Mechanisms triggering the commitment of pluripotent bone marrow stem cells to differentiated lineages such as mononuclear macrophages or multinucleated megakaryocytes are still unknown, although several lines of evidence suggested correlation between cholinergic signaling and hematopoietic differentiation. We now present cloning of a cDNA coding for CHED (cholinesterase-related cell division controller), a human homolog of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe cell division cycle 2 (cdc2)-like kinases, universal controllers of the mitotic cell cycle. Library screening, RNA blot hybridization, and direct PCR amplification of cDNA reverse-transcribed from cellular mRNA revealed that CHED mRNA is expressed in multiple tissues, including bone marrow. The CHED protein includes the consensus ATP binding and phosphorylation domains characteristic of kinases, displays 34-42% identically aligned amino acid residues with other cdc2-related kinases, and is considerably longer at its amino and carboxyl termini. An antisense oligodeoxynucleotide designed to interrupt CHED's expression (AS-CHED) significantly reduced the ratio between CHED mRNA and actin mRNA within 1 hr of its addition to cultures, a reduction that persisted for 4 days. AS-CHED treatment selectively inhibited megakaryocyte development in murine bone marrow cultures but did not prevent other hematopoietic pathways, as evidenced by increasing numbers of mononuclear cells. An oligodeoxynucleotide blocking production of the acetylcholine-hydrolyzing enzyme, butyrylcholinesterase, displayed a similar inhibition of megakaryocytopoiesis. In contrast, an oligodeoxynucleotide blocking production of the human 2Hs cdc2 homolog interfered with production of the human 2Hs cdc2 homolog interfered with cellular proliferation without altering the cell-type composition of these cultures. Therefore, these findings strengthen the link between cholinergic signaling and cell division control in hematopoiesis and implicate both CHED and cholinesterases in this differentiation process.
Title: Differential Codon Usage and Distinct Surface Probabilities in Human Acetylcholinesterase and Butyrylcholinesterase Ben-Aziz R, Gnatt A, Prody C, Lev-Lehman E, Neville LF, Seidman S, Ginzberg D, Soreq H, Lapidot-Lifson Y, Zakut H Ref: In: Cholinesterases: Structure, Function, Mechanism, Genetics, and Cell Biology, (Massoulie J, Barnard EA, Chatonnet A, Bacou F, Doctor BP, Quinn DM) American Chemical Society, Washington, DC:172, 1991 : PubMed
1. Coding sequences for the human acetylcholinesterase (HuAChE; EC 3.1.1.7) hydrophilic subunit were subcloned in an expression plasmid vector under the control of cytomegalovirus IE gene enhancer-promoter. The human embryonic kidney cell line 293, transiently transfected with this vector, expressed catalytically active acetylcholinesterase. 2. The recombinant gene product exhibits biochemical traits similar to native "true" acetylcholinesterase as manifested by characteristic substrate inhibition, a Km of 117 microM toward acetylthiocholine, and a high sensitivity to the specific acetylcholinesterase inhibitor BW284C51. 3. The transiently transfected 293 cells (100 mm dish) produce in 24 hr active enzyme capable of hydrolyzing 1500 nmol acetylthiocholine per min. Eighty percent of the enzymatic activity appears in the cell growth medium as soluble acetylcholinesterase; most of the cell associated activity is confined to the cytosolic fraction requiring neither detergent nor high salt for its solubilization. 4. The active secreted recombinant enzyme appears in the monomeric, dimeric, and tetrameric globular hydrophilic molecular forms. 5. In conclusion, the catalytic subunit expressed from the hydrophilic AChE cDNA species has the inherent potential to be secreted in the soluble globular form and to generate polymorphism through self-association.
Title: Improving poor in vitro transcription from G,C-rich genes Ben-Aziz R, Soreq H Ref: Nucleic Acids Research, 18:3418, 1990 : PubMed
To study the primary structure of human acetylcholinesterase (AcChoEase; EC 3.1.1.7) and its gene expression and amplification, cDNA libraries from human tissues expressing oocyte-translatable AcChoEase mRNA were constructed and screened with labeled oligodeoxynucleotide probes. Several cDNA clones were isolated that encoded a polypeptide with greater than or equal to 50% identically aligned amino acids to Torpedo AcChoEase and human butyrylcholinesterase (BtChoEase; EC 3.1.1.8). However, these cDNA clones were all truncated within a 300-nucleotide-long G + C-rich region with a predicted pattern of secondary structure having a high Gibbs free energy (-117 kcal/mol) downstream from the expected 5' end of the coding region. Screening of a genomic DNA library revealed the missing 5' domain. When ligated to the cDNA and constructed into a transcription vector, this sequence encoded a synthetic mRNA translated in microinjected oocytes into catalytically active AcChoEase with marked preference for acetylthiocholine over butyrylthiocholine as a substrate, susceptibility to inhibition by the AcChoEase inhibitor BW284C51, and resistance to the BtChoEase inhibitor tetraisopropylpyrophosphoramide. Blot hybridization of genomic DNA from different individuals carrying amplified AcChoEase genes revealed variable intensities and restriction patterns with probes from the regions upstream and downstream from the predicted G + C-rich structure. Thus, the human AcChoEase gene includes a putative G + C-rich attenuator domain and is subject to structural alterations in cases of AcChoEase gene amplification.
