MODES OF INACTIVATION OF NEUROHYPOPHYSIAL HORMONES: SIGNIFICANCE OF PLASMA DISAPPEARANCE RATE FOR THEIR PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES

Analogues of oxytocin and deaminooxytocin with 4-glutamine replaced by 4-glutamic acid methyl ester readily lose their uterotonic activity when incubated with rat serum, presumably by hydrolysis to the much less active 4-glutamic acid derivatives. On the other hand, inactivation of the deaminooxytocin analogue in the rat uterus, as demonstrated by the 'oil-bath'technique, is only slightly more rapid than that of deaminooxytocin and distinctly slower than that of oxytocin. Its in situ/in vitro ratio of uterotonic activity is less than 0.1 whereas that for deaminooxytocin is about 3 and also the persistence of the uterotonic effect in situ is slightly less than that of deaminooxytocin. The results with these 'rapidly inactivated'analogues can be used as proof of some predictions of the three-compartment model for tissue distribution of neurohypophysial hormones and its influence upon the time course of a biological response published earlier. The potential use of analogues of neurohypophysial hormones as probes for inactivation mechanisms and the results thus far obtained are discussed.     

Response to 2'-deoxycoformycin after failure of interferon-alpha in nonsplenectomized patients with hairy cell leukemia

Two patients with hairy cell leukemia with massive splenomegaly and severe pancytopenia were treated with recombinant alpha-A interferon (IFN-alpha-2a). There was no significant response to a trial of IFN- alpha-2a (11 and 20 weeks) with respect to blood counts or spleen size. Subsequent treatment with 2'-deoxycoformycin (dCF) for 8 consecutive weeks (4 mg/m2/wk) resulted in normalization of spleen size and a normalization of peripheral blood counts and bone marrow in one patient. The second patient demonstrated a reduction in spleen size and improved blood counts following 9 weeks of dCF therapy but eventually became refractory. This demonstrates that dCF is non-cross-resistant with interferon and confirms the efficacy of dCF in nonsplenectomized patients.     

Cytophotometric assay of alkaline phosphatase in polymorphs and fibroblasts during wound healing in rats

Department of Naval and Military Surgery, Research Laboratory of Electron Microscopy and Histochemistry, S. M. Military Medical Academy, Leningrad. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. P. Kolesov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 105, No. 4, pp. 486–488, April, 1988.     

Function of C3 in a humoral response: iC3b/C3dg bound to an immune complex generated with natural antibody and a primary antigen promotes antigen uptake and the expression of co-stimulatory molecules by all B cells,but only stimulates immunoglobulin synthesis by antigen-specific B cells

Previous studies have shown that an optimal humoral response to a primary protein antigen requires C3 and CR2 (CD21). Sera from non-immunized donors contain natural IgM and IgG antibodies to the primary antigen keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH), and these have been previously shown to form immune complexes (IC) that activate the classical pathway of C, fixing iC3b/C3dg onto the KLH antigen. Such KLH IC bind to CR2 on KLH-non-specific B lymphocytes, resulting in antigen processing and MHC class II-dependent presentation to KLH-specific helper T cells. KLH IC also induce B lymphocytes to express the CD80 co-stimulatory molecule via simultaneous CR2 ligation with C3 and FcγRII (CD32) stimulation by IgG natural antibody. The current study demonstrated that KLH IC ligation to either CR2 or FcγRII resulted in activation of a second co-stimulatory molecule, LFA-1 (CD11a, CD18). The possibility of polyclonal B cell stimulation by the presentation of KLH-iC3b/C3dg by antigen-non-specific B cells was excluded by demonstration that in vitro cultivation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with KLH-iC3b/C3dg elicited only anti-KLH, and did not stimulate synthesis of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) or tetanus toxoid (TT). Of greatest significance, a specific anti-KLH response was only detectable in cultures stimulated with KLH-iC3b/C3dg and not in cultures stimulated with KLH alone or KLH-IgG. Thus, iC3b/C3dg that was bound to a primary protein antigen enhanced recognition and specific immunoglobulin synthesis by antigen-specific B cells, even though the antigen was taken up and processed via CR2 by both antigen-specific and non-specific B cells.     

Significance of methods for purification of oligodeoxyribonucleotide probes for the efficiency of gene diagnosis by real-time PCR

Analysis of the use of real-time PCR with fluorescent registration of results for gene diagnosis of infectious diseases showed that the sensitivity and reliability of quantitative evaluation of DNA targets directly depended on the method of purification of oligonucleotide probes. Chromatographic behavior of synthetic probes carrying various fluorophores and fluorescence quenchers was analyzed. Approaches to optimization of purification methods are proposed enabling elimination of previously undetectable admixtures. The importance of these studies is explained by the need in extending the armory of methods for the development and production of diagnosticums for detection of infectious and hereditary diseases, identification of genetically modified organisms, and for a wide spectrum of research in molecular biology and medicine. __________ Translated from Byulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 145, No. 3, pp. 280–284, March, 2008     

Regulation of CR3 (CD11b/CD18)-dependent natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity by tumour target cell MHC class I molecules

Phagocyte and NK cell CR3 functions as both an adhesion molecule and an iC3b receptor mediating cytotoxic responses to microorganisms. Cytotoxic activation of iC3b receptor function requires ligation of both a CD11b I-domain site for iC3b and a lectin site located in the C-terminus of CD11b. Because tumours lack the CR3-binding polysaccharides of bacteria and fungi, iC3b-opsonized tumours do not stimulate CR3-dependent cytotoxicity. Previous studies showed that NK cells could be induced to kill iC3b-opsonized tumours with small soluble β-glucans that bound with high affinity to CR3, bypassing the absence of similar polysaccharides on tumour membranes. Because CR3 signalling requires several tyrosine phosphorylation events, it appeared possible that CR3-dependent killing of autologous tumour cells might be suppressed by NK cell inhibitory receptors for MHC class I (KIR and CD94/NKG2) whose action involves recruitment of SHP-1 and SHP-2 tyrosine phosphatases. In the current study, Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-transformed B cells were used as targets following opsonization with iC3b. Soluble β-glucan primed CR3 for killing of iC3b-coated B cells, but autologous class I-bearing targets were 84% more resistant than class I-deficient Daudi cells. Blockade of target cell class I with a MoAb specific for a domain recognized by both KIR and CD94/NKG2 resulted in comparable killing of class I⁺ B cells. By contrast, another MoAb to class II had no effect on cytotoxicity. These data suggest that NK cell recognition of class I suppresses CR3/tyrosine kinase-dependent cytotoxicity in the same way as it suppresses cytotoxicity mediated by other tyrosine kinase-linked receptors such as FcγRIIIA (CD16).     

Germline mutation in BRAF codon 600 is compatible with human development: de novo p.V600G mutation identified in a patient with CFC syndrome

Champion KJ, Bunag C, Estep AL, Jones JR, Bolt CH, Rogers RC, Rauen KA, Everman DB. Germline mutation in BRAF codon 600 is compatible with human development: de novo p.V600G mutation identified in a patient with CFC syndrome. BRAF, the protein product of BRAF, is a serine/threonine protein kinase and one of the direct downstream effectors of Ras. Somatic mutations in BRAF occur in numerous human cancers, whereas germline BRAF mutations cause cardio‐facio‐cutaneous (CFC) syndrome. One recurrent somatic mutation, p.V600E, is frequently found in several tumor types, such as melanoma, papillary thyroid carcinoma, colon cancer, and ovarian cancer. However, a germline mutation affecting codon 600 has never been described. Here, we present a patient with CFC syndrome and a de novo germline mutation involving codon 600 of BRAF, thus providing the first evidence that a pathogenic germline mutation involving this critical codon is not only compatible with development but can also cause the CFC phenotype. In vitro functional analysis shows that this mutation, which replaces a valine with a glycine at codon 600 (p.V600G), leads to increased ERK and ELK phosphorylation compared to wild‐type BRAF but is less strongly activating than the cancer‐associated p.V600E mutation.