Allelic exclusion in transgenic mice that express the membrane form of immunoglobulin mu

Antibody-producing cells display a special form of regulation whereby each cell produces immunoglobulin from only one of its two sets of antibody genes. This phenomenon, called allelic exclusion, is thought to be mediated by the product of one heavy chain allele restricting the expression of the other. Heavy chains are synthesized in two molecular forms, secreted and membrane bound. In order to determine whether it is specifically the membrane-bound form of the immunoglobulin M (IgM) heavy chain (mu) that mediates this regulation, transgenic mice were created that carry a human mu chain gene altered so that it can only direct the synthesis of the membrane-bound protein. The membrane-bound form of the human mu chain was made by most of the B cells in these animals as measured by assays of messenger RNA and surface immunoglobulins. Further, the many B cells that express the human gene do not express endogenous mouse IgM, and the few B cells that express endogenous mouse mu do not express the transgene. Thus, the membrane-bound form of the mu chain is sufficient to mediate allelic exclusion. In addition, the molecular structures recognized for this purpose are conserved between human and mouse systems.     

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins: role in RNA splicing

Splicing in vitro of a messenger RNA (mRNA) precursor (pre-mRNA) is inhibited by a monoclonal antibody to the C proteins (anti-C) of the heterogeneous nuclear RNA (hnRNA)-ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) particles. This antibody, 4F4, inhibits an early step of the reaction: cleavage at the 3' end of the upstream exon and the formation of the intron lariat. In contrast, boiled 4F4, or a different monoclonal antibody (designated 2B12) to the C proteins, or antibodies to other hnRNP proteins (120 and 68 kilodaltons) and nonimmune mouse antibodies have no inhibitory effect. The 4F4 antibody does not prevent the adenosine triphosphate-dependent formation of a 60S splicing complex (spliceosome). Furthermore, the 60S splicing complex contains C proteins, and it can be immunoprecipitated with 4F4. Depletion of C proteins from the splicing extract by immunoadsorption with either of the two monoclonal antibodies to the C proteins (4F4 or 2B12) results in the loss of splicing activity, whereas mock-depletion with nonimmune mouse antibodies bodies has no effect. A 60S splicing complex does not form in a C protein-depleted nuclear extract. These results indicate an essential role for proteins of the hnRNP complex in the splicing of mRNA precursors.     

Synthesis of RNA-polyadenylic acid by isolated brain nuclei

Nuclei, isolated from mouse brain tissue at various stages of postnatal development and incubated under cell-free conditions, synthesized RNA molecules that were associated with polyadenylic acid [poly(A)]. The RNA synthesized by these nuclei was similar to the poly(A)-associated products described for intact eukaryotic cells. The brain nuclei synthesized a similar proportion of RNA-poly(A) in the presence either of Mg(2+) or of Mn(2+) with (NH(4))(2)So(4). The RNA from neonatal brain nuclei appeared to have a greater proportion of poly(A)-containing RNA than nuclear products obtained from more mature neural tissue.     

Affinity chromatography of splicing complexes: U2, U5, and U4 + U6 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles in the spliceosome

The splicing process, which removes intervening sequences from messenger RNA (mRNA) precursors is essential to gene expression in eukaryotic cells. This site-specific process requires precise sequence recognition at the boundaries of an intervening sequence, but the mechanism of this recognition is not understood. The splicing of mRNA precursors occurs in a multicomponent complex termed the spliceosome. Such an assembly of components is likely to play a key role in specifying those sequences to be spliced. In order to analyze spliceosome structure, a stringent approach was developed to obtain splicing complexes free of cellular contaminants. This approach is a form of affinity chromatography based on the high specificity of the biotin-streptavidin interaction. A minimum of three subunits: U2, U5, and U4 + U6 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles were identified in the 35S spliceosome structure, which also contains the bipartite RNA intermediate of splicing. A 25S presplicing complex contained only the U2 particle. The multiple subunit structure of the spliceosome has implications for the regulation of a splicing event and for its possible catalysis by ribozyme or ribozymes.     

RNA secondary structure repression of a muscle-specific exon in HeLa cell nuclear extracts

The chicken beta-tropomyosin pre-messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) is spliced in a tissue-specific manner to yield messenger RNA's (mRNA's) coding for different isoforms of this protein. Exons 6A and 6B are spliced in a mutually exclusive manner; exon 6B was included in skeletal muscle, whereas exon 6A was preferred in all other tissues. The distal portion of the intron upstream of exon 6B was shown to form stable double-stranded regions with part of the intron downstream of exon 6B and with sequences in exon 6B. This structure repressed splicing of exon 6B to exon 7 in a HeLa cell extract. Derepression of splicing occurred on disruption of this structure and repression followed when the structure was re-formed, even if the structure was formed between two different RNA molecules. Repression leads to inhibition of formation of spliceosomes. Disrupting either of the two double-stranded regions could lead to derepression, whereas re-forming the helices by suppressor mutations reestablished repression. These results support a simple model of tissue-specific splicing in this region of the pre-mRNA.     

Two domains of yeast U6 small nuclear RNA required for both steps of nuclear precursor messenger RNA splicing

U6 is one of the five small nuclear RNA's (snRNA's) that are required for splicing of nuclear precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA). The size and sequence of U6 RNA are conserved among organisms as diverse as yeast and man, and so it has been proposed that U6 RNA functions as a catalytic element in splicing. A procedure for in vitro reconstitution of functional yeast U6 small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNP's) with synthetic U6 RNA was applied in an attempt to elucidate the function of yeast U6 RNA. Two domains in U6 RNA were identified, each of which is required for in vitro splicing. Single nucleotide substitutions in these two domains block splicing either at the first or the second step. Invariably, U6 RNA mutants that block the first step of splicing do not enter the spliceosome. On the other hand, those that block the second step of splicing form a spliceosome but block cleavage at the 3' splice site of the intron. In both domains, the positions of base changes that block the second step of splicing correspond exactly to the site of insertion of pre-mRNA-type introns into the U6 gene of two yeast species, providing a possible explanation for the mechanism of how these introns originated and adding further evidence for the proposed catalytic role of U6 RNA.     

鱼类免疫球蛋白生物合成的遗传控制研究综述

真骨鱼重链IgM恒定区基因由CH1～CH44个外显子所编码,以IgM分泌型表达,其跨膜域由2个外显子所编码,它以淋巴细胞膜受体形式被利用,TM1外显子被直接剪接到CH3外显子,而不是在CH4外显子内,这种不寻常的剪接方式导致产生Cμ4区的膜IgM。真骨鱼IgD重链除包括分泌型或膜结合型的C末端外,这个重组分子还包括1个重组的可变区、μ链的第1个恒定区及7个恒定区。IgD(δ)重链基因恰好位于IgM(μ)基因下游,第1个恒定区μ外显子被剪切形成δ转录本。     

丙型肝炎病毒NS4B蛋白调控Hep3B细胞非折叠蛋白质反应研究

研究表达的丙型肝炎病毒(HCV)NS4B对Hep3B细胞非折叠蛋白质反应的影响。NS4B重组真核表达质粒pcDNA3.1(-)NS4B通过脂质体转染Hep3B细胞,G418筛选和Western blot鉴定稳定转染细胞;RT-PCR检测稳定转染细胞内XBP1 mRNA剪接,Western blot鉴定ATF6蛋白切割,荧光素酶试验检测稳定转染细胞内GRP78和XBP1启动子活性。G418筛选和Western Blot鉴定证实获得稳定表达NS4B的Hep3B细胞;在该细胞内,XBP1 mRNA剪接、ATF6切割、XBP1和Grp78启动子激活均被检测到。NS4B在Hep3B的稳定表达诱导了非折叠蛋白质反应。     

牛ME1基因cDNA编码序列的克隆与分析

在NCBI中GenBank里查询已登录的牛的ME1 mRNA序列(GenBank Accession:XM-613987),发现其1-69 bp序列与已知的人、猪和小鼠的ME1基因mRNA序列没有任何相似性,因此,认为这段序列有误。研究利用人的ME1基因mRNA序列作为电子探针共找到44段牛的相关ESTs序列,然后利用此ESTs重叠群拼接成的序列设计了三对引物。提取牛的肝脏和肌肉总RNA,从中克隆测序得到M1为525 bp、M2为1039 bp和M3为1171bp的三段序列,拼接成长度为2015 bp的序列。此段序列与前述ESTs重叠群一致序列完全相同,并与人、猪和小鼠的ME1基因mRNA序列相似性分别达89%、85%和84%,从而证实了本序列的正确性。本序列已在NCBI登录(GenBank Accession:FJ495084)。研究为进一步研究牛的ME1基因结构提供了真实的序列信息。     

水稻GBSS与淀粉分支酶基因转录本丰度对直链淀粉含量的影响

为探讨水稻胚乳淀粉合成相关酶基因表达丰度与直链淀粉含量(AC)的相关性,为稻米品质改良提供指导,以127份早籼稻,143份晚粳稻和19份粳糯稻为材料,应用水稻胚乳RNA阵列分析了供试品系的直链淀粉含量和Wx(包括成熟转录本和非成熟转录本)、Sbe I基因mRNA丰度之间的相关性。结果表明,Wx基因非成熟转录本的剪接及修饰对AC值的大小起着十分重要的决定作用。而sbeI基因在不同品系间的相对表达丰度与相对应的AC值无直接相关性。     

Functional expression of a cloned I-A beta k gene in B-lymphoma cells

The immune response genes of the mouse encode two cell-surface glycoproteins, I-A and I-E, that play critical roles in determining the animal's immune responsiveness. The I-A antigen contains two chains, alpha and beta. A cloned beta-chain gene, I-A beta k, was introduced into B-lymphoma cells that express I-Ad. The transfected gene was successfully expressed on the cell surface of the recipient cells and was functional in stimulating allospecific T cells.