title: Neutralization by human serum samples of a transmissible agent isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid of neurological patients.
abstract: A transmissible cytotoxic agent thought to be associated with one or more misfolded protein(s) was found in several cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from neurological patients. Since some experiments carried out to identify this unusual infectious factor showed the block of its propagation by rabbit gammaglobulins (IgGs), the search for such an activity by human IgGs was programmed. Neutralizing assays carried out using human sera as IgGs source showed a blocking property displayed by: twenty serum samples from as many patients with a diagnosis of acute infection, two of ten sera from healthy subjects and four serum samples from patients with lupus erythematous (SLE). When neutralizing sera were tested on cell cultures in immunofluorescence assays for the serum ability to label specific protein( s), similar fluorescent pictures resulted in treated and control cells. On the other hand, the SLE serum samples disclosed a granulosity of the nuclear material of cytotoxic cells in accordance with the DNA apoptotic laddering reported in previous papers. Oxidative disorders, as suggested by the immunoblotting analysis of the antioxidant enzymes Mn-superoxide dismutase (SOD2) and heme-oxygenase 1 (HO-1), point to an alteration of the oxidative pathway among the causes of the DNA damage induced by the cytotoxic transmissible agent under study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Beretti
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pietrosemoli
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bartoletti
authors.forename: Mariaserena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerolmini
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bellei
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tomasi
authors.forename: Marinella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Portolani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000276:immunology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000276:immunology*; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000276:immunology; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1 / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000494:pharmacology; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000276:immunology; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D009500:Neutralization Tests / Q000379:methods*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology; D057165:Proteostasis Deficiencies / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000276:immunology*; D011817:Rabbits; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D000099156:Superoxide Dismutase 2
chemical_list: D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins; D003603:Cytotoxins; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D000099156:Superoxide Dismutase 2; C496541:HMOX1 protein, human