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Biomedical subjects

A Radbruch

Publications and source records attributed to A Radbruch.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

An interleukin 4-induced DNase I hypersensitive site indicates opening of the gamma 1 switch region prior to switch recombination.

Interleukin 4 (IL4) directs class switch recombination to the gamma 1 switch region (s gamma 1) in mitogen-activated murine B lymphocytes. The finding that transcription of the unrearranged s gamma 1 and its 5' flanking region is induced by IL4 prior to switch recombination had argued for the idea that IL4 promotes s mu/s gamma 1 switch recombination by selectively inducing accessibility of the gamma 1 switch region for a general switch recombinase. Here further evidence for this model is provided by showing that within less than 6 h IL4 induces a DNase I hypersensitive (HS) site 5' adjacent to the s gamma 1 region in activated murine B cells. This change in chromatin structure most likely reflects the IL4-responsive binding of regulatory proteins within or in the vicinity of the HS site. The result provides a candidate sequence for an IL4-dependent enhancer/promoter of transcription of s gamma 1.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

A novel 34-kd protein co-isolated with the IgM molecule in surface IgM-expressing cells.

Plasmacytoma cells, transfected with a vector encoding a membrane-bound IgM molecule, do not show cell surface IgM expression, although complete IgM molecules are assembled intracellularly. The isolation of a surface IgM-positive variant allowed us to analyse molecular requirements of surface IgM expression. Only in surface IgM-positive cells, a 34-kd protein (B34) was found to be associated with IgM. B34 is a glycoprotein which forms a disulphide-linked homodimer. The surface IgM-positive variant cell line expressing B34 also contains transcripts of the pre-B and B cell specific mb-1 gene. The data are discussed in the context of a possible IgM-antigen receptor complex.

B-Lymphocytes↗
PubMed1987

Directed Ig class switch recombination in activated murine B cells.

Immunoglobulin class switch recombination occurs at frequencies of up to 10%/cell/generation in activated murine B-lymphocytes. We analysed cH gene rearrangements and switch recombinations from active and inactive IgH loci of B-cells activated in various ways and immortalized by cell fusion. Although about half of the IgM+ cells show rearrangement of c mu genes, the deletion of c mu is a rare event. Half of the IgG3+ and IgG1+ cells show rearrangement of c mu genes on the inactive IgH locus and the other half of the IgG+ cells have deleted c mu from both IgH loci by switch recombination. This recombination is directed to the same switch regions on both IgH loci in 60-80% of all cases. Interleukin 4 may play a critical role in programming murine B-lymphocytes for specific switch recombination.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Ig gene rearrangement and expression in the progeny of B-cell progenitors in the course of clonal expansion in bone marrow cultures.

In cultures of murine bone marrow cells colonies of 10(3)-10(4) cells were identified which consisted to a large part of pre-B and B cells. Cell mixing experiments with genetically marked cells indicated that each colony is derived from a single progenitor cell not yet committed to the expression of either IgH locus. A concanavalin-A-mediated electrofusion method allowed us to rescue and amplify individual cells from a given colony by hybridization with X63.Ag8.653 cells. The molecular analysis of 12 such hybridomas revealed that all IgH loci were rearranged into DJH or productive or nonproductive VHDJH complexes. Most kappa and all lambda light chain loci were in germline configuration. Kappa chain expression was only seen in heavy (mu) chain expressing hybridomas. Hybridomas from a given colony were heterogeneous in terms of DJH and VHDJH rearrangements and in no cell was more than one productive VHDJH complex detected. None of the productive VHDJH complexes contained a VH gene of group 1 (J558), the largest VH gene family with about half of the VH genes. This is in marked contrast to VH gene usage in splenic B cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Cell-cooling in flow cytometry by Peltier elements.

We have built a cooling device for cell suspensions in flow cytometry that makes use of the Peltier effect (Barnard RD, Thermo electricity in Metals and Alloys, Taylor and Francis, London; Siemens-Z 34:383-88, 1963). The prototype described here is used for cooling collection tubes during long-duration cell sorting and is capable of maintaining a temperature of 2-5 degrees C in a cell suspension of up to 3 ml. In general, Peltier element-based cooling is useful for equilibrating the temperature of small volumes of fluids. Furthermore, Peltier element-based cooling devices are easy to build and handle.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Class switch recombination is IgG1 specific on active and inactive IgH loci of IgG1-secreting B-cell blasts.

Mouse B lymphocytes can be activated polyclonally by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to secrete Ig and perform Ig class switch. In the presence of the T-cell lymphokine B-cell differentiation factor, the frequency of IgG1-secreting cells is drastically enhanced. We show here that IgG1-secreting B cells isolated from such cultures have undergone a similar DNA rearrangement of the switch regions (S mu, S gamma 1) of the Ig heavy chain constant region genes C mu and C gamma 1 on both active and inactive IgH loci. This result argues against a stochastic model of class switch recombination and suggests programmed class-specific switch recombination in the case of the switch to IgG1. In accord with this notion, cells expressing IgM but not IgG on the surface have not deleted or rearranged C mu or S gamma 1 on either chromosome.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Control of immunoglobulin class switch recombination.

The comparative analysis of Ig class switch recombination in a priori IgG/IgA-expressing myelomas and hybridomas, in switch variants and in activated normal B cells shows the following characteristics of class switch recombination in activated B cells: It is prevented during most of B cell ontogeny. It happens on both IgH loci of activated and switched B cells. The recombination is programmed in that on both IgH loci of switched cells the same switch regions recombine with Smu. This is true at least for the IgG1 pathway. IgM-expressing cells show no class switch recombination on the inactive IgH locus. Thus, physiological class switch recombination is a programmed rather than a random event and is controlled as such. The initial stages of class switching and the molecules involved in these are largely unclear: What is the nature of the protection of switch regions and how is this protection abrogated? Do specific recombinases exist? What is the role of large transcription units? Is the specificity of class switch recombination a result of specific "opening" of the DNA for transcription? Do all B cells use the same switch mechanism? What is the role of switch factors (such as lymphokines)? These and more questions await answers and although a variety of switch scenarios could be discussed at present a detailed speculation seems premature.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Evidence for transient requirement of the IgH enhancer.

A transcriptional enhancer is thought to play a major role in determining tissue-specific expression of the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene (1-3). However in three B-lymphoid cell lines the Ig enhancer has been lost due to a spontaneous deletion, yet heavy chain synthesis persists at a high level (4-6). In the case of the enhancerless delta chain gene (5) we wanted to test whether the IgH enhancer is no longer necessary for maintenance of transcription or whether perhaps a new enhancer was created de novo by the deletion process. To this end we have cloned the relevant portion of the variant IgH gene and transfected it into myeloma and hybridoma cells. We find that the reintroduced gene segment is not expressed unless it is linked again to an enhancer. The results suggest that the IgH enhancer is necessary for the onset of transcription, presumably by organizing the gene into stable transcription complexes, but is dispensable at later stages once the transcription unit is activated.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Inexpensive upgrading of a FACS I and isolation of rare somatic variants by double-fluorescence sorting.

We have modified a FACS I by addition of a tunable dye laser and an optical system for fluorescence detection that allows physically independent measurement of green and red immunofluorescence. These modifications are inexpensive and should be applicable to most single-laser systems. By using the modified machine and double-fluorescence activated selection with H-2Kk-specific monoclonal antibodies labelled with FITC or Texas Red, we have isolated from a murine T-cell lymphoma line variant subclones expressing structurally altered histocompatibility class I (H-2Kk) molecules.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Members of novel VH gene families are found in VDJ regions of polyclonally activated B-lymphocytes.

Four potentially productive and two non-productive VDJ gene segments were isolated from the DNA of mouse B-lymphocytes which had been polyclonally activated by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Three VDJ regions exhibit VH genes which stem from two novel VH gene families. The complexity of these families is 5-9 genes. One of the non-productive VDJ regions exhibits a D segment which may have been generated by joining of two DSP2 segments. Both non-productive VDJ regions appear to contain rearranged pseudo VH genes. Three potential somatic mutations distributed over two productive VDJ regions are observed.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Isolation and characterization of anti-monosialoganglioside monoclonal antibody 19-9 class-switch variants.

Three different monoclonal antibody isotypes, IgG1, IgG2b, and IgG2a, were derived by selection of isotype-switch variants from the CO-19-9 hybridoma. All three antibodies retained their binding specificities and affinities and bound to the same epitope--as defined by the anti-idiotype analysis. Availability of gamma 1, gamma 2b, and gamma 2a Ig heavy chain variants directed against the same epitope on the monosialoganglioside antigen permitted detailed analysis of their Fc fragment receptor (FcR) binding affinities, their cytolytic activities (antibody-dependent, macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity) in vitro, and their tumoricidal activities in vivo. Analysis of the binding of three isotypes to the human FcR expressed by U937 cells induced by gamma interferon has shown that only IgG2a proteins bound to high-affinity FcR, but not IgG1 or IgG2b variants. Although all three isotypes were active in the antibody-dependent, macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity assay with murine thioglycolate-elicited macrophages, the IgG2a gave the highest percentage of lysis; similar results were obtained in the same assay with human monocytes as effector cells. In the nude mice experiment, only the IgG2a variant inhibited growth of human colorectal carcinoma, while IgG1 and IgG2b were ineffective. Thus, selection of isotype-switch variants resulted in the conversion of monoclonal antibody from noncytolytic to cytolytic with possible immunotherapeutic application.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Signal requirements for growth and differentiation of activated murine B lymphocytes.

Mouse B lymphocytes were stimulated at high cell concentrations with goat anti-IgM antibodies, which leads to the induction of B cell proliferation without the addition of any growth factors. After 48 hr, blast cells were purified and cultured at low cell concentrations. Proliferation and differentiation of purified B lymphocyte blasts is then dependent on the addition of either mitogens (e.g., LPS) or certain lymphokines derived from activated T cells or macrophages. One such lymphokine was isolated from supernatants of various activated T cells and characterized by gel filtration as a material with an apparent m.w. of 40,000 to 50,000, similar to BCGF II. It supports the proliferation of the B cell blasts and induces their differentiation into plaque-forming cells. Lymphokines such as BCGF I, interleukin 2, and BCDF gamma could neither maintain growth nor induce differentiation of B lymphocytes preactivated by goat anti-IgM.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Deletion of the IgH enhancer does not reduce immunoglobulin heavy chain production of a hybridoma IgD class switch variant.

Immunoglobulin (Ig) gene promotors are active only in cells of the B-lymphocyte lineage. Transfection experiments have shown that this is due in part to tissue specific 'activating' DNA sequences, so called enhancers. It is not entirely clear whether these sequences are necessary for initial activation or also for maintenance of transcription of a gene. We describe here the isolation and characterisation of a mouse hybridoma cell line that has deleted in vitro the 'activating' sequence from the active IgH locus, the only IgH locus it contains. Nevertheless, Ig heavy chain production of the variant cell is not impaired and remains comparable with that of other hybridoma cells. Therefore, a high rate of Ig heavy chain production in antibody-producing cells is either independent of any sequences enhancing transcription or else these can easily be replaced by other DNA sequences with a similar function that have been moved into the vicinity of the V region.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Deletion of Cmu genes in mouse B lymphocytes upon stimulation with LPS.

Mouse B lymphocytes can be activated polyclonally by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to differentiate into plasmablasts. Within several days many cells perform immunoglobulin (Ig) class switching in vitro. We have purified LPS blasts expressing IgM or only IgG3 on the cell surface and analysed the DNA of these cells by Southern hybridisation blotting to detect rearrangement or deletion of CH genes. Quantitative evaluation of the Southern blots suggests that populations of surface IgG3+ (sIgG3+) cells from 6-day and sIgM+ cells from 8-day-old cultures contain only about half as many Cmu genes as spleen cells. Cmu deletion is nearly complete in populations of sIgG3+ cells from 9-day-old cultures. Therefore, upon stimulation with LPS, within a few days Cmu is deleted in most sIgG3+ cells from both chromosomes.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Recombination between antibody heavy chain variable-region genes: evidence for gene conversion.

The murine hybridoma line B1-8.delta 1 secretes monoclonal IgD lambda 1 antibodies specific for the hapten (4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl)acetyl (NP). The variable (V) region of these antibodies is defined by a characteristic pattern of idiotopes. A spontaneous V-region variant (B1-8.V1) with altered idiotope pattern was selected. The structural variation is confined to the V region of the heavy chain. It was shown previously that the variant V region is encoded by a gene that was generated by a crossover between the rearranged VDJ gene of the wild type (B1-8.delta 1) and a neighboring germ-line VH gene. In the present study the nucleotide sequence of coding and flanking regions of the VH gene expressed in variant B1-8.V1 was determined. Wild-type and variant VH genes differ at 15 positions in a region between leader sequence and codon 66. The sequence of the region carrying the substitutions is identical to the sequence of the corresponding region in a neighboring germ-line VH gene. This implies that the variant VH gene was generated by a mechanism of recombination more complicated than single crossover. Gene conversion as the mechanism of the recombination is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Immunoglobulin V region variants in hybridoma cells. I. Isolation of a variant with altered idiotypic and antigen binding specificity.

The hybridoma cell line B1-8.delta 1 expresses an IgD antibody with specificity for the hapten 4-hydroxy-3-nitro-phenylacetyl (NP). Two monoclonal antibodies, each recognizing an idiotypic determinant (idiotope) in the variable region of antibody B1-8, and fluorescence-activated cell sorting were used for the isolation of spontaneous somatic cell variants whose antibody product lacks the expression of one of the two idiotopes. The variant cells carry a mutation which is expressed in the variable region of the antibody heavy chains and which reduces the affinity of the antibody for hapten greater than 100-fold. Idiotope loss variants of the selected phenotype are present in the B1-8.delta 1 cell population at low frequency.

Animals↗