Faculty Bibliography

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe mei3(+) gene is expressed only in diploid cells undergoing meiosis. Ectopic expression of mei3(+) in haploid cells causes meiotic catastrophe. Mei3 is an inhibitor of Ran1/Pat1 kinase and contains a nine-amino-acid motif, Mei3-RKDIII, that resembles two regions in the Ste11 substrate for Ran1/Pat1. Substitution of serine for Arg-81 within Mei3-RKDIII transforms the inhibitor into a substrate for Ran1/Pat1. Thus, it is likely that Mei3-RKDIII defines a pseudosubstrate sequence. In this study, we constructed a series of mei3 deletion mutations and assayed each for activity. This analysis indicates that the carboxy-terminal domain of Mei3 is sufficient for function in vivo. Alanine-scanning mutagenesis identifies critical residues within the inhibitory domain. Two mutations, SM1 and SM8, fail to cause meiotic catastrophe. The SM1 mutation contains alterations of amino acid residues in Mei3-RKDIII. Recombinant SM1 protein exhibits reduced ability to inhibit Ran1/Pat1 kinase in vitro and interacts inefficiently with the kinase in a two-hybrid assay. The SM8 protein binds to Ran1/Pat1 in a two-hybrid assay but fails to inhibit Ran1/Pat1 substrate phosphorylation in vitro. These findings provide evidence that Mei3-RKDIII defines a Ran1/Pat1-binding site that is necessary but not sufficient for inhibition of the kinase. Using fusions to green fluorescent protein, the cellular localization of Ran1 and Mei3 was examined in living cells. Ran1 is concentrated in the nucleus. Mei3 is also enriched in the nucleus and, consistent with the genetic and biochemical results, the inhibitory domain of Mei3 is sufficient for nuclear localization

ran1+ (pat1+) kinase inhibits exit from the mitotic cell cycle and entry into meiosis. Inactivation of ran1+ by mei3+ is sufficient to precipitate the entire meiotic developmental program. Here, we show that the ste11+ transcription factor is a substrate for ran1+ in vitro and that this reaction is directly inhibited by mei3+. Sequence comparison reveals that ste11+ contains two domains homologous to each other and to a domain of mei3+. Mutagenesis studies reveal that the regions of homology contain substrate specificity determinants. These results identify sequences critical for phosphorylation of ste11+ by ran1+ and suggest that mei3+ employs a pseudosubstrate mechanism for its inhibitory function

A pressure relief balloon has been recommended as one way to decrease catheter-related pulmonary artery rupture (PAR). There are approximately 1 to 2 PARs per 1,000 pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) insertions, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. A new pressure relief balloon (PRB) introduced by Biosensors International (Singapore) was studied for its efficacy in increasing safety during PAC flotation balloon (FB) inflations. Ten human placentae were used for the experiment. The Biosensors PACs and the commonly used Baxter-Edwards (Irvine, CA) catheters were placed in placental veins and their FBs were gradually inflated with a maximum of 1.5 mL of air. Data revealed that PRBs consistently inflated when resistance was met by FBs and inflation pressure reached 1,000 mmHg. When PRBs were removed, the FBs inflated asymmetrically and distended beyond the catheter lumen or protruded through the vessel wall, causing bleeding upon deflation. Without the PRB, pressures reached up to 1,700 mmHg. In addition, the PRB gave visual evidence of resistance to the FB. In conclusion, the PRB is a safety device that limits overinflation of the distal PAC balloon, thus preventing vessel rupture. The device deserves serious consideration and outcome analysis.

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC25 gene encodes a nucleotide-exchange-factor (NEF) that can convert the inactive GDP-bound state of RAS proteins to an active RAS-GTP complex. CDC25 can activate the yeast RAS proteins as well as the human H-ras protein. CDC25 is a member of a family of yeast genes that likely encode NEFs capable of regulating the RAS-related proteins found in yeast. By aligning the amino acid sequence of CDC25-related gene products we found a number of conserved motifs. Using degenerate oligonucleotides that encode these conserved sequences, we have used polymerase chain reactions to amplify fragments of mouse and human cDNAs related to the yeast CDC25 gene. We show that a chimeric molecule, part mouse and part yeast CDC25, can suppress the loss of CDC25 function in the yeast S. cerevisiae