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Biomedical subjects

Z A Cohn

Publications and source records attributed to Z A Cohn.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Studies of the cell surface of mouse dendritic cells and other leukocytes.

The surface of dendritic cells (DC) has been analyzed by means of monoclonal antibodies (Ab) and lactoperoxidase (LPO)-mediated radioiodination. Antigens and other exteriorily disposed polypeptides of purified spleen DC were compared with those of tissue macrophages (Mphi), monocytes, and other bone marrow-derived elements. Quantitative binding studies and autoradiography with (125)I-Ab established that DC expressed high levels of I-A and H-2D, 2 x 10(5) and 1 x 10(5) Ab binding sites per cell, respectively. DC from conventional, germ-free, and specific pathogen-free mice were all rich in Ia. Expression of Ia on B cells was 5-10 percent of that on DC and increased fivefold during lipopolysaccharide mitogenesis. More than 70-90 percent of purified Mphi and monocytes from specific pathogen-free mice were Ia negative, but increased levels of Ia were noted on cells from mice reared under conventional conditions. Thus large amounts of Ia on DC is a constitutive trait, whereas the expression of Ia by other cell types may be governed by the environmental and immunological status of the host. The 2.4G2 Fc receptor Ag was not detected on DC. Peritoneal and spleen Mphi had 10(5) 2.4G2 binding sites/cell, whereas monocytes and lymphocytes were less reactive (1 x 10(4)-3 x 10(4) binding sites/cell). Four other Mphi-related antigens were evaluated. Each had a distinctive tissue distribution and none bound exclusively to Mphi and monocytes. Neither 1.21J (Mac-1) nor F4/80 reacted with DC. Immunoprecipitation studies of externally ((125)I) and biosynthetically ([(35)S]methionine)dabeled cells confirmed the binding data. Sensitive binding assays with (125)I-Ab confirmed previous observations that DC lack Ig and Thy-1. Lyt-1 was also not found on DC, but 5-12 percent of the cells in purified DC preparations expressed both Lyt-2 and Ia. All DC expressed the leukocyte common antigens at levels similar to other leukocytes. The spectrum of surface polypeptides labeled by LPO-mediated iodination was different on Mphi, DC, and lymphocytes. Polypeptides migrating at molecular weights of 155,000, 85,000, and 62,000 appeared to be restricted to DC. These observations establish that the cell surface of DC differs considerably from other leukocytes, including the blood monocyte, and suggest that the DC is part of a unique Ia-rich leukocyte differentiation pathway.

Animals↗

Priming of macrophages for enhanced oxidative metabolism by exposure to proteolytic enzymes.

Preincubation for 10-30 min with trypsin, pronase, chymotrypsin, or papain primed macrophages to undergo a twofold to sixfold increase in oxidative metabolism, measured as release of superoxide anion or hydrogen peroxide, during stimulation by phorbol myristate acetate or ingestion of Candida parapsilosis. Preincubation of macrophages with inactivated proteases, nonenzyme proteins, or neuraminidase did not affect their oxidase response. Exposure of macrophages to proteases generated at sites of inflammation could prime these cells for a more effective oxidase response to phagocytosis or for greater tissue damage from release of toxic oxygen metabolites.

Animals↗

Modulation of phagosome-lysosome fusion in mouse macrophages.

A previously described fluorescence assay has been used to characterize factors that modulate phagosome-lysosome (P-L) fusion in mouse macrophages. Fusion was not affected by enzymatic modification or by concanavalin A cross-linking of the plasma membrane or by coating the phagocytic particle with concanavalin A or immune serum. Pretreatment of cells with 10-5-10-4 M colchicine, or treatment immediately after ingestion with 1-10 microgram/ml cytochalasin did not alter P-L fusion; implying that the cytoskeleton does not control fusion in a rate-limiting way. Fusion was strikingly elevated in 5-h cultures of activated macrophages from immune-boosted mice. A lower enhancement was seen in cells activated by proteose-peptone, a nonspecific inflammatory agent.

Animals↗

Tumor cell anti-oxidant defenses. Inhibition of the glutathione redox cycle enhances macrophage-mediated cytolysis.

The basis of resistance to oxidative injury was studied in six murine tumor cell lines that differed 54-fold in their resistance to enzymatically generated H(2)0(2). The tumors varied 56.7-fold in their specific activity of catalase, 5.3-fold in glutathione peroxidase (GPO), 3.3-fold in glutathione reductase (GR), and 2.7-fold in glutathione. There was no correlation among the levels of the three enzymes, and tumor cell resistance to lysis by H(2)0(2). However, the logarithm of the flux of H(2)0(2) necessary to cause 50 percent lysis of the tumor cells correlated with their content of glutathione (r = 0.91). The protective role of glutathione was analyzed by blocking GR and GPO, the catalysts of the glutathione redox cycle. This was facilitated by the demonstration that the anti-neoplastic agent 1,3-bis-(2- chloroethyl)-l-nitrosourea (BCNU) was a potent inhibitor of GR in intact tumor cells. BCNU inactivated tumor cell GR with a 50 percent inhibitory dose of 11 muM and a t(l/2) of inhibition of 30 s. Complete inhibition of GR was attained with no effect on GPO or catalase. Tumor cells whose GR was inactivated by BCNU could be lysed by fluxes of H(2)0(2) to which they were otherwise completely resistant. They could be killed by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-stimulated, bacilli Calmette-Guerin-activated macrophages in numbers which were otherwise insufficient, and by nonactivated macrophages, which otherwise were ineffective. BCNU-treated target cells were also much more sensitive to antibody-dependent, macrophage-mediated cytolysis. However, such tumor cells were no more sensitive than controls to lysis by alloreactive T cells or by antibody plus complement. Next, we deprived tumor cells of selenium by passage in selenium-deficient mice. GPO was inhibited 85 percent in such cells, with no effect on GR or catalase. Tumor cells with reduced GPO activity were markedly sensitized to lysis by small fluxes of H(2)0(2) or by PMA-stimulated macrophages or granulocytes. In contrast, inhibition of catalase with aminotriazole had no effect on the sensitivity of three tumors to peroxide-mediated lysis, and had modest effects with two others. Thus, the oxidation-reduction cycle of glutathione serves as one of the major defense mechanisms of tumor cells against three related forms of oxidant injury: lysis by fluxes of H(2)0(2), by PMA-triggered macrophages, and by macrophages in the presence of anti-tumor antibody.

Animals↗

Depletion of glutathione selectively inhibits synthesis of leukotriene C by macrophages.

We have examined the role of glutathione synthesis and intracellular glutathione content in the formation of leukotriene C (LTC) by mouse peritoneal macrophages. For this purpose, we utilized the drug buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), a specific inhibitor of glutathione synthesis. Thirty minutes after the addition of BSO (200 microM) to macrophage cultures, when glutathione synthesis was inhibited approximately 80%, the cells responded to a zymosan challenge with a normal release of LTC. During this period, intracellular glutathione stores were not significantly depleted. Cells exposed to BSO for 2 hr or more exhibited marked decreases in glutathione levels and a progressive inhibition of LTC synthesis. After exposure to BSO for 16 hr, intracellular glutathione was undetectable, and no LTC was synthesized by the cells. Treatment of macrophages with BSO for 16 hr had no effect on cell viability, phagocytosis, total release of arachidonic acid, or prostaglandin synthesis. However, an increased synthesis of hydroxyicosatetraenoic acids in BSO-treated cells compensated for the diminished production of LTC. We conclude that BSO produces a specific, time-dependent inhibition of LTC synthesis as a result of intracellular glutathione depletion. This is consistent with a biosynthetic pathway for LTC in which glutathione is a direct precursor of this arachidonic acid metabolite.

Animals↗

Hydrogen peroxide metabolism in human monocytes during differentiation in vitro.

The capacity of human blood monocytes to secrete hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide (O2-) was measured as the cells differentiated during 4 wk of culture. Morphologic transformation of monocytes into macrophages, epithelioid cells, and multinucleated giant cells accompanied a steady increase in the content of protein per cell, from 0.77 mg/10(7) cells on days 0 to 11.77 mg/10(7) cells on days 20 to 29. In contrast, secretion of H2O2 by adherent monocytes was 859 +/- 73 nmol/60 min per mg protein (mean +/- SEM, n = 18) on day 0, rose 40% on day 3, and then fell rapidly, remaining below 6% of the initial values after day 10. The decline in capacity to secrete reactive oxygen intermediates was observed whether H2O2 or O2- were measured, whether the cells were challenged with phorbol myristate acetate or with opsonized zymosan, and whether the results were expressed per milligram cell protein or per cell. Superoxide dismutase activity tripled in adherent monocytes from day 0 to day 3, and thereafter remained elevated through at least day 16. In contrast, the activity of myeloperoxidase declined rapidly, catalase and glutathione peroxidase declined more gradually, and glutathione reductase and glutathione remained constant through the period of observation. Thus, the decline in capacity to secrete H2O2 could not be attributed to increases in cellular levels of these antioxidants. On the first day of culture, H2O2 release was enhanced up to fourfold by inclusion of sodium azide or potassium cyanide in the assay medium. This enhancement appeared to be due to inhibition of monocyte myeloperoxidase, rather than catalase. This conclusion was based on the kinetics and dose-response relationships for the effects of azide and cyanide on H2O2 release and on the activities of catalase and myeloperoxidase. Thus, the differentiation of human monocytes into macrophages in vitro is accompanied by an apparent reduction in the capacity to produce H2O2 and O2-. In this regard, the human monocyte-derived macrophage comes to resemble the resting tissue macrophage previously characterized in the mouse peritoneal cavity.

Cell Adhesion↗

Macrophage oxygen-dependent antimicrobial activity. III. Enhanced oxidative metabolism as an expression of macrophage activation.

The capacity of 15 separate populations of mouse peritoneal macrophages to generate and release H2O2 (an index of oxidative metabolism) was compared with their ability to inhibit the intracellular replication of virulent Toxoplasma gondii. Resident macrophages and those elicited by inflammatory agents readily supported toxoplasma multiplication and released 4-20X less H2O2 than macrophages activated in vivo by systemic infection with Bacille Calmette-Guérin or T. gondii, or by immunization with Corynebacterium parvum. Immunologically activated cells consistently displayed both enhanced H2O2 production and antitoxoplasma activity. Exposure to lymphokines generated from cultures of spleen cells from T. gondii immune mice and toxoplasma antigen preserved both the antitoxoplasma activity and the heightened H2O2 release of toxoplasma immune and immune-boosted macrophages, which otherwise were lost after 48-72 h of cultivation. In vitro activation of resident and chemically-elicited cells by 72 h of exposure to mitogen- and antigen-prepared lymphokines, conditions that induce trypanocidal (5) and leishmanicidal activity (14), stimulated O2- and H2O2 release, and enhanced nitroblue tetrazolium reduction in response to toxoplasma ingestion. Such treatment, however, failed to confer any antitoxoplasma activity, indicating that intracellular pathogens may vary in their susceptibility to macrophage microbicidal mechanisms, including specific oxygen intermediates. In contrast, cocultivating normal macrophages with lymphokine plus heart infusion broth for 18H rendered these cells toxoplasmastatic. This in vitro-acquired activity was inhibited by scavengers of O2-, H2O2, OH., and 1O2, demonstrating a role for oxidative metabolites in lymphokine-induced enhancement of macrophage antimicrobial activity. These findings indicate that augmented oxidative metabolism is an consistent marker of macrophage activation, and that oxygen intermediates participate in the resistance of both in vivo- and vitro-activated macrophages toward the intracellular parasite, T. gondii.

Animals↗

Macrophage oxygen-dependent antimicrobial activity. IV. Role of endogenous scavengers of oxygen intermediates.

The activities of the endogenous O2- and H2O2 scavenging enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathionine peroxidase (GP), and catalase, were measured in lysates of the intracellular parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, and in various macrophage populations. During 72 h of cultivation in standard medium alone, the catalase activity of in vivo-activated toxoplasma-immune macrophages (IM) and immune-boosted macrophages (IB) progressively increased by eight- to ninefold, and correlated with the previously observed parallel decline in these cells' antitoxoplasma activity and capacity to release H2O2. SOD and GP activities either remained constant or decreased during this 3-d period. Lymphokine exposure, which preserved the antitoxoplasma activity and oxidative capacity of 48- and 72-h cultures of IB and IM cells, blunted the rise in catalase levels and had no effect on SOD or GP. Inhibition of IB and IM macrophage catalase by aminotriazole maintained toxoplasmastatic activity otherwise lost after 48 h of cultivation. In addition, IB and IM cells from acatalasemic mice contained 20- to 30-fold less catalase, and showed comparatively little decline in either H2O2 release or antitoxoplasma activity during 72 h in culture. In vitro-(lymphokine) activated resident macrophages from normal mice had the highest levels of SOD, GP, and catalase, and these cells failed to kill or inhibit T. gondii despite enhanced extracellular release of O2- and H2O2. Toxoplasmas were also found to contain all three enzymatic scavengers. Aminotriazole inhibition of lymphokine-activated cells' catalase or of toxoplasma catalase was effective in inducing these macrophages to display antitoxoplasma activity. Moreover, and in contrast to normocatalasemic resident cells, those from acatalesemic mice were readily induced by lymphokine to inhibit the replication of untreated virulent toxoplasmas. These results suggest that endogenous O2- and H2O2 scavenging enzymes, which function within both T. gondii and activated macrophages as host cell antioxidant protective mechanisms, may reduce the effectiveness of phagocyte antimicrobial activity. Thus, the presence of SOD, GP, and especially catalase within both target and effector cell may be important determinants of macrophage oxygen-dependent processes.

Animals↗

Dynamics of leukotriene C production by macrophages.

A method for the radiochemical assay of LTC production by mouse peritoneal macrophages in vitro is presented. The method involves labeling macrophages in culture with [5,6,8,9,11,12,14,15-3H]20:4 followed by stimulation of arachidonic acid (20:4) release under the experimental conditions desired. Radiolabeled leukotriene C (LTC) is recovered from the culture medium by extraction and silicic acid chromatography in 40% yield with full retention of biological activity. Because this LTC is radiochemically pure, the quantity of LTC release may be estimated from the amount of radioactivity in the sample. Use of the radioassay to study parameters affecting LTC synthesis by macrophages indicated that the time course of LTC synthesis and its relationship to the dose of a phagocytic stimulus (zymosan) were very similar to those of prostaglandin (PG) release. LTC release was also similar to that of PG in that lower levels of both metabolites were produced by Corynebacterium parvum-elicited macrophages than by resident cells. Finally, LTC release was stimulated in response to a challenge with antigen-antibody complexes, but lower maximal levels were attained than those with zymosan. The data presented here are consistent with the hypothesis that challenge of macrophages with a phagocytic stimulus leads to the release of 20:4 by an inducible phospholipase. Cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase then compete for the released 20:4, leading to the production of PG, hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids, and LTC.

Animals↗

Dendritic cells are accessory cells for the development of anti-trinitrophenyl cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

This study establishes that dendritic cells (DC) are the critical accessory cells for the development of anti-trinitrophenol (TNP) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in vitro. We developed a model in which nylon wool-nonadherent spleen cells were used both as the responding and stimulating cells, the latter having been TNP-modified and x-irradiated. Thy-1-bearing CTL developed in C57BL/6, B6D2F1, and CBA mice only when small numbers of DC were added. Maximal responses in 5-d cultures were achieved with 0.5-1 DC/100 responding T cells. The DC did not have to be TNP modified directly. Anti-Ia and complement inactivated accessory cells, whereas similar treatment of the responders had no effect. DC exposed to ultraviolet radiation were ineffective, but x-irradiated DC were fully active. Culture media from DC, or from DC-nylon wool-passed spleen T cell cocultures that contained abundant CTL, would not substitute for viable DC. Enriched preparations of macrophages (M phi) were obtained from blood, peritoneal cavity, and spleens of BCG-immune and unprimed mice. M phi added at doses of 0.2-4% were weak or inactive as accessory cells. The level of Ia antigens on test M phi populations was quantitated and visualized by binding of a radioiodinated monoclonal anti-I-Ab,d antibody, clone B-21. M phi that bore substantial amounts of Ia from all organs were weak accessory cells. Addition of M phi to DC-T cell cocultures produced inhibitory effects, usually at a dose of 2% M phi. In contrast, 0.5% Ia-bearing M phi from BCG-immune boosted mice inhibited > 80% of the DC-mediated CTL response. Addition of indomethacin reversed M phi inhibition, and 10(-9) M prostaglandin E2 in turn blocked the indomethacin effect. Indomethacin also restored a low level of accessory cell function in immune-boosted adherent peritoneal cells, but not in preparations of monocytes and spleen M phi. Small numbers of DC were identified in preparations of immune-boosted peritoneal cells and may have accounted for the observed accessory activity. We conclude that the development of anti-TNP CTL is an immune response in which (a) DC are the critical accessory cells; (b) Ia-bearing M phi are weak or inactive; and (c) M phi can inhibit DC-mediated response by an indomethacin-sensitive mechanism.

Animals↗

Regulation of arachidonic acid metabolites in macrophages.

The lipids of mouse peritoneal macrophages contain high levels (25 mole percent) of esterified arachidonic acid (20:4). Following in vitro exposure to unopsonized zymosan, these cells synthesize and release oxygenated products of 20:4. Maximal levels of zymosan ingestion promote the release of 40-50% of the 20:4 content of cultures without loss of viabilitiy. Release of radiolabel from macrophages prelabeled with [3H]20:4 provides a quantitative measure for the synthesis of 20:4-derived products. Approximately 67% of the released 20:4 is recovered as prostaglandins (PG) (51% PGE and 16% 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha) and the remainder as apolar products tentatively identified as hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acids. The kinetics of synthesis are comparable for both sets of products. A detailed examination of PGE synthesis indicated the PGE levels rise in parallel with phagocytosis during a continuous exposure of macrophages to zymosan. The concentration of particles determines the initial rate of PGE release, but the time-course of synthesis is finite (approximately 60 min), regardless of the zymosan dose. These observations are compatible with the notion that phagocytosis results in a burst of PG synthesis, the size of which is determined by the phagocytic stimulus. This is supported by the finding that secondary challenges of zymosan promote new rounds of PG synthesis by macrophages.

Animals↗

Plasma membrane of Entamoeba histolytica.

Axenically propagated Entamoeba histolytica (HK9:NIH strain) were employed as starting material for the isoation of plasma membrane by a novel procedure. In the absence of known enzymatic markers, the externally disposed polypeptides of intact amoebae were iodinated and the incorporated label used to monitor membrane separation and recovery. 12 major plasma membrane polypeptides (12 x 10(3)-200 x 10(3) mol wt) were labeled and separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Each of these was a glycoprotein. Preincubation of amoebae with concanavalin A stabilized the plasma membranes as large sheets, facilitating its separation by low-speed centrifugation. Dissociation of the lectin with alpha-methyl mannoside, followed by additional homogenization led to vesiculation and further purification. The isolated plasma membrane was recovered in high yield (28%) and enriched 30-fold in terms of incorporated iodide. All iodinated surface glycoproteins of the intact organism were present in the plasma membrane fraction. A Ca++-dependent ATPase was enriched in the plasma membrane to a similar extent, but over one-half of the total activity was associated with internal, unlabeled membranes, suggesting a dual localization of this activity. The isolated plasma membrane was enriched in cholesterol and had a cholesterol:molar ratio of 0.87. It also contained larger amounts of an unusual phospholipid--ceramide aminoethyl phosphonate--a phospholipase-resistant species.

Acid Phosphatase↗

Plasma membrane polypeptides of resident and activated mouse peritoneal macrophages.

With the lactoperoxidase/glucose oxidase-catalyzed iodination method, we have identified at least 19 exteriorly disposed plasma membrane polypeptides on mouse peritoneal macrophages, with molecular weights ranging from 12,000 to 290,000. Resident and inflammatory macrophages could be distinguished by qualitative and quantitative differences in the display of selected polypeptides, although the overall banding patterns were similar. Some of the labeled polypeptides were identified by immunoprecipitation.

Animals↗

Prostaglandin synthesis by macrophages requires a specific receptor-ligand interaction.

The ingestion of particles by macrophages leads to the prompt induction of prostaglandin (PG) synthesis. We have now dissected the endocytic process and examined the requirements of prostaglandin E (PGE) synthesis for particle attachment, membrane interiorization, and phagosome-lysosome fusion. Macrophages that were loaded with the polyanion dextran sulfate and exhibited a greater than 99% inhibition of phagosome-lysosome fusion produced normal amounts of PGE upon challenge with zymosan. Inhibition of membrane interiorization with cytochalasin D was similarly ineffective in blocking PGE synthesis. The addition of large numbers of unmodified polystyrene latex beads, which were readily ingested by macrophages, failed to stimulate PGE synthesis. However, when macrophages were challenged with latex beads coated with immune complexes, an increased synthesis of PGE resulted. No response occurred if the complex was prepared with the F(ab')2 fragment of IgG. Similar results occurred when nonphagocytizable Sephadex beads coated with immune complexes were employed. We conclude that particle binding to the Fc receptor of the macrophage plasma membrane is a sufficient stimulus for PGE synthesis.

Animals↗

Mouse peritoneal macrophages release leukotriene C in response to a phagocytic stimulus.

Mouse peritoneal macrophages that had ingested zymosan particles released a polar metabolite of arachidonic acid possessing slow-reacting substance activity in the guinea pig ileum assay. The metabolite was purified by solvent extraction, Sephadex G-25 column chromatography. The purified metabolite absorbed light at 280 nm and contained a free amino group. When macrophages were preincubated overnight with [3H]arachidonic acid, [35H]cysteine, or [14C]glutamic acid, each radiolabel was incorporated into the compound. Direct amino acid analysis revealed glycine, glutamic acid, and cysteine at molar ratios of 0.97:1.00:0.82. The above data were consistent with the structure of leukotriene C, an adduct of arachidonic acid and glutaathione. Quantification of the leukotriene C based on incorporation of [3H]arachidonic acid or amino acid analysis indicated that 6 X 10(7) macrophages (3.6 mg of cell protein) released 7.5 nmol after a maximal phagocytic stimulus. The purified leukotriene C had a slow reacting substance activity of 11,500 units/nmol (1 unit has the activity of 5 ng of histamine in a guinea pig ileum contraction assay).

Amino Acids↗

Phagosome-lysosome fusion. Characterization of intracellular membrane fusion in mouse macrophages.

Several approaches have been used to study the determinants of phagosome-lysosome fusion in intact mouse macrophages. Lysosomes were labeled with the fluorescent vital dye acridine orange and the rate and extent of their fusion with yeast-containing phagosomes was monitored by fluorescence microscopy. Fusion was also assayed by electron microscopy, using horseradish peroxidase or thorium dioxide as a marker for secondary lysosomes. Good agreemen samples with an enzymatic marker, and thorium dioxide-labeled samples evaluated by stereology. The rate of usion as assayed by fluorescence was not affected by the number of particles ingested, serum concentration, or prior uptake of digestible or nondigestible substances. With this assay it was possible to observe the rate of fusion separate from and uninfluenced by the phagocytic rate. Both the rate and extent of fusion were dramatically increased after several days in culture and similar changes were found by use of the EM assays. Fusion was strongly affected by incubation temperature, having a Q10 of 2.5 No detectable fusion occurred below 15 degrees C, and this inhibition was rapidly reversed when cells were returned to 37 degrees C.

Cells, Cultured↗