The receptor for transferrin on murine myeloma cells: one-step purification based on its physiology, and partial amino acid sequence

The receptor for transferrin is one of the major surface proteins of proliferating lymphocytes and other cells. It binds ferrotransferrin from serum and endocytoses it into an acidic nonlysosomal intracellular compartment where iron is released, but in which apotransferrin remains tightly bound to its receptor. Recycling of the apotransferrin-receptor complex to the cell surface is associated with a return to neutral pH and concomitant loss of affinity of apotransferrin for its receptor. Apotransferrin is then free to leave the cell and initiate a new cycle. We have exploited this cycle in a novel method for the purification of the receptor for transferrin. Murine myeloma cells were lysed in nonionic detergent, and the lysate passed over a column of ferrotransferrin-agarose at pH 7.4. After washing with sodium acetate at pH 5.0, iron was removed with sodium citrate pH 5.0 and desferrioxamine. Upon returning the pH to neutrality, the receptor was eluted and found to be homogeneous by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under both reducing and nonreducing conditions. The degree of purification was estimated to be at least 3,000-fold, and the calculated yield was 10 to 20%. The purified receptor was capable of binding to transferrin. The receptor was digested with trypsin, and the resulting peptides were separated by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography in NH4HCO3. Selected peptides were rechromatographed in 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid, and their amino acid sequences were determined.     

Getting to the heart of the matter: CCN2 plays a role in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) is overexpressed in diabetes. Diabetic rats possess myocardial and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. In a recent report, Wang and colleagues (Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2009 Jul 22. [Epub ahead of print]) show that CCN2 directly mediates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy as well as that induced by high glucose and fatty acid. CCN2 acted via the TrkA receptor. These data are the subject of this commentary, and emphasize that CCN2 may be an excellent target for therapy in diabetes.     

Population structure,dispersal and colonization history of the garden bumblebee <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bombus hortorum</Emphasis> in the Western Isles of Scotland

New methods of analysing genetic data provide powerful tools for quantifying dispersal patterns and reconstructing population histories. Here we examine the population structure of the bumblebee Bombus hortorum in a model island system, the Western Isles of Scotland, using microsatellite markers. Following declines in other species, B. hortorum is the only remaining long-tongued bumblebee species found in much of Europe, and thus it is of particular ecological importance. Our data suggest that populations of B. hortorum in western Scotland exist as distinct genetic clusters occupying groups of nearby islands. Population structuring was higher than for other bumblebee species which have previously been studied in this same island group (F_st = 0.16). Populations showed significant isolation by distance. This relationship was greatly improved by using circuit theory to allow dispersal rates to differ over different landscape features; as we would predict, sea appears to provide far higher resistance to dispersal than land. Incorporating bathymetry data improved the fit of the model further; populations separated by shallow seas are more genetically similar than those separated by deeper seas. We argue that this probably reflects events following the last ice age when the islands were first colonized by this bee species (8,500–5,000 ybp), when the sea levels were lower and islands separated by shallow channels would have been joined. In the absence of significant gene flow these genetic clusters appear to have since diverged over the following 5,000 years and arguably may now represent locally adapted races, some occurring on single islands.     

Effects of okadaic acid on insulin-sensitive cAMP phosphodiesterase in rat adipocytes. Evidence that insulin may stimulate the enzyme by phosphorylation.

Okadaic acid, a potent inhibitor of Type 1 and Type 2A protein phosphatases, was used to investigate the mechanism of insulin action on membrane-bound low Km cAMP phosphodiesterase in rat adipocytes. Upon incubation of cells with 1 microM okadaic acid for 20 min, phosphodiesterase was stimulated 3.7- to 3.9-fold. This stimulation was larger than that elicited by insulin (2.5- to 3.0-fold). Although okadaic acid enhanced the effect of insulin, the maximum effects of the two agents were not additive. When cells were pretreated with 1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7), the level of phosphodiesterase stimulation by okadaic acid was rendered smaller, similar to that attained by insulin. In cells that had been treated with 2 mM KCN, okadaic acid (like insulin) failed to stimulate phosphodiesterase, suggesting that ATP was essential. Also, as reported previously, the effect of insulin on phosphodiesterase was reversed upon exposure of hormone-treated cells to KCN. This deactivation of previously-stimulated phosphodiesterase was blocked by okadaic acid, but not by insulin. The above KCN experiments were carried out with cells in which A-kinase activity was minimized by pretreatment with H-7. Okadaic acid mildly stimulated basal glucose transport and, at the same time, strongly inhibited the action of insulin thereon. It is suggested that insulin may stimulate phosphodiesterase by promoting its phosphorylation and that the hormonal effect may be reversed by a protein phosphatase which is sensitive to okadaic acid. The hypothetical protein kinase thought to be involved in the insulin-dependent stimulation of phosphodiesterase appears to be more H-7-resistant than A-kinase.