Antigens associated with bursal and thymic reticular epithelial cells.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to H K Muller.
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A prospective study of nasal eosinophil counts was made in Jersey and Friesian dairy cattle at Leongatha, and of Hereford, Aberdeen Angus and Shorthorn cattle at Kilmore, Victoria. Mean nasal eosinophil counts in subgroups of cattle were found to correlate with the known susceptibility of Jerseys and Friesians to develop bovine nasal granuloma, and to reflect the known seasonal activity of the disease, thus confirming the validity of nasal eosinophil counts as an index of clinical activity of nasal granuloma. Peaks in mean nasal eosinophil counts in cattle which developed lesions of bovine nasal granuloma during study correlated with periods of warm moist environmental conditions. This finding suggests microbial spores may be the allergen(s) in bovine nasal granuloma, and indicates that the allergen(s) might be identified by simultaneously monitoring the pasture particle content and assessing nasal eosinophilia in cattle with the disease. The detection of nasal eosinophilia in some cattle by 6 to 9 months of age also suggests early sensitisation to allergen(s); if the allergen(s) were identified they might be used to detect cattle prone to nasal granuloma at this early age. Early detection of predisposed animals would open the possibility of control of the disease by genetic selection.
A seroepidemiological study of naturally occurring antibodies to the human syncytial virus has been carried out by means of an indirect immunofluorescence test on 639 East Africans, consisting of 493 normal Ugandans, 66 Kenyan patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and 80 Kenyan and Tanzanian patients with various other tumours or non-cancerous conditions. It was found that 3.4% of the normal individuals had antibodies to the virus and serial serum samples were available from 14 of these, permitting the study of antibody class in seroconversion and antibody persistence. As in an earlier survey, a significantly higher incidence of antibodies was found amongst NPC patients. Blocking and indirect immunofluorescence test with simian foamy viruses (SFV) showed some cross-reactivity between SFV 6 and the human syncytial virus, but not identity. The results are discussed in relation to the very real occurrence of natural infection by human syncytial virus in certain geographical regions.
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Baby guinea-pigs were susceptible to infection with Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona, but rapidly became resistant as they matured. Increased resistance with increasing weight of guinea-pigs was correlated with the development of ability to produce agglutinating antibodies to leptospires and with maturation of B-cell dependent (but not T-cell dependent) areas in lymphoid organs. These observations can explain the basis of species-resistance of adult guinea-pigs to infection with serovar pomona.
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Immune reactivity to human keratoacanthoma was investigated by microcytotoxicity tests and immunofluorescence. IgM and complement were consistently present in lesions; IgG and fibrin were infrequent. No evidence of in vivo bound immunoglobulin was found on the surface of keratoacanthoma cells by membrane immunofluorescence. Neither patients' sera nor peripheral blood leukocytes showed significant cytotoxicity against autochthonous tumour cells in microtitre assays. This study fails to support the view that regression of human keratoacanthoma is mediated by immunological mechanisms.
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Penicillamine (beta1 beta2 dimethylcysteine) is the drug of choice in the therapeutic management of Wilson's disease and cystinuria and has been used in the treatment of some heavy-metal intoxications. Recent studies have shown that it is efficacious in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Side effects include sensitivity reactions, nephrotoxicity, bone-marrow suppression, hypogeusia, skin lesions, and the formation of autoantibodies. Two cases are described with the features of pemphigus which were attributed to penicillamine therapy.
Orthodox views for the origin of the high concentration of prolactin (PRL) present in amniotic fluid suggest it is derived from maternal or fetal serum. However, the data on which these conclusions are based can also be interpreted to indicate that this hormone may be a product of placental or periplacental tissues. Trophoblast or amnion do not appear to produce PRL, while PRL synthesis by decidua-chorion is suggested from experiments in the rhesus monkey and by in vitro incubation of human tissue. Production of PRL by an extrapituitary cell is not without precedent and would be a simple explanation for high amniotic fluid PRL concentrations. Moreover, decidual-chorionic PRL would be strategically placed to mediate local functions of this hormone such as osmoregulation and myometrial inhibition.
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Cryostat sections of 16 preneoplastic and 14 neoplastic hepatic lesions induced in rats by 3'-methyl-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene (3'-Me-DAB) were examined by indirect immunofluorescence with human serum containing smooth-muscle antibody (SMA). Preneoplastic lesions showed strong cytoplasmic staining of proliferating oval cells and of the cell outlines of hepatocytes, in areas of nodular hyperplasia. In carcinomas, poorly differentiated hepatocytes showed staining of cell outlines, while well differentiated tumour cells forming glandular structures showed only staining of the luminar surfaces. The stromal cells also showed cytoplasmic staining. Morphologically normal areas of 3'-Me-DAB-treated livers showed weak staining of cell outlines, similar to normal liver. Specificity of the staining reactions was established by failure of staining in parallel control sections treated with normal human serum, or SMA serum neutralized by absorptions with homogenates of smooth muscle or extracts of actin. The results suggest that there is an increased expression of actin-like contractile protein in preneoplastic and poorly differentiated neoplastic liver cells.
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Cryostat sections of livers from rats treated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) for 12 weeks were examined by indirect immunofluorescence for reactivity with human serum containing smooth muscle antibody (SMA). Increased binding of SMA serum to hepatocytes was observed as early as the first week of CCl4 treatment and remained enhanced during the 12 weeks of study. No difference in staining intensity was observed between pre-cirrhotic liver parenchymal cells and hepatocytes in regenerative nodules of frankly cirrhotic livers. In addition, granulation tissue fibroblasts in cirrhotic livers showed strong reactivity with SMA serum. The specificity of the staining reaction for actin was established by its prevention on neutralization absorptions of the serum with homogenates of smooth muscle or extracts containing actin derived from smooth muscle. Circulating SMA was not demonstrated in the serum of rats at any phase of the study. The observations show that there is an increased expression of actin-like protein in regenerating hepatocytes and granulation tissue fibroblasts in cirrhotic livers.
Cryostat sections and established in vitro cultures of dimethylnitrosamine(DMN)-induced renal mesenchymal tumours and monolayer cultures of transformed kidney cells derived from rats treated with a carcinogenic dose of DMN were examined by indirect immunofluorescence with human serum containing smooth muscle antibody. Eight mesenchymal tumours examined showed filamentous cytoplasmic staining of spindle cells infiltrating between renal tubules, whilst in normal kidneys interstitial cells were only weakly positive. In established in vitro cultures from 6 mesenchymal tumours, different patterns of staining were observed in morphologically different cell forms, ranging from fine filamentous staining in giant cells to diffuse cytoplasmic fluorescence in small bipolar cells, and cell outline staining in polygonal cells. In addition filamentous staining of microvillous projections and nucleolar staining were observed in some tumour cells. Monolayer cultures of transformed kidney cells showed strong staining of coarse, randomly-orientated cytoplasmic filaments, whilst fibroblasts cultured from normal rat kidney demonstrated an ordered array of fine, parallel filaments. Specificity of the immunofluorescent staining reaction was established by failure to obtain staining with normal serum, with smooth muscle antibody serum neutralized by homogenates of smooth muscle or extracts containing actin derived from smooth muscle. These results indicate that there is an apparent increase of actin-like contractile microfilaments in transformed cells and in renal mesenchymal tumours. The cytoplasmic contracile microfilaments in these cells may play a role in tumour cell mobility and invasion.
Four human and 4 rat astrocytomata and mammalian adult brain and spinal cord were examined by indirect immunofluorescence with human serum containing smooth muscle antibody. Cryostat sections of astrocytomata showed staining of the tumour cell cytoplasm and processes while in normal adult brain and spinal cord the entire astrocyte stained. Impression film and tissue culture monolayers of astrocytomata showed staining of cell processes and a fine, filamentous network in the cell body. The reaction with astrocytoma tumour cells was stronger than that with the corresponding normal astrocytes. Specificity of the staining reaction was established by its prevention on neutralization absorptions of the serum with extracts or homogeneous of smooth muscle. The presence of smooth muscle-associated antigen in astrocytes and astrocytomata is indicative of contractile protein providing a mechanism of cell movement in vivo.