PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

C House

Publications and source records attributed to C House.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

A pathogenesis study of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle, using in situ hybridization.

Eight calves were exposed in an aerosol chamber to nebulized foot-and-mouth disease virus. Two control animals were exposed in a similar manner to cell culture media only. Animals were euthanized at intervals and various tissues examined by in situ hybridization using a biotinylated RNA probe corresponding to a portion of the viral gene coding for the polymerase enzyme. By this technique large amounts of viral nucleic acid were found in coronary band, interdigital cleft and tongue as early as six hours postexposure, indicating a very rapid delivery from the portal of entry to the predilection sites for lesion development. This occurred well before the onset of viremia which by virus isolation was not detectable until 30 hours postexposure. The in situ hybridization signal in these tissues decreased in intensity and extent with time to focally positive areas, occasionally surrounding a vesicle. Other epidermal sites not normally thought of as sites for foot-and-mouth lesion development, such as carpus and eyelid, also had some viral nucleic acid detectable at various time intervals. In the lung by in situ hybridization, alveolar septa had viral nucleic acid early in infection (6-18 h postexposure) while later (36-96 h postexposure), the in situ hybridization signal was prominent in alveolar macrophages.

Animals

Viral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits in Mexico: epidemiology and viral characterization.

A fatal disease of rabbits was first reported in the People's Republic of China in 1984. Since 1986, the disease has been reported in most countries of Europe and in the Republic of Korea. In 1989 a similar disease, presumably linked to the importation of rabbit meat from the People's Republic of China, spread rapidly through ten states in Mexico; it was eradicated during the same year by "stamping-out" measures. In Mexico, as was the case in other outbreaks, morbidity and mortality reached 80-90% with few clinical signs. In pathogenesis studies, the primary sites of replication were in the small intestinal crypt and villous epithelium, hepatocytes and splenic lymphocytes. Many organs, including the lung and kidney, contained acutely infarcted tissue and haemorrhages resulting from a terminal disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. The disease and the characteristics of the virus isolated in Mexico are similar to isolates from Europe and the Republic of Korea. The comparative morphologic, from Europe and the Republic of Korea. The comparative morphologic, immunologic, and in situ nucleic acid hybridization evidence for a parvovirus aetiology are summarized.

Animals

Mutagenesis of the pseudosubstrate site of protein kinase C leads to activation.

Protein kinase C is maintained in an inactive state by the action of an inhibitory region within the effector binding domain of the kinase. It has been suggested that a short stretch of amino acids (pseudosubstrate site) mediates this inhibition by binding to the active site and preventing substrate interaction [House, C. and Kemp, B. E. (1987) Science 238, 1726-1728]. A mutated version of protein kinase C-alpha containing a glutamic acid for alanine substitution in this region has been analysed for biochemical properties and biological function. Consistent with the importance of this pseudosubstrate site in regulating kinase activity, this altered protein has a significantly increased effector-independent kinase activity relative to wild-type protein kinase C-alpha and shows increased sensitivity to activation by proteolysis. The increased activity of this protein in the intact cell was confirmed by its ability to stimulate expression from a phorbol-ester-inducible reporter construct in a transient transfection system. Expression of a mutant kinase with the pseudosubstrate sequence deleted causes greater induction in this transient expression system, consistent with this kinase being independent of effectors and thus constitutively active.

Animals

Protein kinase C pseudosubstrate prototope: structure-function relationships.

A structure-function study of the protein kinase C (PK-C) pseudosubstrate sequence (R19FARK-GALRQKNV31) has been undertaken. The role of specific residues was investigated using an alanine substitution scan. Arg-22 was the most important determinant in the inhibitor sequence, since substitution of this residue by alanine gave a 600-fold increase in the IC50 value to 81 +/- 9 microM. Substitutions of other basic residue also increased the IC50, 5-, 11- and 24-fold for the Ala-19, Ala-23 and Ala-27 substitutions, respectively. The importance of basic residues in determining the potency of the pseudosubstrate peptide reflects the requirements for these residues in peptide substrate phosphorylation. The residues Gly-24, Leu-26 and Gln-28 were also important for pseudosubstrate inhibitor potency. The large difference in the IC50 value for the [A22]PK-C(19-31) peptide makes it a valuable control in studies employing the pseudosubstrate peptide to explore functional roles of PK-C.

Amino Acid Sequence

Inactivation of viral agents in bovine serum by gamma irradiation.

Cell culture origin or suckling mouse brain origin viruses of Akabane disease, Aino, bovine ephemeral fever, swine vesicular disease, hog cholera, bluetongue, and minute virus of mice were each suspended in bovine serum. Aliquots (1 mL) were exposed to various doses of gamma radiation from a 60Co source while at -68 degrees C. Aliquots (100-mL) of serum from a steer experimentally infected with foot-and-mouth disease virus were similarly irradiated. The samples were assayed for infectivity in cell culture systems before and after irradiation, and the data points were analyzed by linear regression. The irradiation doses (in megarads) necessary to inactivate one log10 of viral infectivity (D10) was calculated for each virus. D10 is otherwise known as the slope of the regression line. The r2 value, a measure of association with 1.0 = perfect fit, was also calculated for each regression line. The values (D10, r2) for each virus were as follows: Akabane, 0.25, 0.998; Aino, 0.35, 0.997; bovine ephemeral fever, 0.29, 0.961; swine vesicular disease, 0.50, 0.969; foot-and-mouth disease, 0.53, 0.978; hog cholera, 0.55, 0.974; bluetongue, 0.83, 0.958; and minute virus of mice, 1.07, 0.935.

Animals

Laboratory diagnosis of African horse sickness: comparison of serological techniques and evaluation of storage methods of samples for virus isolation.

Five serological methods of diagnosing African horse sickness were evaluated, using a battery of serum samples from experimental horses vaccinated and challenged with each serotype of African horse sickness virus (AHSV1 through AHSV9): agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID), indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA), complement fixation (CF), virus neutralization (VN), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The 5 tests were also compared using a panel of field samples, convalescent equine sera with antibodies to domestic equine viral diseases, and sera from horses awaiting export. The ELISA described in this paper was group specific. It did not require calibration with a standard positive serum but did yield elevated values with negative sera that were repeatedly frozen and thawed or heat inactivated. The IFA test was sensitive but could not be used on some field sera as the control cells exhibited fluorescence, possibly due to the animal being recently vaccinated with cell culture material. Sixty-two experimental sera were compared by VN, CF, AGID, and ELISA. Forty sera, 10 positive and 30 negative, were correctly classified by the 5 serologic assays. The 22 remaining sera gave mixed reactions. The AGID had no false positive results but had false negative results for up to 20% of the samples, depending upon the comparison. The VN, CF, and ELISA were similar in their variability. The length of time that virus could be recovered from a viremic blood sample was compared in an evaluation of storage methods for virus isolation samples. Washed erythrocytes were held at 4 C, washed erythrocytes plus stabilizer were held at -70 C, and blood that was drawn into a preservative (oxalate/phenol/glycerol) was held at 4 C.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

African Horse Sickness

A synthetic peptide analog of the putative substrate-binding motif activates protein kinase C.

A 29-residue synthetic peptide, Leu530-Leu-Tyr-Glu-Met-Leu-Ala-Gly-Gln-Ala-Pro-Phe-Glu-Gly-Glu-Asp -Glu-Asp- Glu-Leu-Phe-Gln-Ser-Ile-Met-Glu-His-Asn-Val-NH2(558), corresponding to part of the catalytic domain of protein kinase C, is a potent activator of the enzyme, with a Ka of approx. 10 microM. Activation was 59 +/- 4% of that observed with phosphatidylserine, predominantly due to an increased Vmax, partially calcium-dependent, observed with all three isoenzymes (alpha, beta, gamma), and resulted in autophosphorylation. It is proposed that the region between Gly528 and Arg583 is part of the protein substrate binding region of protein kinase C and synthetic peptide analogs of this region activate the enzyme by blocking the action of the enzyme's basic pseudosubstrate autoregulatory region.

Animals

Evaluation of techniques to demonstrate foot-and-mouth disease virus in bovine tongue epithelium: comparison of the sensitivity of cattle, mice, primary cell cultures, cryopreserved cell cultures and established cell lines.

Tongue epithelia infected with each of the 7 serotypes of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) were used to evaluate in vivo and in vitro systems for the detection of FMDV. Cattle inoculated by the intradermal route in the tongue (IDL) and suckling mice inoculated intraperitoneally were compared for susceptibility to FMDV with freshly prepared bovine thyroid cell cultures; cultures from cryopreserved bovine thyroid, bone marrow, mammary gland, myocardium, tongue, ovary and kidney cells; cultures from cryopreserved embryonic ovine kidney, newborn ovine kidney, ovine testicle, bone marrow, and chloroid plexus cells; and the continuous porcine kidney cell lines MVPK-1 and S6. The mean titers determined for each serotype in each system were statistically compared. The FMDV titers obtained in freshly prepared bovine thyroid cell cultures and by cattle IDL inoculation were the highest and were statistically indistinguishable. The titers obtained by suckling mouse inoculation were significantly lower than the titers obtained in thyroid cultures for serotypes A, C, Asia 1, and SAT 3. The cattle IDL assay was significantly more sensitive than the mouse assay for serotype A. The cell cultures from the cryopreserved newborn ovine kidney and embryonic ovine kidney were significantly less susceptible to serotype Asia 1 when compared with the fresh bovine thyroid cultures, but not significantly different when compared with the cattle assay for all serotypes. Cryopreservation of bovine thyroid cells directly after trypsinization resulted in the loss of susceptibility to FMDV serotype SAT 2. The other cryopreserved cell culture systems exhibited no or minimal susceptibility to all 7 serotypes, or exhibited considerable inconsistency. The established cell lines MVPK-1 and S6 were not susceptible to serotype A, and were less sensitive to serotype C than other culture systems. Quality control of cell cultures used to evaluate field specimens for FMDV was critical. The cell cultures of cryopreserved ovine kidney cells provided the most practical diagnostic system.

Animals

Characteristics of the porcine kidney cell line IB-RS-2 clone D10 (IB-RS-2 D10) which is free of hog cholera virus.

A Brazilian stock of clone C17 of the IB-RS-2 porcine kidney cell line which was contaminated with hog cholera virus (HCV) was cloned. One clone designated IB-RS-2 D10 was determined to be free of HCV, 20 other viruses, and Mycoplasma. IB-RS-2 D10 cells possessed the same viral susceptibility pattern as the contaminated parent cells to the viruses of foot-and-mouth disease, swine vesicular disease, vesicular exanthema of swine, transmissible gastroenteritis, and several other viruses. The IB-RS-2 D10 cells had a median chromosome count of 34, were morphologically epithelioid cells, and were resistant to HCV infection. Freedom from HCV affords advantages for vaccine production and avoids laboratory contamination.

Animals

Protein kinase C contains a pseudosubstrate prototope in its regulatory domain.

The regulatory domain of protein kinase C contains an amino acid sequence between residues 19 and 36 that resembles a substrate phosphorylation site in its distribution of basic residue recognition determinants. The corresponding synthetic peptide (Arg19-Phe-Ala-Arg-Lys-Gly-Ala25-Leu-Arg-Gln-Lys-Asn-Val-His -Glu-Val-Lys-Asn36) acts as a potent substrate antagonist with an inhibitory constant of 147 +/- 9 nM. It is a specific inhibitor of protein kinase C and inhibits both autophosphorylation and protein substrate phosphorylation. Substitution of Ala25 with serine transforms the pseudosubstrate into a potent substrate. These results demonstrate that the conserved region of the regulatory domain (residues 19 to 36) of protein kinase C has the secondary structural features of a pseudosubstrate and may be responsible for maintaining the enzyme in the inactive form in the absence of allosteric activators such as phospholipids.

Amino Acid Sequence

The influence of basic residues on the substrate specificity of protein kinase C.

The substrate specificity of protein kinase C has been examined using a series of synthetic peptide analogs of glycogen synthase, ribosomal protein S6, and the epidermal growth factor receptor. The glycogen synthase analog peptide Pro1-Leu-Ser-Arg-Thr-Leu-Ser-Val-Ala-Ala10 was phosphorylated at Ser7 with a Km of 40.3 microM. Peptide phosphorylation was strongly dependent on Arg4. When lysine was substituted for Arg4 the Km was increased approximately 20-fold. Addition of basic residues on either the NH2-terminal or COOH-terminal side of the phosphorylation site of the glycogen synthase peptide improved the kinetics of peptide phosphorylation. The analog Pro-Leu-Ser-Arg-Thr-Leu-Ser-Val-Ala-Ala-Lys-Lys was phosphorylated with a Km of 4.1 microM. Substitution of Ser7 with threonine increased the apparent Km to 151 microM. The truncated peptide Pro1-Leu-Ser-Arg-Thr-Leu-Ser-Val8 was phosphorylated with similar kinetic constants to the parent peptide, however, deletion of Val8 increased the apparent Km to 761 microM. The ribosomal peptide S6-(229-239) was phosphorylated with a Km of approximately 0.5 microM predominantly on Ser236 and is one of the most potent synthetic peptide substrates reported for a protein kinase. The apparent Km for S6 peptide phosphorylation was increased by either deletion of the NH2-terminal 3 residues Ala229-Arg-231 or by substitution of Arg238 on the COOH-terminal side of the phosphorylation site with alanine. This analog peptide, [Ala238]S6-(229-239) was phosphorylated with an approximate 6-fold reduction in Vmax and a switch in the preferred site of phosphorylation from Ser236 to Ser235. These results support the concept that basic residues on both sides of the phosphorylation site can have an important influence on the kinetics of phosphorylation and site specificity of protein kinase C.

Animals

Rapid and sensitive detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus in tissues by enzymatic RNA amplification of the polymerase gene.

Direct detection of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus from infected bovine and porcine tissue was investigated using a modified polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. A high degree of conservation was found in the genomic region coding for the viral RNA polymerase among the seven FMD viral (FMDV) serotypes. An oligomeric primer pair and probe were constructed from consensus sequence data within this area. First strand cDNA was synthesized using random hexamers and Moloney MuLV reverse transcriptase. The oligomeric primers used for PCR of the random primed cDNA yielded a 454-base-pair target amplification product. The PCR product was sized by agarose gel electrophoresis and hybridized strongly with the consensus sequence oligomeric probe. The PCR product was further examined by digestion with NcoI, confirming the predicted internal restriction enzyme site. All seven serotypes of FMDV RNA were amplified in a few hours and the PCR product tested positive. The sensitivity of the enzymatic amplification for detection of FMDV was 10 TCID50 by gel electrophoresis and less than 1 TCID50 when combined with hybridization to a labeled probe. The technique was specific, as determined by examination of at least 12 other viruses, including enteroviruses and other agents of vesicular disease. In vitro enzymatic amplification of cDNA from FMDV RNA using the modified PCR technique is highly specific, rapid and at least as sensitive as presently used procedures for FMDV laboratory diagnosis.

Animals