Department of Stem Cell Biology, Cancer Research Institute, Kanazawa University,1 Institute for Experimental Animals, Kanazawa University Advanced Science Research Center, Kanazawa, Japan,2 PRESTO, Japan Science Technology Agency, Saitama, Japan3
Received 17 May 2005/ Returned for modification 9 August 2005/ Accepted 14 September 2005
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| INTRODUCTION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Recently, a novel multiprotein complex, GINS, was identified. The GINS complex contains Psf1 (partner of sld five 1), Psf2, Psf3, and Sld5 and forms a ring-like structure (8, 10, 19). During the S phase, the GINS complex is loaded onto chromatin after the formation of pre-RCs and then tightly associates with the replication origin. This binding is suppressed by p21 and geminin by inhibition of the loading of CDC45 onto chromatin (11) and the pre-RC formation by binding to Cdt1 (23). Moreover, the chromatin binding of GINS complex and that of CDC45 are mutually dependent processes, but they do not associate with each other. The association of PSF1 and Dpb11/Cut5 with the origins is also mutually dependent. All genes encoding GINS components are evolutionarily conserved and are essential for cell growth (22). However, the functions of the GINS complex in mammalian cells have not been reported.
In this study, we isolated the mouse ortholog of PSF1 and generated PSF1-deficient mice by a gene-targeting technique. In mice, PSF1 is specifically expressed in proliferating immature cells. Loss of PSF1 causes embryonic lethality around the implantation stage. PSF1/ embryos revealed impaired proliferation of the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophoblasts. Our data suggest that PSF1 is essential for mouse embryogenesis.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Construction and screening of a stem cell-specific cDNA library. Preparation of bone marrow (BM) cells and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis were performed as described previously (17, 18). The antibodies used in flow cytometric analysis for lineage marker (Lin) were phycoerythrin-conjugated Mac-1 (M1/70), Gr-1 (RB6-8C5), B220 (RA3-6B2), TER119, anti-CD4 (GK1.5), and anti-CD8 (53-6.72). Allophycocyanin-conjugated anti-c-kit (ACK2) and biotin-conjugated anti-Sca-1 were also applied. Biotinylated anti-Sca-1 was visualized with peridinin chlorophyll protein-streptavidin. These antibodies were purchased from BD Pharmingen. Lin+ cells and Lin c-kit+ Sca-1+ cells were purified from BM cells that had been obtained from an 8-week-old C57BL/6 mouse by cell sorting. The stained cells were analyzed with a FACSCalibur (Becton Dickinson) and sorted with an EPICS ALTRA (Beckman Coulter) instrument. Total RNAs were extracted from these cell populations and were subjected to cDNA synthesis and amplification using a SMART PCR synthesis kit (BD Clontech) according to the manufacturer's protocol. Subtractive cloning was performed using a PCR-Select cDNA subtraction kit (BD Clontech).
Immunohistochemistry and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis. Tissue fixation, preparation of tissue sections, and staining of sections with antibodies were performed as described previously (18). For immunohistochemistry, anti-PSF1 (see below) and antibromodeoxyuridine (anti-BrdU) antibodies (Zymed) were used. Cy3- or horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated secondary antibodies were obtained from Jackson ImmunoResearch.
To obtain a specific antibody against PSF1, a rabbit was immunized with a synthetic peptide (CEQLIRQGVLEH) derived from the C-terminal region of PSF1. Antisera were affinity purified with the same peptide. Preimmunized rabbit immunoglobulins were used as a negative control to confirm specific staining.
RT-PCR analysis. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) was performed as previously described (18). We used the following primer sets: 5'-TTA AGA AAT AGA CGC TGC ACG A-3' and 5'-TGC CAT CAT CAA CTT CAA ATT C-3' (for PSF1) and 5'-ACC ACA GTC CAT GCC ATC AC-3' and 5'-TCC ACC ACC CTG TTG CTG TA-3' (for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase [GAPDH]).
Gene targeting. We isolated genomic clones encoding mouse PSF1 from the mouse 129Sv/J library (Stratagene) by using mouse PSF1 cDNA as a probe. In the targeting construct, exon 5 was replaced with the ß-galactosidase gene and a pGK-neomycin resistance gene (see Fig. 2). We linearized this construct with NotI and electroporated it into 129Sv/J E14.1 embryonic stem (ES) cells. We selected G418-resistant clones and screened them by PCR and Southern blot analysis for the correct recombination (see Fig. 2). Chimera mice were generated by the aggregation method (12). We mated chimera males with C57BL/6J females and screened the offspring by Southern blotting and PCR analyses for mice bearing the PSF1+/ genotype.
|
In vitro culture. Embryos (E3.5) were flushed out from the uteri of pregnant mice and individually cultured in standard ES medium with leukemia inhibitory factor (Invitrogen) for 10 days. DNA synthesis was assessed by BrdU (10 µM; Sigma) incorporation in cultured blastocysts from days 4 to 5; on day 5 of culturing, the blastocysts were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline, stained with anti-BrdU antibody (1 µg/ml; Zymed), and counterstained with hematoxylin. The TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling) assay for detection of apoptotic cells was performed using the In Situ Cell Death Detection kit (Roche) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
| RESULTS AND DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
To determine the spatial distribution of PSF1 protein in the adult testis, we generated antibody against PSF1 peptide. Immunohistochemistry on mouse testis sections showed that PSF1 protein is present in immature cells, i.e., spermatogonia (Fig. 1C). PSF1 is expressed in other immature cell populations including blastocysts (Fig. 1D), adult thymic progenitor cells, and yolk sac-containing hematopoietic progenitor cells (data not shown). These data suggested that PSF1 is expressed specifically in the immature cell population.
Targeted disruption of the mouse PSF1 gene. To analyze the function of PSF1, we generated mice lacking a functional PSF1 gene (Fig. 2). The mouse PSF1 gene contains seven putative coding exons. The targeting vector was designed by deleting exon 5 and inserting a lacZ-neo cassette. Among the 95 independent ES cell colonies examined, we found two homologous recombinants. Correct targeting was confirmed in these ES clones by Southern blot analyses with a 3' probe (Fig. 2B). One ES clone was aggregated with C57BL/6 blastocysts to generate a chimera, which subsequently produced germ line transmission. The PSF1+/ line was established by backcrosses with C57BL/6 mice. To confirm the loss of PSF1 transcript in mutant mice by gene disruption, we performed Northern blot analysis. As expected, PSF1 mRNA was reduced in PSF1+/ testis (Fig. 2C). PSF1+/ mice were born at Mendelian frequency, and there were no apparent differences between PSF1+/ mice and wild-type mice.
PSF1 is required for cell proliferation, and loss of PSF1 leads to early embryonic lethality. We analyzed the PSF1 gene in neonates resulting from PSF1+/ intercrosses and did not obtain any homozygous offspring (Table 1). In normal E6.5 embryos, a cylinder-like two-layered cellular structure was observed (Fig. 2D and 3A). However, PSF1-deficient embryos, which could be identified at this stage by the absence of PSF1 immunoreactivity (Fig. 2E), lacked such cylinder-like structures (Fig. 2E and 3B). These data suggested that the PSF1/ embryos failed to develop past E5.5 and showed disorganized embryonic and extraembryonic structures.
|
|
|
While BrdU+ cells were found in PSF1/ trophoblasts after 5 days of culturing (Fig. 4J), PSF1/ trophoblasts stopped proliferation after 8 days of culturing (Fig. 4O). BrdU was not incorporated in PSF1/ trophoblasts beyond 8 days (data not shown), and the number of trophoblasts declined (Fig. 4P). By contrast, PSF1+/ embryo trophoblasts continuously proliferated after 10 days of culturing (Fig. 4M and N). These data indicated that PSF1 is essential for both ICM and trophoblast proliferation.
In this study, we examined the functions of PSF1 in vivo by gene targeting technology. Our results revealed impaired proliferation of the ICM and trophoblasts in PSF1/ embryos. Recently, it was reported that Psf1 and CDC45 are involved cooperatively in the initiation of DNA replication in yeast (10, 19) and that both molecules are prerequisite for DNA replication in yeast (7, 20). In mice, the phenotype of CDC45-deficient embryos after uterine implantation (24) is quite similar to that of PSF1-null embryos. Mice deficient in the CDC45 ortholog of yeast show a defect in cell proliferation in blastocyst culture (24). Therefore, the molecular functions of PSF1 and CDC45 for DNA replication may be conserved in mammalian cells.
Although Psf1 is indispensable for cell proliferation in yeast (19), no obvious morphological abnormality was found in PSF1/ embryos before implantation (data not shown). This observation raised the possibility of the existence of maternal PSF1 transcript stores and could account for the proliferation of PSF1/ embryos through the early developmental stages. To ascertain this, we performed immunostaining on unfertilized eggs with anti-PSF1 antibody which revealed potent expression of PSF1 (data not shown). Because zygotic gene transcription initiates at the two-cell stage and paternal protein contributions are thought to be negligible (16), we conclude that the timing of PSF1/ lethality is due to the loss and/or dilution of maternal PSF1 transcripts around implantation stage.
Most of our knowledge on DNA replication has accumulated from studies on lower eukaryotes. However, it can be argued that DNA replication of higher eukaryotes is more complex. For example, DNA replication is linked to gene transcription in higher eukaryotes including Drosophila melanogaster (15), Xenopus (5), and mice (6) but not in yeast (14). Although origin recognition complex (Orc) binds to chromatin at replication origins throughout the cell cycle in yeast (1, 4, 21), a part of Orc2 localizes at the centrosomes and heterochromatin during the M phase and participates in chromosome segregation in human cells (13). Mcm10, which is a conserved protein and is involved in initiation of DNA replication in yeast, is required for chromosome condensation in fly cells (3). Interestingly, in nematodes, loss of PSF1 causes abnormality of chromatin segregation (M. Ueno and N. Takakura, unpublished data). Thus, PSF1 may have pivotal roles in other biological processes. Further analysis on the function of PSF1 will shed light on the complex mechanism of DNA replication in mammalian cells.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
This work was partly supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Japan Society for Promotion of Science.
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
2. Bell, S. P., and A. Dutta. 2002. DNA replication in eukaryotic cells. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 71:333-374.[CrossRef][Medline]
3. Christensen, T. W., and B. K. Tye. 2003. Drosophila MCM10 interacts with members of the prereplication complex and is required for proper chromosome condensation. Mol. Biol. Cell 14:2206-2215.
4. Diffley, J. F., J. H. Cocker, S. J. Dowell, and A. Rowley. 1994. Two steps in the assembly of complexes at yeast replication origins in vivo. Cell 78:303-316.[CrossRef][Medline]
5. Fisher, D., and M. Mechali. 2003. Vertebrate HoxB gene expression requires DNA replication. EMBO J. 22:3737-3748.[CrossRef][Medline]
6. Forlani, S., C. Bonnerot, S. Capgras, and J. F. Nicolas. 1998. Relief of a repressed gene expression state in the mouse 1-cell embryo requires DNA replication. Development 125:3153-3166.[Abstract]
7. Hopwood, B., and S. Dalton. 1996. Cdc45p assembles into a complex with Cdc46p/Mcm5p, is required for minichromosome maintenance, and is essential for chromosomal DNA replication. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:12309-12314.
8. Kanemaki, M., A. Sanchez-Diaz, A. Gambus, and K. Labib. 2003. Functional proteomic identification of DNA replication proteins by induced proteolysis in vivo. Nature 423:720-724.[CrossRef][Medline]
9. Kelly, T. J., and G. W. Brown. 2000. Regulation of chromosome replication. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 69:829-880.[CrossRef][Medline]
10. Kubota, Y., Y. Takase, Y. Komori, Y. Hashimoto, T. Arata, Y. Kamimura, H. Araki, and H. Takisawa. 2003. A novel ring-like complex of Xenopus proteins essential for the initiation of DNA replication. Genes Dev. 17:1141-1152.
11. Mimura, S., and H. Takisawa. 1998. Xenopus Cdc45-dependent loading of DNA polymerase alpha onto chromatin under the control of S-phase Cdk. EMBO J. 17:5699-5707.[CrossRef][Medline]
12. Nagy, A., J. Rossant, R. Nagy, W. Abramow-Newerly, and J. C. Roder. 1993. Derivation of completely cell culture-derived mice from early-passage embryonic stem cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:8424-8428.
13. Prasanth, S. G., K. V. Prasanth, K. Siddiqui, D. L. Spector, and B. Stillman. 2004. Human Orc2 localizes to centrosomes, centromeres and heterochromatin during chromosome inheritance. EMBO J. 23:2651-2663.[CrossRef][Medline]
14. Raghuraman, M. K., E. A. Winzeler, D. Collingwood, S. Hunt, L. Wodicka, A. Conway, D. J. Lockhart, R. W. Davis, B. J. Brewer, and W. L. Fangman. 2001. Replication dynamics of the yeast genome. Science 294:115-121.
15. Schubeler, D., D. Scalzo, C. Kooperberg, B. van Steensel, J. Delrow, and M. Groudine. 2002. Genome-wide DNA replication profile for Drosophila melanogaster: a link between transcription and replication timing. Nat. Genet. 32:438-442.[CrossRef][Medline]
16. Schultz, R. M. 1993. Regulation of zygotic gene activation in the mouse. Bioessays 15:531-538.[CrossRef][Medline]
17. Takakura, N., T. Watanabe, S. Suenobu, Y. Yamada, T. Noda, Y. Ito, M. Satake, and T. Suda. 2000. A role for hematopoietic stem cells in promoting angiogenesis. Cell 102:199-209.[CrossRef][Medline]
18. Takakura, N., X. L. Huang, T. Naruse, I. Hamaguchi, D. J. Dumont, G. D. Yancopoulos, and T. Suda. 1998. Critical role of the TIE2 endothelial cell receptor in the development of definitive hematopoiesis. Immunity 9:677-686.[CrossRef][Medline]
19. Takayama, Y., Y. Kamimura, M. Okawa, S. Muramatsu, A. Sugino, and H. Araki. 2003. GINS, a novel multiprotein complex required for chromosomal DNA replication in budding yeast. Genes Dev. 17:1153-1165.
20. Tercero, J. A., K. Labib, and J. F. Diffley. 2000. DNA synthesis at individual replication forks requires the essential initiation factor Cdc45p. EMBO J. 19:2082-2093.[CrossRef][Medline]
21. Weinreich, M., C. Liang, and B. Stillman. 1999. The Cdc6p nucleotide-binding motif is required for loading mcm proteins onto chromatin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:441-446.
22. Winzeler, E. A., D. D. Shoemaker, A. Astromoff, H. Liang, K. Anderson, B. Andre, R. Bangham, R. Benito, J. D. Boeke, H. Bussey, A. M. Chu, C. Connelly, K. Davis, F. Dietrich, S. W. Dow, M. E. Bakkoury, F. Foury, S. H. Friend, E. Gentalen, G. Giaever, J. H. J. Hegemann, T. M. Laub, H. Liao, N. Liebundguth, D. J. Lockhart, A. Lucau-Danila, M. Lussier, N. M'Rabet, P. Menard, M. Mittmann, C. Pai, C. Rebischung, J. L. Revuelta, L. Riles, C. J. Roberts, P. Ross-McDonald, B. Scherens, M. Snyder, S. Sookhai-Mahadeo, R. K. Storms, S. Veronneau, M. Voet, G. Volckaert, T. R. Ward, R. Wysocki, G. S. Yen, K. Yu, K. Zimmermann, P. Philippsen, M. Johnston, and R. W. Davis. 1999. Functional characterization of the S. cerevisiae genome by gene deletion and parallel analysis. Science 285:901-906.
23. Wohlschlegel, J. A., B. T. Dwyer, S. K. Dhar, C. Cvetic, J. C. Walter, and A. Dutta. 2000. Inhibition of eukaryotic DNA replication by geminin binding to Cdt1. Science 290:2309-2312.
24. Yoshida, K., F. Kuo, E. L. George, A. H. Sharpe, and A. Dutta. 2001. Requirement of CDC45 for postimplantation mouse development. Mol. Cell. Biol. 21:4598-4603.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| J. Bacteriol. | J. Virol. | Eukaryot. Cell |
|---|
| Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. | Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | All ASM Journals |
|---|