A detailed molecular characterization of nuclear mRNA export will require an in vitro system, allowing a biochemical reconstitution of transport. To this end, an mRNA export assay has...Full Text Available
The CCR4-NOT complex is the main enzyme catalyzing the deadenylation of mRNA. We have investigated the composition of this complex in Drosophila melanogaster by immunoprecipitation...Full Text Available
mRNA guanylyltransferase has been extensively purified from calf thymus. A GTP-binding assay was used based on the observations by Shuman and Hurwitz (1981) and Venkatesan and Moss (1982) that vaccinia...Full Text Available
Localized mRNA provides spatial and temporal protein expression essential to cell development and physiology. To explore the mechanisms involved, considerable effort has been spent in establishing new...Full Text Available
Early simian virus 40-specific mRNA was isolated from lytically infected and stably transformed cells and analyzed with respect to the 5'-terminal cap content. An analogous diversity of capped structures...Full Text Available
The authors developed a method, termed an H-blot, by which the poly(A) tract of any specific mRNA may be detected by RNA filter hybridization after its removal from the body of the mRNA by a RNase H-catalyzed endonucleolytic cleavage in the 3' untranslated region. Using this method, they studied the modulation of the length of the poly(A) tract of rat vasopressin mRNA in vivo during changes in the levels of this mRNA resulting from a physiologic stimulus, osmotic stress. The poly(A) tract of hypothalamic vasopressin mRNA in hydrated rats was, quite remarkably, --250 nucleotides in length, in contrast to that of somatostatin mRNA, which was --30 nucleotides long. Vasopressin mRNA poly(A) tail length increased progressively from --250 to --400 nucleotides with the application of the hyperosmotic stimulus and declined to base line ...
Boron (B) is an essential plant micronutrient that is toxic at higher levels. NIP5;1 is a boric acid channel required for B uptake and growth under B deficiency. Accumulation of the NIP5;1 transcript is upregulated under B deficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana roots. To elucidate the mechanism of regulation, the 5' untranslated region (UTR) of NIP5;1 was tested for its ability to confer B-dependent regulation using ?-glucuronidase and green fluorescent protein as reporters. This analysis showed that the 5' UTR was involved in NIP5;1 transcript accumulation in response to B conditions. We also found that high-B conditions trigger NIP5;1 mRNA degradation and that the sequence from +182 to +200 bp in the 5' UTR is required for this mRNA destabilization. In the nip5;1-1 mutant background, a NIP5;1 complementation construct without the 5' UTR produced high levels of mRNA accumulation, increased B concentrations in tissues, and ...
Gene expression is a fundamentally stochastic process, with randomness in transcription and translation leading to significant cell-to-cell variations in mRNA and protein levels. This variation...Full Text Available
The authors have cloned a full-length putative rat pancreatic lysophospholipase cDNA by an improved mRNA isolation method and cDNA cloning strategy using (/sup 32/P)-labelled nucleotides. These new methods allow the construction of a cDNA library from the adult rat pancreas in which the majority of recombinant clones contained complete sequences for the corresponding mRNAs. A previously recognized but unidentified long and relatively rare cDNA clone containing the entire sequence from the cap site at the 5' end to the poly(A) tail at the 3' end of the mRNA was isolated by single-step screening of the library. The size, amino acid composition, and the activity of the protein expressed in heterologous cells strongly suggest this mRNA codes for lysophospholipase.
The 5'-terminal structures of human adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) early region 2 (E2) mRNA were investigated. The E2 transcription unit has several interesting properties, including the presence of a TATA-like...Full Text Available
A recombinant M13 clone (O42) containing a 65 b.p. cDNA fragment from human fetal liver mRNA coding for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase has been identified and it has been used to isolate from...Full Text Available
mRNP granules at adult central synapses are postulated to regulate local mRNA translation and synapse plasticity. However, they are very poorly characterized in vivo. Here, in Drosophila...Full Text Available
Recombinant plasmids containing mutant or wild-type adenovirus serotype 2 EIa genes that produce the 12S mRNA alone, the 13S mRNA alone, or both mRNAs were cotransfected into HeLa cells with plasmids...Full Text Available
BackgroundTristetraprolin (TTP/ZFP36) family proteins have anti-inflammatory activity by binding to and destabilizing pro-inflammatory mRNAs such as Tnf mRNA, and represent a potential...Full Text Available
We compared the effects of treatment with methylprednisolone or the 21-aminosteroids, U-74389 and U-74006F (Tirilizad mesylate), on hyperoxic lung injury and the associated expression of mRNA for several...Full Text Available
Synthesis of protein molecules in a cell are carried out by ribosomes. A ribosome can be regarded as a molecular motor which utilizes the input chemical energy to move on a messenger RNA (mRNA) track that also serves as a template for the polymerization of the corresponding protein. The forward movement, however, is characterized by an alternating sequence of translocation and pause. Using a quantitative model, which captures the mechanochemical cycle of an individual ribosome, we derive an {\\it exact} analytical expression for the distribution of its dwell times at the successive positions on the mRNA track. Inverse of the average dwell time satisfies a ``Michaelis-Menten-like'' equation and is consistent with the general formula for the average velocity of a molecular motor with an unbranched mechano-chemical cycle. Extending this formula appropriately, we also derive the exact force-velocity relation for a ribosome. Often many ribosomes ...
Terminal differentiation of many vascular cells involves cell wall changes. Cells first elongate their primary wall, then lay down a lignified secondary wall, which is often followed by digestion of...Full Text Available
Contemporary high dimensional biological assays, such as mRNA expression microarrays, regularly involve multiple data processing steps, such as experimental processing, computational processing, sample...Full Text Available
BackgroundSynonymous sites are freer to vary because of redundancy in genetic code. Messenger RNA secondary structure restricts this freedom, as revealed by previous findings in...Full Text Available
We have studied the functions of the intracellular RNAs of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) by purification and translation in vitro. Two major size classes of MMTV RNA, 35S and 24S RNA, were isolated...Full Text Available
Germline-specific granules of unknown function are found in a wide variety of organisms, including C. elegans, where they are called P granules. P granules are cytoplasmic bodies...Full Text Available
Human skin is a local source of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and expresses CRH and CRH receptors (CRH-R) at mRNA and protein levels. Epidermal melanocytes respond to CRH by induction...Full Text Available
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenously encoded small noncoding RNAs, derived by processing of short RNA hairpins, that can inhibit the translation of mRNAs bearing partially complementary target sequences....Full Text Available
The lysosomal catabolism of sulfatide requires arylsulfatase A and a specific sphingolipid activator protein, SAP-1. While most patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy have mutations in the gene...Full Text Available
Exposure of animals to hyperoxia decreases lung VEGF mRNA expression concomitant with an acute increase in VEGF protein within the epithelial lining fluid (ELF). The VEGF concentration in ELF...Full Text Available
BackgroundMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by binding to the messenger RNA (mRNA) of protein coding genes. They control gene expression by either...Full Text Available
mRNA is sequestered and turned over in cytoplasmic processing bodies (PBs), which are induced by various cellular stresses. Unexpectedly, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mutants of the...Full Text Available
The genomic termini of RNA viruses contain essential cis-acting signals for such diverse functions as packaging, genome translation, mRNA transcription, and RNA replication, and thus...Full Text Available
The aim of this study was to survey the expression of an embryonic cytokine gene, MK, in the normal organs and neoplastic tissues of adults. Northern analysis showed that MK mRNA was exclusively expressed...Full Text Available
The rate of hepatic cytochrome P450 Cypla1 and Cyp1a2 induction was investigated in C57BL male mice during induction with o-aminoazotoluene (OAT), benzo[a]pyrene (BP) and 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone (AQ). The Cypla1 mPNA level determined by quantitative RT-competitive PCR increased more than three orders of magnitude during induction with OAT and BP compared with untreated animals and remained unchanged during induction with AQ. The Cypla2 mRNA level was only 8.5, 18.7 and 1.9 times higher during induction with OAT, BP and AQ respectively than in untreated mice. At the same time 7-Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) and 7-Methoxyresorufin-O-demethylase (MROD) activities of Cypla were also investigated in liver. The increase of Cypla1 mRNA level correlated with the increase of EROD activity. This suggests involvement of the transcriptional mechanism of the inducibility of this enzyme. In the case of Cypla2 there was insignificant increase of its ...
We previously reported that the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 (PGC-1) mRNA in rat epitrochlearis muscle was increased after swimming exercise training. In the present study, we demonstrated further that PGC-1 mRNA expression in the epitrochlearis muscle of 4-5-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats was increased after a 6-h acute bout of low-intensity swimming exercise. With this increase, the expression level was approximately 8-fold of control and immersion group rats that stayed for 6-h in warm water, maintained at the identical temperature of the swimming barrel (35 degrees C) (p<0.01). Second, PGC-1 mRNA expression in the muscle was found to have increased 6-h after 30 10-s tetani contractions were induced by in vitro electrical stimulation. Finally, PGC-1 mRNA expression in the muscle incubated for 18-h with 0.5mM 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleoside (AICAR: ...
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 (PGC-1), a cold-inducible coactivator of nuclear receptors, stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis and respiration in muscle cells. In the present study, we first cloned a rat PGC-1 gene from a brown adipose tissue cDNA library which encodes a predicted 796-amino-acid protein and exhibits respectively 98% and 95% identity with the mouse and human homologues. Next, we examined the effect of swimming exercise training on the level of expression of the PGC-1 gene in rat epitrochlearis (Epi) muscle. PGC-1 mRNA level in Epi muscle in rats that swam 2 h a day for 3 and 7 days increased dramatically by 154% and 163%, respectively, compared to the non-exercised control group. PGC-1 mRNA up-regulation was not observed in an immersion group treated at 35 degrees C during the training program but without swimming exercise. These results demonstrate that expression of the PGC-1 gene in Epi muscle ...
Probiotic agents, live microorganisms with beneficial effects for the host, may offer an alternative to conventional antimicrobials in the treatment and prevention of enteric infections. The probiotic agents Lactobacillus plantarum 299v and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG quantitatively inhibited the adherence of an attaching and effacing pathogenic Escherichia coli to HT-29 intestinal epithelial cells but did not inhibit adherence to nonintestinal HEp-2 cells. HT-29 cells were grown under conditions that induced high levels of either MUC2 or MUC3 mRNA, but HEp-2 cells expressed only minimal levels of MUC2 and no MUC3 mRNA. Media enriched for MUC2 and MUC3 mucin were added exogenously to binding assays and were shown to be capable of inhibiting enteropathogen adherence to HEp-2 cells. Incubation of L. plantarum 299v with HT-29 cells increased MUC2 and MUC3 mRNA expression levels. From these in vitro studies, we propose the ...
3T3 - L1 cells can be induced to differentiate by exposing cell culture to a medium containing 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine together with insulin and dexamethasone. They have observed that oxalomalate (OMA) which inhibits aconitase thus blocking the citric cycle, also favours differentiation to adipocytes leading to fatty acids accumulation and increased synthesis of specific proteins. They compared the effects of 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine-insulin-dexamethasone and OMA on the steady-state levels of mRNA of c / EBP, H-ferritin and aconitase / IRE-BP. OMA does not affect the steady-state mRNA amount of C / EBP, H-ferritin and aconitase / IRE-BP but the 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine-insulin-dexamethasone mixture is able to induce a five-fold increase of mRNA levels for aconitase / IRE-BP. This is the first finding correlating iron metabolism to adipocyte differentiation. Further studies will clarify a possible role for the ...
The authors characterized nine human actin genes that they isolated from a library of cloned human DNA. Measurements of the thermal stability of hybrids formed between each cloned actin gene and ..cap alpha..-, ..beta..-, and ..gamma..-actin mRNA demonstrated that only one of the clones is most homologous to sarcomeric actin mRNA, whereas the remaining eight clones are most homologous to cytoplasmic actin mRNA. By the following criteria they show that these nine clones represent nine different actin gene loci rather than different alleles or different parts of a single gene: (i) the restriction enzyme maps of the coding regions are dissimilar; (ii) each clone contains sufficient coding region to encode all or most of an entire actin gene; and (iii) each clone contains sequences homologous to both the 5' and 3' ends of the coding region of a cloned chicken ..beta..-actin cDNA. They conclude, therefore, that ...
The cell cycle-regulatory transcription factor E2F-1 is regulated by interactions with proteins such as the retinoblastoma gene product and by cell cycle-dependent alterations in E2F-1 mRNA abundance....Full Text Available
Three cDNAs, designated IIA3, IIA3v, and IIA4, coding for P450s in the CYP2A gene subfamily were isolated from a {lambda}gt11 library prepared from human hepatic mRNA. Only three nucleotide differences and a single amino acid difference, Leu{sup 160}{yields}His, were found between IIA3 and IIA3v, indicating that they are probably allelic variants. IIA4 displayed 94% amino acid similarity with IIA3 and IIA3v. The three cDNAs were inserted into vaccinia virus, and recombinant viruses were used to infect human hepatoma Hep G2 cells. Only IIA3 was able to produce an enzyme that had a reduced CO-bound spectrum with a {lambda}{sub max} at 450 nm. This expressed enzyme was able to carry out coumarin 7-hydroxylation and ethoxycoumarin O-deethylation. cDNA-expressed IIA3v and IIA4 failed to incorporate heme and were enzymatically inactive. Analysis of IIA proteins in human liver microsomes, using antibody against rat IIA2, revealed two proteins of 49 and 50 kDa, the former ...
Three cDNAs, designated IIA3, IIA3v, and IIA4, coding for P450s in the CYP2A gene subfamily were isolated from a #lambda#gt11 library prepared from human hepatic mRNA. Only three nucleotide differences and a single amino acid difference, Leu"1"6"0#->#His, were found between IIA3 and IIA3v, indicating that they are probably allelic variants. IIA4 displayed 94% amino acid similarity with IIA3 and IIA3v. The three cDNAs were inserted into vaccinia virus, and recombinant viruses were used to infect human hepatoma Hep G2 cells. Only IIA3 was able to produce an enzyme that had a reduced CO-bound spectrum with a #lambda#_m_a_x at 450 nm. This expressed enzyme was able to carry out coumarin 7-hydroxylation and ethoxycoumarin O-deethylation. cDNA-expressed IIA3v and IIA4 failed to incorporate heme and were enzymatically inactive. Analysis of IIA proteins in human liver microsomes, using antibody against rat IIA2, revealed two proteins of 49 and 50 kDa, the former of ...
RNA interference (RNAi) is an effective tool for studying gene function in oocytes, but no studies have targeted somatic cells of primary cultured cumulus cell-oocyte complexes (COCs). This...Full Text Available
Three transcription units are present in the adenovirus type 2 region EII. Transcription units EIIaE and EIIaL encode the mRNA for the 72,000-dalton DNA binding protein, early and late in the lytic...Full Text Available
A cDNA library was constructed from HL60 human promyelocyte poly(A)+ RNA harvested 3 h after induction of macrophage differentiation with 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate in the presence of cycloheximide....Full Text Available
We have found that the methionine repression of the ..beta..-subunit gene expression is not due to degradation of the ..beta..-subunit but is due to an effect on synthesis of the ..beta..-subunit. The effect of methionine on the synthesis of the ..beta..-is due to an inhibition of ..beta..-subunit mRNA synthesis. 3 references, 1 figure.
The effect of insulin on protein biosynthesis was examined in differentiated 3T3-L1 and 3T3-F442A adipocytes. Insulin altered the relative rate of synthesis of specific proteins independent of its ability to hasten conversion of the fibroblast (preadipocyte) phenotype to the adipocyte phenotype. Although more than one pattern of response to insulin was observed, the authors focused on the induction of a Mr 33,000 protein which was identified as the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Exposure of 3T3 adipocytes to insulin throughout differentiation specifically increased GAPDH activity and protein content by 2- to 3-fold as compared to 3T3 adipocytes differentiated in the absence of insulin. These changes in enzyme activity and content could be accounted for by a 4-fold increase in the relative rate of synthesis of GAPDH and a 9-fold increase in hybridizable mRNA levels. Within 2 h of insulin addition to 3T3 adipocytes differentiated ...
sFlt-1 (soluble Flt-1) potently inhibits angiogenesis by binding extracellularly to VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor). In the present paper, we report that hypoxia down-regulates sFlt-1 expression...Full Text Available
Although human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is the etiologic agent of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), the role of viral gene expression in the progression to and maintenance of the...Full Text Available
Human Fas/Apo-1 is a cell-surface protein that mediates apoptosis upon ligation with Fas ligand. The gene lies on the long arm of chromosome 10, consists of nine exons, and spans more than 26 kb of...Full Text Available
The proteins encoded by polar-localized mRNAs play an important role in cell fate specification along the anteroposterior axis of the Drosophila embryo. The only maternally synthesized mRNA known previously...Full Text Available
The aim of this study was to investigate cumulus expansion, nuclear maturation and expression of connexin 43, cyclooxygenase-2 and FSH receptor transcripts in equine cumuli oophori during in vivo and...Full Text Available
Expression of brome mosaic virus (BMV) coat protein and internal genes of many other positive-strand RNA viruses requires initiation of subgenomic mRNA synthesis from specific internal sites on minus-strand...Full Text Available
Cadmium (Cd) exposure causes glucosuria (glucose in the urine). Previously, it was shown that Cd exposure of primary cultures of mouse kidney cells (PMKC) decreased mRNA levels of the glucose...Full Text Available
The neocortex plays a critical role in the gradual formation and storage of remote declarative memories. Because the circuitry mechanisms of systems-level consolidation are not well understood, the...Full Text Available
The transcriptional co-activator PGC-1α regulates functional plasticity in adipose tissue by linking sympathetic input to the transcriptional program of adaptive thermogenesis. We report here...Full Text Available
Positioning of release factor eRF1 toward adenines and the ribose-phosphate backbone of the UAAA stop signal in the ribosomal decoding site was studied using messenger RNA (mRNA) analogs containing...Full Text Available
MicroRNAs are short (∼22 nucleotides) noncoding RNAs that regulate the stability and translation of mRNA targets. A number of computational algorithms have been developed to help predict which...Full Text Available
We cloned and characterized horse preproendothelin-2 (PPET-2) cDNA from intestinal tissue. The cDNA encoded 178 amino acids of the PPET-2 polypeptide, in which a 21-amino-acid mature endothelin-2 peptide and a 16-amino acid endothelin-2-like peptide were found. For the open reading frame the correspondence of horse PPET-2 cDNA with those of the ferret, human, dog, mouse and rat was 85.1%, 84.9%, 82.1%, 77.8% and 77.2%, respectively. Analysis of the organ distribution of PPET-2 mRNA by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that the kidney, stomach and small intestine are major sites of expression of the PPET-2 gene. Surprisingly, the mRNA is not detected in the large intestine, where high expression is demonstrated in the mouse and rat. This difference may result from the underlying functional differences of the large intestine between a herbivore (horse) and an omnivore (mouse and rat). PMID:15838341
NFAT involvement in adipocyte physiological processes was examined by treatment with CsA and/or GSK3{beta} inhibitors (Li{sup +} or TZDZ-8), which prevent or increase NFAT nuclear translocation, respectively. CsA treatment reduced basal and TNF{alpha}-induced rates of lipolysis by 50%. Adipocytes preincubated with Li{sup +} or TZDZ-8 prior to CsA and/or TNF{alpha}, exhibited enhanced basal rates of lipolysis and complete inhibition of CsA-mediated decreased rates of lipolysis. CsA treatment dramatically reduced the mRNA levels of adipocyte-specific genes (aP2, HSL, PPAR{gamma}, ACS and Adn), compared with control or TNF{alpha}-treatment, whereas Li{sup +} pretreatment blocked the inhibitory effects of CsA, and mRNA levels of aP2, HSL, PPAR{gamma}, and ACS were found at or above control levels. NFAT nuclear localization, assessed by EMSA, confirmed that CsA or Li{sup +} treatments inhibited or increased NFAT nuclear translocation, respectively. ...
To understand the molecular mechanisms of how 5^oC-incubation activates mRNA expression of Hsp70a and Samui genes in Bombyx mori diapause eggs, we first searched the 5'-upstream regions of the Hsp70a and Samui genes for heat shock elements (HSEs) and found two regions [Hsp70aHSE-1 (-95 to -58) and -2 (-145 to -121), and SamuiHSE-1 (-84 to -55) and -2 (-304 to -290)] corresponding to HSEs (repeats of nGAAn and/or nTTCn). We cloned four cDNAs encoding heat shock factor (HSF)-a2 (627 amino acids), -b (685 aa), -c (682 aa) and -d (705 aa), which were produced by alternative splicing. When we exposed diapause eggs to 5^oC beginning at 2 day post-oviposition to break diapause, HSFd mRNA only increased after chilling for 6-8 days, a pattern very similar to those of Hsp70a and Samui mRNAs. To exam...
Fish retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) can survive and regrow their axons after optic nerve injury. Injured RGCs express anti-apoptotic proteins, such as Bcl-2, after nerve injury; however, upstream effectors of this anti-apoptotic protein are not yet fully understood. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) play a crucial role in cell survival against various stress conditions. In this study, we focused on HSP70 expression in the zebrafish retina after optic nerve injury. HSP70 mRNA and protein levels increased rapidly 2.3-fold in RGCs by 1-6 h after injury and returned to control levels by 1-3 days. HSP70 transcription is regulated by heat shock factor 1 (HSF1). HSF1 mRNA and phosphorylated-HSF1 protein rapidly increased by 2.2-fold in RGCs 0.5-6 h after injury. Intraocular injection of HSP inhibitor I s...
PACAP (pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide) is widely distributed neuropeptide acting via three subtypes of receptors, PAC(1), VPAC(1) and VPAC(2). Here we examined the localisation and nature of PACAP-immunoreactive nerves in the rat thyroid and parathyroid glands and defined the distribution of PAC(1), VPAC(1) and VPAC(2) receptor mRNA's. In the parathyroid gland a large number of nerve fibres displaying PACAP-immunoreactivity were distributed beneath the capsule, around blood vessels and close to glandular cells. Most of the PACAP-nerves were sensory, since they co-stored CGRP (calcitonin-gene-related peptide) and were sensitive to capsaicin-treatment. mRNA's for PAC(1) and VPAC(2) receptors occurred in the parathyroid gland, mainly located in the glandular cells. In the thyroid gland PACAP-immunoreactive nerve fibres were associated with blood vessels, thyroid follicles and parafollicular C-cells. A high degree of ...
A rat thyrotropin (thyroid-stimulating hormone, TSH) receptor cDNA was isolated that encoded a protein of 764 amino acids, M_r 86,528. Transfection of the cDNA caused COS-7 cells to develop a TSH-sensitive adenylate cyclase response and the ability to bind "1"2"5I-labeled TSH; both activities were similar to those of rat FRTL-5 thyroid cells and not duplicated by lutropin. The gene represented by the cDNA was assigned to mouse chromosome 12 and human chromosome 14. Northern analyses identified two species of mRNA, 5.6 and 3.3 kilobases, in FRTL-5 thyroid cells; the transcripts appeared to differ only in the extent of their 3' noncoding sequences. There were minimal amounts of the two mRNAs in rat ovary, and neither was detected in RNA preparations from rat testis, liver, lung, brain, spleen, and FRT thyroid cells, which do not have a functional TSH receptor. TSH decreased both mRNA species 3- to 4-fold within 8 hr in FRTL-5 thyroid cells; ...
Introduction The progressive growth of malignancies is accompanied by a decline in the immune response through mechanisms which are poorly understood. Apoptosis and induction of inflammation by tumor released cytokines as tumor escape mechanisms have been proposed to play an important role in colorectal carcinogenesis. Methods Expression of Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-?) was analyzed in colorectal cancer specimen and the cancer cell line HT-29 by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. TNF-? expression on protein and mRNA level were correlated with clinical characteristics and impact on survival. TNFR-1 was co-labelled with TNF-? and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells in immunofluorescence double staining experiments. Results: 94% (n?=?98/104) of the patients with CRC expressed TNF-?. High TNF-? express...
Abstract. The potential effects of synthetic unmethylated oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) containing CpG motifs, mimicking bacterial DNA, has never been evaluated on the immune response in the teleost fish gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), the most important fish species in Mediterranean aquaculture. First, binding and competition studies have demonstrated that binding is saturated and promiscuous, suggesting the participation of several receptors. Moreover, leucocyte cytotoxic (NCC) activity, production of ROIs (reactive oxygen intermediates), and expression of immune-relevant genes was greatly primed by ODNs. Focusing on the mechanism, the TLR9 gene is widely distributed in seabream tissues and differently regulated in vitro by several stimuli. Moreover, and for the first time in fish, TLR9...
The antimicrobial peptide scygonadin (Scy) was first isolated from the gonad of Scylla serrata and its gene is predominantly expressed in the ejaculatory duct of adult males. Thus, its function was predicted to be associated with reproductive immunity, but this is still unclear and needs further investigation. In our study, the expression pattern of Scy at different developmental stages of both male and female S. paramamosain was investigated, so that the potential function of this peptide could be examined. Using real-time quantitative PCR, Scy mRNA transcripts were demonstrated obviously in the vulnerable embryos and larvae-zoea I but very weakly detected in the larvae-zoea III, megalops and juveniles. The gene expression pattern showed a decreasing trend during the early developmental s...
Inhibition of adipogenesis and lipid accumulation has a very crucial role to prevent obesity. Low molecular weight (LMW) chitosan is known to inhibit fat accumulation and adipogenesis. (N,O)-sulfated chitosan is a sulfation derivative of chitosan oligomers, and its anti-obesity effect is not yet reported. In this study, it has been reported that (N,O)-sulfated chitosan significantly decreased lipid accumulation, an indicator for adipogenesis, in differentiating 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cells. Furthermore, mRNA expressions and protein levels of key adipogenic markers such as peroxisome prolifetor-activated receptor (PPAR)-@c and CCAAT-enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)-@a were considerably decreased by (N,O)-sulfated chitosan treatment. As a consequence, sulfation of LMWC remarkably increased its ...
Recently, we cloned purpurin cDNA as an upregulated gene in the axotomized fish retina. The retina-specific protein was secreted from photoreceptors to ganglion cell layer during an early stage of optic nerve regeneration in zebrafish retina. The purpurin worked as a trigger molecule for axonal regrowth in adult injured fish retina. During zebrafish development, purpurin mRNA first appeared in ventral retina at 2 days post-fertilization (dpf) and spread out to the outer nuclear layer at 3 dpf. Here, we investigated the role of purpurin for zebrafish retinal development using morpholino gene knockdown technique. Injection of purpurin morpholino into the 1-2 cell stage of embryos significantly inhibited the transcriptional and translational expression of purpurin at 3 dpf. In the purpurin mo...
Proteins are polymers of amino acids. These macromolecules are synthesized by intracellular machines called {\\it ribosome}. Although, traditionally, the experimental investigation of protein synthesis has been an active area of research in molecular cell biology, important quantitative models of this phenomenon have been reported mostly in the research journals devoted to statistical physics and related interdisciplinary topics. From the perspective of a physicist, protein synthesis is a phenomenon of {\\it classical transport of interacting ribosomes on a messenger RNA (mRNA) template} that dictates the sequence of the amino acids on the protein. Here we bring this frontier area of contemporary research into the classroom by appropriate simplification of the models and methods. In particular, we develope a simple toy model and analyze it by some elementary techniques of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics to predict the average rate of protein synthesis and ...
We report for the first time a relationship between the Tpl-2/cot oncogene and Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus (MMTV) associated transformation of mammary gland cells. A sub-genomic library generated from a primary mammary gland tumor yielded a novel MMTV integration site which disrupted the Tpl-2/cot proto-oncogene between exons 7 and 8. Comparison of a cell line derived from normal mammary gland (comma-D) and a cell line established from an MMTV induced mammary tumor (GR) demonstrated similar rearrangements within Tpl-2/cot for the GR cells but not in the comma-D cells. These rearrangements in the cell line were accompanied by an increase in the level of Tpl-2/cot specific mRNA. This data suggests that Tpl-2/cot expression may be important in epithelial cell transformation or tumor progression. PMID:8934549
Spindle cell sarcomas consist of tumors with different biological features, of which distant metastasis is the most ominous sign for a poor prognosis. However, metastasis is difficult to predict on the basis of current histopathological analyses. We have identified actin filament-associated protein 1-like 1 (AFAP1L1) as a candidate for a metastasis-predicting marker from the gene expression profiles of 65 spindle cell sarcomas. A multivariate analysis determined that AFAP1L1 was an independent factor for predicting the occurrence of distant metastasis (P=0.0001), which was further confirmed in another set of 41 tumors by a quantitative mRNA expression analysis. Immunohistochemical staining using paraffin-embedded tumor tissues revealed that the metastasis-free rate was significantly better...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquious in the environment both as natural products and as environmental contaminants. Among PAHs, phenanthrene (PH) that is ubiquitously distributed throughout the environment was subjected in this study. Although environmental distribution and metabolism of PH have been well reported, there are only a few studies examined the expression of mRNA and their functions on PH-induced toxicity. A new paradigm in toxicity screening, toxicogenomic technology represents a useful approach for evaluating the toxic properties of environmental pollutants. In this respect, we elicited the genes which were changed more than 2-fold by analysis of gene expression profiles in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells, exposed to PH by using human oligonucleo...
Harvested plant organs such as heads of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) experience a range of stresses that can lead to premature reduction in quality and eventual senescence. Understanding plant responses to stress may open up novel opportunities to extend postharvest life. One of the first stresses experienced by harvested organs is likely to be water deficit stress since severance of the vascular system halts the normal flux of water into the tissue. For broccoli branchlets with their cut ends held in water, transcriptome analysis based on hybridization of broccoli floret mRNA to a heterologous Arabidopsis microarray revealed that the transcript abundance of 431 genes reliably changed within 48h of harvest. Of these, transcripts of 146 genes increased and 34 genes decreased...
We hypothesize that the mushroom-derived active compound may be a potential strategy for increasing survival in response to influenza virus (H1N1) infection through the stimulation of host innate immune response. The validity of the hypothesis can be tested by immune response to influenza infection as seen through survival percentage, virus clearance, weight loss, natural killer cell cytotoxicity, Tumor Necrosis Factor-? (TNF-?) and Interferon-gamma (IFN-?) levels, lytic efficiency in the spleens of mice and inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA expressions in RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells. The hypothesis may improve people's quality of life, reduce the medical cost of our healthcare system and eliminate people's fears of influenza outbreak. PMID:21660092
Two candidate small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) corresponding to severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) spike gene were designed and in vitro transcribed to explore the possibility of silencing SARS-CoV S gene. The plasmid pEGFP-optS, which contains the codon-optimized SARS-CoV S gene and expresses spike-EGFP fusion protein (S-EGFP) as silencing target and expressing reporter, was transfected with siRNAs into HEK 293T cells. At various time points of posttransfection, the levels of S-EGFP expression and amounts of spike mRNA transcript were detected by fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, Western blot, and real-time quantitative PCR, respectively. The results showed that the cells transfected with pEGFP-optS expressed S-EGFP fusion protein at a higher level compared with those transfected with pEGFP-S, which contains wildtype SARS-CoV spike gene sequence. The green fluorescence, mean fluorescence intensity, and SARS-CoV S RNA ...
Insect host/parasitoid interactions are co-evolved systems in which host defenses are balanced by parasitoid mechanisms to disable or hide from host immune effectors. Although there is a rich literature on these systems, parasitoid immune-disabling mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. Here we report on a newly discovered immune-disabling mechanism in the Pieris rapae/Pteromalus puparum host/parasitoid system. Because venom injections and parasitization suppresses host phagocytosis, we turned attention to the P. rapae scavenger receptor (Pr-SR), posing the hypothesis that P. puparum venom suppresses expression of the host Pr-SR gene. To test our hypothesis, we cloned a full-length cDNA of the Pr-SR. Multiple sequences alignment showed the deduced amino acid sequence of Pr-SR is similar to scavenger receptors of other lepidopterans. Bacterial and bead injections induced Pr-SR mRNA and protein expression, which peaked at 4h post-bead injection. Venom injection ...
A cDNA library was constructed using RNA isolated from the livers of chickens which had been treated with zinc. This library was screened with a RNA probe complementary to mouse metallothionein-I (MT), and eight chicken MT cDNA clones were obtained. All of the cDNA clones contained nucleotide sequences homologous to regions of the longest (375 bp) cDNA clone. The latter contained an open reading frame of 189 bp, and the deduced amino acid sequence indicates a protein of 63 amino acids of which 20 are cysteine residues. Amino acid composition and partial amino acid sequence analyses of purified chicken MT protein agreed with the amino acid composition and sequence deduced from the cloned cDNA. Amino acid sequence comparison establish that chicken MT shares extensive homology with mammalian MTs. Southern blot analysis of chicken DNA indicates that the chicken MT gene is not a part of a large family of related sequences, but rather is likely to be a unique gene sequence. In the chicken ...
Endocrine disrupting chemicals can induce malformations and impairment of reproductive function in experimental animals and may have similar effects in humans. Recently, the environmental obesogen hypothesis was proposed, suggesting that environmental chemicals contribute to the development of obesity and insulin resistance. These effects could be related to chemical interaction with nuclear receptors such as the peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs). As several testosterone-reducing drugs are PPAR activators, we aimed to examine whether four PPAR agonists were able to affect fetal testosterone production and masculinization of rats. Additionally, we wished to examine whether these chemicals affected fetal plasma levels of insulin and leptin, which play important roles in the developmental programming of the metabolic system. Pregnant Wistar rats were exposed from gestation day (GD) 7-21 to diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP), butylparaben, perfluorooctanoate, or rosiglitazone ...
IL-4-induced Stat6 signaling is active in a variety of cell types and plays a role in cell proliferation/growth and resistance to apoptosis. Using EMSA, we identified differential IL-4/Stat6 activities in colorectal cancer cell lines, HT-29 being active Stat6"h"i"g"h phenotype and Caco-2 being defective Stat6"n"u"l"l phenotype, respectively. Active Stat6"h"i"g"h HT-29 cells exhibited resistance to apoptosis by flowcytometry and aggressive metastasis by Transwell assay compared with defective Stat6"n"u"l"l Caco-2 cells. Comparing one another using RT-PCR, Stat6"h"i"g"h HT-29 cells expressed more mRNA of anti-apoptotic and pro-metastatic genes Survivin, MDM2, and TMPRSS4, while Stat6"n"u"l"l Caco-2 cells expressed more mRNA of pro-apoptotic and anti-metastatic genes BAX, CAV1, and P53, respectively. This is the first study describing correlations of IL-4/Stat6 activities with apoptosis and metastasis in colon cancer. These findings, together with ...
A cytochrome P450 that hydroxylates lauric acid at the 12 position (P450LA omega) was isolated from liver microsomes of clofibrate treated rats. P450LA omega was immunologically distinct from P450s a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,j,PB1, and PCN1. Polyclonal antibody against P450LA omega was utilized to screen a gt11 cDNA library. A clone (pP450LA omega), was isolated and its sequence determined. The P450LA omega mRNA is a minimum 2387 nts in length and codes for a P450 of Mr.58,222 daltons. This protein shares less than 35% amino acid similarity with P450s b,c,d,e,f,PB1, and PCN1; however, it does contain a hydrophobic amino terminal peptide and a conserved sequence surrounding the Cys residue at position 456, which is similar to other microsomal P450s. P450LA omega is present at high levels in untreated rat kidney and is induced by clofibrate in both kidney and liver. This induction is the result of an accumulation of mRNA through a rapid transcriptional ...
In this work, we query the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii copper regulon at a whole-genome level. Our RNA-Seq data simulation and analysis pipeline validated a 2-fold cutoff and 10 RPKM (reads per kilobase of mappable length per million mapped reads) (~1 mRNA per cell) to reveal 63 CRR1 targets plus another 86 copper-responsive genes. Proteomic and immunoblot analyses captured 25% of the corresponding proteins, whose abundance was also dependent on copper nutrition, validating transcriptional regulation as a major control mechanism for copper signaling in Chlamydomonas. The impact of copper deficiency on the expression of several O2-dependent enzymes included steps in lipid modification pathways. Quantitative lipid profiles indicated increased polyunsaturation of fatty acids on thylakoid membrane digalactosyldiglycerides, indicating a global impact of copper deficiency on the photosynthetic apparatus. Discovery of a putative plastid copper chaperone and a membrane ...
Regulatory genes called small RNAs (sRNAs) are known to play critical roles in cellular responses to changing environments. For several sRNAs, regulation is effected by coupled stoichiometric degradation with messenger RNAs (mRNAs). The nonlinearity inherent in this regulatory scheme indicates that exact analytical solutions for the corresponding stochastic models are intractable. Here, we present a variational approach to analyze a well-studied stochastic model for regulation by sRNAs via coupled degradation. The proposed approach is efficient and provides accurate estimates of mean mRNA levels as well as higher order terms. Results from the variational ansatz are in excellent agreement with data from stochastic simulations for a wide range of parameters, including regions of parameter space where mean-field approaches break down. The proposed approach can be applied to quantitatively model stochastic gene expression in complex regulatory networks.
Poncirin, flavanone glycoside, isolated from the fruit of Poncirus trifoliata, has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, the effects of poncirin on the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells were investigated. The C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cells and primary bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were studied. In the C3H10T1/2 cells, poncirin prevented adipocyte differentiation, as demonstrated by inhibition of cytoplasm lipid droplet accumulation and peroxisome proliferator-activating receptor-? (PPAR-?) and CCAAT-enhancer-binding protein-? (C/EBP-?) mRNA expression. By contrast, poncirin enhanced the expression of the key osteogenic transcription factors, runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ). Poncirin also enhanced expression of the osteogenic marker genes including alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin (OC). Poncirin increased mineral nodule formation in primary ...
Numerous transmethylation reactions are required for normal plant growth and development. S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) and adenosine kinase (ADK) act coordinately to recycle the by-product of these reactions, S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) that would otherwise competitively inhibit methyltransferase (MT) activities. Here, we report on investigations to understand how the SAH produced in the nucleus is metabolized by SAHH and ADK. Localization analyses using green fluorescent fusion proteins demonstrated that both enzymes are capable of localizing to the cytoplasm and the nucleus, although no obvious nuclear localization signal was found in their sequences. Deletion analysis revealed that a 41-amino-acid segment of SAHH (Gly(150)-Lys(190)) is required for nuclear targeting of this enzyme. This segment is surface exposed, shows unique sequence conservation patterns in plant SAHHs, and possesses additional features of protein-protein interaction motifs. ADK and SAHH interact in ...
The promising use of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) in regenerative technologies accounts for necessity of detailed study of their physiology. Proliferation and differentiation of multipotent cells often involve changes in their metabolic state. In the present study, we analyzed the expression of ATP-sensitive potassium (K"A"T"P) channels in MSC and upon in vitro differentiation. K"A"T"P channels are present in many cells and regulate a variety of cellular functions by coupling cell metabolism with membrane potential. Kir6.1, Kir6.2 and SUR2A were expressed in undifferentiated MSC, whereas SUR2B and SUR1 were not detected on cDNA and protein level. Upon adipogenic differentiation Kir6.1 and SUR2A showed a significant reduction of the amount of mRNA by 84% and 95%, respectively, whereas Ki...
Glypican-3 (GPC3), a membrane-bound heparan sulfate proteoglycan, is found to be overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the possible role of GPC3 in the development of HCC. In this study, RNA interference (RNAi) with a GPC3 small hairpin RNA (GPC3 shRNA) was used to identify the effects of GPC3 on the regulation of malignant behaviors of HCC. MHCC97-H, a highly metastatic human HCC cell line in which GPC3 mRNA and protein levels were detected as the highest among the 4 HCC cell lines assessed in this study, and was thus selected as a cell model for in vitro and in vivo experiments. The results showed that down-regulation of GPC3 can significantly inhibit the proliferative and invasive ability of MHCC97-H. Compared with the parental HCC cells, GPC3-silenced cells exhibited attenuated capacities in developing tumors in nude mice, while the growth of tumor xenografts derived from these cells dramatically ...
The expression of three c-onc genes (c-erb, c-myc, c-myb) was investigated in five cell lines established from fibrosarcomas induced with 20-methylcholanthrene (MCA) of Japanese quails. These cell lines showed low levels of the three c-onc genes, with the exception of two cell lines that accumulated moderate (MCAQ 1-4) and large amounts (MCAQ 3-5) of c-myc RNA. Molecular cloning and restriction endonuclease analyses indicated that expression of c-myc in these two cell lines were not associated with detectable rearrangements in the c-myc locus, that the size of the c-myc transcript (2.7 kb) in MCAQ 3-5 was similar to that of the normal c-myc messenger RNAs (mRNA) and that the transcriptional activatin observed in MCAQ 3-5 was not mediated by the LTR (long terminal repeat) of a proximate ALV (avian leukosis virus) provirus. Finally, when analyzed with the restriction enzymes Msp I and Hpa II, the c-myc locus of MCAQ 3-5 and MCAQ 1-4 was found hypomethylated as ...
The product of the human GRO gene is a cytokine with inflammatory and growth-regulatory properties; GRO is also called MGSA for melanoma growth-stimulatory activity. The authors have identified two additional genes, GRO#beta# and GRO#gamma#, that share 90% and 86% identity at the deduced amino acid level with the original GRO#alpha# isolate. One amino acid substitution of proline in GRO#alpha# by leucine in GRO#beta# and GRO#gamma# leads to a large predicted change in protein conformation. Significant differences also exist in the 3' untranslated region, including different numbers of ATTTA repeats associated with mRNA instability. A 122-base-pair region in the 3' region is conserved among the three GRO genes, and a part of it is also conserved in the Chinese hamster genome, suggesting a role in regulation. DNA hybridization with oligonucleotide probes and partial sequence analysis of the genomic clones confirm that the three forms are derived from related but ...
Abstract Sam68 (Src-associated protein in mitosis 68-kDa) is a multifunctional protein, known to govern cellular signal transduction, transcription, RNA metabolism, proliferation, apoptosis, and HIV-1 replication. Although intrinsic mechanisms that modulate Sam68 function are beginning to emerge, the regulatory events contributing to its expression remain elusive. We previously reported that heat shock protein-22 (Hsp22) antagonizes Sam68 function in rev-response element (RRE)-mediated gene expression. We now demonstrate that Sam68 levels correlate inversely with Hsp22 in a variety of cells, including U87, Jurkat, 293T, and U-937. In U87 glioblastoma cells, which contained high levels of Hsp22 than other cell lines tested, Hsp22 knockdown dramatically increased both Sam68 mRNA and protein,...
It Peripheral blood progenitor enriched CD34+ cells (PBPC) are rather often used as stem cell background in cancer patients following high dose therapy. Keeping in mind that precursor dendritic cells (DCs) originate from haematopoietic progenitor cells, purified CD34+ cells might also serve as starting cells for ex-vivo production of DC. The aim of the present study is to develop a clinical grade procedure for ex-vivo production of DC derived from enriched CD34+ cells. Various concentrations of CD34+ cells were grown in gas-permeable Teflon bags with different serum-free and serum-containing media supplemented with GM-CSF, IL-4, TNF-a, SCF, Flt-3L and INF-a. Serum-free CellGroSCGM medium for 7 days followed by CellGroDC medium in 7 days gave equal results as serum-containing medium. Follow...
Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) constitute a major component of the thymic stroma which provides a microenvironment critical for developing thymocytes. We have previously demonstrated that doxycycline (Dox), a tetracycline derivative, enhances the proliferation of the mouse thymic epithelial cell line 1 (MTEC1) via MAPK/ERK signal pathway. Herein we provide evidence that Dox also has profound impact on the cytokine production by MTEC1. Specifically, the expression of IL-6 and GM-CSF, both at mRNA and protein levels, was found to be increased in a time- and dose-dependent manner with the addition of Dox. Western blotting analysis revealed that treatment with Dox-induced phosphorylation of the p65 subunit of NF-kB and ERK. Notably, Dox-induced up-regulation of IL-6 and GM-CSF was largely abol...
Long-term divergent selection for low or high body weight from the same founder population has generated two extremely divergent lines of chickens, the high- (HWS) and low-weight (LWS) selected lines. At selection age (56?days), the lines differ by more than nine times in body weight. The HWS line chickens are compulsive feeders, whereas in the LWS line, some individuals are anorexic and others have very low appetite. Previous studies have implicated the central nervous system and particularly the hypothalamus in these behavioural differences. Here, we compared the mRNA expression in hypothalamus tissue from chickens on day?4 post-hatch using oligonucleotide arrays and found that the divergent selection had resulted in minor but multiple expression differences. Differentially expressed gen...
Two overlapping cDNA clones encoding human DNA topoisomerase II were identified by two independent methods. In one, a human cDNA library in phage {lambda} was screened by hybridization with a mixed oligonucleotide probe encoding a stretch of seven amino acids found in yeast and Drosophila DNA topoisomerase II; in the other, a different human cDNA library in a {lambda}gt11 expression vector was screened for the expression of antigenic determinants that are recognized by rabbit antibodies specific to human DNA topoisomerase II. The entire coding sequences of the human DNA topoisomerase II gene were determined from these and several additional clones, identified through the use of the cloned human TOP2 gene sequences as probes. Hybridization between the cloned sequences and mRNA and genomic DNA indicates that the human enzyme is encoded by a single-copy gene. The location of the gene was mapped to chromosome 17q21-22 by in situ hybridization of a cloned fragment to ...
The gene expression of beta(1)-adrenergic receptor (beta(1)AR) and stimulatory G-protein Gsalpha in ventricle after chronic treatment with doxorubicin (DOX) in rat was investigated. The rats were treated with DOX in a dose of 2.5 mg/kg once a week for 5 weeks, the cumulative dose being 12.5 mg/kg. Two weeks after the last injection, the positive inotropic effect of isoproterenol was noticeably decreased in left atrial muscle preparations isolated from DOX-treated rats. Northern blot hybridization showed that the mRNA transcripts of beta(1)AR and Gsalpha, important signal transduction elements for regulating heart rate and contractility, were significantly decreased in the ventricle of DOX-treated rats. Thus, chronic treatment with DOX decreases the gene expression levels of myocardial beta(1)AR and Gsalpha. PMID:15353854
Sepsis induced by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has worse outcome because of multiresistance to a large group of antibiotics, which may lead to death from septic shock. In the present study, we firstly found that artesunate in combination with oxacillin was capable of protecting mice challenged with live MRSA WHO-2 (WHO-2) and the protection was related to the reduced TNF-a and IL-6 levels and decreased bacterial load. Based on above results, artesunate was further investigated from two aspects in vitro, anti-inflammation effect and antibacterial enhancement effect on antibiotics. Artesunate not only inhibited TNF-a and IL-6 release but also inhibited mRNA and protein expressions of TLR2 and Nod2, two important receptors, in murine peritoneal macrophages stimulated wit...
The authors have previously identified a small-cell lung cancer cell line (NCI-H209) that expresses an aberrant, underphosphorylated form of the retinoblastoma protein RB1. Molecular analysis of RB1 mRNA from this cell line revealed a single point mutation within exon 21 that resulted in a nonconservative amino acid substitution (cysteine to phenylalanine) at codon 706. Stable expression of this mutant RB1 cDNA in a human cell line lacking endogenous RB1 demonstrated that this amino acid change was sufficient to inhibit phosphorylation. In addition, this cysteine-to-phenylalanine substitution also resulted in loss of RB1 binding to the simian virus 40 large tumor and adenovirus E1A transforming proteins. These results confirm the importance of exon 21 coding sequences and suggest that the cysteine residue at codon 706 may play a role in achieving a specific protein conformation essential for protein-protein interactions.
IntroductionBreast cancer is the most diagnosed and second leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. female population. An estimated 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancers are inherited, caused by mutations in the breast cancer susceptibility genes (BRCA1/2). As many as 90% of all mutations are nonsense mutations, causing a truncated polypeptide product. A popular and low cost method of mutation detection has been the protein truncation test (PTT), where target regions of BRCA1/2 are PCR amplified, transcribed/translated in a cell-free protein synthesis system and analyzed for truncated polypeptides by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and autoradiography. We previously reported a novel High Throughput Solid-Phase PTT (HTS-PTT) based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format that eliminates the need for radioactivity, SDS-PAGE and subjective interpretation of the results. Here, we report the next generation HTS-PTT using ...
Endothelial dysfunction and increased platelet aggregation may be involved in the pathogenesis of normal tissue radiation toxicity. This study assessed clopidogrel, an inhibitor of ADP-induced platelet aggregation, as a modulator of intestinal radiation injury (radiation enteropathy). Rat small intestine was exposed to 21 Gy X-radiation. Clopidogrel (20 mg/kg/day) or vehicle was administered from 2 days before to 10 days after irradiation. Structural radiation injury, neutrophil infiltration, smooth muscle cell proliferation, collagen content, and TGF-beta1 expression were assessed 2 weeks (early phase) and 26 weeks (delayed phase) after irradiation, using quantitative histology and immunohistochemistry, morphometry, and real-time fluorogenic probe RT-PCR. Irradiated intestine exhibited significant histopathologic injury, reduced mucosal surface area, vascular sclerosis, intestinal wall fibrosis, increased collagen content, and increased TGF-beta1 expression. Clopidogrel reduced ...
In this experiments, we established long-termed culture methods of bone marrow stromal cells for proliferation and differentiation of stem cells. And we selected some extracts which support maximal proliferation of stromal cells with this method. We conformed the synergic effects of herval mixture extracts for stromal cell growth. The proliferation of stromal cells was increased rather by the addition of mixture extracts than by addition of single strain extract. In the previous and cooperative experiments, we selected complex extracts which increased the number of nonadherent mononuclear cells. Different cytokine expression patterns were observed stromal cells cultured in the presence or absence of mixture extracts which support differentiation of nonadherent cells. Stimulation of macrophage cell line with herval extracts with the treatments of recombinant interferon-{gamma} resulted in increased nitric oxide synthesis in a dose-dependent manners. In addition, these extracts induced ...
By catalyzing the rate-limiting step in adipose tissue lipolysis, hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) is an important regulator of energy homeostasis. The role and importance of HSL in tissues other than adipose are poorly understood. We report here the cloning and expression of a testicular isoform, designated HSL{sub tes}. Due to an addition of amino acids at the NH{sub 2}-termini, rat and human HSL{sub tes} consist of 1068 and 1076 amino acids, respectively, compared to the 768 and 775 amino acids, respectively, of the adipocyte isoform (HSL{sub adi}). A novel exon of 1.2 kb, encoding the human testis-specific amino acids, was isolated and mapped to the HSL gene, 16 kb upstream of the exons encoding HSL{sub adi}. The transcribed mRNA of 3.9 kb was specifically expressed in testis. No significant similarity with other known proteins was found for the testis-specific sequence. The amino acid composition differs from the HSL{sub adi} sequence, with a notable hydrophilic ...
The effect of 10 wk endurance swim training on 3-O-methylglucose (3-MG) uptake (at 40 mM 3-MG) in skeletal muscle was studied in the perfused rat hindquarter. Training resulted in an increase of approximately 33% for maximum insulin-stimulated 3-MG transport in fast-twitch red fibers and an increase of approximately 33% for contraction-stimulated transport in slow-twitch red fibers compared with nonexercised sedentary muscle. A fully additive effect of insulin and contractions was observed both in trained and untrained muscle. Compared with transport in control rats subjected to an almost exhaustive single exercise session the day before experiment both maximum insulin- and contraction-stimulated transport rates were increased in all muscle types in trained rats. Accordingly, the increased glucose transport capacity in trained muscle was not due to a residual effect of the last training session. Half-times for reversal of contraction-induced glucose transport were similar in trained ...
In this experiments, we established long-termed culture methods of bone marrow stromal cells for proliferation and differentiation of stem cells. And we selected some extracts which support maximal proliferation of stromal cells with this method. We conformed the synergic effects of herbal mixture extracts for stromal cell growth. The proliferation of stromal cells was increased rather by the addition of mixture extracts than by addition of single strain extract. In the previous and cooperative experiments, we selected complex extracts (Him-I, Him-II) which increased the number of nonadherent mononuclear cells. Different cytokine expression patterns were observed stromal cells cultured in the presence or absence of mixture extracts which support differentiation of nonadherent cells. Some fractions of Him-I and Him-II increased the proliferation of bone marrow cells irradiated {gamma}-ray(4Gray). Stimulation of macrophage cell line with herval extracts with the treatments of recombinant ...
Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies are caused by defects of dystrophin, which forms a part of the membrane cytoskeleton of specialized cells such as muscle. It has been previously shown that the dystrophin-associated protein A1 (59-kDa DAP) is actually a heterogeneous group of phosphorylated proteins consisting of an acidic ({alpha}-A1) and a distinct basic ({beta}-A1) component. Partial peptide sequence of the A1 complex purified from rabbit muscle permitted the design of oligonucleotide probes that were used to isolate a cDNA for one human isoform of A1. This cDNA encodes a basic A1 isoform that is distinct from the recently described syntrophins in Torpedo and mouse and is expressed in many tissues with at least five distinct mRNA species of 5.9, 4.8, 4.3, 3.1, and 1.5 kb. A comparison of the human cDNA sequence with the GenBank expressed sequence tag (EST) data base has identified a relative from human skeletal muscle, EST25263, which is probably a human ...
The Drosophila sequence-specific DNA binding protein, Adf-1, is capable of activating transcription of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene, Adh, and is implicated in the transcriptional control of other developmentally regulated genes. We have cloned the cDNA encoding Adf-1 by generating specific DNA probes deduced from partial amino acid sequence of the protein. Several cDNA clones encoding an extended open reading frame were isolated from a phage lambda library. The complete amino acid sequence of Adf-1 deduced from the longest cDNA reveals structural similarities to the putative helix-turn-helix DNA binding motif of Myb and Myb-related proteins. DNA sequence analysis of genomic clones and Northern blot analysis of mRNA suggest that Adf-1 is a single-copy gene encoding a 1.9-kb transcript. Purified recombinant Adf-1 expressed in Escherichia coli binds specifically to Adf-1 recognition sites and activates transcription of a synthetic Adh promoter in vitro in a manner ...
The three main objectives of this study were: (1) to determine if depletion of proteoglycans from the cartilage matrix that occurs during osteoarthritis causes a measurable increase of cartilage proteoglycan components in the synovial fluid and sera, (2) to observe what effect intracellular cAMP has on the expression of matrix components by chondrocytes, and (3) to determine if freshly isolated chondrocytes contain detectable levels of mRNA for fibronectin. Canine serum keratan sulfate and hyaluronate were measured to determine if there was an elevation of these serum glycosaminoglycans in a canine model of osteoarthritis. A single intra-articular injection of chymopapain into a shoulder joint increased serum keratan sulfate 10 fold and hyaluronate less than 2 fold in 24 hours. Keratan sulfate concentrations in synovial fluids of dogs about one year old were unrelated to the presence of spontaneous cartilage degeneration in the joints. High keratan sulfate in ...
We previously reported the identification of a new family of plant methyltransferases (MTs), named the SABATH family, that use S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) to methylate a carboxyl moiety or a nitrogen-containing functional group on a diverse array of plant compounds. The Arabidopsis genome alone contains 24 distinct SABATH genes. To identify the catalytic specificities of members of this protein family in Arabidopsis, we screened recombinantly expressed and purified enzymes with a large number of potential substrates. Here, we report that the Arabidopsis thaliana gene At3g44860 encodes a protein with high catalytic specificity towards farnesoic acid (FA). Under steady-state conditions, this farnesoic acid carboxyl methyltransferase (FAMT) exhibits K{sub M} values of 41 and 71 {mu}M for FA and SAM, respectively. A three-dimensional model of FAMT constructed based upon similarity to the experimentally determined structure of Clarkia breweri salicylic acid methyltransferase (SAMT) ...
pT181 is a naturally-occurring 4437 basepair (bp) plasmid isolated from Staphylococcus aureus which encodes inducible resistance to tetracycline (Tc). The DNA sequence data has identified three open reading frames (ORFs). The largest ORF B, has been found to be responsible for the Tc resistance phenotype of pT181. Since most Tc resistance systems appear to be regulated by an effector protein and a repressor protein, several Bal 31 deletion mutants of pT181 were constructed and analyzed in an effort to identify the elements involved in Tc resistance. Two transcomplementing groups of mutants were identified within the tet gene. The mechanism of Tc resistance was studied by assaying the accumulation of (7-/sup 3/H) Tc by Tc sensitive cells, and uninduced and induced pT181-containing cells. A sharp decrease in accumulation of the drug after an initial increase was observed in Tc induced pT181-containing cells. In vivo labeling of Bacillus subtilis minicells containing pT181 was performed ...
The maintenance of a balance between cell gain and cell loss is essential for proper liver function. The exact role of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis of liver cells remains unclear, since ligand-dependent activation of AhR has been shown to induce cell cycle arrest, proliferation, differentiation or apoptosis, depending on the cellular model used. AhR can directly interact with retinoblastoma protein in hepatic cells, forming protein complexes that can efficiently block cell cycle progression by inducing G1 arrest, or to induce the expression of inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases, such as p271. On the other hand, it has been suggested that AhR could play a stimulatory role in cell proliferation, either directly or by mediating a release from contact inhibition. It is now generally accepted that progenitor cells exist in the liver, are activated in various liver diseases and can form a potential target cell population for both tumor ...
The three mammalian transforming growth factor (TGF)-? isoforms (TGF-?1, TGF-?2, and TGF-?3) differ in their putative roles in radiation-induced fibrosis in intestine and other organs. Furthermore, tissue specificity of TGF-? action may result from temporal or spatial changes in production and/or activation. The present study examined shifts in the cell types expressing TGF-? mRNA relative to TGF-? immunoreactivity and histopathological injury during radiation enteropathy development. A 4-cm loop of rat small intestine was locally exposed to 0, 12, or 21-Gy single doses of x-irradiation. Sham-irradiated and irradiated intestine were procured 2 and 26 weeks after irradiation. Cells expressing the TGF-?1, TGF-?2, or TGF-?3 transcripts were identified by in situ hybridization with digoxigenin-labeled riboprobes. Intestinal wall TGF-? immunoreactivity was measured using computerized image analysis, and structural radiation injury was assessed by quantitative ...