Chromosomal instability in ulcerative colitis is related to telomere shortening

Ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon, is associated with a high risk of colorectal carcinoma that is thought to develop through genomic instability. We considered that the rapid cell turnover and oxidative injury observed in ulcerative colitis might accelerate telomere shortening, thereby increasing the potential of chromosomal ends to fuse, resulting in cycles of chromatin bridge breakage and fusion and chromosomal instability associated with tumor cell progression. Here we have used quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization to compare chromosomal aberrations and telomere shortening in non-dysplastic mucosa taken from individuals affected by ulcerative colitis, either with (UC progressors) or without (UC non-progressors) dysplasia or cancer. Losses, but not gains, of chromosomal arms and centromeres are highly correlated with telomere shortening. Chromosomal losses are greater and telomeres are shorter in biopsy samples from UC progressors than in those from UC non-progressors or control individuals without ulcerative colitis. A mechanistic link between telomere shortening and chromosomal instability is supported by a higher frequency of anaphase bridges--an intermediate in the breakage and fusion of chromatin bridges--in UC progressors than in UC non-progressors or control individuals. Our study shows that telomere length is correlated with chromosomal instability in a precursor of human cancer.     

ICBP90介导PI3K/AKT通路阻断剂LY294002抑制Jurkat T细胞增殖

目的:探讨磷脂酰肌醇3激酶/丝氨酸苏氨酸蛋白激酶B(PI3K/AKT)信号通路特异性抑制剂LY294002在JurkatT细胞增殖中的作用.方法:以急性T细胞白血病胞(Jurkat T 细胞)为模型,PD98059和阿霉素为阳性对照,在倒置显微镜下观察LY294002对Jurkat T细胞的集落形成的影响,四甲基偶氮唑蓝(MTT)检测LY294002处理后Jurkat T细胞的增殖,流式细胞术检测LY294002处理后Jurkat T细胞周期的变化,Western blotting方法检测Jurkat T细胞中ICBP90蛋白的表达以确定其与LY294002抑制Jurkat T细胞增殖的关系.结果:LY294002能够显著抑制Jurkat T细胞的集落形成和增殖,使Jurkat T细胞停滞于G2/M 期,导致Jurkat T细胞ICBP90蛋白的表达显著降低,LY294002与阿霉素联合用药可产生一定的协同效应. 结论:LY294002通过下调Jur-katT细胞ICBP90蛋白的表达,抑制Jurkat T细胞增殖.     

Structural basis for recognition of hemi-methylated DNA by the SRA domain of human UHRF1

Epigenetic inheritance in mammals is characterized by high-fidelity replication of CpG methylation patterns during development. UHRF1 (also known as ICBP90 in humans and Np95 in mouse) is an E3 ligase important for the maintenance of global and local DNA methylation in vivo. The preferential affinity of UHRF1 for hemi-methylated DNA over symmetrically methylated DNA by means of its SET and RING-associated (SRA) domain and its association with the maintenance DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) suggests a role in replication of the epigenetic code. Here we report the 1.7 A crystal structure of the apo SRA domain of human UHRF1 and a 2.2 A structure of its complex with hemi-methylated DNA, revealing a previously unknown reading mechanism for methylated CpG sites (mCpG). The SRA-DNA complex has several notable structural features including a binding pocket that accommodates the 5-methylcytosine that is flipped out of the duplex DNA. Two specialized loops reach through the resulting gap in the DNA from both the major and the minor grooves to read the other three bases of the CpG duplex. The major groove loop confers both specificity for the CpG dinucleotide and discrimination against methylation of deoxycytidine of the complementary strand. The structure, along with mutagenesis data, suggests how UHRF1 acts as a key factor for DNMT1 maintenance methylation through recognition of a fundamental unit of epigenetic inheritance, mCpG.