Autoprocessing of Drosophila copia gag precursor to generate a unique laminate structure in Escherichia coli.

Drosophila copia protease is likely to be encoded in the gag gene. We have expressed copia gag polyprotein precursor in E. coli. The gag precursor was correctly processed to generate a unique laminate structure in E. coli. The processing was almost completely blocked by a mutation at the putative active site of copia protease, and resulted in accumulation of the precursor. Furthermore, the laminate structure was not found in E. coli expressing the mutant precursor. These results indicate that the protease is involved in cleaving the gag precursor itself. Also, the assembly of copia gag protein should correlate to the autoprocessing of copia gag polyprotein precursor.     

Selective autophagy regulates insertional mutagenesis by the Ty1 retrotransposon in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Macroautophagy (autophagy) is a bulk degradation system for cytoplasmic components and is ubiquitously found in eukaryotic cells. Autophagy is induced under starvation conditions and plays a cytoprotective role by degrading unwanted cytoplasmic materials. The Ty1 transposon, a member of the Ty1/copia superfamily, is the most abundant retrotransposon in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and acts to introduce mutations in the host genome via Ty1 virus-like particles (VLPs) localized in the cytoplasm. Here we show that selective autophagy downregulates Ty1 transposition by eliminating Ty1 VLPs from the cytoplasm under nutrient-limited conditions. Ty1 VLPs are targeted to autophagosomes by an interaction with Atg19. We propose that selective autophagy safeguards genome integrity against excessive insertional mutagenesis caused during nutrient starvation by transposable elements in eukaryotic cells.     

Point mutation in calcium-binding domain of mouse polyomavirus VP1 protein does not prevent virus-like particle formation, but changes VP1 interactions with Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell structures

The mouse polyomavirus gene for the major structural protein, VP1, with point mutation in the calcium-binding pocket (VP1(Ala)), was expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in a baculovirus expression system. Surprisingly, VP1(Ala) forms virus-like particles (VLPs) in nuclei of both yeast and insect cells. VP1(Ala)-VLPs produced in S. cerevisiae are unstable and, unlike wild-type VP1 (VP1(wt))-VLPs, they disassemble during the purification procedure and storage. In contrast to VP1(wt), VP1(Ala) does not interact with the yeast mitotic spindle. Nevertheless, both wild-type and mutated VP1 inhibit yeast cell growth. The inhibition is cAMP-dependent. The production of VP1(Ala) and VP1(wt)-VLPs in insect cells also revealed differences in their interactions with cellular protein(s). Thus, the mutation in the VP1 calcium pocket alters the stability and surface conformation of VLPs rather than the ability of VP1 to self-assemble.     

An assay for transient gene expression in transfected Drosophila cells, using [3H]guanine incorporation.

We have developed an assay for transient gene expression using a dominant-selectable marker previously employed to transform Drosophila cultured cells. Drosophila hydei cells transfected with a functional Escherichia coli xanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase gene (gpt), under the control of the long terminal repeats (LTRs) of the copia transposable element, rapidly incorporate guanine into acid-precipitable counts. Autoradiographic analysis in situ shows that approximately 20% of cells take up, and express, the gpt gene. This transient gpt expression depends on the Drosophila promoter sequences since vectors with the gpt gene in reverse orientation to the copia LTRs fail to incorporate guanine. Deletion analysis confirms that the LTRs are essential for gpt gene expression. Similarly, cells transfected with gpt controlled by the Drosophila 70 000 mol. wt. heat-shock (hsp 70) promoter show regulated guanine incorporation when heat shocked. The efficiency of the copia LTRs varies considerably between the cell lines we tested, whereas that of the hsp 70 promoter does not. The heterologous promoters of the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) and simian virus 40 (SV40) function poorly in these cells.     

Transposition of elements of the 412, copia and 297 dispersed repeated gene families in Drosophila.

The stability of elements of three different dispersed repeated gene families in the genome of Drosophila tissue culture cells has been examined. Different amounts of sequences homologous to elements of 412, copia and 297 dispersed repeated gene families are found in the genomes of D. melanogaster embryonic and tissue culture cells. In general the amount of these sequences is increased in the cell lines. The additional sequences homologous to 412, copia and 297 occur as intact elements and are dispersed to new sites in the cell culture genome. It appears that these elements can insert at many alternative sites. We also describe a DNA sequence arrangement found in the D. melanogaster embryo genome which appears to result from a transposition of an element of the copia dispersed repeated gene family into a new chromosomal site. The mechanism of insertion of this copia element is precise to within 90 bp and may involve a region of weak sequence homology between the site of insertion and the direct terminal repeats of the copia element.     

Structure, translation, and metabolism of the cytoplasmic copia ribonucleic acid of Drosophila melanogaster

We have characterized the copia RNA in the cytoplasm of cultured Drosophila cells. Copia RNA was detected and purified by hybridization to DNA of the plasmid cDm 1142, which contains the copia sequence. A large fraction (2.2%) of the total cytoplasmic poly(A)+ RNA was found to be copia RNA. Cytoplasmic copia RNA displays all the characteristics expected for a messenger RNA. It possesses a poly(A) tract identical in length with that of total poly(A)+ cytoplasmic RNA. It is associated with polysomes and can be released from this association by treatment with EDTA. When purified copia RNA is added to an mRNA-dependent rabbit reticulocyte lysate, three polypeptides of 51000, 33000, and 21000 daltons are seen. We have not determined if these are different polypeptides or if the two smaller polypeptides are fragments of the 51000-dalton polypeptide. The half-life of copia cytoplasmic RNA was determined in pulse--chase experiments to be 9.5 h; this is 1.6 times longer than the half-life of the intermediate decay class of total poly(A)+ cytoplasmic RNA. These properties provide strong evidence that copia RNA functions in vivo as a messenger RNA.     

Species-specific signals for the splicing of a short Drosophila intron in vitro.

The effects of branchpoint sequence, the pyrimidine stretch, and intron size on the splicing efficiency of the Drosophila white gene second intron were examined in nuclear extracts from Drosophila and human cells. This 74-nucleotide intron is typical of many Drosophila introns in that it lacks a significant pyrimidine stretch and is below the minimum size required for splicing in human nuclear extracts. Alteration of sequences of adjacent to the 3' splice site to create a pyrimidine stretch was necessary for splicing in human, but not Drosophila, extracts. Increasing the size of this intron with insertions between the 5' splice site and the branchpoint greatly reduced the efficiency of splicing of introns longer than 79 nucleotides in Drosophila extracts but had an opposite effect in human extracts, in which introns longer than 78 nucleotides were spliced with much greater efficiency. The white-apricot copia insertion is immediately adjacent to the branchpoint normally used in the splicing of this intron, and a copia long terminal repeat insertion prevents splicing in Drosophila, but not human, extracts. However, a consensus branchpoint does not restore the splicing of introns containing the copia long terminal repeat, and alteration of the wild-type branchpoint sequence alone does not eliminate splicing. These results demonstrate species specificity of splicing signals, particularly pyrimidine stretch and size requirements, and raise the possibility that variant mechanisms not found in mammals may operate in the splicing of small introns in Drosophila and possibly other species.     

Yeast-derived human immunodeficiency virus type 1 p55(gag) virus-like particles activate dendritic cells (DCs) and induce perforin expression in Gag-specific CD8(+) T cells by cross-presentation of DCs

To evaluate the immunogenicity of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 p55(gag) virus-like particles (VLPs) released by budding from yeast spheroplasts, we have analyzed the effects of yeast VLPs on monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs). Yeast VLPs were efficiently incorporated into DCs via both macropinocytosis and endocytosis mediated by mannose-recognizing receptors, but not the mannose receptor. The uptake of yeast VLPs induced DC maturation and enhanced cytokine production, notably, interleukin-12 p70. We showed that yeast membrane components may contribute to DC maturation partly through Toll-like receptor 2 signaling. Thus, Gag particles encapsulated by yeast membrane may have an advantage in stimulating Gag-specific immune responses. We found that yeast VLPs, but not the control yeast membrane fraction, were able to activate both CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells of HIV-infected individuals. We tested the effect of cross-presentation of VLP by DCs in two subjects recruited into a long-term nonprogressor-slow progressor cohort. When yeast VLP-loaded DCs of these patients were cocultured with peripheral blood mononuclear cells for 7 days, approximately one-third of the Gag-specific CD8(+) T cells were activated and became perforin positive. However, some of the Gag-specific CD8(+) T cells appeared to be lost during in vitro culture, especially in a patient with a high virus load. Our results suggest that DCs loaded with yeast VLPs can activate Gag-specific memory CD8(+) T cells to become effector cells in chronically HIV-infected individuals, but there still remain unresponsive Gag-specific T-cell populations in these patients.     

Copia 类型反转录转座子在籽粒苋中的表现

利用籽粒苋为材料 ,通过PCR扩增、克隆研究了copia类型反转录转座子的反转录酶序列在籽粒苋中的表现 ,结果表明 :(1)反转录转座子在苋属的 30个品系中同时检测到 ,说明反转录转座子在籽粒苋的不同种中普遍存在 ;(2 )对野生苋 (A .quitensis)中克隆、序列分析 2 8个反转录转座子的反转录酶序列 ,碱基分析表明 ,它们存在高度异质性 ,不同的反转录酶序列均存在不同程度的碱基缺失突变和终止密码子的突变 ;(3)对 2 8个序列与已发表的一些不同物种 (如水稻、矮牵牛和果蝇等 )的同一类型序列聚类分析表明 ,存在于野生苋中的反转录转座子与来源于双子叶或单子叶植物的反转录转座子关系密切 ,它们与果蝇的copia因子和 1731因子可能具有相同的起源