Revertants of a Chinese hamster ovary cell mutant resistant to suppression by an analogue of cholesterol: isolation and partial biochemical characterization

A highly efficient selection procedure was developed for isolating revertants of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell mutants resistant to suppression by 25-hydroxy-cholesterol. The procedure is based on the fact that the specific polyene antibiotic amphotericin B caused a lethal porous complex formation with membrane cholesterol only in cholesterol-rich cells. The wild-type cells and the revertant cells switched to grow from fetal calf serum medium to delipidated fetal calf serum medium for approximately 1 day became deficient in cellular cholesterol content. These cells, unlike the cholesterol-rich mutant cells, became much less sensitive to amphotericin B cytotoxicity. The spontaneous reversion frequency of a previously reported 25-hydroxycholesterol-resistant cell clone, 25-RA [Chang, T.-Y., & Limanek, J.S. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 255, 7787-7795], was found to be approximately 3 X 10(-6), a frequency comparable to other single gene mutations of CHO cells. Biochemical analyses of three of these revertants showed that all defects manifested in 25-RA cells reverted back in parallel, a result suggesting that these observed defects in 25-RA cells are due to a single mutation event, thus supporting the hypothesis (Chang & Limanek, 1980) that a common controlling factor may be involved in mediating the suppressive action(s) of the cholesterol analogue on various cholesterogenic enzyme activities. The function of this common controlling factor is rendered abnormal in 25-RA cells by mutation.     

Predicted secondary and tertiary structures of carp gamma-crystallins with high methionine content: role of methionine residues in the protein stability.

A systematic structural comparison of several carp gamma-crystallins with high methionine contents was made by the secondary-structure prediction together with computer model-building based on the established X-ray structure of calf gamma-II crystallin. The overall surface hydrophilicity profile and the distribution of helices, beta-sheets, and beta-turns along the polypeptide chains are very similar among these carp gamma-crystallins. In addition, their general polypeptide packing is close to the characteristic 2 domain/4 motif Greek key three-dimensional conformation depicted for the calf gamma-II crystallin. Interestingly, most hydrophobic methionine residues are located on the protein surface with only a few buried inside the protein surface or in the interface between two motifs of each domain. The exposed hydrophobic and polarizable methionine cluster on the protein surface may have a bearing on the crystallin stability and dense packing in the piscine species, and probably also provides a malleable nonpolar surface for the interaction with other crystallin components for the maintenance of a clear and transparent lens.     

Autoregulation of androgen receptor expression in rodent prostate: immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization analysis

Autoregulation of androgen receptor mRNA and protein was investigated by immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization techniques. In both mouse and rat prostate, the epithelial cell nuclei were stained with the monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies raised against human androgen receptor. It was observed that 3 days after castration, nuclear staining of the epithelium was greatly reduced, while androgen treatment restored the staining intensity to a normal level. In situ hybridization using an androgen receptor cDNA fragment as probe demonstrated that the change in androgen receptor mRNA level correlated with the change in antibody staining intensity. These data suggested an up-regulation of androgen receptor expression by androgen.     

Effects of periodic backflushing on ultrafiltration performance.

Periodic backflushing was introduced to a membrane separation process to improve the performance. Hemoglobin (M.W. = 62,500) and dextran (M.W. = 10,000) were used as model compounds. Filtration performance of an ultrafiltration membrane system (Amicon hollow fiber membrane, H1P30-43, molecular weight cutoff = 30,000) was measured in terms of apparent permeability and retention coefficient of dextran to determine the effects of backflushing frequency and duration of one cycle. An optimum frequency around 0.2 min-1 existed to give a maximum permeability while the retention of dextran decreased with increasing frequencies. The improvement in permeability by periodic backflush was more than doubled. The retention of dextran decreased as backflushing duration was increased in one cycle. With the duration of 33.75 s, the retention of dextran was less than 50% and dextran output was 1.14 g/h, which was 1.3 times the value without backflushing. Also, periodic backflush made possible the long-term filtration of yeast cells for more than 20 h.     

Novel UGA-suppressors in Escherichia coli K-12

UGA-specific nonsense suppressors from Escherichia coli K-12 were isolated and characterized. One of them (Su+UGA-11) was identified as a mutant of the prfB gene for the peptide releasing factor RF2. It appears that in this strain, while peptide release at sites of UGA mutations is retarded, the UGA stop codon is read through even in the absence of a tRNA suppressor, exhibiting a novel type of passive nonsense suppression. Three suppressors (Su+UGA-12, -16 and -34) were capable of restoring the streptomycin sensitive phenotype in resistant bacteria (strAr). Because of their drug-related phenotype, these are possibly mutations in the components of the ribosomal machinery, particularly those concerned with peptide release at UGA nonsense codons. A tRNA suppressor was also obtained which was derived from the tRNA(Trp) gene. In this strain, a long region between rrnC (84.5 min) and rrnB (89.5 min) was duplicated and one of the duplicated genes of tRNA(Trp) was mutated to the suppressor. The mechanism of UGA-suppression is discussed in terms of translation termination at the nonsense codon in both active and passive fashions.     

Modulation of hepatic level of microsomal testosterone 7 alpha-hydroxylase, P-450a (P450IIA), by thyroid hormone and growth hormone in rat liver

The effects of thyroid hormone and growth hormone on microsomal testosterone 7 alpha-hydroxylase, P-450a, were studied to understand the interaction of these hormone-mediated regulations in rats. In Western blots using anti-P-450a IgG, 1.7-fold higher content of P-450a was observed in livers of female than male adult rats, while no appreciable sex-related difference was detected in prepubertal rats and rats of 24 months of age. Treatment with n-propyl-2-thiouracil or thyroidectomy of male rats increased by 2-fold the hepatic content of P-450a, but neither regimen had a significant effect on the content in female rats. Levels of P-450a in both sexes of thyroidectomized rats were decreased by the supplementation of triiodothyronine (T3, 50 micrograms per kg, i.p. for 7 days) to levels similar to that observed in normal male rats. Hypophysectomy also caused an increase in microsomal P-450a content in male rats. Continuous infusion of human growth hormone, which mimicked the female secretion, further significantly increased the content in hypophysectomized rats to a level similar to that observed in normal female rats. In contrast, hepatic level of P-450a in hypophysectomized male and female rats was reduced by intermittent injection, which mimicked the male secretion. Clear suppression on the level of hepatic P-450a was also observed by the treatment of hypophysectomized rats with 5 or 50 micrograms/kg of T3 and of hGH-infused hypophysectomized rat with 50 micrograms/kg of T3.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Lipolytic activities of a lipase immobilized on six selected supporting materials

Six different types of materials including PVC, chitosan, chitin, agarose, Sepharose, and Trisacryl were evaluated for their lipase-coupling efficiencies. Among those tested, chitosan yielded the highest amount of lipase (79 mg/mL packed gel) immobilized but with lowest oil hydrolytic activity (0.03 mg eq/mL gel). The amount of lipase immobilized was affected by the length of the hydrocarbon chain attached to the PVC matrix but not by the pore size of the supports used. On the other hand, the specific activity of the immobilized lipase was affected by the pore size but not by the chain length of the hydrocarbon attached to the support. After immobilization, the optimal reaction pH was shifted from 7.5 to 8.5 and the optimal reaction temperature from 35 to 45-55 degrees C. Lipase immobilized on PVC exhibited higher thermal stability than that on agarose. The half-life of the PVC immobilized lipase operating at 30 degrees C in a packed-bed reactor was estimated to be about 400 h.     

Enhanced shikonin production from Lithospermum erythrorhizon by in situ extraction and calcium alginate immobilization

Plant cell cultures of Lithospermum erythrorhizon were carried out to produce shikonin by in situ extraction and cell immobilization in calcium alginate bead in shake flask cultures. In situ product extraction and cell immobilization enhanced shikonin production and facilitated product recovery. In situ extraction by n-hexadecane and cell immobilization by calcium alginate gave higher specific shikonin productivities of 7.4 and 2.5 times, respectively, than those from the cultures of free cells without extraction. Simultaneous use of both techniques increased specific and volumetric productivities of shikonin 25- and 15-fold, respectively. In calcium alginate immobilized cell cultures, n-hexadecane addition at an early stage (before 15 days) was effective for shikonin production, and solvent addition after 15 days of the culture significantly reduced shikonin production. Higher numbers of plant cell immobilized bead inoculation did not increase shikonin production and sucrose consumption. Most of the produced shikonin was dissolved in the solvent layer.