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Biomedical subjects

M Revel

Publications and source records attributed to M Revel.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

Assay of an interferon-induced enzyme in white blood cells as a diagnostic aid in viral diseases.

Interferon is part of the system of defence against viral infections and has important cell-regulatory and immunoregulatory functions. It is, however, not always possible to quantify circulating interferon in patients. An assay has been developed to measure an interferon-induced enzyme in white blood cells. The activity of this enzyme is constant in healthy subjects but increases by 2-10 times in 85% of patients with acute viral infections. It is also enhanced in autoimmune diseases and in virus-related malignancies and neurological disorders. The enzyme level was not raised in bacterial infections or non-infectious diseases studied. This simple and rapid biochemical assay of the interferon system could be used for diagnosis and evaluation of many diseases.

2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase↗

Monitoring of interferon therapy by assay of (2'--5') oligo-isoadenylate synthetase in human peripheral white blood cells.

With the increasing number of patients undergoing experimental interferon therapy, there is a need for a method for monitoring how the patients respond to the drug. Interferon induces in cells exposed to it the accumulation of several enzymes, among them the (2'-5') oligo-A synthetase. A simple method previously developed was used to measure this enzyme in extracts of a small number of peripheral white blood cells. In 60 healthy volunteers, the enzyme level in the mononuclear cell fraction was found to be relatively high and constant. Daily intramuscular injections of 1--2 x 10(6) units leukocyte type interferon (IFN-alpha) increased the enzyme level 7--8 fold in mononuclear cells and in granulocytes. The enzyme stayed high until IFN injections were stopped. Patients with defective response to IFN were identified. We propose that this method be used for continuous monitoring of the patient's response whenever interferon therapy is undertaken.

2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase↗

Synthesis of human interferon beta 1 in Escherichia coli infected by a lambda phage recombinant containing a human genomic fragment.

DNA from a human adult was fragmented by partial digestion with restriction endonuclease EcoRI and cloned in lambda Charon 4A. Clone C15, with a human DNA insert of 17 X 10(3) bases, was identified as containing a gene for the fibroblast interferon, interferon beta 1. Restriction mapping shows that this gene, located on a 1840-base EcoRI fragment, is not interrupted by introns. Moreover, we show that this human genomic DNA fragment is able to direct the synthesis of active human interferon beta 1 in Escherichia coli. Interferon activity of up to 7 X 10(6) U/l was recovered from phage lysates by chromatography on Cibacron blue--Sepharose, and had the same immunological properties and species specificity as interferon produced by human fibroblasts.

Adult↗

Anti-mitogenic function of interferon-induced (2'-5')oligo(adenylate) and growth-related variations in enzymes that synthesize and degrade this oligonucleotide.

Addition of (2'5')ApApA to concanavalin-A-stimulated mouse spleen lymphocytes strongly inhibits the large increase in RNA and protein synthesis which takes place 24-48 h after stimulation. The inhibitory effect on protein synthesis precedes the effect on RNA synthesis and takes at least 6 h to be detected. Histone synthesis is preferentially inhibited at 48 h. No effect on protein synthesis was detected in unstimulated resting lymphocytes, or in stimulated lymphocytes during the first 24 h after concanavalin A treatment. The anti-mitogenic effect of the (2'-5')oligo(adenylate) seems to result, therefore, from inhibition of protein synthesis taking place before initiation of DNA replication. The mitogenic stimulus produced by the lectin enhances, in lymphocytes, the level of the 2'-phosphodiesterase which degrades (2'-5')oligo(adenylate). Enhancement of the 2'-phosphodiesterase was also observed after serum stimulation of confluent monkey kidney cells. Furthermore, the ratio of (2'-5')oligo(adenylate) synthetase to 2'-phosphodiesterase is ten-times lower in fast-growing kidney cells than in quiescent serum-starved cells. A model for the role of (2'-5')oligo(adenylate) synthesis and degradation in the regulation of cell proliferation by interferon and by mitogens is presented.

2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase↗

Interferon-dependent induction of mRNA activity for (2'-5')oligo-isoadenylate synthetase.

At least three different enzymes involved in the regulation of protein synthesis are induced in a variety of cells by interferon (IFN). Sensitive assays for these enzymes have been developed and used to establish the specificity, dose dependence and time course of their induction by IFN. One of these enzymes, the oligo-isoadenylate synthetase E, whose product (2'-5')pppApApA activates the latent ribonuclease F, is increased over 50-fold after IFN treatment. We describe here the assay for an mRNA from IFN-treated mouse L cells, that produces oligo-isoadenylate synthetase activity when injected into Xenopus oocytes. This mRNA is found in the cells only after exposure to IFN. The mRNA increases in mouse L cells with the same time course as the enzyme activity itself. In particular, there is a 3-h lag period between IFN addition and the onset of enzyme and mRNA accumulation. Using anti-IFN antibodies, we show that during this lag period the continued interaction of IFN with the cells is necessary for the full induction of the oligo-isoadenylate synthetase.

2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase↗

An interferon-induced cellular enzyme is incorporated into virions.

The mechanisms by which interferon inhibits viral growth are only partially understood. Several enzymatic activities increase in cells shortly after treatment with interferon. One of these enzymes, oligo-isoadenylate synthetase, synthesizes (2'-5') isoadenylate oligomers which strongly stimulate the activity of a cellular ribonuclease, RNase F (ref. 7). Interferon also significantly increases the activity of a protein kinase which phosphorylates the initiation factor eIF-2 and can inhibit in vitro protein synthesis. Such interferon-induced enzymes, which affect RNA and protein metabolism, might be responsible for many of its effects on viruses. Indeed, inhibition of viral protein and RNA synthesis appears to have a major role in the antiviral state. We have now investigated possible interactions of the two enzymes with viral constituents during the course of infection and found that in two different membrane-coated RNA viruses, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and Moloney murine leukaemia virus (M-MuLV), there is an accumulation of the 2'-5') oligo-isoadenylate synthetase (E) in the virions. Most of the enzyme is bound to the virion ribonucleoprotein core. The incorporation of E into the virions suggests a direct involvement of the enzyme in regulation of virus functions.

Adenine Nucleotides↗

Two interferon mRNAs in human fibroblasts: in vitro translation and Escherichia coli cloning studies.

Two mRNA species that produce biologically active interferon were isolated from human fibroblasts and studied by size fractionation and cloning in Escherichia coli plasmid pBR322. The major fibroblast interferon (Hu IFN-beta 1) is coded for by the smaller of the two mRNAs, an 11S species, 900 nucleotides long, which in cell-free systems yields a 20,000 Mr protein. The second interferon mRNA species (Hu IFN-beta 2) is 14S, about 1300 nucleotides long, and codes for another protein of 23,000-26,000 Mr. The two interferon mRNAs do not cross-hybridize. Both are induced by poly(rI.rC), but IFN-beta 2 mRNA is induced to about 10% in cells by cycloheximide treatment alone whereas under these conditions IFN-beta 1 is not induced.

Biological Assay↗

Use of human fibroblast-derived (beta) interferon in the treatment of epidemic adenovirus keratoconjunctivitis.

Topical application of human fibroblast-derived (beta) interferon (HulFN-beta) has been used in treatment of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis due to adenovirus. Patients received a total of 1-2 x 10(5) reference units of HulFN-beta per day, divided into 8-10 drops. Control patients received corticosteroid therapy or a placebo containing human serum albumin, with the same administration schedule. The severity and evolution of symptoms was analyzed according to a number of clinical criterias. The results indicate that in the interferon-treated group the length of the disease was reduced from an average of 27 days to 6.5 days. The number of cases in which keratitis occurred as a complication of the disease was reduced in the interferon-treated group to 10%, as opposed to 57% in the control group. Doses of interferon lower than 5 x 10(4) units per day, were not effective to prevent keratitis.

Adenoviridae Infections↗

The interferon-induced protein kinase PK-i from mouse L cells.

Interferon-treated L cells are characterized by an increased protein kinase activity that can selectively phosphorylate the small subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2. This protein kinase, PK-i, has been extensively purified and shown to be a potent inhibitor of mRNA translation. The purified PK-i contains the endogenously phosphorylated 67,000 Mr protein characteristic of interferon-treated cell extracts. PK-i can also phosphorylate arginine-rich histones. Purified PK-i can be activated by preincubation with ATP (but not adenylyl imidodiphosphate) and low concentrations of double-stranded RNA. The activation results in an increase in the first rate of eIF-2 phosphorylation. Activated PK-i becomes resistant to high concentrations of double-stranded RNA and more thermostable. A stimulator of PK-i activity, factor A, was isolated, as well as a specific phosphoprotein phosphatase that dephosphorylates the 67,000 Mr protein and eIF-2. These two factors, which are present in untreated L cells, may regulate the translation inhibitory activity of the interferon-induced and double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase PK-i.

Animals↗

Differential effects of two interferon-induced translational inhibitors on initiation of protein synthesis.

At least two different mechanisms for the inhibition of mRNA translation operate in extracts of interferon-treated L cells. One is mediated by an interferon-induced protein kinase which, when activated by double-stranded RNA and ATP, phosphorylates the small subunit of initiation factor eIF-2. Addition of the purified interferon-induced protein kinase to L cell extracts, strongly reduces the amount of methionyl-tRNA bound to 40-S ribosomal subunits. The second translational inhibition is due to the synthesis of (2'-5')oligo(adenylate) by interferon-induced enzyme E. The oligonucleotide in turn activates a ribonuclease F constitutively present in L cells. Addition of the purified nuclease with its oligonucleotide activator to L cell extracts produces a strong decrease in polyribosome formation and an accumulation of initiation complex. These experiments differentiate the effects of the two interferon-induced inhibitors on mRNA translation.

Animals↗

Monkey interferon: activity on human cells and chromatographic properties. Brief report.

Monkey interferon (MKIF) produced in monkey BSC-1 cells infected with Newcastle disease virus showed antiviral activity on human foreskin fibroblasts and RD114cells--a human line transformed by feline sarcoma virus. The titer of the monkey interferon in human cells was 10--30 fold greater than that found in several normal monkey (BSC-1, CV-1 or SV 40 transformed (C2, C6, T-22) monkey cell lines tested. Ten to fifteen-fold purification of MKIF without loss of activity could be achieved by chromatography on Phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B. Antiviral activity of MKIF was fully resistant to treatment with 1 per cent sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS).

Animals↗