Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase-deficient Cells Research Articles

Age-dependent selection against hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase-deficient cells in mouse haematopoiesis

The basis of a previously observed difference in the level of contribution of hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase-deficient cells between the haematopoietic and non-haematopoietic tissues of chimaeric and heterozygous mice has been clarified by studying two populations of female mice that differ only in that one is heterozygous for a null allele at the hprt locus and the other is wild type at this locus. Both populations are heterozygous for an electrophoretic variant allele at the X-linked Pgk-1 locus, so that X-chromosome inactivation generates cells expressing different isozymes of phosphoglycerate kinase which can be assayed to monitor cell selection. The results show that hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase deficiency itself, rather than an effect of another X-linked gene, causes a reduced level of contribution to haematopoietic tissues. Further, the extent of the depletion increases significantly with age, and this effect is due to a progressive reduction in the level of contribution to haematopoietic tissues rather than to an increase in the level of contribution to non-haematopoietic tissues.

Efficient cDNA cloning by direct phenotypic correction of a mutant human cell line (HPRT-) using an Epstein-Barr virus-derived cDNA expression vector.

Human cells are, in general, poor recipients of foreign DNA, which has severely hampered the cloning of genes by direct phenotypic correction of deficient human cell lines after DNA mediated gene transfer. In this communication a methodology is presented which largely circumvents this problems. The method relies on the use of a recently developed episomal Epstein-Barr-virus-derived cDNA expression vector (Belt et al. (1989) Gene 84, 407-417). The cloning of hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) cDNA, corresponding to a low abundant mRNA in wild type cells is used as a model system. Size fractionated poly (A)+ RNA from wild type cells, which resulted in an approximately 10 fold enrichment in HPRT mRNA, was used to construct a cDNA library of 25,000 independent clones in the pECV25 vector. An HPRT deficient human cell line was transfected and subsequently selected with hygromycin B for DNA uptake. In a small scale experiment only 7000 hygromycin BR transfectants were sufficient to isolate 2 independent HATR clones which were shown to replicate episomes harbouring HPRT cDNA. The first insert had a 5' untranslated region (UTR) and a 3' UTR perfectly in agreement with published data. The second cDNA clone harboured an unusually long 5' UTR and a shorter 3' UTR due to alternative polyadenylation of the HPRT transcript which has not been previously recognized.

Somatic cell hybridization of Roberts syndrome and normal human fibroblasts transfected with plasmids carrying dominant selection markers.

Roberts syndrome (RS) is a rare human recessive disorder involving, in the chromosomes of some patients, a characteristic puffing or splitting apart of the constitutive heterochromatin (the RS effect). We carried out somatic cell hybridizations between an RS cell strain (R22) with the heterochromatin abnormality and a hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase-deficient cell strain (GM1662) with normal chromosome structure to determine if the presence of the normal genome would correct the RS effect in the hybrid cells. In order to provide the fibroblast strains with dominant selection markers for the hybridizations, GM1662 was transfected with the plasmid pSV3neo which conferred resistance to the antibiotic G418, and R22 was transfected with the plasmid pSV3gpt which provided resistance to mycophenolic acid. Two somatic cell hybridizations were carried out: (1) R22 X GM1662 pSV3neo and (2) R22 pSV3gpt X GM1662 pSV3neo. The RS effect was found to be absent in 95% and 92%, respectively, of the 200 hybrid cells examined in each experiment. This indicated that the GM1662 genome was able to correct the RS effect. The presence of the RS effect in a few of the hybrid cells was attributed to the unstable karyotype resulting from pSV3 transfection which presumably caused the loss of the normal allele(s) of the RS gene in these hybrid cells.

Adenosine metabolism in human skin fibroblasts.

When normal fibroblasts were incubated in media containing various initial concentrations of [8-14C]adenosine, ranging from 0.25 to 400 microM, under conditions where product formation was linear, greater than 90% of the intracellular label was found in adenine nucleotides, largely in the form of ATP, less than 1% of the intracellular label appeared in the nucleic acids, the remaining intracellular label was found in adenosine, inosine, and hypoxanthine, and the media contained two labeled products, inosine and hypoxanthine. Production of labeled inosine and hypoxanthine from adenosine was considerably lower in adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficient cells than in normal cells and virtually eliminated in normal cells by the presence of 1 microM deoxycoformycin (a potent ADA inhibitor), suggesting that labeled inosine and hypoxanthine production requires ADA activity. Initial rates of deamination (inosine and hypoxanthine formation) and phosphorylation (adenine nucleotide formation) were estimated by examining the metabolic fate of [8-14C]adenosine in hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase-deficient cells, which cannot recycle hypoxanthine. The estimate of the initial rate of phosphorylation exceeded that of deamination only at the lowest adenosine concentration examined (0.25 microM). The ratio of deamination to phosphorylation rose from approximately 1 at 0.41 microM to approximately 15 at 400 microM extracellular adenosine.

Metabolic cooperation in cell culture: studies of the mechanisms of cell interaction.

AbstractMetabolic cooperation is a form of cell communication in which the mutant phenotype of enzyme deficient cells, as determined by incorporation of labeled substrates, is corrected in culture by contact with normal cells. Previous studies showed that metabolic cooperation between normal and hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase deficient cells (HPRT−) was the result of transfer of product of the enzyme, nucleotide or nucleotide derivative, from normal to mutant cells rather than transfer of enzyme or informational macromolecules leading to the synthesis of the enzyme.In the present study the nature and mechanisms involved in these cell interactions were investigated. Effective communication is observed within one hour of cell contact. Modifications of the extracellular environment including changes in osmolarity, concentration of sodium and divalent ions failed to interfere significantly with transfer. Changes of cell shape induced by cyclic nucleotides, hormones and urea also did not affect communication. Cytochalasin B which dissociates microfilaments and binds to cell membranes reduced metabolic cooperation while colcemide which dissociates microtubules had little effect. Enzymatic oxidation and iodination of cell surface structures abolished metabolic cooperation. The subcellular localization of label in donor cells is important in determining efficiency of transfer. Metabolic cooperation is efficient when radioactive label is primarily located in the nucleus and inefficient if the label is cytoplasmic. Cell lines previously classified as “non‐communicating” because they lack gap junctions, ionic coupling and metabolic cooperation were shown in the present study to communicate when incubated with labeled substrates for 20 hours rather than 3. Cell communication is a more generalized phenomenon among cells in contact than previously appreciated.