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Biomedical subjects

M Torii

Publications and source records attributed to M Torii.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Effect of infection with Spirometra erinacei plerocercoid on thyroid hormone in mice.

Young, male ICR mice were given tap water or distilled water containing 200 mg/l propylthiouracil (PTU) and were then infected with 10 plerocercoids of Spirometra erinacei to investigate the effect of plerocercoid infection on thyroid hormone in their hosts. Plerocercoid infection stimulated growth in PTU-induced hypothyroid mice as if they had never received PTU treatment: there were increases in weight in the liver, skeletal muscle, and spleen, as well as enhancement of the head and body length, in spite of a greater decrease in serum T4 levels than was observed in PTU-treated controls. Furthermore, the intact mice infected with plerocercoids showed a decrease in serum T4 levels as well as in the concentration of T4-binding globulin. These observations suggest that the growth stimulation and the decrease in concentrations of serum T4 and T4-binding globulin associated with plerocercoid infection in mice probably resulted from secretion of a growth hormone-like substance produced by plerocercoids of S. erinacei.

Animals↗

Monoclonal antibodies to O4 antigen of Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Four monoclonal antibodies were prepared against O4 antigen of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. All the antibodies were shown to be specific for O4 antigen by agglutination with heat-killed O-cells of the organism and precipitation with LPS preparations. The inhibition experiments of the precipitations with various sugars and oligosaccharides suggested that the combining sites of these hybridoma antibodies were directed to an antigenic determinant structure containing----3 and----6 linked D-glucose, D-galactose, and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.

Agglutination↗

Streptococcal serotype carbohydrate represents a novel class of type 2 antigen which is T-independent.

Our studies reported here, fully characterize two unique type 2 antigens trinitrophenol (TNP)-M1 serotype carbohydrates (TNP-M1 g and TNP-M1 c) derived from streptococci, which fail to induce antibody responses in xid or neonatal mouse splenic cultures. These antigens generate brisk responses in normal spleen and Peyer's patch cell cultures of xid mice, all of which suggest that responses are elicited in the Lyb-3+, 5+ B subpopulation. The antibody responses to TNP-M1 g (and TNP-M1 c) are not dependent upon T cells. Furthermore, TNP-M1 carbohydrates induce anti-TNP plaque-forming (PFC) responses in cultures of small, resting splenic B cell populations without an added T cell requirement. Thus two categories of type 2 antigens are distinguished, one which requires T cells or derived factors, e.g., TNP-Ficoll, and a second TNP-carbohydrate antigen TNP-M1 that does not. Studies of the mitogenic and polyclonal B cell activation properties of M1 carbohydrates indicated that B cell proliferation is induced in both xid (Lyb-3-, 5-) and normal (Lyb-3-, 5- and Lyb-3+, 5+) splenic B cell subpopulations, but that differentiation to IgM synthesis fails to occur in the Lyb-3-, 5- B cell subpopulation. Thus M1 carbohydrates are unique probes that allow the selective induction of proliferation and differentiation of mature B cells that are presumably Lyb-3+, 5+. Because the M1 serotype carbohydrates induce polyclonal IgM synthesis and antigen-specific responses in only the mature B cell population in the absence of T cells, whereas TNP-Ficoll and other type 2 antigens require T cells or their derived factors, the Lyb-3+, 5+ B cell subpopulation may consist of a T cell-dependent and a T cell-independent compartment for responses to different carbohydrate type 2 antigens.

Animals↗

Carbohydrate metabolism in intact golden hamsters infected with plerocercoids of Spirometra erinacei (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidae).

This study was performed to investigate the mechanism involved in a decrease in the serum glucose of golden hamsters infected with plerocercoids of Spirometra erinacei. The concentration of glucagon, the activity of glucose-6-phosphatase in the liver, and the in vivo incorporation of 2-deoxy-D-[1,2-3H]glucose into various organs increased in plerocercoid-infected hamsters compared with controls. Furthermore, the serum from the plerocercoid-infected hamsters enhanced the in vitro incorporation of [U-14C]glucose into adipose tissues, compared with control serum. The serum levels of immunoreactive insulin and somatomedin associated with nonsuppressible insulin-like activity in experimental animals, however, were not significantly different from those in controls. Therefore, we conclude that the decrease in serum glucose associated with plerocercoid infection is not the result of a decrease in gluconeogenesis, but the result of an increased utilization of glucose in the peripheral tissues.

Adipose Tissue↗

Isolation and characterization of forespores from Bacillus megaterium.

A procedure for isolation of intact forespores from sporulating Bacillus megaterium cells was developed. The cells were digested with lysozyme and made to release free forespores from the protoplasts by disruption of the cytoplasmic membrane with sonication in phosphate buffer containing 10% glycerol. The suitability of the procedure was confirmed by recovery of dipicolinic acid in the isolated forespores and an electron microscopic observation. The fine structure of the forespores prepared at 6 hr (t6) after initiation of sporulation was similar to that of mature spores, except that the cortex layer and primordial cell wall were thinner and the core was larger. The density, determined by density gradient centrifugation, of the forespores isolated at t6, t10, t12, and mature spores was estimated to be 1.2783, 1.2875, 1.2861, and 1.2858, respectively. The isolated forespores at t6 and t8 were extremely heat labile (D80 of 9.5 and 21.5 min, respectively) relative to mature spores (D80 of 277.8 min). These forespores were also less resistant to organic solvents. Germination of the forespores as well as mature spores was induced by KNO3, D-glucose, and L-leucine. Forespores at t6 were more sensitive to KNO3-induced germination than those at t10, t12, and mature spores when measured by reduction in the optical density of cell suspension.

Bacillus megaterium↗

Evidence of the growth factor in mouse serum infected with Spirometra erinacei plerocercoids.

To investigate the action of the growth factor secreted by Spirometra erinacei plerocercoids, various organ weights, body weight and head-body length were measured in Snell normal and dwarf mice after injection with the serum from mice and rats. Serum from mice infected with the plerocercoids caused significant increases in the weights of the liver and spleen, in the same manner as mice infected with the plerocercoids. However, serum from rats infected with plerocercoids did not cause significant changes in these parameters. The growth factor in the serum of mice infected with plerocercoids was stable at -20 degrees C for at least 6 months and easily passed through the peritoneum.

Animals↗

Immunochemical studies of mouse monoclonal antibodies to dextran B1355S--II. Combining site specificity, sequence, idiotype and affinity.

The specificities of the combining sites of 19 mouse monoclonal antibodies to dextran B1355S have been characterized immunochemically by quantitative precipitin and precipitin inhibition assays; association constants for B1355S were determined by affinity gel electrophoresis. Cross-reactive and individual idiotypes related to the BALB/c B1355S-binding myeloma proteins MOPC104E [IdI(MOPC104E)] and J558 [IdI(J558)], determined by a radioimmunoassay, and heavy-chain variable-region sequences, are presented. Antibodies to B1355S are "alpha (1----3) alpha (1----6)-specific" as determined by precipitin and precipitin inhibition assays with dextrans and oligosaccharides, respectively, containing alternating alpha (1----3) alpha (1----6) linkages compared with oligosaccharides composed solely of alpha (1----3) or alpha (1----6) linkages; all antibodies have low association constants (less than or equal to 10(5) ml/g). However, there is also considerable diversity among the proteins as seen in the five groups of different patterns of reactivity with numerous dextrans having different structures, and the variability in affinity even among antibodies showing the same fine specificity by precipitin assay. There is little observable correlation of heavy-chain variable-region amino-acid sequence with specificity or affinity; however, all proteins having D-region amino acids Tyr,Asp at positions 96,97 express the MOPC104E individual idiotype and belong to precipitin specificity group 5, the group most cross-reactive with numerous dextrans, whereas those proteins having the J558 individual idiotype, Arg,Tyr or Asn,Tyr at 96,97 are found in all five precipitin groups.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Cross-reaction of synthetic alpha-(1----3)-branched glucans with rabbit anti-N4 dextran.

Cross-reactions of four synthetic branched glucans (3-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1----6)-alpha-D-glucopyranans: V39, V17, V37, and V32, each containing one unit glucose branches amounting to 11-12%, 33-43%, 50-54%, and 71-100%, respectively) with rabbit anti-N4 dextran were examined. All four samples precipitated antibodies raised in rabbits by injecting N4 dextran-concanavalin A conjugate. The ability of glucans to precipitate antibody depended on the quantity of branches, samples with more branches precipitating less antibody nitrogen under the same conditions. This may indicate an inhibitory effect of the branches on precipitation. Oligosaccharide inhibition assay showed that the precipitation reactions were specific for (1----6)-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl linkages, and the maximum size of the alpha-(1----6)-specific antibody combining site corresponded to isomaltopentaose. Determination of antibody nitrogen and glucan in the precipitates indicated that the ratios of one combining site of antibody to numbers of glucose residues were 1:9 (V39), 1:11 (V17), and 1:16 (V37) in the extreme antibody excess region. A synthetic sample of manno-glucan ((1----6)-alpha-D-glucopyranan containing about 27% of randomly linked 3-O-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl side chains) also reacted with the same antibody.

Animals↗

Immunochemical similarity of synthetic alpha-(1----3)-branched D-glucans to dextran B1375.

Anti-dextran B1375 antibodies were raised in rabbits by injecting formalin-killed Leuconostoc mesenteroides strain NRRL B1375, and the anti-dextran serum was used to examine native dextran B1375, and synthetic linear and four alpha-(1----3)-branched alpha-(1----6)-D-glucopyranans for similarities. The antiserum reacted with the homologous dextran B1375 and also with all the synthetic linear and branched glucans. Precipitation and precipitation-inhibition studies indicated that the antiserum contained at least three groups of antibodies with different specificities, the first specific for linear alpha-(1----6)-D-glucopyranan structure, the second specific for alpha-D-glycopyranosyl-(1----3)-branching and the last specific for another, unknown structure present in the dextran B1375 molecule. Two samples of the synthetic branched glucans were shown to be immunochemically the most similar to natural dextran B1375 by inhibition experiments.

Antibodies↗