Monocyte-produced prostaglandin induces Fcγ receptor expression on human T cells

Incubation of human T cells for 18 hr with prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂ 3 × 10^?6M) causes a slight but significant increase in the percentage of Tγ cells and a reduction in Tμ cells. When PGE was added to “non-Tγ” cells, the increase in the percentage of Tγ cells was more marked (from 1.5% Tγ without PGE to 11% Tγ with PGE₂, P < 0.001). Supernates from cultures of human monocytes also caused an increase in Tγ cells (10% Tγ without supernate to 18% with supernate, P < 0.01), and this increase was blocked if the monocytes were cultured with indomethacin, a prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor (9% Tγ cells). Thus, monocytes may regulate Fcγ receptors on T cells via PGE₂ production.     

Effects of prostaglandin E2 and preincubation on lectin-stimulated proliferation of human T cell subsets

Our laboratory as well as others has previously noted that sensitivity of lymphocytes to inhibition by prostaglandin (PG)E₂ is lost after overnight preincubation. We now show that the change in sensitivity to PGE₂ with preincubation varies depending upon the T-cell subset in the culture. In phytohemaglutinin (PHA)-stimulated cultures of fresh cells, PGE₂ inhibits proliferation of T cells as well as OKT4 (+) cells and OKT8(+) cells. In PHA-stimulated cultures of preincubated cells, PGE₂ slightly augments proliferation of T cells; however, PGE still inhibits OKT4(+) cells and causes marked augmentation of OKT8(+) cells. Thus the “loss in sensitivity” to PGE₂ with preincubation is actually a result of the balancing effect of PGE₂ inhibiting OKT4(+) cells and stimulating OKT8(+) cells.     

Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase toxin and hemolytic activities require a second gene, cyaC, for activation.

In these studies, the Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase toxin-hemolysin homology to the Escherichia coli hemolysin is extended with the finding of cyaC, a homolog to the E. coli hlyC gene, which is required for the production of a functional hemolysin molecule in E. coli. Mutations produced in the chromosome of B. pertussis upstream from the structural gene for the adenylate cyclase toxin revealed a region which was necessary for toxin and hemolytic activities of the molecule. These mutants produced the 216-kDa adenylate cyclase toxin as determined by Western blot (immunoblot) analysis. The adenylate cyclase enzymatic activities of these mutants were equivalent to that of wild type, but toxin activities were less than 1% of that of wild type, and the mutants were nonhemolytic on blood agar plates and in in vitro assays. The upstream region restored hemolytic activity when returned in trans to the mutant strains. This genetic complementation defined a gene which acts in trans to activate the adenylate cyclase toxin posttranslationally. Sequence analysis of the upstream region defined an open reading frame with homology to the E. coli hlyC gene. In contrast to E. coli, this open reading frame is oriented oppositely from the adenylate cyclase toxin structural gene.     

Helicobacter nemestrinae sp. nov., a spiral bacterium found in the stomach of a pigtailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina)

A new microaerophilic, spirally curved, rod-shaped bacterium was isolated from the gastric mucosa of a pigtailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina). The gram-negative cells of this bacterium are oxidase, catalase, and urease positive and strongly resemble Helicobacter pylori (Campylobacter pylori) cells. Like H. pylori, this organism does not metabolize glucose, does not reduce nitrate or produce indole, does not produce H2S from triple sugar iron agar, does not hydrolyze hippurate or esculin, and does not grow in the presence of 1% glycine, 1.5% salt, or 1% bile. Also like H. pylori, it is resistant to nalidixic acid and susceptible to cephalothin. However, unlike H. pylori, the colorless colonies are flat and have irregular edges. This organism has a unique cellular fatty acid composition, forming a new gas-liquid chromatography group, group K, and a distinctive DNA content (24 mol% guanine plus cytosine). It exhibits less than 10% DNA-DNA homology (as determined by the nylon filter blot method at 65 degrees C) with other members of the genus Helicobacter. Although the levels of DNA relatedness between previously described Helicobacter species and the new organism are low (less than 10%) and the difference in guanine-plus-cytosine content is large (24 versus 36 to 41 mol%), the genus Helicobacter is the only genus in which it is logical to include the organism at this time. We propose that our single strain represents a new species, Helicobacter nemestrinae, and we designate strain T81213-NTB (= ATCC 49396) as the type strain.     

Influence of mass transfer limitations on determination of the half saturation constant for hydrogen uptake in a mixed-culture CH(4)-producing enrichment

There is strong evidence in the literature supporting the existence of significant mass transfer limitations on the kinetics of exogenous H(2) consumption by methanogens. The half saturation constant for H (2) uptake by a mixed-culture, CH(4) producing enrichment was measured using an experimental protocol that avoided internal mass transfer limitations. The value obtained was two orders of magnitude smaller than any other previously reported. A mathematical model for acetogenic syntrophic associations was developed to check the capacity of H(2) as electron transporter between syntrophic partners. It was found that H(2) diffusion could account for the rate of transport of electrons between the syntrophic microorganisms and that formate is not a necessary intermediate. The possibility that formate may be an intermediate in this system was not ruled out. A Monod-type kinetic equation was modified to include the observed H(2) threshold effect. This modified equation was used to predict the CH(4)-production rate in a batch-fed digester. The results show that the external and internal H(2) pools are kinetically coupled. (c) 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A universal T cell epitope-containing peptide from hepatitis B surface antigen can enhance antibody specific for HIV gp120.

Peptide-based vaccines that directly target T cell or B cell epitopes may have significant advantages over conventional vaccines. Further, synthetic chimeric peptides that combine strong T cell epitopes with poorly immunogenic, but immunodominant, B cell epitopes or strain-conserved B cell epitopes may be useful in eliciting antibody to such important regions. Here we characterize a human T cell epitope analyzed in 54 individuals immunized with a hepatitis B virus surface Ag vaccine. Primary cultures from a total of 59 immunized donors were assessed for their ability to respond to hepatitis B virus surface Ag and peptides, and five were non-responders (8.5%). T cell lines were established from the remaining 54 responders. Of the responders, it was found that the peptide representing amino acids 19 through 33 (19-33) elicited significant proliferation in lines derived from 50 donors. This "universal" T cell epitope, which was recognized in donors of many different HLA-DR and -DQ haplotypes, was then used to construct a chimeric peptide containing 19-33 and the third V region loop structure (V3 loop) of HIV-1 envelope gp 120, in an attempt to augment the immune response to the V3 loop peptide. The V3 loop is the region to which significant neutralizing antibody is directed. Thus, a strong immune response to a synthetic peptide that contains the strain-conserved V3 loop region could have significant therapeutic implications. The V3 loop/19-33 peptide was then used to prime mice, to determine whether V3 loop-specific antibody could be induced. The peptide elicited potent 19-33-specific proliferation in T cells isolated from draining lymph nodes, and in six of six mice anti-V3 loop antibody was elicited. Further, V3 loop/19-33-primed animals made significant levels of antibody that bound rgp120. These data suggest that, when a major T cell epitope is synthesized in tandem with the V3 loop, a significant immune response against the loop can be elicited. Thus, given the finding that neutralizing antibody may play a role in the control and/or prevention of HIV infection, an HIV vaccine composed of a T cell epitope-containing peptide may prove effective. In addition, this type of approach can be generalized to the design of peptide-based vaccines.     

Morphologic differentiation of colon carcinoma cell lines HT-29 and HT-29KM in rotating-wall vessels

Summary A new low shear stress microcarrier culture system has been developed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center that permits three-dimensional tissue culture. Two established human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines, HT-29, an undifferentiated, and HT-29KM, a stable, moderately differentiated subline of HT-29, were grown in new tissue culture bioreactors called Rotating-Wall Vessels (RWVs). RWVs are used in conjunction with multicellular cocultivation to develop a unique in vitro tissue modeling system. Cells were cultivated on Cytodex-3 microcarrier beads, with and without mixed normal human colonic fibroblasts, which served as the mesenchymal layer. Culture of the tumor lines in the absence of fibroblasts produced spheroidlike growth and minimal differentiation. In contrast, when tumor lines were co-cultivated with normal colonic fibroblasts, initial growth was confined to the fibroblast population until the microcarriers were covered. The tumor cells then commenced proliferation at an accelerated rate, organizing themselves into three-dimensional tissue masses that achieved 1.0- to 1.5-cm diameters. The masses displayed glandular structures, apical and internal glandular microvilli, tight intercellular junctions, desmosomes, cellular polarity, sinusoid development, internalized mucin, and structural organization akin to normal colon crypt development. Differentiated samples were subjected to transmission and scanning electron microscopy and histologic analysis, revealing embryoniclike mesenchymal cells lining the areas around the growth matrices. Necrosis was minimal throughout the tissue masses. These data suggest that the RWV affords a new model for investigation and isolation of growth, regulatory, and structural processes within neoplastic and normal tissue.