A human histone H2B.1 variant gene, located on chromosome 1, utilizes alternative 3' end processing.

A variant human H2B histone gene (GL105), previously shown to encode a 2300 nt replication independent mRNA, has been cloned. We demonstrate this gene expresses alternative mRNAs regulated differentially during the HeLa S3 cell cycle. The H2B-Gl105 gene encodes both a 500 nt cell cycle dependent mRNA and a 2300 nt constitutively expressed mRNA. The 3' end of the cell cycle regulated mRNA terminates immediately following the region of hyphenated dyad symmetry typical of most histone mRNAs, whereas the constitutively expressed mRNA has a 1798 nt non-translated trailer that contains the same region of hyphenated dyad symmetry but is polyadenylated. The cap site for the H2B-GL105 mRNAs is located 42 nt upstream of the protein coding region. The H2B-GL105 histone gene was localized to chromosome region 1q21-1q23 by chromosomal in situ hybridization and by analysis of rodent-human somatic cell hybrids using an H2B-GL105 specific probe. The H2B-GL105 gene is paired with a functional H2A histone gene and this H2A/H2B gene pair is separated by a bidirectionally transcribed intergenic promoter region containing consensus TATA and CCAAT boxes and an OTF-1 element. These results demonstrate that cell cycle regulated and constitutively expressed histone mRNAs can be encoded by the same gene, and indicate that alternative 3' end processing may be an important mechanism for regulation of histone mRNA. Such control further increases the versatility by which cells can modulate the synthesis of replication-dependent as well as variant histone proteins during the cell cycle and at the onset of differentiation.     

Benzodiazepines in the brain

Great progress has been made in the last 5 yr in demonstrating the presence of benzodiazepines (BDZs) in mammalian tissues, in beginning studies on the origin of these natural compounds, and in elucidating their possible biological roles. Many unanswered questions remain regarding the sources and biosynthetic pathways responsible for the presence of BDZs in brain and their different physiological and/or biochemical actions. This essay will focus on recent findings supporting that: (1) BDZs are of natural origin; (2) mammalian brain contains BDZs in concentrations ranging between 5.10⁻¹⁰–10⁻⁸ M; (3) dietary source of BDZs might be a plausible explanation for their occurrence in animal tissues, including man; (4) the formation of BDZ-like molecules in brain is a possibility, experimentally supported; (5) BDZ-like molecules including diazepam andN-desmethyldiazepam are elevated in hepatic encephalopathy; and (6) natural BDZs in the brain are involved in the modulation of memory processes. Future studies using the full range of biochemical, physiological, behavioral, and molecular biological techniques available to the neuroscientist will hopefully continue to yield exciting and new information concerning the biological roles that BDZs might play in the normal and pathological functioning of the brain.     

Transformation of Brassica oleracea with an S-locus gene from B. campestris changes the self-incompatibility phenotype

Summary An SLG gene derived from the S-locus and encoding and S-locus-specific glycoprotein of Brassica campestris L. was introduced via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation into B. oleracea L. A self-incompatible hybrid and another with partial self-compatibility were used as recipients. The transgenic plants were altered in their pollen-stigma interaction and were fully compatible upon self-pollination. Reciprocal crosses between the transgenic plants and untransformed control plants indicated that the stigma reaction was changed in one recipient strain while the pollen reaction was altered in the other. Due to interspecific incompatibility, we could not demonstrate whether or not the introduced SLG gene confers a new allelic specificity in the transgenic plants. Our results show that the introduced SLG gene perturbs the self-incompatibility phenotype of stigma and pollen.     

Length Polymorphisms in Human Proline-Rich Protein Genes Generated by Intragenic Unequal Crossing over

Southern blot hybridization analysis of genomic DNAs from 44 unrelated individuals revealed extensive insertion/deletion polymorphisms within the BstNI-type loci (PRB1, PRB2, PRB3 and PRB4) of the human proline-rich protein (PRP) multigene family. Ten length variants were cloned, including alleles at each of the four PRB loci, and in every case the region of length difference was localized to the tandemly repetitious third exon. DNA sequences covering the region of length variation were determined for seven of the alleles. The data indicate (1) that the PRB loci can be divided into two subtypes, PRB1 plus PRB2, and PRB3 plus PRB4, and (2) that the length differences result from different numbers of tandem repeats in the third exons. Variant chromosomes were also identified with different numbers of PRP loci resulting from homologous but unequal exchange between the PRB1 and PRB2 loci. The overall data are compatible with the observed length variants having been generated via homologous but unequal intragenic exchange. The results also indicate that these crossover events are sensitive to the amount of homology shared between the interacting DNA strands. Allelic length variants have arisen independently at least 20 times at the PRB loci, but only one has been detected at a PRH locus. Comparison of the detailed structures of the repetitious regions in PRB and PRH loci shows that the repeats in PRB genes are very similar to each other in sequence and in length. The PRH genes contain fewer repeats, which differ considerably in their individual lengths. These differences suggest that the larger number of length variants in PRB genes is related to their greater ease of homologous but unequal pairing compared to PRH genes.     

Beta-adrenergic stimulation enhances translocation, processing and synthesis of lipoprotein lipase in rat heart cells

Cells isolated from newborn rat hearts were cultured for 10-14 days, and lipoprotein lipase activity was present in an intracellular and heparin-releasable pool. Treatment of the cultures with 10(-7) M isoproterenol for 3 min resulted in a 3-fold increase in heparin-releasable lipoprotein lipase and a concomitant decrease in residual cellular enzyme activity. Similar results were obtained by treatment with dibutyryl cAMP. Treatment with isoproterenol or dibutyryl cAMP for 2 h affected glycosylation of immunoadsorbable lipoprotein lipase, so that the ratio of [3H]galactose to [14C]mannose in the heparin-releasable enzyme increased from 3.8 (control) to 13.0 (isoproterenol-treated). The change in the ratio of the sugars in the cellular fraction of the enzyme was from 3.1 to 9.9. 2 h treatment with isoproterenol did not enhance new enzyme synthesis, as determined by incorporation of [3H]leucine into immunoadsorbable lipoprotein lipase. 24 h after addition of either isoproterenol or dibutyryl cAMP to the culture medium, stimulation of enzyme synthesis was demonstrated. The present results permit three effects of isoproterenol on lipoprotein lipase to be distinguished: stimulation of translocation from a cellular to heparin-releasable pool; enhanced processing of mannose residues and terminal glycosylation; stimulation of synthesis of enzyme protein.     

Nonlinear stiffness--force relationships in whole mammalian skeletal muscles

Small, sinusoidal length changes were superimposed on isometric contractions of fast- and slow-twitch mouse muscles, which were stimulated maximally via their nerves. Stiffness increased with increasing frequency of sinusoidal stimulation, but the relative time course of force and stiffness changes during twitch, tetanic, or partially fused contractions was quite invariant over a range of frequencies in both muscles. Typically, stiffness increases more rapidly than force during contraction and decreases less rapidly during relaxation. This pattern was observed at various temperatures and with various numbers of stimuli. It can be described by a nonlinear relation between stiffness and force with some hysteresis. The presence in the muscle of parallel and series elastic elements, whose stiffness varies with force, may account for the nonlinear relation. This nonlinearity can be used to relate the patterns for summation of force and stiffness observed with brief trains of stimuli under a variety of conditions.     

The relationship between maternal age and chromosome size in autosomal trisomy.

The pattern of maternal age-specific incidence of autosomal trisomy in spontaneous abortions was examined for each chromosome for which a sufficient number of trisomies was observed. This included chromosomes 2, 4, 7-10, 13-16, 18, and 20-22. The rate of increase after age 30 for each of the small chromosomes (groups D-G) was similar, with the exception of chromosome 16, which showed a significantly shallower rate. The C group chromosomes tended to have an intermediate rate of increase after age 30, with the exception of chromosome 7, which had a pattern similar to the smaller chromosomes. The larger chromosomes (2 and 4) had the smallest rate of increase. There was a significant relationship between chromosome size and rate of increase after age 30 (after excluding chromosome 16), but not with rate of increase before age 30. The results suggest that autosomal trisomies may be of heterogeneous origin, with a maternal age-related factor associated with chromosome size and other sources unrelated to chromosome size. Additional evidence for and against this hypothesis is discussed.     

Heterogeneity of EBV-transformable human B lymphocyte populations

Although most human B cells express receptors for Epstein Barr virus (EBV), few (usually less than 1%) are readily transformed into B lymphoblastoid cell lines after exposure to EBV. Transformable cells previously have been found to be mostly resting B lymphocytes. We recently developed a limiting dilution culture system which permits the growth of EBV-transformed B lymphocytes with high efficiency. Because in this system up to over 30% of peripheral blood- or tonsil-derived B cells respond to EBV, we re-examined the properties of EBV-transformable cells. Frequencies of transformable lymphocytes were determined by Poisson analysis. EBV-susceptible B cells committed to IgM, IgG, or IgA secretion were found to occur in the range of 3 to 27, 0.1 to 6, and 0.1 to 5 per 100 B cells, respectively. Under our culture conditions, a major proportion of the IgM-committed cells derived from large lymphocytes which appeared to have entered the cell cycle. This population contains most of the EBV-responsive cells detected and, therefore, most of the additional cells responding in our culture system. In contrast, precursors of IgG- or IgA-producing lymphoblast lines were small cells with DNA contents typical for the G0/G1 phases of the cell cycle. Anti-immunoglobulin antibodies were used in panning experiments to separate B cell subpopulations which expressed different immunoglobulin isotypes on their surface. In limiting dilution cultures of these purified B lymphocytes subsets, it was found that virtually all precursors of IgM-producing cell lines expressed surface IgM (sIgM) before their infection and transformation by EBV. The "cloning efficiency" of positively selected, large sIgM+ cells approached 100%. In contrast, sIgG or sIgA were found only on cells committed to the production of IgG or IgA, respectively. The expression of sIgD was examined by using sequential panning procedures. Virtually all IgM-committed lymphocytes and a subset of cells committed to IgA secretion were found among the sIgD+ cells. The majority of cells committed to IgA production and all IgG-committed cells were found in the sIgD- B cell population. Our findings indicate that the EBV-susceptible B cell subset of normal lymphocytes is heterogeneous with respect to cell size, cell cycle, sIg determinants, and efficiency of transformation. On the basis of our findings and previous reports, we propose a model in which transformability is a B cell-inherent property. Factors unrelated to the virus but present in our culture system appear responsible for the enhanced vulnerability to viral transformation in some cells which entered into the cell cycle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)