Spacing requirements for simultaneous recognition of the adenovirus major late promoter TATAAAAG box and initiator element

The distance between the TATAAAAG box and initiator element of the strong adenovirus major late promoter was systematically altered to determine the optimal spacing for simultaneous recognition of both elements. We find that the TATAAAAG element is strongly dominant over the initiator for specification of the start site. The wild type spacing of 23 base pairs between TATAAAAG and +1A is optimal for promoter strength and selective recognition of the A-start. Initiation is constrained to a window spaced 19-26 base pairs downstream of (-31)-TATAAAAG-(-24), and A-starts are favored over alternate starts only when spaced between 21 and 25 base pairs downstream of TATAAAAG. We report an expanded TATAAAAG and initiator promoter consensus for vertebrates and plants. Plant promoters of this class are (A-T)-rich and have an A-rich (non-template strand) core promoter sequence element downstream of +1A.     

The diversity effect of inductive reasoning under segment manipulation of complex cognition

Forming a general reasonable conclusion from a limited number of examples is one of the most mar-velous psychological activities of human beings. This kind of activities is inductive reasoning which is a key issue rising from the cross fields of psychology, phi-losophy, cognitive science, and so on. It is a thinking process of generalizing from concrete cases. The di-versity effect of inductive reasoning refers to the phe-nomenon that the inductive argument of more diverse premise can obtain s…     

Construction and characterization of thermo-inducible vectors derived from heat-sensitive lacI genes in combination with the T7 A1 promoter

The lack of stringency and the cost of induction are two major disadvantages of using lac-derived vectors for recombinant protein productions. To compensate for these drawbacks, a series of thermo-inducible vectors was developed by coupling heat-sensitive lacI (lacIts) with the T7 A1 promoter on a multiple-copynumber plasmid. The lacIts genes were created by the introduction of Gly187-->Ser substitution along with three alternative mutation sites, Leu233-->Lys, Ala241-->Thr, and Gly265-->Asp, generated by site-directed mutagenesis into the wild-type lacI gene. With the LacZ production as a model, the induction profiles for various vectors containing distinct lacIts exhibited a positive trend as the temperature increased. The fully induced level was achieved by applying the temperature shift from 30 degrees C to 42, 40, or 37 degrees C to the cells harboring the plasmid with the Gly187-->Ser, Ala241-->Thr, or Gly265-->Asp substitution in lacI, respectively. As a result, it produced the maximal LacZ production ranging between 46,000 and 54,000 Miller units, corresponding to a 100- to 400-fold amplification over the uninduced level. As a whole, these novel expression vectors are characterized as having tight regulation and facile inducibility, and their practical usefulness in industrial production of recombinant proteins appears promising.     

Effects of tumor promoters,genotoxic carcinogens and hepatocytotoxins on mouse hepatocyte intercellular communication

Intercellular communication via gap junctions may be an important mechanism of cellular growth control. Tumor promoters can inhibit intercellular communication between cultured cells, while genotoxic carcinogens apparently lack this capability. The inhibition of intercellular communication by tumor promoters may be an essential mechanism by which tumor promotion occurs in vivo. In this study, the liver tumor promoters phenobarbital, lindane (1,2,3,4,5,6-hexachlorocyclohexane, -isomer), DDT (1,1-Bis[4-chlorophenyl],-2,2,2-trichloroethane), Aroclor 1254 (a polychlorinated biphenyl mixture) and dieldrin inhibited intercellular communication between male B6C3F1 mouse hepatocytes in primary culture. Intercellular communication was detected as the passage of [5-³H]uridine nucleotides from pre-labelled donor hepatocytes to non-labelled recipient heptocytes. Mouse hepatocyte intercellular communication was also inhibited by the skin tumor promoter TPA (12-0-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate), but not by the bladder tumor promoter saccharin. The genotoxic hepatocarcinogens dimethylnitrosamine, diethylnitrosamine, benzo[a]pyrene and 2-acetylaminofluorene, and the hepatocytotoxins bromobenzene, acetaminophen, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and methotrexate had no effect on mouse hepatocyte intercellular communication at non-cytotoxic levels. These results suggest that the ability to inhibit mouse hepatocyte intercellular communication is an effect specific to tumor promoters.Abbreviations DDT 1,1-Bis[4-chlorophenyl]-2,2,2-trichloroethane - FBS fetal bovine serum - LDH lactate dehydrogenase - TCA trichloroacetic acid - TPA 12-0-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate     

Differential expression of influenza N protein and neuraminidase antigenic determinants in Escherichia coli

Two influenza gene products of similar size and codon usage have been expressed in Escherichia coli under control of the phage lambda pR promoter. The influenza N protein (NP) was expressed in its entirety after fusion to a short (12 amino acid) segment of the lambda cro gene product and constituted about 1-2% of total soluble cell protein after induction. By contrast, constructions using the full length neuraminidase (NA) gene failed to give rise to detectable amounts of NA antigen after fusion to either the 12 amino acid Cro peptide or after fusion to bacterial beta-galactosidase (beta gal). Rather, expression of NA antigenic determinants was only achieved after deletion of coding sequences at the 3' end of the beta gal-NA fusion construct such that the encoded protein precipitated within the cell.