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Biomedical subjects

K Sege

Publications and source records attributed to K Sege.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Demonstration of a murine cell surface component with affinity for exogenous beta 2-microglobulin.

Murine and human beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) bind to various types of mouse cells. The binding is saturable and displays a single association constant of about 1 x 10(9) liter/mol. The binding of beta 2m to splenocytes was not affected by a variety of metabolic inhibitors but was temperature-dependent. It is suggested that the beta 2m "receptor" exhibits a temperature-dependent conformational change since the "receptor", whether integrated into the membrane or solubilized by the detergent Triton X-100, binds beta 2m poorly at low temperatures. Spleen T and B lymphocytes display more binding sites than thymocytes, kidney, liver and brain cells. The relative amounts of the beta 2m-binding "receptor" on these cell types are strongly correlated to the relative amounts of H-2 antigens. This correlation is also obvious for the teratocarcinoma cell line F9, which lacks both beta 2m "receptor" and H-2 antigens, but spermatozoa, which express very small amounts of H-2 antigens, have an appreciable amount of the beta 2m "receptor". The latter observation, together with the fact that alloantisera directed against H-2 K and D antigens do not measurably affect the binding of beta 2m to the "receptor", may argue against the notion that the beta 2m "receptor" represents H-2 antigens which have lost their endogenous beta 2m. Normal mouse serum contains a component which inhibits the binding of beta 2m to splenocytes. It is likely that this serum protein is identical to a newly discovered H-2 antigen-like glycoprotein. The beta 2m "receptor" appears to be under the control of the major histocompatibility complex as splenocytes of the H-2f haplotype bind considerably more beta 2m than splenocytes of other haplotypes.

Animals

Use of anti-idiotypic antibodies as cell-surface receptor probes.

Anti-idiotypic antibodies have been raised against antibodies to retinol-binding protein (RBP) and to insulin. After absorption the anti-idiotypic antibodies recognized the antigen-combining sites of the antibodies used as the immunogen but of no other antibodies. Some of the anti-idiotypic antibodies raised against antibodies to RBP bound specifically to rat intestine epithelial cells, which have a physiological cell-surface receptor for RBP. The RBP receptor mediates the uptake of retinol from RBP to the cells. This uptake was abolished in a concentration-dependent manner by the anti-idiotypic antibodies, which obviously competed with RBP for binding to the receptor.Anti-idiotypic antibodies against antibodies to insulin inhibited the binding of (125)I-labeled insulin to isolated rat epididymal fat cells, whereas anti-idiotypic antibodies raised against antibodies to RBP had no effect. Furthermore, on interacting with young rat thymocytes, anti-idiotypic antibodies against antibodies to insulin stimulated the uptake by the cells of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid, thereby mimicking the effect of insulin. These results suggest that in some cases anti-idiotypic antibodies may be useful tools in elucidating structure-function relationships for cell-membrane receptors.

Aminoisobutyric Acids

Evolutionary relationship between immunoglobulins and transplantation antigens.

The major human and murine histocompatibility antigens are tetrameric molecules with an apparent molecular weight of about 130,000. They are composed of two types of polypeptide chains. The two light chains, previously identified as beta2-microglobulins, are bound to the two heavy, alloantigenic HL-A or H-2 polypeptide chains by noncovalent interactions only. The heavy chains are held together by disulfide bridge(s) located in the part of the molecule that is attached to the cell membrane. By limited proteolysis of the histocompatibility antigens evidence was obtained suggesting that the heavy chain may consist of three compact domains connected by more extended stretches of polypeptide chain. Each domain appeared to contain a single disulfide bride encompassing about 60 to 70 amino-acid residues. Staphylococcus aureus protein A is known to bind exclusively to the Fe region of immunoglobulin G. It was, however, observed that protein A interacts in a similar way with the H-2 antigen heavy chain. This observation, together withthe homology of the primary structure of beta2-microglobulin to immunoglobulin G, the tetrameric structure of the alloantigens, the ogranizations of the heavy polypeptide chain into compact domains, and the presence of a single, immunoglobulin-like disulfide loop in each domain, establishes a close similarity in structure between histocompatibility antigens and immunoglobulins. The similarity in structural features suggests a common evolutionary origin of the two types of molecules.

Animals