Functional role of newly formed pore complexes in postmitotic nuclear reorganization

Many nuclear proteins are released into the cytoplasm at prometaphase and are transported back into the daughter nuclei at the end of mitosis. To determine the role of this reentry in nuclear remodelling during early interphase, we experimentally manipulated nuclear protein uptake in dividing cells. Recently we and others have shown that signal-dependent, pore complex-mediated uptake of nuclear protein is blocked in living cells on microinjection of the lectin wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), or of antibodies such as PI1 that are directed against WGA-binding pore complex glycoproteins. In the present study, we microinjected mitotic PtK₂ cells with WGA or antibody PI1 and followed nuclear reorganization of the daughter cells by immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. The inhibitory effect on nuclear protein uptake was monitored by co-injection of the karyophilic protein nucleoplasmin. When injected by itself early in mitosis, nucleoplasmin became sequestered into the daughter nuclei as they entered telophase. In contrast, nucleoplasmin was excluded from the daughter nuclei in the presence of WGA or antibody PI1. Although PtK₂ cells with blocked nuclear protein uptake completed cytokinesis, their nuclei showed a telophaselike organization characterized by highly condensed chromatin surrounded by a nuclear envelope containing a few pore complexes. These findings suggest that pore complexes become functional as early as telophase, in close coincidence with nuclear envelope reformation. They further indicate that the extensive structural rearrangement of the nucleus during the telophase-G1 transition is dependent on the influx of karyophilic proteins from the cytoplasm through the pore complexes, and is not due solely to chromosome-associated components.Abbreviations WGA wheat germ agglutinin - GlcNAc N-acetylglucosamine     

Recombinant human prorenin from CHO cells: Expression and purification

The gene for human preprorenin was obtained from total RNA prepared from primary human chorion cells. An expression vector was constructed containing an SV40 early promoter, a human preprorenin cDNA, bovine growth hormone poly-A addition signal, and a dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) expression cassette. This vector was inserted into the DXB-11 Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. The recombinant protein was exported by CHO cells into the tissue culture media. At harvest the prorenin levels ranged from 1–5 mg/L. For prorenin isolation the cell culture supernatants were processed by filtration, concentration, dialysis, and batch extraction. Preparative-scale isolation of prorenin was accomplished using blue-dye chromatography and size-exclusion chromatography. The isolated prorenin yielded a single SDS-gel band with Mr 40,000. The proprotein was characterized with respect to N-terminal sequence and N-linked sugar composition. Trypsin-activated renin prepared from the proprotein was characterized with respect to N-terminal sequence andpH-activity profile. Enzyme activity was measured with a newly developed fluorogenic peptide substrate containing the P₆-P₃ sequence of human angiotensinogen.     

Intercellular structure in a many-celled magnetotactic prokaryote

A many-called magnetotactic prokaryote obtained from brackish water was observed to possess intercellular connections at points of contact between the outer membranes of constituent cells. Each aggregate organism consisted of 10 to 30 individual Gram-negative cells containing material with the appearance of poly--hydroxybutyrate and magnetosomes of unusual arrangement, structure and composition. The aggregate, which possessed prokaryotic-type flagella arranged at the outwards surfaces of each cell, showed motility indicative of co-ordination between individual component cells. These results suggest that this organism could be a multicellular prokaryote.     

Postural dynamics of walking in humans

The dynamics of postural control in human biped locomotion were studied using(1) a model, and(2) experimentally applied impulsive force disturbances. The model was planar, and contained five rigid segments, articulating at frictionless pin joints. The model was used to identify joint torque combinations which would successfully correct for an impulsive force disturbance applied at different points in the walking cycle. The simulation results suggested that(1) early responses (within 80ms) can be effective in compensating for impulsive disturbances,(2) the same strategies which successfully counteract similar disturbances during quiet standing are also effective in certain phases of the walking cycle,(3) modifications in the response strategies are needed to accomodate differences in the dynamics over the stride cycle, and(4) the swing leg is ineffective in compensating for disturbances in the short term. These model predictions were tested experimentally. Subject responses to an impulsive force disturbance applied during walking were studied. The electromyographic results generally support the model predictions.     

Nerve growth factor: Cellular localization and regulation of synthesis

1. The role of nerve growth factor (NGF) as a retrograde messenger between peripheral target tissues and innervating sympathetic and neural crest-derived sensory neurons is supported by the observations that (a) the interruption of retrograde axonal transport has the same effects as the neutralization of endogenous NGF by anti-NGF antibodies and (b) the close correlation between the density of innervation by fibers of NGF-responsive neurons and the levels of NGF and mRNANGF in their target organs. 2. In situ hybridization experiments have demonstrated that a great variety of cells in the projection field or NGF-responsive neurons is synthesizing NGF, among them epithelial cells, smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, and Schwann cells. 3. The temporal correlation between the growth of trigeminal sensory fibers into the whisker pad of the mouse and the commencement of NGF synthesis initially suggested a causal relationship between these two events. However, in chick embryos rendered aneural by prior removal of the neural tube or the neural crest, it was shown that the onset of NGF synthesis in the periphery is independent of neurons, and is controlled by an endogenous "clock" whose regulatory mechanism remains to be established. 4. A comparison between NGF synthesis in the nonneuronal cells of the newborn rat sciatic nerve and that in the adult sciatic nerve after lesion provided evidence for the important regulatory role played by a secretory product of activated macrophages. The identity of this product is currently under investigation.     

Development of the esophageal muscles in embryos of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

Summary Development of the esophageal muscles in embryonic sea urchins is described using light- and electron microscopy. The muscles develop from processes of about 14 cells of the coelomic epithelium that become immunore-active to anti-actin at about 60 h (12–14° C). Initially, eachmyoblast extends a single process with numerous fine filopodia around the esophagus. By 72 h the processes have reached the midline and fused with those from cells of the contralateral coelomic sac. Myoblasts begin to migrate out of the coelomic epithelium between 72 and 84 h. By 72 h the processes stain with the F-actin specific probe NBD-phallacidin. The contractile apparatus is not evident in transmission electron-microscopic preparations of embryos at 70 h, but by 84 h the contractile apparatus is present and the muscle cells are capable of contraction. Because the myoblasts migrate free of the coelomic epithelium and are situated on the blastocoelar side of the basal lamina, it is suggested that that they should be considered as a class of mesenchymal cells.     

Serological recognition of HLA-DR allodeterminant corresponding to DNA sequence involved in gene conversion

HLA class 11 molecules were isolated from mouse L cells transfected with a DR gene and an allele, 52a, of locus DR III from an HLA-homozygous cell line, AVL, of the DR3 haplotype. The isolated molecules were found to possess a new allospecificity, named TR81. This specificity behaved allelic to the previously described DR III locus. The TR81 specificity was also present on the DR I gene product of the DR3 haplotype. The nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding TR81 differs from TR81-negative DR genes of the DRw52 family in only two codons, both located in the regions known to be involved in a gene conversion event. Consequently, the following conclusions can be formulated. (a) TR81 is a bi-locus specificity and allelic to TR22 only in its DR III locus localization. (b) The TR81 specificity is the phenotypic counterpart of the gene conversion event which led to the generation of the DR I gene of the DR3 haplotype. (c) One or both individual amino acid substitutions in the first domain of the DR chain are responsible for the TR81 allospecificity. (d) Since TR81 is expressed on the DR I chain of the DR3 haplotype, it is possible that TR81 and DR3 represent the same serological specificity.     

Gene expression during CAM induction under salt stress in Mesembryanthemum: cDNA library and increased levels of mRNA for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and pyruvate orthosphosphate dikinase

Mesembryanthemum crystallinum responds to high salinity in the soil by shifting the mode of carbon assimilation from the C3 mode to Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). Several enzymes of carbon metabolism have increased apparent activities in the CAM mode, including phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPcase) and pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK). We have identified cDNA clones for PEPcase and PPDK by immunological screening of a cDNA library constructed in the protein expression vector lambda gt11. The clones were characterized by immunoblotting and RNA blotting techniques. RNA blotting showed that during CAM induction the steady-state level of mRNAs for both PEP case and PPDK increased.Abbreviations IPTG isopropyl thiogalactoside - PEP phosphoenolpyruvate - PEPcase phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase - PPDK pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase - Xgal-5 bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside