Search PubMedSearch

Biomedical subjects

T Stigbrand

Publications and source records attributed to T Stigbrand.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Use of anticytokeratin monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibodies to improve tumor:nontumor ratio in experimental radioimmunolocalization.

A syngeneic, high-affinity, anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody (MAb; alpha TS1) raised against an anticytokeratin monoclonal antibody (TS1) was evaluated as a second antibody to promote the rapid clearance of radiolabeled TS1 from the blood during experimental radioimmunolocalization. By using a novel biosensor technology (BIAcore), association rate dissociation rate, and affinity constants between the idiotype and the anti-idiotype could be determined. The in vivo results in nude mice carrying HeLa Hep 2 tumors demonstrate the possibility of selectively regulating the amount of the idiotypic 125I-labeled circulating MAb by in vivo injection of this high-affinity, anti-idiotypic antibody. Injection of the anti-idiotype in a molar ratio of 0.75 to the idiotype cleared the blood pool from circulating radiolabeled idiotype within 24 h, with a concomitant rapid excretion of 125I in urine. The total amount of remaining radioactivity in the animals decreased to 15-20% during these 24 h, with the tumors still retaining 60-65% of their initial radioactivity. This approach, using syngeneic primary and secondary MAbs with minimized immunogenicity, significantly improves the tumor:nontumor ratio, thus improving efficiency in experimental radioimmunolocalization and radioimmunotherapy, leaving the endogenous antibody repertoire of the host unaffected.

Animals

In vivo and in vitro interactions between idiotypic and antiidiotypic monoclonal antibodies against placental alkaline phosphatase.

A monoclonal antiidiotypic antibody alpha H7, was generated against a monoclonal antibody H7 with specificity towards placental alkaline phosphatase. The in vitro and in vivo effects of alpha H7 were investigated. The antiidiotypic antibody was found to generate stable complexes with the radiolabeled idiotypic antibody, visualized both in vivo and in vitro, as revealed by PAGE and autoradiography. Using biosensor technology (BIAcore, Pharmacia) the interactions were followed in real time and the association rate, dissociation rate, and affinity constants between the reactants were determined (KA H7/PLAP 6.7 x 10(9) M-1, KA H7/alpha H7 3.2 x 10(9) M-1). By in vivo injection of the antiidiotype, a rapid dose dependent clearance of circulating radiolabeled idiotypes was demonstrated and a decrease in total body radioactivity was recorded with a concomitant dramatic increase in non-protein-bound 125I excreted in the urine. It is concluded that idiotypic-antiidiotypic interactions offer advantages in the regulation of antibody levels in vivo.

Aged

Identification of angiotensinogen and complement C3dg as novel proteins binding the proform of eosinophil major basic protein in human pregnancy serum and plasma.

In sera from pregnant women, pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) circulates as a disulfide-bound complex (approximately 474 kDa) with the proform of eosinophil major basic protein (proMBP) (Oxvig, C., Sand, O., Kristensen, T., Gleich, G. J., and Sottrup-Jensen, L. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 12243-12246). We have produced monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the PAPP-A.proMBP complex and established a radioimmunoassay utilizing a mAb recognizing the PAPP-A subunit. Surprisingly, serum levels of proMBP exceed those of PAPP-A four to 10-fold on a molar basis throughout pregnancy. This result prompted an investigation of the status of proMBP in pregnancy. Using a proMBP-specific mAb two novel proMBP complexes have been isolated by chromatographic techniques. Based on sequence analysis, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and reaction with specific antibodies, one is shown to be a 2:2 disulfide-bound complex (approximately 200 kDa) between proMBP and angiotensinogen. The other is a 2:2:2 complex (approximately 300 kDa) between proMBP, angiotensinogen, and complement C3dg. Circulating proMBP in pregnancy is thus present in three types of complexes. These results suggest that specific interactions between the complexed proteins occur in pregnancy, and the possibility is raised that their interactions are important in the pathophysiology of pregnancies associated with hypertension.

Amino Acid Sequence

Methanethiolation of the liberated cysteine residues of human alpha 2-macroglobulin treated with methylamine generates a derivative with similar functional characteristics as native alpha 2-macroglobulin.

The thiol-modifying reagent methyl methanethiosulfonate reacts with the cysteine residues of thiol esters released upon treatment of human alpha 2-macroglobulin with methylamine. This methanethiolation generates a derivative of alpha 2-macroglobulin, with an 'open trap' and slow mobility in non-denaturing PAGE, similar to native alpha 2-macroglobulin. This similarity is further substantiated by surface hydrophobicity determinations and by the fact that neither the derivative nor native alpha 2-macroglobulin are cleared from the circulation in mice. Cleavages of bait regions in the derivative and native alpha 2-macroglobulin, however, result in electrophoretically fast forms which are cleared from the circulation in mice. In contrast to native alpha 2-macroglobulin, which can bind 2 mol chymotrypsin/mol, alpha 2-macroglobulin treated with methylamine and methylmethanethiosulfonate binds only 0.8 mol chymotrypsin/mol. Protection of trypsin against inhibition by soybean trypsin inhibitor is significantly better when alpha 2-macroglobulin is modified by methylamine and methylmethanethiosulfonate than when it is modified by dinitrophenyl thiocyanate, which cyanylates the exposed thiol group. The methanethiolated derivative is also more stable than the corresponding cyanylated derivative in that it is transformed to an electrophoretically fast form with a half-life of 9 h as compared to a half-life of 7 h for the latter. The transformation to the fast form is not due to instability of the thiol modification.

Animals

Syngeneic anti-idiotypic antibodies eliminate excess radiolabeled idiotypes at experimental radioimmunolocalization.

Significant improvements in tumor/nontumor ratio can be achieved by injections of nonlabeled anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) during radioimmunolocalization and radioimmunotherapy using MAbs to target experimental tumors. The in vivo effects of an anti-idiotypic MAb (alpha H7) against a radioiodinated, high affinity, low dissociation rate, monoclonal antiplacental alkaline phosphatase antibody (H7) was investigated. Following in vivo injection of the anti-idiotypic MAb, the radioactivity in experimental tumors was found to decrease only 25% while the reduction of corresponding radioactivity in nontumor tissues amounted to 65-85%, compared to the group receiving no anti-idiotypic MAbs. These results indicate that it is possible to partially clear the circulation and nontumor tissues from excess of radiolabeled idiotypic antibody, without significant decrease in specific tumor localization, increasing the tumor/nontumor ratio three- to fourfold. Circulating nontumor targeting radiolabeled antibodies is one of the major limiting factors in radioimmunotherapy today. Injection of anti-idiotypic MAbs could selectively significantly reduce the radiation dose to radio-sensitive tissues, i.e., bone marrow and intestine, thus improving efficiency in radioimmunoscintigraphy and radioimmunotherapy.

Animals

Binding of lipoprotein lipase to alpha 2-macroglobulin.

The interaction between bovine lipoprotein lipase (bLPL) and human alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M) was studied by use of non-denaturing PAGE and gel-permeation, Zn(2+)-Sepharose and heparin-Sepharose chromatography. It was demonstrated that bLPL in vitro binds non-covalently to native alpha 2M, but not to the receptor-recognized form produced by treatment of alpha 2M with chymotrypsin or methylamine. A small amount of bLPL was bound covalently to alpha 2M by disulphide interchange, when incubated together with chymotrypsin or methylamine. Whereas alpha 2M in complex with bLPL still bound to Zn(2+)-Sepharose, bLPL lost the ability to bind to heparin-Sepharose. Preincubation of bLPL with heparin prevented complex-formation with alpha 2M, suggesting that alpha 2M interacts with the heparin-binding domain of bLPL. Experiments in which 125I-bLPL was incubated with human plasma at 20 degrees C demonstrated an 11-17% binding of the labelled lipase to alpha 2M, indicating that this interaction may be of physiological significance.

Animals

Use of hydrophobic affinity partitioning as a method for studying various conformational states of the human alpha-macroglobulins.

The serum proteins alpha 2-macroglobulin and pregnancy zone protein undergo major conformational changes when complexed with proteinases. It is shown that the changes in delta log Kmax determined by hydrophobic affinity partitioning is a measure of the extent of changes in the conformation of these alpha-macroglobulins. We introduce a new term for the changes of surface hydrophobicity in a protein as delta log Kacc. This defines the difference of delta log Kmax between a modified and an unmodified conformational state of a specific protein and can be useful as a parameter to describe the apparent conformational changes in the protein.

Centrifugation

Binding of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) to pregnancy zone protein (PZP). Comparison to the TGF-beta-alpha 2-macroglobulin interaction.

Pregnancy zone protein (PZP) is quantitatively the most important pregnancy-associated plasma protein and it has strong similarity to alpha 2-macroglobulin. Since alpha 2-macroglobulin is a binding protein for transforming growth factors-beta (TGF-beta), it was of interest to test whether the related protein, PZP, also binds to these growth-regulatory proteins. Using affinity-labelling methods, we demonstrate that PZP binds both TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2 and that the binding characteristics are similar to those of the TGF-beta-alpha 2-macroglobulin interaction. TGF-beta 2 and TGF-beta 1 bind to PZP in a predominantly noncovalent manner in vitro. TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2 bind to both the dimeric and tetrameric forms of PZP. Our studies also indicate that PZP binds TGF-beta 2 with higher affinity than TGF-beta 1. Finally, we demonstrate that PZP inhibits the binding of TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2 to their cell surface receptors. The increased level of PZP during pregnancy may affect the action of TGF-beta by regulating the distribution, clearance and/or general availability of TGF-beta. The preferential binding of TGF-beta 2 over TGF-beta 1 by PZP implies that PZP may differentially regulate the action of TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2.

Autoradiography

Correlation of beta-camera imaging and immunohistochemistry in radioimmunotherapy using 90Y-labeled monoclonal antibodies in ovarian cancer animal models.

Tumor stroma contains much fibrin and monoclonal antifibrin antibody targeting is possible in tumors. In this study, nude mouse human ovarian carcinoma xenograft specimens were investigated after treatment with 90Y-labeled monoclonal antifibrin antibody Fab fragment or with 90Y-labeled OC125-monoclonal antibody F(ab')2 fragments. The mice received the radioimmunotherapy activity either intratumorally, intraperitoneally, or intravenously. Beta-camera imaging (BCI) is a novel device for studying activity distribution in tissue specimens and, together with immunohistochemistry (IHC) with OC125, antifibrin, anticarcinoembryonic antigen, anti-cytokeratin, and anti-placental alkaline phosphatase antibodies, was used for correlation of activity distribution of tissue specimens. These results were in concordance: Antigen distribution measured with IHC and radioactivity distribution were similar with the same antibodies, antifibrin, and OC125: However, these antigens demonstrated rather different distribution. Tissue studies revealed that activity was concentrated also in the necrotic tumor tissue, indicating that cell death was also caused by radiation. Differences in the tumor cell morphology were observed using different routes of administration. With BCI, it is possible to quantitate activities in frozen sections (microdosimetry), and these results were in concordance with absolute activities as measured by tissue sampling and well-counting. Three-dimensional reconstruction of tissue slices combined with radioactivity distribution measured with BCI allows estimation of total absorbed radiation dose in tumor after an appropriate dose planning.

Animals

Immunolocalization of stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme in human skin and oral epithelium with monoclonal antibodies: evidence of a proteinase specifically expressed in keratinizing squamous epithelia.

Stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme (SCCE) is a recently discovered serine proteinase, which has been purified from human plantar stratum corneum. Evidence has been presented that it may play a role in the terminal stages of epidermal turnover, especially in desquamation. Two mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAb) were raised, TE4b and TE9b, that reacted specifically with SCCE in immunoprecipitation, immunoblotting, and gel-exclusion chromatography. When used in immunohistochemical experiments with the peroxidase-anti-peroxidase method, both MAb detected an antigen located in high suprabasal keratinocytes of the epidermis in normal human skin and at the vermilion border of the lip, with maximal staining of the stratum granulosum. In the hair follicles the MAb reacted with the inner root sheet only. In human oral mucosa the MAb stained the high suprabasal epithelial cells of the hard palate. This is a site where the epithelium forms an orthokeratotic stratum corneum. There was no specific staining of the epithelium of the lip mucosa or the buccal mucosa, where the epithelium does not form a stratum corneum under non-pathological conditions. A correlation therefore seems to exist between the presence of SCCE in high suprabasal cells and the ability of the epithelium to form an orthokeratotic cornified layer. We suggest that SCCE is specifically expressed in keratinizing squamous epithelia and that its expression may be part of the terminal differentiation program of this type of epithelium. These results also give further support to the idea that SCCE may play a role in the turnover and/or formation of the stratum corneum.

Cell Differentiation

Differences in the proteinase inhibition mechanism of human alpha 2-macroglobulin and pregnancy zone protein.

Different conformational states of human alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M) and pregnancy zone protein (PZP) were investigated following modifications of the functional sites, i.e. the 'bait' regions and the thiol esters, by use of chymotrypsin, methylamine and dinitrophenylthiocyanate. Gel electrophoresis, mAb (7H11D6 and alpha 1:1) and in vivo plasma clearance were used to describe different molecular states in the proteinase inhibitors. In alpha 2M, in which the thiol ester is broken by binding of methylamine and the 'trap' is closed, cyanylation of the liberated thiol group from the thiol ester modulates reopening of the 'trap' and the 'bait' regions become available for cleavage again. The trapping of proteinases in the cyanylated derivative indicates that the trap functions as in native alpha 2M. In contrast, cyanylation has no effect on proteinase-treated alpha 2M. As demonstrated by binding to mAb, the methylamine and dinitrophenylthiocyanate-treated alpha 2M exposes the receptor-recognition site, but the derivative is not cleared from the circulation in mice. The trap is not functional in PZP. In native PZP and PZP treated with methylamine, the conformational states seem similar. The receptor-recognition sites are not exposed and removal from the circulation in vivo is not seen for these as for the PZP-chymotrypsin complex. Tetramers are only formed when proteinases can be covalently bound to the PZP. Conformational changes are not detected in PZP derivatives in which the thiol ester is treated with methylamine and dinitrophenylthiocyanate. The results suggest that the conformational changes in alpha 2M are generated by mechanisms different to these in PZP. The key structure gearing the conformational changes in alpha 2M is the thiol ester, by which the events 'trapping' and exposure of the receptor-recognition site can be separated. In PZP, the crucial step for the conformational changes is the cleavage of the 'bait' region, since cleavage of the thiol ester does not lead to any detectable conformational changes by the methods used.

Animals

Placental alkaline phosphatase has a binding site for the human immunoglobulin-G Fc portion.

Affinity chromatography of human plasma on placental-alkaline-phosphatase-Sepharose columns (placental alkaline phosphatase, PLAP) yielded consistently a pure protein which was identified as IgG on the basis of electrophoretical and immunological comparisons with authentic human IgG. SDS/PAGE of the protein revealed, under reducing conditions, two polypeptides of 55 kDa and 25 kDa. The N-terminal amino acid sequence (12 residues) of the 55-kDa subunit presented high similarity (83-100%) with known sequences of immunoglobulin gamma chains. The IgG binds by its Fc portion to a fully exposed domain in the plasma-membrane-anchored PLAP. Scatchard analysis of the interaction gave a dissociation constant of 3.68 microM, a value close to those found for haematopoietic cells and syncytiotrophoblast Fc receptors. The latter was affinity purified from human placenta as the major IgG-binding component and presented cross-immunoreactivity with anti-PLAP antibodies, indicating that PLAP and the putative placental Fc receptor could be identical molecules.

Alkaline Phosphatase

Placental alkaline phosphatase, a GPI-anchored protein, is clustered in clathrin-coated vesicles.

Pure clathrin-coated vesicles were prepared from a fresh human placenta. The analysis of their content revealed the presence of transferrin, low density lipoproteins, IgG and placental alkaline phosphatase. Since the latter is a membrane protein anchored by a glycan-phosphatidyl inositol (GPI) moiety, its presence in coated vesicles was unexpected. Placental alkaline phosphatase is neither adsorbed to the surface of the vesicles, nor appearing due to plasma membrane contaminants, but is located in the lumen of the vesicles. The presence of alkaline phosphatase in coated vesicles strengthens its postulated physiological role in the transcytosis of IgG molecules in placenta.

Alkaline Phosphatase

Interactions of human alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes with triazine dyes using affinity partitioning, affinity chromatography and difference spectroscopy.

Aqueous two-phase systems consisting of dextran, polyethylene glycol and dye-liganded polyethylene glycol were employed to investigate the affinity partitioning behaviour of isoenzymes of human alkaline phosphatase. Whereas in the system without a dye ligand the partition coefficients of the isoenzymes from human intestine and placenta were identical, the isoenzyme from human liver showed a significantly lower partition coefficient under the same conditions. After addition of dye-liganded polyethylene glycol two groups of dyes possessing substantial affinities to the isoenzymes were found. One, represented by Procion Yellow HE-3G, interacts specifically with the active centre of the isoenzymes. Differences in the affinity of the isoenzymes towards the individual dye ligands are caused only by the carbohydrate content, especially by the terminal sialic acid residues. The other group of dye ligands, represented by Procion Navy MX-RB, binds obviously in a more complex fashion involving other binding sites, which are only present in alkaline phosphatase of human liver. Procion Navy MX-RB was found to function as a suitable affinity ligand for the separation of human liver alkaline phosphatase from the other isoenzymes. Differences in the primary structure of two allelic forms of human placental alkaline phosphatase [(SS) and (F)] are not recognized in aqueous two-phase systems with or without dye-liganded polyethylene glycol.

Alkaline Phosphatase