Fluoride interaction with G-proteins.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S T Crooke.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
In order to study 1) the mechanisms responsible for generating free ubiquitin monomer and 2) the function of ubiquitin carboxyl extension proteins in eukaryotes, we have developed a system for expression of human ubiquitin carboxyl extension proteins in prokaryotic and eukaryotic hosts. When expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the intact ubiquitin carboxyl extension proteins were rapidly processed to free ubiquitin monomer and extension protein. Furthermore, expression in this host conferred a slow growth phenotype mediated by the extension protein. Expression in Escherichia coli did not result in processing of the fusion proteins. However, when the expressed fusion proteins were purified from E. coli and incubated with a rabbit reticulocyte extract, the proteins were rapidly processed to free ubiquitin monomer and extension protein. These results show that human ubiquitin carboxyl extension proteins are processed to ubiquitin and extension protein when expressed in eukaryotic but not prokaryotic cells and that pre- and co-translational events are not necessary for their processing. Establishment of this system will allow for large scale purification of these proteins which will aid future studies on the function and structure of ubiquitin carboxyl extension proteins, as well as the mechanisms responsible for their processing.
Vasopressin (V2) receptors were solubilized from porcine kidney membranes with the detergent egg lysolecithin. Binding of [3H]vasopressin to the solubilized fraction was rapid, specific, and saturable. The agonist dissociation constants observed in membranes and solubilized fractions were 1.7 +/- 0.3 and 2.3 +/- 0.2 nM, respectively. In competition binding experiments, the solubilized fraction exhibited the same pharmacological profile as the membranes. Chemical crosslinking of [125I]vasopressin to the solubilized fraction followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis demonstrated a 62-kDa band which was specifically labeled with [125I]vasopressin. Vasopressin binding sites from the solubilized fractions were resolved by gel filtration and ultracentrifugation on a sucrose gradient. In addition, agonist high affinity binding to V2 receptors and its sensitivity to guanine nucleotides were preserved even after solubilization in the absence of prebound agonist prior to solubilization. Addition of guanine nucleotides such as GTP gamma S decreased the specific binding of [3H]arginine vasopressin to these solubilized fractions in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting the solubilization of a V2 receptor-G protein complex. [32P]ADP ribosylation of the solubilized fraction by cholera and pertussis toxins revealed specifically labeled proteins with molecular weights of 42,000-43,000 and 39,000-41,000, respectively, on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels. Furthermore [35S]GTP gamma S binding to these solubilized fractions was enhanced by vasopressin, confirming that a significant proportion of the vasopressin receptors must be closely coupled to G proteins even when these receptors are solubilized in the absence of agonist. These results are in contrast with those reported for beta, alpha 2 adrenergic and D2 dopaminergic receptor systems, but in agreement with D1 dopaminergic and A1 adenosine receptors. The molecular mechanism responsible for this difference remains to be determined.
Disulfide engineering was used to probe the role of conformational mobility in ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. Six genes that encode cysteine-containing mutants of ubiquitin were constructed, expressed in Escherichia coli and the proteins purified. Single cysteine-containing mutants and a 4/14 disulfide were active in degradation of a substrate protein in vitro, while the 4/66 disulfide, which cross-links the NH2- and COOH-terminal strands of the protein, was only 20-30% active. The solution structure of the 4/66 mutant was solved: the disulfide is left-handed with no perturbations in the backbone from that of wild type ubiquitin. The results suggest that conformational mobility is required for the activity of ubiquitin in signaling proteolysis.
Raji-HN2 is a B cell lymphoma (Burkitt lymphoma) line that was made resistant to nitrogen mustard. The drug-resistant phenotype was accompanied by changes in gene expression. The expression of four unrelated genes was examined by Northern blot analysis. Raji-HN2 cells were found to contain about twice the number of actin mRNA found in Raji cells. Both cell lines were found to contain equivalent amounts of beta 2-microglobulin, c-myc oncogene, and immunoglobulin C mu mRNAs. The C mu mRNA was, however, larger in size in Raji-HN2 cells. Alterations in actin and C mu mRNAs in Raji-HN2 cells were not due to gene amplification or rearrangement because Southern blot analysis revealed no changes in the genomic organization of these genes. The increased actin mRNA content was correlated with an increased actin content of Raji-HN2 cells. The F-actin (stained with 7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazolylphallacidin) content of single cells was quantitated in a meridian interactive laser cytometer. Raji-HN2 cells contained about twice the amount of F-actin present in the parental Raji cells. Similar results were obtained when large populations, 10(6) cells each, were examined in a flow cytometer.
Procaryotic and eucaryotic cells have evolved multiple pathways for communication with their external environment. The inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate/diacylglycerol second messenger system is an example of such a signal transduction pathway which is present in multicellular eucaryotic organisms. Binding of an agonist to a specific cell surface receptor promotes rapid hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. The pivotal enzyme for this second messenger system is phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C which hydrolyzes phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate to generate the two second messengers, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and diacylglycerol. Recently, much progress has been made in the purification, characterization and cDNA cloning of multiple PI-PLC isoenzymes. The results of the recent studies on phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C are reviewed.
During the past several years, substantial progress in understanding the receptors and signal transduction processes for peptidyl leukotrienes has been reported. Receptors have been identified and characterized, the major steps in the signal transduction pathway have been described, and the genetic and epigenetic regulatory processes have been characterized. Very recent studies have defined the mechanisms by which LTE4 acts as a partial agonist at the LTD4 receptor. The cloning of the genes for the proteins involved in the major steps of the signalling process has also been initiated. Stanley Crooke and co-authors summarize this recent progress and present their current notions about the LTD4 receptor signalling process.
Prolonged exposure of A-10 cells to Arginine Vasopressin (AVP) resulted in the following responses: (a) loss of vasopressin receptors from the cell surface (30-40%), (b) increased basal levels of inositol and inositol monophosphate, (c) decreased inositol di- and trisphosphate production and decreased intracellular calcium release in response to a second challenge with AVP, (d) attenuation of AVP-mediated inhibition of isoproterenol-stimulated cAMP and ANF-stimulated cGMP accumulation and (e) attenuation of thrombin and ATP-mediated increase in inositol di- and trisphosphate accumulation and intracellular calcium release. All the above responses depended on the time of exposure of the cells to AVP with the responses being attenuated as early as 5-10 min of exposure to AVP. The desensitization also depended on the concentration of AVP used with 50% of maximal desensitization for each response being observed at 5 nM of AVP. This concentration of AVP corresponded well with the Kd of vasopressin for binding to these sites. Desensitization of protein kinase C (PKC) by prolonged exposure of the cells to PDBu or addition of the PKC inhibitor staurosporine during pretreatment with AVP did not prevent AVP-mediated desensitization, suggesting that PKC may not be involved in AVP-mediated desensitization in smooth muscle cells. It is concluded that AVP induced both homologous and heterologous desensitization of phosphatidylinositol turnover and calcium release in smooth muscle cells. The desensitization processes did not appear to be mediated by protein kinase C. The possibility that the locus of the heterologous desensitization may be at the level of substrates such as PI, PIP and PIP2 is discussed.
The tissue distribution of pertussis toxin-sensitive GTP-binding proteins was examined using specific antibodies raised against the purified alpha-subunit of G0 from bovine brain or against synthetic peptides predicted from cDNAs for distinct Gi subtypes. GTP-binding proteins were partially purified from membrane fractions prepared from rabbit tissues including brain, heart, liver, lung, erythrocytes and neutrophils. Brain contained both G0 and Gi1. Gi1 was also found to be abundant in heart. All peripheral tissues contained readily detectable amounts of Gi2, whereas only barely detectable amounts of Gi2 were found in brain. Gi3 was found to be prominent in erythrocytes and exists as a minor component of G proteins in neutrophils and liver. Thus, Gi2 appears to be widely disseminated in peripheral rabbit tissues, while other pertussis toxin substrates are more limited in their distribution.
Several DNA topoisomerase II (Topo II; EC 5.99.1.3) partial cDNA clones obtained from a human Raji-HN2 cDNA library were sequenced and two classes of nucleotide sequences were found. One member of the first class, SP1, was identical to an internal fragment of human HeLa cell Topo II cDNA described earlier. A member of the second class, SP11, shared extensive nucleotide (75%) and predicted peptide (92%) sequence similarities with the first two-thirds of HeLa Topo II. Each class of cDNAs hybridized to unique, nonoverlapping restriction enzyme fragments of genomic DNA from several human cell lines. Synthetic 24-mer oligonucleotide probes specific for each cDNA class hybridized to 6.5-kilobase mRNAs; furthermore, hybridization of probe specific for one class was not blocked by probe specific for the other. Antibodies raised against a synthetic SP1-encoded dodecapeptide specifically recognized the 170-kDa form of Topo II, while antibodies raised against the corresponding SP11-encoded dodecapeptide, or a second unique SP11-encoded tridecapeptide, selectively recognized the 180-kDa form of Topo II. These data provide genetic and immunochemical evidence for two Topo II isozymes.
Despite the availability of efficient transcription and translation signals, some heterologous gene products are not adequately expressed when introduced into prokaryotes and eukaryotes. An expression system has been established in Escherichia coli to increase the yield of cloned gene products, where the C terminus of ubiquitin was fused to the N terminus of unstable or poorly expressed proteins. Fusion of ubiquitin to yeast metallothionein or to the alpha subunit of the adenylate cyclase-stimulatory GTP-binding protein increased the yield from undetectable to 20% of the total cellular protein. A ubiquitin-N alpha-protein hydrolase has been partially purified from rabbit reticulocytes; this enzyme faithfully cleaves the junction peptide bound between the C-terminal Gly-76 of ubiquitin and the fusion protein. The increased yield of cloned gene products is very likely due to increased stability and/or more efficient translation of the fusion proteins. Possible mechanisms for the augmentation of ubiquitin fusion-protein expression in prokaryotes and eukaryotes are discussed.
CHO-Cdr20 cells are 10-20 times more resistant to killing by cadmium than the parental CHO cells. Resistance has been linked to amplification of the metallothionein genes MT-I and MT-II and their coordinate induction by cadmium and other toxic metals. We studied the roles of the nuclear enzymes topoisomerase I and topoisomerase II in Cd-induced expression of MT-II. Camptothecin-induced DNA strand breakage, mediated by topoisomerase I in cells, increased by approximately 20% when the resistant cells were incubated first with 50 microM Cd and then with camptothecin. Short DNA fragments were enriched in MT-II-hybridizing sequences, indicating that topoisomerase I-associated breakage was directed in part toward the location of induced gene activity. Ten microM camptothecin inhibited Cd-induced accumulation of MT-II mRNA as well as induced and uninduced RNA synthesis in the resistant cells. These data are consistent with the notion that topoisomerase I participates in most or all forms of RNA synthesis. Topoisomerase II inhibitors which trap cleavable complexes (amsacrine, VM-26, VP-16) increased DNA strand breakage at very high concentrations (50-100 microM); the increased breakage appeared to be concentrated near the MT-II gene. This class of inhibitor did not block the accumulation of MT-II message. Novobiocin, a second type of topoisomerase II inhibitor blocked transcription at 300 microM. Merbarone, a novel, third type of topoisomerase II inhibitor, blocked MT-II transcription at 50-100 microM. The latter two inhibited total RNA synthesis in induced, but not uninduced cells. Thus, it is possible that topoisomerase II plays more than one role in transcription and that more than one form of this enzyme is involved.
Activation of leukotriene D4 receptors results in phospholipase C-mediated breakdown of phosphatidylinositol and increases in intracellular Ca2+ in U-937 cells. Treatment (10 min) with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate blocked leukotriene D4-induced phosphatidylinositol metabolism and Ca2+ mobilization (IC50 = 0.2 nM). Treatment with 10 nM phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate produced blockade which was complete within 1 min and no recovery was observed over 7 days. Addition of the protein kinase C inhibitor staurosporine (100 nM) to U-937 cells pretreated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate for 5 min or 24 hr resulted in a rapid reappearance of leukotriene D4-induced Ca2+ mobilization. Half of the response recovered within 2 min, with complete recovery in 20 min. Staurosporine produced a concentration-related recovery of signal transduction, with an EC50 of 30 nM. These data describe cells which have a novel response to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate in that the inhibition of leukotriene D4 signal transduction is persistent and yet rapidly reversed by staurosporine.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
We have established a Saccharomyces cerevisiae genetic system that expresses the fusion protein ubiquitin-metallothionein. We have evaluated the effects of amino-terminal ubiquitination of metallothionein on the stability and function of metallothionein. The fusion protein of wild type ubiquitin and metallothionein was rapidly processed in vivo to release free ubiquitin and metallothionein. Site-directed mutants of ubiquitin-metallothionein expressed in yeast were used to study the specificity of the (alpha-NH2-ubiquitin) protein endopeptidases. The data suggest that amino-terminal ubiquitination is not a signal for the proteolysis of yeast metallothionein in yeast. We have also discovered that expression of selected ubiquitin mutants blocked the growth of yeast. The data suggest that in addition to its function as a proteolytic signal, ubiquitination of proteins plays multiple roles in the cell.
The use of the human tumor cloning assay as a predictor of clinical response of human tumors to drugs is predicated on the hypothesis that the in vivo response of a tumor to a drug can be correlated with the in vitro response of cells derived from the tumor. To test this hypothesis, we utilized a murine tumor model in which the in vivo and in vitro responses of a tumor can be accurately and reproducibly compared. Drug activity was assessed in P388 leukemia with the standard in vivo antitumor assay (i.p. tumor/i.p. drug administration) and an in vitro assay wherein the ascites tumor cells are removed from mice, treated with a drug, and directly cloned in soft agar to measure clonogenic capacity. The response of P388 cells to analogues within four separate classes of antitumor agents, anthracyclines, anthraquinones, platinum(II) coordination complexes, and phosphinogold(I) complexes was evaluated. The clonogenic assay failed to discriminate between highly active in vivo antitumor agents and analogues with only marginal in vivo efficacy (i.e., doxorubicin and daunorubicin versus rhodomycins A and B, ametantrone versus NSC 276740, cisplatin versus transplatin, [Au(dppe)2]Cl versus [Au(depe)2]PF6. Furthermore, the in vitro clonogenic assay failed to detect carboplatin which was a highly active agent in vivo. The basis for these discrepancies was explored by a more detailed comparison of doxorubicin and rhodomycin B. In vivo or in vitro drug exposure with subsequent measurement of cell kill by the in vitro clonogenic and in vivo tumorigenic assay demonstrated that the in vitro assay overestimated the cytotoxic potency of the drugs relative to the tumorigenic assay. Treatment of tumors in vivo with doxorubicin at doses below the maximally tolerated dose in mice resulted in multiple log cell kill as measured in vitro or in vivo, whereas rhodomycin B was cytotoxic only at dose levels exceeding its maximally tolerated dose. The results indicate that a subset of tumor stem cells capable of forming colonies in soft agar are significantly more sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of anthracyclines than are in vivo tumorigenic stem cells. Cytotoxic potency as measured by an in vitro soft agar clonogenic assay is not an accurate predictor of in vivo antitumor efficacy even in a model in which ascites tumor cells are directly exposed to i.p. drug. The in vitro cytotoxicity assay is useful only as a nonselective prescreen and must be used in combination with other indicators of tumor cell selectivity and dose-limiting organ toxicity.
A full-length cDNA clone encoding 5-lipoxygenase, a key enzyme in the formation of leukotrienes, was isolated from a rat basophilic leukemia cell lambda gt11 cDNA library. The 2.5-kilobase (kb) cDNA insert, whose identity was confirmed by hybrid-select translation and DNA sequence analysis, has a 2.0-kb open reading frame encoding a protein of Mr approximately 77,600 and includes 60 base pairs of 5'-untranslated region and 0.4 kb of 3'-untranslated region to the polyadenylation signal. The deduced amino acid sequence shows significant homology with published sequences for the rabbit reticulocyte lipoxygenase and soybean lipoxygenase-1; it also contains sequences similar to a consensus sequence found in several calcium-dependent membrane-binding proteins. The cDNA recognizes a 2.6-kb mRNA species which is detected in all tissues but is particularly abundant in RNA from lung.
Treatment of rat basophilic leukemia cells (RBL-1) with the calcium ionophore A23187 resulted in activation of 5-lipoxygenase, as indicated by an induction of leukotriene release [Orning, L., Hammarström, S., & Samuelsson, B. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 2017]. The enzyme activation was accompanied by a time-dependent association of 5-lipoxygenase to the particular fraction. When cells were lysed in the presence of 0.05-10 microM CaCl2, the soluble 5-lipoxygenase became associated with the particulate fraction. This was demonstrated by a decrease in immunoreactivities and enzymatic activities in the soluble fraction and a parallel increase in particulate-associated immunoreactivities. The particulate-bound enzyme was not active. Ca2+ induced the membrane association of 5-lipoxygenase when added into the incubation mixtures containing the membrane fraction with either the cytosolic fraction or the purified enzyme. 5-Lipoxygenase also bound to the microsomal-enriched fraction in the presence of Ca2+. Maximal membrane binding was obtained after a 1-min incubation at 4 degrees C. When a fixed amount of isolated membranes (0.2 mg of protein) and increasing cytosolic protein (0.5-4 mg) were used, a linear increase in enzyme binding was observed. The binding became saturated at 3 mg of cytosolic protein/mg of membrane protein. 5-Lipoxygenase binding to the membrane fraction was unaffected by pretreatment of the membranes with trypsin but was inhibited by treating with phospholipase A2, suggesting that phospholipids are involved.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)