Evidence on the conformation of HeLa-cell 5.8S ribosomal ribonucleic acid from the reaction of specific cytidine residues with sodium bisulphite.
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The reaction of HeLa-cell 5.8S rRNA with NaHSO3 under conditions in which exposed cytidine residues are deaminated to uridine was studied. It was possible to estimate the reactivities of most of the 46 cytidine residues in the nucleotide sequence by comparing 'fingerprints' of the bisulphite-treated RNA with those of untreated RNA. The findings were consistent with the main features of the secondary-structure model for mammalian 5.85S rRNA proposed by Nazar, Sitz, & Busch [J. Biol. Chem (1975) 250, 8591--8597]. Five out of six regions that are depicted in the model as single-stranded loops contain cytidine residues that are reactive towards bisulphite at 25 degrees C (the other loop contains no cytidine). The cytidine residue nearest to the 3'-terminus is also reactive. Several cytidines residues that are internally located within proposed double-helical regions show little or no reactivity towards bisulphite, but the cytidine residues of several C.G pairs at the ends of helical regions show some reactivity, and one of the proposed loops appears to contain six nucleotides, rather than the minimum of four suggested by the primary structure. Two cytidine residues that are thought to be 'looped out' by small helix imperfections also show some reactivity. (+info)
Long-range oxidative damage to DNA: effects of distance and sequence.
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INTRODUCTION: Oxidative damage to DNA in vivo can lead to mutations and cancer. DNA damage and repair studies have not yet revealed whether permanent oxidative lesions are generated by charges migrating over long distances. Both photoexcited *Rh(III) and ground-state Ru(III) intercalators were previously shown to oxidize guanine bases from a remote site in oligonucleotide duplexes by DNA-mediated electron transfer. Here we examine much longer charge-transport distances and explore the sensitivity of the reaction to intervening sequences. RESULTS: Oxidative damage was examined in a series of DNA duplexes containing a pendant intercalating photooxidant. These studies revealed a shallow dependence on distance and no dependence on the phasing orientation of the oxidant relative to the site of damage, 5'-GG-3'. The intervening DNA sequence has a significant effect on the yield of guanine oxidation, however. Oxidation through multiple 5'-TA-3' steps is substantially diminished compared to through other base steps. We observed intraduplex guanine oxidation by tethered *Rh(III) and Ru(III) over a distance of 200 A. The distribution of oxidized guanine varied as a function of temperature between 5 and 35 degrees C, with an increase in the proportion of long-range damage (> 100 A) occurring at higher temperatures. CONCLUSIONS: Guanines are oxidized as a result of DNA-mediated charge transport over significant distances (e.g. 200 A). Although long-range charge transfer is dependent on distance, it appears to be modulated by intervening sequence and sequence-dependent dynamics. These discoveries hold important implications with respect to DNA damage in vivo. (+info)
B-MYB transactivates its own promoter through SP1-binding sites.
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B-MYB is an ubiquitous protein required for mammalian cell growth. In this report we show that B-MYB transactivates its own promoter through a 120 bp segment proximal to the transcription start site. The B-MYB-responsive element does not contain myb-binding sites and gel-shift analysis shows that SP1, but not B-MYB, protein contained in SAOS2 cell extracts binds to the 120 bp B-myb promoter fragment. B-MYB-dependent transactivation is cooperatively increased in the presence of SP1, but not SP3 overexpression. When the SP1 elements of the B-myb promoter are transferred in front of a heterologous promoter, an increased response to B-MYB results. In contrast, c-MYB, the prototype member of the Myb family, is not able to activate the luciferase construct containing the SP1 elements. With the use of an SP1-GAL4 fusion protein, we have determined that the cooperative activation occurs through the domain A of SP1. These observations suggest that B-MYB functions as a coactivator of SP1, and that diverse combinations of myb and SP1 sites may dictate the responsiveness of myb-target genes to the various members of the myb family. (+info)
The Jun kinase 2 isoform is preferentially required for epidermal growth factor-induced transformation of human A549 lung carcinoma cells.
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We have previously found that epidermal growth factor (EGF) mediates growth through the Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated kinase (JNK/SAPK) pathway in A549 human lung carcinoma cells. As observed here, EGF treatment also greatly enhances the tumorigenicity of A549 cells, suggesting an important role for JNK in cancer cell growth (F. Bost, R. McKay, N. Dean, and D. Mercola, J. Biol. Chem. 272:33422-33429, 1997). Several isoforms families of JNK, JNK1, JNK2, and JNK3, have been isolated; they arise from alternative splicing of three different genes and have distinct substrate binding properties. Here we have used specific phosphorothioate oligonucleotides targeted against the two major isoforms, JNK1 and JNK2, to discriminate their roles in EGF-induced transformation. Multiple antisense sequences have been screened, and two high-affinity and specific candidates have been identified. Antisense JNK1 eliminated steady-state mRNA and JNK1 protein expression with a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of <0.1 microM but did not alter JNK2 mRNA or protein levels. Conversely, antisense JNK2 specifically eliminated JNK2 steady-state mRNA and protein expression with an EC50 of 0.1 microM. Antisense JNK1 and antisense JNK2 inhibited by 40 and 70%, respectively, EGF-induced total JNK activity, whereas sense and scrambled-sequence control oligonucleotides had no effect. The elimination of mRNA, protein, and JNK activities lasted 48 and 72 h following a single Lipofectin treatment with antisense JNK1 and JNK2, respectively, indicating sufficient duration for examining the impact of specific elimination on the phenotype. Direct proliferation assays demonstrated that antisense JNK2 inhibited EGF-induced doubling of growth as well as the combination of active antisense oligonucleotides did. EGF treatment also induced colony formation in soft agar. This effect was completely inhibited by antisense JNK2 and combined-antisense treatment but not altered by antisense JNK1 alone. These results show that EGF doubles the proliferation (growth in soft agar as well as tumorigenicity in athymic mice) of A549 lung carcinoma cells and that the JNK2 isoform but not JNK1 is utilized for mediating the effects of EGF. This study represents the first demonstration of a cellular phenotype regulated by a JNK isoform family, JNK2. (+info)
Transcriptional regulation of cell type-specific expression of the TATA-less A subunit gene for human coagulation factor XIII.
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To study the mechanism of gene regulation for coagulation factor XIII A subunit (FXIIIA), we characterized its 5'-flanking region using a monocytoid (U937), a megakaryocytoid (MEG-01), and other cells. Our results confirmed that U937 and MEG-01 contained FXIIIA mRNA. A tentative transcription start site was determined to be 76 bases upstream from the first exon/intron boundary. Reporter gene assays revealed that a 5'-fragment (-2331 to +75) was sufficient to support basal expression in U937 and MEG-01 but not in the other cells. Deletion analysis confined a minimal promoter sequence from -114 to +75. DNase footprinting, electrophoretic mobility shift, and reporter gene assays demonstrated that promoter elements for a myeloid-enriched transcription factor (MZF-1-like protein) and two ubiquitous transcription factors (NF-1 and SP-1) in this region were important for the basal FXIII expression. It was also revealed that an upstream region (-806 to -290) had enhancer activity in MEG-01 but silencer activity in U937. DNA sequences for binding of myeloid-enriched factors (GATA-1 and Ets-1) were recognized in this region, and the GATA-1 element was found to be responsible for the enhancer activity. These transcription factors play a major role in the cell type-specific expression of FXIIIA, which differs from other transglutaminases. (+info)
Base pairing of anhydrohexitol nucleosides with 2,6-diaminopurine, 5-methylcytosine and uracil asbase moiety.
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Hexitol nucleic acids (HNAs) with modified bases (5-methylcytosine, 2,6-diaminopurine or uracil) were synthesized. The introduction of the 5-methylcytosine base demonstrates that N -benzoylated 5-methylcytosyl-hexitol occurs as the imino tautomer. The base pairing systems (G:CMe, U:D, T:D and U:A) obey Watson-Crick rules. Substituting hT for hU, hCMefor hC and hD for hA generally leads to increased duplex stability. In a single case, replacement of hC by hCMedid not result in duplex stabilization. This sequence-specific effect could be explained by the geometry of the model duplex used for carrying out the thermal stability study. Generally, polypurine HNA sequences give more stable duplexes with their RNA complement than polypyrimidine HNA sequences. This observation supports the hypothesis that, besides changes in stacking pattern, the difference in conformational stress between purine and pyrimidine nucleosides may contribute to duplex stability. Introduction of hCMeand hD in HNA sequences further increases the potential of HNA to function as a steric blocking agent. (+info)
Hairpin-shaped DNA duplexes with disulfide bonds in sugar-phosphate backbone as potential DNA reagents for crosslinking with proteins.
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Convenient approaches were described to incorporate -OP(=O)O(-)-SS-O(-)(O=)PO- bridges in hairpin-shaped DNA duplexes instead of regular phosphodiester linkages: (i) H2O2- or 2,2'-dipyridyldisulfide-mediated coupling of 3'- and 5'-thiophosphorylated oligonucleotides on complementary template and (ii) more selective template-guided autoligation of a preactivated oligonucleotide derivative with an oligomer carrying a terminal thiophosphoryl group. Dithiothreitol was found to cleave completely modified internucleotide linkage releasing starting oligonucleotides. The presence of complementary template as an intrinsic element of the molecule protects the hairpin DNA analog from spontaneous exchange of disulfide-linked oligomer fragments and makes it a good candidate for auto-crosslinking with cysteine-containing proteins. (+info)
The use of terminal blocking groups for the specific joining of oligonucleotides in RNA ligase reactions containing equimolar concentrations of acceptor and donor molecules.
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Under the conditions that RNA ligase converts the tetranucleotide, pA-A2-A, to larger polynucleotides, no such polymerization can be detected with the derivative, pA-A2-A(MeOEt), that possesses a terminal 2'-0-(alpha-methoxyethyl) group. The protection against self condensation offered by the methoxyethyl group in this system allows the specific joining of donor and acceptor oligonucleotides in reaction mixtures containing equimolar concentrations of the two species. Thus, the enzyme, together with ATP, converts equimolar quantities of A-A2-A and pA-A2-A(MeOEt) to A-A6-A(MeOEt) in 55% yield, while a similar reaction with A-A2-A and pU-U2-U(MeOEt) results in a 40% yield of A-A3-U3-U(MeOEt). The intermediate in these ligations is a disubstituted pyrophosphate composed of the donor molecule and the adenylate moiety deriving from ATP. In the case of the intermediate arising from the blocked adenosine tetranucleotide, the assigned structure, A5'pp5'A-A2-A(MeOEt), has been confirmed by chemical synthesis. The pyrophosphate derivative is able to participate in joining reactions in the absence of ATP. These observations constitute an efficient approach to the synthesis of larger polynucleotides from a specific series of oligonucleotide blocks since (i), the methoxyethyl group can be easily introduced into each oligonucleotide using the single addition reaction catalyzed by polynucleotide phosphorylase in the presence of a 2'-0-(alpha-methoxyethyl)nucleoside 5'-diphosphate, and (ii), the blocking group may be readily removed under mild conditions after each successive ligation reaction. Two other octanucleotides, I-I2-A-U3-U and U-U2-C-I3-A, have also been synthesized by this method, and these molecules correspond (with I substituting for G) to sequences appearing near the 3' terminus of the 6S RNA transcribed from phage lambda DNA. The terminal 3'-phosphate group serves equally well as a blocking group for specific ligation reactions in that the ligase converts equimolar amounts of A-A2-A and pA-A2-Ap to A-A6-Ap in 50% yield. (+info)