CD57, a marker for B-cell activation and splenic ellipsoid-associated reticular cells of the chicken

We have demonstrated that the ellipsoid-associated reticular cells of chicken spleen express CD57, a marker for B-cell activation. These cells are characterised by their spindle-shaped morphology, tissue distribution and the absence of certain leucocyte-specific markers. They are phagocytotic and possess high endogenous non-specific esterase activity. Previous reports failed to detect CD57 expression on ellipsoid-associated reticular cells, probably because the tissue sections were differently treated before immunohistochemistry. CD57 is also expressed by a small number of T-cells in the spleen and the caecal tonsils. This number is highly variable between individual chickens depending on the activation state of the immune system. Moreover, CD57 is expressed by bursal lymphocytes (90% or more) but not by B-cells of the peripheral blood. More interestingly, we have been able to discriminate and quantify three B-cell populations of the secondary lymphoid organs, i.e. resting B-cells, germinal centre B-cells and plasma cells, based on their expression levels of CD57 and Bu-1 (a pan B-cell marker). Thus, CD57 should be considered as a B-cell activation marker, rather than as a marker for bursal B-cells; it is also a valuable marker for the immunohistochemical study of ellipsoid-associated reticular cells of chicken spleen.     

Interleukin-8 expression in AIDS-associated lymphoma B-cell lines

Interleukin 8 (IL-8), a member of the CXC subfamily of chemokines, is a potent inflammatory cytokine produced by many cell types in response to several stimuli. In an attempt to determine whether human B-cell IL-8 functions as an autocrine growth factor, a wide panel of B-cell lines derived from patients with AIDS-associated B-cell lymphomas (AABCL) (n = 5) and from non-AABCLs (n = 8) was studied for expression of IL-8, IL-8 Receptor type A (IL-8R), and secretion of IL-8 protein. Using RT-PCR and Northern Blot analysis, we were able to observe IL-8 expression ubiquitously. However, IL-8R expression was seen only in EBV negative (4 out of 7) B-cell lines. EBV and HIV-1 activated B-cell line; HBL-1, was the major secretor of IL-8. Our results demonstrate that IL-8 is expressed in malignant B-cell phenotypes that correspond to a narrow window in the B-cell differentiation pathway (pre-B, early-B, and intermediate-B) as well as in normal CD19-enriched B-cells. Furthermore, IL-8 autocrine loops were not evident since IL-8R was detected only in cell lines that did not secrete IL-8 protein.     

Ligation of tumour-produced mucins to CD22 dramatically impairs splenic marginal zone B-cells

CD22 [Siglec-2 (sialic acid-binding, immunoglobulin-like lectin-2)], a negative regulator of B-cell signalling, binds to alpha2,6- sialic acid-linked glycoconjugates, including a sialyl-Tn antigen that is one of the typical tumour-associated carbohydrate antigens expressed on various mucins. Many epithelial tumours secrete mucins into tissues and/or the bloodstream. Mouse mammary adenocarcinoma cells, TA3-Ha, produce a mucin named epiglycanin, but a subline of them, TA3-St, does not. Epiglycanin binds to CD22 and inhibits B-cell signalling in vitro. The in vivo effect of mucins in the tumour-bearing state was investigated using these cell lines. It should be noted that splenic MZ (marginal zone) B-cells were dramatically reduced in the mice bearing TA3-Ha cells but not in those bearing TA3-St cells, this being consistent with the finding that the thymus-independent response was reduced in these mice. When the mucins were administered to normal mice, a portion of them was detected in the splenic MZ associated with the MZ B-cells. Furthermore, administration of mucins to normal mice clearly reduced the splenic MZ B-cells, similar to tumour-bearing mice. These results indicate that mucins in the bloodstream interacted with CD22, which led to impairment of the splenic MZ B-cells in the tumour-bearing state.     

Surfaces of murine lymphocyte subsets differ in sialylation states and antigen distribution of a major N-linked penultimate saccharide structure

Rat liver beta-galactoside alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase and Vibrio cholerae sialidase were used with cytidine-5'-monophospho-N-acetyl-[3H]neuraminic acid (CMP-[3H]NeuAc) to specifically probe the distribution and sialylation state of Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc residues on N-linked saccharides on the surfaces of murine lymphocytes. The relative extent of exogenous sialyltransferase-mediated sialylation (per cellular protein) was thymocytes greater than T-cells greater than T-cell lymphoma (EL-4) greater than B-cells greater than B-cell lymphoma (AKTB-1b) greater than splenocytes. Prior desialylation increased exogenous resialylation by 23.8-, 13.1-, 7.1-, 7.9-, 7.0-, and 5.3-fold for splenocytes, B-cells, T-cells, EL-4, AKTB-1b, and thymocytes, respectively. Though numerous glycoproteins were labeled, the majority of the Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc residues were detected on a relatively small number of cell surface proteins, many of which are well-defined lymphocyte antigens. Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc residues on thymocytes were found to exist in an undersialylated state on T200 but not on other antigens (e.g., Thy-1). T200 was found to be fully sialylated on mature cells (i.e., hydrocortisone-resistant thymocytes and splenic T-cells), suggesting that its sialylation state is developmentally regulated. These studies indicate that the number, sialylation state, and polypeptide distribution of the penultimate structure, Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc, differ on N-linked saccharides on the surfaces of different lymphocyte populations.     

Loop 1 of transducer region in mammalian class I myosin, Myo1b, modulates actin affinity, ATPase activity, and nucleotide access

Loop 1, a flexible surface loop in the myosin motor domain, comprises in part the transducer region that lies near the nucleotide-binding site and is proposed from structural studies to be responsible for the kinetic tuning of product release following ATP hydrolysis (1). Biochemical studies have shown that loop 1 affects the affinity of actin-myosin-II for ADP, motility and the V(max) of the actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity, possibly through P(i) release (2-8). To test the influence of loop 1 on the mammalian class I myosin, Myo1b, chimeric molecules in which (i) loop 1 of a truncated form of Myo1b, Myo1b1IQ, was replaced with either loop 1 from other myosins; (ii) loop 1 was replaced with glycine; or (iii) some amino acids in the loop were substituted with alanine and were expressed in baculovirus, and their interactions with actin and nucleotide were evaluated. The steady-state actin-activated ATPase activity; rate of ATP-induced dissociation of actin from Myo1b1IQ; rate of ADP release from actin-Myo1b1IQ; and the affinity of actin for Myo1b1IQ and Myo1b1IQ.ADP differed in the chimeras versus wild type, indicating that loop 1 has a much wider range of effects on the coupling between actin and nucleotide binding events than previously thought. In particular, the biphasic ATP-induced dissociation of actin from actin-Myo1b1IQ was significantly altered in the chimeras. This provided evidence that loop 1 contributes to the accessibility of the nucleotide pocket and is involved in the integration of information from the actin-, nucleotide-, gamma-P(i)-, and calmodulin-binding sites and predicts that loop 1 modulates the load dependence of the motor.     

血红素加氧酶-1对肝癌细胞细胞周期调控因子的影响

目的观察血红素加氧酶-1（heme oxygenase 1,HO-1）对人肝癌细胞HepG2细胞周期调控因子的影响。方法构建含有野生型和突变型HO-1基因的重组载体pcDNA3．1（＋）-wtHO-1和pcDNA3．1（＋）-mHO-1G143H。利用脂质体介导的方法将构建好的重组载体转染肝癌细胞系HepG2,以空载体转染作为对照组。通过G418筛选建立稳定表达野生型和突变型HO-1的HepG2肝癌细胞系。经半定量RT—PCR、Western印迹检测转染细胞系中HO-1 mRNA和蛋白的表达水平。在HO-1表达改变的稳转细胞系中,利用Western印迹检测转染细胞系中P21、P27蛋白表达水平。结果成功实现了野生型和突变型HO-1在HepG2细胞中的过表达;野生型和突变型HO-1过表达均能诱导抑癌基因p21和p27的表达。结论HO．1过表达诱导抑癌基因p21和p27的表达与血红素分解产物无关。HO-1可能通过其它机制调节p21和p27的表达。     

LeCOP1LIKE基因的克隆、反义构建及微型番茄的转化

本文报告利用EST筛选结合RT-PCR的方法从番茄中克隆了LeCOP1LIKE基因的1060bpcDNA片段,并利用其非保守域构建反义RNA表达载体。利用农杆菌介导法．将LeCOP1LIKE基因的反义RNA表达载体转入微型番茄Micro-Tom．获得了10株反义LeCOP1LIKE转基因微型番茄。RT-PCR分析表明其中4个转基因株系中的LeCOP1LIKE表达被显著抑制．并发现抑制LeCOP1LIKE基因的表达导致转基因番茄的株高下降、叶片的叶绿素含量提高、果实中番茄红素含量增加,并且明显抑制转基因种子的发育。这些实验结果证明了LeCOP1LIKE基因为番茄发育过程中光形态建成的抑制因子。     

Proteomic analysis of B-cell malignancies

The identification of proteins aberrantly expressed in malignant B-cells can potentially be used to develop new diagnostic, prognostic or therapeutic targets. Proteomic studies of B-cell malignancies have made significant progress, but further studies are needed to increase our coverage of the B-cell malignant proteome. To achieve this goal we stress the advantages of using sub-cellular fractionation, protein separation, quantitation and affinity purification techniques to identify hitherto unidentified signalling and regulatory proteins. For example, proteomic analysis of B-cell plasma membranes isolated from patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) identified the voltage-gated proton channel (HVCN1,[1]). This protein has now been characterised as a key modulator of B-cell receptor (BCR) signalling and abrogation of HVCN1 function could have a role in the treatment of B-cell malignancies dependent on maintained BCR signalling [2]. Similarly, proteomic studies on cell lysates from prognostic subtypes of CLL, distinguished by the absence (UM-CLL) or presence (M-CLL) of somatic hypermutation of the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus identified nucleophosmin 1 (NMP1) as a potential prognostic marker [3,4]. Thus, targeted proteomic analysis on selected organelles or sub-cellular compartments can identify novel proteins with unexpected localisation or function in malignant B-cells that could be developed for clinical purposes.     

Myosin surface loop 4 modulates inhibition of actomyosin 1b ATPase activity by tropomyosin

Structural studies of the class I myosin, MyoE, led to the predictions that loop 4, a surface loop near the actin-binding region that is longer in class I myosins than in other myosin subclasses, might limit binding of myosins I to actin when actin-binding proteins, like tropomyosin, are present, and might account for the exclusion of myosin I from stress fibers. To test these hypotheses, mutant molecules of the related mammalian class I myosin, Myo1b, in which loop 4 was truncated (from an amino acid sequence of RMNGLDES to NGLD) or replaced with the shorter and distinct loop 4 found in Dictyostelium myosin II (GAGEGA), were expressed in vitro and their interaction with actin and with actin-tropomyosin was tested. Saturating amounts of expressed fibroblast tropomyosin-2 resulted in a decrease in the maximum actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity of wild-type Myo1b but had little or no effect on the actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity of the two mutants. In motility assays, few actin filaments bound tightly to Myo1b-WT-coated cover slips when tropomyosin-2 was present, whereas actin filaments both bound and were translocated by Myo1b-NGLD or Myo1b-GAGEGA in both the presence and absence of tropomyosin-2. When expressed in mammalian cells, like the wild type, the mutant myosins were largely excluded from tropomyosin-containing actin filaments, indicating that in the cell additional factors besides loop 4 determine targeting of myosins I to specific subpopulations of actin filaments.     

ASK1 regulates influenza virus infection-induced apoptotic cell death

Apoptosis occurs in influenza virus (IV)-infected cells. There are a number of mechanisms for the regulation of apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanism of IV infection-induced apoptosis is still controversial. Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase1 (ASK1) is a ubiquitously expressed mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) that activates the SEK1-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and MKK3/MKK6-p38 MAPK signaling cascades. ASK1 has been implicated in cytokine- and stress-induced apoptosis. Here, we show the following: (1) IV infection activated ASK1 and concomitantly phosphorylated JNK and p38 MAPK in human bronchial epithelial cells; (2) the activation of JNK and p38 MAPK but not extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK) in embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) derived from ASK1 knockout mice (ASK1(-/-) MEFs) was depressed compared to MEFs derived from wild type mice (ASK1(+/+) MEFs); and (3) ASK1(-/-) MEFs were defective in IV infection-induced caspase-3 activation and cell death. These results indicate that apoptosis in IV-infected BEC is mediated through ASK1-dependent cascades.     

Differences between virgin and memory IgM-antibody-forming-cell precursor B-cells, and correlations with the heterogeneity present in B-cell populations from unimmunized mice.

Previous in vitro studies showed that a large proportion of DNP-reactive B-cells in the spleens of unimmunized mice, unlike B-cells reactive to fowl gamma globulin (FGG), did not adhere to glass-bead columns. B-cell reactivity was assessed by challenge with dinitrophenylated-polymerized flagellin (DNP-POL) or FGG in the presence of POL, both responses being thymus-independent. Now we have shown that when donor mice are immunized with FGG, a greater proportion of FGG-reactive B-cells becomes non-adherent and the column filtrates give an IgM anti-FGG response. This indicates then that the adherence properties of the IgM-producing antibody-forming-cell (AFC)-precursor differed in virgin and immunized B-cell populations. In vitro testing of the thoracic duct cell (TDC) population of normal and immunized mice revealed parallels between thoracic duct B-cells and the non-adherent splenic B-cell population. Thus while the in vitro anti-DNP response of thoracic duct lymphocytes from normal mice reached levels little below those of spleen cells, the anti-FGG response was much lower. However when TDC were taken from mice immunized with FGG, the anti-FGG responses were much higher.Thus a parallel was demonstrated both in terms of non-adherence to glass and presence in the thoracic duct, of a portion of the DNP-reactive B-cell population in unimmunized mice and the FGG-reactive population in FGG-immunized mice. This suggested that the non-adherent DNP-reactive B-cells in unimmunized mice may represent B-cells with experience of cross-reacting antigens. The significance of this heterogeneity of the B-cell populations reactive to certain antigens in unimmunized mice is discussed with particular reference to recent apparently contradictory findings in regard to B-cell activation.     

Germinal centers and the B-cell system

Summary The migration pattern of germinal center cells of the rabbit appendix was studied and compared with that of appendix dome cells, spleen cells, thymus cells and thoracic duct lymphocytes. To discriminate T-and B-cell migration pathways, normal or T-cell-depleted rabbits were used as donors. Cell suspensions were labeled in vitro with ³H-leucine followed by intravenous transfer. The migration of labeled cells in lymphoid organs was studied using autoradiography, particular attention being paid to the spleen of the recipient. B-cells from the appendix dome, spleen and thoracic-duct lymph migrate to primary follicles or the corona of secondary follicles via thymus-dependent areas of peripheral lymphoid organs. In contrast, a B-cell subpopulation from the germinal centers of the appendix migrates to the center of splenic primary follicles and into germinal centers. The migration of germinal center cells to splenic follicle centers is not enhanced by specific antigens. The migration properties of B-cells, possibly changing during differentiation, may be instrumental in the two types of immune reactions, i.e., plasma-cell reaction and germinal-center reaction.     

Herpes simplex virus type 1 virion‐derived US11 inhibits type 1 interferon‐induced protein kinase R phosphorylation

The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV‐1) VRTK^? strain that was previously isolated in our laboratory as an acyclovir‐resistant thymidine kinase (TK)‐deficient mutant, is more sensitive to type 1 interferon than is the parent strain VR3. The properties of this mutant were investigated to clarify the mechanism for its hyper‐sensitivity to interferon (IFN). It was found that: (i) IFN‐pretreated cells, but not those treated with IFN after adsorption, are hyper‐sensitive to IFN; (ii) the mutant cannot inhibit protein kinase R phosphorylation efficiently during the early stage of replication (2 hrs post‐infection); (iii) expression of US11 in infected cells and its incorporation into the virion is reduced in the mutant compared to the wild type, despite the fact that a similar degree of DNA synthesis occurs during replication of both strains and; (iv) over‐expression of wild‐type viral TK has no effect on the phenotype of the VRTK^? strain, indicating that the phenotype is induced by a mutation(s) that does not involve the TK gene. These results suggested that the presence of US11 in the virion, but not that expressed after infection, plays an important role in the escape function of HSV‐1 from the antiviral activity of type 1 IFN.