Disease tropism of c-erbB: effects of carboxyl-terminal tyrosine and internal mutations on tissue-specific transformation.

Avian leukosis virus induces erythroleukemia in chickens by proviral insertional mutation of the protooncogene c-erbB. The product of the insertionally activated c-erbB locus lacks the extracellular ligand-binding domain and is strictly leukemogenic. It has previously been demonstrated that the disease spectrum associated with aberrant c-erbB expression can be expanded by structural perturbation of the cytoplasmic domain of this protein. In this report, we use mutagenesis and retroviral vectors to identify specific mutations in the carboxyl-terminal domain of the insertionally activated c-erbB product that are sufficient to activate the sarcomagenic potential of this protein. Interestingly, a point mutation in the kinase domain appears to be sufficient for sarcomagenic activation. However, removal of the terminal tyrosine residue of the c-erbB product, implicated in modulating kinase activity, does not lead to a fully transforming phenotype. These studies suggest that there are multiple ways to activate the fibroblast-transforming potential of the insertionally activated c-erbB product. The conformation of this protein may play a more significant role in oncogenic activation than the phosphorylation status of the putative carboxyl-terminal autophosphorylation site.     

Identification and preferential expression in thymic and bursal lymphocytes of a c-ets oncogene-encoded Mr 54,000 cytoplasmic protein.

The avian retrovirus E26 is unique among acute leukemia viruses in its ability to induce transformation of cells belonging to either the myeloid or erythroid lineage. The genome of E26 carries two oncogenes, v-myb and v-ets, that are derived from distinct cellular loci, c-myb and c-ets. We have constructed a plasmid vector that allows expression of part of the coding region of v-ets in a bacterial host. Antisera to the bacterially synthesized ets protein specifically precipitated the E26-encoded P135gag-myb-ets transforming protein. These antisera permitted us to identify a chicken c-ets-encoded protein of Mr 54,000 (P54c-ets) that shares 7 out of 10 of its major [35S]methionine-containing tryptic peptides with the v-ets-encoded domain of P135gag-myb-ets. Unlike P135gag-myb-ets and the Mr 75,000 translation product of c-myb (P75c-myb), which are nuclear proteins, P54c-ets was found to be predominantly cytoplasmic. P54c-ets is expressed at low levels in most cell lines and tissues tested, including bone marrow cells and circulating lymphocytes. P54c-ets, together with a minor but closely related Mr 56,000 protein, was found to be expressed at high levels in chicken thymocytes and bursal lymphocytes.     

cDNA sequence for the alpha M subunit of the human neutrophil adherence receptor indicates homology to integrin alpha subunits.

The receptor on human neutrophils (polymorphonuclear leukocytes) that mediates cellular adherence consists of two noncovalently associated subunits, designated alpha M (Mac-1 alpha, Mol alpha, or CD11b; Mr, 170,000) and beta (Mac-1 beta, Mol beta, or CD18; Mr, 100,000). We isolated a cDNA clone for the human neutrophil alpha M subunit by screening a lambda gt 11 cDNA library made from chronic myelogenous leukemia neutrophils by using an affinity-purified rabbit polyclonal antibody directed against the alpha M subunit. We used this cDNA clone to obtain additional clones from cDNA libraries made from differentiated HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells. Together these cDNAs constitute the complete 1137-amino acid sequence for the mature human alpha M subunit protein. The deduced amino acid sequence indicates the presence of an extensive extracellular domain with three putative metal-binding regions, (i) an amino acid region that is homologous to the A domain of von Willebrand factor, (ii) a 26-amino acid hydrophobic sequence that is a potential transmembrane domain, and (iii) a 19-amino acid cytoplasmic region. The amino acid sequence for the human neutrophil alpha M subunit contains regions that are closely related to amino acid sequences of adhesion receptors belonging to the integrin family.     

Protein biosynthetic activity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in inflammatory arthropathies. Increased synthesis and release of fibronectin

We have investigated protein synthesis and release by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) to compare the protein biosynthetic activity of peripheral blood PMN and inflammatory synovial fluid (SF) PMN from patients with inflammatory arthropathies. We analyzed and compared the protein profiles produced by these cells, using patient matched peripheral blood and SF PMN as well as peripheral blood PMN from normals. Twenty-five patients with either rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis or gout were studied. Fluorographs of SDS-polyacrylamide slab gels, performed using cell supernatants from metabolically labelled cells, revealed an increased release of de novo synthesized proteins by inflammatory SF PMN compared to peripheral blood PMN. Under reducing conditions, 4 clearly distinguishable high molecular mass products were observed (Mr 230,000, 185,000, 170,000 and 95,000). Two of the protein bands were found to be gelatin binding (Mr 230,000 and Mr 95,000). By Western blot, the Mr 230,000 protein was found to be fibronectin and the Mr 95,000 protein was shown to be identical to a recently described gelatinase. Thus, the activation of PMN in inflammation is accompanied by an increased release of a number of de novo synthesized proteins, including fibronectin. Our studies directly pertain to the in vivo inflammatory process since the PMN were not activated artificially in vitro.     

Genetics of glucocorticoid receptors

The lymphocytolytic effect of glucocorticoids has been used for isolating receptor mutants. They fall into several groups with defects either in the hormone binding domain or the DNA binding domain or with part of the receptor polypeptide missing. These truncated receptors have increased binding affinity for general DNA and are synthesized from 5'-truncated messages. In addition, a phenotype has been identified in which a receptor allele, although apparently normal, is shut-off with no gene product detectable. The wild-type receptor polypeptide of about 95,000 molecular weight is synthesized from two mRNAs of 7 kb and 5 kb which differ in the lengths of their 3'-untranslated regions. A receptor model with three linearly arranged and functionally distinct domains is discussed. The DNA binding domain is rich in basic amino acids and cysteines and is located in the middle of the polypeptide. This region has the highest degree of homology with the estrogen receptor and with the v-erb-A oncogene product.     

Antibodies to the evolutionarily conserved amino-terminal region of the v-myb-encoded protein detect the c-myb protein in widely divergent metazoan species.

Antibodies directed against a bacterial fusion protein that contains the domain encoded by the highly evolutionarily conserved 5' one-third of the v-myb oncogene of avian myeloblastosis virus (AMV) detect the protein products of various members of the myb gene family. Immunoprecipitation or immunoblot analyses with these antibodies yielded the following information. First, the products of the v-myb oncogenes of AMV (p48v-myb) and of E26 virus (p135gag-myb-ets) contain this highly conserved amino acid sequence, as previously hypothesized. Second, p75c-myb, the product of the chicken c-myb protooncogene, also contains this protein domain. Third, these antibodies have identified the products of the human, murine, and Drosophila c-myb genes, which were all found to be nuclear proteins of Mr 75,000-80,000. The human c-myb protein product is present in immature cells of the erythroid, myeloid, and lymphoid lineages.     

"Replacement" of COOH-terminal truncation of v-fms with c-fms sequences markedly reduces transformation potential.

Protooncogenes when transduced by retroviruses may undergo structural modifications that render their gene products oncogenic. The c-fms gene encodes a transmembrane protein with tyrosine kinase activity that is very similar or identical to the receptor for the monocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Its transforming homologue (v-fms) in the Susan McDonough strain feline sarcoma virus causes fibrosarcomas in cats. Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of the cDNA that encodes the cytoplasmic domain of the human c-fms gene shows that the product of the transduced viral homologue, v-fms, is truncated at the COOH-terminal end. The COOH-terminal 40 amino acids of the c-fms gene product are replaced in the v-fms gene product by 11 amino acids encoded by the retroviral genome. Hybrid v-fms/c-fms genes, in which either the entire cytoplasmic domain or the COOH-terminal coding sequences of the v-fms gene were replaced by the corresponding segments of the c-fms gene, had a reduced ability to transform fibroblasts despite a high level of encoded protein on the cell surface. These data indicate that the COOH-terminal modifications contribute to the transforming potential of the v-fms viral oncogene product.     

Mapping rat megalin: the second cluster of ligand binding repeats contains a 46-amino acid pathogenic epitope involved in the formation of immune deposits in Heymann nephritis.

Megalin (gp330), an epithelial endocytic receptor, is a major target antigen of Heymann nephritis (HN), an autoimmune disease in rats. To elucidate the mechanisms of HN, we have mapped a pathogenic epitope in megalin that binds anti-megalin antibodies. We focused our attention on four clusters of cysteine-rich, low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) ligand binding repeats in the extracellular domain of megalin because they represent putative ligand binding regions and therefore would be expected to be exposed in vivo and to be able to bind circulating antibodies. Rat megalin cDNA fragments I through IV encoding the first through fourth clusters of ligand-binding repeats, respectively, were expressed in a baculovirus system. All four expression products were detected by immunoblotting with two antisera capable of inducing passive HN (pHN). When antibodies eluted from glomeruli of rats with pHN were used for immunoblotting, only the expression product encoded by fragment II was detected. This indicates that the second cluster of LDLR ligand binding repeats is directly involved in binding anti-megalin antibodies and in the induction of pHN. To narrow the major epitope in this domain, fragment II was used to prepare proteins sequentially truncated from the C- and N-terminal ends by in vitro translation. Analysis of the truncated translation products by immunoprecipitation with anti-megalin IgG revealed that the fifth ligand-binding repeat (amino acids 1160-1205) contains the major epitope recognized. This suggests that a 46-amino acid sequence in the second cluster of LDLR ligand binding repeats contains a major pathogenic epitope that plays a key role in pHN. Identification of this epitope will facilitate studies on the pathogenesis of HN.     

H5N1禽流感病毒抗原基因的体外转录及RNA标准品构建

目的 通过基因克隆和体外转录,获得H5N1禽流感病毒血凝素(HA)、神经氨酸酶(NA)、基质蛋白M(M)基因的RNA片段,为病原学检测提供阳性定量标准品.方法　设计H5N1禽流感病毒的HA、NA及M基因全长开放阅读框的克隆引物,提取H5N1禽流感病毒总RNA,用RT-PCR获得相应片段,分别连接至Pgem-T easy...     

cDNA clones of the neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) lacking a membrane-spanning region consistent with evidence for membrane attachment via a phosphatidylinositol intermediate.

In embryonic chicken brains, the neural cell adhesion molecule N-CAM is expressed mainly as two polypeptides, the large intracellular-domain polypeptide (ld) (Mr = 160,000) and the small intracellular-domain polypeptide (sd) (Mr = 130,000) chains, that differ in their cytoplasmic domains and that arise by alternative splicing of RNA transcribed from a single gene. There is evidence for a minor N-CAM polypeptide of Mr = 120,000 that is similar to the ld and sd chains for most of its amino-terminal sequence, but which lacks a cytoplasmic domain. We report here the isolation and characterization of a cDNA clone, lambda N151, that appears to encode this third N-CAM polypeptide, which we designate the ssd (small surface-domain) polypeptide chain. The cDNA insert of lambda N151 consists of 2437 base pairs (bp). DNA hybridization and sequencing indicate that the first 1721 bp are nearly identical to the corresponding sequences of clone lambda N208, which encodes the ld chain. Following in the same reading frame, lambda N151 encodes 25 amino acids not present in lambda N208. The rest of lambda N151 consists of a 637-bp noncoding region containing an AATACA polyadenylylation sequence and a 55-bp poly(A) tract. Messenger RNAs complementary to lambda N151 appear later in development than those complementary to the ld and sd chains, and their appearance is correlated with the appearance of the ssd polypeptide. Although the polypeptide encoded by lambda N151 lacks a membrane region that would define a cytoplasmic domain, it does contain at its carboxyl end a relatively hydrophobic stretch of amino acids similar to those seen in precursors of membrane proteins that are attached to membranes via the lipid phosphatidylinositol. We show here that the ssd chain of chicken N-CAM can be released from brain vesicles by treatment with phospholipase C, suggesting that it too may have a phosphatidylinositol anchor. These results define two additional modes by which N-CAM expression can be modulated: by RNA splicing at a new site and by differential membrane attachment of the resulting polypeptide through a lipid intermediate.     

The Mr 95,000 gelatin-binding protein in differentiated human macrophages and granulocytes

Cultured adherent human macrophages and a promonocytic cell line, U 937, were previously shown to produce a Mr 95,000 gelatin-binding protein. The protein has no immunologic cross-reactivity with the well- characterized gelatin-binding protein fibronectin and the Mr 70,000 gelatin-binding protein produced by a variety of mesenchymal or epithelial cell types (T. Vartio et al, J Biol Chem 257:8862, 1982). In the present study the Mr 95,000 protein was found in Triton X-100 extracts of granulocytes purified from human blood buffy coat. The protein, as isolated by gelatin-agarose, was immunologically cross- reactive with the corresponding macrophage protein in immunoblotting assay. When peripheral blood and bone marrow cells were examined for the presence of the Mr 95,000 protein by indirect immunofluorescence, positive staining was detected only in differentiated granulocytes but not to any significant extent in metamyelocytes, myelocytes, promyelocytes, or in normal or leukemic blasts. In granulocytes the protein had a granular cytoplasmic distribution. In freshly prepared monocyte cultures, the Mr 95,000 protein was detected in low amounts in the cytoplasm, while along with differentiation of the cells into macrophages, the immunofluorescence increased in a reticular and vesicular cytoplasmic pattern and in a juxtanuclear cap, probably representing the Golgi complex. In conclusion, the Mr 95,000 gelatin- binding protein was specifically detected in macrophages and granulocytes and may thus serve as a differentiation marker for these phagocytic cells.     

Genetic determinants of neoplastic transformation by the retroviral oncogene v-erbB.

The retroviral oncogene v-erbB is a mutant version of the gene (c-erbB or ERBB1) that encodes the cell-surface epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The mutations take three forms: (i) a large deletion that removes the entire ligand-binding domain of EGFR, (ii) smaller deletions that affect the carboxyl-terminal domain of EGFR, and (iii) point mutations that cause conservative substitutions of amino acids. Previous work has shown that, in the absence of the large deletion, ERBB1 cannot transform cells autonomously. Here we report that when the large deletion is present, no other mutation is required for ERBB1 to transform established rodent fibroblasts to a tumorigenic phenotype. In particular, there is no need for deletions affecting the carboxyl terminus of the gene product. It appears, therefore, that removal of the ligand-binding domain from the EGFR suffices to create a transforming protein. Deletions at the carboxyl terminus of the EGFR apparently play only a secondary role in transformation by affecting the host range and perhaps the potency of transformation; and there is as yet no evidence to implicate point mutations in the activation of ERBB1 to an oncogene. Our findings support the view that augmented activity of the EGFR can contribute to tumorigenesis.