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Biomedical subjects

H Diggelmann

Publications and source records attributed to H Diggelmann.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Mouse mammary tumour virus related sequences are present in human DNA.

MuMTV-related sequences have been identified in the DNA of human breast cancer cells using the Southern transfer technique and hybridisation with cloned MuMTV DNA under conditions in which partially mismatched sequences form stable hybrids. Hybridisation with cloned fragments of the MuMTV genome showed that the gag-pol region shares the most homology (estimated to be greater than 80%) with the human MuMTV-related sequences, however, DNA fragments partially homologous to the MuMTV LTR, gag ad env regions were also detected. Analysis of several human DNA samples suggests that the majority of the human MuMTV-related sequences are genetically transmitted but additional Eco R1 fragments were detected in the DNA of one out of three breast cancer cell lines, MCF7. These sequences are potential probes for the human MuMTV-related retroviral sequences and will allow their possible role in human breast cancer to be evaluated.

Animals↗

Glucocorticoid regulation of mouse mammary tumor virus: identification of a short essential DNA region.

Transcription of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) DNA is stimulated by steroid hormones. To determine the DNA sequences involved in this regulation, we constructed a plasmid containing the MMTV long terminal repeat (LTR) in front of the coding region of the herpes simplex thymidine kinase gene, from which the promoter had been removed. Portions of the LTR were removed by the nuclease Ba/31, and the deleted molecules were recloned and tested for transcriptional activity in transfections of Ltk-aprt- cells. Stably transfected cell clones were selected and hormone-dependent transcription from the MMTV promoter was studied by the S1 nuclease mapping method. The results show that DNA sequences between -105 and -204 base pairs upstream from the initiation site of viral transcription are required for glucocorticoid stimulation.

Animals↗

Cloned mouse mammary tumor virus DNA exhibits glucocorticoid-dependent expression in simian virus 40-transformed mink cells.

Mink lung epithelial cells were transfected with two cloned mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) DNAs, a 9-kilobase clone derived from an unintegrated exogenous viral genome and a 14-kilobase clone containing an integrated endogenous provirus along with cellular flanking sequences. Mink lung cells were chosen because they do not contain endogenous MMTV sequences. On the basis of our observation that simian virus 40 DNA efficiently transforms these cells, we isolated cell clones containing MMTV DNA by using transformation with simian virus 40 DNA as a selective marker in cotransfection experiments. Levels of the 9-kilobase MMTV mRNA representing the entire viral genome and of the spliced 4.4-kilobase mRNA which codes for the viral envelope proteins were glucocorticoid dependent in transformed cells. Expression of low levels of Pr77gag, the precursor of the group-specific viral core proteins, and of gPr73env, the precursor of the viral envelope proteins, was also hormone dependent. We conclude that these cloned MMTV DNAs contain all the information necessary for the synthesis of normal viral RNAs and proteins. These findings also provide further evidence that the DNA sequences involved in the hormone responsiveness of MMTV expression are contained within the viral genome.

Animals↗

The region of mouse mammary tumor virus DNA containing the long terminal repeat includes a long coding sequence and signals for hormonally regulated transcription.

Starting from a biologically active recombinant DNA clone of exogenous unintegrated GR mouse mammary tumor virus, we have generated three subclones of PstI fragments of 1.45, 1.1, and 2.0 kb in the plasmid vector PBR322. The nucleotide sequence has been determined for the clone of 1.45 kb which includes almost the complete region of the long terminal repeat (LTR) plus an adjacent stretch of unique sequence DNA. A short region of the 2.0 kb clone, containing the beginning of the LTR, has also been sequenced. Starting with the A of an initiation codon outside the LTR, we detected an open reading frame of 960 nucleotides, potentially coding for a protein of 320 amino acids (36K). Two hundred nucleotides downstream from the termination codon, and approximately 25 nucleotides upstream from the presumptive initiation site of viral RNA synthesis, we found a promoter-like sequence. The sequence AGTAAA was detected approximately 15-20 nucleotides upstream from the 3' end of virion RNA and probably serves as a polyadenylation signal. The 1.45 kb PstI fragment has been transfected into Ltk- cells together with a plasmid containing the thymidine kinase gene of herpes simplex virus. The virus-specific RNA synthesis detected in a Tk+ cell clone was strongly stimulated by the addition of dexamethasone.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Isolation and analysis of genomic DNA clones encoding the third component of mouse complement.

A gene library was constructed with DNA from strain A mice by using the phage lambda vector lambda 1059. By screening with cloned cDNA for the third component of mouse complement, C3, four different C3 genomic clones were isolated from this library. Two of the recombinant phages carry insertions of 14 and 18 kilobase pairs, respectively, which together cover one complete copy of the C3 gene and several hundred nucleotides of its 5' and 3' flanking sequences. The distance from the 5' end of the gene, which includes the hexanucleotide T-A-T-A-A-A and a translation initiation codon, to its 3' end as defined by the poly(A) attachment site is 24 kilobase pairs. From the genomic DNA sequence, a signal peptide of 24 amino acid residues is predicted at the NH2 terminus of the initial translation product. The signal peptide and the next two amino acids are encoded by the first exon of this gene.

Animals↗

Sequence determination of the 3' end of mouse mammary tumor virus RNA.

70S RNA has been prepared from mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) produced by the GR tumor cell line. After denaturation for 3 min at 60 degrees C the RNA was applied to a sucrose gradient and molecules sedimenting between 10-16S were selected and passed over an oligo-dT cellulose column. The poly A containing RNA fraction was used as a template for the synthesis of complementary DNA with reverse transcriptase in the presence of dideoxynucleoside triphosphates. Oligo-nucleotides p(dT)7rG, p(dT)7rA and (p(dT)7rC were tested for their primer activity. Two of the three primers gave readable sequences. This suggests a heterogeneity in the 3' end of the viral RNA, a phenomenon also observed with avian retroviruses. Nucleotides 37-45 from the 3' end are made up of only A's and T's and resemble a Hogness box. This finding could have biological consequences for the transcription of proviral DNA in the unintegrated and integrated state. Instead of the usual AAUAAA sequence present in mRNA's close and in front of the site of polyadenylation we find a sequence AGUAAA.

Animals↗

Mouse complement components C3 and C4. Characterization of their messenger RNA and molecular cloning of complementary DNA for C3.

Mouse liver mRNA species which direct the cell-free synthesis of pro-C3 and pro-C4 polypeptides with an apparent molecular weight of 175,000 and 190,000, respectively, were shown to sediment faster than 28 S. By electrophoresis in a denaturing gel the mRNA for C3 was determined to contain approximately 7,500 ribonucleotides. cDNA was synthesized from size-fractionated mouse liver mRNA and cloned in the plasmid pBR 322. Among the cDNA clones recovered three were identified as being complementary to portions of the mRNA for C3.

Animals↗

Cloned mouse mammary tumor virus DNA is biologically active in transfected mouse cells and its expression is stimulated by glucocorticoid hormones.

We have cloned circular unintegrated mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) DNA from infected rat hepatoma cells in bacteriophage lambda. Seven independent clones containing MMTV DNA of homogeneous length of 9 kb (five) or 10 kb (two) were identified. The five 9 kb clones had identical restriction maps consistent with that of 9 kb unintegrated DNA; the other two were aberrant. MMTV DNA inserts were purified, ligated and used for cotransfection of Ltk- cells together with a plasmid containing the thymidine kinase gene of herpes simplex virus. All Tk+ cell clones acquired new MMTV sequences and those transfected with the 9 kb MMTV DNA synthesized normal viral RNA and proteins. Viral gene expression was increased by the addition of dexamethasone.

Animals↗

Murine leukemia virus proteins expressed on the surface of infected cells in culture.

Infection of JLS-V9 cells in culture with Rauscher murine leukemia virus induced the appearance on the cell surface of two classes of viral proteins: Rauscher murine leukemia virus gp70, and glycoproteins related to the viral core (gag) proteins with apparent molecular weights in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels of 80 x 10(3) and 95 x 10(3). The latter proteins were identified by lactoperoxidase-catalyzed iodination of the cell surface and by metabolic labeling with [(3)H]mannose followed by immunoprecipitation with an antiserum directed against the major viral core protein, p30. Tryptic peptide maps of chloramine T-iodinated proteins indicated that 80 x 10(3) - and 95 x 10(3)-molecular-weight proteins were closely related. The 95 x 10(3)-molecular-weight protein from Rauscher murine leukemia virus-infected cells had a tyrosine fingerprint which was identical to that of the 95 x 10(3)-molecular-weight gag surface polyprotein of endogenous virus-producing AKR-A cells, suggesting that expression on the cell surface of glycosylated forms of gag precursor polyproteins may not be an exclusive property of leukemic thymocytes, but a more general phenomenon in murine leukemia virus infection. Tryptic fingerprint analysis of iodinated viral and cell-bound gp70's before and after desialylation indicated a lower level of glycosylation in the cell-bound gp70 population than in virions. Analysis of only surface-iodinated gp70 showed a simple pattern of exposed tryptic peptides which was very similar in Rauscher murine leukemia virus-infected cells and in AKR-A cells.

Animals↗

Structural analysis of the capsid polypeptides of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2.

Capsids of herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2 contain seven polypeptides ranging in molecular weight from 154,000 to 12,000 (termed NC-1 through NC-7 in order of descending molecular weight). Antibodies prepared to HSV-1 capsid polypeptides isolated from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels reacted in an immunofluorescence assay against HSV-1-infected KB cells. Three of the antibodies (anti-NC-1, anti-NC-2, and anti-NC-3,4) also reacted with HSV-2-infected cells. Tryptic peptide analysis showed that each of the HSV-1 capsid polypeptides had a unique methionine peptide profile, and none appeared to be derived from the major capsid polypeptide. Comparative peptide analysis of HSV-1 and HSV-2 showed that one polypeptide (NC-7, 12,000 molecular weight) had an identical methionine peptide profile and a very similar arginine peptide profile in both virus types. The arginine peptide profile of NC-7 of HSV-1 was very different from the arginine profile of KB histone H4. Although there were certain intertypic similarities in the methionine peptide profiles of the other capsid components especially in NC-1 (the major capsid protein), there was no case where the tryptic peptides were identical in the two virus types.

Capsid↗

Characterization of endogenous and exogenous mouse mammary tumor virus proviral DNA with site-specific molecular clones.

Restriction fragments of the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) proviral DNA were obtained by molecular cloning procedures. A 4-kilobase fragment delimited by two PstI sites was isolated from unintegrated, linear MMTV DNA and amplified in the pBr322 plasmid vector. EcoRI fragments of proviral DNA, integrated into the genome of a GR mammary tumor cell line, were isolated as lambda recombinant molecules. Five different recombinant phages which contained the 3' region of the MMTV proviral DNA and adjacent host DNA sequences were isolated. Heteroduplex analysis and S1 nuclease digestion suggested that there is no extensive sequence homology in the host DNA flanking the different proviral genes. The cloned DNA was fractionated into site-specific restriction fragments which served as molecular probes in the analysis of the endogenous MMTV proviral copies of C3H, GR, BALB/c, and feral mice. This allowed the correlation of MMTV-specific EcoRI fragments obtained from genomic DNA of these strains with the 5' and 3' ends of the proviral gene. Restriction fragments of two clones which contained the proviral sequences adjacent to the flanking host DNA as well as 1 to 2 kilobases of host DNA were used as hybridization probes, and the results allow the following conclusions: the proviral DNA of both clones contains nucleotide sequences complementary to the 5' and 3' ends of proviral DNA; and the host DNA flanking one clone belongs to the unique class of genomic DNA, whereas the DNA flanking the second clone is reiterated at least 15 times within the mouse genome.

Animals↗

Extracellular cleavage of the glycoprotein precursor of Rous sarcoma virus.

The kinetics of cleavage of pr92gp, the precursor of the two glycoproteins of Rous sarcoma virus gp85 and gp35, were followed. Viral glycoproteins were detected by immunoprecipitation with anti-gp85 and anti-gp35 serum. It could be shown in pulse-chase experiments that little or no intracellular cleavage of the precursor took place during the time in which the majority of newly synthesized viral glycoprotein was exported from the cells. Soon after its synthesis, however, pr92gp underwent some modification that made it migrate slightly faster on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Under steady state conditions the precursor was shown to be the predominant form of intracellular viral glycoprotein. Virus which was harvested every 2 min from infected cells prelabeled for 90 min with [3H]mannose contained mostly uncleaved and only a little mature glycoprotein. By incubation of this freshly released virus in serum-free buffer, the majority of the glycoprotein precursor could be cleaved into mature gp85 and gp35. Virus harvested every 10 min contained only mature glycoproteins.

Avian Sarcoma Viruses↗

Identification of mouse mammary tumor virus-specific mRNA.

Complementary DNA corresponding to the RNA genome of mouse mammary tumor virus was used to identify viral RNA contained in polysomes of a virus-producing mammary tumor cell line. Separation of polysomal mRNA by agarose gel electrophoresis, transfer of the RNA to diazobenzyloxymethyl paper, and hybridization with 32P-labeled mouse mammary tumor virus complementary DNA revealed three viral RNA size classes of 10, 8.8, and 4.4 kilobases in length, respectively.

Animals↗