Demonstration of reversible priming of human neutrophils using platelet- activating factor

Exposure of neutrophils to agents such as lipopolysaccharide, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor causes a major upregulation of subsequent agonist-induced NADPH oxidase activation. This priming effect is a prerequisite for neutrophil-mediated tissue damage and has been widely considered to be an irreversible process. We have investigated the potential for neutrophils to recover from a priming stimulus by studying the effects of platelet-activating factor (PAF). PAF did not stimulate respiratory burst activity directly, but caused a rapid (maximal at 10 minutes) and concentration-dependent (EC50 50.2 nmol/L) increase in N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP)-stimulated superoxide anion release. At time-points > 10 minutes, this priming effect spontaneously declined, with return to basal levels of fMLP- stimulated superoxide anion generation by 120 minutes. An identical priming time-course was observed with N-methyl carbamyl PAF, a nonmetabolizable analogue of PAF, indicating that the transient nature of PAF-induced priming was not secondary to PAF metabolism. Two structurally diverse PAF receptor antagonists (UK-74,505 and WEB 2086), added 10 minutes after PAF addition, increased the rate of decay of the priming effect. In contrast, TNF-alpha-induced priming, which was of a similar magnitude to that observed for PAF, was slower to evolve (maximal at 30 minutes) and remained constant for at least 120 minutes. The reversible nature of PAF-induced priming was confirmed by demonstrating that PAF-, but not TNF-alpha-, induced cell polarization (shape change) and CD11b-dependent neutrophil binding of albumin-coated latex beads was also transient, with return to basal, unstimulated levels by 120 minutes. Furthermore, cells that had spontaneously deprimed following PAF exposure retained their capacity to be fully reprimed by a subsequent addition of either PAF or TNF-alpha. These data imply that neutrophil priming is not an irreversible event: the demonstration of a cycle of complete priming, depriming, and repriming offers the potential for functional recycling of neutrophils at sites of inflammation.     

Molecular and cellular effects of antisickling concentrations of alkylureas

Alkylureas are capable of inhibiting sickling in vitro and the gelation of solutions of hemoglobin S at concentrations between 0.05 and 0.1 M with increasing effectiveness that is directly proportional to the length of the alkyl chain (butyl greater than propyl greater than ethyl greater than methyl). 6The inhibitory effect is independent of pH between 6.5 and 7.5 and is a process driven by entropy. The alkylureas at concentrations of 0.1 M have minimal effects on several erythrocyte functions. Oxygen equilibria, osmotic fragility, reduced glutathione content, and glutathione reductase activity are totally unaffected, while pyruvic kinase activity is decreased only by butylurea by about 20%, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity is decreased progressively to a maximum of 30% in direct proportion to the length of the alkyl chain. Alkylureas not only inhibit sickling but are also capable of desickling erythrocytes that have been maintained in the deoxygenated state. They have little effect on several erythrocyte functions at antisickling concentrations, but their toxicity must be evaluated before they can be examined as potential therapeutic agents for the treatment or prevention of acute episodes in sickle cell anemia.     

Association of the subtype 2 of the Epstein-Barr virus with T-cell non- Hodgkin's lymphoma of the midline granuloma type [see comments]

Lethal midline granuloma (LMG) is associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The latter has at least two subtypes with different biological properties. The subtypes can be identified by their genomic configuration. Using EBV-RNA (EBER) in situ hybridization and EBV polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we have looked for the presence of EBV in six LMGs and six non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) located in the nasopharyngeal region, and determined the subtype of EBV. Six of six LMGs were positive by PCR and EBER in situ hybridization, whereas NHLs were either negative or, in three of six cases, showed few EBER- positive cells considered to be nonneoplastic lymphocytes. The subtype 2 was found in LMG lesions of three of six patients; the remaining three of six patients with LMG had the generally occurring subtype 1. The results indicate that the association of EBV with NHL may depend more on tumor type than on its localization. The occurrence of the rare subtype 2 in LMG may relate to a covert immune defect.     

Studies of circulating hemopoietic progenitor cells in human fetal blood

High levels of committed erythroid and granulocytic/monocytic progenitor cells have been demonstrated in fresh blood obtained at fetoscopy. The fetal progenitor cells were more sensitive to appropriate stimuli (erythropoietin and colony-stimulating factor) than adult progenitor cells grown under the same conditions, and this was shown to be due to intrinsic differences in the progenitor cells at the different developmental stages.     

Changes in extracellular calcium within the physiological range influence receptor-mediated inositol phosphate responses in brain and tracheal smooth muscle slices

Summary The effect of changes in extracellular calcium concentration ([Ca²⁺]_e) on the incorporation of myo-[2-³H]-inositol into phosphoinositides and agonist-stimulated ³H-inositol phosphates (³H-InsPs) was examined in rat cerebral cortex and bovine tracheal smooth muscle slices. In brain slices, reduction in [Ca²⁺]_e from 2.4 to 1.2 mmol/l resulted in an approximate doubling of the carbachol and noradrenaline-stimulated ³H-InsP response with no effect on the EC₅₀ values. An identical effect of varying [Ca²⁺]_e was observed for carbachol-stimulated ³H-InsP formation in tracheal smooth muscle with a further increase in ³H-InsPs evident at [Ca²⁺]_e 0.6 mmol/l. In this tissue the effect of changes in [Ca ²⁺]_e on the incorporation of myo-[2-³H]-inositol into the total phosphoinositide pool directly paralleled the changes in ³H-InsPs except in conditions of no added calcium when ³H-InsP responses were markedly impaired. Additional studies in brain slices using buffer where the added calcium varied between 0 and 2.4 mmol/l, showed that both the carbachol stimulated formation of separate inositol phosphates during short incubation periods and incorporation of myo-[2-³H]-inositol into PtdInsP and PtdInsP₂ under basal conditions was maximal at [Ca²⁺]_e 0.3 mmol/l. Omitting Ca²⁺]_e from the buffer resulted in maximal labelling of PtdIns but a decrease in PtdInsP and PtdInsP₂ labelling (compared with the level at [Ca²⁺]_e 0.3 mmol/l) and a markedly impaired inositol polyphosphate response. Alterations in [Ca²⁺]_e following ³H-inositol labelling but immediately prior to carbachol stimulation did not influence ³H-inositol polyphosphate responses. It is therefore clear that even relatively small changes in [Ca²⁺]_e markedly influence agonist-stimulated ³H-InsP responses in brain and tracheal smooth muscle slices and that these reflect changes in the labelling of substrate inositol lipids. These findings have important practical implications for studies examining ³H-InsP responses in central and peripheral tissues and the differential effect of very low [Ca²⁺]_e on PtdIns and PtdlnsP/PtdInsP₂ labelling may explain in part the severe decrease in ³H-InsPs seen under these conditions despite apparent maximal total phosphoinositide labelling. Send offprint requests to S. R. Nahorski at the above address     

Lack of effect of zaprinast on methacholine-induced contraction and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate accumulation in bovine tracheal smooth muscle.

1. The effects of zaprinast (M&B 22948), a selective guanosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic GMP) phosphodiesterase inhibitor, and sodium nitroprusside on cyclic GMP content, phosphoinositide hydrolysis and airway smooth muscle tone were examined in flurbiprofen pretreated bovine tracheal smooth muscle (BTSM). 2. Anion-exchange chromatography of the soluble fraction of BTSM homogenates resolved three peaks of Ca2+/calmodulin-independent phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity that corresponded to type Ia (cyclic GMP-specific, zaprinast-inhibitable), type II (cyclic GMP-stimulated) and type IV (Ro 20 1724-inhibitable) PDE isoenzymes. Zaprinast caused a selective inhibition of the type Ia PDE isoenzyme (IC50 0.94 microM) with respect to the type II and IV (IC50 s 93 microM and 197 microM respectively) isoenzymes. 3. Pretreatment of BTSM strips with zaprinast (10 microM) for 20 min affected neither the initial rate of force development, nor the resultant magnitude of contraction induced by methacholine (10 microM). In addition, zaprinast (10 microM; 20 min) did not affect the cumulative concentration-response relationship induced by methacholine. In contrast, sodium nitroprusside (300 microM) either alone, or in combination with zaprinast (10 microM), significantly attenuated tone induced by low, but not high concentrations of methacholine. This resulted in a non-parallel, rightwards shift of the methacholine concentration-response curves (nitroprusside: 4.0 fold; nitroprusside/zaprinast: 4.8 fold at the EC50 values), without a reduction in the maximum tone generated. 4. In BTSM slices, zaprinast (10 or 100 microM) did not influence basal or methacholine (10 microM)-stimulated cyclic GMP accumulation or inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins(1,4,5)P3) mass accumulation over a 60s incubation period, although it did significantly increase cyclic GMP content over longer (30 min) stimulation periods.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)