Photocrosslinking of 4-thio uracil-containing RNAs supports a side-by-side arrangement of domains 5 and 6 of a group II intron.
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Previous studies suggested that domains 5 and 6 (D5 and D6) of group II introns act together in splicing and that the two helical structures probably do not interact by helix stacking. Here, we characterized the major Mg2+ ion- and salt-dependent, long-wave UV light-induced, intramolecular crosslinks formed in 4-thiouridine-containing D56 RNA from intron 5gamma (aI5gamma) of the COXI gene of yeast mtDNA. Four major crosslinks were mapped and found to result from covalent bonds between nucleotides separating D5 from D6 [called J(56)] and residues of D6 near and including the branch nucleotide. These findings are extended by results of similar experiments using 4-thioU containing D56 RNAs from a mutant allele of aI5gamma and from the group IIA intron, aI1. Trans-splicing experiments show that the crosslinked wild-type aI5gamma D56 RNAs are active for both splicing reactions, including some first-step branching. An RNA containing the 3-nt J(56) sequence and D6 of aI5gamma yields one main crosslink that is identical to the most minor of the crosslinks obtained with D56 RNA, but in this case in a cation-independent fashion. We conclude that the interaction between J(56) and D6 is influenced by charge repulsion between the D5 and D6 helix backbones and that high concentrations of cations allow the helices to approach closely under self-splicing conditions. The interaction between J(56) and D6 appears to be a significant factor establishing a side-by-side (i.e., not stacked) orientation of the helices of the two domains. (+info)
Histological changes in TSH-dependent tumours of the thyroid gland during serial transplantation in Fischer 344 rats.
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Transplantable tumours were induced in the thyroids of Fischer 344 rats fed thiouracil (TU) in a moderately low iodine diet for 8-13 months. Pieces of hyperplastic thyroid were implanted subcutaneously into rats fed a TU containing diet. Almost all implants gave rise to very small vascularized transplants but there were three significantly larger, pieces of which were transplanted again and gave rise to the tumour lines. From the third transplantation generation on, pieces of tumours were implanted into rats treated to have elevated circulating thyrotropin and a group fed a high iodine diet. With some exceptions, the implants grew only in rats fed the TU or a low iodine diet and yielded TSH-dependent tumours. Almost all the tumours observed initially were papillary, and most of the remainder had colloid-filled follicles bounded by columnar cells. One line of tumours was of the latter type for eight generations. The others had more complex histories, in which there were sublines that were papillary for eight or nine generations, whereas, others became progressively more cellular or follicular, and more heterogeneous with respect to histological types present per section at rates that varied with the subline. The large number of population doublings necessary to make a one gram tumour from a single original tumour cell indicates that the cells of dependent papillary tumours were immortalized. (+info)
Double duplex invasion by peptide nucleic acid: a general principle for sequence-specific targeting of double-stranded DNA.
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Pseudocomplementary PNAs containing diaminopurine.thiouracil base pairs have been prepared and are shown to bind with high specificity and efficiency to complementary targets in double-stranded DNA by a mechanism termed "double duplex invasion" in which the duplex is unwound and both DNA strands are targeted simultaneously, each by one of the two pseudocomplementary peptide nucleic acids (PNAs). On the basis of our results we predict that (for decameric targets) more than 80% of all sequences can be targeted by straightforward Watson-Crick base pairing by using this approach in its present form. Targeting of pseudocomplementary PNAs to the promoter of the T7 phage RNA polymerase effectively inhibits transcription initiation. These results have important implications in the development of gene therapeutic agents as well as for genetic diagnostic and molecular biology applications. (+info)
Decreased constitutive nitric oxide synthase, but increased inducible nitric oxide synthase and endothelin-1 immunoreactivity in aortic endothelial cells of donryu rats on a cholesterol-enriched diet.
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The Donryu rat is resistant to a high cholesterol diet in that typical atheromatous lesions do not develop. Using electron microscopic immunocytochemical techniques, the effects of a CCT diet (4% cholesterol with 1% cholic acid and 0.5% thiouracil) on the distributions of neuronal, macrophage, and endothelial specific nitric oxide synthase (NOS I, NOS II, and NOS III) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) immunoreactivity were examined in the thoracic aortic intima. Atheromatous lesions were absent, but immunocytochemistry showed 1. 4+/-0.52% and 4.0+/-0.9% endothelial cells (EC) with positive staining for NOS I and NOS III, respectively, compared with 16.3+/-2. 5% and 88.6+/-2.48% in control Donryu rats. The CCT-supplemented diet induced expression of NOS II immunoreactivity in thoracic aortic intimal cells. EC, subendothelial macrophages, and smooth muscle cells (SMC) also showed high NOS II-positive staining. The percentage of NOS II-immunoreactive EC was 43+/-1.8%. In control groups, no NOS II immunoreactive cells were observed. The percentage of ET-1 immunopositive cells was also significantly increased by 9. 2+/-0.66% and 64.2+/-1.4% in control and CCT-fed groups, respectively. It is concluded that the administration of a high cholesterol diet in Donryu rats produces endothelial dysfunction associated with changes in the balance of the different isoforms of NOS and ET-1. Therefore, the increase in inducible NOS and ET-1 immunoreactivity seen during the cholesterol-enriched diet appears to be a compensatory reaction of aortic wall cells to the high cholesterol supplementation. (+info)
Mechanism of growth delay induced in Escherichia coli by near ultraviolet radiation.
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Continuously growing cultures of E. coli B/r were irradiated with a fluence of broad-band near-ultraviolet radiation (315-405 nm) sufficient to cause extensive growth delay and complete cessation of net RNA synthesis. Chloramphenicol treatment was found to stimulate resumption of RNA synthesis, similar to that observed with chloramphenicol treatment after amino-acid starvation. E. coli strains in which amino-acid starvation does not result in cessation of RNA synthesis ("relaxed" or rel- strains) show no cessation of growth and only a slight effect on the rate of growth or of RNA synthesis. These findings show that such near-UV fluences do not inactivate the RNA synthetic machinery but affect the regulation of RNA synthesis, in a manner similat to that produced by amino-acid starvation. Such regulation is believed to be mediated through alterations in concentration of guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp), and our estimations of ppGpp after near-UV irradiation are consistent with such an interpretation. These data, combined with earlier published data, strongly suggest that the mechanism of near-UV-induced growth delay in E. coli involves partial inactivation of certain tRNA species, which is interpreted by the cell in a manner similar to that of amino-acid starvation, causing a rise in ppGpp levels, a shut-off of net RNA synthesis, and the induction of a growth delay. (+info)
2-thiouracil is a selective inhibitor of neuronal nitric oxide synthase antagonising tetrahydrobiopterin-dependent enzyme activation and dimerisation.
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2-thiouracil (TU), an established antithyroid drug and melanoma-seeker, was found to selectively inhibit neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in a competitive manner (K(i)=20 microM), being inactive on the other NOS isoforms. The drug apparently interfered with the substrate- and tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4))-binding to the enzyme. It caused a 60% inhibition of H(2)O(2) production in the absence of L-arginine and BH(4), and antagonised BH(4)-induced dimerisation of nNOS, but did not affect cytochrome c reduction. These results open new perspectives in the understanding of the antithyroid action of TU and provide a new lead structure for the development of selective nNOS inhibitors to elucidate the interdependence of the substrate and pteridine sites and to modulate pathologically aberrant NO formation. (+info)
Pulsepolarographic determination of 6-benzyl-2-thio-uracil.
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Polarographic (DPP) activity of 6-benzyl-2-thiouracil (6-benzyl-2-mercapto-4-pyrimidinol, BTU) has been examined in a wide range of pH values and it has been discovered that the number and the height of observed peaks depends on composition of supporting electrolyte and concentration of the thiol. Two different types of signals can be obtained. One of them is controlled by diffusion while the other by adsorption. The procedure for the determination of BTU in pure samples in 0.1 mol.dm-3 sodium hydroxide solution has been worked out. The measurements can be performed in a range 3.10(-4)-3.10(-3) mol.dm-3 of BTU. The detection limit is however lower and reaches 5.10(-6) mol.dm-3. The method has been used in the determination of BTU in an antithyroid drug Basdene. (+info)
Thyroid cell proliferation in rats and induction of tumors by X-rays.
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There are very few proliferating cells in the thyroid gland of normal adult rats, as measured by the labeling and mitotic index. One-tenth % 4-methyl-2-thiouracil in drinking water induced an exponential increase of thyroid weight after a lag phase of 2 days; the increase continued for 8 days and was followed by a plateau phase. The following sequence of events was found for the number of dividing follicular and stroma cells as well as for DNA synthesis: no significant changes during the 1st 2 days, a sharp increase between the 2nd and 8th days, a decrease between the 8th and 14th days, and an almost constant flow until the 24th day. Three-hundred rads of X-rays given to a nonproliferating thyroid gland induced tumor growth in 25% of the animals 18 months after irradiation. The same dose of irradiation, applied to a proliferating thyroid gland, increased the tumor incidence to 30% when administered in the lag phase, to 75% when administered at the peak of the proliferating phase, and to 62.5% when administered at the plateau phase. Subsequent treatment of irradiated animals with 4-methyl-2-thiouracil enhanced the number and the size of the thyroid tumors and lead to the occurrence of more carcinomas than appeared in animals treated with X-rays only or 4-methyl-2-thiouracil only. (+info)