© 1982 Oxford University Press
research-article |
Ethionine inhibits in vivo methylation of nuclear proteins
Cancer Research Laboratory, Veterans Administration Medical Center, and Department of Biochemistry, University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences Memphis, TN 38104, USA.
Nuclear protein methylation was studied in regenerating rat liver by giving [methyl-3H]methionine 45 h after partial hepatectomy. Ethionine, a liver carcinogen, has been shown to alter the methylation patterns in a basic protein (histone) fraction, as well as an acidic protein (non-histone) fraction present in a 0.25 N HCI nuclear extraction. The proteins present in the 0.25 N HCI extraction were separated by chromatography using a Bio-Rex 70 cation exchange column. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and total amino acid analysis showed the first protein fraction contained acidic large molecular weight non-histone proteins, while the second fraction contained basic small molecular weight histone proteins. Both fractions were then hydrolyzed, and the amino acids chromatographed on an Aminex A-5 cation exchange column. The histones were found to contain
-N-mono, di and trimethyllysine derivatives; whereas the non-histone fraction contained these lysine derivatives and an additional basic amino acid identified as NG,NG-dimethylarginine. Ethionine (0.5 mg/g body weight) was found to inhibit in vivo methylation of lysine to form
-N-mono, di and trimethyllysine, 46, 52 and 68%, respectively. The formation of NG,NG-dimethylarginine was inhibited by 85%. Ethylation of these proteins was also studied by giving [ethyl-3H]ethionine. After hydrolysis, the non-histones were found to contain a labeled lysine and arginine derivative, but in the histone fraction only labeled lysine was found.