Mechanism of mononuclear cell activation by an anti-CD43 (sialophorin) agonistic antibody

CD43 (sialophorin, gpL115) is a sialoglycoprotein expressed on a wide variety of blood cells including lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, and platelets. L10, an anti-CD43 mAb, has been shown to induce monocyte-dependent activation and proliferation of human T lymphocytes. We have studied the signaling mechanism involved in this activation process. Treatment of PBMC and purified populations of T cells and monocytes with L10 induced the hydrolysis of phosphoinositides with the resultant generation of the phosphoinositide-derived second messengers diacylglycerol and inositol phosphates. This was associated with the translocation of protein kinase C from cytosol to membrane fractions and an increase in free intracellular Ca2+ in treated cells. In human leukemic T cell lines, the magnitude of signaling via CD43 did not correlate with the density of the TCR/CD3 surface expression nor with the intensity of signaling via the TCR/CD3. Moreover, a mutant derived from the leukemic T cell line HPB-ALL that was severely defective in TCR/CD3 surface expression and signaling nevertheless had normal CD43 surface expression and signaling compared with the parent cell line. It is concluded that CD43 is functionally coupled to the phospholipase C/phosphoinositides signaling pathway. In human T cells, signaling via CD43 proceeds independently of TCR/CD3. The widespread expression of CD43 suggests a potentially important role for this molecule in orchestrating the activation of multiple cell types.     

Sequence of the COOH-terminal hydrophilic region of histocompatibility antigens HLA-A2 and HLA-B7

Detergent-solubilized HLA antigens were isolated from a human lymphoblastoid cell using an anti-beta2-microglobulin immunoaffinity column. The HLA-A and HLA-B locus products were separated by thin layer isoelectric focusing. Cleavage of the p44 chain of HLA-A2 and -B7 antigens with cyanogen bromide led to the isolation of a 31-amino-acid fragment from each. The fragments were sequenced and shown to be from the COOH-terminal end of the intact chains using carboxypeptidase Y. The fragment from the HLA-B7 chain, 55% of whose amino acids were polar, contained the 2 cysteine residues not found in the papain-derived molecule. The tentative sequence of the fragment from the HLA-A2 chain was similar to that of the HLA-B7 fragment but appeared not to contain any cysteine residues. The hydrophilic COOH-terminal region of HLA antigens, which directly follows the hydrophobic, membrane-binding segment, began with a cluster of basic amino acids. This arrangement of amino acids resembles that found at the COOH terminus of the red blood cell membrane protein, glycophorin.     

Patterns of inflammation and the use of reversibility testing in smokers with airway complaints

Background

Although both smoking and respiratory complaints are very common, tools to improve diagnostic accuracy are scarce in primary care. This study aimed to reveal what inflammatory patterns prevail in clinically established diagnosis groups, and what factors are associated with eosinophilia.

Method

Induced sputum and blood plasma of 59 primary care patients with COPD (n = 17), asthma (n = 11), chronic bronchitis (CB, n = 14) and smokers with no respiratory complaints ('healthy smokers', n = 17) were collected, as well as lung function, smoking history and clinical work-up. Patterns of inflammatory markers per clinical diagnosis and factors associated with eosinophilia were analyzed by multiple regression analyses, the differences expressed in odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals.

Results

Multivariately, COPD was significantly associated with raised plasma-LBP (OR 1.2 [1.04–1.37]) and sTNF-R55 in sputum (OR 1.01 [1.001–1.01]), while HS expressed significantly lowered plasma-LBP (OR 0.8 [0.72–0.95]). Asthma was characterized by higher sputum eosinophilic counts (OR 1.3 [1.05–1.54]), while CB showed a significantly higher proportion of sputum lymphocytic counts (OR 1.5 [1.12–1.9]). Sputum eosinophilia was significantly associated with reversibility after adjusting for smoking, lung function, age, gender and allergy.

Conclusion

Patterns of inflammatory markers in a panel of blood plasma and sputum cells and mediators were discernable in clinical diagnosis groups of respiratory disease. COPD and so-called healthy smokers showed consistent opposite associations with plasma LBP, while chronic bronchitics showed relatively predominant lymphocytic inflammation compared to other diagnosis groups. Only sputum eosinophilia remained significantly associated with reversibility across the spectrum of respiratory disease in smokers with airway complaints.     

Phylogeny of the genus trichoderma based on sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region 1 of the rDNA cluster

Sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region 1 (ITS1) of the ribosomal DNA were used to determine the phylogenetic relationships of species of Trichoderma sect. Pachybasium. To this end, 85 strains-including all the available ex-type strains-were analyzed. Parsimony analysis demonstrated that the section is nonmonophyletic, distributing the 85 strains among three main groups that were supported by bootstrap values. Group A comprises two clades (A1 and A2), with A1 including T. polysporum, T. piluliferum, and T. minutisporum, while A2 included T. hamatum, T. pubescens, and T. strigosum in addition to species previously included in sect. Trichoderma (i.e., T. viride, T. atroviride, and T. koningii). The ex-type strain of T. fasciculatum formed a separate branch basal to clade A. Clade B contained the sect. Pachybasium members T. harzianum, T. fertile, T. croceum, T. longipile, T. strictipile, T. tomentosum, T. oblongisporum, T. flavofuscum, T. spirale, and the anamorphs of Hypocrea semiorbis and H. cf. gelatinosa. Sequence differences among clades A1, A2, and B were in the same order of magnitude as between each of them and T. longibrachiatum, which was used as an outgroup in these analyses. Sequence differences within clades A1, A2, and B were considerably smaller: in some cases (i.e., T. virens and T. flavofuscum; T. strictipile and H. cf. gelatinosa), the ITS1-sequences were identical, suggesting conspecifity. In other cases (e.g., T. crassum and T. longipile; T. harzianum, T. inhamatum, T. croceum, T. fertile, and H. semiorbis; T. hamatum and T. pubescens; and T. viride, T. atroviride, and T. koningii) differences were in the range of 1-3 nt only, suggesting a very close phylogenetic relationship. The sequence of a previously described aggressive mushroom competitor group of T. harzianum strains (Th2) was strikingly different from that of the ex-type strain of T. harzianum and closely related species and is likely to be a separate species. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.     

Molecular cloning of the human homologue to the pig protein-tyrosine kinase syk

The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper have been submitted to the EMBL nucleotide sequence database and have been assigned the accession number X73568.     

Structural basis for the interaction of the free SH2 domain EAT-2 with SLAM receptors in hematopoietic cells.

The T and natural killer (NK) cell-specific gene SAP (SH2D1A) encodes a 'free SH2 domain' that binds a specific tyrosine motif in the cytoplasmic tail of SLAM (CD150) and related cell surface proteins. Mutations in SH2D1A cause the X-linked lymphoproliferative disease, a primary immunodeficiency. Here we report that a second gene encoding a free SH2 domain, EAT-2, is expressed in macrophages and B lympho cytes. The EAT-2 structure in complex with a phosphotyrosine peptide containing a sequence motif with Tyr281 of the cytoplasmic tail of CD150 is very similar to the structure of SH2D1A complexed with the same peptide. This explains the high affinity of EAT-2 for the pTyr motif in the cytoplasmic tail of CD150 but, unlike SH2D1A, EAT-2 does not bind to non-phosphorylated CD150. EAT-2 binds to the phosphorylated receptors CD84, CD150, CD229 and CD244, and acts as a natural inhibitor, which interferes with the recruitment of the tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2. We conclude that EAT-2 plays a role in controlling signal transduction through at least four receptors expressed on the surface of professional antigen-presenting cells.     

Dynamic redistribution of the activating 2B4/SAP complex at the cytotoxic NK cell immune synapse

The 2B4 molecule (CD244) has been described as a coreceptor in human NK cell activation. However, the behavior of 2B4 during the cytotoxic NK cell immune synapse (NK-IS) formation remains undetermined. In this study, we demonstrate the redistribution of 2B4 and the signaling adaptor molecule, signaling lymphocyte activation molecule-associated protein (SAP), to the cytotoxic NK-IS upon formation of conjugates between resting NK cells and EBV-infected 721.221 human cells. Confocal microscopy showed that 2B4 localized at the central supramolecular activation cluster, surrounded by a peripheral supramolecular activation cluster containing talin within NK cell and ICAM-1 on target cells. Videomicroscopy studies with 2B4-GFP-transfected NK cells revealed that 2B4 redistributed to cytotoxic NK-IS as soon as the cell contact occurred. Simultaneously, a SAP-GFP also clustered at the contact site, where it remained during the interaction period. The 2B4 molecular clusters remained bound to the target cell even after NK cell detachment. These results underscore the function of 2B4 as an adhesion molecule and suggest a relevant role in the initial binding, scanning of target cells, and formation of cytotoxic NK-IS. Finally, these findings are indicative of an important role of the activating 2B4/signaling lymphocyte activation molecule-associated protein complex during the recognition of EBV-infected cells.     

Signaling lymphocyte activation molecule-associated protein is a negative regulator of the CD8 T cell response in mice

The primary manifestation of X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome, caused by a dysfunctional adapter protein, signaling lymphocyte activation molecule-associated protein (SAP), is an excessive T cell response upon EBV infection. Using the SAP-/- mouse as a model system for the human disease, we compared the response of CD8+ T cells from wild-type (wt) and mutant mice to various stimuli. First, we observed that CD8+ T cells from SAP-/- mice proliferate more vigorously than those from wt mice upon CD3/CD28 cross-linking in vitro. Second, we analyzed the consequence of SAP deficiency on CTL effector function and homeostasis. For this purpose, SAP-/- and wt mice were infected with the murine gamma-herpesvirus 68 (MHV-68). At 2 wk postinfection, the level of viral-specific CTL was much higher in mutant than in wt mice, measured both ex vivo and in vivo. In addition, we established that throughout 45 days of MHV-68 infection the frequency of virus-specific CD8+ T cells producing IFN-gamma was significantly higher in SAP-/- mice. Consequently, the level of latent infection by MHV-68 was considerably lower in SAP-/- mice, which indicates that SAP-/- CTL control this infection more efficiently than wt CTL. Finally, we found that the Vbeta4-specific CD8+ T cell expansion triggered by MHV-68 infection is also enhanced and prolonged in SAP-/- mice. Taken together, our data indicate that SAP functions as a negative regulator of CD8+ T cell activation.