594 dyes are a new series of fluorescent dyes with emission/excitation spectra similar to those of AMCA, Lucifer Yellow, fluorescein, rhodamine 6G, tetramethylrhodamine or Cy3, lissamine rhodamine B, and Texas Red, respectively (the numbers in the Alexa names indicate the approximate excitation wavelength maximum in nm). All Alexa dyes and their conjugates are more fluorescent and more photostable than their commonly used spectral analogues listed above. In addition, Alexa dyes are insensitive to pH in the 4-10 range. We evaluated Alexa dyes compared with conventional dyes in applications using various conjugates, including those of goat anti-mouse IgG (GAM), streptavidin, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), and concanavalin A (ConA). Conjugates of Alexa 546 are at least twofold more fluorescent than Cy3 conjugates. Proteins labeled with the Alexa 568 or Alexa 594 dyes are several-fold brighter than the same proteins labeled with lissamine rhodamine B or Texas Red dyes, respectively. Alexa dye derivatives of phalloidin stain F-actin with high specificity. Hydrazide forms of the Alexa dyes are very bright, formaldehyde-fixable polar tracers. Conjugates of the Alexa 430 (ex 430 nm/em 520 nm) and Alexa 532 (ex 530 nm/em 548 nm) fluorochromes are spectrally unique fluorescent probes, with relatively high quantum yields in their excitation and emission wavelength ranges. (J Histochem
A fluorescent nucleic acid stain that does not penetrate living cells was used to assess the integrity of the plasma membranes of bacteria. SYTOX Green nucleic acid stain is an unsymmetrical cyanine dye with three positive charges that is completely excluded from live eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Binding of SYTOX Green stain to nucleic acids resulted in a >500-fold enhancement in fluorescence emission (absorption and emission maxima at 502 and 523 nm, respectively), rendering bacteria with compromised plasma membranes brightly green fluorescent. SYTOX Green stain is readily excited by the 488-nm line of the argon ion laser. The fluorescence signal from membrane-compromised bacteria labeled with SYTOX Green stain was typically >10-fold brighter than that from intact organisms. Bacterial suspensions labeled with SYTOX Green stain emitted green fluorescence in proportion to the fraction of permeabilized cells in the population, which was quantified by microscopy, fluorometry, or flow cytometry. Flow cytometric and fluorometric approaches were used to quantify the effect of -lactam antibiotics on the cell membrane integrity of Escherichia coli. Detection and discrimination of live and permeabilized cells labeled with SYTOX Green stain by flow cytometry were markedly improved over those by propidium iodide-based tests. These studies showed that bacterial labeling with SYTOX Green stain is an effective alternative to conventional methods for measuring bacterial viability and antibiotic susceptibility. MATERIALS AND METHODS Bacterial cultures. Two strains of Escherichia coli (ampicillin-sensitive ATCC 25922 and ampicillin-resistant ATCC 35218) were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (Rockville, Md.
A new family of fluorescent probes has been developed for assessing the viability and metabolic activity of yeasts. This class of halogenated unsymmetric cyanine dyes is exemplified by the FUN-1 [2-chloro-4-(2,3dihydro-3-methyl-(benzo-1,3-thiazol-2-yl)-methylidene)-1-phenylquinolinium iodide] stain, a membrane-permeant nucleic acid-binding dye that has been found to give rise to cylindrical intravacuolar structures (CIVS) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biochemical processing of the dye by active yeasts yielded CIVS that were markedly red shifted in fluorescence emission and therefore spectrally distinct from the nucleic acid-bound form of the dye. The formation of CIVS occurred under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions and was highly temperature dependent. Treatment of yeasts with the nonmetabolizable glucose analog 2-deoxy-D-glucose reduced cellular ATP levels ϳ6-fold and completely inhibited CIVS formation. Under aerobic conditions, the formation of CIVS was abrogated by the cytochrome oxidase inhibitors azide and cyanide; however, the H ؉ transport uncoupler carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone inhibited CIVS formation under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Depletion of cellular thiols, including glutathione, with millimolar concentrations of N-ethylmaleimide, iodoacetamide, or allyl alcohol completely inhibited CIVS production. Marked reduction in the formation of CIVS by ethacrynic acid and sulfobromophthalein, inhibitors of glutathione S-transferase, suggested that dye processing can involve enzyme-mediated formation of glutathione conjugates. The conversion of FUN-1 by S. cerevisiae was studied quantitatively by using several techniques, including fluorometry, flow cytometry, and wide-field and confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy.
Mammalian immune responses to LPS exposure are typified by the robust induction of NF-κB and IFN-β responses largely mediated by TLR4 signal transduction pathways. In contrast to mammals, Tlr4 signal transduction pathways in nontetrapods are not well understood. Comprehensive syntenic and phylogenetic analyses support our hypothesis that zebrafish tlr4a and tlr4b genes are paralogous rather than orthologous to human TLR4. Furthermore, we provide evidence to support our assertion that the in vivo responsiveness of zebrafish to LPS exposure is not mediated by Tlr4a and Tlr4b paralogs because they fail to respond to LPS stimulation in vitro. Zebrafish Tlr4a and Tlr4b paralogs were also unresponsive to heat-killed Escherichia coli and Legionella pneumophila. Using chimeric molecules in which portions of the zebrafish Tlr4 proteins were fused to portions of the mouse TLR4 protein, we show that the lack of responsiveness to LPS was most likely due to the inability of the extracellular portions of zebrafish Tlr4a and Tlr4b to recognize the molecule, rather than to changes in their capacities to transduce signals through their Toll/IL-1 receptor (TIR) domains. Taken together, these findings strongly support the notion that zebrafish tlr4a and tlr4b paralogs have evolved to provide alternative ligand specificities to the Tlr immune defense system in this species. These data demonstrate that intensive examination of gene histories when describing the Tlr proteins of basally diverging vertebrates is required to obtain fuller appreciation of the evolution of their function. These studies provide the first evidence for the functional evolution of a novel Tlr.
Purified cytoplasmic granules from cytotoxic rat large granular lymphocytes (LGL) tumors were cytolytic to erythrocytes, splenocytes, and a number of different lymphoid tumor cells. Granule concentrations of approximately 1 microgram/ml granule protein were adequate to lyse 100% of the erythrocytes, while the nucleated cells required up to 100 micrograms/ml granule protein to achieve complete lysis. Cytoplasmic granules purified from noncytotoxic lymphoid cells did not contain detectable cytolytic activity; purified granules from rat mast cells and rat liver lysosomes likewise failed to display cytolytic activity. However, granules prepared from normal rat peripheral blood LGL were cytolytic. Granule-mediated lysis of erythrocytes and nucleated cells was complete within 3 min at room temperature. The lytic activity required calcium at concentrations of 10(-4)-10(-2) M; magnesium or barium failed to replace calcium, while strontium could replace calcium at 10(-3)-10(-2) M when nucleated cells were the target. Exposure of LGL tumor granules to calcium before the addition of target cells resulted in an inactivation of granule cytolytic activity over the course of 20 min at room temperature. Granule cytolytic activity was heat and Pronase sensitive, and could be solubilized by 2 M salt. Examination of granules exposed to calcium in the electron microscope using negative staining showed that calcium treatment of granules results in the formation of ring-shaped structures previously described to be associated with LGL-mediated cytotoxicity. These results provide support for the hypothesis that the cytotoxic processes mediated by LGL are a secretory event characterized by the release of cytolytic material from the cytoplasmic granules after triggering by a surface receptor. The results further suggest that the ring structures visible in the electron microscope are associated with the lytic event.
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