The chimpanzee M blood-group antigen is a variant of the human M-N glycoproteins

Chimpanzee erythrocytes express strong M but weak, occasional N blood-group activity, as detected by anti-M and anti-N reagents. We have found that the M activity is carried by a major membrane glycoprotein that is similar but not identical to the human MM glycoprotein (glycophorin A). We have isolated and characterized this glycoprotein from erythrocyte membranes of four individual chimpanzees. The purified glycoproteins strongly inhibited agglutination of M cells by rabbit anti-human M sera and only weakly inhibited the agglutination of N cells by rabbit anti-human N sera. They also displayed medium-to-strong inhibitory activity against chimpanzee iso- and crossimmune antisera tested with chimpanzee erythrocytes of various V-A-B-D and W^c specificities, which are known as chimpanzee extensions of the human type M-N system and the Miltenberger counterpart, respectively. Each glycoprotein was cleaved with CNBr into three fragments, whose size, solubility, and composition were analogous to those obtained by similar treatment of the human M-N antigens. The amino-terminal fragment was found to be a glycooctapeptide whose amino acid composition and partial sequence indicated that it is an intermediate form of the human M and N glycooctapeptides. Its carbohydrate content comprised two threonine-linked saccharide units that, although similar in composition to the human threonine-linked units, were fewer in number than the three units found in the corresponding human glycooctapeptides. Structural similarities to the human antigens strongly suggest that the amino terminus bears the major antigenic determinants of the molecule, and the occurrence in this region of numerous, albeit rare, variants among humans and in chimpanzees indicates that the corresponding coding sequence of the structural gene is particularly susceptible to mutational events. We conclude that the chimpanzee M gene product is a variant of the human type and that the chimpanzee gene is an allele of the human polymorphic M-N locus.This research was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants GM 16389 and HL 19011 and March of Dimes Grant 1-661.     

An investigation of ageing in human costal cartilage

Summary Changes in human costal cartilage with increasing age (2–81 years) have been studied in the optical and electron microscope using routine and histochemical techniques.Concurrent with increasing age, chondrocytes undergo degeneration which is characterized initially by the accumulation of lipidic material within cells and, subsequently, by the formation of a halo around degenerating chondrocytes. The halo material is composed of electron dense bodies, amorphous material, and collagen fibrils. Both electron dense bodies and the amorphous material are of cellular origin and they have similar histochemical responses.Using histochemical techniques in the optical and in the electron microscope, it has been shown that chondroitin sulfate decreases with increasing age, while a hyaluronidase resistant material (presumably keratan sulfate) increases, initially in the central zone, and subsequently in the peripheral zones. Hyaluronidase resistant material is minute or absent in the central zone of aged cartilage.The genesis of collagen fibrils progresses from thin unbanded collagen-like fibrils in the pericellular lacunae of chondrocytes in young specimens to thick fibrils (sometimes in excess of 0.5 ) with a period of 640 Å in ageing cartilage. Aggregation of collagen fibrils seems to be related at least initially to the preponderance of matrix granules and beaded filaments which have been shown to originate intracellularly in vacuoles formed in degenerating mitochondria. Both of these structures contain glycosaminoglycans and, with increasing age, glycosaminoglycans decrease while collagen fibrils aggregate. In old age, the amorphous material, and possibly the content of disrupting electron dense bodies, seem to give origin to some collagen fibrils. This and other mechanisms of formation of collagen fibrils have been observed and they are discussed.Calcification of the matrix increases with increasing age and this agrees with previous findings.Supported by grants from the Italian National Research Council. — The authors are indebted to Miss Giuliana Silvestrini and to Mr. Lucio Virgilii for their expert and extensive technical assistance. — To Dr. A. Ascenzi, Director 1° Istituto di Anatomia e Istologia Patologica, and to Dr. C. Cavallero, Director, 2° Istituto di Anatomia e Istologia Patologica, Università di Roma, the senior author would like to express his appreciation for the use of equipment and facilities pursuant to this investigation, while on sabbatical leave from the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine. — We wish to extend our thanks to the Italian National Research Council for supporting this study.On sabbatical leave from the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine.     

Human arterial smooth muscle cells in culture: Inverse relationship between proliferation and expression of contractile proteins

Summary Human arterial smooth muscle cells (hASMC) from explants of the inner media of uterine arteries were studied in secondary culture. We had previously found that these cells depend on exogenous platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) for proliferation in vitro. Deprivation of the serum mitogen(s) by culture in plasma-derived serum or bovine serum albumin (BSA) caused a true growth arrest that was reversible upon reexposure to the mitogen(s). When added to serum-containing medium, heparin caused a reversible growth arrest which could be competed for by increasing concentrations of serum. In the current study we used a set of smooth muscle-specific actin and myosin, antibodies to study the expression of contractile proteins in stress fibers under indirect immunofluorescence on hASMC in culture. Even in sparse culture, grwoth-arrested hASMC expressed stress fibers containing these actin and myosin epitopes. This was true irrespective of whether growth arrest was achieved by culture in media containing only BSA or a combination of heparin and whole blood serum. hASMC proliferating in whole blood serum in sparse culture did not express such strees fibers, as judged by immunofluorescent staining. This was true also for cells that were restimulated to proliferate in serum after a growth arrest. Utilizing a monoclonal antibody against a nuclear antigen expressed in proliferating human cells, we were able to demonstrate an inverse relationship between the expression of this antigen and the SMC-specific contractile proteins, respectively. Under these culture conditions, the reversible transition between defifferentiated and differentiated hASMC was almost complete and terminated about 1 wk after the change in culture condition. We conclude that hASMC in vitro respond, to exogenous PDGF by proliferation and dedifferetiation as a single population of cells. We also conclude that this modulation is reversible, because the cells become uniformly quiescent and differentiated when the mitogenic stimulus is blocked or removed. This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Medical Research Council (Project no. 4531 and 6816), the Swedish Association against Heart and Chest Diseases, the King Gustaf V and Queen Victoria Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (grant HL 29873) and the Swedish National Board for Laboratory Animals.     

Immuno-isolation and culture of biliary epithelial cells from normal human liver

Summary Biliary epithelial cells (BEC) lining the intra-hepatic biliary ducts are the site of damage in several immunologically mediated liver diseases. BEC are difficult to isolate since they represent only 5% of the total cell number in normal liver. In this communication, a novel method for their isolation from normal liver is presented using a monoclonal antibody (HEA125) with specificity for an epithelial cell surface glyco-protein reported to be expressed in liver only by biliary epithelium. By combining differential density centrifugation and immuno-magnetic separation using HEA125 pure BEC (10⁵ cells/g fresh tissue) were prepared routinely. These cells were maintained in culture for up to 4 weeks with significant increases in cell numbers. The ability to prepare BEC from human liver offers an opportunity to develop In Vitro models to investigate the aetiology of diseases in intra-hepatic biliary epithelium. EDITOR’S STATEMENT This is a novel application to purification of specific liver cell types directly from tissue. It is well-suited for rapid communication because of its novelty and potential utility to investigators.     

Influence ofl-thyroxine,l-triiodothyronine,thyroid stimulating hormone,or estradiol on the cell kinetics of cultured mammary cancer cells

Summary We describe the in vitro influence of 3,5,3′-triiodo-l-thyronine (T₃),l-thyroxine (T₄), a thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and/or estradiol (E₂: chosen as the control of the methodology) on the cell kinetics (cell distribution in the S+G₂+M phases) of mouse MXT and human MCF-7 mammary cancer cells. Experiments were performed by means of a cell image processor, analyzing MCF-7 or MXT cells that had been grown on glass cover slips and whose nuclei had been stained by the Feulgen reaction, which is selective and quantitative (stoichiometric) with respect to DNA. We show that T₃, T₄, and TSH at 0.01 μM dramatically stimulate the cell kinetics of the MXT mouse and the MCF-7 human mammary cancer cell lines. Indeed, the three hormones bring about a significant transient increase in the S+G₂+M fraction as does E₂. Furthermore, our data indicate that E₂ and TSH are antagonistic with regards to MXT or MCF-7 cell kinetics. This work is supported by grants awarded by the IRSIA and the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique Médicale (FRSM, Belgium).     

Optimization of culture conditions for human corneal endothelial cells

Summary Long-term cultivation of human corneal endothelial cells (HCEC) was optimized with respect to different components of the culture system: 25 different nutrient media, different sera, 6 mitogens and various substrates were tested in their ability to influence clonal growth and morphology of HCEC. F99, a 1∶1 mixture of the two media M199 and Ham’s F12, was the most effective basal medium in promoting clonal growth of HCEC. Among various sera, human serum and fetal bovine serum showed optimal growth promoting activities in combination with F99, whereas newborn bovine serum (NBS) was by far superior for the development of a typically corneal endothelial morphology. Crude fibroblast growth factor (FGF), or alternatively endothelial cell growth supplement, was absolutely essential for clonal growth of HCEC at low serum concentrations, for example 5% NBS. Formation of a monolayer with a morphology similar to corneal endothelium in vivo was observed only on culture dishes coated with basal membrane components such as collagen type IV, laminin, or fibronectin. The most pronounced effect on morphologic appearance was obtained by culturing the cells on the extracellular matrix (ECM) produced by bovine corneal endothelial cells. Moreover, ECM could substitute for crude FGF in clonal growth assays.     

Establishment of five human myeloma cell lines

Summary Five human myeloma cell lines, KMM-1, KMS-5, KMS-11, KMS-12- PE, and KMS-12-BM, have been established at Kawasaki Medical School since 1980. As the KMS-12-PE and KMS-12-BM lines were obtained from the same patient, these five cell lines have been derived from four patients with multiple myeloma. The five myeloma cell lines are stably growing at present in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. They can also grow in a defined culture medium without serum. That these cell lines were, human myeloma cells was confirmed by the following findings. Ultranstructually, all five cell lines showed features characteristic of plasma cells. KMM-1 and KMS-11 cells secreted lambda and kappa chains into the culture medium, respectively, but the other cell lines produced no immunoglobulins. KMM-1 expressed cytoplasmic lambda antigen, KMS-5 showed cytoplasmic delta, and KMS-11 expressed surface kappa, whereas KMS-12-PE and KMS-12-BM cells showed no surface or cytoplasmic immunoglobulins. Regarding reaction with a monoclonal plasma cell antibody (PCA-1), four of the five lines were positive, the exception being KMS-5. Another monoclonal antibody (CD38), which also recognizes plasma cells, reponded to KMM-1, KMS-12-PE, and KSM-12-BM. KMS-5 cells expressed acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigens (CALLA). These data suggest that such lines as KMM-1, KMS-11, KMS-12-PE, and KMS-12-BM represent later stages of B-cell differentiation, and that KMS-5 represents a relatively early stage of B-cell differentiation. All the cell lines lacked Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen, showed abnormal karyotypes of human origin, and differed from each other in the isozyme patterns examined. Only KMS-5 was tumorigenic when transplanted subcutaneously into nude mice.     

杂色曲霉在人胃液中体外培养产生杂色曲霉素的研究

本文用正交实验设计法探讨了杂色曲霉(Aspergillus versicolr)在加有两类不同性质营养物的人胃液中产生杂色曲霉素(Sterigmatocystin,简称ST)的条件。发现在26℃斜面静置培养12天后可产生ST。加入半合成物质的最佳配伍是:蔗糖1,000.0mg;蛋白胨50.0mg;KH_2PO_4 7.5mg;MgSO_4·7H_2O_2.5mg;人胃液10.0ml,称之为SPKM人胃液培养基。加入天然物质的最佳配伍是:玉米粉0.5g;豆腐粉0.25g,人胃液10.0ml,称之为CS人胃液培养基。还进一步研究了pH值和培养时间对杂色曲霉产毒菌株在SPKM和CS人胃液培养基中生长及产生ST的影响。根据临床胃酸缺乏程度分级标准,分为pH 1.0,3.0,6.5,8.0四个组。发现在两种人胃液培养基中,无论是杂色曲霉生长,还是产生ST,pH3.0到6.5是发生质变的范围。在两种人胃液培养基pH为6.5时,37℃静置培养8天有痕量ST产生,10天后就明显增加。所以杂色曲霉产生的ST可能是慢性萎缩性胃炎易癌变的原因之一。     

一种引致人体原发性皮肤毛霉病的非高温根毛霉属真菌

由石家庄中国人民解放军白求恩国际和平医院皮肤科李成龙大夫提供的一株人体皮肤病菌经我们研究鉴定为毛霉目(Mucorales)毛霉科(Mucoraceae)根毛霉属(Rhizomucor)的一个种,并定名为多变根毛霉新种(Rhizomucor variabilis Zheng & G.-q.Chen sp. nov.)。据李大夫介绍,这株菌是从一名居住在江苏农村到该医院看病的女病人的手上病部分离的。这个病人没有一般真菌病病人所患有的其他疾病如糖尿病、白血病等等。她也没有患有其他毛霉病,因此她的皮肤毛霉病是原发性的而不是继发性的。我们查阅文献结果,国内由根毛霉属真菌引致的毛霉病过去仅有过一次肺部感染的报道;国外则有过较多次数的由根毛霉引致的人体毛霉病,主要为肺部疾病并可引致继发性的皮肤病,尚未见有由根毛霉属引起的原发性皮肤毛霉病的报道。无论国内、外引起人体毛霉病的根毛霉均为微小根毛霉[Rhizomucor pusillus(Lindt) Schipper,包括Mucor pusillus Lindt,Mucor parasiticus Lucet & Costanin等异名]一种。因此,本病例为我国第二例由根毛霉弓l起的人体毛霉病及第一例由根毛霉引起的人体皮肤毛霉病,同时又是全世界第一例由根毛霉属除微小根毛霉以外的另外一个种引起的人体毛霉病,很可能还是全世界第一例由根毛霉引起的人体原发性皮肤毛霉病。多变根毛霉与根毛霉属内所有过去已报道过的种都有显著差异。它的最适生长温度为24-30℃,最低9℃,最高38℃;其他种均为高温真菌,它们的最高生长温度可达55℃或更高。形态方面,多变根毛霉也与属内其他已知种明显不同。它的菌落高达4-8 mm并呈鲜明的浅黄色;其他已知种菌落低矮,除奈尼塔尔根毛霉(Rhizomucor nainitalensis Joshi)外全部为深暗灰色,奈尼塔尔根毛霉菌落色泽虽然较浅,但为浅灰或灰黄色,与多变根毛霉的鲜明黄色不同。它的假根异常发达并可从菌体的各个部位如菌丝、匍匐丝、孢子枝、孢子囊、囊轴上长出;其他已知种的假根一般都不发达且从未见有从孢子枝、孢子囊、囊轴等处长出的描述。它的孢子枝的分枝常常长于主枝;其他已知种则分枝长度一般不超过主枝。它的囊轴形状多变:球形、近球形、扁球形、卵形、椭圆形、梨形等等,两边对称或不对称,溢缩或不绕缩,纵向深裂或不作纵向深裂;其他已知种的囊轴形状通常为倒卵形至梨形的规则形状。它的囊领明显;其他已知种的囊领均很不明显至缺如。它的孢囊孢子形状和大小变化都较大,卵形、椭圆形、矩圆形、近球形、近三角形或其他各种不规则形状,长度范围2.5-16.5 μm;其他已知种除上面已经提到过的奈尼塔尔根毛霉外,它们的孢囊孢子形状仅限于卵形、椭圆形、近球形等较规则的形状,长度范围总是在3-6 μm范围内,奈尼塔尔根毛霉的孢囊孢子形状虽然多变,但其决度亦在3-6 μm的范围内。此外,多变根毛霉的孢子囊、囊轴、孢囊孢子等各种构造均较大;其他已知种则较小,其中肿梗根毛霉[Rhizomucor tauricus (Milko & Schkurenko) Schipper]虽亦较大,但除此之外与多变根毛霉迥异。多变根毛霉未见有接合孢子,将我们保存的全部微小根毛霉菌株与它分别配对时,或将我们的几对别的属的(+)(-)测试菌株与它分别配对时,均未见形成接合孢子或有任何反应。     

Transforming growth factor-beta does not alter interleukin-1 expression in cultured human macrophages

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) is a growth modulator that stimulates the growth of fibroblastic cells but inhibits the growth of cells of epithelial origin. TGF beta also influences the production of extracellular matrix proteins, and of proteases and the type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) by cultured cells. TGF beta appears also to have various immunoregulatory effects, suppressing both T- and B-cell activities. It has been proposed that it might increase the expression of interleukin-1 (IL-1) mRNA in cultured human monocytes, thus potentiating immune functions. To analyze the role of TGF beta in IL-1 production we have now quantitated the effect of this factor on the production of biologically active IL-1 as well as IL-1 beta mRNA expression. The effect of TGF beta on IL-1 production optimally activated with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was also studied. It was found that IL-1 activity and mRNA levels were rapidly elevated by LPS but not by TGF beta. Culture fluids from monocytes treated with TGF beta alone or with TGF beta plus LPS inhibited the proliferation of the test thymocytes. After gel filtration, the media from TGF beta-treated cultures showed no activity in the molecular weight area of IL-1 (approx. 15 kD), while the supernatants from TGF beta plus LPS-induced cells contained IL-1 activity in these fractions, the magnitude of which was, however, at the same level as in the culture fluids derived from cells stimulated with LPS alone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)