In vivo and in vitro synergistic antitumor effect of interleukin-2-cultured tumor-bearer spleen cells and immune fresh spleen cells

Summary The synergistic antitumor effect of interleukin-2(IL-2)-cultured tumor-bearer spleen cells (cultured lymphocytes) and immune fresh spleen cells was examined. Tumor-bearer cultured lymphocytes were obtained by culturing BALB/c spleen cells from syngeneic MOPC104E-tumor-bearing mice for 11 days with crude IL-2 and a soluble tumor extract. These cultured lymphocytes had weak antitumor activity when transferred i.p. into tumor-bearing mice that had been inoculated i.p. with 10⁵ tumor cells 5 days previously. Immune fresh spleen cells, obtained from mice in complete remission after the treatment with cyclophosphamide, also had weak antitumor activity when transferred at the same schedule. The cultured cells and the fresh cells, mixed together before transfer, significantly augmented the therapeutic effect. At least 1×10⁷ tumor-bearer cultured lymphocytes and 4×10⁷ immune cells were needed for the synergistic effect. A tumor-specific combination was needed for both cultured and fresh cells. The effective subpopulation of tumor-bearer cultured lymphocytes was a cytotoxic one from an Lyt2⁺ precursor, and that of the immune fresh spleen cells was noncytotoxic, Lytl⁺ and Lyt2⁺ T-cells.A similar synergistic effect was also observed during in vitro coculture of tumor-bearer and immune cells. Cytotoxicity, as assessed by the ⁵¹Cr-release test, of tumor-bearer IL-2-cultured lymphocytes was maintained most effectively after 3 or 4 days of culture without IL-2 when the lymphocytes were cocultured with immune fresh spleen cells and tumor cells.     

Structural gene and complete amino acid sequence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa IFO 3455 elastase.

The DNA encoding the elastase of Pseudomonas aeruginosa IFO 3455 was cloned, and its complete nucleotide sequence was determined. When the cloned gene was ligated to pUC18, the Escherichia coli expression vector, bacteria carrying the gene exhibited high levels of both elastase activity and elastase antigens. The amino acid sequence, deduced from the nucleotide sequence, revealed that the mature elastase consisted of 301 amino acids with a relative molecular mass of 32,926 daltons. The amino acid composition predicted from the DNA sequence was quite similar to the chemically determined composition of purified elastase reported previously. We also observed nucleotide sequence encoding a signal peptide and "pro" sequence consisting of 197 amino acids upstream from the mature elastase protein gene. The amino acid sequence analysis revealed that both the N-terminal sequence of the purified elastase and the N-terminal side sequences of the C-terminal tryptic peptide as well as the internal lysyl peptide fragment were completely identical to the deduced amino acid sequences. The pattern of identity of amino acid sequences was quite evident in the regions that include structurally and functionally important residues of Bacillus subtilis thermolysin.     

Inhibitors of elastase and cathepsin G in Chédiak-Higashi (beige) neutrophils

Previous studies have established that mature neutrophils from the peritoneal cavity, blood, and bone marrow of beige (Chédiak-Higashi syndrome) mice essentially lack activities of two lysosomal proteinases: elastase and cathepsin G. There are, however, significant levels of each enzyme in early neutrophil precursors in bone marrow. In the present experiments, it was found that the addition of extracts from mature beige neutrophils to extracts of normal neutrophils or to purified human neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G resulted in a significant inhibition of elastase and cathepsin G G activities. 125I-Labeled human neutrophil elastase formed high molecular mass complexes at 64 and 52 kDa on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis when added to beige neutrophil extracts. The molecular masses of the inhibitor-125I-elastase complexes suggested that the molecular masses of the inhibitors are approximately 36 and 24 kDa, respectively. These results were confirmed by gel filtration on Superose 12 under nondenaturing conditions. Cathepsin G was inhibited only by the 36-kDa component. The inhibitors formed a covalent complex with the active sites of elastase and cathepsin G. No inhibitory activity was present in mature neutrophil extracts of genetically normal mice or in extracts of bone marrow of beige mice. These results thus represent an unusual example of an enzyme deficiency state caused by the presence of excess inhibitors. Inactivation of neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G in mature circulating and tissue neutrophils may contribute to the increased susceptibility of Chédiak-Higashi patients to infection.     

Roles of Escherichia coli heat shock proteins DnaK, DnaJ and GrpE in mini-F plasmid replication

Summary A subset of Escherichia coli heat shock proteins, DnaK, DnaJ and GrpE were shown to be required for replication of mini-F plasmid. Strains of E. coli K12 carrying a missense mutation or deletion in the dnaK, dnaJ, or grpE gene were virtually unable to be transformed by mini-F DNA at the temperature (30° C) that permits cell growth. When excess amounts of the replication initiator protein (repE gene product) of mini-F were provided by means of a multicopy plasmid carrying repE, these mutant bacteria became capable of supporting mini-F replication under the same conditions. However, the copy number of a high copy number mini-F plasmid was reduced in these mutant bacteria as compared with the wild type in the presence of excess RepE protein. Furthermore, mini-F plasmid mutants that produce altered initiator protein and exhibit a very high copy number were able to replicate in strains deficient in any of the above heat shock proteins. These results indicate that the subset of heat shock proteins (DnaK, DnaJ and GrpE) play essential roles that help the functioning of the RepE initiator protein in mini-F DNA replication.     

Effects of the Cortex on Light- and Kinetin-Induced Accumulation of Betacyanin in the Epidermal Tissue of Phytolacca americana

Accumulation of betacyanin in the peeled green epidermis fromthe stem of P. americana was induced by incubating the epidermisin Murashige and Skoog's medium, under light, and was promotedby the presence of kinetin. However, in the epidermal tissuewith cortex attached, the accumulation of betacyanin was inhibited. (Received March 27, 1989; Accepted January 24, 1990)     

Recombinational hotspot specific to female meiosis in the mouse major histocompatibility complex

Thewm7 haplotype of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), derived from the Japanese wild mouseMus musculus molossinus, enhances recombination specific to female meiosis in theK/A interval of the MHC. We have mapped crossover points of fifteen independent recombinants from genetic crosses of thewm7 and laboratory haplotypes. Most of them were confined to a short segment of approximately 1 kilobase (kb) of DNA between theA 3 andA 2 genes, indicating the presence of a female-specific recombinational hotspot. Its location overlaps with a sex-independent hotspot previously identified in theMus musculus castaneus CAS3 haplotype. We have cloned and sequenced DNA fragments surrounding the hotspot from thewm7 haplotype and the corresponding regions from the hotspot-negative B10.A and C57BL/10 strains. There is no significant difference between the sequences of these three strains, or between these and the published sequences of the CAS3 and C57BL/6 strains. However, a comparison of this A3/A2 hotspot with a previously characterized hotspot in theE gene revealed that they have a very similar molecular organization. Each hotspot consists of two elements, the consensus sequence of the mouse middle repetitive MT family and the tetrameric repeated sequences, which are separated by 1 kb of DNA.The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper have been submitted to the DNA Data Bank of Japan nucleotide sequence database and have been assigned the accession numbers d90007-9. Offprint requests to: T. Shiroishi.     

Effects of Oxygen Depletion on Norepinephrine- and Carbachol-Stimulated Phosphoinositide Turnover in Rat Brain Slices

We examined the effects of in vitro anoxia and in vivo hypoxia (8% O2/92% N2) on norepinephrine (NE)- and carbachol-stimulated phosphoinositide (PI) turnover in rat brain slices. The formation of 3H-labeled polyPI in cortical slices was impaired by in vitro anoxia and fully restored by reoxygenation. Accumulation of 3H-labeled myo-inositol phosphates (3H-IPs) stimulated by 10(-5) M NE was significantly reduced by anoxia (control at 60 min, 1,217 +/- 86 cpm/mg of protein; anoxia for 60 min, 651 +/- 82 cpm/mg; mean +/- SEM; n = 5; p less than 0.01), and reoxygenation following anoxia resulted in overshooting of the accumulation (control at 120 min, 1,302 +/- 70 cpm/mg; anoxia for 50 min plus oxygenation for 70 min, 1,790 +/- 126 cpm/mg; n = 5; p less than 0.01). The underlying mechanisms for the two phenomena--the decrease caused by anoxia and the overshooting caused by reoxygenation following anoxia--seemed to be completely different because of the following observations. (a) Although the suppression of NE-stimulated accumulation at low O2 tensions was also observed in Ca2+-free medium, the overshooting in response to reoxygenation was not. (b) Carbachol-stimulated accumulation was significantly reduced by anoxia and was restored by reoxygenation only to control levels. Thus, the postanoxic overshooting in accumulation of 3H-IPs seems to be a specific response to NE. (c) The decrease observed at low O2 tensions was due to a decrease in Emax value, whereas the postanoxic overshooting was due to a decrease in EC50 value.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Purification of the murine heat-stable antigen from erythrocytes.

The rat anti-mouse erythrocyte (MRBC) monoclonal antibody (mAb), R13, has been developed. The MRBC membrane protein recognized by R13 (R13-Ag) can be purified by loading the butanol-extracted MRBC membrane solution on a R13-conjugated Cellulofine column in the presence of 0.1% CHAPS followed by elution with 1% CHAPS. The amino acid sequence of the affinity-purified R13-Ag corresponded to that predicted from the cDNA for the murine heat-stable antigen. It was revealed that the actual heat-stable antigen was composed of 27 amino acids.     

Transformation ofBacillus subtilis with the treatment by alkali cations

Summary ExposingBacillus subtilis cultures to high concentrations of alkali cations, especially K⁺, allows efficient transformation by plasmids. The method allows transformation with unfractionated plasmid DNA, monomeric plasmid DNA as well as linear plasmid DNA.B. subtilis strains, not amenable to natural transformation, were also transformed by the present method.