Showing papers by "University of Münster published in 1987"

Two calcium-binding proteins in infiltrate macrophages of rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract: The aetiology and cellular mechanism of chronic inflammatory processes are poorly understood. Macrophages act prominently in the inflammatory response and we report here that they express two calcium-binding proteins. The expression of these proteins, referred to as MRP-8 and MRP-14, is specific for cells of myeloid origin, namely granulocytes, monocytes and macrophages, and is observed in blood granulocytes and monocytes but not in normal tissue macrophages. In acutely inflamed tissues, macrophages can express MRP-14 but not MRP-8, and in chronic inflammations, such as primary chronic polyarthritis, infiltrate macrophages express both MRP-8 and MRP-14. Characterization of MRP-8 and MRP-14 could therefore be useful to the understanding of cellular processes induced in chronic inflammation.

Lethal genes surviving by mosaicism: A possible explanation for sporadic birth defects involving the skin

Abstract: A genetic concept is advanced to explain the origin of several sporadic syndromes characterized by a mosaic distribution of skin defects. It is postulated that these disorders are due to the action of a lethal gene surviving by mosaicism. The presence of the mutation in the zygote will lead to death of the embryo at an early stage of development. Cells bearing the mutation can survive only in a mosaic state, in close proximity with normal cells. The mosaic may arise either from a gametic half chromatid mutation or from an early somatic mutation. This concept of origin is proposed to apply to the Schimmelpenning-Feuerstein-Mims syndrome, the McCune-Albright syndrome, the Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, the Sturge-Weber syndrome, and neurocutaneous melanosis. Moreover, this etiologic hypothesis may apply to two other birth defects that have recently been delineated, the Proteus syndrome (partial gigantism of hands or feet, hemihypertrophy, macrocephaly, linear papillomatous epidermal nevus, subcutaneous hemangiomas and lipomas, accelerated growth, and visceral anomalies), and the Delleman-Oorthuys syndrome (orbital cyst, porencephaly, periorbital appendages, and focal aplasia of the skin).

A Monoclonal Antibody to a Novel Differentiation Antigen on Human Macrophages Associated with the Down-Regulatory Phase of the Inflammatory Process

Abstract: A monoclonal antibody (RM3/1), raised by immunizing mice with human monocytes, is described which detects a surface antigen on about 20% of freshly isolated peripheral blood monocytes and is increasingly expressed upon cultivation, reaching a maximum between day 2 and 3. By incubation of monocytes with interferon-gamma, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and lipopolysaccharide, antigen expression is decreased but strongly enhanced after incubation with dexamethasone. In cryostat sections of normal tissue, the antibody detects histiocytes in the skin, Kupffer cells in the liver, few alveolar macrophages in the lung, macrophages in the red pulp of the spleen and in the cortex of the thymus, and many macrophages in the placenta. In acute inflammatory tissue, e.g. gingivitis, the antigen is preferentially expressed by macrophages appearing late in the inflammatory process. In chronic inflammation, e.g. BCG granulomas and rheumatoid arthritis, RM3/1-positive macrophages are seen to varying degrees. Double-staining experiments with the antigen 25F9, specific for resting mature macrophages, revealed that RM3/1 and 25F9 are expressed by distinct populations in normal and acute inflammatory tissues. From this it is concluded that the antibody RM3/1 specifically detects a macrophage phenotype which seems to be associated with the healing phase of the inflammatory process.

Tumor progression in human malignant melanoma: Five stages defined by their antigenic phenotypes

Abstract: The antigenic profile of melanocytic cells in the course of local and systemic tumor progression of human malignant melanoma was investigated by the reactivity of a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) in frozen sections of histologically defined melanocytic lesions. Specific antigenic phenotypes made it possible to distinguish 5 groups of lesions which could be ranked in relation to each other due to the sequential acquisition or loss of progression markers. On this basis, a scheme of antigenic changes which accompany the stepwise transformation of normal skin melanocytes into highly malignant metastatic melanoma cells is proposed. The steps of tumor progression identified solely by phenotyping with MAbs were in complete concordance with the concept of melanoma progression derived from histological, statistical and clinical analyses. Furthermore, our finding that the expression of gp89 as well as HLA-DR antigens can be induced by interferon-gamma in vitro provides evidence that immune interferon may play a role in the regulation of genes leading to phenotypic changes in progressing melanoma cells.

Mr 46,000 mannose 6-phosphate specific receptor: its role in targeting of lysosomal enzymes.

Abstract: Antibodies that block the ligand binding site of the cation-dependent mannose 6-phosphate specific receptor (Mr 46,000 MPR) were used to probe the function of the receptor in transport of lysosomal enzymes Addition of the antibodies to the medium of Morris hepatoma 7777 cells, which express only the Mr 46,000 MPR, resulted in a decreased intracellular retention and increased secretion of newly synthesized lysosomal enzymes In fibroblasts and HepG2 cells that express the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate specific receptor (Mr 215,000 MPR) in addition to the Mr 46,000 MPR, antibodies against the Mr 46,000 MPR inhibited the intracellular retention of newly synthesized lysosomal enzymes only when added to the medium together with antibodies against the Mr 215,000 MPR Morris hepatoma (MH) 7777 did not endocytose lysosomal enzymes, while U937 monocytes, which express both types of MPR, internalized lysosomal enzymes The uptake was inhibited by antibodies against the Mr 215,000 MPR, but not by antibodies against the Mr 46,000 MPR These observations suggest that Mr 46,000 MPR mediates transport of endogenous but not endocytosis of exogenous lysosomal enzymes Internalization of receptor antibodies indicated that the failure to mediate endocytosis of lysosomal enzymes is due to an inability of surface Mr 46,000 MPR to bind ligands rather than its exclusion from the plasma membrane or from internalization

Organische Synthesen mit übergangsmetallkomplexen, 211) 1-Chroma-1,3-butadiene und 1-Chroma-1,3,5-hexatriene aus (CO)5CrC(OC2H5)CH3 durch Carbonyl-Olefinierung mit Triethylamin/Chlortrimethylsilan

Abstract: Die als Synthesebausteine neuerdings sehr begehrten 1-Chroma-1,3-butadiene und 1-Chroma-1,3,5-hexatriene 3 lassen sich aus reaktiven Aldehyden und (CO)5CrC(OC2H5)CH3 (1) durch Kondensation mit (C2H5)3N/(CH3)3SiCl leicht herstellen. 1-Chroma-1,3-butadienes and 1-chroma-1,3,5-hexatrienes 3, versatile building blocks for organic syntheses, are easily accessible from (CO)5CrC(OC2H5)CH3 (1) and reactive aldehydes by condensation with (C2H5)3N/(CH3)3SiCl.

Basal body reorientation mediated by a Ca2+-modulated contractile protein.

Abstract: A rapid, Ca2+-dependent change in the angle between basal bodies (up to 180 degrees) is associated with light-induced reversal of swimming direction (the "photophobic" response) in a number of flagellated green algae. In isolated, detergent-extracted, reactivated flagellar apparatus complexes of Spermatozopsis similis, axonemal beat form conversion to the symmetrical/undulating flagellar pattern and basal body reorientation (from the antiparallel to the parallel configuration) are simultaneously induced at greater than or equal to 10(-7) M Ca2+. Basal body reorientation, however, is independent of flagellar beating since it is induced at greater than or equal to 10(-7) M Ca2+ when flagellar beating is inhibited (i.e., in the presence of 1 microM orthovanadate in reactivation solutions; in the absence of ATP or dithiothreitol in isolation and reactivation solutions), or when axonemes are mechanically removed from flagellar apparatuses. Although frequent axonemal beat form reversals were induced by varying the Ca2+ concentration, antiparallel basal body configuration could not be restored in isolated flagellar apparatuses. Observations of the photophobic response in vivo indicate that even though the flagella resume the asymmetric, breaststroke beat form 1-2 s after photostimulation, antiparallel basal body configuration is not restored until a few minutes later. Using an antibody generated against the 20-kD Ca2+-modulated contractile protein of striated flagellar roots of Tetraselmis striata (Salisbury, J. L., A. Baron, B. Surek, and M. Melkonian, 1984, J. Cell Biol., 99:962-970), we have found the distal connecting fiber of Spermatozopsis similis to be immunoreactive by indirect immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopy. Electrophoretic and immunoblot analysis indicates that the antigen of S. similis flagellar apparatuses consists, like the Tetraselmis protein, of two acidic isoforms of 20 kD. We conclude that the distal basal body connecting fiber is a contractile organelle and reorients basal bodies during the photophobic response in certain flagellated green algae.

Effects of electron screening on low-energy fusion cross sections.

Abstract: The effects of electron screening on the low-energy cross sections of nuclear fusion reactions of astrophysical interest have been studied within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation using a simplified model. These studies indicate that a significant enhancement of the cross sections can occur already at beam energies, which are about a factor 100 higher than the electron binding energies. Cross sections near such energies can now be measured, in some cases, and several examples are discussed. For an understanding of the low-energy data as well as for a reliable extrapolation of the cross sections (for bare nuclei) to lower energies, the effects of electron screening must be well understood.

Studies on the aetiology and pathogenesis of motor neuron diseases: 1. Lathyrism: Clinical findings in established cases

Abstract: Lathyrism is a toxic disease of the motor system constantly associated with primary consumption of the seed of Lathyrus sativus (chickling or grass pea). Neurological examination was performed on 38 affected subjects drawn from four regions of the Indian subcontinent endemic for lathyrism. All showed a consistent and largely symmetric pattern of neurological deficit similar to that displayed by 5 Europeans with longstanding lathyrism now living in Israel. Hallmarks of lathyrism include a pyramidal pattern of motor weakness combined with greatly increased tone in the thigh extensors and adductors and in the gastrocnemius muscles so that the more severely affected walk on the balls of their feet with a lurching scissoring gait. Extensor plantar responses are uniformly present in such cases, and the knee and ankle tendon reflexes are exaggerated and often clonic. Hoffmann signs and exaggerated biceps and/or triceps tendon jerks are also found in the most severely affected. Sensory signs are absent, although perverse sensations in the legs are frequently reported at the onset. Walking difficulties commonly begin suddenly but may also appear subacutely or insidiously. Some individuals experience partly reversible symptoms suggestive of a diffuse CNS excitation of somatic, motor and autonomic function.

DC potentials of the cerebral cortex. Seizure activity and changes in gas pressures.

Abstract: DC Shifts Associated with Seizure Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 2.1 Focal Seizures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 2.2 Generalized Seizures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 2.3 Depth Profiles of DC Shifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 2.4 Correlations with Fast DC Transients (EEG Waves) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 2.5 Correlations with Neuronal and Glial Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 2.6 Correlations with Ionic Activity Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Therapy results in five ALL-BFM studies since 1970: implications of risk factors for prognosis.

Abstract: Prognosis in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) after risk-adapted therapy is first of all dependent on the quality of therapy. Conventional risk factors such as WBC, age, sex, organ involvement, and other features certainly have lost their prognostic significance in varying degrees during the evolution of risk-adapted and necessarily intensive therapy. Still, the tumor burden and other ill-defined or unknown factors are responsible for therapy failure. Obviously, the patient group with therapy failure must be the target of future efforts.

New experiments on and interpretations of hysteresis effects of Pd-D2 and Pd-H2

Abstract: The question of whether in the two-phase region of a metal-hydrogen system the desorption branch of the hysteresis loop of an isotherm is nearer to equilibrium than the absorption branch (concept I) or the absorption and the desorption branches both deviate to a similar extent from equilibrium (concept II) is still an open question. After a review of the literature on this problem we try to solve it for the systems Pd-D2 and Pd-H2 as examples by applying a new method based on isothermal measurements of p(n) and χ(n) (p is the pressure of D2 or H2, n is the atomic ratio D:Pd or H:Pd and χ is the magnetic susceptibility) in the field about the critical point. The evaluation of the p(n) isotherms measured in the homogeneous solution phase above the critical temperature Tc yielded a value of the critical concentration nc = 0.257 ± 0.004, equal for Pd-D2 and Pd-H2. On the basis of this nc value the other critical data were redetermined; the values Tc = 556 ± 1 K and pc = 39 ± 0.5 bar obtained for Pd-D2 deviate markedly from those accepted so far. By means of the absorption and the desorption branches of the p(n) and the χ(n) isotherms measured across the two-phase region below Tc the boundaries of this region, i.e. the coexistence curve, could be determined. Different boundary lines for absorption and desorption were obtained in the Tvs. n diagram resulting in nc(abs) = 0.295 ± 0.005 and nc(des) = 0.255 ± 0.005, which were also equal for both isotopes. The coincidence of nc(des) with the nc value from the homogeneous region decides the question in favour of concept I. The shift of the coexistence curve obtained from the absorption measurements relative to that from desorption is interpreted as being a consequence of the constraining pressure on the more voluminous β phase. By means of this shift the hysteretic behaviour of the χ(n) isotherms also becomes understandable.

Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type I Antibodies in the Serum of Patients With Tropical Spastic Paraparesis in the Seychelles

Abstract: • Tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP), a chronic myelopathy of unknown etiology, was studied in the Seychelles. Human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) and human immunodeficiency virus antibodies were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and confirmed with an indirect fluorescent antibody test in serum samples of 20 patients with TSP and 16 controls. Test results indicated that 17 patients (85%) and two controls (transverse myelopathy and clinically probable multiple sclerosis) were positive for HTLV-I. Serum samples of nine healthy controls and five with other neurologic diseases were negative for HTLV-I. No serum samples were positive for human immunodeficiency virus. Estimated relative risk for TSP in those subjects whose serum is positive for HTLV-I antibodies is 40. This result is highly statistically significant. Although primarily associated with adult T-cell leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, HTLV-I could also be an etiologic agent of TSP.

Degradation of phenol by a mixed culture of Pseudomonas putida and Cryptococcus elinovii adsorbed on activated carbon

Abstract: Phenol degradation by a defined mixed culture of Pseudomonas putida P8 and Cryptococcus elinovii H 1, which were immobilized by adsorption on activated carbon, was studied. The immobilized mixed culture was able to degrade phenol up to 17 g/l and degraded it faster than the pure cultures, depending on a “complementary metabolism” of the two microorganisms. Storage experiments revealed an excellent longterm storage capability of the biocatalyst: activated carbon with adsorbed cells of Pseudomonas putida P8 and Cryptococcus elinovii H1 could be stored up to 12 months without decrease on degradation capacity. Scanning electron micrographs showed that Pseudomonas putida P8 had grown through the pore system of the activated carbon into the inside of the carbon particles.

Low temperature X-ray investigation of structural distributions in myoglobin

Abstract: The results of X-ray structure analysis of metmyoglobin at 300 K, 185 K, 165 K, 115 K and 80 K are reported. The lattice vectorsa andb decrease linearly with temperature whilec shows non-linearity above 180 K, indicating some type of phase transition. Cooling does change the myoglobin structure but only within the structural distribution as determined by individual 〈x2〉 at room temperature. Two residues showed significant alternative positions for sidechains at higher temperatures while only one position is occupied at low temperatures. In the case of LEU 61 a jump between different positions of the side-chain reduces the potential barrier for the entrance of the O2 molecule to the heme pocket.

Stability of calcium-alginate during citric acid production of immobilized aspergillus niger

Abstract: This article introduces an easy to handle immobilization apparatus for the entrapment of microbial cells, organelles and enzymes in spherical gel beads Ca-alginate beads with entrapped cells of Aspergillus niger showed typical shrinking behaviour (from 300 mm to 225 mm particle diameter) A loss of stability down to 20% of the initial strength during precultivation of the fungus and within the following citric acid production occurred The observed particle shrinkage was due to the increasing acidification of the medium, whereas the decreased mechanical strength was caused by the entrapped growing microorganism This was confirmed by electron scanning micrographs, indicating a sponge-like gel structure within the region of enhanced mycelium growth which reduced diffusional resistance of the matrix Therefore no differences were found between citric acid production of Ca-alginate entrapped Aspergillus niger at 3 mm and 15 mm initial particle size