Establishment of immortalized alveolar type II epithelial cell lines from adult rats.

We developed methodology to isolate and culture rat alveolar Type II cells under conditions that preserved their proliferative capacity, and applied lipofection to introduce an immortalizing gene into the cells. Briefly, the alveolar Type II cells were isolated from male F344 rats using airway perfusion with a pronase solution followed by incubation for 30 min at 37 degrees C. Cells obtained by pronase digestion were predominantly epithelial in morphology and were positive for Papanicolaou and alkaline phosphatase staining. These cells could be maintained on an extracellular matrix of fibronectin and Type IV collagen in a low serum, insulin-supplemented Ham's F12 growth medium for four to five passages. Rat alveolar epithelial cells obtained by this method were transformed with the SV40-T antigen gene and two immortalized cell lines (RLE-6T and RLE-6TN) were obtained. The RLE-6T line exhibits positive nuclear immunostaining for the SV40-T antigen and the RLE-6TN line does not. PCR analysis of genomic DNA from the RLE-6T and RLE-6TN cells demonstrated the T-antigen gene was present only in the RLE-6T line indicating the RLE-6TN line is likely derived from a spontaneous transformant. After more than 50 population doublings, the RLE-6T cells stained positive for cytokeratin, possessed alkaline phosphatase activity, and contained lipid-containing inclusion bodies (phosphine 3R staining); all characteristics of alveolar Type II cells. The RLE-6TN cells exhibited similar characteristics except they did not express alkaline phosphatase activity. Early passage RLE-6T and 6TN cells showed a near diploid chromosome number.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Character and origin of vacuoles induced in mammalian cells by the cytotoxin of Helicobacter pylori.

Cytotoxic activity of culture supernates of Helicobacter pylori is manifested by vacuolation of mammalian cells in vitro. The formation and maturation of toxin-induced vacuoles in HeLa cells has been studied to examine the possibility that they are autophagosomal in nature. Observation by light microscopy revealed that vacuoles originate in a perinuclear position, increasing in number and size until cell degeneration and lysis occur after 48 h. Ultrastructural study of mature vacuoles indicated the presence of a bounding membrane with contents consisting of degenerate cytoplasmic components and acid phosphatase activity. Confocal fluorescence imaging demonstrated acridine orange accumulation in the vacuoles of toxin-treated cells, indicating an acidic intravacuolar pH. These features are characteristic of autophagosomes. In addition, the size of vacuoles in living, acridine orange-stained cells tended to be inversely proportional to fluorescence intensity. Fluid phase endocytic markers were observed only rarely within nascent vacuoles. Over the succeeding 24 h, labelling of most vacuoles with these dyes was observed. This, along with the observation of intravacuolar acid phosphatase activity, provides evidence that vacuoles communicate at some point during their development with endocytically derived compartments. These observations provide direct evidence for an autophagic origin of these structures.

Improved method for the isolation and cultivation of human scalp dermal papilla cells.

We present an improved method for the isolation and cultivation of human scalp anagen hair follicle dermal papilla cells. Following treatment of the isolated dermal papilla with collagenase, incubation in Chang's medium mediates accelerated growth of the papilla cells when compared with other media such as DMEM, M199, and EMEM. Upon reaching confluency, the cells cultured in this fashion exhibit a multilayer-forming property that is dependent on normal proteoglycan synthesis. The papilla cells maintain this morphologic behavior for as long as 7 weeks in culture, or after being subcultured six times. During this time, the cells continue to synthesize extracellular matrix components associated with the human anagen follicle in situ. These include chondroitin sulfate, laminin, and type IV collagen. Type III collagen and keratan sulfate are poorly expressed by the papilla both in situ and in vitro. Heparan sulfate proteoglycan, a matrix component of the papilla in situ, is poorly expressed in vitro. Earlier reports suggested that the expression of extracellular matrix components is not maintained in culture. We show that the expression of these molecules is not dependent on the secondary culture medium, but continues in DMEM and M199 after primary culture in Chang's medium. Our results suggest that initial exposure of the dermal papilla to Chang's medium either selectively permits the outgrowth of papilla cells having extracellular matrix components similar to those found in situ, or stabilizes the expression of extracellular matrix components among the entire cultured cell population.

A temperature-jump device for time-resolved cryo-transmission electron microscopy.

We describe a temperature-jump device that permits time-resolved studies of thin cryo-transmission electron microscopy specimens. The specimen is rapidly heated to induce a change in microstructure just prior to cryo-fixation. The apparatus consists of a xenon arc lamp equipped with a shutter controlled by timing circuitry, used in conjunction with an environmental specimen preparation chamber. The specimen is heated by exposure to focused light from the lamp, and then plunged into cryogen. Using a thermocouple constructed from an electron microscope grid, we show that temperature jumps of 30-60 K are achieved with exposure times of 150-450 milliseconds. Micrographs of dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) vesicles and n-docosane films, subjected to these exposures, show that the specimens are still at least 20-30 K above their initial temperature when they contact the cryogen. This method could be applied to a variety of biological and chemical systems which undergo structural changes activated by a rise in temperature.

Stable clathrin: uncoating protein (hsc70) complexes in intact neurons and their axonal transport.

We have studied the organization of clathrin during its transport in axons. Using immunoprecipitation techniques we have confirmed earlier findings that clathrin is transported as part of slow component b, but we also detect small amounts of clathrin in fast component. As fast component is known to correspond to the transport of membraneous material, including coated vesicle membrane components, our findings suggest that some clathrin in axons undergoes transport in the form of coated membranes and that a portion of the clathrin delivered to axons and axon terminals arrives by way of fast component. The organizational form of clathrin in slow component b (SCb) was examined in more detail, as it is thought to represent a non-membrane-associated species, is relatively long-lived, and at any instant represents the major transport species in axons. We used nondenaturing immunoprecipitation methods with stringent wash procedures to identify other SCb proteins that interact with clathrin. The immunoprecipitates contained major labeled bands that corresponded to clathrin heavy and light chains, along with a prominent 70-kDa band and several minor bands that ranged in apparent Mr from 70,000 to 150,000; the 70-kDa band was shown to be the ATP-dependent uncoating protein by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. A very similar profile of polypeptides was also immunoprecipitated from extracts of cultured neurons. The results from a variety of control immunoprecipitations, including the use of antisera preadsorbed with purified clathrin trimers or clathrin light chains, indicate that coprecipitation of clathrin and uncoating protein with the other 70,000-150,000-Da polypeptides from SCb reflects specific interactions. Including exogenous uncoating protein in the lysis buffer had no detectable effect on the levels of endogenous uncoating protein recovered in the immunoprecipitates, indicating that complexes of clathrin, uncoating protein, and the other coimmunoprecipitating SCb protein existed in the intact neurons prior to lysis. Finally, a specific and functional association is further supported by the release of uncoating protein, but not the other 70,000-150,000-Da polypeptides, from the immunoprecipitated complexes on the addition of ATP. Collectively, these observations provide the first direct evidence of interaction between clathrin and uncoating protein in intact cells, lend strong support to the concept that uncoating protein plays an intimate role in clathrin dynamics within cells, and reveal a family of 70,000-150,000-Da polypeptides that form a stable nonmembranous association with clathrin in intact cells.

Time-resolved cryotransmission electron microscopy.

We describe a new technique, time-resolved cryotransmission electron microscopy (TRC-TEM), that can be used to study changes in microstructure occurring during dynamic processes such as phase transitions and chemical reactions. The sample is prepared on an electron microscope grid maintained at a fixed temperature in a controlled atmosphere. The dynamic process is induced on the grid by a change in pH, salt, or reactant concentration by rapid mixing with appropriate solutions. Alternatively, induction is by rapid change of specimen temperature, or by controlled evaporation of a volatile component. We call such procedures on-the-grid processing. The dynamic process is permitted to run for a defined time and then the thin-film specimen is thermally fixed by plunging into liquid ethane at its freezing point, producing a cryotransmission electron microscopy specimen. By repeating this procedure with varying delays between induction and sample fixation, we can observe transient microstructures. We demonstrate the use of TRC-TEM to study the intermediate structures that form during the transitions between L alpha, III, and HII liquid crystalline phases in phospholipid systems. We also identify several other possible applications of the technique.

Changes in visceral yolk sac ultrastructure after exposure of rat embryos to selected teratogens in vitro.

It has been determined that a number of teratogens alter the osmotic environment around the rat embryo, an effect that is associated with abnormal fluid accumulation (and ultimately abnormality) in the embryo. At least one of these teratogens, trypan blue, changes lysosomal structure in the visceral yolk sac (VYS), an extra-embryonic membrane that envelops the extra-embryonic fluid compartment. The osmotic and ultrastructural effects are comparable in the in vivo and in vitro rat embryo. In the present study, the effects of other osmotic teratogens on VYS ultrastructure were investigated in rat whole embryo culture. Leupeptin (10 mug/ml) and E-64 (10 mug/ml) both caused a marked increase in the size of VYS lysosomes. Both chemicals inhibit cysteine proteinases, which are abundant in lysosomes. Suramin (750 mug/ml), an inhibitor of a number of lysosomal hydrolases, caused vacuolization of large areas of VYS cells. Ethylenethiourea (120 mug/ml) produced no marked ultrastructural changes, although the endocytotic apparatus of VYS cells appeared to have increased electron density, an effect that was also observed after treatment with the other teratogens. These results indicate that teratogens which alter embryonic osmotic balance also affect structures involved in endocytosis or lysosomal degradation of material by VYS cells.

Intermediates in membrane fusion and bilayer/nonbilayer phase transitions imaged by time-resolved cryo-transmission electron microscopy.

Bilayer-to-nonbilayer phase transitions in phospholipids occur by means of poorly characterized intermediates. Many have proposed that membrane fusion can also occur by formation of these intermediates. Structures for such intermediates were proposed in a recent theory of these transition mechanisms. Using time-resolved cryo-transmission electron Microscopy (TRC-TEM), we have directly visualized the evolution of inverted phase micro-structure in liposomal aggregates. We have identified one of the proposed intermediates, termed an interlamellar attachment (ILA), which has the structure and dimensions predicted by the theory. We show that ILAs are likely to be the structure corresponding to "lipidic particles" observed by freeze-fracture electron microscopy. ILAs appear to assemble the inverted cubic (III) phase by formation of an ILA lattice, as previously proposed. ILAs are also observed to mediate membrane fusion in the same systems, on the same time scale, and under nearly the same conditions in which membrane fusion was observed by fluorescence methods in earlier studies. These earlier studies indicated a linkage between a membrane fusion mechanism and III phase formation. Our micrographs suggest that the same intermediate structure mediates both of those processes.

The clathrin coat assembly polypeptide complex. Autophosphorylation and assembly activities.

A 50-kDa polypeptide that is rapidly phosphorylated on addition of [gamma-32P]ATP to isolated clathrin-coated vesicles is shown here to be identical to the 50-kDa component (AP50) of the clathrin assembly protein (AP), a complex that promotes the assembly of clathrin coat structures under physiological conditions of pH and ionic strength. Phosphorylation of the AP50 occurred readily at 0 degrees C, almost exclusively on a threonyl residue(s). This reaction is attributable to autophosphorylation, since the AP50 was able to covalently incorporate 32P from [gamma-32P]ATP after separation by either one- or two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis. Kinetic studies in solution were consistent with an intramolecular phosphorylation event; in addition, a concentration-dependent increase in AP50 phosphorylation was observed that may reflect intermolecular AP-AP activation of autophosphorylation. The phosphorylated AP50 was resistant to several inorganic phosphatases tested but was a substrate for protein phosphatases 1 and 2A, suggesting that a physiological phosphorylation-dephosphorylation cycle may exist. The phosphorylation state of the AP50 did not affect the ability of the AP to promote in vitro clathrin coat assembly. These and other data suggest that unique structural domains of the assembly protein are responsible for assembly (the 100-kDa components) and autophosphorylation (the AP50) and that the latter may be active as a protein kinase in the intact cell.