Bovine spongiform encephalopathy: investigation of phenotypic variation among passive surveillance cases.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a prion disease of domesticated cattle, first identified in Great Britain (GB) in 1986. The disease has been characterized by histopathological, immunohistochemical, biochemical and biological properties, which have shown a consistent disease phenotype among cases obtained by passive surveillance. With the advent of active surveillance in 2001, immunological tests for detection of the prion protein revealed some cases with different biochemical characteristics and, in certain instances, differences in pathology that have indicated variant phenotypes and the possibility of agent strain variation. This study examines a case set of 523 bovine brains derived from archived material identified through passive surveillance in GB. All cases conformed to the phenotype of classical BSE (BSE-C) by histopathological, immunohistochemical and biochemical approaches. The analyses consolidated an understanding of BSE-C and, by western blotting, confirmed differentiation from the known atypical BSE cases which exhibit higher or lower molecular masses than BSE-C (BSE-H and BSE-L respectively).

Experimental classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy: definition and progression of neural PrP immunolabeling in relation to diagnosis and disease controls.

Tissues from sequential-kill time course studies of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) were examined to define PrP immunohistochemical labeling forms and map disease-specific labeling over the disease course after oral exposure to the BSE agent at two dose levels. Study was confined to brainstem, spinal cord, and certain peripheral nervous system ganglia-tissues implicated in pathogenesis and diagnosis or disease control strategies. Disease-specific labeling in the brainstem in 39 of 220 test animals showed the forms and patterns observed in natural disease and invariably preceded spongiform changes. A precise temporal pattern of increase in labeling was not apparent, but labeling was generally most widespread in clinical cases, and it always involved neuroanatomic locations in the medulla oblongata. In two cases, sparse labeling was confined to one or more neuroanatomic nuclei of the medulla oblongata. When involved, the spinal cord was affected at all levels, providing no indication of temporal spread within the cord axis or relative to the brainstem. Where minimal PrP labeling occurred in the thoracic spinal cord, it was consistent with initial involvement of general visceral efferent neurons. Labeling of ganglia involved only sensory ganglia and only when PrP was present in the brainstem and spinal cord. These experimental transmissions mimicked the neuropathologic findings in BSE-C field cases, independent of dose of agent or stage of disease. The model supports current diagnostic sampling approaches and control measures for the removal and destruction of nervous system tissues in slaughtered cattle.

Estimating the temporal relationship between PrPSc detection and incubation period in experimental bovine spongiform encephalopathy of cattle.

This study examines tissues from sequential-kill, time-course pathogenesis studies to refine estimates of the age at which disease-specific PrP (PrP(Sc)) can first be detected in the central nervous system (CNS) and related peripheral nervous system ganglia of cattle incubating bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Such estimates are important for risk assessments of the age at which these tissues should be removed from cattle at slaughter to prevent human and animal exposure to BSE infection. Tissues were examined from cattle dosed orally with 100 or 1 g BSE-infected brain. Incubation period data for the doses were obtained from attack rate and the sequential-kill studies. A statistical model, fitted by maximum likelihood, accounted for the differences in the lognormal incubation period and the logistic probability of infection between different dose groups. Initial detection of PrP(Sc) during incubation was invariably in the brainstem and the earliest was at 30 and 44 months post-exposure for the 100 g- and 1 g-dosed sequential-kill study groups, respectively. The point at which PrP(Sc) in 50 % of the animals would be detected by immunohistochemistry applied to medulla-obex was estimated at 9.6 and 1.7 months before clinical onset for the 100 g- and 1 g-dosed cattle, respectively, with a low probability of detection in any of the tissues examined at more than 12 months before clinical onset. PrP(Sc) was detected inconsistently in dorsal root ganglia, concurrent with or after detection in CNS, and not at all in certain sympathetic nervous system ganglia.

Clustering of death receptors in lipid rafts initiates neutrophil spontaneous apoptosis.

Neutrophils die by apoptosis spontaneously within 12-24 h of their release from the bone marrow. The mechanism regulating entry of neutrophils into apoptosis at the end of their life-span is currently under debate. Our data suggest that neutrophil apoptosis involves a novel mechanism of caspase 8 activation that is indirectly regulated by accumulation of reactive oxygen species. We detected early activation of caspase 8 upstream of caspase 3 activation, suggesting death receptor signalling. The CD95 DISC (death-inducing signalling complex) was detected in neutrophils, but blocking antibodies to death receptors did not inhibit apoptosis, suggesting a novel mechanism for caspase 8 activation. Death receptor clustering in ceramide-rich lipid rafts is thought to be an early event in their signalling, so we investigated the role of ceramide generated by ASM (acid sphingomyelinase) in neutrophil apoptosis. Ceramide was generated early in neutrophil apoptosis, and ASM activity was required for neutrophil apoptosis. Moreover, neutrophil apoptosis was significantly delayed in ASM(-/-) mice compared with their wild-type littermates. CD95 DISC components were present in lipid rafts in neutrophils, and were progressively clustered in cultured neutrophils. Generation of ceramide was blocked by desferrioxamine, suggesting that hydroxyl radicals are important for the activation of ASM. This observation was in line with our earlier observation of a precipitous drop in reduced glutathione in the aging neutrophil.

Early events in spontaneous neutrophil apoptosis.

Neutrophils are very abundant, short-lived leucocytes and their death by apoptosis is central to homoeostasis and the resolution of inflammation, yet the trigger for apoptosis is still a topic of debate. Depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane has been supposed to initiate neutrophil spontaneous apoptosis, as neutrophils gradually lose the anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 and Bax translocates and inserts into the mitochondrial membrane. However, other reports show that caspase 8 is required for neutrophil apoptosis, suggesting the involvement of DR (death receptor) signalling. As DR ligation is not required for neutrophil apoptosis, this raises the intriguing possibility that activation of caspase 8 during neutrophil apoptosis occurs via a novel mechanism. In the present paper, we discuss the current evidence for mechanisms occurring in neutrophil apoptosis, which could trigger DR signalling in the absence of DR ligation.

Protein kinase C-epsilon promotes adipogenic commitment and is essential for terminal differentiation of 3T3-F442A preadipocytes.

The role of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms in the commitment of multipotent fibroblasts to the adipocyte lineage and in their terminal differentiation into mature adipocytes was investigated. Ectopic overexpression of PKC-epsilon, but not other PKC isoforms, committed multipotent NIH-3T3 cells to adipogenic differentiation in the presence of hormonal inducers. In committed 3T3-F442A preadipocytes, PKC-epsilon protein expression increased during the course of terminal differentiation and cell-permeable PKC-epsilon inhibitory peptides, which prevent interaction with RACK (receptor for activated C-kinase) proteins, severely inhibited differentiation. PKC-epsilon accumulated in the nuclei of 3T3-F442A cells shortly after induction of differentiation and exhibited a distinctive punctate speckling immunocytochemical staining pattern. The spatiotemporal aspects of PKC-epsilon localization and expression coincided with that of C/EBP-beta, a transcription factor critically involved in promoting the early phase of adipogenesis. Collectively, these results demonstrate a role for PKC-epsilon in both adipogenic commitment and preadipocyte terminal differentiation.

The isoform-specific regulation of apoptosis by protein kinase C.

The process of apoptosis is regulated at several levels through phosphorylation by many different protein kinases. The protein kinase C (PKC) family, which comprises at least 10 isoforms with distinct means of regulation and tissue distribution patterns, have been shown to exert both inhibitory and stimulatory influences on apoptosis. This review details recent progress made in determining the roles played by individual PKC isoforms in the control of apoptosis, with reference to their target substrates and actions in different cell types. Although notable exceptions exist, the weight of evidence indicates that the alpha, beta, epsilon and atypical isoforms are anti-apoptotic in their action, whereas the delta and theta isoforms are usually involved in the promotion of apoptosis.

Regulation of neutrophil apoptosis: a role for protein kinase C and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase.

Neutrophils play a central role in host defense and are recruited in vast numbers to sites of infection where they phagocytose and kill invading bacterial pathogens. Neutrophils have a short half-life that is extended at the inflamed site by pro-inflammatory cytokines and contact with bacterial cell walls. Normal resolution of inflammation involves the removal of neutrophils and other inflammatory cells by the induction of apoptosis. Spontaneous neutrophil apoptosis does not require Fas ligation, but is mediated by caspases 3, 8 and possibly caspase 9 and also involves activation of protein kinase C-delta. With chronic inflammatory disease, neutrophil apoptosis is delayed by pro-inflammatory cytokines, leading to persistence of neutrophils at the inflamed site and non-specific tissue damage. Here we discuss the evidence for inhibition of neutrophil apoptosis via signaling though PI-3-kinase and downstream pathways, including PDK-1 and PKB. Therapeutic strategies to resolve chronic inflammation could therefore usefully target neutrophil apoptosis and the PI-3-kinase or PKC-delta signaling pathways.

Purification and properties of the adenosine triphosphatase released from the liver mitochondrial membrane by chloroform.

1. Soluble ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) activity is released when rat liver submitochondrial particles are shaken with chloroform, provided that ATP or glycerol is present in the suspending medium. The extraction is very rapid and appears to be complete. 2. The ATPase of the chloroform extract is about 50% pure and can be readily purified to a specific activity of 60-70mumol/min per mg of protein by (NH(4))(2)SO(4) fractionation and column chromatography on Sephadex G-200. 3. The particulate and soluble ATPases have many similar properties, including their K(m) values for ATP, activation by various metal ions, hydrolytic activity with other nucleotides and stimulation by bicarbonate ions. 4. Unlike the particulate enzyme, the soluble enzyme is cold-labile and insensitive to oligomycin. 5. The molecular weight indicated by the mobility of the soluble ATPase on Sepharose 6B is 360000. 6. The soluble ATPase combines very readily with liver submitochondrial particles depleted of ATPase by salt extraction, and oligomycin-sensitivity is restored. Very little recombination of the enzyme occurs with chloroform-extracted particles. 7. The soluble enzyme contains orcinol-reactive material, suggesting that it may be a glycoprotein. The carbohydrate content was estimated to be 1-2% by weight. 8. It is concluded that the liver ATPase obtained by the chloroform extraction method of Beechey, Hubbard, Linnett, Mitchell & Munn [(1975) Biochem. J.148, 533-537] is similar to other preparations described previously and that this method is superior in simplicity and speed.