cAMP stimulation of Dictyostelium discoideum destabilizes the mRNA for 117 antigen.

Transcription of the 117 gene and changes in its mRNA levels in Dictyostelium discoideum were studied by mRNA hybridization with a cDNA probe. In wild type cells (Ax-2), the expression is developmentally regulated during cell aggregation, while in the aggregateless mutant, Agip 45, 117 mRNA is not detectable during cell starvation. Low concentrations of cAMP, given in the form of extracellular pulses to induce the development of starved Agip 45 cells to aggregation competence, are able to induce the appearance of 117 mRNA. The induction seems to be via the cell surface cAMP receptor and by a mechanism which does not involve changes in intracellular cAMP. Interestingly, high concentrations of cAMP, which down-regulate the cell surface cAMP receptor, elicit a rapid decrease in the level of 117 mRNA in aggregation-competent cells. Nuclear run-off and pulse-chase experiments show that the high concentrations of cAMP selectively destabilize the mRNA for 117 antigen. This destabilization requires both de novo mRNA synthesis and protein synthesis since the addition of inhibitors of these processes eliminates the effects of cAMP on 117 mRNA. The data suggest that a cAMP-induced protein(s) may be involved in the destabilization of selective mRNAs.

Developmental regulation of expression of the regulatory subunit of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase of Blastocladiella emersonii.

A monospecific polyclonal antiserum to the regulatory subunit (R) of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase of Blastocladiella emersonii has been developed by immunization with purified regulatory subunit. In Western blots, the antiserum displays high affinity and specificity for the intact R monomer of Mr = 58,000, as well as for its proteolytic products of Mr = 43,000 and Mr = 36,000, even though the antiserum has been raised against the Mr = 43,000 fragment. Western blots of cell extracts prepared at different times during the life cycle of the fungus indicate that the increase in cAMP-binding activity occurring during sporulation, as well as its decrease during germination, are associated with the accumulation of the regulatory subunit during sporulation and its disappearance during germination, respectively. Pulse labeling with [35S]methionine and immunoprecipitation indicate that the accumulation of R is due to its increased synthesis during sporulation. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of affinity purified cell extracts obtained after [35S]methionine pulse labeling during sporulation confirms de novo synthesis of R during this stage and furthermore shows that the protein is rapidly phosphorylated after its synthesis. In vitro translation studies using RNA isolated from different stages of the life cycle followed by immunoprecipitation have shown that the time course of expression of the mRNA coding for the regulatory subunit parallels the rate of its synthesis in vivo.

Regulation of tubulin and actin synthesis and accumulation during Blastocladiella emersonii development.

Actin and alpha and beta-tubulin have been identified in Blastocladiella emersonii by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and Western blotting. The kinetics of synthesis of these proteins were compared by pulse-labeling experiments with [35S]methionine and with the accumulation of their corresponding mRNAs, translated in a cell-free system. Large increases occur in the rates of actin and alpha- and beta-tubulin biosynthesis during sporulation and there is an accumulation of the corresponding mRNAs. In parallel to the increased synthesis, these cytoskeletal proteins accumulate during the late stage of sporulation.

Phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 is dependent on cyclic AMP in Dictyostelium discoideum.

Extracts of aggregation-competent cells of Dictyostelium discoideum have an S6 protein kinase activity which is inhibited in the presence of the inhibitor of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase. The phosphorylation of S6 is rapid, and decays rapidly. The S6 kinase activity is detectable in the 150,000g supernatant only in the presence of phosphatase inhibitors known for preserving the S6 kinase in other systems, indicating that the activated form of the enzyme is phosphorylated by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase. S6 kinase elutes as a peak from DEAE-Sephacel at 100 mM NaC1, with an activity that is cAMP-dependent.

Effect of heat shock on S6 phosphorylation during the development of Blastocladiella emersonii.

Changes in phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 during heat shock, induction of thermotolerance and recovery from heat shock at different stages of Blastocladiella emersonii development were investigated. Independently of the initial state of S6 phosphorylation (maximal or intermediate), a rapid and complete dephosphorylation of S6 is induced by heat shock and S6 remains unphosphorylated during the acquired thermotolerance. During recovery from heat shock rephosphorylation of S6 occurs always to the levels characteristic of that particular stage, coincidently with the turn off of heat shock protein synthesis.

Changes in the pattern of protein synthesis during zoospore germination in Blastocladiella emersonii.

Using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, we analyzed the pattern of proteins synthesized during Blastocladiella emersonii zoospore germination in an inorganic solution, in both the presence and absence of actinomycin D. During the transition from zoospore to round cells (the first 25 min), essentially no qualitative differences were noticeable, indicating that the earliest stages of germination are entirely preprogrammed with stored RNA. Later in germination (after 25 min), however, changes in the pattern of protein synthesis were found. Some of these proteins (a total of 6 polypeptides) correspond possibly to a selective translation of stored messages, whereas the majority of the changed proteins (22 polypeptides) corresponds to newly synthesized mRNA. Thus, multiple levels of protein synthesis regulation seem to occur during zoospore germination, involving both transcriptional and translational controls. We also analyzed the pattern of protein synthesis during germination in a nutrient medium; synthesis of specific polypeptides occurred during late germination. During early germination posttranslational control was also observed, several labeled proteins from zoospores being specifically degraded or charge modified.

Acquisition of thermotolerance during development of Blastocladiella emersonii.

In the fungus Blastocladiella emersonii the synthesis of heat-shock proteins is developmentally regulated; particular subsets of heat-shock proteins are induced by heat shock during sporulation, germination and growth and some heat shock-related proteins are spontaneously expressed during sporulation (Bonato et al., 1987, Eur. J. Biochem., in press). Nevertheless, acquisition of thermotolerance can be induced at any stage of the life cycle. The development of thermotolerance is correlated with the enhanced synthesis of some heat-shock proteins: hsp 82a, hsp 82b, hsp 76, hsp 70, hsp 60, hsp 25, hsp 17b. Other hsps are not specifically involved in thermotolerance.

Differential expression of heat-shock proteins and spontaneous synthesis of HSP70 during the life cycle of Blastocladiella emersonii.

The heat-shock response in Blastocladiella emersonii is dependent on the developmental stage. Cells exposed to elevated temperatures at different stages of the life cycle (sporulation, germination or growth) show a differential synthesis of heat-shock proteins (hsps). Of a total of 22 polypeptides induced, particular subsets of hsps appear in each phase, demonstrating a non-coordinate heat-shock gene expression. In contrast, heat-shock-related proteins (hsp76, hsp70, hsp39a) are spontaneously expressed at a high level during sporulation. By the criteria of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and partial proteolysis mapping, the 70,000-Da protein, whose synthesis is induced spontaneously during sporulation, is indistinguishable from the heat-inducible hsp70. The techniques of in vitro translation, and Northern analysis using a Drosophila hsp70 probe, demonstrated that enhanced synthesis of hsp70, which occurs during heat-shock treatment and spontaneously during sporulation, is associated with an accumulation of hsp70 mRNA. These observations suggest that hsp70 gene expression is induced during sporulation.

Heat shock protein synthesis during development in Caulobacter crescentus.

Caulobacter crescentus cells respond to a sudden increase in temperature by transiently inducing the synthesis of several polypeptides. Two of the proteins induced, Hsp62 and Hsp70, were shown to be analogous to the heat shock proteins of Escherichia coli, GroEL and DnaK, respectively, by immunological cross-reactivity with antibodies raised against the E. coli proteins. Two-dimensional gel electrophoretic resolution of extracts of cells labeled with [35S]methionine during heat shock led to the identification of 20 distinct Hsps in C. crescentus which are coordinately expressed, in response to heat, at the various stages of the cell division cycle. Thus, a developmental control does not seem to be superimposed on the transient activation of the heat shock genes. Nonetheless, under normal temperature conditions, four Hsps (Hsp70, Hsp62, Hsp24b, and Hsp23a) were shown to be synthesized, and their synthesis was cell cycle regulated.

Developmental changes in translatable RNA species and protein synthesis during sporulation in the aquatic fungus Blastocladiella emersonii.

Protein synthesis during sporulation in Blastocladiella emersonii is developmentally regulated as revealed using [35S]methionine pulse labeling and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. A large increase in the synthesis of several proteins is associated with particular stages. A large number of basic proteins are synthesized exclusively during late sporulation. Changes in translatable mRNA species were also detected by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of the polypeptides produced in a cell-free rabbit reticulocyte lysate primed with RNA prepared at different stages of sporulation. The synthesis of several proteins during sporulation seems to be transcriptionally controlled. Most of the sporulation-specific messages are not present in the mature zoospores.

Effect of insulin on the synthesis of rat liver ribosomal and endoplasmic reticulum proteins.

There was reduction in the levels of some liver endoplasmic reticulum proteins from streptozotocin-treated rats compared to those of normal rats as detected by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. When insulin was administered 24 h before streptozotocin, the protein patterns were the same as that obtained for normal rats. The comparison of the rate of synthesis of some endoplasmic proteins by streptozotocin-treated rats with that of streptozotocin-treated rats which received insulin 4 h prior to the experiment by the double-labelling technique indicated that insulin increased the rate of synthesis of some liver endoplasmic reticulum proteins. The rates of synthesis of some liver ribosomal proteins from streptozotocin-treated rats were increased and others were decreased when the animals were compared with streptozotocin-treated rats pretreated with insulin 4 h earlier. These results suggest that the generalized decrease of the rate of protein synthesis which has been reported in diabetes is due to a decrease of the rate of synthesis of some ribosomal proteins that may act in chain initiation or have a regulatory function.

Analysis of Blastocladiella emersonii ribosomal proteins in four two-dimensional gel electrophoresis systems.

Ribosomal proteins of the aquatic fungus Blastocladiella emersonii were isolated and characterized on four different two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis systems. 40S and 60S ribosomal subunit proteins from zoospores were identified. The position of every protein was determined in each electrophoretic system using the "four-corners" method (Madjar et al., Molecular and General Genetics, 171: 121-134, 1979). Thirty-two and 39 proteins were identified in the 40S and 60S ribosomal subunits, respectively. The molecular weights of individual proteins in the 40S subunit ranged from 10 000 to 37 000, with a number-average molecular weight of 20 000. The molecular weight range for the 60S subunit was 13 000-51 000 with a number-average molecular weight of 21 000. Proteins from ribosomes of different cell types were compared and found to be qualitatively indistinguishable. The only consistent difference in the patterns of proteins was in the S6 protein of the 40S subunit, which is the major phosphoprotein of Blastocladiella ribosomes.

Phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 in the aquatic fungus Blastocladiella emersonii.

The changes in the degree of phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 during the life cycle of the aquatic fungus Blastocladiella emersonii were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Three phosphorylated derivatives of S6 are present throughout the entire life cycle. However, under certain germination conditions, more highly phosphorylated derivatives of S6 appear. Nonetheless, the resumption of protein synthesis that occurs during germination is not dependent on those highly phosphorylated derivatives of S6. The pattern and sites of phosphorylation of S6 labelled in vivo with [32P]orthophosphate have been compared with those of 40S ribosomal subunit labelled in vitro by partially purified protein kinases. Three major phosphopeptides were found in S6 isolated from the zoospore, while six phosphopeptides were found after zoospore germination (in germling cells). The phosphopeptide patterns of S6 phosphorylated by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase and by casein kinases I and II were completely distinct. Only the cAMP-dependent protein kinase gives rise to a phosphopeptide found in 32P-labelled cells, indicating that one of sites phosphorylated in vivo is also phosphorylated in vitro by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase.

Autophosphorylation and rapid dephosphorylation of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase from Blastocladiella emersonii zoospores.

The photoaffinity label 8-azido[32P]adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate and affinity chromatography on N6-(2-aminoethyl)-cAMP-Sepharose were used to analyze the cAMP-binding proteins present in cell-free extracts of Blastocladiella emersonii zoospores. In the presence of a mixture of protease inhibitors, 8-azido[32P]cAMP was specifically and quantitatively incorporated into a major protein band of Mr = 58,000, and three minor protein bands of Mr = 50,000, Mr = 43,000, and Mr = 36,000 respectively, after autoradiography following sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacryl-amide gel electrophoresis. In the absence of the protease inhibitors, the Mr = 58,000 protein band was converted into the lower molecular weight cAMP-binding proteins, indicating a high sensitivity of the intact Mr = 58,000 protein band to endogenous proteases. The Mr = 58,000 protein corresponded to the regulatory subunit (R), of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase of zoospores, as shown by their identical behavior on DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The partially purified protein kinase incorporated 32P from [gamma-32P] ATP . Mg2+ into R as demonstrated by the specific adsorption of the 32P-labeled protein with N6-(2-aminoethyl)-cAMP-Sepharose. The incorporated 32P group was rapidly removed by endogenous phosphoprotein phosphatases in the presence of cAMP, as shown by pulse-chase experiments with [gamma-32P]ATP. Dephosphorylation of R-cAMP and rapid proteolysis may indicate two other mechanisms, in addition to cAMP, for the control of this protein kinase in vivo.

Cyclic nucleotide-independent protein kinases from ribosomes and phosphorylation of a single 40S ribosomal subunit protein in zoospores of Blastocladiella emersonii.

Cyclic nucleotide-independent protein kinase (EC 2.7.1.37) activity was found in the nuclear cap organelle, within which ribosomes of zoospores of Blastocladiella emersonii are sequestered. Two protein kinase activities were resolved from the high-salt wash fraction of zoospore ribosomes by selective adsorption to DEAE-cellulose. Both enzymes phosphorylated in vitro a 32,000 Mr protein of the 40S ribosomal subunit. Phosphorylation of this ribosomal protein, which exhibits electrophoretic properties similar to those of mammalian ribosomal protein S6, was also observed in vivo in 32P-labeled zoospores.

A protein kinase of the plasma membrane of Dictyostelium discoideum.

D. discoideum amoebae were found to phosphorylate plasma membrane proteins when intact cells were incubated with either [gamma-32P]ATP or [32P]phosphate. In the first case, the incorporation was largely a consequence of the hydrolysis of [gamma-32P]ATP, cellular uptake of the generated [32P]phosphate and its subsequent incorporation into ATP. When the contribution of this process to the phosphorylating activity of intact cells was eliminated, an ecto-protein kinase (ATP: protein phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.37) activity could be demonstrated. As amoebae progressed through their aggregation program, they showed a decreased ability to phosphorylate their plasma membrane when incubated with [gamma-32 P]ATP or [32P]phosphate. Analysis of ATPase activity, permeability properties and the pattern of proteins phosphorylated by intact cells and isolated plasma membranes lead to the following conclusions: the lower levels of phosphorylation observed with starved cells reflected an altered uptake of [32P]phosphate by these cells rather than a significant change in the plasma membrane protein kinase activity. Neither the substrates nor the activity of the ecto-protein kinase was dramatically altered during starvation.

Photoaffinity labeling of the cell surface adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate receptor of Dictyostelium discoideum and its modification in down-regulated cells.

The cAMP cell surface receptor of Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae was identified by the use of the photoaffinity analogue 8-N3-[32P]cAMP. Labeling by intact cells of one component, identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and autoradiography, could be specifically inhibited by the presence of nonradioactive cAMP. The component, P45 (apparent molecular weight of 45,000), was not identified on vegetative cells but was labeled with increasing intensity as cells differentiated and increased their levels of surface cAMP binding sites. Developmental mutants, starved under conditions where they do not express significant levels of cAMP binding sites, did not incorporate radioactivity into this protein. These mutants did label P45 when starved under differentiation-inducing conditions such that their levels of surface cAMP binding sites increased. P45 co-purified with the plasma membrane fraction isolated from cells to which 8-N3-[32p]cAMP had been covalently bound. Down-regulated amoebae, which displayed approximately 25% of the binding activity of untreated cells, did not label P45. These cells did, however, label a new component with an apparent molecular weight of 47,000 (P47).l The appearance of this component represented the only discernible difference in labeling profile under these conditions. As in the case of P45, radioactive incorporation into P47 did not occur if the photoactivation of 8-N3-[32P]cAMP was performed in the presence of nonradioactive cAMP.