mos proto-oncogene function

Maturation promoting factor (MPF) is a cytoplasmic activity that causes oocytes arrested in prophase to resume meiosis. An inactive form of MPF termed pre-MPF exists in fully grown oocytes. In Xenopus oocytes, progesterone induces maturation and pre-MPF activation. These early maturation events require protein synthesis. We have shown that p39mos synthesis is rapidly induced in progesterone-treated Xenopus oocytes during the protein synthesis sensitive period and prior to activation of pre-MPF or germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD). p39mos may qualify, therefore, as an 'initiator' of maturation. Mouse oocytes undergoing meiotic maturation also express p39mos. Microinjection of antisense mos oligodeoxynucleotides into fully grown mouse and Xenopus oocytes results in the block of meiotic maturation. In Xenopus, antisense-injected oocytes not only lack p39mos, but also lack MPF and fail to undergo GVBD. In the mouse, the microinjected oocytes progress through GVBD, but fail to produce the first polar body; cytogenetic analysis shows they are arrested at the bivalent chromosome stage of metaphase I. This and additional studies with Xenopus oocytes indicate that p39mos is also required throughout maturation. We have shown that p39mos is indistinguishable from the protein product constitutively expressed in NIH/3T3 cells transformed with activated c-mos. It is likely that its activity as a transforming gene may be due to activation of pre-MPF activities in interphase in the somatic cell cycle.

Liposome-mediated gene transfer in rat lung transplantation: A comparison between the in vivo and ex vivo approaches

OBJECTIVE

We compared the efficacy of in vivo and ex vivo liposome transfection in rat lung transplantation.

METHODS

(1) Chloramphenicol acetyltransferase group: Fischer rats underwent isogeneic transplantation (n = 4 per group). Recipients were put to death on postoperative day 2 for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity. Ex vivo setting: Grafts received cDNA complexed or not with liposomes and were transplanted after 1.5 or 10 hours at 10 degreesC. In vivo setting: Donors were intravenously injected with cDNA complexed or not with liposomes. Lungs were harvested after 1.5 or 10 hours, preserved at 10 degreesC, and transplanted. (2) Transforming growth factor-beta1 group: Brown-Norway rats served as donors and Fischer rats as recipients. All grafts were preserved for 3 hours at 10 degreesC. On postoperative day 5, arterial oxygenation and histologic rejection scores were assessed. Ex vivo setting: Grafts received transforming growth factor-beta1 sense (n = 8) or antisense (n = 7) complexed with liposomes or cDNA alone (n = 5). In vivo setting: Donors were intravenously injected with liposome:transforming growth factor-beta1 sense cDNA (n = 7). Exposure time was 3 hours.

RESULTS

(1) Chloramphenicol acetyltransferase-transfection was superior in the ex vivo group but was not statistically different for longer exposure times. (2) Transforming growth factor-beta1-arterial oxygenation was superior in the ex vivo liposome:sense group. cDNA alone was inefficient. Rejection scores were not statistically different between ex vivo and in vivo liposome:sense groups but were better when the ex vivo liposome:sense group was compared with the cDNA alone or the antisense groups.

CONCLUSIONS

(1) With current liposome technology, the ex vivo route is superior to the in vivo approach; (2) cDNA alone does not provide transgene expression at levels to produce a functional effect.

Mos oncogene product associates with kinetochores in mammalian somatic cells and disrupts mitotic progression

The mos protooncogene has opposing effects on cell cycle progression. It is required for reinitiation of meiotic maturation and for meiotic progression through metaphase II, yet it is an active component of cytostatic factor. mos is a potent oncogene in fibroblasts, but high levels of expression are lethal. The lethality of mos gene expression in mammalian cells could be a consequence of a blockage induced by its cytostatic factor-related activity, which may appear at high dosage in mitotic cells. We have directly tested whether expression of the Mos protein can block mitosis in mammalian cells by microinjecting a fusion protein between Escherichia coli maltose-binding protein and Xenopus c-Mos into PtK1 epithelial cells and analyzing the cells by video time-lapse and immunofluorescence microscopy. Time-course analyses showed that Mos blocked mitosis by preventing progression to a normal metaphase. Chromosomes frequently failed to attain a bipolar orientation and were found near one pole. Injection of a kinase-deficient mutant Mos had no effect on mitosis, indicating that the blockage of mitotic progression required Mos kinase activity. Antitubulin immunostaining of cells blocked by Mos showed that microtubules were present but that spindle morphology was abnormal. Immunostaining for the Mos fusion protein showed that both wild-type and kinase mutant proteins localized at the kinetochores. Our results suggest that mitotic blockage by Mos may result from an action of the Mos kinase on the kinetochores, thus increasing chromosome instability and preventing normal congression.

Mos stimulates MAP kinase in Xenopus oocytes and activates a MAP kinase kinase in vitro

Several protein kinases, including Mos, maturation-promoting factor (MPF), mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, and MAP kinase kinase (MAPKK), are activated when Xenopus oocytes enter meiosis. De novo synthesis of the Mos protein is required for progesterone-induced meiotic maturation. Recently, bacterially synthesized maltose-binding protein (MBP)-Mos fusion protein was shown to be sufficient to initiate meiosis I and MPF activation in fully grown oocytes in the absence of protein synthesis. Here we show that MAP kinase is rapidly phosphorylated and activated following injection of wild-type, but not kinase-inactive mutant, MBP-Mos into fully grown oocytes. MAP kinase activation by MBP-Mos occurs within 20 min, much more rapidly than in progesterone-treated oocytes. The MBP-Mos fusion protein also activates MPF, but MPF activation does not occur until approximately 2 h after injection. Extracts from oocytes injected with wild-type but not kinase-inactive MBP-Mos contain an activity that can phosphorylate MAP kinase, suggesting that Mos directly or indirectly activates a MAPKK. Furthermore, activated MBP-Mos fusion protein is able to phosphorylate and activate a purified, phosphatase-treated, rabbit muscle MAPKK in vitro. Thus, in oocytes, Mos is an upstream activator of MAP kinase which may function through direct phosphorylation of MAPKK.

Inhibition of mos-induced oocyte maturation by protein kinase A

The relationship between the mos protooncogene protein and cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) during the maturation of Xenopus oocytes was investigated. Microinjection of the PKA catalytic subunit (PKAc) into Xenopus oocytes inhibited oocyte maturation induced by the mos product but did not markedly affect the autophosphorylation activity of injected mos protein. By contrast, PKAc did not inhibit maturation promoting factor (MPF) activation or germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) that was initiated by injecting crude MPF preparations. In addition, inhibiting endogenous PKA activity by microinjecting the PKA regulatory subunit (PKAr) induced oocyte maturation that was dependent upon the presence of the endogenous mos product. Moreover, PKAr potentiated mos protein-induced MPF activation in the absence of progesterone and protein synthesis. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that progesterone-induced release from G2/M is regulated via PKAc and that PKAc negatively regulates a downstream target that is positively regulated by mos.

Mos and the cell cycle: the molecular basis of the transformed phenotype

The product of the mos proto-oncogene is a serine/threonine kinase that is expressed at high levels in germ cells. Mos is a regulator of meiotic maturation, and is required for the initiation and progression of oocyte meiotic maturation that leads to the production of unfertilized eggs. Mos is also a component of cytostatic factor, an activity that is believed to arrest oocyte maturation at meiotic metaphase II. There is evidence showing that the Mos protein is associated with tubulin in unfertilized eggs and transformed cells, raising the possibility that it is involved in the microtubular reorganization that occurs during M-phase. Inappropriate expression of its M-phase activity during interphase of the cell cycle may be responsible for its transforming activity.

Meiotic initiation by the mos protein in Xenopus

When fully grown Xenopus oocytes are stimulated by progesterone, a period of protein synthesis is necessary for maturation. Synthesis of the mos proto-oncogene product, pp39mos, is necessary for the activation of M-phase promoting factor (MPF) in meiosis I. On the basis that mos is translated de novo on hormonal stimulation of Xenopus oocytes and that injecting mos RNA into oocytes induces their maturation, we have proposed that the mos protein is a candidate initiator of oocyte maturation, needed to trigger the conversion of precursor MPF into its active form. To determine whether mos is the only protein required for initiating maturation, we have produced a soluble, active recombinant mos protein and injected it into Xenopus oocytes. We report here that in the absence of protein synthesis that mos protein efficiently induces germinal vesicle breakdown and the activation of MPF. The oocytes, however, do not proceed into meiosis II. Thus, the mos protein fulfills the requirements of an initiator protein, but the synthesis of one or more additional proteins may be necessary to complete oocyte maturation.

The ras oncoprotein and M-phase activity

The endogenous mos proto-oncogene product (Mos) is required for meiotic maturation. In Xenopus oocytes, the ras oncogene product (Ras) can induce meiotic maturation and high levels of M-phase--promoting factor (MPF) independent of endogenous Mos, indicating that a parallel pathway to metaphase exists. In addition, Ras, like Mos and cytostatic factor, can arrest Xenopus embryonic cell cleavage in mitosis and maintain high levels of MPF. Thus, in the Xenopus oocyte and embryo systems Ras functions in the M phase of the cell cycle. The embryonic cleavage arrest assay is a rapid and sensitive test for Ras function.

mos gene transforming efficiencies correlate with oocyte maturation and cytostatic factor activities

The mos proto-oncogenes from different vertebrate species transform mouse NIH 3T3 cells with markedly different efficiencies. v-mos, mouse (c-mosmu), and chicken (c-mosch) mos transform NIH 3T3 cells 10- to 100-fold more efficiently than do human (c-moshu) and Xenopus (c-mosxc) mos. The mos genes with the highest transforming activity efficiently induce maturation in Xenopus oocytes and mimic cytostatic factor (CSF) by causing mitotic cleavage arrest in embryos. Chimeric v-mos/c-moshu proteins that had high transforming efficiencies in NIH 3T3 cells were also effective in the induction of oocyte maturation and CSF cleavage arrest. We measured the in vitro autophosphorylation activities of the different mos proteins and found that the levels of kinase activity of v-mos, c-mosmu, and c-mosch were much higher than that of c-mosxc. These data indicate that mos gene transforming efficiency and the ability to induce oocyte maturation or mimic CSF activity are correlated with in vitro autophosphorylation activity and suggest that the mos protein plays a similar role in transformed cells and normal oocytes.

v-erbA specifically suppresses transcription of the avian erythrocyte anion transporter (band 3) gene

Previous work has established that the v-erbA oncogene inhibits the temperature-induced differentiation of chick erythroblasts transformed with temperature-sensitive oncogene mutants. Here we demonstrate that v-erbA in differentiating erythroblasts specifically arrests expression of the erythrocyte anion transporter (band 3) gene at the transcriptional level. The v-erbA-induced differentiation block can be overcome by inducing cells to differentiate at alkaline pH. Under these conditions, which possibly impair biological activity of v-erbA, the maturing cells now express the anion transporter gene at high levels. However, its transcription is specifically and rapidly suppressed if v-erbA activity is restored by culturing the cells at neutral pH. Similar but less pronounced inhibition of gene expression by v-erbA was observed for the delta-amino-levulinic acid synthase gene. Additional evidence obtained with an inhibitor of band 3 activity suggests that the v-erbA-induced inhibition of band 3 gene expression is at least partly responsible for the differentiation block caused by this oncogene.

Identification of genetic variants in erythrocyte lysate by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by silver-staining has been employed to study 27 red cell lysates for genetic variation. Forty-six polypeptides selected without respect to variability were considered suitable for scoring. Only 23 of the total of 1,242 polypeptides could not be scored unambiguously. Of the remaining 1,219 polypeptides, 38 exhibited the combination of a normal and a variant polypeptide. All variants were present in either the father or the mother of the subjects. The observed index of heterozygosity was 3.1% +/- 0.5%.

Two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis of erythrocyte membranes

In an effort to maximize the amount of genetic information that can be extracted from a blood sample, we investigated the use of two-dimensional polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (PAGE) to resolve the protein constituents of the erythrocyte membrane. Lyophilized membranes were dissolved in various concentrations of urea, NP-40 detergent, and mercaptoethanol and subjected to two-dimensional PAGE by a modification of the O'Farrell procedure, with use of the ISO-DALT apparatus. More than 600 spots were visible in silver-stained gels under conditions that excluded specific cytoskeleton protein components, including spectrin and actin. The reproducibility of the pattern depended highly on the precise composition of the solubilization mixture. Poor resolution was observed in the presence of actin and other proteins of high molecular mass (spectrin bands 1 and 2) when we used high urea concentrations that solubilized the entire erythrocyte membrane. The large number of polypeptides observed could not be attributed to proteolysis, because addition of proteolytic inhibitors to the membrane wash solutions did not alter the pattern on the gel. The pattern also did not appear to include erythrocyte cytosol proteins because, except for globin, none of five purified erythrocyte lysate proteins was visible in the erythrocyte membrane gels. We conclude that two-dimensional electrophoresis provides a powerful tool for the study of non-cytoskeletal erythrocyte membrane proteins.

Two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis of erythrocyte membranes

In an effort to maximize the amount of genetic information that can be extracted from a blood sample, we investigated the use of two-dimensional polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (PAGE) to resolve the protein constituents of the erythrocyte membrane. Lyophilized membranes were dissolved in various concentrations of urea, NP-40 detergent, and mercaptoethanol and subjected to two-dimensional PAGE by a modification of the O'Farrell procedure, with use of the ISO-DALT apparatus. More than 600 spots were visible in silver-stained gels under conditions that excluded specific cytoskeleton protein components, including spectrin and actin. The reproducibility of the pattern depended highly on the precise composition of the solubilization mixture. Poor resolution was observed in the presence of actin and other proteins of high molecular mass (spectrin bands 1 and 2) when we used high urea concentrations that solubilized the entire erythrocyte membrane. The large number of polypeptides observed could not be attributed to proteolysis, because addition of proteolytic inhibitors to the membrane wash solutions did not alter the pattern on the gel. The pattern also did not appear to include erythrocyte cytosol proteins because, except for globin, none of five purified erythrocyte lysate proteins was visible in the erythrocyte membrane gels. We conclude that two-dimensional electrophoresis provides a powerful tool for the study of non-cytoskeletal erythrocyte membrane proteins.