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Biomedical subjects

G F Gaetani

Publications and source records attributed to G F Gaetani.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Incompletely processed N-glycans of serum glycoproteins in congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia type II (HEMPAS).

Congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia type II, or HEMPAS (hereditary erythroblastic multinuclearity with positive acidified serum lysis test) is a genetic disease caused by membrane disorganization of erythroid cells. The primary defect of this disease lies in the gene encoding enzyme(s) which is responsible for the biosynthesis of Asn-linked oligosaccharides chains of glycoproteins (Fukuda et al, 1990). In order to know whether this gene defect affects the glycosylation in the cells other than the erythroid cells, the carbohydrate structures of the transferrin isolated from the sera of HEMPAS patients were analysed. Fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry analysis showed the presence of high mannose type and hybrid type oligosaccharides in the HEMPAS transferrin which is in contrast to the complex-type oligosaccharides found in the normal transferrin. The results strongly suggest that biosynthesis of Asn-linked oligosaccharide chains in HEMPAS hepatocytes is disturbed. As a result, the serum glycoproteins with incompletely processed carbohydrates are circulating in the plasma in HEMPAS patients, but they must have been absorbed by the cells in the liver and the reticuloendothelial cells. Upon intravenous infusion into rats, as much as 30% of the HEMPAS transferrin was cleared from the plasma circulation. The majority of the HEMPAS transferrins was taken up by the liver, and transferrin was distributed both in the hepatocytes and the Kupffer cells. The presence of enormous amounts of aberrantly glycosylated serum glycoproteins may lead to the liver cirrhosis and secondary tissue siderosis seen in HEMPAS patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Molecular analysis of clonality in plasma cell dyscrasias.

It has been suggested that multiple myeloma, generally considered a neoplastic disorder of mature plasma cells, may arise from a pluripotent haemopoietic stem cell. The possibility that circulating lymphocytes derive from the same neoplastic progenitor has been tested in a large number of studies in the past few years, as proof of the interest that this subject is raising among scientists, and also of its elusiveness. We studied a group of 29 patients with plasma cell dyscrasias in order to evaluate clonality of haemopoietic cell populations. The X-linked markers hypoxantine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) and phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) disclosed no monoclonal component in seven heterozygous women. Analysis of immunoglobulin gene rearrangement with four probes showed a germline configuration in samples from 25/29 patients. Only four bone marrow samples from subjects with aggressive disease had rearranged C mu sequence; one had rearrangement of JH and C mu.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Bound and unbound pyridine dinucleotides in normal and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient erythrocytes.

We have measured, by a sensitive cycling assay, the concentration of bound and unbound dinucleotides in normal and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD)-deficient erythrocytes. Measurement of free NADP in ultrafiltrates confirms that in normal erythrocytes almost all NADP is bound to cytosolic proteins. In glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient erythrocytes unbound NADP is significantly higher than in normal red cells and the NADP+/NADPH ratio is largely in favor of the oxidized form. In normal and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient erythrocytes essentially all NAD (bound and unbound) is in the oxidized state. About 50% of the total amount of NAD (NAD+ + NADH) is free in the cytosol, with a NAD+/NADH ratio greater than 100.

Cytosol↗
PubMed1990

A new glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase variant with congenital nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia (G6PD Genova). Biochemical characterization and mosaicism expression in the heterozygote.

A new deficient variant of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) causing severe congenital nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia (CNSHA) is described. The variant enzyme, characterized by slow electrophoretic mobility, extreme in vivo and in vitro lability, high Km for G6P and strongly acidic pH optimum, appears to be unique, and has been designated G6PD Genova. Investigation of an obligate heterozygote using various cytochemical, biochemical and recombinant-DNA techniques showed G6PD mosaicism in the erythrocytes and leukocytes. Therefore, the presence of a disadvantageous mutation at one Gd locus did not determine selection in favor of the normal allele in the heterozygote's hemopoietic cells.

Anemia, Hemolytic, Congenital↗
PubMed1990

Ras activation in myelodysplastic syndromes: clinical and molecular study of the chronic phase of the disease.

We studied N-ras and Ki-ras point mutations respectively at codons 12-13 and 12 in 15 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for DNA amplification, and slot blot hybridization to allele specific oligonucleotide (ASO) probes. We analysed peripheral blood and bone marrow samples collected at diagnosis and repeatedly during the chronic phase of the disease to define when the activation occurred and in which haemopoietic cell populations, in order to establish possible relationships between clinical and molecular features. In three cases the N-ras oncogene was mutated at codon 12 in every cell population, both at diagnosis and throughout the chronic phase. Point mutations were not seen at the 12 codon of the Ki-ras oncogene. In patients lacking activated ras oncogene at diagnosis, mutations were not discovered during the entire period of observation. Therefore in our cases disease progression and leukaemic transformation did not correlate with the presence of the activated N-ras. Our data suggest that ras activation occurs early in the pathogenesis of MDS and involves a haemopoietic progenitor with multiple differentiative capacity, without however conferring an apparent proliferative advantage on its progeny.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1989

Clonal B lymphocytes lack bcr rearrangement in Ph-positive chronic myelogenous leukaemia.

Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-positive chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) was studied in a subject heterozygous for the X chromosome-linked alloenzyme system of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). Determination of G6PD mosaicism showed homogeneous expression in granulocytes, erythrocytes and platelets. Cytogenetic studies showed the typical Ph translocation in all metaphases from bone marrow and peripheral blood myeloid cells, bcr rearrangement was detected in bone marrow and in granulocytes. B cells were stimulated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in order to evaluate involvement of lymphocytes, EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cells expressed a single G6PD phenotype and therefore probably derived from the leukaemic stem cell. However they had a normal karyotype and a constitutional bcr restriction pattern. Molecular analysis in this case of CML clarifies the differentiative potential of cells belonging to the leukaemic clone, by demonstrating that clonal Ph-negative B cells maintain normal differentiative capacity and have a bcr gene sequence which is not rearranged.

B-Lymphocytes↗
PubMed1989

Molecular analysis of the bcr rearrangement in a case of Ph'-negative blastic crisis of Ph'-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia.

We describe here a patient with Ph'-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) who developed a Ph'-negative blastic crisis. The blast DNA was analyzed on two different occasions, at the beginning of the blastic phase and at the end, shortly before the patient's death. Although cells from both samples had no Ph' chromosome marker (not even a masked one) we could detect a rearrangement of the bcr gene in the second DNA sample, using a '3'-bcr' probe. The same probe and a '5'-bcr' probe failed to detect any rearranged band in the first DNA sample. No rearrangement was identified at the c-myc and N-ras loci, while a slight c-myc amplification was evident in both DNA samples tested.

Blast Crisis↗
PubMed1989

Catalase and glutathione peroxidase are equally active in detoxification of hydrogen peroxide in human erythrocytes.

Genetic deficiencies of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and NADPH predispose affected erythrocytes to destruction from peroxides. Conversely, genetic deficiencies of catalase do not predispose affected erythrocytes to peroxide-induced destruction. These observations have served to strengthen the assumption that the NADPH/glutathione/glutathione peroxidase pathway is the principal means for disposal of H2O2 in human erythrocytes. Recently, however, mammalian catalase was found to have tightly bound NADPH and to require NADPH for the prevention and reversal of inactivation by its toxic substrate (H2O2). Since both catalase and the glutathione pathway are dependent on NADPH for function, this finding raises the possibility that both mechanisms destroy H2O2 in human erythrocytes. A comparison of normal and acatalasemic erythrocytes in the present study indicated that catalase accounts for more than half of the destruction of H2O2 when H2O2 is generated at a rate comparable to that which leads to hemolysis in G6PD- deficient erythrocytes.

Carbon Dioxide↗
PubMed1988

G6PD deficiency and breast cancer.

A study of the relative 2dG6P utilization in mononuclear cells from a group of 150 women with breast cancer was undertaken to evaluate a possible negative correlation between G6PD deficiency and cancer, as suggested by some authors. Twenty-one women (14.00%) were heterozygotes and 2 were homozygotes (1.33%). The prevalence found was not different from that expected. It would therefore seem that the G6PD Mediterranean allele does not play a protective role against the development of breast cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency and incidence of hematologic malignancy.

We have evaluated the hypothesis of a negative association between glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency and cancer in a cohort of 481 Sardinian males with hematological malignancies. The frequency of G6PD deficiency in the patients was not different from the incidence in a group of 16,219 controls. The same conclusion resulted from the comparison of the frequency of expression of the GdB gene in 23 heterozygous women having a clonal hematologic disease and a control group of 37 healthy heterozygotes. Therefore at present there is no evidence that G6PD deficiency has a protective effect against development of hematologic neoplasms.

Disease Susceptibility↗
PubMed1987

The function of catalase-bound NADPH.

Catalase (H2O2:H2O2 oxidoreductase, EC 1.11.1.6) is of historical interest for having been the subject of some of the earliest investigations of enzymes. A feature of catalase that has been poorly understood for several decades, however, is the mechanism by which catalase remains active in the presence of its own substrate, hydrogen peroxide. We reported recently that catalase contains tightly bound NADPH. The present study with bovine and human catalase revealed that NADPH both prevents and reverses the accumulation of compound II, an inactive form of catalase that is generated slowly when catalase is exposed to hydrogen peroxide. Since the effect of NADPH occurs even at NADPH concentrations below 0.1 microM, the protective mechanism is likely to operate in vivo. This discovery of the role of catalase-bound NADPH brings a unity to the concept of two different mechanisms for disposing of hydrogen peroxide (catalase and the glutathione reductase/peroxidase pathway) by revealing that both mechanisms are dependent on NADPH.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

A case of ataxia telangiectasia with unbalanced glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase mosaicism in the granulocytic/monocytic lineages.

Ataxia telangiectasia is a genetically determined disease with multi-system abnormalities and a high incidence of neoplasia. In order to define the nature of the association between ataxia telangiectasia and malignancy, we investigated a patient with the disease and heterozygote for the Mediterranean variant of the X-linked marker glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Enzymatic mosaicism in hemopoietic and nonhemopoietic cells was evaluated with the 2-deoxy glucose 6-phosphate technique. While erythrocytes, platelets, and lymphocytes expressed the same double-enzyme phenotype as tissues of nonhemopoietic origin, granulocytes and monocytes expressed almost exclusively the Mediterranean-type enzyme. We suggest that, as the result of genetic instability at the hemopoietic stem-cell level, the granulocytic/monocytic progeny enjoyed a proliferative advantage and became the predominant clone.

Ataxia Telangiectasia↗
PubMed1986

Regulation of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in human erythrocytes.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase catalyzes the initial and committed step of the pathway that is the principal source of NADPH in many cells. The intracellular rate of the enzyme in human erythrocytes was estimated from the rate at which the cells generated 14CO2 from 14C-labeled glucose in the presence of different amounts of methylene blue. This investigation differed from earlier studies in that: (a) accumulations of 6-phosphogluconate were considered in calculations of rate and (b) the cells were suspended in Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer, which is the buffer system for erythrocytes in vivo. As with earlier studies, however, the intracellular enzyme was under unexplained inhibition or restraint relative to kinetic properties of the purified enzyme. Also, the intracellular enzyme exhibited sigmoid kinetics. In contrast, the isolated enzyme has been found to exhibit classical kinetics. In the course of dilution/ultrafiltration of the hemolysate a possible cause for the reduced activity of the enzyme was found: most of the NADP was bound to soluble macromolecules of the erythrocyte. The amount of NADP available to the enzyme was much less than the amount indicated by measurements of total (bound and unbound) NADP.

Carbon Dioxide↗
PubMed1986

NADP-binding proteins causing reduced availability and sigmoid release of NADP+ in human erythrocytes.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase catalyzes the initial and rate-limiting step of the pathway that is the principal source of NADPH in many cells. Earlier studies of cells from several species indicated that the intracellular enzyme is under severe and unexplained restraint or inhibition. Moreover, the intracellular enzyme of human erythrocytes exhibits sigmoid kinetics, whereas the purified enzyme exhibits only classical kinetics. We here report that most of the NADP in the human erythrocyte is bound by soluble proteins. In addition, the fraction of unbound NADP that is in the oxidized form, [NADP+]/[NADP], varies in a sigmoid manner relative to the fraction of bound NADP that is in the oxidized form. These features of intracellular binding of NADP: 1) account for the previously unexplained inhibition and sigmoid kinetics of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase within human erythrocytes and 2) represent a system in which activity of a rate-limiting enzyme is largely determined by the binding and release of substrate and product by intracellular proteins other than the enzyme itself.

Bicarbonates↗