Exploring the dynamics of social-ecological resilience in East and West Africa: Preliminary evidence from Tanzania and Niger.

BACKGROUND: Social-ecological resilience refers to the dynamic process of adaptive learning, reorganization and meaning-making demonstrated in linked human, animal, and plant ecosystems often organized in formal and/or informal social institutions, as they anticipate, withstand and/or judiciously engage with adversity while maintaining function without fundamentally losing their identity. OBJECTIVE: To present two sets of examples that illustrate the complex ways in which transformation and persistence, two key aspects of the adaptive cycle may work together to preserve established patterns of human and/or animal uses of water resources and food plant species, in rural East and West Africa, respectively around the Serengeti National Park (Tanzania), and "Park W" (Niger), with the aim of identifying possible indicators of social-ecological resilience. METHODS: Selective combinations of ecological and anthropological, quantitative and qualitative methods, including participatory tools of investigation and analysis. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Our preliminary results are presented with minimal commentary and discussion in order to avoid hasty and/or unwarranted interpretation of the ongoing purposely iterative processes of investigation and analysis in the two study sites. Nevertheless we have identified a number of possible indicators of social-ecological resilience that may be tested in other localities in Africa and elsewhere.

Molecular interactions between single-stranded DNA-binding proteins associated with an essential MCAT element in the mouse smooth muscle alpha-actin promoter.

Transcriptional activity of the mouse vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin gene in fibroblasts is regulated, in part, by a 30-base pair asymmetric polypurine-polypyrimidine tract containing an essential MCAT enhancer motif. The double-stranded form of this sequence serves as a binding site for a transcription enhancer factor 1-related protein while the separated single strands interact with two distinct DNA binding activities termed VACssBF1 and 2 (Cogan, J. G., Sun, S., Stoflet, E. S., Schmidt, L. J., Getz, M. J., and Strauch, A. R. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 11310-11321; Sun, S., Stoflet, E. S., Cogan, J. G., Strauch, A. R., and Getz, M. J. (1995) Mol. Cell. Biol. 15, 2429-2936). VACssBF2 has been recently cloned and shown to consist of two closely related proteins, Puralpha and Purbeta (Kelm, R. J., Elder, P. K., Strauch, A. R., and Getz, M. J. (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272, 26727-26733). In this study, we demonstrate that Puralpha and Purbeta interact with each other via highly specific protein-protein interactions and bind to the purine-rich strand of the MCAT enhancer in the form of both homo- and heteromeric complexes. Moreover, both Pur proteins interact with MSY1, a VACssBF1-like protein cloned by virtue of its affinity for the pyrimidine-rich strand of the enhancer. Interactions between Puralpha, Purbeta, and MSY1 do not require the participation of DNA. Combinatorial interactions between these three single-stranded DNA-binding proteins may be important in regulating activity of the smooth muscle alpha-actin MCAT enhancer in fibroblasts.

Targeted overexpression of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) to vascular smooth muscle in transgenic mice lowers blood pressure and alters vascular contractility.

PTH-related protein (PTHrP) and its receptor are expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells and are believed to participate in the local regulation of vascular tone. To explore the function of locally produced PTHrP in vascular smooth muscle in vivo, we developed transgenic mice that overexpress PTHrP in smooth muscle using a smooth muscle alpha-actin promoter to direct expression of the transgene. In the PTHrP-overexpressing mice, messenger RNA expression was mainly restricted to smooth muscle-containing tissues. Several founders also expressed the transgene in bone and heart and exhibited striking abnormalities in the development of these tissues. In PTHrP-overexpressing mice, blood pressure was significantly lower than that in wild-type controls (121 +/- 3 vs. 135 +/- 2 mm Hg; P < 0.01). Moreover, the magnitude of the vasorelaxant response to iv infusions of PTHrP-(1-34)NH2 was significantly attenuated in the transgenic animals. A similar desensitization to PTHrP was observed in aortic ring and portal vein preparations. Surprisingly, PTHrP-overexpressing mice were also significantly less responsive to the hypotensive action of infused acetylcholine in vivo and to the relaxant actions of acetylcholine on aortic vessel preparations in vitro. In summary, we have successfully targeted overexpression of PTHrP to the smooth muscle of transgenic mice. When expressed in its normal autocrine/paracrine setting, PTHrP lowers systemic blood pressure and decreases vascular responsiveness to further relaxation by PTHrP and other endothelium-dependent vasorelaxants such as acetylcholine. We postulate that the heterologous desensitization to acetylcholine-induced relaxation in PTHrP-overexpressing blood vessels involves desensitization of second messenger/effector signaling pathways common to PTHrP and acetylcholine.

Vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin expression as an indicator of parenchymal cell reprogramming in cardiac allografts.

BACKGROUND: In addition to transplant-associated vascular sclerosis, cardiac allografts also may be vulnerable to a previously unrecognized aspect of remodeling involving reactivation of fetal structural genes in the adult heart. METHODS: Vascular smooth muscle (VSM) alpha-actin is encoded by a gene that normally is repressed in the ventricle during late gestation. Immunohistochemical analysis of accepted mouse cardiac allografts was performed to determine whether this fetal actin was reexpressed after transplant. RESULTS: VSM alpha-actin was detected within 30 days after transplant throughout the allograft myocardium, where it frequently exhibited a distinct periodicity suggestive of protein localization in sarcomeres. By 90 days after transplant, VSM alpha-actin filaments specifically accumulated in the left ventricular endocardium. Donor hearts and isografts did not express myocardial VSM alpha-actin, indicating that fetal gene activation was linked to chronic rejection. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that chronic rejection is associated with fetal muscle gene activation, which may facilitate parenchymal cell remodeling and impair graft function.

Overexpression of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-4 (IGFBP-4) in smooth muscle cells of transgenic mice through a smooth muscle alpha-actin-IGFBP-4 fusion gene induces smooth muscle hypoplasia.

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) has been postulated to function as a smooth muscle cell (SMC) mitogen and to play a role in the pathogenesis of bladder hypertrophy, estrogen-induced uterine growth, and restenosis after arterial angioplasty. IGF-binding protein-4 (IGFBP-4) inhibits IGF-I action in vitro and is the most abundant IGFBP in the rodent arterial wall. To explore the function of this binding protein in vivo, transgenic mouse lines were developed harboring fusion genes consisting of a rat IGFBP-4 complementary DNA cloned downstream of either a -724 bp fragment of the mouse smooth muscle alpha-actin 5'-flanking region (SMP2-BP-4) or -1074 bp, 63 bp of 5'-untranslated region, and 2.5 kb of intron 1 of smooth muscle alpha-actin (SMP8-BP-4). SMP2-BP-4 mice expressed low levels of the exogenous IGFBP-4 messenger RNA (mRNA), which was not specifically targeted to SMC-rich tissue environments, and were therefore not analyzed further. Six SMP8-BP-4 transgenic lines derived from separate founders were characterized. Mating of hemizygous SMP8-BP-4 mice with controls produced about 50% transgenic offspring, with equal sex distribution. Expression of IGFBP-4 mRNA in nontransgenic littermates was maximal in liver and kidney. By contrast, transgenic IGFBP-4 mRNA expression, distinguished because of a smaller transcript size, was confined to SMC-containing tissues, with the following hierarchy: bladder > aorta > stomach = uterus. There was no transgene expression in skeletal muscle, brain, or cardiac myocytes. The abundance of IGFBP-4 measured by Western ligand blotting or by immunoblotting, was 8- to 10-fold higher in aorta and bladder of SMP8-BP-4 mice than in their nontransgenic littermates, with no change in plasma IGFBP-4 levels. Transgenic mice exhibited a significant reduction in wet weight of SMC-rich tissues, including bladder, intestine, aorta, uterus, and stomach, with no change in total body or carcass weight. In situ hybridization showed that transgene expression was targeted exclusively to the muscular layers of the arteries, veins, bladder, ureter, stomach, intestine, and uterus. Overexpression of IGFBP-4 was associated with SMC hypoplasia, a reciprocal phenotype to that of transgenic mice overexpressing IGF-I under control of the same promoter (SMP8-IGF-I). Double transgenic mice derived from mating SMP8-BP-4 with SMP8-IGF-I animals showed a modest decrease in wet weight at selected SMC tissues. Although we cannot exclude that the effects of IGFBP-4 may be IGF independent, these data suggest that IGFBP-4 is a functional antagonist of IGF-I action on SMC in vivo.

Morphometric analysis of neointimal formation in murine cardiac grafts: III. Dissociation of intestitial fibrosis from neointimal formation.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the relationship between transplant vascular sclerosis (TVS) and tissue fibrosis, features of chronic rejection that can develop rapidly in accepted heterotopic murine cardiac allografts. METHODS: The rate of development of interstitial fibrosis or TVS development was determined by computerized analysis of tissue sections from DBA/2-->C57BL/6 heterotopic cardiac allografts after immunosuppression with gallium nitrate. RESULTS: In accepted cardiac allografts, neointimal fibrosis developed by 30 days after transplant, whereas TVS was minimal by day 30, and maximal by day 60. Variable levels of fibrosis were found throughout the allografts. DBA/2-->DBA/2 cardiac isografts never displayed TVS in this time period, but displayed allograft-like fibrosis within 60 days of transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: Interstitial fibrosis can be dissociated from the TVS development in this experimental model of chronic cardiac allograft rejection. Apparently, it is caused, at least in part, by alloantigen-independent factors other than TVS-related tissue ischemia.

Sequence of cDNAs encoding components of vascular actin single-stranded DNA-binding factor 2 establish identity to Puralpha and Purbeta.

Transcriptional repression of the mouse vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin gene in fibroblasts and myoblasts is mediated, in part, by the interaction of two single-stranded DNA binding activities with opposite strands of an essential transcription enhancer factor-1 recognition element (Sun, S., Stoflet, E. S., Cogan, J. G., Strauch, A. R., and Getz, M. J. (1995) Mol. Cell. Biol. 15, 2429-2436). One of these activities, previously designated vascular actin single-stranded DNA-binding factor 2 includes two distinct polypeptides (p44 and p46) which specifically interact with the purine-rich strand of both the enhancer and a related element in a protein coding exon of the gene (Kelm, R. J., Jr., Sun, S., Strauch, A. R., and Getz, M. J. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 24278-24285). Expression screening of a mouse lung cDNA library with a vascular actin single-stranded DNA-binding factor 2 recognition element has now resulted in the isolation of two distinct cDNA clones that encode p46 and p44. One of these proteins is identical to Puralpha, a retinoblastoma-binding protein previously implicated in both transcriptional activation and DNA replication. The other is a related family member, presumably Purbeta. Comparative band shift and Southwestern blot analyses conducted with cellular p46, p44, and cloned Pur proteins synthesized in vitro and in vivo, establish identity of p46 with Puralpha and p44 with Purbeta. This study implicates Puralpha and/or Purbeta in the control of vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin gene transcription.

Targeted overexpression of IGF-I evokes distinct patterns of organ remodeling in smooth muscle cell tissue beds of transgenic mice.

Smooth muscle cells (SMC) of the vascular wall, bladder, myometrium, and gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts retain the ability to proliferate postnatally, which enables adaptive responses to injury, hormonal, or mechanical stimulation. SMC growth is regulated by a number of mesenchymal growth factors, including insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). To explore the function of IGF-I on SMC in vivo, the mouse SMC alpha-actin promoter fragment SMP8 (-1074 bp, 63 bp of 5'UT and 2.5 kb of intron 1) was cloned upstream of rat IGF-I cDNA, and the fusion gene microinjected to fertilized eggs of the FVB-N mouse strain. Mating of hemizygous mice with controls produced about 50% transgenic offspring, with equal sex distribution. Transgenic IGF-I mRNA expression was confined to SMC-containing tissues, with the following hierarchy: bladder > stomach > aorta = uterus > intestine. There was no transgene expression in skeletal muscle, heart, or liver. Radioimmunoassayable IGF-I content was increased by 3.5- to 4-fold in aorta, and by almost 10-fold in bladder of transgenic mice at 5 and 10 wk, with no change in plasma IGF-I levels. Wet weight of bladder, stomach, intestine, uterus, and aorta was selectively increased, with no change in total body or carcass weight of transgenic animals. In situ hybridization showed that transgene expression was exquisitely targeted to the smooth muscle layers of the arteries, veins, bladder, ureter, stomach, intestine, and uterus. Paracrine overproduction of IGF-I resulted in hyperplasia of the muscular layers of these tissues, manifesting in remarkably different phenotypes in the various SMC beds. Whereas the muscular layer of the bladder and stomach exhibited a concentric thickening, the SMC of the intestine and uterus grew in a longitudinal fashion, resulting in a marked lengthening of the small bowel and of the uterine horns. This report describes the first successful targeting of expression of any functional protein capable of modifying the phenotype of SMC in transgenic mice. IGF-I stimulates SMC hyperplasia, leading to distinct patterns of organ remodeling in the different tissue environments.

Morphometric analysis of neointimal formation in murine cardiac allografts: II. Rate and location of lesion development.

BACKGROUND: Transplant vascular sclerosis (TVS) is manifested in transplanted human and murine hearts as a concentric, intimal lesion. The purpose of this study was to characterize the rate, location, and intensity of developing TVS lesions in murine cardiac allografts using quantitative morphometric analysis. METHODS: Murine cardiac allografts, treated with the immunosuppressant gallium nitrate, were explanted at 30, 60, and 90 days after transplant. The grafts were histologically stained and evaluated for intimal thickening by deriving a neointimal index (NI) using a computerized image-analysis system. RESULTS: In cardiac allografts, mild vascular lesions of varying NI were detectable by day 30 and lesion severity increased significantly by day 60. Thereafter, average lesion severity stabilized, although the percentage of affected vessels continued to increase from day 30 to day 90. In contrast, day-90 cardiac isografts showed little to no TVS development. Vascular lesions developed randomly without regard for vessel location or size. TVS developed more regularly in vessels of the interventricular septum than in the right or left ventricular walls. The degree of TVS development fluctuated along the length of individual vessels, even as late as 90 days after transplant. The smaller vessels (<85 microm in diameter) appeared to occlude more quickly than the larger vessels. CONCLUSIONS: TVS developed reproducibly in a random pattern throughout cardiac allografts over a 1-month to 3-month period after transplant. This development can be quantitatively monitored by computerized morphometric analysis. In general, under these experimental conditions, 30-day cardiac allografts seem to provide a useful experimental model for studying early aspects of TVS, whereas 60-day allografts may be better suited for analysis of advanced TVS.

Morphometric analysis of neointimal formation in murine cardiac allografts.

BACKGROUND: Transplant vascular sclerosis is expressed in transplanted human and murine hearts as a concentric intimal thickening. The purpose of this study was to characterize the location, distribution, and intensity of transplant vascular sclerosis in murine cardiac allografts using computerized morphometric analysis. METHODS: Murine cardiac allograft recipients were treated with the immunosuppressant gallium nitrate to promote graft survival. The grafts were removed at 60 days after transplantation and histologically stained. The coronary arteries were analyzed for intimal thickening using a neointimal index (NI) derived with a computer imaging system. RESULTS: A cross-section taken from the middle of a cardiac allograft showed four major coronary arteries, each with widely different NI values (65, 0, 92, and 0). The same four vessels in two other grafts also showed highly variable NI values, but different patterns of vessel involvement. Next, NI values were determined along the length of a single vessel from aorta to apex. This revealed variable, fluctuating intimal thickening along the length of the vessel. In general, arteries from the aortic versus apical regions of the grafted hearts expressed similar amounts of intimal thickening (analysis of variance, P=0.4826). Finally, a method was devised to quantitate intimal thickening from a sampling of three tissue cross-sections taken from the middle of each cardiac allograft. This value was statistically indistinguishable from values obtained by analysis of intimal thickening in multiple sections covering the entire heart (P=0.6734, 0.9021, and 0.1474). CONCLUSIONS: Intimal thickening in the coronary arteries of murine cardiac allografts appears to be variable in terms of location, distribution, and intensity. This is true for different regions of the same vessel, different vessels in the same heart region, and the same vessels in different cardiac allografts.

Actin isoform utilization during differentiation and remodeling of BC3H1 myogenic cells.

Mouse BC3H1 myogenic cells and a bi-functional chemical cross linking reagent were utilized to investigate the polymerization of newly-synthesized vascular smooth muscle (alpha-actin) and non-muscle (beta- and gamma-actin) actin monomers into native F-actin filament structures during myogenesis. Two actin dimer species were identified by SDS-PAGE analysis of phenylenebismaleimide-cross linked fractions of BC3H1 myoblasts and myocytes. P-dimer was derived from the F-actin-enriched, detergent-insoluble cytoskeleton. Pulse-chase analysis revealed that D-dimer initially was associated with the cytoskeleton but then accumulated in the soluble fraction of lysed muscle cells that contained a non-filamentous or aggregated actin pool. Immunoblot analysis indicated that non-muscle and smooth muscle actins were capable of forming both types of dimer. However, induction of smooth muscle alpha-actin in developing myoblasts coincided with an increase in D-dimer level which may facilitate actin stress fiber assembly. Smooth muscle alpha-actin was rapidly utilized in differentiating myoblasts to assemble extraction-resistant F-actin filaments in the cytoskeleton whereas non-muscle beta- and gamma-actin filaments were more readily dissociated from the cytoskeleton by an extraction buffer containing ATP and EGTA. The data indicate that cytoarchitectural remodeling in developing BC3H1 myogenic cells is accompanied by selective actin isoform utilization that effectively segregates multiple isoactins into different sub-cellular domains and/or supramolecular entities.

Repression of transcriptional enhancer factor-1 and activator protein-1-dependent enhancer activity by vascular actin single-stranded DNA binding factor 2.

Transcriptional repression of the murine vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin gene in fibroblasts results from the interaction of two sequence-specific single-stranded DNA binding activities (VACssBF1 and VACssBF2) with opposite strands of an essential transcriptional enhancer factor-1 (TEF-1) element (Sun, S., Stoflet, E. S., Cogan, J. G., Strauch, A. R., and Getz, M. J. (1995) Mol. Cell. Biol. 15, 2429-2436). Here, we identify a sequence element located within a protein-coding exon of the gene that bears structural similarity with the TEF-1 enhancer. This includes a 30-base pair region of purine-pyrimidine asymmetry encompassing a perfect 6-base pair GGAATG TEF-1 recognition motif. Unlike the enhancer, however, the exon sequence exhibits no TEF-1 binding activity nor does the pyrimidine-rich strand bind VACssBF1. However, VACssBF2 interacts equally well with the purine-rich strand of both the enhancer and the exon sequence. To test the ability of VACssBF2 to independently repress transcription, the exon sequence was placed upstream of a deletionally activated promoter containing an intact TEF-1 binding site. The exon sequence repressed promoter activity, whereas a mutant deficient in VACssBF2 binding did not. Moreover, VACssBF2 similarly repressed activator protein-1-dependent transcription of a heterologous tissue factor promoter. These results suggest that VACssBF2 possesses an intrinsic ability to disrupt enhancer function independently of the enhancer-binding proteins involved.

Morphometric and immunocytochemical analysis of coronary arterioles in human transplanted hearts.

BACKGROUND: Heart transplant vascular sclerosis has been characterized in epicardial coronaries of human transplanted hearts. The purpose of this study was to analyze coronary arterioles (< 100 microns in diameter) within endomyocardial biopsy specimens from heart transplant recipients for the presence of disease. METHODS: The morphologic compartments of trichrome-stained vessels were quantified by means of computer imaging to measure the percentage of stenosis of 164 arterioles from 30 transplant recipients over time. The arterioles were divided into three groups based on their biopsy date after transplantation: early (0 to 6 months), middle (6 to 18 months), and late (18 to 36 months). The percentage of stenosis of arterioles from a control group of nondiseased hearts was compared with the grafts. Also, arterioles from heart transplant recipients were immunohistochemically labeled with an antibody, PC10, specific for proliferating cell nuclear antigen. The arterioles were immunocytochemically labeled with an antibody specific for vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin and the fluorescent signal was analyzed. RESULTS: The percentage of stenosis was not significantly different among the early, middle, late, and control groups. Vessels from the early, middle, and late groups did not show binding of the PCNA antibody. The antibody signal intensity and amount of alpha-actin within each vessel was significantly higher in the late groups as compared with the early and middle groups. CONCLUSIONS: The coronary microvasculature of human transplanted hearts does not exhibit intimal thickening or cellular proliferation within 3 years after transplantation. However, as shown by an increase of smooth muscle alpha-actin over time, vascular remodeling may occur in response to cytokines released as a result of injury.

Differentiation of smooth muscle phenotypes in mouse mesangial cells.

Smooth muscle alpha-actin (SMA) mRNA, a marker of vascular smooth muscle cells, was identified in the normal glomerular mesangium both in vivo and in vitro. Several populations of mesangial cells were studied to determine if SMA and basement membrane collagen were regulated together. The levels of SMA expression, which could be linked to the stage of differentiation, were different for the differing cell populations. One cell population had high SMA and type IV collagen levels at its early passages. The others expressed both interstitial and basement membrane collagens. The first population developed these phenotypic features at later passages. The levels of SMA and alpha 1(IV) collagen expression were regulated together in concert, whereas the alpha 2(I) collagen levels were expressed inversely to SMA and alpha 1(IV) collagen. Both SMA and type IV collagen were controlled by the methylation states of the cis-regulators; however, type I collagen was mainly regulated by the trans-acting regulators. Treatment with 5-azacytidine converted the cells of a fibroblast-phenotype to a smooth muscle cell-like phenotype. These cell lines may be useful for studying the differentiation process in vitro.

Proteoglycan biosynthesis is required in BC3H1 myogenic cells for modulation of vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin gene expression in response to microenvironmental signals.

Induction of vascular smooth muscle (VSM) alpha-actin mRNA expression during cytodifferentiation of mouse BC3H1 myogenic cells coincides with the accumulation of cell surface- and extracellular matrix-associated sulfated proteoglycans. Inhibition of proteoglycan biosynthesis in myogenic cells using an artificial beta-D-xyloside glycosaminoglycan acceptor was accompanied by a reduction in cell surface/extracellular matrix proteoglycans and VSM alpha-actin mRNA expression while enhancing the secretion of free chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans into the culture medium. Maximum inhibition of VSM alpha-actin mRNA expression required that proteoglycan biosynthesis be blocked during the early phase of cytodifferentiation when myoblasts were fully confluent and quiescent. The inhibitory effect of beta-D-xyloside on alpha-actin mRNA expression resulted from attenuation at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional control points. Sustained proteoglycan biosynthesis was required for induction of VSM alpha-actin mRNA in quiescent myoblasts in response to cytodifferentiation-permissive, substrate-associated macromolecules (SAM) or upon exposure to soluble serum factors capable of transiently stimulating VSM alpha-actin gene transcription. The results suggested that efficient myoblast cytodifferentiation and modulation of VSM alpha-actin mRNA levels depended on intact cell surface proteoglycans to convey signals generated as a consequence of cellular interaction with substrate components and serum factors.

Plasticity of vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin gene transcription. Characterization of multiple, single-, and double-strand specific DNA-binding proteins in myoblasts and fibroblasts.

Transcriptional activity of the mouse vascular smooth muscle (VSM) alpha-actin promoter was governed by both cell type and developmental stage-specific mechanisms. A purine-rich motif (PrM) located as -181 to -176 in the promoter was absolutely required for activation in mouse AKR-2B embryonic fibroblasts and partially contributed to activation in undifferentiated mouse BC3H1 myoblasts. Transcriptional enhancer factor 1 recognized the PrM and cooperated with other promoter-binding proteins to regulate serum growth factor-dependent transcription in both myoblasts and fibroblasts. Two distinct protein factors (VAC-ssBF1 and VAC-ssBF2) also were identified that bound sequence-specifically to single-stranded oligonucleotide probes that spanned both the PrM and a closely positioned negative regulatory element. VAC-ssBF1 and BF2 binding activity was detected in undifferentiated myoblasts, embryonic fibroblasts, and several smooth muscle tissues in the mouse and human. A myoblast-specific protein (VAC-RF1) also was detected that bound double-stranded probes containing a CArG-like sequence that previously was shown to impart strong, cell type specific repression. The binding activity of transcription enhancer factor 1, VAC-RF1, and VAC-ssBF1 was significantly diminished when confluent BC3H1 myoblasts differentiated into myocytes and expressed VSM alpha-actin mRNA after exposure to serum-free medium. The results indicated that cell type-specific control of the VSM alpha-actin gene promoter required the participation of multiple DNA-binding proteins, including two that were enriched in smooth muscle and had preferential affinity for single-stranded DNA.

Negative regulation of the vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin gene in fibroblasts and myoblasts: disruption of enhancer function by sequence-specific single-stranded-DNA-binding proteins.

Transcriptional activation and repression of the vascular smooth muscle (VSM) alpha-actin gene in myoblasts and fibroblasts is mediated, in part, by positive and negative elements contained within an approximately 30-bp polypurine-polypyrimidine tract. This region contains binding sites for an essential transcription-activating protein, identified as transcriptional enhancer factor I (TEF-1), and two tissue-restrictive, sequence-specific, single-stranded-DNA-binding activities termed VACssBF1 and VACssBF2. TEF-1 has no detectable single-stranded-DNA-binding activity, while VACssBF1 and VACssBF2 have little, if any, affinity for double-stranded DNA. Site-specific mutagenesis experiments demonstrate that the determinants of VACssBF1 and VACssBF2 binding lie on opposite strands of the DNA helix and include the TEF-1 recognition sequence. Functional analysis of this region reveals that the CCAAT box-binding protein nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) can substitute for TEF-1 in activating VSM alpha-actin transcription but that the TEF-1-binding site is essential for the maintenance of full transcriptional repression. Importantly, replacement of the TEF-1-binding site with that for NF-Y diminishes the ability of VACssBF1 and VACssBF2 to bind to separated single strands. Additional activating mutations have been identified which lie outside of the TEF-1-binding site but which also impair single-stranded-DNA-binding activity. These data support a model in which VACssBF1 and VACssBF2 function as repressors of VSM alpha-actin transcription by stabilizing a local single-stranded-DNA conformation, thus precluding double-stranded-DNA binding by the essential transcriptional activator TEF-1.

Density-dependent modulation of vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin biosynthetic processing in differentiated BC3H1 myogenic cells.

The expression of vascular smooth muscle (VSM) alpha-actin mRNA during BC3H1 myogenic cell differentiation is specifically stimulated by conditions of high cell density. Non-proteolytic dissociation of cell-cell and cell-matrix contacts in post-confluent cultures of BC3H1 myocytes using EDTA promotes loss of the differentiated morphological phenotype. EDTA-dispersed myocytes exhibit an undifferentiated fibroblastoid appearance and contained reduced levels of both VSM and skeletal alpha-actin mRNA. Muscle alpha-actin mRNA levels in EDTA-dispersed myocytes were not restored to that observed in confluent myocyte preparations by experimental manipulation of cell density conditions. Pulse-labeling techniques using L-[35S]cysteine to identify muscle actin biosynthetic intermediates revealed that EDTA-dispersed myocytes expressed nascent forms of both the VSM and skeletal muscle alpha-actin polypeptide chains. However EDTA-dispersed myocytes were less efficient in the post-translational processing of immature VSM alpha-actin compared to non-dispersed myocytes. Simple cell-to-cell contact may mediate VSM alpha-actin processing efficiency since high-density preparations of EDTA-dispersed myocytes processed more VSM alpha-actin intermediate than myocytes plated at low density. The actin isoform selectivity of the response to modulation of intercellular contacts suggests that actin biosynthesis in BC3H1 myogenic cells involves mechanisms capable of discriminating between different isoform classes of nascent actin polypeptide chains.

Activation of a muscle-specific actin gene promoter in serum-stimulated fibroblasts.

Treatment of AKR-2B mouse fibroblasts with serum growth factors or inhibitors of protein synthesis, such as cycloheximide, results in a stimulation of cytoskeletal beta-actin transcription but has no effect on transcription of muscle-specific isotypes, such as the vascular smooth muscle (VSM) alpha-actin gene. Deletion mapping and site-specific mutagenesis studies demonstrated that a single "CArG" element of the general form CC(A/T)6GG was necessary and possibly sufficient to impart serum and cycloheximide-inducibility to the beta-actin promoter. Although the VSM alpha-actin promoter exhibits at least three similar sequence elements, it remained refractory to serum and cycloheximide induction. However, deletion of a 33 base pair sequence between -191 and -224 relative to the transcription start site resulted in the transcriptional activation of this muscle-specific promoter in rapidly growing or serum-stimulated fibroblasts. Although the activity of this truncated promoter was potentiated by cycloheximide in a manner indistinguishable from that of the beta-actin promoter, this was dependent on a more complex array of interacting elements. These included at least one CArG box and a putative upstream activating element closely associated with the -191 to -224 inhibitory sequences. These results demonstrate that the expression of a muscle-specific actin gene in fibroblasts is suppressed by a cis-acting negative control element and that in the absence of this element, the promoter is responsive to growth factor-induced signal transduction pathways.