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H K Meiss

Publications and source records attributed to H K Meiss.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1982

Lectin-resistant mutants of polarized epithelial cells.

Two lectin-resistant mutants derived from Madin Darby canine kidney cells, with constitutive alterations in the asparagine-linked carbohydrate moieties, retained the characteristic structural and functional epithelial polarity of the parental cells. A ricin-resistant cell line was unable to incorporate galactose-sialic acid into glycoproteins and, from the pattern of cross-resistance to other lectins, appears to be different from previously described lines resistant to this lectin: the mutation in a concanavalin A-resistant line results, probably, in the production of defective carbohydrate cores of glycoproteins. In spite of glycosylation defects which result in an increased electrophoretic mobility of many cellular glycoproteins, both mutants retained the typical asymmetric structure of the plasma membrane (microvilli on the apical surface, junctional elements on the basolateral surface), functional tight junctions, and unidirectional active transport of electrolytes and water. These results suggest that glycoproteins with terminal galactose-sialic acid moieties are not critically involved in the development and maintenance of polarity in epithelial cells. The mutant cells, particularly the ricin-resistant line, exhibited, however, morphological and electrophysiological changes which suggest a quantitative effect of the mutations on intracellular traffic of membranes and tight junction formation. The cell lines described in this paper, the first lectin-resistant mutants of epithelial lineage, should prove useful tools for studying the peculiarities of glycosylating pathways in polarized cells.

Cell Adhesion↗
PubMed1981

Fluorimetric measurements and chromatin condensation patterns of nuclei from 3T3 cells throughout G1.

Using two cytological methods based on nuclear morphology, quinacrine dihydrochloride (QDH) staining and premature chromosome condensation (PCC), it has been possible to identify cell cycle positions within G1 of growing and arrested 3T3 cells. The fluorescent intensity of QDH-stained interphase cells appears to decrease as the cells pass from mitosis to S phase. Likewise, the length and thickness of prematurely condensed chromatids can be related to the cells; position within the G1 period. Data are presented that deal with three interrelated topics: 1) We determined by fluorometric measurements of nuclei from 3T3 cells that the visual observation of the decrease in QDH fluorescence during G1 reflects an actual decrease in total fluorescence and not a dispersion of the fluorescent chromatin in a larger nuclear area. 2) We correlated the results obtained by QDH staining with those of PCC on the same cell samples blocked in G1 by different conditions. Serum-starved and contact-inhibited cell nuclei had the highest intensity, hydroxyurea-treated ones had the lowest intensity, while that of isoleucine-deprived cells was in between. The same relative order of G1 positions was obtained based on PCC morphology. Thus, both methods monitor the state of chromatin condensation and can be used to identify cell cycle position within G1. 3) We showed with both methods that the states of chromatin resulting from the various G1 blocking conditions differ from each other.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Glycosylation does not determine segregation of viral envelope proteins in the plasma membrane of epithelial cells.

Enveloped viruses are excellent tools for the study of the biogenesis of epithelial polarity, because they bud asymmetrically from confluent monolayers of epithelial cells and because polarized budding is preceded by the accumulation of envelope proteins exclusively in the plasma membrane regions from which the viruses bud. In this work, three different experimental approaches showed that the carbohydrate moieties do not determine the final surface localization of either influenza (WSN strain) or vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) envelope proteins in infected Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells, as determined by immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy, using ferritin as a marker. Infected concanavalin A- and ricin 1-resistant mutants of MDCK cells, with alterations in glycosylation, exhibited surface distributions of viral glycoproteins identical to those of the parental cell line, i.e., influenza envelope proteins were exclusively found in the apical surface, whereas VSV G protein was localized only in the basolateral region. MDCK cells treated with tunicamycin, which abolishes the glycosylation of viral glycoproteins, exhibited the same distribution of envelope proteins as control cells, after infection with VSF or influenza. A temperature-sensitive mutant of influenza WSN, ts3, which, when grown at the nonpermissive temperature of 39.5 degrees C, retains the sialic acid residues in the envelope glycoproteins, showed, at both 32 degrees C (permissive temperature) and 39.5 degrees C, budding polarity and viral glycoprotein distribution identical to those of the parental WSN strain, when grown in MDCK cells. These results demonstrate that carbohydrate moieties are not components of the addressing signals that determine the polarized distribution of viral envelope proteins, and possibly of the intrinsic cellular plasma membrane proteins, in the surface of epithelial cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Complementation between two temperature-sensitive mammalian cell mutants, each defective in the G1 phase of the cell cycle.

Two mammalian temperature-sensitive (ts) G1 cell cycle mutants of different species origin (Syrian hamster and mouse) have been tested for complementation using somatic cell hybrid analysis. All hamster-mouse hybrid clones tested were found to exhibit normal growth properties at the restrictive temperature, while neither mutant alone was capable of normal growth at this temperature. The two mutant lines therefore complement for growth in a somatic cell hybrid and most likely represent ts lesions in different cellular functions specific to the G1 phase of the cell cycle.

Cell Cycle↗
PubMed1977

A cytological procedure to screen mammalian temperature-sensitive mutants for cell-cycle-related defects.

Interphase cells stained with quinacrine dihydrochloride show distinctive fluorescent nuclear patterns according to their position in the cell cycle. These patterns were used to determine whether temperature-sensitive growth mutants of the Syrian hamster cell line BHK-21 are blocked at specific stages of the cell cycle. These cytological studies confirmed the previous conclusion that ts Af8 cell line derived from BHK cells is a GI cell-cycle mutant. The method promises to be of use as an initial probe in screening for cell-cycle mutants.

Cell Cycle↗
PubMed1973

A temperature-sensitive mutation affecting 28S ribosomal RNA production in mammalian cells.

We have characterized a temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant of the hamster cell line BHK 21 that appears to have a defect in the processing of ribosomal RNA precursors at 39 degrees . Mutant ts 422E grows at a normal rate at 33 degrees , but upon shift to 39 degrees growth stops after about one cell doubling. The appearance of 28S rRNA and large ribosomal subunits in the cytoplasm of ts 422E at 39 degrees is inhibited by about 95%, when compared to wild-type BHK cells. Production of 18S rRNA and small ribosomal subunits is unaffected. Shift-up experiments show that the defect in 28S rRNA production can be detected as early as 2-3 hr after the shift to 39 degrees . Synthesis of the larger rRNA precursor is normal at high temperature, but the processing appears to be arrested after the formation of 32S rRNA. 32S rRNA accumulates to some extent in the nucleoli of ts 422E. ts 422E cells appear to have a single mutation, directly affecting the conversion of 32S to 28S rRNA. The reduced amount of 28S rRNA in the cytoplasm of ts 422E cells at 39 degrees seems therefore responsible for their inability to grow at this temperature.

Animals↗