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Typical porous silica (SBA-15) has been modified with pore expander agent (1,3,5-trimethylbenzene) and fluoride-species to diminish the length of the channels to obtain materials with different textural properties, varying the Si/Zr molar ratio between 20 and 5. These porous materials were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), N 2 adsorption/desorption isotherms at -196 °C and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), obtaining adsorbent with a surface area between 420-337 m 2 g -1 and an average pore diameter with a maximum between 20-25 nm. These materials were studied in the adsorption of human blood serum proteins (human serum albumin-HSA and immunoglobulin G-IgG). Generally, the incorporation of small proportions was favorable for proteins adsorption. The adsorption data revealed that the maximum adsorption capacity was reached close to the pI. The batch purification experiments in binary human serum solutions showed that Si sample has considerable adsorption for IgG while HSA adsorption is relatively low, so it is possible its separation.

In downstream processing, large-scale chromatography plays an important role. For its development, screening experiments followed by pilot-plant chromatography are mandatory steps. Here we describe fast, simple, and inexpensive methods for establishing a preparative chromatography for the separation of complex protein mixtures, based on sample displacement batch chromatography. The methods are demonstrated by anion-exchange chromatography of a human plasma protein fraction (Cohn IV-4), including the screening step and upscaling of the chromatography by a factor of one hundred. The results of the screening experiments and the preparative chromatography are monitored by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis. In summary, we provide a protocol, which should be easily adaptable for the chromatographic large-scale purification of other proteins, in the laboratory as well as in the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. These protocols cover the initial piloting steps for establishing a large-scale sample batch chromatography. The results from the piloting steps may also be applied for packed columns for performing simulated-moving-bed (SMB) chromatography rather than batch chromatography.

Monoclonal immunoglobulin paraproteins can deposit in the kidney in variable forms and eliciting differing patterns of injury. Crystalglobulin-induced nephropathy is a rare form of monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition in the kidney, characterized by glomerular capillary endoluminal crystalline material evident by light and electron microscopy that exhibits immunoglobulin restriction via immunofluorescence studies. We present a case of a patient with acute kidney injury, and a subsequent kidney biopsy notably revealed concurrent monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition disease (MIDD) and crystalglobulin-induced nephropathy secondary to an IgM/κ monoclonal protein that resulted in a membranoproliferative pattern of glomerular injury. The two process were distinctly evident by ultrastructural crystalline and non-crystalline (as seen with cases of more conventional MIDD) deposits in the glomeruli. The paraprotein constituency is novel (IgM/κ) for crystalglobulin-induced nephropathy (prior cases exhibited IgG/κ restriction) as was the finding of the two monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition processes contributing to development of an active glomerulitis characterized by a membranoproliferative pattern of glomerular injury (crystalglobulin-induced nephropathy has not been associated with an active glomerulitis before).

Bovine conglutinin is an immune protein that is involved in host resistance to microbes and parasites and interacts with complement component iC3b, agglutinates erythrocytes, and neutralizes influenza A virus. Here, we determined the high-resolution (0.97-1.46 Å) crystal structures with and without bound ligand of a recombinant fragment of conglutinin's C-terminal carbohydrate-recognition domain (CRD). The structures disclosed that the high-affinity ligand N -acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc) binds in the collectin CRD calcium site by interacting with the O3' and O4' hydroxyls alongside additional specific interactions of the N -acetyl group oxygen and nitrogen with Lys-343 and Asp-320, respectively. These residues, unique to conglutinin and differing both in sequence and in location from those in other collectins, result in specific, high-affinity binding for GlcNAc. The binding pocket flanking residue Val-339, unlike the equivalent Arg-343 in the homologous human surfactant protein D, is sufficiently small to allow conglutinin Lys-343 access to the bound ligand, whereas Asp-320 lies in an extended loop proximal to the ligand-binding site and bounded at both ends by conserved residues that coordinate to both calcium and ligand. This loop becomes ordered on ligand binding. The electron density revealed both α and β anomers of GlcNAc, consistent with the added α/βGlcNAc mixture. Crystals soaked with α1-2 mannobiose, a putative component of iC3b, reported to bind to conglutinin, failed to reveal bound ligand, suggesting a requirement for presentation of mannobiose as part of an extended physiological ligand. These results reveal a highly specific GlcNAc-binding pocket in conglutinin and a novel collectin mode of carbohydrate recognition., (© 2019 Paterson et al.)

The search for plasma proteins precipitation methods has been increasing due to the plasma protein therapeutic needs in world-wide. Thus, this work evaluates the tannic acid (TA) ability to precipitate proteins from human plasma. In this study, TA-plasma protein complexes were studied at different pH conditions, tannin/plasma ratio and reaction mixing time. The complexes formed from combinations of TA and plasma proteins were analyzed by gel electrophoresis, protein quantification, particle size, charge, mass spectrometry, microscopic image, and circular dichroism. It was possible to verify the precipitate formation in all tested pH values, with high precipitation at pH 5. The native PAGE analysis showed three mainly bands corresponding independent of the pHs used. It was possible to observe a gradual growing of precipitate protein in the first precipitation process (P1) when increased the TA/plasma ratio. 15 min of incubation was enough to precipitate 72.3% of proteins. Spectroscopic analyzes showed albumin signals and the electron microscopy analysis of IgG-TA confirmed the compact form of a precipitate. According to CD, formation of the IgG-TA complexes does not cause a major structural change of the protein. From the results obtained, it was possible to establish some parameters for plasma proteins precipitation using TA., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Crystalline nephropathy refers to renal parenchymal deposition of crystals leading to kidney damage. The most common forms of crystalline nephropathy encountered in renal pathology are nephrocalcinosis and oxalate nephropathy. Less frequent types include urate nephropathy, cystinosis, dihydroxyadeninuria, and drug-induced crystalline nephropathy (e.g., caused by indinavir or triamterene). Monoclonal proteins can also deposit in the kidney as crystals and cause tissue damage. This occurs in conditions such as light chain proximal tubulopathy, crystal-storing histiocytosis, and crystalglobulinemia. The latter is a rare complication of multiple myeloma that results from crystallization of monoclonal proteins in the systemic vasculature, leading to vascular injury, thrombosis, and occlusion. In this report, we describe a case of crystalglobulin-induced nephropathy and discuss its pathophysiology and the differential diagnosis of paraprotein-induced crystalline nephropathy., (Copyright © 2015 by the American Society of Nephrology.)

Conglutinin, a soluble pattern recognition receptor of innate immune system in bovines is known for its potential defensive activity against microorganisms either by direct agglutination in the presence of calcium or by acting as opsonin. In the present study, sheep (Ovis aries) conglutinin encoding neck and carbohydrate recognition domain (rSCGN) was expressed in the E coli BL21 expression host. The recombinant conglutinin revealed molecular weight of 27 kDa in SDS PAGE and also in western blotting using antibuffalo conglutinin polyclonal serum. The protein was characterized further for its functional activity in various assays. In ELISA based sugar and LPS binding assay, the rSCGN revealed its high binding activity toward N-acetyl glucosamine and E. coli LPS in the presence and the absence of calcium ions, respectively. Hemagglutination of chicken red blood cells caused by Newcastle disease virus was not inhibited in the presence of rSCGN as it lacked complete collagenous region present in the native protein. In virus neutralization test, the recombinant protein was found to reduce multiplication of bovine herpes virus-1 propagated in MDBK cells. This prokaryotically expressed 27 kDa recombinant sheep conglutinin can serve as antigen in future studies to develop sandwich ELISA for assessing the level of native conglutinin in sheep serum.

Conglutinin, a collagenous C-type lectin, acts as soluble pattern recognition receptor (PRR) in recognition of pathogens. In the present study, genes encoding neck and carbohydrate recognition domain (NCRD) of conglutinin in goat and blackbuck were amplified, cloned, and sequenced. The obtained 488 bp ORFs encoding NCRD were submitted to NCBI with accession numbers KC505182 and KC505183. Both nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences were analysed with sequences of other ruminants retrieved from NCBI GenBank using DNAstar and Megalign5.2 software. Sequence analysis revealed maximum similarity of blackbuck sequence with wild ruminants like nilgai and buffalo, whereas goat sequence displayed maximum similarity with sheep sequence at both nucleotide and amino acid level. Phylogenetic analysis further indicated clear divergence of wild ruminants from the domestic ruminants in separate clusters. The predicted secondary structures of NCRD protein in goat and blackbuck using SWISSMODEL ProtParam online software were found to possess 6 beta-sheets and 3 alpha-helices which are identical to the result obtained in case of sheep, cattle, buffalo, and nilgai. However, quaternary structure in goat, sheep, and cattle was found to differ from that of buffalo, nilgai, and blackbuck, suggesting a probable variation in the efficiency of antimicrobial activity among wild and domestic ruminants.

Non-destructive identification and subsequent age estimation of blood stains are significant steps in forensic casework. The latter can provide important information on the temporal aspects of a crime. As previously shown, visible spectroscopy of blood stains on white backgrounds can successfully be used for their identification and age estimation. The use of this technique however, is hampered by dark backgrounds. In the present study the feasibility to use near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was evaluated for blood stain identification and age estimation on dark backgrounds. Using NIR reflectance spectroscopy, blood stains were distinguished from other substances with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. In addition, Partial Least Squares Regression analysis was applied to estimate the age of blood stains on colored backgrounds. The age of blood stains up to 1 month old was estimated successfully with a root mean squared error of prediction of 8.9%. These findings are an important step toward the practical implementation of blood stain identification and age estimation in forensic casework, where a large variety of backgrounds can be encountered., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Bovine conglutinin is a serum protein involved in innate immunity. It binds calcium dependently to iC3b, a product of the complement component C3 deposited on cell surfaces, immune complexes or artificial surfaces after complement activation. We here present a simple and efficient two-step procedure for the purification of conglutinin. In the first step, bovine serum is incubated with non-coupled chromatographic TSK beads at 37°C to allow complement activation and iC3b deposition on the beads and subsequent binding of conglutinin to iC3b. Conglutinin is then eluted from the beads by EDTA. In the second step, conglutinin is separated from iC3b and IgM by ion-exchange chromatography. This purification procedure yielded 81 μg of conglutinin per ml of serum with a recovery of 61.2%. Surface plasmon resonance analysis showed that the purified conglutinin had a high affinity for mannan (K(d)=2.3-3.2 nM). SDS-PAGE and time-resolved immunofluorometric assays showed that the conglutinin was not contaminated with other serum collectins such as collectin-43 or mannan-binding lectin., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Surfactant protein D (SP-D) is a pattern recognition molecule that has an important role in pulmonary host defense. In this study, we developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for bovine SP-D and determined the concentration of SP-D in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from calves. Bovine SP-D was purified from BALF using a mannose-Shepharose 6B column. The obtained 44 kDa protein was identified as bovine SP-D by N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis and SDS-PAGE analysis. The peptides corresponding to bovine SP-D amino acid residues SDTRKEGT, which have little homology across bovine serum collectins, were synthesized and used to raise an antibody in rabbits. The obtained antibody was specific for bovine SP-D and did not react with collectins in serum. The anti-bovine SP-D antibody was purified and an ELISA system was developed. The detection range of this assay was 4-125 ng/ml, and the intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation were 5.6 and 9.7%, respectively. The concentrations of SP-D in BALF collected from calves experimentally infected with bovine adenovirus type-3 or Mannheimia haemolytica were determined by the ELISA. Elevation of SP-D was found in BALF from inoculated lobes of infected calves compared with those of non-inoculated lobes and those from control animals. These data suggest that the ELISA developed in this study may be available to investigate the physiological role of bovine SP-D in bovine lung.

Background: Serum-derived hyaluronan (HA)-associated proteins (SHAPs), the heavy chains of inter-α-trypsin inhibitor, covalently bind to HA to form the SHAP-HA complex. The SHAP-HA complex is involved in the pathophysiology of inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. We investigated whether this complex is also involved in airway allergy., Methods: SHAP-HA-deficient (bikunin knockout, KO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice were immunized twice by intraperitoneal injection of ovalbumin (OVA) and exposed to aerosol OVA for 30 min each day for 2 weeks. Twenty-four hours after the final OVA challenge, airway responsiveness to inhaled methacholine (MCh) was measured, and analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung histological studies were done., Results: Compared to WT mice, KO mice showed higher airway hyperresponsiveness to inhaled MCh and higher late-phase responses to OVA whereas the early-phase responses were similar. Cell differentials of BALF showed an increased number of macrophages and neutrophils in KO mice. Furthermore, decreased concentrations of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (sTNFR1) were found in BALF from KO mice whereas the levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines were not different from WT mice. Immunochemical study of the lung tissues revealed stronger staining of sTNFR1 in KO than in WT mice., Conclusions: Our results suggest that in this murine asthma model, the SHAP-HA complex has an inhibitory role in the development of airway hyperresponsiveness and allergic airway inflammation which may be attributed, at least in part, to negative feedback mechanisms exerted by sTNFR1, the shedding of which from the cell surface might also be promoted by the SHAP-HA complex., (Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

This study presents a comparative drug-protein, in vitro, binding profile of sodium aurothiomalate and auranofin. It was found that about 40% of total protein-bound gold is attached to albumin after incubation of aurothiomalate with whole blood for 24 h and about 29% of it was with alpha(1)-globulin and the least amount was found with gamma-globulin (6.1%). On the other hand, approximately 84% of the protein-bound auranofin gold attached to globulins of which 51% was found with beta-globulin band. It was almost equally distributed among albumin, alpha(2)-globulin and gamma-globulin, and showed least affinity for alpha(1)-globulin. The gold analyses were performed by standardless instrumental neutron activation method duly validated by use of an established atomic absorption method. The results of this study explain to some extent the difference in, in vivo, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the two drugs.

Interferon-alpha was detected in IFN pool produced by human leukocytes in the presence of gamma-globulin fraction proteins, copper and zinc cations, and metal-modified gamma-globulins. The cytokine appeared in culture medium at early terms (24 h) of incubation, is characterized by acid resistance, and is neutralized by antibodies to IFN-alpha. The content of IFN-alpha in supernatants of induced leukocytes reached 60-90 pg/ml and correlated with antiviral activity of the samples. Zinc bound to human serum gamma-globulin attenuated and copper stimulated the realization of IFN-inducing characteristics of the protein at early terms of incubation.

The hypo ionic protein profile (HIPP) is a test based on the reticulo-endothelial index of Sandor. We evaluated the analytical performance of this test by comparing the obtained data in the HIPP to the concentration of some frequently measured specific serum proteins. The alfa euglobulin zone mainly comprises of ceruloplasmin, complement factor 3, apolipoprotein B and haptoglobin. The beta and gamma euglobulin zone reflect the concentration of the immunoglobulins. Since these proteins cannot be distinguished from each other, the diagnostic value of the HIPP will be limited. The HIPP is an outdated and aspecific assay for protein measurements.

In-vitro experimentation was performed on porcine and human blood to determine their comparative responsiveness to a novel fibrinolytic inhibitor and thereby assess whether the pig is a suitable animal model for subsequent in-vivo testing of this inhibitor. Thromboelastography showed the clots formed from porcine whole blood to be highly resistant to tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA)-catalyzed lysis, and this communication offers the resistance of porcine plasminogen to activation by t-PA as an explanation. Porcine blood containing 100 and 1500 IU/ml added t-PA lysed very slowly, having LY30 values of 1.9 +/- 1.4 and 2.9 +/- 1.9%, respectively. In contrast, the LY30 values for the human clots containing 100 and 1500 IU/ml t-PA were 77.1 +/- 6.3 and 93.3 +/- 1.3%, respectively. Moreover, purified porcine plasminogen was activated very slowly by added t-PA in the presence of both human and porcine fibrin. Activation of plasminogen by the endogenous activators, as measured by the euglobulin clot lysis time, was greatly prolonged for the pig (22 +/- 3 h) compared with the human (3.5 +/- 1.5 h). These results suggest caution in using the pig as an experimental model when studying the effects of various agents on fibrinolysis.

Conglutinin, collectin-43 (CL-43) and collectin-46 (CL-46) are serum proteins characteristic for Bovidae. They belong to collectins--family of oligomeric proteins composed of trimeric subunits containing collagen-like sequences joined to C-type lectin domains. The genes encoding conglutinin, CL-43 and CL-46 are located on the bovine chromosome 28, and phylogenetic analysis indicates their common origin--from the lung surfactant protein D gene. Northern blot or immunocytochemical analysis confirm biosynthesis of bovine collectins mainly in the liver (conglutinin, CL-43) and in the thymus (CL-46). The level of conglutinin in the serum of dairy cows depends on many factors such as breeding, the season of the year, the stage of the reproductive cycle and infection. The collectins are involved in the innate immune defense. They bind to microbial surface carbohydrates inducing aggregation and, thereby, impeding infectivity. On the other hand the destruction of pathogens occurs due to stimulation of effector cells. CL-43 as well as conglutinin, binds to the collectin receptor (C1qR) localized on many types of cells identified as a surface variant of calreticulin. Conglutinin and CL-43 show antiviral activities towards influenza A virus and rotaviruses. Conglutinin also displays protective activity against bacterial infections.

Background: Allergic cross-reactions are an issue of major concern because of implications for public health. The molecular basis of cross-allergy is the similarity of epitopes belonging to proteins of different organisms. Lupine is an emerging cause of food allergy, which has become a 'hot topic' because of recent large-scale introduction into processed foods and frequent cross-reactions with other members of the legume family. However, no lupine allergen has been characterized thus far. Prompted by a recently reported case of peanut-lupine cross-allergy, we wished to identify the possible cross-reactive allergen(s) between the two vegetal species., Methods: We used computer-aided amino acid sequence comparison, a well-established technique for the study of protein homology, and followed the FAO/WHO guidelines for the identification of potential allergens. We also performed a three-dimensional modeling of the suspected cross-reactive proteins to compare their molecular surfaces., Results: We found a highly significant sequence homology and molecular similarity between allergen Ara h 8 of peanut and pathogenesis-related protein PR-10 of white lupine. Another protein of lupine, the beta-conglutin precursor, was found to be significantly homologous to the Ara h 1 allergen of peanut. The molecular surfaces of Ara h 8 and PR-10 were remarkably similar., Conclusions: Our in silico data allow to predict the allergenicity of PR-10 and beta-conglutin precursor of white lupine according to FAO/WHO guidelines. Amino acid sequence homology also suggests that these proteins could be responsible, at least in part, for some of the allergic cross-reactions between peanut and lupine reported in the literature., (Copyright (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Blood protein analysis including total serum protein and albumin by chemical methods, fibrinogen estimation and serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) was performed on the leopard seal, Hydrurga leptonyx. The most commonly observed SPE pattern was eight fractions designated albumin, alpha(1a), alpha(1b), alpha(2a), alpha(2b), beta(1), beta(2) and gamma-globulin. Significantly higher total serum protein and albumin concentrations, as determined by chemical methods, and significantly higher alpha(2)-globulin concentrations, determined by SPE, were seen in free-ranging male seals compared to females, whilst significantly higher beta-globulin concentrations were seen in female seals. Season of sampling influenced fibrinogen and beta(2)-globulin concentrations, whereas there were no significant differences in any protein concentrations with moult status. Qualitative comparison of SPE traces of leopard seals in Antarctica with "sick" individuals in NSW, Australia revealed obvious differences, as did quantitative comparison of protein concentrations where differences in alpha(1), alpha(2), beta(1), beta(2), and gamma-globulin concentrations were seen. These findings suggest that SPE is a useful tool for investigating serum proteins in the leopard seal, with applications for the investigation of "sick" individuals and the assessment of variation in homeostasis. This technique could also be used to identify the presence of environmental stressors, subclinical disease and physiological variation within specific seal populations.

Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-Is) are the main drugs used in the treatment of essential hypertension and congestive heart failure in adults. Recently, we have demonstrated the antithrombotic effect of captopril (CAP) and enalapril (ENA) in venous thrombosis model in adult rats. One might also suggest the beneficial effect of those drugs on hemostasis in young individuals. Two months old male Wistar rats were used in the study. Acute administration of CAP at a dose of 50 and 100 mg kg(-1) significantly reduced the venous thrombus weight. Dose-dependent reduction in the thrombus weight was also observed in ENA (3, 10, 30 mg kg(-1))-treated rats. Strong reduction in the thrombus weight was also seen after chronic administration of CAP (2 x 25 mg kg(-1)) and ENA (1 x 15 mg kg(-1)). Both drugs given chronically reduced the frequency of thrombi. Systolic blood pressure was reduced to similar extent after acute and chronic application of the drugs. CAP shortened euglobulin clot lysis time (ECLT) when given acutely (100 mg kg(-1)) and chronically (2 x 25 mg kg(-1)). ENA decreased ECLT only when given at multiple doses (1 x 15 mg kg(-1)). None of the drugs changed prothrombin time or activated partial tromboplastin time. We conclude that CAP and ENA possess antithrombotic effect in young individuals. Activation of the fibrinolytic pathway seems to play an important role in the mechanism of their antithrombotic action.

Large quantities of Prevotella nigrescens ATCC 25261 (P. nigrescens) cells adhere to hydroxyapatite (HA) treated with extract from Porphyromonas gingivalis 381 (Pg-Ext), but not to HA coated with human serum albumin (HSA) or human serum globulin (HSG). The duration of HA treatment with Pg-Ext and several other conditions were tested to determine the factors causing Pg-Ext to promote P. nigrescens cell adhesion. Pg-Ext adsorbed rapidly to HA in less than 5 min. The maximum adherence of P. nigrescens cells to HA was observed after treatment of HSA and HSG and then retreatment of HA with Pg-Ext. It was found that Pg-Ext heated at 80 degrees C for 30 min did not lose its propensity to promote attachment of P. nigrescens to HA and that it also remained stable at 4 degrees C for at least 6 days. The trypsin-like enzyme activity of Pg-Ext was also measured, with BAPNA as the substrate and commercially purchased trypsin as the standard, and was approximately 0.12 units/mg. These data suggest that the presence of Pg-Ext is one of the essential factors responsible for P. nigrescens cell attachment to apatitic surfaces, and that with its trypsin-like activity, Pg-Ext may be considered an extremely important substance for the establishment of P. nigrescens in the periodontal pocket and the development of periodontal disease.

Thermal stability of human alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein and its desialyzed form were studied in the pH range of 1.5-5.2, i.e. about its pI. Circular dichroism, fluorescence and UV-absorption were used to determine the conformational changes and their reversibility in the temperature range 25-80 degrees C. These changes were tested in a three step process-heating, cooling and a second heating. Principal component analysis was applied for analyzing the spectral sets obtained in these experiments. Fully reversible behavior of Trp residues, as characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy, was observed during the heating process at all pH values. Nevertheless, three different types of the protein motion (reversible, irreversible and rearrangement of the protein core) were determined by UV-absorption spectroscopy. Thus, an environment of Tyr and Phe is modified or reversibly rearranged during the heating process in acid media. These types of alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein behavior were not significantly affected by desialyzation., (Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science B.V.)

Lung surfactant protein D (SP-D), conglutinin, CL-43 and CL-46 belong to a group of proteins designated collectins that, besides a common structure made of a collagen-like region and a C-type lectin domain, are important components of the innate immune defence. They all bind complex glycoconjugates on microorganisms thereby inhibiting infection, enhancing the clearance by phagocytes and modulating the immune response. In addition, SP-D inhibits the generation of radical oxygen species or the propagation of lipid peroxidation. Knock-out mice deficient in SP-D have a disturbed homeostasis of pulmonary surfactant and suffer from oxidative stress leading to pulmonary inflammation upon microbial challenge. Conglutinin, CL-43 and CL-46 have in contrast to the rest of the collectin family only been found in cattle. During the characterization of the genes encoding conglutinin, CL-43 and CL-46 we observed several features showing that the additional bovine collectins are diverted molecular descendants of an ancestral SP-D gene. Since structural similarity often associates with common functionality, some of SP-D's effector mechanisms may apply to conglutinin, CL-43 and CL-46--and vice versa. This review focus on the structural and functional relationship of this group of collectins.

Background: Cancer lethality is usually the result of local invasion and metastasis of neoplastic cells from the primary tumor. Because of their ability to degrade extracellular matrix components (EMC), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been implicated in the breakdown of basement membranes and underlying stroma, thereby facilitating tumor growth and invasion., Methods: The authors quantitated, by gelatin zymography and densitometric analysis, MMP activity in the euglobulin plasma fraction of 50 healthy controls and 91 head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients (51 from the larynx and 40 from the oropharynx)., Results: The median value for 92-kilodalton (kD) MMP (MMP-9) activity was increased significantly in laryngeal (Md 2.1 arbitrary units (AU)/mL plasma; range, 0.2-6.4) and oropharyngeal patients (Md 2.08 AU/mL; range, 0.0-5.0) with respect to the controls (Md 0.48 AU/mL; range, 0.0-1.8). Both groups of cancer patients showed a similar behavior. Multivariate analysis indicated that circulating 92-kD MMP activity was not predicted by the clinical-pathologic parameters such as tumor stage, histologic grade, and metastatic lymph nodes. There was no association between high levels of MMP-9 activity and either cigarette smoking or alcohol consumption, major risk factors for developing HNSCC., Conclusions: The authors found a significant increase of MMP-9 plasma activity both in laryngeal and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients as compared with healthy controls. Further studies are necessary to establish its usefulness in the clinical management of these patients., (Copyright 2002 American Cancer Society.)

A 36 kDa protein was isolated from the sera of patients with ovarian cancer and rabbit antisera to this protein were prepared. Precipitation test with these antisera detected an antigen with electrophoretic mobility corresponding to alpha-1-globulins and molecular weight of 36 kDa. Direct comparison of precipitating test systems showed that this antigen is not identical to the known carcinoembryonic, placental, and reactive proteins. Serum alpha-1-globulin was not detected in the sera of healthy humans, pregnant women, newborns, and in human adult and fetal visceral tissues at the level of precipitating test system sensitivity 1 mg/liter. It was detected in the sera of patients with ovarian cancer, in ovarian tumor (cancer) tissues, in the contents of ovarian tumor cavities, and in concentrated specimens of amniotic fluid. The antigen was not detected in ascitic fluid of patients with ovarian cancer, but it was present in 75% serum samples from these patients. The antigen was called serum oncoovarian alpha-1-globulin. SDS-PAAG electrophoresis showed that this antigen is an oligomer consisting of subunits (monomers) with molecular weight of 36 kDa. Under denaturing conditions in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol these monomers dissociate into polypeptide chains with a molecular weight of 18 kDa. The protein is liable to oligomerization. Comparative characteristics of serum oncoovarian alpha-1-globulin and CA-125 antigen are presented.

The present report describes application of advanced analytical methods to establish correlation between changes in human serum proteins of patients with coronary atherosclerosis (protein metabolism) before and after moderate beer consumption. Intrinsic fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), differential scanning calorimetry and hydrophobicity (So) were used to study human serum proteins. Globulin and albumin from human serum (HSG and HSA, respectively) were denatured with 8 m urea as the maximal concentration. The results obtained provided evidence of differences in their secondary and tertiary structures. The thermal denaturation of HSA and HSG expressed in temperature of denaturation (Td, degrees C), enthalpy (DeltaH, kcal/mol) and entropy (DeltaS kcal/mol K) showed qualitative changes in these protein fractions, which were characterized and compared with fluorescence and CD. Number of hydrogen bonds (n) ruptured during this process was calculated from these thermodynamic parameters and then used for determination of the degree of denaturation (%D). Unfolding of HSA and HSG fractions is a result of promoted interactions between exposed functional groups, which involve conformational changes of alpha-helix, beta-sheet and aperiodic structure. Here evidence is provided that the loosening of the human serum protein structure takes place primarily in various concentrations of urea before and after beer consumption (BC). Differences in the fluorescence behavior of the proteins are attributed to disruption of the structure of proteins by denaturants as well as by the change in their compactability as a result of ethanol consumption. In summary, thermal denaturation parameters, fluorescence, So and the content of secondary structure have shown that HSG is more stable fraction than HSA.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of beer consumption (BC) on the functional and structural properties of human serum proteins (HSP). Thirty-eight volunteers (after coronary bypass) were divided into two groups: experimental (EG) and control (CG). Nineteen volunteers of the EG consumed 330 mL per day of beer (about 20 g of alcohol) for 30 consecutive days. The CG volunteers consumed mineral water instead of beer. Blood samples were collected from EG and CG patients before and after the experiment. Albumin (Alb), globulin (Glo), and methanol-precipitable proteins (MPP) from human serum were denatured with 8 M urea. Fluorescence and electrophoresis were employed in order to elucidate urea-induced conformational changes and structural behavior of proteins. The measured fluorescence emission spectra were used to estimate the stability of native and denatured protein fractions before and after BC. It was found that before BC the fractions most stable to urea denaturation were Glo, Alb, and MPP fractions. After BC in most of the beer-consuming patients (EG) some changes in native and denatured protein fractions were detected: a tendency to lower stability and minor structural deviations. These qualitative changes were more profound in MPP than in Alb and Glo. Thus, Glo is more resistible to alcohol influence than Alb, which in turn is more resistible than MPP. No serum protein changes were detected in patients of CG.

The freeze-dried powder of Lumbricus rubellus earthworm was administered orally to rats and its fibrinolytic and antithrombotic effects were investigated. The fibrinolytic activity of plasma was determined by measuring the plasmin activity of the euglobulin fraction and was increased to two-folds of the control at a dose of 0.5 g/kg/day and five times with 1 g/kg/day after 4-day administration. The antithrombotic effect was studied in an arterio-venous shunt model of rats. The thrombus weight decreased significantly from 43.2 mg to 32.4 mg at a dose of 0.5 g/kg/day after 8-day treatment. The level of fibrinogen/fibrin degradation product (FDP) in serum was elevated in a dose-dependent manner during the treatment period. On the 8th day after administration, the FDP value was increased to 7.7 micrograms/ml compared with the control value of 3.3 micrograms/ml. These results support that earthworm powder is valuable for the prevention and/or treatment of thrombotic conditions.

The collectins are oligomeric molecules composed of C-type lectin domains attached to collagen regions via alpha-coiled neck regions. Five members of the collectins have been characterized. Mannan-binding lectin (MBL), conglutinin and collectin-43 (CL-43) are serum proteins produced by the liver. Lung surfactant protein A (SP-A) and lung surfactant protein D (SP-D) are mainly found in the lung, where they are synthesized by alveolar type II cells and secreted to the alveolar surface. The collectins are believed to play an important role in innate immunity. They bind oligosaccharides on the surface of a variety of microbial pathogens. After binding of the collectins to the microbial surface effector mechanisms such as agglutination, neutralizing or opsonization of the microorganisms for phagocytosis are initiated. SP-A and SP-D stimulate chemotaxis of phagocytes and once bound to the phagocytes, the production of oxygen radicals can be induced. In the case of MBL the opsonization can be further enhanced by complement activation via the MBLectin pathway while conglutinin interacts with the complement system by binding to the complement degradation product iC3b. A number of receptors and binding molecules interacting with the collectins are found on the membrane or in association with the membrane of various cells responsible for phagocytosis and clearance of microorganisms. This paper focus on the structural aspects of the collectins and the receptors for collectins.

We describe here the successful expression of recombinant bovine conglutinin in CHO cells as well as its physical and biological characteristics. Geneticin-resistant transformants harboring bovine conglutinin cDNA in the expression vector pNOW/CMV-A were screened by Western blot analysis for secretion into media of recombinant conglutinin. A four-day amplification of the transgene with increasing concentrations of methotrexate resulted in a dose-dependent increase in the production of recombinant conglutinin to a final concentration of 18.6 microg/ml of media. Recombinant conglutinin purified from this media by affinity column chromatography on mannan-agarose had a migration pattern similar to that of native conglutinin on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing, nonreducing, and native conditions. The recombinant conglutinin exhibited sugar binding, conglutination, hemagglutination inhibition, and neutralization of influenza A virus, activities engaged in by the native conglutinin. This is the first report describing a high level of expression of a serum cruciform collectin with the full range of biological activity.

Surfactant protein D (SP-D) is a lung-specific protein that is synthesized and secreted by lung epithelial cells and is believed to play an important role in lung host defence. This protein belongs to the C-type lectin family, which is characterized by an N-terminal cysteine-rich domain, a collagen-like domain, a neck domain and a carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD). To elucidate the biological actions of this animal lectin against such pathogens as micro-organisms, the biological activities of a recombinant partial SP-D lacking a collagen-like domain were examined. A recombinant human SP-D, consisting of a short collagen region (two repeats of Gly-Xaa-Yaa amino acid sequences), the neck domain and the CRD, was expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant SP-D was purified on a nickel column and then on a maltose-agarose column. This protein can form a trimeric structure owing to the neck domain and exhibits sugar-binding activity and specificity similar to those of native human SP-D. The recombinant SP-D caused dose-dependent and calcium-dependent agglutination of E. coli Y1088. The agglutination titre (the concentration required to achieve a 50% decrease in light transmission by agglutination) of recombinant SP-D was approx. 6-fold that of native SP-D. As for conglutination, the recombinant trimeric conglutinin required 8-16-fold higher concentrations than the native counterpart. In haemagglutination inhibition (HI) of influenza A virus, although native and recombinant conglutinin showed similar levels of HI activity, the recombinant SP-D was unable to inhibit haemagglutination, even at a concentration approx. 120-fold that of the native SP-D. The lectin precipitation and lectin blot assays showed that the truncated SP-D could bind to influenza A virus as well as native SP-D did. These results indicate that the agglutination activity of trimeric collectins can be largely retained, and furthermore that the oligomeric structure with several hands at opposite sites can enhance agglutination activity. The difference in HI activity against influenza A virus between native and recombinant SP-D suggests that SP-D uses a different mechanism from that of conglutinin to inhibit viral haemagglutination.

Bovine collectin-43 (CL-43), the most recently disclosed member of the collectin group, has been characterized structurally at the protein level by a combination of mass spectrometry and protein sequencing. The molecular mass of reduced CL-43 was determined by the use of mass spectrometry to be 33.6 +/- 0.1 kDa. Furthermore, the mass spectrum showed the presence of a truncated version of the polypeptide, which has also previously been shown by SDS/PAGE and N-terminal sequencing. N-terminal Edman degradation of peptides from a tryptic digestion of native CL-43 verified the published sequence derived from cDNA studies and partial protein sequencing [Lim, B.-L., Willis, A. C., Reid, K. B. M., Lu, J., Lauersen, S. B., Jensenius, J. C. & Holmskov, U. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 11820-11824] with two exceptions. Using mass spectrometry and N-terminal sequencing, a large number of post-translational modifications were found in the collagen-like region (repetitive Gly-Xaa-Yaa sequence). All proline residues located in the Yaa-position in the collagen-like region were found to be partially hydroxylated while all lysine residues in the Yaa position were fully hydroxylated and glycosylated. The glycosylation was determined as glycosyl-galactosyl O-linked to a hydroxylated lysine residue. Mass spectrometric analysis of a peptic digest of the N-terminal tryptic peptide revealed that the three polypeptide chains were disulphide linked in a rather surprising pattern. The cysteine residues were inter-chain disulphide linked by Cys15 in polypeptide chain 1 to Cys15 in polypeptide chain 2, Cys20 in chain 2 to Cys20 in chain 3 and Cys20 in chain 1 to Cys15 in chain 3. The four cysteine residues at the C terminus were intra-chain disulphide linked, Cys204 to Cys299 and Cys277 to Cys291, as expected for a C-type lectin.

Collectins are C-type lectins which have been implied to play an important role in the innate immune defence against microorganisms. The critical discriminatory event in the opsonization of microorganisms by collectins is the interaction of the C-type lectin domain with microbial carbohydrates. Surface plasmon resonance measurements allow for quantitative real-time measurements of binding interaction between immobilized carbohydrate and unlabelled lectin in solution. Binding analysis were carried out with purified collectin-43 (CL-43) which structurally is the simplest collectin consisting of only three polypeptides each terminating in a C-type lectin domain. The target was immobilized yeast mannan. The molecular mass of native CL-43 was determinated by mass spectroscopy to 99.8 kDa. The dissociation rate (kdiss) of the C-type lectin-carbohydrate binding was fast (1.19-1.36 x 10(-2) second-1), and the association rate (kass) was 4.37-5.07 x 10(5) M-1 second-1. The equilibrium constant for dissociation (Kd) was 2.68-2.72 x 10(-8) M.

Conglutinin is a bovine serum protein which was first described as a vertebrate lectin. This protein belongs to the family of C-type lectins. These lectins are composed of four characteristic domains: (1) an N-terminal cysteine-rich domain, (2) a collagen-like domain, (3) a neck domain and (4) a carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD). Recently lectins have been shown to function as immunoglobulin-independent defence molecules due to a complement-mediated mechanism or opsonization. Our previous study showed that bovine conglutinin can inhibit haemagglutination by influenza A viruses and act by directly neutralizing them due to its lectin properties. In order to elucidate the biological role of the collagen-like domain, a recombinant partial conglutinin lacking this collagen-like domain was produced in an Escherichia coli system and its biological activities were examined. A 497 bp sequence, consisting of a short collagen region (two repeats of G-X-Y amino acid sequences), the neck domain, and the CRD of conglutinin cDNA, was amplified by the reverse-transcriptase PCR technique. The cDNA was transferred to a bacterial expression vector system (pRSET-A) and stable transfectants with a high level of conglutinin production were obtained. SDS/PAGE and Western blotting analyses showed a recombinant fusion protein of 27 kDa. Results of a cross-linking study and gel-filtration assay indicated that the recombinant conglutinin can form a trimeric structure and that it has sugar binding activity and specificity similar to that of native conglutinin. The recombinant conglutinin was also found to inhibit haemagglutination caused by influenza A virus as well as to possess less conglutination activity. These results suggest that in order for conglutinin to inhibit haemagglutination caused by the influenza virus, as well as to have sugar binding activity or to form trimers, it does not require the N-terminal and collagenous domains; however, they are essential for full conglutination activity.

Bovine conglutinin is a collagenous C-type lectin (collectin) that is found in bovine serum. A recombinant protein, composed of the neck-region and the carbohydrate binding domain of bovine conglutinin, has been overexpressed in E. coli. The recombinant protein has been successfully renatured and showed the same sugar binding specificity as the native protein and was able to bind to yeast mannan and complement-activated immune complexes. The binding was calcium-dependent and was inhibited by N-acetylglucosamine. The concentration of N-acetylglucosamine required for 50% inhibition of binding to mannan was 1.77 mM for recombinant conglutinin and 0.71 mM for native conglutinin, respectively. The recombinant conglutinin should be useful in the assay and purification of circulating immune complexes and for therapeutic purposes involving the removal of immune complexes from patient's plasma.

Collectin-43 (CL-43) is a recently described bovine plasma protein containing both collagenous regions and C-type-lectin domains [Holmskov, Teisner, Willis, Reid and Jensenius (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 10120-10125; Lim, Willis, Reid, Lu, Laursen, Jensenius and Holmskov (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 11820-11824]. CL-43 was purified by affinity chromatography on mannan-Sepharose. On SDS/PAGE under reducing conditions the purified lectin showed a double band at about 43 kDa, with the upper band representing the intact molecule and the lower band a truncated form that lacked the N-terminal nine amino acid residues. Under non-reducing conditions, only one band was seen at 120 kDa. Analytical gel chromatography and sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation of the purified molecule, showed a Stokes radius of 9.1 +/- 0.3 nm (91 +/- 3 A) and a sedimentation coefficient (s20,w) of 3.6 +/- 0.1 S. These values correspond to a molecular mass of 119-138 kDa under non-denaturing condition in solution. The frictional coefficient (f/f0) was 2.7, indicating extreme elongation due to the collagenous segment. Only monomer subunits, with 37.4 +/- 1.7-nm-long rods, were seen by electron microscopy. These findings indicate that CL-43, in contrast with the other circulating collectins, is found only as a single subunit composed of three polypeptide chains. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed that CL-43 has two isoforms, with pI values of 4.9 and 5.3, corresponding to the native form and the truncated form of the molecule respectively. CL-43, like conglutinin, lung surfactant protein A and mannan-binding protein (MBP), was shown to bind to the collectin receptor. Bovine MBP caused the activation of the complement system as revealed by the deposition of complement component C4 upon incubation of diluted serum in wells containing MBP bound to solid-phase mannan. CL-43, lung surfactant protein D (SP-D) and conglutinin showed no complement-activating properties under the same conditions. Conglutinin binds fluid- and solid-phase iC3b, while CL-43 and MBP do not show such reactivity.

Twenty-three overlapping peptides corresponding to the complete amino acid sequence of the bovine conglutinin molecule were synthesized on the basis of the sequence data to analyze antigenic determinants. Of the synthetic peptides tested, peptides 31-50, 166-185, and 241-260 were highly reactive with rabbit antibodies against native conglutinin, whereas peptides 1-20, 16-35, 31-50, 76-95, 136-155, 151-170, 181-200, 271-290, 301-320, and 316-335 were less reactive with the antibodies. Peptides 16-35, 31-50, 46-65, 76-95, 136-155, 151-170, 181-200, 271-290, 301-320, and 316-335 were less reactive with the antibodies. Peptides 16-35, 31-50, 46-65, 76-95, 91-110, 106-125, 151-170, 166-185, 211-230, 226-245, and 286-305 inhibited the binding of native conglutinin to mannan. On the other hand, all of these synthetic peptides elicited rabbit antibodies reactive with native conglutinin. Antibodies to peptide 241-260 showed the highest reactivity with native conglutinin. Of these anti-peptide antibodies, however, only antibodies to synthetic peptide 46-65 inhibited effectively the binding of conglutinin to mannan. Antibodies to the remaining peptides failed to block the binding at the highest concentrations tested. These results suggest that the multiple antigenic determinants associated with both ligand binding and immunogenicity may be located on the conglutinin molecule and that the predominant antigenic determinant responsible for binding saccharides may be located in the vicinity of the region 46-65.

Murinoglobulins are the single chain members of the alpha 2-macroglobulin family of proteinase inhibitors in the mouse. DNA clones representing the genes coding for four different murinoglobulins were isolated from three independent mouse genomic DNA libraries. Sequence analysis demonstrated that in each gene two exons are coding for the bait region. This is the specific protein sequence in each alpha-macroglobulin, which is functionally important since it is extremely sensitive to cleavage by different proteinases. The molecular data established the existence of at least four different murinoglobulin genes. Three of these corresponded to the three cDNA clones previously identified. Sequencing of intron-exon boundaries and intron sizing allowed us to construct physical maps of the region from exon 15 to exon 25 (numbered in comparison to mouse alpha 2-macroglobulin) in each murinoglobulin gene. Southern blotting of genomic DNA from five different mouse strains confirmed this analysis and even suggested the possible existence of a fifth murinoglobulin gene. These data indicate that the mouse presents a genetic repertoire of the alpha 2-macroglobulin family much more complex than originally anticipated. The bait region exon sequences showed a considerably higher degree of divergence (72 to 88% sequence identity) than that of the flanking exon sequences coding for adjacent, structural domains of the murinoglobulin proteinase inhibitors (91 to 96%). Even more surprising was that adjacent intron sequences are conserved as faithfully as the nonbait region coding exons (90 to 96%). These data demonstrate a unique property of the bait region coding sequences, as they apparently are allowed to mutate considerably. This divergency must then confer divergent proteinase inhibitory properties to the resulting proteins.

Collectin-43 (CL-43) is a bovine serum protein that is composed of subunits of three identical chains, each of which contains a collagen region and a C-type carbohydrate recognition domain; thus, CL-43 belongs to the collectins (group III of the C-type lectins). We have derived the complete primary sequence of CL-43 using partial protein sequencing, cDNA cloning, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction techniques. The primary sequence of CL-43 shows that it contains an N-terminal region of 28 residues, followed by a collagenous domain of 38 repeats of Gly-Xaa-Yaa and then a C-terminal section of 159 residues, containing a short "neck" region and the carbohydrate recognition domain with the conserved residues found in all C-type lectins. The amino acid sequence of CL-43 showed 74% identity to bovine conglutinin and 70% identity to bovine lung surfactant protein D (SP-D), but the collagen region is considerably shorter than the 57 Gly-Xaa-Yaa triplets found in conglutinin and SP-D. Northern blot analysis showed that CL-43 was only synthesized in bovine liver, with no detectable signal in a variety of other bovine tissues, including lung. No cross-hybridizing signals were detected in mRNA from sheep, human, rat, or mouse liver. Since CL-43 and conglutinin have only been detected in members of bovidae, it is probable that an ancestral gene of these two proteins was first derived from a SP-D-like gene, and that this ancestral gene duplicated during evolution.

Collectins are a family of C-type lectins with collagenous regions. Five such lectins have now been described: Lung surfactant protein A and D (SP-A and SP-D), and the plasma proteins, conglutinin, mannan-binding protein (MBP), and CL-43. They are composed of trimeric subunits containing a collagenous section and a C-terminal globular carbohydrate-recognizing domain containing the 14 invariant amino acids characteristic of the C-type lectins. The complete molecules of MBP and SP-A are composed of up to six such subunits, while conglutinin, SP-D and CL-43 contain up to four subunits. The collectins bind to carbohydrates on yeast, bacteria and viruses. The collagenous section reacts with the C1q receptor (collectin receptor) found on many cells including phagocytes. One function of these lectins appears to be the enhancement of phagocytosis, i.e. opsonization. One of the collectins, mannan-binding protein, activates the C1r2C1s2 complex of the classical complement pathway independently of C1q. Collectins have been found in several mammalian species and in the chicken. It seems likely that the biological role of the collectins is to participate in the innate immune defense.

The collectins are carbohydrate binding proteins which, like C1q, contain collagen-like sequences. The collectins belong to group III of the family of lectins containing C-type carbohydrate recognition domains (CRDs). The structural similarity between the collectins and C1q is clearly demonstrated by electron microscopy in that they all contain multiple polypeptides which are organised into subunits containing triple-helical stalks throughout their collagen-like regions and globular 'heads' in the C-terminal regions. Four, or six, of these structures are associated via distinct, short, N-terminal regions to form the oligomeric molecules seen in the electron microscope. The overall structural similarity between C1q and the collectins, however, does not extend to similarity in amino acid sequences over the C-terminal regions. The C-terminal regions of C1q, unlike those of the collectins, do not contain the conserved residues found in the CRDs present in the C-type lectins. Instead, C1q has a high degree of homology to collagen sequences (Type VIII and X) and this is consistent with the fact that, unlike the collectins, C1q binds to protein motifs in IgG, or IgM, rather than to carbohydrate structures. Also, despite sometimes showing interruptions in their collagen-like regions, the collectins do not always display a 'bend' in their collagen-like 'stalks' similar to that which is seen in C1q. Therefore, C1q may be more closely related to collagens than to the collectins. The collectins can be classed into two distinct group, with MBP and SP-A being hexamers and SP-D, conglutinin and collectin-43 (CL-43) being tetramers, with proteins in the latter group also having significantly larger dimensions with respect to the length of their collagen-like 'stalks'.

alpha-Macroglobulin and murinoglobulin were purified to homogeneity from Syrian hamster plasma and their properties were compared with those of their respective homologs from other mammals. The trypsin-inhibiting capacity of hamster murinoglobulin was much weaker than those of rat and mouse murinoglobulins. Hamster alpha-macroglobulin was cleaved by trypsin at a number of sites whereas the human homolog was split essentially only in a "bait" region into two fragments of similar size. Hamster alpha-macroglobulin treated with methylamine differed from that treated with trypsin in the electrophoretic mobility, intensity of fluorescence induced by binding of bis(8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonate), and plasma clearance pattern, whereas virtually no difference was observed between the human homologs treated in the same manner. The reaction of hamster alpha-macroglobulin with methylamine, as measured by the generation of thiol groups and the decrease in trypsin-protein amidase activity, was much slower than that of the human homolog. Trypsin in a complex with hamster alpha-macroglobulin retained its fibrinolytic activity, but this was not the case for human or rabbit alpha-2-macroglobulin. These results suggest that, compared with the human homolog, hamster alpha-macroglobulin is more loosely packed in the native state, undergoes conformational change more slowly on treatment with methylamine, and less efficiently hinders the access of proteinaceous substrates to trapped proteinase. The serum concentration of hamster alpha-macroglobulin was 6.9 mg/ml, or about 3-fold higher than that of the human type, and showed little change during the acute-phase reaction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Bovine conglutinin, which is a serum lectin specific for N-acetylglucosamine, was purified from heat-inactivated bovine serum by Sepharose 4B-mannan affinity chromatography. Without prior heat inactivation, however, the same affinity chromatography yielded a modified conglutinin, which retained sugar-binding, but not conglutination activity. The modified lectin was designated conglutinin-N. The conglutinin-N subunit (38 kDa) was smaller than that of conglutinin (45 kDa). The apparent molecular mass was also reduced from 1000 (conglutinin) to 600 kDa (conglutinin-N). Conglutinin-N and conglutinin reacted equally with a rabbit anti-conglutinin antiserum. Comparison of the NH2-terminal sequences of conglutinin-N with the primary structure of conglutinin [Lee, Y-M., Leiby, K. R. Allar, J., Paris, K., Lerch, B., and Okarma, T. B. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 2715-2723] revealed that the removal of the 54 NH2-terminal amino acids of conglutinin produced conglutinin-N. This conversion of conglutinin to conglutinin-N was catalyzed by the eluate fraction of the first affinity chromatography from untreated bovine serum and was inhibited by serine protease inhibitors such as [4-aminophenyl]methanesulfonyl fluoride and C1 inhibitor. Conglutinin-N had neither conglutination activity nor binding activity to the sensitized erythrocyte-solid phase iC3b complex (EAiC3b), although it retained the binding activity to mannan in solution and the original binding specificity for N-acetylglucosamine. Cross-linking showed that conglutinin-N formed trimers of the 38-kDa subunits, whereas conglutinin formed higher multimers of 9-18 mer. These results indicated that deleting the NH2-terminal portion containing three cysteine residues by endogenous serine protease(s) produced some conformational changes in the entire molecule, which resulted in the loss of binding activity to EAiC3b and retention of the sugar-binding property.

Preparations of bovine lung surfactant D (SP-D) and conglutinin were examined by electron microscopy, gel-filtration and SDS/PAGE. SP-D is composed of non-covalently linked subunits, of 160 kDa, which each contain three, disulphide-linked, 44-kDa polypeptide chains. In the electron microscope a single 160-kDa subunit of SP-D appears as a 45.8 +/- 3-nm-long rod connected to a small globular 'head'. Particles were also seen which correspond to non-covalently linked dimers, trimers and tetramers of the 160-kDa monomer subunit of SP-D. The tetramer structure contains 12 polypeptide chains and is very similar to the electron microscopy images and model reported by Strang et al. [Strang, C. J., Slayter, US., Lachmann, P. J. and Davis, A. E. (1986) Biochem. J. 236, 3811-389] for bovine conglutinin in which four 160-kDa subunits are disulphide-linked to give a molecule of expected molecular mass of 528 kDa. This study confirmed the findings by Strang et al. in the above paper for intact conglutinin and also emphasised that the rod-like structures, of length 37.6 +/- 3.7 nm, seen in the conglutinin subunits were significantly shorter than those in SP-D despite the close similarity in amino acid sequence (79% identify) and chain length between the two proteins. In addition, a truncated form of conglutinin was found in the conglutinin preparations, due to limited proteolysis of the Arg-Ala bond at position 54 in the 44-kDa chains. These truncated conglutinin chains yield a subunit composed of three shortened, non-disulphide-linked, chains and this subunit appears as a monomer with a rod length of 34.2 +/- 2.8 nm in the electron microscope. On gel-filtration, a proportion of the SP-D preparation behaved, as expected, as a molecule with an apparent molecular mass of 600 kDa. The remainder of the SP-D preparation behaved as aggregated material with a molecular mass greater than 900 kDa which yielded no distinct structures in the electron microscope. Intact conglutinin was eluted at a position greater than 900 kDa but yet provided clear electron microscopy images of the tetramer structure described above.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

A previously undescribed bovine serum lectin (designated CL-43) was identified by its Ca(2+)-dependent binding to mannan and by its molecular mass of 43 kDa under reducing conditions on SDS-PAGE. The lectin was isolated by polyethylene glycol precipitation, affinity chromatography on mannan-Sepharose (followed by elution with EDTA), and absorption on Sepharose-4B-coupled rabbit anti-bovine Ig (to remove anti-mannan antibodies). Fractions containing the lectin were reapplied to mannan-Sepharose. Bound conglutinin was eluted with GlcNAc, and then the 43-kDa lectin, together with mannan-binding protein (MBP), was eluted with mannose. The 43-kDa lectin was separated from MBP by ion exchange chromatography on Mono-Q. On SDS-PAGE under nonreducing conditions the lectin showed a molecular mass of 120 kDa. On gel chromatography under nondissociating conditions the protein was eluted at a volume corresponding to a molecular mass of approximately 750 kDa. Amino acid analysis showed the presence of hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine and a high content of glycine (24.3%) indicating the presence of a collagen-like structure. This was supported by the susceptibility of the protein to collagenase digestion. The designation CL-43 was chosen since this molecule appears to belong to the collectins, i.e. proteins with collagen structure and lectin activity. The N-terminal sequence (27 amino acids) showed 56% identity with bovine SP-D and 44% identity to bovine conglutinin. An inhibition assay with biotinylated CL-43, using solid-phase mannan as ligand, revealed the following carbohydrate inhibition pattern: mannose and ManNAc > fucose > GlcNAc > glucose and maltose > galactose > lactose >> GalNAc. We conclude that CL-43 is a circulating lectin, with structural similarities to bovine conglutinin and SP-D, and a ligand binding profile resembling that of MBP.