The Differentiation of a Cell Sorting Mutant of Dictyostelium discoideum

As a result of transfecting Dictyostelium discoideum with an actin 6/ lac Z fusion transgene, strain HW80 was created which expresses the β-galactosidase gene product uniformly throughout development. When mixed with an excess of unmarked wild-type cells, however, HW80 cells selectively migrate to the positions of anterior-like cells surrounding the prespore cell mass, and differentiate as if they were anterior-like cells. As the proportion of HW80 cells is increased, they also sort to positions adjacent to anterior-like cells and some differentiate as prespore cells. Thus sorting of HW80 cells toward the opposite ends of the prespore cell zone supersedes how they differentiate, suggesting that position influences whether cells differentiate as anterior-like or prespore cells.     

Slow oscillations of free intracellular calcium ion concentration in human fibroblasts responding to mechanical stretch

Calcium transients in single, human gingival fibroblasts were studied after mechanical stretching of flexible culture substrates. A model system was developed to reproducibly stretch and rapidly (< 1 sec) refocus cells in the same focal plane so that changes in the concentration of free intracellular calcium ions ([Ca²⁺]_i) were monitored without delay. Attached cells were grown on flexible bottom Petriperm dishes, loaded with fura-2/AM, and stretched by 1% or 2.8% of substrate area. The stretch caused no significant cell detachment or membrane lesions. A 1% stretch induced no calcium response, but a 2.8% stretch stimulated an initial calcium transient and the subsequent generation of [Ca²⁺]_i oscillations of up to 2,000 sec. At 1% stretch, there was no calcium response. Cell shape and plating time were important determinants in the calcium response to mechanical stimulation: the responder cells were small and round without long processes. Major calcium transients were inhibited completely by 5 mM EGTA or by 10 μM gadolinium ions, by 50 μM nifedipine, or 250 μM verapamil, suggesting an influx of calcium through stretch-activated (SA) channels and L-type calcium channels. Depolarization by high KCl (144 mM) in the extracellular medium enhanced the amplitude of calcium transients by 54%. Calcium oscillations were not inhibited by preincubation with thapsigargin, caffeine, cholera toxin, staurosporine or 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7), indicating that IP₃ sensitive pools, IP₃ insensitive pools, G₅α subunits, and protein kinase C, respectively, were not involved in the generation of calcium oscillations. Pretreatment with genistein, a specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor or cytochalasin D, an inhibitor of actin polymerization, or pertussis toxin, an inhibitor of G_iα and G_oα subunits, completely abolished calcium transients and oscillations. These results indicate that Ca²⁺ flux due to mechanical stretching is likely mediated through SA ion channe s and is dependent on tyrosine kinases, pertussis toxin-sensitive subunits of G-proteins, and actin filaments. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Amphetamine Promotes Neostriatal Ascorbate Release via a Nigro-Thalamo-Cortico-Neostriatal Loop

Abstract: In the neostriatum, amphetamine and other dopamine agonists elevate the extracellular level of ascorbate, which is known to modulate neostriatal function. Although both D₁ and D₂ receptors have been linked to neostriatal ascorbate release, ample evidence suggests it is controlled by areas outside the neostriatum. The present series of experiments used selective lesions and intracerebral drug infusions to probe the involvement of the ventromedial thalamus and substantia nigra pars reticulata. Our results implicate both of these sites in amphetamine-induced increases in the release of neostriatal ascorbate. Thus, whereas unilateral electrolytic lesions of the substantia nigra pars reticulata completely abolished the ability of systemic amphetamine (2.5 mg/kg) to increase extracellular ascorbate in ipsilateral neostriatum, intranigral infusions of this drug (10 and 30 µg/µl) elevated neostriatal ascorbate release. This infusion effect, moreover, was blocked by electrolytic lesions of the ipsilateral ventromedial thalamus, which receives input from the substantia nigra pars reticulata and projects to the cerebral cortex. These results, combined with previous evidence implicating cortical projections to neostriatum as the source of extracellular ascorbate, suggest that neostriatal ascorbate release is regulated, at least in part, by a nigro-thalamo-cortico-neostriatal pathway.     

GABAA Receptor Subtypes Expressed in Cerebellar Granule Cells: A Developmental Study

Abstract: The developmental properties of primary rat cerebellar granule cells have been characterised with respect to their expression of GABA_A receptor subtypes using both an immunological approach and radioligand binding assays. At day 1 in culture, the GABA_A receptor α1 subunit was detectable in immunoblots and increased in level up to day 9. The GABA_A receptor α6 subunit was not detectable at day 1; however, at days 3–5, a specific M_r 58,000 anti-α6 1–16 Cys immunoreactive species was present which further increased in level up to 9 days in culture. Similar qualitative results were obtained for the expression of the GABA_A receptor α6 subunit in age-matched rat cerebellar membranes. In parallel studies, it was found that although there was an overall increase in [³H]Ro 15–4513 binding sites with days in culture, the relative contributions of diazepam-sensitive and diazepam-in-sensitive [³H]Ro 15–4513 binding changed. A time-dependent enrichment of the diazepam-insensitive binding site up to a maximum of 74% of total [³H]Ro 15–4513 sites was found. This was concomitant with the appearance of the GABA_A receptor α6 subunit. These results are in agreement with the pharmacology described for α6βγ2 cloned receptors. They suggest a developmentally regulated expression of the GABA_A receptor α6 subunit gene at a time that is correlated in vivo with establishment of neuronal connections.     

The functional units of a peptostreptococcal protein L

Protein L is a cell-surface protein from Peptostreptococcus which interacts with immunoglobulin kappa light chains. A gene from Peptostreptococcus strain 3316 coding for protein L and fragments thereof were expressed in Escherichia coli. The peptides were examined for binding to immunoglobulin and serum albumin. The four C units were shown to be responsible for binding to immunoglobulin and the four D units for binding to albumin. This protein L molecule therefore binds to albumin at a site separate from that involved in binding to immunoglobulin. The albumin-binding units have high amino acid sequence identity with the albumin-binding units of streptococcal cell-surface proteins. The gene contains three sites available for internal initiation of translation resulting in three active proteins. The protein L molecule presented in this report was compared with a previously reported protein from Peptostreptococcus strain 312. The two proteins differ in several respects, including size and the number and types of repeat units.     

Alzheimer's disease-like phosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau by glycogen synthase kinase-3 in transfected mammalian cells

Background: Paired helical filaments (PHFs) are a characteristic pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease; their principal component is the microtubule-associated protein tau. The tau in PHFs (PHF-tau) is hyperphosphorylated, but the cellular mechanisms responsible for this hyperphosphorylation have yet to be elucidated. A number of kinases, including mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3α, GSK-3β and cyclin-dependent kinase-5, phosphorylate recombinant tau in vitro so that it resembles PHF-tau as judged by its reactivity with a panel of antibodies capable of discriminating between normal tau and PHF-tau, and by a reduced electrophoretic mobility that is characteristic of PHF-tau. To determine whether MAP kinase, GSK-3α and GSK-3β can also induce Alzheimer's disease-like phosphorylation of tau in mammalian cells, we studied the phosphorylation status of tau in primary neuronal cultures and transfected COS cells following changes in the activities of MAP kinase and GSK-3.Results Activating MAP kinase in cultures of primary neurons or transfected COS cells expressing tau isoforms did not increase the level of phosphorylation for any PHF-tau epitope investigated. But elevating GSK-3 activity in the COS cells by co-transfection with GSK-3α or GSK-3β decreased the electrophoretic mobility of tau so that it resembled that of PHF-tau, and induced reactivity with eight PHF-tau-selective monoclonal antibodies.Conclusion Our data indicate that GSK-3α and/or GSK-3β, but not MAP kinase, are good candidates for generating PHF-type phosphorylation of tau in Alzheimer's disease. The involvement of other kinases in the generation of PHFs cannot, however, be eliminated. Our results suggest that aberrant regulation of GSK-3 may be a pathogenic mechanism in Alzheimer's disease.