Prosomes and heat shock complexes in Drosophila melanogaster cells

Regulation of Proteolytic Activity in the Hyperthermophile Pyrococcus furiosus

Pyrococcus furiosus was shown to grow on casein or peptides as the sole carbon, energy, and nitrogen sources, while maltose could be used as a carbon and energy source only if peptides were present in the medium. A mixture of all 20 single amino acids could not replace the peptide requirement. Specific intracellular proteolytic activity was induced under low casein or tryptone levels and was decreased by the addition of maltose to both peptide-limiting and peptide-rich media in batch and continuous cultures. In a peptide-limited chemostat, activity towards azocasein and MeO-Suc-Arg-Pro-Tyr-p-nitroanilide reached a maximum at a dilution rate of 0.28 h, while activity toward l-lysine-p-nitroanilide reached a maximum at 0.50 h. Under peptide-limiting conditions, levels of the 66-kDa protease (S66) were enhanced relative to those of other cell proteins. Preliminary evidence suggests that this protease is immunologically related to the eukaryotic multicatalytic proteinase complex (proteosome).

Characterization and cloning of p11, a transrepressor of Drosophila melanogaster retrotransposon 1731

The NssBF element has been characterized as a 26 nt sequence in the long terminal repeat of Drosophila melanogaster retrotransposon 1731. This sequence has been shown to be implicated in transcriptional repression of the 1731 promoter. We here report the cloning of a cDNA encoding a nuclear DNA binding protein named p11 that binds specifically to the NssBF element. P11 is a 98 amino acid polypeptide. It exhibits similarities with the mouse p9 single-stranded DNA binding protein, raising the possibility of a very general family of protein factors. Co-transfection experiments in human U937 cells showed repression of the 1731 promoter by overexpression of p11.

The prosomal RNA-binding protein p27K is a member of the alpha-type human prosomal gene family

Monoclonal antibodies demonstrated high conservation during evolution of a prosomal protein of M(r) 27,000 and differentiation--specific expression of the epitope. More than 90% of the reacting antigen was found as a p27K protein in the free messenger ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) fraction but another protein of M(r) 38,000, which shared protease fingerprint patterns with the p27K polypeptide, was also labelled in the nuclear and polyribosomal fractions. Sequencing of cDNA recombinant clones encoding the p27/38K protein and comparison with another prosomal protein, p30-33K, demonstrated the existence of a common characteristic sequence pattern containing three highly conserved segments. The genes Hs PROS-27 and Hs PROS-30 were mapped to chromosomes 14 (14q13) and 11 (11p15.1), respectively. The structure of the p27K protein shows multiple potential phosphorylation sites, an NTP-binding fold and an RNA-binding consensus sequence. The Hs PROS-27/beta-galactosidase fusion protein binds a single RNA of about 120 nucleotides from total HeLa cell RNA. Sequence comparisons show that the Hs PROS-27 and Hs PROS-30 genes belong to the gene family that encodes the prosome--MCP (multicatalytic proteinase)--proteasome proteins. Comparison with other members of the family from various species allowed us to show that the tripartite consensus sequence characteristic of the alpha-type sub-family is conserved from archeobacteria to man. The members of this gene family are characterised by very high evolutionary conservation of amino acid sequences of homologous genes and 20%-35% sequence similarity, between different family member within the same species and are clearly distinct from the beta-type family.

Alpha B-crystallin is a small heat shock protein

Sequence similarity between alpha B-crystallin and small heat shock proteins (HSPs) has prompted us to investigate whether alpha B-crystallin expression is induced by heat shock. Indeed, accumulation of alpha B-crystallin was detected immunologically in NIH 3T3 cells after incubation at elevated temperatures and after addition of Cd2+ or sodium arsenite to these cells. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis revealed identity between alpha B-crystallin from eye lenses and from heat-treated fibroblasts. The promoter of the alpha B-crystallin gene was fused to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene and was shown to confer heat inducibility on this reporter gene in transient transfection assays. A perfect heat shock element within the promoter region is likely to mediate this response. Small HSPs and alpha B-crystallin were shown to share the following two physical properties: (i) they form supramolecular structures with sedimentation values around 17 S and (ii) they are associated with the nucleus at high temperatures and are localized in the cytoplasm under normal conditions. We conclude that alpha B-crystallin has to be considered a member of the class of small HSPs.

Prosomes, subcomplexes of untranslated mRNP

PROSOMES are a novel class of small RNP particles of uniform morphology, but of variable RNA (pRNA) and protein composition (about 650,000 MW; 12 nm diameter in the EM). They were discovered as subcomplexes of free mRNP, tightly attached to inactive mRNA in the cytoplasm. The pRNAs hybridize stably to mRNA. Prosomes associate in vitro to mRNA and inhibit cell free protein synthesis inducing an mRNA structure unable to interact with ribosomes. Many types of prosomes were observed. The individual particle is made up by a variable combination of about 20 characteristic proteins and one or several pRNa. Some prosomal proteins are glycosylated, phosphorylated and, possibly, ADP-ribosylated and are highly conserved in evolution whilst others vary with the species and the mRNA population they are associated to. A protease activity was found associated to prosomes. The function(s) of the prosomes is(are) still unknown. The differential inhibition of in vitro protein synthesis points to a capacity to recognize mRNA and to keep it in an inactive state. The observation with the aid of monoclonal antibodies (pMABs) that prosomes and thus mRNP are attached to the intermediate filaments (IF) raises the question if one of the functions of the IF might be in the topological distribution of mRNA within the cell. Similar to the cytokeratin fibers, the prosome networks bridge neighboring cells at specific positions. The nucleus also contains some prosomal antigens, located on chromosomes and on the nuclear matrix. Their presence and distribution in the cell compartments varies with the cell type and the prosomal antigen probed. Oocytes contain large amounts of prosomes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)