The initial synthesis of haemoglobin in de-embryonated chick blastoderms.

Development ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 609-619
Author(s):  
Anna Hell

Enormous progress has been made in the last few years towards the elucidation of the mechanism of protein synthesis, and great interest is centred on the steps leading to cellular differentiation and specific protein synthesis. We know that genetic information is passed on from one generation of cells to the next by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and that this material directs all protein synthesis by the intermediary of the different types of ribonucleic acid (RNA). A simple in vitro system described by O'Brien (1959) seemed to offer an excellent tool for the study of the differentiation of the blood islands, and the initial formation of a well-known protein, haemoglobin (Hb), in chick embryonic tissues. After de-embryonation, chick blastoderms, from the stage of primitive streak onwards, can be cultured in vitro on a saline agar medium supplemented with glucose.

1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1093-1099
Author(s):  
R J Schmidt ◽  
N W Gillham ◽  
J E Boynton

In pulse-chase experiments in which log-phase cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were labeled in vivo for 5 min with H2(35)SO4, fluorographs of immunoprecipitates from whole cell extracts revealed that chloroplast ribosomal proteins L-2, L-6, L-21, and L-29, which are made in the cytosol and imported, appeared in their mature forms. However, in the case of chloroplast ribosomal protein L-18, which is also made in the cytoplasm and imported, a prominent precursor with an apparent molecular weight of 17,000 was found at the end of a 5-min pulse. This precursor was processed to its mature size (apparent molecular weight of 15,500) within the first 5 min of the subsequent chase. As determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the precursor to L-18 formed in vivo was 1.5 kilodaltons smaller than the primary product detected in translations of Chlamydomonas polyadenylated RNA in vitro. Upon a 10-min incubation with a postribosomal supernatant from Chlamydomonas, the 18,500-dalton precursor detected in vitro could be partially converted into a polypeptide that comigrated with the 17,000-dalton precursor detected in extracts of cells labeled in vivo. Under conditions in which the total amounts of chloroplast proteins had been reduced and cells were made to synthesize ribosomes rapidly, the apparent half-life of the 17,000-dalton precursor was extended over that seen in log-phase cells. When chloroplast protein synthesis was inhibited with lincomycin for 3 h before labeling under these conditions, the 17,000-dalton L-18 precursor but not the mature form was found, and the precursor was slowly degraded during a 60-min chase. When cells were placed in the dark for 3 h before labeling, processing of this precursor to the mature form appeared unaffected, but the chloroplast-synthesized ribosomal protein L-26 was detected, indicating that chloroplast protein synthesis was still occurring. We interpret these results to indicate that the maturation of protein L-18 in vivo involves at least two processing steps, one of which depends on a protein made on chloroplast ribosomes.


Weed Science ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 334-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luanne M. Deal ◽  
J. T. Reeves ◽  
B. A. Larkins ◽  
F. D. Hess

The effects of chloracetamides on protein synthesis were studied both in vivo and in vitro. Four chloracetamide herbicides, alachlor [2-chloro-2′,6′-diethyl-N-(methoxymethyl)acetanilide], metolachlor [2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl)acetamide], CDAA (N–N-diallyl-2-chloroacetamide), and propachlor (2-chloro-N-isopropylacetanilide) were tested for inhibition of [3H]-leucine incorporation into protein. Incorporation of3H-leucine into trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-insoluble protein was inhibited in oat (Avena sativaL. ‘Victory’) seedlings grown in sand culture and treated 12 h at 1 × 10−4M with these chloracetamides. The herbicides were also tested in a cell-free protein synthesizing system containing polyribosomes purified from oat root cytoplasm. These herbicides had no effect on the rates of polypeptide elongation nor on the synthesis of specific polypeptides when herbicides (1 × 10−4M) were added directly to the system. Polypeptide formation was inhibited 89% when 1 × 10−4M cycloheximide was added during translation. Cytoplasmic polyribosomes were isolated from oat roots treated 12 h with 1 × 10−4M herbicide. Translation rates and products were not altered when these polyribosomes were added to the in vitro system. Protein synthesis is inhibited when tested in an in vivo system; however, the inhibition does not occur during the translation of mRNA into protein.


2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udo Kristen ◽  
Natalie Bischoff ◽  
Saskia Lisboa ◽  
Enno Schirmer ◽  
Sören Witt ◽  
...  

Tobacco pollen tubes were used as a standard in vitro system to investigate cell growth aberrations caused by some of the Multicentre Evaluation of In Vitro Cytotoxicity (MEIC) programme chemicals and other toxic compounds. Changes in cytoskeletal pattern were observed in the tube cells by using tubu-lin immunofluorescence and rhodamin–phalloidin fluorescence for the localisation of microtubules and actin filaments, respectively. Four different types of cell malformation were found: screw-like growth, isodiametric tip swelling, hook formation, and pollen grain enlargement. We suggest that these malformations resulted from an interference by the chemicals with the cytosolic calcium gradient which controls tip growth and the orientation of the pollen tube. The results may contribute to a general understanding of toxicity-based cell malformations.


1983 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Jones ◽  
P. R. Riding ◽  
M. G. Parker

The relative importance of testosterone and prolactin in regulating growth and protein synthesis in rat accessory sex glands has been investigated. Protein synthesis was measured by incubating tissue minces in vitro with [35S]methionine and analysing labelled proteins on polyacrylamide gels containing sodium dodecyl sulphate. Plasma prolactin was assayed by radioimmunoassay. Results showed that castration for 8 days significantly reduced wet weights and total protein synthesis in the ventral prostate, dorsolateral prostate and caput epididymidis, but that these effects could be reversed by exogenous testosterone. Similarly, the specific incorporation of [35S]methionine into four polypeptides in the ventral prostate, two polypeptides in the dorsolateral prostate and two polypeptides in the caput epididymidis was lowered by castration but markedly stimulated by testosterone. Acute or chronic administration of 2-bromo-α-ergocryptine to animals in combination with testosterone had no significant effect on any of the parameters measured, although the drug reduced circulating prolactin to undetectable levels. In addition, exogenous prolactin given alone, or in combination with testosterone, to hypophysectomized rats had no effect on general or specific protein synthesis. The induction of hyperprolactinaemia in immature or mature rats with pituitary homographs had no effect on testosterone-stimulated growth of any accessory gland, although it caused a significant stimulation of total protein synthesis in the dorsolateral prostate and coagulating glands. However, this was a generalized effect as it did not increase the specific incorporation of [35S]methionine into androgen-dependent proteins. The results do not indicate a major role for prolactin in regulating androgen responsiveness of male accessory sex glands in the rat.


Development ◽  
1961 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 202-221
Author(s):  
B. R. A. O'Brien

The embryo provides a sequence of developmental stages in which proteins both structural and enzymatic appear or become detectable for the first time in a restricted group of dividing cells. The cells or tissues can be maintained in vitro for a period that may precede and include the synthesis of a specific ‘cytoplasmic’ protein. In this way systems of protein synthesis within the cells of higher organisms can be studied during those stages in which current hypotheses suggest that some structural code is passed on from the DNA of the nucleus to the cytoplasm where the synthesis of the protein becomes maximal. Acellular preparations have contributed much to the elucidation of protein synthesis, but it is doubtful whether actual net synthesis has been obtained in systems less complex than the ‘protoplast’ developed by Spiegelman (1957). In order to study the synthesis of a specific protein it seems necessary at this stage to use whole cells.


1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1093-1099 ◽  
Author(s):  
R J Schmidt ◽  
N W Gillham ◽  
J E Boynton

In pulse-chase experiments in which log-phase cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were labeled in vivo for 5 min with H2(35)SO4, fluorographs of immunoprecipitates from whole cell extracts revealed that chloroplast ribosomal proteins L-2, L-6, L-21, and L-29, which are made in the cytosol and imported, appeared in their mature forms. However, in the case of chloroplast ribosomal protein L-18, which is also made in the cytoplasm and imported, a prominent precursor with an apparent molecular weight of 17,000 was found at the end of a 5-min pulse. This precursor was processed to its mature size (apparent molecular weight of 15,500) within the first 5 min of the subsequent chase. As determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the precursor to L-18 formed in vivo was 1.5 kilodaltons smaller than the primary product detected in translations of Chlamydomonas polyadenylated RNA in vitro. Upon a 10-min incubation with a postribosomal supernatant from Chlamydomonas, the 18,500-dalton precursor detected in vitro could be partially converted into a polypeptide that comigrated with the 17,000-dalton precursor detected in extracts of cells labeled in vivo. Under conditions in which the total amounts of chloroplast proteins had been reduced and cells were made to synthesize ribosomes rapidly, the apparent half-life of the 17,000-dalton precursor was extended over that seen in log-phase cells. When chloroplast protein synthesis was inhibited with lincomycin for 3 h before labeling under these conditions, the 17,000-dalton L-18 precursor but not the mature form was found, and the precursor was slowly degraded during a 60-min chase. When cells were placed in the dark for 3 h before labeling, processing of this precursor to the mature form appeared unaffected, but the chloroplast-synthesized ribosomal protein L-26 was detected, indicating that chloroplast protein synthesis was still occurring. We interpret these results to indicate that the maturation of protein L-18 in vivo involves at least two processing steps, one of which depends on a protein made on chloroplast ribosomes.


1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce D. Murphy ◽  
Kadaba Rajkumar

This review summarizes evidence suggesting a direct luteotrophic role for the hypophyseal hormone prolactin (PRL). This direct role consists of the capability to stimulate progesterone synthesis in vitro, the capability to maintain the membrane fluidity and receptors for luteinizing hormone and the capability to import substrate for progesterone synthesis. The time required for PRL-induced luteotrophic events is in the order of hours and sometimes days, and it appears that the effects are not associated with acute intracellular changes. The relatively slow responses and the stimulation of specific protein synthesis by PRL in target tissues other than the ovary suggest that PRL may function primarily through activation of the genome. PRL may induce the synthesis of specific luteal proteins, including enzymes for the regulation of intracellular substrate pools, membrane receptors for LH, or receptor proteins for lipoproteins, a major extracellular source of substrate.


1976 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 435-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Wilson ◽  
Eugene Spaziani

ABSTRACT Pigmentation of the scrotum of the black-pelted rat, as expressed through melanocyte melanogenic activity, is controlled by androgens. Castration decreased in vitro incorporation of [14C] tyrosine into melanin. Testosterone pre-treatment for 4 days increased melanin radioactivity over castrate controls; the increment in vitro was prevented by an inhibitor of protein synthesis (cycloheximide) added to the incubation. However, cycloheximide only partially blocked melanin synthesis when added to tissue from animals hormone treated for 6 days in vivo, and was ineffective in tissue from intacts. Bulk protein synthesis in vitro (incorporation of [14C] tyrosine or -leucine) was not affected by castration or testosterone treatment but was uniformly inhibited by cycloheximide. The data suggest that new synthesis of specific protein in vitro was necessary for initial hormone-stimulation of melanogenesis, but with longer exposure to hormone sufficient protein was pre-synthetized in vivo to permit melanogenesis during incubation with the inhibitor. Radioautographs of epidermis incubated with [14C] tyrosine showed grains concentrated over macromolecular aggregates in melanocytes, a pattern not altered by cycloheximide. Though available for incorporation into general tissue protein. [14C] tyrosine was apparently incorporated preferentially into melanin by melanocytes. DOPA (3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) added to incubations in cofactor amounts did not affect decreased melanin synthesis after castration and appears, therefore, not to be rate limiting in that decrease. Tissue uptake of free [14C] tyrosine or — leucine during incubation was lower than normal in castrate epidermis; uptake was elevated by testosterone treatment. Concentrations appeared sufficient in all preparations to suggest that availability is not rate limiting for synthesis of melanin or protein; however, a possible influence on amino acid permeability for melanocytes remains undetermined. Tyrosinase activity was present in both particulate and cytosol fractions of epidermis but decreased significantly after castration only in the cytosol. Testosterone increased particulate activity after 4 days and soluble activity after 9 days of treatment. These and findings above are consistent with a model that tyrosinase is synthesized and incorporated into melanosome structure within 4 days testosterone treatment; with longer treatment synthesis may then exceed that required for melanosome assembly and tyrosinase appears in the soluble milieu.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document