Fischer F344 rats were given a cyclical diet of 0.06% 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF), which progressively induced oval cell proliferation, cirrhosis and hyperplastic (or neoplastic) nodules. Primary liver tumours developed from 7 months after ceasing the diet. Liver samples taken during and after AAF administration and specimens of primary tumours were processed into frozen sections and examined microscopically for morphological changes in cell populations, stained histochemically for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGTase) and four phosphatases, and stained by the immunoperoxidase technique for the presence of antigens detected by seven anti-liver cell monoclonal antibodies and monoclonal antibodies to six oncoproteins. During and after AAF treatment several of the anti-liver antibodies revealed foci of aberrantly or heterogeneously-stained cells, although anti-oncoprotein antibodies showed no consistent changes. Foci of cells positive for GGTase and heterogeneous for adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) were also seen. Nodules invariably showed heterogeneous antigenicity, raised GGTase and abnormal ATPase expression. Primary tumours exhibited varying degrees of positivity, negativity and heterogeneity with the anti-liver monoclonal antibodies, and all were positive for GGTase. Comparison between various parameters and different lesions showed the greatest concordance between nodules and tumours, suggesting that nodules are probably the precursors of malignant tumours in this system.
Vindesine (VDS) was coupled directly to a monoclonal antibody (791T/36) raised against a human osteogenic sarcoma cell line, and methotrexate (MTX) was coupled to 791T/36 via an intervening human serum albumin (HSA) bridge. Both the VDS-791T/36 and MTX-HSA-791T/36 conjugates were cytotoxic in vitro specifically for tumour target cells expressing the 791T/36-defined antigen, while the free drug in each case was indiscriminately toxic to all target cells. The VDS-791T/36 conjugate retarded growth of osteogenic sarcoma xenografts in immunodeprived mice when administered in multiple doses. Free 791T/36 did not significantly affect tumour growth. VDS was tumour inhibitory, but was toxic to the mice at a total dose of 20 micrograms per kg body weight, while VDS-791T/36 conjugate was not toxic at total doses incorporating VDS at up to 45 mg per kg. It is suggested that this is due to selectivity conferred upon the conjugate by the antibody moiety, and that such conjugates may offer considerable potential as anti-cancer agents.
The construction of a large library of single-chain Fv (scFv) antibody fragments involves a random assortment of heavy and light chains. Although useful for the production of recombinant antibodies, this method is not adapted to the study of the autoantibody repertoire formed in vivo during autoimmune diseases. To attain this objective, we describe the use of the in-cell PCR together with Cre-recombination applied, to our knowledge, for the first time to human B cells to obtain in situ pairing of the variable (V) region genes of the immunoglobulin heavy (H) and light (L) chains. Our method is based on amplification and recombination of the VH and VL genes within CD19+ B cells isolated from human thyroid tissue. Nested primers were designed to amplify the known major human VH and VL gene families. After reverse transcription PCR and three rounds of PCR including recombination between VH and VL using the CreloxP system, we obtained a unique 800-bp band corresponding in size to scFv fragments. We provide evidence that recombination between VH and VL genes occurred inside the same cell. This in-cell amplification and association procedure is a potentially useful tool for the study of autoantibody gene families and the VH/VL pairing that occurs during the autoimmune process.
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