Subject(s)
Membrane Glycoproteins , Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor/chemistry , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , B-Lymphocytes/immunology , Base Sequence , Humans , Mice , Models, Molecular , Molecular Sequence Data , OX40 Ligand , Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor/genetics , Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor/physiology , Recombinant Fusion Proteins , Sequence Homology , T-Lymphocytes/immunology , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/chemistry , Tumor Necrosis FactorsABSTRACT
A ligand was cloned for murine OX40, a member of the TNF receptor family, using a T cell lymphoma cDNA library. The ligand (muOX40L) is a type II membrane protein with significant identity to human gp34 (gp34), a protein whose expression on HTLV-1-infected human leukemic T cells is regulated by the tax gene. The predicted structures of muOX40L and gp34 are similar to, but more compact than, those of other ligands of the TNF family. Mapping of the muOX40L gene revealed tight linkage to gld, the FasL gene, on chromosome 1. gp34 maps to a homologous region in the human genome, 1q25. cDNAs for human OX40 receptor were cloned by cross-hybridization with muOX40, and gp34 was found to bind the expressed human receptor. Lymphoid expression of muOX40L was detected on activated T cells, with higher levels found on CD4+ rather than CD8+ cells. The cell-bound recombinant ligands are biologically active, co-stimulating T cell proliferation and cytokine production. Strong induction of IL-4 secretion by muOX40L suggests that this ligand may play a role in regulating immune responses. In addition, the HTLV-1 regulation of gp34 suggests a possible connection between virally induced pathogenesis and the OX40 system.
Subject(s)
Membrane Glycoproteins , Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor/genetics , Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor/metabolism , Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 7/metabolism , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/genetics , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Antigens, Surface , Base Sequence , Chromosome Mapping , Chromosomes, Human, Pair 1 , Cloning, Molecular , Cytokines/biosynthesis , Female , Gene Expression Regulation , Human T-lymphotropic virus 1/metabolism , Humans , Ligands , Membrane Proteins , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Models, Molecular , Molecular Sequence Data , OX40 Ligand , Receptors, OX40 , Recombinant Fusion Proteins/metabolism , Sequence Homology, Amino Acid , T-Lymphocytes/metabolism , Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 7/genetics , Tumor Necrosis FactorsABSTRACT
Automated percutaneous diskectomy was performed with use of computed tomographic (CT) and fluoroscopic monitoring. Degenerative disease of the intervertebral disk was treated with local administration of anesthesia and use of a nucleotome. One hundred ten patients with neurologic symptoms and morphologic changes of one segment were selected for treatment. Previous conservative therapy had been unsuccessful. Patients with completely prolapsed and sequestered fragments of herniated disks ("uncontained disk"), narrow intervertebral spaces, posterior osteophytes, diseased facet joints, and spinal stenoses were not considered candidates for percutaneous nucleotomy (PNT). After PNT, 82% of the patients had complete remission of their neurologic symptoms; Lasègue sign was negative or improved in 92%. In 18% (20 patients), the symptoms did not improve sufficiently; 11% (12 of 110) of these patients underwent surgical nucleotomy. There were no serious complications, in particular, no injuries to vital structures (nerves, thecal sac, arteries, veins), except for one case of spondylodiskitis. Guiding PNT with CT and fluoroscopy provides a safe procedure with good clinical results. The addition of CT has shortened the operation but increased over-all procedure time. In the future, a shift to outpatient treatment may offset the additional time and cost of including CT guidance.
Subject(s)
Fluoroscopy , Intervertebral Disc Displacement/surgery , Monitoring, Intraoperative/methods , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , Adult , Aged , Humans , Intervertebral Disc Displacement/epidemiology , Middle Aged , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
Cytoplasmic extracts of meiotically mature mouse oocytes were injected into immature Xenopus laevis oocytes, which underwent germinal vesicle breakdown within 2 h. Germinal vesicle breakdown was not inhibited by incubation of the Xenopus oocytes in cycloheximide (20 micrograms/ml). Identically prepared extracts of meiotically immature mouse oocytes, arrested at the germinal vesicle stage by dibutyryl cyclic AMP (100 micrograms/ml), did not induce germinal vesicle breakdown in Xenopus oocytes. The results show that maturation-promoting factor activity appears during the course of oocyte maturation in the mouse.
