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Biomedical subjects

W E Laug

Publications and source records attributed to W E Laug.

50 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Inhibition by bovine endothelial cells of degradation by HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cells of extracellular matrix proteins.

Medium conditioned by bovine arterial endothelial cells inhibited the degradation by human fibrosarcoma cells of living cultures of rat smooth muscle cells or their cell-free extracellular matrices. Endothelial cell-conditioned medium had no effect on the growth kinetics of fibrosarcoma cells, and the inhibitory influence of conditioned medium on matrix degradation was greatest with low numbers of tumor cells. Conditioned medium inhibited the production of tumor cell plasminogen activators, enzymes previously found to play a role in matrix glycoprotein degradation. The endothelial factor was heat- and acid-stable and non-dialyzable, and mixing experiments showed that it did not directly inactivate the tumor cell plasminogen activator. Endothelial cells may therefore modulate the production of proteolytic enzymes important in the implantation stage of tumor metastasis.

Animals↗

Secretion of plasminogen activators by cultured bovine endothelial cells: partial purification, characterization and evidence for multiple forms.

Endothelial cells were obtained from the aortae of newborn calves and cloned. High plasminogen activator (PA) activity was detected in the supernatant medium and the cell lysates of confluent cultures. The PA activity in the growth medium increased steadily during 12 hrs of incubation, indicating active enzyme secretion by these cells. Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the concentrated medium demonstrated the presence of four plasminogen activators with apparent molecular weights of 77,000 (+/- 3000), 43,000 (+/- 2000), 26,000 (+/- 1500) and 14,500 (+/- 1500) respectively. The 43,000, 26,000 and 14,500 molecular weight forms could be converted to radioactive derivatives by active site labeling with 3H diisopropyl fluorophosphate (3H DFP) while the 77,000 Dalton form took up only traces of this radioactively labeled compound. The 43,000 molecular weight form was partially purified by means of salt precipitation and gel filtration. This enzyme preparation activated plasminogen by proteolytic cleavage with maximum activity at pH 7.5-8.5 and demonstrated a specific activity of 80,000 CA (Committee on Thrombolytic Agents) units/mg protein when tested on 125I-fibrin in the presence of plasminogen. This PA was rapidly and irreversibly inhibited by diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP), suggesting that it was a serine protease. The partially purified enzyme was extremely labile at temperatures from 0-60 degrees C, but could be stabilized by lowering the pH to 3 or by the addition of albumin.

Animals↗

Candidal splenic abscesses complicating acute leukemia of childhood treated by splenectomy.

Two patients with acute leukemia were found to have candidal splenic abscesses. Both patients were in remission and had normal granulocyte counts at the time the abscesses became evident. Both patients were treated with splenectomy and antifungal therapy with a definite response. The incidence and treatment of fungal splenic abscesses in leukemia patients is discussed with emphasis on the role of splenectomy.

Abscess↗

Anchorage independent growth and plasminogen activator production by bovine endothelial cells.

Endothelial cells obtained from the aortae of 1- to 2-d-old calves were cloned at high efficiency using fibrin-coated dishes. Primary cultures as well as clones derived from them produced high fibrinolytic activity when grown on 125I-fibrin-coated dishes which was 90% dependent upon the presence of plasminogen. High plasminogen-dependent proteolytic activity was also demonstrated in endothelial cell lysates and in the culture medium of the cells. The production and secretion of the plasminogen activator(s) were found to increase during the log phase of cell growth and to reach a maximum level at confluence. These endothelial cells exhibited morphological phenotypes comparable to those of transformed cells when grown in the presence of acid-treated fetal calf, dog, or human serum. Furthermore, they demonstrated anchorage independent growth, and large colonies were formed in semisolid media. Spontaneous neoplastic transformation of these cells was excluded by karyotypic analysis, lack of tumorigenicity in athymic nude mice, and limited lifespan in culture. Cell clones isolated from colonies grown in agarose demonstrated the same growth characteristics and proteolytic activity as before plating in agarose. High fibrinolytic activity, morphological changes in the appropriate serum, and growth in semisolid media may therefore be indicative of the migratory and/or invasive capacity of both nontransformed endothelial cells as well as tumor cells.

Agar↗

Initial urinary catecholamine metabolite concentrations and prognosis in neuroblastoma.

Initial urinary catecholamine metabolite and amino acid excretion patterns were examined in 54 children with neuroblastoma. The relationships between prognosis and age at diagnosis, stage of disease, primary site, and histologic grade of tumor were similar in this population to those found in previous studies, but only age and stage were found to be independent prognostic variables. Prognosis in disseminated disease was found to correlate directly with the urinary vanilmandelic acid (VMA)/homovanillic acid (HVA) ratio but not with the absolute levels of HVA. The presence of the dopa metabolite, vanillactic acid, as well as increased amounts of cystathionine and/or low levels of VMA indicated poor prognosis. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that biochemically primitive neuroblastomas deficient in dopamine beta-hydroxylase are move virulent than their mature analogues which produce epinephrine, norepinephrine, and their metabolites.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗

Morphology, growth, chromosomal pattern and fibrinolytic activity of two new human neuroblastoma cell lines.

Neuroblastoma cell lines LA-N-1 and LA-N-2 were extablished from neuroblastoma cells in the bone marrow and in the primary tumor, respectively, of two children with metastatic neuroblastoma. Morphology, growth in vitro and in athymic nude mice, chromosomal patter, and fibrinolytic activity of these cell lines and of previously extablished human neuroblastoma cell lines IMR-32, SK-N-MC, and SK-N-SH were compared. Most LA-N-1 cells were tear-drop shaped, small cells with processes; they tended to grow in clusters. LA-N-2 was comprised of elongated cells and small round cells, the latter growing in dense clumps on the former. Electron microscopy revealed numerous cytoplasmic dense cores in many LA-N-1 cells but none in LA-N-2 CELLS. During logarithmic growth in vitro, doubling times for LA-N-1, LA-N-2, SK-N-MC, SK-N-SH, and IMR-32 cells were 32,56, 23, 36, and 26 hr, respectively. Cells of all lines formed colonies in soft agar, and, after variable latency periods, LA-N-1, LA-N-2, SK-N-MC, and IMR-32 cells formed tumors in athymic nude mice. The marker chromosome(s) characteristic of each cell line was present in more than 90% of cells of given line. Significant plasminogen-dependent fibrinolytic activity was present in cells of all lines. These studies indicate that LA-N-1 and LA-N-2 cells arose from single but different aberrant progenitor cells and that they have properties of neuroblastoma cells. They also demonstrate that cell lines derived from human neuroblastomas are heterogenous as are the tumors in children.

Animals↗

In vitro correlates of transformation in C3H/10T1/2 clone 8 mouse cells.

Various potential in vitro correlates of malignancy were studied in four chemically transformed C3H/10T1/2 Clone 8 mouse cell lines and were compared with controls cells. The degree of tumorigenicity was best predicted by the relative plating efficiencies of the morphologically transformed cells in soft agar. All transformed cells also showed an increase in extracellular fibrinolytic activity which may be an additional marker for transformation. Intracellular fibrinolytic activity and loss of 125I-labeled cell surface protein (M.W. 250,000) were not correlated with morphological transformation or tumorigenicity in these cells.

Agar↗

Childhood sarcomas and lymphomas. Characterization of new cell lines and search for type-C virus.

Four cell lines were derived from childhood malignancies: rhabdomyosarcoma, sarcoma, lymphosarcoma and an American Burkitt's lymphoma. Cells of the four lines formed tumors in immunosuppressed newborn hamsters. The tumors had a microscopic appearance like that of the tumors from which the cell lines were derived. No virus-like particles were detected by electron microscopy in the cell lines after treatment with bromodeoxyuridine; no hamster type-C virus expression was present in cell lines derived from the hamster tumors. Chromosome constitution and in vitro growth properties of the cell lines were studied as was the fibrinolytic function of the sarcoma lines.

Adolescent↗

Fibrinolytic activity in a human fibrosarcoma cell line and evidence for the induction of plasminogen activator secretion during tumor formation.

Seven clones were isolated from the HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cell line using a fibrinagarose overlay technique. Three of these clones induced lysis of the fibrin overlay, whereas four did not. The extracellular and intracellular levels of protease were then measured using 125I-fibrin plates incubated with acid-treated human serum. The extracellular protease can be directly assayed in the medium from cells incubated with 10% fetal calf serum. Although there were large differences in the amounts of protease secreted by these two sets of clones, the intracellular levels of protease were similar. No significant differences were found between the abilities of the cells to grow in soft agar or as tumors in immunosuppressed hamsters. However, cells grown from tumors derived from all the low secretors of protease showed an increase in the amount of protease secreted. It appeared, therefore, that the secretion of protease might be selected for or induced during tumor growth. Further detailed studies with one of the low secreting clones (clone E) suggested an inductive rather than a selective mechanism for this increase in extracellular plasminogen activator.

Cell Line↗

Relationship between fibrinolysis of cultured cells and malignancy.

Cells cultured from various human and nonhuman malignant and normal tissues as well as mammalian cells transformed in vitro were examined for their ability to induce fibrinolysis. Generally, except for normal cells derived from lung or kidney, malignant cells had a greater ability to induce fibrinolysis than did their normal counterparts. A correlation existed between the abilities of the cells to induce fibrinolysis, grow in soft agar, and form tumors in immunosuppressed hosts.

Agar↗