Detection of patients with cancer by monoclonal antibody directed to lactoneotetraosylceramide (paragloboside)

A hybridoma producing monoclonal antibody (H11) directed to lactoneotetraosylceramide (paragloboside) has been established from spleen cells of a mouse immunized with paragloboside. The monoclonal antibody H11 (immunoglobulin M type) was selected from five clones showing different reactivities with paragloboside. The monoclonal antibody was highly specific to paragloboside and lacked reactivity with other glycolipids including glucosylceramide, lactosylceramide, globotriaosylceramide, globotetraosylceramide, gangliotriaosylceramide, gangliotetraosylceramide, and GalNAc beta 1-4[NeuAc alpha 2-3]Gal beta 1-4Glc beta 1-1Cer. However, the monoclonal antibody (H11) was found to bind to lactosamine-containing glycolipids at their terminals, such as i- and I-type glycolipids as well as paragloboside. A two-step sandwich radioimmunoassay method for paragloboside antigen in serum was established by using the monoclonal antibody. The mean paragloboside antigen concentration in the sera from 20 normal individuals was 25.3 ng/ml. If the cutoff value was set at 80.9 ng/ml [25.3 + 2 x 27.8 (SD)], only 1 of 20 healthy controls had an elevated paragloboside value in the serum, whereas sera from 9 of 12 (75.0%) hepatoma, 4 of 10 (40%) pancreatic cancer, 16 of 40 (40.0%) stomach cancer, and 6 of 10 (60%) lung cancer patients had elevated paragloboside values. Sera from 3 of 8 hepatitis patients and 7 of 10 liver cirrhosis patients were estimated to be positive but sera from 16 patients with benign disease had paragloboside levels lower than the cutoff value. A larger amount of the antigen was found in liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma compared to the normal counterpart. The antigen was also detected in the medium of various human cancer cells and meconium. However, the antigen in the sera, medium, meconium, and cancer tissue seemed to be associated with glycoprotein or lipoprotein, because most of the antigen activity was eluted in the void volume fraction on high-performance liquid chromatography with a gel filtration column.

Human placenta gangliosides

Gangliosides extracted from human placenta were composed of four major components (G1-G4), which were purified by silica beads column chromatography. The structures of these gangliosides were analyzed by exoglycosidase treatments, 400 MHz proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and were concluded to be as follows: (Formula: see text). Gangliosides containing more than 10 sugar residues were observed in addition to the above four major components. But ganglio-series gangliosides were undetectable in the placenta.

Appearance of a novel type of ganglioside (GD1 alpha) in a differentiation-resistant clone of mouse myeloid leukemia cells, M1-R1

Glycolipid compositions of three mouse myeloid leukemia cell clones, two that are sensitive to differentiation inducers (M1-T22 and M1-S1) and one that is differentiation-resistant (M1-R1), have been compared. The T22 and S1 clones contained glucosylceramide (GlcCer), lactosylceramide (LacCer) and gangliotriaosylceramide (Gg3Cer) as the major neutral glycolipids. The differentiation resistant clone, R1, was characterized by the appearance of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3Cer) and a decrease of Gg3Cer. There was a distinct difference in the ganglioside profile between the differentiation-inducible and -resistant clones: T22 and S1 cells contained no detectable amounts of ganglioside, whereas six different gangliosides were detected in the R1 clone. These gangliosides were isolated and identified as GM3, GM2, GM1a, GD1a, GM1b, and a unique disialoganglioside, GD1 alpha, having the following structure: (formula; see text) Based on these comparative studies, the relationship between the glycolipid composition and the differentiation potential of leukemia cells is discussed.

Lymphocyte subsets in human thymoma studied with monoclonal antibodies

Lymphocyte subsets were investigated using OKT series monoclonal antibodies and flowcytometry in 16 cases of thymoma. From the viewpoint of lymphocyte subsets, thymoma could be divided into three types: thymus lymphocyte type, peripheral lymphocyte type, and intermediate type. In thymus lymphocyte type, the number of OKT-6+ cells exceed that of OKT-3+ cells, and are more than 50%. In peripheral lymphocyte type, the number of OKT-6+ cells are less than that of OKT-3+ cells and less than 10%. In intermediate type, OKT-6+ cells are between 10% and 30%. These three types correlate well with the histologic features with respect to the number and distribution of lymphocytes in thymoma tissue. Lymphocytes were infiltrating abundantly and intermingled in the tumor cell nests in thymus lymphocyte type, and were infiltrating rather scantly and outside the nests in peripheral lymphocyte type.

Synthesis of 7'-(3-hydroxypropyl)fortimicin A and 6'-epifortimicin A

1,10-Di-0-acetyl-2,3,4,6,7,8,9-heptadeoxy-2,6-bis(2, 4-dinitrophenylamino)-L-lyxo-decopyranose (7) and -D-ribo-decopyranose (8) have been prepared from methyl 2-acetamido-2,3,4,6-tetradeoxy-6-nitro-alpha-D-erythro-hexopyranoside via a nitro aldol reaction with 4-[(tetrahydropyranyl)oxy]butanal in the presence of cesium fluoride, and their configurations at C-6 have been established by conversion of the precursor of 8, namely, methyl 2,6-diacetamido-10-O-acetyl-2,3,4,6,7,8,9-heptadeoxy-alpha-D - ribo-decopyranoside, into the known methyl 2,6-diacetamido-2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10-octadeoxy-alpha-D-ribo-d ecopyranoside. The title fortimicin A derivatives, 7'-(3-hydroxypropyl)fortimicin A and 6'-epifortimicin A, have been synthesized by condensation of compound 7 and 8, respectively, with 2,5-di-O-benzoyl-1,4-bis[N-(methoxycarbonyl)]fortamine B, followed by deprotection and introduction of a glycyl group. Their antimicrobial activities have been found to be weak compared to that of fortimicin A.

Time course of dolichol and dolichyl phosphate during chemical carcinogenesis in rat liver

Hyperplastic liver nodules were induced in rats by administration of an initiator (diethylnitrosamine or 3'-methyl-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene) and/or a promoter (phenobarbital) by the method reported by Tatematsu et al. (1983, Carcinogenesis 4, 381-386). The dolichol content in the liver and liver microsomes of the rats treated with the initiator were approx. 1.5-times higher than that of the control and rats treated with only the promoter. However, the composition of dolichols was not changed. The time course of the dolichyl phosphate concentration in the rat liver treated with both initiator and promoter showed a pattern different from that in the control liver, the initiator-treated liver or the promoter-treated liver. The main component of dolichyl phosphate in liver treated with both the initiator and promoter changed from that with 18 isoprene units to that with 19. It is suggested that the changes in liver dolichols and dolichyl phosphates may be related to the formation of hyperplastic liver nodules.

Alpha-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin-producing lung cancer

A 73-year-old man had primary lung cancer that produced both alphafetoprotein (AFP) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). The preoperative serum AFP level of 1039 ng/ml decreased to the normal range 8 weeks after surgery. The preoperative serum HCG level of 11 mIU/ml, which temporarily decreased to the normal range after operation, soon increased thereafter. The serum HCG level decreased, however, to the normal range after postoperative mediastinal radiation therapy. During relapse, only the serum HCG level increased gradually to 26,000 mIU/ml 7 weeks before his death. The lung cancer was classified histologically as poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemically, AFP was detected in the mononuclear tumor cells of the primary tumor in the lung, and HCG was found in the giant cells of the subcarinal metastatic lymph node. The concanavalin A non-reactive fraction rate for AFP was 81.3%, and appeared to differ from those of hepatocellular carcinoma and yolk sac tumor.

[Osteoma of the sphenoid sinus--report of two cases]

Although osteoma of the paranasal sinus is comparatively common, involvement of the sphenoidal sinus region is extremely rare. Lame reported that a total of twelve cases had been described in the European literature since 1800. Mikaelin, Kulczynski and Dolan, since then, described three cases. This paper deals with two surgical cases of sphenoidal sinus osteoma, reviewing literature on paranasal sinus osteoma and differential diagnosis in the sphenoidal sinus lesion. Case 1. A 20-year-old man was referred to us by an ophthalmologist, complaining of left visual disturbance (visual acuity: 0.02). He had a past history of chronic sinusitis. Neurological examination revealed papilledema on the left. Plain skull X-ray film showed marked destruction of the sphenoidal sinus and tomography demonstrated thinning and expanding of the sella floor with cloudiness in the sphenoidal sinus. CT scan showed an irregular high density mass in the sphenoidal sinus. Sublabial-nasoseptal sphenoidotomy was performed. The sinus was occupied by homogeneous osseous tissue surrounded by thin fibrous tissue. The osseous part was removed as much as possible by a high speed air drill. Histopathologic examination confirmed mature osteoma. Postoperative course was uneventful and left visual acuity was improved up to 0.06. He is now doing well without recurrence for six months. Case 2. A 59-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital, complaining of acromegaly for ten years. She had a past history of chronic sinusitis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and left putaminal hemorrhage which was evacuated five months before. She had typical acromegalic features and serum levels of growth hormone was 65.8 ng/ml.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Accumulation of surfactant phospholipids in lipid pneumonia induced with methylnaphthalene

Lipid analyses were carried out on the lungs of female B6C3F1 mice treated with methylnaphthalene. Cholesteryl ester, which could not be detected in lungs of control animals, was present in lungs of treated animals. Cholesterol and dipalmitoylglycerophosphocholine (DPPC) content was increased about five times in lungs of treated mice compared with control mice, and the content of a minor phospholipid was increased six times. The latter phospholipid was purified by high performance liquid chromatography and identified as phosphatidylglycerol by thin layer chromatography and by fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry. Both DPPC and phosphatidylglycerol are known to be pneumonal surfactants produced from type II pneumocytes. Therefore, the accumulation of these lipids in lung tissue was assumed to be caused by the proliferation of type II cells induced by the administration of methylnaphthalene. The results provide important information concerning the underlying mechanism of endogenous lipid pneumonia in mice.

Asialogangliosides as differentiation markers of rat erythropoietic and granulopoietic cells in rat bone marrow. Flow cytometric analysis of rat bone marrow cells using anti-asialoganglioside antibodies

Flow cytometric analysis using anti-glycolipid antiserum was used on rat bone marrow cells to determine the relation between the glycolipid species expressed on cell surfaces and cell differentiation. Four kinds of antibodies against gangliotriaosylceramide (Gg3Cer), gangliotetraosylceramide (Gg4Cer), fucogangliotetraosylceramide (IV2 alpha Fuc-Gg4Cer) and IV3 alpha Gal-fucogangliotetraosylceramide (IV3 alpha GalIV2 alpha Fuc-Gg4Cer, blood group B lipid) were used. The cells sorted out by each anti-glycolipid antiserum were stained with May-Grünwald-Giemsa reagent and identified by microscopy. In the erythropoietic group, only polychromatic erythroblasts had these four glycolipids on their cell surfaces; none appeared on differentiated erythrocytes. These glycolipids were expressed during the early stages of immature granulocytes, especially in the promyelocyte and myelocyte stages of eosinophilic and neutrophilic granulocytes. Very limited populations of lymphocytes were sorted out as asialoganglioside-expressing cells. We concluded that asialogangliosides are useful differentiation markers for the erythropoietic and granulopoietic cells of rat bone marrow, and that anti-asialoganglioside antibody-flow cytometry is a very useful technique with which to isolate immature granulocytes and erythropoietic cells from rat bone marrow cells.

A ganglioside of rat ascites hepatoma AH 7974F cells. Occurrence of a novel disialoganglioside (GD1 alpha) with a unique N-acetylneuraminosyl (alpha 2-6)-N-acetylgalactosamine structure

A novel disialoganglioside has been isolated from rat ascites hepatoma AH 7974F cells. Based on the results of sequential enzymatic hydrolysis and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the methylated sugars, the structure was concluded to be (Formula: see text) Proton magnetic resonance spectra of the ganglioside have been obtained and peaks of protons were assigned based on the analytical results. This is the first report on the occurrence in mammalian cells of an example of this new series of gangliosides which has NeuAc linked to the C6 position of GalNAc of the gangliotetraosyl backbone. The present ganglioside was named GD1 alpha.

Surgical treatment of skin depigmentation caused by burn injuries

Thin split-skin autografts of normal color were performed on depigmented skin caused by second- and third-degree burns in 32 patients. Repigmentation appeared in almost all the recipient areas soon after grafting and no depigmentation occurred again in the treated area.