Expression of Na+, K+-ATPase α-Subunit in Animalized and Vegetalized Embryos of the Sea Urchin, Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus.

A marked increase in the Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase activity of sea urchin embryos occurred following an elevation of its mRNA level, revealed by Northern blotting analysis, in developmental period between the swimming blastula and the late gastrula stage. cDNA clone of Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase α-subunit, obtained from γgt10 cDNA library of sea urchin gastrulae, was digested with EcoRl ad Hindlll. The obtained 268 bp cDNA fragment, hybridized to a 4.6 Kb RNA, was used as probe for Northern blotting analysis. The level of Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase mRNA was higher in embryo-wall cell fraction isolated from late gastrulae (ectoderm cells) than the level in the bag fraction, containing mesenchyme cells (mesoderm cells) and archenteron (endoderm cells). The activity of Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase and the level of its mRNA were higher in animalized embryos obtained by pulse treatment with A23187 for 3 hr, starting at the 8–16 cell stage and were considerably lower in vegetalized embryos induced by 3 hr treatment with Li⁺ than that in normal embryos at the post gastrula corresponidng stage. Augmentation of Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase gene expression can be regarded as a marker for ectoderm cell differentiation at the post gastrula stage, which results from determination of cell fate in prehatching period.     

Incorporation and activation of a membrane-bound enzyme in bilayers of liposomes

Summary The effects of lipid composition and fluidity of lipid bilayers on incorporation and activation of membrane-bound d-fructose dehydrogenase are described in this study. The incorporation of the enzyme into bilayers of small unilamellar vesicles (SUV) made of several phospholipids resulted in enzyme activation with magnitudes higher than that observed in the presence of Triton X-100, indicating that this higher activation is due to lipid-protein interaction. The activity was highest in the presence of SUV formed by the addition of 10% dl--dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine to l--dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine, which resulted in eightfold higher activation compared with that of the enzyme in its free state. This activation did not appear to be due to the degree of incorporation of the enzyme, indicating that incorporation is distinct from the activation event. Thus, it is probably the lipid environment that leads to higher activation of the enzyme. A break in the Arrhenius plot of the activity of the membrane-bound enzyme at temperatures close to the phase transition of the phospholipid implies that changes in the physical state of the lipid bilayer influence the enzyme activity. Furthermore, immobilization of d-fructose dehydrogenase, previously adsorbed to SUV, on urethane prepolymer also resulted in about eightfold higher activation than that of the free enzyme. Offprint requests to: S. Katoh     

Changes of subcellular localization of Thy-1 antigen during thymic myoid cell differentiation

Using a quantitative enzyme immunoassay, Thy-1 antigen expressed by a rat myoid cell line R615B2 was detected mainly on the cell surface at a single cell stage, whereas at the stage of forming myotubes, Thy-1 was found predominantly in the cytoplasm. The muscle specific creatine kinase activity also increased in association with the shift of Thy-1 from the cell surface to the cytoplasm, suggesting biological significance of Thy-1 redistribution in muscle differentiation from single cells to multinucleated cells.     

Diabetes mellitus secondary to idiopathic chronic calcifying pancreatitis in an adolescent woman

We describe the results of metabolic studies in a 17-year-old woman with diabetes mellitus which was the initial manifestation of idiopathic chronic calcifying pancreatitis (CCP). These studies were done on 2 occasions, 5 months and 5 years after the onset of diabetes, when her diabetes could be managed by glibenclamide and insulin, respectively. Five months after the onset of diabetes, oral glucose produced a small increase in insulin and a paradoxical rise in both glucagon immunoreactivity (GI) and growth hormone (GH). BY contrast, arginine-stimulated responses of the three hormones were normal. No increase in GI and a blunted rise in GH resulted from an insulin-induced decrease in blood glucose. Five years later, when CCP was demonstrated by roentogenologic examinations and tests of pancreatic exocrine function, oral glucose was followed by a flat and depressed response of C-peptide immunoreactivity and a markedly elevated response of gut glucagon-like-immunoreactivity (gut GLI). There were delayed and extremely low responses of pancreatic polypeptide to a test meal, irrespective whether or not her diabetes required treatment with insulin. These results demonstrate that CCP can cause diabetes in adolescents, as it does in adults, and that the adolescent woman described here had impaired responses of PP and gut GLI as well as insulin, GI and GH, especially to changes in blood glucose levels.     

Involvement of Ku80 in microhomology-mediated end joining for DNA double-strand breaks in vivo

Mammalian cells have an activity of mutagenic repair for DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ), in which DNA ends are joined via microhomologous sequences flanking the breakpoint. MMEJ has been indicated to be undertaken without Ku proteins, which are essential factors for non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). On the other hand, recent studies with cell-free (in vitro) systems indicated the involvement of Ku proteins in MMEJ, suggesting that MMEJ could be also undertaken by a Ku-dependent pathway. To clarify whether Ku proteins are essential in MMEJ in vivo, linearized plasmid DNAs with microhomologous sequences of 10bp at both ends were introduced as repair substrates into Ku80-proficient and Ku80-deficient CHO cells, and were subjected to MMEJ and NHEJ. Activities of MMEJ and NHEJ, respectively, of the cells were evaluated by mathematical modeling for the increase in fluorescence of GFP proteins produced from repaired products. The Ku80 deficiency caused approximately 75% reduction of the MMEJ activity in CHO cells, while it caused is > or =90% reduction of the NHEJ activity. Therefore, it was indicated that there is a Ku-dependent pathway for MMEJ; however, MMEJ is less dependent on Ku80 protein than NHEJ. The fraction of MMEJ products increased in proportion to the increase in the amounts of substrates. The results suggest that the increase in DSBs makes the cell more predominant for MMEJ. MMEJ might function as a salvage pathway for DSBs that cannot be repaired by NHEJ.     

Expression and physiological role of CCN4/Wnt-induced secreted protein 1 mRNA splicing variants in chondrocytes

CCN4/Wnt-induced secreted protein 1 (WISP1) is one of the CCN (CTGF/Cyr61/Nov) family proteins. CCN members have typical structures composed of four conserved cysteine-rich modules and their variants lacking certain modules, generated by alternative splicing or gene mutations, have been described in various pathological conditions. Several previous reports described a CCN4/WISP1 variant (WISP1v) lacking the second module in a few malignancies, but no information concerning the production of WISP1 variants in normal tissue is currently available. The expression of CCN4/WISP1 mRNA and its variants were analyzed in a human chondrosarcoma-derived chondrocytic cell line, HCS-2/8, and primary rabbit growth cartilage (RGC) chondrocytes. First, we found WISP1v and a novel variant of WISP1 (WISP1vx) to be expressed in HCS-2/8, as well as full-length WISP1 mRNA. This new variant was lacking the coding regions for the second and third modules and a small part of the first module. To monitor the expression of CCN4/WISP1 mRNA along chondrocyte differentiation, RGC cells were cultured and sampled until they were mineralized. As a result, we identified a WISP1v ortholog in normal RGC cells. Interestingly, the WISP1v mRNA level increased dramatically along with terminal differentiation. Furthermore, overexpression of WISP1v provoked expression of an alkaline phosphatase gene that is a marker of terminal differentiation in HCS-2/8 cells. These findings indicate that WISP1v thus plays a critical role in chondrocyte differentiation toward endochondral ossification, whereas HCS-2/8-specific WISP1vx may be associated with the transformed phenotypes of chondrosarcomas.     

Detection of streptomycin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from China as determined by denaturing HPLC analysis and DNA sequencing

China is regarded by the World Health Organization as a major hot-spot region for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Streptomycin has been deployed in China for over 50 years and is still widely used for tuberculosis treatment. We have developed a denaturing HPLC (DHPLC) method for detecting various gene mutations conferring drug resistance in M. tuberculosis. The present study focused on rpsL and rrs mutation analysis. Two hundred and fifteen M. tuberculosis clinical isolates (115 proved to be streptomycin-resistant and 100 susceptible by a routine proportional method) from China were tested to determine the streptomycin minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC), and subjected to DHPLC and concurrent DNA sequencing to determine rpsL and rrs mutations. The results showed that 85.2% (98/115) of streptomycin-resistant isolates harbored rpsL or rrs mutation, while rpsL mutation (76.5%, 88/115) dominated. MIC of 98 mutated isolates revealed no close correlation between mutation types and levels of streptomycin resistance. No mutation was found in any of the susceptible isolates. The DHPLC results were completely consistent with those of sequencing. The DHPLC method devised in this study can be regarded as a useful and powerful tool for detection of streptomycin resistance. This is the first report to describe DHPLC analysis of mutations in the rpsL and rrs genes of M. tuberculosis in a large number of clinical isolates.     

An Integrated High-density Linkage Map of Soybean with RFLP, SSR, STS, and AFLP Markers Using A Single F2 Population

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] is the most important leguminouscrop in the world due to its high contents of high-quality proteinand oil for human and animal consumption as well as for industrialuses. An accurate and saturated genetic linkage map of soybeanis an essential tool for studies on modern soybean genomics.In order to update the linkage map of a F₂ population derivedfrom a cross between Misuzudaizu and Moshidou Gong 503 and tomake it more informative and useful to the soybean genome researchcommunity, a total of 318 AFLP, 121 SSR, 108 RFLP, and 126 STSmarkers were newly developed and integrated into the frameworkof the previously described linkage map. The updated geneticmap is composed of 509 RFLP, 318 SSR, 318 AFLP, 97 AFLP-derivedSTS, 29 BAC-end or EST-derived STS, 1 RAPD, and five morphologicalmarkers, covering a map distance of 3080 cM (Kosambi function)in 20 linkage groups (LGs). To our knowledge, this is presentlythe densest linkage map developed from a single F₂ populationin soybean. The average intermarker distance was reduced to2.41 from 5.78 cM in the earlier version of the linkage map.Most SSR and RFLP markers were relatively evenly distributedamong different LGs in contrast to the moderately clusteredAFLP markers. The number of gaps of more than 25 cM was reducedto 6 from 19 in the earlier version of the linkage map. Thecoverage of the linkage map was extended since 17 markers weremapped beyond the distal ends of the previous linkage map. Inparticular, 17 markers were tagged in a 5.7 cM interval betweenCE47M5a and Satt100 on LG C2, where several important QTLs wereclustered. This newly updated soybean linkage map will enableto streamline positional cloning of agronomically importanttrait locus genes, and promote the development of physical maps,genome sequencing, and other genomic research activities.