Lymphotoxin but not tumor necrosis factor functions to maintain splenic architecture and humoral responsiveness in adult mice

To compare the function of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and lymphotoxin (LT)α/β systems in the mature immune system, these two pathways were blocked with soluble receptor-immunoglobulin (R-Ig) fusion proteins in normal adult mice. Inhibition of LTα/β signaling using LTβR-Ig or a blocking monoclonal antibody against murine LTβ had profound effects. The spleen lacked discrete B cell follicles and the marginal zone was altered. Less marked changes were detected in lymph nodes. LTα/β inhibition also prevented germinal center formation in the spleen and impaired Ig production in response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) immunization. These results show that the LTα/β system is required for the maintenance of splenic architecture and normal immune responses, and not simply for the development of peripheral immune organs during ontogeny. In contrast, inhibition of the TNF/LTα pathway with TNF-R55-Ig did not affect the splenic architecture or the anti-SRBC response. Splenic defects and impaired antibody responses are seen in TNF-deficient mice, suggesting that TNF is important during development. Therefore relative to TNF, the LT system has the dominant influence on splenic organization and anti-SRBC Ig formation in the adult mouse.     

CLONING AND EXPRESSION OF cDNA FOR HUMAN LYMPHO-TOXIN

人淋巴毒素（ｈＬＴ）系由淋巴细胞经抗原或有丝分裂原活化后产生的一类细胞因子，它具有抗瘤、抗病毒活性和许多重要的免疫调节作用，是一种非常有前途的生物制剂。近年来发现的膜相关型淋巴毒素更提示ｈＬＴ可能具有尚未被揭示的免疫调节活性。因此，克隆人ＬＴｃＤＮＡ并在大肠杆菌表达重组ｈＬＴ，对于ｈＬＴ的开发利用和研究其功能都具有重要意义。本实验按照公布的ｈＬＴｃＤＮＡ序列，经计算机分析并结合实验要求设计并合成一对ＰＣＲ引物，采用ＲＴ－ＰＣＲ技术从ＰＨＡ／ＰＭＡ活化２４ｈ的人Ｔ细胞系Ｊｕｒｋａｔ细胞总ＲＮＡ扩增出一５４１ｂｐＤＮＡ片段；经α－互补筛选，质粒小量快速抽提，限制性内切酶酶切鉴定，将该片段定向克隆于ｐＵＣ１８、ｐＵＣ１９质粒载体。限制性内切酶图谱分析和Ｓａｎｇｅｒ双脱氧链终止法序列测定表明：该ＤＮＡ片段与公布的人淋巴毒素ｃＤＮＡ序列完全一致。它包括编码人淋巴毒素成熟肽的全部ｃＤＮＡ序列。再进一步将该ｃＤＮＡ片段克隆于原核表达载体ｐＢＶ２２０，经地高辛标记探针菌落原位杂交筛选，限制性内切酶酶切鉴定方向，筛选出一阳性重组子ｐＢＶ－ｈＬＴ。ＳＤＳ－ＰＡＧＥ和Ｗｅｓｔｅｒｎｂｌｏｔｉｎｇ分析表明：经温控诱导，该重组菌成功     

CD40-mediated lymphotoxin α expression in human B cells is tyrosine kinase dependent

The cytokine lymphotoxin (LT)α is known to play a role in B cell activation. As the engagement of the B cell antigen CD40 is known to lead to B cell proliferation and differentiation, we studied LTα expression in human B cells after CD40 ligation. We demonstrate that anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody (mAb) induces strong LTα mRNA and surface expression in human tonsil B cells. Induction of LTα mRNA and surface expression by CD40 ligation is inhibited by the protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitors herbimycin and genistein in a dose-dependent manner. The protein kinase C (PKC)-specific inhibitors sphingosine and bisindolylmaleimide caused negligible inhibition of anti-CD40-induced LTα mRNA and surface expression. No inhibition is observed with the protein kinase (PKA) inhibitors H89 and HA1004. Cross-linking of the transmembrane phosphatase CD45 to CD40 by using goat-anti-mouse F(ab')₂ fragments strongly inhibits CD40-mediated LTα expression in human B cells, confirming the role of PTK activation in CD40-mediated induction of LTα expression. Inhibitors of the serine/threonine protein phosphatases PP1 and PP2A, okadaic acid and calyculin induce LTα mRNA expression. In contrast, cyclosporin A, an inhibitor of the serine/threonine phosphatase calcineurin has no effect on anti-CD40-induced LTα expression. These results suggest that induction of LTα expression in B cells following engagement of CD40 involves activation of protein tyrosine kinases.     

Membrane-associated Lymphotoxin Expression and Functional Analysis of Lymphokine-activated Killer Cells Derived from Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocytes

The expression of a membrane-associated lymphotoxin molecule (mLT) on lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells obtained from 18 patients with malignant tumors and its role in the tumor cell killing mechanisms were investigated. LAK cells from tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL-LAK cells) were mainly composed of CD3-positive cells, whereas LAK cells from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL-LAK cells) were mainly composed of CD16- and CD56-positive cells. However, mLT was found to be expressed on TIL-LAK cells as well as PBL-LAK cells. The degree of mLT expression correlated with the killing activity of LAK cells towards L929 cells (r=0.806, P <0.01, n = 15), but not with that towards Daudi or K562 cells. Although the degree of mLT expression correlated with the amount of secreted lymphotoxin (LT) in the supernatant of LAK cell culture, the secreted LT itself could not account for the tumor cell killing activity of LAK cells. Polyclonal rabbit anti-LT antibody partially inhibited the killing activities of LAK cells towards L929 cells and this inhibition was found in the combination of autologous tumor cells and PBL-LAK cells. These findings suggest the possibility that the mLT-related cytotoxicity is involved in the tumor cell killing mechanisms of TIL-LAK cells as well as PBL-LAK cells.     

Glial expression of cytokines in the brains of cerebrovascular disease patients

We examined the immunohistochemical localization of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α, lymphotoxin and interferon-γ in 22 autopsy brains of patients with either cerebrovascular disease (CVD) or other neurological diseases as well as 2 non-neurological control brains. These cytokines were coexpressed mostly in the microglia/macrophages and in a few astroglia in the brains with acute cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage. In cases with cerebral infarction, they were observed as early as 33 h after the onset of the illness and persisted for up to 40 days after the onset. In one patient with cerebral hemorrhage who survived for 4 h, the cytokine-immunoreactive glial cells were confined to the margins of the hematoma. In contrast, the cytokine-immunoreactive glia were distributed diffusely in one patient with cerebral hemorrhage who died 12 days after the onset of the illness. Labeling for these cytokines was weak in the glial cells of control brains and those with neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy, in so far as there were no concomitant acute CVD foci. The present results indicate that proinflammatory cytokines are up-regulated in the brains of patients with acute stroke, and suggest an early inflammatory response in human CVD. Received: 26 February 1996 / Revised, accepted: 29 March 1996     

TNF基因多态性与胃十二指肠疾病幽门螺杆菌感染的相关性研究

目的：研究我国湖北汉族人群肿瘤坏死因子（Tumor Necrosis Factor,TNF）基因多态性与胃十二指肠疾病及幽门螺杆菌（Helicobacter Pylori,Hp）感染的关系,探讨宿主遗传因素对Hp感染在胃十二指肠疾病尤其是非贲门胃癌的作用.方法：采用病例对照研究和PCR-RFLP方法,检测210例胃十二指肠疾病患者（包括73例慢性胃炎、78例十二指肠溃疡及59例非贲门胃癌患者）和264例正常对照者的TNF-α 308、LT-α Nco Ⅰ、AspH Ⅰ双等位基因型分布.Hp感染检测血清Hp Ab-IgG.结果：胃十二指肠疾病患者的Hp阳性率90.5%,显著高于正常对照组62.1%（P＜0.000 1,Odds ratio=5.793,95%CI：3.431～9.780）.LT-α Nco Ⅰ A/G基因型在Hp阳性非贲门胃癌患者（64.0%）高于Hp阳性的正常对照组（46.0%）,差异有显著性意义（P=0.029 7,OR=2.026,95%CI：1.080～3.803）,该基因型与其他胃十二指肠疾病无相关性.TNF-α 308、LT-α AspH Ⅰ与Hp感染及胃十二指肠疾病亦无相关性.结论：LT-α Nco Ⅰ A/G基因型与中国湖北汉族人群非贲门胃癌Hp阳性相关.     

Genetic risk factors for diabetic nephropathy on chromosomes 6p and 7q identified by the set-association approach

Aims/hypothesis In the present study we investigated potential associations of a set of 45 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in 20 candidate genes on eight chromosomes with diabetic nephropathy (DN) in type 2 diabetes mellitus. We aimed to compare two methodological approaches suitable for analysing susceptibility to complex traits: single- and multi-locus analyses. Materials and methods The study comprised a total of 647 subjects in one of three groups: diabetes with or without DN, or no diabetes. Genotypes were detected by PCR-based methodology (PCR only, PCR plus RFLP, or allele-specific PCR). Haplotypes were inferred in silico. Set association (tested using SUMSTAT software) was used for multilocus analysis. Results After correction for multiple comparisons, only one SNP, in the gene encoding the receptor of advanced glycation end products, AGER 2184A/G (gene symbol formerly known as RAGE) showed a significant association with DN (p = 0.0006) in single-locus analysis. In multi-locus analysis, six SNPs exhibited a significant association with DN: four SNPs on chromosome 6p (AGER 2184A/G, LTA 252A/G, EDN1 8002G/A and AGER -429T/C) and two SNPs on chromosome 7q (NOS3 774C/T and NOS3 E298D), omnibus p = 0.033. Haplotype analysis revealed significant differences between DN and control groups in haplotype frequencies on chromosome 6 (p = 0.0002); however, there were no significant difference in the frequencies of the NOS3 haplotypes on chromosome 7. Logistic regression analysis identified SNPs AGER 2184A/G and NOS3 774C/T, together with diabetes duration and HbA_1c, as significant predictors of DN. Testing for interactions between SNPs on chromosomes 6 and 7 did not provide significant evidence for epistatic interaction. Conclusions/interpretation Using the set-association approach we identified significant associations of several SNPs on chromosomes 6 and 7 with DN. The single- and multi-locus analyses represent complementary methods. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorised users.