Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P Ferrara

Publications and source records attributed to P Ferrara.

240 records · Page 14Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Interleukin-13 gene expression by malignant and EBV-transformed human B lymphocytes.

Expression of the IL-13 gene in malignant tissues from 26 human B-cell lymphoid malignancies was analyzed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). A positive signal was detected in 16 cases, which included high grade B lymphomas, follicular lymphomas and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemias. IL-13 mRNA was also detected in the 9 malignant B cell lines and in the 6 lymphoblastoid cell lines tested, as well as in freshly isolated malignant B cells from 2 patients with a Burkitt's lymphoma. Two of 8 T-cell lymphomas and 2 of 4 T-cell lines expressed the IL-13 gene. In contrast, IL-13 gene expression was not detected in any of the 5 non-lymphoid cell lines tested. No specific binding of radiolabeled IL-13 was detected on B cell lines, suggesting an absence of IL-13 receptors on such cells. This conclusion was also supported by the inability of IL-13 or anti-IL-13 antibodies to affect the growth of malignant B cells. Taken together, these results show that both malignant and EBV-transformed B lymphocytes, either freshly isolated or maintained as cell lines, express the IL-13 gene. This raises the question of the role of B lymphocyte-derived IL-13, a B lymphocyte stimulating cytokine, on the in vivo function of normal B lymphocytes as well as on the in vivo behaviour of B lymphoid malignancies.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Interleukin-13 is a monocyte chemoattractant.

Recombinant human IL-13 is chemotactic for purified human peripheral blood monocytes Cell migration is stimulated with a typical bell-shaped concentration curve and is maximal at 10 ng/ml. Migration is the result of chemotaxis, and not chemokinesis, as shown by checkerboard experiments. The chemotactic activity of IL-13 on monocytes is not inhibited by preincubation of the cells with pertussis toxin but is diminished by preincubation with protein kinase inhibitors. The related cytokine, IL-4, also stimulates migration of monocytes in the Boyden chamber assays at concentrations similar to those effective for IL-13. Human IL-13 is capable of attracting rabbit peripheral blood monocytes at those concentrations active on human monocytes. On the other hand, no neutrophil migration was induced by IL-13, even at 1 microM concentrations.

Alkaloids↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Functional linkage of the Gro beta and IL-8 receptors on the surface of human neutrophils.

Gro beta and IL-8 are two pro-inflammatory cytokines with chemotactic activities on neutrophils. Binding studies were performed to ascertain whether their similar biological activities are mediated through the same receptor. Since Gro beta lacks tyrosine residues, recombinant Gro beta containing an additional carboxyterminal tyrosine residue (Gro beta-Tyr) was produced in transfected COS cells, purified to homogeneity and radiolabelled with 125INa. Saturation experiments using [125I]-Gro beta-Tyr allowed us to identify high affinity receptors on human neutrophils (Kd: 2 +/- 0.5 nM and Bmax: 4760 +/- 761 sites/cell). Experiments using [125I]-IL-8 as ligand, showed no significative differences in affinity (Kd: 4 +/- 0.9 nM) but about two times the number of sites (11316 +/- 1810 sites/cell). In competition experiments using [125I]-Gro beta-Tyr, unlabelled IL-8 and Gro beta-Tyr generated superposable displacement curves (IC50: 0.69 +/- 0.15 nM and 0.42 +/- 0.11 nM, respectively). Interesting, IL-8 binding sites could be down-regulated by Gro beta and IL-8, indicating that the two binding sites may be associated. Cross-linking experiments using [125I]-IL-8 revealed two major bands at 70 and 140 kDa, whereas experiments with [125I]-Gro beta-Tyr showed only the 70 kDa band. Taken together, these results suggest that the human neutrophil IL-8/Gro beta receptor is a dimeric complex with two high affinity binding sites for IL-8 and of those two, only one is shared by Gro beta.

Binding, Competitive↗