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Biomedical subjects

K Friderici

Publications and source records attributed to K Friderici.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Audiologic aspects of the search for DFNA20: a gene causing late-onset, progressive, sensorineural hearing loss.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to identify the gene responsible for a novel form of nonsyndromic, late-onset, bilateral, progressive, sensorineural hearing loss in a Michigan family of English descent. This report describes the audiologic aspects of the search. DESIGN: Fifty-eight members of the family served as subjects for the study. Family pedigree information was gathered from family interviews, family records, birth and death registration records and census data. Audiologic evaluation was used to describe the hearing loss (phenotype) and classify family members as affected or unaffected based on hearing status. These data then were used in a linkage analysis, a process in which the inheritance of a trait is compared with the inheritance of genetic markers and statistically significant associations are sought. RESULTS: The team mapped the hearing loss to the long arm of chromosome 17 at band 17q25. The pattern of inheritance is autosomal dominant. The search for the gene is continuing using a candidate gene approach. CONCLUSIONS: The hearing loss demonstrated by this mid-Michigan family is a novel form of nonsyndromic, genetic, late-onset, bilateral, progressive, sensorineural hearing loss. The locus of the gene, the 20th for autosomal dominant hearing loss, is at band 17q25 of chromosome 17.

Adolescent↗

Mutations in the connexin 26 gene (GJB2) among Ashkenazi Jews with nonsyndromic recessive deafness.

BACKGROUND: Mutations in the GJB2 gene cause one form of nonsyndromic recessive deafness. Among Mediterranean Europeans, more than 80 percent of cases of nonsyndromic recessive deafness result from inheritance of the 30delG mutant allele of GJB2. We assessed the contribution of mutations in GJB2 to the prevalence of the condition among Ashkenazi Jews. METHODS: We tested for mutations in GJB2 in DNA samples from three Ashkenazi Jewish families with nonsyndromic recessive deafness, from Ashkenazi Jewish persons seeking carrier testing for other conditions, and from members of other ethnic groups. The hearing of persons who were heterozygous for mutations in GJB2 was assessed by means of pure-tone audiometry, measurement of middle-ear immittance, and recording of otoacoustic emissions. RESULTS: Two frame-shift mutations in GJB2, 167delT and 30delG, were observed in the families with nonsyndromic recessive deafness. In the Ashkenazi Jewish population the prevalence of heterozygosity for 167delT, which is rare in the general population, was 4.03 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 2.5 to 6.0 percent), and for 30delG the prevalence was 0.73 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 0.2 to 1.8 percent). Genetic-linkage analysis showed conservation of the haplotype for 167delT but the existence of several haplotypes for 30delG. Audiologic examination of carriers of the mutant alleles who had normal hearing revealed subtle differences in their otoacoustic emissions, suggesting that the expression of mutations in GJB2 may be semidominant. CONCLUSIONS: The high frequency of carriers of mutations in GJB2 (4.76 percent) predicts a prevalence of 1 deaf person among 1765 people, which may account for the majority of cases of nonsyndromic recessive deafness in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. Conservation of the haplotype flanking the 167delT mutation suggests that this allele has a single origin, whereas the multiple haplotypes with the 30delG mutation suggest that this site is a hot spot for recurrent mutations.

Connexin 26↗

Expression, purification and characterization of recombinant caprine N-acetylglucosamine-6-sulphatase.

Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIID or Sanfilippo D syndrome is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by the deficiency of N-acetylglucosamine-6-sulphatase (Glc6S). In addition to human patients, a Nubian goat with this disorder has been described and the caprine Glc6S (cGlc6S) cDNA cloned. In this study, the full-length cGlc6S cDNA was inserted into the expression vector, pEFNeo, which placed the cGlc6S cDNA under the transcriptional control of the human polypeptide chain elongation factor promoter. The pEFNeo expression vector also contains the human growth hormone polyadenylation signal and the genes encoding resistance to ampicillin and G418. The cGlc6S expression construct was electroporated into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells, and stably transfected clones were isolated. One clone, CHOrcGlc6S.17, which secreted the highest Glc6S activity into the culture medium, was selected and cultured in cell factories. The secreted recombinant cGlc6S (rcGlc6S) precursor was purified to homogeneity from conditioned medium by a two-column procedure which consisted of a Cu2+-chelating Sepharose column followed by TSK G3000SW gel filtration. The native molecular mass of rcFlc6S was estimated to be 102 kDa and the subunit size was 94 kDa. The kinetic properties of cGlc6S were similar to those of human Glc6S isolated from liver. rcGlc6S was endocytosed by fibroblasts from patients with mucopolysaccharidosis type IIID via the mannose 6-phosphate receptor-mediated pathway resulting in correction of the storage phenotype of these cells.

Animals↗

Cloning and sequence analysis of caprine N-acetylglucosamine 6-sulfatase cDNA.

Mucopolysaccharidosis IIID results from the deficiency of N-acetylglucosamine 6-sulfatase activity. A Nubian goat with this lysosomal storage disease has been identified. As a first step in developing this animal model for testing treatment methods, we cloned and sequenced the caprine N-acetylglucosamine 6-sulfatase cDNA coding region. Overall there is 88% nucleotide homology between the goat and human sequence and 94% homology of the deduced amino acid sequence. The human and two ruminant species differ by the presence of an imperfect trinucleotide (CCG) repeat in the ruminant signal sequence.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Low probability of double integration in transformation of nonpermissive cells by polyomavirus.

The fate of polyomavirus genomes in stable transformants was examined in experiments in which rat or hamster cells were infected with mixed viral populations containing either two distinguishable wild types or a wild type plus a transformation-deficient mutant. The results demonstrate that in 90% of the cases in either situation, a single polyomavirus parental genome became integrated into the host genome. Both parents in the mixed infection were present in the same cells and both persisted in the infected cells until transformants appeared, eliminating the possibility that one virus would exclude the other in the early steps of the infection process. We believe that these results can be generalized to transformation events derived from normal single infections. Thus, contrary to previous results for the number of integration sites determined by restriction endonuclease and blot hybridization analysis, it appears that the probability for more than one integration event in transformation by polyomavirus is low (1 in 10). A reinterpretation of previous data is proposed.

Animals↗

A nonlethal mutation in large T antigen of polyomavirus which affects viral DNA synthesis.

A mutation in polyomavirus large T antigen which affects viral DNA synthesis was discovered in strain NG59RA (RA). The effect was most visible in nonpermissive cells. Although a substantial yield in DNA synthesis is normally observed in infections of Fischer rat cells when these are maintained at 33 degrees C (D.L. Hacker, K.H. Friderici, C. Priehs, S. Kalvonjian, and M.M. Fluck, p. 173-181, in R.E. Moses and W.C. Summers, ed., DNA Replication and Mutagenesis, 1988; D.L. Hacker and M.M. Fluck, Mol. Cell. Biol., in press), a 10- to 20-fold decrease in yield was obtained in infections with RA. The yield of free viral DNA in RA transformants was also strongly diminished, whether the transformants were maintained at 37 or 33 degrees C. A large reduction in the apparent number of integration sites, as well as a small reduction in the incidence of tandem integration of the viral genome, was observed in F-111 or FR-3T3 cells transformed by the mutant strain. This appears not to be directly related to the number of integration templates. A DNA fragment was identified which rescues these phenotypes. The fragment is located between the HindIII and NsiI restriction sites (nucleotides 1656 to 1910), a region which encodes only large T antigen. Sequence analysis of this region reveals a C-to-G transition at nucleotide 1791 which causes a proline-to-alanine change in the amino acid sequence of large T antigen. No other mutations have been previously reported in this region of large T antigen.

Animals↗

Superinfection rescue of an integrated defective polyomavirus genome.

We have characterized the viral sequences integrated in a polyomavirus-transformed mouse cell line, Py-3T3 (clone Py-6), and followed their excision and packaging upon superinfection. The polyomavirus sequences contained in Py-6 cells are present as a single insert of nonidentical tandem copies which includes, in addition to a normal middle T-antigen-coding region, some very rearranged sequences. Infection of Py-6 cells with polyomavirus strains encoding a normal large T antigen leads to the reproducible recovery in the resulting viral stock of specific defective viral genomes. The defective genomes contain a wild-type coding region for middle and small T antigens and intact viral origin and enhancer sequences. The remainder of the viral genome is rearranged or lost, so that there is no capacity to code for large T antigen or viral capsid proteins. The recovered defective sequences are also found integrated in Py-6 genomic DNA. Presumably, in infections of Py-6 cells, large T antigen, provided by the superinfecting virus, amplifies and excises the integrated viral sequences. The superinfecting helper virus must also produce viral capsids for packaging of the defective viral DNA and thus provides a means to shuttle the defective sequences from the mouse cells into other hosts, such as rat cells. In the latter host, the defective sequences are able to induce transformation.

Animals↗

Properties of cells transformed by the middle T-antigen-coding region of polyomavirus.

A series of 10 Fischer rat transformed clonal cell lines were independently obtained in infections with a defective polyomavirus containing a scrambled genome except for an intact middle and small T-antigen-coding region. These cells synthesize middle and small T antigens; no fragment of large T antigen can be detected in any of them. The transformed phenotype of this set of cell lines (designated LT-) has been studied with respect to serum dependence, saturation density, and anchorage independence and compared with the phenotype of a set of six transformants (designated LT+) which synthesize detectable to high levels of shortened or normal-sized large T antigen. Both the LT+ and the LT- groups of polyomavirus transformants display a range of transformed phenotypes. These ranges overlap, and the variations within each group are larger than the variations between the two groups. Thus, the results suggest that, for established Fischer rat fibroblasts, the maintenance of any of the three phenotypes tested and, in particular, of serum independence is not necessarily correlated with the levels of large T antigen or fragments thereof.

Animals↗

Expression of proto-oncogenes in normal and papovavirus-transformed or -infected rat fibroblasts.

Dot blot hybridization was used to determine the transcript levels of 10 cellular oncogenes in Fischer rat fibroblasts transformed or infected in tissue culture by polyoma virus or SV40. The level of these messages was compared to that determined for nontransformed, noninfected control cells. The analysis includes the oncogenes myc, sis, mos, erbB, erbA, Ha-ras, Ki-ras, src, fps, and abl. For all the oncogenes tested, except for mos, detectable expression was observed in all cell lines studied including the normal control cells; when normal and transformed or infected cells were compared, no significant difference in transcript level was found for any of the oncogenes except one. A slight elevation of sis message was observed for some transformants. The results of this study apply to six polyoma and seven SV40 transformants which were chosen with the purpose of analyzing transformants displaying a variety of properties. Thus, the polyoma-transformed cell lines varied in their expression of the transformed phenotype as judged by anchorage-independent growth and cell morphology, in their coding capacity for and expression of early gene products, and included two classes of rat fibroblasts transformed by ts-a mutants: those with a temperature-insensitive transformed phenotype, and those with a temperature-sensitive phenotype, A-type and N-type, respectively. Concerning the latter two types, no differences in oncogene expression were observed between cells grown at low and those grown at high temperatures, or between the two groups of cells at either temperature.

Animals↗

Recombination induces tandem repeats of integrated viral sequences in polyoma-transformed cells.

Transformed Fischer rat cells derived from coinfections with wild-type polyoma virus and transformation-deficient hr-t deletion mutants were studied. The structure of the integrated viral DNA was determined by Southern blot analysis of high-molecular-weight DNA. In several cases the two parental genomes were found cointegrated in a head-to-tail manner at a single site in the host DNA. The results indicate that parental viral genomes recombine in Fischer rat cells in the process of transformation, and that the commonly observed tandem integration of viral genomes in polyoma-transformed cells must be due, in part, to recombination events.

Animals↗

Ontogeny of pituitary hormone mRNAs in the bovine fetus. Quantitation of pre-prolactin mRNA as a function of gestation.

The mRNA coding for pre-prolactin (pPRL) of the adult bovine anterior pituitary was purified to 85% homogeneity and used as a template for cDNA synthesis with reverse transcriptase from avian myeloblastosis virus. The cDNA sequences complementary to pPRL mRNA were further purified by employing a limited back-hybridization step and treatment with S1 nuclease. The pPRL cDNA preparation was judged to be homogeneous by comparing its hybridization kinetics to those of ovalbumin and globin mRNA standards and by thermal melt analysis of the pPRL mRNA:cDNA hybrids. Total cellular RNA was extracted from individual bovine fetal pituitaries of either sex, ranging from 90 to 200 days of gestation, and examined for its pPRL mRNA concentration by hybridization with an excess of pPRL cDNA. The hybridization assay was capable of detecting picogram amounts of pPRL mRNA, e.g. amounts less than 0.002% of input total cellular RNA. These results indicated that from 90 to 200 days of gestation, the levels of pPRL mRNA relative to total cellular RNA in bovine fetal pituitaries increase exponentially. This increase in pPRL mRNA occurs to the same extent in either sex, with the most dramatic shift (over 10-fold) occurring between 120 and 145 days of gestation.

Animals↗

Specific inhibition of capped mRNA translation in vitro by m7G5'pppp5'G and m7G5'pppp5'm7G.

A unique set of diguanosine cap analogues containing a 5'-5' tetraphosphate linkage instead of the normal triphosphate was synthesized by chemical methylation of G5'pppp5'G. Both 7-methylguanosine products, m7G5'pppp5'G and m7G5'pppp5'm7G, acted as potent inhibitors of capped brome mosaic virus (BMV) RNA translation in the homologous wheat germ protein synthesis system. Inhibition of in vitro protein synthesis required the presence of the 7-methyl group on guanosine and was specific for capped mRNA. In comparison with the partial cap analogue, m7GTP, the methylated diguanosine tetraphosphate structures were 25-50 fold more potent inhibitors of in vitro protein synthesis. Analysis of the in vitro translation products of the four species of BMV RNA showed a differential sensitivity to inhibition by m7G5'pppp5'm7G.

Methylation↗

Kinetics of Novikoff cytoplasmic messenger RNA methylation.

Methylation patterns of Novikoff cytoplasmic mRNA were determined as a function of labeling time with L-[methyl-3H]methionine. The 5'-terminal m7G could be released from whole mRNA by treatment with nucleotide pyrophosphatase. Subsequent alkaline phosphatase treatment of this mRNA, followed by KOH digestion, yielded N'mpNp and N'mpNp from cap 1 (m7GpppN'mpN) and cap 2 (m7GpppN'mpN''mpN), respectively. Our results indicate that the relative amounts of labeled cap structures do change with time and that the amount of internal N6-methyladenosine decreases, relative to 5'-cap structures, as the cytoplasmic mRNAs age and the average size decreases. The formation of cap-2 structures by the addition of second 2'-O-methyl group at position N''m appears to be cytoplasmic event. Thus, after very short labeling times, greater than 80% of the labeled methyl groups in cap 2 are found in this position. These results, along with earlier data obtained on L-cell heterogeneous nuclear RNA methylation, are consistent with a model in which the nucleus is the cellular site of three mRNA methylation events producing 5'-terminal m7G, the first 2'-O-methylnucleoside (N'm) found in cap-1 structures and internal N6-methyladenosine. Subsequently, these nuclear methylations are followed by the cytoplasmic methylation at N''m. Analysis of the methynucleoside composition of cap-1 structures, along with comparable "core" structures (m7GpppN'm) generated from cap-2 by removal of N''m, indicates that at any single labeling time the methylnucleoside composition of a given cap-1 and the cap-2 "core" structure is remarkably similar. On the other hand, comparisons of the methylnucleoside composition of the cap structures at different labeling times indicate an increase in Cm in the first 2'-O-methylnucleoside (N'm) with time.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗

The methylated constituents of L cell messenger RNA: evidence for an unusual cluster at the 5' terminus.

An analysis of the methylated constituents of L cell mRNA by a combination of chromatographic methods and enzymatic treatments indicates that they comprise both 2'-O-methyl nucleosides and N6-methyl adenine, and/or 1-methyl adenine, and suggests that the 2'-O-methyl nucleotides, Ym, are part of an unusual class of sequences forming the 5' terminus of mRNA. These sequences seem to contain two 2'-O-methyl residues and a terminal residue that is not phosphorylated but, nevertheless, is blocked with respect to polynucleotid kinase reactivity. A strong candidate is a sequence of the type XppY1mpY2mpZp..., where X represents a blocking group which is itself occasionally methylated. The sequences isolated from total poly(A)+ mRNA contain all four species of 2'-O-methylated nucleoside, indicating some variability among different mRNA species. The methylated sequences do not appear to be enriched in the mRNA which hybridizes with repetitive DNA. The average L cell mRNA molecule also contains three residues of N6-methyl adenine. These residues are not part of the poly(A) segment, but appear to be located internal to the poly(A) near the 3' end of the mRNA molecules.

Adenine↗