Selective production of hybridoma cells: antigenic-based pre-selection of B lymphocytes for electrofusion with myeloma cells

Methods for pre-selecting B lymphocytes were studied and investigated. First, biotinylated antigen was used for selecting B lymphocytes. These pre-selected B lymphocytes were then combined with biotinylated myeloma cells by adding streptavidin. The final formula of the selected B cell-myeloma cell was as follows: B cell-(antigen-biotin-strept-avidin-biotin)-myeloma cell. Then, this B cell-myeloma cell conjugate was fused by the pulsed electric field (PEF) method, which fused only those conjugated cells. The fusion efficiency obtained by this method was 3-15-times higher than that obtained by the non-specific poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) fusion method. Second, avidin-antigen conjugate was used to select B lymphocytes. For this purpose, bifunctional cross-linkers such as N-succinimidyl 3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate (SPDP) and m-maleimidobenzoyl N-hydroxysuccinimide (MBS) were chosen. Each reagent contains two heterofunctional groups which can make covalent bond with both Lys and Cys residues. Typical avidin-antigen conjugate is expressed as avidin-SPDP (or MBS)-antigen. Thus, final B cell-myeloma cell conjugate was B cell-antigen-SPDP (or MBS)-avidin-biotin-myeloma cell. The yield of this procedure was of the order of 10(-2). Here, we suggest that the pre-selection of B lymphocytes by biotinylated antigen or avidin-antigen conjugate is a new method of obtaining selected hybridoma cells which produce specific monoclonal antibodies against the antigen used for selecting B lymphocytes.     

Reproductive lifespan and reproductive performance in SPF C3H mice: the onset of reproductive life and production efficiency (author's transl)]

To improve the production system, the onset and the termination of reproductive life of C3Hf/HeMsNrs mice mated immediately after weaning and reared for 400 days of life, were studied. From weaning females mated with a full grown male (group A), the first litter was obtained at a mean age of 47 days, suggesting the first copulation at 26 days of age. The age of males at the first copulation was estimated to be at 44 days of age from the age giving the first litters in weanling males mated with weanling (group B) and full grown (group C) females. The sex ratio of litters delivered by young dams tended to be excess in males. The reproductive performance of dams in later life was not affected by the parturition in earlier age. The production efficiency with weaned youngs per pair during the first 200 days after mating was the highest in group A. It was found from these results that the C3H females attained their sexual maturity at 5 to 6 days after weaning, being available for breeding without any deletion in reproductive performance.     

Fluorimetric assay of sialic acids.

A fluorimetric assay has been developed for sialic acids in which sialic acids react with pyridoxamine to give fluorescent compounds in the presence of zinc ion and pyridine. This assay method is specific for unbound sialic acids and is a simple and sensitive procedure compared with the thiobarbituric acid assay of sialic acids.     

Crystal and molecular structure of 6,2'-anhydro-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylctyosine.

The crystal and molecular structure of the title compound has been determined by X-ray diffraction method. The compound crystallizes in monoclinic system with the space group P2₁ and Z=2; the unit cell dimensions are a=10.491, b=7.255, c=6.858 A and β=103.55°. The structure was refined to an R-index of 0.051. The glycosyl torsion angle X_CN is 111.4° (syn-anti) and the arabinose ring forms an exo-conformation, in which C(4′) is displaced by 0.61 A out of the plane of remaining four atoms. The orientation of the C(5′)O(5′) bond is the gauche-gauche as similar as that found frequently in many nucleosides.     

Accumulation of neutral lipids in Saccharomyces carlsbergensis by myo-inositol deficiency and its mechanism. Reciprocal regulation of yeast acetyl-CoA carboxylase by fructose bisphosphate and citrate.

The abnormal accumulation of lipids due to myo-inositol deficiency in Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, and the mechanism involved was investigated. The deficient cells contained much more neutral lipids with a greater ratio of unsaturated fatty acids compared to the supplemented cells, whereas there was no significant change in their phospholipid contents. The biosynthesis of fatty acids and sterols from acetate, and of triacylglycerols and sterol esters from palmitate was markedly augmented in the deficient cells. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity of the deficient supernatant was 2- to 5-fold higher than that of the supplemented. However, the activity from both sources was not significantly different after Sephadex G-25 gel filtration of the supernatant, suggesting the presence of low molecular effector(s) in the deficient supernatant. There was a great increase in acid-soluble glycogen, trehalose, and fructose-1,6-P2, as well as a drastic decrease in citrate in the deficient cells. Their intracellular levels were calculated so that their effects on acetyl-CoA carboxylase was examined over the range of physiological concentration. Citrate strongly inhibited the enzyme activity of the supernatant, but it had no effect on the preparation after gel filtration. On the other hand, fructose-1,6-P2 stimulated the enzyme activity both before and after gel filtration. The acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity in the gel filtrate was measured as a function of citrate concentration at several fixed concentrations of fructose-1,6-P2. Citrate counteracted the activation by fructose-1,6-P2 in a dose-dependent manner. Citrate lacked the inhibitory effect in the absence of fructose-1,6-P2. It was concluded from these results that neutral lipid accumulation in the deficient cells reflected an increase in the synthesis of fatty acids, at least partly based on an enhancement of acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity, and that the operation of a reciprocal regulation of the enzyme by fructose-1,6-P2 and citrate caused a marked elevation of the enzyme activity in the deficient cells with a high fructose-1,6-P2 level and a low citrate level.     

Enzymatic synthesis of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate inZoogloea ramigera

The enzyme activity synthesizing poly--hydroxybutyrate (PHB) was mainly localized in the PHB-containing particulate fraction ofZoogloea ramigera I-16-M, when it grew flocculatedly in a medium supplemented with glucose. On the other hand, the enzyme activity remained in the soluble fraction, when the bacterium grew dispersedly in a glucose-starved medium.The soluble PHB synthase activity became associated with the particulate fraction as PHB synthesis was initiated on the addition of glucose to the dispersed culture. Conversely, the enzyme activity was released from the PHB-containing granules to the soluble fraction when the flocculated culture was kept incubated without supplementing the medium with glucose.PHB synthase was also incorporated into the newly formed PHB fraction when partially purified soluble PHB synthase was incubated withd(-)--hydroxybutyryl CoA in vitro.Although attempts to solubilize the particulate enzyme were unsuccessful, and the soluble enzyme became extremely unstable in advanced stages of purification, both PHB synthases had the same strict substrate specificity ford(-)--hydroxybutyryl CoA, and showed the same pH optimum at 7.0.Non-Standard Abbreviations PHB poly--hydroxybutyrate     

Conformational analysis of polynucleotides. I. The favorable left-handed helical model for the poly(8,2''-S-cycloadenylic acid) with high anti conformation.

1) Energy calculations have shown that poly (8,2'-S-cycloadenylic aicd) can form left-handed helices owing to the high anti conformation. 2) Two favorable left-handed helices are characterized by axial translation per residue (Z=4.3 and 3.6A) and by rotations per residue (theta= 40 degrees and -25 degrees). 3) The proposed helical models might be stable in aqueous solution and is well explicable of the optical property of this compound.     

N-(2-Pyridyl)acetamide complexes of palladium(II), cobalt(II), nickel(II), and copper(II)

N-(2-Pyridyl)acetamide (aapH) complexes of palladium(II), cobalt(II), nickel(II), and copper(II) have been studied by means of magnetic susceptibilities, and infrared, electronic, and PMR spectra. In the octahedral complexes M(aapH)₂X₂(M = Co, Ni, Cu; X = Cl, Br, NCS, NO₃), bidentate aapH is chelated through the pyridine-N and amid-O atomes, whereas in the square-planar Pd(aapH)₂X₂ (X = Cl, Br) unidentate aapH is coordinated through the pyridine-N atom alone. Under alkaline conditions aapH is deprotonated in the presence of palladium(II) to form Pd(aap)₂·4H₂O, aap being an anionic bidentate ligand and chelating through the pyridine-N and amide-O atoms.     

Oxygen evolution in dark-developed spruce chloroplasts

Chloroplasts isolated from dark-grown seedlings of Picea abiesshowed activities of DCIP and Fecy photoreductions widiout additionof an electron donor to PS-II. In addition to this, when light-inducedoxygen evolution was measured with an oxygen electrode, a significantamount of oxygen was found. These results indicate that thephotoreductions are coupled to the oxygen-evolving reaction.Furthermore, thylakoid membranes were functional in the protonuptake and the 515-nm absorbance change as parameters of theirphysicochemical functions. Electron microscopy showed that thylakoidswere well-developed with prolamellar bodies and partially stackedto from grana. We conclude that oxygen-evolving ability and the physicochemicalfunction of thylakoid membranes develop in chloroplasts of dark-grownspruce seedlings. (Received September 21, 1974; )