Binding of 5-bromouracil-containing S/MAR DNA to the nuclear matrix.

Substitution of thymine with 5-bromouracil in DNA is known to change interaction between DNA and proteins, thereby inducing various biological phenomena. We hypothesize that A/T-rich scaffold/nuclear matrix attachment region (S/MAR) sequences are involved in the effects of 5-bromodeoxyuridine. We examined an interaction between DNA containing an intronic S/MAR sequence of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene and nuclear halos prepared from HeLa cells. Upon substitution with 5-bromouracil, the S/MAR DNA bound more tightly to the nuclear halos. The multi-functional nuclear matrix protein YY1 was also found to bind more strongly to 5-bromouracil-substituted DNA containing its recognition motif. These results are consistent with the above hypothesis.     

牛乳腺核基质附着区多重顺式作用序列表明其功能的多样性

高等真核细胞的染色体DNA通过基质结合区(MAR)不时地与核基质特异性结合而组织成一种空间环状结构。为了研究以DNA套环形式附着于核基质上的DNA序列的特性,从处于泌乳期的乳腺组织中克隆了多个MAR DNA序列。体外结合实验表明,这些序列能够同核基质蛋白共结合成不溶性的复合物,这些复合物可较容易的通过离心去除。其中,两个MAR序列中包含有TL、CA—和GA—阻断以及ATTA基序。这两个序列中含有多个复制／转录因子的结合位点、增强子基序、多个完全的和非完全的反向重复序列以及潜在的DNA弯曲核心序列样结构。同一DNA序列中存在不同元件的组合可能说明在控制一系列细胞的发育过程中,它们可能发挥有正的或负的调控元件的功能。     

Structure and Functions of Nuclear Matrix Associated Regions (S/MARs)

Modern concepts on the chromatin loop–domain organization and the role of the DNA regions specifically binding the nuclear matrix or nuclear scaffold (S/MARs) during its formation, maintenance, and regulation are discussed. Some S/MAR structural features, properties of binding the nuclear matrix, and probable mechanisms of their involvement in the gene regulation of activity are considered.     

DNA-PK-dependent binding of DNA ends to plasmids containing nuclear matrix attachment region DNA sequences: evidence for assembly of a repair complex

We find that nuclear protein extracts from mammalian cells contain an activity that allows DNA ends to associate with circular pUC18 plasmid DNA. This activity requires the catalytic subunit of DNA-PK (DNA-PKcs) and Ku since it was not observed in mutants lacking Ku or DNA-PKcs but was observed when purified Ku/DNA-PKcs was added to these mutant extracts. Purified Ku/DNA-PKcs alone did not produce association of DNA ends with plasmid DNA suggesting that additional factors in the nuclear extract are necessary for this activity. Competition experiments between pUC18 and pUC18 plasmids containing various nuclear matrix attachment region (MAR) sequences suggest that DNA ends preferentially associate with plasmids containing MAR DNA sequences. At a 1:5 mass ratio of MAR to pUC18, approximately equal amounts of DNA end binding to the two plasmids were observed, while at a 1:1 ratio no pUC18 end binding was observed. Calculation of relative binding activities indicates that DNA end-binding activities to MAR sequences was 7–21-fold higher than pUC18. Western analysis of proteins bound to pUC18 and MAR plasmids indicates that XRCC4, DNA ligase IV and scaffold attachment factor A preferentially associate with the MAR plasmid in the absence or presence of DNA ends. In contrast, Ku and DNA-PKcs were found on the MAR plasmid only in the presence of DNA ends suggesting that binding of these proteins to DNA ends is necessary for their association with MAR DNA. The ability of DNA-PKcs/Ku to direct DNA ends to MAR and pUC18 plasmid DNA is a new activity for DNA-PK and may be important for its function in double-strand break repair. A model for DNA repair based on these observations is presented.     

Specific inhibition of DNA binding to nuclear scaffolds and histone H1 by distamycin. The role of oligo(dA).oligo(dT) tracts

Scaffold-associated regions (SARs) are A + T-rich sequences defined by their specific interaction with the nuclear scaffold. These sequences also direct highly specific binding to purified histone H1, and are characterized by the presence of oligo(dA).oligo(dT) tracts, which are a target for the drug distamyin, an antibiotic with a wide range of biological activities. The interaction of distamycin with SAR sequences results in the complete suppression of binding to either scaffolds or histone H1, suggesting that (dA.dT)n tracts play a direct role in mediating these specific interactions and that histone H1 and nuclear scaffold proteins may recognize a characteristic minor groove width or conformation. The effect of distamycin on these specific DNA-protein interactions in vitro suggests that binding of SARs to the nuclear scaffold and SAR-dependent nucleation of H1 assembly might be important targets of the drug in vivo.     

Specificity of SAF-A and lamin B binding in vitro correlates with the satellite DNA bending state

There is evidence that Matrix Attachment Region (MAR)-binding proteins also bind satellite DNA (satDNA). The aim of the current work was to determine whether the major nuclear matrix (NM) MAR-binding proteins are able to recognize satDNAs of different locations and what DNA structural features are important for the recognition. In nuclei and NM, a number of the same polypeptides were recognized on a southwestern blot when MAR of immunoglobulin kappa gene (Ig kappa MAR) and pericentromeric (periCEN) satDNA fragments were used. However, the binding decreased dramatically when human and mouse CEN satDNA were used for the probes. After an NM extract was subjected to ion exchange chromatography, the main DNA-binding proteins were identified as SAF-A (scaffold attachment factor A) and lamin B. It was not possible to test the binding of lamin B by gel mobility shift assay (GMSA), but SAF-A showed an ability to distinguish CEN and periCEN satDNA fragments in GMSA. While periCEN fragments have an abnormally slow mobility on electrophoresis, which is a hallmark of bent DNA, CEN satDNA fragments have a normal mobility. A computer analysis was done using the wedge model (Ulanovsky and Trifonov [1987] Nature 326:720-722), which describes how the curved state depends on particular nucleotide sequences. The curved states of the fragments predicted by the model are in good agreement with their ability to be recognized by NM proteins. Thus SAF-A and lamin B are able to recognize conserved structural features of satDNA in the same way that MAR-binding proteins recognize MARs in spite of a lack of a consensus sequence. CEN and periCEN satDNAs are distinguished by proteins in correlation with the helical curvature of these fragments.     

Detection of drug binding to DNA by hydroxyl radical footprinting. Relationship of distamycin binding sites to DNA structure and positioned nucleosomes on 5S RNA genes of Xenopus.

We report the use of hydroxyl radical footprinting to analyze the interaction of distamycin and actinomycin with the 5S ribosomal RNA genes of Xenopus. There is a qualitative difference in the hydroxyl radical footprints of the two drugs. Distamycin gives a conventional (albeit high-resolution) footprint, while actinomycin does not protect DNA from hydroxyl radical attack, but instead induces discrete sites of hyperreactivity. We find concentration-dependent changes in the locations of distamycin binding sites on the somatic 5S gene of Xenopus borealis. A high-affinity site, containing a G.C base pair, is replaced at higher levels of bound drug by a periodic array of different lower affinity sites that coincide with the places where the minor groove of the DNA would face in toward a nucleosome core that is known to bind to the same sequence. These results suggest that distamycin recognizes potential binding sites more by the shape of the DNA than by the specific sequence that is contained in the site and that structures of many sequences are deformable to a shape that allows drug binding. We discuss the utility of hydroxyl radical footprinting of distamycin for investigating the underlying structure of DNA.     

Correlations between scaffold/matrix attachment region (S/MAR) binding activity and DNA duplex destabilization energy

Scaffold or matrix-attachment regions (S/MARs) are thought to be involved in the organization of eukaryotic chromosomes and in the regulation of several DNA functions. Their characteristics are conserved between plants and humans, and a variety of biological activities have been associated with them. The identification of S/MARs within genomic sequences has proved to be unexpectedly difficult, as they do not appear to have consensus sequences or sequence motifs associated with them. We have shown that S/MARs do share a characteristic structural property, they have a markedly high predicted propensity to undergo strand separation when placed under negative superhelical tension. This result agrees with experimental observations, that S/MARs contain base-unpairing regions (BURs). Here, we perform a quantitative evaluation of the association between the ease of stress-induced DNA duplex destabilization (SIDD) and S/MAR binding activity. We first use synthetic oligomers to investigate how the arrangement of localized unpairing elements within a base-unpairing region affects S/MAR binding. The organizational properties found in this way are applied to the investigation of correlations between specific measures of stress-induced duplex destabilization and the binding properties of naturally occurring S/MARs. For this purpose, we analyze S/MAR and non-S/MAR elements that have been derived from the human genome or from the tobacco genome. We find that S/MARs exhibit long regions of extensive destabilization. Moreover, quantitative measures of the SIDD attributes of these fragments calculated under uniform conditions are found to correlate very highly (r2>0.8) with their experimentally measured S/MAR-binding strengths. These results suggest that duplex destabilization may be involved in the mechanisms by which S/MARs function. They suggest also that SIDD properties may be incorporated into an improved computational strategy to search genomic DNA sequences for sites having the necessary attributes to function as S/MARs, and even to estimate their relative binding strengths.     

Probing the interaction of distamycin A with S100β: the “unexpected” ability of S100β to bind to DNA‐binding ligands

DNA‐minor‐groove‐binding ligands are potent antineoplastic molecules. The antibiotic distamycin A is the prototype of one class of these DNA‐interfering molecules that have been largely used in vitro. The affinity of distamycin A for DNA is well known, and the structural details of the complexes with some B‐DNA and G‐quadruplex‐forming DNA sequences have been already elucidated. Here, we show that distamycin A binds S100β, a protein involved in the regulation of several cellular processes. The reported affinity of distamycin A for the calcium(II)‐loaded S100β reinforces the idea that some biological activities of the DNA‐minor‐groove‐binding ligands arise from the binding to cellular proteins. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Circular YAC vectors containing a small mammalian origin sequence can associate with the nuclear matrix

Three different mammalian origins of DNA replication, 343, S3, and X24, have been cloned into a 15.8 kb circular yeast vector pYACneo. Subsequent transfection into HeLa cells resulted in the isolation of several stably maintained clones. Two cell lines, C343e2 and CS3e1, were found to have sequences maintained as episomes in long-term culture with a stability per generation of approximately 80%. Both episomes also contain matrix attachment region (MAR) sequences which mediate the binding of DNA to the nuclear skeleton and are thought to play a role in DNA replication. Using high salt extraction of the nucleus and fluorescent in situ hybridization, we were able to demonstrate an association of the 343 episome with the nuclear matrix, most probably through functional MAR sequences that allow an association with the nuclear matrix and associated regions containing essential replication proteins. The presence of functional MARs in small episomal sequences may facilitate the replication and maintenance of transfected DNA as an episome and improve their utility as small episomal constructs, potential microchromosomes. J. Cell. Biochem. 67:439–450, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

杜氏盐藻核基质附着区的分离及特征性分析

采用0.5%TritonX 100破碎细胞,15%Percoll分离盐藻细胞核,25mM二碘水杨酸锂(lithiumdi iodosalicylate,LIS)抽提核蛋白,限制酶消化除去结合松弛的DNA,蛋白酶K SDS处理,酚/氯仿抽提,乙醇 沉淀提取核基质附着DNA,限制酶酶切连至pUC18载体上构建MARs文库。随机挑选6个克隆进行体外结 合实验筛选,筛选出一能与核基质结合的克隆,测序分析结果表明该序列具明显的MAR序列特征。