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Biomedical subjects

J T Triffitt

Publications and source records attributed to J T Triffitt.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Phenotypic characterisation of mononuclear and multinucleated cells of giant cell tumour of bone.

Studies were carried out on 3 giant cell tumours of bone (GCTB) to characterise further the cells forming the distinctive mononuclear and multinucleated components. Samples of tumours were grown as explants in vitro and implanted subcutaneously in athymic mice. Cells were characterised in terms of their cell morphology and cytochemical, antigenic and functional phenotype. In culture, giant cells formed a non-proliferative, relatively homogeneous population of cells which expressed features characteristic of the osteoclast phenotype. The mononuclear cell component was heterogeneous and included macrophage-like cells, which persisted for a short time in culture, and fibroblast-like cells which proliferated. In subcutaneous implants, the fibroblast-like cells formed a tissue which included areas of bone formation associated with regions of alkaline phosphatase activity. These observations are consistent with earlier suggestions that the neoplastic component in GCTB consists of a mononuclear stromal cell which elicits a macrophage/osteoclast response.

Adult

Polymethylmethacrylate-induced inflammatory macrophages resorb bone.

Macrophages and their fused products are commonly found at the polymethylmethacrylate cement-bone interface, but it is not known if they contribute directly to the osteolysis associated with loosening of the cemented prosthesis. We isolated mononuclear phagocytes from granulomas formed by subcutaneous implantation of polymethylmethacrylate into mice and incubated them on bone slices in which they formed resorption lacunae after co-culture for seven to 14 days with both marrow stromal cells and osteoblast-like cells (in the presence of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and dexamethasone). Increased numbers of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive mononuclear and multinucleated cells formed in these cultures. Both in the presence and absence of stromal cells, macrophages produced extensive superficial roughening of the bone surface. Polymethylmethacrylate-induced macrophages are thus capable of low-grade surface and high-grade lacunar osteolysis, the latter requiring the presence of specific hormonal and stromal cell elements. These two forms of bone resorption could account for the pathogenesis and clinical patterns associated with loosening of the cemented prosthesis.

Animals

Monoclonal antibody BRL 12 reacts with bone keratan sulphate proteoglycan.

Our previous studies suggest that a monoclonal antibody, BRL 12, reacts with a specific product of differentiated cells of the osteoblastic lineage. In the present study, the bone constituent recognized by this antibody has been characterized by gel filtration, ion exchange chromatography, protein blotting and immunolocalization. Our findings show that the antibody reacts with an epitope associated with the core protein of rabbit keratan sulfate proteoglycan (KSPG), a molecule which shares considerable homology with the sialoprotein present in the bone tissue of other mammalian species.

Animals

Adipocytic cells cultured from marrow have osteogenic potential.

Stromal colonies with fibroblastic morphology grown from rabbit marrow cells in culture supplemented with foetal calf serum. In this study the same marrow cells cultured with autologous rabbit plasma and hydrocortisone form colonies of a single lineage that express the adipocytic phenotype. A comparison of the potential for differentiation of cloned cell populations grown from fibroblastic and adipocytic colonies has been made using an in vivo diffusion chamber assay. The adipocytic colonies differentiated and grew to a limited size in medium with rabbit plasma and hydrocortisone, but attempts to isolate them and expand them in this medium failed. When the serum supplement was changed to foetal calf serum at day 10 the cells in the adipocytic colonies acquired a less differentiated morphology, there was a large increase in colony growth and cells were produced in sufficient numbers for the diffusion chamber assay. Thirty one fibroblastic colonies and twenty one adipocytic colonies were isolated either by limiting dilution or ring cloning and then expanded. Of these, eleven fibroblastic and eight adipocytic colonies provided enough cells (2 x 10(5) to 2 x 10(6] for implantation and culture in the chambers. Four of the eleven fibroblastic and three of the eight adipocytic colonies formed an osteogenic tissue in the chambers. It was concluded that cells that have differentiated in an adipocytic direction are able to revert to a more proliferative stage and subsequently to differentiate along the osteogenic pathway. Adipocytic and fibroblastic cells cultured in vitro from marrow have, with osteogenic cells, a common precursor in adult marrow.

Adipose Tissue

Interferons and bone. A comparison of the effects of interferon-alpha and interferon-gamma in cultures of human bone-derived cells and an osteosarcoma cell line.

Recombinant human interferon-alpha 2C and recombinant human interferon-gamma (5-1000 U/ml) inhibit the proliferation of normal human bone-derived cells and a human osteosarcoma cell line. In the bone-derived cells the inhibitory effect of interferon-gamma was significantly greater than that of interferon-alpha, whereas in the osteosarcoma cell line the inhibitory effects of both interferons were quantitatively similar. Interferon-alpha did not affect the alkaline phosphatase activity of either type of cells. In contrast, interferon-gamma affected the activity of the enzyme in both cell types: in the bone-derived cells the effect of interferon-gamma was stimulatory whereas in the osteosarcoma cells the effect was inhibitory. In both cell types interferon-gamma selectively inhibited the incorporation of radiolabelled proline into type I collagen. In the osteosarcoma cells, the effects of both interferons on collagen synthesis were quantitatively similar. In the bone-derived cells, however, interferon-alpha decreased proline incorporation into collagen and non-collagen proteins to a similar extent and thus did not affect collagen synthesis when expressed as a percentage of total protein synthesis. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the radiolabelled proteins of the cell layer synthesised by both cell types in the presence of either interferon demonstrated that this treatment enhanced or induced the synthesis of a total of 21 individual proteins (19 in bone cells, 14 in osteosarcoma), ranging in apparent molecular mass over 14-87 kDa. The set of proteins induced was different in all four combinations of cells and interferon. A tentative identification of several of the proteins was possible based upon estimation of molecular mass, preferential induction by interferon-alpha or interferon-gamma and differential induction in normal and transformed bone-derived cells. The results of this study demonstrate that interferons have complex effects upon the proliferative and biosynthetic activities of human bone-derived cells and demonstrate significant differences between the responses of normal cells and transformed bone-derived cell line. Further investigations will be required in order to determine whether or not these differences are unique to the osteosarcoma cell line or are a characteristic of the effects of interferons on bone-derived cells in general.

Adolescent

Presence of type III collagen in disc attachments of human temporomandibular joints.

Samples of discs and disc attachments were extracted by dissociative methods and the resultant collagenous residues cleaved with cyanogen bromide. Soluble peptides thus released were characterized by their electrophoretic mobility following SDS-PAGE and by Western blot staining with specific antibodies against type I and type III collagens. Type III collagen was identified in samples taken from the posterior discal attachments. This may explain why this disc is prone to detachment and internal derangement and the high incidence of patients with temporomandibular joint dysfunction.

Adult

The adenylate cyclase response to parathyroid hormone in cultured rabbit marrow fibroblastic cells.

The ability of fibroblastic cells to respond to parathyroid hormone (PTH) by an increase in adenylate cyclase activity is accepted as a characteristic of the osteogenic phenotype. Whether marrow fibroblastic cells, which have osteogenic potential when assayed in vivo, demonstrate this hormonal response when cultured in vitro has been investigated. Our study has shown a level of stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity by PTH in cultured rabbit marrow fibroblasts comparable with other osteogenic cells in vitro. The effect is seen in fibroblasts grown either from multiple colonies or from single colonies. Only a proportion of colonies had osteogenic potential in vivo assay and our results show a similar finding for the PTH response in vitro. To what degree the two parameters are expressed by the same colony has not yet been established.

Adenylyl Cyclases

Interferon effects on osteoinduction.

Xenografts of human osteosarcoma growing in athymic mice are inhibited in growth rate by human interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment. In addition, differentiation of trabecular bone occurs external to the osteosarcomatous tissue and this is entirely dependent on IFN treatment. We have used species-specific anticollagens and antivimentin antibodies to determine the species origins of this trabecular bone. By using immunohistochemical procedures, it was found that this bone is host-derived. These results suggest that IFN provoked the production of a bone-inducing agent by the human osteosarcomas.

Animals

Immunohistochemical studies using BRL 12, a monoclonal antibody reacting specifically with osteogenic tissues.

A monoclonal antibody of immunoglobulin class G1 has been produced which reacts with a high molecular weight antigen apparently present exclusively in osteogenic tissues. Immunohistochemical studies have shown that the antigen is present throughout the mineralized matrix and in osteoid. None of the other tissues examined namely liver, intestine, kidney, spleen, thymus, heart, lung, skin, cartilage and skeletal muscle showed evidence of specific antibody binding. Immunohistochemical staining was also demonstrated in tissues developing from rabbit marrow cultured in vitro and in diffusion chambers in vivo. Temporal studies of antigen expression in the chambers indicated that the antigen occurs at sites of bone formation after the appearance of alkaline phosphatase but before the formation of a mineralized matrix. The results of these studies suggest that the monoclonal antibody recognises a product of differentiated osteoblasts. This antibody may therefore prove useful in studies of osteogenic differentiation.

Animals

Interferon-inhibited human osteosarcoma xenografts induce host bone in nude mice.

The growth of human osteosarcoma xenografts in nude mice can be inhibited by human interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha). Histologic examination of growth-inhibited tumors has revealed mineralization and partial replacement of the tumor by normal bone tissue. We have investigated whether the normal bone tissue was formed by differentiated tumor cells or by induction of host stroma to differentiate into bone tissue. Employing antibodies to both murine and human type I collagen, it was found that the normal bone produced in IFN-inhibited osteosarcomas was host derived. These results suggest that IFN induced the osteosarcoma cells to produce a bone-inductive agent that interacts with the host cells, and leads to the formation of mature normal bone tissue in a heterotopic site.

Animals

Effect of vitamin A on bone resorption: evidence for direct stimulation of isolated chicken osteoclasts by retinol and retinoic acid.

The effects of retinol (vitamin A) and retinoic acid on primary cultures of isolated chicken osteoclasts have been studied. The experiments were performed to establish the direct actions of these two agents on the organization of cytoskeletal structures, on the acid phosphatase contents, and on the bone resorption activities of these cells. The results showed that by treating the cultures with retinol or retinoic acid, from 10(-8) to 10(-5) M, there were dose-related responses of the osteoclasts. Adhesion to the substratum was stimulated by increasing the number of cells exhibiting the specialized dot-like adhesion structures, or podosomes, which represent the active part of the sealing zone. The treatments also induced rearrangement of the microtubular patterns with reversible depolymerization of microtubules. Acid phosphatase activity was significantly higher both in vitamin A-treated osteoclasts and in their media. When [3H]proline-labeled bone particles were added to the retinoid-treated osteoclasts, the release of [3H]proline was increased significantly compared to controls. These results suggest that the two vitamin A metabolites cause several modifications of the metabolic status of isolated osteoclasts that result in augmented rates of bone resorption.

Acid Phosphatase

A tissue-specific protein in rat osteogenic tissues.

A tissue-specific protein fraction has been detected in rat osteogenic tissue. Dissociative extraction of adult rat bone matrix with 4 M guanidinium chloride solution was followed sequentially by gel chromatography and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. By the latter procedure a prominent protein component of molecular weight 19,000 was isolated from the low molecular weight fraction, and antibodies directed against this protein were raised in rabbits. The antibodies were mainly against antigenic sites on this protein, as shown by protein blotting techniques. By embedding rat tissues in hydrophilic plastic and by using immunohistochemical procedures the presence of this protein was demonstrated specifically in bone matrix in vivo, in osteogenic tissue developing in diffusion chamber culture, and in a malignant osteoblast cell line (UMR 106). Soft tissues (liver, kidney, spleen, gut, skin, thymus, eye) showed no reactivity with the antiserum and in vitro a further malignant osteoblast cell line (ROS 17/2.8) did not synthesize the 19,000 molecular weight protein. This protein appears to be expressed solely by osteogenic tissue and may be used as a biochemical criterion of osteogenic differentiation.

Animals

Initiation and enhancement of bone formation. A review.

Knowledge of some of the fundamental biochemical factors that may influence the initiation and continued growth of bone-forming cell lines is presented. The discussion is limited to those factors shown experimentally to be present locally in bone tissue and synthesized in the environment of bone-forming cells. The current state of knowledge of basic research findings on osteogenic factors is given in detail. Cooperative actions of these locally produced and systemic factors are the primary stimuli that result in increased bone growth and volume.

Animals