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Chaperonin CCT containing t-complex polypeptide 1 is a cytosolic molecular chaperone that assists in the folding of actin, tubulin, and other proteins and is a member of the 60-kDa heat shock protein (Hsp60) family. We examined antibody titers against human CCT and other Hsp60 family members in the sera of patients with rheumatic autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematodes, Sjögren syndrome, and mixed connective tissue disease. Autoantibody titers against not only human mitochondrial Hsp60 but also CCT were significantly higher in the sera of patients with rheumatic autoimmune diseases than in healthy control sera. Although immunoglobulin G (IgG) titers against Escherichia coli GroEL were high in all the groups of sera tested, no significant differences in anti-GroEL responses were detected between patients and healthy controls. IgG titers against mycobacterial Hsp65 showed a similar pattern to titers of autoantibodies recognizing GroEL. Immunoabsorption experiments demonstrated that most of the autoantibodies recognizing CCT were cross-reactive with mitochondrial Hsp60, E coli GroEL, and mycobacterial Hsp65. Although most of the anti-Hsp60 IgG recognized CCT, anti-GroEL (or antimycobacterial Hsp65) IgG contained antibodies specific for GroEL (or mycobacterial Hsp65) in addition to antibodies cross-reactive with CCT and Hsp60. Results from immunoblot analyses, together with weak (15% to 20%) amino acid sequence identities between CCT and the other Hsp60 family members, suggested that CCT-reactive autoantibodies recognize conformational epitopes that are conserved among CCT and other Hsp60 family members.

The yield of escaping benzenesulfonyl radical was found to be increased by a magnetic field. The yield at 1.2 T was 1.53 ± 0.05 times that at 0 T. From the observed magnetic field effects, the present reaction was proved to occur from triplet radical pairs.

Pyrrolo[1,2-a]indoloquinones, IX and X, were synthesized and their antimicrobial activities as mitomycin analogues were bioassayed.

To examine the validity of the strategy to express a foreign gene as a fusion protein with the coat protein (CP) of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), we have constructed ENK RNA by using an in vitro transcription system of TMV RNA. ENK RNA differs from TMV RNA only in that ENK RNA carries an additional sequence coding for Leu-enkephalin (Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu) (Enk) with a preceding in-frame methionine just before the termination codon of CP gene. In protoplasts inoculated with ENK RNA, CP+Enk fusion protein accumulated as the major protein.

Recombinant plasmids for the expression of human erythropoietin (EPO) cDNA in Namalwa cells were constructed. From the results of the EPO expression efficiency in transiently transfected cells, it was found that the simian virus 40 (SV40) early promoter directs EPO synthesis more efficiently in Namalwa cells than does the long terminal repeat promoter of Rous sarcoma virus and that the 3′-noncoding sequence including splice junction and polyadenylation site derived from the rabbit β-globin gene are more effective than those of the SV40 early gene. However, in stable transformants, no simple relationship was found between the expression level of EPO cDNA and the structure of the introduced expression vectors.