Rapid Screening of Antigenically Reactive Fragments of asi-Casein Using HPLC and ELISA

Screening of antigenically reactive fragments of aSi-casein (asx-CN), the major casein in bovine milk, was done by using HPLC and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). BALB/c mice (6-week-old) were injected intraperitoneally with aSi-CN and complete Freund's adjuvant, and 14 days later, all the mice were boosted with as^CN and incomplete Freund's adjuvant. Twenty-one days after the 1st immunization, the mice were bled and antiserum was separated. Anti as^CN antibody fraction was obtained by precipitation from the antiserum with 50% saturated ammonium sulfate. aSi-CN was digested with trypsin and chymotrypsin, and 35 peptides were purified from the digests by reversed-phase HPLC with ODS (octadecylsilica) columns. Reactivity of peptides with the antibody were examined by ELISA. The solid phase in the wells of the polystyrene microtiter plate was coated with peptides, and the plate was successively incubated with anti aSj-CN antibody, conjugate of anti mouse immunoglobulin with alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and substrate of ALP. Two tryptic fragments (the residues 104-119 and 133-151) and three chymotryptic fragments (33-54, 105-121, and 174-199) were positive in an ELISA test. These five fragments would correspond to four antigenic sites. We could thus find antigenically reactive fragments of aSj-CN by the direct and simple detection of specific antigen-antibody interaction

Primary response of naive CD4+ T cells to amino acid-substituted analogs of an antigenic peptide can show distinct activation patterns: Th1- and Th2-type cytokine secretion, and helper activity for antibody production without apparent cytokine secretion

AbstractNaive CD4+ T cells differentiate into two types of helper T cells showing an interferon-γ-predominant (Th1) or an interleukin-4-predominant (Th2) cytokine secretion profile after repeated antigenic stimulation. Their differentiation can be influenced by slight differences in the interaction between the T cell receptor (TCR) and its ligand at the time of primary activation. However, the primary response of freshly isolated naive CD4+ T cells to altered TCR ligands is still unclear. Here, we investigated the primary response of splenic naive CD4+ T cells derived from transgenic mice expressing TCR specific for residues 323–339 of ovalbumin (OVA323–339) bound to I-Ad molecules. Naive CD4+ T cells secreted either Th1- or Th2-type cytokines immediately after stimulation with OVA323–339 or its single amino acid-substituted analogs. Helper activity for antibody secretion by co-cultured resting B cells was also found in the primary response, accompanied by either low-level Th2-type cytokine secretion or no apparent cytokine secretion. Our results clearly indicate that dichotomy of the Th1/Th2 cytokine secretion profile can be elicited upon primary activation of naive CD4+ T cells. We also demonstrate that the helper activity of naive CD4+ T cells for antibody production does not correspond to the amounts of the relevant cytokines secreted

High-resolution analysis of the 5'-end transcriptome using a next generation DNA sequencer.

Massively parallel, tag-based sequencing systems, such as the SOLiD system, hold the promise of revolutionizing the study of whole genome gene expression due to the number of data points that can be generated in a simple and cost-effective manner. We describe the development of a 5'-end transcriptome workflow for the SOLiD system and demonstrate the advantages in sensitivity and dynamic range offered by this tag-based application over traditional approaches for the study of whole genome gene expression. 5'-end transcriptome analysis was used to study whole genome gene expression within a colon cancer cell line, HT-29, treated with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5Aza). More than 20 million 25-base 5'-end tags were obtained from untreated and 5Aza-treated cells and matched to sequences within the human genome. Seventy three percent of the mapped unique tags were associated with RefSeq cDNA sequences, corresponding to approximately 14,000 different protein-coding genes in this single cell type. The level of expression of these genes ranged from 0.02 to 4,704 transcripts per cell. The sensitivity of a single sequence run of the SOLiD platform was 100-1,000 fold greater than that observed from 5'end SAGE data generated from the analysis of 70,000 tags obtained by Sanger sequencing. The high-resolution 5'end gene expression profiling presented in this study will not only provide novel insight into the transcriptional machinery but should also serve as a basis for a better understanding of cell biology