A cDNA library derived from poly(A)+RNA of bull seminal vesicle tissue was screened with synthetic DNA probes specific for seminalplasmin (SAP), the major basic protein of bull semen. From a number of positive clones, pBSV12, containing a 577-bp insert, was identified and sequenced. The derived amino acid sequence comprises the known amino acid sequence of SAP with an amino terminal representing a putative signal sequence; at the carboxyl terminus the sequence contains an additional lysine residue. Present experimental data do not distinguish between two potential SAP precursor molecules, each starting with a methionine residue and differing by 10 amino acid residues in the leader peptide. Comparative Northern analysis reveals a SAP-specific mRNA of 700 bp, which lacks RNA from bovine testis as well as from seminal vesicle tissue of a bull calf; hence, expression of the SAP gene appears to be under androgen and/or developmental control. Southern analysis indicates that one gene appears to specify SAP. SAP-like DNA sequences were detected in ovine and porcine genomic DNA.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Antibody response to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) treatment in patients with superficial bladder carcinoma.

The dynamics of specific KLH-antibody production after intracutaneous and intravesical instillation was analysed. Nine patients (male, n = 7; female, n = 2, mean age 68.6 years, range 47-75) with primary superficial carcinomas of the bladder were intracutaneously immunized with 1 mg Keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) after the complete resection of the tumors. Treatment was continued for 6 consecutive weeks, monthly for one year and thereafter bimonthly for 2 subsequent years, consisting of 20 mg KLH in 20 ml saline introduced intravesically. The antibodies against KLH in patient sera were determined by means of a specially developed direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; according to H. von der Kammer, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Goettingen, Germany). Blood was taken for antibody-titer examination before treatment and 8 weeks after treatment. The KLH-antibody titer increased significantly (Mann-Whitney-Test P = 0.02) after KLH therapy in bladder cancer patients, however the level varied considerably from patient to patient. 6 of 9 patients (67%) presented increased serum antibody titers to KLH after immunotherapy. 4 patients (44.4%) remained free of tumor during the established follow-up period of 10-45 months (median 30.7 months). One patient without increased antibody titer to KLH was free of tumor, 2 patients however, suffered from tumor recurrence after the KLH course. 2 patients presented with tumor recurrence in spite of increased antibody titers. No evidence of tumor progression occurred in patients with recurrence after KLH therapy. 4 of 5 patients (80%) without tumor recurrence presented with a positive skin test. Of patients with tumor recurrence, 50% had a negative skin test. 44.4% KLH-treated patients had tumor recurrence The recurrence rate was 1.6. The time to recurrence was 8.75 months. KLH instillation did not induce major side effects. Positive skin test reactivity and KLH antibody response were more commonly seen in responding patients (i.e. those who remained tumor free after therapy) than in non-responders. The production of KLH antibodies, apparently is the biological response to the antigen stimulus of KLH.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗