Different conformations for the same polypeptide bound to chaperones DnaK and GroEL.

The proteins DnaK (hsp70) and GroEL (cpn60) from Escherichia coli are prototypes of two classes of molecular chaperones conserved throughout evolution. The analysis of transferred nuclear Overhauser effects in two-dimensional NMR spectra is ideally suited to determine chaperone-bound conformations of peptides. The peptide vsv-C (amino-acid sequence KLIGVLSSLFRPK) stimulates the ATPase of BiP and Hsc70 (ref. 3) and the intrinsic ATPase of DnaK. The affinity of the vsv-C peptide for DnaK is greatly reduced in the presence of ATP. Here we analyse transferred nuclear Overhauser effects and show that the peptide is in an extended conformation while bound to DnaK but is helical when bound to GroEL. NMR also indicates that the mobility of the peptide backbone is reduced more by binding to DnaK than by binding to GroEL, whereas the side chains are less mobile when bound to GroEL.     

Successive action of DnaK, DnaJ and GroEL along the pathway of chaperone-mediated protein folding.

The main stress proteins of Escherichia coli function in an ordered protein-folding reaction. DnaK (heat-shock protein 70) recognizes the folding polypeptide as an extended chain and cooperates with DnaJ in stabilizing an intermediate conformational state lacking ordered tertiary structure. Dependent on GrpE and ATP hydrolysis, the protein is then transferred to GroEL (heat-shock protein 60) which acts catalytically in the production of the native state. This sequential mechanism of chaperone action may represent an important pathway for the folding of newly synthesized polypeptides.     

DNA loops induced by cooperative binding of lambda repressor

It has been shown by Hochschild and Ptashne that lambda repressors bind cooperatively to operator sites separated by five or six turns of the helix. Cooperative binding is not observed if the sites are separated by a nonintegral number of turns, unless a four-nucleotide gap is introduced into one of the strands between the two sites. These and other facts suggested that repressors at the separated sites touch each other, the DNA bending smoothly so as to accommodate the protein-protein interaction. Here we use electron microscopy to visualize the predicted protein-DNA complexes.     

Cloning and expression of DnaJ homolog in carrot somatic embryo

As the co-chaperone of DnaK/Hsp70 protein, DnaJ/Hsp40 protein influences the synthesis and assembly of the protein complex by regulating ATPase activity of DnaK/Hsp70 protein. By employing the modified method of cDNA representational difference analysis, a homologous fragment of DnaJ was isolated from the deregulated carrot somatic embryos, and it was further used as the probe to screen the cDNA library of carrot somatic embryo deregulated for 12 h. As the result, DcJ1 gene, the homologous gene of DnaJ, was isolated from carrot. Sequence analysis showed that its coding region is 1257 bp, which codes 418 amino acids and comprises 3 highly-conserved characteristic domains. Southern blot analysis suggested that the DcJ1 gene seems to be a single copy in the genome, while Northern blot result indicated that DcJ1 expresses only in roots and its degree of expression changes obviously with the regulation-deregulation process. These results suggest that DcJ1 is correlated with the early development of carrot somatic embryo radicle.     

Activation in vitro of sequence-specific DNA binding by a human regulatory factor

The human heat-shock factor (HSF) regulates heat-shock genes in response to elevated temperature. When human cells are heated to 43 degrees C, HSF is modified post-translationally from a form that does not bind DNA to a form that binds to a specific sequence (the heat-shock element, HSE) found upstream of heat-shock genes. To investigate the transduction of the heat signal to HSF, and more generally, how mammalian cells respond at the molecular level to environmental stimuli, we have developed a cell-free system that exhibits heat-induced activation of human HSF in vitro. Comparison of HSF activation in vitro and in intact cells suggests that the response of human cells to heat shock involves at least two steps. First, an ATP-independent, heat-induced alteration of HSF allows it to bind the HSE; the temperature at which activation occurs in vitro implies that a human factor directly senses temperature. Second, HSF is phosphorylated. It is possible that similar multi-step activation mechanisms play a role in the response of eukaryotic cells to a variety of environmental stimuli, and that these mechanisms evolved to increase the range and flexibility of the response.     

DNA-bound structures and mutants reveal abasic DNA binding by APE1 and DNA repair coordination [corrected

Non-coding apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites in DNA are continually created in cells both spontaneously and by damage-specific DNA glycosylases. The biologically critical human base excision repair enzyme APE1 cleaves the DNA sugar-phosphate backbone at a position 5' of AP sites to prime DNA repair synthesis. Here we report three co-crystal structures of human APE1 bound to abasic DNA which show that APE1 uses a rigid, pre-formed, positively charged surface to kink the DNA helix and engulf the AP-DNA strand. APE1 inserts loops into both the DNA major and minor grooves and binds a flipped-out AP site in a pocket that excludes DNA bases and racemized beta-anomer AP sites. Both the APE1 active-site geometry and a complex with cleaved AP-DNA and Mn2+ support a testable structure-based catalytic mechanism. Alanine substitutions of the residues that penetrate the DNA helix unexpectedly show that human APE1 is structurally optimized to retain the cleaved DNA product. These structural and mutational results show how APE1 probably displaces bound glycosylases and retains the nicked DNA product, suggesting that APE1 acts in vivo to coordinate the orderly transfer of unstable DNA damage intermediates between the excision and synthesis steps of DNA repair.     

Molecular chaperones in protein folding and proteostasis

Most proteins must fold into defined three-dimensional structures to gain functional activity. But in the cellular environment, newly synthesized proteins are at great risk of aberrant folding and aggregation, potentially forming toxic species. To avoid these dangers, cells invest in a complex network of molecular chaperones, which use ingenious mechanisms to prevent aggregation and promote efficient folding. Because protein molecules are highly dynamic, constant chaperone surveillance is required to ensure protein homeostasis (proteostasis). Recent advances suggest that an age-related decline in proteostasis capacity allows the manifestation of various protein-aggregation diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Interventions in these and numerous other pathological states may spring from a detailed understanding of the pathways underlying proteome maintenance.     

金线巴鱼属两亚种mtDNA的序列变异(英文)

对抚仙金线巴鱼和滇池金线巴鱼的线粒体细胞色素ｂ基因的部分序列进行了测定及分析。发现①两亚种间共有３８个变异位点,占总位点的１０．９％;②转换明显多于颠换,且第三位置上的同义突变最为常见;③两亚种间的遗传距离为０．１１４,高于已研究过的淡水鱼类种内遗传距离的最大值,接近种间的较高值,是否仍然把它们视为同种的两个亚种看来值得进一步研究。     

Importance of DNA stiffness in protein-DNA binding specificity

From the first high-resolution structure of a repressor bound specifically to its DNA recognition sequence it has been shown that the phage 434 repressor protein binds as a dimer to the helix. Tight, local interactions are made at the ends of the binding site, causing the central four base pairs (bp) to become bent and overtwisted. The centre of the operator is not in contact with protein but repressor binding affinity can be reduced at least 50-fold in response to a sequence change there. This observation might be explained should the structure of the intervening DNA segment vary with its sequence, or if DNA at the centre of the operator resists the torsional and bending deformation necessary for complex formation in a sequence dependent fashion. We have considered the second hypothesis by demonstrating that DNA stiffness is sequence dependent. A method is formulated for calculating the stiffness of any particular DNA sequence, and we show that this predicted relationship between sequence and stiffness can explain the repressor binding data in a quantitative manner. We propose that the elastic properties of DNA may be of general importance to an understanding of protein-DNA binding specificity.     

Computational redesign of endonuclease DNA binding and cleavage specificity

The reprogramming of DNA-binding specificity is an important challenge for computational protein design that tests current understanding of protein-DNA recognition, and has considerable practical relevance for biotechnology and medicine. Here we describe the computational redesign of the cleavage specificity of the intron-encoded homing endonuclease I-MsoI using a physically realistic atomic-level forcefield. Using an in silico screen, we identified single base-pair substitutions predicted to disrupt binding by the wild-type enzyme, and then optimized the identities and conformations of clusters of amino acids around each of these unfavourable substitutions using Monte Carlo sampling. A redesigned enzyme that was predicted to display altered target site specificity, while maintaining wild-type binding affinity, was experimentally characterized. The redesigned enzyme binds and cleaves the redesigned recognition site approximately 10,000 times more effectively than does the wild-type enzyme, with a level of target discrimination comparable to the original endonuclease. Determination of the structure of the redesigned nuclease-recognition site complex by X-ray crystallography confirms the accuracy of the computationally predicted interface. These results suggest that computational protein design methods can have an important role in the creation of novel highly specific endonucleases for gene therapy and other applications.     

Trigger factor and DnaK cooperate in folding of newly synthesized proteins.

The role of molecular chaperones in assisting the folding of newly synthesized proteins in the cytosol is poorly understood. In Escherichia coli, GroEL assists folding of only a minority of proteins and the Hsp70 homologue DnaK is not essential for protein folding or cell viability at intermediate growth temperatures. The major protein associated with nascent polypeptides is ribosome-bound trigger factor, which displays chaperone and prolyl isomerase activities in vitro. Here we show that delta tig::kan mutants lacking trigger factor have no defects in growth or protein folding. However, combined delta tig::kan and delta dnaK mutations cause synthetic lethality. Depletion of DnaK in the delta tig::kan mutant results in massive aggregation of cytosolic proteins. In delta tig::kan cells, an increased amount of newly synthesized proteins associated transiently with DnaK. These findings show in vivo activity for a ribosome-associated chaperone, trigger factor, in general protein folding, and functional cooperation of this protein with a cytosolic Hsp70. Trigger factor and DnaK cooperate to promote proper folding of a variety of E. coli proteins, but neither is essential for folding and viability at intermediate growth temperatures.     

DNA interstrand cross-link induced by estrogens as well as their complete and synergic carcinogenesis

The estrogens show negative activity in Ames test, but estrodiol and diethylstilbestrol in estrogens both are carcinogens based upon animal experiments and epidemiological investigation. It is concluded from the di-region theory, a mechanism conception put forward by one of the present authors, that the carcinogenesis of estrogens is switched on by the covalent cross-link between complementary DNA bases induced by them. We verified for the first time by the DNA alkaline elution method that both estrodiol and diethylstilbestrol cause covalent cross-link between DNA-protein and DNA interstrands after metabolic activation with dosage correlation, but neither the non-carcinogens cholesterol nor pyrene can lead to these sorts of cross-link in the same condition. It has been known that there is a synergetic effect between estrogen and pollution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Although non-carcinogenic pyrene alone cannot induce cross-link, its addition with equal molar quantity to estrodiol culture causes synergically the total and DNA interstrand cross-link ratios to be respectively four and three times more than the ones in the cultivation with estrodiol only. It is shown that not only the estrodiol set off the formation of pyrene bi-radicals, but also the pyrene radicals arouse conversely the production of estrodiol bi-radicals.     

双核钌配合物的DNA键合及光断裂性能

合成了1个新型的双核钌配合物,并通过紫外-可见吸收光谱和荧光光谱滴定、热熔链、盐效应、黏度和凝胶电泳实验研究了其与小牛胸腺DNA(ct-DNA)之间的相互作用. 结果表明,由于主配体的位阻作用,该配合物通过部分插入模式与DNA键合,键合常数大于10⁶ L/mol;在365 nm紫外光照射下,该配合物能够断裂pBR322 DNA,是有效的DNA断裂试剂.     

DNA sequence determinants of CAP-induced bending and protein binding affinity

The sites of DNA bending induced by binding catabolite activator protein are identified and shown to coincide with positions where DNA grooves face the protein. The bendability of DNA with different sequences at these bend centres parallels the bending preference of the sequences in nucleosomal DNA. Anisotropic DNA bendability significantly affects the structure and strength of regulatory protein-DNA complexes.     

Myb DNA binding inhibited by phosphorylation at a site deleted during oncogenic activation

The c-Myb nuclear oncoprotein is phosphorylated in vitro and in vivo at an N-terminal site near its DNA-binding domain by casein kinase II (CK-II) or a CK-II-like activity. This in vitro phosphorylation reversibly inhibits the sequence-specific binding of c-Myb to DNA. The site of this phosphorylation is deleted in nearly all oncogenically activated Myb proteins, resulting in DNA-binding that is independent of CK-II. Because CK-II activity is modulated by growth factors, loss of the site could uncouple c-Myb from its normal physiological regulator.