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Biomedical subjects

L T Furcht

Publications and source records attributed to L T Furcht.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Neurite extension by peripheral and central nervous system neurons in response to substratum-bound fibronectin and laminin.

Dissociated neurons from embryonic chick dorsal root and sympathetic ganglia (peripheral neurons) and from spinal cord and retina (central nervous system neurons) were cultured on plastic substrata treated with purified fibronectin and laminin. Both central and peripheral neurons attached to and extended neurites on laminin. In contrast, only peripheral neurons initiated neurites on fibronectin; central neurons cultured under identical conditions aggregated into clusters and did not extend neurites. Neurite length, number of neurites initiated, and extent of neurite branching on fibronectin- and laminin-treated substrata were evaluated and compared with similar measurements of neuronal response to poly-L-lysine-treated plastic. Poly-L-lysine provides an adhesive surface for neurite elongation, but fibronectin and laminin appear to promote more rapid neurite elongation. Our observations suggest that neuronal interaction with these glycoproteins may involve neuron-specific cell surface components. These responses to laminin and fibronectin in vitro may be related to the presence or absence of these glycoproteins in specific extracellular environments during specific developmental stages.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Regulation of fibronectin biosynthesis by glucocorticoids in human fibrosarcoma cells and normal fibroblasts.

When treated with the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone, HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells show changes in morphology, adhesion, and the extracellular matrix. Dexamethasone treatment results in a tenfold increase in the rate of fibronectin biosynthesis in HT1080 cells and a twofold increase in untransformed, normal human fibroblasts. Maximal induction levels are attained within one cell generation, while decay of the response requires several cell cycles. Pulse-chase studies showed that most of the newly synthesized fibronectin is secreted into the medium. The glucocorticoid antagonist, RU-486, blocks the dexamethasone-induced changes but does not alter the basal rate of fibronectin production. Therefore, fibronectin biosynthesis appears to be controlled by two distinct mechanisms--one, regulating basal rates of fibronectin production, which is transformation-sensitive and glucocorticoid-independent; and another, which is mediated by the glucocorticoid receptor, resulting in elevated rates of fibronectin biosynthesis upon dexamethasone treatment both in normal fibroblasts and in HT1080 cells.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1983

Production of laminin and fibronectin by Schwannoma cells: cell-protein interactions in vitro and protein localization in peripheral nerve in vivo.

We studied a rat Schwannoma cell line (RN22F) to determine if it produced the basement membrane glycoproteins laminin and fibronectin, and how it interacted with these proteins in vitro. We used antisera to laminin and fibronectin for immunoprecipitation experiments and immunocytochemical localization at the electron microscope level. Polyacrylamide gels of antilaminin immunoprecipitates of conditioned medium and solubilized Schwannoma cells contained bands of reduced Mr 200,000 and 150,000. Antilaminin immunoprecipitates of conditioned medium contained nonreduced bands of 850,000 daltons and 150,000, and immunoprecipitates of solubilized cells contained nonreduced bands of 850,000, 400,000, 200,000, and 150,000 daltons. Antifibronectin immunoprecipitates of conditioned medium contained a reduced band of 220,000 daltons, and nonreduced bands of 440,000 and 220,000 daltons. Radio-labeled protein was not detected in antifibronectin immunoprecipitates of solubilized cells. By immunocytochemistry, laminin was found along the cell surface in a continuous band, whereas fibronectin was only sparsely distributed along the cell surface. In cell adhesion assays, Schwannoma cells bound preferentially to laminin-coated substrates as compared to fibronectin or noncoated substrates. A number of Schwannoma cells displayed a curved and elongated morphology on laminin substrates, as compared to a uniformly spread morphology on fibronectin, and a round, nonspread morphology on noncoated substrates. Immunofluorescent staining showed laminin in the endoneurium and perineurium and fibronectin predominantly in the perineurium of mouse sciatic nerve in vivo. The production of laminin and fibronectin by Schwann cells may be important in the development and myelination of peripheral nerves, and the proper regeneration of axons following nerve injury.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Migration by haptotaxis of a Schwann cell tumor line to the basement membrane glycoprotein laminin.

Laminin is a large (greater than 850-kdalton) glycoprotein that is localized within basement membranes. Recent work has indicated that this protein is present within the endoneurium of mouse sciatic nerve. Furthermore, it has been shown that a rat Schwannoma cell line, RN22F, produced laminin and that laminin promoted the attachment of these cells to bacterial plastic. This report presents evidence that RN22F cells migrate in vitro to laminin in a concentration-dependent fashion. Laminin was extracted from the mouse EHS tumor and purified by molecular sieve and heparin-agarose affinity chromatography. The migration of Schwannoma cells to laminin, as assessed in a microwell modified Boyden chamber, was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by affinity-purified antilaminin antibody. Zigmond-Hirsch checkerboard analysis experiments indicated that laminin stimulated both random and directed movement of RN22F cells. Additionally, reversal of the laminin gradient in the chambers also stimulated RN22F migration in a concentration-dependent manner, suggesting that directed migration of RN22F cells was due to a substratum-bound laminin (haptotaxis) as opposed to cell movement in response to fluid-phase laminin (chemotaxis). Binding studies using [3H]laminin demonstrated that laminin bound to the filter surface under the assay conditions used, and support the contention that cells are migrating to substrate-bound material. Furthermore, RN22F cells were shown to migrate on filters coated with laminin in the absence of additional fluid-phase laminin. The magnitude of this response could be altered by changing the relative density of bound laminin. In contrast, fibronectin promoted only marginal migration of RN22F cells. Collectively, these observations indicate that haptotaxis may be a mechanism by which laminin may guide cells during development and raise the possibility that it may be involved in peripheral nervous system myelination.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Fibronectin in foreign body-induced sarcomas and preneoplastic cells.

Foreign body (FB)-induced murine sarcoma cells and advanced preneoplastic cells as well as normal fibroblasts produce fibronectin (FN) in primary culture; cells at early preneoplasia do not. Hence, the neoplastic properties of FB-induced sarcomas do not depend on absence of FN. Temporary FN repression during early preneoplasia is associated with certain phenotypic cell characteristics.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Inflamed fibronectin: an altered fibronectin enhances neutrophil adhesion.

Recent investigations have emphasized the role of activated granulocytes in mediating vascular endothelial injury in the pathogenesis of shock lung. In vitro studies have indicated that tight adherence of the neutrophil to the endothelium is crucial for the development of cellular injury. Fibronectin is critical to cell-to-substratum and cell-to-cell interactions. Since fibronectin resides in plasma, on endothelial cell surfaces and is secreted into cell matrices, the adhesive properties of fibronectin must be modulated, lest universal cell agglomeration occur, yet be enhanced when cell attachment is appropriate. In these studies, treatment of fibronectin-coated surfaces with neutrophil release products increased the adhesion of activated neutrophils. Similarly, endothelial cells treated with neutrophil release products become a more adherent substrate for neutrophils. This enhanced adherence generated by treatment of fibronectin with neutrophil supernatants is inhibitable by heat and the lysosomal proteinase inhibitor, pepstatin-A. Neutrophil release products cause proteolytic fragmentation of fibronectin and enhanced fibronectin immunofluorescence on endothelial cells. In addition, neutrophils are more injurious to endothelial cells that have been pretreated with neutrophil release products. Neutrophils may enhance their own adherence to endothelial cells by altering fibronectin, and this altered, or "inflamed," fibronectin may serve as an amplifier of inflammation.

Cell Adhesion↗
PubMed1982

Localization of two unique heparin binding domains of human plasma fibronectin with monoclonal antibodies.

Monoclonal antibodies to human plasma fibronectin were used to study the topological arrangement of several biologically active sites on the 220,000-dalton fibronectin subunit. Plasma fibronectin was cleaved into a number of biologically active fragments by trypsin and cathepsin D. Fragments that bind gelatin and heparin bind to both gelatin and heparin were isolated by affinity chromatography. These fragments were further characterized by their ability to bind to two different monoclonal antibodies: monoclonal 2-8 and monoclonal 180-8. Using this approach, we have established the positions of two unique heparin-, a gelatin-, and two monoclonal antibody-binding sites on the fibronectin subunit.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1982

Changes in the distribution of fibronectin during limb regeneration in newts using immunocytochemistry.

The distribution of fibronectin in regenerating newt limbs was studied using immunocytochemistry. At appropriate intervals after the initial amputation at the elbow (10-30 days), animals were reamputated at the shoulder and processed for light microscopy. The peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique was used to localize affinity-purified antibodies to fibronectin in limb tissues. At the amputation site, fibronectin was associated with basal laminae and connective tissues adjacent to dedifferentiating limb tissues destined to form the regeneration blastema. Accumulation and growth of the blastema was accompanied by the apparent de novo synthesis of fibronectin, where it appeared randomly in the interstitium between blastemal cells. The onset of chondrogenesis was characterized by a central condensation of prechondroblasts that formed the cartilage anlagen. Fibronectin formed an amorphous network between presumptive chondroblasts. As the mature cartilage phenotype was expressed and chondrocytes became isolated in lacunae, fibronectin was greatly reduced and then disappeared. The extracellular matrix surrounding undifferentiated blastemal cells still contained fibronectin. Fibronectin was also found in high concentrations between differentiating myoblasts. A condensation of fibronectin was also observed beneath the epidermis at the distal limb tip at the onset of digit formation. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that fibronectin may play a key role in the morphogenetic events that result in the spatial organization and subsequent differentiation of cells during pattern formation in the regenerating limb.

Amputation, Surgical↗
PubMed1982

Fibronectin involvement in granulation tissue and wound healing in rabbits.

This study describes the distribution of fibronectin and its association with reticulin fibers (type III collagen) and hyaluronic acid in shallow rabbit wounds. Linear incisions were made dorsally with a surgical blade. Animals were sacrificed and 1,2,3,4,5, and 8 day wounds were examined using peroxidase-antiperoxidase to localize affinity-purified antibodies to fibronectin. Tissue samples were also stained with hematoxylin and eosin in addition to silver stains for reticulin, and Alcian blue for hyaluronic acid. After wounding, the incision filled with a fibrin clot that stained positively for fibronectin. The underlying dermis and adjacent, unwounded dermis also contained fibronectin. Epidermal cells that migrate from the wound margin between the clot and the dermis were in direct association with fibronectin in these wound components. By 72 hr, epidermal continuity was reestablished. Early granulation tissue formation was apparent just below the epidermis 5 day wounds. Fibronectin was observed in the matrix surrounding individual fibroblasts and codistributed with reticulin fibers and hyaluronic acid in both 5 and 8 day wounds. Granulation tissue of 8 day wounds stained intensely for fibronectin and extended to a greater depth in the reticular dermis. Dense fibrillar networks of fibronectin and fibroblasts were aligned parallel to the epidermis, giving the granulation tissue a highly structured and organized appearance. Fibroblasts contained fibronectin and were surrounded by less fibronectin at the wound periphery than within the granulation tissue. These findings suggest that fibronectin may be important in the reconstruction of tissues during repair by functioning as an extracellular scaffold for migrating cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Immunohistochemical localization of fibronectin in human and rat uterine cervices.

Paraffin sections of 95% ethanol-fixed uterine cervices from adult, cycling rats and from human patients undergoing elective hysterectomy were immunostained by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique after exposure to antisera against fibronectin. Light microscopic study of uterine cervical stroma from both species showed an irregular distribution of fibronectin between compactly arranged collagenous fibers and a more uniform deposition around scattered bundles of smooth muscle fibers. In loosely arranged areas of stromal collagen, fibronectin was found in a filamentous, occasionally punctate, distribution. There was moderate to heavy staining with immunoperoxidase for fibronectin in the regions of the basement membrane underlying cervical epithelia and in the connective tissue stroma immediately subjacent to the basement membrane. Fibronectin was also present in the walls of most blood vessels and in the connective tissue investments of peripheral nerve fascicles. These findings suggest that fibronectin may be another component of extracellular matrix in the uterine cervical wall of non-gravid human subjects and rats in addition to collagen and glycosaminoglycans.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Fibronectin enhances in vitro monocyte-macrophage-mediated tumoricidal activity.

Control of neoplastic proliferation reflects in part monocyte/macrophage destruction of target cells--destruction that evidently requires cell-cell interaction. We herein show it to involve the natural plasma opsonin, fibronectin. With two cultured human tumor lines--Malme melanoma and CAK-I renal carcinoma cells--addition of fibronectin, purified to homogeneity, enhances macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity 2--4-fold (p less than 0.01). Both fresh human monocytes or the U-937-cultured macrophage line become more lethal to tumor cells with added fibronectin. The fibronectin-enhanced monocyte and U-937 tumoricidal activity occurred in a dose-dependent fashion. Specificity of fibronectin's action was validated by use of affinity-purified rabbit antifibronectin antibody, which completely abated its enhancement of tumoricidal activity. Enhancement of tumoricidal activity did not occur when monocytes or U-937 were exposed to fibronectin-coated plates. However, the addition of soluble fibronectin to fibronectin-coated plates was then capable of enhancing cytocidal activity. These studies demonstrate that human fibronectin is capable of increasing both fresh and cultured human monocyte tumor-directed cytotoxicity. Fibronectin appears to be a potentially important circulating molecule that may favorably influence human monocyte tumor cell cytotoxicity.

Cell Communication↗
PubMed1981

Structure of human chromosomes visualized at the electron microscopic level.

A newly developed technique allows cytological (light microscope level) chromosome preparations to be examined at the electron microscopic level. Ultrathin (50 nm) sections of highly condensed Hela cell metaphase chromosomes show the characteristic mitotic chromosome morphology. In addition a fibrous network (presumably chromosome fibers) can be within term. Fibers appear to be gathered at a foci along each chromatid. Treatment of chromosomes with trypsin in a trypsin/G-banding procedure reduces the amount of staining material at the electron microscopic level and results in more prominent foci. Thicker (100 nm) sections of less condensed chromosomes prepared from human lymphocytes display a banding pattern similar to G-banding, even without pretreatment with proteases.

Chromosome Banding↗
PubMed1981

Human fibronectin binding to staphylococcal surface protein and its relative inefficiency in promoting phagocytosis by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes, monocytes, and alveolar macrophages.

The interaction between human fibronectin and 17 strains of staphylococci was studied in an attempt to elucidate the staphylococcal cell wall component(s) involved in fibronectin binding and to determine the influence of fibronectin upon phagocytosis by three types of phagocytic cells. Purified, radiolabeled fibronectin bound to a similar degree to six laboratory strains and three fresh clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus; similar binding of fibronectin was found with S. aureus strains deficient in cell wall teichoic acid or clumping factor and coagulase, as well as with three strains of S. epidermidis. There was minimal binding of fibronectin to encapsulated S. aureus and to Escherichia coli. Fibronectin bound to intact cells and to a crude cell wall preparation of S. aureus H, but not to purified cell walls or peptidoglycan. Trypsinization of staphylococci prevented subsequent fibronectin binding, but binding did not correlate well with the protein A content in S. aureus cell walls. At physiological concentrations, fibronectin binding to staphylococci did not promote phagocytosis of bacteria by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes, monocytes, or alveolar macrophages. Also, depletion of fibronectin from normal human serum did not result in a measurable loss of opsonic activity for staphylococci. It is concluded that fibronectin binding to staphylococci involves a surface protein shared among strains of S. aureus and S. epidermidis, and that in comparison to C3b and IgG, fibronectin plays a relatively minor role as an opsonin for staphylococci.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1981

Immunocytochemical localization of fibronectin in limb tissues of the adult newt, Notophthalmus viridescens.

This study describes the immunocytochemical localization of fibronectin, a defined connective tissue and plasma glycoprotein, and its relationship to collagen and reticulin in adult newt limb tissues. We have also isolated the plasma form of fibronectin in a related species, the adult mudpuppy. The insoluble form of fibronectin was detected with immunoperoxidase stain in basement membranes and loose connective tissue. The endoneurium and perineurium of nerve bundles and the connective tissue elements of striated muscle stained heavily for fibronectin. The dermis and blood vessel walls also reached positively with the immunoperoxidase stain. A similar distribution was observed for reticulin with conventional histologic techniques with the exception of the dermis where only trace amounts of the protein were observed. Fibronectin and collagen were codistributed in the tissues studies. Fibronectin appeared to be intercalated among larger collagenous fibers. Collagen and fibronectin form an extracellular connective tissue scaffold that abuts against many types of adherent cells in different tissues. This supports the possible role of fibronectin in cell-matrix interactions and normal cell and tissue organization.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Effects of temperature and duration of storage on granulocyte adhesion, spreading, and ultrastructure.

The effects of storage duration and temperature on granulocyte adhesion, spreading, and ultrastructure were examined. Normal adherence and spreading of granulocytes detected by either phase contrast or scanning electron microscopy was maintained for up to 48 hours when granulocytes were stored at 20 to 24 degrees C. By contrast, storage of granulocytes for 24 hours at 1 to 6 degrees C. led to a substantial decrease in granulocyte adherence and spreading. When granulocytes were stored for 24 hours at 1 to 6 degrees C. and then shifted to 20 to 24 degrees C. for a second 24 hours, granulocytes failed to regain the normal adherence and spreading. The cytoskeleton has been implicated in cell morphology, movement, chemotaxis, and spreading of cells. Transmission electron microscopy of thin sections of whole cells or cytoskeleton preparations revealed a well-organized system of microtubules and microfilaments in granulocytes stored for up to 48 hours at 20 to 24 degrees C. In granulocytes stored at 0 to 6 degrees C. that have the decreased adhesion and spreading, there is a paucity of microtubules, and the microfilaments have a disorganized criss-crossed appearance when compared with normal cells. It appears that storage of granulocytes at reduced temperatures is associated with decreased adhesion and spreading, and a concomitant alteration in the cytoskeleton may be responsible for this.

Blood Preservation↗
PubMed1980

A new form of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Fibronectin corrects defective platelet function.

In a kindred with a mild, recessively inherited variant of the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a platelet aggregation defect segregated concordantly with skin and joint abnormalities. This defect was partially corrected in vitro by addition of normal plasma or cryoprecipitate. The plasma of the patients with EDS failed to support the aggregation of normal gel-filtered platelets in response to collagen; this defect was completely corrected by the addition of normal human fibronectin. Since fibronectin is an important adhesive glycoprotein in connective tissue and is required for normal platelet interactions with collagen, we propose that both platelet malfunction and joint hypermobility in this kindred are likely explained by a defective fibronectin.

Adolescent↗