Kinetic mechanism of L-α-glycerophosphate oxidase from Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

L-α-glycerophosphate oxidase is an FAD-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of L-α-glycerophosphate (Glp) by molecular oxygen to generate dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The catalytic properties of recombinant His6-GlpO from Mycoplasma pneumoniae (His6-MpGlpO) were investigated through transient and steady-state kinetics and ligand binding studies. The results indicate that the reaction mechanism of His6-MpGlpO follows a ping-pong model.

Initial results of screening of nondiabetic organ donors for expression of islet autoantibodies.

Context: Type 1A diabetes is characterized by a long prodromal phase during which autoantibodies to islet antigens are present. Nevertheless, we lack data on the pancreatic pathology of subjects who are positive for islet autoantibodies (to islet autoantigens GAD65, insulin, and ICA512).

Objective: In this manuscript, we describe a novel strategy in obtaining pancreata and pancreatic lymph nodes from islet autoantibody-positive organ donors that involves careful coordination among the laboratory and the organ donor provider organization.

Prevalence of donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies during episodes of renal allograft rejection.

Background: Recent studies suggest that the appearance of anti-HLA antibodies in the early posttransplant period is associated with an increased incidence of acute and chronic rejection months later. However, very little is known about the prevalence of anti-HLA antibodies at the time that the rejection episodes are diagnosed. The purpose of this study was to analyze retrospectively 420 sera from 263 renal allograft recipients who were readmitted to the hospital for any reason between 1989 and 1998 in order to determine if a correlation existed between the presence of donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies and graft rejection.

Anti-islet cell antibodies from NOD mice.

We produced a panel of monoclonal autoantibodies from the spleen cells of prediabetic nonobese diabetic mice. The antibodies were selected on the basis of their ability to bind to the surface of nondiabetic mouse islet cells, and from greater than 4000 hybridomas screened, 35 islet-reactive antibodies were isolated. Most of these reagents also bind to nondiabetic rat and human islet cells and beta-cell tumor lines.