Adenosine-resistant Chinese hamster fibroblast variants with hyperactive adenosine-deaminase: an analysis of the protection against exogenous adenosine afforded by increased activity of the deamination pathway

Deoxycytidine deaminase-deficient Escherichia coli strains display acute sensitivity to cytidine, adenosine, and guanosine and increased sensitivity to a range of antibiotics, including vancomycin

We show here that deoxycytidine deaminase (DCD)-deficient mutants of Escherichia coli are hypersensitive to killing by exogenous cytidine, adenosine, or guanosine, whereas wild-type cells are not. This hypersensitivity is reversed by exogenous thymidine. The mechanism likely involves the allosteric regulation of ribonucleotide reductase and severe limitations of the dTTP pools, resulting in thymineless death, the phenomenon of cell death due to thymidine starvation. We also report here that DCD-deficient mutants of E. coli are more sensitive to a series of different antibiotics, including vancomycin, and we show synergistic killing with the combination of vancomycin and cytidine. One possibility is that a very low, subinhibitory concentration of vancomycin enters Gram-negative cells and that this concentration is potentiated by chromosomal lesions resulting from the thymineless state. A second possibility is that the metabolic imbalance resulting from DCD deficiency affects the assembly of the outer membrane, which normally presents a barrier to drugs such as vancomycin. We consider these findings with regard to ideas of rendering Gram-negative bacteria sensitive to drugs such as vancomycin.

Analysis of purine metabolic enzymes in human CD4 Leu 8- and CD4 Leu 8+ lymphocyte subpopulations

1. Specific activities of adenosine deaminase, purine nucleoside phosphorylase, adenosine kinase, 5'-nucleotidase, S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase, AMP deaminase, adenine phosphoribosyl transferase, and hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase were analyzed in human CD4 T-lymphocyte subsets. 2. CD4 Leu 8- (helper/inducer) and CD4 Leu 8+ (suppressor/inducer) subpopulations were obtained by panning or fluorescence activated cell sorting techniques using specific monoclonal antibodies. 3. A 45% decrease of 5'-NT AMP activity in the CD4 Leu 8- cells (suppressor/inducer) compared with CD4 total cell population. 4. No statistical significant differences in enzyme activity were found between the subsets analyzed in other purine enzymes. 5. These results suggest that the distribution of purine metabolic enzymes is homogeneous in CD4 Leu 8- and CD4 Leu 8+ T-lymphocyte subpopulations.

The adenosine hypothesis of epilepsy

The present communication summarizes a variety of diverse observations indicating that adenine ribo-nucleoside (ARN), or adenosine, may play an important role as an endogenous anti-epileptic compound in the central nervous system. From such observations has evolved an hypothesis which states that defects in the synthesis, release, action and/or degradation of ARN may be a causative factor in some forms of epilepsy. Of particular interest is the emerging realization that the adenosine system may be a common factor in the mechanism of action of many otherwise unrelated anticonvulsant compounds. Thus, a more detailed understanding of the ARN system and its role in the control of cerebral activity may lead to rational strategies for the development of efficacious therapeutic agents having greater specificity and fewer side effects.

Adenosine deaminase deficiency with late onset of recurrent infections: response to treatment with polyethylene glycol-modified adenosine deaminase

We report a 5-year-old girl with adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency who was asymptomatic during the first years of life. At 3 years of age, she developed chronic and recurrent sinopulmonary infections, and at 4 1/2 years of age she had one major infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae (bacteremia and septic arthritis of the hip). Immunologic evaluation at 5 years of age revealed persistent lymphopenia, decreased helper-suppressor T cell ratios, and low proliferative responses to mitogens. The IgG, IgM, and IgA levels were normal; the IgG2 level was low normal or below normal. The patient had specific antibodies against toxoids and viral antigens but failed to produce antibodies against Haemophilus influenzae type b and pneumococcal polysaccharides. Although no symptoms of allergy were present, she had persistent eosinophilia and elevated IgE levels. The patient had 0.6% of normal ADA activity in erythrocytes and approximately 1% of normal ADA activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Beginning at 6 years of age, she was treated with weekly injections of polyethylene glycol-modified bovine ADA. This treatment was well tolerated and effectively reversed the biochemical consequence of ADA deficiency. Concomitantly, she improved clinically and her T lymphocyte numbers and blastogenic responses to mitogens in vitro became normal. The late onset of clinical symptoms and relatively benign clinical course in this patient emphasize the need to consider ADA deficiency in a broad spectrum of immunodeficient children.

Selection and amplification of heterologous genes encoding adenosine deaminase in mammalian cells

We demonstrate that an adenosine deaminase (ADA) cDNA gene can function as a dominant selectable and amplifiable marker for gene transfer experiments in mammalian cells. Cells that incorporate the gene can be selected by growth in the presence of low concentrations of the ADA inhibitor 2'-deoxycoformycin with cytotoxic concentrations of adenosine or its analogue 9-beta-D-xylofuranosyl adenine. The DNA copy number of the transfected ADA minigene in the isolated transformants of Chinese hamster ovary cells can be amplified greater than 100-fold by growth in ADA selection media and increasing concentrations of 2'-deoxycoformycin. This selection scheme may allow for the introduction and subsequent amplification of heterologous DNA in a variety of mammalian cells.

Use of a P815-derived line with an amplified adenosine deaminase gene: an improved target for cellular cytotoxicity

We describe a cytotoxic T lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity assay in which the release of a cytoplasmic enzyme, adenosine deaminase (ADA), instead of the widely used radioactive chromium is a measure of target lysis. In this enzyme-release assay the target is a mastocytoma P815-derived cell line, noted P815 ADA++, isolated by applying a selection procedure devised to specifically amplify the ADA gene. Gene amplification in P815 ADA++ was indeed demonstrated. Routine measurement of ADA activity from numerous supernatants is performed using a specific and sensitive colorimetric assay. The use of 96-well microtiter plates as well as of an automatic Multiscan spectrophotometer makes this measurement rapid and convenient. We show that this ADA-release assay is significantly more sensitive than the classical chromium-release test because of its consistently lower (5 to 10-fold) spontaneous release in 4 h, short-term cytotoxicity experiments. We also found that it is especially suited for the rapid detection, by visual screening, of rare, active killer clones among large, heterogeneous cytotoxic T lymphocyte populations. The assay could easily be adapted to other tumor targets (EL4, YAC-1, K562) of common use in studies involving immune lysis; indeed, the procedure of amplifying the ADA gene used in the isolation of the P815 ADA++ hyperactive line may be generally applied to these targets.

Adenosine deaminase gene amplification in deoxycoformycin-resistant mammalian cells

Deoxycoformycin (dCF)-resistant mutants of rat hepatoma, mouse LMTK-, and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells have been isolated and shown to overproduce adenosine deaminase (ADA). The overproduction of ADA was found to be due to ADA-gene amplification in rat and mouse cells but not in CHO cells. Deoxycoformycin-resistant rat hepatoma cells have large HSRs (homogeneously staining regions), mouse cells carry DMs (Double minutes), and CHO cells do not appear to have any gross chromosomal anomalies. When dCF-resistant rat hepatoma and mouse cells are selected by increasing the concentration of the inhibitor in small increments, there is a good correlation between the increase in ADA gene copy number and the increase in the level of expression of ADA, suggesting that all of the amplified genes are equally active in the expression of ADA.