Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.49 (reverse transcriptase)
 31,746 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In the present report, we have studied the in vitro transition of normal blood monocytes to macrophages by changes in cell morphology, and the expression of surface antigens with a panel of monoclonal antibodies. The maturation process was accompanied by notable changes in cell-surface markers in a time-dependent manner. The percentage of cells expressing CD11c, ICAM-1, HLA-DR, and Fc receptor class III increased while the CD4 and CD35 expression was markedly decreased. After demonstrating that in vitro monocytes mature to macrophages in a recognizable manner, we studied the susceptibility to HIV-1 infection at time points representing different stages of cell maturation. The results show that monocyte/macrophages are susceptible to HIV-1 infection at all stages of differentiation. However, the kinetics of virus replication depends on the degree of maturation at the time of infection. Two major patterns of replication were observed: Infection of monocytes resulted in efficient virus production measurable by reverse transcriptase activity in culture supernatant, whereas infection of fully differentiated macrophages yielded low but sustained virus release only demonstrable by p24 antigen assay. We were not able to detect differences in the capacity of the virus to infect and replicate in monocyte/macrophages with respect to cellular origin of the virus isolate and whether the viruses were laboratory-adapted strains or low-passaged patient isolates.
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PMID:In vitro maturation of mononuclear phagocytes and susceptibility to HIV-1 infection. 185 87

We studied the effect of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on the surface-marker expression of the human promonocytic cell line U937. U937 cells persistently produced HIV as detected by reverse transcriptase activity in culture supernatant. Expression of HLA class II antigens on U937/HIV cells was decreased 2- to 10-fold, depending on the Mab used. Class II expression of U937/HIV cells increased approximately two-fold by treatment with r-interferon-gamma. Whereas noninfected U937 cells expressed moderate amounts of lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) (CD11a) and minimal amounts of the C3bi receptor (CD11b) and p150/95 (CD11c), U937/HIV cells expressed moderate amounts of C3bi receptor and p150/95 and showed elevated expression of LFA-1 alpha (CD11a) and -beta (CD18) chains. Expression of these adhesion molecules resulted in strongly enhanced phorbolester-induced aggregation of U937/HIV cells compared with the noninfected U937 cells. In addition, almost all U937/HIV cells, but not noninfected U937 cells, intensely stained for cytoplasmic nonspecific esterase activity. The effects of HIV infection on U937 cells strikingly resemble the effects of differentiation-inducing agents, such as PMA and DMSO, on the U937 phenotype. Our finding suggests that HIV infection, apart from down regulating class II expression, induces differentiation of U937 cells.
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PMID:Human immunodeficiency virus infection down-regulates HLA class II expression and induces differentiation in promonocytic U937 cells. 310 23

The first injection of OKT3 in kidney transplant recipients activates the common pathway of coagulation. This may result in early thrombosis of graft vessels. To this day, the cells involved in this phenomenon have not been identified. The aim of this study was to investigate whether circulating monocytes participated in this OKT3-induced coagulopathy. The procoagulant activity (PCA) of circulating monocytes rose from (mean +/- SEM) 0.15 +/- 0.02 mU/mL to 0.40 +/- 0.05 mU/mL at 3 hours (P = .002) and 0.56 +/- 0.21 at 5 hours (P = .045) after the initial OKT3 injection. These monocytes displayed increased tissue factor expression at the same moments (mean flourescence intensity: 14 +/- 2 before OKT3 injection versus 54 +/- 14 at 3 hours, P = .008 and 34 +/- 7 at 5 hours, P = .01). Tissue factor mRNA was detected in blood by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction as early as 2 hours after OKT3 administration. The circulating monocytes also displayed a steady increase in membrane expression upregulation of ICAM-1, CD29, CD11b, and CD11c. In vitro experiments showed that OKT3 as well as 2 mitogenic, humanized anti-CD3 antibodies potently induced monocytic PCA whereas the 4 nonmitogenic anti-CD3 antibodies tested were over 1,000-fold less potent than OKT3. We conclude that (1) OKT3 induces in vivo tissue factor gene upregulation and membrane expression resulting in increased PCA of circulating monocytes; and (2) nonmitogenic anti-CD3 antibodies seem devoid of significant procoagulant properties.
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PMID:Monocyte procoagulant activity induced by in vivo administration of the OKT3 monoclonal antibody. 861 2

The telomerase holoenzyme consists of two essential components, a reverse transcriptase, TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase), and an RNA molecule, TR (telomerase RNA, also known as TERC), that contains the template for the synthesis of new telomeric repeats. Telomerase RNA has been isolated from 32 different vertebrates, and a common secondary structure has been proposed (Chen, J.-L., Blasco, M. A., and Greider, C. W. (2000) Cell 100, 503-514). We have generated 25 mutants in the four conserved structural domains of the mouse telomerase RNA molecule, mTR, and assayed their ability to reconstitute telomerase activity in mTR(-/-) cells in vivo. We found that the pseudoknot and the CR4/CR5 domains are required for telomerase activity but are not essential for mTR stability in the cell, whereas mutations in the BoxH/ACA and the CR7 domains affect mTR accumulation in the cell. We have also identified mTR mutants that are able to inhibit wild type telomerase in vivo.
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PMID:Identification of functional domains and dominant negative mutations in vertebrate telomerase RNA using an in vivo reconstitution system. 1105 67

Telomerase is a specialized reverse transcriptase (RT) that is minimally composed of a protein catalytic subunit and an RNA component. The RNA subunit contains a short template sequence that directs the synthesis of DNA repeats at the ends of chromosomes. Human telomerase activity can be reconstituted in vitro by the expression of the human telomerase protein catalytic subunit (hTERT) in the presence of recombinant human telomerase RNA (hTR) in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate (RRL) system. We analyzed telomerase activity and binding of hTR to hTERT in RRL by expressing different hTERT and hTR variants. hTRs containing nucleotide substitutions that are predicted to disrupt base pairing in the P3 helix of the pseudoknot weakly reconstituted human telomerase activity yet retained their ability to bind hTERT. Our results also identified two distinct regions of hTR that can independently bind hTERT in vitro. Furthermore, sequences or structures between nucleotides 208 and 330 of hTR (which include the conserved CR4-CR5 domain) were found to be important for hTERT-hTR interactions and for telomerase activity reconstitution. Human TERT carboxy-terminal amino acid deletions extending to motif E or the deletion of the first 280 amino acids abolished human telomerase activity without affecting the ability of hTERT to associate with hTR, suggesting that the RT and RNA binding functions of hTERT are separable. These results indicate that the reconstitution of human telomerase activity in vitro requires regions of hTERT that (i) are distinct from the conserved RT motifs and (ii) bind nucleotides distal to the hTR template sequence.
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PMID:Functional regions of human telomerase reverse transcriptase and human telomerase RNA required for telomerase activity and RNA-protein interactions. 1123 25

Telomerase is an enzyme that maintains telomere length by adding telomeric sequence repeats onto chromosome ends. The telomerase ribonucleoprotein complex consists of two essential components, a reverse transcriptase and an RNA molecule that provides the template for telomeric repeat synthesis. A common secondary structure of vertebrate telomerase RNA has been proposed based on a phylogenetic comparative analysis of 35 sequences. Here we report the identification of an additional essential base-paired region in the CR4-CR5 domain of mammalian telomerase RNA, termed P6.1. Mouse telomerase RNAs with mutations that disrupted base pairings in the P6.1 helix were unable to reconstitute telomerase activity in vivo. In contrast, an RNA mutant with compensatory mutations that restored base pairings in the P6.1 helix restored telomerase activity. In an in vitro reconstitution system stable base pairing of the P6.1 stem was required for the RNA-protein interaction between the CR4-CR5 domain and the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) protein. Interestingly, two RNA mutations, one that extends the P6.1 stem and one that alters the conserved nucleotides of the L6.1 loop, allowed RNA-protein binding but significantly impaired telomerase activity. These data establish the presence of the P6.1 stem-loop and its importance for the assembly and enzymatic activity of the mammalian telomerase complex.
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PMID:A critical stem-loop structure in the CR4-CR5 domain of mammalian telomerase RNA. 1178 23

We have examined complement receptors on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and found that they express complement receptor 1 (CR1, CD35) and complement receptor 4 (CR4, CD11c/CD18), but not complement receptor 3 (CR3, CD11b/CD18). Binding of monoclonal antibodies against CR1 (CD35) and CR4 (CD11c/CD18) to HUVEC was demonstrated by flow cytometry. The presence of the corresponding mRNAs was confirmed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and sequencing of the amplified cDNA fragments. When HUVEC were treated with inflammatory mediators, chemotactic agents or the secretagogue phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA), no change in reactivity to CR1 (CD35) or CR4 (CD11c/CD18) monoclonal antibodies was detected on the surface of the cells compared with untreated cells. The presence of CR1 (CD35) and CR4 (CD1c/CD18) on HUVEC indicates that endothelial cells (EC) have the potential to bind C3b and iC3b, respectively, which both mediate biological effects in the course of complement activation.
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PMID:Human umbilical vein endothelial cells express complement receptor 1 (CD35) and complement receptor 4 (CD11c/CD18) in vitro. 1208 16

Recent studies on dendritic cell (DC)-associated genes have been performed using monocyte-derived DCs (MoDCs) in different maturation stages. In our approach, to uncover the novel DC-associated genes and their expression profiles among the different DC subsets, we constructed a subtracted DC-cDNA library from CD1a(+), CD14(+), and CD11c(-) DCs by subtracting the genes shared with T cells, B cells, and monocytes, and we then screened the libraries with the aid of microarray technique. The genes showing remarkable specificity to DCs in the microarray analysis were selected and confirmed by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Our investigations revealed the following: (1) Genes highly expressed in myeloid DCs are those involved in antigen uptake/processing/presentation, cell metamorphosis, or chemotaxis. (2) Most of the genes previously identified in MoDCs, such as TARC, ferritin L-chain, lysosomal acid lipase, alpha- and beta-tubulin, osteopontin (Eta-1), and others, are not markedly expressed in CD11c(-) DCs regardless of their maturation status. On the other hand, specific transcription factors and MHC class II molecules, such as interferon regulatory factor-4 (IRF4) and HLA-DR, are similarly expressed in both DC subsets. (3) CD14(+) DCs retain unique features of tissue DCs, as evidenced by the gene expression profile of "no CCR7 but more CCR1" and "no TARC but abundant MCP1 and Eta-1." (4) The genes for immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily Z39Ig, CD20-like precursor, glycoprotein NMB (GPNMB), transforming growth factorbeta (TGF-beta)-induced protein (TGFBI), myeloid DAP12-associated lectin (MDL-1), and 6 novel genes are newly identified as being associated with the phenotypic expression of the DC subsets. These identifications provide important molecular information for further functional studies of the DC subsets.
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PMID:Identification of the genes differentially expressed in human dendritic cell subsets by cDNA subtraction and microarray analysis. 1217 96

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex that acts as a reverse transcriptase in the maintenance of chromosome ends. Because the vast majority of cancer cells require telomerase activity, telomerase has become a target for anticancer drug discovery. Here, we describe a new approach for targeting telomerase by blocking the association between the telomerase catalytic subunit, hTERT, and key elements of the human telomerase RNA subunit, hTR. By examining the effects of oligonucleotides that hybridize to various regions of hTR, we identified two regions of the RNA subunit that are sensitive to molecular interactions leading to telomerase inhibition. Oligonucleotides that hybridize to either the P3/P1 pairing region or to the CR4-CR5 domain of hTR, hTRas009, and hTRas010, respectively, inhibit telomerase activity when added to recombinant hTERT and hTR prior to assemblage. However, addition of hTRas009 or hTRas010 to preassembled telomerase resulted in little or no inhibition. We also examined the ability of hTRas009 and hTRas010 to inhibit binding of hTR and hTR fragments to hTERT. We found that hTRas009 inhibited approximately 50% of the maximum binding between the pseudoknot fragment of hTR (nucleotides 46-209) and hTERT, whereas hTRas010 inhibited over 90% of the maximum binding between the CR4-CR5 fragment of hTR (nucleotides 243-328) and hTERT. In addition, neither oligonucleotide was able to appreciably inhibit the binding of full-length hTR to hTERT, although both oligonucleotides used in conjunction decreased binding by approximately 50%. We propose that the P3/P1 pairing region and CR4-CR5 domain represent viable targets to inhibit telomerase by perturbing proper assemblage of the active complex.
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PMID:Inhibition of telomerase activity by preventing proper assemblage. 1471 87

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a human cancer generated by a chromosomal translocation t(15;17) involving the promyelocytic leukemia (PML) and retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARalpha) genes. The PML/RARalpha oncoprotein expressing blasts show two of the most important biological features of neoplastic progression: block of differentiation, at the promyelocytic state, and increased survival. Although PML/RARalpha interferes with the normal maturation of myeloid precursors to granulocytes, pharmacological doses of retinoic acid are sufficient to restore the differentiation processes. We designed an assay based on the Real-Time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to experimentally follow the differentiation response of leukemic cells even after short-time differentiating treatments. Amplifying CD11b, CD11c, and CD14 mRNAs, as specific markers of differentiation, by the real-time RT-PCR assay we could detect both retinoic acid (RA) and vitamin D3 and human transforming growth factor beta1 (VitD3/TGFbeta1) induced cellular maturation more precociously than the canonical flow-cytofluorimetric assay. Moreover, by amplifying CD14 mRNA it was possible to monitor the ability of PML/RARalpha oncoprotein to block VitD3/TGFbeta1 induced differentiation in U937-PR9 promonocytic inducible model systems.The proposed real-time quantitative RT-PCR approach is a reproducible and highly sensitive assay and can be considered a valid method to study both cellular maturation state and differentiation response.
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PMID:Differentiation response of acute promyelocytic leukemia cells and PML/RARa leukemogenic activity studies by real-time RT-PCR. 1598 48


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