Alteration of membrane oligosaccharides by castanospermine, an alpha glucosidase inhibitor, enhances immunoglobulin production in Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I-stimulated lymphocyte culture

Carbohydrates play a role in neurite outgrowth in vivo during development and regeneration

We have used the alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, castanospermine, to investigate the possible involvement of N-linked glycosylation in the process of neurite outgrowth both during the development and regeneration of sympathetic nerve fibres into the iris of the rat. The effects on nerve growth were assessed qualitatively using catecholamine histochemistry and quantitatively by measuring the uptake of [3H]noradrenaline. Castanospermine was injected during the first, second or third postnatal week or during the second to fourth week after degeneration of adrenergic nerve terminals with the neurotoxin, 6-hydroxydopamine. Results showed that both the initial growth of sympathetic nerve fibres, as well as the regeneration of these fibres, was inhibited by castanospermine treatment. The inhibitory effects were restricted to injection of castanospermine at particular time periods during postnatal development and regeneration. These results suggest that N-linked carbohydrates may be important in particular stages of the processes of initial nerve growth and regeneration of sympathetic nerve fibres in the iris.

Glycosidase inhibitors (castanospermine and swainsonine) and neuraminidase inhibit pokeweed mitogen-induced B cell maturation

Castanospermine (CSP), an inhibitor of alpha-glucosidase, enhanced immunoglobulin (Ig) release in a Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I (SAC)-induced lymphocyte culture (Scand. J. Immunol. 1990. 32: 529). In a pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-human lymphocyte culture, unlike the SAC-stimulated system, CSP strongly decreased the number of IgG-, IgA- and IgM-secreting cells as well as that of Ig-bearing cells. Peripheral blood lymphocytes treated with swainsonine, a mannosidase II inhibitor, or with neuraminidase also showed a reduced response to PWM. In cross-culture experiments, only a mixture of B cells pretreated with either agent and untreated T cells showed such a suppressive effect. Adhesion was decreased between B cells treated with either agent and untreated T cells, but not between treated T cells and untreated B cells. These results demonstrate that a certain alteration in B cell membrane oligosaccharides inhibited the T cell-B cell adhesion in the PWM culture, leading to an arrest of B cell maturation. Considering that these inhibitors eventually prevent terminal sialic acid addition, the present study provides evidence that sialic acids on B cell surface oligosaccharides play a biological role in the T cell-B cell interaction.