Biomedical subjects

M Dierich

Publications and source records attributed to M Dierich.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1983

Chemotaxis: basic aspects of methodology, mechanisms and pathology.

This review is an attempt to discuss the basic conceptual tools that are a prerequisite for any clinical study of chemotactic defects. They include familiarity with definitions of common terms and with the merits and drawbacks of the several possible in vivo and in vitro assay methods. Cellular mechanisms involved in locomotion are complex. They include basic requirements for cell metabolism as well as receptor recognition, attachment to surfaces and contraction of the cytoskeleton of the cell. Of the many chemotactic factors reported, few are well characterized and universally agreed upon. Similarly, with the use of more stringent criteria, a number of clinical defects of chemotaxis have proven transitory or even artifactual.

Adult↗

PubMed1975

Activation by some T-independent antigens and B cell mitogens of the alternative pathway of the complement system.

A number of T-independent antigens and B cell mitogens were examined for their ability to activate C3 via the alternative pathway of the complement system. Loss of hemolytically active C3, generation of anaphylatoxin activity, and immunoelectrophoretic conversion of C3 and factor B, were checked in normal and C4-deficient guinea pig serum, and, in some cases, in normal human serum. As judged by their activity in these assays, 10 lipopolysaccharides of different origin and constitution, pneumococcus type III polysaccharide, levan, dinitrophenylated aminoethyl-dextran, dinitrophenylated (D-glutamic acid, D-lysin) copolymer, polymerized flagellin, and pokeweed mitogen were all capable of initiating the alternative pathway, but differed with respect to their potency, their relative activity in the presence or absence of C4, and their ability to inhibit C3-turnover at high concentrations. Polyvinylpyrrolidone of intermediate molecular weight (4 x 10(4) daltons) was only active if the most sensitive assay was used (anaphylatoxin generation). Other species of polyvinylpyrrolidone, depolymerized pneumococcal polysaccharide, aminoethyl-dextran, [D-glutamic acid, D-lysin] copolymer, phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A failed to activate C3. C3-consumption by concanavalin A was due to nonspecific binding.

Anaphylaxis↗

PubMed1974

Complement-dependent B-cell activation by cobra venom factor and other mitogens?

It has been proposed that two distinct signals are required for the triggering of the precursors of antibody-forming bone marrow-derived cells (B cells): (a) the binding of antigen or of a mitogen to the corresponding receptor sites on B-cell membranes and (b) the interaction of activated C3 with the C3 receptor of B lymphocytes. There is growing evidence that B-cell mitogens and T (thymus-derived cell)-independent antigens are capable of activating the alternate pathway of the complement system (bypass). Therefore, the effect of another potent bypass inducer was investigated with regard to B-cell activation and the role of C3. Purified, pyrogen-free cobra venom factor was mitogenic for both T and B lymphocytes (cortisone-resistant mouse thymus cells and lymph node lymphocytes from congenitally athymic mice). Venom factor could substitute for T cells by restoring the potential of antibody formation to sheep red blood cells in mouse B-cell cultures supplemented with macrophages or 2-mercaptoethanol. Venom factor may be capable of conferring activated C3 to the C3 receptor of B lymphocytes: preincubation of lymphoid cells with homologous serum or plasma, 10 mM EDTA, and sepharose-coupled venom factor converted with serum to an enzyme active against C3, inhibited their capacity to subsequently form rosettes with sheep erythrocytes sensitized with amboceptor and C5-deficient mouse complement. In the absence of EDTA, preincubation of freshly prepared B-cell suspensions with C3-sufficient homologous serum also blocked their subsequent interaction with complement-sensitized erythrocytes and at the same time rendered them reactive to an otherwise T-cell-specific mitogen. Moreover, mitogen induced B-cell proliferation in lymph node (but not in spleen) cell cultures, appeared to depend on the availability of exogenous C3: zymosan-absorbed fetal bovine serum (only 8.3% site-forming units remaining) supported T-cell activation by phytohemagglutinin, concanavalin A, and venom factor, but failed to sustain B-cell stimulation by pokeweed mitogen, lipopolysaccharide, and venom factor. T-cell-dependent antibody formation in composite cultures containing T cells or T-cell-substituting B-cell mitogens, B cells, and macrophages, always required the presence of C3-sufficient serum.

Animals↗

PubMed1974