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Biomedical subjects

H Yoshizaki

Publications and source records attributed to H Yoshizaki.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Protective immune responses induced by secretion of a chimeric soluble protein from a recombinant Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin vector candidate vaccine for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in small animals.

A recombinant Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vector-based vaccine that secretes the V3 principal neutralizing epitope of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) could induce immune response to the epitope and prevent the viral infection. By using the Japanese consensus sequence of HIV-1, we successfully constructed chimeric protein secretion vectors by selecting an appropriate insertion site of a carrier protein and established the principal neutralizing determinant (PND)-peptide secretion system in BCG. The recombinant BCG (rBCG)-inoculated guinea pigs were initially screened by delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin reactions to the PND peptide, followed by passive transfer of the DTH by the systemic route. Further, immunization of mice with the rBCG resulted in induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. The guinea pig immune antisera showed elevated titers to the PND peptide and neutralized HIVMN, and administration of serum IgG from the vaccinated guinea pigs was effective in completely blocking the HIV infection in thymus/liver transplanted severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)/hu or SCID/PBL mice. In addition, the immune serum IgG was shown to neutralize primary field isolates of HIV that match the neutralizing sequence motif by a peripheral blood mononuclear cell-based virus neutralization assay. The data support the idea that the antigen-secreting rBCG system can be used as a tool for development of HIV vaccines.

AIDS Vaccines

[Induction of protective immune responses by a chimeric soluble protein from a recombinant BCG vector candidate vaccine to HIV-1].

We have been isolated HIV strains from blood specimens of HIV infected individuals in Japan for these 6 years. The number of specimens tested reached approximately 1,700 that ninety percent of them were from hemophiliacs repeatedly injected blood products from the United States. More than 300 of field HIV were successfully isolated from the samples. The isolation rates has decreased to 30 percent in 1993 from 40 percent in 1992, suggesting that treatment with anti-HIV drugs such as AZT and/or ddI may be effective to HIV-infected individuals. Further, both of the viral and genomic sequences of HIV were classified to be clade B virus. The clinical isolates that expressed IHIGPGRAFY sequence at the center of the HIV-V3 domain were found to be neutralized by an anti-clade B-V3 monoclonal antibody, mu 5.5. By individual levels, when asymptomatic seropositives have progressed to disease-states, neutralization core motif of GPGR in approximately 6% of the viruses has changed to GPGG and hydrophilic amino acid changed to hydrophobic amino acid, correlating the loss of binding activity to PND-peptide of Japanese Consensus virus. Further, rapid progressors to HIV-induced diseases showed decreased activity of the binding antibody. By using the Japanese consensus sequence of HIV-1, we successfully constructed chimeric protein secretion vectors by selecting an appropriate insertion site of a carrier protein, and established the PND-peptide secretion system in BCG. The recombinant BCG inoculated guinea pigs were initially screened by delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin reactions to the PND peptide followed by passive transfer of the DTH by the systemic route.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

AIDS Vaccines

Species specificity of pharmacological characteristics of CCK-B receptors.

Novel CCK-B receptor antagonists, tetronothiodin and L-156,586, showed different affinities for CCK-B receptors in brain membranes from human, rat, guinea pig and mouse. [125I]CCK-8 bound to these membranes with a similar affinity. However, tetronothiodin was most potent in rat (IC50 = 3.6 nM), followed by guinea pig (96 nM), human (210 nM) and mouse (280 nM). L-156,586 bound with highest affinity to membranes from guinea pig (11 nM), and with lowest affinity to membranes from mouse (220 nM). These results suggest the existence of species specificity of CCK-B receptors, and that these two compounds are useful tools for discrimination between these receptors.

Aged

Vertebral bone metastasis of small cell carcinoma of lung in a diabetic patient, initially diagnosed as pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis.

A 40-year-old man with a 3-year history of uncontrolled NIDDM, 2-pack/month cigarette smoking habit and alcohol abuse, was admitted to our university hospital. He presented with severe back pain, persistent cough and fever. A left lung infiltrate was noted on chest X-ray film. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from arterial blood. Thoracic bone destruction with pleural mass lesion confirmed by computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance image (MRI). These findings mislead our diagnosis to pyogenic osteomyelitis associated with NIDDM. An absence of marked clinical and roentgenological improvement after antibiotic therapy and strict glycemic control with insulin was noted. This suggested to us the need for needle biopsy of the osteolytic and mass lesions confirmed by imaging techniques. This resulted in making the diagnosis of metastasis of small cell carcinoma from the left lung. The correlation between NIDDM and pulmonary small cell carcinoma possibly induced by genetic abnormality remains to be resolved. By making the most of imaging techniques and needle biopsy, the possibility of pulmonary small cell carcinoma complicating NIDDM can be appropriately evaluated.

Adult

Tetronothiodin, a novel CCKB receptor ligand, antagonizes cholecystokinin-induced Ca2+ mobilization in a pituitary cell line.

We found a novel nonpeptide CCKB receptor antagonist, tetronothiodin (Ro 09-1468), in the culture broth of Streptomyces sp. NR0489. The structure of the compound (C31O8H38S), which has a 19-membered ring with an alpha-acyltetronic acid and tetrahydrothiophene moiety, is completely different from that of any known CCK receptor antagonist. Tetronothiodin inhibited [125I]CCK-8 binding to rat brain CCKB receptors with an IC50 of 3.6 nM, whereas it showed only weak affinity for rat CCKA receptors (IC50 = 70 microM). As demonstrated autoradiographically, tetronothiodin concentration dependently inhibited [125I]CCK-8 binding to CCKB receptors in rat forebrain slices. The effects of tetronothiodin on cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations in GH3 cells, a rat anterior pituitary tumor cell line, were investigated with the fura-2 method. Tetronothiodin inhibited CCK-8-induced Ca2+ mobilization without affecting basal cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations. In conclusion, tetronothiodin is a new, potent and highly selective CCKB receptor antagonist. It is a useful tool for investigating the pharmacological and physiological roles of CCKB receptors.

Animals

Effects of calphobindin II (annexin VI) on procoagulant and anticoagulant activities of cultured endothelial cells.

Effects of human placental calphobindin II (CPB-II) on the protein C activation and prothrombin activation on the cell surface of cultured calf pulmonary arterial endothelial cells have been investigated. CPB-II inhibited thrombin generation by factor Xa bound to the surface of the cultured endothelial cells in a dose-dependent manner. The amount (IC50) of CPB-II causing the inhibition at 50% was estimated to be approximately 10 nM. CPB-II was found to be ineffective, however, in the protein C activation by thrombin-thrombomodulin (TM) complex on the cell surface. Assay using purified TM revealed that CPB-II was able to exhibit the inhibitory potency for the protein C activation exclusively in the reconstituted system with negatively charged phospholipids. These results suggest that the neutral phospholipids participate in the protein C activation through the thrombin-TM system on the endothelial cell surface. The ability of CPB-II to inhibit procoagulant activity without affecting anticoagulant activity on the cultured endothelial cells is probably related to its potential physiological function, while it is able to exert various degrees of influence upon these activities in blood coagulation by interacting with negatively charged phospholipids in vitro.

Amino Acid Sequence

Phospholipid-binding properties of calphobindin-II(annexin VI), anticoagulant protein from human placenta.

Calphobindin-II (CPB-II, annexin VI), is a calcium dependent phospholipid binding protein that can be classified as a member of the annexin family. The phospholipid-binding properties of CPB-II were investigated by measuring the binding constants of [125I]-CPB-II using phospholipid vesicles consisting of 80% phosphatidylcholine and 20% phosphatidylserine. A dissociation constant (Kd) of CPB-II with the phospholipid vesicles was determined to be 0.2 to 0.3 nM in the presence of Ca2+ ranging from 0.3 to 30 mM. The number of CPB-II capable of binding to the phospholipid vesicles at 0.3 mM Ca2+ decreased to about 1/2 in the presence of Ca2+ of more than 1 mM. Prothrombin and factor X were effective in competing with the binding of CPB-II to the phospholipid vesicles, although their affinities were lower by two or three orders of magnitude than that of unlabeled CPB-II at 30 nM Ca2+. Competitive effects of CPB-II, calphobindin-I (CPB-I, annexin V) and calphobindin-III (CPB-III, annexin III) on binding of [125I]-CPB-II to phospholipid vesicles, were similarly observed.

Annexin A6

Cyclothiazomycin, a novel polythiazole-containing peptide with renin inhibitory activity. Taxonomy, fermentation, isolation and physico-chemical characterization.

Cyclothiazomycin is a novel renin inhibitor produced by Streptomyces sp. NR0516. It was isolated from fermentation broth by extraction with butyl alcohol, QAE-Toyopearl column chromatography and preparative HPLC. Cyclothiazomycin, which was determined to be a unique polythiazole-containing bicyclic peptide, exhibited inhibitory activity against human plasma renin with IC50 being 1.7 microM.

Angiotensin I

Structure and properties of calphobindin II, an anticoagulant protein from human placenta.

The structure of human placental calphobindin-II (CPB-II) was investigated by amino acid composition and amino acid sequence analyses of peptides generated by protease digestion of the protein. The 45 peptides obtained from the lysyl endopeptidase digest of CPB-II, and the amino-terminal peptide prepared from its tryptic digest, were analyzed, and they accounted for over 98% of total amino acids of CPB-II. The structure of CPB-II determined by protein sequencing was identical to that previously predicted from its cDNA sequence (Iwasaki, A. et al. (1989) J. Biochem. 106, 43-49), except for the amino terminus. Since the amino terminus of CPB-II was blocked to Edman degradation, fast-atom-bombardment mass spectrometric analysis was used to demonstrate that the amino-terminal residue was acetyl-alanine. The carboxyl-terminal residue of CPB-II was identified as aspartic acid by the hydrazinolytic procedure. Calcium-binding studies indicated that 1 mol of CPB II binds 1 mol of calcium in the absence of phospholipid and 8 mol of calcium in the presence of phospholipid.

Amino Acid Sequence

Isolation and characterization of an anticoagulant protein from human placenta.

An anticoagulant protein was purified from the EDTA extract of human placental tissue. The purified protein had a molecular weight of 73,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under both reducing and non-reducing conditions. Because this protein had the ability to bind phospholipids such as phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, and cardiolipin in the presence of Ca2+, this protein was designated as calphobindin II (CPB-II). CPB-II prolonged the clotting time of normal plasma when coagulation was induced by tissue factor, cephalin and ellagic acid or recalcification, but did not affect thrombin-initiated fibrin formation. CPB-II also inhibited the activation of prothrombin by the complete prothrombinase complex or factor Xa-phospholipid-Ca2+ but not that by phospholipid-free factor Xa. In addition, CPB-II had an inhibitory activity against phospholipase A2.

Amino Acids

Inhibition of mitogen-stimulated T lymphocyte proliferation by calcitonin gene-related peptide.

The effect of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) on mouse lymphocyte proliferation stimulated by mitogens was studied. CGRP (10(-10)-10(-7) M) dose-dependently inhibited the proliferative response of mouse lymph node cells and spleen cells stimulated by T cell mitogens concanavalin A (Con A) and phytohemagglutinin (PHA), whereas a B cell mitogen lipopolysaccharide (LPS) did not inhibit this response. The maximal inhibition by this peptide was 50% to 80% at 10(-8) and 10(-7) M. The addition of 10(-8) and 10(-7) M CGRP to lymph node cell cultures 24 hr after stimulation with Con A or PHA also had a significant inhibitory effect on the proliferative response. Furthermore, in the same concentration range (10(-10)-10(-7) M) CGRP increased intracellular cyclic AMP concentration in nylon wool nonadherent cells, but not in nylon wool adherent cells. CGRP had no significant effect on intracellular cyclic GMP concentration. In addition, specific binding of CGRP was observed in mouse spleen cells. Our present study suggests that CGRP inhibits the proliferative response of T lymphocytes to the mitogens by interacting with cell receptors coupled with adenylate cyclase. CGRP may be implicated in the regulation of T cell function.

Animals

Proteose peptone enhances production of tissue-type plasminogen activator from human diploid fibroblasts.

Proteose peptone markedly enhanced the production of human tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) from confluently cultured cell of human diploid fibroblasts. The cells continued synthesizing and secreting high levels of t-PA under periodic replacement of medium containing proteose peptone for more than one month. The highly increased activity correlated with equally increased levels of t-PA antigen and concomitantly increased levels of t-PA specific mRNA.

Caseins

Characterization of picomolar affinity binding sites for [125I]-human calcitonin gene-related peptide in rat brain and heart.

We have characterized picomolar affinity binding sites for human calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in rat brain and heart (atria and ventricle) membranes. By saturation analysis, apparent dissociation constant (KD) values of high affinity sites for [125I]-human CGRP are 9 approximately 15 pM (brain), 34 pM (ventricle) and 85 pM (atria). Low affinity sites with KD values of about 50 nM are found in rat brain and ventricle, but not in atria. Human and rat CGRP potently inhibited [125I]-human CGRP binding to these high affinity sites with apparent inhibition constant (Ki) values comparable to their KD values. Salmon calcitonin marginally inhibited these binding with Ki values between 0.1 microM and 1 microM. Extremely potent cardiovascular and gastrointestinal actions of CGRP might be mediated through CGRP binding sites with picomolar affinity which are similar to those we characterized in this study.

Animals

Structure and expression of cDNA for an inhibitor of blood coagulation isolated from human placenta: a new lipocortin-like protein.

An inhibitor of blood coagulation, a new protein with an apparent molecular weight of 34,000 and an isoelectric point of 4.9, was purified from human placental tissue by EDTA extraction. Five cDNA clones were isolated from the human placental lambda gt11 cDNA library using the mouse monoclonal antibody raised against the coagulation inhibitor as the probe. The longest insert consists of 1,566 nucleotides, and contains 960 nucleotides entirely encoding the 320 amino acids of the inhibitor, and a poly A tail. The deduced amino acid sequence was corroborated by chemical analyses of the protein. The entire amino acid sequence shows homology to those of lipocortin I, lipocortin II, and endonexin-related proteins. The cDNA for the inhibitor was expressed in Escherichia coli under the regulation of the trc promotor of the plasmid pKK233-2. The resulting recombinant protein manifested inhibitory activities against both blood coagulation and phospholipase A2 activity, as did the coagulation inhibitor isolated from human placenta.

Amino Acid Sequence

Calmodulin antagonistic action of the cerebral circulation improver 6,7-dimethoxy-1-(3,4-dimethoxybenzyl)-4- ([4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl]methyl)isoquinoline.

6,7-Dimethoxy-1-(3,4-dimethoxybenzyl)-4-([4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1- piperazinyl]methyl)isoquinoline (Ro 22-4839) is a new cerebral circulation improver with vasospasmolytic properties. Preliminarily, Ro 22-4839-induced arterial relaxation was confirmed under the treatment of various constrictors and it was hardly overcome by addition of extra calcium. In this study the mode and site of action of this agent were further explored. Ro 22-4839 was found to more strongly inhibit the superprecipitation of chicken gizzard smooth muscle actomyosin (IC50 = 2.0 mumol/l) than trifluoperazine (38 mumol/l) and W-7 (N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalene-sulfonamide) (220 mumol/l), an in vitro model for relaxation-contraction coupling of the smooth muscle in which calmodulin is known to play an important role through phosphorylation of myosin light chain kinase. The calmodulin antagonistic action of Ro 22-4839 was also demonstrated in other calmodulin-related reaction systems such as phosphodiesterase and hydrophobic fluorescent probe, but was very weak in Ca2+, Mg2+-ATPase of rat erythrocyte membrane. Thus, Ro 22-4839 was suggested to have a relative preference for smooth muscle contraction process unlike trifluoperazine and W-7. Moreover, Ro 22-4839 prevented the decrease in erythrocyte deformability induced by hyperosmolarity or intracellular Ca2+ accumulation, like trifluoperazine and W-7. However, Ro 22-4839 itself caused hardly an internal stomatocytic shape of erythrocytes in contrast to known calmodulin antagonists. Further, Ro 22-4839 inhibited erythrocyte membrane rupture, platelet aggregation and lipid peroxidation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Actomyosin