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Biomedical subjects

M Kozlowski

Publications and source records attributed to M Kozlowski.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

NK lytic-associated molecule: a novel gene selectively expressed in cells with cytolytic function.

NK cells are most effective in killing a broad spectrum of primary tumor cells after stimulation with cytokines. We have cloned a novel gene, designated NKLAM (for NK lytic-associated molecule), whose expression is associated with this cytokine-enhanced process. NKLAM expression is up-regulated in NK cells by IL-2 and IFN-beta. NKLAM is also selectively expressed by activated macrophages and CTL. Treatment of NK cells and CTL with NKLAM antisense oligonucleotides specifically decreases their cytolytic activity, while having no effect on cell growth. The NKLAM gene encodes a 62-kDa ring finger-containing protein that localizes to the cytoplasmic granules in NK cells. Further study of this gene may add to our understanding of cytotoxic processes common to NK cells, CTL, and activated macrophages.

Amino Acid Sequence

Regulation of the p70 S6 kinase by phosphorylation in vivo. Analysis using site-specific anti-phosphopeptide antibodies.

The p70 S6 kinase is activated by diverse stimuli through a multisite phosphorylation directed at three separate domains as follows: a cluster of (Ser/Thr) Pro sites in an autoinhibitory segment in the noncatalytic carboxyl-terminal tail; Thr-252 in the activation loop of the catalytic domain; and Ser-394 and Thr-412 in a segment immediately carboxyl-terminal to the catalytic domain. Phosphorylation of Thr-252 in vitro by the enzyme phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate-dependent kinase-1 or mutation of Thr-412 --> Glu has each been shown previously to engender some activation of the p70 S6 kinase, whereas both modifications together produce 20-30-fold more activity than either alone. We employed phospho-specific anti-peptide antibodies to examine the relative phosphorylation at several of these sites in wild type and various p70 mutants, in serum-deprived cells, and in response to activators and inhibitors of p70 S6 kinase activity. Substantial phosphorylation of p70 Thr-252 and Ser-434 was present in serum-deprived cells, whereas Thr-412 and Thr-444/Ser-447 were essentially devoid of phospho-specific immunoreactivity. Activation of p70 by insulin was accompanied by a coordinate increase in phosphorylation at all sites examined, together with a slowing in mobility on SDS-PAGE of a portion of p70 polypeptides. Upon addition of rapamycin or wortmannin to insulin-treated cells, the decrease in activity of p70 was closely correlated with the disappearance of anti-Thr-412(P) immunoreactivity and the most slowly migrating p70 polypeptides, whereas considerable phosphorylation at Ser-434 and Thr-252 persisted after the disappearance of 40 S kinase activity. The central role of Thr-412 phosphorylation in the regulation of kinase activity was further demonstrated by the close correlation of the effects of various deletions and point mutations on p70 activity and Thr-412 phosphorylation. In conclusion, although p70 activity depends on a disinhibition from the carboxyl-terminal tail and the simultaneous phosphorylation at both Thr-252 and Thr-412, p70 activity in vivo is most closely related to the state of phosphorylation at Thr-412.

Androstadienes

SHP-1 binds and negatively modulates the c-Kit receptor by interaction with tyrosine 569 in the c-Kit juxtamembrane domain.

The SH2 domain-containing SHP-1 tyrosine phosphatase has been shown to negatively regulate a broad spectrum of growth factor- and cytokine-driven mitogenic signaling pathways. Included among these is the cascade of intracellular events evoked by stem cell factor binding to c-Kit, a tyrosine kinase receptor which associates with and is dephosphorylated by SHP-1. Using a series of glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins containing either tyrosine-phosphorylated segments of the c-Kit cytosolic region or the SH2 domains of SHP-1, we have shown that SHP-1 interacts with c-Kit by binding selectively to the phosphorylated c-Kit juxtamembrane region and that the association of c-Kit with the larger of the two SHP-1 isoforms may be mediated through either the N-terminal or C-terminal SHP-1 SH2 domain. The results of binding assays with mutagenized GST-Kit juxtamembrane fusion proteins and competitive inhibition assays with phosphopeptides encompassing each c-Kit juxtamembrane region identified the tyrosine residue at position 569 as the major site for binding of SHP-1 to c-Kit and suggested that tyrosine 567 contributes to, but is not required for, this interaction. By analysis of Ba/F3 cells retrovirally transduced to express c-Kit receptors, phenylalanine substitution of c-Kit tyrosine residue 569 was shown to be associated with disruption of c-Kit-SHP-1 binding and induction of hyperproliferative responses to stem cell factor. Although phenylalanine substitution of c-Kit tyrosine residue 567 in the Ba/F3-c-Kit cells did not alter SHP-1 binding to c-Kit, the capacity of a second c-Kit-binding tyrosine phosphatase, SHP-2, to associate with c-Kit was markedly reduced, and the cells again showed hyperproliferative responses to stem cell factor. These data therefore identify SHP-1 binding to tyrosine 569 on c-Kit as an interaction pivotal to SHP-1 inhibitory effects on c-Kit signaling, but they indicate as well that cytosolic protein tyrosine phosphatases other than SHP-1 may also negatively regulate the coupling of c-Kit engagement to proliferation.

Cell Membrane

Identification of the tyrosine phosphatase PTP1C as a B cell antigen receptor-associated protein involved in the regulation of B cell signaling.

Recent data implicating loss of PTP1C tyrosine phosphatase activity in the genesis of the multiple hemopoietic cell defects found in systemic autoimmune/immunodeficient motheaten (me) and viable motheaten (mev) mice suggest that PTP1C plays an important role in modulating intracellular signaling events regulating cell activation and differentiation. To begin elucidating the role for this cytosolic phosphatase in lymphoid cell signal transduction, we have examined early signaling events and mitogenic responses induced by B cell antigen receptor (BCR) ligation in me and mev splenic B cells and in CD5+ CH12 lymphoma cells, which represent the lymphoid population amplified in motheaten mice. Despite their lack of functional PTP1C, me and mev B cells proliferated normally in response to LPS. However, compared with wild-type B cells, cells from the mutant mice were hyperresponsive to normally submitogenic concentrations of F(ab')2 anti-Ig antibody, and they exhibited reduced susceptibility to the inhibitory effects of Fc gamma IIRB cross-linking on BCR-induced proliferation. Additional studies of unstimulated CH12 and wild-type splenic B cells revealed the constitutive association of PTP1C with the resting BCR complex, as evidenced by coprecipitation of PTP1C protein and phosphatase activity with BCR components and the depletion of BCR-associated tyrosine phosphatase activity by anti-PTP1C antibodies. These results suggest a role for PTP1C in regulating the tyrosine phosphorylation state of the resting BCR complex components, a hypothesis supported by the observation that PTP1C specifically induces dephosphorylation of a 35-kD BCR-associated protein likely representing Ig-alpha. In contrast, whereas membrane Ig cross-linking was associated with an increase in the tyrosine phosphorylation of PTP1C and an approximately 140-kD coprecipitated protein, PTP1C was no longer detected in the BCR complex after receptor engagement, suggesting that PTP1C dissociates from the activated receptor complex. Together these results suggest a critical role for PTP1C in modulating BCR signaling capacity, and they indicate that the PTP1C influence on B cell signaling is likely to be realized in both resting and activated cells.

Animals

Discovery and structure-activity relationships of sulfonamide ETA-selective antagonists.

Random screening of compounds in an ETA receptor binding assay led to the discovery of a class of benzenesulfonamide ligands. Optimization led to the development of 5-amino-N-(3,4-dimethyl-5-isoxazolyl)-1-naphthalenesulfonamides which were functional antagonists. Structural features which were important to activity included a 1,5-substitution pattern on the naphthalene ring; a sulfonamide NH with a pK value < 7; an amine, preferably with alkyl substituents, at the 5-position; and methyl groups on both the 3- and 4-positions of the isoxazole.

Animals

Molecular characterization of hNRP, a cDNA encoding a human nucleosome-assembly-protein-I-related gene product involved in the induction of cell proliferation.

We have isolated from a human thymus cDNA library a cDNA clone encoding a potential protein with 54% amino acid similarity to that encoded by a previously identified cDNA for yeast nucleosome assembly protein I (NAP-I). The deduced amino acid sequence for this newly identified cDNA, designated hNRP (human NAP-related protein), contains a potential seven-residue nuclear localization motif, three clusters of highly acidic residues and other structural features found in various proteins implicated in chromatin formation. When expressed as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli, hNRP reacted specifically with a monoclonal antibody raised against human NAP-I. The hNRP transcript was detected in all tissues and cell lines studied, but levels were somewhat increased in rapidly proliferating cells. Moreover, levels of both hNRP mRNA and protein increased rapidly in cultured T-lymphocytes induced to proliferate by incubation with phorbol ester and ionomycin. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate/ionomycin-induced increases in both hNRP mRNA and mitogenesis, as measured by thymidine incorporation, were markedly inhibited, however, in cells treated with an hNRP antisense oligonucleotide. These results demonstrate a correlation between induction of hNRP expression and mitogenesis and taken together with the structural similarities between hNRP and yeast NAP-I suggest that the hNRP gene product participates in DNA replication and thereby plays an important role in the process of cell proliferation.

Amino Acid Sequence

Expression and catalytic activity of the tyrosine phosphatase PTP1C is severely impaired in motheaten and viable motheaten mice.

Mutations in the gene encoding the phosphotyrosine phosphatase PTP1C, a cytoplasmic protein containing a COOH-terminal catalytic and two NH2-terminal Src homology 2 (SH2) domains, have been identified in motheaten (me) and viable motheaten (mev) mice and are associated with severe hemopoietic dysregulation. The me mutation is predicted to result in termination of the PTP1C polypeptide within the first SH2 domain, whereas the mev mutation creates an insertion or deletion in the phosphatase domain. No PTP1C RNA or protein could be detected in the hemopoietic tissues of me mice, nor could PTP1C phosphotyrosine phosphatase activity be isolated from cells homozygous for the me mutation. In contrast, mice homozygous for the less severe mev mutation expressed levels of full-length PTP1C protein comparable to those detected in wild type mice and the SH2 domains of mev PTP1C bound normally to phosphotyrosine-containing ligands in vitro. Nevertheless, the mev mutation induced a marked reduction in PTP1C activity. These observations provide strong evidence that the motheaten phenotypic results from loss-of-function mutations in the PTP1C gene and imply a critical role for PTP1C in the regulation of hemopoietic differentiation and immune function.

Animals

Prognostic value of pretreatment CEA, SCC-Ag and CA 19-9 levels in sera of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

The levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), squamous cell associated antigen (SCC-Ag) and carbohydrate antigenic determinant 19-9 (CA 19-9) were assessed in 70 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and in 20 patients with non-malignant lung diseases. Increased levels of CEA and CA 19-9 were observed in 55.7 and 44.2%, respectively, mostly in patients with adenocarcinoma (adeno C; 69.5 and 56.5%). Increased levels of SCC-Ag were observed in 45.7%, first in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (68.6%). Serum CEA, CA 19-9 and SCC-Ag levels were correlated with the postoperative, pathological stage of disease. Positive CEA levels in patients with adeno C were present in 50% of stage 1, 66.6% of stage 2 and 88.8% of stage 3; positive CA 19-9 levels in patients with adeno C were present in 30% of stage 1, 66.6% of stage 2 and 80% of stage 3; positive SCC-Ag levels were present in patients with squamous LC in 50% of stage 1, 83.3% of stage 2 and 73.7% of stage 3. The study proved that preoperative CEA, SCC-Ag and CA 19-9 determination have been shown to be of prognostic value in patients with NSCLC. A high preoperative antigen value suggests a worse prognosis than a lower value.

Adenocarcinoma

Vectors permitting visual monitoring of simple transposition events.

The construction and use of two novel transposon(Tn)-delivery vectors is described. These vectors carry Inc.W or Inc.N broad-host-range transfer functions cloned next to the narrow-host-range replicon of pBR329. The host specificities of pSLX10 and pSLX23 both complement and extend the host specificities of existing Tn delivery vectors. Plasmids pSLX10 and pSLX23 were shown to transfer at high frequency in intergeneric matings. The lux genes which are present on each vector permit the visual monitoring of transconjugants which have retained a Tn element, but are devoid of plasmid molecules. pSLX10 and pLSX23 were efficiently used to generate a range of auxotrophic mutants in various strains of Pseudomonas as well as to clone genes from Serratia liquefaciens. These vectors may have general applicability to identify and clone genes in a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria.

Bacterial Proteins

A novel vector allowing the expression of genes in a wide range of gram-negative bacteria.

The construction and use of a novel vector allowing the expression of genes in a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria is described. The vector utilizes the regulatory region from IS50. The 70-bp promoter region was isolated from one of the terminal inverted repeats of Tn5 by creating EcoRI and Sa/I or PstI restriction sites by in vitro mutagenesis. This 70-bp region was shown to direct the expression of cat and lacZ genes in different bacterial genera including Alcaligenes, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Serratia marcescens. Different strains containing the cat gene behind the regulatory elements of IS50 were able to tolerate high concentrations (300 micrograms/ml) of chloramphenicol in the medium. The 70-bp promoter region was cloned into a broad-host-range plasmid behind multiple cloning sites to create pAV10, which has unique restriction sites for BamHI, KpnI, SstI, and XbaI. Genes cloned into pAV10 can be expressed in a variety of Gram-negative bacteria.

DNA Transposable Elements

Cloning of the genes of the chitin utilization regulon of Serratia liquefaciens.

The set of genes that determine the expression of the enzymes involved in chitin degradation by Serratia liquefaciens was cloned. The role of each gene was investigated, and for the first time regulatory genes were identified in this system. The chiA and chiB genes coded for separate chitinase activities. The chiC region coded for a chitobiase activity, but it was not formally separated from chiB. Transposon mutagenesis and deletion analysis identified a region, chiD, whose absence led to higher expression of chiA, chiB, and chiC. chiD may therefore be a gene that codes for a repressor. Loss of function of another adjacent region, chiE, prevented induction unless a chiE+ strain was a near neighbor, suggesting that this gene may code for a protein that is involved in the synthesis of the inducer. chiB, chiC, chiD, and chiE are closely linked, while chiA is in a separate location on the chromosome.

Acetylglucosaminidase

Protein synthesis in mitochondria from yeast strains carrying nam and mim suppressor genes.

Yeast mitochondria isolated from two different wild type strains (gal+ and gal-), whether grown on galactose or glucose, synthesize all mitochondrial polypeptides with similar efficiencies and in proportions approximating those detected in vivo. Mitochondria isolated from mit- mutants synthesize in vitro a mutant pattern of mitochondrial proteins, indistinguishable from the in vivo products. The mutant pattern is restored to the wild type one in mitochondria isolated from pseudorevertant strains carrying an additional nuclear (nam3-1 and R705) or mitochondrial (mim3-1) informational suppressor gene. Suppression is expressed in isolated mitochondria without the obligatory presence of cytosol at the level of both respiratory control and specific polypeptide synthesis. Translation in isolated mitochondria is sensitive to paromomycin. The antibiotic differentiates between translation in mitochondria from wild type strains and that in nam-type gene carrying strains. This strongly suggests that nam-type mutations affect the mitoribosome, enhancing ambiguity of translation, thus allowing for the pseudoreversion of mit- phenotypes.

Adenosine Diphosphate

Isolation and structure of the replicon of the promiscuous plasmid pCU1.

Evidence is presented to indicate that a PvuII fragment of approx. 2 kb isolated from the 39-kb IncN-group plasmid pCU-1 contains all plasmid-borne determinants for stable maintenance as an extrachromosomal element in Escherichia coli K-12. The fragment was sequenced. The features of this sequence include a group of 13 direct tandem repeats of 37 bp and a second group of two other direct repeats of 30 bp flanking a third partial member of this group. In addition, for a 19-bp sequence that overlaps a member of this second group, there are inverted repeats that straddle the members of the first group. There are three open reading frames within the fragment. We compare features of this sequence with that of other plasmid replicons and draw attention to similar and to dissimilar features.

Base Composition

Monoclonal antibody identification of subpopulations of cerebral cortical neurons affected in Alzheimer disease.

Neuronal degeneration is one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer disease (AD). Given the paucity of molecular markers available for the identification of neuronal subtypes, the specificity of neuronal loss within the cerebral cortex has been difficult to evaluate. With a panel of four monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) applied to central nervous system tissues from AD patients, we have immunocytochemically identified a population of vulnerable cortical neurons; a subpopulation of pyramidal neurons is recognized by mABs 3F12 and 44.1 in the hippocampus and neocortex, and clusters of multipolar neurons in the entorhinal cortex reactive with mAb 44.1 show selective degeneration. Closely adjacent stellate-like neurons in these regions, identified by mAB 6A2, show striking preservation in AD. The neurons recognized by mAbs 3F12 and 44.1, to the best of our knowledge, do not comprise a single known neurotransmitter system. mAb 3A4 identifies a phosphorylated antigen that is undetectable in normal brain but accumulates early in the course of AD in somas of vulnerable neurons. Antigen 3A4 is distinct from material reactive with thioflavin S or antibody generated against paired helical filaments. Initially, antigen 3A4 is localized to neurons in the entorhinal cortex and subiculum, later in the association neocortex, and, ultimately in cases of long duration, in primary sensory cortical regions. mAb 3F12 recognizes multiple bands on immunoblots of homogenates of normal and AD cortical tissues, whereas mAb 3A4 does not bind to immunoblots containing neurofilament proteins or brain homogenates from AD patients. Ultrastructurally, antigen 3A4 is localized to paired helical filaments. Using these mAbs, further molecular characterization of the affected cortical neurons is now possible.

Alzheimer Disease

Admixture of heparin with urokinase to decrease thrombolysis time and urokinase dose in polytetrafluoroethylene dialysis graft recanalization.

PURPOSE: To determine whether the addition of heparin to urokinase during dialysis graft thrombolysis can lower urokinase dose and shorten procedure time. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent dialysis graft thrombolysis during an 18-month period were studied retrospectively. Twenty patients were treated with urokinase alone, and 19 patients were treated with urokinase and heparin. Thrombolysis was performed in the angiography suite by using a crossed-catheter technique. Urokinase was administered directly into the thrombus. In patients receiving heparin, 5,000 IU was added directly to the initial urokinase solution. RESULTS: In patients who received urokinase alone, an average of 750,000 U of urokinase was used, and the average procedure time was 2 hours 42 minutes. When heparin was added, an average of 435,000 U of urokinase was used, and the average procedure time was 2 hours. CONCLUSION: The addition of heparin to urokinase can decrease both urokinase dose and thrombolysis time in the recanalization of dialysis grafts.

Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical