Effects of resin hydrophilicity on dentin bond strength.

The purpose of this study was to determine if hydrophobic resins can be coaxed into dentin wet with ethanol instead of water. The test hypothesis was that dentin wet with ethanol would produce higher bond strengths for hydrophobic resins than would dentin wet with water. This study examined the microtensile bond strength of 5 experimental adhesives (50 wt% ethanol/50% comonomers) of various degrees of hydrophilicity to acid-etched dentin that was left moist with water, moist with ethanol, or air-dried. Following composite buildups, hourglass-shaped slabs were prepared from the bonded teeth for microtensile testing. For all 3 types of dentin surfaces, higher bond strengths were achieved with increased resin hydrophilicity. The lowest bond strengths were obtained on dried dentin, while the highest bond strengths were achieved when dentin was bonded moist with ethanol. Wet-bonding with ethanol achieved higher bond strengths with hydrophobic resins than were possible with water-saturated matrices.

The enhanced in vitro hematopoietic activity of leridistim, a chimeric dual G-CSF and IL-3 receptor agonist.

The in vitro activity of leridistim was characterized for cell proliferation, generation of colony-forming units (CFU) and differentiation of CD34+ cells. In AML-193.1.3 cells, leridistim exhibited a significant increase in potency compared to rhG-CSF, SC-65303 (an IL-3 receptor agonist) or an equimolar combination of rhG-CSF and SC-65303. CFU-GM assays demonstrated that at 50% of the maximum response, the relative potency of leridistim was 12-fold greater than the combination of rhG-CSF and rhIL-3 and 44-fold more potent than rhG-CSF alone. In multi-lineage CFU assays, a combination of erythropoietin (rhEPO) and leridistim resulted in greater numbers of BFU-E, CFU-GEMM and CFU-Mk than rhEPO alone. Ex vivo culture of peripheral blood or bone marrow CD34+ cells with leridistim substantially increased total viable cells over cultures stimulated with rhG-CSF, SC-65303, or a combination of rhG-CSF and SC-65303. Culture with leridistim, resulted in a greater increase in myeloid (CD15+/CD11b+), monocytic (CD41-/CD14+) and megakaryocytic (CD41+/CD14-) precursor cells without depleting the progenitor pool (CD34+/CD15-/CD11b-). These results demonstrate that leridistim is a more potent stimulator of hematopoietic proliferation and differentiation than the single receptor agonists (rhG-CSF and SC-65303) either alone or combined. These unique attributes suggest that leridistim may enhance hematopoietic reconstitution following myelosuppressive chemotherapy.

Use of combinatorial mutagenesis to select for multiply substituted human interleukin-3 variants with improved pharmacologic properties.

A combinatorial mutagenesis strategy was used to create a collection of nearly 500 variants of human interleukin 3 (IL-3), each with four to nine amino acid substitutions clustered within four linear, nonoverlapping regions of the polypeptide. The variants were secreted into the periplasm of Escherichia coli and supernatants were assayed for IL-3 receptor-dependent cell proliferation activity. Sixteen percent of the variants, containing "region-restricted" substitutions, retained substantial proliferative activity through two rounds of screening. A subset of these was combined to yield variants with substitutions distributed through approximately half of the polypeptide. With one exception, "half-substituted" variants exhibited proliferative activity within 3.5-fold of native IL-3. A subset of the "half-substituted" variants was combined to yield "fully substituted" IL-3 variants having 27 or more substitutions. The combination of the substitutions resulted in a set of polypeptides, some of which exhibit increased proliferative activity relative to native IL-3. The elevated hematopoietic potency was confirmed in a methylcellulose colony-forming unit assay using freshly isolated human bone marrow cells. A subset of the multiply substituted proteins exhibited only a modest increase in inflammatory mediator (leukotriene C4) release. The molecules also exhibited 40- to 100-fold greater affinity for the alpha subunit of the IL-3 receptor and demonstrated a 10-fold faster association rate with the alpha-receptor subunit. The multiply substituted IL-3 variants described in this study provide a unique collection of molecules from which candidates for clinical evaluation may be defined and selected.

Garlic dermatitis.

Allergic contact dermatitis to garlic usually has a typical clinical presentation but this is often masked if it presents concurrently with another form of hand dermatitis. Patch testing with 1% diallyl disulfide in petrolatum is recommended when garlic allergy is suspected.

Discoid lupus erythematosus.

Discoid lupus erythematosus is a manifestation of chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus with a small risk of systemic involvement. In this review article, the role of predisposing factors such as haplotype, hormones, antibodies and sunlight are discussed. The clinical features, including variants and associations, and management options are presented.

Circular permutation of the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor agonist domain of myelopoietin.

Myelopoietins (MPOs) are a family of engineered dual interleukin-3 (IL-3) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) receptor agonists that are superior in comparison to the single agonists in their ability to promote the growth and maturation of hematopoietic cells of the myeloid lineage. A series of MPO molecules were created which incorporated circularly permuted G-CSF (cpG-CSF) sequences with an IL-3 receptor (IL-3R) agonist moiety attached at locations that correspond to the loops that connect the helices of the G-CSF four-helix bundle structure. The cpG-CSF linkage sites (using the original sequence numbering) were residue 39, which is at the beginning of the first loop connecting helices 1 and 2; residue 97, which is in the turn connecting helices 2 and 3; and residues 126, 133, and 142, which are at the beginning, middle, and end, respectively, of the loop connecting helices 3 and 4. The N- and C-terminal helices of each cpG-CSF domain were constrained, either by direct linkage of the termini (L0) or by replacement of the amino-terminal 10-residue segment with a seven-residue linker composed of SGGSGGS (L1). All of the MPO molecules stimulated the proliferation of both IL-3-dependent (EC50 = 13-95 pM) and G-CSF-dependent (EC50 = 35-710 pM) cell lines. MPOs with the IL-3R agonist domain linked to cpG-CSFs in the first (residue 39) or second (residue 133) long overhand loops were found by CD spectroscopy to have helical contents similar to that expected for a protein comprised of two linked four-helix bundles. The MPOs retained the ability to bind to the IL-3R with affinities similar to that of the parental MPO. Using both a cell surface competitive binding assay and surface plasmon resonance detection of binding kinetics, the MPOs were found to bind to the G-CSF receptor with low nanomolar affinities, similar to that of G-CSF(S17). In a study of isolated cpG-CSF domains [Feng, Y., et al. (1999) Biochemistry 38, 4553-4563], domains with the L1 linker had lower G-CSF receptor-mediated proliferative activities and conformational stabilities than those which had the L0 linker. A similar trend was found for the MPOs in which the G-CSFR agonist activity is mostly a property of the cpG-CSF domain. Important exceptions were found in which the linkage to the IL-3R agonist domain either restored (e.g., attachment at residue 142) or further decreased (linkage at residue 39) the G-CSFR-mediated proliferative activity. MPO in which the IL-3R agonist domain is attached to the cpG-CSF(L1)[133/132] domain was shown to be more potent than the coaddition of the IL-3R agonist and G-CSF in stimulating the production of CFU-GM colonies in a human bone marrow-derived CD34+ colony-forming unit assay. Several MPOs also had decreased proinflammatory activity in a leukotriene C4 release assay using N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe-primed human monocytes. It was found that circular permutation of the G-CSF domain can alter the ratio of G-CSFR:IL-3R agonist activities, demonstrating that it is a useful tool in engineering chimeric proteins with therapeutic potential.