Localization and activity of various lysosomal proteases in Leishmania amazonensis-infected macrophages.

In mammalian hosts, Leishmania amastigotes are obligatory intracellular parasites of macrophages and multiply within parasitophorous vacuoles of phagolysosomal origin. To understand how they escape the harmful strategies developed by macrophages to kill ingested microorganisms, it is important to obtain information on the functional state of parasitophorous vacuole. For this purpose, we studied the intracellular distribution and activity of host lysosomal proteases in rat bone marrow-derived macrophages infected with Leishmania amazonensis amastigotes. Localization of cathepsins B, H, L, and D was investigated by using specific immunoglobulins. In uninfected macrophages, these enzymes were located in perinuclear granules (most of them were probably secondary lysosomes) which, after infection, disappeared progressively. In infected macrophages, cathepsins were detected mainly in the parasitophorous vacuoles, suggesting that the missing secondary lysosomes had fused with these organelles. Biochemical assays of various proteases (cathepsins B, H, and D and dipeptidyl peptidases I and II) showed that infection was accompanied by a progressive increase of all activities tested, except that of dipeptidyl peptidase II, which remained constant. No more than 1 to 10% of these activities could be attributed to amastigotes. These data indicate that (i) Leishmania infection is followed by an increased synthesis and/or a reduced catabolism of host lysosomal proteases, and (ii) amastigotes grow in a compartment rich in apparently fully active proteases. Unexpectedly, it was found that infected and uninfected macrophages degraded endocytosed proteins similarly. The lack of correlation in infected macrophages between increase of protease activities and catabolism of exogenous proteins could be linked to the huge increase in volume of the lysosomal compartment.     

DNA fingerprinting of Streptococcus pneumoniae strains by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of genomic DNA was carried out on Streptococcus pneumoniae strains to determine its value in the epidemiological survey of pneumococcal infections. Twenty-one clinical strains were chosen to cover a broad range of diversity according to geographic location, penicillin susceptibility, serotype, and multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE) pattern. The restriction endonucleases ApaI and SmaI were used to digest intact chromosomes, and the fragments were resolved by field inversion gel electrophoresis (FIGE). Each digest produced 10 to 19 fragments for comparison between strains. All the strains, including strains of the same serotype and strains with the same MLEE profile, had different FIGE patterns. In some cases, the restriction patterns differed by only a few fragment bands, and two isolates differed only in the location of a single DNA fragment. The polymorphism obtained with FIGE was greater than those obtained with serotyping and MLEE analysis. The stability of the FIGE profiles was established by testing of two independent clones derived from pneumococcus strain R36A. These results indicated that pulsed-field gel electrophoresis should be an effective tool for the typing of S. pneumoniae strains, capable of subdividing serotypes or MLEE types and of tracing the origin of pneumococcal strains.     

Antiganglioside autoantibody profiles in Guillain-Barré syndrome

We established anti-ganglioside antibody profiles in GBS and studied the frequency, fine specificity and clinical correlate. IgG and IgM antibodies to 8 gangliosides were tested by immunodot-blot in 249 consecutive patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome with large variability in clinical expression, referred to our laboratory over a 8-year period. IgG and IgM anti-GM1 antibodies were measured by Elisa. Thin-layer chromatography overlayed by serum was used to control positivity. 89/249 GBS (36%) had characteristic anti-ganglioside antibody profile. Isotypes were, IgG (62%), IgG + IgM (26%) and IgM (12%). Antecedent infections were found in 62% of GBS included more frequently Campylobacter jejuni and cytomegalovirus. Various autoantibody profiles were described with an immunodominant ganglioside. We detected 6 characteristic anti-ganglioside profiles with fine specificity and immunodominant ganglioside corresponding to 6 immuno-clinical variants of GBS: 1) anti-GM1 and GD1b IgG and IgG > IgM in the acute motor axonal neuropathy after Campylobacter jejuni infection in 41 GBS; 2) anti-GD1a IgG in 6 severe motor axonal GBS after Campylobacter jejuni infection; 3) selectively anti-GQ1b IgG in 17 typical Miller Fisher syndrome with areflexia, ataxia and ophthalmoplegia; 4) anti- GT1b ganglioside and polysialogangliosides IgG (n = 9) in two separate cranial nerve variants, ophthalmoplegic SGB and lower cranial nerve variants depending upon the presenting deficit; 5) anti-GD1b IgG in 5 pure ataxic sensory GBS (4%); 6) anti-GM2 IgM in 11 severe GBS with antecedent CMV infection (8%). 34 GBS (14%) had low levels of anti-GM1 and GD1b IgM antibodies which are not disease specific and may simply represent part of the naturally occurring autoantibody population or a secondary response to disease. 126 GBS (50%) had no antibodies, predominantly in classical form. Associations between isotype, fine specificity and clinical presentation permit the definition of homogeneous immuno-clinical variants. Various autoantibody profiles with diagnostic and prognostic value are easy to perform by immunodot blot in acute peripheral neuropathies.     

Identical abnormality of the short arm of chromosome 18 in two Philadelphia-positive chronic myelocytic leukemia patients with erythroblastic transformation,resulting in duplication of BCR-ABL1 fusion

Two patients with Ph-positive chronic myelocytic leukemia in erythroblastic transformation and rearrangement of the short arm of chromosome 18 are reported. Fluorescence in situ hybridization studies showed that the 18p rearrangement resulted from translocation of the main part of chromosome 22 long arm to 18p, including BCR-ABL1 fusion. The 18p abnormality resulted, thus, in loss of 18p and duplication of BCR-ABL1 in both patients. The possible relation to the erythroblastic type of blastic phase is briefly discussed. In addition an apparently intact germline ABL1 gene was duplicated and inserted into chromosome 6 at band p21 in one of these patients.     

Autosome and Sex Chromosome Diversity Among the African Pygmy Mice, Subgenus Nannomys (Murinae; Mus)

The African pygmy mice, subgenus Nannomys, constitute the most speciose lineage of the genus Mus with 19 recognized species. Although morphologically very similar, they exhibit considerable chromosomal diversity which is here confirmed and extended by the G-banding analysis of 65 mice from West and South Africa. On the basis of their karyotype and distribution area, the specimens were assigned to at least five species. Extensive differentiation both within and between species was observed that involved almost exclusively Robertsonian translocations, 23 of which are newly described. Two of the rearrangements were sex chromosome-autosome translocations, associated in some cases with partial deletions of the X or Y chromosomes. Several authors have predicted that the highly deleterious effect of this rearrangement would be reduced if the sex and autosomal segments were insulated by a block of centromeric heterochromatin. The C-banding analyses performed showed that among the species carrying X-autosome translocations, one followed the expected pattern, while the other did not. In this case, functional isolation of the sex and autosome compartments must involve other repetitive sequences or genomic traits that require further molecular characterization. Such studies will provide insight into the causes and consequences of the high diversity of sex chromosome rearrangements in this subgenus.     

Differential stability and fusion activity of Lyssavirus glycoprotein trimers

The oligomeric structure and the fusion activity of lyssavirus glycoprotein (G) was studied by comparing G from Mokola virus (GMok) and rabies virus (PV strain) (GPV), which are highly divergent lyssaviruses. G expressed at the surface of BSR cells upon either plasmid transfection or virus infection are shown to be mainly trimeric after cross-linking experiments. However, solubilization by a detergent (CHAPS) and analysis in sucrose sedimentation gradient evidenced that GMok trimer is less stable than GPV trimer. A chimeric glycoprotein (G Mok-PV) associating the N-terminal half of GMok to the C-terminal half part of GPV formed trimers with an intermediate stability, indicating that the G C-terminal domain is essential in trimer stability. A cell to cell fusion assay revealed that GMok (and not G Mok-PV) was able to induce fusion at a higher pH (0.5 pH unit) than GPV. Such differences in the oligomeric structure stability and in the fusion activity of lyssavirus glycoproteins may partly account for the previously reported differences of their immunogenic and pathogenic properties.     

Critical stages of tumor growth regulation in transgenic mice harboring a hepatocellular carcinoma revealed by distinct patterns of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and transforming growth factor-beta mRNA production

There is now good evidence that cytokines contribute to the regulation of tumor growth. The cytokine-driven modulation of tumor growth was investigated during the progression of a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in SV40 large T tumor antigen transgenic mice. In vivo, an increased rate of liver growth correlated with increased transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1 mRNA expression, while the greatest amounts of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha mRNA were detected earlier during tumor development. Conversely, no particular alteration of IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-2, IL-4 and IFN-gamma mRNA production could be reported. In vitro, hepatocyte-like tumor cell lines established at two stages, either before or after HCC differentiation, were characterized. The early-stage-derived cell line produced TNF-alpha mRNA, but had barely detectable expression of TGF-beta 1 mRNA, while later-stage- derived cell lines showed the reciprocal pattern. All cell lines displayed a lack of sensitivity to TNF-alpha, although some degree of sensitivity to TNF-alpha could be observed in the presence of actinomycin-D or after treatment with IFN-gamma. The early-stage- derived cell line was sensitive to the growth inhibitory effects of TGF- beta 1, but late-stage-derived tumor cell lines displayed a loss of sensitivity to TGF-beta 1 which correlated with the increased expression of TGF-beta 1 mRNA. Altogether, this suggests that tumor cells contribute to the discrete TNF-alpha and TGF-beta 1 expression patterns during HCC progression. This model of HCC could be of valuable interest to assess the impact of various immunotherapeutic strategies on modulation of tumor growth.      

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy versus fatty replacement of the right ventricle. An autopsy case report

We report an autopsy case of a cardiomyopathy characterized by fatty replacement of the right ventricular myocardium and compare its clinical and histologic characteristics with those of the arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. A 39-year old male died suddenly in a hospital room. He had an alcoholic cirrhosis with ascitis, but the clinical examination and the biology showed no abnormalities explaining the death. Histologically, in the right ventricle, large areas of cardiomyocytes were replaced by fat, but there was no fibrosis. In contrast, fibrosis is present in association with fat in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. Fatty replacement of the right ventricle is likely to be a distinct entity. Right ventricular failure has been shown to be a possible complication. Sudden death is probably rare and is likely to occur when other arrhythmogenic factors are associated.