Cellular & molecular biology research最新文献

The cardiac mutant axolotl is an interesting model for studying heart development. The mutant gene results in a failure of heart cells to form organized myofibrils and as a consequence the heart fails to beat. Experiments have shown that mutant hearts can be "rescued" (i.e., turned into normally contracting organs) by the addition of RNA purified from conditioned media produced by normal embryonic anterior endoderm-mesoderm cultures. These corrected hearts form myofibrils of normal morphology. New advances in recombinant DNA technology applied to this system should provide significant insights into the regulatory mechanisms of myofibrillogenesis as well as the inductive processes related to the control of gene expression during embryonic heart development. In a broader biological sense, the use of gene c in axolotls is potentially capable of helping to solve major unanswered questions in modern biology related to the genetic regulation of differentiation in vertebrates.

The BCR gene is implicated in the development of Ph-positive leukemia through its fusion with the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase gene ABL. The normal 160 kDa Bcr protein has several functional domains, and recently one specific role for Bcr was established in the regulation of respiratory burst activity in white blood cells. Bcr expression levels are relatively constant throughout mouse development until adulthood in brain and in hematopoietic tissues, a pattern that is distinctly different from that of the functionally related n-chimerin gene. In the present study, RNA in situ hybridization was used to explore the normal cellular function of Bcr in rodent brain and hematopoietic organs. The data pinpoint the high bcr expression in the brain to the hippocampal pyramidal cell layer and the dentate gyrus, and to the piriform cortex and the olfactory nuclei, reflecting a potentially interesting function for Bcr in these highly specialized brain regions.

The 5 Kd (MW), retinoic acid responsive thymosin beta-10 protein is expressed at relatively high levels in embryonic tissues, and its mRNA is abundant in a variety of tumors and tumor cell lines. Recently this protein (together with other members of the same protein family) was found to be a major intracellular G-actin binding protein. In the present study, plasmid-driven overexpression of thymosin beta-10 gene results in increased susceptibility of permanently transfected fibroblasts to undergo apoptosis. Conversely, knockout of the endogenous gene via overexpression of the antisense mRNA inhibited cell death induced by TNF-alpha and calcium ionophore A23187. Differential expression of thymosin beta-10 influenced cell proliferation, cell morphology, and expression/distribution of the antiapoptotic protein bcl-2. The presence of increased cytoplasmic thymosin beta-10 precipitated significant disruption of phalloidin-stained actin stress fibers while knockout of thymosin expression promoted F-actin assembly. These and other observations suggest that thymosin beta-10 (a) plays a significant and possibly obligatory role in cellular processes controlling apoptosis possibly by acting as an actin-mediated tumor suppressor, (b) perhaps functions as a neoapoptotic influence during embryogenesis, and (c) may mediate some of the pro-apoptotic anticancer actions of retinoids.

HM-1 toxin produced by Hansenula mrakii kills sensitive Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We found that the budding cells and the cells that responded to mating factor were sensitive to HM-1 toxin. These findings indicate that the target sites of HM-1 toxin are developing buds and conjugating tubes. The in vitro activity of beta-1,3-glucan synthase solubilized and partially purified from S. cerevisiae membranes was inhibited by HM-1 toxin at a concentration (around 50 nM, 0.5 micrograms/ml) that coincided well with its minimum inhibitory concentration for the growth of yeast cells. These data indicate that the HM-1 toxin perturbs the synthesis of yeast cell walls by inhibiting the glucan synthesis occurring at a budding site or a conjugating tube, which results in cell lysis.

Using the human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) infected SLB-I T-cell line, we showed in this study that 5-d treatment with the maximal subtoxic 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) dose (0.25 microgram/ml), as well as with a 3-MC dose that inhibits 50% of the cell growth (5 micrograms/ml), profoundly increased the level of viral RNA. Exposure to these 3-MC doses for 5 d before transient transfection of HTLV-I LTR-CAT construct into these cells markedly stimulated CAT activity, indicating that 3-MC exerted its effect by a trans-acting mechanism. A similar stimulation was observed when this construct was transfected into 3-MC treated uninfected Jurkat cells, indicating that this trans-acting effect was independent of the viral tax protein. However, although the subtoxic 3-MC dose increased also the capacity of SLB-I cells to transmit the virus to normal peripheral blood lymphocytes in coculture, the toxic dose strongly reduced this capacity. No inhibition by this toxic dose was observed in the viral protein synthesis or processing nor in the final release of the virus from the cells. However, the virions released under the influence of this 3-MC dose were found to contain mainly the uncleaved gag precursor polypeptide and a low level of reverse transcriptase. Thus, the reduced virus transmission capacity of the host cells can be ascribed to this structural defect, which presumably lowered the viral infectivity.

Recently, Na+/Pi cotransport activity has been demonstrated in rat liver hepatocytes. Here, we report the isolation of two Na+/Pi cotransporter cDNAs (RNaPi-1a and RNaPi-1b) from a rat liver cDNA library. The two cDNAs have the same coding but different 5'-untranslated regions. The rat cDNAs encode a polypeptide of 465 amino acids, having 62% and 66% identity with the rabbit NaPi-1 and human kidney Na+/Pi cotransporter, respectively. Northern blot analysis showed that a RNaPi-1a--specific probe detected two major transcripts (2.3 and 1.8 kb), whereas a RNaPi-1b--specific probe hybridized with one transcript (1.8 kb) in rat kidney, liver, and hepatocytes in primary culture. Rat liver expressed much higher levels of RNaPi-1a than RNaPi-1b, whereas the converse was true for rat kidney. Low levels of RNaPi-1 mRNAs were also detected in rat heart, brain, and skeletal muscle. These findings indicate that there are at least two isoforms of RNaPi-1 transcripts expressed in liver and kidney and that the levels of expression of the RNaPi-1a and RNaPi-1b may be controlled by tissue-specific factors.

Methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), a direct mutagen, methylates DNA bases and causes distortions in DNA structure. Supercoiled SV40 DNA was treated in vitro with varying concentrations of MMS from 0.001 mM to 10 mM MMS either for 30 min or 3 h and analysed by electrophoresis in 1% neutral and alkaline agarose gels. The electrophoretic mobility (EPM) of native DNA did not change after treatment with the mutagen, while alkaline gels revealed low MW DNA fragments due to single strand breaks at alkali-sensitive sites generated by the action of MMS. By two-dimensional electrophoresis, we find that all three native DNA forms contain alkali-sensitive sites after treatment with MMS. To examine the effect of base modification by MMS on DNA-protein interactions, we have used as probes, restriction endonucleases. These cleave DNA in a sequence-specific manner, and their activity is dependent upon the methylation status of the substrate DNA. We find that cleavage by these restriction endonucleases is inhibited due to methylation by MMS.

c Fos immunoreactivities were studied by immunohistochemistry in the developing and adult rat cerebella. c Fos immunoreactivities were observed in purkinje cells early in postnatal development (P26 d) and reached a peak by P40-P60 d, followed by a decline in the 3-month-old adult. The granule cells revealed c Fos immunoreactivities by P26 d but declined until P50 d. Then c Fos immunoreactivities increased in the granule layer by P50-P60 d and decreased again in the adult. The deep nuclei showed c Fos immunoreactivities by P40 d and persisted in the adult. In spite of the difference in the patterns of location in c Fos immunoreactivities from the early postnatal period to adulthood, no decrease in the amount of c Fos immunoreactivity was evident from immunoblotting studies. Thus, it is concluded that c Fos immunoreactivities change from development to adult, but this does not affect the total amount of c Fos protein expression in the cerebellum.

Buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) inhibits proliferation of human lung carcinoma A549 cells, and exogenous glutathione (GSH) overcomes the antiproliferative effect. The BSO antiproliferation may result from inhibition of cellular uptake of amino acids, and the antagonistic effect of GSH would result from supplementation of amino acids via the gamma-glutamyl cycle. To explore these possibilities, the present study was undertaken to determine effects of BSO on glutamate- and GSH-stimulated cell proliferation. A549 cells were cultured in a glutamine-deficient Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (Gln-(-)DMEM), in which they did not proliferate. Addition of glutamate or GSH in the medium to a concentration of 4 mM stimulated cell proliferation. BSO of 0.1 mM enhanced the GSH-stimulated cell proliferation and attenuated the glutamate-stimulated cell proliferation. This BSO effect correlated with changes in cellular glutamate levels; that is, BSO increased and decreased glutamate concentrations, respectively, in GSH- and glutamate-stimulated cells. GSH or glutamate alone significantly increased cellular GSH levels. BSO depleted cellular GSH in both GSH- and glutamate-stimulated cells to the same level. These changes in GSH levels did not correlate with the respective growth modulatory effect. Because BSO inhibits cellular uptake of some amino acids and the A549 cells contain high levels of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity, the results suggest that the BSO inhibition of glutamate-stimulated cell proliferation may result from decreased glutamate uptake. GSH would supplement the cells with glutamate via the gamma-glutamyl pathway to bypass the inhibition of amino acid uptake and overcome the BSO-antiproliferative effect.