Papain digestion fragments of human IgM globulins.

Papain digestion of two Waldenström IgM globulins produced a high amount of small peptides and resulted in the formation of two end products, the Fabmicro and Fcmicro fragments. The Fcmicro fragment is characterized by a fast electrophoretic mobility, a high content in carbohydrate, and a high molecular weight. It was demonstrated that this fragment is made of heavy chain pieces belonging to several disulfide-linked monomeric subunits, presumably representing the carboxy-terminal end of the micro-chains. Fc fragments from the two macroglobulins could not be distinguished immunologically. An appreciable proportion of IgM molecules apparently underwent degradation without the formation of a stable Fc fragment. An Fc-like fragment, analogous to the reduced Fc fragment, was obtained at early stages of papain digestion of the IgM subunits. The Fabmicro fragment, with slow and individually distinct electrophoretic mobility, bears many physicochemical and immunological similarities to the Fabgamma fragment. It consists of one light chain and one Fd piece, both of which were isolated. The interaction of these two constituents was demonstrated by gel diffusion studies. Fab fragments of both IgM globulins were resolved into two subpopulations with different electric charges. In addition to these fragments, intermediary split products were observed at early stages of the degradation process, together with a high yield of small peptides mainly derived from the papain-sensitive region of the heavy chains. Immunologic data strongly suggested that this segment of micro-chains is situated between the Fd piece and the portion included in the Fc fragment. Several experiments indicated the importance of conformational antigenic specificity in both Fab and Fc regions of the IgM globulins.

Phylogeny of immunoglobulin structure and function. I. Immunoglobulins of the lemon shark.

Lemon sharks immunized with bovine serum albumin produced two molecular forms of antibodies detectable by passive hemagglutination of antigen-coated, tanned sheep erythrocytes. Throughout the course of immunization 2-ME-sensitive antibody was associated with a 19S immunoglobulin fraction (4-5 mg/ml serum) while late in the course of immunization antibody was found also associated with a 7S immunoglobulin fraction (7-8 mg/ml serum). No evidence for any anamnestic response was found in these animals. Naturally occurring hemagglutinins for sheep erythrocytes were found to be 2-ME-sensitive and present in the 19S immunoglobulin fraction. These immunoglobulin fractions were readily purified by DEAE-cellulose chromatography and Sephadex G-200 gel filtration. Both immunoglobulin molecules yielded equimolar amounts of H and L polypeptide chains when subjected to extensive reduction and alkylation followed by gel filtration in 5 M guanidine-HCl. Antigenically reactive H and L chains were obtained by partial reduction and alkylation followed by gel filtration in 1 M propionic acid. The 7S and 19S immunoglobulin H chains were indistinguishable by fingerprints of tryptic digests, disc electrophoretic patterns, antigenic properties, and mass (molecular weight approximately 70,000), thus suggesting these two molecules to belong to the same immunoglobulin class. The shark 19S and 7S immunoglobulin L chains were indistinguishable from each other by similar criteria and were different from the H chains. These L chains exhibited the electrophoretic heterogeneity of their mammalian counterparts. The 7S (shark immunoglobulin) molecule was shown to have a molecular weight of approximately 160,000 and to consist of 2H and 2L polypeptide chains (total mass congruent with180,000). The 19S molecule was shown to have a molecular weight of 800,000-900,000; therefore, there were probably five 7S subunits per 19S molecule, comparable to mammalian gammaM. Other reasons for considering the 7S and the 19S lemon shark molecules to belong to a class of immunoglobulins comparable to the gammaM class of mammals are that they both have high carbohydrate contents, and H chains of mass similar to micro chains. The lemon shark serum proteins with electrophoretic mobilities comparable to gamma G of mammals were not related to the immunoglobulins of this species. These proteins had no antibody activity and had no antigenic or chemical similarity to either the H chains, the L chains, or the intact immunoglobulin molecules from the lemon shark.

Absorption of intact protein molecules across the pulmonary air-tissue barrier.

The majority of heterologous serum albumin and globulin molecules introduced into the pulmonary alveoli of dogs are absorbed into the circulatory system antigenically intact. This function of the alveoli has both physiologic and pathologic importance.

Studies on red cell aplasia. V. Presence of erythroblast cytotoxicity in G-globulin fraction of plasma.

The marrow cells of a patient with pure red cell aplasia markedly increased their rate of heme synthesis when they were freed from the host environment and were incubated in vitro. When the red cell aplasia was treated with cyclophosphamide and prednisone, marrow cell incorporation of (59)Fe into heme in vitro increased several weeks before a reticulocytosis was apparent, and was the earliest effect noted. The plasma gammaG-globulins of this patient inhibited heme synthesis by normal marrow cells or the patient's own marrow cells obtained after remission of the disease. Since the inhibition of heme synthesis could be the result of damage to erythroblasts, the patient's posttreatment marrow cells or normal marrow cells were labeled with (59)Fe and were then incubated with the patient's pretreatment, treatment, and posttreatment gammaG-globulins as well as normal gammaG-globulins. At the end of this incubation the supernatant and cells were separated and counted. Heme was extracted and also was counted. Treatment of the cells with the patient's pretreatment gammaG-globulins resulted in a release of 40% of the radioactive heme from the cells. This represented the loss of radioactive hemoglobin and was an index of erythroblast cytotoxicity. A progressive disappearance of the cytotoxic factor in the gammaG-globulins occurred in the 3 wk period preceding the onset of reticulocytes in the patient's blood. Posttreatment and normal gammaG-globulins did not produce this effect and increased injury of red cells and lymphocytes was not produced by the patient's pretreatment gammaG-globulins. These studies demonstrate a method for measuring erythroblast cytoxicity and show that red cell aplasia is associated with gammaG-globulins that specifically damage erythroblasts. Whether interference with new erythroblast development also occurs and contributes to the inhibition of heme synthesis has not yet been ascertained.

Effect of surface proteins on Staphylococcus epidermidis adhesion and colonization on silicone.

Shunt infections are one of the most serious complications in shunt implant surgery. Previous studies have suggested that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteins could affect bacterial adhesion and subsequent shunt infection. A systematic study using immobilized protein on the surface of silane-modified silicone was conducted to determine how these modifications influenced Staphylococcus epidermidis adhesion and colonization. A comparison was also made with silicone having physically adsorbed protein. A colony-counting adhesion assay and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to provide quantitative analysis of bacterial adhesion and semi-quantitative analysis of bacterial colonization, respectively. In order to determine the appropriate silanization process for effective protein immobilization, the effect of bovine serum albumin (BSA) immobilized on n-3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl-ethylenediamine (AEAPS)/silicone, aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTMS)/silicone, 3-(glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GPTMS)/silicone, and octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS)/silicone on bacterial adhesion was investigated. Upon identifying that OTS is the most effective silane, different types of proteins, including: BSA, human serum albumin (HSA), gamma-globulin, and fibrinogen were immobilized on OTS/silicone by a photo-immobilization method. Immobilized protein on modified silicone surfaces was found to be stable in saline for 30 days, while physically adsorbed protein showed instability within hours as determined by contact angle measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). For HSA/OTS/silicone, BSA/OTS/silicone, gamma-globulin/OTS/silicone, fibrinogen/OTS/silicon, and physically absorbed BSA on silicone, the contact angles were 78.5 degrees, 80.7 degrees, 78.9 degrees, 81.3 degrees, and 96.5 degrees; and the amount of nitrogen content was found to be 4.6%, 5.0%, 5.6%, 7.2%, and 3.2%, respectively. All protein immobilized on OTS/silicone surfaces significantly reduced bacterial adhesion by around 75% compared to untreated silicone, while physically adsorbed BSA on silicone reduced by only 29.4%, as determined by colony-counting adhesion assay. However, there was no significant difference on bacterial adhesion among the different types of proteins immobilized on OTS/silicone. Minimizing bacterial adhesion and colonization can be attributed to the increased concentration of -NH2 group, and stability and more hydrophilic nature of the protein/OTS/silicone surfaces.

Reflection coefficients of homopore membranes: effect of molecular size and configuration.

Osmotic water flow through membranes with uniform defined pores was measured for a variety of macromolecular solutes. Water flow increased linearly with applied hydrostatic pressure, allowing the effective osmotic pressure of the solutes to be estimated by extrapolation. Reflection coefficients for each solute-membrane combination were calculated and correlated with the ratio of solute size to pore size. For the same mean molecular size, proteins were found to have larger reflection coefficients than dextrans. Molecular rigidity may play a role in this difference in behavior.

The isolation of leukokinin-H and leukokininogen from human ascites fluid; their properties and role.

The leukokinin-leukokininogen system is a pathological kinin generating system which is catalyzed by acid proteases present in neoplastic cells, white cells and even normal tissues. The components of the human system including leukokinin-H and leukokininogen have now been isolated and characterized. Very specific protease inhibitors of the system such as pepstatin have been found and are now known to prevent "in vivo" the formation of pathological fluids such as neoplastic ascites. Strong evidence has been previously published and additional evidence has been presented here which indicates that pepstatin's actions are related to the inhibition of cathepsin-D in vivo and the inhibition of leukokinin formation. Both leukokinins and leukokininogens have been clearly defined and shown to differ from bradykinin and human bradykininogens. This clearly demonstrates the presence in pathological systems of a kinin-generating system which is separate and distinct from the bradykinin generating system. The importance of the leukokinin-leukokininogen system in disease would seem to be very great. The finding that pepstatin can inhibit the system in vivo opens the way for studies of pepstatin and related protease inhibitors as therapeutic agents in neoplastic disease and protease mediated inflammatory disorders.

Scanning electron microscopy of in vitro serum-mediated destruction of juvenile Fasciola hepatica.

The tegumental surface of immature Fasciola hepatica was damaged when incubated in vitro with serum collected from an experimentally infected calf. Degeneration of the tegumental surface was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at 4 hr. after incubation. Decomposition was observed 8 to 12 hr after incubation and complete destruction of the tegument occurred by 16 hr. The flukes became inactive after 8 to 12 hr of incubation. None of the above findings were observed for the tegument of flukes incubated in tissue culture media or in media containing normal calf serum and the trematodes remained motile throughout the incubation period. Latex particles were used as an immunological marker for SEM studies to determine if gamma globulin could be responsible for the observed changes and, if so, the site of antibody attachment. The coated latex particles covered the entire surface of flukes recovered from mice 5 days after infection with metacercariae. In contrast, latex particles coated with either normal gamma globulin or gamma globulin from serum of the experimentally infected calf that had been adsorbed with disrupted adult flukes were not attached to the surface of the flukes. Absorption of the serum with disrupted, adult flukes decreased the concentrations of immunoglobulins (Ig)G1 and G2 whereas IgA and IgM were apparently not affected.

Relationship between reproductive performance and immunity in Taiwan country chickens.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the relationships among reproductive performance, serum gamma-globulin level, carbon clearance ability, and immune responses to phytohemagglutinin and SRBC in the Taiwan Country chicken. In Experiment 1, 480 pullets from 82 sires and 204 dams were used to evaluate the relationship between reproductive performance and immunity. In Experiment 2, 480 pullets, offspring from 55 sires and 173 dams expressing a high or low percentage of serum gamma-globulin and their reciprocal crosses, were used to examine if the level of serum gamma-globulin is associated with reproductive performance and immunity. Results of these experiments indicated that 1) the Taiwan Country chicken had relatively high serum gamma-globulin level compared with those in other reports, 2) serum gamma-globulin level in the Taiwan Country chicken is heritable with an estimate around 0.3 to 0.4, and 3) the high serum gamma-globulin level is genetically associated with low fertility.