Scientific Resources

Sinefungin,a naturally occurring antifungal antibiotic nucleoside containing an ornithine residue,linked by a C-C bond to C-5' of adenosine,cures mice infected with Trypanosoma brucei brucei,T. congolense,or T. vivax; the effect of the drug is more pronounced towards T. congolense. Anti-trypanosomal activity of sinefungin could be the result of the inhibition of transmethylation reactions or of polyamine biosynthesis--or both--in parasites. View Publication

A collaborative study of the second international Reference Preparation of Erythropoietin,Human,Urinary,for Bioassay was carried out in 10 laboratories. Combined potency estimates obtained by comparison with the International Reference Preparation,indicate that ampoules of the second Preparation contain 10.0 IU (weighted mean potency) or,taking the unweighted mean potency,9.8 IU,with fiducial limits (P=0.95) of 8.4-11.5 IU. The second Preparation could be used as a standard in estimating the potency of a preparation of sheep plasma erythropoietin (68/307) although,as with the International Reference Preparation,there was a tendency for the sheep plasma preparation to produce log-dose-log-response regression lines that were steeper than those produced by the second Preparation.In accelerated degradation studies of the second Preparation stored as the dry product in ampoules for up to 1 year,there was no consistent trend to indicate instability of the preparation.Following its establishment in 1971,the Second International Reference Preparation was allocated a potency of 10 IU/ampoule. View Publication

A cytotoxic common ALL antiserum (CALLA) specific for leukemic cells of most patients with non-T-cel- acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and of some patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in blast crisis has been reproducibly prepared using cell lines for absorption. CALLA reacts with leukemic cells of 110 of 134 patients (82%) with non-T-cell ALL; 1 of 71 (1%) patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML); 2 of 7 patients (29%) with chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis; 7 of 92 patients (8%) with other hematologic malignancies; and with the leukemic cell lines Laz 221 and NALM-1. It does not react with the normal hematopoietic cells,B- or T-cell lines,or cells from 26 patients with T-cell ALL that were tested. CALLA reactivity and periodic acid Schiff (PAS) staining correlate poorly,with CALLA reacting with cells from 86% (64 of 74) of patients with PAS-positive and 76% (29 of 38) of those with PAS-negative non-T-cell ALL. In these patients,CALLA reacts with cells from 89% of those under age 12 (78 of 88); 74% of those aged 12--20 (20 of 27); and 58% of those over 20 (11 of 19). Using only CALLA and antisera specific for Ia-like and T-cell antigens,we can now distinguish most cases of ALL from AML and other hematologic malignancies. View Publication

Monoclonal antibody HEA125 was used to study the tissue distribution of an epithelial cell surface glycoprotein of Mr 34,000 (Egp34). A large panel of normal and neoplastic tissues was examined for immunoreactivity with HEA125 by means of a sensitive immunoperoxidase technique. HEA125 labeled most epithelial cell types throughout the body but did not label any nonepithelial tissue. Major exceptions were epidermal keratinocytes,gastric parietal cells,hepatocytes,thymic cortical epithelial,and myoepithelial cells. Normal mesothelial cells were unreactive. In normal glandular epithelia and tubular adenocarcinomas exclusively the basolateral cell membranes were stained. HEA125 intensely reacted with all tested carcinoma specimens derived from colorectum,stomach,pancreas,liver,lung,mammary gland,ovary,thyroid,kidney,urinary bladder,and prostate including a number of anaplastic,diffusely infiltrating carcinomas. Metastatic lesions of these tumors were consistently positive. Generally,the staining of tumor cells was very homogeneous. The majority of squamous cell carcinomas were less strongly labeled than adenocarcinomas; keratinizing areas of the tumor masses were negative. Germ cell tumors and mesotheliomas of epithelioid type focally expressed the antigen. Egp34 was found to be absent from sarcomas,lymphomas,melanomas,and neurogenic tumors. Hence,HEA125 is a useful reagent for the distinction of carcinomas from nonepithelial neoplasms,even at very low degrees of histological differentiation. Furthermore,HEA125 allows the immunohistochemical detection of micrometastases originating from carcinomas. The antigen is detectable in formalin-fixed paraffin sections. View Publication

Plasmacytoma growth factor (PCT-GF),a putative macrophage-derived lymphokine essential for the in vitro viability and proliferation of early generation plasmacytomas,was purified from conditioned medium of the murine macrophage cell line P388D1. The purification of PCT-GF was accomplished by a batch concentration on trimethylsilyl-controlled pore glass beads,followed by: gel filtration chromatography; hydrophobic interaction HPLC; and reverse-phase HPLC. SDS-PAGE analysis of the purified PCT-GF revealed a single band of Mr 23,000. The amino terminal sequence of PCT-GF was established as NH2-Pro-Thr-Ser-Gln-Val-Arg-Arg-Gly-Asp-Phe-Thr-Glu-Asp-Thr-Thr-Pro-Asn- Arg-Pro-Val-Tyr-Thr. No significant homology was found between this sequence and proteins in the National Biomedical Research Foundation database,suggesting that PCT-GF is a new lymphokine unrelated to previously described growth and differentiation factors. View Publication

Complementary DNA clones encoding the human kidney epidermal growth factor (EGF) precursor have been isolated and sequenced. They predict the sequence of a 1,207 amino acid protein which contains EGF flanked by polypeptide segments of 970 and 184 residues at its NH2- and COOH-termini,respectively. The structural organization of the human EGF precursor is similar to that previously described for the mouse protein and there is 66% identity between the two sequences. Transfection of COS-7 cells with the human EGF precursor cDNA linked to the SV40 early promoter indicate that it can be synthesized as a membrane protein with its NH2-terminus external to the cell surface. The human EGF precursor gene is approximately 110 kilobase pairs and has 24 exons. Its exon-intron organization revealed that various domains of the EGF precursor are encoded by individual exons. Moreover,15 of the 24 exons encode protein segments that are homologous to sequences in other proteins. Exon duplication and shuffling appear to have played an important role in determining the present structure of this protein. View Publication

A cDNA clone encoding a novel hematopoietic growth factor activity produced by a gibbon T cell line has been identified using a mammalian cell expression cloning system. The sequence of this cDNA proved to have significant homology to the sequence encoding murine interleukin 3 (IL-3). The human gene,which was readily identified because of its high degree of homology to the gibbon sequence,also displayed significant homology with the murine IL-3 sequence. The recombinant gibbon IL-3 protein proved to have multipotent colony stimulating activity when tested with normal human bone marrow cells,proving that this primate hematopoietin is not only structurally but also functionally related to murine IL-3. View Publication

A simple and efficient procedure for the construction of bifunctional molecules is described and their use in a variety of applications documented. This procedure is based on our observation that mouse IgG1 monoclonal antibodies,when mixed with equimolar amounts of a high-affinity rat monoclonal antibody specific for mouse IgG1,yield uniform cyclic tetramolecular complexes each consisting of two mouse and two rat antibodies as shown by gel electrophoresis and electron microscopy. When solutions of two mouse antibodies (e.g. a and b) are mixed prior to the formation of complexes with the rat antibody,stable bispecific (a X b) complexes together with monospecific (a X a and b X b) complexes are obtained. Bispecific complexes prepared in this way were able to efficiently bind peroxidase to cell surface antigens,and to bind red blood cells to selected nucleated cell types present in heterogeneous populations. Tetrameric antibody complexes are more easily prepared than bispecific antibodies or bifunctional antibodies produced by transfection of myelomas with recombinant genes. They also have the advantage that the antigen-binding properties of the bivalent monoclonal antibodies are not compromised. Tetrameric antibody complexes thus represent a powerful new type of cross-linking reagent that may have a wide spectrum of applications in biology and medicine. View Publication

The work described in this paper demonstrates that the cellular binding of transforming growth factor beta,epidermal growth factor,platelet-derived growth factor,and fibroblast growth factor is reduced as cell density is increased. The reduction in transforming growth factor beta binding was observed in five different cell lines. Examination of several of the cell lines,under conditions where transforming growth factor beta binding is reduced,revealed that epidermal growth factor binding,platelet-derived growth factor binding,and fibroblast growth factor binding are also reduced. In the case of NRK-49F cells,the reduction in transforming growth factor beta binding results from a decrease in the number of high-affinity receptors and not from a change in receptor affinity. Similarly,it was determined that the reduction in epidermal growth factor binding is due to a selective reduction in the high-affinity receptors for epidermal growth factor. Overall,the data suggest that the effect of cell density on growth factor binding,which we refer to as density-induced down regulation of growth factor receptors,differs both from down regulation induced by a specific growth factor and from receptor transmodulation. View Publication

Twenty-four patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) were treated with all-trans retinoic acid (45 to 100 mg/m2/day). Of these,eight cases had been either nonresponsive or resistant to previous chemotherapy; the other 16 cases were previously untreated. All patients attained complete remission without developing bone marrow hypoplasia. Bone marrow suspension cultures were studied in 15 of the 24 patients. Fourteen of these patients had morphological maturation in response to the retinoic acid (1 mumol/L). Chloroacetate esterase and alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase staining as well as electronmicroscopic examination confirmed that retinoic acid-induced cells differentiated to granulocytes with increased functional maturation (as measured by nitroblue tetrazolium reduction,NBT). The single nonresponder to retinoic acid in vitro was resistant to treatment with retinoic acid but attained complete remission after addition of low-dose cytosine arabinoside (ara-C). During the course of therapy,none of the patients showed any abnormalities in the coagulation parameters we measured,suggesting an absence of any subclinical disseminated intravascular coagulation. The only side effects consisted of mild dryness of the lips and skin,with occasional headaches and digestive symptoms. Eight patients have relapsed after 2 to 5 months of complete remission. The others remain in complete remission at 1+ to 11+ months and are still being followed up. We conclude that all-trans retinoic acid is an effective inducer for attaining complete remission in APL. View Publication

Using a monoclonal antibody against the microtubule-associated protein tau we compared the distribution and the biochemical maturation of this protein in hippocampal pyramidal neurons in the rat in tau and in culture. In tissue sections from mature animals tau was localized heterogeneously within neurons. It was concentrated in axons; dendrites and somata showed little or no staining. In hippocampal cultures ranging from 12 h to 4 weeks in vitro tau was present in neurons but not in glial cells,as it is in situ. Within cultured neurons,however,tau was not compartmentalized but was present throughout the dendrites,axons and somata. Immunoblotting experiments showed that the biochemical maturation of tau that occurs in situ also failed to occur in culture. The young form of tau persisted,and the adult forms did not develop. In contrast the biochemical maturation and the compartmentalization of microtubule-associated protein 2 occurred normally in hippocampal cultures. These results show that the biochemical maturation and the intraneuronal compartmentalization of these two microtubule-associated proteins are independently controlled. Despite the non-restricted distribution of tau in hippocampal neurons in culture,and despite the presence of only the immature isoform which has a lessened stimulatory effect on microtubule polymerization,axons and dendrites appear to grow normally and to exhibit appropriate functional properties. View Publication

Common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen (CALLA) is a 100-kDa cell-surface glycoprotein expressed on most acute lymphoblastic leukemias and certain other immature lymphoid malignancies and on normal lymphoid progenitors. The latter are either uncommitted to B- or T-cell lineage or committed to only the earliest stages of B- or T-lymphocyte maturation. To elucidate to homogeneity,obtained the NH2-terminal sequence from both the intact protein and derived tryptic and V8 protease peptides and isolated CALLA cDNAs from a Nalm-6 cell line lambda gt10 library using redundant oligonucleotide probes. The CALLA cDNA sequence predicts a 750-amino acid integral membrane protein with a single 24-amino acid hydrophobic segment that could function as both a transmembrane region and a signal peptide. The COOH-terminal 700 amino acids,including six potential N-linked glycosylation sites compose the extracellular protein segment,whereas the 25 NH2-terminal amino acids remaining after cleavage of the initiation methionine form the cytoplasmic tail. CALLA+ cells contain CALLA transcripts of 2.7 to 5.7 kilobases with the major 5.7- and 3.7-kilobase mRNAs being preferentially expressed in specific cell types. View Publication