scholarly journals Expression of Escherichia coli homoserine kinase in mouse 3T3 cells

1992 ◽  
Vol 281 (3) ◽  
pp. 865-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
W D Rees ◽  
S M Hay ◽  
H J Flint

The Escherichia coli gene for homoserine kinase (thrB) has been cloned into a simian-virus-40-based eukaryotic expression vector which also includes a neomycin-resistance gene. Mouse 3T3 cells transfected with this plasmid were selected for resistance and screened for homoserine kinase activity. It has thus been possible to isolate clones which are capable of accumulating homoserine O-phosphate when supplied with homoserine. In broken-cell preparations the kinetic constants for the production of homoserine O-phosphate were similar to those of the wild-type E. coli enzyme. These experiments demonstrate that E. coli homoserine kinase can be expressed in an animal cell and that it can successfully phosphorylate L-homoserine in the intact cell utilizing endogenous ATP.

1993 ◽  
Vol 291 (1) ◽  
pp. 315-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
W D Rees ◽  
S M Hay

We have subcloned the coding sequence for the Escherichia coli threonine synthase gene into a eukaryotic expression vector based on the simian-virus-40 early promoter. When mouse 3T3 cells which already expressed homoserine kinase were transfected with the new plasmid, the cells were able to incorporate radioactivity from [14C]homoserine into their cell proteins. Stable cell lines were established by co-transfecting 3T3 cells with the plasmid coding for threonine synthase and another coding for homoserine kinase and G-418 (Geneticin) resistance. Cells were selected for G-418 resistance and then screened for an ability to synthesize threonine from homoserine and incorporate it into the cell protein. A cell line which expressed both the homoserine kinase and threonine synthase genes was capable of growth in a threonine-deficient medium containing homoserine.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 1623-1628
Author(s):  
M Cartier ◽  
M W Chang ◽  
C P Stanners

A new dominant amplifiable selective system for use in bacterium-animal cell shuttle vectors was developed by the insertion of a 2-kilobase genomic fragment containing the cloned Escherichia coli gene for asparagine synthetase (AS) into the pBR322-simian virus 40 recombinant vector pSV2 so as to place the translational initiator codon for the bacterial AS about 1,000 base pairs downstream from the simian virus 40 early promoter. This new construct, pSV2-AS, retains bacterial sequences for transcriptional and translational initiation and so can express AS in bacteria. The construct can also complement AS- mutants of mammalian cells, giving AS+ transfectants capable of growth in medium lacking asparagine, with relatively high efficiency (about 300 colonies per microgram of DNA per 10(6) cells exposed). The vector can be amplified up to 100-fold in such AS+ transfectants by selection in asparagine-free medium containing increasing concentrations of the AS inhibitor beta-aspartyl hydroxamate. AS+ transfectants were found to be much more resistant to a second AS inhibitor, Albizziin, than were normal AS+ animal cell lines. This difference, which may indicate a strong resistance of the bacterial AS enzyme to Albizziin, was exploited to develop an effective selection for bacterial AS transfectants of a number of wild-type AS+ cell lines of rat, Chinese hamster, mouse, and human origin. LR-73 cells, a Chinese hamster AS+ cell line, were transfected with pSV2-AS with an efficiency of about 1,000 colonies per 0.5 microgram of DNA per 10(6) cells. The integrated construct in these cells was amplified by incubation of the transfectants in increasing concentrations of beta-aspartyl hydroxamate. Advantages and disadvantages of this new dominant, selectable, and amplifiable marker over markers commonly used in shuttle vectors are discussed.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 1623-1628 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Cartier ◽  
M W Chang ◽  
C P Stanners

A new dominant amplifiable selective system for use in bacterium-animal cell shuttle vectors was developed by the insertion of a 2-kilobase genomic fragment containing the cloned Escherichia coli gene for asparagine synthetase (AS) into the pBR322-simian virus 40 recombinant vector pSV2 so as to place the translational initiator codon for the bacterial AS about 1,000 base pairs downstream from the simian virus 40 early promoter. This new construct, pSV2-AS, retains bacterial sequences for transcriptional and translational initiation and so can express AS in bacteria. The construct can also complement AS- mutants of mammalian cells, giving AS+ transfectants capable of growth in medium lacking asparagine, with relatively high efficiency (about 300 colonies per microgram of DNA per 10(6) cells exposed). The vector can be amplified up to 100-fold in such AS+ transfectants by selection in asparagine-free medium containing increasing concentrations of the AS inhibitor beta-aspartyl hydroxamate. AS+ transfectants were found to be much more resistant to a second AS inhibitor, Albizziin, than were normal AS+ animal cell lines. This difference, which may indicate a strong resistance of the bacterial AS enzyme to Albizziin, was exploited to develop an effective selection for bacterial AS transfectants of a number of wild-type AS+ cell lines of rat, Chinese hamster, mouse, and human origin. LR-73 cells, a Chinese hamster AS+ cell line, were transfected with pSV2-AS with an efficiency of about 1,000 colonies per 0.5 microgram of DNA per 10(6) cells. The integrated construct in these cells was amplified by incubation of the transfectants in increasing concentrations of beta-aspartyl hydroxamate. Advantages and disadvantages of this new dominant, selectable, and amplifiable marker over markers commonly used in shuttle vectors are discussed.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (19) ◽  
pp. 10706-10713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Genevaux ◽  
Florence Lang ◽  
Françoise Schwager ◽  
Jai V. Vartikar ◽  
Kathleen Rundell ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The N-terminal exon of DNA tumor virus T antigens represents a J domain that can direct interaction with the host-encoded Hsp70 chaperones. We have taken advantage of rapid Hsp40 cochaperone assays with Escherichia coli to assess simian virus 40 (SV40)-encoded J-domain loss of function. We found a strong correlation between loss of cochaperone function in E. coli and defective SV40 growth, suggesting that the major role of the J domain in DNA tumor viruses is to provide cochaperone function. We also report the expression of native SV40 virus T antigens in E. coli. Our results show that small t antigen, but not large T antigen (LT) or LT truncation TN125 or TN136, can functionally replace under limited growth conditions DnaJ (Hsp40) function in vivo. In addition, purified small t antigen can efficiently stimulate E. coli DnaK's (Hsp70) ATPase in vitro, thus behaving like a bona fide cochaperone. Furthermore, small t amino acids 83 to 174, which are adjacent to the viral J domain, can replace the E. coli DnaJ J-domain glycine-phenylalanine-rich domain, immediately adjacent to the J-domain sequences, even in the absence of significant amino acid similarity to their DnaJ counterpart. Taken together, our studies demonstrate that functionally related Hsp40 proteins from mammalian viral systems can be rapidly studied in bacteria and exploited to probe the universally conserved Hsp70 chaperone machine mechanism.


1983 ◽  
Vol 214 (3) ◽  
pp. 695-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Engström ◽  
A Zetterberg

3T3 cells were cultured in media with different phosphate concentrations and the effects on DNA synthesis were examined. Even a modest phosphate depletion markedly inhibited DNA synthesis and cell multiplication in proliferating cultures. Furthermore, the decrease in the proportion of DNA-synthesizing cells observed after phosphate starvation followed the same time-course as the decrease seen after serum starvation. Cells starved to quiescence in a medium with a 100-fold decrease in phosphate concentration remained viable but non-proliferating for up to 3 weeks, i.e. they had entered a state of quiescence comparable with that seen after serum starvation. Addition of phosphate to phosphate-depleted cultures restored DNA synthesis within 24h. Furthermore, the kinetics of [3H]thymidine labelling after phosphate addition were nearly identical with the labelling kinetics following addition of serum to serum-depleted cultures. In contrast, phosphate deprivation had no inhibitory effects on DNA synthesis in simian-virus-40-transformed 3T3 cells. Furthermore, the inhibitory effects on DNA synthesis in such cells caused by a complete removal of serum could not be further enhanced by decreasing the phosphate concentration in the culture medium.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (13) ◽  
pp. 6575-6587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Daniels ◽  
Nasser M. Rusan ◽  
Anne-Kathrin Wilbuer ◽  
Leonard C. Norkin ◽  
Patricia Wadsworth ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Many nonenveloped viruses have evolved an infectious cycle that culminates in the lysis or permeabilization of the host to enable viral release. How these viruses initiate the lytic event is largely unknown. Here, we demonstrated that the simian virus 40 progeny accumulated at the nuclear envelope prior to the permeabilization of the nuclear, endoplasmic reticulum, and plasma membranes at a time which corresponded with the release of the progeny. The permeabilization of these cellular membranes temporally correlated with late protein expression and was not observed upon the inhibition of their synthesis. To address whether one or more of the late proteins possessed an inherent capacity to induce membrane permeabilization, we examined the permeability of Escherichia coli that separately expressed the late proteins. VP2 and VP3, but not VP1, caused the permeabilization of bacterial membranes. Additionally, VP3 expression resulted in bacterial cell lysis. These findings demonstrate that VP3 possesses an inherent lytic property that is independent of eukaryotic signaling or cell death pathways.


1981 ◽  
Vol 1 (11) ◽  
pp. 1038-1047
Author(s):  
S Kawasaki ◽  
L Diamond ◽  
R Baserga

Sodium butyrate (3 mM) inhibited the entry into the S phase of quiescent 3T3 cells stimulated by serum, but had no effect on the accumulation of cellular ribonucleic acid. Simian virus 40 infection or manual microinjection of cloned fragments from the simian virus 40 A gene caused quiescent 3T3 cells to enter the S phase even in the presence of butyrate. NGI cells, a line of 3T3 cells transformed by simian virus 40, grew vigorously in 3 mM butyrate. Homokaryons were formed between G1 and S-phase 3T3 cells, Butyrate inhibited the induction of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis that usually occurs in B1 nuclei when G1 cells are fused with S-phase cells. However, when G1 3T3 cells were fused with exponentially growing NGI cells, the 3T3 nuclei were induced to enter deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis. In tsAF8 cells, a ribonucleic acid polymerase II mutant that stops in the G1 phase of the cell cycle, no temporal sequence was demonstrated between the butyrate block and the temperature-sensitive block. These results confirm previous reports that certain virally coded proteins can induce cell deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis in the absence of cellular functions that are required by serum-stimulated cells. Our interpretation of these data is that butyrate inhibited cell growth by inhibiting the expression of genes required for the G0 leads to G1 leads to S transition and that the product of the simian virus 40 A gene overrode this inhibition by providing all of the necessary functions for the entry into the S phase.


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