Fine structure of the carotid body of the midterm human fetus

Summary The human fetal carotid body was studied using both histochemical and electron microscopic methods. The glomus cells of a mid term fetal carotid body evidently contain catecholamines. This was demonstrated both by formaldehyder-induced fluorescence of the cells and by the presence of typical dense-cored vesicles (diameter 1430–3200 Å) in the cytoplasm of the chief cells. The glomus cells were densely innervated and the synapses found on their surface were probably cholinergic in type, containing agranular synaptic vesicles measuring 400–700 Å in diameter with a few dense-cored vesicles measuring 900 to 1300 Å. Synapses were not found in any other cell type within the glomus caroticum. The prominent feature of the glomus cell cytoplasm was the presence of the dense-cored vesicles. The density of the vesicular core varied only slightly from cell to cell. There were no perceptible differences in vesicular size between the different cells. The glomus cells were mostly surrounded by the processes of the sustentacular cells, which usually also surrounded the capillary walls. No glomus cells were ever found in direct contact with the capillary wall. The capillaries were wide and very numerous over the restricted area of the organ. They formed sinusoidal loops, probably anastomosing with each other. Finally, the features of the fine structure are discussed, correlating the present findings with our knowledge about the adult functional carotic body.     

Association between atopy and recurrent vaginal candidiasis

To determine whether there is an association between atopy and recurrent vaginal candidiasis (RVC) and to evaluate the type-2 immune response in patients with RVC. Evaluation of immediate hypersensitivity skin tests to aeroallergens, measurement of total IgE and Candida albicans specific IgE and levels of IL-5 in 44 women with RVC and 26 with sporadic vaginal candidiasis (SVC). Statistical analyses were performed by Mann-Whitney test and chi(2) test with Yates correction. History of atopy (68%) and positive skin test (42%) were higher (P < 0.05) in RVC than in patients with SVC. No significant difference was found in total IgE, C. albicans specific IgE and IL-5 levels. There was a strong association between atopy and RVC, but type-2 immune response to C. albicans antigen was absent or similar in the two groups of patients.     

Cx43在造血调控及重建中的作用

目的:采用条件性基因敲除技术构建造血系统间隙连接蛋白43(Cx43)基因敲除(Cx43~(-/-))小鼠模型,并探讨Cx43在维持造血细胞自我更新及功能稳定中的作用。方法:将引进的2对转基因小鼠Cx43 loxP/loxP和Lyz-Cre/+杂交,选取F1雌性子代Cx43 loxP/-_Lyz-Cre/+与雄性Cx43 loxP/loxP合笼回配,提取所获得子代小鼠鼠尾组织基因组DNA,采用PCR方法鉴定小鼠基因型,RT-PCR方法筛选Cx43~(-/-)小鼠,同时分析小鼠不同器官中Cx43基因的表达差异;该类小鼠经5-氟尿嘧啶(5-FU;125 mg/kg)处理,在化疗前及化疗后第5、10和15天经眼球取血分析其血象变化。Cx43~(-/-)及Cx43~(+/+)小鼠予7.5 Gy(~(60)Co-γ)的致死量照射,剂量率1 Gy/min,照射后6 h分别给予事先准备就序的骨髓细胞,每只3×10~6细胞于尾静脉注入,2周后处死小鼠检测造血是否重建:分离股骨切片后,收集骨髓细胞进行细胞表型分析(选用的单抗为CD45R、Gr-1、CD4、 CD8a、TCRαβ、Mac-1、抗sIgM、TER119、Sca-1及CD117);同时进行体外造血细胞集落实验观察造血细胞的体外增殖能力。结果:本研究通过2种转基因小鼠间杂交和回交,成功获得造血系统选择性Cx43基因敲除小鼠;该类小鼠骨髓及外周血细胞无Cx43表达,参与造血的组织,如肝脏和脾脏中Cx43表达也显著下调(P0.01),而心脏和肾脏的Cx43表达则无影响,小鼠成年后外周血象分析并无明显异常,但应急代偿能力下降,经5-FU处理后,其造血功能恢复显著减缓,处理15 d后,Cx43~(+/+)小鼠造血功能已接近正常水平,而Cx43~(-/-)小鼠仍无明显的恢复迹象,血红蛋白、白细胞及血小板仍处低位,2者差别有统计学显著性(P0.01);体外集落试验也证实Cx43~(-/-)小鼠造血干/祖细胞的增殖能力下降,其CFU-GM或CFU-E集落数均明显少于Cx43~(+/+)小鼠(P0.01),但流式细胞术结果显示,Cx43~(-/-)小鼠骨髓中Lin~-/c-Kit~+/Sca-1~+细胞亚群数量与Cx43~(+/+)小鼠相比差异并无统计学显著性;Cx43~(-/-)小鼠在化疗或移植后其骨髓造血功能重建均延迟,且化疗15 d后骨髓切片及涂片均证实其骨髓中造血细胞增生程度明显降低,脂肪组织显著增多,而且T、B细胞发育也有异常。此外,其外周血中CD4~+CD8~+细胞比例比野生型小鼠增多(P0.05),但CD4~+T细胞显著减少(P0.01),尤其是TCRαβ亚群细胞减少最为明显(P0.01)。同样,Cx43~(-/-)小鼠外周血中CD45R~+sIgM~-细胞亚群比例与野生型小鼠相比显著减少(P0.01)。结论:骨髓中Cx43基因表达在造血干/祖细胞发育(尤其是应急状态时)具重要作用,敲除Cx43基因后造血干/祖细胞增殖减缓,造血及免疫重建功能受损。     

Interleukin-10 secreted by B-1 cells modulates the phagocytic activity of murine macrophages in vitro

As demonstrated previously in our laboratory, B-1 cells migrate from the peritoneal cavity of mice and home to a distant site of inflammation to become macrophage-like cells. However, the influence that these cells might have on the kinetics and fate of the inflammatory process is not known. Considering that macrophages are pivotal in the inflammatory reaction, we decided to investigate the possible influence B-1 cells could have on macrophage activities in vitro. Our results show that peritoneal macrophages from Xid mice, a mouse strain deprived of B-1 cells, have higher phagocytic indexes for zymozan particles when compared with macrophages from wild-type mice. Moreover, macrophages from wild-type mice have a lower ability to release nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide when compared with macrophages from Xid mice. Experiments using cocultures of B-1 cells and macrophages from Xid mice in transwell plates demonstrated that B-1 cells down-regulate macrophage activities. These observations also indicate that this phenomenon is not due to a physical interaction between these two cell populations. As B-1 cells are one of the main sources of interleukin (IL)-10, we demonstrate in this study that adherent peritoneal cells from Xid mice produce significantly less amounts of this cytokine in culture when compared with IL-10 production by cells from wild-type mice. When B-1 cells from IL-10 knock-out mice and macrophages from wild-type mice were cocultured in transwell plates, the phagocytic index of macrophages was not altered demonstrating that B-1 cells can influence the effector functions of macrophages in vitro via IL-10 secretion.     

Elevation of CD8+ CD11b+ Leu-8− T cells is associated with the humoral immunodeficiency in myeloma patients

Recurrent bacterial infections due to humoral immunodeficiency are an important cause of death in myeloma patients. Recent data indicate that CD8⁺ T lymphocytes and a reduction of T helper type 1 cells with disease progression may be involved in the regulation of polyclonal immunoglobulin secretion. In mixed lymphocyte cultures derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 24 myeloma patients with reduced immunoglobulin serum levels we investigated the association of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell subsets and immunoglobulin-secreting B cells (ISC) upon mitogenic stimulation with pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and concanavalin A (Con A). In supernatants of cultured PBMC of myeloma patients the spontaneous secretion of the type 1 cytokine interferon-gamma was reduced. After PWM stimulation reduced numbers of polyclonal ISC were found in 79% of patients, and monoclonal ISC were observed in 12% of patients. After Con A stimulation, again formation of polyclonal ISC was reduced, but monoclonal ISC were found in 41% of patients. Elevation of monoclonal and reduction of polyclonal ISC after stimulation with Con A were associated with an increase of CD8⁺ CD11b⁺ Leu-8⁻ T cells (P < 0.05). We conclude that the elevated numbers of CD8⁺ CD11b⁺ Leu-8⁻ T cells play a role in the stimulation of monoclonal and suppression of polyclonal immunoglobulin secretion in myeloma patients.     

Patterns of differentiation in various sympathetic efferents induced by hypoxic and by central thermal stimulation in decerebrated rabbits

Summary The patterns of regional changes of sympathetic efferent activity evoked by thermal stimulation of the spinal cord and by arterial and primary tissue hypoxia were investigated in decerebrated, anesthetized and immobilized rabbits. Decerebration was performed either at the mid- or infracollicular level. The responses of the decerebrated rabbits evoked by spinal thermal stimulation were the same as those of intact rabbits, i.e., splanchnic and cardiac sympathetic activity increased and cutaneous sympathetic activity decreased during warming, while the reverse response was elicited by cooling. It is concluded that the typical thermoregulatory response pattern of the sympathetic nervous system can be produced also after the loss of hypothalamic integration, i.e., by integrative mechanisms in the lower brain stem and the spinal cord. In contrast, the responses of decerebrated rabbits to arterial and primary tissue hypoxia differed from those of intact rabbits in that they consisted in an overall activation in all investigated sympathetic branches. It is confirmed by this result that suprabulbar integration is essential for the generation of the inhibitory components in the differential sympathetic responses to hypoxia, which typically consist in cutaneous and cardiac sympathetic inhibition with splanchnic activation during arterial hypoxia and in cutaneous sympathetic inhibition with cardiac and splanchnic sympathetic activation during primary tissue hypoxia.     

Inhibitory Fc Gamma Receptors: From Gene to Disease

Multiple lines of evidence have revealed a key role for inhibitory Fc gamma receptors class IIb (FcgammaRIIb) as negative modulators of innate and adaptive immune responses. Acquired and genetic factors regulate the expression of FcgammaRIIb receptors and modify their inhibitory potential. Recent advances have highlighted the importance of FcgammaRIIb receptors in influencing the development of cancer and autoimmunity. The association of increased FcgammaRIIb expression with tumor development is believed to operate at effector cell level resulting in inhibition of antitumor cytotoxicity. In autoimmune diseases, FcgammaRIIb receptors play a major role in controlling the amplitude of antibody- and immune complex-mediated reactions. Generally, FcgammaRIIb deficiency is associated with increased susceptibility and severity to organ-specific and systemic autoimmunity. This article discusses the proposed mechanisms for FcgammaRIIb deregulation associated with malignant and autoimmune pathology in animal models and human diseases.     

Circulating immune complexes may play a regulatory and pathogenic role in experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis.

We compared the time course of changes in serum levels of circulating immune complexes (CICs) and of IgG antibody after sensitization of albino Lewis and pigmented Lister strain rats with uveitogenic (retinal S-antigen) and non-uveitogenic (ovalbumin) protein antigens of comparable molecular weight. Normal levels of CICs were far lower in Lewis rats in which experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU) takes the form of a severe panuveitis, than in Lister rats, in which the disease is mild, focal, confined to the posterior segment, and of lower incidence. After sensitization with either S-antigen or ovalbumin, polyethylene-glycol-precipitable CIC (PEG-CIC) peaked and fell as IgG antibody levels rose in both rat strains. However, peak levels of PEG-CIC were lower and subsequent IgG antibody levels were higher in the Lewis strain than in the less susceptible Lister strain. In both strains of rat these linked PEG-CIC/IgG antibody responses occurred earlier after sensitization with uveitogenic (S-) antigen than with ovalbumin, whether or not individual S-antigen-sensitized Lister rats developed EAU. In contrast, complement-binding CIC rose substantially only in those rats of both strains displaying EAU in response to S-antigen and not in response to ovalbumin. We suggest that immune complex (idiotypic) regulation of IgG antibody responses may be more readily perturbed by a pathogenic autoantigen (S-antigen) than by a bland antigen (ovalbumin). We also suggest that differences between the balance of regulatory and pathogenic CIC responses to uveitogenic retinal antigen may underlie or reflect strain differences in susceptibility to and severity of EAU.     

Phosphatidylglycerolphosphate synthase encoded by the PEL1/PGS1 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is localized in mitochondria and its expression is regulated by phospholipid precursors

The PEL1/PGS1 gene of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is essential for the viability of rho ^–/rho° mutants and the normal cardiolipin content of cells. The PEL1-GFP fusion gene has been found to complement the pel1/pgs1 mutation and its fluorescent protein was localized to mitochondria similarly to the β-galactosidase activity of a protein encoded by the PEL1-lacZ fusion gene. The expression of the PEL1-lacZ reporter gene was repressed in cells grown in the presence of inositol and choline, reduced in the ino2 and ino4 strains, but constitutive in the opi1 null-mutant strain. The results demonstrate that Pel1p, playing a vital role in cells impaired in the mitochondrial DNA, is localized in the mitochondria and expressed in response to inositol and choline. Received: 15 June / 15 July 1998