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This Week’s Citation Classic
I
CC/NUMBER 38
TEMBER 2,987
Hergink E W, Wallace R A~van de Berg J A, Bos E S, Gruber NI & AB G.
L
Amer.
IBiokigy
of
Estrogen-induced
Biomedical
Zoo!.
Division.
Sciences.
14:1177-93.
Oak
synthesis
Ridge
TN: and
1974.
National
ofBiochemical
yolk Laboratory;
proteins
Laboratory.
inUniv.
roosters.
-Tennessee-Oak
Univ. Groningen.
Ridge
TheGraduate
Netherlandsl
School
In the avian liver oestrogens regulate the synI believe the paper has been cited frequently
thesis of vitellogenin, which is the serum pre- because it showed for the first time that the
cursor of the yolk proteins phosvitin and lipo.- yolk precursor present in the serum of chickvitellin. This paper describes the characteriza- ens consists of a continuous polypeptide chain
tion of chicken vitellogenin, its relationship to synthesized in the liver from a high-molecularthe yolk proteins, and the kinetics of its induc- weight RNA, secreted into the blood, and subtion by oestrogen in roosters. [The Sd® indi- sequently cleaved proteolytically to yield the
cates that this paper has been cited in over 130 ultimate yolk proteins. Previously, the nature
publications.]
of the serum precursor for these yolk proteins
was not clear since the precursor is very easily
degraded and a mixture of degradation products was found in serum, It had even been suggested that the synthesis of the yolk proteins
phosvitin and lipovitellin maybe regulated inE. Willem Bergink
dependently.
Reproductive Medicine
immediately after finishing my thesis in
Organon International
1973, I went to Oak Ridge to start working
5340 BH Oss
with Wallace, who had a reputation in the field
The Netherlands
of maturation of amphibian oocytes. We rapidly established the precursor product relationship between amphibian vitellogenin and amphibian yolk proteins; the resulting paper,
July 16, 1987 which appeared in the Journal of Biological
Chemistry in 1974,1 was the first in the English literature to describe such a relationship
for a vertebrate vitellogenin. Shortly afterDuring my stay as a postdoctoral fellow in wards, in the same journal,Mj. Clemens2 and
the laboratory of Robin Wallace at the Biology
coworkers confirmed the observation. At
Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory that time, the original findings on the avian
(1973-1974), I received an invitation to present system had not yet been published. it was
a paper on avian yolk protein synthesis at the therefore a great pleasure that the work from
meeting of the American Society of Zoologists Groningen, which threatened to fall into oblivin Houston. The proceedings of this meeting
ion, was published as a paper in 1974 and has
were to be published in the American Zoolo- since been cited very frequently. Recently,
gist. This invitation offered me the opportu- these studies have culminated in the elucidanity to present unpublished parts of predoc- tion ofthe 1,850-amino acid long sequence of
toral studies performed from 1970 to 1973 in the chicken yolk precursor protein through nuthe Biochemical Laboratory of the University cleotide sequence
analysis of the cloned vitel3
of Groningen in The Netherlands. I intended logenin gene.
to combine my own data with those of my
Finally, I may add, the initial conclusion that
fellow students, Ebo Box and Johan van de these studies on oestrogen-induced protein
Berg, which dealt with different aspects of oes- synthesis were probably not relevant for the
tradiol-induced yolk protein synthesis. This human system is no longer valid. Recently, it.
work was performed under the direction of was shown that one aspect of the manuMax Gruber and Geert AB. Gruber, who had script—namely, the description of the “membecome interested in regulation of yolk protein ory effect” or “priming effect,” which is a
synthesis as early as 1965, was head of the in- long-lasting alteration in liver cells after a
stitute until his retirement in 1986. AB, who
transient stimulation with oestrogens—is not
is now in charge of the group, was our only relevant for toads and chickens but can
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supervisor.
be observed in human hepatocytes as well.
1. Bergink E W & Wallace R A. Precursor product relationship between amphibian viteltogenin and the yolk proteins
lipovitettin and phosvitin. I. Rio!. C/trio. 249:2897.903. 1974. (Cited 131) times,(
2. Clemens M 3. Lofthouse K & Tata .1 R. Sequential changes in the protein synthetic activity of male Xenopus laesis liver
following induction of egg-yolk proteins by estradiol-tld. J. Riot. chem. 230:2213-8. 1975. (Cited 50 times,l
3. van bet Schip F U, Samatto J. Brows 3. Ophuis 3. SIojet 7,1. Gruher SI & SB C. Nucle,stidc sequence of a ~hkken
vitellogenin gene and derived amino acid sequence of the encoded yolk precursor protein. J. Riot. Chem. ~tnpress.(
4. Tam S-P. Haché R j C & Deelev K C. Estrogen menm~yeffect in human hepatocytes during repeated cell division
without hormone. Science 234:1234-7. ~86.
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