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Biomedical subjects

A R Cross

Publications and source records attributed to A R Cross.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Osteoarthritis in rhesus macaques: assessment of cartilage matrix quality by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging.

To assess cartilage quality with anatomical location and extent of osteoarthritis (OA), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the knee joint from rhesus monkeys was performed. MRI measurements--T1 and T2 relaxation times, proton density and cartilage thickness were taken from 8 equal segments of articular cartilage volumes extending from anterior to posterior edge of 1 mm sagittal slices. To grade the severity of OA in each quadrant of the knee joint a modified Mankin score was applied on the histological sections. Our results suggest that MR relaxation times and proton density values vary with the severity of osteoarthritis.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Microtubules grow and shorten at intrinsically variable rates.

Microtubules were assembled from pure tubulin with axonemal pieces serving as nuclei. They were observed by video-enhanced differential-interference-contrast light microscopy. Their lengths were measured from videotaped images at frequent intervals (0.13-5 s). Error analysis indicated that the uncertainty in measuring a single length was quite small; the 95% confidence limit approximated the microscope's limit of resolution. Rates of growth and shortening of the dynamically unstable microtubules, obtained from the length-versus-time data, were found to be highly variable. The variability was far too large to be attributed to known random error of measurement and must be a property of the microtubules. Further experiments were aimed at finding its structural cause. The variability of rates exhibited by a single microtubule was as great as that of the whole population. The locations at which a growing microtubule changed its rate of growth were not related to the locations at which rates changed during its subsequent shortening. The cause of the variability must therefore be both small relative to the size of a microtubule and transient relative to its lifetime. Fluctuations in configuration of the microtubule's cap appear to be the likeliest source.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Functional expression of NADPH oxidase components (alpha- and beta-subunits of cytochrome b558 and 45-kDa flavoprotein) by intrinsic human glomerular mesangial cells.

Recently, we have shown that human glomerular mesangial cells (HMCs) release oxygen radicals from the plasma membrane in response to cytokines. Now we have used diphenylene iodonium, a covalent binding inhibitor of activated 45-kDa flavoprotein, in neutrophils radiolabeled with 125I and could identify a 45-kDa protein band in a separated HMC plasma membrane fraction. Low temperature difference spectroscopy showed a peak absorbance at 428 and 558 nm. Direct potentiometry of HMC membranes (-340 to -160 mV) showed the presence of a low potential cytochrome (76 pmol/mg to HMC membrane protein) identified as cytochrome b558. In slot blots, mouse monoclonal antibody (mAb) 7D5, specific for the extracellular domain of the alpha-subunit, showed a positive reaction with HMCs. In Western blots, mAb 449, directed against the cytoplasmic epitope of the alpha-subunit, identified a 23-kDa protein; and mAb 48, raised against the large (beta) subunit of cytochrome b558 of human neutrophils (Verhoeven, A. J., Bolscher, B. G. J. M., Meerhof, L. J., van Zwieten, R., Keijer, J., Weening, R. S., and Roos, D. (1989) Blood 73, 1686-1694), detected a smear between 75 and 100 kDa in denatured HMC membrane protein. These data determined with HMCs, suggest for the first time the expression of three essential components of NADPH:O2- oxidoreductase in mesenchymal cells.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1991

Identification of a superoxide-generating NADPH oxidase system in human fibroblasts.

Human fibroblasts have the capacity to release superoxide radicals upon stimulation of an electron transport system similar to the NADPH oxidase of leukocytes. Two components of the NADPH oxidase system, (1) a flavoprotein of 45 kDa which binds diphenylene iodonium (a compound described as a specific inhibitor of the leukocyte NADPH oxidase), and (2) a low-potential cytochrome b, are present in fibroblast membranes. Fibroblasts exhibit these compounds at lower concentrations than do polymorphonuclear leukocytes or B-lymphocytes. The superoxide-generating system is rather uniformly associated with the outer cell membrane, as shown by light and electron microscopy. Superoxide release upon stimulation with various agents was prevented by the addition of micromolar concentrations of diphenylene iodonium, making an NADPH oxidase a likely source.

Calcimycin↗
PubMed1991

Kinky microtubules: bending and breaking induced by fixation in vitro with glutaraldehyde and formaldehyde.

We have employed video-enhanced light microscopy to study alterations of the overall shape of microtubules that are produced by the aldehyde fixation methods commonly employed to study them in vitro. Changes brought about by these methods include deformation and breakage. The severity of the effects depends on the fixative employed and increases with its concentration, and with the time of fixation. The changes are observed under a variety of conditions, such as brief exposure to 3.7% formaldehyde, or somewhat longer exposure to glutaraldehyde at concentrations as low as 0.05%. The observed distortion explains why microtubules usually appear curved or sinuous in electron micrographs while appearing relatively rigid and linear in video-enhanced light microscopy. The observed breakage implies that caution must be used in inferring length distributions from measurements of aldehyde-fixed microtubules.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Involvement of an NAD(P)H oxidase as a pO2 sensor protein in the rat carotid body.

The rat carotid body tissue reveals a photometrically measurable haem signal with absorbance maxima at 560 nm, 518 nm and 425 nm, suggesting the presence of a b-type cytochrome; this was confirmed by pyridine haemochrome and CO spectra. The quantity of cytochrome b was estimated to be 310 pmol.mg of protein-1. This haem is capable of H2O2 formation, which can be inhibited by 10 microM-diphenyliodonium (DPI). The hypoxia-induced increase in nervous chemoreceptor discharge and the reduction of FAD and NAD(P)+ were also inhibited by DPI (10 microM). These results suggest that an oxidase such as the NAD(P)H oxidase of neutrophils may act as a pO2 sensor protein in the rat carotid body, probably inducing the pO2 chemoreceptor process by H2O2 formation.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Electron-transport components of the 1-acyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine delta 12-desaturase (delta 12-desaturase) in microsomal preparations from developing safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) cotyledons.

The major cytochrome in microsomal membrane preparations from developing seeds of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius, var High Linoleate), has a reduced-minus-oxidized difference spectrum characteristic of a b-type cytochrome, and was identified from its midpoint-potential (E'7.2) value as cytochrome b5. Cytochromes P-450 and P-420 were also present. The cytochrome b5 content of microsomal preparations from a number of oilseed species was found to be in the order of 200-300 pmol/mg of protein. The cytochrome b5 was reduced in the membrane preparations by NADH, demonstrating the presence of an NADH: cytochrome b5 reductase; NADPH was a less effective donor. Microsomal membranes catalysed the NAD(P)H-dependent conversion of radioactive oleate into linoleate, indicating acyl-CoA: lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase and 1-acyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine delta 12-desaturase (delta 12-desaturase) activity. Desaturation of oleate to linoleate was unaffected by CO, but inhibited by CN-. The addition of oleoyl-CoA to the NADH-reduced membranes resulted in the CN(-)-sensitive partial re-oxidation of cytochrome b5, indicating that electrons from NADH were transferred to the site of desaturation via this cytochrome. The delta 12-desaturase in safflower, therefore, is CN(-)-sensitive and appears to require cytochrome b5 and NADH: cytochrome b5 reductase for activity.

Cytochromes b5↗
PubMed1990

The use of diphenylene iodonium, an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, to investigate the antimicrobial action of human monocyte derived macrophages.

Diphenylene iodonium is an inhibitor of the respiratory burst-generating NADPH oxidase of phagocytes. The effect of this compound on human monocyte-derived macrophages and its usefulness in exploring the antimicrobial mechanisms of phagocytes was examined. 1 microM diphenylene iodonium inhibited hydrogen peroxide production by human macrophages and the activity of these cells against Toxoplasma gondii. At this concentration macrophage degranulation was unaffected.

Acetylglucosaminidase↗
PubMed1990

Microtubule solutions display nematic liquid crystalline structure.

We report a study of the spontaneous formation of ordered arrays of microtubules in solution. Form birefringence and anisotropic light-scattering appear rapidly and spontaneously when tubulin, initially present in homogeneous solution, self-assembles into microtubules. This phenomenon is reversible and occurs at protein concentrations of a few milligrams per ml, in the presence or absence of microtubule-associated proteins. Light and electron microscopic examination reveals that extensive regions of these birefringent solutions consist of nearly parallel microtubules. Measurement of the order parameter, S, yields a value of 0.81 +/- 0.05, indicating a high degree of alignment. Comparison of these observations to qualitative predictions developed from the theory of Onsager ((1949) Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 51, 627-659) leads to the conclusion that microtubules form a nematic liquid crystalline phase in vitro under ordinary conditions. Simultaneous spectrophotometric observation of turbidity (a measure of microtubule assembly) and birefringence shows that the parallel ordering lags only slightly behind assembly, thus demonstrating that much microtubule growth must occur by addition of tubulin to the ends of microtubules that are already aligned. These observations of anisotropy are important to the understanding of microtubule dynamics in vitro.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Purification and some properties of the 45 kDa diphenylene iodonium-binding flavoprotein of neutrophil NADPH oxidase.

The 45 kDa diphenylene iodonium-binding flavoprotein of the human neutrophil superoxide-generating oxidase has been purified by affinity chromatography. The polypeptide was eluted from Blue Memsep or 2',5'-ADP-agarose columns with either NADP or low concentrations of the specific inhibitor diphenylene iodonium. The purified protein was shown to bind FAD at a ratio of 1.09 mol of FAD/mol of protein. The reconstituted flavoprotein had a fluorescence spectrum similar, but not identical, to that of free FAD. It had an isoelectric point of approx. 4.0. The reconstituted flavoprotein displayed no diaphorase activity towards a range of artificial electron acceptors. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the pure protein inhibited superoxide generation by solubilized oxidase in a dose-dependent manner, and inhibited superoxide generation when incubated with either cytosol or membrane fractions in a reconstituted system. These antibodies precipitated the 45 kDa polypeptide together with a haem-containing 23 kDa protein thought to be the small subunit of cytochrome b-245. Antibodies raised against cytochrome P-450 reductase also precipitated these two polypeptides. These results are consistent with the 45 kDa polypeptide being the flavoprotein of the neutrophil superoxide-generating oxidase.

Cell-Free System↗
PubMed1990

Inhibitors of the leukocyte superoxide generating oxidase: mechanisms of action and methods for their elucidation.

Oxygen radical production by phagocytic cells is currently receiving a great deal of attention as the role of radical damage is becoming apparent in inflammatory diseases, reperfusion injury, cancer, and aging. A large number of inhibitors of the superoxide generating oxidase are known, including standard and experimental anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic drugs, natural products, anaesthetics, tranquillizers and antibiotics, in addition to compounds used as experimental tools. The composition of the oxidase and the possible sites of inhibition of these compounds are discussed together with the possible mechanisms of activation of the oxidase and the effects these agents may have on these pathways. Use of these compounds has provided a great deal of information about the components and the nature of the activation processes involved in the stimulation of radical production by leukocytes, as well as pointing to possible targets for the production of novel anti-inflammatory agents. It is clear however that further understanding of the precise nature of the activation pathways and the extent of the involvement of leukocyte-derived oxygen radicals in disease processes will require more specific inhibitors than most of those currently available.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Studies on the electron-transfer mechanism of the human neutrophil NADPH oxidase.

A superoxide-generating NADPH oxidase was solubilized from phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-activated human neutrophils with a mixture of sodium deoxycholate (0.125%, w/v) and Lubrol-PX (0.125%, v/v). The solubilized preparation contained FAD (577 pmol/mg of protein) and cytochrome b-245 (479 pmol/mg of protein) and produced 11.61 mol of O2-./s per mol of cytochrome b (340 nmol of O2-./min per mg of protein). On addition of NADPH, the cytochrome b-245 was reduced by 7.9% and the FAD by 38% in the aerobic steady state; NADH addition caused little steady-state reduction of cytochrome b and FAD. In this preparation, and several others, the measured rate of O2-. production correlated with the turnover of cytochrome b calculated from the extent of cytochrome b-245 reduction under aerobic conditions. Addition of diphenyleneiodonium abolished the reduction of both the FAD and cytochrome b-245 components and inhibited O2-. production. The haem ligand imidazole inhibited O2-. generation and cytochrome b reduction while permitting FAD reduction. These results support the suggestion that the human neutrophil NADPH oxidase has the electron-transport sequence: NADPH----FAD----cytochrome b-245----O2.

Cytochrome b Group↗
PubMed1989

Superoxide-dependent nitroblue tetrazolium reduction and expression of cytochrome b-245 components by human tonsillar B lymphocytes and B cell lines.

EBV-transformed B lymphocyte cell lines can generate superoxide, using an electron transport chain homologous, or even identical, to phagocytic NADPH-oxidase. We searched for normal, not virally transformed, B lymphocytes with analogous properties, using tonsils as the source of B cells. Unseparated tonsillar leukocytes contained cells capable of PMA-triggered superoxide dismutase-inhibitable reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT+ cells) well in excess of phagocytes (18.9 +/- 6.4% NBT+ cells with 1.3 +/- 0.9% granulocytes and 1.9 +/- 2.3% monocytes/macrophages, n = 8). NBT reduction was also inhibited by diphenylene iodonium, a selective inhibitor of phagocytic NADPH-oxidase. Cross-linking of surface Ig was equally effective as PMA in inducing NBT reduction among tonsillar leukocytes. NBT+ cells co-distributed with B cells on Percoll density gradients and were enriched among purified B cells obtained by SRBC rosetting twice and Sephadex G10 adherence (47.8 +/- 15.2% NBT+ cells among 90.5 +/- 5.5% B cells, 4.8 +/- 5.1% T cells, 1.2 +/- 0.77% monocytes/macrophages, and 0.73 +/- 0.6% granulocytes, n = 10). Further, mAb 7D5, directed against an extracellularly located epitope of the small subunit of cytochrome b-245 of phagocytes, stained the majority of tonsillar B cells (85 +/- 9.2% 7D5+ cells and 91.6 +/- 4.04% B cells, n = 3). Superoxide production, staining with 7D5 antibody, and expression of mRNA for the beta chain of cytochrome b-245 were further analyzed in cell lines. The EBV-BLCL F1 and the Burkitt lymphoma P3HR-1 both carried 7D5-detectable cytochrome b-245 Ag and expressed mRNA for the beta chain of the cytochrome b, both in similar amounts. However, only F1, not P3HR-1, was capable of PMA-triggered superoxide production. These data indicate that also normal nontransformed B lymphocytes possess the capacity to generate superoxide by a system apparently similar to phagocytic NADPH-oxidase, provisionally termed "B cell oxidase." Discrepancies observed in certain B cells and lines between expression of cytochrome b components and stimulus-induced superoxide production may be related to an absence or low level of other oxidase components or of the signal transduction mechanism. Conceivably, production of superoxide and derived reactive oxygen species by B cells may have cytotoxic, immunomodulatory, or mutagenic effects on the B cells themselves or on cells in their immediate vicinity.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

The superoxide generating system of B cell lines. Structural homology with the phagocytic oxidase and triggering via surface Ig.

EBV-transformed B lymphocyte cell lines (EBV-BLCL) produce superoxide after stimulation with phorbol ester, a capacity unique among nonmyeloid cells. The superoxide producing system of EBV-BLCL (B cell oxidase) was compared with the phagocytic NADPH-oxidase and the relationship of the capacity to produce superoxide to the presence of the EBV-genome was analyzed. The two EBV-transformed B cell lines F1 and HELL generated superoxide in response to PMA (2.3 nmol/10(6) F1 cells x 1 h and 6.27 nmol/10(6) HELL cells x 1 h with 1 microgram/ml of PMA), whereas no superoxide release was detected with the EBV-positive Burkitt lymphoma line WIL-2 and the EBV-negative plasmocytoma line U-266. Also, F1 and HELL showed lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence (CL) after PMA-treatment, whereas no CL responses were detected from WIL-2 or U-266. Further, F1 and HELL cells contained a low potential cytochrome b-245 (10.9 and 61.0 pmol/mg protein, respectively) and also a 45 kDa diphenylene-iodonium (DPI)-binding peptide, both components of the phagocytic NADPH-oxidase. In contrast, neither the cytochrome b-245 nor the 45 kDa DPI-binding peptide were detected in WIL-2 and U-266. In addition, DPI inhibited O2- production by PMA-stimulated EBV-BLCL and polymorphonuclear granulocytes. Further, F1 line cells showed superoxide dismutase-inhibitable lucigenin-dependent CL when triggered by protein A-bearing staphylococci (Cowan strain I) or by a mAb directed against human IgG in the presence of solid-phase goat anti-mouse-Ig antibody. From a panel of eight EBV-BLCL, only five responded with CL when exposed to protein A-bearing staphylococci, whereas all showed CL when treated with phorbol ester. Inasmuch as all eight EBV-BLCL possessed surface Ig and a "functional" oxidase, their differential response to cross-linking of surface Ig may be determined by differences in signal transduction. Superoxide production by EBV-BLCL appears thus related to expression of an electron transport chain structurally homologous, if not identical, with the "phagocytic" NADPH-oxidase. Apparently, the presence of EBV-genome in B cell lines does not per se lead to expression of this oxidase. This suggests that nontransformed B cells may, at a certain differentiation stage, also express a superoxide-generating chain. From the finding of stimulation of superoxide production of EBV-BLCL via surface Ig it appears possible that also Ag may be able to trigger such B cells to production of superoxide which might have an important role in the physiology of B cells.

B-Lymphocytes↗
PubMed1987

Induction of synthesis of components of the hydrogen peroxide-generating oxidase during activation of the human monocytic cell line U937 by interferon-gamma.

Increased amounts of cytochrome b-245 and a 45 kDa polypeptide component of the hydrogen peroxide-generating oxidase were detected in the human monocytic cell line U937 after incubation in interferon-gamma. The time course of increase in cytochrome b-245 paralleled the induction of oxidase activity. Induction of the 45 kDa component had a different time course, having a greater lag before increased amounts were seen.

Cell Line↗
PubMed1987

The inhibitory effects of some iodonium compounds on the superoxide generating system of neutrophils and their failure to inhibit diaphorase activity.

I have recently reported the inhibition of the neutrophil superoxide generating oxidase by very low concentrations of diphenylene iodonium (A. R. Cross and O. T. G. Jones, Biochem. J. 237, 111, 1986). Here I report on the sensitivity of the oxidase to two other iodonium compounds, iodonium thiophen and iodonium biphenyl. In addition, the lack of inhibition of dye reductase activity in a solubilized preparation of the oxidase is described suggesting that the superoxide forming enzyme system of neutrophils does not possess an intrinsic dye reductase activity.

Animals↗