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Biomedical subjects

J G Sharp

Publications and source records attributed to J G Sharp.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Stem and stromal cell reconstitution of lethally irradiated mice following transplantation of hematopoietic tissue from donors of various ages.

If the limited life span of hematopoietic tissues in vitro is due to a finite proliferative capacity of individual stem cells, one might expect tissues of young donors to possess a greater proliferative capacity and to contain a larger population of primitive stem cells than those of older donors. To test this hypothesis, we used 12- and 8-day spleen colony formation (CFU-s) to assay more and less primitive stem cell subpopulations of three murine hematopoietic tissues: fetal liver (FL) and weanling (WBM) and adult (ABM) bone marrow. Subsequently, the same assays and a stromal cell assay were performed on the bone marrow from groups of lethally irradiated mice reconstituted with these tissues. Comparison of the CFU-s content of the donor tissues revealed that FL contained a significantly greater proportion of primitive stem cells as evidenced by a (Day 12):(Day 8) CFU-s ratio of 3.0 +/- 1.0 as compared to 0.9 +/- 0.1 for WBM and ABM. In addition, at 21 weeks post-transplantation the CFU-s/femur values of the FL reconstituted group were significantly greater than those of the ABM and WBM reconstituted groups. These results suggest that fetal hematopoietic tissue contains a greater proportion of primitive stem cells and has a greater proliferative potential than hematopoietic tissue from older donors. No differences were seen in stromal cell reconstitution of the three experimental groups. In all cases, assayable fibroblast colony forming cells (CFU-f) remained at 20-40% of control values, even at 21 weeks postreconstitution.

Aging↗
PubMed1987

Ontogeny and regulation of the immune system.

Classic studies in embryology and contemporary research in immunology and molecular biology have disclosed the carefully orchestrated events leading to development of the immune system and immunoregulation that ultimately provide immunohomeostasis. During ontogeny, the pluripotential stem cell emerges and differentiates into all hematopoietic lineages, including three major immunologically relevant components: T-cell differentiation occurs within the thymus; B cells appear within fetal liver, adult bone marrow, and possibly other abdominal sites; and concurrently, the monocyte-macrophage system develops. Under the influence of an array of cytokines and cellular interactions, immune regulation is established. T and B lymphocytes elaborate genetically encoded messages that acquire specificity via transposable genetic elements. Receptors and cytokines provide immune recognition, communication, regulation, and memory for antigens. Inherited and acquired defects in ontogeny and immune regulation are the basis for immunodeficiency disorders.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Comparison of the intravenous and intraperitoneal routes of administration of tritiated thymidine in studies of cell production in the gastrointestinal tract of the rat.

Incorporation of 3H-Thymidine into DNA-synthesizing cells of the gastrointestinal tract of the rat was examined following administration of the isotope by intraperitoneal and intravenous routes. Estimates of whole tissue incorporation expressed as DPM/mg dry weight and of proliferating cells expressed as DPM/crypt or gland in the different segments of the gut indicated no differences in the degree of 3H-TdR uptake into DNA following intraperitoneal or intravenous routes of administration. The possibility of misdirected I.P. injections was examined following injection of 3H-TdR into the cecum or bladder. DPM/mg wet weight of gastrointestinal tissues indicated reduction in the uptake of 3H-TdR into DNA of intestinal tissues following intracecal and intrabladder administration of 3H-Tdr. The intraperitoneal route of administration of 3H-TdR appears to be equally effective in the distribution of the isotope into different segments of the gut when compared to the intravenous route and is a more convenient method in studies of cell production in the gastrointestinal tract of the rat.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Late ultrastructural effects of heavy ions and gamma irradiation in the gastrointestinal tract of the mouse.

The irradiated gastrointestinal tract of LAF1 mice was examined one year following a single dose (1000 rad) of either 12C heavy ions or 60Co gamma rays. Qualitative ultrastructural analysis of the gastrointestinal tract of mice exposed to heavy ions or gamma irradiation did not show any discernible differences. In the stomach of irradiated mice, parietal cells contained numerous lysosomes; the gastric chief cells occasionally contained myelin figures. The epithelial cells of the small intestine, especially jejunum and ileum, showed several changes: (1) increased vacuolation was seen both inter- and intra-cellularly, (2) epithelial cell projections penetrated the basal lamina and were in contact with underlying mesenchymal cells, (3) occasional Paneth cells contained intracellular vacuoles consisting of fibrillar and granular material. In the large intestine occasional signs of degeneration were observed. Qualitative analysis of stromal elements of the gut in irradiated mice indicated the presence of damage to capillary endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and some nerve processes. The amount of basement membrane (BM) around capillaries and small vessels was increased; the same phenomenon was observed to affect the nerve processes, but with less severity. Quantitative analysis of the basement membrane thickness around capillaries in irradiated vs. control mice showed significant differences. Basement membrane thickness around capillaries in the gastric mucosa and duodenum did not differ significantly in any of the treatment groups. In jejunum, the gamma treated animals exhibited significantly higher BM thickness when compared to unirradiated controls. In ileum, only 12C-heavy ion treated animals showed thicker BM when compared to their respective controls. In colon, both 12C- and 60Co-treated animals showed increased BM thickness when compared to controls.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Thymic non-lymphoid cells.

In formulating this summary of our simon-pure knowledge of the structure/function relationships in the thymus, we decided that the time may have come to introduce a suitable dose of cynicism to balance the sometimes hopeless optimism of the past. Are the non-lymphoid cells of the thymus necessary for thymic function? Probably, but not to the extent or uniqueness that some authors including ourselves have previously claimed; T cells can probably differentiate in other tissues but may acquire their preference for MHC class II in the thymus. Mouse thymic lymphoid cell traffic and surface phenotype has recently been summarized pictorally by Scollay and Shortman [95]. Briefly stated, within the thymus, cells are hatched, matched and then dispatched. Minimally, the non-lymphoid cells act either as scenically varied obstacles along the way, nurseries for newborn T cells, or as tombstones for life's disenfranchized, effete and autoaggressive thymocytes. Hassall's corpuscles are morphological structures unique to the thymus, which are most useful to medical students for identification of this tissue. Their function remains one of life's great mysteries. Morphologically, they are suitable companions to the more recently described strange multicellular complexes of lymphocytes and epithelial cells which might be functionally important. The thymus of the much studied inbred, environmentally mollycoddled, laboratory mouse has been often and majestically described. It is probably typical for that of man and most mammals. It may, however, be unrepresentative of the thymus of stressed and parasitized wild animals. Diseases of the thymus generally can be categorized as not having enough thymus, having a neoplastic thymus or having a thymus which does not work properly. The bottom line in our knowledge of thymic nonlymphoid cells is that if you are born without them, you get sick and die; unless, of course, you are a nude mouse in Omaha, in which case you just freeze to death.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Differentiation inducing effects of butyrate and DMSO on human intestinal tumor cell lines in culture.

In the present report, we have studied the effects of butyrate and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on the characteristics of four human intestinal tumor cell lines in vitro; namely a duodenal adenocarcinoma HTB-40 and three adenocarcinomas of colon: HT-29, CCL-218, and CCL-222. In the presence of concentrations of 2 mM butyrate and 2% DMSO the growth of all these four cell lines was significantly inhibited. Both these agents lengthened the doubling time of these cell lines by about twofold. In addition, the morphology of the treated cells was altered. All four cell lines grow in semisolid agar and form characteristic colonies. Butyrate and DMSO inhibited the colony forming efficiency of these cell lines by 40-60%. Using flow cytometric analysis, the cells that were grown in the presence of butyrate and DMSO were analyzed for their lectin-binding properties. For this purpose the lectins used were concanavalin-A (Con-A), peanut agglutinin (PNA), wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), and succinylated wheat germ agglutinin (SWGA). All four cell lines showed an increase in lectin-binding cells. CCL-218, which showed no PNA binding when grown without these agents, acquired about 25% reactivity when grown in the presence of butyrate or DMSO. All these cell lines showed an increase in the percentage of positive cells for the lectin SWGA that unlike WGA does not bind to sialic acid on the cell surface, suggesting an increase in nonsialated residues on all the treated cells. These results indicate a differentiation inducing effect of butyrate and DMSO on these cell lines.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Butyrates↗
PubMed1984

A decrease in thymus-mediated immune responses as a result of treatment of neonatal rats with glutamate.

We investigated whether administration of monosodium 1-glutamate (MSG) to neonatal rats would disrupt immune responses in intact and orchidectomized adult male rats. Neonatal male rats were treated with saline or MSG which causes severe endocrine abnormalities. Half of each group of animals were orchidectomized as adults and killed one week later along with intact rats. MSG treatment resulted in suppressed serum LH levels in intact rats. Thymus weight and spleen cellularity in intact animals were not affected by MSG treatment, but thymus weight increased within one week after orchidectomy in both saline- and MSG-treated groups. In intact rats, lymphocyte stimulation by the T cell specific mitogens (concanavalin A or phytohemagglutinin) or the B cell specific mitogen (lipopolysaccharide) was unaffected by prior treatment with MSG. However, MSG treatment blocked the decrease attributable to orchidectomy in concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin stimulation of lymphocyte blastogenesis. The results suggest that administration of MSG to neonatal male rats can alter some immune responses in the adult animal.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Comparison of tritiated thymidine and metaphase arrest techniques of measuring cell production in rat intestine.

Measurements of intestinal cell production at several sites throughout the gastrointestinal tract were compared using two different methods, namely tritiated thymidine to determine the uptake of tritium per unit weight of tissue (dpm/mg) and per microdissected intestinal crypt or stomach gland (dpm/crypt or gland) and the metaphase arrest technique, in the same group of rats. The metaphase arrest technique was employed to determine the crypt cell production rate per hour (CCPR). The dpm/crypt or gland of tritiated thymidine-derived tritium in microdissected intestinal crypts or stomach glands showed a good linear correlation (r = 0.93) with CCPR which extrapolated through the origin. The dpm/mg wet weight of tissue showed a good linear correlation with CCPR (r = 0.87) and dpm/crypt (r = 0.97); however, neither of these relationships extrapolated through the origin. Instead there was a positive intercept of dpm/mg tissue which represented about 25-30% of the maximal tritium content of the intestine. This radioactivity in tissue had no counterpart in the crypts or glands and presumably reflected unbound tritium and tritium in cells which were located outside the epithelial compartment. The good linear correlation (r = 0.93) between dpm/crypt and CCPR extended to the intestine of transected and 75% small bowel resected rats. Subsequent analysis of the times recorded for these procedures showed that determination of CCPR was faster by at least 25% than measurement of dpm/crypt. In conclusion, dpm/crypt but not dpm/mg tissue gave a valid estimate of intestinal cell production equivalent to measurement of CCPR.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Comparison of single time point and linear regression estimates of cell production in rat intestinal crypts after perturbation by hydroxyurea.

The present investigation compared the values obtained for the intestinal crypt cell production rate per hour ( CCPR ) at several sites in the intestine of rats using two variations in the application of metaphase arrest technique. The CCPR was determined both from the slope of a metaphase accumulation line obtained by linear regression analysis of measurements at several time points and by the single time point accumulation method. The comparison was performed for both the steady state in untreated controls and under perturbed conditions at 6, 12 and 24 h following intraperitoneal administration of 1000 mg/kg bodyweight of hydroxyurea to rats. In the steady state, the metaphase accumulation values were linear up to 3 h after vincristine sulfate in the proximal intestine (stomach to proximal ileum) and linear for up to 3 1/2 h in the distal ileum and the colon. Consequently the 3 h time point was selected for evaluation of CCPR values using the single time point method. The two methods gave equivalent results in the steady state, although in situations where there was good linearity of metaphase accumulation, the values obtained by the regression method were usually more precise. In the perturbed intestine poorer linearity of metaphase accumulation was observed and the duration of linearity was reduced sometimes to 2-2 1/2 h. Overall, under these circumstances, estimation of average CCPR was more precise by the single time point accumulation method. More importantly, significant differences were sometimes evident between the results of these two methods when applied to the same data.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Evaluation of the effects of pentagastrin, gastrin and pancreatic glucagon on cell proliferation in the rat gastrointestinal tract.

The effects of six injections of a range of doses (100-1000 micrograms/kg bodyweight) of pentagrastrin and single injection of a range of doses of porcine gastrin (10-40 micrograms/kg bodyweight) and pancreatic glucagon (25-100 micrograms/kg bodyweight) on cell proliferation in the intestine of fasted rats has been investigated. The end-point employed included the measurement of 14C leucine incorporation and thymidine-derived tritium content of the body of the stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon. The carbon 14 and tritium content per microgram of tissue in triplicate samples of fifty individually dissected crypts of glands were determined. From these data and the wet weight of the washed, blotted, intestinal segments, values for crypts/micrograms tissue and crypts/segment were calculated. The results demonstrated that pentagastrin at physiological doses decreased cell proliferation slightly in stomach, while gastrin and glucagon were without effect. In the small intestine, pentagastrin and gastrin were without significant effect with the exception that they increased the weight of the duodenum. In contrast, a high physiological dose of glucagon increased DNA and protein synthesis throughout the small bowel, but particularly in the ileum. Pharmacological doses of pentagastrin and all doses of gastrin appeared to increase cell proliferation in the colon although the possibility could not be excluded that this was due to stimulation of precursor uptake. Gastrin also increased colonic weight. Glucagon had no effects in the colon. These observations are compatible with the hypothesis that (i) the primary effects of gastrin and pentagastrin on the proximal intestine are as secretogogues and effects on cell proliferation may be secondary, (ii) gastrin and pentagastrin at physiological levels do not stimulate small intestinal cell proliferation, however glucagon does, and (iii) gastrin at physiological levels and pentagastrin at pharmacological levels may stimulate cell proliferation in the colon.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Segregation and characterization of lymphohematopoietic stromal elements.

In the mouse, long-term maintenance of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells in vitro currently requires the establishment of an appropriate adherent layer. When established employing culture medium supplemented with 20% horse serum and 10(-6) M hydrocortisone, the initial adherent layer contains primitive stem cells that are the major contributor of multipotent stem cells (CFUs) assayed subsequently in the supernatant regardless of the addition of fresh bone marrow cells. In contrast, when the adherent layer is established employing 25% fetal calf serum without hydrocortisone, few if any stem cells survive in the adherent layer. Such cultures are dependent upon a recharge with fresh bone marrow as a source of CFUs. A comparison of the latter stem cell-depleted system with the former intact system permits an evaluation of the relative contributions of the adherent layer and stem cells to the long-term maintenance of hematopoiesis in vitro. Studies of the effects of irradiation of the donor animal for the adherent layer and using the intact system demonstrated a reduction in the supernatant CFUs production that was dose- and time-related and evident at doses of 100 and 500 rads. If the adherent layer itself was irradiated immediately before refeeding, a reduction in supernatant CFUs was evident at a dose of 5 rads. These effects, both in vivo and in vitro, cannot be explained solely on the basis of cell killing. Rather, we propose that such doses inactivate, render impotent, or reduce the self-renewal capacity of stem cells that occupy a limited number of "niches" in the adherent layer. Although they are not killed, these impotent stem cells occupy stem cell niches but do not provide an effective contribution of CFUs to the supernatant cells. The adherent layer consists primarily of fibroblasts with significant numbers of macrophages and endothelial cells. The cellular composition of the adherent layer differs between the intact and stem cell-depleted systems in that the latter has a relatively larger proportion of endothelial cells. The composition of the adherent layer influences the type of differentiated cells in the supernatant. The stem cell-depleted adherent layer cultures had a greater proportion of granulocytes among the supernatant cells than macrophages that eventually predominate in the intact system. We have cloned stromal cells from the intact cultures and obtained several stromal cell lines by spontaneous transformation. One of these stromal cell lines (MC1) transfers at least a partial hematopoietic "microenvironment" (granulocytes, macrophages, erythroid cells) to ectopic sites on transplantation to syngeneic recipients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1983

The relationship between the compensatory response in the stomach and colon and the extent of small bowel resection in the rat.

The proximal and distal extent of the compensatory response in the gastrointestinal tract of the young adult rat to resection of 10-80 percent of the combined ileum and jejunum was investigated. Thirty days after intestinal resection and subsequent end-to-end anastomosis, rats were injected with tritiated thymidine and sacrificed one hour later. The incorporation of label into colonic crypts or stomach glands was used as an index of the compensatory proliferative response. Although no compensatory response was observed in stomach glands, a significant compensatory proliferative response was found in descending colon after resections involving removal of greater than 60% of the combined ileum and jejunum. These observations imply that the compensatory proliferative response to resection is caused, at least in part, by a humoral mechanism. However, this does not exclude a role for luminal factors, intestinal blood flow, and paracrine effector substances as secondary modifiers of the compensation. The observations that resection of the small bowel can have significant effects distally on cell proliferation in the colon may be important to the planning of combination therapies which involve bowel resection in both animal models and in man.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1982

Scintigraphy and distribution of labeled antibodies in rats with tumors.

Radioiodinated antitumor (Ab-gamma globulins), non-tumor-specific Ab, and R131ISA were used for imaging radiation-induced intestinal tumors in rats. Each agent detected tumors larger than 2 g, but labeled Ab were most efficient in detecting small tumors. Tissue distribution studies showed that while 'purified' Ab localized specifically in tumors, 'unpurified' Ab concentrated in the tumor by a mechanism not considered immunological. Localization was variable and the concentration of antitumor Ab reached useful levels only in a small number of cases. The use of high specific activity purified Ab unexpectedly decreased the concentrations of label observed in the tumors when compared with the use of the same activity of low specific activity purified Ab. These results indicated the presence of circulating tumor antigens which were capable of binding the injected Ab. Subsequently, these findings have been substantiated. Thus the animal-to-animal variability could be explained on the basis of differing degrees of interaction of injected Ab with circulating tumor antigens. The usefulness of labeled purified or monospecific antitumor antibodies for tumor imaging and therapy would thus be influenced by the extent of such interactions.

Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous↗
PubMed1982

Effects of reduced food intake on morphometry and cell production in the small intestine of the rat.

The present study examined the effects of a 60% reduction in food intake on kinetic and morphometric parameters in the small intestine of adult male Lewis rats. We observed that, after 20 days, the wet weight of jejunum and ileum, thickness of muscularis externa of duodenum, crypt depth throughout the intestine, and DPM/mg and DPM/crypt in ileum were decreased in animals on reduced food intake when compared to their paired, normally fed controls. These results demonstrated that reduced food intake caused distinctive effects focused primarily in the ileum, thus opening to question the use of the technique of pair feeding as a control for studies of intestinal cell proliferation in which manipulations of the animals result in altered food intake or body weight.

Animals↗