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Concanavalin A (Con A) was labeled with p-azidophenyl alpha-D-mannopyranoside under ultraviolet irradiation and the reaction products were separated by affinity chromatography on Sephadex G-100 at pH 5. One of the Con A derivatives thus obtained was characterized as a monovalent dimer at pH 5 and a divalent tetramer at pH 7 by sedimentation equilibrium and equilibrium dialysis, indicating that this photoaffinity labeling did not alter the quaternary structure of Con A. In agreement with these results, the labeled Con A did not show the capacity to precipitate glycogen at pH 5, but it formed precipitates with glycogen at pH 7. Although its hemagglutinating activity was found to be weaker than that of the native Con A, the dose-response cure of the labeled Con A in the mitogenic stimulation of human peripheral lymphocytes was almost identical to that of the native con A.

The binding of the human erythrocyte membrane major intrinsic protein (Band 3) to concanavalin A (Con A), Ricinus communis agglutinin (RCA), and pokeweed mitogens (PWM) has been studied by crossed immunoelectrophoresis and crossed immuno-affinoelectrophoresis. Although pure by the criterion of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Band 3 was resolved by crossed immunoelectrophoresis into three peaks. A major peak was split on both the anodic and cathodic sides, and consisted of at least two components. A smaller additional peak was also observed. By introducing Con A in the first dimension of the run, the main peak was dissociated into 2 peaks of different heights. Partial binding to Con A was confirmed by introducing Con A Sepharose 4B in an intermediate gel in the second dimension of the electrophoresis. When the first dimension gel of the crossed immunoelectrophoresis contained RCA, or when RCA Sepharose 4B was present in an intermediate gel in the second dimension of the run, the major peak was far smaller because of binding to that lectin. In experiments with a frist dimension gel containing pokeweed mitogens, the major peak was higher but narrower than in the control experiments, presumably due to selective binding of some constitutents of Band 3. Immuno-affinoelectrophoretic methods therefore show that Band 3 is heterogeneous and that its components bind differently to the above lectins.

Peanut agglutinin-positive (PNA+) T cells in concanavalin A (Con A) activated spleen cells were found to markedly decrease with age in New Zealand black (NZB) mice but not in non-autoimmune strains, using a fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS II). On the other hand Limulus polyphemus agglutinin positive (LPA+) T cells in Lens culinaris agglutinin (LcA) activated spleen cells were found to gradually decrease both in NZB and non-autoimmune strains. Since PNA has previously been shown to selectively label Con A-induced suppressor T cells, these results support the previous observation by other investigators that suppressor T cell function declines with age in NZB mice. It was also demonstrated that the level of one of natural thymocytotoxic autoantibodies (NTA-2) developed in NZB mouse serum, which had been shown to have a similar carbohydrate binding specificity to PNA and to exert a cytotoxic effect specifically against suppressor T cells, was elevated early in the life of NZB mice. These results suggest a possible role of NTA-2 in the decline of PNA+-T cells in vivo.

A highly purified preparation of mouse B cells showed greatly decreased incorporation of [6-3H]-thymidine when stimulated with pokeweed Pa-1 mitogen or bacterial lipopolysaccharide compared with mouse splenic lymphocytes. This decreased stimulation was restored by the addition of purified T cells, but not macrophages. Nylon-adherent T cells exerted this helper activity only toward complement receptor-positive B cells (CR+B cells). whereas the helper activity of nylon-non-adherent T cells was effective only on complement receptor-negative B cells (CR-B cells). Since the helper activity of nylon-adherent T cells was completely abolished by the treatment with anti-Ia antiserum and complement but that of nylon-non-adherent T cells was not, it was assumed that Ia+T cells were helper cells for CR+B cells and Ia-T cells helper cells for CR-B cells. Moreover, these helper activities of both T-cell subsets were mediated by soluble factors, which were effective just before the onset of DNA synthesis of the corresponding B-cell subpopulations.

A lectin-like substance was isolated and purified from bovine spleen. This protein was named bovine spleen binding protein (BSBP). BSBP has binding activity for sialidase-treated bovine erythrocytes but not for normal erythrocytes. It specifically recognizes terminal galactose residues of sugar moieties of the bovine erythrocyte cell surface. BSBP shows an apparent molecular weight of 240,000. It is an acidic protein having a pI value of 4.8 and containing 13% carbohydrates. It has mitogenic activity against human peripheral lymphocytes. The physiological role of BSBP has not been clarified yet, but it may play a significant role in the clearance of aged erythrocytes which have a decreased amount of sialic acid on the cell surface.

Three beta-N-acetylhexosaminidases [EC 3.2.1.52] and one beta-galactosidase [EC 3.2.1.23] were purified from the culture filtrate of streptococcus 6646 group K by a combination of column chromatographies on p-aminophenyl beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside-substituted Sepharose and N-(paminophenyl)oxamic acid-substituted Sepharose. These beta-N-acetylhexosaminidases showed optimal activities between pH 5.0 and 5.5 and could hydrolyze synthetic and glycopeptidic substrates. Glycolipids such as GM2, asialo-GM2, and globoside I were no susceptible to these beta-hexosaminidases. beta-Galactosidase, which was purified more than 11,000-fold, had a substrate specificity rather similar to that of beta-galactosidase from E. coli. This enzyme was inhibited by EDTA and activated by Mn2+, Ca2+, and Mg2+. Problems pertinent to the application of affinity chromatography to the purification of glycosidases are also discussed.

The existence of specific binding proteins for alpha-casein, a well-known potent chemoattractant, on guinea pig peritoneal macrophages was demonstrated. Binding of 3H-alpha-casein to macrophages was found to be specific and reversible. Its association constant and the number of binding sites were 5.0 X 10(-6) M and 7.5 X 10(5) per cell, respectively. The presence of formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMet-Leu-Phe), another chemoattractant, at a chemotactically active concentration (10(-11) to 10(-6) M) reduced this binding significantly. Pretreatment of macrophages with proteases such as trypsin and chymotrypsin decreased the number of binding sites for alpha-casein and the chemotactic response to alpha-casein. alpha-Casein binding proteins were isolated from radiolabeled macrophage surface membranes by affinity chromatography on a column of alpha-casein Sepharose 4B. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the isolated proteins revealed three radioactive bands; two (MW 130,000 and 65,000) were glycoproteins, and the other (MW 100,000) was a protein which contained little carbohydrate. These three proteins were also isolated from the same source by affinity chromatography using a column of fMet-Leu-Phe-AH-Sepharose. This result, together with the observation that fMet-Leu-Phe inhibited the binding of alpha-casein to macrophages, indicated that alpha-casein and the tripeptide have at least partly common binding sites on guinea pig macrophages. Some of the proteins obtained in this work may constitute chemotactic receptors on the macrophage membrane.

Protein kinase [EC 2.7.1.37] of human erythrocyte membranes was solubilized with 0.5 M NaCl in 5 mM phosphate buffer, pH 6.7 at 4 degrees C and purified on a CM-Sephadex C-50 column, followed by affinity chromatography on a histone-Sepharose 4B column. The purified protein kinase gave a single band (molecular weight; 41,000) on examination by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The optimum pH of the enzyme was 8.0 and a millimolar range of concentration of Mg2+ was required for its maximum activity. Histone and protamine were well phosphorylated by the protein kinase but casein and phosvitin were poor phosphate acceptors for the enzyme. The enzymic activity was not stimulated by cyclic AMP (cAMP). A cAMP-finding protein from human erythrocyte membranes inhibited the activity of the protein kinase, but the activity was restored with cAMP. A heat stable protein inhibitor from rabbit skeletal muscle also inhibited this enzyme. From these observations, this protein kinase seemed to be a catalytic subunit of the membrane bound cAMP-dependent protein kinase. This enzyme was strongly inhibited with Ca2+ in the presence of 1 mM MgCl2. Various sulfhydryl reagents and polyamines also had inhibitory activity on the protein kinase. Natural substrates of the enzyme were investigated using heat treated membranes and 0.5 M NaCl extracted membrane residues. Band 4.1, 4.2, and 4.5 proteins were phosphorylated but band 2 (spectrin) and band 3 proteins were poor substrates for this protein kinase.

In order to investigate the binding of guinea pig lymphotoxin (GLT) to target cells, the reduction of survival ratio (S) after the pulsed exposure of target cells to GLT at 4 degrees C and subsequent incubation at 37 degrees C for 24 hr was examined in detail. The dose response of GLT, and the relation between the S value and the length of pulse treatment demonstrated the saturation and equilibrium of the GLT-binding. It was also shown that the GLT once bound to the target cells dissociated very slowly. Several sugars possessing a terminal beta-galactosyl residue had an inhibitory activity against the effect of pulse treatment. This suggests that GLT binds to receptors on the target cell surface, probably glycoproteins having beta-galactosyl residues as terminal sugar residues. The trypsin treatment of GLT-pulsed target cells restored survival ratios and this restoration was dependent upon the time of trypsin treatment. This suggests that the stage of the association of GLT to target cells changes from trypsin-sensitive into trypsin-insensitive.

Hydrazinolysis of porcine thyroglobulin glycopeptides and of pineapple stem bromelain [EC 3.4.22.4] permitted the isolation of almost intact carbohydrate chains of these glycoproteins. On the basis of permethylation analyses of the released oligosaccharides after reduction with NaBH4, the core structures of Unit A-type and Unit B-type carbohydrate chains of porcine thyroglobulin were deduced to be Manalpha1 leads to 6[Manalpha1 leads to 3]Manbeta1 leads to 4GlcNAcbeta1 leads to 4[Ralpha1 leads to 6]GlcNAc leads to Asn (Unit A-type, R=H; Unit B-type, R=Fuc), and that of bromelain was found to be Manalpha1 leads to 6[R'1 leads to 2]Manbeta1 leads to 4GlcNAcbeta1 leads to 4[R1 leads to 3]GlcNAc leads to Asn (R'=Xylbeta and R=Fucalpha, or R'=Fucalpha and R=Xylbeta). From these results, it appears that the hydrazinolysis method is applicable to wide variety of glycoproteins which have an N-glycosylamine linkage between the carbohydrate and peptide moieties, regardless of the type of linkage to the most proximal N-acetylglucosamine residue which is bound to asparagine.

To investigate the primary defects and development of macrophages in MRL/MpJ-/pr/lpr (MRL/l) mice, we used a pure population of macrophages derived from bone marrow precursor cells cultured in the presence of L-cell conditioned medium (LCM) as a source of colony stimulating factor. Bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMM phi) from MRL/l mice had lower antigen presenting activity as detected by the induction of antigen-specific T cell proliferation, than age- and sex-matched control mice (CBA/J). Cell surface antigens (Ia and Mac-1) were determined quantitatively by a cell sorter as markers of macrophage differentiation. The BMM phi from MRL/l contained a much smaller number of Ia antigen-positive macrophages than those from normal mice. Treatment of BMM phi with an Ia-inducing of factor (IFN-gamma) markedly increased the expression of Ia antigens. This increase was significantly greater in BMM phi from MRL/l mice than in BMM phi from control mice. Expression of Mac-1 antigen was not different in BMM phi from the two strains. The Fc-mediated phagocytosis of IgG-coated sheep red blood cells was decreased in BMM phi from MRL/l mice compared with those from control mice. The function of nonspecific phagocytosis as measured by latex-bead incorporation was also impaired in MRL/l mice. The functional defects of MRL/l BMM phi found in these experiments are not secondary defects acquired under the influence of environmental signals during development, but are derived from the primary abnormalities which already exist in myeloid stem cells.

We cloned human lymphotoxin (LT) cDNA from a cDNA library prepared from phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and Con A-stimulated human T cell hybridoma (AC5-8) cells, The nucleotide sequence of the cDNA insert in the plasmid, pLT13, was determined and compared with those of peripheral blood mononuclear cell derived LT cDNA and the LT gene. Four stretches, containing 14 nucleotides in total, were different among the three sequences. The differences included one base change from C to A in the coding region. Because this change was expected to result in a change in the amino acid at position 26 from Thr to Asn, we constructed an E. coli expression plasmid (pLT13tac6-8.2) and a mammalian cell expression plasmid (pSV2-LT) in order to confirm that pLT13 contains the coding sequence of human LT. Both plasmids were found to synthesize active LT molecules after transfection into JM105 and COS-1 cells, respectively, and their lytic activities were found to be completely neutralized by anti human LT serum. Using an insertion mutant and a deletion mutant, we examined the role of the C terminal domain in the LT activity. The results obtained strongly suggested that the intactness of the C terminal less than 10 residues is required for the LT activity.

Human lymphotoxin (LT)-producing T-cell hybridomas were constructed by fusing concanavalin A-activated human peripheral blood lymphocytes with emetine-actinomycin D-pretreated human acute lymphatic leukemia cells. LT secretion from these hybridomas was considerably enhanced by stimulation with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) and concanavalin A or PMA alone. A study using cloned hybrid lines revealed that PMA/Con A acted directly on the LT-producing clones. Furthermore, PMA/Con A stimulated A-B9-24, one of the cloned hybridomas, and secreted fourfold larger amounts of LT under serum-free conditions than under serum-containing conditions. However, MIF/MAF and LT-producing cloned hybrid line E10-20 secreted rather decreased amounts of MIF/MAF when stimulated with PMA, while the LT secretion from the same hybridoma was enhanced with PMA.

The effect of cations on lysis of target cells (L . P3 cells) by guinea-pig lymphotoxin (GLT) was examined. Depletion of Ca2+ ions from the extracellular environment caused limited cytolysis, whereas addition of Ca2+ led to enhanced lysis. By applying the GLT pulse technique, it was shown that Ca2+ was not required for the initial step of GLT-mediated cytolysis, the step of binding of GLT molecules to target cell membranes. Among other cations tested, La3+ was found to interfere with the cytolytic action. Neither Mg2+ nor Mn2+ was effective. When target cells whose phospholipids were specifically radiolabelled at the C-2 position with [14C]-arachidonic acid were treated with GLT, radioactivity in the phospholipid fraction decreased. On the contrary, that in the free fatty acid, triglyceride and diglyceride fractions increased. This indicates the existence of endogenous phospholipase A2 that can be activated by GLT. Activation of the enzyme was partially inhibited by addition of EGTA with a concomitant decrease of cytolysis. When GLT was added to a crude membrane fraction of the radiolabelled L . P3 cells, liberation of free fatty acids from phospholipids was readily observed, but the increase of triglyceride-associated radioactivity was negligible. In this case, Ca2+ was found to be prerequisite for the GLT-induced activation of the enzyme. The results suggest that GLT-induced cytolysis includes a substantially Ca2+-dependent rate-limiting stage which comes after the binding of GLT to the target cells. Activation of membrane phospholipase A2 may be at least one of the biochemical changes that constitutes the Ca2+-dependent stage, although it remains to be clarified whether the activation of phospholipase A2 is directly responsible for target cell destruction or not.

As described previously (I. Kijima-Suda et al., Cancer Res., 46: 858-862, 1986), a sialyltransferase inhibitor, 5-fluoro-2',3'-isopropylidene-5'-O-(4-N-acetyl-2,4-dideoxy-3,6,7,8-tetra -O- acetyl-1-methoxycarbonyl-D-glycero-alpha-D-galactooctapyranosyl)ur idine (KI-8110), inhibits pulmonary metastasis of murine colon adenocarcinoma 26 sublines of high (NL-17) and low (NL-44) metastatic potential. To investigate the mechanism of this inhibition, the effect of KI-8110 on the metastatic cascade, especially on the interaction between tumor cells and platelets which may play a crucial role in tumor cell metastasis, was examined. NL-17 cells induced irreversible platelet aggregation in heparinized human platelet-rich plasma in vitro. This activity was reduced by pretreatment of the tumor cells with KI-8110. Inhibition of aggregation was also induced by the treatment of tumor cells with neuraminidase or Limax flavus agglutinin, a lectin specific for sialic acid. Sialic acid, fucose, sialyllactose, and bovine submaxillary mucin inhibited this tumor cell-induced platelet aggregation, while galactose, mannose, lactose, alpha 1-acid glycoprotein, fetuin, and asialo-bovine submaxillary mucin did not. KI-8110 also inhibited platelet-derived growth factor-dependent growth of NL-17 cells, but showed no effect on insulin or epidermal growth factor-dependent growth of the tumor cells. Platelet-derived growth factor-induced phosphorylation of membrane protein was reduced by treatment of NL-17 cells with KI-8110. The same result was obtained in the neuraminidase-treated membrane fraction of NL-17 cells. These results suggest that KI-8110 inhibits experimental tumor cell metastasis by inhibiting the interaction between tumor cells and host platelets in at least two pathways, and this may be due to a reduction of sialic acid contents of the membrane surface of tumor cells.

The use of lectins for the separation of murine spleen lymphocyte subsets was examined. Bauhinia purpurea agglutinin was found to be effective for the enrichment of B cells by differential agglutination. When the differential agglutination technique using lectins was applied to the separation of B cell subsets, Lens culinaris agglutinin was found to be able to fractionate B cells into high responding and low responding subsets for dextran sulfate. A different expression of cell surface IgD was also observed between the cell populations showing different agglutinability with Lens culinaris agglutinin.

We recently identified a phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC)-stimulating GTP-binding protein (G protein) in calf thymocyte cytosol (Wang, P., Toyoshima, S.,Osawa, T. (1987) J. Biochem. 102, 1275-1287; and (1988) 103, 137-142). In this study we completely purified a G protein whose properties are quite similar to the G protein mentioned above from the calf thymocyte membrane and determined partial amino acid sequences of it. The purification was achieved by first treating the membrane with GTP gamma S, followed by sequential column chromatographies on DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B, Sephacryl S-200, Mono Q, and Mono S. The G protein was purified in a GTP gamma S-binding form and assayed as to the radioactivity of the [35S]GTP gamma S-bound PI-PLC-associated G protein standard obtained from calf thymocyte cytosol. The purified G protein could stimulate the activity of a partially purified PI-PLC for phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate hydrolysis. From approximately 5.6 g of membrane protein we obtained about 5 micrograms of a purified sample. The purified G protein showed a molecular weight of 21 kDa on SDS-PAGE and one of 25 kDa on gel filtration. The partial amino acid sequences were determined by treating the purified sample with lysylendopeptidase, purifying the resultant peptide fragments on a HPLC-reverse phase column and then sequencing the peptide fragments with a sequencer. Comparison of the obtained sequences with those of known lower molecular weight GTP-binding proteins suggested that, although structurally similar to rho gene products, this is a novel G protein.

For the development of therapeutic agents that possess tissue-specific carriers, a method was devised to synthesize an artificial protein hybrid conjugate containing a moiety which binds to a cell membrane receptor and an active fragment of a toxic protein. By the introduction of an activated sulfhydryl group into concanavalin A (Con A), a conjugate of Con A and the ricin A-chain cross-linked with a disulfide linkage was synthesized. The purified conjugate was studied with regard to its inhibitory activity against protein synthesis in cell-free and cultured cell systems. The Con A-rich A-chain conjugate retained about one-third the inhibitory activity of ricin in a cell-free protein synthesis system. It also was highly toxic to cultured normal cells. These results indicate that the conjugate is a structural and functional analog of ricin and that the original membrane-binding chain (B-chain of ricin) could be replaced by Con A. Transformed cells were insensitive to this conjugate and required a longer preincubation time. The sensitivity of the normal cells was reduced in the presence of local anesthetics.

Nylon non-adherent spleen T cells obtained from concanavalin A-injected mice were labeled with fluorescein-labeled peanut agglutinin and separated into peanut agglutinin-positive (PNA+) cells and peanut agglutinin-negative (PNA-) cells by a fluorescent activated cell sorter. PNA+ cells were found to exert marked suppressive effect on primary anti-sheep red blood cells antibody response, but PNA- cells did not affect the antibody response. From these results and from the sugar-binding specificity of PNA, suppressor T cells are supposed to possess abundant galactosyl residues exposed on the cell surface, which are not masked by sialyl residues.

Glycocalicin, a predominant glycoprotein on the human platelet surface, has been purified from a platelet suspension by sonication, ammonium sulfate precipitation and acid treatment followed by chromatography on columns of wheat germ agglutinin-Sepharose and Sephacryl S-300. Ser/Thr-linked (O-linked) oligosaccharides were released by alkaline borohydride treatment, and fractionated by high performance liquid chromatography with an anion-exchange resin. The structure of a major oligosaccharide alditol separated by high performance liquid chromatography was investigated by a combination of compositional analyses, methylation and glycosidase treatments, and proposed to be a hexasaccharide alditol, NeuAc alpha 2-3Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc beta 1-6(NeuAc alpha 2-3Gal beta 1-3) N-acetylgalactosaminitol. We also found some sugar units which appeared to be intermediates in the biosynthetic pathway of the major hexasaccharide.

The total and sialidase-releasable sialic acid contents of murine colon adenocarcinoma 26 sublines of high (NL-17) and low (NL-44) metastatic potential were found to be positively correlated with their ability to undergo metastasis. Furthermore, sialyltransferase activity of intact NL-17 cells was higher than that of NL-44 cells. These findings suggest that sialic acid on the cell surface may play a role in the metastasis of these cells. Therefore, the effect of a sialyltransferase inhibitor, 5-fluoro-2',3'-isopropylidene-5'-O-(4-N-acetyl-2,4-dideoxy-3,6,7,8-tetra -O -acetyl-1-methoxycarbonyl-D-glycero-alpha-D-galactooctapyranosyl)u ridine (Kl-8110), on the experimental lung metastasis of NL-17 or NL-44 cells was examined. Kl-8110 inhibited the transfer of sialic acid to its endogenous acceptor in NL-17 and NL-44 cells. NL-17 or NL-44 cells were injected into the tail veins of mice, and the metastasis-inhibiting activity of Kl-8110 was evaluated on the basis of both the lung weight and the number of pulmonary surface nodules about 3 wk after the tumor cell injection and of the survival ratio of mice inoculated with the tumor cells. Pretreatment of tumor cells with Kl-8110 together with i.v. injection of Kl-8110 caused significant inhibition of pulmonary metastasis of both NL-17 and NL-44 cells. Inhibition of metastasis and prolongation of survival were also observed on i.v. injection of Kl-8110 without pretreatment of the tumor cells with Kl-8110, but the degree of inhibition was lower than that in the case of the two treatments together. Kl-8110 itself had neither cytostatic nor cytotoxic effects on NL-17 and NL-44 but reduced the retention of tumor cells in the lungs. This antimetastatic effect of Kl-8110 may be due to modification of the tumor cell surface resulting from inhibition of sialyltransferase by Kl-8110. In addition, a beta-linked sialic acid:nucleoside conjugate (Kl-8111) and an equimolar mixture of Kl-8110 and Kl-8111 (Kl-414) also inhibited the metastatic ability of NL cells to the same extent as Kl-8110 did.

The use of lectins for the enrichment of various lymphocyte subpopulations was investigated. Bauhinia purpurea lectin (BPA) was found to be effective for the enrichment of B cells, and the B cells thus obtained were further fractionated with lentil lectin into subsets showing high and low responses to dextran sulfate. The ability of various lectins to selectively induce suppressor T cell activity or helper T cell activity was also examined. The suppressor T cells thus induced were enriched peanut lectin and, conversely, the helper T cells were enriched with Limulus polyhemus lectin. This method was applied to analysis of age-dependent changes in the levels of suppressor and helper T cells in autoimmune-prone mice. Cytotoxic T cells induced in an allogeneic mixed lymphocyte culture were enriched with Dolichos biflorus lectin (DBA). These cytotoxic T cells showed a specific killing effect in vitro. However, when spleen cells of tumor-bearing mice were fractionated by use of DBA, the DBA- cells mediated the regression of the tumors in vivo. BPA was also found to be effective for the enrichment of the interleukin-2-producing T cell subset and macrophage precursor cells. Using this technique, bone marrow cells of autoimmune-prone MRL/1 mice were found to be rich in macrophage precursor cells.

Human ceruloplasmin was shown to have a restorative effect on the decrease of delayed hypersensitivity in sarcoma-180-bearing mice and of helper T-cell activity in cell-free. Ehrlich cancerous ascitic fluid-treated mice. Furthermore, it was also shown that ceruloplasmin augments the in vivo generation of alloreactive cytotoxic cell which consist of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, cytotoxic macrophages and K cells.

A soluble inositolphospholipid-specific phospholipase C (PI-phospholipase C) has been purified 5,800-fold from the cytosolic fraction of calf thymocytes. The purification was achieved by sequential column chromatographies on DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B, heparin-Sepharose CL-6B, Sephacryl S-300, Mono S, and Superose 12, followed by column chromatography on Sephadex G-100 in the presence of 1% sodium cholate. The enzyme thus purified was found to be homogeneous on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 68 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The enzyme is specific for inositol phospholipids. Phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) were hydrolyzed, but phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were not affected by the enzyme. GTP gamma S-binding activity was detected in the enzyme fractions after all the purification steps, but not in the final enzyme preparation. The PI-phospholipase C and GTP gamma S-binding activities in the partially purified enzyme preparation could be separated by the column chromatography on Sephadex G-100 only in the presence of 1% sodium cholate. Thus, the soluble PI-phospholipase C has affinity to a GTP-binding protein. SDS-PAGE of the GTP-binding fractions eluted from the Sephadex G-100 column gave three visible bands of 54, 41, and 27 kDa polypeptide was specifically ADP-ribosylated by pertussis toxin. Furthermore, it was found that GTP and GTP gamma S (10 microM and 1 mM) could enhance the PIP2 hydrolysis activity of the partially purified enzyme in the presence of 3 mM EGTA, but the purified enzyme after separation from the GTP-binding activity was not affected by GTP and GTP gamma S. The soluble PI-phospholipase C of calf thymocytes may be not only physically but also functionally associated with a GTP-binding protein.

Human ceruloplasmin was found to have a neutralizing effect against the toxohormone activities of the basic protein isolated from Ehrlich carcinoma cells; this basic protein decreases the levels of serum iron and liver catalase activity upon intraperitoneal injection into mice and shows direct cytotoxicity toward normal mouse lymphocytes and macrophages. Furthermore, it was also shown that ceruloplasmin has antitumor activity against sarcoma-180 cells implanted in ICR mice.

The kinetics of guinea pig lymphotoxin (GLT)-cytotoxicity on three L cell sublines were studied in detail by a micromethod using morphological distinctions between intact cells and dead cells. The reduction of the intact cell number and increase of the dead one concurrently occurred after a lag time, its length depending upon the GLT concentration ([GLT]). Although different patterns of the changes in the survival ratio (S) were discerned with different sublines, under appropriate conditions, --ln S was proportional to [GLT] and the reciprocal of the initial target cells number. Furthermore, it was shown that the S value at 24 hr was dependent upon the absolute amount of GLT.

Recently we demonstrated the presence in calf thymocytes of a GTP-binding protein (G-protein) composed of three polypeptides, 54, 41, and 27 kDa, which was physically and functionally associated with a soluble phosphoinositides-specific phospholipase C (PI-phospholipase C). The properties of this G protein were further investigated with the following results. 1) In addition to the ability to bind [35S]guanosine-5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate (GTP gamma S), the G-protein exhibited GTPase activity, which was enhanced by Mg2+, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidylinositol, but inhibited by sodium cholate, GTP gamma S and F-.2) The 54-kDa polypeptide was ADP-ribosylated by pertussis toxin and also by endogenous membrane-bound ADP-ribosyltransferase, but none of these three polypeptides was ADP-ribosylated by cholera toxin. 3) The G-protein did not cross-react with either anti-rat brain alpha 1 (alpha-subunit of inhibitory G-protein, G1), alpha 0 (alpha-subunit of other G1-like G-protein, G0) or beta gamma antibodies. 4) Incubation of this G Protein with GTP gamma S caused dissociation of the three polypeptides. 5) The 27 kDa polypeptide showed GTP-binding activity and enhanced the phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate hydrolysis by purified PI-phospholipase C. These results suggest that the PI-phospholipase C-associated G-protein in calf thymocytes may be a novel one and that it is involved in the regulation of PI-phospholipase C activity.

Concanavalin A (Con A) stimulation resulted in the rapid redistribution of part of the GTP-binding activity from the membrane to the cytosol in murine thymocytes. This change in GTP-binding activity was dependent on the Con A concentration. To investigate the relationship between this redistribution and phospholipase C (PLC) activity, the effect of GTP gamma S on the cytosol PLC activity was also examined, and it was found that GTP gamma S enhanced the phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) hydrolysis activity in the cytosol of Con A-stimulated thymocytes more than in that of unstimulated thymocytes. This enhancement by GTP gamma S was also dependent on the Con A concentration. The results suggest that in murine thymocytes, the GTP-binding protein (G-protein) involved in the regulation of PLC activity may be translocated from the membrane to the cytosol upon Con A stimulation. Besides, the dose dependence curve for the change in the GTP gamma S-binding activity was similar to that for inositol phosphates formation in Con A-stimulated thymocytes, suggesting that the translocation of the G-protein is closely related to PLC activation. Furthermore, the effects of cytosol fractions containing the 38-43 and 23-28 kDa GTP-binding subunits of G-proteins on the PIP2 hydrolysis activity of partially purified PLC were examined. The fraction containing the 23-28 kDa subunit evidently enhanced the PLC activity but that containing the 38-43 kDa subunit enhanced the activity to a much lower extent. Moreover, the 23-28 kDa subunit fraction of Con A-stimulated thymocytes was more effective as to enhancement of the PLC activity than that of unstimulated thymocytes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

An antitumor protein that increased in the serum of OK-432-treated mice showed an enhancing effect on the tumor cell killing by OK-432-elicited macrophages as measured by the 51Cr release test. This protein, designated as LB, also enhanced the cytolytic effect of macrophages on normal target cells, although the activity was lower toward normal cells than tumor cells. On the other hand, LB exhibited no effect on normal, thioglycolate-elicited, or heat-inactivated OK-432-elicited macrophages. The effect of LB on the binding of tumor cells to macrophage monolayers was also examined. On the addition of LB, OK-432-elicited macrophages became capable of binding more tumor cells than before. As in the cytolytic assay, the increased binding by the macrophages was not selective for tumor cells, and normal macrophages did not increase the binding of tumor cells upon the addition of LB. These results indicate that LB enhances macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity by increasing intimate binding between the OK-432-elicited macrophages and their target cells.