An oligosaccharide of the O-linked type distinguishes the free from the combined form of hCG alpha subunit

JAR malignant trophoblast cells produce a free alpha subunit in addition to an alpha combined with beta subunit as hCG. The free alpha is larger by gel chromatography and SDS-PAGE than combined alpha and is unable to associate with beta subunit to form hCG. A tryptic fragment, representing amino acid residues 36-42, derived from free alpha was larger than the corresponding fragment from combined alpha. After neuraminidase treatment, the fragment from free alpha bound peanut lectin agarose, which is specific for Gal beta 1-3GalNAc as found in O-linked oligosaccharides. The fragment also contained Gal and GalNAc (and a lesser amount of GlcNAc) as determined by glycosidase sensitivity and amino sugar analyses. Removal of this tryptic fragment ablated the size difference between free and combined alpha subunits.     

Synthesis and phosphorylation of chromatin-associated proteins in cAMP-induced "differentiated" neuroblastoma cells in culture.

Prostaglandin E₁ and a cAMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor 4-(3-butoxy-4-methoxybenzyl)-2-imidazolidinone, RO20-1724, were used to induce differentiation in mouse neuroblastoma cells in culture. The incorporation of amino acids and phosphate into nuclear proteins of control and drug-treated cells (1 h and 3 days after treatment) was examined using double radioisotopic techniques. A marked decrease in histone synthesis and H1-histone phosphorylation were observed in ‘differentiated’ neuroblastoma cells after 3 days of prostaglandin E₁ and RO20-1724 treatment, but only small differences were noted in the synthesis and phosphorylation of non-histone chromatin associated proteins after 3 days of drug treatment. Minimal changes were observed in the labeling of histone and non-histone nuclear proteins if the cells were treated for 1 h with prostaglandin E₁ and RO20-1724.     

Domain-dependent protein folding is indicated by the intracellular kinetics of disulfide bond formation of human chorionic gonadotropin beta subunit.

We have measured the intracellular rates of formation of the six disulfide bonds in the human chorionic gonadotropin beta subunit (hCG-beta) to determine whether the folding pathway of this molecule can be described by a simple sequential model. If such a model is correct, the formation of disulfide bonds, which is indicative of tertiary structural changes during protein folding, should occur in a discrete order. The individual rates of disulfide bridging were determined by identifying the extent of disulfide bond formation in hCG-beta intermediates purified from choriocarcinoma cells that had been metabolically labeled for 40 to 120 s and chased for 0 to 25 min. The results of these kinetic studies describe a folding pathway in which the disulfide bonds between cysteines 34-88, 38-57, 9-90 and 23-72 stabilize, in a discrete order, the putative domain(s) involving amino acids 1-90 of hCG-beta. However, the S-S bonds 93-100 and 26-110 begin to form before the complete formation of the disulfide bonds that stabilize the amino acid 1-90 domain(s), and continue to form after complete formation of these disulfide bonds, suggesting that hCG-beta does not fold by a simple sequential pathway. The order of completion of each of the six disulfide bonds of hCG-beta is: 34-88 (t1/2 = 1-2 min), 38-57 (t1/2 = 2-3 min), 9-90 and 23-72, 93-100, and 26-110. Moreover, 60-100% of each of the six disulfide bonds form posttranslationally, and nonnative disulfide bonds do not form in detectable amounts during intracellular folding of hCG-beta.     

Intracellular folding pathway of human chorionic gonadotropin beta subunit.

Few experimental models have been used to investigate how proteins fold inside a cell. Using the formation of disulfide bonds as an index of conformational changes during protein folding, we have developed a unique system to determine the intracellular folding pathway of the beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Three folding intermediates of the beta subunit were purified from [35S]cysteine-labeled JAR choriocarcinoma cells by immunoprecipitation and by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). To identify unformed disulfide bonds, nonreduced folding intermediates were treated with trypsin to liberate non-disulfide-bound, [35S]cysteine-containing peptides from the disulfide-linked peptides. Released peptides were purified by HPLC and identified by amino acid sequencing. The amount of a peptide that was released indicated the extent of disulfide bond formation involving the cysteine in that peptide. Of the six disulfide bonds in hCG-beta, bonds 34-88 and 38-57 form first. The rate-limiting event of folding involves the formation of the S-S bonds between cysteines 23 and 72 and cysteines 9 and 90. Disulfide bond 93-100, the formation of which appears to be necessary for assembly with the alpha subunit of the hCG heterodimer, forms next. Finally, disulfide bond 26-110 forms after assembly with the alpha subunit, suggesting that completion of folding of the COOH terminus in the beta subunit occurs after assembly with the alpha subunit.     

Short repetitive sequences in green algal mitochondrial genomes: potential roles in mitochondrial genome evolution

Current data on green algal mitochondrial genomes suggest an unexpected dichotomy within the group with respect to genome structure, organization, and sequence affiliations. The present study suggests that there is a correlation between this dichotomy on one hand and the differences in the abundance, base composition, and distribution of short repetitive sequences we observed among green algal mitochondrial genomes on the other. It is conceivable that the accumulation of GC- rich short repeated sequences in the Chlamydomonas-like but not Prototheca-like mitochondrial genomes might have triggered evolutionary events responsible for the distinct series of evolutionary changes undergone by the two green algal mitochondrial lineages. The similarity in base composition, nucleotide sequence, abundance, and mode of organization we observed between the short repetitive sequences present in Chlamydomonas-like mitochondrial genomes on one hand and fungal and vertebrate homologs on the other might extend to some of the roles that the short repetitive sequences have been shown to have in the latter. Potential involvements we propose for the short repetitive sequences in the evolution of Chlamydomonas-like mitochondrial genomes include fragmentation and scrambling of the ribosomal-RNA-coding regions, extensive gene rearrangements, coding-region deletions, surrogate origins of replication, and chromosomal linearization.      

Establishment and maintenance of nuclear position during zoospore formation in allomyces macrogynus: roles of the cytoskeleton

The involvement of the microtubule (MT) and actin microfilament (MF) cytoskeletons in establishing nuclear positions during zoosporogenesis in Allomyces macrogynus was assessed using selective cytoskeletal disrupting treatments and documented with light microscopy. These experiments were coupled with low-speed centrifugation studies to determine the degree to which cytoskeletal elements anchor nuclear position. At the onset of zoospore formation, nuclei were positioned only in cortical cytoplasmic regions of the zoosporangia (ZS). Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that MTs primarily emanated from centrosomal regions into the surrounding cytoplasm at this stage. During delimitation of the cytoplasm into individual uninucleate zoospores, nuclei migrated from cortical regions to become distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Coincident with nuclear migrations, MTs were primarily organized at and emanated from nuclear surfaces, forming extensive perinuclear arrays. Nuclear migrations were suppressed in ZS induced to sporulate in the presence of cytochalasin D, an actin MF inhibiting compound. Disruption of MTs with nocodazole did not block nuclear migrations, although resultant nuclear spacing was irregular. Centrifugation treatments of control and drug-treated ZS demonstrated that nuclear positions were stabilized by perinuclear MT arrays. The results indicate that nuclear motility in ZS of A. macrogynus is the result of an actin-based system while perinuclear MTs arrays function to establish and fix nuclear position during zoospore formation. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.