scholarly journals CHROMOSIN, A DESOXYRIBOSE NUCLEOPROTEIN COMPLEX OF THE CELL NUCLEUS

1946 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Mirsky ◽  
A. W. Pollister

A desoxyribose nucleoprotein complex, which we have referred to as a chromosin, has been prepared from a great variety of cells, mainly animal but also plant and bacterial. A chromosin is derived from the cell nucleus. In the course of preparation precautions have been taken to prevent contamination by cytoplasmic constituents. To assure the nuclear origin of all components of chromosin, nuclei have in several instances been isolated before extraction was begun. Because of the precautions taken, chromosins do not contain detectable quantities of ribose nucleoproteins; but, incidentally, extraction of ribose nucleoproteins, free of desoxyribose compounds, has also been described in this paper. A typical chromosin contains 3 components: desoxyribose nucleic acid, histone, and non-histone protein. The nucleic acid, being highly polymerized, is exceedingly viscous when dissolved and fibrous when precipitated. Histone and non-histone protein differ from each other in a number of ways, of which one of the most definite is that whereas a histone contains no more than traces of tryptophane, the non-histone protein of chromosin contains nearly 1 per cent of tryptophane. In neutral physiological saline both proteins can combine with nucleic acid. With the isolation of chromosins from so many different kinds of cells, it can now be seen that (contrary to the view expressed by Kossel) histones are present in most animal cells and at least in some plant and bacterial cells. Chromosin prepared from the Type III pneumococcus is active in transforming the type of a pneumococcus culture. It has been pointed out that it is not yet known whether or not protein is a necessary constituent of the transforming agent. To extract chromosin from a cell M NaCl is used. When dissolved in M NaCl the nucleic acid and histone components of a chromosin are to a considerable extent dissociated. They are not dissociated when the chromosin is dissolved in 0.02 M NaCl, but in this medium a partial depolymerization of the nucleic acid occurs. A chromosin should certainly not be considered to be a definite chemical compound. It is a complex extracted from chromatin, which is itself a complicated nuclear structure. And in the course of extraction, it need hardly be said, the structure of chromatin has been considerably changed. To avoid complications it has been considered an advantage in this work to begin with isolated nuclei, and it would clearly be a further simplification to begin chemical procedures only after the chromosomes themselves have been isolated. This is now being accomplished, and it is found that the methods described in this paper are of value in learning how the substances present in a chromosin are put together in a chromosome.

1966 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
H. HARRIS ◽  
J. F. WATKINS ◽  
C. E. FORD ◽  
G. I. SCHOEFL

A virus, inactivated by ultraviolet light, was used to fuse together cells from different species of vertebrate, and the resulting heterokaryons were examined by autoradiographic and cytological techniques. Heterokaryons could be made with both differentiated and undifferentiated cells: HeLa and Ehrlich ascites cells were studied as examples of undifferentiated cells; rabbit macrophages, rat lymphocytes and hen erythrocytes as examples of differentiated cells. These last three cells were chosen because in them, in varying degrees, the process of differentiation has resulted in suppression of the synthesis of DNA or of both DNA and RNA. This suppression was in all cases found to be reversible: the dormant nuclei could be induced to resume the synthesis of RNA or DNA or both when the differentiated cells were fused with a cell which normally synthesizes RNA and DNA. Observations on heterokaryons in which differentiated cells were fused with HeLa cells and with each other permitted certain general conclusions to be drawn about the regulation of nucleic acid synthesis in the heterokaryon. It was found that if either one of the parent cells normally synthesized RNA, RNA synthesis took place in both types of nuclei in the heterokaryon. If either of the parent cells normally synthesized DNA, DNA synthesis took place in both types of nuclei in the heterokaryon. If neither of the parent cells synthesized DNA, no DNA synthesis took place in the heterokaryon. In all cases where a cell which synthesized a particular nucleic acid was fused with one which did not, the active cell initiated the synthesis of this nucleic acid in the inactive partner. In no case did the inactive cell suppress synthesis in the active partner. The nuclei of heterokaryons in which DNA synthesis took place underwent mitosis, and those nuclei which entered mitosis synchronously usually fused together. This process resulted in the progressive formation of mononucleate hybrid cells, which might thus contain within a single nucleus chromosomal complements derived from different species. These mononucleate hybrid cells were also capable of RNA and DNA synthesis, and many of them in turn underwent mitosis. At metaphase these cells showed, in various combinations, the chromosomal complements of the two parent cells. Mononucleate hybrid cells formed by the fusion of a large number of single cells did not appear to be capable of continued multiplication; but mononucleate cells containing one chromosomal set from each parent cell were still found to be undergoing mitosis many days after cell fusion.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishma Pratap Sur ◽  
Marketa Kominkova ◽  
Zaneta Buchtova ◽  
Kristyna Dolezelikova ◽  
Ondrej Zitka ◽  
...  

The physical and chemical synthesis methods of quantum dots (QDs) are generally unfavorable for biological applications. To overcome this limitation, the development of a novel “green” route to produce highly-fluorescent CdSe QDs constitutes a promising substitute approach. In the present work, CdSe QDs were biosynthesized in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae using a novel method, where we showed for the first time that the concentration of tryptone highly affects the synthesis process. The optimum concentration of tryptone was found to be 25 g/L for the highest yield. Different methods were used to optimize the QD extraction from yeast, and the best method was found to be by denaturation at 80 °C along with an ultrasound needle. Multiple physical characterizations including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and spectrophotometry confirmed the optical features size and shape distribution of the QDs. We showed that the novel conjugate of the CdSe QDs and a cell-penetrating peptide (hecate) can detect bacterial cells very efficiently under a fluorescent microscope. The conjugate also showed strong antibacterial activity against vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Escherichia coli, which may help us to cope with the problem of rising antibiotic resistance.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnaldo Negron ◽  
Natasha DeLeon-Rodriguez ◽  
Samantha M. Waters ◽  
Luke D. Ziemba ◽  
Bruce Anderson ◽  
...  

Abstract. The abundance and speciation of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) is important for understanding their impacts on human health, cloud formation and ecosystems. Towards this, we have developed a protocol for quantifying PBAP collected from large volumes of air with a portable wet-walled cyclone bioaerosol sampler. A flow cytometry (FCM) protocol was then developed to quantify and characterize the PBAP populations from the sampler, which were confirmed against epifluorescence microscopy. The sampling system and FCM analysis were used to study PBAP in Atlanta, GA over a two-month period and showed clearly defined populations of DNA-containing particles: Low Nucleic Acid-content particles (bioLNA), High Nucleic Acid-content particles (HNA) being fungal spores and pollen. We find that daily-average springtime PBAP concentration (1 to 5 μm diameter) ranged between 1.4 × 104 and 1.1 × 105 m−3. The BioLNA population dominated PBAP during dry days (72 ± 18 %); HNA dominated the PBAP during humid days and following rain events, where HNA (e.g., wet-ejected fungal spores) comprised up to 92 % of the PBAP number. Concurrent measurements with a Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor (WIBS-4A) showed that FBAP and total FCM counts are similar; HNA (from FCM) significantly correlated with ABC type FBAP concentrations throughout the sampling period (and for the same particle size range, 1–5 μm diameter). However, the FCM bioLNA population, possibly containing bacterial cells, did not correlate to any FBAP type. The lack of correlation of any WIBS FBAP type with the bioLNA suggest bacterial cells may be more difficult to detect with autofluorescence than previously thought. Ιdentification of bacterial cells even in the FCM (bioLNA population) is challenging, given that the fluorescence level of stained cells at times may be comparable to that seen from abiotic particles. HNA and ABC displayed highest concentration on a humid and warm day after a rain event (4/14), suggesting that both populations correspond to wet-ejected fungal spores. Overall, information from both instruments combined reveals a highly dynamic airborne bioaerosol community over Atlanta, with a considerable presence of fungal spores during humid days, and a bioLNA population dominating bioaerosol community during dry days.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 888
Author(s):  
Hiro Uemachi ◽  
Yuuya Kasahara ◽  
Keisuke Tanaka ◽  
Takumi Okuda ◽  
Yoshihiro Yoneda ◽  
...  

Nucleic acid aptamers have attracted considerable attention as next-generation pharmaceutical agents and delivery vehicles for small molecule drugs and therapeutic oligonucleotides. Chemical modification is an effective approach for improving the functionality of aptamers. However, the process of selecting appropriately modified aptamers is laborious because of many possible modification patterns. Here, we describe a hybrid-type systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) approach for the generation of the artificial nucleic acid aptamers effective against human TROP2, a cell surface protein identified by drug discovery as a promising target for cancer therapy. Capillary electrophoresis SELEX was used for the pre-screening of multiple modified nucleic acid libraries and enrichment of TROP2 binding aptamers in the first step, followed by functional screening using cell-SELEX in the second step for the generation of cell-internalizing aptamers. One representative aptamer, Tac-B1, had a nanomolar-level affinity to human TROP2 and exhibited elevated capacity for internalization by cells. Because of the growing interest in the application of aptamers for drug delivery, our hybrid selection approach has great potential for the generation of functional artificial nucleic acid aptamers with ideal modification patterns in vitro.


2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 287-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernand Gobeil ◽  
Audrey Fortier ◽  
Tang Zhu ◽  
Michela Bossolasco ◽  
Martin Leduc ◽  
...  

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) comprise a wide family of monomeric heptahelical glycoproteins that recognize a broad array of extracellular mediators including cationic amines, lipids, peptides, proteins, and sensory agents. Thus far, much attention has been given towards the comprehension of intracellular signaling mechanisms activated by cell membrane GPCRs, which convert extracellular hormonal stimuli into acute, non-genomic (e.g., hormone secretion, muscle contraction, and cell metabolism) and delayed, genomic biological responses (e.g., cell division, proliferation, and apoptosis). However, with respect to the latter response, there is compelling evidence for a novel intracrine mode of genomic regulation by GPCRs that implies either the endocytosis and nuclear translocation of peripheral-liganded GPCR and (or) the activation of nuclearly located GPCR by endogenously produced, nonsecreted ligands. A noteworthy example of the last scenario is given by heptahelical receptors that are activated by bioactive lipoids (e.g., PGE2 and PAF), many of which may be formed from bilayer membranes including those of the nucleus. The experimental evidence for the nuclear localization and signalling of GPCRs will be reviewed. We will also discuss possible molecular mechanisms responsible for the atypical compartmentalization of GPCRs at the cell nucleus, along with their role in gene expression.


1972 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Read ◽  
R. W. Reed

The replicative events of a virulent phage (A25) infection of a group A Streptococcus (T253) were studied using the electron microscope. The first intracellular evidence of phage replication in a cell occurred 30 min after infection with arrest of cell division and increase in the nucleic acid pool. Phage heads were evident in the nucleic acid pool of the cells 45 min after infection. Release of phages occurred by splitting of the cell wall along discrete lines. This appeared to be at sites of active wall synthesis, i.e., near the region of septum formation. Many phage components were released but relatively few complete phages indicating a relatively inefficient replicative system.


Open Biology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 120143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Errington

The peptidoglycan wall is a defining feature of bacterial cells and was probably already present in their last common ancestor. L-forms are bacterial variants that lack a cell wall and divide by a variety of processes involving membrane blebbing, tubulation, vesiculation and fission. Their unusual mode of proliferation provides a model for primitive cells and is reminiscent of recently developed in vitro vesicle reproduction processes. Invention of the cell wall may have underpinned the explosion of bacterial life on the Earth. Later innovations in cell envelope structure, particularly the emergence of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, possibly in an early endospore former, seem to have spurned further major evolutionary radiations. Comparative studies of bacterial cell envelope structure may help to resolve the early key steps in evolutionary development of the bacterial domain of life.


1995 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 473-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
U Nörenberg ◽  
M Hubert ◽  
T Brümmendorf ◽  
A Tárnok ◽  
F G Rathjen

The extracellular matrix glycoprotein tenascin-R (TN-R) is a multidomain protein implicated in neural cell adhesion. To analyze the structure-function relationship of the different domains of TN-R, several recombinant TN-R fragments were expressed in bacterial cells. Two distinct binding regions were localized on the TN-R polypeptide: a region binding the axon-associated immunoglobulin (Ig)-like F11 protein and a cell attachment site. The binding region of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored F11 was allocated to the second and third fibronectin type III (FNIII)-like domain within TN-R. By using a mutant polypeptide of F11 containing only Ig-like domains, a direct interaction between the Ig-like domains of F11 and FNIII-like domains 2-3 of TN-R was demonstrated. The interaction of TN-R with F11 in in vitro cultures enhanced F11-mediated neurite outgrowth, suggesting that the combined action of F11 and TN-R might be of regulatory influence on axon extension. A cell attachment region was identified in the FNIII-like domain eight of TN-R by domain-specific antibodies and fusion constructs. This site is distinct from the F11 binding site within TN-R.


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