Biomedical subjects

M A Luther

Publications and source records attributed to M A Luther.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

Inhibition of T cell activation and adhesion functions by soluble CD2 protein.

The CD2 (T11) molecule belongs to a family of cell-surface glycoproteins that function as adhesion molecules in the immune system. Human CD2 is found exclusively on cells of the T lineage: peripheral T lymphocytes, NK cells, and thymocytes. CD2 binds specifically to the surface glycoprotein LFA-3. CD2/LFA-3 adhesion is the basis for the formation of rosettes between T cells and sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) which bear the sheep homologue of LFA-3. More importantly, CD2/LFA-3 adhesion functions in the immune system to augment T cell activation; it initiates conjugate formation between participating T cells and antigen-presenting cells (APC). We investigated the effects of soluble forms of CD2 (sCD2), produced in either baculovirus or CHO expression systems, on the rosetting of T cells with SRBC and on the activation of T cells by antigen plus major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Rosette formation between T cells and SRBC was completely inhibited by as little as 1 microM sCD2. Furthermore, sCD2 effectively inhibited (at micromolar concentrations) the T cell proliferative response to recall antigens including rubella, tetanus toxoid, and herpes simplex virus (HSV-1), as well as alloantigens in a mixed lymphocyte culture. These findings are consistent with the notion that the CD2/LFA-3 interaction augments antigen-specific T cell functions. The use of a CD2 "decoy" molecule rather than anti-CD2 or anti-LFA-3 antibodies to block the CD2/LFA-3 interaction rules out secondary antibody effects, via the Fc portion, as the basis for inhibition of T cell activation and directly stresses the importance of this adhesion interaction in T cell responses.

Antigens, CD↗

PubMed1992

N-glycosylation is required for human CD2 immunoadhesion functions.

The T-lymphocyte glycoprotein receptor, CD2, mediates cell-cell adhesion by binding to the surface molecule CD58 (LFA-3) on many cell types including antigen presenting cells. Two domains comprise the CD2 extracellular segment, with all adhesion functions localized to the amino-terminal domain that contains a single N-glycosylation site at Asn65. We have defined an important role for the N-linked glycans attached to Asn65 of this domain in mediating CD2-CD58 interactions and also characterize its N-glycotype structure. Analysis of deglycosylated soluble recombinant CD2 as well as a mutant transmembrane CD2 molecule containing a single Asn65-Gln65 substitution demonstrates that neither deglycosylated CD2 nor the mutant CD2 transmembrane receptor binds CD58 or monoclonal antibodies directed at native CD2 adhesion domain epitopes. Electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry demonstrates that high mannose oligosaccharides ((Man)nGlcNAc2, n = 5-9) are the only N-glycotypes occupying Asn65 when soluble CD2 is expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Based on a model of human CD2 secondary structure, we propose that N-glycosylation is required for stabilizing domain 1 in the human receptor. Thus, N-glycosylation is essential for human CD2 adhesion functions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1992

Rapid, two-step purification process for the preparation of pyrogen-free murine immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibodies.

A cost-efficient process was specifically designed for the preparation of gram amounts of highly pure murine immunoglobulin (Ig) G1 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). This rapid, simple and scalable purification process employs a unique binding and elution protocol for IgG1 mAbs on a silica-based, mixed-mode ion-exchange resin followed by conventional anion-exchange chromatography. mAbs are bound to BakerBond ABx medium at pH 5.6 directly from serum-supplemented hybridoma culture supernatants. Contaminating proteins and nucleic acids are removed by an intermediate wash at pH'6.5, followed by the specific elution of IgG1 mAbs with 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.5). The mAb eluate is then loaded directly on to QAE-Sepharose Fast Flow medium and eluted with 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), containing 150 mM sodium chloride. The resulting IgG1 mAbs are greater than 98% pure, free from measurable endotoxin, formulated in a physiological buffer and suitable for in vivo applications.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

A soluble, single-chain T-cell receptor fragment endowed with antigen-combining properties.

A strategy for the production of small, soluble, single-chain T-cell receptor (scTCR) fragments that carry an intact TCR antigen-combining site is presented. The rationale is based on structural similarity between TCR and antibody molecules and use of computer modeling methods to derive a model structure of a human scTCR variable (V)-domain dimer. A gene encoding the RFL3.8 TCR protein, specific for the hapten fluorescein in the context of major histocompatibility complex class II and composed of one V alpha and one V beta domain joined via a flexible peptide linker, was assembled in an Escherichia coli plasmid. Subsequently, the protein was produced in a bacterial expression system, purified, refolded, and found to be poorly soluble at neutral pH in aqueous buffers. An inspection of the computer-generated V alpha-V beta domain model showed several surface exposed hydrophobic residues. When these were replaced by water-soluble side chains via site-directed mutagenesis of the corresponding gene, a soluble protein resulted and was shown to have antigen-binding properties equivalent to those of the intact TCR of the RFL3.8 T-cell clone. These results demonstrate the feasibility of obtaining TCR fragments endowed with antigen-combining properties by protein engineering in E. coli.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1990

Regulation and quaternary structural changes in rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase.

Subunit assembly plays a significant role in the regulation of rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase (PFK), although conformational changes and post-translational modifications have also been implicated to regulate the enzyme activity. In the absence of high-resolution structural information, the three-dimensional arrangements of subunits in the rabbit muscle PFK in its active and inactive states are not known. Hence, a systematic study is initiated, and phosphorylation of PFK subunit is employed as a probe for the structure-function correlation of the enzyme. The self-association of the phosphorylated and dephosphorylated PFK was monitored by sedimentation velocity at pH 7.0 and 23 degrees C. Results show that both the phosphorylated and dephosphorylated forms of PFK exhibit the same mechanism of assembly. The secondary structures of both forms of PFK were monitored by circular dichroism (CD) as a function of protein concentration ranging from 20 to 2000 micrograms/ml. Results show that there is no detectable difference in the structure under all experimental conditions. The accessibility of tryptophan to solvent was monitored by fluorescence quenching within the same range of protein concentration. Results show that the fluorophores are more accessible to the quencher at higher protein concentrations. Hence, post-translational modification and subunit association do not induce significant structural change in PFK subunit, although the accessibility of tryptophan residues is altered with oligomer formation. Furthermore, sedimentation and CD studies show that the activation of PFK by substrate includes no detectable modification in secondary/tertiary structure but a quaternary structural change, and the local environments of some, if not all, of the tryptophan residues are less accessible to solvent. Hence, the change in sedimentation behavior between the active and inactive tetrameric PFK is due to a rearrangement of subunit-subunit interactions. In order to correlate the physical properties of PFK to the regulatory behavior of enzyme activity, the steady-state kinetics were investigated under the same experimental conditions. In conditions where enhancement of self-association is observed, the kinetic behavior reflects activation of the enzyme. Hence, this correlation between subunit assembly and the regulation of enzyme activity in PFK must reflect an intrinsic property of the muscle enzyme.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

A muscle acetylcholine receptor is expressed in the human cerebellar medulloblastoma cell line TE671.

The human neuromedulloblastoma cell line TE671 is shown by single-channel recordings to express nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) that are blocked by alpha-bungarotoxin (alpha Bgt). These AChRs do not react with antisera to the alpha Bgt-binding protein of brain or with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to brain nicotinic AChRs that do not bind alpha Bgt. TE671 AChRs do react with autoantibodies to muscle AChRs from myasthenia gravis patients and with mAbs to muscle AChRs, including mAbs specific for extrajunctional AChRs. AChRs. AChRs purified from TE671 cells are composed of 4 kinds of subunits corresponding to those of muscle AChR. Sequences of cDNAs for the ACh-binding alpha subunit and the delta subunit of this AChR further identify it as muscle AChR. Expression of TE671 AChR can be up-regulated by nicotine and dexamethasone, and down-regulated by forskolin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1986

Thermodynamics of dimer and tetramer formations in rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase.

The self-association of rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase (PFK) was monitored as a function of temperature, pH, and ionic strength in order to understand the thermodynamics of this aggregation process. Thermodynamic parameters obtained from the temperature study show that the dimerization of PFK is characterized by negative entropy and enthalpy changes of -270 +/- 5 eu and -87 +/- 1 kcal/mol, respectively, with no observable change in heat capacity. This is in contrast to the formation of the tetramer, which is governed by positive entropy and enthalpy changes and a positive heat capacity change of 5000 +/- 2000 cal/mol. Low ionic strength also favors the formation of the dimer without a significant influence on the tetramerization, which is enhanced by increasing the pH from 6.00 to 8.55. Furthermore, Wyman linkage analysis [Wyman, J. (1964) Adv. Protein Chem. 19, 224-285] reveals that the formation of the tetramer from the monomer between pH 6.00 and pH 8.55 involves the loss of 3.3 protons. Further analysis shows that ionization of residues with an apparent pKa of 6.9 is linked to the formation of PFK tetramers. The conclusion of this study indicates that the major noncovalent forces governing the formation of the dimer are different from those for the association of the tetramer.

Animals↗

PubMed1986

The role of phosphorylation in the interaction of rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase with F-actin.

The role of phosphorylation in the regulation of rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase was investigated by monitoring the effect of this covalent modification on the steady-state kinetics and complex formation between F-actin and the enzyme. Binding of phosphofructokinase to F-actin at pH 7.0 and 23 degrees C was monitored by sedimentation. These experiments show that phosphorylated phosphofructokinase has a higher apparent affinity for F-actin than does the dephosphorylated form. Control experiments showed that the complex formation is specific. Steady-state kinetic measurements at pH 7.0, 23 degrees C, showed that the presence of F-actin did not significantly affect the basic kinetic properties of the dephosphorylated form. Under identical conditions, F-actin acted as a positive effector of the phosphorylated form, and the effect of F-actin is specific. Results from these in vitro studies are consistent with in vivo observations which show that upon stimulation of muscle contraction, the enzyme is phosphorylated to a greater extent and the binding to the muscle matrix is increased. Hence, phosphorylation of phosphofructokinase does not only alter the kinetic behavior of the enzyme, but also serves as a means to regulate the compartmentalization of the enzyme in order to provide energy to the cellular component where it is needed.

Actins↗

PubMed1985

Subunit interaction of rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase: effects of purification procedures.

Structural, physical, and kinetic properties of rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase (PFK) purified by three different procedures were monitored in order to determine the effect of various purification procedures on the dynamics of subunit interaction. PFK was purified by three commonly used procedures: (1) differential heat precipitation [Kemp, R. G. (1972) Methods Enzymol. 42, 71-77], (2) differential heat and alcohol precipitation [Ling, R. H., Marcus, F., & Lardy, H. A. (1965) J. Biol. Chem. 240, 1893-1899], and (3) differential salt fractionation [Hesterberg, L. K., & Lee, J. C. (1980) Biochemistry 19, 2030-2039]. The physical, kinetic, and structural properties of these three preparations show that these proteins are not identical. Sedimentation velocity studies show that PFK purified by method 3 self-associates rapidly and that the system is thermodynamically homogeneous. The presence of an inactive or noninteracting component is not observed within an 8-h time limit. In contrast, PFK purified by method 1 or 2 is heterogeneous. In these preparations, a slowly sedimenting, noninteracting, inactive form of PFK is present. The remaining active protein is not stable but continuously converts to an inactive form. Active PFK can be fractionated from this inactive form by sedimentation. This active fraction behaves as a thermodynamically homogeneous system, and the subunits undergo rapid association-dissociation in a manner similar to PFK purified by method 3. Kinetic studies on these three preparations show that the inclusion of a heat and/or alcohol step in the purification procedure yields an enzyme that is less stable, has a lower specific activity, requires DTT for full activation, and is more susceptible to inhibition by ATP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1983

Self-association of rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase: role of subunit interaction in regulation of enzymatic activity.

Phosphofructokinase (PFK) has been reversibly inactivated by oxidized glutathione. The physical properties of this inactivated form were characterized by sedimentation studies. In the presence of saturating amounts of fructose 6-phosphate and the nonhydrolyzable ATP analogue 5'-adenylyl imidodiphosphate, the inactivated PFK sediments as a 13.5S component. Sedimentation equilibrium study identifies it to be a tetramer with a molecular weight of 320 000. Sedimentation velocity studies in buffer alone at both pH 7.00 and pH 8.55 reveal that this inactivated enzyme can still undergo self-association with the same stoichiometry as that of the native enzyme, although the equilibrium constants are in favor of the formation of lower aggregates. The presence of allosteric activators, either ADP or cAMP, enhances the association of the inactivated PFK without changing its stoichiometry, an observation similar to that of the native enzyme. However, quantitatively the enhancement of association is not to the same extent as that of the native enzyme. Conversely, citrate favors the formation of smaller aggregates quantitatively similar to that of the native enzyme. Hence, this study shows that the oxidation state of the protein sulfhydryl groups influences the physical properties of PFK and the modulation of PFK activity is linked to subunit association-dissociation and quaternary structural changes.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed1982

Altered imprinting of rat liver monoamine oxidase by o, p'-DDT and methoxychlor.

Neonatal administration of o,p'-DDT [1, 1, 1-trichloro-2-(o-chlorophenyl-2-(chlorophenyl)ethane] or methoxychlor resulted in elevated levels of sex-differentiated hepatic monoamine oxidase activities in adult rats, but not in prepubertal animals. Exposure to these hormonally active xenobiotics may have changed the brain hormone environment during the critical period of development, resulting in endocrine alterations that were reflected by latent but permanent increases in hepatic monoamine oxidase activities, i.e. "altered imprinting". Hepatic glutathione S-transferases and cytochrome P-450 content also underwent sex differentiation, but neonatal treatment with o,p'-DDT or methoxychlor did not alter levels in adult rats. However, glutathione S-transferase activities and cytochrome P-450 content were higher in prepubertal animals treated neonatally with o,p'-DDT. In contrast to monoamine oxidase, effects on glutathione S-transferase activities and cytochrome P-450 content were attributed to induction by these xenobiotics.

Animals↗