DNA的数进制分析

寻找控制生命活动的无形数据,对揭开生命的数控奥秘无疑具有十分重要的意义。通过对DNA中四种碱基进行排列组合的计算和分析,得出DNA可以构成2、4、10、12、16、20、24、35、64、256的数进制;20进制信息约占全部数进制信息的4.515%;相同的DNA片段用不同的读取方式,可以得到不同的数进制信息;每种数进制信息由它的产生方式而表现出不同的调控功能;一个具有生命活性的DNA片段应有的碱基对数量应该满足函数:B=12n+1 032。     

DNA连接酶同工酶的研究进展

DNA连接酶是生物体内重要的酶,其所催化的反应在DNA的复制和修复过程中起重要作用. DNA连接酶分为两大类：一类是利用ATP的能量催化两个核苷酸链之间形成磷酸二酯键的依赖ATP的DNA连接酶,另一类是利用NAD⁺的能量催化两个核苷酸链之间形成磷酸二酯键的依赖NAD^＋的DNA连接酶.研究发现,细菌的DNA连接酶都是依赖NAD^＋的, 且有非常相似的序列和相近的分子质量,其酶分子分为两个功能区：N端区与NAD^＋结合形成酶-腺苷酸中间物;C端区催化两条DNA链的连接.所有真核生物的DNA连接酶都是利用ATP提供能量,且一种真核生物含有多种DNA连接酶,不同的DNA连接酶催化不同的DNA修复和复制过程：DNA连接酶Ⅰ的作用是将岗畸片段连接起来形成完整的DNA链以及进行碱基切除修复(BER);DNA连接酶Ⅲ主要是在DNA修复中起作用,即催化单核苷酸碱基切除修复.DNA连接酶Ⅱ可能是DNA连接酶Ⅲ的一个片段.     

脱氧核酶研究进展

使用体外分子进化技术,从一个人工合成的随机多核苷酸单链DNA库中筛选出具有酶活性的DNA分子,称为脱氧核酶. 目前已经筛选出具有RNA切割作用、DNA切割作用、金属螯合作用和过氧化物酶活性、DNA激酶活性以及DNA连接酶活性等多种催化功能的脱氧核酶. 特别是脱氧核酶10～23,无论在体外应用于RNA限制性内切酶,还是在生物系统内作为RNA水平上的基因失活剂,都具有很好的应用前景.     

DNA生物催化功能研究进展

近年来发现 ,不少结构特殊的DNA分子分别具有剪切RNA分子或DNA分子、T4聚核苷酸激酶样活性、DNA连接酶样活性以及催化卟啉金属离子化等多种生物催化功能 ,这些DNA分子被称为脱氧核酶或酶性DNA .它们在用作RNA和DNA工具酶、基因分析和诊断手段以及基因治疗药物等方面的潜力引人注目 .综述这些DNA分子的种类、结构特征、催化活性及应用现状和前景等方面的最新研究进展     

DNA光解酶的结构与功能研究进展

对近年来在包括酶蛋白、辅酶的DNA光解酶结构及其与功能关系方面的研究进展作了综述.DNA光解酶可通过光诱导的电子转移催化裂解环丁烷嘧啶二聚体(Pyr<>Pyr),从而修复紫外线引起的DNA的主要损伤.研究发现,来自不同有机体的光解酶均含有两个非共价的辅基一个是1,5-二氢黄素腺嘌呤二核苷酸(FADH2),另一个是次甲基四氢叶酸(MTHF)或8-羟基-5-去氮杂核黄素(8-HDF),前者具有催化活性,可在光作用下通过电子转移裂解嘧啶二聚体,后者不具有催化活性,但能收集光子并将能量传递给FADH2,具有“天线”作用.     

真核DNA聚合酶ε

真核DNA聚合酶ε(DNA polymerase ε, DNAP ε)从1970年发现至今已进行了较为深入的研究,但目前该酶确切功能尚不清楚.该文介绍DNAP ε各个亚基的结构与功能,以及与其相互作用的蛋白质,并介绍DNAP ε可能具有的功能,包括DNAPε在非催化方面的功能.DNAP ε(尤其是最大亚基的C端结构域)可能作为一种“桥梁“或“中继站“,为多种重要蛋白质发挥作用提供一个平台.     

杂交酶及其相关技术研究进展

根据杂交酶研究目的以及构建杂交酶方法,文中总结近年来杂交酶研究的成果,将杂交酶的应用分为以下几个主要的方面改变酶的非催化特性;创造新活性的酶;研究蛋白质的结构和功能的关系等.还介绍了DNA序列改组、表达克隆、分子筛选、人造细胞样区室筛选基因等技术的进展以及这些技术在构建杂交酶方面的应用.     

关于多功能酶与多酶复合体的教学

多功能酶与多酶复合体这两个概念有的学生在学习生化时不易分清。究其原因 ,盖由于多酶复合体所含多种酶其分别表现出的酶功能加在一起也有多种所致。实际上这两个概念不仅定义不同 ,而且有其特点可循。多功能酶是指在不同条件下显示不同催化功能的同一种 (酶 )蛋白 ,具体表现在酶所作用的底物和催化的反应在不同条件下是不同的 ,但其氨基酸顺序是不变的。最简单的多功能酶即双功能酶 ,如磷酸果糖激酶 2与果糖二磷酸酶 2 ,分别催化下列两个不同的反应 ,但其氨基酸顺序是一样的 ,只是其中一个较为特殊的Ｓｅｒ—ＯＨ发生磷酸化与否的差别 (该…     

植物去甲基化酶ROS1的研究进展

DNA甲基化状态是由从头合成的甲基化、维持型甲基化和DNA主动去甲基化动态调控的结果,由不同调节途径靶向各种酶的催化。5-甲基胞嘧啶DNA糖基化酶/裂解酶ROS1(REPRESSOR OF SILENCING1)是一种DNA去甲基化酶,能够通过启动碱基切除修复途径完成DNA主动去甲基化。介绍了植物中DNA主动去甲基化途径中的去甲基化酶和调节因子;ROS1介导的DNA主动去甲基化的途径;DNA主动去甲基化酶ROS1在各种植物不同发育过程中的作用,包括负调控印记基因表达和种子休眠、调控水稻籽粒品质、影响植物气孔发育等。     

大肠杆菌碱性磷酸酶的体外定向进化研究

大肠杆菌碱性磷酸酶（E.coli alkaline phosphatase, EAP, EC 3.1.3.1）是一个非特异性二聚体磷酸单酯酶. 采用易错聚合酶链反应(error prone PCR)的方法,在原有高活力突变株的基础上,对EAP远离活性中心催化三联体的区域进行定向进化,经两轮error prone PCR,获得催化活力较亲本D101S突变株提高3倍、较野生型酶提高35倍的进化酶4-186,并对该酶的催化动力学特征进行了分析. 进化酶基因的DNA测序表明4-186含两个有义氨基酸置换：K167R和S374C,二者既不位于底物结合位点,也不位于酶的金属离子结合位点.     

The evolution of information storage and heredity

Many important transitions in evolution are associated with novel ways of storing and transmitting information. The storage of information in DNA sequence, and its transmission through DNA replication, is a fundamental hereditary system in all extant organisms, but it is not the only way of storing and transmitting information, and has itself replaced, and evolved from, other systems. A system that transmits information can have limited heredity or indefinite heredity. With limited heredity, the number of different possible types is commensurate with, or below, that of the individuals. With indefinite heredity, the number of possible types greatly exceeds the number of individuals in any realistic system. Recent findings suggest that the emergence and subsequent evolution of very different hereditary systems, from autocatalytic chemical cycles to natural language, accompanied the major evolutionary transitions in the history of life.     

Non-coding nuclear DNA markers in phylogenetic reconstruction

Molecular DNA based data sets are the most important resource for phylogenetic reconstruction. Among the various marker systems, which were introduced and optimized within the last decade, coding sequences played an important role, especially when molecular clock approaches and multi-gene datasets were assembled. However, non-coding DNA sequences do not only play a quantitatively dominant role, as demonstrated by the two examples nuclear ITS (Internal transcribed spacer regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA) and plastidic trnL-F region, but there is also a wide range of different marker systems that can be applied in different ways. Herein, we review the application of several non-coding nuclear DNA marker systems for phylogenetic reconstructions and summarize valuable information for future research.     

Combinatorics of peptide sextets encoded by a single microgene

Genetic information stored in DNA sequences is translated into protein by linking a triplet nucleotide sequence and an amino acid. Because the frames of the triplets can be configured in three ways, a total of six polypeptides, each with a different sequence, can be produced from a single double-stranded DNA molecule. We recently developed the MolCraft system [reviewed in K. Shiba, J. Mol. Catal. B 18 (2004) xxx], which enables us to make combinatorial polymers of three peptides translated from one strand of a double-stranded DNA molecule. To explore all the information that a single double-stranded DNA molecule encodes, we have now developed a new system, La-MolCraft, in which all six reading frames encoded by both strands are combinatorially polymerized using loop-mediated isothermal amplification of DNA (LAMP) [Nucl. Acids Res. 28 (2000) E63].     

Analysis of the gel electrophoresis of looped protein-DNA complexes by computer simulation

The theory of mass transport coupled to reversible interactions under chemical kinetic control forms the basis of a numerical model that has been applied to systems such as lac repressor-lac operator DNA, in which a protein binds in two different modes to linear DNA carrying two specific binding sites. Three complexes may be formed: (1) a linear 1:1 complex with one protein molecule bound to one site on the DNA molecule; (2) a 1:1 complex in which a single protein molecule is bound to both sites simultaneously, thereby inducing a large DNA loop; and (3) a 2:1 linear complex in which two protein molecules are bound in tandem, each occupying a single site. The computational model affords a quantitative numerical simulation of the observed gel electrophoretic patterns produced by titration of the DNA with protein and provides new insights into the shape and nature of the patterns. In particular, the patterns may represent unimodal or bimodal reaction zones. Nevertheless, analysis of the peaks in the patterns obtained at low DNA and high protein concentration provides essential information as to the stoichiometry of the complexes and satisfactory estimates of association constants. The theory thus provides the experimenter with guidelines for quantitative evaluation of the results of gel retardation assays of the particular system under investigation, once protein-induced DNA (or RNA) loops have been established by independent physical or chemical methods. It is suggested that these insights might also find application to systems involving the binding of two or three different proteins to DNA with loop formation.     

Regulation of the DNA Damage Response to DSBs by Post-Translational Modifications

Damage to the genetic material can affect cellular function in many ways. Therefore, maintenance of the genetic integrity is of primary importance for all cells. Upon DNA damage, cells respond immediately with proliferation arrest and repair of the lesion or apoptosis. All these consequences require recognition of the lesion and transduction of the information to effector systems. The accomplishment of DNA repair, but also of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis furthermore requires protein-protein interactions and the formation of larger protein complexes. More recent research shows that the formation of many of these aggregates depends on post-translational modifications. In this article, we have summarized the different cellular events in response to a DNA double strand break, the most severe lesion of the DNA.     

How to build an information gathering and processing system: lessons from naturally and artificially intelligent systems

Imagine a situation in which you had to design a physical agent that could collect information from its environment, then store and process that information to help it respond appropriately to novel situations. What kinds of information should it attend to? How should the information be represented so as to allow efficient use and re-use? What kinds of constraints and trade-offs would there be? There are no unique answers. In this paper, we discuss some of the ways in which the need to be able to address problems of varying kinds and complexity can be met by different information processing systems. We also discuss different ways in which relevant information can be obtained, and how different kinds of information can be processed and used, by both biological organisms and artificial agents. We analyse several constraints and design features, and show how they relate both to biological organisms, and to lessons that can be learned from building artificial systems. Our standpoint overlaps with Karmiloff-Smith (1992) in that we assume that a collection of mechanisms geared to learning and developing in biological environments are available in forms that constrain, but do not determine, what can or will be learnt by individuals.     

DNA数据存储技术原理及其研究进展

信息生产与数据存储能力之间的差距日益扩大,急需分子数据存储等高密度持久性信息保存替代方案,基于脱氧核糖核酸(DNA)的数据存储因在信息保留时间、物理密度和体积编码容量等方面优于多数传统存储介质,而广受关注.本文概述了DNA数据存储技术的基本原理,总结了体外DNA存储数据库与体内分子存储器系统的研究进展,讨论了基于DNA分子的数据存储系统所涉及的各种影响因素以及面临的挑战.     

Charge transport in a DNA model with solvent interaction

The charge transport in the modified DNA model is studied by taking into account the factor of solvent and the effect of coupling motions of nucleotides. We report on the presence of the modulational instability (MI) of a plane wave for charge migration in DNA and the generation of soliton-like excitations in DNA nucleotides. By applying the continuum approximation, we show that the original differential-difference equation for the DNA dynamics can be reduced to a set of three coupled nonlinear equations. The linear stability analysis of wave solutions of the coupled systems is performed and the growth rate of instability is found numerically. We also investigate the impact of solvent interaction. The solvent factor introduces a new behavior to the wave patterns, modifying also the intrinsic properties of localized structures. In the numerical simulations, we show that the solitons exists when taking into account the effect of solvent and confirms an highest propagation of localized structures in the systems. The effect of solvent forces introduces a robustness behavior to the formed patterns, reinforcing the idea that the information in the DNA model is confined and concentrated to specific regions for efficiency. We also show that the localized structures can be disappeared with the highest value of solvent factor and thereafter the information within the molecule is not perceptible or not transmitted to another sites.