Search results for "Site-specific"

DNA double-strand breaks trigger apoptosis in p53-deficient fibroblasts

2001

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are induced by ionizing radiation (IR) and various radiomimetic agents directly, or indirectly as a consequence of DNA repair, recombination and replication of damaged DNA. They are ultimately involved in the generation of chromosomal aberrations and were reported to cause genomic instability, gene amplification and reproductive cell death. To address the question of whether DSBs act as a trigger of apoptosis, we induced DSBs by means of restriction enzyme electroporation and compared the effect with IR in mouse fibroblasts that differ in p53 status [wild-type (+/+) versus p53-deficient (-/-) cells]. We show that (i) electroporation of PVU:II is highly effici…

High-resolution genotyping of Campylobacter strains isolated from poultry and humans with amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting.

1999

ABSTRACT For epidemiological studies of Campylobacter infections, molecular typing methods that can differentiate campylobacters at the strain level are needed. In this study we used a recently developed genotyping method, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), which is based on selective amplification of restriction fragments of chromosomal DNA, for genetic typing of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli strains derived from humans and poultry. We developed an automated AFLP fingerprinting method in which restriction endonucleases Hin dIII and Hha I were used in combination with one set of selective PCR primers. This method resulted in evenly distributed band patterns for amp…

Association Between Exercise and Pubertal BMD Is Modulated by Estrogen Receptor α Genotype

2003

Genetic and environmental factors contribute to bone mass, but the ways they interact remain poorly understood. This study of 245 pre- and early pubertal girls found that the PvuII polymorphism in the ER- gene modulates the effect of exercise on BMD at loaded bone sites. Introduction: Impaired achievement of bone mass at puberty is an important risk factor for the development of osteoporosis in later life. Genetic, as well as environmental, factors contribute to bone mass, but the ways they interact with each other remain poorly understood. Materials and Methods: We investigated the interaction between a PvuII polymorphism at the ER- gene and physical activity (PA) on the modulation of bone…

Site-specific halloysite functionalization by polydopamine: A new synthetic route for potential near infrared-activated delivery system

2022

Abstract Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) represent a versatile core structure for the design of functional nanosystems of biomedical interest. However, the development of selective methodologies for the site-controlled functionalization of the nanotubes at specific sites is not an easy task. This study aims to accomplish a procedure for the site-selective/specific, “pin-point”, functionalization of HNTs with polydopamine (HNTs@PDA). This goal was achieved, at pH 6.5, by exploiting the basicity of ZnO nanoparticles anchored on the HNTs external surface (HNTs@ZnO) to induce a punctual polydopamine polymerization and coating. The morphology and the chemical composition of the nanomaterial was demo…

C4 DNA RFLP reference typing report.

1990

One hundred and three individual DNA samples (including 23 families) were studied at the gene level during the reference typing of the fourth component of human complement at the VIth Complement Genetics Workshop in Mainz (1989). All samples were analyzed with the restriction enzyme Taq I and with two DNA probes recognizing the 5' ends of both C4 genes and the two adjacent 21-hydroxylase genes. This RFLP is informative for the number of C4 genes as well as for their respective gene size. We found a high degree of variation regarding the number of C4 genes, i.e. haplotypes with 1-3 structural C4 genes of 16 or 22 kb size. By correlating these haplotypes to the complotypes obtained by protein…

Bgl II restriction fragment length polymorphism of human complement C4A gene coincides with BF*F allele of factor B.

1988

Gene diagnosis and carrier detection in Hunter syndrome by the iduronate-2-sulphatase cDNA probe.

1992

Hunter disease (McKusick 309900) is an X-chromosomal mucopolysaccharidosis due to deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme iduronate-2-sulphatase (IDS; EC 3.1.6.13). Diagnosis is based on both the typical clinical features of patients and the lack/reduction of IDS activity. Female carriers show no symptoms of the disease. In the past, several different assays were elaborated for measuring enzyme activity in carriers but none of them proved to be suitable for detecting heterozygotes reliably (Zlotogora and Bach 1984)

Molecular analysis in patients with mucopolysaccharidosis type II suggests that DXS466 maps within the Hunter gene

1993

Hunter disease is an X-linked mucopolysaccharidosis caused by deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme iduronate-2-sulfatase (IDS). Using the IDS cDNA and DNA probes corresponding to loci flanking the IDS locus, we performed molecular genetic studies in two patients with Hunter syndrome. An interstitial deletion spanning the middle part of the IDS gene was found in the first patient. The second patient carries a gross gene rearrangement that can be detected after HindIII or EcoRI digestion of genomic DNA, and is similar to that found recently in seven unrelated Hunter patients. Our data suggest that the structural aberration observed is a partial intragenic inversion. As the same altered hybridiz…

Theoretical Study of the Catalytic Mechanism of DNA-(N4-Cytosine)-Methyltransferase from the Bacterium Proteus vulgaris

2010

In this paper the reaction mechanism for methylation of cytosine at the exocyclic N4 position catalyzed by M.PvuII has been explored by means of hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods. A reaction model was prepared by placing a single cytosine base in the active site of the enzyme. In this model the exocyclic amino group of the base establishes hydrogen bond interactions with the hydroxyl oxygen atom of Ser53 and the carbonyl oxygen atom of Pro54. The reaction mechanism involves a direct methyl transfer from AdoMet to the N4 atom and a proton transfer from this atom to Ser53, which in turn transfers a proton to Asp96. Different timings for the proton transfers and meth…

Determinants of intracellular RNA pharmacokinetics: Implications for RNA-based immunotherapeutics

2011

RNAs with optimized properties are increasingly investigated as a tool to deliver the genetic information of complete antigens into professional antigen-presenting dendritic cells for HLA haplotype-independent antigen-specific vaccination against cancer. As the dose of the antigen and duration of its presentation are critical factors for generating strong and sustained antigen-specific immune responses, improvement of the immunobioavailability of RNA-based vaccines has been a recurrent subject of research. Substantial increase of the amount of antigen produced from RNA can be achieved by optimizing RNA stability and translational efficiency. Both features are determined by cis-acting elemen…