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Hereditary hemochromatosis (HC) is one of the most common single-gene hereditary diseases. A phenotypic hallmark of HC is low iron in reticuloendothelial cells in spite of body iron overload. Most patients with HC have the same mutation, a change of cysteine at position 282 to tyrosine (C282Y) in the HFE protein. The role of HFE in iron metabolism and the basis for the phenotypic abnormalities of HC are not understood. To clarify the role of HFE in the phenotypic expression of HC, we studied monocytes-macrophages from subjects carrying the C282Y mutation in the HFE protein and clinically expressing HC and transfected them with wild-type HFE by using an attenuated Salmonella typhimurium strain as a gene carrier. The Salmonella system allowed us to deliver genes of interest specifically to monocytes-macrophages with high transduction efficiency. The accumulation of (55)Fe delivered by (55)Fe-Tf was significantly lower in macrophages from patients with HC than from controls expressing wild-type HFE. Transfection of HC macrophages with the HFE gene resulted in a high level of expression of HFE protein at the cell surface. The accumulation of (55)Fe delivered by (55)Fe-Tf was raised by 40% to 60%, and this was reflected by an increase in the (55)Fe-ferritin pool within the HFE-transfected cells. These results suggest that the iron-deficient phenotype of HC macrophages is a direct effect of the HFE mutation, and they demonstrate a role for HFE in the accumulation of iron in these cells.

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HLA-F is a human non-classical MHC molecule. Recombinant HLA-F heavy chain was refolded with 2-microglobulin to form a stable complex. This complex was used as an immunogen to produce a highly specific, high-affinity monoclonal antibody (FG1) that was used to study directly the cellular biology and tissue distribution of HLA-F. HLA-F has a restricted pattern of tissue expression in tonsil, spleen, and thymus. HLA-F could be immunoprecipitated from B cell lines and from HUT-78, a T cell line. HLA-F binds TAP, but unlike the classical human class I molecules, was undetected at the cell surface. HLA-F tetramers stain peripheral blood monocytes and B cells. HLA-F tetramer binding could be conferred on non-binding cells by transfection with the inhibitory receptors ILT2 and ILT4. Surface plasmon resonance studies demonstrated a direct molecular interaction of HLA-F with ILT2 and ILT4. These results, together with structural predictions based on the sequence of HLA-F, suggest that HLA-F may be a peptide binding molecule and may reach the cell surface under favorable conditions, which may include the presence of specific peptide or peptides. At the cell surface it would be capable of interacting with LIR1 (ILT2) and LIR2 (ILT4) receptors and so altering the activation threshold of immune effector cells.

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Hereditary haemochromatosis is an inherited disorder of iron absorption that leads to excessive iron storage in the liver and other organs. A candidate disease gene HFE has been identified that encodes a novel MHC class I like protein. We report the development of a monoclonal antibody (HFE-JB1) specific for recombinant refolded HFE protein. The antibody immunoprecipitates a 49 kD protein from the cell line U937, a histiocytic lymphoma. It binds HFE but does not recognize other recombinant non-classic MHC class I proteins (HLA-E, F and G), nor does it react with a variety of recombinant classic class I MHC molecules. COS cells transfected with HFE in culture are stained specifically. The immunohistochemical staining pattern in human tissues is unique and can be defined as a subset of the transferrin receptor positive cells. In the liver HFE protein was shown to be present on Kupffer cells and endothelium (sinusoidal lining cells), but absent from the parenchyma. Kupffer cells from an untreated C282Y HH patient failed to stain with the antibody. In the normal gut scattered cells in the crypts are stained. HFE was also present on capillary endothelium in the brain (a site of high levels of transferrin receptor) and on scattered cells in the cerebellum and cortex. These results raise interesting questions concerning the function of HFE in the control of body iron content and distribution.

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Two related peptides from the nucleoprotein (NP) sequence 365-380, derived from influenza virus isolates A/PR/8/34 and A/NT/60/68, are recognized by mutually exclusive sets of Db (Class I)-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) clones. These peptides compete with each other for presentation on Db-bearing target cells in vitro. A Kk-restricted nucleoprotein epitope (NP 50-63), which is unrelated in sequence, competes more efficiently on H-2b target cells but is not itself recognized by virus-specific CTL from influenza-infected H-2b mice. A peptide sequence from the class I molecules Cw3 and Db can also compete, but additional unrelated peptides do not do so at equimolar concentrations. Our results show that competition is at the level of the target cell and imply that the binding specificity of the class I molecule Db is broader than indicated by the immune response phenotype of the C57BL (H-2b) mouse.

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Cytotoxic T-cell clones were raised in CBA mice that recognised both A/X31 and A/JAP/305/1957 influenza virus. Here, we describe one CTL clone that recognises target cells infected with a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing influenza PB1.

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A monoclonal antibody directed at a determinant on human T cells was produced and characterized. This IgM antibody, MBG6, bound to human peripheral blood T lymphocytes and to medullary thymocytes. It was unreactive with normal B cells, B-cell lines and granulocytes. Apart from T lymphocytes, bone marrow cells (including cells positive for the terminal transferase marker, myeloid colony-forming cells, myeloblasts, and differentiating myeloid and erythroid cells) were negative. Peripheral blood cells that were treated with MBG6 and rabbit complement were no longer capable of proliferating in response to phytohaemagglutinin or concanavalin A; MBG6 did not have any direct mitogenic action on T lymphocytes. Double immunofluorescence studies using IgM MBG6 and OKT3, and IgG2a monoclonal antibody that recognizes all peripheral T cells, showed that these two antibodies identified exactly the same cell populations. Competitive binding studies, however, indicated that MBG6 and OKT3 recognized different epitopes. The antibody may have clinical applications in bone marrow transplantation.

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The authors report 4 cases of ossification of the posterior vertebral ligament. In 3 cases, the cervical spine was involved (mainly C4-C6), two included thoracic lesions. Three cases showed signs of spinal cord compression. Only one case was operated on. The authors review the literature. The authors discuss the classification, and the etiology, together with the possible relationship between the disease and ankylosing hyperostosis. Finally the pathogenesis is studied: the authors believe that spinal ischemia plays a very important role.

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Monoclonal antibodies offer many distinct advantages over conventional antisera, the most obvious being their precise specificity for a single epitope on a single antigen and their potentially unlimited supply. The quantity and purity of available antibodies facilitates antigen purification by affinity chromatography. Monoclonal antibodies can also be used to characterize different parts of a macromolecule with regard to antigenicity, functional activity or genetic variability. Here Andrew McMichael and Judy Bastin concentrate on the potential value of monoclonal antibodies in clinical medicine, surveying papers published up to June 1980, and a number of preprints and personal communications, kindly made available to them by colleagues.

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