真核生物的DNA甲基转移酶与DNA甲基化

真核生物的ＤＮＡ甲基化就是在ＤＮＡ的ＣｐＧ二核苷酸胞嘧啶的第 5位碳原子上加上甲基 ,催化这一过程的是ＤＮＡ甲基转移酶 (Ｄｎｍｔ)。ＤＮＡ的甲基化修饰参与基因表达调控、胚胎发育、细胞分化、基因组印迹、Ｘ染色体灭活和细胞记忆等诸多重要生物学过程[1,2 ] 。在不同组织或同一类型细胞的不同发育阶段 ,基因组ＤＮＡ上各ＣｐＧ位点甲基化状态的差异即构成基因组的ＤＮＡ甲基化谱。根据催化反应类型。可以将ＤＮＡ甲基转移酶分为三类 :第一类将腺嘌呤转化成Ｎ6 甲基腺嘌呤 ;第二类将胞嘧啶转化成Ｎ4 甲基胞嘧啶 ;第三类将胞嘧啶转化成…     

DNA在化对基因表达的影响及其在衰老过程中的表现

ＤＮＡ甲基化是真核细胞基因组重要修饰方式之一,参与基因的表达调控。由甲基化结合蛋白参与的复合体在抑制基因表达中发挥着重要作用。ＤＮＡ甲基化表型的维持需要ＤＮＡ甲基转移酶以催化“半甲基化”ＤＮＡ的甲基化。细胞在增龄过程中甲基化水平明显降低,对该过程的基因表达可能具有一定的调控作用。     

DNA甲基化的3种可能转录抑制机制

尽管ＤＮＡ甲基化能抑制转录这一观点早已为人所知 ,但其精确的机制还不完全清楚[1] 。到目前为止 ,有 3种可能的机制被用来解释甲基化的转录抑制过程。第一种机制是ＤＮＡ甲基化直接干扰特异转录因子与各自启动子的识别位置结合[2 ] 。几种转录因子 ,如ＡＰ 2、Ｃ Ｍｙｃ/Ｍｙｎ、ＣＡＲＥＢ、Ｅ2Ｆ和ＮＦ κＢ ,能识别含ＣｐＧ残基的序列 ,当ＣｐＧ残基上的Ｃ被甲基化后 ,结合作用即被抑制 (图 1 )。相反 ,其他一些转录因子 (如ＳＰ1和ＣＴＦ)对结合位置上的甲基化不敏感 ,还有许多因子在ＤＮＡ上的结合位点上不含ＣｐＧ二核苷酸 ,ＤＮＡ…     

利用嵌合RNA：DNA寡聚核苷酸进行核酸序列突变

动物中内源基因的单核苷酸突变可以引起多种单基因疾病。传统的基因疗法大多利用外源基因的导入 ,由于转基因的效率和外源基因表达上存在问题 ,这种基因疗法有一定的局限性。本文介绍的利用嵌合ＲＮＡ :ＤＮＡ寡聚核苷酸 (ＲＤＯ)在ＤＮＡ水平上对突变基因进行修复是一种新的基因疗法。这种基因疗法同样适用于植物 ,并且在植物功能基因组的理论研究中有重要作用。1　嵌合ＲＮＡ :ＤＮＡ寡聚核苷酸 (ＲＤＯ)的分子结构ＲＤＯ有一段五碱基长的ＤＮＡ序列 ,除了突变的位点以外 ,与靶基因互补。五碱基的ＤＮＡ序列两旁各有 1 0个 2’ -Ｏ -甲基…     

DNA脱甲基酶

在哺乳动物发育过程中,ＤＮＡ甲基化对基因表达有重要的调控作用。甲基化发生在特定的二核苷酸ＣｐＧ上,从而阻遏了ＤＮＡ的转录。ＤＮＡ脱甲基是与之对应的相反过程,具有解除阻遏的作用。ＤＮＡ的甲基化－脱甲基调节模式对哺乳动物体细胞功能的维持和生殖细胞的正常发...     

DNA甲基转移酶与肿瘤关系的研究进展

DNA甲基化修饰在基因的表观遗传调控中发挥重要作用,而DNA甲基转移酶(DNMT)为DNA甲基化模式建立和维持所必需。哺乳动物细胞主要含3种DNMT,DNMT1的主要功能是维持甲基化,DNMT3a和DNMT3b则催化DNA的从头甲基化。DNMT活性与功能改变导致的基因表达异常与多种肿瘤的发生和发展密切相关,由此成为肿瘤治疗和新型抗肿瘤药物研发的重要分子靶点。     

DNA甲基化及其对植物发育的调控

DNA甲基化属于一种表观遗传修饰,主要发生在CpG双核苷酸序列中的胞嘧啶上,是在DNA甲基转移酶催化下,以S-腺苷甲硫氨酸为甲基供体,将甲基转移到胞嘧啶上,生成5-甲基胞嘧啶的一种反应。DNA甲基化在植物生长过程中具有极其重要的作用。综述了植物DNA甲基化的特征、调控机制,及其对植物基因表达影响的研究进展。     

DNA甲基转移酶的表达调控及主要生物学功能

DNA甲基化是表观遗传学的重要部分, 同组蛋白修饰相互作用, 通过改变染色质结构, 调控基因表达。在哺乳类细胞或人体细胞中, DNA甲基化与细胞的增殖、衰老、癌变等生命现象有着重大关系。对催化DNA甲基化的DNA甲基转移酶(DNA methyltransferase, Dnmt)的研究可以揭示DNA甲基化对基因表达调控的机制, 从而研究与之相关的重要生命活动。文章以DNA甲基转移酶作为切入点, 探讨DNA甲基转移酶在基因表达调控中发挥的作用及其主要生物学功能。     

组蛋白去甲基化酶JMJD3研究进展

组蛋白甲基化状态是有不同类型的甲基转移酶和去甲基化酶来控制的。H3K27me2/3可以由多梳家族蛋白(如甲基转移酶EZH2)控制形成,其去甲基化后可以催化基因表达。目前共鉴定出JMJD3和UTX两种H3K27me3的去甲基化酶。大量研究发现,JMJD3可以促进细胞分化和衰老,参与调控肿瘤发生与发展。综述了JMJD3在胚胎发育及肿瘤发生、发展中的作用及其调节机制,并对其在肿瘤诊断和治疗方面的应用前景进行展望,旨为今后的研究工作奠定理论基础。     

DNA甲基化作用对细胞癌变的影响

５－甲基胞嘧啶的形成引起自发脱氨是真核生物中一种普遍存在的内源突变过程。ＤＮＡ甲基化酶具有突变诱导物作用并在癌变中表达增加。癌细胞基因组呈现ＤＮＡ甲基化不足而影响基因组的稳定性;组织特异性基因的启动子区域出现从头甲基化;癌基因多为不充分甲基化导到重新开放或异常表达;抑癌基因多为过度甲基化从而形成突变靶点。ＤＮＡ甲基化效应物可改变癌变相关基因的表达。     

Hyaluronate degradation in 3T3 and simian virus-transformed 3T3 cells

The cellular control of hyaluronate levels was examined in cultures of simian virus 40-transformed 3T3 (SV3T3) and 3T3 cells which are known to differ in their metabolism of hyaluronate. When [3H]hyaluronate was added to cultures of the two cell lines, four times more ligand was bound per mg of protein by the SV3T3 cells than by the 3T3 cells. Of the bound [3H] hyaluronate, 40% was degraded by the SV3T3 cells to oligosaccharides characteristic of the breakdown of hyaluronate, but only 2% was degraded by 3T3 cells. Hyaluronidase activity was found in the cell layer and medium of the SV3T3 cultures, but was not detectable in 3T3 cells. The SV3T3 enzyme was active only at acidic pH, but at neutral pH the secreted SV3T3 hyaluronidase was thermally more stable then the cell-associated enzyme. In contrast, both cell lines were found to contain similar amounts of beta-glucuronidase and beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase activity. We conclude that the elevated capacity of SV3T3 cells to degrade hyaluronate may be partially responsible for their lack of the hyaluronate-containing pericellular coat which is prominent around 3T3 cells.     

Cell density and amino acid transport in 3T3, SV3T3, and SV3T3 revertant cells

The transport of selected neutral and cationic amino acids has been studied in Balb/c 3T3, SV3T3, and SV3T3 revertant cell lines. After properly timed preincubations to control the size of internal amino acid pools, the activity of systems A, ASC, L, and Ly⁺ has been discriminated by measurements of amino acid uptake (initial entry rate) in the presence and absence of sodium and of transportspecific model substrates. L-Proline, 2-aminoisobutyric acid, and glycine were primarily taken up by system A; L-alanine and L-serine by system ASC; L-phenylalanine by system L; and L-lysine by system Ly⁺ in SV3T3 cells. L-Proline and L-serine were also preferential substrates of systems A and ASC, respectively, in 3T3 and SV3T3 revertant cells. Transport activity of the Na⁺-dependent systems A and ASC decreased markedly with the increase of cell density, whereas the activity of the Na⁺-independent systems L and Ly⁺remained substantially unchanged. The density-dependent change in activity of system A occurred through a mechanism affecting transport maximum (V_max) rather than substrate concentration for half-maximal velocity (K_m). Transport activity of systems A and ASC was severalfold higher in transformed SV3T3 cells than in 3T3 parental cells at all the culture densities that could be compared. In SV3T3 revertant cells, transport activity by these systems remained substantially similar to that observed in transformed SV3T3 cells. The results presented here add cell density as a regulatory factor of the activity of systems A and ASC, and show that this control mechanism of amino acid transport is maintained in SV40 virus-transformed 3T3 cells that have lost density-dependent inhibition of growth, as well as in SV3T3 revertant cells that have resumed it.     

3-Bromo-3-deazaneplanocin and 3-bromo-3-deazaaristeromycin: Synthesis and antiviral activity

As an outgrowth of our program to explore 3-deazaadenine carbocyclic nucleosides, 3-bromo-3-deazaneplanocin (5) and 3-bromo-3-deazaaristeromycin (6) have been synthesized from a readily available cyclopentenol and cyclopentanone and either 4-amino- or 4-chloro-1H-imidazo[4,5-c]pyridine (6-amino- or 6-chloro-3-deazaadenine) in 5 steps and 7 steps, respectively. Antiviral analysis found 5 to display significant activity towards a number of (-)-ssRNA and a few dsDNA viruses. Compound 6 was less active than 5 against selected examples of those viruses affected by 5.     

Ether-linked lipids of Balb/c3T3, SV3T3 and concanavalin A-selected SV3T3 revertant cells

Ether-linked lipids were analyzed in Balb/c3T3, SV3T3 and Concanavalin A-selected SV3T3 revertant cells. The three cell lines were found to contain significant quantities of alk-1-enyl- and alkyl-linked phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) and small amounts of alkyldiacylglycerols. Compared to 3T3 cells, SV3T3 cells contain a higher amount of alk-1-enyl-linked PC, while in SV3T3 revertant cells the concentrations of the various ether lipids are similar to those of 3T3 cells. The major difference in the composition of ether groups of SV3T3 cells, compared to 3T3 cells, is an increase of 18:0 accompanied by a decrease of 18:1 in the alk-1-enyl-linked PE and PC. Alk-1-enyl-linked PC of SV3T3 revertant cells also shows an increase of 18:0, while the decrease of 18:1 was not statistically significant.     

Protein degradation in 3T3 cells and tumorigenic transformed 3T3 cells

To study the relation of overall rates of protein degradation in the control of cell growth, we determined if transformation of fibroblasts to tumorigenicity affected their rates of degradation of short- and long-lived proteins. Rates of protein degradation were measured in nontumorigenic mouse Balb/c 3T3 fibroblasts, and in tumorigenic 3T3 cells transformed by different agents. Growing 3T3 cells, and cells transformed with Moloney sarcoma virus (MA-3T3) or Rous sarcoma virus (RS-3T3), degraded short- and long-lived proteins at similar rates. Simian virus 40 (SV-3T3)- and benzo(a)pyrene (BP-3T3)-transformed cells had slightly lower rates of degradation of both short- and long-lived proteins. Reducing the serum concentration in the culture medium from 10% to 0.5%, immediately caused about a twofold increase in the rate of degradation of long-lived proteins in 3T3 cells. Transformed lines increased their rates of degradation of long-lived proteins only by different amounts upon serum deprivation, but none of them to the same extent as did 3T3. Greater differences in the degradation rates of proteins were seen among the transformed cells than between 3T3 cells and some transformed cells. Thus, there was no consistent change in any rate of protein degradation in 3T3 cells due to transformation to tumorigenicity.     

Endogenous hyaluronate-cell surface interactions in 3T3 and simian virus-transformed 3T3 cells

3T3 cells have a large, pericellular coat which contains 30 times more hyaluronate than the amount of cell surface hyaluronate associated with simian virus 40-transformed 3T3 (SV-3T3) cells. On the other hand, SV-3T3 cells have high affinity binding sites for exogenously added hyaluronate, whereas 3T3 cells have much lower affinity sites. Removal of cell surface hyaluronate from SV-3T3 cells by treatment with hyaluronidase caused a reproducible increase in their maximum binding capacity for exogenous hyaluronate but no significant change in binding affinity or specificity. For 3T3 cells, however, the maximum amount of binding decreased and the affinity of binding increased after hyaluronidase treatment. When endogenous cell surface hyaluronate was labeled metabolically and then the cells incubated in the presence of exogenous unlabeled hyaluronate, the labeled cell surface hyaluronate was quantitatively displaced from the SV-3T3 cells but was not displaced from the 3T3 cells. Chondroitin sulfate and heparin did not displace cell surface hyaluronate from either cell type. Membranes isolated from SV-3T3 cells bound hyaluronate specifically and with high affinity, whereas membranes from 3T3 cells did not consistently bind a significant amount of hyaluronate. We conclude from these studies that the retention of endogenous hyaluronate on the surface of SV-3T3 cells is mediated by binding sites similar to those detected by the addition of exogenous hyaluronate, and the mechanism of retention of endogenous hyaluronate on the surface of 3T3 cells differs from SV-3T3 cells.     

Synthesis and biological activity of 3 beta-fluorovitamin D3: comparison of the biological activity of 3 beta-fluorovitamin D3 and 3-deoxyvitamin D3

The alteration in the biologic activity of the vitamin D3 molecule resulting from the replacement of a hydrogen atom with a fluorine atom is a subject of fundamental interest. To investigate this problem we synthesized 3 beta-fluorovitamin D3 6 and its hydrogen analog, 3-deoxyvitamin D3 7, and tested the biologic activity of each by in vitro and in vivo methods. Contrary to previous reports which showed that 3 beta-fluorovitamin D3 was as active as vitamin D3 in vivo, we found that the fluoro-analog was less active than vitamin D3. With regard to stimulation of intestinal calcium transport and bone calcium mobilization in the D-deficient hypocalcemic rat, 3 beta-fluorovitamin D3 showed significantly greater biologic activity than its hydrogen analog, 3-deoxyvitamin D3. In the organ-cultured, embryonic chick duodenum, 3 beta-fluorovitamin D3 was approx 1/1000th as active as the native hormone, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, while 3-deoxyvitamin D3 was inactive even at microM concentrations, in the induction of the vitamin D-dependent, calcium-binding protein. With regard to in vitro activity in displacing radiolabeled 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 from vitamin D binding protein and radiolabelled 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 from a chick intestinal cytosol receptor, 3 beta-fluorovitamin D3 and 3 beta-deoxyvitamin D3 both showed very poor binding efficiencies when compared with vitamin D3. Our results show that the substitution of a fluorine atom for a hydrogen atom at the C-3 position of the vitamin D3 molecule results in a fluorovitamin 6 with significantly more biological activity than its hydrogen analog, 3-deoxyvitamin D3 7.