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Biomedical subjects

A A Gooley

Publications and source records attributed to A A Gooley.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Hagfish humoral defense protein exhibits structural and functional homology with mammalian complement components.

A genomic clone and cDNA fragment encoding a portion of a humoral recognition molecule from the hagfish were isolated and sequenced. The serum protein has previously been described as having structural features that are immunoglobulin-like. Amino acid sequence obtained from the 77-kDa H1 heavy chain facilitated the isolation of a genomic clone containing at least two coding regions. Through use of primers derived from the genomic sequences, a 231-base-pair cDNA fragment was obtained by PCR from liver RNA. Comparison of the deduced 120-amino acid sequence from the N terminus of H1 with known protein sequences revealed substantial sequence similarity with the beta chain of the murine fourth complement component C4 and with the related third and fifth complement molecules C5 and C3 and the major histocompatibility complex-encoded sex-limited protein. Observation of structural and functional similarities associated with the sequence similarity indicate that these molecules share an evolutionary relationship: the polypeptide chain structure of hagfish complement-like protein (CLP) resembles that of C4; CLP contains a hidden thioester group on the 70-kDa chain; CLP binds to streptococcal cells and enhances the phagocytosis of yeast by hagfish leukocytes. These data suggest that CLP forms part of a non-clonally-derived complement-related humoral defense system in the hagfish.

Amino Acid Sequence

Molecular cloning and primary structure of the avian Thy-1 glycoprotein.

We have previously characterised, both biochemically and immunohistochemically, a 23 kDa putative avian Thy-1 protein homologue. In this report we have examined the carbohydrates present on the protein and determined the partial protein sequence of enzymatically and CNBr-produced peptides. The protein sequences enabled us to clone an essentially full-length (1854 bp) cDNA using PCR and colony screening of an embryonic day (ED) 18 forebrain pUEX-1 cDNA library. Analysis of deduced amino acid sequence shows the 23 kDa protein to be 110 amino acids in length compared to mouse (112) and human and rat (111) while still retaining the conserved cysteine residues. The N-glycosylation site at position 61 is the same as that in the human protein, but is different from that in the rodent (position 75). Northern blot analysis of Thy-1 mRNA expression in the forebrain, cerebellum and tectum show that all three tissues have low levels at ED4 (forebrain and tectum) and ED8 (cerebellum), rising most rapidly between ED16 and the first few days post-hatch. Analysis of various tissues at hatch and adult show expression to be predominantly neuronal with very low levels in some other organs, mainly at hatch, indicating the possibility of subsets of cells, which we have also seen in histological sections, in these tissues expressing Thy-1 mRNA. Bone marrow and blood cells were also negative for Thy-1 protein.

Aging

Size polymorphisms due to changes in the number of O-glycosylated tandem repeats in the Dictyostelium discoideum glycoprotein PsA.

The molecular weight polymorphism in the Dictyostelium discoideum cell surface glycoprotein PsA is due to incremental copies of an O-glycosylated tandem tetrapeptide repeat. Allelic variation at the pspA locus results in a PsA glycoprotein with three, four or five tandem copies of Pro-Thr-Val-Thr. The simplest explanation for the origin of this polymorphism is an unequal crossing over event in the ancestral gene containing four copies. Each Thr in the tandem repeat is substituted with carbohydrate, which is completely absent from PsA in strains carrying a glycosylation defective modB mutation. Glycosylated tandem repeats appear to be a common feature of cell surface glycoproteins which are characterized by short domains rich in Pro and Thr or Ser. It is probable that the glycosylated repeat domain acts as a "spacer" peptide that projects the globular domain above the glycocalyx.

Amino Acid Sequence

Glycosylation sites identified by detection of glycosylated amino acids released from Edman degradation: the identification of Xaa-Pro-Xaa-Xaa as a motif for Thr-O-glycosylation.

Here we report the use of automated Edman degradation of covalently linked glycopeptides to identify positively the sites of O- and N-glycosylation. The O-glycosidic linkage of carbohydrate to the hydroxy amino acids Ser and Thr is a major form of post-translational modification. However, unlike Asn-linked glycosylation, which is identified by the consensus sequence Asn-Xaa-Thr/Ser, no simple motif conferring O-linkage to Thr and Ser has been described. After sequencing glycopeptides derived from two cell surface glycoproteins, a Thr-O-glycosylation motif of Xaa-Pro-Xaa-Xaa, where at least one Xaa = Thr(Sac), has been defined. This motif predicts the site(s) of Pro- associated Thr-O-glycosylation in O-glycosylated proteins, although it is clear that there are also other forms of Thr-O-glycosylation not associated with Pro.

Amino Acid Sequence

Immunodominant carbohydrate determinants in the multicellular stages of Dictyostelium discoideum.

Two families of glycoprotein are defined in Dictyostelium discoideum by the presence of different glycoconjugates, both of which are highly immunogenic in mice. The previously described monoclonal antibodies MUD50 and MUD62 recognize the glycoconjugates and identify the respective glycoprotein families. Both types of glycosylation occur on vegetative and developmentally regulated glycoproteins. The immunodominant components of both families are reportedly O-linked sugars, but Western blots do not identify any glycoprotein that has both O-glycans, suggesting that there are two independently processed types of O-linked glycosylation in D. discoideum. The synthesis of the two O-glycan families is affected by glycosylation-defective mutations. Strains with a mutation at the modB locus lack one of these glycosylation types (that recognized by MUD50) and this mutation alters the size of two minor glycoproteins in the second family. Two new mutants, HU2470 (mod-352) and HU2471 (mod-353), lack the epitope recognized by MUD62. The two mutations map to different chromosomes. The mod-353 mutation also affects the size of PsA, a cell surface glycoprotein carrying the modB-dependent O-glycan.

Animals

Distinct Ig H chains in a primitive vertebrate, Eptatretus stouti.

Serum Ig from the Pacific hagfish, Eptatretus stouti, was isolated by affinity chromatography using a specific mAb (H.45). Analysis of the approximately 210-kDa molecule by SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions revealed two H chains of approximately 77 kDa (H1) and approximately 70 kDa (H2) and L chains of approximately 30 kDa. H1 and H2 were shown to differ with respect to their peptide maps, amino-terminal amino acid sequences, and reactivity to the mAb H.45, suggesting that they represent discrete H chain isotypes. Two-dimensional nonreducing/reducing SDS-PAGE demonstrated that H and L chains were covalently linked predominantly as H-H-L and H-L configurations. Noncovalently bound L chains were also found. H-H-L complexes were shown to contain H1-H2 heterodimers of H chains in addition to H1-H1 homodimers.

Amino Acid Sequence

Purification of a membrane glycoprotein with an inositol-containing phospholipid anchor from Dictyostelium discoideum.

Large-scale purification of a Dictyostelium discoideum cell surface glycoprotein, which is anchored in the membrane via a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) moiety, is described. The purification protocol involved four steps: separation of crude cell membranes by low-speed centrifugation, delipidization of these membranes using acetone, extraction of the membrane proteins using the detergent Octyl beta-D-thioglucopyranoside (OTP), and purification of a specific membrane protein by monoclonal antibody immunoaffinity chromatography. The protein purified, PsA (prespore-specific antigen), is a developmentally regulated membrane glycoprotein found on a subset of cells from the cellular slime mould, D. discoideum. The protocol provides an efficient, economical, and technically simple way to purify GPI proteins in sufficient quantities for structural and functional studies. PsA was recovered at a yield of about 60%; with a purity of 97%, the extraction of 1 x 10(10) cells (1.1 g dry weight) yielded about 0.5 mg PsA glycoprotein. Techniques are described for growing kilogram quantities of D. discoideum cells in stainless steel trays at little cost. D. discoideum has considerable potential as a novel expression system for the production of foreign membrane-associated proteins. The purification strategy provides a means of purifying other GPI proteins, including those produced by protein engineering techniques.

Antibodies, Monoclonal

Glycoproteins that exhibit extensive size polymorphisms in Dictyostelium discoideum.

Electrophoretic variants which arise from amino acid substitutions, leading to charge differences between proteins are ubiquitous and have been used extensively for genetic analysis. Less well documented are polymorphisms in the size of proteins. Here we report that a group of glycoproteins, which share a common carbohydrate epitope, vary in size in different isolates of the cellular slime mould, Dictyostelium discoideum. One of these proteins, PsA, a developmentally regulated prespore-specific surface glycoprotein, has previously been shown to exist in three size forms due to allelic variation at the pspA locus on linkage group I. In this report, a second glycoprotein, PsB, which is also prespore specific but found inside prespore cells, is studied. PsB maps to linkage group II and exhibits at least four different sizes in the isolates examined. We propose that the size polymorphisms are the product of allelic variation at the pspB locus, due to differences in the number of repeat units.

Alleles

Structural characterization of Dictyostelium discoideum prespore-specific gene D19 and of its product, cell surface glycoprotein PsA.

The Dictyostelium discoideum cell surface antigen PsA is a glycoprotein which first appears in the multicellular stage soon after tip formation and is selectively expressed on prespore cells. The D19 gene encodes an mRNA sequence which is highly enriched in prespore over prestalk cells in the slug stage. We have determined 81 amino acid residues of N-terminal sequence from immunoaffinity-purified PsA protein and shown this sequence to be identical to the predicted sequence of the D19 gene. There are several short repeat elements close to the C terminus, and unequal crossing-over within these is proposed to account for the size polymorphism observed in PsA protein isolated from different D. discoideum strains. The repeats are proline rich and show similarity to the C-terminal region of the D. discoideum cell adhesion molecule, contact sites A. The extreme C terminus, which is also homologous to contact sites A, is characteristic of proteins attached to the plasma membrane via a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol link. We have marked the PsA gene by insertion of an oligonucleotide encoding an epitope of the human c-myc protein. A construct containing this gene and 990 base pairs of 5'-flanking region directed correct temporal and spatial mRNA accumulation. We found the marked PsA protein, detected with the human c-myc antibody, to be correctly localized on the surface of cells.

Amino Acid Sequence