Target-sensitive immunoliposomes: preparation and characterization

A novel target-sensitive immunoliposome was prepared and characterized. In this design, target-specific binding of antibody-coated liposomes was sufficient to induce bilayer destabilization, resulting in a site-specific release of liposome contents. Unilamellar liposomes were prepared by using a small quantity of palmitoyl-immunoglobulin G (pIgG) to stabilize the bilayer phase of the unsaturated dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (PE) which by itself does not form stable liposomes. A mouse monoclonal IgG antibody to the glycoprotein D of Herpes simplex virus (HSV) and PE were used in this study. A minimal coupling stoichiometry of 2.2 palmitic acids per IgG was essential for the stabilization activity of pIgG. In addition, the minimal pIgG to PE molar ratio for stable liposomes was 2.5 X 10(-4). PE immunoliposomes bound with HSV-infected mouse L929 cells with an apparent Kd of 1.00 X 10(-8) M which was approximately the same as that of the native antibody. When 50 mM calcein was encapsulated in the PE immunoliposomes as an aqueous marker, binding of the liposomes to HSV-infected cells resulted in a cell concentration dependent lysis of the liposomes as detected by the release of the encapsulated calcein. Neither uninfected nor Sendai virus infected cells caused a significant amount of calcein release. Therefore, the release of calcein from PE immunoliposomes was target specific. Dioleoylphosphatidylcholine immunoliposomes were not lysed upon contact with infected cells under the same conditions, indicating that PE was essential for the target-specific liposome destabilization.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Further characterization of the vesicular stomatitis virus temperature-sensitive O45 mutant: intracellular conversion of the glycoprotein to a soluble form.

Reexamination of the viral products of tsO45, a glycoprotein mutant of vesicular stomatitis virus, showed that at 39 degrees C there was a conversion of the glycoprotein (G) to a truncated, soluble form, Gs, which subsequently appeared in the extracellular medium. The half-life for this intracellular conversion and extracellular appearance was about 2 h at 39 degrees C. Gs was precipitated by a monoclonal antibody to the ektodomain but not by an antipeptide serum made against the first 15 amino acids at the carboxy terminus of G. Gs was also resistant to endoglycosidase H digestion. On the basis of pulse-chase experiments, the generation of Gs most probably occurred in the rough endoplasmic reticulum. This additional phenotype of the tsO45 mutant provides another approach for studying the generation and subsequent transport of a secreted protein in fibroblast cells.     

Purification and properties of epithelial growth inhibitor (EGI) from human platelets: its separation from type beta transforming growth factor (TGF-beta)

We previously reported that sera from various kinds of animals contain a protein(s) capable of inhibiting the growth of the non-malignant epithelial cell line derived from Buffalo rat liver (BRL). In the present study, a similar epithelial cell-specific growth inhibitor (EGI) was purified to homogeneity from an acid-ethanol extract of human platelets. During purification, EGI was separated from the major component of type beta transforming growth factor (TGF-beta), which can stimulate the colony formation of the non-malignant fibroblastic cell line derived from rat kidney (NRK) in soft agar in the presence of epidermal growth factor (EGF). The purified EGI had an Mr of 27,000, and was composed of two subunits identical in Mr. It significantly inhibited the growth in monolayer cultures of three non-malignant epithelial cell lines, BRL, MDCK (from Madin-Darby canine kidney) and BSC-1 (from African green monkey kidney), at doses lower than 40 pg/ml in medium containing 10% fetal calf serum. Its inhibitory activity was stable against heating at 90 degrees C for 3 min, but not against treatment with 50 mM dithiothreitol. In addition, TGF-beta was also partially purified from the same extract. The purified TGF-beta did not show any inhibitory activity toward the growth of BRL, MDCK, BSC-1, or NRK.     

Calcium/phospholipid-dependent kinase recognizes sites in microtubule-associated protein 2 which are phosphorylated in living brain and are not accessible to other kinases

Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP-2) purified after microtubule assembly cycles from bovine brain had been shown to contain about 10 esterified phosphates (mol/mol), which were relatively phosphatase resistant and essentially confined to the projection domain which contributes to the visible arms on microtubules. The kinase responsible for phosphorylating these sites had not been identified. We have approached this question by using a phosphatase that releases the bulk of these residues and then determining which kinase can now add additional residues corresponding to those released. Three kinases were chosen because of their abundance in brain and/or proximity to microtubules. Of these only Ca/phospholipid-dependent kinase was able to recognize the previously occupied sites. We also found that MAP-2 isolated from rat brain without assembly cycles contained more phosphate than previously recognized, greater than 30 mol/mol, suggesting that 20 of these had been inadvertently released by phosphatase during assembly cycles. All 3 kinases (Ca/phospholipid-dependent, cAMP-dependent, and Ca/calmodulin-dependent kinase II) recognized more sites in the bovine than in the rat MAP-2.     

豚鼠冰水游泳应激后血浆、肾上腺髓质和脑内组织的亮—脑啡肽含量变化

豚鼠冰水游泳应激3min后,用放射免疫法测定血浆、肾上腺髓质和脑内三个脑区组织的亮—脑啡肽(Leu-enkephalin,LEK,)含量和血浆的血管紧张肽Ⅱ(Angiotensin Ⅱ,ATⅡ)浓度变化。结果表明:在冰水中游泳应激组豚鼠的血浆、肾上腺髓质、下丘脑和纹状体组织的LEK含量和血浆的ATⅡ浓度,均较对照组豚鼠明显升高(P值均<0.01)。提示:豚鼠在冰水中紧张、剧烈游泳后,可能激活了中枢神经和周围组织内的脑啡肽能神经元和血管紧张肽原酶—血管紧张肽Ⅱ系统,从而促进LEK和ATⅡ的释放增加。     

Uptake of lung surfactant subfractions into lamellar bodies of adult rabbit lungs

The goals of this investigation were to determine whether subfractions of alveolar surfactant that have different physical and biochemical properties are preferentially taken up from the alveolar air space into lamellar bodies and to correlate the magnitude of the uptake with the properties of the fractions. Radiolabeled subfractions were obtained by differential centrifugation of lavage fluid from rabbits that had been intravenously injected with radioactive palmitate. The subfractions were P (pellet) 3 (1,000 g, 20 min), P4 (60,000 g, 60 min), P5 (100,000 g, 16 h). Subfractions were instilled into the lungs of anesthetized spontaneously breathing adult rabbits, and lavage and lamellar body fractions were isolated at later times. P3 and P4 were taken up to a larger extent than was P5 or liposomes prepared from a P4 lipid extract. The fractions that were preferentially taken up (P3 and P4) contained surfactant apoprotein (APO) 36, tubular myelin, multilamellar vesicles, and were rapidly adsorbed to an air-water interface. P3 also contained APO 10. These results demonstrate that different forms of surfactant are recycled at different rates and suggest that there is specificity in the recycling process.     

Stimulatory effect of 1 alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on the formation of skin tumors in mice treated chronically with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene

The effect of 1 alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1 alpha, 25-(OH)2D3) and its 24,24-difluoro analog on the formation of skin tumors in mice was evaluated in a complete carcinogenesis model using 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) as the carcinogen. Twice weekly topical application of 0.25-0.50 nmol of 1 alpha, 25-(OH)2D3 or 0.05-0.10 nmol of the difluoro analog of 1 alpha, 25-(OH)2D3 1 hour prior to treatment with 50 nmol DMBA stimulated tumor formation several fold compared to animals receiving DMBA alone. Topical application of 0.50 nmol of 1 alpha, 25-(OH)2D3 24 hours after treatment with DMBA, or half of this dose of the vitamin D3 metabolite, applied 1 hour before and 24 hours after treatment with DMBA, also stimulated tumor formation several fold. These results are in marked contrast to the potent inhibitory effect of 1 alpha, 25-(OH)2D3 and its difluoro analog on the formation of skin tumors in mice promoted by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate.     

Inner acrosomal membrane of mammalian spermatozoa: its properties and possible functions in fertilization

The inner acrosomal membrane (IAM) develops during the spermatid stage of differentiation as that portion of the Golgi-derived acrosome granule that tightly associates with the condensing sperm nucleus. In some mammalian species, an electron-dense proteinaceous material accumulates between the IAM and the nuclear envelope, collectively comprising the "perforatorium." Evidence, including its partial purification and its structural resistance to detergents and sonication, suggests that the IAM is an unusually resiliant membrane. Dense paracrystalline arrays of intramembranous particles, a lack of lectin-mediated receptor modulation, and its lack of participation in sperm-egg fusion suggest that the IAM lacks the same degree of fluidity as the egg surface plasmalemma. Observations using monoclonal antibodies, however, suggest that some specific antigenic modulations may be possible within the IAM. Its structural rigidity is of obvious mechanical value during sperm penetration through the zone pellucida. An additional role as a scaffold for putative zona lysin material remains controversial. Biochemical evidence suggests that acrosin, for example, is not entirely soluble and that some remains sperm-associated, depending on the conditions of acrosome disruption. Nevertheless, morphological studies do not agree on acrosin's specific localization to the IAM. Currently there is only very limited information concerning the localization of the other acrosomal enzymes to the IAM. Another possible role for the IAM in some species may be in recognizing the zona pellucida. Evidence for this derives from the observation that fucoidin, a fucose heteropolysaccharide, inhibits guinea pig sperm-zona binding, and bound fucoidin can be localized to the IAM and equatorial regions of the living acrosome-reacted spermatozoa. Finally, the IAM may have a role in early recognition/adhesion with the colemma.     

Sodium arsenite enhances the cytotoxicity, clastogenicity, and 6-thioguanine-resistant mutagenicity of ultraviolet light in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Cytotoxicity, chromosome aberrations, and mutations to 6-thioguanine resistance were synergistically increased by incubating the ultraviolet light (UV)-irradiated Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in medium containing sodium arsenite. However, the frequencies of sister-chromatid exchanges and mutations to ouabain resistance induced by UV were not synergistically increased by sodium arsenite. The synergistic effect of sodium arsenite on UV-induced chromosome aberrations varied with cell-harvesting time and decreased with increasing time intervals between UV and sodium arsenite treatments.