174 research outputs found
Inhibition of the Bloom's and Werner's syndrome helicases by G-quadruplex interacting ligands.
G-Quadruplex DNAs are folded, non-Watson-Crick structures that can form within guanine-rich DNA sequences such as telomeric repeats. Previous studies have identified a series of trisubstituted acridine derivatives that are potent and selective ligands for G-quadruplex DNA. These ligands have been shown previously to inhibit the activity of telomerase, the specialized reverse transcriptase that regulates telomere length. The RecQ family of DNA helicases, which includes the Bloom's (BLM) and Werner's (WRN) syndrome gene products, are apparently unique among cellular helicases in their ability to efficiently disrupt G-quadruplex DNA. This property may be relevant to telomere maintenance, since it is known that the sole budding yeast RecQ helicase, Sgs1p, is required for a telomerase-independent telomere lengthening pathway reminiscent of the "ALT" pathway in human cells. Here, we show that trisubstituted acridine ligands are potent inhibitors of the helicase activity of the BLM and WRN proteins on both G-quadruplex and B-form DNA substrates. Inhibition of helicase activity is associated with both a reduction in the level of binding of the helicase to G-quadruplex DNA and a reduction in the degree to which the G-quadruplex DNA can support DNA-dependent ATPase activity. We discuss these results in the context of the possible utility of trisubstituted acridines as antitumor agents for the disruption of both telomerase-dependent and telomerase-independent telomere maintenance
The DNA repair enzyme, aprataxin, plays a role in innate immune signaling.
Ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 1 (AOA1) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a gradual loss of coordination of hand movements, speech, and eye movements. AOA1 is caused by an inactivation mutation in the APTX gene. APTX resolves abortive DNA ligation intermediates. APTX deficiency may lead to the accumulation of 5’-AMP termini, especially in the mitochondrial genome. The consequences of APTX deficiency includes impaired mitochondrial function, increased DNA single-strand breaks, elevated reactive oxygen species production, and altered mitochondrial morphology. All of these processes can cause misplacement of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, which can activate innate immune sensors to elicit an inflammatory response. This study explores the impact of APTX knockout in microglial cells, the immune cells of the brain. RNA-seq analysis revealed significant differences in the transcriptomes of wild-type and APTX knockout cells, especially in response to viral infections and innate immune pathways. Specifically, genes and proteins involved in the cGAS-STING and RIG-I/MAVS pathways were downregulated in APTX knockout cells, which suggests an impaired immune response to cytosolic DNA and RNA. The clinical relevance of these findings was supported by analyzing publicly available RNA-seq data from AOA1 patient cell lines. Comparisons between APTX-deficient patient cells and healthy control cells also revealed altered immune responses and dysregulated DNA- and RNA-sensing pathways in the patient cells. Overall, this study highlights the critical role of APTX in regulating innate immunity, particularly in DNA- and RNA-sensing pathways. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of AOA1 pathology and highlights potential therapeutic targets for this disease
The S-Matrix in Twistor Space
The simplicity and hidden symmetries of (Super) Yang-Mills and (Super)Gravity
scattering amplitudes suggest the existence of a "weak-weak" dual formulation
in which these structures are made manifest at the expense of manifest
locality. We suggest that this dual description lives in (2,2) signature and is
naturally formulated in twistor space. We recast the BCFW recursion relations
in an on-shell form that begs to be transformed into twistor space. Our twistor
transformation is inspired by Witten's, but differs in treating twistor and
dual twistor variables more equally. In these variables the three and
four-point amplitudes are amazingly simple; the BCFW relations are represented
by diagrammatic rules that precisely define the "twistor diagrams" of Andrew
Hodges. The "Hodges diagrams" for Yang-Mills theory are disks and not trees;
they reveal striking connections between amplitudes and suggest a new form for
them in momentum space. We also obtain a twistorial formulation of gravity. All
tree amplitudes can be combined into an "S-Matrix" functional which is the
natural holographic observable in asymptotically flat space; the BCFW formula
turns into a quadratic equation for this "S-Matrix", providing a holographic
description of N=4 SYM and N=8 Supergravity at tree level. We explore loop
amplitudes in (2,2) signature and twistor space, beginning with a discussion of
IR behavior. We find that the natural pole prescription renders the amplitudes
well-defined and free of IR divergences. Loop amplitudes vanish for generic
momenta, and in twistor space are even simpler than their tree-level
counterparts! This further supports the idea that there exists a sharply
defined object corresponding to the S-Matrix in (2,2) signature, computed by a
dual theory naturally living in twistor space.Comment: V1: 46 pages + 23 figures. Less telegraphic abstract in the body of
the paper. V2: 49 pages + 24 figures. Largely expanded set of references
included. Some diagrammatic clarifications added, minor typo fixe
Quantum theory's last challenge
Quantum mechanics is now 100 years old and still going strong. Combining
general relativity with quantum mechanics is the last hurdle to be overcome in
the "quantum revolution".Comment: (9 pages, LaTex) This is the preprint version of an article that
appeared in the issue 6813 (volume 408) of Nature, as part of a 3-article
celebration of the 100th anniversary of Planck's solution of the
black-body-radiation proble
On BCFW shifts of integrands and integrals
In this article a first step is made towards the extension of
Britto-Cachazo-Feng-Witten (BCFW) tree level on-shell recursion relations to
integrands and integrals of scattering amplitudes to arbitrary loop order.
Surprisingly, it is shown that the large BCFW shift limit of the integrands has
the same structure as the corresponding tree level amplitude in any minimally
coupled Yang-Mills theory in four or more dimensions. This implies that these
integrands can be reconstructed from a subset of their `single cuts'. The main
tool is powercounting Feynman graphs in a special lightcone gauge choice
employed earlier at tree level by Arkani-Hamed and Kaplan. The relation between
shifts of integrands and shifts of its integrals is investigated explicitly at
one loop. Two particular sources of discrepancy between the integral and
integrand are identified related to UV and IR divergences. This is
cross-checked with known results for helicity equal amplitudes at one loop. The
nature of the on-shell residue at each of the single-cut singularities of the
integrand is commented upon. Several natural conjectures and opportunities for
further research present themselves.Comment: 43 pages, 6 figures, v2: minor improvement in exposition, typos
fixed, bibliography update
On the Integrand-Reduction Method for Two-Loop Scattering Amplitudes
We propose a first implementation of the integrand-reduction method for
two-loop scattering amplitudes. We show that the residues of the amplitudes on
multi-particle cuts are polynomials in the irreducible scalar products
involving the loop momenta, and that the reduction of the amplitudes in terms
of master integrals can be realized through polynomial fitting of the
integrand, without any apriori knowledge of the integral basis. We discuss how
the polynomial shapes of the residues determine the basis of master integrals
appearing in the final result. We present a four-dimensional constructive
algorithm that we apply to planar and non-planar contributions to the 4- and
5-point MHV amplitudes in N=4 SYM. The technique hereby discussed extends the
well-established analogous method holding for one-loop amplitudes, and can be
considered a preliminary study towards the systematic reduction at the
integrand-level of two-loop amplitudes in any gauge theory, suitable for their
automated semianalytic evaluation.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figure
Acetylation Regulates WRN Catalytic Activities and Affects Base Excision DNA Repair
Background: The Werner protein (WRN), defective in the premature aging disorder Werner syndrome, participates in a number of DNA metabolic processes, and we have been interested in the possible regulation of its function in DNA repair by post-translational modifications. Acetylation mediated by histone acetyltransferases is of key interest because of its potential importance in aging, DNA repair and transcription. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here, we have investigated the p300 acetylation mediated changes on the function of WRN in base excision DNA repair (BER). We show that acetylation of WRN increases in cells treated with methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), suggesting that acetylation of WRN may play a role in response to DNA damage. This hypothesis is consistent with our findings that acetylation of WRN stimulates its catalytic activities in vitro and in vivo, and that acetylated WRN enhances pol b-mediated strand displacement DNA synthesis more than unacetylated WRN. Furthermore, we show that cellular exposure to the histone deacetylase inhibitor sodium butyrate stimulates long patch BER in wild type cells but not in WRN depleted cells, suggesting that acetylated WRN participates significantly in this process. Conclusion/Significance: Collectively, these results provide the first evidence for a specific role of p300 mediated WRN acetylation in regulating its function during BER
A haplotype variation affecting the mitochondrial transportation of hMYH protein could be a risk factor for colorectal cancer in Chinese
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The human MutY homolog (<it>hMYH</it>), a DNA glycolsylase involved in the excision repair of oxidative DNA damage, is currently studied in colorectal cancer (CRC). We previously demonstrated a haplotype variant c.53C>T/c.74G>A of <it>hMYH </it>(T/A) increasing the risk for gastric cancer in Chinese. However, most investigations on correlation between <it>hMYH </it>and CRC are conducted in Western countries and the underlying mechanism has been poorly understood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To determine whether the haplotype T/A variant of <it>hMYH </it>was related to colorectal carcinogenesis, we performed a case-control study in 138 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and 343 healthy controls in a Chinese population. Furthermore, the C/G for wild-type, C/A or T/G for single base variant and T/A for haplotype variant <it>hMYH </it>cDNAs with a flag epitope tag were cloned into pcDNA3.1+ vector and transfected into cos-7 cell line. Their subcellular localizations were determined by immunofluorescence assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>It was found that the frequency of haplotype variant allele was statistically higher in CRC patients than that in controls (<it>P </it>= 0.02, odds ratio = 5.06, 95% confidence interval = 1.26 – 20.4). Similarly, significant difference of heterozygote frequency was indicated between the two groups (<it>P </it>= 0.019), while no homozygote was found. In addition, immunofluorescence analysis showed that hMYH protein with haplotype T/A variation presented in both nucleus and mitochondria, in contrast to the wild-type protein only converging in mitochondria. However, neither of the single missense mutations alone changed the protein subcelluar localization.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although preliminarily, these results suggest that: the haplotype variant allele of <it>hMYH </it>leads to a missense protein, which partly affects the protein mitochondrial transportation and results as nuclear localization. This observation might be responsible for the increased susceptibility to cancers, including CRC, in Chinese.</p
Transcription Inhibition by DRB Potentiates Recombinational Repair of UV Lesions in Mammalian Cells
Homologous recombination (HR) is intricately associated with replication, transcription and DNA repair in all organisms studied. However, the interplay between all these processes occurring simultaneously on the same DNA molecule is still poorly understood. Here, we study the interplay between transcription and HR during ultraviolet light (UV)-induced DNA damage in mammalian cells. Our results show that inhibition of transcription with 5,6-dichloro-1-beta-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole (DRB) increases the number of UV-induced DNA lesions (γH2AX, 53BP1 foci formation), which correlates with a decrease in the survival of wild type or nucleotide excision repair defective cells. Furthermore, we observe an increase in RAD51 foci formation, suggesting HR is triggered in response to an increase in UV-induced DSBs, while inhibiting transcription. Unexpectedly, we observe that DRB fails to sensitise HR defective cells to UV treatment. Thus, increased RAD51 foci formation correlates with increased cell death, suggesting the existence of a futile HR repair of UV-induced DSBs which is linked to transcription inhibition
Mutations at the Subunit Interface of Yeast Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen Reveal a Versatile Regulatory Domain
Acknowledgments We thank Szilvia Minorits for technical assistance. I.U. conceived and designed the project and wrote the manuscript. All authors participated in designing and performing the experiments, and analyzing the results. The authors declare no competing financial interests. This work was also supported by a grant from the National Research, Development and Innovation Office GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00001. Funding: This work was supported by Hungarian Science Foundation Grant OTKA 109521 and National Research Development and Innovation Office GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00001. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
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