scholarly journals Tubulin assembly sites and the organization of cytoplasmic microtubules in cultured mammalian cells.

1981 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 554-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
B R Brinkley ◽  
S M Cox ◽  
D A Pepper ◽  
L Wible ◽  
S L Brenner ◽  
...  

The number, distribution, and nucleating capacity of microtubule-organizing centers (MTOCs) has been investigated in a variety of cultured mammalian cells. Most interphase cells contain a single MTOC that is localized at the centrosome region and corresponds to the centriole and pericentriolar material. MTOCs, like centrioles, become duplicated during the S phase of the cell cycle and are equationally distributed to daughter cells in mitosis. Multiple MTOCs were rarely observed in cultured cells except in one cell line (neuroblastoma), which also displayed an equally large number of centrioles in the cytoplasm. The kinetics of microtubule assembly and the tubulin nucleating capacity of MTOCs was assayed by incubating tubulin-depleted, permeabilized 3T3 and simian virus 40-transformed 3T3 cells with phosphocellulose-purified 65 brain tubulin and microtubule assembly buffer. Initiation and assembly of 65 tubulin occurred in association with the cells' endogenous MTOCs, and the length, number, and distribution of microtubules generated about the organizing centers were regulated and cell specific. Our results are consistent with the notion that the specification of microtubule length, number, and spatial arrangement resides largely in the MTOCs and surrounding cytoplasm and not in the tubulin subunits.

1984 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 904-910 ◽  
Author(s):  
W J Deery ◽  
A R Means ◽  
B R Brinkley

A Triton X-100-lysed cell system has been used to identify calmodulin on the cytoskeleton of 3T3 and transformed SV3T3 cells. By indirect immunofluorescence, calmodulin was found to be associated with both the cytoplasmic microtubule complex and the centrosomes. A number of cytoplasmic microtubules more resistant to disassembly upon either cold (0-4 degrees C) or hypotonic treatment, as well as following dilution have been identified. Most of the stable microtubules appeared to be associated with the centrosome at one end and with the plasma membrane at the other end. These microtubules could be induced to depolymerize, however, by micromolar Ca++ concentrations. These data suggest that, by interacting directly with the microtubule, calmodulin may influence microtubule assembly and ensure the Ca++-sensitivity of both mitotic and cytoplasmic microtubules.


1983 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Okayama ◽  
P Berg

This paper describes a plasmid vector for cloning cDNAs in Escherichia coli; the same vector also promotes expression of the cDNA segment in mammalian cells. Simian virus 40 (SV40)-derived DNA segments are arrayed in the pcD vector to permit transcription, splicing, and polyadenylation of the cloned cDNA segment. A DNA fragment containing both the SV40 early region promoter and two introns normally used to splice the virus 16S and 19S late mRNAs is placed upstream of the cDNA cloning site to ensure transcription and splicing of the cDNA transcripts. An SV40 late region polyadenylation sequence occurs downstream of the cDNA cloning site, so that the cDNA transcript acquires a polyadenylated 3' end. By using pcD-alpha-globin cDNA as a model, we confirmed that the alpha-globin transcript produced in transfected cells is initiated correctly, spliced at either of the two introns, and polyadenylated either at the site coded in the cDNA segment or at the distal SV40 polyadenylation signal. A cDNA clone library constructed with mRNA from SV40-transformed human fibroblasts and this vector (about 1.4 X 10(6) clones) yielded full-length cDNA clones that express hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (Jolly et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., in press).


1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 1023-1029
Author(s):  
Y Li ◽  
D Li ◽  
K Osborn ◽  
L F Johnson

The thymidylate synthase (TS) gene is a housekeeping gene that is expressed at much higher levels in proliferating cells than in quiescent cells. We have studied the role of the TS 5'-flanking sequences in regulating the level of expression of the mouse TS gene. A variety of chimeric TS minigenes that contain different promoters linked either to the TS coding region (with or without introns) or to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) coding region were constructed. The activities of the minigenes were determined by transfecting them into cultured cells and measuring the levels of mRNA or enzyme derived from the chimeric genes. We found that the mouse TS promoter had about the same strength as the simian virus 40 early promoter but was significantly stronger than the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase promoter. Stable transfection studies revealed that minigenes consisting of the normal TS promoter (extending to -1 kb), coding region, and polyadenylation signal were regulated normally in response to growth stimulation. When the TS promoter was replaced by the simian virus 40 early promoter or by a TS promoter that retained only 60 nucleotides upstream of the first transcriptional start site, the minigene was expressed constitutively. A minigene consisting of the TS promoter (extending to -1 kb) linked to the CAT coding region was also expressed constitutively. These observations indicate that sequences upstream of the transcriptional start sites of the TS gene are necessary, although not sufficient, for normal growth-regulated expression of the mouse TS gene.


1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 4295-4304
Author(s):  
D B Roth ◽  
J H Wilson

Although DNA breakage and reunion in nonhomologous recombination are poorly understood, previous work suggests that short sequence homologies may play a role in the end-joining step in mammalian cells. To study the mechanism of end joining in more detail, we inserted a polylinker into the simian virus 40 T-antigen intron, cleaved the polylinker with different pairs of restriction enzymes, and transfected the resulting linear molecules into monkey cells. Analysis of 199 independent junctional sequences from seven constructs with different mismatched ends indicates that single-stranded extensions are relatively stable in monkey cells and that the terminal few nucleotides are critical for cell-mediated end joining. Furthermore, these studies define three mechanisms for end joining: single-strand, template-directed, and postrepair ligations. The latter two mechanisms depend on homologous pairing of one to six complementary bases to position the junction. All three mechanisms operate with similar overall efficiencies. The relevance of this work to targeted integration in mammalian cells is discussed.


1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 2704-2711 ◽  
Author(s):  
D S Peabody ◽  
S Subramani ◽  
P Berg

In a previous report (S. Subramani, R. Mulligan, and P. Berg, Mol. Cell. Biol. 1:854-864, 1981), it was shown that mouse dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) could be efficiently expressed from simian virus 40 recombinant viruses containing the DHFR cDNA in different locations in the viral late region. This was true even in the case of the SVGT7dhfr26 recombinant, which had the DHFR coding sequence 700 to 800 nucleotides from the 5' end of the mRNA, where it was preceded by the VP2 and VP3 initiator AUGs and a number of other noninitiator AUGs. To investigate the process of internal translation initiation in mammalian cells, we constructed a series of SVGT7dhfr recombinants in which the upstream VP2 and VP3 reading frame was terminated in various positions relative to the DHFR initiation codon. The efficient production of DHFR in infected CV1 cells depended on having the terminators of the VP2-VP3 reading frame positioned upstream or nearby downstream from the DHFR initiation codon. These results reinforce the notion that mammalian ribosomes are capable of translational reinitiation.


1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 2080-2089
Author(s):  
C T Wake ◽  
F Vernaleone ◽  
J H Wilson

Cultured animal cells rearrange foreign DNA very efficiently by homologous recombination. The individual steps that constitute the mechanism(s) of homologous recombination in transfected DNA are as yet undefined. In this study, we examined the topological requirements by using the genome of simian virus 40 (SV40) as a probe. By assaying homologous recombination between defective SV40 genomes after transfection into CV1 monkey cells, we showed that linear molecules are preferred substrates for homologous exchanges, exchanges are distributed around the SV40 genome, and the frequency of exchange is not diminished significantly by the presence of short stretches of non-SV40 DNA at the ends. These observations are considered in relation to current models of homologous recombination in mammalian cells, and a new model is proposed. The function of somatic cell recombination is discussed.


1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 2080-2089 ◽  
Author(s):  
C T Wake ◽  
F Vernaleone ◽  
J H Wilson

Cultured animal cells rearrange foreign DNA very efficiently by homologous recombination. The individual steps that constitute the mechanism(s) of homologous recombination in transfected DNA are as yet undefined. In this study, we examined the topological requirements by using the genome of simian virus 40 (SV40) as a probe. By assaying homologous recombination between defective SV40 genomes after transfection into CV1 monkey cells, we showed that linear molecules are preferred substrates for homologous exchanges, exchanges are distributed around the SV40 genome, and the frequency of exchange is not diminished significantly by the presence of short stretches of non-SV40 DNA at the ends. These observations are considered in relation to current models of homologous recombination in mammalian cells, and a new model is proposed. The function of somatic cell recombination is discussed.


1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (9) ◽  
pp. 1044-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
C M Gorman ◽  
L F Moffat ◽  
B H Howard

We constructed a series of recombinant genomes which directed expression of the enzyme chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) in mammalian cells. The prototype recombinant in this series, pSV2-cat, consisted of the beta-lactamase gene and origin of replication from pBR322 coupled to a simian virus 40 (SV40) early transcription region into which CAT coding sequences were inserted. Readily measured levels of CAT accumulated within 48 h after the introduction of pSV2-cat DNA into African green monkey kidney CV-1 cells. Because endogenous CAT activity is not present in CV-1 or other mammalian cells, and because rapid, sensitive assays for CAT activity are available, these recombinants provided a uniquely convenient system for monitoring the expression of foreign DNAs in tissue culture cells. To demonstrate the usefulness of this system, we constructed derivatives of pSV2-cat from which part or all of the SV40 promoter region was removed. Deletion of one copy of the 72-base-pair repeat sequence in the SV40 promoter caused no significant decrease in CAT synthesis in monkey kidney CV-1 cells; however, an additional deletion of 50 base pairs from the second copy of the repeats reduced CAT synthesis to 11% of its level in the wild type. We also constructed a recombinant, pSV0-cat, in which the entire SV40 promoter region was removed and a unique HindIII site was substituted for the insertion of other promoter sequences.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document