP. brasiliensis, H. capsulatum, H. duboisii andB. dermatitidis, However, they stained brightlyC. albicans, serotypes A and B, the tissue form ofC. immitis and the yeast form ofSporotrichum schenckii. Adsorption of these reagents withC. albicans eliminated all staining except that forS. schenckii. These patients had no history of clinical sporotrichosis.Deceased. Last address: Fundacão Gonçalo Moniz, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Requests for reprints should be sent to Dr.William Kaplan.Dr.Miranda is in private practice in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.     

An electron microscopic study of the cerebral blood vessels of the opossum

Summary Blood vessels of the opossum brain are paired, artery and vein, and end in a closed loop. Both anatomically and physiologically they are true end-arteries. The two limbs are enclosed within a single basement membrane and are separated from each other by an intercapillary cell thought to be analogous to the usual capillary pericytes. The similarity of this vascular arrangement to that in the rabbit placenta and in the medulla of the kidney is discussed in relation to the counter-current multiplier system.This work was supported in part by the Beaumont-May Institute of Neurology and by a grant, B-425, from the United States Public Health Service.Research Fellow of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.     

SDSE: A software package to simulate the evolution of a pair of DNA sequences

An algorithm to simulate DNA sequence evolution under a generalstochastic model, including as particular cases all the previouslyused schemes of nucleotide substitution, is described. The simulationis carried out on finite, variable length, DNA sequences througha strict stochastic process, according to the particular substitutionrates imposed by each scheme. Five FORTRAN programs, runningon an IBM PC and compatibles, carry out all the tasks neededfor the simulation. They are menu driven and interfaced to thesystem through a principal menu. All sequence data files usedand generated by the SDSE package conform to the standard GenBankdatabase format, thus allowing the use of any sequence retrievedfrom this databank, as well as the application of other packagesto analyse, manipulate or retrieve simulated sequences. Received on August 23, 1988; accepted on November 15, 1988     

Alloantigen-specific cytotoxic clones bearing the alpha,beta T cell antigen receptor but not CD4 or CD8 molecules

The vast majority of circulating lymphocytes that express the alpha,beta TCR in association with CD3 also express either CD4 or CD8 molecules, which are thought to act as important accessory structures in HLA class II- and I-restricted T cell functions, respectively. In the current study alpha,beta TCR+ clones devoid of detectable CD4 or CD8 were generated by repeated stimulation of fresh CD3+,CD4-,CD8- cells with an allogeneic lymphoblastoid cell line in the presence of conditioned medium containing IL-2. Except for the absence of CD4 and CD8, which was associated with undetectable levels of CD4 and CD8 mRNA, the clones were phenotypically indistinguishable from classical CD3+,alpha,beta TCR+ cells. Furthermore, they mediated potent cytolysis of their specific stimulator line but did not kill irrelevant LCL or NK-sensitive targets. mAb to CD3 and the alpha,beta TCR inhibited cytolysis, suggesting that the clones use the TCR/CD3 complex to recognize and respond to their targets. mAbs to CD2 and CD11a also inhibited cytolysis, indicating that the clones use these accessory molecules to interact with their targets. Finally, cytolysis was inhibited by an HLA-A,B,C framework-specific mAb (W6/32) as well as a mAb (MA2.1) specific for an HLA-A2 epitope. These results demonstrate that CD3+,alpha,beta TCR+,CD4-,CD8- cytotoxic clones can be generated from the peripheral blood of healthy adults, and use their TCR/CD3 complexes to function in an HLA class I-restricted manner.     

Cessation of neutrophil influx in C5a-induced acute experimental arthritis is associated with loss of chemoattractant activity from the joint space

Neutrophil emigration is a critical component of the inflammatory process and is generally thought to play a role in host defense as well as in the tissue injury that often accompanies inflammation. Most inflammatory reactions exhibit a sequence of emigrating cell types, thus clearly demonstrating that the neutrophil influx eventually ceases and that the neutrophils are then removed from the lesion. It has been our premise that in order to understand the processes that lead to the progressive inflammatory reactions that underly so many disease processes, it is important to determine the mechanism by which the "normal" inflammatory response resolves. The purpose of this study was to identify the time of cessation of neutrophil influx in experimental arthritis induced by the injection of C5 fragments (C5f) and to investigate mechanisms underlying the cessation process. The migration of i.v. delivery pulses to inflamed joints was assessed by lavage of the joint space and by external scintigraphy. We found no evidence for the development of inhibitory systems against chemotactic factors or "desensitization" of the inflamed site, because a second injection of C5f into joints which had been injected previously with C5f resulted in enhancement rather than inhibition of migration. Neither was evidence found for altered tissue barriers to migration or for desensitization of neutrophils as possible explanations for cessation of influx. The major mechanism appeared to be a loss of chemoattractant activity in the joint space between 2 h and 6 h after C5f injection which was detected by transfer into a fresh joint. Radiolabeled C5a des-Arg had a t1/2 of disappearance from the joint of less than 1 h, which suggested that the transferred chemoattractant must, in part, have been due to the generation of new chemotaxins by C5f injection. These observations suggest that continued generation of chemoattractants or failure of their subsequent removal may be mechanisms leading to persistent neutrophil influx in chronic inflammation.     

The levels of ζ, γ, and δ chains in patients with Hb H disease

Summary Details are given of a study of blood samples from 24 patients with Hb H disease from different Mediterranean countries and from the Far East. Four different types of -thal-1 (--) were observed, namely-() ( 20.5-kb deletion);--MED-I ( 17.5-kb deletion);--MED-II (>26.5-kb deletion); and--SEA ( 18-kb deletion, in Orientals only). The -thal-2 was mainly of the deletion type (16 with the 3.7-kb deletion; 1 with the 4.2-kb deletion), while 4 of the 7 patients with a nondeletional type had the five-nucleotide deletion at the donor splice site of the first intron of the 2 gene. All patients had a mild-to-moderate hemolytic anemia; no significant differences in hematology were observed between the groups. Hb A₂ was decreased to about one-third of the normal level. The Hb H formation varied considerably and its quantitation was not always satisfactory. Patients with Hb H disease due to any -thal-1 combined with a nondeletional -thal-2 had the highest Hb H levels and a more marked anemia. The chain production was small and absent in patients with the MED-II type of -thal-1 because this deletion included the and genes. The highest chain levels were present in the four patients with the SEA type of -thal-1. The chain production was increased, particularly in patients with a mutation of C T at position-158 to the ^G globin gene. This chain was primarily present as Hb Bart's (or ₄) and only about 15% was recovered as Hb F or ₂₂. The evaluation of the rate of chains produced in these patients was greatly facilitated by data from one patient who had Hb H disease and a heterozygosity for the ^A-⁺. The low levels of Hb A₂ and of Hb F (relative to Hb Bart's) can be explained by a decreased affinity of chains for and chains as compared with chains in conditions of severe chain deficiency.