Dimerization Capacity Research Articles

Dimerization of MoMuLV genomic RNA: redefinition of the role of the palindromic stem-loop H1 (278-303) and new roles for stem-loops H2 (310-352) and H3 (355-374).

Genomic RNAs from retroviruses are packaged as dimers of two identical RNA molecules. In Moloney murine leukemia virus, a stem-loop structure (H1) located in the encapsidation domain Psi (nucleotides 215-564) was postulated to trigger RNA dimerization through base pairing between auto complementary sequences. The Psi domain also contains two other stem-loop structures (H2 and H3) that are essential for RNA packaging. Since it was suspected than H1 is not the only element involved in RNA dimerization, we systematically investigated the dimerization capacity of several subdomains of the first 725 nucleotides of genomic RNA. The efficiency of dimerization of the various RNAs was estimated by measuring their apparent dissociation constants, and the specificity was tested by competition experiments. Our results indicate that the specificity of dimerization of RNA nucleotides 1-725 is driven by motifs H1-H3 in domain Psi. To define the relative contributions of these elements, RNA deletion mutants containing different combinations of H1-H3 were constructed and further analyzed in competition and kinetic experiments. Our results confirm the importance of H1 in triggering dimerization and shed new light on the mechanism of dimerization. H1 is required to provide a stable dimer, probably through the formation of extended intermolecular interactions. However, H1-mediated association is a slow process that is kinetically enhanced by H3, and to a lesser extent by H2. We suggest that they facilitate the recognition between the two RNAs, most likely through their conserved GACG loops. Our results reinforce the idea that dimerization and packaging are two closely related processes.

IL-10 inhibits macrophage activation and proliferation by distinct signaling mechanisms: evidence for Stat3-dependent and -independent pathways.

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) limits inflammatory responses by inhibiting macrophage activation. In macrophages, IL-10 activates Stat1 and Stat3. We characterized IL-10 responses of the J774 mouse macrophage cell line, and of J774 cells expressing wild-type hIL-10R, mutant hIL-10R lacking two membrane-distal tyrosines involved in recruitment of Stat3 (hIL-10R-TyrFF), a truncated Stat3 (DeltaStat3) which acts as a dominant negative, or an inducibly active Stat3-gyraseB chimera (Stat3-GyrB). A neutralizing anti-mIL-10R monoclonal antibody was generated to block the function of endogenous mIL-10R. IL-10 inhibited proliferation of J774 cells and of normal bone marrow-derived macrophages, but not J774 cells expressing hIL-10RTyrFF. Dimerization of Stat3-GyrB by coumermycin mimicked the effect of IL-10, and expression of DeltaStat3 blocked the anti-proliferative activity of IL-10. For macrophage de-activation responses, hIL10R-TyrFF could not mediate inhibition of lipopolysaccharide-induced TNFalpha, IL-1beta or CD86 expression, while DeltaStat3 did not interfere detectably with these IL-10 responses. Thus signals mediating both anti-proliferative and macrophage de-activation responses to IL-10 require the two membrane-distal tyrosines of IL-10R, but Stat3 appears to function only in the anti-proliferative response.

The Nuclear Estrogen Receptor R-II of the Goat Uterus: Distinct Possibility That the R-II Is the Deglycosylated Form of the Nonactivated Estrogen Receptor (naER)

Structural and functional characteristics of the goat uterine nuclear estrogen receptor R-II have been subjected to comparison with those of the nonactivated estrogen receptor (naER), purified from the cytosol. The two proteins have the same molecular mass, 66 kDa; they display identical peptide maps and are both recognized by anti-estrogen receptor (R-I) IgG. Both are tyrosine kinases and bind with equal affinity to a column of anti-phosphotyrosine IgG-Sepharose. On the other hand, while naER is a glycoprotein, the R-II does not show any sign of glycosylation. Unlike the naER, the R-II is incapable of dimerization with estrogen receptor activation factor (E-RAF) and, as a consequence, bind to the DNA. R-II has a higher estradiol binding capacity and the resultant reduction in its affinity for the hormone in comparison with the naER. Further, the sedimentation behavior and the Stokes radius of the naER indicate a globular nature in the shape of the protein. The corresponding data for the R-II reveal that the protein has a distinct nonglobular shape. Deglycosylation of the naER using a glycopeptidase resulted in the total conversion of the distinct physical features of the naER to the R-II category. This treatment resulted, without effecting any reduction in its molecular mass, in the loss of the E-RAF dimerization capacity of the naER. The Stokes radius and the sedimentation coefficient of the protein underwent drastic changes and became closely similar to those of the R-II. In addition, the deglycosylation introduced a several-fold enhancement in the capacity of the naER to bind estradiol with a concomitant decrease in its affinity, similar to the corresponding properties of the R-II. The R-II is shown to have a conformational structure different from that of the naER, to interact with the nuclear RNA polymerase II. It is also shown here that the R-II phosphorylates two subunits (molecular mass 91 and 20 kDa) in the RNA polymerase II, in addition to the 40-kDa subunit phosphorylated by the naER. The results clearly indicate the possibility that the nuclear R-II estrogen receptor is the deglycosylated naER.

In VivoCharacterization of the Unorthodox BvgS Two-component Sensor Protein ofBordetella pertussis

Two-component sensor proteins are typically composed of an amino-acid sensory and a carboxy-terminal transmitter domain containing a kinase activity which catalyses the autophosphorylation of a histidine residue. In a second step, the phosphate is transferred to aspartic acid residues located in the receiver domain of the second component, the response regulator. A few sensor proteins such as the BvgS protein ofBordetella pertussishave a more complex structure. BvgS possesses additional C-terminal domains, including receiver and output modules usually found only in the response regulators. The function of these BvgS domains was investigated by mutation and complementation analysisin vivo. BvgS derivatives were constructed lacking the C-terminal domains or containing mutations in conserved amino acids. All mutations caused the inactivation of BvgS as measured by the expression of virulence factors at the transcriptional and translational level after integration of the mutated alleles in theB. pertussischromosome. However, some of these mutants could be complemented to the wild-type phenotype by the separate expression of various C-terminal BvgS domainsin transindicating a direct interaction of the truncated and complete BvgS proteins. Therefore, the dimerization capacity of the cytoplasmic BvgS domains was analysed using a λ repressor based dimerization probe system. These results indicated that BvgS has two dimerization regions, one in the transmitter and a second in the C-terminal receiver/output domains. Furthermore, several BvgS hybrid proteins were constructed which contained substitutions of the BvgS receiver and output domains with similar domains of two-component response regulators and of the sensor protein EvgS. It was found that the receiver domain does not carry BvgS-specific functions and can be exchanged by a heterologous receiver domain. However, the BvgS output domain could not be substituted with output domains of the related proteins without inactivation of BvgS.

Mutational analysis of the ligand-binding domain of the prolactin receptor.

The recent isolation and sequencing of the rat liver prolactin (PRL) receptor cDNA (clone F3) revealed that the receptor is a small molecular weight protein (nonglycosylated form, Mr 33,000; glycosylated form, Mr 42,000) comprised of 291 amino acids. A second form of the PRL receptor exists (591 amino acids) that contains a much longer cytoplasmic domain. In the present study, site-directed point mutations of the 5 conserved cysteine (Cys) residues and of the three potential N-linked glycosylation sites in the extracellular domain of the rat PRL receptor were constructed to assess their involvement in hormone binding. In addition, a truncation mutant (T delta 237) lacking 55 of 57 intracellular amino acids was constructed to determine the influence of the cytoplasmic domain on ligand-receptor interactions. Binding studies of transiently transfected COS-7 cells demonstrated that serine substitution of the first 4 Cys residues (Cys12, Cys22, Cys51, and Cys62) completely eliminated binding of 125I-ovine PRL and 125I-U5 and -U6, two monoclonal antibodies that bind the receptor molecule outside the PRL-binding domain. RNA blot analysis of the transfected cells showed that both the wild-type and mutant clones had similar levels of expression of receptor mRNA. Immunoblot analysis demonstrated that lack of PRL binding in these mutants was not due to incomplete processing of the protein, since the fully glycosylated Mr 42,000 form of the receptor was seen. Mutation of Cys184 had no effect on affinity or dimerization capacity of the receptor, suggesting the 5th cysteine is not directly involved in the binding domain. Carbohydrate groups of some receptors have been shown to be involved in ligand-receptor interactions as well as intracellular trafficking. This does not appear to be the case for the PRL receptor, since there was no corresponding decrease in affinity for PRL or cell surface receptor expression, following mutation of each of the 3 asparagine residues to aspartate. Interestingly, T delta 237 showed a 4-5-fold increase in affinity for PRL as well as a marked increase in the number of receptor sites. Whole cell binding assays also demonstrated that loss of the cytoplasmic domain lead to inefficient recycling of the receptor. These studies suggest that the first 4 conserved Cys residues are crucial for ligand binding.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)