Calf Thymus Histone Research Articles

Endogenous axoplasmic proteins and proteins containing nuclear localization signal sequences use the retrograde axonal transport/nuclear import pathway in Aplysia neurons

When the nuclear localization signal peptide (sp) of the SV 40 large T antigen was coupled to human serum albumin (HSA), rhodaminated (r), and microinjected into axons of Aplysia neurons in vitro, the rHSA-sp was conveyed through the axon to the cell body and then into the nucleus (Ambron et al., 1992). But since rHSA-sp is an artificial construct, we needed to determine whether naturally occurring nuclear proteins use this pathway. We therefore injected calf thymus histone H-1 and Xenopus oocyte nucleoplasmin into axons. By 3 hr both were retrogradely transported and targeted into the nucleus, though histone H-1 less efficiently than rHSA-sp or nucleoplasmin. In contrast, neither rHSA, nor rHSA conjugated to a peptide with a random distribution of basic amino acids, was transported or imported. To see if proteins that use the pathway remain intact, we coupled sp to HRP. When injected into varicosities, the HRP-sp was transported/imported to the nucleus, where it was enzymatically active. A key issue was to determine whether endogenous proteins use this pathway. Consequently, axoplasm was extruded from Aplysia nerves and the proteins were fractionated by size. SDS-PAGE and Western blots showed that two fractions contained proteins that were recognized by an affinity-purified antibody to sp: fraction 3 included sp83, and fraction 4 contained sp75. In addition, these two proteins were found in nuclei isolated from neurons. To assess transport, the total proteins in the fractions were rhodaminated and injected into varicosities. Fraction 3, but not fraction 4, contained protein that was transported through the axon to the nucleus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

African swine fever virus encodes a serine protein kinase which is packaged into virions

Nucleotide sequencing of the SalI j region of the virulent Malawi (LIL20/1) strain of African swine fever virus (ASFV) identified an open reading frame (ORF), designated j9L, with extensive similarity to the family of protein kinases. This ORF encodes a 35.1-kDa protein of 299 amino acids which shares 24.6% amino acid identity with the human pim-1 proto-oncogene and 21.0% identity with the vaccinia virus B1R-encoded protein kinase. The ASFV ORF contains the motifs characteristic of serine-threonine protein kinases, with the exception of the presumed ATP-binding site, which is poorly conserved. The ORF was expressed to high levels in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant enzyme phosphorylated a calf thymus histone protein on serine residues in vitro. An antibody raised to an amino-terminal peptide of the ASFV protein kinase was reactive with the recombinant protein in Western immunoblot analyses and was used to demonstrate the presence of the protein kinase in ASF virions.

Reversal of an Interferon-γ-Resistant Phenotype by Poly(I:C): Possible Role of Double-Stranded RNA-Activated Kinase in Interferon-γ Signaling

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is induced in neoplastic cell lines by interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) treatment. In ME180 cervical carcinoma cells, there is a rapid increase in IDO mRNA accumulation beginning at 4 h after IFN-gamma treatment and continuing for at least 24 h. The IFN-gamma-resistant mutant of ME180, IR3B6B, expresses very low levels of IDO message after IFN-gamma treatment. However, pretreatment of this mutant with poly(I:C) restores normal levels of IDO mRNAs and IDO enzyme activity. Poly(I:C) mediated reversal of the IFN-gamma-resistant phenotype and induction of IDO mRNA are inhibited by 2-aminopurine. In vitro phosphorylation of calf thymus histone using the immunoprecipitated p68 kinase prepared from IFN-gamma-treated ME180 and IR3B6B cells revealed the deficiency of activation of this kinase in IR3B6B cells after IFN-gamma treatment, and treatment of this mutant cells with poly(I:C) restores p68 kinase activity. From these results, we conclude that a double-stranded RNA-dependent kinase is activated by IFN-gamma treatment and its activation correlates with IFN-gamma-mediated induction of the IDO gene.

Changes in the glucose-6-phosphatase complex in hepatomas.

Hepatomas tend to have a decreased glucose-6-phosphatase activity. We have observed phenotypic stability for this change in Morris hepatomas transplanted in rats. To determine if this decrease is selective for translocase functions or the hydrolase activity associated with glucose-6-phosphatase, we have compared activities in liver and hepatomas with glucose-6-phosphate or mannose-6-phosphate as substrates and with intact or histone-disrupted microsomes. In five out of seven subcutaneously transplanted rat hepatoma lines, the microsomal mannose-6-phosphatase activity was lower than in preparations from liver of normal or tumor-bearing rats. With liver microsomes and with most hepatoma microsomes, preincubation with calf thymus histones caused a greater increase in mannose-6-phosphatase than in glucose-6-phosphatase activity. In studies with liver and hepatoma microsomes there were similar increases in mannose-6-phosphatase activity with total calf thymus histones and arginine-rich histones. A smaller increase was seen with lysine-rich histones. The effect of polylysine was similar to the action of lysine-rich histones. There was only a small effect with protamine at the same concentration (1 mg/ml). Rat liver or hepatoma H1 histones gave only about half the activation seen with core nucleosomal histones. Our data suggested that microsomes of rat hepatomas tend to have decreased translocase and hydrolase functions of glucose-6-phosphatase relative to activities in untransformed liver.

Vaccinia virus gene B1R encodes a 34-kDa serine/threonine protein kinase that localizes in cytoplasmic factories and is packaged into virions

Vaccinia virus open reading frame B1R was expressed in E. coli and shown to encode a serine/threonine protein kinase which phosphorylated casein and calf thymus histones in vitro. A polyclonal rabbit antiserum was raised against a TrpE-B1R bacterial fusion protein and used to characterize the B1R gene product. Immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting analyses detected a 34-kDa polypeptide that was synthesized early during vaccinia virus infection and which was apparently stable since it was easily detectable 18 hr postinfection. Immunofluorescence demonstrated that this protein localizes in cytoplasmic virus factories, the sites of virus DNA replication. Immunoblotting of vaccinia virions showed that the enzyme is packaged into virus particles.

Characterization of the proto-oncogene Pim-1: Kinase activity and substrate recognition sequence

The human pim-1 proto-oncogene was expressed in Escherichia coli as a glutathione- S-transferase (GST)-fusion protein and the enzymatic properties of its kinase activity were characterized. Likewise, a Pim-1 mutant lacking intrinsic kinase activity was constructed by site-directed mutagenesis (Lys 67 to Met) and expressed in E. coli. In vitro assays with the mutant Pim-1 kinase showed no contaminating kinase activity. The wild-type Pim-1 kinase-GST fusion protein showed a pH optimum of 7 to 7.5 and optimal activity was observed at either 10 m m MgCl 2 or 5 m m MnCl 2. Higher cation concentrations were inhibitory, as was the addition of NaCl to the assays. Previous work by this laboratory assaying several proteins and peptides showed histone H1 and the peptide Kemptide to be efficiently phosphorylated by recombinant Pim-1 kinase. Here we examine the substrate sequence specificity of Pim-1 kinase in detail. Comparison of different synthetic peptide substrates showed Pim-1 to have a strong substrate preference for the peptide LysArgArgAlaSer ∗GlyPro with an almost sixfold higher specificity constant k cat K m over that of the substrate Kemptide (LeuArgArgAlaSer ∗LeuGly). The presence of basic amino acid residues on the amino terminal side of the target Ser/Thr was shown to be essential for peptide substrate recognition. Furthermore, phosphopeptide analysis of calf thymus histone H1 phosphorylated in vitro by Pim-1 kinase resulted in fragments containing sequences similar to that of the preferred synthetic substrate peptide shown above. Therefore, under optimized in vitro conditions, the substrate recognition sequence for Pim-1 kinase is (Arg/ Lys) 3-X-Ser/Thr ∗-X′, where X′ is likely neither a basic nor a large hydrophobic residue.

Resistance of ADP-ribosylated histones and HMG proteins to proteases.

Calf thymus histones (individually isolated or mixtures) and high mobility group proteins were ADP-ribosylated in vitro using [32P]NAD+ and immobilized purified poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. The modified histones were then subjected to V8 protease or alpha-chymotrypsin digestion and the resulting peptides were separated by electrophoresis on acetic acid-urea-Triton gels. It was found that in vitro ADP-ribosylated histones were much more resistant to proteases than unmodified histones. A similar approach was applied to histones modified by the endogenous poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in permeabilized NS-1 mouse myeloma cells in culture. In this case, the proteases could not discriminate between modified and unmodified histones and putative mono(ADP-ribosyl)ated peptides appeared in a digestion frame corresponding to that of bulk peptides. These differences are most probably due to the specificity or number of ADP-ribose groups added to the histones by the endogenous or exogenous poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Thus, depending on the size of poly(ADP-ribose) attached to nuclear proteins, these modified proteins might display different degrees of resistance to proteolysis.

Efficiency of DNA-histone crosslinking induced by saturated and unsaturated aldehydes in vitro

Using a filter-binding assay based on precipitation of pUC13 plasmid DNA bound to calf-thymus histones, we have determined the efficiency of formation of DNA-protein crosslink formation induced by several aldehyde compounds in vitro. Formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde and acrolein were the most potent, causing 1 crosslink per 2.7 kbp of DNa at 1.5, 8 and 150 μM, respectively. All other compounds tested gave 1 crosslink per plasmid molecule in the mM concentration range as follows: acetaldehyde, 115mM; propionaldehyde, 295 mM; butyraldehyde, 360 mM; crotonaldehyde, 8.5 mM; rans-2-pentenal, 6.3 mM. Significant decreases in the efficiency of DPXL formation were observed with monofunctional aldehydes of higher carbon chain lenght. For example, the concentration of formaldehyde needed to give 1 crosslink per molecule was almost 10 5 times less than that of acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde differs from formaldehyde only by one saturated carbon. The presence of an unsaturated bond between the 2–3 carbons improved the potential for crosslink formation. For example, acrolein was over 500-fold more potent than propionaldehyde. Glutaraldehyde was almost as potent as formaldehyde, indicating that the bifunctional nature of this 5-carbon saturated aldehyde may be crucial to its high efficiency of DNA-protein crosslinking.

Phosphorylation of histone H2A by protein kinase C and identification of the phosphorylation site.

In regenerating rat liver, nuclear protein histone H2A was shown to be phosphorylated on its amino-terminal serine residue [Sung et al. (1971) J. Biol. Chem. 246, 1358-1364], but the protein kinase which phosphorylates this residue has not been identified. To evaluate the possibility that protein kinase C can phosphorylate this residue, calf thymus histone H2A was 32P-labeled by incubation with [gamma-32P]ATP and highly purified protein kinase C from rat brain in the presence of calcium and phospholipid. About 1 mol of 32P was incorporated per mol of histone H2A and the Km and apparent Vmax of the reaction were calculated to be 2.1 microM and 0.35 mumol/min/mg, respectively. So histone H2A seemed to be a good substrate for protein kinase C. Further, the proteolytic phosphopeptides of 32P-labeled histone H2A were isolated by means of a series of column chromatographies and analyzed for their amino acid compositions. Comparison of the data with the known primary structure of histone H2A revealed their amino acid sequence as 1Ser-Gly-Arg. These data suggest that protein kinase C may be a candidate for the protein kinase which phosphorylates the amino-terminal serine residue of histone H2A during the regeneration of rat liver.

Reaction kinetics of DNA—histone crosslinking by vinyl acetate and acetaldehyde

The formation and stability of DNA-protein crosslinks (DPXLs) formed by incubation of pUC13 plasmid DNA and calf thymus histones with 1-100 mM acetaldehyde was studied using a filter binding assay. DPXLs were formed at a rate of 127 DPXLs/plasmid molecule/mmol acetaldehyde in a reaction containing 1 microgram of histones and 0.33 microgram of DNA at 37 degrees C for 1 h. Acetaldehyde-induced DPXLs were unstable at 37 degrees C, with loss of up to 75% by 8 h. Crosslink formation was significantly higher at lower pH, with 3- and 2-fold higher levels at pH 5 and 6 respectively than at pH 7.5. Induction of DPXL formation by 1-100 mM vinyl acetate in the presence of rat liver microsomes was observed at 37 degrees C over 3 h. DPXL accumulation followed S-phase enzymatic kinetics, with a rate of formation of 1.1 DPXLs/plasmid molecule/mmol vinyl acetate/microgram microsomal protein/microgram DNA. Vinyl acetate was unable to cause formation of DPXLs in the absence of microsomes. A carboxylesterase inhibitor, bis-(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate, was able to block DPXL formation by vinyl acetate and microsomes. This work supports the hypothesis that DPXL formation by vinyl acetate requires microsomal metabolism to acetaldehyde, which is the active crosslinking agent.

Identification of macrophage cell-surface binding sites for cationized bovine serum albumin

Autoimmune diseases are characterised by the presence of autoantibodies often restricted to host proteins exhibiting charge rich domains. Charged polypeptides elicit strong immune responses, and cationised bovine serum albumin and other cationic proteins are significantly more immunogenic than their less charged counterparts. These phenomena may involve enhanced protein uptake by macrophages, resulting in greater processing and presentation of antigenic peptide-MHC complexes to T-cells. We compared macrophage cell-surface binding and uptake of native and cationised bovine serum albumin. Specific binding of [125I]cationised bovine serum albumin to THP-1 macrophages in vitro was 11–16 fold greater than for native albumin. Half-maximal inhibition of [125I]cationised albumin binding was observed at 10-7M ligand. The specificity of [125I]cationised bovine serum albumin binding and uptake was further studied in terms of competitive inhibition of proteolysis by proteins of varying charge content. Cationised bovine serum albumin, but not native albumin, inhibited proteolysis of [125I]cBSA. Calf thymus histones also inhibited cBSA degradation. High concentration of myelin basic protein was moderately effective at blocking cBSA degradation, while myoglobin and beta lactalbumin showed no inhibition. These results indicate that specific cell-surface binding sites which occur on macrophages may mediate selective uptake of certain proteins with highly charged domains including some autoantigens.

Synthesis of structural analogs of lyngbyatoxin A and their evaluation as activators of protein kinase C

Syntheses of several new analogues of lyngbyatoxin A from a single common intermediate are described. These compounds bear a carbon chain at the 7-position of the indolactam V (ILV) nucleus which contains either a hydrophilic or a lipophilic group. The effect of these minor structural alterations on the ability of the ILV analogues to activate the enzyme protein kinase C (PKC) was determined by measuring the extent of phosphorylation of calf thymus histone (III-S). Introduction of a hydroxyl group on the C-7 appendage was found to dramatically decrease compound 3's ability to activate PKC. This result is interpreted in terms of the decreased ability of 3 to associate with the membrane bilayer.

Isolation, characterisation and growth-related changes of an HMG-like protein from microplasmodia ofPhysarum polycephalum

An alanine, lysine and glutamic acid-rich nuclear protein (P2) of Mr approximately 19,500 co-extracts with the histones from nuclei of Physarum polycephalum when using the CaCl2 method for histone extraction [1] and was found to have the composition previously ascribed to a putative histone H1(0) isolated from microplasmodia using 5% PCA (Yasuda, H., Mueller, R.D., Logan, K.A. and Bradbury, E.M. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 2349-2354). P2 has very similar electrophoretic properties to chicken erythrocyte histone H5, calf thymus histone H1(0) and the Physarum HMG-like protein AS-2, but does not appear to be immunologically or structurally similar to H5 or H1(0). An increase in the abundance of P2 was observed during exponential growth in microplasmodia, reaching an approximately 1:1 ratio with histone H1 by 48 h of culture. Standard amino acid analysis and NMR show that P2 is more HMG-like than H1-like and CD measurements demonstrated that P2 contains only 5% secondary structure in its maximally structured state and is, therefore, essentially unstructured under in vivo conditions. Also possible clustering of acidic residues is detected using CD and may be of functional significance. Analysis of post-translational modification of P2 shows that it is phosphorylated at up to three sites as isolated from immature spherules. The relationship of P2 to the HMG family of proteins and AS-2 is discussed.

Chromosomal behavior in starfish ( Asterina pectinifera) zygotes under the effect of aphidicolin, an inhibitor of DNA polymerase

When calf thymus histones were labeled fluorescently and microinjected into oocytes of the starfish, Asterina pectinifera, the labeled histones visualized chromosomes during maturation division and cleavage. In doing so, we confirmed the previously reported phenomenon that chromosomes became incompetent at the first cleavage in the aphidicolin-treated egg, although cleavage itself took place. Moreover, we found that chromosomes were aligned at the equator of the metaphase spindle of the first cleavage and that they did not separate into two groups at all, but made a lump in the middle of the spindle. Chromosomes finally entered one blastomere, although they did not participate in the following karyokinesis. DNA and microtubules were examined by cytochemistry and immunofluorescence in order to investigate the relation between chromosome movement and the microtubular cytoskeleton. The mitotic apparatus developed and grew in the aphidicolin-treated cells in the same manner as those in normal cells without normal chromatin condensation or chromosome movement during the first cleavage. However, the mitotic apparatus consisted of two asters without the spindle formed at subsequent cleavages. Electron microscopic study revealed that chromosomes did not condense normally and kinetochores were not detected during the first cleavage. These results indicate that the dynamic changes in microtubular structures during mitosis have poor relation with the chromosome behavior such as prophase chromosome condensation and anaphase chromosome movement.

Unusual behaviour of the interaction of sodium n-dodecyl sulphate with calf thymus histone H2B in aqueous solution

The binding of sodium n-dodecyl sulphate (SDS) to calf thymus histone H2B was studied in the pH range 3.2–10 by equilibrium dialysis at 27 and 37°C. The binding data have been used in terms of the Schatchard equation showing unusual plots with minima. No theoretical model gives Scatchard plots with such conditions, except for a combination of two types of binding with large differences in the Hill coefficients and binding affinity, i.e. a combination of negatively and positively cooperative binding sites.

Visible light induced DNA—protein cross-linking in DNA—histone complex and sarcoma-180 chromatin in the presence of methylene blue

Formation of DNA—protein cross-links by the action of visible light in the presence of methylene blue was studied in calf thymus DNA—calf thymus histone complex and sarcoma-180 chromatin. The extent of cross-link formation decreases with a decrease in the histone to DNA ratio in the DNA—histone complex. In chromatin, it is at a maximum (93%) at a dye to DNA nucleotide ratio (D/P ratio) of 0.04 and is appreciable even at a very low dye concentration (75% at a D/P ratio of 0.0033). Sepharose 4B-CL column chromatogaphy indicates that methylene blue acts as a mediator in the cross-linking process, but not as a linker in the DNA—protein cross-link. Dodecylsulphate—polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis patterns reveal that both histone and non-histone proteins are involved in cross-linking, but to a varied extent. Competition experiments with ethidium bromide demonstrated the necessity of intercalative binding of methylene blue in the formation of DNA—protein cross-links. Viscometric studies in 2 M NaCl indicate that the compact structure of chromatin is stabilized by cross-linking.

Inhibition of plant calcium-dependent protein kinases by basic polypeptides

Wheat embryo Ca2+-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) is inhibited by a variety of polypeptides including actin, gramicidin S, melittin, protamine, various histone preparations, histone H4 and by basic amino-acid homopolymers. Melittin (Ki 9 μM) is a non-competitive inhibitor of wheat germ CDPK and also inhibits wheat leaf CDPK and silver beet leaf CDPKs. Protamine inhibits wheat germ CDPK in an apparently competitive fashion (Ki 0.2 μM) and is also a potent, albeit less effective, inhibitor of the leaf CDPKs. Various basic amino-acid homopolymers are also potent, apparently competitive inhibitors of wheat embryo CDPK, namely poly(l-lysine) (IC50 2 nM), poly(l-ornithine) (IC50 3 nM) and poly(l-arginine) (IC50 17 nM) and also inhibit the leaf CDPKs, albeit at higher concentrations. Histone H4 and various calf thymus histone preparations inhibit wheat embryo CDPK in a fashion that is not competitive and calmodulin can substantially reverse such inhibition.

Retraction. Calf thymus histone H1 is a recombinase that catalyzes ATP-independent DNA strand transfer.

An activity that catalyzes the strand transfer from linear double-stranded tetracycline-resistance gene (tetr) DNA to circular M13mp8-tetr viral DNA was detected in a crude extract from calf thymus. This activity was purified to near, if not complete, homogeneity as judged by NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. We have tentatively named this protein calf thymus strand-transfer protein 1 (CTST1). The apparent molecular mass of the protein was 35 kDa by gel electrophoresis. Its sedimentation coefficient was approximately 1.5 S in glycerol gradient centrifugation. These values led us to examine the possibility that CTST1 is histone H1. Western blot analysis of CTST1 with anti-rat liver histone H1 antiserum showed that CTST1 crossreacts with the serum, indicating that CTST1 is histone H1. The mobility of CTST1 was identical to one of the subtypes of calf thymus histone H1 by NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gel and acetic acid/urea/polyacrylamide gel electrophoreses. We have also confirmed the above conclusion by showing that calf thymus histone H1 has a strand-transfer activity with a specific activity comparable to that of CTST1. The reaction required homologous substrates, but neither Mg2+ nor ATP. The reaction also required stoichiometric amounts of protein. The purified CTST1 fraction lacked detectable exo- and endonuclease activities and also lacked a DNA helicase activity.

Purification of histone H1 polypeptides by high-performance cation-exchange chromatography

Calf thymus histone 1 (H1) was cleaved by chemical and enzymatic methods and the resulting polypeptides were fractionated by high-performance cation-exchange. Up to 1 mg of H1 polypeptides were loaded onto a 50 × 5 mm I.D. cation-exchange column and fractionated to greater than 95% purity in less than 30 min. This is the first report on the separation of H1 polypeptides by a strong cation-exchange matrix. In addition, the high-performance cation-exchange chromatography protocol represents a significant decrease in fractionation time when compared to conventional ion-exchange and gel filtration chromatography. The utility of this procedure is shown when the H1 peptides purified by the protocol were used to define antigenic domains of H1 band by procainamide-induced lupus and idiopathic systemic lupus erythematosus. The majority of the sera tested by enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) reacted to the C-terminal peptides of H1 indicating this to be the major antigenic domain of H1.

Modification of pea root meristem nuclei proteins by poly(ADP-ribose).

Nuclei from pea root meristem cells incorporate [adenine- 14C]NAD when grown in White's medium. When the proteins from these nuclei were extracted, several proteins were modified by the isotope as determined by SDS-gel electrophoresis and fluorography, the most significant being a band which corresponds to calf-thymus histone H2-AS. The incorporation of [adenine- 14C]NAD is a prerequisite for the formation of poly(ADP-ribose). This report marks the third plant species, following wheat and tobacco, in which some plant histones were found to be modified by [adenine- 14C]NAD. The addition of the cell cycle regulator trigonelline had no effect on which proteins were being modified.