Selective synthesis and modification of nuclear proteins during maturation of avian erythroid cells.

The synthesis of the nuclear proteins of duck erythroid cells at different stages of maturation has been investigated. Synthesis of histone fractions H1, H2a, H2b, H3, and H4 is restricted to the erythroblasts, while synthesis of H5 can be detected even at later stages of maturation after DNA synthesis has ceased. The synthesis of nonhistone nuclear proteins (NHNP), on the other hand, occurs in cells at all stages of maturation although their rates of synthesis decline as the cells mature. The same size classes of NHNP appear to be synthesized in erythroblasts and in early- and midpolychromatic erythrocytes. In late polychromatic erythrocytes the synthesis of a new group of NHNP of molecular weights ranging from 54,000 to 130,000 was observed. This group of proteins does not accumulate in the mature erythrocyte, indicating that their relative proportions are very small.Turnover of histone-bound phosphate was found to occur mainly at the erythroblast stage, except for histone H2a which was actively phosphorylated even at more advanced stages of maturation. Phosphorylation of most of the histones appears to be coupled to histone (and coordinate DNA) synthesis.Incorporation of radioactive acetate into histones occurs at all stages, but the rate of acetylation decreases four- to fivefold with maturation. Although the RNA synthetic activity of erythroid cells also decreases with age, experiments involving the use of RNA polymerase inhibitors suggest that the mechanisms that control RNA synthesis and histone acetylation are not tightly coupled.     

Biosynthesis of poly(A)-RNA and differentiation in chick erythrocytes

The rates of synthesis of poly(A)-containing RNA species in the nuclei of erythrocytes from 4- to 9-day-old chick embryos were determined by poly(T)-cellulose chromatography and were found to vary according to the developmental stages of the chick embryos. The rate appeared to increase 1 day prior to the onset of hemoglobin differentiation. The enzymatic activities of ATP polymerization in the nucleus of these erythrocytes were also examined. The enzymatic activity was resolved into two fractions on O-(diethylaminoethyl) cellulose. The ratio of the two enzymatic activities remained relatively constant in erythrocytes from 4- to 19-day-old embryos. However, a threefold increase in the total poly(A) polymerase activities was observed 1 day prior to the onset of hemoglobin differentiation. These results indicate that hemoglobin differentiation in these erythrocytes is associated with an increase in the rate of synthesis of poly(A)-containing RNA and in the activities of poly(A) polymerases.     

Characterization of product RNAs synthesized in vitro by poliovirus RNA polymerase purified by chromatography on hydroxylapatite or poly(U) Sepharose.

The size of the product RNA synthesized by the poliovirus RNA polymerase and host factor was significantly affected by the type of column chromatography used to purify the polymerase. Dimer length product RNA was synthesized by the polymerase purified by chromatography on hydroxylapatite. This contrasted with the monomer length product RNA synthesized by the polymerase purified by chromatography on poly(U) Sepharose. The poly(U) Sepharose-purified polymerase was shown to contain oligo(U) that functioned as a primer. The addition of host factor to reactions containing the poly(U) Sepharose-purified polymerase significantly increased the synthesis of monomer length product RNA, in agreement with previous studies. This product RNA, however, did not immunoprecipitate with anti-VPg antibody and thus was not linked to VPg or a VPg-related protein. Thus, it was concluded that the synthesis of monomer length product RNA by the poly(U) Sepharose-purified polymerase and host factor was caused by oligo(U) priming rather than VPg priming.     

Correlation of chromatin composition with metabolic changes in nuclei of primitive erythroid cells from chicken embryos

Changes in levels of biosynthesis of DNA, RNA, and histones were compared with relative proportions of each histone class during primitive erythropoiesis in embryonic chicks. We confirmed that erythrocyte-specific histone 5 (H5) was substantial in the earliest accessible, erythroblast-enriched stage and that it doubled in relative amount between polychromatic and orthochromatic stages to about 1 mol per 2 mol of each nucleosomal histone, still considerable less than in adult definitive erythrocytes. No other histones changed during primitive erythropoiesis, but the molar proportion of histone 1 (H1) always exceeded that of H5 in these cells, unlike definitive erythrocytes. The increase in content of H5 was accompanied by continued decline in synthesis of the other histones and DNA. The accumulation of H5 during development appears to occur in steps corresponding to the maturation of the primitive and definitive erythroid cell lines. Lysine-rich histones were more easily extracted from nuclei of the erythrosynthesis in whole cells and in isolated nuclei.     

Selective stimulation of hepatitis C virus and pestivirus NS5B RNA polymerase activity by GTP

NS5B of the hepatitis C virus is an RNA template-dependent RNA polymerase and therefore the key player of the viral replicase complex. Using a highly purified enzyme expressed with recombinant baculoviruses in insect cells, we demonstrate a stimulation of RNA synthesis up to 2 orders of magnitude by high concentrations of GTP but not with ATP, CTP, UTP, GDP, or GMP. Enhancement of RNA synthesis was found with various heteropolymeric RNA templates, with poly(C)-oligo(G)12 but not with poly(A)-oligo(U)12. Several amino acid substitutions in polymerase motifs B, C, and D previously shown to be crucial for RdRp activity were tested for GTP stimulation of RNA synthesis. Most of these mutations, in particular those affecting the GDD motif (motif C) strongly reduced or completely abolished activation by GTP, suggesting that the same NTP-binding site is used for stimulation and RNA synthesis. Since GTP did not affect the overall RNA binding properties or the elongation rate, high concentrations of GTP appear to accelerate a rate-limiting step at the level of initiation of RNA synthesis. Finally, enhancement of RNA synthesis by high GTP concentrations was also found with NS5B of the pestivirus classical swine fever virus, but not with the 3D polymerase of poliovirus. Thus, stimulation of RdRp activity by GTP is evolutionarily conserved between the closely related hepaciviruses and pestiviruses but not between these and the more distantly related picornaviruses.     

The Effect of α-Amanitin on Nucleic Acid Synthesis in Preimplantation Mouse Embryos

It has been hypothesized that multiple forms of RNA polymerase may play a role in the control of development and differentiation in eukaryotic organisms. For this to be true, three criteria must be met. First, multiple forms of RNA polymerase must be demonstrated. Second, the relative proportion of the enzyme forms must be shown to change with development or differentiation. And third, the types of RNA synthesized must correlate with the types of RNA polymerase present at each developmental stage. We have previously reported data satisfying the first two criteria for preimplantation mouse embryos. The present paper probes the third criterion in this differentiating system.
It was found that although the proportion of the RNA polymerase enzyme forms changes from the 8-cell to the blastocyst stage of development, the types of newly synthesized nucleic acids at each of these stages were similar. Furthermore, inhibition of rRNA, mRNA, and tRNA, by α-amanitin, was identical for 8-cell and blastocyst embryos. The only difference between these two stages was that DNA synthesis in blastocysts was more sensitive to inhibition by α-amanitin than DNA synthesis in 8-cell embryos. We conclude that the synthesis of different classes of RNA by preimplantation mouse embryos is not simply controlled by changes in the levels of the multiple forms of RNA polymerase.     

Induction of micronuclei in rat bone marrow and peripheral blood following acute and subchronic administration of azathioprine

The frequency of micronuclei was assessed in polychromatic erythrocytes of bone marrow and in polychromatic and normochromatic erythrocytes in peripheral blood of rats following exposure to azathioprine for 28 days. This was compared with the incidence of micronuclei in bone-marrow following exposure to a single dose of azathioprine. The incidence of micronuclei in bone-marrow polychromatic erythrocytes at the maximum tolerated dose (10 mg/kg) following exposure for 28 days was 29.5%. The incidence of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in the peripheral blood at this dose was 4.4%. At the maximum tolerated dose in the single-dose study (40 mg/kg) the incidence obtained at 48 h post-treatment was 15.7%. This supports the view that the use of animals in a subchronic toxicity study is at least as sensitive for assessing in vivo clastogenic activity as an acute study and could reduce animal usage in toxicology assessments.     

Synthesis and Intracellular Localization of Vaccinia Virus Deoxyribonucleic Acid-dependent Ribonucleic Acid Polymerase

The time course of vaccinia deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-dependent ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymerase synthesis and its intracellular localization were studied with virus-infected HeLa cells. Viral RNA polymerase activity could be meassured shortly after viral infection in the cytoplasmic fraction of infected cells in vitro. However, unless the cells were broken in the presence of the nonionic detergent Triton-X-100, no significant synthesis of new RNA polymerase was detected during the viral growth cycle. When cells were broken in the presence of this detergent, extensive increases in viral RNA polymerase activity were observed late in the infection cycle. The onset of new RNA polymerase synthesis was dependent on prior viral DNA replication. Fluorodeoxyuridine (5 x 10(-5)m) prevented the onset of viral polymerase synthesis. Streptovitacin A, a specific and complete inhibitor of protein synthesis in HeLa cells, prevented the synthesis of RNA polymerase. Thus, the synthesis of RNA polymerase is a "late" function of the virus. The newly synthesized RNA polymerase activity was primarily bound to particles which sedimented during high-speed centrifugation. These particles have been characterized by sucrose gradient centrifugation. A major class of active RNA polymerase particles were considerably "lighter" than whole virus in sucrose gradients. These particles were entirely resistant to the action of added pancreatic deoxyribonuclease, and they were not stimulated by added calf thymus primer DNA. It is concluded that these particles are not active in RNA synthesis in vivo, and that activation occurs as a result of detergent treatment in vitro.     

Characterization of two RNA polymerase activities induced by mouse hepatitis virus

RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity was found in mouse hepatitis virus strain A59 (MHV-A59)-infected cells. The enzyme was induced in the infected cells and could not be detected in the MHV-A59 virion. Two peaks of RNA polymerase activity, one early and the other late in infection, were detected. These polymerase activities were in temporal sequence with early and late virus-specific RNA synthesis. Both of them were found to be associated with membrane fractions. There were significant differences in the enzymatic properties of the two polymerases. The early polymerase, but not the late polymerase, could be activated by potassium ions in the absence of magnesium ions and also had a lower optimum pH than the late polymerase. It was therefore probable that the enzymes represent two different species of RNA polymerase and perform different roles in virus-specific RNA synthesis. The effects of cycloheximide on MHV-specific RNA synthesis were determined. Continuous protein synthesis was required for both early and late RNA synthesis and might also be required for shutoff of early RNA synthesis.     

Mutagenic effect of pesticides fastac 10 EK and durs ban 4E studied in a micronucleus test iin mouse bone marrow cells

The mutagenic activity of vastak and durs ban pesticides was studied by the micronucleus test in mouse bone marrow. The frequency of micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes was tested at 24, 36 and 42 h after oral administration of 50% LD50 dose of vastak (14 mg/kg) and durs ban (30.5 mg/kg). Significantly different increase in micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes was established at 24, 36 and 48 h after vastak administration, and at 24 and 36 h after durs ban treatment. Doses of 25% LD50 for both pesticides showed no mutagenic activity, as judged by the induction of micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes.     

Short-lived minus-strand polymerase for Semliki Forest virus

Semliki Forest virus (SFV)-infected BHK-21, Vero, and HeLa cells incorporated [3H]uridine into 42S and 26S plus-strand RNA and into viral minus-strand RNA (complementary to the 42S virion RNA) early in the infectious cycle. Between 3 and 4 h postinfection, the synthesis of minus-strand RNA ceased in these cultures, although the synthesis of plus-strand RNA continued at a maximal rate. At the time of cessation of minus-strand RNA synthesis, two changes in the pattern of viral protein synthesis were detected: a decrease in the translation of nonstructural proteins and an increase in the translation of the viral structural proteins. Addition of cycloheximide and puromycin to cultures of SFV-infected BHK cells actively synthesizing both viral plus- and minus-strand RNA resulted within 15 to 30 min in the selective shutoff of minus-strand RNA synthesis. Removal of the cycloheximide-containing medium led to the resumption of minus-strand synthesis and to an increased rate of viral RNA synthesis. We conclude that the minus-strand polymerase regulates the rate of SFV plus-strand RNA synthesis by determining the number of minus-strand templates and that the synthesis of the minus-strand templates is regulated at the level of translation by a mechanism which utilizes one or more short-lived polymerase proteins.     

DNA primase-DNA polymerase alpha from simian cells. Modulation of RNA primer synthesis by ribonucleoside triphosphates

DNA primase-DNA polymerase alpha, purified 53,000-fold from CV-1 cells, synthesized predominantly (p)ppA(pA)6-primed DNA on a poly(dT) template. About 80% of the RNA primers synthesized on an M13 DNA template were (p)ppA/G(pN)5-7, and 20% were (p)ppA/G(pN)0-4. RNA primer size was determined by gel electrophoresis after removing nascent DNA with phage T4 DNA polymerase 3'-5' exonuclease, leaving a single dNMP at the 3'-end of the RNA primer, and the terminal 5'-(p)ppN residue was determined by "capping" with [alpha-32P]GTP using vaccinia guanylyl-transferase. The processivity of DNA synthesis initiated by de novo synthesis of RNA primers was the same as that initiated on pre-existing RNA primers (10-15 dNMPs), although initiation on pre-existing primers was strongly preferred. Primers always began with A or G, even at high levels of CTP or UTP, although the ratio of A to G varied from 4:1 to 1:1 depending on the relative concentrations of ATP and GTP in the assay. ATP and GTP had no effect on primer length, but the fraction of shorter RNA primers increased 2-fold with higher concentrations of CTP or UTP. Nearest-neighbor analysis revealed a preference for purine ribonucleotides at RNA covalently linked to the 5'-end of DNA (RNA-p-DNA) junctions, and increasing the concentration of a single rNTP increased slightly its presence at RNA-p-DNA junctions. Thus, the base composition and size of RNA primers synthesized by DNA primase-DNA polymerase alpha is modulated by the relative concentrations of ribonucleoside triphosphates.