Antibody class switching mediated by yeast endonuclease-generated DNA breaks

Antibody class switching in activated B cells uses class switch recombination (CSR), which joins activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID)-dependent double-strand breaks (DSBs) within two large immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) locus switch (S) regions that lie up to 200 kilobases apart. To test postulated roles of S regions and AID in CSR, we generated mutant B cells in which donor Smu and accepter Sgamma1 regions were replaced with yeast I-SceI endonuclease sites. We found that site-specific I-SceI DSBs mediate recombinational IgH locus class switching from IgM to IgG1 without S regions or AID. We propose that CSR evolved to exploit a general DNA repair process that promotes joining of widely separated DSBs within a chromosome.     

Critical roles of activation-induced cytidine deaminase in the homeostasis of gut flora

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) plays an essential role in class switch recombination (CSR) and somatic hypermutation (SHM) of immunoglobulin genes. We report here that deficiency in AID results in the development of hyperplasia of isolated lymphoid follicles (ILFs) associated with a 100-fold expansion of anaerobic flora in the small intestine. Reduction of bacterial flora by antibiotic treatment of AID-/- mice abolished ILF hyperplasia as well as the germinal center enlargement seen in secondary lymphoid tissues. Because an inability to switch to immunoglobulin A on its own does not lead to a similar phenotype, these results suggest that SHM of ILF B cells plays a critical role in regulating intestinal microflora.     

Requirement of the activation-induced deaminase (AID) gene for immunoglobulin gene conversion

Three phenotypically distinct processes-somatic hypermutation, gene conversion, and switch recombination-remodel the functionally rearranged immunoglobulin (Ig) loci in B cells. Somatic hypermutation and switch recombination have recently been shown to depend on the activation-induced deaminase (AID) gene product. Here, we show that the disruption of the AID gene in the chicken B cell line DT40 completely blocks Ig gene conversion and that this block can be complemented by reintroduction of the AID complementary DNA. This demonstrates that the AID master gene controls all B cell-specific modifications of vertebrate Ig genes.     

AID-driven deletion causes immunoglobulin heavy chain locus suicide recombination in B cells

Remodeling of immunoglobulin genes by activation-induced deaminase (AID) is required for affinity maturation and class-switch recombination in mature B lymphocytes. In the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus, these processes are predominantly controlled by the 3' cis-regulatory region. We now show that this region is transcribed and undergoes AID-mediated mutation and recombination around phylogenetically conserved switchlike DNA repeats. Such recombination, which we term locus suicide recombination, deletes the whole constant region gene cluster and thus stops expression of the immunoglobulin of the B cell surface, which is critical for B cell survival. The frequency of this event is approaching that of class switching and makes it a potential regulator of B cell homeostasis.     

"Right-to-life" scores new victory at AID

The U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), responding to political pressure, has decided to permit grants to natural family planning groups that do not adhere to long-standing AID policy that clients be provided with information on all methods of contraception. This step is at odds with domestic and United Nations policy, and it violates the medical ethic that a patient should be informed of all medically approved options. A brief review of the current state of U.S. family planning policy and the controversy surrounding it concludes with Holden's observation that the issue is likely to be further politicized.     

Two domains of yeast U6 small nuclear RNA required for both steps of nuclear precursor messenger RNA splicing

U6 is one of the five small nuclear RNA's (snRNA's) that are required for splicing of nuclear precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA). The size and sequence of U6 RNA are conserved among organisms as diverse as yeast and man, and so it has been proposed that U6 RNA functions as a catalytic element in splicing. A procedure for in vitro reconstitution of functional yeast U6 small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNP's) with synthetic U6 RNA was applied in an attempt to elucidate the function of yeast U6 RNA. Two domains in U6 RNA were identified, each of which is required for in vitro splicing. Single nucleotide substitutions in these two domains block splicing either at the first or the second step. Invariably, U6 RNA mutants that block the first step of splicing do not enter the spliceosome. On the other hand, those that block the second step of splicing form a spliceosome but block cleavage at the 3' splice site of the intron. In both domains, the positions of base changes that block the second step of splicing correspond exactly to the site of insertion of pre-mRNA-type introns into the U6 gene of two yeast species, providing a possible explanation for the mechanism of how these introns originated and adding further evidence for the proposed catalytic role of U6 RNA.     

Strand-biased spreading of mutations during somatic hypermutation

Somatic hypermutation (SHM) is a major means by which diversity is achieved in antibody genes, and it is initiated by the deamination of cytosines to uracils in DNA by activation-induced deaminase (AID). However, the process that leads from these initiating deamination events to mutations at other residues remains poorly understood. We demonstrate that a single cytosine on the top (nontemplate) strand is sufficient to recruit AID and lead to mutations of upstream and downstream A/T residues. In contrast, the targeting of cytosines on the bottom strand by AID does not lead to substantial mutation of neighboring residues. This strand asymmetry is eliminated in mice deficient in mismatch repair, indicating that the error-prone mismatch repair machinery preferentially targets top-strand uracils in a way that promotes SHM during the antibody response.     

猪IgG H链基因CH2-CH3的克隆和分析

根据已发表的猪IgG H链序列,设计了1对通用引物,从猪外周血淋巴细胞提取总RNA,经RT-PCR扩增IgG H链基因CH2-CH3序列,并克隆入pMD18-T Simple载体,转化大肠杆菌DH5α感受态细胞,经SalI和XbaI双酶切鉴定,筛选出阳性克隆。核酸序列测定分析表明,IgG H链基因CH2-CH3序列全长为669 bp,编码CH2-CH3的221个氨基酸和J区的1个脯氨酸。利用DNASTAR软件将其与猪IgG H链各CH2-CH3序列进行比较,发现其与U03778-1、U03779-2a、U03780-2b、U03781-3、U03782-4的核苷酸序列同源率分别为92.1%、98.4%、98.5%、93.0%和97.2%,推导的氨基酸序列同源率分别为86.5%、96.4%、96.5%、87.0%和94.2%。经进化树分析提示,该序列可能为一个新的亚型。     

Enhanced CpG mutability and tumorigenesis in MBD4-deficient mice

The mammalian protein MBD4 contains a methyl-CpG binding domain and can enzymatically remove thymine (T) or uracil (U) from a mismatched CpG site in vitro. These properties suggest that MBD4 might function in vivo to minimize the mutability of 5-methylcytosine by removing its deamination product from DNA. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing Mbd4-/- mice and found that the frequency of of C --> T transitions at CpG sites was increased by a factor of three. On a cancer-susceptible Apc(Min/+) background, Mbd4-/- mice showed accelerated tumor formation with CpG --> TpG mutations in the Apc gene. Thus MBD4 suppresses CpG mutability and tumorigenesis in vivo.     

Selective cleavage of human DNA: RecA-assisted restriction endonuclease (RARE) cleavage

Current methods for sequence-specific cleavage of large segments of DNA are severely limited because of the paucity of possible cleavage sites. A method is described whereby any Eco RI site can be targeted for specific cleavage. The technique is based on the ability of RecA protein from Escherichia coli to pair an oligonucleotide to its homologous sequence in duplex DNA and to form a three-stranded complex. This complex is protected from Eco RI methylase; after methylation and RecA protein removal, Eco RI restriction enzyme cleavage was limited to the site previously protected from methylation. When pairs of oligonucleotides are used, a specific fragment can be cleaved out of genomes. The method was tested on lambda phage, Escherichia coli, and human DNA. Fragments exceeding 500 kilobases in length and yields exceeding 80 percent could be obtained.     

尿嘧啶和ATP对牛卵母细胞成熟及激活后孤雌胚胎发育的影响

[目的]探究尿嘧啶(Uracil)和三磷酸腺苷二钠盐(ATP)对牛卵母细胞成熟及激活后孤雌胚胎发育的影响。[方法]在体外成熟培养液中添加不同浓度的尿嘧啶和ATP,研究其对牛卵母细胞体外成熟及激活后孤雌胚胎发育能力的影响。[结果]在成熟培养液中添加50μg/ml尿嘧啶能够显著提高卵母细胞的成熟率、分裂率及孤雌胚胎囊胚率;在成熟培养液中分别添加0、250、500、750μg/mlATP,对卵母细胞成熟率影响不大,但添加500μg/ml ATP能显著提高激活后孤雌胚胎囊胚率。[结论]该研究为牛卵母细胞IVM研究提供了参考资料。     

Charge migration in DNA: ion-gated transport

Electron hole (radical cation) migration in DNA, where the quantum transport of an injected charge is gated in a correlated manner by the thermal motions of the hydrated counterions, is described here. Classical molecular dynamics simulations in conjunction with large-scale first-principles electronic structure calculations reveal that different counterion configurations lead to formation of states characterized by varying spatial distributions and degrees of charge localization. Stochastic dynamic fluctuations between such ionic configurations can induce correlated changes in the spatial distribution of the hole, with concomitant transport along the DNA double helix. Comparative ultraviolet light-induced cleavage experiments on native B DNA oligomers and on ones modified to contain counterion (Na(+))-starved bridges between damage-susceptible hole-trapping sites called GG steps show in the latter a reduction in damage at the distal step. This reduction indicates a reduced mobility of the hole across the modified bridge as predicted theoretically.     

Identification and localization of mutations at the Lesch-Nyhan locus by ribonuclease A cleavage

Many mutations leading to human disease are the result of single DNA base pair changes that cannot be identified by Southern analysis. This has prompted the development of alternative assays for point mutation detection. The recently described ribonuclease A cleavage procedure, with a polyuridylic acid-paper affinity chromatography step, has been used to identify the mutational lesions in the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) messenger RNAs of patients with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. Distinctive ribonuclease A cleavage patterns were identified in messenger RNA from 5 of 14 Lesch-Nyhan patients who were chosen because no HPRT Southern or Northern blotting pattern changes had been found. This approach now allows HPRT mutation detection in 50 percent of the cases of Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. The polyuridylic acid-paper affinity procedure provides a general method for analysis of low abundance messenger RNAs.     

Interferon action: RNA cleavage pattern of a (2'-5')oligoadenylate--dependent endonuclease

One of the mediators of interferon action is a latent endoribonuclease (ribonuclease L) that is activated by (2'-5')oligoadenylates. Among the homopolymers of the four common ribonucleotides, activated ribonuclease L degrades at an appreciable rate only polyuridylic acid. In two natural RNA's tested the most frequent ribonuclease L cleavages occur after UA, UG, and UU (A, adenine; U, uracil; and G, guanine) and much less frequent cleavages after CA and AC (C, cytosine).     

三华李SRAP反应体系的建立与优化

以三华李品系中的白脆鸡麻李1为供试材料,利用分步优化法对影响SRAP-PCR反应的5个因子进行优化,确立了三华李的SRAP-PCR反应体系：模板DNA 15 ng,Mg2+浓度3.0 mmol·L-1,引物浓度0.25 μmol·L-1,dNTPs 0.3 mmol·L-1,Taq DNA聚合酶1.0 U,10×Buffer 2.5 μL,反应总体积为25 μL,其余部分用ddH2O补充。利用优化的体系对18份李属种质资源进行扩增,经6%聚丙烯酰胺凝胶检测显示：条带清晰可靠、多态性好,可用于三华李的分子标记研究。     

Photochemical transformation of 5-alkyluracils and their nucleosides

Irradiation at 254 nm of aqueous solutions of 5-ethyl-, 5-propyl-, and 5-isopropyluracils (or their nulcleosides) leads to cleavage of the 5-alkyl substituents, via an intramolecular electrocyclic photoaddition intermediate, with formation of uracil (or its nucleoside). The plhotoaddition intermediates represent a new class of dihydropyrimidines, namely analogs of 5,6-dihydro-5,6-cyclobutanyluracil and its nucleosides; the biological significance is discussed.     

DNA ligase: structure, mechanism, and function

DNA ligase of E. coli is a polypeptide of molecular weight 75,000. The comparable T4-induced enzyme is somewhat smaller (63,000 to 68,000). Both enzymes catalyze the synthesis of phosphodiester bonds between adjacent 5'-phosphoryl and 3'-hydroxyl groups in nicked duplex DNA, coupled to the cleavage of the pyrophosphate bond of DPN (E. coli) or ATP (T4). Phosphodiester bond synthesis catalyzed by both enzymes occurs in a series of these discrete steps and involves the participation of two covalent intermediates (Fig. 1). A steady state kinetic analysis of the reaction-catalyzed E. coli ligase supports this mechanism, and further demonstrates that enzyme-adenylate and DNA-adenylate are kinetically significant intermediates on the direct path of phosphodiester bond synthesis. A strain of E. coli with a mutation in the structural gene for DNA ligase which results in the synthesis of an abnormally thermolabile enzyme is inviable at 42 degrees C. Although able to grow at 30 degrees C, the mutant is still defective at this temperature in its ability to repair damage to its DNA caused by ultraviolet irradiation and by alkylating agents. At 42 degrees C, all the newly replicated DNA is in the form of short 10S "Okazaki fragments," an indication that the reason for the mutant's failure to survive under these conditions is its inability to sustain the ligation step that is essential for the discontinuous synthesis of the E. coli chromosome. DNA ligase is therefore an essential enzyme required for normal DNA replication and repair in E. coli. Purified DNA ligases have proved to be useful reagents in the construction in vitro of recombinant DNA molecules.