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Biomedical subjects

P H Patterson

Publications and source records attributed to P H Patterson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Further studies of the distribution of CDF/LIF mRNA.

Differentiation choices in the haemopoietic and nervous systems are controlled in part by instructive factors. The cholinergic differentiation factor (CDF, also known as leukaemia inhibitory factor, LIF) affects the development of cultured cells from both systems. To understand the role of CDF/LIF during normal development in vivo, we have begun to localize its mRNA in the late fetal and postnatal rat. Application of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and RNase protection methods reveals that CDF/LIF mRNA levels are developmentally modulated in both haemopoietic and neural tissues. A target tissue of cholinergic sympathetic neurons, the footpads that contain the sweat glands, express high levels of this mRNA (relative to mRNA for actin and beta 2-microglobulin). Levels in targets of noradrenergic neurons are lower, but do undergo significant changes during development. Signals are also detected in selective regions of the adult brain, and in embryonic skeletal muscle. This finding in muscle may be significant for motor neurons, because CDF/LIF is a trophic factor for these neurons in culture. Embryonic liver, neonatal thymus and postnatal spleen express CDF/LIF mRNA, and expression in gut is the highest of all tissues examined. The selective tissue distribution and developmental modulation of CDF/LIF mRNA expression support a role for this factor in the normal development of several organ systems.

Animals

Thy-1 involvement in neurite outgrowth: perturbation by antibodies, phospholipase C, and mutation.

Thy-1 is a major cell surface protein anchored in the plasma membrane of neurons and lymphocytes by a covalent glyco-phosphatidyl-inositide linkage. Despite thorough characterization of the molecule's physicochemical properties, its biological function remains elusive. In this study we demonstrate that (i) monoclonal antibodies directed against Thy-1 are capable of enhancing neurite outgrowth from sympathetic neurons in culture, as well as stimulating the initiation of neurite sprouting from cultured adrenal chromaffin cells and PC12 cells. This effect is not observed with monovalent, Fab antibody fragments. Treatment with intact antibodies also results in the shedding of Thy-1 into the culture medium. (ii) Treatment of chromaffin cells with phosphatidyl-inositol-specific phospholipase C also results in an induction of neurite sprouting. The lipase effect can be blocked by preincubating the cells with monovalent anti-Thy-1 Fab fragments, indicating that the outgrowth stimulation is specifically due to removal of Thy-1. (iii) An entirely different approach to elucidating the function of Thy-1 involves mutagenesis of PC12 cells. Selection for Thy-1-deficient mutants revealed that cells lacking Thy-1 sprout neurites spontaneously at a very high frequency. A novel role for Thy-1 is proposed wherein the results of the mutant cell studies are compatible with the antibody and lipase data. Each of the perturbations can be viewed as releasing an inhibition that Thy-1 normally exerts on neurite outgrowth. We suggest that Thy-1 normally acts to stabilize neuronal membranes and processes, possibly through homophilic interactions.

Adrenal Glands

Thy-1 multimerization is correlated with neurite outgrowth.

Thy-1 is abundantly expressed in the vertebrate nervous system. Perturbation studies in vitro suggest that Thy-1 inhibits neurite outgrowth and stabilizes neuronal processes (N. K. Mahanthappa and P. H. Patterson. (1992). Thy-1 involvement in neurite outgrowth: Perturbation by antibodies, phospholipase C, and mutation. Dev. Biol. 150,47-59). We here report that Thy-1 participates in several types of homophilic interactions, each with differential sensitivity to reduction and boiling. The relative abundance of the multimeric forms of Thy-1 vary with the cell's ability to sprout neurites. Gel filtration chromatography of sympathetic neuron and PC12 cell lysates reveals that Thy-1 immunoreactivity appears in 25-, 45-, and 150-kDa forms. In neurons, Thy-1 immunoreactivity is distributed equally in all three forms, whereas in PC12 cells, the majority of Thy-1 immunoreactivity is found in the higher molecular weight forms. When PC12 cells are induced to sprout neurites with NGF, the Thy-1 size distribution becomes identical to that of neurons. The three forms of Thy-1 immunoreactivity are likely to be homomultimers of Thy-1 because immunoaffinity-purified, soluble Thy-1 also forms complexes similar in size to those found in neuronal extracts. To test whether Thy-1 multimerization may occur through interactions like those between immunoglobulin heavy and light chains, synthetic peptides corresponding to candidate sites for such associations in Thy-1 were tested for their effects on multimerization and neurite outgrowth. One peptide increases the amount of monomeric Thy-1 relative to total Thy-1, and promotes outgrowth. These results suggest that multimeric forms of Thy-1 inhibit process outgrowth and neurite sprouting by stabilizing the surface membrane and/or underlying cytoskeleton.

Amino Acid Sequence

Membrane-associated neurotransmitter stimulating factor is very similar to ciliary neurotrophic factor.

Membrane-associated neurotransmitter stimulating factor (MANS) can modulate sympathetic neurotransmitter expression and promote ciliary neuron survival in cell culture. Previous studies have shown that its biological effects and biochemical properties are similar to those of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF). In addition, CNTF is present in spinal cord, the source of MANS. These observations raised the possibility that MANS preparations contain CNTF. We find that partially purified MANS fractions contain a 24-kD protein that is recognized in Western blots by an antiserum generated against recombinant rat CNTF (rCNTF). This antiserum immunoprecipitates virtually all the cholinergic-inducing and the ciliary neurotrophic activities present in MANS preparations. When iodinated rCNTF is incubated with spinal cord membranes, a significant proportion of the labeled CNTF segregates with the membrane pellet. The membrane-associated exogenous CNTF can be eluted from the membrane fraction by treatment with high-salt solutions, similar to that used to solubilize MANS from spinal cord membranes. Our data suggest that a substantial portion of the cholinergic differentiation and ciliary neurotrophic activities present in MANS preparations can be attributed to CNTF or a CNTF-like molecule.

Animals

Effects of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and depolarization on neuropeptide expression in cultured sympathetic neurons.

We examined the effects of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and depolarization, two environmental signals that influence noradrenergic and cholinergic function, on neuropeptide expression by cultured sympathetic neurons. Sciatic nerve extract, a rich source of CNTF, increased levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), substance P, and somatostatin severalfold while significantly reducing levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY). No change was observed in the levels of leu-enkephalin (L-Enk). These effects were abolished by immunoprecipitation of CNTF-like molecules from the extract with an antiserum raised against recombinant CNTF, and recombinant CNTF caused changes in neuropeptide levels similar to those of sciatic nerve extract. Alterations in neuropeptide levels by CNTF were dose-dependent, with maximal induction at concentrations of 5-25 ng/ml. Peptide levels were altered after only 3 days of CNTF exposure and continued to change for 14 days. Depolarization of sympathetic neuron cultures with elevated potassium elicited a different spectrum of effects; it increased VIP and NPY content but did not alter substance P, somatostatin, or L-Enk. Depolarization is known to block cholinergic induction in response to heart cell conditioned medium and we found that it blocked the induction of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and peptides by recombinant cholinergic differentiation factor/leukemia inhibitory factor (CDF/LIF). In contrast, it did not antagonize the effects of CNTF on either ChAT activity or neuropeptide expression. Thus, while CNTF has effects on neurotransmitter properties similar to those previously reported for CDF/LIF, the actions of these two factors are differentially modulated by depolarization, suggesting that the mechanisms of cholinergic and neuropeptide induction for the two factors differ. In addition, in contrast to CDF/LIF, CNTF did not alter levels of ChAT, VIP, substance P, or somatostatin in cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons. These observations indicate that CNTF and depolarization affect the expression of neuropeptides by sympathetic neurons and provide evidence for an overlapping yet distinct spectrum of actions of the two neuronal differentiation factors, CNTF and CDF/LIF.

Animals

New blossoms in the neural crest field: trophic and transcription factors.

Just as the answers to some of the most basic, long-standing questions concerning neural crest differentiation have become apparent, the field has been invigorated by a cross-fertilization of mouse genetics, and studies on transcription factors and trophic/instructive factors. These findings raise new questions, at a deeper level of inquiry.

Animals

The emerging neuropoietic cytokine family: first CDF/LIF, CNTF and IL-6; next ONC, MGF, GCSF?

CDF/LIF is a polyfunctional cytokine that shares a remarkable overlap with ciliary neurotrophic factor in its actions on neurons, and with interleukin-6 in its actions on other tissues. Moreover, the receptors for this cytokine, as well as those for ciliary neurotrophic factor, share homology with the subunits of the interleukin-6 receptor. The predicted structural similarity of these proteins with oncostatin M, myelomonocytic growth factor and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, as well as at least a partial overlap in biological activities, is now prompting further examination of their roles in neuronal gene expression.

Animals

Multiple cholinergic differentiation factors are present in footpad extracts: comparison with known cholinergic factors.

Sweat glands in rat footpads contain a neuronal differentiation activity that switches the phenotype of sympathetic neurons from noradrenergic to cholinergic during normal development in vivo. Extracts of developing and adult sweat glands induce changes in neurotransmitter properties in cultured sympathetic neurons that mimic those observed in vivo. We have characterized further the factors present in the extract and compared their properties to those of known cholinergic factors. When assayed on cultured rat sympathetic neurons, the major activities in footpad extracts from postnatal day 21 rat pups that induce choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and reduce catecholamines and neuropeptide Y (NPY) are associated with a soluble protein of 22-26 x 10(3) M(r) and a pI of 5.0. These properties are similar to those of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF). Moreover, the purified fraction from footpads has ciliary neurotrophic activity. Antibodies to CNTF that immunoprecipitate all differentiation activity from sciatic nerve extracts, a rich source of CNTF, immunoprecipitate 80% of the cholinergic activity in the footpad extracts, 50% of the VIP and 20% of the NPY activities. Neither CNTF protein nor CNTF mRNA, however, can be detected in immunoblot and northern analysis of footpads even though both CNTF protein and mRNA are evident in sciatic nerve. CNTF-immunoreactivity is associated with a sparse plexus of sensory fibers in the footpad but not with sweat glands or the Schwann cells associated with them. In addition, in situ hybridization studies with oligonucleotide probes failed to reveal CNTF mRNA in sweat glands. Comparison of the sweat gland differentiation activity with the cholinergic differentiation factor from heart cells (CDF; also known as leukemia inhibitory factor or LIF) suggests that most of the cholinergic activity in foot pads is biochemically distinct from CDF/LIF. Further, antibodies that block the activity of CDF/LIF purified from heart-cell-conditioned medium do not block the ChAT-inducing activity present in footpad extracts of postnatal day 8 animals. A differentiation factor isolated from skeletal muscle did not induce cholinergic properties in sympathetic neuron cultures and therefore is unlikely to be the cholinergic differentiation factor produced by sweat glands. Taken together, our data suggest that there are at least two differentiation molecules present in the extracts and that the major cholinergic activity obtained from footpads is related to, but distinct from, CNTF. The second factor remains to be characterized. In addition, CNTF associated with sensory fibers may make a minor contribution to the cholinergic inducing activity present in the extract.

Animals

Comparison of two techniques for targeting the production of monoclonal antibodies against particular antigens.

We have compared the efficacy of two methods for enhancing the probability of producing monoclonal antibodies against particular target antigens in a complex mixture. These methods use two tissue extracts, one extract that contains (A) and one extract that does not contain (B) the target antigen(s) of interest. In the chemical immunosuppression approach, cyclophosphamide is used to suppress the mouse's response to common antigens in extract B before injection of extract A containing the target antigens. In the tolerization approach, neonatal mice are tolerized against the common antigens in extract B before injection of extract A containing the target antigens. Although small numbers of animals were used in this initial comparison, immunodot assays clearly indicate that the cyclophosphamide immunosuppression method yields significantly more monoclonal antibodies specific for the target antigen-containing extract A than does the tolerization method.

Animals

Evidence that enteric neurons may derive from the sympathoadrenal lineage.

The first neurons that differentiate in the embryonic foregut of mammals transiently express catecholamine biosynthetic enzymes and accumulate catecholamine. Since this transmitter is found predominantly in cells of the sympatho-adrenal (SA) lineage, it has been suggested that enteric and sympathetic neurons may derive from the same progenitor. Enteric neurons would then lose the catecholamine phenotype during further development, as the two lineages diverge. We have further investigated this possibility using the SA1 monoclonal antibody that binds selectively to SA progenitor cells in the embryonic rat. We find that SA1 binds to the tyrosine hydroxylase+, neurofilament+, and SCG10+ cells of the Embryonic Day 14.5 (E14.5) rat foregut. We also find that a marker for later neuronal differentiation in the SA lineage, B2, also appears in the myenteric plexus concomitant with the loss of SA1 staining. Thus, at least some enteric neuronal precursors may exhibit the SA1----B2 antigenic switch previously observed in developing sympathetic neurons at E14.5. SA1 staining in the foregut partially overlaps with staining for neuropeptide Y, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, and serotonin. These results support the hypothesis that enteric and sympathetic neurons derive from a common progenitor and that as the markers for the SA lineage are down-regulated, the many types of enteric neurons begin to differentiate.

Animals

Recombinant cholinergic differentiation factor (leukemia inhibitory factor) regulates sympathetic neuron phenotype by alterations in the size and amounts of neuropeptide mRNAs.

The cholinergic differentiation factor (CDF) in heart cells is identical to leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). Recombinant CDF/LIF was shown to alter dramatically neurotransmitter production as well as the levels of several neuropeptides in cultured rat sympathetic neurons. Here it is shown that these changes are likely to be caused by alterations in the mRNA for these proteins and peptides. Growth in 1 nM recombinant CDF/LIF induces mRNA for acetyl CoA: choline-O-acetyltransferase [EC 2.3.1.6; choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)], somatostatin (SOM), substance P, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide while lowering mRNA levels of tyrosine hydroxylase (EC 1.14.16.2) and neuropeptide Y (NPY). In addition, the sizes of the mRNAs for ChAT, SOM, and NPY are larger after recombinant CDF/LIF treatment.

Animals

The generation of monoclonal antibodies that bind preferentially to adrenal chromaffin cells and the cells of embryonic sympathetic ganglia.

Adrenal chromaffin cells, sympathetic neurons, and small intensely fluorescent (SIF) cells are each derived from the neural crest, produce catecholamines, and share certain morphological features. These cell types are also partially interconvertible in cell culture (Doupe et al., 1985a,b; Anderson and Axel, 1986). Thus, these cells are said to be members of the sympathoadrenal (SA) lineage and could share a common progenitor. To investigate the origins of this lineage further, we used the cyclophosphamide immuno-suppression method (Matthew and Patterson, 1983) to generate five monoclonal antibodies (SA1-5) that bind strongly to chromaffin cells, with little or no labeling of sympathetic neurons or SIF cells in frozen sections from adult rats. Competition experiments indicate that these antibodies bind to at least three distinct epitopes in tissue sections. The SA antibodies also label most of the cells of embryonic sympathetic ganglia and adrenal primordia. Labeling of sympathetic ganglia appears as the cells initially coalesce and express high levels of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). Not all TH+ cells in the embryo are SA 1-5+, however; carotid body SIF cells, nodose ganglion TH+ cells, and the transiently TH+ cells in the dorsal root ganglia do not display detectable SA 1-5 labeling. Thus, the expression of these markers for the SA 1-5 lineage is selective. SA antigen expression is hormonally controlled; removal of glucocorticoid and addition of NGF to cultured adrenal chromaffin cells result in the loss of SA 1-5 labeling. These results suggest that the presumed precursors for sympathetic neurons and SIF cells initially express chromaffin cell markers.

Adrenal Glands

Isolation of the progenitor cells of the sympathoadrenal lineage from embryonic sympathetic ganglia with the SA monoclonal antibodies.

Our previous articles in this series described the production of five monoclonal antibodies (SA1-5) that bind to adrenal chromaffin cells and to cells in embryonic sympathetic ganglia and adrenal primordia (Carnahan and Patterson, 1991), and the downregulation of the sympathoadrenal (SA) antigens in vivo as neuronal markers begin to be expressed (Anderson et al., 1991). These results support the hypothesis that sympathetic neurons and adrenal chromaffin cells are derived from a common embryonic progenitor that displays both neuron- and chromaffin cell-specific markers. We have taken advantage of the fact that at least some of the SA antigens are expressed on the cell surface to isolate SA+ cells from embryonic day 14.5 rat superior cervical, sympathetic ganglia by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. This population of cells is significantly enriched in the expression of markers (tyrosine hydroxylase and neurofilament) found in the putative progenitors in situ. Growth in glucocorticoid maintains the expression of the SA antigens in the sorted cells and induces the chromaffin cell marker enzyme phenylethanolamine N-methyl transferase. In contrast, growth of the sorted cells in basic fibroblast growth factor, NGF, and insulin results in the rapid loss of SA 1 expression and the outgrowth of neurites. The ability to manipulate the fate of the SA+ cells in vitro confirms the suggestion from the in vivo observations that the SA+ cells in the ganglia are at least bipotential progenitors, capable of differentiating along the chromaffin or neuronal pathways.

Adrenal Glands

Antibody markers identify a common progenitor to sympathetic neurons and chromaffin cells in vivo and reveal the timing of commitment to neuronal differentiation in the sympathoadrenal lineage.

Using specific antibody markers and double-label immunofluorescence microscopy, we have followed the fate of progenitor cells in the sympathoadrenal (SA) sublineage of the neural crest in developing rat embryos. Such progenitors are first recognizable in the primordial sympathetic ganglia at embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5), when they express tyrosine hydroxylase. At this stage, the progenitors also coexpress neuronal markers such as SCG 10 and neurofilament, together with a series of chromaffin cell markers called SA 1-5 (Carnhan and Patterson, 1991 a). The observation of such doubly labeled cells is consistent with the hypothesis that these cells represent a common progenitor to sympathetic neurons and adrenal chromaffin cells. Subsequent to E 11.5, expression of the chromaffin markers is extinguished in the sympathetic ganglia but retained by cells within the adrenal gland. Concomitant with the loss of the SA 1-5 immunoreactivity in sympathetic ganglia, a later sympathetic neuron-specific marker, B2, appears. In dissociated cell suspensions, some B2+ cells that coexpress SA 1 are seen. This implies a switch in the antigenic phenotype of developing sympathetic neurons, rather than a replacement of one cell population by another. The SA 1----B2 transition does not occur for the majority of cells within the adrenal primordium. In vitro, most B2+ cells fail to differentiate into chromaffin cells in response to glucocorticoid. Instead, they continue to extend neurites and then die. Taken together, these data imply that the SA 1----B2 transition correlates with a loss of competence to respond to an inducer of chromaffin differentiation. Thus, the development of SA derivatives is controlled both by environmental signals and by changes in the ability of differentiating cells to respond to such signals.

Adrenal Glands

The cholinergic neuronal differentiation factor from heart cell conditioned medium is different from the cholinergic factors in sciatic nerve and spinal cord.

Environmental cues play an important role in determining the transmitter phenotype of developing sympathetic neurons. Several factors have been described which can induce cholinergic function in cultured sympathetic neurons. We have compared certain biological and immunological properties of three of them, cholinergic differentiation factor (CDF), membrane-associated neurotransmitter-stimulating factor (MANS), and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), to determine whether they are different. As previously reported, all three increased acetylcholine synthesis in cultured sympathetic neurons. In addition, MANS as well as CNTF and CDF decreased catecholamine synthesis. CNTF and MANS, but not CDF, promoted the survival of embryonic chick ciliary neurons. Affinity-purified antibodies raised against a synthetic peptide corresponding to the N-terminal sequence of CDF immunoprecipitated CDF, but not MANS or CNTF. These results indicate that although CDF, MANS, and CNTF have similar effects on transmitter synthesis by cultured sympathetic neurons, CDF lacks the ciliary neurotrophic activity of MANS and CNTF. Further, CDF possesses an N-terminal epitope which is absent from both MANS and CNTF. Thus, CDF is distinct from MANS and CNTF, and at least two factors exist which can alter the transmitter phenotype of sympathetic neurons in vitro.

Acetylcholine

A monoclonal antibody that defines rostrocaudal gradients in the mammalian nervous system.

Spinal cord axons display a rostrocaudal, positional bias in their innervation of sympathetic ganglia and intercostal skeletal muscles. In an effort to examine the molecular basis of this positional specificity, we used the cyclophosphamide immunosuppression method to produce monoclonal antibodies that bind preferentially to rostral ganglia. The staining distribution of one of these antibodies, ROCA1, has been analyzed using a novel histological method. A graded decline in binding is observed along the chain of adult rat sympathetic ganglia, as well as in the nerves innervating intercostal muscles. The antigen is identified on immunoblots as a 65 kd protein, whose distribution corresponds to the pattern found histologically. Surprisingly, ROCA1 appears to bind to glial cells, implying rostrocaudal, molecular differences in their surfaces.

Animals

Separation and partial characterization of neuropeptide-inducing factors in heart cell conditioned medium.

Various conditioned media contain multiple factors that regulate the expression of the neurotransmitters acetylcholine, serotonin, and catecholamines and the neuropeptides substance P, somatostatin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-related peptides, cholecystokinin, and enkephalins in cultured sympathetic neurons. Using biochemical and immunological methods, we identify at least three distinct factors in heart cell conditioned medium: one induces acetylcholine, substance P, somatostatin, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-related peptides while suppressing catecholamine expression, a second factor induces only vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-related peptides, and a third factor induces only somatostatin expression. These observations demonstrate the existence of a group of biochemically and immunologically distinct factors involved in phenotypic specification with unique, but partially overlapping activities. The analogy with the family of differentiation factors in the hematopoietic system is discussed.

Animals