[DNA Probes for Analysis of the Activity of Key Enzymes of the Base Excision DNA Repair Pathway in Human Cells].

The important role of DNA damage in the occurrence of various diseases, including cancer, has led to study of the mechanisms of genetic information stability, that have been carried out since the discovery of DNA repair systems. The question of the relationship between the accumulation of DNA damage, disorders in DNA repair pathways, and increased risk of disease development is still relevant. Over the past few years, significant efforts have been made to develop methods for analyzing the activity of DNA repair enzymes in human cells. In this work, we developed fluorescent DNA probes that allow us to determine the activity of key enzymes of base excision DNA repair in cell extracts, namely the DNA glycosylases UNG2, SMUG1, MBD4, TDG, AAG, NEIL1, NTHL1, and OGG1 and the AP endonuclease APE1. The sensitivity of DNA probes was determined on pure enzyme preparations. Determination of the activity of repair enzymes in cell extracts of the human ovarian tumor lines TOV112, 79, OVCAR3, MESOV, SCOV3, and TOV21 revealed significant variability in the level of enzyme activity in these cell lines. These results may become a test system platform for analyzing the activity of the base excision DNA repair system in the human body.

Borrelia burgdorferi activates a T helper type 1-like T cell subset in Lyme arthritis.

18 cloned T cell lines reactive with Borrelia burgdorferi proteins, all CD3+4+8-TCR-alpha/beta+ and restricted by HLA class II proteins, were isolated from four patients with chronic Lyme arthritis. Analysis of these T cell clones indicated that the T cell response to the Lyme disease spirochete is not oligoclonally restricted; yet all produced the same pattern of lymphokines, resembling that of murine type 1 T helper cells, after antigen-specific or nonspecific stimulation. Therefore, a subset of human CD4+ T cells, with a distinct profile of lymphokine secretion, is selectively activated by the pathogen inciting this chronic inflammatory disease.

Interleukin-7 specifically induces the B7/BB1 antigen on human cord blood and peripheral blood T cells and T cell clones.

B7/BB1 is a cell surface molecule and member of the Ig super family that is constitutively expressed on dendritic cells. In addition, B7 is expressed on B cells, macrophages, T cells, and T cell clones following activation. Interaction of B7 with its natural ligand CD28 is required for optimal stimulation of T cells, activated via the TCR-CD3 complex, which is thought to be due to stabilization of cytokine mRNA. Here we demonstrate that the expression of B7 on T cells can specifically be induced by IL-7. Induction of B7 expression on T cells and T cell clones requires at least 5-7 days of culture and represents a late activation event. Results of studies using T cell clones, as well as resting purified B7- T cells, demonstrate that B7 is induced on a substantial proportion of T cells after IL-7 activation and is not due to an outgrowth of pre-existing B7+ T cells. In addition, CD4+ as well as CD8+ T cells could be induced to express B7. Stimulation of purified cord blood T cells with cross-linked anti-CD3 mAb resulted in a relatively fast (48 h) induction of B7, which could not be inhibited by a neutralizing anti-IL-7 mAb, whereas no endogenous IL-7 production by activated T cells and T cell clones could be detected. Together, these results indicate that the B7 molecule can be induced on T cells by IL-7, but also by an IL-7 independent pathway involving triggering of the TCR-CD3 complex.

T cell activation-inducing epitopes of the house dust mite allergen Der p I. Proliferation and lymphokine production patterns by Der p I-specific CD4+ T cell clones.

Cloned human CD4+ T cell lines specific for the house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus were used to map minimal T cell activation-inducing epitopes on the Group I allergen in D. pteronyssinus extracts (Der p I) molecule. Most of these Der p I-specific T cell clones expressed different TCR V alpha and V beta gene products. Using recombinant deletion proteins, three T cell epitopes were identified on the Der p I molecule; p45-67 and p117-143 were recognized by HLA-DR7-restricted T cells, whereas p94-104 was recognized in the context of HLA-DR2, DRw11 (DR5), and -DR8 molecules. This degenerate class II MHC restriction appears to be due to shared Phe and Asp residues at positions 67 and 70, respectively, in the third variable domain of the HLA-DR beta chain. All three T cell epitopes induced Th2-like cytokine production profiles by the Der p I-specific T cell clones, which were characterized by the production of very high levels of IL-4 and IL-5, as compared with those secreted by tetanus toxin-specific T cell clones derived from the same patients, but no or low amounts of IL-2 and IFN-gamma. This Th2-like production profile was, however, not an intrinsic property of the Der p I-specific T cells, but was dependent upon their mode of activation. Stimulation with Con A also induced very low or no measurable levels of IL-2 and IFN-gamma, whereas activation with TPA and the calcium ionophore A23187 resulted in the production of high levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-2, and IFN-gamma. These results indicate that Der p I-specific T cell clones are not defective in their capacity to produce high levels of Th1 cytokines.

In vitro maturation of human neonatal CD4 T lymphocytes. II. Cytokines present at priming modulate the development of lymphokine production.

The development of naive CD4 T cells into type 1 or type 2 Th cells has been extensively analyzed in the mouse. Using neonatal CD4 T lymphocytes as a source of human naive cells, we report that these cells may be induced to differentiate into effector cells producing predominantly Th1 or Th2 cytokines. After 3 days of stimulation with anti-CD3 mAb immobilized on CD32 transfected mouse fibroblasts, followed by 3 days of culture in the presence of IL-2, neonatal cells acquire the phenotypic and functional characteristics of effector cells. Primed cells are enriched in CD45R0hi and CD31- cells, and upon stimulation with PMA+ ionomycin they release significant amounts of IL-2, IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10. Addition of exogenous cytokines during the period of activation with anti-CD3 markedly alters the profile of cytokine production by primed cells: 1) IL-2 uniformly enhances Th1 and Th2 cytokine production; 2) IL-4 markedly enhances the release of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10 and suppresses that of IFN-gamma; 3) IFN-gamma strongly inhibits IL-4 and IL-5 production but slightly enhances IFN-gamma release; 4) IFN-alpha markedly inhibits IL-4 and IL-5 production and increases the production of both IFN-gamma and of IL-10; 5) TGF-beta suppresses IL-4 and IL-5 (and to a lesser extent IL-2) production but has inconsistent effect on IL-10 and IFN-gamma production. These effects of exogenous cytokines are not associated with an alteration of CD31 expression on primed cells.

Molecular cloning and functional characterization of human lymphotactin.

We describe the isolation of a cDNA that encodes human lymphotactin (Ltn), a new class of lymphocyte-specific chemokine. Human Ltn shows similarity to some members of the C-C chemokine family but has lost the first and third cysteine residues that are characteristic of the C-C and C-X-C chemokines. Ltn is chemotactic for lymphocytes but not for monocytes, a characteristic that makes it unique among chemokines. In addition, calcium flux desensitization studies indicate that Ltn uses a unique receptor. The human Ltn gene maps to a different chromosome than do the C-C and C-X-C chemokine families. Taken together, these characteristics indicate that Ltn is the first example of a new class of human chemokines with preferential effects on lymphocytes.