Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.7.6 (RNA polymerase)
34,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Polyamines are well-known ubiquitous components of living cells. Although these polycations have been implicated in the regulation of major cellular functions such as DNA, RNA and protein synthesis occurring during cellular proliferation and/or differentiation processes, their mechanism of action at the molecular level has remained obscure. On the other hand, protein phosphorylation has emerged as a regulatory process of prime importance in cellular regulation. Data have recently been presented suggesting that polyamines may express at least part of their biological action through an effect upon selective protein phosphorylation systems. Two types of polyamine-sensitive protein kinases have been characterized in the last few years. The best known in molecular terms is the widespread casein kinase G (also termed casein kinase II), which represents a multifunctional protein kinase, at present classified as a messenger-independent activity. The other is a polyamine-dependent nuclear ornithine decarboxylase kinase characterized in Physarum polycephalum and several mammalian tissues. Both protein kinases are activated by polyamines in vitro at concentrations compatible with a physiological role, by a mechanism which most likely also involves an effect through the protein substrate conformation. Preliminary evidence suggests that both kinases may be implicated in the regulation of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase activities, although several other potential substrates have been suggested for casein kinase G. Another suggestion is that these kinases may also participate in the post-translational regulation of ornithine decarboxylase, the rate-limiting step in the polyamine biosynthetic pathway. A novel class of protein kinase activities may thus be defined as polyamine-mediated phosphorylation systems for which polyamines may function as intracellular messenger. Although their biological significance remains to be fully established, especially with regard to the definition of their specific intracellular target(s) and subsequent biological functions, these systems will be interesting to consider in future studies aimed at understanding the role of polyamines in cell regulation.
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PMID:Polyamine-mediated protein phosphorylations: a possible target for intracellular polyamine action. 619 Jun 90

When mice fed on a protein-depleted diet are restored to the normal diet (re-feeding), there is a 2-fold increase in liver RNA polymerase I activity. The results obtained with pactamycin; an inhibitor of protein synthesis, suggest the presence of short-lived proteins which are required for inducing an activated state of transcription. To gain an insight on whether ornithine decarboxylase (ODC)--the first enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis--is the labile protein that regulates rRNA synthesis, we have investigated the correlation between liver ODC and RNA polymerase I activities under different nutritional conditions. We have also studied the effects of alpha-difluormethylornithine (alpha-DFMO)--a specific ODC inactivator--on rRNA transcription. The results indicate that, after re-feeding, there is an abrupt increase in ODC activity that rapidly declines, while RNA polymerase I is still increasing. On the other hand, alpha-DFMO--which inhibits the elevated activity of ODC--has not effect on rRNA transcription.
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PMID:Lack of correlation between liver RNA polymerase I and ornithine decarboxylase activities after re-feeding of protein-depleted mice. 624 Sep 15

Nuclear protein kinases include enzymes that transfer the gamma-phosphate of ATP to serine, threonine, lysine or histidine in proteins. Nuclear kinases with a preference for basic proteins are known as histone kinases; those preferring acidic protein substrates are casein kinases. Histone kinases include both cyclic AMP-independent protein kinases and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases. The best-characterized cyclic AMP-independent nuclear protein kinase is associated with cell proliferation and is activated (or transported to the nucleus) in G2 phase of the cell cycle. It phosphorylates specific serine and threonine residues in the non globular domains of histone H1 and appears to promote chromosome condensation. The cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase has unknown nuclear function(s), although it may be translocated from cytoplasm to nucleus in response to specific hormonal stimuli which are also associated with changes in transcriptional activity. There is a massive peak of nuclear cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase activity in G2 phase of the cell cycle. Nuclear casein kinases are apparently very heterogeneous. Two of these enzymes have been purified to homogeneity. They phosphorylate non-histone chromosomal proteins, including RNA polymerase and ornithine decarboxylase. Phosphorylated ornithine decarboxylase is inactive enzymatically but, in Physarum, it binds to the rDNA minichromosome and stimulates rRNA transcription. Kinases forming phosphoramidate bonds occur in a variety of rat tissues and form phosphohistide in histone H4 and phospholysine in histone H1.
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PMID:Nuclear protein kinases. 632 62

In the initial stages of Reye's Syndrome, following an influenza infection, the viral RNA polymerase activates liver host cell ornithine decarboxylase by combining with this enzyme. Once the reaction has occurred, ornithine decarboxylase is no longer available to combine with and to activate host cell RNA polymerase. The virally activated ornithine decarboxylase removes ornithine from participation in the urea cycle by metabolizing ornithine to putrescine which, in turn, is metabolized to spermidine. Once ornithine has been removed from participation in the urea cycle, mitochondrial carbamoyl phosphate levels increase until the carbamoyl phosphate passes from the mitochondria into the cytosol where it is metabolized by the de novo pyrimidine synthesis pathway. Through the implementation of this process, the virus has insured that: host cell RNA polymerase in liver cells is inactivated, viral RNA polymerase has complete access to newly synthesized pyrimidines, production of pyrimidines for the synthesis of viral messenger RNA is initiated, spermidine, a mRNA stabilizer is produced, many of the components necessary for viral mRNA synthesis are provided by the host cell's RNA synthesizing mechanism.
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PMID:The viral mechanism of Reye's syndrome. 637 95

Previous results have suggested that ethylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) is a more specific inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis than the widely used methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone). The physiological effects on mitogenically activated lymphocytes of polyamine depletion with ethylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) were examined. In the presence of ethylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) and the ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor alpha-difluoromethylornithine, the cellular contents of putrescine, spermidine, and spermine were decreased by 75 to 90, 65 to 80, and 40 to 60%, respectively, compared with control cultures. Inhibition of DNA synthesis in these polyamine-deficient cells was always greater than that of protein synthesis. Upon addition of spermidine to the deficient cells, the cellular spermidine content was restored within 4 hr, but the complete recovery of macromolecular synthesis took 10 to 20 hr. Thymidine kinase and DNA polymerase alpha activities in polyamine-deficient cells were lower than those in normal cells, whereas RNA polymerase II and leucyl transfer RNA synthase activities were nearly equal to those in normal cells. These results and studies with 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis raise the possibility that polyamines may regulate the synthesis of specific proteins. Decreased synthesis of replication proteins in polyamine-deficient cells may be one reason for the reduced synthesis of DNA.
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PMID:Physiological effects in bovine lymphocytes of inhibiting polyamine synthesis with ethylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone). 643 67

This study was designed to characterize mouse kidney ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity as an androgenic end point and to use ODC activity to detect an androgenic effect of antiandrogens. Enzyme activity was not affected by freezing the whole kidney or the 15,000 X g supernatant for up to 7 days. ODC activity in female mice had a diurnal variation that peaked at midday. This diurnal variation did not affect the androgenic response of ODC. Enzyme activity was lower in females than in males and, in both sexes, could be induced further to similar levels with testosterone treatment. A single dose of crystalline testosterone induced a marked increase in activity, which peaked sharply, up to 100-fold above baseline, 12-17 h after treatment. Enzyme activity could be maintained with continued treatment for at least 28 days and reached levels up to 1,000-fold above baseline. The response was specific for androgens and required a functional androgen receptor. Other hormones had permissive effects. The early androgen-stimulated response (less than 24 h) was partially diminished by hypophysectomy. Propylthiouracil reduced both early and chronic responses. Genetic factors were also involved. The testosterone-stimulated response of C57BL/6J mice was consistently approximately half that of DBA/2J mice. Using this very specific and sensitive increase in ODC activity as an end point, we did not detect an androgenic response to treatment with the antiandrogens, cyproterone acetate (6-chloro - 17 alpha - acetoxyl - 1,2 alpha - methylene - 4,6- pregnadiene- 3,20-dione) and flutamide (4'-nitro-3'-trifluoromethylisobutyranilide), despite an increase in RNA polymerase activity. The functionality of the polymerase activity induced by antiandrogens thus remains in question. These data suggest that mouse renal ODC activity can be a useful tool for future study of androgen action at the physiological and molecular level.
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PMID:Androgen and progestin stimulation of ornithine decarboxylase activity in the mouse kidney. 668 54

Incubation with protein kinase NII did not result in phosphorylation or inactivation of mouse kidney ornithine decarboxylase. Partially purified ornithine decarboxylase preparations contained a protein kinase activity and stimulated the activity of RNA polymerase I. However, these properties were due to contaminating protein(s) since further purification reduced the kinase activity and removal of the ornithine decarboxylase with a specific antiserum did not abolish the ability to stimulate RNA polymerase I. Antibodies to RNA polymerase I did not interact with ornithine decarboxylase and antibodies to ornithine decarboxylase did not interact with RNA polymerase I. These results indicate that: a) mammalian ornithine decarboxylase activity is not regulated by phosphorylation by protein kinase NII or the contaminating kinase, and b) the ability of impure preparations of ornithine decarboxylase to stimulate RNA polymerase I is due to a contaminating unrelated protein.
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PMID:Absence of inactivation or phosphorylation of ornithine decarboxylase by nuclear protein kinase NII and of immunological cross-reactivity between RNA polymerase I and ornithine decarboxylase. 671 90

The role of polyamines in macromolecular synthesis has been studied using the synthesis of Semliki-Forest virus (SF virus) in normal and alpha-difluoromethylornithine-treated baby-hamster kidney (BHK21) cells as a model system. The activities of ornithine decarboxylase and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase, the rate-limiting enzymes in polyamine biosynthesis, decreased rapidly in mock- and SF-virus-infected cells, indicating that virus production in BHK21 cells was not dependent on polyamines formed after infection. A prolonged treatment of BHK21 cells with alpha-difluoro-methylornithine, a specific inhibitor of polyamine synthesis, resulted in a marked inhibition of the initial rate of virus production, which appeared 72 h after the beginning of the treatment. This inhibition was reversed by putrescine, spermidine and spermine, and at last partially by several other diamines and polyamine homologues. Polyamine-depletion also markedly reduced viral RNA polymerase activity in SF-virus infected cells. Addition of spermidine to the culture medium rapidly increased viral RNA polymerase activity in the inhibitor-treated cells but had no effect on the enzyme activity when added directly to the assay mixture. The results indicated that polyamines are needed for maximum initial rate of SF-virus replication and suggest that the inhibition of virus production in polyamine-depleted cells is at least partly due to malfunction of the protein-synthetic machinery of the host cell.
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PMID:Synthesis of Semliki-forest virus in polyamine-depleted baby-hamster kidney cells. 681 70

In nuclei and nucleoli of the slime mold Physarum polycephalum, ornithine decarboxylase (OrnDCase) (Mr 70,000) is phosphorylated by a protein kinase reaction that is dependent on spermidine and spermine. Putrescine antagonizes the phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of OrnDCase inhibits its capacity to catalyze decarboxylation of ornithine. The protein kinase that catalyzes this phosphorylation has many properties similar to those of nuclear protein kinase II, or type G, which has been studied by other groups. The interaction of this protein kinase with OrnDCase resembles the behavior of the OrnDCase antizyme described by other investigators. Phosphorylated OrnDCase binds to purified, palindromic rDNA isolated from nucleoli. It also stimulates transcription of the ribosomal genes by RNA polymerase I in a chromatin form of rDNA. It does not stimulate transcription in a purified, homologous transcription system comprised of RNA polymerase I, rDNA, and phospho-OrnDCase. Thus, phospho-OrnDCase may have a function in promoting rRNA gene transcription but the detailed mechanism is yet unclear. The polyamine-dependent protein kinase and its natural substrate of 70,000 daltons have been demonstrated in other eukaryotic cells, including bovine spermatozoa and rat liver nuclei, and in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells, where the protein kinase is induced by interferon. This phosphorylation system appears to be widely distributed and conserved among eukaryotic species.
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PMID:Posttranslational control of ornithine decarboxylase by polyamine-dependent protein kinase. 714 Oct 3

Purified ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.17, ODC) transamidated with four putrescine moieties on four glutamine residues through the action of transglutaminase (EC 2.3.2.13, TGase) purified from guinea pig liver, when added to isolated rat liver nuclei, stoichiometrically increased the activity of RNA polymerase I (EC 2.7.7.6). The increase was relative to the pmoles of purified conjugated ODC added to the reaction and could be reinitiated after the reaction had plateaued by the further addition of ODC-putrescine conjugate. The kinetics of the reaction suggest that the ODC-putrescine conjugate was not reused but degraded after each initiation. Otherwise, the rapid plateau would not be observed. The repeated addition of 278 pmoles of purified ODC-putrescine conjugate to rat liver nuclear preparations containing 200 micrograms total protein consistently stimulated the incorporation of 600-700 pmoles UMP/mg protein. We suggest that ODC transamidated by its product putrescine may be the posttranslationally modified 65,000 Mr protein which has been reported by several laboratories to serve as a labile subunit of RNA polymerase I.
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PMID:Posttranslationally modified ornithine decarboxylase may regulate RNA polymerase I activity. 715 Mar 60


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