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L Bernier

Publications and source records attributed to L Bernier.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Isoprenoid modification permits 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase to bind to membranes.

The myelination-related enzyme 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNP), a relatively abundant protein in the CNS possesses the C-terminal isoprenylation consensus domain found in a small family that includes the ras oncoproteins and their relatives, some G-proteins, and nuclear lamins. We found that CNP, like these other proteins, is modified posttranslationally by an isoprenoid derived from mevalonic acid. It appears that only the smaller of the two CNP isoforms (CNP1) is isoprenylated, but similar modification of CNP2 cannot be excluded. Inhibition of isoprenoid synthesis by Lovastatin blocks the binding of newly synthesized CNP to cell membranes; binding is restored upon addition of mevalonate to the culture medium. This shows that isoprenylation is permissive for the well-known avid association of CNP with membranes.

2',3'-Cyclic-Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases

Monoclonal antibody against a tumor-associated sialoglycoprotein of superficial papillary bladder tumors and cervical condylomas.

A mouse IgG1 monoclonal antibody (MAb), 19A211, defining a tumor-associated cell-surface antigen of superficial papillary bladder tumors, was generated by immunizing with fresh bladder tumor cells mice neonatally injected with normal human urothelial cells. The reactivity of the antibody with cell lines was examined by indirect immunofluorescence staining and was restricted to 3/14 bladder cancer lines and 3/31 cancer cell lines of non-bladder origin, including HeLa cervical cancer. No normal fibroblast, kidney cells, EBV-lymphocytes, erythrocytes or leukocytes expressed the antigen. Reactivity of MAb 19A211 was well preserved on tissue paraffin sections. Immunoperoxidase staining of normal adult or fetal tissues showed no reactivity except for a patchy or uniform staining of umbrella cells in 6/23 adult and 1/4 fetal urothelium samples. Positive and often heterogeneous staining was observed on 24/38 papillary superficial tumors (Ta) and 4/5 carcinoma in situ bladder lesions but on only 4/20 infiltrating tumors. It was also observed on 5/6 cervical condylomas and one bladder condyloma, but none of 6 penile or vulvar condylomas. All other tumors tested were negative. The antigenic determinant is present on a heterogeneous group of proteins with molecular weights ranging from 90 to 200 kDa. It is sensitive to periodate treatment and to neuraminidase but only partially sensitive to proteases. MAb 19A211 is different from other reported MAbs with similar reactivity to superficial bladder tumors and umbrella cells of normal urothelium. When tested in competition assays, several of these MAbs, but not 19A211, were found to react with Lewis X blood group determinant. Our results suggest that 19A211 may be useful for detection and stratification of bladder tumors.

Antibodies, Monoclonal

Expression of the oligodendrocyte marker 2'3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase in non-glial cells.

The 46 kD isoform of the 2'3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNPI) was expressed in HeLa cells by transfection of its cDNA clone. The distribution of this polypeptide as mapped by indirect immunofluorescence and conventional epifluorescence microscopy appeared diffuse and generally uniform throughout the cytoplasm. Confocal microscopic imaging and analysis of pseudocolored images confirmed this distribution but also revealed that there was a high concentration of CNPI near the plasma membrane of the cell. This pattern is very similar to that observed by immunoelectronmicroscopy of myelinating oligodendrocytes (Trapp et al.: J Neurochem 51:859-868, 1988; Braun et al.: J Neurosci 8: 3057-3066, 1988). These results suggest that CNP may interact with a membrane-associated molecule that is not unique to oligodendrocytes.

2',3'-Cyclic-Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases

Identification of GTP-binding proteins in myelin and oligodendrocyte membranes.

Myelin membranes purified from mouse and rat brain are associated with alpha subunits of four signal transducing guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding proteins: Go, Gi, Gs, and ras. Four low-molecular-weight (Mr) GTP-binding proteins are also present, as demonstrated by the binding of GTP to proteins immobilized in nitrocellulose. This latter group is more prominent at early stages of myelination and remains associated with isolated myelin membranes despite repetitive cycles of purification. At least one nonmyelin subcellular membrane fraction possesses the same proteins. The total membrane fraction of cultured oligodendrocytes is associated with both groups of GTP-binding proteins. None of the well-known myelin proteins bound GTP by the procedure described.

Animals

Biosynthesis of the myelin 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterases.

We have investigated the site of synthesis of the 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterases (CNPs I and II) in rat brain. Rapid kinetics of incorporation of CNPs into oligodendrocyte plasma membrane in the intact brain are consistent with their synthesis on free polysomes. This hypothesis was confirmed by the translation in vitro of RNA isolated from free and bound polysomes, respectively. Unlike myelin basic protein (MBP) mRNAs, CNP mRNAs are not enriched in a myelin-associated pool of RNA. MBPs, but not CNPs, were found to readily associate in vitro with membrane vesicles derived from rough endoplasmic reticulum. The avidity of MBPs in binding to membranes is probably related to the previously observed spatial segregation of MBP mRNAs into actively myelinating cellular processes of the oligodendrocyte. Such a segregation would ensure that newly synthesized MBPs are immediately incorporated into myelin. In contrast, the CNPs probably associate with the cytoplasmic surface of the oligodendrocyte plasma membrane through interaction with a membrane-bound receptor.

2',3'-Cyclic-Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases

Physiologic properties of myelin proteins revealed by their expression in nonglial cells.

The transfection paradigm described herein can be used to investigate the functional properties of individual nervous system proteins in ways that have not been explored before. In particular, observations on the "structural" proteins of myelin are being made that have already yielded certain unique insights into the physiologic properties of these polypeptides. The ease with which site-directed mutagenesis procedures can be applied to these systems should eventually enable us to define with great precision the "functional domains" within each myelin protein.

2',3'-Cyclic-Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases

Developmental expression of myelin proteolipid, basic protein, and 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase transcripts in different rat brain regions.

RNA was extracted from five different rat brain regions during development, starting from embryonic day 15 (E15) until postnatal day 60 (P60). These RNA preparations were analyzed by both Northern and dot blot for their content of 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNPase), myelin proteolipid protein (PLP), and myelin basic protein (MBP) -specific transcripts. CNPase mRNA was readily detectable at E15 and PLP mRNA at P1 in all brain regions examined. In contrast, expression of MBP mRNA followed a caudorostral gradient. It was first observed at P1 in the mesencephalon and at P9-P11 in the olfactory bulb. Expression of these three transcripts displayed two types of developmental profiles. One was termed biphasic because the specific mRNA level increased regularly and then reached a plateau level. The other developmental profile was termed triphasic, because there was a gradual increase in the level of specific transcripts with a sudden appearance of a sharp peak followed by a decline to a plateau level. When the triphasic pattern was observed, the date of the peak appearance was probe-, but not region-, dependent. It was P15 for CNPase, P18 for MBP, and P21 for PLP. As these peaks occurred at a time during development when myelination was the most active, we postulate the existence of a transient external signal, perhaps neuronal, which would be responsible for this increased amount of myelin-related transcripts.

2',3'-Cyclic-Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases

Chromosomal locations of genes encoding 2',3' cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase and glial fibrillary acidic protein in the mouse.

Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (CNP) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) are useful markers of myelin and astroglia, respectively. Two proteins with CNP activity are known to exist in brain and lymphoid tissues. They appear to be the products of several distinct but related messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) species. GFAP is a single protein encoded by a single mRNA. We have localized the GFAP gene to distal chromosome 11 in the mouse. There are two genetic loci identified by CNP probes, one is closely linked to the GFAP gene, and the other maps to chromosome 3.

2',3'-Cyclic-Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases

Cellular and subcellular distribution of 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase and its mRNA in the rat central nervous system.

The 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterases (CNPs) are closely related oligodendrocyte proteins whose in vivo function is unknown. To identify subcellular sites of CNP function, the distribution of CNP and CNP mRNA was determined in tissue sections from rats of various developmental ages. Our results indicate that CNP gene products were expressed exclusively by oligodendrocytes in the CNS. CNP mRNA was concentrated around oligodendrocyte perinuclear regions during all stages of myelination. Developmentally, initial detection of CNP mRNA closely paralleled initial detection of its translation products. In electron micrographs of immunostained ultrathin cryosections, CNP was associated with oligodendrocyte membranes during the earliest phase of axonal ensheathment. In more mature fibers, immunocytochemistry established that the CNPs are not major components of compact myelin but are concentrated within specific regions of the oligodendrocyte and myelin internode. These include (a) the plasma membrane of oligodendrocytes and their processes, (b) the periaxonal membrane and inner mesaxon, (c) the outer tongue process, (d) the paranodal myelin loops, and (e) the "incisure-like" membranes found in many larger CNS myelin sheaths. A cytoplasmic pool of CNP was also detected in oligodendrocyte perikarya and larger oligodendrocyte processes. CNP was also enriched in similar locations in myelinated fibers of the PNS.

2',3'-Cyclic Nucleotide 3'-Phosphodiesterase

Distribution of cAMP and cAMP-dependent protein kinases in Aplysia sensory neurons.

Sensitization of the gill- and siphon-withdrawal reflex in Aplysia is considered a simple form of learning. Previous work has provided physiological and pharmacological evidence that cAMP-dependent protein phosphorylation within identified sensory neurons of the abdominal ganglion underlies the short-term form of this behavioral modification. Our main goal in this paper is to determine the subcellular distribution of cAMP and to measure the amounts and properties of the 2 types of subunits (regulatory and catalytic) that constitute the cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Do these biochemical parameters differ in sensory cells from those in other parts of nervous tissue? We found that the increased cAMP synthesized under conditions of sensitization is distributed in 3 compartments in the neuron: most of it is free in the cytoplasm; the remainder is bound either to cytoplasmic or to particulate proteins, which are believed to be regulatory subunits of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Binding of cAMP within the neurons is a measure of activation of the kinase. At rest, 17% of the binding sites in sensory cells were occupied. After brief electrical stimulation of the connective, which released endogenous transmitter, occupancy increased to 34%. This treatment increased the amount of cAMP bound to the various binding proteins differentially. The biochemical characteristics of cAMP binding were found to be the same in sensory neurons as in the rest of the nervous system but different from those in muscle. Thus, memory and learning are likely to be mediated by enzymes that are shared by other nerve cells. We found that sensory neurons have greater cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity than other neurons, however, and as a result may be more sensitive to small increases of cAMP.

Animals

Molecular cloning of a 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase: mRNAs with different 5' ends encode the same set of proteins in nervous and lymphoid tissues.

Antibodies raised to a mixture of the 46 and 48 kDa rat CNS 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3-phosphodiesterases (CNPs) recognized apparently identical proteins in peripheral nervous system (PNS), thymus, and circulating blood lymphocytes. These antibodies were used to identify, in a rat brain phage lambda gt11 expression library, cDNA clones encoding beta-galactosidase-CNP fusion proteins, some of which showed CNP activity. In RNA blots, the subcloned CNP cDNA inserts hybridized to mRNAs of approximately 2400 and approximately 2800 nucleotides (nts), and to a approximately 2500 nt mRNA from thymus. Several nonexpressing CNP cDNAs were identified by plaque hybridization, and the mRNA transcribed in vitro from one of these cDNAs (pCNP7) encoded a complete 46 kDa CNP polypeptide. Examination of the deduced amino acid sequence revealed an apparent homology to cAMP binding sites in several other proteins. A 373 bp segment from the 5' end of this pCNP7 hybridized only to the 2800 nt nervous system mRNAs, thus revealing that not all CNP mRNAs share the same 5'-ends. Genomic DNA blots probed with CNP cDNAs suggest that there is a single gene which can be alternatively spliced to produce the various mRNA transcripts in the nervous and lymphoid tissues.

2',3'-Cyclic Nucleotide 3'-Phosphodiesterase

Serotonin and cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate modulate the potassium current in tail sensory neurons in the pleural ganglion of Aplysia.

Tail sensory neurons in the pleural ganglion that mediate the afferent portion of the tail withdrawal reflex in Aplysia californica undergo heterosynaptic facilitation of transmitter release during sensitization. As in the siphon sensory neurons, the transmitter serotonin produces facilitation and also elicits a slow, decreased conductance excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) in these neurons. Using voltage clamp and biochemical analyses, we have found that the slow EPSP in the pleural sensory neurons is due to a decrease in a potassium conductance identical to the S potassium current characterized in siphon sensory neurons. Like the S current, the current modulated by serotonin in the pleural sensory neurons is a non-inactivating potassium current, and it contributes to both the resting and action potentials. The current reverses in 120 mM external K+ at -20 mV, close to the predicted Nernst equilibrium potential. Intracellular cesium blocks the serotonin response, but the current is not blocked by equimolar substitution of barium for calcium, nor by 50 mM tetraethylammonium chloride. The effect of serotonin is cAMP dependent, since serotonin elevates cAMP and both cAMP injection and forskolin mimic the serotonin response. These results indicate that the mechanism associated with sensitization of the siphon-gill withdrawal reflex, a slow decreased potassium conductance, is also a component of the neuronal circuitry underlying modulation of another reflex, the tail withdrawal reflex. Therefore, two distinct populations of neurons subserving similar behavioral functions have related biophysical and biochemical properties.

Aplysia

Facilitatory transmitter causes a selective and prolonged increase in adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate in sensory neurons mediating the gill and siphon withdrawal reflex in Aplysia.

Sensitization of the gill and siphon withdrawal reflex in the marine mollusc, Aplysia california, is a simple form of learning Underlying this behavioral changes is a cascade of biochemical events. The first step in this cascade is postulated to be an increase in cAMP within the sensory neurons of the abdominal ganglion. We have developed a labeling protocol with 32Pi which permits us to measure the synthesis of cAMP within a single sensory neurons. Application of serotonin for 5 min was found to triple the content of [32P]cAMP in sensory neurons. The response is specific to serotonin: dopamine, a transmitter that does not produce sensitization, did not increase cAMP. Physiological stimulation of facilitator neurons also resulted in a 3.5-fold increase of cAMP in sensory neurons but not in other cells of the ganglion. We studied the time course of the increase of cAMP in sensory cells stimulated with serotonin and found that it parallels closely the time course of the short term form of presynaptic facilitation. We also have determined the effects of transmitters on the synthesis of cAMP in other identified neurons of the ganglion. The bag cells responded specifically to serotonin. R15, which has been shown to be hyperpolarized both the serotonin and by dopamine, responded to both transmitters by increased synthesis synthesis of cAMP. Thus, the dopamine- and serotonin-sensitive cyclase can be localized to both the same and different cells. Other cells did not respond to serotonin or to dopamine, indicating that a transmitter-sensitive adenylate cyclase is a specific property and is not present in all neurons.

Animals