一种鸡胚胎心率记录的新方法

鸡胚胎是一种被广泛应用于发育生物学研究的实验材料。在以鸡胚胎为动物模型的各项研究工作中,心率常被看作是一个很重要的反应胚胎生理活动指标。本文详细介绍了一种侵入性的心电记录新方法,在正常的生理条件下通过记录鸡胚胎心电的变化来监测心率。首先在蛋壳上钻孔,将电极插入蛋内,然后通过放大器放大,A／D板转换,将心电信号输入电脑进行分析处理,提取与心率相关的信息。这种记录方式对胚胎损伤较小,不影响胚胎的正常发育;具有灵敏度高,操作简单,容易掌握等特点。     

Structural and Functional Characterisation of a Conserved Archaeal RadA Paralog with Antirecombinase Activity

DNA recombinases (RecA in bacteria, Rad51 in eukarya and RadA in archaea) catalyse strand exchange between homologous DNA molecules, the central reaction of homologous recombination, and are among the most conserved DNA repair proteins known. RecA is the sole protein responsible for this reaction in bacteria, whereas there are several Rad51 paralogs that cooperate to catalyse strand exchange in eukaryotes. All archaea have at least one (and as many as four) RadA paralog, but their function remains unclear. Herein, we show that the three RadA paralogs encoded by the Sulfolobus solfataricus genome are expressed under normal growth conditions and are not UV inducible. We demonstrate that one of these proteins, Sso2452, which is representative of the large archaeal RadC subfamily of archaeal RadA paralogs, functions as an ATPase that binds tightly to single-stranded DNA. However, Sso2452 is not an active recombinase in vitro and inhibits D-loop formation by RadA. We present the high-resolution crystal structure of Sso2452, which reveals key structural differences from the canonical RecA family recombinases that may explain its functional properties. The possible roles of the archaeal RadA paralogs in vivo are discussed.     

Dynamic Regulatory Interactions of Rad51, Rad52, and Replication Protein-A in Recombination Intermediates

Rad51, Rad52, and replication protein-A (RPA) play crucial roles in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Rad51 mediates DNA strand exchange, a key reaction in DNA recombination. Rad52 recruits Rad51 into single-stranded DNAs (ssDNAs) that are saturated with RPA. Rad52 also promotes annealing of ssDNA strands that are complexed with RPA. Specific protein-protein interactions are involved in these reactions. Here we report new biochemical characteristics of these protein interactions. First, Rad52-RPA interaction requires multiple molecules of RPA to be associated with ssDNA, suggesting that multiple contacts between the Rad52 ring and RPA-ssDNA filament are needed for stable binding. Second, RPA-t11, which is a recombination-deficient mutant of RPA, displays a defect in interacting with Rad52 in the presence of salt above 50 mM, explaining the defect in Rad52-mediated ssDNA annealing in the presence of this mutation. Third, ssDNA annealing promoted by Rad52 is preceded by aggregation of multiple RPA-ssDNA complexes with Rad52, and Rad51 inhibits this aggregation. These results suggest a regulatory role for Rad51 that suppresses ssDNA annealing and facilitates DNA strand invasion. Finally, the Rad51-double-stranded DNA complex disrupts Rad52-RPA interaction in ssDNA and titrates Rad52 from RPA. This suggests an additional regulatory role for Rad51 following DNA strand invasion, where Rad51-double-stranded DNA may inhibit illegitimate second-end capture to ensure the error-free repair of a DNA double-strand break.     

Effects of Chloride Ion Binding on the Photochemical Properties of Salinibacter Sensory Rhodopsin I

Microbial organisms utilize light not only as energy sources but also as signals by which rhodopsins (containing retinal as a chromophore) work as photoreceptors. Sensory rhodopsin I (SRI) is a dual photoreceptor that regulates both negative and positive phototaxis in microbial organisms, such as the archaeon Halobacterium salinarum and the eubacterium Salinibacter ruber. These organisms live in highly halophilic environments, suggesting the possibility of the effects of salts on the function of SRI. However, such effects remain unclear because SRI proteins from H. salinarum (HsSRI) are unstable in dilute salt solutions. Recently, we characterized a new SRI protein (SrSRI) that is stable even in the absence of salts, thus allowing us to investigate the effects of salts on the photochemical properties of SRI. In this study, we report that the absorption maximum of SrSRI is shifted from 542 to 556 nm in a Cl⁻-dependent manner with a K_m of 307 ± 56 mM, showing that Cl⁻-binding sites exist in SRI. The bathochromic shift was caused not only by NaCl but also by other salts (NaI, NaBr, and NaNO₃), implying that I⁻, Br⁻, and NO₃⁻ can also bind to SrSRI. In addition, the photochemical properties during the photocycle are also affected by chloride ion binding. Mutagenesis studies strongly suggested that a conserved residue, His131, is involved in the Cl⁻-binding site. In light of these results, we discuss the effects of the Cl⁻ binding to SRI and the roles of Cl⁻ binding in its function.     

CeBRC-2 stimulates D-loop formation by RAD-51 and promotes DNA single-strand annealing

The BRCA2 tumour suppressor regulates the RAD-51 recombinase during double-strand break (DSB) repair by homologous recombination (HR) but how BRCA2 executes its functions is not well understood. We previously described a functional homologue of BRCA2 in Caenorhabditis elegans (CeBRC-2) that binds preferentially to single-stranded DNA via an OB-fold domain and associates directly with RAD-51 via a single BRC domain. Consistent with a direct role in HR, Cebrc-2 mutants are defective for repair of meiotic and radiation-induced DSBs due to an inability to regulate RAD-51. Here, we explore the function of CeBRC-2 in HR processes using purified proteins. We show that CeBRC-2 stimulates RAD-51-mediated D-loop formation and reduces the rate of ATP hydrolysis catalysed by RAD-51. These functions of CeBRC-2 are dependent upon direct association with RAD-51 via its BRC motif and on its DNA-binding activity, as point mutations in the BRC domain that abolish RAD-51 binding or the BRC domain of CeBRC-2 alone, lacking the DNA-binding domain, fail to stimulate RAD-51-mediated D-loop formation and do not reduce the rate of ATP hydrolysis by RAD-51. Phenotypic comparison of Cebrc-2 and rad-51 mutants also revealed a role for CeBRC-2 in an error-prone DSB repair pathway independent of rad-51 and non-homologous end joining, raising the possibility that CeBRC-2 may have replaced the role of vertebrate Rad52 in DNA single-strand annealing (SSA), which is missing from C. elegans. Indeed, we show here that CeBRC-2 mediates SSA of RPA-oligonucleotide complexes similar to Rad52. These results reveal RAD-51-dependent and -independent functions of CeBRC-2 that provide an explanation for the difference in DNA repair defects observed in Cebrc-2 and rad-51 mutants, and define mechanistic roles for CeBRC-2 in HR and in the SSA pathway for DSB repair.