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P Traub

Publications and source records attributed to P Traub.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

High resolution analysis of cell cycle-correlated vimentin expression in asynchronously grown, TPA-treated MPC-11 cells by the novel flow cytometric multiparameter BrdU-Hoechst/PI and immunolabeling technique.

High resolution, multiparameter analysis using the flow cytometric BrdU/Hoechst quenching technique has been applied to study cell cycle kinetics and vimentin expression in individual cells of asynchronously grown MPC-11 mouse plasmacytoma cell cultures treated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) to induce in vitro differentiation. BrdU treatment up to 16 h in the absence or presence of TPA did not affect either cell cycle progression or the kinetics or quantity of vimentin expression. TPA-treated cells became arrested in G1 phase of the second cell cycle; however, this G1 phase arrest was transient only. In addition, G1 phase cells located prior to a putative transition point at the beginning of TPA treatment were completely blocked in cell cycle progression. There is also evidence that cells located in G1 or G2/M phase at the beginning of TPA treatment finally expressed low levels of vimentin. On the contrary, cells located in S phase at TPA exposure showed high vimentin levels after treatment. The results presented here show that, with the flow cytometric BrdU/Hoechst quenching technique, one can correlate time-dependent protein expression at the single cell level in asynchronously grown cultures not only with the actual cell cycle state, but also with the history of cell replication.

Animals↗

Structural elements of the amino-terminal head domain of vimentin essential for intermediate filament formation in vivo and in vitro.

The biological functions of the non-alpha-helical, N- and C-terminal head and tail domains of intermediate filament (IF) proteins are still ill-defined. Previously, it has been shown that the basic, N-terminal head piece of the type III IF protein vimentin is essential for regular IF assembly and that arginine residues within the N-terminus may be involved. In order to identify particular regions within this domain essential for filament formation and stabilization, N-terminally truncated and arginine substitution forms of vimentin were constructed via site-directed in vitro mutagenesis of murine vimentin cDNA. The de novo filament assembly properties of these modified forms were compared with those of wild-type vimentin after transient expression in vimentin-free, cultured cells. In order to investigate their filament assembly competence in vitro, they were also produced in an E. coli expression system. It could be demonstrated that deletion of the first 10, 13, 17, and 32 amino acid residues, respectively, from the N-terminus of vimentin has an increasingly deleterious effect on filament assembly in vitro and network formation in vivo and that, thus, the highly conserved sequence motif, SSYRRXFGG, located in the N-terminus of various IF proteins and partially or totally removed by the above deletions plays a particularly important role in both activities. These results were confirmed and extended by arginine point mutations in the N-terminal head region, which showed that only one of the two adjacent arginine residues located within the conserved sequence motif is essential for filament assembly and stability in vitro as well as network formation in vivo. The neighboring arginine residues could be replaced by lysine residues without severe effects on the assembly properties of the respective mutant proteins. Distinction between the assembly-promoting potentials of the two arginine residues of the N-terminal doublet was considerably facilitated by a Val389-->Asp substitution toward the carboxy-end of the 2B segment of the vimentin rod domain. The synergistic effect of point mutations in this and the N-terminal region of the vimentin molecule implies the interaction of both protein domains in the process of filament assembly. Mutant vimentin proteins that were characterized by distinct incompetence to assemble into IFs caused a massive collapse of the endogenous vimentin filament system when expressed in mouse skin fibroblasts.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Pepstatin A: polymerization of an oligopeptide.

Pepstatin A, a pentapeptide with the molecular weight of 686, is a naturally occurring inhibitor of aspartyl proteases secreted by Streptomyces species. Above a critical concentration of 0.1 mM at low ionic strength and neutral pH, it can polymerize into filaments which may extend over several micrometers. After negative staining, these filaments show a helical substructure with characteristic diameters ranging from 6 to 12 nm. Selected images at higher magnification suggest the filaments are composed of two intertwined 6 nm strands. This is in agreement with the optical diffraction analysis which additionally established a periodic pitch of 25 nm for the helical intertwining. Rotary shadowing of the pepstatin A filaments clearly demonstrated the right-handedness of the helical twist. In physiological salt solution or at higher concentrations of pepstatin A, a variety of higher order structures were observed, including ribbons, sheets and cylinders with both regular and twisted or irregular geometries. Pepstatin A can interact with intermediate filament subunit proteins. These proteins possess a long, alpha-helical rod domain that forms coiled-coil dimers, which through both hydrophobic and ionic interactions form tetramers which, in turn, in the presence of physiological salt concentrations, polymerize into the 10 nm intermediate filaments. In the absence of salt, pepstatin A and intermediate filament proteins polymerize into long filaments with a rough surface and a diameter of 15-17 nm. This polymerization appears to be primarily driven by nonionic interactions between pepstatin A and polymerization-competent forms of intermediate filament proteins, resulting in a composite filament. Polymerization-incompetent proteolytic fragments of vimentin, lacking portions of the head and/or tail domain, failed to copolymerize with pepstatin A into long filaments under these conditions. These peptides, as well as bovine serum albumin, were found to stick to the surface of pepstatin A filaments, ribbons and sheets. Independent evidence for direct association of pepstatin A with intermediate filament subunit proteins was provided not only by electron microscopy but also by UV difference spectra. Pepstatin A loses its ability to inhibit the aspartyl protease of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 following polymerization into the higher order structures described here. The amazing fact that pepstatin A can spontaneously self-associate to form very large polymers seems to be a more rare event for such small peptides. The other examples of synthetic or naturally occurring oligopeptides discussed in this review which are able to polymerize into higher order structures possess a common property, their hydrophobicity, often manifested by clusters of valine or isoleucine residues.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Intermediate Filament Proteins↗

Defects of the first branchial cleft.

Four cases of first branchial arch defects are presented. The literature relating to such defects is reviewed and a possible embryogenic mechanism is proposed with particular reference to the disposition of the facial nerve. The classification of these defects into Types I and II by Work (1972) is supported.

Branchial Region↗

Identification of novel phosphorylation sites in murine A-type lamins.

We report the distribution of phosphorylation sites in murine lamins A and C (A-type lamins) in vitro and in vivo followed by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and microsequencing of peptides spanning the almost complete lamin sequence. We show that two distinct protein kinases, cell-division-cycle-2 kinase (cdc2 kinase) and protein kinase C (PKC), phosphorylate murine A-type lamins at the non-alpha-helical amino- and carboxy-terminal domains in vitro and in vivo. Cdc2 kinase, but not PKC, is capable of inducing depolymerization of the nuclear lamina in permeabilized cells. Accordingly, lamins were proposed to be direct in vivo substrates of cdc2 kinase and PKC with different effects on the lamina dynamics. Analysis of the original A-type lamins revealed phosphorylation of residues Ser5 and Ser392. Residue Ser392 was substoichiometrically phosphorylated in the substrate and by cdc2 kinase in vitro. PKC phosphorylated peptides with its kinase-specific motifs surrounding Ser5, Thr199, Thr416, Thr480 and Ser625. In vivo, a mitosis-specific phosphorylation at the cdc2-kinase-specific phosphoacceptor site Ser392 and of the N-terminal peptide was identified. An interphase-specific phosphorylation at Ser525 matching the PKC consensus sequence and of peptides phosphorylated by unknown kinases was determined. The results lead us to propose that different cyclin-dependent kinase activities act as lamin kinases in mitosis and in interphase. Other kinases may cooperate with cdc2 kinase during reversible disassembly in mitosis and may modulate the supramolecular assembly of lamin filaments.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Separation and characterization of homo and hetero-oligomers of the intermediate filament proteins desmin and vimentin.

Affinity chromatography on single-stranded (ss)DNA-cellulose in conjunction with gel permeation chromatography in the presence of urea was employed to separate the intermediate filament (IF) protein complement of catalytically oxidized BHK-21 cell Triton cytoskeletons into disulfide-cross-linked homo- and heterodimers of desmin and vimentin and uncross-linked homodimers. The same separation was performed on a desmin-vimentin mixture under autoxidizing conditions in 6 M-urea to obtain the respective cross-linked collision complexes of both proteins. In 5 M-urea, the oxidation products were identified as dimers that were physically indistinguishable from uncross-linked homodimers, suggesting that they were in the form of partially denatured face-to face pairs. Heterodimers derived from intact IFs were identical to those derived from collision complexes. In the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol, heterodimers were unstable and transformed spontaneously into homodimers. After removal of urea, all cross-linked dimers were totally unable to polymerize into filaments; however, in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol they showed a normal assembly competence. This inability of oxidized homo- and heterodimers to polymerize, together with the relatively low yield of cross-linked dimers obtained from cytoskeletons, is probably due to the introduction of steric strain into the dimers by disulfide bond formation. Substantial amounts of cross-linked heterodimers could also be isolated from IFs reconstituted from mixtures of desmin and vimentin in their homodimeric or tetrameric forms. Taken together, these results suggest that the cross-linked dimers isolated from cytoskeletons arise from a reaction between subfilament strands of IFs rather than from disulfide bond formation within pre-existing dimers and that the heterotypic IFs of BHK-21 cells are largely formed from homodimers and tetramers, respectively, rather than from heterodimers. The differential capacity of desmin and vimentin to interact with ssDNA has also been exploited to distinguish between homotypic and heterotypic protofilaments, the latter consisting of one homodimer of each protein species. This distinction could be made on the basis of characteristic differences in the sedimentation behavior of the respective protein-DNA complexes.

Animals↗

Assembly of intermediate filaments.

The assembly of intermediate filaments is a fundamental property of the central rod domain of the individual subunit proteins. This rod domain, with its high propensity for alpha-helix formation, is the common and identifying feature of this family of proteins. Assembly occurs in vitro in the absence of other proteins or exogenous sources of energy; in vivo, it appears as if other factors, as yet poorly understood, modulate the assembly of intermediate filaments. Parallel, in-register dimers form via coiled-coil interactions of the rod domain. Tetramers may form from staggered arrays of parallel or antiparallel arrangements of dimers. Higher-order polymerization, which occurs spontaneously if the ionic strength of a mixture of dimers and tetramers is raised, proceeds rapidly through poorly described intermediates to the final 10 nm filament. This process is dependent on and modulated by the non-alpha-helical end domains, as well as those amino acids present at the very beginning and end of the rod domain. The interactions governing tetramer formation are most probably the same ones that are responsible for the lateral and longitudinal associations within intermediate filaments.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Heat-induced morphological and biochemical changes in the nuclear lamina from Ehrlich ascites tumor cells in vivo.

Membrane-depleted nuclei from Ehrlich ascites tumor (EAT) cells isolated at low ionic strength in the presence of EDTA exhibit highly decondensed chromatin fibers and a loss of morphologically identifiable nucleoli. Treatment of these nuclei with nucleases and 2 M NaCl followed by low-speed centrifugation permitted the facile isolation of the nuclear lamina layer. Under the same conditions, but after heat-shock treatment of the living cells, the chromatin appears in a more condensed state, the nucleoli are well-defined, and the nuclear lamina layer was destabilized in concert with the appearance of an internal nuclear matrix and nucleolar skeleton. Furthermore, we also found both an increase in the protein mass as well as the appearance of a relatively large number of new proteins in this fraction, which are phosphorylated. The major proteins of the nuclear lamina, the lamins, and the residual vimentin remained insoluble. These heat-shock-induced changes were also accompanied by a dephosphorylation of lamins A and C but not of lamin B.

Animals↗

Cleavage of human and mouse cytoskeletal and sarcomeric proteins by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease. Actin, desmin, myosin, and tropomyosin.

HeLa cell actin was cleaved by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease when in its soluble, globular form (G-actin). No cleavage of the polymerized, filamentous form of actin (F-actin) was observed when examined by denaturing gel electrophoresis; however, electron microscopy revealed a low level of cleavage of F-actin. Immunoblotting of mouse skeletal and human pectoral muscle myofibrils treated in vitro with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease showed that myosin heavy chain, desmin, tropomyosin, and a fraction of the actin were all cleaved. Electron microscopy of these myofibrils demonstrated changes consistent with cleavage of these proteins: Z-lines were rapidly lost, the length of the A bands was shortened, and the thick filaments (myosin filaments) were often laterally frayed such that the structures disintegrated. Nonmuscle myosin heavy chains were also cleaved by this enzyme in vitro. These data demonstrate that this protease can cause alterations in muscle cell ultrastructure in vitro that may be of clinical relevance in infected individuals.

Actins↗

Characterization of the nucleic acid-binding activities of the isolated amino-terminal head domain of the intermediate filament protein vimentin reveals its close relationship to the DNA-binding regions of some prokaryotic single-stranded DNA-binding proteins.

In order to demonstrate that the nucleic acid-binding activities of vimentin are dictated by its Arg-rich N-terminal head domain, this was cut off at position Lys96 with lysine-specific endoproteinase and analysed for its capacity to associate with a variety of synthetic and naturally occurring nucleic acids. The isolated polypeptide (vim NT) showed a preference for single-stranded (ss) polynucleotides, particularly for ssDNAs of high G-content. A comparison of the sequence and predicted secondary structure of vim NT with that of two prokaryotic ssDNA-binding proteins, G5P and G32P of bacteriophages fd and T4, respectively, revealed that the nucleic acid-binding region of all three polypeptides is almost entirely in the beta-conformation and characterized by a very similar distribution of aromatic amino acid residues. A partial sequence of vim NT can be folded into the same beta-loop structure as the DNA-binding wing of G5P of bacteriophage fd and related viruses. As in the case of G5P, nitration of the Tyr residues with tetranitromethane was blocked by single-stranded nucleic acids. This and spectroscopic data indicate intercalation of the Tyr aromatic ring systems between the bases of the nucleic acids and thus the contribution of a stacking component to the binding reaction. The binding was accompanied by significant changes in the ultraviolet absorption spectra of both vim NT and single-stranded nucleic acids. Upon mixing of vim NT with nucleic acids, massive precipitation of the reactants occurred, followed by the quick rearrangement of the aggregates with the formation of specific and soluble association products. Even at very high ionic strengths, at which no electrostatic reaction should be expected, a distinct fraction of vim NT incorporated naturally occurring ssRNAs and ssDNAs into fast sedimenting complexes, suggesting co-operative interaction of the polypeptide with the nucleic acids. In electron microscopy, the complexes obtained from 28 S rRNA appeared as networks of extended nucleic acid strands densely covered with vim NT, in contrast to the compact random coils of uncomplexed RNA. The networks produced from fd DNA were heterogeneous in appearance and their nucleoprotein strands in rare cases were very similar to the rod-like structures of G5P-fd DNA complexes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Fluorescence study of the nucleic acid binding site of vimentin.

A selective tyrosine fluorescence quenching is found on interaction of vimentin with poly(dT) and poly(rA). However, addition of poly(dA) does not result in tyrosine quenching. The number of nucleotides covered by vimentin upon binding (n) of poly(dT) (50 +/- 4) appeared to be approximately the same as for poly(rA) (44 +/- 4), while the apparent binding constant (K(app)) of the latter is slightly larger (5.0 +/- 2.0 x 10(7) M-1.cm-1 vs. 2.5 +/- 0.5 x 10(7) M-1.cm-1). The finding that there exists a specific strong interaction between vimentin and nucleic acids could help in the search for cellular functions of intermediate filament proteins.

Binding Sites↗

Species-specific recognition patterns of monoclonal antibodies directed against vimentin.

Two commercially available monoclonal antibodies raised against the intermediate filament protein vimentin were characterized concerning their species-specific reaction pattern on vertebrate cells. The antibody V9 exhibited extensive reactivity with vimentin of all mammalian species tested, but specifically did not detect vimentin in mouse cells and chicken fibroblasts. The antibody VIM 3B4 recognized vimentin in cells of chicken and most mammalian species, except for rodent species. Characterization of the binding site of VIM 3B4 on human vimentin by limited proteolysis and immunoblotting as well as by sequence comparison strongly suggested that the epitope is located in the coil 2 part of the vimentin rod domain. Site-directed mutagenesis of a mouse vimentin cDNA clone followed by in vivo expression showed that VIM 3B4 could detect rodent vimentin containing a single amino acid substitution (valine for leucine) at position 353 of the mouse vimentin sequence. Practical application for this finding was demonstrated by the unequivocal identification of a modified murine vimentin protein, distinct from the endogenous vimentin, in a cytoplasmic intermediate filament network in mouse skin fibroblasts transfected with a recombinant plasmid expression vector.

Animals↗

Potential role of the viral protease in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 associated pathogenesis.

Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) results in a variety of pathological changes culminating in the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). While most of these changes can readily be accounted for either by direct effects of HIV-1 on the immune system or by indirect effects of secondary infectious agents as a result of faulty immune surveillance, the direct cause for a number of disease states, including some neuropathies, myopathies, nephropathy, thrombocytopenia, wasting syndromes and increased incidence of cancers (primarily lymphoma) has remained an enigma. We have recently shown that the HIV-1 protease, a viral encoded enzyme necessary for virus maturation and infectivity, can cleave a variety of host cell cytoskeletal proteins in vitro. Potential substrates for the HIV-1 protease are found in all of the cell types affected in these unexplained diseases. Recent proposals suggest that elements of the cytoskeleton may play an important role in the regulation of large scale genetic regulation. We propose that some of the degenerative changes associated with infection by HIV-1 are a direct consequence of cleavage of host cell cytoskeletal proteins, which in turn may be responsible for the increased incidence of cancer in HIV-1 infected individuals as a result of the perturbation of the regulation of gene expression by cytoskeletal components.

Cytoskeletal Proteins↗

Cell cycle-dependent vimentin expression in elutriator-synchronized, TPA-treated MPC-11 mouse plasmacytoma cells.

We correlated cell cycle progression and vimentin expression at the single cell level by multiparameter flow cytometry in populations of MPC-11 cells enriched in different cell cycle phases by centrifugal elutriation and subsequently treated with the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Synchronized, untreated cultures showed a uniform, synchronous progression through the cell cycle during further cultivation. A 6-h TPA treatment of G1-phase-enriched cultures induced both a partial G1-phase arrest in the same cycle and a moderate fraction of cells to become vimentin positive. However, nearly all cells of the cultures enriched in S- or in G2/M-phase cells could be arrested by TPA treatment at the earliest in the G1 phase of the second cell cycle and displayed higher fractions of positive cells as well as higher average levels of vimentin. After 20 h of treatment, the G1-phase arrest was almost complete. In terms of fractions of vimentin-positive cells as well as of average cellular vimentin content, the differences between the cultures resembled, albeit on a higher level, those between the respective cultures treated with TPA for 6 h. These observations might explain the striking bimodal distribution of individual cellular vimentin content detectable in G1-phase fractions of asynchronous, TPA-treated cultures. The pattern of vimentin mRNA accumulation in synchronized cultures after short-term TPA treatment strongly suggests that the cell cycle-dependent pattern of vimentin expression is caused, at least in part, by different levels of vimentin mRNA accumulated in the cells. Since proteinaceous mediator(s) are obviously involved in TPA-induced vimentin expression in MPC-11 cells, cell cycle-dependent vimentin expression in these cells may be dependent on cell cycle-dependent regulation of the activity and/or concentration of such mediator(s).

Animals↗

Degradation of cytoskeletal proteins by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease.

Triton X-100-extracted human skin fibroblasts were exposed to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease and analysed by 2D-gel electrophoresis and immunofluorescence microscopy. Vimentin, two of the tropomyosin isoforms, a protein with M(r) approximately 90,000 and a protein with M(r) approximately 200,000 were found to be degraded. Structurally, this was accompanied by the disintegration of the vimentin filament network and the disappearance of the microfilament network. In contrast to our in vivo observations (Höner et al., 1991), prominent stress fibers and chromatin structure seemed to be rather resistant to the action of this protease.

Cells, Cultured↗

Binding of nucleic acids to intermediate filaments of the vimentin type and their effects on filament formation and stability.

Guanine-rich polynucleotides such as poly(dG), oligo(dG)12-18 or poly(rG) were shown to exert a strong inhibitory effect on vimentin filament assembly and also to cause disintegration of preformed filaments in vitro. Gold-labeled oligo(dG)25 was preferentially localized at the physical ends of the aggregation and disaggregation products and at sites along filaments with a basic periodicity of 22.7 nm. Similar effects were observed with heat-denatured eukaryotic nuclear DNA or total rRNA, although these nucleic acids could affect filament formation and structure only at ionic strengths lower than physiological. However, whenever filaments were formed or stayed intact, they appeared associated with the nucleic acids. These electron microscopic observations were corroborated by sucrose gradient analysis of complexes obtained from preformed vimentin filaments and radioactively labeled heteroduplexes. Among the duplexes of the DNA type, particularly poly(dG).poly(dC), and, of those of the RNA type, preferentially poly(rA).poly(rU), were carried by the filaments with high efficiency into the pellet fraction. Single-stranded 18S and 28S rRNA interacted only weakly with vimentin filaments. Nevertheless, in a mechanically undisturbed environment, vimentin filaments could be densely decorated with intact 40S and 60S ribosomal subunits as revealed by electron microscopy. These results indicate that, in contrast to single-stranded nucleic acids with their compact random coil configuration, double-stranded nucleic acids with their elongated and flexible shape have the capability to stably interact with the helically arranged, surface-exposed amino-terminal polypeptide chains of vimentin filaments. Such interactions might be of physiological relevance in regard to the transport and positioning of nucleic acids and nucleoprotein particles in the various compartments of eukaryotic cells. Conversely, nucleic acids might be capable of affecting the cytoplasmic organization of vimentin filament networks through their filament-destabilizing potentials.

Binding Sites↗

Salt-stable interaction of the amino-terminal head region of vimentin with the alpha-helical rod domain of cytoplasmic intermediate filament proteins and its relevance to protofilament structure and filament formation and stability.

Previous studies have shown that the non-alpha-helical, amino-terminal head region of vimentin is essential for the formation and stability of vimentin intermediate filaments (IFs). In order to specify its target site on companion protein subunits, it was cut off from vimentin at amino acid position 96 with lysine-specific endoproteinase and allowed to react with intact vimentin and other IF proteins. In solution of high salt concentration (500 mM KCl), the isolated polypeptide (vim NT) showed a high affinity for all cytoplasmic IF proteins tested, but not for nuclear lamins. Employing limited digestion of the IF proteins with different proteinases, the binding site was shown to reside in their alpha-helical rod domains. Other polypeptides possessing alpha-helical regions with the potential to form coiled-coil structures like tropomyosin and myosin subfragment 2 did not react with vim NT. The binding to IF proteins was strongly inhibited by phosphorylation of vim NT and totally abolished in the presence of 200 mM arginine hydrochloride, whereas the same concentration of lysine hydrochloride was ineffective. Limited chymotryptic digestion of vim NT produced polypeptides that were unable to react with the alpha-helical region of vimentin at high salt concentration. Consistent with these observations, vim NT strongly inhibited filament formation in vitro from protofilamentous vimentin. A 14-mer oligopeptide comprising the amino acids 3 to 16 of the amino terminus also inhibited filament formation, though to a lesser extent. Conversely, vim NT and, with a lower efficiency, the 14-mer oligopeptide also severely affected the structure of preformed vimentin filaments by unraveling them. Phosphorylated vim NT was considerably less active in this respect. Further digestion of the rod domain of vimentin with chymotrypsin yielded 17.4 and 21 kDa polypeptides, which were tentatively characterized as originating from the carboxy- and amino-terminal half of the rod domain, respectively. Both formed salt-stable complexes with vim NT, the smaller polypeptide with a higher efficiency than the larger one. These results suggest that the staggered, antiparallel arrangement of the two coiled-coils in the protofilaments of IF proteins is, at least in part, determined by the twofold, symmetrical association of the amino-terminal head regions of one coiled-coil rope structure with the carboxy-terminal halves of the alpha-helical rod domains of the other coiled-coil and that similar interactions occur during filament assembly and in the intact filament.

Amino Acid Sequence↗