Independent transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of the two tumor necrosis factor receptors in promyelocytic HL-60 cells.

Two separate tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors of approximately 55 kDa (TNF-R55) and 75 kDa (TNF-R75) have been identified. The role of protein kinase A activation by dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP) and of protein kinase C activation with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) for transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of the two receptors was investigated in promyelocytic HL-60 cells. Incubation with dbcAMP or the adenylate cyclase agonist forskolin caused an increase in the level of TNF-R75 mRNA while TNF-R55 mRNA was unaffected. The half-life of transcripts for both TNF-R55 and TNF-R75 was unaffected as judged by disappearance of mRNA after inhibition of transcription with actinomycin D. Thus the transcription of the TNF-R75 gene seemed to be enhanced by activation of protein kinase A. This enhancement was not dependent on de novo protein synthesis. Incubation with PMA did not affect the mRNA level of any of the TNF receptors. Both TNF-R55 and TNF-R75 mRNA showed a prolonged half-life after incubation with the inhibitor of protein synthesis cycloheximide, indicating superinduction of the genes. Our results demonstrate that the two TNF receptors can be regulated differently at the transcriptional level and that both transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation occurs.

Involvement of an Asn/Val cleavage site in the production of a soluble form of a human tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor. Site-directed mutagenesis of a putative cleavage site in the p55 TNF receptor chain.

Soluble forms of receptors for tumor necrosis factor (TNF) might be important for regulating the actions of TNF. Site-directed in vitro mutagenesis was employed to examine the processing of the p55 tumor necrosis factor receptor chain (TNF-R55) into soluble TNF-binding protein (TNF-R55-BP). An Asn/Val sequence close to the transmembrane region in TNF-R55 was indicated as a putative cleavage site for proteolytic processing. By mutagenesis, Asn and Val were replaced with Gly and Ala, respectively. Expression in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells resulted in identical binding of ligand to mutated receptors as compared to receptors not subjected to mutagenesis. Turnover rates of receptors as judged by disappearance of TNF binding capacity after inhibition of de novo protein synthesis and downregulation in response to incubation with phorbol esters were also identical between wild-type and mutated receptors. However, mutations of the cleavage site resulted in a decreased spontaneous and phorbol ester-induced release of soluble receptor (TNF-R55-BP) which was almost abolished when both Asn and Val were mutated. Our results clearly demonstrate the importance of an Asn/Val sequence for proteolytic processing of the TNF-R55 into soluble TNF-R55-BP and indicate that phorbol ester-induced downregulation of the TNF-R55 may be dissociated from proteolytic cleavage of the receptor.

[Nursing needs of the elderly in hospital from the nurses' viewpoint]. / Hoitotyöntekijöiden käsityksiä vanhusten inhimillisten tarpeiden tyydyttymisestä sairaalassa.

The human needs of elderly people in hospital were studied from the point of view of the nursing staff in order to describe how important nurses perceive the satisfaction of these needs to be, what kinds of needs they regard as significant or insignificant and what opportunities they have to influence their satisfaction. The data were collected using questionnaires, filled in by 130 nurses working in 14 geriatric wards in the hospital attached to a Health Centre. Human needs were evaluated on a scale based on the theory of human needs created by Yura and Walsh. The data were analysed by quantitative statistical methods: frequency and percentage distributions, cross tabulations and the Chi-Square test. The nurses regarded the satisfaction of human needs among the elderly as extremely or very important in most of the answers (70%) and as important in 27%. In only 3% did the nurses describe this aspect as being of little importance or insignificant. The satisfaction of many psychosociological and physiological needs was also regarded as extremely or very important. Nearly half of the nurses (49%) described the satisfaction of sexuality needs as important, a quarter (25%) as extremely or very important, and the remaining quarter (25%) regarded these needs as of little importance or insignificant.

Lymphotoxin produced by human B- and T-cell lines appears in two distinct forms.

Production and release of lymphotoxin (LT) was studied by metabolic labeling of human B- and T-cell lines with 14C-leucine and 35S-methionine. LT was immunoprecipitated with antiserum to LT and separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) followed by fluorography. Two molecular weight forms of LT with different rates of release were found both in cell supernatants and cell extracts. Monensin, a sodium ionophore, inhibited the release of LT. LT still appeared in two molecular weight forms after deglycosylation with N-glycanase. Treatment of cells with swainsonine followed by digestion of released LT with endoglycosidase H (endo H) demonstrated that the oligosaccharides were of the complex type. Subcellular fractionation of cells on Percoll density gradients demonstrated that intracellular LT is located to intermediate density fractions. No LT was found in the high density fractions corresponding to lysosomes. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate induced production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the B-lymphoblastoid cell line RPMI-1788. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the presence of two distinct molecular weight forms of LT, which contain N-linked oligosaccharides of the complex type.

Modulation of the constitutive gene expression of the 55 kD tumor necrosis factor receptor in hematopoietic cells.

The expression of the 55 kD human tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor gene was investigated. By use of a 1.2 kb cDNA we demonstrated a constitutive expression of a single 2.3 kb transcript in cell lines and fresh blood cells. The TNF receptor gene expression was not affected by phorbol esters, dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP), interleukin-1 (IL-1), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) or by TNF, agents known to modulate functional TNF receptors. The phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine (IBMX) showed a dose dependent inhibition of the TNF receptor gene expression. This inhibition is not mediated by cAMP, since neither dbcAMP nor forskolin had any effects on the expression of the 55 kD receptor gene. The results suggest that the effects of phorbol diesters, IL-1, IFN-gamma, TNF and dbcAMP previously observed on binding of TNF to cells are limited to posttranscriptional regulation of the 55 kD TNF receptor.