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J F Petit

Publications and source records attributed to J F Petit.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Regulation of plasminogen activator secretion in mouse peritoneal macrophages. II. Inhibition by immunomodulators of bacterial origin.

Two classes of immunomodulators of bacterial origin, peptidoglycan derivatives and lipopolysaccharides, are able to block in vitro the production of plasminogen activator by elicited macrophages: the release of the enzyme into the medium is inhibited and the intracellular activity reduced. In the case of peptidoglycan derivatives, high molecular weight compounds like WSA (water-soluble adjuvant) are stronger inhibitors than small molecules like MPP (muramyl pentapeptide). MDP (muramyl dipeptide) gives partial inhibition only. WSA (at 100 micrograms/ml) completely inhibits plasminogen activator production; the inhibition is reversible and specific. LPS is active at low concentrations (25-100 ng/ml). At concentrations higher than 50-100 ng/ml the action of LPS becomes irreversible and less specific. Peptidoglycan-derived immunomodulators can inhibit plasminogen activator production in the presence of polymixin B or in the case of macrophages obtained from C3H/HeJ mice; LPS is inactive under such conditions.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed1982

Fate of two 14C labelled muramyl peptides: Ac-Mur-L-Ala-gamma-D-Glu-meso-A2pm and Ac-Mur-L-Ala-gamma-D-Glu-meso-A2pm-D-Ala-D-Ala in mice. Evaluation of their ability to increase non specific resistance to Klebsiella infection.

The metabolic fate in mice of two 14C labelled meso-A2pm containing muramyl-peptides, the muramyl-tripeptide (Ac-Mur-L-Ala-gamma-D-Glu-14C-meso-A2pm) (MTP) and the muramyl-pentapeptide (Ac-Mur-L-Ala-gamma-D-Glu-meso-A2pm-14C-D-Ala-14C-D-Ala) (MPP) has been studied. As with 14C-MDP, the radioactive muramyl-tripeptide and muramyl-pentapeptide disappear rapidly from the organs and the radioactivity is found mainly in the urine. In contrast to MDP, the two meso-A2pm containing muramyl-peptides are not excreted intact in the urine. In both cases labelled fragments have been identifed: meso-A2pm from MTP and the tetrapeptide gamma-D-Glu-meso-A2pm-D-Ala-D-Ala from MPP. The ability of the two muramyl-peptides to increase nonspecific resistance of mice to Klebsiella infection was also investigated. The muramyl-pentapeptide injected i.v. one day before a lethal dose of K. pneumoniae protects both adult and neonate mice, as does MDP itself; the muramyl-tripeptide is inactive.

Acetylmuramyl-Alanyl-Isoglutamine↗
PubMed1982

Stimulation of several functional properties of macrophages after injection of a suspension of killed Streptococci.

Mouse peritoneal macrophages elicited by injecting i.p. killed group C Streptococci were shown to exhibit several characteristics commonly found in inflammatory macrophages: they secreted high levels of plasminogen activator but had to be stimulated in vitro by LPS to elaborate significant amounts of lymphocyte activating factor (LAF); they contained increased acid hydrolase activities as compared to resident macrophages whereas ecto 5'-nucleotidase was diminished; and they released less arachidonic acid oxygenation products than resident macrophages. However, they also expressed biochemical and functional properties attributed to classically activated macrophages, harvested from immune animals: they displayed reduced levels of alkaline phosphodiesterase; when suitably triggered, they released large quantities of H2O2; and they were strongly cytostatic to syngeneic tumor cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Antitumor activity and hydrogen peroxide release by macrophages elicited by trehalose diesters.

Trehalose diesters (natural 6,6'-trehalose dimycolate from Mycobacterium tuberculosis or synthetic (a 76 carbon atom analogue)), when suspended in water, give stable and well-defined emulsions. These emulsions, injected i.p. in mice significantly limit the growth of P815 syngeneic mastocytoma cells. They elicit macrophages with a cytostatic activity against P815 cells in vitro, strong enough to be expressed at low effector to target ratios (E/T = 1.4) or after a short coincubation period (2 hr). The antitumor potential of these macrophages seems to coincide with their ability to release H2O2 upon pharmacologic triggering. Depressed levels of alkaline phosphodiesterase and beta-galactosidase are proposed as other biochemical markers of cytostatic macrophages.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Antitumor activity of intralesionally administered Nocardia opaca preparations in rat and mouse tumors: a comparison with BCG and Corynebacterium parvum.

Three Nocardia products: delipidated cells, lysozyme digest and Nocardia Water Soluble Mitogen (NW SM), have been assayed in regression experiments and compared with living BCG and killed C. parvum in rat and mouse fibrosarcomas transplanted intradermally. Intratumor injection of these Nocardia products induced regression in the BCG sensitive McFiFi2 (S) tumor. These substances were active at a dose of 1 mg, the lysozyme extract and NW SM also being active at 0.1 mg. Association with mineral or vegetable oil increased the efficiency of delipidated cells, and under these conditions, regression of tumors implanted contralaterally to treated tumors was also obtained.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Stimulation of thymocyte mitogenic protein secretion and of cytostatic activity of mouse peritoneal macrophages by trehalose dimycolate and muramyldipeptide.

Immunomodulators of bacterial origin, such as muramyl-dipeptide (MDP) and trehalose dimycolate, are able to stimulate some important biological functions of macrophages, such as their capacity to secrete a monokine, the thymocyte mitogenic protein (TMP), and to limit the growth of mastocytoma cells in vitro. Adherent cells from the peritoneal cavity of untreated mice do not secrete significant amounts of TMP and are not cytostatic. In contrast, adherent peritoneal cells from mice injected with trehalose dimycolate (emulsified in water) secrete TMP and are strongly cytostatic for P815 cells. Trehalose dimycolate is also active when added in vitro: (a) it enhances the cytostatic action of thioglycollate-elicited macrophages; (b) alone or in sequence with MDP, it induces an appreciable cytostatic activity in resident macrophages; (c) it limits the decline of the strong cytostatic action of trehalose-dimycolate-elicited macrophages occurring during in vitro cultivation. MDP also stimulates the cytostatic activity of the macrophages in vitro. The most interesting effect of MDP is its capacity to induce a strong secretion of TMP after a short contact (1 h) with elicited macrophages.

Acetylmuramyl-Alanyl-Isoglutamine↗
PubMed1979

Fate of the synthetic immunoadjuvant, muramyl dipeptide (14C-labelled) in the mouse.

Synthetic N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine (muramyl dipeptide or MDP) represents the smallest unit that can substitute for whole Mycobacteria in Freund's complete adjuvant. In this paper the fate of 14C-labelled (on the muramyl moiety) MDP is reported. Following intravenous or subcutaneous injection into mice, more than 50% of 14C-MDP was recovered in the urine after 30 min and more than 90% after 2 h. The labelled compound was found unchanged in the urine, as shown by detailed analyses. However, MDP was sequestered for a longer time at the site of injection when administered as a water-in-oil emulsion. Considering the relatively rapid elimination observed, it is suggested that the biological effects of MDP and related compounds, when administered in an aqueous medium, may be due to their activity at minute concentrations and/or an immediate action at the cellular level.

Acetylmuramyl-Alanyl-Isoglutamine↗
PubMed1979

Regulation of plasminogen activator secretion in mouse peritoneal macrophages. I. - Role of serum studied by a new spectrophotometric assay for plasminogen activators.

A chromogenic tripeptide - H-D-Val-Leu-Lys-p-nitroanilide-substrate of plasmin, can be used to follow plasminogen activation by an activator such as urokinase or the activator secreted by mouse peritoneal macrophages (thioglycolate-elicited). The acceleration of p-nitroaniline production is proportional to the initial rate of plasmin formation from plasminogen. Thus, at a given plasminogen concentration, this acceleration is proportional to the activator concentration. The acceleration can be evaluated from the spectrophotometer trace recording at 405 nm the appearance of p-nitroaniline, either by means of a computer program or by a plot of delta A405 vs.t2. The sensitivity of this assay allows detection of 0.003 CTA units of urokinase. Thioglycollate-elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages secrete plasminogen activator into the extracellular medium during in vitro cultivation only after a contact with serum.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Characterisation of mycobacteriophage ATCC 11759. Unusual physiocochemical properties of its DNA.

Growth conditions and a purification procedure for mycobacteriophage ATCC 11759, a lytic phage for Mycobacterium smegmatis, are described. The phage is a large DNA phage with a very long tail (240 nm). A study of its DNA revealed three interesting features. 1. After denaturation the DNA molecule yields two strands of different buoyant densities. 2. The native DNA has unusual physical properties: its buoyant density in CsC1 is very low (1.654 g/cm3), its sedimentation rate is lower than expected for the molecular weight, its thermal stability at low ionic strength is high. 3. The DNA (in its native form or after reannealing) is resistant to various restriction endonucleases.

DNA Restriction Enzymes↗
PubMed1978

DD-Carboxypeptidase activity of membrane fragments of Mycobacterium smegmatis. Enzymatic properties and sensitivity to beta-lactam antibiotics.

A DD-carboxypeptidase activity is present in membrane fragments of Mycobacterium smegmatis. Kinetic parameters of the enzymatic activity have been studied using UDP-N-glycolylmuramyl-L-alanyl-gamma-D-glutamyl-meso-2,2'-diaminopimelyl-D-[14C]alanyl-D-[14C]alanine as substrate. The DD-carboxypeptidase can be solubilized by Triton X-100 and Genapol X-100. It is inhibited by beta-lactam antibiotics although intact cells of M. smegmatis are insensitive to that kind of antibiotics. Inhibition by penicillin G is slowly reversible. By storage, at -20degrees C, kinetic parameters and sensitivity to penicillin G vary non-concomittantly, suggesting a penicillin binding site different from the substrate binding site.

Carboxypeptidases↗
PubMed1978

Induction of interferon synthesis in mice by fractions from Nocardia.

Three fractions of Nocardia, Nocardia water-soluble mitogen (NWSM), Nocardia water-soluble mitogen pellet (NWSMP), and the cell wall peptidoglycan, which are mitogenic for B lymphocytes, were able to induce circulating interferon in mice, NWSMP and NWSM being the most active. The peak of interferon appeared about 2 h after injection. The interferon induced by NSWMP and NWSM was acid stable and antigenically related to viral interferon, as shown by neutralization with antibodies directed against Newcastle disease virus-induced interferon.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

[Chemical structure of mycobacterial cell wall].

The immunostimulant properties of mycobacterial cell walls have led to a thorough study of their structure and to isolation of their components. The backbone of the mycobacterial cell wall is of a covalent structure ("covalent skeleton") made up of two polymers covalently linked by phosphodiester linkages: a arabinogalactan mycolate and a peptidoglycan. To this covalent structure are attached, in a rather ill defined manner, proteins or lipoproteins and, in pathogenic and most vaccinating strains, a partly amidated poly-alpha-L-glutamic acid. The mycobacterial cell wall also contains about 25% of free lipids, i.e. lipids which can be extracted by neutral solvents.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1977

Enhancement of nonspecific immunity to bacterial infection by cord factor (6,6'-trehalose dimycolate).

The capacity of mycobacteria to enhance the nonspecific resistance of mice to bacterial infections was related to the presence of cord factor. After enzymatic digestion and delipidation, cell walls lost their immunopotentiating activity, which was restored, however, by the addition of cord factor. Cord factor administered alone protected mice effectively against virulent organisms unrelated to mycobacteria. Moreover, although this glycolipid is usually injected as a solution in mineral oil, our data show its effectiveness when administered in metabolizable peanut oil or even as a suspension in water. Since cord factor is a chemically well-defined molecule (6,6'-trehalose dimycolate), this glycolipid should constitute a new and useful tool for the investigation of nonspecific immunity to infection.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Analysis of the cell wall of five strains of Myocbacterium tuberculosis BCG and of an attenuated human strain, W 115.

The chemical composition of the deproteinized, delipidated cell walls of five strains of BCG and of an attenuated human strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been established, with special focus on their poly-L-glutamic acid content. All the cell walls have the same overall composition. Their poly-L-glutamic acid content varies from 0 to 4.6%. A correlation between the poly-L-glutamic acid content and the biological properties of the BCG strains reported in the literature could not be established.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1976

Presence and subcellular localization of two distinct mitogenic fractions in the cells of Nocardia rubra and Nocardia opaca: preparation of soluble mitogenic peptidoglycan fractions.

Fractionation of cells of Nocardia rubra and Nocardia opaca led to the separation of the cell wall and a "cytoplasmic" fraction. Both fractions were mitogenic for the splenocytes of AKR and nude mice and of rabbits. The peptidoglycan was the active part of the cell wall fraction. The products solubilized by the action of Streptomyces albus G peptidases on the peptidoglycan of N. rubra were mitogenic, but the products solubilized by lysoyme were not. Tentative structures are proposed for these fractions. The most active part of the cytoplasmic fractions could be sedimented by centrifugation and seemed to be related to the cytoplasmic membrane.

Animals↗