Sayeeda Zain

The mts1 gene and control of tumor metastasis.

The main stream of biology today is the analysis of the molecular mechanisms of major biological phenomena through studies of the genes governing these processes and their protein products. An example is the problem of tumor metastasis which is extremely important both theoretically and practically. Here we describe the data obtained on the detection, cloning, structure and transcription control of the mts1 gene, that encodes metastasin 1, a protein which seems to play an important role in the control of metastasis in mouse tumors. In particular, the experiments on tumor cell transfection with constructions containing either a sense or antisense mts1 sequence under a strong promoter/enhancer element show the direct dependence of the metastatic phenotype on the expression of the mts1 gene at least in some systems. Gene mts1 encodes a protein belonging to the family of Ca(2+)-binding proteins and may be involved in the control of cell motility in different types of cells, such as macrophages and T-lymphocytes. The relationship between mts1 and other genes up- and down-regulated in metastatic cells is discussed.

Chapter 19 Transcriptional and translational regulatory mechanisms during normal aging of the mammalian brain and in Alzheimer's disease

Publisher Summary Irrespective of the etiology of Alzheimers disease (AD), increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that basic defects at the level of transcription or translation, or both, may be involved in the pathogenesis of this illness. Decreased levels of protein synthesis can be demonstrated in living patients with AD and the AD post-mortem brain messenger RNA has diminished capacity to stimulate high levels of protein synthesis in vitro. Although numerous factors may contribute to the observed decline in in vivo functional activity, the concentration of the brain RNA appears to be particularly important for regulating the rate of translation. During normal aging, the level of the brain RNA decreases. In AD, there appears to be an accelerated general decline in neuronal RNA and a further decrease within neurons containing neurofibrillary tangles. RNA extracted from affected regions supports the limited synthesis of proteins. Although the overall levels of in vitro synthesis tend to be low, the specific activity of certain proteins, such as glial fibrillary acidic protein, remains high. These observations may be related, in part, to increased degradation of neuronal RNA with sparing of glial RNA. The level of AD brain alkaline ribonuclease activity is increased due to the loss of inhibitor activity.

The postmortem Alzheimer brain is a source of structurally and functionally intact astrocytic messenger RNA

Although the precise role of astrocytes in the pathogenesis of Alzheimers disease (AD) is currently undefined, studies carried out at the molecular level may lead to new insights into the functioning of this class of brain cells in dementia. In order to facilitate such investigations, methods are described that establish that structurally and functionally intact messenger RNA (mRNA) for an astrocytic marker, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), is present in the postmortem Alzheimers disease brain after long postmortem intervals. Rapid preparative procedures were used to obtain poly(A)+ RNA from postmortem control and AD cortices. In vitro protein synthesis was carried out in a reticulocyte system. Relative to controls, AD mRNA synthesized a two-fold higher level of a 50,000 mol.wt. protein that was immunologically identified as GFAP. High levels of GFAP synthesis by purified mRNA from AD cortices was independent of age at death and postmortem interval up to 24 h. Northern blot hybridization using a cloned human GFAP riboprobe was used to evaluate postmortem GFAP mRNA stability. No appreciable degradation products of GFAP mRNA were observed on Northern blots for at least 10 h postmortem in poly(A)+ RNA extracted from the AD brain. The described methodology demonstrates that the postmortem AD brain is an excellent source of functionally and structurally intact astrocyte-specific mRNA.

NMDA and AMPA receptors in transgenic mice expressing human β-amyloid protein

The human β‐amyloid protein may play an important, possibly primary, role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimers disease (AD), and it appears to potentiate the susceptibility of neurons to excitotoxicity. AD is associated with alterations in the W‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) and a‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methylisoxazole‐4‐proprionic acid (AMPA) subtypes of glutamate receptors, and it has been suggested that excitotoxicity may play a role in neuronal damage in AD. In this study, we have used quantitative receptor autoradiography to examine NMDA and AMPA receptors in transgenic mice that contain the gene for the carboxyl‐terminal 100 amino acids of the human amyloid precursor protein, beginning with the β‐amyloid region, which is under the control of the JC viral early region promoter. Reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction confirmed that the brains of transgenic mice expressed β‐amyloid mRNA and that control mice did not. NMDA receptors, assessed with [3H]MK‐801, were unchanged in the transgenic compared with the control mice. In the transgenic mice, there were no significant changes in [3H]AMPA receptor binding compared with controls. This study represents the first attempt to evaluate in transgenic mice the in vivo interaction between β‐amyloid expression and excitatory amino acid receptors.

Alzheimer cortical neurons containing abundant amyloid mRNA. Relationship to amyloid deposition and senile plaques

Since the detailed molecular events leading to the formation of amyloid-containing senile plaques of the Alzheimers disease (AD) brain are incompletely understood, the present studies were undertaken to address this issue using a combination of molecular and cytochemical approaches. Amyloid precursor protein riboprobes containing the A4 (beta-amyloid) domain were applied to cortex using the in situ hybridization method to examine the distribution of neuronal amyloid mRNA in relation to the laminar pattern of amyloid deposition and the localization of plaques. The derived data indicated that high levels of amyloid mRNA can be synthesized by AD cortical neurons that appeared to be morphologically intact. The distribution of these cells was not coincident with the cortical laminar pattern that is typical of amyloid deposits observed after immunostaining with anti-A4 monoclonal antibodies. Further, there was no obvious relationship between neurons containing abundant amyloid mRNA and the distribution of plaques identified by thioflavin S staining. While the neuronal synthesis of amyloid may be a significant factor at some point during plaque formation, it may not be the exclusive determinant. The possibility is raised that processes affecting secretion, diffusion, and/or transport of amyloid away from neuronal or non-neuronal cells of origin to sites of deposition may be meaningful aspects of the molecular pathology of Alzheimers disease.

Preparation of a recombinant cDNA library from poly(A+) RNA of the Alzheimer brain. Identification and characterization of a cDNA copy encoding a glial-specific protein.

Studies were undertaken to assess the extent to which messenger RNA prepared from the postmortem Alzheimers disease (AD) brain can be used for the successful preparation of a recombinant cDNA library. Initial experiments focused on the glial-specific marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) since GFAP expression appeared to be a model for further studies on mRNAs that may continue to be expressed at high levels in the vicinity of lesioned sites in the AD brain. An AD cDNA library, prepared in the lambda gt11 expression vector system contained GFAP-specific recombinants. One of these was sequenced and the insert was shown to exhibit 88% homology with the similar sequence from mouse GFAP. As established by Northern blots, the size of the GFAP mRNA prepared from the routinely acquired postmortem AD cortex, approximately 2.7 kb, was the same as from a neurologically normal control brain. These results agree with earlier studies on GFAP mRNA from fresh mouse brain. The results demonstrate that in the postmortem AD brain, astroglial-specific mRNA remains sufficiently stable for molecular genetic analysis and may serve as a useful model for examining the genetic expression of mRNAs that may be related to the molecular pathogenesis and the etiology of AD.

Antiestrogen(4-hydroxytamoxifen)-charged estrogen receptor binding to nuclei from normal and neoplastic rat mammary tissues is not affected by host hormonal status

Interaction of [3H]4-hydroxytamoxifen-charged estrogen receptor [( 3H]AER) with nuclei was compared to that of [3H]17 beta-estradiol-charged estrogen receptor [( 3H]ER) in vitro. Specificity of [3H]AER binding was demonstrated since more than 90% of [3H]AER binding was displaced by ten-fold excess estradiol-charged ER. For R3230AC tumors, the number of [3H]AER binding sites was approximately 40% lower than the number of [3H]ER binding sites. There were no differences in affinity of binding of these receptors complexes (Kd range 0.7-1.6 nM). In contrast 0.7-1.6 nM). In contrast to a reduction of [3H]ER binding after ovariectomy, no difference in the number of [3H]AER binding sites was seen among tumors from intact, ovex, or estrogen-treated ovex rats. These results suggest that [3H]AER bind to 60% of the sites that bind [3H]ER, and that neither tissue type nor host ovarian status affects the number of nuclear [3H]AER binding sites.

Evidence for prokaryotic transcription and translation control regions in the human factor IX gene.

A human factor IX cDNA clone isolated from a liver cDNA library constructed in phage lambda gt11 vector was shown to express factor IX protein in Escherichia coli. A factor IX immunospecific protein of 46.8 kDa was expressed, but was not a beta-galactosidase-factor IX fusion protein. Expression was seen when the factor IX cDNA was cloned into two different vector systems, lambda gt11 and pUC9, in both orientations with respect to the vector lacZ promoter. The expression of factor IX was not under control of the lacZ promoter of either vector system. In addition, when the factor IX cDNA fragment was subcloned in both orientations into a promoterless cloning vector (p CPP3), the factor IX cDNA fragment demonstrated promoter activity when inserted in only one orientation resulting in expression of chloramphenicol acetyl transferase in E. coli and Bacillus subtilis. A DNA computer search of the N-terminal sequences of the factor IX gene revealed prokaryotic-like promoter and ribosome-binding site (RBS) sequences with strong homology to the E. coli consensus sequences. The predicted sites homologous with prokaryotic promoter and RBS consensus sequences are followed by an in-frame methionine which could correspond to the translation start codon of the expressed factor IX. This report provides the first evidence that a eukaryotic gene encodes the information necessary for both transcription and translation to control gene expression in a prokaryotic host.

Nuclease sensitivity of estradiol-charged estrogen receptor binding sites in nuclei isolated from normal and neoplastic rat mammary tissues

The interaction of partially purified calf uterine estradiol-charged estrogen receptor ([3H]ER) with rat nuclei was studied in vitro. We previously observed a significantly greater number of [3H]ER binding sites (at saturation) in nuclei of R3230AC mammary tumors from intact vs ovariectomized (ovex) rats with no difference in the affinity of [3H]ER binding for these nuclei. We now report on the nuclease sensitivity of [3H]ER binding sites in nuclei from these tumors and from normal rat tissues. Digestion of tumor nuclei with deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) prior to incubation with [3H]ER in vitro resulted in a progressive loss of [3H]ER binding capacity, which was not accompanied by alterations in the affinity of [3H]ER for the nuclei (Kd = 1-3 nM). A significantly lower concentration (P less than 0.005) of DNase I eliminated 50% of the [3H]ER binding sites in nuclei of tumors from intact hosts (8 unit.min/ml) compared to tumors from ovex hosts (22 unit.min/ml). These results indicate that DNA regions capable of binding ER are more susceptible to DNase I digestion in tumors from intact rats than those from ovex hosts, suggesting that the endogenous hormonal milieu is responsible, at least in part, for maintenance of nuclease-sensitive DNA conformations in this hormone-responsive mammary tumor. The amount of DNase I required to eliminate 50% of [3H]ER binding to nuclei from lactating mammary gland, liver, and kidney ranged from 14 to 56 unit.min/ml. Therefore, accessibility of [3H]ER binding sites to nuclease digestion in normal rat tissue is generally less than that of R3230AC tumors.

Letter to the Editor: Sequence-specific chemical shift assignment of calcium-loaded murine S100A4

S100A4, also known as Mts1, has been linked to metastasis through several lines of evidence (Ebralidze et al., 1989; Davies et al., 1993; Grigorian et al., 1993; for reviews see Barraclough, 1998; Sherbet and Lakshmi, 1998). Mts1 expression levels are higher in metastatic than in non-metastatic tumors, and are also high in cells with naturally high motility. Introduction of Mts1 can increase the metastatic character of cancer cells, while antisense ribozyme techniques targeted to Mts1 can reduce metastasis. Cross-breeding of mice engineered to express high levels of Mts1 with mice highly susceptible to non-metastatic tumors results in offspring with more aggressive tumors. Mts1 belongs to the S100 protein family, most members of which contain two calcium-coordinating EF hands. Calcium binding triggers a conformational rearrangement which can alter surfaces required for interaction with other proteins. Here, we present the sequential heteronuclear chemical shift assignments of Mts1 in its calcium-loaded form.