Crystallin synthesis in lens differentiation in cultures of neural retinal cells of chick embryos.

Dissociated cells of neural retinas of 3.5-day-old chick embryos differentiated into “lentoid bodies” within about 10–12 days when cultured in vitro. Protein synthesis of these cultured cells was studied with the use of SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, affinity chromatography, and autoradiography combined with immunological techniques. Incorporation of [¹⁴C]leucine into total proteins, α-crystallin, and δ-crystallin was estimated after increasing times of culture up to about 30 days. Isotope incorporation into δ-crystallin was detected at 9 days, and it increased sevenfold after another 17 days. α-Crystallin was also first detected at 9 days, but its relative content reached a maximum at 12 days and then decreased gradually. The ratio of δ-crystallin synthesis to total protein synthesis increased up to 40% at 26 days, while that of α-crystallin synthesis remained 3% throughout the culture period. These results show that lens differentiation from neural retinal cells is associated with the preferential synthesis of lens crystallins, particularly of δ-crystallin.     

The control of δ-crystallin gene expression during lens cell development: Dissociation of cell elongation,cell division, δ-crystallin synthesis,and δ-crystallin mRNA accumulation

Previous studies have shown that freshly explanted 6-day-old embryonic chick lens epithelial cells elongate, differentially increase their synthesis of δ-crystallin, and accumulate δ-crystallin mRNA when cultured with fetal calf serum; in contrast, precultured serum-starved 6-day-old and freshly explanted 19-day-old embryonic epithelial cells divide when treated with fetal calf serum. We have explored whether the stimulation of δ-crystallin gene expression (as measured by δ-crystallin synthesis and δ-crystallin mRNA accumulation) is affected by inhibiting lens cell elongation with colchicine, and whether δ-crystallin gene expression is increased in lens epithelial cells stimulated to divide by treatment with fetal calf serum, as it is in those stimulated to elongate by treatment with serum. Three new findings were made in this study. First, the stimulation of δ-crystallin gene expression does not require elongation of the cultured lens cells. Second, a decreased proportion of δ-crystallin synthesis is observed in lens epithelial cells during normal development and during serum starvation; in neither case is this decrease associated with a reduction in the number of δ-crystallin mRNA sequences per cell. Finally, serum stimulation of lens cell division does not increase the proportion of δ-crystallin synthesis, but can promote the accumulation of δ-crystallin mRNA. Thus, the relative proportion of δ-crystallin synthesized during chick lens development is not solely a function of the number of δ-crystallin mRNA sequences in the lens cells.     

Rates of protein synthesis in explanted embryonic chick lens epithelia: differential stimulation of delta-crystallin synthesis.

Cells in the central region of 6-day-old embryonic chick lens epithelia display morphological and biochemical changes, when cultured in medium supplemented with fetal calf serum, comparable to those of lens fiber cells differentiating in vivo. In the present study the rates of synthesis of total protein and of δ-crystallin were quantitated during the first day of culture by measuring (1) ³H-valine incorporation into bulk proteins and into δ-crystallin (isolated by quantitative immunoprecipitation), (2) the specific radioactivity of picomolar amounts of intracellular valine (determined by analysis of the ¹⁴C-dansyl-derivative of ³H-valine), (3) the amount of protein degradation occurring during the labeling period (estimated by “pulse-chase” experiments with cycloheximide), and (4) the number of cells in the explants (counted following dispersal with trypsin-EDTA). The results showed that total protein synthesis increased 1.7-fold per cell during the first 24 hrs in vitro. In contrast, δ-crystallin synthesis increased 2.8-fold per cell during this time. These experiments establish that δ-crystallin synthesis is differentially stimulated in epithelia cultured in serum-supplemented medium, and provide the basis for quantitative analysis of the mechanism controlling differential protein synthesis during lens fiber differentiation in vitro.     

Degradation of δ-crystallin mRNA in the lens fiber cells of the chicken

δ-Crystallin is the principal protein synthesized in the embryonic chicken lens. After hatching δ-crystallin synthesis decreases and eventually ceases. We have determined when the δ-crystallin messenger RNA (mRNA) disappears from the lens fiber cells during the first year of age by cell-free translation of lens RNA in a reticulocyte lysate, RNA blot (Northern) hybridization, and in situ hybridization. The hybridization was performed with a nick-translated, cloned δ-crystallin cDNA (pδCr2). δ-Crystallin mRNA was present in the lens until 3 months of age and disappeared between the third and fifth month after hatching. The in situ hybridization experiments indicated that the δ-crystallin mRNA was present throughout the lens fiber mass until 1 month after hatching and was greatly reduced in the cortical fiber cells thereafter. In contrast to earlier stages, then, the cortical fiber cells differentiating at the lens equator after about 1 month of age do not accumulate δ-crystallin mRNA. The data also indicate that the maximal half-life of functional δ-crystallin mRNA in the posthatched chicken lens is about 2 months.     

Differentiation of lens and pigment cells in cultures of neural retinal cells of early chick embryos

Dissociated cells of neural retinas of 3.5-day-old chick embryos (stages 20–21) were cultured as a monolayer in order to examine their differentiation in vitro. These cells started to grow actively soon after inoculation and formed a confluent sheet within which neuroblast-like cells with long cytoplasmic processes were differentiated by 8 days. At about 16 days the differentiation of both lentoid bodies and foci of pigment cells was observed, while neuronal structure disappeared. The numbers of lentoid bodies and foci of pigmented cells continued to increase up to 30 days, when primary cultures were terminated. The increase in δ-crystallin content, as measured by quantitative immunoelectrophoresis assay using rabbit antiserum against δ-crystallin, was consistent with the increase in the number of lentoid bodies in cultures. The amount of α-crystallin per culture, estimated by the same technique as above, reached a maximum at 16 days and decreased slightly during further culture. The differentiation of both lentoid bodies and pigment cells was observed also in cultures of the second generation. The results demonstrate that cells of the undifferentiated neuroepithelium of 3.5-day-old embryonic retinas can achieve at least three differentiations, neuronal, lens, and pigment cells, in vitro. We discuss several differences between the present results and the previous ones from in vitro cultures of 8- to 9-day-old embryonic neural retinas.     

Age-dependent differences in the ratio of synthesis of delta-crystallin polypeptides in cultured vitreous-free lenses of chick embryos

We have shown previously that the synthesis of the lower molecular weight polypeptides of δ-crystallin is differentially reduced and the intracellular $\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ ratio is markedly increased in the 15-day-old embryonic chick lens cultured for 3 hr without the vitreous body or in the presence of ouabain. Here we demonstrate that neither δ-crystallin synthesis nor cation concentration is affected in the cultured, vitreous-free 6-day-old embryonic chick lens unless it is treated with ouabain. These results show that the alteration in δ-crystallin synthesis promoted by removing the vitreous body of the embryonic cultured lens is a stage-specific phenomenon, and are consistent with our previous correlation between the ratio of synthesis of the δ-crystallin polypeptides and the intracellular concentration of electrolytes.     

Differentiation of rat lens epithelial cells in tissue culture. II. Effects of cytochalasins B and D on actin organization and differentiation

Cytochalasins B and D were used to investigate the involvement of microfilaments in the differentiation of rat lens epithelial cells in tissue culture. Two questions were asked: (1) Does the organization of microfilaments change upon morphological differentiation of the lens epithelial cell? (2) Is the change in the organization of microfilaments required for the production of the differentiation-specific protein, γ-crystallin? Cytochalasin B arborized differentiating lens epithelial cells and had no effect on the undifferentiated cells. Immunofluorescent staining of these two types of cells revealed significant differences in the organization of actin. Actin appeared as longitudinal filaments in the differentiating cells, while it appeared in a diffuse nonfibrillar form in the undifferentiated cells. This indicated changes in the organization of actin during differentiation. Cytochalasin B caused a decline in cell number at 10^?6–10^?5M. However, only that concentration which caused arborization of cells and disruption of microfilaments (10^?5M) inhibited morphological differentiation and production of γ-crystallin. Cytochalasin D (10^?7–10^?5M) did not cause a dramatic decrease in cell number; nevertheless, it induced the arborization of cells and disruption of microfilaments at lower concentrations (10^?7–10^?6M) and inhibited morphological differentiation and production of γ-crystallin at lower concentrations (10^?7–10^?6M) than did cytochalasin B. Thus, only those concentrations of cytochalasins which disrupt microfilaments and prevent their organization into filamentous form seem to inhibit differentiation. This suggests that the organization of actin is required for the program of differentiation of the lens epithelial cells.     

Hypericin-mediated photooxidative damage of α-crystallin in human lens epithelial cells

St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), a perennial herb native to Europe, is widely used for and seems to be effective in treatment of mild to moderate depression. Hypericin, a singlet oxygen-generating photosensitizer that absorbs in both the visible and the UVA range, is considered to be one of the bioactive ingredients of St. John’s wort, and commercial preparations are frequently calibrated to contain a standard concentration. Hypericin can accumulate in ocular tissues, including lenses, and can bind in vitro to α-crystallin, a major lens protein. α-crystallin is required for lens transparency and also acts as a chaperone to ensure its own integrity and the integrity of all lens proteins. Because there is no crystallin turnover, damage to α-crystallin is cumulative over the lifetime of the lens and can lead to cataracts, the principal cause of blindness worldwide. In this work we study hypericin photosensitization of α-crystallin and detect extensive polymerization of bovine α-crystallin exposed in vitro to hypericin and UVA. We use fluorescence confocal microscopy to visualize binding between hypericin and α-crystallin in a human lens epithelial (HLE) cell line. Further, we show that UVA irradiation of hypericin-treated HLE cells results in a dramatic decrease in α-crystallin detection concurrent with a dramatic accumulation of the tryptophan oxidation product N-formylkynurenine (NFK). Examination of actin in HLE cells indicates that this cytoskeleton protein accumulates NFK resulting from hypericin-mediated photosensitization. This work also shows that filtration of wavelengths <400 nm provides incomplete protection against α-crystallin modification and NFK accumulation, suggesting that even by wearing UV-blocking sunglasses, routine users of St. John’s wort cannot adequately shield their lenses from hypericin-mediated photosensitized damage.     

Stimulation of corneal differentiation by interaction between cell surface and extracellular matrix: II. Further studies on the nature and site of transfilter “induction”

Corneal epithelial differentiation (primary stroma production) is dependent on the underlying extracellular matrix (ECM), for if the developing epithelium is enzymatically removed from the embryo, it fails to produce stroma in vitro unless it is cultured on collagenous ECM. We have previously shown that the stimulatory effect is mediated across Nucleopore filters in direct proportion to the surface area created by epithelial cell processes traversing the filter to contact ECM. Since collagenous ECM is insoluble under physiological conditions, transfilter stimulation of stroma production is probably due to an interaction of the epithelial cell surface with “inducer” ECM (killed lens capsule or purified collagen). We grew 5-day-old corneal epithelia on Nucleopore filters atop [³H]proline-labeled lens capsules and used both autoradiography and scintillation counting to show that radioactive collagen does not enter the epithelial cells in detectable amounts. We also show here that the stimulatory effect of collagen on collagen synthesis is not dependent on trapping of serum or binding of conditioned medium factors by ECM. Finally, we demonstrate that the stimulatory effect is reduced by removal of transfilter ECM after 6–12 hr in vitro. By 18–24 hr, however, cultured epithelium is less dependent on the substratum, probably because it has produced its own ECM. We conclude that: (1) the contact mediated collagen-cell surface interaction under study here requires the continuous presence of collagen in vivo and in vitro for maintenance of “stimulated” epithelial stroma synthesis; (2) the collagenous “inducer” interacts directly with epithelium rather than indirectly via trapped intermediates; (3) collagen acts at the epithelial cell surface without entering the cells.     

Dissociated limb bud cells of chick embryos can express lens specificity when reaggregated and cultured in vitro

Limb bud cells of chick embryos (stages 23–24) were dissociated into single cells, reaggregated, and cultured in vitro for about a week. δ-Crystallin, generally thought to be a lens-specific protein in the chick, was detected in the aggregates by indirect immunofluorescent staining, double immunodiffusion test, and immunoelectrophoresis with specific antiserum against δ-crystallin. Cells containing δ-crystallin were distributed in epidermal cell clusters and also in mesenchymal tissues surrounding cartilage nodules in the aggregates. Those cells in mesenchymal tissues were shown to have originated from the mesoderm of the limb bud, and those in epidermal cell clusters probably originated from the ectoderm. The possible cellular origin of this appearance of δ-crystallin was discussed.     

Environmental enhancement of in vitro chondrogenesis. 3. The influence of external potassium ions and chondrogenic differentiation

A simple manipulation, altering the potassium concentration of the nutrient medium, has a pronounced effect upon the in vitro chondrogenic differentiation of chick somites, as measured by chondroitin sulfate synthesis and cartilage formation. Medium containing K⁺ ions in the balanced salt solution at a concentration of 2.69 mM promotes chondrogenesis over the 48-hr period studied. By increasing the K⁺ concentration to 4.68 mM there is a striking enhancement of initial chondroitin sulfate synthesis during the first 24 hr only. If the somite explants in a high K⁺ environment are transferred after 24 hr to a lower K⁺ concentration, the chondrogenic stimulation (chondroitin sulfate synthesis) continues. These effects can be obtained by altering only one variable in the nutrient medium, the K⁺ concentration.     

Hemoglobin switching in sheep: commitment of erythroid stem cells to expression of the betaC-globin gene and accumulation of betaC-globin mRNA

The switch from HbA (α₂β₂^A) to HbC (α₂β₂^C) synthesis was induced by injection of erythropoietin into a lamb homozygous for HbA. Serial samples of bone marrow were analyzed to detect the initial commitment of erythroid stem cells (CFU-E) to form colonies which made HbC in vitro, and to detect the initial accumulation of β^C-globin mRNA and the onset of HbC synthesis in erythroblasts in vivo. CFU-E-derived erythroid colonies were formed in plasma clot culture at a low erythropoietin concentration, and the relative amounts of β^A- and β^C-globin synthesized were determined after a 24 hr pulse of ³H-leucine, added after 84 hr in culture. RNA was extracted from nuclei and cytoplasm of “early” and “late” populations of bone marrow erythroblasts which had been fractionated by Ficoll-Hypaque density centrifugation. The concentration of β^A- and β^C-globin mRNA was determined by annealing to purified synthetic DNAs (cDNAs) complementary to β^A and β^C mRNA. No β^C-globin was synthesized in erythroblasts or in CFU-E-derived erythroid colonies prior to the injection of erythropoietin. An increase in the concentration of CFU-E in the bone marrow and the appearance of β^C-globin synthesis in CFU-E-derived colonies were detected 12 hr after the erythropoietin injection. In contrast, β^C mRNA was not detected in either “early” or “late” erythroid cells until 36 hr later. The first measurable β^C-globin mRNA was accompanied by the appearance of β^C-globin synthesis in bone marrow erythroblasts. Our results suggest that the accumulation of β^C-globin mRNA is a relatively late event following induction of HbA to HbC switching by erythropoietin. The expansion of the compartment of erythroid stem cells and the commitment of CFU-E to β^C-globin synthesis appear to precede the detectable accumulation of β^C mRNA by 24–36 hr.     

Control mechanisms regulating gene expression during normal differentiation of myeloid leukemic cells: Differentiation defective mutants blocked in mRNA production and mRNA translation

Regulation of gene expression during myeloid cell differentiation has been analyzed using clones of myeloid leukemic cells that differ in their competence to be induced to differentiate by the normal macrophage- and granulocyte-inducing protein MGI. Changes in the relative rate of synthesis for specific proteins were compared to changes in the relative amounts of corresponding translatable poly(A)⁺ mRNAs, assayed in the reticulocyte cell-free translation system, using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Of the 217 proteins which changed during MGI-induced differentiation of normally differentiating MGI⁺D⁺ leukemic cells, 136 could be identified as products of cell-free translation. Eighty-four percent of the 70 decreases in synthesis, most of which occurred early during differentiation, were not accompanied by a parallel decrease in the amount of translatable mRNA, but were accompanied by a parallel shift of the corresponding mRNAs from the polysomal to the monosomal and free mRNA fractions. These results indicate that most of the early decreases in the synthesis of proteins were translationally regulated. In contrast, 81% of the proteins which increased in synthesis and 71% of the proteins that were induced de novo were regulated at the level of mRNA production. Experiments with differentiation defective mutants have shown that they were blocked both at the level of mRNA production and mRNA translation. The data with these mutants have suggested that there were different subsets of translationally regulated proteins which were separately regulated. The translational blocks for several proteins in these mutant clones have also made it possible to identify additional translational sites of regulation for protein changes that were controlled at the level of mRNA production during normal differentiation. The results indicate that translational regulation may predominantly have a different function in cell differentiation than regulation by mRNA production, and that differentiation-defective mutants can be blocked at either level.     

Effects of c-Jun and a negative dominant mutation of c-Jun on differentiation and gene expression in lens epithelial cells

We have used a retroviral vector (RCAS) to overexpress wild-type chicken c-Jun or a deletion mutant of chicken c-Jun (JunΔ7) lacking the DNA binding region to investigate the possible role of c-Jun in lens epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation. Both constructs were efficiently expressed in primary cultures of embryonic chicken lens epithelial cells. Overexpression of c-Jun increased the rate of cell proliferation and greatly delayed the appearance of “lentoid bodies,” structures which contain differentiated cells expressing fiber cell markers. Excess c-Jun expression also significantly decreased the level of β_A3/A1-crystallin mRNA, without affecting αA-crystallin mRNA. In contrast, the mutated protein, JunΔ7, had no effect no proliferation or differentiation but markedly increased the level of αA-crystallin mRNA in proliferating cell cultures. These results suggest that c-Jun or Jun-related proteins may be negative regulators of αA- and β_A3/A1-crystallin genes in proliferating lens cells.     

Regulation of a group of abundant mRNA sequences during Friend cell differentiation

The changes occurring in the pattern of genes expressed at the polysomal level during induction of Friend cell differentiation with 1.5% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) have been examined in two ways. First, homologous and heterologous hybridization experiments between cDNA and polysomal poly(A)⁺ mRNA from differentiated and undifferentiated cells show that about 8000 mRNAs are expressed at both stages of differentiation, the major change being the accumulation of α+β-globin mRNA after DMSO treatment. The vast majority of the mRNA sequences do not change qualitatively, remaining homologous between the undifferentiated and differentiated state. However, in addition to the accumulation of α+β-globin mRNA there is a decrease, after DMSO treatment, in the concentration of abundant and semiabundant sequences found in undifferentiated cells. From control studies with Friend cell variants and fractionated cDNA probes enriched in these sequences, it is shown that the decrease in the abundance of these mRNAs is related to the process of differentiation and not an artefact of DMSO treatment. Comparison of the polysomal poly(A)⁺ mRNAs in differentiated cells to those in pluripotential embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells shows that the vast majority of the sequences are homologous and hence not erythropoiesis specific. Second, comparison of these mRNA populations by in vitro translation and analysis of the protein products on two-dimensional gels also shows that among the more abundant proteins very few qualitatively new proteins appear after differentiation and that the majority are the same as those translated in EC mRNA. There are several proteins prominent in undifferentiated cells which diminish after DMSO treatment, in agreement with the findings from the cDNA studies.     

Regulation of the synthesis of lutropin-induced protein in rat testis Leydig cells

The mechanism of action of lutropin on the stimulation of the synthesis of a specific lutropin-induced protein in rat testis Leydig cells was investigated. Lutropin-induced protein has a mol.wt. of approx. 21000 and is detected by labelling the Leydig-cell proteins with [³⁵S]methionine, followed by separation by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and radioautography of the dried gel. The incorporation of ³⁵S into lutropin-induced protein was used as an estimate for the synthesis of the protein. Incubation of Leydig cells with dibutyryl cyclic AMP or cholera toxin also resulted in the stimulation of synthesis of the protein. Synthesis of lutropin-induced protein, when maximally stimulated with 100ng of lutropin/ml, could not be stimulated further by addition of dibutyryl cyclic AMP. Addition of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, further increased synthesis of the protein in the presence of a submaximal dose of lutropin (10ng/ml) but not in the absence of lutropin or with maximal amounts of lutropin (100 and 1000ng/ml). Actinomycin D prevented the effect of lutropin on the stimulation of lutropin-induced protein synthesis when added immediately or 1h after the start of the incubation, but not when added after 5–6h. This is interpreted as reflecting that, after induction of mRNA coding for lutropin-induced protein, lutropin had no influence on the synthesis of the protein in the presence of actinomycin D. Synthesis of the protein was also stimulated in vivo by injection of choriogonadotropin into rats 1 day after hypophysectomy, and the time course of this stimulation of lutropin-induced protein synthesis in vivo was similar to that obtained by incubating Leydig cells in vitro with lutropin. From these results it is concluded that stimulation of lutropin-induced protein synthesis by lutropin is most probably mediated by cyclic AMP and involves synthesis of mRNA.     

Chicken embryo lens cultures mimic differentiation in the lens

Embryonic chicken lenses, which had been disrupted by trypsin, were grown in culture. These cultures mimic lens development as it occurred in vivo, forming lens-like structures known as lentoids. Using a variety of techniques including electron microscopic analysis, autoradiography, immunofluorescence, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, it was shown that the lentoid cells had many characteristics in common with the differentiated cells of the intact lens, the elongated fiber cells. These characteristics included a shut off of DNA synthesis, a loss of cell organelles, an increase in cell volume, an increase in δ-crystallin protein, and the development of extensive intercellular junctions. The cultures began as a simple epithelial monolayer but then underwent extensive morphogenesis as they differentiated. This morphogenesis involved three distinctive morphological types which appeared in sequence as an epithelial monolayer of polygonal shaped cells with pavement packing, elongated cells oriented end to end, and the multilayered, multicellular lentoids. These distinct morphological stages of differentiation in culture mimic morphogenesis as it occurs in the lens.