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Query: UMLS:C0038187 (starvation)
 24,951 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Morphogens are signal molecules presumed to exist in embryos and to be involved in establishing the spatial pattern of cells during development. Differentiation inducing factor (DIF) has the properties of a morphogen required for producing the prestalk/prespore pattern in the aggregate formed by cells of the slime mould Dictyostelium in response to starvation. DIF-1, the major bioactive species after purification, has now been identified using a combined microchemical, spectroscopic and synthetic approach. The structure is defined as 1-(3,5-dichloro-2,6-dihydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-1-hexanone, and represents a new class of effector molecule. The availability of relatively large quantities of synthetic and isotopically labelled materials should now allow progress towards a detailed understanding of the pattern-forming processes in Dictyostelium development.
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PMID:Chemical structure of the morphogen differentiation inducing factor from Dictyostelium discoideum. 362 28

Following a previous study indicating a sensitivity to folate during the developmental phase of Dictyostelium discoideum, a series of pteridines were investigated for their ability to induce amoebal chemotaxis during development of this organism. Several compounds were found to resemble folate in their ability to induce chemotaxis of both vegetative amoebae and amoebae developing during the first few hours of starvation. One compound, L-monapterin, was distinct in showing chemotactic activity only during the developmental phase after approximately 12 h of starvation. Tests using the polymerization of cytoskeletal actin as an assay for a cellular response correlated with chemotaxis showed that 10 nM-L-monapterin was a potent inducer of this response and that responsiveness appeared only after 12 h of development. The timing of these events may be correlated with the formation of tips containing stalk cells that occurs in multicellular aggregates at approximately 12 h, and suggests a role for L-monapterin (or a naturally occurring, closely related pteridine) in cell sorting. The evolutionary significance of the roles of pteridines is discussed.
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PMID:Chemotaxis towards pteridines during development of Dictyostelium. 366 16

The relationship between the development of Dictyostelium discoideum Ax-2 and the cell cycle at the onset of starvation was analysed with special reference to sorting behaviors during the formation of polarized cell masses (slugs), using a method for inducing good synchrony. Cells starved at different cell-cycle positions showed different developmental features during further culture. For example, cells just before mitosis and dividing cells were sorted out into the anterior prestalk zone of migrating slugs, while cells starved during most of the G2-phase, into the posterior prespore zone. Time courses of cell aggregation and tip formation were also found to vary greatly in a cell-cycle-related manner, and cells starved during the late G2-phase showed the most rapid development. Differential chemotaxis and cohesiveness are generally considered to be important for cell sorting in Dictyostelium development. In fact, remarkable differences in the chemotactic ability to a chemoattractant, cAMP, were detected among cells starved at any particular phase of the cell cycle. EDTA-resistant cohesiveness was also acquired differently depending on the cell cycle, and it was stronger in the cells showing more rapid aggregation. These findings indicate a close relation of the cell cycle to the cell sorting and pattern formation. The possible significance of the cell-cycle-related events presented here is discussed, with special emphasis on the process of cell aggregation.
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PMID:The developmental fate of Dictyostelium discoideum cells depends greatly on the cell-cycle position at the onset of starvation. 369 Jun 70

The utilization of [35S]sulphate by bacterially grown amoebae of Dictyostelium discoideum strain NP73 was examined in this study. During vegetative growth the sulphation of at least ten macromolecules was observed. These macromolecules had molecular masses less than 66 kDa and isoelectric points below 5. Simple tests indicated that the sulphate linkage was periodate-sensitive but not acid-labile which implied that carbohydrate moieties, rather than tyrosine residues, were sulphated. Pulse-chase experiments indicated that the sulphated macromolecules were extremely stable during vegetative growth, but that secretion occurred on starvation, resulting in the loss of the sulphated macromolecules to the extracellular medium. Incorporation of [35S]sulphate into these macromolecules by amoebae declined rapidly within 2 h of starvation on membrane filters. In contrast, incorporation by amoebae starving in suspension culture continued for 6-8 h. Similar patterns of [35S]sulphate incorporation were observed for two other strains of D. discoideum (strains AX2 and NC4) and for Polysphondylium violaceum. Since in a previous study it was shown that the sulphation inhibitor, sodium selenate, arrests the growth of D. discoideum [Davis, S.J. & Wheldrake, J.F. (1985) FEMS Micro Lett. 30, 353-358], it is suggested that the sulphation of these macromolecules is necessary for the vegetative growth of D. discoideum.
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PMID:Sulphation and the vegetative growth of Dictyostelium discoideum. 373 67

The center-initiating behavior of Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae in various cell-cycle phases was investigated. Small populations of synchronized AX-2 cells were seeded 1 in 1000 into cultures of a nonsignaling mutant (NP160) incapable of initiating centers. The ability of the wild-type AX-2 cells to initiate centers among mutant amoebae displayed cell-cycle regulation. Approximately 50% of a population of S-phase cells initiated centers while only 7.5% of a population of late G2-phase cells resulted in center formation. The timing of center formation also varied with cycle position. Synchronous cultures containing only AX-2 S-phase amoebae (no NP160) displayed the initial signs of aggregation after 4.5 hr of starvation and streaming into the aggregate was complete after 6 hr. In contrast, cultures of late G2-phase amoebae initiated aggregation centers after 5.5 hr of starvation and did not complete streaming until 7.5 hr. In addition, the number of aggregates formed by these synchronous cultures of AX-2 cells also varied with cycle position. In general, these results suggest a cell-cycle modulation of the autonomous signaling responsible for center initiation.
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PMID:Cell-cycle regulation of center initiation in Dictyostelium discoideum. 375 82

We have identified and begun characterizations of the differential expression of 15 genes whose corresponding mRNA levels decrease during the preaggregative period of the developmental program of Dictyostelium discoideum. Upon the onset of development, the mRNAs decrease from 5- to 1000-fold over the first 8 hr. The rates of loss of each mRNA were similar to one another but distinct, and the decreases were dependent on progress through the developmental program. One exception to this dependency was observed, and the decrease in this mRNA was dependent on the absolute time after initiation of development instead of progress through development. With two exceptions, the decreases in mRNA levels were dependent on developmental conditions and were not seen when cells were shaken in starvation buffer. When the polysomal distributions of each species were examined, three classes were found: most showed no significant shifts off of polysomes upon initiation of development, two were characterized by a 20% shift to nonpolysomal RNA fractions upon development, and two gave a 40-50% shift. Collectively, these characterizations reveal differences in behavior which suggest that deactivation of genes upon initiation of development in Dictyostelium involves more than one regulatory pathway.
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PMID:Characterization of genes which are deactivated upon the onset of development in Dictyostelium discoideum. 380 12

We have developed a simple and accurate method to determine the amount of intact plasmid DNA taken up and retained by Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae during various transformation protocols. We have used this method to compare the efficiency of three different methods for introducing foreign DNA into D. discoideum amoebae. Both a calcium phosphate and a spheroplast fusion procedure gave good uptake, but no intracellular plasmid DNA was detectable after calcium chloride treatment. The exogenous DNA was rapidly lost after transformation but was 20-fold more stable during starvation rather than growth conditions, suggesting a possible approach to improving transformation efficiency. No transient expression of neomycin phosphotransferase activity of any of the heterologous animal or plant promoters used could be detected using a sensitive gel assay procedure.
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PMID:Quantification of DNA uptake by Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae and the stability of the DNA during growth and development. 383 Dec 33

A monoclonal antibody, mAb 47-19-2, was used to study the subunit topology of the rod-shaped alpha-actinin molecules of Dictyostelium discoideum and to screen for mutants defective in the production of alpha-actinin. Electron microscopy of rotary-shadowed alpha-actinin-antibody complexes showed binding of mAb 47-19-2 to both ends of the alpha-actinin rods and cleavage of the rods into its subunits, indicating that the two subunits of alpha-actinin extend in an anti-parallel mode through the whole length of the rod. The antibody binding sites were located in close proximity to the sites responsible for actin cross-linking, which is consistent with the blocking activity of the antibody. In a mutant, HG1130, no antibody label was detected in colony blots, and by immunoblotting of mutant proteins separated by SDS-PAGE, only trace amounts of alpha-actinin were found. The mutant showed normal binding of antibodies directed against the actin-binding proteins severin and capping protein. The mutation responsible for the alpha-actinin defect was recessive and located on linkage group I of the genetic map of D. discoideum. HG1130 cells grew on bacteria at a normal rate and also axenically like cells of the parent strain AX2. After starvation the mutant cells expressed the contact site A glycoprotein, a marker of the aggregation-competent stage, and reacted chemotactically to cyclic AMP. The aggregation patterns and fruiting bodies of the mutant appeared to be normal. Patching and capping on the surface of HG1130 cells was induced by antibodies against the contact site A glycoprotein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Selection of Dictyostelium mutants defective in cytoskeletal proteins: use of an antibody that binds to the ends of alpha-actinin rods. 395 80

We proposed that Dictyostelium discoideum contains two linked pools of mature alpha-mannosidase (Wood, L., R. N. Pannell, and A. Kaplan, 1983, J. Biol. Chem., 258:9426-9430). To obtain physical evidence for these pools, cells were pulse-labeled with [35S]methionine, homogenized, and subjected to Percoll gradient centrifugation. After immune precipitation of alpha-mannosidase, its polypeptides were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and detected by fluorography. After a 30-min pulse with [35S]methionine, the precursor and small amounts of cleaved enzyme were detected in a low density fraction (1.04 g/ml). Subsequently, cleaved enzyme was transferred to higher density fractions (1.05 and 1.07 g/ml) that were enriched in lysosomal enzymes. The half time for formation of the 1.07 g/ml pool was approximately 45 min, whereas formation of the 1.05 g/ml pool was not detected until 1.5 h after the pulse. The transfer of mature forms out of the 1.04 g/ml pool was inhibited by monensin (3.5 microM). Thus, alpha-mannosidase precursor appears to be cleaved in a prelysosomal organelle. The data also indicate that starving cells secrete precursor directly from this organelle to the extracellular space, whereas cleaved forms are first transferred into lysosomes before they are secreted. Furthermore, 2 h after starvation, the secretion of mature forms ceases even though both transit of mature forms between the two pools and secretion of precursor continues. From this we inferred that the cessation of secretion of mature forms is due to a halt in fusion of lysosomes with the plasma membrane and that precursor follows a different route to the plasma membrane.
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PMID:Transit of alpha-mannosidase during its maturation in Dictyostelium discoideum. 406 50

Glycogen phosphorylase was isolated from cells of Dictyostelium discoideum in the culmination stage of development and purified 35-fold. The enzyme had a pH optimum of 6.9 and contained sulfhydryl groups essential for activity. The K(m) values for phosphate and glycogen were 3 mm and 0.06% (w/v), respectively. No dependence on, or stimulation by, any nucleotide was observed and a wide variety of nucleotides and glycolytic intermediates did not inhibit the enzyme. Nucleotide sugars competitively inhibited the enzyme. Guanosine diphosphoglucose and adenosine diphosphoglucose were the most effective, and uridine diphosphoglucose was the least effective of the nucleotide sugars tested. The specific activity of glycogen phosphorylase increased from about 0.004 unit per mg of protein in aggregating cells to about 0.024 unit per mg in culminating cells, and then decreased during sorocarp formation. This increase in enzyme specific activity during the starvation and aging of the system can account for the increased rate of glycogen degradation during this period of development. Amylase specific activity, measured at pH 4.8 and 6.9, varied between 0.005 and 0.013 unit per mg of protein during all stages of development.
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PMID:Partial purification and characterization of glycogen phosphorylase from Dictyostelium discoideum. 553 Aug 13


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