c-kit gene expression in CD7-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia: close correlation with expression of myeloid-associated antigen CD13.

Expression of human c-kit proto-oncogene and interleukin-7 receptor (IL-7R) in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells expressing CD7 was examined by Northern-blot analysis and reversed transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay in relation to the phenotypes. Leukemic cells from four out of 12 CD7+ ALL patients, all of which fulfilled the criteria of ALL in the FAB classification, expressed c-kit genes. Surface CD3 (sCD3) was absent in all of these cases, while cytoplasmic CD3 (cCD3) was found in the two sCD3- cases. CD3 epsilon transcripts were detected in one of the sCD3- cCD3- cases. IL-7R genes were transcribed in the three cases with c-kit gene expression. In addition, there was a good correlation between c-kit gene expression and myeloid associated antigen CD13 positivity of the leukemic cells. None of the patients with c-kit gene expression had mediastinal tumor. Our results show that leukemic cells in a proportion of CD7+ ALL express receptors for cytokines that are secreted by bone marrow stromal cells. Ligands for c-kit genes and IL-7 could play an important role for the regulation of proliferation and differentiation of T-cell progenitors in bone marrow.

[Transient large granular lymphocytosis associated with pulmonary tuberculosis: a case report].

We report a case of a 61-year-old woman with large granular lymphocytosis associated with pulmonary tuberculosis. She was admitted to our hospital because of high fever, anemia and splenomegaly. On admission, the leukocyte count was 6,890/microliters with 52% of large granular lymphocytes. Immunophenotypical analysis of the increased cells showed following results; CD2+, CD3-, CD16+, CD57+. These cells had natural killer (NK) activity. Molecular genetical analysis showed these cells had germline configuration of the T cell receptor beta chain genes. About four months after admission, chest X-P revealed multiple mass shadow and the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis was made by the examination of gastric juice. Anti-tuberculosis therapy was started, and soon after clinical symptom and pancytopenia were improved. For about one year, anti-tuberculosis therapy was continued, and now hematological abnormality is not found. We considered that this case was reactive large granular lymphocytosis of NK cells to lung tuberculosis.

A case of chronic myelocytic leukemia in blast crisis: the myeloblasts became overt from lymphoid and myeloid mixed population of the blast crisis cells after chemotherapy.

Immunophenotypes and genotypes were analyzed for a case of chronic myelocytic leukemia in blast crisis (BC). In the early stage of BC (early BC), the blasts consisted of lymphoid-myeloid cells, but in the later stage of BC (late BC), they were myeloid cells, morphologically and phenotypically. On Southern blot of DNAs in early BC, a single rearranged fragment of immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) genes was detected, whereas IgH genes were in germline configuration in both initial chronic phase and late BC. A clone which had a rearranged IgH gene in early BC, was considered to have co-existed with a clone which had the germline IgH gene. Analysis for bcr genes confirmed that the chronic phase as well as early and late BC were of the same clonal origin. Phenotypic and immunogenotypic analyses, however, revealed that at least two secondary clones emerged from the primary clone. The therapeutic effect against lymphoid population among mixed crisis cells could be evuluated not only phenotypically but also genotypically.

[Spontaneous transient remission in adult acute myeloid leukemia].

A spontaneous complete remission for one month duration was observed in a 54-year-old female with acute myeloid leukemia. She had no documentation of apparent infection and blood transfusions, although they were ordinarily associated with spontaneous remission.

Nucleotide sequence of the phoS gene, the structural gene for the phosphate-binding protein of Escherichia coli.

phoS is the structural gene for the phosphate-binding protein, which is localized in periplasm and involved in active transport of phosphate in Escherichia coli. It is also a negative regulatory gene for the pho regulon, and the gene expression is inducible by phosphate starvation. The complete nucleotide sequence of the phoS gene was determined by the method of Maxam and Gilbert (A. M. Maxam and W. Gilbert, Methods Enzymol. 65:499-560, 1980). The amino acid sequences at the amino termini of the pre-PhoS and PhoS proteins and at the carboxy terminus of the PhoS protein were determined by using the purified proteins. Furthermore, the amino acid sequence of enzymatically digested peptide fragments of the PhoS protein was determined. The combined data established the nucleotide sequence of the coding region and the amino acid sequence of the pre-PhoS and the PhoS proteins. The pre-PhoS protein contains an extension of peptide composed of 25 amino acid residues at the amino terminus of the PhoS protein, which has the general characteristics of a signal peptide. The mature PhoS protein is composed of 321 amino acid residues, with a calculated molecular weight of 34,422, and lacks the disulfide bond and methionine. The regulatory region of phoS contains a characteristic Shine-Dalgarno sequence at an appropriate position preceding the translational initiation site, as well as three possible Pribnow boxes and one -35 sequence. the nucleotide sequence of the regulatory region of phoS was compared with those of phoA and phoE, the genes constituting the pho regulon.

Hyperproduction of phosphate-binding protein, phoS, and pre-phoS proteins in Escherichia coli carrying a cloned phoS gene.

A large amount of phosphate-binding protein, the phoS gene product, accumulated in the periplasmic space of the cells when an Escherichia coli strain carrying a multicopy plasmid containing a chromosomal fragment of the phoS-phoT region (pSN507) was grown in a low-phosphate medium. When the same strain carrying a plasmid containing only the phoS gene (pSN518 or pSN5182) was grown in low-phosphate medium, phosphate-binding protein accumulated in the periplasm, and in addition a larger protein accumulated in the non-periplasmic fraction. The apparent Mr of this protein and the phosphate-binding protein were 39000 and 35000 respectively, as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This larger protein showed immunological cross-reaction with the phosphate-binding protein. The 39000-Mr protein was also detected in cells carrying pSN507 when the proteins were pulse-labeled with radioactive amino acids. From these findings, together with the fact that this protein is recovered from the membrane fraction, we conclude that this protein is an unsecreted precursor protein of the phosphate-binding protein. Kinetics and regulation of accumulation of these proteins were studied. This system will be useful for preparation and purification of the precursor protein for biochemical studies in relation to the mechanism of protein secretion.

Cloning of and complementation tests with alkaline phosphatase regulatory genes (phoS and phoT) of Escherichia coli.

The regulatory genes of alkaline phosphatase, phoS and phoT, of Escherichia coli were cloned on pBR322, initially as an 11.8-kilobase EcoRI fragment. A restriction map of the hybrid plasmid was established. Deletion plasmids of various sizes were constructed in vitro, and the presence of phoS and phoT genes on the cloned DNA fragments was tested by introducing the plasmids into phoS64 and phoT9 strains for complementation tests. One set complemented only phoS64 but not phoT9; the other set complemented only phoT9 but not phoS64. We conclude that phoS64 and phoT9 mutations belong to different complementation groups and probably to different cistrons. The hybrid plasmid with the 11.8-kilobase chromosomal fragment also complemented the phoT35 mutation. A smaller derivative of the hybrid plasmid was constructed in vitro which complemented phoT35 but did not complement phoS64, phoT9, or pst-2. Our results agree with the suggestion that phoT35 lies in a different complementation group from phoS, phoT, or pst-2 (Zuckier and Torriani, J. Bacteriol. 145:1249--1256, 1981). Therefore, we propose to designate phoT35 as phoU. The effect of amplification of phoS or phoT on alkaline phosphatase production was examined. It was found that multiple copies of the phoS gene borne on pBR322 repressed enzyme production even in low-phosphate medium, whether it was introduced into wild-type strains (partially repressed) or phoR (phoR68 or phoR17) strains (fully repressed), whereas the introduction of multicopy plasmids bearing the phoT gene did not affect the inducibility of the enzyme.

Cloning of colicin E1 tolerant tolC (mtcB) gene of Escherichia coli K12 and identification of its gene product.

A mutation in the tolC(mtcB) gene of Escherichia coli K12 results in increased sensitivity to sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS), sodium deoxycholate, basic dyes, mitomycin C, and bleomycin, and makes the cell tolerant to the killing action of colicin E1. From lysogens with lambda cI857S7 integrated at a secondary attachment site, a transducing phage (lambda dtolC+) that transduces a tolC recipient to SDS resistance was isolated. A recombinant DNA molecule was constructed in vitro from plasmid pBR322 as a vector, and an EcoRI-BamHI fragment of lambda tolC+ DNA. The resulting plasmid, designated pOK1, was 5.6 megadaltons (Md). The tolC bacteria transformed with plasmid pOK1 restored the TolC+ phenotype with regard to mitomycin C, SDS, and colicin E1 sensitivities. A plasmid with an amber mutation in the tolC gene, designated pOK18, was isolated by the same procedure used for the isolation of pOK1. The plasmid had a molecular weight of 5.6 Md and produced the same size of DNA fragments as the tolC+ plasmid, pOK1, after digestion with the indicated restriction enzymes. The plasmid, pOK18, conferred the TolC+ phenotype when introduced into a tolC strain in the presence of, but not the absence of, an amber suppressor. Plasmid-specified polypeptides were determined by using maxicells of strains uvrA recAsup+ and uvrA recA tyrT, containing each plasmid. Three additional proteins of 54,000 (54K), 29K, and 27K were produced in maxicells containing pOK1. These three proteins were synthesized in maxicells of the uvrA recA tyrT strain carrying pOK18, whereas synthesis of the 54K protein by pOK18 did not take place in maxicells of the uvrA recA sup+ strain, although the other two proteins were produced in normal amounts. From these results we concluded that the product of the tolC gene is a protein with a molecular weight of 54K.

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-sensitive septation in a mitomycin C-sensitive, mtc, mutant of Escherichia coli.

A mitomycin C-sensitive, mtc, mutant of Escherichia coli has an altered cell surface and is sensitive to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The mutant, M27, formed multinucleate nonseptated filaments in the presence of a low concentration of SDS (50 microgram/ml). When the culture grown at that concentration of SDS was diluted with an SDS-free medium, the filaments began to divide at a very rapid rate after a lag of about 20 min. Chloramphenicol inhibited this recovery division when added within 10 min after SDS dilution but did not inhibit the division when added 20 min after dilution. Penicillin G at a low concentration, which is enough to cause filamentation, had virtually no effect on the recovery division of SDS-induced filaments. The division of penicillin G-induced filaments was inhibited by SDS.

Thermoresistant revertants of an Escherichia coli strain carrying tif-1 and ruv mutations: non-suppressibility of ruv by sfi.

Spontaneous thermoresistant revertants were isolated from Tif1 Ruv- and Tif1 Ruv+ strains of Escherichia coli K-12. They were divided into five groups; backmutants to tif+ and recA structural gene mutants accounted for at least two of these groups. Mutations with an unconditional RecA- phenyotype were detected at a higher frequency in the Tif1 Ruv- strains (65%) than in the Tif1 Ruv+ strains (25%). A third group consisted of revertants exhibiting a RecA- phenotype at low temperature. Revertants with normal recombination ability and UV resistance, but with a thermosensitive defect in propagating lambda bio11 phage, were also isolated (group 4). The alleles responsible for this property were cotransducible with the srl gene, suggesting that they are located at the recA locus. Other revertants, which might carry lex, LEXB, or zab mutations, were UV sensitive and were able to propagate lambda bio11 phage (group 5). The sfi mutation, which suppresses filamentation in the Tif1 and UV-sensitive Lon- strains, does not restore UV resistance of the Ruv- mutant.

Mode of mutagenic action of methylnitrosocyanamide, a potent carcinogen.

A potent carcinogen, methylnitrosocyanamide was used to induce revertants in a strain of Escherichia coli carrying an amber mutation in a gene for tryptophan (trp) biosynthesis and an ochre mutation in a gene for alkaline phosphatase biosynthesis. Trp+ revertants were purified and classified into seven categories based on their ability to support the growth of particular nonsense mutants of phage lambda and on their content of alkaline phosphatase. About 90% of the Trp+ revertants induced by methylnitrosocyanamide were due to mutations in suppressor genes, and 85% of the suppressor mutations occurred in gene supE. Intragenic reversion cannot occur by a GC leads to AT base substitution mutation, whereas this is the obligate mode of mutation in gene supE. We conclude that methylnitrosocyanamide preferentially induces GC leads to AT transition mutations but that other base substitution mutations are also induced at about 10% of this frequency. N-Methyl-N-nitrosourea and, particularly, N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine also preferentially induce GC leads to AT transition mutations.

Escherichia coli gene that controls sensitivity to alkylating agents.

A new type of Escherichia coli mutant which shows increased sensitivity to methyl methane sulfonate but not to UV light or to gamma rays was isolated after mutagenesis with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. The mutant is unable to reactivate phage lambdavir or double-stranded phiX174 DNA (replicative form) that had been treated with methyl methane sulfonate. The mutant is sensitive to other alkylating agents, such as ethyl methane sulfonate, mitomycin C, and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, as well. It grows normally and exhibits almost normal recombination proficiency. The mutant possesses normal levels of DNA polymerase I, exonuclease I, exonuclease V, endonuclease specific for methyl methane sulfonate-treated DNA, and 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosidase activities. The genetic locus responsible has been named alk and is located near his on the chromosome.

Mode of mutagenic action of 4-benzoylamido- and 4-acetamido-4-carboxamido-n(N-nitroso)-butylcyanamide.

The mode of mutagenic action of 4-benzoylamido- and 4-acetamido- 4-carboxamido-n(N-nitroso)-butylcyanamide (BCNBC, ACNBC) was studied using Escherichia coli K12 strains. The strains carrying defects in DNA-repair mechanism, AB2463 (recA) and P3478 (polA) were more sensitive than their parent strains to both compounds, while AB1886 (uvrA) showed the same sensitivity as the parental strain. About 90% of tryptophan revertants from BE1043 (trpambphoamb) by both compounds were due to mutation in suppressor genes. Suppressor analysis by using BE1047 (trpambphooch) revealed that the most frequently occurring reversion was due to a mutation in suppressor gene, supE. This implies that these two alkylnitrosocyanamides predominantly induce GC leads to AT transition.

Location of the Escherichia coli K-12 ruv gene affecting septum formation after inhibition of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis.

Escherichia coli ruv gene was located at 36.1 min on the chromosome by P1 transduction experiments and the gene order his - supD - uvrC, dar4 - ruv - eda - fadD - pps was proposed. Complementation analysis by an F' factor carrying genes in the his region indicated that ultraviolet light sensitivity genes, ruv and uvrC, consist of different cistrons and wild-type alleles of these genes are dominant over the mutant alleles.