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Direct visualization of MCM helicase activation and replisome coupling in situ.

Deciphering the spatial organization of molecular machines that copy the genome remains a fundamental challenge in biology. Essential for eukaryotic DNA replication, Mini-Chromosome Maintenance (MCM2-7) helicases are loaded during G1 as double hexamers (DHs) to license replication origins. Upon activation in S phase, each DH is thought to split into two single hexamers (SHs) that form the active CMG helicases and travel bidirectionally. However, the field has long been divided: biochemical and structural studies define CMG helicases as autonomous, independent motors, while genomic and cellular imaging assays suggest sister replisomes remain physically coupled within replication factories. Here, we use MINFLUX nanoscopy to localize individual MCM complexes down to nanometer precision in situ, directly resolving DHs in human cells and capturing their separation into SHs upon origin firing. We find that the resulting sister replisomes do not diffuse apart: they remain coupled at a characteristic distance of ~40 nm throughout S phase. Depletion experiments identify two distinct contributions to this coupling: local, protein-mediated tethering by the AND1 scaffold, and higher-order spatial confinement dependent on cohesin, which is dispensable for MCM loading in G1 but required to maintain coupling in S phase. By linking the nanometer-scale architecture of the replisome to the genome-wide topology of replication fountains, these findings provide direct spatial evidence that sister forks are coupled during DNA synthesis and define the molecular forces that organize replisomes within their native nuclear context.

DNA replication

Rapid DNA replication origin licensing protects stem cell pluripotency.

Complete and robust human genome duplication requires loading minichromosome maintenance (MCM) helicase complexes at many DNA replication origins, an essential process termed origin licensing. Licensing is restricted to G1 phase of the cell cycle, but G1 length varies widely among cell types. Using quantitative single-cell analyses, we found that pluripotent stem cells with naturally short G1 phases load MCM much faster than their isogenic differentiated counterparts with long G1 phases. During the earliest stages of differentiation toward all lineages, MCM loading slows concurrently with G1 lengthening, revealing developmental control of MCM loading. In contrast, ectopic Cyclin E overproduction uncouples short G1 from fast MCM loading. Rapid licensing in stem cells is caused by accumulation of the MCM loading protein, Cdt1. Prematurely slowing MCM loading in pluripotent cells not only lengthens G1 but also accelerates differentiation. Thus, rapid origin licensing is an intrinsic characteristic of stem cells that contributes to pluripotency maintenance.

Cell Cycle

Propionate metabolism in cultured human cells after overexpression of recombinant methylmalonyl CoA mutase: implications for somatic gene therapy.

Strategies for somatic gene therapy must consider the metabolic consequences of expressing the recombinant gene product in addition to methods for gene transfer and expression. We describe studies of propionate metabolism in cultured cells transfected with methylmalonyl CoA mutase (MCM), the enzyme deficient in mut methylmalonic acidemia. Transfection of MCM into mut fibroblasts restores propionate metabolism to normal levels in a dose-dependent manner. Overexpression of MCM, or the addition of excess propionate, carnitine, or cobalamin, does not increase propionate metabolism in normal human fibroblasts, lymphoblasts, or hepatoma cells, although hepatic cells exhibit > 10-fold higher levels of propionate metabolism. Significantly, the restoration of propionate metabolism in mut fibroblasts is disproportionately greater than the efficiency of transfection, suggesting the presence of a cooperative phenomenon between cells. Intercellular participation in propionate metabolism is evident in cocultures of MCM-deficient and propionyl CoA carboxylase-deficient cells. We conclude that the liver is the preferred target for gene therapy of MCM deficiency because of its greater capacity for propionate metabolism and that cooperation between cells could enhance the biological effect of a subpopulation of cells transformed with recombinant MCM.

Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors

Clinical and biochemical assessment of a modified evaporated milk for infant feeding.

A clinical and biochemical evaluation has been made of a new milk formula, Modified Carnation milk (MCM), based on cows' milk but with the mineral content and concentration of caloric nutrients altered to make it correspond more closely to human milk. MCM produced higher plasma calcium and magnesium concentrations in 6-day-old infants than those produced by unmodified evaporated and dried milks, achieving concentrations closer to those of breast milk. Plasma free amino acid concentrations in MCM-fed infants are nearer breast-fed values than those in unmodified milk-fed infants where higher individual plasma amino acid concentrations persist during the first 3 months. MCM-fed infants had low plasma urea concentrations and lower urine osmolalities at 6 days, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months than infants fed on the evaporated and dried milks, and similar plasma urea and urine osmolalities to those of breast-fed infants. MCM is likely to be superior to unmodified evaporated and dried milks in preventing convulsions of the hypocalcaemic/hypomagnesaemic/hyperphosphataemic type, and seems less likely to cause hypertonic dehydration. MCM is easily prepared, readily accepted by babies, and appears to be nutritionally adequate for the feeding of term infants.

Amino Acids

[Genetic syndromes of multiple congenital developmental defects].

Analysis of developmental defects in 615 children who had died in hospitals in Minsk during the 5-year period (1971--1975)showed that in 274 children defects were multiple. This number includes 78 children with chromosomal diseases and 37 children with genic syndromes of multiple congenital malformations (MCM). The total number of genic syndromes of MCM is extremely great, at present over 250 of them are known. Analysis of the available literature and the authors' own findings made it possible to develop criteria of morphological diagnosis of genic syndromes of MCM with due account for different diagnostic significance of various defects. Genealogical studies and estimation of population incidence of individual malformations are also necessary for diagnosis of genic syndromes of MCM and identification of new syndromes. An etiological classification of MCM and that of genic syndromes of MCM are considered on the basis of isolation of similar clinical forms, which are of important for differential diagnosis.

Abnormalities, Multiple

[Morphology and growth cycle of Hyphomicrobium with a screw-like prostheca].

Hyphomicrobium with a screw-like prostheca was isolated from a mixed culture of soil bacteria. Its morphology and growth cycle were studied by electron microscopy. The adult organisms are 1.6-1.8 mcm long and 0.8 mcm thick. The diameter of the prostheca is 0.2-0.3 mcm and sometimes up to 10-12 mcm. It has a peculiar screw-like structure of the cell wall surface and forms branches at whose ends daughter organisms develop. The bacterium multiplies not only by vegetative growth but also by conjugation.

Bacteria

[Characteristics of the lymphoid cells of rabbits].

By means of scanning electron microscopy it has been stated that the thymus gland, spleen, paratracheal lymph node, Peyer's patches and appendix in an intact rabbit of "Shinshilla" strain have T- and B-lymphocytes in different proportion. T-lymphocytes are seen as spherical cells with rough surface, with a few microprocesses, have 3.0 +/- 0.1 mcm--4.7 +/- 0.2 mcm in diameter depending on their location. B-lymphocytes are seen as spherical cells with a considerable amount of microvilli on their surface, have 2.9 +/- 0.1 mcm--4.4 +/- 0.1 mcm in diameter depending also on their location. In the thymus gland, cells with rough surface, a few microprocesses and crater-like hollows prevail. In the spleen and lymph node, most of the cells are of similar diameter and have microvilli on the surface. Lymphoid population in the Peyer's patch and appendix is represented by large cells with microprocesses.

Animals

[Study of the sequential stages of Proteus vulgaris L-transformation by scanning electron microscopy].

Consecutive stages of L-transformation caused by penicillin in Proteus vulgaris were studied, from spheroplasts and unstable, easily reversing L-forms to stable L-forms which did not reverse. To maintain natural topography of the culture on the growth medium, millipore filters were placed on the surface of the medium and then were fixed with the culture. All the main elements of L-cultures were found at the stage of spheroplast formation, before the first passage onto the medium for cultivating L-forms, i.e. spherical cells having a diameter from 3.5 to 1 mcm, elementary bodies 1.0-0.6 mcm large, filamentous structures with a diameter to 4 mcm, large bodies having dimensions of 20 mcm and more, and "cell-free" masses. The composition of the structural elements and their reproduction are supposed to be almost the same in the bacterial culture and L-forms at the stage of spheroplast formation.

L Forms

Surface modification of guinea pig sperm during in vitro capacitation: an assessment using lectin-induced agglutination of living sperm.

Plant lectins have been used to advantage to study carbohydrate-containing cell surface receptors in numerous systems. In this study, a simple, reliable assay was developed to quantitate lectin-induced agglutinability of sperm. This assay was used successfully to compare some of the surface properties of uncapacitated and capacitated guinea pig sperm. Capacitation was induced by incubating sperm in minimum capacitation medium (MCM) or modified Tyrodes solution (T-PL). Control incubations were done in Ham's F-10 or Hank's balanced salt solution which do not support capacitation. At timed intervals during incubation, sperm samples were assessed for pattern and degree of lectin-induced agglutination. Results establish that: (1) soybean agglutinin (SBA) and to a lesser extent concanavalin A (Con A) induced agglutinability of guinea pig sperm increase during in vitro capacitation in MCM; (2) a similar increase in SBA induced agglutinability occurs during capacitation in T-PL, but not in the non-capacitating media; and (3) for sperm incubated in MCM or T-PL, there is a significant increase in tail to tail agglutination after capacitation. The results with SBA demonstrate that D-galactose and/or N-acetyl-D-galactosamine containing receptor sites or the guinea pig sperm surface are affected by capacitation, and this effect occurs, at least in part, in the sperm tail. Possible explanations for the observed increase in agglutinability are discussed. The agglutination assay may prove useful as a direct test for the occurrence of capacitation and may be especially valuable for species having a small acrosome or limited number of eggs.

Acrosome

Aerobic work capacity in chronically undernourished adult males.

Maximal O2 consumption (VO2max) and maximal endurance time at 80% Vo2max (T80) were determined in 49 subjects with varying degrees of nutritional compromise. Vo2max was lover by 21% and 52% in subjects with moderate and severe undernutrition, respectively, when compared to men with mild nutritional compromise. Most (80%) of the change in Vo2max could be related to the estimated differences in muscle cell mass (MCM). A significant reduction (-18%) in the Vo2max per unit of MCM was found in the severely undernourished subjects, indicating basic physiological changes. Total body hemoglobin showed the highest correlation with Vo2max (r = 0.709) and at constant MCM (partial r = 0.796). A multiple regression equation was derived to estimate the Vo2max of populations on the basis of simple anthropometry and blood hemoglobin levels. T80 (93-103 min) and estimated maximum sustained 8-h percent effort (32%) in mild, intermediate, or severe undernutrition were not significantly different; by contrast, endurance at a given absolute work load was markedly lower in severe undernutrition (8 vs. 1.5 h) due presumably to the difference in Vo2max.

Adipose Tissue

Cloning and expression of a mutant methylmalonyl coenzyme A mutase with altered cobalamin affinity that causes mut- methylmalonic aciduria.

Distinct genotypic and phenotypic forms of methylmalonyl CoA mutase (MCM) apoenzyme deficiency can be delineated by biochemical analysis of mutant fibroblasts. One form, designated mut-, expresses a phenotype in which residual enzyme activity is evident in cultured cells exposed to high concentrations of hydroxycobalamin. We describe cloning of an MCM cDNA from cells exhibiting a mut- phenotype and characterization of the mutant gene product overexpressed in primary muto human fibroblasts and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Three novel base changes were observed. Recombinant clones containing one of these base changes (G717V) express four characteristics of the mut- phenotype: failure to constitute [14C]propionate incorporation activity in fibroblasts assayed under basal cell culture conditions, constitution of [14C]propionate incorporation activity in fibroblasts stimulated with 0.1-1.0 micrograms/ml hydroxycobalamin, interallelic complementation with alleles bearing an R93H mutation, and an apparent Km (adenosylcobalamin) 1,000-fold higher than normal. These results demonstrate that the G717V mutation produces the mut- phenotype and localizes determinants for adenosylcobalamin binding near the carboxyl terminus of MCM.

Amino Acid Sequence

Human osteoblasts in culture synthesize collagenase and other matrix metalloproteinases in response to osteotropic hormones and cytokines.

Collagenase production by rodent osteoblasts in response to calciotropic hormones has led to the hypothesis that bone cells play a major role in bone resorption by degrading the surface osteoid layer, thereby exposing the underlying mineralized matrix to osteoclastic action. Many studies suggest, however, that this model might not apply to bone resorption in the human. Human osteoblasts have been shown to produce gelatinase-A (72 kDa) and TIMP-1 (tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases), but previous investigators have been unable to demonstrate the synthesis of collagenase by human osteoblasts either constitutively or in response to bone resorptive agents. In the present study the ability of human osteoblasts to produce the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) collagenase, gelatinase and stromelysin, and their specific inhibitors TIMPs-1 and 2, was examined using highly sensitive and specific antisera and by zymography. Semi-quantitative histomorphometric data showed that cells cultured on either glass or a type I collagen substratum constitutively synthesized gelatinase-A and TIMP-1. On type I collagen, however, a small proportion of unstimulated cells produce both collagenase (7%) and gelatinase-B (95 kDa; 3%). Treatment of cells with either parathyroid hormone (PTH), 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3), or partially purified mononuclear cell conditioned medium (MCM), stimulated the synthesis of collagenase, gelatinase-B and stromelysin; MCM was 2- to 3-fold more potent than either PTH or 1,25(OH)2D3. Zymography using SDS/PAGE on conditioned media from cells cultured on type I collagen films revealed the presence of active gelatinase-A and that MCM stimulated progelatinase-B synthesis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult

Effects of lemakalim and thalium on early afterdepolarization in mouse atrial fibers.

The effects of lemakalim (BRL 38227) and thallium ion (Tl) on action potential (AP) and on early afterdepolarization (EAD) were studied in mouse atrial fibers. Under treatment with lemakalim (25 mcM) or Tl (0.2 mM), the AP was not significantly changed except for the reduction of duration of AP (APD). EAD induced by 3.0 mM K superfusion was abolished by 50 mcM lemakalim and only partially inhibited or was not effected under 25 mcM lemakalim. However, EAD was abolished completely and rapidly by Tl treatment. With addition of K concentration in superfusate to 5.0 mM the EAD could only be partially inhibited. By further increasing the K concentration to 7.0 mM the EAD could be completely abolished. It is suggested that the activator of outward current could inhibit EAD as well as the blockers of inward currents.

Action Potentials

A method to simultaneously investigate histamine-induced cyclic AMP and aminopyrine accumulation in isolated gastric mucosal cells from human biopsies.

A method has been developed to simultaneously measure two parameters of histamine-induced gastric secretion, cyclic AMP and aminopyrine accumulation, in gastric mucosal cells from human biopsies. Histamine stimulated cyclic AMP and aminopyrine accumulation with different time courses. Cyclic AMP production reached a maximum at 30 min, whereas maximal aminopyrine accumulation was obtained after the cells had been incubated for 90 min in presence of 100 mcM histamine. Histamine was more potent in stimulating aminopyrine than cyclic AMP accumulation. The ED50 values for histamine-induced aminopyrine accumulation were estimated to be 0.88 +/- 0.02 and 25.53 +/- 8.75 mcM for cyclic AMP production, respectively. The aminopyrine accumulation was more than half-maximally increased at 1 mcM histamine without significant effects on the cyclic AMP basal level. It remains to be elucidated whether this finding indicates, besides cyclic AMP, the involvement of calcium in histamine stimulus. The histamine H2-receptor antagonists cimetidine and ranitidine inhibited both in vitro parameters, whereas the gastric proton pump inhibitor omeprazole only affected aminopyrine accumulation. Our method might be a valuable tool for in vitro pharmacological and clinical investigations on histamine-induced gastric secretion in human biopsies.

Adult

[Compensatory-adaptive responses of the microcirculatory bed of rat mesentery in hypoxia].

Television microscopy and stroboscopic determination of the blood flow speed showed that linear and volumetric speed of the blood flow in arterioles with gauge 40--20 mcm and venules with gauge 40--50 mcm diminished during repeated action of hypoxia and constrictory reaction. In capillaries and postcapillary venules with gauge 11--39 mcm, there was a dilatation with an original increase and subsequent decrease of the blood flow speed.

Adaptation, Physiological

[Development of bacteria and their activity in an aqueous surface film under experimental conditions].

The formation and number of bacteria in the surface film of water depend on the content of organic substances in water. In flasks containing distilled water after 1-2 days, a bacterial film 5-7 mcm thick is formed at the surface; in flasks with water taken from reservoirs, the film is 5-15 mcm thick; in flasks with water containing organic substances, the film is 15-50 mcm thick. A distinct bacterial band of growth is formed on glasses semisubmerged in water in this layer. At the beginning, bacterial rodshaped cells are oriented by their side surface to the surface layer of water. Judging by the assimilation of protein labeled hydrolysate, the total activity of bacterial population in a film is much higher than in deep water layers. In the course of time, the number of bacteria changes, they begin to die off, and their species are substituted by other bacterial species. Numerous motile forms and various Caulobacterial forms are found in the surface layer of water. The dimensions of bacterial cells growing on glass are much larger than in dry preparations obtained from this film on membrane filters.

Bacteria

Correction of methylmalonyl-CoA mutase deficiency in Mut0 fibroblasts and constitution of gene expression in primary human hepatocytes by retroviral-mediated gene transfer.

Methylmalonic acidemia is an often fatal inborn error of organic acid metabolism due to deficiency of methylmalonyl-CoA mutase. The cloning of genes encoding this enzyme and the advent of technologies for gene transfer have introduced the possibility of somatic gene therapy for this disorder. Gene therapy may require replacement of the defective enzyme in hepatocytes, which have a greater capacity for propionate metabolism than other somatic cells and represent the principle physiological site of propionate metabolism. We describe construction of an amphotropic retroviral vector containing the human methylmalonyl-CoA mutase cDNA. This vector is shown to transduce primary MCM-deficient fibroblasts and restore levels of [14C]propionate metabolism by cultures of nonselected cells to normal. This vector will transduce primary human hepatocytes and direct transcription of recombinant human MCM from the integrated provirus. This work demonstrates the feasibility of retroviral-mediated gene transfer of methylmalonyl-CoA mutase into primary human cells, including hepatocytes which represent a difficult, but potentially necessary, target for gene therapy of methylmalonic acidemia.

3T3 Cells

[Experimental microscopy and photography of the bulbar conjunctiva capillaries].

The authors worked out a new method of in vivo observation and microphotography of the rabbit bulbar conjunctiva capillaries in this experiment. A Soviet-made luminescent contact microscope LUMAM K-1 (LOMO) was employed. In general, maximal magnification of this microscope for visual observation equals more than 600. The photographs for this experiment were made with magnifications of 150 and 200. A 10% sodium fluorescein solution was injected in the ear vein before the experiment (0.2 ml/kg of the body weight). The 500-unit, sensitive film was used for the photographs. Microvessel diameter was measured on the film with the help of a stereocamparator. As the data obtained demonstrate, conjunctival capillary diameter varied from 3 to 9 mcm, averaging 8 mcm. This method of contact biomicroscopy permits to the performance of capillarography and capillaroscopy of bulbar conjunctiva along with quantitative evaluation of capillary parameters and some reological indicators.

Animals