H-2 and Background influences on tissue grafts across the H-Y barrier

Male liver was grafted to kidney beds in syngeneic female mice. Relative influences ofH-2 haplotype, genetic background or interaction ofH-2 haplotype with genetic background on anti-H-Y response were evaluated using 27 inbred strains carrying eightH-2 haplotypes of independent origin and three naturally occurring recombinants. Females ofH-2 ^b haplotype acutely rejected the male graft as is reported for other tissue graft systems. AnH-2 haplotype influence was found for all haplotypes studied, with a greater variation of immunologic response revealed by histological analysis of liver grafts than is demonstrated by skin grafts. Strains carryingH-2 ^k ,H-2 ^j andH-2 ^p haplotypes expressed the greatest range of immunological variability with responses ranging from graft proliferation to graft rejection. Strains carrying theH-2 ^d haplotype had the most consistent responses with little reaction to the graft. The strong immune response by SJL/J (H-2 ^s ) female mice to the H-Y antigen is not typical of otherH-2 ^s strains, but is compatible with the reported hyperresponsiveness of this strain to alloantigens.     

Preferential mutation of the neurofibromatosis type 1 gene in paternally derived chromosomes

Summary An interesting feature of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is its high mutation rate of 1×10^–4 per gamete per generation. The molecular basis for frequent NF1 mutation in unknown; the gene is not deletion prone. We have found that in all ten families examined, the apparent new NF1 mutation occurred on the paternally-derived chromosome. The probability of observing this result by chance is less than 0.001 assuming an equal frequency of mutation of paternal and maternal NF1 genes. We hypothesize a role for genomic imprinting that may either enhance mutation of the paternal NF1 gene or confer protection from mutation to the maternal NF1 gene.     

Early evolutionary relationships among known life forms inferred from elongation factor EF-2/EF-G sequences: Phylogenetic coherence and structure of the archaeal domain

Summary Phylogenies were inferred from both the gene and the protein sequences of the translational elongation factor termed EF-2 (for Archaea and Eukarya) and EF-G (for Bacteria). All treeing methods used (distance-matrix, maximum likelihood, and parsimony), including evolutionary parsimony, support the archaeal tree and disprove the eocyte tree (i.e., the polyphyly and paraphyly of the Archaea). Distance-matrix trees derived from both the amino acid and the DNA sequence alignments (first and second codon positions) showed the Archaea to be a monophyletia-holophyletic grouping whose deepest bifurcation divides a Sulfolobus branch from a branch comprising Methanococcus, Halobacterium, and Thermoplasma. Bootstrapped distance-matrix treeing confirmed the monophyly-holophyly of Archaea in 100% of the samples and supported the bifurcation of Archaea into a Sulfolobus branch and a methanogen-halophile branch in 97% of the samples. Similar phylogenies were inferred by maximum likelihood and by maximum (protein and DNA) parsimony. DNA parsimony trees essentially identical to those inferred from first and second codon positions were derived from alternative DNA data sets comprising either the first or the second position of each codon. Bootstrapped DNA parsimony supported the monophyly-holophyly of Archaea in 100% of the bootstrap samples and confirmed the division of Archaea into a Sulfolobus branch and a methanogen-halophile branch in 93% of the bootstrap samples. Distance-matrix and maximum likelihood treeing under the constraint that branch lengths must be consistent with a molecular clock placed the root of the universal tree between the Bacteria and the bifurcation of Archaea and Eukarya. The results support the division of Archaea into the kingdoms Crenarchaeota (corresponding to the Sulfolobus branch and Euryarchaeota). This division was not confirmed by evolutionary parsimony, which identified Halobacterium rather than Sulfolobus as the deepest offspring within the Archaea.Offprint requests to: P. Cammarano     

Biochemical characterization and cellular distribution of a polymorphic,murine cell-surface glycoprotein expressed on lymphoid tissues

A murine leukocyte surface glycoprotein (M_r = 95 000) has been defined by means of xenogeneic monoclonal antibodies. In normal hematopoietic tissues, the glycoprotein is found in highest amounts in the bone marrow. Flow cytometric analysis shows that essentially all bone-marrow cells express the glycoprotein and that it is a major component of a subpopulation of cells containing predominantly granulocytic precursors. In contrast, only about 5 percent of thymocytes express sufficient glycoprotein to be detected by flow cytometric analysis, although under stringent conditions up to 20 percent of thymocytes are susceptible to complement-mediated cytotoxicity using a monoclonal antibody against the glycoprotein. Functional assays showed that both prothymocytes and colony forming unit-spleen express the glycoprotein which is broadly distributed on murine hematopoietic tumor cell lines. However, although some Thy-I⁺ (T) cell lymphomas express large amounts of the glycoprotein, others do not express detectable quantities of the molecule. The glycoprotein is not restricted to hematopoietic cells and can be detected on lung, kidney, brain, and liver as well as cultured fibroblasts. Monoclonal antibodies against the glycoprotein cross-react with an antigen present on human cells. As described in the accompanying paper, the glycoprotein exists in two antithetical allelic forms and we show that it is identical to a polymorphic surface molecule independently characterized by Colombatti and co-workers.     

Synthesis,characterization, and reactions of 2′-, 3′-, and 5′-(2-bromoethyl)-AMP: Potential affinity labels for nucleotide binding sites in enzymes

Two new adenosine analogs, 2′-(2-bromoethyl) adenosine monophosphate and 3′-(2-bromoethyl) adenosine monophosphate, were synthesized, purified by semipreparative high-pressure liquid chromatography, and completely characterized. A new synthesis of 5′-(2-bromoethyl) adenosine monophosphate is presented which facilitates the preparation of radioactive reagent with label either in the ethyl group or the purine ring of the nucleotide derivative. The reactive moiety of these derivatives, a bromoalkyl group, has the ability to react with the nucleophilic side chains of several amino acids. The second-order, pH-independent rate constants for reaction with the side chains of the amino acids cysteine, lysine, histidine, and tyrosine were determined as 3×10^?4, 6×10^?6, 3×10^?7, and <1×10^?7 M^?1 sec^?1, respectively. These data could be use in estimating the rate enhancement observed in modification of a protein by these affinity-labeling reagents. 5′-(S-(2-hydroxyethyl)cysteine) adenosine monophosphate, the derivative expected from exhaustive digestion of protein in which a cysteinyl residue is modified by 5′-(2-bromoethyl) adenosine monophosphate, and S-2-hydroxyethyl)cysteine, the derivative anticipated upon acid hydrolysis of such a modified protein, were synthesized, characterized, and their elution positions from an amino acid analyzer determined. These bromoethyl AMP derivatives are potential affinity labels for enzymes that bind 2′-, 3′-, or 5′-nucleotides such as TPN, coenzyme A, or ADP, respectively.     

A coupled optical enzyme assay for phosphopentomutase

Published assays for phosphopentomutase activity are based on acid lability differences between ribose 1-phosphate and ribose 5-phosphate. The present work describes a new method in which the isomerization of ribose 5-phosphate to ribose 1-phosphate is followed spectrophotometrically at 265 nm by coupling it with the following two-stage enzymatic conversion: ribose 1-phosphate + adenine ? phosphate + adenosine (adenosine phosphorylase); adenosine + H₂O → inosine + NH₃ (adenosine deaminase). The method has been used to show some properties of Escherichia coli phosphopentomutase.     

Active immunization combined with cisplatin confers enhanced therapeutic protection and prevents relapses of HPV-induced tumors at different anatomical sites

The active immunotherapy concept relies on the use of vaccines that are capable of inducing antitumor immunity, reversion of the suppressive immunological environment, and long-term memory responses. Previously, antitumor vaccines based on a recombinant plasmid (pgDE7h) or a purified protein (gDE7) led to regression of early-established human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated tumors in a preclinical model. In this work, the anticancer vaccines were combined with cisplatin to treat HPV-induced tumors at advanced growth stages. The antitumor effects were evaluated in terms of tumor regression, induction of specific CD8⁺ T cells, and immune modulation of the tumor microenvironment. Acute toxicity induced by the treatment was measured by weight loss and histological alterations in the liver and kidneys. Our results revealed that the combination of cisplatin with either one of the tested immunotherapies (pgDE7h or gDE7) led to complete tumor regression in mice. Also, the combined treatment resulted in synergistic effects, particularly among mice immunized with gDE7, including activation of systemic and tumor-infiltrating E7-specific CD8⁺ T cells, tumor infiltration of macrophages and dendritic cells, and prevention of tumor relapses at different anatomical sites. Furthermore, the protocol allowed the reduction of cisplatin dosage and its intrinsic toxic effects, without reducing antitumor outcomes. These results expand our knowledge of active immunotherapy protocols and open perspectives for alternative treatments of HPV-associated tumors.     

Discontinuous Occurrence of the hsp70 (dnaK) Gene among Archaea and Sequence Features of HSP70 Suggest a Novel Outlook on Phylogenies Inferred from This Protein

Occurrence of the hsp70 (dnaK) gene was investigated in various members of the domain Archaea comprising both euryarchaeotes and crenarchaeotes and in the hyperthermophilic bacteria Aquifex pyrophilus and Thermotoga maritima representing the deepest offshoots in phylogenetic trees of bacterial 16S rRNA sequences. The gene was not detected in 8 of 10 archaea examined but was found in A. pyrophilus and T. maritima, from which it was cloned and sequenced. Comparative analyses of the HSP70 amino acid sequences encoded in these genes, and others in the databases, showed that (i) in accordance with the vicinities seen in rRNA-based trees, the proteins from A. pyrophilus and T. maritima form a thermophilic cluster with that from the green nonsulfur bacterium Thermomicrobium roseum and are unrelated to their counterparts from gram-positive bacteria, proteobacteria/mitochondria, chlamydiae/spirochetes, deinococci, and cyanobacteria/chloroplasts; (ii) the T. maritima HSP70 clusters with the homologues from the archaea Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum and Thermoplasma acidophilum, in contrast to the postulated unique kinship between archaea and gram-positive bacteria; and (iii) there are exceptions to the reported association between an insert in HSP70 and gram negativity, or vice versa, absence of insert and gram positivity. Notably, the HSP70 from T. maritima lacks the insert, although T. maritima is phylogenetically unrelated to the gram-positive bacteria. These results, along with the absence of hsp70 (dnaK) in various archaea and its presence in others, suggest that (i) different taxa retained either one or the other of two hsp70 (dnaK) versions (with or without insert), regardless of phylogenetic position; and (ii) archaea are aboriginally devoid of hsp70 (dnaK), and those that have it must have received it from phylogenetically diverse bacteria via lateral gene transfer events that did not involve replacement of an endogenous hsp70 (dnaK) gene.     

Reovirus-Induced Apoptosis Is Preceded by Increased Cellular Calpain Activity and Is Blocked by Calpain Inhibitors

The cellular pathways of apoptosis have not been fully characterized; however, calpain, a cytosolic calcium-activated cysteine protease, has been implicated in several forms of programmed cell death. Reoviruses induce apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo and serve as a model for studying virus-induced cell death. We investigated the potential role of calpain in reovirus-induced apoptosis in vitro by measuring calpain activity as well as evaluating the effects of calpain inhibitors. L929 cells were infected with reovirus type 3 Abney (T3A), and calpain activity, measured as cleavage of the fluorogenic calpain substrate Suc-Leu-Leu-Val-Tyr-AMC, was monitored. There was a 1.6-fold increase in calpain activity in T3A-infected cells compared to mock-infected cells; this increase was completely inhibited by preincubation with calpain inhibitor I (N-acetyl-leucyl-leucyl-norleucinal [aLLN]), an active-site inhibitor. Both aLLN and PD150606, a specific calpain inhibitor that interacts with the calcium-binding site, inhibited reovirus-induced apoptosis in L929 cells by 54 to 93%. Apoptosis induced by UV-inactivated reovirus was also reduced 65 to 69% by aLLN, indicating that inhibition of apoptosis by calpain inhibitors is independent of effects on viral replication. We conclude that calpain activation is a component of the regulatory cascade in reovirus-induced apoptosis.