水稻AT-hook基因家族生物信息学分析

AT-hook是一种小型的DNA结合蛋白基序, 在哺乳动物非组蛋白染色体的高移动组蛋白(HMG-I/Y)中首次发现。对其它生物的研究表明, AT-hook蛋白在染色质结构组装、靶细胞特异性结合、转录调控和生长发育的调控中发挥重要作用。利用生物信息学方法, 从水稻(Oryza sativa)基因组中鉴定出了45个编码AT-hook蛋白的基因, 并对这些基因的系统进化、染色体定位及其编码蛋白的结构和功能等进行了系统的生物信息学分析。结果表明, 水稻AT-hook蛋白的结构和特性分化不显著; 45个水稻AT-hook基因可划分成5个亚族; 染色体复制是基因家族成员扩增的进化途径之一。基因数字表达分析结果显示, AT-hook基因主要在水稻幼穗中表达, 并通过qRT-PCR验证了部分基因的数字表达结果。     

Structural changes induced by binding of the high-mobility group I protein to a mouse satellite DNA sequence

Using spectroscopic methods, we have studied the structural changes induced in both protein and DNA upon binding of the High-Mobility Group I (HMG-I) protein to a 21-bp sequence derived from mouse satellite DNA. We show that these structural changes depend on the stoichiometry of the protein/DNA complexes formed, as determined by Job plots derived from experiments using pyrene-labeled duplexes. Circular dichroism and melting temperature experiments extended in the far ultraviolet range show that while native HMG-I is mainly random coiled in solution, it adopts a beta-turn conformation upon forming a 1:1 complex in which the protein first binds to one of two dA.dT stretches present in the duplex. HMG-I structure in the 1:1 complex is dependent on the sequence of its DNA target. A 3:1 HMG-I/DNA complex can also form and is characterized by a small increase in the DNA natural bend and/or compaction coupled to a change in the protein conformation, as determined from fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) experiments. In addition, a peptide corresponding to an extended DNA-binding domain of HMG-I induces an ordered condensation of DNA duplexes. Based on the constraints derived from pyrene excimer measurements, we present a model of these nucleated structures. Our results illustrate an extreme case of protein structure induced by DNA conformation that may bear on the evolutionary conservation of the DNA-binding motifs of HMG-I. We discuss the functional relevance of the structural flexibility of HMG-I associated with the nature of its DNA targets and the implications of the binding stoichiometry for several aspects of chromatin structure and gene regulation.     

Sperm-derived histones contribute to zygotic chromatin in humans

Background

about 15% to 30% of the DNA in human sperm is packed in nucleosomes and transmission of this fraction to the embryo potentially serves as a mechanism to facilitate paternal epigenetic programs during embryonic development. However, hitherto it has not been established whether these nucleosomes are removed like the protamines or indeed contribute to paternal zygotic chromatin, thereby potentially contributing to the epigenome of the embryo.

Results

to clarify the fate of sperm-derived nucleosomes we have used the deposition characteristics of histone H3 variants from which follows that H3 replication variants present in zygotic paternal chromatin prior to S-phase originate from sperm. We have performed heterologous ICSI by injecting human sperm into mouse oocytes. Probing these zygotes with an antibody highly specific for the H3.1/H3.2 replication variants showed a clear signal in the decondensed human sperm chromatin prior to S-phase. In addition, staining of human multipronuclear zygotes also showed the H3.1/H3.2 replication variants in paternal chromatin prior to DNA replication.

Conclusion

these findings reveal that sperm-derived nucleosomal chromatin contributes to paternal zygotic chromatin, potentially serving as a template for replication, when epigenetic information can be copied. Hence, the execution of epigenetic programs originating from transmitted paternal chromatin during subsequent embryonic development is a logical consequence of this observation.