The augmentation of tumor-specific immunity using haptenic muramyl dipeptide (MDP) derivatives

Summary A new haptenic compound, a muramyl dipeptide (MDP) derivative (designated as L4-MDP-ONB) cross-reactive with Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) was synthesized. The cross-reactivity of L4-MDP hapten to BCG was demonstrated from the following evidence; (a) lymph node cells from BCG-primed C3H/HeN mice exhibited appreciable L4-MDP-specific proliferative responses to the in vitro stimulation of L4-MDP-modified syngeneic cells (L4-MDP-self); (b) inoculation of L4-MDP-self into footpads of BCG-primed C3H/HeN mice elicited ample delayed type-hypersensitivity (DTH) responses in vivo as measured by footpad swelling; and (c) BCG-primed mice contained L4-MDP-reactive helper T cell activity which functions to augment the generation of effector T cell responses to cell surface antigens. This crossreactivity between L4-MDP hapten and BCG as measured by the helper T cell activity was applied to enhanced induction of tumor-specific immunity. When BCG-primed C3H/HeN mice were immunized with L4-MDP-modified syngeneic X5563 tumor cells, these mice could generate augmented tumor-specific in vivo protective (tumor neutralizing) immunity as well as in vitro cytotoxic T cell responses. These results indicate the effectiveness of L4-MDP hapten in augmenting tumor-specific immunity. The present approach is discussed in the context of potential advantages of this new hapten for its future application to clinical tumor systems.     

Allelic variants of Ly-5 in inbred and natural populations of mice

Allelic variants of Ly-5 in inbred commensal and other natural populations of mice were analyzed by patterns of restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) and Southern hybridization using an Ly-5 cDNA probe and by cell-surface staining with a panel of antibodies directed against polymorphic and nonpolymorphic Ly-5 determinants. New Ly-5 alleles were defined by RFLPs generated by both Eco RI and Bam HI restriction enzyme digests. The Mus musculus subspecies and other species within the genus Mus showed a strong correlation between allelic variants defined by restriction enzymes and serologic specificities. The data also suggest the conservation of the Ly-5 gene throughout the genus Mus.     

A case of von Recklinghausen's disease associated with pheochromocytoma and papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland

A 58-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of headache, dizziness and intermittent elevation of blood pressure. Multiple café-au-lait spots and neurofibromas had appeared on the back and the limbs since the age of 30 years. At the age of 54 years she underwent total thyroidectomy because of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland. On admission, the levels of plasma norepinephrine and epinephrine, urinary norepinephrine and normetanephrine were all within the normal range. However, urinary excretion of metanephrine was markedly increased to 1.49 +/- 0.45 (Mean +/- SD) mg/day and that of epinephrine was also slightly increased. The computed tomographic scans of the abdomen and the scintigraphy with 131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine revealed a tumor mass in the region of the right adrenal gland. The tumor was histologically confirmed to be pheochromocytoma at the operation. In her family history, her mother and one of her two sisters had von Recklinghausen's disease and another sister suffered from follicular carcinoma of the thyroid gland. As far as we know, this paper is the first report of a patient with von Recklinghausen's disease associated with both pheochromocytoma and non-medullary carcinoma of the thyroid gland, and her family.     

Neural coding of speech sound in the telencephalic auditory area of the mynah bird

Summary The responses of neurons in field L in the auditory neostriatum of the mynah bird, Gracula religiosa, were recorded during presentation of intact or manipulated mimic voices. A typical mimic voice konnichiwa elicited responses in most of the neurons. Neurons in the input layer (L2) of field L showed many peaks on peristimulus time histograms while those in other layers (L1 and L3) exhibited only one or two peaks. Several neurons in L1 and L3 responded only to the affricative consonant /t/ in the intact mimic voices. They did not respond to the affricative consonant in the isolated segment or to the one in the playbacked voice in reverse. Forty-five percent of the neurons (33/ 73) decreased in firing rates at the affricative consonant in the isolated segment compared with in the intact voice. Some of these neurons, in which neither the affricative consonant in the isolated segment nor bursts of noise alone elicited responses, exhibited clear phasic responses to /t/ in the case when bursts of noise with particular central frequencies preceded the affricative consonant. The responsiveness of these neurons appears to receive temporal facilitation. These results suggest that these neurons code the temporal relationship of speech sound.Abbreviations HVc hyperstriatum ventrale, pars caudale - TFN temporally facilitated neuron - TSN temporally suppressed neuron     

Recessive Nonsense Suppressors in SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE : Action Spectra, Complementation Groups and Map Positions

Three genes SUP111, SUP112 and SUP113 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been identified that can mutate to give recessive omnipotent nonsense suppressors. Alleles of these loci can also act as allosuppressors; that is, different phenotypes, due apparently to different efficiencies of suppression, can result from different alleles at a given locus. The SUP111, SUP112 and SUP113 loci map to the right arms of chromosomes VIII, VII and XIII, respectively.     

In vitro studies on some parameters of the binding of the rat hemopexin--heme complex with the hepatic membrane receptor

The binding of [125I]Hpx--heme with the rat hepatic plasma membrane receptor was studied at 37 degrees C as well as different parameters such as plasma membrane concentration, calcium dependence, optimal pH and specific binding. A Scatchard plot revealed the existence of one binding for [125I]Hpx--heme on the isolated liver plasma membrane with a Kd = 3.2 X 10(-8) M.     

O-acetylation and de-O-acetylation of sialic acids. O-acetylation of sialic acids in the rat liver Golgi apparatus involves an acetyl intermediate and essential histidine and lysine residues--a transmembrane reaction?

Isolated intact rat liver Golgi vesicles utilize [acetyl-3H]coenzyme A to add 3H-O-acetyl esters to sialic acids of internally facing endogenous glycoproteins. During this reaction, [3H]acetate also accumulates in the vesicles, even though the vesicles are impermeant to free acetate. On the other hand, entry of intact AcCoA into the lumen of the vesicles could not be demonstrated, and permeabilization of the vesicles did not alter the reaction substantially (Diaz, S., Higa, H. H., Hayes, B. K., and Varki, A. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 19416-19426). When vesicles prelabeled with [acetyl-3H] coenzyme A are permeabilized with saponin, we can demonstrate a [3H]acetyl intermediate in the membrane that can transfer label to the 7- and 9-positions of exogenously added free N-acetylneuraminic acid but not to glucuronic acid or CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid. This labeled acetyl intermediate represents a significant portion of the radioactivity incorporated into the membranes during the initial incubation and cannot be accounted for by nonspecifically "trapped" acetyl-CoA in the permeabilized vesicles. There was no evidence for involvement of acetylcarnitine or acetyl phosphate as an intermediate. The overall acetylation reaction appears to involve two steps. The first step (utilization of exogenous acetyl-CoA to form the acetyl intermediate) is inhibited by coenzyme A-SH (apparent Ki = 24-29 microM), whereas the second (transfer from the acetyl intermediate to sialic acid) is not affected by millimolar concentrations of the nucleotide. Studies with amino acid-modifying reagents indicate that 1 or more histidine residues are involved in the first step of the acetylation reaction. Diethylpyrocarbonate (which can react with both nonsubstituted and singly acetylated histidine residues) also blocks the second reaction, indicating that the acetyl intermediate on both sides of the membrane involves histidine residue(s). Taken together with data presented in the preceding paper, these results indicate that the acetylation of sialic acids in Golgi vesicles may occur by a transmembrane reaction, similar to that described for the acetylation of glucosamine in lysosomes (Bame, K. J., and Rome, L. H. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 11293-11299). However, several features of this Golgi reaction distinguish it from the lysosomal one, including the nature and kinetics of the reaction and the additional involvement of an essential lysine residue. The accumulation of free acetate in the lumen of the vesicles during the reaction may occur by abortive acetylation (viz. transfer of label from the acetyl intermediate to water). It is not clear if this is an artifact that occurs only in the in vitro reaction.     

Expression of Virulence-Associated Antigens of Rhodococcus equi Is Regulated by Temperature and pH

We recently reported that there are two different virulence-associated antigens correlated with virulence levels in Rhodococcus equi isolates from AIDS patients: virulent R. equi that kills mice with 10⁶ cells expresses 15- to 17-kDa antigens and intermediately virulent R. equi that kills mice with 10⁷ cells expresses a 20-kDa antigen. Environmental parameters were evaluated for their effects on the expression of these virulence-associated antigens in virulent R. equi strains by immunoblotting using monoclonal antibodies in this study. Expression of these two virulence-associated antigens of R. equi was regulated by pH and temperature; the antigens were produced maximally when the isolates were grown at 38 C and pH 6.5, but were not produced when grown at 38 C and pH 8, nor at temperatures below 30 C. The 20-kDa antigen was found to be located on the cell surface, as were the 15- to 17-kDa antigens, and showed susceptibility to proteolysis by trypsin. These results indicate that expression of the virulence-associated antigens of R. equi is dependent on the environmental conditions.     

Failure to Reject an Allografted Tumor after Elimination of Macrophages in Mice

After an i.p. transplantation of an allogeneic tumor (Meth A) to C57BL/6 mice, a macrophage (MΦ)-rich, non-T, non-NK cell population is induced as the major infiltrate and cytotoxic cells. We here evaluated the role of the MΦs in the rejection of allografted Meth A cells and characterized the MΦs in comparison with other well-known MΦs. At all time intervals after transplantation, the highest cytotoxic activities against Meth A tumor were obtained with the MΦ-rich population. In addition, the lymphocyte-rich population had a significant but low cytotoxic activity, whereas two other population types, granulocytes and large granular cells, were inactive. When the MΦ-rich or the T cell-depleted MΦ-rich population was i.p. transplanted simultaneously with Meth A cells into untreated C57BL/6 mice, the tumor cells were rejected without growth. After specific elimination of MΦs by in vivo application of dichloromethylene diphosphonate-containing liposomes, the cytotoxic activity against Meth A cells was hardly induced at the transplantation site of Meth A cells and the allografted Meth A tumor continued to grow, indicating that a type of MΦ is the effector cell essential for the rejection. In contrast to other well-known MΦs, the cytotoxic activity against Meth A cells was cell-to-cell contact dependent and soluble factor (e.g., NO and TNF-α) independent. Moreover, the cytotoxic activity of the MΦs (H-2^b) against ⁵¹Cr-labeled Meth A (H-2^d) cells was inhibited by the addition of unlabeled H-2^d, but not H-2^a, H-2^k or H-2^b, lymphoblasts as well as Meth A cells, implying the specific interaction of the MΦs with H-2^d cells.     

A novel transposon-like structure carries the genes for pyocin AP41, a Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteriocin with a DNase domain homology to E2 group colicins

Summary The genetic determinant for pyocin AP41, a bacteriocin produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, has been cloned. The determinant is located on the chromosome flanked by a pair of inverted repeats, forming a transposon-like structure (TnAP41). TnAP41 possesses some features characteristic of the Tn3 family of transposons. Based on a comparison with the structure of the corresponding region of the chromosome of a nonproducer strain, we propose that P. aeruginosa has acquired pyocinogeny by the transposition of TnAP41 into the chromosome. The determinant comprises two ORFs encoding the protein subunits responsible for the killing action (the large component) and immunity (the small component). Amino acid sequences of the C-terminus of the large component (the deoxyribonuclease domain) and the immunity protein show remarkable homology to those of E2 group colicins, suggesting that these bacteriocins, which are produced by distantly related species, have originated from a common ancestor.