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J Bigler

Publications and source records attributed to J Bigler.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Thyroid hormone receptor transcriptional activity is potentially autoregulated by truncated forms of the receptor.

ErbA/thyroid hormone receptor is a nuclear receptor that can affect transcription from promoters containing a thyroid hormone response element (TRE) in a thyroid hormone (T3)-dependent manner. We reported earlier that the thyroid hormone receptor is expressed in embryonic avian erythroid cells as a nested set of four proteins with a common C terminus. The full-length receptor is capable of both high-affinity binding to thyroid hormone and specific binding to DNA. We now report that the two smallest ErbA forms, which contain the hormone-binding domain but lack the N-terminal DNA-binding domain, have the same affinity for T3 as does full-length ErbA but are incapable of specific DNA binding. In transactivation assays, these N-terminally truncated proteins are able to specifically suppress both transcriptional repression and hormone-dependent transcriptional activation by the full-length ErbA. We also find that retinoic acid-dependent transactivation by retinoic acid receptors is inhibited by the truncated ErbA proteins. Furthermore, the smaller ErbA forms inhibit binding to TREs by full-length ErbA in vitro. Results from experiments involving site-specific mutagenesis of a conserved region within the hormone-binding domain of the smaller ErbA proteins indicate that the suppressive effect of the smaller receptor forms is independent of hormone binding and that this region is important in mediating protein-hormone as well as protein-protein interactions. We have also found that full-length ErbA homodimers can be detected only in the presence of a specific DNA-binding site. However, no association between full-length and the N-terminally truncated non-DNA-binding ErbA proteins could be detected, indicating that the complex either is unstable or does not form. Our results suggest that inhibition of receptor function occurs through transient formation of heterodimers which lack DNA-binding activity or by competition for factors which positively affect DNA binding by the full-length protein. This finding raises the possibility that thyroid hormone receptor transcriptional activity is autoregulated by means of alternative receptor translation products acting in a dominant negative manner.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

The magnetic properties of some materials affecting MR images.

We have compared the magnetic properties of various types of materials known to affect MR images. The materials compared were: (i) MR contrast agents based on chelates of paramagnetic metals (Gd-DTPA, Dy-DTPA); (ii) biological forms of iron (horse spleen ferritin and deoxyhemoglobin); and (iii) a superparamagnetic iron oxide (AMI-25). The properties compared were the magnetic susceptibility and the magnetization. The magnetization and susceptibility of superparamagnetic AMI-25 are far larger than that of ferritin or low molecular weight, paramagnetic chelates. Superparamagnetic iron oxide colloids, like AMI-25, are a uniquely powerful class of magnetic materials.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

The thyroid hormone receptor gene (c-erbA alpha) is expressed in advance of thyroid gland maturation during the early embryonic development of Xenopus laevis.

The c-erbA proto-oncogene encodes the thyroid hormone receptor, a ligand-dependent transcription factor which plays an important role in vertebrate growth and development. To define the role of the thyroid hormone receptor in developmental processes, we have begun studying c-erbA gene expression during the ontogeny of Xenopus laevis, an organism in which thyroid hormone has well-documented effects on morphogenesis. Using polymerase chain reactions (PCR) as a sensitive assay of specific gene expression, we found that polyadenylated erbA alpha RNA is present in Xenopus cells at early developmental stages, including the fertilized egg, blastula, gastrula, and neurula. By performing erbA alpha-specific PCR on reverse-transcribed RNAs from high-density sucrose gradient fractions prepared from early-stage embryos, we have demonstrated that these erbA transcripts are recruited to polysomes. Therefore, erbA is expressed in Xenopus development prior to the appearance of the thyroid gland anlage in tailbud-stage embryos. This implies that erbA alpha/thyroid hormone receptors may play ligand-independent roles during the early development of X. laevis. Quantitative PCR revealed a greater than 25-fold range in the steady-state levels of polyadenylated erbA alpha RNA across early stages of development, as expressed relative to equimolar amounts of total embryonic RNA. Substantial increases in the levels of erbA alpha RNA were noted at stages well after the onset of zygotic transcription at the mid-blastula transition, with accumulation of erbA alpha transcripts reaching a relative maximum in advance of metamorphosis. We also show that erbA alpha RNAs are expressed unequally across Xenopus neural tube embryos. This differential expression continues through later stages of development, including metamorphosis. This finding suggests that erbA alpha/thyroid hormone receptors may play roles in tissue-specific processes across all of Xenopus development.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

c-erbA encodes multiple proteins in chicken erythroid cells.

To identify and characterize the proteins encoded by the erbA proto-oncogene, we expressed the C-terminal region of v-erbA in a bacterial trpE expression vector system and used the fusion protein to prepare antiserum. The anti-trp-erbA serum recognized the P75gag-erbA protein encoded by avian erythroblastosis virus and specifically precipitated six highly related proteins ranging in size from 27 to 46 kilodaltons from chicken embryonic erythroid cells. In vitro translation of a chicken erbA cDNA produced essentially the same pattern of proteins. Partial proteolytic maps and antigenicity and kinetic analyses of the in vivo and in vitro proteins indicated that they are related and that the multiple bands are likely to arise from internal initiations within c-erbA to generate a nested set of proteins. All of the c-erbA proteins are predominantly associated with chicken erythroblast nuclei. However, Nonidet P-40 treatment resulted in extraction of the three smaller proteins, whereas the larger proteins were retained. During differentiation of erythroid cells in chicken embryos, we found maximal levels of c-erbA protein synthesis at days 7 to 8 of embryogenesis. By contrast, c-erbA mRNA levels remained essentially constant from days 5 to 12. Together, our results indicate that posttranscriptional or translational mechanisms are involved in regulation of c-erbA expression and in the complexity of its protein products.

Animals↗