Biomedical subjects

D M Glover

Publications and source records attributed to D M Glover.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

PubMed1989

Molecular cloning and chromosomal localization of a novel Drosophila protein phosphatase.

A 1.0 kilobase cDNA coding for the complete amino acid sequence of a putative protein phosphatase (314 amino acid residues, molecular mass 36 kDa) has been isolated from a Drosophila head cDNA library. The cDNA hybridises to a single site on the right arm of the second chromosome at cytological position 55A1-3. The deduced sequence of the protein, designated protein phosphatase-Y, is homologous to the catalytic subunits of Drosophila and rabbit protein phosphatase-1 alpha (64 and 59% identity, respectively) and rabbit protein phosphatase-2A (39% identity). These and other comparisons demonstrate that this novel enzyme is not the Drosophila counterpart of mammalian protein phosphatases 1, 2A, 2B, 2C or X.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1989

Transcripts of one of two Drosophila cyclin genes become localized in pole cells during embryogenesis.

Cyclins, originally discovered in the eggs of marine invertebrates, are proteins which undergo dramatic cycles of synthesis followed by degradation at the metaphase-anaphase transition of cell division. That they participate in the G2-M transition is supported by the fact that when synthetic cyclin messenger RNAs from clam and sea urchin are microinjected into the G2-arrested oocytes of Xenopus, they induce maturation. The cyclin of fission yeast is the product of the cdc13 gene, which is known to interact with cdc2, a gene required for the entry into mitosis. We have cloned the genes that encode A-type and B-type cyclins from Drosophila melanogaster by virtue of their sequence similarity to oligonucleotides corresponding to conserved regions of the cyclin genes. We show that both genes encode abundant maternal mRNAs, but whereas the cyclin A mRNA is relatively uniformly distributed before cell formation, the cyclin B mRNA becomes localized to the developing pole cells. In larvae, cyclin A is expressed predominantly in brain and imaginal disks, whereas cyclin B transcripts are abundant in testes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1989

rough deal: a gene required for proper mitotic segregation in Drosophila.

We describe a genetic locus rough deal (rod) in Drosophila melanogaster, identified by mutations that interfere with the faithful transmission of chromosomes to daughter cells during mitosis. Five mutant alleles were isolated, each associated with a similar set of mitotic abnormalities in the dividing neuroblasts of homozygous mutant larvae: high frequencies of aneuploid cells and abnormal anaphase figures, in which chromatids may lag, form bridges, or completely fail to separate. Surviving homozygous adults are sterile, and show cuticular defects associated with cell death, i.e., roughened eyes, sparse abdominal bristles, and notched wing margins. The morphological process of spermatogenesis is largely unaffected and motile sperm are produced, but meiocyte aneuploidy is common. The nature of the observed abnormalities in mitotic cells suggests that the reduced fidelity of chromosome transmission to the daughter cells is due to a failure in a mechanism involved in assuring the proper release of sister chromatids.

Alleles↗

PubMed1989

Mitosis in Drosophila development.

Many aspects of the mitotic cycle can take place independently in syncytial Drosophila embryos. Embryos from females homozygous for the mutation gnu undergo rounds of DNA synthesis without nuclear division to produce giant nuclei, and at the same time show many cycles of centrosome replication (Freeman et al. 1986). S phase can be inhibited in wild-type Drosophila embryos by injecting aphidicolin, in which case not only do centrosomes replicate, but chromosomes continue to condense and decondense, the nuclear envelope undergoes cycles of breakdown and reformation, and cycles of budding activity continue at the cortex of the embryo (Raff and Glover, 1988). If aphidicolin is injected when nuclei are in the interior of the embryo, centrosomes dissociate from the nuclei and can migrate to the cortex. Pole cells without nuclei then form around those centrosomes that reach the posterior pole (Raff and Glover, 1989); the centrosomes presumably must interact with polar granules, the maternally-provided determinants for pole cell formation. The pole cells form the germ-line of the developing organism, and as such may have specific requirements for mitotic cell division. This is suggested by our finding that a specific class of cyclin mRNAs, the products of the cyclin B gene, accumulate in pole cells during embryogenesis (Whitfield et al. 1989). Other genes that are essential for mitosis in early embryogenesis and in later development are discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Mitosis in Drosophila.

Drosophila is an attractive organism in which to study both the rapid rounds of mitosis typical of embryonic development in many species, and the longer cell cycles of diploid tissues later in development. Mutations in genes essential for mitosis in Drosophila may result in lethality in late embryonic, larval or pupal stages of development. In addition, mutations in many genes required for the nuclear divisions of early embryogenesis have been found in screens for female sterility. The mitotic mutations have phenotypes indicative of lesions at a variety of mitotic stages. A combined molecular and genetic analysis of these genes has the potential to unravel the complex set of protein-protein interactions that occur in this dynamic process.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Identification of high molecular weight peptides in bovine adrenomedullary chromaffin granules using monoclonal antibodies to a preproenkephalin A fusion peptide.

Two mouse monoclonal antibodies (PE-1 and PE-2) raised to a beta-galactosidase-preproenkephalin A(69-207) fusion peptide recognize pro-enkephalin A (pro-enk-A) peptides of 33-5 kDa isolated from bovine adrenal chromaffin granules. The preliminary characterization of the high molecular weight adrenomedullary pro-enk-A peptides recognized by PE-1 and PE-2 is described. The high molecular weight peptides were resolved after Sephadex G-50 chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) into three components (peaks I, II and III). Immunoblot analysis showed each HPLC peak to be heterogeneous. Peak I contained PE-1-and PE-2-immunoreactive peptides of 33, 29, 24 and 22 kDa; peak II contained a peptide of 22 kDa recognized by PE-2, and peptides of 24 and 22 kDa recognized by PE-1; peak III contained a PE-2-immunoreactive peptide of 15 kDa and PE-1-immunoreactive peptide of 18 kDa. Using polyclonal antibodies to peptide F and methionineenkephalin-Arg6-Gly7-Leu8 (MetEnk-RGL), the 22 kDa band cross-reacted with both MetEnk-RGL and peptide F antibodies, whilst the 24 kDa band was shown to possess predominantly MetEnk-RGL immunoreactivity. The 15 kDa (PE-2-immunoreactive) band was recognized by the peptide F but not the MetEnk-RGL antibody, whereas the polyclonal antibodies did not recognize the 18 kDa (PE-1-immunoreactive) band. We propose that the immunological and size characteristics of some of these peptides (29, 24/22, 15 kDa) suggest their similarity to the peptides of predicted molecular mass 23.3, 18.2 and 12.6 kDa previously found in bovine adrenal medulla. The results also indicate the existence of high molecular weight pro-enk-A peptides shortened at the N-terminus. The use of an immunoradiometric assay designed to measure the proenk-A-derived 18.2 kDa peptide using PE-2 and an affinity purified and radioiodinated MetEnk-RGL IgG has supported these findings.

Adrenal Medulla↗

PubMed1988

Monoclonal antibodies to a proenkephalin A fusion peptide synthesized in Escherichia coli recognize novel proenkephalin A precursor forms.

Monoclonal antibodies have been generated to a chimeric peptide comprised of Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase fused to the amino acid sequence 69-207 of human preproenkephalin A. Two monoclonal antibodies, PE-1 and PE-2, were identified by their ability to recognize the same segment of proenkephalin A fused to the cII gene product of the E. coli bacteriophage lambda. The binding domains of PE-1 and PE-2 have been broadly located, with respect to the primary translation product, within the amino acid sequences 152-207 and 84-131, respectively. Immunoblot analysis of total bovine adrenomedullary chromaffin granule lysate reveals PE-1 and PE-2 immunoreactive forms of observed molecular mass 35, 33, 29, 24, 22, and 15 kDa, and an 18-kDa PE-1 immunoreactive form. Separation of granule membranes from their contents reveals differential membrane association of these high molecular weight polypeptides. There is preliminary evidence that PE-1 may be detecting a subset of polypeptides where shortening from the NH2 terminus has occurred. We postulate that the 35-kDa form represents the intact bovine enkephalin precursor of predicted molecular mass 27.3 kDa. This experimental approach should be generally applicable to the generation of antibodies which will recognize intact peptide precursors together with their post-translational cleavage products.

Adrenal Medulla↗

PubMed1988

Analysis of the Drosophila rDNA promoter by transient expression.

We have examined the expression of the bacterial gene chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) under the control of the Drosophila rDNA promoter following transfection into Drosophila tissue culture cells. Constructs having an entire NTS, corresponding to approximately 3640 base pairs of upstream rDNA sequence, or constructs with 306 base pairs of upstream sequence respectively, are transcribed at 5 fold or 2 fold higher levels than a construct with 43 base pairs of upstream DNA. In co-transfection experiments, the construct with the entire NTS competes for transcription 20 fold more effectively than the construct with 306 base pairs of upstream sequence. Constructs having either 72 base pairs or 60 base pairs of upstream rDNA sequences, on the other hand, are transcribed very much less efficiently than constructs with either 306 bp or with only 43 bp of upstream DNA. These sequences, which reduce levels of rDNA transcription in the absence of additional upstream DNA, lie in a region in which the rDNA promoter differs from its duplications within the NTS.

Acetyltransferases↗

PubMed1988

Smart2, a cosmid vector with a phage lambda origin for both systematic chromosome walking and P-element-mediated gene transfer in Drosophila.

We describe a new phage-lambda-replicon-based cosmid vector suitable for both chromosome walking and P-element-mediated transformation in Drosophila. Its unique BamHI cloning site is flanked by the promoters for the SP6 and T7-encoded RNA polymerases, permitting the synthesis of probes complementary to the ends of the cloned inserts for library screening. The selectable marker is tet for bacterial cell transformation and neo for Drosophila transformation expressed under the control of the Drosophila hsp70 promoter.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Nuclear and cytoplasmic mitotic cycles continue in Drosophila embryos in which DNA synthesis is inhibited with aphidicolin.

We have microinjected aphidicolin, a specific inhibitor of DNA polymerase alpha, into syncytial Drosophila embryos. This treatment inhibits DNA synthesis and, as a consequence, nuclear replication. We demonstrate that under these conditions several cycles of both centrosome replication and cortical budding continue, although the cycles have a longer periodicity than is normally found. As in uninjected embryos, when the cortical buds are present, the embryos have nuclei containing decondensed chromatin surrounded by nuclear membranes as judged by bright annular staining with an anti-lamin antibody. As the buds recede, the unreplicated chromatin condenses and lamin staining becomes weak and diffuse. Thus, both cytoplasmic and nuclear aspects of the mitotic cycle continue following the inhibition of DNA replication in the Drosophila embryo.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

polo, a mitotic mutant of Drosophila displaying abnormal spindle poles.

Neuroblast cells in larvae homozygous for mutant alleles of the locus polo show a high frequency of metaphases in which the chromosomes have a circular arrangement, and anaphase figures in which chromosomes appear to be randomly oriented with respect to at least one of the spindle poles. These defects appear to lead to the production of polyploid cells. Sex chromosome disjunction is affected in male meiosis, primarily in the second division, and the meiotic spindles of living cells are abnormal. One allele is a larval lethal, whereas another is semi-lethal with about 7% of homozygotes surviving as adults. Embryos from homozygous polo females have aberrant mitotic spindles that are highly branched and have broad poles. Immunofluorescence studies with an antibody that recognizes an antigen associated with the centrosome indicate that the organization of this organelle is disrupted in the mutant embryos.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Cloning of a gene encoding an antigen associated with the centrosome in Drosophila.

The monoclonal antibody Bx63 recognizes a centrosomal antigen of Drosophila melanogaster by indirect immunofluorescence and identifies two proteins, with apparent molecular weights of 185 x 10(3) and 66 x 10(3), on Western blots. We have used this antibody to isolate five clones (lambda cs1, -2, -3, -4 and lambda j63) from lambda gt11 expression libraries of Drosophila DNA. Using polyclonal anti-centrosomal sera raised against both immunoaffinity-purified Bx63 antigen and electrophoretically purified fusion protein from clone lambda cs3, we have demonstrated that the fusion proteins encoded by four of these clones (lambda cs1-4) share at least two epitopes with the 185 x 10(3) Mr centrosomal antigen. This indicates that clones lambda cs1-4 contain DNA from the gene coding for this protein. The four clones are independent isolates from a single chromosomal site, which we show by in situ hybridization to correspond with salivary gland chromosome region 88E 4-8. A low-abundance transcript of approximately 4.0 x 10(3) bases corresponding to the cloned gene is detected in all stages of the Drosophila life-cycle.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Cis-acting sequences sufficient for correct tissue and temporal specificity of larval serum protein 1 genes of Drosophila.

We have constructed hybrid genes in which the coding region of the bacterial gene chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) has been linked to varying lengths of upstream sequences of Drosophila genes for larval serum sequence 1 (LSP1). These have been inserted into a P-element transformation vector and subsequently transferred into the germ-line of recipient flies. Transformants carrying the CAT gene linked to 1650 bp, 570 bp or 377 bp of upstream LSP1alpha sequences, or 745 bp or 471 bp of upstream beta sequences express CAT with the same developmental and tissue specificity as the endogenous LSP1 genes. Constructs having only 66 bp of upstream LSP1beta sequences, however, show extremely low levels of CAT expression in tissues and at developmental stages in which LSP1 is not expressed. We discuss the significance of short regions of homology between the DNA upstream of the alpha and beta genes, which lie within the regions identified by the transformation experiments as being required for the cis-regulation of LSP1 synthesis.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1987

The gnu mutation of Drosophila causes inappropriate DNA synthesis in unfertilized and fertilized eggs.

Drosophila melanogaster embryos whose mothers are homozygous for the maternal effect lethal mutation gnu (GNU embryos) under DNA synthesis but no nuclear division; this leads to the formation of a small number of giant nuclei in the syncytial blastoderm. We have shown previously that many components of the mitotic apparatus are present and functional in GNU embryos, and the primary lesion of the gnu mutation has therefore remained obscure. Here, we report that fertilization is not necessary for GNU eggs to develop. Giant nuclei originate from the products of female meiosis, and we see autonomously replicating centrosomes that must be maternally derived. If GNU eggs are inseminated, however, the male pronucleus also undergoes DNA replication. Our observations suggest that the GNU cytoplasm permits DNA synthesis in a relatively unregulated manner. In embryos from females homozygous for gnu and the female sterile haploid mutation mh, we find replication of DNA derived from the male pronucleus. This contrasts with embryos from mothers homozygous for mh alone, in which this does not occur. We propose that the gnu gene product participates in the repression of DNA synthesis found in unfertilized eggs.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

The distribution of a 'mitosis-specific' antigen during Drosophila development.

We have used MPM-2, a monoclonal antibody raised against mitotic HeLa cells, to stain a Drosophila cell line, whole mounts of Drosophila embryos, and sectioned tissue from embryonic and larval stages of development. MPM-2 recognizes a major phosphoprotein of approximately 125 X 10(3) Mr in Drosophila tissue culture cells that, like the mammalian MPM-2 antigen, appears to be recognized only in mitotic cells. During early embryogenesis, when the embryonic nuclei divide as a syncytium with a very short nuclear division time, MPM-2 antigen is observed within the spindle compartment at all stages of the nuclear division cycle. Upon cellularization of the embryo and lengthening of the duration of the cycle, the antigen is predominantly seen in mitotic cells. Drosophila larvae contain both diploid and polytene tissues: in diploid tissue MPM-2 staining is specifically observed over mitotic cells, as expected from its distribution in cellularized embryos. Surprisingly, antigen is also detected in the nuclei of polytene cells that replicate their DNA but do not undergo mitosis.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Expression of HLA class II antigens and secretion of interleukin-1 by monocytes and macrophages from adults and neonates.

HLA class II antigen expression and IL-1 production by mononuclear phagocytes are important for antigen-stimulated T-cell activation. We examined these surface antigens and a monocyte marker antigen on fresh cord and adult blood monocytes, macrophages (M phi) derived from monocytes in vitro, human placental (fetal) M phi, from adult women. By FACS analysis, we found less DR on cord blood monocytes (80 +/- 7) than on adult monocytes (96 +/- 1) with greater heterogeneity in density of DR due to a weakly staining subpopulation of cord monocytes. There were markedly fewer DR and DQ positive placental M phi, 62 +/- 11% and 19 +/- 3%, compared to adult peritoneal M phi, 91 +/- 11% and 87 +/- 13%. DQ was more intense on peritoneal M phi than on any other cell type. Fresh cord monocytes secreted equal or greater amounts of interleukin-1 (IL-1) in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or Group B streptococci than adult monocytes, although results with individual preparations varied. By Northern blot analysis, LPS-stimulated cord blood and adult monocytes contained similar amounts of IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta and DR alpha mRNA. Each placental M phi preparation secreted IL-1 (200 +/- 85 U/ml to LPS). Peritoneal M phi preparations from women in the pre-luteal phase did not release detectable IL-1, whereas those from women in the post-luteal phase released as much as monocytes. Cultured monocytes failed to secrete IL-1 and expressed less DQ than fresh monocytes. Exposure to IFN gamma augmented IL-1 release by adult and cord cells and DQ expression on cord cells. These data indicate that class II antigen expression and IL-1 secretion by mononuclear phagocytes are only in part co-ordinately modulated. The differences between placental (fetal) M phi and adult peritoneal M phi may reflect both tissue-specific differences and generally diminished class II antigen expression on fetal and neonatal mononuclear phagocytes.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

The dissociation of nuclear and centrosomal division in gnu, a mutation causing giant nuclei in Drosophila.

We describe a recessive, maternal-effect lethal mutation of Drosophila, gnu. gnu uncouples nuclear division from many cytoplasmic events of mitosis in the Drosophila embryo. Embryos from homozygous females are defective in nuclear division, but not in DNA replication, and therefore develop a small number of giant nuclei. Centrosomes divide independently of nuclear division and migrate to the surface of the syncytial blastoderm. There they nucleate microtubules into asters, which appear normal at first but become very large. Only later, when the giant nuclei begin to break down, are spindles sometimes formed. The cortical actin of these embryos develops into a characteristic network.

Actins↗

PubMed1986

Sequence conservation around the 5' ends of the larval serum protein 1 genes of Drosophila melanogaster.

We have determined the nucleotide sequence at the 5' ends of the genes for the alpha, beta and gamma polypeptides of larval serum protein 1 (LSP1) of Drosophila melanogaster. In their upstream regions, the three genes share homology around the TATA boxes. There is also a homologous region of about 20 nucleotides at positions 200, 216 and 377 upstream from the alpha, beta and gamma genes, respectively. Another 18-nucleotide homology occurs between a sequence 111 nucleotides upstream from the alpha gene and 130 nucleotides upstream of the beta gene. This contains a seven-nucleotide match with a sequence 180 nucleotides upstream from the gamma gene. The sequences corresponding to the 5' non-translated regions of the RNA show two regions of strong homology: one being within the first 20 nucleotides at the very 5' end of the RNA, and the other being between nucleotides 27 and 52 of the three transcripts. The first AUG codon to precede a long open reading frame is found at nucleotides 89, 86 and 83 downstream from the 5' end of the alpha, beta and gamma RNAs, respectively. An extremely conserved nucleotide sequence with an exact homology of 66 nucleotides between the alpha and beta genes, and sharing 27 nucleotides with the gamma gene, is contained within this long open reading frame in the first exon. Conceptual translation of the long open reading frame shows that the hydrophobic nature of the first 20 amino acids of the three polypeptides has been conserved whereas the exact sequence has not. This suggests that the N termini contain signal sequences required for secretion of the protein into the haemolymph. The three genes have intervening sequences ranging from 65 to 68 nucleotides in length at comparable locations close to the 5' end of the genes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗