Genetic relationships in a germplasm collection of Camellia japonica and Camellia oleifera using SSR analysis.

Camellia japonica produces different color and bigger flowers, widely being used for gardening green in southern China. However, cultivars were introduced from different regions, but their origin and pedigree information is either not available poorly documented, causing problems in authentication. Many low-yield trees in Camellia oleifera forests have been used as stocks for grafting C. japonica. However, the survival rate of grafts between these two species is related to genetic relationship between stock of C. oleifera and scion of C. japonica. We used simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to genotype 41 C. japonica cultivars from different regions, as well as nine genotypes of C. oleifera in China. Twenty-one SSR markers generated 438 alleles, with an average of 20.85 alleles per locus. All alleles were used to generate Dice coefficients between two genotypes of all genotypes of these two species. Cluster analysis based on SSR data clustered genotypes showed clustering of genotypes into groups that agreed well with their taxonomic classification and geographic origin. Cultivar 'Damaonao' was a large tree with flowers of composite color, and showed the most genetic distance from other C. japonica cultivars and C. oleifera genotypes in the cluster analysis. The cultivars of C. japonica are distinct from genotypes of C. oleifera. The results for cultivars of C. japonica also revealed the presence of different cultivars with the same name, and identical cultivars but with a different name. SSR profiles can improve C. japonica germplasm management, and provide potential determine correlations between genetic relationship and graft compatibility among scions of C. japonica and genotypes of C. oleifera.

Characterization and quantitation of NF-kappaB nuclear translocation induced by interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Development and use of a high capacity fluorescence cytometric system.

A new quantitative cytometric technique, termed the ArrayScanTM, is described and used to measure NF-kappaB nuclear translocation induced by interleukin (IL)-1 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha). The amount of p65 staining is measured in both the nuclei defined by Hoechst 33342 labeling and in the surrounding cytoplasmic area within a preselected number of cells/well in 96-well plates. Using this technique in synchronously activated human chondrocytes or HeLa cells, NF-kappaB was found to move to the nucleus with a half-time of 7-8 min for HeLa and 12-13 min for chondrocytes, a rate in each case about 4-5 min slower than that of Ikappa Balpha degradation. IL-1 receptor antagonist and anti-TypeI IL-1 receptor antiserum on the one hand and anti-TNFalpha and monoclonal anti-TNF receptor 1 antibodies on the other hand could be shown to respectively inhibit IL-1 and TNFalpha stimulation in both cell types. In contrast, a polyclonal anti-TNF receptor 1 antiserum exhibited both a 50% agonism and a 50% antagonism to a TNFalpha stimulation in a dose-dependent fashion, indicating that subtle functional responses to complex agonist and antagonist stimuli could be measured. The effects of different proteasome inhibitors to prevent Ikappa Balpha degradation and subsequent NF-kappaB translocation could also be discriminated; Leu-Leu-Leu aldehyde was only a partial inhibitor with an IC50 of 2 microM, while clastolactacystin beta-lactone was a complete inhibitor with an IC50 of 10 microM. The nonselective kinase inhibitor K252a completely inhibited both IL-1 and TNFalpha stimulation in both cell types with an IC50 of 0.4 microM. This concentration, determined after a 20-min stimulation, was shown to be comparable with that obtained for inhibition of IL-6 production induced by a 100-fold lower IL-1 and TNFalpha concentration measured after 17 h of stimulation. These results suggest that the ArrayScanTM technology provides a rapid, sensitive, quantitative technique for measuring early events in the signal transduction of NF-kappaB.

Human IL-1 beta processing and secretion in recombinant baculovirus-infected Sf9 cells is blocked by the cowpox virus serpin crmA.

Biologically active, mature IL-1 beta (mIL-1 beta) is released from activated monocytes after proteolytic processing from an inactive precursor (pIL-1 beta). IL-1 beta converting enzyme (ICE), the first member of a newly discovered family of cysteine proteinases, is required for this processing event. The cleaved cytokine is released from monocytes by an unknown mechanism which does not employ a standard hydrophobic signal sequence. As in mammalian fibroblasts, insect Sf9 cells do not normally process or secrete human IL-1 beta. The expression of active ICE enables Sf9 cells to process 31-kDa pIL-1 beta correctly at Asp27 and Asp116, and to export 17.5-kDa mIL-1 beta. The recombinant heterodimeric human enzyme purified from Sf9 cells possesses a sp. act. of 2.9 +/- 0.5 x 10(6) U/mg and is indistinguishable from native ICE with regard to its subunit composition and catalytic properties. In this system, co-expression of the cowpox virus crmA gene, an extremely potent serpin inhibitor of ICE (Ki < 7 pM), inhibits ICE activation completely and blocks pIL-1 beta processing and mIL-1 beta secretion by approximately 95%. The results indicate that ICE, in addition to its processing function, facilitates the transport of IL-1 beta across the plasma membrane.

Purification and characterization of active human interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme from THP.1 monocytic cells.

Interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme (ICE) was purified from dialyzed cytoplasmic extracts of THP.1 human monocytic cells by a combination of DEAE-5PW and SP-5PW ion exchange and C4 reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. Sequence information from tryptic and Asp.N peptides on the isolated 20-kDa (p20) and a 10-kDa (p10) proteins enabled the subsequent cloning of ICE (Thornberry, N. A., Bull, H. G., Calaycay, J. R., Chapman, K. T., Howard, A. D., Kostura, M. J., Miller, D. K., Molineaux, S. M., Weidner, J. R., Aunins, J., Elliston, K. O., Ayala, J. M., Casano, F. J., Chin, J., Ding, G. J.-F., Egger, L. A., Gaffney, E. P., Limjuco, G., Palyha, O. C., Raju, S. M., Rolando, A. M., Salley, J. P., Yamin, T.-T., Lee, T. D., Shively, J. E., MacCross, M., Mumford, R. A., Schmidt, J. A., and Tocci, M. J. (1992) Nature 356, 768-774) and localized the active site Cys. Immunoblots with ICE specific antibodies and NH2-terminal sequencing indicated that ICE active column fractions contained in addition to p20 and p10 an alternatively processed form of the p20 protein (p22) containing an extra 16 amino acids NH2-terminal to the p20. Furthermore, immunoblot analysis of the ion exchange column effluent showed that p20 and p22 were found together in three separate fractions distinguished by differences in p10: an intact p10 with complete ICE activity, a COOH-terminally truncated form of p10 with decreased ICE activity, and an absence of p10 with no ICE activity. These results indicate that the p10 protein is essential for ICE activity and that the ICE holoenzyme contains an intact p10 subunit paired with a p20 or p22 catalytic subunit.

Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta) processing in murine macrophages requires a structurally conserved homologue of human IL-1 beta converting enzyme.

Murine interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta) convertase (mICE) was identified in cytosolic extracts of peritoneal exudate cells (PECs) and macrophage cell lines. mICE cleaves both the human and mouse IL-1 beta precursors (pIL-1 beta) at sites 1 and 2 but fails to cleave a human pIL-1 beta (Asp116 to Ala) mutant at site 2, indicating that Asp is required to the left of the scissile bond. Ac-Tyr-Val-Ala-Asp-amino-4-methyl coumarin, patterned after site 2 of human pIL-1 beta, is a fluorogenic substrate for mICE, while the tetrapeptide aldehyde Ac-Tyr-Val-Ala-Asp-CHO is a potent inhibitor (Ki = 3 nM) that prevents generation and release of mature IL-1 beta by PECs (IC50 = 7 microM). Cloning of a full-length 1.4-kb cDNA shows that mICE is encoded as a 402-aa proenzyme (p45) that can be divided into a prodomain (Met1-Asp122), followed by a p20 subunit (Gly123-Asp296), a connecting peptide (Ser297-Asp314), and a p10 subunit (Gly315-His402). At the amino acid level, p45, p20, and p10 are 62%, 60%, and 81% identical with human IL-1 beta convertase (hICE). The active site Cys284 lies within a completely conserved stretch of 18 residues; however, Ser289 in hICE, which aligns with the catalytic region of serine and viral cysteinyl proteases, is absent from mICE. Expression in Escherichia coli of a truncated cDNA encoding Asn119-His402 generated active enzyme, which was autocatalytically processed at three internal Asp-Xaa bonds to generate a p20 subunit (Asn119-Asp296) complexed with either p11 (Ala309-His402) or p10. Recombinant mICE cleaves murine pIL-1 beta accurately at the Asp117-Val118 bond. The striking similarities of the human and murine enzymes will make it possible to assess the therapeutic potential of hICE inhibitors in murine models of disease.

IL-1-converting enzyme requires aspartic acid residues for processing of the IL-1 beta precursor at two distinct sites and does not cleave 31-kDa IL-1 alpha.

IL-1 converting enzyme (ICE) specifically cleaves the human IL-1 beta precursor at two sequence-related sites: Asp27-Gly28 (site 1) and Asp116-Ala117 (site 2). Cleavage at Asp116-Ala117 results in the generation of mature, biologically active IL-1 beta. ICE is unusual in that preferred cleavage at Asp-X bonds (where X is a small hydrophobic residue), has not been described for any other eukaryotic protease. To further examine the substrate specificity of ICE, proteins that contain Asp-X linkages including transferrin, actin, complement factor 9, the murine IL-1 beta precursor, and human and murine IL-1 alpha precursors, were assayed for cleavage by 500-fold purified ICE. The human and murine IL-1 beta precursors were the only proteins cleaved by ICE, demonstrating that ICE is an IL-1 beta convertase. Analysis of human IL-1 beta precursor mutants containing amino acid substitutions or deletions within each processing site demonstrated that omission or replacement of Asp at site 1 or site 2 prevented cleavage by ICE. To quantitatively assess the substrate requirements of ICE, a peptide-based cleavage assay was established using a 14-mer spanning site 2. Cleavage between Asp [P1] and Ala [P1']2 was demonstrated. Replacement of Asp with Ala, Glu, or Asn resulted in a greater than 100-fold reduction in cleavage activity. The rank order in position P1' was Gly greater than Ala much greater than Leu greater than Lys greater than Glu. Substitutions at P2'-P4' and P6' had relatively little effect on cleavage activity. These results show that ICE is a highly specific IL-1 beta convertase with absolute requirements for Asp in P1 and a small hydrophobic amino acid in P1'.

Sequence analysis and regulation of rat liver glutathione S-transferase mRNAs.

We have utilized polysomal immunoadsorption techniques to purify the rat liver glutathione S-transferase mRNAs. Using the purified mRNAs as template, cDNA clones complementary to the Ya, Yb1, and Yc mRNAs have been constructed. The cDNA clones have been utilized in RNA blot hybridization and nuclear run-off assays to demonstrate that the Ya and Yb mRNAs are elevated 8 and 5-fold, respectively by phenobarbital; whereas the Yc mRNA is elevated only 2.0-fold. The elevation in glutathione S-transferase mRNAs is due in part to transcriptional activation of the corresponding genes. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the three glutathione S-transferase clones suggest that the Ya and Yc genes represent one rat liver glutathione S-transferase gene family whereas the Yb genes represent a second distinct glutathione S-transferase gene family. The construction of these cDNA clones will allow identification and characterization of the glutathione S-transferase structural genes as well as aid in the identification of regulatory elements that are responsible for transcriptional activation of the genes by xenobiotics.

Rat liver glutathione S-transferases. DNA sequence analysis of a Yb2 cDNA clone and regulation of the Yb1 and Yb2 mRNAs by phenobarbital.

We have constructed a cDNA clone, pGTA/C48, which is complementary to the rat liver glutathione S-transferase Yb2 mRNA. Recombinant clone pGTA/C48 contains a cDNA insert of 845 base pairs which overlaps nucleotides 108-952 of the Yb1 cDNA clone, pGTA/C44, described previously by our laboratory (Ding, G. J.-F., Lu, A. Y. H., and Pickett, C. B. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 13268-13271). Over the protein coding region of the Yb1 and Yb2 cDNA clones there is an 84% nucleotide sequence homology, whereas the 3' untranslated regions are only 32% homologous. The complete amino acid sequence of the Yb2 subunit has been determined from a combination of DNA sequence analysis of pGTA/C48 and conventional protein sequence analysis of the glutathione S-transferase Yb1 Yb2 heterodimer. The Yb2 subunit is comprised of 218 amino acids with a molecular weight of 25,705 and has an amino acid sequence which is 79% homologous to the sequence of the Yb1 subunit. We have utilized the divergent 3' untranslated regions of three rat liver glutathione S-transferase cDNA clones as specific probes to determine the effect of phenobarbital on the level of Yb1, Yb2, and Yc mRNAs. Our results clearly show that the Yb1 and Yb2 mRNAs are elevated approximately 5-6-fold by phenobarbital administration; whereas the Yc mRNA is only modestly elevated by this xenobiotic. Finally, our data suggest that the Yb2 subunit is encoded by a gene(s) which is distinct from the Yb1 gene(s) and provides direct evidence for the existence of multiple glutathione S-transferase Yb genes in the rat.

Rat liver glutathione S-transferases. Nucleotide sequence analysis of a Yb1 cDNA clone and prediction of the complete amino acid sequence of the Yb1 subunit.

We have constructed a nearly full length cDNA clone, pGTA/C44, complementary to the rat liver glutathione S-transferase Yb1 mRNA. The nucleotide sequence of pGTA/C44 has been determined, and the complete amino acid sequence of the Yb1 subunit has been deduced. The cDNA clone contains an open reading frame of 654 nucleotides encoding a polypeptide comprising 218 amino acids with Mr = 25,919. The NH2-terminal sequence deduced from DNA sequence analysis of pGTA/C44 is in agreement with the first 19 amino acids determined for purified glutathione S-transferase A, a Yb1 homodimer, by Frey et al. (Frey, A. B., Friedberg, T., Oesch, F., and Kreibich, G. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 11321-11325). The DNA sequence of pGTA/C44 shares significant sequence homology with a cDNA clone, pGT55, which is complementary to a mouse liver glutathione S-transferase (Pearson, W. R., Windle, J. J., Morrow, J. F., Benson, A. M., and Talalay, P. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 2052-2062). We have also determined 37 nucleotides of the 5'-untranslated region and 348 nucleotides of the 3'-untranslated region of the Yb1 mRNA. The Yb1 mRNA and subunit do not share any sequence homology with the rat liver glutathione S-transferase Ya or Yc mRNAs or their corresponding subunits. These data provide the first direct evidence that the Yb1 subunit is derived from a gene or gene family which is distinct from the Ya-Yc gene family.

Rat liver glutathione S-transferases. Complete nucleotide sequence of a glutathione S-transferase mRNA and the regulation of the Ya, Yb, and Yc mRNAs by 3-methylcholanthrene and phenobarbital.

With the use of cDNA probes reverse transcribed from purified glutathione S-transferase mRNA templates, four cDNA clones complementary to transferase mRNAs have been identified and characterized. Two clones, pGTB38 and pGTB34, have cDNA inserts of approximately 950 and 900 base pairs, respectively, and hybridize to a mRNA(s) whose size is approximately 980 nucleotides. In hybrid-select translation experiments, pGTB38 and pGTB34 select mRNAs specific for the Ya and Yc subunits of rat liver glutathione S-transferases. Clone pGTB33, which harbors a truncated cDNA insert, hybrid-selects only the Ya mRNA. All of the clones, pGTB38, pGTB34, and pGTB33, hybrid-select another mRNA which is specific for a polypeptide with an electrophoretic mobility slightly greater than the Ya subunit. The entire nucleotide sequence of the full length clone, pGTB38, has been determined and the complete amino acid sequence of the corresponding polypeptide has been deduced. The mRNA codes for a protein comprising 222 amino acids with Mr = 25,547. We have also identified a cDNA clone complementary to a Yb mRNA of the rat liver glutathione S-transferases. This clone, pGTA/C36, hybrid-selects only Yb mRNA(s) and hybridizes to a mRNA(s) whose size is approximately 1200 nucleotides. Although the Ya, Yb, and Yc mRNAs are elevated coordinately by phenobarbital and 3-methylcholanthrene, the Ya-Yc mRNAs are induced to a much greater extent compared to the Yb mRNA(s). These data suggest that the mRNAs for each transferase isozyme are regulated independently.