Characterization of the enhanced susceptibility of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria erythrocytes to complement-mediated hemolysis initiated by cobra venom factor

When whole serum C is activated by cobra venom factor complexes (CoFBb), paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) III E (the most C-sensitive type) are hemolyzed, but normal and PNH II E (the intermediately sensitive type) are not. Previous studies have shown that after exposure to CoFBb and serum, PNH III E bind relatively large amounts of the trimolecular C complex, C5b67, whereas normal and PNH II E bind virtually none. In the studies reported herein, we have observed that when normal and PNH III E are incubated with isolated C5, C6, and 125I-C7 in the presence CoFBb, the normal E bind more C5b-7 than the PNH cells. When C7-deficient serum is included in the reaction mixture, however, the PNH E are once again observed to bind much greater amounts of C5b-7. These observations suggest that plasma and membrane factors act in concert to restrict the assembly of the trimolecular C5b-7 complex on human E. PNH III E appear to be deficient in the membrane component of this inhibitory system.     

Use of some snake venoms in the diagnostics of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH)

The crude toxin of Agkistrodon piscivorus was found to produce hemolysis of PNH erythrocytes by way of complement activation, however the degree of PNH blood cell lysis was lower than in other techniques used. The crude toxins of Naja naja and Naja oxiana cause much higher hemolysis though lower hemolysis takes place in normal blood cells. In some normal persons and different blood diseases it is responsible for high hemolysis even when the complement is absent. From Naja naja toxin a fraction can be isolated which has a "specific" complement effect only on PNH blood cells. This fraction can thus be utilized in a specific test for this disease.     

A soluble form of the glycolipid-anchored receptor for urokinase-type plasminogen activator is secreted from peripheral blood leukocytes from patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

The cellular urokinase-type plasminogen-activator (uPA) receptor (uPAR) is a glycolipid-anchored membrane protein thought to be involved in pericellular proteolysis during cell migration and tumor invasion. In the present study, we have identified and characterized two soluble forms of uPAR which have retained their ligand-binding capability. One variant was generated in vitro by treatment of intact normal cells with either a phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PLC) or endoproteinase Asp-N. The other soluble uPAR variant was secreted in vivo from peripheral blood leukocytes affected by the stem-cell disorder paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), and was found in the plasma from these PNH patients as well as in the conditioned medium from cultured PNH leukocytes. Under normal conditions, we find no evidence for any shedding or secretion of a soluble uPA-binding counterpart to human uPAR in plasma. Unlike normal leukocytes, the PNH-affected cells do not express uPAR on the cell surface, although they do contain apparently normal levels of uPAR-specific mRNA. The secreted uPAR derived from PNH cells has a mobility in SDS/PAGE that is slightly higher than that of uPAR solubilized by PtdIns-specific PLC or detergent, but resembles that of a truncated, recombinant uPAR variant, which has its C-terminus close to the proposed glycolipid-attachment site, suggesting that the secreted protein has been proteolytically processed for glycolipid attachment. The presence in plasma from PNH patients of such a secreted, hydrophilic form of uPAR lends support to the hypothesis that the lesion underlying the PNH disorder resides either in glycolipid biosynthesis or in the function of an as-yet-unidentified transamidating enzyme assumed to cleave and assemble the truncated uPAR with the preformed glycolipid moiety.     

Differences in activation of normal and glycosylphosphatidylinositol-negative lymphocytes derived from patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

In these studies, the role of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored surface molecules during T cell activation was investigated in fresh T cells and T cell lines obtained from patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. For control, GPI-expressing T cells of the same patients were used. Unstimulated GPI- T cells exhibited significantly reduced surface expression of the activation Ag CD45R0, compared with GPI+ T cells. In addition, in measurements of proliferation, IFN-gamma production, and induction of second messengers such as cytoplasmic Ca2+, CD48- lymphocytes showed a similar response to TCR-specific stimulation, compared with CD48+ lymphocytes. In contrast, stimulation with the lectin PHA produced a decreased response of CD48- lymphocytes in these functions. In addition, stimulation with cross-linked CD59 mAb increased the proliferation of GPI-molecule expressing CD48+ T cell lines only. From these data, it can be concluded that GPI-anchored surface molecules play an important role in T lymphocyte activation.     

Analysis of PI (phosphatidylinositol)-anchoring antigens in a patient of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) reveals deficiency of 1F5 antigen (CD59), a new complement-regulatory factor.

FACS analysis together with PIPLC treatment was applied to PI-anchoring antigens such as DAF (decay-accerelating factor, CD55), 1F5 antigen (CD59), CD14 and CD16 on the cell surfaces of blood cells from a normal adult and a male patient with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglubinuria (PNH). Through the extensive analysis, this patient proved to be completely defective in 1F5 antigen, a newly found complement-regulatory protein, on all the blood cells tested. In normal blood cells such as lymphocytes, monocytes and granulocytes, 1F5 antigen was expressed as one of PI-anchoring proteins. In contrast to most of PNH patients, this patient reserved DAF, CD14 and CD16 at normal levels in his erythrocytes, monocytes and granulocytes. Also, there were no significant differences between the normal adult and the patient in the activities of erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase and granulocyte alkaline phosphatase which were also known to be PI-anchoring enzymes. Thus, deficiency of 1F5 antigen must be deeply related to the clinical symptoms of PNH in this patient.     

Isolation of two forms of decay-accelerating factor (DAF) from human urine.

Decay-accelerating factor (DAF) was purified from human pooled urine by conventional techniques. The urine DAF was separated into two peaks, pool I and pool II, by gel chromatography. DAF-U1 was isolated from pool I by hydrophobic chromatography, and DAF-U2 from pool II by anti-DAF IgG column. The specific activities of DAF-U1 and DAF-U2 to decay membrane-phase C5 convertase were about 3% and 70% of membrane form DAF, respectively. However, both urine DAFs revealed a similar activity to each other and slightly higher activity than that of membrane form DAF in decay-accelerating fluid-phase C3 convertase of the alternative pathway.     

Transcriptional enhancement of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase form 1A2 (UGT1A2) by nuclear factor I-A (NFI-A) in rat hepatocytes

In cultured primary hepatocytes UDP-glucuronosyltransferase form 1A2 (UGT1A2) mRNA level is 80 times higher than that found in rat liver. We previously identified an enhancer sequence in the UGT1A2 promoter, and designated it as culture-associated expression responsive enhancer module (CEREM). Affinity chromatography with DNA fragments containing CEREM allowed enrichment of nuclear factor I (NFI) proteins from cultured hepatocytes. The NFI family is encoded by four distinct genes, NFI-A, NFI-B, NFI-C, and NFI-X. Immunoblot analysis with isoform-specific antibodies showed that NFI-A1 existed as a major component in rat liver and cultured hepatocytes. By contrast, NFI-C1 was present in rat liver but disappeared immediately upon cultivation of hepatocytes. Only trace amounts of NFI-B and NFI-X were detectable in rat liver and cultured hepatocytes. NFI-A1 elevated expression of the reporter gene that is under the control of CEREM, while NFI-C1 had an inhibitory effect. Co-expression of a constant amount of NFI-A1 with an increasing amount of NFI-C1 led to a concentration-dependent decrease in the expression of the CEREM-controlled reporter gene mediated by NFI-A1. Activation of UGT1A2 expression by NFI-A1 is suppressed by the coexistence of NFI-C1 in the liver, and culture-associated expression of UGT1A2 is triggered by the rapid disappearance of NFI-C1 in cultured hepatocytes.     

Affected paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria T lymphocytes harbor a common defect in assembly of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine inositol phospholipid corresponding to that in class A Thy-1- murine lymphoma mutants.

Deficient expression of glycoinositol phospholipid (GPI) anchored proteins in affected paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) cells has been traced to a defect in GPI anchor assembly. In a previous study (Schubert, J., Schmidt, R. E., and Medof, M. E. (1993) J. Biol. Chem., in press) we characterized the biosynthesis of putative Man-containing GPI anchor precursors in normal peripheral blood lymphocytes and investigated assembly of these intracellular GPI intermediates in CD48- affected and CD48+ unaffected T and natural killer cell lines of PNH patients. We found that affected T cells from five patients exhibited a uniform defect in which dolichol-phosphoryl-Man was synthesized but no GPI mannolipids were expressed. In this study, membranes of patients' affected T cells were labeled with UDP-[3H]GlcNAc to evaluate earlier steps in GPI synthesis, and intact cells were fused to Thy-1- murine lymphoma mutants harboring different defects in early GPI assembly to test for the presence of corresponding or complementary lesions. In all cases, affected cell membranes failed to assemble GlcNAc-inositol phospholipid, the initial precursor of GPI anchor structures, and the intact cells failed to complement class A mutants while complementing other classes. Affected polymorphonuclear leukocytes from three additional patients of different origin were then labeled with [3H]Man and the labeling patterns found to correspond to those obtained with the T lymphocytes. Taken together the data indicate that the genetic lesion in PNH cells resides in a DNA element which: 1) encodes a product required for the synthesis of GlcNAc-inositol phospholipid, 2) corresponds to that altered in class A Thy-1- murine lymphoma mutants, and 3) is commonly affected in different patients.     

IL-4 (B cell stimulatory factor 1) exhibits thymocyte growth factor activity in the presence of IL-2

The proliferative activity of thymocytes cultured with IL-2 and submitogenic concentrations of PHA is increased by 3- to 10-fold in the presence of IL-4. In contrast, IL-4 alone is unable to induce proliferative activity in thymocyte cultures and its synergistic activity is only apparent to concentrations of IL-2 above 1 U/ml. The costimulatory activity of IL-4 is abrogated by the monoclonal anti-IL-4 antibody 11B11. Furthermore, potentiation of the IL-2-mediated thymocyte proliferation is not seen with IL-1, IL-3, IFN-gamma, and granulocyte-macrophage CSF. Thymocytes are at least as responsive to IL-4 as B cells and the IL-4 costimulatory activity in fractionated thymocytes appears to be restricted mainly to the Lyt-2+/L3T4- population. In contrast, purified resting mature T cells do not respond to IL-4 plus IL-2, although they did proliferate in response to IL-4 in combination with PMA. These findings indicate that thymocytes and mature T cells are responsive to the costimulatory activity of IL-4 under quite different conditions, and that IL-4 may play an important role in thymocyte maturation in the thymus.     

A transmembrane guanylyl cyclase (DAF-11) and Hsp90 (DAF-21) regulate a common set of chemosensory behaviors in caenorhabditis elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans daf-11 and daf-21 mutants share defects in specific chemosensory responses mediated by several classes of sensory neurons, indicating that these two genes have closely related functions in an assortment of chemosensory pathways. We report that daf-11 encodes one of a large family of C. elegans transmembrane guanylyl cyclases (TM-GCs). The cyclic GMP analogue 8-bromo-cGMP rescues a sensory defect in both daf-11 and daf-21 mutants, supporting a role for DAF-11 guanylyl cyclase activity in this process and further suggesting that daf-21 acts at a similar step. daf-11::gfp fusions are expressed in five identified pairs of chemosensory neurons in a pattern consistent with most daf-11 mutant phenotypes. We also show that daf-21 encodes the heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90), a chaperone with numerous specific protein targets. We show that the viable chemosensory-deficient daf-21 mutation is an unusual allele resulting from a single amino acid substitution and that the daf-21 null phenotype is early larval lethality. These results demonstrate that cGMP is a prominent second messenger in C. elegans chemosensory transduction and suggest a previously unknown role for Hsp90 in regulating cGMP levels.     

Identification of three novel mutations in the PIG-A gene in paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) patients

Paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) is an acquired haemolytic disorder caused by the absence of glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored surface proteins resulting from a defect in one step of GPI-anchor biosynthesis. Recent analysis has shown that mutations at the PIG-A (phosphatidylinositoglycan-class A) gene are responsible for GPI-anchor deficiency in all PNH patients. In the current study, we describe three new mutations of the PIG-A gene in Italian patients with PNH. The analysis has been performed by RNA/single-strand conformation polymorphism using genomic DNA purified from nucleated peripheral blood cells. An abnormal pattern of migration of polymerase chain reaction amplified fragments containing exons 2 and 5 was observed. Sequencing analysis led to the identification of three mutations: a transversion C-to-A creating a stop codon (Y98X), an A insertion at position 460 (460insA), and a C deletion (1114delC). All the mutations cause a premature termination of the translation of the PIG-A protein.     

A novel IgA protease from Clostridium sp. capable of cleaving IgA1 and IgA2 A2m(1) but not IgA2 A2m(2) allotype paraproteins

Three bacterial strains of Bifidobacterium and Clostridium sp. from patients with inflammatory bowel disease (I.B.D.) and Streptococcus pneumoniae from a patient with pneumonia were identified to produce extracellular proteases cleaving IgA into Fab and Fc fragments. Although the proteases from the Bifidobacterium and the Streptococcus pneumoniae showed the characteristics of typical IgA1 proteases, cleaving the IgA of only the IgA1 subclass, the protease from Clostridium sp. revealed a dual substrate specificity, in that it cleaved both IgA1 and IgA2 of the A2m(1) allotype. The latter protease, however, did not show any activity with respect to the IgA2 of the A2m(2) allotype. Fc fragments isolated from the IgA1 and the IgA2 A2m(1) by digestion with the Clostridium sp. protease were identified to have an identical amino terminal residue of valine. The site of cleavage in both the alpha 1 and the alpha 2 of A2m(1) by the protease was assumed to be an identical peptide bond at Pro(221)-Val(222), which is a common one present just before the hinge of both the alpha 1 and the alpha 2 of the A2m(1) but not of the alpha 2 of the A2m(2). The protease was sensitive to ethylene-diamino tetraacetic acid, a chelating agent, similar to other already reported IgA1 proteases.     

Sperm size abnormalities in homozygous and heterozygous In(5)9Rk mice.

Sperm abnormalities were scored in In(5)9Rk homozygotes, heterozygotes and in the inbred strains, C57BL/6J, C3H/HeJ, DBA/2J and JUFaCt, used to produce the geterozygotes. The sperm abnormalities of the inversion heterozygotes were remarkable, about 40% were either double-headed or abnormally large in size. The double-headed sperm had head dimensions similar to those of normal-sized sperm, but the large sperm heads were 1.2 times longer and 1.3 times wider and presumably had twice the usual nuclear volume. This observation suggests that the anaphase bridge formed in inversion heterozygotes resulting from the paracentric inversion may constitute an impediment to cytokinesis and may lead to two genomes being packaged into a single sperm. If this is a general phenomenon, sperm morphology may provide a useful screen for paracentric inversions.     

Distribution of G1m(1), G1m(2) and G3m(5) allotypes in Aragon.

The distribution of G1m(1), G1m(2) and G3m(5) allotypes was studied in 700 unrelated individuals from Aragon (North-East Spain). The Gm haplotype frequencies were similar to those reported in French areas next to Aragon.     

Kinetic properties of a high molecular mass arachidonoyl-hydrolyzing phospholipase A2 that exhibits lysophospholipase activity.

The first step in the production of eicosanoids and platelet-activating factor is the hydrolysis of arachidonic acid from membrane phospholipid by phospholipase A2. We previously purified from the macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 an intracellular phospholipase A2 that preferentially hydrolyzes sn-2-arachidonic acid. The enzyme exhibits a molecular mass of 100 kDa and an isoelectric point of 5.6. When assayed for other activities, the phospholipase A2 was found to exhibit lysophospholipase activity against palmitoyllysoglycerophosphocholine, and both activities copurified to a single band on silver-stained sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. An antibody against the macrophage enzyme was found to quantitatively immunoprecipitate both phospholipase A2 and lysophospholipase activities from a crude cytosolic fraction. When the immunoprecipitated material was analyzed on immunoblots, a single band at 100 kDa was evident, further suggesting that a single protein possessed both enzyme activities. When assayed as a function of palmitoyllysoglycerophosphocholine concentration and plotted as a double-reciprocal plot, two different slopes were apparent, corresponding to concentrations above and below the critical micellar concentration (7 microM) of the substrate. Above the critical micellar concentration, lysophospholipase exhibited an apparent Km of 25 microM and a Vmax of 1.5 mumol/min/mg. Calcium was not required for lysophospholipase activity, in contrast to phospholipase A2 activity. The enzyme, when assayed as either a phospholipase A2 or lysophospholipase, exhibited nonlinear kinetics beyond 1-2 min despite low substrate conversion. Readdition to more substrate after the activity plateaued did not result in further enzyme activity, ruling out substrate depletion. Readdition of enzyme, however, resulted in another burst of enzyme activity. The results are not consistent with product inhibition, but suggest that the enzyme may be subject to inactivation during catalysis.