Influence of metal cations on the solubility of fluoroquinolones.

Although a clinically relevant interaction between a fluoroquinolone and a metal cation was first described more than 20 years ago the biopharmaceutical mechanism of this interaction is still not understood. One of the obvious disagreements in the literature is about the effect of metal cations on the solubility of fluoroquinolones. Namely, metal cations are reported to increase the solubility of fluoroquinolones as well as to decrease it and thus cause the lowered bioavailability. Thus in this work the solubility of ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and ofloxacin and the effect of metal cations on the solubility of these fluoroquinolones in aqueous media of different pH values were reevaluated. The results clearly show that the metal cations either do not affect or even increase the solubility of fluoroquinolones. Thus they surely do not influence the bioavailability of these drugs by decreasing their solubility. Additionally, possible explanations for the contradictory results reported in the literature are given.

Yeast frameshift suppressor mutations in the genes coding for transcription factor Mbf1p and ribosomal protein S3: evidence for autoregulation of S3 synthesis.

The SUF13 and SUF14 genes were identified among extragenic suppressors of +1 frameshift mutations. SUF13 is synonymous with MBF1, a single-copy nonessential gene coding for a POLII transcription factor. The suf13-1 mutation is a two-nucleotide deletion in the SUF13/MBF1 coding region. A suf13::TRP1 null mutant suppresses +1 frameshift mutations, indicating that suppression is caused by loss of SUF13 function. The suf13-1 suppressor alters sensitivity to aminoglycoside antibiotics and reduces the accumulation of his4-713 mRNA, suggesting that suppression is mediated at the translational level. The SUF14 gene is synonymous with RPS3, a single-copy essential gene that codes for the ribosomal protein S3. The suf14-1 mutation is a missense substitution in the coding region. Increased expression of S3 limits the accumulation of SUF14 mRNA, suggesting that expression is autoregulated. A frameshift mutation in SUF14 that prevents full-length translation eliminated regulation, indicating that S3 is required for regulation. Using CUP1-SUF14 and SUF14-lacZ fusions, run-on transcription assays, and estimates of mRNA half-life, our results show that transcription plays a minor role if any in regulation and that the 5'-UTR is necessary but not sufficient for regulation. A change in mRNA decay rate may be the primary mechanism for regulation.

The yeast SEN1 gene is required for the processing of diverse RNA classes.

A single base change in the helicase superfamily 1 domain of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae SEN1 gene results in a heat-sensitive mutation that alters the cellular abundance of many RNA species. We compared the relative amounts of RNAs between cells that are wild-type and mutant after temperature-shift. In the mutant several RNAs were found to either decrease or increase in abundance. The affected RNAs include tRNAs, rRNAs and small nuclear and nucleolar RNAs. Many of the affected RNAs have been positively identified and include end-matured precursor tRNAs and the small nuclear and nucleolar RNAs U5 and snR40 and snR45. Several small nucleolar RNAs co-immunoprecipitate with Sen1 but differentially associate with the wild-type and mutant protein. Its inactivation also impairs precursor rRNA maturation, resulting in increased accumulation of 35S and 6S precursor rRNAs and reduced levels of 20S, 23S and 27S rRNA processing intermediates. Thus, Sen1 is required for the biosynthesis of various functionally distinct classes of nuclear RNAs. We propose that Sen1 is an RNA helicase acting on a wide range of RNA classes. Its effects on the targeted RNAs in turn enable ribonuclease activity.

Inactivation of the yeast Sen1 protein affects the localization of nucleolar proteins.

A mutation in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae SEN1 gene causes accumulation of end-matured, intron-containing pre-tRNAs. Cells containing the thermosensitive sen1-1 mutation exhibit reduced tRNA splicing endonuclease activity. However, Sen1p is not the catalytic subunit of this enzyme. We have used Sen1p-specific antibodies for cell fractionation studies and immunofluorescent microscopy and determined that Sen1p is a low abundance protein of about 239 kDa. It localizes to the nucleus with a granular distribution. We verified that a region in SEN1 containing a putative nuclear localization signal sequence (NLS) is necessary for nuclear targeting. Furthermore, we found that inactivation of Sen1p by temperature shift of a strain carrying sen1-1 leads to mislocalization of two nucleolar proteins, Nop1 and Ssb1. Possible mechanisms are discussed for several related nuclear functions of Sen1p, including tRNA splicing and the maintenance of a normal crescent-shaped nucleolus.

The yeast SEN3 gene encodes a regulatory subunit of the 26S proteasome complex required for ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation in vivo.

The yeast Sen1 protein was discovered by virtue of its role in tRNA splicing in vitro. To help determine the role of Sen1 in vivo, we attempted to overexpress the protein in yeast cells. However, cells with a high-copy SEN1-bearing plasmid, although expressing elevated amounts of SEN1 mRNA, show little increase in the level of the encoded protein, indicating that a posttranscriptional mechanism limits SEN1 expression. This control depends on an amino-terminal element of Sen1. Using a genetic selection for mutants with increased expression of Sen1-derived fusion proteins, we identified mutations in a novel gene, designated SEN3. SEN3 is essential and encodes a 945-residue protein with sequence similarity to a subunit of an activator of the 20S proteasome from bovine erythrocytes, called PA700. Earlier work indicated that the 20S proteasome associates with a multisubunit regulatory factor, resulting in a 26S proteasome complex that degrades substrates of the ubiquitin system. Mutant sen3-1 cells have severe defects in the degradation of such substrates and accumulate ubiquitin-protein conjugates. Most importantly, we show biochemically that Sen3 is a subunit of the 26S proteasome. These data provide evidence for the involvement of the 26S proteasome in the degradation of ubiquitinated proteins in vivo and for a close relationship between PA700 and the regulatory complexes within the 26S proteasome, and they directly demonstrate that Sen3 is a component of the yeast 26S proteasome.

The essential yeast Tcp1 protein affects actin and microtubules.

Previously, we showed that the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae cold-sensitive mutation tcp1-1 confers growth arrest concomitant with cytoskeletal disorganization and disruption of microtubule-mediated processes. We have identified two new recessive mutations, tcp1-2 and tcp1-3, that confer heat- and cold-sensitive growth. Cells carrying tcp1 alleles were analyzed after exposure to the appropriate restrictive temperatures by cell viability tests, differential contrast microscopy, fluorescent, and immunofluorescent microscopy of DNA, tubulin, and actin and by determining the DNA content per cell. All three mutations conferred unique phenotypes indicative of cytoskeletal dysfunction. A causal relationship between loss of Tcp1p function and the development of cytoskeletal abnormalities was established by double mutant analyses. Novel phenotypes indicative of allele-specific genetic interactions were observed when tcp1-1 was combined in the same strain with tub1-1, tub2-402, act1-1, and act1-4, but not with other tubulin or actin mutations or with mutations in other genes affecting the cytoskeleton. Also, overproduction of wild-type Tcp1p partially suppressed growth defects conferred by act1-1 and act1-4. Furthermore, Tcp1p was localized to the cytoplasm and the cell cortex. Based on our results, we propose that Tcp1p is required for normal development and function of actin and microtubules either through direct or indirect interaction with the major cytoskeletal components.

SEN1, a positive effector of tRNA-splicing endonuclease in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The SEN1 gene, which is essential for growth in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is required for endonucleolytic cleavage of introns from all 10 families of precursor tRNAs. A mutation in SEN1 conferring temperature-sensitive lethality also causes in vivo accumulation of pre-tRNAs and a deficiency of in vitro endonuclease activity. Biochemical evidence suggests that the gene product may be one of several components of a nuclear-localized splicing complex. We have cloned the SEN1 gene and characterized the SEN1 mRNA, the SEN1 gene product, the temperature-sensitive sen1-1 mutation, and three SEN1 null alleles. The SEN1 gene corresponds to a 6,336-bp open reading frame coding for a 2,112-amino-acid protein (molecular mass, 239 kDa). Using antisera directed against the C-terminal end of SEN1, we detect a protein corresponding to the predicted molecular weight of SEN1. The SEN1 protein contains a leucine zipper motif, consensus elements for nucleoside triphosphate binding, and a potential nuclear localization signal sequence. The carboxy-terminal 1,214 amino acids of the SEN1 protein are essential for growth, whereas the amino-terminal 898 amino acids are dispensable. A sequence of approximately 500 amino acids located in the essential region of SEN1 has significant similarity to the yeast UPF1 gene product, which is involved in mRNA turnover, and the mouse Mov-10 gene product, whose function is unknown. The mutation that creates the temperature-sensitive sen1-1 allele is located within this 500-amino-acid region, and it causes a substitution for an amino acid that is conserved in all three proteins.

The yeast homolog to mouse Tcp-1 affects microtubule-mediated processes.

A Saccharomyces cerevisiae homolog to Drosophila melanogaster and mouse Tcp-1 encoding tailless complex polypeptide 1 (TCP1) has been identified, sequenced, and mapped. The mouse t complex has been under scrutiny for six decades because of its effects on embryogenesis and sperm differentiation and function. TCP1 is an essential gene in yeast cells and is located on chromosome 4R, linked to pet14. The TCP1-encoded proteins in yeast, Drosophila, and mouse cells share between 61 and 72% amino acid sequence identities, suggesting a primordial function for the TCP1 gene product. To assess function, we constructed a cold-impaired recessive mutation (tcp1-1) in the yeast gene. Cells carrying the tcp1-1 mutation grew linearly rather than exponentially at the restrictive temperature of 15 degrees C with a generation time of approximately 32 h in minimal medium. Both multinucleate and anucleate cells accumulated with time, suggesting that the linear growth kinetics may be explained by the generation of anucleate buds incapable of further cell division. In addition, the multinucleate and anucleate cells contained morphologically abnormal structures detected by anti-alpha-tubulin antibodies. The kinetics of appearance of these abnormalities suggest that they are a direct consequence of loss of function of the TCP1 protein and not a delayed, indirect consequence of cell death. We also observed that strains carrying tcp1-1 were hypersensitive to antimitotic compounds. Taken together, these observations imply that the TCP1 protein affects microtubule-mediated processes.

A Drosophila melanogaster gene encodes a protein homologous to the mouse t complex polypeptide 1.

We have isolated and sequenced a cDNA from Drosophila melanogaster that is homologous to the mouse Tcp-1 gene encoding the t complex polypeptide 1, TCP-1. The Drosophila gene maps by in situ hybridization to bands 94B1-2 of the polytene chromosomes. It shares 66% nucleotide sequence identity with the mouse gene. The predicted Drosophila protein consists of 557 amino acids and shares 72% identity with the mouse polypeptide. The TCP-1 polypeptide appears to be highly conserved in evolution from mammals to simple eukaryotes because the Drosophila gene probe also detects related sequences in DNA from the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The presence of TCP-1-related polypeptides in organisms such as Drosophila and yeast should facilitate biochemical and genetic analysis of its function.

Eight DNA insertion events of Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti-plasmids in isogenic sunflower genomes are all distinct.

We investigated whether the same or different T-DNA insertions occur every time Agrobacterium tumefaciens, the octopine type strain pTi 15955 strr, infects genetically identical sunflower plants. Eight newly established crown gall tissue culture lines were analyzed for their T-DNA content. Our data showed that all isogenic crown gall callus DNA produced distinct hybridization patterns. These eight patterns were also different from three standard lines included for comparison. In addition, all the tumor lines analyzed produced octopine, albeit in different quantities, and five produced agropine and mannopine. We concluded, that each A. tumefaciens crown gall tissue line derived from isogenic sunflower plants contained a distinct insertion pattern of T-DNA. Possible causes and reasons for this diversity will be discussed.

A cold-sensitive mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae defective in ribosome processing.

Cold-sensitive mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolated by tritium suicide were screened for defects in ribosome biosynthesis. The biochemical defects of mutant dip-1 (defective in processing) were characterized; it is defective in ribosome biosynthesis at the level of production of the primary 35S transcript. At restrictive conditions mutant dip-1 accumulates abnormal rRNA in addition to wild-type rRNA. In the mutant the first observable transcription product was a 14SRNA species which had sequence homologies to 18S rDNA and was the major rRNA component of the 40S ribosomal subunit. In addition, the ribonucleoprotein particles of dip-1 harbored RNA molecules with homologies to yeast rDNA which comprises the spacer region between 18S and 25S rDNA cistrons. Possible causes for the defective production of rRNA and its assembly into subunits are discussed.

In vivo and in vitro phosphorylation of ribosomal proteins by protein kinases from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

From the high salt wash of the ribosomes of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, three protein kinases have been isolated and separated by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The three kinases differ in their abilities to phosphorylate substrates such as histones (calf thymus), casein, and S. cerevisiae ribosomes; two of the kinases showed increased activity in the presence of cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate when histones and 40S ribosomal subunits were used as substrates. The protein kinases catalyzed phosphorylation of certain proteins of the 40S and 60S ribosomal subunits, and 80S ribosomes in vitro. Nine proteins of the 80S ribosome, seven proteins of the 40S subunit, and eleven of the 60S subunit were phosphorylated; different proteins were modified to various extents when different kinases were used. We have identified several proteins of 40S and 60S ribosomal subunits which are not available to the kinases in the 80S particles. Ribosomes isolated from S. cerevisiae cells growing in logarithmic phase of growth were found to contain a number of phosphorylated proteins. Studies by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that the ribosomal proteins phosphorylated in vivo correspond with those phosphorylated in vitro. The relationship of in vivo phsophorylation of ribosomes to the growth and physiology of S. cerevisiae is not known.