Sharing of an idiotypic marker by monoclonal antibodies specific for distinct regions of hen lysozyme

Idiotypes have been defined serologically as variable-region markers present on unique subsets of antibody molecules. Most studies involving myeloma proteins and antibody responses in inbred mice have indicated that idiotypy is closely related to antigenic specificity. However, indirect evidence suggests that idiotypy can sometimes be dissociated from specificity. In the response to the small monomeric protein, hen egg-white lysozyme (HEL), previous results demonstrated that 70--95% of the anti-HEL antibody found in sera of primed and boosted mice is specific for a particular region of HEL and bears a predominant idiotype (IdX-HEL). In this report, hybridoma anti-HEL antibodies tested with well-characterized peptide fragments of HEL show that the IdX-HEL marker can be found on antibodies of completely distinct antigen specificities. Thus, a mode of recognition other than antigenic recognition probably plays a major role in the immune response to HEL.     

Different time courses of learning-related activity in the prefrontal cortex and striatum

To navigate our complex world, our brains have evolved a sophisticated ability to quickly learn arbitrary rules such as 'stop at red'. Studies in monkeys using a laboratory test of this capacity--conditional association learning--have revealed that frontal lobe structures (including the prefrontal cortex) as well as subcortical nuclei of the basal ganglia are involved in such learning. Neural correlates of associative learning have been observed in both brain regions, but whether or not these regions have unique functions is unclear, as they have typically been studied separately using different tasks. Here we show that during associative learning in monkeys, neural activity in these areas changes at different rates: the striatum (an input structure of the basal ganglia) showed rapid, almost bistable, changes compared with a slower trend in the prefrontal cortex that was more in accordance with slow improvements in behavioural performance. Also, pre-saccadic activity began progressively earlier in the striatum but not in the prefrontal cortex as learning took place. These results support the hypothesis that rewarded associations are first identified by the basal ganglia, the output of which 'trains' slower learning mechanisms in the frontal cortex.     

Modulation of the two promoters of the galactose operon of Escherichia coli.

The gal operon of Escherichia coli is controlled by two independent promotors--one is activated and the other inhibited by cyclic AMP and cyclic AMP receptor protein. The two promotors are modulated, however, by the same operator locus and receptor protein.     

Generation of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte precursor cells in T-cell colonies grown in vitro

The role of the thymus in T-lymphocyte differentiation remains unclear. The demonstration that the thymus can restrict the T-lymphocyte specificity repertoire suggests that T cells acquire specificity within the thymus. However, the demonstrations of immunocompetent helper T cells and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte precursor cells (CLPs) in athymic nude mice suggest that the acquisition of some T-cell reactivity may occur without the thymus. We have been using T-cell colonies grown in vitro as a model system for studying various aspects of T-cell differentiation in both mouse and man. In one study we showed that CLPs can be found in T-cell colonies grown from spleen cells of normal mice, each colony containing CLPs of several different specificities. The colonies containing CLPs are not clonal, appearing to have a colony-forming unit (CFU-T) of two (perhaps three) cells. Here we provide direct evidence that the CLPs are spontaneously produced in the colonies. In addition, the cells of the CFU-T were characterized with antisera directed against the cell-surface marker Thy-1, which is present on all murine T cells, and the cell-surface markers Lyt-1 and Lyt-2, which are differentially distributed on different T-cell subclasses. We found that the CFU-T contains both a Thy-1+ and a Thy-1- cell, neither of which seems to carry either Lyt-1 or Lyt-2 surface markers.