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Biomedical subjects

D E Humphries

Publications and source records attributed to D E Humphries.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

The human serglycin gene. Nucleotide sequence and methylation pattern in human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells and T-lymphoblast Molt-4 cells.

The complete nucleotide sequence of the 16.7-kb human gene that encodes the peptide core (serglycin) of a secretory granule proteoglycan was determined, thus representing the first proteoglycan peptide core gene to be sequenced in its entirety. The exons, intron 1, and intron 2 comprised 7, 53, and 40% of the gene, respectively. Nineteen Alu-repetitive DNA sequences were interspersed in the gene, accounting for 28% of the total nucleotides in intron 1 and 40% of the nucleotides in intron 2. The nucleotide sequence was then used in an examination of the methylation pattern of the human serglycin gene in human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells that contain serglycin mRNA and in T-lymphoblast Molt-4 cells that do not. With polymerase chain reaction methodology, 13 DNA probes of 250-880 base pairs in length were generated that corresponded to unique, non-Alu sequences spaced throughout the entire human serglycin gene. When blots containing genomic DNA digested with HpaII or MspI were examined with these genomic probes, it was discovered that the 5'-flanking region and intron 1 of the serglycin gene in HL-60 cells were both substantially less methylated than intron 2. In contrast, the entire serglycin gene in Molt-4 cells was highly methylated. Because hypomethylated genes generally are transcribed more efficiently than hypermethylated genes, the high level of serglycin mRNA in HL-60 cells probably is a consequence of the low level of methylation of intron 1 and the 5'-flanking region of the serglycin gene in these cells.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Effects of sulfate deprivation on the production of chondroitin/dermatan sulfate by cultures of skin fibroblasts from normal and diabetic individuals.

Human skin fibroblast monolayer cultures from two normal men, three Type I diabetic men, and one Type I diabetic woman were incubated with [3H]glucosamine in the presence of diminished concentrations of sulfate. Although total synthesis of [3H]chondroitin/dermatan glycosaminoglycans varied somewhat between cell lines, glycosaminoglycan production was not affected within any line when sulfate levels were decreased from 0.3 mM to 0.06 mM to 0.01 mM to 0 added sulfate. Lowering of sulfate concentrations resulted in diminished sulfation of chondroitin/dermatan in a progressive manner, so that overall sulfation dropped to as low as 19% for one of the lines. Sulfation of chondroitin to form chondroitin 4-sulfate and chondroitin 6-sulfate was progressively and equally affected by decreasing the sulfate concentration in the culture medium. However, sulfation to form dermatan sulfate was preserved to a greater degree, so that the relative proportion of dermatan sulfate to chondroitin sulfate increased. Essentially all the nonsulfated residues were susceptible to chondroitin AC lyase, indicating that little epimerization of glucuronic acid residues to iduronic acid had occurred in the absence of sulfation. These results confirm the previously described dependency of glucuronic/iduronic epimerization on sulfation, and indicate that sulfation of the iduronic acid-containing disaccharide residues of dermatan can take place with sulfate concentrations lower than those needed for 6-sulfation and 4-sulfation of the glucuronic acid-containing disaccharide residues of chondroitin. There were considerable differences among the six fibroblast lines in susceptibility to low sulfate medium and in the proportion of chondroitin 6-sulfate, chondroitin 4-sulfate, and dermatan sulfate. However, there was no pattern of differences between normals and diabetics.

Aggrecans↗
PubMed1990

Glycosaminoglycans of bovine aorta endothelial cells: identification and localization by use of a platelet factor 4-fluorescein probe.

We utilized platelet factor 4 (PF4) conjugated to fluorescein to stain the proteoglycans of permeabilized fixed bovine aorta endothelial cells in monolayer culture. Treatment of the monolayers with chondroitin ABC lyase and/or a preparation from Flavobacterium heparinum was used to remove chondroitin sulfate and/or heparan sulfate before staining, with resultant separate identification and partial localization of these glycosaminoglycans. When PF4-fluorescein was utilized with untreated control monolayers, fairly uniform reticular, perinuclear, and cell surface fluorescence was seen. After treatment with chondroitin ABC lyase, fluorescence was retained only on the cell surface. In contrast, treatment with the F. heparinum preparation resulted in the loss of all cell surface fluorescence. Use of both glycosaminoglycan lyases together resulted in loss of essentially all the fluorescence. The cell surface heparan sulfate observed by fluorescence after removal of cell surface chondroitin sulfate appeared to be unevenly distributed, with a heavier accumulation at one pole of each cell. This technique offers a specific method for identification and partial localization of cell surface heparan sulfate.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Production of [3H]hexosamine-labeled proteoglycans by cultures of normal and diabetic skin fibroblasts: dilution of exogenous [3H]glucosamine by endogenous hexosamine from glucose and other sources.

Human skin fibroblast monolayer cultures from two normal men, three Type I diabetic men, and one Type I diabetic woman were incubated with [3H]glucosamine and [35S]-sulfate for varying periods of time. Incorporation of 3H into macromolecules appearing in the medium was linear after approximately 45 min, and incorporation of 35S was linear after approximately 30 min. The amounts of 35S-proteoglycan formed by each of the cultures during 5-h incubations were compared and were found to be fairly similar for the six lines, varying from 0.08 to 0.14 nmol sulfate/microgram DNA. Isolated 3H,35S-glycosaminoglycans were then treated with chondroitin ABC lyase to characterize the location and degree of sulfation. Results indicated a considerable variation in completeness of chondroitin/dermatan sulfation and in proportions of 6-sulfation to 4-sulfation among the various lines. However these variations did not seem to be related to whether the cells were from normals or diabetics. 3H,35S-Labeled disaccharides were isolated and ratios of 3H to 35S determined in order to calculate the [3H]glucosamine dilution by endogenous glucosamine derived from glucose or other sources during the period of incubation. Dilutions varied widely from 160- to 635-fold among the different cell lines, but the variations did not seem to be related to whether the cells were from normals or diabetics.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Increased proteoglycan synthesis following the differentiation of F9 embryonal carcinoma cells: formation of a differentiation-specific proteoheparan sulfate.

We have examined changes in proteoglycan synthesis by F9 embryonal carcinoma cells after the cells have been treated with retinoic acid or retinoic acid plus cholera toxin. Retinoic acid is known to stimulate the differentiation of this cell type to a primitive endoderm-like cell characterized by the production of basement membrane components such as type IV collagen, laminin and proteoglycans. We have now demonstrated that proteoglycan synthesis and secretion were further stimulated when cholera toxin was added in addition to retinoic acid. Moreover, media of these fully differentiated cells was found to contain a different species of proteoheparan sulfate not produced by stem cells or retinoic acid-treated cells. This proteoheparan sulfate had a high density upon CsCl gradient centrifugation. The protein core of this proteoheparan sulfate was estimated by SDS gel electrophoresis to be approximately 15,000 daltons.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Chlorate: a reversible inhibitor of proteoglycan sulfation.

Bovine aorta endothelial cells were cultured in medium containing [3H]glucosamine, [35S]sulfate, and various concentrations of chlorate. Cell growth was not affected by 10 mM chlorate, while 30 mM chlorate had a slight inhibitory effect. Chlorate concentrations greater than 10 mM resulted in significant undersulfation of chondroitin. With 30 mM chlorate, sulfation of chondroitin was reduced to 10% and heparan to 35% of controls, but [3H]glucosamine incorporation on a per cell basis did not appear to be inhibited. Removal of chlorate from the culture medium of cells resulted in the rapid resumption of sulfation.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Sulphation by cultured cells. Cysteine, cysteinesulphinic acid and sulphite as sources for proteoglycan sulphate.

Bovine aortic smooth-muscle cells, bovine aortic endothelial cells, and IMR-90 human embryonic lung fibroblasts were tested to determine their ability to use cysteine or cysteine metabolites as a source of sulphate (SO4). Cells were incubated in SO4-depleted medium containing [3H]glucosamine plus 0.2 mM-cystine, 0.3 mM-cysteinesulphinic acid or 0.3 mM-sulphite (SO3). The [3H]chondroitin sulphate produced by the different cells was found to vary considerably in degree of sulphation under these conditions. One line of smooth-muscle cells utilized cysteine effectively as a SO4 source and thus produced chondroitin sulphate which was highly sulphated. IMR-90 fibroblasts produced partly sulphated chondroitin sulphate under these conditions, while another smooth-muscle cell line could not utilize cysteine, but could utilize cysteinesulphinic acid as a partial SO4 source. In contrast with the above cells, endothelial cells could not use cysteine or cysteinesulphinic acid as a source of SO4 and produced chondroitin with almost no SO4. All of the cells were able to utilize SO3. Incubation of the cells in the SO4-depleted medium containing [35S]cysteine confirmed that only the first line of smooth-muscle cells could convert significant amounts of [35S]cysteine to 35SO4. Furthermore, the addition of 0.4 mM inorganic SO4 did not inhibit the production of SO4 from cysteine by these cells.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1986

Formation of dermatan sulfate by cultured human skin fibroblasts. Effects of sulfate concentration on proportions of dermatan/chondroitin.

[3H,35S]Dermatan/chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycans produced during culture of fibroblasts in medium containing varying concentrations of sulfate were tested for their susceptibility to chondroitin ABC lyase and chondroitin AC lyase. Chondroitin ABC lyase completely degraded [3H]hexosamine-labeled and [35S] sulfate-labeled dermatan/chondroitin sulfate to disaccharides. Chondroitin AC lyase treatment of the labeled glycosaminoglycans produced different results. With this enzyme, dermatan/chondroitin sulfate formed at high concentrations of sulfate yielded small glycosaminoglycans and larger oligosaccharides but almost no disaccharide. This indicated that the dermatan/chondroitin sulfate co-polymer contained mostly iduronic acid with only an occasional glucuronic acid. As the medium sulfate concentration was progressively lowered, there was a concomitant increase in the susceptibility to degradation by chondroitin AC lyase. Thus, the labeled glycosaminoglycans formed at the lowest concentration of sulfate yielded small oligosaccharides including substantial amounts of disaccharide. The smaller chondroitin AC lyase-resistant [3H,35S]dermatan/chondroitin sulfate oligosaccharides were analyzed by gel filtration. Results indicated that, in general, the iduronic acid-containing disaccharide residues present in the undersulfated [3H,35S]glycosaminoglycan were sulfated, whereas the glucuronic acid-containing disaccharide residues were non-sulfated. This work confirms earlier reports that there is a relationship between epimerization and sulfation. Moreover, it demonstrates that medium sulfate concentration is critical in determining the proportions of dermatan to chondroitin (iduronic/glucuronic acid) produced by cultured cells.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Glycosaminoglycan production by bovine aortic endothelial cells cultured in sulfate-depleted medium.

Bovine aortic endothelial cells were cultured in medium containing [3H]glucosamine and concentrations of [35S]sulfate ranging from 0.01 to 0.31 mM. While the amount of [3H]hexosamine incorporated into chondroitin sulfate and heparan sulfate was constant, decreasing concentrations of sulfate resulted in lower [35S]sulfate incorporation. Sulfate concentrations greater than 0.11 mM were required for maximal [35S]sulfate incorporation. Chondroitin sulfate was particularly affected so that the sulfate to hexosamine ratio in [3H]chondroitin [35S]sulfate dropped considerably more than the sulfate to hexosamine ratio in [3H] heparan [35S]sulfate. Sulfate concentration had no effect on the ratio of chondroitin 4-sulfate to chondroitin 6-sulfate. The ratios of sulfate to hexosamine in cell-associated glycosaminoglycans were essentially identical with the ratios in media glycosaminoglycans at all sulfate concentrations. DEAE-cellulose chromatography confirmed that sulfation of chondroitin sulfate was particularly sensitive to low sulfate concentrations. While cells incubated in medium containing 0.31 mM sulfate produced chondroitin sulfate which eluted later than heparan sulfate, cells incubated in medium containing less than 0.04 mM sulfate produced chondroitin sulfate which eluted before heparan sulfate and near hyaluronic acid, indicating that many chains were essentially unsulfated. At intermediate concentrations of sulfate, chondroitin sulfate was found in very broad elution patterns suggesting that most did not fit an "all or nothing" mechanism. Heparan sulfate produced at low concentrations of sulfate eluted with narrower elution patterns than chondroitin sulfate, and there was no indication of any "all or nothing" sulfation.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Effects of hypoxia and hyperoxia on proteoglycan production by bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells.

Bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells in culture were used to assess the influence of oxygen tension on proteoglycan synthesis. Cells exposed to 3% O2 (hypoxia) for 72 h and then labeled with [35S]sulfate for 5 h accumulated significantly less [35S]proteoglycan in medium than cells exposed to 20% O2 (control). This decrease was due primarily to a reduction in heparan sulfate. Cells exposed to 80% O2 (hyperoxia) for 72 h secreted slightly more [35S]proteoglycan into medium than controls. Greater accumulation of chondroitin sulfate was responsible for the increase. The amount of cell-associated proteoglycan did not change significantly in cells cultured in 3% or 80% O2 as compared with control cells cultured in 20% O2. Proteoglycans produced by hypoxia- or hyperoxia-treated cells were found to be similar in size to proteoglycans produced by cells cultured at 20% O2. Glycosaminoglycan sulfation, as measured by ion-exchange chromatography, did not appear to change with varying oxygen tensions. Our results demonstrate that production of proteoglycans secreted by endothelial cells in culture is sensitive to oxygen tension.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Purification and partial characterization of a protein from cancer ascites fluid which stimulates the resorption of bone explants in vitro.

A protein capable of stimulating bone resorption in vitro has been purified approximately 1250-fold from cancer ascites fluid. Purification was accomplished employing successive fractionation with ammonium sulfate, ion exchange, and Cibacron blue affinity chromatography, isoelectric focusing, and selective adsorption on hydroxylapatite. The bone-resorptive protein obtained by this procedure appeared homogeneous in polyacrylamide gels at pH 9.5, migrating with the mobility of an alpha 2-globulin, and in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels from which an apparent molecular weight of 43,000 was calculated. The amino acid composition of the bone-resorptive protein distinguished itself by the absence of methionine and by its relatively high content of glycine (17%) and proline (11%). Furthermore, the protein possesses a single NH2-terminal amino acid residue (glycine). The ascites protein was found to contain 19% carbohydrate by weight including a high content of sialic acid (15 residues/mol) as compared to the other sugars (27 residues/mol). As to its biological properties, the homogeneous ascites glycoprotein proved to be as potent as parathyroid hormone in its ability to stimulate bone resorption in vitro.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Isolation of a bone-resorptive factor from human cancer ascites fluid.

A protein fraction that induces the resorption of bone explants in organ culture was isolated from the ascitic fluid of patients with advanced cancer metastatic to the peritoneal cavity. Partial purification was achieved by means of gel filtration, affinity chromatography, and ion-exchange chromatography. The isolated fraction, the components of which have an apparent molecular weight of 60,000, was found to be heterogeneous by disc gel electrophoresis and to be composed primarily of proteins with relatively acidic electrophoretic properties. The specific bone-resorptive activity of this protein fraction was greatly increased over that of the unfractionated starting material, and the activity could be completely destroyed upon incubation with pronase and on heating. As determined by immunoassay and extraction procedures with various solvents, the bone-resorptive action of the isolated fraction was not attributable to the presence of parathyroid hormone, prostaglandin E2 or vitamin D-like sterols. In parallel experiments the supernatants of phytohemagglutinin-stimulated normal human peripheral leukocytes were subjected to identical chromatographic techniques, and a proten fraction with a molecular weight of 60,000, which resembled the resorptive fraction isolated from cancer ascites fluid and which contained significant bone-resorptive activity, was also partially purified.

Adult↗