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Biomedical subjects

G Hauptmann

Publications and source records attributed to G Hauptmann.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Anti-(human LFA-1) monoclonal antibodies bind P815 murine tumour cells.

Using anti-CD11a and anti-CD18 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed respectively against the alpha and the beta chains of LFA-1, we obtained an important and specific staining of P815 murine tumour cells. Both ascitic and cultured cells displayed a positive staining. Other murine tumours of haematopoietic origin, as well as lymphocytes or lymphoblasts from DBA/2 mice, were not labelled by the same monoclonal antibodies. These results were surprising since, to our knowledge, no case of cross-reaction between species has been reported with LFA-1. Moreover, competition assays showed that epitopes recognized by the two anti-CD11a antibodies were different from those identified by H35.89.9, a mAb raised against the murine LFA-1 alpha chain. Using allogeneic cytotoxic T lymphocytes, we also showed that anti-(human LFA-1) mAbs were unable to block the lysis of P815 by these effector cells. Thus, the putative functional properties of these structures, as well as their importance from an antigeneic point of view, remain to be assessed.

Animals

[11th International Histocompatibility Workshop 1991: Personal data for the Multiple Sclerosis Study].

In our multiple sclerosis (MS) study as a part of the 11th IHWS we HLA-typed 6 MS families with 9 patients and defined the complement polymorphisms (BF, C2, C4) of these families. The aims of the study were the definition of the MS susceptibility gene and the investigation of the involvement of other factors in the etiopathogenesis of MS. The MS study of the IHWS demonstrated a strong association with HLA-DRw15 and -DWw6 in a Caucasian population. The heterozygous C2 deficiency in our family PD1 linked with the haplotype A25 B18 DR2 BFS C4A4 C4B2 confirmed by complement titration may express the participation of complement factors in the etiopathogenesis of MS resulting in immunogenetic heterogeneity of MS. Analysis of the 3 MS pairs of sisters shows the linkage of HLA with the assumed MS susceptibility gene. This could not be confirmed in the whole MS family study of the 11th IHWS.

Chromosome Mapping

Defective activation of the alternative pathway of complement in patients with homozygous C2 deficiency: studies in two unrelated families.

Selective homozygous deficiency of the second component of complement, C2, with increased susceptibility to infection was detected in five children of two unrelated families. Because the haemolytic activity of the alternative complement pathway (AP) was in the low normal range, we evaluated the AP activation pattern. Serum levels of factor B measured immunochemically and the haemolytic function of factor B were low normal. Levels of C3d were not increased. Activation products of factor B were undetectable indicating the absence of in vivo activation of AP. Activation of C3 in vitro by activators of the AP (zymosan A and lipopolysaccharide) was profoundly deficient in homozygous C2 deficiency while heterozygous carriers exhibited intermediate values. There was no correlation between serum levels of factor B and in vitro C3 activation. We conclude that defective AP activation may contribute to increased susceptibility to bacterial infections in some patients with homozygous C2 deficiency.

Child

Recombinational biases in the rearranged C1-inhibitor genes of hereditary angioedema patients.

DNA structural changes responsible for hereditary angioedema were sought in the C1-inhibitor gene, which contains unusually dense clusters of Alu repeats in various orientations. Among patients belonging to 45 unrelated families, eight partial C1-inhibitor gene deletions and a partial duplication were found. Four deletions had one of the boundaries within the gene and the other in extragenic regions--in three cases 5' of the gene and in one case 3' of the gene. The boundaries of the partial duplication and of the remaining four deletions mapped instead within a few kilobases of exon 4. The same element--Alu 1--the first of three tandem Alu repeats preceding exon 4, contained one of the breakpoints of each of these five rearrangements. Moreover, these recombination breakpoints spread over the entire length of Alu 1, in contrast with the tight clustering observed near the 5' end of Alu sequences rearranged in other human genes. Thus, two uncommon recombinational biases are observed in the Alu rearrangements of hereditary angioedema patients; one promotes the occurrence of intragenic breakpoints in a single Alu repeat, and the other allows the breaks to be distributed over the entire Alu structure rather than within the hot spot of the left Alu monomer. A region of potential Z-DNA structure, located 1.7 kb upstream of Alu 1, may contribute to both peculiarities.

Angioedema

A new duplication C4B*1,12 at the C4B locus associated with BF*S07 in a Tunisian population.

Twenty-five Tunisian families were analyzed for their complement alleles in order to detect duplications at the C4 loci. In this population, the most characteristic duplications are C4A2, B1.12 or C4A1, B1,12 always associated with BFS07 and C2C. This previously undescribed C4B1,12 duplication was found in seven families, five times in association with HLA-A2, B50.

Alleles

C2 reference typing report.

Thirty samples contributed by seven laboratories to the VIth Complement Genetics Workshop were analyzed by isoelectric focusing and immunoblotting with a specific antihuman C2 antibody for the study of the polymorphism of native, activated and desialated C2. This study allowed to compare almost all the C2 variants so far described and also several 'new variants'. According to our results, the C2 system consists of nine structural variants at the protein level which include the common C2 C, the less common C2 B (in Caucasoids), four rare acidic and three rare basic variants. The polymorphic site for the basic variants is carried by the C2a fragment. Typing of desialated C2 is necessary to identify rare acidic or basic variants, especially the C2 BH and C2 BJ variants which seem difficult to be recognized in the native protein.

Antibodies

C4 reference typing report.

Human C4 is most polymorphic at the protein level, distinction between allotypes of the C4A and C4B proteins resting on electrophoretic migration patterns and difference in hemolytic activity. The aim of the C4 reference typing has been the definition of reference variants, the assignment of rare variants, and the investigation of duplicated, deleted, or non-expressed and hybrid genes. Samples from 136 individuals, predominantly with known segregation, from 16 laboratories were investigated by standard electrophoretic techniques, for their relative hemolytic activity, reactivity with monoclonal antibodies and Rg/Ch reagents, alpha-, and beta-chain types, relative electrophoretic migration distance, as well as the C4/21-OH-TaqI RFLPs. The results were evaluated in three groups; they consisted in the definition of the eight most common C4 alleles, and the ten Rg/Ch standard phenotypes in group I. In group II twelve C4A and fourteen C4B duplications among 96 complotypes, as well as eighteen deleted/non-expressed C4A and twenty-two C4B alleles, and hybrid alleles were seen by correlation of lytic activity, electrophoretic mobility, and monoclonal and/or Rg/Ch reactivity. Group III consisted of the newly defined allotypes A 8, A 7, A 58, A 55, A 45, B 45, B 35, and B 22, furthermore of alleles subdividing the A 1/A 91, and the B 13/B 12/B 11 regions. The reference typing has allowed reclassification of the majority of described C4 allotypes and resulted in a revision of the C4 nomenclature.

Blood Grouping and Crossmatching

C4 nomenclature statement (1990).

A common and revised nomenclature of the allotypes of the fourth component (C4) of human complement has been proposed. It is based on the results of the C4 Reference Typing of the VIth Complement Genetics Workshop and Conference, Mainz, FRG, 1989, the previous C4 nomenclature and the guidelines for human gene nomenclature (ISGN). The designation of allotypes derives from their relative electrophoretic mobility, the distinction between C4A and C4B proteins from their relative hemolytic activity. Common alleles retain their single digit numeric designation, intermediate variants their two- or three-digit designations; newly discovered alleles should not interfere with already described variants. At least 13 C4A alleles, 16 C4B alleles as well as non-expressed genes at each C4 locus are presently known. There are also duplicated loci of each C4 gene; they should be designated by repetition of the locus symbol at the haplotype or genotype level. As a phenotype they will be placed in parenthesis without repetition of the locus symbol. Aberrant allotypes or hybrid genes should be explained by a special suffix. No special nomenclature is recommended for restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Their designation should follow the general rules of the ISGN.

Alleles

In vitro modulation of leucocyte-function-associated antigen-1 expression on two leukemic cell lines.

Leukocyte-function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) expression on two widespread tumor cell lines: K562 (an erythroleukemia) and MOLT-4 (a T leukemia), was investigated using two monoclonal antibodies specific for the alpha chain of this surface antigen, and flow cytometry analysis. When K562 cells are in the exponential phase of growth, they display very low levels of LFA-1. By contrast, cells from the plateau phase exhibit a strong labelling, which disappears rapidly when they are allowed to resume division by changing the culture medium. Using the same experimental conditions, we failed to detect any LFA-1 expression on MOLT-4 cells. However, after stimulation of these cells by phorbol myristate acetate, we observed a significant labelling, which occurred within 2 days of treatment. The LFA-1 expression disappears progressively after removal of the phorbol ester. From these results it may be concluded that (a) LFA-1 expression can vary considerably according to the culture conditions, (b) the expression of this antigen on the surface of non-expressing variants can be induced by phorbol ester, and (c) in both cases, the change in expression can be reversed completely by replacing the culture medium or by removing phorbol myristate acetate from it.

Antigens, Differentiation

Molecular basis of complete C4 deficiency. A study of three patients.

The highly polymorphic fourth component of human complement (C4) is usually encoded by two genes, C4A and C4B, adjacent to the 21-hydroxylase (21-OH) genes and is also remarkable by the high frequency of the null alleles, C4A*Q0 and C4B*Q0. Complete C4 deficiency is exceptional because this condition appears only in homozygotes for the very rare double-null haplotype C4AQ0,BQ0. This condition in most cases gives rise to systemic lupus erythematosus and an increased susceptibility to infections. The molecular basis for complete C4 deficiency has not yet been established. Therefore we studied the DNA of three previously described C4 deficient patients belonging to unrelated families by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis using C4 and 21-OH probes. These studies revealed a deletion of the C4B and 21-OHA genes in two patients and no deletion at all in the third patient. Therefore, complete C4 deficiency as a result of homozygosity for the C4AQ0, BQ0 haplotype is not a consequence of a deletion of the C4 genes. The molecular basis of this genetic abnormality is certainly very complex and may vary also from one case to another.

Alleles

An estimate on the frequency of duplicated haplotypes and silent alleles of human C4 protein polymorphism. I. Investigations in healthy Caucasoid families.

The frequency of duplicated and non-expressed C4 alleles was determined by segregation analysis in 31 German and five French families with altogether 274 individuals by submitting the complete data from C4 protein phenotyping, including C4 beta chains, and the other classical MHC markers to the family analysis programme (FAP). From 120 unrelated German haplotypes the following frequencies were derived for silent alleles: C4A*Q0 0.2000, C4B*Q0 0.2083, and for the total of homo- and heteroduplicated C4A resp. C4B alleles: C4"DA"* 0.1333, C4"DB"* 0.1000. The true occurrence of the duplicated C4A*2, "DB*21" haplotype, first observed in French families, was found to be 0.0250 in the German sample. While the frequency of duplicated C4 haplotypes confirms earlier estimates, the increase in the frequency of silent alleles corresponds to those assumed from investigations at the DNA level. The results demonstrate classical protein typing with inclusion of C4 beta chain types to be an indispensable and powerful tool for haplotype recognition; they support the hypothesis that deletion at one C4 locus is accompanied by duplication at the other in a majority of haplotypes.

Alleles

Rearrangements and point mutations of P450c21 genes are distinguished by five restriction endonuclease haplotypes identified by a new probing strategy in 57 families with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is caused by disorders of the P450c21B gene, which, with the P450c21A pseudogene, lies in the HLA locus on chromosome 6. The near identity of nucleotide sequences and endonuclease cleavage sites in these A and B loci makes genetic analysis of this disease difficult. We used a genomic DNA probe that detects the P450c21 genes (A pseudogene, 3.2 kb; B gene, 3.7 kb in Taq I digests) and the 3' flanking DNA not detected with cDNA probes (A pseudogene, 2.4 kb; B gene, 2.5 kb) to examine Southern blots of genomic DNA from 68 patients and 165 unaffected family members in 57 families with CAH. Of 116 CAH-bearing chromosomes, 114 could be sorted into five easily distinguished haplotypes based on blots of DNA digested with Taq I and Bgl II. Haplotype I (76 of 116, 65.6%) was indistinguishable from normal and therefore bore very small lesions, presumably point mutations. Haplotype II (4 of 116, 3.4%) and haplotype III (8 of 116, 6.9%) had deletions and duplications of the P450c21A pseudogene but had structurally intact P450c21B genes presumably bearing point mutations; point mutation thus was the genetic defect in 88 of 116 chromosomes (75.9%). Haplotypes IV and V lack the 3.7-kb Taq I band normally associated with the P450c21B gene. Haplotype IV (13 of 116, 11.2%) retains all other bands, indicating that the P450c21B gene has undergone a gene conversion event, so that it is now also associated with a 3.2-kb band. Haplotype V (13 of 116, 11.2%) lacks the 2.4-kb Taq I fragment and the 12-kb Bgl II fragments normally associated with the P450c21A pseudogene, as well as lacking the 3.7-kb Taq I fragment, indicating deletion of approximately 30 kb of DNA, resulting in a single hybrid P450c21A/B gene. Most (114 of 116, 98%) CAH alleles thus can easily be classified with this new probing strategy, eliminating many ambiguities resulting from probing with cDNA.

Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital