Based on the hypothesis that genetic modification of freshly isolated alveolar macrophages (AM) with the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) cDNA would induce AM to proliferate, ...this study focuses on the ability of adenoviral (Ad) vectors to transfer and efficiently express the murine (m) GM-CSF cDNA in murine AM with consequent expansion in the number of AM in vitro and in vivo. To demonstrate that an Ad vector can effectively transfer and express genes in AM, murine AM recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage from the lung of Balb/c mice were infected with an Ad vector coding for green fluorescent protein (GFP) in vitro and expressed GFP in a dose-dependent fashion. Infection of AM with an Ad vector containing an expression cassette coding for mGM-CSF led to GM-CSF expression and to AM proliferation in vitro. When AM infected with AdGFP were returned to the respiratory tract of syngeneic recipient mice, GFP-expressing cells could still be recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage 2 weeks later. In vitro infection of AM with AdmGM-CSF and subsequent transplantation of the genetically modified AM to the lungs of syngeneic recipients led to GM-CSF expression in vivo. Strikingly, the AM recovered by lavage 5 weeks after transplantation demonstrated an increased rate of proliferation, and the total number of alveolar macrophages was 1. 9-fold greater than controls. Importantly, the increase in the numbers of AM was selective (ie, other inflammatory cell numbers were unchanged), and there was no modification to the lung architecture. Thus, it is feasible to genetically modify AM with Ad vectors and to use this strategy to modify the behavior of AM in vivo. Based on the importance of AM in the primary defense of the respiratory epithelial surface, this strategy may be useful in enhancing pulmonary defenses in immunodeficiency states.
Cigarette smoking and steroid hormones in women Key, T J; Pike, M C; Baron, J A ...
The Journal of steroid biochemistry and molecular biology,
10/1991, Volume:
39, Issue:
4A
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Epidemiological evidence has suggested that cigarette smoking has an anti-oestrogenic effect in women, but the effects of smoking on steroid hormone metabolism are not fully understood. We compared ...serum concentrations of oestradiol, progesterone (luteal phase) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S), and urinary excretion rates of six steroids of predominantly adrenal origin, in healthy premenopausal and postmenopausal female smokers and non-smokers. Serum concentrations of oestradiol, progesterone and DHEA-S did not differ between smokers and non-smokers by greater than 5%, and none of these differences was statistically significant. Mean urinary excretion rates of androsterone, aetiocholanolone, DHEA, 11-keto-aetiocholanolone, 11-hydroxyandrosterone and 11-hydroxyaetiocholanolone were very similar in smokers and non-smokers in premenopausal women, but were from 2-44% higher in smokers than non-smokers in postmenopausal women. The difference was statistically significant only for 11-hydroxyandrosterone. These results confirm previous reports that cigarette smoking does not affect serum oestradiol in premenopausal or postmenopausal women, but provide only weak evidence to support previous findings of increased levels of some adrenal steroids in postmenopausal women smokers. The mechanism for the apparent anti-oestrogenic effect of cigarette smoking remains unclear.
In October/November 2007 we conducted a survey of the trainee membership of the Intensive Care Society in order to ascertain their views, primarily on the potential introduction of a compulsory ...examination in intensive care medicine (ICM). Their views on other training issues were also sought. There were 313 responses from a trainee membership of 446. A majority were supportive of a compulsory examination, but this view was heavily qualified by a large number of free text responses. The current UK diploma in ICM was not felt to be suitable as a compulsory examination. The timing of any examination would have to be flexible to avoid conflict with parent specialty training and associated examinations. Many of those training in ICM are at an advanced stage in their careers and the burden on their work and home lives presented by a further examination would be considerable. The survey also highlighted other matters important to training and employment in ICM in the UK, including the difficulties in finding employment in ICM faced by those training from parent specialties other than anaesthesia.
The quantity of hematopoietic progenitors in an apheresis collection is defined by the number of CD34(+) cells or granulocyte macrophage colony-forming units present. These parameters are believed to ...give roughly equivalent information on graft quality. We here report that the in vitro proliferative potential of r-metHuSCF (stem cell factor) plus filgrastim (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor; r-metHuG-CSF) mobilized peripheral blood (PB) CD34(+) cells obtained from previously heavily treated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients inversely correlates with extent of prior therapy. CD34(+) cells were enriched using the CellPro Ceprate system and placed in liquid culture for 4 weeks in the presence of either r-metHuSCF, IL-3, IL-6, filgrastim (S36G), or S36G plus erythropoietin (S36GE) with a weekly exchange of media and cytokines with reestablishment of culture at the starting cell concentration (Delta assay) and enumeration of progenitors. Starting with 4 x 10(4) CD34(+) cells from apheresis samples from patients who had received <10 cycles of prior chemotherapy, progenitors were detectable in culture at 4 weeks 81% of the time as compared to 14% with CD34(+) cells from patients who had received >10 cycles and 5% for >10 cycles plus radiotherapy. The total number of progenitors generated over the duration of culture (area under the curve) was calculated using the trapezoidal rule as a novel measure of the proliferative potential of the enriched PB CD34(+) cell population. The median area under the curve of CD34(+) cells from patients receiving <10 cycles of prior chemotherapy was 7.4 and 5.7 (x10(5)) using S36G or S36GE, respectively, 1.8 and 1.9 if the patients received >10 cycles of prior chemotherapy, and 1.4 and 1.2 if the patients received >10 cycles of prior chemotherapy plus radiotherapy (P < 0.001). These data show that prior therapy impacts on the quality of PB CD34(+) cells as measured by their ability to generate committed progenitors over a number of weeks in liquid culture.
Human dendritic cells can be generated from bone marrow CD34+ progenitors in the presence of GM-CSF and TNF alpha. The addition of a factor like c-kit-ligand optimizes the expansion of dendritic ...cells, as well as the other myeloid progeny grown under the same conditions, and facilitates their identification and characterization. In contrast to cord blood, where dendritic cells account for the majority of the class II MHC positive myeloid progeny, bone marrow CD34(+)-derived dendritic cells are less frequent than macrophages. When mature macrophages are depleted from days 5-6 cultures, terminally differentiated CD14+ HLA-DR dendritic cells as well as non-monocyte/macrophage CD14+ HLA-DR+ cells can be distinguished. The latter are post-CFU, bipotential, intermediate precursors that can terminally differentiate into either dendritic cells or macrophages depending on subsequent cytokine exposure. Human CD34+ progenitors isolated from bone marrow, as well as cord and peripheral blood, include CFU-DC that give rise to pure dendritic cell colonies in the combined presence of GM-CSF and TNF alpha. The different sources of CD34+ progenitors are not equivalent, however, with respect to frequency of CFU-DC growth. Cord blood is relatively enriched for dendritic cell progenitors. The developmental relationship of CFU-DC and CFU-GM, to the early developing dendritic cells and the bipotential intermediates observed in suspension culture, is not yet established.
Modulation of IL-1R on human neutrophils was investigated after in vitro treatment of cells with human recombinant (hr) granulocyte (G)-CSF, hrgranulocyte-macrophage (GM)-CSF, hrCSF-1, hrIL-1 alpha, ...hrIL-2, hrIL-3, hrIL-4, hrIL-5, hrIL-6, hrIL-7, transforming growth factor-beta 1, or hrTNF-alpha. At 4 degrees C, 125I-IL-1 binding was competed by IL-1 but not by other cytokines tested. At 37 degrees C, GM-CSF, TNF-alpha, and IL-1 decreased 125I-IL-1 binding in a dose-dependent manner. Kinetic studies showed that GM-CSF reduced > 45% IL-1 binding within 15 min but later (8 h) produced a > 2-fold increase. In contrast, TNF decreased > 85% IL-1 binding within 15 min with a recovery of > 80% relative to that of control after 24 h. Scatchard analysis revealed that TNF or GM-CSF down-modulation of IL-1 binding was due to a decrease of IL-1R number. Further studies showed that dexamethasone and GM-CSF (or G-CSF) synergistically increased IL-1 binding after 8 h. This synergistic modulation was a cytokine dose- and time-dependent process, and was due to an increase in IL-1R numbers rather than a change in binding affinity. In addition, human bone marrow neutrophils, cord blood neutrophils, and several human hematopoietic cell lines (HL-60, U-937, and AML-193) responded to dexamethasone and GM-CSF (or G-CSF) with a superadditive increase in IL-1 binding. Because mammalian systems respond to bacterial endotoxins with secretion of TNF, IL-1, glucocorticoids, G-CSF and GM-CSF, our results shed additional light on this highly regulated cytokine network and revealed a novel role for GM-CSF.
The clonal proliferation of the committed granulocyte-macrophage stem cell is controlled by a balance between mutually opposing factors, colony stimulating factor and prostaglandin E, both of ...monocyte-macrophage derivation. Increases beyond a critical concentration of colony stimulating factor within the local milieu of the mononuclear phagocyte induces the coincident elaboration of prostaglandin E, a self-regulated response which serves to limit the unopposed humoral stimulation of myelopoiesis.
SUPPLEMENT Brooks, Ian M.; Yelland, Margaret J.; Upstill-Goddard, Robert C. ...
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society,
05/2009, Volume:
90, Issue:
5
Journal Article
ABSTRACT
After the nearly complete and irreversible depletion of CD4
+
T lymphocytes induced by highly pathogenic simian/human immunodeficiency virus chimeric viruses (SHIVs) during infections of ...rhesus monkeys, tissue macrophages are able to sustain high levels (>10
6
viral RNA copies/ml) of plasma viremia for several months. We recently reported that the virus present in the plasma during the late macrophage phase of infection had acquired changes that specifically targeted the V2 region of gp120 (H. Imamichi et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
99:
13813-13818, 2002); some of these SHIV variants were macrophage-tropic (M-tropic). Those findings have been extended by examining the tropic properties, coreceptor usage, and gp120 structure of five independent SHIVs recovered directly from lymph nodes of late-stage animals. All of these tissue-derived SHIV isolates were able to infect alveolar macrophages. These M-tropic SHIVs used CXCR4, not CCR5, for infections of rhesus monkey PBMC and primary alveolar macrophages. Because the starting highly pathogenic T-tropic SHIV inoculum also utilized CXCR4, these results indicate that the acquisition of M-tropism in the SHIV-macaque system is not accompanied by a change in coreceptor usage. Compared to the initial T-tropic SHIV inoculum, tissue-derived M-tropic SHIVs from individual infected animals carry gp120s containing similar changes (specific amino acid deletions, substitutions, and loss of N-linked glycosylation sites), primarily within the V1 and/or V2 regions of gp120.
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