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J M Varga

Publications and source records attributed to J M Varga.

52 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1974

Regulation of melanocyte stimulating hormone action at the receptor level: discontinuous binding of hormone to synchronized mouse melanoma cells during the cell cycle.

Melanocyte stimulating hormone coupled to Sepharose effects an increase in tryosinase (EC 1.14.18.1; monophenol monoxygenase) activity of cultivated mouse melanoma cells. Synchronized cells are found to respond to melanocyte stimulating hormone only in the G2 phase of the cell cycle, although their response to cyclic AMP is independent of position in the cell cycle. The binding of (125)I-labeled melanocyte stimulating hormone occurs predominantly in G2. These observations are satisfied by a model in which the hormone can activate adenylate cyclase (EC 4.6.1.1) by binding to a melanocyte stimulating hormone receptor only in G2; the events distal to cyclic AMP production can occur throughout the cell cycle.

Animals↗
PubMed1973

Antibodies with multiple binding functions. Induction of single immunoglobin species by structurally dissimilar haptens.

Anti-hapten sera prepared in rabbits contain individual immunoglobulin species capable of binding several pairs of structurally diverse haptens A and B. (A = inosine, uridine, menadione, vitamin K(1), ribonuclease; B = 2,4-dinitrophenyl). In antisera against hapten A subjected to isoelectric focusing, there are many anti-A immunoglobulin species, but only a small proportion of these bind both A and B. When rabbits are primed with haptens A coupled to a carrier and then challenged with hapten B-carrier complex, there is an early restricted response of those species that bind both A and B. Later, immunoglobulins appear which bind B, but not A. These results suggest that multiple-binding antibodies exist in antisera against hapten and that such multiple binding is functional; i.e., that when two diverse haptens A and B bind to an immunoglobulin, both haptens may stimulate the cell-surface receptor to induce production of this immunoglobulin. Such phenomena may also provide a molecular basis for maturation of the immune response.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prediction of IgE(Lb4)-ligand complex structures by automated docking.

A mouse monoclonal anti-2,4,6-trinitrophenyl IgE (clone Lb4) was screened with a random set of over 2000 compounds, and several ligands were found to bind with affinities comparable to that of the immunizing hapten (KD in the microM range). An automated docking algorithm was used for the prediction of complex structures formed by 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP) and non-DNP ligands in the fragment variable region of IgE(Lb4). All ligands were found to dock in an L-shaped cavity of 15 x 16 x 10 A, surrounded by complementary-determining regions L1, L3, H2 and H3. The ligands were found to occupy the same binding site in different orientations. For rigid ligands the most stable orientation could be predicted with high probability, based on the calculated energy of binding and the occurrence frequencies of identical complexes obtained by repeated simulations. The localization of a flexible ligand (cycrimine-R) was more ambiguous, but it still docked in the same site. The results support a model for heteroligating antibody (Ab) binding sites, where different ligands utilize the total set of available contacts in different combinations. It is suggested that although pseudoenergies calculated by the docking algorithm do not correlate with experimentally measured binding energies, the screening-and-docking procedure can be useful for the mapping of Ab and other receptor binding sites ligating small molecules.

2,4-Dinitrophenol↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Polyfunctional antibodies. Their biology and inheritance.

It seems likely that immunoglobulins have evolved from some archetypal molecule and those forms which are useful to the animal have been retained. It is this entire population of antibodies which forms the humoral immune system and in such a system, not only the properties of individual antibody combining regions, but the properties of the multiprotein system as a whole, are important for the defences of the body against pathogens. Antibody combining sites may bind a disparate set of structurally related and unrelated ligands. This multispecificity can be biologically meaningful: the same clone can be stimulated by different antigens. In this sense, cell surface immunoglobulins are multifunctional. The major biological consequence of antibody multispecificity is overlapping binding functions within subsets of the total antibody repertoire. The most significant impact of this overlap is: (1) it reduces the number of V genes necessary to code for the total number of combining sites; (2) the cross-stimulation of clones by structurally related and unrelated antigens may be instrumental in the normal maintenance of immune responsiveness and in addition, it may explain the ability to respond to unusual and less ubiquitous antigens; (3) the antigenic history of the animal may contribute to the maturation of the immune response by cross-stimulation of pre-selected clones of antigen binding cells.

Animals↗