The XPC-HR23B complex displays high affinity and specificity for damaged DNA in a true-equilibrium fluorescence assay

The XPC-HR23B complex is a prime candidate for the initial damage recognition step during global genome nucleotide excision repair. A specific interaction between the XPC-HR23B complex and various types of damaged DNA substrates has been demonstrated in recent work by electrophoretic mobility shift assays or immunoprecipitation. Although these studies allowed the estimation of relative binding affinities for the different types of lesions, the presence of large amounts of competitor DNA or the need for glutaraldehyde fixation prevented the quantification of equilibrium constants. We have performed a quantitative study on the binding of XPC to damaged DNA using fluorescence anisotropy measurements. The XPC-HR23B complex binds with high affinity (K(D) approximately 1-3 nM) to fluorescent 36 bp DNA fragments containing a single cisplatin 1,3-intrastrand adduct or a six-nucleotide mispaired region. From stoichiometric titration experiments, it is concluded that approximately 70% of the XPC-HR23B preparation is active in DNA binding. Binding experiments employing fluorescent probes with a single defined photoproduct reveal a 30-fold preference of XPC for 6,4-photoproducts as compared to a cyclobutane dimer. Competition experiments with undamaged and damaged plasmid DNA indicate that the XPC-HR23B complex discriminates between damaged and undamaged sites with high specificity. The specificity factor is between 100 and 3000, depending on the number of nonspecific sites considered in the calculations. Upon addition of XPA to the XPC binding reaction mixtures, it was not possible to detect cooperative ternary complex formation on the platinated 36 bp probe.     

A new technique to co-localise membrane proteins with Homer/vesl

The minimal requirements were defined as necessary for cluster formation of the group 1 metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR), which is regulated by the Homer/vesl family of scaffolding proteins [Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 10 (2000) 370]. Cluster formation of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) plays a fundamental role in signal transduction, particularly at the neuronal synapse. To understand the interaction of mGluR with PSD-Zip45, a Homer/vesl family member, we designed a series of chimeric receptor proteins, consisting of C-terminal mGluR1alpha sequences that were fused to endothelin B receptors (ET(B)Rs). In vitro and in vivo studies revealed that an extended 20 amino acid long C-terminal mGluR1alpha peptide, including the proline-rich core motif PPXXF, is sufficient to induce clustering of chimeric ET(B)R/mGluR1alpha receptors by PSD-Zip45. This result is especially important because it constitutes the basis for a new approach to form two-dimensional crystals of membrane proteins in situ, which may render unstable membrane proteins amenable to electron crystallographic structure determination.     

Marine Bacterial Sulfated Fucoglucuronomannan (SFGM) Lyase Digests Brown Algal SFGM into Trisaccharides

Abstract Three kinds of trisaccharides were prepared by digesting fucoidan from the brown alga Kjellmaniella crassifolia, with the extracellular enzymes of the marine bacterium Fucobacter marina. Their structures were determined as Δ^4,5GlcpUA1-2(L-Fucp(3-O-sulfate)α1-3)D-Manp, Δ^4,5GlcpUA1-2(L-Fucp(3-O-sulfate)α1-3)D-Manp(6-O-sulfate), and Δ^4,5GlcpUA1-2(L-Fucp(2,4-O-disulfate)α1-3)D-Manp(6-O-sulfate), which indicated the existence of a novel polysaccharide in the fucoidan and a novel glycosidase in the extracellular enzymes. In order to determine the complete structure of the polysaccharide and the reaction mechanism of the glycosidase, the fucoidan was partially hydrolyzed to obtain glucuronomannan, which is the putative backbone of the polysaccharide, and its sugar sequence was determined as (-4-D-GlcpUAβ1-2D-Manpα1-)_n, which disclosed that the main structure of the polysaccharide is (-4-D-GlcpUAβ1-2(L-Fucp(3-O-sulfate)α1-3)D-Manpα1-)_n. Consequently, the glycosidase was deduced to be an endo-α-D-mannosidase that eliminatively cleaves the α-D-mannosyl linkage between D-Manp and D-GlcpUA residues in the polysaccharide and produces the above trisaccharides. The novel polysaccharide and glycosidase were tentatively named as sulfated fucoglucuronomannan (SFGM) and SFGM lyase, respectively.     

A longitudinal study on hand and wrist skeletal maturation in chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes), with emphasis on growth in linear dimensions

Skeletal maturation in the chimpanzee hand and wrist (the RUS system; radius, ulna, and short bones) was studied both longitudinally and cross-sectionally. Maturity states were evaluated in each of the 13 bones of the RUS system based on the TW2 method (Tanner and Whitehouse method), and the RUS score was calculated by the summation of scores for these bones. Individual variation was examined by means of residual curves and pseudo-velocity curves of RUS score and anterior trunk length (ATL). Norms of the age change pattern in RUS skeletal maturation and the growth of ATL were determined for each sex, and the relationships among ATL growth and skeletal and reproductive maturation were examined. We found a fairly good relationship between ATL growth and RUS skeletal maturation. Comparison of growth and development between humans and chimpanzees showed that growth characteristics are coupled with each other at puberty in male chimpanzees and in both sexes of humans. Although nutritional condition influenced ATL growth in infancy, it had no effect on the RUS maturational process. Social relationships appeared to influence both ATL growth and RUS maturation. Analyses on relationships between RUS skeletal maturation, ATL growth, and reproductive maturation, showed that RUS skeletal maturation is a good indicator of "physiological age".     

Thymine-rich single-stranded DNA activates Mcm4/6/7 helicase on Y-fork and bubble-like substrates

The presence of multiple clusters of runs of asymmetric adenine or thymine is a feature commonly found in eukaryotic replication origins. Here we report that the helicase and ATPase activities of the mammalian Mcm4/6/7 complex are activated specifically by thymine stretches. The Mcm helicase is specifically activated by a synthetic bubble structure which mimics an activated replication origin, as well as by a Y-fork structure, provided that a single-stranded DNA region of sufficient length is present in the unwound segment or 3' tail, respectively, and that it carries clusters of thymines. Sequences derived from the human lamin B2 origin can serve as a potent activator for the Mcm helicase, and substitution of its thymine clusters with guanine leads to loss of this activation. At the fork, Mcm displays marked processivity, expected for a replicative helicase. These findings lead us to propose that selective activation by stretches of thymine sequences of a fraction of Mcm helicases loaded onto chromatin may be the determinant for selection of initiation sites on mammalian genomes.     

Xeroderma pigmentosum group C protein interacts physically and functionally with thymine DNA glycosylase

The XPC-HR23B complex recognizes various helix-distorting lesions in DNA and initiates global genome nucleotide excision repair. Here we describe a novel functional interaction between XPC-HR23B and thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG), which initiates base excision repair (BER) of G/T mismatches generated by spontaneous deamination of 5-methylcytosine. XPC-HR23B stimulated TDG activity by promoting the release of TDG from abasic sites that result from the excision of mismatched T bases. In the presence of AP endonuclease (APE), XPC-HR23B had an additive effect on the enzymatic turnover of TDG without significantly inhibiting the subsequent action of APE. Our observations suggest that XPC-HR23B may participate in BER of G/T mismatches, thereby contributing to the suppression of spontaneous mutations that may be one of the contributory factors for the promotion of carcinogenesis in xeroderma pigmentosum genetic complementation group C patients.     

Isolation and characterization of beta-catenin downstream genes in early embryos of the ascidian Ciona savignyi

Nuclear localization of beta-catenin is most likely the first step of embryonic axis formation or embryonic cell specification in a wide variety of animal groups. Therefore, the elucidation of beta-catenin target genes is a key research subject in understanding the molecular mechanisms of the early embryogenesis of animals. In Ciona savignyi embryos, nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin is the first step of endodermal cell specification. Previous subtractive hybridization screens of mRNAs between beta-catenin-overexpressed embryos and nuclear beta-catenin-depleted embryos have resulted in the identification of beta-catenin downstream genes in Ciona embryos. In the present study, I characterize seven additional beta-catenin downstream genes, Cs-cadherinII, Cs-protocadherin, Cs-Eph, Cs-betaCD1, Cs-netrin, Cs-frizzled3/6, and Cs-lefty/antivin. All of these genes were expressed in vegetal blastomeres between the 16-cell and 110-cell stages, although their spatial and temporal expression patterns were different from one another. In situ hybridizations and real-time PCR revealed that the expression of all of these genes was up-regulated in beta-catenin-overexpressed embryos, and down-regulated in beta-catenin-suppressed embryos. Therefore, the accumulation of beta-catenin in the nuclei of vegetal blastomeres activates various vegetally expressed genes with potentially important functions in the specification of these cells.     

Co-localization of receptor and transducer proteins in the glycosphingolipid-enriched, low density, detergent-insoluble membrane fraction of sea urchin sperm

The low density, detergent-insoluble membrane fraction (LD-DIM), where gangliosides are likely to be highly enriched, was prepared from sperm of two sea urchin species, Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Immunoblotting showed the presence in the LD-DIM of two receptors for egg ligands, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein, and four proteins which may be involved in signal transduction. Co-immunoprecipitation revealed that at least three proteins, the speract receptor, the 63[emsp4 ]kDa GPI-anchored protein and the subunit of a heterotrimeric Gs protein, are localized in the LD-DIM. This suggests that the LD-DIM fraction may be a membrane microdomain for speract–speract receptor interaction, as well as the subsequent signal transduction pathway involved in induction of sperm respiration, motility and possibly the acrosome reaction.