PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C H Clegg

Publications and source records attributed to C H Clegg.

43 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Genetic characterization of a brain-specific form of the type I regulatory subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase.

An isoform (RI beta) of the regulatory type I subunit gene of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (EC 2.7.1.37) has been characterized in mouse. The open reading frame of the RI beta cDNA is 72% identical in nucleotide sequence with the previously cloned RI gene, now referred to as RI alpha. Both genes code for a protein of 380 amino acids and their proteins are 82% identical in amino acid sequence. Sequence similarity is highest in the regions that form the pseudosubstrate-binding site of the catalytic subunit and the two cAMP binding domains. The amino-terminal portion shows the greatest dissimilarity, suggesting that the isoforms may differ in their dimerization properties or interaction with other proteins. In contrast to RI alpha, which is constitutively expressed in all tissues, RI beta is expressed in a highly tissue-specific manner. Brain and spinal cord contained significant levels of RI beta mRNA, testis RNA gave a detectable signal, and all other tissues tested were negative. Expression of a RI beta cDNA in NIH 3T3 cells resulted in the appearance of a RI subunit protein that migrated more slowly than RI alpha after NaDodSO4/PAGE. The native form of RI beta in brain could also be distinguished from RI alpha by its abnormal migration on NaDodSO4/PAGE. RI beta protein produced in 3T3 cells was shown to be functional by its ability to form a cAMP-dependent holoenzyme with the catalytic subunit.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Inhibition of intracellular cAMP-dependent protein kinase using mutant genes of the regulatory type I subunit.

Expression vectors were constructed that code for mutated forms of the regulatory type 1 subunit (RI) of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. These mutations alter a specific amino acid which is present in each of two homologous cAMP-binding domains of the RI protein. When these expression vectors were introduced into NIH 3T3 and Y1 adrenocortical tumor cells a mutant RI protein was produced that acted in a dominant fashion to cause a 20-400-fold inhibition of cAMP-dependent protein kinase activation. In addition, processes controlled by cAMP in adrenal cells were blocked; cells became resistant to the growth-inhibitory effects of cAMP and defective in steroid synthesis. Expression of mutant RI genes in cells provides a specific means to explore the role of cAMP and protein phosphorylation in the process of intracellular signalling.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Heterokaryon analysis of muscle differentiation: regulation of the postmitotic state.

MM14 mouse myoblasts withdraw irreversibly from the cell cycle and become postmitotic within a few hours of being deprived of fibroblast growth factor (Clegg, C. H., T. A. Linkhart, B. B. Olwin, and S. D. Hauschka, 1987, J. Cell Biol., 105:949-956). To examine the mechanisms that may regulate this developmental state of skeletal muscle, we tested the mitogen responsiveness of various cell types after their polyethylene glycol-mediated fusion with post-mitotic myocytes. Heterokaryons containing myocytes and quiescent nonmyogenic cells such as 3T3, L cell, and a differentiation-defective myoblast line (DD-1) responded to mitogen-rich medium by initiating DNA synthesis. Myonuclei replicated DNA and reexpressed thymidine kinase. In contrast, (myocyte x G1 myoblast) heterokaryons failed to replicate DNA in mitogen-rich medium and became postmitotic. This included cells with a nuclear ratio of three myoblasts to one myocyte. Proliferation dominance in (myocyte x 3T3 cell) and (myocyte x DD-1) heterokaryons was conditionally regulated by the timing of mitogen treatment; such cells became postmitotic when mitogen exposure was delayed for as little as 6 h after cell fusion. In addition, (myocyte x DD-1) heterokaryons expressed a muscle-specific trait and lost epidermal growth factor receptors when they became postmitotic. These results demonstrate that DNA synthesis is not irreversibly blocked in skeletal muscle; myonuclei readily express proliferation-related functions when provided with a mitogenic signal. Rather, myocyte-specific repression of DNA synthesis in heterokaryons argues that the postmitotic state of skeletal muscle is regulated by diffusible factors that inhibit processes of cellular mitogenesis.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Growth factor control of skeletal muscle differentiation: commitment to terminal differentiation occurs in G1 phase and is repressed by fibroblast growth factor.

Analysis of MM14 mouse myoblasts demonstrates that terminal differentiation is repressed by pure preparations of both acidic and basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF). Basic FGF is approximately 30-fold more potent than acidic FGF and it exhibits half maximal activity in clonal assays at 0.03 ng/ml (2 pM). FGF repression occurs only during the G1 phase of the cell cycle by a mechanism that appears to be independent of ongoing cell proliferation. When exponentially growing myoblasts are deprived of FGF, cells become postmitotic within 2-3 h, express muscle-specific proteins within 6-7 h, and commence fusion within 12-14 h. Although expression of these three terminal differentiation phenotypes occurs at different times, all are initiated by a single regulatory "commitment" event in G1. The entire population commits to terminal differentiation within 12.5 h of FGF removal as all cells complete the cell cycle and move into G1. Differentiation does not require a new round of DNA synthesis. Comparison of MM14 behavior with other myoblast types suggests a general model for skeletal muscle development in which specific growth factors serve the dual role of stimulating myoblast proliferation and directly repressing terminal differentiation.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Control of mouse myoblast commitment to terminal differentiation by mitogens.

Regulation of the transition of mouse myoblasts from proliferation to terminal differentiation was studied with clonal density cultures of a permanent clonal myoblast cell line. In medium lacking mitogenic activity, mouse myoblasts withdraw from the cell cycle, elaborate muscle-specific gene products, and fuse to form multinucleated myotubes. Addition of a purified mitogen, fibroblast growth factor, to mitogen-depleted medium stimulates continued proliferation and prevents terminal differentiation. When mitogens are removed for increasing durations and then refed, mouse myoblasts irreversibly commit to terminal differentiation: after 2-4 h in the absence of mitogens, myoblasts withdraw from the cell cycle, elaborate muscle-specific gene products, fuse in the presence of mitogens that have been fed back. Population kinetics of commitment determined with 3H-thymidine labeling and autoradiography suggests the following cell-cycle model for mouse myoblast commitment: 1)if mitogens are present in the extracellular environment of myoblasts in G1 of the cell cycle, the cells enter S and continue through another cell cycle; 2) if mitogens have been absent for 2 or more hours, cells in G1 do not enter S; the cells commit to differentiate, permanently withdraw from the cell cycle (will not enter S if mitogens are refed), and they subsequently elaborate acetylcholine receptors and fuse (even if mitogens are refed); 3) cells in other phases of the cell cycle continue to transit the cell cycle in the absence of mitogens until reaching the next G1. the commitment kinetics and experiments with mitotically synchronized cells suggest that the commitment "decision" is made during G1. Present results do not, however, exclude commitment of some cells in other phases of the cell cycle.

Animals↗