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Biomedical subjects

S L Marcus

Publications and source records attributed to S L Marcus.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Effects of exogenous polyamine and trypanocides on the DNA polymerase activities from Trypanosoma brucei brucei, mouse thymus and murine leukemia virus.

The effects of exogenously added spermine on activated (gapped) DNA-directed and poly(dC) . (dG)12-18-directed DNA synthesis were tested on the chromatographically separated DNA polymerase activities of Trypanosoma brucei brucei. Activated DNA-directed DNA synthesis by the Peak I (eluting from DNA-agarose at 0.15 M KCl) and Peak II (eluting at 0.3 M KCl) polymerase was consistently inhibited or stimulated, respectively, by exogenous spermine. Kinetic analysis revealed that inhibition of the Peak I enzyme with respect to template DNA occurred by a mixed mechanism, while a major factor in the stimulation of the Peak II enzyme by spermine appeared to be the polyamine-mediated reversal of "substrate inhibition' by DNA at concentrations above 10 micrograms/ml. The apparent Km values of Peak I and Peak II DNA polymerase for activated DNA were determined to be 5 and 0.5 microgram/ml, respectively. In contrast to the results observed with activated DNA, activation of Peak II-enzyme-catalyzed poly(dC)-directed DNA synthesis was similar at all template-primer concentrations. Peak I enzyme-catalyzed poly(dG) synthesis was either inhibited or slightly stimulated by spermine, depending upon the presence or absence of heteropolymeric DNA, respectively. Dose-dependent inhibition of DNA-directed DNA synthesis catalyzed by T. b. brucei DNA polymerases, murine thymus DNA polymerase alpha, and Rauscher murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase by trypanocides was examined to determine a possible mechanism of selective toxicity by such agents. The drugs Antrycide (quinapyramine), pentamidine, imidocarb, Berenil (diminazene aceturate), WR-199-385-[2,5-bis(4-guanylphenyl)furan . 2HCl] and isometamidium inhibited DNA polymerases of the eucaryotic cells at approximately the same degree, and at similar concentrations. The presence of spermine in reaction mixtures did not spare any drug inhibition. Stimulation of reverse transcriptase activity was observed in the presence of Antrycide and imidocarb, however, this could be negated by stimulatory amounts of spermine present in the reaction mixture. The results, obtained using an activated DNA-directed assay system, suggest that trypanosomal DNA polymerases are not the selective target of trypanocidal drugs currently available.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Polyamines stimulate DNA-directed DNA synthesis catalyzed by mammalian type C retroviral DNA polymerases.

In the presence of optimal concentrations of Mg2+, rates of activated (gapped) DNA-directed DNA synthesis by purified mammalian type C retroviral DNA polymerases are stimulated greater than 10-fold by the polyamines spermine and spermidine. Such stimulation was not observed using either similar concentrations of the polyamines cadaverine or putrescine or exogenously provided salt or ammonium ions. Avian type C as well as mammalian type B and type D retroviral DNA polymerases, in contrast to the mammalian type C enzyme, were found to be relatively insensitive to spermine and spermidine stimulation. Kinetic analysis of the polyamine stimulation of activated DNA-directed DNA synthesis carried out using spermine and purified Rauscher leukemia virus DNA polymerase revealed at least two distinct mechanisms of activation of DNA synthesis. 1) At DNA concentrations below 2.5 micrograms/ml, spermine appears to interact with the enzyme-DNA complex in order to stimulate synthesis. 2) At DNA concentrations above 2.5 micrograms/ml, increased spermine stimulation is observed which appears to be due to its direct interaction with the activated DNA template resulting in either selective limitation of the formation of "dead-end" enzyme-DNA complexes or its ability to convert such nonproductive enzyme binding sites into productive sites for the initiation of synthetic activity. The addition of spermine to reaction mixtures was found to increase both the apparent Km and Vmax of the activated (gapped) DNA-directed reaction with regard to template concentration.

Cadaverine↗
PubMed1981

Quantitative of murine mammary tumor virus-related RNA in mammary tissues of low- and high-mammary-tumor-incidence mouse strains.

Lactating mammary glands and hormonally induced mammary tumors of BALB/c mice from three geographically separated breeding colonies were examined by molecular hybridization, using murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV) cDNA representing the entire viral genome to determine the amount of MuMTV-related RNA expressed in these tissues. The RNA extracted from these tissues by the classical sodium dodecyl sulfate-pronase, phenol-chloroform procedure (method 1) contained barely detectable levels of MuMTV-related sequences. In contrast, both normal lactating mammary glands and hormonally induced mammary tumors of these mice were found to contain approximately one to two copies of the MuMTV genome per cell by using a new procedure in which the RNA was extracted with guanidine derivatives (method 2). No significant differences in the MuMTV-related RNA content of the BALB/c mammary tissues were observed regardless of their colony of origin. Our results suggest that expression of MuMTV RNA does not change in BALB/c mammary glands during transformation to a malignant state and that MuMTV expression does not play a role in tumorigenesis in these mice. In view of the increased recovery of MuMTV-related RNA from BALB/c mice with method 2, we compared the level of MuMTV RNA expression in lactating mammary glands and mammary tumors of other mouse strains, including C57BL/6 and RIII, using both extraction methods. Yields of MuMTV-related RNA from mammary tissues increased by as much as 35- to 40-fold, using method 2 as compared with method 1. Therefore method 2, involving guanidine derivatives, appears to be method of choice for MuMTV-related RNA extraction from the mammary tissues of certain strains of mice, particularly those expressing relatively low levels of MuMTV RNA.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Purification of murine oncornaviral phosphoproteins using alkyl agarose derivatives..

Methods for the purification of both murine mammary tumor (type B) and murine leukemia (type C) oncornaviral phosphoproteins are described, in which chromatography on alkyl-agarose derivatives is used as the primary fractionation step. Gel filtration or ion exchange chromatography on phosphocellulose was the only subsequent step required for the purification of the type B and type C viral proteins, respectively. The two-step protocols also resulted in the co-purification of a low molecular weight core protein from each virus. Recoveries of the viral proteins purified by this method, based on per cent contribution of individual polypeptides to total virion proteins, were 70% or greater. Radioimmunocompetition analysis of the purified murine mammary tumor virus major core protein as well as analysis of the RNA binding properties of purified low molecular weight type C virus proteins suggests that neither antigenic reactivity nor specific RNA binding characteristics are altered by the purification protocols. The availability of these procedures should aid studies on the possible function and immunochemical properties of the native murine oncornaviral phosphoproteins and may also be extended to the purification of other oncornaviral proteins.

Mammary Tumor Virus, Mouse↗
PubMed1979

Identification of the messenger RNAs coding for the gag and env gene products of the murine mammary tumor virus.

Full-length (35S) genomic RNA from murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV) was translated in vitro, using a reticulocyte lysate system, into proteins of 105,000, 75,000, 65,000, 35,000, and 27,000 daltons. These proteins were all immunoprecipitable with a monospecific antiserum to the major viral core protein, p27, but not with antiserum to the major viral envelope glycoprotein, gp47. Translation in vitro of RNA of about 24S size extracted from MuMTV yielded proteins similar in size and immunoreactivity to the products of the 35S RNA translation. Polyadenylylated RNA isolated from an MuMTV-producing cell line was fractionated according to size by velocity sedimentation and subsequently hybridized to MuMTV complementary DNA probes. These studies identified at least three size classes (35S, 24S, and 14-18S) of intracellular MuMTV-specific RNA. The 35S intracellular RNA was translated into MuMTV-specific proteins identical in size and immunoreactivity to the products of the virion-derived 35S RNA. On the other hand, translation of the intracellular 24S RNA fraction resulted in the synthesis of proteins, of which two (of about 70,000 daltons) could be immunoprecipitated with anti-gp47 serum, but not with anti-p27 serum. From these data we conclude that MuMTV core and envelope proteins are synthesized from two different mRNAs with approximate sizes of 35S and 24S, respectively. Our results also imply that the intracellular 24S mRNA is synthesized by a process more complex than simple cleavage of the 35S RNA.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Simultaneous purification of murine mammary tumor virus structural proteins: analysis of antigenic reactivities of native gp34 by radioimmunocompetition assays.

All the structural proteins (gp47, gp34, p27, p23, p16, and p12) of the murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV) were simultaneously purified utilizing alkylagarose chromatography as the initial fractionation step. Least-hydrophobic MuMTV polypeptides (p23, p16) and the slightly hydrophobic p27 were separated from moderately hydrophobic proteins gp47 and p12 by passage through octylimino (C(8))-agarose; the gp47 and p12 could be removed from the matrix by elution with ethylene glycol, whereas the most hydrophobic MuMTV protein, gp34, was eluted using nonionic detergent together with ethylene glycol. Subsequent purification steps involved ion-exchange or gel filtration chromatography. The resulting protein preparations appeared near-homogeneous on analysis by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. Recoveries of MuMTV proteins, based on their approximate individual contribution to total virus protein, ranged from about 20% for gp47 to greater than 100% for the minor structural component p23, the major phosphoprotein of MuMTV. Antiserum against purified C3H MuMTV gp34, together with purified, radioiodinated gp34, was used to develop a radioimmunoassay which showed that from 13 to 14% of total MuMTV protein by weight is gp34. Using this assay system, the group-specific antigenic reactivity of gp34 was also demonstrated. When solubilized preparations of C3H, RIII, and GR MuMTV's were used as competing antigens in gp34 radioimmunoassays with anti-C3H MuMTV serum, both group- and type-specific differences in antigenic reactivity were found.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Template-specific requirements for DNA synthesis by the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus DNA polymerase: unique aspects.

The biochemical properties of DNA polymerase purified from Mason-Pfizer monkey virus were studied, with respect to synthetic and natural template-primer utilization. Thes studies revealed the following new information about the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus enzyme: (a) Mason-Pfizer monkey virus polymerase was found to prefer template: primer molar nucleotide ratios of 2.5-5: 1 for optimal rates of synthesis with poly(C) .(dG)12-18 as template-primer. (b) Poly(A)-directed synthesis was stimulated by the addition of low concentrations of inorganic phosphate to the reaction mixture. (c) Poly(2' -O-methyl-cytidylate), poly(rCm), was the only template studied for which Mn2+ proved the preferred divalent cation. Combinations of divalent cations stimulated rather than inhibited poly(rCm)-directed poly(dG) synthesis by the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus enzyme. (d) Heteropolymeric regions of rabbit globin mRNA and avian myeloblastosis virus 70 S RNA could be copied by the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus polymerase with oligo(dT), oligo(U) or in the case of avian myeloblastosis virus RNA, endogenous primers. In all such studies, Mg2+ was the preferred divalent cation and a distinct preference for the DNA primer in the reverse transcription of natural RNAs was observed. These new findings necessitated comparative studies with the DNA polymerases from Rauscher murine leukemia virus and murine mammary tumor virus, as representative type C and type B retroviruses. Although the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus enzyme was found to share some properties in common with both type C and type B mammalian viral enzymes, certain of the above properties rendered it unique among the polymerases examined.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Resolution and characterization of intracytoplasmic forms of reverse transcriptase from Rauscher leukemia virus-producing cells.

The microsomal supernatant fraction obtained from a murine cell line chronically infected with and producing Rauscher leukemia virus (JLSV-10) was found to contain two forms of RNA-directed DNA polymerase (reverse transcriptase). The two enzyme forms, neither of which is detectable in uninfected cells (JLSV-9), were initially partially purified by poly(C)-agarose chromatography, and their separation was achieved by phosphocellulose chromatography. The enzyme form eluting first from phosphocellulose (0.3 M KCl), designated PC I, was found to be identical in all parameters tested to that form isolated directly from purified virions. The second enzyme peak, designated PC II, eluted from phosphocellulose at 0.5 M KCl and was not detectable in purified virions. The PC II enzyme has a molecular weight, determined by velocity sedimentation, of approximately 109,000, as compared with 70,000 for the PC I enzyme, and could not be further dissociated by exposure to high salt or nonionic detergent. Mixing purified virion or PC I DNA polymerase with uninfected cells followed by fractionation did not produce the PC II form, suggesting that it is neither an artifact of purification nor the result of fortuitous complexing of reverse transcriptase with normal cellular component(s). Both PC I and PC II enzyme forms appeared antigenically similar to virion DNA polymerase, demonstrated identical divalent cation requirements for various template-primers, and were capable of copying heteropolymeric regions of rabbit globin mRNA. However, kinetic studies of heat inactivation revealed that the PC II enzyme was far more heat labile than the PC I form, which appeared identical to the virion enzyme in this respect. Furthermore, whereas the PC I and virion-derived reverse transcriptase copied poly(C).(dG)12-18 most efficiently at a template-to-primer molar nucleotide ratio of 25:1, the PC II enzyme preferred a ratio of 5:1 for optimal rates of poly(dG) synthesis. Therefore, by these criteria, there appear to exist two intracellular forms of reverse transcriptase in the JLSV-10 Rauscher leukemia virus-producing murine cell line.

Cell Line↗
PubMed1978

Reverse transcriptase-associated RNase H activity. II. Inhibition by natural and synthetic RNA.

The RNase H activity associated with purified avian myeloblastosis virus and Rauscher murine leukemia virus DNA polymerases is inhibited by homopolymeric RNA molecules, although the efficiency of inhibition by each homopolymer appears enzyme specific. Formation of duplex RNA molecules abolished the inhibitory activity. In contrast to these results, DNA polymerase-independent RNase H activities, such as the RNase H-II from Rauscher murine leukemia virus and calf thymus RNase H, were unaffected by the addition of exogenous RNA molecules to reaction mixtures. These results support the concept (M. J. Modak and S. L. Marcus, J. Virol. 22:253--256, 1977) that the catalytic site of DNA polymerase-associated RNase H activity may be that which is also involved in template binding. Naturally occurring RNA molecules of oncornaviral, procaryotic, or eucaryotic origin also proved to be efficient inhibitors of avian myeloblastosis virus DNA polymerase-associated RNase H activity. In contrast to this result, naturally occurring RNA molecules, at concentrations which inhibited the avian myeloblastosis virus enzyme, did not inhibit Rauscher murine leukemia virus DNA polymerase-catalyzed RNase H activity. This finding represents a new biochemical distinction between the two reverse transcriptases, and may be indicative of differences in the relative affinities of these enzymes for natural RNA molecules.

Avian Leukosis Virus↗
PubMed1977

Purification and properties of Rauscher leukemia virus DNA polymerase and selective inhibition of mammalian viral reverse transcriptase by inorganic phosphate.

Rauscher leukemia virus RNA-directed DNA polymerase has been purified to near homogeneity (greater than 90% pure) using affinity chromatography on polycytidylate-agarose with over 85% recovery of input enzymatic activity. The purified enzyme has a molecular weight of approximately 70,000 and appears to consist of a single polypeptide chain. The enzyme is free of DNase, but has RNase H activity. Analysis of the requirements for optimal rates of DNA synthesis by this enzyme using synthetic and natural template-primers has revealed template-specific variations in such requirements. During these studies it was observed that DNA synthesis catalyzed by Rauscher leukemia virus DNA polymerase is inhibited by the addition of inorganic phosphate. An analysis of the mechanism of phosphate inhibition was carried out using the synthetic template-primer poly(A)-(dT)10. It appears that by some mechanism, possibly involving the substrate binding site of the enzyme, phosphate ions inhibit DNA synthesis with a more acute effect on the rate of chain growth than on that of initiation. The extension of these studies to DNA synthesis catalyzed by a variety of mammalian type C viral reverse transcriptases revealed that low levels ( less than or equal to 2 mM) of inorganic phosphate strongly inhibited DNA synthesis. The susceptibility to phosphate inhibition appears unique to mammalian type C viral enzymes since the type B viral enzyme, Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I, avian myeloblastosis virus and Mason Pfizer monkey tumor virus reverse transcriptase and cellular DNA polymerases alpha and gamma are not inhibited by inorganic phosphate. This phenomenon of phosphate inhibition of various DNA polymerases, therefore, provides a new basis for the differentiation of the sources and nature of these enzymes.

Chromatography, Affinity↗