FITC
Excitation: 490nm, Emission: 525nm
Cord blood (CB) transplantations are associated with low graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The pathophysiology of GVHD involves interaction and activation of different cell types, as lymphocytes and monocytes, and results in a cascade of cytokine production. After antigen or mitogen stimulation, CB monocytes release lower levels of cytokines than adult blood (AB) monocytes. In this study, the detection of intracellular IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha produced by monocytes was evaluated in response to tuberculin PPD to investigate whether the reduced capacity of CB monocytes to secrete cytokines could be related to an impaired functional activity and to a particular phenotypic profile. Results showed that the percentage of CD64(+)monocytes producing intracellular IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha was significantly lower in CB and that the phenotypic profile of CB monocytes producing these cytokine (CD64(+)CD14(+)) was different to that of AB monocytes (CD64(+)CD14(+), CD64(+)CD33(+) and CD64(+) CD45RO(+)). These results suggest that the lower capacity of CB monocyte populations to produce IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha might be due to a functional immaturity of CB monocytes at the cellular level as reflected by the different phenotypic profile of CB monocytes.
The high affinity IgG receptor, FcgammaRI, is comprised of three immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) domains (EC1, EC2 and EC3), a single transmembrane spanning region, and a short cytoplasmic tail. We have shown a role for three separate domains of FcgammaRI in the high affinity binding of IgG. Affinity measurements of chimeric FcgammaRs in which EC1 and EC2 of FcgammaRI have been replaced with the homologous EC1 and/or EC2 domains of the low affinity IgG receptor, FcgammaRII indicate that both EC2 and EC3 are essential for high affinity binding of monomeric IgG. Identification of EC3 from FcgammaRI as the binding site for the monoclonal antibody 10.1, which blocks IgG binding, provides further evidence for the role of this domain in binding. In addition, we have found that the affinity of FcgammaRI is increased threefold when co-expressed with its accessory molecule, gamma-chain. Affinity measurements of further chimeras indicates that the transmembrane domain of FcgammaRI has a negative influence upon the affinity of the receptor. To account for these observations, we propose that receptor dimerization is required for maximal affinity of FcgammaRI. Dimerization may serve as the mechanism by which IgG binding triggers several FcgammaRI-mediated events.