Photochemical Attachment of lac Repressor to Bromodeoxyuridine-Substituted lac Operator by Ultraviolet Radiation

The transducing phage lambdah80dlac carries the lac operator, whereas wild-type lambdah80 does not. We find that in high salt (0.18 M KCl), ultraviolet radiation causes the formation of a very stable complex between repressor and 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-substituted lambdah80dlac but not to BrdU-lambdah80 DNA. Studies with inducers of the lac operon confirm the specificity of attachment. In low slat (0.01 M KCl), ultraviolet radiation will also attach repressor nonspecifically to BrdU-lambdah80 DNA. The stability of the complex suggests that covalent bonds are formed. We also report that another regulatory protein, the catabolite gene activator protein, can be attached similarly to DNA.     

Detection and Isolation of the Repressor Protein for the Tryptophan Operon of Escherichia coli

DNA from a transducing bacteriophage carrying a fusion of the tryptophan and lactose operons of E. coli (lambdadtrp-lac) has been used to direct cell-free synthesis of beta-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.23). Whereas normal lac operon (lambdadlac) DNA requires adenosine-3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) for beta-galactosidase synthesis, trp-lac DNA is unaffected by cAMP. This difference in cAMP dependence verifies the presence of a cAMP-requiring promoter in the lac operon that has been removed from the trp-lac DNA. Synthesis with trp-lac DNA is controlled by the protein product of the tryptophan repressor gene (trpR). Synthesis in extracts of trpR(-) (repressor-negative) cells is progressively reduced by increased additions of extract from trpR(+) cells. No trpR(-) product repression is seen when beta-galactosidase synthesis is programmed by normal lac DNA. This highly sensitive and specific assay has facilitated quantitation and partial purification of the trp repressor.     

Binding of synthetic lactose operator DNAs to lactose repressors

The nitrocellulose filter assay was used to study the interactions of wild-type (SQ) and tight-binding (QX86) lac repressors with synthetic lac operators 21 and 26 base pairs long. The repressor binding properties of both operators were very similar, indicating that both contain the same specific repressor recognition sites. The repressor-operator association rate constants (k(a)) were more sensitive than dissociation rate constants (k(d)) to changes in ionic strength. The responses of both k(a) and k(d) to ionic strength were relatively small compared to the effects previously observed with lambdah80dlac as operator DNA. These results suggest that under natural conditions there are electrostatic interactions between lac repressor and DNA regions outside of the 26 base pair operator sequence. Association rate constants for SQ repressor with either operator are higher than have been predicted for diffusion-limited reactions. We postulate that long-range electrostatic attractions between repressor and operator accelerate the association reaction. The presence of nonoperator DNA decreased association rate constants, the effect being more noticeable at an ionic strength of 0.05 M than at 0.20 M. Nonoperator DNA reduced k(a) values for associations involving QX86 repressor to a greater extent than for those with SQ repressor. The two types of repressors also had different rate constants for interactions with synthetic operators. The values for k(a) and k(d) were both higher with SQ repressor than with QX86 repressor. However, the rate constants were more sensitive to ionic strength when the repressor used was QX86.     

Isolation of the gal Repressor

The repressor of the galactose operon of Escherichia coli has been partially purified and identified as a protein. Induction of a lysogen in which lambda was linked to the bacterial galR and lysine genes resulted in a large increase in the production of the gal repressor. Single-step purification by affinity chromatography, using the ligand p-aminophenyl-beta-D-thiogalactoside linked to beaded agarose, provided a convenient method of separating the gal repressor from other DNA-binding proteins. Binding of gal repressor to lambdapgal[(32)P]DNA was studied by assay of binding to a nitrocellulose filter. Interaction between gal repressor and lambdapgal DNA showed a high degree of specificity; the dissociation constant of the complex was estimated to be 1.0 x 10(-12) M. Unlabeled lambdapgal DNA competed for binding to gal repressor, but lambdaDNA and lambdah80dlac DNA did not. Fucose and galactose, which function as inducers of the galactose operon in vivo, produced one-half maximal inhibition of gal repressor-lambdapgal DNA binding at concentrations of 5 x 10(-5) M.     

Regulation of Y-organ ecdysteroidogenesis by molt-inhibiting hormone in crabs: involvement of cyclic AMP-mediated protein synthesis

The crustacean neuropeptide, molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH), directly inhibits Y-organ ecdysteroidogenesis, an effect mediated by cyclic AMP (cAMP) and antagonized by calcium-calmodulin. We investigated regulation of Y-organ protein. RNA, and DNA syntheses by MIH, cAMP, and calcium in relation to steroidogenesis in vitro. Ecdysteroid production and [3H]leucine incorporation into protein were inhibited 50-60 and 80-90%, respectively, by MIH activity in eyestalk extracts (4 eyestalk equivalents), 10(-6) M forskolin, or a combination of 10(-2) M dibutyryl cAMP and 10(-4) M 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (dbcAMP-IBMX). Calcium ionophore A23187 (10(-4) M) stimulated ecdysteroidogenesis two-fold, did not affect the relatively high basal (control) rate of protein synthesis, and reduced the inhibitory effects of forskolin on steroidogenesis and protein synthesis. Incorporation of [3H]uridine into RNA was unaffected by MIH, forskolin, or A23187 but was reduced 50% by dbcAMP-IBMX. Basal rates of [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA were low and were not affected by treatments. The effects of MIH were specific; extracts of brain or muscle did not alter Y-organ steroidogenesis or protein synthesis, while muscle extract increased precursor incorporation into RNA. Eyestalk extract did not affect [3H]leucine incorporation into protein of brain, muscle, or gill. Cycloheximide (5 micrograms/ml) depressed protein synthesis 90% and steroidogenesis 60%, enhanced the inhibition induced by MIH, and blocked the stimulation of steroidogenesis induced by A23187; effects on basal steroidogenesis were evident after 1 hr. Actinomycin D (1 microgram/ml) depressed RNA synthesis 86% but did not alter basal, MIH-inhibited, or A23187-stimulated ecdysteroidogenesis during incubations. These results indicate that MIH suppresses Y-organ steroidogenesis in part by inhibiting protein synthesis at the translational level; the effect is mediated by cAMP. The stimulation of steroidogenesis by calcium, mediated by lowering cAMP, also appears to depend in part upon protein synthesis.     

Application of fluorescence energy transfer and polarization to monitor Escherichia coli cAMP receptor protein and lac promoter interaction.

A fluorescence method was developed to study DNA-protein interactions in solution. A 32-base-pair (bp) DNA fragment of the lac promoter containing the primary binding site for Escherichia coli cAMP receptor protein (CRP) was chemically synthesized and labeled specifically at the 5' end with fluorescent probe. Binding of cAMP receptor protein to this fragment can be conveniently followed by measuring changes in polarization of fluorescence of the labeled DNA or by measuring fluorescence energy transfer from protein tryptophan residues to the DNA label. Formation of protein-DNA complex was monitored as a function of cAMP concentration. Various equilibrium constants can be resolved to characterize the binding of cAMP to CRP and the subsequent binding of CRP-cAMP and CRP-(cAMP)2 to DNA. These binding studies showed that the two ligated forms of CRP have significantly different affinities for specific-site DNA. These results show that, in principle, the fluorescence technique can yield thermodynamically valid equilibrium constants under essentially any solution conditions. This technique also has the potential of providing information regarding the structure of protein-DNA complexes.     

The luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone receptor in human prostate cancer cells: messenger ribonucleic acid expression, molecular size, and signal transduction pathway.

Evidence has accumulated indicating that LHRH might behave as an autocrine/paracrine growth inhibitory factor in some peripheral tumors. However, LHRH receptors in tumor cells have not been fully characterized, so far. The present experiments were performed to analyze: 1) the messenger RNA expression; 2) the molecular size; and 3) the signal transduction pathway of LHRH receptors in prostate cancer. For these studies, the human androgen-dependent LNCaP and androgen-independent DU 145 prostate cancer cell lines were used. 1) By RT-PCR, a complementary DNA product, which hybridized with a 32P-labeled oligonucleotide probe specific for the pituitary LHRH receptor complementary DNA, was found both in LNCaP and in DU 145 cells. 2) Western blot analysis, using a monoclonal antibody raised against the human pituitary LHRH receptor, revealed the presence of a protein band of approximately 64 kDa (corresponding to the molecular mass of the pituitary receptor) in both cell lines. 3) In LNCaP and DU 145 cells, pertussis toxin completely abrogated the antiproliferative action of a LHRH agonist (LHRH-A). Moreover, LHRH-A substantially antagonized the pertussis toxin-catalyzed ADP-ribosylation of a Galpha(i) protein. Finally, LHRH-A significantly counteracted the forskolin-induced increase of intracellular cAMP levels in both cell lines. These data demonstrate that the LHRH receptor, which is present in prostate cancer cells, independently of whether they are androgen-dependent or not, corresponds to the pituitary receptor, in terms of messenger RNA expression and protein molecular size. However, at variance with the receptor of the gonadotrophs, prostate cancer LHRH receptor seems to be coupled to the Galpha(i) protein-cAMP signal transduction pathway, rather than to the Galpha(q/11)-phospholipase C signaling system. This might be responsible for the different actions of LHRH in anterior pituitary and in prostate cancer.