The effects of heat shock on the morphology and protein synthesis of the epidermis of Xenopus laevis larvae

By scanning electron microscopy, we have observed that a 20-min heat shock at 37 degrees C, although not lethal, causes extensive damage to the epidermis of 30-h and 2-d (post-fertilization) Xenopus laevis larvae. The primary effects of heat shock are the apical swelling of the epidermal cells, giving the epidermis a "cobblestone" appearance, and the selective shedding of the ciliated cells. The shed cells may be cell fragments, however, because some of them are anucleate. Shed cells also exhibit the enriched synthesis of a group of heat shock proteins of 62,000 D molecular weight, suggesting that these proteins are specific to the shed cells. Prolonged heat shock of these larvae (i.e., 30 min at 37 degrees C) results in the complete disintegration of the epidermis, followed by larval death. At later stages of development (3-d and 4-d post-fertilization), the epidermis becomes more resistant to heat-induced damage inflicted by a 20-min heat shock. This increase in resistance coincides with the development of large secretory cells and the loss of ciliated cells in the epidermis and thus parallels a change in the state of histological differentiation.     

Heat shock proteins in Aurelia (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa)

Heat shock proteins (hsp) in Aurelia identified by one-dimensional SDS-PAGE are of sizes 93,83,70,68,45, and 39 kD, the most rapidly labeled being hsp 70 in all developmental stages. Labeled hsp in the polyp are found mostly in the epidermis; gastrodermal nuclei are also labeled. The minimum temperature for induction of the proteins is about the same (27 degrees to 28 degrees C), regardless of whether polyps have been cultured at 15 degrees or 24 degrees C. Adults and planulae taken from natural water at 28 degrees C do not show accumulation of hsp 70. Induction of strobilation by raising polyps from 15 degrees to 25 degrees C is not associated with appreciable labeling of hsp. Polyps transferred to higher or lower salinity have decreased protein synthesis but do not synthesize stress proteins.     

Granular phenoloxidase involved in cuticular melanization in the tobacco hornworm: regulation of its synthesis in the epidermis by juvenile hormone

The granular phenoloxidase (PO) that is responsible for cuticular melanization in Manduca sexta larva was purified and an antibody was prepared. This granular PO was found to consist of four isozymes of 90 kDa with isoelectric points ranging from 5.7 to 5.85. The enzyme was immunologically and electrophoretically distinct from the cuticular wound PO, a second cuticular PO common to all larval cuticle, and the hemolymph PO. Both [14C]mannose and [14C]sialic acid were incorporated into the granular PO, showing that this granular PO was a glycoprotein whose sugar moiety was a complex oligosaccharide. When no juvenile hormone (JH) was present at the head capsule slippage (HCS) stage, the epidermis began synthesizing PO 6 hr later. This epidermal synthesis was maximal 12 hr after HCS at which time the PO appeared in the cuticle, and then synthesis declined. When synthesis ceased about 23 hr after HCS, no further incorporation into the cuticle was observed. As melanization proceeded, immunologically detectable cuticular PO decreased. Application of 0.1 microgram JH I at the time of HCS inhibited synthesis of PO by the epidermis and thus prevented melanization. JH application after PO synthesis had begun (8 hr after HCS) prevented its subsequent synthesis, causing partial melanization. Thus, the absence of JH is necessary during the period of epidermal synthesis of the granular PO to allow complete melanization.     

Temporal programming of epidermal cell protein synthesis during the larval-pupal transformation ofManduca sexta

Summary During the final larval instar the epidermis of the tobacco hornworm,Manduca sexta, synthesizes the larval cuticular proteins and the pigment insecticyanin. Then at the onset of metamorphosis the cells first become pupally-committed, then later produce the pupal cuticle. The changes in the pattern of epidermal protein synthesis during this period were followed by incubating the integument in vitro with either³H-leucine or³⁵S-methionine, then analyzing the proteins by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Precipitation by larval and pupal cuticular antisera and by insecticyanin antibody identified these proteins. Three distinct changes in epidermal protein synthesis were noted: 1) Stage-specific proteins, some of which are larval cuticular proteins, appear just before and during the change of commitment on day 3. (2) By late the following day (wandering stage), synthesis of these and many other proteins including all the identified larval cuticular proteins and insecticyanin was undetectable. Several noncuticular proteins were transiently synthesized by this pupally committed cell during wandering and sometimes the following day. (3) During the production of pupal cuticle a new set of pupal-specific cuticular proteins as well as some common cuticular proteins (precipitated by both antisera) were synthesized. Some of the latter were also synthesized during the period between pupal commitment and pupal cuticle deposition.In spite of an apparent absence of methionine in both larval and pupal cuticle, many cuticular proteins incorporated³⁵S-methionine. Thus they may be synthesized as proproteins.Insecticyanin was shown to have two forms differing in isoelectric point, the cellular form being more acidic than the hemolymph form. Synthesis of the cellular form ceased before that of the hemolymph form.     

Expression, synthesis, and phosphorylation of HSP28 family during development and decay of thermotolerance in CHO plateau-phase cells.

We investigated a correlation between development of thermotolerance and expression, synthesis, or phosphorylation of HSP28 family in CHO plateau phase cells. After heating at 45.5 degrees C for 10 min, thermotolerance developed rapidly and reached its maximum 12-18 hr after heat shock. This acquired thermal resistance was maintained for 72 hr and then gradually decayed. In parallel, the levels of three 28 kDa heat shock proteins, HSP28a along with its two phosphorylated isoforms (HSP28b,c), increased and reached their maximum 24-48 hr after heat shock. The levels of these polypeptides, except HSP28c, remained elevated for 72 hr and then decreased. The level of HSP28 mRNA increased rapidly and reached its maximum 12 hr after heat shock. However, unlike thermotolerance and the levels of HSP28 family proteins, the level of HSP28 mRNA decreased rapidly within 72 hr. These results demonstrate a correlation between the amount of intracellular HSP28 family proteins and development and decay of thermotolerance.     

玉米胚发育过程中热激蛋白的合成

35S-Met标记玉米胚蛋白合成结果表明,热激处理(42℃)与对照(25℃)的蛋白合成趋势相近,热激抑制16 DAP的蛋白合成,增加22和34 DAP蛋白合成.SDS-PAGE自显影图谱表明,热激诱导16DAP的胚合成86.4、80.0、73.2 kD等3种分子量较高的热激蛋白,22DAP后热激诱导合成86.4、80.0、73.2、24.4、18.2、16.8和13.6 kD等7种分子量的热激蛋白.2D-PAGE自显影图谱进一步显示,热激诱导22和28 DAP的胚合成近20种热激蛋白,其中超过10种为小分子热激蛋白.特异热激蛋白BiP(HsP70)、PDI(HsP60)Western blot表明,这2种热激蛋白在玉米胚发育过程均有高水平的表达,热激对其合成影响不明显.     

Translation of some maize small heat shock proteins is initiated from internal in-frame AUGs.

Etiolated maize radicles (inbred Oh43) subjected to a brief heat shock synthesize a family of small heat shock proteins (approximately 18 kD) that is composed of at least 12 members. We previously described the cDNA-derived sequence of three maize shsp mRNAs (cMHSP18-1, cMHSP18-3, and cMHSP18-9). In this report, we demonstrate that the mRNA transcribed in vitro from one of these cDNAs (cMHSP18-9) is responsible for the synthesis of three members of the shsp family, and we suggest that cMHSP18-3 may be responsible for the synthesis of three additional members and cMHSP18-1 for the synthesis of two other members of this family. The fact that these genes do not contain introns, coupled with the observations reported herein, suggest that maize may have established another method of using a single gene to produce a number of different proteins.     

Effect of heat shock on the intracellular distribution of proteins

Exposure of cells to heat induces thermotolerance, a transient resistance to subsequent heat challenges. It has been shown that thermotolerance is correlated in time with the enhanced synthesis of heat shock proteins. In this study, the association of induced heat shock proteins with various cellular fractions was investigated and the heat-induced changes in skeletal protein composition in thermotolerant and control cells was compared. All three major heat shock proteins induced in Chinese hamster fibroblasts after a 46 degrees C, 4-min heat treatment (70, 87, and 110 kDa) were purified with the cytoplasmic fraction, whereas only the 70-kDa protein was also found in other cell fractions, including that containing the cellular skeleton. Immediately after a second heat treatment at 45 degrees C for 45 min, the 110-kDa protein from thermotolerant cells also purified extensively with the cellular skeletal fraction. In this regard, the 110-kDa protein behaved similarly to many other cellular proteins, since we observed an overall temperature-dependent increase in the total labeled protein content of the high-salt-resistant cellular skeletal fraction after heat shock. Pulse-chase studies demonstrated that this increased protein content gradually returned to normal levels after a 3-hr incubation at 37 degrees C. The alteration or recovery kinetics of the total labeled protein content of the cellular skeletal fraction after heat shock did not correlate with the dramatic increase in survival observed in thermotolerant cells. The relationship between heat shock proteins and thermotolerance, therefore, does not correlate directly with changes in the heat-induced cellular alterations leading to differences in protein fractionation.     

Distribution of cuticular protein mRNAs in silk moth integument and imaginal discs

The distributions of mRNAs for two cuticular proteins of Hyalophora cecropia were examined with RT-PCR and in situ hybridization. For major regions of larval and pupal cuticle, there was a strong correspondence between the type of cuticle and the predominant cuticular protein message found. Epidermal cells underlying soft cuticle had mRNA for HCCP12, with a RR-1 consensus attributed to soft cuticle, while the epidermal cells associated with hard cuticle had predominantly mRNA for HCCP66, a protein with the RR-2 consensus attributed to hard cuticle. Both messages were found in all areas of the pupal fore- and hind-wings, with modest area-specific difference in concentration being much less than differences in the relative abundance of these cuticular proteins.

mRNA for HCCP12 was present in imaginal discs of feeding larvae of H cecropia. Data from Bombyx mori available at SilkBase (http://www.ab.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp/silkbase/) revealed that imaginal discs from feeding larvae had abundant mRNA for RR-1 cuticular proteins, representing six distinct gene products. Only discs from spinning larvae had mRNAs that coded for RR-2 proteins arising from 10 distinct genes. Thus, lepidopteran wing imaginal discs can no longer be regarded as inactive in larval cuticle production.     

Heat shock response during development of the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi (Culicidae: Diptera)

The pattern of synthesis of heat shock proteins (HSP) and thermotolerance to elevated temperatures during the development of the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi normally reared at 28 +/- 2 degrees C was studied using SDS-PAGE. In total twelve heat shock proteins (i.e. 31, 33, 38, 43, 44, 51, 57, 62, 69, 71, 113 and 121 kD were induced by heat shock during various stages of development. Eight polypeptides (HSP during one or other of the instars) appeared during normal development of the adult, which showed very little response towards heat shock. Only two polypeptides (57 and 69 kD) were induced while the 22.5 kD protein disappeared during adult life. The HSP 62 and 71 kD induced during the larval stages showed a sharp decline in quantity in male and female adults upon heat shock. Three HSP (31, 43 and 44 kD) were induced in pupae due to heat shock. The synthesis of HSP in A. stephensi was correlated with the various morphological and physiological events occurring during development.     

Heat-shock proteins in membrane vesicles of Bacillus subtilis

Fractionation of B. subtilis cells after heat shock, from 37 degrees C to 54 degrees C, shows an increase in synthesis of proteins localized in cell membranes and a decrease in synthesis of proteins localized in cytosol. There is no such effect of heat shock at temperature of 45 degrees C. Autoradiograms of electrophoretically separated proteins, labelled during heat shock at 54 degrees C, reveal 26 heat-shock proteins (hsps) in membrane vesicles and 11 hsps in cytosol, five of which are common to both fractions. Heat shock at 45 degrees C induces 18 hsps localized in membrane vesicles and 13 hsps localized in cytosol, six of which are common to both fractions. Results are interpreted as showing a relevant role of membrane proteins in cell response to shock at high temperature, pointing to two steps of defense against heat stress.     

The cuticular proteins of Tenebrio molitor: II. Patterns of synthesis during postembryonic development

The program of synthesis for the soluble cuticular proteins of Tenebrio molitor was determined by following the incorporation of labeled leucine after a 4-hr pulse in vivo. Soluble proteins were extracted from labeled cuticles and separated on SDS-polyacrylamide slab gels; individual gel slices were counted. The synthetic patterns of larvae and pupae were similar to one another but distinct from the adult pattern. At each stage, the preecdysial pattern was unlike that of postecdysial animals. Distinct periods of synthesis were detected for different proteins. One protein was synthesized and deposited throughout cuticle formation in all three metamorphic stages. One group was synthesized only after ecdysis, while synthesis and secretion of other proteins were restricted to the preecdysial period. Some cuticular proteins never acquired detectable label.     

ABC-type transporters and cuticle assembly: Linking function to polarity in epidermis cells

The aerial organs of plants are covered with a cuticle, a continuous layer overlaying the outermost cell walls of the epidermis. The cuticle is composed of two major classes of the lipid biopolymers: cutin and waxes, collectively termed cuticular lipids. Biosynthesis and transport of cuticular lipids occur predominantly in the epidermis cells. In the transport pathway, cuticular lipids are exported from their site of biosynthesis in the ER/plastid to the extracellular space through the plasma membrane and cell wall. Growing evidence suggests that ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are implicated in transport of cuticular lipids across the plasma membrane of epidermal cells. The Arabidopsis ABC-type transporter protein CER5 (WBC12) was reported to act as a wax monomers transporter. In recent works, our group and others showed that a CER5-related protein, DESPERADO (DSO/WBC11), is required for cutin and wax monomers transport through the plasma membrane of Arabidopsis epidermis cells. Unlike the cer5 mutant, DSO loss-of-function had a profound effect on plant growth and development, particularly dwarfism, postgenital organ fusions, and altered epidermal cell differentiation. The partially overlapping function of CER5 and DSO and the fact that these proteins are half-size ABC transporters suggest that they might form a hetero-dimeric complex while transporting wax components. An intriguing observation was the polar localization of DSO in the distal part of epidermis cells. This polar expression might be explained by DSO localization within lipid rafts, specific plasma membrane microdomains which are associated with polar protein expression. In this review we suggest possible mechanisms for cuticular lipids transport and a link between DSO function and polar expression. Furthermore, we also discuss the subsequent transport of cuticular constituents through the hydrophobic cell wall and the possible involvement of lipid transfer proteins in this process.Key words: ABC transporter, cuticular lipids, polar expression, plasma membrane, epidermis     

Changes in translatable mRNAs during the larval-pupal transformation of the epidermis of the tobacco hornworm

At the initiation of metamorphosis when exposed to ecdysteroid in the absence of juvenile hormone (JH), the lepidopteran epidermis changes its commitment from one for larval differentiation to one for pupal differentiation. Changes in mRNA populations during this change both in vivo and in vitro were followed by a one-dimensional SDS-gel electrophoretic analysis of translation products made in a mRNA-dependent rabbit reticulocyte lysate system. The larval epidermal cell was found to lose its translatable mRNAs for larval cuticular proteins and the larval-specific pigment insecticyanin during the change in commitment; these never reappeared. For Class I cuticular proteins and for insecticyanin, this loss occurred during the exposure to ecdysteroid, each with a differing time course. By contrast, Class II cuticular mRNAs first increased during this time, then also disappeared by the time the cells were pupally committed. In vitro these mRNAs appeared in only trace amounts in response to 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-HE). The pupally committed cell (late in the wandering stage) contained mRNAs for three low-molecular-weight proteins which were precipitable with the pupal cuticular antiserum. The remainder of the pupal cuticular mRNAs were not translatable until the third day after wandering, a time when pupal cuticle is being deposited in response to a molting surge of ecdysteroid. The pupally committed cell also had at least one new noncuticular mRNA which coded for a 34K protein and which was absent from both larval and pupal epidermal cells making cuticle. Since its appearance in response to 20-HE in vitro is repressed by JH, it is called a pupal commitment-specific protein. Thus, during the change of commitment 20-HE inactivates larval-specific genes irreversibly in a sequential cascade of events. The activation of most pupal-specific genes then requires a subsequent exposure to more ecdysteroid.     

The synthesis of hemolymph proteins by the larval epidermis of an insect Calpodes ethlius (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae)

Sheets of the dorsal abdominal integument from fifth instar larvae of Calpodes ethlius (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) were incubated in artificial hemolymph in the presence of [³⁵S]methionine to investigate protein synthesis and vectorial secretion. The epidermis synthesizes and secretes at least 13 polypeptides basally and 15 apically. Two dimensional analysis of proteins labeled in vitro and in vivo showed that (a) most of the polypeptides secreted on apical and basal surfaces are different, (b) in vitro apical secretions are the same as in vivo cuticular proteins, (c) at least four of the basal secretions can be demonstrated in hemolymph labeled in vivo.Antibodies made against whole hemolymph recognized five basally secreted polypeptides and one apically secreted polypeptide both on fluorograms of immunoprecipitates and immunoblots. Arylphorin is secreted from both surfaces. Arylphorin synthesized in vitro has been identified through its precipitation by antibodies to hemolymph arylphorin in epidermis, cuticle and medium. We conclude that insect epidermis has bi-directional secretion. Cuticular proteins are carried to the apical face. A different set of proteins are carried basally to the hemolymph.     

Characterization of an inducible oxidative stress response in Vitreoscilla C1

Vitreoscilla becomes resistant to killing by hydrogen peroxide and heat shock when pretreated with nonlethal levels of hydrogen peroxide. The pretreated Vitreoscilla cells (60 microM hydrogen peroxide for 120 min) significantly increased survival of the lethal dose of 20 mM hydrogen peroxide or heat shock (22 degrees C --> 37 degrees C). This indicates the existence of an adaptive response to oxidative stress. However, cells pretreated with 60 microM hydrogen peroxide became nonresistant to a lethal dose of a menadione. This result shows that hydrogen peroxide does not induce cross-resistance to menadione in Vitreoscilla. Furthermore, Vitreoscilla treated with hydrogen peroxide, heat shock, and menadione showed a change in the protein composition, as monitored by a two-dimensional gel analysis. During adaptation to hydrogen peroxide, 12 proteins were induced. Also, 18 new proteins synthesized in response to heat shock were detected by a 2-D gel analysis. The redox-cycling agents also elicited the synthesis of 6 other proteins that were unseen with hydrogen peroxide.