Hypoplastic left heart syndrome: some clues to its aetiology.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C M Sorensen.
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The number of lymphocytes in an animal is remarkably constant despite antigen-driven proliferation and a high rate of B-cell lymphopoiesis. This reflects the relatively brief lifespan of many newly generated B cells and argues for a well-regulated death mechanism. Even so, a secondary immune response can be generated years after a primary exposure to antigen. Antigen that might restimulate B cells persists for extended periods on follicular dendritic cells in the light zone of germinal centres. Antigen-binding B cells have also been found months after the end of obvious cell division. The precise signal that enables certain B cells to emerge as long-term surviving memory cells is unknown. Bcl-2, an inner mitochondrial membrane protein, blocks programmed cell death in B cells. We report here that this proto-oncogene maintains immune responsiveness. Transgenic mice overproducing Bcl-2 have a long-term persistence of immunoglobulin-secreting cells and an extended lifetime for memory B cells.
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T cell subsets that regulate antibody responses to L-glutamic acid60-L-alanine30-L-tyrosine10 (GAT) in mice that are Ir gene non-responders have been further characterized. We previously defined several T cell subsets in GAT-primed non-responder mice. The Lyt-2+ suppressor-effector T cells suppress responses to GAT and GAT complexed to methylated BSA (GAT-MBSA). The Lyt-1+ cell population is complex and can be separated into I-J- Th cells, which support responses to GAT and GAT-MBSA. After priming, the Lyt-1+, I-J+ cell population contains suppressor-inducer cells that activate precursors of suppressor-effector cells to suppress responses to GAT and GAT-MBSA as well as Ts cells that directly inhibit responses to GAT but not GAT-MBSA. By contrast, the Lyt-1+ cells from virgin mice contain only cells that directly suppress responses to GAT but not GAT-MBSA. The major question addressed in the present studies was whether the Lyt-1+, I-J+ Ts cells in virgin and primed mice and the suppressor-inducer cells in GAT-primed mice were functionally and serologically distinct subsets. The studies used mAb and panning procedures to separate cell populations and inhibition of PFC cell responses to functionally define the activity of the cell populations. We used the following two mAb that were raised by immunizing rats with GAT-specific suppressor factors: 1248A4.10 (known to react with suppressor-inducer cells) and 1248A4.3, another reagent from the same fusion. Lyt-1+ cells from virgin spleens contained Ts cells that were A4.10-, A4.3+ and no suppressor-inducer T cells, whereas Lyt-1+ cells from GAT-primed spleens contained Ts cells that were A4.10-, A4.3+ as well as A4.10+, A4.3- suppressor-inducer cells. Thus, the Lyt1+, I-J+ cell subset can be divided into two functionally and serologically distinct subsets, direct Ts cells (1248A4.3+), which suppress responses to GAT but not GAT-MBSA, and GAT-primed suppressor-inducer T cells (1248A4.10+).
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The suppressor T-cell hybridoma 1556A2.1 can be induced by the monoclonal L-glutamic acid60-L-alanine30-L-tyrosine10 (GAT)-specific suppressor inducer 372B3.5 and soluble GAT to synthesize a disulfide-linked heterodimeric protein (GAT-TsF2), which directly suppresses a primary in vitro immune response to GAT. Induction and synthesis of the GAT-TsF2 protein is correlated with the appearance of specific mRNA, as detected by translation in vitro in a wheat germ cell-free extract of RNA isolated at various times after induction. The mRNA coding for the polypeptide chain that bears a serologically defined I-J determinant (I-J+ chain) appeared 8 hr after induction, whereas the mRNA coding for the antigen-binding chain (AB+ chain) was not detected until 16 hr after induction. The mRNAs coding for the individual chains sedimented as different species, suggesting that the two-chain factor is the product of two genes. The AB+ chain of the 1556A2.1 GAT-TsF2 was synthesized on membrane-bound polysomes, whereas the I-J+ chain was translated on free polysomes. The AB+ chain was synthesized from two independent mRNA species sedimenting at 10 S and 28 S, whereas a single 16S mRNA encoded the I-J+ chain. The in vitro translated I-J+ chain was bound by a monoclonal antibody against the I-J+ determinant of only the appropriate H-2 haplotype. These results suggest that posttranslational modification, including glycosylation, is not required for biological activity or for expression of the I-J epitope on the GAT-TsF2 molecule.
We have previously identified and described two distinct types of suppressor T cell factors specific for the PFC response to L-glutamic acid60-L-alanine30-L-tyrosine10 (GAT) or L-glutamic acid50-L-tyrosine50 (GT). Both of these factors are antigen-specific and I-J+. GAT-TsF1 is not MHC-restricted and is composed of a single polypeptide chain, whereas GAT-TsF2 is MHC-restricted and is composed of two different polypeptide chains. We have not previously found evidence for an obligatory, idiotype-specific suppressor T cell in this suppressor pathway. However, we now report that idiotype-specific suppressor T cells can be elicited by exposing normal spleen cells to GAT-TsF1 or GAT-TsF2 in the absence of antigen in vitro. These factor (TsF1/TsF2)-induced cells have been fused with the AKR thymoma, BW5147, and hybridomas were selected for production of suppressor factors that inhibit GAT-specific antibody responses in vitro. In this report, we characterize one monoclonal factor from each fusion. Neither factor binds GAT or the related co-polymer, GT; both factors have binding sites for GAT-specific idiotypes but not for unrelated idiotypes either in the form of antibody immobilized on Sepharose or as cell surface determinants expressed by B cell hybridomas. Moreover, their reactivities for a panel of monoclonal anti-GAT antibodies are overlapping but not identical. Both factors are composed of two polypeptide chains, and both chains are required for suppressive activity; one chain bears the I-J determinant, whereas the other possesses the idiotype-binding activity of the intact molecule. Both idiotype-binding factors are restricted by MHC- and Igh-linked genes, and transcomplementation is observed in the F1 mice between MHC-congenic and Igh-congenic parents. Both factors are active late in Mishell-Dutton cultures. These data support the contention that these two factors are similar but nonidentical members of an anti-idiotypic class of GAT-specific suppressor factors.
In vitro activation of naive spleen cells from C57BL/10 mice with GAT and the monoclonal GAT-TsF1, 372B3.5, followed by fusion with BW5147 resulted in generation of a hybridoma that fails to produce GAT-TsF constitutively, but upon reexposure to GAT and 372B3.5 is induced to secrete GAT-TsF2. The induction is GAT specific and requires de novo RNA, protein synthesis, and DNA synthesis. Although both GAT and 372B3.5 are required for induction, they may be added sequentially, provided the GAT is added first. The GAT-TsF produced by the induced cell is antigen specific and composed of two polypeptide chains: one capable of binding antigen, the other bearing determinants encoded by the I-J region of the MHC. The utility of this inducible GAT-TsF2 cell line for molecular biology and other studies is discussed.
Considerable information concerning the serology and biochemistry of antigen-specific, T cell-derived suppressor factors has been obtained with the use of T cell hybridomas as a source of homogeneous material. Similarly, knowledge of helper T cell products and receptors is accumulating from studies of helper T cell clones and hybridomas. Our strategy for studying the mechanisms by which suppressor factors inhibit responses was to determine whether monoclonal suppressor factors could inhibit antibody responses specific for L-glutamic acid60-L-alanine30-L-tyrosine10 (GAT) in cultures containing unprimed splenic B cells, macrophages, and GAT-specific T cell clones as a source of helper activity. The MHC-restricted, two chain suppressor factors, GAT-TsF2, inhibited these responses if the helper T cell clones and suppressor factor were derived from H-2-compatible mice. Furthermore, responses were inhibited by briefly pulsing T cell clones with GAT-TsF2 in the presence of GAT, indicating that suppressor factors need not be present continuously. In addition, helper T cell clones adsorbed syngeneic, but not allogeneic, GAT-TsF2 in the presence of GAT. Adsorption also requires a shared antigenic specificity between the H-2b-derived helper T cells and TsF2 factor. Thus, helper T cells can serve as the cellular target of antigen-specific, MHC-restricted GAT-TsF2, and cloned helper T cells can be used as a homogeneous target population for analysis of the molecular mechanisms of T cell suppression.
Hyperimmunization of BALB/c mice with concanavalin A-stimulated blasts from the Ig allotype-congenic strain, C.B20, results in the production of antibodies reactive with T cells in an allotype-restricted manner. Spleen cells from these hyperimmune BALB/c mice were used to generate a panel of hybridomas that secrete monoclonal antibodies, reactive, in an allotype-restricted manner, exclusively with T cells subpopulations, and in particular, reactive with suppressor T cell hybridomas and their secreted soluble factors. Two functional classes of antibodies were identified: those that react with single polypeptide-chain suppressor T cell factors (TsF1) and the suppressor T cell hybridomas that produce such factors, and those that react with two polypeptide-chain suppressor T cell factors (TsF2) and their corresponding suppressor T cell hybridomas. These two classes of antibody were used to isolate molecules from the membranes of the respective suppressor T cell hybrids that are functionally and structurally related to the secreted suppressor T cell factors, suggesting a receptor function for these molecules.
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Spleen cells from C57BL/6 and B6.C-H-2bm12 mice, both responder strains to GAT, differ in their ability to be suppressed by the monoclonal I-A-restricted, nonantigen-specific, but haplotype-specific suppressor factor, TsF-H, from the hybridoma 266A4.5. Whereas GAT-specific responses by C57BL/6 spleen cells are susceptible to TsF-H-mediated suppression, responses by bm12 spleen cells are nonsuppressible under the same conditions. Responses of both C57BL/6 and bm12 spleen cells are suppressed by monoclonal GAT-specific suppressor factors. The inability of TsF-H to suppress responses by the bm12 spleen cells presumably reflects the effects of the mutation in the beta-chain of the I-A antigen in this strain on the required I-A restriction between TsF-H and target cell for manifestation of suppressive activity. The data are discussed in terms of involvement of I-A or recognition of I-A in mediating suppression.
Fusion of spleen cells from rats hyperimmunized with T cell hybridoma derived GAT-specific TsF1 or TsF2 suppressor T cell factors has resulted in the generation of hybridomas secreting monoclonal antibodies reactive with the appropriate GAT-TsF used for immunization, and in several cases, reactive with other GAT-TsF1 and TsF2. The monoclonal anti-TsF1 antibodies are capable of modulating in vitro GAT-specific PFC response in a GAT-specific manner; some suppress responses to GAT directly, whereas others reverse GAT-TsF1-mediated suppression of responses. The monoclonal anti-TsF2 antibodies all reverse suppression but are reactive with combinatorial determinants, I-J+ chains or antigen-binding chains of the GAT-TsF2. The data are discussed in terms of the nature of the determinants recognized by these antibodies as well as the potential uses of these reagents for studying the suppressor T cell pathway and potential relationships between Ts1, Ts2, and T helper cells.
T cell subsets from virgin and immunized mice, which are Ir gene controlled nonresponders to GAT, which regulate antibody responses to GAT have been characterized. Virgin nonresponder B10.Q B cells develop GAT-specific antibody responses to GAT, B10.Q GAT-M phi, and GAT-MBSA when cultured with virgin or GAT-primed Lyt-1+, I-J-, Qa1- B10.Q helper T cells. Virgin T cells are radiosensitive, whereas immune T cells are radioresistant (750 R); qualitatively identical helper activity is obtained with T cells from mice immunized with soluble GAT, B10.Q GAT-M phi, and GAT-MBSA. Responses to GAT and GAT-M phi are not observed when virgin or GAT-primed Lyt-1+, I-J+, Qal+ T cells are added to culture of virgin or GAT-primed Lyt-1+, I-J-, Qa1- helper T cells and virgin B cells; the GAT-specific response to GAT-MBSA is intact. The Lyt-1+, I-J+, Qa1+ T cells from mice primed with GAT, GAT-M phi, and GAT-MBSA were qualitatively identical in mediating this suppression. Virgin Lyt-2+ T cells have no suppressive activity alone or with virgin Lyt-1+, I-J+, Qa1+ T cells, whereas responses to GAT, GAT-M phi, and GAT-MBSA are suppressed in cultures of GAT-primed helper T cells containing GAT-primed Lyt-2+ T cells (with or without GAT-primed Lyt-1+, I-J+, Qa1+ T cells). Suppression of responses to GAT-MBSA in cultures of GAT-M phi-primed helper T cells requires both GAT-M phi-primed Lyt-1+, I-J+, Qa1+ T cells and Lyt-2+ T cells; the Lyt-1+, I-J+, Qa1+ T cells appear to function as inducer cells in this case. In cultures containing GAT-MBSA-primed helper T cells, either GAT-MBSA-primed Lyt-1+, I-J+, Qa1+ or Lyt-2+ T cells suppress responses to GAT and GAT-M phi; under no circumstances are responses to GAT-MBSA suppressed by GAT-MBSA-primed regulatory T cells. This regulation of antibody responses to GAT by suppressor T cells is discussed in the context of the involvement of suppressor T cells in responses to antigens under Ir control, and of the evidence that nonresponsiveness to GAT is not due to a defect in the T cell repertoire, but rather is due to an imbalance in the activation of suppressor vs helper T cells.
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A hybridoma-derived, GAT-specific suppressor T cell factor (GAT-TsFR) from responder C57BL/10 mice has been purified to apparent chemical homogeneity using reversed phase HPLC techniques. 40 l of starting material yielded approximately 880 micrograms protein with a specific activity of 28.4 X 10(3) S50 U/ng protein representing a purification factor of 4.2 X 10(6). Purified GAT-TsFR is a hydrophobic protein with a minimum molecular weight of 18,000 that is capable of forming biologically active aggregates with molecular weights of 28,000, 64,000 and approximately 84,000 and has a pI of 6.4. GAT-TsFR is a glycoprotein that binds GAT and GT, but not GA, and bears determinants encoded by the I-J subregion of the H-2 complex. This GAT-TsFR derived from an H-2b responder haplotype to GAT is compared with GAT-TsF derived from the nonresponder H-2q haplotype on the basis of biochemical and some serological properties.
We have attempted to determine whether T cells and B cells that have the same antigenic specificity and whose receptors share idiotypic determinants in fact express similar VH gene segments. To do this, we have obtained and characterized a cDNA clone containing the entire coding sequence for the VH gene from a glutamic acid60/alanine30/tyrosine10 (GAT)-binding immunoglobulin that carries the CGAT idiotype. The GAT-VH clone was hybridized to Northern blots of GAT-specific T cell RNAs; there was no evidence of a T cell transcript that hybridized to the GAT-VH probe. The T cells analyzed included: (a) 10 GAT-binding suppressor T cell hybridomas, 6 of which secreted factors with CGAT idiotypic determinants, (b) one GAT-specific helper T cell hybridoma, and (c) two GAT-specific helper T cell lines grown in the absence of feeder cells. The detection limit of the Northern blot analysis was 1-2 copies of a particular mRNA species per cell for the hybridomas and 5-10 copies per cell for the T cell lines. Therefore, we conclude that T and B lymphocytes responding to GAT do not utilize similar VH gene segments. Furthermore, the presence of idiotypic determinants on T lymphocytes does not necessarily imply close structural similarity between T and B cell antigen receptors.