Successful Treatment of Stricture of Duct-to-Duct Biliary Anastomosis After Living-Donor Liver Transplantation of the Left Lobe: A Case Report.

Biliary complications, such as stricture or obstruction, after living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) remain major problems to be solved. Magnetic compression anastomosis (MCA) is a minimally invasive method of biliary anastomosis without surgery in patients with biliary stricture or obstruction. A 66-year-old woman had undergone LDLT for end-stage liver disease for primary biliary cholangitis 20 months previously at another hospital. Computerized tomography showed dilation of the intrahepatic bile duct (B2). Because B2 was invisible with the use of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) was performed for treatment of cholangitis. The rendezvous technique failed because a guidewire could not pass through the biliary stricture. Therefore, we decided to perform MCA. A parent magnet was endoscopically placed distally in the common bile duct of the stricture, and a daughter magnet attached to a guidewire was inserted proximally through the fistula tract of the PTBD. Both magnets were positioned across the stricture, and the 2 magnets were pulled to each other by magnetic power, to sandwich the stricture. By 14 days after MCA, a fistula between B2 and the common bile duct was created. At 28 days after MCA, the magnets were removed distally and a 16-French tube was placed across the fistula. At 7 months after MCA, that tube was removed. In conclusion, when a conventional endoscopic or percutaneous approach including the rendezvous technique fails, MCA is a good technique for biliary stricture after LDLT.

M phase-specific kinetochore proteins in fission yeast: microtubule-associating Dis1 and Mtc1 display rapid separation and segregation during anaphase.

BACKGROUND: Kinetochore microtubules are made early in mitosis and link chromosomal kinetochores to the spindle poles. They are required later to move the separated sister chromatids toward the opposite poles upon the onset of anaphase. Very little is known about proteins that are responsible for the connection between kinetochores and mitotic microtubules. RESULTS: We here show that fission yeast Dis1 and the related protein Mtc1/Alp14 are both able to bind microtubules in vitro and share an essential function for viability in vivo. The deletion of mtc1+ results in an instability of cytoplasmic microtubules that can be suppressed by the ectopic expression of dis1+. Dis1 and Mtc1 are localized along interphase cytoplasmic microtubules and are mobilized onto the spindle upon mitotic commitment. In chromatin immunoprecipitation (CHIP) experiments Dis1 coprecipitated with the central centromeric DNA in an M phase-specific manner. Consistently, observations of both living cells in which the native, genomic copy of dis1+ tagged with GFP and cells fixed by immunostaining established that Dis1 behaves as a kinetochore protein during the progression from metaphase to anaphase. The central and C-terminal regions of Dis1 are sufficient for interactions with microtubules and the kinetochore, respectively. In anaphase, the GFP signals of both Dis1 and Mtc1 suddenly separate and move quickly toward opposite spindle poles. CONCLUSIONS: Fission yeast Dis1 and Mtc1 are members of an evolutionarily conserved microtubule binding protein family that includes frog XMAP215. Dis1 and Mtc1 are implicated in stabilizing kinetochore microtubules in metaphase and so counteract the action of microtubule destabilizing factors that dominate in anaphase. Dis1 may play a dual role by becoming a part of the kinetochores in an M phase-specific manner, and it may possibly generate connections between kinetochores and microtubules.

Control of metaphase-anaphase progression by proteolysis: cyclosome function regulated by the protein kinase A pathway, ubiquitination and localization.

Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis is fundamental to cell cycle progression. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a mitotic cyclin (Cdc13), a key cell cycle regulator, is degraded for exiting mitosis, while Cut2 has to be destroyed for the onset of sister chromatid separation in anaphase. Ubiquitination of these proteins requires the special destruction box (DB) sequences locating in their N-termini and the large, 20S complex called the anaphase-promoting complex or cyclosome. Here we show that cyclosome function during metaphase-anaphase progression is regulated by the protein kinase A (PKA) inactivation pathway, ubiquitination of the cyclosome subunit, and cellular localization of the target substrates. Evidence is provided that the cyclosome plays pleiotropic roles in the cell cycle: mutations in the subunit genes show a common anaphase defect, but subunit-specific phenotypes such as in G1/S or G2/M transition, septation and cytokinesis, stress response and heavy metal sensitivity, are additionally produced, suggesting that different subunits take distinct parts of complex cyclosome functions. Inactivation of PKA is important for the activation of the cyclosome for promoting anaphase, perhaps through dephosphorylation of the subunits such as Cut9 (Apc6). Cut4 (Apc1), the largest subunit, plays an essential role in the assembly and functional regulation of the cyclosome in response to cell cycle arrest and stresses. Cut4 is highly modified, probably by ubiquitination, when it is not assembled into the 20S cyclosome. Sds23 is implicated in DB-mediated ubiquitination possibly through regulating de-ubiquitination, while Cut8 is necessary for efficient proteolysis of Cdc13 and Cut2 coupled with cytokinesis. Unexpectedly, the timing of proteolysis is dependent on cellular localization of the substrate. Cdc13 enriched along the spindle disappears first, followed by decay of the nuclear signal, whereas Cut2 in the nucleus disappears first, followed by decline in the spindle signal during metaphase-anaphase progression.

Fission yeast APC/cyclosome subunits, Cut20/Apc4 and Cut23/Apc8, in regulating metaphase-anaphase progression and cellular stress responses.

BACKGROUND: The 20S cyclosome/APC complex promotes metaphase-anaphase transition by ubiquitinating its specific substrates such as mitotic cyclins and anaphase inhibitor Cut2/Pds1/securin. The complex has been shown to contain more than 10 proteins in budding yeast and frog. In fission yeast, however, only five (Cut4, Cut9, Nuc2, Apc10, Hcn1) have been identified. RESULTS: More than five hundred temperature-sensitive mutants were screened for identifying those defective in mitotic anaphase. Fifty-five showed the cut (cell untimely torn) phenotype or metaphase-arrest phenotypes, 27 of them locating at new loci. Their extracts were run in sucrose gradient centrifugation, and four showed alterations in the sedimentation profiles. The gene products of cut20+ and cut23+ were thus identified. Phenotypes of cut20-100 mutant highly resemble cut4-533 in many ways: they are hypersensitive to canavanine and CdCl2, and suppressed by PKA-inactivating regulators, cAMP-dependent phosphodiesterase and PKA regulatory subunits. Cut20 interacts closely with Cut4 in the assembly process of cyclosome. But cut20 mutant differs from cut4, as a novel gene stw1+ suppresses cut20 mutant but not cut4. cut23-194 mutant cells are sterile and blocked at metaphase, but does not show sensitivity to the stress and cAMP. TPR repeat-containing Cut23 may not be the stable component of APC/cyclosome, and its level significantly fluctuates during cell cycle. Cut23 may be ubiquitinated and degraded in a cell cycle dependent fashion. CONCLUSIONS: We identified two new subunits of fission yeast cyclosome/APC complex. Our observations indicate that cyclosome components are divided into several subgroups with distinctly different roles.

Central retinal vein occlusion during remission of ulcerative colitis.

BACKGROUND: Retinal vascular disease is a rare complication of ulcerative colitis. CASE: We report a patient who developed unilateral nonischemic central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) (papillophlebitis) without any other retinal vascular disease during remission of ulcerative colitis. OBSERVATIONS: The best-corrected visual acuities were 1.5 OD and 0.7 OS. Dilated and tortuous retinal veins and retinal bleeding were seen in the left eye. Macular edema and leakage from the papilla and the retinal veins of the left eye were evident on fluorescein angiography. After increased dosage of systemic prednisolone was prescribed, the retinal vascular changes resulting from CRVO (papillophlebitis) in the left eye gradually abated. CONCLUSIONS: Retinal vascular diseases should be monitored during both remission and activation of intestinal symptoms of ulcerative colitis.

A telomerase mutant defective in sister chromatid separation at mitosis.

The telomere is a functional domain of the chromosome, located at the extreme ends, and is essential for normal chromosome stability. Chromosomes lacking telomeres are inherited improperly, and mutations in the telomeric repeat sequences are thought to lead to senescence and possibly to cancer. The molecular mechanisms maintaining chromosomes by telomeres, however, have been unclear. Results recently reported by Kirk et al, offer an insight into new telomerase function. They have identified a novel telomerase mutation that blocks sister chromatid separation in mitosis.

20S cyclosome complex formation and proteolytic activity inhibited by the cAMP/PKA pathway.

The 20S cyclosome complex (also known as the anaphase-promoting complex) has ubiquitin ligase activity and is required for mitotic cyclin destruction and sister chromatid separation. The formation and activation of the 20S cyclosome complex is regulated by an unknown mechanism. Here we show that Cut4 (ref. 6) is an essential component of the cyclosome in fission yeast. Cut4 shares sequence similarity with BimE, a protein that regulates mitosis in Aspergillus nidulans. Mutations in cut4 result in hypersensitivity to cyclic AMP and to stress-inducing heavy metals, inhibition of the onset of anaphase, disruption of the 20S complex, and inhibition of mitotic cyclin ubiquitination. These phenotypes are fully suppressed by cAMP phosphodiesterase and the protein kinase A (PKA) regulatory subunit and weakly suppressed by Sti1 (an activator of the Hsp70 and Hsp90 chaperones). Suppression correlates with the amount of 20S complex, indicating that cyclosome formation and activation is inhibited by the cAMP/PKA pathway.

Aberrant mitosis in fission yeast mutants defective in fatty acid synthetase and acetyl CoA carboxylase.

Two fission yeast temperature-sensitive mutants, cut6 and lsd1, show a defect in nuclear division. The daughter nuclei differ dramatically in size (the phenotype designated lsd, large and small daughter). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) revealed that sister chromatids were separated in the lsd cells, but appeared highly compact in one of the two daughter nuclei. EM showed asymmetric nuclear elongation followed by unequal separation of nonchromosomal nuclear structures in these mutant nuclei. The small nuclei lacked electron-dense nuclear materials and contained highly compacted chromatin. The cut6+ and lsd1+ genes are essential for viability and encode, respectively, acetyl CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthetase, the key enzymes for fatty acid synthesis. Gene disruption of lsd1+ led to the lsd phenotype. Palmitate in medium fully suppressed the phenotypes of lsd1. Cerulenin, an inhibitor for fatty acid synthesis, produced the lsd phenotype in wild type. The drug caused cell inviability during mitosis but not during the G2-arrest induced by the cdc25 mutation. A reduced level of fatty acid thus led to impaired separation of non-chromosomal nuclear components. We propose that fatty acid is directly or indirectly required for separating the mother nucleus into two equal daughters.

Dissection of fission yeast microtubule associating protein p93Dis1: regions implicated in regulated localization and microtubule interaction.

BACKGROUND: Fission yeast microtubule associating protein (MAP) p93Dis1 functions for sister chromatid separation: dis1 mutants fail to separate chromosomes, while the spindle elongates but without cyclin destruction. p93Dis1 localizes along microtubules in interphase cytoplasm, but shifts to the spindle pole body (SPB) and spindle microtubules upon the entry into mitosis. In this study, regions of p93Dis1 were dissected to examine their role. RESULTS: Nitrocellulose filter blotting shows that recombinant Dis1 binds to bovine brain microtubules in vitro. A basic central region rich in S, T and P is essential for this association. However, the whole p93Dis1 with N- and C-termini containing a conserved repeat motif and heptad repeats, respectively, is necessary for normal microtubule association in vivo. The N-truncated region also binds to microtubules but only to the portions near the SPBs. Overproduction phenotypes indicate that p93Dis1 greatly affects spindle formation and cell morphogenesis. The central region is essential but, by itself, not sufficient for generating such effects. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that p93Dis1 consists of three regions which carry distinct properties for localization: the N-region for cell cycle dependent localization, the central region for direct microtubule association, and the C-region for SPB and nuclear localization. The essential role of p93Dis1 is carried out in the C-region, while the N-region acts as a regulator.

p93dis1, which is required for sister chromatid separation, is a novel microtubule and spindle pole body-associating protein phosphorylated at the Cdc2 target sites.

Fission yeast cold-sensitive (cs) dis1 mutants are defective in sister chromatid separation. The dis1+ gene was isolated by chromosome walking. The null mutant showed the same phenotype as that of cs mutants. The dis1+ gene product was identified as a novel 93-kD protein, and its localization was determined by use of anti-dis1 antibodies and green fluorescent protein (GFP) tagged to the carboxyl end of p93dis1. The tagged p93dis1 in living cells localizes along cytoplasmic microtubule arrays in interphase and the elongating anaphase spindle in mitosis, but association with the short metaphase spindle microtubules is strikingly reduced. In the spindle, the tagged p93dis1 is enriched at the spindle pole bodies (SPBs). Time-lapse video images of single cells support the localization shift of p93dis1 to the SPBs in metaphase and spindle microtubules in anaphase. The carboxy-terminal fragment, which is essential for Dis1 function, accumulates around the mitotic SPB. We propose that these localization shifts of p93dis1 in mitosis facilitates sister chromatid separation by affecting SPB and anaphase spindle function.

Fission yeast cut3 and cut14, members of a ubiquitous protein family, are required for chromosome condensation and segregation in mitosis.

Fission yeast temperature-sensitive mutants cut3-477 and cut14-208 fail to condense chromosomes but small portions of the chromosomes can separate along the spindle during mitosis, producing phi-shaped chromosomes. Septation and cell division occur in the absence of normal nuclear division, causing the cut phenotype. Fluorescence in situ hybridization demonstrated that the contraction of the chromosome arm during mitosis was defective. Mutant chromosomes are apparently not rigid enough to be transported poleward by the spindle. Loss of the cut3 protein by gene disruption fails to maintain the nuclear chromatin architecture even in interphase. Both cut3 and cut14 proteins contain a putative nucleoside triphosphate (NTP)-binding domain and belong to the same ubiquitous protein family which includes the budding yeast Smc1 protein. The cut3 mutant was suppressed by an increase in the cut14+ gene dosage. The cut3 protein, having the highest similarity to the mouse protein, is localized in the nucleus throughout the cell cycle. Plasmids carrying the DNA topoisomerase I gene partly suppressed the temperature sensitive phenotype of cut3-477, suggesting that the cut3 protein might be involved in chromosome DNA topology.

Meiosis-dependent mRNA splicing of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe mes1+ gene.

The mes1+ gene of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is essential for the second meiotic division. We have cloned a 1.1-kb HindIII fragment containing mes1+ by complementation from an S. pombe genomic library. Sequencing of the genomic and cDNA fragments indicates the existence of one small intron of 75 nucleotides, although both the 5'(G/GTTAGT) and 3'(CAG/T) intron-exon junctions deviate from the consensus sequences proposed for S. pombe. The putative translation product of the mature mes1+ mRNA is a 11-kDa protein of 101 amino acids which has no significant homology to any previously-reported proteins. Disruption of mes1 has no effect on cell growth but causes an arrest of meiosis before the second meiotic division. Northern-blot analysis revealed that mes1+ was preferentially transcribed under conditions of nitrogen starvation. When a h90 homothallic strain was shifted to a nitrogen-deficient medium, a pre-mRNA accumulated and then was gradually processed to generate a mature mRNA. This splicing did not occur in either a heterothallic haploid strain or in a homothallic mei2 mutant strain which was defective in the initiation of meiosis. Expression of the first exon alone was not able to suppress the mes1 null allele. These results indicate that mes1+ is required for the completion of meiosis, that splicing is required for the function of the mes1+ gene, and that this splicing requires the function of the mei2+ product.

Identification of seven new cut genes involved in Schizosaccharomyces pombe mitosis.

Fission yeast cut mutants cause cytokinesis in the absence of normal nuclear division. These mutants show abnormal uncoupled mitosis and are known to be the result of mutations in the genes encoding DNA topoisomerase II, proteins related to spindle pole duplication, and a kinesin-related mitotic motor. We have screened 717 temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants by individually observing their cytological phenotypes at the restrictive temperature, and have newly isolated 25 cut mutants. Genetic analyses indicate that 14 of them fall into five previously identified loci, namely, top2, cut1, cut5, cut7 and cut9, whereas nine have been mapped onto seven new loci, designated cut13 to cut19. The cytological phenotypes of the newly identified cut mutants can be classified into three groups. One group consists of mutants in which a portion of the nuclear chromatin is stretched by the elongated spindle but the entire nucleus is not separated, reminiscent of, but not identical to, the phenotypes of top2 and cut1; mutants cut14-208, cut15-85, cut16-267 and cut17-275 display such a phenotype. Another group exhibits non-disjunctioned and condensed chromosomes in the presence of the spindle; cut13-131 belongs to this group. The cut19-708 mutant has also been found to have condensed chromosomes. The remaining group has a mixed phenotype of the above two groups; namely, stretched chromatin and condensed chromosomes; cut18-447 exhibits such a phenotype. The isolation and characterization of the mutated genes will be the subjects of future investigations.

Adjacent zinc-finger motifs in multiple zinc-finger peptides from SWI5 form structurally independent, flexibly linked domains.

Peptides containing either one, two or three of the three zinc-finger motifs from the yeast transcription factor SWI5 have been prepared by expression in Escherichia coli. The DNA binding characteristics of these peptides were investigated, and a two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (n.m.r.) study undertaken to establish the three-dimensional structures of the two-finger peptide. The peptide containing fingers 1 and 2 binds sequence specifically to two thirds of the DNA binding site recognized either by intact SWI5 or by the isolated three-finger peptide, and hence has the correct tertiary fold for DNA recognition. These results also establish the polarity of DNA binding, since the N-terminal two fingers of SWI5 bind to the 5' end of the DNA binding site. Mild proteolysis of the three-finger peptide using trypsin results in a small number of discrete products, which is consistent with the presence of three structured mini-domains. Nearly complete n.m.r. signal assignments were obtained for two peptides containing finger 2 alone or fingers 1 + 2. Comparison of two-dimensional spectra of these peptides and others clearly shows that the NOE enhancements and chemical shifts characteristic of each finger are quite insensitive to the presence or absence of neighbouring fingers. This clearly indicates that adjacent zinc-finger domains are structurally independent in these peptides from SWI5. However, there must be some steric limitations on the possible relative orientations of the fingers, and to establish limits for these a set of structures for the peptide containing fingers 1 + 2 was calculated using the YASAP simulated annealing protocol in conjunction with n.m.r.-based constraints. A more detailed description of the three-dimensional structures of finger 1 and finger 2, and their relationship to other previously determined structures of single zinc-fingers, is given in the accompanying paper.

Solution structures of two zinc-finger domains from SWI5 obtained using two-dimensional 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A zinc-finger structure with a third strand of beta-sheet.

This paper describes the detailed three-dimensional structures of two zinc-finger domains from the yeast transcription factor SWI5, calculated using the results of the n.m.r. experiments described in the accompanying paper. The structure of finger 2 is essentially similar to those previously obtained by others for isolated, synthetic single zinc-finger domains in solution, and for the three zinc-finger peptide Zif268 in its crystalline complex with DNA. The N-terminal half of the sequence forms a two-stranded, irregular beta-sheet containing both of the metal-binding cysteine residues, while the remainder of the structure forms a helix. Approximately the first half of this helix is alpha-helical, whereas the C-terminal portion, including the two metal-binding histidine residues, is 3(10) helical. Four invariant hydrophobic residues form a core to the structure. In contrast to all previously described structures of zinc-finger domains, finger 1 has an additional strand in the beta-sheet, formed by residues N-terminal to the formal start of the finger motif. This additional strand plays a role in stabilising the folded form of finger 1, since a two-finger peptide lacking the N-terminal residues showed folded structure in finger 2 but not in finger 1.

Sequence-specific [1H]NMR resonance assignments and secondary structure identification for 1- and 2-zinc finger constructs from SW15. A hydrophobic core involving four invariant residues.

Complete [1H]NMR resonance assignments are presented for the second of the three zinc fingers from SW15 as it appears in both 1- and 2-finger constructs. Signals from finger 2 are unaffected by the presence or absence of finger 1, showing that the protein has a modular construction. The structure of finger 2 comprises a helix running from N56 to Q67, and a region approximating to an anti-parallel beta-sheet running from Y42 to F53. These features combine to produce a hydrophobic core in the structure involving the invariant residues Y42, F53, L59 and H62.

Composite motifs and repeat symmetry in S. pombe centromeres: direct analysis by integration of NotI restriction sites.

S. pombe centromeres are large and complex. We introduced a method that enables us to characterize directly centromere DNAs. Genomic DNA fragments containing cen1, cen2, or cen3, respectively, are made by cleaving NotI sites integrated on target sites and are partially restricted for long-range mapping in PFG electrophoresis. The 40 kb long cen1 consists of two inverted approximately 10 kb motifs, each containing centromeric elements dg and dh, flanked by a central region. In cen2, three motifs are arranged in inverted and direct orientations with flanking domains, making up the approximately 70 kb long repetitious region. In cen3, approximately 15 copies of dg-dh constitute a region longer than 100 kb. A set of inverted motifs with an approximately 15 kb central region might be a prototype for the S. pombe centromeres. The motifs appear to play a role in chromosome stability and segregation. Their action may be additive, and the mutual directions of dg and dh inside a motif may not be essential for function.

Zinc-finger motifs expressed in E. coli and folded in vitro direct specific binding to DNA.

The short sequence motif named 'zinc finger', first recognized repeated in tandem in the Xenopus transcription factor IIIA (TFIIIA), is also found in the yeast transcriptional activator SWI5 (ref. 3) and many other regulator proteins. Embedded in the 709-amino-acid polypeptide chain of SWI5 are three tandemly repeated zinc-finger motifs. Because the zinc fingers of TFIIIA are known to bind to DNA, it is probable that in the case of SWI5 these finger motifs also play an important, but not necessarily exclusive, role in the sequence-specific binding of the protein to DNA. To test this prediction we have expressed the 89-amino-acid sequence of the domain containing the three zinc fingers of SWI5 in Escherichia coli as a cleavable fusion protein, purified under denaturing conditions and folded in vitro. This experimental approach allows us to study directly both the metal requirement and DNA-binding properties of the isolated polypeptide. We find that zinc is required for specific DNA recognition and, most significantly, DNaseI protection studies show that the isolated three-fingered domain is sufficient for sequence-specific binding to DNA.