Suppression of estrogen-dependent MMP-9 expression by Edpm5, a genetic locus for pituitary tumor growth in rat.

Chronic estrogen treatment results in elevated levels of the gelatinase pro-MMP-9 in the pituitary of tumor-susceptible Fischer 344 rats. In contrast, pituitary pro-MMP-9 level is not increased by estrogen treatment in rats of the tumor-resistant BN strain nor in rats of an F(1) hybrid of these strains. The gelatinase MMP-2 is also detected in rat pituitary, but its level is not affected by either estrogen or rat genotype. In 124 estrogen-treated rats from a backcross of the F(1) hybrid to the F344 strain, the levels of both monomer and dimer forms of pro-MMP-9 correlate with the tumor phenotypes mass, total DNA, and hemoglobin content of the pituitary. In this backcross, the QTL Edpm5 (_e_strogen-_d_ependent _p_ituitary _m_ass on Chromosome 5) has a significant effect on MMP-9 levels, with inheritance of the BN allele of Edpm5 correlating with suppression of estrogen-dependent MMP-9 expression.

Different functions of QTL for estrogen-dependent tumor growth of the rat pituitary.

Estrogen treatment to rats of the Fischer 344 (F344) strain induces growth of pituitary tumors that exhibit accelerated cell proliferation, breakdown of basement membrane, and formation of hemorrhagic lakes. Estrogen-dependent pituitary growth is due to variation in a group of quantitative trait loci (QTL), called Edpm for estrogen-dependent pituitary mass, that we previously identified in an F(2) intercross of F344 and the tumor-resistant Brown Norway strain. We previously identified 5 QTL, and microsatellite markers developed since our earlier work have allowed us to scan new chromosomal regions, resulting in two new QTL for estrogen-dependent pituitary mass: Edpm9-2 and a possible QTL on the X Chromosome (Chr). Here we report evidence that these QTL differ from each other in how they affect growth. To examine the effect of the Edpm QTL on biochemical components of tumor growth, we tested their effects in 138 progeny of a backcross to the F344 strain which were given a 10-week chronic estrogen treatment. Hemoglobin/DNA ratio (a measure of blood volume relative to cell number) and total pituitary DNA (a measure of cell number) correlated only weakly, and very large pituitaries were observed which had a low hemoglobin/DNA ratio resembling a normal gland. Through QTL mapping, we found that Edpm2-1, Edpm3, Edpm5, and Edpm9-2 all had significant effects on pituitary mass, but Edpm2-1 and Edpm9-2 primarily affected DNA content, Edpm5 primarily affected hemoglobin/DNA ratio, and Edpm3 affected all traits equally.

Quantitative trait loci for estrogen-dependent pituitary tumor growth in the rat.

Growth control is of fundamental importance to biology in general and of critical importance to cancer research in particular. Tumors develop when control of the normal growth process is lost. The rat pituitary is a model system for control of estrogen-dependent growth. Chronic estrogen treatment induces uncontrolled growth in the pituitaries of Fischer 344 (F344) rats, but not of Brown Norway (BN) rats. We have identified five quantitative trait loci (QTL) for estrogen-dependent pituitary mass (Edpm) in an F2 intercross of F344 and BN. These QTL reside on rat Chromosomes (Chrs) 2, 3, 5, and 9 and explain a total of 55% of the genetic variance in the F2. We have also detected suggestive evidence for a QTL on rat Chr 14. For Edpm2-1, Edpm2-2, Edpm3, and Edpm5, the F344 allele corresponds with increased pituitary mass, as expected. Surprisingly, for Edpm9 and the suggested QTL on Chr 14, the BN allele corresponds with increased pituitary mass. We also find evidence for interaction (epistasis) between Edpm3 and Edpm9 and between Edpm5 and the suggested QTL on Chr 14.

Genetic separation of tumor growth and hemorrhagic phenotypes in an estrogen-induced tumor.

Chronic administration of estrogen to the Fischer 344 (F344) rat induces growth of large, hemorrhagic pituitary tumors. Ten weeks of diethylstilbestrol (DES) treatment caused female F344 rat pituitaries to grow to an average of 109.2 +/- 6.3 mg (mean +/- SE) versus 11.3 +/- 1.4 mg for untreated rats, and to become highly hemorrhagic. The same DES treatment produced no significant growth (8.9 +/- 0.5 mg for treated females versus 8.7 +/- 1.1 for untreated females) or morphological changes in Brown Norway (BN) rat pituitaries. An F1 hybrid of F344 and BN exhibited significant pituitary growth after 10 weeks of DES treatment with an average mass of 26.3 +/- 0.7 mg compared with 8.6 +/- 0.9 mg for untreated rats. Surprisingly, the F1 hybrid tumors were not hemorrhagic and had hemoglobin content and outward appearance identical to that of BN. Expression of both growth and morphological changes is due to multiple genes. However, while DES-induced pituitary growth exhibited quantitative, additive inheritance, the hemorrhagic phenotype exhibited recessive, epistatic inheritance. Only 5 of the 160 F2 pituitaries exhibited the hemorrhagic phenotype; 36 of the 160 F2 pituitaries were in the F344 range of mass, but 31 of these were not hemorrhagic, indicating that the hemorrhagic phenotype is not merely a consequence of extensive growth. The hemorrhagic F2 pituitaries were all among the most massive, indicating that some of the genes regulate both phenotypes.

Expression of high-affinity glucose transport protein Hxt2p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is both repressed and induced by glucose and appears to be regulated posttranslationally.

Expression of putative high-affinity glucose transport protein Hxt2p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was repressed 15- to 20-fold in high concentrations of glucose or fructose. S. cerevisiae with either the ssn6-delta 9 or the hxk2-delta 1::URA3 mutation, each of which relieves glucose repression, exhibited high Hxt2p expression in both 2.0% glucose (normally repressing) and 0.05% glucose (normally derepressing) while S. cerevisiae with the snf1-delta 10 mutation, which causes constitutive repression, did not detectably express Hxt2p in either glucose concentration. In addition to repressing at high concentrations, glucose or fructose is required for induction of Hxt2p expression. Hxt2p was not expressed by wild-type S. cerevisiae in media containing only ethanol or galactose as carbon and energy source but was expressed if glucose was added. An hxk2-delta 1::URA3 mutant did not detectably express Hxt2p in ethanol or galactose, but an ssn6-delta9 mutant did highly express Hxt2p in both carbon sources. Thus, simple relief of glucose repression as occurs with hxk2 null mutants is insufficient for high-level Hxt2p expression. Mutation of ssn6, a general transcriptional repressor, does lead to Hxt2p expression in the absence of glucose induction, suggesting relief of an additional negative regulatory system. High expression of Hxt2p does not always result in HXT2-dependent high-affinity transport, implying that Hxt2p activity is regulated posttranslationally. In the high glucose condition for the ssn6 mutant, high-affinity glucose transport is derepressed. Deletion of the HXT2 locus does not diminish this level of transport. However, high-affinity glucose transport is diminished in the ssn6-delta9 hxt2 delta1 double mutant compared with ssn6-delta9 alone in low glucose. Thus, while constitutively expressed in ssn6 mutants, Hxt2p only appears to be active as a transporter under low-glucose conditions. Similarly, Hxt2p was found to be expressed under low-glucose conditions in an snf3 mutant which does not display high-affinity uptake. This finding suggests that SNF3 may be involved in the posttranslational regulation of Hxt2p.

Physiological characterization of putative high-affinity glucose transport protein Hxt2 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by use of anti-synthetic peptide antibodies.

Characterization and quantification of the Hxt2 (hexose transport) protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae indicate that it is one of a set of differentially expressed high-affinity glucose transporters. The protein product of the HXT2 gene was specifically detected by antibodies raised against a synthetic peptide encompassing the 13 carboxyl-terminal amino acids predicted by the HXT2 gene sequence. Hxt2 migrated in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as a broad band or closely spaced doublet with an average M(r) of 47,000. Hxt2 cofractionated with the plasma membrane ATPase, Pma1, indicating that it is a plasma membrane protein. Hxt2 was not solubilized by high pH or urea but was solublized by detergents, which is characteristic of an integral membrane protein. Expression of the Hxt2 protein was measured under two different conditions that produce expression of high-affinity glucose transport: a medium shift from a high (2.0%) to a low (0.05%) glucose concentration (referred to below as high and low glucose) and growth from high to low glucose. Hxt2 as measured by immunoblotting increased 20-fold upon a shift from high-glucose to low-glucose medium, and the high-affinity glucose transport expressed had a strong HXT2-dependent component. Surprisingly, Hxt2 was not detectable when S. cerevisiae growing in high glucose approached glucose exhaustion, and the high-affinity glucose transport expressed under these conditions did not have an HXT2-dependent component. The role of Hxt2 in growth during aerobic batch culture in low-glucose medium was examined. An hxt2 null mutant grew and consumed glucose significantly more slowly than the wild type, and this phenotype correlated directly with appearance of the Hxt2 protein.

Molecular cloning and characterization of the gene encoding the DNA methyltransferase, M.CviBIII, from Chlorella virus NC-1A.

The gene encoding the DNA methyltransferase, M.CviBIII, from Chlorella virus NC-1A was cloned and expressed in E. coli plasmid pUC8. Plasmid (pNC-1A.14.8) encoded M.CviBIII methylates adenine in TCGA sequences both in vivo in E. coli and in vitro. Transposon Tn5 mutagenesis localized the M.CviBIII functional domain to a 1.5 kbp region of pNC-1A.14.8 and also indicated that a virus promoter directs transcription of the gene in E. coli. The 2.1 kbp insert containing the M.CviBIII gene was sequenced and a single open reading frame of 1131 bp was identified within the domain determined by Tn5 mutagenesis. When the M.CviBIII gene was fused in-frame with the 19 amino-terminal codons of lacZ a 45 kD polypeptide was identified in maxicells as predicted by the DNA sequence. The M.CviBIII gene was not essential for virus replication since a virus M.CviBIII deletion mutant also replicated in Chlorella.