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Biomedical subjects

A D O'Brien

Publications and source records attributed to A D O'Brien.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Immunochemical and cytotoxic activities of Shigella dysenteriae 1 (shiga) and shiga-like toxins.

Toxins in culture supernatants and bacterial lysates of S. dysenteriae 1 and S. flexneri were quantitated by a cytotoxicity assay and a newly developed radioimmunoassay. Cytotoxin titers paralleled toxin antigen levels. Thus, variations in cytotoxicity among shigellae probably reflect differences in toxin yield rather than specific activity (cytotoxicity per microgram of toxin antigen).

Bacterial Toxins↗
PubMed1982

Silica enhancement of murine endotoxin sensitivity.

Silica has been used for many years as an agent which selectively alters macrophage functions and, as such, has been used to assess the role of macrophages in the immune response to a variety of microbial and chemically defined agents. Silica treatment of C3H/HeN mice 1 day before challenge with protein-free Escherichia coli endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) resulted in a marked increase in LPS sensitivity, as evidenced by accelerated signs of endotoxemia as well as a fourfold decrease in the LPS 50% lethal dose. The silica-mediated increase in responsiveness to LPS was associated with increased production of macrophage-derived soluble factors both in vivo (interferon) and in vitro (Interleukin 1; previously referred to as lymphocyte activating factor or LAF) upon endotoxin stimulation. These findings support the central role of the macrophage and its products in mediating endotoxic reactions.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Innate resistance of mice to Salmonella typhi infection.

The basis for the natural resistance of mice to Salmonella typhi was examined. In contrast to Salmonella typhimurium, the virulence of S. typhi for mice was independent of the mouse strain and was not affected by inactivation of murine macrophages with silica. However, mice were more susceptible to S. typhi when given iron alone or iron and an iron chelator. The results suggest that the failure of S. typhi to undergo net growth in murine tissues reflects an inability of the bacterium to multiply rather than rapid killing by resident macrophages.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Characterization of murine antibody response to Salmonella typhimurium by a class-specific solid-phase radioimmunoassay.

A heavy-chain class-specific, solid-phase radioimmunoassay was developed to characterize the murine antibody response to Salmonella typhimurium. The specificity of the assay was verified by quantitation of the extent of binding of anti-S. typhimurium antibodies to other bacterial genera and species and by cross-adsorption studies. The sensitivity of the procedure was also examined, and it was determined to be substantially more sensitive than either the passive hemagglutination or the whole-cell agglutination technique. The method was subsequently used to analyze th murine antibody response to S. typhimurium. Groups of mice were prebled and then immunized with live S. typhimurium via different routes. The animals were bled weekly for 12 weeks, and then sera were assayed for antibodies directed against whole bacteria or purified lipopolysaccharide. Anti-Salmonella antibodies of the immunoglobulin M class appeared in the serum approximately 2 to 3 weeks after immunization, and then immunoglobulin G anti-Salmonella antibodies appeared which constituted the major part of the long-term response. Immunoglobulin A was not a major component of the serum antibody response. The antibodies were primarily directed against the lipopolysaccharide determinants, but a small percentage of the response was directed against other cell surface components. Qualitatively and quantitatively similar anti-Salmonella antibody responses were observed in sera of outbred and inbred strains of mice.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed1980

Control of natural resistance to Salmonella typhimurium and Leishmania donovani in mice by closely linked but distinct genetic loci.

Inbred strains of mice vary in their sensitivity to infection with both Salmonella typhimurium and Leishmania donovani. In both cases, this differential susceptibility is genetically controlled. Resistance to the intracellular parasite L. donovani is determined by a single locus on chromosome 1, designated Lsh (ref. 4). The primary regulator of resistance to S. typhimurium is a single, dominant autosomal gene, named Ity (for immunity to typhimurium), and it has also been recently mapped to chromosome 1 (ref. 6). In addition, two other genetic loci regulate resistance to S. typhimurium in mice. These genes, Lpsd and xid, are mutant alleles that render C3H/HeJ and CBA/N mice, respectively, salmonella susceptible. Both Bradley and his colleagues, and Plant and Glynn, noted similar patterns of resistance or susceptibility of inbred strains of mice to L. donovani and S. typhimurium, and therefore suggested that Lsh and Ity might be the same gene. Mapping of both genes to the same region of chromosome 1 supported this hypothesis but no linkage studies have been used to test it. Since recombinant inbred (RI) mouse strains are, in effect, permanent segregant populations, they are ideal for determing linkage between resistance genes to two different pathogens. Therefore, we determined the S. typhimurium susceptibility of five sets of RI mouse strains that had been previously typed for Lsh and conclude that Lsh and Ity are closely linked but distinct genetic loci.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Characterization of Shigella dysenteriae 1 (Shiga) toxin purified by anti-Shiga toxin affinity chromatography.

Shigella dysenteriae 1 (Shiga) toxin was purified from whole-cell lysates by antitoxin affinity column chromatography, radioiodination, and Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration of 125I-labeled affinity column eluates. Two chromatographic peaks were observed. The percentage of radioactivity in peak I samples immunoprecipitated with antitoxin ranged from 95 to 100%. A pool of samples from this first peak contained over 90% of the HeLa-cell-cytotoxic units applied to the column and was enterotoxic for rabbit ileal loops and lethal for rabbits. This radiolabeled material migrated as a single cytotoxic band after nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, but formed three bands, of 33,000, 29,000, and 4,000 to 7,000 daltons, after sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In addition, material estimated as 7,000 daltons by Bio-Gel P-10 chromatography could be generated by treatment of S-200 peak I samples with 8 M urea. Pooled fractions from the second S-200 peak were separable into several low-molecular-weight peaks on a P-10 column. One of these P-10 peaks (7,000 daltons) was 27% immunoprecipitable with antitoxin. These data indicate that three of the known biological activities of Shiga toxin are associated with a 33,000-dalton substance which can be dissociated into 29,000- and 4,000- to 7,000-dalton components.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Shigellosis and Escherichia coli diarrhea: relative importance of invasive and toxigenic mechanisms.

Shigellae and dysentery-like Escherichia coli must invade the epithelium of the colon to cause disease which can present as dysentery, diarrhea, or both. This paper addresses the possible role of a Shigella dysenteriae-like (Shiga-like) toxin in the pathogenesis of shigellosis and E. coli diarrheal diseases. The possibility for such a role is suggested by the following observations: 1) diarrhea, considered to be a result of secretion of water by the small bowel, is frequently observed in shigellosis, a large bowel disease. 2) Even though shigellae do not invade the jejunum of monkeys fed Shigella flexneri, jejunal secretion is seen in animals with diarrhea. 3) The Shiga toxin of S. dysenteriae has enterotoxic activity and other serotypes of shigellae produce Shiga-like toxins. 4) E. coli 015 RDEC-1 causes a diarrheal disease and frequently death in young rabbits. This organism neither produces E. coli enterotoxins nor is it invasive, but it may produce low levels of a Shiga-like toxin.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Effect of silica on the innate resistance of inbred mice to Salmonella typhimurium infection.

The role of macrophages in the innate immunity of (CBA/N female X DBA/2N male)F1 female mice to Salmonella typhimurium was assessed with silica, an agent which has been reported to selectively inactivate macrophages. Silica, administered intravenously to mice, markedly decreased the phagocytic capacity of splenic macrophages but had no effect on splenic responsiveness to the B-cell mitogen lipopolysaccharidide or the T-cell mitogen phytohemagglutinin, nor did it affect the frequency of surface immunoglobulin-positive cells (B cells). Silica given to mice 1 day before intraperitoneal challenge decreased the 50% lethal dose of S. typhimurium 100-fold. The incidence of survival of mice given silica up to 14 days before infection with a sublethal dose of organisms was also decreased. This susceptibility could also be demonstrated when silica was given 10 days, but not 20 days, after S. typhimurium infection. Poly-2-vinylpyridine-N-oxide, a lysosomal stabilizing agent, abrogated the silica effect. Deaths among silica-treated mice followed uncontrolled multiplication of the organism in the spleen. These results provide direct evidence that macrophages play an essential role in natural immunity to murine typhoid and demonstrate the efficacy of silica as a tool to analyze macrophage function.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Cellular release of heat-labile enterotoxin of Escherichia coli by bacteriophage induction.

Treatment of some enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains with the antibiotic mitomycin C resulted in lysis of the bacteria. Heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) activity of culture filtrates, determined by means of the Y-1 adrenal cell assay, increased dramatically as lysis of the culture proceeded. Further studies with E. coli strains 263 and B21-4 revealed that lysis is due to mitomycin C induction of vetetative development of a temperature bacteriophage. These findings suggest that the elevated levels of LT detected after mitomycin C treatment reflect the lytic release of cell-bound LT rather than the induction by mitomycin C of de novo toxin biosynthesis. Comparable increases in LT activity also resulted from thermal induction of a phage P1Cm lysogen of strain 263 or from sonic disruption of enterotoxigenic strains.

Bacterial Toxins↗
PubMed1978

Increased tissue conductance and ion transport in guinea pig ileum after exposure to Staphylococcus aureus delta-toxin in vitro.

Prior studies had shown that Staphylococcus aureus delta-toxin was able to inhibit water absorption in guinea pig ileum and to elevate the cyclic AMP content of this tissue, but was unable to elicit certain cyclic AMP-mediated changes in Y-1 adrenal or Chinese hamster ovary cells. Because water movement passively follows the net movement of electrolytes in the gut, this study investigated the effect of delta-toxin on ion transport in guinea pig ileum maintained in vitro. The transmural potential difference (PD) of guinea pig ileum was measured and nullified with an automatic voltage clamp. The short circuit flowing under these conditions (I(sc)) was measured, and the conductance was calculated (I(sc)/PD). Unidirectional (22)Na(+) and (36)Cl(-) fluxes were measured. In a glucose-free Ringer solution, delta-toxin caused an immediate spike in PD and I(sc), and the extent and duration of the spike generally increased with increasing toxin concentration. The conductance of ileum was increased by delta-toxin, and this effect on conductance could be blocked by lecithin, a known inhibitor of delta-toxin. Tissue in the presence of glucose did not exhibit a spike in PD or I(sc) when exposed to delta-toxin. In a glucose-free medium, delta-toxin caused a 1.5- to 2.5-fold increase in both the unidirectional absorption and secretion of Na(+) and Cl(-), whereas the net secretion of Na(+) increased above basal levels. The observation that delta-toxin causes a prompt increase in intestinal ion flux lends credence to the concept that the elevation in cellular cyclic AMP, which occurs later, is a secondary response to the toxin. The rapid increase in ion flux may reflect the ability of delta-toxin to augment intercellular movement of ions across the mucosa rather than the stimulation of transcellular processes.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Biological properties of Shigella flexneri 2A toxin and its serological relationship to Shigella dysenteriae 1 toxin.

A toxin extracted from heat-inactivated, alkaline-treated Shigella flexneri 2a showed biological properties similar to those of Shigella dysenteria 1 toxin. The S, flexneri 2a toxin was lethal to mice, enterotoxic for ileal loops of rabbits, and cytotoxic for HeLa cells. A serological relationship between S. flexneri 2a and S. dysenteriae 1 toxin was shown with cross neutralization tests.

Antigens, Bacterial↗
PubMed1977

Effect of Staphylococcus aureus delta toxin on Chinese hamster ovary cell morphology and Y-1 adrenal cell morphology and steroidogenesis.

Since Staphylococcus aureus delta toxin previously had been shown to increase the cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) content of guinea pig ileum, the effect of delta toxin on such cAMP-mediated responses as morphogenesis and steroidogenesis in cultured tissue cells was examined. In contrast to cholera toxin, delta toxin did not cause spindling of Chinese hamster ovary cells. Unlike adrenocorticotropin or cholera toxin, delta toxin was unable to cause rounding of Y-1 adrenal cells or to promote steroid production by the cells. S. aureus alpha toxin and enterotoxin B were also unable to cause rounding of Y-1 adrenal cells. Omission of Ca2+ from the media still allowed for increased steroid production by adrenocorticotropin but not by delta toxin. Delta toxin at concentrations greater than 10 micrograms/ml did cause lysis of both Chinese hamster ovary and Y-1 adrenal cells. These findings suggest that the increase in intestinal cAMP levels caused by delta toxin is mediated through a mechanism different from that initiated by cholera toxin.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗