Insight into the Mode of Action of Celangulin V on the Transmembrane Potential of Midgut Cells in Lepidopteran Larvae.

Celangulin V (CV) is the main insecticidal constituent of Celastrus angulatus. The V-ATPase H subunit of the midgut cells of lepidopteran larvae is the putative target protein of CV. Here, we compared the effects of CV on the midgut membrane potentials of Mythimna separata and Agrotis ipsilon larvae with those of the Cry1Ab toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis and with those of inactive CV-MIA, a synthetic derivative of CV. We investigated the changes in the apical membrane potentials (Vam) and basolateral membrane potentials (Vbm) of the midguts of sixth-instar larvae force-fed with the test toxins. We also measured the Vam and Vbm of larval midguts that were directly incubated with the test toxins. Similar to the effect of Cry1Ab, the Vam of CV-treated midguts rapidly decayed over time in a dose-dependent manner. By contrast, CV-MIA did not influence Vam. Meanwhile, the Vam of A. ipsilon larval midguts directly incubated with CV decayed less than that of M. separata larval midguts, whereas that of larvae force-fed with CV did not significantly change. Similar to Cry1Ab, CV did not affect the Vbm of isolated midguts. CV significantly inhibited V-ATPase activity in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, CV initially inhibits V-ATPase in the apical membrane and affects intracellular pH, homeostasis, and nutrient transport mechanisms in lepidopteran midgut cells.

Determining and characterizing hapten loads for carrier proteins by MALDI-TOF MS and MALDI-TOF/RTOF MS.

The increasing number of bioconjugates used for bioanalytical purposes and in pharmaceutical industries has led to an increasing demand for robust quality control of products derived from covalently linking small molecules to proteins. Here we report, for the first time, a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF)-based method to determine the quantity and location of the hapten zearalenone (ZEN) introduced to the carrier protein conalbumin (Con). This bioconjugate is of special interest because of its application in lateral flow immunoassays commercially available for fast testing of food and feed for the presence of ZEN, a common contaminant of all major cereal grains worldwide. Mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of the intact protein turned out to be highly reproducible allowing for the determination of the average hapten load of the carrier protein. In that way an easy and fast method to screen for changes in ZEN load after bioconjugate synthesis was established. For a more detailed hapten load characterization, measurements at the peptide level were of importance. Systematic studies, implementing post-source decay (PSD) and high- and low-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID), showed characteristic fragmentation pattern for three model peptides carrying between one and three lysines (the primary target for the ZEN modification) besides other, less obvious modification sites (serine, arginine and the N-terminus). By this, indicative reporter ions (m/z 203 and 316) and neutral losses (Δm/z 373 and 317) for the ZEN modification in general, plus immonium ions (m/z 87, 142 and 159) for the lysine modification in particular were identified. Based on these findings, proteolytic peptides, tentatively assigned to be modified, were unequivocally confirmed to be affected by bioconjugation. For a protein carrying on average only 2-3 modifications per molecule 29 Lys out of 59 potential modifications sites were actually modified. Considerations taking the protein structure into account showed that the affected Lys were predominantly located on the protein's surface.

Peptide conjugated chitosan foam as a novel approach for capture-purification and rapid detection of hapten--example of ochratoxin A.

A novel bioassay for the detection and monitoring of Ochratoxin A (OTA), a natural carcinogenic mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium fungi, has been developed and applied for the screening of red wine. Here we report the immobilization and orientation of NOF4, a synthetic peptide, onto 3-D porous chitosan supports using a N-terminal histidine tag to allow binding to M(++) ions that were previously adsorbed onto the high surface area biopolymer. Three divalent cations (M(++)=Zn(++), Co(++), Ni(++)) were evaluated and were found to adsorb via a Langmuir model and to have binding capacities in the order Zn(++)>Co(++)>Ni(++). Following Zn(++) saturation and washing, C-terminus vs. the N-terminus His-tagged NOF4 was evaluated. At 1000 µg L(-1) OTA the N-terminus immobilization was more efficient (2.5 times) in the capture of OTA. HRP labeled OTA was added to the antigen solutions (standards or samples) and together competitively incubated on biospecific chitosan foam. The chemiluminescence substrate luminol was then added and after 5 min of enzymatic reaction, light emission signals (λmax=425 nm) were analyzed. Calibration curves of %B/B0 vs. OTA concentration in PBS showed that half-inhibition occurred at 1.17 µg L(-1), allowing a range of discrimination of 0.25 and 25 µg L(-1). In red wine, the minimum concentration of OTA that the system can detect was 0.5 µg L(-1) and could detect up to 5 µg L(-1). Assay validation was performed against immunoaffinity column (IAC) tandem reversed-phase high pressure liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) and provided quite good agreement. The association of chitosan foam and specific peptide represents a new approach with potential for both purification-concentration and detection of small molecules. In the future this assay will be implemented in a solid-sate bioelectronic format.

Preparation and characterization of diethoxy- and monoethoxy phosphylated ('aged') serine haptens and use in the production of monoclonal antibodies.

In this study, the first mechanism-based monoclonal antibodies have been produced that recognize and differentiate diethoxy- and monoethoxyphosphorylated serine residues. Haptens were synthesized as the stable phosphonate form of phosphoserine esters to improve the immunoresponse. Following condensation with a glutaric anhydride to link the phosphoserine moieties to carrier protein, the hapten densities attached to bovine serum albumin and keyhole limpet henocyanin were determined by partial trypsin digestion and MALDI mass spectrometry, and confirmed using a fluorescent assay (FITC) to quantify unmodified lysine residues. The conjugation reactions were pH optimized to improve hapten density. Screening of subclones led to the identification of two monoclonal antibodies: (a) N257/25.11 that specifically recognizes (EtO)2P(O)-Ser as the phosphylated or inhibited form, and (b) N262/16 that recognizes (EtO)(HO)P(O)-Ser as the 'aged' form. Analysis of blood samples treated with paraoxon (EtO)2P(O)-OPhNO2 showed a concentration dependent recognition of the phosphylated form.

Evaluation and separation of steroid-bovine serum albumin conjugates by high-performance liquid chromatography.

The conventional methods for characterization of steroid immunogens are based on the determination of the total amount of hapten bound to the protein carrier either by the UV spectroscopy or titration of unsubstituted amino groups. These methods do not allow more detailed insight into the immunogen composition. HPLC of the immunogen combined with UV detection is a relatively rapid and convenient method enabling determination of the hapten content in each fraction and, eventually, separation of individual fractions differing in the hapten content or purification of crude product.

Isolation of an immunodominant IgE hapten from an epitope expression cDNA library. Dissection of the allergic effector reaction.

An epitope expression cDNA library was constructed from the randomly fragmented cDNA coding for Phl p I, the major grass pollen allergen. Using IgE from allergic patients, epitope clones were isolated and immunodominant fragments were selected. Among three epitope clones coding for a similar region of Phl p I, one clone expressed a 15-amino-acid epitope which was target for IgE antibodies from approximately 30% of grass pollen allergic patients. According to the prevalence of grass pollen allergy, 22% of all allergic patients are expected to display IgE reactivity with this epitope. Although the purified recombinant epitope specifically bound IgE, it did not release histamine from basophiles of most grass pollen allergic patients and thus represents an IgE hapten. Immunodominant IgE haptens may be useful as therapeutic agents to saturate mast cell-bound IgE prior to allergen exposure and may represent candidates for a safe immunotherapy of allergic diseases by reducing anaphylactic side effects.

[The immunogenic and serological properties of the O-specific polysaccharide (L-hapten) in Shigella]. / Immunogennye i serologicheskie svoistva O-spetsificheskogo polisakharida (L-gaptena) shigell.

O-specific polysaccharide (L-hapten) was isolated earlier (Zh. mikrobiol. epidemiol. immunobiol., 1989, No. 11, pp. 8-11). In this paper L-hapten was shown to be unable, even at high concentrations (up to 2,000 micrograms/ml), to sensitize sheep red blood cells for passive hemagglutination by O-antibodies. At the same time classical LPS and heat-activated LPS were active at concentrations ot 32 and 8 micrograms/ml respectively. The O-antibody-neutralizing activity of L-hapten was lower than that of LPS 10(3)-10(4) times in the passive hemagglutination test and 25-50 times in competitive ELISA. The immunogenicity of isolated L-hapten was very weak: primary response in mice to the i.v. injection of 1-10 micrograms of L-hapten was similar to the effect produced by 10(-3)-10(-4) micrograms of LPS. No protective activity of L-hapten was noted in mice when the challenge dose of virulent shigellae was 16 LD50 or more, and only a weak protective effect was observed with a low challenge dose (8 LD50). The molecular basis of low serological and biological activity of L-hapten is discussed. The most probable explanation of the results obtained in this study is that L-hapten contains some nonspecific carbohydrates, inserted in or complexed with the O-side chain. Despite its low immunogenicity, L-hapten can be an important component of effective bacterial vaccines provided it is included into a suitable delivery system as is the case with Shigella ribosomal vaccine.

Novel and sensitive noncompetitive (two-site) enzyme immunoassay for haptens with amino groups.

A novel and sensitive noncompetitive (two-site) enzyme immunoassay for haptens with amino groups is described. L-Thyroxine (T4) was used as a model hapten. T4 was indirectly biotinylated with glutathione as spacer between T4 and biotin molecules and trapped onto anti-(T4-bovine serum albumin) IgG-coated polystyrene balls. After washing the polystyrene balls to eliminate unreacted biotin and other biotinylated substances, biotinylated T4 was eluted from the polystyrene balls with HCl and was reacted with anti-(T4-bovine serum albumin) Fab'-horseradish peroxidase conjugate. The complex formed was trapped onto streptavidin-coated polystyrene balls. Peroxidase activity bound to the polystyrene balls was assayed by fluorimetry. The detection limit of T4 was 78 fg (0.1 fmol)/tube, which was 50-fold lower than the limit by competitive enzyme immunoassay using the same antibody and T4-peroxidase conjugate. This noncompetitive enzyme immunoassay was applied to the measurement of total T4 in serum. Serum levels of total T4 in 10 healthy subjects aged 25-40 yr were 94 +/- 13 (SD) micrograms/L (range, 78-114). The principle of this noncompetitive enzyme immunoassay may allow it to measure other haptens with amino groups more sensitively than can competitive immunoassays.

A glass-fiber filtration assay for solution phase hapten-antibody binding. Effect of surface treatment with a polycation.

Radioligands bound to murine monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies in solution are rapidly and effectively separated from free ligand by filtration through either untreated or polyethylenimine (PEI)-pretreated glass-fiber filters. Ligand binding to selected anti-morphine monoclonal antibodies, determined by filtration through untreated filters, was significantly greater (1.5-3.0-fold) than the binding activities obtained by gel filtration. However, radioactivity retained by filters that were pretreated with PEI (pH 4) was essentially the same as that obtained using the Sephadex G-25 short-column assay. The pH dependence of the retention on the coated fibers suggests that the mechanism of binding of antibodies to glass is different from that to the PEI-treated surfaces. The quantitative aspects of the assay are reported. The method should prove useful where quantitative, rapid and inexpensive binding radioassays need to be performed.

[O-specific L-hapten in the composition of Shigella sonnei]. / O-spetsificheskii L-gapten v sostave Shigella sonnei.

Along with classical lipopolysaccharide (LPS), O-specific material not precipitated by ultracentrifugation has been isolated from the water-phenol extract of S. sonnei avirulent strain 9090 possessing complete antigenic properties. The purification of O-antigen contained in the supernatant fluid has been carried out by the gel filtration of the fluid, previously treated with ribonuclease, in a column packed with Sephadex G-100. The polysaccharide nature of O-antigen thus obtained, the absence of lipid A and KDO and the low content of hexoses, or core-specific saccharides of S. sonnei LPS, in this antigen make it possible to classify this material with O-components of microbial cells, described by different authors as "native protoplasmic polysaccharide" or "L-hapten" and formed by polymers of LPS O-side chains. The content of this component in S. sonnei strains under study is, on the average, 2.5% of the weight of dry microbial substance. L-hapten preparations obtained in the course of our investigations have been found to contain two O-specific antigens detected by immunoelectrophoresis and immunodiffusion, as well as by sedimentation in saccharose gradient, where they form peaks corresponding to 4.3 S and 10.8 S. This polysaccharide O-antigen is supposed to be capable of interaction with ribosomal particles and suitable for use as a component of ribosomal dysentery vaccines.

Immunogenic properties of mannose-containing ceramide tetrasaccharide from fresh-water bivalve, Hyriopsis schlegelii.

Antiserum against GlcNAc beta 1----2Man alpha 1----3Man beta 1----4Glc beta 1----1Cer (MlOse4Cer), a mannolipid isolated from spermatozoa of the fresh-water bivalve Hyriopsis schlegelii, was elicited in rabbits by repeated injection of a mixture of hapten-bovine serum albumin with Freund's adjuvant. The specificity of the affinity-purified antibody obtained from the serum was based on two forms of enzyme-immunodetection of its binding to structurally related glycolipids, either adsorbed to microtiter plates or chromatographed on thin-layer plates. The purified antibody exhibited a significant cross-reactivity with GlcNAc beta 1----2Man alpha 1----3(Xyl beta 1----2)Man beta 1----4Glc beta 1----1Cer, (MIXOse5Cer) containing a core structure closely related to MlOse4Cer, but almost unrelated to other glycolipids. Distribution of MlOse4Cer and MlXOse5Cer in various bivalve and snail glycolipid extracts were screened in thin-layer immunobinding assays by using this purified specific antibody. The presence of the glycolipid antigens was limited to certain taxonomic orders of shellfish species.

Purified native haptens of Brucella abortus B19 and B. melitensis 16M reveal the lipopolysaccharide origin of the antigens.

Purification of the Brucella polysaccharide referred to as native hapten (NH) and extracted from cells by the autoclaving procedure, was accomplished by ultrafiltration, followed by repetitive gel filtration using high-performance liquid chromatography on a "TSK-G2000-SW" column. The purified NH was analysed by SDS-PAGE, gas-liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy, and 13C and 1H NMR spectroscopy. NH from B. abortus B19 (NH-A) was shown to have a structure identical to that of A polysaccharide from B. abortus 1119-3, a linear homopolymer of alpha-1,2-linked-4,6-dideoxy-4-formamido-D-mannopyrannosyl residues. The structure of the NH from B. melitensis 16M (NH-M) was identified as a linear homopolysaccharide of the same sugar but composed of a pentasaccharide repeating unit in which four alpha 1,2-linked-4,6-dideoxy-4-formamido-D-mannopyrannosyl residues are linked alpha-1,3 to the last monosaccharide of the sequence. This structure is similar to that determined for the Brucella M polysaccharide from B. melitensis 16M. The discovery in highly purified NH preparations of covalently bound monosaccharides characteristic of lipopolysaccharide inner core regions e.g., quinovosamine, mannose and 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate (KDO), indicates that this polysaccharide is derived from lipopolysaccharides (LPS) by hydrolytic conditions fortuitously generated during the extraction protocol. The antigenically important polysaccharides of Brucella are now established to be either A or M antigens. Polysaccharide B is a cyclic glucan with no structural or serological relationship to A or M polysaccharides, its apparent activity in diagnostic tests of infected cattle results from O polysaccharide contamination. This artefact, previously referred to as NH, results from LPS hydrolysis under the extraction conditions used to prepare polysaccharide B.

Development of an immunoassay for glypressin, an N-terminal extended vasopressin analogue.

The development and evaluation of a radioimmunoassay for N alpha-tri-glycyl-lysine8-vasopressin is described. The site of hapten conjugation of the immunogen has been controlled and the use of various radiolabelled tracers has been evaluated with special reference to the site of iodination. The most extensively studied antiserum showed specificity for the N-terminal triglycyl-extension as well as for several amino acid residues of the vasopressin ring. It crossreacted 27%, 28%, and 0.3% with Lys8-vasopressin, arg8-vasopressin and oxytocin respectively, and it was used to quantify triglycyl-lysine8-vasopressin in human plasma after SepPak C18 extraction. The sensitivity of the assay was 5 pg/tube with an intra-assay CV of 5-6% at 17 and 70 pg/tube. The identity of the immunoreactivity was studied by reversed phase chromatography.

Preparation by ultrafiltration and control by high-performance liquid chromatography of the native hapten of Brucella abortus for use in radial immunodiffusion diagnostic test.

An effective method was developed for the preparation of Brucella abortus native hapten by use of an ultrafiltration system. The membranes PM30 and YM5 were used to separate the lipopolysaccharide and the native hapten. The yield of the native hapten was higher than that obtained by a more complex procedure reported previously. This method is economical for the large-scale preparation of B. abortus native hapten. The effects of ultrafiltration were evaluated by a quick and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic technique.

Structural and immunochemical characterization of the O-haptens of Brucella abortus lipopolysaccharides from strains 19 and 2308.

The O-haptens of the major fraction (f5A) of B. abortus (Strains 2308 and 19) membrane bound smooth lipopolysaccharide (sLPS) were prepared by hydrolysis of f5A native sLPS in 1% acetic acid at 100 degrees C for 2 h. After hydrolysis, O-haptens were separated from Lipid A-protein complex by centrifugation, and from small fragments by ultrafiltration of molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) 1.0 X 10(3). These carbohydrate haptens were identified by precipitin-inhibition assay and further fractionated by both membrane filtration and dialysis. The size distributions of carbohydrate haptens of endotoxins (f5A) ranged from oligosaccharides up to polysacchandes of 1.0 X 10(4) MWCO. Three major fractions of MWCO 8.0-10.0 X 10(3), 3.5-5.0 X 10(3) and less than 1.0 X 10(3) from both strains 2308 and 19 contained more than 85% of the total immunoactive materials. These fractions of haptens were subjected to composition, proton and 13C NMR analysis and were found to be a homopolymer of alpha 1----2 linked, 4,5-dideoxy-4-formamido-D-mannose (N-formylperosamine), which is identical to O-haptens of B. abortus strain 119.3 and Yersinia enterocolitica serotype 0:9 and similar to Vibrio cholerae 569B (INABA). Fractions of these haptens exhibited similar inhibitory reactivities in a precipitin-inhibition assay as expressed as mumoles of monosaccharide of anhydro-N-formyl perosamine. They were about 480 times as active as Me alpha----DMan or DMan.

Structure and relevance of the oligosaccharide hapten of Mycobacterium avium serotype 2.

The type-specific antigen of Mycobacterium avium serotype 2, the most ubiquitous of serotypes within the M. avium complex and a major cause of disseminated and localized infections, was isolated and purified. It is of the glycopeptidolipid (mycoside C) class with a characteristic oligosaccharide hapten. This was released as the oligosaccharide alditol by base-catalyzed reductive beta-elimination, and the structure was established by a combination of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, methylation analysis, fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry, and 13C and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance as 2,3-di-O-methyl-L-fucopyranosyl-(alpha 1----3)-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(alpha 1----2)- 6-deoxytalitol. A feature of the work was the elucidation of the absolute (enantiomeric) configuration of the sugars. This same structure, in much less detail, was previously reported as the species-specific hapten of strains of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Thus, the work raises the intriguing possibility that some M. avium serotypes are synonymous, at least in outer cell wall anatomy, with the agent(s) of paratuberculosis (Johne's disease), an insidious disease of vast proportions in ruminants. In addition, recognition of a specific determinant will allow a precise study of the epidemiology of M. avium infections in humans and animals.

Allergens of Parietaria judaica pollen--I. Purification and characterization of a hapten and a low molecular weight allergenic peptide.

A low mol. wt allergen (Pj-2) and a hapten (Pj-H3) were purified from Parietaria judaica pollen by means of long-term aqueous extraction, dialysis and gel filtrations. The yield of the Pj-2 allergen was 0.94% (w/v) of the total protein present in the aqueous extract of the pollen, while its allergenic activity was about 60% of the total dialyzable activity, as verified by skin prick tests, ELISA- and RAST-inhibition experiments. The homogeneity of this allergen was demonstrated by one single sharp peak on HPLC, one single band on PAGE-SDS and by one single arc on IEF. Its mol. wt, estimated by HPLC and amino acid composition, was 10,400. The amino acid analysis showed 73 amino acid residues, and lysine was predominant, with 20 residues. The hapten Pj-H3 was 0.2% (w/v) of the total protein found in the pollen aqueous extract. It was inactive in skin prick tests even at a protein concn of 2 mg/ml, while it was capable of inhibiting by 60% in ELISA- and RAST-inhibition experiments, suggesting an immunochemical relationship with both IgE and allergens specific to P. judaica. The homogeneity was demonstrated by one single sharp peak on HPLC and one single band on PAGE-SDS. The amino acid analysis showed 10 amino acid residues, with no specific traits, and the mol. wt determined by gel filtration and amino acid composition was 1000. An immunochemical relation between the allergen and the hapten was also suggested by the results of an ELISA-inhibition test, and by the ability of the hapten to partially inhibit the precipitin line between rabbit antibodies to whole P. judaica pollen extract and the Pj-2 allergen. The allergen and the hapten described above, purified at homogeneity and in an antigenically active state, both provide adequate material for further structural and immunological characterizations.

Allergic contact dermatitis to laurel (Laurus nobilis L.): isolation and identification of haptens.

Two methods, using methylenelactone dimethylamino adducts, were used to remove selectively alpha-methylene gamma-butyrolactones from Laurus nobilis L. extracts. Isolated lactones were identified and "treated" extracts recovered. Two guinea-pig groups were sensitized to crude extracts and "treated" extracts, respectively, and tested with primary sensitizer and with different lactones. Only the first group showed strong skin reactions to crude extracts and to the lactones. Treated extracts were shown to be anallergic.