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Beschrieben wird die Entwicklung eines Fassadenplattenelements mit dem Ziel, das Bauteilvolumen auf ein Minimum zu reduzieren. Weiterhin soll das Bauteil in ein bestehendes Fertigteilsystem integrierbar sein. Das entwickelte Fassadenelement zeichnet sich durch eine hohe Belastbarkeit aus. Die Untersuchungen belegen, das bei der abzutragenden Windlast gegenuber einem vergleichbaren Stahlbetonelement das Elementvolumen um 74 % reduzierbar ist.

Mehraxiale Gelege aus alkaliresistenten Glasfasern werden seit mehreren Jahren hergestellt. Diese Gelege in Verbindung mit einer Betonmatrix ergeben den Verbundbaustoff "textilbewehrter Beton". Der wesentliche Vorteil dieses Materials im Vergleich mit Stahlbeton ist die Erzeugung geringerer Bauteildicken, als sie mit Stahlbeton moglich sind. Es wird geschatzt, das ca. 40 % aller Betonmasten fur Mittelspannungsleitungen Risse aufweisen. Aus okonomischer Sicht erscheint es wunschenswert, diese Masten zu ertuchtigen, anstatt sie zu ersetzen. Die Verstarkung mittels Textilbeton fuhrt zu einer Erhohung der Grenztragfahigkeit der Masten. Biegeversuche ergaben eine maximale Steigerung von ca. 30 % und Torsionsversuche eine maximale Steigerung von ca. 60 %.

Mucosal addressin cell-adhesion molecule (MAdCAM-1) is a membrane-bound leukocyte receptor regulating both the passage and retention of leukocytes in mucosal tissues. A crystal structure for the two extracellular amino-terminal domains of human MAdCAM-1 has previously been reported, confirming their expected immunoglobulin superfamily topology. In this study, a second crystal structure of this fragment is described. Although the overall structure is similar to that previously reported, one edge strand in the amino-terminal domain is instead located on the opposite sheet. This alters the arrangement and conformation of amino acids in this region that have previously been shown to be crucial for ligand binding. MAdCAM-1 is also seen to form dimers within the crystal lattice, raising the possibility that oligomerization may influence the biological role of this adhesion molecule.

The integrin alpha4beta1(VLA4) has been expressed as a soluble, active, heterodimeric immunoglobulin fusion protein. cDNAs encoding the extracellular domains of the human alpha4 and beta1 subunits were fused to the genomic DNA encoding the human gamma1 immunoglobulin Fc domain and functional integrin fusion protein was expressed as a secreted, soluble molecule from a range of mammalian cell lines. Specific mutations were introduced into the Fc region of the molecules to promote alpha4beta1 heterodimer formation. The soluble alpha4beta1-Fc fusion protein exhibited divalent cation dependent binding to VCAM-1, which was blocked by the appropriate function blocking antibodies. The apparent Kd for VCAM-1 binding were similar for both the soluble and native forms of alpha4beta1. In addition, the integrin-Fc fusion was shown to stain cells expressing VCAM-1 on their surface by FACs analysis. This approach for expressing soluble alpha4beta1 should be generally applicable to a range of integrins.

We investigated cell-cell fusion induced by the envelope glycoprotein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 strain IIIB expressed on the surface of CHO cells. These cells formed syncytia when incubated together with CD4-positive human lymphoblastoid SupT1 cells or HeLa-CD4 cells but not when incubated with CD4-negative cell lines. A new assay for binding and fusion was developed by using fluorescent phospholipid analogs that were produced in SupT1 cells by metabolic incorporation of BODIPY-labeled fatty acids. Fusion occurred as early as 10 min after mixing of labeled SupT1 cells with unlabeled CHO-gp160 cells at 37 degrees C. When both the fluorescence assay and formation of syncytia were used, fusion of SupT1 and HeLa-CD4 cells with CHO-gp160 cells was observed only at temperatures above 25 degrees C, confirming recent observations (Y.-K. Fu, T.K. Hart, Z.L. Jonak, and P.J. Bugelski, J. Virol. 67:3818-3825, 1993). This temperature dependence was not observed with influenza virus-induced cell-cell fusion, which was quantitatively similar at both 20 and 37 degrees C, indicating that cell-cell fusion in general is not temperature dependent in this range. gp120-CD4-specific cell-cell binding was found over the entire 0 to 37 degrees C range but increased markedly above 25 degrees C. The enhanced binding and fusion were reduced by cytochalasins B and D. Binding of soluble gp120 to CD4-expressing cells was equivalent at 37 and 16 degrees C. Together, these data indicate that during gp120-gp41-induced syncytium formation, initial cell-cell binding is followed by a cytoskeleton-dependent increase in the number of gp120-CD4 complexes, leading to an increase in the avidity of cell-cell binding. The increased number of gp120-CD4 complexes is required for fusion, which suggests that the formation of a fusion complex consisting of multiple CD4 and gp120-gp41 molecules is a step in the fusion mechanism.

A series of fusion proteins have been generated between human and mouse CD18. These proteins have been used to carry out preliminary mapping studies on a number of anti-CD18 antibodies including KIM127 an antibody that promotes CD18-dependent adhesion. This antibody maps to a region of the CD18 molecule between amino acids 406 and 570 in a region containing cysteine-rich repeats.

The Leukocytic cell-adhesion molecule (beta 2 integrin) family of adhesion molecules play a key role in the intercellular adhesive interactions necessary for normal immune cell function. In this study, we report an antibody that recognizes an epitope on the Leukocytic cell-adhesion molecule common beta-chain (CD18) and promotes both lymphocyte function-associated Ag-1- and CR3-dependent adhesion events. The antibody recognizes a temperature-sensitive epitope that is not dependent on the presence of divalent cations. It is proposed that antibody binding promotes a conformational change in both lymphocyte function-associated Ag-1 and CR3, which may mimic a natural activation mechanism, resulting in increased cellular adhesion.

In this study we have compared the ligand binding activity of the two closely related beta 2 integrins, Mac-1 and p150,95, which are expressed separately as receptors permanently transfected into K562 cells. Mac-1 has previously been shown to associate with Fc gamma R, particularly Fc gamma RIII, but K562 cells express only endogenous Fc gamma RIIA. We have, therefore, taken advantage of this situation to examine a possible relationship between Fc gamma RIIA with Mac-1 and p150,95 in the absence of other Fc gamma R. The main finding is that anti-Fc gamma RII mAb have a profound inhibitory effect on cell adhesion mediated by Mac-1, but not on the adhesion mediated by p150,95. Thus, in spite of the fact that Mac-1 and p150,95 bind to the same or at least a very similar selection of ligands, their association with other receptors on the cellular membrane, and therefore their mode of regulation may be different.

The Leukocytic cell-adhesion molecule (beta 2 integrin) family of adhesion molecules play a key role in the intercellular adhesive interactions necessary for normal immune cell function. In this study, we report an antibody that recognizes an epitope on the Leukocytic cell-adhesion molecule common beta-chain (CD18) and promotes both lymphocyte function-associated Ag-1- and CR3-dependent adhesion events. The antibody recognizes a temperature-sensitive epitope that is not dependent on the presence of divalent cations. It is proposed that antibody binding promotes a conformational change in both lymphocyte function-associated Ag-1 and CR3, which may mimic a natural activation mechanism, resulting in increased cellular adhesion.