William L. Bigbee

Measurements of the frequency of human erythrocytes with gene expression loss phenotypes at the glycophorin A locus

SummaryAn assay method is described for determining the frequency of human erythrocytes having a gene expression loss phenotype at the glycophorin A locus presumably due to in vivo somatic mutational events in erythroid precursor cells. Monoclonal antibodies specific for the M and N glycophorin A alleles are used to identify variant cells that lack the expression of one allele in blood samples from MN heterozygotes. Flow cytometry and sorting are used to enumerate and purify variant cells. Using three different antibody combinations which are sensitive to the loss of either the M or the N allele, we find that variant cells occur at a frequency of 1x10-5 in normal donors. We also detect variant cells with an apparent homozygous phenotype suggesting that events leading to homozygosity may occur at similar frequencies to gene loss events. Significant increases in variant cell frequency are observed in cancer patients after exposure to mutagenic chemotherapy drugs.

Monoclonal antibodies specific for the M- and N-forms of human glycophorin A.

Four mouse monoclonal antibodies directed against the red cell membrane protein glycophorin A have been isolated and characterized. They are produced by hybridomas derived from SP2/0 myeloma cells and spleen cells from Biozzi mice immunized with a mixture of human erythrocytes from homozygous blood group M and N individuals. These antibodies recognize and bind to purified glycophorin A and to glycophorin on the red cell surface. All are of the IgGl, kappa light chain subclass and bind to determinants presented on the 39 amino acid, trypsin-sensitive, N-terminal peptide of glycophorin A. Three display differential specificities for the two allelic forms of glycophorin A; two are exquisitely specific for the M-form and one preferentially binds the N-form. Treatment of red cells with neuraminidase, which removes N-acetylneuraminic acid from glycophorin A, abolishes the binding of these three antibodies. The binding of the N-specific antibody is also sensitive to modification of the amino-terminal residue of the antigen. The fourth antibody binds equally well to both the M- and N-forms as well as to neuraminidase-treated red cells; thus it recognizes a public, N-acetylneuraminic acid independent glycophorin A determinant.

The effect of chemotherapy on the in vivo frequency of glycophorin A ‘null’ variant erythrocytes

A human in vivo somatic cell assay based on the enumeration of variant erythrocytes lacking expression of an allelic form of the cell-surface sialoglycoprotein, glycophorin A, was applied to the study of blood samples from patients obtained prior to, during, and following chemotherapy for malignant disease in order to determine the effect of mutagenic chemical agents on the frequency of variant cells. In 22 patients assayed prior to therapy, the mean variant cell frequency was 11.9 per million, which was not significantly different from that observed in healthy controls. In an initial cross-sectional survey, blood samples were obtained at various times during and after therapy from 30 patients diagnosed with a variety of malignancies who were treated with one or more known mutagenic agents including adriamycin, bleomycin, cis-platinum, cyclophosphamide, dacarbazine, etoposide, lomustine, mechlorethamine, melphalan, mitomycin C, and procarbazine. Significant elevations in the mean frequency of variant cells over pre-therapy and normal levels were observed in samples obtained during and after therapy. In a time-series study, 14 breast cancer patients treated with CAF (cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, 5-fluorouracil), CMF (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil), or VMF (vinblastine, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil) adjuvant chemotherapy were sampled repeatedly during and after therapy. For the CAF and CMF patients an increase in the frequency of variant cells was observed with a lag in the appearance of induced variants after initiation of therapy; variant frequencies gradually increased during therapy reaching a maximum at or shortly after the end of therapy, then declined to near pre-therapy levels within 6 months. The maximum level of induced variants ranged from 2- to 7-fold over pre-therapy or normal levels depending on the combination of agents used. The breast cancer patients treated with both adriamycin and cyclophosphamide showed consistent elevations in the frequency of variant cells; patients treated only with cyclophosphamide showed lower and more variable elevations. The data demonstrate that mutagenic chemotherapy agents induce elevated levels of glycophorin A variant erythrocytes consistent with the hypothesis that variant cells result from somatic mutation. The elevations in variant cells were transient, suggesting that these agents primarily affect the rapidly cycling committed erythroid cell population.

Molecular Characterization of Glycophorin A Transcripts in Human Erythroid Cells using RT-PCR, Allele-specific Restriction, and Sequencing

Glycophorin A (GPA) is an erythroid‐lineage‐specific membrane sialoglycoprotein which occurs in two allelic forms, M and N, which form the antigens of the MN blood group. Purified cDNAs and RNAs isolated from peripheral blood and erythroleukemia cell lines, HEL and K562, were used to develop an RT‐PCR technique for amplifying GPA gene transcripts (GYPA). The relative expression of transcripts from the M and N alleles was determined using restriction analysis of these amplified products with four allele‐specific restriction endonucleases. The use of this method permits the sensitive identification of GYPA transcripts in these cells and confirms GPA protein expression in the erythroleukemia cell lines and the MN phenotypes of individuals determined by immunolabeling with GPA allele‐specific monoclonal antibodies. A novel restriction pattern was obtained using peripheral blood RNA from two individuals with a rare inherited variant allele, GPA Mg. Sequencing of the cDNA obtained using this method revealed a single C to A transversion in the fourth codon in the mature GYPA N coding sequence is responsible for the difference between GYPA Mg and GYPA N.

Sensitive fluorescence assays for urokinase using synthetic peptide 4-methoxy-β-naphthylamide substrates

Two assays for the plasminogen activator urokinase using peptide fluorogenic substrates are described. N-carbobenzoxy--glycyl-glycyl-L-arginine-4-methoxy-..beta..-naphthylamide (CBZ-Gly-Gly-Arg-4M..beta..NA) can be used in a direct assay that is simple, rapid, and sensitive to as little as 0.5 IU/ml urokinase. Additional sensitivity, to 0.01 IU/ml urokinase, is obtained in a second method that uses plasminogen as the primary substrate followed by a fluorogenic substrate assay employing N-carbobenzoxy-L-ananyl-L-alanyl-L-lysine-4-methoxy-..beta..-naphthylamide (CBZ-Ala-Ala-Lys-4M..beta..NA) as a specific substrate for the activated plasmin. These assays are as sensitive as the best assays presently in use and are simpler to perform. In addition, these assays can readily be used for kinetic analysis of the hydrolytic activity of urokinase or other plasminogen activators.

Monoclonal Antibodies Specific for Sickle Cell Hemoglobin

Two mouse hybridoma cell lines were isolated which produce monoclonal antibodies that bind hemoglobin S. The mice were immunized with peptide-protein conjugates to stimulate a response to the amino terminal peptide of the beta chain of hemoglobin S, where the single amino acid difference between A and S occurs. Immunocharacterization of the antibodies shows that they bind specifically to the immunogen peptide and to hemoglobin S. The specificity for S is high enough that one AS cell in a mixture with a million AA cells is labeled by antibody, and such cells can be analyzed by flow cytometry. Immunoblotting of electrophoretic gels allows definitive identification of hemoglobin S as compared with other hemoglobins with similar electrophoretic mobility.

Laser-based Flow Cytometric Analysis of Genotoxicity of Humans Exposed to Ionizing Radiation during the Chernobyl accident

An analytical technique has been developed that allows laser-based flow cytometric measurement of the frequency of red blood cells that have lost allele-specific expression of a cell surface antigen due to genetic toxicity in bone marrow precursor cells. Previous studies demonstrated a correlation of such effects with the exposure of each individual to mutagenic phenomena, such as ionizing radiation, and the effects can persist for the lifetime of each individual. During the emergency response to the nuclear power plant accidert at Chemobyl, Ukraine, USSR, a number of people were exposed to whole body doses of ioniing radiation. Some of these individuals were tested with this laser-based assay and found to express a dose-dependent increase in the frequency of variant red blood cells that appears to be a persistent biological effect. This effect is similar to that which was previously observed in individuals who were exposed to ionizing radiation at Hiroshima in 1945 because of the A-bomb explosion. All data indicate that this assay might well be used as a biodosimeter to estimate radiation dose and also as an element to be used for estimating the risk of each individual to develop cancer due to radiation exposure.

A family study of multiple mutations of alpha and delta glycophorins (glycophorins A and B).

SummaryGlycophorins alpha and delta are the carriers of the antigens of the MNSs blood system; this report documents the presence of three glycophorin mutations in two individuals of a 16 member family. Erythrocytes were examined by serology, sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis, and immunoblotting. The inheritance pattern and immunoblot profile revealed: (1) A variant Dantu glycophorin showed properties consistent with a delta-alpha glycophorin hybrid structure, previously noted in other individuals. The gene responsible for the Dantu glycophorin in this family is linked to a gene coding for an M-specific alpha glycophorin. (2) Another variant glycophorin, Mi-III glycophorin, was first revealed by immunoblotting and subsequently confirmed by erythrocyte antigen typing. This autosomal dominant trait is associated with N blood group activity and the inheritance pattern indicates that it could be a variant of delta glycophorin. (3) In the individuals with both Dantu and Mi-III glycophorins a delta glycophorin deficiency was observed suggesting that a deletion or alteration of delta gene may exist cis to the Dantu gene. Our findings that document clustering of multiple mutations in MNSs gene loci in the propositus family are very unusual as such variants are relatively rare.

Detection of Mutated Erythrocytes in Man

Two assay systems are being developed to measure the level of in vivo somatic mutations in human cells. Both are based on immunologic recognition and fluorescence-activated cell sorter enumeration of cells carrying variant proteins. The first assay is based on the detection of erythrocytes containing the single amino acid-substituted hemoglobins S or C. Frequencies of anti-hemoglobin S- and C-labeled red cells in the blood of normal hemoglobin A individuals were determined. In five samples, the S-frequencies ranged from 1.1 x 10-8 to 1.1 x 10-7. C-frequencies from 6.7 x 10-8 to 2.6 x 10-7 were observed in three samples. Methods to test the genetic validity of these results and to extend the measurements to additional point- and frameshift-mutant hemoglobins through the use of monoclonal antibodies are discussed. The second assay seeks to detect variant red cells arising as a result of “gene expression loss” and point mutations in the genes for the membrane-associated protein glycophorin A. Monoclonal antibodies, specific for the M and N allelic forms of the protein, have been produced and can be used to screen blood samples from MN heterozygotes for variant red cells which fail to present one of the glycophorin A forms. These antibodies may also be capable of detecting red cells in homozygotes expressing single amino acid-substituted glycophorin A.