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R Arcone

Publications and source records attributed to R Arcone.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Internal deletions of amino acids 29-42 of human interleukin-6 (IL-6) differentially affect bioactivity and folding.

Internal deletions of the human interleukin-6 (IL-6) cDNA have been generated in the region encoding residues 29 to 42. Mutant proteins were produced by in vitro transcription-translation or in Escherichia coli and tested for their biological activity using the hybridoma growth factor (HGF) assay or a transcriptional activation assay on human hepatoma cells. The folding of the mutants was also checked by immunoprecipitation with conformation-specific monoclonal antibodies. The results show that only residues 29 to 34 are crucial for IL-6 activity and that the first two amino acids are probably involved in the definition of the IL-6 active site.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Internal deletions in human interleukin-6: structure-function analysis.

By cDNA mutagenesis, we have constructed internal and C-terminal deletions (delta 21-51, delta 52-97, delta 97-104, delta 127-174, delta 97-184 and delta 134-184) in human interleukin-6 (hIL-6). All those deletion-carrying hIL-6 (delta hIL-6) proteins were then produced in Xenopus laevis oocytes and examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The results show that, at least in frog oocytes, the first potential N-glycosylation site (Asn45) is utilized exclusively. The IL-6 conformation of these deletion-carrying proteins has been studied by immunoprecipitation with two kinds of monoclonal antibodies (mAb's): mAb's that show preference towards denatured hIL-6, or conformation-specific mAb's. The binding pattern of these two series of mAb's indicated that the IL-6 conformation has been largely destroyed for four of our delta-proteins. Proteins delta 21-51 and delta 127-174 have kept a part of the IL-6 tertiary structure since they are still recognized by some conformation-specific mAb's. All of these delta hIL-6 proteins were inactive in the IL-6 hybridoma growth factor (HGF) assay and unable to inhibit the HGF activity of the recombinant human wild-type IL-6 (wt hIL-6). Moreover, the oocyte-synthesized delta hIL-6 (delta 21-51, delta 127-174, delta 97-184, delta 134-184) did not bind to the IL-6 receptor. Finally, we have produced two proteins with aa 29-33 or 97-104 substituted by corresponding murine IL-6 (mIL-6) sequences.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Single-step purification and structural characterization of human interleukin-6 produced in Escherichia coli from a T7 RNA polymerase expression vector.

Human interleukin-6 or B-cell stimulatory factor-2 is a cytokine involved in acute phase and immune response. Cloning of cDNA for human interleukin-6 in the pT7.7 expression plasmid under the control of a bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase promoter system allows rapid production of the cytokine in Escherichia coli. Upon cell induction with isopropyl thiogalactopyranoside, recombinant human interleukin-6 is overexpressed and forms insoluble inclusion bodies. Solubilization of the protein with 6 M guanidine hydrochloride and refolding in the presence of a reduction/oxidation system results in a quantitative recovery of recombinant human interleukin-6. This material is already 70% pure and can be further purified to homogeneity with a single passage over a weak anionic-exchange column. Extended structural characterization of the purified protein by electrospray mass spectrometry, automated Edman degradation and peptide mapping by high-pressure liquid chromatography/fast-atom-bombardment mass spectrometry demonstrates that recombinant human interleukin-6 is identical to the natural protein both in amino acid sequence and S-S bridge content. However, it contains a minor component accounting for about 20% of the entire translated protein which exhibits a Met-Ala dipeptide extension at the N-terminus. Purified recombinant human interleukin-6 is biologically active because it is able to induce at least 70-fold the human C-reactive promoter transfected in human hepatoma Hep 3B cells and is stable for several months in 10% glycerol at 4 degrees C. The expression system described in the present work has the main advantage of producing a high yield of recombinant human interleukin-6 (about 25 mg/l) combined with a very simple purification scheme.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Constitutive and IL-6-induced nuclear factors that interact with the human C-reactive protein promoter.

Transcription of the human C-reactive protein (CRP) gene is induced by interleukin-6 (IL-6) during acute inflammation. Important information for inducible CRP expression is located within the 90 bases preceding the transcriptional start site. We show that the CRP promoter contains two adjacent binding sites (beta and alpha) that interact with at least two hepatocyte-specific nuclear proteins, H-APF-1 and H-APF-2. Point mutations that abolish or reduce binding drastically affect the level of CRP gene expression. Binding to beta is identical when extracts from uninduced or IL-6-induced Hep3B cells are used. On the contrary, both quantitative and qualitative changes in the alpha binding can be detected with extracts from uninduced cells or from cells treated with IL-6 or IL-6 + cycloheximide. A synthetic promoter based on the multimerization of the beta-binding domain, but not of the alpha-domain, is highly inducible when transfected in hepatoma cells. These results are discussed in relation to the structure of the promoter region of other acute phase inducible genes.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Regulation of the human C-reactive protein gene, a major marker of inflammation and cancer.

Human C-reactive protein (CRP) is the major acute phase reactant during inflammation. Regulation of CRP gene expression has been studied in two experimental systems: transgenic mice and human hepatoma cells. In the first system the human CRP gene flanked by approximately 10(4) bases of 5' and 3' sequences is expressed in a liver-specific and inducible manner. The chromatin configuration of the CRP transgene is characterized by the presence of constitutive and inducible liver-specific DNase I-hypersensitive sites. Inducible sites map precisely at the level of the CRP promoter region. In hepatoma cells we analysed the expression of the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene driven by various segments of the CRP promoter. This latter approach has led to the identification of promoter elements responsive to interleukin-6 and of hepatocyte-specific nuclear proteins that interact with them.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Dual control of C-reactive protein gene expression by interleukin-1 and interleukin-6.

Human C-reactive protein (CRP) is the major acute phase reactant during acute inflammation. The human CRP promoter is expressed in an inducible and cell-specific manner when linked to the bacterial CAT gene and transfected into human hepatoma cell cultures. In this paper we analyze the effect of several recombinant cytokines or CRP promoter inducibility in human Hep3B cells. When cytokines are tested singly the major inducer of CRP-CAT fusions is interleukin-6 (IL-6). Maximal CAT gene expression, however, is only achieved when both interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and IL-6 are present. The response to the two cytokines is cooperative. Cooperativity is maintained when the CRP promoter is linked to a different coding region, that of the bacterial neomycin phosphotransferase II gene. With a series of 5' and 3' deletions we show the existence of two distinct and independent regions responsive to IL-6 and located upstream to the TATA box. The IL-1 effect is exerted at the level of downstream sequences that are probably important for optimal mRNA translatability or nuclear-cytoplasmic transport. Inducibility is not influenced by the activation of protein kinases C or A and does not require new protein synthesis.

C-Reactive Protein↗
PubMed1988

Recombinant interleukin 6 regulates the transcriptional activation of a set of human acute phase genes.

The phenomenon of acute phase (AP) response can be reproduced in vitro using cultured cells of hepatic origin by stimulation with the crude supernatant of activated monocytes (MoCM). Several monocyte-derived factors have been identified which might be responsible, alone or in combination, for the induction of AP response, but recently the attention has been focused on interleukin 6 (IL-6). We have previously shown that part of the AP response consists of the increase in the rate of transcription of the AP genes. Here we have treated the human hepatoma cell line Hep 3B with either crude MoCM or recombinant IL-6 and compared the effect of the two stimulants on the expression of both endogenous AP genes and recombinant plasmids introduced into the cells by transfection. The transfected plasmids contained the 5'-flanking region of AP genes fused to the coding region of the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene. We observe that the induction of mRNA accumulation of the endogenous genes corresponds to the transcriptional activation of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase fusions. This is good evidence that the effect of IL-6 is totally or partially exerted at the level of transcription and that short segments of the 5'-flanking sequences of the inducible genes contain IL-6-responsive elements. Our results show that IL-6 is fully effective only on some of all the genes induced or repressed by MoCM, whereas others are only partially affected or totally nonresponsive.

Acetyltransferases↗
PubMed1988

Identification of sequences responsible for acute-phase induction of human C-reactive protein.

Human C-Reactive protein (CRP) is inducible in liver cells during acute inflammation. Around 90 bp from the 5' flanking region of the human CRP gene contain, as shown here, information to induce the expression of a linked bacterial CAT gene specifically in human hepatoma (Hep3B) cells. The promoter is induced rapidly, faithfully and at high efficiency when transfected cells are exposed to conditioned medium from lipopolysaccharide stimulated peripheral monocytes. The sequences required for inducibility are located immediately upstream to the TATA element. A DNA segment from base -121 to -50 is capable of inducing transcription from the heterologous SV40 early promoter. Induction of CRP expression is probably exerted via the binding of at least one positive trans-acting factor.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Inducible and tissue-specific expression of human C-reactive protein in transgenic mice.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a major acute phase reactant in man but not in mouse. It is synthesized in abundant quantities by human hepatocytes during the course of several diseases, mainly acute inflammations. To investigate the regulation of CRP expression, the human CRP gene was introduced into fertilized eggs by microinjection and transgenic mouse lines were derived. The CRP gene is exclusively transcribed in the liver and expression is strictly dependent on experimental inflammation. The kinetics of induction both for RNA and protein synthesis is very fast; RNA is first detectable after 2 h in the liver, the protein after 6 h in the serum. Human CRP levels in the sera of transgenic mice are comparable to those observed in human diseases. Nuclear run-on experiments indicate that regulation is primarily at the transcriptional level.

Animals↗