PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

A T Destree

Publications and source records attributed to A T Destree.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Intricate combinatorial patterns of exon splicing generate multiple regulated troponin T isoforms from a single gene.

Mechanisms of alternative RNA splicing, important in the generation of protein diversity, are common but incompletely understood. Among the contractile proteins, troponin T exists in several isoforms, shown to be derived in part from a novel pattern of differential RNA splicing in the 3' region of the rat skeletal fast troponin T gene. In fact, this gene has a previously unsuspected capacity to encode multiple isoforms. The isolation of four distinct but related cDNAs from this gene, which share discontinuous subsegments of sequence identity in their 5' regions, and the determination of the genomic sequence, demonstrate that small exons with characteristic split codon structure are differentially spliced in intricate combinatorial patterns to generate a minimum of 10, and potentially 64, distinct troponin T mRNAs, encoding different isoforms, in a developmentally regulated and tissue-specific manner. At least two of these mRNAs are spliced from structurally identical primary transcripts, necessitating control by trans-acting factors.

Amino Acid Sequence

Cell surface fibronectin and oncogenic transformation.

Fibronectin is a large glycoprotein at the cell surface of many different cell types; a related protein is present in plasma. Fibronectin is a dimer of 230,000-dalton subunits and also occurs in larger aggregates; it forms fibrillar networks at the cell surface, between cells and substrata and between adjacent cells, and it is not a typical membrane protein. Cell surface fibronectin is reduced in amount or absent on transformed cells and in many cases its loss correlates with acquisition of tumorigenicity and, in particular, metastatic ability. Exceptions to the correlations with transformation and tumorigenicity exist. Loss of fibronectin and the resulting reduced adhesion appear to be involved in pleiotropic alterations in cell behavior and may be responsible for several aspects of the transformed phenotype in vitro. Fibronectin interacts with other macromolecules (collagen/gelatin, fibrin/fibrinogen, proteoglycans) and is apparently connected to microfilaments inside the cell.

Animals

10 nm filaments in normal and transformed cells.

An antibody was raised against an electrophoretically homogeneous protein from cultured fibroblasts and shown to be directed against 10 nm filaments. The antiserum did not stain microtubules or actin microfilaments. The distribution of 10 nm filaments in normal cells was studied during growth, spreading, locomotion, mitosis, and after treatment with colchicine and cytochalasin B. The 58,000 dalton subunit protein is apparently all polymerized in the filaments which are insoluble in nonionic detergent. The distribution of 10 nm filaments is altered by colchicine treatments which disrupt microtubules. The organization of 10 nm filaments is altered in transformed cells.

Cell Line

Relationships between fibronectin (LETS protein) and actin.

Double label immunofluorescence was used to study the distribution of fibronectin (LETS protein), actin and intermediate filaments in cultured cells. No relationship was observed between fibronectin and intermediated filaments, but fibronectin and actin showed coincident staining in a large proportion of cells during spreading or when fully spread. The distributions of actin and fibronectin staining during the course of cell spreading progressed through a series of patterns. Certain actin patterns correlated with certain fibronectin patterns. When fibrillar patterns developed, there was correspondence between the two fibrillar arrays in 80--100% of the cells. These results suggest a transmembrane relationship between microfilament bundles and fibronectin. We propose that fibronectin may participate in the formation of attachment plaques and discuss the interrelationship between plaques, microfilament bundles and fibronectin in cell-substratum and cell-cell contacts.

Actins

Synthesis, secretion, and attachment of LETS glycoprotein in normal and transformed cells.

LETS glycoprotein is a surface glycoprotein which is absent or greatly diminished on the surfaces of transformed cells. Normal cells secrete large amounts of this protein into the medium; transformed cell medium contains much less. The difference is not due to degradation of the soluble LETS protein. Biosynthesis of LETS protein can be studied by analysis of cell extracts by detergent extraction and immune precipitation and appears to proceed in transformed cells at a reduced rate compared with normal cells. Addition of inhibitors of protein synthesis to transformed cell cultures causes the small amount of LETS protein in the medium to attach to the cells. Addition of normal conditioned medium, which contains LETS protein, to transformed cells alters their morphology towards normal. Addition of purified LETS protein to transformed cells causes the cells to attach, spread, align with one another, and regain actin cables. The results indicate that LETS protein can exchange between cell surface and medium and that it affects cellular adhesion, morphology, and cytoskeleton.

Adhesiveness

Chromosomally depleted interspecific hybrid cell clones selected with cytotoxic antisera: utilization in the study of control of murine leukemia virus host-range.

A chromosomally stable mouse-Chinese hamster hybrid cell line was subjected to five rounds of selection with cytotoxic antisera raised in rabbits against either the parental mouse 3T3 cells or the parental Chinese hamster Wg-1 cells. Routine karyological analysis of clones isolated at each stage of serum selection revealed that treatment with either serum resulted in a limited loss of chromosomes (compared to the untreated hybrid cell cultured in parallel) and that the pattern of chromosome loss could not be correlated with the particular antiserum used for selection. However, more detailed analysis with the SSC-formamide C-banding technique, which identifies chromosomes containing a mouse centromere region, demonstrated that while large-scale chromosome loss was not achieved as a result of antiserum selection, the limited loss of chromosomes did, in fact, reflect a specific depletion of chromosomes in response to treatment with cytotoxic antiserum. Specific chromosomal elimination was shown to occur as early as the first round of antiserum treatment. Antigenic analysis of the serum-selected clones revealed a quantitative decrease in the expression of the species-specific surface antigens selected against, but no qualitative loss of antigens was detected. The results suggest that treatment with cytotoxic antiserum may select for clones that have lost specific chromosomes bearing genes regulating the expression of species-specific surface antigens, rather than for those demonstrating large-scale depletion of chromosomes bearing the corresponding structural genes. Some of these chromosomally depleted hybrid cell clones have been used (along with pseudotype viruses containing the genome of vesicular stomatitis virus within the envelope of murine leukemia virus, VSV [MuLV]), to study the mechanisms regulating MuLV replication in Chinese hamster cells. The results indicate that the restriction of MuLV replication in Chinese hamster cells operates at two levels: (a) an inability to adsorb to or penetrate Chinese hamster cells; and (b) an additional intracellular block which is dominant in the mouse-Chinese hamster hybrid cell clones examined. This latter block is presently under study.

Antigens

Spatial organization at the cell surface.

Approaches are described for analysis of spatial organization of cell surface structure. Extraction of cells with nonionic and ionic detergents, chelating and chaotropic agents, salts, and reducing agents results in selective solubilization of surface proteins. Bisimidate disulfide-containing crosslinking reagents produce complexes containing surface proteins which can be analyzed by subsequent dissociation of the complexes. Disulfide-bonded complexes are also found without addition of crosslinkers, and reducing agents aid in extracting surface proteins. These results suggest a possible role for disulfide bonds in cell surface organization. Immunofluorescent staining of cells with antisera to LETS protein and to actin reveals fibrillar structures which survive NP40 extraction. These results indicate a complex organization at the cell surface which is amenable to analysis by permutations of the methods described.

Animals

Selective depletion of chromosomes in a stable mouse-Chinese hamster hybrid cell line using antisera directed against species-specific cell surface antigens.

A chromosomally-stable mouse-Chinese hamster hybrid cell line was subjected to five rounds of selection with cytotoxic antisera raised in rabbits against either the parental mouse 3T3 cells or the parental Chinese hamster Wg-1 cells. Routine karyological analysis of clones isolated at each stage of serum selection revealed that treatment with either serum resulted in a limited loss of chromosomes (compared to the untreated hybrid cell cultured in parallel) and that the pattern of chromosome loss could not be correlated with the particular antiserum used for selection. However, more detailed analysis with the SSC-formamide C-banding technique, which identifies chromosomes containing a mouse centromere region, demonstrated that while large-scale chromosome loss was not achieved as a result of antiserum selection, the limited loss of chromosomes did, in fact, reflect a specific depletion of chromosomes in response to treatment with cytotoxic antiserum. Specific chromosomal elimination was shown to occur as early asthe first round of antiserum treatment. Antigenic analysis of the serum-selected clones revealed a quantitative decrease in the expression of the species-specific surface antigens selected against, but no qualitative loss of antigens was detected. The results suggest that treatment with cytotoxic antiserum may select for clones that have lost specific chromosomes bearing genes regulating the expression of species-specific surface antigens, rather than for those demonstrating large-scale depletion of chromosomes bearing the corresponding structural genes.

Antigens