Production, crystallization, and preliminary X-ray analysis of rabbit skeletal muscle troponin complex consisting of troponin C and fragment (1-47) of troponin I.

Troponin is a ternary protein complex consisting of subunits TnC. TnI, and TnT, and plays a key role in calcium regulation of the skeletal and cardiac muscle contraction. In the present study, a partial complex (CI47) was prepared from Escherichia coli-expressed rabbit skeletal muscle TnC and fragment 1-47 of TnI, which is obtained by chemical cleavage of an E. coli-expressed mutant of rabbit skeletal muscle TnI. Within the ternary troponin complex, CI47 is thought to form a core that is resistant to proteolytic digestion, and the interaction within CI47 likely maintains the integrity of the troponin complex. Complex CI47 was crystallized in the presence of sodium citrate. The addition of trehalose improved the diffraction pattern of the crystals substantially. The crystal lattice belongs to the space group P3(1)(2)21, with unit cell dimensions a = b = 48.2 A, c = 162 A. The asymmetric unit presumably contains one CI47 complex. Soaking with p-chloromercuribenzenesulfonate (PCMBS) resulted in loss of isomorphism, but enhanced the quality of the crystals. The crystals diffracted up to 2.3 A resolution, with completeness of 91% and R(merge) = 6.4%. The crystals of PCMBS-derivative should be suitable for X-ray studies using the multiple-wavelength anomalous diffraction technique. This is the first step for elucidating the structure of the full troponin complex.     

The different effects of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor on rat fibrosarcoma sublines

Summary The antitumor effect of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor (rH-TNF) on two clones of rat fibrosarcoma with different metastatic potential to lymph nodes was examined. The colony formation of clone A, which has high metastatic potential, was completely inhibited by continuous exposure to rH-TNF at 50 U/ml. In contrast, colony formation of clone G, which has low metastatic potential, was not inhibited by high concentrations of rH-TNF (10,000 U/ml). The inhibitory effect of rH-TNF on colony formation by clone A was also observed with a 1-h exposure to rH-TNF. This effect was time and concentration dependent, as determined by the colony assay, ³H-thymidine uptake assay, and ⁵¹Cr-release assay. ³H-thymidine and ³H-uridine uptake per cell of clone A exposed to rH-TNF was not decreased. This suggests that the mechanisms of the antitumor effect of rH-TNF were not due to inhibition of DNA and RNA synthesis of tumor cells. In vivo growth and lymph node metastases of clone A inoculated i.p. to Donryu strain rats were completely suppressed by 14 consecutive i.p. injections of 10⁵ or 10⁶ U/kg per day of rH-TNF. On the other hand the growth of clone G was not influenced by rH-TNF administration.     

Acute Systemic Infection with Dengue Virus Leads to Vascular Leakage and Death through Tumor Necrosis Factor-α and Tie2/Angiopoietin Signaling in Mice Lacking Type I and II Interferon Receptors

Severe dengue is caused by host responses to viral infection, but the pathogenesis remains unknown. This is, in part, due to the lack of suitable animal models. Here, we report a non-mouse-adapted low-passage DENV-3 clinical isolate, DV3P12/08, derived from recently infected patients. DV3P12/08 caused a lethal systemic infection in type I and II IFN receptor KO mice (IFN-α/β/γR KO mice), which have the C57/BL6 background. Infection with DV3P12/08 induced a cytokine storm, resulting in severe vascular leakage (mainly in the liver, kidney and intestine) and organ damage, leading to extensive hemorrhage and rapid death. DV3P12/08 infection triggered the release of large amounts of TNF-α, IL-6, and MCP-1. Treatment with a neutralizing anti-TNF-α antibody (Ab) extended survival and reduced liver damage without affecting virus production. Anti-IL-6 neutralizing Ab partly prolonged mouse survival. The anti-TNF-α Ab suppressed IL-6, MCP-1, and IFN-γ levels, suggesting that the severe response to infection was triggered by TNF-α. High levels of TNF-α mRNA were expressed in the liver and kidneys, but not in the small intestine, of infected mice. Conversely, high levels of IL-6 mRNA were expressed in the intestine. Importantly, treatment with Angiopoietin-1, which is known to stabilize blood vessels, prolonged the survival of DV3P12/08-infected mice. Taken together, the results suggest that an increased level of TNF-α together with concomitant upregulation of Tie2/Angiopoietin signaling have critical roles in severe dengue infection.     

Cytokine-independent Jak3 activation upon T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation through direct association of Jak3 and the TCR complex

Jak3 is responsible for growth signals by various cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, and IL-7 through association with the common gamma chain (gammac) in lymphocytes. We found that T cells from Jak3-deficient mice exhibit impairment of not only cytokine signaling but also early activation signals and that Jak3 is phosphorylated upon T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation. TCR-mediated phosphorylation of Jak3 is independent of IL-2 receptor/gammac but is dependent on Lck and ZAP-70. Jak3 was found to be assembled with the TCR complex, particularly through direct association with CD3zeta via its JH4 region, which is a different region from that for gammac association. These results suggest that Jak3 plays a role not only in cell growth but also in T cell activation and represents cross-talk of a signaling molecule between TCR and growth signals.     

A GFP-transfected HFWT cell line,GHINK-1, as a novel target for non-RI activated natural killer cytotoxicity assay

An anchorage-dependent Wilms' tumor cell line, HFWT, has been found to be extremely susceptible to human natural killer (NK) cells. Here we established a transfectant of HFWT with the green fluorescence protein (GFP) gene, designated GHINK-1 cells, to apply to the activated NK cytotoxicity assay without radioisotope labeling. After being co-cultured with CD3 CD56+ NK cells, GHINK-1 cells released GFP into the medium. The intensity of the fluorescence from the released GFP correlated almost exactly with the radioactivity of a standard 51Cr-release assay performed with suspension-cultured K562 cells. Because it does not require separation of the remaining live target cells by centrifugation, the non-radioisotopic GFP release assay with GHINK-1 cells is a convenient alternative for monitoring human activated NK killing activity.     

TX-1123: an antitumor 2-hydroxyarylidene-4-cyclopentene-1,3-dione as a protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor having low mitochondrial toxicity

A series of 2-hydroxyarylidene-4-cyclopentene-1,3-diones were designed, synthesized, and evaluated with respect to protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibition, mitochondrial toxicity, and antitumor activity. Our results show that the cyclopentenedione-derived TX-1123 is a more potent antitumor tyrphostin and also shows lower mitochondrial toxicity than the malononitrile-derived AG17, a potent antitumor tyrphostin. The O-methylation product of TX-1123 (TX-1925) retained its tyrphostin-like properties, including mitochondrial toxicity and antitumor activities. However, the methylation product of AG17 (TX-1927) retained its tyrphostin-like antitumor activities, but lost its mitochondrial toxicity. Our comprehensive evaluation of these agents with respect to protein tyrosine kinase inhibition, mitochondrial inhibition, antitumor activity, and hepatotoxicity demonstrates that PTK inhibitors TX-1123 and TX-1925 are more promising candidates for antitumor agents than tyrphostin AG17.     

Effect of a novel vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 (1-31) on human umbilical artery

To clarify the action of a novel endothelin-1 with 31 amino acids, ET-1 (1-31), on fetal circulation, its vasoconstrictive activity on human umbilical and uterine arteries was investigated in comparison with that of a conventional ET-1 (1-21). UFER micro-easy magnus was used for determination of vasoconstriction. The contraction of umbilical artery by KCl was significantly weaker than that of the uterine artery. In ETs, constriction by KCl was set as control, and the rate of constriction of uterine and umbilical arteries was used for comparison. The constriction of human uterine artery induced by ET-1 (1-31) was also significantly weaker than that by ET-1 (1-21). On the contrary, ET-1 (1-31) was a potent constrictor on the umbilical artery equally to ET-1 (1-21). The present study is the first to demonstrate that ET-1 (1-31) has a contractile activity on human vessels. Furthermore, the regulatory mechanism on constriction of umbilical artery is different from that observed in a systemic vessel, indicating a particularly important role of ET-1 (1-31) in fetal circulation.