BACKGROUND Boron neutron capture reaction (BNCR) is based on irradiation of tumors after accumulation of boron compound. 10B captures neutrons and produces an alpha (4He) particle and a recoiled lithium nucleus (7Li). These particles have the characteristics of high linear energy transfer (LET) radiation and have marked biological effects. The purpose of this study is to verify that BNCR will i...

We reported previously that Muc1 mucin on the epithelial cell surface is an adhesion site for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Lillehoj EP, Hyun SW, Kim BT, Zhang XG, Lee DI, Rowland S, and Kim KC. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 280: L181-L187, 2001). The present study was designed to identify the adhesin(s) responsible for bacterial binding to Muc1 mucin using genetic and biochemical approaches. Ch...

The transmembrane protein, transferrin receptor (TfR), is found in a soluble form in human serum and in the medium of cell lines grown in tissue culture. The soluble form is generated by proteolytic cleavage between Arg-100 and Leu-101. We used two mutant human TfRs expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells lacking endogenous transferrin receptor to characterize the protease that cleaves t...

Human plasma kallikrein-kinin system proteins are related to inflammation through bradykinin. In the proximity of its target cells, high molecular weight kininogen (H-kininogen) is the substrate of plasma kallikrein, which releases bradykinin from H-kininogen. Heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) play a critical role in either recruiting kinin precursors from the plasma, or in the assembly of ...

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell mutants that required exogenously added phosphatidylserine for cell growth were isolated by using the replica technique with polyester cloth, and three such mutants were characterized. Labeling experiments on intact cells with 32Pi and L-[U-14C]serine revealed that a phosphatidylserine auxotroph, designated as PSA-3, was strikingly defective in phosphatidylserin...

We used a novel approach to evaluate how the addition/acquisition and processing/modification of N-linked oligosaccharides play a role in the functional maturation of human organic anion transporter hOAT4. Inhibition of acquisition of oligosaccharides in hOAT4 by mutating asparagine to glutamine and by tunicamycin treatment was combined with the expression of wild-type hOAT4 in a series of muta...

The radiosensitive mutant xrs-6, derived from Chinese hamster ovary cell line CHO-K1, has been demonstrated to be defective in DNA double-strand break repair and also in its proficiency to undergo V(D)J recombination. Recent work has provided both genetic and biochemical evidence that the M(r) 80,000 subunit of the Ku protein is able to complement the radiosensitivity and the V(D)J recombinatio...

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) mutant cells deficient in peroxisome biogenesis regain peroxisomes after transfection with a cDNA coding for peroxisome assembly factor (PAF)-1 from rat liver. Reconstitution of the transfected mutant cells with wild-type cytoplasm was not required, demonstrating that expression of the PAF-1 gene alone was sufficient for the restoration of peroxisome biogenesis. Plas...

Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is an important signaling regulator that assembles into the heteroternary complex with adaptor proteins PINCH and parvin (termed the IPP complex). We recently reported that ILK is important for integrin activation in a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell system. We previously established parental CHO cells expressing a constitutively active chimeric integrin (αIIbα6Bβ3...

A one kb portion of the rpoS gene from Flexibacter chinensis was isolated by PCR, sequenced and compared to the rpoS gene of a variety of other organisms. The gene was found to be 98% similar to previously sequenced genes. Mutation of the rpoS gene with tri-parental mating produced strain JR101 and the growth rate of the mutant was compared with that of the wild-type. The mutant grew slower, an...