ABSTRACT
The adipose hormone leptin and its receptor are important for regulation of food intake and energy metabolism. Leptin also is involved in the growth of different tissues. In this study, we show the expression of leptin in primary cultures of normal human osteoblasts (hOBs) as evidenced by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunocytochemistry. Release of leptin into the medium also was found. Leptin was not detected in commercially available hOBs (NHOst) or in three different human monoclonal osteosarcoma cell lines. Leptin expression was observed in OBs in the mineralization and/or the osteocyte transition period but not during the matrix maturation period. Furthermore, hOBs and osteosarcoma cell lines expressed the long signal-transducing form of the leptin receptor (OB-Rb) as shown by RT-PCR. We observed no significant changes in leptin or OB-Rb genes in hOBs after incubation with recombinant leptin, indicating no autoregulation of the leptin expression. Incubation of both hOBs entering the mineralization phase and osteosarcoma cell lines with recombinant leptin markedly increased the number of mineralized nodules as shown by alizarin S staining. These findings indicate that leptin may be of importance for osteoblastic cell growth and bone mineralization.
Subject(s)
Calcification, Physiologic/physiology , Leptin/metabolism , Osteoblasts/physiology , Receptors, Cell Surface , 3T3 Cells , Animals , Calcification, Physiologic/drug effects , Carrier Proteins/genetics , Cells, Cultured , Femur/cytology , Gene Expression , Humans , Ilium/cytology , Leptin/genetics , Leptin/pharmacology , Leptin/physiology , Mice , Osteoblasts/cytology , Osteoblasts/metabolism , Receptors, Leptin , Recombinant Proteins/pharmacology , Tumor Cells, CulturedABSTRACT
A cDNA encoding a novel member of the helicase family, MDDX28, has been cloned from a human testis library. This apparently intronless gene was transcribed in all tissues studied. MDDX28 encodes a protein of 540 amino acids, with approximately 30% homology to other helicases over the core region, containing all the conserved DEAD-box helicase motifs. No homologue is known. MDDX28 has RNA and Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity. Subcellular localization studies of MDDX28 using oligoclonal antibodies raised against the protein as well as its enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) demonstrated that the protein is localized in the mitochondria and the nucleus. To our knowledge, MDDX28 is the first member of the RNA helicase described with this dual location. The nuclear localization of MDDX28 depended on active RNA polymerase II transcription, suggesting that the protein could be transported to and from the nucleus. This was confirmed further in an interspecies heterokaryon assay, in which MDDX28 was seen to translocate to the nucleus and mitochondria. The mitochondrial uptake of the MDDX28-EGFP-N1 fusion protein was inhibited by carbonyl cyanide p-(trichloromethoxy)phenylhydrazone. Our results indicate that MDDX28 can be transported between the mitochondria and the nucleus.
Subject(s)
Cell Nucleus/enzymology , Mitochondria/enzymology , RNA Helicases/genetics , Adenosine Triphosphatases/metabolism , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Base Sequence , Blotting, Northern , COS Cells , Cloning, Molecular , DEAD-box RNA Helicases , DNA , Humans , Molecular Sequence Data , RNA Helicases/chemistry , RNA Helicases/metabolism , Sequence Homology, Amino AcidABSTRACT
The complete DNA sequence of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome IV has been determined. Apart from chromosome XII, which contains the 1-2 Mb rDNA cluster, chromosome IV is the longest S. cerevisiae chromosome. It was split into three parts, which were sequenced by a consortium from the European Community, the Sanger Centre, and groups from St Louis and Stanford in the United States. The sequence of 1,531,974 base pairs contains 796 predicted or known genes, 318 (39.9%) of which have been previously identified. Of the 478 new genes, 225 (28.3%) are homologous to previously identified genes and 253 (32%) have unknown functions or correspond to spurious open reading frames (ORFs). On average there is one gene approximately every two kilobases. Superimposed on alternating regional variations in G+C composition, there is a large central domain with a lower G+C content that contains all the yeast transposon (Ty) elements and most of the tRNA genes. Chromosome IV shares with chromosomes II, V, XII, XIII and XV some long clustered duplications which partly explain its origin.
Subject(s)
Chromosomes, Fungal , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genetics , Base Sequence , DNA, Fungal , Molecular Sequence DataABSTRACT
The complete DNA sequence of cosmid clone 31A5 containing a 35 452 bp segment from the right [corrected] arm of chromosome IV from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was determined from an ordered set of subclones in combination with primer walking on the cosmid. The sequence contains 23 open reading frames (ORFs) of more than 100 amino acid residues and the tRNA-Va12a gene. Five ORFs corresponded to the known yeast genes SNQ2, SES1, GCV1, RPL2B and RPS18A. The DNA sequence for RPS18A is interrupted by an intron. One ORF corresponded to a part of the yeast gene HEX2 at the end of the cosmid insert. Four ORFs encoded putative proteins which showed strong homologies to other previously known proteins, three of yeast origin and one of non-yeast origin. Two ORFs were classified as having borderline homologies: one had similarity to two protein families and another to two protein products of unknown function from other species. The remaining 11 ORFs bore no significant similarity to any published protein.
