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Biomedical subjects

R Kaempfer

Publications and source records attributed to R Kaempfer.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Control of biologically active interleukin 2 messenger RNA formation in induced human lymphocytes.

The regulation of human interleukin 2 (IL-2) mRNA production in induced normal lymphocytes was studied by following the expression of isolated mRNA in microinjected oocytes of Xenopus laevis. Mitogenic stimulation results in the appearance of greatly increased levels of IL-2 mRNA activity. This process requires de novo transcription. Induction is followed promptly by a shutoff of active IL-2 mRNA formation. This shutoff requires the synthesis of a protein repressor and can be prevented by cycloheximide, an inhibitor of translation. The presence of cycloheximide leads to extensive superinduction of IL-2, concomitant with an increase in active IL-2 mRNA formation up to 30-fold over normal levels. The repressor appears to be short-lived, as the addition of cycloheximide after shutoff leads to an immediate resumption of active IL-2 mRNA formation. The shutoff mechanism is restored rapidly upon removal of cycloheximide. The repressed state is readily reversed also by reinduction of the cells, even soon after shutoff has occurred, without a refractory period. The accumulated active IL-2 mRNA decays with a half-life of about 20 hr. The net result is the generation of a relatively short wave of IL-2 mRNA activity, demonstrating the tight control of IL-2 gene expression.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1983

Translational competition by mRNA species encoding albumin, ferritin, haemopexin and globin.

Messenger RNA from rat liver was translated in a micrococcal-nuclease-treated reticulocyte lysate supplemented with liver tRNA. Synthesis of the liver proteins haemopexin, ferritin and albumin was analyzed by quantitative immunoprecipitation. The relative translation yield of these proteins changed as a function of the amount of mRNA present during protein synthesis, revealing the existence of translational competition between individual species of mRNA from the liver. The results show that the mRNA species encoding haemopexin, ferritin and albumin possess distinctly different abilities to compete for one or more critical components in translation, with competitive strength increasing in this order. Although on a weight basis total liver mRNA is apparently as effective a template for protein synthesis as is globin mRNA, the latter displays a greater resistance to inhibition of its translation by KCl. In analogy with the translation properties of alpha-globin and beta-globin mRNA [Di Segni, G., Rosen, H. and Kaempfer, R. (1979) Biochemistry, 18, 2847-2854], this finding suggests that globin mRNA possesses greater competitive strength than does total liver mRNA. Increasing amounts of globin mRNA competitively inhibit the translation of albumin and ferritin mRNA present in total liver mRNA. The competition is relieved by the addition of eukaryotic initiation factor eIF-2. Translation of ferritin mRNA responds more vigorously to relief by eIF-2 than does translation of albumin mRNA, a finding consistent with the observation that albumin mRNA competes more effectively than ferritin mRNA in translation. The results support the assumption that albumin mRNA possesses a greater affinity for eIF-2 than does ferritin mRNA.

Albumins↗
PubMed1982

Translational control by messenger RNA competition for eukaryotic initiation factor 2.

Translation of globin mRNA in a micrococcal nuclease-treated reticulocyte lysate was studied in the presence of increasing amounts of Mengovirus RNA, under conditions in which the number of translation initiation events remains constant as judged by the transfer of label from N-formyl[35S]methionyl-tRNAf into protein. The translation of globin mRNA is progressively inhibited by low concentrations of Mengovirus RNA, free of detectable traces of double-stranded RNA, concomitant with the increasing synthesis of Mengovirus RNA-directed products. On a molar basis, Mengovirus RNA apparently competes about 35 times more effectively than globin mRNA for a critical component in translation. The competition is relieved by the addition of highly purified eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF-2). Addition of eIF-2 does not stimulate overall protein synthesis, but shifts it in favor of globin synthesis. No stimulation of globin mRNA translation by eIF-2 is seen when Mengovirus RNA is absent. These experiments show that Mengovirus RNA competes, directly or indirectly, with globin mRNA for eIF-2. In direct binding experiments using isolated mRNA and eIF-2, Mengovirus RNA is shown to compete with globin mRNA for eIF-2 and to exhibit a 30-fold higher affinity for this factor. The binding of Mengovirus RNA to eIF-2 is much more resistant to increasing salt concentrations than is the binding of globin mRNA, again reflecting its high affinity. These results reveal a direct correlation between the ability of these mRNA species to compete in translation and their ability to bind to initiation factor eIF-2. They suggest that the affinity of a given mRNA species for eIF-2 is essential in determining its translation, relative to that of other mRNA species. Messenger RNA competition for eIF-2 may contribute significantly to the selective translation of viral RNA in infected cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Genomic RNA of mengovirus V. Recognition of common features by ribosomes and eucaryotic initiation factor 2.

Binding of ribosomes to the 32P-labeled genomic RNA of mengovirus was studied in lysates of mouse L929 and Krebs ascites cells under conditions for initiation of translation. Upon total digestion with RNase T1, the 32P-labeled RNA protected in either 40S or 80S initiation complexes yielded four unique, large oligonucleotides. Each of these oligonucleotides occurred once in the viral RNA molecule. The same four oligonucleotides were recovered from 80S initiation complexes formed in lysates in which unlabeled mengovirus RNA had been translated extensively, indicating that recognition by ribosomes was not modulated detectably by a viral translation product. The recognition of intact, 32P-labeled mengovirus RNA by eucaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF-2) was examined by direct complex formation. Fingerprint analysis of the RNA protected by eIF-2 against RNase T1 digestion yielded three T1 oligonucleotides that were identical to three of the four oligonucleotides protected in either 40S or 80S initiation complexes. A physical map of the large T1 oligonucleotides of the mengovirus RNA molecule was constructed, and the four protected oligonucleotides were found to map internally, within the region between the polycytidylate tract and the 3' end. For either ribosomes or eIF-2, the protected oligonucleotides could not be arranged in a continuous sequence, suggesting that they constitute at least two widely separated domains. These results show that ribosomes recognize and blind to more than a single sequence in mengovirus RNA, located internally in regions that are far removed from the 5' end of the molecule. eIF-2 itself binds with high specificity to mengovirus RNA, recognizing apparently three of the four sequences recognized by ribosomes.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Specific binding of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 to satellite tobacco necrosis virus RNA at a 5'-terminal sequence comprising the ribosome binding site.

The mRNA-binding property of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF-2) was examined by studying its interaction with satellite tobacco necrosis virus (STNV) RNA carrying a (32)P-labeled 5' end. The RNA molecules bound by limiting amounts of eIF-2 were isolated and digested with pancreatic and T1 RNases. Digestion patterns showed that the labeled STNV RNA preparation offered to eIF-2 was heterogeneous, containing more than 30 different 5' ends; by contrast, the RNA selected by eIF-2 possessed predominantly one 5' end, pApGpUp..., the 5'-terminal sequence of intact STNV RNA. Binding analysis of individual 5'-terminal fragments generated from isolated, intact, STNV RNA by partial digestion with T1 RNase showed that eIF-2 does not bind detectably to the 32-nucleotide fragment ending with the initiation codon AUG or to shorter ones, but it does bind the 44-nucleotide fragment that contains the ribosome binding site. In addition to the structural features localized at the 5' end of STNV RNA, eIF-2 appears to recognize a conformation found only in larger molecules, because intact RNA and large 5-'-terminal fragments are bound preferentially over smaller ones. However, binding of short 5'-terminal STNV RNA fragments to eIF-2 is specific, as judged by competition with STNV and ribosomal RNA. Finally, binding of eIF-2 to intact STNV RNA leads to a conformational change in the RNA that greatly facilitates cleavage by T1 and P1 RNases at sites in the vicinity of the initiation region. These results show that eIF-2 interacts specifically with the 5'-terminal region of STNV RNA that contains the ribosome binding site and causes local unfolding of the RNA structure.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Specific binding of messenger RNA and methionyl-tRNAfMet by the same initiation factor for eukaryotic protein synthesis.

Affinity chromatography on columns containing globin mRNA, R17 phage mRNA, or double-stranded RNA linked to cellose is used to demonstrate unequivocally that the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF-2) that forms a ternary complex with Met-tRNAf and GTP also binds tightly to these RNA species. Affinity chromatography of reticulocyte ribosomal wash yields over 100-fold purification of Met-tRNAf-binding factor. This factor is eluted as one of the most tightly bound proteins, and is active in protein synthesis even after passage over a column of double-stranded RNA-cellulose. eIF-2 binds mRNA and double-stranded RNA in distinctly different modes, protecting essentially all sequences in double stranded RNA, but very few in mRNA, against digestion with ribonuclease. Apparently, eIF-2 recognized the A conformation of double-stranded RNA, but not its sequence. By contrast, globin, Mengo virus, R17 and vesicular stomatitis virus mRNA are shown to possess a high-affinity binding site for eIF-2 that is absent in negative-strand RNA of vesicular stomatitis virus, an RNA that cannot serve as messenger. The results support the concept that eIF-2, the initiation factor that binds Met-tRNAf, recognizes an internal sequence in mRNA essential for protein synthesis.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1978

Translational control: recognition of the methylated 5' end and an internal sequence in eukaryotic mRNA by the initiation factor that binds methionyl-tRNAfMet.

Structural analogs of the methylated 5' end (cap) of eukaryotic mRNA, such as 7-methylguanosine 5'-monophosphate, specifically inhibit both GTP-dependent binding of Met-tRNAfMet and binding of globin mRNA to eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF-2). Addition of purified eIF-2 effectively relieves the cap analog-induced inhibition of globin mRNA translation. The analog competitively inhibits the function of eIF-2 and of mRNA in protein synthesis. Binding to eIF-2 of capped mRNA as well as noncapped mRNA, such as Mengo virus RNA, can be inhibited completely by free cap molecules, but much more cap is needed to inhibit binding of Mengo virus RNA. mRNA, whether or not it is capped, competitively inhibits the binding of Met-tRNAfMet to eIF-2. These results provide compelling evidence that eIF-2 recognizes mRNA. It is shown that binding of mRNA to eIF-2 is primarily at an internal sequence, and secondarily through the cap. A model for the function of eIF-2 is presented that can account for all these properties. This model can provide a molecular basis for the differential translation of mRNA species, whether or not they are capped.

Eukaryotic Cells↗
PubMed1978

Absence of functional beta-globin messenger RNA in Kurdish Jews with beta0-thalassemia.

Human globin messenger RNA was isolated from reticulocytes of four Jewish patients of Kurdish origin with homozygous beta0-thalassemia. On translation in the wheat-germ cell-free system, messenger RNA from these patients directed extensive synthesis of alpha- and gamma-globin chains, but synthesis of beta-globin chains was not detectable. In contrast, nonthalassemic human globin messenger RNA directed the synthesis of essentially equimolar amounts of alpha- and beta-globin. The patterns of globin synthesized by beta0-thalassemic messenger RNA in the cell-free system were virtually identical to the patterns of globin synthesized in peripheral blood cells of these patients. beta0-thalassemic messenger RNA similarly failed to direct any detectable beta-globin synthesis in a micrococcal nuclease-treated rabbit reticulocyte lysate, even in the presence of an excess of purified eukaryotic initiation factor 2. These results strongly suggest that functional messenger RNA for beta-globin chains is absent in Kurdish Jews with homozygous beta0-thalassemia.

Cell-Free System↗