G1 events and regulation of cell proliferation

Cells prepare for S phase during the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Cell biological methods have provided knowledge of cycle kinetics and of substages of G1 that are determined by extracellular signals. Through the use of biochemical and molecular biological techniques to study effects of growth factors, oncogenes, and inhibitors, intracellular events during G1 that lead to DNA synthesis are rapidly being discovered. Many cells in vivo are in a quiescent state (G0), with unduplicated DNA. Cells can be activated to reenter the cycle during G1. Similarly, cells in culture can be shifted between G0 and G1. These switches in and out of G1 are the main determinants of post-embryonic cell proliferation rate and are defectively controlled in cancer cells.     

The RAD9 gene controls the cell cycle response to DNA damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Cell division is arrested in many organisms in response to DNA damage. Examinations of the genetic basis for this response in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae indicate that the RAD9 gene product is essential for arrest of cell division induced by DNA damage. Wild-type haploid cells irradiated with x-rays either arrest or delay cell division in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. Irradiated G1 and M phase haploid cells arrest irreversibly in G2 and die, whereas irradiated G2 phase haploid cells delay in G2 for a time proportional to the extent of damage before resuming cell division. In contrast, irradiated rad9 cells in any phase of the cycle do not delay cell division in G2, but continue to divide for several generations and die. However, efficient DNA repair can occur in irradiated rad9 cells if irradiated cells are blocked for several hours in G2 by treatment with a microtubule poison. The RAD9-dependent response detects potentially lethal DNA damage and causes arrest of cells in G2 until such damage is repaired.     

DNA replication-independent silencing in S. cerevisiae

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the silent mating loci are repressed by their assembly into heterochromatin. The formation of this heterochromatin requires a cell cycle event that occurs between early S phase and G(2)/M phase, which has been widely assumed to be DNA replication. To determine whether DNA replication through a silent mating-type locus, HMRa, is required for silencing to be established, we monitored heterochromatin formation at HMRa on a chromosome and on a nonreplicating extrachromosomal cassette as cells passed through S phase. Cells that passed through S phase established silencing at both the chromosomal HMRa locus and the extrachromosomal HMRa locus with equal efficiency. Thus, in contrast to the prevailing view, the establishment of silencing occurred in the absence of passage of the DNA replication fork through or near the HMR locus, but retained a cell cycle dependence.     

Animal cells: noncorrelation of length of G1 phase with size after mitosis

The interval between mitosis and initiation of DNA synthesis (G(1)) varied over a fourfold range for Chinese hamster ovary cells, an established line. This was not because of size differences. Synchlronous cells of different sizes began DNA synthesis at similar times after mitosis. A novel technique of centrifugation for separating cells according to size is described.     

Cell cycle control of DNA replication by a homologue from human cells of the p34cdc2 protein kinase

The regulation of DNA replication during the eukaryotic cell cycle was studied in a system where cell free replication of simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA was used as a model for chromosome replication. A factor, RF-S, was partially purified from human S phase cells based on its ability to activate DNA replication in extracts from G1 cells. RF-S contained a human homologue of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe p34cdc2 kinase, and this kinase was necessary for RF-S activity. The limiting step in activation of the p34 kinase at the G1 to S transition may be its association with a cyclin since addition of cyclin A to a G1 extract was sufficient to start DNA replication. These observations suggest that the role of p34cdc2 in controlling the start of DNA synthesis has been conserved in evolution.     

Sulfur mustard: reaction with L-cells treated with 5-fluorodeoxyuridine

After exposure to 5-fluorodeoxyuridine, L-cells are considerably more sensitive to the lethal effect of sulfur mustard than after they have been released from this block by addition of thymidine and allowed to proceed into the G2 phase of the division cycle. Nevertheless, for both populations, the amounts of mustard bound per cell and per nucleus (expressed as the amount of mustard per unit of protein) were the same. Likewise, the amounts of mustard bound per unit of DNA were the same for both populations.     

Nuclear-cytoplasmic interaction in DNA synthesis

In Amoeba proteus the transplantation of a nucleus engaged in DNA synthesis into a G(2)-phase (after DNA synthesis) cell results in inhibition of such synthesis. When the nucleus of a G(2) cell is transplanted into an S-phase (period of DNA synthesis) cell, such a nucleus may begin to synthesize DNA.     

X-ray sensitivity and DNA synthesis in synchronous populations of HeLa cells

Inhibition with either 5-fluorodeoxyuridine or deoxyadenosine for specified periods during the division cycle of the HeLa S3 cell shows that the mid-interphase peak in sensitivity occurs just before DNA replication begins. Sensitivity subsequently decreases only after synthesis of DNA is resumed. One interpretation of the relation between fluctuations in sensitivity and in DNA synthesis is that the lethal radiation damage to these cells occurs in DNA.     

Potentiation of bleomycin lethality by anticalmodulin drugs: a role for calmodulin in DNA repair

Treatment of exponentially growing Chinese hamster ovary cells with bleomycin causes a dose-dependent decrease in cell survival due to DNA damage. This lethal effect can be potentiated by the addition of a nonlethal dose of the anticalmodulin drug N-(4-aminobutyl)-5-chloro-2-naphthalenesulfonamide ( W13 ) but not its inactive analog N-(4-aminobutyl)-2-naphthalenesulfonamide ( W12 ). By preventing the repair of damaged DNA, W13 also inhibits recovery from potentially lethal damage induced by bleomycin. These data suggest a role for calmodulin in the DNA repair pathway.     

Inhibition of endothelial regeneration by type-beta transforming growth factor from platelets

Damage to the vessel wall is a signal for endothelial migration and replication and for platelet release at the site of injury. Addition of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) purified from platelets to growing aortic endothelial cells inhibited [3H]thymidine incorporation in a concentration-dependent manner. A transient inhibition of DNA synthesis was also observed in response to wounding; cell migration and replication are inhibited during the first 24 hours after wounding. By 48 hours after wounding both TGF-beta-treated and -untreated cultures showed similar responses. Flow microfluorimetric analysis of cell cycle distribution indicated that after 24 hours of exposure to TGF-beta the cells were blocked from entering S phase, and the fraction of cells in G1 was increased. The inhibition of the initiation of regeneration by TGF-beta could allow time for recruitment of smooth muscle cells into the site of injury by other platelet components.     

Increased tolerance of leukemic mice to arabinosyl cytosine with schedule adjusted to circadian system

Mice (BDF(1)) inoculated with L1210 leukemia survive for a statistically significantly longer span when four courses of arabinosyl cytosine are administered at 4-day intervals-not in courses consisting of eight equal doses at 3-hour intervals, but in sinusoidally increasing and decreasing 24-hour courses, the largest amount being given at previously mapped circadian and circannual times of peak host resistance to the drug. This finding relates to the many therapeutic situations involving rhythmic, and thus predictable, cycles in the host's tolerance of undesired effects from the agent used.     

Erythropoietin: hypothesis of action tested by analog computer

The action of erythropoietin on the pool of undifferentiated bone marrow cells has been examined with the aid of a model tested with an analog computer. The model is consistent with reported experimental results. The essential aspects of the action are (i) the effect is exerted during the S phase of the cell's cycle; (ii) " effective " erythropoietin is present in the cell only during G(1) and part of S; and, (iii) hormone molecules survive in the cell for only a limited time in effective form and require a certain time to assume this form.     

An origin unwinding activity regulates initiation of DNA replication during mammalian cell cycle

An in vitro assay was developed to study the positive factors that regulate the onset of DNA replication during the mammalian cell cycle. Extracts prepared from cells at defined positions in the cell cycle were used to examine the replication of SV40 DNA in a cell free system. Extracts prepared from S phase cells were ten times more efficient at initiating replication at the SV40 origin than were extracts from G1 cells, whereas elongation rates were similar in G1 and S reactions. At a discrete point in the cell cycle, just before the cell's entry into S, an activity appeared that was required, in conjunction with SV40 T antigen, for site specific initiation at the SV40 origin. This factor had a role in unwinding DNA at the replication origin.     

Mismatch repair, but not heteroduplex rejection, is temporally coupled to DNA replication

In eukaryotes, it is unknown whether mismatch repair (MMR) is temporally coupled to DNA replication and how strand-specific MMR is directed. We fused Saccharomyces cerevisiae MSH6 with cyclins to restrict the availability of the Msh2-Msh6 mismatch recognition complex to either S phase or G2/M phase of the cell cycle. The Msh6-S cyclin fusion was proficient for suppressing mutations at three loci that replicate at mid-S phase, whereas the Msh6-G2/M cyclin fusion was defective. However, the Msh6-G2/M cyclin fusion was functional for MMR at a very late-replicating region of the genome. In contrast, the heteroduplex rejection function of MMR during recombination was partially functional during both S phase and G2/M phase. These results indicate a temporal coupling of MMR, but not heteroduplex rejection, to DNA replication.     

Roscovitine同期化供核细胞对猴—猪异种核移植胚胎发育的影响

[目的]探讨Roscovitine同期化供核细胞对食蟹猴—猪异种体细胞核移植胚胎体外发育的影响,为提高灵长类的核移植效率奠定基础.[方法]活体采集4岁雄性食蟹猴的耳组织,经组织块培养获得纯化的食蟹猴耳成纤维细胞,细胞经固定、染色后用流式细胞仪分析细胞周期分布.以不同同期化方法处理的食蟹猴耳纤维细胞为供体细胞,以体外成熟、去核的猪卵母细胞为受体细胞,利用电融合法构建食蟹猴—猪异种核移植胚胎,观察异种核移植重构胚胎的体外发育情况.[结果]以15 μmol/L Roscovitine处理食蟹猴耳成纤维细胞24、48、72 h获得的G0/G1期细胞比率分别为76.51％、89.69％和90.49％,其中处理48和72h的G0/G1期细胞比率显著高于对照组（P＜0.05）.血清饥饿、接触抑制72 h同期化获得的G0/G1期细胞比率分别为91.12％和90.46％.Roscovitine同期化处理食蟹猴耳成纤维细胞48 h可有效提高食蟹猴—猪异种核移植重构胚胎的囊胚形成率（15.05％）,显著高于血清饥饿同期化处理和接触抑制同期化处理的效果（P＜0.05）.[结论]Roscovitine可有效同期化食蟹猴耳成纤维细胞在G0/G1期,最终提高食蟹猴—猪异种核移植重构胚胎的囊胚形成率.     

DNA ligase: structure, mechanism, and function

DNA ligase of E. coli is a polypeptide of molecular weight 75,000. The comparable T4-induced enzyme is somewhat smaller (63,000 to 68,000). Both enzymes catalyze the synthesis of phosphodiester bonds between adjacent 5'-phosphoryl and 3'-hydroxyl groups in nicked duplex DNA, coupled to the cleavage of the pyrophosphate bond of DPN (E. coli) or ATP (T4). Phosphodiester bond synthesis catalyzed by both enzymes occurs in a series of these discrete steps and involves the participation of two covalent intermediates (Fig. 1). A steady state kinetic analysis of the reaction-catalyzed E. coli ligase supports this mechanism, and further demonstrates that enzyme-adenylate and DNA-adenylate are kinetically significant intermediates on the direct path of phosphodiester bond synthesis. A strain of E. coli with a mutation in the structural gene for DNA ligase which results in the synthesis of an abnormally thermolabile enzyme is inviable at 42 degrees C. Although able to grow at 30 degrees C, the mutant is still defective at this temperature in its ability to repair damage to its DNA caused by ultraviolet irradiation and by alkylating agents. At 42 degrees C, all the newly replicated DNA is in the form of short 10S "Okazaki fragments," an indication that the reason for the mutant's failure to survive under these conditions is its inability to sustain the ligation step that is essential for the discontinuous synthesis of the E. coli chromosome. DNA ligase is therefore an essential enzyme required for normal DNA replication and repair in E. coli. Purified DNA ligases have proved to be useful reagents in the construction in vitro of recombinant DNA molecules.     

p53 dynamics control cell fate

Cells transmit information through molecular signals that often show complex dynamical patterns. The dynamic behavior of the tumor suppressor p53 varies depending on the stimulus; in response to double-strand DNA breaks, it shows a series of repeated pulses. Using a computational model, we identified a sequence of precisely timed drug additions that alter p53 pulses to instead produce a sustained p53 response. This leads to the expression of a different set of downstream genes and also alters cell fate: Cells that experience p53 pulses recover from DNA damage, whereas cells exposed to sustained p53 signaling frequently undergo senescence. Our results show that protein dynamics can be an important part of a signal, directly influencing cellular fate decisions.     

HEL cells: a new human erythroleukemia cell line with spontaneous and induced globin expression

A new human erythroleukemia cell line has been established. This line, designated HEL, is capable of spontaneous and induced globin synthesis, producing mainly G gamma and A gamma chains. Embryonic chains (epsilon, zeta) and alpha chains are detectable in very small amounts; beta chains are undetectable. This line provides a new model system for studying aspects of erythroid cell differentiation and differential globin gene expression.     

高表达粟酒裂殖酵母SpTrz2p对细胞周期的影响

[目的]测定粟酒裂殖酵母高表达的SpTrz2p对其细胞周期的影响。[方法]将粟酒裂殖酵母的trz2+克隆到pREP4x质粒上,构建带有SpTrz2的高表达载体,将构建成功的重组子转化至野生型粟酒裂殖酵母细胞中,利用流式细胞仪检测细胞周期的变化。[结果]高表达SpTrz2p可导致酵母细胞形态和周期的改变,使大部分酵母细胞停留于G1期,这说明高表达SpTrz2p对细胞周期有明显影响。[结论]该研究结果表明高表达SpTrz2p给细胞造成的致死毒性是通过影响细胞周期实现的。