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Biomedical subjects

J M Adams

Publications and source records attributed to J M Adams.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Vagal afferents, diaphragm fatigue, and inspiratory resistance in anesthetized dogs.

This study tests three hypotheses regarding mechanisms that produce rapid shallow breathing during a severe inspiratory resistive load (IRL): 1) an intact vagal afferent pathway is necessary; 2) diaphragm fatigue contributes to tachypnea; and 3) hypoxia may alter the pattern of respiration. We imposed a severe IRL on pentobarbital sodium-anesthetized dogs, followed by bilateral vagotomy, then by supplemental O2. IRL alone produced rapid shallow breathing associated with hypercapnia and hypoxia. After the vagotomy, the breathing pattern became slow and deep, restoring arterial PCO2 but not arterial PO2 toward the control values. Relief of hypoxia had no effect, and at no time was there any evidence of fatigue of the diaphragm as measured by the response to phrenic nerve stimulation. We conclude that an intact afferent vagal pathway is necessary for the tachypnea resulting from a severe IRL, neither hypoxia nor diaphragm fatigue played a role, and, although we cannot rule out stimulation of vagal afferents, the simplest explanation for the increased frequency in our experiments is increased respiratory drive due to hypercapnia.

Afferent Pathways↗

Short-term entrainment of ventilation to the walking cycle in humans.

We describe a breath-by-breath method to test for entrainment of breathing and walking cycles. Thirty-eight normal subjects walked comfortably on a treadmill while breathing through a pneumotachograph. We analyzed the time intervals between heel strikes and the onset of inspiration (or expiration) for evidence of phase locking between steps and breaths, using Monte Carlo simulation to model the probability that n consecutive inspirations (or expirations) would begin at a constant time interval +/- 0.10 s from heel strikes by chance. We developed empirical criteria for rhythm synchronization during series of four or more breaths, while maintaining an estimated specificity of 95%. The majority of subjects showed some evidence of entrainment (29 +/- 23% of breaths on average), which occurred intermittently, usually lasting less than 10 breaths at a time. The precision of phase locking during spontaneous entrainment was similar to that in 10 subjects who attempted to maintain deliberate entrainment. The results suggest that the walking cadence provides a persuasive, but not dominant, input to the central breathing pattern generator. The present method can detect entrainment even when it occurs sporadically or with varying coupling pattern.

Adult↗

Intracisternal DIDS enhances ventilatory response to rebreathing CO2 in rats.

In 11 anesthetized rats, we tested the hypothesis that carrier-mediated anion transport in part determines the medullary chemoreceptor response to acute hypercapnia by infusing the transport inhibitor 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS) in mock cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) into the cisterna magna. In five additional rats with sham CSF infusion, we found no effect of mock CSF on the response to rebreathing CO2. Dye infused into the cistern stained the putative chemoreceptor areas on the ventral surface of the medulla. DIDS, at 10 to 1,000 nM, increased the respiratory response to CO2 in a dose-related manner but had no effect on arterial pressure or heart rate. At 1,000 nM, the hypercapnic minute ventilation response was almost doubled because of both volume and rate of breathing. We conclude that the net effect of anion transport is to mitigate the stimulus to the medullary chemoreceptors during acute hypercapnia.

4,4'-Diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-Disulfonic Acid↗

bcr-abl oncogene renders myeloid cell line factor independent: potential autocrine mechanism in chronic myeloid leukemia.

In chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a chromosome translocation has fused the bcr gene to the c-abl oncogene, such that a chimeric bcr-abl polypeptide can be made. To explore the biological properties of bcr-abl and compare them with those of the Abelson virus (AMuLV) transforming gene (gag-v-abl), we have used either a synthetic bcr-v-abl gene that mimics the translocation product or, in some experiments, a bcr-c-abl cDNA. A new retroviral vector was used to introduce the genes into the factor-dependent myeloid line FDC-P1. Both bcr-abl and v-abl efficiently rendered the myeloid cells factor independent and tumorigenic. Their fully autonomous growth may be due to the myeloid growth factor interleukin-3 (IL-3) made in small amounts by the infected cells. Hence autocrine factor production may feature in CML development and Abelson virus transformation.

Animals↗

Immunologic competence of B cells subjected to constitutive c-myc oncogene expression in immunoglobulin heavy chain enhancer myc transgenic mice.

B cell activation is associated with a marked transient rise in expression of the c-myc proto-onco-gene. A unique opportunity to examine the effects of constitutive c-myc expression upon B cell function is provided by transgenic mice in which the c-myc oncogene is regulated by the enhancer (E mu) from the immunoglobulin locus (E mu-myc mice). We have examined the immunologic competence of B cells from E mu-myc mice both in vitro and in vivo. Upon stimulation, many E mu-myc B cells can proliferate to form clones most of which contain antibody-forming cells. However, the frequency of responsive B cells from E mu-myc donors is only about 30% that of B cells from normal littermates. Thus, enforced myc expression is not sufficient to block the differentiation of all B cells, but a much larger fraction of the immunoglobulin-bearing cells from E mu-myc mice are incompetent. Upon immunization, E mu-myc mice mounted specific antibody responses, although some responses were delayed. Isotype switching can occur, since we observed hemolytic plaques of both IgM and IgG type and detected specific antibody of both classes in the serum. Moreover, the serum from nonimmunized E mu-myc mice contained normal levels of both IgM and IgG. Thus constitutive expression of the c-myc gene appears to retard B cell differentiation, but does not grossly impair immunologic function in the intact animal.

Animals↗

cDNA sequence for human bcr, the gene that translocates to the abl oncogene in chronic myeloid leukaemia.

The hallmark of human chronic myeloid leukaemia is a 9;22 chromosome translocation that fuses most of the c-abl oncogene to the 5' portion of the breakpoint cluster region (bcr) gene, such that a hybrid bcr-abl mRNA and polypeptide are generated. To clarify further the nature of this translocation, we have analysed the structure of normal human bcr mRNA by isolating large cDNA clones that collectively span the entire coding region and extend 2.6 kb upstream of those previously described. The 3150-bp nucleotide sequence reported here includes 534 bp of a GC-rich 5' non-coding segment and indicates, in conjunction with published sequences, that the bcr polypeptide comprises 1271 amino acid residues. The predicted polypeptide is unrelated to serine or tyrosine kinases, or indeed to any previously published sequence; its structure provides no evidence of a transmembrane region. Since probes from throughout the 4.8-kb cloned region hybridized to both the 4.5 and 6.7 kb normal bcr transcripts, both RNAs contain most or all of that region.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Generation of altered transcripts by retroviral insertion within the c-myb gene in two murine monocytic leukemias.

Two murine monocytic leukemia cell lines, WEHI-265 and WEHI-274, were found to carry a rearranged c-myb gene. The rearrangements are due to insertion of a deleted Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MLV) provirus in the 5' region of the c-myb gene and thus are similar to rearrangements in the ABPL tumors (G. L. C. Shen-Ong, M. Potter, J. F. Mushinski, S. Lavu, and E. P. Reddy, Science 226:1077-1080, 1984). In each cell line, the retroviral insertion has induced high levels of two aberrant RNA species, which, as in the ABPL tumors (G. L. C. Shen-Ong, H. C. Morse, M. Potter, and J. F. Mushinski, Mol. Cell. Biol. 6:380-392, 1986), contain both viral (Mo-MLV) and cellular (myb) sequences. Both species lack the sequences encoding the amino terminus of the c-myb protein and thus could encode a protein which, like the v-myb gene products (and the predicted ABPL myb proteins), is truncated at the amino terminus. We have found that the larger (5.3 kilobase [kb]) and more abundant of the tumor-specific myb RNAs was predominantly nuclear, while the smaller species (3.9 kb) was cytoplasmic. Furthermore, our data imply that the 3.9-kb RNA was derived from the 5.3-kb RNA by an additional splice which utilized a cryptic splice acceptor site within the viral gag sequences. On the basis of subcellular distribution and predicted translational potential, we conclude that the 3.9-kb RNA is probably the mRNA which encodes a truncated myb protein. We also show that, due to different insertion points in W265 and W274, the W274 myb RNAs contained sequences from a c-myb exon upstream of the exons represented in the W265 (and ABPL) RNAs. The significance of our findings with regard to transformation by myb in these tumors is discussed.

Base Sequence↗

Expression of the c-myc oncogene under control of an immunoglobulin enhancer in E mu-myc transgenic mice.

Transgenic mice bearing a cellular myc oncogene coupled to the immunoglobulin heavy-chain enhancer (E mu) exhibit perturbed B-lymphocyte development and succumb to B lymphoid tumors. To investigate how the enhancer has affected myc expression, we analyzed the structure and abundance of myc transcripts in tissues of prelymphomatous mice and in the lymphomas. Expression of the E mu-myc transgene appeared to be confined largely to B lymphoid cells, being dominant in bone marrow, spleen, and lymph nodes, with no detectable expression in T cells or other hematopoietic lineages examined. The myc transcripts initiated very predominantly at the normal myc promoters, although use of the more upstream myc promoter was accentuated and an enhancer-associated promoter may be used infrequently. The level of E mu-myc transcripts in the preneoplastic lymphoid tissues and in the E mu-myc tumors was not markedly higher than myc RNA levels in proliferating normal lymphocytes. Thus, enforced expression of structurally normal myc transcripts at only a modestly elevated level has profound biological consequences. The absence of detectable endogenous c-myc RNA in any tumor, or in preneoplastic bone marrow, supports a negative feedback model for normal c-myc regulation.

Animals↗

The c-myc oncogene perturbs B lymphocyte development in E-mu-myc transgenic mice.

Transgenic mice bearing a c-myc oncogene subjugated to the lymphoid-specific immunoglobulin heavy chain enhancer (E mu) develop clonal B lymphoid malignancies, but most young E mu-myc mice lack malignant clones. Their prelymphomatous state has allowed us to examine how constitutive c-myc expression influences B cell development. We find that early stages are overrepresented, even before birth. Pre-B cells of polyclonal origin increase greatly, while B cells develop in reduced number. Both the pre-B and the B cells appear to be in an active state, since they are larger than normal and a greater fraction are in the cell cycle. Enforced myc expression has thus favored proliferation over maturation. Hence, a normal function of c-myc may be to regulate differentiation as well as to promote cell cycling.

Animals↗

Chromosome 8 breakpoint far 3' of the c-myc oncogene in a Burkitt's lymphoma 2;8 variant translocation is equivalent to the murine pvt-1 locus.

The 2;8 variant translocation of human Burkitt's lymphomas is closely related cytogenetically to the t(6;15) of murine plasmacytomas; both involve a reciprocal exchange between the Ig kappa locus and a band region indistinguishable from that bearing the c-myc oncogene. To define their molecular relationship, we have compared cloned chromosome 8 DNA from the t(2;8) breakpoint in the human Burkitt's lymphoma JBL2 with cloned DNA from the murine pvt-1 locus, the major chromosome 15 breakpoint region in murine t(6;15). DNA sequencing and Southern blot analysis shows that these two regions are homologous. Thus the t(2;8) in JBL2 is the molecular equivalent of many murine t(6;15). The murine pvt-1 locus lies an unknown distance 3' of c-myc; analysis of DNA from several tumours with c-myc amplification reveals that pvt-1 is co-amplified in at least one case, placing pvt-1 approximately 100-500 kb 3' of c-myc. The significance of these results with respect to the role of pvt-1 in tumorigenesis is discussed.

Animals↗

Proviral integration site Mis-1 in rat thymomas corresponds to the pvt-1 translocation breakpoint in murine plasmacytomas.

Two loci independently implicated in T-and B-lymphocyte neoplasia are shown to be equivalent. The Mis-1 locus is a common proviral integration site in retrovirally induced rat T lymphomas, while the pvt-1 locus on murine chromosome 15 frequently translocates to the kappa locus in plasmacytomas bearing 6;15 translocations. By comparing cloned sequences, we show that pvt-1 is the murine homolog of Mis-1.

Animals↗

Myc oncogene activation in B and T lymphoid tumours.

The chromosome translocations characteristic of certain B lymphoid tumours associate the myc oncogene and immunoglobulin loci. The typical t(12;15) in murine plasmacytomas and analogous t(14;8) in Burkitt lymphomas couple the myc coding region to one of the switch recombination regions within the immunoglobulin heavy (H) chain locus; hence the switch machinery may promote some translocations. Significantly, translocation induces constitutive myc expression, the untranslocated myc allele remaining silent. The predilection for breakpoints near the 5' end of the c-myc gene may reflect selection for altered myc regulation. In most tumours, the stimulatory effect of the H locus context is not understood, but an H locus enhancer participates in some tumours, including one displaying a novel transposition. The variant (6;15) translocations found in about 15% of plasmacytomas involve the myc band and the region of chromosome 6 where the kappa locus lies. The t(6;15) is shown here to represent an exchange between C kappa and a chromosome 15 locus (designated pvt-1) which lies unexpectedly far from c-myc. The association of myc expression with pvt-1 alterations suggest that myc can be activated at a distance. Myc has also been implicated in some T lymphomas by detection of proviral inserts near myc and also, surprisingly, within the pvt-1 locus. Inserts near myc appear to activate its expression via the retroviral enhancer.

Animals↗

Variant (6;15) translocations in murine plasmacytomas involve a chromosome 15 locus at least 72 kb from the c-myc oncogene.

The variant (6;15) translocations in murine plasmacytomas join the myc oncogene-bearing band of chromosome 15 and the immunoglobulin kappa band of chromosome 6. We recently cloned a region from chromosome 15 linked to C kappa and have now used probes from that region to define the major locus of plasmacytoma variant translocations, which we denote pvt-1. In five of nine plasmacytomas we analysed, the 6;15 translocation resulted from reciprocal recombination between the C kappa locus and a 4.5-kb region of pvt-1. Moreover, nearby we located the region shown by others to have undergone a complex (15;12;6) translocation in plasmacytoma PC7183. All the chromosome 6 breakpoints fell between 1 and 3 kb 5' to C kappa but only two were near J kappa genes. Thus the J kappa -C kappa region appears to be a recombination 'hot spot' in lymphocytes, but the breaks are unlikely to be mediated via V/J recombination enzymes. Comparison of a cloned 108-kb region across pvt-1 and another of 52 kb across c-myc established that the pvt-1 breakpoints lie at least 72 kb from the c-myc promoters. Since c-myc is expressed at a substantial level, the 6;15 translocation apparently activates c-myc. Activation may occur directly, at a remarkable distance along the chromosome, or indirectly, via a putative pvt-1 gene product.

Animals↗

A computer-based data acquisition system for breathing and exercise entrainment studies.

An interactive, real-time, computer-based data acquisition system was designed to obtain data for breathing and exercise entrainment studies. By timing the steps of subjects walking on a treadmill relative to different points in the respiratory cycle (e.g. the beginning and end of inspiration), the relation between gait and ventilation can be followed on a breath-by-breath basis. Accurate establishment of the beginning and end of respiratory events from a pneumotachygraph signal was assured by using tidal volume thresholds for (1) noise, (2) minimum valid volume and (3) minimum duration.

Computers↗

Transposition of the immunoglobulin heavy chain enhancer to the myc oncogene in a murine plasmacytoma.

A novel mechanism of oncogene activation by transposition of a tissue-specific cellular enhancer is described. A rearranged c-myc oncogene was cloned from murine plasmacytoma ABPC17 in the expectation that it would reflect the t(6;15) chromosome translocation carried by this tumor. The rearrangement instead reflects an insertion 361 bp 5' to the c-myc gene on chromosome 15. The insert conveys a 2.3 kb segment of the immunoglobulin heavy (H) chain locus from chromosome 12. Since the insertion introduces the lymphoid-specific enhancer from the JH-Smu region and also disrupts a region implicated in normal c-myc control, it may account for the c-myc transcription observed in ABPC17. The structure of the transposed segment and a corresponding deletion in the JH-Smu region suggests that the transposition reflects a complex recombination between chromosomes 15 and 12. Since the t(6;15) breakpoint is not near c-myc, chromosome 15 must have undergone an independent exchange with chromosome 6.

Alleles↗