Only three mutations account for almost all defective alleles causing adenine phosphoribosyltransferase deficiency in Japanese patients.
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We analyzed mutant alleles of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) deficiency in Japanese patients. Among 141 defective APRT alleles from 72 different families, 96 (68%), 30 (21%), and 10 (7%) had an ATG to ACG missense mutation at codon 136 (APRT*J allele), TGG to TGA nonsense mutation at codon 98, and duplication of a 4-bp sequence in exon 3, respectively. The disease-causing mutations of only four (3%) of all the alleles among Japanese remain to be elucidated. Thus, a diagnosis can be made for most of the Japanese APRT-deficient patients by identifying only three disease-causing mutations. All of the different alleles with the same mutation had the same haplotype, except for APRT*J alleles, thereby suggesting that alleles with the same mutation in different families were derived from the same ancestral gene. Evidence for a crossover or gene conversion event within the APRT gene was observed in an APRT*J mutant allele. Distribution of mutant alleles encoding APRT deficiency among the Japanese was similar to that seen in cystic fibrosis genes among Caucasians and Tay-Sachs genes among the Ashkenazi Jews. (+info)
Regulation of human embryonic globin genes zeta 2 and epsilon in stably transformed mouse erythroleukemia cells.
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Previous work has suggested that the promoter regions of the human embryonic zeta 2 and epsilon globin genes contain negative regulatory regions that could play a role in the repression of these genes in postembryonic erythroblasts. We have examined this possibility by studying the expression of these genes in mouse erythroleukemia cells, an adult erythroid cell line that might be expected to contain repressor molecules that would bind to the putative negative regulatory regions. When attached to appropriate upstream regulatory elements (alpha HS-40 and beta HS1,2) both the zeta and epsilon genes were expressed in these cells at a low level, but no increase in expression was observed when similar constructs lacking the proposed negative regulatory sequences were introduced into these cells. These results cast doubt on the possibility that these sequences play a major role in the developmental repression of the embryonic globin genes, unless they function only in a normal chromosomal organization. (+info)
Study of the role of puring phosphoribosyltransferases in the uptake of adenine and guanine by Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells.
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1. In the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe 972h-, the uptake rate of both adenine and guanine is related to variations in the specific activity of the corresponding phosphoribosyltransferases during the growth of the culture. Furthermore, the mutant strains dap 1, devoid of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase activity, and pur 1, devoid of guanine phosphoribosyltransferase activity have a lowered uptake rate of adenine and guanine respectively, along with an increased apparent Km value for these purines in comparison to the wild-type 972h. 2. The uptake rate of the purines is strongly dependent on the pH of the uptake medium in 972h- as well as in the strains dap 1 and pur 1, the optimum being between pH4 and pH5. 3. A new method of extraction of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate from the yeast has been devised. Important fluctuations of the P-Rib-P2 pool were measured in S. pombe at different stages of growth, the maximum taking place at the start of the exponential phase, whereas no variations in the specific activity of the P-Rib-P2 synthetase could be observed during the growth. The P-Rib-P2 intracellular content in the mutants devoid of purine phosphoribosyltransferases, namely pur 1, dap 1 and pur 1, dap 1, was increased up to 5-fold as compared to the wild-type strain. 4. The effect of intracellular concentrations of P-Rib-P2, a substrate for phosphoribosyltransferases, on the uptake rate of purines has been studied: addition of formycin to the growth medium lowered simultaneously the P-Rib-P2 intracellular content and the uptake of adenine and guanine. 5. Although our results demonstrate the activating effect of phosphoribosyltransferase activities on the uptake of adenine and guanine, they do not support the hypothesis of a 'group translocation' mechanism. (+info)
End extension repair of introduced targeting vectors mediated by homologous recombination in mammalian cells.
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We have studied the mechanism of targeted recombination in mammalian cells using a hemizygous adenine phosphoribosyltransferase-deficient (APRT-) Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell mutant as a recipient. Three structurally different targeting vectors with a 5' or a 3', or both, end-deleted aprt sequence, in either a closed-circular or linear form, were transfected to the cells with a mutated aprt gene by electroporation. APRT-positive (APRT+) recombinant clones were selected and analyzed to study the gene correction events of the deletion mutation. Some half of 58 recombinant clones obtained resulted from corrections of the deleted chromosomal aprt gene by either gene replacement or gene insertion, a mechanism which is currently accepted for homologous recombination in mammalian cells. However, the chromosomal sequence in the remaining half of the recombinants remained uncorrected but their truncated end of the aprt gene in the incoming vectors was corrected by extending the end beyond the region of homology to the target locus; the corrected vector was then randomly integrated into the genome. This extension, termed end extension repair, was observed with all three vectors used and was as far as 4.6-kilobase (kb) or more long. It is evident that the novel repair reaction mediated by homologous recombination, in addition to gene replacement and gene insertion, is also involved in gene correction events in mammalian cells. We discuss the model which may account for this phenomenon. (+info)
Expression of the endogenous O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase protects Chinese hamster ovary cells from spontaneous G:C to A:T transitions.
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We have investigated whether the presence of a DNA repair enzyme, O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT), affects the nature of spontaneous mutations in a mammalian cell line. We compared spontaneous mutations in the adenine phosphoribosyl transferase gene of a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line that expressed 14,000 MGMT molecules/cell with those in the parental CHO cells lacking this DNA repair activity. The mutation rate/cell/generation of the two CHO cell lines did not differ significantly. However, DNA sequence analysis of spontaneous mutations in the MGMT-proficient CHO cell line revealed a complex picture. No significant difference from the parental CHO cells was found in the number or type of deletions, frameshifts, multiple substitutions, or insertions. The frequency of G:C to T:A transversions was elevated in MGMT-proficient CHO cells. Expression of the enzyme considerably reduced G:C to A:T transitions (25% versus 8.3%). This latter result is the first evidence that this protein is active on an endogenous source of O6-methylguanine that is normally responsible for spontaneous G:C to A:T transition mutations. (+info)
Definition of a tumor suppressor locus within human chromosome 3p21-p22.
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Cytogenetic abnormalities and high-frequency allele losses involving the short arm of human chromosome 3 have been identified in a variety of histologically different neoplasms. These findings suggest that a tumor-suppressor gene or genes may be located in the region of 3p14-p25, although there has been no definitive functional proof for the involvement of a particular region of 3p. We report a rapid genetic assay system that has allowed functional analysis of defined regions of 3p in the suppression of tumorigenicity in vivo. Interspecific microcell hybrids containing fragments of chromosome 3p were constructed and screened for tumorigenicity in athymic nude mice. Hybrid clones were obtained that showed a dramatic tumor suppression and contained a 2-megabase fragment of human chromosomal material encompassing the region 3p21 near the interface with 3p22. With these hybrid clones, we have defined a genetic locus at 3p21-p22 intimately involved in tumor suppression. (+info)
Imprinting of phosphoribosyltransferases during preimplantation development of the mouse mutant, Hprtb-m3.
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The measurement of the activity of the X-linked enzyme HPRT has been widely used as an indicator of X-chromosome activity during preimplantation development in the mouse. More recently, the concomitant measurement of the activity of the autosomally-encoded enzyme APRT has been used in an attempt to decrease the variability inherent in the measurement of enzyme activity from minute samples such as preimplantation embryos. In this study the use of the HPRT-deficient mouse mutant, Hprtb-m3, allowed the unequivocal identification of the parental origin of HPRT activity measured in embryos derived from crosses between wild-type mice, and mice which were homozygous or hemizygous for the Hprtb-m3 allele. Results were similar to those of a previous study, where oocyte-encoded HPRT activity accounted for about 10% of total HPRT activity at 76 hours post human chorionic gonadotrophin injection and the paternally-derived Hprt allele was shown to be transcriptionally active by the late 2-cell stage. In contrast to other studies, differential expression of the two Hprt alleles was detected during the preimplantation period, in embryos derived from crosses between wild-type and HPRT-deficient mice. Evidence was also found for the existence of an X-linked locus which influences the amount of APRT activity in the unfertilized oocyte. We propose that the expression pattern of this locus may be influenced by its parental origin. (+info)
Isolation of a Chinese hamster cell mutant with low intracellular phosphoribosylpyrophosphate concentration.
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A tritium-adenine suicide procedure was used to select for mutants with reduced uptake of adenine from a population of Chinese hamster V79 cells mutagenized with ethyl methane sulfonate. In one of the mutant lines isolated, designated KC62, the uptake of adenine, hypoxanthine, and guanine was reduced by approximately 70%. The specific activities, Km values, and Vmax values of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase and of hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase were the same in extracts from KC62 and from the parental cell line. Metabolic fate studies of incorporated [3H]adenine and 3[H]hypoxanthine revealed a metabolic block at the level of phosphoribosylation. Determination of phosphoribosylpyrophosphate pool size showed that the mutant contained only 25% of the phosphoribosylpyrophosphate found in the parent. Its reduced availability in KC62 appears to result in a decreased ability to salvage adenine, hypoxanthine, and guaninine via phosphoribosylation. Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase from KC62 was shown to have an increased sensitivity to inhibition by a variety of nucleotides. (+info)