Gene structure of the human MET proto-oncogene

By direct sequencing of cosmids using primers designed from the known cDNA sequence, we identified 19 exons in the human MET proto-oncogene, and sequenced the corresponding 5' and 3' exon-intron junctions. By homology search in the database of the Washington University Genome Sequence Center (GSC), we identified one additional exon. These 20 exons, together with a previously reported exon, bring the total exon number of MET to 21. Oligonucleotide primers were designed to amplify each exon and adjacent intronic sequences to permit examination of each exon for mutations. By restriction mapping, we assembled a 110 kb genomic contig that covered almost the entire MET proto-oncogene. This information is relevant for the screening of recently reported mutations of the MET gene which cause hereditary papillary renal carcinomas and for the search for additional mutations of the same gene which may play a role in the pathogenesis of common human carcinomas including carcinomas of the breast, ovary and pancreas.     

Architecture of the yeast cell wall. Beta(1-->6)-glucan interconnects mannoprotein, beta(1-->)3-glucan, and chitin

In a previous study (Kollár, R., Petráková, E., Ashwell, G., Robbins, P. W., and Cabib, E. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 1170-1178), the linkage region between chitin and beta(1-->3)-glucan was solubilized and isolated in the form of oligosaccharides, after digestion of yeast cell walls with beta(1-->3)-glucanase, reduction with borotritide, and subsequent incubation with chitinase. In addition to the oligosaccharides, the solubilized fraction contained tritium-labeled high molecular weight material. We have now investigated the nature of this material and found that it represents areas in which all four structural components of the cell wall, beta(1-->3)-glucan, beta(1-->6)-glucan, chitin, and mannoprotein are linked together. Mannoprotein, with a protein moiety about 100 kDa in apparent size, is attached to beta(1-->6)-glucan through a remnant of a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor containing five alpha-linked mannosyl residues. The beta(1-->6)-glucan has some beta(1-->3)-linked branches, and it is to these branches that the reducing terminus of chitin chains appears to be attached in a beta(1-->4) or beta(1-->2) linkage. Finally, the reducing end of beta(1-->6)-glucan is connected to the nonreducing terminal glucose of beta(1-->3)-glucan through a linkage that remains to be established. A fraction of the isolated material has three of the main components but lacks mannoprotein. From these results and previous findings on the linkage between mannoproteins and beta(1-->6)-glucan, it is concluded that the latter polysaccharide has a central role in the organization of the yeast cell wall. The possible mechanism of synthesis and physiological significance of the cross-links is discussed.     

Regulation of monocyte IL-10 synthesis by endogenous IL-1 and TNF-alpha: role of the p38 and p42/44 mitogen-activated protein kinases

IL-10 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine with potent immunomodulatory effects, including inhibition of cytokine production. However, regulation of monocyte IL-10 production is poorly understood. In this report we have investigated the mechanisms of LPS-induced IL-10 production by human peripheral blood monocytes and demonstrate that IL-10 synthesis is uniquely dependent on the endogenous proinflammatory cytokines IL-1 and/or TNF-alpha. LPS signal transduction in monocytes has been shown to involve activation of the p38 and p42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades. The results in this paper indicate that inhibition of p38 MAPK potently inhibited the production of IL-10, IL-1beta, and TNF-alpha, whereas blockade of the p42/44 MAPK pathway, while partially inhibiting TNF-alpha and IL-1beta production, had no effect on monocyte secretion of IL-10. Furthermore, neither the inhibition of monocyte TNF-alpha induced by IL-10 nor the stimulation of soluble TNF receptor production was affected by inhibition of the p42/44 MAPK pathway, suggesting that this signaling event is not involved in either monocyte production of or anti-inflammatory responses to IL-10. These data raise the interesting possibility that proinflammatory TNF-alpha-mediated effects may be selectively blocked without modulating the induction or the response to IL-10, whereas the signaling events associated with the anti-inflammatory events induced by IL-10 remain to be elucidated.     

A new tool for studying the molecular architecture of the fungal cell wall: one-step purification of recombinant trichoderma beta-(1-6)-glucanase expressed in Pichia pastoris

We assessed the anesthetic properties of helium and neon at hyperbaric pressures by testing their capacity to decrease anesthetic requirement for desflurane using electrical stimulation of the tail as the anesthetic endpoint (i.e., the minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration [MAC]) in rats. Partial pressures of helium or neon near those predicted to produce anesthesia by the Meyer-Overton hypothesis (approximately 80-90 atm), tended to increase desflurane MAC, and these partial pressures of helium and neon produced convulsions when administered alone. In contrast, the noble gases argon, krypton, and xenon were anesthetic with mean MAC values of (+/- SD) of 27.0 +/- 2.6, 7.31 +/- 0.54, and 1.61 +/- 0.17 atm, respectively. Because the lethal partial pressures of nitrogen and sulfur hexafluoride overlapped their anesthetic partial pressures, MAC values were determined for these gases by additivity studies with desflurane. Nitrogen and sulfur hexafluoride MAC values were estimated to be 110 and 14.6 atm, respectively. Of the gases with anesthetic properties, nitrogen deviated the most from the Meyer-Overton hypothesis. Implications: It has been thought that the high pressures of helium and neon that might be needed to produce anesthesia antagonize their anesthetic properties (pressure reversal of anesthesia). We propose an alternative explanation: like other compounds with a low affinity to water, helium and neon are intrinsically without anesthetic effect.     

Driveway crush injuries in young children: a highly lethal, devastating, and potentially preventable event

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate driveway-related injuries in children, identify associated risk factors, and evaluate outcome compared with other mechanisms of blunt trauma. METHODS: A 6-year review (1991 to 1996) of pediatric (age less than 18 years) pedestrian injuries treated at two urban trauma centers was conducted: one regional pediatric trauma center and one level I trauma center with pediatric commitment. Five hundred twenty-seven children injured in pedestrian accidents were identified from the trauma registry; 51 children (10%) sustained traumatic injuries as a result of being struck in their driveway. Data are reported as mean +/- SEM. RESULTS: Children less than 5 years of age (n = 41) had an injury severity score (ISS) of 12.3+/-2.3, 15 (37%) sustained closed head injury, 13 (37%) had torso trauma, 19 (46%) skeletal trauma, and eight (20%) died. Children > or = 5 years old (n = 10) had an ISS of 10.7+/-2.4, three (30%) sustained closed head injury, four (40%) torso trauma, six (60%) skeletal trauma, and none died. In contrast, all other pediatric pedestrian accidents analyzed over the same time period had a mortality rate of only 2% (11 of 476). CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric driveway trauma carries a significant risk of head injury and a 10-fold increase in mortality in children under 5 years of age when compared with all other pediatric pedestrian accidents. More emphasis must be placed on injury prevention and public education to prevent this devastating mechanism of injury in these young, vulnerable children.     

The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27(Kip1) induces N-terminal proteolytic cleavage of cyclin A

Progression through the cell cycle is regulated in part by the sequential activation and inactivation of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). Many signals arrest the cell cycle through inhibition of CDKs by CDK inhibitors (CKIs). p27(Kip1) (p27) was first identified as a CKI that binds and inhibits cyclin A/CDK2 and cyclin E/CDK2 complexes in G1. Here we report that p27 has an additional property, the ability to induce a proteolytic activity that cleaves cyclin A, yielding a truncated cyclin A lacking the mitotic destruction box. Other CKIs (p15(Ink4b), p16(Ink4a), p21(Cip1), and p57(Kip2)) do not induce cleavage of cyclin A; other cyclins (cyclin B, D1, and E) are not cleaved by the p27-induced protease activity. The C-terminal half of p27, which is dispensable for its kinase inhibitory activity, is required to induce cleavage. Mechanistically, p27 does not appear to cause cleavage through direct interaction with cyclin/CDK complexes. Instead, it activates a latent protease that, once activated, does not require the continuing presence of p27. Mutation of cyclin A at R70 or R71, residues at or very close to the cleavage site, blocks cleavage. Noncleavable mutants are still recognized by the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome pathway responsible for ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis of mitotic cyclins, indicating that the p27-induced cleavage of cyclin A is part of a separate pathway. We refer to this protease as Tsap (pTwenty-seven- activated protease).     

District sputum smear microscopy services in Malawi

SETTING: Government hospitals and health centres in 23 districts in Malawi. OBJECTIVE: To determine 1) the number and smear-positivity rate of sputum samples submitted at health centres and hospitals, and 2) the time for sputum samples to get from health centres to smear examination. DESIGN: Prospective data collection on sputum specimens coming from health centres to hospital laboratories, and over the equivalent time period, retrospective data collection from laboratory sputum registers. RESULTS: Information was collected over a period of 5.6 months during 1997. Of 21 527 patients submitting sputum samples, 16995 (79%) were from within the hospital and 4532 (21%) were from health centres. Of 15 833 new TB suspects, 12 804 (81%) submitted sputum within the hospital and 3029 (19%) were from health centres. The overall smear-positivity rate was 11.9%: the proportion of new suspects who were smear-positive was significantly higher in health centres (14.1%) compared with hospital-based patients (11.4%, P < 0.05); 27% of all sputum specimens from health centres took 8 days or longer to get to smear examination. Sputum smears were positive from 1-30 days between submission and laboratory examination. CONCLUSION: Fewer sputum samples are submitted at health centres compared with hospitals, and there may be long delays between sputum submission and smear examination. The precise reasons are unclear, but health centre staff need training about the importance of timely case finding procedures.     

Hepatocyte growth factor-stimulated renal tubular mitogenesis: effects on expression of c-myc, c-fos, c-met, VEGF and the VHL tumour-suppressor and related genes

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF/SF) is a potent renal proximal tubular cell (PTEC) mitogen involved in renal development. HGF/SF is the functional ligand for the c-met proto-oncogene, and germline c-met mutations are associated with familial papillary renal cell carcinoma. Somatic von Hippel-Lindau disease tumour-suppressor gene (VHL) mutations are frequently detected in sporadic clear cell renal cell carcinomas (RCC), and germline VHL mutations are the commonest cause of familial clear cell RCC. pVHL binds to the positive regulatory components of the trimeric elongin (SIII) complex (elongins B and C) and has been observed to deregulate expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene. HGF/SF has similarly been reported to up-regulate expression of the VEGF gene in non-renal experimental systems. To investigate the mechanism of HGF/SF action in PTECs and, specifically, to examine potential interactions between the HGF/c-met and the VHL-mediated pathways for renal tubular growth control, we have isolated untransformed PTECs from normal kidneys, developed conditions for their culture in vitro and used these cells to investigate changes in mRNA levels of the VHL, elongin A, B and C, VEGF, c-myc, c-fos and c-met genes after HGF/SF exposure. Significant elevations in the mRNA levels of VEGF, c-myc, c-fos, c-met and elongins A, B and C, but not VHL, were detected after HGF/SF stimulation of human PTECs (P < 0.02), with a consistent order of peak levels observed over successive replicates (c-fos at 1 h, VEGF at 2-4 h, c-myc, at 4 h, followed by c-met and all three elongin subunits at 8 h). This study highlights the spectrum of changes in gene expression observed in PTECs after HGF/SF stimulation and has identified possible candidate mediators of the HGF/SF-induced mitogenic response. Our evidence would suggest that the changes in PTEC VEGF expression induced by HGF/SF are mediated by a VHL-independent pathway.     

Avoiding false positives in colony PCR

BACKGROUND: The Injury Severity Score (ISS) does not take into account multiple injuries in the same body region, whereas a New ISS (NISS) may provide a more accurate measure of trauma severity by considering the patient's three greatest injuries regardless of body region. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ISS and NISS in patients with blunt trauma. METHODS: Consecutive individuals treated from January of 1992 to September of 1996 at one institution were included if they had sustained blunt trauma and satisfied triage standards (n = 2,328). For each patient, we computed the ISS and the NISS to determine how often the two scores were identical or discrepant. Discrepant cases were then further analyzed using receiver operating characteristic curves to determine which score better predicted short-term mortality. RESULTS: The mean ISS was 25 +/- 13, and the mean NISS was 33 +/- 18. The two predictive scores were identical in 32% of patients and discrepant in 68% of patients. Patients with identical scores had a lower mortality rate than patients with discrepant scores (10% vs. 13%; p < 0.02). In patients with discrepant scores, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves was greater for the NISS than the ISS (0.852 vs. 0.799; p < 0.001), and greater amounts of discrepancy were associated with increasing rates of mortality (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The NISS often increases the apparent severity of injury and provides a more accurate prediction of short-term mortality. The benefit associated with using the NISS rather than the ISS must be weighed against the disadvantages of changing a scoring system and the potential for still greater improvements.