Biomedical subjects

G Urlaub

Publications and source records attributed to G Urlaub.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1981

Selective killing of methotrexate-resistant cells carrying amplified dihydrofolate reductase genes.

A method for the selective killing of methotrexate (MTX)-resistant cells has been developed. The selection is based on the incorporation of tritiated deoxyuridine into the DNA of MTX-resistant cells but not normal MTX-sensitive cells in the presence of the drug. A Chinese hamster ovary cell mutant that overproduces dihydrofolate reductase was used as an example of a MTX-resistant cell line. In this system, a 10,000-fold enrichment for wild-type MTX-sensitive cells could be achieved after 24 hr of exposure to the drug combination. This selection technique was applied to the isolation of MTX-sensitive segregants from hybrid cells formed between the MTX-resistant mutant and wild-type cells. The loss of MTX resistance and dihydrofolate reductase overproduction was always accompanied by the loss of a homogeneously staining region on chromosome 2 of the resistant parent that contains the amplified genes specifying this enzyme. While this region is always lost, other parts of chromosome 2 are almost always retained, suggesting that deletion rather than chromosome loss underlies marker segregation in this case. When the selection was applied to the resistant mutant itself, no MTX-sensitive revertants were obtained among 10(5) cells screened, attesting to the stability of gene amplification in this clone. It is suggested that this combination of drugs may be useful for the elimination of MTX-resistant tumor cells that develop after MTX chemotherapy.

Animals↗

PubMed1980

Isolation of Chinese hamster cell mutants deficient in dihydrofolate reductase activity.

Mutants of Chinese hamster ovary cells lacking dihydrofolate reductase (tetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase, 7,8-dihydrofolate:NADP+ oxidoreductase; EC 1.5.1.3) activity were isolated after mutagenesis and exposure to high-specific-activity [3H]deoxyuridine as a selective agent. Fully deficient mutants could not be isolated starting with wild-type cells, but could readily be selected from a putative heterozygote that contains half of the wild-type level of dihydrofolate reductase activity. The heterozygote itself was selected from wild-type cells by using [3H]deoxyuridine together with methotrexate to reduce intracellular dihydrofolate reductase activity. Fully deficient mutants require glycine, a purine, and thymidine for growth; this phenotype is recessive to wild type in cell hybrids. Revertants have been isolated, one of which produces a heat-labile dihydrofolate reductase activity. These mutants may be useful for metabolic studies relating to cancer chemotherapy and for fine-structure genetic mapping of mutations by using available molecular probes for this gene.

Animals↗

PubMed1979

Transformation of the gene for hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase.

Purified DNA from wild-type Chinese ovary (CHO) cells has been used to transform three hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) deficient murine cell mutants to the enzyme positive state. Transformants appeared at an overall frequency of 5 x 10(-8) colonies/treated cell and expressed CHO HPRT activity as determined by electrophoresis. One gene recipient, B21, was a newly isolated mutant of LMTK- deficient in both HPRT and thymidine kinase (TK) activities. Transformation of B21 to HPRT+ occurred at 1/5 the frequency of transformation to TK+; the latter was, in turn, an order of magnitude lower than that found in the parental LMTK- cells, 3 x 10(-6). Thus both clonal and marker-specific factors play a role in determining transformability. The specific activity of HPRT in transformant extracts ranged from 0.5 to 5 times the CHO level. The rate of loss of the transformant HPRT+ phenotype, as measured by fluctuation analysis, was 10(-4)/cell/generation. While this value indicates stability compared to many gene transferents, it is much greater than the spontaneous mutation rate at the indigenous locus. The ability to transfer the gene for HPRT into cultured mammalian cells may prove useful for mutational and genetic mapping studies in this well-studied system.

Animals↗

PubMed1979

DNA-mediated transfer of the adenine phosphoribosyltransferase locus into mammalian cells.

In this report, we demonstrate the feasibility of transforming mouse cells deficient in adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (aprt; AMP:pyrophosphate phosphoribosyltransferase, EC 2.4.2.7) to the aprt+ phenotype by means of DNA-mediated gene transfer. Transformation was effected by using unfractionated high molecular weight genomic DNA from Chinese hamster, human, and mouse cells and restriction endonuclease-digested DNA from rabbit liver. The transformation frequency observed was between 1 and 10 colonies per 10(6) cells per 20 microgram of donor DNA. Transformants displayed enzymatic activity that was donor derived as demonstrated by isoelectric focusing of cytoplasmic extracts. These transformants fall into two classes: those that are phenotypically stable when grown in the absence of selective pressure and those that are phenotypically unstable under the same conditions.

Adenine Phosphoribosyltransferase↗

PubMed1978

Amplified dihydrofolate reductase genes are localized to a homogeneously staining region of a single chromosome in a methotrexate-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cell line.

Methotrexate-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cells selected for high resistance by progressive increments of methotrexate in the culture medium have levels of dihydrofolate reductase (tetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase, 7,8-dihydrofolate: NADP+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.5.1.3) 200 times that of sensitive cells and a corresponding increase in the number of copies of the dihydrofolate reductase gene. The resistant cells contain an expanded region on the second chromosome (homogeneously staining region) that is not present in sensitive cells. In situ hybridization of DNA complementary to dihydrofolate reductase mRNA shows that the dihydrofolate reductase genes are specifically localized to the homogeneously staining region of this chromosome in the resistant cells.

Cell Line↗

PubMed1976

Mutant alleles for hypoxanthine phosphoriboxyltransferase: codominant expression, complementation, and segregation in hybrid Chinese hamster cells.

Chinese hamster ovary cell mutants resistant to the purine analogs 6-thioguanine or 8-azaguanine have been isolated following mutagenesis with ethyl methane sulfonate. The activities of hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) in three such mutants have been found to exhibit an increased Km for the substrate 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate. The isoelectric point of the mutant enzyme activity has also changed in two mutants. Hybrid cells containing one mutant and one wild-type allele express both genes. Segregants that have lost only the wild-type allele can be selected on the basis of drug resistance. Two mutants exhibiting different alterations in HPRT activity can complement in a hybrid cell to yield a wild-type growth pattern and enzyme activity with intermediate electrophoretic and kinetic properties. The results suggest intracistronic complementation between structural gene mutants of HPRT.

Alleles↗

PubMed1975

Chromosome-wide event accompanies the expression of recessive mutations in tetraploid cells.

Mutants resistant to 6-thioguanine were induced in pseudotetraploid hybrid Chinese hamster cells homozygous wild-type at the locus for hypoxanthine phophoribosyl transferase but heterozygous for the linked marker glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. About half of these mutants had concomitantly lost the wild-type allele for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, as expected if mutation plus chromosome segregation had occurred.

Alleles↗

PubMed1974

Reversion of a Chinese hamster cell auxotrophic mutant.

A mutant cell strain derived from a Chinese hamster line by mutagenesis with ethylmethane sulfonate requires glycine for growth. In the wild type, glycine synthesis is catalyzed by serine hydroxymethyltransferase (EC 2.1.2.1). Cell fractionation by differential centrifugation and isopycnic sucrose gradient analysis reveals that the enzyme activity is found in both the mitochondrial and cytosol fractions. The specific activity in the mitochondrial fraction is about 20 times higher than in the cytosol, and is much more stable to thermal inactivation. The glycine-requiring mutant has lost all of the mitochondrial enzyme activity, while retaining the cytosol activity. The mutant is very stable but can be induced to revert by several chemical mutagens. One glycine-independent revertant induced by ethyl methane sulfonate was studied in detail. Serine hydroxymethyltransferase activity is again present in the mitochondrial fraction, at about [unk] of the wild-type level. However, the revertant mitochondrial enzyme exhibits an altered thermal sensitivity, with a half-life at 45 degrees of 55 min as compared to 180 min in the wild type. The half-life for the cytosol enzyme in all three strains is 7 min. Mixing experiments demonstrate that the heat lability of the revertant enzyme is not due to a dissociable factor in the extract. The data are consistent with the idea that the original mutation occurred in the structural gene for one isozyme of the enzyme and that the revertant has undergone a second mutation in this gene, partially restoring enzyme activity.

Acid Phosphatase↗