Biomedical subjects

S A Fellini

Publications and source records attributed to S A Fellini.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1984

Localization of proteoglycan core protein in subcellular fractions isolated from rat chondrosarcoma chondrocytes.

Chondrocytes from the Swarm rat chondrosarcoma were pulse-labeled with [3H]serine for 30 min and chased, in the presence of cycloheximide, for times up to 300 min. The movement of newly synthesized core protein precursor of the proteoglycan through elements of the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex was examined. Rough and smooth microsome fractions were obtained by centrifuging postmitochondrial supernatants from cell homogenates on discontinuous sucrose gradients. The core protein precursor was identified in subcellular fractions by (a) immunoprecipitation with an antiserum directed against the hyaluronate binding region of the core protein and the link protein and (b) its size on polyacrylamide gels. Labeled core protein precursor decreased from the microsomes with a t1/2 of 60 +/- 8 min, nearly the same as for the appearance of label in completed proteoglycan monomer (t1/2 = 58 +/- 13 min), consistent with a precursor-product relationship. After correcting for incomplete recovery of the core protein precursor in the microsomal fractions and for cross-contamination of the smooth microsomes by elements of rough endoplasmic reticulum, the redistribution of core protein precursor and completed proteoglycan in the intracellular compartments and of labeled extracellular proteoglycan were fit to a three-compartment model. A t1/2 of 98 +/- 7 min for the loss of core protein precursor from the rough microsomes and a t1/2 = 10 +/- 4 min for the completed proteoglycan in the intracellular compartment (Golgi and secretory vesicles) was obtained. The data indicate that at least 70% of the intracellular transit time for the core protein precursor is spent in the rough endoplasmic reticulum. The addition of glycosaminoglycan chains followed by secretion from the cell occurs relatively rapidly, occupying less than 30% of the total intracellular dwell time.

Animals↗

PubMed1983

Formation of proteoglycan aggregates in rat chondrosarcoma chondrocyte cultures treated with tunicamycin.

Proteoglycan monomer and link protein isolated from the Swarm rat chondrosarcoma both contain glycosylamine-linked oligosaccharides. In monomer, these N-linked oligosaccharides are concentrated in a region of the protein core which interacts specifically with both hyaluronate and link protein to form proteoglycan aggregates present in cartilage matrix. Chondrocyte cultures were treated with tunicamycin to inhibit synthesis of the N-linked oligosaccharides, and the ability of the deficient proteoglycan and link protein to form aggregates was studied. Cultures were pretreated with tunicamycin for 3 h and then labeled with either [3H]mannose, [3H]glucosamine, [3H]serine, or with [35S]sulfate for 6 h in the presence of tunicamycin. Formation of link protein-stabilized proteoglycan aggregates in the culture medium was inhibited by up to 40% when the cells were treated with 3 micrograms of tunicamycin/ml, a concentration which inhibited 3H incorporation with mannose as a precursor by about 90%, but by only 15% with glucosamine as a precursor. When exogenous proteoglycan aggregate was added to the culture medium, however, it was found that both endogenous monomer and link protein synthesized in the presence of tunicamycin were fully able to form link-stabilized aggregates. This suggests that glycosylamine-linked oligosaccharides on monomer and on link protein are not necessary for their specific interactions with hyaluronate and with each other. Further, although tunicamycin did not inhibit net synthesis of hyaluronate, transfer of hyaluronate from the cell layer to the culture medium was retarded. This phenomenon accounted for most if not all of the decrease in the amount of proteoglycan which formed aggregates in the medium of cultures treated with tunicamycin.

Animals↗

PubMed1983

Biosynthesis of O-linked oligosaccharides on proteoglycans by chondrocytes from the swarm rat chondrosarcoma.

The core protein of proteoglycans from cartilage is substituted with glycosaminoglycans as well as N- and O-glycosidically linked oligosaccharides. We have taken advantage of the long intracellular half-life of the core protein precursor to the rat chondrosarcoma proteoglycan to study the temporal relationship between the addition of the chondroitin sulfate chains and the O-linked oligosaccharides onto the core protein during the formation of the completed proteoglycan molecule. Chondrocyte cultures were pulsed on day 2 with [6-3H]glucosamine for times ranging from 30-420 min. Media and corresponding 4% zwittergent, 4 M guanidine HCl extracts were then pooled and subjected to dissociative density gradient ultracentrifugation to yield purified proteoglycan monomers which were then subjected to alkaline borohydride treatment. The released chondroitin sulfate chains were then purified by precipitation with 50% (v/v) ethanol. The O-linked oligosaccharide-alditols in the supernatant fractions were purified by molecular sieve chromatography on Bio-Gel P-6, and analyzed after digestion with alpha-neuraminidase and subsequent chromatography on Bio-Gel P-2. The different O-linked oligosaccharide-alditols were identified from their hexosamine and hexosaminitol contents. The kinetics of entry of 3H label into N-acetylgalactosamine of chondroitin sulfate was indistinguishable from that into either N-acetylglucosamine or N-acetylgalactosaminitol residues of the oligosaccharide-alditols, with half-times to linear incorporation of 10-17 min. These results show that initiation as well as completion of the O-linked oligosaccharides on the core protein occurs essentially at the same time that chondroitin sulfate chains are added. The results suggest that these biosynthetic processes occur in the Golgi apparatus during the last few minutes of the total intracellular dwell time (half-time of about 90 min) of the core protein acceptor.

Animals↗

PubMed1981

Polydispersity of proteoglycans synthesized by chondrocytes from the Swarm rat chondrosarcoma.

The population of proteoglycan monomers in aggregates was purified from chondrocyte cultures after labeling with either [3H]serine and [35S]methionine or [3H]serine and [35S]sulfate. Digestion of the monomers labeled with [3H]serine and [35S]methionine with trypsin indicated that serine was enriched (approximately 80%) in the chondroitin sulfate attachment region of the core protein, while methionine was enriched (approximately 60%) in the hyaluronic acid-binding region. Sepharose CL-2B chromatography and velocity gradients were used to isolate monomer subfractions which differed in molecular size. The 3H/35S ratios for the subfractions from monomers labeled with [3H]serine and [35S]methionine were nearly constant, indicating that the core protein lengths were constant regardless of the size of the monomer. Conversely, the 3H/35S ratios for subfractions of monomers labeled with [3H]serine and [35S]sulfate increased significantly with decreasing sizes. Chondroitin sulfate chains in subfractions were released by alkaline borohydride treatment. The mean molecular weights of the chondroitin sulfate chains decreased from approximately 18,500 in the largest subclass of monomers to approximately 12,500 in the smallest. [3H]Serine-labeled monomer subfractions were digested with papain to determine the proportion of serine residues substituted with chondroitin sulfate. The distribution of label was constant for greater than 90% of the monomers from the largest to the smallest. The results indicate that, for at least 90% of the newly synthesized monomers that are able to aggregate, variation in chondroitin sulfate chain size is the only contributing factor to polydispersity in their molecular size.

Animals↗

PubMed1981

Changes in the sulfated proteoglycans synthesized by "aging" chondrocytes. I. Dispersed cultured chondrocytes and in vivo cartilages.

Structural and chemical changes in the sulfated proteoglycans synthesized by "aging" cultures of dispersed chondrocytes were compared to those synthesized by freshly excised, intact cartilage explants in organ culture from chickens of various ages. In vitro, chondrocytes isolated from embryonic chick vertebral cartilages synthesized a proteoglycan monomer characteristic of cartilage (type IV). Monomers synthesized between 3 days and 6 weeks in culture: (i) showed a decrease in average molecular size, which could be correlated, in part, with a decrease in the average size of the chondroitin sulfate chains; (ii) were able to interact with hyaluronic acid to form proteoglycan aggregates regardless of size; (iii) maintained a relatively constant 6S/4S disaccharide ratio of 2.2 for chondroitin sulfate; and (iv) maintained a constant keratan sulfate composition of 5 to 10%. Sulfated proteoglycans synthesized by freshly excised embryonic tibia cartilaginous head and by tibial articular cartilages of 1- and 6-year-old chickens were compared. With age: (i) the type IV monomer size decreased; (ii) the chondroitin sulfate chain size decreased; (iii) the type IV monomers retained their ability to interact with hyaluronic acid; (iv) the 6S/4S disaccharide ratio decreased from 1.7 to 0.6; (v) the keratan sulfate composition increased from 7 to 40%. Although monomer sizes decrease in both the culture and explant systems, in other respects the differences are considerable. These findings suggest that the changes in sulfated proteoglycans observed in subcultured monolayers of chondrocytes must be interpreted with caution when attempting to relate them to the changes that occur in aging in vivo chondrocytes.

Animals↗

PubMed1981

Changes in the sulfated proteoglycans synthesized by "aging" chondrocytes. II. Organ-cultured vertebral columns.

Sulfated proteoglycans synthesized by intact embryonic chick vertebral cartilages maintained in organ culture were characterized by labeling the vertebral chondrocytes with [35S]sulfate. More than 95% of the sulfated macromolecules synthesized by the cartilages are retained in their extracellular matrix. Sucrose velocity sedimentation gradient analyses revealed that the intact cartilages synthesized primarily proteoglycan monomers typical of cartilage and also small amounts of a smaller sized proteoglycan. The continuously varying size distribution of monomers which characterize a population of proteoglycans, could, in part, be attributed to heterogeneity of other chondroitin sulfate chain size. Changes in the proteoglycans synthesized by intact cartilages were analyzed between 6 h and 8 days of organ culture: (i) monomers decreased in molecular size with age in organ culture; (ii) the decrease in monomer size could be partially attributed to a shortening of their chondroitin sulfate chains; (iii) the 6S/4S disaccharide composition of the chondroitin sulfate chains also changed with culture age, from 1.8 to 0.3. This change was shown to be independent of the concomitant decrease in monomer size. These changes are similar to those which occur in proteoglycans synthesized by articular cartilages from chickens of increasing age. This cartilage culture system is likely to be a more useful model for studying changes which accompany aging and/or senescence in cartilage in vivo than the more commonly studied dispersed chondrocyte cultures.

Animals↗

PubMed1979

Redistribution of intermediate filament subunits during skeletal myogenesis and maturation in vitro.

The distribution of intermediate filament (IF) subunits during maturation of skeletal myotubes in vitro was examined by immunofluorescence, using antibodies against two different types of chick IF subunits: (a) 58-kdalton subunits of fibroblasts (anti-58K), and (b) 55-kdalton subunits of smooth muscle (anti-55K). Anti-58K bound to a filament network in replicating presumptive myoblasts and fibroblasts, as well as in immature myotubes. The distribution in immature myotubes was in longitudinal filaments throughout the cytoplasm. With maturation, staining of myotubes by anti-58K diminished and eventually disappeared. Anti-55K selectively stained myotubes, and the fluorescence localization underwent a drastic change in distribution with maturation--from dense, longitudinal filaments in immature myotubes to a cross-striated distribution in mature myotubes that was associated with the I--Z region of myofibrils. However, the emergence of a cross-striated anti-55K pattern did not coincide temperally with the emergence of striated myofibrils, but occurred over a period of days thereafter.

Animals↗

PubMed1979

Differential location of different types of intermediate-sized filaments in various tissues of the chicken embryo.

The location of constitutive proteins of different types of intermediate-sized (about 10 mm) filaments (cytokeratin, vimentin, desmin, brain filament protein) was examined in various tissues of 11--20 day chick embryos, using specific antibodies against the isolated proteins and immunofluorescence microscopy on frozen sections and on isolated serous membrane. The tissues studied which contained epithelia were small intestine, gizzard, esophagus, crop, liver, kidney, thymus, mesenteries, and epidermis. The results show that the different intermediate filament proteins, as seen in the same organ, are characteristic of specific lines of differentiation: Cytokeratin filaments are restricted to--and specific for--epithelial cells; vimentin filaments are seen--at this stage of embryogenesis--only in mesenchymal cells, including connective tissue, endothelial and blood cells, and chondrocytes; filaments containing protein(s) related to the subunit protein prepared from gizzard 10 nm filaments (i.e., desmin) are significant only in muscle cells; and intermediate filament protein of brain, most probably neurofilament protein, is present only in nerve cells. We conclude that for most tissues the expression of filaments of cytokeratin, vimentin, desmin, and neurofilament protein is mutually exclusive, and that these protein structurees provide useful markers for histochemical and cytochemical differentiation of cells of epithelial, mesenchymal, myogenic, and neurogenic differentiation.

Animals↗

PubMed1978

Selective binding of antibody against gizzard 10-nm filaments to different cell types in myogenic cultures.

Antibody against the intermediate-sized filaments from gizzard smooth muscle was used to determine the presence or absence of reacting 10-nm filaments in different cell types. The antibody against gizzard 10-nm filaments reacted with filaments in cultured smooth muscle cells, skeletal myotubes and postmitotic skeletal myoblasts. It did not bind to the 10-nm filaments present in replicating presumptive myoblasts and fibroblasts, or the 10-nm filaments in spinal ganglion cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1978

Differences among 100-A filamentilament subunits from different cell types.

The protein subunit of 100-A filaments constitutes approximately 50% of the cytoskeleton protein of chick fibroblasts. In addition to the 43,000-dalton protein (constitutive actin) common to all cell types, fibroblast cytoskeletons contain a 58,000-dalton protein likely to be the 100-A filament subunit, whereas smooth muscle contains, instead, a 55,000-dalton protein. Additional differences among 100-A filaments are shown by immunofluorescence using antibodies angainst chick fibroblast 58,000-dalton component (anti-F58K) and against chick brain 100-A filament subunits (anti-BF). Anti-F58K binds to 100-A filaments in chick fibroblasts, presumptive myoblasts, chondroblasts, pigment cells, and neurons, but not to 100-A filaments in mouse or human fibroblasts. This antibody stains cables of 100-A filaments induced by sequentially treating cells with cytochalasin B and Colcemid. Anti-BF binds only to neurofilaments and not to 100-A filaments of other cell types studied. Absorption or antibodies with purified subunits from gizzard 100-A filaments eliminates binding of anti-F58K to the filaments of all cell types but does not diminish binding of anti-BF to neurofilaments. Various IgGs also bind nonspecifically to induced cables of 100-A filaments. The problem of nonspecific binding of labeled antibodies, as well as the problem of cell and species specificity of the 100-A filaments, is discussed.

Actins↗

PubMed1978

Biochemical and immunological heterogeneity of 100 A filament subunits from different chick cell types.

The 100 A filament subunit proteins of chick fibroblasts and gizzard smooth muscle were compared. These proteins are major cellular components in these cell types, constituting up to 98% of the cell's total protein. Co-electrophoresis of cytoskeletal fractions of fibroblasts and smooth muscle revealed that the subunit proteins differed in their molecular weights: 58,000 daltons in fibroblasts and 55,000 daltons in smooth muscle. Cytoskeletal fractions from other cell types were also examined: chondroblasts contained the 58,000 dalton subunit, and cytoskeletons of skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle contained both 55,000 and 58,000 dalton proteins. Chick skin and rat kangaroo Pt K2 cells had more complex subunit patterns which resemble prekeratin. The peptide patterns resulting from proteolytic digestion of the 58,000 dalton protein of fibroblasts, the 55,000 dalton proteins of smooth muscle and PT K2 cells, and chick brain tubulin differed from one another. Two-dimensional electrophoresis of reconstituted gizzard smooth muscle 100 A filaments showed the 55,000 dalton subunit to be composed of two major components, differing in their isoelectric points. Antibodies prepared against electrophoretically purified 55,000 dalton subunit protein reacted in immunodiffusion against the original smooth muscle antigen and cytoskeletal fractions from skeletal and cardiac muscle, but not from fibroblasts, brain, liver, or skin cells. A specific antigenic determinant common to subunit proteins in smooth, skeletal, and cardiac muscle, is therefore indicated. A previously described antibody against fibroblast subunit protein reacted weakly against smooth muscle filament protein in immunodiffusion revealing the presence of a common antigenic determinant between the two subunit proteins. These data demonstrate striking antigenic and primary structural differences in 100 A filament subunits from even such closely related cell types as fibroblasts on the one hand and muscle cells on the other.

Animals↗

PubMed1978

Immunofluorescent visualization of 100 A filaments in different cultured chick embryo cell types.

Antibody prepared against the 55,000 dalton subunit of reconstituted chick gizzard 100 A filaments (anti-G55K) bound to the 100 A filaments of chick smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and skeletal muscle cells, and to the 100 A filaments of Schwann cells and satellite glial cells of the peripheral nervous system. Anti-G55K did not bind to replicating presumptive myoblasts, fibroblasts, chondroblasts, pigment cells, neurons, or to central nervous system glial cells. This contrasted with the wider range of binding of antibody to the 58,000 dalton subunit of chick fibroblast 100 A filaments (anti-F58K) which bound to the 100 A filaments of all cell types examined except hepatocytes and skin epithelial cells. Anti-G55K) staining revealed a morphologically distinct distribution of 100 A filaments in the three types of muscle cells. Spindle shaped smooth muscle cells exhibited dense fluorescent staining near the poles of the cells, and also exhibited unique patches of fluorescent material after cytochalasin B and Colcemid treatment. In myotubes, the fluorescence was limited to longitudinal bundles of filaments between the striated myofibrils. Cardiac cells contained uniformly distributed fine filaments. Lastly, smooth muscle cells in various phases of mitosis bound the anti-G55K, whereas replicating presumptive skeletal myoblasts failed to bind the anti-G55K.

Animals↗

PubMed1976

The localization of skeletal light meromyosin in cells of myogenic cultures.

Fluorescent antibodies against skeletal light meromyosin were used to study the localization of this muscle-specific antigen in myotubes, myoblasts, presumptive myoblasts and fibroblasts found in six-day myogenic cultures. The labelled antibody bound only to the lateral edges of the A-bands in myofibrils. The antibody did not bind to antigens in the nucleus, cytoplasm or in the microfilaments beneath the plasmalemma in any of the cell types examined. Similarly, the external face of the cell surface of unfixed, living myotubes and mononucleated cells did not bind the antibody. Immunodiffusion tests confirm these results: high salt extracts of myotube-containing cultures reacted against anti-skeletal light meromyosin, whereas extracts of fibroblasts and presumptive myoblast cultures failed to precipitate the antibody. It is proposed that if myosin is present in the plasmalemma of these cells, as is suggested bhe myofibrils of definitive muscle.

Cell Membrane↗

PubMed1975

Differences among myosins synthesized in non-myogenic cells, presumptive myoblasts, and myoblasts.

Myosins synthesized in non-myogenic cells and replicating presumptive myoblasts differ from those synthesized in postmitotic mononucleated myoblasts and myotubes. Myoblasts and myotubes synthesize the definitive light chains, MLC1 and MLC2. These light chains display different molecular weights in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels from the fibroblast light chains FLC1 and FLC2 synthesized in non-myogenic cells and presumptive myoblasts. There are immunological differences between the myosin heavy chains synthesized in myoblasts and myotubes and those synthesized in non-myogenic cells and presumptive myoblasts. Fluorescein-labeled antibodies against skeletal light meromyosin are bound only along the lateral edges of emerging and definitive A-bands. This antibody to light meromyosin is not bound to the outside of, or the microfilaments subtending, the plasma membrane in non-myogenic cells or in myoblasts or in myotubes. These findings suggest that: (1) non-myogenic cells and replicating presumptive myoblasts synthesize similar myosin heavy and light chains; (2) replicating presumptive myoblasts synthesize a different set of myosins from those synthesized by their postmitotic daughters, the myoblasts; (3) the myosins associated with the plasma membranes of non-myogenic and myogenic cells are products of structural genes distinct from those coding for the myosins for skeletal myofibrils.

Animals↗