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A W Steggles

Publications and source records attributed to A W Steggles.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

The quantitation of liver cytochrome P450-LM2 mRNA in rabbits of different ages and after phenobarbital treatment.

Using very young (neonate or 0 day), 50-, 100-, 300- and 830-day-old rabbits we have studied changes in liver drug-metabolizing activities. Total liver microsomal cytochrome P450 content, benzphetamine N-demethylase and 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase activities all decline with increasing age. When the rabbits of different age groups were pretreated with phenobarbital, liver microsomal enzyme activities increased in each group as compared with its control, but the total induced activities still decreased with increasing age. Using a specific assay for translatable cytochrome P450-LM2 mRNA, we show that the age-dependent decrease in control and phenobarbital-induced enzyme activities is due to a decrease in the levels of translatable mRNA specific for cytochrome P450-LM2. This is the first report on an age-dependent decrease in the level of a specific translatable mRNA. We do not know whether this decrease is due to decreased mRNA synthesis, or increased mRNA degradation.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

The identification of cytochrome P-450-LM2 synthesized in vitro from a rabbit liver polysomal mRNA template.

We demonstrate the in vitro synthesis of cytochrome P-450-LM2 (phenobarbital-inducible form of liver microsomal cytochrome P-450) from a rabbit liver polysomal mRNA template by specific immunoprecipitation of the product. The in vitro synthesized cytochrome P-450-LM2 comigrates with authentic cytochrome P-450-LM2 on sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gels, and is also selectively competed by authentic purified cytochrome P-450-LM2. In addition, we demonstrate that phenobarbital increases the amount of translatable mRNA for cytochrome P-450-LM2 but not for albumin, suggesting that phenobarbital has selective effects on the amount of available translatable mRNA or on mRNA biosynthesis.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Levels of gastrin-cholecystokinin-like immunoreactivity in the brains of genetically obese and non-obese rats.

Levels of gastrin-cholecystokinin-like immunoreactivity were measured in three brain regions (cortex, diencephalon, brainstem) and the pituitary gland in groups of genetically obese Zucker rats and their non-obese littermates. The obese animals had significantly increased body weights and significantly lowered brain weights. However, levels of gastrin-cholecystokinin-like immunoreactivity were not different between the two groups in any of the regions measured. These results contrast with a recent report [11] in which ob/ob mice were found to have decreased levels of cholecystokinin in their brains.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Hemoglobin switching in sheep and goats. Preparation and characterization of complementary DNAs specific for the alpha-, beta-, and gamma-globin messenger RNAs of sheep.

Specific complementary DNAs (cDNAs) for the messenger RNAs coding for sheep alpha-, betaA-, betaB-, betaC-, and gamma-globins were prepared by thermal denaturation of heterologous hybrids (e.g. alphabetaB-cDNA-alphagamma-mRNA) followed by hydroxylapatite chromatography. Each cDNA represented a nearly full-length copy of its globin mRNA complement as determined by electrophoretic analysis in polyacrylamide gels containing 98% formamide. The purity of each cDNA fraction was estimated by hybridization analysis and thermal denaturation. The beta- and gamma-cDNAs contained 5 to 20% contaminating alpha-cDNA while the alpha-cDNA was 25 to 30% contaminated with non-alpha-cDNA. The melting temperatures (Tm) of homologous duplexes between each non-alpha chain cDNA and its mRNA complement ranged from 69.5-71.5 degrees in 50% formamide while alpha-alpha duplexes melted with a Tm of 75-76 degrees. The Tm values of heterologous duplexes formed between each non-alpha-cDNA and the various globin mRNAs (e.g. betaB-cDNA-Hb C mRNA) ranged between 64.5 degrees and 68 degrees and thus were only 1.5-5.0degrees below that of homologous duplexes. These results suggest that the nucleotide sequence divergence among the various non-alpha-mRNAs (or cDNAs) is not greatly different from the minimum predicted from the amino acid sequence differences of the corresponding globins. When annealing reactions were performed above the Tm of the heterologous hybrids (68 degrees), each non-alpha-cDNA hybridized only to its own complementary mRNA. Thus the purified cDNAs provide molecular probes for the quantitation of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-globin-specific nucleotide sequences.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Importance of full size complementary DNA in nucleic acid hybridization.

The size of the DNA product synthesized by RNA-directed DNA polymerase (isolated from avian myeloblastosis virus) was found to be important for complementary DNA (cDNA)-mRNA hybridization reactions. Incomplete cDNA to rabbit reticulocyte globin mRNA formed poor hybrids and presumably lacked sequences needed for hybridization. The size of the cDNA synthesized was influenced by the reaction conditions used. The complementary DNA product contained 10 S material when synthesis was done at high deoxynucleoside triphosphate concentrations (greater than 50 muM) while the product was smaller than the template when synthesis was at lower concentrations. The concentration and size (oligo(dT)6 to (dT)10) of primer had little or no effect on the product size. Increasing the concentration of 10 S globin mRNA caused the cDNA product to contain more small material. The cDNA synthesized at high deoxynucleoside triphosphate concentrations was fractionated into heavy, medium, and light fractions by alkaline sucrose density centrifugation. All hybridized to globin mRNA. The larger cDNAs had a higher TM when hybridized to globin mRNA, a lower dTMP/dCMP ratio (indicating that the poly(dT) region constituted a smaller fraction of the molecule), and gave increased protection of 125I-labeled mRNA from nuclease digestion. The full size cDNA was especially useful for studying the RNA transcribed from chromatin by RNA polymerase. The complement of the 5' end of the mRNA is contained only in full size cDNA; the 5' end is the part of the mRNA first transcribed by the RNA polymerase assuming correct transcription. Thus, full size cDNA can hybridize more effectively to the short RNA transcripts that are obtained than partial cDNA. RNA transcribed from rabbit bone marrow chromatin by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase hybridized twice as efficiently to complete cDNA as it did to partial cDNA demonstrating the usefulness of full size cDNA.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Cell-free transcription of mammalian chromatin. Quantitative measurement of newly synthesized globin messenger RNA sequences.

Transcription of globin mRNA sequences from rabbit marrow chromatin was detected by hybridization with globin complementary DNA (cDNA). The presence of newly synthesized RNA in cDNA-globin mRNA hybrids isolated by Cs2SO4 density equilibrium centrifugation required the addition of both rabbit marrow chromatin and DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (Escherichia coli) to the transcription reaction. No globin mRNA sequences were detected in RNA transcribed from rabbit liver chromatin or from rabbit marrow DNA. Selective transcription of globin mRNA sequences was therefore tissue-specific and dependent on the presence of chromosomal proteins. Globin mRNA sequences synthesized by E. coli RNA polymerase were distinguished from those synthesized by chromatin-bound (endogenous) RNA polymerases by the use of alpha-amanitin. A typical reaction with rabbit marrow chromatin yielded 100 mug of purified RNA which contained approximately 5 ng (0.005%) of globin mRNA sequences synthesized by E. coli RNA polymerase, 1 ng (0.001%) of globin mRNA seqeences synthesized by endogenous RNA polymerases, and 4 ng (0.004%) of globin mRNA sequences derived from chromatin-associated (endogenous) RNA. Forty per cent of the globin mRNA sequences derived from endogenous RNA could be removed by poly(U)-Sepharose chromatography. The accurate measurement of globin mRNA sequences required improved conditions for the purification and hybridization of RNA transcribed from chromatin.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Activation and inactivation of genes determining hemoglobin types.20s.

Globin gene switching in sheep and goats has been used as a model system for examining gene expression in differentiating red blood cells. Sheep and goats switch from the synthesis of hemoglobin A to hemoglobin C in response to erythropoietin. The regulatory mechanism producing this switch in hemoglobin types could occur at the cellular, nuclear, or cytoplasmic level. Evidence is presented which suggests that regulation is occurring, in fact, at the nuclear level. Sheep and goat erythroid colonies have been grown in plasma clot culture in order to study the synthesis of individual globin chains. Erythropoietin is required for colony formation. The switch from hemoglobin A to hemoglobin C synthesis requires not only colony formation but also a higher concentration of erythropoietin than is required just for the production of colonies. A cell-free transcriptional system using bone marrow chromatin and mammalian DNA-dependent RNA polymerase has been developed in order to examine the nuclear control mechanisms in more detail.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1975

Strand-selective transcription of globin genes in rabbit erythroid cells and chromatin.

In order to investigate the symmetry of globin gene transcription, complementary RNA (cRNA) was synthesized using rabbit globin complementary DNA (cDNA) as a template for Escherichia coli DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RNA nucleotidyltransferase). The cRNA hybridized specifically to its own cDNA template but not to sheep cDNA, rabbit globin mRNA, or poly(dT). Hybridization studies with cRNA demonstrated that RNA sequences transcribed from the DNA strand complementary to the globin gene region (anti-strand) were not present in cellular, total nuclear, or fractionated nuclear RNA from rabbit marrow. Such sequences were detected in RNA transcribed from rabbit marrow chromatin by E. coli or sheep liver RNA polymerases, but amounted to less than 50% of the globin mRNA sequences present in the same transcript. The evidence indicates that globin mRNA transcription is predominantly DNA strand specific.

Animals↗
PubMed1974

Cell-free transcription of mammalian chromatin: transcription of globin messenger RNA sequences from bone-marrow chromatin with mammalian RNA polymerase.

A mammalian cell-free transcriptional system was developed in which mammalian RNA polymerase synthesizes globin messenger RNA sequences from bone-marrow chromatin. The messenger RNA sequences are detected by measurement of the ability of the transcribed RNA to hybridize with globin complementary DNA. The globin complementary DNA is synthesized by the enzyme from avian myeloblastosis virus, RNA-directed DNA polymerase, with purified globin messenger RNA as template. The specificity of the globin complementary DNA in annealing reactions was verified by preparing DNA complementary to liver messenger RNA and showing that the globin and liver complementary DNAs are specific for their own messenger RNAs. Both DNA-dependent RNA polymerase II from sheep liver and RNA polymerase from Escherichia coli can transcribe globin messenger RNA sequences from rabbit bone-marrow chromatin; however, the mammalian enzyme appears to be more specific in that globin gene sequences represent a higher proportion of the RNA synthesized. Neither polymerase can transcribe globin messenger RNA sequences from rabbit-liver chromatin. This cell-free assay system should be useful in searching for mammalian transcriptional regulatory factors.

Animals↗