Immunohistowax processing, a new fixation and embedding method for light microscopy, which preserves antigen immunoreactivity and morphological structures: visualisation of dendritic cells in peripheral organs.

AIMS: To describe a new fixation and embedding method for tissue samples, immunohistowax processing, which preserves both morphology and antigen immunoreactivity, and to use this technique to investigate the role of dendritic cells in the immune response in peripheral tissues. METHODS: This technique was used to stain a population of specialised antigen presenting cells (dendritic cells) that have the unique capacity to sensitise naive T cells, and therefore to induce primary immune responses. The numbers of dendritic cells in peripheral organs of mice either untreated or injected with live Escherichia coli were compared. RESULTS: Numbers of dendritic cells were greatly decreased in heart, kidney, and intestine after the inoculation of bacteria. The numbers of dendritic cells in the lung did not seem to be affected by the injection of E coli. However, staining of lung sections revealed that some monocyte like cells acquired morphological and phenotypic features of dendritic cells, and migrated into blood vessles. CONCLUSIONS: These observations suggest that the injection of bacteria induces the activation of dendritic cells in peripheral organs, where they play the role of sentinels, and/or their movement into lymphoid organs, where T cell priming is likely to occur.

The anti-tumoral activity of human glycoprotein HGP.92: a study with the mouse Lewis-lung-tumor cell.

The ability of a purified human glycoprotein (HGP.92) to exert anti-tumor activity was investigated in a mouse model using long-term readout assays. In vitro, in the presence of inflammatory mouse macrophages incubated with HGP.92, the growth of the mouse Lewis-lung-tumor cells (3LL) was decreased. This effect was concentration-dependent and required direct contact between tumor targets and HGP.92-treated macrophages. In addition, if the macrophage monolayer was depleted of HGP.92 before addition of the target cells, no more cytostatic effect was observed. This anti-tumor activity of HGP.92-treated mouse macrophage was partially abrogated by addition of catalase in the culture medium, but not by superoxide dismutase or scavengers of the hydroxyl radical and singlet oxygen. Moreover, this tumor-cell growth reduction was not dependent on nitric oxide. In vivo, multiple i.v. injections of HGP.92 (5 times, 3 days apart) during the first week and a half exerted significant anti-tumor activity, as assessed by the reduction of both the number and the size of the lung nodules 3 weeks after i.v. inoculation of 3LL cells.

The biology of macrophages.

The main properties of the mononuclear phagocytic system (MPS) are summarized, focusing on their relevance within the framework of the steady-state and the inducible functions of the mammalian immune system, more specifically the immune system of the laboratory mouse, a reference vertebrate which remains the best studied. A peculiar attention is given to the rationale underlying the generation of so-called specific tools and reagents whose use is promoted to characterize this lineage, whatever the level under study, i.e. tissular, cellular, or subcellular levels. As one lineage among other lineages of the hemopoietic system, the MPS is characterizable by constitutive and inducible phenotypic and functional markers whose combination is unique for a given tissular micro-environment. Considering our present understanding of the innate and adaptive immune system functions, some of the properties of the MPS are discussed in relation with properties of another recently recognized hemopoietic lineage, namely the dendritic leukocyte system.

Human glycoprotein HGP92 induces cytokine synthesis in mouse mononuclear phagocytes.

HGP92 has been shown to enhance in vitro and in vivo the bactericidal and tumoricidal activity of mouse macrophages. In this study we investigated the effect of HGP92 on the accumulation of cytokine mRNA in mouse inflammatory, peritoneal macrophages and the monocytic cell line J774. HGP92 significantly enhanced the level of cytokine mRNA for IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-alpha and GM-CSF during the first 24 h of the incubation. This effect triggered by HGP92 was comparable to that obtained with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is a strong cytokine inducer. This accumulation of cytokine mRNA in macrophages was correlated with secretion of IL-6 and TNF-alpha in cell supernatant. The release of IL-6 was HGP92 concentration dependent over a range of 0.3-10 micrograms/ml with a maximum production obtained after a 24 h incubation of inflammatory macrophages with HGP92. This effect was shown not to be due to contamination of HGP92 by LPS since inflammatory macrophages from C57BL/6 mice were responsive to HGP92 pretreated with polymyxin B sulfate and unresponsive to heated HGP92. Stimulating activity of HGP92 was confirmed using macrophages from C3H/HeJ mice. These results suggest that HGP92 might modulate the immune responses by increasing cytokine production by macrophages.

Purification of a 92 kDa human immunostimulating glycoprotein obtained from the Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein.

A purification method for a human urinary glycoprotein (HGP92) dissociated from Tamm Horsfall protein (THP) is described. Tamm-Horsfall protein, obtained by salt precipitations, was again precipitated in presence of monovalent ions. In these conditions, Tamm-Horsfall protein displayed a tendency to form a gel. After ultracentrifugation, HGP92, which was trapped in the gel, was dissociated from Tamm-Horsfall protein and found in the supernatant. The final step of purification of HGP92 was chromatography on a DEAE Affigel blue column. Injected intravenously, HGP92, but not THP, protected mice against a lethal inoculum of Listeria monocytogenes. This procedure has the advantage of being easy to perform, and enables preparation of large amounts of HGP92. These results suggest that the previously described 'immunostimulating' properties of Tamm-Horsfall protein were, in fact, a consequence of its contamination by HGP92.

A 92-kDa human immunostimulatory protein.

We purified to apparent homogeneity a human urinary glycoprotein of 92 kDa (HGP.92) that, administered intravenously at 250 micrograms/kg, fully protected mice against a lethal inoculum of Listeria monocytogenes. Since HGP.92 protected scid mice, which lack B and T lymphocytes, this increased resistance to Listeria did not appear to be lymphocyte mediated. Furthermore, inflammatory macrophages incubated with 6 nM HGP.92 inhibited the growth of Lewis carcinoma cells in vitro. These two activities appeared to depend on an oligosaccharide moiety, as they were lost after N-Glycanase treatment of HGP.92. Thus, the biological activity of HGP.92 was in some way related to a glycan moiety.

P-selectin, a granule membrane protein of platelets and endothelial cells, follows the regulated secretory pathway in AtT-20 cells.

P-selectin (PADGEM, GMP-140, CD62) is a transmembrane protein specific to alpha granules of platelets and Weibel-Palade bodies of endotheial cells. Upon stimulation of these cells, P-selectin is translocated to the plasma membrane where it functions as a receptor for monocytes and neutrophils. To investigate whether the mechanism of targeting of P-selectin to granules is specific for megakaryocytes and endothelial cells and/or dependent on von Willebrand factor, a soluble adhesive protein that is stored in the same granules, we have expressed the cDNA for P-selectin in AtT-20 cells. AtT-20 cells are a mouse pituitary cell line that can store proteins in a regulated fashion. By double-label immunofluorescence, P-selectin was visible as a punctate pattern at the tips of cell processes. This pattern closely resembled the localization of ACTH, the endogenous hormone produced and stored by the AtT-20 cells. Fractionation of the transfected cells resulted in the codistribution of P-selectin and ACTH in cellular compartments of the same density. Immunoelectron microscopy using a polyclonal anti-P-selectin antibody demonstrated immunogold localization in dense granules, morphologically indistinguishable from the ACTH granules. Binding experiments with radiolabeled monoclonal antibody to P-selectin indicated that there was also surface expression of P-selectin on the AtT-20 cells. After stimulation with the secretagogue 8-Bromo-cAMP the surface expression increased twofold, concomitant with the release of ACTH. In contrast, the surface expression of P-selectin transfected into CHO cells, which do not have a regulated pathway of secretion, did not change with 8-Br-cAMP treatment. In conclusion, we provide evidence for the regulated secretion of a transmembrane protein (P-selectin) in a heterologous cell line, which indicates that P-selectin contains an independent sorting signal directing it to storage granules.