Behavioural effects of selective μ-, κ-, and δ-opioid agonists in neonatal rats

The behavioural effects of selective -, - and -opioid agonists in 5-, 10- and 20-day-old rats were investigated by observational analysis. The predominant response to -agonists was behavioural depression. High doses (10 mg/kg IP) of morphine and DAGO (d-Ala², NMe-Phe⁴, Glyol⁵-enkephalin) produced overt sedation in all the age groups and also induced catalepsy which was particularly apparent in the 5- and 10-day-old animals. These compounds did not produce any signs of behavioural activation in the neonatal rats. In contrast, rat pups treated with the -agonists U50,488H and PD 117,302 (1,10 mg/kg IP) exhibited marked hyperactivity with increases in wall-climbing and locomotion. Sedative effects of the highest dose of the -agonists began to emerge, however, as the animals grew older, resulting in significant decreases in behaviours such as gnawing and grooming at 20 days of age. The -agonist (+)-tifluadom (0.1–10 mg/kg), but not its corresponding (-)-isomer, produced an increase in activity in 5-day-old rats, thus extending the observations made with U50,488H and PD 117,302 and establishing the stereoselective nature of the response. The involvement of -receptors in opioid-induced hyperactivity was further substantiated by using a variety of opioid antagonists. In this context, the increase in activity induced by U50,488H (10 mg/kg) in 5-day-old neonates was attenuated by naltrexone (1 mg/kg IP) but not by larger doses (10 mg/kg) of either M8008 (which has low affinity for -receptors) or the selective -receptor antagonist ICI 174,864. Finally, DPDPE (d-Pen², d-Pen⁵-enkephalin) which acts selectively at -opioid receptors, did not exert any behavioural effects in either the 5-, 10- or 20-day-old rat pups at doses of up to 10 mg/kg. These results demonstrate behavioural effects of - and -but not -agonists in neonatal rats. There is a clear differentiation between - and -receptor effects and both - and -mediated behaviours show dissimilarities from the adult profile.     

Drug Binding to α1-Acid Glycoprotein Studied by Circular Dichroism

The interactions of acidic and basic drugs with ₁-acid glycoprotein (₁-AGP) were investigated using circular dichroism (CD) measurements. Extrinsic Cotton effects were generated by the binding of drugs to ₁-AGP. The CD data suggested the presence of a single binding site on the ₁-AGP molecule. The induced ellipticities of the acidic drug–₁-AGP system decreased with increasing pH, while the ellipticities for the basic drugs increased with pH. The ellipticities for all drugs were reduced by the addition of fatty acids. Furthermore, the induced ellipticities decreased in the presence of cesium chloride for basic drugs bound to ₁-AGP. The extrinsic Cotton effects therefore appear to result from hydrophobic interaction with ₁-AGP for the acidic drugs and from hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions for the basic drugs.     

Immunoglobulin mimicry by Hepatitis C Virus envelope protein E2

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) establishes persistent infection in the majority of infected individuals. The currently accepted hypothesis of immune evasion by antigenic variation in hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of glycoprotein E2 does not however, explain the lack of subsequent immune recognition. Here, we show that the N-terminal region of E2 is antigenically and structurally similar to human immunoglobulin (Ig) variable domains. E2 is recognized by anti-human IgG antibodies and also possesses common amino acid (aa) sequence features of the conserved v-gene framework regions of human Ig light chains in particular but also heavy chains and T cell receptors. Using a position specific scoring system, the degree of similarity of HVR1 to Ig types correlated with immune escape and persistence in humans and experimentally infected chimpanzees. We propose a unique role for threshold levels of Ig molecular mimicry in HCV biology that not only advances our concept of viral immune escape and persistent infection but also provides insight into host-dependent disease patterns.     

Preservation and redirection of HPV16E7-specific T cell receptors for immunotherapy of cervical cancer

Human papilloma virus (HPV) type 16 infections of the genital tract are associated with the development of cervical cancer (CxCa) in women. HPV16-derived oncoproteins E6 and E7 are expressed constitutively in these lesions and might therefore be attractive candidates for T-cell-mediated adoptive immunotherapy. However, the low precursor frequency of HPV16E7-specific T cells in patients and healthy donors hampers routine isolation of these cells for adoptive transfer. To overcome this problem, we have isolated T cell receptor (TCR) genes from four different HPV16E7-specific healthy donor and patient-derived human cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) clones. We examined whether genetic engineering of peripheral blood-derived CD8+ T cells in order to express HPV16E711-20-specific TCRs is feasible for adoptive transfer purposes. Reporter cells (Jurkat/MA) carrying a transgenic TCR were shown to bind relevant but not irrelevant tetramers. Moreover, these TCR-transgenic Jurkat/MA cells showed reactivity towards relevant target cells, indicating proper functional activity of the TCRs isolated from already available T cell clones. We next introduced an HPV16E711-20-specific TCR into blood-derived, CD8+ recipient T cells. Transgenic CTL clones stained positive for tetramers presenting the relevant HPV16E711-20 epitope and biological activity of the TCR in transduced CTL was confirmed by lytic activity and by interferon (IFN)-gamma secretion upon antigen-specific stimulation. Importantly, we show recognition of the endogenously processed and HLA-A2 presented HPV16E711-20 CTL epitope by A9-TCR-transgenic T cells. Collectively, our data indicate that HPV16E7 TCR gene transfer is feasible as an alternative strategy to generate human HPV16E7-specific T cells for the treatment of patients suffering from cervical cancer and other HPV16-induced malignancies.     

神经生长因子偶联物对老年性痴呆动物模型的保护作用

目的　探讨神经生长因子偶联物 (NGF -Tf)对老年性痴呆 (AD)大鼠的影响 .方法　以手术切断大鼠双侧隔 -海马胆碱能通路的方法建立AD动物模型 ,每天从大鼠尾静脉注射NGF -Tf .通过水迷路试验观察大鼠的记忆和方向辨别能力 ;对海马和隔区行神经组织学检查 ;应用酶组织化学技术显示相应区域的ChAT ,采用计算机病理图像分析系统测定酶活性以判断其胆碱能功能状态 .结果　水迷路试验中 ,NGF -Tf组在 10s内抵达平台的正确反应平均数提高 (p <0 .0 5 ) .光镜下 ,NGF -Tf组隔区仅见轻微萎缩性改变 ,而模型组隔区萎缩性改变较明显 ,表现为神经元数目明显减少 ,细胞轮廓不清 ,有胶质细胞增生 ;正常对照组、NGF -Tf组和模型组的海马区未见明显病理性改变 .ChAT染色统计结果显示 ,正常对照组、NGF -Tf组大鼠的海马区及隔区IOD值与模型组比较 ,均有显著性差异 (p <0 .0 1) .结论　NGF -Tf能穿透血脑屏障 ,有效防止模拟AD病变的大鼠的基底前脑胆碱能神经元的变性和死亡 ,改善其记忆和方向辨别能力 ,促进其胆碱能神经元的功能恢复     

Breast cancer micrometastases: Different interactions of carcinoma cells with normal and cancer patients' bone marrow stromata

The apparently dormant breast cancer micrometastases in haemopoietic marrow are correlated with distant metastatic carcinoma dissemination. We studied in vitro interactions of carcinoma cells with adjacent stromata, using connective tissue cell cultures from breast and bone marrow samples of normal donors, comparing them to the pericancerous breast tissue and bone marrows of 12 selected patients with invasive breast carcinomas. Cancer cells were detected by immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR in all the bone marrows and in most blood samples of the studied patients. We monitored the growth and interaction of carcinoma MCF-7 cells with the stromata. The normal breast stroma sustained typical massive cancer growth. The pericancerous breast stroma induced the invasive mesenchymal pattern of growth. Normal bone marrow stroma induced the same conversion and was highly adhesive, retaining the cells in the stroma, but carcinoma patients' bone marrow stromata underwent low adhesive interactions with cancer cells, releasing them potentially into the circulation. The semi-quantitative RT-PCR indicated an enhanced expression of the hepatocyte growth factor and its receptor c-met in breast and bone marrow stromata of cancer patients. The input of cancer cells into the normal bone marrow may induce modifications of the local microenvironment, favourable for growth and release of carcinoma cells into the systemic circulation, which correlate with the poor prognosis of patients with bone marrow micrometastases. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

慢性乙型肝炎患者外周血树突细胞CD40、CD80表达和免疫活性的体外研究

目的 :探讨慢性乙型肝炎患者DC表面协同刺激分子CD4 0和CD80表达与其抗原呈递功能的关系 ,为进一步研究慢性乙型肝炎的发病机制及治疗提供新的思路。方法 :分离培养慢性乙型肝炎患者和健康人外周血DC ,流式细胞仪测定DC表面CD4 0和CD80的表达 ,混合淋巴细胞反应测定两组DC的功能。结果 :慢性乙型肝炎患者DC表面CD4 0和CD80的表达较健康人低 ,刺激同种异种T细胞增殖反应也较健康人低。结论 :乙肝病毒感染可通过抑制患者DC表面CD4 0、CD80等协同刺激分子的表达 ,从而使其抗原呈递功能降低     

Single-Cell RNA Sequencing of Tumor-Infiltrating NK Cells Reveals that Inhibition of Transcription Factor HIF-1α Unleashes NK Cell Activity

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Enhancement of immunogenicity of Jeg3 cells by ectopic expression of HLA-A*0201 and CD80

PROBLEM: The choriocarcinoma cell line Jeg3 suppresses immunity in vitro by secretion of soluble factors like leukemia inhibitory factor suppressing leukocyte activation. The cells lack expression of classical human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A and -B alleles but express some HLA-C, and non-classical HLA-G and -E. Upon binding to killing inhibitory receptor on natural killer (NK) cells, HLA-G prevents activation of cytolytic activity. We investigated whether Jeg3 cells are capable of immune stimulation after complementation with classical HLA and T cell costimulatory signal CD80. METHOD OF STUDY: Jeg3 cells were transduced to express HLA-A*0201 and/or CD80. Parental Jeg3 or transfectants Jeg3-A2, Jeg3-CD80 or Jeg3-CD80-A2 were used to stimulate allogeneic resting and activated peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). The different cell lines were loaded with a HLA-A2-restricted Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) recall antigen peptide epitope and antigen presenting ability was examined. T cell lines specific for Jeg3 and transfectants were generated from HLA-A2 matched and nonmatched donors and compared for expansion, phenotypes and cytolytic activity. RESULTS: While all Jeg3 cell lines induced only marginal proliferation of resting T cells, phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-activated T cells were stimulated by CD80 or CD80-A2 expressing Jeg3. Only the transfectant Jeg3-CD80-A2 was capable of specific T cell stimulation by EBV recall antigen presentation. T cell lines of HLA-A2 non-matched donors stimulated with the Jeg3 transfectants showed significant expansion only when HLA-A2 and the costimulus CD80 were present. T cells from HLA-A2 positive donors did not expand significantly or differentially. No NK cells grew under any condition. In Jeg3-CD80-A2 stimulated T cells lines CD8+ cells expanded preferentially. These T cells exerted cytolytic activity toward all Jeg3 cell lines. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that, in spite of immunosuppressive mechanisms, proliferative and cytolytic T cell responses are induced by Jeg3 cells when classical HLA- and/or costimulatory signals are present on the cells.     

血小板源生长因子对人血管成纤维细胞DNA及胶原蛋白合成的影响

目的:观察血小板源生长因子对培养的人血管成纤维细胞DNA及胶原蛋白合成的影响。方法:采用培养的人血管成纤维细胞,应用 [³H]-TdR和 [³H]-脯氨酸掺入的方法,观察血小板源生长因子-BB对人血管成纤维细胞DNA合成以及胶原蛋白合成的影响。结果:血小板源生长因子-BB可促进静止状态的人血管成纤维细胞DNA及胶原蛋白的合成,在 30μg/L浓度时DNA及胶原蛋白的合成达到高峰,DNA及胶原蛋白分别于 2 4h和 36h合成最为显著。结论:血小板源生长因子-BB可明显促进培养的人血管成纤维细胞DNA及胶原蛋白的合成