Rabbit autoantibodies to actin induced by immunization with modified homologous actins

Actin is a major antigen involved in the reaction of smooth muscle antibody positive sera from patients with chronic active hepatitis. In the present study, actin extracted from rabbit skeletal muscle was denatured by sodium dodecyl sulfate and was immunized into the rabbit, a homologous animal for actin. The rabbits, thus immunized, produced antibodies reactive with actins of homologous and heterologous animals. In addition, the antibodies showed reactivity with autologous actin. It indicates that the denatured homologous actin is capable of terminating immunological tolerance to actin and induces formation of autoantibody to rabbit actin. This phenomenon may be implicated in the occurrence of anti-actin antibody in sera from patients with chronic liver disease and several other diseases.     

Unique cell surface phenotypes of proliferating lymphocytes in mice homozygous for lpr and gld mutations, defined by monoclonal antibodies to MRL/Mp-lpr/lpr T cells

In mice bearing the autosomal recessive gene of either lpr or gld, generalized T-cell proliferation and autoimmunity occurs. The surface antigen profiles of these proliferating cells were analyzed using two-color flow cytometry analysis with two newly established rat monoclonal antibodies (ALP-1, ALP-2) directed to lpr cells. The Lp-1 antigen, defined by ALP-1, is expressed exclusively on approximately one-half of proliferating lpr and gld lymph node cells. The Lp-2 antigen, like B 220, is expressed on 80-90% of lpr and gld lymph node cells, the cells in B-cell lineage and a small population of Ly-2+ T cells from normal mice. Thus, the lpr and gld lymph node cells were classified into three subsets, Lp-1+/Lp-2+, Lp-1-/Lp-2+ and Lp-1-/Lp-2-. After stimulation with Con A or a combination of IL-2 and phorbol ester, a small population of T cells from normal mice became Lp-1+. The same treatment increased Lp-2+/Ly-2+ and induced Lp-2+/L3T4+ T-cell populations. Therefore, it seems likely that these phenotypically unique T cells are generated at some stage during the proliferation and differentiation of certain normal T-cell subpopulations. The aberrant T cells in mice with lpr and gld mutations may even be normal regulatory T cells, if they are not proliferating abnormally.     

Differences in Fine Structures between Normal and RNA-induced Drosophila Pole Cells

Fine structures were compared between normal pole cells and those induced in embryos that had been uv-irradiated and then injected with intact polar plasm or with poly(A)⁺RNA extracted from cleavage embryos. Nuclei in nomal pole cells were spherical. In contrast, those in the induced pole cells were deformed to variable extents depending on materials injected with. Polar granules were smaller in pole cells induced by injection of poly(A)⁺RNA than in normal pole cells. The size of polar granules in polar-plasm-induced pole cells was intermediate between those in poly(A)⁺RNA-induced and normal pole cells. Small polar granules were observed in posterior cells of embryos uv-irradiated, nevertheless those cells were columnar and with identical morphology to somatic cells. Nuclear bodies showed a similar tendency in size differences as observed in polar granules in three types of pole cells observed.     

Oxygen uptake rate of immobilized growing hybridoma cells

Summary The specific oxygen uptake rate of hybridoma cells immobilized in calcium alginate gel particles was measured, and the observed data was compared with those of non-immobilized cells. The uptake rate of the immobilized cells coincided with that of the non-immobilized hybridoma cells just after immobilization, but increased with cell growth. On the other hand, the cellular glucose consumption rate decreased slightly during the experiments. The increased oxygen uptake rate by immobilized cells was closely related to the formation of cell colonies in the gel particles.     

Analysis of the gene of Vibrio hollisae encoding the hemolysin similar to the thermostable direct hemolysin of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

The gene (designated as Vh-tdh) of Vibrio hollisae 9041 encoding a hemolysin similar to the thermostable direct hemolysin (TDH) of V. parahaemolyticus contained a 567-base-pair open reading frame (ORF), which was 93.3-93.5% homologous to those of the tdh genes of V. parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae non-01, and V. mimicus encoding TDH or similar hemolysins. Comparative analysis of the nucleotide sequence containing the Vh-tdh ORF with published nucleotide and amino acid sequences suggested that the Vh-tdh gene and other tdh genes diverged from a common ancestral gene, that the divergence was closely associated with the evolutionary divergence of V. hollisae from other species of genus Vibrio, and that strain-to-strain variation of the Vh-tdh gene exists in V. hollisae.     

Gene structure of human thrombomodulin, a cofactor for thrombin-catalyzed activation of protein C

The gene coding for human thrombomodulin, a thrombin receptor on endothelial cells and a cofactor for the activation of anticoagulant protein C zymogen, was isolated from a human genomic library by employing human thrombomodulin cDNA as a probe. The nucleotide sequences of the gene and the adjacent 5' and 3' flanking regions were then determined. The nucleotide sequence of this gene with approximately 3.7 kilobase pairs was identical to that of the cDNA, indicating that the gene for human thrombomodulin is free of introns. Hybridization data showed that there is only a single thrombomodulin gene in the human genome.     

Effects of regional alveolar hypoxia and hypercapnia on small pulmonary vessels in cats

Using an X-ray TV system, we analyzed responses in the internal diameter (ID), flow velocity, and volume flow in small pulmonary vessels (100-600 microns ID) during unilobar hypoxia and hypercapnia in cats. In the hypoxic and hypercapnic lobes, the ID reduced in proportion to the degree of hypoxia and hypercapnia, respectively. The ID reduction was larger in the arteries than in the veins for a given stimulus. In the arteries, the ID reduced nonuniformly in the series-arranged vessels in response to both stimuli. The percentage ID reduction was maximal in the arteries of 200-300 microns ID, in which it was 21, 26, 28, and 36% with 5% O2, 0% O2, 5% CO2, and 10% CO2 inhalations, respectively. On the other hand, in the veins, uniform ID reduction occurred for a given stimulus. In the contralateral normoxic lobe, the ID did not change significantly. In both hypoxic and hypercapnic lobes, the flow velocity and volume flow of the small arteries decreased, with 5% O2, by 18 and 40%, respectively, and, with 5% CO2, by 23 and 50%, respectively. In contrast, in the normoxic lobe, they increased significantly during 5% O2 and 5% CO2 inhalations. We concluded that regional alveolar hypoxia and hypercapnia induced a local vasoconstriction particularly in the small arteries of 200-300 microns ID and decreased the flow velocity and volume flow in the same lung region.     

Metabolism of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and modification of phospholipids in cultured rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells

The metabolism of the linolenic acid family (n-3) of fatty acids, e.g., linolenic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids, in cultured smooth muscle cells from rabbit aorta was compared to the metabolism of linoleic and arachidonic acids. There was a time-dependent uptake of these fatty acids into cells for 16 hr (arachidonic greater than docosahexaenoic, linoleic, eicosapentaenoic greater than linolenic), and the acids were incorporated mainly into phospholipids and triglycerides. Eicosapentaenoic and arachidonic acids were incorporated more into phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol plus phosphatidylserine and less into phosphatidylcholine than linolenic and linoleic acids. Docosahexaenoic acid was incorporated into phosphatidylethanolamine more than linolenic and linoleic acids and into phosphatidylinositol plus phosphatidylserine less than eicosapentaenoic and arachidonic acids. Added linolenic acid accumulated mainly in phosphatidylcholine and did not decrease the arachidonic acid content of any phospholipid subfraction. Elongation-desaturation metabolites of linoleic acid did not accumulate. Cells treated with eicosapentaenoic acid accumulated both eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic acids mainly in phosphatidylethanolamine and the arachidonic acid content was decreased. Added docosahexaenoic acid accumulated mainly in phosphatidylethanolamine and decreased the content of both arachidonic and oleic acids. The following conclusions are drawn from these results. The three n-3 fatty acids are utilized differently in phospholipids. The arachidonic acid content of phospholipids is reduced by eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, but not by linolenic acid. Smooth muscle cells have little or no desaturase activity, but have significant elongation activity for polyunsaturated fatty acids.