The RNA-editing enzyme ADAR1 is localized to the nascent ribonucleoprotein matrix on Xenopus lampbrush chromosomes but specifically associates with an atypical loop. (1/1316)

Double-stranded RNA adenosine deaminase (ADAR1, dsRAD, DRADA) converts adenosines to inosines in double-stranded RNAs. Few candidate substrates for ADAR1 editing are known at this point and it is not known how substrate recognition is achieved. In some cases editing sites are defined by basepaired regions formed between intronic and exonic sequences, suggesting that the enzyme might function cotranscriptionally. We have isolated two variants of Xenopus laevis ADAR1 for which no editing substrates are currently known. We demonstrate that both variants of the enzyme are associated with transcriptionally active chromosome loops suggesting that the enzyme acts cotranscriptionally. The widespread distribution of the protein along the entire chromosome indicates that ADAR1 associates with the RNP matrix in a substrate-independent manner. Inhibition of splicing, another cotranscriptional process, does not affect the chromosomal localization of ADAR1. Furthermore, we can show that the enzyme is dramatically enriched on a special RNA-containing loop that seems transcriptionally silent. Detailed analysis of this loop suggests that it might represent a site of ADAR1 storage or a site where active RNA editing is taking place. Finally, mutational analysis of ADAR1 demonstrates that a putative Z-DNA binding domain present in ADAR1 is not required for chromosomal targeting of the protein.  (+info)

The extracellular versus intracellular mechanisms of inhibition of TCR-triggered activation in thymocytes by adenosine under conditions of inhibited adenosine deaminase. (2/1316)

The absence or low levels of adenosine deaminase (ADA) in humans result in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), which is characterized by hypoplastic thymus, T lymphocyte depletion and autoimmunity. Deficiency of ADA causes increased levels of both intracellular and extracellular adenosine, although only the intracellular lymphotoxicity of accumulated adenosine is considered in the pathogenesis of ADA SCID. It is shown that extracellular but not intracellular adenosine selectively inhibits TCR-triggered up-regulation of activation markers and apoptotic events in thymocytes under conditions of ADA deficiency. The effects of intracellular adenosine are dissociated from effects of extracellular adenosine in experiments using an adenosine transporter blocker. We found that prevention of toxicity of intracellular adenosine led to survival of TCR-cross-linked thymocytes in long-term (4 days) assays, but it was not sufficient for normal T cell differentiation under conditions of inhibited ADA. Surviving TCR-cross-linked thymocytes had a non-activated phenotype due to extracellular adenosine-mediated, TCR-antagonizing signaling. Taken together the data suggest that both intracellular toxicity and signaling by extracellular adenosine may contribute to pathogenesis of ADA SCID. Accordingly, extracellular adenosine may act on thymocytes, which survived intracellular toxicity of adenosine during ADA deficiency by counteracting TCR signaling. This, in turn, could lead to failure of positive and negative selection of thymocytes, and to additional elimination of thymocytes or autoimmunity of surviving T cells.  (+info)

Nucleotide pool imbalance and adenosine deaminase deficiency induce alterations of N-region insertions during V(D)J recombination. (3/1316)

Template-independent nucleotide additions (N regions) generated at sites of V(D)J recombination by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) increase the diversity of antigen receptors. Two inborn errors of purine metabolism, deficiencies of adenosine deaminase (ADA) and purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), result in defective lymphoid development and aberrant pools of 2'-deoxynucleotides that are substrates for TdT in lymphoid precursors. We have asked whether selective increases in dATP or dGTP pools result in altered N regions in an extrachromosomal substrate transfected into T-cell or pre-B-cell lines. Exposure of the transfected cells to 2'-deoxyadenosine and an ADA inhibitor increased the dATP pool and resulted in a marked increase in A-T insertions at recombination junctions, with an overall decreased frequency of V(D)J recombination. Sequence analysis of VH-DH-JH junctions from the IgM locus in B-cell lines from ADA-deficient patients demonstrated an increase in A-T insertions equivalent to that found in the transfected cells. In contrast, elevation of dGTP pools, as would occur in PNP deficiency, did not alter the already rich G-C content of N regions. We conclude that the frequency of V(D)J recombination and the composition of N-insertions are influenced by increases in dATP levels, potentially leading to alterations in antigen receptors and aberrant lymphoid development. Alterations in N-region insertions may contribute to the B-cell dysfunction associated with ADA deficiency.  (+info)

A study of the genetical structure of the Cuban population: red cell and serum biochemical markers. (4/1316)

Gene frequencies of several red cell and serum gentic markers were determined in the three main racial groups--whites, mulattoes and Negroes--of the Cuban population. The results were used to estimate the relative contribution of Caucasian and Negro genes to the genetic makeup of these three groups and to calculate the frequencies of these genes in the general Cuban population.  (+info)

Adenosine deaminase activity in thymus and other human tissues. (5/1316)

Adenosine deaminase activity (ADA) has been estimated in human tissues. Levels in the thymus during childhood were very much higher than in any of the other 6 tissues studied. Intermediate activities were obtained from spleen and lymph nodes and also skin. Cerebral cortex, liver and kidney had relatively low levels. ADA activity in lymphocytes from peripheral blood was significantly increased after antigenic stimulation by TAB immunization. The available evidence appears to be consistent with T-lymphocyte growth and development in the thymus being dependant on ADA.  (+info)

Regulation of forestomach-specific expression of the murine adenosine deaminase gene. (6/1316)

The maturation of stratified squamous epithelium of the upper gastrointestinal tract is a highly ordered process of development and differentiation. Information on the molecular basis of this process is, however, limited. Here we report the identification of the first murine forestomach regulatory element using the murine adenosine deaminase (Ada) gene as a model. In the adult mouse, Ada is highly expressed in the terminally differentiated epithelial layer of upper gastrointestinal tract tissues. The data reported here represent the identification and detailed analysis of a 1. 1-kilobase (kb) sequence located 3.4-kb upstream of the transcription initiation site of the murine Ada gene, which is sufficient to target cat reporter gene expression to the forestomach in transgenic mice. This 1.1-kb fragment is capable of directing cat reporter gene expression mainly to the forestomach of transgenic mice, with a level comparable to the endogenous Ada gene. This expression is localized to the appropriate cell types, confers copy number dependence, and shows the same developmental regulation. Mutational analysis revealed the functional importance of multiple transcription factor-binding sites.  (+info)

Human RNA-specific adenosine deaminase ADAR1 transcripts possess alternative exon 1 structures that initiate from different promoters, one constitutively active and the other interferon inducible. (7/1316)

RNA-specific adenosine deaminase (ADAR1) catalyzes the deamination of adenosine to inosine in viral and cellular RNAs. Two size forms of the ADAR1 editing enzyme are known, an IFN-inducible approximately 150-kDa protein and a constitutively expressed N-terminally truncated approximately 110-kDa protein. We have now identified alternative exon 1 structures of human ADAR1 transcripts that initiate from unique promoters, one constitutively expressed and the other IFN inducible. Cloning and sequence analyses of 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) cDNAs from human placenta established a linkage between exon 2 of ADAR1 and two alternative exon 1 structures, designated herein as exon 1A and exon 1B. Analysis of RNA isolated from untreated and IFN-treated human amnion cells demonstrated that exon 1B-exon 2 transcripts were synthesized in the absence of IFN and were not significantly altered in amount by IFN treatment. By contrast, exon 1A-exon 2 transcripts were IFN inducible. Transient transfection analysis with reporter constructs led to the identification of two functional promoters, designated PC and PI. Exon 1B transcripts were initiated from the PC promoter whose activity in transient transfection reporter assays was not increased by IFN treatment. The 107-nt exon 1B mapped 14.5 kb upstream of exon 2. The 201-nt exon 1A that mapped 5.4 kb upstream of exon 2 was initiated from the interferon-inducible PI promoter. These results suggest that two promoters, one IFN inducible and the other not, initiate transcription of the ADAR1 gene, and that alternative splicing of unique exon 1 structures to a common exon 2 junction generates RNA transcripts with the deduced coding capacity for either the constitutively expressed approximately 110-kDa ADAR1 protein (exon 1B) or the interferon-induced approximately 150-kDa ADAR1 protein (exon 1A).  (+info)

Long RNA hairpins that contain inosine are present in Caenorhabditis elegans poly(A)+ RNA. (8/1316)

Adenosine deaminases that act on RNA (ADARs) are RNA-editing enzymes that convert adenosine to inosine within double-stranded RNA. In the 12 years since the discovery of ADARs only a few natural substrates have been identified. These substrates were found by chance, when genomically encoded adenosines were identified as guanosines in cDNAs. To advance our understanding of the biological roles of ADARs, we developed a method for systematically identifying ADAR substrates. In our first application of the method, we identified five additional substrates in Caenorhabditis elegans. Four of those substrates are mRNAs edited in untranslated regions, and one is a noncoding RNA edited throughout its length. The edited regions are predicted to form long hairpin structures, and one of the RNAs encodes POP-1, a protein involved in cell fate decisions.  (+info)