Synthesis,characterization, and application of cy-dye- and alexa-dye-labeled hongotoxin(1) analogues. The first high affinity fluorescence probes for voltage-gated K+ channels

Hongotoxin(1) (HgTX(1)), a 39-residue peptide recently isolated from the venom of Centruroides limbatus, blocks the voltage-gated K+ channels K(v)1.1, K(v)1.2, and K(v)1.3 at picomolar toxin concentrations (Koschak, A., Bugianesi, R. M., Mitterdorfer, J., Kaczorowski, G. J., Garcia, M. L., and Knaus, H. G. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 2639-2644). In this report, we determine the three-dimensional structure of HgTX(1) using NMR spectroscopy (PDB-code: 1HLY). HgTX(1) was found to possess a structure similar to previously characterized K+ channel toxins (e.g. margatoxin) consisting of a three-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet (residues 2-4, 26-30, and 33-37) and a helical conformation (part 3(10) helix and part alpha helix; residues 10-20). Due to the importance of residue Lys-28 for high-affinity interaction with the respective channels, lysine-reactive fluorescence dyes cannot be used to label wild-type HgTX(1). On the basis of previous studies (see above) and our NMR data, a HgTX(1) mutant (HgTX(1)-A19C) was engineered, expressed, and purified. HgTX(1)-A19C-SH was labeled using sulfhydryl-reactive Cy3-, Cy5-, and Alexa-dyes. Pharmacological characterization of fluorescently labeled HgTX(1)-A19C in radioligand binding studies indicated that these hongotoxin(1) analogues retain high-affinity for voltage-gated K+ channels and a respective pharmacological profile. Cy3- and Alexa-dye-labeled hongotoxin(1) analogues were used to investigate the localization of K+ channels in brain sections. The distribution of toxin binding closely follows the distribution of K(v)1.2 immunoreactivity with the highest expression levels in the cerebellar Purkinje cell layer. Taken together, these results demonstrate that fluorescently labeled HgTX(1) analogues comprise novel probes to characterize a subset of voltage-gated K+ channels.     

Cultivation of Mycobacterium bovis BCG in bioreactors

The Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine for commercial use is classically produced as surface pellicles by culture on synthetic medium. Under these conditions, reproducibility of the cultures and quality assessment are hampered by slow growth of the bacilli, the formation of bacterial aggregates and a high proportion of dead bacilli after processing and final formulation of the vaccine. Here, we established dispersed cultures of M. bovis BCG in synthetic media in small-scale bioreactors. These cultures allow recording and adjusting of culture parameters and give rise to single bacilli with a high degree of live bacteria. In the murine model, bioreactor-grown M. bovis BCG exhibited slightly stronger replication and persistence than the vaccine produced under the classical conditions. The protective efficacy against challenge with M. tuberculosis was identical for both vaccine preparations.     

Naive T cells are maintained by thymic output in early ages but by proliferation without phenotypic change after age twenty

Analysing T-cell receptor excision circle numbers in healthy individuals we find a marked change in the source of naive T cells before and after 20 years of age. The bulk of the naive T cell pool is sustained primarily from thymic output for individuals younger than 20 years of age whereas proliferation within the naive phenotype is dominant for older individuals. Over 90% of phenotypically naive T cells in middle age are not of direct thymic origin. Moreover, this change in source of naive T cells is accompanied either by an increased death rate of T cells from the thymus or reduced thymic export. Modelling of these processes shows that new naive T cells of a thymic origin have a half-life of approximately 50 days before this change occurs, and that either the life-span of recent thymic emigrants (but not necessarily of all naive cells) decreases approximately threefold in middle age, or thymic production drops by this same amount. The decay rate of T-cell receptor excision circle levels for individuals over 20 years of age is consistent with the decay rate of the productive thymus. Our modelling suggests that at age 25, thymic export is responsible for 20% of naive T-cell production and that this percentage decreases with the 15.7 year half-life of the productive thymus so that by age 55 only 5% of naive production arises from thymic export.     

Apoptosis facilitates antigen presentation to T lymphocytes through MHC-I and CD1 in tuberculosis

Protective immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis involves major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I)- and CD1-restricted CD8 T cells, but the mechanisms underlying antigen delivery to antigen-presenting molecules remain enigmatic. Macrophages, the primary host cells for mycobacteria, are CD1-negative. Here we show that M. tuberculosis phagosomes are secluded from the cytosolic MHC-I processing pathway and that mycobacteria-infected cells lose their antigen-presenting capacity. We also show that mycobacteria induce apoptosis in macrophages, causing the release of apoptotic vesicles that carry mycobacterial antigens to uninfected antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Inhibition of apoptosis reduced transfer of antigens to bystander cells and activation of CD8 T cells. Uninfected dendritic cells, which engulfed extracellular vesicles, were indispensable for subsequent cross-presentation of antigens, through MHC-I and CD1b, to T cells from mycobacteria-sensitized donors. This new 'detour' pathway for presentation of antigens from a phagosome-contained pathogen shows the functional significance of infection-induced apoptosis in the activation of CD8 T cells specific for both protein and glycolipid antigens in tuberculosis.     

TIP,a T-cell factor identified using high-throughput screening increases survival in a graft-versus-host disease model

A coordinated effort combining bioinformatic tools with high-throughput cell-based screening assays was implemented to identify novel factors involved in T-cell biology. We generated a unique library of cDNAs encoding predicted secreted and transmembrane domain-containing proteins generated by analyzing the Human Genome Sciences cDNA database with a combination of two algorithms that predict signal peptides. Supernatants from mammalian cells transiently transfected with this library were incubated with primary T cells and T-cell lines in several high-throughput assays. Here we describe the discovery of a T cell factor, TIP (T cell immunomodulatory protein), which does not show any homology to proteins with known function. Treatment of primary human and murine T cells with TIP in vitro resulted in the secretion of IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, and IL-10, whereas in vivo TIP had a protective effect in a mouse acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) model. Therefore, combining functional genomics with high-throughput cell-based screening is a valuable and efficient approach to identifying immunomodulatory activities for novel proteins.     

The gel-forming behaviour of dextran in the presence of KCl: a quantitative 13C and pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR study

Although the gel forming ability of certain polysaccharides in the presence of ions is a well-known phenomenon, detailed physicochemical mechanisms of such processes are still unknown. In this investigation high resolution 13C NMR as well as 1H pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR were used to investigate the mobility of dextran in the sol and in the gel state. Gel-formation of dextran can be easily induced by the addition of large amounts of potassium chloride. No major differences in the T(1) relaxation times of dextran in the sol and in the gel state could be observed. Accordingly, the analysis of the 13C NMR spectroscopic data did not provide any indication of an observable line-broadening upon gel-formation. However, a KCl concentration dependent decrease of signal intensity in comparison to an internal standard was detected. On the other hand, the PFG NMR studies clearly indicated a gradual diminution of the self-diffusion coefficient of the dextran with increasing molecular weight as well as in the presence of potassium chloride. These measurements revealed in agreement with spectroscopic data that at least one potassium ion per monomer subunit (i.e. one glycopyranose residue) is necessary for gel formation.