The Left-Handed Z-DNA Conformation in Oligodeoxynucleotides Containing Different Amounts of AT Base Pairs: A Far UV Circular Dichroism Study

Abstract

A number of fully self-complementary oligodeoxynucleotides have been synthesized and examined for their ability to assume the left-handed Z-DNA conformation in high salt solutions. The B- and Z-forms are identified by circular dichroism spectra, covering both the long-(220–300 nm) and short-wavelength (185–220 nm) regions, the latter showing CD bands very useful for identifying the sense of the helix winding. The main results of the study can be summarized as follows:

a) sequences composed by AT and CG blocks do support the B to Z transition, even when the AT contents amounts to 50%;

b) the occurrence of consecutive purine-purine or pyrimidine-pyrimidine dyads does not inhibit the B to Z transition, although a stronger reduction of water activity is required;

c) (AC)_n and (GT)_n containing oligonucleotides do undergo the B to Z transition in solution;

d) a millimolar quantity of Ni²⁺ concomitant with 5 M NaC10₄ is found to be very effective in bringing about the B to Z transition in most of the sequences considered in this study.     

Thermodynamics of DNA Containing Very Stable Chemically Modified Base Pairs

Abstract

DNA chemical modifications caused by the binding of some antitumor drugs give rise to a very strong local stabilization of the double helix. These sites melt at a temperature that is well above the melting temperatures of ordinary AT and GC base pairs. In this work we have examined the melting behavior of DNA containing very stable sites. Analytical expressions were derived and used to evaluate the thermodynamic properties of homopolymers DNA with several different distributions of stable sites. The results were extended to DNA with a heterogeneous sequence of AT and GC base pairs. The results were compared to the melting properties of DNA with ordinary covalent interstrand cross-links. It was found that, as with an ordinary interstrand cross-link, a single strongly stabilized site makes a DNA's melting temperature (T_m ) independent of strand concentration. However in contrast to a DNA with an interstrand cross-link, a strongly stabilized site makes the DNA's T_m independent of DNA length and equal to T _∞, the melting temperature of an infinite length DNA with the same GC-content and without a stabilized site. Moreover, at a temperature where more than 80% of base pairs are melted, the number of ordinary (non-modified) helical base pairs (n) is independent of both the DNA length and the location of the stabilized sites. For this condition, n(T) = (2ω-a) S (1- S ) and S = exp[ΔS(T∞-T)/(RT)] where ω is the number of strongly stabilized sites in the DNA chain, a is the number of DNA ends that contain a stabilized site, and ΔS, T, and R are the base pair entropy change, the temperature, and the universal gas constant per mole. The above expression is valid for a temperature interval that corresponds to n<0.2N for ω=1, and n<0.1N for ω>1, where N is the number of ordinary base pairs in the DNA chain.     

Crystal Structure of a Bivalent Antibody Fab Fragment

We determined the crystal structure to 1.8 Å resolution of the Fab fragment of an affinity-matured human monoclonal antibody (HC84.26.5D) that recognizes the E2 envelope glycoprotein of hepatitis C virus (HCV). Unlike conventional Fabs, which are monovalent monomers, Fab HC84.26.5D assembles into a bivalent domain-swapped dimer in which the two V_L/V_H modules are separated by ~25 Å. In solution, Fab HC84.26.5D exists predominantly as a dimer (~80%) in equilibrium with the monomeric form of the Fab (~20%). Dimerization is mediated entirely by deletion of a single residue, V_HSer113 (Kabat numbering), in the elbow region linking the V_H and C_H1 domains. In agreement with the crystal structure, dimeric Fab HC84.26.5D is able to bind two HCV E2 molecules in solution. This is only the second example of a domain-swapped Fab dimer from among >3000 Fab crystal structures determined to date. Moreover, the architecture of the doughnut-shaped Fab HC84.26.5D dimer is completely different from that of the previously reported Fab 2G12 dimer. We demonstrate that the highly identifiable shape of dimeric Fab HC84.26.5D makes it useful as a fiducial marker for single-particle cryoEM analysis of HCV E2. Bivalent domain-swapped Fab dimers engineered on the basis of HC84.26.5D may also serve as a means of doubling the effective size of conventional Fab–protein complexes for cryoEM.     

Crystal structure of a Z-DNA fragment containing thymine/2-aminoadenine base pairs

The Z-DNA structure has been shown to form in two crystals made from self-complementary DNA hexamers d(CGTDCG) and d(CDCGTG) which contain thymine/2-aminoadenine (TD) base pairs. The latter structure has been solved and refined to 1.3 A resolution and it shows only small conformational changes due to the introduction of the TD base pairs in comparison with the structure of d(CG)3. Spectroscopic studies with these compounds demonstrate that DNA molecules containing 2-aminoadenine residues form Z-DNA slightly more easily than do those containing adenine nucleotides, but not as readily as the parent sequence containing only guanine-cytosine base pairs.     

NMR Structure of an Oligonucleotide Containing A Base Pair 3-(2-Hydroxyethyl) Deoxyuridine-Adenine

Abstract

It has been shown that ethylene oxide reacts with dC at the N3 position to produce a potentially mutagenic lesion, 3-(2-hydroxyethyl) deoxyuridine (3-HE-dU). In this article, we report NMR and Molecular Mechanic studies of a duplex containing the 3-HE-dU base with an adenine in front of the lesion which is in the sequence, 5′-GCAAGTC(3-HE-dU)AAAACG.     

含F／2A序列的抗P185^erbB2人鼠嵌合抗体慢病毒表达载体的构建

目的构建含F／2A序列的抗P185^erbB2人鼠嵌合抗体慢病毒表达载体,观察其在293T细胞中的表达。方法用具有自我剪切能力的弗林蛋白酶（Furin）／口蹄疫病毒2A多肽（F/2A）连接人鼠嵌合抗体的重链和轻链,形成一个开放阅读框（ORF）,插入慢病毒表达载体pWPI,构建重组抗P185神睨全长人鼠嵌合抗体表达载体pWPI／H-F2A—L。以已构建的慢病毒表达载体pWPI／H-IRES-L为对照质粒。应用磷酸钙沉淀法将慢病毒载体3质粒系统共转染入293T细胞进行包装,测定病毒滴度。再感染293T细胞,荧光显微镜下观察GFP的表达和转染效率,RT—PER、ELISA方法分别检测嵌合抗体mRNA和蛋白的表达。结果经测序鉴定,pWPI／H—F2A—L与预期设计一致;pWPI／H—F2A—L组的病毒滴度为4．3×10^5TU／ml,而pWPI／H—IRES—L组的病毒滴度为3．5×10^5TU／ml;两组重组慢病毒的转染效率分别为87．68％和79．08％;两组重组慢病毒感染293T细胞后,都有嵌合重链和嵌合轻链的表达,由F／2A介导的嵌合抗体的表达水平要高于由IRES介导的嵌合抗体。结论成功构建了含F／2A序列的抗P185^erbB2人鼠嵌合抗体慢病毒表达载体,为今后抗P185^erbB2工程抗体的研究奠定了基础。     

Unusual Contribution of 2-Aminoadenine to the Thermostability of DNA

Abstract

The poly(dA-dU) and poly(dl-dC) duplexes have very similar thermostabilities (T_m). This similarity extends also to the pyrimidine 5-methyl group-containing poly(dA-dT) and poly(dI-m⁵dC). The differences between chemical structures of the A:U and I:C or the A:T and I:m⁵C base-pairs seem to be unimportant for the thermostability of the DNA. However, on the insertion of an amino group into position 2 of the purines the similarities disappear. Thermostabilities of poly(n²dA-dU) and poly(dG-dC) as well as the poly(n²dA-dT) and poly(dG-m⁵dC) are radically different. This is also the case with their other 5-substituted pyrimidine-containing derivatives, the 5-ethyl, 5-n-butyl and 5-bromo analogues. The G:C-based polynucleotides are more stable by an average of 40°C than the n²A.U-based ones. Poly(dA,n²dA-dT)-s containing various proportions of A and n²A as well as the natural DNA of S-2L cyanophage that contains n²A bases instead of A were also studied. It was found that dependence of T_m on the n²A-content was non-linear and that the lower T_m is not the consequence of a particular nucleotide sequence. The possible structural reasons for the lower thermostabilization of these B-DNAs by the n²A:T base-pair as compared to the G:C are discussed.     

Recognition of Oxidized Thymine Base on the Single-Stranded DNA by Replication Protein A

Replication protein A (RAP) is a eukaryotic single-stranded DNA binding protein involved in DNA replication, repair, and recombination. Recent studies indicate that RPA preferentially binds the damaged sites rather than the undamaged sites. Therefore, RPA is thought to be a member of repair factories or a sensor of lesion on DNA. To obtain further information of behavior of RPA against the oxidized lesion, we studied the binding affinity of RPA for the single-stranded DNA containing 5-formyluracil, a major lesion of thymine base yielded by the oxidation, using several synthetic oligonucleotides. The affinity of RPA for oligonucleotides was determined by gel shift assay. Results suggest that the surrounding sequence of 5-formyluracil may affect the affinity for RPA, and that the 5-formyluracil on the purine stretch but not the pyrimidine stretch increases the affinity for RPA. Results of affinity labeling experiment of RPA with the oligonucleotides containing 5-formyluracil indicate that RPA1 subunit may directly recognize and bind to the 5-formyluracil on the single-stranded DNA.     

Structure/Function Relationships of Adipose Phospholipase A2 Containing a Cys-His-His Catalytic Triad

Adipose phospholipase A₂ (AdPLA or Group XVI PLA₂) plays an important role in the onset of obesity by suppressing adipose tissue lipolysis. As a consequence, AdPLA-deficient mice are resistant to obesity induced by a high fat diet or leptin deficiency. It has been proposed that AdPLA mediates its antilipolytic effects by catalyzing the release of arachidonic acid. Based on sequence homology, AdPLA is part of a small family of acyltransferases and phospholipases related to lecithin:retinol acyltransferase (LRAT). To better understand the enzymatic mechanism of AdPLA and LRAT-related proteins, we solved the crystal structure of AdPLA. Our model indicates that AdPLA bears structural similarity to proteins from the NlpC/P60 family of cysteine proteases, having its secondary structure elements configured in a circular permutation of the classic papain fold. Using both structural and biochemical evidence, we demonstrate that the enzymatic activity of AdPLA is mediated by a distinctive Cys-His-His catalytic triad and that the C-terminal transmembrane domain of AdPLA is required for the interfacial catalysis. Analysis of the enzymatic activity of AdPLA toward synthetic and natural substrates indicates that AdPLA displays PLA₁ in addition to PLA₂ activity. Thus, our results provide insight into the enzymatic mechanism and biochemical properties of AdPLA and LRAT-related proteins and lead us to propose an alternate mechanism for AdPLA in promoting adipose tissue lipolysis that is not contingent on the release of arachidonic acid and that is compatible with its combined PLA₁/A₂ activity.     

Isolation of a DNA Fragment Containing Replication Functions from IncP2 Megaplasmid pMG2

Replication functions with IncP2 specificity were identified on a 3-kilobase DNA fragment isolated from the 400-kilobase Pseudomonas megaplasmid pMG2.     

含2A片段的重组黄热病毒17D疫苗表达载体的构建

黄热疫苗是一种减毒的黄热病毒17D(YF-17D)活疫苗,是现有疫苗中最安全、最有效的疫苗之一,适于发展为疫苗载体。用RT-PCR法扩增出覆盖YF-17D全长基因组的3个cDNA片段:5′cDNA(A)、3′cDNA(B)和中间cDNA(C),同时引入SP6增强子序列、酶切位点和重复序列。顺序将A和B同E.coli-yeast穿梭质粒pRS424连接,再与C共转染酵母菌,利用缺少色氨酸和尿嘧啶的选择性固体培养基筛选出含YF-17D全长基因组的cDNA质粒。以该质粒为模板,经过DNA重组和酵母同源重组,获得含有口蹄疫病毒蛋白水解酶2A片段的重组YF-17D表达载体。将该表达载体体外转录后,电击转染BHK-21细胞。间接免疫荧光检测结果表明,RNA转录体在BHK-21细胞中进行了稳定的表达;滴度测定与形态学观察结果表明,重组病毒在细胞中的生长曲线等特征同母本YF-17D十分相似。结果提示,利用酵母菌同源重组在2A部位引入异种抗原基因,重组YF-17D表达载体pRS-YF-2A1具有成为高效活疫苗表达载体的潜力。     

Crystal Structure of Albaflavenone Monooxygenase Containing a Moonlighting Terpene Synthase Active Site

Albaflavenone synthase (CYP170A1) is a monooxygenase catalyzing the final two steps in the biosynthesis of this antibiotic in the soil bacterium, Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). Interestingly, CYP170A1 shows no stereo selection forming equal amounts of two albaflavenol epimers, each of which is oxidized in turn to albaflavenone. To explore the structural basis of the reaction mechanism, we have studied the crystal structures of both ligand-free CYP170A1 (2.6 Å) and complex of endogenous substrate (epi-isozizaene) with CYP170A1 (3.3 Å). The structure of the complex suggests that the proximal epi-isozizaene molecules may bind to the heme iron in two orientations. In addition, much to our surprise, we have found that albaflavenone synthase also has a second, completely distinct catalytic activity corresponding to the synthesis of farnesene isomers from farnesyl diphosphate. Within the cytochrome P450 α-helical domain both the primary sequence and x-ray structure indicate the presence of a novel terpene synthase active site that is moonlighting on the P450 structure. This includes signature sequences for divalent cation binding and an α-helical barrel. This barrel is unusual because it consists of only four helices rather than six found in all other terpene synthases. Mutagenesis establishes that this barrel is essential for the terpene synthase activity of CYP170A1 but not for the monooxygenase activity. This is the first bifunctional P450 discovered to have another active site moonlighting on it and the first time a terpene synthase active site is found moonlighting on another protein.     

麦迪霉素产生菌中具强启动活性DNA片段的结构与功能分析

用启动子探针质粒ｐＩＪ４８６从麦迪霉素产生菌（Ｓ．ｍｙｃａｒｏｆａｃｉｅｎｓ）中克隆到１个具启动功能的ＨｉｎｄＩＩＩ－ＨｉｎｄＩＩＩ２．０ｋｂ片段,含该片段的重组质粒ｐ４Ｈ２转化子在ＭＭ基本培养基上对卡那霉素（Ｋｍ）抗性可达５００μｇ／ｍｌ以上。亚克隆缺失分析结果表明,该片段不同部分的缺失对启动活性有不同程度的影响,说明它具有较复杂的转录调控机制。ＤＮＡ序列分析结果显示,该片段含有１９８４个核苷酸,其Ｇ＋Ｃ％为４７．７％,不存在典型的链霉菌的可读框;进一步的分析发现,其６５０ｂｐ、１１５０ｂｐ和１５００ｂｐ区域分别与麦迪霉素酮基还原酶基因等链霉菌基因的启动子序列具有同源性;在５２０－５７０ｂｐ区域与大肠杆菌ｔＲＮＡ基因上游激活序列（ＵＡＳ）有较好的同源性,提示链霉菌中可能存在可增强基因转录的ＤＮＡ元件。     

Base Excision by Thymine DNA Glycosylase Mediates DNA-Directed Cytotoxicity of 5-Fluorouracil

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), a chemotherapeutic drug commonly used in cancer treatment, imbalances nucleotide pools, thereby favoring misincorporation of uracil and 5-FU into genomic DNA. The processing of these bases by DNA repair activities was proposed to cause DNA-directed cytotoxicity, but the underlying mechanisms have not been resolved. In this study, we investigated a possible role of thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG), one of four mammalian uracil DNA glycosylases (UDGs), in the cellular response to 5-FU. Using genetic and biochemical tools, we found that inactivation of TDG significantly increases resistance of both mouse and human cancer cells towards 5-FU. We show that excision of DNA-incorporated 5-FU by TDG generates persistent DNA strand breaks, delays S-phase progression, and activates DNA damage signaling, and that the repair of 5-FU–induced DNA strand breaks is more efficient in the absence of TDG. Hence, excision of 5-FU by TDG, but not by other UDGs (UNG2 and SMUG1), prevents efficient downstream processing of the repair intermediate, thereby mediating DNA-directed cytotoxicity. The status of TDG expression in a cancer is therefore likely to determine its response to 5-FU–based chemotherapy.     

Crystal Structure and Computational Modeling of the Fab Fragment from a Protective Anti-Ricin Monoclonal Antibody

Background

Many antibody crystal structures have been solved. Structural modeling programs have been developed that utilize this information to predict 3-D structures of an antibody based upon its sequence. Because of the problem of self-reference, the accuracy and utility of these predictions can only be tested when a new structure has not yet been deposited in the Protein Data Bank.

Methods

We have solved the crystal structure of the Fab fragment of RAC18, a protective anti-ricin mAb, to 1.9 Å resolution. We have also modeled the Fv structure of RAC18 using publicly available Ab modeling tools Prediction of Immunoglobulin Structures (PIGS), RosettaAntibody, and Web Antibody Modeling (WAM). The model structures underwent energy minimization. We compared results to the crystal structure on the basis of root-mean-square deviation (RMSD), template modeling score (TM-score), Z-score, and MolProbity analysis.

Findings

The crystal structure showed a pocket formed mainly by AA residues in each of the heavy chain complementarity determining regions (CDRs). There were differences between the crystal structure and structures predicted by the modeling tools, particularly in the CDRs. There were also differences among the predicted models, although the differences were small and within experimental error. No one modeling program was clearly superior to the others. In some cases, choosing structures based only on sequence homology to the crystallized Ab yielded RMSDs comparable to the models.

Conclusions

Molecular modeling programs accurately predict the structure of most regions of antibody variable domains of RAC18. The hypervariable CDRs proved most difficult to model, particularly H chain CDR3. Because CDR3 is most often involved in contact with antigen, this defect must be considered when using models to identify potential contacts between antibody and antigen. Because this study represents only a single case, the results cannot be generalized. Rather they highlight the utility and limitations of modeling programs.     

Crystal Structure of the N-Terminal Domain of Nup358/RanBP2

Key steps in mRNA export are the nuclear assembly of messenger ribonucleoprotein particles (mRNPs), the translocation of mRNPs through the nuclear pore complex (NPC), and the mRNP remodeling events at the cytoplasmic side of the NPC. Nup358/RanBP2 is a constituent of the cytoplasmic filaments of the NPC specific to higher eukaryotes and provides a multitude of binding sites for the nucleocytoplasmic transport machinery. Here, we present the crystal structure of the Nup358 N-terminal domain (NTD) at 0.95 Å resolution. The structure reveals an α-helical domain that harbors three central tetratricopeptide repeats (TPRs), flanked on each side by an additional solvating amphipathic α helix. Overall, the NTD adopts an unusual extended conformation that lacks the characteristic peptide-binding groove observed in canonical TPR domains. Strikingly, the vast majority of the NTD surface exhibits an evolutionarily conserved, positive electrostatic potential, and we demonstrate that the NTD possesses the capability to bind single-stranded RNA in solution. Together, these data suggest that the NTD contributes to mRNP remodeling events at the cytoplasmic face of the NPC.     

含庚型肝炎病毒E2基因片段质粒DNA能诱发相当强烈的体液免疫应答

研究了庚型肝炎病毒E2(HGV E2)基因片段作为DNA疫苗的可行性。将来自于质粒pThioHis-E2编码HGV E2的基因片段(559bp)亚克隆到质粒pCMV-S中,使之和HBsAg基因位于同一阅读框,形成重组质粒pCMV-S-E2。用纯化的质粒pCMV-S-E2 DNA注射到昆明小鼠后腿四头肌中来免疫小鼠,同时用pCMV-S作为对照。间隔14天再加强一次免疫。在加强免疫后的第8天眼眶取血。用E2—GST融合蛋白作为固定化抗原,通过ELISA检测受试小鼠的体液免疫应答。结果表明,用质粒pCMV-S-EDNA免疫的小鼠可以产生很强的体液免疫应答。     

Crystal structure of a Z-DNA hexamer d(CGCICG) at 1.7 A resolution: inosine.cytidine base-pairing, and comparison with other Z-DNA structures.

The crystal structure of the deoxyhexamer, d(CGCICG), has been determined and refined to a resolution of 1.7A. The DNA hexamer crystallises in space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with unit cell dimensions of a = 18.412 +/- .017 A, b = 30.485 +/- .036A, and c = 43.318 +/- .024 A. The structure has been solved by rotation and translation searches and refined to an R-factor of 0.148 using 2678 unique reflections greater than 1.0 sigma (F) between 10.0-1.7 A resolution. Although the crystal parameters are similar to several previously reported Z-DNA hexamers, this inosine containing Z-DNA differs in the relative orientation, position, and crystal packing interactions compared to d(CGCGCG) DNA. Many of these differences in the inosine form of Z-DNA can be explained by crystal packing interactions, which are responsible for distortions of the duplex at different locations. The most noteworthy features of the inosine form of Z-DNA as a result of such distortions are: (1) sugar puckers for the inosines are of C4'-exo type, (2) all phosphates have the Zl conformation, and (3) narrower minor grove and compression along the helical axis compared to d(CGCGCG) DNA. In addition, the substitution of guanosine by inosine appears to have resulted in Watson-Crick type base-pairing between inosine and cytidine with a potential bifurcated hydrogen bond between inosine N1 and cytidine N3 (2.9 A) and O2 (3.3-3.A).