Isolation and Characterization of The Basic,Diagnostic IgG Globulin in the Rare Gammopathy,Papular Mucinosis

A homogeneous, basic immunoglobulin has been isolated from the serum of a patient with the rare gammopathy, papular mucinosis. Comparative amino acid analysis of the diagnostic protein (PM protein) and of the more basic, normal IgG fractions indicates that the unusually high basicity of the PM protein cannot be ascribed to an increase in the content of the basic amino acids. However, it has been found that the basicity of the PM protein is associated with the Fab portion of the molecule. The PM protein is a papainsensitive IgG₁ globulin, and it has only type lambda light chains which is characteristic of all known PM proteins. The PM protein was found to be immunologically identical to normal IgG with the use of antisera directed to IgG₁ globulins and lambda light chains.     

Isolation and purification of a Clq-anti Clq precipitin ring enhancing protein from sera of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

We have isolated and purified to apparent homogeneity a serum protein which appears to be a biological marker for active rheumatoid arthritis. The protein has been found in the sera in all 44 active rheumatoid arthritis patients thus far studied and is absent from, or present in undetected amounts, in sera from normal subjects or from patients with other arthritides. The protein has a molecular weight of 135,000 daltons, an isoelectric pH of 5.1-5.3, and it enhances the size of the C1q-anti C1q ring.     

A new lymphocyte surface protein present in normal urine. II. Cellular distribution and biologic properties

A protein component present in normal human urine has been found on the surface of epidermal cells and lymphocytes. This protein, called urinary acidic antigen (UA), can not be detected in concentrated fractions of normal human serum by double immunodiffusion, suggesting that it is quickly cleared from the circulation. It is readily detected, however, in sera of patients with renal failure. Although it can be eliminated from the cell surface by repeated washings with PBS, it was shown to cap with anti-UA-specific antiserum. Anti-UA suppresses PWM-induced proliferation, but not the lymphocyte response to PHA, Con A, or allogeneic cells. Thus UA appears to have a specific relationship to the pokeweed response. Whether it is a structural component of the PWM receptor is uncertain.     

Immunoreactivity of normal rabbit serum with epinephrine (E) cells of the rat adrenal medulla after microwave antigen retrieval

Normal rabbit serum (NRS) produces intense staining of epinephrine (E) cells in microwave-heated sections of rat and mouse adrenal gland. This staining is not eliminated by liver adsorption, complement inactivation, high salt buffer, Triton X-100 or dilution in normal goat serum and bovine serum albumin (BSA), suggesting that it may result from specific antigen-antibody interactions. Western blots of adrenal medullary protein probed with NRS reveal several bands. The major band does not correspond to rat chromogranin A, which is a major constituent of E-cell secretory granules. The findings suggest that NRS may contain autoantibodies against a secreted rabbit E-cell protein with a homologous counterpart in rats and mice, and that this protein may be immunologically unmasked in situ by microwave heating. This phenomenon is a potential source of error in immunohistochemical studies of the adrenal medulla, and has potential biological significance in neuroimmunology.     

Serum amyloid A (SAA) protein-interaction with itself and serum albumin.

Serum amyloid A (SAA) protein is a 12,000 dalton protein that exists in serum under physiologic conditions as an 85,000 dalton complex and under certain conditions, as a 170,000 dalton component. To study the reason for this finding, the behavior of 125I-SAA was studied in the presence of cold SAA and several serum proteins. SAA caused a shift of some of the radioactivity to the region of albumin. Addition of normal human serum or albumin caused a shift of a significant fraction of the radioactivity to a peak eluting slightly ahead of albumin (80.000 daltons). This interaction could be blocked by the addition of cold SAA. No shift was noted when IgG or Bence Jones proteins were added. Thus, it appears that low molecular SAA protein has a tendency to aggregate with itself and to bind to albumin but not to human IgG or Bence Jones proteins.     

Fibroblast surface antigen (SF): Molecular properties,distribution in vitro and in vivo,and altered expression in transformed cells

We have recently described a cell type-specific surface (SF) antigen that is deleted in chick fibroblasts transformed by Rous sarcoma virus. SF antigen is a major surface component and makes up about 0.5% of the total protein on normal cultured fibroblasts. The antigen is shed from normal cells and is present in circulation (serum, plasma), and in vivo, also, in tissue boundary membranes. The molecular equivalents of both cellular and serum SF antigen are distinct, large polypeptides, one of which (SF210, MW 210,000) is glycosylated and, on the cell surface, highly susceptible to proteases and accessible to surface iodination. Immunofluorescence and scanning electron microscopy have indicated that the antigen is located in fibrillar structures of the cell surface, membrane ridges, and processes. Human SF antigen is present in human fibroblasts and in human serum. We have recently shown that human SF antigen is identical to what has been known as the “cold-insoluble globulin” and that it shows affinity toward fibrin and fibrinogen. Our results also indicate that loss of the transformation-sensitive surface proteins is due not to loss of synthesis but to lack of insertion of the protein in the neoplastic cell surface. Both normal and transformed cells produce the SF antigen, but the latter do not retain it in the cell surface. The loss of SF antigen, a major cell surface component, from malignant cells creates an impressive difference between the surface properties of normal and malignant cells. The possible significance of SF antigen to the integrity of the normal membrane and its interaction to surrounding structures is discussed.     

运动员剧烈运动后血中应激免疫抑制蛋白的产生

我们曾经报道,大鼠或小鼠在束缚应激后血中产生了一种能抑制免疫功能的应激免疫抑制蛋白,（又称Ｎｅｕ－ｒｏｉｍｍｕｎｅｐｒｏｔｅｉｎ,ＮＩＰ,神经免疫蛋白）。本工作证明,运动员在大运动量的训练后血清中也产生一种能抑制淋巴细胞转化的物质,它的生化特性及分子量与前述大鼠和小鼠中的应激免疫抑制蛋白相同。在体外实验中,应激大鼠的血清培养人淋巴结细胞,获得了与大鼠实验相同的结果,即人淋巴结细胞也能产生应激免疫抑制蛋白。同时小鼠束缚应激的血清和大运动量的人类血清可以分别抑制人正常淋巴细胞和正常小鼠由ＣｏｎＡ诱导的淋巴细胞转化,以上结果表明,这种应激免疫抑制蛋白的种属特异性不强。     

Photoreduction and incorporation of iron into ferritins.

The characteristics of a new kallikrein-binding protein in human serum and its activities were studied. Both the kallikrein-binding protein and alpha 1-antitrypsin form 92 kDa SDS-stable and heat-stable complexes with human tissue kallikrein. In non-SDS/PAGE, the mobility of these complexes differ. Complex-formation between kallikrein and the binding protein is inhibited by heparin, whereas that between kallikrein and alpha 1-antitrypsin is heparin-resistant. In normal or alpha 1-antitrypsin-deficient-serum, the amount of 92 kDa SDS-stable complex formed upon addition of kallikrein is not related to serum alpha 1-antitrypsin levels. The rate of complex-formation between kallikrein and the binding protein is 12 times higher than that between kallikrein and alpha 1-antitrypsin. Purified alpha 1-antitrypsin, which exhibits normal elastase binding, has a kallikrein-binding activity less than 5% of that of serum. Binding of tissue kallikrein in serum is not inhibited by increasing elastase concentrations, and elastase binding in serum is not inhibited by excess tissue kallikrein. A specific monoclonal antibody to human alpha 1-antitrypsin does not bind to either 92 kDa endogenous or exogenous kallikrein complexes isolated from human serum. The studies demonstrate a new tissue kallikrein-binding protein, distinct from alpha 1-antitrypsin, is present in human serum.     

Evidence for a novel circulating alpha 1 protein in tumour-bearing rats. Differentiation from acute phase alpha 1 proteins and from alpha 1 fetoprotein

It has been found in this study that the serum from rats bearing a transplanted dibenzanthracene-induced tumour ($\text{RD}\text{3}$), has a high concentration of alpha₁ proteins compared with normal rat serum. These alpha₁ proteins have been isolated by an immunoabsorption method and have been compared by immunological methods with the acute phase alpha₁ proteins isolated by the same method from the serum of rats presenting an inflammatory reaction. It has been found that the isolated $\text{RD}\text{3}$ alpha₁ proteins were composed of two major proteins: one of these corresponded to an inflammatory protein, the alpha₁-AP-globulin. The other may be a new protein, as it is absent from the serum of rats with an acute phase inflammatory reaction and nor does it correspond to alpha₁ feto-protein, a carcino-embryonic protein presenting the same electrophoretic mobility.     

Purification of a serum DNA binding protein (64DP) with a molecular weight of 64,000 and its diagnostic significance in malignant diseases

A DNA binding protein with a molecular weight of 64,000(64DP) has been purified to homogeneity from human serum, and its quantitative assay has been developed. The average level of serum 64DP in 30 normal controls was 41.4 μg/ml, whereas it was 175 μg/ml in 87 patients with untreated malignant disease. Furthermore it was found to be elevated in all tested patients, 8 cases, with carcinoma in early stages. Serum 64DP has been found to be different from C3DP, CEA^# or α-FP^#, and it appears that this protein might prove to be a useful tumor marker in malignant diseases.     

A rat serum glycoprotein whose synthesis rate increases greatly during inflammation.

Crossed immunoelectrophoresis of rat serum demonstrated considerably increased serum concentrations of at least ten different proteins during turpentine-induced inflammation. One protein, which moved during electrophoresis like an alpha 1 globulin, showed a particularly large increase. This protein was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate fractionation followed by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. Sephadex G-100, and concanavalin A-Sepharose, and finally disc electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel. It has a molecular weight of 56,000 determined by equilibrium ultracentrifugation. An apparent molecular weight of 68,000 was estimated for the reduced protein by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel plus sodium dodecyl sulfate, suggesting that the native protein is composed of a single polypeptide chain. It has an E2801%, 1 cm of 5.2, an isoelectric pH of 4.7, and contains 19% carbohydrate. The protein does not inhibit bovine trypsin or chymotrypsin. Its physical properties and amino acid composition distinguish this protein from all other rat serum proteins hitherto characterized. During acute inflammation, induced 25 h previously, rats incorporated 20 times more [14C]leucine into this particular protein than did normal rats. However, incorporation into total serum protein during acute inflammation increased only slightly. Regardless of whether inflammation was induced by surgical injury or by a subcutaneous turpentine injection, within 48 h the serum concentration of this major acute-phase protein rose from the normal value of 0.46 g/liter to a maximum value of 7.2 g/liter, which constituted 10% of the total serum protein.     

Development of improved media and culture conditions for clonal growth of normal diploid cells

Multiplication of normal diploid cells in culture is controlled by a complex set of interacting extracellular variables. The amount of serum protein needed for colony formation by such cells is affected directly by many of the other variables, including the nature of the culture surface, the type of trypsinization procedure used, and the qualitative and quantitative composition of the culture medium. By a sequential process of adjusting all of these variables to optimum values for cellular multiplication with minimal amounts of serum protein, we have been able to obtain clonal growth of normal human and chicken cells with less than 500 microgram per ml dialyzed serum protein. Precise quantitative adjustment of nutrient concentrations is particularly important. The multiplication-promoting functions of serum can be classified operationally as "replaceable" (those that can be replaced by modifying the medium or the culture conditions) and "nonreplaceable" (those that we have not yet been able to replace). Elimination of the requirement for replaceable functions of serum has improved greatly the specificity and sensitivity of the bioassay for the nonreplaceable functions. The nonreplaceable multiplication-promoting activity from fetal bovine serum for human diploid fibroblasts has been separated from fetuin and serum albumin and purified approximately 15-fold.     

Resolution of gastrointestinal protein loss after Helicobacter pylori eradication in a patient with hypertrophic lymphocytic gastritis

BACKGROUND: Lymphocytic gastritis is a rare condition found in approximately 1% of dyspeptic patients. An association with Helicobacter pylori infection has been described. Hypertrophic lymphocytic gastritis is a rare cause of gastrointestinal protein loss. Here, we describe a patient with hypertrophic lymphocytic gastritis, in whom gastrointestinal protein loss resolved completely following H. pylori eradication. CASE REPORT: A 38-year old obese man without gastrointestinal symptoms showed a markedly decreased serum protein (53 g/l, normal 66-85 g/l), a decreased serum albumin (33 g/l, normal 35-52 g/l) and decreased serum immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M levels. A renal cause for protein loss was excluded, liver function was normal. Endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract revealed enlarged rigid gastric folds, and an H. pylori-associated lymphocytic gastritis. 99mTc-labelled albumin scintigraphy showed an increased activity in the upper left abdomen compatible with protein secretion in the stomach, and tracer pooling in the upper small bowel. Push enteroscopy with histology demonstrated a normal upper small bowel. Two months after eradication therapy, cure of H. pylori infection was documented and serum protein (71 g/l) and albumin (41 g/l) had returned to normal, while lymphocytic gastritis was still present. One year after eradication therapy endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract and histology and laboratory values were normal. CONCLUSION: Protein-losing gastropathy caused by H. pylori-associated hypertrophic lymphocytic gastritis can be cured solely by H. pylori eradication therapy.     

"Normal" acute phase response in systemic sclerosis.

An Italian woman with classic active progressive systemic sclerosis had a normal serum concentration of C reactive protein (less than 6 mg/1). During an infection with Staphylococcus aureus, however, the concentration rose to 250 mg/1. This was unexpected, since in scleroderma the acute phase response to infection (a brisk rise in serum concentrations of various proteins, including C reactive) has been thought to be defective. This patient is evidence that the acute phase response does occur in systemic sclerosis and that probably it is the nature of the primary disease that masks the response in some cases.     

Stimulation of fatty acid uptake and triglyceride synthesis in human cultured skin fibroblasts and adipocytes by a serum protein

Lipoprotein deficient serum has been shown to enhance lipid synthesis in cultured normal human skin fibroblasts incubated in the presence of oleate-albumin. The factor responsible is nondialyzable and trypsin sensitive. The stimulation is proportional to the concentration of lipoprotein deficient serum in the media and is present at all oleate concentrations and incubation times assayed. The protein has been partially purified by column chromatography to yield a Peak II fraction which stimulates triglyceride synthesis in both fibroblasts and isolated human adipocytes. The stimulation is dependent on the concentration of protein fraction and increases to an apparent saturation level of 200% in fibroblasts. Triglyceride synthesis, however, increases to a much greater extent in adipocytes and did not demonstrate saturation at the maximum Peak II protein concentration assayed. These results suggest that human serum contains a protein which stimulates fatty acid uptake and esterification by adipose tissue.     

Serum-regulated nuclear localization is signal specific.

The activity of nuclear factors can be regulated by blocking their ability to enter the nucleus, but how the cell achieves this is not yet understood. We demonstrate herein the serum-responsive nuclear localization of adenovirus E1a protein and show that this serum dependence is a property of the nuclear localization signal itself. When E1a protein is microinjected into the cytoplasm of cultured cells, it is found in the nucleus 30 min later only if the cells are serum fed; in serum-starved (growth-arrested) cells, the E1a is still cytoplasmic. Substituting the simian virus-40 T-antigen nuclear localization signal in place of the normal E1a signal abolishes this serum effect, and transferring the E1a signal to a heterologous protein also transfers the serum dependence. The serum effect on signal function is first exerted within 40 min after serum addition, suggesting that this is one of the earliest cellular responses to serum feeding. We conclude that the nuclear accumulation (and probably the function) of a protein is influenced not only by the presence of a nuclear localization signal, but also by the nature of that signal.     

Synchrony of gene expression and the differentiation of myeloid leukemic cells: reversion from constitutive to inducible protein synthesis

There are mutant myeloid leukemic cells that cannot be induced to differentiate in serum-free culture medium, or medium with calf serum by the macrophage and granulocyte differentiation-inducing protein (MGI-2) that induces differentiation in normal myeloid cells. These mutants can be induced to differentiate by MGI-2 in medium with mouse serum. The mechanism of this induction of differentiation has been analysed by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to study changes in the synthesis of cytoplasmic proteins. In calf serum, 46 of the protein changes that were induced by MGI-2 in normally differentiating cells were constitutive in the differentiation-defective mutant cells. Treatment with mouse serum reverted 13 of these proteins from the constitutive to the non-constitutive state. This reversion was associated with a gain of inducibility for various differentiation-associated properties, so that 23 proteins were induced by MGI-2 for the same type of change as in normal differentiation. A normal developmental program requires synchrony of gene expression. The existence of constitutive instead of inducible gene expression can produce asynchrony in this program and thus produce blocks in differentiation. The results indicate that it is possible to treat these mutant cells so as to induce the reversion of specific proteins from the constitutive to the non-constitutive state, and that this can then restore the synchrony required for induction of differentiation. It is suggested that this mechanism may also allow induction of differentiation in other types of differentiation-defective cells.     

Competitive protein binding assay for 24,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol

A competitive protein binding assay which measures 24,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol in human serum has been developed using the binding protein from vitamin D-deficient rat kidney. As 25-hydroxycholecalciferol and 25,26-dihydroxycholecalciferol also interact with the binding protein, possible interference by these compounds in the assay has been overcome by preparative chromatography of serum extracts on Sephadex LH 20 prior to assay. The mean serum level of 24,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol in seven normal volunteers was 1.68 ± 0.82 ng/ml whereas patients receiving large therapeutic doses of vitamin D were found to have higher levels. None was detectable in the serum of a vitamin D-deficient patient.     

Selected biological values of the African white-tailed sand rat (Mystromys albicaudatus)

Forty-three female and 44 male, sexually mature normal African sand rats (Mystromys albicaudatus) provided serum and urine for determining normal ranges of selected serum chemistry and electrolyte determinations and for routine nonfasted urinalyses. Serum chloride and serum glucose levels were greater and serum sodium levels lower for female rats. An unusually high physiological level of urine protein was detected, and it was determined that standard dipstick methods for determining urine protein levels in this species gave artificially high results. Ketouria and glycosuria were more common in males than in females, but these determinations were not correlated to blood urea nitrogen or to serum glucose levels. No association was found between body weight and any of the serum chemistry, electrolyte or urinalysis variables examined.     

The effects of proteins secreted by fibroblasts from patients with cystic fibrosis on hamster tracheal explants

Summary Hamster tracheal explants have been used to assay for mucosecretory activity in media taken from cultures of fibroblasts isolated from patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Cystic fibrosis and normal sera were first used to establish optimal conditions for mucus release in the hamster tracheal ring assay. Unless protein levels were maintained at 5% serum concentration or greater there was loss of cilia, nonspecific mucus accumulation, and extensive epithelial damage to the luminal surface. Likewise, it was shown that exposure of the explants to unconcentrated conditioned media from CF (GM 770, 768, 1348, 142) or normal (GM 3349, 38) cultured fibroblasts for 1, 6, or 12 h resulted in the same type of damage and this was due to low protein levels. When the protein concentration of the conditioned media was increased with fetal bovine serum, the morphological integrity of the explants was maintained, demonstrating that there was no apparent difference between CF and normal fibroblast-secreted proteins in ability to induce mucus release. The ciliary inhibitory capacity of CF serum-derived or fibroblast-derived factor had been reported to require IgG for activity. However, addition of IgG to high molecular weight (VoP10) or low molecular weight (VeP10) secreted proteins had no apparent effect on stimulating secretion. In conclusion, it is possible that CF fibroblasts do not secrete a protein that has the mucostimulatory effect and thus these cells may not be suitable for studying the CF-related activity.