A large chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (PG-M) synthesized before chondrogenesis in the limb bud of chick embryo

Extraction of stage 22-23 chick embryo limb buds that had been metabolically labeled with [35S]sulfate yielded heparan sulfate proteoglycan, small chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, and large chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (designated PG-M). PG-M constituted over 60% of the total macromolecular [35S]sulfates. It was larger in hydrodynamic size, richer in protein, and contained fewer chondroitin sulfate chains as compared to the predominant proteoglycan (PG-H, Mr congruent to 1.5 X 10(6)) of chick embryo cartilage. The chondroitin sulfate chains were notable for their large size (Mr greater than or equal to 60,000) and high content of nonsulfated chondroitin units (about 20% of the total hexosamine). Hexosamine-containing chains corresponding in size to N-linked and O-linked oligosaccharides were also present. The core protein was rich in serine, glutamic acid (glutamine), and glycine which together comprised about 38% of the total amino acids. Following chondroitinase AC II (or ABC) digestion, core molecules were obtained which migrated on sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis as a doublet of bands with approximately Mr = 550,000 (major) and 500,000, respectively. The Mr = 550,000 core glycoprotein was structurally different from the core glycoprotein (Mr congruent to 400,000) of PG-H, as ascertained by tryptic peptide mapping and immunochemical criteria. Immunofluorescent localization of PG-M showed that the intensity of PG-M staining progressively became higher in the core mesenchyme region than in the peripheral loose mesenchyme, closely following the condensation of mesenchymal cells. Since the cell condensation process has been shown to begin with the increase of fibronectin and type I collagen concentration, the similar change in PG-M distribution suggests that PG-M plays an important role in the cell condensation process by means of its interaction with fibronectin and type I collagen.     

The core molecule from type H proteoglycan. Release of mannose-containing oligosaccharides by digestion with N-oligosaccharide glycopeptidase.

Chick-embryo cartilage contains a unique set of proteoglycans. Type H proteoglycan (PG-H) is the most abundant, constituting over 90% of the total cartilage hexuronate. We previously showed that treatment of PG-H with chondroitinase ACII and keratanase yields a protein-enriched core molecule [PG(-CS,KS)] with enzymically modified linkage oligosaccharides of the chondroitin sulphate and keratan sulphate chains. We report here that further treatment of PG(-CS,KS) with pepsin and N-oligosaccharide glycopeptidase (almond glycopeptidase) released four distinct types of mannose-containing oligosaccharide. Two of them were shown to be: (Formula: see text). Of the mannose-containing glycopeptides formed by pepsin digestion, about 40% (as mannose) were resistant to N-oligosaccharide glycopeptidase. Since the resistant fraction was enriched in keratan sulphate remnants, it is suggest that the mannose-containing oligosaccharides in this fraction represent those located in a keratan sulphate-enriched region of PG-H.     

Population genetics theory of concerted evolution and its application to the immunoglobulin V gene tree

Summary The previous simple model for treating concerted evolution of multigene families has been revised to be compatible with various new observations on the immunoglobulin variable region family and other families. In the previous model, gene conversion and unequal crossing-over were considered, and it was assumed that genes are randomly arranged on the chromosome; neither subdivision nor correlation of gene identity and chromosomal distance were considered. Although this model satisfactorily explains the observed amino acid diversity within and between species, it fails to predict the very ancient branching of the mouse immunoglobulin heavy chain V-gene family. By incorporating subdivided structure and genetic correlation with chromosomal distance into the simple model, the data of divergence may be satisfactorily explained, as well as the rate of nucleotide substitution and the amino acid diversity. The rate at which a V-gene is duplicated or deleted by conversion or by unequal crossing-over is estimated by the new model to be on the order of 10^–6 per year. The model may be applicable to other multigene families, such as those coding for silkmoth chorion or mammalian kallikrein.Contribution no. 1560 from the National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, 411 Japan     

Does Tn10 transpose via the cointegrate molecule?

Summary It has been well established that Tn3 and its relatives transpose from one replicon to another by two successive reactions: formation of the cointegrate molecule and resolution from it. Whether or not the 9300 base pair tetracycline resistance transposon Tn10 transposes in the same manner as Tn3 was investigated by two methods.In the first method, 55, a lambda phage carrying Tn10 was lysogenized in an Escherichia coli strain carrying a Tn10 insertion; the phage has a deletion in attP, hence it was lysogenized in a Tn10 sequence in the E. coli chromosome by reciprocal recombination. The chromosomal structure in these lysogens is equivalent to the Tn10-mediated cointegrate molecule of lambda and the E. coli chromosomal DNA. The stability of the cointegrate molecule was examined by measuring the rate of excision of lambda from the host chromosome, and was found to be stable, especially in a Rec^- strain. Because of this stability, the cointegrate molecule should be accumulated if Tn10 transposes via the cointegrate molecule. Then, we examined the configuration of products made by transposition of Tn10 from 55 to the E. coli chromosome. The cointegrate molecule was found in products of Tn10 transposition in a Rec⁺ strain at a frequency of 5% per Tn10 transposition, but this molecule could not be found in a Rec^- strain. Since transposition of Tn10 was recA-independent, absence of the cointegrate molecule formed in a RecA^- strain strongly suggested that the cointegrate molecule is not an obligatory intermediate of transposition of Tn10.In the second method, mobilization of pACYC177 by R388 and by R388:: Tn10 was examined. The pACYC177 plasmid was mobilized by R388::Tn10 at a frequency of 10^-4 per donor but not by R388. It occurred, in most cases, by inverse transposition of R388::Tn10 to pACYC177 forming plasmids such as pACYC177::IS10-R388-IS10. Mobilization of pACYC177 by a Tn10-mediated cointegrate in the form of pACYC177::Tn10-R388-Tn10 was not observed in crosses using a Rec^- donor. These observations also suggested that transposition of Tn10 in Rec^- cells does not occur via the cointegrate molecule.     

Characterization of newly isolated monoclonal antibodies against MHC of a Japanese wild mouse

We have already developed nine B10.MOL congenic strains carrying H-2 haplotypes derived from Japanese wild mice, Mus musculus molossinus, with the C57BL/10 genetic background. To obtain monoclonal antibodies against the H-2 antigen of the Japanese wild mouse, we carried out cell fusion using spleen cells from the animal immunized with one of the B10.MOL strains, B10.MOL-SGR (H-2 ^wm7). As a result, 19 hybridomas producing monoclonal antibodies were produced. Analysis with the intro-H-2 recombinants derived from B10.MOL-SGR indicated that 8 of them reacted with the class I and II with the class II molecule. The class I antibodies were tested for their cross -reactivities on wild mice and on the panels of standard inbred and B10.MOL strains. Most of the antibodies reacted with both the Japanese wild mice and the other subspecies, including standard inbred, while two antibodies highly specific for the donor H-2K region reacted with only three wild-derived mice, two M. m. molossinus from Anj o and Shizuoka, Japan, and one M. m. domesticus from Pigeon, Canada. In addition, all of the other four antibodies reactive with the K antigen of B10.MOL-SGR also reacted with the same three wild mice. The wild mice belonging to different subspecies might share very similar H-2K antigenic determinants in spite of their genetic and geographical remoteness.     

Isolation and characterization of a third proteoglycan (PG-Lt) from chick embryo cartilage which contains disulfide-bonded collagenous polypeptide

Chick embryo epiphyseal cartilage has been shown to contain three different proteoglycan species (PG-H, PG-Lb, and PG-Lt). This report is concerned with the purification and characterization of the third proteoglycan, PG-Lt. The proteoglycan can be separated from the other two by virtue of its low buoyant density in a CsCl density gradient and further purified by consecutive ion exchange and gel chromatography. The final preparation is composed of PG-Lt monomer and PG-Lt oligomer. The amino acid composition of PG-Lt is quite different from that of PG-H and PG-Lb and rather resembles that of collagens with respect to high content of glycine and high degrees of hydroxylation of proline and lysine. PG-Lt monomer is composed of disulfide-bonded subunits of Mr congruent to 120,000 and 190,000 as demonstrated by its gel electrophoretic behavior after reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol. The latter, but not the former, contains dermatan sulfate chains with glucuronic acid/iduronic acid residues and yields a protein-enriched core molecule of Mr congruent to 100,000 after digestion with chondroitinase ABC. Both of the protein subunits are completely digestible with bacterial collagenase. Immunofluorescence microscopic examination of cartilage tissues, using an antibody against PG-Lt, shows that this proteoglycan exists in both the cartilage matrix and perichondrial noncartilagenous region. When chondrocytes are plated onto tissue culture dishes, the antibody stains strands found on the cell surfaces and in the intercellular space of substrate-attached cell layers, suggesting that PG-Lt mediates cell-to-cell and cell-to-substrate contacts.     

On the constancy of the evolutionary rate of cistrons

Summary The variations of evolutionary rates in hemoglobins and cytochrome c among various lines of vertebrates are analysed by estimating the variance. The observed variances appear to be larger than expected purely by chance.If the amino acid substitutions in evolution are the result of random fixation of selectively neutral or nearly neutral mutations, the evolutionary rate of cistrons can be represented by the integral of the product of mutation rate and fixation probability in terms of selective values around the neutral point. This integral is called the effective neutral mutation rate.The influence of effective population number and generation time on the effective neutral mutation rate is discussed. It is concluded that the uniformity of the rate of amino acid substitutions over diverse lines is compatible with random fixation of neutral or very slightly deleterious mutations which have some chance of being selected against during the course of substitution. On the other hand, definitely advantageous mutations will introduce significant variation in the substitution rate among lines. Approximately 10% of the amino acid substitutions of average cistrons might be adaptive and create slight but significant variations in evolutionary rate among vertebrate lines, although the uniformity of evolutionary rate is still valid as a first approximation.Contribution No. 813 from the National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuokaken 411 Japan. Aided in part by a grant-in-aid from the Ministry of Education, Japan.     

Amino acid uptake in the peripheral nerve of the rat

When rat sciatic nerves were incubated with C¹⁴l-lysine, l- or d-glutamate, or d-l γ-aminoisobutyrate, the labeled compounds penetrated the nerve, and the level of lysine and leucine after 1 hr was higher in the nerve than in the medium. The level increased with time, and at 24 hr glutamate levels also were higher in the nerve than in the medium. Lowering the temperature strongly inhibited uptake, while other conditions such as absence of glucose, absence of sodium, or the presence of cyanide inhibited uptake by nerve less than uptake by brain slices. The uptake against a concentration gradient, and inhibitions of this uptake by metabolic inhibitors and by structural analogs, were interpreted as showing the presence of transport processes for amino acids in peripheral nerves with characteristics similar to such transport processes in the central nervous system.