Synthesis of pyrimidine derivatives of amino acids using pig liver esterase and pancreas lipase.

The parent methyl ester of the N-1 substituted 5-chloropyrimidinone is hydrolysed by pig liver esterase to the corresponding carboxylic acid. The acid chloride was made with PCl5 in toluene, and coupling with benzyl and methyl esters of selected L-amino acids to the corresponding amides was done in dichloromethane in the presence of triethylamine. The benzyl and methyl ester protecting groups were hydrolysed with pancreas lipase or esterase in a pH-stat to yield the corresponding carboxylic acids.

The phosphate groups of the high mobility group like protein P1 strengthens its affinity for DNA.

PCA soluble proteins isolated from rat liver and proliferating HeLa interphase cells were subjected to chromatography on columns containing immobilized s.s and d.s. DNA. P1 from rat liver was eluted from s.s. and d.s. DNA between 0.20 and 0.45 M NaCl, while dephosphorylated P1 was not retained by s.s. and d.s. DNA columns at 0.25 M, suggesting that phosphate groups enhance the affinity of P1 for DNA. P1 from proliferating HeLa interphase cells exhibit increased affinity for d.s. as well as s.s. DNA when compared to rat liver P1. The higher extent of phosphorylation in proliferating cells supports the finding that phosphate enhances rather than reduces the affinity of P1 for DNA.

On the expression of HMG I protein in quiescent and proliferating human T lymphocytes.

The results demonstrate that the HMG I protein is expressed in human quiescent T lymphocytes and hence is not dependent upon proliferation or neoplastic transformation. Furthermore it has been found that the HMG I/histone H1 ratio increase about two-fold after activation with phytohemagglutinin and was about the same as in a number of proliferating human leukemia lymphoma T-cell lines.

High-mobility-group proteins P1, I and Y as substrates of the M-phase-specific p34cdc2/cyclincdc13 kinase.

All dividing cells entering the M phase of the cell cycle undergo the transient activation of an M-phase-specific histone H1 kinase which was recently shown to be constituted of at least two subunits, p34cdc2 and cyclincdc13. The DNA-binding high-mobility-group (HMG) proteins 1, 2, 14, 17, I, Y and an HMG-like protein, P1, were investigated as potential substrates of H1 kinase. Among these HMG proteins, P1 and HMG I and Y are excellent substrates of the M-phase-specific kinase obtained from both meiotic starfish oocytes and mitotic sea urchin eggs. Anticyclin immunoprecipitates, extracts purified on specific p34cdc2-binding p13suc1-Sepharose and affinity-purified H1 kinase display strong HMG I, Y and P1 phosphorylating activities, demonstrating that the p34cdc2/cyclincdc13 complex is the active kinase phosphorylating these HMG proteins. HMG I and P1 phosphorylation is competitively inhibited by a peptide mimicking the consensus phosphorylation sequence of H1 kinase. HMG I, Y and P1 all possess the consensus sequence for phosphorylation by the p34cdc2/cyclincdc13 kinase (Ser/Thr-Pro-Xaa-Lys/Arg). HMG I is phosphorylated in vivo at M phase on the same sites phosphorylated in vitro by H1 kinase. P1 is phosphorylated by H1 kinase on sites different from the sites of phosphorylation by casein kinase II. The three thermolytic phosphopeptides of P1 phosphorylated in vitro by purified H1 kinase are all present in thermolytic peptide maps of P1 phosphorylated in vivo in proliferating HeLa cells. These phosphopeptides are absent in nonproliferating cells. These results demonstrate that the DNA-binding proteins HMG I, Y and P1 are natural substrates for the M-phase-specific protein kinase. The phosphorylation of these proteins by p34cdc2/cyclincdc13 may represent a crucial event in the intense chromatin condensation occurring as cells transit from the G2 to the M phase of the cell cycle.

The metaphase specific phosphorylation of HMG I.

In vivo labelling of HeLa cells arrested in metaphase with [32P]-phosphate and in vitro phosphorylation of HMG I with the partially purified growth associated H1 kinase was used to study metaphase specific phosphorylation of HMG I. It was found that threonine 53 and 78 became phosphorylated. These amino acids are embedded in respectively the sequence PTPKR and TPGRK which are similar to the sequences phosphorylated by the growth associated H1 kinase.

The ubiquity of the highly phosphorylated nuclear protein P1.

The present work shows that antibodies raised in rabbits against rat liver P1 confirmed the presence of P1 in lung, kidney, brain heart, muscle, intestine and thymus in rats. The antiserum reacted with P1 from human and monkey but not from bovine, pig and mouse P1 in spite of there being a close relationship in amino acid composition, electrophoretic properties and peptide mapping. Proteolytic digestion of rat P1 showed that only some of the peptides produced reacted with the antiserum, suggesting that conformational determinants may be dominating compared to sequential determinants in P1, or that only minor parts of P1 which exhibit sequential variation between species are immunoreactive.

On the presence of the chromosomal proteins HMG I and HMG Y in rat organs.

Using antiserum raised against HMG I, we have shown that HMG I and HMG Y are present in perchloric acid extracts of kidney, lung, heart, brain, liver and intestine in the rat, suggesting that the expression of these proteins may not be dependent upon proliferative activity. The results also show that the ratio between HMG I and HMG Y varies between different organs.

Phosphorylation of P1, a high mobility group-like protein, catalyzed by casein kinase II, protein kinase C, cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II.

P1, a high mobility group-like nuclear protein, phosphorylated by casein kinase II on multiple sites in situ, has been found to be phosphorylated in vitro by protein kinase C, cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II on multiple and mostly distinct thermolytic peptides. All these enzymes phosphorylated predominantly serine residues, with casein kinase II and protein kinase C also labeling threonine residues. Both casein kinase II and second messenger-regulated protein kinases, particularly protein kinase C, might therefore be involved in the physiological regulation of multisite phosphorylation of P1.

Phosphorylation of the high-mobility-group-like protein P1 by casein kinase-2.

The nuclear protein P1 (molecular mass 53 kDa), found in all mammalian cell types and tissues so far tested, is an excellent substrate for casein kinase-2. The number of phosphate groups on P1 is 20-30/molecule; the phosphorylation sites are distributed throughout the molecule. The phosphate is present as serine phosphate and possibly threonine phosphate. Proteolytic digestion with Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease of 32P-labelled P1 both in vivo and in vitro revealed that casein kinase-2 may be one of the kinases responsible for the phosphorylation in vivo.

The amino acid sequence of the chromosomal protein HMG-Y, its relation to HMG-I and possible domains for the preferential binding of the proteins to stretches of A-T base pairs.

The primary structure of the human high mobility group (HMG) protein HMG-Y has been established except for a few amino acids in the N-terminal and the C-terminal part of the protein. It was found that the sequence was identical to that of HMG-I except for a run of eleven amino acids. Like HMG-I the protein was N-terminally blocked and the palindromic sequence Pro-Arg-Gly-Arg-Pro occurred twice as in HMG-I. The binding of peptides derived from HMG-I (after thermolysin cleavage) to poly (dA-dT).poly(dA-dT) suggested that there are at least two different binding domains in the protein and that binding is not dependent upon an intact protein.

Combination effects of cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum with selected metahalones, pyrimidine sulfoxides and pyrimidine sulfones on human NHIK 3025 cells in vitro.

Synergistic cell inactivating effects were displayed when human NHIK 3025 cells cultivated in vitro were treated with cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum(II) (cis-DDP) in simultaneous combination with selected metahalones, pyrimidine sulfoxides and sulfones. Cell inactivation was measured as the percentage of single cells surviving and able to give rise to macroscopic colonies following drug treatment. Selection of compounds was made according to the presence and position of certain structural groups. For 5-halo-pyrimidin-2-ones (the metahalones), a propargyl substituent attached to the pyrimidine ring at the 1-position resulted in compounds causing potentiation of cis-DDP-induced cell inactivation. An iodo or trifluoromethyl substituent at the 5-position led to a reduction in cis-DDP + metahalone synergism respective to a 5-chloro substituent. Cell survival following 1 h treatment with the metahalones alone was always near 100%. The cell inactivating effect of pyrimidine sulfoxides and sulfones alone and in simultaneous combination with cis-DDP was also investigated. Treatment of human cells with pyrimidine sulfoxides and sulfones alone resulted in reduced cell survival relative to the metahalones. When tested in combination with cis-DDP, pyrimidine sulfoxides and sulfones containing a propargyl moiety bound at the sulfur atom were found to potentiate the cell inactivating effect of cis-DDP. Other substituents induced only minor effects.

Fractionation and identification of metaphase-specific phosphorylated forms of high-mobility-group proteins.

In the present work chromatography on phosphocellulose and blue Sepharose have been used to fractionate the different phosphorylated forms of the low-molecular-mass high-mobility-group (HMG) proteins from metaphase arrested HeLa cells. The proteins in the different fractions from the blue Sepharose column were analysed by acetic acid/urea gel electrophoresis. Aliquots from the same fractions were also treated with alkaline phosphatase and the dephosphorylated and phosphorylated proteins were then compared by electrophoresis to identify the phosphorylated proteins. It was found that HMG 14 consisted of a mixture of an unphosphorylated and two phosphorylated forms, while HMG Y existed as one homogeneous superphosphorylated form. These findings remove previous uncertainty about phosphorylation of HMG Y and HMG 14. The presence of HMG M and phosphorylated forms of HMG 17 was confirmed. Peptide mapping of HMG I and HMG M gave further evidence that HMG M is a superphosphorylated form of HMG I, and it is suggested that the term HMG Im be used instead of HMG M. The results suggested that HMG I and Y from HeLa cells contained at least three and two metaphase-specific phosphate groups respectively, while HMG 14 and 17 both consisted of an unphosphorylated form and two phosphorylated forms. A protein corresponding to HMG Im from HeLa cells was also found to be present in metaphase-arrested human lymphocytes, while HMG I and from two different rodent species seemed to be less phosphorylated then their counterparts from HeLa metaphase cells.

The human chromosomal protein HMG I contains two identical palindrome amino acid sequences.

The sequence of 105 amino acids of the human high mobility group chromosomal protein HMG I has been determined. The most striking feature of this sequence is two identical palindrome sequences: pro-arg-gly-arg-pro, which together with a third related sequence: gly-arg-pro-arg, may represent the binding sites of HMG I to clusters of A-T base pairs in DNA.

Method for complete separation of the high mobility group (HMG) proteins HMG I and HMG Y from HMG 14 and HMG 17 and a procedure for purification of HMG I and HMG Y.

A purification procedure which separates the four low-molecular-weight high mobility group (HMG) proteins, HMG 14, 17, I and Y, is described. The procedure includes chromatography on phosphocellulose and Blue Sepharose combined with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The blue Sepharose column separates HMG I and Y completely from HMG 14 and 17, and should therefore be an useful tool for the identification of these proteins which in several reports have been confused with HMG 14 and 17. HMG I and Y on the one hand and HMG 14 and 17 on the other exhibited considerable differences in their affinities for Blue Sepharose, probably reflecting fundamental differences in biological function.

A novel, highly phosphorylated protein, of the high-mobility group type, present in a variety of proliferating and non-proliferating mammalian cells.

The present work describes a perchloric-acid-soluble high-mobility-group (HMG)-like protein present in HeLa and Ehrlich ascites cells, rat and calf liver. The protein is designated P1 and has, depending on the source, a molecular mass 48-53 kDa and an amino acid composition which, like the HMG proteins, is characterized by a high content of acidic and basic residues and of proline. The protein contains about 10 mol serine/100 mol amino acid residues, is highly phosphorylated and has, in contrast to the known HMG proteins, an acidic isoelectric point of 5.0. An estimate suggests that protein P1 in HeLa interphase cells contains 25-30 residues of phosphate. Like HMG 1 and 2 it is distributed between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. In HeLa metaphase cells P1 is further modified, resulting in an increase in apparent molecular mass from 53 kDa to 56 kDa.

On the phosphorylation of low molecular mass HMG (high mobility group) proteins in Ehrlich ascites cells.

This paper shows that the low molecular mass HMG proteins 14 and 17 do not seem to be phosphorylated in Ehrlich ascites cells whereas two other small HMG proteins designated HMG I and Y are. Amino acid analysis and peptide mapping of all four proteins demonstrated that HMG I and Y were not phosphorylated modifications of HMG 14 or 17.

On the presence of two new high mobility group-like proteins in HeLa S3 cells.

Two phosphorylated HMG-like proteins with Mr approximately 10 000 have been isolated from HeLa S3 cells, one being present in metaphase and one in interphase cells. The amino acid compositions of these proteins are very similar but differ from the known HMG proteins. However, they exhibit similarities being rich in proline, basic and acidic amino acids. A possible role in chromatin condensation of the HMG-like protein characteristic for metaphase cells is suggested.

ADP-ribosylation in permeable HeLa S3 cells.

ADP-ribosylation in permeabilized metaphase and interphase cells using [32P]NAD at pH 8.0 have been compared. Incorporation into trichloroacetic acid insoluble material was 4-5-times greater in metaphase cells. 17-22% was in the soluble fraction which contained material released from the cells, 16-22% in the 0.2 M HCl extract (histones) of the cell ghosts and the remaining activity in the residual fraction. Fractions were analyzed using dodecylsulphate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at pH 6.0. The soluble fractions from metaphase and interphase cells exhibited three common unidentified ADP-ribosylated proteins corresponding to 78 000, 54 000 and 36 000 Da. In addition metaphase cells contained several other ADP-ribosylated proteins not present in interphase cells. The 0.2 M HCl extracts gave from metaphase cells radioactivity in the 32 000-39 000-Da region suggesting ADP-ribosylation of histone H1 with up to 10 residues of ADP-ribose and in the 17 000-20 000-Da region indicating ADP-ribosylation of core histones. The pattern of ADP-ribosylation of core histone in metaphase and interphase cells was qualitatively similar whereas the number of ADP-ribose residues per H1 molecule was higher in metaphase cells. The residual fraction contained free poly(ADP-ribose) and oligo(ADP-ribose). The results do not lend support to a special function of ADP-ribosylated histones in the mitotic event while certain ADP-ribosylated non-histone proteins may be specific for metaphase cells.

The inhibitory effect of Zn2+ on poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activity and its reversal.

Zn2+ inhibits purified poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (50% inhibition at 10 microM). Furthermore poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase present in nuclei and metaphase chromosome clusters is also inhibited by Zn2+. The inactivated enzyme could be re-activated by dithiothreitol. The concentration of Zn2+ needed to affect the enzyme activity in the organelles is sufficiently low for it to have a possible role in controlling the activity of this chromatin-bound enzyme.