The distribution of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) among subsets of thymocytes in the rat.

Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT), a unique DNA-polymerizing enzyme,has been shown to be present in a moderately dense subpopulation of rat thymocytes separated on discontinuous Ficoll density gradients. This subpopulation has been characterized by using antigenic and functional markers to identify directly and quantify cortical and medullary thymocytes. The TdT-positive thymocytes are depleted by cortisone administration, lack responsiveness to phytohemagglutinin, concanavalin-A, and histocompatibility alloantigens, bear surface antigens characteristic of cortical thymocytes (bone marrow lymphocyte antigen) and lack surface antigens characteristic of medullary thymocytes (rat-masked thymocyte antigen and histocompatibility antigens). The results indicate that TdT is present exclusively (or in markedly higher concentrations) in a subset of cells which comprised about 65% of cortical thymocytes. Two other major subsets of cortical thymocytes were identified which appeared to be TdT-negative. A minor subset of very low density cortical thymocytes was also defined. These observations have provided insight into the possible pathways of thymocyte ontogeny.     

Immunocytochemical study of recombinant terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) synthesized by baculovirus-infected insect cells.

The ability to overproduce terminal transferase through recombinant DNA technology should provide alternate means for generating sufficient quantities for structural and mechanistic study of this creative DNA polymerase. In this work we have investigated, at electron microscope level, the morphological modification and ultrastructural localization of synthesized human terminal transferase occurring in Sf-9 cells during recombinant baculovirus infection time. The results obtained showed that TdT is localized and stored only at the cytoplasmic level; the nucleus did not show any specific site able to link the neosynthesized TdT. The amount of the enzyme, estimate by immunostaining analysis, increased with the viral infection time. Morphological changes occurring during viral infection consist mainly of variations of cellular surface, different size and shape of cytoplasmic organelles and modification of nuclear components.     

Nuclear matrix bound terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase in rat thymus nuclei. II. Effect of ATP on free and matrix bound TdT

Endogenous nuclease digestion of thymus nuclei from 3–4 week old rats followed by a step wise extraction with low salt, 0.5 M salt and 1 M salt removed approximately 70–85% of total nuclear terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) whereas approximately 15–30% of the enzyme remained tightly bound to the residual nuclear matrix. The cytoplasmic TdT as well as the bulk of nuclear TdT extracted in low salt and 0.5 M salt was found to be strongly inhibited at low concentration of ATP whereas matrix bound TdT and a significant portion of the enzyme in 1 M salt extract was completely insensitive to this nucleotide. The ATP resistant enzyme in the 1 M salt extract was unstable and slowly converted to ATP sensitive form upon prolonged preincubation on ice whereas under similar conditions it remained unaffected in the matrix bound form. These observations lead us to suggest that ATP resistant matrix bound TdT being capable of discriminating unnatural rNTPs against the natural dNTP substrates, may be the functionally organized form of the enzyme and that free TdT having lost the capability to distinguish between dNTP and rNTP may be the nonfunctional form of the enzyme in the thymus gland.Abbreviations dNTP deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate - DTT dithiothreitol - Ig immunoglobulin - PMSF phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride - rNTP ribonucleoside triphosphate - TCR T cell receptor - TdT terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase - VDJ variable, diversity and joining segments of Ig or TCR genes     

Antigenic stimulation induces recombination activating gene 1 and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase expression in a murine T-cell hybridoma

Secondary rearrangements of the T cell receptor (TCR) represent a genetic correction mechanism which changes T cell specificity by re-activating V(D)J recombination in peripheral T cells. Murine T-cell hybridoma A1.1 was employed to investigate whether antigenic stimulation induced re-expression of recombinase genes and altered TCR Vβ expression. Following repeated antigenic stimulation, A1.1 cells were induced to re-express recombination activating gene (RAG)1 and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) which are generally considered prerequisite to TCR gene rearrangement. Accompanied with the significant changes in TCR mRNA levels over time, it is suggested that secondary rearrangements may be induced in A1.1 cells, which represent a mature T cell clone capable of re-expressing RAG genes and possesses the prerequisite for secondary V(D)J rearrangement.     

Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) enzyme in thymus and bone marrow: I. Age-associated decline of TdT in humans and mice

This study was aimed at characterizing terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) levels in populations of normal human and murine lymphocytes and toward correlating TdT enzyme levels with the biological process of aging. A newly developed method that utilizes a small number of cells was employed to determine TdT levels in bone marrow and thymus cells following cell fractionation at unit gravity sedimentation. By these methods, cell fractions with high TdT activity were found to comprise only 5–10% of the parent cell pools. In the human bone marrow, we show here that TdT-positive cell fractions are largely depleted of HTLA, E-rosette forming, and mitogen-responsive cells, whereas TdT-positive human thymocyte fractions contain a high percentage of HTLA and E-rosette-positive cells. Our observations in the murine model confirm the earlier observations that TdT activity decreases with age. We further show here that the age-associated decline of TdT in the bone marrow preceded that in the thymus. As is true for the mouse, TdT activity in human bone marrow and thymus was also found to decrease with advancing age. The decline in TdT was not associated with a change in cell distribution profiles after unit gravity sedimentation of bone marrow or thymus cells. From these data, the age-associated loss of TdT cannot be attributed to a loss of a particular subpopulation of cells.     

Polyamines and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase expression In KM 3 pre-B cell line during phorbol ester induced differentiation.

The aliphatic polyamines, putrescine, spermine and spermidine belong to a category of molecules implicated in DNA replication. Their synthesis is strongly activated during the G₁ period and they have been implicated in the regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation. Terminal transferase is a DNA polymerase present in pre-T and pre-B cells and its expression can be modulated by phorbol ester treatment. In this study we have monitored the relationship of intracellular polyamine levels with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase down-regulation induced by 12-0-tetradecanoyl phorbol myristate 13-acetate treatment in the human pre-B KM-3 cell line. Phorbol myristate acetate can cause an increase, at 4 and 8 hours of differentiation, of intracellular levels of putrescine as well as a decrease in terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase synthesis showing the probable involvement that polyamines have in the differentiation process.     

New non-nucleoside substrates for terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase: the synthesis and the dependence of substrate properties on structure

N-(9-Fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl)-omega-aminoalkyl, N-(9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl)-8-amino-3,6-dioxaoctyl, and N-(9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl)-6-aminohexanoyl]-2-aminoethyl triphosphates were synthesized. All of them were shown to be the substrates of the calf thymus terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase. Their substrate properties depend on the length and structure of linker between the 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl and triphosphate moieties.     

High-level expression of murine terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase inEscherichia coli grown at low temperature and overexpressingargU tRNA

Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) is a highly conserved vertebrate enzyme that possesses the unique ability to catalyze the random addition of deoxynucleoside 5′-triphosphates onto the 3′-hydroxyl group of a single-stranded DNA. It plays an important role in the generation of immunoglobin and T-cell receptor diversity. TdT is usually obtained from animal thymus gland or produced in a baculovirus system, but both procedures are rather tedious, and proteolysis occurs during purification. Attempts to overexpress TdT in bacteria have been unsuccessful or have yielded an enzyme with a lower specific activity. A dearth of TdT has thus hampered detailed structural and functional studies. In the present study, we report that by lowering growth temperature and overexpressing a rare arginyl tRNA, it is possible to boost the production inEscherichia coli of murine TdT with minimal proteolysis and high specific activity.     

Photoaffinity labeling of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase. 2. Identification of peptides in the nucleotide binding domain

Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (terminal transferase) was specifically modified in the nucleotide binding site by the substrate photoaffinity analogue [gamma-32P]-8-azido-dATP. The alpha and beta polypeptides of photolabeled terminal transferase were resolved by high-performance liquid chromatography. The beta polypeptide was digested with trypsin and fractionated by reverse-phase chromatography. Two 32P-containing fractions were isolated and subjected to amino acid sequence analysis. Peptides were identified as Ile209-Lys232 (B26) and Val233-Lys239 (B27). Peptide B26 was further resolved into two overlapping species; one contained an additional lysine residue at the N-terminus which resulted from tryptic cleavage between Lys207 and Lys208. In order to ensure that the sequenced peptides corresponded to the photolabeled species, we devised an anion-exchange procedure to isolate photolabeled peptides from the mixture. Analysis of photolabeled peptides from terminal transferase alpha beta using DEAE-cellulose chromatography followed by reverse-phase HPLC confirmed that the photolabeled species were peptides B26 and B27. Peptide B26, the major photolabeled species, contained a conserved octapeptide region found in several eucaryotic DNA polymerases. In addition, peptide B27 was flanked by a sequence that has been implicated in triphosphate binding in other proteins. Structure predictions, based on sequence data, place the two peptides identified by photolabeling in spatial proximity consistent with the participation of both in the nucleotide binding domain.     

Diagnostic and prognostic value of the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) activity in treating the blastic phase (bp) of chronic granulocytic leukaemia (CGL)

The blastic cell phenotypes of 26 cases of CGL in blastic phase were estimated and the patients were treated with different schemes. The following methods of typisation of the blast cells were used: cytochemical stainings (POX, Sudan B, PAS, nonspecific esterase), estimation of TdT activity, and in 11 patients the testing with monoclonal antibodies of VI series. Using these methods 10 patients (38%) with lymphoid form of the blastic phase, 11 (43%) with the myeloid type and 5 patients (19%) with undifferentiated type were diagnosed. In the group of lymphoblastic type a longer survival time and complete remissions were observed. High TdT activity in blastic cells did correspond with favourable response to Vincristin and Prednison. The introduction of TdT assessment into the diagnosis of CGL allows the cells to be classified more precisely, thus helping in defining the prognosis and in the choice of treatment programme.     

Terminal labeling and addition of homopolymer tracts to duplex DNA fragments by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase.

Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase, which requires a single-stranded DNA primer under the usual assay conditions, can be made to accept double-stranded DNA as primer for the addition of either rNMP or dNMP, if Mg+2 ion is replaced by Co+2 ion. The priming efficiency in the presence of Co+2 ion with respect to initial rate tested with 2 single-stranded primer, is 5-6 fold higher than that observed with Mg+2 ion. In the presence of Co+2 ion, the primer specificity is altered so that all forms of duplex DNA molecules can be labeled at their unique 3'-ends regardless of whether such ends are staggered or even. Thus, using ribonucleotide incorporation, we have for the first time employed this reaction for sequence analysis of duplex DNA fragments generated by restriction endonuclease cleavages. Furthermore, by using Co+2 ion, it is possible to add a long homopolymer tract of deoxyribonucleotides to the 3'-terminus of double-stranded DNA. Therefore, without prior treatment with lambda exonuclease to expose the 3' terminus as single-stranded primer, this reaction now permits insertion of homopolymer tails at the 3'-ends of all types of DNA molecules for the purpose of in vitro construction of recombinant DNA.     

Photoaffinity labeling of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase. 1. Active site directed interactions with 8-azido-2'-deoxyadenosine 5'-triphosphate

A photoaffinity analogue of dATP, 8-azido-2'-deoxyadenosine 5'-triphosphate (8-azido-dATP), was used to probe the nucleotide binding site of the non-template-directed DNA polymerase terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (EC 2.7.7.31). The Mg2+ form of 8-azido-dATP was shown to be an efficient enzyme substrate with a Km of 53 microM. Loss of enzyme activity occurred during UV photolysis only in the presence of 8-azido-dATP. At saturation (120 microM 8-azido-dATP), 54% of the protein molecules were modified as determined by inhibition of enzyme activity. Kinetic analysis of enzyme inhibition induced by photoincorporation of 8-azido-dATP indicated an apparent Kd of approximately 38 microM. Addition of 2 mM dATP to 120 microM 8-azido-dATP resulted in greater than 90% protection from photoinduced loss of enzyme activity. In contrast, no protection was observed with the addition of 2 mM dAMP. Enzyme inactivation was directly correlated with incorporation of radiolabeled 8-azido-dATP into the protein and UV-induced destruction of the azido group. Photoincorporation of 8-azido-dATP into terminal transferase was reduced by all purine and pyrimidine deoxynucleoside triphosphates of which dGTP was the most effective. The alpha and beta polypeptides of calf terminal transferase were specifically photolabeled by [gamma-32P]-8-azido-dATP, and both polypeptides were equally protected by all four deoxynucleoside triphosphates. This suggests that the nucleotide binding domain involves components from both polypeptides.     

The recombination activating gene 1 (RAG1) of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): cloning,expression, and phylogenetic analysis

The characterization of genes involved in the generation of the immune repertoire is an active area of research in lower vertebrate taxa. The recombination activating genes (RAG) have been shown to be essential for V (D) J recombination of T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) and immunoglobulin (Ig) genes, leading to the generation of the primary repertoire. As RAG1 is critical to the differentiation of pre-B and-T cells, its expression within an associated primary lymphoid organ can serve as a developmental marker. To examine the ontogeny of lymphocytes in Oncorhynchus mykiss, we cloned RAG1 from trout and examined its tissue-and lymphocyte-specific expression. The polymerase chain reaction, coupled with degenerate oligonucleotide primers, was used to amplify a homologous probe [(633 base pairs) (bp)] from rainbow trout genomic DNA, which in turn was used to isolate a lambda genomic clone. Sequence analysis of this genomic clone confirmed the RAG1 nature of this gene (3888 bp) and revealed an internal intron of 666 bp. When compared with other previously reported RAG1 sequences, the predicted amino acid translation (1073 aa) displayed a minimum of 78% similarity for the complete sequence and 89% similarity in the conserved region (aa 417-1042). Using northern blot analysis, we found the expression of RAG1 to be limited to surface Ig-n lymphocytes within the thymus. This data forms the basis for a proposal that the thymus of teleost species plays an essential developmental role in lymphopoiesis and thus can be regarded as a primary lymphoid organ.