Possible role of coexpression of CD9 with membrane-anchored heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor and amphiregulin in cultured human keratinocyte growth.

CD9 is a protein with 4 transmembrane domains, and functions as a cell surface antigen. We have previously reported that CD9 functions as an up-regulator of membrane-anchored heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (proHB-EGF) activity, which is a potent mitogen as well as a soluble HB-EGF. Anti-CD9 antibodies can neutralize the juxtacrine activity of proHB-EGF when both CD9 and proHB-EGF are coexpressed.

OK-432 therapy for recalcitrant warts.

Twelve patients with warts recalcitrant to various treatment, including cryotherapy, were treated with OK-432 injection therapy. Six patients received only subcutaneous injection, three received only intralesional injection, and the other three received both subcutaneous and intralesional injections. Complete clearing of the warts occurred in nine (75%) of 12 patients, while the other three patients were not cured.

Types of organic solvents used in small- to medium-scale industries in Japan; a nationwide field survey.

Objective: The aim of the present survey is to identify organic solvents commonly used in various workplaces in Japan.

Methods: A total of 24 occupational health service institutions (OHSI) distributed nationwide in Japan offered data on types of solvent workplaces, types of solvents used therein, and the solvent concentrations surveyed in a 2-month period between April and May 1996 to form a data base (OHSI data base, consisting of 1597 cases). Separately, Kyoto Industrial Health Association (KIHA) offered information on 948 cases studied during a 1-year period ranging from April 1995 to March 1996 (KIHA data base).

Genomic diversity in the pfoA region of the theta-toxin-deficient strains of Clostridium perfringens.

The genomic structure of the pfoA-colA region in six theta-toxin-deficient strains of Clostridium perfringens was examined by Southern hybridization using the pfoR, pfoA, pbg, arcABDC and colA genes, encoding regulator for pfoA, theta-toxin, beta-galactosidase, arginine metabolism enzymes and kappa-toxin, respectively, as gene probes. It is suggested that the productivity of theta-toxin in these strains is diverse because of the multiple genetic backgrounds including single deletion of pfoA, large deletion of the pfoA-colA region and the putative point mutations.

Monitoring of occupational exposure to 1-butanol by diffusive sampling and urinalysis.

Objectives: To investigate the possibility of applying diffusive air sampling and urinalysis (for mother compound and metabolites) to the monitoring of exposure of factory workers to 1-butanol.

Methods: The performance of carbon cloth in adsorbing 1-butanol vapor in air was studied by experimental exposure of the cloth to 1-butanol at 50, 100, 200 or 400 ppm for up to 10 h. 1-Butanol in the exposed cloth was extracted with carbon disulfide and this was followed by gas-chromatographic (GC) analysis.

Pilomatricoma with a bullous appearance.

A 15-year-old Japanese girl had an asymptomatic nodule on the right thigh of seven months' duration. The clinical appearance was similar to that of a bulla. There was a history of blunt trauma from dog scratch to the skin over the tumor shortly before tumor growth.

A case of contact dermatitis due to impurities of cetyl alcohol.

A 29-year-old man being treated for itchy lesions on the amputation stump of the thigh became allergic to betamethasone valerate and gentamicin sulfate cream (Rinderon VG). Closed patch tests with all the ingredients of the cream revealed positive reactions to cetyl alcohol 30% to 5% pet. Gas chromatographic analysis of the cetyl alcohol in the cream base detected stearyl alcohol (C18), myristyl alcohol (C14) and lauryl alcohol (C12) in addition to the main component of cetyl alcohol (C16).

Successful treatment of molluscum contagiosum in the immunosuppressed adult with topical injection of streptococcal preparation OK-432.

A 37-year-old Japanese woman received an anticancer drug for 5 years following resection of mammary cancer and then developed widespread mollusca contagiosa, which we considered to be caused by immunosuppression induced by the chemotherapy. Because OK-432 (penicillin-treated and heat-treated lyophilized powder by a substrain of Streptococcus pyogenes A) was expected to be effective for immunosuppression, we tried its topical injection. The skin lesions disappeared almost completely within three months.

Cross-linking of B cell antigen receptor-related structure of pre-B cell lines induces tyrosine phosphorylation of p85 and p110 subunits and activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase.

To understand the function of B cell antigen receptor (BCR)-related complex on pre-B cells (pre-BCR, Vpre-B/lambda 5/mu heavy chain/Ig-alpha/Ig-beta), we examined pre-BCR- and BCR-mediated signaling events in human and mouse pre-B (Nalm-6, 697, NFS-5), immature B (IgM+ Daudi, WEHI-231) and mature B (IgM+ IgD+ BALL1) cell lines. Anti-mu cross-linking induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the cytoplasmic proteins in each cell type, but did not induce a detectable Ca2+ mobilization response in pre-B cells. While the pre-B cells expressed Syk protein at levels similar to those found in B cell lines, pre-BCR cross-linkage did not induce phosphorylation of Syk tyrosine residues.

Demonstration of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus antigen by immunoperoxidase method in tissues of aborted bovine fetuses preserved for 25 years in paraffin blocks.

Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus antigen was demonstrated by the immunoperoxidase method in tissues of two aborted bovine fetuses, which had been stored for 25 years after fixing in formalin and embedding in paraffin. Necrotic foci were detected in the liver, kidney, adrenal gland, and thymus of the fetuses. Coincidenting with the distribution of the necrotic foci, IBR virus antigen was demonstrated by immunostaining.

Diagnosis of lymphoma in paraffin wax sections by nested PCR and immunohistochemistry.

Aims: To investigate whether nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry can be used to diagnose malignant lymphoma.

Methods: Paraffin wax embedded tissue sections from 31 patients with malignant lymphoma were analysed by nested PCR and immunohistochemistry using standard protocols.

Results: Nested PCR amplification of 1 pg DNA confirmed monoclonality in B cell lymphoma; PCR amplification of 10 pg DNA confirmed monoclonality in T cell lymphoma.

Characterization of a toxin-deficient Clostridium perfringens strain, KZ1340.

Clostridium perfringens KZ1340, previously classified as Clostridium plagarum, is an isolate from Antarctic soil, and was identified as an alpha-, theta-, and kappa-toxin non-producing variant. On Southern hybridization, the variant was found to be defective in the pfoA (theta-toxin) gene, but the plc (alpha-toxin) and colA (kappa-toxin) genes were present on the same EcoRI fragment as in the standard strain, NCTC8237. Northern analysis revealed that mature plc mRNA was transcribed in KZ1340 though less efficiently than in NCTC8237, while no mature colA mRNA was present in KZ1340.

Dose-dependent suppression of toluene metabolism by isopropyl alcohol and methyl ethyl ketone after experimental exposure of rats.

In order to examine possible suppression of toluene metabolism due to coexposure to other solvents, female Wistar rats were exposed for 8 h to toluene alone (at 50 or 100 ppm), or in combination with either methyl ethyl ketone (at 50, 100, 200 or 400 ppm) or isopropyl alcohol (at 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 or 1600 ppm). Urine samples were collected for 24 h after initiation of each exposure, and subjected to analysis for two toluene metabolites, hippuric acid and o-cresol, both by HPLC. The excretion of hippuric acid, a major metabolite, was not modified when the concentrations of methyl ethyl ketone or isopropyl alcohol were low, i.

Molecular cloning of a cDNA clone encoding a phosphoprotein component related to the Ig receptor-mediated signal transduction.

We have shown previously that a 52-kDa phosphoprotein (p52) co-precipitated with Ig receptor (IgR)-associated MB-1 protein was inducibly phosphorylated by the stimulation with 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate. By immunizing the 52-kDa protein co-precipitated with MB-1, we prepared a mAb (19-14), which can immunoprecipitate the p52 and the associated kinase molecule. Immune complex kinase assay with the 19-14 mAb showed that the p52 is associated with a novel kinase molecule and is involved in IgR-mediated signal transduction.

Anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody induces the proliferation of murine B cells as a B-cell mitogen through a distinct pathway from receptors for antigens or lipopolysaccharide.

To study the activation and differentiation of murine B cells, we prepared a hybridoma secreting monoclonal antibody, LB429, which can directly induce the proliferation of murine B cells in vitro. LB429 recognizes a B cell specific surface molecule of 45 kDa. It recognizes an epitope of murine CD40 produced as a soluble fusion protein with glutathione S-transferase.

Down regulation of Ia expression in macrophages following incubation with mycobacteria.

Macrophages are known to release cytokines in response to various kinds of stimulators. In the present study, peritoneal macrophages from C3H/He or C3H/HeJ mice were incubated in vitro with heat-killed M. lepraemurium, M.

B cell Ag receptor mediates different types of signals in the protein kinase activity between immature B cell and mature B cell.

Ig receptor (IgR) on the surface of B cells mediates the Ag-specific stimulatory signal for B cell proliferation and differentiation. In immature B cells, the stimulatory signal causes an inhibitory effect which is believed to be a key phenomenon in B cell tolerance or B cell anergy. Here, we studied the molecular mechanism of the inhibitory response of the IgR-mediated signal transduction that results in the programmed cell death of immature B cells.

Occupational exposure to solvent mixtures: effects on health and metabolism.

Exposure monitoring by personal diffusive samplers, biological monitoring of toluene exposure by urinary hippuric acid determination, haematology, serum biochemistry for liver function, and a subjective symptom survey by questionnaire were conducted on 303 male solvent workers. They were exposed to a mixture of solvents including toluene (geometric mean 18 ppm), methyl ethyl ketone (MEK; 16 ppm), isopropyl alcohol (IPA; 7 ppm), and ethyl acetate (9 ppm). The intensity was mostly below unity using the additiveness formula based on current Japanese occupational exposure limits, but more than eight times unity at the maximum.

Identification of a 52-kDa molecule (p52) coprecipitated with the Ig receptor-related MB-1 protein that is inducibly phosphorylated by the stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate.

Triggering of the Ig receptor (IgR) induces the activation in multiple intracellular signal transduction reactions including protein tyrosine phosphorylation, activation of phospholipase C, increased inositoltriphosphate, increased diacylglycerol, intracellular Ca2+ mobilization, and activation of protein kinase C. The IgR-complex, composed of mu-chain, L chain, Ig-alpha (MB-1), and Ig-beta (B29) proteins, is a functional unit both for expression of IgR and for signal transduction into cells, possibly by physical association with the down-stream functional molecules. An important functional motif ((D or E)-X7-(D or E)-Y-X3-L-X7-Y-X2-(L or I)) in the cytoplasmic domain of MB-1 molecule was shown to bind with several phosphoprotein components including src-type tyrosine kinases and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase.

Induction of tyrosine phosphorylation in human B lineage cells by crosslinking MB-1 molecule of B cell receptor-related heterodimer complex.

B cell antigen receptor is composed of immunoglobulin and associated MB-1 and B29. Here, we found that anti-human MB-1 stimulation induced tyrosine phosphorylation in immature B cells (FL4.4 and Nalm-6) but not in mature B cells (Daudi).

Cross-linking of B cell receptor-related MB-1 molecule induces protein tyrosine phosphorylation in early B lineage cells.

Cross-linking of surface B cell Ag receptor (BCR) induces tyrosine phosphorylation of BCR-associated components through a receptor-mediated signal transmission pathway. B cell-specific mb-1 and B29 genes encode the alpha/beta components of the BCR-associated complex in mature sIgM+ B cells. Here, we studied the involvement of the mb-1 gene product, MB-1, in the BCR-related structure of immature B cells.

Determination of cadmium in river water by sequential metal vapor elution analysis.

Determination of cadmium in river water by sequential metal vapour elution analysis (column temperature; > 1500 K) with argon and hydrogen carrier gas and with atomic absorption spectrometric detection is described. The column is made of a molybdenum capillary tube (i.d.

Establishment of a murine pre-B cell clone dependent on interleukin-7 and stem cell factor.

To identify cytokines required for proliferation of murine pre-B cells, we established a pre-B cell clone MH11 (B220+ MB-1+ sIgM-) on a stromal cell line ST2 from day 13 fetal liver. The growth of MH11 is dependent on ST2. Another stromal cell line PA6, non-secretor of IL-7, could not support MH11 unless IL-7 was added.

Activated human T cells express a ligand for the human B cell-associated antigen CD40 which participates in T cell-dependent activation of B lymphocytes.

To identify the ligand for the B cell-associated antigen CD40, we constructed a chimeric immunoglobulin molecule where the extracellular portion of the CD40 protein replaced the normal immunoglobulin variable region. No binding was detected on resting peripheral blood T cells. However, following T cell activation with phorbol esters and ionomycin, the chimeric protein bound specifically to activated human T cells and precipitated a 35-kDa protein from such cells.