ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVArticleNEXTProlyl Isomerase as a Probe of Stability of Slow-Folding IntermediatesSudha Veeraraghavan, Sofia Rodriguez-Ghidarpour, Christy MacKinnon, William A. McGee, Michael M. Pierce, and Barry T. NallCite this: Biochemistry 1995, 34, 39, 12892–12902Publication Date (Print):October 3, 1995Publication History Published online1 May 2002Published inissue 3 October 1995https://doi.org/10.1021/bi00039a052RIGHTS & PERMISSIONSArticle Views41Altmetric-Citations12LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InReddit PDF (1 MB) Get e-Alerts Get e-Alerts
Caltractin (centrin) is a member of the calmodulin subfamily of EF-hand Ca2+-binding proteins that is an essential component of microtubule-organizing centers in many organisms ranging from yeast and algae to humans. The protein contains two homologous EF-hand Ca2+-binding domains linked by a flexible tether; each domain is capable of binding two Ca2+ ions. In an effort to search for domain-specific functional properties of caltractin, the two isolated domains were subcloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Ca2+ binding affinities and the Ca2+ dependence of biophysical properties of the isolated domains were monitored by UV, CD, and NMR spectroscopy. Comparisons to the corresponding results for the intact protein showed that the two domains function independently of each other in these assays. Titration of a peptide fragment from the yeast Kar1p protein to the isolated domains and intact caltractin shows that the two domains interact in a Ca2+-dependent manner, with the C-terminal domain binding much more strongly than the N-terminal domain. Measurements of the macroscopic Ca2+ binding constants show that only the N-terminal domain has sufficient apparent Ca2+ affinity in vitro (1–10 μm) to be classified as a traditional calcium sensor in signal transduction pathways. However, investigation of the microscopic Ca2+binding events in the C-terminal domain by NMR spectroscopy revealed that the observed macroscopic binding constant likely results from binding to two sites with very different affinities, one in the micromolar range and the other in the millimolar range. Thus, the C-terminal domain appears to also be capable of sensing Ca2+ signals but is activated by the binding of a single ion.
The vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC)-specific isoform of alpha-actin (ACTA2) is a major component of the contractile apparatus in SMCs located throughout the arterial system. Heterozygous ACTA2 mutations cause familial thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAAD), but only half of mutation carriers have aortic disease. Linkage analysis and association studies of individuals in 20 families with ACTA2 mutations indicate that mutation carriers can have a diversity of vascular diseases, including premature onset of coronary artery disease (CAD) and premature ischemic strokes (including Moyamoya disease [MMD]), as well as previously defined TAAD. Sequencing of DNA from patients with nonfamilial TAAD and from premature-onset CAD patients independently identified ACTA2 mutations in these patients and premature onset strokes in family members with ACTA2 mutations. Vascular pathology and analysis of explanted SMCs and myofibroblasts from patients harboring ACTA2 suggested that increased proliferation of SMCs contributed to occlusive diseases. These results indicate that heterozygous ACTA2 mutations predispose patients to a variety of diffuse and diverse vascular diseases, including TAAD, premature CAD, ischemic strokes, and MMD. These data demonstrate that diffuse vascular diseases resulting from either occluded or enlarged arteries can be caused by mutations in a single gene and have direct implications for clinical management and research on familial vascular diseases.
Single-step selections were used to obtain Chinese hamster ovary cell lines resistant to Colcemid and vinblastine. Verapamil was included in the selections to circumvent the isolation of cells with P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance and thereby enrich for cells with tubulin alterations. The isolated cell lines were 2-fold resistant to the selecting drug, exhibited cross-resistance to other drugs that inhibit microtubule assembly, and had enhanced sensitivity to the microtubule-stabilizing drug paclitaxel. The concomitant resistance to microtubule-destabilizing drugs and enhanced sensitivity to paclitaxel suggested that these cell lines have changes in microtubule assembly. Consistent with this interpretation, drug-resistant cell lines exhibited altered alpha- or beta-tubulin mobility on two-dimensional gels and higher levels (47-54%) of assembled tubulin compared with wild-type (39%) or paclitaxel-resistant cells (25%). Some drug-resistant cells also had bundled microtubules as judged by immunofluorescence. Genomic sequencing of 11 drug-resistant cell lines predicted five different alterations (D45Y, C211F, D224N, S234N, and K350N) in beta-tubulin and four different alterations (H283Y, E55K, A383V, and R390C) in alpha-tubulin. The amino acid substitutions are dispersed on the primary and tertiary structures of tubulin and, together with the other mutant properties, argue against a mechanism involving changes in drug binding. Rather, we propose that the alterations in alpha- and beta-tubulin increase microtubule stability by promoting longitudinal interdimer and intradimer interactions and/or lateral interactions between protofilaments. This enhanced stability of microtubules increases their resistance to drugs that inhibit assembly.
Abstract Chinese hamster ovary cells selected for resistance to paclitaxel have a high incidence of mutations affecting L215, L217, and L228 in the H6/H7 loop region of β1-tubulin. To determine whether other mutations in this loop are also capable of conferring resistance to drugs that affect microtubule assembly, saturation mutagenesis of the highly conserved P220 codon in β1-tubulin cDNA was carried out. Transfection of a mixed pool of plasmids encoding all possible amino acid substitutions at P220 followed by selection in paclitaxel produced cell lines containing P220L and P220V substitutions. Similar selections in colcemid, on the other hand, yielded cell lines with P220C, P220S, and P220T substitutions. Site-directed mutagenesis and retransfection confirmed that these mutations were responsible for drug resistance. Expression of tubulin containing the P220L and P220V mutations reduced microtubule assembly, conferred resistance to paclitaxel and epothilone A, but increased sensitivity to colcemid and vinblastine. In contrast, tubulin with the P220C, P220S, and P220T mutations increased microtubule assembly, conferred resistance to colcemid and vinblastine, but increased sensitivity to paclitaxel and epothilone A. The results are consistent with molecular modeling studies and support a drug resistance mechanism based on changes in microtubule assembly that counteract the effects of drug treatment. These studies show for the first time that different substitutions at the same amino acid residue in β1-tubulin can confer cellular resistance to either microtubule-stabilizing or microtubule-destabilizing drugs. [Mol Cancer Ther 2007;6(10):2798–806]
ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVArticleNEXTCharacterization of folding intermediates using prolyl isomeraseSudha Veeraraghavan and Barry T. NallCite this: Biochemistry 1994, 33, 3, 687–692Publication Date (Print):January 1, 1994Publication History Published online1 May 2002Published inissue 1 January 1994https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/bi00169a009https://doi.org/10.1021/bi00169a009research-articleACS PublicationsRequest reuse permissionsArticle Views50Altmetric-Citations18LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail Other access optionsGet e-Alertsclose Get e-Alerts
