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I Wallis

Publications and source records attributed to I Wallis.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

A developmentally regulated plasmalemmal antigen present in synaptosomes but not in growth cones.

Monoclonal antibody 2L4 was generated against rat synaptosomes but does not cross-react with nerve growth cones. Expression of the 2L4 antigen is developmentally regulated in a manner that is, in part, the opposite of the expression of the 5B4-CAM antigen, a marker of neuronal outgrowth belonging to the N-CAM family. While 5B4-CAM appears and increases during sprouting and then decreases to reach low levels in the adult, the 2L4 antigen appears only late in development, when neuronal outgrowth ceases, at or around the time of synaptogenesis. Once expressed, the antigen is found on the entire plasmalemmal surface of the neuron, but seems to be enriched at synaptic endings, at least of some neuron types. Biochemical analyses involving blotting of non-denaturing gels and immunoaffinity chromatography identify the antigen as a pair of polypeptides with similar, basic isoelectric points. These polypeptides form a somewhat diffuse, probably glycosylated band at 67 kDa and may be part of a hetero-oligomeric complex. The localization, biochemical, and developmental results suggest that the 2L4 antigen is a plasmalemmal marker of maturing and/or mature neurons whose expression may be triggered by synaptogenesis.

Aging↗

Nerve growth cones isolated from fetal rat brain. IV. Preparation of a membrane subfraction and identification of a membrane glycoprotein expressed on sprouting neurons.

This study describes the preparation of a membrane subfraction from isolated nerve growth cone particles (GCPs) (see Pfenninger, K. H., L. Ellis, M. P. Johnson, L. B. Friedman, and S. Somlo, 1983, Cell, 35:573-584) and the identification in this fraction of a glycoprotein expressed during neurite growth. While approximately 40 major polypeptides are visible in Coomassie Blue-stained SDS polyacrylamide gels of pelleted (partially disrupted) GCPs, a salt-washed membrane fraction prepared from lysed, detergent-permeabilized GCPs contains only 14% of this protein and has an unusually simple polypeptide pattern of seven major bands. Monoclonal antibodies have been generated to GCP membranes isolated from fetal rat brain. These antibodies have been screened differentially with synaptosomes from adult rat brain in order to identify those which recognize antigens expressed selectively during neurite growth. One such antibody (termed 5B4) recognizes a developmentally regulated membrane glycoprotein that is enriched in GCP membranes and expressed in fetal neurons sprouting in vitro. The 5B4 antigen in fetal brain migrates in SDS polyacrylamide gels as a diffuse band of approximately 185-255 kD, is rich in sialic acid, and consists of a small family of isoelectric variants. Freezing-thawing and neuraminidase digestion result in the cleavage of the native antigen into two new species migrating diffusely around 200 and 160 kD. Prolonged neuraminidase digestion sharpens these bands at about 180 and 135 kD, respectively. In the mature brain, antibody 5B4 recognizes a sparse polypeptide migrating at approximately 140 kD. As shown in the following paper (Wallis, I., L. Ellis, K. Suh, and K. H. Pfenninger, 1985, J. Cell Biol., 101:1990-1998), the fetal antigen is specifically associated with regions of neuronal sprouting and, therefore, can be used as a molecular marker of neurite growth.

Animals↗

Immunolocalization of a neuronal growth-dependent membrane glycoprotein.

Monoclonal antibody (mAb) 5B4 recognizes in the rat a large, developmentally regulated membrane glycoprotein. The larger form of this antigen (185-255 kD) occurs in the developing nervous system and is present in membranes of nerve growth cones, as determined by analysis of a growth cone particle fraction. An immunochemical characterization of this antigen and of a smaller form (140 kD), sparsely present in the mature nervous system, has been described (Ellis, L., I. Wallis, E. Abreu, and K. H. Pfenninger, 1985, J. Cell. Biol., 101:1977-1989). The present paper reports on the localization by immunofluorescence of 5B4 antigen in cultured cortical neurons, developing spinal cord, and the mature olfactory system. In culture, mAb 5B4 stains only neurons; it is sparsely present in neurons at the onset of sprouting while, during sprouting, it appears to be concentrated at the growth cone and in regions of the perikaryon. In the developing spinal cord, 5B4 labeling is faintly detectable on embryonic day 11 but is intense on fetal day 13. At this stage, the fluorescence is observed in regions of the cord where axonal growth is occurring, while areas composed of dividing or migrating neural cells are nonfluorescent. With maturation of the spinal cord, this basic pattern of fluorescence persists initially, but the staining intensity decreases dramatically. In the adult, faint fluorescence is detectable only in gray matter, presumably indicating the presence of the 140 kD rather than the fetal antigen. The only known structure of the adult mammalian nervous system where axonal growth normally occurs is the olfactory nerve. mAb 5B4 intensely stains a variable proportion of olfactory axons in the mucosa as well as in the olfactory bulb. Based on both immunochemical and immunofluorescence data, the 5B4 antigen of 185-255 kD is associated specifically with growing neurons, i.e., neurons that are generating neurites.

Animals↗

The preparation of a sarcolemmal fraction from evacuated muscle slices.

A novel procedure is described for preparing a plasma membrane fraction from skeletal muscle (e.i., sarcolemma). The procedure entails evacuating the myoplasm from muscle slices as a preliminary step to homogenization and fractionation. The evacuated muscle slices are composed of a stroma-containing sarcolemma, which is then homogenized and fractionated, utilizing a sequence of differential and discontinuous sucrose density gradient centrifugations. On the basis of electron microscopy, selective enzyme markers and alpha-bungarotoxin binding in innervated and denervated muscles, the fraction most enriched with sarcolemma is recovered from the 0.5/0.7 M interface of a discontinuous sucrose gradient.

Acetylcholine↗

Effects of denervation on the composition and synthesis of sarcolemmal proteins.

In vitro synthesis of proteins and changes in polypeptide composition of sarcolemma were studied in innervated and denervated extensor digitorum longus muscle of the rat. A technique of evacuating myoplasm from muscle slices was used as a preliminary step in the preparation of three membrane fractions, M, H and S, containing sarcolemma. On the basis of findings from the previous study and the present investigation, it was concluded that the M fraction was most enriched with extrajunctional sarcolemma. In vitro incorporation of [3H]leucine into membrane proteins of the M fraction showed an apparent linear increase in the rate of protein synthesis from 1-10 days after denervation. The relative increase at 10 days was 137% greater than that of innervated controls. Fractions H and S showed a smaller relative increase. Polypeptide composition of M, H and S fractions based on SDS gel electrophoresis of innervated and denervated muscle, showed qualitative and quantitative changes. The most striking difference was a nominal 29 000 component in M that constituted a disproportionately large peak. Following 10 days of denervation the M fraction underwent significant compositional changes in its electrophoretic profile, the most dramatic of which was a large reduction in the proportion of the 19 000 component. The denervation-induced compositional change is discussed in light of known alterations in the chloride conductance of the muscle plasmalemma.

Animals↗

Effects of increased ambient pressure and nitrogen on man's monosynaptic reflexes.

Neurological signs during dives may result from altered excitability of central neurons. The present study assesses the effect of an increase in pressure from 1 to 3 ATA on the excitability of muscle spindles and alpha motoneurons by comparing the EMG amplitudes of the mechanically and electrically elicited monosynaptic reflexes of the gastrocnemius-soleus muscle in 10 normal adults breathing a normoxic oxygen-nitrogen gas mixture. At the surface the amplitude of the electrically elicited H response was matched to that of the mechanically elicited Achilles tendon reflex (ATR), but at depth these amplitudes became significantly different. In every subject the amplitude of the ATR, which depends upon the excitability of both muscle spindles and the alpha motoneurons, was reduced on an average of 38% (with a range of 12-75%). The H response bypasses the muscle spindles and hence, depends primarily upon alpha motoneuron excitability. Its amplitude was unaltered in four, reduced in three, and increased in three subjects. Since the ATR was always depressed despite the direction of change in the H response, we have concluded that an increase in ambient pressure (i.e., pressure per se, or nitrogen, or both) must have decreased the responsiveness of muscle spindles to the tendon tap via a reduction in fusimotor activity.

Achilles Tendon↗