Nancy M. Lehnert
Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Featured researches published by Nancy M. Lehnert.
Cytometry | 1996
Chiranjit Deka; Bruce E. Lehnert; Nancy M. Lehnert; G. M. Jones; Larry A. Sklar; John A. Steinkamp
Fluorescent antibodies are often used to measure the number of receptor sites on cells. The quantitative estimate of the number of receptor sites using this procedure assumes that the fluorescence intensity on a cell is proportional to the number of bound antibodies. Quenching may invalidate this assumption. For many fluorophores, intermolecular interactions and energy transfer between molecules in close proximity to one another results in self-quenching. This effect can occur in antibody probes with a high fluorochrome to protein (F/P) ratio. It can also occur due to close proximity antibodies relative to one another on a highly labeled cell surface. Since self-quenching is accompanied by a change in the fluorescence decay and a decrease in the fluorescence lifetime, it may be conveniently identified using fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy. In this paper we apply the phase-sensitive detection method to investigate the impact of self-quenching on fluorescence lifetimes by flow cytometry, using a model system consisting of FITC conjugated anti-mouse Thy1.2 antibodies bound to murine thymus cells. We show that in addition to the expected variation of lifetimes as a function of F/P ratio of the probes, the fluorescence lifetime diminishes also as a function of antibody labeling concentration on the cell surface. This is consistent with self-quenching effects expected at high densities of FITC molecules.
Journal of Immunological Methods | 1999
John A. Steinkamp; Bruce E. Lehnert; Nancy M. Lehnert
We report a flow cytometric fluorescence lifetime-based method to discriminate damaged/dead from viable cells in immunofluorescently labeled populations using propidium iodide as a dye-exclusion viability probe. Fluorescence signals from propidium iodide and the anti-thymus cell-surface immunofluorescence marker fluorochromes, phycoerythrin and phycoerythrin/Texas Red (tandem conjugate), which have overlapping emission spectra with propidium iodide, are resolved based on differences in their fluorescence emission lifetimes using phase-sensitive detection. Mouse thymus cell samples were first labeled separately with anti-Thy 1.2 antibody directly conjugated to phycoerythrin and to phycoerythrin/Texas Red and propidium iodide. Labeled cells were then analyzed to determine the lifetimes of the immunofluorescence markers and propidium iodide. Based on these results, rat and mouse thymocytes labeled with anti-Thy 1.1 conjugated to phycoerythrin and anti-Thy 1.2 conjugated to phycoerythrin/Texas Red, respectively, were suspended in phosphate buffered saline containing propidium iodide, and were analyzed as they passed through a flow chamber and crossed a high-frequency, intensity-modulated (sinusoidal) laser excitation beam. The resulting immunofluorescence and propidium iodide signals were resolved based on differences in fluorescence lifetimes expressed as phase shifts using phase-sensitive detection and displayed as frequency distribution histograms and bivariate contour diagrams. This technology provides a new method to resolve immunofluorescence and propidium iodide signals from overlapping fluorescence emission spectra and a flow cytometric lifetime-based technique to quantify damaged/dead cells in immunofluorescence studies.
Cytometry | 1999
John A. Steinkamp; Nancy M. Lehnert; Jan F. Keij; Bruce E. Lehnert
BACKGROUND The primary source of interference in immunofluorescence measurements by flow cytometry is background autofluorescence. METHODS Using human lung fibroblasts (HLFs) as an autofluorescent cell model, unfixed HLFs and HLFs fixed in methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde, paraformaldehyde and glutaraldehyde were analyzed by phase-sensitive flow cytometry to compare their fluorescence intensity and lifetime histograms. Based on these results, a surface antigen on HLFs was labeled with a fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) conjugated antibody and fixed in glutaraldehyde, and the cells were analyzed by conventional and phase-resolved methods. RESULTS The lifetimes of unfixed and ethanol-, methanol-, paraformaldehyde- and formaldehyde-fixed HLFs were in the 1.7-1.9 nanosecond (ns) range, with coefficients of variation 25-35%. Since the autofluorescence lifetime histograms of unfixed and fixed HLFs partially overlapped the 3.5 ns lifetime histogram of FITC-labeled microspheres, which were used to approximate FITC-antibody labeling of HLFs, the ability to resolve FITC-labeled probe, based on differences in the FITC and autofluorescence lifetimes, was severely limited. When HLFs labeled with an FITC-antibody cell-surface marker were fixed in glutaraldehyde (autofluorescence lifetime 0.9-1.4 ns, coefficient of variation approximately 11%) and analyzed by phase-resolved methods, the results showed that FITC-antibody labeling could be readily resolved from background autofluorescence. CONCLUSIONS Phase-sensitive detection improves the immunofluorescence measurement resolution of surface antigens on highly autofluorescent, glutaraldehyde-fixed cells. Cytometry 37: 275-283, 1999. Published 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Toxicology | 2001
Nancy M. Lehnert; Ronald K. Gary; Babetta L. Marrone; Bruce E. Lehnert
Inhalation of particulate beryllium (Be) and its compounds causes chronic Be disease (CBD) in a relatively small subset ( approximately 1-6%) of exposed individuals. Hallmarks of this pulmonary disease include increases in several cell types, including lung fibroblasts, that contribute to the fibrotic component of the disorder. In this regard, enhancements in cell proliferation appear to play a fundamental role in CBD development and progression. Paradoxically, however, some existing evidence suggests that Be actually has antiproliferative effects. In order to gain further information about the effects of Be on cell growth, we: (1) assessed cell proliferation and cell cycle effects of low concentrations of Be in normal human diploid fibroblasts, and (2) investigated the molecular pathway(s) by which the cell cycle disturbing effects of Be may be mediated. Treatment of human lung and skin fibroblasts with Be added in the soluble form of BeSO(4) (0.1-100 microM) caused inhibitions of their growth in culture in a concentration-dependent manner. Such growth inhibition was found to persist, even after cells were further cultured in Be(2+)-free medium. Flow cytometric analyses of cellular DNA labeled with the DNA-binding fluorochrome DAPI revealed that Be causes a G(0)-G(1)/pre-S phase arrest. Western blot analyses indicated that the Be-induced G(0)-G(1)/pre-S phase arrest involves elevations in TP53 (p53) and the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor CDKN1A (p21(Waf-1,Cip1)). That Be at low concentrations inhibits the growth of normal human fibroblasts suggests the possibility of the existence of abnormal cell cycle inhibitory responses to Be in individuals who are sensitive to the metal and ultimately develop CBD.
Experimental Lung Research | 1995
Bruce E. Lehnert; D. C. Archuleta; L.R. Gurley; W.S. Session; M. J. Behr; Nancy M. Lehnert; D. M. Stavert
Exercise performed after exposure to various pneumoedematogenic gases can increase the severity of pulmonary edema beyond that which occurs when exposure is followed by rest. The present study was performed to investigate the potential relationship between a preexisting breach in the lungs permeability status following exposure to an edematogenic gas (perfluoroisobutylene, PFIB) and the potentiating effects of postexposure exercise. Rats were exposed to a concentration of PFIB (100 mg/M3 for 10 min) that results in a unique postexposure latency period (approximately 8 h) prior to the occurrence of overt pulmonary edema. The study examined how exercise performed during and after the latency period affects the severity of the injurious response to this toxic gas. The initial results indicated that exercise performed during the post-PFIB exposure latency period does not potentiate the injurious response, as judged by conventional lung gravimetric and histopathological criteria, but when overt pulmonary edema was preexistent, exercise had a potentiating effect. Changes in lavageable protein were assessed as a more sensitive indicator of permeability changes that may occur during the latency period following PFIB exposure, and the study examined how exercise performed early during the latency period affects this index of pulmonary edema. The study also assessed whether PFIB-induced damage to lung cells is enhanced by exercise during the latency period by measuring lavageable lactate dehydrogenase activity. The results from these latter experiments suggest that a preexisting enhancement in lung permeability is not an absolute requirement for exercise to potentiate the pulmonary edematous response in lungs that are undergoing insidious injury, and that postexposure exercise does not enhance the cell-killing effects of PFIB as a mechanism underlying the exercise potentiating response. Conceivably, the ability of exercise to increase lavageable protein in the absence of a preexisting increase in lung permeability may be due to hyperventilation- and/or pulmonary hypertension-associated intercellular junctional changes that may occur during exercise. Additionally, it remains possible that exercise during PFIB-induced insideous lung injury results in an enhancement in the rate of transcellular transport of blood proteins onto the alveolar surface.
Inhalation Toxicology | 1996
A. Deshpande; D. C. Archuleta; Y. E. Valdez; Nancy M. Lehnert; D. M. Stavert; Bruce E. Lehnert
AbstractSeveral lines of circumstantial evidence suggest that an elevated production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) by lung macrophages may play a role in the development of phosgene-induced pulmonary edema. The present study was undertaken to investigate this possibility. Fischer 344 rats were exposed to 23.2 ppm phosgene or air for 10 min, and bronchoalveolar lavage was performed during the early development of the pulmonary edematous response to phosgene, that is, 1 and 3 h after exposure. Lavage fluids were analyzed for the presence of TNF-α, and the constitutive and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated productions of TNF-α by lavaged alveolar macrophages (AM) were assessed in vitro. No increases in TNF-α in the lavage fluids were observed at either of the two time points after phosgene exposure. The numbers and viabilities of AM lavaged 1 h after exposure to phosgene and air were closely similar. By 3 h after exposure to phosgene, fewer AM were harvested by lavage and their viabilities were reduce...
Advances in fluorescence sensing technology. Conference | 1999
John A. Steinkamp; Bruce E. Lehnert; Nancy M. Lehnert
Assays which discriminate and enumerate dying or dead cells are important in various types of cellular studies. In many instances, there is a need to identify dead cells that interfere with fluorescent probes which are used to measure functional and physiological properties in viable cells. For example, dead cells can introduce analytical errors arising from (1) nonspecific uptake of fluorescent probes, leading to erroneous percentages of positive labeled cells, (2) increased autofluorescence, and (3) altered antigen expression. The ability to detect dead cells is also of importance in determining the effectiveness of cytotoxic agents. Propidium iodide (PPI) exclusion, which is analogous to the non- fluorescent trypan blue dye test for viability, is used extensively in flow cytometry assays. However, the use of PI can potentially limit the application of additional fluorescent probes due to spectral overlap of the probe with PI. In this report we present phase-resolved fluorescence studies on rat and murine thymus cells labeled with phycoerythrin-antiThy 1.1 and phycoerythrin/Texas Red-antiThy 1.2 immunofluorescence markers, respectively, and PI. Overlapping emission spectra are resolved based on differences in fluorescence lifetimes of the probes and PI. These studies demonstrate a new lifetime-based viability method for use in analysis of immunofluorescent probes and for assaying the dynamics of cell killing.
Journal of Immunological Methods | 1995
M.D. Englen; Y.E. Valdez; Nancy M. Lehnert; Bruce E. Lehnert
Biochemistry | 2001
Nancy M. Lehnert; David L. Allen; Beth L. Allen; Paolo Catasti; Patrick R. Shiflett; Michael Chen; Bruce E. Lehnert; Goutam Gupta
Toxicology | 1994
Bruce E. Lehnert; D.C. Archuleta; T. Ellis; W.S. Session; Nancy M. Lehnert; L.R. Gurley; D.M. Stavert