Expression of X-linked genes in androgenetic,gynogenetic, and normal mouse preimplantation embryos

A quantitative RT-PCR approach has been used to examine the expression of a number of X-linked genes during preimplan-tation development of normal mouse embryos and in androgenetic and gynogenetic mouse embryos. The data reveal moderately reduced expression of the Prps1, Hprt, and Pdha1 mRNAs in androge-netic eight-cell and morula stage embryos, but not in androgenetic blastocysts. Pgk1 mRNA abundance was severely reduced in androgenones at the eight-cell and morula stages and remained reduced, but to a lesser degree, in androgenetic blastocysts. These data indicate that paternally inherited X chromosomes are at least partially repressed in androgenones, as they are in normal XX embryos, and that the degree of this repression is chromosome position-dependent or gene-dependent. Gynogenetic embryos expressed elevated amounts of some mRNAs at the morula and blas-tocyst stages, indicative of a delay in dosage compensation that may be chromosome position-dependent. The Xist RNA was expressed at a greater abundance in androgenones than in gynogenones at the eight-cell and morula stages, consistent with previous studies. Xist expression was observed in both and rogenones and gynogenones at the blas-tocyst stage. We conclude that the developmental arrest in early androgenones may be, in part, due to reduced expression of essential X-linked genes, particularly those near the X inactivation center, where as the developmental defects of gyno-genones and parthenogenones, by contrast, may be partially due to overexpression of X-linked genes in extraembryonic tissues, possibly those far-thest away from the X inactivation center. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The gadd and MyD genes define a novel set of mammalian genes encoding acidic proteins that synergistically suppress cell growth.

A remarkable overlap was observed between the gadd genes, a group of often coordinately expressed genes that are induced by genotoxic stress and certain other growth arrest signals, and the MyD genes, a set of myeloid differentiation primary response genes. The MyD116 gene was found to be the murine homolog of the hamster gadd34 gene, whereas MyD118 and gadd45 were found to represent two separate but closely related genes. Furthermore, gadd34/MyD116, gadd45, MyD118, and gadd153 encode acidic proteins with very similar and unusual charge characteristics; both this property and a similar pattern of induction are shared with mdm2, whic, like gadd45, has been shown previously to be regulated by the tumor suppressor p53. Expression analysis revealed that they are distinguished from other growth arrest genes in that they are DNA damage inducible and suggest a role for these genes in growth arrest and apoptosis either coupled with or uncoupled from terminal differentiation. Evidence is also presented for coordinate induction in vivo by stress. The use of a short-term transfection assay, in which expression vectors for one or a combination of these gadd/MyD genes were transfected with a selectable marker into several different human tumor cell lines, provided direct evidence for the growth-inhibitory functions of the products of these genes and their ability to synergistically suppress growth. Taken together, these observations indicate that these genes define a novel class of mammalian genes encoding acidic proteins involved in the control of cellular growth.     

Limited availability of ZBP1 restricts axonal mRNA localization and nerve regeneration capacity

Subcellular localization of mRNAs is regulated by RNA-protein interactions. Here, we show that introduction of a reporter mRNA with the 3'UTR of β-actin mRNA competes with endogenous mRNAs for binding to ZBP1 in adult sensory neurons. ZBP1 is needed for axonal localization of β-actin mRNA, and introducing GFP with the 3'UTR of β-actin mRNA depletes axons of endogenous β-actin and GAP-43 mRNAs and attenuates both in vitro and in vivo regrowth of severed axons. Consistent with limited levels of ZBP1 protein in adult neurons, mice heterozygous for the ZBP1 gene are haploinsufficient for axonal transport of β-actin and GAP-43 mRNAs and for regeneration of peripheral nerve. Exogenous ZBP1 can rescue the RNA transport deficits, but the axonal growth deficit is only rescued if the transported mRNAs are locally translated. These data support a direct role for ZBP1 in transport and translation of mRNA cargos in axonal regeneration in vitro and in vivo.     

Characterization of the mRNAs for α-, β- and γ-actin

The mRNAs for α-, β- and γ-actin have been characterized with respect to molecular weight and poly(A) content. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions shows that the mRNA for α-actin (muscle-specific actin) is approximately 4.6 × 10⁵ daltons in size, and that the mRNAs for β- and γ-actin (nonmuscle actins) are much larger, approximately 6.6 × 10⁵ daltons in size. We therefore calculate that the noncoding regions of the β- and γ-actin mRNAs contain about 800 nucleotides. This is in marked contrast to the noncoding regions of α-actin mRNA which contain only about 180 nucleotides. During electrophoresis in high-resolution nondenaturing gels, the β-actin mRNA migrates slightly slower than the γ-actin mRNA. This indicates either that β-actin mRNA is about 100 nucleotides longer than γ-actin mRNA, or that these mRNAs differ in secondary structure. Fractionation of actin mRNA on the basis of poly(A) content shows that a substantial portion of the β-actin mRNA, but very little of the α- or γ-actin mRNAs, fails to bind to oligo(dT)-cellulose. Much of this poly(A)-deficient β-actin mRNA, however, does bind to poly(U)-Sepharose, a substrate with higher affinity for short poly(A) sequences. This indicates that many of these β-actin mRNA molecules are polyadenylated, but that they have unusually short poly(A) tails. The finding that β- and γ-actins are translated from mRNAs of different electrophoretic mobility and different poly(A) content strongly suggests that these two closely related proteins are products of different genes.     

Upregulation of CHOP-10 (gadd153) expression in the mouse blastocyst as a response to stress.

CHOP-10 (also known as gadd153 or Ddit3) is one of the genes overexpressed by mammalian cells exposed to cytotoxic agents or to nutrient stress. The response of this gene to stress was studied in the mouse blastocyst and in F9 embryonal carcinoma cells. When mouse blastocysts were exposed to the alkylating agent MMS, the metabolic inhibitor sodium arsenite or an inhibitor of protein glycosylation tunicamycin, levels of the CHOP-10 mRNA were increased by two- to threefold relative to the mRNA for beta-actin. There was no increase in gene expression when blastocysts were treated with the inhibitor of nucleotide synthesis PALA. These results show that the response of CHOP-10 is dependent on the type of stress applied to the embryo. When F9 embryonal carcinoma cells were treated with MMS or sodium arsenite, CHOP-10 expression was induced by fourfold within 4 hr of treatment. The induction following tunicamycin treatment was slower requiring at least 24 hr. The response to tunicamycin was greater in cells treated with retinoic acid to induce differentiation. The results suggest that there is a link between the extent of glycoprotein synthesis and the sensitivity of CHOP-10 to tunicamycin. The inhibitor PALA did not change CHOP-10 expression in the presence or absence of retinoic acid. In F9 cells an increase in the expression of CHOP-10 was followed by cell death due to apoptosis. The overexpression of CHOP-10 may be a marker for one of the pathways that lead to apoptosis in the blastocyst. These results suggest that there is more than one control system regulating growth arrest in the blastocyst and the fetal outcome may differ depending on the type of stress encountered in culture.     

C/EBPalpha regulation of the growth-arrest-associated gene gadd45.

CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBPalpha) is expressed in postmitotic, differentiated adipocytes and is required for adipose conversion of 3T3-L1 cells in culture. Temporal misexpression of C/EBPalpha in undifferentiated adipoblasts leads to mitotic growth arrest. We report here that growth arrest- and DNA damage-inducible gene 45 (gadd45) is preferentially expressed in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes similar to phenotype-associated genes. Furthermore, C/EBPalpha transactivates a reporter plasmid containing 1.5 kb of the gadd45 promoter region. The proto-oncogene myc, which inhibits adipocyte differentiation, abrogates C/EBPalpha activation of gadd45. gadd45 is known to be a target of the tumor suppressor p53 in a G1 checkpoint activated by DNA damage. Immunoprecipitation of radiolabeled proteins with conformation-specific antibodies revealed that wild-type p53 is expressed throughout 3T3-L1 adipocyte development, including the postmitotic period characterized by the accumulation of gadd45 and C/EBPalpha. A stable 3T3-L1 subline was engineered to express a dominant negative p53, human p53(143ala). The p53(143ala) subline differentiated to adipocytes and showed appropriate developmental expression of gadd45. These findings suggest that postmitotic growth arrest is coupled to adipocyte differentiation via C/EBPalpha stimulation of growth arrest-associated and phenotype-associated genes.     

β-Actin specifically controls cell growth, migration, and the G-actin pool

Ubiquitously expressed β-actin and γ-actin isoforms play critical roles in most cellular processes; however, their unique contributions are not well understood. We generated whole-body β-actin-knockout (Actb(-/-)) mice and demonstrated that β-actin is required for early embryonic development. Lethality of Actb(-/-) embryos correlated with severe growth impairment and migration defects in β-actin-knockout primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) that were not observed in γ-actin-null MEFs. Migration defects were associated with reduced membrane protrusion dynamics and increased focal adhesions. We also identified migration defects upon conditional ablation of β-actin in highly motile T cells. Of great interest, ablation of β-actin altered the ratio of globular actin (G-actin) to filamentous actin in MEFs, with corresponding changes in expression of genes that regulate the cell cycle and motility. These data support an essential role for β-actin in regulating cell migration and gene expression through control of the cellular G-actin pool.     

Transient expression of a human β-actin promoter/lacZ gene introduced into mouse embryos correlates with a low degree of methylation

We have analysed the correlation between expression and methylation for the human β-actin promoter introduced into mouse embryos. The β-actin promoter was fused to the reporter gene lacZ, and expression was analysed after pronuclear injection into fertilized mouse eggs. We analysed transient expression in in vitro cultured preimplantation embryos and expression after chromosomal integration in 5 independent lines of transgenic mice. The in vitro cultured preimplantation embryos expressed lacZ from the 2-cell to the blastocyst stages, and most abundantly at the morula stage. By increasing the amount of injected DNA, a larger proportion of embryos expressed lacZ. Embryos expressing lacZ in only a subset of the blastomeres were detected at all preimplantation stages. In contrast to the transient expression after injection, we have not detected lacZ expression in any of the 5 analysed lines of transgenic mice carrying the same construct. The lack of expression in transgenic mice correlates with hypermethylation of C residues in the vast majority of CG sequences in the integrated β-actin/lacZ construct, whereas the injected construct was completely nonmethylated. We discuss methylation and other possible reasons for the observed differences in expression between injected and integrated copies of the β-actin/lacZ construct and for lacZ expression in only a subset of blastomeres in preimplantation embryos. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

RACK1 is a ribosome scaffold protein for β-actin mRNA/ZBP1 complex

In neurons, specific mRNAs are transported in a translationally repressed manner along dendrites or axons by transport ribonucleic-protein complexes called RNA granules. ZBP1 is one RNA binding protein present in transport RNPs, where it transports and represses the translation of cotransported mRNAs, including β-actin mRNA. The release of β-actin mRNA from ZBP1 and its subsequent translation depends on the phosphorylation of ZBP1 by Src kinase, but little is known about how this process is regulated. Here we demonstrate that the ribosomal-associated protein RACK1, another substrate of Src, binds the β-actin mRNA/ZBP1 complex on ribosomes and contributes to the release of β-actin mRNA from ZBP1 and to its translation. We identify the Src binding and phosphorylation site Y246 on RACK1 as the critical site for the binding to the β-actin mRNA/ZBP1 complex. Based on these results we propose RACK1 as a ribosomal scaffold protein for specific mRNA-RBP complexes to tightly regulate the translation of specific mRNAs.     

青鱼β-actin基因克隆及其启动子功能的初步检测

高保真PCR克隆青鱼β-actin基因开放阅读框和5’端侧翼序列,DNA测序结果表明：青鱼β-actin基因开放阅读框编码一段含375个氨基酸的蛋白,与其他物种actin家族相比较具有高度保守性。青鱼β-actin与鲤鱼、草鱼及斑马鱼的同源性均为100％,而与人和Norway鼠β-actin的同源性均为99.2％,与鸡和Kenyan爪蟾β-actin的同源性分别为98．9％和98．1％。将青鱼β-actin基因5’端启动调控区插入不含启动子的pEGFP1载体构建青鱼β-actin启动子／EGFP表达载体,与第一次卵裂之前显微注射该重组质粒入泥鳅受精卵,同时也用该重组质粒转染HeLa细胞系。观察结果表明：GFP在50％的泥鳅胚胎和2／3的HeLa细胞有所表达。GFP在泥鳅胚胎的各个部分均有表达,且在某些胚胎中GFP的表达遍布全身。因此,以EGFP为报告基因证实了青鱼β-actin基因启动子为一种非特异性表达的启动子。     

Relationships between the completion of first cleavage and the chromosomal complement,sex, and developmental rates of bovine embryos generated in vitro

One thousand eighty-four two-cell bovine embryos produced from 1,574 oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro were cultured as groups separated according to the time when they completed their first cleavage (24,30,40,48, or 62 hr postinsemination; hpi). At 5 days after insemination, the proportions of each group that had progressed to the eight-cell stage or beyond were determined and the 350 that had done so were fixed and examined cytogenetically for cell number, chromosomal abnormalities, and sex. Embryos in the “early” cleaving (24 and 30 hpi) and “late” cleaving (40–62 hpi) groups were compared. Early cleaving embryos were more likely to have developed to the eight-cell stage or beyond (52.2% vs. 20%), contained more cells (22 vs. 17), and were more likely to be male (3.6:1 vs. 0.93:1). It is suggested that these phenotypic differences between the sexes begin before the embryonic genome is generally thought to become activated and are due either to differential processing of X- and Y-bearing sperm within the zygote or to very early differential expression of genes derived from X- and Y-bearing sperm. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.