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Biomedical subjects

M Botto

Publications and source records attributed to M Botto.

62 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Genomic organization of human complement component C3.

Six overlapping clones, spanning the entire C3 gene and the 5' flanking region, were isolated from two genomic lambda libraries. Thirty exons, covering the complete beta chain and part of the alpha chain as far as the C3d region, were analyzed. The full exon-intron organization of the gene was deduced by combining our data with the reported organization of the alpha' chain (Barnum et al., 1989, J. Biol. Chem. 264: 8471-8474). The complete gene is 41 kb and consists of 41 exons. The C3 beta chain spans 13 kb from exon 1 to exon 16. Exon 16 encodes both alpha and beta chains. The alpha chain is 28 kb and contains 26 exons, including exon 16. The 5' flanking region was sequenced up to 514 bases upstream from the ATG start site. The major transcription initiation site was mapped to an adenine residue 61 bases upstream from the signal peptide by primer extension analysis of poly(A)+ mRNA from hepatocytes and U937 cells. The TATA box motif was assigned at position -85. Several putative binding sites for transcription factors were found in the 5' flanking region, suggesting possible pathways for the regulation of the C3 gene.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1990

A study of HLA (Bg) on red cells and platelets by immunoblotting with monoclonal antibodies.

HLA class I antigens (Bg) on red cells (RBCs) are expressed by some normal donors and by many patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). To identify the membrane components previously detected by hemagglutination with HLA class I-specific monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs), RBC membrane preparations were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotted with the HLA class I MoAbs. Two components were obtained that reacted with the MoAbs: a heavy chain of 45 kDa and a light chain termed beta2-microglobulin (beta2-M) of 11 kDa. The effect of chloroquine and acid elution in stripping HLA antigens is shown to be due to the removal of beta2-M, as only that component was detected in eluates from reactive RBCs. Neither antibody elution method affected the heavy chain expression assessed by immunoblotting. It is concluded that HLA class I antigens on RBCs are integral membrane components of the type normally found and wisely distributed on many nucleated cells. Platelets, which have stronger HLA class I antigen expression, were also studied, and their membrane preparations yielded heavy chain and beta2-M molecules; the effect of chloroquine treatment was harder to assess than that of acid elution, owing to the sensitivity with which both components are detected in immunoblotting. In eluates obtained from acid treatment only beta2-M is detected.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1990

HLA class I expression on erythrocytes and platelets from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and from normal subjects.

It has previously been shown, by a haemagglutination assay, that patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) express increased levels of HLA class I on erythrocytes compared with normal subjects and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A radioligand-binding assay, using monoclonal antibody W6/32, was devised to quantify HLA class I expression on erythrocytes and platelets. An increased number of class I molecules was expressed on erythrocytes from 45 patients with SLE (mean = 354 molecules per cell, median = 255 molecules, range = 30-1270 molecules per cell), compared with cells from 46 normal subjects (mean = 132, median = 78, range = 40-550) and 31 RA patients (mean = 132, median = 89, range = 26-497). The presence of HLA-B7 correlated with increased class I expression on erythrocytes from both normal subjects and patients with SLE. Levels of HLA class I in serum were measured. All subjects with HLA-A9 (A23, 24) showed higher levels of serum class I than their A9-negative counterparts, and there was no difference in levels between SLE patients and normal subjects. There were no correlations between class I levels in serum and on erythrocytes amongst SLE patients or normal subjects. Red cells were fractionated, according to their age in vivo, on Percoll gradients. Class I levels fell with increasing erythrocyte age in all individuals, but were higher in all fractions from SLE patients compared with age-matched fractions from normal subjects. HLA-B7-positive erythrocytes also expressed higher class I levels in each Percoll fraction, compared with their HLA-B7-negative counterparts, suggesting that enhanced B7 expression is not due to greater structural stability of this class I allotype. These data are compatible with the hypothesis that class I is expressed as an intrinsic protein of erythrocyte membranes and that expression is increased amongst patients with SLE.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1990

Molecular basis of hereditary C3 deficiency.

Hereditary deficiency of complement component C3 in a 10-yr-old boy was studied. C3 could not be detected by RIA of serum from the patient. Segregation of C3 S and C3 F allotypes within the family confirmed the presence of a null gene for C3, for which the patient was homozygous. 30 exons have been characterized, spanning the entire beta chain of C3 and the alpha chain as far as the C3d region. Sequence analysis of the exons derived from the C3 null gene showed no abnormalities in the coding sequences. A GT-AT mutation at the 5' donor splice site of the intervening sequence 18 was found in the C3 null gene. Exons 17-21 were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from first-strand cDNA synthesized from mRNA obtained from peripheral blood monocytes stimulated with LPS. This revealed a 61-bp deletion in exon 18, resulting from splicing of a cryptic 5' donor splice site in exon 18 with the normal 3' splice site in exon 19. This deletion leads to a disturbance of the reading frame of the mRNA with a stop codon 17 bp downstream from the abnormal splice in exon 18. His parents had both the normal and abnormal C3 mRNA and were shown to be heterozygous for this mutation by sequence analysis of genomic DNA amplified by PCR. Similar splice mutants have previously been reported in the beta-globin, phenylalanine hydroxylase, and porphobilinogen deaminase genes. This mutation is sufficient to cause the deficiency of C3 in the patient.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1989

HLA class I (Bg) antigens on red cells of SLE patients: a serological study with polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies.

The enhanced HLA class I (Bg) on red blood cells (RBC) of many patients with systemic lupus erythematosus has allowed a significant correlation to be made between their HLA-B types and haemagglutination reactivity with lymphocytotoxic anti-HLA-B sera stimulated by pregnancy alone. Therefore the class I expression on these RBC relates to classical, rather than non-classical, class I gene products. Studies of class I expression on RBC by means of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) to epitopes on the heavy polypeptide chain and beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) have suggested that the complete extracellular structure is present. The specific effect of chloroquine in 'stripping HLA' from RBC had been assumed to support the concept that HLA class I was adsorbed from plasma. However, from our data, we conclude that HLA class I is an intrinsic membrane component. We suggest that the action of chloroquine is to remove beta 2m alone, which prevents normal class I expression and also results in conformational changes to the class I heavy chain, but that it is not capable of removing the membrane-bound heavy chain.

Antibodies↗
PubMed1988

The rate of loss of CR1 from ageing erythrocytes in vivo in normal subjects and SLE patients: no correlation with structural or numerical polymorphisms.

The stability of CR1 (complement receptor type 1) on ageing erythrocytes in vivo was examined in a group of normal subjects who had been genotyped using a restriction fragment length polymorphism (detected using a cDNA probe for CR1) that correlates with the numerical expression of CR1 on normal erythrocytes (H = allele correlating with high expression, L = low). Erythrocytes were separated into 5 fractions of increasing age on discontinuous Percoll gradients. Mean CR1 numbers on erythrocytes fell from 636 molecules per cell in the first fraction to 384 in the fifth in the HH group and from 478 to 315 in the LL group. There was no difference in the rate of decline of CR1 numbers between the groups. A group of nine SLE patients was also studied in the same way; their genotypes were HH (four) and HL (five). Mean CR1 numbers amongst all of these patients fell from 477 to 232, a faster rate of decline than in a genotypically matched group of normal subjects. There was no difference in the prevalence of the different structural allotypes amongst 30 SLE patients compared with 21 normal subjects. These data provide further evidence that there are enhanced extracellular mechanisms for the removal of CR1 from erythrocytes of SLE patients and do not support the hypothesis that inherited variation in CR1 expression on erythrocytes increases disease susceptibility to SLE.

Cell Separation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Methotrexate in the therapy of rheumatoid arthritis. Results in 30 patients].

30 patients affected by Rheumatoid Arthritis were treated with Methotrexate (5-7.5 mg/weekly) per os and followed up for at least 12 months; 10 patients had a further control at 24 months. 27 subjects were also on corticosteroid and 2 patients did not stop the therapy with second line drugs. Sulindac was allowed. 3 months later it was observed a significant reduction in the number of affected joints, in the duration of morning stiffness, in the dose of steroid and an improvement of the laboratory investigations indicating the activity of the disease. In the following 12 months, in the 25 subjects still in the study, there was a further clinical improvement. In 24-months follow-up, side effects were present in 17 patients (56.7%); only in 4 cases it was necessary to stop therapy with Methotrexate (3 cases for hepatotoxicity, 1 case for leukocytopenia and stomatitis). 3 subjects did not respond to therapy and 3 patients interrupted for psychological distress. This study confirms the efficacy of Methotrexate at low doses in the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis and the modest incidence of severe side effects.

Adolescent↗