Macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1 beta abrogates the capacity of MIP-1 alpha to suppress myeloid progenitor cell growth

The effects of recombinant murine macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1 beta and MIP-2 on the suppressive activity of MIP-1 alpha were tested using colony formation by human and murine bone marrow burst-forming unit-erythroid (BFU-E), colony-forming unit-granulocyte erythroid macrophage, megakaryocyte (CFU-GEMM), and colony-forming unit-granulocyte macrophage (CFU-GM) progenitor cells. MIP-1 beta, but not MIP-2, when added with MIP-1 alpha to cells, blocked the suppressive effects of MIP-1 alpha on both human and murine BFU-E, CFU-GEMM, and CFU-GM colony formation. Similar results were observed regardless of the early acting cytokines used: human rGM-CSF plus human rIL-3, and two recently described potent cytokines, a genetically engineered human rGM-CSF/IL-3 fusion protein and MGF, a c-kit ligand. The more potent the stimuli, the greater the suppressive activity noted. Pulse treatment of hu bone marrow cells with MIP-1 alpha at 4 degrees C for 1 h was as effective in inhibiting colony formation as continuous exposure of cells to MIP-1 alpha, and the pulsing effect with MIP-1 alpha could not be overcome by subsequent exposure of cells to MIP-1 beta. Also, pulse exposure of cells to MIP-1 beta blocked the activity of subsequently added MIP-1 alpha. For specificity, the action of a nonrelated myelosuppressive factor H-ferritin, was compared. MIP-1 alpha and H-ferritin were shown to act on similar target populations of early BFU-E, CFU-GEMM, and CFU-GM. MIP-1 beta did not block the suppressive activity of H-ferritin. Also, hemin and an inactive recombinant human H-ferritin mutein counteracted the suppressive effects of the wildtype H-ferritin molecule, but did not block the suppressive effects of MIP-1 alpha. These results show that MIP-1 beta's ability to block the action of MIP-1 alpha is specific. In addition, the results suggest that MIP-1 alpha and MIP-beta can, through rapid action, modulate early myeloid progenitor cell proliferation.     

Development of vitrified mouse oocytes after in vitro fertilization

Mouse oocytes were cryopreserved by the vitrification method using vitrification solution (VSI) and the effects of dilution methods were examined on the rate of in vitro and in vivo development. Eighty-three percent and 75% of vitrified oocytes exhibited normal morphology when diluted in glycerol + sucrose and sucrose alone, respectively. In contrast, only 35% of the oocytes diluted by a stepwise method exhibited a normal appearance. A high proportion of vitrified oocytes was fertilized in vitro (84-94%), 80 to 87% of which were normal. Of the later embryos, 69 to 78% developed to blastocysts after 4 days of culture. Thirty-six live young (51%) were obtained when vitrified oocytes were transferred to recipient females. The overall rate of development to live young was 25% when vitrified oocytes were diluted with glycerol + sucrose solution. These results indicate that the simple and rapid procedure of vitrification and glycerol + sucrose dilution is suitable for the cryopreservation of mouse oocytes.     

The longest 18S ribosomal RNA ever known. Nucleotide sequence and presumed secondary structure of the 18S rRNA of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum.

An EMBL4 recombinant phage which encodes one of the full length of the aphid ribosomal DNA has been isolated from the aphid genomic library. Determination of the complete nucleotide sequence of the aphid 18S rRNA gene revealed that it is 2469 bp with a G + C content of 59%. The aphid 18S rRNA gene studied here is the longest and has the highest G + C content among the 18S rRNA genes examined so far. Evidence provided by the S1 nuclease assay suggests that the aphid 18S rRNA gene examined in this study is not a pseudogene containing an insertion sequence. Based on the nucleotide sequence of the 18S rRNA gene, we constructed a presumed secondary-structure model of the aphid 18S rRNA. In the aphid 18S rRNA, the eucaryote-specific E21 and 41 region are supposed to be longer and more complex than the counterparts of other 18S rRNA.     

The organization of the gene for the human cerebroside sulfate activator protein

The organization of 14 exons covering 97% of the cDNA sequence of human cerebroside sulfate activator protein precursor has been determined from two overlapping EMBL-4 human genomic clones extending over 17kb. All exons and exon/intron splice junctions and five introns were sequenced. Exon 8 consists of only 9 bp and is involved in alternative splicing which generates three different mRNAs of cerebroside sulfate activator precursor.     

Development of mouse enucleated oocytes receiving a nucleus from different stages of the second cell cycle.

The influence of the stage of the cell cycle of donor nuclei on the development of mouse oocytes enucleated at telophase I was examined. After nuclear transplantation and activation, a high proportion of the oocytes remodelled a nucleus, emitted a polar body and formed a pronuclear-like nucleus. Most of the reconstituted embryos that received an interphase nucleus 30-32 h or 34-36 h after treatment with human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) arrested at the 2-cell stage. The reconstituted embryos were able to develop to blastocysts when nuclei from late 2-cell embryos (44-46 and 48-50 h after hCG) were transferred to the oocytes. The resulting blastocysts were transferred to recipients and ten live young were obtained from the embryos that formed a pronuclear-like nucleus after extrusion of a polar body. Thus, the developmental ability of the reconstituted embryos was critically influenced by the stage of the cell cycle of the donor nuclei.     

Induction of ovulation and oocyte maturation of amphibian (Rana dybowskii) ovarian follicles by protein kinase C activation in vitro.

We previously reported that protein kinase C (PKC) activation induced meiotic maturation (germinal vesicle breakdown, GVBD) of Rana dybowskii follicular oocytes cultured in vitro without hormone treatment. The experiments reported here were carried out to establish whether ovarian follicles ovulated in response to PKC activation during culture. A phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), was used for PKC activation. TPA addition (10 microM) to cultured ovarian fragments induced ovulation and maturation of the oocytes similar to that seen following addition of frog pituitary homogenate (FPH, 0.05 pituitary/ml) or progesterone (0.5 microgram/ml). Such changes were not observed when ovarian fragments were treated with inactive phorbol ester. The time course of TPA-induced ovulation was similar to that produced by FPH-stimulated ovulation. Both TPA- and FPH-stimulated ovulation and maturation were blocked by treatment with cycloheximide, forskolin (an adenylate cyclase stimulator), and 1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-2-methyl-piperazine (H-7; a PKC inactivator). FPH treatment markedly increased progesterone levels in the medium during ovarian fragment culture whereas TPA treatment failed to elevate progesterone levels. Thus, TPA treatment mimics FPH and progesterone in inducing ovulation and meiotic maturation in cultured amphibian ovarian fragments. The data strongly suggest that PKC plays an important role in regulating ovulation as well as in modulating amphibian oocyte maturation during follicular differentiation.     

Myelosuppressive effects in vivo of purified recombinant murine macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha.

Purified recombinant murine macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (rmuMIP-1 alpha), a cytokine with myelopoietic activity in vitro, was assessed in vivo by injection into C3H/HeJ mice for effects on proliferation (percentage of cells in S phase DNA synthesis of the cell cycle) and absolute numbers of granulocyte-macrophage, erythroid, and multipotential progenitor cells in the femur and spleen, and on nucleated cellularity in the bone marrow, spleen, and blood. rmuMIP-1 alpha rapidly decreased cycling rates (at 2 to 10 micrograms/mouse i.v.) and absolute numbers (at 5 to 10 micrograms/mouse i.v.) of myeloid progenitor cells in the marrow and spleen. These effects were dose- and time-dependent and reversible. Suppressive effects were noted within 3 to 24 h for cell cycling and absolute numbers of progenitor cells in the marrow and spleen, and by 48 h for circulating neutrophils. A study comparing the effects of i.v. injection of rmuMIP-1 alpha versus rmuMIP-1 beta, a biochemically similar molecule but with no myelosuppressive effects in vitro, demonstrated myelosuppression in vivo by rmuMIP-1 alpha, but not by rmuMIP-1 beta. The results suggest that rmuMIP-1 alpha has myelosuppressive activity in vivo and offers the possibility that it may be a useful adjunct to treatments involving cytotoxic drugs because of its reversible suppressive effects on normal progenitor cell cycling.     

Physical analysis of murine albino deletions that disrupt liver-specific gene regulation or mesoderm development

Complementation analyses of radiation-induced deletion mutations involving the albino (c) locus in Chromosome (Chr) 7 of the mouse have identified several loci, in addition toc, that have important roles in development. The mesoderm-deficient (msd) and hepatocyte-specific developmental regulation-1 (hsdr-1) loci, which are proximal and tightly linked toc, are important in the formation of mesoderm and in the regulation of liver- and kidney-specific induction of various enzymes and proteins, respectively. Cloning deletion-breakpoint-fusion fragments caused by lethal albino deletions that genetically define the extents of themsd andhsdr-1 loci is one way of generating molecular probes for studying the gene(s) involved in these phenotypes. The distal breakpoints of five such deletions were positioned on a long-range (PFGE) map of 1.7 Mb of wild-type DNA surrounding thec, D7Was12, andEmv-23 loci. In addition, the distal breakpoints of two viable albino deletions, which remove part of the tyrosinase gene and extend distally, were localized in the vicinity of the lethal deletion breakpoints. Therefore, the viable deletions can be exploited to generate additional DNA probes that should facilitate the isolation of breakpoint clones from chromosomes carrying lethal deletions defininghsdr-1 andmsd.     

FAD and GSH participate in macrophage synthesis of nitric oxide.

Following partial purification of macrophage nitric oxide (NO) synthase, enzyme activity requires L-arginine, NADPH, and constitutive cytosolic factors, one of which is tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) (Kwon, N.S., Nathan, C.F. and Stuehr, D.J. [1989] J. Biol. Chem. 264, 20496). Here we identify FAD and GSH as two additional cofactors needed for full enzyme activity. With all defined cytosolic cofactors in excess, NO synthesis was linear over 3 h and was approximately 50% dependent on exogenous FAD, approximately 50% on glutathione (GSH), 84% on tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), 95% on NADPH, and 98% on L-arginine. The concentrations of added FAD, GSH, and BH4 required for optimal activity were consistent with their levels in macrophage cytosol. Kinetic studies showed that GSH (or DTT) had little or no effect on the rate of NO generation over the first 20-30 min of the reaction, but prevented a subsequent dropoff in rate. This effect was distinct from thiol participation in BH4 regeneration. In contrast, exogenous FAD doubled the rate of NO synthesis throughout the assay period, consistent with a cofactor role. The role of NADPH was not to regenerate BH4, furnish NADP+, nor form reactive oxygen intermediates. These findings demonstrate NO synthesis by a partially purified enzyme in an otherwise defined system, and suggest that an NADPH-utilizing FAD flavoprotein may participate in the reaction.