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G Beck-Engeser

Publications and source records attributed to G Beck-Engeser.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

A different sort of Mott cell.

NYC is a B lymphoma cell line derived from B/W mice. Upon fusion of NYC cells with a plasmacytoma, which itself produces no immunoglobulin, the resulting NYCH hybridoma cells are Mott cells; i.e., they contain large intracellular vesicles filled with immunoglobulin, the so-called Russell bodies. When NYCH.kappa, a variant of NYCH that had lost the ability to produce heavy chain, was transfected with a heavy-chain construct, this concentration of immunoglobulin in the intracellular vesicles occurred only when the transfected immunoglobulin heavy chain had the same variable region as NYC. Moreover, unlike conventional Mott cells, the hybrid cells secrete immunoglobulin at a normal rate.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Tumorigenesis mediated by an antigen receptor.

The heavy chain variable region of the immunoglobulin receptors on cells of the B lymphoma NYC are almost identical to that of other independent B-cell tumors of B/W mice. NYC IgM binds a viral antigen produced by the tumor cells; and despite extensive screening, immunoglobulin-negative variants were never found in the NYC cells, suggesting that NYC loses the capacity to grow in culture when it does not synthesize surface immunoglobulin. These findings indicate that the interaction of endogenous antigen with surface IgM continuously stimulates growth and, thus, that the tumorigenesis of B lymphomas in B/W mice is mediated by antigen receptors.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Retroviral vectors related to the myeloproliferative sarcoma virus allow efficient expression in hematopoietic stem and precursor cell lines, but retroviral infection is reduced in more primitive cells.

Retroviral vectors are considered to be the most suited vehicles for somatic gene therapy with hematopoietic stem cells as targets. Retrovirus-mediated gene transfer into differentiation-restricted hematopoietic precursor (FDC-P1, FDC-P2) and multipotent progenitor (stem) cell lines (FDC-Pmix) is inefficient. Two cellular restrictions are involved. One is specific for stem but not precursor cells and is at the level of transcription. Due to a unique property of the transcriptional control region of the myeloproliferative sarcoma virus (MPSV), vectors derived from MPSV are not affected by this block. The second restriction occurs before proviral DNA synthesis and integration. This inhibition of effective viral infection depends on the state of differentiation, being more pronounced in multipotent clonogenic blast cells. This block to retroviral infection affects all retroviral vectors tested.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Retrotransposons as mutagens in the induction of growth autonomy in hematopoietic cells.

Factor-independent mutants of hematopoietic cells, especially of multipotent cells, are valuable tools to identify genes that regulate stem cell proliferation and differentiation and thus may be important in leukemogenesis. Factor-independent mutants from both myeloid precursor and hematopoietic stem cell lines were isolated. The frequency of such mutants in a given cell population was one to two orders of magnitude lower for the multipotent cell line FDC-Pmix (3.6 x 10(-9)) than for the myeloid precursors, FDC-P1-M (1.7 x 10(-8)) and D35 (2.2 x 10(-7)). Analysis of these mutants revealed several mechanisms by which growth autonomy was obtained, either with or without direct contribution of growth factor gene activation. The molecular basis of spontaneous activation of the Multi-CSF (Interleukin3) gene was determined and compared to activation of the GM-CSF gene in a previous study. Multi-CSF gene activation in both precursor and stem cells was caused by the insertion of an intracisternal A particle (IAP) provirus. In two independent mutants of the D35 cell line, activation of the Multi-CSF or the GM-CSF gene was caused by almost identical IAPs with a 99% homology in the U3 and R region of the long terminal repeat. This result demonstrates that only one class of IAPs, or perhaps a single provirus, is involved in transposition and gene activation in a particular cell line. A unique example of anti-sense promotion from an IAP provirus in one Multi-CSF mutant underlines the versatility of these elements as natural insertional mutagens.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Aberrant expression of the multi-CSF gene in hematopoietic precursor and stem cell lines initiates leukemogenic progression.

Tumorigenesis of hemopoietic cells and acquisition of factor independence as a consequence of aberrant growth factor release are closely correlated. In previous work we were able to dissect two stages leading to growth factor autonomy of cells: the first step requires the secretion of the constitutively expressed CSF gene product and extracellular interaction with its cognate receptor. This requirement for external stimulation is abrogated by a second step. We were interested in characterizing the parameters that influence the conversion from nonautonomous to autonomous growth properties of hematopoietic precursor cells. The frequency with which this alteration occurs varies and correlates with the level of growth factor production. However, a significant increase of CSF production accompanying the progression to autonomy could not be detected. We thus conclude that there is no direct link between level of CSF production and acquisition of true autonomy but an indirect influence enhancing the frequency of genetic alteration(s) that lead to growth autonomy. Lang et al. have suggested that the acquisition of autonomous growth occurs due to internal receptor-ligand interaction. Indeed, Keating and Williams have claimed that PDGF may react with an intracellular PDGF receptor resulting in autocrine stimulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Measurements of mutation rates in B lymphocytes.

It is established that somatic mutation is an important source of antibody diversity in vivo. It is also established that Igh-V gene segments are hypermutable in vitro. This is not a completely satisfactory situation. While there is no reason to believe that Igh-V genes are not hypermutable in vivo as well, direct experimental evidence is lacking. Perhaps experiments with transgenic mice will soon fill this gap. It is not so clear how much higher than normal the rate of hypermutation is. As far as we are aware, there are no direct measurements of mutation rates per base pair per cell generation in mammals, certainly not for lymphocyte cell lines. For a variety of reasons, it is difficult to measure very low mutation rates. The general consensus is that the normal rate should be somewhere between 10(-10) and 10(-12) mutations per base pair per cell generation. Therefore, an experiment designed to directly determine a rate using the compartmentalization test would involve hundreds of cultures, each containing at least 10(9) cells. It is not a trivial problem to find one or a few mutants among so many cells. It is simple to study mutation to resistance to a drug, for example, ouabain or azaguanine, but, as we discussed, there are technical and conceptual pitfalls. The vast excess of dead cells influences the growth of a few mutant cells, particularly in lymphocyte cell lines. Even if this problem could be solved, the mutation rate so obtained would be "per gene(s)" and not "per base pair". The problems associated with cytotoxic agents can be avoided by immunofluorescence methods in conjunction with selective cloning or cell sorting. Using these techniques, we have carried out extensive experiments to determine whether the immunoglobulin mutator system acts, at least partially, on genetic elements other than those in or near the heavy chain variable region gene segment. For an opal termination codon in a heavy chain constant region gene segment, the rate of reversion was less than 10(-7) per base pair per cell generation. This upper limit was fixed by the high rate of small deletions at the heavy chain locus. For an allotype mutation at B2m, the gene encoding beta 2 microglobulin, the rate of mutation was less than 10(-8). This upper limit could be lowered by at least two orders of magnitude by using a high-speed cell sorter.

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PubMedDate not supplied

Critical test of a sister chromatid exchange model for the immunoglobulin heavy-chain class switch.

B lymphocytes may switch from producing an immunoglobulin heavy chain of the mu class to that of the gamma, epsilon or alpha class. To maintain the specificity, the new heavy chain must keep the original variable (V) region; this is achieved by deleting DNA sequences so that the V (consisting of joined VH, diversity (DH) and joining (JH) gene segments) and C (constant) gene segments coding for the new heavy chain are brought into close proximity (reviewed in ref. 5; we do not consider here the mu-delta situation). There are, in principle, three types of chromosomal rearrangements that yield a deletion: rearrangement within a chromatid; unequal sister chromatid exchange (as suggested by Obata et al.); and unequal recombination between chromosomal homologues. We have analysed the arrangement of C mu DNA in clones of the pre-B-cell line 18-81 that switches in vitro from mu to gamma 2b. The clones examined produce either mu, gamma 2b or no immunoglobulin chain. We report here that all the gamma 2b clones had lost at least one copy of C mu and no clones contained three copies of C mu. These findings formally exclude both unequal sister chromatid exchange and recombination between homologues as mechanisms for creating a gene encoding the gamma 2b chain.

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