• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6501-6504
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• 2012

Background: Multiple myeloma is the most common malignant plasma cell dyscrasia and ranks second among primary haematological malignancies. This study describes the epidemiologic, clinical and pathologic profile of monoclonal gammopathies seen in the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), a tertiary care referral centre. Materials and Method: A retrospective analysis of 85 cases diagnosed at UHWI over the 5-year period 2003-2007 was conducted. The cases were identified from the bone marrow records as well as the computerized database of the Medical Records Department. Clinical presentation, family and personal history and demographic data were retrieved. Haematological and biochemical results were also analyzed. Results: There were 85 patients diagnosed with monoclonal gammopathies. The M:F ratio was 1.2:1 and the mean age was $65.7{\pm}1.3$ years. Eighty percent of the patients had skeletal pain and 40% experienced weight loss. Of the patients experiencing bone pain 56.7% had multiple lytic lesions, 26.7% had pathological fractures and 26.7% had compression fractures. Seventy-four patients (87.1%) had a haemoglobin level <12.0 g/dL with 52.9% having values <8.0 g/dL. Renal impairment was evident at diagnosis in 36.5%. Hypercalcemia was seen in 26.5% and hyperuricemia in 45.9%. Of the 79 patients who had serum protein electrophoresis performed, 77.2% had at least one monoclonal band and of these 24.6% had a monoclonal protein also present on urine protein electrophoresis. Conclusions: The demographic profile in this group of patients is largely similar to other studies in predominantly Caucasian populations; however there was a notable increase in prevalence of severe disease at presentation, with the majority of patients presenting at the most advanced stage. It is probable that these differences reflect socioeconomic factors and not merely inherent ethnic variation in disease biology.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.399-404
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• 2014

B7-H4 is a member of B7 family of co-inhibitory molecules and B7-H4 protein is found to be overexpressed in many human cancers and which is usually associated with poor survival. In this study, we developed a therapeutic vaccine made from a fusion protein composed of a tetanus toxoid (TT) T-helper cell epitope and human B7-H4IgV domain (TT-rhB7-H4IgV). We investigated the anti-tumor effect of the TT-rhB7-H4IgV vaccine in BALB/c mice and SP2/0 myeloma growth was significantly suppressed in mice. The TT-rhB7-H4IgV vaccine induced high-titer specific antibodies in mice. Further, the antibodies induced by TT-rhB7-H4IgV vaccine were capable of depleting SP2/0 cells through complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) in vitro. On the other hand, the poor cellular immune response was irrelevant to the therapeutic efficacy. These results indicate that the recombinant TT-rhB7-H4IgV vaccine might be a useful candidate of immunotherapy for the treatment of some tumors associated with abnormal expression of B7-H4.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.395-399
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• 2016

Background: Whether ambient exposure to environmental pollutants leads to hematopoietic malignancies such as multiple myeloma (MM) remains to be ascertained. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the immunotyping distribution of serum monoclonal paraprotein and the environmental influence on MM and monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance (MGUS) in the Taiwanese population. Materials and Methods: Serum protein electrophoresis with immunosubtraction by the capillary zone electrophoresis method was performed as primary screening for MM and MGUS. Clinical, pathological, and residence data of patients were also obtained. Results: From August, 2013 to June, 2015, a total of 327 patients underwent serum protein electrophoresis with immunosubtraction. Among these, 281 demonstrated no remarkable findings or non-malignant oligoclonal gammopathy, 23 were detected to have MGUS, 18 were identified as MM, and a further 5 were found as other malignancies. The most frequent immunotyping distribution of serum monoclonal paraprotein was IgG kappa (54.3%, n=25), followed by IgA lambda (15.2%, n=7) and IgG lambda (10.9%, n=5) in subjects with gammopathy. Additionally, it was shown that the elderly (OR: 4.61, 95% CI: 1.88-11.30, P<0.01) and males (OR: 2.04, 95% CI: 1.04-4.02, P=0.04) had significantly higher risk of developing MM and MGUS. There was no obvious impact of environmental factors on the health risk of MM and MGUS evolution (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.40-1.50, P=0.49). Conclusions: The most frequent immunotyping distribution of serum monoclonal paraprotein included IgG kappa, IgA lambda and IgG lambda in MM and MGUS in the Taiwanese population. The elderly and male subjects are at significantly higher risk of MM and MGUS development, but there was no obvious impact of environmental factors on risk.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.93-93
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• 1997

Analysis of protein is often frustrated by the inability to isolate large amounts of purified protein from a native source. To overcome this problem, fusion protein expression systems such as pGEX system have been widely used. Using pGEX system, the desired protein could be easily obtained in a large amount in E. coli, and then the fusion protein could be used for the study of the function of the given protein. To analyze and purify the GST fusion protein, anti-GST antibody could be used as one of the system of choice. However, the production and characterization of monoclonal anti-GST antibody has not been studied extensively yet. To produce monoclonal anti-GST antibody, GST was purified from E. coli transformed with pGEX-cs, one of the pGEX system and was used as an antigen. The monoclonal antibody was produced by fusion of the immunized spleen cells with SP2-0 myeloma cells. The antibody was characterized by ELISA, western blotting, etc. The monoclonal antibody produced in this study (mAb-GSTA) showed strong and specific immunoreactivity against not only GST but also GST-fusion proteins. Also, mAb-GSTA was successfully used for the immunoaffinity purification of the GST ${\beta}$-Rc.-third intracellular-loop fusion protein. The results of the present study suggest that mAb-GSTA may be used for the identification and purification of GST fusion proteins.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.64-68
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• 1985

In this study, hybridoma techniques were applied to produce monoclonal antobodies to Paragonimus westermani, commonly known as lung distoma. Balb/c mice were immunized intraperitoneally every week with increasing doses of purfied protein of Paragonimus westermani adult worms begining with 0.3/mg/mouse/7 days and ending with 0.5mg at 28th day. Spleen cells from these immunized mice were hybridized with myeloma cells (NS-1) and the hybridized cells were selected in HAT media. The antibody secreting cells among the hybrid cells were initially selected by ELISA. Those initially selected cells were further screened by the criteria of antibody producing activity, and seneral cell lines among them were further tested with immunodiffusion method. One hybridoma clone produced IgM and another clone produced IgG1. The supernatant of the hybridoma clone producing IgM had titer 1:64 and the hybridoma clone producing IgG1 had titer 1:256 measured by immunofluorescence technique.

• The Korean journal of helicobacter and upper gastrointestinal research
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.209-212
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• 2018

We report a rare case of systemic amyloidosis with gastrointestinal and lymph node involvement. A 64-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with dyspepsia and weight loss. Initial esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) revealed nonspecific findings, and abdominal computed tomography showed necrotizing lymphadenopathy at the porta hepatis. Laparoscopic lymph node biopsy was performed under suspicion of tuberculous lymphadenopathy, but a definite diagnosis was not established. Follow-up EGD performed 6 months later revealed multiple telangiectasia-like lesions at the gastric body, and endoscopic biopsy revealed amyloid deposition. Through additional blood and urine protein electrophoresis, the patient was finally diagnosed with systemic amyloidosis associated with multiple myeloma. She was treated with dexamethasone, thalidomide, and bortezomib; however, she died 3 months after diagnosis because of pneumonia and multiple organ failure.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5409-5413
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• 2012

At present, multiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable disease and cologenic cells may be responsible for disease relapse. It has been proposed that CD20+/CD138- NCI-H929 cells could be hallmarks of MM clonogenic cells. Here, the immunology phenotype of NCI-H929 cells is described. Only a small population of CD20+/CD138- cells (<1%) was found in the NCI-H929 cell line, but CD20+/CD138- cells were not detected. We found that CD20+/CD138+ cells were able to exhibit cologenic capacity by colony formation assay and continuous passage culture. Proteins were analyzed by 1D-SDS-PAGE and TMT based quantitative differential liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). 1,082 non-redundant proteins were identified, 658 of which were differentially expressed with at least a 1.5-fold difference. 205 proteins in CD20+ cells were expressed at higher levels and 453 proteins were at lower levels compared with CD20- cells. Most proteins had catalytic and binding activity and mainly participated in metabolic processes, cell communication and molecular transport. These results proved that there are different biological features and protein expression profile between CD20+ and CD20- cells in the NCI-H929 cell line.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.149-156
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• 2011

Purpose: Globular adiponectin (gAd) is a type of adipocytokine, which is mainly produced by adipose tissue. It has been reported that gAd acts as a pro- as well as an anti-inflammatory factor. Interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 are pro-inflammatory cytokines. To investigate the role of gAd on periodontal tissues, the expression of adiponectin receptor 1 (AdipoR1) and the effect of gAd on the expression of IL-6 and IL-8 were investigated in periodontal ligament (PDL) and gingival fibroblasts. Methods: PDL and gingival fibroblasts were cultured from human periodontal tissues. gAd derived from Escherichia coli and murine myeloma cells were used. The expression of AdipoR1 was estimated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blot The expression of cytokines was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: PDL and gingival fibroblasts expressed both mRNA and protein of AdipoR1. gAd derived from E. coli increased the production of IL-6 and IL-8, but polymyxin B, an inhibitor of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), inhibited IL-6 and IL-8 production induced by gAd in both types of cells. gAd derived from murine myeloma cells did not induce IL-6 and IL-8 production in those cells. gAd derived from E. coli contained higher levels of LPS than gAd derived from murine myeloma cells. LPS increased production of IL-6 and IL-8 in PDL and gingival fibroblasts, but pretreatment of cells with gAd derived from murine myeloma cells did not inhibit LPS-induced IL-6 and IL-8 expression. Conclusions: Our results suggest that PDL and gingival fibroblasts express AdipoR1 and that gAd does not act as a modulator of IL-6 and IL-8 expression in PDL and gingival fibroblasts.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.353-358
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• 1995

Escherichia coli causes intestinal and extraintestinal infections and has been an indicator of fecal pollution in water and food. BALB/c mouse was immunized by injection of somatic E. coli (ATCC 8739) cells to produce monoclonal antibodies. Splenocytes of mouse were fused with myeloma cells (Sp2/0-Ag14). Two hybridomas secreting monoclonal antibodies were established after being cloned. In SDS-PAGE analysis of E. coli antigens 37 protein profiles appeared from 14 kDa to 182 kDa. Western blot analysis using polyclonal antibodies demonstrated that protein antigens of 41 kDa, 38.2 kDa and 31.7 kDa were immunodominant. Monoclonal antibodies DY-CM1 and DY-CM2 recognized 31.7 kDa and 2.0 kDa antigens in Western blot analysis, respectely.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.406-413
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• 1993

This study was performed to produce monoclonal antibodies to the major polyhedral inclusion body (PIB) antigen of the occluded form of Hyphantria cunea nuclear polyhedrosis virus (HcNPV). PIB proteinS were purfied from the Spodoptera frugiperda cell infected with HcNPVs. Using the purified PIB protein, BALB/C mice were immunized 3 times with 2 weeks intervals. The spleen were removed and fused with Sp2/0-Ag14, mouse myeloma cells.