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Biomedical subjects

M Shinagawa

Publications and source records attributed to M Shinagawa.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Characterization of antibodies raised against bovine-PrP-peptides.

To analyze the antigenicity of peptides derived from bovine prion protein (PrP) cDNA, we immunized rabbits with four synthetic peptides and compared the immunoreactivity of antibodies to PrPs from various species by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. Two of the antibodies reacted strongly with all PrPs. The other antibodies, raised against overlapping peptides close to two glycosylation sites, did not recognize PrPSc-mouse but did recognize PrPSc-sheep which contains two sugar residues and PrPCJD with or without a sugar residue. Our results suggest that these antibodies may have species-specificity for both glycosylation status and amino acid sequences of the protein. In conclusion, we identified two regions in bovine-PrP which appear suitable for raising antibodies that detect various kinds of PrPs, and one region (Ab103-121) which appears suitable for raising antibodies that detect several species of PrPs. These antibodies may be useful for diagnosing prion diseases and for researching their pathogenesis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Differences in the evolutionary pattern of feline panleukopenia virus and canine parvovirus.

Canine parvovirus (CPV) suddenly appeared in the late 1970s after which it showed continuous antigenic changes. Virological and molecular genetic analyses mainly focused on feline panleukopenia virus (FPLV) were conducted in this study because FPLV is the suspected ancestor of CPV; the way in which FPLV evolves may help to explain the emergence of CPV. Analysis of escape mutants against FPLV-specific monoclonal antibody showed that viruses possessing CPV-like properties were not easily detected in FPLV virus stocks. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) and capsid protein 2 (VP2) genes of FPLV changed with time. A similar tendency, however, was not observed in the FPLV VP2 proteins. In contrast, the topology of the phylogenetic tree of VP2 proteins of CPV basically concurred with that of the VP2 genes. Analysis of the ratio of nonsynonymous and synonymous substitutions revealed that synonymous substitutions exceeded nonsynonymous substitutions in both the NS1 and VP2 genes of FPLV, even when the analysis focused on specific regions in the VP2 gene that are known to be located on the capsid surface. Comparison of the CPV VP2 genes revealed that nonsynonymous substitution was found to dominate over synonymous substitution in one specific region in the VP2 gene. These results suggested that FPLV has changed mainly by random genetic drift. In contrast, after the appearance of CPV, changes in the CPV VP2 gene appear to be partly selected by certain positive selection forces. CPV and FPLV are known to be closely related viruses genetically and biologically, but the evolutionary mechanisms of the two viruses appeared to be different.

Amino Acid Substitution↗

Characterization of differentially expressed genes in the bovine T lymphoma cell line.

A differential display (D.D.) analysis was made to detect differentially expressed genes in a bovine T lymphoma cell line, BTL-26, derived from the calf type of sporadic bovine lymphosarcoma. A D.D. analysis comparing BTL-26 with the bovine epithelial cell line CKT-1 and healthy bovine thymocytes yielded 24 cDNA clones. The DNA sequencing analysis followed by a homology search showed that 20 of the 24 cDNA clones had no significant homology to any sequences in DNA data base. The remaining four genes were homologous to known sequences. Northern blot hybridization among BTL-26, CKT-1 and healthy bovine thymocytes showed that a cDNA clone, BC8, was differentially expressed in BTL-26. The cloning of full-length cDNA for the BC8 clone and its DNA sequences showed that the BC8 clone is a bovine nuclear domain protein homologous to the human NDP52 gene. Northern blot analysis showed that the BC8 clone bovine NDP52 was predominantly expressed in tumor cell line BTL-26, compared with the transcripts from several bovine tissues.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Characterization of the sheep apolipoprotein E (ApoE) gene and allelic variations of the ApoE gene in scrapie Suffolk sheep.

Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) plays a central role in lipid transport and is suggested to be involved in neuronal repair. Human ApoE epsilon 4 allele is known as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, and an association of the human ApoE genotype with the human prion disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, is suggested, albeit controversial. We analyzed the sheep ApoE gene to determine whether any association between the sheep ApoE genotype and the sheep prion disease, scrapie, existed. The sheep ApoE cDNA contained an open reading frame (ORF) consisting of 948 base pairs (bp) that encoded 316 amino acids (aa). The sheep ApoE gene was composed of four exons separated by three introns, and the ORF was encoded by three exons, designated exons 2, 3, and 4. Nucleotide sequence analysis also showed the presence of one G/T nucleotide polymorphism in the ORF that resulted in an Ala/Ser amino-acid substitution at codon 258. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of genomic DNA showed the presence of three sheep ApoE genotypes that were the result of the homologous and heterologous combinations of the two alleles. We analyzed the sheep ApoE genotypic and the allelic frequencies in scrapie and control Suffolk sheep, but they did not significantly differ from those in the control sheep, even though PrP genotype-matched populations were compared. The ApoE genotype appeared not to be associated with the progression of the disease when looking at the age at death. These results indicated that in Suffolk sheep, none of the ApoE genotypes was associated with scrapie.

Alleles↗

Genomic structure of the bovine PrP gene and complete nucleotide sequence of bovine PrP cDNA.

The present authors previously reported the nucleotide sequence of the 5' half of a cDNA encoding bovine prion protein (PrP) and the genomic structure of the bovine PrP gene encoding the 5' -untranslated region. Here they report the extent of intron 2 of the bovine PrP gene and the nucleotide sequence of the 3' half of bovine PrP cDNA that had not been determined before. This newly sequenced 3' half of the bovine PrP cDNA consisted of 2149 bp. The entire 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) was found to be encoded by a single exon, exon 3. One nucleotide polymorphism was found in the 3'-UTR. The length of intron 2 was estimated to be about 14 kbp. The structure of bovine PrP gene can be defined by combining the present results and previous reports on the bovine PrP gene.

Animals↗

Rapid analysis of allelic variants of the sheep PrP gene by oligonucleotide probes.

A rapid method to determine the allelic variants of the sheep PrP gene was developed. DNA samples from 128 Suffolk sheep (39 rams and 89 ewes) were screened by using polymerase chain reactions and dot-blot hybridization with 32P-labeled nine allele-specific oligonucleotide probes corresponding to the polymorphic PrP codons 112, 136, 154 and 171. Three allelic variants of the PrP gene, PrP(MARQ), PrP(TARQ) and PrP(MARR), were found in the flocks. Among those variants, nearly half of the ewes had alleles of the 171-Arg variant that is closely associated with resistance to natural scrapie. Assessments of allelic mutations of the PrP gene may help to select the scrapie-resistant progenitors in the flocks.

Alleles↗

Virus inactivation in superoxide dismutase preparations by ultraviolet light irradiation.

Viral inactivation in superoxide dismutase (SOD) derived from human red cells was carried out by ultraviolet light C (UVC) irradiation. With 400 J/m2 UVC irradiation, the titer of canine parvovirus (CPV, a nonenveloped virus), M13 bacteriophage (M13, a nonenveloped phage) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV, an enveloped virus), which were spiked into SOD solution, were reduced by > 4.6 log10 (detection limit), 7.0 log10 and 6.2 log10, respectively. The SOD activity was maintained and the band pattern of SOD on an electrophoresis gel was not changed even by 1000 J/m2 UVC irradiation. These results indicate that UVC irradiation is a promising method for the inactivation of both enveloped and nonenveloped viruses in SOD preparations while maintaining its activity.

Animals↗

Chicken monoclonal antibodies against synthetic bovine prion protein peptide.

Chicken monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were developed against bovine prion protein (PrP) peptide. Chickens immunized with bovine PrP peptide B204 (amino acid residues 204-220) coupled to keyhole limpet hemocyanin produced specific antibodies to the peptide as determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the B204 peptide coupled to ovalbumin as target antigen. From a fusion experiment using the chicken fusion partner cell line MuH1 and immune spleen cells, 19 mAbs reactive with B204 were generated. These mAbs were subdivided into five groups based on competitive ELISA using B204 and four 10-amino acid peptides. These five groups included all combinations expected based on comparison of amino acid sequences among the five species, bovine, mouse, human, sheep and hamster, examined. These results indicate that the chicken mAb system is a suitable technique for immunological analysis of PrP in mammals.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

[Evaluation on the clinical background on early death in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis during the past five years].

We evaluated the clinical background of early death (within 3 months after admission to our hospital) in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis during the past five years (1992-1996). Among 65 active pulmonary tuberculosis patients who died during the past five years, 32 (49%) died directly of tuberculosis. Thirteen (41%) of those 32 patients died of acute respiratory failure and 9 patients (28%) died in emacitation state. Twenty two patients (69%) died within 3 months after admission to our hospital (the early death group) and 10 patients (31%) died after 3 months (the late death group). Thirteen patients (59%) in the early death group died of acute respiratory failure. On the other hand, none in the late death group died of acute respiratory failure but 4 patients died of chronic heart and/or respiratory failure and 4 patients died in emarciation state. Compared to the patients in the late death group, more patients in the early death group had long total delays (patient's and doctor's delays), had coexisiting diseases, had fallen into acute respiratory failure, and were under malnutrition. We evaluated the nutritional condition of patients using the Onodera's PNI (Prognostic Nutritional Index; 10 x serum almumin concentration + 0.005 x peripheral lymphocyte count) and the PNI value was lower among the patients in the early death group than among those in the late death group. To prevent death due to tuberculosis, we emphasize that it is important to start anti-tuberculosis therapy before patients fall into acute respiratory failure and/or malnutrition.

Acute Disease↗

Deletion of c-myb exon 9 induced by insertion of repeats.

A simple repeat was found to be inserted into exon 9 of the c-myb gene in three out of 20 bovine T lymphomas. The repeat was composed of multiple copies of a 12-nucleotide motif and had no significant homology to the sequences reported so far. Tumor cells containing the repeat expressed two kinds of c-myb mRNA: (1) are that included the repetitive sequence in exon 9, and (2) are that lacked the whole sequence of exon 9. Transfection of an expression vector containing exon and intron sequences and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis of the mRNA demonstrated that the insertion of the repeat enhanced exon skipping of the transfected minigene. These observations imply that the insertion of the repeat may enhance exon skipping of the c-myb pre-mRNA. Although the transcription-activating activity by the c-Myb with the repeat was low, that by the c-Myb without exon 9 was three- to eightfold higher than the wild-type c-Myb. These data suggest that insertion of the 12-nucleotide repeat in codon 359 may result in c-Myb proteins having high- and low-transcription-activating activity.

Animals↗

Alternative usage of exon 1 of bovine PrP mRNA.

Here we report two types of bovine prion protein (PrP) mRNA that possessed different lengths of the 5'-untranslated region and were expressed in various bovine tissues. The two mRNA species were transcribed from identical positions but differed in the usage of the splice site for exon 1/intron. One mRNA possessed exon 1 consisting of 53 nucleotides and the other possessed exon 1 consisting of 168 nucleotides. Usage of exons 2 and 3 was identical for the two mRNA species. The two mRNA species were detected in all but spleen tissue; the mRNA possessing 168-nt exon 1 was not detected in bovine spleen. This is the first report on the tissue-specific alternative splicing of PrPc mRNA in any other species. Only a low level of PrPc appeared to be present in bovine spleen. These results suggested the possibility that the mRNA possessing 53-nt exon 1 was inefficiently translated into Prp; however, in vitro translation analysis showed no marked difference in translational efficiency between the two mRNA species.

Alternative Splicing↗

Characterization of differentiation antigens expressed in bovine lymphosarcomas.

To characterize the cell-surface antigens expressed in tumour cells derived from bovine leukosis and to determine their cell lineages, the immunophenotypes of the tumour cells from 13 bovine lymphosarcomas were examined with 13 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Of 13 cattle with lymphosarcomas, four were identified clinically as having the thymic-type sporadic bovine leukosis (SBL) and one as having the skin-type; two had enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL) and six were untypable. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that the tumour cells from nine cases were of T-cell lineage (BoCD5+, BoCD2+ or BoCD2-) and two were of B-cell lineage (MHC-II+, BoCD5+, IgM+); there were two bovine leukaemia virus-infected cattle (EBL). T-cell tumours appeared to originate from immature (BoCD4-, BoCD8-) T cells, but there was no significant relationship between clinical type (EBL, calf-, skin- and thymic-type) and tumour-cell immunophenotype.

Animals↗

p53 mutation as a potential cellular factor for tumor development in enzootic bovine leukosis.

Mutations of p53 in the lymphocytes from peripheral blood and from tumoral lymph nodes in six naturally occurring bovine leukemia virus (BLV)-infected cows were examined. A point mutation of the p53 gene was found in three of six (50%) BLV-infected cows. These p53 gene mutations resulted in amino acid substitutions of codons 144, 167 and 241. The BLV-infected cow in the tumor stage had abnormally proliferating monoclonal B-lymphocytes having the p53 mutation. However, the mutation was not found in somatic cells, except for tumor cells. These results show that p53 mutation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of BLV-induced neoplasms, and that the B-lymphocyte bearing p53 mutations may be a target cell for tumor formation of enzootic bovine leukosis.

Animals↗

Sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of PrP(Sc) in crude tissue extracts from scrapie-affected mice.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed that detects PrP(Sc) in crude extracts from brain and spleen tissue of scrapie-affected mice with high sensitivity and specificity. Brain tissue was homogenized in 8% Zwittergent 3-12 and 0.5% Sarkosyl. The homogenate was treated with collagenase and DNase I and then subjected to proteinase K digestion. Precipitates containing PrP(Sc) were obtained by ultracentrifugation. Spleen tissue was homogenized in 4% Triton X-100 and 0.5% Sarkosyl, and the homogenate was treated firstly with collagenase and DNase I, and secondly with proteinase K. PrP(Sc) was then extracted with 6.25% Sarkosyl and precipitated through salting-out with NaCl and by ultracentrifugation. When PrP(Sc) was dissolved in 3-4 M guanidine thiocyanate and adsorbed to microtiter plates, strong and specific reactions to the formation of antigen-antibody complexes could be detected by ELISA. The sensitivity of PrP(Sc)-detection for this ELISA, as measured by serial dilution of scrapie material in tissue homogenates from uninfected animals, was equal or higher than that attained by Western blot. This ELISA is more rapid than Western blot and seems to be more suitable for screening large numbers of animals. It also has potential application for the diagnosis of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

Animals↗

Photoinactivation of virus infectivity by hypocrellin A.

We investigated the photoinactivation of virus infectivity by hypocrellin A and its mechanism. The titers of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), both of which are enveloped viruses, were reduced upon illumination with hypocrellin A in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas canine parvovirus, a nonenveloped virus, was not killed. The removal of oxygen or addition of sodium azide or beta-carotene both inhibited VSV inactivation. Mannitol and superoxide dismutase had no effect on VSV inactivation. These results indicate that singlet oxygen was involved in the process of VSV inactivation. Of the three major VSV membrane proteins, peripheral membrane protein M was most damaged by the hypocrellin A phototreatment.

Animals↗

Instability of the 12-nucleotide repeat in c-myb gene of bovine T-lymphoma cells.

Insertion of a 12-nucleotide repeat in c-myb gene exon 9 was observed in about 15% of sporadic bovine T-lymphomas. The 12-nucleotide repeat in the T-lymphoma cells showed deletion and insertion of the repeat units during cultivation of the cells. To know whether deficiency in DNA loop repair is involved in the instability of the repeat, abilities to bind and correct the loop structure in nuclear extracts were examined. The nuclear extracts of all examined cells had ability to bind and correct the loop structure. These data suggest that instability of the 12-nucleotide repeat in bovine T-lymphoma cells might be independent of deficiency of DNA loop repair function.

Animals↗

Epitope mapping of a monoclonal antibody specific to feline panleukopenia virus and mink enteritis virus.

To obtain monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific to feline panleukopenia virus (FPLV) and mink enteritis virus (MEV), 15 hybridomas secreting MAbs against MEV-Abashiri were established and the properties of the MAbs were analyzed. The cross-reactivity of MAbs revealed that one MAb, P2-215 was specific for FPLV and MEV, whereas the remaining fourteen MAbs reacted with canine parvovirus (CPV), FPLV, and MEV. Epitope analyses using various CPV/MEV chimeric viruses revealed that the MAb P2-215 recognized the epitope comprised of amino acid 93-Lys in VP2, which is known to be FPLV and MEV-specific.

Amino Acid Sequence↗