To improve safety and specificity of oncolytic adenoviruses, we introduced T-cell receptors (TCR) specific for a unique class of truly tumor-specific antigens into the adenoviral fiber protein. The adenoviral fiber knob responsible for attachment to the coxsackie-adenoviral receptor (CAR) on target cells was replaced by a single-chain TCR (scTCR) molecule with specificity for the melanoma-assoc...

Soluble von Willebrand factor (VWF) has a low affinity for platelet glycoprotein (GP) Ibalpha and needs immobilization and/or high shear stress to enable binding of its A1 domain to the receptor. The previously described anti-VWF monoclonal antibody 1C1E7 enhances VWF/GPIbalpha binding and recognizes an epitope in the amino acids 764-1035 region in the N-terminal D'D3 domains. In this study we ...

The Na+/Mg2+ exchanger SLC41A1 (A1), a key component of intracellular Mg homeostasis (IMH), is the major cellular Mg2+ efflux system, and its overexpression decreases [Mg2+]intracellular. IMH plays an important role in the regulation of many cellular processes, including cellular signaling. However, whether the overexpression of A1 and the consequent drop of [Mg2+]i impact on intracellular sign...

Inactivation of the plasma serine-proteinase inhibitor a1-antitrypsin (a1-AT) by neutrophil metalloproteinases has been reported [Vissers, George, Bathurst, Brennan & Winterbourn (1987) Fed. Proc. Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol. 46, 1390a; (1988) J. Clin. Invest. 82, 706-711; Desrochers & Weiss (1988) J. Clin: Invest. 81, 1646-1650]. To identify the enzyme responsible, supernatant from neutrophils sti...

In an effort to understand the structural basis for antigen mimicry by internal image antibodies, we determined the variable (V) region sequences of two mouse mAbs that mimic the rabbit Ig a1 allotype. The results showed that while the mAb light chains did not contain any allotype-related residues, both heavy chain V regions contained within complementarity-determining region 2 an unusual seque...

Semaphorin family proteins act on cells to mediate both repulsive and attractive guidance via binding to plexin family receptors, thereby playing fundamental roles in the morphogenesis and homeostasis of various tissues. Although semaphorin-plexin signaling is implicated in various diseases and is thus a target of intensive research, our mechanistic understanding of how semaphorins activate ple...

Three new patients with post-transfusion purpura (PTP) are described. As the manifestations in two differ significantly from those of previously reported cases, they serve to expand the definition of this syndrome. Although all 14 previously reported cases have occurred in Pl-A1-negative females, one of our patients was a Pl-A-negative male. Moreover, a female whose postrecovery platelets posse...

Three major acidic proteins of bovine seminal plasma, BSP-A1, BSP-A2 and BSP-A3, were purified to homogeneity, by employing fast protein liquid chromatography, gel filtration and h.p.l.c. The proteins were purified on the basis of their stimulatory effect on the basal release of gonadotropins by rat anterior-pituitary cells in culture. All three proteins migrated as distinct single bands in the...