Tubulin polyglutamylase: isozymic variants and regulation during the cell cycle in HeLa cells.
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Polyglutamylation is a posttranslational modification of tubulin that is very common in neurons and ciliated or flagellated cells. It was proposed to regulate the binding of microtubule associated proteins (MAPs) and molecular motors as a function of the length of the polyglutamyl side-chain. Though much less common, this modification of tubulin also occurs in proliferating cells like HeLa cells where it is associated with centrioles and with the mitotic spindle. Recently, we partially purified tubulin polyglutamylase from mouse brain and described its enzymatic properties. In this work, we focused on tubulin polyglutamylase activity from HeLa cells. Our results support the existence of a tubulin polyglutamylase family composed of several isozymic variants specific for alpha- or beta-tubulin subunits. In the latter case, the specificity probably also concerns the different beta-tubulin isotypes. Interestingly, we found that tubulin polyglutamylase activity is regulated in a cell cycle dependent manner and peaks in G(2)-phase while the level of glutamylated tubulin peaks in mitosis. Consistent results were obtained by treating the cells with hydroxyurea, nocodazole or taxotere. In particular, in mitotic cells, tubulin polyglutamylase activity was always low while glutamylation level was high. Finally, tubulin polyglutamylase activity and the level of glutamylated tubulin appeared to be inversely related. This paradox suggests a complex regulation of both tubulin polyglutamylase and the reverse deglutamylase activity. (+info)
Hydroxyurea potentiates the antiherpesvirus activities of purine and pyrimidine nucleoside and nucleoside phosphonate analogs.
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Hydroxyurea has been shown to potentiate the anti-human immunodeficiency virus activities of 2',3'-dideoxynucleoside analogs such as didanosine. We have now evaluated in vitro the effect of hydroxyurea on the antiherpesvirus activities of several nucleoside analogs (acyclovir [ACV], ganciclovir [GCV], penciclovir [PCV], lobucavir [LBV], (R)-9-[4-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)butyl]guanine [H2G], and brivudin and nucleoside phosphonate analogs (cidofovir [CDV] and adefovir [ADV]). When evaluated in cytopathic effect (CPE) reduction assays, hydroxyurea by itself had little effect on CPE progression and potentiated in a subsynergistic (herpes simplex virus type 1 [HSV-1]) to synergistic (HSV-2) fashion the antiviral activities of ACV, GCV, PCV, LBV, H2G, ADV, and CDV. Hydroxyurea also caused marked increases in the activities of ACV, GCV, PCV, LBV, and H2G (compounds that depend for their activation on a virus-encoded thymidine kinase [TK]) against TK-deficient (TK(-)) HSV-1. In fact, in combination with hydroxyurea the 50% effective concentrations of these compounds for inhibition of TK(-) HSV-1-induced CPE decreased from values of 20 to > or = 100 microg/ml (in the absence of hydroxyurea) to values of 1 to 5 microg/ml (in the presence of hydroxyurea at 25 to 100 microg/ml). When evaluated in a single-cycle virus yield reduction assay, hydroxyurea at a concentration of 100 microg/ml inhibited progeny virus production by 60 to 90% but had little effect on virus yield at a concentration of 25 microg/ml. Under these assay conditions hydroxyurea still elicited a marked potentiating effect on the antiherpesvirus activities of GCV and CDV, but this effect was less pronounced than that in the CPE reduction assay. It is conceivable that the potentiating effect of hydroxyurea stems from a depletion of the intracellular deoxynucleoside triphosphate pools, thus favoring the triphosphates of the nucleoside analogues (or the diphosphates of the nucleoside phosphonate analogues) in their competition with the natural nucleotides at the viral DNA polymerase level. The possible clinical implications of these findings are discussed. (+info)
Induction by adozelesin and hydroxyurea of origin recognition complex-dependent DNA damage and DNA replication checkpoints in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
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DNA damaging agents induce a conserved intra-S-phase checkpoint that inhibits DNA replication in eukaryotic cells. To better understand this checkpoint and its role in determining the efficacy of antitumor drugs that damage DNA, we examined the effects of adozelesin, a DNA-alkylating antitumor agent that has a profound inhibitory effect on initiation of DNA replication in mammals, on the replication of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosomes. Adozelesin inhibited initiation of S. cerevisiae DNA replication by inducing an intra-S-phase DNA damage checkpoint. This inhibitory effect was abrogated in orc2-1 cells containing a temperature-sensitive mutation in a component of the origin recognition complex (ORC) that also causes a defect in initiation. The orc2-1 mutation also caused a defect in a checkpoint that regulates the activation of origins in late S phase in cells treated with hydroxyurea. Defects in both initiation and checkpoint regulation in the orc2-1 strain were suppressed by deletion of a gene encoding a putative acetyltransferase, SAS2. Adozelesin also induced a cellular response that requires a function of ORC in G(1). A similar G(1)-specific response in mammals may contribute to the cytotoxic and antitumor properties of this and other DNA-damaging drugs. (+info)
Translational regulation of ribonucleotide reductase by eukaryotic initiation factor 4E links protein synthesis to the control of DNA replication.
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Ribonucleotide reductase synthesizes dNDPs, a specific and limiting step in DNA synthesis, and can participate in neoplastic transformation when overexpressed. The small subunit (ribonucleotide reductase 2 (RNR2)) was cloned as a major product in a subtraction library from eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E)-transformed cells (Chinese hamster ovary-4E (CHO-4E)). CHO-4E cells have 20-40-fold elevated RNR2 protein, reflecting an increased distribution of RNR2 mRNA to the heavy polysomes. CHO-4E cells display an altered cell cycle with shortened S phase, similar to cells selected for RNR2 overexpression with hydroxyurea. The function of ribonucleotide reductase as a checkpoint component of S progression was studied in yeast in which elevated eIF4E rescued S-arrested rnr2-68(ts) cells, by increasing recruitment of its mRNA to polysomes. Crosses between rnr2-68(ts) and mutant eIF4E (cdc33-1(ts)) engendered conditional synthetic lethality, with extreme sensitivity to hydroxyurea and the microtubule depolymerizing agent, benomyl. The double mutant (cdc33-1 rnr2-68) also identified a unique terminal phenotype, arrested with small bud and a randomly distributed single nucleus, which is distinct from those of both parental single mutants. This phenotype defines eIF4E and RNR2 as determinants in an important cell cycle checkpoint, in early/mid-S phase. These results also provide a link between protein and DNA synthesis and provide an explanation for cell cycle alterations induced by elevated eIF4E. (+info)
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in children: results of treatment with LSA2-L2 protocol.
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The results obtained with very intensive treatment in previously untreated patients early in the disease are encouraging, and we hope will change the philosophy of most investigators that even in far advanced disease such as those with marrow metastases or multiple primary sites, one can still obtain complete regression at all tumour sites within 1 to 1 1/2 months from onset of therapy by combined treatment with multiple chemotherapeutic agents and radiation therapy to one or more sites. (+info)
CGG/CCG repeats exhibit orientation-dependent instability and orientation-independent fragility in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
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An expansion to >200 CGG/CCG repeats (hereafter called CGG) in the 5' region of the FMR1 gene causes fragile X syndrome, and this locus becomes a folate-sensitive fragile site. We used Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system to study the stability and fragility of CGG repeats. Tracts of (CGG)(81)and (CGG)(160)were integrated onto a yeast chromosome in both orientations relative to the nearest replication origin. Tracts of this length are pre-mutation alleles in humans, with a high probability of expansion in future generations. The CGG tracts in yeast colonies showed a length-dependent instability with longer tracts being more prone to contraction than shorter tracts. In addition, there was an orientation bias for tract stability with tracts having fewer contractions when the CCG strand was the template for lagging strand synthesis. Expansions of the CGG tracts also occurred in an orientation-dependent manner, although at a lower frequency than contractions. To determine whether CGG tracts are fragile sites in yeast, the CGG tracts were flanked by direct repeats, and the rate of recombination between the repeats determined. Strains carrying the (CGG)(160)tract in either orientation had a large increase in their rate of recombination compared with a no-tract control strain. Because this increase was dependent on genes involved in double-strand break repair, recombination was likely to be initiated by CGG tract-induced breakage between the direct repeats. The observation of orientation-dependent instability and orientation-independent fragility suggests that at least some aspects of their underlying mechanisms are different. (+info)
Replication factor C3 of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a small subunit of replication factor C complex, plays a role in both replication and damage checkpoints.
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We report here the isolation and functional analysis of the rfc3(+) gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which encodes the third subunit of replication factor C (RFC3). Because the rfc3(+) gene was essential for growth, we isolated temperature-sensitive mutants. One of the mutants, rfc3-1, showed aberrant mitosis with fragmented or unevenly separated chromosomes at the restrictive temperature. In this mutant protein, arginine 216 was replaced by tryptophan. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis suggested that rfc3-1 cells had defects in DNA replication. rfc3-1 cells were sensitive to hydroxyurea, methanesulfonate (MMS), and gamma and UV irradiation even at the permissive temperature, and the viabilities after these treatments were decreased. Using cells synchronized in early G2 by centrifugal elutriation, we found that the replication checkpoint triggered by hydroxyurea and the DNA damage checkpoint caused by MMS and gamma irradiation were impaired in rfc3-1 cells. Association of Rfc3 and Rad17 in vivo and a significant reduction of the phosphorylated form of Chk1 in rfc3-1 cells after treatments with MMS and gamma or UV irradiation suggested that the checkpoint signal emitted by Rfc3 is linked to the downstream checkpoint machinery via Rad17 and Chk1. From these results, we conclude that rfc3(+) is required not only for DNA replication but also for replication and damage checkpoint controls, probably functioning as a checkpoint sensor. (+info)
CHF: a novel factor binding to cyclin A CHR corepressor element.
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Cell cycle modulation of cyclin A expression is due to the periodic relief of a transcriptional repression mediated by a bipartite negative DNA regulatory region. The 5' element (Cell Cycle Responsive Element: CCRE; cell Cycle Dependent Element: CDE) is clearly occupied in a cyclic manner in vivo, whereas the 3' element, whose sequence is shared by B-myb, cdc25C and cdc2 genes (cell Cycle gene Homology Region: CHR), is involved in more subtle interactions. Mutation of either element results in complete deregulation of cyclin A promoter activity. Whereas some reports claim that E2F/DP can bind to the CCRE/CDE, the nature of the protein(s) interacting with the CHR is unknown. In the present work we have characterized an activity present in quiescent cells and absent in cells blocked in S phase, which binds specifically to cyclin A CHR, but not to B-myb, or to cdc25C, or to cdc2 CHRs. A 90 kD protein, named CHF (cyclin A CHR binding factor), has been identified through preparative electrophoresis and UV crosslinking experiments. In order to address in more functional terms the binding of CHF to cyclin A CHR, we developed in vitro and in vivo oligonucleotide competition assays. Both in vitro transcription and in vivo microinjection experiments demonstrate that a functional difference exists between the composite CCRE/CDE-CHR repressor regions of cell cycle regulated genes such as cyclin A and cdc25C. (+info)