Natural cytotoxicity of lymphocytes and monocytes and its augmentation by OK432 in melanoma patients

Summary Lymphocytes and monocytes from the peripheral blood of 30 patients with malignant melanoma were tested for natural cytotoxicity against K562 cells in a 3-h ⁵¹Cr-release assay, and the effects of OK432 (a streptococcal preparation) on the cytotoxicity were examined. The lymphocyte cytotoxicity of melanoma patients was similar to that of normal donors and control patients with benign skin disease. Furthermore, the lymphocyte cytotoxicity of melanoma patients was not correlated to the stage of the disease. Similarly, lysis of K562 cells by monocytes isolated by adherence to autologous serum-coated plastic dishes in melanoma patients was comparable to that of controls and not associated with the stage of the disease. Positive monocyte reactions were recorded in 10 of 30 (33%) melanoma patients, seven of 21 (33%) normal donors and three of 10 (30%) control patients. There was no correlation between lymphocyte cytotoxicity and monocyte cytotoxicity. Overnight treatment of monocytes and lymphocytes with OK432 resulted in an increase in cytotoxicity. Significant augmentation of cytotoxicity by OK432 was observed in 28% of the monocyte samples and 86% of the lymphocyte samples, while partially purified human interferon augmented cytotoxicity in 63% of the monocyte samples and all the lymphocyte samples. These results suggest that neither lymphocyte nor monocyte cytotoxicities are depressed in melanoma patients as compared with normal donors and patients with benign disease and that OK432 has a stronger stimulatory effect on lymphocytes than on monocytes.     

Exposure to a MRI‐type high‐strength static magnetic field stimulates megakaryocytic/erythroid hematopoiesis in CD34+ cells from human placental and umbilical cord blood

The biological response after exposure to a high‐strength static magnetic field (SMF) has recently been widely discussed from the perspective of possible health benefits as well as potential adverse effects. To clarify this issue, CD34⁺ cells from human placental and umbilical cord blood were exposed under conditions of high‐strength SMF in vitro. The high‐strength SMF exposure system was comprised of a magnetic field generator with a helium‐free superconducting magnet with built‐in CO₂ incubator. Freshly prepared CD34⁺ cells were exposed to a 5 tesla (T) SMF with the strongest magnetic field gradient (41.7 T/m) or a 10 T SMF without magnetic field gradient for 4 or 16 h. In the harvested cells after exposure to 10 T SMF for 16 h, a significant increase of hematopoietic progenitors in the total burst‐forming unit erythroid‐ and megakaryocytic progenitor cells‐derived colony formation was observed, thus producing 1.72‐ and 1.77‐fold higher than the control, respectively. Furthermore, early hematopoiesis‐related and cell cycle‐related genes were found to be significantly up‐regulated by exposure to SMF. These results suggest that the 10 T SMF exposure may change gene expressions and result in the specific enhancement of megakaryocytic/erythroid progenitor (MEP) differentiation from pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells and/or the proliferation of bipotent MEP. Bioelectromagnetics 30:280–285, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Characterization of phytochelatin synthase produced by the primitive red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae

Phytochelatins (PCs), non-protein peptides with the general structure [(γ-Glu-Cys)n-Gly (n≥ 2)], are involved in the detoxification of toxic heavy metals mainly in higher plants. The synthesis of the peptides is mediated by phytochelatin synthase (PCS), which is activated by a range of heavy metals. CmPCS, a PCS-like gene found in the genomic DNA of the primitive red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae, was isolated and a recombinant protein (rCmPCS) fused with a hexahistidine tag at the N-terminus of CmPCS was produced. The finding that this protein mediated PC synthesis from glutathione in a metal-dependent way clearly establishes that rCmPCS is functional. The maximum activity was attained at a reaction temperature of 50 °C, considerably higher than the temperature required for the maximal activity of PCS isolated from the higher plant Silene cucubalus, probably due to the alga being a thermophile. CmPCS showed optimal pH in a slightly higher region than higher plant PCSs, probably due to the less effective charge relay network in the catalytic triad. In addition, the pattern of enzyme activation by metal ions was specific to rCmPCS, with Ag+, Cu2+, and Hg2+ showing only limited activation. In contrast to other eukaryotic PCSs, CmPCS has an extra domain in the N-terminal region from residues 1 to 109, and contains fewer cysteine residues in the C-terminal domain. These differences may be responsible for the metal specificity of the activation of CmPCS. Although the enzyme preparation lost PCS activity progressively when stored at 4 °C, the inclusion of Cd2+ in the preparation effectively prevented the reduction of activity. Furthermore, Cd2+ effectively restored the activity of the inactivated enzyme. These results indicate that Cd2+ ions bind the enzyme to maintain the structural integrity of the peptides.     

Mouse brains deficient in neuronal PDGF receptor-beta develop normally but are vulnerable to injury

Platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) and PDGF receptors (PDGFRs) are widely expressed in the mammalian CNS, though their functional significance remains unclear. The corresponding null-knockout mutations are lethal. Here, we developed novel mutant mice in which the gene encoding the beta subunit of PDGFR (PDGFR-beta) was genetically deleted in CNS neurons to elucidate the role of PDGFR-beta, particularly in the post-natal stage. Our mutant mice reached adulthood without apparent anatomical defects. In the mutant brain, immunohistochemical analyses showed that PDGFR-beta detected in neurons and in the cells in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle in wild-type mice was depleted, but PDGFR-beta detected in blood vessels remained unaffected. The cerebral damage after cryogenic injury was severely exacerbated in the mutants compared with controls. Furthermore, TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL)-positive neuronal cell death and lesion formation in the cerebral hemisphere were extensively exacerbated in our mutant mice after direct injection of NMDA without altered NMDA receptor expression. Our results clearly demonstrate that PDGFR-beta expressed in neurons protects them from cryogenic injury and NMDA-induced excitotoxicity.     

Does conditioned taste aversion learning in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis produce conditioned fear?

In conditioned taste aversion (CTA) training performed on the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, a stimulus (the conditional stimulus, CS; e.g., sucrose) that elicits a feeding response is paired with an aversive stimulus (the unconditional stimulus, US) that elicits the whole-body withdrawal response and inhibits feeding. After CTA training and memory formation, the CS no longer elicits feeding. We hypothesize that one reason for this result is that after CTA training the CS now elicits a fear response. Consistent with this hypothesis, we predict the CS will cause (1) the heart to skip a beat and (2) a significant change in the heart rate. Such changes are seen in mammalian preparations exposed to fearful stimuli. We found that in snails exhibiting long-term memory for one-trial CTA (i.e., good learners) the CS significantly increased the probability of a skipped heartbeat, but did not significantly change the heart rate. The probability of a skipped heartbeat was unaltered in control snails given backward conditioning (US followed by CS) or in snails that did not acquire associative learning (i.e., poor learners) after the one-trial CTA training. These results suggest that as a consequence of acquiring CTA, the CS evokes conditioned fear in the conditioned snails, as evidenced by a change in the nervous system control of cardiac activity.     

Cadmium(II)-stimulated enzyme activation of Arabidopsis thaliana phytochelatin synthase 1

Phytochelatin (PC), a class of heavy metal-binding peptides, is synthesized from the tripeptide glutathione (GSH) and/or previously synthesized PC in a reaction mediated by PC synthase (PCS). In the present study, the PC production rate catalyzed by recombinant Arabidopsis PCS1 (rAtPCS1) in the presence of a constant free Cd(II) level increased steadily and the kinetic parameters were approximated using a substituted-enzyme mechanism in which GSH and bis(glutathionato)cadmium acted as co-substrates. In contrast, the PC production rate as a function of GSH concentration at a constant total Cd(II) concentration reached a maximum, which shifted toward higher GSH concentrations as the concentration of Cd(II) was increased. These observations are consistent with the suggestion that rAtPCS1 possesses a Cd(II) binding site where Cd(II) binds to activate the enzyme. The affinity constant, optimized using a one-site mathematical model, successfully simulated the experimental data for the assay system using lower concentrations of Cd(II) (5 or 10 μM) but not for the assay using higher concentrations (50 or 500 μM), where a sigmoidal increase in PCS activity was evident. Furthermore, the PCS activity determined at a constant GSH concentration as a function of Cd(II) concentration also reached a maximum. These findings demonstrate that rAtPCS1 also possesses a second Cd(II) binding site where Cd(II) binds to induce an inhibitory effect. A two-site mathematical model was applied successfully to account for the observed phenomena, supporting the suggestion that rAtPCS1 possesses two Cd(II) binding sites.     

Mechanism of aluminium tolerance in Cyanidium caldarium

Cyanidium caldarium, an acidophilic, thermophilic red alga, specifically tolerates Al. The tolerance increases at lower culture temperatures. The intracellular Al concentration is kept at low levels, especially when the cells are cultured at lower temperatures. Lower Al incorporation accounts for the Al tolerance in this alga. Fe incorporation antagonizes the Al incorporation, implying that Fe transporters incorporate Al ions. Treatment with an uncoupler, carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, increases the intracellular concentration of Al. These results support the hypothesis that Al ions taken up by the algal cells are exported by an energy-dependent mechanism.     

Characteristics of hepatitis B virus isolates of genotype G and their phylogenetic differences from the other six genotypes (A through F)

Eight hepatitis B virus (HBV) isolates of genotype G were recovered from patients and sequenced over the entire genome. Six of them had a genomic length of 3,248 bp and two had genomic lengths of 3,239 bp (USG15) and 3,113 bp (USG18) due to deletions. The 10 HBV/G isolates, including the 8 sequenced isolates as well as the original isolate (AF160501) and another isolate (B1-89), had a close sequence homology of 99.3 to 99.8% among themselves (excluding USG18 with a long deletion) but of <88.7% to any of the 68 HBV isolates of the other six genotypes with the full-length sequence known. The eight HBV/G isolates possessed an insertion of 36 bp in the core gene and two stop codons in the precore region, as did the AF160501 and B1-89 isolates. The 10 HBV/G isolates clustered on a branch separate from those bearing the other six genotypes (A through F [A-F]) in the phylogenetic tree constructed from full-length sequences of 78 HBV isolates as well as in those constructed from the core, polymerase, X, and envelope genes. Despite two stop codons in the precore region that prohibited the translation of the HBV e antigen (HBeAg), all of the eight patients with HBV/G infection possessed the HBeAg in serum. By restriction fragment length polymorphism of the surface gene, all of the eight patients were found to be coinfected with HBV of genotype A (HBV/A), which would be responsible for the expression of HBeAg in them. It is worthy of examination to determine how coinfection occurs and whether HBV/G needs HBV/A for replication.