Biomedical subjects

R D Kladney

Publications and source records attributed to R D Kladney.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Immunodetection of aldose reductase in normal and diseased human liver.

Aldose reductase is an NADPH-dependent aldo-keto reductase best known as the rate-limiting enzyme of the polyol pathway that is implicated in the complications of diabetes. Aldose reductase appears to be involved in a variety of disease states other than diabetes, presumably due to its ability to catalyze the reduction of a broad spectrum of aldehydes, including some cytotoxic products of lipid peroxidation. Although the data regarding expression of aldose reductase in normal liver are conflicting, prior studies have suggested that the enzyme may be induced in diseased liver. The goal of these studies was to characterize expression of aldose reductase in normal and diseased human liver, using RT-PCR, Western analysis and immunohistochemistry. Aldose reductase transcripts and protein were detected at low levels in control human livers. In contrast, levels of aldose reductase mRNA and protein were increased in chronically diseased human livers. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated localization of aldose reductase in sinusoidal lining cells; dual immunofluorescence confocal microscopy with the macrophage marker, CD68, confirmed that the aldose reductase-positive sinusoidal lining cells were Kupffer cells. Abundant aldose reductase-positive, CD68-positive cells were present in the fibrous septa of cirrhotic livers, accounting for the increase in immunoreactive aldose reductase in diseased livers. Immunostaining of human lung, spleen and lymph node revealed that macrophages in those tissues also express aldose reductase. These data are the first to demonstrate that aldose reductase is expressed by human macrophages in various tissues and suggest that this enzyme may play a role in immune or inflammatory processes.

Aldehyde Reductase↗

PubMed2000

GP73, a novel Golgi-localized protein upregulated by viral infection.

We report the isolation and characterization of GP73, a novel 73kDa human Golgi protein. The GP73 cDNA was cloned by differential screening of a cDNA library derived from the liver of a patient with adult giant-cell hepatitis (GCH), a rare form of hepatitis with presumed viral etiology. In vitro transcription-translation studies indicate that GP73 is an integral membrane protein, and immunolocalization experiments using epitope-tagged GP73 demonstrate that the protein is localized to the Golgi apparatus. Northern blot analysis of RNA from multiple human tissues reveals a single GP73 mRNA transcript with a size of approximately 3.0kb. Immunohistochemical studies using rabbit polyclonal antisera directed against recombinant GP73 demonstrate that the protein is preferentially expressed by epithelial cells in many human tissues. In normal livers, GP73 is consistently present in biliary epithelial cells, whereas hepatocytes show little or no signal. In contrast, livers of patients with GCH display strong GP73 immunoreactivity in multinucleated hepatocytes. GP73 mRNA and protein are expressed in highly differentiated HepG2 hepatoma cells after infection with adenovirus in vitro. We conclude that GP73 represents a novel, epithelial cell-specific integral membrane Golgi protein that can be upregulated in response to viral infection.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Complement C4 protein expression by rat hepatic stellate cells.

Stellate cells play an important role in the production and turnover of the normal extracellular matrix of the liver and are key effector cells in the hepatic fibrogenesis that occurs in response to liver injury. In the present study, we used a rat model of long term dietary iron supplementation to identify stellate cell genes that are expressed during chronic hepatic iron overload. Using a subtraction cloning strategy, we identified a rat isoform of the complement C4 protein gene whose expression was strongly induced in stellate cells after iron overload. Highly purified, cultured stellate cells synthesized the C4 precursor protein and released its subunits into the culture medium. The C4 protein secreted in vitro was biologically active in a C4-specific hemolytic assay. C4 mRNA expression was minimal in freshly isolated stellate cells and increased between days 3 and 7 of primary culture, coincident with the expression of smooth muscle alpha-actin (alpha-SMA), a marker of cellular activation. C4 expression was absent in strongly alpha-SMA-positive, passaged cells, but was induced by IFN-gamma, which simultaneously inhibited alpha-SMA expression. Our studies establish hepatic stellate cells as a previously unrecognized source of C4 and raise the possibility that complement protein expression by the cells plays a role in the hepatic injury response and in fibrogenesis. Our in vitro data point to the presence of two distinct stimulatory pathways for C4 expression in stellate cells that differ with regard to their sensitivity to IFN-gamma and their relationship to cellular activation.

Actins↗