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Biomedical subjects

E Norrby

Publications and source records attributed to E Norrby.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The helping encounter--occupational therapists' perception of therapeutic relationships.

The present paper deals with the art of occupational therapy in terms of therapeutic, helping relationships. The aim was to get a picture of how occupational therapists perceive the therapeutic encounter with their patients. Sixteen qualified occupational therapists, from various occupational areas, were interviewed and a qualitative approach was employed to analyze their description of therapeutic encounters in clinical settings. The qualitative analyses were performed with sensitization as the principle objective and a tentative theoretical model was formed, developed by three content categories; 1) Basic Professional-Oriented Helping; 2) Understanding-Oriented Helping; and 3) Action-Oriented Helping. The relationships between these categories constitute a dynamic complex pattern. One conclusion drawn from this model was that the therapists might have problems finding a balance between their aspiration for becoming professionalized and their belief in egalitarian patient-therapist relationships in the rehabilitation treatment sessions.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Two neutralizing domains in the V3 region in the envelope glycoprotein gp125 of HIV type 2.

The purposes of this study were to map the targets for neutralizing Abs in the HIV-2 glycoproteins with particular emphasis on the role of the V3 region. Sera obtained from guinea pig immunized with peptides representing five immunogenic regions of the envelope proteins were used in cross-neutralization experiments with nine HIV-2 isolates. Broad cross-neutralizing activity was elicited by immunization with two peptides representing the central and COOH-terminal portions of the HIV-2 V3 loop. Murine mAbs were established from animals immunized with two corresponding overlapping peptides. Six mAbs showed neutralizing activity against the homologous virus isolate SBL-6669. Peptide absorption experiments were performed to define the target regions for human neutralizing Abs in the HIV-2 envelope glycoproteins. A significant blocking of neutralizing activity of five HIV-2 Ab-positive sera was seen in the presence of two peptides corresponding to the V3 region. Two overlapping deletion sets of peptides, representing amino acids Ser311 and Arg337, were used to identify the role of individual HIV-2 V3 amino acids in the binding of polyclonal and mAbs. Two distinct antigenic sites were identified in this region, the first corresponding to a region including the conserved motif Phe-His-Ser (amino acid 315-317) and the second in proximity of the COOH-terminal cysteine Trp-Cys-Arg (amino acid 329-331). Potentially these two sites can interact to represent a single discontinuous antigenic site. Taken together, these results indicate that V3 is an important neutralizing domain of HIV-2.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Intracellular processing and antigenic maturation of measles virus hemagglutinin protein.

The intracellular processing and antigenic maturation of the measles virus (MV) hemagglutinin (H) protein in virus infected cells were probed with murine monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) that reacted with continuous and discontinuous epitopes. The antibodies distinguished between the immature, cotranslational monomeric form of the protein and the mature, dimeric hemagglutinin structure. This was evidenced by testing of immunoreactivity of the Mabs with synthetic peptides, by in vitro synthesized H protein analysis, and by pulse-chase analysis of gel separated monomeric and dimeric forms of the H protein. Time kinetics analysis showed that the protein was synthesized as monomers and most of them were converted into dimers with t1/2 about 30 min. The H protein remained endoglycosidase H (Endo H) sensitive up to 30 min and started to acquire partial resistance to Endo H between 30 and 60 min (t1/2 about 60 min) after synthesis. Oligomerization of the H protein was unaffected in virus infected cells treated with a compound (carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, CCCP) that blocks transport from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi complex. These results suggest that the H protein dimerization takes place in the ER before its transport to the medial Golgi complex. The Mabs specific for discontinuous epitopes reacted with the H protein in cells treated with CCCP. Thus conformational antigenic epitope formation appears to take place in the ER.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Ubiquinone-10 protects neurons from virus-induced degeneration.

Cultured neurons from rat dorsal root ganglia and cerebral cortex were infected with Sendai virus, which gives a productive replication with lysis of most neurons, and with the RW strain of mumps virus, which undergoes defective replication causing degeneration of only 30-40% of the neurons within 5 days after initial infection. In Sendai virus-infected cells the amount of polyisoprenoid lipids was enhanced. In mumps virus-infected cultures there were transient reductions in the contents of cholesterol, dolichol, and ubiquinone-9 in the cultures, whereas the reduction in the ubiquinone-10 level was progressive, reaching 20% of its original value 21 days after infection. Treatment of mumps virus-infected cultures with ubiquinone-10 protected the neurons from degeneration, whereas no effects were observed on exposure to ubiquinone-9. Linolenic acid (18:3) and arachidonic acid (20:4), but not myristic acid (14:0) and palmitic acid (16:0), also had significant neuroprotective effects.

Animals↗

Role of N-linked oligosaccharide chains in the processing and antigenicity of measles virus haemagglutinin protein.

The effects of N-linked oligosaccharides on the haemagglutinin (H) protein of measles virus (MV) were assessed with respect to the processing and antigenicity of the molecule. The functional glycosylation sites on the H protein were determined by eliminating each of the five potential positions, Asn-168, Asn-187, Asn-200, Asn-215 and Asn-238, for N-linked glycosylation by oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis on a cDNA clone. Expression of the mutant H proteins in BHK-21 cells by a recombinant vaccinia virus encoding T7 polymerase indicated that the first four sites were used in the H glycoprotein for the addition of N-linked oligosaccharide chains. Heterogeneity of oligosaccharide processing was demonstrated. One of the four glycosylation sites had a different carbohydrate structure from those of the other three glycosylation sites and this varied glycosylation was responsible for the appearance of two forms of the H protein. The functional glycosylation sites were systematically removed in various combinations from the H protein to form a panel of mutants in which the role of carbohydrate chains, singly or in different combinations, could be evaluated. Investigations of these glycosylation mutants indicated that (i) two of the four individual carbohydrate side-chains have a large influence on the antigenicity of the molecule; (ii) individual carbohydrate side-chains have little effect on the folding and oligomerization of the molecule, and are not sufficient or necessary alone to facilitate the transport of the molecule to the plasma membrane; (iii) at least two carbohydrate side-chains are required for the H protein to move along the exocytic pathway to the plasma membrane and various combinations of oligosaccharide side-chains, irrespective of the carbohydrate localizations, influence equally the processing of the molecule.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Linear antigenic and immunogenic regions of the respiratory syncytial virus P protein.

Three linear antigenic regions on the P protein from human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) subgroup A (strain A2) were represented by peptides that reacted with monoclonal antibodies and with sera from humans with recent or previous RSV infection. The determinants were localized within three hydrophilic regions of the P protein: Pro91 to Asp110, Ser161 to Lys180 and Glu221 to Phe241. The role of individual amino acids in the epitopes defined by monoclonal antibodies was determined. Two monoclonal antibodies reacting with the same antigenic site were found to detect epitopes that had different amino acid dependencies. Rabbit hyperimmune sera raised against selected peptides specifically precipitated different forms of the P protein from RSV-infected 35S-labelled cell extracts in a radioimmune precipitation assay. These findings have implications for forthcoming structural-functional studies of RSV capsid component interactions and also for serological diagnosis of RSV infection.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Role of individual cysteine residues in the processing and antigenicity of the measles virus haemagglutinin protein.

The haemagglutinin (H) protein is the dominant envelope glycoprotein of measles virus. The protein contains 13 cysteine residues among its 617 amino acids and all are located in its ectodomain. In previous studies, the capacity of a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to react with continuous and discontinuous epitopes was defined. It was shown that the absence of disulphide bonds impaired the capacity of the protein to react with MAbs specific for the discontinuous epitopes. In the present study, our objective was to determine the contribution of individual cysteine residues to the folding of H protein into its native conformation. Site-directed oligonucleotide mutagenesis was used to create 13 mutants, each with a serine replacing a cysteine. The mutated genes were directly expressed in the BHK-21 cells by use of a vaccinia virus-driven T7 polymerase system. Investigations of the antigenic structure and intracellular processing properties of the mutant proteins reveal the following outcome. (i) Replacements of cysteine residues 139, 154, 188, 386, 570 or 606 had no detectable effect on the antigenic structure and intracellular processing of the H protein. However, a mutant with a replaced cysteine residue 154 displayed modified migration properties. (ii) Alterations of cysteine residues 381 or 494 displayed a moderate effect on H protein properties. The two mutants expressed discontinuous epitopes, indicating that they were partially folded, but they did not oligomerize, did not reach the medial Golgi complex and failed to be transported to the cell surface. (iii) Substitutions of cysteine residues 287, 300, 394, 579 or 583 resulted in a complete loss of binding of the MAbs that recognize the discontinuous epitopes, with no effect on the binding of a MAb reacting with a continuous epitope. No dimeric form of the proteins was observed and only high mannose oligosaccharides were demonstrated in these mutants, suggesting that the modified proteins did not oligomerize and were retained in the endoplasmic reticulum. In conclusion, cysteine residues 287, 300, 381, 394, 494, 579 and 583 appear to play a particularly critical role in the antigenic structure and processing of the H molecules and they probably participate in the inter- or intramolecular disulphide bonding.

Animals↗

Long-standing protection of macaques against cell-free HIV-2 with a HIV-2 iscom vaccine.

We investigated the capacity of two immunostimulating-complex (iscom) formulations including inactivated native HIV-2 viral proteins and selected peptides to induce protective immunity against HIV-2 in a nonhuman primate. Four cynomolgus monkeys were first immunized with five i.m. injections of purified detergent-disrupted HIV-2 virions (total dose, 0.7 mg) in iscoms over a period of 16 months. At months 18 and 20, all four macaques were given booster immunizations with iscom-coupled V3-derived synthetic peptides representing a dominating neutralizing region of HIV-2 gp125. Two weeks after the final dose of vaccine, the four vaccinated animals, together with four controls, were challenged i.v. with 10 monkey infectious doses (MID50) of monkey-cell-grown homologous cell-free virus, HIV-2SBL-6669/H5. After the challenge, the four control animals became readily infected; however, three of four vaccinated animals were protected as shown by repeated negative virus isolations and negative polymerase chain reaction for viral DNA and by failure to transmit HIV-2 infection with whole blood and lymph node cells into naive cynomolgus macaques. One of three protected animals showed an anamnestic antibody response to a dominating antigenic site, indicating possible limited virus replication. The vaccine-protected monkeys were subsequently resistant to rechallenge infection at 12, 15, and 18 months after the first challenge, suggesting that a reasonable duration of protective immunity had been induced by the vaccine.

AIDS Vaccines↗

Antibody responses of children to the C-terminal peptide of the SH protein of respiratory syncytial virus and the immunological characterization of this protein.

The SH protein of RSV, a small integrated hydrophobic membrane protein, consists of 64 amino acid residues in the polypeptide of subgroup A and 65 amino acid residues in the polypeptide of subgroup B. We synthesized five peptides, representing the SH protein of each RSV subgroup comprised of the following amino acid residues: 2-16, 12-26, 35-49, 45-60, and for subgroup A, 51-64 and for subgroup B, 51-65. Peptides 2-16 and 51-64/65 represented the N-terminal and C-terminal ends of the protein, respectively. In RIPA, under reducing conditions with mercaptoethanol, hyperimmune guinea pig (GP) serum against C-terminal peptide of the two subgroups precipitated the homologous 7.5 kDa and 21-30 kDa SH proteins. Under nonreducing conditions, the GP antipeptide sera precipitated all three SH proteins, suggesting that the 13-15 kDa protein exists as a dimer. The subgroup A 7.5 and 13-15 kDa proteins had apparent molecular weights about 1-2 kDa higher than the corresponding subgroup B proteins. The C-terminal peptides of subgroups A and B were used to characterize the immune response of 11 children, age 1 month to 1 year, with presumed primary RSV infection. Three of 4 children with subgroup A infection and 4 of 7 children with subgroup B infection developed homologous 4-fold rises in antibody to C-terminal peptide (aa 51-64/65) during convalescence. Except for one child with subgroup A and one child with subgroup B infection, the other 5 children developed heterologous rises also.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Molecular characterization of epitopes on the measles virus hemagglutinin protein.

The measles virus (MV) hemagglutinin (H) gene nucleotide sequences of the LEC-WI strain and 11 branched sequential neutralization escape variants of the strain derived by selection with five monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) were determined by direct analysis of amplified polymerase chain reaction products. The parental LEC-WI strain isolated from a patient with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis exhibited H gene sequence characteristics similar to other persistent virus strains derived from brain materials. Mostly single-point H gene mutations, coding for single amino acid substitutions in the H protein, were found to provide explanations for the resistance to the individual Mabs. Resistance to Mabs 16-CD11 and I-41 resulted from changes of Gly-491 to Asp (or Val) and Phe-552 to Val, respectively. One variant (B89) selected by Mab 16-CD11 had a mutation introduced by a single nucleotide deletion and subsequent nucleotide insertion, which caused a shift in the open reading frame. The epitope of Mab I-29 was assigned to Ser-313 or Gly-314, which were changed to Leu and Arg, respectively. The variants subjected to the Mab I-44 selection exhibited change of Ser-189 to Pro. Radioimmunoprecipitation assay and endoglycosidase H (Endo H) treatment revealed that this change destroyed a potential N-linked glycosylation site, indicating that the carbohydrate chain participates in formation of the epitope or indirectly influences its properties. Resistance to Mab 16-DE6 involved three specific amino acid changes in three different places, Gly-211 to Ser, Gly-388 to Asp, and Ser-532 to Phe or Arg-533 to Gly, reflecting the occurrence of a conformational epitope. In conclusion, this study identifies the precise positions of several critical sites on the MV H protein which react with neutralizing antibodies.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Autologous neutralizing antibodies prevail in HIV-2 but not in HIV-1 infection.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) has been reported to be less pathogenic than HIV-1. We have investigated the capacity of sera from nine HIV-2-infected individuals to neutralize their own autologous virus. All nine HIV-2-infected individuals neutralized autologous virus with titers ranging between 20 and 320. In contrast, we have previously reported that most HIV-1-infected individuals lack such antibodies. The difference between HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection was statistically significant (P < 0.0002, Pearson test) and the difference in neutralizing antibody prevalence may explain the faster disease progression in HIV-1-infected individuals than in HIV-2-infected individuals.

HIV Antibodies↗

The mumps virus V protein is unstable in virus infected cells.

The mumps virus (MuV) V protein was characterized in virus infected cells by the use of antipeptide sera. In radioimmune precipitation assay (RIPA), the sera reacted with the V protein and also immunoprecipitated the nucleocapsid (NP) and phospho (P) proteins. However, by depletion RIPA (in which either the NP and P proteins or the V protein were removed) and Western immunoblotting, it was demonstrated that the V protein was not associated with the NP and P proteins, but that the anti-V sera cross-reacted with the NP protein. Pulse-chase experiments demonstrated that the V protein was gradually decreased during the chase period and could not be detected by antibodies raised against peptides representing three different regions of the protein at the end of the chase, while the NP and P proteins were relatively stable during the chase period. These results suggest that the V protein is unstable and degraded gradually in virus infected cells.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Identification of four antibody-binding sites in the envelope proteins of simian immunodeficiency virus, SIVsm.

OBJECTIVE: To identify antigenic regions in the envelope glycoproteins of the simian immunodeficiency virus isolate, SIVsm. METHODS: Thirty-eight peptides were synthesized and used in site-directed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays with sera from experimentally infected macaques. RESULTS: Four antibody-binding regions were identified, corresponding to the second variable region [V2; amino acids (aa) 170-196], the region homologous to V3 in HIV-1 (aa 313-346), the carboxy terminus of gp120 (aa 514-537) and the amino terminus of the transmembrane protein (aa 608-638). Serum reactivity to the V2 region was higher in surviving monkeys than in animals with an early development of simian AIDS. The antigenicity of the peptide appears to be conformationally dependent. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of antigenic sites identified in the envelope proteins of SIV correspond to sites identified in HIV-1 and HIV-2, which further supports the use of the simian model in vaccine development. The pattern of reactivity to the V2 region suggests that absence of antibodies directed to this site might correlate with disease progression.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Assessment of the antigenic structure of tick-borne encephalitis virus by the use of synthetic peptides.

The feasibility of using synthetic peptides for the identification of individual monoclonal antibody (MAb)-defined epitopes was assessed on the basis of a structural model of the tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus envelope glycoprotein E. For this purpose a series of 19 synthetic peptides was prepared, covering most of the E protein sequence. Each of the peptides was tested by ELISA for reactivity with 19 protein E-specific MAbs raised against TBE virus strain Neudoerfl. Specific reactivity was observed with three MAbs and two peptides (representing amino acids 1 to 22 and 221 to 240, respectively), thus providing new information on the location of the corresponding epitopes. Specificity was confirmed in a competition ELISA by the ability of the peptides to block MAb binding to TBE virus antigen. However, in contrast to the other MAbs, these peptide-reactive MAbs were not blocked by native virus particles in the competition ELISA, indicating that they do not recognize the native conformation of the E protein. These three MAbs also showed increased reactivity with denatured forms of the virus in a dot blot assay. Additionally, they reacted only in ELISA systems in which the virus was directly coated to the solid phase and thereby presumably partially denatured, but not when a capture antibody was used, which preserves the native antigen conformation. We have thus identified two classes of MAbs, those which recognize the native form and those which recognize the denatured form of protein E. The latter may be useful for the analysis of sites probably involved in protein folding and oligomerization.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Mumps virus alters aggregation of acetylcholine receptors in cultured rat skeletal muscle cells.

Cultured myoblasts, but not myotubes, from rat skeletal muscles were infected with the RW strain of mumps virus. Such myoblasts then fused to form myotubes containing viral antigen. The infected myotubes showed a significant decrease in the number of dorsal, linear acetylcholine receptor (AChR) aggregates as determined by FITC-conjugated alfa-bungarotoxin. Infected myotubes co-cultivated with spinal cord cells showed no increase in the number of dorsal, linear AChR aggregates, compared to normal, uninfected myotubes. In addition, an increased proliferation of the myoblasts, which remained uninfected in the infected cultures, was noted. This may indicate a release of a growth stimulating factor from the virus containing cells. This study shows that mumps virus infection can lead to an altered receptor organization in a morphologically preserved cell.

Animals↗