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Autoantibodies specifically directed to U1RNA were found in patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) overlap syndromes. To obtain more insight in the mechanism responsible for this U1RNA-specific antibody formation and to use the antibodies eventually as a tool to study U1RNA-protein (U1RNP) interactions, the B cell epitopes on U1RNA were mapped. Using in vitro synthesized domains of U1RNA, the main epitope regions were found in stemloops II and IV. Furthermore, 3'-end or 5'-end truncation of both stemloop II and stemloop IV showed that the conformation of the stemloops is critical for antibody recognition. Mutant studies on both stemloops indicated that in the case of stemloop II the stem is the main antigenic region, whereas in stemloop IV, the loop (E-loop) is a main target. The results of this study support the idea that the anti-U1RNA autoantibody could be the result of a process driven by the human U1RNP complex itself (antigen-driven process).

Objective: To evaluate correlations between changes in anti-U1 RNA antibody levels and disease activity in 9 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) overlap syndrome who were prospectively followed up for at least 3 years., Methods: Anti-U1 RNA antibody levels were measured quantitatively, using a nitrocellulose filter binding assay. Disease activity was measured with a validated SLE activity index., Results: All 9 major disease exacerbations were associated with peaks in anti-U1 RNA antibody level., Conclusion: These results seem to indicate that measuring anti-U1 RNA antibody levels can be useful for monitoring disease activity.

Type beta transforming growth factors represent a family of polypeptides that modulate growth and differentiation. TGF-beta exerts its effects on target cells through interaction with specific cell surface receptors, but the signal transduction pathways are largely unresolved as yet. In this study we report that TGF-beta 1 induces a rapid phosphorylation of the cyclic AMP responsive element binding protein (CREB) in mink lung CCl64 cells. Phosphorylation induced by TGF-beta 1 is not mediated by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Parallel to the increase in phosphorylation of CREB, an increase in binding to the collagenase TPA responsive element was observed. CREB participates in the binding to this element, probably as a heterodimer with another as yet unknown protein. The modification imposed on CREB and its involvement in an enhanced TRE-binding could be a mechanism by which TGF-beta 1 induces the TRE-mediated transcriptional activation.

Although the structure of several members of the GH receptor family has been defined, signal transduction following GH binding to its receptor has not been elucidated. Mouse osteoblasts were used to study the effect of GH on immediate early gene expression and, subsequently, the cellular signal(s) mediating this expression were analysed. GH rapidly and transiently induced the expression of c-jun and jun B in concert with the already reported expression of c-fos. The GH-induced expression of c-fos was completely blocked by the protein kinase inhibitors staurosporine and H7, indicating that the action of GH is mediated by one or several protein kinases. We next analysed the identity of the putative protein kinases in more detail by using a more specific protein kinase inhibitor, namely the ether-lipid 1-O-alkyl-2-O-methylglycerol, understood to be an inhibitor of protein kinase C (PKC). Data obtained from these studies revealed that GH-induced expression of c-fos is mediated by PKC. In addition, we observed a profound increase in formation of the PKC activator diacyglycerol upon addition of GH, a natural activator of PKC. In conclusion, upon binding of GH to mouse osteoblasts, the receptor-mediated cellular signal involves diacyglycerol formation and activation of PKC, leading to the induction of oncogene expression. Finally, the expression of c-fos, c-jun and jun B results in an increased binding of protein complexes to AP-1 binding sites.

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) is a family of polypeptides that modulate growth and differentiation. TGF beta exerts its effects on target cells through interaction with specific cell surface receptors, but the signal transduction pathways are as yet largely unresolved. In this study we report that the growth inhibitory action of TGF beta on mink lung CCl 64 cells is associated with a rapid and transient phosphorylation of a number of nuclear proteins. In parallel, a transient expression of the immediate early gene jun B is observed. The expression of jun B can be inhibited by the protein kinase inhibitor H7 and can be augmented by the phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid. Thus, protein phosphorylation can be a possible mechanism through which TGF beta 1 initiates early genomic responses.

An antiserum was prepared against a synthetic peptide corresponding to the first 29 N-terminal amino acid residues of transforming growth factor beta type 2 (TGF beta 2) from porcine platelets. The anti-TGF beta 2 peptide antiserum appeared to be completely specific for TGF beta 2 in several immunological assays, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, immunoblotting and immunofluorescence experiments. Furthermore, this antiserum completely neutralized the growth inhibitory effect of TGF beta 2 on mink lung carcinoma (ML-CC164) cells and the transforming capacity of this factor on quiescent monolayers of NRK cells in the presence of epidermal growth factor. These data indicate that the N-terminal region of TGF beta 2 may be involved in the biological activity of this growth factor. TGF beta 1 was not recognized by the anti-TGF beta 2 peptide antiserum. The specificity of the anti-TGF beta 2 peptide antiserum for TGF beta 2 appeared to be useful in identifying TGF beta 2 produced by different cell systems and will be helpful in determining possible functional differences between TGF beta 1 and TGF beta 2.

Transforming growth factor beta 2 (TGF beta 2) mRNA expression was studied by Northern blot analysis in a range of feeder-independent murine embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells and in feeder-dependent EC and embryonic stem (ES) cells. TGF beta 2 transcripts were not detected in any undifferentiated cells including P19, F9, PC13, C1003, PSA-1, P10, and ES. Following induction of differentiation, however, TGF beta 2 became expressed, independently of the cell type formed. Retinoic acid (RA) addition and/or deprivation of the differentiation inhibiting activity of feeder cells resulted in the appearance of TGF beta 2 transcripts within 2 days. These kinetics correlated entirely with the first appearance of the protein; an anti-peptide antibody specifically recognizing TGF beta 2 did not stain P19 EC cells by immunofluorescence but 2-3 days after RA addition, a significant proportion of the population was strongly labeled. In addition, primitive endoderm cells emerging from the inner cell mass of substrate attached blastocysts stained brightly with anti-TGF beta 2, while the undifferentiated inner cell mass cells did not. Although all trophectoderm cells at the mid-blastocyst stage were stained, few had detectable levels of TGF beta 2 after plating on a substrate. Neither TGF beta 1 nor TGF beta 2 affected the growth of EC cells, but a range of differentiated derivatives were all inhibited, with TGF beta 2 being marginally more effective than TGF beta 1 at the same concentration.

The chromatographic behavior of a number of globular proteins was studied on a Bio-Sil TSK CM-2-SW weak cation exchange HPLC column under acidic conditions. A linear gradient of 0-1 M NH4Ac in 1 M HOAc, inducing a convex pH gradient from 2.4-4.8, resulted in an excellent separation of highly basic proteins. For these proteins a linear relationship between isoelectric point and retention time was determined experimentally. The effect of pH and the ion composition of the eluting buffer system on this linear correlation was studied. Although the exact basis for protein separation on the CM-2-SW column at low pH is not clear yet, both the pH-dependent net positive charge per unit surface area and most likely the relative percentage of arginine in the total number of basic residues contribute to this separation. Because of the high resolving power and the high protein recovery obtained in a system using only acidic volatile buffer solutions, the cation exchanger is particularly suitable for the purification of nanogram amounts of acid-stable basic growth factors. The present sterile conditions (1 M HOAc/NH4Ac system, pH less than 4) and the easy removal of salt by lyophilization facilitate the detection of these proteins by biological assays.

A new method was developed for the purification of type beta transforming growth factor from human platelets. This method is a three-step procedure including gel filtration, weak cation exchange HPLC and reverse phase HPLC. All steps are carried out at low pH using exclusively volatile acidic buffer solutions. The sterile conditions and easy removal of salt by lyophilization facilitate the quantification of the growth factor in biological assays. Based on immunological characterization the purified acid-stable, highly basic transforming growth factor beta is the beta 1 form. Using the present method pure platelet TGF beta 1 is obtained in very high yield. 40 units of outdated human platelets yield 800 micrograms pure TGF beta 1, which is about a 10-20 fold higher yield than reported for other purification procedures.

A general strategy was developed for the purification of basic polypeptide growth factors. This method is a combination of gel filtration, weak-cation-exchange h.p.l.c. and reverse-phase h.p.l.c., separating the proteins according to size, charge and hydrophobicity respectively. All steps are carried out at low pH with exclusively volatile acidic buffer solutions. The sterile conditions and easy removal of salt by freeze-drying facilitate the detection of the growth factors by biological assays. By using this method, homogeneous preparations of two basic growth factors were purified in high yield from mouse-neuroblastoma-Neuro-2A-cell-conditioned medium. It is shown that these purified factors are biochemically and immunologically related to platelet-derived growth factor and type beta transforming growth factor from human platelets.

P19 EPI-7, a differentiated murine embryonal carcinoma cell line with an epithelioid morphology, does not require external growth factors for proliferation under clonal and subconfluent conditions. At saturation density, however, cells become quiescent in the G1/G0 phase of the cell cycle from which they can be restimulated, particularly upon addition of epidermal growth factor. Medium conditioned by confluent P19 EPI-7 cultures is able to enhance clonal outgrowth of this cell line, suggesting that autocrine growth factor loops may be acting in these cells. Analysis of conditioned serum-free medium shows that this cell line produces a platelet-derived growth factor-like growth factor, next to a type beta transforming growth factor and large amounts of insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) and an IGF-binding protein with high specificity for IGF-II. This latter observation has been confirmed by the use of a specific bioassay for IGFs, based on their ability to specifically stimulate proliferation of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. The amount of IGF-II produced (0.5 mg/liter conditioned medium) makes P19 EPI-7 one of the best producing cell lines for this factor described so far. Receptor cross-linking analysis shows that this cell line contains IGF-I receptors, but no specific receptors for IGF-II. Depending on the conditions tested, transforming growth factor-beta 1 either act as a growth-stimulating factor or as a strong growth inhibitory factor. These data demonstrate that upon cellular differentiation, embryonal carcinoma cells can be formed which produce polypeptide growth factors and are also able to respond to such factors. These observations are discussed in the light of the role of autocrine and paracrine growth stimulation processes during early murine development.