scholarly journals Structure–function analysis of LIV-1, the breast cancer-associated protein that belongs to a new subfamily of zinc transporters

2003 ◽  
Vol 375 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn M. TAYLOR ◽  
Helen E. MORGAN ◽  
Andrea JOHNSON ◽  
Lisa J. HADLEY ◽  
Robert I. NICHOLSON

The LIV-1 gene has been previously associated with oestrogen-positive breast cancer and its metastatic spread to the regional lymph nodes. We have investigated the protein product of this gene as a marker for disease progression of breast cancer. The protein sequence contains a potential metalloprotease motif (HEXPHEXGD), which fits the consensus sequence for the catalytic zinc-binding site motif of the zincin metalloproteases. This motif has identified a new subfamily of ZIP (Zrt-, Irt-like proteins) zinc transporters, which we have termed LZT (LIV-1 subfamily of ZIP zinc transporters). Expression of recombinant LIV-1 in Chinese-hamster ovary cells confirmed the prediction that LZT proteins can act as zinc-influx transporters. Zinc is essential for growth and zinc transporters have an important role in maintaining intracellular zinc homoeostasis, aberrations of which could lead to diseases such as cancer. This is the first report of the expression of a recombinant human LZT protein in mammalian cells. Recombinant LIV-1 locates to the plasma membrane, concentrated in lamellipodiae, similar to membrane-type metalloproteases. Examination of LIV-1 tissue expression located it mainly to hormonally controlled tissues with widespread expression in the brain. Interestingly, the LIV-1 sequence contains a strong PEST site and other potential degradation motifs, which, combined with our evidence that recombinant LIV-1 associates with ubiquitin, may explain the low-level expression of LIV-1. Combining the crucial role that zinc plays in cell growth and the proven role of metalloproteases in metastasis presents an exciting indication of how LIV-1 plays a role in breast cancer progression.

1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 2698-2704 ◽  
Author(s):  
I W Caras ◽  
D W Martin

Mammalian ribonucleotide reductase is regulated by the binding of dATP and other nucleotide effectors to allosteric sites on subunit M1. Using mRNA from a mutant mouse T-lymphoma (S49) cell line, we have isolated a cDNA which encodes an altered, dATP feedback-resistant subunit M1. The mutant cDNA contains a single point mutation (a G-to-A transition) at codon 57, converting aspartic acid to asparagine. Proof that this mutation is responsible for the phenotype of dATP feedback resistance is provided by the following evidence. (i) The mutation was detected only in mutant S49 cells containing dATP feedback-resistant ribonucleotide reductase and not in wild-type or other mutant S49 cells. (ii) Transfection of Chinese hamster ovary cells with an expression plasmid containing the mutant M1 cDNA resulted in the production of dATP feedback-resistant ribonucleotide reductase. Transfected CHO cells expressing the mutant M1 cDNA exhibited a 15- to 25-fold increase in the frequency of spontaneous mutation to 6-thioguanine resistance, confirming that dATP feedback-resistant ribonucleotide reductase produces a mutator phenotype in mammalian cells. The availability of a cDNA which encodes dATP feedback-resistant subunit M1 thus provides a means of manipulating by transfection the frequency of spontaneous mutation in mammalian cells.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 532-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
J M Leeds ◽  
C K Mathews

dCTP pools equilibrated to equivalent specific activities in Chinese hamster ovary cells or in nuclei after incubation of cells with radiolabeled nucleosides, indicating that dCTP in nuclei does not constitute a distinct metabolic pool. In the G1 phase, [5-3H]deoxycytidine labeled dCTP to unexpectedly high specific activities. This may explain reports of replication-excluded DNA precursor pools.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 5085-5098
Author(s):  
A M Carothers ◽  
G Urlaub ◽  
D Grunberger ◽  
L A Chasin

Point mutants induced with a variety of mutagens at the dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) locus in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were screened for aberrantly spliced dhfr mRNA by RNase protection and/or reverse transcriptase coupled with cDNA amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Of 115 mutants screened, 28 were found to be affected in splicing. All exhibited less than 1% correct splicing, probably because the selection procedure was stringent. All 26 unique mutations were located within the consensus splice sequences; changes were found at 9 of 10 possible sites in this 25-kb six-exon gene. Mutations at the sites flanking the first and last exons resulted in the efficient recruitment of a cryptic site within each exon. In contrast, mutations bordering internal exons caused predominantly exon skipping. In many cases, multiple exons were skipped, suggesting the clustering of adjacent exons prior to actual splicing. Six mutations fell outside the well-conserved GU and AG dinucleotides. All but one were donor site single-base substitutions that decreased the agreement with the consensus and resulted in little or no correct splicing. Starting with five of these donor site mutants, we isolated 31 DHFR+ revertants. Most revertants carried a single-base substitution at a site other than that of the original mutation, and most had only partially regained the ability to splice correctly. The second-site suppression occurred through a variety of mechanisms: (i) a second change within the consensus sequence that produced a better agreement with the consensus; (ii) a change close to but beyond the consensus boundaries, as far as 8 bases upstream in the exon or 28 bases downstream in the intron; (iii) mutations in an apparent pseudo 5' site in the intron, 84 and 88 bases downstream of a donor site; and (iv) mutations that improved the upstream acceptor site of the affected exon. Taken together, these second-site suppressor mutations extend the definition of a splice site beyond the consensus sequence.


1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
N T Ktistakis ◽  
C Y Kao ◽  
R H Wang ◽  
M G Roth

The use of reporter proteins to study the regulation of secretion has often been complicated by posttranslational processing events that influence the secretion of certain proteins, but are not part of the cellular mechanisms that specifically regulate secretion. This has been a particular limitation for the isolation of mammalian secretion mutants, which has typically been a slow process. To provide a reporter of secretory activity independent of protein processing events, cells were labeled with the fluorescent lipid analogue C5-DMB-ceramide (ceramide coupled to the fluorophore boron dipyrromethene difluoride) and its secretion was followed by fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Brefeldin A, which severely inhibits secretion in Chinese hamster ovary cells, blocked secretion of C5-DMB-ceramide. At high temperature, export of C5-DMB-ceramide was inhibited in HRP-1 cells, which have a conditional defect in secretion. Using C5-DMB-ceramide as a reporter of secretory activity, several different pulse-chase protocols were designed that selected mutant Chinese hamster ovary cells that were resistant to the drug brefeldin A and others that were defective in the transport of glycoproteins to the cell surface. Mutant cells of either type were identified in a mutagenized population at a frequency of 10(-6). Thus, the fluorescent lipid C5-DMB-ceramide can be used as a specific marker of secretory activity, providing an efficient, general approach for isolating mammalian cells with defects in the secretory pathway.


1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 701-707
Author(s):  
M. Salditt-Georgieff ◽  
J. E. Darnell

Nuclear RNA from Chinese hamster ovary cells was effectively separated into polyadenylic acid [poly(A)]-containing [poly (A) + ] and non-poly(A)-containing [poly(A) − ] fractions so that ∼90% of the poly(A) was present in the (A) + fraction. Only 25% of the 5′-terminal caps of the large nuclear molecules were present in the (A) + class, but about 70% of the specific mRNA sequences (assayed with cDNA clones) were in the (A) + class. It appears that many long capped heterogeneous nuclear RNA molecules are of a different sequence category from those molecules that are successfully processed into mRNA.


1975 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Ling

Independent colchicine-resistant (CHR) mutants of Chinese hamster ovary cells displaying reduced permeability to colchicine have been isolated. A distinguishing feature of these membrane-altered mutants is their pleiotropic cross-resistance to a variety of unrelated compounds. Genetic characterization of the CHR lines indicates that colchicine resistance and cross-resistance to other drugs are of a dominant nature in somatic cell hybrids. Revertants of CHR have been isolated which display decreased resistance to colchicine and a corresponding decrease in resistance to other drugs. These results strongly suggest that colchicine resistance and the pleiotropic cross-resistance are the result of the same mutation(s). Biochemical studies indicate that although colchicine is transported into our cells by passive diffusion, no major alterations in the membrane lipids could be detected in mutant cells. However, there appears to be an energy-dependent process in these cells which actively maintains a permeability barrier against colchicine and other drugs. The CHR cells might be altered in this process. A new glycoprotein has been identified in mutant cell membranes which is not present in parental cells, and is greatly reduced in revertant cells. A model for colchicine-resistance is proposed which suggests that certain membrane proteins such as the new glycoprotein of CHR cells, are modulators of membrane fluidity (mmf proteins) whose molecular conformation regulates membrane permeability to a variety of compounds and that the CHR mutants are altered in their mmf proteins. The possible importance of the CHR cells as models for investigating aspects of chemotherapy related to drug resistance is discussed.


2009 ◽  
Vol 186 (4) ◽  
pp. 615-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinkesh Bhagatji ◽  
Rania Leventis ◽  
Jonathan Comeau ◽  
Mohammad Refaei ◽  
John R. Silvius

Diverse glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins enter mammalian cells via the clathrin- and dynamin-independent, Arf1-regulated GPI-enriched early endosomal compartment/clathrin-independent carrier endocytic pathway. To characterize the determinants of GPI protein targeting to this pathway, we have used fluorescence microscopic analyses to compare the internalization of artificial lipid-anchored proteins, endogenous membrane proteins, and membrane lipid markers in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Soluble proteins, anchored to cell-inserted saturated or unsaturated phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)-polyethyleneglycols (PEGs), closely resemble the GPI-anchored folate receptor but differ markedly from the transferrin receptor, membrane lipid markers, and even protein-free PE-PEGs, both in their distribution in peripheral endocytic vesicles and in the manner in which their endocytic uptake responds to manipulations of cellular Arf1 or dynamin activity. These findings suggest that the distinctive endocytic targeting of GPI proteins requires neither biospecific recognition of their GPI anchors nor affinity for ordered-lipid microdomains but is determined by a more fundamental property, the steric bulk of the lipid-anchored protein.


Author(s):  
Nilay Chakraborty ◽  
Michael A. Menze ◽  
Heidi Elmoazzen ◽  
Steve C. Hand ◽  
Mehmet Toner

Recently there has been much interest in using sugars such as trehalose to preserve mammalian cells in a dry state as an alternative to cryopreservation (1–5). However, some studies indicate that sugars alone may not be sufficient to prevent cell injury during drying. Other factors like sodium toxicity, ionic imbalance and pH excursions during dehydration are a few of the mechanisms that have been hypothesized to decrease the viability of mammalian cells. In the present study, we investigated whether or not substituting sodium chloride with choline chloride (2-hydroxy-N, N,N-trimethylethanaminium chloride) in the preservation medium improves desiccation tolerance of Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells.


1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 701-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Salditt-Georgieff ◽  
J. E. Darnell

Nuclear RNA from Chinese hamster ovary cells was effectively separated into polyadenylic acid [poly(A)]-containing [poly (A)+] and non-poly(A)-containing [poly(A)−] fractions so that ∼90% of the poly(A) was present in the (A)+fraction. Only 25% of the 5′-terminal caps of the large nuclear molecules were present in the (A)+class, but about 70% of the specific mRNA sequences (assayed with cDNA clones) were in the (A)+class. It appears that many long capped heterogeneous nuclear RNA molecules are of a different sequence category from those molecules that are successfully processed into mRNA.


1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 1459-1462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Meuth ◽  
Janet E. Arrand

To determine the types of alterations in gene structure induced by DNA-alkylating agents, we analyzed the restriction enzyme cleavage patterns of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase gene sequences in mutant strains of Chinese hamster ovary cells deficient in this enzyme. Base pair changes as detected by loss of restriction enzyme sites were found, but no major internal gene rearrangements could be detected.


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