Physical delineation of the minimal chromosomal segment encompassing the murine host resistance locus Bcg.

The host resistance locus Bcg determines resistance of mice to infection with intracellular pathogens such as certain species of Mycobacteria, Salmonella typhimurium, and Leishmania donovani. Bcg maps on the proximal portion of mouse chromosome 1, very tightly linked to villin (Vil), with the gene order and intergene distances Tp-1-(1 cM)-D1Mcg105-(0.1 cM)-lambda Mm1C165/Vil/Bcg-(0.

High-resolution linkage map in the vicinity of the host resistance locus Bcg.

The mouse chromosome 1 locus Bcg determines natural resistance/susceptibility of inbred mouse strains to infection with antigenically unrelated intracellular parasites, including several Mycobacterium species, Salmonella typhimurium, and Leishmania donovani. In our effort to clone Bcg, we have constructed a high-resolution genetic linkage map in the vicinity of the gene. We have developed eight new highly polymorphic markers (simple sequence repeats) corresponding to cloned genes (Vil, Inha, Des), microdissected chromosome 1 anonymous probes (lambda Mm1C136, lambda Mm1C163, lambda Mm1C165), or novel DNA markers from the region obtained by chromosome walking (D1Mcg101 and D1Mcg105).

Natural resistance to infection with intracellular parasites: isolation of a candidate for Bcg.

Natural resistance to infection with intracellular parasites is controlled by a dominant gene on mouse chromosome 1, called Bcg, Lsh, or Ity. Bcg affects the capacity of macrophages to destroy ingested intracellular parasites early during infection. We have assembled a 400 kb bacteriophage and cosmid contig within the genomic interval containing Bcg.

Identification and mapping of six microdissected genomic DNA probes to the proximal region of mouse chromosome 1.

Six independent DNA probes, lambda Mm1C-150, lambda Mm1C-153, lambda Mm1C-156, lambda Mm1C-162, lambda Mm1C-163, and lambda Mm1C-165, have been isolated from a library of microdissected fragments from mouse chromosome 1, spanning cytogenetic bands C2 to C5. These DNA probes have been mapped by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis with respect to 12 marker loci previously assigned to this portion of mouse chromosome 1, in a panel of 251 segregating Mus spretus x C57BL/6J interspecific backcross mice. The gene order and intergene distances were determined by segregation analysis to be centromere- lambda Mm1C-162-11.

Regulation of neurotransmitter synthesis: from neuron to gene.

We are interested in the molecular mechanisms of the regulation of neurotransmitter related gene expression by neurotrophic factors and neuronal activity. Previous work has shown that conditioned medium of muscle cells induces choline acetyltransferase (CAT) activity and represses tyrosine hydroxylase, dopamine-beta-hydroxylase and aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) activities in cultured sympathetic neurons. Here, we show that a new muscle-derived cell line secretes two factors which induce CAT activity in spinal cord cultures; one of those is related to LIF, a CAT inducing factor for sympathetic neurons.

Different strains of donor parental lymphoid cells induce different models of chronic graft-versus-host disease in murine (Balb/c x A/J)F1 hybrid hosts.

The induction of a chronic graft-versus-host (cGVH) disease in (Balb/c x A/J)F1 mice by the intravenous injection of either Balb/c or A/J parental lymphoid cells led to the development of two different models of disease. In this paper we compared the clinical aspects and the antigen specificities which recognized the autoantibodies developed by the animals of these two models of cGVH disease. Renal disease, alopecia, and purpura lesions were common in both models, although their frequency and intensity varied between groups.

Identification of protein components reactive with anti-PM/Scl autoantibodies.

The PM/Scl antigen from mammalian cells has been characterized as a nucleolar and nucleoplasmic molecular complex containing at least 16 polypeptides ranging in molecular weight from 110 to 20 kD. Of these polypeptides, we have found those of 68, 39 and 20 kD to be in a phosphorilated form. Whereas the entire complex was precipitated by all the anti-PM/Scl sera tested, in immunoblots the antibodies specifically recognized determinants on the 110-kD protein.

A stuttering model for paramyxovirus P mRNA editing.

Paramyxovirus P genes are transcribed into two mRNAs which differ from each other by either one (measles and Sendai virus) or two (SV5 and mumps virus) G insertions, and which code for either the P or V proteins. The G insertions always occur within a short run of Gs, and a stuttering mechanism for the insertions has been suggested in which the viral polymerase reiteratively copies a template C residue during mRNA synthesis. Support for this mechanism was obtained by varying the reaction conditions during Sendai virus mRNA synthesis in vitro.

Induction of the vesicular monoamine transporter by elevated potassium concentration in cultures of rat sympathetic neurons.

The expression of the vesicular monoamine transporter was studied in newborn rat sympathetic neurons and compared to that of the catecholamine biosynthesis enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase. The vesicular monoamine transporter was assayed using the specific ligand [3H]dihydrotetrabenazine. In cultures grown for 10 days in the presence of 35 mM K+, tyrosine hydroxylase activity and the density of [3H]dihydrotetrabenazine binding sites were increased by a similar 2-3-fold factor, while dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity and protein level were unchanged.

Editing of the Sendai virus P/C mRNA by G insertion occurs during mRNA synthesis via a virus-encoded activity.

Two forms of the Sendai virus P/C mRNA have been predicted: one an exact copy of the viral genome, and the other with a single G insertion within a run of three G's. We directly cloned the mRNA or portions of it containing the insertion site and screened the resulting colonies with oligonucleotides that could distinguish the presence of three or four G's at this position. We found that 31% of the mRNAs did in fact contain the predicted insertion, whereas the viral genomes contained no heterogeneity at this position.

The role of Ca2+ channels of the L-type in neurotransmitter plasticity of cultured sympathetic neurons.

We have studied the effects of Ca2+ antagonists and agonists on the development of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), tyrosine hydroxylase (TOH) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in cultures of rat sympathetic neurons maintained for 6-9 days in low K+ (5 mM) or high K+ (35 mM) medium. Previous experiments have shown that high K+ medium increases TOH activity and TOH-mRNA level up to 3.5-fold and depresses the development of AChE, in particular of its asymmetric A12 form.

Modified model for the switch from Sendai virus transcription to replication.

RNase mapping was used to estimate the levels of unencapsidated Sendai virus plus-strand RNAs which cross the leader-NP junction relative to NP mRNA. Significant amounts of leader readthrough RNAs were found in Z strain-infected cells, similar to that described for the polR mutant of vesicular stomatitis virus, even though this strain is considered wild type. The levels of the readthrough RNAs detected fell sharply when progressively longer probes were used, unlike that of NP mRNA.

Addition of high-mannose sugars must precede disulfide bond formation for proper folding of Sendai virus glycoproteins.

The role of glycosylation and of disulfide bonds in the formation of the native structure of the Sendai virus hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) and fusion (F0) glycoproteins was studied. In contrast to the HN and F0 synthesized in vivo, the proteins made from pSP6 transcripts in reticulocyte lysates, whether glycosylated or not, were not recognized by monoclonal antibodies or polyclonal rabbit sera raised against the native proteins; they efficiently reacted only with rabbit antisera raised against the reduced sodium dodecyl sulfate-denatured proteins. These in vitro-made proteins, however, did not contain disulfide bonds.

Mapping of monoclonal antibodies to the Sendai virus P protein and the location of its phosphates.

The epitopes of a panel of five monoclonal antibodies to the Sendai virus P protein were mapped by generating modified forms of the P mRNA via SP6 expression followed by in vitro translation. The epitopes were found to be clustered in the C-terminal region of the protein. Two epitopes were within the last 30 residues, two were within the next 65, and one was between residues 308 and 451 of this 568-residue-long protein.

Regulation of neurotransmitter metabolic enzymes and tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA level by nerve growth factor in cultured sympathetic neurones.

The survival of new-born rat sympathetic neurones in culture was increased in a dose-dependent manner by 7S nerve growth factor (NGF). NGF also increased, in a parallel manner, the specific activities of tyrosine hydroxylase (TOH) and choline acetyltransferase (CAT). Total acetylcholinesterase (AcChE) activity increased with NGF concentration, although less distinctly than TOH and CAT.

Comparison of the effects of elevated K+ ions and muscle-conditioned medium on the neurotransmitter phenotype of cultured sympathetic neurons.

Neuronal depolarization and culture media conditioned by certain nonneuronal cells (CM) are known to exert opposite effects on the expression of cholinergic and noradrenergic traits in cultured rat sympathetic neurons. We have compared their effects on the developments of choline acetyltransferase (CAT), tyrosine hydroxylase (TOH), dopa decarboxylase (AADC) and acetylcholinesterase (AcChE) in these cultures. A macromolecular factor which was partially purified from CM increased CAT development in a dose-dependent manner and depressed the development of TOH and AADC by 5- to 10-fold.

The use of a tyrosine-hydroxylase cDNA probe to study the neurotransmitter plasticity of rat sympathetic neurons in culture.

We have compared quantitatively the effects of muscle-conditioned medium (CM) and elevated K+ concentration (40 mM) on the enzymatic activity of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and on TH-mRNA levels in primary cultures of rat sympathetic neurons. Northern blot analysis of RNA from cultured neurons with a 32P-labeled rat TH-cDNA probe was performed. The probe hybridized strongly with a single RNA species of 1.

Effects of a very low dose rate of chronic ionizing radiation on the division potential of human embryonic lung fibroblasts in vitro.

Among the various parameters that are supposed to play a role in aging at the cellular level, the "free radical theory" involves biochemical modifications that can be induced by radiation. Human embryonic lung fibroblasts were serially subcultivated at low density under chronic low dose rate irradiation (40 mrad/day) and in a normal environment. Irradiation increases cell attachment and the population doubling/day throughout their entire in vitro lifespan.

Studies on catalase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxidismutase activities in aging cells of Paramecium tetraurelia.

The nature of the aging process has been the subject of considerable speculation. Now, some data indicate that free radical reactions going on continuously in the cells contribute to aging. Considering these data, we have investigated the activity of enzymes (catalase, glutathione peroxidase, superoxidismutase) present physiologically in the cell to limit to tolerable levels, the rate of free radicals or H2O2.