Calgranulin B (S100A9) levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with interstitial lung diseases.

Calgranulins are small calcium-binding proteins with several immunological functions involved in inflammatory processes. Calgranulin A is reported to be mainly associated with acute inflammation while calgranulin B seems to play a role in chronic inflammatory disorders. In this study we used a proteomic approach to analyse calgranulin B expression in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from a group of patients with different interstitial lung diseases. Two dimensional electrophoresis analysis of BAL was performed in 11 idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients, nine sarcoidosis patients, 11 with systemic sclerosis patients and five healthy controls. Significantly higher (p<0.001) calgranulin B percentage volumes were observed in BAL from IPF patients than controls and other ILD patients. This result sustains the hypothesis that calgranulin B could be involved in chronic lung diseases, probably through increased expression and enhanced activation of alveolar polymorphonuclear cells related to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Quantitative analysis by an easier method applied to a larger population will be necessary to determine whether calgranulin B could be a good marker of disease severity.

Selectivity of protein carbonylation in the apoptotic response to oxidative stress associated with photodynamic therapy: a cell biochemical and proteomic investigation.

We previously reported that photodynamic therapy (PDT) using Purpurin-18 (Pu-18) induces apoptosis in HL60 cells. Using flow cytometry, two-dimensional electrophoresis coupled with immunodetection of carbonylated proteins and mass spectrometry, we now show that PDT-induced apoptosis is associated with increased reactive oxygen species generation, glutathione depletion, changes in mitochondrial transmembrane potential, simultaneous downregulation of mitofilin and carbonylation of specific proteins: glucose-regulated protein-78, heat-shock protein 60, heat-shock protein cognate 71, phosphate disulphide isomerase, calreticulin, beta-actin, tubulin-alpha-1-chain and enolase-alpha. Interestingly, all carbonylated proteins except calreticulin and enolase-alpha showed a pI shift in the proteome maps. Our results suggest that PDT with Pu-18 perturbs the normal redox balance and shifts HL60 cells into a state of oxidative stress, which systematically induces the carbonylation of specific chaperones. As these proteins normally produce a prosurvival signal during oxidative stress, we hypothesize that their carbonylation represents a signalling mechanism for apoptosis induced by PDT.

[Usefulness of the determination of C reactive protein and other acute phase proteins in rheumatoid arthritis]. / Utilità del dosaggio della proteina C reattiva e di altre proteine della fase acuta nell'artrite reumatoide.

The acute phase response is defined as a large number of diverse reactions which attempt to adjust the organism to the effects of stress/injury. It is now clear that there is a complex interaction between the cytokines with interleukin-6 predominant, but also involving interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor and a group of recently described cytokines including as well interleukin-11, leukaemia inhibitory factor and oncostatin M all of which influence the levels of acute phase proteins. In clinical practice, C reactive protein (CRP) is frequently used as marker of the acute-phase response. It has a short half-life and consequently it is a sensitive measure of cytokine-induced protein synthesis. In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) the rate appearance of bony erosions in the early phase of the disease correlated with the mean serum concentration of CRP in some studies. A recent study examining the rate of spinal trabecular bone loss in the first year of rheumatoid disease found a strong correlation between bone loss and serum CRP concentrations. It appears that CRP concentrations reflect the level of "systemic osteoclast-activating factor" and are, therefore, a good measure of the general catabolic state of the patient. Many would now consider that persistently elevated serum CRP in patients with RA is in itself an indication for immunosuppressive therapy.

[Acute-phase proteins in appendicitis in childhood: new findings]. / Le proteine di fase acuta nell'appendicite in età pediatrica: nuove acquisizioni.

The diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children can be sometimes difficult. The monitoring of acute phase protein response has been suggested as an accurate diagnostic procedure in these patients. This response is an aspecific event caused by phlogosis, infections and traumatisms; it is accomplished by the hepatic release of "endogenous leukocytic mediators" (L.E.M.) among which can be remembered IL-6 and IL-7. The acute phase proteins can be distinguished into positive and negative factors. Many authors used the acute phase protein response in order to stratify the severity of disease, to evaluate the efficacy of therapy and to find out any complication. They actually think that this response is useful to draw up a prognostic index in each patient. This second part of a study started in 1994 is based on the evaluation of the preoperative acute phase proteins values in pediatric patients affected by acute appendicitis underwent to surgery. The results of the statistic analysis show the utility of the evaluation of these parameters in the preoperative period; in particular G.B. count and P.C.R. rates very early with significant statistics, while the other values change later and are more difficult to interpret.

Analysis of serum amyloid A in sarcoidosis patients.

A crucial pathogenetic role of serum amyloid A (SAA) in granulomatous inflammation of sarcoidosis has recently been reported. In this study we analyzed SAA expression in detail, starting from proteomic analysis of serum of sarcoidosis patients. We also used the faster ELISA method that enabled us to examine a greater number of samples. Serum concentrations of SAA were significantly higher in sarcoidosis patients than controls (p<0.001), inversely correlated with FEV(1) and significantly higher in patients with subacute onset requiring prolonged and multiple steroid treatments (class 6 SCAC) than in patients with subacute onset not requiring therapy (class 4 SCAC) (p<0.001). Our results suggest that serum amyloid A could be a suitable marker of sarcoidosis: its serum concentrations are significantly higher in sarcoidosis patients than controls, the protein is only expressed in gels of sarcoidosis patients and not in healthy subjects, and the SAA1 isoforms could match the unidentified biomarker of sarcoidosis reported in a previous proteomic study by another group. The effectiveness of SAA as a clinical biomarker of sarcoidosis should now be investigated in a large prospective study.

Analysis of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

By proteomic approach we previously characterised bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) protein profiles of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), sarcoidosis and systemic sclerosis. Among differently expressed proteins we identified macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a multi-function pleiotropic cytokine. This study was performed to validate our findings by a further proteomic approach and ELISA in a larger population of patients and controls. MIF expression in lung tissue was also evaluated by immunohistochemistry. MIF was identified in all 2-DE gels of IPF patients and it was significantly increased compared to controls (p<0.05). This result was confirmed by ELISA: MIF concentrations were significantly higher in IPF patients than controls (p<0.001) and were directly correlated with neutrophil percentages (p=0.0095). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed enhanced expression in bronchiolar epithelium, alveolar epithelium, and fibroblastic foci. In conclusion, MIF is a pleiotropic cytokine that could be involved in the pathogenesis of IPF, being particularly abundant in BAL of these patients and mainly expressed in the areas of active fibrosis.

Immunological and charge properties of GFAP in lower vertebrates.

1. An antiserum specific for bovine GFAP was employed in a comparative study of this protein in several species of bony fish and in an anuran species. 2. The immunological properties of this protein are conserved in a remarkable way in all the species examined. 3. Analysis of trout and bovine GFAP by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis indicated that the charge properties of this protein have remained quite constant from fish to mammals.

Molecular characterization of the P and I variants of alpha 1-antitrypsin.

Two rare alpha 1-antitrypsin variants, Pi I and Plowell, originally defined at the protein level through isoelectric focusing, were characterized at the DNA level by the polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing. The I variant was confirmed in one individual and three independent families to result from a CGC(Arg) to TGC(Cys) transition at codon 39, within exon II. In our population, the Pi I variant might be more common than expected. The Plowell allele was shown in one M3P heterozygous individual to be due to a GAT(Asp) to GTT(Val) change at codon 256, in agreement with a previous study based on hybridization with allele-specific oligonucleotides.

Two-dimensional electrophoresis of human serum proteins modified by ampicillin during therapeutic treatment.

Two-dimensional electrophoretograms of serum proteins from ampicillin-treated patients were analyzed-by immunoblotting with an antiserum specific for penicilloyl groups. As expected, human serum albumin (HSA) was the main ampicilloylated serum component. Transferrin main form II was found to be the second most important component as regards immunoblotting intensity. Immunoreactive spots were present on the acidic side of the transferrin isoelectric series, suggesting a modification mechanism similar to that observed in HSA, i.e., acylation of basic amino acid residues. Several additional ampicilloylated spots were detected but could not be assigned. Their electrophoretic parameters were determined using internal standards. This is the first description of serum proteins other than HSA being modified by ampicillin in the course of routine therapeutic treatment.

Evolutionary trends of neurofilament proteins in fish.

1. Neurofilament complement was studied in an early chordate (Ciona intestinalis) and six fish species by immunoblot with antisera specific for each of the three mammalian NF subunits. 2. The anti-NF-H and anti-NF-M antisera were characterized as strictly specific for phosphorylated epitopes located in the carboxyterminal domain. 3. The NF-L subunit is absent in primitive chordates and appears first in fish; it can be identified on the basis of its apparent mol. wt, its reactivity with the anti-IFA antibody and with polyclonal antibodies raised to the NF-L subunit of mammals. 4. Primitive chordate neurofilaments are constituted by a single polypeptide of ca 160,000 mol. wt exhibiting only M-type phosphorylation-dependent epitopes. 5. Primitive fish (Acipenser transmontanus, Salmo gairdneri, Scorpaena porcus, Serranus scriba) possess only a single high mol. wt NF subunit reacting with both anti-NF-H and anti-NF-M antiserum while more recent species (Mugil saliens, Perca fluviatilis) possess two high mol. wt NF subunits which are immunologically distinct as to their phosphorylation structures. 6. The existence in some fish species of two high mol. wt NF polypeptides suggests that the process of gene duplication and diversification supposed to have given rise to the two high mol. wt NF subunits of mammals and birds has occurred repeatedly in vertebrate evolution, and may be regarded as a case of convergent evolution.

Evolution of the "titin epitope" in neurofilament proteins.

1. The specificity of a monoclonal antibody raised to human titin was characterized. The antibody reacts with an epitope which is common to titin and the high mol. wt subunits NF-H and NF-M of mammalian neurofilaments. 2. Mapping of the epitope indicated that it is located in the carboxyterminal extension of NF-H and NF-M, and that its reactivity does not depend on the phosphorylation state of the molecule. 3. A comparative study on neurofilament protein of lower vertebrates revealed that this epitope has been conserved during vertebrate evolution.

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting of human serum albumin modified by reaction with penicillins.

A two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting procedure has been developed to assess the level of modification by penicillins in human serum albumin. The procedure can be used in in vitro experiments and in clinical studies with sera from patients treated with penicillins.

Two-dimensional electrophoresis analysis of human serum proteins during the acute-phase response.

The serum of patients with meningitis, due to infection by Haemophilus influenzae type b, was analyzed. Several known acute-phase proteins were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis and estimated quantitatively. In addition, hitherto undescribed reactants were recognized. Gels were calibrated and relevant spots related to master spot numbers in the human serum protein database.

Acute-phase proteins in perinatal human plasma.

Plasma from eight newborns (4 pre-term and 4 full-term) with early-onset (< 72 h) sepsis and six apparently healthy controls was analyzed. The presence of spots identified as haptoglobin and serum amyloid A protein was the electrophoretic result most consistently associated with disease. Time course monitoring showed rises, peaks and declines of spot intensity as expected for acute-phase proteins induced by transient stimuli. Haptoglobin beta chains appear to be undersialated in pre-term newborns, whereas post-translational modifications of alpha chains and serum amyloid A protein are similar to those observed in adults. The undersialation of beta chain and occurrence of alpha chain phenotypes different from those found in maternal serum indicate that perinatal haptoglobin originates from neonatal synthesis.

Two-dimensional electrophoretic patterns of acute-phase human serum proteins in the course of bacterial and viral diseases.

Acute-phase serum proteins were analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis with isoelectric focusing in 3-10 immobilized pH gradients. Most spots were identified by reference to the plasma map in the SWISS-2DPAGE database. Serum amyloid A protein spots were identified by immunoblotting with specific antiserum and by matching determined with predicted values of electrophoretic parameters. Changes in the concentrations of alpha 1-antitrypsin, leucine-rich glycoprotein, haptoglobin, serum retinol-binding protein and transthyretin were quantitated by densitometry of silver-stained gels. Electrophoretic patterns from 18 patients with bacterial diseases and 16 patients with viral diseases were compared. The incidence of serum amyloid A protein spots was 18/18 in bacterial diseases and 6/16 in viral diseases. As the the other reactants studied, variations were simultaneous in bacterial disease and tended to be staggered in viral diseases.

Expression of neurofilaments and of a titin epitope in thymic epithelial tumors. Implications for the pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis.

Autoantibodies against both striated muscle proteins, particularly titin, and the acetylcholine receptor are a hallmark of thymoma-associated myasthenia gravis. However, the stimulus for these responses remains enigmatic as whole titin is not detectable in these tumors. This study reports that in thymomas with cortical differentiation many of the neoplastic epithelial cells expressed low and medium molecular weight neurofilaments detected with several antibodies (on selections and blots) and at the RNA level (by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction). Moreover, higher molecular weight forms sharing at least one epitope with titin were detectable slightly less frequently, as were the more strongly phosphorylated epitopes. In stark contrast, in medullary and mixed thymomas, and especially in the normal thymus, immunoreactivity with anti-neurofilament antibodies was rare. This aberrant overexpression of a titin epitope by epithelial cells with antigen-presenting phenotype in an inappropriate cortical microenvironment suggests that they might autosensitize maturing T cells there and so initiate anti-titin autoimmunity in these patients.

Charge heterogeneity of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in human liver and breast tissue.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an ubiquitous protein playing various immunological and hormonal roles. Theoretical electrophoretic coordinates calculated from protein sequence in the SWISS-PROT database (AC P14174) are 12 kDa and pI 8.24. Using two-dimensional (2-D) immunoblotting, we have detected isoelectric forms at ca. 11.9 kDa, with pI values of 7.8 and 6.98 in human liver tissue, breast tissue and a cell line and in preparations of human MIF expressed in E. coli. This evidence suggests that MIF charge heterogeneity originates from a post-translational modification not requiring eukaryote-specific enzymes. We have also detected in human liver a minor immunoreactive spot at pI 6.23, which coincides with the MIF spot in the liver map in SWISS-2DPAGE. The pI 6.23 isoform also conceivably derives from post-translational modification, as MIF is known to be encoded in the human genome by a single copy gene.

Mapping of Chlamydia trachomatis proteins by immobiline-polyacrylamide two-dimensional electrophoresis: spot identification by N-terminal sequencing and immunoblotting.

Proteins from purified elementary bodies of Chlamydia trachomatis were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis on nonlinear wide-range immobilized pH gradients in the first dimension and polyacrylamide gradient gels in the second dimension. The maps obtained with this system are highly reproducible and resolve ca. 600 spots. By using immunoblot analysis with specific antibodies and/or N-terminal amino acid sequencing, we established the map positions of a number of described chlamydial proteins, such as the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) the 60 kDa cystein-rich outer membrane protein (OMP2), the DnaK-like, GroEL-like, and macrophage infectivity potentiator (MIP)-like proteins, the plasmid-encoded pgp3 protein, two ribosomal proteins (S1 and L7/L12), and the protein-elongation factor EF-Tu. Other proteins, for which gene assignment was not possible, have been identified by three parameters (Mr, pI and N-terminal sequence). This work provides a preliminary basis for a future and progressive compilation of a genome-linked database of chlamydial proteins.

A two-dimensional protein map of human amniotic fluid at 17 weeks' gestation.

Using updated technical procedures (immobilized pH gradients for isoelectric focusing followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis: IPG/SDS-PAGE) we provide a two-dimensional (2-D) map of amniotic fluid (AF) proteins. This map comprises over 800 silver-stained spots. Over 150 spots have been identified by matching on the net with human plasma and cerebrospinal fluid maps available from SWISS 2DPAGE database; several additional spots were assigned by immunoblotting and/or microanalytical techniques. This report details our investigation on AF proteins focusing on the 17th week of gestation, when AF is most commonly used for clinical evaluation of fetal disorders. As a whole, the map displays a number of potential markers for fetal development and for gestation abnormalities. The 2-D electrophoretic technique allows the monitoring of all these proteins at the same time along with additional spots that may prove of diagnostic significance.