On the Structure of Locally Compact Groups.
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Nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) are the three members of the neurotrophin family known to exist in mammals. Recently, a fourth neurotrophin (designated neurotrophin-4 or NT-4), which shares all of the features found in the mammalian neurotrophins, has been identified in Xenopus and viper. We used sequences specific to the Xenopus/viper NT-4 to isolate a neurotrophin from both human and rat genomic DNA that appears to represent the mammalian counterpart of Xenopus/viper NT-4. Human NT-4 as well as a human NT-4 pseudogene colocalize to chromosome 19 band q13.3. Mammalian NT-4 has many unusual features compared to the previously identified neurotrophins and is less conserved evolutionarily than the other neurotrophins. However, mammalian NT-4 displays bioactivity and trk receptor specificity similar to that of Xenopus NT-4.
The 9G8 factor is a 30-kDa member of the SR splicing factor family. We report here the isolation and characterization of the human 9G8 gene. This gene spans 7745 nucleotides and consists of 8 exons and 7 introns within the coding sequence, thus contrasting with the organization of the SC35/PR264 or RBP1 SR genes. We have located the human 9G8 gene in the p22-21 region of chromosome 2. The 5'-flanking region is GC-rich and contains basal promoter sequences and potential regulatory elements. Transfection experiments show that the 400-base pair flanking sequence has a promoter activity. Northern blot analysis of poly(A)+ RNA isolated from human fetal tissues has allowed us to identify five different species, generated by alternative splicing of intron 3, which may be retained or excised as a shorter version, as well as the use of two polyadenylation sites. We also show that the different isoforms are differentially expressed in the fetal tissues. The persistence of sequences between exon 3 and 4 results in the synthesis of a 9G8 protein lacking the SR domain which is expected to be inactive in constitutive splicing. Thus, our results raise the possibility that alternative splicing of intron 3 provides a mechanism for modulation of the 9G8 function.
The syntrophin family of dystrophin-associated proteins consists of three isoforms, alpha 1, beta 1, and beta 2, each encoded by a distinct gene. We have cloned and characterized the mouse alpha 1- and beta 2-syntrophin genes. The mouse alpha 1-syntrophin gene ( > 24 kilobases) is comprised of eight exons. The mouse beta 2-syntrophin gene ( > 33 kilobases) contains seven exons, all of which have homologues at the corresponding position in the alpha 1-syntrophin gene. Primer extension analysis reveals two transcription initiation sites in the alpha 1-syntrophin gene and a single site in the beta 2-syntrophin gene. The sequence immediately 5' of the transcription start sites of both genes lacks a TATA box but is GC-rich and has multiple putative SP1 binding sites. The alpha 1-syntrophin gene is located on human chromosome 20 and mouse chromosome 2, while the beta 2-syntrophin gene is on human chromosome 16 and mouse chromosome 8. Analysis of the amino acid sequence of the syntrophins reveals the presence of four conserved domains. The carboxyl-terminal 56 amino acids are highly conserved and constitute a syntrophin unique domain. Two pleckstrin homology domains are located at the amino-terminal end of the protein. The first pleckstrin homology domain is interrupted by a domain homologous to repeated sequences originally found in the Drosophila discs-large protein.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC7 encodes a serine/threonine kinase required for G1/S transition of the yeast cells. We previously reported human and Xenopus cDNAs encoding CDC7-related kinases and suggested the possibility that chromosomal replication of higher eukaryotes may be regulated through conserved mechanisms involving Cdc7-related kinases. Here we report a murine cDNA and gene (muCdc7) encoding a serine/threonine kinase related to CDC7. The predicted coding frame for the longest cDNA for muCdc7 consists of 564 amino acids, which shares 46, 77, and 93% identity, respectively, with those of budding yeast, Xenopus, and human in kinase conserved domains. The chromosomal gene for muCdc7, located at the band 5E5 on the mouse chromosome 5, consists of 12 exons, and its exon/intron organization shares some similarity with that of other protein kinases including Cdk and cAMP-dependent kinase. Transcription of muCdc7, initiated at multiple sites over the 370-base pair promoter region, is repressed in the resting state and is induced at the G1/S boundary after growth factor stimulation in a growth factor-dependent cell line. Transient transfection assays indicated that a 231-base pair segment of the muCdc7 promoter containing three putative E2F binding sites and one Sp1 site but lacking TATA sequence is sufficient for response to growth stimulation.
Anaerobic unsaturated fatty acid synthesis in bacteria occurs through the introduction of a double bond into the growing acyl chain. In the Escherichia coli model system, FabA catalyzes both the dehydration of beta-hydroxydecanoyl-ACP and the isomerization of trans-2-decenoyl-ACP to cis-3-decenoyl-ACP as the essential step. A second dehydratase, FabZ, functions in acyl chain elongation but cannot carry out the isomerization reaction. Enterococcus faecalis has two highly related FabZ homologs. One of these, termed EfFabN, carries out the isomerization reaction in vivo, whereas the other, EfFabZ, does not (Wang, H., and Cronan, J. E. (2004) J. Biol. Chem. 279, 34489-34495). We carried out a series of domain swapping and mutagenesis experiments coupled with in vitro biochemical analyses to define the structural feature(s) that specify the catalytic properties of these two enzymes. Substitution of the beta3 and beta4 strands of EfFabZ with the corresponding strands from EfFabN was necessary and sufficient to convert EfFabZ into an isomerase. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that the isomerase potential of beta-hydroxyacyl-ACP dehydratases is determined by the properties of the beta-sheets that dictate the orientation of the central alpha-helix and thus the shape of the substrate binding tunnel rather than the catalytic machinery at the active site.
The resonance Raman spectra of three oligonucleotides with different lengths containing a specific 5'AG3' target doublet for hypericin - a potent antiretroviral and anticancer photoactive agent, and their 1:1 and 1:2 (oligonucleotide: hypericin) complexes are reported. It is shown that the structural arrangement of the oligonucleotides, their structural stability and the local structural arrangement around the 5'AG3' hypericin target, are the factors which determine the formation of a stable, specifically bounded DNA-hypericin complexes.
Single strand conformational polymorphisms (SSCP) resulting from point mutations were found to be associated preferentially with two DNA sequence motifs. These motifs are (1) three or more of the same base but in which the polymorphism is not due to length variation and (2) a region of polypurine or polypyrimidine bases. These motifs were identified after SSCP alleles from cattle were sequenced. The sequence difference and flanking sequence for each single nucleotide polymorphism are shown. The motifs were also found in SSCP from humans chosen at random from the literature, in which the alleles had been sequenced. There is a low level of complementarity of adjacent bases in these motifs and they should represent regions of low secondary structure in the single stranded DNA. Regions of high secondary structure, such as palindromes, were found in the same sample to have allelic variation that was not detected by SSC analysis. These results give a rule of thumb for selecting the particular part of a DNA fragment to be selected for testing for polymorphisms, but this rule clashes with rules used to design primers to amplify sequences using the PCR, namely, minimise hydrogen bonding within and between primers and reduce self-complementarity.
Samples with 5.1%, 9.8% and 15.3% HbA1c were extracted from normal subjects and patients with slight and serious diabetes respectively. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectra of Fe K absorption were collected at the EXAFS experimental station of the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The step-by-step fluorescent mode was employed with a count time of 10 s per point. Several independent scans were averaged to eliminate the statistical noise. Reference backscattering amplitudes and phaseshifts were calculated using the curve wave theory (FEFF code) of EXAFS. Apart from the nitrogen neighbours around the central iron atom, oxygen neighbours are also found. The Fe-N bond length increases by about 0.02 A for the sample with 15.3% HbA1c compared with the others, but the Fe-O bond length is almost unchanged. With increasing of HbA1c concentration, the content of Hb increases and the content of HbO2 decreases. This demonstrates that the glycosylation of haemoglobin will decrease its ability to carry oxygen.
We characterized the mouse metastasis-associated gene 2 product (mmta2), which is a homolog of the metastasis-associated gene 1 product (MTA1). We revealed that the mmta2 gene spanned approximately 10 kb and was separated into 18 exons. The transcription start site of mmta2 was located 377 bp upstream from the putative initiation codon. The subcellular location of the mmta2 protein was the nucleus, and nuclear localization signals were identified in the region between amino acids 456 and 497. To obtain data on the transcription-regulating potential of mmta2, various constructs containing different portions were fused to the GAL4 DNA-binding domain. The entire mmta2 protein repressed the transcription of the reporter genes, whereas treatment with a histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA), led to recovery from the repression and to transcriptional activation. However, the N terminus of mmta2 activated transcriptional activity in the absence of TSA. These results suggest that mmta2 has the potential to both repress and activate gene transcription and that its transcription repression activity might be related to histone deacetylation.
We have reported previously that Moloney virus-transformed cells, when treated for over 200 passages in the presence of low concentrations of mouse interferon-alpha/beta, can be reverted to a stable nonmalignant status. The cells recover full contact inhibition and are unable to raise tumors when grafted in nude mice. In the present report, we show that whether reverted or malignant, these cells contain deleted v-mos oncogenes, which have lost 392 nucleotides. The truncated oncogenes contain a reduced and modified open reading frame but are able, however, to induce tumors when transfected in mouse 3T3 cells. As there is no difference either in the location or in the structure of this modified v-mos, whether yielded by reverted or malignant cells, we postulate that both cell lines derive from the same population and this modification does not play any role in the reversion process obtained through prolonged IFN-dependent selection. We suggest that reversion could be an epigenetic phenomenon, involving the constitutive synthesis of IFN-beta only in the reverted and not in the malignant cells. The continued persistence of such noncancerous cells could result at least partly from a balance involving the expression of v-mos, IFN-beta, and an IFN antagonist, sarcolectin. These reverted cells can undergo an unlimited number of passages, but they must be trypsinized before day 5 in confluent cultures. Thereafter, the cells stop dividing, cannot proliferate anymore, progressively show signs of apoptosis, and die.
A deductive database system PACADE (Protein Atomic Coordinate Analyzer with Deductive Engine) has been developed for protein structure analysis. With this system, super-secondary structures described in logical and declarative rules can be retrieved effectively. For protein structure analysis, comparison of local structures in different proteins is a necessary mean. A function to search for similar structures has, therefore, been added to the PACADE system. We describe herein the result of searches for the same topological structures and three-dimensionally similar ones. A user of PACADE can select these two levels of similarity by changing parameters. This function enables the inference system to retrieve similar structures, according to the restraints of variables defined by the user. Similar super-secondary structures among proteins can be searched for automatically, which is useful for protein structure analysis. The retrieved similar super-secondary structures can serve as criteria for protein spatial alignment.
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In the course of our analysis of genomic sequence from the human chromosome 4p16.1 region harboring both the Wolfram and Ellis van Creveld syndrome genes we have identified a sequence with high homology (98% at the amino acid level) to the rat cDNA coding for the protein phosphatase 2A BRgamma (PP2ABRgamma) regulatory subunit. Although the human cDNAs for both the BRalpha and BRbeta isoforms have been described previously, the BRgamma subunit has not yet been identified in humans. Here we describe the precise genomic organization and genetic localization of the human PP2ABRgamma gene.
We have characterized the human gene encoding the major peripheral myelin protein zero (P0) and assigned it, by in situ hybridization, to the q21.3-q23 region of human chromosome 1. This region is known to contain a cluster of interspersed genes coding for the related human leukocyte receptors of the Fc portion of the immunoglobulin G (Fc gamma RI, II, III). This colocalization was refined by the finding of a yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) of the Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH) library, hybridizing to the P0 and Fc gamma RIIA genes, demonstrating their physical linkage. These data may have important implications in demyelinating diseases studies like Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1B (CMT1B).
We have identified, cloned and sequenced the three ribosomal RNA (rRNA) operons (rrn) present in the facultative photoheterotroph Rhodobacter sphaeroides. DNA sequence analysis has identified the 16S, 23S, and 5S rRNAs, two tRNAs (ile and ala) in the spacer region between the 16S and 23S rRNAs, and an f-met tRNA immediately following the 5S rRNA gene of all three operons. Physical mapping, genetic analysis, and Southern hybridization data indicate that rrnA is contained on a large chromosome and rrnB and rrnC are contained on a second smaller chromosome. These findings are discussed in relation to the origins of diploidy.
The 5' and 3' ends of HIV-1 transcripts are identical in sequence. This repeat region (R) folds a stem-loop structure that is termed the poly(A) hairpin because it contains polyadenylation or poly(A) signals: the AAUAAA hexamer motif, the cleavage site and part of the GU-rich downstream element. Obviously, HIV-1 gene expression necessitates differential regulation of the two poly(A) sites. Previous transfection experiments indicated that the wild-type poly(A) hairpin is slightly inhibitory to the process of polyadenylation, and further stabilization of the hairpin inhibited polyadenylation completely. In this study, we tested wild-type and mutant transcripts with poly(A) hairpin structures of differing thermodynamic stabilities for the in vitro binding of polyadenylation factors. Mutant transcripts with a destabilized hairpin efficiently bound the polyadenylation factors, which were provided either as purified proteins or as nuclear extract. The RNA mutant with a stabilized hairpin did not form this 'poly(A) complex'. Additional mutations that repair the stability of this hairpin restored the binding capacity. Thus, an inverse correlation was measured between the stability of the poly(A) hairpin and its ability to interact with polyadenylation factors. The wild-type HIV-1 transcript bound the polyadenylation factors suboptimally, but full activity was obtained in the presence of the USE enhancer element that is uniquely present upstream of the 3' poly(A) site. We also found that sequences of the HIV-1 leader, which are uniquely present downstream of the 5' poly(A) site, inhibit formation of the poly(A) complex. This inhibition could not be ascribed to a specific leader sequence, as we measured a gradual loss of complex formation with increasing leader length. We will discuss the regulatory role of RNA structure and the repressive effect of leader sequences in the context of differential HIV-1 polyadenylation.
Owing to the degeneracy of the genetic code, protein-coding regions of mRNA sequences can harbour more than only amino acid information. We search the mRNA sequences of 11 human protein-coding genes for evolutionarily conserved secondary structure elements using RNA-Decoder, a comparative secondary structure prediction program that is capable of explicitly taking the known protein-coding context of the mRNA sequences into account. We detect well-defined, conserved RNA secondary structure elements in the coding regions of the mRNA sequences and show that base-paired codons strongly correlate with sparse codons. We also investigate the role of repetitive elements in the formation of secondary structure and explain the use of alternate start codons in the caveolin-1 gene by a conserved secondary structure element overlapping the nominal start codon. We discuss the functional roles of our novel findings in regulating the gene expression on mRNA level. We also investigate the role of secondary structure on the correct splicing of the human CFTR gene. We study the wild-type version of the pre-mRNA as well as 29 variants with synonymous mutations in exon 12. By comparing our predicted secondary structures to the experimentally determined splicing efficiencies, we find with weak statistical significance that pre-mRNAs with high-splicing efficiencies have different predicted secondary structures than pre-mRNAs with low-splicing efficiencies.