Protein factor(s) from mitotic CHO cells induce meiotic maturation in Xenopus laevis oocytes

Metabolic cooperation following fusion of starfish ootid and primary oocyte restores meiotic-phase-promoting activity

In the starfish Marthasterias glacialis, polyethylene glycol (PEG) homologous fused pairs consisting of two immature oocytes, blocked at the germinal vesicle stage, or two ootids, blocked at the female pronucleus stage, remain arrested at these specific stages, unless they are stimulated by the hormone 1-methyladenine. In contrast, heterologous pairs develop up to female pronucleus formation in the immature partner, indicating that maturation-promoting factor was formed under these conditions. Kinetics for this process, reconstitution of the nuclear envelopes after first polar body extrusion, and delaying effect of emetine argue for the existence of a true metabolic cooperation process requiring complementary factors present in each partner. The effect of inhibitors that penetrate the plasma membrane points to the possible involvement of endogenous proteases that may activate latent or neosynthesized maturation-promoting factor precursor and/or protein kinases.

Nature and action of the mediators inducing maturation of the starfish oocyte

The process of oocyte maturation and ovulation in starfish is triggered by a gonad-stimulating substance (GSS) present in the granules contained in the supporting cells of the nervous system. The GSS of Asterias amurensis is a polypeptide with a relative molecular mass (Mr) of about 2100, consisting of 22 amino acid residues. This peptide hormone is secreted from the nervous system and acts on the follicular cells around the oocyte to stimulate the production of the second mediator, maturation-inducing substance (MIS). MIS has been identified as 1-methyladenine. 1-Methyladenine acts on the surface of the oocyte, probably on the oocyte-surface factor, to induce the production of a cytoplasmic factor called maturation-promoting factor (MPF) in the ooplasm. This third mediator induces germinal vesicle breakdown and the subsequent processes of oocyte maturation up to the formation of the female pronucleus. MPF appears to be a phosphoprotein and is known in other animals. MPF obtained from any source appears to bring about nuclear membrane breakdown in both meiosis and mitosis, and the nature of MPF is very similar in vertebrates and invertebrates.

From oocyte maturation to the in vitro cell cycle: the history of discoveries of Maturation-Promoting Factor (MPF) and Cytostatic Factor (CSF)

This article briefly reviews the classical cell cycle studies using oocytes and zygotes of mainly amphibians in the past century. The discussions are focused on the investigations into the cytoplasmic factors that regulate meiosis during oocyte maturation and the initiation of mitosis during fertilisation, which were carried out in the author's lab between 1967 and 1987. This chronicle traces the development of the problems and the direction in which their solutions were attempted in the course of these investigations. The author tries to answer the following questions: why he decided to study oocyte maturation, how he discovered progesterone as a maturation-inducing hormone, how he discovered and characterised the cytoplasmic regulators of the cell cycle, Maturation-Promoting Factor (MPF) and Cyto-Static Factor (CSF), and how he invented the method of observing cell cycle processes in a cytoplasmic extract in vitro.

Is Cyclin Zeuthen's "division protein"?

Biochemical evidence is presented for the presence of cyclin in Tetrahymena. Zeuthen previously postulated the existence of a heat-labile "division protein" to explain heat-shock-induced division synchrony in Tetrahymena [(1964) Synchrony in Cell Division and Growth (Zeuthen, E., Ed.), pp. 99-158, Interscience, New York]. We show that cyclin is heat-labile in Tetrahymena and suggest that cyclin may be Zeuthen's division protein. Cyclin and cell cycle control is of interest in Tetrahymena because the division mechanism drives macronuclear amitosis, closed and acentric micronuclear mitosis, and cortical differentiation in this cell type.

Changes in maturation-promoting activity in the cytoplasm of pig oocytes throughout maturation

Maturation-promoting factor (MPF) was examined in maturing pig oocytes by electrofusing them with germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes. Oocytes containing high levels of MPF (MI or MII stages) induced the breakdown of the GV introduced by fusion and the formation of the metaphase plate in 1 hr. A similar effect was seen when two or three GV oocytes were fused with a MII oocyte and then incubated for 1 hr in the presence of cycloheximide (a specific protein synthesis inhibitor), indicating that high levels of preformed MPF are present at the metaphase stage. During the maturation in vitro of cumulus-enclosed oocytes, a first sharp rise in MPF was seen between 26 and 29 hr of culture (MI stage); MPF declined after 2 hr (AI-TI stages) and again reached high levels at 35 hr, where it remained for the rest of maturation. Denuded oocytes showed a similar behavior, but MPF appeared 9 hr earlier and the rise, due to the asynchronous maturation of these oocytes, was not as sharp as in cumulus enclosed oocytes. Cycloheximide was used to study protein synthesis requirements for oocyte maturation. Intact GV were observed after 44 hr of culture when cycloheximide was added at 26 hr or earlier, and chromosome decondensation and pronuclear formation were observed when the drug was added at 32 hr. Transcriptional requirements were investigated by treating the oocytes with alpha-amanitin, an RNA polymerase inhibitor. This drug could completely inhibit the maturation of cumulus-enclosed oocytes, but this was a somatic cell-mediated effect since denuded oocytes were insensitive to this treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Dominoes and clocks: the union of two views of the cell cycle

We review the recent advances in understanding transitions within the cell cycle. These have come from both genetic and biochemical approaches. We discuss the phylogenetic conservation of the mechanisms that induce mitosis and their implications for other transitions in the cell cycle.

Fractionation of cytostatic factors from cytosols of amphibian eggs

The cytoplasm or cytosols of unfertilized amphibian eggs contain cytostatic factor (CSF) which arrests cleavage at metaphase after injection into a zygote. After addition of Ca2+ to cytosols, the initial CSF (CSF-1) is inactivated, yet CSF develops again during storage at 2 degrees C (CSF-2). We have separated the two CSFs by ultracentrifugation and ammonium sulfate fractionation using Rana pipiens egg cytosols. CSF-1 was sedimented by ultracentrifugation. After Ca2+ addition, the lighter fractions could develop CSF-2, which was also sedimented by centrifugation. The specific activity of CSF-1 was increased in 20-30% AmS fractions, but was not enhanced further by NaF and/or ATP. CSF-2 could develop only in AmS fractions of fresh cytosols above 50% saturation which were devoid of CSF-1 and was reprecipitated from these fractions with AmS at 20-40% saturation with a 30 X increase in specific activity. CSF-2 development did not require ATP, but its rate increased with increasing temperature and was maximum around pH 5.5. These results show that CSF-1 and CSF-2 are separate entities and that CSF-2 is assembled from inactive precursors into an active, larger molecule.

Cell type expression mediated by cell cycle events, and signaled by mitogens and growth inhibitors

It is initially pointed out that the majority of factors that induce cell type expression in mature precursor cells are either mitogens or growth inhibitors. On the basis of available data, a theoretical model of regulation of cell type expression for each group of factors is proposed. In model A the mitogen affects the expression of cell type through the positive control of cell cycle progression, while in model B the growth inhibitor induces the negative control of cell cycle progression, which in its turn causes the cell type expression. In connection with those two models, various systems of cell type expression are classified into three groups. In model A systems, the cell lineage has an option of autotypic and allotypic cell types. The former is expressed in the absence of added mitogen, and the latter is expressed in its presence. In model B systems the cell lineage-specific cell type is expressed by the negative cell cycle control induced by the growth inhibitor. In model A-B systems both mitogen and inhibitor are needed in tandem for the expression of a cell type. The second major point made is that the expression of cell type follows the negative control of cell cycle progression even in model A systems. However, in this system the control occurs spontaneously. This suggests that the negative control is essential for cell type expression in all systems, and directly precedes the expression. In contrast, the positive control induced by exogenous mitogen is not required in the expression in model B systems or in that of autotypic cell types in model A systems. The third point is that on the basis of the hypothesis of replication-transcription coupling, proposed by Sauer and colleagues, it is speculated that the pattern of early-replicating genes may be functioning as the potential gene transcription pattern for cell type expression in precursor cells. If this pattern is perpetuated through cell generations, the original cell type specificity of the precursor cell lineage should be maintained. If this pattern is modified by the positive control of cell cycle progression in model A systems, the potential transcriptional pattern for the allotypic pathway may emerge. Furthermore, it is proposed that the realization of the potential pattern may depend on a signal, informing the completion of the negative control of cell cycle progression. Thus in all cell lineages, when the negative cell cycle control is completed, chromatin receives this signal, and the potential transcription pattern is converted into cell type differentiation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Monoclonal antibodies specific for thiophosphorylated proteins recognize Xenopus MPF

Maturation promoting factor, (MPF), is a crucial regulatory component of the eukaryotic cell cycle. Though it is ubiquitous, MPF has been difficult to purify to homogeneity, and little is known about its physical properties or composition. In an attempt to further characterize and purify this protein, we have isolated five monoclonal antibodies that immunoadsorb MPF activity, and inhibit the activity in solution. However, all the antibodies recognize many proteins in partially purified MPF. We have shown that antibody binding is dependent on previous exposure of the preparation to ATP gamma S. This suggests that the antibodies specifically recognize thiophosphoproteins, although not all thiophosphorylated proteins in MPF are immunoprecipitated. Using one antibody, MPF was partially purified by immunoadsorption chromatography. These experiments provide the first evidence that MPF from Xenopus is a phosphoprotein that becomes thiophosphorylated upon addition of ATP gamma S.

Reversible arrest of proliferation of rat 3Y1 fibroblasts in both the G1 and G2 phases by trichostatin A

Proliferation of rat 3Y1 cells was found to be specifically blocked by trichostatin A (TSA) at two distinct stages in the cell cycle. The first block occurred in the early G1 phase at least 9 h before the G1/S boundary, whereas the second occurred during the G2 phase. When TSA-arrested cells at the G2 phase were released from the inhibition, the cells with 4C DNA entered a new S phase without passage through the M phase, resulting in the formation of proliferative tetraploid cells. The removal of TSA induced a rapid transient increase in the transcription of c-fos and the cells required 15 h to enter the S phase after release. These results suggest that the cells arrested with TSA are quiescent (G0).

Amphibian oocyte maturation induced by extracts of Physarum polycephalum in mitosis

The orderly progression of eukaryotic cells from interphase to mitosis requires the close coordination of various nuclear and cytoplasmic events. Studies from our laboratory and others on animal cells indicate that two activities, one present mainly in mitotic cells and the other exclusively in G1-phase cells, play a pivotal role in the regulation of initiation and completion of mitosis, respectively. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether these activities are expressed in the slime mold Physarum polycephalum in which all the nuclei traverse the cell cycle in natural synchrony. Extracts were prepared from plasmodia in various phases of the cell cycle and tested for their ability to induce germinal vesicle breakdown and chromosome condensation after microinjection into Xenopus laevis oocytes. We found that extract of cells at 10-20 min before metaphase consistently induced germinal vesicle breakdown in oocytes. Preliminary characterization, including purification on a DNA-cellulose affinity column, indicated that the mitotic factors from Physarum were functionally very similar to HeLa mitotic factors. We also identified a number of mitosis-specific antigens in extracts from Physarum plasmodia, similar to those of HeLa cells, using the mitosis-specific monoclonal antibodies MPM-2 and MPM-7. Interestingly, we also observed an activity in Physarum at 45 min after metaphase (i.e., in early S phase since it has no G1) that is usually present in HeLa cells only during the G1 phase of the cell cycle. These are the first studies to show that maturation-promoting factor activity is present in Physarum during mitosis and is replaced by the G1 factor (or anti-maturation-promoting factor) activity in a postmitotic stage. A comparative study of these factors in this slime mold and in mammalian cells would be extremely valuable in further understanding their function in the regulation of eukaryotic cell cycle and their evolutionary relationship to one another.

6-Dimethylaminopurine blocks starfish oocyte maturation by inhibiting a relevant protein kinase activity

The puromycin analog N6,N6-dimethyladenine (6-dimethylaminopurine or 6-DMAP) was found to inhibit meiosis reinitiation in starfish oocytes stimulated by the natural hormone 1-methyladenine. Increasing concentrations of this agent delayed and eventually blocked germinal vesicle breakdown. They were found to be effective even when applied during the hormone-independent period, after the oocytes had been already committed to reinitiate meiosis. 6-DMAP mimics most of the effects of emetine since it induces protein dephosphorylation, inhibits polar body formation, and promotes the precocious appearance of resting nuclei. However, unlike emetine, 6-DMAP does not affect protein synthesis. The effect of this agent cannot be accounted for by a stimulation of the protease or phosphoprotein phosphatase activities since the rate and extent of protein dephosphorylation do not increase in its presence. Data from in vivo and in vitro endogenous protein phosphorylation experiments suggest rather that 6-DMAP may directly or indirectly affect the activity of a relevant c-AMP and Ca2+-independent protein kinase which is stimulated after hormone addition and seems to support starfish oocyte maturation.

Regulation of MPF activity in vitro

We have developed a soluble, cell-free system from premeiotic Xenopus oocytes that executes the post-translational activation of a precursor form of maturation promoting factor (MPF). We have distinguished at least two components of this ATP-dependent reaction: pre-MPF, a precursor to MPF that activates independently of added MPF and whose apparent molecular weight changes from 400 kd to 260 kd upon activation; and INH, an inhibitor of pre-MPF activation that confers MPF dependence on the reaction. We present evidence suggesting that INH is a phosphatase and that the activation of pre-MPF occurs via phosphorylation. INH activity itself seems to be regulated by another phosphatase, protein phosphatase-1. We have directly examined the pattern of protein phosphorylation during the activation reaction and have found 92 and 140 kd proteins whose phosphorylation increases when MPF activity appears. This system makes possible a direct examination of the regulation of MPF activity during the cell cycle.

Regulation of meiotic metaphase by a cytoplasmic maturation-promoting factor during mouse oocyte maturation

During mouse oocyte maturation the regulation of the activity of a cytoplasmic maturation-promoting factor (MPF) was examined. The mouse MPF activity was determined based on its ability to induce maturation in immature starfish oocytes after microinjection with the cytoplasm from mouse oocytes. MPF appeared initially at germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), and its activity fluctuated in exact correspondence with meiotic cycles, reaching a peak at each metaphase and almost disappearing at the time of emission of the first polar body. Cycloheximide affected neither the initial MPF appearance nor GVBD. Thereafter, however, in the presence of cycloheximide the meiotic spindle was not formed and MPF disappeared, although the chromosomes remained condensed. After removing cycloheximide, MPF reappeared and was followed by the first metaphase and subsequently by polar body emission. Finally the meiotic cycle progressed to the second metaphase. Thus, for the appearance of MPF, there is a critical period shortly before the first metaphase, after which protein synthesis is required. In the presence of either cytochalasin D or colcemid, MPF activity remained at elevated levels. Addition of cycloheximide to such cytochalasin-treated oocytes, in which the meiotic cycle was arrested at the first metaphase, caused the MPF levels to decrease and was followed by movement of chromosomes to both poles where they decondensed and two nucleus-like structures were formed. Thus, the disappearance of MPF may initiate the metaphase-anaphase transition. Furthermore, detailed cytological examination revealed that chromosomes in cytochalasin-treated oocytes were monovalent while those treated only with cycloheximide were divalent, suggesting that dissociation of the synapsis is a prerequisite for chromosome decondensation after the disappearance of MPF. In all these respects, MPF seems to be a metaphase-promoting factor rather than just a maturation-promoting factor.

Regulation of the mRNA levels of nimA, a gene required for the G2-M transition in Aspergillus nidulans

The temperature-sensitive cell cycle mutation nimA5 causes nuclei of Aspergillus nidulans to be blocked in late G2 at restrictive temperature. Under these conditions the spindle pole body divides but does not separate and the mitotic index drops to zero. If nimA5 is blocked for more than one doubling time and then shifted from restrictive to permissive temperature, nuclei immediately enter mitosis, the mitotic spindle forms, and the chromosomes condense (Oakley, B. R., and N. R. Morris, 1983, J. Cell Biol., 96:1155-8). We have cloned the wild-type nimA gene by DNA-mediated complementation of the nimA5 mutant phenotype and have characterized nimA mRNA expression by Northern blot analysis. The transcript is 3.6 kb in length and is under tight nuclear cycle regulation. In synchronously dividing cells, the levels of nimA mRNA become elevated as cells enter mitosis and drop sharply as cells progress through mitosis. Cells blocked in S-phase with hydroxyurea have very low levels of nimA mRNA. Cells blocked in mitosis, either by the antimitotic agent benomyl or by the cell cycle mutation bimE7, maintain elevated levels of the nimA transcript. These data demonstrate not only that nimA is required for entry into mitosis, but because the transcript is normally expressed cyclically and is under tight cell cycle control, they suggest that nimA may play a regulatory role in the initiation of mitosis.

Metaphase protein phosphorylation in Xenopus laevis eggs

Cytoplasmic extracts of metaphase (M-phase)-arrested Xenopus laevis eggs support nuclear envelope breakdown and chromosome condensation in vitro. Induction of nuclear breakdown is inhibited by AMPP(NH)P, a nonhydrolyzable ATP analog, but not by ATP or gamma-S-ATP, a hydrolyzable ATP analog, suggesting that protein phosphorylation may be required for M-phase nuclear events in vitro. By addition of [gamma-32P]ATP, we have identified in cytoplasmic extracts and in intact eggs at least six phosphoproteins that are present during M-phase but absent in G1/S-phase. These phosphoproteins also appear in response to partially purified preparations of maturation-promoting factor. A subset of these proteins are thiophosphorylated by gamma-S-ATP under conditions that promote nuclear envelope breakdown and chromosome condensation. Each of these proteins is phosphorylated on serine and threonine, and one, a 42-kilodalton protein, is also phosphorylated on tyrosine both in extracts and in intact eggs. These results indicate that activation of protein kinases accounts for at least part of the increased phosphorylation in M-phase and that both protein-serine-threonine kinases and protein-tyrosine kinases may play a role in controlling M-phase nuclear behavior.

Dose-dependent relationship between oocyte cytoplasmic volume and transformation of sperm nuclei to metaphase chromosomes

We have studied the chromosome condensation activity of mouse oocytes that have been inseminated during meiotic maturation. These oocytes remain unactivated, and in those penetrated by up to three or four sperm, each sperm nucleus is transformed, without prior development of a pronucleus, into metaphase chromosomes. However, those penetrated by more than four sperm never transform any of the nuclei into metaphase chromosomes (Clarke, H. J., and Y. Masui, 1986, J. Cell Biol. 102:1039-1046). We report here that, when the cytoplasmic volume of oocytes was doubled or tripled by cell fusion, up to five or eight sperm nuclei, respectively, could be transformed into metaphase chromosomes. Conversely, when the cytoplasmic volume was reduced by bisection of oocytes after the germinal vesicle (GV) had broken down, no more than two sperm could be transformed into metaphase chromosomes. Thus, the capacity of the oocyte cytoplasm to transform sperm nuclei to metaphase chromosomes was proportional to its volume. The contribution of the nucleoplasm of the GV and the cytoplasm outside the GV to the chromosome condensation activity was investigated by bisecting oocytes that contained a GV and then inseminating the nucleate and anucleate fragments. The anucleate fragments never induced sperm chromosome formation, indicating that GV nucleoplasm is required for this activity. In the nucleate fragments, the capacity to induce sperm chromosome formation was reduced as compared with whole oocytes, in spite of the fact that the fragments contained the entire GV nucleoplasm. This implies that non-GV cytoplasmic material also was required for chromosome condensation activity. When inseminated oocytes were incubated in the presence of puromycin, the sperm nuclei were transformed into interphase-like nuclei, but no metaphase chromosomes developed. However, when protein synthesis resumed, the interphase nuclei were transformed to metaphase chromosomes. These results suggest that the transformation of sperm nuclei to metaphase chromosomes in the cytoplasm of mouse oocytes requires both the nucleoplasm of the GV and non-GV cytoplasmic substances, including proteins synthesized during maturation.

Metaphase protein phosphorylation in Xenopus laevis eggs

Cytoplasmic extracts of metaphase (M-phase)-arrested Xenopus laevis eggs support nuclear envelope breakdown and chromosome condensation in vitro. Induction of nuclear breakdown is inhibited by AMPP(NH)P, a nonhydrolyzable ATP analog, but not by ATP or gamma-S-ATP, a hydrolyzable ATP analog, suggesting that protein phosphorylation may be required for M-phase nuclear events in vitro. By addition of [gamma-32P]ATP, we have identified in cytoplasmic extracts and in intact eggs at least six phosphoproteins that are present during M-phase but absent in G1/S-phase. These phosphoproteins also appear in response to partially purified preparations of maturation-promoting factor. A subset of these proteins are thiophosphorylated by gamma-S-ATP under conditions that promote nuclear envelope breakdown and chromosome condensation. Each of these proteins is phosphorylated on serine and threonine, and one, a 42-kilodalton protein, is also phosphorylated on tyrosine both in extracts and in intact eggs. These results indicate that activation of protein kinases accounts for at least part of the increased phosphorylation in M-phase and that both protein-serine-threonine kinases and protein-tyrosine kinases may play a role in controlling M-phase nuclear behavior.

Partial purification of the maturation-promoting factor MPF from unfertilized eggs of Xenopus laevis

A 200-fold purification of the maturation-promoting factor or MPF from unfertilized eggs of Xenopus laevis is reported for the first time. Purification was achieved by three successive column chromatographies on hydroxyapatite, trisacryl blue and L-arginine-agarose. The presence of MPF was assessed by the usual maturation criteria after injections of test material into immature stage VI unstimulated X. laevis oocytes: the precocious appearance of the maturation spot (within 45-120 min), the germinal vesicle breakdown, the presence of the first polar body and the second metaphase spindle. Purification was monitored by the decrease of the minimal amount of protein injected in a constant volume (50 nl) required to induce 50% frequency of germinal vesicle breakdown. This amount decreased from 500 ng in the crude extract to 2.5 ng in the 200-fold purified material. Analysis by SDS-PAGE of the crude extract showed about 40 Coomassie-blue-stained polypeptides with molecular masses ranging from 300 kDa to 20 kDa, whereas in the 200-fold purified MPF only 5 stained polypeptides were revealed, with molecular masses of 62, 53, 49, 39 and 37 kDa. In vitro phosphorylations for the detection of kinase activities for endogenous and exogenous substrates were monitored by analysis of autoradiograms of SDS-PAGE, after treatment of fractions with [gamma-32P]ATP. Only inactive fractions eluted from columns ahead of MPF, and fractions containing MPF activity were tested. Phosphorylation of numerous stained polypeptides was demonstrated in the crude MPF extract and exogenous substrates such as phosvitin, casein and histone type II-AS were also strongly phosphorylated. In the MPF fraction, purified on hydroxyapatite, a polypeptide of 53 kDa was more highly and specifically phosphorylated and the presence of kinase activities was observed for the above three exogenous substrates. In the 100-fold and 200-fold purified MPF, phosphorylation of endogenous substrates could not be shown and kinase activities for the above three substrates were drastically decreased as compared with the crude and purified MPF obtained after hydroxyapatite column chromatography. However, neither endogenous phosphorylations nor kinase activities with the above exogenous substrates could be shown in inactive fractions eluted ahead of MPF at the different purification steps. Some characteristics of the purified material are also described in this paper.

A possible role for Mg2+ ions in the induction of meiotic maturation of Xenopus oocyte

Progesterone induces in vitro the meiotic cell division of Xenopus full-grown oocytes. Microinjection into oocyte of a solution containing Mg2+ (20 mM) facilitates by one order of magnitude the dose of progesterone which induces 50% of germinal vesicle breakdown. Microinjected in the absence of hormone, Mg2+ and also Mn2+ can induce maturation with efficiencies of, respectively, 24% (SEM = 8; n = 13) and 70% (SEM = 6; n = 23). The dose-response curves of cation-induction of maturation show an optimum of 20 mM for Mg2+ and 15 mM for Mn2+ (pipet concentration); higher doses were less active. Cation-induction of maturation is inhibited when oocytes are preincubated with cholera toxin (500 ng/ml); nevertheless, it cannot be interpreted at the level of cAMP, since both Mg2+ and Mn2+ microinjections provoke an increase in the oocyte cAMP content. Mg2+ induction of maturation is more efficient when oocytes are incubated in trimethylamine at pH 8.2, which is known to increase intracellular pH suggesting an action at the level of alkali pH-sensitive enzymes. Altogether, our results indicate a positive role for Mg2+ ions in the induction of oocyte maturation and raise an attractive hypothesis about the respective roles of cAMP and Mg2+ changes involved in the mechanism of progesterone action. Our results also show that co-injection of 2-glycerophosphate and Mg2+ ions, which are both commonly used in the preparation of the MPF mitotic factors from dividing cells, induces oocyte maturation more efficiently than Mg2+ alone and drastically shortens the kinetics of germinal vesicle breakdown to 1 h 30 min to 2 h 30 min.

Interactions between metaphase and interphase factors in heterokaryons produced by fusion of mouse oocytes and zygotes

The cytoplasmic factor responsible for chromosome condensation was introduced into mouse zygotes at different times after fertilization by fusion of the zygotes with metaphase I oocytes. In 72% of heterokaryons obtained after fusion of early zygotes (14-18 hr post-human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) with oocytes, the male and female pronuclei of the zygote decondensed. At the same time, the oocyte chromosomes became enclosed in a nuclear envelope and decondensed to an interphase state. However, in the rest of the heterokaryons, the chromatin of the pronuclei condensed to metaphase chromosomes, thus resulting in three sets of chromosomes. Fusion of zygotes that had begun DNA synthesis (20-22 hr post-HCG) with oocytes induced chromosome condensation of the pronuclei in 76% of the cases. In some heterokaryons, however, the oocyte chromosome decondensed to an interphase state similar to the zygote pronuclei. Fusion between late zygotes (27-29 hr post-HCG) with oocytes resulted in chromosome condensation of the pronuclei in all heterokaryons. On the basis of these results, the formation of the pronuclei and their progression toward mitosis in the zygote may be explained by changing levels of a metaphase factor in the cell, or by a balance between interphase and metaphase factors.

cdc25+ functions as an inducer in the mitotic control of fission yeast

In the fission yeast S. pombe the cdc25+ gene function is required to initiate mitosis. We have cloned the cdc25+ gene and have found that increased cdc25+ expression causes mitosis to initiate at a reduced cell size. This shows that cdc25+ functions as a dosage-dependent inducer in mitotic control, the first such mitotic control element to be specifically identified. DNA sequencing of the cdc25+ gene has shown that it can encode a protein of MW 67,000. Evidence is described showing that cdc25+ functions to counteract the activity of the mitotic inhibitor wee1+, and indicating that both mitotic control elements act independently to regulate the initiation of mitosis.

Extraction and preliminary characterization of maturation-promoting factor from starfish oocytes

Cytoplasm of maturing starfish oocytes possesses a factor which induces maturation upon injection into immature oocytes. Such maturation-promoting factor (MPF) was extracted from maturing oocytes of Asterina pectinifera and characterized preliminarily. After 1-methyladenine (1-MeAde) treatment, maturing oocytes were packed in a centrifuge tube to remove jelly and excess medium, and then crushed by centrifugation. The turbid supernatant was homogenized with a buffer containing NaF, Na-beta-glycerophosphate, ATP, EGTA and leupeptin, followed by centrifugation. MPF extracted in the supernatant was purified partially by ammonium sulfate precipitation, hydrophobic chromatography on pentyl-agarose and gel filtration on Sephacryl S-300. The final material induced maturation in the recipient starfish oocytes when 0.5 ng of protein was injected in a volume of 400 pl. The maturation response included germinal vesicle breakdown, and formation of polar bodies and egg pronucleus. Such MPF preparation induced maturation in oocytes of Xenopus laevis as well. Further, starfish MPF was found to be a heat-labile protein; its molecular weight (MW) was estimated as 300 X 10(3) D by gel filtration and its sedimentation coefficient value as 5S by centrifugation on sucrose density gradients.

Partial purification and characterization of mitotic factors from HeLa cells

Extracts from mitotic HeLa cells, when injected into Xenopus laevis oocytes, exhibit maturation-promoting activity (MPA) as evidenced by the breakdown of the germinal vesicle and the condensation of chromosomes. In this study we have attempted to purify and characterize these mitotic factors. When 0.2 M NaCl-soluble extracts of mitotic HeLa cells were concentrated by ultrafiltration and subjected to affinity chromatography on hydroxylapatite followed by DNA-cellulose, the proteins with MPA eluted as a single peak and their specific activity was increased approx. 200-fold compared with crude extracts. The molecular weight of the mitotic factors was estimated to be 100 kD as determined by chromatography on Sephacryl S-200. SDS-PAGE of the partially-purified mitotic factors indicated the presence of several polypeptides ranging from 40-150 kD with a major band of about 50 kD. The majority of these polypeptides were found to be phosphoproteins as revealed by 32P-labeling and autoradiography. Very little or no phosphorylation was observed at the 50 kD band. Several of these polypeptides were reactive with mitosis-specific monoclonal antibodies, MPM-1 or MPM-2, as shown by immunoblots of these proteins but the major polypeptide band at 50 kD was not. Removal of the immunoreactive polypeptides by precipitation with these antibodies did not destroy the MPA. The MPA of the crude or the partially-purified mitotic factors was destroyed by injection of (but not pretreatment with) alkaline phosphatase within 45 min after injection of mitotic factors. These results are discussed in terms of a possible role of phosphorylation-dephosphorylation of non-histone proteins in the regulation of mitosis and meiosis.

Induction of nuclear envelope breakdown, chromosome condensation, and spindle formation in cell-free extracts

Incubation of demembranated sperm chromatin in cytoplasmic extracts of unfertilized Xenopus laevis eggs resulted in nuclear envelope assembly, chromosome decondensation, and sperm pronuclear formation. In contrast, egg extracts made with EGTA-containing buffers induced the sperm chromatin to form chromosomes or irregularly shaped clumps of chromatin that were incorporated into bipolar or multipolar spindles. The 150,000 g supernatants of the EGTA extracts could not alone support these changes in incubated nuclei. However, these supernatants induced not only chromosome condensation and spindle formation, but also nuclear envelope breakdown when added to sperm pronuclei or isolated Xenopus liver or brain nuclei that were incubated in extracts made without EGTA. Similar changes were induced by partially purified preparations of maturation-promoting factor. The addition of calcium chloride to extracts containing condensed chromosomes and spindles caused dissolution of the spindles, decondensation of the chromosomes, and re-formation of interphase nuclei. These results indicate that nuclear envelope breakdown, chromosome condensation, and spindle assembly, as well as the regulation of these processes by Ca2+-sensitive cytoplasmic components, can be studied in vitro using extracts of amphibian eggs.

Regulation of amphibian oocyte maturation

Xenopus oocyte maturation is a model system for studying the control of cell proliferation and the regulation of the cell cycle. Addition of progesterone or insulin to oocytes releases a G2 block and stimulates progression through meiosis to an unfertilized egg. The release of the G2 block is a consequence of a decrease in cAMP mediated entirely or in part by an inhibition of adenylate cyclase. The mechanism of cyclase inhibition involves a membrane steroid receptor controlling the rate of guanine nucleotide exchange. Subsequent events include an increase in intracellular pH and the phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6. The latter event may play a role in translational control of maturation. Late events in maturation involve the appearance of the maturation-promoting factor (MPF), a cytoplasmic protein responsible for causing nuclear envelope breakdown, chromosome condensation, and spindle formation. MPF oscillates in meiotic and mitotic cell cycles. The events caused by MPF can now be obtained in crude extracts with retention of cell cycle control by calcium, providing a framework for rapid progress in characterizing MPF and its regulation.

Induction of early mitotic events in a cell-free system

Maturation promoting factor (MPF) has been shown to induce meiosis or mitosis when injected into Xenopus oocytes and embryos. We show here that early events of mitosis, chromatin condensation and nuclear envelope breakdown, are induced by MPF in somatic interphase nuclei incubated in a cell-free extract of Xenopus eggs. These events occur rapidly and synchronously in response to MPF and are reversed when MPF activity is diminished. Using this cell-free system, we show that major structural proteins of the nuclear lamina, lamins A and C, are hyperphosphorylated within 15 min after addition of MPF, followed by a gradual depolymerization of the nuclear lamina until the nuclear envelope breaks down 30 min later. These results show that MPF induces mitotic events in vitro, and that phosphorylation of the lamins precedes disassembly of the nuclear lamina and could act to trigger nuclear envelope breakdown.

Active maturation-promoting factor is present in mature mouse oocytes

Cytoplasmic extracts of meiotically mature mouse oocytes were injected into immature Xenopus laevis oocytes, which underwent germinal vesicle breakdown within 2 h. Germinal vesicle breakdown was not inhibited by incubation of the Xenopus oocytes in cycloheximide (20 micrograms/ml). Identically prepared extracts of meiotically immature mouse oocytes, arrested at the germinal vesicle stage by dibutyryl cyclic AMP (100 micrograms/ml), did not induce germinal vesicle breakdown in Xenopus oocytes. The results show that maturation-promoting factor activity appears during the course of oocyte maturation in the mouse.

Control of cell-cycle timing in early embryos of Caenorhabditis elegans

A technique has been developed for extruding either substantial amounts of cytoplasm without nuclei or individual nuclei with small amounts of cytoplasm from early embryos of C. elegans after perforating the eggshell with a laser microbeam. This technique, in conjunction with laser-induced cell fusion, has allowed the altering of nuclear/cytoplasmic ratios and the exposing of the nucleus of one cell to cytoplasm from another. Using these approaches the roles of nuclei and cytoplasm in determining the different cell-cycle periods of the several blastomere lineages in early embryos have been examined. It was found that nuclei in a common cytoplasm divide synchronously; enucleated blastomeres retain a cycling period characteristic of their lineage; cycling period is not substantially affected by changes in the ratio of nuclear to cytoplasmic volumes or the DNA content per cell; the period of a cell from one lineage can be substantially altered by introduction of cytoplasm from a cell of another lineage with a different period; and short-term effects of foreign cytoplasm on the timing of the subsequent mitosis differ depending on position of the donor cell in the cell cycle. These results are discussed in connection with models for the action of cytoplasmic factors in controlling cell-cycle timing.

Phosphorylation of non-histone proteins associated with mitosis in HeLa cells

Our previous studies indicated that certain non-histone proteins (NHP) extractable with 0.2 M NaCl from mitotic HeLa cells induce germinal vesicle breakdown and chromosome condensation in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Since the maturation-promoting activity of the mitotic proteins is stabilized by phosphatase inhibitors, we decided to examine whether phosphorylation of NHP plays a role in the condensation of chromosomes during mitosis. HeLa cells, synchronized in S phase, were labeled with 32P at the end of S phase, and the cells subsequently collected while they were in G2, mitosis, or G1. Cytoplasmic, nuclear, or chromosomal proteins were extracted and separated by gel electrophoresis. The labeled protein bands were detected by radioautography. The results indicated an 8-10-fold increase in the phosphorylation of NHP from mid-G2 to mitosis, followed by a similar-size decrease as the cells divided and entered G1. The NHP phosphorylation rate increased progressively during G2 traverse and reached a peak in mitosis. Radioautography of the separated NHP revealed eight prominent, extensively phosphorylated protein bands with molecular masses ranging from 27.5 to 100 kD. These NHP were rapidly dephosphorylated during M-G1 transition. Phosphorylation-dephosphorylation of NHP appeared to be a dynamic process, with the equilibrium shifting to phosphorylation during G2-M and dephosphorylation during M-G1 transitions. These results suggest that besides histone H1 phosphorylation, phosphorylation of this subset of NHP may also play a part in mitosis.

Injected mitotic extracts induce condensation of interphase chromatin

Although extracts from mitotic cells have been shown to induce chromosome condensation when injected into amphibian oocytes, they have not as yet been shown to induce this response in somatic interphase cells. In the experiments reported here, when mitotic extracts were injected into syncytial frog embryos, whose somatic nuclei were arrested in interphase, chromosome condensation was observed. The inability of interphase extracts, injected at similar concentrations, to induce this event demonstrates the cell cycle-specific accumulation of the factors responsible.

Regulation of the cell cycle during early Xenopus development

Maturation-promoting factor (MPF) is a partially purified M-phase-specific activity that induces meiosis in frog oocytes and is detectable in mitotic lysates from cells of wide phylogenetic origins. We show here that without protein synthesis, addition and removal of MPF can drive the mitotic cycle in frog eggs, including nuclear membrane breakdown and reformation, chromosome condensation and decondensation, and suppression and initiation of DNA replication on endogenous DNA and on injected plasmid templates. We have also studied M-phase arrest induced by injection of unfertilized egg cytoplasm and show that this arrest blocks an endogenous cytoplasmic cell-cycle oscillator and causes the stabilization of MPF activity. The oscillator can be restarted by injection of Ca++, which causes chromosome decondensation, reinitiation of DNA replication, and loss of MPF activity. We have looked in more detail at how DNA replication responds to the level of MPF and show that the effects are on the chromatin template and not the replication machinery. These results suggest that in Xenopus embryos cell-cycle events of the nucleus, including DNA replication and mitosis, are controlled by the level of MPF activity, which is driven by or may be part of an autonomous cell-cycle oscillator. The way in which a more complicated somatic cell cycle may arise from the simple embryonic cell cycle is discussed.

Phosphoproteins are components of mitotic microtubule organizing centers

Protein phosphorylation has been suggested as an important control mechanism for the events leading toward the initiation and completion of mitosis. Using a monoclonal antibody recognizing a class of phosphoproteins abundant in mitotic cells, we demonstrated the localization of a subset of these phosphoproteins to several discrete mitotic structures. Patchy immunofluorescence was present in the interphase nuclei, but a significant increase in nuclear immunofluorescence was apparent at prophase. Subsequent mitotic stages demonstrated that immunoreactive material was particularly apparent at microtubule organizing centers, namely, centrosomes, kinetochores, and midbodies. Intense centrosomal localization occurred at the prophase-prometaphase transition and persisted until the reformation of the nuclear membrane in early G1. The cytoplasm of mitotic cells also contained immunoreactive material in sharp contrast to interphase cells that exhibited no cytoplasmic fluorescent staining. Much of the diffuse immunofluorescent cytoplasmic material was removed by a brief lysis of the cells with 0.15% Triton X-100 prior to fixation. The localization of the remaining immunoreactive material after detergent lysis to mitotic microtubule organizing centers suggests that they contain phosphoprotein structural components important, perhaps, in the mitotic phase-interphase transition.

Effects of Ca2+ ions on the formation of metaphase chromosomes and sperm pronuclei in cell-free preparations from unactivated Rana pipiens eggs

Nuclei transplanted into unactivated amphibian eggs are known to condense into metaphase chromosomes whereas those transplanted into activated eggs decondense and enlarge. We have made cell-free cytoplasmic preparations from Rana pipiens eggs which can induce demembranated Xenopus laevis sperm to undergo changes similar to those seen in intact eggs. Sperm chromatin which is incubated for 3 hr in unactivated egg preparations made using a buffer containing 3 mM EGTA is induced to form metaphase chromosomes. However, decondensed interphase nuclei are formed when chromatin is incubated in unactivated egg preparations made without EGTA as well as in activated egg preparations. When Ca2+ ions are added to unactivated egg preparations made with EGTA, the preparations lose the ability to induce metaphase chromosome formation and become capable of decondensing sperm chromatin. Once the ability to decondense chromatin has developed, either in unactivated or activated egg preparations, it cannot be suppressed by the addition of EGTA. However, decondensation of sperm chromatin in activated egg preparations can be suppressed by the addition of unactivated egg preparations made with EGTA. In this case, the incubated sperm chromatin is induced to form metaphase chromosomes. These results may indicate that the chromosome condensation activity of unactivated egg cytoplasm can be sustained in cell-free preparations when Ca2+ ion levels are kept low, but when Ca2+ ion levels increase this activity is lost and replaced by a new activity which can decondense chromatin. Since this change in cytoplasmic activities is comparable to that occurring in the intact egg following fertilization, these results suggest that Ca2+ ions play a crucial role during activation in altering the cytoplasmic activities which control nuclear behavior.

Interconversion of metaphase and interphase microtubule arrays, as studied by the injection of centrosomes and nuclei into Xenopus eggs

We have designed experiments that distinguish centrosomal , nuclear, and cytoplasmic contributions to the assembly of the mitotic spindle. Mammalian centrosomes acting as microtubule-organizing centers were assayed by injection into Xenopus eggs either in a metaphase or an interphase state. Injection of partially purified centrosomes into interphase eggs induced the formation of extensive asters. Although centrosomes injected into unactivated eggs (metaphase) did not form asters, inhibition of centrosomes is not irreversible in metaphase cytoplasm: subsequent activation caused aster formation. When cytoskeletons containing nuclei and centrosomes were injected into the metaphase cytoplasm, they produced spindle-like structures with clearly defined poles. Electron microscopy revealed centrioles with nucleated microtubules. However, injection of nuclei prepared from karyoplasts that were devoid of centrosomes produced anastral microtubule arrays around condensing chromatin. Co-injection of karyoplast nuclei with centrosomes reconstituted the formation of spindle-like structures with well-defined poles. We conclude from these experiments that in mitosis, the centrosome acts as a microtubule-organizing center only in the proximity of the nucleus or chromatin, whereas in interphase it functions independently. The general implications of these results for the interconversion of metaphase and interphase microtubule arrays in all cells are discussed.