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B Weisshaar

Publications and source records attributed to B Weisshaar.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Functional analysis of a light-responsive plant bZIP transcriptional regulator.

Common plant regulatory factor 1 (CPRF1) is a parsley basic region/leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor that recognizes specific nucleotide sequences containing ACGT cores. Such a sequence is contained within LRU1, the composite light regulatory unit that is necessary and sufficient for light-dependent activity of the parsley chalcone synthase (CHS) promoter. After light treatment of both etiolated and green seedlings, CPRF1 mRNA levels increased prior to CHS mRNA accumulation. The change in CPRF1 mRNA leads to a light-responsive increase in CPRF1 protein. Transient expression analysis in parsley protoplasts using the CPRF1 promoter fused to the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) open reading frame indicated that light-dependent CPRF1 mRNA accumulation was under transcriptional control. The 5' untranslated region of the CPRF1 gene includes a cis-acting nucleotide sequence that contains two ACGT elements at a distance of 12 bp between their palindromic centers. This feature is reminiscent of as-1 and octopine synthase (ocs) elements identified in promoters from plant pathogens. This double ACGT Element element, designated dACECPRF1, stimulated transcription when placed 5' to a heterologous core promoter. CPRF1 bound to dACECPRF1 DNA as well as to the ACGT element from the CHS promoter in vitro. Cotransfection experiments demonstrated that CPRF1 interacts with these elements in vivo and that overexpression of CPRF1 actually reduced light-dependent transcription from the CHS promoter. CPRF1 thus appears to contribute to the regulation of the CPRF1 gene and to interfere with the activities of light-regulated promoters.

Acyltransferases↗
PubMed1993

Polyubiquitin gene expression and structural properties of the ubi4-2 gene in Petroselinum crispum.

Ubiquitin is an omnipresent protein found in all eukaryotes so far analysed. It is involved in several important processes, including protein turnover, chromosome structure and stress response. Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) contains at least two active polyubiquitin (ubi4) genes encoding hexameric precursor proteins. The deduced amino acid sequences of the ubiquitin monomers are identical to one another and to ubiquitin sequences from several other plant species. Analysis of the promoter region of one ubi4 gene revealed putative regulatory elements. In parsley plants, the ubi4 mRNAs were the predominant ubiquitin mRNAs and were present at comparable levels in all plant organs tested. In cultured parsley cells, high levels of ubiquitin gene expression remained unaffected by heat shock, elicitor or light treatment.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Microtubule-associated protein 2 and the organization of cellular microtubules.

Microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) are prominent components of the neuronal cytoskeleton that can promote microtubule formation and whose expression is under strong developmental regulation. They are thought to be involved in organizing the structure of microtubule fascicles in axons and dendrites, although whether they form active cross-links between microtubules or serve as strut-like spacer elements has yet to be resolved. In the experiments reported here we explored their influence on microtubules by expressing them in non-neuronal cells using DNA transfection techniques. We confirm earlier reports that microtubule-associated proteins of the MAP2/tau class can induce bundling of microtubules. In addition we find that MAP2 causes the rearrangement of microtubules in the cytoplasm in a manner that is dependent on the length of the microtubule bundles. Short bundles are straight and run across the cytoplasm whereas long bundles form a marginal band-like array at the periphery. We suggest that the latter arrangement is produced when microtubule bundles that are too long to fit inside the diameter of the cell bend under the restraining influence of the cortical cytoskeleton. In confirmation of this, we show that when the cortical actin network is depolymerized by cytochalasin B the MAP2-containing microtubule bundles push out cylindrical extensions from the cell surface. These results suggest that the induction of stiff microtubules bundles by MAP2, coupled with a breach in the cortical actin network, can confer two of the properties characteristic of neuronal processes; their cylindrical form and the presence of fasciculated microtubules.

Cytochalasin B↗
PubMed1993

The low molecular weight form of microtubule-associated protein 2 is transported into both axons and dendrites.

In the developing brain microtubule-associated protein MAP2 occurs as both a high molecular weight form, MAP2b, which is present only in dendrites, and a low molecular weight form, MAP2c, which is also present in axons. Because the MAP2c amino acid sequence is entirely contained within that of MAP2b it is not possible to raise a MAP2c-specific antibody, so that it has been impossible to determine whether MAP2c is present in dendrites along with MAP2b. To answer this question we have generated a MAP2c cDNA clone tagged with a 10 amino acid epitope from human c-myc. This additional sequence does not alter either the binding of MAP2c to microtubules or its effects on microtubules in non-neuronal cells. When expressed in cultured primary neurons by transfection, the myc tag allowed the distribution of MAP2c to be determined independently of endogenous MAP2 protein by immunostaining with an anti-myc antibody. This showed that MAP2c is present in all processes, indicating that it can enter all kinds of processes and is stable in their cytoplasm. The results further suggest that the selective association of high molecular weight MAP2 with dendrites depends on a mechanism that prevents either its entrance or survival in the axonal compartment.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Actin depolymerisation induces process formation on MAP2-transfected non-neuronal cells.

We have previously shown that microtubules in nonneuronal cells form long, stable bundles after transfection with the embryonic neuronal microtubule-associated protein MAP2c. In this study, we found that treating MAP2c-transfected cells with the actin depolymerising drug cytochalasin B led to the outgrowth of microtubule-containing processes from the cell surface. This effect was specific to MAP2c and did not occur in untransfected cells whose microtubules had been stabilised by treatment with taxol. The outgrowth and retraction of these processes during repeated cycles of cytochalasin addition and removal was followed by video time-lapse microscopy and was suggestive of a physical interaction between compressive forces exerted by the MAP2c-stabilised microtubule bundles and tensile forces originating in the cortical actin network. We suggest that MAP2c confers three properties on cellular microtubules that are essential for process outgrowth: stability, bundling and stiffness. The latter probably arises from the linking together of neighbouring tubulin subunits by three closely spaced tubulin-binding motifs in the MAP2 molecule that limits their motion relative to one another and thus reduces the flexibility of the polymer. Similar multimeric tubulin-binding domains in other proteins of the MAP2 class, including tau in axons and MAP4 in glial cells, may play the same role in the development and support of asymmetric cell morphology. Axial bundles of microtubules are found in growing neurites but not in growth cones, suggesting that the regulated expression of these MAP-induced properties makes an important contribution to the establishment of a stable process behind the advancing growth cone.

Actins↗
PubMed1992

Homodimeric and heterodimeric leucine zipper proteins and nuclear factors from parsley recognize diverse promoter elements with ACGT cores.

Four short nucleotide sequences (boxes I to IV) contribute to the light responsiveness of the parsley chalcone synthase promoter. The sequence-related boxes II and III resemble several plant, viral, and bacterial promoter elements that share ACGT core sequences and are associated with diversely regulated genes. We have analyzed the binding characteristics and protein-protein interactions of factors from nuclear extracts and of three putative leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors potentially involved in the regulation of this promoter. These common plant regulatory factors (CPRFs) bind specifically to boxes II and III as well as other ACGT-containing promoter elements (hex1, Em1a, and as-1), though with markedly different affinities. Intact bZIP domains are crucial for CPRF binding to DNA. Distinct ensembles of nuclear factors bind to boxes II and III, despite their sequence similarity. The parsley CPRFs bind to DNA as dimers, selectively form heterodimeric DNA binding complexes, and interact with nuclear proteins.

Acyltransferases↗
PubMed1992

Reorganisation of the microtubular cytoskeleton by embryonic microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2c).

Microtubule-associated protein 2c (MAP2c) is one of a set of embryonic MAP forms that are expressed during neuronal differentiation in the developing nervous system. We have investigated its mode of action by expressing recombinant protein in non-neuronal cell lines using cell cDNA transfection techniques. At every level of expression, all the MAP2c was bound to cellular microtubules. At low MAP2c levels, the microtubules retained their normal arrangement, radiating from the centrosomal microtubule-organising centre (MTOC) but at higher levels an increasing proportion of microtubules occurred independently of the MTOC. In most cells, radially oriented microtubules still attached to the MTOC co-existed with detached microtubules, suggesting that the primary effect of MAP2 is to increase the probability that tubulin polymerisation will occur independently of the MTOC. The MTOC-independent microtubules formed bundles whose distribution depended on their length in relation to the diameter of the transfected cell. Short bundles were attached to the cell cortex at one end and followed a straight course through the cytoplasm, whereas longer bundles followed a curved path around the periphery of the cell. By comparing these patterns to those produced by two chemical agents that stabilise microtubules, taxol and dimethyl sulphoxide, we conclude that effects of MAP2c arise from two sources. It stabilises microtubules without providing assembly initiation sites and as a result produces relatively few, long microtubule bundles. These bend only when they encounter the restraining influence of the cortical cytoskeleton of the cell, indicating that MAP2c also imparts stiffness to them. By conferring these properties of stability and stiffness to neuronal microtubules MAP2c contributes to supporting the structure of developing neurites.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Familial defective apolipoprotein B-100 in 12 subjects and their kindred.

Twelve unrelated subjects with heterozygous familial defective apolipoprotein B-100 were identified in a group of 252 patients with type IIa hypercholesterolaemia. Approximately 5% of hypercholesterolaemia can be explained by this mutation in the collective studied. Familial defective apolipoprotein B-100 is therefore the most common known mutation causing primary hypercholesterolaemia. Family studies revealed an additional 14 affected subjects. All family members with the mutation had elevated cholesterol concentrations. In a normolipidaemic control group of 146 subjects the mutation was not present. In the affected individuals a variable expression of total cholesterol concentrations and atherosclerosis was observed. Plasma cholesterol ranged from 6.60 to 14.89 mmol/l with a mean of 9.43 mmol/l. Premature atherosclerosis was present in 4 patients, while one affected woman is now 92 years old and has no symptoms of coronary heart disease or peripheral atherosclerosis. Analysis of the haplotypes and genotypes by 3 biallelic and 1 multi-allelic DNA marker suggests that the disorder is caused in all affected patients by the same rare allele. The fact that the same mutant allele was also identified in other European populations and in a North American population of Caucasian origin argues for a common European origin of this mutation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Light-inducible and constitutively expressed DNA-binding proteins recognizing a plant promoter element with functional relevance in light responsiveness.

Four cis-acting elements, designated as Boxes I, II, III and IV, have previously been identified as functionally relevant components of the light-responsive chalcone synthase (CHS) promoter in parsley (Petroselinum crispum). This paper describes the isolation of three cDNAs encoding proteins which bind specifically to Box II, one of two cis-acting elements found within a 52 bp CHS promoter region shown here to be sufficient for light responsiveness in parsley. The deduced amino acid sequences of all three proteins reveal conserved basic and leucine zipper domains characteristic of transcription factors of the bZIP class. Nucleotide sequences recognized by these factors contain an ACGT motif common to many cis-acting elements. Therefore, we have termed the proteins CPRF-1, -2 and -3 (Common Plant Regulatory Factor). The characteristics of CPRF-1 binding to Box II and the timing of transient CPRF-1 mRNA accumulation during light exposure of previously dark-grown parsley cells are consistent with the hypothesis that this factor participates in the light-mediated activation of the CHS gene in parsley.

Acyltransferases↗
PubMed1991

Rapid diagnosis of familial defective apolipoprotein B-100.

A method is described for the rapid, economic and non-radioactive examination of DNA samples from hypercholesterolaemic patients for familial defective apolipoprotein B-100, using a modified polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol and restriction enzyme isoform genotyping. Because of the high prevalence of familial defective apolipoprotein B-100, which is estimated to be one in 500 in most screened general populations, interest is focussed on a simple method for detection of this point mutation. In our protocol a diagnostic restriction site is created by PCR, using a specifically designed partly mismatched primer. In the case of familial defective apolipoprotein B-100 the amplified DNA segment contains an additional ScaI site, whereas DNA amplified from the normal allele is resistant to ScaI digestion. A rapid differentiation between the two alleles is achieved by agarose gel electrophoresis of the ScaI-digested PCR product.

Apolipoprotein B-100↗
PubMed1991

Regulatory elements required for light-mediated expression of the Petroselinum crispum chalcone synthase gene.

Chalcone synthase (CHS) catalyzes the committed enzymatic step in flavonoid biosynthesis. In parsley (Petroselinum crispum), CHS is encoded by a single gene locus. Transcriptional activation of the gene in response to UV-containing white light has been demonstrated. Analysis of the CHS gene promoter by in vivo footprinting revealed four short sequences, designated Boxes I, II, III, and IV, which contain guanosine residues with altered reactivity to the methylating agent dimethylsulfate in UV-treated versus untreated parsley cells. Studies were performed to characterize the functional components of the CHS gene promoter using a parsley protoplast transient expression system. By deletion and block-mutation analyses it was shown that Boxes I and II act together as a cis-acting unit and are necessary components of the minimal, light-responsive CHS gene promoter. The Box II sequence, which is similar to the conserved G Box sequence defined in promoters of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit (RBCS) genes, has been subjected to detailed analysis by site-directed mutagenesis. The heptameric sequence 5'-ACGTGGC-3' has been defined as the critical core of Box II required for light induction in the context of the CHS gene minimal promoter. Box II is functionally equivalent to a second, sequence-related element (Box III) that can replace Box II in an orientation-dependent manner. Chimaeric promoter-fusion constructs to the GUS reporter gene demonstrated that Boxes I and II, together constituting a cis-acting unit, are necessary and sufficient for light-mediated activation of the CHS gene promoter.

Acyltransferases↗
PubMed1989

Arrangement and expression of integrated adenovirus type 12 DNA in the transformed hamster cell line HA12/7: amplification of Ad12 and c-myc DNAs and evidence for hybrid viral-cellular transcripts.

In the genome of the adenovirus type 12 (Ad12)-transformed hamster cell line HA12/7 about three copies of the viral DNA are fixed by integration. The results of blot-hybridization, molecular cloning, and nucleotide sequencing experiments suggest a model for the arrangement of Ad12 DNA molecules in which the left hand terminus of one of the Ad12 DNA copies is linked to unique hamster DNA. The right hand end of this DNA molecule is fused to an inverted copy of a left terminal approximately 4.3 kb fragment of Ad12 DNA. This ensemble is followed by the second Ad12 DNA copy whose right terminus is again joined to an inverted, supernumerary left terminal approximately 4.3 kb Ad12 DNA fragment. There is a third Ad12 DNA copy whose right terminus is linked to cellular DNA. In this sequence arrangement, the left terminus of Ad12 DNA is overrepresented, as had been shown earlier (S. Stabel, W. Doerfler and R.R. Friis (1980) J. Virol. 36, 22-40). In the presented model, cellular DNA sequences are interspersed in between the three copies of Ad12 DNA. In the left terminus of the integrated Ad12 DNA, transcription of RNA is initiated which extends out into cellular DNA. The interviral DNA junctions are also transcribed. The c-myc gene in cell line HA12/7 is amplified about 10-fold and considerably more c-myc RNA has been identified in the Ad12-transformed cells than in BHK21 or in LSH hamster cells. It has been shown previously that the E1 region of Ad12 DNA is transcribed into mRNA in HA12/7 cells (Ortin et al. (1976) J. Virol. 20, 355-372). It remains to be investigated whether c-myc amplification and expression are related to the transformed phenotype of HA12/7 cells.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed1988

Reactivation of the methylation-inactivated late E2A promoter of adenovirus type 2 by E1A (13 S) functions.

The inactivating effect of sequence-specific promoter methylations was extensively studied by using the late E2A promoter of adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) DNA. The modification of the three 5' CCGG 3' sequences at nucleotides +24, +6 and -215, relative to the cap site in this promoter, sufficed to silence the gene in transient expression either in Xenopus laevis oocytes or in mammalian cells, and after the fixation of the E2A promoter-chloramphenicol-acetyltransferase (CAT) gene construct in the genome of hamster cells. It will now be demonstrated that the inactivation of the late promoter of Ad2 DNA can be reversed by transactivating functions that are encoded in the 13S messenger RNA of the E1A region of Ad2 DNA. The reactivation of a methylation-inactivated eukaryotic promoter by transactivating functions has general significance in that the value of a regulatory signal can be fully realized only by its controlled reversibility. It was demonstrated in transient expression experiments that the 5' CCGG 3'-methylated late E2A promoter was at least partly reactivated in cell lines constitutively expressing the E1 region of Ad2 or of adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) DNA. The reactivation led to transcriptional initiation at the authentic cap sites of the late E2A promoter and was not associated with promoter demethylation, at least not in both DNA complements. Reactivation of the methylation-inactivated E2A promoter could also be demonstrated in two BHK21 cell lines (mc14 and mc20), which carried the late E2A promoter-CAT gene assembly in an integrated form. In these cell lines the late E2A promoter was methylated and the CAT gene was not expressed. By transfection of cell lines mc14 and mc20, the reactivating functions were shown to reside in the pAd2E1A-13 S cDNA clone of Ad2 DNA. The pAd2E1A-12 S cDNA clone or the pAd2E1B clone showed no reactivating function. These findings implicated the E1A 289 amino acid residue protein of Ad2, a well-known transactivator, as the reactivating function of the endogenous, previously dormant, late E2A promoter-CAT gene assembly. The methylated promoter was not demethylated, at least not in both complements, and it was shown that reactivation of the methylated promoter entailed transcriptional initiation at the authentic late E2A cap site. Since E1A and E1B jointly had a more pronounced effect, it was conceivable that genes in both regions acted together in the abrogation of the inhibitory effect of promoter methylations in the late E2A promoter.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed1988

A new Apa LI restriction fragment length polymorphism in the low density lipoprotein receptor gene.

The existence of a new Apa LI restriction fragment length polymorphism in the third intron of the low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor gene was described. As a gene probe we used a newly constructed derivative of pLDLR 3 which did not contain the highly repetitive Alu-sequences in exon 18. This new gene probe detected all exon sequences containing restriction fragments, and enabled us to demonstrate all described polymorphisms, which might be useful for genetic linkage studies. Based on analysis of 72 unrelated normo- and hypercholesterolaemic persons, the frequency of the allele A2, which showed the additional cutting site, was determined to be 0.05. With the simplified gene probe, pLDLR delta, we also studied other polymorphisms. A clear linkage disequilibrium between the Pvu II and Msp I polymorphisms was detected. This, and the previously described linkage disequilibrium of the two Msp I polymorphisms, demonstrate that the LDL receptor gene is apparently less heterogeneous than expected from the number of described polymorphisms.

Alleles↗