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D D Metcalfe

Publications and source records attributed to D D Metcalfe.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Gastrointestinal mast cells in health and disease. Part I.

The mast cell granule provides three distinct sources of mediators: (1) preformed and rapidly released (histamine), (2) secondarily formed and generated by the interaction of primary mediators and nearby cells and tissues (leukotrienes), and (3) granule matrix-derived, which are preformed but remain associated with the granule proteoglycans after discharge (proteases) (Table). The granule matrix and its associated mediators may remain in the tissue for hours until removed through degradation, dissolution, or phagocytosis. The events initiated by the mediators depend on the tissues into which they are released. Mediator discharge clearly initiates the events associated with immediate hypersensitivity; however, late-phase reactions occur in response to granule-derived mediators as well. Several manifestations that may result from the introduction of mast cell-derived products within the gastrointestinal tract are shown in Fig. 5. These include increased vascular permeability and secretion of mucus, effects on cell surface receptors, chemotaxis of various cell types, and smooth muscle contraction. Thus the mast cell, because of its unique anatomic location and mediators, may serve both as an initiator of acute inflammation and a propagator of chronic changes as well.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Analysis of the effect of mast cell granules on lymphocyte blastogenesis in the absence and presence of mitogens: identification of heparin as a granule-associated suppressor factor.

To explore the effect of mast cell products on lymphocytes, the blastogenic response of lymphocytes to mast cell granules in the absence and presence of mitogens was determined. Membrane-free granules (MFG) and dialyzed, washed histamine-free granules (DWG) in the absence of mitogens did not induce significant blastogenesis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) before or after partial depletion of macrophages (5 to 10%). In contrast, concanavalin A- (Con A) (5 micrograms/ml), pokeweed mitogen- (PWM) (1/200 dilution), tetanus toxoid-, and Candida-, but not phytohemagglutinin-, induced blastogenesis in macrophage-depleted PBMC were inhibited by both MFG and DWG. Fractionation of solubilized DWG by anion exchange Dowex chromatography into protein- and heparin-rich fractions revealed the inhibitory activity resided in the heparin-containing fractions. The ability of commercial porcine heparin glycosaminoglycan as well as native rat heparin proteoglycan to inhibit lectin-induced blastogenesis in a dose-response fashion confirmed the previous data with the use of fractionated DWG. Histamine and commercial porcine heparin glycosaminoglycan were not additive in inhibiting lectin-induced lymphocyte blastogenesis. The inhibitory effect of heparin on Con A-induced blastogenesis could be overcome by adding excess Con A to macrophage-depleted mononuclear cell preparations and could be reproduced by using over-sulfated chondroitin 6-sulfate. This is the first examination of the ability of mast cell granules to influence lymphocyte function and the first demonstration of the ability of native heparin proteoglycan to modulate lymphocyte blastogenesis.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Ultrastructural, biochemical, and functional characteristics of histamine-containing cells cloned from mouse bone marrow: tentative identification as mucosal mast cells.

Two histamine-containing granulated cell lines were cloned from mouse bone marrow by using sequential soft agar and limiting dilution techniques. Concanavalin A-stimulated mouse spleen cell supernatants were required for cell proliferation. Cloned cell lines were Lyt-1.2, Lyt-2.2, Thy-1.2, surface Ig negative, I-A positive, and failed to ingest latex particles. Cells expressed 6.4 to 9.0 X 10(4) IgE high affinity receptors and contained approximately 1 to 2 pg of histamine per cell. Electron microscopy revealed granule and surface membrane features characteristic of mast cells. The cloned histamine-containing granulated cell lines synthesized a proteoglycan containing glycosaminoglycan side chains with an estimated average m.w. of 40,000. The glycosaminoglycan side chains consisted only of chondroitin sulfates identified by charge characteristics and through the use of selective polysaccharidases. These cells degranulated to immunologic stimuli and the calcium ionophore A23187 but not to compound 48/80. Taken together, the above findings suggest that these histamine-containing granulated cell lines that are cloned from bone marrow are mucosal (atypical) mast cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Phagocytosis of mast cell granules by cultured fibroblasts.

Cultured rat embryonic skin fibroblasts phagocytosed rat mast cell granules added to the medium or released from co-cultured mast cells by rabbit anti-rat IgE or Compound 48/80. Electron microscopy of fibroblasts incubated with mast cell granules revealed that granules adjacent to the plasmalemma were engulfed by long, thin cytoplasmic processes. Internalization proceeded to fusion of encircling processes and formation of phagosomes. Microtubules and 60 A microfilaments became closely associated with the phagosomal membrane to which small vesicles and cisternae of endoplasmic reticulum fused. The rate of uptake of mast cell granules by fibroblasts was dependent upon temperature and granule concentration. Cytochalasin B inhibited granule uptake whereas colchicine and nocodazole had little effect. Phagocytosis was not influenced by actinomycin D and cycloheximide, was partially inhibited by fluoride, and was markedly inhibited by cyanide, azide, and 2,4-dinitrophenol. Supernatants from fibroblast cultures incubated with mast cell granules for 24 and 48 hr, during which period phagocytosis occurred, contained elevated levels of collagenase and beta-hexosaminidase, but normal levels of lactate dehydrogenase and superoxide dismutase. These results support the concept that immediate hypersensitivity reactions are in part terminated by phagocytosis of biologically active discharged mast cell granules by resident connective tissue fibroblasts. Further, it is suggested that a consequence of this process is an alteration in fibroblast behavior, providing a unique link between immediate hypersensitivity reactions and connective tissue responses to inflammation.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Degradation of the heparin matrix of mast cell granules by cultured fibroblasts.

The ability of cultured rat fibroblasts to phagocytose rat peritoneal mast cell granules has been previously demonstrated by light and electron microscopy. To determine if the heparin matrix of ingested granules could be degraded by fibroblasts after phagocytosis, the heparin within peritoneal mast cells was labeled with [35S]sulfate in vivo. The 35S-labeled rat peritoneal mast cells were purified and their granules were isolated and shown to contain [35S]heparin proteoglycan. Incubation of [35S]heparin proteoglycan-containing granules with cultured rat fibroblasts revealed internalization of radioactivity by the fibroblasts over the first 24 hr consistent with phagocytosis of the granules by these fibroblasts. The [35S]heparin proteoglycan internalized by the fibroblasts was shown to decrease in size over 72 hr indicating that the fibroblasts were capable of degrading the heparin within the ingested granules. Degradation of [35S]heparin proteoglycan within the fibroblast was accompanied by the appearance of free [35S]sulfate in the extracellular compartment. Similar findings were obtained using cultured human fibroblasts. These data demonstrate for the first time that both rat and human fibroblasts are not only capable of ingesting mast cell granules but also of degrading mast cell granule heparin proteoglycan. This ingestion and degradation of mast cell granules by fibroblasts may represent an important mechanism in the regulation of the biologic expression of heparin and other granule-associated mediators in immediate hypersensitivity reactions.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

The isolation, identification and characterization of sulfated glycosaminoglycans synthesized in vitro by human eosinophils.

Human eosinophils were purified to greater than 92% using 16-30% metrizamide gradients, and these cells cultured for up to 72 h in vitro to label sulfated glycosaminoglycans. Over 90% of the sulfated glycosaminoglycan-containing material was extracted in 4 M guanidine HCl and had a hydrodynamic size similar to a glycosaminoglycan marker with an approximate average molecular weight of 60,000. Treatment of this salt-extracted 35S-labeled glycosaminoglycan-containing material with 0.5 M NaOH resulted in a change in mass to approx. 20,000 daltons, suggesting that the larger molecules were proteoglycans with side chains with an approximate molecular weight of 20,000. These salt extracted presumptive 35S-labeled proteoglycans were protease insensitive and behaved in a highly charged fashion on DEAE-cellulose. The composition of 35S-labeled glycosaminoglycans from human eosinophils as identified using selected polysaccharides was 70-81% chondroitin 4-sulfate, 9-12% chondroitin 6-sulfate, and 5-12% dermatan sulfate. The predominance of chondroitin 4-sulfate in human eosinophils is similar to the predominance of chondroitin 4-sulfate in human neutrophils and human platelets.

Cell Separation↗
PubMed1982

Measurement of plasma histamine: description of an improved method and normal values.

The single isotopic-enzymatic assay of histamine was modified to increase its sensitivity and to facilitate measurement of plasma histamine levels. The modification involved extracting 3H-1-methylhistamine (generated by the enzyme N-methyltransferase acting on histamine in the presence of S-[methyl-3H]-adenosyl-L-methionine) into chloroform and isolating the 3H-1-methylhistamine by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). The TLC was developed in acetone:ammonium hydroxide (95:10), and the methylhistamine spot (Rf = 0.50) was identified with an o-phthalaldehyde spray, scraped from the plate, and assayed in a scintillation counter. The assay in plasma demonstrated a linear relationship from 200 to 5000 pg histamine/ml. Plasma always had higher readings than buffer, and dialysis of plasma returned these values to the same level as buffer, suggesting that the baseline elevations might be attributable to histamine. However, all histamine standard curves were run in dialyzed plasma to negate any additional influences plasma might exert on the assay. The arithmetic mean (+/- SEM) in normal plasma histamine was 318.4 +/- 25 pg/ml (n = 51), and the geometric mean was 280 +/- 35 pg/ml. Plasma histamine was significantly elevated by infusion of histamine at 0.05 to 1.0 micrograms/kg/min or by cold immersion of the hand of a cold-urticaria patient. Therefore this modified isotopic-enzymatic assay of histamine is extremely sensitive, capable of measuring fluctuations in plasma histamine levels within the normal range, and potentially useful in analysis of the role histamine plays in human physiology.

Chromatography, Thin Layer↗
PubMed1981

Structural determinants of the capacity of heparin to inhibit the formation of the human amplification C3 convertase.

The ability of heparin glycosaminoglycan to prevent formation of the properdin-stabilized amplification C3 convertase is independent of antithrombin binding activity and requires substitution of the amino sugar and a degree of oxygen (O)-sulfation which could be on the uronic acid or the amino sugar. Preparations of heparin glycosaminoglycan isolated by different techniques from different species (rat, human, and porcine) exhibited an equivalent capacity to inhibit generation of the amplification C3 convertase. Hyaluronic acid, which is devoid of O-sulfation, had no inhibitory activity; chondroitin 4-sulfate of rat and whale origins, chondroitin 6-sulfate of rat and shark origins, and dermatan sulfate from porcine skin are O-sulfated on the galactosamine and had minimal activity. Porcine heparin glycosaminoglycan, isolated on the basis of affinity for antithrombin III, had no greater anticomplementary activity than porcine glycosaminoglycan, which failed to bind antithrombin III and had essentially no anticoagulant activity. Nitrogen (N)-desulfation of porcine heparin reduced anticomplementary activity to the level of the other sulfated mucopolysaccharides, and both N-resulfation and N-acetylation restored the original activities, thereby indicating a requirement for N-substitution, but not N-sulfation. N-resulfation of N-desulfated and O-desulfated heparin did not restore any activity, thus indicating that O-sulfation and N-substitution represent independent, critical structural requirements for the anticomplementary activity of heparin glycosaminoglycan. Inasmuch as N-desulfated-N-acetylated heparin had no anticoagulant activity, the nature of the N-substitution completely distinguishes the plasma-protein effector pathway that is inhibited.

Acetylation↗
PubMed1981

The mast cell.

The mast cell is the cellular basis for immediate hypersensitivity reactions. The specificity of the immediate hypersensitivity reaction is attributable to IgE molecules fixed to specific membrane receptors which, when stimulated by specific antigen, initiates the process of degranulation of the mast cell. The granules provide three separate sources of biologic activity: performed or primary mediators, newly generated or secondary mediators, and activities associated with the granular matrix. A number of biologic consequences are generated in response to these mediators and these include: increased vascular permeability, vasodilation, smooth muscle spasm, polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemotaxis, stimulation of adenylate and guanylate cyclase, superoxide radical generation, prostaglandin formation, mucous and gastric acid secretion, hypotension, tissue destruction, and mononuclear leukocyte infiltration. This pharmacopia of activities accounts for the clinical aspects of allergic diseases, suggests that the mast cell granule may be involved in the host's defense against parasitic infections, and is compatible with a suggested role of the mast cell as a widely distributed, monocellular endocrine system.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Isolation and characterization of sulphated mucopolysaccharides from rat leukaemic (RBL-1) basophils.

Proteoglycans of 300 000 mol.wt. were isolated from dispersed rat basophil tumour cells after labelling of the sulphated mucopolysaccharides with 35S in vitro:90% of the 35S-labelled mucopolysaccharides were extracted at high salt concentration. Alkali degradation of the 35S-labelled proteoglycans yielded glycosaminoglycan chains of 40 000 mol.wt. The composition of the salt-extracted 35S-labelled mucopolysaccharides, as defined by parallel or sequential degradation with chondroitinase AC, chondroitinase ABC and heparinase and resolution of the disaccharide-digestion products obtained with chondroitinase AC, was 48--61% chondroitin 4-sulphate, 20--30% dermatan sulphate, 10--15% heparin and 7--9% chondroitin 6-sulphate. Most of the salt-extracted 35S-labelled mucopolysaccharides were highly charged, with heparin and chondroitin 6-sulphate being relatively uniform in this regard, whereas chondroitin 4-sulphate and dematan sulphate exhibited a range of charge characteristics. The diversity of sulphated mucopolysaccharides present in the rat leukaemic basophil is in contrast with the predominance of heparin in the rat mast cell.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Identification of sulfated mucopolysaccharides including heparin in the lesional skin of a patient with mastocytosis.

Comparison of the [35S]mucopolysaccharides extracted after in vitro incubation of skin biopsy specimens from nonlesional and lesional sites of a patient with mastocytosis showed that lesional sites incorporated sulfate into heparin. After in vitro incorporation of the [35S]sulfate, the tissues were extracted sequentially by a 3-step procedure which utilized high salt concentrations, enzymatic digestion and base hydrolysis to liberate essentially all the counts. The extracted [35S]mucopolysaccharides were separated from free [35S]sulfate, histamine, protein, and hyaluronic acid by ion-exchange chromatography utilizing Dowex 1. The [35S]mucopolysaccharide extracts of the nonlesional skin were completely degraded by treatment with chondroitinase ABC, as they age predominantly dermatan sulfate with small amounts of chondroitin sulfates. The absolute quantity of sulfated mucopolysaccharides after Dowex 1 chromatography in micrograms of uronic acid per mg wet weight of starting tissue was higher in the lesional than the nonlesional specimen, while the specific incorporation of [35S]sulfate per microgram of uronic acid was the same. Approximately one-half of the [35S]mucopolysaccharides obtained in the 3 sequential extracts of lesional tissue was resistant to degradation by chondroitinase ABC as determined by gel filtration before and after enzyme treatment, indicating the presence of sulfated mucopolysaccharides in addition to chondroitin and dermatan sulfates. Heparinase treatment of the chondroitinase ABC-resistant [35S]mucopolysaccharides followed by gel filtration revealed an equal distribution of label between heparin and heparinase-resistant material presumed to be heparan sulfate. Heparin was also directly demonstrated in extracts of lesional mastocytosis skin by chemical and functional criteria.

Glycosaminoglycans↗
PubMed1979

Isolation and characterization of heparin from human lung.

Heparin as measured by azure A metachromasia and anticoagulant activity has been extracted with 1 M NaCl from (35)S-labeled human lung fragments or dispersed human lung cells enriched for mast cells. The (35)S-labeled metachromatic material in the 3 M NaCl eluate from Dowex-1 chromatography of the extract from lung fragments exhibited an average mol wt of 20,000 by Sepharose 4B gel filtration. The (35)S-labeled metachromatic material with the charge characteristics of commercial porcine heparin on DEAE cellulose chromatography was entirely heparin by the criteria of resistance to degradation by chondroitin ABC lyase and complete degradation by purified heparinase. Antithrombin affinity chromatography of purified heparin with an anticoagulant activity of 137 U/mg, revealed that the one-third that was bound and eluted had a 273 U/mg sp act, whereas the unbound activity was 31 U/mg. Thus, the previously observed heterogeneity of commercial porcine heparin for binding to human antithrombin was also observed with human heparin. The mast cell-enriched human lung cell preparations yielded [(35)S]mucopolysaccharides with an average mol wt of 60,000 by Sepharose 4B gel filtration. Approximately 30% of this fraction was degraded by chondroitin ABC lyase, and the residual 70% was degraded by purified heparinase. When the chondroitin ABC lyase-resistant fraction was subjected to alkali degradation the average mol wt was reduced to 20,000. The calculated human lung mast cell heparin content of 2.4-7.8 mug/10(6) cells gave a ratio to histamine on a weight basis similar to that of intact lung fragments, thereby implying that heparin in the lung fragments was largely restricted to the mast cells.

Anticoagulants↗
PubMed1979

Structure and function of intracellular proteoglycans.

Proteoglycans are generally thought of in terms of extracellular function, but there is evolving evidence that they are also an important constituent of secretory granules. Although the mast cell appears to be uniquely endowed with granule proteoglycan heparin, the peripheral blood elements such as basophils, neutrophils, and platelets contain predominantly chondroitin sulfates which have not been fully characterized and are presumed to be of granular origin. Coupled activation-secretion of the rat mast cell and the human platelet, respectively, has demonstrated the release of a proteoglycan-protein complex. It is suggested that the intracellular proteoglycans serve as the granule matrix to allow the storage of structurally diverse chemical mediators, their transport during the cell secretory response, and, finally, their discharge from the granule to the microenvironment. The granule constituents of the rat mast cell differ after discharge in their bioavailability thereby suggesting that the proteoglycan may have a regulatory function in the extracellular environment.

Animals↗