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Biomedical subjects

O Ito

Publications and source records attributed to O Ito.

131 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide precursors have highly potent bronchodilatory activity.

We studied the structure-activity relationships of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) to determine whether there were active forms of C-terminal-free VIP, so that suitable structures could be identified and produced by recombinant technology. We found that some presumptive VIP precursors prepared by solid-phase synthesis exhibited a higher biological activity than natural VIP both in vitro and in vivo, although we could not determine the actual active fragment. VIP-Gly-Lys-OH and VIP-Gly-Lys-Arg-OH, which were extended from the C-terminal of mature VIP, demonstrated a respective 210% and 160% increase in bronchodilatory activity in comparison to the activity of natural VIP. Furthermore, these peptides exhibited a respective 110% and 130% increase in hypotensive activity when compared with VIP itself.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Binding of biotinylated thrombin receptor peptide to cloned human thrombin receptor overexpressed in baby hamster kidney cells.

Baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells transfected with an expression vector for the human thrombin receptor, and then treated with basic fibroblast growth factor, were found to express specific and saturable binding sites for biotinylated thrombin receptor peptide (SFLLRNPNDKYEPF). Analysis of the binding to live BHK cells yielded an equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) of 3.0 +/- 0.3 mu mol/l and a maximal binding capacity (Bmax) of 31.0 +/- 0.5 nmol/mg of protein. In competitive binding experiments, the thrombin receptor agonist peptide (SFLLRN), which is a strong inducer of human platelet aggregation, was the most potent competitor. In contrast, position 1 to 2 inverted peptides such as FSLLRNPNDKYEPF and FSLLRNP, which fail to induce for the platelet aggregation, were less potent. This simple and convenient binding assay system using the biotinylated thrombin receptor peptide as a labeled ligand and the cloned thrombin receptor overexpressed in BHK cells may be useful for exploring specific antagonists of the receptor.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The augmenting effect of OK432-stimulated B cells on the in vitro generation of anti-tumor cytotoxic T lymphocytes from tumor-draining lymph node cells: the possible role of interleukin-12.

Effect of a local injection with a streptococcal preparation OK432 on the in vitro generation of anti-tumor cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) from tumor-draining lymph nodes (LN) was investigated. A peritumoral injection with OK432 on days 2, 4, 6 and 8 significantly increased both the total cell number and the proportion of B cells in the draining LN cells on day 10 after a subcutaneous inoculation with B16 melanoma. In an in vitro proliferative assay, OK432 showed a stimulatory effect on both normal splenic T and B cells. In a cytolytic assay, the OK432-injected B16-draining LN cells showed a higher level of anti-B16 CTL activity than the B16-draining LN cells after in vitro restimulation. This augmenting effect of OK432 was dependent on the B cells. Moreover, nonadherent cells from the OK432-injected B16-draining LN cells showed a low but significantly higher level of anti-B16 CTL activity than those from the B 16-draining LN cells after in vitro restimulation, whereas this augmenting effect of OK432 was abolished by the in vitro addition of anti-interleukin (IL)-12 monoclonal antibody. Collectively, these findings suggest that the augmenting effect of a local injection with OK432 on the potential of tumor-draining LN cells to turn into anti-tumor CTLs after in vitro restimulation was at least in part due to IL-12 derived from the OK432-stimulated B cells.

Animals↗