Protective monoclonal antibodies recognize heat-labile epitopes on surface proteins of spotted fever group rickettsiae

Thirty-eight monoclonal antibodies that have not been reported previously were developed from mice immunized with Rickettsia rickettsii, R. conorii, and R. sibirica. Western immunoblotting showed that these monoclonal antibodies are directed against heat-sensitive epitopes which are located on two major surface polypeptides with molecular sizes ranging from 115 to 150 kilodaltons. The detection of the two bands did not depend on the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol. Both bands were destroyed by treatment with proteinase K. Monoclonal antibodies examined by immunofluorescence assay reacted with epitopes that are species specific, group reactive, or shared among a smaller subset of species of spotted fever group rickettsiae. Nine of the monoclonal antibodies were evaluated for their ability to neutralize rickettsial infection and thus protect animals against disease caused by homologous species of rickettsiae. Treatment of rickettsiae with monoclonal antibodies F3-12, F3-14, and F3-36 completely protected guinea pigs against illness caused by the homologous organism R. rickettsii. Monoclonal antibodies F9-5G11 and F15-5B12, derived from mice immunized with R. sibirica, conferred partial protection by delaying the onset and shortening the duration of fever in guinea pigs inoculated with R. sibirica. Monoclonal antibodies F2-15, F2-31, F2-53, and F3-12 protected mice from a lethal infection with R. conorii. Heat-labile epitopes of spotted fever group rickettsial surface proteins are important candidate antigens for development of vaccines to confer protective immunity.

Analogs of unusual sponge phospholipids. Synthesis and thermotropic properties of 1,2-di-(6Z,9Z)-6,9-hexacosadienoyl phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine

The major marine sponge phospholipids 1,2-di-(5Z,9Z)-5,9-hexacosadienoyl phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidyl-ethanolamine (PE) hardly incorporate cholesterol into their liposomal bilayers, as reported earlier. Our previous studies indicated that their synthetic short chain (C18-C24) analogs with the same double bond pattern readily incorporated cholesterol, thus demonstrating the importance of the chain length. In order to investigate the possible role of the unusual delta 5,9 diunsaturation 1,2-di-(6Z,9Z)-6,9-hexacosadienoyl phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were synthesized and their thermotropic behavior studied. Both analogs shows a transition endoterm at 45 degrees C, while the natural 1,2-di-(5Z,9Z)-5,9-hexacosadienoyl PC and its PE counterpart exhibited it at 42 degrees C. A partial incorporation of cholesterol into liposomal bilayers of 1,2-di-(6Z,9Z)-6,9-hexacosadienoyl PC was observed. Our results suggest that while the chain length is the predominant factor in the interactions of these phospholipids with sterols, the double bond location may also play a contributing role.

Parallel induction of fibrinolysis and receptors for plasminogen and urokinase by interferon gamma on U937 cells

A new cell sorter technique was employed to study the role of interferon gamma (INF gamma) in fibrinolysis induced by U937 monocytic cells. INF-gamma induced the differentiation of U937 cells as evidenced by the appearance of CD 14 antigen on the cell surface. Scatchard analysis and dose response curves showed a parallel increase in the number of receptors on U937 cells capable of accepting exogenous plasminogen and urokinase (UPA) synthetized by differentiating U937 monocytic cells. This would favour an activation of plasminogen by UPA. This adds a new parameter in the regulation of cell-mediated fibrinolysis and may be important in a number of biological processes.

Invasion and metastasis of SY86B human gastric carcinoma cells in nude mice

A moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma of human stomach, named SY86B, was successfully transplanted subcutaneously to nude mice of different genetic backgrounds (BALB/CA/PBI-nu, C57BL/6J.615/PBI-nu and ICR.BALB/CA/PBI-nu). The tumor has been passaged for 13 generations and the transplantability was 100%. The SY86B cells retained the capacity of invasive and metastatic growth in the nude mice and showed a high rate of metastasis to the regional lymph nodes and to such distant organs as the lungs, liver and pancreas. The overall rate of metastasis was 77.7%. The species of the nude mice, their age and sex apparently did not significantly affect the occurrence of metastasis. Tumor-bearing time and the aggressive character of the tumor cells themselves appeared important for the genesis of metastasis. This experimental model can provide a new approach to basic and clinical studies of cancer metastasis.

Enhanced expression of urokinase activity on U 937 cell line by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 induction

1,25 Dihydroxyvitamin D3 is a differentiation inducer for monocytic cell. It can induce a monoblastic cell line U937 to differentiate. In this paper, we report that by inducing the differentiation of U937, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 increased urokinase activity expression on U937 cell surfaces. After incubation of the cell with various concentrations of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, the cell line showed a remarkable progressively increasing membrane-associated urokinase activity in a dose dependent manner. On the contrary, plasminogen activator inhibitor activity which was found in the culture medium is not modified by the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 induction. This results suggests another role of 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in the treatment of myelofibrosis, since enhanced plasmin generation can accelerate the activation of procollagenase. The induced plasmin and collagenase activities surrounding the monocytic cells may participate in the physiological and pathological events, especially in the connective tissue degradation.

Barbash strain spotted fever group rickettsia is a strain of Rickettsia conorii and differs from Rickettsia sibirica

The Barbash strain of spotted fever group rickettsia was reexamined in this study by the microimmunofluorescence test with mouse antisera and with monoclonal antibodies. Protein immunoblotting was performed for comparison of purified antigens of R. rickettsii, R. sibirica, R. conorii and Barbash strain. Comparison of Barbash strain, R. rickettsii (Sheila Smith strain), R. conorii (Malish 7 strain), and R. sibirica (strains 232, 246 and Jinghe-74) of the spotted fever group in the microimmunofluorescence test of Philip et al. revealed that Barbash strain has antigens that yield homologous titers with the R. conorii strains and differ from R. sibirica and R. rickettsii. Monoclonal antibodies specific for R. conorii react at identical titres with the Barbash strain, and a monoclonal antibody specific for R. sibirica does not react with the Barbash strain. Likewise, T-cell hybridomas reactive with R. conorii but not R. sibirica yield a strong response when stimulated by Barbash strain antigens. Western immunoblotting with the same polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies confirmed the presence of specific protein antigens of R. conorii and different protein antigenic composition of R. sibirica when compared with Barbash strain. Thus, Barbash strain is a strain of R. conorii.

Activated c-Ha-ras oncogene with a guanine to thymine transversion at the twelfth codon in a human stomach cancer cell line

The rat fibroblast cell line Rat 1 was transfected with total DNA of a gastrocarcinoma cell line, BGC-823. The transforming gene was cloned from the genomic library of the secondary transformants using in situ hybridization with a probe of the human Alu repeat sequence. This cloned gene is homologous to the protooncogene c-Ha-ras. The activation lesion of the transforming gene was identified by sequence analysis as a single nucleotide substitution of thymine for guanine in the 12th codon. This results in the substitution of valine for glycine at the 12th amino acid of the Mr 21,000 protein.

Gamma interferon as a crucial host defense against Rickettsia conorii in vivo

Gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) plays an important role as a host defense in rickettsial infection. Swiss Webster mice, which are resistant to Rickettsia conorii (Malish 7 strain) infection, were treated with a monoclonal antibody against mouse IFN-gamma. When the antibody-treated mice were inoculated with 12 50% tissue culture infective doses of R. conorii, the mortality was 47% and the morbidity was 100%. None of the control mice, which received the same dose of R. conorii, died or became ill. The enumeration of rickettsiae in organs by direct immunofluorescence in paraffin sections demonstrated higher quantities of rickettsiae in the spleen had liver of IFN-gamma-depleted mice as compared with those of the infected controls. The kinetic analysis of IFN-gamma levels in sera showed depletion in the treated mice. These results indicate that IFN-gamma plays an important role as a host defense in the early stage of rickettsial infection. Survival of some mice despite continued treatment with antibody to IFN-gamma suggests that other immune mechanisms may also be important.

Fluorometric determination of streptomycin in serum by high-performance liquid chromatography using mobile phase containing fluorogenic reagent

A new postcolumn derivatization method for the fluorometric determination of streptomycin in serum by high-performance liquid chromatography is described. The serum was treated with 3.5% perchloric acid to precipitate proteins and the supernatant was directly injected into the chromatograph. Streptomycin was separated by reversed-phase, ion-pair chromatography with a mobile phase containing ninhydrin as a fluorogenic reagent, octanesulfonate, and 1,2-ethanedisulfonate as counterions, and was detected by fluorescence using continuous-flow, postcolumn derivatization in an alkaline stream with ninhydrin in the mobile phase. This method is sensitive to 1.0 microgram/ml using only 100 microliter of serum. Comparison with a fluorescence polarization immunoassay gave a good correlation coefficient of 0.976.

[DNA transformation activity of a human gastrocarcinoma cell line]

DNAs of three cell lines of human gastrocarcinoma (MGC-803, BGC-823 and PACM-82) and two fresh solid tumors of human stomach cancer were used to transfect NIH3T3 and Rat-1 cells. The transformed cells were selected with high concentration of glucose and low concentration of serum, or with medium containing Geneticin (G418) after co-transfection of pSVneo and DNAs of stomach cancer cell line or primary transformants. From the second round transfection, we had obtained transformants which could grow with high colony forming efficiency in soft agarose and were tumorigenic in nude mice. The southern blot analysis showed that the cellular DNA of the transformants contained human Alu repeat sequence and the transformed gene from stomach cancer cell line (BGC-823) and was homologous to proto-oncogene c-Ha-ras. The transforming gene is able to induce neoplastic transformation of NIH3T3 and Rat-1 cells.

Recovery of secretin in acid small intestinal lumen perfusates in the rabbit

Immunoreactive secretin concentrations were measured in femoral venous plasma and in intestinal perfusates during acid and neutral perfusion of small intestinal segments in anesthetized rabbits. Steady-state plasma and luminal secretin concentrations were less than 20 pg/ml. Duodenal perfusion with with 0.1 N hydrochloric acid stimulated peak plasma immunoreactive secretin concentrations of 200 - 300 pg/ml within five minutes. Acid stimulated plasma concentrations remained constant during 30 minutes of perfusion. Secretin output into the acid perfusate (2000 - 4000 pg/min) accompanied the release into plasma. Subsequent perfusion with a neutral solution resulted in a rapid return to steady-state plasma and luminal secretin concentrations. Sequential acid perfusion of the ileum, jejunum, and duodenum stimulated similar concentrations of secretin in plasma and luminal perfusates.

The pharmacodynamics of bucainide (RHC G233): pharmacokinetic parameters and relationship between plasma levels and the effect on the electrocardiogram in the dog

The pharmacodynamic profile of bucainide dimaleate (RHC G-233) in dogs has been studied. The first observed pharmacologic effect was a change in the ECG pattern (T-wave duration and amplitude) that occurred after an average intravenous dose of 2.7 mg/kg. The average plasma concentration of bucainide was approximately 350 ng/ml. Analysis of data from dogs that received a dual infusion of bucainide indicated that bucainide has an extensive volume of distribution, with an average value of approximately 26 l/kg. An average terminal half-life of 89 minutes was observed. Studies with the radiolabeled drug in rats and dogs also demonstrated the drug's large volume of distribution, and its initial rapid disappearance from the blood. Tissue distribution studies in the rat after administration of the radiolabeled drug showed that bucainide is rapidly taken up by the tissues.

GLC determination of urinary chlorthalidone levels

A sensitive and specific GLC method for the determination of urinary chlorthalidone levels was developed using on-column methylation. Chlorthalidone is converted to a tetramethylated derivative with trimethylanilinium hydroxide in methanol. This method which permits the determination of as little as 0.1 microgram of chlorthalidone/ml of dog urine, should be adequate for use with human subjects receiving a clinical dose.

Chlorthalidone analysis using carbonic anhydrase inhibition

Chlorthalidone was analyzed in the concentration range of 0.1-3.0 microgram/ml with a precision of +/- 0.05 microgram/ml. Chlorthalidone inhibition of the enzymatic hydrolysis rate of p-nitrophenyl acetate by bovine erythrocyte carbonic anhydrase was used as a basis for the determination. The amount of p-nitrophenol formed was measured by monitoring the absorbance at 400 nm, and its formation rate was proportional to the chlorthalidone concentration. The mixing of the enzyme, substrate, and sample, the incubation of the reaction mixture, and the recording of the absorbance were automated. A survey of urine samples from 26 normal human subjects did not reveal any endogenous substances that interfered with the assay. Analyses of urine samples from six subjects after oral administration of 100 mg of chlorthalidone indicated rapid absorption and a biphasic elimination. The alpha-phase half-life was 1.5 hr, and the beta-phase half-life was 35 hr.

GLC determination of nylidrin in human urine samples

A method for the detection of nanogram quantities of nylidrin in human urine is described. The method involves beta-glucuronidase hydrolysis, extraction with chloroform, derivatization by silylation, and GLC determination. The suitability of the method was tested by analysis of urine samples of subjects after oral ingestion of nylidrin hydrochloride.