title: Large-scale preparation of a ribonuclease from Rana catesbeiana (bullfrog) oocytes and characterization of its specific cytotoxic activity against tumor cells.
abstract: Rana catesbeiana ribonuclease (RC-RNase) is a pyrimidine-guanine sequence-specific ribonuclease found only in R. catesbeiana (bullfrog) oocytes, but not in other organs. The protein is localized in the yolk granules of oocytes but not in other organelles, as detected by immunohistochemistry. More than 99% of RC-RNase was found in the yolk granule pellet when a mild separation method was employed under physiological conditions. The ribonuclease was purified by precipitation of yolk granules, extraction of RC-RNase with 0.09 M NaCl, selective removal of impurities by Hepes buffer, and chromatographies on phosphocellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose columns. Three milligrams of RC-RNase was purified from a 1-g pellet of yolk granules prepared from 2 g of ovary tissue. Therefore, 150 milligrams of RC-RNase could be obtained from a mature female bullfrog (600 g in weight) which had 100 g of ovary tissue. The properties of RC-RNase isolated from yolk granules tested so far are identical to those of RC-RNase isolated from the cytosolic fraction and similar to those of a sialic acid-binding lectin from bullfrog oocytes. To investigate the possible role of RC-RNase in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation during embryogenesis, its cytotoxic activity against various cell lines was examined. The degradation of ribosomal RNA was found in RC-RNase-treated HeLa cells. However, both events were not found in RNase A-treated HeLa cells. Therefore, RC-RNase is proposed to have both ribonucleolytic and cytotoxic activity and a specific receptor on the tumor cell surface is suspected to be involved in the recognition and binding, and possibly entry of RC-RNase.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Y D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kuo
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002457:Cell Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D002681:China; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006367:HeLa Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009843:Oligoribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D009865:Oocytes / Q000201:enzymology*; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D011892:Rana catesbeiana / Q000378:metabolism*; D012260:Ribonucleases / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000633:toxicity*; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D015017:Yolk Sac / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D002457:Cell Extracts; D009843:Oligoribonucleotides; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D012313:RNA; D012260:Ribonucleases