Articles |
From the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Correspondence to Dr Hiroshi Iida, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812, Japan.
| Abstract |
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Key Words: small GTP-binding proteins atrial granules rab12 atrial myocytes secretion
| Introduction |
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ANP, an important regulator of circulating blood volume and of vascular smooth muscle function,9 is stored in atrial secretory granules and released from atrial myocytes by various secretagogues. Our preliminary experiments revealed that antibodies against rab8 and rab10 failed to detect any antigens on the nitrocellulose sheets to which proteins of isolated atrial granules were transferred, whereas anti-rab12 antiserum recognized 28-kD protein on the sheets. In the present study, we have performed biochemical and immunocytochemical analyses with affinity-purified antibody against rab12p to investigate whether this protein is associated with the atrial granules. In this way, we have for the first time obtained evidence that one of the small GTP-binding proteins associated with the atrial granules is indeed rab12p.
| Materials and Methods |
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Atrial Granule Isolation
Atrial secretory granules of adult
Wistar rats were isolated by
a Percoll density gradient method described by Thibault et
al.11 Briefly, a fraction of a postnuclear supernatant of
rat atria was suspended in 20 mL of 53% Percoll solution in 0.25 mol/L
sucrose containing 15 mmol/L EDTA and 10 mmol/L Tris-Cl (pH 7.4). After
centrifugation at 32 500g for 60 minutes,
two bands were observed in the tube: the white band at the bottom,
which was a highly purified atrial granule fraction (see Fig
2
), and
the brown band at the top of the gradient, which was composed of cell
debris, mitochondria, lysosomes, myofilaments, and microsomes,
as described by Thibault et al. Purified atrial granules were collected
as a pellet for subsequent electron microscopy and
immunoblot analysis.
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For subcellular fractionation, fractions (1 mL) of the Percoll gradient were collected from the bottom of the tube with a peristaltic pump, diluted in 0.25 mol/L sucrose containing 15 mmol/L EDTA and 10 mmol/L Tris-Cl (pH 7.4), and centrifuged at 100 000g for 90 minutes. Resultant pellets were dissolved in 70 µL of SDS-PAGE sample buffer, and 20 µL of the samples was analyzed either by SDS-PAGE followed by Coomassie blue staining or by immunoblotting.
Antibodies
The peptide used for raising antibody was derived
from the
C-terminal hypervariable region (KKMPLDVLRSELSNSILSLQPEPE)
of rat rab12p.7 The synthesized peptide was coupled to
keyhole limpet hemocyanin (Calbiochem). Rabbits were immunized on three
occasions at 2-week intervals with 1 mg of peptide mixed with Freund's
adjuvant as previously described.12 Affinity purification
of antibodies was carried out over a matrix of the peptide coupled to
2-fluoro-1-methylpyridinium toluene-4-sulfonateactivated
Sephadex (Seikagaku-Kogyo) according to the supplier's protocol. The
peptide-absorbed antibody was prepared by mixing the antibody and
the synthesized peptide as previously described.12
RNA Preparation, Probe Generation, and Northern Blot
Analysis
Total cellular RNA was isolated by
homogenization in guanidinium isothiocyanate and
centrifugation in cesium chloride as described by
Maniatis et al.13 cDNA strands were synthesized from 2
µg of total RNA by using a first-strand synthesis kit (Amersham
Corp) with random primers. The reverse-transcribed cDNA was used as
the PCR template to synthesize a 413-bp cDNA fragment of rat rab12. The
primers used to amplify the fragment of rat rab12 cDNA7
were 5'-TACAGATATGGGACACAGC-3' (forward) and
5'-GATCTCAGGCTCTGGTTGTAG-3' (reverse). The PCR-amplified fragment
was
cloned into a T vector (Amersham) and sequenced using a DNA sequencer
(Applied Biosystems). The probe for rab12 detection by Northern blot
analysis was generated by digesting the vector with
BamHI and HindIII to release the insert from the
vector. The probe was purified by extraction after agarose gel
electrophoresis. For RNA blots, 18 µg of total RNA was resolved on
agarose-formaldehyde gel and transferred to nylon membranes
(Amersham). The blots were hybridized in a hybridization buffer (5x
SSC, 50% formamide, 2.5x Denhardt's solution, and 100 µg/mL
herring sperm DNA) for 18 hours at 42°C with random-primed
32P-labeled rab12 probe. Membranes were washed at a final
stringency of 0.1x SSC/0.1% SDS at 60°C (1x SSC contains 0.15
mol/L NaCl and 0.015 mol/L trisodium citrate [pH 7.0]).
Visualization
of mRNA hybridized with the probe was performed by a Fuji BAS 2000
image analyzer. RNA quantity and integrity were verified by
staining the agarose gels with ethidium bromide.
Immunoprecipitation, Immunoblot Analysis, and
GTP-Overlay Assay
Proteins, obtained by solubilizing rat tissues or
cultured cells
in RIPA buffer (50 mmol/L Tris [pH 7.2], 1 mmol/L EDTA, 0.1% SDS,
0.1% sodium deoxycholate, 1% Nonidet P-40, and protease
inhibitors),10 were centrifuged for 20
minutes at 10 000g. Clarified materials were incubated with
anti-rab12 antibody for 12 hours at 4°C with mild agitation.
Protein A/agarose (Boehringer Mannheim) was then added, and
incubation was continued for 3 hours at room temperature. The resultant
protein A/agarose antibody-antigen complexes were washed five times
with RIPA buffer and then washed twice with 50 mmol/L Tris-Cl (pH 6.9).
After the washing, the antigen was eluted from the beads with 60 µL
of SDS-PAGE sample buffer. The elute (20 µL) was subjected to
immunoblot analysis or GTP-overlay assay. The
protein concentration of the samples was determined with the BCA
protein assay kit (Pierce), according to the supplier's protocol.
Proteins of immunoprecipitates or of RIPA-solubilized samples were separated on SDS-PAGE and transferred to nitrocellulose sheets. The sheets were incubated for 1 hour with anti-rab12 antibody diluted 1:1000 with a blocking buffer (PBS containing 5% nonfat milk and 0.1% Tween 20), followed by incubation with protein A conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (BioRad) diluted 1:2000 in the same buffer. Antigen-antibody complexes were visualized using an ECL detection kit (Amersham).
GTP-binding proteins on the nitrocellulose sheets were detected using a [32P]GTP-overlay assay according to the method by Lapetina and Reep.14 [32P]GTP binding was visualized with a Fuji BAS 2000 image analyzer.
Immunoelectron Microscopy
Specimens for immunogold electron
microscopy were prepared by
the method of Tokuyasu.15 Rat atria, which were fixed in
PBS containing 4% paraformaldehyde and 0.1%
glutaraldehyde, were frozen in liquid nitrogen after
infiltration with 2.3 mmol/L sucrose. Ultrathin sections were cut on a
cryoultramicrotome (Reichert Jung) and stained with anti-rab12
antibody, followed by incubation with 10 nm gold-conjugated goat
anti-rabbit IgG (Amersham). For controls, the primary antibody was
replaced by preimmune serum. Antibodies were diluted in PBS containing
0.5% BSA and 0.1% gelatin. Immunostained sections were
embedded in methyl cellulose after staining with 2% uranyl acetate for
examination by a JEOL 2000EX electron microscope.
| Results |
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2.4-kb single
transcript of rab12 was observed in all tissues examined, although it
was detected at a very low level in kidney and lung. The size of the
2.4-kb transcript detected by the rab12 probe is similar to that
reported by Olkkonen et al,8 which minimizes the
possibility of cross hybridization between different rab mRNAs and the
cDNA probe used in the present study.
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Immunoblot Analysis
Immunoblot analysis was performed to
examine
the presence of rab12p on the atrial granules. The purity of isolated
atrial granules was checked by both electron microscopy (Fig 2
)
and electrophoresis (Fig 3A
, lane 1).
On the nitrocellulose sheets to which atrial granule proteins and total
proteins of atrial culture homogenates were transferred,
antibody against rab12p recognized a single band migrating at 28 kD
(Fig 3B
). To confirm that the 28-kD protein recognized by the
antibody
is a GTP-binding protein, the antigen immunoprecipitated from rat atria
by the antibody was separated by SDS-PAGE and transferred to
nitrocellulose sheets, on which a [32P]GTP-overlay assay
was performed. The result shows that the 28-kD protein
immunoprecipitated by the anti-rab12 antibody bound
[32P]GTP, whereas no [32P]GTP
binding was
detected in the samples immunoprecipitated by preimmune serum or
peptide (antigen)absorbed anti-rab12 antibody (Fig 3C
,
lanes 1 to
3). The GTP-overlay assay also showed that the atrial granules
contained at least four small GTP-binding proteins with molecular
masses of 22 to 28 kD (Fig 3C
, lane 4) and that one protein
with the
highest molecular mass (28 kD) might correspond to rab12p. These
results indicate that rab12p, a 28-kD small GTP-binding protein, is
expressed in the atrial myocytes and might be a component of the atrial
granules.
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Immunocytochemical Analysis
Immunofluorescence microscopy
carried out on
frozen sections of rat atria and the cultured atrial myocytes suggested
the association of rab12p with the atrial granules (not shown). To
obtain more direct evidence that the protein is localized on the
granules, immunogold electron microscopy was carried out on
cryoultrathin sections of rat atria. The majority of gold particles
complexed with anti-rab12 antibody appeared to label the atrial
granules, with a tendency of gold particles to be present at the
periphery of the granules (Fig 4
). Little labeling was
observed in the nucleus, mitochondria, myofilaments, or sarcolemma. No
specific labeling was detected in controls in which the primary
antibody was replaced by preimmune serum (not shown).
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Identification of rab12p on a Percoll Density
Gradient
The results of immunocytochemistry strongly suggested that
rab12p
is highly concentrated on the atrial granules. To confirm this
observation, fractions from a Percoll density gradient were
analyzed by immunoblot with anti-rab12
antibody. After centrifugation of a postnuclear
supernatant over a Percoll density gradient, the atrial granules were
sedimented as a white band at the bottom of the tube and recovered in
fractions 2 to 5; other cell organelles that migrated toward the top
were recovered in fractions 15 to 18 (Fig 5A
), as
previously reported.11 High purity of the atrial granules
sedimented at the bottom of the tube was proved by electron microscopy
(Fig 2
). By immunoblotting with the antibody against
rab12p, the protein was found to be present in the ANP-containing
atrial granule fraction (fraction 3 in Fig 5B
) but hardly
detectable in
fractions 15 to 17, which were composed of diverse cell organelles. The
result provides the evidence supporting our conclusion that rab12p is a
component of the atrial granules.
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Expression of rab12p in Various Tissues and Cell
Lines
Since our preliminary immunoblot analysis
revealed relatively low levels of rab12p expression in many tissues, we
examined its expression by immunoprecipitation followed by
immunoblot analysis. We first compared rab12p
expression between atria and ventricle. The expression level of rab12p
in the atria was almost the same as that in the ventricle (Fig
6A
). We further examined rab12p expression in many
endocrine tissues, as well as in several organs and cell lines (Fig
6B
and 6C
). The results showed that although the
expression levels of
rab12p varied between tissues and cells, its expression was detectable
in all tissues and cell lines except liver and kidney. Low expression
levels of rab12p in liver and kidney are consistent with the
results of Northern blot analysis (Fig 1
).
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| Discussion |
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rab12 cDNA with a complete open reading frame has not previously been obtained.7 8 Moreover, little information is available concerning the distribution and the intracellular localization of rab12p, except for one report8 in which the protein was reported to be localized by immunofluorescence microscopy in the perinuclear Golgi region of BHK-21 cells. That report, however, lacked the immunoblot analysis necessary for characterization of the anti-rab12 antibody used in the study. To our knowledge, identification of rab12p as a secretory granuleassociated GTPase has not previously been reported.
By using immunoprecipitation/immunoblot analysis with specific antibody against rab12p, we have extensively examined the expression of rab12p in multiple tissues and cell lines. The results support the conclusion that rab12p is a ubiquitously expressed small GTP-binding protein. It is noteworthy that in addition to regulated secretory cells (the atrial myocytes and AtT-20), the protein is also expressed in constitutive secretory cell lines (BHK, HeLa, and MDCK) as well as in ventricles from which ANP is constitutively secreted. The observation suggests that the protein may function in vesicular transport in both types of secretory cells. Therefore, it is likely that rab12p is a mammalian counterpart for Sec4p. Identification of other types of small GTP-binding proteins associated with the atrial granules is now under investigation.
| Selected Abbreviations and Acronyms |
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| Acknowledgments |
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Received September 7, 1995; accepted November 15, 1995.
| References |
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