Isolation and characterization of an alpha-amanitin-resistant rat myoblast mutant cell line possessing alpha-amanitin-resistant RNA polymerase II.

Cultures of the rat skeletal muscle myoblast cell line, L6, were treated with the mutagen ethylmethanesulfonate and grown in the presence of alpha-amanitin, an inhibitor of RNA polymerase II in vitro. One clonal cell line, Ama102, resistant tc the cytotoxic action of 2 mu-g/ml of alpha-amanitin was isolated and extensively characterized. Ama102 cells were about 30-fold more resistant to alpha-amanitin than their Ama+ parent cells based on a comparison of the concentration of alpha-amanitin required to reduce their plating efficiencies to similar extents. The RNA polymerase activities from Ama+ and Ama102 cells were solubilized and separated by DEAE-Sephadex chromatography. Whereas all of the Ama+ RNA polymerase II activity was inhibited by 0.1 mu-g/ml of alpha-amanitin, about 30% of the activity in the Ama102 RNA polymerase II peak was resistant to this concentration of alpha-amanitin and was inhibited only by much higher concentrations (25 mu-g/ml) of alpha-amanitin. This alpha-amanitin-resistant activity in Ama102 cells was identified as a bona fide RNA polymerase II by its chromatographic behavior on DEAE-Sephadex, salt optimum, preference for denatured DNA as template, insensitivity to inhibition by potassium phosphate, thermal inactivation kinetics, and inactivation by anti-RNA polymerase II antiserum. Both RNA polymerase IIa and IIb from Ama102 cells exhibited the partial alpha-amanitin resistance, as did this activity when purified further on phosphocellusose. Unlike the parental Ama+ cells, Ama102 cells neither fused at confluence nor showed an increase in the specific activity of creatine kinase. The altered sensitivity of the Ama102 RNA polymerase II to alpha-amanitin appears to account for the drug-resistant phenotype of these cells.     

Synthesis of low molecular weight RNA components A, C and D by polymerase II in alpha-amanitin-resistant hamster cells.

In an attempt to establish which RNA polymerase catalyzes the synthesis of the low molecular weight RNA components A, C and D, Ama 1 cells (mutant Chinese hamster cells) were used in experiments with addition of alpha-amanitin. Ama 1 cells contain an altered RNA polymerase II which is 800 times more resistant towards inhibition by alpha-amanitin than the wild type enzyme. Alpha-amanitin (up to 200 microgram/ml) added to these cells does not affect the synthesis of the low molecular weight RNAs A, C and D. These data together with our previous data showing that alpha-amanitin (0.5 - 5.0 microgram/ml) preferentially inhibits the synthesis of A, C and D in normal cells indicate that RNA polymerase II catalyzes the synthesis of the low molecular weight RNA components A, C and D.     

alpha-Amanitin resistant RNA polymerase II from Aedes albopictus cell mutants resistant to alpha-amanitin

Spontaneous and EMS-induced alpha-amanitin-resistant Aedes albopictus cells have been isolated and characterized. Two mutant sublines, one of intermediate resistance (alpha A2) and the other highly resistant (Ama18) contained RNA polymerase II activity, the resistance of which in vitro to alpha-amanitin correlated well with the resistance of these cells in vivo. The resistance of these cells to alpha-amanitin can likely be attributed to the presence of an altered RNA polymerase II.     

Alpha-Amanitin resistance of RNA polymerase II in mutant Chinese hamster ovary cell lines.

A number of mutant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines resistant to the cytotoxic action of alpha-amanitin have been isolated. The alpha-amanitin sensitivity of the different mutant cell lines varied widely, but correlated well with the alpha-amanitin sensitivity of the RNA polymerase II activity in each of these mutant cell lines. In comparison with the RNA polymerase II of wild-type cells, three mutants, Ama39, Ama6, and Amal, required respectively 2- to 3-fold, 8- to 10-fold, and about 800-fold higher concentrations of alpha-amanitin for inhibition of their polymerase II activity. Determination of the equilibrium dissociation constants (KD) for complexes between 0-[3H]methyl-demethyl-gamma-amanitin and RNA polymearse II indicated that differences in alpha-amanitin sensitivity were reflected in differences in the ability of the enzymes to bind amanitin. Hybrids formed by fusion of mutants with cells of wild-type sensitivity contained both mutant and wild-type polymerase II activities. Thus, each of the different alpha-amanitin resistance mutations was expressed co-dominantly. A test for complementation between two of these mutations by measurement of both the alpha-amanitin sensitivity and the [3H]amanitin binding by RNA polymerase II in Ama6 X Amal hybrid cells did not reveal any wild-type RNA polymerase II activity. These data provide evidence that the mutation to alpha-amanitin resistance involves structural changes in the gene coding for the alpha-amanitin binding subunit of RNA polymerase II. These changes appear to account for the alpha-amanitin-resistant phenotypes of these mutant cells.     

Vaccinia virus RNA polymerase associated with nuclei of infected HeLa cells.

Though vaccinia virus DNA and RNA replication take place predominantly in the cytoplasm of an infected cell, virus formation requires the presence of a functional nucleus in a yet undefined manner. When the nuclei from cells infected for 3 h are isolated and purified, they are found to synthesize five times more RNA in vitro than do corresponding nuclei from noninfected cells. Fifty percent of the RNA synthesized in vitro by nuclei from infected cells is vaccinia specific, and this vaccinia RNA synthesis is resistant to alpha-amanitin concentrations up to 100 micrograms/ml. Furthermore, when the RNA polymerase activities of these nuclei are separated on DEAE-Sephadex columns, 56% of the total nuclear enzyme activity is found to be the vaccinia-specific RNA polymerase known to be alpha-amanitin resistant. The nucleus associated vaccinia RNA polymerase represents 18% of the total cellular vaccinia RNA polymerase. This synthesis of vaccinia RNA in the nucleus may explain the nuclear requirement for vaccinia virus maturation.