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At least 631 records · Page 35Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

The sulfhydryl group microenvironment of lactose synthase from bovine milk.

Galactosyltransferase from bovine milk was inactivated by a series of sulfhydryl group specific reagents of different structures and sizes. The inactivation rate constants suggest that the thiol is located in a nonpolar microenvironment. The ESR spectrum of a spin labeled galactosyltransferase showed that the sulfhydryl group is in a region of non-restricted rotation, consistent with its broad reactivity towards various thiol reagents. Galactosyltransferase immobilized onto agarose through its sulfhydryl group retained its ability to catalyze the synthesis of N-acetyllactosamine and lactose. Thus the residual activity of the sulfhydryl group modified enzyme is not due to an isozyme lacking such a group. In addition, the active thiol can not be located at the active site nor the protein-protein interaction site between galactosyltransferase and alpha-lactalbumin.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Effect of viscosity on enzyme-ligand dissociation. II. Role of the microenvironment.

A theoretical treatment, describing a novel viscosity effect on decomposition of enzyme-ligand complexes, recently appeared (Somogyi et al., 1978). From this approach emerged a mechanistic picture of the manner in which increased viscosity lowers the value of the decomposition rate constant. A refined version of this model is presented herein. The analysis is extended to the molecular microenvironment ultimately responsible for mediating the "viscosity effect." Consideration is given to two major factors: (1) the role of viscosity in attenuating the excess chemical energy and (2) the statistical features of the microviscosity. In view of spatiotemporal inhomogeneity in the liquid structure, the concept of averaged microviscosity is introduced to parametrize the enzyme-ligand recombination probability. Quantitative predictions are consistent with models of liquid structure and with results from enzyme studies. The "viscosity effect" may contribute to substrate compartmentation in organized multi-enzyme systems in vivo.

Enzymes↗
PubMed1983

Adult hemoglobins are synthesized in yolk sac microenvironment obtained from murine cultured blastocysts.

The capability of yolk sac (YS) hematopoietic stem cells to produce in vitro either primitive or definite erythrocytes under the influence of stimulating agents was analyzed. Two systems were used: either 9-day-old yolk sacs were explanted and cultured or 3-day-old blastocysts were cultured under conditions in which they give rise only to YS tissue. In both systems, YS tissue produced only primitive erythrocytes. When the stimulating agents (spleen cell-conditioned medium or erythropoietin) were added to the medium, YS cultures gave rise to definitive erythrocytes. These data confirm the intrinsic ability of the YS stem cells to undergo primitive erythropoiesis; furthermore, they provide evidence that YS hemopoietic progenitor cells do not require any direct interaction with cells of the embryo to undergo definitive erythropoiesis but only stimulation by agents, such as pokeweed mitogen spleen conditioned medium or erythropoietin; the YS microenvironment does not counteract this capacity.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Direct ultrastructural evidence of lymphocyte-mediated cancer cell lysis in the microenvironment of Chinese nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

We observed 101 cases of Chinese nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) with light and electron microscopy, focusing on the relationship between lymphocytes and cancer cells and their alterations during interaction. Cancer cells conjugated by lymphocytes showed injuries to varying degrees in 60% of cases with World Health Organization classification 2 + 3 NPC, but not in those cases with World Health Organization classification 1 NPC. The alterations of cancer cells conjugated by lymphocytes included loss of cell membrane and cytoplasm, degeneration of cell organelles, and even cell necrosis. Initial lesions of the cancer cell frequently occurred in the region infiltrated by lymphocytes. The lymphocytes could penetrate deeply into the cytoplasm, even into the nucleus of the cancer cell. At the same time, lymphocytes were themselves intact. The lymphocytes were classified into three groups: small lymphocytes, medium-sized lymphocytes, and blastoid type or transformed lymphocytes. The current study provided the direct ultrastructural evidence that lymphocyte-mediated cancer cell lysis might occur in the microenvironment of NPC and enabled us to summarize ultrastructural features of this phenomenon.

Carcinoma↗
PubMed1993

The nonlymphoid microenvironment of reactive follicles and lymphomas of follicular origin as defined by immunohistology on paraffin-embedded tissues.

Twenty-five reactive lymph nodes, 10 palatine tonsils, and 72 B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) of supposed follicular origin were investigated in an immunohistologic study of fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues using a panel of monoclonal antibodies reactive with antigens resistant against fixation and paraffin-embedding techniques together with polyclonal antibodies. The results concerning the microenvironmental organization of reactive lymphoid follicles confirmed that the distribution of CD21+ and CD23+ dendritic reticulum cells, vimentin+ fibroblastic reticulum cells, and CD68+ tingible-body macrophages is heterogeneous with reference to their immunostaining patterns and topographic localization within the germinal center and mantle zone. Moreover, a close microenvironmental similarity between the follicular lymphomas of supposed germinal center or mantle zone origin and their normal counterparts was noted. The study of the microenvironment of the B-zone small lymphocytic lymphoma cases, showing the same distribution patterns for the nonlymphoid cells as seen in mantle zone lymphomas, corroborated the supposed follicular origin of this unusual variant of small lymphocytic lymphoma. In conclusion, this study shows that monoclonal antibodies recognizing CD21, CD23, and CD68 antigens may be valuable additions to vimentin, S-100 protein, laminin, and type IV collagen antibodies for investigating the microenvironmental organization of lymphoid tissues in both normal and neoplastic conditions.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed1990

Stromal hemopoietic microenvironment in aging.

The bone marrow content, proliferative potential and proliferative activity of precursor cells for stromal fibroblast colony forming cells (CFC-F) were investigated in young and old CBA mice. The relationship between CFC-F and the number of bone marrow nucleated cells and granulocytic-macrophagal precursors (GM-CFC) was studied as well. The results obtained showed increased CFC-F contents in old animals. The proliferative potential of old mice CFC-F did not appear to differ from that of young animals. The proliferative activity of bone marrow CFC-F and hemopoietic stem cells--spleen colony forming cells (CFC-S) was studied by determining the sensitivity to hydroxyurea administration. The responses were almost the same in young and old mice. A direct correlation between CFC-F and nucleated cells and GM-CFC precursors was found in young mice, but not in the old animals. The results of the present study have pointed to the reorganisation of the stromal tissue microenvironment in bone marrow in old age.

Aging↗
PubMed1993

Differential effect of host microenvironment and systemic humoral factors on the implantation and the growth rate of metastatic tumor in parabiotic mice constructed between young and old mice.

B16 melanoma cells were injected into the tail vein of young mice, old mice and parabiotic mice constructed between young and old mice, and the number and shape of pulmonary metastases were compared among three experimental groups. In unpaired mice, the number of metastatic colonies in the lungs was 10-fold larger in young than in old mice. In parabiotic mice, the number in young mice was almost comparable with that of unpaired young mice, but the number in old mice approached the level of young mice. Metastatic colonies on the pulmonary surface of young mice were mostly nodular in shape, while those of old mice were flat in shape. The shape of colonies reflecting the tumor growth rate did not change in parabiotic old mice in spite of an increase in number. In young parabiotic mice, the large and intermediate colonies decreased with a concomitant increase of small ones as compared with unpaired young mice. These results suggest that the implantation of metastatic colonies in the lung is mainly dependent on systemic humoral factors and their growth is mainly dependent on the host local factors in the microenvironment, and distinct age changes of both factors greatly influence the metastatic mode of tumors, respectively.

Aging↗
PubMed1983

Conditions controlling long-term proliferation of Brown Norway rat promyelocytic leukemia in vitro: primary growth stimulation by microenvironment and establishment of an autonomous Brown Norway 'leukemic stem cell line'.

Conditions for in vitro long-term maintenance and proliferation of the Brown Norway (BN) rat myelocytic leukemia cell (BNML) are described. During a primary culture of leukemic rat marrow, a few leukemic cells proliferated and were initially dependent on an adherent cell population but later acquired the capability of independent growth. A wild BN leukemic stem cell line has been maintained in vitro for several months, without noticeable phenotypic alterations. The doubling time of the cultured cells was 40 h. The cells were promyelocytes. The cytochemical markers of the original BN leukemia cells were preserved. The cultured cell line transferred leukemia exclusively to BN rats. Wistar and BDIX rats were resistant. The virulence of cultured leukemic cell was measured by shortened survival times after transplantation in animals of a fixed number of leukemic cells. The role of bone marrow microenvironment in the initiation of long-term growth is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Teleocidin-induced modulation of growth and cell interaction in microenvironment-dependent mouse leukemias.

Teleocidin is a new tumor-promoting substance chemically unrelated to phorbol groups. Its biological effects on thymic microenvironment-dependent leukemias derived from AKR spontaneous leukemias were studied in vitro in comparison with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA), a representative tumor promoter of the phorbol group. Teleocidin stimulated the in vitro growth of 21 out of 31 symbiotic cell lines in the absence of growth-supporting stromal cells. All the responders to teleocidin were responsive also to TPA and the degree of growth stimulation in each cell line was comparable. Both promoters could inhibit the symbiotic complex formation with thymic epithelial cells probably by affecting the cytoskeleton. All symbiotically cultured AKR leukemia cells expressed Thy-1.1 antigen, but their expression of Lyt-1.2 and Lyt-2.1 was heterogenous. There was no direct correlation between teleocidin-responsiveness and Lyt-phenotypes of the leukemia cells.

Alkaloids↗
PubMed1983

Myeloproliferative Sarcoma Virus stimulates pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells and provokes tumoral transformation of the hematopoietic microenvironment in vitro.

The Myeloproliferative Sarcoma Virus (MPSV) induces an increase in the number and concentration of pluripotent stem cells in long-term murine bone marrow cultures. This is followed by an increased number of precursor cells of the granulocyte and macrophage lines (GM-CFC). This increase is comparable to that observed in DBA/2 mouse spleens in vivo two to three weeks after viral infection. Proliferation of CFUs and GM-CFC decreases five weeks after infection with MPSV, in parallel to the gradual decline of reverse transcriptase activity in the culture medium. GM-CFC which can proliferate in the absence of added colony stimulating factor (CSF) were detected at week 6 post MPSV infection. Adherent tumor cells were observed nine weeks after infection. These fibroblast type cells gave rise to a permanent line which produced a CSF-like activity. Our results show that MPSV causes the tumoral transformation of fibroblast-like cells of the bone-marrow hematopoietic microenvironment. In addition, MPSV also strongly stimulates the proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells. MPSV is, until now, the first murine retrovirus which exhibits such properties.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Characterization of the AKR thymic microenvironment and its influence on thymocyte differentiation and lymphoma development.

The thymic stroma has long been implicated in AKR thymic leukaemia. In this study an extensive panel of monoclonal antibodies was used to investigate changes in the AKR thymic microenvironment, in parallel with thymocyte differentiation of normal (2 month), preleukaemic (5-7 month) and leukaemic (> 7 month) mice. We found select alterations in the thymic stroma, including a loss of isolated medullary antigens and changes in MTS 32, a mAb detecting an antigen on both thymocytes and stroma in the thymic cortex. Stromal alterations were accompanied by shifts in thymocyte differentiation and the appearance of the leukaemogenic mink cell focus-forming (MCF) murine leukaemia virus.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1982

Probing the microenvironment of benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide-DNA adducts by triplet excited state quenching methods.

Triplet flash photolysis techniques, coupled with quenching of the triplets by molecular oxygen, are utilized as probes of the microenvironment of polycyclic aromatic molecules bound covalently and non-covalently to DNA. The triplet-oxygen quenching properties of the following adducts in aqueous solutions at 25 +/- 1 degrees C were investigated: covalent adducts derived from the reaction of (+/-)-7 beta,8 alpha-dihydroxy-9 alpha,10 alpha-epoxy-7,8,9, 10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (BaPDE) and of (+/-)-9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (BaPE) with DNA, and non-covalent intercalation complexes of acridine orange (AO) and DNA. In all cases the quenching follows the Stern-Volmer quenching law with a quenching constant of KTO2 approximately equal to 10(9) M-1 X S-1 for the covalent BaPDE-DNA and BaPE-DNA complexes in aqueous solution. This value of KTO2 is characteristic of free molecules (not bound to DNA) and indicates that the pyrene chromophore is totally accessible to oxygen, and is thus not located at an intercalation-type of binding site in these covalent adducts. In contrast, the AO-DNA complexes are characterized by values of KTO2 approximately equal to 10(8) M-1 X S-1 indicating that the intercalated AO molecules are about ten times less accessible to molecular oxygen than free AO molecules. The KTO2 values for the covalent BaPDE-DNA and BaPE-DNA adducts decrease when the DNA concentration is increased in the 1 X 10(-4)-3 X 10(-3) M range (expressed in nucleotide concentration). This effect is attributed to intermolecular DNA-DNA interactions in which segments of adjacent DNA molecules tend to cover the pyrene chromophores on other strands, thus decreasing their accessibility to oxygen. In contrast the values of KTO2 for the non-covalent AO-DNA intercalation complexes are independent of DNA concentration, as expected for interior binding sites.

7,8-Dihydro-7,8-dihydroxybenzo(a)pyrene 9,10-oxide↗
PubMed1993

Ion-selective microelectrodes and diffusion measurements as tools to explore the brain cell microenvironment.

The construction and application of liquid-membrane ion-selective microelectrodes (ISM) are described. Recommendations are provided for the selection of appropriate cocktails containing neutral carriers to form the liquid membrane to sense K+, Ca2+, H+ and Na+. The use of charged carriers to sense Cl- and the cation tetramethylammonium (TMA+) is discussed. A detailed protocol is given for constructing double-barreled electrodes (ion-sensor and reference barrel) with tips of 1 micron diameter or more for extracellular ion measurements. The primary results obtained with ISMs in the brain cell microenvironment are briefly surveyed. The theoretical basis for measuring diffusion properties of extracellular space is described. Such measurements enable the estimation of volume fraction (proportion of tissue that is extracellular space) and tortuosity (hindrance of diffusion due to cellular obstructions). A method is given for using TMA+ ISMs in combination with iontophoresis or pressure ejection of TMA+ from a nearby micropipette to measure diffusion properties.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Hormonal regulation of serum and endometrial IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta and IL-1ra: IL-1 endometrial microenvironment of the human embryo at the apposition phase under physiological and supraphysiological steroid level conditions.

We have investigated serum and intracavitary levels of IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta and IL-1ra from agonadal women undergoing mock cycles (n = 20) of oocyte donation as a clinical model of controlled hormonal stimulation. Further, we compared the intracavitary IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta and IL-1ra levels in the microenvironment of the human embryo at the apposition phase, day 5 after progesterone (P) administration using two different clinical models: oocyte donation (n = 20) which provides physiological steroid levels and a higher implantation rate per embryo, and in vitro fertilization (n = 6) with supraphysiological hormonal levels and a lower implantation rate.

Embryonic and Fetal Development↗
PubMed1994

Brain maturation and high-energy phosphate diffusivity: alteration in cytosolic microenvironment and effective viscosity.

Maturational changes in intracellular brain phosphocreatine (PCr) transport were investigated using 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance diffusion spectroscopy. The diffusivities of PCr showed significant maturational facilitation in rat brain in vivo. Physicochemical analysis of the cytosol microenvironment as a multicomponent solution, where one of the components is a dilute polymer, indicated that the observed developmental facilitation of PCr diffusivity is likely to be due to a decline in the concentration of the free amino acid taurine. Changes in the concentrations of biopolymers (i.e., proteins or lipids) have only little effect, if any, on PCr diffusivity. PCr diffusivity values of rat brain measured in vivo showed excellent quantitative agreement with the predicted values estimated using a model for multicomponent diffusion. The study confirmed that the taurine/N-acetylaspartate exchange observed during postnatal development of rat brain plays a major, it not unique, role in maturational facilitation of intracellular high-energy phosphate transport.

Albumins↗
PubMed1987

Structure and stability of gamma-crystallins. II. Differences in microenvironments and spatial arrangements of cysteine residues.

The gamma-crystallin fractions II, III and IV from calf eye lens were treated with the thiol-specific fluorescent probe 2-(4'-maleimidylanilino)naphthalene-6-sulfonate (MIANS), in order to determine the reactivity of the seven (gamma-II) or six (gamma-III, gamma-IV) cysteine residues. Two classes of reactive cysteines were distinguished by variations in fluorescence intensity with increasing molar excess of the probe, and approximately three cysteines were nonreactive in each gamma-crystallin. From the position of the emission maximum, it is apparent that MIANS-labeled cysteines of gamma-IV are in the least hydrophobic environment. Fluorescence energy transfer was observed from tryptophan to MIANS-labeled cysteines in both gamma-II and gamma-III crystallins, with efficiencies of 86% and 89%, respectively, but not in gamma-IV crystallin. We suggest that the spatial arrangements and microenvironments of cysteine residues of gamma-crystallins are sufficiently different from each other to account for the variations in fluorescence characteristics of the MIANS-labeled proteins and the lack of energy transfer in gamma-IV crystallins.

Anilino Naphthalenesulfonates↗
PubMed1990

Chemistry in a microenvironment of low pH, generated with the aid of an immobilized proteinase.

alpha-Chymotrypsin, when immobilized in a collodion membrane, exhibits high activity and remarkable stability. When the immobilized proteinase is exposed to 15 mM ethyl N-acetyl-L-tyrosinate in dilute pH 8.5 buffer it generates a microenvironment which, indicator studies suggest, has an effective pH of approximately 4. The presence of this locally highly acidic region produces a marked increase in the rate of hydrolysis of BzPheal = Ala dissolved in the buffer solution (BzPheal = Ala is the acylhydrazide obtained from the reaction between N-benzoyl-L-phenylalaninal and N-acetyl-L-alanine hydrazide). The observed rate is 10-times greater than in comparable control experiments incorporating a concentrated buffer solution, in which a pH-gradient does not form. The enhanced hydrolysis rate is quantitatively explained if it is attributed to the approximately 20 microliters of pH 4 solution within the membrane. Other experimental data are also consistent with this hypothesis.

Alanine↗
PubMed1994

Probing the microenvironments of tryptophan residues in the monomeric crystallins of the bovine lens.

Tryptophan microenvironments have been examined in bovine beta s-, gamma II-, gamma IIIa-, gamma IIIb-, gamma IVa- and gamma IVb-crystallins by fluorescence methods. The proteins could be divided into two groups on the basis of the accessibilities of their tryptophan residues. The first group, comprising beta s, gamma II and gamma IIIb, appeared to have a compact structure with none of the tryptophans accessible to KI and only moderately so to acrylamide. By contrast in gamma IIIa, gamma IVa and gamma Vb, all tryptophans were readily accessible to acrylamide and 70% of the fluorescence could be quenched with KI. Spectral analysis, before and after quenching, time-resolved spectroscopy and simulations of the quenching curves suggested that gamma IIIa, gamma IVa and gamma IVb contain two classes of tryptophan residues. One class (tau 0 = 0.52 ns, fa = 0.3, lambda max = 324 nm) which was completely inaccessible to KI and relatively inaccessible to acrylamide (Ksv = 0.25 M-1), was assigned to the topologically equivalent residues in positions 42 and 131. The other class (tau 0 = 2.1-3.4 ns, fa = 0.7, lambda max = 330 nm) was accessible to both quenchers (Ksv = 5.00-5.15 M-1 and 2.47-2.60 M-1, for acrylamide and KI, respectively) and corresponded to the tryptophan residues in positions 68 and 157. The same classes may be present in the other low molecular weight proteins (tau 0 = 0.47-0.55 and 1.55-1.74) but the lower emission and low accessibilities to quenchers prevented their distinction and suggested that these proteins had more compact structures.

Acrylamide↗