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Growth‐regulated expression of vimentin in hamster fibroblasts is a result of increased transcription
Author(s) -
Ferrier Alma Fallon,
Hirschhorn Ricky R.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of cellular biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1097-4644
pISSN - 0730-2312
DOI - 10.1002/jcb.240500305
Subject(s) - vimentin , messenger rna , cytoplasm , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , transcription (linguistics) , gene expression , hamster , intermediate filament , regulation of gene expression , transcriptional regulation , translation (biology) , cytoskeleton , gene , cell , immunohistochemistry , genetics , immunology , linguistics , philosophy
We have previously shown that vimentin is a growth‐regulated gene whose mRNA levels increase after srum stimulation of quiescent hamster fibroblasts. In this study, the control of the growth‐regulated expression of vimentin was determined in ts13 cells induced to proliferate by serum. Both transcriptional and post‐transcriptional mechanisms of regulation were exmined by determining transcriptional rates, cytoplasmic transcript abundance, transcript stability, and protein abundance. We observed a fourfold increase in vimentin transcripts in the cytoplasm of serum‐stimulated ts13 cells. Since transcripts are stable in both quiescent and stimulated cells, this induction of vimentin expression is a result of a fivefold increase in vimentin‐specific transcriptional activity. As a result of this increased transcript availability, the abundance of polymerized vimentin protein increased following serum stimulation of quiescent fibroblasts. Overall, the induction of vimentin expression in fibroblasts by serum is a consequence of increased vimentin‐specific transcriptional activity. The significance of this with regard to cytoskeletal organization and cell division is discussed. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.