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Biomedical subjects

J L Li

Publications and source records attributed to J L Li.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Risk of relapse in leprosy after fixed-duration multidrug therapy.

Between 1986 and 1995, 8307 leprosy patients have completed fixed-duration multidrug therapy (FD-MDT) and were followed annually for possible relapse. The mean relapse rate for multibacillary (MB) leprosy is 0.15/1000 person-years (py) and for paucibacillary (PB) 0.55/1000 py. There is no difference in the relapse rates between patients with or without chemotherapy before FD-MDT. In MB patients, the five relapses occurred between 4 and 7 years; in PB patients, five relapses occurred at 4-5 years after FD-MDT. Six additional PB relapses self-reported 1-4 years after the 5-year surveillance period and were not included in the relapse rates. Most PB patients relapsed into MB due to wrong classification and insufficient therapy. For the known 62 irregular MB patients the cumulative relapse rate is 6.5%.

Anti-Infective Agents↗

The related adhesion focal tyrosine kinase forms a complex with paxillin in hematopoietic cells.

Related adhesion focal tyrosine kinase (RAFTK), also known as proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 and cellular adhesion kinase beta, has been recently cloned and characterized as a member of the focal adhesion kinase (FAK) subfamily. RAFTK has an overall 48% amino acid homology to p125(FAK) and contains a kinase domain but lacks a transmembrane region, myristylation sites, and Src homology region 2 and 3 domains. By Northern blot analysis, RAFTK is expressed in myeloid, lymphoid, and megakaryocytic hematopoietic cells. Like p125(FAK), we found that RAFTK interacts with the focal adhesion protein paxillin. In the lymphoid cell line BaF3 and the myeloid cell line 32Dcl3, RAFTK coprecipitates with paxillin. Using in vitro binding assays, RAFTK and paxillin were shown to bind directly, through a segment of paxillin that required amino acids 100-227 and a domain in the C terminus of RAFTK. In vitro, RAFTK could phosphorylate paxillin on tyrosine residues. These results suggest that RAFTK, as well as p125(FAK), may be important in phosphotyrosine-signaling events within the focal adhesion.

Animals↗

Pfmrk, a MO15-related protein kinase from Plasmodium falciparum. Gene cloning, sequence, stage-specific expression and chromosome localization.

Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) play a central role in the regulation of the eukaryotic cell cycle. A novel gene encoding a Cdk-like protein, Pfmrk, has been isolated from the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The gene has no introns and comprises an open reading frame encoding a protein of 324 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 38 kDa. Database searches revealed a striking similarity to the Cdk subfamily with the highest similarity to human MO15 (Cdk7). The overall sequence of Pfmrk shares 62% similarity and 46% identity with human MO15, in comparison to the 49-58% similarity and 34-43% identity with other human Cdks. Pfmrk contains two unique inserts: one consisting of 5 amino acids just before the cyclin-binding motif and the other composed of 13 amino acids within the T-loop equivalent region. Southern blots of genomic DNA digests and chromosomal separations showed that Pfmrk is a single-copy gene conserved between several parasite strains and is located on chromosome 10. A 2500-nucleotide transcript of this gene is expressed predominantly in the sexual blood stages (gametocytes), suggesting that Pfmrk may be involved in sexual stage development.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

p130CAS forms a signaling complex with the adapter protein CRKL in hematopoietic cells transformed by the BCR/ABL oncogene.

The Philadelphia chromosome (Ph) translocation generates a chimeric tyrosine kinase oncogene, BCR/ABL, which causes chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and a type of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In primary samples from virtually all patients with CML or Ph+ALL, the CRKL adapter protein is tyrosine phosphorylated and physically associated with p210(BCR/ABL). CRKL has one SH2 domain and two SH3 domains and is structurally related to c-CRK-II (CRK) and the v-Crk oncoprotein. We have previously shown that CRKL, but not the related adapter protein c-CRK, is tyrosine phosphorylated in cell lines transformed by BCR/ABL, and that CRKL binds to BCR/ABL through the CRKL-SH3 domains. Furthermore, the CRKL-SH2 domain has been shown to bind one or more cellular proteins, one of which is p120(CBL). Here we demonstrate that another cellular protein linked to BCR/ABL through the CRKL-SH2 domain is p130(CAS). p130(CAS) was found to be tyrosine phosphorylated and associated with CRKL in BCR/ABL expressing cell lines and in samples obtained from CML and ALL patients, but not in samples from controls. In both normal and BCR/ABL transformed cells, p130(CAS) was detected in focal adhesion-like structures, as was BCR/ABL. In normal cells, the focal adhesion proteins tensin, p125(FAK), and paxillin constitutively associated with p130(CAS). However, in BCR/ABL transformed cells, the interaction between p130(CAS) and tensin was disrupted, while the associations between p130(CAS), p125(FAK), and paxillin were unaffected. These results suggest that the BCR/ABL oncogene could alter the function of p130(CAS) in at least three ways: tyrosine phosphorylation, inducing constitutive binding of CRKL to a domain in p130(CAS) containing Tyr-X-X-Pro motifs (substrate domain), and disrupting the normal interaction of p130(CAS) with the focal adhesion protein tensin. These alterations in the structure of signaling proteins in focal adhesion like structures could contribute to the known adhesion abnormalities in CML cells.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Effects of peripheral nerve ligation on expression of mu-opioid receptor in sensory ganglion neurons: an immunohistochemical study in dorsal root and nodose ganglion neurons of the rat.

The present study was attempted to examine if mu-opioid receptor (MOR) might be transported by axonal flow peripherally through peripheral axons of somatic sensory ganglion neurons. After unilateral ligation of the sciatic nerve or the vagus nerve distal to the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) or nodose ganglion (NG), MOR-like immunoreactivity (MOR-LI) of neuronal cell bodies in the DRG of the fourth and fifth lumbar nerves, NG, ambiguus nucleus (Amb) and dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMV) on the side of the ligation was apparently reduced within 1 week after the nerve ligation. However, within 24 h after the nerve ligation, a transient enhancement of MOR-LI was observed in cell bodies of DRG neurons, sciatic nerve stump proximal to the ligature, and cell bodies of NG neurons on the side of the ligation; such a transient enhancement of MOR-LI was not detected in the Amb and DMV. The results suggest that MOR undergoes centrifugal axonal flow in peripheral axons of somatic and visceral sensory ganglion neurons, and that MOR synthesis in sensory ganglion neurons is vulnerable to damage of the peripheral axons.

Analgesics, Opioid↗

Distribution of trigeminothalamic and spinothalamic-tract neurons showing substance P receptor-like immunoreactivity in the rat.

Trigeminothalamic and spinothalamic-tract neurons provided with substance P receptor (SPR) were examined in the rat by SPR immunofluorescence histochemistry combined with Fluoro-Gold (FG) fluorescent retrograde labeling. After FG injection in the thalamic regions, FG-labeled cells with SPR-like immunoreactivity were seen mainly in laminae I and III of the medullary and spinal dorsal horns and lateral spinal nucleus. In these regions, about one-fourth to one-third of FG-labeled cells showed SPR-like immunoreactivity.

Afferent Pathways↗

The proto-oncogene product p120CBL and the adaptor proteins CRKL and c-CRK link c-ABL, p190BCR/ABL and p210BCR/ABL to the phosphatidylinositol-3' kinase pathway.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and some acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL) are caused by the t(9;22) chromosome translocation, which produces the constitutively activated BCR/ABL tyrosine kinase. When introduced into factor dependent hematopoietic cell lines, BCR/ABL induces the tyrosine phosphorylation of many cellular proteins. One prominent BCR/ABL substrate is p120CBL, the cellular homolog of the v-Cbl oncoprotein. In an effort to understand the possible contribution of p120CBL to transformation by BCR/ABL, we looked for cellular proteins which associate with p120CBL in hematopoietic cell lines transformed by BCR/ABL. In addition to p210BCR/ABL and c-ABL, p120CBL coprecipitated with an 85 kDa phosphoprotein, which was identified as the p85 subunit of PI3K. Anti-p120CBL immunoprecipitates from BCR/ABL-transformed, but not from untransformed, cell lines contained PI3K lipid kinase activity. Interestingly, the adaptor proteins CRKL and c-CRK were also found in these complexes. In vitro binding studies indicated that the SH2 domains of CRKL and c-CRK bound directly to p120CBL, while the SH3 domains of c-CRK and CRKL bound to BCR/ABL and c-ABL. The N-terminal and the C-terminal SH2 and the SH3 domain of p85PI3K bound directly in vitro to p120CBL. The ABL-SH2, but not ABL-SH3, could also bind to p120CBL. These data suggest that BCR/ABL may induce the formation of multimeric complexes of signaling proteins which include p120CBL, PI3K, c-CRK or CRKL, c-ABL and BCR/ABL itself.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Immunohistochemical localization of a metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR7, in ganglion neurons of the rat; with special reference to the presence in glutamatergic ganglion neurons.

Immunoreactivity for the metabotropic glutamate receptor 7 (mGluR7) and that for phosphate-activated glutaminase (PAG) were examined in the trigeminal (TG), dorsal root (DRG), nodose (NG), superior cervical, celiac, and pelvic ganglia of the rat. Virtually all neuronal cell bodies showed mGluR7-like immunoreactivity (mGluR7-LI) in these ganglia. On the other hand, PAG-like immunoreactivity (PAG) was seen in almost all neuronal cell bodies in the TG, DRG and NG, but not in the other ganglia. Co-existence of mGluR7- and PAG-LI in the TG, DRG and NG was confirmed by a double-immunofluorescence immunohistochemical method. The results indicate that virtually all sensory ganglion neurons are glutamatergic and equipped with mGluR7.

Animals↗

Pluripotential rabbit embryonic stem (ES) cells are capable of forming overt coat color chimeras following injection into blastocysts.

The isolation of pluripotent embryonic stem (ES) cell lines from preimplantation rabbit embryos and their in vitro properties have been previously described. In the present investigation, these ES cell lines were further characterized and their capacity to contribute to formation of adult, fertile animals upon injection into recipient New Zealand White blastocysts demonstrated. The efficiency of chimera formation was low (5% of live born), but the degree of chimerism, as assessed by coat color contribution from the Dutch belted strain, was high (10-50%). Thus a significant step is taken toward the development of gene-targeting technology in the rabbit, an animal whose physiology and size lend itself to unique applications in biomedical research.

Animals↗

Localization of mu-opioid receptor-like immunoreactivity in the central components of the vagus nerve: a light and electron microscope study in the rat.

mu-Opioid receptor, the opioid receptor that shows the highest affinity for morphine, appears to induce a variety of side-effects, at least partly, directly through the mu-opioid receptor on neurons constituting the autonomic part of the vagus nerve. Thus, in the present study, location of mu-opioid receptor-like immunoreactivity in the central components of the autonomic part of the vagus nerve was examined in the rat. The intense immunoreactivity was observed light microscopically in the neuropil of the commissural subnucleus and the dorsal part of the medial subnucleus of the nucleus of the solitary tract, and in the neuropil of the rostral half of the ambiguus nucleus. The immunoreactivity was moderate in the neuropil of the rostral and lateral subnuclei and ventral part of the medial subnucleus of the nucleus of the solitary tract, and weak in the neuropil of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve. In the nodose ganglion, many neurons of various sizes (17-48 microns in soma diameter) showed moderate immunoreactivity. After unilateral vagotomy at a level proximal to the nodose ganglion, the immunoreactivity in the ipsilateral ambiguus nucleus was apparently reduced within 48 h of the operation, and completely disappeared by the seventh day after the operation. In the nucleus of the solitary tract and dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve, the reduction of immunoreactivity after the ganglionectomy was detectable on the fourth day after the operation, and became readily apparent by the seventh day after the operation; the immunoreactivity, none the less, still remained on the 10th day after the operation. Electron microscopically, the immunoreactivity in the ambiguus nucleus was seen mainly on dendritic profiles and additionally on somatic ones; no immunoreactivity was detected in axonal profiles. The immunoreactivity in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve was observed only on dendritic profiles. The immunoreactivity in the nucleus of the solitary tract was seen on axonal and dendritic profiles, but not on somatic profiles. The immunoreactive axon terminals in the nucleus of the solitary tract were filled with spherical synaptic vesicles and made asymmetric synapses with dendritic profiles. The results indicate that the mu-opioid receptor in the central components of the autonomic part of the vagus nerve is located on dendrites and cell bodies of efferent neurons in the ambiguus, on dendrites of efferent neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus, and on axons which arise from nodose ganglion neurons and terminate in the nucleus of the solitary tract. The receptors on these structures may constitute the targets of enkephalin-containing and beta-endorphin-containing afferent axons arising from brainstem neurons. The receptors on the axon terminals of nodose ganglion neurons may be involved in regulation of the release of neurotransmitters and/or neuromodulators.

Animals↗

Effects of training on potassium, calcium and hydrogen ion regulation in skeletal muscle and blood during exercise.

Ionic regulation is critical to muscle excitation, contraction and metabolism, and thus for muscle function during exercise. This review focuses on the effects of training upon K+, Ca2+ and H+ ion regulation in muscle and K+ regulation in blood during exercise. Training enhances K+ regulation in muscle and blood and reduces muscular fatiguability. Endurance, sprint and strength training in humans induce an increased muscle Na+, K+ pump concentration, usually associated with a reduced rise in plasma [K+] during exercise. Although impaired muscle Ca2+ regulation plays a vital role in fatigue, little is known about possible training effects. In rat fast-twitch muscle, overload-induced hypertrophy and endurance training were associated with reduced sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ uptake, consistent with fast-to-slow fibre transition. In human muscle, endurance and strength training had no effect on muscle Ca2+ ATPase concentration. Whilst muscle Ca2+ uptake, release and Ca2+ ATPase activity were depressed by fatigue, no differences were found between strength athletes and untrained individuals. Muscle H+ accumulation may contribute to fatigue during intense exercise and is also modified by sprint training. Sprint training may increase muscle Lac- and work output with exhaustive exercise, but the rise in muscle [H+] is unchanged or attenuated, indicating a reduced rise in muscle [H+] relative to work performed. Muscle buffering capacity can be dissociated from this improved H+ regulatory capacity after training. Thus, training enhances muscle and blood K+ and muscle H+ regulation during exercise, consistent with improved muscular performance and reduced fatiguability; however, little is known about training effects on muscle Ca2+ regulation during contraction.

Animals↗

[The clinical analysis of oral squamous cell carcinoma under age of 40 years old]

44 cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma under 40 years old were analyzed retrospectively.The ratio of male to female was 1.93:1,the youngest was 3,and the majority were within 30-40 years old.The predict site was on the tongue,21 cases shown and accounting for 66.90%.Histologically,the most cases were highly differentiated,accounting for 81092%.About one half cases were present in the terminal clinical stage,and for tongue cancer,terminal stage cases were as high as 61.90%.The patients did not cooperate with treatment very well,only minority could fulfill combined therapy in strict meaning.The recurrence was high and might affected the prognosis.The results were discussed and literatures were reviewed.

Journal Article↗

p210BCR/ABL induces formation of complexes containing focal adhesion proteins and the protooncogene product p120c-Cbl.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative disorder caused by the t(9;22) translocation. This translocation creates a unique tyrosine kinase oncogene, bcr/abl, whose product, p210BCR/ABL, is localized to the actin cytoskeleton. One of the major tyrosine phosphoproteins in cells transformed by p210BCR/ABL is the protooncoprotein p120c-Cbl. We have previously shown that p210BCR/ABL induces formation of a multimeric complex of proteins which include p120c-Cbl, phosphotidylinositol-3' kinase, and p210BCR/ABL itself. Here we show that certain focal adhesion proteins are also part of this complex, including paxillin and talin. The sites in paxillin required to bind to p120c-Cbl in this complex have been partially mapped. The interaction of pl20c-Cbl with paxillin is specific, since other focal adhesion proteins, such as p125FAK, vinculin, and alpha-actinin, are not in this complex. The binding of p120c-Cbl to the focal adhesion protein paxillin could contribute to the known adhesive defects of CML cells.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Presynaptic localization of a metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR7, in the primary afferent neurons: an immunohistochemical study in the rat.

An antibody which recognizes specifically a metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR7, was produced by using a trpE fusion protein containing a C-terminal sequence of rat mGluR7. Neuropil in laminae I and II of the dorsal horn of the rat, as well as many neuronal cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglion, showed mGluR7-like immunoreactivity; the immunoreactivity in neuropil was seen in axon terminals, which were filled with round synaptic vesicles and constituted axodendritic and axosomatic asymmetric synapses. The mGluR7-like immunoreactivity in laminae I and II in the dorsal horn was reduced after dorsal rhizotomy. The results indicate that some axon terminals of the primary afferent fibers to laminae I and II of the dorsal horn are provided with mGluR7.

Animals↗

CRKL links p210BCR/ABL with paxillin in chronic myelogenous leukemia cells.

The Philadelphia chromosome translocation generates a chimeric oncogene, BCR/ABL, which causes chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). In primary neutrophils from patients with CML, the major novel tyrosine-phosphorylated protein is CRKL, an SH2-SH3-SH3 linker protein which has an overall homology of 60% to CRK, the human homologue of the v-crk oncogene product. Anti-CRKL immunoprecipitates from CML cells, but not normal cells, were found to contain p210BCR/ABL and c-ABL. Several other phosphoproteins were also detected in anti-CRKL immunoprecipitates, one of which has been identified as paxillin, a 68-kDa focal adhesion protein which we have previously shown to be phosphorylated by p210BCR/ABL. Using GST-CRKL fusion proteins, the SH3 domains of CRKL were found to bind c-ABL and p210BCR/ABL, while the SH2 domain of CRKL bound to paxillin, suggesting that CRKL could physically link p210BCR/ABL to paxillin. Paxillin contains three tyrosines in Tyr-X-X-Pro (Y-X-X-P) motifs consistent with amino acid sequences predicted to be optimal for binding to the CRKL-SH2 domain (at positions Tyr-31, Tyr-118, and Tyr-181). Each of these tyrosine residues was mutated to a phenylalanine residue, and in vitro binding assays indicated that paxillin tyrosines at positions 31 and 118, but not 181, are likely to be involved in CRKL-SH2 binding. These results suggest that the p210BCR/ABL oncogene may be physically linked to the focal adhesion-associated protein paxillin in hematopoietic cells by CRKL. This interaction could contribute to the known adhesive defects of CML cells.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Increased tyrosine phosphorylation of focal adhesion proteins in myeloid cell lines expressing p210BCR/ABL.

The BCR/ABL oncogene causes chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in humans and induces growth factor independence of hematopoietic cell lines in tissue culture. p210BCR/ABL is localized at least in part to the cytoskeleton, and has been shown to interact directly with actin filaments through an actin binding domain located in the C-terminus of ABL. CML cells have reduced adhesion to some extracellular matrix components but the mechanism of this phenomenon is unknown. In this study we examined tyrosine phosphorylation of focal adhesion proteins in cells expressing p210BCR/ABL. An interleukin-3 (IL-3)-dependent cell line, 32Dc13, was transformed with a BCR/ABL cDNA, and the patterns of localization, expression, and tyrosine phosphorylation of focal adhesion proteins were compared among untransformed 32Dc13 cells with and without IL-3 stimulation and BCR/ABL-transformed 32Dc13 cells. Of the focal adhesion proteins examined, only paxillin exhibited tyrosine phosphorylation in response to IL-3; while in cells transformed by p210BCR/ABL, paxillin, vinculin, p125FAK, talin and tensin were constitutively tyrosine phosphorylated. IL-3 induced a transient association between paxillin and vinculin, while in BCR/ABL-transformed cells, several proteins coimmunoprecipitated with paxillin, including vinculin, p125FAK, talin and tensin. Pseudopodia enriched in focal adhesion proteins were transiently detected in 32Dc13 cells in response to IL-3, but constitutively detected in cells expressing p210BCR/ABL. p210BCR/ABL protein was also found concentrated in punctate structures adjacent to the cell membrane in myeloid cell lines, which often contained vinculin and paxillin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Molecular cloning of human paxillin, a focal adhesion protein phosphorylated by P210BCR/ABL.

Paxillin is a 68-kDa focal adhesion protein that is phosphorylated on tyrosine residues in fibroblasts in response to transformation by v-src, treatment with platelet-derived growth factor, or cross-linking of integrins. Paxillin has been shown to have binding sites for the SH3 domain of Src and the SH2 domain of Crk in vitro and to coprecipitate with two other focal adhesion proteins, vinculin and focal adhesion kinase (p125fak). After preliminary studies showed that paxillin was a substrate for the hematopoietic oncogene p210BCR/ABL, we investigated the role of this protein in hematopoietic cell transformation and signal transduction. A full-length length cDNA encoding human paxillin was cloned, revealing multiple protein domains, including four tandem LIM domains, a proline-rich domain containing a consensus SH3 binding site, and three potential Crk-SH2 binding sites. The paxillin gene was localized to chromosome 12q24 by fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. A chicken paxillin cDNA was also cloned and is predicted to encode a protein approximately 90% identical to human paxil-lin. Paxillin coprecipitated with p210BCR/ABL and multiple other cellular proteins in myeloid cell lines, suggesting the formation of multimeric complexes. In normal hematopoietic cells and myeloid cell lines, tyrosine phosphorylation of paxillin and coprecipitation with other cellular proteins was rapidly and transiently induced by interleukin-3 and several other hematopoietic growth factors. The predicted structure of paxillin implicates this molecule in protein-protein interactions involved in signal transduction from growth factor receptors and the BCR/ABL oncogene fusion protein to the cytoskeleton.

3T3 Cells↗