scholarly journals EFFECTS OF CYTOSINE ARABINOSIDE ON DIFFERENTIAL GENE EXPRESSION IN EMBRYONIC NEURAL RETINA

1974 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 688-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Jones ◽  
A. A. Moscona

The analogue of cytidine, cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C), elicited a significant increase in the level of glutamine synthetase (GS) in embryonic chick neural retina in the absence of the steroid inducer of the enzyme. The increase was due to de novo synthesis of GS and was mediated by RNA which accumulated in the presence of the effective concentration of Ara-C. Accumulation of GS did not result from the inhibition of DNA synthesis for which Ara-C is best known. This new effect of Ara-C involves differential suppression of macromolecular synthesis in this system: the concentration of Ara-C which caused maximum GS accumulation suppressed overall protein and RNA syntheses 65–75% without inhibiting the transcription and translation of templates essential for GS synthesis. Withdrawal of Ara-C resulted in restoration of RNA synthesis and cessation of GS accumulation, even though preformed templates for the enzyme were present; however, if all RNA synthesis was arrested with actinomycin D at the time of Ara-C withdrawal, GS continued to accumulate. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that Ara-C differentially affects the activity of structural and regulatory genes involved in the regulation of GS levels in the retina: Ara-C allows transcription of the enzyme-specific templates, but reversibly inhibits the expression of regulatory genes which limit the accumulation of GS.

1977 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
R E Jones ◽  
A A Moscona

Cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) elicits a significant increase in the level of the enzyme glutamine synthetase (GS) while it markedly reduces overall RNA and protein synthesis in cultures of embryonic chick neural retina. This increase was analyzed by radioimmunochemical procedures and compared with the induction of GS by hydrocortisone (HC). Accumulation of GS in Ara-C-treated retinas was found to be due to de novo synthesis of the enzyme; however, unlike the induction of GS by HC, Ara-C caused no measurable increase in the rate of GS synthesis. The results indicate that Ara-C facilitates GS accumulation largely by preventing degradation of the enzyme. Even though Ara-C inhibits the bulk of RNA synthesis in the retina, it does not stop the formation of GS-specific RNA templates. However, the progressive accumulation of these templates does not result in an increased rate of GS synthesis unless Ara-C is withdrawn from such cultures under suitable experimental conditions. Thus, it is suggested that the continuous presence of Ara-C imposes a reversible hindrance at the translational level which limits the rate of GS synthesis. The results demonstrate that the increase in retinal GS elicited by Ara-C is achieved through mechanisms which are quite different from those involved in the hydrocortisone-mediated induction of this enzyme.


Blood ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 662-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Schooley ◽  
L. J. Mahlmann

Abstract Significant increases in the serum erythropoietin of male rats occur after the end of a brief hypoxic exposure. These increases in the hormone are almost completely abolished when the kidneys are removed after the hypoxic exposure. Injection of puromycin or cycloheximide after the hypoxic exposure significantly decreases the subsequent increases in serum erythropoietin titers, whereas injections of actinomycin D at this time have no significant effect on erythropoietin levels. Injections of actinomycin D before the hypoxic exposure prevent the increase in serum erythropoietin that normally occurs. These findings suggest that a brief period of hypoxia initiates a DNA-dependent RNA synthesis that regulates the de novo ribosomal synthesis of protein(s) involved in the biogenesis of erythropoietin and that the kidney is essential for these reactions to occur.


1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jnanankur Bag

Exposure of chicken myotube culture to 45 °C induced the synthesis of three heat-shock polypeptides of 25 000, 65 000, and 81 000 daltons. Recovery to the normal pattern of protein synthesis was judged by the decrease in the synthesis of heat-shock polypeptides. This recovery to normal protein synthesis required de novo synthesis of mRNAs for normal cellular proteins. Inhibition of RNA synthesis by actinomycin D during recovery at 37 °C blocked the recovery process and resulted in the continued synthesis of heat-shock polypeptides. Large unilamellar vesicles were used to examine the effect of delivery of mRNAs isolated from both normal and heat-shocked myotubes on the recovery of these cells from heat-shock treatment. The results presented here show that liposome-mediated delivery of normal mRNAs to heat-shocked cells relieved the block of recovery by actinomycin. On the other hand, when mRNAs from heat-shocked cells were used during recovery, the synthesis of heat-shock polypeptides was stimulated. These observations suggest that the relative abundance of mRNAs in the cytoplasm plays a critical role in regulating protein synthesis in chicken myotube cultures.


1981 ◽  
Vol 36 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 942-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Westhoff ◽  
Kurt Zimmermann ◽  
Frank Boege ◽  
Klaus Zetsche

Abstract Transfer of heterotrophically grown cells of the unicellular green alga Chlorogonium elongatum to autotrophic growth conditions causes a 10 -15 fold increase in the amount of the chloroplastic enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase. This increase was found to be due to de novo synthesis. The relative proportions of large and small subunits of the enzyme do not change. Their ratio is close to 3.4, the proportions in weight of the two subunits in the holoenzyme. Continous labelling with [35S]sulfate reveals that the ratios of incorporation into large and small subunits are essentially the same in autotrophic and heterotrophic cells. Pulse-chase experiments show that the subunits are degraded synchronously. The coordinated subunit synthesis cannot be uncoupled using inhibitors of protein and RNA synthesis or high temperature of cultivation of the alga. The results suggests a very tightly coordinated synthesis of the large and small subunits of ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase.


1968 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Maung ◽  
D. G. Baker ◽  
R. K. Murray

The effects of the administration of actinomycin D, ethionine, and puromycin on the elevations of the total seromucoid fraction and of one of its components (haptoglobin) occurring during experimental inflammation have been studied. All three inhibitors of protein synthesis abolished the elevation of haptoglobin level. Ethionine and puromycin also completely suppressed the elevation of total seromucoid level, whereas actinomycin D only partially suppressed it. The seromucoid and haptoglobin levels in control animals injected with only the inhibitors of protein synthesis were not in general significantly different from those of the animals injected with turpentine and these agents. The results are consistent with the concept that the elevation of various plasma glycoproteins occurring during inflammation is principally due to de novo synthesis of these proteins rather than release of preformed proteins from tissue pools.


1965 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob J. Blum

When a bleached strain of Euglena is maintained in a medium containing very low con centrations of phosphate, the acid phosphatase activity increases. The increase in acid phosphatase activity is prevented by Actinomycin D and by p-fluorophenylalanine (PFA), indicating that the increased activity is due to de novo synthesis of acid phosphatase. When phosphate is replenished, the acid phosphatase activity decreases to the level characteristic of uninduced cells before there is any appreciable cell division. When cell division resumes in the presence of PFA, the level of acid phosphatase activity remains approximately constant. This indicates that there are two different phosphatases: a constitutive enzyme, whose synthesis is insensitive to the presence of PFA, and an induced enzyme, whose synthesis is sensitive to PFA. These enzymes are not equally sensitive to changes in pH and in fluoride concentration, thus permitting them to be assayed individually in whole toluene-treated cells. Induced cells also acquire the ability to remove phosphate from the medium very rapidly.


1968 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 903-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Kazdová ◽  
T. Braun ◽  
P. Fábry ◽  
R. Poledne

RNA synthesis measured by the incorporation of orotic acid-6-14C into RNA was investigated in isolated adipose tissue of control rats and of rats adapted to periodic hyperphagia, evoked by meal-feeding (a single 2-h meal per day). Both groups were fasted for 22 h and subsequently fed a measured test meal for another 2 h. It was revealed that 2 and 4 h after feeding there was no significant change in comparison with values during fasting, whereas in tissue of meal-fed rats the specific activity of RNA gradually increased by 22% and 41% respectively. The difference between controls and meal-fed rats was even much more marked if the specific activity of RNA in fat cells, isolated after incubation of the tissue, was measured. A significantly greater response of meal-fed rats was found when protein synthesis and lipogenesis in adipose tissue were assessed under the same experimental conditions. The possibility is discussed that the enhanced RNA and protein synthesis in adipose tissue of meal-fed rats is associated with de novo synthesis of enzymes involved in adaptive hyperlipogenesis.


1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 498-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. L. Rudick

Changes in the levels of DNA and RNA syntheses have been studied in unagitated cultures of Acanthamoeba castellanii during the phases of logarithmic multiplication (LM) and population growth deceleration (PGD). Pulse-labeling experiments show that the rate of DNA synthesis decreases at the same time that DNA per cell is known to drop by 50%. The drop in DNA content has been explained by demonstrating with hydroxyurea that the majority of LM amebas can replicate once when DNA synthesis is inhibited and, therefore, must be in G2, whereas the PGD amebas cannot multiply in the presence of inhibitor and, therefore, must be in G1. The inhibition of DNA synthesis in LM or PGD cells has been shown to induce encystment. The rate of RNA synthesis, as illustrated by pulse-labeling experiments, increases 25% in late LM-early PGD while RNA per cell increases 75%. The rate of synthesis then decreases 65%. The majority of accumulated RNA has been demonstrated to be ribosomal by disc electrophoresis. By using actinomycin D at different stages during the RNA build-up, the ability of the amebas to encyst has been shown to depend on the presence of this RNA. The observations on DNA and RNA are discussed with respect to the occurrence of cysts in the cultures during PGD.


2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-334
Author(s):  
Michał Spychała ◽  
Irena Kocz-Zajchert ◽  
Alicja Szwejkowska

As early as after 4 hours of kinetin treatment a decrease in RNase activity was found in the moss protonema and it was maintained to at least 10 hours. It was shown that this decrease was correlated with the morphogenetic effect of kinetin (bud induction). No allosteric inhibition of RNase toy kinetin could be found. The decrease in enzyme activity was more pronounced When additionally inhibitors of protein and RNA synthesis were used. It is concluded that kinetin affects the RNase rather by an inhibition of de novo synthesis of the enzyme than by an increase of its decomposition by proteases.


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