Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.1.30.2 (endonuclease)
 18,621 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Stimulation with IL-4 plus CD40 mAb is known to induce production of IgE and IgG4. In this study, we determined the IgG subclass specificity of IL-4 plus CD40 mAb stimulation for human purified B cells. We determined true in vitro switching by the generation of switch circular DNA (S gamma/S mu) representing primary S mu/S gamma events and production of gamma subclass-specific germ-line transcripts by a combination of reverse transcription-PCR and restriction endonuclease digestion. We simultaneously measured changes in the levels of IgG subclass proteins produced. Forty-two clones of circular switch DNA were identified and sequenced. The IgG subclass of S gamma fragment in the S gamma/S mu chimeric PCR products was determined by analyzing key S gamma nucleotides. The switch-deleted clones were found to consist of S gamma 1/S mu, S gamma 3/S mu, and S gamma 4/S mu chimeric switch sequences, showing that such switching had occurred. No S gamma 2/S mu chimeric switch sequences were found. While a consensus sequence was not identified at the S gamma/S mu breakpoints, four contiguous guanines (GGGG) were noticeably present in the S gamma region near the breakpoint. The induction of gamma 1, gamma 3, and gamma 4 switch circles in human purified B cells was accompanied by enhanced production of IgG1, IgG3, and IgG4 but not IgG2. Similarly, stimulation with IL-4 alone induced gamma 1, gamma 3, and gamma 4 but not gamma 2 germ-line transcripts. These results demonstrate that IL-4 plus CD40 mAb induces Ig isotype switch from mu to gamma 1, gamma 3, and gamma 4 but not to gamma 2.
 ...
PMID:IL-4 plus CD40 monoclonal antibody induces human B cells gamma subclass-specific isotype switch: switching to gamma 1, gamma 3, and gamma 4, but not gamma 2. 754 71

During germinal center reactions, a minority of B lymphocytes are selected after successful binding to follicular dendritic cells (FDCs). The majority of the B cells, however, die by apoptosis. One of the characteristics of apoptosis is rapid fragmentation of DNA by an endogenous endonuclease. The regulation of apoptosis and endonuclease activity in germinal center (GC) B cells is largely unknown. In this study we have investigated the induction and inhibition of endonuclease activity in GC B cells. We also investigated the role of FDCs, surface Ig (sIg), sIgM, CD21, CD22 CD40, and intracellular Zn2+ in the regulation of endonuclease activity. We have found that DNA fragmentation in GC B cells is caused by a preexisting endonuclease very similar to NUC-18 (an 18-kD endonuclease identified in rat thymocytes). Endonuclease activity in GC B cells appears to be rapidly and irreversibly blocked after interaction with FDCs, but not after cross-linkage of sIg, sIgM, CD21, CD22, or CD40. Addition of soluble CD40-human IgM fusion protein (sCD40) to FDC-B cell cultures also did not interfere with FDC-mediated B cell rescue. Chelation of intracellular Zn2+ during FDC-B cell cultures resulted in abrogated B cell rescue. These data suggest that FDCs inhibit apoptosis in GC B cells by a rapid inactivation of preexisting endonuclease using a mechanism distinct from CD40 ligation.
 ...
PMID:Follicular dendritic cells inhibit apoptosis in human B lymphocytes by a rapid and irreversible blockade of preexisting endonuclease. 775 94

CD40 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor family. CD40-mediated signal transduction involves the recruitment of several cytoplasmic proteins and induces expression of a large number of genes. TTRAP, a novel protein that interacts with the cytoplasmic domain of CD40 and with TNF-receptor associated factors (TRAFs), has been cloned and shown to inhibit nuclear factor-kappaB activation (NF-kappaB). By using various bioinformatics-based sequence and structure analyses of proteins involved in signaling by the TNF receptor family, we found that TTRAP is a member of a superfamily of Mg(2+)/Mn(2+)-dependent phosphodiesterases. More precisely, our results suggest that TTRAP is related to the human APE1, a Mg(2+)-dependent endonuclease. This potential novel function of TTRAP raises the intriguing possibility for a role of APE1-like DNA-repair endonucleases in TNF receptor family-mediated signaling and functions.
 ...
PMID:Sequence analysis identifies TTRAP, a protein that associates with CD40 and TNF receptor-associated factors, as a member of a superfamily of divalent cation-dependent phosphodiesterases. 1147 95

Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease-1/Redox factor-1, a multifunctional DNA base excision repair and redox regulation enzyme, plays an important role in oxidative signalling, transcription factor regulation, and cell cycle control. Recently, we have demonstrated that following the triggering of CD40 on B cells, APE/Ref-1 translocates from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and regulates the activity of B cell-specific transcription factors. In the present paper we investigate whether APE/Ref-1 plays a role in controlling CD40-mediated B cell proliferation too. We demonstrate a concurrent increase in proliferation and decrease in apoptosis of primary mouse B cells activated by CD40 cross-linking and transfected with functional APE/Ref-1 antisense oligonucleotide. Moreover, we provide evidence that a redox-mediated signalling mechanism is involved in this process and we propose that APE/Ref-1, controlling the intracellular redox state, may also affect the cell cycle by inducing nucleus-cytoplasm redistribution of p21. Together, these findings suggest that APE/Ref-1 could act as a negative regulator in an adaptive response to elevated ROS levels following CD40 cross-linking. Considering the important role of ROS and APE/Ref-1 in CD40-mediated B cell proliferation, our data will contribute to understand the mechanisms of tumor escape and suggest APE/Ref-1 as a novel target for tumor therapeutic approaches.
 ...
PMID:APE/Ref-1 makes fine-tuning of CD40-induced B cell proliferation. 1861 67