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Biomedical subjects

C F Meares

Publications and source records attributed to C F Meares.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Copper-64-labeled antibodies for PET imaging.

In the imaging of tumors using radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies, the use of PET gives increased sensitivity over conventional gamma camera imaging techniques. Copper-64, a positron-emitting radionuclide, has been labeled to 1A3, an anticolorectal carcinoma monoclonal antibody, and its fragments 1A3-F(ab')2 utilizing the bifunctional chelate Br-benzyl-TETA. The 64Cu-labeled intact 1A3 and 1A3-F(ab')2 have been evaluated as potential imaging agents for PET. Biodistribution studies of 64Cu-benzyl-TETA-1A3 and 64Cu-benzyl-TETA-1A3-F(ab')2 in tumor-bearing hamsters were compared with those of 111In-Br phi HBED-1A3, 111In-Br phi HBED-1A3-F(ab')2 and 125I-labeled intact 1A3 and 1A3-F(ab')2. Tumor uptake of 64Cu-labeled intact 1A3 and fragments in the hamster model was superior to both 111In- and 125I-labeled intact 1A3 and fragments. Human dosimetry data for 64Cu- and 123I-labeled 1A3 and 1A3-F(ab')2 were calculated from biodistribution data in rats. High kidney uptake of 64Cu-benzyl-TETA-1A3-F(ab')2 precludes clinical study at this time; however, the data shows that 64Cu-benzyl-TETA-1A3 would be suitable for positron tomography imaging of colorectal cancer in patients.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Transfer of oxygen from an artificial protease to peptide carbon during proteolysis.

Site-specific cleavage of proteins with metal chelates is an approach for designing artificial proteolytic reagents that are directed by proximity to a peptide bond rather than by an amino acid residue type. In the presence of ascorbate and H2O2, an iron chelate attached to Cys-212 of the enzyme human carbonic anhydrase I quickly cleaved the protein between residues Leu-189 and Asp-190 to produce two discrete fragments. The transfer of an 18O atom from [18O]H2O2 (or [18O]O2) to the carboxyl group of Leu-189 was demonstrated by mass spectrometry. Quantitative experiments revealed that one molecule of H2O2 and one molecule of ascorbate afforded the hydrolysis of one peptide bond (1:1:1 stoichiometry) and that the reaction required ascorbate and H2O2. The process is catalytic, since related experiments on the protein bovine serum albumin revealed two cleavage events for each polypeptide chain cleaved. Hydroxyl radical scavengers had no significant effect. These results may be explained by generation of a highly nucleophilic oxygen species, such as peroxide coordinated to the iron chelate, that attacks a carbonyl carbon nearby.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Footprint of the sigma protein: a re-examination.

Escherichia coli RNA Polymerase is a multi-subunit enzyme that catalyzes RNA synthesis, using DNA as a template. The sigma subunit of this enzyme plays an important role in the recognition of promoter sites on DNA. Using DNase I footprinting, Utpala Ramesh and Claude F. Meares [(1989) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 160, 121-125] reported that in the absence of the other subunits, sigma binds specifically to the bacteriophage lambda PR promoter DNA sequence. We are unable to reproduce that result.

Bacteriophage lambda↗
PubMed1991

In vivo comparison of copper blood-pool agents: potential radiopharmaceuticals for use with copper-62.

Two techniques for labeling of albumin with copper-67 (67Cu) and 62Cu were investigated; one using the native Cu(II) binding site of the protein and the other employing a bifunctional chelate, 6-bromoacetamidobenzyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane- N,N'N",N"'-tetraacetic acid (Br-benzyl-TETA or BAT), conjugated to the protein. Rat biodistribution experiments with 67Cu demonstrated retention of i.v. 67Cu-benzyl-TETA-albumin in the blood pool identical to co-injected 125I-albumin. By contrast, i.v. administration of either [67Cu]-Cu-acetate or [67Cu]-Cu-acetate pre-mixed with albumin results in relatively rapid clearance of blood-pool radioactivity as the tracer is excreted into the urine. The 62Cu-benzyl-TETA-albumin radiopharmaceutical was obtained in ca. 17% radiochemical yield (end of synthesis, without decay correction) following a procedure that can be completed in 15-18 min. In PET experiments with a baboon, myocardial blood volume images with 62Cu-benzyl-TETA-albumin were identical to those obtained with C15O. Use of the 62Cu-benzyl-TETA-albumin image for blood-pool subtraction of a 62Cu-PTSM myocardial perfusion image is illustrated. Copper-62-benzyl-TETA-HSA should be a useful, generator-produced radiotracer for the detection of the vascular pool at PET facilities without cyclotrons.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Photoaffinity labeling of RNA polymerase III transcription complexes by nascent RNA.

The proteins contacting nascent RNA transcripts in RNA polymerase III transcription complexes have been examined using photoaffinity labeling techniques. The photoaffinity analog 4-S-UTP was incorporated along with [alpha-32P]CTP into VAI transcripts, using a phosphocellulose fractionated HeLa S-100 extract and DNA containing the adenovirus VAI gene. The photoreactive nascent RNA was cross-linked to proximal proteins in the transcription complex. The photoaffinity labeled proteins were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and detected by autoradiography. The specific photoaffinity labeling of RNA polymerase III was dependent on 4-S-UTP and on DNA containing a class III promoter. Photoaffinity labeling was inhibited by 200 micrograms/ml alpha-amanitin. Proteins of 140, 160, 270, and 310 kDa were labeled. These photoaffinity labeled proteins were shown to be stably associated with the DNA template by gel exclusion chromatography. The 160-kDa protein was cross-linked to RNAs approximately 14-18 nucleotides in length, whereas the greater than 250-kDa proteins were cross-linked to RNAs 18-30 nucleotides in length. The 140- and 160-kDa proteins correspond in molecular mass to the two large subunits of RNA polymerase III. The molecular masses of the 270- and 310-kDa proteins, and the length of the RNA cross-linked to them, suggest that these proteins are components of transcription factor (TF) IIIC. These results indicate that the nascent transcript contacts the two largest subunits of RNA polymerase III until the transcription complex reaches the TFIIIC binding site, at which point the nascent transcript contacts TFIIIC.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed1990

Stable bifunctional chelates of metals used in radiotherapy.

Monoclonal antibody technology allows the specificity of an antibody for its antigen to be used in targeting cancer cells. The conjugation of metals, particularly radionuclides such as 90Y or 67Cu, to monoclonal antibodies results in agents for radioimmunotherapy and other medical applications. Chelators that can hold radiometals with high stability under physiological conditions are essential to avoid excessive radiation damage to nontarget cells. Derivatives of polyazamacrocycles (bearing a C-substituted functional group for antibody attachment) can exhibit remarkable kinetic inertness; for example, the copper complex of the 14-membered 6-(p-nitrobenzyl)-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-N,N',N'',N'''- tetraacetic acid is very stable in human serum under physiological conditions, and a conjugate of this complex with a monoclonal antibody has tested well in tumor-bearing mice. Desreux and coworkers [Loncin, M. F., Desreux, J. F., and Merciny, E. Inorg. Chem., 25: 2646-2648, 1986] have shown that complexes of lanthanides with 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N',N'',N'''-tetraacetic acid have formation constants that are several orders of magnitude higher than that of 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-N,N',N'',N'''-tetraacetic acid; thus the 12-membered macrocycle is the favored target for binding trivalent yttrium. We have developed a new synthetic route to these macrocycles via peptide synthesis and intramolecular tosylamide ring closure. Incubation of the 88Y-(III) complex of 2-p-nitrobenzyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N',N'',N'''- tetraacetic acid for 18 days in serum results in loss of so little Y(III) from the complex (less than 0.5%) that the rate of loss cannot be measured under these conditions.

Chelating Agents↗
PubMed1990

Electrostatic field around cytochrome c: theory and energy transfer experiment.

Energy transfer in the "rapid diffusion" limit from electronically excited terbium(III) chelates in three different charge states to horse heart ferricytochrome c was measured as a function of ionic strength. Theoretical rate constants calculated by numerical integration of the Forster integral (containing the Poisson-Boltzmann-generated protein electrostatic potential) were compared with the experimental data to evaluate the accuracy of protein electrostatic field calculations at the protein/solvent interface. Two dielectric formalisms were used: a simple coulombic/Debye-Hückel procedure and a finite difference method [Warwicker, J. & Watson, H. C. (1982) J. Mol. Biol. 157, 671-679] that accounts for the low-dielectric protein interior and the irregular protein/solvent boundary. Good agreement with experiment was obtained and the ionic-strength dependence of the reaction was successfully reproduced. The sensitivity of theoretical rate constants to the choices of effective donor sphere size and the energy transfer distance criterion was analyzed. Electrostatic potential and rate-constant calculations were carried out on sets of structures collected along two molecular dynamics trajectories of cytochrome c. Protein conformational fluctuations were shown to produce large variations in the calculated energy transfer rate constant. We conclude that protein fluctuations and the resulting transient structures can play significant roles in biological or catalytic activities that are not apparent from examination of a static structure. For calculating protein electrostatics, large-scale low-frequency conformational fluctuations, such as charged side-chain reorientation, are established to be as important as the computational method for incorporating dielectric boundary effects.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Metabolism of indium chelates attached to monoclonal antibody: minimal transchelation of indium from benzyl-EDTA chelate in vivo.

The metabolism of radiolabeled antibodies is important for radioimmunoimaging and therapy. The loss of indium-111 (111In) from the chelate can pose problems in imaging and increases the radiation dose to normal tissues. We have evaluated the loss in vivo of 111In from Lym-1-benzyl-EDTA-111In (an antibody conjugated with isothiocyanato-benzyl-EDTA) in normal mice. A monoclonal antibody (CHA 255) that binds to benzyl-EDTA-indium chelates, but not to other forms of indium, was used to measure the percent of 111In remaining in the chelate. Four days after injection, 97.4 +/- 2.2% of the 111In in the liver was still in the benzyl-EDTA chelate, as was 99.4 +/- 0.7% of the 111In in the urine, and 99.1 +/- 0.7% of the 111In in the blood. Studies in vitro indicate that a benzyl-EDTA-111In-antibody-chelate conjugate is more stable in human serum than a benzyl-DTPA-111In conjugate, and that both benzyl-chelate conjugates are much more stable than an unsubstituted DTPA conjugate.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Yttrium-90-labeled monoclonal antibody for therapy: labeling by a new macrocyclic bifunctional chelating agent.

Yttrium-90 (90Y) is a promising radiometal for therapy of cancer due to its high-energy beta emission and a physical half-life of 2.67 days. Bifunctional chelating agents based on DTPA cyclic anhydride or EDTA do not form Y(III) complexes that are stable under physiologic conditions. A new macrocyclic bifunctional chelating agent based on 1,4,7,10-tetraazacylododecane-N,N',N",N"'-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) forms a stable Y(III) complex. It was converted to p-bromoacetamidobenzyl-DOTA (BAD), and conjugated to monoclonal antibody Lym-1 via 2-iminothiolane, either as the free ligand or as the 88Y chelate. Stability studies of Lym-1-2IT-BAD-88Y in human serum in vitro showed no measurable loss of Y(III) from the ligand over a 25-day period. In Raji-tumored mice, tumor uptake was 16.8% of the injected dose per gram of tissue on Day 3. The bone uptake was 2.0, 3.6, and 2.1% injected dose per gram of tissue on Day 1, 3, and 5, respectively. The biodistribution of the control 88Y-citrate demonstrated continuous increase in bone uptake from 13.8% injected dose per gram on Day 1 to 24.9% injected dose per gram on Day 4.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Macrocyclic chelates of radiometals for diagnosis and therapy.

Monoclonal antibody technology allows the specificity of an antibody for its antigen to be used in targeting cancer cells. Stable attachment of metal ions to antibodies by means of 'bifunctional' chelating agents can add the nuclear, physical and chemical properties of the metallic elements to these target-selective proteins. The conjugation of metals--particularly radionuclides--to monoclonal antibodies results in agents for radioimmunotherapy and other medical applications. Chelators that can hold radiometals with high stability under physiological conditions are essential to avoid excessive radiation damage to non-target cells. Derivatives of polyazamacrocycles (bearing a C-substituted functional group for antibody attachment) can exhibit remarkable kinetic inertness. We have developed a new synthetic route these macrocycles via peptide synthesis and intramolecular tosylamide ring closure. Incubation of the yttrium complex of 2-p-nitrobenzyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N1N",N'"-te traacetic acid (nitrobenzyl-DOTA) for 18 days in serum results in loss of so little yttrium from the complex (less than 0.5%) that the rate of loss cannot be measured under these conditions. In animal models, conjugates of this chelate with monoclonal antibodies show much lower levels of yttrium in the bone than are found with DTPA chelates prepared from the cyclic anhydride. The rates of loss of indium and cobalt from nitrobenzyl-DOTA in serum are slower than from previously studied chelates. Preliminary clinical imaging studies of 111In-labeled monoclonal antibody conjugates of DOTA show highly encouraging results.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1989

Release of the sigma subunit from Escherichia coli RNA polymerase transcription complexes is dependent on the promoter sequence.

The sigma subunit of bacterial RNA polymerase is required for the specific initiation of transcription at promoter sites. However, sigma is released from the transcription complex shortly after transcription is initiated, and elongation proceeds in the absence of sigma. In order to study the position of sigma release, we have developed a method to quantify the photoaffinity labeling produced by an aryl azide positioned at the leading (5'-) end of nascent RNA, as a function of the transcript length [Stackhouse, T.M., & Meares, C.F. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 3038-3045]. Here we compare photoaffinity labeling of transcription complexes containing three natural bacteriophage promoters (lambda PR, lambda PL, and T7 A1) and two recombinant constructs, A1/PR (T7 A1 promoter with the lambda PR transcribed region) and PR/A1 (lambda PR promoter with the T7 A1 transcribed region). Significant photoaffinity labeling of the sigma subunit was observed only on the templates containing the lambda PR promoter region, regardless of the sequence of the transcribed region. These results indicate the molecular interactions responsible for the position of sigma release from the transcription complex mainly involve the nucleotide sequence of the promoter region--rather than the transcribed region--of the DNA template. Further studies on transcription complexes containing the A1/PR and the PR/A1 templates were performed, using polyclonal antibodies against the holoenzyme or against the sigma subunit. These experiments corroborate the promoter dependence of sigma release. They also show a correlation between the release of sigma and stable binding of the transcript by the transcription complex.

Affinity Labels↗
PubMed1989

Footprint of the sigma protein.

Escherichia coli RNA Polymerase is a multi-subunit enzyme that catalyzes RNA synthesis, using DNA as a template. The sigma subunit of this enzyme plays an important role in the recognition of promoter sites on DNA. Using DNase I footprinting, we have found that in the absence of the other subunits, sigma binds specifically to the bacteriophage lambda PR promoter DNA sequence. In the presence of the sigma subunit alone, a protective footprint encompassing the region between residue positions -41 and +17 was observed (where +1 is the transcription start site). The holoenzyme gave a footprint covering the same region. Thus not only does the sigma subunit interact with the DNA promoter site in the absence of the other components of RNA polymerase, but also the footprint of sigma is indistinguishable from that of the holoenzyme.

Bacteriophage lambda↗
PubMed1989

Effect of mass of 111In-benzyl-EDTA monoclonal antibody on hepatic uptake and processing in mice.

In patients, the pharmacokinetic behavior of murine monoclonal antibodies has been observed to vary with the amount of antibody administered. It has been suggested that this reflects human recognition of the foreign mouse protein. We have found that the amount of antibody administered also influenced pharmacokinetic behavior when murine monoclonal antibody was administered to mice. p-Isothiocyanatobenzyl-EDTA, a new chelator which forms complexes with 111In that are stable in vivo, was conjugated to Lym-1, a murine anti-Burkitt's lymphoma monoclonal antibody. The pharmacokinetics of two doses (20 and 0.2 micrograms) of the 111In labeled radiopharmaceutical were studied in non-tumor bearing BALB/c mice. About 20% (0.04 microgram) of the 0.2-microgram dose, compared with 8% (1.6 micrograms) of the 20-micrograms dose, was found in the liver at 48 h after injection. Both doses demonstrated a biological half-life of approximately 120 h. At least 75% of the 111In was excreted by the kidneys, and essentially all 111In in the urine remained chelated by the EDTA portion of p-isothiocyanatobenzyl-EDTA. From these observations of a dose dependent uptake of this radiopharmaceutical by the liver we conclude that there is a recognition phenomenon in mice for this murine monoclonal antibody.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Effect of different linkages between chelates and monoclonal antibodies on levels of radioactivity in the liver.

After injection of radiometal labeled antibodies, the radionuclide accumulates in the liver. This might be altered by a metabolizable linkage between metal chelate and antibody. Four benzyl-EDTA chelating agents were synthesized and conjugated to mouse monoclonal antibody Lym-1. Liver uptake of 111In in nontumored mice 72 h after injection was 2.2, 13.4, 7.6 and 20% for disulfide, thioether, thiourea or peptide linkages, respectively. 111In excreted in the urine was still in the benzyl-EDTA chelate form, as shown by binding to a specific anti-chelate antibody.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Photoaffinity labeling of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase/poly[d(A-T)] transcription complexes by nascent RNA.

To elucidate the molecular interactions during transcription by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase, we have performed a quantitative analysis of the photoaffinity labeling produced by an aryl azide positioned at the leading (5') end of the nascent RNA. Macromolecular contacts on the path of RNA across the transcription complex containing the template poly[d(A-T)] are observed as a function of the length of the transcript. Quantitative analysis provides the percent yield of photoaffinity labeling in the transcription complex by each length of RNA. Significant yields are observed for DNA, the beta/beta' subunits (analyzed together), and the sigma subunit. The alpha subunit is not labeled under these experimental conditions. The DNA template is labeled by the leading ends of RNA molecules 5-18 bases long, with yields ranging from 1% to 6%. Photoaffinity labeling of poly[d(A-T)] is also observed for many transcript lengths longer than 18 nucleotides, but the yields are too low to quantitate. Labeling of the beta/beta' subunits occurs with approximately 50% yields for transcripts of lengths greater than or equal to 12 nucleotides; low but significant labeling yields of 1-8% by shorter RNAs (3-10 nucleotides) are observed. Labeling of the sigma subunit is detectable for transcripts from 7 to more than 19 nucleotides long; quantitative measurements were possible up to the 19-mer. The RNAs most likely to be photoattached to the sigma subunit are 9-12 nucleotides long, with a maximum photoaffinity labeling yield of 15% by the decanucleotide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases↗