Dephosphorylation of histone H1 after mengovirus infection of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells

Summary The effect of mengovirus infection on the extent of phosphorylation of histone H1 was studied in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. After prelabeling of the nuclear protein with [³²P] orthophosphate, the excorporation of radioactivity was followed as a function of time post-infection. Employing high-resolution polyacrylamide gradient slab gel electrophoresis and autoradiography, it was found that, compared to a relatively slow turnover of phosphate groups in histone H1 in mock-infected cells, in mengovirus-infected cells the excorporation of radiolabel from histone H1 was significantly enhanced. In the latter case, the decrease of histone-bound radioactivity was paralleled by a reduction of the band multiplicity in the histone H1 region of the electrophoresis profile. It was also shown that the microheterogeneity in the histone H1 complements isolated at various times postinfection was reduced to the same basal 3-band level by incubation of the nuclear protein fractions in the presence of alkaline phosphatase. After this treatment, the band multiplicity equaled that found in histone H1 from stationary cells.     

Fate of histone messenger RNA in mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

Histone mRNA was isolated from mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells at various times postinfection and quantitated in a reticulocyte cell-free protein-synthesizing system. The amount of translatable histone mRNA decreases during the first hour postinfection by 30%, rises during the following 1-1.5 h by 10-15%, drops progressively in the further course of infection, and reaches 20% of the control at the end of the infectious cycle (8-9 h postinfection). On the basis of the relative histone mRNA contents, the histone-synthesizing potentials of mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells are substantially higher throughout infection than actually expressed in vivo. This result indicates that the virus-induced shutoff of histone synthesis is not directly the consequence of inactivation or degradation of histone mRNA. Most of the histone mRNA recovered from mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells is bound to ribosomes. Late in infection, certain mRNAs are co-isolated with histone mRNAs, very likely due to loss or shortening of poly(A) occurring after release of the mRNAs from polyribosomes.     

Shutoff of histone synthesis by Mengovirus infection of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

The histone synthesizing capacity of mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells and of their corresponding postnuclear supernatants was investigated as a funcion of time post-infection. In addition, histone synthesis was compared with the synthesis of other basic host proteins under identical conditions. In the scope of mengovirus infection of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells the less complex fraction comprising basic protein, separated from the acidic proteins by carboxymethyl cellulose chromatography, can be regarded as a representative of total host protein. Histones and the remaining basic host proteins therefore are well suited as easily identifiable indicators of the host protein synthesizing potential of mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. The cessation of histone synthesis proceeds faster than the arrest of the synthesis of other basic host protein.     

Coding capacity of poly(A)+mRNA isolated from mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

Total poly (A)+mRNA was isolated from mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells at various times postinfection and quantitated in a cell-free system derived from uninfected ascites cells. Basic proteins were separated from acidic proteins by carboxymethyl cellulose chromatography. At the end of the infectious cycle, 8h postinfection, the cellular contents of most mRNAs coding for basic ribosomal proteins are still between 70 and 90 percent of those measured at the beginning of infection or in uninfected cells. On the basis of this result, the rapid shutoff of host protein synthesis after mengovirus infection of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells cannot be the consequence of the inactivation of host template RNA.     

Enhanced phosphorylation of ribosomal protein s6 and other cytoplasmic proteins after mengovirus infection of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

After mengovirus infection of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells, an increased incorporation of radioactive phosphate into ribosomal protein S6 was detected. As judged from the shape of the radioautography spot and the location of the modified protein on the two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel, it must be concluded that more than one phosphate group was incorporated into ribosomal protein S6. Concomitantly, multiple cytoplasmic proteins, particularly those with high affinity for ribosomes, were phosphorylated. Compared with the controls (mock infection), mengovirus infection induced only a slight additional phosphorylation of the proteins of the ribosome-free supernatant. Employing the radio isotope dilution test with 3', 5'-cyclic AMP-binding protein, no enhancement of the intracellular concentration of 3', 5'-cyclic AMP in response to mengovirus infection could be deomonstrated.     

Coding capacity of poly(A)+ mRNA isolated from mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells

Total poly(A)⁺ mRNA was isolated from mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells at various times postinfection and quantitated in a cell-free system derived from uninfected ascites cells. Basic proteins were separated from acidic proteins by carboxymethyl cellulose chromatography. At the end of the infectious cycle, 8 h postinfection, the cellular contents of most mRNAs coding for basic ribosomal proteins are still between 70 and 90 per cent of those measured at the beginning of infection or in uninfected cells. On the basis of this result, the rapid shutoff of host protein synthesis after mengovirus infection of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells cannot be the consequence of the inactivation of host template RNA.     

An investigation of the stability of messenger RNAs in cell-free,translational systems from uninfected and mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells

The stabilities and translation of Ehrlich ascites tumor cell poly(A)-containing mRNA and mengovirus RNA in fractionated cell-free protein synthesizing systems from uninfected and mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells were studied. During incubation of the systems about 20% of the input RNA is reduced in size and associated with ribosomes engaged in polypeptide synthesis; the remainder is rapidly degraded by RNases. At the end of active translation, both mRNA and nascent proteins are bound to polysomes which are of the same size as those formed during active protein synthesis. The kinetics of protein synthesis closely follow those of RNA hydrolysis. The stabilities of mengovirus RNA and poly(A)-containing mRNA from Ehrlich ascites tumor cells are the same in both systems.     

Selective translation of mengovirus RNA over Host mRNA in homologous, fractionated, cell-free translational systems from Ehrlich-ascites-tumor cells.

The selective translation of viral RNA in mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells was investigated using fractionated translational systems whose macromolecular components were derived entirely from uninfected or virus-infected cells. Both systems translate host mRNA from uninfected cells, host mRNA from virus-infected cells, and mengovirus RNA. In competition experiments, where viral RNA and host mRNA were translated together in systems from uninfected cells, the relative amounts of virus-specific and host-specific proteins synthesized were proportional to the relative concentrations of the RNA templates. In systems whose components were obtained from virus-infected cells, mengovirus RNA was preferentially translated. 70% of the selectivity found in the translational systems derived from infected cells was due to the initiation factor fraction, the remaining 30% to components of the pH 5 enzyme fraction. In addition, host mRNA isolated after virus infection is translated in vitro to a lower extent in the presence of mengovirus RNA than is host mRNA from uninfected cells.     

Cellular protein synthesis shutoff by mengovirus: translation of nonviral and viral mRNA''s in extracts from uninfected and infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

The mechanism whereby picornaviruses inhibit host protein synthesis while their own synthetic processes proceed unabated has remained elusive. One of our approaches to this problem was to study the ability of cell-free extracts derived from uninfected and mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells to translate viral and nonviral mRNA's under various conditions of incubation. Our results indicate that viral messengers (from mengovirus and encephalomyocarditis virus) and cellular messengers [L cell and Ehrlich ascites tumor poly(A)-containing mRNA's, rabbit globin mRNA, and chicken embryo lens crystallin mRNA] are translated equally well in both extracts. We also examined the simultaneous translation of viral and nonviral mRNA's in extracts from uninfected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. Our results indicate that under certain conditions mengovirus RNA can suppress completely the translation of globin mRNA. The significance of these results in terms of the shutoff of host protein synthesis is discussed.     

Localization of host poly(A)+ mRNA in the ribosome profile of mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells

The distribution of poly(A)⁺ mRNA among polysomes, monosomes, and ribosome-free supernatant fractions after mengovirus infection of Ehrlich ascites tumor (EAT) cells was investigated employing sucrose gradient centrifugation of their corresponding postnuclear supernatants. Poly(A)⁺ mRNA was isolated from sucrose gradient fractions and quantitated in a cell-free protein synthesizing system from uninfected EAT cells. It was also localized by annealing [³H]-poly(U) to the poly(A)-tracts of mRNA present in the sucrose gradient fractions. Both experiments revealed a gradual shift of host poly(A)⁺ mRNA from large to small polysomes and monosomes, respectively, with the time postinfection. The greatest part of host template RNA appears to remain ribosome-bound and only a fraction seems to be detached from the ribosomes in the course of mengovirus infection. At the end of the infectious cycle, 8 h postinfection, approximately 70% of the poly(A)⁺ mRNA detected in uninfected cells is still biologically active, but not translated in vivo, in agreement with data from the [³H] poly(U) hybridization experiment.     

Relationship of H1(0) histone to differentiation and cancer

The H1(0) histone was first described by Panyim and Chalkley in 1969 as a new electrophoretic band found with histones of non-replicating tissues. Tissues which are active in DNA replication such as ascites tumor cells or thymus cells were reported to lack this band. In this respect the H1(0) histone differs from the bulk of histones which are generally maintained in a constant ratio with respect to each other and to DNA. An inverse relationship between H1(0) histone levels and growth rate was suggested by the decrease in H1(0) histone concentration during regeneration of the pancreas and liver. The synthesis of H1(0) is unusual but not unique in that, unlike the major histone species, it is not restricted to the S phase of the cell cycle. Although there is a general trend for the levels of H1(0) histone to be lower in neoplastic than normal tissues, exceptions have been observed. Compounds such as sodium butyrate and dimethylsulfoxide, which can induce differentiated properties in neoplastic cells, can bring about the accumulation of increased amounts of H1(0) histones. The relative magnitude of these effects exhibits cell-type specificity. There are two H1(0) histone subtypes (a and b) with ratios which differ according to the tissue examined and whose relative importance is not known. The levels of H1(0) histone appear to be more closely related to the degree of differentiation than to the proliferative activity of cells.     

Increased level of histone H1(0) messenger RNA in hypoxic Ehrlich ascites tumor cells

We have investigated the expression of the H1 histone subtype H1(0) gene in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells (EAT) under varied conditions of oxygen supply. Our results show that proliferating EAT cells express H1(0) mRNA at a basal level under normoxic conditions. Severe hypoxia leads to a cessation of cell growth and causes an accumulation of cells in G1. Here, we show that the level of H1(0) histone mRNA increases within a few hours after the onset of hypoxia.     

Protein synthesis in postnuclear supernatants from mengovirus-infected Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

The effect of mengovirus infection on the protein synthetic capacity of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells cultured in vitro was studied in vivo and in vitro employing postnuclear supernatants prepared at various times post-infection in the absence and in the presence of 1% Triton X-100. The amino acid incorporating activities of extracts obtained in the presence of the detergent were reduced by about 30% compared with the capacities of the corresponding postnuclear supernatants prepared in the absence of Triton X-100; but the course of the activity vs. time curve was not influenced by the detergent. Under the conditions employed, the postnuclear supernatants were unable to reinitiate protein synthesis once elongation of nascent polypeptide chains concomitant with ribosome runoff was completed. After mengovirus infection, a gradual disappearance of polysomes from postnuclear supernatants and a simultaneous accumulation of monosomes was observed. The protein-synthesizing activities of normal and infected cells were inversely proportional to the monosome concentrations of their corresponding extracts. Qualitatively, protein synthesis in intact cells and in postnuclear supernatants responded similarly to mengovirus infection. In both cases an initial reduction of host-specific amino acid incorporation was followed by a burst of viral protein synthesis. However, the two activity vs. time curves showed the following significant differences: 1) The activities of extracts from control cells and from mengovirus-infected cells nearly in the infectious cycle were low compared with the activities observed in vivo. 2) In the middle of the infectious cycle, the peak of viral protein synthesis occurred later and the activity was higher in vitro. 3) Finally, in the late period of the infectious cycle the postnuclear supernatants had considerable protein synthesizing activity, at a time when protein synthesis in vivo was nil.     

Host-Dependent Restriction of Mengovirus Replication

Mengovirus infection of a restrictive cell line, Maden's bovine kidney (MDBK), results in a virus yield 1,000-fold less than that obtained from productively infected cell lines such as L cells or Ehrlich ascites tumor cells (EAT). Cells of both types of host systems are infected with comparable efficiencies and are completely killed as a consequence of infection. Infective center assays, coupled with the observation of total cell killing, suggest that comparable numbers of cells synthesize viral antigen and release virus in both types of host system. Viral-specific ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthesis is initiated and proceeds in an identical fashion for approximately 4 hr after the infection of MDBK, EAT, or L-cells. At this time, viral RNA synthesis in MDBK ceases, whereas viral RNA synthesis in EAT and L-cells continues at a linear rate. These results indicate that none of the early viral events leading to the initiation of viral-specific RNA synthesis constitutes the primary site of mengovirus restriction in MDBK. Rather it appears that the cessation of viral RNA synthesis in restrictive cells constitutes the primary limiting event. Based on its delayed interaction with mengovirus RNA synthesis, it appears that the host-related restrictive agent is initially compartmentalized and then released as a consequence of infection subsequent to those early events in mengovirus infection leading to the initiation and continued synthesis of viral RNA.     

Neutralization of heparin by basic proteins of tumor cells: studies in vitro with protein rich in 14C-arginine

14C-arginine rich basic protein isolated from the cytoplasm of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells neutralizes the anticoagulant of activity heparin. The action of this protein is greater than H3 histone rich in arginine derived from calf thymus.     

Kinetics of histone methylation in vivo and its relation to the cell cycle in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

The appearance of methylated lysines in newly synthesized histones from Ehrlich ascites tumor cells was measured during one generation time. Newly synthesized histones were pulse-labeled in vivo by L-[3H]lysine, and the time course of the uptake of label into monomethyl, dimethyl and trimethyllysine from gel-electrophoretically isolated histones F2a1 (H4) and F3 (H3) was followed. Methylation starts immediately after histone biosynthesis. It proceeds, however, more slowly than histone synthesis. Both the rate of methylation and the mechanism of methylation in F3 and F2a1 histones differ. F3 methylation can be described by a first-order reaction, i.e. the reaction rate depends only on the concentration of free methylation sites available. Rate constants of approximately 0.21 h-1 were found for all three methylation steps. Methylation in the F2a1 histone proceeds more slowly than in F3. The dimethylation step in this fraction can be described by a zero-order reaction with a rate constant which is the reciprocal of the duration of the DNA synthesis phase. Alternatively this step could be correlated with the transition of the cells from the S phase into the G2 phase. By the end of one generation time all methylation sites in all F2a1 and F3 molecules are occupied by methyl groups at a ratio of about 1:3:1 for monomethyl, dimethyl and trimethyllysine in the F3 histone. In the F2a1 molecule the methyllysines consist mainly of dimethyllysine.     

Conservation of the acetylation pattern of histones and the transcriptional activity in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells by sodium butyrate

Histone deacetylases of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells are active at low temperatures (0-4 degrees C). The so-called hyperacetylated state of histones is the physiological state of histones in intact Ehrlich ascites tumor cells which is conserved by the continuous presence of 10 mM sodium butyrate during the preparation of nuclei and histones. Isolation of histones in the absence of butyrate causes an artificial decrease in histone acetylation. This artificial loss of histone acetylation produces a decrease of the elongation reaction in the RNA synthesis. The initiation of RNA synthesis is not affected.     

ATP-producing and consuming processes of Ehrlich mouse ascites tumor cells in proliferating and resting phases.

The extents of ATP-yielding and consuming processes in Ehrlich mouse ascites tumor cells during the proliferating and resting growth phase were compared. In the resting phase the total ATP production was decreased by one-third. The ATP supply by oxidative phosphorylation was drastically reduced, whereas the rate of glycolysis stayed nearly constant. All ATP-consuming processes investigated, i.e., protein turnover, Na+/K(+)-ATPase, Ca2(+)-ATPase, and RNA synthesis, were decreased proportionally with the total ATP consumption.     

Phospholipid metabolism in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. I. Turnover rate of phosphatidylinositol.

1. Radioactive precursors, 32 PI, [1-14C]glycerol, and [1-14C]acetate, were individually injected into the peritoneal cavity of mice bearing Ehrlich ascites tumor, and the rates of incorporation into phospholipid fraction of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells were estimated. Although no distinct difference in specific activities was observed between phosphatidylinositol and other phospholipid classes as regards the incorporation of [1-14C]acetate of [1-14C]glycerol, a higher rate of incorporation of 32Pi into phosphatidylinositol was observed. The specific activity of phosphatidylinositol reached more than ten times that of phosphatidylcholine in the first hour. 2. The radioactivities incorporated into the phospholipids of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells and liver were estimated after simultaneous injection 32Pi and [2-3H]inositol. The incorporation of 32Pi into phosphatidylinositol of liver was similar in specific activity to those of other phospholipids. The ratio (3H/32Pi) of phosphatidylinositol only slightly in the ascites tumor cells, while an appreciable decrease of the ratio was observed in the liver during the first 3 hr. 3. These results suggest that phosphatidylinositol synthesis through pathways other than de novo synthesis is rapid in ascites tumor cells.     

Utilization of ascites plasma very low density lipoprotein triglycerides by Ehrlich cells

Much of the lipid present in the ascites plasma in which Ehrlich cells grow is contained in very low density lipoproteins (VLDL). Chemical measurements indicated that triglycerides were taken up by the cells during in vitro incubation with ascites VLDL. When tracer amounts of radioactive triolein were incorporated into the ascites VLDL, the percentage uptakes of glyceryl tri[1-(14)C]oleate and triglycerides measured chemically were similar. The cells also took up [2-(3)H]glyceryl trioleate that was added to VLDL, but the percentage of available (3)H recovered in the cell lipids was 30-40% less than that of (1 4)C from glyceryl tri[1-(1 4)C]oleate. This difference was accounted for by water-soluble (3)H that accumulated in the incubation medium, suggesting that extensive hydrolysis accompanied the uptake of VLDL triglycerides. Radioactive fatty acids derived from the VLDL triglycerides were incorporated into cell phospholipids, glycerides, and free fatty acids, and they also were oxidized to CO(2). Triglyceride utilization increased as the VLDL concentration was raised. These results suggest that one function of the ascites plasma VLDL may be to supply fatty acid to the Ehrlich cells and that the availability of fatty acid to this tumor is determined in part by the ascites plasma VLDL concentration. Although Ehrlich cells incorporate almost no free glycerol into triglycerides, considerable amounts of [2-(3)H]glyceryl trioleate radioactivity were recovered in cell triglycerides. This indicates that at least some VLDL triglycerides were taken up intact. The net uptake of VLDL protein and cholesterol was very small relative to the triglyceride uptake, suggesting that intact triglycerides are transferred from the ascites VLDL to the Ehrlich cells and that hydrolysis occurs after the triglyceride is associated with the cells.