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M R Stallcup

Publications and source records attributed to M R Stallcup.

67 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Down-regulation of glucocorticoid receptors in mouse lymphoma cell variants.

The mouse thymoma-derived cell line W7 is sensitive to the cytolytic action of glucocorticoids. We have isolated a novel class of cell variant that apparently overcomes its inherent sensitivity to glucocorticoids by reversibly down-regulating the level of glucocorticoid receptors. This phenotype is stable during subcloning in the presence and in the absence of glucocorticoids and is dominant in somatic cell hybrids with wild-type cells. Fusion of this variant with wild-type cells produces hybrids that down-regulate and are less sensitive to glucocorticoids than hybrids of receptor-negative and wild-type cells. This is the first demonstration of a phenotypic change which correlates with down-regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor.

Animals↗

Region-specific initiation of mouse mammary tumor virus RNA synthesis by endogenous RNA polymerase II in preparations of cell nuclei.

Adenosine 5'-O-(2-thiotriphosphate) (ATP beta S) and guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiotriphosphate) (GTP beta S) were used to demonstrate initiation of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) RNA in preparations of whole nuclei from control and glucocorticoid-treated MMTV-infected rat hepatoma tissue culture cells. RNA chains initiated in the cell-free reaction retain a thiol group at the 5' end and can be separated from thiol-free RNA chains by chromatography on mercury-Sepharose. The abundance of MMTV sequences was determined by nucleic acid hybridization with filter-bound DNA representing four different regions of the MMTV genome. About six times more MMTV RNA is initiated with GTP beta S than with ATP beta S. Most of the cell-free initiation of MMTV RNA occurs within or very near a 380-nucleotide section of the proviral long terminal repeat that is the presumptive site of transcription initiation in vivo. The sensitivity of MMTV RNA initiation and synthesis to alpha-amanitin and actinomycin D are characteristic of DNA-directed transcription by RNA polymerase II. Nuclei from glucocorticoid-treated cells initiate approximately 10 times more MMTV RNA than nuclei from control cells.

Animals↗

Isolation of recombinant bacteriophage containing male-specific mouse DNA.

The mammalian Y chromosome is an isolated piece of genetic material that directs sexual determination and gametogenesis. Very little is understood about the mechanism whereby the Y chromosome carries out these functions. Also, there is a severe lack of genetic markers on this chromosome. In order to understand the structure and function of the Y chromosome at the level of its DNA sequences and to provide genetic markers, we are isolating clones of DNA whose sequences are found primarily in DNA from male mice. To this end, we have developed a procedure for the identification of such clones. Application of this screening procedure to a lambda library derived from mouse sperm DNA has yielded 12 distinct clones, part of whose sequences are present predominantly in male DNA. Besides this DNA, they also contain other sequences that are shared with female DNA. These clones are either derived from the Y chromosome or they represent autosomal sequences specifically amplified during male development.

Animals↗

Immunological selection of variant mouse lymphoid cells with altered glucocorticoid responsiveness.

We have devised an immunological procedure to separate cells on the basis of expression of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) gene products. Plastic petri dishes coated with specific antibodies against MMTV proteins bind cells with an efficiency that correlates with the level of MMTV gene expression. Glucocorticoid-sensitive mouse thymoma cell line W7 was infected with MMTV. Clones from the infected population retain the relatively slow cytolytic glucocorticoid response and, in addition, exhibit a rapid induction of MMTV-specific RNA and proteins. By combining our immunological selection with the selection for resistance to hormone-mediated cytolysis, we have isolated variant cells which are resistant to the cytotoxic effect of glucocorticoids but which retain the induction of viral gene products and must therefore have a functional glucocorticoid receptor protein.

Animals↗

A comparison of nucleoside (beta-S)triphosphates and nucleoside (gamma-S)triphosphates as suitable substrates for measuring transcription initiation in preparations of cell nuclei.

RNA chains initiated with nucleoside (beta-S)triphosphates and (gamma-S)triphosphates retain the thiol groups and can be separated from thiol-free RNA by chromatography on mercury-Sepharose. Thiol-containing mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) RNA synthesized by preparations of nuclei from virus-infected cells was quantitated by nucleic acid filter hybridization. With ATP beta S and GTP beta S, region-specific initiation of MMTV RNA chains was detected in the cell free system. However, with ATP gamma S and GTP gamma S, region-specific initiation was not clearly demonstrable. The nuclear preparations can also transfer thiol groups, presumably in the form of thiophosphate, from ATP gamma S or GTP gamma S onto preexisting RNA molecules; little or no thiol-transfer occurs with the two (beta-S)-analogues. The thiophosphate transfer activity apparently interferes with the measurement of RNA chain initiation with ATP gamma S and GTP gamma S.

Animals↗

Synthesis of mouse mammary tumor virus ribonucleic acid in isolated nuclei from cultured mammary tumor cells.

Glucocorticoid hormone treatment of GR cells, a cultured line derived from mouse mammary tumor tissue, selectively stimulates the rate of transcription of integrated proviral genes specifying mammary tumor virus (MTV). We have incubated isolated nuclei from these cells under conditions in which all three endogenous RNA polymerases appear to be active. RNA synthesized in vitro is distinguished from preexisting nuclear RNA by labeling the in vitro products with [3H]CTP, and the level of MTV RNA synthesis is measured by molecular hybridization with unlabeled viral DNA. Synthesis requires the addition of nucleoside triphosphates, and is inhibited by actinomycin D. Pretreatment of GR cells with dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid, has no significant effect on the amount of total RNA synthesis in isolated nuclei. In contrast, synthesis of MTR RNA is stimulated 10-20-fold in nuclei from dexamethasone-treated cells relative to untreated control nuclei; the sensitivity of in vitro viral RNA synthesis to inhibition by alpha-amanitin suggests that it is carried out exclusively by RNA polymerase II. The fraction of total RNA synthesis which is viral specific (about 0.2-0.4% in nuclei from dexamethasone-treated cells and 0.01-0.03% in controls) is similar to that detected in pulse labeled RNA from whole GR cells in culture. Our procedures for labeling and hybridization of RNA appear to avoid artifacts recently noted in other in vitro transcription systems.

Amanitins↗

Specificity of bacterial ribosomes and messenger ribonucleic acids in protein synthesis reactions in vitro.

Ribosomes from two Gram-negative bacteria translated f2 RNA, T4 early mRNA, mRNA from three Gran-negative bacteria, and mRNA from six Gram-positive bacteria; ribosomes from three Gram-positive bacteria translated mRNA from the Gram-positive strains, but did not translate the other mRNAs. Ribosomes from the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli translated synthetic poly(U,G) but ribosomes from the Gram-positive bacterium Clostridium pasteurianum translated poly(U,G) very poorly, mRNA from Gram-negative bacteria was translated only in the presence of a high salt ribosomal wash containing initiation factors. mRNA from Gram-positive bacteria and synthetic poly(U,G) were translated much more efficiently when wash components were present, but were also translated to a small, but significant, extent in the absence of wash components. The translation specificity of each type of ribosome was independent of the source of ribosomal wash components. When the radioactively labeled products of in vitro protein synthesis were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis and autoradiography, it was found that each different bacterial and phage RNA preparation directed the synthesis of a unique set of polypeptide products of discrete sizes. Three different types of ribosomes were used to translate each of several Gram-positive bacterial messenger preparations; the overall patterns of products obtained with a given mRNA are similar, but some differences in the products formed or the relative amounts of the various products synthesized can be detected.

Azotobacter↗

Translation of synthetic and endogenous messenger ribonucleic acid in vitro by ribosomes and polyribosomes from Clostridium pasteurianum.

Ribosomes and polyribosomes from Clostridium pasteurianum were isolated and their activities were compared with those of ribosomes from Escherichia coli in protein synthesis in vitro. C. pasteurianum ribosomes exhibited a high level of activity due to endogenous messenger ribonucleic acid (RNA). For translation of polyuridylic acid [poly(U)], C. pasteurianum ribosomes required a higher concentration of Mg(2+) and a much higher level of poly(U) than did E. coli ribosomes. Phage f2 RNA added to the system with C. pasteurianum ribosomes gave no significant stimulation of protein synthesis in a homologous system or with E. coli initiation factors. The 30S and 50S subunits prepared from C. pasteurianum ribosomes reassociated less readily than subunits from E. coli. The ability of the C. pasteurianum subunits to reassociated was found to be dependent upon the presence of a reducing agent during preparation and during analysis of the reassociation products. In heterologous combinations, E. coli 30S subunits associated readily with C. pasteurianum 50S subunits to form 70S particles, but C. pasteurianum 30S subunits and E. coli 50S subunits did not associate. In poly(U) translation, E. coli 30S subunits were active in combination with 50S subunits from either E. coli or C. pasteurianum, but C. pasteurianum 30S subunits were not active in combination with either type of 50S subunits. Polyribosomes prepared from C. pasteurianum were very active in protein synthesis, and well-defined ribosomal aggregates as large as heptamers could be seen on sucrose gradients. An attempt was made to demonstrate synthesis in vitro of ferredoxin.

Amino Acids↗