Landscape perceptions and social representations of Fallopia spp. in France.

Choices have to be made to manage invasive species because eradication often is not possible. Both ecological and social factors have to be considered to improve the efficiency of management plans. We conducted a social study on Fallopia spp., a major invasive plant taxon in Europe, including (1) a survey on the perception of a landscape containing Fallopia spp. using a photoquestionnaire and (2) an analysis of the social representations of Fallopia spp. of managers and users in one highly invaded area and one less invaded area. The respondents to the photoquestionnaire survey appreciated the esthetics of the landscapes less when tall Fallopia spp. were present. Few people were able to identify and name the plant, and this knowledge negatively affected the appreciation of the photos containing Fallopia spp. The central core of the social representation of Fallopia spp. was composed of the invasive status of the plant, its density, and its ecological impacts. The peripheral elements of the representation depended on the people surveyed. The users highlighted the natural aspect whereas the managers identified the need for control. In the invaded area, the managers qualified the species as "unmanageable," whereas the species was qualified as "foreign" in the less invaded area. Those results provide insights that have to be included when objectives of management plans of these species are selected.

Engineering antibodies for stability and efficient folding.

Antibody variable domains vary widely in their intrinsic thermodynamic stability. Despite the mutual stabilization of the domains in the scFv fragment, most scFv derived from monoclonal antibodies without further engineering show poor to moderate stability. The situation gets more complex for Fab fragments and full-sized antibodies: while the disulfide-linked C(L)/C(H) heterodimer shows very limited thermodynamic stability, its unfolding kinetics are very slow. The same is true for Fab fragments, which, due to this kinetic stabilization, appear to be more stable than their thermodynamic stability suggests. However, suboptimal variable domains can be engineered for improved stability and folding efficiency while preserving their antigen-binding specificity and affinity, either by a limited number of point mutations or by grafting their antigen specificity to superior variable domain frameworks.

Correlated strength in the nuclear spectral function.

We have carried out an (e,e'p) experiment at high momentum transfer and in parallel kinematics to measure the strength of the nuclear spectral function S(k,E) at high nucleon momenta k and large removal energies E. This strength is related to the presence of short-range and tensor correlations, and was known hitherto only indirectly and with considerable uncertainty from the lack of strength in the independent-particle region. This experiment locates by direct measurement the correlated strength predicted by theory.

Interleukin-1 beta, transforming growth factor beta 1, prostaglandin E2, and fibronectin levels in the conditioned mediums of bone marrow fibroblast cultures from lung and breast cancer patients.

We analyzed the ability of the bone marrow (BM) stromal cells to achieve confluence and their proliferative capacity in BM primary cultures from 30 untreated lung cancer patients (LCP), 27 breast cancer patients (BCP), and 30 normal controls (NC) when these confluent cells were induced to proliferate following four continuous subcultures. Moreover, we evaluated the production of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta), transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1), fibronectin, and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) by pure fibroblasts (fourth passage). A fibroblast colony-forming units (CFU-F) assay was used to investigate the proliferative and confluence capacity. Levels of IL-1beta, TGF-beta1, and fibronectin in conditioned mediums (CM) of fibroblast cultures were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit and PGE(2) by radioimmunoassay (RIA) kit. Confluence was achieved in the 60% of LCP and 78% of BCP primary cultures compared with 100% of NC, and only fibroblasts from seven LCP and six BCP cultures had the capacity to proliferate following four subcultures. Levels of IL-1beta were below 10 pg/ml in both patient groups, while NC had a mean value of 5882.57+/-221.61 pg/ml. Levels of TGF-beta1 in BCP were lower than NC values ( P<0.05). LCP and BCP had significantly decreased levels of fibronectin when compared to NC values ( P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively). Levels of PGE2 in LCP were higher compared to NC ( P<0.01). In conclusion, BM fibroblasts from LCP and BCP presented a defective proliferative and confluence capacity, and this deficiency may be associated with the alteration of IL-1beta, TGF-beta1, fibronectin, and PGE2 production.

Measurement of the electric form factor of the neutron through d-->(e-->,e(')n)p at Q2 = 0.5 (GeV/c)(2).

We report the first measurement using a solid polarized target of the neutron electric form factor G(n)(E) via d-->(e-->,e(')n)p. G(n)(E) was determined from the beam-target asymmetry in the scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from polarized deuterated ammonia ( 15ND3). The measurement was performed in Hall C at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in quasifree kinematics with the target polarization perpendicular to the momentum transfer. The electrons were detected in a magnetic spectrometer in coincidence with neutrons in a large solid angle segmented detector. We find G(n)(E) = 0.04632+/-0.00616(stat)+/-0.00341(syst) at Q2 = 0.495 (GeV/c)(2).

Yet another numbering scheme for immunoglobulin variable domains: an automatic modeling and analysis tool.

A common residue numbering scheme for all immunoglobulin variable domains (immunoglobulin light chain lambda (V(lambda)) and kappa (V(kappa)) variable domains, heavy chain variable domains (V(H)) and T-cell receptor alpha (V(alpha)), beta (V(beta)), gamma (V(gamma)) and delta (V(delta)) variable domains) has been devised. Based on the spatial alignment of known three-dimensional structures of immunoglobulin domains, it places the alignment gaps in a way that minimizes the average deviation from the averaged structure of the aligned domains. This residue numbering scheme was applied to the immunoglobulin variable domain structures in the PDB database to automate the extraction of information on structural variations in homologous positions of the different molecules. A number of methods are presented that allow the automated projection of information derived from individual structures or from the comparison of multi-structure alignments onto a graphical representation of the sequence alignment.

Selection, characterization and x-ray structure of anti-ampicillin single-chain Fv fragments from phage-displayed murine antibody libraries.

Single-chain Fv (scFv) antibody libraries were constructed from mice immunized with an ampicillin-bovine serum albumin conjugate. Several antibodies with specificity for intact ampicillin were selected by phage display and characterized. The antibody scFv fragment aL2 binds to intact ampicillin and shows no detectable cross-reactivity with hydrolyzed ampicillin. We determined the X-ray structures of two crystal forms of w.t. aL2, which differ mainly in the side-chain conformation of Trp H109 (according to a new consensus nomenclature Kabat residue number H95) in the extremely short (three residues) CDR H3 and the presence or absence of a well-resolved molecule of 2-methyl-pentane-2,4-diol in the bottom of the binding pocket. Attempts to co-crystallize aL2 with its antigen or to diffuse ampicillin into the wild-type aL2 crystals were unsuccessful, since crystal contacts obstruct the binding pocket. However, a mutant with two point mutations near the N terminus (Gln H6 replaced by Glu and Ala H10 (Kabat H9) replaced by Gly) crystallized in a form compatible with antigen-binding. Although the mutations affect the conformation of framework I, the conformations of the binding pocket of the uncomplexed wild-type aL2 and of the mutant complex were almost identical. The structure explains the specificity of the antibody for intact ampicillin and the degree of cross-reactivity of aL2 with a wide variety of ampicillin analogs. This antibody system will be very useful as a diagnostic reagent for antibiotics use and abuse, as a model for the effect of expression of antibiotic binding molecules in Escherichia coli, and for directed evolution towards high antibiotic resistance.

The influence of the buried glutamine or glutamate residue in position 6 on the structure of immunoglobulin variable domains.

Immunoglobulin V(H) domain frameworks can be grouped into four distinct types, depending on the main-chain conformation of framework 1. Based on the analysis of over 200 X-ray structures representing more than 100 non-redundant V(H) domain sequences, we have come to the conclusion that the marked structural variability of the V(H) framework 1 region is caused by three residues: the buried side-chain of H6, which can be either a glutamate or a glutamine residue, the residue in position H7, which may be proline only if H6 is glutamine, and by H9 (H10 according to a new consensus nomenclature), which has to be either glycine or proline if H6 is a glutamate residue. In natural antibodies, these three residues are encoded in combinations that are compatible with each other and with the rest of the structure and therefore will yield functional molecules. However, the degenerate primer mixtures commonly used for PCR cloning of antibody fragments can and frequently do introduce out-of-context mutations to combinations that can lead to severe reduction of stability, production yield and antigen affinity.

The importance of framework residues H6, H7 and H10 in antibody heavy chains: experimental evidence for a new structural subclassification of antibody V(H) domains.

The N-terminal segment (FR-H1) of the heavy chain (V(H)) of antibodies shows significant conformational variability correlating with the nature of the amino acids H6, H7 and H10 (Kabat H9). In this study, we have established a causal relationship between the local sequence and the structure of this framework region and linked this relationship to important biophysical properties such as affinity, folding yield and stability. We have generated six mutants of the scFv fragment aL2, covering some of the most abundant amino acid combinations in positions H6, H7 and H10 (according to a new consensus nomenclature, Kabat H9). For the aL2 wild-type (w.t.) with the sequence 6(Q)7(P)10(A) and for two of the mutants, the X-ray structures have been determined. The structure of the triple mutant aL2-6(E)7(S)10(G) shows the FR-H1 backbone conformations predicted for this amino acid combination, which is distinctly different from the structure of the w.t, thus supporting our hypothesis that these residues determine the conformation of this segment. The mutant aL2-6(E)7(P)10(G) represents a residue combination not occurring in natural antibody sequences. It shows a completely different, unique structure in the first beta-strand of V(H), not observed in natural Fv fragments and forms a novel type of diabody. Two V(H) domains of the mutant associate by swapping the first beta-strand. Concentration-dependent changes in Trp fluorescence indicate that this dimerization also occurs in solution. The mutations in amino acids H6, H7 and H10 (Kabat H9) influence the dimerization behavior of the scFv and its thermodynamic stability. All the observations reported here have practical implications for the cloning of Fv fragments with degenerate primers, as well as for the design of new antibodies by CDR grafting or synthetic libraries.

Tailoring in vitro evolution for protein affinity or stability.

We describe a rapid and general technology working entirely in vitro to evolve either the affinity or the stability of ligand-binding proteins, depending on the chosen selection pressure. Tailored in vitro selection strategies based on ribosome display were combined with in vitro diversification by DNA shuffling to evolve either the off-rate or thermodynamic stability of single-chain Fv antibody fragments (scFvs). To demonstrate the potential of this method, we chose to optimize two proteins already possessing favorable properties. A scFv with an initial affinity of 1.1 nM (k(off) at 4 degrees C of 10(-4) s(-1)) was improved 30-fold by the use of off-rate selections over a period of several days. As a second example, a generic selection strategy for improved stability exploited the property of ribosome display that the conditions can be altered under which the folding of the displayed protein occurs. We used decreasing redox potentials in the selection step to select for molecules stable in the absence of disulfide bonds. They could be functionally expressed in the reducing cytoplasm, and, when allowed to form disulfides again, their stability had increased to 54 kJ/mol from an initial value of 24 kJ/mol. Sequencing revealed that the evolved mutant proteins had used different strategies of residue changes to adapt to the selection pressure. Therefore, by a combination of randomization and appropriate selection strategies, an in vitro evolution of protein properties in a predictable direction is possible.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging may avoid misdiagnosis of cochleovestibular nerve aplasia in congenital deafness.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate a narrow internal auditory canal (IAC) syndrome using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the auditory cortex. STUDY DESIGN: The study design was a case report. The follow-up period lasted 18 months. SETTING: The study was carried out in the audiology clinic of an ear, nose, and throat department and in the department of pediatric neuroradiology at a university hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Age-appropriate observational audiometry, objective audiovestibular tests, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and (fMRI) of the auditory cortex were performed to analyze in detail the profound deafness of a young child. RESULTS: Audiovestibular examination demonstrated both measurable hearing and normal vestibulo-ocular reflex, and CT showed narrow IACs combined with normal labyrinths. Axial MR images completed by sagittal sections perpendicular to the IAC delineated a single nerve that was initially supposed to be the facial nerve. No cochleovestibular nerve was identified. However, fMRI performed with the patient under general anesthesia demonstrated activation of the primary auditory cortex during 1-kHz monaural stimulation on the left side. CONCLUSIONS: The absence of cochleovestibular nerve on MR studies cannot exclude connections between the inner ear and the central auditory pathways. This might be caused by a lack of spatial resolution of anatomical MR studies. The single nerve delineated within the IAC might also carry both facial and cochleovestibular fibers. Functional MRI can assess the cortical response to acoustic stimuli when aplasia of the cochleovestibular nerve is suspected. This case study illustrates a novel and atypical presentation of cochlear nerve dysplasia.

Unbinding forces of single antibody-antigen complexes correlate with their thermal dissociation rates.

Point mutants of three unrelated antifluorescein antibodies were constructed to obtain nine different single-chain Fv fragments, whose on-rates, off-rates, and equilibrium binding affinities were determined in solution. Additionally, activation energies for unbinding were estimated from the temperature dependence of the off-rate in solution. Loading rate-dependent unbinding forces were determined for single molecules by atomic force microscopy, which extrapolated at zero force to a value close to the off-rate measured in solution, without any indication for multiple transition states. The measured unbinding forces of all nine mutants correlated well with the off-rate in solution, but not with the temperature dependence of the reaction, indicating that the same transition state must be crossed in spontaneous and forced unbinding and that the unbinding path under load cannot be too different from the one at zero force. The distance of the transition state from the ground state along the unbinding pathway is directly proportional to the barrier height, regardless of the details of the binding site, which most likely reflects the elasticity of the protein in the unbinding process. Atomic force microscopy thus can be a valuable tool for the characterization of solution properties of protein-ligand systems at the single molecule level, predicting relative off-rates, potentially of great value for combinatorial chemistry and biology.

Fully synthetic human combinatorial antibody libraries (HuCAL) based on modular consensus frameworks and CDRs randomized with trinucleotides.

By analyzing the human antibody repertoire in terms of structure, amino acid sequence diversity and germline usage, we found that seven V(H) and seven V(L) (four Vkappa and three Vlambda) germline families cover more than 95 % of the human antibody diversity used. A consensus sequence was derived for each family and optimized for expression in Escherichia coli. In order to make all six complementarity determining regions (CDRs) accessible for diversification, the synthetic genes were designed to be modular and mutually compatible by introducing unique restriction endonuclease sites flanking the CDRs. Molecular modeling verified that all canonical classes were present. We could show that all master genes are expressed as soluble proteins in the periplasm of E. coli. A first set of antibody phage display libraries totalling 2x10(9) members was created after cloning the genes in all 49 combinations into a phagemid vector, itself devoid of the restriction sites in question. Diversity was created by replacing the V(H) and V(L) CDR3 regions of the master genes by CDR3 library cassettes, generated from mixed trinucleotides and biased towards natural human antibody CDR3 sequences. The sequencing of 257 members of the unselected libraries indicated that the frequency of correct and thus potentially functional sequences was 61 %. Selection experiments against many antigens yielded a diverse set of binders with high affinities. Due to the modular design of all master genes, either single binders or even pools of binders can now be rapidly optimized without knowledge of the particular sequence, using pre-built CDR cassette libraries. The small number of 49 master genes will allow future improvements to be incorporated quickly, and the separation of the frameworks may help in analyzing why nature has evolved these distinct subfamilies of antibody germline genes.

Correlation between in vitro stability and in vivo performance of anti-GCN4 intrabodies as cytoplasmic inhibitors.

A cellular assay system for measuring the activity of cytoplasmically expressed anti-GCN4 scFv fragments directed against the Gcn4p dimerization domain was established in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The inhibitory potential of different constitutively expressed anti-GCN4 scFv intrabodies was monitored by measuring the activity of beta-galactosidase expressed from a GCN4-dependent reporter gene. The in vivo performance of these scFv intrabodies in specifically decreasing reporter gene activity was related to their in vitro stability, measured by denaturant-induced equilibrium unfolding. A framework-engineered stabilized version showed significantly improved activity, while a destabilized point mutant of the anti-GCN4 wild-type showed decreased effects in vivo. These results indicate that stability engineering can result in improved performance of scFv fragments as intrabodies. Increasing the thermodynamic stability appears to be an essential factor for improving the yield of functional scFv in the reducing environment of the cytoplasm, where the conserved intradomain disulfides of antibody fragments cannot form.

High thermal stability is essential for tumor targeting of antibody fragments: engineering of a humanized anti-epithelial glycoprotein-2 (epithelial cell adhesion molecule) single-chain Fv fragment.

The epithelial glycoprotein-2 is abundantly expressed on many solid tumors and is a suitable target for antibody-based therapy. In the present study, an antiepithelial glycoprotein-2 single-chain Fv (scFv) was derived from the hybridoma MOC31 by phage display. Despite its high affinity (KD = 3.9 x 10(-9) M), however, this antibody fragment failed to significantly enrich at lung tumor xenografts in mice, mostly because of its insufficient thermal stability. To overcome this limitation, the antigen-binding residues of the MOC31 scFv fragment were grafted onto the framework of the highly stable and well-folding anti-c-erbB2 scFv 4D5. Further modification of the resulting 4D5 MOC-A, which was performed by transferring eight additional residues of the heavy chain variable domain core of the parent MOC31 antibody, produced 4D5 MOC-B, resulting in increased serum stability at 37 degrees C and also significantly improved expression behavior while retaining the antigen specificity and affinity of the parent MOC31 scFv. In mice, the scFv 4D5 MOC-B, which was radiolabeled with 99mtechnetium using a new histidine-tag specific labeling method (Waibel et al., Nature Biotechnol., 17: 897-901, 1999), showed favorable blood clearance and efficient enriches at lung tumor xenografts, with a tumor:blood ratio of 5.25 and a total dose of 1.47% injected dose per gram after 24 h. Biophysical properties such as high thermal stability are thus decisive for whether these molecules are useful in vivo, and our approach may provide a general strategy to solve this problem. This is also the first report of using a humanized anti-EGP-2 scFv in vivo for targeting solid tumors, which is a promising targeting moiety for the diagnostics and therapy of EGP-2-positive tumors in patients.

Selection for improved protein stability by phage display.

A library of mutants of a single-chain Fv fragment (scFv) was generated by a combination of directed and random mutagenesis, using oligonucleotides randomized at defined positions and two rounds of DNA shuffling. The library was based on the already well folding and stable scFv fragment 4D5Flu. In order to further improve this framework and test the efficiency of various selection strategies, phage display selection was carried out under different selective pressures for higher thermodynamic stability. Incubation of the display phages at elevated temperatures was compared to exposure of the phages to high concentrations of guanidinium chloride. Temperature stress-guided selection yielded the most stable scFv mutant after two rounds of mutagenesis and selection, due to the irreversibility of the unfolding process. It possessed only two mutations (His(L27d)Asn and Phe(L55)Val) and showed a thermodynamic stability improved by roughly 4 kcal/mol, threefold better expression yields in Escherichia coli as well as a 20-fold better binding constant than the 4D5Flu wild-type. The selection results obtained in this study delineate the advantages, disadvantages and limitations of different stability stress selection methods in phage display.

Insight into odorant perception: the crystal structure and binding characteristics of antibody fragments directed against the musk odorant traseolide.

Monoclonal antibodies were elicited against the small hydrophobic hapten traseolide, a commercially available musk fragrance. Antibody variable region sequences were found to belong to different sequence groups, and the binding characteristics of the corresponding antibody fragments were investigated. The antibodies M02/01/01 and M02/05/01 are highly homologous and differ in the binding pocket only at position H93. M02/05/01 (H93 Val) binds the hapten traseolide about 75-fold better than M02/01/01 (H93 Ala). A traseolide analog, missing only one methyl group, does not have the characteristic musk odorant fragrance. The antibody M02/05/01 binds this hapten analog about tenfold less tightly than the original traseolide hapten, and mimics the odorant receptor in this respect, while the antibody M02/01/01 does not distinguish between the analog and traseolide. To elucidate the structural basis for the fine specificity of binding, we determined the crystal structure of the Fab fragment of M02/05/01 complexed with the hapten at 2.6 A resolution. The crystal structure showed that only van der Waals interactions are involved in binding. The somatic Ala H93 Val mutation in M02/05/01 fills up an empty cavity in the binding pocket. This leads to an increase in binding energy and to the ability to discriminate between the hapten traseolide and its derivatives. The structural understanding of odorant specificity in an antibody gives insight in the physical principles on how specificity for such hydrophobic molecules may be achieved.

[Development of different linguistic systems in children with a cochlear implant]. / Développement des différents systèmes linguistiques chez les enfants porteurs d'un implant cochléaire.

The authors have studied a population of 21 pre-lingually deaf children equipped with a cochlear implant for at least 24 months. Their linguistic progression after implantation has been compared with the standard language development in normally hearing children, using a model published by Marie Therese Le Normand in 1996. 3 types of development can be distinguished: Profile 1 (shown by 9 children) in which language development after implantation is rapid and homogeneous: profile 2 (shown by 8 children), in which it is slower and more heterogeneous, with a longer pre-linguistic phase; Profile 3 (shown by 3 children) in which there are diverse problems with development. The authors then searched to establish the influence of the age at implantation and the mode of communication on this development.

The nature of antibody heavy chain residue H6 strongly influences the stability of a VH domain lacking the disulfide bridge.

Monoclonal antibody mAb 03/01/01, directed against the musk odorant traseolide, carries a serine residue instead of the conserved Cys H92 in the heavy chain variable domain, and is thus lacking the highly conserved disulfide bridge. We investigated the energetic consequence of restoring the disulfide bond and the nature of residue H6 (Glu or Gln), which is poised to interact with Ser H92 in the recombinant scFv fragment obtained from this antibody. In the scFv fragment derived from this antibody, the stabilizing effect of Gln H6 over Glu was found to be as large as the effect of reintroducing the disulfide bond. We have analyzed the conformation and hydrogen bond pattern of Gln H6 and Glu H6 in antibodies carrying these residues and suggest mechanisms by which this residue could contribute to VH domain stability. We also show that the unpaired cysteine H22 is buried, and conforms to the expected VH structure. The antibody appears to have acquired two somatic mutations (Ser H52 and Arg H66), which had been previously characterized as having a positive effect on VH stability. The overall domain stability is the decisive factor for generating functional, disulfide-free antibody domains, and several key residues play dominant roles.

Reproducing the natural evolution of protein structural features with the selectively infective phage (SIP) technology. The kink in the first strand of antibody kappa domains.

The beta-sandwich structure of immunoglobulin variable domains is characterized by a typical kink in the first strand, which allows the first part of the strand to hydrogen bond to the outer beta-sheet (away from the VH-VL interface) and the second part to the inner beta-sheet. This kink differs in length and sequence between the Vkappa, Vlambda and VH domains and yet is involved in several almost perfectly conserved interactions with framework residues. We have used the selectively infective phage (SIP) system to select the optimal kink region from several defined libraries, using an anti-hemagglutinin single-chain Fv (scFv) fragment as a model system. Both for the kink with the Vkappa domain length and that with the Vlambda length, a sequence distribution was selected that coincides remarkably well with the sequence distribution of natural antibodies. The selected scFv fragments were purified and characterized, and thermodynamic stability was found to be the prime factor responsible for selection. These data show that the SIP technology can be used for optimizing protein structural features by evolutionary approaches.