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Biomedical subjects

M D Cooper

Publications and source records attributed to M D Cooper.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

Isotype switching in human B lymphocyte malignancies occurs by DNA deletion: evidence for nonspecific switch recombination.

The mechanism and specificity of isotype switching operative in human B lymphocytes was investigated by a determination of immunophenotype and immunoglobulin heavy and light chain gene status in a panel of human Ig-, IgM, IgG, and IgA B cell malignancies. Regardless of specific tumor type or switched immunophenotype, isotype switching was accompanied by the rearrangement of the expressed CH gene downstream of VDJH, with concomitant deletion of upstream CH genes in all cases. On the allelically excluded chromosome, 25% of the IgG or IgA tumors have retained C mu, and 75% have deleted C mu. The 5' recombination breakpoints for both productive and excluded alleles lie within or near S mu, 3' of the enhancer. No correlation between the extent of allelically excluded CH deletions and the isotype produced by the tumor was observed. Excluded chromosome deletion endpoints were found 5', equal to, or 3' of productive chromosome deletion endpoints. Furthermore, we have identified at least one IgM+ tumor that has undergone abortive CH gene deletions and have observed several unanticipated switch region deletions and potential translocations. The data suggest that isotype switching in human B cells occurs by a nonsubclass- and nonclass-specific switch recombinase.

B-Lymphocytes↗

Recombinant interferon-alpha, -beta, and -gamma enhance the proliferative response of human B cells.

Recombinant interferons (IFN-alpha, -beta, and -gamma) were examined for their effects on B cell activation. Relatively small IgM+ B cells from human blood samples were isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and were used as target cells. Although the interferons themselves were nonmitogenic, each enhanced the proliferative response induced by a mitogenic anti-mu monoclonal antibody, with IFN-beta usually showing the greatest enhancement and IFN-gamma the least. Pretreatment with the interferons primed resting B cells to undergo enhanced DNA synthesis in response to the anti-mu antibody DA4. Conversely, anti-mu pretreatment, followed by IFN treatment, did not induce B cells to enter the S phase. Time-course analysis revealed that IFN could augment the anti-mu response even when added as late as the final 24 hr of a 3-day culture interval. Combinations of IFN-gamma plus IFN-alpha or -beta were synergistic in the anti-mu response, whereas the IFN-alpha plus IFN-beta combination was not. The data suggest that interferons produced by both lymphocytes (IFN-gamma) and nonlymphoid inflammatory cells (IFN-alpha and -beta) can enhance B cell growth via different mechanisms.

Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic↗

IgM binding protein expressed by activated B cells.

We have identified an IgM binding protein, a single chain polypeptide of Mr 60,000, that is expressed on the surface of B lymphocytes within 18 hr following their activation with phorbol myristate acetate. The IgM binding protein was also detected on fresh leukemic B cells from individuals with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and the level of its expression was increased after phorbol myristate acetate activation. Resting and phorbol myristate acetate-activated T cells, monocytes, and polymorphonuclear leucocytes did not express detectable amounts of the IgM binding protein. The 60-kDa protein on activated human B cells could bind secreted IgM molecules of both mouse and human origin, as well as endogenous membrane-bound IgM molecules following their cross-linkage with anti-mu antibodies. The binding of soluble IgM molecules to the surface of activated B cells was also demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence analysis.

B-Lymphocytes↗

Monoclonal anti-Id antibodies react with varying proportions of human B lineage cells.

Monoclonal antibodies to idiotypic determinants are being used with increasing frequency for analysis and treatment of B cell malignancies. In the present study we have compared the idiotypic specificities of a panel of 39 mouse monoclonal anti-idiotype (anti-Id) antibodies developed against 16 monoclonal human immunoglobulins (Ig). The Id cross-reactivities of these antibodies with Ig products of normal and abnormal B cells were examined by immunofluorescence and immunochemical methods. The reactivity patterns of these anti-Id antibodies with a normal population of plasma cells were highly variable in the immunofluorescence assay. Six were reactive with 2 to 10% of normal plasma cells, 30 with 0.1 to 2% of plasma cells, and three with less than 0.1% of plasma cells from blood, bone marrow, spleen, or tonsils. These reactivity patterns were relatively consistent among samples from 23 Caucasian, black, and Oriental adults. Although the reactivities of most anti-Id antibodies in the panel were not restricted to a particular Ig isotype, several were preferentially reactive with a particular heavy or light chain isotype: one IgM-, two IgA-, two kappa-, and three lambda-restricted antibodies. The immunofluorescence data was confirmed by biosynthetic analysis of Id+ molecules produced by a normal plasma cell population. When the reactivity of this panel of anti-Id antibodies with nonhomologous B cell neoplasms was examined, seven of 30 myelomas or leukemia-derived products and one of nine B cell leukemias or lymphomas without paraproteins were found to be cross-reactive with one or two of the anti-Id antibodies. Although clearly significant, the cross-reactivity between the Id of these paraproteins appeared to be of lower affinity than the reactivity of the homologous Id with their respective anti-Id antibodies. The results reveal a remarkable diversity in the specificities of monoclonal antibodies classified by conventional criteria as anti-Id antibodies, and indicate the potential usefulness of a panel of antibodies for analyzing clonal diversity in normal and abnormal B cell development.

Adult↗

Characterization of B lymphocyte lineage progenitor cells from mice with severe combined immune deficiency disease (SCID) made possible by long term culture.

A single gene mutation results in near absence of B and T lymphocytes and their immediate progenitors in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID). However, long term culture conditions allowed rapid outgrowth of lymphocytes from SCID bone marrow suspensions, and this permitted their detailed analysis. The cells were judged to be committed to the B lymphocyte lineage on the basis of expression of the BP-1 antigen, as well as by the density and pattern of expression of other markers. Cultured SCID lymphocytes were indistinguishable from control BALB/c cells in terms of morphology, typing for 13 cell surface markers, and changes in cell surface antigen expression with time in culture. In contrast to cultures of normal cells, which always included IgM synthesizing cells, SCID lymphocytes rarely expressed mu heavy chains. Southern blot analysis demonstrated that at least the first Ig gene rearrangement step had occurred in most of the cultured cells. The patterns of JH gene rearrangements suggested that relatively limited population diversity existed in individual cultures of SCID and normal BALB/c marrow. In addition, there was evidence that abnormal Ig heavy chain gene rearrangements had taken place in lymphocytes from approximately 25% of the SCID cultures. These cells were distinguished by the absence of detectable JH gene segments. kappa light chain genes appeared to be unrearranged in SCID cultured lymphocytes. We conclude that the lymphopoietic microenvironments of SCID mice are probably normal, and the animals have infrequent progenitors of B cells. Aberrant or nonproductive IgH gene rearrangements may account for the absence of pre-B and B cells in SCID mice. This study demonstrates the usefulness of long term culture methodology for isolating rare subsets of non-transformed lymphoid cells from normal and genetically defective hemopoietic tissues.

Animals↗

Analysis of paraprotein transport into the saliva by using anti-idiotype antibodies.

To determine the extent of clonal involvement of the secretory immune system and the origin of salivary immunoglobulins (Ig) in monoclonal gammopathy patients, saliva and serum samples were collected from five affected individuals (two IgA myelomas, one IgG myeloma, one IgG benign monoclonal gammopathy, and one IgM lymphoma) and were assayed for the presence of monoclonal Ig. Purified polyclonal or monoclonal anti-idiotype (Id) antibodies were prepared against each of the isolated serum paraproteins. In all five individuals, the patient saliva samples inhibited the binding of 125I-labeled homologous Ig to the corresponding anti-Id antibodies, but normal saliva did not. The concentration of Id in patients' saliva varied from 1 to 400 micrograms/ml; i.e., 0.004 to 1.0% of the corresponding serum values. Saliva of a lymphoma patient whose IgM kappa protein exhibited rheumatoid factor (RF) activity also contained RF. The salivary Id-bearing molecules were found to have the same Ig isotype as the serum paraproteins. The myeloma IgA represented a minor component (0.4 and 3.9%) of the total salivary IgA. The salivary IgA myeloma proteins were associated at least in part with secretory component, but the salivary IgG paraproteins were not. In an IgA myeloma patient, a minority (17%) of the IgA+ plasma cells found in the lacrymal gland biopsy specimen were Id+, whereas the great majority (98%) of bone marrow IgA plasma cells were Id+. The results suggest active transport rather than passive transudation of myeloma IgA into the patients' saliva, and the integrity of the secretory immune system was not compromised by the neoplastic process.

Biological Transport↗

Cytopathic effects of the pathogenic Neisseria. Studies using human fallopian tube organ cultures and human nasopharyngeal organ cultures.

Infection of mucosal surfaces by N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis may result in inflammation indicating potential injury to host cells. We used human fallopian tube organ cultures (FTOC) and human nasopharyngeal organ cultures (NPOC) to study the mechanisms by which gonococci and meningococci damage human mucosal surfaces. Early in the course of FTOC infected with gonococci and NPOC infected with meningococci, damage was most apparent to ciliary activity. Loss of ciliary activity was accompanied by sloughing of ciliated cells. The damage to ciliated cells was not associated with attachment of gonococci or meningococci to these cells or the presence of organisms within ciliated cells. Infection with the commensal N. subflava did not result in significant damage to human FTOC or NPOC ciliary activity. LPS appears to be a major toxin of gonococci for human FTOC ciliated cells. Gonococcal peptidoglycan fragments also damage FTOC ciliary activity. Both piliated (P+) and nonpiliated (P-) gonococci and meningococci damage FTOC and NPOC ciliary activity, but P+ organisms damage ciliary activity more rapidly than P- organisms. Damage to FTOC ciliated cells was produced by less than 10 micrograms/ml of purified gonococcal and meningococcal LPS. By 1-2h after exposure to LPS, vesicles containing LPS were distributed throughout the cytoplasm of ciliated cells. Polymyxin B neutralized LPS-induced damage, suggesting that the lipid A portion of LPS was the toxic moiety. In contrast, purified gonococcal and meningococcal LPS at 100 micrograms/ml did not damage human NPOC or FTOC from rabbits, pigs and cows. These studies indicate that N. gonorrhoeae and possibly N. meningitidis damage ciliated epithelial cells indirectly by release of toxins from the organisms. The differences in susceptibility of FTOC and NPOC to LPS may suggest changes in density of receptors for LPS and may help explain variation in severity of gonococcal and meningococcal interactions at different human mucosal surfaces.

Cilia↗

Interleukin-2 effects on human B cells activated in vivo.

While activated B cells, as well as T cells, can express functional interleukin-2 receptors (IL-2R), the physiologic role of IL-2 in B-cell responses is still in doubt. Accordingly, we have examined the role of recombinant IL-2 (rIL-2) in the proliferative response, IL-2R expression, and the terminal differentiation of tonsillar B cells in comparative studies with T cells from the same source. For these analyses of physiologically activated lymphocytes, the B and T cells were first separated, then divided into subpopulations enriched for either resting or preactivated cells on the basis of relative cell density or activation antigen expression. As expected, the relatively low-density fraction of T cells was enriched for IL-2R-positive (Tac+) cells and displayed vigorous proliferative responses to IL-2 along with heightened Tac antigen expression. Moreover, limiting dilution analysis revealed that growth of these activated T cells could be perpetuated with the addition of IL-2. By comparison, relatively few tonsillar B cells expressed the Tac antigen. The addition of rIL-2 to cultured B cells of relatively low density resulted in an increase in Tac+ cells but only a minimal proliferative response. The subpopulation of tonsillar B cells expressing the Bac-1 activation antigen contained most of the IL-2 inducible Tac+ B cells, and rIL-2 induced an efficient but transient proliferative response by these activated B cells. The rIL-2-induced Tac+ B cells were noted to be relatively large. A fraction of these Tac+ cells, but not the Tac- cells, produced and secreted immunoglobulins. Incubation with rIL-2 enhanced the Ig secretion, and the anti-Tac antibody blocked this enhancement. Time-course analysis revealed that rIL-2 induced transient Tac expression, whereas mature plasma cells in 6-day cultures no longer expressed detectable Tac antigen. In conclusion, these observations suggest that IL-2 transiently upregulates expression of IL-2R, via which it induces the terminal growth and differentiation of activated B cells into plasma cells.

Antigens, Surface↗

Phylogenetically conserved antigen on nerve cells and lymphocytes resembles myelin-associated glycoprotein.

The HNK-1 (Leu 7) and NC-1 monoclonal antibodies, raised against a human T-cell line and against nerve cells of quail embryos, respectively, have been shown to bind to a shared epitope present on the surface of human large granular lymphocytes and on nerve cells in species ranging from amphibians to humans. We demonstrate that a related antigen is also expressed on the lymphocyte surface in the avian central lymphoid organs, thymus and bursa, and in the spleen during embryonic and adult life. The expression of the HNK-1/NC-1-reactive determinant differs remarkably in the bursal and thymic compartments, antigen expression being stabilized at a high level early in development of the bursa, whereas its expression fluctuates in the thymus. The material immunoprecipitated from bursal and thymic lymphocytes by the HNK-1/NC-1 antibodies exhibits the same relative molecular mass as myelin-associated glycoprotein, which is one of the molecules recognized by these antibodies in the nervous system. Together with the observation that an antiserum reactive with the protein part of chicken myelin-associated glycoprotein detects similar material in membrane extracts of HNK-1/NC-1-positive thymocytes, this suggests that a molecule sharing structural analogies with this nerve cell component is expressed on cells of the immune system.

Animals↗

Analysis with antiidiotype antibody of a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and a large cell lymphoma (Richter's syndrome).

A murine monoclonal antibody made against an idiotypic determinant (Id) of surface IgM/IgD lambda molecules on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells of a 71-year-old woman was used for clonal analysis by two-color immunofluorescence. The anti-Id antibody identified IgM+/IgD+/lambda+ B cells as the predominant cell type of her CLL clone. In addition, substantial proportions of the IgG and IgA B cells and most of the IgM plasma cells in her bone marrow and blood were Id+. Six years after diagnosis, the patient died of respiratory failure due to infiltration of lungs by malignant cells. Autopsy revealed a dramatic change in the tumor cell morphology. The lungs, hilar nodes, and liver were infiltrated by a diffuse large cell lymphoma admixed with the leukemic cells. By immunohistologic staining these anaplastic lymphoma cells were IgM+/IgD-/lambda+ B cells expressing the same Id noted earlier on the CLL cells. The immunoglobulin gene rearrangement pattern on Southern blot analysis was also the same in leukemic blood cells and in the tissues involved by the lymphoma. Thus, the combination of antiidiotype and immunoglobulin gene analyses in this patient with Richter's syndrome revealed that a CLL clone, seemingly "frozen" in differentiation, was actually undergoing isotype switching, differentiation into plasma cells, and evolution into a rapidly growing and fetal lymphoma.

Aged↗

Mouse monoclonal antibodies against bromelain-treated mouse erythrocytes: reactivity with erythrocytes of various species of animals and idiotypes.

Spleen and peritoneal cells from unimmunized BALB/c mice were cultured in the presence of LPS for 24 hr and fused to produce hybridomas secreting antibodies against bromelain-treated mouse erythrocytes (BrMRBC). Three clones from spleen cells and eight clones from peritoneal cells were isolated and characterized further. All the monoclonal antibodies had IgMK isotype. Their reactivities against untreated and bromelain-treated erythrocytes from various species were assessed by hemolysis and indirect radioimmunoassay; all the clones had similar antigen specificities. On the isoelectric focussing patterns of light chains, they were separated into two groups, two and nine clones, and all the light chains in each group showed identical patterns. The two groups shared no common idiotope detectable by anti-idiotype antibodies prepared by immunization of rabbits with the monoclonal antibodies, but all the antibodies in each group shared common idiotopes. In each group, one antibody had a unique idiotope different from any other antibody, but eight antibodies in a group shared another identical idiotope. These findings suggest the restricted heterogeneity of anti-BrMRBC antibodies in the mouse.

Animals↗

Identification of an early activation antigen (Bac-1) on human B cells.

We have produced a monoclonal antibody, Bac-1, that appears to identify a novel antigen on activated human B cells. The Bac-1 antigen can be detected between 8 to 16 hr, as well as transferrin receptors (T9), after activation of small resting B cells with phorbol myristic acetate, anti-IgM antibody, Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I, or Epstein-Barr virus. The expression of the Bac-1 antigen precedes that of IL 2 receptors (Tac-1). Peak expression of the Bac-1 antigen was observed on day 3 after activation, and decreased thereafter. The Bac-1 antigen was present on a minor subpopulation of relatively large B cells isolated from blood samples, and on "preactivated" B cells of heterogeneous size isolated from spleens and tonsils. It was not detected on bone marrow pre-B cells, blood small B cells, or plasma cells, nor was it expressed by resting or activated T cells or nonlymphoid cells. Certain B cell neoplasms and B lymphoblastoid cell lines were Bac-1+, but neoplastic cells of non-B lineage were Bac-1-. With immunoperoxidase staining, Bac-1+ cells were detected predominantly in the germinal centers of tonsil sections. The Bac-1 antigen on activated B cells was destroyed by protease treatment and was enhanced by neuraminidase treatment, suggesting that the Bac-1 antibody detects a cell surface molecule via an antigenic determinant which is partially obscured by neighboring sialic acid residues. The reactivity pattern of Bac-1 differs from the patterns of cellular reactivity reported for other monoclonal antibodies with specificity for activated human B cells.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Identification of a T3/T cell receptor complex in chickens.

A mouse mAb, CT-3, recognizes on chicken T cells a complex of three polypeptides, Mr 20,000, 19,000, and 17,000, two of which are N-glycosylated. The CT-3 antibody is mitogenic for chicken T cells, and it coprecipitates two additional polypeptides of Mr 49,000 and 38,000 in lysates of T cell membranes. Ontogeny studies revealed that 5-6 d after thymic influx of hemopoietic stem cells, their thymocyte progeny begin to express the T3/TCR complex. After hatching 1 wk later, the CT-3+ cells begin splenic migration in large numbers.

Animals↗

Idiotypic analysis of a B cell clone with anti-intermediate filament specificity in a patient with Sjögren's syndrome: involvement of five subpopulations producing different immunoglobulin isotypes.

An IgM paraprotein from patient LP with Sjögren's syndrome exhibited an antibody activity to intermediate filaments (IMF) of cells from all vertebrates examined, and appeared to recognize several classes of IMF (i.e., vimentin, desmin, and keratin). A mouse monoclonal anti-idiotype (Id) antibody, K4A, was prepared against the IgMk (LP) and used as a specific probe in two-color immunofluorescence to examine the extent of clonal involvement in the patient's blood and bone marrow mononuclear cells (MNC). Twenty to 30% of MNC in her blood samples were IgMk+ plasmablasts with morphologic similarity to Waldenström's macroglobulinemia cells. IgG+ and IgA+ plasmablasts were demonstrated in lower frequencies (approximately 2%). Almost all of the IgM+ cells and approximately 80% of the IgG+ cells and IgA+ cells in the blood were reactive with the K4A anti-Id antibody. Immunoglobulin (Ig) subclass analysis revealed that the K4A Id was expressed by IgG1+, IgG3+, IgA1+ and IgA2+ plasmablasts. Similar observations were obtained with bone marrow samples, although the proportion of Id+ cells among IgG+ or IgA+ cells was lower in marrow than in blood. IgG and IgA fractions isolated from the patient's serum were also shown to contain anti-IMF activity. Ig biosynthetic analysis of blood MNC revealed that the K4A anti-Id antibody precipitated not only IgM but also IgG and IgA. Because cells simultaneously producing two different Ig isotypes were not detected, these results indicate the presence of five separate subpopulations of the K4A Id+ neoplastic clone. The data thus suggest the occurrence of a neoplastic or pre-neoplastic transformation event before the switching of Ig heavy chain isotypes, and imply a role for the IMF antigen in the exaggerated proliferation and differentiation along five of the nine potential intraclonal pathways.

Animals↗

A feline thymocyte antigen defined by a monoclonal antibody (FT2) identifies a subpopulation of non-helper cells capable of specific cytotoxicity.

A monoclonal antibody, FT2 (IgG1 kappa) prepared against cat thymocytes, was found to be reactive with an antigenic determinant expressed by approximately 76% of thymocytes, 15% of blood mononuclear cells, 14% of splenocytes, and 1% of bone marrow cells. The FT2-reactive determinant was not expressed on B cells, macrophages, granulocytes, or erythrocytes. Both FT2+ and FT2- populations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were capable of proliferative responses to the T cell mitogens Con A and PHA. When splenocytes were sensitized to the lymphoblastoid cell line, 79p90, cytotoxic T cells were found in the FT2+ population and were absent from the FT2- population. Conversely, the FT2- population contained the helper T cell activity required for pokeweed mitogen-induced B cell differentiation. Under nonreducing conditions, the FT2 antigen had an apparent m.w. of 71,000. When reduced, subunits of 31,000 and 38,000 apparent m.w. were observed. The data suggest that the FT2 antibody identifies the feline analog of the human T8/Leu-2, murine Ly-2 molecules expressed by cytotoxic/suppressor T cells.

Animals↗