Forrest Foor

Colocalization of Somatostatin Receptor sst5 and Insulin in Rat Pancreatic β-Cells1

Somatostatin, also known as somatotropin release-inhibiting factor (SRIF), is secreted by pancreatic δ-cells and inhibits the secretion of both insulin and glucagon. SRIF initiates its actions by binding to a family of six G protein-coupled receptors (sst1, -2A, -2B, -3, -4, and -5) encoded by five genes. Messenger RNA for both sst2 and sst5 have been reported in the rat pancreas, and the sst2A receptor protein has been localized to rat pancreatic α and pancreatic polypeptide-secreting cells in the islets as well as to pancreatic acinar cells. In this study we have used double immunostaining to show that the sst5 protein is expressed exclusively in the β-cells of rat pancreatic islets and localizes with insulin-secreting α-cells. The sst5 receptor is not colocalized with sst2A. Thus, in the rat SRIF inhibits pancreatic insulin and glucagon secretion via different sst receptor subtypes.

Calcineurin-dependent growth of an FK506- and CsA-hypersensitive mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The immunosuppressants FK506 and cyclosporin A (CsA) bound to their receptors, FKBP12 or cyclophilin, inhibit the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase, calcineurin, preventing T cell activation or, in yeast, recovery from alpha-mating factor arrest. Vegetative growth of yeast does not require calcineurin, and in strains sensitive to FK506 or CsA, growth is inhibited by concentrations of drug much higher than those required to inhibit T cell activation or recovery from mating factor arrest. We now describe the isolation of a mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae which is 100-1000-fold more sensitive to the growth inhibitory properties of these drugs. The mutation (fks1) also confers a slow growth phenotype which is partially suppressed by exogenously added Ca2+ and exacerbated by EGTA. Simultaneous disruption of the two genes (CNA1 and CNA2) encoding the alternative forms of the catalytic A subunit of calcineurin, or of the gene (CNB1) encoding the regulatory B subunit, is lethal in an fks1 mutant. Disruption of the gene encoding FKBP12 (FKB1) or the major, cytosolic cyclophilin (CPH1) in fks1 cells results in the loss of hypersensitivity to the relevant drug. Overexpression of CNA1 or CNA2, in conjunction with CNB1, results in a significant decrease in hypersensitivity to FK506 and CsA. The results show that the hypersensitivity of the fks1 mutant is due to the inhibition of calcineurin phosphatase activity by the receptor-drug complexes. The growth dependence of the mutant on the Ca2+/calcineurin signal pathway provides an important tool for studying in yeast certain aspects of immune suppression by these drugs.

Isolation and characterization of the Streptomyces cattleya temperate phage TG1

A temperate actinophage, TG1, was isolated from soil by growth on Streptomyces cattleya and has been shown to be potentially useful for the cloning of DNA in this organism and other streptomycetes. It forms stable lysogens by integration at a unique site on the chromosome. The phage genome consists of 41 kb of double-stranded DNA with cohesive ends. It has unique sites for ClaI, NdeI, PstI, SmaI, and XbaI. The PstI site has been shown to be in a dispensable region of the phage genome. Deletions (2 kb in length) were obtained which retain this site and should be useful for the cloning of DNA.

Vectors for generating nested deletions and facilitating subcloning G + C-rich DNA between Escherichia coli and Streptomyces sp.

New multiple cloning sites (MCS), which facilitate the subcloning of G+C-rich DNA, were added to pUC18, M13mp18, pVE616 (a pBR322-derived insertion vector), and the low-copy-number Streptomyces vector, pIJ922. The MCS in these vectors contain sites found infrequently in Streptomyces DNA, facilitating the exchange of subclones between the vectors. The MCS added to M13mp18 and pUC18 was also designed to generate nested deletions within subcloned fragments.

Construction of a shuttle vector consisting of the Escherichia coli plasmid pACYC177 inserted into the Streptomyces cattleya phage TG1

The Escherichia coli plasmid, pACYC177, was inserted into the single PstI site of a deletion derivative of the Streptomyces cattleya phage, TG1. The hybrid molecule can be propagated as a phage in S. cattleya and as a plasmid in E. coli and is readily transferred between the two species by transfection and transformation. The kanamycin-resistance-encoding gene derived from pACYC177 is not expressed in lysogens of the hybrid phage. Analysis of deletion mutants of the hybrid phage indicated that at least 7.5 kb of phage DNA is dispensable. Some of the deletion mutants fail to lysogenize S. cattleya (Lyg- phenotype). The locations of these deletions are consistent with the location of the phage att site as previously established by Southern hybridization analysis. The thiostrepton-resistance-encoding gene derived from Streptomyces azureus was inserted into Lyg+ and Lyg- deletion derivatives and is expressed in S. cattleya.