[A case of cholangiocarcinoma with temporary subsegmental fatty liver and intrahepatic portal aneurysm].
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Publications and source records attributed to K Mihara.
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Recent 2-color phenotypic analysis using anti-CD38 antibody reveals that plasma cells alone locate at CD38strong positive (CD38++) fraction and expression of adhesion molecules such as VLA-5 and MPC-1 can define VLA-5-MPC-1- immature, VLA-5-MPC-1+ intermediate and VLA-5+ MPC-1+ mature plasma (myeloma) cells. Furthermore, phenotypic analysis of plasma cells with anti-CD19 and -CD56 antibodies can distinguish normal (polyclonal) plasma cells from malignant (monoclonal) plasma cells; normal plasma cells from various tissues are all CD19+ CD56-, while malignant plasma cells are mostly CD19- CD56+. Therefore, this 2-color phenotypic analysis is very useful for differential diagnosis of bone marrow plasmacytosis, that is, myeloma, benign monoclonal gammopathy or polyclonal gammopathy, and furthermore contributes to understanding of differentiated stages of myeloma cells (immature, intermediate or mature myeloma cells).
MSF, a mitochondrial import stimulation factor purified from rat liver cytosol, is an ATP-dependent precursor protein conformational modulator. As a step toward understanding the specificity of substrate recognition by MSF, various synthetic peptides were examined for their ability to induce MSF ATPase activity. The peptides corresponding to various mitochondria-targeting signal sequences elicited significant ATPase activity. MSF bound the synthetic mitochondrial signal peptides, and ATP hydrolysis caused dissociation of the peptides from MSF. Basic amino acid residues in the signal peptides seemed to be essential for recognition. Thus, MSF is a member of the polypeptide chain-binding protein family with unique recognition specificity and is distinct from the hsp70 family of proteins.
Mitochondrial import stimulation factor (MSF) unfolds wheat germ lysate synthesized aggregated mitochondrial precursor proteins and stimulates their mitochondrial import in an ATP dependent manner. Here we analysed the function of MSF mainly by utilizing chemically pure adrenodoxin precursor (pAd). MSF bound to the unfolded pAd and prevented it from losing import competence and also restored the import competence of the aggregated pAd dependent on ATP hydrolysis. The import incompetent aggregated mitochondrial precursors induced the ATPase activity of MSF and the activity was strongly inhibited by isolated mitochondrial outer membrane (OM) but not by trypsin treated outer membrane (tOM). The precursor induced ATPase activity of N-ethylmaleimide (NEM)-treated MSF was not inhibited by OM. In this context, the MSF-precursor complex specifically bound to OM and binding was abolished both by the treatment of OM with trypsin and by the treatment of MSF with NEM. These results show that MSF is a novel cytoplasmic chaperone protein with a mitochondrial precursor-targeting function.
We examined the structural characteristics of the extension peptides responsible for the recognition by the mitochondrial processing peptidase by using preadrenodoxin, which has a long extension peptide of 58 amino acid residues, as the substrate. The deletion of various parts of the extension peptide of pre-adrenodoxin indicated that more than 40 amino acid residues and the presence of basic amino acid residues in the distal portion (20-40 amino acid residues upstream of the cleavage site) were necessary for the recognition of the precursor by the peptidase. The processing of preadrenodoxin was strongly inhibited by the synthetic peptide corresponding to the middle portion of the extension peptide, whereas the peptide corresponding to the amino-terminal portion exhibited weak inhibition of the processing. The replacement of arginine residues in the middle portion of the extension peptide with neutral amino acids resulted in a great decrease in the processing. We conclude that basic amino acids at a position distal to the cleavage site are necessary for the recognition of the precursor proteins by the processing peptidase and that basic amino acids required for the mitochondrial targeting and those for the recognition by the peptidase are separately located in the extension peptide of pre-adrenodoxin.
It was determined whether human hepatocyte growth factor (hHGF)-producing ability would change in the human embryonic lung fibroblast cell strains (MRC-5 and IMR-90) until the cells senesced in culture. The effects of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), dexamethasone, and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) on hHGF production were also studied in these cell strains. For stimulation of DNA synthesis of adult rat hepatocytes in primary culture, hHGF secreted by MRC-5 cells at 39.9 and 69.8 population doubling levels (PDLs) showed almost the same activity as recombinant hHGF. Secretion of hHGF by MRC-5 cells increased about threefold between 37.3 and 67.8 PDLs. IMR-90 cells also showed about a threefold increase in hHGF secretion with increased passage from 37.8 to 66.0 PDL. Both cell strains showed almost the same ratio of hHGF amount in the cell extracts to that secreted into the medium around 40 and 70 PDLs. Northern blot analysis showed that the transcriptional level of the hHGF gene in MRC-5 cells increased about three-fold from 42.0 to 73.6 PDL in culture. These findings indicated that hHGF production increased in both cell strains with aging in culture. Production of hHGF in both cell strains was remarkably stimulated by treatment with 10 nM PMA. On the other hand, hHGF production in both cell strains was slightly suppressed by treatment with 1 microM dexamethasone. TGF-beta at a concentration of 5 ng/ml prominently inhibited hHGF production in both cell strains. The response of both cell strains to these regulators for hHGF production was almost the same around 40 and 70 PDLs in culture.
Protein insertion into mitochondrial outer membrane (OM) vesicles isolated from Neurospora crassa has recently been reported. The N. crassa OM vesicles retained the features of the intact mitochondria concerning the dependency of insertion on the receptor protein [A. Mayer et al. (1993) J. Cell Biol. 121, 1233-1243]. In this study, OM vesicles were purified from bovine adrenal cortex mitochondria, and unilamellar proteoliposomes were reconstituted from OM vesicles using heptyl beta-thioglucoside. Both OM vesicles and the reconstituted outer membrane vesicles (ROM) were able to import porin, but unable to import the precursor of adrenodoxin, which translocates across both the outer and inner membranes of intact mitochondria. Porin insertion into both OM vesicles and ROM was inhibited in the presence of purified recombinant adrenodoxin precursor and also by ATP depletion, and was dependent on the trypsin-sensitive membrane surface factor, suggesting that the purified OM vesicles as well as ROM retained the properties of the intact OM concerning porin insertion. The protein import machinery of OM seems to be functional for the outer membrane protein without the participation of the inner membrane. The successful reconstitution of the protein import activity from solubilized OM will pave the way for further biochemical characterization of the protein import machinery of OM.
Microsomal-type cytochrome P450s are integral membrane proteins bound to the membrane through their N-terminal transmembrane hydrophobic segment, the signal anchor sequence. To elucidate the determinants that enable the P450s to be located in the ER, we constructed cDNAs encoding chimeric proteins in which a secretory form of carboxyesterase, carboxyesterase Sec, was connected to the N-terminus of the full-length or truncated forms of a microsomal-type P450, P450(M1), and the constructed plasmids were expressed in COS cells. Since carboxyesterase Sec is an N-glycosylated secretory protein, endo H treatment could be used to determine whether these chimeric proteins were located in the ER or not. Carboxyesterase Sec with the N-terminal 20 amino acids, containing the transmembrane region, of P450(M1), was located in the ER, as determined from the endo H sensitivity of the expressed protein and immunofluorescence staining of the cells. As the expressed protein exhibited carboxyesterase activity, it was not retained in the ER through the BiP-dependent quality control system recognizing unfolded proteins. Another chimeric protein construct in which carboxyesterase Sec was connected to the C-terminal region of rat UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UDP-GT), that contained a double-lysin ER retention motif, was also located in the ER, as determined from the endo H sensitivity and immunofluorescence staining. On the other hand, the sugar moiety of the carboxyesterase Sec connected to the transmembrane segment of UDP-GT, Sec/GTd, was partially resistant to the endo H treatment. From the results of immunofluorescent staining and cell fractionation, it was concluded that the Sec/GTd product was located in the Golgi apparatus. These observations indicated that the N-terminal hydrophobic segment of P450(M1) is sufficient for the ER membrane retention, whereas the transmembrane segment of UDP-GT is not. To determine whether microsomal P450s are recycled between the ER and Golgi compartments or not, a DNA construct encoding cathepsin D connected to the N-terminus of P450(M1) was prepared and expressed in COS cells. The fusion protein was phosphorylated, but the phosphorylation was sensitive to alkaline phosphatase. As a control, authentic cathepsin D was subjected to phosphorylation of its oligosaccharide chain that was resistant to the alkaline phosphatase treatment. Since GlcNAc-P-transferase, which forms the alkaline phosphatase-resistant phosphodiester in the sugar chains of lysosome-targeting proteins, is located in the Golgi apparatus, it was concluded that the oligosaccharide chain of the cathepsin D portion of the fusion protein was not phosphorylated, and that the chimeric protein did not go to the Golgi apparatus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
We identified a liver cytosolic protein factor that stimulated the import of wheat germ lysate-synthesized precursor proteins into mitochondria. It was termed mitochondrial import stimulation factor or MSF [Hachiya, N. et al. (1993) EMBO J. 12, 1579-1586]. It consisted of 32-kDa (MSFL) and 30-kDa (MSFS) polypeptides as assessed by SDS-PAGE. MSF recognized the presequence portion of mitochondrial precursor proteins and catalyzed the depolymerization and unfolding of in vitro synthesized mitochondrial precursor proteins in an ATP-dependent manner. We report here the cDNA cloning and characterization of MSF. Microsequencing of MSFL and MSFS showed that they belonged to a highly conserved, widely distributed eukaryotic protein family, collectively designated as 14-3-3 proteins. We cloned the cDNA of MSFL and that of one component of MSFS (MSFS1) from a rat liver cDNA library. The cloned cDNAs were separately expressed in Escherichia coli and the expressed proteins were purified to homogeneity. The purified recombinant MSFL and MSFS1 stimulated mitochondrial import of adrenodoxin precursor (pAd) synthesized in vitro with wheat germ lysate translation system. Recombinant MSFL or MSFS1 had the ability to bind with denatured pAd and they kept the precursor in an import-competent state. Rabbit polyclonal antibodies raised against the recombinant proteins inhibited the import-stimulation activity of rat liver cytosol as well as that of authentic purified MSF. Identification of MSF as 14-3-3 proteins establishes a novel function for this family of proteins and indicates their role as cytosolic chaperones to aid many important cellular events.
The renal disposition characteristics of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and its derivatives, including macromolecular conjugates with polyethylene glycol and carboxymethyl-dextran, a cationized derivative, and glycosylated derivatives with galactose and mannose, were studied in the isolated perfused rat kidney. Renal disposition processes, such as glomerular filtration, tubular reabsorption, and uptake from the capillary side, were quantitatively determined by single-pass indicator dilution experiments under filtering and nonfiltering kidney conditions. Native SOD had a high glomerular filtration rate (40% of that of inulin) and was effectively reabsorbed in the tubules, while no significant uptake was observed from capillary side. Macromolecular conjugates showed restricted glomerular filtration due to an increase in molecular size. Cationization of SOD greatly enhanced its association with the tissue, not only from the luminal side but also from the capillary side, based upon electrostatic interaction. Galactosylated and mannosylated SOD showed reduced tubular reabsorption and increased exposure of the luminal surface to the enzyme. In addition, a small but significant uptake of mannosylated SOD from the capillary side was observed. This uptake was dose-dependent and completely inhibited by mannan, suggesting that mannose receptor-mediated endocytosis existed in the capillary side of the kidney. Thus, we can manipulate the renal disposition profiles of SOD by changing its physicochemical or biological properties through chemical modification.
Therapeutic effect of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and three derivatives: a conjugate with polyethylene glycol (SOD-PEG2), a cationized derivative (cSOD), and a mannosylated derivative (Man-SOD), on acute renal failure induced by ischemia/reperfusion was studied in rats. SOD and derivatives were administered intravenously to the rat after nephrectomy of the right kidney and before and after 60 min occlusion of the left renal artery. At 48 hr after reperfusion, the renal function was evaluated by determining the urinary excretion rate of 14C-inulin injected intravenously. No therapeutic effect on the impaired renal function was shown in the case of low dose SOD (2600 unit/kg) treatment. In contrast, administration of cSOD which was shown to be taken up by the isolated perfused kidney from its capillary side and SOD-PEG2 which maintained high plasma concentration exhibited significant therapeutic effect, as did SOD at ten-fold higher dose (26,000 unit/kg). On the other hand, renal damage was promoted by Man-SOD. Thus, the present study demonstrated that chemical modification may improve the therapeutic effect of SOD on the ischemic acute renal failure and increased SOD concentration in the renal vascular space is an important factor for the improved effect.
The structure of mutant bacteriorhodopsin (bR), D85N, was examined by CD and X-ray diffraction at pH 7. The absorption maximum of D85N at pH 7 is located at 605 nm, which is similar to the acid-blue form of wild-type bR. D85N shows a monophasic CD band, the maximum of which is at 575 nm, although the crystalline arrangement and the trimeric structure is maintained. The acid-blue form of wild-type bR shows a biphasic CD despite the similarity in absorption spectra.
It was found that cytochrome P-450(arom) purified from human placenta microsomes is glycosylated, and the sugar chain was cleaved with endoglycosidase H (Endo H). The core glycosylation of P-450(arom) was examined with two heterologous expression systems, cultured insect cells and in vitro translation system. The P-450(arom) protein expressed in the insect cells was glycosylated, and the sugar chain was sensitive to Endo H. It was also glycosylated when translated with the wheat germ cell-free system in the presence of rough microsomal membrane, and the sugar chain could be removed by Endo H treatment. Since the P-450(arom) molecule has two potential glycosylation sites (Asn-12 and Asn-180), we replaced each of the 2 asparagine residues with alanine by site-directed mutagenesis and examined the glycosylation of the two mutant proteins in the cell-free system. The core glycosylation did not occur when the Asn-12 residue was mutated, whereas the mutant protein with modified Asn-180 residue was glycosylated. These results demonstrated that the potential glycosylation site (Asn-12) in the N-terminal portion of P-450(arom) is the site of glycosylation. We conclude that the N terminus of P-450(arom) is translocated across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane to be glycosylated at the luminal side.
Recent advances in the small angle X-ray scattering technique have made it possible to obtain information on the spatial distribution of protein structure in solution, such as the radius of gyration and shape of the molecule, in a relatively short time. We have studied the various conformational states of horse ferricytochrome c by small angle X-ray scattering. Whereas Guinier plots showed that the radius of gyration of the molten globule state is slightly larger than that of the native state, Kratky plots indicated that their shape is globular. To clarify the mechanism of the formation of the molten globule state, we measured, by the small angle X-ray scattering, the equilibrium transition at pH 2 from the acid-unfolded state to the molten globule state, which was induced either by the addition of NaCl or the acetylation of lysyl amino groups. The Kratky plots at various stages of folding showed an isoscattering point, strongly suggesting a two-state mechanism. For both the NaCl and acetylation-induced transitions, the transition curve determined from Kratky plots agreed well with the transition curves from far-ultraviolet circular dichroism, tryptophan fluorescence, and Soret absorption, further supporting the two-state mechanism.
Normal human fibroblasts (the OUMS-24 strain), derived from a 6-week-old human embryo, were transformed (into the OUMS-24F line) and immortalized by repeated treatments (59 times) with 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO). Treatment began during primary culture and ended at the 51st population doubling level (PDL). At the 57th PDL (146 days after the last treatment), morphologically altered, epithelial-type cells appeared, began to grow and became immortal (now past the 100th PDL). However, the control fibroblasts, which were not treated with 4NQO, senesced at the 62nd PDL. The finding that extensive, repeated treatments with 4NQO are required for the immortalization of normal human cells, indicates that multiple mutational events are involved in the immortalization of human cells in general. In other words, immortalization itself seems to be a multi-step process. Karyotypic analysis showed that many cells were hypodiploid before immortalization, but that afterwards chromosomes were distributed broadly in the diploid to tetraploid regions. The immortalized cells showed amplification and enhanced expression of c-myc. Two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis showed that the number of disappearing cellular proteins was greater than the number of the newly appearing ones after the cells became immortalized. Since the immortalized cells showed neither anchorage-independent growth nor tumorigenicity, they are useful for studying factors that can contribute to multi-step carcinogenesis in human cells. In addition, genetically matched normal (OUMS-24) and immortalized (OUMS-24F) cells will be useful for analyzing the genes related to cellular mortality and immortalization.
Rat liver cytosol contained an activity that stimulated the import of wheat germ lysate-synthesized precursor proteins into mitochondria. The activity was purified 10,000-fold from the cytosol as a homogeneous heterodimeric protein. This protein (termed mitochondrial import stimulation factor or MSF) stimulated the binding and import of mitochondrial precursor proteins. MSF was also found to recognize the presequence portion of mitochondrial precursors and catalyze the depolymerization and unfolding of in vitro synthesized mitochondrial precursor proteins in an ATP-dependent manner; in this connection, MSF exhibited ATPase activity depending on the important-incompetent mitochondrial precursor protein. The mitochondrial binding and import-stimulating activities were strongly inhibited by the pretreatment of MSF with NEM, whereas the ATP-dependent depolymerization activity was insensitive to the NEM treatment, suggesting that the process subsequent to the unfolding was inhibited with the NEM treatment. We conclude that MSF is a multifunctional cytoplasmic chaperone specific for mitochondrial protein import.
The cells derived from the human embryo liver tissue were transfected with a plasmid pSV3neo containing both the large and small T-antigen gene of the early region of simian virus 40 (SV40), and two cell strains, OUMS-21 and -22, were obtained. OUMS-22 cells, to date, have reached over 100 population doublings through a culture crisis and are considered to have become an immortal cell line. However, OUMS-21 cells failed to become an immortal cell line. Both OUMS-21 and -22 cells were SV40 T-antigen-positive, epithelial-like, and immunoreactive against an anti-keratin 18 monoclonal antibody but against neither an anti-vimentin nor an anti-von Willebrandt factor VIII monoclonal antibody. The staining pattern of cytokeratin in these cells was similar to that in the differentiated human hepatoblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines but not to that in the human cholangiocellular carcinoma cell lines. OUMS-21 and -22 cells expressed neither alpha-fetoprotein nor albumin mRNAs. These cells showed no tyrosine aminotransferase activity. However, both OUMS-21 and -22 cells were sensitive to cytotoxicity of aflatoxin B1, 3-amino-1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole, and benzo[a]pyrene, whereas human embryo lung fibroblasts were insensitive to the cytotoxicity of these carcinogens. These findings suggest that OUMS-21 and -22 cells may arise from undifferentiated liver stem cells or from hepatocytes that lost their ability to express the liver-specific functions prior to immortalization. Both OUMS-21 and -22 cells expressed glutathione S-transferase pi (GST-pi) mRNA. The expression of GST-pi mRNA highly increased in OUMS-22 cells with their immortalization. Karyotypic analysis showed that numerical and structural aberrations of the chromosomes were profound, but neither specific events nor marker chromosomes were found in OUMS-21 and -22 cells. Both OUMS-21 and -22 cells could grow in soft agar, but they were not tumorigenic when transplanted into nude mice.
Genetic analysis was carried out in human fibroblasts (KMST-6) immortalized by treatment with 60Co gamma rays in order to determine if any genetic change was involved in the immortal transformation of human cells. Analysis by restriction fragment length polymorphism revealed an alteration in chromosome 13q12-14, in which the retinoblastoma (RB) gene locus (13q14) is located. Then the RB gene itself was examined. Structural abnormalities in the RB gene were detected by Southern blot analysis. Furthermore, abnormal RB protein (pRB) was expressed in immortalized KMST-6 cells, as shown by in vitro phosphorylation, whereas normal KMS-6 cells expressed the intact pRB. These findings indicated that inactivation of the RB gene is one of the key events of the immortalization of human cells.