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Biomedical subjects

A Sobel

Publications and source records attributed to A Sobel.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Stathmin phosphorylation patterns discriminate between distinct transduction pathways of human T lymphocyte activation through CD2 triggering.

CD2 triggering of human T lymphocyte activation has been associated with the activation of different interacting protein kinases, including protein kinase C (PKC). However the precise roles of its phosphorylated substrates are still unknown. We show here that PKC-dependent and -independent pathways are responsible for the CD2-induced phosphorylation of stathmin, a ubiquitous soluble phosphoprotein, most likely acting as a general intracellular relay integrating various second messenger pathways. The phosphorylated variants of stathmin provide a fingerprint reflecting the second messenger pathway(s) stimulated. The respective roles of both PKC and stathmin in the regulation of T lymphocyte proliferation are discussed.

Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte↗
PubMed1991

Stathmin: a relay phosphoprotein for multiple signal transduction?

Stathmin is a ubiquitous, phylogenetically conserved protein present in the cytoplasm of cells in a variety of unphosphorylated and phosphorylated forms. Its expression and phosphorylation are regulated throughout development and in response to extracellular signals regulating cell proliferation, differentiation and functions. The overall pattern of its molecular forms reflects the activation of corresponding second messenger pathways. This phosphoprotein is therefore a good candidate as a general relay in signal transduction, possibly integrating diverse signals of the cell's environment.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Phosphorylation of stathmin and other proteins related to nerve growth factor-induced regulation of PC12 cells.

We previously identified a set of soluble proteins whose phosphorylation could be originally related to the multihormonal regulations of anterior pituitary cells. Among these proteins, stathmin (proteins 7 and 8) was found to be ubiquitous and mostly abundant in neurons. Interestingly, stathmin and some other phosphoproteins of the same set could be identified also in PC12 cells in culture. Their phosphorylation was stimulated in these cells by nerve growth factor (NGF) in a way associated with its short term actions, probably corresponding to the early steps of its neuronal differentiating activity. In addition, the same proteins had their phosphorylation stimulated in the presence of fibroblast growth factor, known to stimulate PC12 cell differentiation in a way similar to NGF. A pharmacological analysis allowed us to distinguish three characteristic subsets of phosphoproteins, respectively, affected by cAMP-dependent agents, by cAMP-independent ones, or by both types of agents. Moreover, phosphorylation of stathmin and some other proteins was additive in the presence of NGF and of the cAMP-promoting agent forskolin. Altogether, the present results unravel some intracellular mechanisms related to the regulation of PC12 cells by extracellular effectors. They extend to the regulation of cell differentiation in our recent model for stathmin (Sobel, A., Boutterin, M-C., Beretta, L., Chneiweiss, H., Doye, V., and Peyro-Saint-Paul, H. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 3765-3772) as an ubiquitous intracellular relay possibly integrating the actions of diverse second messenger pathways involved in cell regulations.

Adenosine↗
PubMed1990

A single amino acid difference distinguishes the human and the rat sequences of stathmin, a ubiquitous intracellular phosphoprotein associated with cell regulations.

Stathmin is a ubiquitous phosphoprotein proposed to play a general role as an intracellular relay integrating diverse regulatory signals of the cell's environment. We used a rat stathmin probe to isolate two classes of cDNAs coding for the human protein and corresponding to the usage of different polyadenylation sites. Compared to the rat sequences, they displayed a very high conservation both at the nucleic acid and the deduced protein sequence levels, with a single conservative amino acid difference. Further analysis of the protein sequence revealed novel putative phosphorylation sites, as well as internal repeated sequences which might reflect structural features involved in the molecular mechanisms by which stathmin fulfills its biological functions. The extreme conservation of the entire stathmin sequence further stresses the essential and general role of stathmin in cell regulations.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Developmental tissue expression and phylogenetic conservation of stathmin, a phosphoprotein associated with cell regulations.

Stathmin is a 19-kDa phosphoprotein presumably involved in regulations of cell proliferation, differentiation, and functions as an intracellular relay for extracellular signals activating diverse second messenger pathways. Antisera prepared against the whole protein or against two peptides (residues 15-27 and 134-149) recognized the two isoforms (alpha and beta) of stathmin in their different phosphorylated states on immunoblots. Also, the possible existence of a family of stathmin-related proteins is suggested by the detection with some sera of proteins of 17, 21, and 60 kDa in brain. Stathmin and its diverse molecular forms were detected in all mouse tissues tested, in varying concentrations. Depending on the tissue, it is 2-100 times more abundant in the neonate than in the adult. It is most abundant in brain at both developmental stages, the protein levels being paralleled by the expression of the corresponding mRNA as detected with a specific cDNA probe. Antibodies directed against the rat protein also reacted with stathmin-like proteins in the brain of other mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and some fish species, and the various isoforms could be recognized on immunoblots. In conclusion, our results suggest that stathmin is most likely involved in two distinct types of regulations: 1) "developmental" regulations, related to cell proliferation, differentiation, and maturation, and 2) "functional" regulations mostly at the adult stage, and typically in the nervous system. In addition, stathmin is also phylogenetically well conserved at least in vertebrates. Together, these observations support the proposed ubiquitous nature and general importance of stathmin in biological regulations.

Aging↗
PubMed1990

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) encephalomyeloradiculitis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) encephalitis: presence of HIV and CMV co-infected multinucleated giant cells.

A 25-year-old homosexual male with AIDS presented with a cauda equina syndrome clinically suggestive of cytomegalovirus (CMV) myeloradiculitis. He was treated with ganciclovir with transient improvement of neurological signs and died 4 months after onset of neurological signs. Neuropathological examination revealed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) encephalitis, CMV subependymal encephalitis and CMV myeloradiculitis. The latter was characterised by myelin loss, Schwann cell proliferation and presence of CMV early antigens in the nuclei of S-100 protein-positive cells in the spinal roots. In the subependymal regions, morphologically characteristic multinucleated giant cells, positive for CD68, contained early CMV antigens (E13) in their nuclei and HIV antigens (gp41 and p24) in their cytoplasm. The observation that HIV and CMV can co-infect the same cell in vivo raises the possibility of a direct synergistic interaction of both viruses at cell level. This suggests that CMV may play a role as a co-factor in the pathogenesis of HIV encephalopathy.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1990

Microscopic Wegener's disease: a particular form of Wegener's granulomatosis.

We describe a case of Wegener's granulomatosis in which the disease was manifested with crescentic glomerulonephritis, upper airway ulcerations, and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia with consumptive coagulopathy. No granuloma was identified but antibodies to cytoplasmic components of neutrophils were strongly positive with a diffuse pattern. Because microscopic vessels were predominantly involved (capillaritis), and granuloma were absent, were refer to this particular form of the disease as "microscopic Wegener's disease."

Aged↗
PubMed1990

Treatment of progressive systemic sclerosis by plasma exchange: long-term results in 40 patients.

The efficacy of plasma exchanges (PE) during the course of scleroderma has only been investigated for short periods. The aim of this study was to follow patients over a long enough period to observe the course of the clinical and paraclinical symptoms in the short, medium, and long term. Forty patients, 24 women and 16 men, were treated by PE and observed for 1-3, 3-12 and over 12 months. Immunological, biological and clinical course and any undesirable side effects were evaluated using a detailed questionnaire. Concomitant therapies were reported and most frequently consisted of corticosteroids, colchicine, factor XIII or vasodilators (nifedipine, captopril). The therapeutic effectiveness of PE was assessed on the basis of improvements in cutaneous, digestive, joint, muscular, lung, cardiovascular and renal lesions. Our findings confirmed the effectiveness of short-term PE on scleroderma (52% of the patients improved during the first 3 months). However, this improvement was transient (5% improvement between 3 and 12 months and only 2.5% over 12 months) and limited to the cutaneous and muscular lesions. Thus, PE cannot be recommended for the treatment of progressive systemic sclerosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Value of the LDH level in pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus].

LDH levels were measured in 30 AIDS patients with P. carinii pneumonia (PCP), evidenced by bronchoalveolar lavage, and 12 HIV 1-infected patients with P. carinii-negative bronchial or pulmonary manifestations, constituting the control group. Extrapulmonary causes of elevated LDH levels were eliminated. In the case of bronchopneumopathy, the sensitivity and the specificity of an abnormal LDH level for suggesting PCP were both 83%. For an interstitial pneumopathy, the sensitivity was the same but the specificity was 100%. During a one year period, the prevalence of PCP in our department was 69%. The positive and negative predictive values of increased LDH levels in HIV-infected patients were, respectively: 92 and 63% for bronchopneumopathy, and 100 and 73% for interstitial pneumopathy. Furthermore, the lowering and then the normalization of the LDH value were observed in all PCP cases with a favorable outcome. This simple yet highly sensitive laboratory analysis should be used for the diagnosis and monitoring of all bronchopneumopathies in HIV-infected patients.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1990

[Acute pancytopenia induced by pyrimethamine during treatment of cerebral toxoplasmosis associated with AIDS. Role of dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors].

An AIDS patient with cerebral toxoplasmosis had a folate deficiency-induced acute pancytopenia, which was rapidly reversed by the administration of folic acid. This observation is particularly important as a possible preventive therapy to be given to all HIV-infected patients because of the anti-folic activity of the majority of anti-infectious agents used during the course of this disease and the many potential sites of hematopoietic involvement. The patient's condition is stressed because the undernourished subject is at greater risk for this type of manifestation.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1989

A single cDNA encodes two isoforms of stathmin, a developmentally regulated neuron-enriched phosphoprotein.

Stathmin, a 19-kDa neuron-enriched soluble phosphoprotein, has been recently proposed as an ubiquitous intracellular relay for the diverse extracellular signals regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and functions through various second messenger pathways (Sobel, A., Boutterin, M.C., Beretta, L., Chneiweiss, H., Doye, V., and peyro-Saint-Paul, H. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 3765-3772). Internal sequences of the protein from rat brain were determined after purification by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, electrotransfer onto Immobilon, and in situ proteolysis. Oligonucleotide mixtures based on these sequences were used to clone a cDNA for stathmin from a rat PC12 cell lambda gt 10 library. The deduced amino acid sequence reveals partial homologies with the coiled coil structural regions of several intracellular matrix phosphoproteins. Using this cDNA as a probe, we show that the expression of stathmin mRNA parallels that of the protein during brain ontogenesis, reaching a maximum at the neonatal stage. In vitro translation of the derived cRNA yielded all the known molecular forms of stathmin, namely its alpha and beta isoforms in their unphosphorylated and phosphorylated states. Thus, a single cDNA codes for both biologically relevant isoforms of the protein, indicating that they differ by co- or post-translational modifications.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗
PubMed1989

Identification of two distinct isoforms of stathmin and characterization of their respective phosphorylated forms.

Stathmin is a ubiquitous soluble protein (Mr approximately 19,000, pI approximately 6.2-5.5) whose phosphorylation is associated with the intracellular mechanisms involved in the regulations of cell differentiation and functions by extracellular effectors. Its purification from rat brain and the preparation of specific antibodies allowed us to identify a set of immunologically related unphosphorylated (N1, N2) and phosphorylated (P1, P2a, P2b, P3) proteins of decreasing isoelectric points. All these proteins yielded identical silver-stained or 32P-radioactive peptide maps with the protease V8 from Staphylococcus aureus, indicating that they are also structurally related. In vitro phosphorylation with the exogenous catalytic subunit of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase, as well as dephosphorylation with alkaline phosphatase, indicated that P1, P2, and P3 derived from N1 and N2 by progressive phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of individual proteins extracted from semi-preparative two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels demonstrated the existence of two distinct isoforms of stathmin, alpha and beta: N1 and N2 are their respective unphosphorylated forms (alpha O and beta O), whereas proteins P1-P3 could be resolved as at least three increasingly phosphorylated forms of both alpha and beta stathmin (alpha 1, alpha 2, alpha(3) and beta 1, beta 2, beta(3]. In intact pituitary GH4C1 cells, hormones like thyrotropin-releasing hormone and vasoactive intestinal peptide induced a similar conversion from N1 and N2 to P1, P2, and P3. The phosphorylation of both alpha and beta isoforms of stathmin is therefore a physiologically significant response to specific extracellular regulatory agents. In conclusion, stathmin represents a family of at least two distinct protein isoforms, whose respective phosphorylation and expression might play a role in its likely function as an intracellular relay of various converging extracellular signals.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1989

Intracellular substrates for extracellular signaling. Characterization of a ubiquitous, neuron-enriched phosphoprotein (stathmin).

We previously identified (Sobel, A., and Tashjian, A. H., Jr. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 10312-10324) a group of cytoplasmic proteins whose phosphorylation could be related to the regulation by extracellular effectors of cells as different as pituitary and muscle cells. Among these phosphoproteins, proteins "7" and "8" (Mr approximately 19,000, pI approximately 5.8-6.0), that we now designate P1 and P2, are very abundant in rat brain. Partial purification of these proteins was therefore achieved after 100 degrees C precipitation of a rat brain-soluble fraction and further fractionation of the supernatant by ion exchange chromatography. Several related non-phosphorylated (N1, N2) and phosphorylated (P3) proteins were also identified in the heat-resistant supernatant. Antisera raised against P2 extracted from nitrocellulose blots of semipreparative two-dimensional gels recognized all the proteins N1, N2, P1, P2, and P3, confirming that they belong to the same protein family, and suggesting that they are likely various forms of a single protein core. The same protein could be detected biochemically and immunologically at various concentrations in all the tissues or cell types from diverse mammalian and nonmammalian species tested. Together with our previous data relating its phosphorylation to the regulation of the proliferation, differentiation, and/or the functions of the cells considered, this observation leads us to suggest that it might be an ubiquitous regulatory phosphoprotein playing the role of an intracellular "relay" for extracellular signals, after their binding to specific membrane receptors and the generation of second messengers. We propose to name this protein stathmin, from the greek "stathmos" (relay).

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Diffuse "encephalitic" cerebral toxoplasmosis in AIDS. Report of four cases.

Four patients with AIDS presented with a rapidly fatal global neurological illness. CT did not show any focal lesion and gross post mortem examination of the brain was normal in three of the four cases. Microscopic examination revealed numerous widespread microglial nodules in the brain parenchyma, most containing central toxoplama cysts or free tachyzoites. Such diffuse, non-necrotic, "encephalitic" forms of cerebral toxoplasmosis appear unique to AIDS and, to our knowledge, have not been documented previously. They represent a treatable, often misdiagnosed cause of diffuse neurological involvement in AIDS patients.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗