The Bacillus secretion stress response is an indicator for alpha-amylase production levels.

AIMS: Overproduced alpha-amylases in Bacillus subtilis provoke a specific stress response involving the CssRS two-component system, which controls expression of the HtrA and HtrB proteases. Previously, the B. subtilis TepA protein was implicated in high-level alpha-amylase secretion. Our present studies were aimed at investigating a possible role of TepA in secretion stress management, and characterizing the intensity of the secretion stress response in relation to alpha-amylase production. METHODS AND RESULTS: The expression of a transcriptional htrB-lacZ gene fusion, and the levels of alpha-amylase production were monitored simultaneously using tepA mutant B. subtilis strains. TepA was shown to be dispensable for secretion stress management. Importantly, however, the levels of htrB-lacZ expression can be correlated with the levels of alpha-amylase production. CONCLUSION: Our observations show that the secretion stress response can serve as an indicator for alpha-amylase production levels. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY: Conceivably, this stress response can be employed to monitor the biotechnological production of various secretory proteins by the Bacillus cell factory.

A novel two-component regulatory system in Bacillus subtilis for the survival of severe secretion stress.

The Gram-positive eubacterium Bacillus subtilis is well known for its high capacity to secrete proteins into the environment. Even though high-level secretion of proteins is an efficient process, it imposes stress on the cell. The present studies were aimed at the identification of systems required to combat this so-called secretion stress. A two-component regulatory system, named CssR-CssS, was identified, which bears resemblance to the CpxR-CpxA system of Escherichia coli. The results show that the CssR/S system is required for the cell to survive the severe secretion stress caused by a combination of high-level production of the alpha-amylase AmyQ and reduced levels of the extracytoplasmic folding factor PrsA. As shown with a prsA3 mutation, the Css system is required to degrade misfolded exported proteins at the membrane-cell wall interface. This view is supported by the observation that transcription of the htrA gene, encoding a predicted membrane-bound protease of B. subtilis, is strictly controlled by CssS. Notably, CssS represents the first identified sensor for extracytoplasmic protein misfolding in a Gram-positive eubacterium. In conclusion, the results show that quality control systems for extracytoplasmic protein folding are not exclusively present in the periplasm of Gram-negative eubacteria, but also in the Gram-positive cell envelope.

Shared tumor antigens in colorectal carcinoma and neuroendocrine tumors.

ND4 monoclonal antibody recognizes a tumor marker found on poorly differentiated colorectal cancer. We demonstrate its expression in 25% of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors, which also express CEA in 37% of cases. As in colorectal cancer the ND4 marker is predominantly membrane bound in a colonic neuroendocrine tumor cell line, LCC-18 (p < 0.05). The ND4 marker is absent in a poorly differentiated colorectal cancer cell line that does not express CEA or other tumor antigens. Shed antigen in the serum of patients with neuroendocrine tumors is detected in only five of seven patients with the carcinoid syndrome and two of four of those without evidence of the syndrome. However, the reactivity was less in the patients with localized disease, and this test is unlikely to be of diagnostic utility in this group of patients. The sharing of this antigen in colorectal cancer and neuroendocrine tumors is not universal, but does support the common-cell progenitor theory for the origin of these tumors.

Immunohistochemical analysis of p53 overexpression in human colonic tumors.

The progression from benign adenoma to colorectal cancer is underscored by an accumulation of genetic defects involving the activation of protooncogenes and the inactivation by point mutations and deletions of tumor-suppressor genes. Altered p53 has been one of the most commonly observed of these defects. By using a monoclonal antibody, PAb1801, it was possible to detect the accumulation of an altered p53 protein in standard sections of colon-preserving histopathological criteria. We analyzed biopsies from benign and malignant colorectal tumors fixed in 70% ethanol, and detected cells positive for p53 in 65% of 34 carcinomas and 24% of 84 adenomas, but none in the normal-appearing adjacent mucosa. No correlation was found between degree of differentiation of adenocarcinomas and p53 immunodetection. Abnormal p53 protein expression in adenomas ranged from sparsely stained to focally intensive areas. Overexpression of p53 was detected in more tumors taken from the left side of the colon than from the right side. Adenomas with greater villous content and severe dysplasia had a greater tendency to overexpress mutated p53. Cases of multiple synchronous adenomas showed different patterns of p53 expression but more positivity was found in adenomas from patients with a synchronous adenocarcinoma. Immunodetection of p53 in 11 biopsies from the same tumors alternatively fixed in 70% ethanol or formalin gave comparable results for adenocarcinomas but was not consistent for adenomas. Fifty-four archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded colorectal tumors were also stained with PAb1801. p53 was detectable, sometimes with a weaker intensity, in 50% of 18 adenocarcinomas and 22% of 36 adenomas, and most of these showed severe dysplasia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Large-bowel mucosal biotransformation activity in persons at high risk for colorectal cancer. A preliminary report.

The transformation of xenobiotics and endogenous compounds to active carcinogens and their subsequent deactivation as an aid to eradication may be important in the etiology of some gastrointestinal cancers. In mammals the gastrointestinal tract has been shown to be an important site of inducible enzyme systems active in mucosal biotransformation, but few data are available in man. The mucosal activity of CYPIA1 (formerly aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase), a potential carcinogen-activating enzyme, and catechol-O-methyl transferase, a potential carcinogen-inactivating enzyme were determined in colonic tissue obtained by biopsy. There were no significant differences in activity rates in normal mucosa between colorectal cancer and healthy persons, but significant differences are seen in patients with a history of neoplasia with no evidence of recurrence. The levels of activity of these carcinogen-inductive and -protective enzymes may be prognostic markers, in that the balance or imbalance could play a role in the recurrence of neoplasia. This will require confirmation and prospective studies.

Oral colon lavage solutions containing polyethylene glycol may interfere with ELISA detection of tumor-associated antigens in colonic effluent.

Immunologic methods for detection of colorectal neoplasia based on examination of stool or colonic effluent are being developed. Most current oral lavage preparations contain polyethylene glycol (PEG), and if PEG adversely interferes with immunologic testing these tests may become less useful. We describe a decrease in sensitivity of ELISA for tumor-associated antigens (TAA) when effluent samples are diluted in PEG-electrolyte lavage solution, equivalent to a commonly used oral lavage solution based on PEG. Radioisotope-labeled antigen binding to plastic plates was decreased by dilution in the PEG lavage solution. Antigen binding, present in colonic effluent collected by the laxative purge method, was absent in effluent collected by PEG oral lavage from the same patient. We conclude that PEG and PEG-containing lavage solutions interfere with ELISA detection of TAA in colonic effluents. We speculate that the in vitro, and possibly the in vivo, effect occurs at the level of antigen binding to the plate either by a steric effect or alteration of charge by the nonpolar properties of PEG.

Exfoliative colonic cytology. A simplified method of collection and initial results.

Exfoliative colonic cytology for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer has been largely abandoned due to (1) the widespread use of colonoscopy, (2) the cumbersome methods of cell collection and (3) the occasional difficulty of interpreting the cytologic findings in the presence of inflammatory bowel disease or adenomas. This paper describes a newly formulated bowel preparation for routine colonoscopy, based on imbibing 2 L to 4 L of a balanced electrolyte solution, in which the recovered precolonoscopic effluent (using a convenient disposable collecting kit) yielded cells for cytologic evaluation from 70% of a group of 80 patients at high risk for large bowel neoplasia. Cytology demonstrated neoplastic cells in most cases of endoscopically proven cancer. These results suggest that colonic exfoliative cytology may be useful as a supplemental test to routine colonoscopy. This could be enhanced by further methodologic modifications to the collecting and cytologic methods; large long-term studies are needed to evaluate the potential usefulness of colonic exfoliative cytology.

A rapid and simple in vitro method for evaluating human colorectal epithelial proliferation.

Assessment of colonic epithelial proliferation is a biomarker of risk for large-bowel neoplasia. Until now, in vitro labeling of S-phase crypt cells was usually performed by incorporation of tritiated thymidine. Its major disadvantage is the lengthy period of autoradiography before results can be evaluated. The thymidine analogue bromodeoxyuridine, which is detectable by immunohistochemical examination, allows evaluation of epithelial proliferation within 3 days. Pinch rectal biopsy specimens, from the unprepared bowel, are incubated under 1 atm additional pressure in a medium containing bromodeoxyuridine. The tissue is then fixed in 70% ethanol and embedded in paraffin, and the slides are prepared. The labeled nuclei are revealed using indirect immunoperoxidase staining and are easily counted by light microscopy. Assessment of proliferation is rapidly available for determining cancer risk and response in ongoing experimental and human dietary intervention studies.

Increased expression of a putative adenoma-associated antigen in pre-colonoscopic effluent of patients with colorectal cancer.

A monoclonal antibody Adnab-9, was raised against antigens derived from benign polyps of the colon. Adnab-9 was tested against pre-colonoscopic effluent material obtained from groups of patients with a macroscopically normal colonscopic examination, histologically confirmed adenomatous polyps and patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The resultant binding levels displayed little overlap between the CRC group and the normal, and the difference was statistically significant. Since this putative early neoplasia associated antigen is essentially not expressed in CRC extracts, it may originate from a region of the colon predisposed to neoplasia, increasing in expression as the tendency to malignancy progresses, useful in the diagnosis of early stage malignancy.