Sample records for human rad51 variant

  1. Interactions involving the Rad51 paralogs Rad51C and XRCC3 in human cells

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wiese, Claudia; Collins, David W.; Albala, Joanna S.; Thompson, Larry H.; Kronenberg, Amy; Schild, David; Chatterjee, A. (Principal Investigator)

    2002-01-01

    Homologous recombinational repair of DNA double-strand breaks and crosslinks in human cells is likely to require Rad51 and the five Rad51 paralogs (XRCC2, XRCC3, Rad51B/Rad51L1, Rad51C/Rad51L2 and Rad51D/Rad51L3), as has been shown in chicken and rodent cells. Previously, we reported on the interactions among these proteins using baculovirus and two- and three-hybrid yeast systems. To test for interactions involving XRCC3 and Rad51C, stable human cell lines have been isolated that express (His)6-tagged versions of XRCC3 or Rad51C. Ni2+-binding experiments demonstrate that XRCC3 and Rad51C interact in human cells. In addition, we find that Rad51C, but not XRCC3, interacts directly or indirectly with Rad51B, Rad51D and XRCC2. These results argue that there are at least two complexes of Rad51 paralogs in human cells (Rad51C-XRCC3 and Rad51B-Rad51C-Rad51D-XRCC2), both containing Rad51C. Moreover, Rad51 is not found in these complexes. X-ray treatment did not alter either the level of any Rad51 paralog or the observed interactions between paralogs. However, the endogenous level of Rad51C is moderately elevated in the XRCC3-overexpressing cell line, suggesting that dimerization between these proteins might help stabilize Rad51C.

  2. Characterisation of the novel deleterious RAD51C p.Arg312Trp variant and prioritisation criteria for functional analysis of RAD51C missense changes.

    PubMed

    Gayarre, Javier; Martín-Gimeno, Paloma; Osorio, Ana; Paumard, Beatriz; Barroso, Alicia; Fernández, Victoria; de la Hoya, Miguel; Rojo, Alejandro; Caldés, Trinidad; Palacios, José; Urioste, Miguel; Benítez, Javier; García, María J

    2017-09-26

    Despite a high prevalence of deleterious missense variants, most studies of RAD51C ovarian cancer susceptibility gene only provide in silico pathogenicity predictions of missense changes. We identified a novel deleterious RAD51C missense variant (p.Arg312Trp) in a high-risk family, and propose a criteria to prioritise RAD51C missense changes qualifying for functional analysis. To evaluate pathogenicity of p.Arg312Trp variant we used sequence homology, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and segregation analysis, and a comprehensive functional characterisation. To define a functional-analysis prioritisation criteria, we used outputs for the known functionally confirmed deleterious and benign RAD51C missense changes from nine pathogenicity prediction algorithms. The p.Arg312Trp variant failed to correct mitomycin and olaparib hypersensitivity and to complement abnormal RAD51C foci formation according to functional assays, which altogether with LOH and segregation data demonstrated deleteriousness. Prioritisation criteria were based on the number of predictors providing a deleterious output, with a minimum of 5 to qualify for testing and a PredictProtein score greater than 33 to assign high-priority indication. Our study points to a non-negligible number of RAD51C missense variants likely to impair protein function, provides a guideline to prioritise and encourage their selection for functional analysis and anticipates that reference laboratories should have available resources to conduct such assays.

  3. Complex formation by the human Rad51B and Rad51C DNA repair proteins and their activities in vitro

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lio, Yi-Ching; Mazin, Alexander V.; Kowalczykowski, Stephen C.; Chen, David J.

    2003-01-01

    The human Rad51 protein is essential for DNA repair by homologous recombination. In addition to Rad51 protein, five paralogs have been identified: Rad51B/Rad51L1, Rad51C/Rad51L2, Rad51D/Rad51L3, XRCC2, and XRCC3. To further characterize a subset of these proteins, recombinant Rad51, Rad51B-(His)(6), and Rad51C proteins were individually expressed employing the baculovirus system, and each was purified from Sf9 insect cells. Evidence from nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid pull-down experiments demonstrates a highly stable Rad51B.Rad51C heterodimer, which interacts weakly with Rad51. Rad51B and Rad51C proteins were found to bind single- and double-stranded DNA and to preferentially bind 3'-end-tailed double-stranded DNA. The ability to bind DNA was elevated with mixed Rad51 and Rad51C, as well as with mixed Rad51B and Rad51C, compared with that of the individual protein. In addition, both Rad51B and Rad51C exhibit DNA-stimulated ATPase activity. Rad51C displays an ATP-independent apparent DNA strand exchange activity, whereas Rad51B shows no such activity; this apparent strand exchange ability results actually from a duplex DNA destabilization capability of Rad51C. By analogy to the yeast Rad55 and Rad57, our results suggest that Rad51B and Rad51C function through interactions with the human Rad51 recombinase and play a crucial role in the homologous recombinational repair pathway.

  4. Promotion of Homologous Recombination and Genomic Stability byRAD51AP1 via RAD51 Recombinase Enhancement

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wiese, Claudia; Dray, Eloise; Groesser, Torsten

    2007-04-11

    Homologous recombination (HR) repairs chromosome damage and is indispensable for tumor suppression in humans. RAD51 mediates the DNA strand pairing step in HR. RAD51AP1 (RAD51 Associated Protein 1) is a RAD51-interacting protein whose function has remained elusive. Knockdown of RAD51AP1 in human cells by RNA interference engenders sensitivity to different types of genotoxic stress. Moreover, RAD51AP1-depleted cells are impaired for the recombinational repair of a DNA double-strand break and exhibit chromatid breaks both spontaneously and upon DNA damaging treatment. Purified RAD51AP1 binds dsDNA and RAD51, and it greatly stimulates the RAD51-mediated D-loop reaction. Biochemical and cytological results show that RAD51AP1more » functions at a step subsequent to the assembly of the RAD51-ssDNA nucleoprotein filament. Our findings provide the first evidence that RAD51AP1 helps maintain genomic integrity via RAD51 recombinase enhancement.« less

  5. Protein dynamics of human RPA and RAD51 on ssDNA during assembly and disassembly of the RAD51 filament

    PubMed Central

    Ma, Chu Jian; Gibb, Bryan; Kwon, YoungHo; Sung, Patrick; Greene, Eric C.

    2017-01-01

    Homologous recombination (HR) is a crucial pathway for double-stranded DNA break (DSB) repair. During the early stages of HR, the newly generated DSB ends are processed to yield long single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) overhangs, which are quickly bound by replication protein A (RPA). RPA is then replaced by the DNA recombinase Rad51, which forms extended helical filaments on the ssDNA. The resulting nucleoprotein filament, known as the presynaptic complex, is responsible for pairing the ssDNA with homologous double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), which serves as the template to guide DSB repair. Here, we use single-molecule imaging to visualize the interplay between human RPA (hRPA) and human RAD51 during presynaptic complex assembly and disassembly. We demonstrate that ssDNA-bound hRPA can undergo facilitated exchange, enabling hRPA to undergo rapid exchange between free and ssDNA-bound states only when free hRPA is present in solution. Our results also indicate that the presence of free hRPA inhibits RAD51 filament nucleation, but has a lesser impact upon filament elongation. This finding suggests that hRPA exerts important regulatory influence over RAD51 and may in turn affect the properties of the assembled RAD51 filament. These experiments provide an important basis for further investigations into the regulation of human presynaptic complex assembly. PMID:27903895

  6. Protein dynamics of human RPA and RAD51 on ssDNA during assembly and disassembly of the RAD51 filament.

    PubMed

    Ma, Chu Jian; Gibb, Bryan; Kwon, YoungHo; Sung, Patrick; Greene, Eric C

    2017-01-25

    Homologous recombination (HR) is a crucial pathway for double-stranded DNA break (DSB) repair. During the early stages of HR, the newly generated DSB ends are processed to yield long single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) overhangs, which are quickly bound by replication protein A (RPA). RPA is then replaced by the DNA recombinase Rad51, which forms extended helical filaments on the ssDNA. The resulting nucleoprotein filament, known as the presynaptic complex, is responsible for pairing the ssDNA with homologous double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), which serves as the template to guide DSB repair. Here, we use single-molecule imaging to visualize the interplay between human RPA (hRPA) and human RAD51 during presynaptic complex assembly and disassembly. We demonstrate that ssDNA-bound hRPA can undergo facilitated exchange, enabling hRPA to undergo rapid exchange between free and ssDNA-bound states only when free hRPA is present in solution. Our results also indicate that the presence of free hRPA inhibits RAD51 filament nucleation, but has a lesser impact upon filament elongation. This finding suggests that hRPA exerts important regulatory influence over RAD51 and may in turn affect the properties of the assembled RAD51 filament. These experiments provide an important basis for further investigations into the regulation of human presynaptic complex assembly. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  7. Domain mapping of the Rad51 paralog protein complexes

    PubMed Central

    Miller, Kristi A.; Sawicka, Dorota; Barsky, Daniel; Albala, Joanna S.

    2004-01-01

    The five human Rad51 paralogs are suggested to play an important role in the maintenance of genome stability through their function in DNA double-strand break repair. These proteins have been found to form two distinct complexes in vivo, Rad51B–Rad51C–Rad51D–Xrcc2 (BCDX2) and Rad51C–Xrcc3 (CX3). Based on the recent Pyrococcus furiosus Rad51 structure, we have used homology modeling to design deletion mutants of the Rad51 paralogs. The models of the human Rad51B, Rad51C, Xrcc3 and murine Rad51D (mRad51D) proteins reveal distinct N-terminal and C-terminal domains connected by a linker region. Using yeast two-hybrid and co-immunoprecipitation techniques, we have demonstrated that a fragment of Rad51B containing amino acid residues 1–75 interacts with the C-terminus and linker of Rad51C, residues 79–376, and this region of Rad51C also interacts with mRad51D and Xrcc3. We have also determined that the N-terminal domain of mRad51D, residues 4–77, binds to Xrcc2 while the C-terminal domain of mRad51D, residues 77–328, binds Rad51C. By this, we have identified the binding domains of the BCDX2 and CX3 complexes to further characterize the interaction of these proteins and propose a scheme for the three-dimensional architecture of the BCDX2 and CX3 paralog complexes. PMID:14704354

  8. Disparate requirements for the Walker A and B ATPase motifs of human RAD51D in homologous recombination.

    PubMed

    Wiese, Claudia; Hinz, John M; Tebbs, Robert S; Nham, Peter B; Urbin, Salustra S; Collins, David W; Thompson, Larry H; Schild, David

    2006-01-01

    In vertebrates, homologous recombinational repair (HRR) requires RAD51 and five RAD51 paralogs (XRCC2, XRCC3, RAD51B, RAD51C and RAD51D) that all contain conserved Walker A and B ATPase motifs. In human RAD51D we examined the requirement for these motifs in interactions with XRCC2 and RAD51C, and for survival of cells in response to DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs). Ectopic expression of wild-type human RAD51D or mutants having a non-functional A or B motif was used to test for complementation of a rad51d knockout hamster CHO cell line. Although A-motif mutants complement very efficiently, B-motif mutants do not. Consistent with these results, experiments using the yeast two- and three-hybrid systems show that the interactions between RAD51D and its XRCC2 and RAD51C partners also require a functional RAD51D B motif, but not motif A. Similarly, hamster Xrcc2 is unable to bind to the non-complementing human RAD51D B-motif mutants in co-immunoprecipitation assays. We conclude that a functional Walker B motif, but not A motif, is necessary for RAD51D's interactions with other paralogs and for efficient HRR. We present a model in which ATPase sites are formed in a bipartite manner between RAD51D and other RAD51 paralogs.

  9. RAD51B in Familial Breast Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Pelttari, Liisa M.; Khan, Sofia; Vuorela, Mikko; Kiiski, Johanna I.; Vilske, Sara; Nevanlinna, Viivi; Ranta, Salla; Schleutker, Johanna; Winqvist, Robert; Kallioniemi, Anne; Dörk, Thilo; Bogdanova, Natalia V.; Figueroa, Jonine; Pharoah, Paul D. P.; Schmidt, Marjanka K.; Dunning, Alison M.; García-Closas, Montserrat; Bolla, Manjeet K.; Dennis, Joe; Michailidou, Kyriaki; Wang, Qin; Hopper, John L.; Southey, Melissa C.; Rosenberg, Efraim H.; Fasching, Peter A.; Beckmann, Matthias W.; Peto, Julian; dos-Santos-Silva, Isabel; Sawyer, Elinor J.; Tomlinson, Ian; Burwinkel, Barbara; Surowy, Harald; Guénel, Pascal; Truong, Thérèse; Bojesen, Stig E.; Nordestgaard, Børge G.; Benitez, Javier; González-Neira, Anna; Neuhausen, Susan L.; Anton-Culver, Hoda; Brenner, Hermann; Arndt, Volker; Meindl, Alfons; Schmutzler, Rita K.; Brauch, Hiltrud; Brüning, Thomas; Lindblom, Annika; Margolin, Sara; Mannermaa, Arto; Hartikainen, Jaana M.; Chenevix-Trench, Georgia; Van Dyck, Laurien; Janssen, Hilde; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Rudolph, Anja; Radice, Paolo; Peterlongo, Paolo; Hallberg, Emily; Olson, Janet E.; Giles, Graham G.; Milne, Roger L.; Haiman, Christopher A.; Schumacher, Fredrick; Simard, Jacques; Dumont, Martine; Kristensen, Vessela; Borresen-Dale, Anne-Lise; Zheng, Wei; Beeghly-Fadiel, Alicia; Grip, Mervi; Andrulis, Irene L.; Glendon, Gord; Devilee, Peter; Seynaeve, Caroline; Hooning, Maartje J.; Collée, Margriet; Cox, Angela; Cross, Simon S.; Shah, Mitul; Luben, Robert N.; Hamann, Ute; Torres, Diana; Jakubowska, Anna; Lubinski, Jan; Couch, Fergus J.; Yannoukakos, Drakoulis; Orr, Nick; Swerdlow, Anthony; Darabi, Hatef; Li, Jingmei; Czene, Kamila; Hall, Per; Easton, Douglas F.; Mattson, Johanna; Blomqvist, Carl; Aittomäki, Kristiina; Nevanlinna, Heli

    2016-01-01

    Common variation on 14q24.1, close to RAD51B, has been associated with breast cancer: rs999737 and rs2588809 with the risk of female breast cancer and rs1314913 with the risk of male breast cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of RAD51B variants in breast cancer predisposition, particularly in the context of familial breast cancer in Finland. We sequenced the coding region of RAD51B in 168 Finnish breast cancer patients from the Helsinki region for identification of possible recurrent founder mutations. In addition, we studied the known rs999737, rs2588809, and rs1314913 SNPs and RAD51B haplotypes in 44,791 breast cancer cases and 43,583 controls from 40 studies participating in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) that were genotyped on a custom chip (iCOGS). We identified one putatively pathogenic missense mutation c.541C>T among the Finnish cancer patients and subsequently genotyped the mutation in additional breast cancer cases (n = 5259) and population controls (n = 3586) from Finland and Belarus. No significant association with breast cancer risk was seen in the meta-analysis of the Finnish datasets or in the large BCAC dataset. The association with previously identified risk variants rs999737, rs2588809, and rs1314913 was replicated among all breast cancer cases and also among familial cases in the BCAC dataset. The most significant association was observed for the haplotype carrying the risk-alleles of all the three SNPs both among all cases (odds ratio (OR): 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11–1.19, P = 8.88 x 10−16) and among familial cases (OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.16–1.32, P = 6.19 x 10−11), compared to the haplotype with the respective protective alleles. Our results suggest that loss-of-function mutations in RAD51B are rare, but common variation at the RAD51B region is significantly associated with familial breast cancer risk. PMID:27149063

  10. Contribution of Germline Mutations in the RAD51B, RAD51C, and RAD51D Genes to Ovarian Cancer in the Population

    PubMed Central

    Song, Honglin; Dicks, Ed; Ramus, Susan J.; Tyrer, Jonathan P.; Intermaggio, Maria P.; Hayward, Jane; Edlund, Christopher K.; Conti, David; Harrington, Patricia; Fraser, Lindsay; Philpott, Susan; Anderson, Christopher; Rosenthal, Adam; Gentry-Maharaj, Aleksandra; Bowtell, David D.; Alsop, Kathryn; Cicek, Mine S.; Cunningham, Julie M.; Fridley, Brooke L.; Alsop, Jennifer; Jimenez-Linan, Mercedes; Høgdall, Estrid; Høgdall, Claus K.; Jensen, Allan; Kjaer, Susanne Krüger; Lubiński, Jan; Huzarski, Tomasz; Jakubowska, Anna; Gronwald, Jacek; Poblete, Samantha; Lele, Shashi; Sucheston-Campbell, Lara; Moysich, Kirsten B.; Odunsi, Kunle; Goode, Ellen L.; Menon, Usha; Jacobs, Ian J.; Gayther, Simon A.; Pharoah, Paul D.P.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose The aim of this study was to estimate the contribution of deleterious mutations in the RAD51B, RAD51C, and RAD51D genes to invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) in the population and in a screening trial of individuals at high risk of ovarian cancer. Patients and Methods The coding sequence and splice site boundaries of the three RAD51 genes were sequenced and analyzed in germline DNA from a case-control study of 3,429 patients with invasive EOC and 2,772 controls as well as in 2,000 unaffected women who were BRCA1/BRCA2 negative from the United Kingdom Familial Ovarian Cancer Screening Study (UK_FOCSS) after quality-control analysis. Results In the case-control study, we identified predicted deleterious mutations in 28 EOC cases (0.82%) compared with three controls (0.11%; P < .001). Mutations in EOC cases were more frequent in RAD51C (14 occurrences, 0.41%) and RAD51D (12 occurrences, 0.35%) than in RAD51B (two occurrences, 0.06%). RAD51C mutations were associated with an odds ratio of 5.2 (95% CI, 1.1 to 24; P = .035), and RAD51D mutations conferred an odds ratio of 12 (95% CI, 1.5 to 90; P = .019). We identified 13 RAD51 mutations (0.65%) in unaffected UK_FOCSS participants (RAD51C, n = 7; RAD51D, n = 5; and RAD51B, n = 1), which was a significantly greater rate than in controls (P < .001); furthermore, RAD51 mutation carriers were more likely than noncarriers to have a family history of ovarian cancer (P < .001). Conclusion These results confirm that RAD51C and RAD51D are moderate ovarian cancer susceptibility genes and suggest that they confer levels of risk of EOC that may warrant their use alongside BRCA1 and BRCA2 in routine clinical genetic testing. PMID:26261251

  11. Cellular redistribution of Rad51 in response to DNA damage: novel role for Rad51C.

    PubMed

    Gildemeister, Otto S; Sage, Jay M; Knight, Kendall L

    2009-11-13

    Exposure of cells to DNA-damaging agents results in a rapid increase in the formation of subnuclear complexes containing Rad51. To date, it has not been determined to what extent DNA damage-induced cytoplasmic to nuclear transport of Rad51 may contribute to this process. We have analyzed subcellular fractions of HeLa and HCT116 cells and found a significant increase in nuclear Rad51 levels following exposure to a modest dose of ionizing radiation (2 grays). We also observed a DNA damage-induced increase in nuclear Rad51 in the Brca2-defective cell line Capan-1. To address a possible Brca2-independent mechanism for Rad51 nuclear transport, we analyzed subcellular fractions for two other Rad51-interacting proteins, Rad51C and Xrcc3. Rad51C has a functional nuclear localization signal, and although we found that the subcellular distribution of Xrcc3 was not significantly affected by DNA damage, there was a damage-induced increase in nuclear Rad51C. Furthermore, RNA interference-mediated depletion of Rad51C in HeLa and Capan-1 cells resulted in lower steady-state levels of nuclear Rad51 as well as a diminished DNA damage-induced increase. Our results provide important insight into the cellular regulation of Rad51 nuclear entry and a role for Rad51C in this process.

  12. Engineering Archeal Surrogate Systems for the Development of Protein-Protein Interaction Inhibitors against Human RAD51.

    PubMed

    Moschetti, Tommaso; Sharpe, Timothy; Fischer, Gerhard; Marsh, May E; Ng, Hong Kin; Morgan, Matthew; Scott, Duncan E; Blundell, Tom L; R Venkitaraman, Ashok; Skidmore, John; Abell, Chris; Hyvönen, Marko

    2016-11-20

    Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are increasingly important targets for drug discovery. Efficient fragment-based drug discovery approaches to tackle PPIs are often stymied by difficulties in the production of stable, unliganded target proteins. Here, we report an approach that exploits protein engineering to "humanise" thermophilic archeal surrogate proteins as targets for small-molecule inhibitor discovery and to exemplify this approach in the development of inhibitors against the PPI between the recombinase RAD51 and tumour suppressor BRCA2. As human RAD51 has proved impossible to produce in a form that is compatible with the requirements of fragment-based drug discovery, we have developed a surrogate protein system using RadA from Pyrococcus furiosus. Using a monomerised RadA as our starting point, we have adopted two parallel and mutually instructive approaches to mimic the human enzyme: firstly by mutating RadA to increase sequence identity with RAD51 in the BRC repeat binding sites, and secondly by generating a chimeric archaeal human protein. Both approaches generate proteins that interact with a fourth BRC repeat with affinity and stoichiometry comparable to human RAD51. Stepwise humanisation has also allowed us to elucidate the determinants of RAD51 binding to BRC repeats and the contributions of key interacting residues to this interaction. These surrogate proteins have enabled the development of biochemical and biophysical assays in our ongoing fragment-based small-molecule inhibitor programme and they have allowed us to determine hundreds of liganded structures in support of our structure-guided design process, demonstrating the feasibility and advantages of using archeal surrogates to overcome difficulties in handling human proteins. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  13. Interactions among Trypanosoma brucei RAD51 paralogues in DNA repair and antigenic variation

    PubMed Central

    Dobson, Rachel; Stockdale, Christopher; Lapsley, Craig; Wilkes, Jonathan; McCulloch, Richard

    2011-01-01

    Homologous recombination in Trypanosoma brucei is used for moving variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes into expression sites during immune evasion by antigenic variation. A major route for such VSG switching is gene conversion reactions in which RAD51, a universally conserved recombinase, catalyses homology-directed strand exchange. In any eukaryote, RAD51-directed strand exchange in vivo is mediated by further factors, including RAD51-related proteins termed Rad51 paralogues. These appear to be ubiquitously conserved, although their detailed roles in recombination remain unclear. In T. brucei, four putative RAD51 paralogue genes have been identified by sequence homology. Here we show that all four RAD51 paralogues act in DNA repair, recombination and RAD51 subnuclear dynamics, though not equivalently, while mutation of only one RAD51 paralogue gene significantly impedes VSG switching. We also show that the T. brucei RAD51 paralogues interact, and that the complexes they form may explain the distinct phenotypes of the mutants as well as observed expression interdependency. Finally, we document the Rad51 paralogues that are encoded by a wide range of protists, demonstrating that the Rad51 paralogue repertoire in T. brucei is unusually large among microbial eukaryotes and that one member of the protein family corresponds with a key, conserved eukaryotic Rad51 paralogue. PMID:21615552

  14. Distinct RAD51 Associations with RAD52 and BCCIP in Response to DNA Damage and Replication Stress

    PubMed Central

    Wray, Justin; Liu, Jingmei; Nickoloff, Jac A.; Shen, Zhiyuan

    2009-01-01

    RAD51 has critical roles in homologous recombination (HR) repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) and restarting stalled or collapsed replication forks. In yeast, Rad51 function is facilitated by Rad52 and other “mediators.” Mammalian cells express RAD52, but BRCA2 may have supplanted RAD52 in mediating RAD51 loading onto ssDNA. BCCIP interacts with BRCA2, and both proteins are important for RAD51 focus formation after ionizing radiation and HR repair of DSBs. Nonetheless, mammalian RAD52 shares biochemical activities with yeast Rad52, including RAD51 binding and single-strand annealing, suggesting a conserved role in HR. Because RAD52 and RAD51 associate, and RAD51 and BCCIP associate, we investigated the colocalization of RAD51 with BCCIP and RAD52 in human cells. We found that RAD51 colocalizes with BCCIP early after ionizing radiation, with RAD52 later, and there was little colocalization of BCCIP and RAD52. RAD52 foci are induced to a greater extent by hydroxyurea, which stalls replication forks, than by ionizing radiation. Using fluorescence recovery after photo bleaching, we show that RAD52 mobility is reduced to a greater extent by hydroxyurea than ionizing radiation. However, BCCIP showed no changes in mobility after hydroxyurea or ionizing radiation. We propose that BCCIP-dependent repair of DSBs by HR is an early RAD51 response to ionizing radiation–induced DNA damage, and that RAD52-dependent HR occurs later to restart a subset of blocked or collapsed replication forks. RAD52 and BRCA2 seem to act in parallel pathways, suggesting that targeting RAD52 in BRCA2-deficient tumors may be effective in treating these tumors. PMID:18413737

  15. Prolonged exposure to particulate chromate inhibits RAD51 nuclear import mediator proteins.

    PubMed

    Browning, Cynthia L; Wise, John Pierce

    2017-09-15

    Particulate hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a human lung carcinogen and a human health concern. The induction of structural chromosome instability is considered to be a driving mechanism of Cr(VI)-induced carcinogenesis. Homologous recombination repair protects against Cr(VI)-induced chromosome damage, due to its highly accurate repair of Cr(VI)-induced DNA double strand breaks. However, recent studies demonstrate Cr(VI) inhibits homologous recombination repair through the misregulation of RAD51. RAD51 is an essential protein in HR repair that facilitates the search for a homologous sequence. Recent studies show prolonged Cr(VI) exposure prevents proper RAD51 subcellular localization, causing it to accumulate in the cytoplasm. Since nuclear import of RAD51 is crucial to its function, this study investigated the effect of Cr(VI) on the RAD51 nuclear import mediators, RAD51C and BRCA2. We show acute (24h) Cr(VI) exposure induces the proper localization of RAD51C and BRCA2. In contrast, prolonged (120h) exposure increased the cytoplasmic localization of both proteins, although RAD51C localization was more severely impaired. These results correlate temporally with the previously reported Cr(VI)-induced RAD51 cytoplasmic accumulation. In addition, we found Cr(VI) does not inhibit interaction between RAD51 and its nuclear import mediators. Altogether, our results suggest prolonged Cr(VI) exposure inhibits the nuclear import of RAD51C, and to a lesser extent, BRCA2, which results in the cytoplasmic accumulation of RAD51. Cr(VI)-induced inhibition of nuclear import may play a key role in its carcinogenic mechanism since the nuclear import of many tumor suppressor proteins and DNA repair proteins is crucial to their function. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Suppression of OsRAD51D results in defects in reproductive development in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

    PubMed

    Byun, Mi Young; Kim, Woo Taek

    2014-07-01

    The cellular roles of RAD51 paralogs in somatic and reproductive growth have been extensively described in a wide range of animal systems and, to a lesser extent, in Arabidopsis, a dicot model plant. Here, the OsRAD51D gene was identified and characterized in rice (Oryza sativa L.), a monocot model crop. In the rice genome, three alternative OsRAD51D mRNA splicing variants, OsRAD51D.1, OsRAD51D.2, and OsRAD51D.3, were predicted. Yeast two-hybrid studies, however, showed that only OsRAD51D.1 interacted with OsRAD51B and OsRAD51C paralogs, suggesting that OsRAD51D.1 is a functional OsRAD51D protein in rice. Loss-of-function osrad51d mutant rice plants displayed normal vegetative growth. However, the mutant plants were defective in reproductive growth, resulting in sterile flowers. Homozygous osrad51d mutant flowers exhibited impaired development of lemma and palea and contained unusual numbers of stamens and stigmas. During early meiosis, osrad51d pollen mother cells (PMCs) failed to form normal homologous chromosome pairings. In subsequent meiotic progression, mutant PMCs represented fragmented chromosomes. The osrad51d pollen cells contained numerous abnormal micro-nuclei that resulted in malfunctioning pollen. The abnormalities of heterozygous mutant and T2 Ubi:RNAi-OsRAD51D RNAi-knock-down transgenic plants were intermediate between those of wild type and homozygous mutant plants. The osrad51d and Ubi:RNAi-OsRAD51D plants contained longer telomeres compared with wild type plants, indicating that OsRAD51D is a negative factor for telomere lengthening. Overall, these results suggest that OsRAD51D plays a critical role in reproductive growth in rice. This essential function of OsRAD51D is distinct from Arabidopsis, in which AtRAD51D is not an essential factor for meiosis or reproductive development. © 2014 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. FANCI-FANCD2 stabilizes the RAD51-DNA complex by binding RAD51 and protects the 5′-DNA end

    PubMed Central

    Sato, Koichi; Shimomuki, Mayo; Katsuki, Yoko; Takahashi, Daisuke; Kobayashi, Wataru; Ishiai, Masamichi; Miyoshi, Hiroyuki; Takata, Minoru; Kurumizaka, Hitoshi

    2016-01-01

    The FANCI-FANCD2 (I-D) complex is considered to work with RAD51 to protect the damaged DNA in the stalled replication fork. However, the means by which this DNA protection is accomplished have remained elusive. In the present study, we found that the I-D complex directly binds to RAD51, and stabilizes the RAD51-DNA filament. Unexpectedly, the DNA binding activity of FANCI, but not FANCD2, is explicitly required for the I-D complex-mediated RAD51-DNA filament stabilization. The RAD51 filament stabilized by the I-D complex actually protects the DNA end from nucleolytic degradation by an FA-associated nuclease, FAN1. This DNA end protection is not observed with the RAD51 mutant from FANCR patient cells. These results clearly answer the currently enigmatic question of how RAD51 functions with the I-D complex to prevent genomic instability at the stalled replication fork. PMID:27694619

  18. The N-terminal DNA-binding domain of Rad52 promotes RAD51-independent recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed Central

    Tsukamoto, Mariko; Yamashita, Kentaro; Miyazaki, Toshiko; Shinohara, Miki; Shinohara, Akira

    2003-01-01

    In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Rad52 protein plays a role in both RAD51-dependent and RAD51-independent recombination pathways. We characterized a rad52 mutant, rad52-329, which lacks the C-terminal Rad51-interacting domain, and studied its role in RAD51-independent recombination. The rad52-329 mutant is completely defective in mating-type switching, but partially proficient in recombination between inverted repeats. We also analyzed the effect of the rad52-329 mutant on telomere recombination. Yeast cells lacking telomerase maintain telomere length by recombination. The rad52-329 mutant is deficient in RAD51-dependent telomere recombination, but is proficient in RAD51-independent telomere recombination. In addition, we examined the roles of other recombination genes in the telomere recombination. The RAD51-independent recombination in the rad52-329 mutant is promoted by a paralogue of Rad52, Rad59. All components of the Rad50-Mre11-Xrs2 complex are also important, but not essential, for RAD51-independent telomere recombination. Interestingly, RAD51 inhibits the RAD51-independent, RAD52-dependent telomere recombination. These findings indicate that Rad52 itself, and more precisely its N-terminal DNA-binding domain, promote an essential reaction in recombination in the absence of RAD51. PMID:14704160

  19. Enhancement of the RAD51 Recombinase Activity by the Tumor Suppressor PALB2

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dray, Eloise; Etchin, Julia; Wiese, Claudia

    2010-08-24

    Homologous recombination mediated by the RAD51 recombinase helps eliminate chromosomal lesions, such as DNA double-stranded breaks induced by radiation or arising from injured DNA replication forks. The tumor suppressors BRCA2 and PALB2 act together to deliver RAD51 to chromosomal lesions to initiate repair. Here we document a new function of PALB2 in the enhancement of RAD51's ability to form the D-loop. We show that PALB2 binds DNA and physically interacts with RAD51. Importantly, while PALB2 alone stimulates D-loop formation, a cooperative effect is seen with RAD51AP1, an enhancer of RAD51. This stimulation stems from PALB2's ability to function with RAD51more » and RAD51AP1 to assemble the synaptic complex. Our results help unveil a multi-faceted role of PALB2 in chromosome damage repair. Since PALB2 mutations can cause breast and other tumors or lead to Fanconi anemia, our findings are important for understanding the mechanism of tumor suppression in humans.« less

  20. Homologous Recombination Repair Factors Rad51 and BRCA1 Are Necessary for Productive Replication of Human Papillomavirus 31.

    PubMed

    Chappell, William H; Gautam, Dipendra; Ok, Suzan T; Johnson, Bryan A; Anacker, Daniel C; Moody, Cary A

    2015-12-23

    High-risk human papillomavirus 31 (HPV31)-positive cells exhibit constitutive activation of the ATM-dependent DNA damage response (DDR), which is necessary for productive viral replication. In response to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), ATM activation leads to DNA repair through homologous recombination (HR), which requires the principal recombinase protein Rad51, as well as BRCA1. Previous studies from our lab demonstrated that Rad51 and BRCA1 are expressed at high levels in HPV31-positive cells and localize to sites of viral replication. These results suggest that HPV may utilize ATM activity to increase HR activity as a means to facilitate viral replication. In this study, we demonstrate that high-risk HPV E7 expression alone is sufficient for the increase in Rad51 and BRCA1 protein levels. We have found that this increase occurs, at least in part, at the level of transcription. Studies analyzing protein stability indicate that HPV may also protect Rad51 and BRCA1 from turnover, contributing to the overall increase in cellular levels. We also demonstrate that Rad51 is bound to HPV31 genomes, with binding increasing per viral genome upon productive replication. We have found that depletion of Rad51 and BRCA1, as well as inhibition of Rad51's recombinase activity, abrogates productive viral replication upon differentiation. Overall, these results indicate that Rad51 and BRCA1 are required for the process of HPV31 genome amplification and suggest that productive replication occurs in a manner dependent upon recombination. Productive replication of HPV31 requires activation of an ATM-dependent DNA damage response, though how ATM activity contributes to replication is unclear. Rad51 and BRCA1 play essential roles in repair of double-strand breaks, as well as the restart of stalled replication forks through homologous recombination (HR). Given that ATM activity is required to initiate HR repair, coupled with the requirement of Rad51 and BRCA1 for productive viral

  1. Homologous Recombination Repair Factors Rad51 and BRCA1 Are Necessary for Productive Replication of Human Papillomavirus 31

    PubMed Central

    Chappell, William H.; Gautam, Dipendra; Ok, Suzan T.; Johnson, Bryan A.; Anacker, Daniel C.

    2015-01-01

    ABSTRACT High-risk human papillomavirus 31 (HPV31)-positive cells exhibit constitutive activation of the ATM-dependent DNA damage response (DDR), which is necessary for productive viral replication. In response to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), ATM activation leads to DNA repair through homologous recombination (HR), which requires the principal recombinase protein Rad51, as well as BRCA1. Previous studies from our lab demonstrated that Rad51 and BRCA1 are expressed at high levels in HPV31-positive cells and localize to sites of viral replication. These results suggest that HPV may utilize ATM activity to increase HR activity as a means to facilitate viral replication. In this study, we demonstrate that high-risk HPV E7 expression alone is sufficient for the increase in Rad51 and BRCA1 protein levels. We have found that this increase occurs, at least in part, at the level of transcription. Studies analyzing protein stability indicate that HPV may also protect Rad51 and BRCA1 from turnover, contributing to the overall increase in cellular levels. We also demonstrate that Rad51 is bound to HPV31 genomes, with binding increasing per viral genome upon productive replication. We have found that depletion of Rad51 and BRCA1, as well as inhibition of Rad51's recombinase activity, abrogates productive viral replication upon differentiation. Overall, these results indicate that Rad51 and BRCA1 are required for the process of HPV31 genome amplification and suggest that productive replication occurs in a manner dependent upon recombination. IMPORTANCE Productive replication of HPV31 requires activation of an ATM-dependent DNA damage response, though how ATM activity contributes to replication is unclear. Rad51 and BRCA1 play essential roles in repair of double-strand breaks, as well as the restart of stalled replication forks through homologous recombination (HR). Given that ATM activity is required to initiate HR repair, coupled with the requirement of Rad51 and BRCA1 for

  2. Hepatocyte Growth Factor Improves the Therapeutic Efficacy of Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells via RAD51.

    PubMed

    Lee, Eun Ju; Hwang, Injoo; Lee, Ji Yeon; Park, Jong Nam; Kim, Keun Cheon; Kim, Gi-Hwan; Kang, Chang-Mo; Kim, Irene; Lee, Seo-Yeon; Kim, Hyo-Soo

    2018-03-07

    Human embryonic stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hE-MSCs) have greater proliferative capacity than other human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), suggesting that they may have wider applications in regenerative cellular therapy. In this study, to uncover the anti-senescence mechanism in hE-MSCs, we compared hE-MSCs with adult bone marrow (hBM-MSCs) and found that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) was more abundantly expressed in hE-MSCs than in hBM-MSCs and that it induced the transcription of RAD51 and facilitated its SUMOylation at K70. RAD51 induction/modification by HGF not only increased telomere length but also increased mtDNA replication, leading to increased ATP generation. Moreover, HGF-treated hBM-MSCs showed significantly better therapeutic efficacy than naive hBM-MSCs. Together, the data suggest that the RAD51-mediated effects of HGF prevent hMSC senescence by promoting telomere lengthening and inducing mtDNA replication and function, which opens the prospect of developing novel therapies for liver disease. Copyright © 2017 The American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Ca2+ improves organization of single-stranded DNA bases in human Rad51 filament, explaining stimulatory effect on gene recombination.

    PubMed

    Fornander, Louise H; Frykholm, Karolin; Reymer, Anna; Renodon-Cornière, Axelle; Takahashi, Masayuki; Nordén, Bengt

    2012-06-01

    Human RAD51 protein (HsRad51) catalyses the DNA strand exchange reaction for homologous recombination. To clarify the molecular mechanism of the reaction in vitro being more effective in the presence of Ca(2+) than of Mg(2+), we have investigated the effect of these ions on the structure of HsRad51 filament complexes with single- and double-stranded DNA, the reaction intermediates. Flow linear dichroism spectroscopy shows that the two ionic conditions induce significantly different structures in the HsRad51/single-stranded DNA complex, while the HsRad51/double-stranded DNA complex does not demonstrate this ionic dependence. In the HsRad51/single-stranded DNA filament, the primary intermediate of the strand exchange reaction, ATP/Ca(2+) induces an ordered conformation of DNA, with preferentially perpendicular orientation of nucleobases relative to the filament axis, while the presence of ATP/Mg(2+), ADP/Mg(2+) or ADP/Ca(2+) does not. A high strand exchange activity is observed for the filament formed with ATP/Ca(2+), whereas the other filaments exhibit lower activity. Molecular modelling suggests that the structural variation is caused by the divalent cation interfering with the L2 loop close to the DNA-binding site. It is proposed that the larger Ca(2+) stabilizes the loop conformation and thereby the protein-DNA interaction. A tight binding of DNA, with bases perpendicularly oriented, could facilitate strand exchange.

  4. Rad51 Interacts with Non-structural 3 Protein of Hepatitis C Virus and Regulates Viral Production

    PubMed Central

    Son, Kidong; Nguyen, Tram T. T.; Choi, Jae-Woong; Pham, Long V.; Luong, Trang T. D.; Lim, Yun-Sook; Hwang, Soon B.

    2017-01-01

    Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a leading cause of chronic liver disease affecting over 170 million people worldwide. Chronic infection with HCV progresses to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. HCV exploits host cellular factors for viral propagation. To investigate the cellular factors required for HCV propagation, we screened a siRNA library targeting human cell cycle genes using cell culture grown HCV-infected cells. In the present study, we selected and characterized a gene encoding Rad51. Rad51, a member of a conserved recombinase family, is an essential factor for homologous recombination and repair of double-strand DNA breaks. We demonstrated that siRNA-mediated knockdown of Rad51 significantly inhibited HCV propagation without affecting HCV RNA replication. Silencing of Rad51 impaired secretion of infectious HCV particles and thus intracellular viruses were accumulated. We showed that HCV NS3 specifically interacted with Rad51 and accumulated Rad51 in the cytosol. Furthermore, Rad51 was coprecipitated with NS3 and HCV RNA. By employing membrane flotation and protease protection assays, we also demonstrated that Rad51 was co-fractionated with HCV NS3 on the lipid raft. These data indicate that Rad51 may be a component of the HCV RNA replication complex. Collectively, these data suggest that HCV may exploit cellular Rad51 to promote viral propagation and thus Rad51 may be a potential therapeutic target for HCV. PMID:28729862

  5. Common Breast Cancer Susceptibility Variants in LSP1 and RAD51L1 Are Associated with Mammographic Density Measures that Predict Breast Cancer Risk

    PubMed Central

    Vachon, Celine M.; Scott, Christopher G.; Fasching, Peter A.; Hall, Per; Tamimi, Rulla M.; Li, Jingmei; Stone, Jennifer; Apicella, Carmel; Odefrey, Fabrice; Gierach, Gretchen L.; Jud, Sebastian M.; Heusinger, Katharina; Beckmann, Matthias W.; Pollan, Marina; Fernández-Navarro, Pablo; González-Neira, Anna; Benítez, Javier; van Gils, Carla H.; Lokate, Mariëtte; Onland-Moret, N. Charlotte; Peeters, Petra H.M.; Brown, Judith; Leyland, Jean; Varghese, Jajini S.; Easton, Douglas F.; Thompson, Deborah J.; Luben, Robert N.; Warren, Ruth ML; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Loos, Ruth JF; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Ursin, Giske; Lee, Eunjung; Gayther, Simon A.; Ramus, Susan J.; Eeles, Rosalind A.; Leach, Martin O.; Kwan-Lim, Gek; Couch, Fergus J.; Giles, Graham G.; Baglietto, Laura; Krishnan, Kavitha; Southey, Melissa C.; Le Marchand, Loic; Kolonel, Laurence N.; Woolcott, Christy; Maskarinec, Gertraud; Haiman, Christopher A; Walker, Kate; Johnson, Nichola; McCormack, Valerie A.; Biong, Margarethe; Alnæs, Grethe I.G.; Gram, Inger Torhild; Kristensen, Vessela N.; Børresen-Dale, Anne-Lise; Lindström, Sara; Hankinson, Susan E.; Hunter, David J.; Andrulis, Irene L.; Knight, Julia A.; Boyd, Norman F.; Figueroa, Jonine D.; Lissowska, Jolanta; Wesolowska, Ewa; Peplonska, Beata; Bukowska, Agnieszka; Reszka, Edyta; Liu, JianJun; Eriksson, Louise; Czene, Kamila; Audley, Tina; Wu, Anna H.; Pankratz, V. Shane; Hopper, John L.; dos-Santos-Silva, Isabel

    2013-01-01

    Background Mammographic density adjusted for age and body mass index (BMI) is a heritable marker of breast cancer susceptibility. Little is known about the biological mechanisms underlying the association between mammographic density and breast cancer risk. We examined whether common low-penetrance breast cancer susceptibility variants contribute to inter-individual differences in mammographic density measures. Methods We established an international consortium (DENSNP) of 19 studies from 10 countries, comprising 16,895 Caucasian women, to conduct a pooled cross-sectional analysis of common breast cancer susceptibility variants in 14 independent loci and mammographic density measures. Dense and non-dense areas, and percent density, were measured using interactive-thresholding techniques. Mixed linear models were used to assess the association between genetic variants and the square roots of mammographic density measures adjusted for study, age, case status, body mass index (BMI) and menopausal status. Results Consistent with their breast cancer associations, the C-allele of rs3817198 in LSP1 was positively associated with both adjusted dense area (p=0.00005) and adjusted percent density (p=0.001) whereas the A-allele of rs10483813 in RAD51L1 was inversely associated with adjusted percent density (p=0.003), but not with adjusted dense area (p=0.07). Conclusion We identified two common breast cancer susceptibility variants associated with mammographic measures of radio-dense tissue in the breast gland. Impact We examined the association of 14 established breast cancer susceptibility loci with mammographic density phenotypes within a large genetic consortium and identified two breast cancer susceptibility variants, LSP1-rs3817198 and RAD51L1-rs10483813, associated with mammographic measures and in the same direction as the breast cancer association. PMID:22454379

  6. Caffeine inhibits gene conversion by displacing Rad51 from ssDNA

    PubMed Central

    Tsabar, Michael; Mason, Jennifer M.; Chan, Yuen-Ling; Bishop, Douglas K.; Haber, James E.

    2015-01-01

    Efficient repair of chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination relies on the formation of a Rad51 recombinase filament that forms on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) created at DSB ends. This filament facilitates the search for a homologous donor sequence and promotes strand invasion. Recently caffeine treatment has been shown to prevent gene targeting in mammalian cells by increasing non-productive Rad51 interactions between the DSB and random regions of the genome. Here we show that caffeine treatment prevents gene conversion in yeast, independently of its inhibition of the Mec1ATR/Tel1ATM-dependent DNA damage response or caffeine's inhibition of 5′ to 3′ resection of DSB ends. Caffeine treatment results in a dosage-dependent eviction of Rad51 from ssDNA. Gene conversion is impaired even at low concentrations of caffeine, where there is no discernible dismantling of the Rad51 filament. Loss of the Rad51 filament integrity is independent of Srs2's Rad51 filament dismantling activity or Rad51's ATPase activity and does not depend on non-specific Rad51 binding to undamaged double-stranded DNA. Caffeine treatment had similar effects on irradiated HeLa cells, promoting loss of previously assembled Rad51 foci. We conclude that caffeine treatment can disrupt gene conversion by disrupting Rad51 filaments. PMID:26019181

  7. ASCIZ regulates lesion-specific Rad51 focus formation and apoptosis after methylating DNA damage

    PubMed Central

    McNees, Carolyn J; Conlan, Lindus A; Tenis, Nora; Heierhorst, Jörg

    2005-01-01

    Nuclear Rad51 focus formation is required for homology-directed repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), but its regulation in response to non-DSB lesions is poorly understood. Here we report a novel human SQ/TQ cluster domain-containing protein termed ASCIZ that forms Rad51-containing foci in response to base-modifying DNA methylating agents but not in response to DSB-inducing agents. ASCIZ foci seem to form prior to Rad51 recruitment, and an ASCIZ core domain can concentrate Rad51 in focus-like structures independently of DNA damage. ASCIZ depletion dramatically increases apoptosis after methylating DNA damage and impairs Rad51 focus formation in response to methylating agents but not after ionizing radiation. ASCIZ focus formation and increased apoptosis in ASCIZ-depleted cells depend on the mismatch repair protein MLH1. Interestingly, ASCIZ foci form efficiently during G1 phase, when sister chromatids are unavailable as recombination templates. We propose that ASCIZ acts as a lesion-specific focus scaffold in a Rad51-dependent pathway that resolves cytotoxic repair intermediates, most likely single-stranded DNA gaps, resulting from MLH1-dependent processing of base lesions. PMID:15933716

  8. ASCIZ regulates lesion-specific Rad51 focus formation and apoptosis after methylating DNA damage.

    PubMed

    McNees, Carolyn J; Conlan, Lindus A; Tenis, Nora; Heierhorst, Jörg

    2005-07-06

    Nuclear Rad51 focus formation is required for homology-directed repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), but its regulation in response to non-DSB lesions is poorly understood. Here we report a novel human SQ/TQ cluster domain-containing protein termed ASCIZ that forms Rad51-containing foci in response to base-modifying DNA methylating agents but not in response to DSB-inducing agents. ASCIZ foci seem to form prior to Rad51 recruitment, and an ASCIZ core domain can concentrate Rad51 in focus-like structures independently of DNA damage. ASCIZ depletion dramatically increases apoptosis after methylating DNA damage and impairs Rad51 focus formation in response to methylating agents but not after ionizing radiation. ASCIZ focus formation and increased apoptosis in ASCIZ-depleted cells depend on the mismatch repair protein MLH1. Interestingly, ASCIZ foci form efficiently during G1 phase, when sister chromatids are unavailable as recombination templates. We propose that ASCIZ acts as a lesion-specific focus scaffold in a Rad51-dependent pathway that resolves cytotoxic repair intermediates, most likely single-stranded DNA gaps, resulting from MLH1-dependent processing of base lesions.

  9. Cellular Dynamics of Rad51 and Rad54 in Response to Postreplicative Stress and DNA Damage in HeLa Cells.

    PubMed

    Choi, Eui-Hwan; Yoon, Seobin; Hahn, Yoonsoo; Kim, Keun P

    2017-02-01

    Homologous recombination (HR) is necessary for maintenance of genomic integrity and prevention of various mutations in tumor suppressor genes and proto-oncogenes. Rad51 and Rad54 are key HR factors that cope with replication stress and DNA breaks in eukaryotes. Rad51 binds to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) to form the presynaptic filament that promotes a homology search and DNA strand exchange, and Rad54 stimulates the strand-pairing function of Rad51. Here, we studied the molecular dynamics of Rad51 and Rad54 during the cell cycle of HeLa cells. These cells constitutively express Rad51 and Rad54 throughout the entire cell cycle, and the formation of foci immediately increased in response to various types of DNA damage and replication stress, except for caffeine, which suppressed the Rad51-dependent HR pathway. Depletion of Rad51 caused severe defects in response to postreplicative stress. Accordingly, HeLa cells were arrested at the G2-M transition although a small amount of Rad51 was steadily maintained in HeLa cells. Our results suggest that cell cycle progression and proliferation of HeLa cells can be tightly controlled by the abundance of HR proteins, which are essential for the rapid response to postreplicative stress and DNA damage stress.

  10. RAD51 interconnects between DNA replication, DNA repair and immunity.

    PubMed

    Bhattacharya, Souparno; Srinivasan, Kalayarasan; Abdisalaam, Salim; Su, Fengtao; Raj, Prithvi; Dozmorov, Igor; Mishra, Ritu; Wakeland, Edward K; Ghose, Subroto; Mukherjee, Shibani; Asaithamby, Aroumougame

    2017-05-05

    RAD51, a multifunctional protein, plays a central role in DNA replication and homologous recombination repair, and is known to be involved in cancer development. We identified a novel role for RAD51 in innate immune response signaling. Defects in RAD51 lead to the accumulation of self-DNA in the cytoplasm, triggering a STING-mediated innate immune response after replication stress and DNA damage. In the absence of RAD51, the unprotected newly replicated genome is degraded by the exonuclease activity of MRE11, and the fragmented nascent DNA accumulates in the cytosol, initiating an innate immune response. Our data suggest that in addition to playing roles in homologous recombination-mediated DNA double-strand break repair and replication fork processing, RAD51 is also implicated in the suppression of innate immunity. Thus, our study reveals a previously uncharacterized role of RAD51 in initiating immune signaling, placing it at the hub of new interconnections between DNA replication, DNA repair, and immunity. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  11. Dynamic changes in Rad51 distribution on chromatin during meiosis in male and female vertebrates.

    PubMed

    Ashley, T; Plug, A W; Xu, J; Solari, A J; Reddy, G; Golub, E I; Ward, D C

    1995-10-01

    Antibodies against human Rad51 protein were used to examine the distribution of Rad51 on meiotic chromatin in mouse spermatocytes and oocytes as well as chicken oocytes during sequential stages of meiosis. We observed the following dynamic changes in distribution of Rad51 during meiosis: (1) in early leptotene nuclei there are multiple, apparently randomly distributed, foci that by late leptonema become organized into tracks of foci. (2) These foci persist into zygonema, but most foci are now localized on Rad51-positive axes that correspond to lateral elements of the synaptonemal complex. As homologs synapse foci from homologous axes fuse. The distribution and involvement of Rad51 foci as contact points between homologs suggest that they may be components to early recombination nodules. (3) As pachynema progresses the number of foci drops dramatically; the temporal occurrence (mice) and physical and numerical distribution of foci on axes (chickens) suggest that they may be a component of late recombination nodules. (4) In early pachynema there are numerous Rad51 foci on the single axis of the X (mouse spermatocytes) or the Z (chicken oocytes) chromosomes that neither pair, nor recombine. (5) In late pachynema in mouse spermatocytes, but not oocytes, the Rad51 signal is preferentially enhanced at both ends of all the bivalents. As bivalents in spermatocytes, but not oocytes, begin to desynapse at diplonema they are often held together at these Rad51-positive termini. These observations parallel observations that recombination rates are exceptionally high near chromosome ends in male but not female eutherian mammals. (6) From diakinesis through metaphase I, Rad51 protein is detected as low-intensity fluorescent doublets that localize with CREST-specific antigens (kinetochores), suggesting that Rad51 participates, at least as a structural component of the materials involved, in sister kinetochore cohesiveness. Finally, the changes in Rad51 distribution during meiosis

  12. Srs2 prevents Rad51 filament formation by repetitive motion on DNA.

    PubMed

    Qiu, Yupeng; Antony, Edwin; Doganay, Sultan; Koh, Hye Ran; Lohman, Timothy M; Myong, Sua

    2013-01-01

    Srs2 dismantles presynaptic Rad51 filaments and prevents its re-formation as an anti-recombinase. However, the molecular mechanism by which Srs2 accomplishes these tasks remains unclear. Here we report a single-molecule fluorescence study of the dynamics of Rad51 filament formation and its disruption by Srs2. Rad51 forms filaments on single-stranded DNA by sequential binding of primarily monomers and dimers in a 5'-3' direction. One Rad51 molecule binds to three nucleotides, and six monomers are required to achieve a stable nucleation cluster. Srs2 exhibits ATP-dependent repetitive motion on single-stranded DNA and this activity prevents re-formation of the Rad51 filament. The same activity of Srs2 cannot prevent RecA filament formation, indicating its specificity for Rad51. Srs2's DNA-unwinding activity is greatly suppressed when Rad51 filaments form on duplex DNA. Taken together, our results reveal an exquisite and highly specific mechanism by which Srs2 regulates the Rad51 filament formation.

  13. Molecular Basis for Enhancement of the Meiotic DMCI Recombinase by RAD51AP1

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dray, Eloise; Dunlop, Myun Hwa; Kauppi, Liisa

    Homologous recombination is needed for meiotic chromosome segregation, genome maintenance, and tumor suppression. RAD51AP1 (RAD51 Associated Protein 1) has been shown to interact with and enhance the recombinase activity of RAD51. Accordingly, genetic ablation of RAD51AP1 leads to enhanced sensitivity to and also chromosome aberrations upon DNA damage, demonstrating a role for RAD51AP1 in mitotic homologous recombination. Here we show physical association of RAD51AP1 with the meiosis-specific recombinase DMC1 and a stimulatory effect of RAD51AP1 on the DMC1-mediated D-loop reaction. Mechanistic studies have revealed that RAD51AP1 enhances the ability of the DMC1 presynaptic filament to capture the duplex DNA partnermore » and to assemble the synaptic complex, in which the recombining DNA strands are homologously aligned. We also provide evidence that functional co-operation is dependent on complex formation between DMC1 and RAD51AP1, and that distinct epitopes in RAD51AP1 mediate interactions with RAD51 and DMC1. Finally, we show that RAD51AP1 is expressed in mouse testes, and that RAD51AP1 foci co-localize with a subset of DMC1 foci in spermatocytes. These results suggest that RAD51AP1 also serves an important role in meiotic homologous recombination.« less

  14. Single-molecule localization microscopy reveals molecular transactions during RAD51 filament assembly at cellular DNA damage sites

    PubMed Central

    Haas, Kalina T; Lee, MiYoung; Esposito, Alessandro; Venkitaraman, Ashok R

    2018-01-01

    Abstract RAD51 recombinase assembles on single-stranded (ss)DNA substrates exposed by DNA end-resection to initiate homologous recombination (HR), a process fundamental to genome integrity. RAD51 assembly has been characterized using purified proteins, but its ultrastructural topography in the cell nucleus is unexplored. Here, we combine cell genetics with single-molecule localization microscopy and a palette of bespoke analytical tools, to visualize molecular transactions during RAD51 assembly in the cellular milieu at resolutions approaching 30–40 nm. In several human cell types, RAD51 focalizes in clusters that progressively extend into long filaments, which abut—but do not overlap—with globular bundles of replication protein A (RPA). Extended filaments alter topographically over time, suggestive of succeeding steps in HR. In cells depleted of the tumor suppressor protein BRCA2, or overexpressing its RAD51-binding BRC repeats, RAD51 fails to assemble at damage sites, although RPA accumulates unhindered. By contrast, in cells lacking a BRCA2 carboxyl (C)-terminal region targeted by cancer-causing mutations, damage-induced RAD51 assemblies initiate but do not extend into filaments. We suggest a model wherein RAD51 assembly proceeds concurrently with end-resection at adjacent sites, via an initiation step dependent on the BRC repeats, followed by filament extension through the C-terminal region of BRCA2. PMID:29309696

  15. NEK8 regulates DNA damage-induced RAD51 foci formation and replication fork protection

    PubMed Central

    Abeyta, Antonio; Castella, Maria; Jacquemont, Celine; Taniguchi, Toshiyasu

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Proteins essential for homologous recombination play a pivotal role in the repair of DNA double strand breaks, DNA inter-strand crosslinks and replication fork stability. Defects in homologous recombination also play a critical role in the development of cancer and the sensitivity of these cancers to chemotherapy. RAD51, an essential factor for homologous recombination and replication fork protection, accumulates and forms immunocytochemically detectable nuclear foci at sites of DNA damage. To identify kinases that may regulate RAD51 localization to sites of DNA damage, we performed a human kinome siRNA library screen, using DNA damage-induced RAD51 foci formation as readout. We found that NEK8, a NIMA family kinase member, is required for efficient DNA damage-induced RAD51 foci formation. Interestingly, knockout of Nek8 in murine embryonic fibroblasts led to cellular sensitivity to the replication inhibitor, hydroxyurea, and inhibition of the ATR kinase. Furthermore, NEK8 was required for proper replication fork protection following replication stall with hydroxyurea. Loading of RAD51 to chromatin was decreased in NEK8-depleted cells and Nek8-knockout cells. Single-molecule DNA fiber analyses revealed that nascent DNA tracts were degraded in the absence of NEK8 following treatment with hydroxyurea. Consistent with this, Nek8-knockout cells showed increased chromosome breaks following treatment with hydroxyurea. Thus, NEK8 plays a critical role in replication fork stability through its regulation of the DNA repair and replication fork protection protein RAD51. PMID:27892797

  16. NEK8 regulates DNA damage-induced RAD51 foci formation and replication fork protection.

    PubMed

    Abeyta, Antonio; Castella, Maria; Jacquemont, Celine; Taniguchi, Toshiyasu

    2017-02-16

    Proteins essential for homologous recombination play a pivotal role in the repair of DNA double strand breaks, DNA inter-strand crosslinks and replication fork stability. Defects in homologous recombination also play a critical role in the development of cancer and the sensitivity of these cancers to chemotherapy. RAD51, an essential factor for homologous recombination and replication fork protection, accumulates and forms immunocytochemically detectable nuclear foci at sites of DNA damage. To identify kinases that may regulate RAD51 localization to sites of DNA damage, we performed a human kinome siRNA library screen, using DNA damage-induced RAD51 foci formation as readout. We found that NEK8, a NIMA family kinase member, is required for efficient DNA damage-induced RAD51 foci formation. Interestingly, knockout of Nek8 in murine embryonic fibroblasts led to cellular sensitivity to the replication inhibitor, hydroxyurea, and inhibition of the ATR kinase. Furthermore, NEK8 was required for proper replication fork protection following replication stall with hydroxyurea. Loading of RAD51 to chromatin was decreased in NEK8-depleted cells and Nek8-knockout cells. Single-molecule DNA fiber analyses revealed that nascent DNA tracts were degraded in the absence of NEK8 following treatment with hydroxyurea. Consistent with this, Nek8-knockout cells showed increased chromosome breaks following treatment with hydroxyurea. Thus, NEK8 plays a critical role in replication fork stability through its regulation of the DNA repair and replication fork protection protein RAD51.

  17. Three-dimensional microscopy of the Rad51 recombination protein during meiotic prophase.

    PubMed Central

    Franklin, A E; McElver, J; Sunjevaric, I; Rothstein, R; Bowen, B; Cande, W Z

    1999-01-01

    An open question in meiosis is whether the Rad51 recombination protein functions solely in meiotic recombination or whether it is also involved in the chromosome homology search. To address this question, we have performed three-dimensional high-resolution immunofluorescence microscopy to visualize native Rad51 structures in maize male meiocytes. Maize has two closely related RAD51 genes that are expressed at low levels in differentiated tissues and at higher levels in mitotic and meiotic tissues. Cells and nuclei were specially fixed and embedded in polyacrylamide to maintain both native chromosome structure and the three dimensionality of the specimens. Analysis of Rad51 in maize meiocytes revealed that when chromosomes condense during leptotene, Rad51 is diffuse within the nucleus. Rad51 foci form on the chromosomes at the beginning of zygotene and rise to approximately 500 per nucleus by mid-zygotene when chromosomes are pairing and synapsing. During chromosome pairing, we consistently found two contiguous Rad51 foci on paired chromosomes. These paired foci may identify the sites where DNA sequence homology is being compared. During pachytene, the number of Rad51 foci drops to seven to 22 per nucleus. This higher number corresponds approximately to the number of chiasmata in maize meiosis. These observations are consistent with a role for Rad51 in the homology search phase of chromosome pairing in addition to its known role in meiotic recombination. PMID:10330467

  18. Human CST Facilitates Genome-wide RAD51 Recruitment to GC-Rich Repetitive Sequences in Response to Replication Stress.

    PubMed

    Chastain, Megan; Zhou, Qing; Shiva, Olga; Fadri-Moskwik, Maria; Whitmore, Leanne; Jia, Pingping; Dai, Xueyu; Huang, Chenhui; Ye, Ping; Chai, Weihang

    2016-08-02

    The telomeric CTC1/STN1/TEN1 (CST) complex has been implicated in promoting replication recovery under replication stress at genomic regions, yet its precise role is unclear. Here, we report that STN1 is enriched at GC-rich repetitive sequences genome-wide in response to hydroxyurea (HU)-induced replication stress. STN1 deficiency exacerbates the fragility of these sequences under replication stress, resulting in chromosome fragmentation. We find that upon fork stalling, CST proteins form distinct nuclear foci that colocalize with RAD51. Furthermore, replication stress induces physical association of CST with RAD51 in an ATR-dependent manner. Strikingly, CST deficiency diminishes HU-induced RAD51 foci formation and reduces RAD51 recruitment to telomeres and non-telomeric GC-rich fragile sequences. Collectively, our findings establish that CST promotes RAD51 recruitment to GC-rich repetitive sequences in response to replication stress to facilitate replication restart, thereby providing insights into the mechanism underlying genome stability maintenance. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Nanoscopic exclusion between Rad51 and 53BP1 after ion irradiation in human HeLa cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reindl, Judith; Drexler, Guido A.; Girst, Stefanie; Greubel, Christoph; Siebenwirth, Christian; Drexler, Sophie E.; Dollinger, Günther; Friedl, Anna A.

    2015-12-01

    Many proteins involved in detection, signalling and repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) accumulate in large number in the vicinity of DSB sites, forming so called foci. Emerging evidence suggests that these foci are sub-divided in structural or functional domains. We use stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy to investigate localization of mediator protein 53BP1 and recombination factor Rad51 after irradiation of cells with low linear energy transfer (LET) protons or high LET carbon ions. With a resolution better than 100 nm, STED microscopy and image analysis using a newly developed analyzing algorithm, the reduced product of the differences from the mean, allowed us to demonstrate that with both irradiation types Rad51 occupies spherical regions of about 200 nm diameter. These foci locate within larger 53BP1 accumulations in regions of local 53BP1 depletion, similar to what has been described for the localization of Brca1, CtIP and RPA. Furthermore, localization relative to 53BP1 and size of Rad51 foci was not different after irradiation with low and high LET radiation. As expected, 53BP1 foci induced by low LET irradiation mostly contained one Rad51 focal structure, while after high LET irradiation, most foci contained >1 Rad51 accumulation.

  20. Three new genetic loci (R1210C in CFH, variants in COL8A1 and RAD51B) are independently related to progression to advanced macular degeneration.

    PubMed

    Seddon, Johanna M; Reynolds, Robyn; Yu, Yi; Rosner, Bernard

    2014-01-01

    To assess the independent impact of new genetic variants on conversion to advanced stages of AMD, controlling for established risk factors, and to determine the contribution of genes in predictive models. In this prospective longitudinal study of 2765 individuals, 777 subjects progressed to neovascular disease (NV) or geographic atrophy (GA) in either eye over 12 years. Recently reported genetic loci were assessed for their independent effects on incident advanced AMD after controlling for 6 established loci in 5 genes, and demographic, behavioral, and macular characteristics. New variants which remained significantly related to progression were then added to a final multivariate model to assess their independent effects. The contribution of genes to risk models was assessed using reclassification tables by determining risk within cross-classified quintiles for alternative models. THREE NEW GENETIC VARIANTS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY RELATED TO PROGRESSION: rare variant R1210C in CFH (hazard ratio (HR) 2.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-5.3, P = 0.01), and common variants in genes COL8A1 (HR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.5, P = 0.02) and RAD51B (HR 0.8, 95% CI 0.60-0.97, P = 0.03). The area under the curve statistic (AUC) was significantly higher for the 9 gene model (.884) vs the 0 gene model (.873), P = .01. AUC's for the 9 vs 6 gene models were not significantly different, but reclassification analyses indicated significant added information for more genes, with adjusted odds ratios (OR) for progression within 5 years per one quintile increase in risk score of 2.7, P<0.001 for the 9 vs 6 loci model, and OR 3.5, P<0.001 for the 9 vs. 0 gene model. Similar results were seen for NV and GA. Rare variant CFH R1210C and common variants in COL8A1 and RAD51B plus six genes in previous models contribute additional predictive information for advanced AMD beyond macular and behavioral phenotypes.

  1. RAD51 Is a Selective DNA Repair Target to Radiosensitize Glioma Stem Cells.

    PubMed

    King, Harry O; Brend, Tim; Payne, Helen L; Wright, Alexander; Ward, Thomas A; Patel, Karan; Egnuni, Teklu; Stead, Lucy F; Patel, Anjana; Wurdak, Heiko; Short, Susan C

    2017-01-10

    Patients with glioblastoma die from local relapse despite surgery and high-dose radiotherapy. Resistance to radiotherapy is thought to be due to efficient DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair in stem-like cells able to survive DNA damage and repopulate the tumor. We used clinical samples and patient-derived glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) to confirm that the DSB repair protein RAD51 is highly expressed in GSCs, which are reliant on RAD51-dependent DSB repair after radiation. RAD51 expression and RAD51 foci numbers fall when these cells move toward astrocytic differentiation. In GSCs, the small-molecule RAD51 inhibitors RI-1 and B02 prevent RAD51 focus formation, reduce DNA DSB repair, and cause significant radiosensitization. We further demonstrate that treatment with these agents combined with radiation promotes loss of stem cells defined by SOX2 expression. This indicates that RAD51-dependent repair represents an effective and specific target in GSCs. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Location of RAD51-like protein during meiotic prophase in Eimeria tenella.

    PubMed

    Del Cacho, Emilio; Gallego, Margarita; Pagés, Marc; Barbero, José Luís; Monteagudo, Luís; Sánchez-Acedo, Caridad

    2011-05-31

    This study focuses on reporting events in Eimeria tenella oocysts from early to late prophase I in terms of RAD51 protein in association with the synaptonemal complex formed between homologous chromosomes. The aim of the study was the sequential localization of RAD51 protein, which is involved in the repair of double-strand breaks (DSBs) on the eimerian chromosomes as they synapse and desynapse. Structural Maintenance of Chromosome protein SMC3, which plays a role in synaptonemal complex formation, was labeled to identify initiation and progress of chromosome synapsis and desynapsis in parallel with the appearance and disappearance of RAD51 foci. Antibodies directed against RAD51 and cohesin subunit SMC3 proteins were labeled with either fluorescence or colloidal gold to visualize RAD51 protein foci and synaptonemal complexes. RAD51 protein localization during prophase I was studied on meiotic chromosomes spreads obtained from oocysts at different points in time after the start of sporulation. The present findings showed that foci detected with the antibody directed against RAD51 protein first appeared at the pre-leptotene stage before homologous chromosomes began pairing. Subsequently, the foci were detected in association with the lateral elements at the precise sites where synapsis were in progress. These findings lead us to suggest that in E. tenella, homologous chromosome pairing was a DSB-dependent mechanism and reinforced the participation of RAD51 protein in meiotic homology search, alignment and pairing of chromosomes. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Secondary Somatic Mutations Restoring RAD51C and RAD51D Associated with Acquired Resistance to the PARP Inhibitor Rucaparib in High-Grade Ovarian Carcinoma

    PubMed Central

    Kondrashova, Olga; Nguyen, Minh; Shield-Artin, Kristy; Tinker, Anna V.; Teng, Nelson N.H.; Harrell, Maria I.; Kuiper, Michael J.; Ho, Gwo-Yaw; Barker, Holly; Jasin, Maria; Prakash, Rohit; Kass, Elizabeth M.; Sullivan, Meghan R.; Brunette, Gregory J.; Bernstein, Kara A.; Coleman, Robert L.; Floquet, Anne; Friedlander, Michael; Kichenadasse, Ganessan; O'Malley, David M.; Oza, Amit; Sun, James; Robillard, Liliane; Maloney, Lara; Giordano, Heidi; Wakefield, Matthew J.; Kaufmann, Scott H.; Simmons, Andrew D.; Harding, Thomas C.; Raponi, Mitch; McNeish, Iain A.; Swisher, Elizabeth M.; Lin, Kevin K.; Scott, Clare L.

    2017-01-01

    High-grade epithelial ovarian carcinomas containing mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) homologous recombination (HR) genes are sensitive to platinum-based chemotherapy and PARP inhibitors (PARPi), while restoration of HR function due to secondary mutations in BRCA1/2 has been recognized as an important resistance mechanism. We sequenced core HR pathway genes in 12 pairs of pretreatment and postprogression tumor biopsy samples collected from patients in ARIEL2 Part 1, a phase II study of the PARPi rucaparib as treatment for platinum-sensitive, relapsed ovarian carcinoma. In 6 of 12 pretreatment biopsies, a truncation mutation in BRCA1, RAD51C, or RAD51D was identified. In five of six paired postprogression biopsies, one or more secondary mutations restored the open reading frame. Four distinct secondary mutations and spatial heterogeneity were observed for RAD51C. In vitro complementation assays and a patient-derived xenograft, as well as predictive molecular modeling, confirmed that resistance to rucaparib was associated with secondary mutations. Significance Analyses of primary and secondary mutations in RAD51C and RAD51D provide evidence for these primary mutations in conferring PARPi sensitivity and secondary mutations as a mechanism of acquired PARPi resistance. PARPi resistance due to secondary mutations underpins the need for early delivery of PARPi therapy and for combination strategies. PMID:28588062

  4. Recovery of deficient homologous recombination in Brca2-depleted mouse cells by wild-type Rad51 expression.

    PubMed

    Lee, Shauna A; Roques, Céline; Magwood, Alissa C; Masson, Jean-Yves; Baker, Mark D

    2009-02-01

    The BRCA2 tumor suppressor is important in maintaining genomic stability. BRCA2 is proposed to control the availability, cellular localization and DNA binding activity of the central homologous recombination protein, RAD51, with loss of BRCA2 resulting in defective homologous recombination. Nevertheless, the roles of BRCA2 in regulating RAD51 and how other proteins implicated in RAD51 regulation, such as RAD52 and RAD54 function relative to BRCA2 is not known. In this study, we tested whether defective homologous recombination in Brca2-depleted mouse hybridoma cells could be rectified by expression of mouse Rad51 or the Rad51-interacting mouse proteins, Rad52 and Rad54. In the Brca2-depleted cells, defective homologous recombination can be restored by over-expression of wild-type mouse Rad51, but not mouse Rad52 or Rad54. Correction of the homologous recombination defect requires Rad51 ATPase activity. A sizeable fraction ( approximately 50%) of over-expressed wild-type Rad51 is nuclear localized. The restoration of homologous recombination in the presence of a low (i.e., non-functional) level of Brca2 by wild-type Rad51 over-expression is unexpected. We suggest that Rad51 may access the nuclear compartment in a Brca2-independent manner and when Rad51 is over-expressed, the normal requirement for Brca2 control over Rad51 function in homologous recombination is dispensable. Our studies support loss of Rad51 function as a critical underlying factor in the homologous recombination defect in the Brca2-depleted cells.

  5. Dose-Response Curves of the FDXR and RAD51 Genes with 6 and 18 MV Beam Energies in Human Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes.

    PubMed

    Saberi, Alihossein; Khodamoradi, Ehsan; Tahmasebi Birgani, Mohammad Javad; Makvandi, Manoochehr; Noori, Bijan

    2016-11-01

    Rapid dose assessment using biological dosimetry methods is essential to increase the chance of survival of exposed individuals in radiation accidents. We compared the expression levels of the FDXR and RAD51 genes at 6 and 18 MV beam energies in human peripheral blood lymphocytes. The results of our study can be used to analyze radiation energy in biological dosimetry. For this in vitro experimental study, from 36 students in the medical physics and virology departments, seven voluntary, healthy, non-smoking male blood donors of Khuzestan ethnicity with no history of exposure to ionization radiation were selected using simple randomized sampling. Sixty-three peripheral blood samples were collected from the seven healthy donors. Human peripheral blood was then exposed to doses of 0, 0.2, 0.5, 2, and 4 Gy with 6 and 18 MV beam energies in a Linac Varian 2100C/D (Varian, USA) at Golestan hospital in Ahvaz, Iran. After RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, the expression levels of FDXR and RAD51 were determined 24 hours post-irradiation using the gel-purified reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique and TaqMan strategy (by real-time PCR). The expression level of FDXR gene was significantly increased at doses of 2 Gy and 4 Gy in the 6 - 18 MV energy range (P < 0.001 and P < 0.008, respectively). The medians with interquartile ranges (IQRs) of the copy numbers of the FDXR gene at 2 Gy and 4 Gy doses under 6 and 18 MV beam energies were 2393.59 (1798.21, 2575.37) and 2983.00 (2199.48, 3643.82) and 3779.12 (3051.40, 5120.74) and 5051.26 (4704.83, 5859.17), respectively. However, RAD51 gene expression levels only showed a significant difference between samples at a dose of 2 Gy with 6 and 18 MV beam energies, respectively (P < 0.040). The medians with IQRs of the copy numbers of the RAD51 gene were 2092.77 (1535.78, 2705.61) and 3412.57 (2979.72, 4530.61) at beam energies of 6 and 18 MV, respectively. The data suggest that the expression analysis of

  6. RAD51 135G→C Modifies Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA2 Mutation Carriers: Results from a Combined Analysis of 19 Studies

    PubMed Central

    Antoniou, Antonis C. ; Sinilnikova, Olga M. ; Simard, Jacques ; Léoné, Mélanie ; Dumont, Martine ; Neuhausen, Susan L. ; Struewing, Jeffery P. ; Stoppa-Lyonnet, Dominique ; Barjhoux, Laure ; Hughes, David J. ; Coupier, Isabelle ; Belotti, Muriel ; Lasset, Christine ; Bonadona, Valérie ; Bignon, Yves-Jean ; Rebbeck, Timothy R. ; Wagner, Theresa ; Lynch, Henry T. ; Domchek, Susan M. ; Nathanson, Katherine L. ; Garber, Judy E. ; Weitzel, Jeffrey ; Narod, Steven A. ; Tomlinson, Gail ; Olopade, Olufunmilayo I. ; Godwin, Andrew ; Isaacs, Claudine ; Jakubowska, Anna ; Lubinski, Jan ; Gronwald, Jacek ; Górski, Bohdan ; Byrski, Tomasz ; Huzarski, Tomasz ; Peock, Susan ; Cook, Margaret ; Baynes, Caroline ; Murray, Alexandra ; Rogers, Mark ; Daly, Peter A. ; Dorkins, Huw ; Schmutzler, Rita K. ; Versmold, Beatrix ; Engel, Christoph ; Meindl, Alfons ; Arnold, Norbert ; Niederacher, Dieter ; Deissler, Helmut ; Spurdle, Amanda B. ; Chen, Xiaoqing ; Waddell, Nicola ; Cloonan, Nicole ; Kirchhoff, Tomas ; Offit, Kenneth ; Friedman, Eitan ; Kaufmann, Bella ; Laitman, Yael ; Galore, Gilli ; Rennert, Gad ; Lejbkowicz, Flavio ; Raskin, Leon ; Andrulis, Irene L. ; Ilyushik, Eduard ; Ozcelik, Hilmi ; Devilee, Peter ; Vreeswijk, Maaike P. G. ; Greene, Mark H. ; Prindiville, Sheila A. ; Osorio, Ana ; Benítez, Javier ; Zikan, Michal ; Szabo, Csilla I. ; Kilpivaara, Outi ; Nevanlinna, Heli ; Hamann, Ute ; Durocher, Francine ; Arason, Adalgeir ; Couch, Fergus J. ; Easton, Douglas F. ; Chenevix-Trench, Georgia 

    2007-01-01

    RAD51 is an important component of double-stranded DNA–repair mechanisms that interacts with both BRCA1 and BRCA2. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of RAD51, 135G→C, has been suggested as a possible modifier of breast cancer risk in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. We pooled genotype data for 8,512 female mutation carriers from 19 studies for the RAD51 135G→C SNP. We found evidence of an increased breast cancer risk in CC homozygotes (hazard ratio [HR] 1.92 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.25–2.94) but not in heterozygotes (HR 0.95 [95% CI 0.83–1.07]; P=.002, by heterogeneity test with 2 degrees of freedom [df]). When BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers were analyzed separately, the increased risk was statistically significant only among BRCA2 mutation carriers, in whom we observed HRs of 1.17 (95% CI 0.91–1.51) among heterozygotes and 3.18 (95% CI 1.39–7.27) among rare homozygotes (P=.0007, by heterogeneity test with 2 df). In addition, we determined that the 135G→C variant affects RAD51 splicing within the 5′ UTR. Thus, 135G→C may modify the risk of breast cancer in BRCA2 mutation carriers by altering the expression of RAD51. RAD51 is the first gene to be reliably identified as a modifier of risk among BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. PMID:17999359

  7. Top3-Rmi1 dissolve Rad51-mediated D loops by a topoisomerase-based mechanism.

    PubMed

    Fasching, Clare L; Cejka, Petr; Kowalczykowski, Stephen C; Heyer, Wolf-Dietrich

    2015-02-19

    The displacement loop (D loop) is a DNA strand invasion product formed during homologous recombination. Disruption of nascent D loops prevents recombination, and during synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA), disruption of D loops extended by DNA polymerase ensures a non-crossover outcome. The proteins implicated in D loop disruption are DNA motor proteins/helicases that act by moving DNA junctions. Here we report that D loops can also be disrupted by DNA topoisomerase 3 (Top3), and this disruption depends on Top3's catalytic activity. Yeast Top3 specifically disrupts D loops mediated by yeast Rad51/Rad54; protein-free D loops or D loop mediated by bacterial RecA protein or human RAD51/RAD54 resist dissolution. Also, the human Topoisomerase IIIa-RMI1-RMI2 complex is capable of dissolving D loops. Consistent with genetic data, we suggest that the extreme growth defect and hyper-recombination phenotype of Top3-deficient yeast cells is partially a result of unprocessed D loops. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Three New Genetic Loci (R1210C in CFH, Variants in COL8A1 and RAD51B) Are Independently Related to Progression to Advanced Macular Degeneration

    PubMed Central

    Seddon, Johanna M.; Reynolds, Robyn; Yu, Yi; Rosner, Bernard

    2014-01-01

    Objectives To assess the independent impact of new genetic variants on conversion to advanced stages of AMD, controlling for established risk factors, and to determine the contribution of genes in predictive models. Methods In this prospective longitudinal study of 2765 individuals, 777 subjects progressed to neovascular disease (NV) or geographic atrophy (GA) in either eye over 12 years. Recently reported genetic loci were assessed for their independent effects on incident advanced AMD after controlling for 6 established loci in 5 genes, and demographic, behavioral, and macular characteristics. New variants which remained significantly related to progression were then added to a final multivariate model to assess their independent effects. The contribution of genes to risk models was assessed using reclassification tables by determining risk within cross-classified quintiles for alternative models. Results Three new genetic variants were significantly related to progression: rare variant R1210C in CFH (hazard ratio (HR) 2.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2–5.3, P = 0.01), and common variants in genes COL8A1 (HR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1–3.5, P = 0.02) and RAD51B (HR 0.8, 95% CI 0.60–0.97, P = 0.03). The area under the curve statistic (AUC) was significantly higher for the 9 gene model (.884) vs the 0 gene model (.873), P = .01. AUC’s for the 9 vs 6 gene models were not significantly different, but reclassification analyses indicated significant added information for more genes, with adjusted odds ratios (OR) for progression within 5 years per one quintile increase in risk score of 2.7, P<0.001 for the 9 vs 6 loci model, and OR 3.5, P<0.001 for the 9 vs. 0 gene model. Similar results were seen for NV and GA. Conclusions Rare variant CFH R1210C and common variants in COL8A1 and RAD51B plus six genes in previous models contribute additional predictive information for advanced AMD beyond macular and behavioral phenotypes. PMID:24498017

  9. Mek1 Down Regulates Rad51 Activity during Yeast Meiosis by Phosphorylation of Hed1.

    PubMed

    Callender, Tracy L; Laureau, Raphaelle; Wan, Lihong; Chen, Xiangyu; Sandhu, Rima; Laljee, Saif; Zhou, Sai; Suhandynata, Ray T; Prugar, Evelyn; Gaines, William A; Kwon, YoungHo; Börner, G Valentin; Nicolas, Alain; Neiman, Aaron M; Hollingsworth, Nancy M

    2016-08-01

    During meiosis, programmed double strand breaks (DSBs) are repaired preferentially between homologs to generate crossovers that promote proper chromosome segregation at Meiosis I. In many organisms, there are two strand exchange proteins, Rad51 and the meiosis-specific Dmc1, required for interhomolog (IH) bias. This bias requires the presence, but not the strand exchange activity of Rad51, while Dmc1 is responsible for the bulk of meiotic recombination. How these activities are regulated is less well established. In dmc1Δ mutants, Rad51 is actively inhibited, thereby resulting in prophase arrest due to unrepaired DSBs triggering the meiotic recombination checkpoint. This inhibition is dependent upon the meiosis-specific kinase Mek1 and occurs through two different mechanisms that prevent complex formation with the Rad51 accessory factor Rad54: (i) phosphorylation of Rad54 by Mek1 and (ii) binding of Rad51 by the meiosis-specific protein Hed1. An open question has been why inhibition of Mek1 affects Hed1 repression of Rad51. This work shows that Hed1 is a direct substrate of Mek1. Phosphorylation of Hed1 at threonine 40 helps suppress Rad51 activity in dmc1Δ mutants by promoting Hed1 protein stability. Rad51-mediated recombination occurring in the absence of Hed1 phosphorylation results in a significant increase in non-exchange chromosomes despite wild-type levels of crossovers, confirming previous results indicating a defect in crossover assurance. We propose that Rad51 function in meiosis is regulated in part by the coordinated phosphorylation of Rad54 and Hed1 by Mek1.

  10. Top3-Rmi1 dissolve Rad51-mediated D-loops by a topoisomerase-based mechanism

    PubMed Central

    Fasching, Clare L.; Cejka, Petr; Kowalczykowski, Stephen C.; Heyer, Wolf-Dietrich

    2015-01-01

    Summary The displacement loop (D-loop) is the DNA strand invasion product formed during homologous recombination. Disruption of nascent D-loops represents a mechanism of anti-recombination. During Synthesis-Dependent Strand Annealing D-loop disruption after extension of the invading strand is an integral step of the pathway and ensures a non-crossover outcome. The proteins implicated in D-loop disruption are DNA motor proteins/helicases acting by migrating DNA junctions. Here we report an unanticipated mechanism of D-loop dissolution mediated by DNA topoisomerase 3 (Top3) and dependent on its catalytic activity. D-loop dissolution catalyzed by yeast Top3 is highly specific for yeast Rad51/Rad54-mediated D-loops, whereas protein-free D-loops or D-loop mediated by bacterial RecA protein or human RAD51/RAD54 resist dissolution. Also the human Topoisomerase IIIα-RMI1–RMI2 complex is capable of dissolving D-loops. Consistent with genetic data, we suggest that the extreme growth defect and hyper-recombination phenotype of Top3-deficient yeast cells is in part a result of unprocessed D-loops. PMID:25699708

  11. NUCKS1 is a novel RAD51AP1 paralog important for homologous recombination and genome stability

    DOE PAGES

    Parplys, Ann C.; Zhao, Weixing; Sharma, Neelam; ...

    2015-08-31

    NUCKS1 (nuclear casein kinase and cyclin-dependent kinase substrate 1) is a 27 kD chromosomal, vertebrate-specific protein, for which limited functional data exist. Here, we demonstrate that NUCKS1 shares extensive sequence homology with RAD51AP1 (RAD51 associated protein 1), suggesting that these two proteins are paralogs. Similar to the phenotypic effects of RAD51AP1 knockdown, we find that depletion of NUCKS1 in human cells impairs DNA repair by homologous recombination (HR) and chromosome stability. Depletion of NUCKS1 also results in greatly increased cellular sensitivity to mitomycin C (MMC), and in increased levels of spontaneous and MMC-induced chromatid breaks. NUCKS1 is critical to maintainingmore » wild type HR capacity, and, as observed for a number of proteins involved in the HR pathway, functional loss of NUCKS1 leads to a slow down in DNA replication fork progression with a concomitant increase in the utilization of new replication origins. Interestingly, recombinant NUCKS1 shares the same DNA binding preference as RAD51AP1, but binds to DNA with reduced affinity when compared to RAD51AP1. Finally, our results show that NUCKS1 is a chromatin-associated protein with a role in the DNA damage response and in HR, a DNA repair pathway critical for tumor suppression.« less

  12. Astaxanthin down-regulates Rad51 expression via inactivation of AKT kinase to enhance mitomycin C-induced cytotoxicity in human non-small cell lung cancer cells.

    PubMed

    Ko, Jen-Chung; Chen, Jyh-Cheng; Wang, Tai-Jing; Zheng, Hao-Yu; Chen, Wen-Ching; Chang, Po-Yuan; Lin, Yun-Wei

    2016-04-01

    Astaxanthin has been demonstrated to exhibit a wide range of beneficial effects, including anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. However, the molecular mechanism of astaxanthin-induced cytotoxicity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells has not been identified. Rad51 plays a central role in homologous recombination, and studies show that chemo-resistant carcinomas exhibit high levels of Rad51 expression. In this study, astaxanthin treatment inhibited cell viability and proliferation of two NSCLC cells, A549 and H1703. Astaxanthin treatment (2.5-20 μM) decreased Rad51 expression and phospho-AKT(Ser473) protein level in a time and dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, expression of constitutively active AKT (AKT-CA) vector rescued the decreased Rad51 mRNA and protein levels in astaxanthin-treated NSCLC cells. Combined treatment with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors (LY294002 or wortmannin) further decreased the Rad51 expression in astaxanthin-exposed A549 and H1703 cells. Knockdown of Rad51 expression by transfection with si-Rad51 RNA or cotreatment with LY294002 further enhanced the cytotoxicity and cell growth inhibition of astaxanthin. Additionally, mitomycin C (MMC) as an anti-tumor antibiotic is widely used in clinical NSCLC chemotherapy. Combination of MMC and astaxanthin synergistically resulted in cytotoxicity and cell growth inhibition in NSCLC cells, accompanied with reduced phospho-AKT(Ser473) level and Rad51 expression. Overexpression of AKT-CA or Flag-tagged Rad51 reversed the astaxanthin and MMC-induced synergistic cytotoxicity. In contrast, pretreatment with LY294002 further decreased the cell viability in astaxanthin and MMC co-treated cells. In conclusion, astaxanthin enhances MMC-induced cytotoxicity by decreasing Rad51 expression and AKT activation. These findings may provide rationale to combine astaxanthin with MMC for the treatment of NSCLC. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. RAD51 and RTEL1 compensate telomere loss in the absence of telomerase

    PubMed Central

    Olivier, Margaux; Charbonnel, Cyril; Amiard, Simon

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Replicative erosion of telomeres is naturally compensated by telomerase and studies in yeast and vertebrates show that homologous recombination can compensate for the absence of telomerase. We show that RAD51 protein, which catalyzes the key strand-invasion step of homologous recombination, is localized at Arabidopsis telomeres in absence of telomerase. Blocking the strand-transfer activity of the RAD51 in telomerase mutant plants results in a strikingly earlier onset of developmental defects, accompanied by increased numbers of end-to-end chromosome fusions. Imposing replication stress through knockout of RNaseH2 increases numbers of chromosome fusions and reduces the survival of these plants deficient for telomerase and homologous recombination. This finding suggests that RAD51-dependent homologous recombination acts as an essential backup to the telomerase for compensation of replicative telomere loss to ensure genome stability. Furthermore, we show that this positive role of RAD51 in telomere stability is dependent on the RTEL1 helicase. We propose that a RAD51 dependent break-induced replication process is activated in cells lacking telomerase activity, with RTEL1 responsible for D-loop dissolution after telomere replication. PMID:29346668

  14. RAD51 and RTEL1 compensate telomere loss in the absence of telomerase.

    PubMed

    Olivier, Margaux; Charbonnel, Cyril; Amiard, Simon; White, Charles I; Gallego, Maria E

    2018-03-16

    Replicative erosion of telomeres is naturally compensated by telomerase and studies in yeast and vertebrates show that homologous recombination can compensate for the absence of telomerase. We show that RAD51 protein, which catalyzes the key strand-invasion step of homologous recombination, is localized at Arabidopsis telomeres in absence of telomerase. Blocking the strand-transfer activity of the RAD51 in telomerase mutant plants results in a strikingly earlier onset of developmental defects, accompanied by increased numbers of end-to-end chromosome fusions. Imposing replication stress through knockout of RNaseH2 increases numbers of chromosome fusions and reduces the survival of these plants deficient for telomerase and homologous recombination. This finding suggests that RAD51-dependent homologous recombination acts as an essential backup to the telomerase for compensation of replicative telomere loss to ensure genome stability. Furthermore, we show that this positive role of RAD51 in telomere stability is dependent on the RTEL1 helicase. We propose that a RAD51 dependent break-induced replication process is activated in cells lacking telomerase activity, with RTEL1 responsible for D-loop dissolution after telomere replication.

  15. Curcumin enhances the mitomycin C-induced cytotoxicity via downregulation of MKK1/2-ERK1/2-mediated Rad51 expression in non-small cell lung cancer cells

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ko, Jen-Chung; Department of Nursing, Yuanpei University, HsinChu, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Technology Law, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan

    2011-09-15

    Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), a major active component of turmeric (Curcuma longa), has been reported to suppress the proliferation of a wide variety of tumor cells. Rad51 is a key protein in the homologous recombination (HR) pathway of DNA double-strand break repair, and HR represents a novel target for cancer therapy. A high expression of Rad51 has been reported in chemo- or radio-resistant carcinomas. Therefore, in the current study, we will examine whether curcumin could enhance the effects of mitomycin C (MMC), a DNA interstrand cross-linking agent, to induce cytotoxicity by decreasing Rad51 expression. Exposure of two human non-small lung cancer (NSCLC)more » cell lines (A549 and H1975) to curcumin could suppress MMC-induced MKK1/2-ERK1/2 signal activation and Rad51 protein expression. Enhancement of ERK1/2 activation by constitutively active MKK1/2 (MKK1/2-CA) increased Rad51 protein levels in curcumin and MMC co-treated human lung cells. Moreover, the synergistic cytotoxic effect induced by curcumin combined with MMC was decreased by MKK1-CA-mediated enhancement of ERK1/2 activation by a significant degree. In contrast, MKK1/2 inhibitor, U0126 was shown to augment the cytotoxicity of curcumin and MMC through downregulation of ERK1/2 activation and Rad51 expression. Depletion of endogenous Rad51 expression by siRad51 RNA transfection significantly enhanced MMC and/or curcumin induced cell death and cell growth inhibition. In contrast, an overexpression of Rad51 protected lung cancer cells from synergistic cytotoxic effects induced by curcumin and MMC. We concluded that Rad51 inhibition may be an additional action mechanism for enhancing the chemosensitization of MMC by curcumin in NSCLC. - Highlights: > Curcumin downregulates MKK-ERK-mediated Rad51 expression. > Curcumin enhances mitomycin C-induced cytotoxicity. > Rad51 protects cells from cytotoxic effects induced by curcumin and mitomycin C. > Rad51 inhibition enhances the chemosensitization of

  16. Rad51 is an accessory factor for Dmc1-mediated joint molecule formation during meiosis.

    PubMed

    Cloud, Veronica; Chan, Yuen-Ling; Grubb, Jennifer; Budke, Brian; Bishop, Douglas K

    2012-09-07

    Meiotic recombination in budding yeast requires two RecA-related proteins, Rad51 and Dmc1, both of which form filaments on DNA capable of directing homology search and catalyzing formation of homologous joint molecules (JMs) and strand exchange. With use of a separation-of-function mutant form of Rad51 that retains filament-forming but not JM-forming activity, we show that the JM activity of Rad51 is fully dispensable for meiotic recombination. The corresponding mutation in Dmc1 causes a profound recombination defect, demonstrating Dmc1's JM activity alone is responsible for meiotic recombination. We further provide biochemical evidence that Rad51 acts with Mei5-Sae3 as a Dmc1 accessory factor. Thus, Rad51 is a multifunctional protein that catalyzes recombination directly in mitosis and indirectly, via Dmc1, during meiosis.

  17. The USP1-UAF1 complex interacts with RAD51AP1 to promote homologous recombination repair.

    PubMed

    Cukras, Scott; Lee, Euiho; Palumbo, Emily; Benavidez, Pamela; Moldovan, George-Lucian; Kee, Younghoon

    2016-10-01

    USP1 deubiquitinating enzyme and its stoichiometric binding partner UAF1 play an essential role in promoting DNA homologous recombination (HR) repair in response to various types of DNA damaging agents. Deubiquitination of FANCD2 may be attributed to the key role of USP1-UAF1 complex in regulating HR repair, however whether USP1-UAF1 promotes HR repair independently of FANCD2 deubiquitination is not known. Here we show evidence that the USP1-UAF1 complex has a FANCD2-independent function in promoting HR repair. Proteomic search of UAF1-interacting proteins revealed that UAF1 associates with RAD51AP1, a RAD51-interacting protein implicated in HR repair. We show that UAF1 mediates the interaction between USP1 and RAD51AP1, and that depletion of USP1 or UAF1 led to a decreased stability of RAD51AP1. Protein interaction mapping analysis identified some key residues within RAD51AP1 required for interacting with the USP1-UAF1 complex. Cells expressing the UAF1 interaction-deficient mutant of RAD51AP1 show increased chromosomal aberrations in response to Mitomycin C treatment. Moreover, similar to the RAD51AP1 depleted cells, the cells expressing UAF1-interaction deficient RAD51AP1 display persistent RAD51 foci following DNA damage exposure, indicating that these factors regulate a later step during the HR repair. These data altogether suggest that the USP1-UAF1 complex promotes HR repair via multiple mechanisms: through FANCD2 deubiquitination, as well as by interacting with RAD51AP1.

  18. The USP1-UAF1 complex interacts with RAD51AP1 to promote homologous recombination repair

    PubMed Central

    Cukras, Scott; Lee, Euiho; Palumbo, Emily; Benavidez, Pamela; Moldovan, George-Lucian; Kee, Younghoon

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT USP1 deubiquitinating enzyme and its stoichiometric binding partner UAF1 play an essential role in promoting DNA homologous recombination (HR) repair in response to various types of DNA damaging agents. Deubiquitination of FANCD2 may be attributed to the key role of USP1-UAF1 complex in regulating HR repair, however whether USP1-UAF1 promotes HR repair independently of FANCD2 deubiquitination is not known. Here we show evidence that the USP1-UAF1 complex has a FANCD2-independent function in promoting HR repair. Proteomic search of UAF1-interacting proteins revealed that UAF1 associates with RAD51AP1, a RAD51-interacting protein implicated in HR repair. We show that UAF1 mediates the interaction between USP1 and RAD51AP1, and that depletion of USP1 or UAF1 led to a decreased stability of RAD51AP1. Protein interaction mapping analysis identified some key residues within RAD51AP1 required for interacting with the USP1-UAF1 complex. Cells expressing the UAF1 interaction-deficient mutant of RAD51AP1 show increased chromosomal aberrations in response to Mitomycin C treatment. Moreover, similar to the RAD51AP1 depleted cells, the cells expressing UAF1-interaction deficient RAD51AP1 display persistent RAD51 foci following DNA damage exposure, indicating that these factors regulate a later step during the HR repair. These data altogether suggest that the USP1-UAF1 complex promotes HR repair via multiple mechanisms: through FANCD2 deubiquitination, as well as by interacting with RAD51AP1. PMID:27463890

  19. Rad51 and RecA juxtapose dsDNA ends ready for DNA ligase-catalyzed end-joining under recombinase-suppressive conditions

    PubMed Central

    Konomura, Naoto; Arai, Naoto; Shinohara, Takeshi; Kobayashi, Jun; Iwasaki, Wakana; Ikawa, Shukuko; Kusano, Kohji; Shibata, Takehiko

    2017-01-01

    RecA-family recombinase-catalyzed ATP-dependent homologous joint formation is critical for homologous recombination, in which RecA or Rad51 binds first to single-stranded (ss)DNA and then interacts with double-stranded (ds)DNA. However, when RecA or Rad51 interacts with dsDNA before binding to ssDNA, the homologous joint-forming activity of RecA or Rad51 is quickly suppressed. We found that under these and adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-generating suppressive conditions for the recombinase activity, RecA or Rad51 at similar optimal concentrations enhances the DNA ligase-catalyzed dsDNA end-joining (DNA ligation) about 30- to 40-fold. The DNA ligation enhancement by RecA or Rad51 transforms most of the substrate DNA into multimers within 2–5 min, and for this enhancement, ADP is the common and best cofactor. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is effective for RecA, but not for Rad51. Rad51/RecA-enhanced DNA ligation depends on dsDNA-binding, as shown by a mutant, and is independent of physical interactions with the DNA ligase. These observations demonstrate the common and unique activities of RecA and Rad51 to juxtapose dsDNA-ends in preparation for covalent joining by a DNA ligase. This new in vitro function of Rad51 provides a simple explanation for our genetic observation that Rad51 plays a role in the fidelity of the end-joining of a reporter plasmid DNA, by yeast canonical non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) in vivo. PMID:27794044

  20. Differing Requirements for RAD51 and DMC1 in Meiotic Pairing of Centromeres and Chromosome Arms in Arabidopsis thaliana

    PubMed Central

    Da Ines, Olivier; Abe, Kiyomi; Goubely, Chantal; Gallego, Maria Eugenia; White, Charles I.

    2012-01-01

    During meiosis homologous chromosomes pair, recombine, and synapse, thus ensuring accurate chromosome segregation and the halving of ploidy necessary for gametogenesis. The processes permitting a chromosome to pair only with its homologue are not fully understood, but successful pairing of homologous chromosomes is tightly linked to recombination. In Arabidopsis thaliana, meiotic prophase of rad51, xrcc3, and rad51C mutants appears normal up to the zygotene/pachytene stage, after which the genome fragments, leading to sterility. To better understand the relationship between recombination and chromosome pairing, we have analysed meiotic chromosome pairing in these and in dmc1 mutant lines. Our data show a differing requirement for these proteins in pairing of centromeric regions and chromosome arms. No homologous pairing of mid-arm or distal regions was observed in rad51, xrcc3, and rad51C mutants. However, homologous centromeres do pair in these mutants and we show that this does depend upon recombination, principally on DMC1. This centromere pairing extends well beyond the heterochromatic centromere region and, surprisingly, does not require XRCC3 and RAD51C. In addition to clarifying and bringing the roles of centromeres in meiotic synapsis to the fore, this analysis thus separates the roles in meiotic synapsis of DMC1 and RAD51 and the meiotic RAD51 paralogs, XRCC3 and RAD51C, with respect to different chromosome domains. PMID:22532804

  1. Dmc1 Functions in a Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Meiotic Pathway That Is Largely Independent of the Rad51 Pathway

    PubMed Central

    Dresser, M. E.; Ewing, D. J.; Conrad, M. N.; Dominguez, A. M.; Barstead, R.; Jiang, H.; Kodadek, T.

    1997-01-01

    Meiotic recombination in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires two similar recA-like proteins, Dmc1p and Rad51p. A screen for dominant meiotic mutants provided DMC1-G126D, a dominant allele mutated in the conserved ATP-binding site (specifically, the A-loop motif) that confers a null phenotype. A recessive null allele, dmc1-K69E, was isolated as an intragenic suppressor of DMC1-G126D. Dmc1-K69Ep, unlike Dmc1p, does not interact homotypically in a two-hybrid assay, although it does interact with other fusion proteins identified by two-hybrid screen with Dmc1p. Dmc1p, unlike Rad51p, does not interact in the two-hybrid assay with Rad52p or Rad54p. However, Dmc1p does interact with Tid1p, a Rad54p homologue, with Tid4p, a Rad16p homologue, and with other fusion proteins that do not interact with Rad51p, suggesting that Dmc1p and Rad51p function in separate, though possibly overlapping, recombinational repair complexes. Epistasis analysis suggests that DMC1 and RAD51 function in separate pathways responsible for meiotic recombination. Taken together, our results are consistent with a requirement for DMC1 for meiosis-specific entry of DNA double-strand break ends into chromatin. Interestingly, the pattern on CHEF gels of chromosome fragments that result from meiotic DNA double-strand break formation is different in DMC1 mutant strains from that seen in rad50S strains. PMID:9335591

  2. Rad51 recombinase prevents Mre11 nuclease-dependent degradation and excessive PrimPol-mediated elongation of nascent DNA after UV irradiation

    PubMed Central

    Vallerga, María Belén; Mansilla, Sabrina F.; Federico, María Belén; Bertolin, Agustina P.; Gottifredi, Vanesa

    2015-01-01

    After UV irradiation, DNA polymerases specialized in translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) aid DNA replication. However, it is unclear whether other mechanisms also facilitate the elongation of UV-damaged DNA. We wondered if Rad51 recombinase (Rad51), a factor that escorts replication forks, aids replication across UV lesions. We found that depletion of Rad51 impairs S-phase progression and increases cell death after UV irradiation. Interestingly, Rad51 and the TLS polymerase polη modulate the elongation of nascent DNA in different ways, suggesting that DNA elongation after UV irradiation does not exclusively rely on TLS events. In particular, Rad51 protects the DNA synthesized immediately before UV irradiation from degradation and avoids excessive elongation of nascent DNA after UV irradiation. In Rad51-depleted samples, the degradation of DNA was limited to the first minutes after UV irradiation and required the exonuclease activity of the double strand break repair nuclease (Mre11). The persistent dysregulation of nascent DNA elongation after Rad51 knockdown required Mre11, but not its exonuclease activity, and PrimPol, a DNA polymerase with primase activity. By showing a crucial contribution of Rad51 to the synthesis of nascent DNA, our results reveal an unanticipated complexity in the regulation of DNA elongation across UV-damaged templates. PMID:26627254

  3. Inhibition of RAD51 by siRNA and Resveratrol Sensitizes Cancer Stem Cells Derived from HeLa Cell Cultures to Apoptosis

    PubMed Central

    Ruíz, Graciela; Valencia-González, Heriberto A.; León-Galicia, Ismael; García-Villa, Enrique

    2018-01-01

    Cervical cancer is the second most frequent tumor type in women worldwide with cases developing clinical recurrence, metastasis, and chemoresistance. The cancer stem cells (CSC) may be implicated in tumor resistance to therapy. RESveratrol (RES), a natural compound, is an antioxidant with multiple beneficial activities. We previously determined that the expression of RAD51 is decreased by RES. The aim of our study was to examine molecular mechanism by which CSC from HeLa cultures exhibit chemoresistance. We hypothesized CSC repair more efficiently DNA breaks and that RAD51 plays an important role in this mechanism. We found that CSC, derived from cervical cancer cell lines, overexpress RAD51 and are less sensitive to Etoposide (VP16). We inhibited RAD51 in CSC-enriched cultures using RES or siRNA against RAD51 messenger RNA and observed a decrease in cell viability and induction of apoptosis when treated simultaneously with VP16. In addition, we found that inhibition of RAD51 expression using RES also sensitizes CSC to VP16 treatment. Our results suggest that resveratrol is effective to sensitize cervical CSC because of RAD51 inhibition, targeting high RAD51 expressing CD49f-positive cells, which supports the possible therapeutic application of RES as a novel agent to treat cancer. PMID:29681946

  4. Detection of novel recombinases in bacteriophage genomes unveils Rad52, Rad51 and Gp2.5 remote homologs

    PubMed Central

    Lopes, Anne; Amarir-Bouhram, Jihane; Faure, Guilhem; Petit, Marie-Agnès; Guerois, Raphaël

    2010-01-01

    Homologous recombination is a key in contributing to bacteriophages genome repair, circularization and replication. No less than six kinds of recombinase genes have been reported so far in bacteriophage genomes, two (UvsX and Gp2.5) from virulent, and four (Sak, Redβ, Erf and Sak4) from temperate phages. Using profile–profile comparisons, structure-based modelling and gene-context analyses, we provide new views on the global landscape of recombinases in 465 bacteriophages. We show that Sak, Redβ and Erf belong to a common large superfamily adopting a shortcut Rad52-like fold. Remote homologs of Sak4 are predicted to adopt a shortcut Rad51/RecA fold and are discovered widespread among phage genomes. Unexpectedly, within temperate phages, gene-context analyses also pinpointed the presence of distant Gp2.5 homologs, believed to be restricted to virulent phages. All in all, three major superfamilies of phage recombinases emerged either related to Rad52-like, Rad51-like or Gp2.5-like proteins. For two newly detected recombinases belonging to the Sak4 and Gp2.5 families, we provide experimental evidence of their recombination activity in vivo. Temperate versus virulent lifestyle together with the importance of genome mosaicism is discussed in the light of these novel recombinases. Screening for these recombinases in genomes can be performed at http://biodev.extra.cea.fr/virfam. PMID:20194117

  5. Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) classification in 51 excised palpable pediatric breast masses.

    PubMed

    Koning, Jeffrey L; Davenport, Katherine P; Poole, Patricia S; Kruk, Peter G; Grabowski, Julia E

    2015-10-01

    The American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) classification was developed to risk stratify breast lesions and guide surgical management based on imaging. Previous studies validating BI-RADS for US do not include pediatric patients. Most pediatric breast masses present as palpable lesions and frequently undergo ultrasound, which is often accompanied with a BI-RADS classification. Our study aimed to correlate BI-RADS with pathology findings to assess applicability of the classification system to pediatric patients. We performed a retrospective review of all patients who underwent excision of a breast mass at a single center from July 2010 to November 2013. We identified all patients who underwent preoperative ultrasound with BI-RADS classification. Demographic data, imaging results, and surgical pathology were analyzed and correlated. A total of 119 palpable masses were excised from 105 pediatric patients during the study period. Of 119 masses, 81 had preoperative ultrasound, and BI-RADS categories were given to 51 masses. Of these 51, all patients were female and the average age was 15.9 years. BI-RADS 4 was given to 25 of 51 masses (49%), and 100% of these lesions had benign pathology, the most common being fibroadenoma. Treatment algorithm based on BI-RADS classification may not be valid in pediatric patients. In this study, all patients with a BI-RADS 4 lesion had benign pathology. BI-RADS classification may overstate the risk of malignancy or need for biopsy in this population. Further validation of BI-RADS classification with large scale studies is needed in pediatric and adolescent patients. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Loss of the homologous recombination gene rad51 leads to Fanconi anemia-like symptoms in zebrafish.

    PubMed

    Botthof, Jan Gregor; Bielczyk-Maczyńska, Ewa; Ferreira, Lauren; Cvejic, Ana

    2017-05-30

    RAD51 is an indispensable homologous recombination protein, necessary for strand invasion and crossing over. It has recently been designated as a Fanconi anemia (FA) gene, following the discovery of two patients carrying dominant-negative mutations. FA is a hereditary DNA-repair disorder characterized by various congenital abnormalities, progressive bone marrow failure, and cancer predisposition. In this report, we describe a viable vertebrate model of RAD51 loss. Zebrafish rad51 loss-of-function mutants developed key features of FA, including hypocellular kidney marrow, sensitivity to cross-linking agents, and decreased size. We show that some of these symptoms stem from both decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis of embryonic hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Comutation of p53 was able to rescue the hematopoietic defects seen in the single mutants, but led to tumor development. We further demonstrate that prolonged inflammatory stress can exacerbate the hematological impairment, leading to an additional decrease in kidney marrow cell numbers. These findings strengthen the assignment of RAD51 as a Fanconi gene and provide more evidence for the notion that aberrant p53 signaling during embryogenesis leads to the hematological defects seen later in life in FA. Further research on this zebrafish FA model will lead to a deeper understanding of the molecular basis of bone marrow failure in FA and the cellular role of RAD51.

  7. RPA and Rad51 constitute a cell intrinsic mechanism to protect the cytosol from self DNA.

    PubMed

    Wolf, Christine; Rapp, Alexander; Berndt, Nicole; Staroske, Wolfgang; Schuster, Max; Dobrick-Mattheuer, Manuela; Kretschmer, Stefanie; König, Nadja; Kurth, Thomas; Wieczorek, Dagmar; Kast, Karin; Cardoso, M Cristina; Günther, Claudia; Lee-Kirsch, Min Ae

    2016-05-27

    Immune recognition of cytosolic DNA represents a central antiviral defence mechanism. Within the host, short single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) continuously arises during the repair of DNA damage induced by endogenous and environmental genotoxic stress. Here we show that short ssDNA traverses the nuclear membrane, but is drawn into the nucleus by binding to the DNA replication and repair factors RPA and Rad51. Knockdown of RPA and Rad51 enhances cytosolic leakage of ssDNA resulting in cGAS-dependent type I IFN activation. Mutations in the exonuclease TREX1 cause type I IFN-dependent autoinflammation and autoimmunity. We demonstrate that TREX1 is anchored within the outer nuclear membrane to ensure immediate degradation of ssDNA leaking into the cytosol. In TREX1-deficient fibroblasts, accumulating ssDNA causes exhaustion of RPA and Rad51 resulting in replication stress and activation of p53 and type I IFN. Thus, the ssDNA-binding capacity of RPA and Rad51 constitutes a cell intrinsic mechanism to protect the cytosol from self DNA.

  8. Dmc1 catalyzes interhomolog joint molecule formation in meiosis with Rad51 and Mei5-Sae3 as accessory factors

    PubMed Central

    Cloud, Veronica; Chan, Yuen-Ling; Grubb, Jennifer; Budke, Brian; Bishop, Douglas K.

    2014-01-01

    Meiotic recombination in budding yeast requires two RecA-related proteins, Rad51 and Dmc1, both of which form filaments on DNA capable of directing homology search and catalyzing formation of homologous joint molecules (JMs) and strand exchange. Using a separation-of-function mutant form of Rad51, that retains filament-forming but not JM forming activity, we show that the JM activity of Rad51 is fully dispensable for meiotic recombination. The corresponding mutation in Dmc1 causes a profound recombination defect, demonstrating Dmc1’s JM activity alone is responsible for meiotic recombination. We further provide biochemical evidence that Rad51 acts with Mei5-Sae3 as a Dmc1 accessory factor. Thus, Rad51 is a multifunctional protein that catalyzes recombination directly in mitosis and indirectly, via Dmc1, during meiosis. PMID:22955832

  9. Homologous and Homeologous Intermolecular Gene Conversion Are Not Differentially Affected by Mutations in the DNA Damage or the Mismatch Repair Genes Rad1, Rad50, Rad51, Rad52, Rad54, Pms1 and Msh2

    PubMed Central

    Porter, G.; Westmoreland, J.; Priebe, S.; Resnick, M. A.

    1996-01-01

    Mismatch repair (MMR) genes or genes involved in both DNA damage repair and homologous recombination might affect homeologous vs. homologous recombination differentially. Spontaneous mitotic gene conversion between a chromosome and a homologous or homeologous donor sequence (14% diverged) on a single copy plasmid was examined in wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains and in MMR or DNA damage repair mutants. Homologous recombination in rad51, rad52 and rad54 mutants was considerably reduced, while there was little effect of rad1, rad50, pms1 and msh2 null mutations. DNA divergence resulted in no differential effect on recombination rates in the wild type or the mutants; there was only a five- to 10-fold reduction in homeologous relative to homologous recombination regardless of background. Since DNA divergence is known to affect recombination in some systems, we propose that differences in the role of MMR depends on the mode of recombination and/or the level of divergence. Based on analysis of the recombination breakpoints, there is a minimum of three homologous bases required at a recombination junction. A comparison of Rad(+) vs. rad52 strains revealed that while all conversion tracts are continuous, elimination of RAD52 leads to the appearance of a novel class of very short conversion tracts. PMID:8725224

  10. Dbl2 Regulates Rad51 and DNA Joint Molecule Metabolism to Ensure Proper Meiotic Chromosome Segregation

    PubMed Central

    Hyppa, Randy W.; Benko, Zsigmond; Misova, Ivana; Schleiffer, Alexander; Smith, Gerald R.; Gregan, Juraj

    2016-01-01

    To identify new proteins required for faithful meiotic chromosome segregation, we screened a Schizosaccharomyces pombe deletion mutant library and found that deletion of the dbl2 gene led to missegregation of chromosomes during meiosis. Analyses of both live and fixed cells showed that dbl2Δ mutant cells frequently failed to segregate homologous chromosomes to opposite poles during meiosis I. Removing Rec12 (Spo11 homolog) to eliminate meiotic DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) suppressed the segregation defect in dbl2Δ cells, indicating that Dbl2 acts after the initiation of meiotic recombination. Analyses of DSBs and Holliday junctions revealed no significant defect in their formation or processing in dbl2Δ mutant cells, although some Rec12-dependent DNA joint molecules persisted late in meiosis. Failure to segregate chromosomes in the absence of Dbl2 correlated with persistent Rad51 foci, and deletion of rad51 or genes encoding Rad51 mediators also suppressed the segregation defect of dbl2Δ. Formation of foci of Fbh1, an F-box helicase that efficiently dismantles Rad51-DNA filaments, was impaired in dbl2Δ cells. Our results suggest that Dbl2 is a novel regulator of Fbh1 and thereby Rad51-dependent DSB repair required for proper meiotic chromosome segregation and viable sex cell formation. The wide conservation of these proteins suggests that our results apply to many species. PMID:27304859

  11. Homologous Recombination Repair Signaling in Chemical Carcinogenesis: Prolonged Particulate Hexavalent Chromium Exposure Suppresses the Rad51 Response in Human Lung Cells

    PubMed Central

    Qin, Qin; Xie, Hong; Wise, Sandra S.; Browning, Cynthia L.; Thompson, Kelsey N.; Holmes, Amie L.; Wise, John Pierce

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study was to focus on hexavalent chromium, [Cr(VI)], a chemical carcinogen and major public health concern, and consider its ability to impact DNA double strand break repair. We further focused on particulate Cr(VI), because it is the more potent carcinogenic form of Cr(VI). DNA double strand break repair serves to protect cells against the detrimental effects of DNA double strand breaks. For particulate Cr(VI), data show DNA double strand break repair must be overcome for neoplastic transformation to occur. Acute Cr(VI) exposures reveal a robust DNA double strand break repair response, however, longer exposures have not been considered. Using the comet assay, we found longer exposures to particulate zinc chromate induced concentration-dependent increases in DNA double strand breaks indicating breaks were occurring throughout the exposure time. Acute (24 h) exposure induced DNA double strand break repair signaling by inducing Mre11 foci formation, ATM phosphorylation and phosphorylated ATM foci formation, Rad51 protein levels and Rad51 foci formation. However, longer exposures reduced the Rad51 response. These data indicate a major chemical carcinogen can simultaneously induce DNA double strand breaks and alter their repair and describe a new and important aspect of the carcinogenic mechanism for Cr(VI). PMID:25173789

  12. A novel Fanconi anaemia subtype associated with a dominant-negative mutation in RAD51

    PubMed Central

    Ameziane, Najim; May, Patrick; Haitjema, Anneke; van de Vrugt, Henri J.; van Rossum-Fikkert, Sari E.; Ristic, Dejan; Williams, Gareth J.; Balk, Jesper; Rockx, Davy; Li, Hong; Rooimans, Martin A.; Oostra, Anneke B.; Velleuer, Eunike; Dietrich, Ralf; Bleijerveld, Onno B.; Maarten Altelaar, A. F.; Meijers-Heijboer, Hanne; Joenje, Hans; Glusman, Gustavo; Roach, Jared; Hood, Leroy; Galas, David; Wyman, Claire; Balling, Rudi; den Dunnen, Johan; de Winter, Johan P.; Kanaar, Roland; Gelinas, Richard; Dorsman, Josephine C.

    2015-01-01

    Fanconi anaemia (FA) is a hereditary disease featuring hypersensitivity to DNA cross-linker-induced chromosomal instability in association with developmental abnormalities, bone marrow failure and a strong predisposition to cancer. A total of 17 FA disease genes have been reported, all of which act in a recessive mode of inheritance. Here we report on a de novo g.41022153G>A; p.Ala293Thr (NM_002875) missense mutation in one allele of the homologous recombination DNA repair gene RAD51 in an FA-like patient. This heterozygous mutation causes a novel FA subtype, ‘FA-R', which appears to be the first subtype of FA caused by a dominant-negative mutation. The patient, who features microcephaly and mental retardation, has reached adulthood without the typical bone marrow failure and paediatric cancers. Together with the recent reports on RAD51-associated congenital mirror movement disorders, our results point to an important role for RAD51-mediated homologous recombination in neurodevelopment, in addition to DNA repair and cancer susceptibility. PMID:26681308

  13. RFWD3-Mediated Ubiquitination Promotes Timely Removal of Both RPA and RAD51 from DNA Damage Sites to Facilitate Homologous Recombination.

    PubMed

    Inano, Shojiro; Sato, Koichi; Katsuki, Yoko; Kobayashi, Wataru; Tanaka, Hiroki; Nakajima, Kazuhiro; Nakada, Shinichiro; Miyoshi, Hiroyuki; Knies, Kerstin; Takaori-Kondo, Akifumi; Schindler, Detlev; Ishiai, Masamichi; Kurumizaka, Hitoshi; Takata, Minoru

    2017-06-01

    RFWD3 is a recently identified Fanconi anemia protein FANCW whose E3 ligase activity toward RPA is essential in homologous recombination (HR) repair. However, how RPA ubiquitination promotes HR remained unknown. Here, we identified RAD51, the central HR protein, as another target of RFWD3. We show that RFWD3 polyubiquitinates both RPA and RAD51 in vitro and in vivo. Phosphorylation by ATR and ATM kinases is required for this activity in vivo. RFWD3 inhibits persistent mitomycin C (MMC)-induced RAD51 and RPA foci by promoting VCP/p97-mediated protein dynamics and subsequent degradation. Furthermore, MMC-induced chromatin loading of MCM8 and RAD54 is defective in cells with inactivated RFWD3 or expressing a ubiquitination-deficient mutant RAD51. Collectively, our data reveal a mechanism that facilitates timely removal of RPA and RAD51 from DNA damage sites, which is crucial for progression to the late-phase HR and suppression of the FA phenotype. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. RAD51 potentiates synergistic effects of chemotherapy with PCI-24781 and cis-diamminedichloroplatinum on gastric cancer

    PubMed Central

    He, Wei-Ling; Li, Yu-Huang; Hou, Wei-Jian; Ke, Zun-Fu; Chen, Xin-Lin; Lu, Li-Ya; Cai, Shi-Rong; Song, Wu; Zhang, Chang-Hua; He, Yu-Long

    2014-01-01

    AIM: To explore the efficacy of PCI-24781, a broad-spectrum, hydroxamic acid-derived histone deacetylase inhibitor, in the treatment of gastric cancer (GC). METHODS: With or without treatment of PCI-24781 and/or cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (CDDP), GC cell lines were subjected to functional analysis, including cell growth, apoptosis and clonogenic assays. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays were used to determine the interacting molecules and the activity of the enzyme. An in vivo study was carried out in GC xenograft mice. Cell culture-based assays were represented as mean ± SD. ANOVA tests were used to assess differences across groups. All pairwise comparisons between tumor weights among treatment groups were made using the Tukey-Kramer method for multiple comparison adjustment to control experimental-wise type I error rates. Significance was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: PCI-24781 significantly reduced the growth of the GC cells, enhanced cell apoptosis and suppressed clonogenicity, and these effects synergized with the effects of CDDP. PCI-24781 modulated the cell cycle and significantly reduced the expression of RAD51, which is related to homologous recombination. Depletion of RAD51 augmented the biological functions of PCI-24781, CDDP and the combination treatment, whereas overexpressing RAD51 had the opposite effects. Increased binding of the transcription suppressor E2F4 on the RAD51 promoter appeared to play a major role in these processes. Furthermore, significant suppression of tumor growth and weight in vivo was obtained following PCI-24781 treatment, which synergized with the anticancer effect of CDDP. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that RAD51 potentiates the synergistic effects of chemotherapy with PCI-24781 and CDDP on GC. PMID:25110436

  15. Differential RPA-1 and RAD-51 recruitment in vivo throughout the C. elegans germline, as revealed by laser microirradiation

    PubMed Central

    Koury, Emily; Harrell, Kailey

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Studies of the repair pathways associated with DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) are numerous, and provide evidence for cell-cycle specific regulation of homologous recombination (HR) by the regulation of its associated proteins. Laser microirradiation is a well-established method to examine in vitro kinetics of repair and allows for live-imaging of DSB repair from the moment of induction. Here we apply this method to whole, live organisms, introducing an effective system to analyze exogenous, microirradiation-induced breaks in the Caenorhabditis elegans germline. Through this method we observed the sequential kinetics of the recruitment of ssDNA binding proteins RPA-1 and RAD-51 in vivo. We analyze these kinetics throughout different regions of the germline, and thus throughout a range of developmental stages of mitotic and meiotic nuclei. Our analysis demonstrates a largely conserved timing of recruitment of ssDNA binding proteins to DSBs throughout the germline, with a delay of RAD-51 recruitment at mid-pachytene nuclei. Microirradiated nuclei are viable and undergo a slow kinetics of resolution. We observe RPA-1 and RAD-51 colocalization for hours post-microirradiation throughout the germline, suggesting that there are mixed RPA-1/RAD-51 filaments. Finally, through live imaging analysis we observed RAD-51 foci movement with low frequency of coalescence. PMID:29244155

  16. Small Rad51 and Dmc1 Complexes Often Co-occupy Both Ends of a Meiotic DNA Double Strand Break

    PubMed Central

    Brown, M. Scott; Grubb, Jennifer; Zhang, Annie; Rust, Michael J.; Bishop, Douglas K.

    2015-01-01

    The Eukaryotic RecA-like proteins Rad51 and Dmc1 cooperate during meiosis to promote recombination between homologous chromosomes by repairing programmed DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). Previous studies showed that Rad51 and Dmc1 form partially overlapping co-foci. Here we show these Rad51-Dmc1 co-foci are often arranged in pairs separated by distances of up to 400 nm. Paired co-foci remain prevalent when DSBs are dramatically reduced or when strand exchange or synapsis is blocked. Super-resolution dSTORM microscopy reveals that individual foci observed by conventional light microscopy are often composed of two or more substructures. The data support a model in which the two tracts of ssDNA formed by a single DSB separate from one another by distances of up to 400 nm, with both tracts often bound by one or more short (about 100 nt) Rad51 filaments and also by one or more short Dmc1 filaments. PMID:26719980

  17. Differential RPA-1 and RAD-51 recruitment in vivo throughout the C. elegans germline, as revealed by laser microirradiation.

    PubMed

    Koury, Emily; Harrell, Kailey; Smolikove, Sarit

    2018-01-25

    Studies of the repair pathways associated with DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) are numerous, and provide evidence for cell-cycle specific regulation of homologous recombination (HR) by the regulation of its associated proteins. Laser microirradiation is a well-established method to examine in vitro kinetics of repair and allows for live-imaging of DSB repair from the moment of induction. Here we apply this method to whole, live organisms, introducing an effective system to analyze exogenous, microirradiation-induced breaks in the Caenorhabditis elegans germline. Through this method we observed the sequential kinetics of the recruitment of ssDNA binding proteins RPA-1 and RAD-51 in vivo. We analyze these kinetics throughout different regions of the germline, and thus throughout a range of developmental stages of mitotic and meiotic nuclei. Our analysis demonstrates a largely conserved timing of recruitment of ssDNA binding proteins to DSBs throughout the germline, with a delay of RAD-51 recruitment at mid-pachytene nuclei. Microirradiated nuclei are viable and undergo a slow kinetics of resolution. We observe RPA-1 and RAD-51 colocalization for hours post-microirradiation throughout the germline, suggesting that there are mixed RPA-1/RAD-51 filaments. Finally, through live imaging analysis we observed RAD-51 foci movement with low frequency of coalescence. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  18. Vital Roles of the Second DNA-binding Site of Rad52 Protein in Yeast Homologous Recombination*

    PubMed Central

    Arai, Naoto; Kagawa, Wataru; Saito, Kengo; Shingu, Yoshinori; Mikawa, Tsutomu; Kurumizaka, Hitoshi; Shibata, Takehiko

    2011-01-01

    RecA/Rad51 proteins are essential in homologous DNA recombination and catalyze the ATP-dependent formation of D-loops from a single-stranded DNA and an internal homologous sequence in a double-stranded DNA. RecA and Rad51 require a “recombination mediator” to overcome the interference imposed by the prior binding of single-stranded binding protein/replication protein A to the single-stranded DNA. Rad52 is the prototype of recombination mediators, and the human Rad52 protein has two distinct DNA-binding sites: the first site binds to single-stranded DNA, and the second site binds to either double- or single-stranded DNA. We previously showed that yeast Rad52 extensively stimulates Rad51-catalyzed D-loop formation even in the absence of replication protein A, by forming a 2:1 stoichiometric complex with Rad51. However, the precise roles of Rad52 and Rad51 within the complex are unknown. In the present study, we constructed yeast Rad52 mutants in which the amino acid residues corresponding to the second DNA-binding site of the human Rad52 protein were replaced with either alanine or aspartic acid. We found that the second DNA-binding site is important for the yeast Rad52 function in vivo. Rad51-Rad52 complexes consisting of these Rad52 mutants were defective in promoting the formation of D-loops, and the ability of the complex to associate with double-stranded DNA was specifically impaired. Our studies suggest that Rad52 within the complex associates with double-stranded DNA to assist Rad51-mediated homologous pairing. PMID:21454474

  19. Meiotic Crossover Control by Concerted Action of Rad51-Dmc1 in Homolog Template Bias and Robust Homeostatic Regulation

    PubMed Central

    Huang, Chu-Chun; Grubb, Jennifer; Thacker, Drew; Lee, Chih-Ying; Dresser, Michael E.; Hunter, Neil; Bishop, Douglas K.

    2013-01-01

    During meiosis, repair of programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by recombination promotes pairing of homologous chromosomes and their connection by crossovers. Two DNA strand-exchange proteins, Rad51 and Dmc1, are required for meiotic recombination in many organisms. Studies in budding yeast imply that Rad51 acts to regulate Dmc1's strand exchange activity, while its own exchange activity is inhibited. However, in a dmc1 mutant, elimination of inhibitory factor, Hed1, activates Rad51's strand exchange activity and results in high levels of recombination without participation of Dmc1. Here we show that Rad51-mediated meiotic recombination is not subject to regulatory processes associated with high-fidelity chromosome segregation. These include homolog bias, a process that directs strand exchange between homologs rather than sister chromatids. Furthermore, activation of Rad51 does not effectively substitute for Dmc1's chromosome pairing activity, nor does it ensure formation of the obligate crossovers required for accurate homolog segregation. We further show that Dmc1's dominance in promoting strand exchange between homologs involves repression of Rad51's strand-exchange activity. This function of Dmc1 is independent of Hed1, but requires the meiotic kinase, Mek1. Hed1 makes a relatively minor contribution to homolog bias, but nonetheless this is important for normal morphogenesis of synaptonemal complexes and efficient crossing-over especially when DSB numbers are decreased. Super-resolution microscopy shows that Dmc1 also acts to organize discrete complexes of a Mek1 partner protein, Red1, into clusters along lateral elements of synaptonemal complexes; this activity may also contribute to homolog bias. Finally, we show that when interhomolog bias is defective, recombination is buffered by two feedback processes, one that increases the fraction of events that yields crossovers, and a second that we propose involves additional DSB formation in response to

  20. RECK impedes DNA repair by inhibiting the erbB/JAB1/Rad51 signaling axis and enhances chemosensitivity of breast cancer cells

    PubMed Central

    Hong, Kun-Jing; Hsu, Ming-Chuan; Hung, Wen-Chun

    2015-01-01

    The reversion-inducing cysteine-rich protein with kazal motif (RECK) is an endogenous matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor and a tumor suppressor. Its expression is dramatically down-regulated in human cancers. Our recent results suggest a novel MMP-independent anti-cancer activity of RECK by inhibiting the erbB signaling. Activation of the erbB signaling is associated with chemotherapeutic resistance, however, whether RECK could modulate drug sensitivity is still unknown. Here we demonstrated that expression of RECK induced the activation of ATM and ATR pathways, and the formation of γ-H2AX foci in breast cancer cells. RECK inhibited the erbB signaling and attenuated the expression of the downstream molecules Jun activation domain-binding protein 1 (JAB1) and the DNA repair protein RAD51 to impede DNA repair and to increase drug sensitivity. Treatment of epidermal growth factor or over-expression of HER-2 effectively reversed the inhibitory effect of RECK. In addition, ectopic expression of JAB1 counteracted RECK-induced RAD51 reduction and drug sensitization. Our results elucidate a novel function of RECK to modulate DNA damage response and drug resistance by inhibiting the erbB/Jab1/RAD51 signaling axis. Restoration of RECK expression in breast cancer cells may increase sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. PMID:26396917

  1. Radioresistance of chordoma cells is associated with the ATM/ATR pathway, in which RAD51 serves as an important downstream effector.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Chao; Wang, Bing; Li, Lei; Li, Yawei; Li, Pengzhi; Lv, Guohua

    2017-09-01

    Surgery followed by radiotherapy is the standard treatment for chordomas, which are a rare but low-grade type of bone cancer arising from remnants of the embryonic notochord. However, disease recurrence following radiotherapy is common, most likely due to endogenous DNA repair mechanisms that promote cell survival upon radiation strikes. The ataxia telangiectasia mutated/ataxia telangiectasia mutated and Rad3 related (ATM/ATR)-mediated pathway has a critical role in DNA repair mechanisms; however, it has rarely been investigated in chordomas. In the present study, the expression of signal molecules related to the ATM/ATR pathway in chordoma tissues and adjacent normal tissues were initially examined using immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. Chordoma U-CH1 and U-CH2 cells were subsequently used to investigate cell responses to ionizing radiation and the potential protective actions mediated by the ATM/ATR pathway. Phosphorylated (p)-ATM, p-ATR, γ-H2A histone family, member X (H2AX) and RAD51 were significantly upregulated in chordoma tissues relative to adjacent normal tissues (P<0.05). No significant reductions were observed in the viability of U-CH1 and U-CH2 cells following exposure to low-dose (1 and 2 Gy) radiation. Radiation (1 and 2 Gy) triggered a significant upregulation in p-ATM, γ-H2AX and RAD51 expression in U-CH1 cells (P<0.05), as well as a significant upregulation in p-ATM, p-ATR and RAD51 levels in U-CH2 cells (P<0.05). RAD51 knockdown increased the responses of both U-CH1 and U-CH2 cells to 1 Gy radiation, as evidenced by the significantly decreased cell viability and increased apoptosis rate (P<0.05). Collectively, the results of the present study indicated that radioresistance of chordoma cells is associated with the ATM/ATR pathway, in which RAD51 serves as an important downstream effector. Thus, RAD51 presents a promising therapeutic target for improving the outcome of radiotherapy treatment in chordomas.

  2. Smarcal1-Mediated Fork Reversal Triggers Mre11-Dependent Degradation of Nascent DNA in the Absence of Brca2 and Stable Rad51 Nucleofilaments.

    PubMed

    Kolinjivadi, Arun Mouli; Sannino, Vincenzo; De Antoni, Anna; Zadorozhny, Karina; Kilkenny, Mairi; Técher, Hervé; Baldi, Giorgio; Shen, Rong; Ciccia, Alberto; Pellegrini, Luca; Krejci, Lumir; Costanzo, Vincenzo

    2017-09-07

    Brca2 deficiency causes Mre11-dependent degradation of nascent DNA at stalled forks, leading to cell lethality. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying this process, we isolated Xenopus laevis Brca2. We demonstrated that Brca2 protein prevents single-stranded DNA gap accumulation at replication fork junctions and behind them by promoting Rad51 binding to replicating DNA. Without Brca2, forks with persistent gaps are converted by Smarcal1 into reversed forks, triggering extensive Mre11-dependent nascent DNA degradation. Stable Rad51 nucleofilaments, but not RPA or Rad51 T131P mutant proteins, directly prevent Mre11-dependent DNA degradation. Mre11 inhibition instead promotes reversed fork accumulation in the absence of Brca2. Rad51 directly interacts with the Pol α N-terminal domain, promoting Pol α and δ binding to stalled replication forks. This interaction likely promotes replication fork restart and gap avoidance. These results indicate that Brca2 and Rad51 prevent formation of abnormal DNA replication intermediates, whose processing by Smarcal1 and Mre11 predisposes to genome instability. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Panobinostat Enhances Cytarabine and Daunorubicin Sensitivities in AML Cells through Suppressing the Expression of BRCA1, CHK1, and Rad51

    PubMed Central

    Edwards, Holly; Caldwell, J. Timothy; Chen, Wei; Inaba, Hiroto; Xu, Xuelian; Buck, Steven A.; Taub, Jeffrey W.; Baker, Sharyn D.; Ge, Yubin

    2013-01-01

    Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains a challenging disease to treat and urgently requires new therapies to improve its treatment outcome. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the cooperative antileukemic activities of panobinostat and cytarabine or daunorubicin (DNR) in AML cell lines and diagnostic blast samples in vitro and in vivo. Panobinostat suppressed expression of BRCA1, CHK1, and RAD51 in AML cells in a dose-dependent manner. Further, panobinostat significantly increased cytarabine- or DNR-induced DNA double-strand breaks and apoptosis, and abrogated S and/or G2/M cell cycle checkpoints. Analogous results were obtained by shRNA knockdown of BRCA1, CHK1, or RAD51. Cotreatment of NOD-SCID-IL2Rγnull mice bearing AML xenografts with panobinostat and cytarabine significantly increased survival compared to either cytarabine or panobinostat treatment alone. Additional studies revealed that panobinostat suppressed the expression of BRCA1, CHK1, and RAD51 through downregulation of E2F1 transcription factor. Our results establish a novel mechanism underlying the cooperative antileukemic activities of these drug combinations in which panobinostat suppresses expression of BRCA1, CHK1, and RAD51 to enhance cytarabine and daunorubicin sensitivities in AML cells. PMID:24244429

  4. Simultaneous ATM/BRCA1/RAD51 expression variations associated with prognostic factors in Iranian sporadic breast cancer patients.

    PubMed

    Hallajian, Zeinab; Mahjoubi, Frouzandeh; Nafissi, Nahid

    2017-07-01

    DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) as a serious lesion are repaired by non-homologous end-joining and homologous recombination pathways. ATM, BRCA1, RAD51 genes are involved in HR pathways. While some studies have revealed individual expression changes of these genes in different types of cancer, there are limited studies attempting to evaluate correlation of expression variations of these genes in breast cancer pathogenesis. This study aimed to determine RAD51, ATM and BRCA1 gene expression level and its association with clinicopathological factors in fresh breast cancer tissues. Moreover, this study evaluates potential correlations among expression levels of these genes. 50 breast cancer tissues were collected and examined for BRCA1, RAD51 and ATM gene expression by Real Time PCR. Expression changes were analyzed with REST software version 2009. mRNA expression was reduced in all these three genes when compared with β-Actin as a control gene (P value  < 0.001). Spearman's test demonstrated a significant positive correlation among ATM, BRCA1 and RAD51 gene down expression (P value  < 0.0001). There was a significant association between down expression of ATM with stage (P value  < 0.05), necrosis (P value  < 0.05), perineural invasion (P value  < 0.05), vascular invasion (P value  < 0.01), malignancy (P value  ≤ 0.001), PR (P value  < 0.05) and ER status (P value  < 0.01). In addition, there was a significant association between down expression of BRCA1 with Ki67 (P value  ≤ 0.001). Moreover, there was a significant association between down expression of RAD51 with lymph node involvement (P value  < 0.01), auxiliary lymph node metastasis (P value  = 0.01), age (P = 0.001), grade (P value  < 0.05) and PR status (P value  < 0.05). This study suggests association between expression changes in several DSB repair genes in a common functional pathway in breast cancer and the significant association between abnormal expression of these

  5. Swi5-Sfr1 protein stimulates Rad51-mediated DNA strand exchange reaction through organization of DNA bases in the presynaptic filament

    PubMed Central

    Fornander, Louise H.; Renodon-Cornière, Axelle; Kuwabara, Naoyuki; Ito, Kentaro; Tsutsui, Yasuhiro; Shimizu, Toshiyuki; Iwasaki, Hiroshi; Nordén, Bengt; Takahashi, Masayuki

    2014-01-01

    The Swi5-Sfr1 heterodimer protein stimulates the Rad51-promoted DNA strand exchange reaction, a crucial step in homologous recombination. To clarify how this accessory protein acts on the strand exchange reaction, we have analyzed how the structure of the primary reaction intermediate, the Rad51/single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) complex filament formed in the presence of ATP, is affected by Swi5-Sfr1. Using flow linear dichroism spectroscopy, we observe that the nucleobases of the ssDNA are more perpendicularly aligned to the filament axis in the presence of Swi5-Sfr1, whereas the bases are more randomly oriented in the absence of Swi5-Sfr1. When using a modified version of the natural protein where the N-terminal part of Sfr1 is deleted, which has no affinity for DNA but maintained ability to stimulate the strand exchange reaction, we still observe the improved perpendicular DNA base orientation. This indicates that Swi5-Sfr1 exerts its activating effect through interaction with the Rad51 filament mainly and not with the DNA. We propose that the role of a coplanar alignment of nucleobases induced by Swi5-Sfr1 in the presynaptic Rad51/ssDNA complex is to facilitate the critical matching with an invading double-stranded DNA, hence stimulating the strand exchange reaction. PMID:24304898

  6. Swi5-Sfr1 protein stimulates Rad51-mediated DNA strand exchange reaction through organization of DNA bases in the presynaptic filament.

    PubMed

    Fornander, Louise H; Renodon-Cornière, Axelle; Kuwabara, Naoyuki; Ito, Kentaro; Tsutsui, Yasuhiro; Shimizu, Toshiyuki; Iwasaki, Hiroshi; Nordén, Bengt; Takahashi, Masayuki

    2014-02-01

    The Swi5-Sfr1 heterodimer protein stimulates the Rad51-promoted DNA strand exchange reaction, a crucial step in homologous recombination. To clarify how this accessory protein acts on the strand exchange reaction, we have analyzed how the structure of the primary reaction intermediate, the Rad51/single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) complex filament formed in the presence of ATP, is affected by Swi5-Sfr1. Using flow linear dichroism spectroscopy, we observe that the nucleobases of the ssDNA are more perpendicularly aligned to the filament axis in the presence of Swi5-Sfr1, whereas the bases are more randomly oriented in the absence of Swi5-Sfr1. When using a modified version of the natural protein where the N-terminal part of Sfr1 is deleted, which has no affinity for DNA but maintained ability to stimulate the strand exchange reaction, we still observe the improved perpendicular DNA base orientation. This indicates that Swi5-Sfr1 exerts its activating effect through interaction with the Rad51 filament mainly and not with the DNA. We propose that the role of a coplanar alignment of nucleobases induced by Swi5-Sfr1 in the presynaptic Rad51/ssDNA complex is to facilitate the critical matching with an invading double-stranded DNA, hence stimulating the strand exchange reaction.

  7. Recruitment of RecA homologs Dmc1p and Rad51p to the double-strand break repair site initiated by meiosis-specific endonuclease VDE (PI-SceI).

    PubMed

    Fukuda, Tomoyuki; Ohya, Yoshikazu

    2006-02-01

    During meiosis, VDE (PI-SceI), a homing endonuclease in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, introduces a double-strand break (DSB) at its recognition sequence and induces homologous recombinational repair, called homing. Meiosis-specific RecA homolog Dmc1p, as well as mitotic RecA homolog Rad51p, acts in the process of meiotic recombination, being required for strand invasion and exchange. In this study, recruitment of Dmc1p and Rad51p to the VDE-induced DSB repair site is investigated by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. It is revealed that Dmc1p and Rad51p are loaded to the repair site in an independent manner. Association of Rad51p requires other DSB repair proteins of Rad52p, Rad55p, and Rad57p, while loading of Dmc1p is facilitated by the different protein, Sae3p. Absence of Tid1p, which can bind both RecA homologs, appears specifically to cause an abnormal distribution of Dmc1p. Lack of Hop2, Mnd1p, and Sae1p does not impair recruitment of both RecA homologs. These findings reveal the discrete functions of each strand invasion protein in VDE-initiated homing, confirm the similarity between VDE-initiated homing and Spo11p-initiated meiotic recombination, and demonstrate the availability of VDE-initiated homing for the study of meiotic recombination.

  8. Enhanced Histone Deacetylase Activity in Malignant Melanoma Provokes RAD51 and FANCD2-Triggered Drug Resistance.

    PubMed

    Krumm, Andrea; Barckhausen, Christina; Kücük, Pelin; Tomaszowski, Karl-Heinz; Loquai, Carmen; Fahrer, Jörg; Krämer, Oliver Holger; Kaina, Bernd; Roos, Wynand Paul

    2016-05-15

    DNA-damaging anticancer drugs remain a part of metastatic melanoma therapy. Epigenetic reprogramming caused by increased histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity arising during tumor formation may contribute to resistance of melanomas to the alkylating drugs temozolomide, dacarbazine, and fotemustine. Here, we report on the impact of class I HDACs on the response of malignant melanoma cells treated with alkylating agents. The data show that malignant melanomas in situ contain a high level of HDAC1/2 and malignant melanoma cells overexpress HDAC1/2/3 compared with noncancer cells. Furthermore, pharmacologic inhibition of class I HDACs sensitizes malignant melanoma cells to apoptosis following exposure to alkylating agents, while not affecting primary melanocytes. Inhibition of HDAC1/2/3 caused sensitization of melanoma cells to temozolomide in vitro and in melanoma xenografts in vivo HDAC1/2/3 inhibition resulted in suppression of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair by homologous recombination because of downregulation of RAD51 and FANCD2. This sensitized cells to the cytotoxic DNA lesion O(6)-methylguanine and caused a synthetic lethal interaction with the PARP-1 inhibitor olaparib. Furthermore, knockdown experiments identified HDAC2 as being responsible for the regulation of RAD51. The influence of class I HDACs on DSB repair by homologous recombination and the possible clinical implication on malignant melanoma therapy with temozolomide and other alkylating drugs suggests a combination approach where class I HDAC inhibitors such as valproic acid or MS-275 (entinostat) appear to counteract HDAC- and RAD51/FANCD2-mediated melanoma cell resistance. Cancer Res; 76(10); 3067-77. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

  9. Rad52/Rad59-dependent Recombination as a Means to Rectify Faulty Okazaki Fragment Processing*

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Miju; Lee, Chul-Hwan; Demin, Annie Albert; Munashingha, Palinda Ruvan; Amangyeld, Tamir; Kwon, Buki; Formosa, Tim; Seo, Yeon-Soo

    2014-01-01

    The correct removal of 5′-flap structures by Rad27 and Dna2 during Okazaki fragment maturation is crucial for the stable maintenance of genetic materials and cell viability. In this study, we identified RAD52, a key recombination protein, as a multicopy suppressor of dna2-K1080E, a lethal helicase-negative mutant allele of DNA2 in yeasts. In contrast, the overexpression of Rad51, which works conjointly with Rad52 in canonical homologous recombination, failed to suppress the growth defect of the dna2-K1080E mutation, indicating that Rad52 plays a unique and distinct role in Okazaki fragment metabolism. We found that the recombination-defective Rad52-QDDD/AAAA mutant did not rescue dna2-K1080E, suggesting that Rad52-mediated recombination is important for suppression. The Rad52-mediated enzymatic stimulation of Dna2 or Rad27 is not a direct cause of suppression observed in vivo, as both Rad52 and Rad52-QDDD/AAAA proteins stimulated the endonuclease activities of both Dna2 and Rad27 to a similar extent. The recombination mediator activity of Rad52 was dispensable for the suppression, whereas both the DNA annealing activity and its ability to interact with Rad59 were essential. In addition, we found that several cohesion establishment factors, including Rsc2 and Elg1, were required for the Rad52-dependent suppression of dna2-K1080E. Our findings suggest a novel Rad52/Rad59-dependent, but Rad51-independent recombination pathway that could ultimately lead to the removal of faulty flaps in conjunction with cohesion establishment factors. PMID:24711454

  10. Immunochip analysis identifies association of the RAD50/IL13 region with human longevity.

    PubMed

    Flachsbart, Friederike; Ellinghaus, David; Gentschew, Liljana; Heinsen, Femke-Anouska; Caliebe, Amke; Christiansen, Lene; Nygaard, Marianne; Christensen, Kaare; Blanché, Hélène; Deleuze, Jean-François; Derbois, Céline; Galan, Pilar; Büning, Carsten; Brand, Stephan; Peters, Anette; Strauch, Konstantin; Müller-Nurasyid, Martina; Hoffmann, Per; Nöthen, Markus M; Lieb, Wolfgang; Franke, Andre; Schreiber, Stefan; Nebel, Almut

    2016-06-01

    Human longevity is characterized by a remarkable lack of confirmed genetic associations. Here, we report on the identification of a novel locus for longevity in the RAD50/IL13 region on chromosome 5q31.1 using a combined European sample of 3208 long-lived individuals (LLI) and 8919 younger controls. First, we performed a large-scale association study on 1458 German LLI (mean age 99.0 years) and 6368 controls (mean age 57.2 years) by targeting known immune-associated loci covered by the Immunochip. The analysis of 142 136 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) revealed an Immunochip-wide significant signal (PI mmunochip  = 7.01 × 10(-9) ) for the SNP rs2075650 in the TOMM40/APOE region, which has been previously described in the context of human longevity. To identify novel susceptibility loci, we selected 15 markers with PI mmunochip  < 5 × 10(-4) for replication in two samples from France (1257 LLI, mean age 102.4 years; 1811 controls, mean age 49.1 years) and Denmark (493 LLI, mean age 96.2 years; 740 controls, mean age 63.1 years). The association at SNP rs2706372 replicated in the French study collection and showed a similar trend in the Danish participants and was also significant in a meta-analysis of the combined French and Danish data after adjusting for multiple testing. In a meta-analysis of all three samples, rs2706372 reached a P-value of PI mmunochip+Repl  = 5.42 × 10(-7) (OR = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.12-1.28). SNP rs2706372 is located in the extended RAD50/IL13 region. RAD50 seems a plausible longevity candidate due to its involvement in DNA repair and inflammation. Further studies are needed to identify the functional variant(s) that predispose(s) to a long and healthy life. © 2016 The Authors. Aging Cell published by the Anatomical Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Cloning, sequencing, disruption and phenotypic analysis of uvsC, an Aspergillus nidulans homologue of yeast RAD51.

    PubMed

    van Heemst, D; Swart, K; Holub, E F; van Dijk, R; Offenberg, H H; Goosen, T; van den Broek, H W; Heyting, C

    1997-05-01

    We have cloned the uvsC gene of Aspergillus nidulans by complementation of the A. nidulans uvsC114 mutant. The predicted protein UVSC shows 67.4% sequence identity to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad51 protein and 27.4% sequence identity to the Escherichia coli RecA protein. Transcription of uvsC is induced by methyl-methane sulphonate (MMS), as is transcription of RAD51 of yeast. Similar levels of uvsC transcription were observed after MMS induction in a uvsC+ strain and the uvsC114 mutant. The coding sequence of the uvsC114 allele has a deletion of 6 bp, which results in deletion of two amino acids and replacement of one amino acid in the translation product. In order to gain more insight into the biological function of the uvsC gene, a uvsC null mutant was constructed, in which the entire uvsC coding sequence was replaced by a selectable marker gene. Meiotic and mitotic phenotypes of a uvsC+ strain, the uvsC114 mutant and the uvsC null mutant were compared. The uvsC null mutant was more sensitive to both UV and MMS than the uvsC114 mutant. The uvsC114 mutant arrested in meiotic prophase-I. The uvsC null mutant arrested at an earlier stage, before the onset of meiosis. One possible interpretation of these meiotic phenotypes is that the A. nidulans homologue of Rad51 of yeast has a role both in the specialized processes preceding meiosis and in meiotic prophase I.

  12. Novel function of HATs and HDACs in homologous recombination through acetylation of human RAD52 at double-strand break sites

    PubMed Central

    Kato, Takamitsu A.; Suzuki, Takehiro; Dohmae, Naoshi; Takizawa, Kazuya; Nakazawa, Yuka; Genet, Matthew D.; Saotome, Mika; Hama, Michio; Nakajima, Nakako Izumi; Hazawa, Masaharu; Tomita, Masanori; Koike, Manabu; Noshiro, Katsuko; Tomiyama, Kenichi; Obara, Chizuka; Gotoh, Takaya; Ui, Ayako; Fujimori, Akira; Nakayama, Fumiaki; Sugasawa, Kaoru; Okayasu, Ryuichi; Tajima, Katsushi

    2018-01-01

    The p300 and CBP histone acetyltransferases are recruited to DNA double-strand break (DSB) sites where they induce histone acetylation, thereby influencing the chromatin structure and DNA repair process. Whether p300/CBP at DSB sites also acetylate non-histone proteins, and how their acetylation affects DSB repair, remain unknown. Here we show that p300/CBP acetylate RAD52, a human homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair protein, at DSB sites. Using in vitro acetylated RAD52, we identified 13 potential acetylation sites in RAD52 by a mass spectrometry analysis. An immunofluorescence microscopy analysis revealed that RAD52 acetylation at DSBs sites is counteracted by SIRT2- and SIRT3-mediated deacetylation, and that non-acetylated RAD52 initially accumulates at DSB sites, but dissociates prematurely from them. In the absence of RAD52 acetylation, RAD51, which plays a central role in HR, also dissociates prematurely from DSB sites, and hence HR is impaired. Furthermore, inhibition of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) protein by siRNA or inhibitor treatment demonstrated that the acetylation of RAD52 at DSB sites is dependent on the ATM protein kinase activity, through the formation of RAD52, p300/CBP, SIRT2, and SIRT3 foci at DSB sites. Our findings clarify the importance of RAD52 acetylation in HR and its underlying mechanism. PMID:29590107

  13. Functional conservation of the yeast and Arabidopsis RAD54-like genes.

    PubMed

    Klutstein, Michael; Shaked, Hezi; Sherman, Amir; Avivi-Ragolsky, Naomi; Shema, Efrat; Zenvirth, Drora; Levy, Avraham A; Simchen, Giora

    2008-04-01

    The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD54 gene has critical roles in DNA double-strand break repair, homologous recombination, and gene targeting. Previous results show that the yeast gene enhances gene targeting when expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this work we address the trans-species compatibility of Rad54 functions. We show that overexpression of yeast RAD54 in Arabidopsis enhances DNA damage resistance severalfold. Thus, the yeast gene is active in the Arabidopsis homologous-recombination repair system. Moreover, we have identified an A. thaliana ortholog of yeast RAD54, named AtRAD54. This gene, with close sequence similarity to RAD54, complements methylmethane sulfonate (MMS) sensitivity but not UV sensitivity or gene targeting defects of rad54Delta mutant yeast cells. Overexpression of AtRAD54 in Arabidopsis leads to enhanced resistance to DNA damage. This gene's assignment as a RAD54 ortholog is further supported by the interaction of AtRad54 with AtRad51 and the interactions between alien proteins (i.e., yeast Rad54 with AtRAD51 and yeast Rad51 with AtRad54) in a yeast two-hybrid experiment. These interactions hint at the molecular nature of this interkingdom complementation, although the stronger effect of the yeast Rad54 in plants than AtRad54 in yeast might be explained by an ability of the Rad54 protein to act alone, independently of its interaction with Rad51.

  14. Comprehensive Pathway-Based Association Study of DNA Repair Gene Variants and the Risk of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

    PubMed Central

    Qin, Hai-De; Shugart, Yin Yao; Bei, Jin-Xin; Pan, Qing-Hua; Chen, Lina; Feng, Qi-Sheng; Chen, Li-Zhen; Huang, Wei; Liu, Jian Jun; Jorgensen, Timothy J.; Zeng, Yi-Xin; Jia, Wei-Hua

    2011-01-01

    DNA repair plays a central role in protecting against environmental carcinogenesis, and genetic variants of DNA repair genes have been reported to be associated with several human malignancies. To assess whether DNA gene variants were associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) risk, a candidate gene association study was conducted among the Cantonese population within the Guangdong Province, China --the ethnic group with the highest risk for NPC. A two-stage study design was utilized. In the discovery stage, 676 tagging SNPs covering 88 DNA repair genes were genotyped in a matched case-control study (cases/controls = 755/755). Eleven SNPs with Ptrend <0.01 were identified. Seven of these SNPs were located within three genes, RAD51L1, BRCA2 and TP53BP1. In the validation stage, these 11 SNPs were genotyped in a separate Cantonese population (cases/controls = 1,568/1,297). Two of the SNPs (rs927220 and rs11158728) – both in RAD51L1 – remained strongly associated with NPC. The SNP rs927220 had a significant Pcombined of 5.55 × 10−5, with OR = 1.20 (95%CI = 1.10 to 1.30), Bonferroni corrected P = 0.0381. The other SNP (rs11158728), which is in strong LD with rs927220 (r2 = 0.7), had a significant Pcombined of 2.0 × 10−4, Bonferroni corrected P = 0.1372. Gene-environment interaction analysis suggested that the exposures of salted-fish consumption and cigarette smoking had potential interactions with DNA repair gene variations, but need to be further investigated. Our findings support the notion that DNA repair genes, in particular RAD51L1, play a role in NPC etiology and development. PMID:21368091

  15. BRCA2 and RAD51 promote double-strand break formation and cell death in response to gemcitabine.

    PubMed

    Jones, Rebecca M; Kotsantis, Panagiotis; Stewart, Grant S; Groth, Petra; Petermann, Eva

    2014-10-01

    Replication inhibitors cause replication fork stalling and double-strand breaks (DSB) that result from processing of stalled forks. During recovery from replication blocks, the homologous recombination (HR) factor RAD51 mediates fork restart and DSB repair. HR defects therefore sensitize cells to replication inhibitors, with clear implications for cancer therapy. Gemcitabine is a potent replication inhibitor used to treat cancers with mutations in HR genes such as BRCA2. Here, we investigate why, paradoxically, mutations in HR genes protect cells from killing by gemcitabine. Using DNA replication and DNA damage assays in mammalian cells, we show that even short gemcitabine treatments cause persistent replication inhibition. BRCA2 and RAD51 are recruited to chromatin early after removal of the drug, actively inhibit replication fork progression, and promote the formation of MUS81- and XPF-dependent DSBs that remain unrepaired. Our data suggest that HR intermediates formed at gemcitabine-stalled forks are converted into DSBs and thus contribute to gemcitabine-induced cell death, which could have implications for the treatment response of HR-deficient tumors. ©2014 American Association for Cancer Research.

  16. BRCA2 and RAD51 promote double-strand break formation and cell death in response to Gemcitabine

    PubMed Central

    Jones, Rebecca M.; Kotsantis, Panagiotis; Stewart, Grant S.; Groth, Petra; Petermann, Eva

    2014-01-01

    Replication inhibitors cause replication fork stalling and double-strand breaks (DSBs) that result from processing of stalled forks. During recovery from replication blocks, the homologous recombination (HR) factor RAD51 mediates fork restart and DSB repair. HR defects therefore sensitise cells to replication inhibitors, with clear implications for cancer therapy. Gemcitabine is a potent replication inhibitor used to treat cancers with mutations in HR genes such as BRCA2. Here we investigate why, paradoxically, mutations in HR genes protect cells from killing by Gemcitabine. Using DNA replication and -damage assays in mammalian cells, we show that even short Gemcitabine treatments cause persistent replication inhibition. BRCA2 and RAD51 are recruited to chromatin early after removal of the drug, actively inhibit replication fork progression and promote the formation of MUS81- and XPF-dependent DSBs that remain unrepaired. Our data suggest that HR intermediates formed at Gemcitabine-stalled forks are converted into DSBs and thus contribute to Gemcitabine-induced cell death, which could have implications for the treatment response of HR-deficient tumours. PMID:25053826

  17. The fission yeast meiosis-specific Dmc1 recombinase mediates formation and branch migration of Holliday junctions by preferentially promoting strand exchange in a direction opposite to that of Rad51

    PubMed Central

    Murayama, Yasuto; Tsutsui, Yasuhiro; Iwasaki, Hiroshi

    2011-01-01

    Homologous recombination proceeds via the formation of several intermediates including Holliday junctions (HJs), which are important for creating crossover products. DNA strand exchange is a core reaction that produces these intermediates that is directly catalyzed by RecA family recombinases, of which there are two types in eukaryotes: universal Rad51 and meiosis-specific Dmc1. We demonstrated previously that Rad51 promotes four-strand exchange, mimicking the formation and branch migration of HJs. Here we show that Dmc1 from fission yeast has a similar activity, which requires ATP hydrolysis and is independent of an absolute requirement for the Swi5–Sfr1 complex. These features are critically different from three-strand exchange mediated by Dmc1, but similar to those of four-strand exchange mediated by Rad51, suggesting that strand exchange reactions between duplex–duplex and single-duplex DNAs are mechanistically different. Interestingly, despite similarities in protein structure and in reaction features, the preferential polarities of Dmc1 and Rad51 strand exchange are different (Dmc1 promotes exchange in the 5′-to-3′ direction and Rad51 promotes exchange in the 3′-to-5′ direction relative to the ssDNA region of the DNA substrate). The significance of the Dmc1 polarity is discussed within the context of the necessity for crossover production. PMID:21363965

  18. RAD18 mediates resistance to ionizing radiation in human glioma cells

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Xie, Chen; Wang, Hongwei; Cheng, Hongbin

    Highlights: • RAD18 is an important mediator of the IR-induced resistance in glioma cell lines. • RAD18 overexpression confers resistance to IR-mediated apoptosis. • The elevated expression of RAD18 is associated with recurrent GBM who underwent IR therapy. - Abstract: Radioresistance remains a major challenge in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). RAD18 a central regulator of translesion DNA synthesis (TLS), has been shown to play an important role in regulating genomic stability and DNA damage response. In the present study, we investigate the relationship between RAD18 and resistance to ionizing radiation (IR) and examined the expression levels of RAD18more » in primary and recurrent GBM specimens. Our results showed that RAD18 is an important mediator of the IR-induced resistance in GBM. The expression level of RAD18 in glioma cells correlates with their resistance to IR. Ectopic expression of RAD18 in RAD18-low A172 glioma cells confers significant resistance to IR treatment. Conversely, depletion of endogenous RAD18 in RAD18-high glioma cells sensitized these cells to IR treatment. Moreover, RAD18 overexpression confers resistance to IR-mediated apoptosis in RAD18-low A172 glioma cells, whereas cells deficient in RAD18 exhibit increased apoptosis induced by IR. Furthermore, knockdown of RAD18 in RAD18-high glioma cells disrupts HR-mediated repair, resulting in increased accumulation of DSB. In addition, clinical data indicated that RAD18 was significantly higher in recurrent GBM samples that were exposed to IR compared with the corresponding primary GBM samples. Collectively, our findings reveal that RAD18 may serve as a key mediator of the IR response and may function as a potential target for circumventing IR resistance in human GBM.« less

  19. Human RAD50 makes a functional DNA-binding complex.

    PubMed

    Kinoshita, Eri; van Rossum-Fikkert, Sari; Sanchez, Humberto; Kertokalio, Aryandi; Wyman, Claire

    2015-06-01

    The MRE11-RAD50-NBS1 (MRN) complex has several distinct functions in DNA repair including important roles in both non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR). The biochemical activities of MR(N) have been well characterized implying specific functional roles for the components. The arrangement of proteins in the complex implies interdependence of their biochemical activities making it difficult to separate specific functions. We obtained purified human RAD50 and observed that it binds ATP, undergoes ATP-dependent conformational changes as well as having ATPase activity. Scanning force microscopy analysis clearly showed that RAD50 binds DNA although not as oligomers. RAD50 alone was not functional in tethering DNA molecules. ATP increased formation of RAD50 multimers which were however globular lacking extended coiled coils, in contrast to the MR complex where ATP induced oligomers have obvious coiled coils protruding from a central domain. These results suggest that MRE11 is important in maintaining the structural arrangement of RAD50 in the protein complex and perhaps has a role in reinforcing proper alignment of the coiled coils in the ATP-bound state. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. and Société Française de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire (SFBBM). All rights reserved.

  20. Identification of the meiotic toolkit in diatoms and exploration of meiosis-specific SPO11 and RAD51 homologs in the sexual species Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata and Seminavis robusta.

    PubMed

    Patil, Shrikant; Moeys, Sara; von Dassow, Peter; Huysman, Marie J J; Mapleson, Daniel; De Veylder, Lieven; Sanges, Remo; Vyverman, Wim; Montresor, Marina; Ferrante, Maria Immacolata

    2015-11-14

    Sexual reproduction is an obligate phase in the life cycle of most eukaryotes. Meiosis varies among organisms, which is reflected by the variability of the gene set associated to the process. Diatoms are unicellular organisms that belong to the stramenopile clade and have unique life cycles that can include a sexual phase. The exploration of five diatom genomes and one diatom transcriptome led to the identification of 42 genes potentially involved in meiosis. While these include the majority of known meiosis-related genes, several meiosis-specific genes, including DMC1, could not be identified. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses supported gene identification and revealed ancestral loss and recent expansion in the RAD51 family in diatoms. The two sexual species Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata and Seminavis robusta were used to explore the expression of meiosis-related genes: RAD21, SPO11-2, RAD51-A, RAD51-B and RAD51-C were upregulated during meiosis, whereas other paralogs in these families showed no differential expression patterns, suggesting that they may play a role during vegetative divisions. An almost identical toolkit is shared among Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries and Fragilariopsis cylindrus, as well as two species for which sex has not been observed, Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira pseudonana, suggesting that these two may retain a facultative sexual phase. Our results reveal the conserved meiotic toolkit in six diatom species and indicate that Stramenopiles share major modifications of canonical meiosis processes ancestral to eukaryotes, with important divergences in each Kingdom.

  1. Germline Mutations in PALB2, BRCA1, and RAD51C, Which Regulate DNA Recombination Repair, in Patients with Gastric Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Sahasrabudhe, Ruta; Lott, Paul; Bohorquez, Mabel; Toal, Ted; Estrada, Ana P.; Suarez, John J.; Brea-Fernández, Alejandro; Cameselle-Teijeiro, José; Pinto, Carla; Ramos, Irma; Mantilla, Alejandra; Prieto, Rodrigo; Corvalan, Alejandro; Norero, Enrique; Alvarez, Carolina; Tapia, Teresa; Carvallo, Pilar; Gonzalez, Luz M.; Cock-Rada, Alicia; Solano, Angela; Neffa, Florencia; Valle, Adriana Della; Yau, Chris; Soares, Gabriela; Borowsky, Alexander; Hu, Nan; He, Li-Ji; Han, Xiao-You; Taylor, Philip R.; Goldstein, Alisa M.; Torres, Javier; Echeverry, Magdalena; Ruiz-Ponte, Clara; Teixeira, Manuel R.; Carvajal Carmona, Luis G.

    2016-01-01

    Up to 10% of cases of gastric cancer are familial, but so far, only mutations in CDH1 have been associated with gastric cancer risk. To identify genetic variants that affect risk for gastric cancer, we collected blood samples from 28 patients with hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC) not associated with mutations in CDH1 and performed whole-exome sequence analysis. We then analyzed sequences of candidate genes in 333 independent HDGC and non-HDGC cases. We identified 11 cases with mutations in PALB2, BRCA1, or RAD51C genes, which regulate homologous DNA recombination. We found these mutations in 2 of 31 patients with HDGC (6.5%) and 9 of 331 patients with sporadic gastric cancer (2.8%). Most of these mutations had been previously associated with other types of tumors and partially co-segregated with gastric cancer in our study. Tumors that developed in patients with these mutations had a mutation signature associated with somatic homologous recombination deficiency. Our findings indicate that defects in homologous recombination increase risk for gastric cancer. PMID:28024868

  2. Structure of the human DNA-repair protein RAD52 containing surface mutations.

    PubMed

    Saotome, Mika; Saito, Kengo; Onodera, Keiichi; Kurumizaka, Hitoshi; Kagawa, Wataru

    2016-08-01

    The Rad52 protein is a eukaryotic single-strand DNA-annealing protein that is involved in the homologous recombinational repair of DNA double-strand breaks. The isolated N-terminal half of the human RAD52 protein (RAD52(1-212)) forms an undecameric ring structure with a surface that is mostly positively charged. In the present study, it was found that RAD52(1-212) containing alanine mutations of the charged surface residues (Lys102, Lys133 and Glu202) is highly amenable to crystallization. The structure of the mutant RAD52(1-212) was solved at 2.4 Å resolution. The structure revealed an association between the symmetry-related RAD52(1-212) rings, in which a partially unfolded, C-terminal region of RAD52 extended into the DNA-binding groove of the neighbouring ring in the crystal. The alanine mutations probably reduced the surface entropy of the RAD52(1-212) ring and stabilized the ring-ring association observed in the crystal.

  3. Associations of common variants at 1p11.2 and 14q24.1 (RAD51L1) with breast cancer risk and heterogeneity by tumor subtype: findings from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium.

    PubMed

    Figueroa, Jonine D; Garcia-Closas, Montserrat; Humphreys, Manjeet; Platte, Radka; Hopper, John L; Southey, Melissa C; Apicella, Carmel; Hammet, Fleur; Schmidt, Marjanka K; Broeks, Annegien; Tollenaar, Rob A E M; Van't Veer, Laura J; Fasching, Peter A; Beckmann, Matthias W; Ekici, Arif B; Strick, Reiner; Peto, Julian; dos Santos Silva, Isabel; Fletcher, Olivia; Johnson, Nichola; Sawyer, Elinor; Tomlinson, Ian; Kerin, Michael; Burwinkel, Barbara; Marme, Federik; Schneeweiss, Andreas; Sohn, Christof; Bojesen, Stig; Flyger, Henrik; Nordestgaard, Børge G; Benítez, Javier; Milne, Roger L; Ignacio Arias, Jose; Zamora, M Pilar; Brenner, Hermann; Müller, Heiko; Arndt, Volker; Rahman, Nazneen; Turnbull, Clare; Seal, Sheila; Renwick, Anthony; Brauch, Hiltrud; Justenhoven, Christina; Brüning, Thomas; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Hein, Rebecca; Wang-Gohrke, Shan; Dörk, Thilo; Schürmann, Peter; Bremer, Michael; Hillemanns, Peter; Nevanlinna, Heli; Heikkinen, Tuomas; Aittomäki, Kristiina; Blomqvist, Carl; Bogdanova, Natalia; Antonenkova, Natalia; Rogov, Yuri I; Karstens, Johann Hinrich; Bermisheva, Marina; Prokofieva, Darya; Gantcev, Shamil Hanafievich; Khusnutdinova, Elza; Lindblom, Annika; Margolin, Sara; Chenevix-Trench, Georgia; Beesley, Jonathan; Chen, Xiaoqing; Mannermaa, Arto; Kosma, Veli-Matti; Soini, Ylermi; Kataja, Vesa; Lambrechts, Diether; Yesilyurt, Betül T; Chrisiaens, Marie-Rose; Peeters, Stephanie; Radice, Paolo; Peterlongo, Paolo; Manoukian, Siranoush; Barile, Monica; Couch, Fergus; Lee, Adam M; Diasio, Robert; Wang, Xianshu; Giles, Graham G; Severi, Gianluca; Baglietto, Laura; Maclean, Catriona; Offit, Ken; Robson, Mark; Joseph, Vijai; Gaudet, Mia; John, Esther M; Winqvist, Robert; Pylkäs, Katri; Jukkola-Vuorinen, Arja; Grip, Mervi; Andrulis, Irene; Knight, Julia A; Mulligan, Anna Marie; O'Malley, Frances P; Brinton, Louise A; Sherman, Mark E; Lissowska, Jolanta; Chanock, Stephen J; Hooning, Maartje; Martens, John W M; van den Ouweland, Ans M W; Collée, J Margriet; Hall, Per; Czene, Kamila; Cox, Angela; Brock, Ian W; Reed, Malcolm W R; Cross, Simon S; Pharoah, Paul; Dunning, Alison M; Kang, Daehee; Yoo, Keun-Young; Noh, Dong-Young; Ahn, Sei-Hyun; Jakubowska, Anna; Lubinski, Jan; Jaworska, Katarzyna; Durda, Katarzyna; Sangrajrang, Suleeporn; Gaborieau, Valerie; Brennan, Paul; McKay, James; Shen, Chen-Yang; Ding, Shian-ling; Hsu, Huan-Ming; Yu, Jyh-Cherng; Anton-Culver, Hoda; Ziogas, Argyrios; Ashworth, Alan; Swerdlow, Anthony; Jones, Michael; Orr, Nick; Trentham-Dietz, Amy; Egan, Kathleen; Newcomb, Polly; Titus-Ernstoff, Linda; Easton, Doug; Spurdle, Amanda B

    2011-12-01

    A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at 1p11.2 and 14q24.1 (RAD51L1) as breast cancer susceptibility loci. The initial GWAS suggested stronger effects for both loci for estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors. Using data from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC), we sought to determine whether risks differ by ER, progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), grade, node status, tumor size, and ductal or lobular morphology. We genotyped rs11249433 at 1p.11.2, and two highly correlated SNPs rs999737 and rs10483813 (r(2)= 0.98) at 14q24.1 (RAD51L1), for up to 46 036 invasive breast cancer cases and 46 930 controls from 39 studies. Analyses by tumor characteristics focused on subjects reporting to be white women of European ancestry and were based on 25 458 cases, of which 87% had ER data. The SNP at 1p11.2 showed significantly stronger associations with ER-positive tumors [per-allele odds ratio (OR) for ER-positive tumors was 1.13, 95% CI = 1.10-1.16 and, for ER-negative tumors, OR was 1.03, 95% CI = 0.98-1.07, case-only P-heterogeneity = 7.6 × 10(-5)]. The association with ER-positive tumors was stronger for tumors of lower grade (case-only P= 6.7 × 10(-3)) and lobular histology (case-only P= 0.01). SNPs at 14q24.1 were associated with risk for most tumor subtypes evaluated, including triple-negative breast cancers, which has not been described previously. Our results underscore the need for large pooling efforts with tumor pathology data to help refine risk estimates for SNP associations with susceptibility to different subtypes of breast cancer.

  4. Associations of common variants at 1p11.2 and 14q24.1 (RAD51L1) with breast cancer risk and heterogeneity by tumor subtype: findings from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium†

    PubMed Central

    Figueroa, Jonine D.; Garcia-Closas, Montserrat; Humphreys, Manjeet; Platte, Radka; Hopper, John L.; Southey, Melissa C.; Apicella, Carmel; Hammet, Fleur; Schmidt, Marjanka K.; Broeks, Annegien; Tollenaar, Rob A.E.M.; Van't Veer, Laura J.; Fasching, Peter A.; Beckmann, Matthias W.; Ekici, Arif B.; Strick, Reiner; Peto, Julian; dos Santos Silva, Isabel; Fletcher, Olivia; Johnson, Nichola; Sawyer, Elinor; Tomlinson, Ian; Kerin, Michael; Burwinkel, Barbara; Marme, Federik; Schneeweiss, Andreas; Sohn, Christof; Bojesen, Stig; Flyger, Henrik; Nordestgaard, Børge G.; Benítez, Javier; Milne, Roger L.; Ignacio Arias, Jose; Zamora, M. Pilar; Brenner, Hermann; Müller, Heiko; Arndt, Volker; Rahman, Nazneen; Turnbull, Clare; Seal, Sheila; Renwick, Anthony; Brauch, Hiltrud; Justenhoven, Christina; Brüning, Thomas; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Hein, Rebecca; Wang-Gohrke, Shan; Dörk, Thilo; Schürmann, Peter; Bremer, Michael; Hillemanns, Peter; Nevanlinna, Heli; Heikkinen, Tuomas; Aittomäki, Kristiina; Blomqvist, Carl; Bogdanova, Natalia; Antonenkova, Natalia; Rogov, Yuri I.; Karstens, Johann Hinrich; Bermisheva, Marina; Prokofieva, Darya; Hanafievich Gantcev, Shamil; Khusnutdinova, Elza; Lindblom, Annika; Margolin, Sara; Chenevix-Trench, Georgia; Beesley, Jonathan; Chen, Xiaoqing; Mannermaa, Arto; Kosma, Veli-Matti; Soini, Ylermi; Kataja, Vesa; Lambrechts, Diether; Yesilyurt, Betül T.; Chrisiaens, Marie-Rose; Peeters, Stephanie; Radice, Paolo; Peterlongo, Paolo; Manoukian, Siranoush; Barile, Monica; Couch, Fergus; Lee, Adam M.; Diasio, Robert; Wang, Xianshu; Giles, Graham G.; Severi, Gianluca; Baglietto, Laura; Maclean, Catriona; Offit, Ken; Robson, Mark; Joseph, Vijai; Gaudet, Mia; John, Esther M.; Winqvist, Robert; Pylkäs, Katri; Jukkola-Vuorinen, Arja; Grip, Mervi; Andrulis, Irene; Knight, Julia A.; Marie Mulligan, Anna; O'Malley, Frances P.; Brinton, Louise A.; Sherman, Mark E.; Lissowska, Jolanta; Chanock, Stephen J.; Hooning, Maartje; Martens, John W.M.; van den Ouweland, Ans M.W.; Collée, J. Margriet; Hall, Per; Czene, Kamila; Cox, Angela; Brock, Ian W.; Reed, Malcolm W.R.; Cross, Simon S.; Pharoah, Paul; Dunning, Alison M.; Kang, Daehee; Yoo, Keun-Young; Noh, Dong-Young; Ahn, Sei-Hyun; Jakubowska, Anna; Lubinski, Jan; Jaworska, Katarzyna; Durda, Katarzyna; Sangrajrang, Suleeporn; Gaborieau, Valerie; Brennan, Paul; McKay, James; Shen, Chen-Yang; Ding, Shian-ling; Hsu, Huan-Ming; Yu, Jyh-Cherng; Anton-Culver, Hoda; Ziogas, Argyrios; Ashworth, Alan; Swerdlow, Anthony; Jones, Michael; Orr, Nick; Trentham-Dietz, Amy; Egan, Kathleen; Newcomb, Polly; Titus-Ernstoff, Linda; Easton, Doug; Spurdle, Amanda B.

    2011-01-01

    A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at 1p11.2 and 14q24.1 (RAD51L1) as breast cancer susceptibility loci. The initial GWAS suggested stronger effects for both loci for estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors. Using data from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC), we sought to determine whether risks differ by ER, progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), grade, node status, tumor size, and ductal or lobular morphology. We genotyped rs11249433 at 1p.11.2, and two highly correlated SNPs rs999737 and rs10483813 (r2= 0.98) at 14q24.1 (RAD51L1), for up to 46 036 invasive breast cancer cases and 46 930 controls from 39 studies. Analyses by tumor characteristics focused on subjects reporting to be white women of European ancestry and were based on 25 458 cases, of which 87% had ER data. The SNP at 1p11.2 showed significantly stronger associations with ER-positive tumors [per-allele odds ratio (OR) for ER-positive tumors was 1.13, 95% CI = 1.10–1.16 and, for ER-negative tumors, OR was 1.03, 95% CI = 0.98–1.07, case-only P-heterogeneity = 7.6 × 10−5]. The association with ER-positive tumors was stronger for tumors of lower grade (case-only P= 6.7 × 10−3) and lobular histology (case-only P= 0.01). SNPs at 14q24.1 were associated with risk for most tumor subtypes evaluated, including triple-negative breast cancers, which has not been described previously. Our results underscore the need for large pooling efforts with tumor pathology data to help refine risk estimates for SNP associations with susceptibility to different subtypes of breast cancer. PMID:21852249

  5. Corylin increases the sensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma cells to chemotherapy through long noncoding RNA RAD51-AS1-mediated inhibition of DNA repair.

    PubMed

    Chen, Chin-Chuan; Chen, Chi-Yuan; Ueng, Shir-Hwa; Hsueh, Chuen; Yeh, Chau-Ting; Ho, Jar-Yi; Chou, Li-Fang; Wang, Tong-Hong

    2018-05-10

    Corylin, a biologically active agent extracted from Psoralea corylifolia L. (Fabaceae), promotes bone differentiation and inhibits inflammation. Currently, few reports have addressed the biological functions that are regulated by corylin, and to date, no studies have investigated its antitumor activity. In this study, we used cell functional assays to analyze the antitumor activity of corylin in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Furthermore, whole-transcriptome assays were performed to identify the downstream genes that were regulated by corylin, and gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments were conducted to examine the regulatory roles of the above genes. We found that corylin significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells and increased the toxic effects of chemotherapeutic agents against HCC cells. These properties were due to the induction of a long noncoding RNA, RAD51-AS1, which bound to RAD51 mRNA, thereby inhibiting RAD51 protein expression, thus inhibiting the DNA damage repair ability of HCC cells. Animal experiments also showed that a combination treatment with corylin significantly increased the inhibitory effects of the chemotherapeutic agent etoposide (VP16) on tumor growth. These findings indicate that corylin has strong potential as an adjuvant drug in HCC treatment and that corylin can strengthen the therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

  6. Identification of the meiotic toolkit in diatoms and exploration of meiosis-specific SPO11 and RAD51 homologs in the sexual species Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata and Seminavis robusta

    DOE PAGES

    Patil, Shrikant; Moeys, Sara; von Dassow, Peter; ...

    2015-11-14

    Sexual reproduction is an obligate phase in the life cycle of most eukaryotes. Meiosis varies among organisms, which is reflected by the variability of the gene set associated to the process. Diatoms are unicellular organisms that belong to the stramenopile clade and have unique life cycles that can include a sexual phase. The exploration of five diatom genomes and one diatom transcriptome led to the identification of 42 genes potentially involved in meiosis. While these include the majority of known meiosis-related genes, several meiosis-specific genes, including DMC1, could not be identified. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses supported gene identification and revealed ancestralmore » loss and recent expansion in the RAD51 family in diatoms. The two sexual species Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata and Seminavis robusta were used to explore the expression of meiosis-related genes: RAD21, SPO11-2, RAD51-A, RAD51-B and RAD51-C were upregulated during meiosis, whereas other paralogs in these families showed no differential expression patterns, suggesting that they may play a role during vegetative divisions. An almost identical toolkit is shared among Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries and Fragilariopsis cylindrus, as well as two species for which sex has not been observed, Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira pseudonana, suggesting that these two may retain a facultative sexual phase. Lastly, our results reveal the conserved meiotic toolkit in six diatom species and indicate that Stramenopiles share major modifications of canonical meiosis processes ancestral to eukaryotes, with important divergences in each Kingdom.« less

  7. Identification of the meiotic toolkit in diatoms and exploration of meiosis-specific SPO11 and RAD51 homologs in the sexual species Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata and Seminavis robusta

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Patil, Shrikant; Moeys, Sara; von Dassow, Peter

    Sexual reproduction is an obligate phase in the life cycle of most eukaryotes. Meiosis varies among organisms, which is reflected by the variability of the gene set associated to the process. Diatoms are unicellular organisms that belong to the stramenopile clade and have unique life cycles that can include a sexual phase. The exploration of five diatom genomes and one diatom transcriptome led to the identification of 42 genes potentially involved in meiosis. While these include the majority of known meiosis-related genes, several meiosis-specific genes, including DMC1, could not be identified. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses supported gene identification and revealed ancestralmore » loss and recent expansion in the RAD51 family in diatoms. The two sexual species Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata and Seminavis robusta were used to explore the expression of meiosis-related genes: RAD21, SPO11-2, RAD51-A, RAD51-B and RAD51-C were upregulated during meiosis, whereas other paralogs in these families showed no differential expression patterns, suggesting that they may play a role during vegetative divisions. An almost identical toolkit is shared among Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries and Fragilariopsis cylindrus, as well as two species for which sex has not been observed, Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira pseudonana, suggesting that these two may retain a facultative sexual phase. Lastly, our results reveal the conserved meiotic toolkit in six diatom species and indicate that Stramenopiles share major modifications of canonical meiosis processes ancestral to eukaryotes, with important divergences in each Kingdom.« less

  8. Members of the RAD52 Epistasis Group Contribute to Mitochondrial Homologous Recombination and Double-Strand Break Repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Stein, Alexis; Kalifa, Lidza; Sia, Elaine A

    2015-11-01

    Mitochondria contain an independently maintained genome that encodes several proteins required for cellular respiration. Deletions in the mitochondrial genome have been identified that cause several maternally inherited diseases and are associated with certain cancers and neurological disorders. The majority of these deletions in human cells are flanked by short, repetitive sequences, suggesting that these deletions may result from recombination events. Our current understanding of the maintenance and repair of mtDNA is quite limited compared to our understanding of similar events in the nucleus. Many nuclear DNA repair proteins are now known to also localize to mitochondria, but their function and the mechanism of their action remain largely unknown. This study investigated the contribution of the nuclear double-strand break repair (DSBR) proteins Rad51p, Rad52p and Rad59p in mtDNA repair. We have determined that both Rad51p and Rad59p are localized to the matrix of the mitochondria and that Rad51p binds directly to mitochondrial DNA. In addition, a mitochondrially-targeted restriction endonuclease (mtLS-KpnI) was used to produce a unique double-strand break (DSB) in the mitochondrial genome, which allowed direct analysis of DSB repair in vivo in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We find that loss of these three proteins significantly decreases the rate of spontaneous deletion events and the loss of Rad51p and Rad59p impairs the repair of induced mtDNA DSBs.

  9. Members of the RAD52 Epistasis Group Contribute to Mitochondrial Homologous Recombination and Double-Strand Break Repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    PubMed Central

    Stein, Alexis; Kalifa, Lidza; Sia, Elaine A.

    2015-01-01

    Mitochondria contain an independently maintained genome that encodes several proteins required for cellular respiration. Deletions in the mitochondrial genome have been identified that cause several maternally inherited diseases and are associated with certain cancers and neurological disorders. The majority of these deletions in human cells are flanked by short, repetitive sequences, suggesting that these deletions may result from recombination events. Our current understanding of the maintenance and repair of mtDNA is quite limited compared to our understanding of similar events in the nucleus. Many nuclear DNA repair proteins are now known to also localize to mitochondria, but their function and the mechanism of their action remain largely unknown. This study investigated the contribution of the nuclear double-strand break repair (DSBR) proteins Rad51p, Rad52p and Rad59p in mtDNA repair. We have determined that both Rad51p and Rad59p are localized to the matrix of the mitochondria and that Rad51p binds directly to mitochondrial DNA. In addition, a mitochondrially-targeted restriction endonuclease (mtLS-KpnI) was used to produce a unique double-strand break (DSB) in the mitochondrial genome, which allowed direct analysis of DSB repair in vivo in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We find that loss of these three proteins significantly decreases the rate of spontaneous deletion events and the loss of Rad51p and Rad59p impairs the repair of induced mtDNA DSBs. PMID:26540255

  10. Interactions of RadB, a DNA repair protein in archaea, with DNA and ATP.

    PubMed

    Guy, Colin P; Haldenby, Sam; Brindley, Amanda; Walsh, David A; Briggs, Geoffrey S; Warren, Martin J; Allers, Thorsten; Bolt, Edward L

    2006-04-21

    The RecA family of recombinases (RecA, Rad51, RadA and UvsX) catalyse strand-exchange between homologous DNA molecules by utilising conserved DNA-binding modules and a common core ATPase domain. RadB was identified in archaea as a Rad51-like protein on the basis of conserved ATPase sequences. However, RadB does not catalyse strand exchange and does not turn over ATP efficiently. RadB does bind DNA, and here we report a triplet of residues (Lys-His-Arg) that is highly conserved at the RadB C terminus, and is crucial for DNA binding. This is consistent with the motif forming a "basic patch" of highly conserved residues identified in an atomic structure of RadB from Thermococcus kodakaraensis. As the triplet motif is conserved at the C terminus of XRCC2 also, a mammalian Rad51-paralogue, we present a phylogenetic analysis that clarifies the relationship between RadB, Rad51-paralogues and recombinases. We investigate interactions between RadB and ATP using genetics and biochemistry; ATP binding by RadB is needed to promote survival of Haloferax volcanii after UV irradiation, and ATP, but not other NTPs, induces pronounced conformational change in RadB. This is the first genetic analysis of radB, and establishes its importance for maintaining genome stability in archaea. ATP-induced conformational change in RadB may explain previous reports that RadB controls Holliday junction resolution by Hjc, depending on the presence or the absence of ATP.

  11. Germline Mutations in PALB2, BRCA1, and RAD51C, Which Regulate DNA Recombination Repair, in Patients With Gastric Cancer.

    PubMed

    Sahasrabudhe, Ruta; Lott, Paul; Bohorquez, Mabel; Toal, Ted; Estrada, Ana P; Suarez, John J; Brea-Fernández, Alejandro; Cameselle-Teijeiro, José; Pinto, Carla; Ramos, Irma; Mantilla, Alejandra; Prieto, Rodrigo; Corvalan, Alejandro; Norero, Enrique; Alvarez, Carolina; Tapia, Teresa; Carvallo, Pilar; Gonzalez, Luz M; Cock-Rada, Alicia; Solano, Angela; Neffa, Florencia; Della Valle, Adriana; Yau, Chris; Soares, Gabriela; Borowsky, Alexander; Hu, Nan; He, Li-Ji; Han, Xiao-You; Taylor, Philip R; Goldstein, Alisa M; Torres, Javier; Echeverry, Magdalena; Ruiz-Ponte, Clara; Teixeira, Manuel R; Carvajal-Carmona, Luis G

    2017-04-01

    Up to 10% of cases of gastric cancer are familial, but so far, only mutations in CDH1 have been associated with gastric cancer risk. To identify genetic variants that affect risk for gastric cancer, we collected blood samples from 28 patients with hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC) not associated with mutations in CDH1 and performed whole-exome sequence analysis. We then analyzed sequences of candidate genes in 333 independent HDGC and non-HDGC cases. We identified 11 cases with mutations in PALB2, BRCA1, or RAD51C genes, which regulate homologous DNA recombination. We found these mutations in 2 of 31 patients with HDGC (6.5%) and 9 of 331 patients with sporadic gastric cancer (2.8%). Most of these mutations had been previously associated with other types of tumors and partially co-segregated with gastric cancer in our study. Tumors that developed in patients with these mutations had a mutation signature associated with somatic homologous recombination deficiency. Our findings indicate that defects in homologous recombination increase risk for gastric cancer. Copyright © 2017 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Caffeine suppresses homologous recombination through interference with RAD51-mediated joint molecule formation

    PubMed Central

    Zelensky, Alex N.; Sanchez, Humberto; Ristic, Dejan; Vidic, Iztok; van Rossum-Fikkert, Sari E.; Essers, Jeroen; Wyman, Claire; Kanaar, Roland

    2013-01-01

    Caffeine is a widely used inhibitor of the protein kinases that play a central role in the DNA damage response. We used chemical inhibitors and genetically deficient mouse embryonic stem cell lines to study the role of DNA damage response in stable integration of the transfected DNA and found that caffeine rapidly, efficiently and reversibly inhibited homologous integration of the transfected DNA as measured by several homologous recombination-mediated gene-targeting assays. Biochemical and structural biology experiments revealed that caffeine interfered with a pivotal step in homologous recombination, homologous joint molecule formation, through increasing interactions of the RAD51 nucleoprotein filament with non-homologous DNA. Our results suggest that recombination pathways dependent on extensive homology search are caffeine-sensitive and stress the importance of considering direct checkpoint-independent mechanisms in the interpretation of the effects of caffeine on DNA repair. PMID:23666627

  13. Frequency of pathogenic germline mutation in CHEK2, PALB2, MRE11, and RAD50 in patients at high risk for hereditary breast cancer.

    PubMed

    Kim, Haeyoung; Cho, Dae-Yeon; Choi, Doo Ho; Oh, Mijin; Shin, Inkyung; Park, Won; Huh, Seung Jae; Nam, Seok Jin; Lee, Jeong Eon; Kim, Seok Won

    2017-01-01

    This study was performed to evaluate the frequency of mutations in CHEK2, PALB2, MRE11, and RAD50 among Korean patients at high risk for hereditary breast cancer. A total of 235 Korean patients with hereditary breast cancer who tested negative for BRCA1/2 mutation were enrolled to this study. Entire coding regions of CHEK2, PALB2, MRE11, and RAD50 were analyzed using massively parallel sequencing (MPS). Sequence variants detected by MPS were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Six patients (2.5 %) were found to have pathogenic variants in CHEK2 (n = 1), PALB2 (n = 2), MRE11 (n = 1), and RAD50 (n = 2). Among the pathogenic variants, PALB2 c.2257C>T was previously reported in other studies, while CHEK2 c.1245dupC, PALB2 c.1048C>T, MRE11 c.1773_1774delAA, RAD50 c.1276C>T, and RAD50 c.3811_3813delGAA were newly identified in this study. A total of 15 missense variants were found in the four genes among 26 patients; 7 patients had a variant in CHEK2, 11 in PALB2, 2 in MRE11, and 6 in RAD50. When in silico analyses were performed to the 15 missense variants, six variants (CHEK2 c.686A>G, PALB2 c.1492G>T, PALB2 c.3054G>C, MRE11 c.140C>T, RAD50 c.1456C>T, and RAD50 c.3790C>T) were predicted to be deleterious. Pathogenic variants in CHEK2, PALB2, MRE11, and RAD50 were detected in a small proportion of Korean patients with features of hereditary breast cancer.

  14. Casein kinase 2 promotes interaction between Rad17 and the 9-1-1 complex through constitutive phosphorylation of the C-terminal tail of human Rad17.

    PubMed

    Fukumoto, Yasunori; Takahashi, Kazuaki; Suzuki, Noriyuki; Ogra, Yasumitsu; Nakayama, Yuji; Yamaguchi, Naoto

    2018-06-15

    An interaction between the Rad17-RFC2-5 and 9-1-1 complexes is essential for ATR-Chk1 signaling, which is one of the major DNA damage checkpoints. Recently, we showed that the polyanionic C-terminal tail of human Rad17 and the embedded conserved sequence iVERGE are important for the interaction with 9-1-1 complex. Here, we show that Rad17-S667 in the C-terminal tail is constitutively phosphorylated in vivo in a casein kinase 2-dependent manner, and the phosphorylation is important for 9-1-1 interaction. The serine phosphorylation of Rad17 could be seen in the absence of exogenous genotoxic stress, and was mostly abolished by S667A substitution. Rad17-S667 was also phosphorylated when the C-terminal tail was fused with EGFP, but the phosphorylation was inhibited by two casein kinase 2 inhibitors. Furthermore, interaction between Rad17 and the 9-1-1 complex was inhibited by the casein kinase 2 inhibitor CX-4945/Silmitasertib, and the effect was dependent on the Rad17-S667 residue, indicating that S667 phosphorylation is the only role of casein kinase 2 in the 9-1-1 interaction. Our data raise the possibility that the C-terminal tail of vertebrate Rad17 regulates ATR-Chk1 signaling through multi-site phosphorylation in the iVERGE. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Three New Structures of Left-Handed RadA Helical Filaments: Structural Flexibility of N-Terminal Domain Is Critical for Recombinase Activity

    PubMed Central

    Chang, Yu-Wei; Ko, Tzu-Ping; Lee, Chien-Der; Chang, Yuan-Chih; Lin, Kuei-Ann; Chang, Chia-Seng; Wang, Andrew H.-J.; Wang, Ting-Fang

    2009-01-01

    RecA family proteins, including bacterial RecA, archaeal RadA, and eukaryotic Dmc1 and Rad51, mediate homologous recombination, a reaction essential for maintaining genome integrity. In the presence of ATP, these proteins bind a single-strand DNA to form a right-handed nucleoprotein filament, which catalyzes pairing and strand exchange with a homologous double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), by as-yet unknown mechanisms. We recently reported a structure of RadA left-handed helical filament, and here present three new structures of RadA left-handed helical filaments. Comparative structural analysis between different RadA/Rad51 helical filaments reveals that the N-terminal domain (NTD) of RadA/Rad51, implicated in dsDNA binding, is highly flexible. We identify a hinge region between NTD and polymerization motif as responsible for rigid body movement of NTD. Mutant analysis further confirms that structural flexibility of NTD is essential for RadA's recombinase activity. These results support our previous hypothesis that ATP-dependent axial rotation of RadA nucleoprotein helical filament promotes homologous recombination. PMID:19295907

  16. CRISPR Technology Reveals RAD(51)-ical Mechanisms of Repair in Roundworms: An Educational Primer for Use with "Promotion of Homologous Recombination by SWS-1 in Complex with RAD-51 Paralogs in Caenorhabditis elegans".

    PubMed

    Turcotte, Carolyn A; Andrews, Nicolas P; Sloat, Solomon A; Checchi, Paula M

    2016-11-01

    The mechanisms cells use to maintain genetic fidelity via DNA repair and the accuracy of these processes have garnered interest from scientists engaged in basic research to clinicians seeking improved treatment for cancer patients. Despite the continued advances, many details of DNA repair are still incompletely understood. In addition, the inherent complexity of DNA repair processes, even at the most fundamental level, makes it a challenging topic. This primer is meant to assist both educators and students in using a recent paper, "Promotion of homologous recombination by SWS-1 in complex with RAD-51 paralogs in Caenorhabditis elegans," to understand mechanisms of DNA repair. The goals of this primer are to highlight and clarify several key techniques utilized, with special emphasis on the clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats technique and the ways in which it has revolutionized genetics research, as well as to provide questions for deeper in-class discussion. Copyright © 2016 by the Genetics Society of America.

  17. Gene and pathway level analyses of germline DNA-repair gene variants and prostate cancer susceptibility using the iCOGS-genotyping array.

    PubMed

    Saunders, Edward J; Dadaev, Tokhir; Leongamornlert, Daniel A; Al Olama, Ali Amin; Benlloch, Sara; Giles, Graham G; Wiklund, Fredrik; Gronberg, Henrik; Haiman, Christopher A; Schleutker, Johanna; Nordestgaard, Borge G; Travis, Ruth C; Neal, David; Pasayan, Nora; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Stanford, Janet L; Blot, William J; Thibodeau, Stephen N; Maier, Christiane; Kibel, Adam S; Cybulski, Cezary; Cannon-Albright, Lisa; Brenner, Hermann; Park, Jong Y; Kaneva, Radka; Batra, Jyotsna; Teixeira, Manuel R; Pandha, Hardev; Govindasami, Koveela; Muir, Ken; Easton, Douglas F; Eeles, Rosalind A; Kote-Jarai, Zsofia

    2016-04-12

    Germline mutations within DNA-repair genes are implicated in susceptibility to multiple forms of cancer. For prostate cancer (PrCa), rare mutations in BRCA2 and BRCA1 give rise to moderately elevated risk, whereas two of B100 common, low-penetrance PrCa susceptibility variants identified so far by genome-wide association studies implicate RAD51B and RAD23B. Genotype data from the iCOGS array were imputed to the 1000 genomes phase 3 reference panel for 21 780 PrCa cases and 21 727 controls from the Prostate Cancer Association Group to Investigate Cancer Associated Alterations in the Genome (PRACTICAL) consortium. We subsequently performed single variant, gene and pathway-level analyses using 81 303 SNPs within 20 Kb of a panel of 179 DNA-repair genes. Single SNP analyses identified only the previously reported association with RAD51B. Gene-level analyses using the SKAT-C test from the SNP-set (Sequence) Kernel Association Test (SKAT) identified a significant association with PrCa for MSH5. Pathway-level analyses suggested a possible role for the translesion synthesis pathway in PrCa risk and Homologous recombination/Fanconi Anaemia pathway for PrCa aggressiveness, even though after adjustment for multiple testing these did not remain significant. MSH5 is a novel candidate gene warranting additional follow-up as a prospective PrCa-risk locus. MSH5 has previously been reported as a pleiotropic susceptibility locus for lung, colorectal and serous ovarian cancers.

  18. Prevalence of deleterious germline variants in risk genes including BRCA1/2 in consecutive ovarian cancer patients (AGO-TR-1)

    PubMed Central

    Hauke, Jan; Heitz, Florian; Reuss, Alexander; Kommoss, Stefan; Marmé, Frederik; Heimbach, André; Prieske, Katharina; Richters, Lisa; Burges, Alexander; Neidhardt, Guido; de Gregorio, Nikolaus; El-Balat, Ahmed; Hilpert, Felix; Meier, Werner; Kimmig, Rainer; Kast, Karin; Sehouli, Jalid; Baumann, Klaus; Jackisch, Christian; Park-Simon, Tjoung-Won; Hanker, Lars; Kröber, Sandra; Pfisterer, Jacobus; Gevensleben, Heidrun; Schnelzer, Andreas; Dietrich, Dimo; Neunhöffer, Tanja; Krockenberger, Mathias; Brucker, Sara Y.; Nürnberg, Peter; Thiele, Holger; Altmüller, Janine; Lamla, Josefin; Elser, Gabriele; du Bois, Andreas; Hahnen, Eric; Schmutzler, Rita

    2017-01-01

    Background Identification of families at risk for ovarian cancer offers the opportunity to consider prophylactic surgery thus reducing ovarian cancer mortality. So far, identification of potentially affected families in Germany was solely performed via family history and numbers of affected family members with breast or ovarian cancer. However, neither the prevalence of deleterious variants in BRCA1/2 in ovarian cancer in Germany nor the reliability of family history as trigger for genetic counselling has ever been evaluated. Methods Prospective counseling and germline testing of consecutive patients with primary diagnosis or with platinum-sensitive relapse of an invasive epithelial ovarian cancer. Testing included 25 candidate and established risk genes. Among these 25 genes, 16 genes (ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CDH1, CHEK2, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, NBN, PMS2, PTEN, PALB2, RAD51C, RAD51D, STK11, TP53) were defined as established cancer risk genes. A positive family history was defined as at least one relative with breast cancer or ovarian cancer or breast cancer in personal history. Results In total, we analyzed 523 patients: 281 patients with primary diagnosis of ovarian cancer and 242 patients with relapsed disease. Median age at primary diagnosis was 58 years (range 16–93) and 406 patients (77.6%) had a high-grade serous ovarian cancer. In total, 27.9% of the patients showed at least one deleterious variant in all 25 investigated genes and 26.4% in the defined 16 risk genes. Deleterious variants were most prevalent in the BRCA1 (15.5%), BRCA2 (5.5%), RAD51C (2.5%) and PALB2 (1.1%) genes. The prevalence of deleterious variants did not differ significantly between patients at primary diagnosis and relapse. The prevalence of deleterious variants in BRCA1/2 (and in all 16 risk genes) in patients <60 years was 30.2% (33.2%) versus 10.6% (18.9%) in patients ≥60 years. Family history was positive in 43% of all patients. Patients with a positive family history had a prevalence of

  19. Prolonged Particulate Hexavalent Chromium Exposure Suppresses Homologous Recombination Repair in Human Lung Cells

    PubMed Central

    Browning, Cynthia L.; Qin, Qin; Kelly, Deborah F.; Prakash, Rohit; Vanoli, Fabio; Jasin, Maria

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Genomic instability is one of the primary models of carcinogenesis and a feature of almost all cancers. Homologous recombination (HR) repair protects against genomic instability by maintaining high genomic fidelity during the repair of DNA double strand breaks. The defining step of HR repair is the formation of the Rad51 nucleofilament, which facilitates the search for a homologous sequence and invasion of the template DNA strand. Particulate hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), a human lung carcinogen, induces DNA double strand breaks and chromosome instability. Since the loss of HR repair increases Cr(VI)-induced chromosome instability, we investigated the effect of extended Cr(VI) exposure on HR repair. We show acute (24 h) Cr(VI) exposure induces a normal HR repair response. In contrast, prolonged (120 h) exposure to particulate Cr(VI) inhibited HR repair and Rad51 nucleofilament formation. Prolonged Cr(VI) exposure had a profound effect on Rad51, evidenced by reduced protein levels and Rad51 mislocalization to the cytoplasm. The response of proteins involved in Rad51 nuclear import and nucleofilament formation displayed varying responses to prolonged Cr(VI) exposure. BRCA2 formed nuclear foci after prolonged Cr(VI) exposure, while Rad51C foci formation was suppressed. These results suggest that particulate Cr(VI), a major chemical carcinogen, inhibits HR repair by targeting Rad51, causing DNA double strand breaks to be repaired by a low fidelity, Rad51-independent repair pathway. These results further enhance our understanding of the underlying mechanism of Cr(VI)-induced chromosome instability and thus, carcinogenesis. PMID:27449664

  20. Mutations in RAD21 Disrupt Regulation of APOB in Patients with Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-obstruction

    PubMed Central

    Bonora, Elena; Bianco, Francesca; Cordeddu, Lina; Bamshad, Michael; Francescatto, Ludmila; Dowless, Dustin; Stanghellini, Vincenzo; Cogliandro, Rosanna F.; Lindberg, Greger; Mungan, Zeynel; Cefle, Kivanc; Ozcelik, Tayfun; Palanduz, Sukru; Ozturk, Sukru; Gedikbasi, Asuman; Gori, Alessandra; Pippucci, Tommaso; Graziano, Claudio; Volta, Umberto; Caio, Giacomo; Barbara, Giovanni; D'Amato, Mauro; Seri, Marco; Katsanis, Nicholas; Romeo, Giovanni; De Giorgio, Roberto

    2015-01-01

    Background & Aims Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is characterized by severe intestinal dysmotility that mimicks a mechanical sub-occlusion with no evidence of gut obstruction. We searched for genetic variants associated with CIPO to increase our understanding of its pathogenesis and indentify potential biomarkers. Methods We performed whole-exome sequencing of genomic DNA from patients with familial CIPO syndrome. Blood and lymphoblastoid cells were collected from patients and controls (individuals without CIPO); levels of mRNA and proteins were analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription PCR, immunoblot, and mobility shift assays. cDNAs were transfected into HEK293 cells. Expression of rad21 was suppressed in zebrafish embryos using a splice-blocking morpholino (rad21a MO). Gut tissues were collected and analyzed. Results We identified a homozygous mutation (p.622, encodes Ala>Thr) in RAD21 in patients from a consanguineous family with CIPO. Expression of RUNX1, a target of RAD21, was reduced in cells from patients with CIPO compared with controls. In zebrafish, suppression of rad21a reduced expression of runx1; this phenotype was corrected by injection of human RAD21 mRNA, but not with the mRNA from the mutated p.622 allele. rad21a MO zebrafish had delayed intestinal transit and greatly reduced numbers of enteric neurons, similar to patients with CIPO. This defect was greater in zebrafish with suppressed expression of ret and rad21, indicating their interaction in regulation of gut neurogenesis. The promoter region of APOB bound RAD21 but not RAD21 p.622 Ala>Thr; expression of wild-type RAD21 in HEK293 cells repressed expression of APOB, compared with control vector. The gut-specific isoform of APOB (APOB48) is overexpressed in sera from patients with CIPO who carry the RAD21 mutation. APOB48 is also overexpressed in sporadic CIPO in sera and gut biopsies. Conclusions Some patients with CIPO carry mutations in RAD21 that disrupt the ability of

  1. E3 ligase Rad18 promotes monoubiquitination rather than ubiquitin chain formation by E2 enzyme Rad6

    PubMed Central

    Hibbert, Richard G.; Huang, Anding; Boelens, Rolf; Sixma, Titia K.

    2011-01-01

    In ubiquitin conjugation, different combinations of E2 and E3 enzymes catalyse either monoubiquitination or ubiquitin chain formation. The E2/E3 complex Rad6/Rad18 exclusively monoubiquitinates the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) to signal for “error prone” DNA damage tolerance, whereas a different set of conjugation enzymes is required for ubiquitin chain formation on PCNA. Here we show that human E2 enzyme Rad6b is intrinsically capable of catalyzing ubiquitin chain formation. This activity is prevented during PCNA ubiquitination by the interaction of Rad6 with E3 enzyme Rad18. Using NMR and X-ray crystallography we show that the R6BD of Rad18 inhibits this activity by competing with ubiquitin for a noncovalent “backside” binding site on Rad6. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into how E3 enzymes can regulate the ubiquitin conjugation process. PMID:21422291

  2. Human papillomavirus type-16 variants in Quechua aboriginals from Argentina.

    PubMed

    Picconi, María Alejandra; Alonio, Lidia Virginia; Sichero, Laura; Mbayed, Viviana; Villa, Luisa Lina; Gronda, Jorge; Campos, Rodolfo; Teyssié, Angélica

    2003-04-01

    Cervical carcinoma is the leading cause of cancer death in Quechua indians from Jujuy (northwestern Argentina). To determine the prevalence of HPV-16 variants, 106 HPV-16 positive cervical samples were studied, including 33 low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), 28 high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL), 9 invasive cervical cancer (ICC), and 36 samples from women with normal colposcopy and cytology. HPV genome variability was examined in the L1 and E6 genes by PCR-hybridization. In a subset of 20 samples, a LCR fragment was also analyzed by PCR-sequencing. Most variants belonged to the European branch with subtle differences that depended on the viral gene fragment studied. Only about 10% of the specimens had non-European variants, including eight Asian-American, two Asian, and one North-American-1. E6 gene analysis revealed that 43% of the samples were identical to HPV-16 prototype, while 57% corresponded to variants. Interestingly, the majority (87%) of normal smears had HPV-16 prototype, whereas variants were detected mainly in SIL and ICC. LCR sequencing yielded 80% of variants, including 69% of European, 19% Asian-American, and 12% Asian. We identified a new variant, the Argentine Quechua-51 (AQ-51), similar to B-14 plus two additional changes: G7842-->A and A7837-->C; phylogenetic inference allocated it in the Asian-American branch. The high proportion of European variants may reflect Spanish colonial influence on these native Inca descendants. The predominance of HPV-16 variants in pathologic samples when compared to normal controls could have implications for the natural history of cervical lesions. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  3. RRP6/EXOSC10 is required for the repair of DNA double-strand breaks by homologous recombination.

    PubMed

    Marin-Vicente, Consuelo; Domingo-Prim, Judit; Eberle, Andrea B; Visa, Neus

    2015-03-15

    The exosome acts on different RNA substrates and plays important roles in RNA metabolism. The fact that short non-coding RNAs are involved in the DNA damage response led us to investigate whether the exosome factor RRP6 of Drosophila melanogaster and its human ortholog EXOSC10 play a role in DNA repair. Here, we show that RRP6 and EXOSC10 are recruited to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in S2 cells and HeLa cells, respectively. Depletion of RRP6/EXOSC10 does not interfere with the phosphorylation of the histone variant H2Av (Drosophila) or H2AX (humans), but impairs the recruitment of the homologous recombination factor RAD51 to the damaged sites, without affecting RAD51 levels. The recruitment of RAD51 to DSBs in S2 cells is also inhibited by overexpression of RRP6-Y361A-V5, a catalytically inactive RRP6 mutant. Furthermore, cells depleted of RRP6 or EXOSC10 are more sensitive to radiation, which is consistent with RRP6/EXOSC10 playing a role in DNA repair. RRP6/EXOSC10 can be co-immunoprecipitated with RAD51, which links RRP6/EXOSC10 to the homologous recombination pathway. Taken together, our results suggest that the ribonucleolytic activity of RRP6/EXOSC10 is required for the recruitment of RAD51 to DSBs. © 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  4. Discriminatory power of common genetic variants in personalized breast cancer diagnosis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Yirong; Abbey, Craig K.; Liu, Jie; Ong, Irene; Peissig, Peggy; Onitilo, Adedayo A.; Fan, Jun; Yuan, Ming; Burnside, Elizabeth S.

    2016-03-01

    Technology advances in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has engendered optimism that we have entered a new age of precision medicine, in which the risk of breast cancer can be predicted on the basis of a person's genetic variants. The goal of this study is to evaluate the discriminatory power of common genetic variants in breast cancer risk estimation. We conducted a retrospective case-control study drawing from an existing personalized medicine data repository. We collected variables that predict breast cancer risk: 153 high-frequency/low-penetrance genetic variants, reflecting the state-of-the-art GWAS on breast cancer, mammography descriptors and BI-RADS assessment categories in the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) lexicon. We trained and tested naïve Bayes models by using these predictive variables. We generated ROC curves and used the area under the ROC curve (AUC) to quantify predictive performance. We found that genetic variants achieved comparable predictive performance to BI-RADS assessment categories in terms of AUC (0.650 vs. 0.659, p-value = 0.742), but significantly lower predictive performance than the combination of BI-RADS assessment categories and mammography descriptors (0.650 vs. 0.751, p-value < 0.001). A better understanding of relative predictive capability of genetic variants and mammography data may benefit clinicians and patients to make appropriate decisions about breast cancer screening, prevention, and treatment in the era of precision medicine.

  5. Specific absorbed fractions of electrons and photons for Rad-HUMAN phantom using Monte Carlo method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Wen; Cheng, Meng-Yun; Long, Peng-Cheng; Hu, Li-Qin

    2015-07-01

    The specific absorbed fractions (SAF) for self- and cross-irradiation are effective tools for the internal dose estimation of inhalation and ingestion intakes of radionuclides. A set of SAFs of photons and electrons were calculated using the Rad-HUMAN phantom, which is a computational voxel phantom of a Chinese adult female that was created using the color photographic image of the Chinese Visible Human (CVH) data set by the FDS Team. The model can represent most Chinese adult female anatomical characteristics and can be taken as an individual phantom to investigate the difference of internal dose with Caucasians. In this study, the emission of mono-energetic photons and electrons of 10 keV to 4 MeV energy were calculated using the Monte Carlo particle transport calculation code MCNP. Results were compared with the values from ICRP reference and ORNL models. The results showed that SAF from the Rad-HUMAN have similar trends but are larger than those from the other two models. The differences were due to the racial and anatomical differences in organ mass and inter-organ distance. The SAFs based on the Rad-HUMAN phantom provide an accurate and reliable data for internal radiation dose calculations for Chinese females. Supported by Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA03040000), National Natural Science Foundation of China (910266004, 11305205, 11305203) and National Special Program for ITER (2014GB112001)

  6. Prolonged Particulate Hexavalent Chromium Exposure Suppresses Homologous Recombination Repair in Human Lung Cells.

    PubMed

    Browning, Cynthia L; Qin, Qin; Kelly, Deborah F; Prakash, Rohit; Vanoli, Fabio; Jasin, Maria; Wise, John Pierce

    2016-09-01

    Genomic instability is one of the primary models of carcinogenesis and a feature of almost all cancers. Homologous recombination (HR) repair protects against genomic instability by maintaining high genomic fidelity during the repair of DNA double strand breaks. The defining step of HR repair is the formation of the Rad51 nucleofilament, which facilitates the search for a homologous sequence and invasion of the template DNA strand. Particulate hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), a human lung carcinogen, induces DNA double strand breaks and chromosome instability. Since the loss of HR repair increases Cr(VI)-induced chromosome instability, we investigated the effect of extended Cr(VI) exposure on HR repair. We show acute (24 h) Cr(VI) exposure induces a normal HR repair response. In contrast, prolonged (120 h) exposure to particulate Cr(VI) inhibited HR repair and Rad51 nucleofilament formation. Prolonged Cr(VI) exposure had a profound effect on Rad51, evidenced by reduced protein levels and Rad51 mislocalization to the cytoplasm. The response of proteins involved in Rad51 nuclear import and nucleofilament formation displayed varying responses to prolonged Cr(VI) exposure. BRCA2 formed nuclear foci after prolonged Cr(VI) exposure, while Rad51C foci formation was suppressed. These results suggest that particulate Cr(VI), a major chemical carcinogen, inhibits HR repair by targeting Rad51, causing DNA double strand breaks to be repaired by a low fidelity, Rad51-independent repair pathway. These results further enhance our understanding of the underlying mechanism of Cr(VI)-induced chromosome instability and thus, carcinogenesis. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  7. Rad-deletion Phenocopies Tonic Sympathetic Stimulation of the Heart.

    PubMed

    Levitan, Bryana M; Manning, Janet R; Withers, Catherine N; Smith, Jeffrey D; Shaw, Robin M; Andres, Douglas A; Sorrell, Vincent L; Satin, Jonathan

    2016-12-01

    Sympathetic stimulation modulates L-type calcium channel (LTCC) gating to contribute to increased systolic heart function. Rad is a monomeric G-protein that interacts with LTCC. Genetic deletion of Rad (Rad -/- ) renders LTCC in a sympathomimetic state. The study goal was to use a clinically inspired pharmacological stress echocardiography test, including analysis of global strain, to determine whether Rad -/- confers tonic positive inotropic heart function. Sarcomere dynamics and strain showed partial parallel isoproterenol (ISO) responsiveness for wild-type (WT) and for Rad -/- . Rad -/- basal inotropy was elevated compared to WT but was less responsiveness to ISO. Rad protein levels were lower in human patients with end-stage non-ischemic heart failure. These results show that Rad reduction provides a stable inotropic response rooted in sarcomere level function. Thus, reduced Rad levels in heart failure patients may be a compensatory response to need for increased output in the setting of HF. Rad deletion suggests a future therapeutic direction for inotropic support.

  8. Analysis of the entire genomes of torque teno midi virus variants in chimpanzees: infrequent cross-species infection between humans and chimpanzees.

    PubMed

    Ninomiya, Masashi; Takahashi, Masaharu; Hoshino, Yu; Ichiyama, Koji; Simmonds, Peter; Okamoto, Hiroaki

    2009-02-01

    Humans are frequently infected with three anelloviruses which have circular DNA genomes of 3.6-3.9 kb [Torque teno virus (TTV)], 2.8-2.9 kb [Torque teno mini virus (TTMV)] and 3.2 kb [a recently discovered anellovirus named Torque teno midi virus (TTMDV)]. Unexpectedly, human TTMDV DNA was not detectable in any of 74 chimpanzees tested, although all but one tested positive for both human TTV and TTMV DNA. Using universal primers for anelloviruses, novel variants of TTMDV that are phylogenetically clearly separate from human TTMDV were identified from chimpanzees, and over the entire genome, three chimpanzee TTMDV variants differed by 17.9-20.3 % from each other and by 40.4-43.6 % from all 18 reported human TTMDVs. A newly developed PCR assay that uses chimpanzee TTMDV-specific primers revealed the high prevalence of chimpanzee TTMDV in chimpanzees (63/74, 85 %) but low prevalence in humans (1/100). While variants of TTV and TTMV from chimpanzees and humans were phylogenetically interspersed, those of TTMDV were monophyletic for each species, with sequence diversity of <33 and <20 % within the 18 human and three chimpanzee TTMDV variants, respectively. Maximum within-group divergence values for TTV and TTMV were 51 and 57 %, respectively; both of these values were substantially greater than the maximum divergence among TTMDV variants (44 %), consistent with a later evolutionary emergence of TTMDV. However, substantiation of this hypothesis will require further analysis of genetic diversity using an expanded dataset of TTMDV variants in humans and chimpanzees. Similarly, the underlying mechanism of observed infrequent cross-species infection of TTMDV between humans and chimpanzees deserves further analysis.

  9. Single Cell Analysis of Human RAD18-Dependent DNA Post-Replication Repair by Alkaline Bromodeoxyuridine Comet Assay

    PubMed Central

    Mórocz, Mónika; Gali, Himabindu; Raskó, István; Downes, C. Stephen; Haracska, Lajos

    2013-01-01

    Damage to DNA can block replication progression resulting in gaps in the newly synthesized DNA. Cells utilize a number of post-replication repair (PRR) mechanisms such as the RAD18 controlled translesion synthesis or template switching to overcome the discontinuities formed opposite the DNA lesions and to complete DNA replication. Gaining more insights into the role of PRR genes promotes better understanding of DNA damage tolerance and of how their malfunction can lead to increased genome instability and cancer. However, a simple and efficient method to characterise gene specific PRR deficiencies at a single cell level has not been developed. Here we describe the so named BrdU comet PRR assay to test the contribution of human RAD18 to PRR at a single cell level, by which we kinetically characterized the consequences of the deletion of human RAD18 on the replication of UV-damaged DNA. Moreover, we demonstrate the capability of our method to evaluate PRR at a single cell level in unsynchronized cell population. PMID:23936422

  10. Rad GTPase Deficiency Leads to Cardiac Hypertrophy

    PubMed Central

    Tseng, Yu-Hua; Xie, Chang-Qing; Ilany, Jacob; Brüning, Jens C.; Sun, Zhongcui; Zhu, Xiaojun; Cui, Taixing; Youker, Keith A.; Yang, Qinglin; Day, Sharlene M.; Kahn, C. Ronald; Chen, Y. Eugene

    2014-01-01

    Background Rad (Ras associated with diabetes) GTPase is the prototypic member of a subfamily of Ras-related small G proteins. The aim of the present study was to define whether Rad plays an important role in mediating cardiac hypertrophy. Methods and Results We document for the first time that levels of Rad mRNA and protein were decreased significantly in human failing hearts (n=10) compared with normal hearts (n=3; P<0.01). Similarly, Rad expression was decreased significantly in cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload and in cultured cardiomyocytes with hypertrophy induced by 10 μmol/L phenylephrine. Gain and loss of Rad function in cardiomyocytes significantly inhibited and increased phenylephrine-induced hypertrophy, respectively. In addition, activation of calcium-calmodulin–dependent kinase II (CaMKII), a strong inducer of cardiac hypertrophy, was significantly inhibited by Rad overexpression. Conversely, downregulation of CaMKIIδ by RNA interference technology attenuated the phenylephrine-induced hypertrophic response in cardiomyocytes in which Rad was also knocked down. To further elucidate the potential role of Rad in vivo, we generated Rad-deficient mice and demonstrated that they were more susceptible to cardiac hypertrophy associated with increased CaMKII phosphorylation than wild-type littermate controls. Conclusions The present data document for the first time that Rad is a novel mediator that inhibits cardiac hypertrophy through the CaMKII pathway. The present study will have significant implications for understanding the mechanisms of cardiac hypertrophy and setting the basis for the development of new strategies for treatment of cardiac hypertrophy. PMID:18056528

  11. Guidelines for investigating causality of sequence variants in human disease

    PubMed Central

    MacArthur, D. G.; Manolio, T. A.; Dimmock, D. P.; Rehm, H. L.; Shendure, J.; Abecasis, G. R.; Adams, D. R.; Altman, R. B.; Antonarakis, S. E.; Ashley, E. A.; Barrett, J. C.; Biesecker, L. G.; Conrad, D. F.; Cooper, G. M.; Cox, N. J.; Daly, M. J.; Gerstein, M. B.; Goldstein, D. B.; Hirschhorn, J. N.; Leal, S. M.; Pennacchio, L. A.; Stamatoyannopoulos, J. A.; Sunyaev, S. R.; Valle, D.; Voight, B. F.; Winckler, W.; Gunter, C.

    2014-01-01

    The discovery of rare genetic variants is accelerating, and clear guidelines for distinguishing disease-causing sequence variants from the many potentially functional variants present in any human genome are urgently needed. Without rigorous standards we risk an acceleration of false-positive reports of causality, which would impede the translation of genomic research findings into the clinical diagnostic setting and hinder biological understanding of disease. Here we discuss the key challenges of assessing sequence variants in human disease, integrating both gene-level and variant-level support for causality. We propose guidelines for summarizing confidence in variant pathogenicity and highlight several areas that require further resource development. PMID:24759409

  12. Guidelines for investigating causality of sequence variants in human disease.

    PubMed

    MacArthur, D G; Manolio, T A; Dimmock, D P; Rehm, H L; Shendure, J; Abecasis, G R; Adams, D R; Altman, R B; Antonarakis, S E; Ashley, E A; Barrett, J C; Biesecker, L G; Conrad, D F; Cooper, G M; Cox, N J; Daly, M J; Gerstein, M B; Goldstein, D B; Hirschhorn, J N; Leal, S M; Pennacchio, L A; Stamatoyannopoulos, J A; Sunyaev, S R; Valle, D; Voight, B F; Winckler, W; Gunter, C

    2014-04-24

    The discovery of rare genetic variants is accelerating, and clear guidelines for distinguishing disease-causing sequence variants from the many potentially functional variants present in any human genome are urgently needed. Without rigorous standards we risk an acceleration of false-positive reports of causality, which would impede the translation of genomic research findings into the clinical diagnostic setting and hinder biological understanding of disease. Here we discuss the key challenges of assessing sequence variants in human disease, integrating both gene-level and variant-level support for causality. We propose guidelines for summarizing confidence in variant pathogenicity and highlight several areas that require further resource development.

  13. Prevalence of pathogenic germline variants detected by multigene sequencing in unselected Japanese patients with ovarian cancer

    PubMed Central

    Hirasawa, Akira; Imoto, Issei; Naruto, Takuya; Akahane, Tomoko; Yamagami, Wataru; Nomura, Hiroyuki; Masuda, Kiyoshi; Susumu, Nobuyuki; Tsuda, Hitoshi; Aoki, Daisuke

    2017-01-01

    Pathogenic germline BRCA1, BRCA2 (BRCA1/2), and several other gene variants predispose women to primary ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal carcinoma (OC), although variant frequency and relevance information is scarce in Japanese women with OC. Using targeted panel sequencing, we screened 230 unselected Japanese women with OC from our hospital-based cohort for pathogenic germline variants in 75 or 79 OC-associated genes. Pathogenic variants of 11 genes were identified in 41 (17.8%) women: 19 (8.3%; BRCA1), 8 (3.5%; BRCA2), 6 (2.6%; mismatch repair genes), 3 (1.3%; RAD51D), 2 (0.9%; ATM), 1 (0.4%; MRE11A), 1 (FANCC), and 1 (GABRA6). Carriers of BRCA1/2 or any other tested gene pathogenic variants were more likely to be diagnosed younger, have first or second-degree relatives with OC, and have OC classified as high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). After adjustment for these variables, all 3 features were independent predictive factors for pathogenic variants in any tested genes whereas only the latter two remained for variants in BRCA1/2. Our data indicate similar variant prevalence in Japanese patients with OC and other ethnic groups and suggest that HGSC and OC family history may facilitate genetic predisposition prediction in Japanese patients with OC and referring high-risk patients for genetic counseling and testing. PMID:29348823

  14. Prevalence of pathogenic germline variants detected by multigene sequencing in unselected Japanese patients with ovarian cancer.

    PubMed

    Hirasawa, Akira; Imoto, Issei; Naruto, Takuya; Akahane, Tomoko; Yamagami, Wataru; Nomura, Hiroyuki; Masuda, Kiyoshi; Susumu, Nobuyuki; Tsuda, Hitoshi; Aoki, Daisuke

    2017-12-22

    Pathogenic germline BRCA1 , BRCA2 ( BRCA1/2 ), and several other gene variants predispose women to primary ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal carcinoma (OC), although variant frequency and relevance information is scarce in Japanese women with OC. Using targeted panel sequencing, we screened 230 unselected Japanese women with OC from our hospital-based cohort for pathogenic germline variants in 75 or 79 OC-associated genes. Pathogenic variants of 11 genes were identified in 41 (17.8%) women: 19 (8.3%; BRCA1 ), 8 (3.5%; BRCA2 ), 6 (2.6%; mismatch repair genes), 3 (1.3%; RAD51D ), 2 (0.9%; ATM ), 1 (0.4%; MRE11A ), 1 ( FANCC ), and 1 ( GABRA6 ). Carriers of BRCA1/2 or any other tested gene pathogenic variants were more likely to be diagnosed younger, have first or second-degree relatives with OC, and have OC classified as high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). After adjustment for these variables, all 3 features were independent predictive factors for pathogenic variants in any tested genes whereas only the latter two remained for variants in BRCA1/2 . Our data indicate similar variant prevalence in Japanese patients with OC and other ethnic groups and suggest that HGSC and OC family history may facilitate genetic predisposition prediction in Japanese patients with OC and referring high-risk patients for genetic counseling and testing.

  15. Rad-deletion Phenocopies Tonic Sympathetic Stimulation of the Heart

    PubMed Central

    Levitan, Bryana M.; Manning, Janet R.; Withers, Catherine N.; Smith, Jeffrey D.; Shaw, Robin M.; Andres, Douglas A.; Sorrell, Vincent L.

    2016-01-01

    Sympathetic stimulation modulates L-type calcium channel (LTCC) gating to contribute to increased systolic heart function. Rad is a monomeric G-protein that interacts with LTCC. Genetic deletion of Rad (Rad−/−) renders LTCC in a sympathomimetic state. The study goal was to use a clinically inspired pharmacological stress echocardiography test, including analysis of global strain, to determine whether Rad−/− confers tonic positive inotropic heart function. Sarcomere dynamics and strain showed partial parallel isoproterenol (ISO) responsiveness for wild-type (WT) and for Rad−/−. Rad−/− basal inotropy was elevated compared to WT but was less responsiveness to ISO. Rad protein levels were lower in human patients with end-stage non-ischemic heart failure. These results show that Rad reduction provides a stable inotropic response rooted in sarcomere level function. Thus, reduced Rad levels in heart failure patients may be a compensatory response to need for increased output in the setting of HF. Rad deletion suggests a future therapeutic direction for inotropic support. PMID:27798760

  16. RAD25 (SSL2), the yeast homolog of the human xeroderma pigmentosum group B DNA repair gene, is essential for viability

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Park, E.; Prakash, L.; Guzder, S.N.

    1992-12-01

    Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) patients are extremely sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light and suffer from a high incidence of skin cancers, due to a defect in nucleotide excision repair. The disease is genetically heterogeneous, and seven complementation groups, A-G, have been identified. Homologs of human excision repair genes ERCC1, XPDC/ERCC2, and XPAC have been identified in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Since no homolog of human XPBC/ERCC3 existed among the known yeast genes, we cloned the yeast homolog by using XPBC cDNA as a hybridization probe. The yeast homolog, RAD25 (SSL2), encodes a protein of 843 amino acids (M[sub r] 95,356). Themore » RAD25 (SSL2)- and XPCX-encoded proteins share 55% identical and 72% conserved amino acid residues, and the two proteins resemble one another in containing the conserved DNA helicase sequence motifs. A nonsense mutation at codon 799 that deletes the 45 C-terminal amino acid residues in RAD25 (SSL2) confers UV sensitivity. This mutation shows epistasis with genes in the excision repair group, whereas a synergistic increase in UN sensitivity occurs when it is combined with mutations in genes in other DNA repair pathways, indicating that RAD25 (SSL2) functions in excision repair but not in other repair pathways. We also show that RAD25 (SSL2) is an essential gene. A mutation of the Lys[sup 392] residue to arginine in the conserved Walker type A nucleotide-binding motif is lethal, suggesting an essential role of the putative RAD 25 (SSL2) ATPase/DNA helicase activity in viability. 40 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.« less

  17. Structured reporting platform improves CAD-RADS assessment.

    PubMed

    Szilveszter, Bálint; Kolossváry, Márton; Karády, Júlia; Jermendy, Ádám L; Károlyi, Mihály; Panajotu, Alexisz; Bagyura, Zsolt; Vecsey-Nagy, Milán; Cury, Ricardo C; Leipsic, Jonathon A; Merkely, Béla; Maurovich-Horvat, Pál

    2017-11-01

    Structured reporting in cardiac imaging is strongly encouraged to improve quality through consistency. The Coronary Artery Disease - Reporting and Data System (CAD-RADS) was recently introduced to facilitate interdisciplinary communication of coronary CT angiography (CTA) results. We aimed to assess the agreement between manual and automated CAD-RADS classification using a structured reporting platform. Five readers prospectively interpreted 500 coronary CT angiographies using a structured reporting platform that automatically calculates the CAD-RADS score based on stenosis and plaque parameters manually entered by the reader. In addition, all readers manually assessed CAD-RADS blinded to the automatically derived results, which was used as the reference standard. We evaluated factors influencing reader performance including CAD-RADS training, clinical load, time of the day and level of expertise. Total agreement between manual and automated classification was 80.2%. Agreement in stenosis categories was 86.7%, whereas the agreement in modifiers was 95.8% for "N", 96.8% for "S", 95.6% for "V" and 99.4% for "G". Agreement for V improved after CAD-RADS training (p = 0.047). Time of the day and clinical load did not influence reader performance (p > 0.05 both). Less experienced readers had a higher total agreement as compared to more experienced readers (87.0% vs 78.0%, respectively; p = 0.011). Even though automated CAD-RADS classification uses data filled in by the readers, it outperforms manual classification by preventing human errors. Structured reporting platforms with automated calculation of the CAD-RADS score might improve data quality and support standardization of clinical decision making. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. RAD18 and associated proteins are immobilized in nuclear foci in human cells entering S-phase with ultraviolet light-induced damage

    PubMed Central

    Watson, Nicholas B.; Nelson, Eric; Digman, Michelle; Thornburg, Joshua A.; Alphenaar, Bruce W.; McGregor, W. Glenn

    2008-01-01

    Proteins required for translesion DNA synthesis localize in nuclear foci of cells with replication-blocking lesions. The dynamics of this process were examined in human cells with fluorescence-based biophysical techniques. Photobleaching recovery and raster image correlation spectroscopy experiments indicated that involvement in the nuclear foci reduced the movement of RAD18 from diffusion-controlled to virtual immobility. Examination of the mobility of REV1 indicated that it is similarly immobilized when it is observed in nuclear foci. Reducing the level of RAD18 greatly reduced the focal accumulation of REV1 and reduced UV mutagenesis to background frequencies. Fluorescence lifetime measurements indicated that RAD18 and RAD6A or polη only transferred resonance energy when these proteins colocalized in damage-induced nuclear foci, indicating a close physical association only within such foci. Our data support a model in which RAD18 within damage-induced nuclear foci is immobilized and is required for recruitment of Y-family DNA polymerases and subsequent mutagenesis. In the absence of damage these proteins are not physically associated within the nucleoplasm. PMID:18926833

  19. CDKL5 variants

    PubMed Central

    Kalscheuer, Vera M.; Hennig, Friederike; Leonard, Helen; Downs, Jenny; Clarke, Angus; Benke, Tim A.; Armstrong, Judith; Pineda, Mercedes; Bailey, Mark E.S.; Cobb, Stuart R.

    2017-01-01

    Objective: To provide new insights into the interpretation of genetic variants in a rare neurologic disorder, CDKL5 deficiency, in the contexts of population sequencing data and an updated characterization of the CDKL5 gene. Methods: We analyzed all known potentially pathogenic CDKL5 variants by combining data from large-scale population sequencing studies with CDKL5 variants from new and all available clinical cohorts and combined this with computational methods to predict pathogenicity. Results: The study has identified several variants that can be reclassified as benign or likely benign. With the addition of novel CDKL5 variants, we confirm that pathogenic missense variants cluster in the catalytic domain of CDKL5 and reclassify a purported missense variant as having a splicing consequence. We provide further evidence that missense variants in the final 3 exons are likely to be benign and not important to disease pathology. We also describe benign splicing and nonsense variants within these exons, suggesting that isoform hCDKL5_5 is likely to have little or no neurologic significance. We also use the available data to make a preliminary estimate of minimum incidence of CDKL5 deficiency. Conclusions: These findings have implications for genetic diagnosis, providing evidence for the reclassification of specific variants previously thought to result in CDKL5 deficiency. Together, these analyses support the view that the predominant brain isoform in humans (hCDKL5_1) is crucial for normal neurodevelopment and that the catalytic domain is the primary functional domain. PMID:29264392

  20. Rad59-Facilitated Acquisition of Y′ Elements by Short Telomeres Delays the Onset of Senescence

    PubMed Central

    Churikov, Dmitri; Charifi, Ferose; Simon, Marie-Noëlle; Géli, Vincent

    2014-01-01

    Telomerase-negative yeasts survive via one of the two Rad52-dependent recombination pathways, which have distinct genetic requirements. Although the telomere pattern of type I and type II survivors is well characterized, the mechanistic details of short telomere rearrangement into highly evolved pattern observed in survivors are still missing. Here, we analyze immediate events taking place at the abruptly shortened VII-L and native telomeres. We show that short telomeres engage in pairing with internal Rap1-bound TG1–3-like tracts present between subtelomeric X and Y′ elements, which is followed by BIR-mediated non-reciprocal translocation of Y′ element and terminal TG1–3 repeats from the donor end onto the shortened telomere. We found that choice of the Y′ donor was not random, since both engineered telomere VII-L and native VI-R acquired Y′ elements from partially overlapping sets of specific chromosome ends. Although short telomere repair was associated with transient delay in cell divisions, Y′ translocation on native telomeres did not require Mec1-dependent checkpoint. Furthermore, the homeologous pairing between the terminal TG1–3 repeats at VII-L and internal repeats on other chromosome ends was largely independent of Rad51, but instead it was facilitated by Rad59 that stimulates Rad52 strand annealing activity. Therefore, Y′ translocation events taking place during presenescence are genetically separable from Rad51-dependent Y′ amplification process that occurs later during type I survivor formation. We show that Rad59-facilitated Y′ translocations on X-only telomeres delay the onset of senescence while preparing ground for type I survivor formation. PMID:25375789

  1. Homologous recombination contributes to the repair of DNA double-strand breaks induced by high-energy iron ions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zafar, Faria; Seidler, Sara B.; Kronenberg, Amy

    2010-06-29

    To test the contribution of homologous recombinational repair (HRR) in repairing DNA damaged sites induced by high-energy iron ions, we used: (1) HRR-deficient rodent cells carrying a deletion in the RAD51D gene and (2) syngeneic human cells impaired for HRR by RAD51D or RAD51 knockdown using RNA interference. We show that in response to iron ions, HRR contributes to cell survival in rodent cells, and that HRR-deficiency abrogates RAD51 foci formation. Complementation of the HRR defect by human RAD51D rescues both enhanced cytotoxicity and RAD51 foci formation. For human cells irradiated with iron ions, cell survival is decreased, and, inmore » p53 mutant cells, the levels of mutagenesis are increased when HRR is impaired. Human cells synchronized in S phase exhibit more pronounced resistance to iron ions as compared with cells in G1 phase, and this increase in radioresistance is diminished by RAD51 knockdown. These results implicate a role for RAD51-mediated DNA repair (i.e. HRR) in removing a fraction of clustered lesions induced by charged particle irradiation. Our results are the first to directly show the requirement for an intact HRR pathway in human cells in ensuring DNA repair and cell survival in response to high-energy high LET radiation.« less

  2. A global evolutionary and metabolic analysis of human obesity gene risk variants.

    PubMed

    Castillo, Joseph J; Hazlett, Zachary S; Orlando, Robert A; Garver, William S

    2017-09-05

    It is generally accepted that the selection of gene variants during human evolution optimized energy metabolism that now interacts with our obesogenic environment to increase the prevalence of obesity. The purpose of this study was to perform a global evolutionary and metabolic analysis of human obesity gene risk variants (110 human obesity genes with 127 nearest gene risk variants) identified using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to enhance our knowledge of early and late genotypes. As a result of determining the mean frequency of these obesity gene risk variants in 13 available populations from around the world our results provide evidence for the early selection of ancestral risk variants (defined as selection before migration from Africa) and late selection of derived risk variants (defined as selection after migration from Africa). Our results also provide novel information for association of these obesity genes or encoded proteins with diverse metabolic pathways and other human diseases. The overall results indicate a significant differential evolutionary pattern for the selection of obesity gene ancestral and derived risk variants proposed to optimize energy metabolism in varying global environments and complex association with metabolic pathways and other human diseases. These results are consistent with obesity genes that encode proteins possessing a fundamental role in maintaining energy metabolism and survival during the course of human evolution. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  3. The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) Investigation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hassler, D. M.; Zeitlin, C.; Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.; Böttcher, S.; Martin, C.; Andrews, J.; Böhm, E.; Brinza, D. E.; Bullock, M. A.; Burmeister, S.; Ehresmann, B.; Epperly, M.; Grinspoon, D.; Köhler, J.; Kortmann, O.; Neal, K.; Peterson, J.; Posner, A.; Rafkin, S.; Seimetz, L.; Smith, K. D.; Tyler, Y.; Weigle, G.; Reitz, G.; Cucinotta, F. A.

    2012-09-01

    The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is an energetic particle detector designed to measure a broad spectrum of energetic particle radiation. It will make the first-ever direct radiation measurements on the surface of Mars, detecting galactic cosmic rays, solar energetic particles, secondary neutrons, and other secondary particles created both in the atmosphere and in the Martian regolith. The radiation environment on Mars, both past and present, may have implications for habitability and the ability to sustain life. Radiation exposure is also a major concern for future human missions. The RAD instrument combines charged- and neutral-particle detection capability over a wide dynamic range in a compact, low-mass, low-power instrument. These capabilities are required in order to measure all the important components of the radiation environment. RAD consists of the RAD Sensor Head (RSH) and the RAD Electronics Box (REB) integrated together in a small, compact volume. The RSH contains a solid-state detector telescope with three silicon PIN diodes for charged particle detection, a thallium doped Cesium Iodide scintillator, plastic scintillators for neutron detection and anti-coincidence shielding, and the front-end electronics. The REB contains three circuit boards, one with a novel mixed-signal ASIC for processing analog signals and an associated control FPGA, another with a second FPGA to communicate with the rover and perform onboard analysis of science data, and a third board with power supplies and power cycling or "sleep"-control electronics. The latter enables autonomous operation, independent of commands from the rover. RAD is a highly capable and highly configurable instrument that paves the way for future compact energetic particle detectors in space.

  4. Roles for the yeast RAD18 and RAD52 DNA repair genes in UV mutagenesis.

    PubMed

    Armstrong, J D; Chadee, D N; Kunz, B A

    1994-11-01

    Experimental evidence indicates that although the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD18 and RAD52 genes are not required for nucleotide excision repair, they function in the processing of UV-induced DNA damage in yeast. Conflicting statements regarding the UV mutability of strains deleted for RAD18 prompted us to re-examine the influence of RAD18, and RAD52, on UV mutagenesis. To do so, we characterized mutations induced by UV in SUP4-o, a yeast suppressor tRNA gene. SUP4-o was maintained on a plasmid in isogenic strains that either carried one of two different rad18 deletions (rad18 delta) or had RAD52 disrupted. Both rad18 deletions decreased the frequency of UV-induced SUP4-o mutations to levels close to those for spontaneous mutagenesis in the rad18 delta backgrounds, and prevented a net increase in mutant yield. A detailed analysis of mutations isolated after UV irradiation of one of the rad18 delta strains uncovered little evidence of the specificity features typical for UV mutagenesis in the isogenic repair-proficient (RAD) parent (e.g., predominance of G.C-->A.T transitions). Evidently, UV induction of SUP4-o mutations is highly dependent on the RAD18 gene. Compared to the RAD strain, disruption of RAD52 reduced the frequency and yield of UV mutagenesis by about two-thirds. Closer inspection revealed that 80% of this reduction was due to a decrease in the frequency of G.C-->A.T transitions. In addition, there were differences in the distributions and site specificities of single base-pair substitutions. Thus, RAD52 also participates in UV mutagenesis of a plasmid-borne gene in yeast, but to a lesser extent than RAD18.

  5. Purification and cloning of a nucleotide excision repair complex involving the xeroderma pigmentosum group C protein and a human homologue of yeast RAD23.

    PubMed Central

    Masutani, C; Sugasawa, K; Yanagisawa, J; Sonoyama, T; Ui, M; Enomoto, T; Takio, K; Tanaka, K; van der Spek, P J; Bootsma, D

    1994-01-01

    Complementation group C of xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) represents one of the most common forms of this cancer-prone DNA repair syndrome. The primary defect is located in the subpathway of the nucleotide excision repair system, dealing with the removal of lesions from the non-transcribing sequences ('genome-overall' repair). Here we report the purification to homogeneity and subsequent cDNA cloning of a repair complex by in vitro complementation of the XP-C defect in a cell-free repair system containing UV-damaged SV40 minichromosomes. The complex has a high affinity for ssDNA and consists of two tightly associated proteins of 125 and 58 kDa. The 125 kDa subunit is an N-terminally extended version of previously reported XPCC gene product which is thought to represent the human homologue of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae repair gene RAD4. The 58 kDa species turned out to be a human homologue of yeast RAD23. Unexpectedly, a second human counterpart of RAD23 was identified. All RAD23 derivatives share a ubiquitin-like N-terminus. The nature of the XP-C defect implies that the complex exerts a unique function in the genome-overall repair pathway which is important for prevention of skin cancer. Images PMID:8168482

  6. Human genomic disease variants: a neutral evolutionary explanation.

    PubMed

    Dudley, Joel T; Kim, Yuseob; Liu, Li; Markov, Glenn J; Gerold, Kristyn; Chen, Rong; Butte, Atul J; Kumar, Sudhir

    2012-08-01

    Many perspectives on the role of evolution in human health include nonempirical assumptions concerning the adaptive evolutionary origins of human diseases. Evolutionary analyses of the increasing wealth of clinical and population genomic data have begun to challenge these presumptions. In order to systematically evaluate such claims, the time has come to build a common framework for an empirical and intellectual unification of evolution and modern medicine. We review the emerging evidence and provide a supporting conceptual framework that establishes the classical neutral theory of molecular evolution (NTME) as the basis for evaluating disease- associated genomic variations in health and medicine. For over a decade, the NTME has already explained the origins and distribution of variants implicated in diseases and has illuminated the power of evolutionary thinking in genomic medicine. We suggest that a majority of disease variants in modern populations will have neutral evolutionary origins (previously neutral), with a relatively smaller fraction exhibiting adaptive evolutionary origins (previously adaptive). This pattern is expected to hold true for common as well as rare disease variants. Ultimately, a neutral evolutionary perspective will provide medicine with an informative and actionable framework that enables objective clinical assessment beyond convenient tendencies to invoke past adaptive events in human history as a root cause of human disease.

  7. Human genomic disease variants: A neutral evolutionary explanation

    PubMed Central

    Dudley, Joel T.; Kim, Yuseob; Liu, Li; Markov, Glenn J.; Gerold, Kristyn; Chen, Rong; Butte, Atul J.; Kumar, Sudhir

    2012-01-01

    Many perspectives on the role of evolution in human health include nonempirical assumptions concerning the adaptive evolutionary origins of human diseases. Evolutionary analyses of the increasing wealth of clinical and population genomic data have begun to challenge these presumptions. In order to systematically evaluate such claims, the time has come to build a common framework for an empirical and intellectual unification of evolution and modern medicine. We review the emerging evidence and provide a supporting conceptual framework that establishes the classical neutral theory of molecular evolution (NTME) as the basis for evaluating disease- associated genomic variations in health and medicine. For over a decade, the NTME has already explained the origins and distribution of variants implicated in diseases and has illuminated the power of evolutionary thinking in genomic medicine. We suggest that a majority of disease variants in modern populations will have neutral evolutionary origins (previously neutral), with a relatively smaller fraction exhibiting adaptive evolutionary origins (previously adaptive). This pattern is expected to hold true for common as well as rare disease variants. Ultimately, a neutral evolutionary perspective will provide medicine with an informative and actionable framework that enables objective clinical assessment beyond convenient tendencies to invoke past adaptive events in human history as a root cause of human disease. PMID:22665443

  8. Common genetic variants influence human subcortical brain structures.

    PubMed

    Hibar, Derrek P; Stein, Jason L; Renteria, Miguel E; Arias-Vasquez, Alejandro; Desrivières, Sylvane; Jahanshad, Neda; Toro, Roberto; Wittfeld, Katharina; Abramovic, Lucija; Andersson, Micael; Aribisala, Benjamin S; Armstrong, Nicola J; Bernard, Manon; Bohlken, Marc M; Boks, Marco P; Bralten, Janita; Brown, Andrew A; Chakravarty, M Mallar; Chen, Qiang; Ching, Christopher R K; Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel; den Braber, Anouk; Giddaluru, Sudheer; Goldman, Aaron L; Grimm, Oliver; Guadalupe, Tulio; Hass, Johanna; Woldehawariat, Girma; Holmes, Avram J; Hoogman, Martine; Janowitz, Deborah; Jia, Tianye; Kim, Sungeun; Klein, Marieke; Kraemer, Bernd; Lee, Phil H; Olde Loohuis, Loes M; Luciano, Michelle; Macare, Christine; Mather, Karen A; Mattheisen, Manuel; Milaneschi, Yuri; Nho, Kwangsik; Papmeyer, Martina; Ramasamy, Adaikalavan; Risacher, Shannon L; Roiz-Santiañez, Roberto; Rose, Emma J; Salami, Alireza; Sämann, Philipp G; Schmaal, Lianne; Schork, Andrew J; Shin, Jean; Strike, Lachlan T; Teumer, Alexander; van Donkelaar, Marjolein M J; van Eijk, Kristel R; Walters, Raymond K; Westlye, Lars T; Whelan, Christopher D; Winkler, Anderson M; Zwiers, Marcel P; Alhusaini, Saud; Athanasiu, Lavinia; Ehrlich, Stefan; Hakobjan, Marina M H; Hartberg, Cecilie B; Haukvik, Unn K; Heister, Angelien J G A M; Hoehn, David; Kasperaviciute, Dalia; Liewald, David C M; Lopez, Lorna M; Makkinje, Remco R R; Matarin, Mar; Naber, Marlies A M; McKay, D Reese; Needham, Margaret; Nugent, Allison C; Pütz, Benno; Royle, Natalie A; Shen, Li; Sprooten, Emma; Trabzuni, Daniah; van der Marel, Saskia S L; van Hulzen, Kimm J E; Walton, Esther; Wolf, Christiane; Almasy, Laura; Ames, David; Arepalli, Sampath; Assareh, Amelia A; Bastin, Mark E; Brodaty, Henry; Bulayeva, Kazima B; Carless, Melanie A; Cichon, Sven; Corvin, Aiden; Curran, Joanne E; Czisch, Michael; de Zubicaray, Greig I; Dillman, Allissa; Duggirala, Ravi; Dyer, Thomas D; Erk, Susanne; Fedko, Iryna O; Ferrucci, Luigi; Foroud, Tatiana M; Fox, Peter T; Fukunaga, Masaki; Gibbs, J Raphael; Göring, Harald H H; Green, Robert C; Guelfi, Sebastian; Hansell, Narelle K; Hartman, Catharina A; Hegenscheid, Katrin; Heinz, Andreas; Hernandez, Dena G; Heslenfeld, Dirk J; Hoekstra, Pieter J; Holsboer, Florian; Homuth, Georg; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Ikeda, Masashi; Jack, Clifford R; Jenkinson, Mark; Johnson, Robert; Kanai, Ryota; Keil, Maria; Kent, Jack W; Kochunov, Peter; Kwok, John B; Lawrie, Stephen M; Liu, Xinmin; Longo, Dan L; McMahon, Katie L; Meisenzahl, Eva; Melle, Ingrid; Mohnke, Sebastian; Montgomery, Grant W; Mostert, Jeanette C; Mühleisen, Thomas W; Nalls, Michael A; Nichols, Thomas E; Nilsson, Lars G; Nöthen, Markus M; Ohi, Kazutaka; Olvera, Rene L; Perez-Iglesias, Rocio; Pike, G Bruce; Potkin, Steven G; Reinvang, Ivar; Reppermund, Simone; Rietschel, Marcella; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Rosen, Glenn D; Rujescu, Dan; Schnell, Knut; Schofield, Peter R; Smith, Colin; Steen, Vidar M; Sussmann, Jessika E; Thalamuthu, Anbupalam; Toga, Arthur W; Traynor, Bryan J; Troncoso, Juan; Turner, Jessica A; Valdés Hernández, Maria C; van 't Ent, Dennis; van der Brug, Marcel; van der Wee, Nic J A; van Tol, Marie-Jose; Veltman, Dick J; Wassink, Thomas H; Westman, Eric; Zielke, Ronald H; Zonderman, Alan B; Ashbrook, David G; Hager, Reinmar; Lu, Lu; McMahon, Francis J; Morris, Derek W; Williams, Robert W; Brunner, Han G; Buckner, Randy L; Buitelaar, Jan K; Cahn, Wiepke; Calhoun, Vince D; Cavalleri, Gianpiero L; Crespo-Facorro, Benedicto; Dale, Anders M; Davies, Gareth E; Delanty, Norman; Depondt, Chantal; Djurovic, Srdjan; Drevets, Wayne C; Espeseth, Thomas; Gollub, Randy L; Ho, Beng-Choon; Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Hosten, Norbert; Kahn, René S; Le Hellard, Stephanie; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Müller-Myhsok, Bertram; Nauck, Matthias; Nyberg, Lars; Pandolfo, Massimo; Penninx, Brenda W J H; Roffman, Joshua L; Sisodiya, Sanjay M; Smoller, Jordan W; van Bokhoven, Hans; van Haren, Neeltje E M; Völzke, Henry; Walter, Henrik; Weiner, Michael W; Wen, Wei; White, Tonya; Agartz, Ingrid; Andreassen, Ole A; Blangero, John; Boomsma, Dorret I; Brouwer, Rachel M; Cannon, Dara M; Cookson, Mark R; de Geus, Eco J C; Deary, Ian J; Donohoe, Gary; Fernández, Guillén; Fisher, Simon E; Francks, Clyde; Glahn, David C; Grabe, Hans J; Gruber, Oliver; Hardy, John; Hashimoto, Ryota; Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E; Jönsson, Erik G; Kloszewska, Iwona; Lovestone, Simon; Mattay, Venkata S; Mecocci, Patrizia; McDonald, Colm; McIntosh, Andrew M; Ophoff, Roel A; Paus, Tomas; Pausova, Zdenka; Ryten, Mina; Sachdev, Perminder S; Saykin, Andrew J; Simmons, Andy; Singleton, Andrew; Soininen, Hilkka; Wardlaw, Joanna M; Weale, Michael E; Weinberger, Daniel R; Adams, Hieab H H; Launer, Lenore J; Seiler, Stephan; Schmidt, Reinhold; Chauhan, Ganesh; Satizabal, Claudia L; Becker, James T; Yanek, Lisa; van der Lee, Sven J; Ebling, Maritza; Fischl, Bruce; Longstreth, W T; Greve, Douglas; Schmidt, Helena; Nyquist, Paul; Vinke, Louis N; van Duijn, Cornelia M; Xue, Luting; Mazoyer, Bernard; Bis, Joshua C; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Seshadri, Sudha; Ikram, M Arfan; Martin, Nicholas G; Wright, Margaret J; Schumann, Gunter; Franke, Barbara; Thompson, Paul M; Medland, Sarah E

    2015-04-09

    The highly complex structure of the human brain is strongly shaped by genetic influences. Subcortical brain regions form circuits with cortical areas to coordinate movement, learning, memory and motivation, and altered circuits can lead to abnormal behaviour and disease. To investigate how common genetic variants affect the structure of these brain regions, here we conduct genome-wide association studies of the volumes of seven subcortical regions and the intracranial volume derived from magnetic resonance images of 30,717 individuals from 50 cohorts. We identify five novel genetic variants influencing the volumes of the putamen and caudate nucleus. We also find stronger evidence for three loci with previously established influences on hippocampal volume and intracranial volume. These variants show specific volumetric effects on brain structures rather than global effects across structures. The strongest effects were found for the putamen, where a novel intergenic locus with replicable influence on volume (rs945270; P = 1.08 × 10(-33); 0.52% variance explained) showed evidence of altering the expression of the KTN1 gene in both brain and blood tissue. Variants influencing putamen volume clustered near developmental genes that regulate apoptosis, axon guidance and vesicle transport. Identification of these genetic variants provides insight into the causes of variability in human brain development, and may help to determine mechanisms of neuropsychiatric dysfunction.

  9. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA recombination and repair functions of the RAD52 epistasis group inhibit Ty1 transposition.

    PubMed Central

    Rattray, A J; Shafer, B K; Garfinkel, D J

    2000-01-01

    RNA transcribed from the Saccharomyces cerevisiae retrotransposon Ty1 accumulates to a high level in mitotically growing haploid cells, yet transposition occurs at very low frequencies. The product of reverse transcription is a linear double-stranded DNA molecule that reenters the genome by either Ty1-integrase-mediated insertion or homologous recombination with one of the preexisting genomic Ty1 (or delta) elements. Here we examine the role of the cellular homologous recombination functions on Ty1 transposition. We find that transposition is elevated in cells mutated for genes in the RAD52 recombinational repair pathway, such as RAD50, RAD51, RAD52, RAD54, or RAD57, or in the DNA ligase I gene CDC9, but is not elevated in cells mutated in the DNA repair functions encoded by the RAD1, RAD2, or MSH2 genes. The increase in Ty1 transposition observed when genes in the RAD52 recombinational pathway are mutated is not associated with a significant increase in Ty1 RNA or proteins. However, unincorporated Ty1 cDNA levels are markedly elevated. These results suggest that members of the RAD52 recombinational repair pathway inhibit Ty1 post-translationally by influencing the fate of Ty1 cDNA. PMID:10655210

  10. Protective role of RAD50 on chromatin bridges during abnormal cytokinesis.

    PubMed

    Schröder-Heurich, Bianca; Wieland, Britta; Lavin, Martin F; Schindler, Detlev; Dörk, Thilo

    2014-03-01

    Faithful chromosome segregation is required for preserving genomic integrity. Failure of this process may entail chromatin bridges preventing normal cytokinesis. To test whether RAD50, a protein normally involved in DNA double-strand break repair, is involved in abnormal cytokinesis and formation of chromatin bridges, we used immunocytochemical and protein interaction assays. RAD50 localizes to chromatin bridges during aberrant cytokinesis and subsequent stages of the cell cycle, either decorating the entire bridge or focally accumulating at the midbody zone. Ionizing radiation led to an ∼4-fold increase in the rate of chromatin bridges in an ataxia telangiectatica mutated (ATM)-dependent manner in human RAD50-proficient fibroblasts but not in RAD50-deficient cells. Cells with a RAD50-positive chromatin bridge were able to continue cell cycling and to progress through S phase (44%), whereas RAD50 knockdown caused a deficiency in chromatin bridges as well as an ∼4-fold prolonged duration of mitosis. RAD50 colocalized and directly interacted with Aurora B kinase and phospho-histone H3, and Aurora B kinase inhibition led to a deficiency in RAD50-positive bridges. Based on these observations, we propose that RAD50 is a crucial factor for the stabilization and shielding of chromatin bridges. Our study provides evidence for a hitherto unknown role of RAD50 in abnormal cytokinesis.

  11. Safety and Immunogenicity of a rAd35-EnvA Prototype HIV-1 Vaccine in Combination with rAd5-EnvA in Healthy Adults (VRC 012).

    PubMed

    Crank, Michelle C; Wilson, Eleanor M P; Novik, Laura; Enama, Mary E; Hendel, Cynthia S; Gu, Wenjuan; Nason, Martha C; Bailer, Robert T; Nabel, Gary J; McDermott, Adrian B; Mascola, John R; Koup, Richard A; Ledgerwood, Julie E; Graham, Barney S

    2016-01-01

    VRC 012 was a Phase I study of a prototype recombinant adenoviral-vector serotype-35 (rAd35) HIV vaccine, the precursor to two recently published clinical trials, HVTN 077 and 083. On the basis of prior evaluation of multiclade rAd5 HIV vaccines, Envelope A (EnvA) was selected as the standard antigen for a series of prototype HIV vaccines to compare various vaccine platforms. In addition, prior studies of rAd5-vectored vaccines suggested pre-existing human immunity may be a confounding factor in vaccine efficacy. rAd35 is less seroprevalent across human populations and was chosen for testing alone and in combination with a rAd5-EnvA vaccine in the present two-part phase I study. First, five subjects each received a single injection of 109, 1010, or 1011 particle units (PU) of rAd35-EnvA in an open-label, dose-escalation study. Next, 20 Ad5/Ad35-seronegative subjects were randomized to blinded, heterologous prime-boost schedules combining rAd5-EnvA and rAd35-EnvA with a three month interval. rAd35-EnvA was given at 1010 or 1011 PU to ten subjects each; all rAd5-EnvA injections were 1010 PU. EnvA-specific immunogenicity was assessed four weeks post-injection. Solicited reactogenicity and clinical safety were followed after each injection. Vaccinations were well tolerated at all dosages. Antibody responses measured by ELISA were detected at 4 weeks in 30% and 50% of subjects after single doses of 1010 or 1011 PU rAd35, respectively, and in 89% after a single rAd5-EnvA 1010 PU injection. EnvA-specific IFN-γ ELISpot responses were detected at four weeks in 0%, 70%, and 50% of subjects after the respective rAd35-EnvA dosages compared to 89% of subjects after rAd5. T cell responses were higher after a single rAd5-EnvA 1010 PU injection than after a single rAd35-EnvA 1010 PU injection, and humoral responses were low after a single dose of either vector. Of those completing the vaccine schedule, 100% of rAd5-EnvA recipients and 90% of rAd35-EnvA recipients had both T cell

  12. Rad-Release

    ScienceCinema

    None

    2017-12-09

    The R&D 100 Award winning Rad-Release Chemical Decontamination Technology is a highly effective (up to 99% removal rate), affordable, patented chemical-foam-clay decontamination process tailored to specific radiological and metal contaminants, which is applicable to a wide variety of substrates. For more information about this project, visit http://www.inl.gov/rd100/2011/rad-release/

  13. The germline variants in DNA repair genes in pediatric medulloblastoma: a challenge for current therapeutic strategies.

    PubMed

    Trubicka, Joanna; Żemojtel, Tomasz; Hecht, Jochen; Falana, Katarzyna; Piekutowska-Abramczuk, Dorota; Płoski, Rafał; Perek-Polnik, Marta; Drogosiewicz, Monika; Grajkowska, Wiesława; Ciara, Elżbieta; Moszczyńska, Elżbieta; Dembowska-Bagińska, Bożenna; Perek, Danuta; Chrzanowska, Krystyna H; Krajewska-Walasek, Małgorzata; Łastowska, Maria

    2017-04-04

    The defects in DNA repair genes are potentially linked to development and response to therapy in medulloblastoma. Therefore the purpose of this study was to establish the spectrum and frequency of germline variants in selected DNA repair genes and their impact on response to chemotherapy in medulloblastoma patients. The following genes were investigated in 102 paediatric patients: MSH2 and RAD50 using targeted gene panel sequencing and NBN variants (p.I171V and p.K219fs*19) by Sanger sequencing. In three patients with presence of rare life-threatening adverse events (AE) and no detected variants in the analyzed genes, whole exome sequencing was performed. Based on combination of molecular and immunohistochemical evaluations tumors were divided into molecular subgroups. Presence of variants was tested for potential association with the occurrence of rare life-threatening AE and other clinical features. We have identified altogether six new potentially pathogenic variants in MSH2 (p.A733T and p.V606I), RAD50 (p.R1093*), FANCM (p.L694*), ERCC2 (p.R695C) and EXO1 (p.V738L), in addition to two known NBN variants. Five out of twelve patients with defects in either of MSH2, RAD50 and NBN genes suffered from rare life-threatening AE, more frequently than in control group (p = 0.0005). When all detected variants were taken into account, the majority of patients (8 out of 15) suffered from life-threatening toxicity during chemotherapy. Our results, based on the largest systematic study performed in a clinical setting, provide preliminary evidence for a link between defects in DNA repair genes and treatment related toxicity in children with medulloblastoma. The data suggest that patients with DNA repair gene variants could need special vigilance during and after courses of chemotherapy.

  14. MSL-RAD Cruise Operations Concept

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Brinza, David E.; Zeitlin, Cary; Hassler, Donald; Weigle, Gerald E.; Boettcher, Stephan; Martin, Cesar; Wimmer-Schweingrubber, Robert

    2012-01-01

    The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) payload includes the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument, intended to fully characterize the radiation environment for the MSL mission. The RAD instrument operations concept is intended to reduce impact to spacecraft resources and effort for the MSL operations team. By design, RAD autonomously performs regular science observations without the need for frequent commanding from the Rover Compute Element (RCE). RAD operates with pre-defined "sleep" and "observe" periods, with an adjustable duty cycle for meeting power and data volume constraints during the mission. At the start of a new science observation, RAD performs a pre-observation activity to assess count rates for selected RAD detector elements. Based on this assessment, RAD can enter "solar event" mode, in which instrument parameters (including observation duration) are selected to more effectively characterize the environment. At the end of each observation period, RAD stores a time-tagged, fixed length science data packet in its non-volatile mass memory storage. The operating cadence is defined by adjustable parameters, also stored in non-volatile memory within the instrument. Periodically, the RCE executes an on-board sequence to transfer RAD science data packets from the instrument mass storage to the MSL downlink buffer. Infrequently, the RAD instrument operating configuration is modified by updating internal parameter tables and configuration entries.

  15. A PYY Q62P variant linked to human obesity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ahituv, Nadav; Kavaslar, Nihan; Schackwitz, Wendy

    2005-06-27

    Members of the pancreatic polypeptide family and the irreceptors have been implicated in the control of food intake in rodents and humans. To investigate whether nucleotide changes in these candidate genes result in abnormal weight in humans, we sequenced the coding exons and splice sites of seven family members (NPY, PYY, PPY, NPY1R, NPY2R, NPY4R, and NPY5R) in a large cohort of extremely obese (n=379) and lean (n=378) individuals. In total we found eleven rare non-synonymous variants, four of which exhibited familial segregation, NPY1R L53P and PPY P63L with leanness and NPY2R D42G and PYY Q62P with obesity. Functional analysismore » of the obese variants revealed NPY2R D42G to have reduced cell surface expression, while previous cell culture based studies indicated variant PYY Q62P to have altered receptor binding selectivity and we show that it fails to reduce food intake through mouse peptide injection experiments. These results support that rare non-synonymous variants within these genes can alter susceptibility to human body mass index extremes.« less

  16. Mobile Interspersed Repeats Are Major Structural Variants in the Human Genome

    PubMed Central

    Huang, Cheng Ran Lisa; Schneider, Anna M.; Lu, Yunqi; Niranjan, Tejasvi; Shen, Peilin; Robinson, Matoya A.; Steranka, Jared P.; Valle, David; Civin, Curt I.; Wang, Tao; Wheelan, Sarah J.; Ji, Hongkai; Boeke, Jef D.; Burns, Kathleen H.

    2010-01-01

    Summary Characterizing structural variants in the human genome is of great importance, but a genome wide analysis to detect interspersed repeats has not been done. Thus, the degree to which mobile DNAs contribute to genetic diversity, heritable disease, and oncogenesis remains speculative. We perform transposon insertion profiling by microarray (TIP-chip) to map human L1(Ta) retrotransposons (LINE-1 s) genome-wide. This identified numerous novel human L1(Ta) insertional polymorphisms with highly variant allelic frequencies. We also explored TIP-chip's usefulness to identify candidate alleles associated with different phenotypes in clinical cohorts. Our data suggest that the occurrence of new insertions is twice as high as previously estimated, and that these repeats are under-recognized as sources of human genomic and phenotypic diversity. We have just begun to probe the universe of human L1(Ta) polymorphisms, and as TIP-chip is applied to other insertions such as Alu SINEs, it will expand the catalog of genomic variants even further. PMID:20602999

  17. Molecular Pathways

    PubMed Central

    Lok, Benjamin H.; Powell, Simon N.

    2012-01-01

    The Rad52 protein was largely ignored in humans and other mammals when the mouse knockout revealed a largely “no-effect” phenotype. However, using synthetic lethal approaches to investigate context dependent function, new studies have shown that Rad52 plays a key survival role in cells lacking the function of the BRCA1-BRCA2 pathway of homologous recombination. Biochemical studies also showed significant differences between yeast and human Rad52, in which yeast Rad52 can promote strand invasion of RPA-coated single-stranded DNA in the presence of Rad51, but human Rad52 cannot. This results in the paradox of how is human Rad52 providing Rad51 function: presumably there is something missing in the biochemical assays that exists in-vivo, but the nature of this missing factor is currently unknown. Recent studies have suggested that Rad52 provides back-up Rad51 function for all members of the BRCA1-BRCA2 pathway, suggesting that Rad52 may be a target for therapy in BRCA pathway deficient cancers. Screening for ways to inhibit Rad52 would potentially provide a complementary strategy for targeting BRCA-deficient cancers in addition to PARP inhibitors. PMID:23071261

  18. BI-RADS update.

    PubMed

    Mercado, Cecilia L

    2014-05-01

    The updated American College of Radiology (ACR) Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) has been newly released. This article summarizes the changes and updates that have been made to BI-RADS. The goal of the revised edition continues to be the same: to improve clarification in image interpretation, maintain reporting standardization, and simplify the monitoring of outcomes. The new BI-RADS also introduces new terminology to provide a more universal lexicon across all 3 imaging modalities. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Exploiting Synthetic Lethal Relationships: Chemical Inhibition of Recombinational Repair as a Strategy to Selectively Target Tumor Cells

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-03-01

    with Dr. Arkin to address compound selectivity for human RAD54 by testing the 
 5
 lead candidate compounds identified in the HTS in malachite green...Mukherjee is on track to achieve this goal. Task 3 (Months 3-6): Development of malachite green ATPase assay for RAD51/RAD54 Deliverable: HTS...assay for RAD51/RAD54 Dr. Kirk Ehmsen successfully developed and optimized the malachite green ATPase assay (7) for human RAD54 in year 1 of the

  20. Human AZU-1 gene, variants thereof and expressed gene products

    DOEpatents

    Chen, Huei-Mei; Bissell, Mina

    2004-06-22

    A human AZU-1 gene, mutants, variants and fragments thereof. Protein products encoded by the AZU-1 gene and homologs encoded by the variants of AZU-1 gene acting as tumor suppressors or markers of malignancy progression and tumorigenicity reversion. Identification, isolation and characterization of AZU-1 and AZU-2 genes localized to a tumor suppressive locus at chromosome 10q26, highly expressed in nonmalignant and premalignant cells derived from a human breast tumor progression model. A recombinant full length protein sequences encoded by the AZU-1 gene and nucleotide sequences of AZU-1 and AZU-2 genes and variant and fragments thereof. Monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies specific to AZU-1, AZU-2 encoded protein and to AZU-1, or AZU-2 encoded protein homologs.

  1. 2015 RAD Fall Partner Meeting

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This meeting covered the following discussion topics: 2014 RAD partner achievements and trends, national and international efforts to address HFCs, enhancing RAD partner recognition, and communicating the benefits of RAD.

  2. Variant (Swine Origin) Influenza Viruses in Humans

    MedlinePlus

    ... Need To Know About Influenza (Flu) Reports of Human Infections with Variant Viruses Resources Print Materials Key Facts for People Exhibiting Pigs at Fairs [545 KB, 2 pages] Take Action to Prevent the Spread of Flu Between People and Pigs ... Viruses Get Email Updates To ...

  3. Hundreds of variants clustered in genomic loci and biological pathways affect human height

    PubMed Central

    Lango Allen, Hana; Estrada, Karol; Lettre, Guillaume; Berndt, Sonja I.; Weedon, Michael N.; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Willer, Cristen J.; Jackson, Anne U.; Vedantam, Sailaja; Raychaudhuri, Soumya; Ferreira, Teresa; Wood, Andrew R.; Weyant, Robert J.; Segrè, Ayellet V.; Speliotes, Elizabeth K.; Wheeler, Eleanor; Soranzo, Nicole; Park, Ju-Hyun; Yang, Jian; Gudbjartsson, Daniel; Heard-Costa, Nancy L.; Randall, Joshua C.; Qi, Lu; Smith, Albert Vernon; Mägi, Reedik; Pastinen, Tomi; Liang, Liming; Heid, Iris M.; Luan, Jian'an; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Winkler, Thomas W.; Goddard, Michael E.; Lo, Ken Sin; Palmer, Cameron; Workalemahu, Tsegaselassie; Aulchenko, Yurii S.; Johansson, Åsa; Zillikens, M.Carola; Feitosa, Mary F.; Esko, Tõnu; Johnson, Toby; Ketkar, Shamika; Kraft, Peter; Mangino, Massimo; Prokopenko, Inga; Absher, Devin; Albrecht, Eva; Ernst, Florian; Glazer, Nicole L.; Hayward, Caroline; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Jacobs, Kevin B.; Knowles, Joshua W.; Kutalik, Zoltán; Monda, Keri L.; Polasek, Ozren; Preuss, Michael; Rayner, Nigel W.; Robertson, Neil R.; Steinthorsdottir, Valgerdur; Tyrer, Jonathan P.; Voight, Benjamin F.; Wiklund, Fredrik; Xu, Jianfeng; Zhao, Jing Hua; Nyholt, Dale R.; Pellikka, Niina; Perola, Markus; Perry, John R.B.; Surakka, Ida; Tammesoo, Mari-Liis; Altmaier, Elizabeth L.; Amin, Najaf; Aspelund, Thor; Bhangale, Tushar; Boucher, Gabrielle; Chasman, Daniel I.; Chen, Constance; Coin, Lachlan; Cooper, Matthew N.; Dixon, Anna L.; Gibson, Quince; Grundberg, Elin; Hao, Ke; Junttila, M. Juhani; Kaplan, Lee M.; Kettunen, Johannes; König, Inke R.; Kwan, Tony; Lawrence, Robert W.; Levinson, Douglas F.; Lorentzon, Mattias; McKnight, Barbara; Morris, Andrew P.; Müller, Martina; Ngwa, Julius Suh; Purcell, Shaun; Rafelt, Suzanne; Salem, Rany M.; Salvi, Erika; Sanna, Serena; Shi, Jianxin; Sovio, Ulla; Thompson, John R.; Turchin, Michael C.; Vandenput, Liesbeth; Verlaan, Dominique J.; Vitart, Veronique; White, Charles C.; Ziegler, Andreas; Almgren, Peter; Balmforth, Anthony J.; Campbell, Harry; Citterio, Lorena; De Grandi, Alessandro; Dominiczak, Anna; Duan, Jubao; Elliott, Paul; Elosua, Roberto; Eriksson, Johan G.; Freimer, Nelson B.; Geus, Eco J.C.; Glorioso, Nicola; Haiqing, Shen; Hartikainen, Anna-Liisa; Havulinna, Aki S.; Hicks, Andrew A.; Hui, Jennie; Igl, Wilmar; Illig, Thomas; Jula, Antti; Kajantie, Eero; Kilpeläinen, Tuomas O.; Koiranen, Markku; Kolcic, Ivana; Koskinen, Seppo; Kovacs, Peter; Laitinen, Jaana; Liu, Jianjun; Lokki, Marja-Liisa; Marusic, Ana; Maschio, Andrea; Meitinger, Thomas; Mulas, Antonella; Paré, Guillaume; Parker, Alex N.; Peden, John F.; Petersmann, Astrid; Pichler, Irene; Pietiläinen, Kirsi H.; Pouta, Anneli; Ridderstråle, Martin; Rotter, Jerome I.; Sambrook, Jennifer G.; Sanders, Alan R.; Schmidt, Carsten Oliver; Sinisalo, Juha; Smit, Jan H.; Stringham, Heather M.; Walters, G.Bragi; Widen, Elisabeth; Wild, Sarah H.; Willemsen, Gonneke; Zagato, Laura; Zgaga, Lina; Zitting, Paavo; Alavere, Helene; Farrall, Martin; McArdle, Wendy L.; Nelis, Mari; Peters, Marjolein J.; Ripatti, Samuli; van Meurs, Joyce B.J.; Aben, Katja K.; Ardlie, Kristin G; Beckmann, Jacques S.; Beilby, John P.; Bergman, Richard N.; Bergmann, Sven; Collins, Francis S.; Cusi, Daniele; den Heijer, Martin; Eiriksdottir, Gudny; Gejman, Pablo V.; Hall, Alistair S.; Hamsten, Anders; Huikuri, Heikki V.; Iribarren, Carlos; Kähönen, Mika; Kaprio, Jaakko; Kathiresan, Sekar; Kiemeney, Lambertus; Kocher, Thomas; Launer, Lenore J.; Lehtimäki, Terho; Melander, Olle; Mosley, Tom H.; Musk, Arthur W.; Nieminen, Markku S.; O'Donnell, Christopher J.; Ohlsson, Claes; Oostra, Ben; Palmer, Lyle J.; Raitakari, Olli; Ridker, Paul M.; Rioux, John D.; Rissanen, Aila; Rivolta, Carlo; Schunkert, Heribert; Shuldiner, Alan R.; Siscovick, David S.; Stumvoll, Michael; Tönjes, Anke; Tuomilehto, Jaakko; van Ommen, Gert-Jan; Viikari, Jorma; Heath, Andrew C.; Martin, Nicholas G.; Montgomery, Grant W.; Province, Michael A.; Kayser, Manfred; Arnold, Alice M.; Atwood, Larry D.; Boerwinkle, Eric; Chanock, Stephen J.; Deloukas, Panos; Gieger, Christian; Grönberg, Henrik; Hall, Per; Hattersley, Andrew T.; Hengstenberg, Christian; Hoffman, Wolfgang; Lathrop, G.Mark; Salomaa, Veikko; Schreiber, Stefan; Uda, Manuela; Waterworth, Dawn; Wright, Alan F.; Assimes, Themistocles L.; Barroso, Inês; Hofman, Albert; Mohlke, Karen L.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Caulfield, Mark J.; Cupples, L.Adrienne; Erdmann, Jeanette; Fox, Caroline S.; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Gyllensten, Ulf; Harris, Tamara B.; Hayes, Richard B.; Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Mooser, Vincent; Munroe, Patricia B.; Ouwehand, Willem H.; Penninx, Brenda W.; Pramstaller, Peter P.; Quertermous, Thomas; Rudan, Igor; Samani, Nilesh J.; Spector, Timothy D.; Völzke, Henry; Watkins, Hugh; Wilson, James F.; Groop, Leif C.; Haritunians, Talin; Hu, Frank B.; Kaplan, Robert C.; Metspalu, Andres; North, Kari E.; Schlessinger, David; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Hunter, David J.; O'Connell, Jeffrey R.; Strachan, David P.; Wichmann, H.-Erich; Borecki, Ingrid B.; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Schadt, Eric E.; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Peltonen, Leena; Uitterlinden, André; Visscher, Peter M.; Chatterjee, Nilanjan; Loos, Ruth J.F.; Boehnke, Michael; McCarthy, Mark I.; Ingelsson, Erik; Lindgren, Cecilia M.; Abecasis, Gonçalo R.; Stefansson, Kari; Frayling, Timothy M.; Hirschhorn, Joel N

    2010-01-01

    Most common human traits and diseases have a polygenic pattern of inheritance: DNA sequence variants at many genetic loci influence phenotype. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have identified >600 variants associated with human traits1, but these typically explain small fractions of phenotypic variation, raising questions about the utility of further studies. Here, using 183,727 individuals, we show that hundreds of genetic variants, in at least 180 loci, influence adult height, a highly heritable and classic polygenic trait2,3. The large number of loci reveals patterns with important implications for genetic studies of common human diseases and traits. First, the 180 loci are not random, but instead are enriched for genes that are connected in biological pathways (P=0.016), and that underlie skeletal growth defects (P<0.001). Second, the likely causal gene is often located near the most strongly associated variant: in 13 of 21 loci containing a known skeletal growth gene, that gene was closest to the associated variant. Third, at least 19 loci have multiple independently associated variants, suggesting that allelic heterogeneity is a frequent feature of polygenic traits, that comprehensive explorations of already-discovered loci should discover additional variants, and that an appreciable fraction of associated loci may have been identified. Fourth, associated variants are enriched for likely functional effects on genes, being over-represented amongst variants that alter amino acid structure of proteins and expression levels of nearby genes. Our data explain ∼10% of the phenotypic variation in height, and we estimate that unidentified common variants of similar effect sizes would increase this figure to ∼16% of phenotypic variation (∼20% of heritable variation). Although additional approaches are needed to fully dissect the genetic architecture of polygenic human traits, our findings indicate that GWA studies can identify large numbers of loci that

  4. Hb variants in Korea: effect on HbA1c using five routine methods.

    PubMed

    Yun, Yeo-Min; Ji, Misuk; Ko, Dae-Hyun; Chun, Sail; Kwon, Gye Cheol; Lee, Kyunghoon; Song, Sang Hoon; Seong, Moon Woo; Park, Sung Sup; Song, Junghan

    2017-07-26

    Quantification of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is a challenge in patients with hemoglobin (Hb) variants. We evaluated the impact of various Hb variants on five routine HbA1c assays by comparing with the IFCC reference measurement procedure (RMP). Whole blood samples showing warning flags or no results on routine HPLC HbA1c assays were confirmed for Hb variants and were submitted to HbA1c quantification using Sebia Capillarys 2 Flex Piercing, Roche Tina-quant HbA1c Gen. 2, Bio-Rad Variant II Turbo 2.0, ADAMS HA-8180, Tosoh G8 standard mode, and IFCC RMP using LC-MS. Among 114 samples, the most common variants were Hb G-Coushatta (n=47), Queens (n=41), Ube-4 (n=11), Chad (n=4), Yamagata (n=4), G-His-Tsou (n=2), G-Taipei (n=1), Fort de France (n=1), Hoshida (n=1), and two novel variants (Hb α-globin, HBA 52 Gly>Cys and Hb β-globin, HBB 146 His>Asn). In terms of control samples, all the result of HbA1c were "acceptable", within the criteria of ±7% compared to IFCC RMP target values. However, percentage of "unacceptable" results of samples with Hb variants were 16% for Capillarys 2, 7% for Tina-quant, 51% for Variant II Turbo 2.0, 95% for G8 standard mode, and 89% for HA-8180. The Capillarys 2 and HA-8180 assay did not provide the results in 5 and 40 samples with Hb variants, respectively. HbA1c results from five routine assays in patients with relatively common Hb variants in Korea showed various degrees of bias compared to those of IFCC RMP. Therefore, laboratories should be aware of the limitation of their methods with respect to interference from Hb variants found commonly in their local population and suggest an alternative HbA1c quantification method.

  5. Inherent Resistance to 14α-demethylation Inhibitor Fungicides in Colletotrichum truncatum is likely linked to CYP51A and/or CYP51B Gene Variants.

    PubMed

    Chen, Shuning; Wang, Yunyun; Schnabel, Guido; Peng, Congyue Annie; Lagishetty, Satyanarayana; Smith, Kerry; Luo, Chao-Xi; Yuan, Huizhu

    2018-05-24

    Anthracnose disease, caused by Colletotrichum truncatum, affects marketable yield during preharvest production and postharvest storage of fruits and vegetables worldwide. Demethylation inhibitor fungicides (DMIs) are among the very few chemical classes of single-site mode of action fungicides that are effective in controlling anthracnose disease. However, some species are inherently resistant to DMIs and more information is needed to understand this phenomenon. Isolates of C. truncatum were collected from the USA and China from peach, soybean, citrus, and begonia and sensitivity to six DMIs (difenoconazole, propiconazole, metconazole, tebuconazole, flutriafol and fenbuconazole) was determined. Compared with DMI sensitive isolates of C. fructicola, C. siamense, and C. fioriniae (EC50 value ranging from 0.03 µg/ml to 16.2 µg/ml to six DMIs), C. truncatum and C. nymphaeae were resistant to flutriafol and fenbuconazole (with EC50 value of more 50 µg/ml). Moreover, C. truncatum was resistant to tebuconazole and metconazole (with resistance factor of 27.4 and 96.0), and displayed reduced sensitivity to difenoconazole and propiconazole (with resistance factor of 5.1 and 5.2). Analysis of the Colletotrichum spp. genome revealed two potential DMI targets, CYP51A and CYP51B, that putatively encode P450 sterol 14α-demethylases. Both genes were identified and sequenced from C. truncatum and other species and no correlation between CYP51 gene expression levels and fungicide sensitivity was found. Four amino acid variations L208Y, H238R, S302A, and I366L in CYP51A, and three variations H373N, M376L, and S511T in CYP51B correlated with the DMI resistance phenotype. CYP51A structure model analysis suggested the four alteration may reduce azole affinity. Likewise, CYP51B structure analysis suggested the H373N and M376L variants may change the conformation of the DMI binding pocket, thereby causing differential sensitivity to DMI fungicides in C. truncatum.

  6. RadTown USA: Basic Information

    MedlinePlus

    ... Burbs Countryside Waterfront Downtown Did you know? RadTown Games Educational Materials Bring RadTown into the classroom with ... Waterfront Downtown Educational Materials RadTown A to Z Games Link to Us Glossary Subscribe to Listserv News ...

  7. Structural Basis of Human CYP51 Inhibition by Antifungal Azoles

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Strushkevich, Natallia; Usanov, Sergey A.; Park, Hee-Won

    2010-09-22

    The obligatory step in sterol biosynthesis in eukaryotes is demethylation of sterol precursors at the C14-position, which is catalyzed by CYP51 (sterol 14-alpha demethylase) in three sequential reactions. In mammals, the final product of the pathway is cholesterol, while important intermediates, meiosis-activating sterols, are produced by CYP51. Three crystal structures of human CYP51, ligand-free and complexed with antifungal drugs ketoconazole and econazole, were determined, allowing analysis of the molecular basis for functional conservation within the CYP51 family. Azole binding occurs mostly through hydrophobic interactions with conservative residues of the active site. The substantial conformational changes in the B{prime} helix andmore » F-G loop regions are induced upon ligand binding, consistent with the membrane nature of the protein and its substrate. The access channel is typical for mammalian sterol-metabolizing P450 enzymes, but is different from that observed in Mycobacterium tuberculosis CYP51. Comparison of the azole-bound structures provides insight into the relative binding affinities of human and bacterial P450 enzymes to ketoconazole and fluconazole, which can be useful for the rational design of antifungal compounds and specific modulators of human CYP51.« less

  8. Genomic profiling of pelvic genital type leiomyosarcoma in a woman with a germline CHEK2:c.1100delC mutation and a concomitant diagnosis of metastatic invasive ductal breast carcinoma

    PubMed Central

    Reisle, Caralyn; Martin, Lee Ann; Alwelaie, Yazeed; Mungall, Karen L.; Ch'ng, Carolyn; Thomas, Ruth; Ng, Tony; Yip, Stephen; J. Lim, Howard; Sun, Sophie; Young, Sean S.; Karsan, Aly; Zhao, Yongjun; Mungall, Andrew J.; Moore, Richard A.; J. Renouf, Daniel; Gelmon, Karen; Ma, Yussanne P.; Hayes, Malcolm; Laskin, Janessa; Marra, Marco A.; Schrader, Kasmintan A.; Jones, Steven J. M.

    2017-01-01

    We describe a woman with the known pathogenic germline variant CHEK2:c.1100delC and synchronous diagnoses of both pelvic genital type leiomyosarcoma (LMS) and metastatic invasive ductal breast carcinoma. CHEK2 (checkpoint kinase 2) is a tumor-suppressor gene encoding a serine/threonine-protein kinase (CHEK2) involved in double-strand DNA break repair and cell cycle arrest. The CHEK2:c.1100delC variant is a moderate penetrance allele resulting in an approximately twofold increase in breast cancer risk. Whole-genome and whole-transcriptome sequencing were performed on the leiomyosarcoma and matched blood-derived DNA. Despite the presence of several genomic hits within the double-strand DNA damage pathway (CHEK2 germline variant and multiple RAD51B somatic structural variants), tumor profiling did not show an obvious DNA repair deficiency signature. However, even though the LMS displayed clear malignant features, its genomic profiling revealed several characteristics classically associated with leiomyomas including a translocation, t(12;14), with one breakpoint disrupting RAD51B and the other breakpoint upstream of HMGA2 with very high expression of HMGA2 and PLAG1. This is the first report of LMS genomic profiling in a patient with the germline CHEK2:c.1100delC variant and an additional diagnosis of metastatic invasive ductal breast carcinoma. We also describe a possible mechanistic relationship between leiomyoma and LMS based on genomic and transcriptome data. Our findings suggest that RAD51B translocation and HMGA2 overexpression may play an important role in LMS oncogenesis. PMID:28514723

  9. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD9, RAD17, RAD24 and MEC3 genes are required for tolerating irreparable, ultraviolet-induced DNA damage.

    PubMed Central

    Paulovich, A G; Armour, C D; Hartwell, L H

    1998-01-01

    In wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a checkpoint slows the rate of progression of an ongoing S phase in response to exposure to a DNA-alkylating agent. Mutations that eliminate S phase regulation also confer sensitivity to alkylating agents, leading us to suggest that, by regulating the S phase rate, cells are either better able to repair or better able to replicate damaged DNA. In this study, we determine the effects of mutations that impair S phase regulation on the ability of excision repair-defective cells to replicate irreparably UV-damaged DNA. We assay survival after UV irradiation, as well as the genetic consequences of replicating a damaged template, namely mutation and sister chromatid exchange induction. We find that RAD9, RAD17, RAD24, and MEC3 are required for UV-induced (although not spontaneous) mutagenesis, and that RAD9 and RAD17 (but not REV3, RAD24, and MEC3) are required for maximal induction of replication-dependent sister chromatid exchange. Therefore, checkpoint genes not only control cell cycle progression in response to damage, but also play a role in accommodating DNA damage during replication. PMID:9725831

  10. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD9, RAD17, RAD24 and MEC3 genes are required for tolerating irreparable, ultraviolet-induced DNA damage.

    PubMed

    Paulovich, A G; Armour, C D; Hartwell, L H

    1998-09-01

    In wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a checkpoint slows the rate of progression of an ongoing S phase in response to exposure to a DNA-alkylating agent. Mutations that eliminate S phase regulation also confer sensitivity to alkylating agents, leading us to suggest that, by regulating the S phase rate, cells are either better able to repair or better able to replicate damaged DNA. In this study, we determine the effects of mutations that impair S phase regulation on the ability of excision repair-defective cells to replicate irreparably UV-damaged DNA. We assay survival after UV irradiation, as well as the genetic consequences of replicating a damaged template, namely mutation and sister chromatid exchange induction. We find that RAD9, RAD17, RAD24, and MEC3 are required for UV-induced (although not spontaneous) mutagenesis, and that RAD9 and RAD17 (but not REV3, RAD24, and MEC3) are required for maximal induction of replication-dependent sister chromatid exchange. Therefore, checkpoint genes not only control cell cycle progression in response to damage, but also play a role in accommodating DNA damage during replication.

  11. Roles of the checkpoint sensor clamp Rad9-Rad1-Hus1 (911)-complex and the clamp loaders Rad17-RFC and Ctf18-RFC in Schizosaccharomyces pombe telomere maintenance.

    PubMed

    Khair, Lyne; Chang, Ya-Ting; Subramanian, Lakxmi; Russell, Paul; Nakamura, Toru M

    2010-06-01

    While telomeres must provide mechanisms to prevent DNA repair and DNA damage checkpoint factors from fusing chromosome ends and causing permanent cell cycle arrest, these factors associate with functional telomeres and play critical roles in the maintenance of telomeres. Previous studies have established that Tel1 (ATM) and Rad3 (ATR) kinases play redundant but essential roles for telomere maintenance in fission yeast. In addition, the Rad9-Rad1-Hus1 (911) and Rad17-RFC complexes work downstream of Rad3 (ATR) in fission yeast telomere maintenance. Here, we investigated how 911, Rad17-RFC and another RFC-like complex Ctf18-RFC contribute to telomere maintenance in fission yeast cells lacking Tel1 and carrying a novel hypomorphic allele of rad3 (DBD-rad3), generated by the fusion between the DNA binding domain (DBD) of the fission yeast telomere capping protein Pot1 and Rad3. Our investigations have uncovered a surprising redundancy for Rad9 and Hus1 in allowing Rad1 to contribute to telomere maintenance in DBD-rad3 tel1 cells. In addition, we found that Rad17-RFC and Ctf18-RFC carry out redundant telomere maintenance functions in DBD-rad3 tel1 cells. Since checkpoint sensor proteins are highly conserved, genetic redundancies uncovered here may be relevant to telomere maintenance and detection of DNA damage in other eukaryotes.

  12. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2 complex promotes trinucleotide repeat expansions independently of homologous recombination.

    PubMed

    Ye, Yanfang; Kirkham-McCarthy, Lucy; Lahue, Robert S

    2016-07-01

    Trinucleotide repeats (TNRs) are tandem arrays of three nucleotides that can expand in length to cause at least 17 inherited human diseases. Somatic expansions in patients can occur in differentiated tissues where DNA replication is limited and cannot be a primary source of somatic mutation. Instead, mouse models of TNR diseases have shown that both inherited and somatic expansions can be suppressed by the loss of certain DNA repair factors. It is generally believed that these repair factors cause misprocessing of TNRs, leading to expansions. Here we extend this idea to show that the Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2 (MRX) complex of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a causative factor in expansions of short TNRs. Mutations that eliminate MRX subunits led to significant suppression of expansions whereas mutations that inactivate Rad51 had only a minor effect. Coupled with previous evidence, this suggests that MRX drives expansions of short TNRs through a process distinct from homologous recombination. The nuclease function of Mre11 was dispensable for expansions, suggesting that expansions do not occur by Mre11-dependent nucleolytic processing of the TNR. Epistasis between MRX and post-replication repair (PRR) was tested. PRR protects against expansions, so a rad5 mutant gave a high expansion rate. In contrast, the mre11 rad5 double mutant gave a suppressed expansion rate, indistinguishable from the mre11 single mutant. This suggests that MRX creates a TNR substrate for PRR. Protein acetylation was also tested as a mechanism regulating MRX activity in expansions. Six acetylation sites were identified in Rad50. Mutation of all six lysine residues to arginine gave partial bypass of a sin3 HDAC mutant, suggesting that Rad50 acetylation is functionally important for Sin3-mediated expansions. Overall we conclude that yeast MRX helps drive expansions of short TNRs by a mechanism distinct from its role in homologous recombination and independent of the nuclease function of Mre11. Copyright

  13. CHEK2 c.1100delC mutation is associated with an increased risk for male breast cancer in Finnish patient population.

    PubMed

    Hallamies, Sanna; Pelttari, Liisa M; Poikonen-Saksela, Paula; Jekunen, Antti; Jukkola-Vuorinen, Arja; Auvinen, Päivi; Blomqvist, Carl; Aittomäki, Kristiina; Mattson, Johanna; Nevanlinna, Heli

    2017-09-05

    Several susceptibility genes have been established for female breast cancer, of which mutations in BRCA1 and especially in BRCA2 are also known risk factors for male breast cancer (MBC). The role of other breast cancer genes in MBC is less well understood. In this study, we have genotyped 68 MBC patients for the known breast or ovarian cancer associated mutations in the Finnish population in CHEK2, PALB2, RAD51C, RAD51D, and FANCM genes. CHEK2 c.1100delC mutation was found in 4 patients (5.9%), which is significantly more frequent than in the control population (OR: 4.47, 95% CI 1.51-13.18, p = 0.019). Four CHEK2 I157T variants were also detected, but the frequency did not significantly differ from population controls (p = 0.781). No RAD51C, RAD51D, PALB2, or FANCM mutations were found. These data suggest that the CHEK2 c.1100delC mutation is associated with an increased risk for MBC in the Finnish population.

  14. Roles of the Checkpoint Sensor Clamp Rad9-Rad1-Hus1 (911)-Complex and the Clamp Loaders Rad17-RFC and Ctf18-RFC in Schizosaccharomyces pombe Telomere Maintenance

    PubMed Central

    Khair, Lyne; Chang, Ya-Ting; Subramanian, Lakxmi; Russell, Paul; Nakamura, Toru M.

    2011-01-01

    While telomeres must provide mechanisms to prevent DNA repair and DNA damage checkpoint factors from fusing chromosome ends and causing permanent cell cycle arrest, these factors associate with functional telomeres and play critical roles in the maintenance of telomeres. Previous studies have established that Tel1 (ATM) and Rad3 (ATR) kinases play redundant but essential roles for telomere maintenance in fission yeast. In addition, the Rad9-Rad1-Hus1 (911) and Rad17-RFC complexes work downstream of Rad3 (ATR) in fission yeast telomere maintenance. Here, we investigated how 911, Rad17-RFC and another RFC-like complex Ctf18-RFC contribute to telomere maintenance in fission yeast cells lacking Tel1 and carrying a novel hypomorphic allele of rad3 (DBD-rad3), generated by the fusion between the DNA binding domain (DBD) of the fission yeast telomere capping protein Pot1 and Rad3. Our investigations have uncovered a surprising redundancy for Rad9 and Hus1 in allowing Rad1 to contribute to telomere maintenance in DBD-rad3 tel1Δ cells. In addition, we found that Rad17-RFC and Ctf18-RFC carry out redundant telomere maintenance functions in DBD-rad3 tel1Δ cells. Since checkpoint sensor proteins are highly conserved, genetic redundancies uncovered here may be relevant to telomere maintenance and detection of DNA damage in other eukaryotes. PMID:20505337

  15. Pathologic findings in breast, fallopian tube, and ovary specimens in non-BRCA hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancer syndromes: a study of 18 patients with deleterious germline mutations in RAD51C, BARD1, BRIP1, PALB2, MUTYH, or CHEK2.

    PubMed

    Schoolmeester, J Kenneth; Moyer, Ann M; Goodenberger, McKinsey L; Keeney, Gary L; Carter, Jodi M; Bakkum-Gamez, Jamie N

    2017-12-01

    Germline BRCA mutations account for a significant proportion of genetic/familial risk of breast and ovarian cancer (GBOC) susceptibility, but a broader spectrum of GBOC susceptibility genes has emerged in recent years. Genotype-to-phenotype correlations are known for some established forms of GBOC; however, whether such correlations exist for less common GBOC variants is unclear. We reviewed our institution's experience with non-BRCA GBOC, looking specifically for trends in pathologic and clinical features. Eighteen women with deleterious germline mutations in RAD51C (5 patients), BARD1 (1 patient), BRIP1 (2 patients), PALB2 (3 patients), MUTYH (2 patients), or CHEK2 (5 patients) were identified between January 2011 and December 2016. Thirteen (72%) of 18 patients developed carcinoma of the breast, fallopian tube, or ovary, with 1 patient developing 2 separate primary neoplasms. Twelve (86%) of 14 tumors occurred in the breast. One (7%) arose in the fallopian tube and another (7%) arose in the ovary. Evidence of genotype-phenotype correlation was not identified. However, some data suggest that the type of alteration in select genes may influence tumor behavior and patient outcome. In our PALB2 mutation cohort, 2 patients with frameshift mutations led to early onset and rapid progression to stage IV breast cancer in contrast to stage IA breast cancer in 1 patient with a nonsense mutation. Despite no apparent genotype-phenotype trends, our data indicate that some loss-of-function variants in PALB2 may lead to differences in tumor behavior and patient outcome. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Variants of human papillomavirus type 16 predispose toward persistent infection

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Lei; Liao, Hong; Yang, Binlie; Geffre, Christopher P; Zhang, Ai; Zhou, Aizhi; Cao, Huimin; Wang, Jieru; Zhang, Zhenbo; Zheng, Wenxin

    2015-01-01

    A cohort study of 292 Chinese women was conducted to determine the relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 variants and persistent viral infection. Enrolled patients were HPV16 positive and had both normal cytology and histology. Flow-through hybridization and gene chip technology was used to identify the HPV type. A PCR sequencing assay was performed to find HPV16 E2, E6 and E7 gene variants. The associations between these variants and HPV16 persistent infection was analyzed by Fisher’s exact test. It was found that the variants T178G, T350G and A442C in the E6 gene, as well as C3158A and G3248A variants in the E2 gene were associated with persistent HPV16 infection. No link was observed between E7 variants and persistent viral infection. Our findings suggest that detection of specific HPV variants would help identify patients who are at high risk for viral persistence and development of cervical neoplasia. PMID:26339417

  17. Highly efficient biallelic genome editing of human ES/iPS cells using a CRISPR/Cas9 or TALEN system.

    PubMed

    Takayama, Kazuo; Igai, Keisuke; Hagihara, Yasuko; Hashimoto, Rina; Hanawa, Morifumi; Sakuma, Tetsushi; Tachibana, Masashi; Sakurai, Fuminori; Yamamoto, Takashi; Mizuguchi, Hiroyuki

    2017-05-19

    Genome editing research of human ES/iPS cells has been accelerated by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN) technologies. However, the efficiency of biallelic genetic engineering in transcriptionally inactive genes is still low, unlike that in transcriptionally active genes. To enhance the biallelic homologous recombination efficiency in human ES/iPS cells, we performed screenings of accessorial genes and compounds. We found that RAD51 overexpression and valproic acid treatment enhanced biallelic-targeting efficiency in human ES/iPS cells regardless of the transcriptional activity of the targeted locus. Importantly, RAD51 overexpression and valproic acid treatment synergistically increased the biallelic homologous recombination efficiency. Our findings would facilitate genome editing study using human ES/iPS cells. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  18. Cdc13 prevents telomere uncapping and Rad50-dependent homologous recombination

    PubMed Central

    Grandin, Nathalie; Damon, Christelle; Charbonneau, Michel

    2001-01-01

    Cdc13 performs an essential function in telomere end protection in budding yeast. Here, we analyze the consequences on telomere dynamics of cdc13-induced telomeric DNA damage in proliferating cells. Checkpoint-deficient cdc13-1 cells accumulated DNA damage and eventually senesced. However, these telomerase-proficient cells could survive by using homologous recombination but, contrary to telomerase-deficient cells, did so without prior telomere shortening. Strikingly, homologous recombination in cdc13-1 mec3, as well as in telomerase-deficient cdc13-1 cells, which were Rad52- and Rad50-dependent but Rad51-independent, exclusively amplified the TG1–3 repeats. This argues that not only short telomeres are substrates for type II recombination. The Cdc13-1 mutant protein harbored a defect in its association with Stn1 and Ten1 but also an additional, unknown, defect that could not be cured by expressing a Cdc13-1– Ten1–Stn1 fusion. We propose that Cdc13 prevents telomere uncapping and inhibits recombination between telomeric sequences through a pathway distinct from and complementary to that used by telomerase. PMID:11689452

  19. Comparison of the BioRad Variant and Primus Ultra2 high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) instruments for the detection of variant hemoglobins.

    PubMed

    Gosselin, R C; Carlin, A C; Dwyre, D M

    2011-04-01

    Hemoglobin variants are a result of genetic changes resulting in abnormal or dys-synchronous hemoglobin chain production (thalassemia) or the generation of hemoglobin chain variants such as hemoglobin S. Automated high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems have become the method of choice for the evaluation of patients suspected with hemoglobinopathies. In this study, we evaluated the performance of two HPLC methods used in the detection of common hemoglobin variants: Variant and Ultra2. There were 377 samples tested, 26% (99/377) with HbS, 8.5% (32/377) with HbC, 20.7% (78/377) with other hemoglobin variant or thalassemia, and 2.9% with increased hemoglobin A(1) c. The interpretations of each chromatograph were compared. There were no differences noted for hemoglobins A(0), S, or C. There were significant differences between HPLC methods for hemoglobins F, A(2), and A(1) c. However, there was good concordance between normal and abnormal interpretations (97.9% and 96.2%, respectively). Both Variant and Ultra2 HPLC methods were able to detect most common hemoglobin variants. There was better discrimination for fast hemoglobins, between hemoglobins E and A(2), and between hemoglobins S and F using the Ultra2 HPLC method. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  20. Albumin Redhill, a human albumin variant.

    PubMed

    Brand, S; Hutchinson, D W; Donaldson, D

    1984-01-31

    Albumin Redhill, a variant human albumin with the same C-terminal amino acid as albumin A but with arginine at the N-terminus has been isolated by chromatofocusing from the sera of an English family. Albumin Redhill appears to contain two sites of mutation in its protein chain and is probably a proalbumin. The ability of albumin Redhill to bind Ni(II) or Cu(II) ions is considerably less than that of albumin A.

  1. Rare and low-frequency coding variants alter human adult height

    PubMed Central

    Marouli, Eirini; Graff, Mariaelisa; Medina-Gomez, Carolina; Lo, Ken Sin; Wood, Andrew R; Kjaer, Troels R; Fine, Rebecca S; Lu, Yingchang; Schurmann, Claudia; Highland, Heather M; Rüeger, Sina; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Justice, Anne E; Lamparter, David; Stirrups, Kathleen E; Turcot, Valérie; Young, Kristin L; Winkler, Thomas W; Esko, Tõnu; Karaderi, Tugce; Locke, Adam E; Masca, Nicholas GD; Ng, Maggie CY; Mudgal, Poorva; Rivas, Manuel A; Vedantam, Sailaja; Mahajan, Anubha; Guo, Xiuqing; Abecasis, Goncalo; Aben, Katja K; Adair, Linda S; Alam, Dewan S; Albrecht, Eva; Allin, Kristine H; Allison, Matthew; Amouyel, Philippe; Appel, Emil V; Arveiler, Dominique; Asselbergs, Folkert W; Auer, Paul L; Balkau, Beverley; Banas, Bernhard; Bang, Lia E; Benn, Marianne; Bergmann, Sven; Bielak, Lawrence F; Blüher, Matthias; Boeing, Heiner; Boerwinkle, Eric; Böger, Carsten A; Bonnycastle, Lori L; Bork-Jensen, Jette; Bots, Michiel L; Bottinger, Erwin P; Bowden, Donald W; Brandslund, Ivan; Breen, Gerome; Brilliant, Murray H; Broer, Linda; Burt, Amber A; Butterworth, Adam S; Carey, David J; Caulfield, Mark J; Chambers, John C; Chasman, Daniel I; Chen, Yii-Der Ida; Chowdhury, Rajiv; Christensen, Cramer; Chu, Audrey Y; Cocca, Massimiliano; Collins, Francis S; Cook, James P; Corley, Janie; Galbany, Jordi Corominas; Cox, Amanda J; Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel; Danesh, John; Davies, Gail; de Bakker, Paul IW; de Borst, Gert J.; de Denus, Simon; de Groot, Mark CH; de Mutsert, Renée; Deary, Ian J; Dedoussis, George; Demerath, Ellen W; den Hollander, Anneke I; Dennis, Joe G; Di Angelantonio, Emanuele; Drenos, Fotios; Du, Mengmeng; Dunning, Alison M; Easton, Douglas F; Ebeling, Tapani; Edwards, Todd L; Ellinor, Patrick T; Elliott, Paul; Evangelou, Evangelos; Farmaki, Aliki-Eleni; Faul, Jessica D; Feitosa, Mary F; Feng, Shuang; Ferrannini, Ele; Ferrario, Marco M; Ferrieres, Jean; Florez, Jose C; Ford, Ian; Fornage, Myriam; Franks, Paul W; Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth; Galesloot, Tessel E; Gan, Wei; Gandin, Ilaria; Gasparini, Paolo; Giedraitis, Vilmantas; Giri, Ayush; Girotto, Giorgia; Gordon, Scott D; Gordon-Larsen, Penny; Gorski, Mathias; Grarup, Niels; Grove, Megan L.; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Gustafsson, Stefan; Hansen, Torben; Harris, Kathleen Mullan; Harris, Tamara B; Hattersley, Andrew T; Hayward, Caroline; He, Liang; Heid, Iris M; Heikkilä, Kauko; Helgeland, Øyvind; Hernesniemi, Jussi; Hewitt, Alex W; Hocking, Lynne J; Hollensted, Mette; Holmen, Oddgeir L; Hovingh, G. Kees; Howson, Joanna MM; Hoyng, Carel B; Huang, Paul L; Hveem, Kristian; Ikram, M. Arfan; Ingelsson, Erik; Jackson, Anne U; Jansson, Jan-Håkan; Jarvik, Gail P; Jensen, Gorm B; Jhun, Min A; Jia, Yucheng; Jiang, Xuejuan; Johansson, Stefan; Jørgensen, Marit E; Jørgensen, Torben; Jousilahti, Pekka; Jukema, J Wouter; Kahali, Bratati; Kahn, René S; Kähönen, Mika; Kamstrup, Pia R; Kanoni, Stavroula; Kaprio, Jaakko; Karaleftheri, Maria; Kardia, Sharon LR; Karpe, Fredrik; Kee, Frank; Keeman, Renske; Kiemeney, Lambertus A; Kitajima, Hidetoshi; Kluivers, Kirsten B; Kocher, Thomas; Komulainen, Pirjo; Kontto, Jukka; Kooner, Jaspal S; Kooperberg, Charles; Kovacs, Peter; Kriebel, Jennifer; Kuivaniemi, Helena; Küry, Sébastien; Kuusisto, Johanna; La Bianca, Martina; Laakso, Markku; Lakka, Timo A; Lange, Ethan M; Lange, Leslie A; Langefeld, Carl D; Langenberg, Claudia; Larson, Eric B; Lee, I-Te; Lehtimäki, Terho; Lewis, Cora E; Li, Huaixing; Li, Jin; Li-Gao, Ruifang; Lin, Honghuang; Lin, Li-An; Lin, Xu; Lind, Lars; Lindström, Jaana; Linneberg, Allan; Liu, Yeheng; Liu, Yongmei; Lophatananon, Artitaya; Luan, Jian'an; Lubitz, Steven A; Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka; Mackey, David A; Madden, Pamela AF; Manning, Alisa K; Männistö, Satu; Marenne, Gaëlle; Marten, Jonathan; Martin, Nicholas G; Mazul, Angela L; Meidtner, Karina; Metspalu, Andres; Mitchell, Paul; Mohlke, Karen L; Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O; Morgan, Anna; Morris, Andrew D; Morris, Andrew P; Müller-Nurasyid, Martina; Munroe, Patricia B; Nalls, Mike A; Nauck, Matthias; Nelson, Christopher P; Neville, Matt; Nielsen, Sune F; Nikus, Kjell; Njølstad, Pål R; Nordestgaard, Børge G; Ntalla, Ioanna; O'Connel, Jeffrey R; Oksa, Heikki; Loohuis, Loes M Olde; Ophoff, Roel A; Owen, Katharine R; Packard, Chris J; Padmanabhan, Sandosh; Palmer, Colin NA; Pasterkamp, Gerard; Patel, Aniruddh P; Pattie, Alison; Pedersen, Oluf; Peissig, Peggy L; Peloso, Gina M; Pennell, Craig E; Perola, Markus; Perry, James A; Perry, John R.B.; Person, Thomas N; Pirie, Ailith; Polasek, Ozren; Posthuma, Danielle; Raitakari, Olli T; Rasheed, Asif; Rauramaa, Rainer; Reilly, Dermot F; Reiner, Alex P; Renström, Frida; Ridker, Paul M; Rioux, John D; Robertson, Neil; Robino, Antonietta; Rolandsson, Olov; Rudan, Igor; Ruth, Katherine S; Saleheen, Danish; Salomaa, Veikko; Samani, Nilesh J; Sandow, Kevin; Sapkota, Yadav; Sattar, Naveed; Schmidt, Marjanka K; Schreiner, Pamela J; Schulze, Matthias B; Scott, Robert A; Segura-Lepe, Marcelo P; Shah, Svati; Sim, Xueling; Sivapalaratnam, Suthesh; Small, Kerrin S; Smith, Albert Vernon; Smith, Jennifer A; Southam, Lorraine; Spector, Timothy D; Speliotes, Elizabeth K; Starr, John M; Steinthorsdottir, Valgerdur; Stringham, Heather M; Stumvoll, Michael; Surendran, Praveen; Hart, Leen M ‘t; Tansey, Katherine E; Tardif, Jean-Claude; Taylor, Kent D; Teumer, Alexander; Thompson, Deborah J; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Thuesen, Betina H; Tönjes, Anke; Tromp, Gerard; Trompet, Stella; Tsafantakis, Emmanouil; Tuomilehto, Jaakko; Tybjaerg-Hansen, Anne; Tyrer, Jonathan P; Uher, Rudolf; Uitterlinden, André G; Ulivi, Sheila; van der Laan, Sander W; Van Der Leij, Andries R; van Duijn, Cornelia M; van Schoor, Natasja M; van Setten, Jessica; Varbo, Anette; Varga, Tibor V; Varma, Rohit; Edwards, Digna R Velez; Vermeulen, Sita H; Vestergaard, Henrik; Vitart, Veronique; Vogt, Thomas F; Vozzi, Diego; Walker, Mark; Wang, Feijie; Wang, Carol A; Wang, Shuai; Wang, Yiqin; Wareham, Nicholas J; Warren, Helen R; Wessel, Jennifer; Willems, Sara M; Wilson, James G; Witte, Daniel R; Woods, Michael O; Wu, Ying; Yaghootkar, Hanieh; Yao, Jie; Yao, Pang; Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M; Young, Robin; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Zhan, Xiaowei; Zhang, Weihua; Zhao, Jing Hua; Zhao, Wei; Zhao, Wei; Zheng, He; Zhou, Wei; Rotter, Jerome I; Boehnke, Michael; Kathiresan, Sekar; McCarthy, Mark I; Willer, Cristen J; Stefansson, Kari; Borecki, Ingrid B; Liu, Dajiang J; North, Kari E; Heard-Costa, Nancy L; Pers, Tune H; Lindgren, Cecilia M; Oxvig, Claus; Kutalik, Zoltán; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Loos, Ruth JF; Frayling, Timothy M; Hirschhorn, Joel N; Deloukas, Panos; Lettre, Guillaume

    2016-01-01

    Summary Height is a highly heritable, classic polygenic trait with ∼700 common associated variants identified so far through genome-wide association studies. Here, we report 83 height-associated coding variants with lower minor allele frequencies (range of 0.1-4.8%) and effects of up to 2 cm/allele (e.g. in IHH, STC2, AR and CRISPLD2), >10 times the average effect of common variants. In functional follow-up studies, rare height-increasing alleles of STC2 (+1-2 cm/allele) compromised proteolytic inhibition of PAPP-A and increased cleavage of IGFBP-4 in vitro, resulting in higher bioavailability of insulin-like growth factors. These 83 height-associated variants overlap genes mutated in monogenic growth disorders and highlight new biological candidates (e.g. ADAMTS3, IL11RA, NOX4) and pathways (e.g. proteoglycan/glycosaminoglycan synthesis) involved in growth. Our results demonstrate that sufficiently large sample sizes can uncover rare and low-frequency variants of moderate to large effect associated with polygenic human phenotypes, and that these variants implicate relevant genes and pathways. PMID:28146470

  2. Common genetic variants influence human subcortical brain structures

    PubMed Central

    Hibar, Derrek P.; Stein, Jason L.; Renteria, Miguel E.; Arias-Vasquez, Alejandro; Desrivières, Sylvane; Jahanshad, Neda; Toro, Roberto; Wittfeld, Katharina; Abramovic, Lucija; Andersson, Micael; Aribisala, Benjamin S.; Armstrong, Nicola J.; Bernard, Manon; Bohlken, Marc M.; Boks, Marco P.; Bralten, Janita; Brown, Andrew A.; Chakravarty, M. Mallar; Chen, Qiang; Ching, Christopher R. K.; Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel; den Braber, Anouk; Giddaluru, Sudheer; Goldman, Aaron L.; Grimm, Oliver; Guadalupe, Tulio; Hass, Johanna; Woldehawariat, Girma; Holmes, Avram J.; Hoogman, Martine; Janowitz, Deborah; Jia, Tianye; Kim, Sungeun; Klein, Marieke; Kraemer, Bernd; Lee, Phil H.; Olde Loohuis, Loes M.; Luciano, Michelle; Macare, Christine; Mather, Karen A.; Mattheisen, Manuel; Milaneschi, Yuri; Nho, Kwangsik; Papmeyer, Martina; Ramasamy, Adaikalavan; Risacher, Shannon L.; Roiz-Santiañez, Roberto; Rose, Emma J.; Salami, Alireza; Sämann, Philipp G.; Schmaal, Lianne; Schork, Andrew J.; Shin, Jean; Strike, Lachlan T.; Teumer, Alexander; van Donkelaar, Marjolein M. J.; van Eijk, Kristel R.; Walters, Raymond K.; Westlye, Lars T.; Whelan, Christopher D.; Winkler, Anderson M.; Zwiers, Marcel P.; Alhusaini, Saud; Athanasiu, Lavinia; Ehrlich, Stefan; Hakobjan, Marina M. H.; Hartberg, Cecilie B.; Haukvik, Unn K.; Heister, Angelien J. G. A. M.; Hoehn, David; Kasperaviciute, Dalia; Liewald, David C. M.; Lopez, Lorna M.; Makkinje, Remco R. R.; Matarin, Mar; Naber, Marlies A. M.; McKay, D. Reese; Needham, Margaret; Nugent, Allison C.; Pütz, Benno; Royle, Natalie A.; Shen, Li; Sprooten, Emma; Trabzuni, Daniah; van der Marel, Saskia S. L.; van Hulzen, Kimm J. E.; Walton, Esther; Wolf, Christiane; Almasy, Laura; Ames, David; Arepalli, Sampath; Assareh, Amelia A.; Bastin, Mark E.; Brodaty, Henry; Bulayeva, Kazima B.; Carless, Melanie A.; Cichon, Sven; Corvin, Aiden; Curran, Joanne E.; Czisch, Michael; de Zubicaray, Greig I.; Dillman, Allissa; Duggirala, Ravi; Dyer, Thomas D.; Erk, Susanne; Fedko, Iryna O.; Ferrucci, Luigi; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Fox, Peter T.; Fukunaga, Masaki; Gibbs, J. Raphael; Göring, Harald H. H.; Green, Robert C.; Guelfi, Sebastian; Hansell, Narelle K.; Hartman, Catharina A.; Hegenscheid, Katrin; Heinz, Andreas; Hernandez, Dena G.; Heslenfeld, Dirk J.; Hoekstra, Pieter J.; Holsboer, Florian; Homuth, Georg; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Ikeda, Masashi; Jack, Clifford R.; Jenkinson, Mark; Johnson, Robert; Kanai, Ryota; Keil, Maria; Kent, Jack W.; Kochunov, Peter; Kwok, John B.; Lawrie, Stephen M.; Liu, Xinmin; Longo, Dan L.; McMahon, Katie L.; Meisenzahl, Eva; Melle, Ingrid; Mohnke, Sebastian; Montgomery, Grant W.; Mostert, Jeanette C.; Mühleisen, Thomas W.; Nalls, Michael A.; Nichols, Thomas E.; Nilsson, Lars G.; Nöthen, Markus M.; Ohi, Kazutaka; Olvera, Rene L.; Perez-Iglesias, Rocio; Pike, G. Bruce; Potkin, Steven G.; Reinvang, Ivar; Reppermund, Simone; Rietschel, Marcella; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Rosen, Glenn D.; Rujescu, Dan; Schnell, Knut; Schofield, Peter R.; Smith, Colin; Steen, Vidar M.; Sussmann, Jessika E.; Thalamuthu, Anbupalam; Toga, Arthur W.; Traynor, Bryan J.; Troncoso, Juan; Turner, Jessica A.; Valdés Hernández, Maria C.; van ’t Ent, Dennis; van der Brug, Marcel; van der Wee, Nic J. A.; van Tol, Marie-Jose; Veltman, Dick J.; Wassink, Thomas H.; Westman, Eric; Zielke, Ronald H.; Zonderman, Alan B.; Ashbrook, David G.; Hager, Reinmar; Lu, Lu; McMahon, Francis J.; Morris, Derek W.; Williams, Robert W.; Brunner, Han G.; Buckner, Randy L.; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Cahn, Wiepke; Calhoun, Vince D.; Cavalleri, Gianpiero L.; Crespo-Facorro, Benedicto; Dale, Anders M.; Davies, Gareth E.; Delanty, Norman; Depondt, Chantal; Djurovic, Srdjan; Drevets, Wayne C.; Espeseth, Thomas; Gollub, Randy L.; Ho, Beng-Choon; Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Hosten, Norbert; Kahn, René S.; Le Hellard, Stephanie; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Müller-Myhsok, Bertram; Nauck, Matthias; Nyberg, Lars; Pandolfo, Massimo; Penninx, Brenda W. J. H.; Roffman, Joshua L.; Sisodiya, Sanjay M.; Smoller, Jordan W.; van Bokhoven, Hans; van Haren, Neeltje E. M.; Völzke, Henry; Walter, Henrik; Weiner, Michael W.; Wen, Wei; White, Tonya; Agartz, Ingrid; Andreassen, Ole A.; Blangero, John; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Brouwer, Rachel M.; Cannon, Dara M.; Cookson, Mark R.; de Geus, Eco J. C.; Deary, Ian J.; Donohoe, Gary; Fernández, Guillén; Fisher, Simon E.; Francks, Clyde; Glahn, David C.; Grabe, Hans J.; Gruber, Oliver; Hardy, John; Hashimoto, Ryota; Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E.; Jönsson, Erik G.; Kloszewska, Iwona; Lovestone, Simon; Mattay, Venkata S.; Mecocci, Patrizia; McDonald, Colm; McIntosh, Andrew M.; Ophoff, Roel A.; Paus, Tomas; Pausova, Zdenka; Ryten, Mina; Sachdev, Perminder S.; Saykin, Andrew J.; Simmons, Andy; Singleton, Andrew; Soininen, Hilkka; Wardlaw, Joanna M.; Weale, Michael E.; Weinberger, Daniel R.; Adams, Hieab H. H.; Launer, Lenore J.; Seiler, Stephan; Schmidt, Reinhold; Chauhan, Ganesh; Satizabal, Claudia L.; Becker, James T.; Yanek, Lisa; van der Lee, Sven J.; Ebling, Maritza; Fischl, Bruce; Longstreth, W. T.; Greve, Douglas; Schmidt, Helena; Nyquist, Paul; Vinke, Louis N.; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Xue, Luting; Mazoyer, Bernard; Bis, Joshua C.; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Seshadri, Sudha; Ikram, M. Arfan; Martin, Nicholas G.; Wright, Margaret J.; Schumann, Gunter; Franke, Barbara; Thompson, Paul M.; Medland, Sarah E.

    2015-01-01

    The highly complex structure of the human brain is strongly shaped by genetic influences1. Subcortical brain regions form circuits with cortical areas to coordinate movement2, learning, memory3 and motivation4, and altered circuits can lead to abnormal behaviour and disease2. To investigate how common genetic variants affect the structure of these brain regions, here we conduct genome-wide association studies of the volumes of seven subcortical regions and the intracranial volume derived from magnetic resonance images of 30,717 individuals from 50 cohorts. We identify five novel genetic variants influencing the volumes of the putamen and caudate nucleus. We also find stronger evidence for three loci with previously established influences on hippocampal volume5 and intracranial volume6. These variants show specific volumetric effects on brain structures rather than global effects across structures. The strongest effects were found for the putamen, where a novel intergenic locus with replicable influence on volume (rs945270; P = 1.08 × 10−33; 0.52% variance explained) showed evidence of altering the expression of the KTN1 gene in both brain and blood tissue. Variants influencing putamen volume clustered near developmental genes that regulate apoptosis, axon guidance and vesicle transport. Identification of these genetic variants provides insight into the causes of variability inhuman brain development, and may help to determine mechanisms of neuropsychiatric dysfunction. PMID:25607358

  3. Comparing Mammography Abnormality Features and Genetic Variants in the Prediction of Breast Cancer in Women Recommended for Breast Biopsy

    PubMed Central

    Burnside, Elizabeth S.; Liu, Jie; Wu, Yirong; Onitilo, Adedayo A.; McCarty, Catherine; Page, C. David; Peissig, Peggy; Trentham-Dietz, Amy; Kitchner, Terrie; Fan, Jun; Yuan, Ming

    2015-01-01

    Rationale and Objectives The discovery of germline genetic variants associated with breast cancer has engendered interest in risk stratification for improved, targeted detection and diagnosis. However, there has yet to be a comparison of the predictive ability of these genetic variants with mammography abnormality descriptors. Materials and Methods Our IRB-approved, HIPAA-compliant study utilized a personalized medicine registry in which participants consented to provide a DNA sample and participate in longitudinal follow-up. In our retrospective, age-matched, case-controlled study of 373 cases and 395 controls who underwent breast biopsy, we collected risk factors selected a priori based on the literature including: demographic variables based on the Gail model, common germline genetic variants, and diagnostic mammography findings according to BI-RADS. We developed predictive models using logistic regression to determine the predictive ability of: 1) demographic variables, 2) 10 selected genetic variants, or 3) mammography BI-RADS features. We evaluated each model in turn by calculating a risk score for each patient using 10-fold cross validation; used this risk estimate to construct ROC curves; and compared the AUC of each using the DeLong method. Results The performance of the regression model using demographic risk factors was not statistically different from the model using genetic variants (p=0.9). The model using mammography features (AUC = 0.689) was superior to both the demographic model (AUC = .598; p<0.001) and the genetic model (AUC = .601; p<0.001). Conclusion BI-RADS features exceeded the ability of demographic and 10 selected germline genetic variants to predict breast cancer in women recommended for biopsy. PMID:26514439

  4. Genomic profiling of pelvic genital type leiomyosarcoma in a woman with a germline CHEK2:c.1100delC mutation and a concomitant diagnosis of metastatic invasive ductal breast carcinoma.

    PubMed

    Thibodeau, My Linh; Reisle, Caralyn; Zhao, Eric; Martin, Lee Ann; Alwelaie, Yazeed; Mungall, Karen L; Ch'ng, Carolyn; Thomas, Ruth; Ng, Tony; Yip, Stephen; J Lim, Howard; Sun, Sophie; Young, Sean S; Karsan, Aly; Zhao, Yongjun; Mungall, Andrew J; Moore, Richard A; J Renouf, Daniel; Gelmon, Karen; Ma, Yussanne P; Hayes, Malcolm; Laskin, Janessa; Marra, Marco A; Schrader, Kasmintan A; Jones, Steven J M

    2017-09-01

    We describe a woman with the known pathogenic germline variant CHEK2 :c.1100delC and synchronous diagnoses of both pelvic genital type leiomyosarcoma (LMS) and metastatic invasive ductal breast carcinoma. CHEK2 (checkpoint kinase 2) is a tumor-suppressor gene encoding a serine/threonine-protein kinase (CHEK2) involved in double-strand DNA break repair and cell cycle arrest. The CHEK2 :c.1100delC variant is a moderate penetrance allele resulting in an approximately twofold increase in breast cancer risk. Whole-genome and whole-transcriptome sequencing were performed on the leiomyosarcoma and matched blood-derived DNA. Despite the presence of several genomic hits within the double-strand DNA damage pathway ( CHEK2 germline variant and multiple RAD51B somatic structural variants), tumor profiling did not show an obvious DNA repair deficiency signature. However, even though the LMS displayed clear malignant features, its genomic profiling revealed several characteristics classically associated with leiomyomas including a translocation, t(12;14), with one breakpoint disrupting RAD51B and the other breakpoint upstream of HMGA2 with very high expression of HMGA2 and PLAG1 This is the first report of LMS genomic profiling in a patient with the germline CHEK2 :c.1100delC variant and an additional diagnosis of metastatic invasive ductal breast carcinoma. We also describe a possible mechanistic relationship between leiomyoma and LMS based on genomic and transcriptome data. Our findings suggest that RAD51B translocation and HMGA2 overexpression may play an important role in LMS oncogenesis. © 2017 Thibodeau et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

  5. Rare adipose disorders (RADs) masquerading as obesity

    PubMed Central

    Herbst, Karen L

    2012-01-01

    Rare adipose disorders (RADs) including multiple symmetric lipomatosis (MSL), lipedema and Dercum's disease (DD) may be misdiagnosed as obesity. Lifestyle changes, such as reduced caloric intake and increased physical activity are standard care for obesity. Although lifestyle changes and bariatric surgery work effectively for the obesity component of RADs, these treatments do not routinely reduce the abnormal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) of RADs. RAD SAT likely results from the growth of a brown stem cell population with secondary lymphatic dysfunction in MSL, or by primary vascular and lymphatic dysfunction in lipedema and DD. People with RADs do not lose SAT from caloric limitation and increased energy expenditure alone. In order to improve recognition of RADs apart from obesity, the diagnostic criteria, histology and pathophysiology of RADs are presented and contrasted to familial partial lipodystrophies, acquired partial lipodystrophies and obesity with which they may be confused. Treatment recommendations focus on evidence-based data and include lymphatic decongestive therapy, medications and supplements that support loss of RAD SAT. Associated RAD conditions including depression, anxiety and pain will improve as healthcare providers learn to identify and adopt alternative treatment regimens for the abnormal SAT component of RADs. Effective dietary and exercise regimens are needed in RAD populations to improve quality of life and construct advanced treatment regimens for future generations. PMID:22301856

  6. Differentiation of prostatitis and prostate cancer using the Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS).

    PubMed

    Meier-Schroers, Michael; Kukuk, Guido; Wolter, Karsten; Decker, Georges; Fischer, Stefan; Marx, Christian; Traeber, Frank; Sprinkart, Alois Martin; Block, Wolfgang; Schild, Hans Heinz; Willinek, Winfried

    2016-07-01

    To determine if prostate cancer (PCa) and prostatitis can be differentiated by using PI-RADS. 3T MR images of 68 patients with 85 cancer suspicious lesions were analyzed. The findings were correlated with histopathology. T2w imaging (T2WI), diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), dynamic contrast enhancement (DCE), and MR-Spectroscopy (MRS) were acquired. Every lesion was given a single PI-RADS score for each parameter, as well as a sum score and a PI-RADS v2 score. Furthermore, T2-morphology, ADC-value, perfusion type, citrate/choline-level, and localization were evaluated. 44 of 85 lesions showed PCa (51.8%), 21 chronic prostatitis (24.7%), and 20 other benign tissue such as hyperplasia or fibromuscular tissue (23.5%). The single PI-RADS score for T2WI, DWI, DCE, as well as the aggregated score including and not including MRS, and the PI-RADS v2-score were all significantly higher for PCa than for prostatitis or other tissue (p<0.001). The single PI-RADS score for MRS and the PI-RADS sum score including MRS were significantly higher for prostatitis than for other tissue (p=0.029 and p=0.020), whereas the other parameters were not different. Prostatitis usually presented borderline pathological PI-RADS scores, showed restricted diffusion with ADC≥900mm(2)/s in 100% of cases, was more often indistinctly hypointense on T2WI (66.7%), and localized in the transitional zone (57.1%). An ADC≥900mm(2)/s achieved the highest predictive value for prostatitis (AUC=0.859). Prostatitis can be differentiated from PCa using PI-RADS, since all available parameters are more distinct in cases of cancer. However, there is significant overlap between prostatitis and other benign findings, thus PI-RADS is only suitable to a limited extent for the primary assessment of prostatitis. Restricted diffusion with ADC≥900mm(2)/s is believed to be a good indicator for prostatitis. MRS can help to distinguish between prostatitis and other tissue. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All

  7. RAD-ADAPT: Software for modelling clonogenic assay data in radiation biology.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Yaping; Hu, Kaiqiang; Beumer, Jan H; Bakkenist, Christopher J; D'Argenio, David Z

    2017-04-01

    We present a comprehensive software program, RAD-ADAPT, for the quantitative analysis of clonogenic assays in radiation biology. Two commonly used models for clonogenic assay analysis, the linear-quadratic model and single-hit multi-target model, are included in the software. RAD-ADAPT uses maximum likelihood estimation method to obtain parameter estimates with the assumption that cell colony count data follow a Poisson distribution. The program has an intuitive interface, generates model prediction plots, tabulates model parameter estimates, and allows automatic statistical comparison of parameters between different groups. The RAD-ADAPT interface is written using the statistical software R and the underlying computations are accomplished by the ADAPT software system for pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic systems analysis. The use of RAD-ADAPT is demonstrated using an example that examines the impact of pharmacologic ATM and ATR kinase inhibition on human lung cancer cell line A549 after ionizing radiation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Human papillomavirus variants among Inuit women in northern Quebec, Canada.

    PubMed

    Gauthier, Barbara; Coutlée, Francois; Franco, Eduardo L; Brassard, Paul

    2015-01-01

    Inuit communities in northern Quebec have high rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, cervical cancer and cervical cancer-related mortality as compared to the Canadian population. HPV types can be further classified as intratypic variants based on the extent of homology in their nucleotide sequences. There is limited information on the distribution of intratypic variants in circumpolar areas. Our goal was to describe the HPV intratypic variants and associated baseline characteristics. We collected cervical cell samples in 2002-2006 from 676 Inuit women between the ages of 15 and 69 years in Nunavik. DNA isolates from high-risk HPVs were sequenced to determine the intratypic variant. There were 149 women that were positive for HPVs 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 45, 52, 56 or 58 during follow-up. There were 5 different HPV16 variants, all of European lineage, among the 57 women positive for this type. There were 8 different variants of HPV18 present and all were of European lineage (n=21). The majority of samples of HPV31 (n=52) were of lineage B. The number of isolates and diversity of the other HPV types was low. Age was the only covariate associated with HPV16 variant category. These frequencies are similar to what was seen in another circumpolar region of Canada, although there appears to be less diversity as only European variants were detected. This study shows that most variants were clustered in one lineage for each HPV type.

  9. Genetic variants in AKR1B10 associate with human eating behavior.

    PubMed

    Rohde, Kerstin; Federbusch, Martin; Horstmann, Annette; Keller, Maria; Villringer, Arno; Stumvoll, Michael; Tönjes, Anke; Kovacs, Peter; Böttcher, Yvonne

    2015-03-25

    The human Aldoketoreductase 1B10 gene (AKR1B10) encodes one of the enzymes belonging to the family of aldoketoreductases and may be involved in detoxification of nutrients during digestion. Further, AKR1B10 mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) expression was diminished in brain regions potentially involved in the regulation of eating behavior in rats which are more sensitive to cocaine and alcohol. We hypothesized that the human AKR1B10 gene may also play a role in the regulation of human eating behavior. We investigated the effects of 5 genetic variants of AKR1B10 on human eating behavior among 548 subjects from a German self-contained population, the Sorbs, and in 350 subjects from another independent German cohort. Among the Sorbs, we observed nominal associations with disinhibition at the 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) variant rs10232478 and the intragenic variants rs1834150 and rs782881 (all P ≤ 0.05). Further, we detected a relationship of rs1834150 and rs782881 with waist, smoking consumption (rs782881) and coffee consumption (rs1834150) (all P ≤ 0.05). Albeit non-significant, replication analyses revealed similar effect directions for disinhibition at rs1834150 (combined P = 0.0096). Moreover, in the replication cohort we found rs1834150 related to increased restraint scores with a similar direction as in the Sorbs (combined P = 0.0072). Our data suggest that genetic variants in the AKR1B10 locus may influence human eating behavior.

  10. A human systemic lupus erythematosus-related anti-cardiolipin/single-stranded DNA autoantibody is encoded by a somatically mutated variant of the developmentally restricted 51P1 V[sub H] gene

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Van Es, J.H.; Aanstoot, H.; Gmelig-Meyling, F.H.J.

    1992-09-15

    The authors report the Ig H and L chain V region sequences from the cDNAs encoding a monoclonal human IgG anti-cardiolipin/ssDNA autoantibody (R149) derived from a patient with active SLE. Comparison with the germ-line V-gene repertoire of this patient revealed that R149 likely arose as a consequence of an Ag-driven selection process. The Ag-binding portions of the V regions were characterized by a high number of arginine residues, a property that has been associated with anti-dsDNA autoantibodies from lupus-prone mice and patients with SLE. The V[sub H] gene encoding autoantibody R149 was a somatically mutated variant of the 51P1 genemore » segment, which is frequently associated with the restricted fetal B cell repertoire, malignant CD5 B cells, and natural antibodies. These data suggest that in SLE patients a common antigenic stimulus may evoke anti-DNA and anti-cardiolipin autoantibodies and provide further evidence that a small set of developmentally restricted V[sub H] genes can give rise to disease-associated autoantibodies through Ag-selected somatic mutations. 42 refs., 5 figs.« less

  11. Rad52 function prevents chromosome loss and truncation in Candida albicans

    PubMed Central

    Andaluz, E.; Bellido, A.; Gómez-Raja, J.; Selmecki, A.; Bouchonville, K.; Calderone, R.; Berman, J.; Larriba, G.

    2013-01-01

    Summary RAD52 is required for almost all recombination events in S. cerevisiae. We took advantage of the heterozygosity of HIS4 in the C. albicans SC5314 lineage to study the role of Rad52 in the genomic stability of this important fungal pathogen. The rate of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at HIS4 in rad52-ΔΔ strains was ~10−3, at least 100-fold higher than in Rad52+ strains. LOH of whole chromosome 4 or truncation of the homologue that carries the functional HIS4 allele was detected in all 80 rad52-ΔΔ His auxotrophs (GLH –GL lab His−) obtained from six independent experiments. Isolates that had undergone whole chromosome LOH, presumably due to loss of chromosome, carried two copies of the remaining homolog. Isolates with truncations carried centric fragments of broken chromosomes healed by de novo telomere addition. GLH strains exhibited variable degrees of LOH across the genome, including two strains that became homozygous for all the heterozygous markers tested. In addition, GLH strains exhibited increased chromosomal instability (CIN), which was abolished by reintroduction of RAD52. CIN of GLH isolates is reminiscent of genomic alterations leading to cancer in human cells, and support the mutator hypothesis in which a mutator mutation or CIN phenotype facilitate more mutations/aneuploidies. PMID:21272099

  12. RAD50 germline mutations are associated with poor survival in BRCA1/2-negative breast cancer patients.

    PubMed

    Fan, Cong; Zhang, Juan; Ouyang, Tao; Li, Jinfeng; Wang, Tianfeng; Fan, Zhaoqing; Fan, Tie; Lin, Benyao; Xie, Yuntao

    2018-05-04

    RAD50 is a highly conserved DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair gene. However, the associations between RAD50 germline mutations and the survival and risk of breast cancer have not been fully elucidated. Here, we aimed to investigate the clinical impact of RAD50 germline mutations in a large cohort of unselected breast cancer patients. In this study, RAD50 germline mutations were determined using next-generation sequencing in 7657 consecutive unselected breast cancer patients without BRCA1/2 mutations. We also screened for RAD50 recurrent mutations (L719fs, K994fs, and H1269fs) in 5000 healthy controls using Sanger sequencing. We found that 26 out of 7657 (0.34%) patients had RAD50 pathogenic mutations, and 16 patients carried one of the three recurrent mutations (L719fs, n=6 cases; K994fs, n=5 cases; and H1269fs, n=5 cases); the recurrent mutation rate was 0.21%. The frequency of the three recurrent mutations in the 5000 healthy controls was 0.18% (9/5000). These mutations did not confer an increased risk of breast cancer in the studied patients [odds ratios (OR), 1.16; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.51-2.63; P = 0.72]. Nevertheless, multivariate analysis revealed that RAD50 pathogenic mutations were an independent unfavourable predictor of recurrence-free survival (RFS) [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 2.66; 95% CI, 1.18-5.98; P=0.018] and disease-specific survival (DSS) (adjusted HR 4.36; 95% CI, 1.58-12.03; P=0.004) in the entire study cohort. Our study suggested that RAD50 germline mutations are not associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, but patients with RAD50 germline mutations have unfavourable survival compared with patients without these mutations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. © 2018 UICC.

  13. The response of mammalian cells to UV-light reveals Rad54-dependent and independent pathways of homologous recombination.

    PubMed

    Eppink, Berina; Tafel, Agnieszka A; Hanada, Katsuhiro; van Drunen, Ellen; Hickson, Ian D; Essers, Jeroen; Kanaar, Roland

    2011-11-10

    Ultraviolet (UV) radiation-induced DNA lesions can be efficiently repaired by nucleotide excision repair (NER). However, NER is less effective during replication of UV-damaged chromosomes. In contrast, translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) and homologous recombination (HR) are capable of dealing with lesions in replicating DNA. The core HR protein in mammalian cells is the strand exchange protein RAD51, which is aided by numerous proteins, including RAD54. We used RAD54 as a cellular marker for HR to study the response of mammalian embryonic stem (ES) cells to UV irradiation. In contrast to yeast, ES cells lacking RAD54 are not UV sensitive. Here we show that the requirement for mammalian RAD54 is masked by active NER. By genetically inactivating NER and HR through disruption of the Xpa and Rad54 genes, respectively, we demonstrate the contribution of HR to chromosomal integrity upon UV irradiation. We demonstrate using chromosome fiber analysis at the individual replication fork level, that HR activity is important for the restart of DNA replication after induction of DNA damage by UV-light in NER-deficient cells. Furthermore, our data reveal RAD54-dependent and -independent contributions of HR to the cellular sensitivity to UV-light, and they uncover that RAD54 can compensate for the loss of TLS polymerase η with regard to UV-light sensitivity. In conclusion, we show that HR is important for the progression of UV-stalled replication forks in ES cells, and that protection of the fork is an interplay between HR and TLS. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Rare and low-frequency coding variants alter human adult height.

    PubMed

    Marouli, Eirini; Graff, Mariaelisa; Medina-Gomez, Carolina; Lo, Ken Sin; Wood, Andrew R; Kjaer, Troels R; Fine, Rebecca S; Lu, Yingchang; Schurmann, Claudia; Highland, Heather M; Rüeger, Sina; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Justice, Anne E; Lamparter, David; Stirrups, Kathleen E; Turcot, Valérie; Young, Kristin L; Winkler, Thomas W; Esko, Tõnu; Karaderi, Tugce; Locke, Adam E; Masca, Nicholas G D; Ng, Maggie C Y; Mudgal, Poorva; Rivas, Manuel A; Vedantam, Sailaja; Mahajan, Anubha; Guo, Xiuqing; Abecasis, Goncalo; Aben, Katja K; Adair, Linda S; Alam, Dewan S; Albrecht, Eva; Allin, Kristine H; Allison, Matthew; Amouyel, Philippe; Appel, Emil V; Arveiler, Dominique; Asselbergs, Folkert W; Auer, Paul L; Balkau, Beverley; Banas, Bernhard; Bang, Lia E; Benn, Marianne; Bergmann, Sven; Bielak, Lawrence F; Blüher, Matthias; Boeing, Heiner; Boerwinkle, Eric; Böger, Carsten A; Bonnycastle, Lori L; Bork-Jensen, Jette; Bots, Michiel L; Bottinger, Erwin P; Bowden, Donald W; Brandslund, Ivan; Breen, Gerome; Brilliant, Murray H; Broer, Linda; Burt, Amber A; Butterworth, Adam S; Carey, David J; Caulfield, Mark J; Chambers, John C; Chasman, Daniel I; Chen, Yii-Der Ida; Chowdhury, Rajiv; Christensen, Cramer; Chu, Audrey Y; Cocca, Massimiliano; Collins, Francis S; Cook, James P; Corley, Janie; Galbany, Jordi Corominas; Cox, Amanda J; Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel; Danesh, John; Davies, Gail; de Bakker, Paul I W; de Borst, Gert J; de Denus, Simon; de Groot, Mark C H; de Mutsert, Renée; Deary, Ian J; Dedoussis, George; Demerath, Ellen W; den Hollander, Anneke I; Dennis, Joe G; Di Angelantonio, Emanuele; Drenos, Fotios; Du, Mengmeng; Dunning, Alison M; Easton, Douglas F; Ebeling, Tapani; Edwards, Todd L; Ellinor, Patrick T; Elliott, Paul; Evangelou, Evangelos; Farmaki, Aliki-Eleni; Faul, Jessica D; Feitosa, Mary F; Feng, Shuang; Ferrannini, Ele; Ferrario, Marco M; Ferrieres, Jean; Florez, Jose C; Ford, Ian; Fornage, Myriam; Franks, Paul W; Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth; Galesloot, Tessel E; Gan, Wei; Gandin, Ilaria; Gasparini, Paolo; Giedraitis, Vilmantas; Giri, Ayush; Girotto, Giorgia; Gordon, Scott D; Gordon-Larsen, Penny; Gorski, Mathias; Grarup, Niels; Grove, Megan L; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Gustafsson, Stefan; Hansen, Torben; Harris, Kathleen Mullan; Harris, Tamara B; Hattersley, Andrew T; Hayward, Caroline; He, Liang; Heid, Iris M; Heikkilä, Kauko; Helgeland, Øyvind; Hernesniemi, Jussi; Hewitt, Alex W; Hocking, Lynne J; Hollensted, Mette; Holmen, Oddgeir L; Hovingh, G Kees; Howson, Joanna M M; Hoyng, Carel B; Huang, Paul L; Hveem, Kristian; Ikram, M Arfan; Ingelsson, Erik; Jackson, Anne U; Jansson, Jan-Håkan; Jarvik, Gail P; Jensen, Gorm B; Jhun, Min A; Jia, Yucheng; Jiang, Xuejuan; Johansson, Stefan; Jørgensen, Marit E; Jørgensen, Torben; Jousilahti, Pekka; Jukema, J Wouter; Kahali, Bratati; Kahn, René S; Kähönen, Mika; Kamstrup, Pia R; Kanoni, Stavroula; Kaprio, Jaakko; Karaleftheri, Maria; Kardia, Sharon L R; Karpe, Fredrik; Kee, Frank; Keeman, Renske; Kiemeney, Lambertus A; Kitajima, Hidetoshi; Kluivers, Kirsten B; Kocher, Thomas; Komulainen, Pirjo; Kontto, Jukka; Kooner, Jaspal S; Kooperberg, Charles; Kovacs, Peter; Kriebel, Jennifer; Kuivaniemi, Helena; Küry, Sébastien; Kuusisto, Johanna; La Bianca, Martina; Laakso, Markku; Lakka, Timo A; Lange, Ethan M; Lange, Leslie A; Langefeld, Carl D; Langenberg, Claudia; Larson, Eric B; Lee, I-Te; Lehtimäki, Terho; Lewis, Cora E; Li, Huaixing; Li, Jin; Li-Gao, Ruifang; Lin, Honghuang; Lin, Li-An; Lin, Xu; Lind, Lars; Lindström, Jaana; Linneberg, Allan; Liu, Yeheng; Liu, Yongmei; Lophatananon, Artitaya; Luan, Jian'an; Lubitz, Steven A; Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka; Mackey, David A; Madden, Pamela A F; Manning, Alisa K; Männistö, Satu; Marenne, Gaëlle; Marten, Jonathan; Martin, Nicholas G; Mazul, Angela L; Meidtner, Karina; Metspalu, Andres; Mitchell, Paul; Mohlke, Karen L; Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O; Morgan, Anna; Morris, Andrew D; Morris, Andrew P; Müller-Nurasyid, Martina; Munroe, Patricia B; Nalls, Mike A; Nauck, Matthias; Nelson, Christopher P; Neville, Matt; Nielsen, Sune F; Nikus, Kjell; Njølstad, Pål R; Nordestgaard, Børge G; Ntalla, Ioanna; O'Connel, Jeffrey R; Oksa, Heikki; Loohuis, Loes M Olde; Ophoff, Roel A; Owen, Katharine R; Packard, Chris J; Padmanabhan, Sandosh; Palmer, Colin N A; Pasterkamp, Gerard; Patel, Aniruddh P; Pattie, Alison; Pedersen, Oluf; Peissig, Peggy L; Peloso, Gina M; Pennell, Craig E; Perola, Markus; Perry, James A; Perry, John R B; Person, Thomas N; Pirie, Ailith; Polasek, Ozren; Posthuma, Danielle; Raitakari, Olli T; Rasheed, Asif; Rauramaa, Rainer; Reilly, Dermot F; Reiner, Alex P; Renström, Frida; Ridker, Paul M; Rioux, John D; Robertson, Neil; Robino, Antonietta; Rolandsson, Olov; Rudan, Igor; Ruth, Katherine S; Saleheen, Danish; Salomaa, Veikko; Samani, Nilesh J; Sandow, Kevin; Sapkota, Yadav; Sattar, Naveed; Schmidt, Marjanka K; Schreiner, Pamela J; Schulze, Matthias B; Scott, Robert A; Segura-Lepe, Marcelo P; Shah, Svati; Sim, Xueling; Sivapalaratnam, Suthesh; Small, Kerrin S; Smith, Albert Vernon; Smith, Jennifer A; Southam, Lorraine; Spector, Timothy D; Speliotes, Elizabeth K; Starr, John M; Steinthorsdottir, Valgerdur; Stringham, Heather M; Stumvoll, Michael; Surendran, Praveen; 't Hart, Leen M; Tansey, Katherine E; Tardif, Jean-Claude; Taylor, Kent D; Teumer, Alexander; Thompson, Deborah J; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Thuesen, Betina H; Tönjes, Anke; Tromp, Gerard; Trompet, Stella; Tsafantakis, Emmanouil; Tuomilehto, Jaakko; Tybjaerg-Hansen, Anne; Tyrer, Jonathan P; Uher, Rudolf; Uitterlinden, André G; Ulivi, Sheila; van der Laan, Sander W; Van Der Leij, Andries R; van Duijn, Cornelia M; van Schoor, Natasja M; van Setten, Jessica; Varbo, Anette; Varga, Tibor V; Varma, Rohit; Edwards, Digna R Velez; Vermeulen, Sita H; Vestergaard, Henrik; Vitart, Veronique; Vogt, Thomas F; Vozzi, Diego; Walker, Mark; Wang, Feijie; Wang, Carol A; Wang, Shuai; Wang, Yiqin; Wareham, Nicholas J; Warren, Helen R; Wessel, Jennifer; Willems, Sara M; Wilson, James G; Witte, Daniel R; Woods, Michael O; Wu, Ying; Yaghootkar, Hanieh; Yao, Jie; Yao, Pang; Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M; Young, Robin; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Zhan, Xiaowei; Zhang, Weihua; Zhao, Jing Hua; Zhao, Wei; Zhao, Wei; Zheng, He; Zhou, Wei; Rotter, Jerome I; Boehnke, Michael; Kathiresan, Sekar; McCarthy, Mark I; Willer, Cristen J; Stefansson, Kari; Borecki, Ingrid B; Liu, Dajiang J; North, Kari E; Heard-Costa, Nancy L; Pers, Tune H; Lindgren, Cecilia M; Oxvig, Claus; Kutalik, Zoltán; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Loos, Ruth J F; Frayling, Timothy M; Hirschhorn, Joel N; Deloukas, Panos; Lettre, Guillaume

    2017-02-09

    Height is a highly heritable, classic polygenic trait with approximately 700 common associated variants identified through genome-wide association studies so far. Here, we report 83 height-associated coding variants with lower minor-allele frequencies (in the range of 0.1-4.8%) and effects of up to 2 centimetres per allele (such as those in IHH, STC2, AR and CRISPLD2), greater than ten times the average effect of common variants. In functional follow-up studies, rare height-increasing alleles of STC2 (giving an increase of 1-2 centimetres per allele) compromised proteolytic inhibition of PAPP-A and increased cleavage of IGFBP-4 in vitro, resulting in higher bioavailability of insulin-like growth factors. These 83 height-associated variants overlap genes that are mutated in monogenic growth disorders and highlight new biological candidates (such as ADAMTS3, IL11RA and NOX4) and pathways (such as proteoglycan and glycosaminoglycan synthesis) involved in growth. Our results demonstrate that sufficiently large sample sizes can uncover rare and low-frequency variants of moderate-to-large effect associated with polygenic human phenotypes, and that these variants implicate relevant genes and pathways.

  15. Neanderthal and Denisova tooth protein variants in present-day humans

    PubMed Central

    Zanolli, Clément; Hourset, Mathilde; Esclassan, Rémi

    2017-01-01

    Environment parameters, diet and genetic factors interact to shape tooth morphostructure. In the human lineage, archaic and modern hominins show differences in dental traits, including enamel thickness, but variability also exists among living populations. Several polymorphisms, in particular in the non-collagenous extracellular matrix proteins of the tooth hard tissues, like enamelin, are involved in dental structure variation and defects and may be associated with dental disorders or susceptibility to caries. To gain insights into the relationships between tooth protein polymorphisms and dental structural morphology and defects, we searched for non-synonymous polymorphisms in tooth proteins from Neanderthal and Denisova hominins. The objective was to identify archaic-specific missense variants that may explain the dental morphostructural variability between extinct and modern humans, and to explore their putative impact on present-day dental phenotypes. Thirteen non-collagenous extracellular matrix proteins specific to hard dental tissues have been selected, searched in the publicly available sequence databases of Neanderthal and Denisova individuals and compared with modern human genome data. A total of 16 non-synonymous polymorphisms were identified in 6 proteins (ameloblastin, amelotin, cementum protein 1, dentin matrix acidic phosphoprotein 1, enamelin and matrix Gla protein). Most of them are encoded by dentin and enamel genes located on chromosome 4, previously reported to show signs of archaic introgression within Africa. Among the variants shared with modern humans, two are ancestral (common with apes) and one is the derived enamelin major variant, T648I (rs7671281), associated with a thinner enamel and specific to the Homo lineage. All the others are specific to Neanderthals and Denisova, and are found at a very low frequency in modern Africans or East and South Asians, suggesting that they may be related to particular dental traits or disease

  16. Low-dose irradiation promotes Rad51 expression by down-regulating miR-193b-3p in hepatocytes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Eon-Seok; Won, Yeo Jin; Kim, Byoung-Chul; Park, Daeui; Bae, Jin-Han; Park, Seong-Joon; Noh, Sung Jin; Kang, Yeong-Rok; Choi, Si Ho; Yoon, Je-Hyun; Heo, Kyu; Yang, Kwangmo; Son, Tae Gen

    2016-05-01

    Current evidence indicates that there is a relationship between microRNA (miRNA)-mediated gene silencing and low-dose irradiation (LDIR) responses. Here, alterations of miRNA expression in response to LDIR exposure in male BALB/c mice and three different types of hepatocytes were investigated. The miRNome of the LDIR-exposed mouse spleens (0.01 Gy, 6.5 mGy/h) was analyzed, and the expression of miRNA and mRNA was validated by qRT-PCR. Western blotting, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), and luciferase assays were also performed to evaluate the interaction between miRNAs and their target genes and to gain insight into the regulation of miRNA expression. The expression of miRNA-193b-3p was down-regulated in the mouse spleen and liver and in various hepatocytes (NCTC, Hepa, and HepG2 cell lines) in response to LDIR. The down-regulation of miR-193b-3p expression was caused by histone deacetylation on the miR-193b-3p promoter in the HepG2 cells irradiated with 0.01 Gy. However, the alteration of histone deacetylation and miR-193b-3p and Rad51 expression in response to LDIR was restored by pretreatment with N-acetyl-cyctein. In conclusion, we provide evidence that miRNA responses to LDIR include the modulation of cellular stress responses and repair mechanisms.

  17. IgG Fc variant cross-reactivity between human and rhesus macaque FcγRs

    PubMed Central

    Boesch, Austin W.; Miles, Adam R.; Chan, Ying N.; Osei-Owusu, Nana Y.; Ackerman, Margaret E.

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Non-human primate (NHP) studies are often an essential component of antibody development efforts before human trials. Because the efficacy or toxicity of candidate antibodies may depend on their interactions with Fcγ receptors (FcγR) and their resulting ability to induce FcγR-mediated effector functions such as antibody-dependent cell-meditated cytotoxicity and phagocytosis (ADCP), the evaluation of human IgG variants with modulated affinity toward human FcγR is becoming more prevalent in both infectious disease and oncology studies in NHP. Reliable translation of these results necessitates analysis of the cross-reactivity of these human Fc variants with NHP FcγR. We report evaluation of the binding affinities of a panel of human IgG subclasses, Fc amino acid point mutants and Fc glycosylation variants against the common allotypes of human and rhesus macaque FcγR by applying a high-throughput array-based surface plasmon resonance platform. The resulting data indicate that amino acid variation present in rhesus FcγRs can result in disrupted, matched, or even increased affinity of IgG Fc variants compared with human FcγR orthologs. These observations emphasize the importance of evaluating species cross-reactivity and developing an understanding of the potential limitations or suitability of representative in vitro and in vivo models before human clinical studies when either efficacy or toxicity may be associated with FcγR engagement. PMID:28055295

  18. Structural comparisons of two allelic variants of human placental alkaline phosphatase.

    PubMed

    Millán, J L; Stigbrand, T; Jörnvall, H

    1985-01-01

    A simple immunosorbent purification scheme based on monoclonal antibodies has been devised for human placental alkaline phosphatase. The two most common allelic variants, S and F, have similar amino acid compositions with identical N-terminal amino acid sequences through the first 13 residues. Both variants have identical lectin binding properties towards concanavalin A, lentil-lectin, wheat germ agglutinin, phytohemagglutinin and soybean agglutinin, and identical carbohydrate contents as revealed by methylation analysis. CNBr fragments of the variants demonstrate identical high performance liquid chromatography patterns. The carbohydrate containing fragment is different from the 32P-labeled active site fragment and the N-terminal fragment.

  19. Coordination of Rad1-Rad10 interactions with Msh2-Msh3, Saw1 and RPA is essential for functional 3' non-homologous tail removal.

    PubMed

    Eichmiller, Robin; Medina-Rivera, Melisa; DeSanto, Rachel; Minca, Eugen; Kim, Christopher; Holland, Cory; Seol, Ja-Hwan; Schmit, Megan; Oramus, Diane; Smith, Jessica; Gallardo, Ignacio F; Finkelstein, Ilya J; Lee, Sang Eun; Surtees, Jennifer A

    2018-06-01

    Double strand DNA break repair (DSBR) comprises multiple pathways. A subset of DSBR pathways, including single strand annealing, involve intermediates with 3' non-homologous tails that must be removed to complete repair. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Rad1-Rad10 is the structure-specific endonuclease that cleaves the tails in 3' non-homologous tail removal (3' NHTR). Rad1-Rad10 is also an essential component of the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway. In both cases, Rad1-Rad10 requires protein partners for recruitment to the relevant DNA intermediate. Msh2-Msh3 and Saw1 recruit Rad1-Rad10 in 3' NHTR; Rad14 recruits Rad1-Rad10 in NER. We created two rad1 separation-of-function alleles, rad1R203A,K205A and rad1R218A; both are defective in 3' NHTR but functional in NER. In vitro, rad1R203A,K205A was impaired at multiple steps in 3' NHTR. The rad1R218A in vivo phenotype resembles that of msh2- or msh3-deleted cells; recruitment of rad1R218A-Rad10 to recombination intermediates is defective. Interactions among rad1R218A-Rad10 and Msh2-Msh3 and Saw1 are altered and rad1R218A-Rad10 interactions with RPA are compromised. We propose a model in which Rad1-Rad10 is recruited and positioned at the recombination intermediate through interactions, between Saw1 and DNA, Rad1-Rad10 and Msh2-Msh3, Saw1 and Msh2-Msh3 and Rad1-Rad10 and RPA. When any of these interactions is altered, 3' NHTR is impaired.

  20. Functional analysis of four naturally occurring variants of human constitutive androstane receptor.

    PubMed

    Ikeda, Shinobu; Kurose, Kouichi; Jinno, Hideto; Sai, Kimie; Ozawa, Shogo; Hasegawa, Ryuichi; Komamura, Kazuo; Kotake, Takeshi; Morishita, Hideki; Kamakura, Shiro; Kitakaze, Masafumi; Tomoike, Hitonobu; Tamura, Tomohide; Yamamoto, Noboru; Kunitoh, Hideo; Yamada, Yasuhide; Ohe, Yuichiro; Shimada, Yasuhiro; Shirao, Kuniaki; Kubota, Kaoru; Minami, Hironobu; Ohtsu, Atsushi; Yoshida, Teruhiko; Saijo, Nagahiro; Saito, Yoshiro; Sawada, Jun-ichi

    2005-01-01

    The human constitutive androstane receptor (CAR, NR1I3) is a member of the orphan nuclear receptor superfamily that plays an important role in the control of drug metabolism and disposition. In this study, we sequenced all the coding exons of the NR1I3 gene for 334 Japanese subjects. We identified three novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that induce non-synonymous alterations of amino acids (His246Arg, Leu308Pro, and Asn323Ser) residing in the ligand-binding domain of CAR, in addition to the Val133Gly variant, which was another CAR variant identified in our previous study. We performed functional analysis of these four naturally occurring CAR variants in COS-7 cells using a CYP3A4 promoter/enhancer reporter gene that includes the CAR responsive elements. The His246Arg variant caused marked reductions in both transactivation of the reporter gene and in the response to 6-(4-chlorophenyl)imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]thiazole-5-carbaldehyde O-(3,4-dichlorobenzyl)oxime (CITCO), which is a human CAR-specific agonist. The transactivation ability of the Leu308Pro variant was also significantly decreased, but its responsiveness to CITCO was not abrogated. The transactivation ability and CITCO response of the Val133Gly and Asn323Ser variants did not change as compared to the wild-type CAR. These data suggest that the His246Arg and Leu308Pro variants, especially His246Arg, may influence the expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters that are transactivated by CAR.

  1. RadNet Databases and Reports

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    EPA’s RadNet data are available for viewing in a searchable database or as PDF reports. Historical and current RadNet monitoring data are used to estimate long-term trends in environmental radiation levels.

  2. Novel variants in human and monkey CETP.

    PubMed

    Lloyd, David B; Reynolds, Jennifer M; Cronan, Melissa T; Williams, Suzanne P; Lira, Maruja E; Wood, Linda S; Knight, Delvin R; Thompson, John F

    2005-10-15

    Variation in CETP has been shown to play an important role in HDL-C levels and cardiovascular disease. To better characterize this variation, the promoter and exonic DNA for CETP was resequenced in 189 individuals with extreme HDL-C or age. Two novel amino acid variants were found in humans (V-12D and Y361C) and an additional variant (R137W) not previously studied in vitro were expressed. D-12 was not secreted and had no detectable activity in cells. C361 and W137 retained near normal amounts of cholesteryl ester transfer activity when purified but were less well secreted than wild type. Torcetrapib, a CETP inhibitor in clinical development with atorvastatin, was found to have a uniform effect on inhibition of wild type CETP versus W137 or C361. In addition, the level of variation in other species was assessed by resequencing DNA from nine cynomolgus monkeys. Numerous intronic and silent SNPs were found as well as two variable amino acids. The amino acid altering SNPs were genotyped in 29 monkeys and not found to be significantly associated with HDL-C levels. Three SNPs found in monkeys were identical to three found in humans with these SNPs all occurring at CpG sites.

  3. Novel Parvovirus and Related Variant in Human Plasma

    PubMed Central

    Fryer, Jacqueline F.; Kapoor, Amit; Minor, Philip D.; Delwart, Eric

    2006-01-01

    We report a novel parvovirus (PARV4) and related variants in pooled human plasma used in the manufacture of plasma-derived medical products. Viral DNA was detected by using highly selective polymerase chain reaction assays; 5% of pools tested positive, and amounts of DNA ranged from <500 copies/mL to >106 copies/mL plasma. PMID:16494735

  4. T3 Regulates a Human Macrophage-Derived TSH-β Splice Variant: Implications for Human Bone Biology.

    PubMed

    Baliram, R; Latif, R; Morshed, S A; Zaidi, M; Davies, T F

    2016-09-01

    TSH and thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) are intimately involved in bone biology. We have previously reported the presence of a murine TSH-β splice variant (TSH-βv) expressed specifically in bone marrow-derived macrophages and that exerted an osteoprotective effect by inducing osteoblastogenesis. To extend this observation and its relevance to human bone biology, we set out to identify and characterize a TSH-β variant in human macrophages. Real-time PCR analyses using human TSH-β-specific primers identified a 364-bp product in macrophages, bone marrow, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells that was sequence verified and was homologous to a human TSH-βv previously reported. We then examined TSH-βv regulation using the THP-1 human monocyte cell line matured into macrophages. After 4 days, 46.1% of the THP-1 cells expressed the macrophage markers CD-14 and macrophage colony-stimulating factor and exhibited typical morphological characteristics of macrophages. Real-time PCR analyses of these cells treated in a dose-dependent manner with T3 showed a 14-fold induction of human TSH-βv mRNA and variant protein. Furthermore, these human TSH-βv-positive cells, induced by T3 exposure, had categorized into both M1 and M2 macrophage phenotypes as evidenced by the expression of macrophage colony-stimulating factor for M1 and CCL-22 for M2. These data indicate that in hyperthyroidism, bone marrow resident macrophages have the potential to exert enhanced osteoprotective effects by oversecreting human TSH-βv, which may exert its local osteoprotective role via osteoblast and osteoclast TSH receptors.

  5. Alternative splicing variants of human Fbx4 disturb cyclin D1 proteolysis in human cancer

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chu, Xiufeng; Zhang, Ting; Wang, Jie

    2014-04-25

    Highlights: • The expression of Fbx4 was significantly lower in HCC tissues. • Novel splicing variants of Fbx4 were identified. • These novel variants are much more abundant in human cancer tissues and cells. • The novel Fbx4 isoforms could promote cell proliferation and migration in vitro. • These isoforms showed less capability for cyclin D1 binding and degradation. - Abstract: Fbx4 is a specific substrate recognition component of SCF ubiquitin ligases that catalyzes the ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of cyclin D1 and Trx1. Two isoforms of human Fbx4 protein, the full length Fbx4α and the C-terminal truncated Fbx4β havemore » been identified, but their functions remain elusive. In this study, we demonstrated that the mRNA level of Fbx4 was significantly lower in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues than that in the corresponding non-tumor tissues. More importantly, we identified three novel splicing variants of Fbx4: Fbx4γ (missing 168–245nt of exon1), Fbx4δ (missing exon6) and a N-terminal reading frame shift variant (missing exon2). Using cloning sequencing and RT-PCR, we demonstrated these novel splice variants are much more abundant in human cancer tissues and cell lines than that in normal tissues. When expressed in Sk-Hep1 and NIH3T3 cell lines, Fbx4β, Fbx4γ and Fbx4δ could promote cell proliferation and migration in vitro. Concordantly, these isoforms could disrupt cyclin D1 degradation and therefore increase cyclin D1 expression. Moreover, unlike the full-length isoform Fbx4α that mainly exists in cytoplasm, Fbx4β, Fbx4γ, and Fbx4δ locate in both cytoplasm and nucleus. Since cyclin D1 degradation takes place in cytoplasm, the nuclear distribution of these Fbx4 isoforms may not be involved in the down-regulation of cytoplasmic cyclin D1. These results define the impact of alternative splicing on Fbx4 function, and suggest that the attenuated cyclin D1 degradation by these novel Fbx4 isoforms provides a new insight for

  6. Dose Calibration of the ISS-RAD Fast Neutron Detector

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zeitlin, C.

    2015-01-01

    The ISS-RAD instrument has been fabricated by Southwest Research Institute and delivered to NASA for flight to the ISS in late 2015 or early 2016. ISS-RAD is essentially two instruments that share a common interface to ISS. The two instruments are the Charged Particle Detector (CPD), which is very similar to the MSL-RAD detector on Mars, and the Fast Neutron Detector (FND), which is a boron-loaded plastic scintillator with readout optimized for the 0.5 to 10 MeV energy range. As the FND is completely new, it has been necessary to develop methodology to allow it to be used to measure the neutron dose and dose equivalent. This talk will focus on the methods developed and their implementation using calibration data obtained in quasi-monoenergetic (QMN) neutron fields at the PTB facility in Braunschweig, Germany. The QMN data allow us to determine an approximate response function, from which we estimate dose and dose equivalent contributions per detected neutron as a function of the pulse height. We refer to these as the "pSv per count" curves for dose equivalent and the "pGy per count" curves for dose. The FND is required to provide a dose equivalent measurement with an accuracy of ?10% of the known value in a calibrated AmBe field. Four variants of the analysis method were developed, corresponding to two different approximations of the pSv per count curve, and two different implementations, one for real-time analysis onboard ISS and one for ground analysis. We will show that the preferred method, when applied in either real-time or ground analysis, yields good accuracy for the AmBe field. We find that the real-time algorithm is more susceptible to chance-coincidence background than is the algorithm used in ground analysis, so that the best estimates will come from the latter.

  7. 42 CFR 51.11-51.20 - [Reserved

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false [Reserved] 51.11-51.20 Section 51.11-51.20 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GRANTS REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS PROGRAM Basic Requirements §§ 51.11-51...

  8. Requirement of mismatch repair genes MSH2 and MSH3 in the RAD1-RAD10 pathway of mitotic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Saparbaev, M; Prakash, L; Prakash, S

    1996-03-01

    The RAD1 and RAD10 genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are required for nucleotide excision repair and they also act in mitotic recombination. The Rad1-Rad10 complex has a single-stranded DNA endonuclease activity. Here, we show that the mismatch repair genes MSH2 and MSH3 function in mitotic recombination. For both his3 and his4 duplications, and for homologous integration of a linear DNA fragment into the genome, the msh3 delta mutation has an effect on recombination similar to that of the rad1 delta and rad10 delta mutations. The msh2 delta mutation also reduces the rate of recombination of the his3 duplication and lowers the incidence of homologous integration of a linear DNA fragment. Epistasis analyses indicate that MSH2 and MSH3 function in the RAD1-RAD10 recombination pathway, and studies presented here suggest an involvement of the RAD1-RAD10 pathway in reciprocal recombination. The possible roles of Msh2, Msh3, Rad1, and Rad10 proteins in genetic recombination are discussed. Coupling of mismatch binding proteins with the recombinational machinery could be important for ensuring genetic fidelity in the recombination process.

  9. Cell cycle stage-specific roles of Rad18 in tolerance and repair of oxidative DNA damage

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Yang; Durando, Michael; Smith-Roe, Stephanie L.; Sproul, Chris; Greenwalt, Alicia M.; Kaufmann, William; Oh, Sehyun; Hendrickson, Eric A.; Vaziri, Cyrus

    2013-01-01

    The E3 ubiquitin ligase Rad18 mediates tolerance of replication fork-stalling bulky DNA lesions, but whether Rad18 mediates tolerance of bulky DNA lesions acquired outside S-phase is unclear. Using synchronized cultures of primary human cells, we defined cell cycle stage-specific contributions of Rad18 to genome maintenance in response to ultraviolet C (UVC) and H2O2-induced DNA damage. UVC and H2O2 treatments both induced Rad18-mediated proliferating cell nuclear antigen mono-ubiquitination during G0, G1 and S-phase. Rad18 was important for repressing H2O2-induced (but not ultraviolet-induced) double strand break (DSB) accumulation and ATM S1981 phosphorylation only during G1, indicating a specific role for Rad18 in processing of oxidative DNA lesions outside S-phase. However, H2O2-induced DSB formation in Rad18-depleted G1 cells was not associated with increased genotoxin sensitivity, indicating that back-up DSB repair mechanisms compensate for Rad18 deficiency. Indeed, in DNA LigIV-deficient cells Rad18-depletion conferred H2O2-sensitivity, demonstrating functional redundancy between Rad18 and non-homologous end joining for tolerance of oxidative DNA damage acquired during G1. In contrast with G1-synchronized cultures, S-phase cells were H2O2-sensitive following Rad18-depletion. We conclude that although Rad18 pathway activation by oxidative lesions is not restricted to S-phase, Rad18-mediated trans-lesion synthesis by Polη is dispensable for damage-tolerance in G1 (because of back-up non-homologous end joining-mediated DSB repair), yet Rad18 is necessary for damage tolerance during S-phase. PMID:23295675

  10. Structure and Mechanism of Action of the BRCA2 Breast Cancer Tumor Suppressor

    PubMed Central

    Malivert, Laurent; McIlwraith, Michael J.; Pape, Tillman; West, Stephen C.; Zhang, Xiaodong

    2014-01-01

    Mutations in BRCA2 increase susceptibility to breast, ovarian and prostate cancers. The product of human BRCA2, BRCA2 protein, plays a key role in the repair of DNA double strand breaks and interstrand crosslinks by RAD51-mediated homologous recombination. Here, we present a biochemical and structural characterization of full length (3,418 amino acid) BRCA2, alone and in complex with RAD51. We show that BRCA2 facilitates nucleation of RAD51 filaments at multiple sites on single-stranded DNA. Three-dimensional electron microscopy reconstructions revealed that BRCA2 exists as a dimer and that two oppositely-oriented sets of RAD51 molecules bind the dimer. Single stranded DNA binds along the long axis of BRCA2, such that only one set of RAD51 monomers can form a productive complex with DNA and establish filament formation. Our data define the molecular mechanism by which this tumor suppressor facilitates RAD51-mediated homologous recombinational repair. PMID:25282148

  11. Mars science laboratory radiation assessment detector (MSL/RAD) modeling workshop proceedings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hassler, Donald M.; Norbury, John W.; Reitz, Günther

    2017-08-01

    The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) (Hassler et al., 2012; Zeitlin et al., 2016) onboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover (Grotzinger et al., 2012) is a sophisticated charged and neutral particle radiation analyzer developed by an international team of scientists and engineers from Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado as the leading institution, the University of Kiel and the German Aerospace Center in Cologne, Germany. RAD is a compact, powerful instrument capable of distinguishing between ionizing particles and neutral particles and providing neutron, gamma, and charged particle spectra from protons to iron as well as absorbed dose measurements in tissue-equivalent material. During the 6 month cruise to Mars, inside the MSL spacecraft, RAD served as a proxy to validate models of the radiation levels expected inside a spacecraft that future astronauts might experience (Zeitlin et al., 2013). RAD was turned on one day after the landing on August 7, 2012, exactly 100 years to the day after the discovery of cosmic rays on Earth by Victor Hess. These measurements are the first of their kind on the surface of another planet (Hassler et al., 2014), and the radiation data collected by RAD on the surface of Mars will inform projections of crew health risks and the design of protective surface habitats and other countermeasures for future human missions in the coming decades.

  12. The Functions of BRCA2 in Homologous Recombinational Repair

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-07-01

    human Rad5l, Rad51B and Rad51C proteins 5 homogeneity using spermidine precipitation and sequential column chromatography with hydroxyapatite , Q-Sepharose...G. G., Albala, J. S., Shen, Z., ovary mutants for XRCC4, Ku86, and DNA-PKcs (the XR -1 and Schild, D. (1998) Nucleic Acids Res. 26, 1179-1184 oh 11

  13. The Evolution and Functional Impact of Human Deletion Variants Shared with Archaic Hominin Genomes

    PubMed Central

    Lin, Yen-Lung; Pavlidis, Pavlos; Karakoc, Emre; Ajay, Jerry; Gokcumen, Omer

    2015-01-01

    Allele sharing between modern and archaic hominin genomes has been variously interpreted to have originated from ancestral genetic structure or through non-African introgression from archaic hominins. However, evolution of polymorphic human deletions that are shared with archaic hominin genomes has yet to be studied. We identified 427 polymorphic human deletions that are shared with archaic hominin genomes, approximately 87% of which originated before the Human–Neandertal divergence (ancient) and only approximately 9% of which have been introgressed from Neandertals (introgressed). Recurrence, incomplete lineage sorting between human and chimp lineages, and hominid-specific insertions constitute the remaining approximately 4% of allele sharing between humans and archaic hominins. We observed that ancient deletions correspond to more than 13% of all common (>5% allele frequency) deletion variation among modern humans. Our analyses indicate that the genomic landscapes of both ancient and introgressed deletion variants were primarily shaped by purifying selection, eliminating large and exonic variants. We found 17 exonic deletions that are shared with archaic hominin genomes, including those leading to three fusion transcripts. The affected genes are involved in metabolism of external and internal compounds, growth and sperm formation, as well as susceptibility to psoriasis and Crohn’s disease. Our analyses suggest that these “exonic” deletion variants have evolved through different adaptive forces, including balancing and population-specific positive selection. Our findings reveal that genomic structural variants that are shared between humans and archaic hominin genomes are common among modern humans and can influence biomedically and evolutionarily important phenotypes. PMID:25556237

  14. Inexpensive and Highly Reproducible Cloud-Based Variant Calling of 2,535 Human Genomes

    PubMed Central

    Shringarpure, Suyash S.; Carroll, Andrew; De La Vega, Francisco M.; Bustamante, Carlos D.

    2015-01-01

    Population scale sequencing of whole human genomes is becoming economically feasible; however, data management and analysis remains a formidable challenge for many research groups. Large sequencing studies, like the 1000 Genomes Project, have improved our understanding of human demography and the effect of rare genetic variation in disease. Variant calling on datasets of hundreds or thousands of genomes is time-consuming, expensive, and not easily reproducible given the myriad components of a variant calling pipeline. Here, we describe a cloud-based pipeline for joint variant calling in large samples using the Real Time Genomics population caller. We deployed the population caller on the Amazon cloud with the DNAnexus platform in order to achieve low-cost variant calling. Using our pipeline, we were able to identify 68.3 million variants in 2,535 samples from Phase 3 of the 1000 Genomes Project. By performing the variant calling in a parallel manner, the data was processed within 5 days at a compute cost of $7.33 per sample (a total cost of $18,590 for completed jobs and $21,805 for all jobs). Analysis of cost dependence and running time on the data size suggests that, given near linear scalability, cloud computing can be a cheap and efficient platform for analyzing even larger sequencing studies in the future. PMID:26110529

  15. Mammalian RAD52 Functions in Break-Induced Replication Repair of Collapsed DNA Replication Forks.

    PubMed

    Sotiriou, Sotirios K; Kamileri, Irene; Lugli, Natalia; Evangelou, Konstantinos; Da-Ré, Caterina; Huber, Florian; Padayachy, Laura; Tardy, Sebastien; Nicati, Noemie L; Barriot, Samia; Ochs, Fena; Lukas, Claudia; Lukas, Jiri; Gorgoulis, Vassilis G; Scapozza, Leonardo; Halazonetis, Thanos D

    2016-12-15

    Human cancers are characterized by the presence of oncogene-induced DNA replication stress (DRS), making them dependent on repair pathways such as break-induced replication (BIR) for damaged DNA replication forks. To better understand BIR, we performed a targeted siRNA screen for genes whose depletion inhibited G1 to S phase progression when oncogenic cyclin E was overexpressed. RAD52, a gene dispensable for normal development in mice, was among the top hits. In cells in which fork collapse was induced by oncogenes or chemicals, the Rad52 protein localized to DRS foci. Depletion of Rad52 by siRNA or knockout of the gene by CRISPR/Cas9 compromised restart of collapsed forks and led to DNA damage in cells experiencing DRS. Furthermore, in cancer-prone, heterozygous APC mutant mice, homozygous deletion of the Rad52 gene suppressed tumor growth and prolonged lifespan. We therefore propose that mammalian RAD52 facilitates repair of collapsed DNA replication forks in cancer cells. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Xeroderma pigmentosum variant cells are resistant to immortalization

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Volpe, J.P.G.; Cleaver, J.E.

    1994-01-01

    We have attempted to immortalize fibroblasts from several Xeroderma pigmentosum variant (XPV) patients to better characterize this disease. These patients exhibit sun sensitivity and highly elevated skin cancer rates. It is believed that the defect in these cells involves post replication repair of DNA damage, but the molecular mechanisms and their involvement in patient`s phenotypes remain unknown. Human cells undergo senescence and stop growing after a period of growth in culture, making prolonged studies difficult or impossible. For this reason, immortal cell lines are essential. We have attempted to immortalize XPV cells by: spontaneous transformation, transfection with pSV40 ori (amore » plasmid containing the SV40 large T-antigen), transfection with pSV40 ori and exposure to 300 rads of x-rays, transfection with pSV40 ori, exposure to 200 rads of x-rays, and treatment with 0.5mM ethyl methanesulfonate, and infection with SV40 virus (strain 776). Despite the fact that some experiments had as many as 2x10{sup 8} cells, we were unable to immortalize any of the cells from our patients. We also obtained several XPV lines from other laboratories which had been transformed with pSV40 ori, but none of them proved to be immortalized either. We suspect that the presumed mutation in XPV cells is in some way interfering with SV40 large T-antigen induced immortalization.« less

  17. PI-RADS v2: Current standing and future outlook.

    PubMed

    Smith, Clayton P; Türkbey, Barış

    2018-05-01

    The Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) was created in 2012 to establish standardization in prostate multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) acquisition, interpretation, and reporting. In hopes of improving upon some of the PI-RADS v1 shortcomings, the PI-RADS Steering Committee released PI-RADS v2 in 2015. This paper reviews the accuracy, interobserver agreement, and clinical outcomes of PI-RADS v2 and comments on the limitations of the current literature. Overall, PI-RADS v2 shows improved sensitivity and similar specificity compared to PI-RADS v1. However, concerns exist regarding interobserver agreement and the heterogeneity of the study methodology.

  18. PI-RADS v2: Current standing and future outlook

    PubMed Central

    Smith, Clayton P.

    2018-01-01

    The Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) was created in 2012 to establish standardization in prostate multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) acquisition, interpretation, and reporting. In hopes of improving upon some of the PI-RADS v1 shortcomings, the PI-RADS Steering Committee released PI-RADS v2 in 2015. This paper reviews the accuracy, interobserver agreement, and clinical outcomes of PI-RADS v2 and comments on the limitations of the current literature. Overall, PI-RADS v2 shows improved sensitivity and similar specificity compared to PI-RADS v1. However, concerns exist regarding interobserver agreement and the heterogeneity of the study methodology. PMID:29733790

  19. Construction of two whole genome radiation hybrid panels for dromedary (Camelus dromedarius): 5000RAD and 15000RAD.

    PubMed

    Perelman, Polina L; Pichler, Rudolf; Gaggl, Anna; Larkin, Denis M; Raudsepp, Terje; Alshanbari, Fahad; Holl, Heather M; Brooks, Samantha A; Burger, Pamela A; Periasamy, Kathiravan

    2018-01-31

    The availability of genomic resources including linkage information for camelids has been very limited. Here, we describe the construction of a set of two radiation hybrid (RH) panels (5000 RAD and 15000 RAD ) for the dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) as a permanent genetic resource for camel genome researchers worldwide. For the 5000 RAD panel, a total of 245 female camel-hamster radiation hybrid clones were collected, of which 186 were screened with 44 custom designed marker loci distributed throughout camel genome. The overall mean retention frequency (RF) of the final set of 93 hybrids was 47.7%. For the 15000 RAD panel, 238 male dromedary-hamster radiation hybrid clones were collected, of which 93 were tested using 44 PCR markers. The final set of 90 clones had a mean RF of 39.9%. This 15000 RAD panel is an important high-resolution complement to the main 5000 RAD panel and an indispensable tool for resolving complex genomic regions. This valuable genetic resource of dromedary RH panels is expected to be instrumental for constructing a high resolution camel genome map. Construction of the set of RH panels is essential step toward chromosome level reference quality genome assembly that is critical for advancing camelid genomics and the development of custom genomic tools.

  20. RadVel: The Radial Velocity Modeling Toolkit

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fulton, Benjamin J.; Petigura, Erik A.; Blunt, Sarah; Sinukoff, Evan

    2018-04-01

    RadVel is an open-source Python package for modeling Keplerian orbits in radial velocity (RV) timeseries. RadVel provides a convenient framework to fit RVs using maximum a posteriori optimization and to compute robust confidence intervals by sampling the posterior probability density via Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). RadVel allows users to float or fix parameters, impose priors, and perform Bayesian model comparison. We have implemented real-time MCMC convergence tests to ensure adequate sampling of the posterior. RadVel can output a number of publication-quality plots and tables. Users may interface with RadVel through a convenient command-line interface or directly from Python. The code is object-oriented and thus naturally extensible. We encourage contributions from the community. Documentation is available at http://radvel.readthedocs.io.

  1. Requirement of mismatch repair genes MSH2 and MSH3 in the RAD1-RAD10 pathway of mitotic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Saparbaev, M.; Prakash, L.; Prakash, S.

    1996-03-01

    The RAD1 and RAD10 genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are required for nucleotide excision repair and they also act in mitotic recombination. The Rad1-Rad10 complex has a single-stranded DNA endonuclease activity. Here, we show that the mismatch repair genes MSH2 and MSH3 function in mitotic recombination. For both his3 and his4 duplications, and for homologous integration of a linear DNA fragment into the genome, the msh3-A mutation has an effect on recombination similar to that of the rad1{Delta} and rad10{Delta} mutations. The msh2{Delta} mutation also reduces the rate of recombination of the his3 duplication and lowers the incidence of homologous integrationmore » of a linear DNA fragment. Epistasis analyses indicate that MSH2 and MSH3 function in the RAD1-RAD10 recombination pathway, and studies presented here suggest an involvement of the RAM-RAD10 pathway in reciprocal recombination. The possible roles of Msh2, Msh3, Rad1, and Rad10 proteins in genetic recombination are discussed. Coupling of mismatch binding proteins with the recombinational machinery could be important for ensuring genetic fidelity in the recombination process. 59 refs., 2 figs., 7 tabs.« less

  2. The over-expression of the β2 catalytic subunit of the proteasome decreases homologous recombination and impairs DNA double-strand break repair in human cells.

    PubMed

    Collavoli, Anita; Comelli, Laura; Cervelli, Tiziana; Galli, Alvaro

    2011-01-01

    By a human cDNA library screening, we have previously identified two sequences coding two different catalytic subunits of the proteasome which increase homologous recombination (HR) when overexpressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we investigated the effect of proteasome on spontaneous HR and DNA repair in human cells. To determine if the proteasome has a role in the occurrence of spontaneous HR in human cells, we overexpressed the β2 subunit of the proteasome in HeLa cells and determined the effect on intrachromosomal HR. Results showed that the overexpression of β2 subunit decreased HR in human cells without altering the cell proteasome activity and the Rad51p level. Moreover, exposure to MG132 that inhibits the proteasome activity reduced HR in human cells. We also found that the expression of the β2 subunit increases the sensitivity to the camptothecin that induces DNA double-strand break (DSB). This suggests that the β2 subunit has an active role in HR and DSB repair but does not alter the intracellular level of the Rad51p.

  3. The Over-expression of the β2 Catalytic Subunit of the Proteasome Decreases Homologous Recombination and Impairs DNA Double-Strand Break Repair in Human Cells

    PubMed Central

    Collavoli, Anita; Comelli, Laura; Cervelli, Tiziana; Galli, Alvaro

    2011-01-01

    By a human cDNA library screening, we have previously identified two sequences coding two different catalytic subunits of the proteasome which increase homologous recombination (HR) when overexpressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we investigated the effect of proteasome on spontaneous HR and DNA repair in human cells. To determine if the proteasome has a role in the occurrence of spontaneous HR in human cells, we overexpressed the β2 subunit of the proteasome in HeLa cells and determined the effect on intrachromosomal HR. Results showed that the overexpression of β2 subunit decreased HR in human cells without altering the cell proteasome activity and the Rad51p level. Moreover, exposure to MG132 that inhibits the proteasome activity reduced HR in human cells. We also found that the expression of the β2 subunit increases the sensitivity to the camptothecin that induces DNA double-strand break (DSB). This suggests that the β2 subunit has an active role in HR and DSB repair but does not alter the intracellular level of the Rad51p. PMID:21660142

  4. RadNet Air Quality (Fixed Station) Data

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    RadNet is a national network of monitoring stations that regularly collect air for analysis of radioactivity. The RadNet network, which has stations in each State, has been used to track environmental releases of radioactivity from nuclear weapons tests and nuclear accidents. RadNet also documents the status and trends of environmental radioactivity

  5. 42 CFR 51.33-51.40 - [Reserved

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false [Reserved] 51.33-51.40 Section 51.33-51.40 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GRANTS REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS PROGRAM Protection and Advocacy...

  6. 42 CFR 51.28-51.30 - [Reserved

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false [Reserved] 51.28-51.30 Section 51.28-51.30 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GRANTS REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS PROGRAM Program Administration and...

  7. Helical filaments of human Dmc1 protein on single-stranded DNA: a cautionary tale

    PubMed Central

    Yu, Xiong; Egelman, Edward H.

    2010-01-01

    Proteins in the RecA/Rad51/RadA family form nucleoprotein filaments on DNA that catalyze a strand exchange reaction as part of homologous genetic recombination. Because of the centrality of this system to many aspects of DNA repair, the generation of genetic diversity, and cancer when this system fails or is not properly regulated, these filaments have been the object of many biochemical and biophysical studies. A recent paper has argued that the human Dmc1 protein, a meiotic homolog of bacterial RecA and human Rad51, forms filaments on single stranded DNA with ∼ 9 subunits per turn in contrast to the filaments formed on double stranded DNA with ∼ 6.4 subunits per turn, and that the stoichiometry of DNA binding is different between these two filaments. We show using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) that the Dmc1 filament formed on single stranded DNA has a mass per unit length expected from ∼ 6.5 subunits per turn. More generally, we show how ambiguities in helical symmetry determination can generate incorrect solutions, and why one sometimes must use other techniques, such as biochemistry, metal shadowing, or STEM to resolve these ambiguities. While three-dimensional reconstruction of helical filaments from EM images is a powerful tool, the intrinsic ambiguities that may be present with limited resolution are not sufficiently appreciated. PMID:20600108

  8. Functional Implications of Novel Human Acid Sphingomyelinase Splice Variants

    PubMed Central

    Rhein, Cosima; Tripal, Philipp; Seebahn, Angela; Konrad, Alice; Kramer, Marcel; Nagel, Christine; Kemper, Jonas; Bode, Jens; Mühle, Christiane; Gulbins, Erich; Reichel, Martin; Becker, Cord-Michael; Kornhuber, Johannes

    2012-01-01

    Background Acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) hydrolyses sphingomyelin and generates the lipid messenger ceramide, which mediates a variety of stress-related cellular processes. The pathological effects of dysregulated ASM activity are evident in several human diseases and indicate an important functional role for ASM regulation. We investigated alternative splicing as a possible mechanism for regulating cellular ASM activity. Methodology/Principal Findings We identified three novel ASM splice variants in human cells, termed ASM-5, -6 and -7, which lack portions of the catalytic- and/or carboxy-terminal domains in comparison to full-length ASM-1. Differential expression patterns in primary blood cells indicated that ASM splicing might be subject to regulatory processes. The newly identified ASM splice variants were catalytically inactive in biochemical in vitro assays, but they decreased the relative cellular ceramide content in overexpression studies and exerted a dominant-negative effect on ASM activity in physiological cell models. Conclusions/Significance These findings indicate that alternative splicing of ASM is of functional significance for the cellular stress response, possibly representing a mechanism for maintaining constant levels of cellular ASM enzyme activity. PMID:22558155

  9. Rare Variant Analysis of Human and Rodent Obesity Genes in Individuals with Severe Childhood Obesity.

    PubMed

    Hendricks, Audrey E; Bochukova, Elena G; Marenne, Gaëlle; Keogh, Julia M; Atanassova, Neli; Bounds, Rebecca; Wheeler, Eleanor; Mistry, Vanisha; Henning, Elana; Körner, Antje; Muddyman, Dawn; McCarthy, Shane; Hinney, Anke; Hebebrand, Johannes; Scott, Robert A; Langenberg, Claudia; Wareham, Nick J; Surendran, Praveen; Howson, Joanna M; Butterworth, Adam S; Danesh, John; Nordestgaard, Børge G; Nielsen, Sune F; Afzal, Shoaib; Papadia, Sofia; Ashford, Sofie; Garg, Sumedha; Millhauser, Glenn L; Palomino, Rafael I; Kwasniewska, Alexandra; Tachmazidou, Ioanna; O'Rahilly, Stephen; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Barroso, Inês; Farooqi, I Sadaf

    2017-06-29

    Obesity is a genetically heterogeneous disorder. Using targeted and whole-exome sequencing, we studied 32 human and 87 rodent obesity genes in 2,548 severely obese children and 1,117 controls. We identified 52 variants contributing to obesity in 2% of cases including multiple novel variants in GNAS, which were sometimes found with accelerated growth rather than short stature as described previously. Nominally significant associations were found for rare functional variants in BBS1, BBS9, GNAS, MKKS, CLOCK and ANGPTL6. The p.S284X variant in ANGPTL6 drives the association signal (rs201622589, MAF~0.1%, odds ratio = 10.13, p-value = 0.042) and results in complete loss of secretion in cells. Further analysis including additional case-control studies and population controls (N = 260,642) did not support association of this variant with obesity (odds ratio = 2.34, p-value = 2.59 × 10 -3 ), highlighting the challenges of testing rare variant associations and the need for very large sample sizes. Further validation in cohorts with severe obesity and engineering the variants in model organisms will be needed to explore whether human variants in ANGPTL6 and other genes that lead to obesity when deleted in mice, do contribute to obesity. Such studies may yield druggable targets for weight loss therapies.

  10. Hybridization Capture Using RAD Probes (hyRAD), a New Tool for Performing Genomic Analyses on Collection Specimens

    PubMed Central

    Suchan, Tomasz; Pitteloud, Camille; Gerasimova, Nadezhda S.; Kostikova, Anna; Schmid, Sarah; Arrigo, Nils; Pajkovic, Mila; Ronikier, Michał; Alvarez, Nadir

    2016-01-01

    In the recent years, many protocols aimed at reproducibly sequencing reduced-genome subsets in non-model organisms have been published. Among them, RAD-sequencing is one of the most widely used. It relies on digesting DNA with specific restriction enzymes and performing size selection on the resulting fragments. Despite its acknowledged utility, this method is of limited use with degraded DNA samples, such as those isolated from museum specimens, as these samples are less likely to harbor fragments long enough to comprise two restriction sites making possible ligation of the adapter sequences (in the case of double-digest RAD) or performing size selection of the resulting fragments (in the case of single-digest RAD). Here, we address these limitations by presenting a novel method called hybridization RAD (hyRAD). In this approach, biotinylated RAD fragments, covering a random fraction of the genome, are used as baits for capturing homologous fragments from genomic shotgun sequencing libraries. This simple and cost-effective approach allows sequencing of orthologous loci even from highly degraded DNA samples, opening new avenues of research in the field of museum genomics. Not relying on the restriction site presence, it improves among-sample loci coverage. In a trial study, hyRAD allowed us to obtain a large set of orthologous loci from fresh and museum samples from a non-model butterfly species, with a high proportion of single nucleotide polymorphisms present in all eight analyzed specimens, including 58-year-old museum samples. The utility of the method was further validated using 49 museum and fresh samples of a Palearctic grasshopper species for which the spatial genetic structure was previously assessed using mtDNA amplicons. The application of the method is eventually discussed in a wider context. As it does not rely on the restriction site presence, it is therefore not sensitive to among-sample loci polymorphisms in the restriction sites that usually causes

  11. RadMap

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    RadMap is an interactive desktop tool featuring a nationwide geographic information systems (GIS) map of long-term radiation monitoring locations across the United States with access to key information about the monitor and the area surrounding it.

  12. Comparative analysis of cytokeratin 15, TDAG51, cytokeratin 20 and androgen receptor in sclerosing adnexal neoplasms and variants of basal cell carcinoma.

    PubMed

    Evangelista, Mara Therese P; North, Jeffrey P

    2015-11-01

    Desmoplastic trichoepithelioma (DTE), morpheaform basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and microcystic adnexal carcinoma (MAC) are sclerosing adnexal neoplasms with overlapping histopathologic features. We compared cytokeratin 15, (CK15), T-cell death-associated gene 51 (TDAG51), cytokeratin 20 (CK20) and androgen receptor (AR) in differentiating these tumors and assessed their expression in BCC subtypes. Fifteen DTE, 15 infundibulocystic BCC, 18 micronodular BCC, 18 morpheaform BCC and 6 MAC were assessed for CK15, TDAG51, CK20 and AR expression. Quantitative CK15 staining was higher in DTE compared with BCC (p < 0.0001) and MAC (p = 0.02). Quantitative TDAG51 staining was higher in DTE than BCC (p < 0.0001). The CK20+AR- immunophenotype was 100% sensitive and specific in diagnosing DTE. The CK20-AR+ immunophenotype was 95.24% specific and 83.33% sensitive for BCC. The CK20-AR- immunophenotype was 83.33% sensitive and 90.91% specific for MAC. CK15, CK20 and AR were positive in 87, 53 and 67% of infundibulocystic BCC cases, respectively. Combination of CK20 and AR best differentiated these sclerosing adnexal neoplasms. Greater positivity for CK15 and TDAG51 generally favors benign lesions. Infundibulocystic BCC has higher CK20 and lower AR immunopositivity than other BCC variants and a high degree of CK15 and TDAG51 positivity. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Oncogenic potential diverge among human papillomavirus type 16 natural variants

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sichero, Laura, E-mail: lsichero@gmail.com; Department of Virology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Sao Paulo 01323-903; Simao Sobrinho, Joao

    2012-10-10

    We compared E6/E7 protein properties of three different HPV-16 variants: AA, E-P and E-350G. Primary human foreskin keratinocytes (PHFK) were transduced with HPV-16 E6 and E7 and evaluated for proliferation and ability to grow in soft agar. E-P infected keratinocytes presented the lowest efficiency in colony formation. AA and E-350G keratinocytes attained higher capacity for in vitro transformation. We observed similar degradation of TP53 among HPV-16 variants. Furthermore, we accessed the expression profile in early (p5) and late passage (p30) transduced cells of 84 genes commonly involved in carcinogenesis. Most differences could be attributed to HPV-16 E6/E7 expression. In particular,more » we detected different expression of ITGA2 and CHEK2 in keratinocytes infected with AA and AA/E-350G late passage cells, respectively, and higher expression of MAP2K1 in E-350G transduced keratinocytes. Our results indicate differences among HPV-16 variants that could explain, at least in part, differences in oncogenic potential attributed to these variants.« less

  14. RadNet Sampling and Analyses Schedules

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    RadNet air monitors operate continuously and samples of air, precipitation and drinking water and analyzed on a routine schedule. RadNet can send deployable monitors to any U.S. location in the case of a radiological emergency.

  15. Estrogen Receptor Mutants/Variants in Human Breast Cancer.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1995-12-01

    Effect of dystrophin gene deletions on mRNA levels and processing in Duchenne and Becker dystrophies . Cell 1990, 63:1239-1248 4 Patriotis C, Makris A...the most common inherited disorder of platelets, Aspartylblucosaminuria, 2 an inherited lysosomal storage disorder, Duchenne and Becker muscular... dystrophies 3 or cancer progression.4m 5 Several estrogen receptor (ER) variant mRNAs have also been identified in human breast cancer biopsies.6,7,8, 9

  16. CDKL5 variants: Improving our understanding of a rare neurologic disorder.

    PubMed

    Hector, Ralph D; Kalscheuer, Vera M; Hennig, Friederike; Leonard, Helen; Downs, Jenny; Clarke, Angus; Benke, Tim A; Armstrong, Judith; Pineda, Mercedes; Bailey, Mark E S; Cobb, Stuart R

    2017-12-01

    To provide new insights into the interpretation of genetic variants in a rare neurologic disorder, CDKL5 deficiency, in the contexts of population sequencing data and an updated characterization of the CDKL5 gene. We analyzed all known potentially pathogenic CDKL5 variants by combining data from large-scale population sequencing studies with CDKL5 variants from new and all available clinical cohorts and combined this with computational methods to predict pathogenicity. The study has identified several variants that can be reclassified as benign or likely benign. With the addition of novel CDKL5 variants, we confirm that pathogenic missense variants cluster in the catalytic domain of CDKL5 and reclassify a purported missense variant as having a splicing consequence. We provide further evidence that missense variants in the final 3 exons are likely to be benign and not important to disease pathology. We also describe benign splicing and nonsense variants within these exons, suggesting that isoform hCDKL5_5 is likely to have little or no neurologic significance. We also use the available data to make a preliminary estimate of minimum incidence of CDKL5 deficiency. These findings have implications for genetic diagnosis, providing evidence for the reclassification of specific variants previously thought to result in CDKL5 deficiency. Together, these analyses support the view that the predominant brain isoform in humans (hCDKL5_1) is crucial for normal neurodevelopment and that the catalytic domain is the primary functional domain.

  17. Human embryonic stem cells fail to activate CHK1 and commit to apoptosis in response to DNA replication stress.

    PubMed

    Desmarais, Joëlle A; Hoffmann, Michele J; Bingham, Gregg; Gagou, Mary E; Meuth, Mark; Andrews, Peter W

    2012-07-01

    Pluripotent cells of the early embryo, to which embryonic stem cells (ESCs) correspond, give rise to all the somatic cells of the developing fetus. Any defects that occur in their genome or epigenome would have devastating consequences. Genetic and epigenetic change in human ESCs appear to be an inevitable consequence of long-term culture, driven by selection of variant cells that have a higher propensity for self-renewal rather than either differentiation or death. Mechanisms underlying the potentially separate events of mutation and subsequent selection of variants are poorly understood. Here, we show that human ESCs and their malignant counterpart, embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells, both fail to activate critical S-phase checkpoints when exposed to DNA replication inhibitors and commit to apoptosis instead. Human ESCs and EC cells also fail to form replication protein A, γH2AX, or RAD51 foci or load topoisomerase (DNA) II binding protein 1 onto chromatin in response to replication inhibitors. Furthermore, direct measurements of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) show that these cells fail to generate the ssDNA regions in response to replication stress that are necessary for the activation of checkpoints and the initiation of homologous recombination repair to protect replication fork integrity and restart DNA replication. Taken together, our data suggest that pluripotent cells control genome integrity by the elimination of damaged cells through apoptosis rather than DNA repair, and therefore, mutations or epigenetic modifications resulting in an imbalance in cell death control could lead to genetic instability. Copyright © 2012 AlphaMed Press.

  18. Loss of RAD-23 Protects Against Models of Motor Neuron Disease by Enhancing Mutant Protein Clearance

    PubMed Central

    Jablonski, Angela M.; Lamitina, Todd; Liachko, Nicole F.; Sabatella, Mariangela; Lu, Jiayin; Zhang, Lei; Ostrow, Lyle W.; Gupta, Preetika; Wu, Chia-Yen; Doshi, Shachee; Mojsilovic-Petrovic, Jelena; Lans, Hannes; Wang, Jiou; Kraemer, Brian

    2015-01-01

    Misfolded proteins accumulate and aggregate in neurodegenerative disease. The existence of these deposits reflects a derangement in the protein homeostasis machinery. Using a candidate gene screen, we report that loss of RAD-23 protects against the toxicity of proteins known to aggregate in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Loss of RAD-23 suppresses the locomotor deficit of Caenorhabditis elegans engineered to express mutTDP-43 or mutSOD1 and also protects against aging and proteotoxic insults. Knockdown of RAD-23 is further neuroprotective against the toxicity of SOD1 and TDP-43 expression in mammalian neurons. Biochemical investigation indicates that RAD-23 modifies mutTDP-43 and mutSOD1 abundance, solubility, and turnover in association with altering the ubiquitination status of these substrates. In human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis spinal cord, we find that RAD-23 abundance is increased and RAD-23 is mislocalized within motor neurons. We propose a novel pathophysiological function for RAD-23 in the stabilization of mutated proteins that cause neurodegeneration. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In this work, we identify RAD-23, a component of the protein homeostasis network and nucleotide excision repair pathway, as a modifier of the toxicity of two disease-causing, misfolding-prone proteins, SOD1 and TDP-43. Reducing the abundance of RAD-23 accelerates the degradation of mutant SOD1 and TDP-43 and reduces the cellular content of the toxic species. The existence of endogenous proteins that act as “anti-chaperones” uncovers new and general targets for therapeutic intervention. PMID:26490867

  19. Significance of functional disease-causal/susceptible variants identified by whole-genome analyses for the understanding of human diseases.

    PubMed

    Hitomi, Yuki; Tokunaga, Katsushi

    2017-01-01

    Human genome variation may cause differences in traits and disease risks. Disease-causal/susceptible genes and variants for both common and rare diseases can be detected by comprehensive whole-genome analyses, such as whole-genome sequencing (WGS), using next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology and genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Here, in addition to the application of an NGS as a whole-genome analysis method, we summarize approaches for the identification of functional disease-causal/susceptible variants from abundant genetic variants in the human genome and methods for evaluating their functional effects in human diseases, using an NGS and in silico and in vitro functional analyses. We also discuss the clinical applications of the functional disease causal/susceptible variants to personalized medicine.

  20. The Asian-American E6 Variant Protein of Human Papillomavirus 16 Alone Is Sufficient To Promote Immortalization, Transformation, and Migration of Primary Human Foreskin Keratinocytes

    PubMed Central

    Niccoli, Sarah; Abraham, Suraj; Richard, Christina

    2012-01-01

    We examined how well the human papillomavirus (HPV) E6 oncogene can function in the absence of the E7 oncogene during the carcinogenic process in human keratinocytes using a common HPV variant strongly associated with cervical cancer: the Asian-American E6 variant (AAE6). This E6 variant is 20 times more frequently detected in cervical cancer than the prototype European E6 variant, as evidenced by independent epidemiological data. Using cell culture and cell-based functional assays, we assessed how this variant can perform crucial carcinogenesis steps compared to the prototype E6 variant. The ability to immortalize and transform primary human foreskin keratinocytes (PHFKs) to acquire resilient phenotypes and the ability to promote cell migration were evaluated. The immortalization capability was assayed based on population doublings, number of passages, surpassing mortality stages 1 and 2, human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) expression, and the ability to overcome G1 arrest via p53 degradation. Transformation and migration efficiency were analyzed using a combination of functional cell-based assays. We observed that either AAE6 or prototype E6 proteins alone were sufficient to immortalize PHFKs, although AAE6 was more potent in doing so. The AAE6 variant protein alone pushed PHFKs through transformation and significantly increased their migration ability over that of the E6 prototype. Our findings are in line with epidemiological data that the AA variant of HPV16 confers an increased risk over the European prototype for cervical cancer, as evidenced by a superior immortalization, transformation, and metastatic potential. PMID:22951839

  1. Rad52 phosphorylation by Ipl1 and Mps1 contributes to Mps1 kinetochore localization and spindle assembly checkpoint regulation

    PubMed Central

    Lim, Gyubum

    2017-01-01

    Rad52 is well known as a key factor in homologous recombination. Here, we report that Rad52 has functions unrelated to homologous recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae; it plays a role in the recruitment of Mps1 to the kinetochores and the maintenance of spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) activity. Deletion of RAD52 causes various phenotypes related to the dysregulation of chromosome biorientation. Rad52 directly affects efficient operation of the SAC and accurate chromosome segregation. Remarkably, by using an in vitro kinase assay, we found that Rad52 is a substrate of Ipl1/Aurora and Mps1 in yeast and humans. Ipl1-dependent phosphorylation of Rad52 facilitates the kinetochore accumulation of Mps1, and Mps1-dependent phosphorylation of Rad52 is important for the accurate regulation of the SAC under spindle damage conditions. Taken together, our data provide detailed insights into the regulatory mechanism of chromosome biorientation by mitotic kinases. PMID:29078282

  2. Rad52 phosphorylation by Ipl1 and Mps1 contributes to Mps1 kinetochore localization and spindle assembly checkpoint regulation.

    PubMed

    Lim, Gyubum; Huh, Won-Ki

    2017-10-31

    Rad52 is well known as a key factor in homologous recombination. Here, we report that Rad52 has functions unrelated to homologous recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; it plays a role in the recruitment of Mps1 to the kinetochores and the maintenance of spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) activity. Deletion of RAD52 causes various phenotypes related to the dysregulation of chromosome biorientation. Rad52 directly affects efficient operation of the SAC and accurate chromosome segregation. Remarkably, by using an in vitro kinase assay, we found that Rad52 is a substrate of Ipl1/Aurora and Mps1 in yeast and humans. Ipl1-dependent phosphorylation of Rad52 facilitates the kinetochore accumulation of Mps1, and Mps1-dependent phosphorylation of Rad52 is important for the accurate regulation of the SAC under spindle damage conditions. Taken together, our data provide detailed insights into the regulatory mechanism of chromosome biorientation by mitotic kinases. Published under the PNAS license.

  3. Enhanced activity of human serotonin transporter variants associated with autism.

    PubMed

    Prasad, Harish C; Steiner, Jennifer A; Sutcliffe, James S; Blakely, Randy D

    2009-01-27

    Rare, functional, non-synonymous variants in the human serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) transporter (hSERT) gene (SLC6A4) have been identified in both autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Within autism, rare hSERT coding variants associate with rigid-compulsive traits, suggesting both phenotypic overlap with OCD and a shared relationship with disrupted 5-HT signalling. Here, we document functional perturbations of three of these variants: Ile425Leu; Phe465Leu; and Leu550Val. In transiently transfected HeLa cells, the three variants confer a gain of 5-HT transport phenotype. Specifically, enhanced SERT activity was also observed in lymphoblastoid lines derived from mutation carriers. In contrast to previously characterized Gly56Ala, where increased transport activity derives from catalytic activation, the three novel variants exhibit elevated surface density as revealed through both surface antagonist-binding and biotinylation studies. Unlike Gly56Ala, mutants Ile425Leu, Phe465Leu and Leu550Val retain a capacity for acute PKG and p38 MAPK regulation. However, both Gly56Ala and Ile425Leu demonstrate markedly reduced sensitivity to PP2A antagonists, suggesting that deficits in trafficking and catalytic modulation may derive from a common basis in perturbed phosphatase regulation. When expressed stably from the same genomic locus in CHO cells, both Gly56Ala and Ile425Leu display catalytic activation, accompanied by a striking loss of SERT protein.

  4. Lymphoid irradiation in intractable rheumatoid arthritis. A double-blind, randomized study comparing 750-rad treatment with 2,000-rad treatment

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hanly, J.G.; Hassan, J.; Moriarty, M.

    1986-01-01

    Twenty patients with intractable rheumatoid arthritis were treated with 750-rad or 2,000-rad lymphoid irradiation in a randomized double-blind comparative study. Over a 12-month followup period, there was a significant improvement in 4 of 7 and 6 of 7 standard parameters of disease activity following treatment with 750 rads and 2,000 rads, respectively. Transient, short-term toxicity was less frequent with the lower dose. In both groups, there was a sustained peripheral blood lymphopenia, a selective depletion of T helper (Leu-3a+) lymphocytes, and reduced in vitro mitogen responses. These changes did not occur, however, in synovial fluid. These results suggest that 750-radmore » lymphoid irradiation is as effective as, but less toxic than, that with 2,000 rads in the management of patients with intractable rheumatoid arthritis.« less

  5. Human Apolipoprotein A-I Natural Variants: Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Amyloidogenic Propensity

    PubMed Central

    Ramella, Nahuel A.; Schinella, Guillermo R.; Ferreira, Sergio T.; Prieto, Eduardo D.; Vela, María E.; Ríos, José Luis

    2012-01-01

    Human apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I)-derived amyloidosis can present with either wild-type (Wt) protein deposits in atherosclerotic plaques or as a hereditary form in which apoA-I variants deposit causing multiple organ failure. More than 15 single amino acid replacement amyloidogenic apoA-I variants have been described, but the molecular mechanisms involved in amyloid-associated pathology remain largely unknown. Here, we have investigated by fluorescence and biochemical approaches the stabilities and propensities to aggregate of two disease-associated apoA-I variants, apoA-IGly26Arg, associated with polyneuropathy and kidney dysfunction, and apoA-ILys107-0, implicated in amyloidosis in severe atherosclerosis. Results showed that both variants share common structural properties including decreased stability compared to Wt apoA-I and a more flexible structure that gives rise to formation of partially folded states. Interestingly, however, distinct features appear to determine their pathogenic mechanisms. ApoA-ILys107-0 has an increased propensity to aggregate at physiological pH and in a pro-inflammatory microenvironment than Wt apoA-I, whereas apoA-IGly26Arg elicited macrophage activation, thus stimulating local chronic inflammation. Our results strongly suggest that some natural mutations in apoA-I variants elicit protein tendency to aggregate, but in addition the specific interaction of different variants with macrophages may contribute to cellular stress and toxicity in hereditary amyloidosis. PMID:22952757

  6. [Interest of the study of a not identified peak on a hemoglobin chromatogram: delta variant or inter-sample contaminations?].

    PubMed

    Desmons, Aurore; Jaisson, Stéphane; Gillery, Philippe; Guillard, Emmanuelle

    2013-01-01

    D-10(®) (Bio-Rad) analyzer using cationic exchange high performance chromatography (HPLC) allows the detection of the main hemoglobin variants. This observation shows the presence of a peak on chromatogram with a low intensity and no quantifiable which can lead to different diagnosis. Inter-sample contaminations can be confused with the presence of an hemoglobin variant. This case highlights the importance of the knowledge of technicals limits for validation and clinical use of results.

  7. Efficient lowering of triglyceride levels in mice by human apoAV protein variants associated with hypertriglyceridemia.

    PubMed

    Vaessen, Stefan F C; Sierts, Jeroen A; Kuivenhoven, Jan Albert; Schaap, Frank G

    2009-02-06

    Variation in the apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) gene has consistently been associated with increased plasma triglyceride (TG) levels in epidemiological studies. In vivo functionality of these variations, however, has thus far not been tested. Using adenoviral over-expression, we evaluated plasma expression levels and TG-lowering efficacies of wild-type human apoAV, two human apoAV variants associated with increased TG (S19W, G185C) and one variant (Q341H) that is predicted to have altered protein function. Injection of mice with adenovirus encoding wild-type or mutant apoAV resulted in an identical dose-dependent elevation of human apoAV levels in plasma. The increase in apoAV levels resulted in pronounced lowering of plasma TG levels at two viral dosages. Unexpectedly, the TG-lowering efficacy of all three apoAV variants was similar to wild-type apoAV. In addition, no effect on TG-hydrolysis-related plasma parameters (free fatty acids, glycerol and post-heparin lipoprotein lipase activity) was apparent upon expression of all apoAV variants. In conclusion, our data indicate that despite their association with hypertriglyceridemia and/or predicted protein dysfunction, the 19W, 185C and 341H apoAV variants are equally effective in reducing plasma TG levels in mice.

  8. Helical filaments of human Dmc1 protein on single-stranded DNA: a cautionary tale.

    PubMed

    Yu, Xiong; Egelman, Edward H

    2010-08-20

    Proteins in the RecA/Rad51/RadA family form nucleoprotein filaments on DNA that catalyze a strand exchange reaction as part of homologous genetic recombination. Because of the centrality of this system to many aspects of DNA repair, the generation of genetic diversity, and cancer when this system fails or is not properly regulated, these filaments have been the object of many biochemical and biophysical studies. A recent paper has argued that the human Dmc1 protein, a meiotic homolog of bacterial RecA and human Rad51, forms filaments on single-stranded DNA with approximately 9 subunits per turn in contrast to the filaments formed on double-stranded DNA with approximately 6.4 subunits per turn and that the stoichiometry of DNA binding is different between these two filaments. We show using scanning transmission electron microscopy that the Dmc1 filament formed on single-stranded DNA has a mass per unit length expected from approximately 6.5 subunits per turn. More generally, we show how ambiguities in helical symmetry determination can generate incorrect solutions and why one sometimes must use other techniques, such as biochemistry, metal shadowing, or scanning transmission electron microscopy, to resolve these ambiguities. While three-dimensional reconstruction of helical filaments from EM images is a powerful tool, the intrinsic ambiguities that may be present with limited resolution are not sufficiently appreciated. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Binding of [51Cr]ethylenediaminetetraacetate to proteins of human plasma.

    PubMed Central

    Babiker, M M

    1986-01-01

    Binding of [51Cr]EDTA to human plasma proteins was investigated using chemical and chromatographic techniques of separation of the proteins and protein fractions. Total plasma proteins isolated with ethanol retained 12.95 +/- 0.46% of the initial plasma activity. Proteins separated by other precipitants retained about 16% of the initial radioactivity. Globulins exhibited the highest binding capacity for [51Cr]EDTA and retained about 11.7% of the initial plasma activity following chromatographic separation. This value represents about 70% of the radioactivity bound by the total proteins of the plasma. gamma-Globulins contributed most of the binding attributed to the globulins and retained about 8.7% of the initial [51Cr]EDTA activity. The repeatedly reported underestimation of the renal glomerular filtration rate when estimated as the clearance of [51Cr]EDTA could be adequately accounted for by the extent of binding of this marker to the plasma proteins. PMID:2427701

  10. Intrahaplotypic Variants Differentiate Complex Linkage Disequilibrium within Human MHC Haplotypes

    PubMed Central

    Lam, Tze Hau; Tay, Matthew Zirui; Wang, Bei; Xiao, Ziwei; Ren, Ee Chee

    2015-01-01

    Distinct regions of long-range genetic fixation in the human MHC region, known as conserved extended haplotypes (CEHs), possess unique genomic characteristics and are strongly associated with numerous diseases. While CEHs appear to be homogeneous by SNP analysis, the nature of fine variations within their genomic structure is unknown. Using multiple, MHC-homozygous cell lines, we demonstrate extensive sequence conservation in two common Asian MHC haplotypes: A33-B58-DR3 and A2-B46-DR9. However, characterization of phase-resolved MHC haplotypes revealed unique intra-CEH patterns of variation and uncovered 127 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) which are missing from public databases. We further show that the strong linkage disequilibrium structure within the human MHC that typically confounds precise identification of genetic features can be resolved using intra-CEH variants, as evidenced by rs3129063 and rs448489, which affect expression of ZFP57, a gene important in methylation and epigenetic regulation. This study demonstrates an improved strategy that can be used towards genetic dissection of diseases. PMID:26593880

  11. Chromatofocusing and isoelectric focusing in immobilized pH gradients compared for characterization of human hemoglobin variants.

    PubMed

    Paleari, R; Arcelloni, C; Paroni, R; Fermo, I; Mosca, A

    1989-03-01

    We compared the performance of two highly resolving methods, chromatofocusing (CRF) and isoelectric focusing in immobilized pH gradients (IPGF), for the separation of human hemoglobin variants. Lysates containing 13 different hemoglobins, including variants of clinical and geographical importance, and four electrophoretically "silent" variants (Hb Brockton, Hb Cheverly, Hb Köln, and Hb Waco) were analyzed. Both techniques showed a good intrarun precision (CV = 0.87% for CRF, 0.27% for IPGF) and high and similar resolving power (0.010 pH units, with the pH gradients used in this work). The use of an ultranarrow IPGF range (pH 7.15-7.35; pH gradient = 0.019 pH/cm) allowed the resolution between Hb Brockton, Hb Köln, and Hb A. In some cases (Hb D-Los Angeles, Hb F, Hb Waco), the variants were separated from Hb A in different orders, depending on which technique was used, probably because of the different analytical principles of the two methods. As a second-level test, both procedures are informative for characterization of human hemoglobin variants.

  12. dbWGFP: a database and web server of human whole-genome single nucleotide variants and their functional predictions.

    PubMed

    Wu, Jiaxin; Wu, Mengmeng; Li, Lianshuo; Liu, Zhuo; Zeng, Wanwen; Jiang, Rui

    2016-01-01

    The recent advancement of the next generation sequencing technology has enabled the fast and low-cost detection of all genetic variants spreading across the entire human genome, making the application of whole-genome sequencing a tendency in the study of disease-causing genetic variants. Nevertheless, there still lacks a repository that collects predictions of functionally damaging effects of human genetic variants, though it has been well recognized that such predictions play a central role in the analysis of whole-genome sequencing data. To fill this gap, we developed a database named dbWGFP (a database and web server of human whole-genome single nucleotide variants and their functional predictions) that contains functional predictions and annotations of nearly 8.58 billion possible human whole-genome single nucleotide variants. Specifically, this database integrates 48 functional predictions calculated by 17 popular computational methods and 44 valuable annotations obtained from various data sources. Standalone software, user-friendly query services and free downloads of this database are available at http://bioinfo.au.tsinghua.edu.cn/dbwgfp. dbWGFP provides a valuable resource for the analysis of whole-genome sequencing, exome sequencing and SNP array data, thereby complementing existing data sources and computational resources in deciphering genetic bases of human inherited diseases. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

  13. RadNet Air Data From Honolulu, HI

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Honolulu, HI from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  14. RadNet Air Data From Birmingham, AL

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Birmingham, AL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  15. RadNet Air Data From Dallas, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Dallas, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  16. RadNet Air Data From Omaha, NE

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Omaha, NE from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  17. RadNet Air Data From Montgomery, AL

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Montgomery, AL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  18. RadNet Air Data From Burlington, VT

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Burlington, VT from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  19. RadNet Air Data From Washington, DC

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Washington, DC from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  20. RadNet Air Data From Rochester, NY

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Rochester, NY from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  1. RadNet Air Data From Tampa, FL

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Tampa, FL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  2. RadNet Air Data From Cincinnati, OH

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Cincinnati, OH from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  3. RadNet Air Data From Fairbanks, AK

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Fairbanks, AL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  4. RadNet Air Data From Yuma, AZ

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Yuma, AZ from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  5. RadNet Air Data From Kalispell, MT

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Kalispell, MT from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  6. RadNet Air Data From Kearney, NE

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Kearney, NE from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  7. RadNet Air Data From Phoenix, AZ

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Phoenix, AZ from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  8. RadNet Air Data From Pierre, SD

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Pierre, SD from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  9. RadNet Air Data From Augusta, GA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Augusta, GA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  10. RadNet Air Data From Syracuse, NY

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Syracuse, NY from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  11. RadNet Air Data From Albany, NY

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Albany, NY from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  12. RadNet Air Data From Anchorage, AK

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Anchorage, AK from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  13. RadNet Air Data From Philadelphia, PA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Philadelphia, PA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  14. RadNet Air Data From Houston, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Houston, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  15. RadNet Air Data From Duluth, MN

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Duluth, MN from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  16. RadNet Air Data From Raleigh, NC

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Raleigh, NC from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  17. RadNet Air Data From Louisville, KY

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Louisville, KY from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  18. RadNet Air Data From Cleveland, OH

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Cleveland, OH from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  19. RadNet Air Data From Carlsbad, NM

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Carlsbad, NM from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  20. RadNet Air Data From Corvallis, OR

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Corvallis, OR from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  1. RadNet Air Data From Orono, ME

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Orono, ME from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  2. RadNet Air Data From Reno, NV

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Reno, NV from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  3. RadNet Air Data From Nashville, TN

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Nashville, TN from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  4. RadNet Air Data From Concord, NH

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Concord, NH from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  5. RadNet Air Data From Paducah, KY

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Paducah, KY from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  6. RadNet Air Data From Edison, NJ

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Edison, NJ from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  7. RadNet Air Data From Wilmington, NC

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Wilmington, NC from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  8. RadNet Air Data From Boise, ID

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Boise, ID from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  9. RadNet Air Data From Albuquerque, NM

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Albuquerque, NM from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  10. RadNet Air Data From Fresno, CA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Fresno, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  11. RadNet Air Data From Amarillo, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Amarillo, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  12. RadNet Air Data From Portland, OR

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Portland, OR from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  13. RadNet Air Data From Jacksonville, FL

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Jacksonville, FL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  14. RadNet Air Data From Dover, DE

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Dover, DE from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  15. RadNet Air Data From Baltimore, MD

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Baltimore, MD from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  16. RadNet Air Data From Miami, FL

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Miami, FL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  17. RadNet Air Data From Billings, MT

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Billings, MT from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  18. RadNet Air Data From Providence, RI

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Providence, RI from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  19. RadNet Air Data From Knoxville, TN

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Knoxville, TN from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  20. RadNet Air Data From Columbus, OH

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Columbus, OH from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  1. RadNet Air Data From Bloomsburg, PA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Bloomsburg, PA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  2. RadNet Air Data From Shreveport, LA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Shreveport, LA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  3. RadNet Air Data From Laredo, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Laredo, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  4. RadNet Air Data From Bakersfield, CA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Bakersfield, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  5. RadNet Air Data From Portland, ME

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Portland, ME from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  6. RadNet Air Data From Champaign, IL

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Champaign, IL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  7. RadNet Air Data From Tucson, AZ

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Tucson, AZ from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  8. RadNet Air Data From Juneau, AK

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Juneau, AK from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  9. RadNet Air Data From Toledo, OH

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Toledo, OH from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  10. RadNet Air Data From Boston, MA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Boston, MA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  11. RadNet Air Data From Indianapolis, IN

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Indianapolis, IN from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  12. RadNet Air Data From Yaphank, NY

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Yaphank, NY from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  13. RadNet Air Data From Anaheim, CA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Anaheim, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  14. RadNet Air Data From Riverside, CA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Riverside, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  15. RadNet Air Data From Detroit, MI

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Detroit, MI from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  16. RadNet Air Data From Wichita, KS

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Wichita, KS from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  17. RadNet Air Data From Columbia, SC

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Columbia, SC from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  18. RadNet Air Data From Milwaukee, WI

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Milwaukee, WI from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  19. RadNet Air Data From Richmond, VA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Richmond, VA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  20. RadNet Air Data From Tulsa, OK

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Tulsa, OK from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  1. RadNet Air Data From Aurora, IL

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Aurora, IL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  2. RadNet Air Data From Hartford, CT

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Hartford. CT from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  3. RadNet Air Data From Charleston, WV

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Charleston, WV from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  4. RadNet Air Data From Shawano, WI

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Shawano, WI from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  5. RadNet Air Data From Harlingen, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Harlingen, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation

  6. RadNet Air Data From Springfield, MO

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Springfield, MO from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  7. RadNet Air Data From Olympia, WA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Olympia, WA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  8. RadNet Air Data From Memphis, TN

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Memphis, TN from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  9. RadNet Air Data From Lubbock, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Lubbock, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  10. RadNet Air Data From Sacramento, CA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Sacramento, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  11. RadNet Air Data From Lockport, NY

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Lockport, NY from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  12. RadNet Air Data From Jackson, MS

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Jackson, MS from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  13. RadNet Air Data From Seattle, WA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Seattle, WA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  14. RadNet Air Data From Pittsburgh, PA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Pittsburgh, PA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  15. RadNet Air Data From Madison, WI

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Madison, WI from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  16. RadNet Air Data From Ellensburg, WA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Ellensburg, WA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  17. RadNet Air Data From Harrisonburg, VA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Harrisonburg, VA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  18. RadNet Air Data From Bismarck, ND

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Bismarck, ND from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  19. RadNet Air Data From Denver, CO

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Denver, CO from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  20. RadNet Air Data From Charlotte, NC

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Charlotte, NC from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  1. RadNet Air Data From Lexington, KY

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Lexington, KY from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  2. RadNet Air Data From Casper, WY

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Casper, WY from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  3. RadNet Air Data From Eureka, CA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Eureka, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  4. RadNet Air Data From Lincoln, NE

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Lincoln, NE from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  5. RadNet Air Data From Orlando, FL

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Orlando, FL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  6. RadNet Air Data From Mobile, AL

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Mobile, AL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  7. RadNet Air Data From Spokane, WA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Spokane, WA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  8. RadNet Air Data From Atlanta, GA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Atlanta, GA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  9. RadNet Air Data From Greensboro, NC

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Greensboro, NC from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  10. RadNet Air Data From Chicago, IL

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Chicago, IL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  11. RadNet Air Data From Worcester, MA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Worcester, MA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  12. RadNet Air Data From Austin, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Austin, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  13. Analysis of 6,515 exomes reveals the recent origin of most human protein-coding variants.

    PubMed

    Fu, Wenqing; O'Connor, Timothy D; Jun, Goo; Kang, Hyun Min; Abecasis, Goncalo; Leal, Suzanne M; Gabriel, Stacey; Rieder, Mark J; Altshuler, David; Shendure, Jay; Nickerson, Deborah A; Bamshad, Michael J; Akey, Joshua M

    2013-01-10

    Establishing the age of each mutation segregating in contemporary human populations is important to fully understand our evolutionary history and will help to facilitate the development of new approaches for disease-gene discovery. Large-scale surveys of human genetic variation have reported signatures of recent explosive population growth, notable for an excess of rare genetic variants, suggesting that many mutations arose recently. To more quantitatively assess the distribution of mutation ages, we resequenced 15,336 genes in 6,515 individuals of European American and African American ancestry and inferred the age of 1,146,401 autosomal single nucleotide variants (SNVs). We estimate that approximately 73% of all protein-coding SNVs and approximately 86% of SNVs predicted to be deleterious arose in the past 5,000-10,000 years. The average age of deleterious SNVs varied significantly across molecular pathways, and disease genes contained a significantly higher proportion of recently arisen deleterious SNVs than other genes. Furthermore, European Americans had an excess of deleterious variants in essential and Mendelian disease genes compared to African Americans, consistent with weaker purifying selection due to the Out-of-Africa dispersal. Our results better delimit the historical details of human protein-coding variation, show the profound effect of recent human history on the burden of deleterious SNVs segregating in contemporary populations, and provide important practical information that can be used to prioritize variants in disease-gene discovery.

  14. A naturally occurring variant of the human prion protein completely prevents prion disease.

    PubMed

    Asante, Emmanuel A; Smidak, Michelle; Grimshaw, Andrew; Houghton, Richard; Tomlinson, Andrew; Jeelani, Asif; Jakubcova, Tatiana; Hamdan, Shyma; Richard-Londt, Angela; Linehan, Jacqueline M; Brandner, Sebastian; Alpers, Michael; Whitfield, Jerome; Mead, Simon; Wadsworth, Jonathan D F; Collinge, John

    2015-06-25

    Mammalian prions, transmissible agents causing lethal neurodegenerative diseases, are composed of assemblies of misfolded cellular prion protein (PrP). A novel PrP variant, G127V, was under positive evolutionary selection during the epidemic of kuru--an acquired prion disease epidemic of the Fore population in Papua New Guinea--and appeared to provide strong protection against disease in the heterozygous state. Here we have investigated the protective role of this variant and its interaction with the common, worldwide M129V PrP polymorphism. V127 was seen exclusively on a M129 PRNP allele. We demonstrate that transgenic mice expressing both variant and wild-type human PrP are completely resistant to both kuru and classical Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) prions (which are closely similar) but can be infected with variant CJD prions, a human prion strain resulting from exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy prions to which the Fore were not exposed. Notably, mice expressing only PrP V127 were completely resistant to all prion strains, demonstrating a different molecular mechanism to M129V, which provides its relative protection against classical CJD and kuru in the heterozygous state. Indeed, this single amino acid substitution (G→V) at a residue invariant in vertebrate evolution is as protective as deletion of the protein. Further study in transgenic mice expressing different ratios of variant and wild-type PrP indicates that not only is PrP V127 completely refractory to prion conversion but acts as a potent dose-dependent inhibitor of wild-type prion propagation.

  15. Rapid functional analysis of computationally complex rare human IRF6 gene variants using a novel zebrafish model.

    PubMed

    Li, Edward B; Truong, Dawn; Hallett, Shawn A; Mukherjee, Kusumika; Schutte, Brian C; Liao, Eric C

    2017-09-01

    Large-scale sequencing efforts have captured a rapidly growing catalogue of genetic variations. However, the accurate establishment of gene variant pathogenicity remains a central challenge in translating personal genomics information to clinical decisions. Interferon Regulatory Factor 6 (IRF6) gene variants are significant genetic contributors to orofacial clefts. Although approximately three hundred IRF6 gene variants have been documented, their effects on protein functions remain difficult to interpret. Here, we demonstrate the protein functions of human IRF6 missense gene variants could be rapidly assessed in detail by their abilities to rescue the irf6 -/- phenotype in zebrafish through variant mRNA microinjections at the one-cell stage. The results revealed many missense variants previously predicted by traditional statistical and computational tools to be loss-of-function and pathogenic retained partial or full protein function and rescued the zebrafish irf6 -/- periderm rupture phenotype. Through mRNA dosage titration and analysis of the Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC) database, IRF6 missense variants were grouped by their abilities to rescue at various dosages into three functional categories: wild type function, reduced function, and complete loss-of-function. This sensitive and specific biological assay was able to address the nuanced functional significances of IRF6 missense gene variants and overcome many limitations faced by current statistical and computational tools in assigning variant protein function and pathogenicity. Furthermore, it unlocked the possibility for characterizing yet undiscovered human IRF6 missense gene variants from orofacial cleft patients, and illustrated a generalizable functional genomics paradigm in personalized medicine.

  16. DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Genes and Oxidative Damage in Brain Metastasis of Breast Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Evans, Lynda; Duchnowska, Renata; Reed, L. Tiffany; Palmieri, Diane; Qian, Yongzhen; Badve, Sunil; Sledge, George; Gril, Brunilde; Aladjem, Mirit I.; Fu, Haiqing; Flores, Natasha M.; Gökmen-Polar, Yesim; Biernat, Wojciech; Szutowicz-Zielińska, Ewa; Mandat, Tomasz; Trojanowski, Tomasz; Och, Waldemar; Czartoryska-Arlukowicz, Bogumiła; Jassem, Jacek; Mitchell, James B.

    2014-01-01

    Background Breast cancer frequently metastasizes to the brain, colonizing a neuro-inflammatory microenvironment. The molecular pathways facilitating this colonization remain poorly understood. Methods Expression profiling of 23 matched sets of human resected brain metastases and primary breast tumors by two-sided paired t test was performed to identify brain metastasis–specific genes. The implicated DNA repair genes BARD1 and RAD51 were modulated in human (MDA-MB-231-BR) and murine (4T1-BR) brain-tropic breast cancer cell lines by lentiviral transduction of cDNA or short hairpin RNA (shRNA) coding sequences. Their functional contribution to brain metastasis development was evaluated in mouse xenograft models (n = 10 mice per group). Results Human brain metastases overexpressed BARD1 and RAD51 compared with either matched primary tumors (1.74-fold, P < .001; 1.46-fold, P < .001, respectively) or unlinked systemic metastases (1.49-fold, P = .01; 1.44-fold, P = .008, respectively). Overexpression of either gene in MDA-MB-231-BR cells increased brain metastases by threefold to fourfold after intracardiac injections, but not lung metastases upon tail-vein injections. In 4T1-BR cells, shRNA-mediated RAD51 knockdown reduced brain metastases by 2.5-fold without affecting lung metastasis development. In vitro, BARD1- and RAD51-overexpressing cells showed reduced genomic instability but only exhibited growth and colonization phenotypes upon DNA damage induction. Reactive oxygen species were present in tumor cells and elevated in the metastatic neuro-inflammatory microenvironment and could provide an endogenous source of genotoxic stress. Tempol, a brain-permeable oxygen radical scavenger suppressed brain metastasis promotion induced by BARD1 and RAD51 overexpression. Conclusions BARD1 and RAD51 are frequently overexpressed in brain metastases from breast cancer and may constitute a mechanism to overcome reactive oxygen species–mediated genotoxic stress in the metastatic

  17. DNA double-strand break repair genes and oxidative damage in brain metastasis of breast cancer.

    PubMed

    Woditschka, Stephan; Evans, Lynda; Duchnowska, Renata; Reed, L Tiffany; Palmieri, Diane; Qian, Yongzhen; Badve, Sunil; Sledge, George; Gril, Brunilde; Aladjem, Mirit I; Fu, Haiqing; Flores, Natasha M; Gökmen-Polar, Yesim; Biernat, Wojciech; Szutowicz-Zielińska, Ewa; Mandat, Tomasz; Trojanowski, Tomasz; Och, Waldemar; Czartoryska-Arlukowicz, Bogumiła; Jassem, Jacek; Mitchell, James B; Steeg, Patricia S

    2014-07-01

    Breast cancer frequently metastasizes to the brain, colonizing a neuro-inflammatory microenvironment. The molecular pathways facilitating this colonization remain poorly understood. Expression profiling of 23 matched sets of human resected brain metastases and primary breast tumors by two-sided paired t test was performed to identify brain metastasis-specific genes. The implicated DNA repair genes BARD1 and RAD51 were modulated in human (MDA-MB-231-BR) and murine (4T1-BR) brain-tropic breast cancer cell lines by lentiviral transduction of cDNA or short hairpin RNA (shRNA) coding sequences. Their functional contribution to brain metastasis development was evaluated in mouse xenograft models (n = 10 mice per group). Human brain metastases overexpressed BARD1 and RAD51 compared with either matched primary tumors (1.74-fold, P < .001; 1.46-fold, P < .001, respectively) or unlinked systemic metastases (1.49-fold, P = .01; 1.44-fold, P = .008, respectively). Overexpression of either gene in MDA-MB-231-BR cells increased brain metastases by threefold to fourfold after intracardiac injections, but not lung metastases upon tail-vein injections. In 4T1-BR cells, shRNA-mediated RAD51 knockdown reduced brain metastases by 2.5-fold without affecting lung metastasis development. In vitro, BARD1- and RAD51-overexpressing cells showed reduced genomic instability but only exhibited growth and colonization phenotypes upon DNA damage induction. Reactive oxygen species were present in tumor cells and elevated in the metastatic neuro-inflammatory microenvironment and could provide an endogenous source of genotoxic stress. Tempol, a brain-permeable oxygen radical scavenger suppressed brain metastasis promotion induced by BARD1 and RAD51 overexpression. BARD1 and RAD51 are frequently overexpressed in brain metastases from breast cancer and may constitute a mechanism to overcome reactive oxygen species-mediated genotoxic stress in the metastatic brain. Published by Oxford University Press

  18. The budding yeast Rad9 checkpoint protein is subjected to Mec1/Tel1-dependent hyperphosphorylation and interacts with Rad53 after DNA damage.

    PubMed

    Vialard, J E; Gilbert, C S; Green, C M; Lowndes, N F

    1998-10-01

    The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD9 checkpoint gene is required for transient cell-cycle arrests and transcriptional induction of DNA repair genes in response to DNA damage. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the Rad9 protein recognized several polypeptides in asynchronous cultures, and in cells arrested in S or G2/M phases while a single form was observed in G1-arrested cells. Treatment with various DNA damaging agents, i.e. UV, ionizing radiation or methyl methane sulfonate, resulted in the appearance of hypermodified forms of the protein. All modifications detected during a normal cell cycle and after DNA damage were sensitive to phosphatase treatment, indicating that they resulted from phosphorylation. Damage-induced hyperphosphorylation of Rad9 correlated with checkpoint functions (cell-cycle arrest and transcriptional induction) and was cell-cycle stage- and progression-independent. In asynchronous cultures, Rad9 hyperphosphorylation was dependent on MEC1 and TEL1, homologues of the ATR and ATM genes. In G1-arrested cells, damage-dependent hyperphosphorylation required functional MEC1 in addition to RAD17, RAD24, MEC3 and DDC1, demonstrating cell-cycle stage specificity of the checkpoint genes in this response to DNA damage. Analysis of checkpoint protein interactions after DNA damage revealed that Rad9 physically associates with Rad53.

  19. Molecular Imprint of Exposure to Naturally Occurring Genetic Variants of Human Cytomegalovirus on the T cell Repertoire

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smith, Corey; Gras, Stephanie; Brennan, Rebekah M.; Bird, Nicola L.; Valkenburg, Sophie A.; Twist, Kelly-Anne; Burrows, Jacqueline M.; Miles, John J.; Chambers, Daniel; Bell, Scott; Campbell, Scott; Kedzierska, Katherine; Burrows, Scott R.; Rossjohn, Jamie; Khanna, Rajiv

    2014-02-01

    Exposure to naturally occurring variants of herpesviruses in clinical settings can have a dramatic impact on anti-viral immunity. Here we have evaluated the molecular imprint of variant peptide-MHC complexes on the T-cell repertoire during human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and demonstrate that primary co-infection with genetic variants of CMV was coincident with development of strain-specific T-cell immunity followed by emergence of cross-reactive virus-specific T-cells. Cross-reactive CMV-specific T cells exhibited a highly conserved public T cell repertoire, while T cells directed towards specific genetic variants displayed oligoclonal repertoires, unique to each individual. T cell recognition foot-print and pMHC-I structural analyses revealed that the cross-reactive T cells accommodate alterations in the pMHC complex with a broader foot-print focussing on the core of the peptide epitope. These findings provide novel molecular insight into how infection with naturally occurring genetic variants of persistent human herpesviruses imprints on the evolution of the anti-viral T-cell repertoire.

  20. [The preparation of recombinant adenovirus Ad-Rad50-GFP and detection of the optimal multiplicity of infection in CNE1 transfected hv Ad-Rad50-GFP].

    PubMed

    Yan, Ruicheng; Huang, Jiancong; Zhu, Ling; Chang, Lihong; Li, Jingjia; Wu, Xifu; Ye, Jin; Zhang, Gehua

    2015-12-01

    The optimal multiplicity of infection (MOI) of the recombinant adenovirus Ad-Rad50-GFP carrying a mutant Rad50 gene expression region on the cell growth of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and the viral amplification efficiency of CNE1 cell infected by this adenovirus were studied. The biological titer of Ad-Rad50-GFP was measured by end point dilution method. The impact of recombinant adenoviral vector transfection on the growth of CNE1 cells was observed by cell growth curve. Transfection efficacy of recombinant adenoviral vector was observed and calculated through fluorescence microscope. The expression f mutant Rad50 in the Ad-Rad50-GFP transfected CNE1 cells with optimal MOI was detected by Western Blot after transfection. The biological titer of Ad-Rad50-GFP was 1.26 x 10¹¹ pfu/ml. CNE1 cell growth was not influenced significantly as they were transfected by recombinant adenoviral vector with MOI less than 50. Transfection efficacy of recombinant adenoviral vector was most salient at 24 hours after transfection, with the high expression of mutant Rad50, and the efficiency still remained about 70% after 72 hours. Recombinant adenoviral vector Ad-Rad50-GFP could transfect CNE1 cells as well as result in the expression of mutant Rad50 in CNE1 cells effectively. MOI = 50 was the optimal multiplicity of infection of CNE1 cells transfected by recombinant adenoviral vector Ad-Rad50-GFP.

  1. Human longevity is influenced by many genetic variants: evidence from 75,000 UK Biobank participants

    PubMed Central

    Pilling, Luke C.; Atkins, Janice L.; Bowman, Kirsty; Jones, Samuel E.; Tyrrell, Jessica; Beaumont, Robin N.; Ruth, Katherine S.; Tuke, Marcus A.; Yaghootkar, Hanieh; Wood, Andrew R.; Freathy, Rachel M.; Murray, Anna; Weedon, Michael N.; Xue, Luting; Lunetta, Kathryn; Murabito, Joanne M.; Harries, Lorna W.; Robine, Jean-Marie; Brayne, Carol; Kuchel, George A.; Ferrucci, Luigi; Frayling, Timothy M.; Melzer, David

    2016-01-01

    Variation in human lifespan is 20 to 30% heritable in twins but few genetic variants have been identified. We undertook a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) using age at death of parents of middle-aged UK Biobank participants of European decent (n=75,244 with father's and/or mother's data, excluding early deaths). Genetic risk scores for 19 phenotypes (n=777 proven variants) were also tested. In GWAS, a nicotine receptor locus (CHRNA3, previously associated with increased smoking and lung cancer) was associated with fathers' survival. Less common variants requiring further confirmation were also identified. Offspring of longer lived parents had more protective alleles for coronary artery disease, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, type-1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and Alzheimer's disease. In candidate analyses, variants in the TOMM40/APOE locus were associated with longevity, but FOXO variants were not. Associations between extreme longevity (mother >=98 years, fathers >=95 years, n=1,339) and disease alleles were similar, with an additional association with HDL cholesterol (p=5.7×10-3). These results support a multiple protective factors model influencing lifespan and longevity (top 1% survival) in humans, with prominent roles for cardiovascular-related pathways. Several of these genetically influenced risks, including blood pressure and tobacco exposure, are potentially modifiable. PMID:27015805

  2. Mongoose: Creation of a Rad-Hard MIPS R3000

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lincoln, Dan; Smith, Brian

    1993-01-01

    This paper describes the development of a 32 Bit, full MIPS R3000 code-compatible Rad-Hard CPU, code named Mongoose. Mongoose progressed from contract award, through the design cycle, to operational silicon in 12 months to meet a space mission for NASA. The goal was the creation of a fully static device capable of operation to the maximum Mil-883 derated speed, worst-case post-rad exposure with full operational integrity. This included consideration of features for functional enhancements relating to mission compatibility and removal of commercial practices not supported by Rad-Hard technology. 'Mongoose' developed from an evolution of LSI Logic's MIPS-I embedded processor, LR33000, code named Cobra, to its Rad-Hard 'equivalent', Mongoose. The term 'equivalent' is used to infer that the core of the processor is functionally identical, allowing the same use and optimizations of the MIPS-I Instruction Set software tool suite for compilation, software program trace, etc. This activity was started in September of 1991 under a contract from NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)-Flight Data Systems. The approach affected a teaming of NASA-GSFC for program development, LSI Logic for system and ASIC design coupled with the Rad-Hard process technology, and Harris (GASD) for Rad-Hard microprocessor design expertise. The program culminated with the generation of Rad-Hard Mongoose prototypes one year later.

  3. Characterization of a spliced variant of human IRF-3 promoter and its regulation by the transcription factor Sp1.

    PubMed

    Ren, Wei; Zhu, Liang-Hua; Xu, Hua-Guo; Jin, Rui; Zhou, Guo-Ping

    2012-06-01

    Interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3), an essential transcriptional regulator of the interferon genes, plays an important role in host defense against viral and microbial infection as well as in cell growth regulation. Promoter plays a crucial role in gene transcription. We have reported the characterization of the wide type of human IRF-3 promoter, but the characterization of the spliced variant of human IRF-3 Int2V1 promoter has not been systematically analyzed. To observe the spliced variant of human IRF-3 promoter, we have cloned the human IRF-3 gene promoter region containing 300 nucleotides upstream the transcription start site (TSS). Transient transfection of 5' deleted promoter-reporter constructs and luciferase assay illustrated the region -159/-100 relative to the TSS is sufficient for full promoter activity. This region contains GATA1 and specific protein-1 (Sp1) transcription factor binding sites. Interestingly, mutation of this Sp1 site reduced the promoter activity by 50%. However, overexpression of Sp1 increased the transcription activity by 2.4-fold. These results indicated that the spliced variant of human IRF-3 gene core promoter was located within the region -159/-100 relative to the TSS. Sp1 transcription factor upregulates the spliced variant of human IRF-3 gene promoter.

  4. Find RAD Partner Programs

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    RAD partner programs help protect the ozone layer and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by disposing of older, inefficient refrigerated appliances using the best environmental practices and technologies available.

  5. A low density microarray method for the identification of human papillomavirus type 18 variants.

    PubMed

    Meza-Menchaca, Thuluz; Williams, John; Rodríguez-Estrada, Rocío B; García-Bravo, Aracely; Ramos-Ligonio, Ángel; López-Monteon, Aracely; Zepeda, Rossana C

    2013-09-26

    We describe a novel microarray based-method for the screening of oncogenic human papillomavirus 18 (HPV-18) molecular variants. Due to the fact that sequencing methodology may underestimate samples containing more than one variant we designed a specific and sensitive stacking DNA hybridization assay. This technology can be used to discriminate between three possible phylogenetic branches of HPV-18. Probes were attached covalently on glass slides and hybridized with single-stranded DNA targets. Prior to hybridization with the probes, the target strands were pre-annealed with the three auxiliary contiguous oligonucleotides flanking the target sequences. Screening HPV-18 positive cell lines and cervical samples were used to evaluate the performance of this HPV DNA microarray. Our results demonstrate that the HPV-18's variants hybridized specifically to probes, with no detection of unspecific signals. Specific probes successfully reveal detectable point mutations in these variants. The present DNA oligoarray system can be used as a reliable, sensitive and specific method for HPV-18 variant screening. Furthermore, this simple assay allows the use of inexpensive equipment, making it accessible in resource-poor settings.

  6. A Low Density Microarray Method for the Identification of Human Papillomavirus Type 18 Variants

    PubMed Central

    Meza-Menchaca, Thuluz; Williams, John; Rodríguez-Estrada, Rocío B.; García-Bravo, Aracely; Ramos-Ligonio, Ángel; López-Monteon, Aracely; Zepeda, Rossana C.

    2013-01-01

    We describe a novel microarray based-method for the screening of oncogenic human papillomavirus 18 (HPV-18) molecular variants. Due to the fact that sequencing methodology may underestimate samples containing more than one variant we designed a specific and sensitive stacking DNA hybridization assay. This technology can be used to discriminate between three possible phylogenetic branches of HPV-18. Probes were attached covalently on glass slides and hybridized with single-stranded DNA targets. Prior to hybridization with the probes, the target strands were pre-annealed with the three auxiliary contiguous oligonucleotides flanking the target sequences. Screening HPV-18 positive cell lines and cervical samples were used to evaluate the performance of this HPV DNA microarray. Our results demonstrate that the HPV-18's variants hybridized specifically to probes, with no detection of unspecific signals. Specific probes successfully reveal detectable point mutations in these variants. The present DNA oligoarray system can be used as a reliable, sensitive and specific method for HPV-18 variant screening. Furthermore, this simple assay allows the use of inexpensive equipment, making it accessible in resource-poor settings. PMID:24077317

  7. Complementation of the Function of Glycoprotein H of Human Herpesvirus 6 Variant A by Glycoprotein H of Variant B in the Virus Life Cycle

    PubMed Central

    Oyaizu, Hiroko; Tang, Huamin; Ota, Megumi; Takenaka, Nobuyuki; Ozono, Keiichi; Yamanishi, Koichi

    2012-01-01

    Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is a T-cell-tropic betaherpesvirus. HHV-6 can be classified into two variants, HHV-6 variant A (HHV-6A) and HHV-6B, based on genetic, antigenic, and cell tropisms, although the homology of their entire genomic sequences is nearly 90%. The HHV-6A glycoprotein complex gH/gL/gQ1/gQ2 is a viral ligand that binds to the cellular receptor human CD46. Because gH has 94.3% amino acid identity between the variants, here we examined whether gH from one variant could complement its loss in the other. Recently, we successfully reconstituted HHV-6A from its cloned genome in a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) (rHHV-6ABAC). Using this system, we constructed HHV-6ABAC DNA containing the HHV-6B gH (BgH) gene instead of the HHV-6A gH (AgH) gene in Escherichia coli. Recombinant HHV-6ABAC expressing BgH (rHHV-6ABAC-BgH) was successfully reconstituted. In addition, a monoclonal antibody that blocks HHV-6B but not HHV-6A infection neutralized rHHV-6ABAC-BgH but not rHHV-6ABAC. These results indicate that HHV-6B gH can complement the function of HHV-6A gH in the viral infectious cycle. PMID:22647694

  8. Oncogenic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Type Distribution and HPV Type 16 E6 Variants in Two Spanish Population Groups with Different Levels of HPV Infection Risk

    PubMed Central

    Ortiz, M.; Torres, M.; Muñoz, L.; Fernández-García, E.; Canals, J.; Cabornero, A. I.; Aguilar, E.; Ballesteros, J.; del Amo, J.; García-Sáiz, A.

    2006-01-01

    The aim of this study is to determine oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types and HPV type 16 (HPV16) variant distribution in two Spanish population groups, commercial sex workers and imprisoned women (CSW/IPW) and the general population. A multicenter cross-sectional study of 1,889 women from five clinical settings in two Spanish cities was conducted from May to November 2004. Oncogenic HPV infection was tested by an Hybrid Capture II (HC2) test, and positive samples were genotyped by direct sequencing using three different primer sets in L1 (MY09/11 and GP5+/GP6+) and E6/E7. HPV16 variants were identified by sequencing the E6, E2, and L1 regions. Four hundred twenty-five samples were positive for the HC2 test, 31.5% from CSW/IPW and 10.7% from the general population. HPV16 was the most frequent type. Distinct profiles of oncogenic HPV type prevalence were observed across the two populations. In order of decreasing frequency, HPV types 16, 31, 58, 66, 56, and 18 were most frequent in CSW/IPW women, and types 16, 31, 52, 68, 51, and 53 were most frequent in the general population. We analyzed HPV16 intratype variants, and a large majority (78.7%) belonged to the European lineage. AA variants were detected in 16.0% of cases. African variants belonging to classes Af1 (4.0%) and Af2 (1.3%) were detected. Different HPV types and HPV16 intratype variants are involved in oncogenic HPV infections in our population. These results suggest that HPV type distribution differs in CSW/IPW women and in the general population, although further analysis is necessary. PMID:16597872

  9. Oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) type distribution and HPV type 16 E6 variants in two Spanish population groups with different levels of HPV infection risk.

    PubMed

    Ortiz, M; Torres, M; Muñoz, L; Fernández-García, E; Canals, J; Cabornero, A I; Aguilar, E; Ballesteros, J; Del Amo, J; García-Sáiz, A

    2006-04-01

    The aim of this study is to determine oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types and HPV type 16 (HPV16) variant distribution in two Spanish population groups, commercial sex workers and imprisoned women (CSW/IPW) and the general population. A multicenter cross-sectional study of 1,889 women from five clinical settings in two Spanish cities was conducted from May to November 2004. Oncogenic HPV infection was tested by an Hybrid Capture II (HC2) test, and positive samples were genotyped by direct sequencing using three different primer sets in L1 (MY09/11 and GP5+/GP6+) and E6/E7. HPV16 variants were identified by sequencing the E6, E2, and L1 regions. Four hundred twenty-five samples were positive for the HC2 test, 31.5% from CSW/IPW and 10.7% from the general population. HPV16 was the most frequent type. Distinct profiles of oncogenic HPV type prevalence were observed across the two populations. In order of decreasing frequency, HPV types 16, 31, 58, 66, 56, and 18 were most frequent in CSW/IPW women, and types 16, 31, 52, 68, 51, and 53 were most frequent in the general population. We analyzed HPV16 intratype variants, and a large majority (78.7%) belonged to the European lineage. AA variants were detected in 16.0% of cases. African variants belonging to classes Af1 (4.0%) and Af2 (1.3%) were detected. Different HPV types and HPV16 intratype variants are involved in oncogenic HPV infections in our population. These results suggest that HPV type distribution differs in CSW/IPW women and in the general population, although further analysis is necessary.

  10. RadNet Air Data From San Juan, PR

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for San Juan, PR from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  11. RadNet Air Data From Grand Rapids, MI

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Grand Rapids, MI from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  12. RadNet Air Data From Corpus Christi, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Corpus Christi, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  13. RadNet Air Data From Little Rock, AR

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Little Rock, AR from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  14. RadNet Air Data From Des Moines, IA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Des Moines, IA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  15. RadNet Air Data From Fort Madison, IA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Fort Madison, IA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  16. RadNet Air Data From Fort Wayne, IN

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Fort Wayne, IN from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  17. RadNet Air Data From Navajo Lake, NM

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Navajo Lake, NM from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  18. RadNet Air Data From Las Vegas, NV

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Las Vegas, NV from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  19. RadNet Air Data From St. George, UT

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for St. George, UT from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  20. RadNet Air Data From Jefferson City, MO

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Jefferson City, MO from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  1. RadNet Air Data From Fort Worth, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Fort Worth, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  2. RadNet Air Data From Kansas City, KS

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Kansas City, KS from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  3. RadNet Air Data From San Angelo, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for San Angelo, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  4. RadNet Air Data From San Francisco, CA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for San Francisco, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  5. RadNet Air Data From Oklahoma City, OK

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Oklahoma City, OK from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  6. RadNet Air Data From San Bernardino, CA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for San Bernardino, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  7. RadNet Air Data From Idaho Falls, ID

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Idaho Falls, ID from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  8. RadNet Air Data From Los Angeles, CA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Los Angeles, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  9. RadNet Air Data From El Paso, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for El Paso, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  10. RadNet Air Data From Grand Junction, CO

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Grand Junction, CO from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  11. RadNet Air Data From St. Paul, MN

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for St. Paul, MN from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  12. RadNet Air Data From Virginia Beach, VA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Virginia Beach, VA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  13. RadNet Air Data From La Crosse, WI

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for La Crosse, WI from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  14. RadNet Air Data From San Diego, CA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for San Diego, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  15. RadNet Air Data From San Jose, CA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for San Jose, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  16. RadNet Air Data From San Antonio, TX

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for San Antonio, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  17. RadNet Air Data From Rapid City, SD

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Rapid City, SD from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  18. RadNet Air Data From Dodge City, KS

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Dodge City, KS from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  19. RadNet Air Data From Colorado Springs, CO

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Colorado Springs, CO from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  20. RadNet Air Data From St. Louis, MO

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for St. Louis, MO from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  1. RadNet Air Data From Fort Smith, AR

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Fort Smith, AR from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  2. RadNet Air Data From Bay City, MI

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Bay City, MI from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  3. RadNet Air Data From Mason City, IA

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Mason City, IA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  4. Acute inactivation of the replicative helicase in human cells triggers MCM8–9-dependent DNA synthesis

    PubMed Central

    Natsume, Toyoaki; Nishimura, Kohei; Minocherhomji, Sheroy; Bhowmick, Rahul; Hickson, Ian D.; Kanemaki, Masato T.

    2017-01-01

    DNA replication fork progression can be disrupted at difficult to replicate loci in the human genome, which has the potential to challenge chromosome integrity. This replication fork disruption can lead to the dissociation of the replisome and the formation of DNA damage. To model the events stemming from replisome dissociation during DNA replication perturbation, we used a degron-based system for inducible proteolysis of a subunit of the replicative helicase. We show that MCM2-depleted cells activate a DNA damage response pathway and generate replication-associated DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Remarkably, these cells maintain some DNA synthesis in the absence of MCM2, and this requires the MCM8–9 complex, a paralog of the MCM2–7 replicative helicase. We show that MCM8–9 functions in a homologous recombination-based pathway downstream from RAD51, which is promoted by DSB induction. This RAD51/MCM8–9 axis is distinct from the recently described RAD52-dependent DNA synthesis pathway that operates in early mitosis at common fragile sites. We propose that stalled replication forks can be restarted in S phase via homologous recombination using MCM8–9 as an alternative replicative helicase. PMID:28487407

  5. An in vitro system for measuring genotoxicity mediated by human CYP3A4 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Fasullo, Michael; Freedland, Julian; St John, Nicholas; Cera, Cinzia; Egner, Patricia; Hartog, Matthew; Ding, Xinxin

    2017-05-01

    P450 activity is required to metabolically activate many chemical carcinogens, rendering them highly genotoxic. CYP3A4 is the most abundantly expressed P450 enzyme in the liver, accounting for most drug metabolism and constituting 50% of all hepatic P450 activity. CYP3A4 is also expressed in extrahepatic tissues, including the intestine. However, the role of CYP3A4 in activating chemical carcinogens into potent genotoxins is unclear. To facilitate efforts to determine whether CYP3A4, per se, can activate carcinogens into potent genotoxins, we expressed human CYP3A4 in the DNA-repair mutant (rad4 rad51) strain of budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and tested the novel, recombinant yeast strain for ability to report CYP3A4-mediated genotoxicity of a well-known genotoxin, aflatoxin B1 (AFB 1 ). Yeast microsomes containing human CYP3A4, but not those that do not contain CYP3A4, were active in hydroxylation of diclofenac, a known CYP3A4 substrate drug, a result confirming CYP3A4 activity in the recombinant yeast strain. In cells exposed to AFB 1 , the expression of CYP3A4 supported DNA adduct formation, chromosome rearrangements, cell death, and expression of the large subunit of ribonucleotide reductase, Rnr3, a marker of DNA damage. Expression of CYP3A4 also conferred sensitivity in rad4 rad51 mutants exposed to colon carcinogen, 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx). These data confirm the ability of human CYP3A4 to mediate the genotoxicity of AFB 1 , and illustrate the usefulness of the CYP3A4-expressing, DNA-repair mutant yeast strain for screening other chemical compounds that are CYP3A4 substrates, for potential genotoxicity. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 58:217-227, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Whole-Genome Sequencing and Variant Analysis of Human Papillomavirus 16 Infections.

    PubMed

    van der Weele, Pascal; Meijer, Chris J L M; King, Audrey J

    2017-10-01

    Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a strongly conserved DNA virus, high-risk types of which can cause cervical cancer in persistent infections. The most common type found in HPV-attributable cancer is HPV16, which can be subdivided into four lineages (A to D) with different carcinogenic properties. Studies have shown HPV16 sequence diversity in different geographical areas, but only limited information is available regarding HPV16 diversity within a population, especially at the whole-genome level. We analyzed HPV16 major variant diversity and conservation in persistent infections and performed a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) comparison between persistent and clearing infections. Materials were obtained in the Netherlands from a cohort study with longitudinal follow-up for up to 3 years. Our analysis shows a remarkably large variant diversity in the population. Whole-genome sequences were obtained for 57 persistent and 59 clearing HPV16 infections, resulting in 109 unique variants. Interestingly, persistent infections were completely conserved through time. One reinfection event was identified where the initial and follow-up samples clustered differently. Non-A1/A2 variants seemed to clear preferentially ( P = 0.02). Our analysis shows that population-wide HPV16 sequence diversity is very large. In persistent infections, the HPV16 sequence was fully conserved. Sequencing can identify HPV16 reinfections, although occurrence is rare. SNP comparison identified no strongly acting effect of the viral genome affecting HPV16 infection clearance or persistence in up to 3 years of follow-up. These findings suggest the progression of an early HPV16 infection could be host related. IMPORTANCE Human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) is the predominant type found in cervical cancer. Progression of initial infection to cervical cancer has been linked to sequence properties; however, knowledge of variants circulating in European populations, especially with longitudinal follow-up, is

  7. Rad53 regulates replication fork restart after DNA damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    PubMed Central

    Szyjka, Shawn J.; Aparicio, Jennifer G.; Viggiani, Christopher J.; Knott, Simon; Xu, Weihong; Tavaré, Simon; Aparicio, Oscar M.

    2008-01-01

    Replication fork stalling at a DNA lesion generates a damage signal that activates the Rad53 kinase, which plays a vital role in survival by stabilizing stalled replication forks. However, evidence that Rad53 directly modulates the activity of replication forks has been lacking, and the nature of fork stabilization has remained unclear. Recently, cells lacking the Psy2–Pph3 phosphatase were shown to be defective in dephosphorylation of Rad53 as well as replication fork restart after DNA damage, suggesting a mechanistic link between Rad53 deactivation and fork restart. To test this possibility we examined the progression of replication forks in methyl-methanesulfonate (MMS)-damaged cells, under different conditions of Rad53 activity. Hyperactivity of Rad53 in pph3Δ cells slows fork progression in MMS, whereas deactivation of Rad53, through expression of dominant-negative Rad53-KD, is sufficient to allow fork restart during recovery. Furthermore, combined deletion of PPH3 and PTC2, a second, unrelated Rad53 phosphatase, results in complete replication fork arrest and lethality in MMS, demonstrating that Rad53 deactivation is a key mechanism controlling fork restart. We propose a model for regulation of replication fork progression through damaged DNA involving a cycle of Rad53 activation and deactivation that coordinates replication restart with DNA repair. PMID:18628397

  8. The N-terminal sequence of albumin Redhill, a variant of human serum albumin.

    PubMed

    Hutchinson, D W; Matejtschuk, P

    1985-12-02

    Albumin Redhill, a variant human albumin, has been isolated by fast protein liquid chromatofocusing. The N-terminal sequence of this protein corresponded to that of albumin A except that one additional arginine residue was attached to the N-terminus.

  9. Characterization of iminothiosulfine-type ions [HNCS 2] rad +/ rad - and their neutral counterparts by mass spectrometry and computational chemistry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vivekananda, S.; Raghunath, P.; Bhanuprakash, K.; Srinivas, R.; Trikoupis, Moschoula A.; Terlouw, Johan K.

    2000-12-01

    Electron ionization of rhodanine yields iminothiosulfine ions H- N C- S- Srad + , 1brad + , which readily communicate with the higher energy cyclic isomer H- N CS2rad + , 1arad + . CBS-QB3 and G AUSSIAN-2 model chemistries predict that one electron reduction reverses the stability order but that the (singlet) neutrals remain connected via a negligible energy barrier. Neutralization-reionization (NR) experiments demonstrate that singlet 1a and its heterocumulene isomer 1b are stable species in the gas-phase. However, the co-generated triplet species readily dissociate into 3S2rad + + HNC. Confirmatory experimental evidence comes from charge reversal (CR) and NR experiments on the cyclic anion H- N CS2rad - , 1arad - .

  10. Effects of common hemoglobin variants on HbA1c measurements in China: results for α- and β-globin variants measured by six methods.

    PubMed

    Xu, Anping; Chen, Weidong; Xia, Yong; Zhou, Yu; Ji, Ling

    2018-04-07

    HbA1c is a widely used biomarker for diabetes mellitus management. Here, we evaluated the accuracy of six methods for determining HbA1c values in Chinese patients with common α- and β-globin chains variants in China. Blood samples from normal subjects and individuals exhibiting hemoglobin variants were analyzed for HbA1c, using Sebia Capillarys 2 Flex Piercing (C2FP), Bio-Rad Variant II Turbo 2.0, Tosoh HLC-723 G8 (ver. 5.24), Arkray ADAMS A1c HA-8180V fast mode, Cobas c501 and Trinity Ultra2 systems. DNA sequencing revealed five common β-globin chain variants and three common α-globin chain variants. The most common variant was Hb E, followed by Hb New York, Hb J-Bangkok, Hb G-Coushatta, Hb Q-Thailand, Hb G-Honolulu, Hb Ube-2 and Hb G-Taipei. Variant II Turbo 2.0, Ultra2 and Cobas c501 showed good agreement with C2FP for most samples with variants. HLC-723 G8 yielded no HbA1c values for Hb J-Bangkok, Hb Q-Thailand and Hb G-Honolulu. Samples with Hb E, Hb G-Coushatta, Hb G-Taipei and Hb Ube-2 produced significant negative biases for HLC-723 G8. HA-8180V showed statistically significant differences for Hb E, Hb G-Coushatta, Hb G-Taipei, Hb Q-Thailand and Hb G-Honolulu. HA-8180V yielded no HbA1c values for Hb J-Bangkok. All methods showed good agreement for samples with Hb New York. Some common hemoglobin variants can interfere with HbA1c determination by the most popular methods in China.

  11. Modeling of protein-anion exchange resin interaction for the human growth hormone charge variants.

    PubMed

    Lapelosa, Mauro; Patapoff, Thomas W; Zarraga, Isidro E

    2015-12-01

    Modeling ion exchange chromatography (IEC) behavior has generated significant interest because of the wide use of IEC as an analytical technique as well as a preparative protein purification process; indeed there is a need for better understanding of what drives the unique behavior of protein charge variants. We hypothesize that a complex protein molecule, which contains both hydrophobic and charged moieties, would interact strongly with an in silico designed resin through charged electrostatic patches on the surface of the protein. In the present work, variants of recombinant human growth hormone that mimic naturally-occurring deamidation products were produced and characterized in silico. The study included these four variants: rhGH, N149D, N152D, and N149D/N152D. Poisson-Boltzmann calculations were used to determine surface electrostatic potential. Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations were carried out with the resulting variants to simulate IEC systems, examining the free energy of the interaction of the protein with an in silico anion exchange column represented by polylysine polypeptide. The results show that the charge variants have different average binding energies and the free energy of interaction can be used to predict the retention time for the different variants. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Interobserver and intermodality agreement of standardized algorithms for non-invasive diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in high-risk patients: CEUS-LI-RADS versus MRI-LI-RADS.

    PubMed

    Schellhaas, Barbara; Hammon, Matthias; Strobel, Deike; Pfeifer, Lukas; Kielisch, Christian; Goertz, Ruediger S; Cavallaro, Alexander; Janka, Rolf; Neurath, Markus F; Uder, Michael; Seuss, Hannes

    2018-04-19

    We compared the interobserver agreement for the recently introduced contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS)-based algorithm CEUS-LI-RADS (Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System) versus the well-established magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-LI-RADS for non-invasive diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in high-risk patients. Focal liver lesions in 50 high-risk patients (mean age 66.2 ± 11.8 years; 39 male) were assessed retrospectively with CEUS and MRI. Two independent observers reviewed CEUS and MRI examinations, separately, classifying observations according to CEUS-LI-RADSv.2016 and MRI-LI-RADSv.2014. Interobserver agreement was assessed with Cohen's kappa. Forty-three lesions were HCCs; two were intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas; five were benign lesions. Arterial phase hyperenhancement was perceived less frequently with CEUS than with MRI (37/50 / 38/50 lesions = 74%/78% [CEUS; observer 1/observer 2] versus 46/50 / 44/50 lesions = 92%/88% [MRI; observer 1/observer 2]). Washout appearance was observed in 34/50 / 20/50 lesions = 68%/40% with CEUS and 31/50 / 31/50 lesions = 62%/62%) with MRI. Interobserver agreement was moderate for arterial hyperenhancement (ĸ = 0.511/0.565 [CEUS/MRI]) and "washout" (ĸ = 0.490/0.582 [CEUS/MRI]), fair for CEUS-LI-RADS category (ĸ = 0.309) and substantial for MRI-LI-RADS category (ĸ = 0.609). Intermodality agreement was fair for arterial hyperenhancement (ĸ = 0.329), slight to fair for "washout" (ĸ = 0.202) and LI-RADS category (ĸ = 0.218) CONCLUSION: Interobserver agreement is substantial for MRI-LI-RADS and only fair for CEUS-LI-RADS. This is mostly because interobserver agreement in the perception of washout appearance is better in MRI than in CEUS. Further refinement of the LI-RADS algorithms and increasing education and practice may be necessary to improve the concordance between CEUS and MRI for the final LI-RADS categorization. • CEUS-LI-RADS and MRI-LIRADS enable standardized non-invasive diagnosis of HCC in

  13. Many amino acid substitution variants identified in DNA repair genes during human population screenings are predicted to impact protein function

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Xi, T; Jones, I M; Mohrenweiser, H W

    2003-11-03

    Over 520 different amino acid substitution variants have been previously identified in the systematic screening of 91 human DNA repair genes for sequence variation. Two algorithms were employed to predict the impact of these amino acid substitutions on protein activity. Sorting Intolerant From Tolerant (SIFT) classified 226 of 508 variants (44%) as ''Intolerant''. Polymorphism Phenotyping (PolyPhen) classed 165 of 489 amino acid substitutions (34%) as ''Probably or Possibly Damaging''. Another 9-15% of the variants were classed as ''Potentially Intolerant or Damaging''. The results from the two algorithms are highly associated, with concordance in predicted impact observed for {approx}62% of themore » variants. Twenty one to thirty one percent of the variant proteins are predicted to exhibit reduced activity by both algorithms. These variants occur at slightly lower individual allele frequency than do the variants classified as ''Tolerant'' or ''Benign''. Both algorithms correctly predicted the impact of 26 functionally characterized amino acid substitutions in the APE1 protein on biochemical activity, with one exception. It is concluded that a substantial fraction of the missense variants observed in the general human population are functionally relevant. These variants are expected to be the molecular genetic and biochemical basis for the associations of reduced DNA repair capacity phenotypes with elevated cancer risk.« less

  14. Expression of Kir7.1 and a Novel Kir7.1 Splice Variant in Native Human Retinal Pigment Epithelium

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Dongli; Swaminathan, Anuradha; Zhang, Xiaoming; Hughes, Bret A.

    2009-01-01

    Previous studies on bovine retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) established that Kir7.1 channels compose this epithelium’s large apical membrane K+ conductance. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Kir7.1 and potential Kir7.1 splice variants are expressed in native adult human RPE and, if so, to determine their function and how they are generated. RT-PCR analysis indicated that human RPE expresses full-length Kir7.1 and a novel Kir7.1 splice variant, designated Kir7.1S. Analysis of the human Kir7.1 gene (KCNJ13) organization revealed that it contains 3 exons, 2 introns, and a novel alternative 5′ splice site in exon 2. In human RPE, the alternative usage of two competing 5′ splice sites in exon 2 gives rise to transcripts encoding full-length Kir7.1 and Kir7.1S, which is predicted to encode a truncated protein. Real-time PCR indicated that Kir7.1 transcript is nearly as abundant as GAPDH mRNA in human RPE whereas Kir7.1S transcript expression is 4-fold lower. Western blot analysis showed that the splice variant is translated in Xenopus oocytes injected with Kir7.1S cRNA and revealed the expression of full-length Kir7.1 but not Kir7.1S in adult human RPE. Co-expression of Kir7.1 with Kir7.1S in Xenopus oocytes had no effect on either the kinetics or amplitude of Kir7.1 currents. This study confirms the expression of Kir7.1 in human RPE, identifies a Kir7.1 splice variant resulting in predicted changes in protein sequence, and indicates that there no functional interaction between this splice variant and full-length Kir7.1. PMID:18035352

  15. Exploring the link between MORF4L1 and risk of breast cancer.

    PubMed

    Martrat, Griselda; Maxwell, Christopher M; Tominaga, Emiko; Porta-de-la-Riva, Montserrat; Bonifaci, Núria; Gómez-Baldó, Laia; Bogliolo, Massimo; Lázaro, Conxi; Blanco, Ignacio; Brunet, Joan; Aguilar, Helena; Fernández-Rodríguez, Juana; Seal, Sheila; Renwick, Anthony; Rahman, Nazneen; Kühl, Julia; Neveling, Kornelia; Schindler, Detlev; Ramírez, María J; Castellà, María; Hernández, Gonzalo; Easton, Douglas F; Peock, Susan; Cook, Margaret; Oliver, Clare T; Frost, Debra; Platte, Radka; Evans, D Gareth; Lalloo, Fiona; Eeles, Rosalind; Izatt, Louise; Chu, Carol; Davidson, Rosemarie; Ong, Kai-Ren; Cook, Jackie; Douglas, Fiona; Hodgson, Shirley; Brewer, Carole; Morrison, Patrick J; Porteous, Mary; Peterlongo, Paolo; Manoukian, Siranoush; Peissel, Bernard; Zaffaroni, Daniela; Roversi, Gaia; Barile, Monica; Viel, Alessandra; Pasini, Barbara; Ottini, Laura; Putignano, Anna Laura; Savarese, Antonella; Bernard, Loris; Radice, Paolo; Healey, Sue; Spurdle, Amanda; Chen, Xiaoqing; Beesley, Jonathan; Rookus, Matti A; Verhoef, Senno; Tilanus-Linthorst, Madeleine A; Vreeswijk, Maaike P; Asperen, Christi J; Bodmer, Danielle; Ausems, Margreet G E M; van Os, Theo A; Blok, Marinus J; Meijers-Heijboer, Hanne E J; Hogervorst, Frans B L; Goldgar, David E; Buys, Saundra; John, Esther M; Miron, Alexander; Southey, Melissa; Daly, Mary B; Harbst, Katja; Borg, Ake; Rantala, Johanna; Barbany-Bustinza, Gisela; Ehrencrona, Hans; Stenmark-Askmalm, Marie; Kaufman, Bella; Laitman, Yael; Milgrom, Roni; Friedman, Eitan; Domchek, Susan M; Nathanson, Katherine L; Rebbeck, Timothy R; Johannsson, Oskar Thor; Couch, Fergus J; Wang, Xianshu; Fredericksen, Zachary; Cuadras, Daniel; Moreno, Víctor; Pientka, Friederike K; Depping, Reinhard; Caldés, Trinidad; Osorio, Ana; Benítez, Javier; Bueren, Juan; Heikkinen, Tuomas; Nevanlinna, Heli; Hamann, Ute; Torres, Diana; Caligo, Maria Adelaide; Godwin, Andrew K; Imyanitov, Evgeny N; Janavicius, Ramunas; Sinilnikova, Olga M; Stoppa-Lyonnet, Dominique; Mazoyer, Sylvie; Verny-Pierre, Carole; Castera, Laurent; de Pauw, Antoine; Bignon, Yves-Jean; Uhrhammer, Nancy; Peyrat, Jean-Philippe; Vennin, Philippe; Ferrer, Sandra Fert; Collonge-Rame, Marie-Agnès; Mortemousque, Isabelle; McGuffog, Lesley; Chenevix-Trench, Georgia; Pereira-Smith, Olivia M; Antoniou, Antonis C; Cerón, Julián; Tominaga, Kaoru; Surrallés, Jordi; Pujana, Miguel Angel

    2011-04-05

    Proteins encoded by Fanconi anemia (FA) and/or breast cancer (BrCa) susceptibility genes cooperate in a common DNA damage repair signaling pathway. To gain deeper insight into this pathway and its influence on cancer risk, we searched for novel components through protein physical interaction screens. Protein physical interactions were screened using the yeast two-hybrid system. Co-affinity purifications and endogenous co-immunoprecipitation assays were performed to corroborate interactions. Biochemical and functional assays in human, mouse and Caenorhabditis elegans models were carried out to characterize pathway components. Thirteen FANCD2-monoubiquitinylation-positive FA cell lines excluded for genetic defects in the downstream pathway components and 300 familial BrCa patients negative for BRCA1/2 mutations were analyzed for genetic mutations. Common genetic variants were genotyped in 9,573 BRCA1/2 mutation carriers for associations with BrCa risk. A previously identified co-purifying protein with PALB2 was identified, MRG15 (MORF4L1 gene). Results in human, mouse and C. elegans models delineate molecular and functional relationships with BRCA2, PALB2, RAD51 and RPA1 that suggest a role for MRG15 in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks. Mrg15-deficient murine embryonic fibroblasts showed moderate sensitivity to γ-irradiation relative to controls and reduced formation of Rad51 nuclear foci. Examination of mutants of MRG15 and BRCA2 C. elegans orthologs revealed phenocopy by accumulation of RPA-1 (human RPA1) nuclear foci and aberrant chromosomal compactions in meiotic cells. However, no alterations or mutations were identified for MRG15/MORF4L1 in unclassified FA patients and BrCa familial cases. Finally, no significant associations between common MORF4L1 variants and BrCa risk for BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carriers were identified: rs7164529, Ptrend = 0.45 and 0.05, P2df = 0.51 and 0.14, respectively; and rs10519219, Ptrend = 0.92 and 0.72, P2df = 0.76 and 0

  16. Exploring the link between MORF4L1 and risk of breast cancer

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Introduction Proteins encoded by Fanconi anemia (FA) and/or breast cancer (BrCa) susceptibility genes cooperate in a common DNA damage repair signaling pathway. To gain deeper insight into this pathway and its influence on cancer risk, we searched for novel components through protein physical interaction screens. Methods Protein physical interactions were screened using the yeast two-hybrid system. Co-affinity purifications and endogenous co-immunoprecipitation assays were performed to corroborate interactions. Biochemical and functional assays in human, mouse and Caenorhabditis elegans models were carried out to characterize pathway components. Thirteen FANCD2-monoubiquitinylation-positive FA cell lines excluded for genetic defects in the downstream pathway components and 300 familial BrCa patients negative for BRCA1/2 mutations were analyzed for genetic mutations. Common genetic variants were genotyped in 9,573 BRCA1/2 mutation carriers for associations with BrCa risk. Results A previously identified co-purifying protein with PALB2 was identified, MRG15 (MORF4L1 gene). Results in human, mouse and C. elegans models delineate molecular and functional relationships with BRCA2, PALB2, RAD51 and RPA1 that suggest a role for MRG15 in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks. Mrg15-deficient murine embryonic fibroblasts showed moderate sensitivity to γ-irradiation relative to controls and reduced formation of Rad51 nuclear foci. Examination of mutants of MRG15 and BRCA2 C. elegans orthologs revealed phenocopy by accumulation of RPA-1 (human RPA1) nuclear foci and aberrant chromosomal compactions in meiotic cells. However, no alterations or mutations were identified for MRG15/MORF4L1 in unclassified FA patients and BrCa familial cases. Finally, no significant associations between common MORF4L1 variants and BrCa risk for BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carriers were identified: rs7164529, Ptrend = 0.45 and 0.05, P2df = 0.51 and 0.14, respectively; and rs10519219, Ptrend = 0

  17. Complexity of mechanisms among human proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 variants.

    PubMed

    Dron, Jacqueline S; Hegele, Robert A

    2017-04-01

    There are many reports of human variants in proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) that are either gain-of-function (GOF) or loss-of-function (LOF), with downstream effects on LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, data on particular mechanisms have only been minimally curated. GOF variants are individually ultrarare, affect all domains of the protein, act to reduce LDL receptor expression through several mechanisms, are a minor cause of familial hypercholesterolemia, have been reported mainly within families, have variable LDL cholesterol-raising effects, and are associated with increased CVD risk mainly through observational studies in families and small cohorts. In contrast, LOF variants can be either ultrarare mutations or relatively more common polymorphisms seen in populations, affect all domains of the protein, act to increase LDL receptor expression through several mechanisms, have variable LDL cholesterol-lowering effects, and have been associated with decreased CVD risk mainly through Mendelian randomization studies in epidemiologic populations. There is considerable complexity underlying the clinical concept of both LOF and GOF variants of PCSK9. But despite the underlying mechanistic heterogeneity, altered PCSK9 secretion or function is ultimately correlated with plasma LDL cholesterol level, which is also the driver of CVD outcomes.

  18. Comparison of Danish dichotomous and BI-RADS classifications of mammographic density.

    PubMed

    Hodge, Rebecca; Hellmann, Sophie Sell; von Euler-Chelpin, My; Vejborg, Ilse; Andersen, Zorana Jovanovic

    2014-06-01

    In the Copenhagen mammography screening program from 1991 to 2001, mammographic density was classified either as fatty or mixed/dense. This dichotomous mammographic density classification system is unique internationally, and has not been validated before. To compare the Danish dichotomous mammographic density classification system from 1991 to 2001 with the density BI-RADS classifications, in an attempt to validate the Danish classification system. The study sample consisted of 120 mammograms taken in Copenhagen in 1991-2001, which tested false positive, and which were in 2012 re-assessed and classified according to the BI-RADS classification system. We calculated inter-rater agreement between the Danish dichotomous mammographic classification as fatty or mixed/dense and the four-level BI-RADS classification by the linear weighted Kappa statistic. Of the 120 women, 32 (26.7%) were classified as having fatty and 88 (73.3%) as mixed/dense mammographic density, according to Danish dichotomous classification. According to BI-RADS density classification, 12 (10.0%) women were classified as having predominantly fatty (BI-RADS code 1), 46 (38.3%) as having scattered fibroglandular (BI-RADS code 2), 57 (47.5%) as having heterogeneously dense (BI-RADS 3), and five (4.2%) as having extremely dense (BI-RADS code 4) mammographic density. The inter-rater variability assessed by weighted kappa statistic showed a substantial agreement (0.75). The dichotomous mammographic density classification system utilized in early years of Copenhagen's mammographic screening program (1991-2001) agreed well with the BI-RADS density classification system.

  19. Replication-Dependent Sister Chromatid Recombination in Rad1 Mutants of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

    PubMed Central

    Kadyk, L. C.; Hartwell, L. H.

    1993-01-01

    Homolog recombination and unequal sister chromatid recombination were monitored in rad1-1/rad1-1 diploid yeast cells deficient for excision repair, and in control cells, RAD1/rad1-1, after exposure to UV irradiation. In a rad1-1/rad1-1 diploid, UV irradiation stimulated much more sister chromatid recombination relative to homolog recombination when cells were irradiated in the G(1) or the G(2) phases of the cell cycle than was observed in RAD1/rad1-1 cells. Since sister chromatids are not present during G(1), this result suggested that unexcised lesions can stimulate sister chromatid recombination events during or subsequent to DNA replication. The results of mating rescue experiments suggest that unexcised UV dimers do not stimulate sister chromatid recombination during the G(2) phase, but only when they are present during DNA replication. We propose that there are two types of sister chromatid recombination in yeast. In the first type, unexcised UV dimers and other bulky lesions induce sister chromatid recombination during DNA replication as a mechanism to bypass lesions obstructing the passage of DNA polymerase, and this type is analogous to the type of sister chromatid exchange commonly observed cytologically in mammalian cells. In the second type, strand scissions created by X-irradiation or the excision of damaged bases create recombinogenic sites that result in sister chromatid recombination directly in G(2). Further support for the existence of two types of sister chromatid recombination is the fact that events induced in rad1-1/rad1-1 were due almost entirely to gene conversion, whereas those in RAD1/rad1-1 cells were due to a mixture of gene conversion and reciprocal recombination. PMID:8454200

  20. Towards a Global Operational Altimeter Service: RADS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Naeije, M.; Schrama, E.; Mathers, L.; Scharroo, R.

    2001-12-01

    DEOS' anticipation of the need for global altimeter services started the Radar Altimeter Database System (RADS) project. Embedded in the Netherlands Earth Observation NETwork (NEONET), this project is supported by the Dutch government. After defining the database content, collecting altimeter and ancillary data from all available altimeter missions and combining them with the latest (correction) models, we have arrived at an (inter)nationally appreciated validated, calibrated and consistent altimeter data set, comprising over 15 years of valuable sea level, wave height and wind data. Whenever new data or knowledge arrives the database is updated. Major assets of RADS are the upgraded ERS orbits and the flexible data organization. This paper presents an overview of the work involved in establishing RADS: the I/O, enhancements, screening, formatting, harmonization, and CAL/VAL. The aim is to improve the algorithms for converting satellite data to the final geophysical products. Global altimeter data from various satellites are inter-compared or compared to external data, like tide gauges, wind speed measurements, etc. This has been used to establish the data's quality and to enhance algorithms for deriving the geophysical parameters. Also: ironing out inconsistencies in significant wave height, sea state, inverse barometer, wet troposphere corrections, orbits, biases, drifts, and time tagging. Access to the database at level~1 level is provided for by a web portal (\\tt http://www.deos.tudelft.nl/altim/rads). Here also status, higher level products, software, and literature can be obtained. Finally, examples are given of putting in RADS in research and education. We fully automated the Gulf Stream and El Niño web pages: Hovmuller diagrams and eddy kinetic energy plots are refreshed regularly. Furthermore, RADS has been successfully used at Delft Hydraulics in a data assimilation scheme for improving tides and storm surge predictions, showing the importance of near

  1. The Radiation Environment on the Surface of Mars and its Implications for Human Exploration: Five Years of Measurements with the MSL/RAD instrument

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ehresmann, B.; Zeitlin, C. J.; Hassler, D.; Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.; Guo, J.; Appel, J. K.; Boehm, E.; Boettcher, S. I.; Burmeister, S.; Lohf, H.; Martin-Garcia, C.; Matthiae, D.; Rafkin, S. C.; Reitz, G.

    2017-12-01

    NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission has now been operating in Gale Crater on the surface of Mars for five years. Onboard Curiosity, the Radiation Assessment Detector (MSL/RAD) is measuring the Martian surface radiation environment, providing insights into its intensity and composition. This radiation field is mainly composed of primary Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) and secondary particles created by the GCRs' interactions with the Martian atmosphere and soil. On short time scales, the radiation environment can be dominated by contributions from Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events. Due to the shielding effect of the Martian atmosphere, shapes and intensities of SEP spectra differ significantly between interplanetary space and the Martian surface. Understanding how SEP events influence the surface radiation field is crucial to assess associated health risks for potential human missions to Mars. Even in the absence of SEP events, the surface environment is influenced by solar activity, which determines the strength of the interplanetary magnetic field and modulates GCR intensities. The GCR flux has risen considerably since Curiosity's landing as the solar cycle heads towards minimum. Here, we present updated MSL/RAD results for charged particle fluxes measured on the surface from GCRs and SEP events from the five years of MSL operations on Mars. We will present results that incorporate updated analysis techniques for the MSL/RAD data and yield the most robust particle spectra to date. The GCR results will be compared to simulation results. The SEP-induced fluxes on the surface will be compared to measurements from other spacecraft in the inner heliosphere and, in particular, in Martian orbit.

  2. RadMap Installation Instructions

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    RadMap is an interactive desktop tool featuring a nationwide geographic information systems (GIS) map of long-term radiation monitoring locations across the United States with access to key information about the monitor and the area surrounding it.

  3. Reanalysis of BRCA1/2 negative high risk ovarian cancer patients reveals novel germline risk loci and insights into missing heritability

    PubMed Central

    Dyson, Gregory; Levin, Nancy K.; Chaudhry, Sophia; Rosati, Rita; Kalpage, Hasini; Simon, Michael S.; Tainsky, Michael A.

    2017-01-01

    While up to 25% of ovarian cancer (OVCA) cases are thought to be due to inherited factors, the majority of genetic risk remains unexplained. To address this gap, we sought to identify previously undescribed OVCA risk variants through the whole exome sequencing (WES) and candidate gene analysis of 48 women with ovarian cancer and selected for high risk of genetic inheritance, yet negative for any known pathogenic variants in either BRCA1 or BRCA2. In silico SNP analysis was employed to identify suspect variants followed by validation using Sanger DNA sequencing. We identified five pathogenic variants in our sample, four of which are in two genes featured on current multi-gene panels; (RAD51D, ATM). In addition, we found a pathogenic FANCM variant (R1931*) which has been recently implicated in familial breast cancer risk. Numerous rare and predicted to be damaging variants of unknown significance were detected in genes on current commercial testing panels, most prominently in ATM (n = 6) and PALB2 (n = 5). The BRCA2 variant p.K3326*, resulting in a 93 amino acid truncation, was overrepresented in our sample (odds ratio = 4.95, p = 0.01) and coexisted in the germline of these women with other deleterious variants, suggesting a possible role as a modifier of genetic penetrance. Furthermore, we detected loss of function variants in non-panel genes involved in OVCA relevant pathways; DNA repair and cell cycle control, including CHEK1, TP53I3, REC8, HMMR, RAD52, RAD1, POLK, POLQ, and MCM4. In summary, our study implicates novel risk loci as well as highlights the clinical utility for retesting BRCA1/2 negative OVCA patients by genomic sequencing and analysis of genes in relevant pathways. PMID:28591191

  4. IRX3 Promotes the Browning of White Adipocytes and Its Rare Variants are Associated with Human Obesity Risk.

    PubMed

    Zou, Yaoyu; Lu, Peng; Shi, Juan; Liu, Wen; Yang, Minglan; Zhao, Shaoqian; Chen, Na; Chen, Maopei; Sun, Yingkai; Gao, Aibo; Chen, Qingbo; Zhang, Zhiguo; Ma, Qinyun; Ning, Tinglu; Ying, Xiayang; Jin, Jiabin; Deng, Xiaxing; Shen, Baiyong; Zhang, Yifei; Yuan, Bo; Kauderer, Sophie; Liu, Simin; Hong, Jie; Liu, Ruixin; Ning, Guang; Wang, Weiqing; Gu, Weiqiong; Wang, Jiqiu

    2017-10-01

    IRX3 was recently reported as the effector of the FTO variants. We aimed to test IRX3's roles in the browning program and to evaluate the association between the genetic variants in IRX3 and human obesity. IRX3 expression was examined in beige adipocytes in human and mouse models, and further validated in induced beige adipocytes. The browning capacity of primary preadipocytes was assessed with IRX3 knockdown. Luciferase reporter analysis and ChIP assay were applied to investigate IRX3's effects on UCP1 transcriptional activity. Moreover, genetic analysis of IRX3 was performed in 861 young obese subjects and 916 controls. IRX3 expression was induced in the browning process and was positively correlated with the browning markers. IRX3 knockdown remarkably inhibited UCP1 expression in induced mouse and human beige adipocytes, and also repressed the uncoupled oxygen consumption rate. Further, IRX3 directly bound to UCP1 promoter and increased its transcriptional activity. Moreover, 17 rare heterozygous missense/frameshift IRX3 variants were identified, with a significant enrichment in obese subjects (P=0.038, OR=2.27; 95% CI, 1.02-5.05). IRX3 deficiency repressed the browning program of white adipocytes partially by regulating UCP1 transcriptional activity. Rare variants of IRX3 were associated with human obesity. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Neutralization Escape Variants of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Are Transmitted from Mother to Infant

    PubMed Central

    Wu, Xueling; Parast, Adam B.; Richardson, Barbra A.; Nduati, Ruth; John-Stewart, Grace; Mbori-Ngacha, Dorothy; Rainwater, Stephanie M. J.; Overbaugh, Julie

    2006-01-01

    Maternal passive immunity typically plays a critical role in protecting infants from new infections; however, the specific contribution of neutralizing antibodies in limiting mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 is unclear. By examining cloned envelope variants from 12 transmission pairs, we found that vertically transmitted variants were more resistant to neutralization by maternal plasma than were maternal viral variants near the time of transmission. The vertically transmitted envelope variants were poorly neutralized by monoclonal antibodies biz, 2G12, 2F5, and 4E10 individually or in combination. Despite the fact that the infant viruses were among the most neutralization resistant in the mother, they had relatively few glycosylation sites. Moreover, the transmitted variants elicited de novo neutralizing antibodies in the infants, indicating that they were not inherently difficult to neutralize. The neutralization resistance of vertically transmitted viruses is in contrast to the relative neutralization sensitivity of viruses sexually transmitted within discordant couples, suggesting that the antigenic properties of viruses that are favored for transmission may differ depending upon mode of transmission. PMID:16378985

  6. First Case of Human Rabies in Chile Caused by an Insectivorous Bat Virus Variant

    PubMed Central

    Favi, Myriam; Yung, Verónica; Chala, Evelyn; López, Luis R.

    2002-01-01

    The first human rabies case in Chile since 1972 occurred in March 1996 in a patient without history of known exposure. Antigenic and genetic characterization of the rabies isolate indicated that its reservoir was the insectivorous bat Tadarida brasiliensis. This is the first human rabies case caused by an insectivorous bat rabies virus variant reported in Latin America. PMID:11749754

  7. Meta-analysis of gene-level associations for rare variants based on single-variant statistics.

    PubMed

    Hu, Yi-Juan; Berndt, Sonja I; Gustafsson, Stefan; Ganna, Andrea; Hirschhorn, Joel; North, Kari E; Ingelsson, Erik; Lin, Dan-Yu

    2013-08-08

    Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) has led to the discoveries of many common variants associated with complex human diseases. There is a growing recognition that identifying "causal" rare variants also requires large-scale meta-analysis. The fact that association tests with rare variants are performed at the gene level rather than at the variant level poses unprecedented challenges in the meta-analysis. First, different studies may adopt different gene-level tests, so the results are not compatible. Second, gene-level tests require multivariate statistics (i.e., components of the test statistic and their covariance matrix), which are difficult to obtain. To overcome these challenges, we propose to perform gene-level tests for rare variants by combining the results of single-variant analysis (i.e., p values of association tests and effect estimates) from participating studies. This simple strategy is possible because of an insight that multivariate statistics can be recovered from single-variant statistics, together with the correlation matrix of the single-variant test statistics, which can be estimated from one of the participating studies or from a publicly available database. We show both theoretically and numerically that the proposed meta-analysis approach provides accurate control of the type I error and is as powerful as joint analysis of individual participant data. This approach accommodates any disease phenotype and any study design and produces all commonly used gene-level tests. An application to the GWAS summary results of the Genetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium reveals rare and low-frequency variants associated with human height. The relevant software is freely available. Copyright © 2013 The American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Human infections with influenza A(H3N2) variant virus in the United States, 2011-2012

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    BACKGROUND. During August 2011-April 2012, 13 human infections with influenza A(H3N2) variant (H3N2v) virus were identified in the United States; 8 occurred in the prior 2 years. This virus differs from previous variant influenza viruses in that it contains the matrix (M) gene from the Influenza A(H...

  9. A high-quality human reference panel reveals the complexity and distribution of genomic structural variants.

    PubMed

    Hehir-Kwa, Jayne Y; Marschall, Tobias; Kloosterman, Wigard P; Francioli, Laurent C; Baaijens, Jasmijn A; Dijkstra, Louis J; Abdellaoui, Abdel; Koval, Vyacheslav; Thung, Djie Tjwan; Wardenaar, René; Renkens, Ivo; Coe, Bradley P; Deelen, Patrick; de Ligt, Joep; Lameijer, Eric-Wubbo; van Dijk, Freerk; Hormozdiari, Fereydoun; Uitterlinden, André G; van Duijn, Cornelia M; Eichler, Evan E; de Bakker, Paul I W; Swertz, Morris A; Wijmenga, Cisca; van Ommen, Gert-Jan B; Slagboom, P Eline; Boomsma, Dorret I; Schönhuth, Alexander; Ye, Kai; Guryev, Victor

    2016-10-06

    Structural variation (SV) represents a major source of differences between individual human genomes and has been linked to disease phenotypes. However, the majority of studies provide neither a global view of the full spectrum of these variants nor integrate them into reference panels of genetic variation. Here, we analyse whole genome sequencing data of 769 individuals from 250 Dutch families, and provide a haplotype-resolved map of 1.9 million genome variants across 9 different variant classes, including novel forms of complex indels, and retrotransposition-mediated insertions of mobile elements and processed RNAs. A large proportion are previously under reported variants sized between 21 and 100 bp. We detect 4 megabases of novel sequence, encoding 11 new transcripts. Finally, we show 191 known, trait-associated SNPs to be in strong linkage disequilibrium with SVs and demonstrate that our panel facilitates accurate imputation of SVs in unrelated individuals.

  10. A Novel Human Ghrelin Variant (In1-Ghrelin) and Ghrelin-O-Acyltransferase Are Overexpressed in Breast Cancer: Potential Pathophysiological Relevance

    PubMed Central

    Gahete, Manuel D.; Córdoba-Chacón, José; Hergueta-Redondo, Marta; Martínez-Fuentes, Antonio J.; Kineman, Rhonda D.; Moreno-Bueno, Gema

    2011-01-01

    The human ghrelin gene, which encodes the ghrelin and obestatin peptides, contains 5 exons (Ex), with Ex1-Ex4 encoding a 117 amino-acid (aa) preproprotein that is known to be processed to yield a 28-aa (ghrelin) and/or a 23-aa (obestatin) mature peptides, which possess biological activities in multiple tissues. However, the ghrelin gene also encodes additional peptides through alternative splicing or post-translational modifications. Indeed, we previously identified a spliced mRNA ghrelin variant in mouse (In2-ghrelin-variant), which is regulated in a tissue-dependent manner by metabolic status and may thus be of biological relevance. Here, we have characterized a new human ghrelin variant that contains Ex0-1, intron (In) 1, and Ex2 and lacks Ex3-4. This human In1-ghrelin variant would encode a new prepropeptide that conserves the first 12aa of native-ghrelin (including the Ser3-potential octanoylation site) but has a different C-terminal tail. Expression of In1-variant was detected in 22 human tissues and its levels were positively correlated with those of ghrelin-O-acyltransferase (GOAT; p = 0.0001) but not with native-ghrelin expression, suggesting that In1-ghrelin could be a primary substrate for GOAT in human tissues. Interestingly, levels of In1-ghrelin variant expression in breast cancer samples were 8-times higher than those of normal mammary tissue, and showed a strong correlation in breast tumors with GOAT (p = 0.0001), ghrelin receptor-type 1b (GHSR1b; p = 0.049) and cyclin-D3 (a cell-cycle inducer/proliferation marker; p = 0.009), but not with native-ghrelin or GHSR1a expression. Interestingly, In1-ghrelin variant overexpression increased basal proliferation of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Taken together, our results provide evidence that In1-ghrelin is a novel element of the ghrelin family with a potential pathophysiological role in breast cancer. PMID:21829727

  11. Retarded protein folding of deficient human α1-antitrypsin D256V and L41P variants

    PubMed Central

    Jung, Chan-Hun; Na, Yu-Ran; Im, Hana

    2004-01-01

    α1-Antitrypsin is the most abundant protease inhibitor in plasma and is the archetype of the serine protease inhibitor superfamily. Genetic variants of human α1-antitrypsin are associated with early-onset emphysema and liver cirrhosis. However, the detailed molecular mechanism for the pathogenicity of most variant α1-antitrypsin molecules is not known. Here we examined the structural basis of a dozen deficient α1-antitrypsin variants. Unlike most α1-antitrypsin variants, which were unstable, D256V and L41P variants exhibited extremely retarded protein folding as compared with the wild-type molecule. Once folded, however, the stability and inhibitory activity of these variant proteins were comparable to those of the wild-type molecule. Retarded protein folding may promote protein aggregation by allowing the accumulation of aggregation-prone folding intermediates. Repeated observations of retarded protein folding indicate that it is an important mechanism causing α1-antitrypsin deficiency by variant molecules, which have to fold into the metastable native form to be functional. PMID:14767073

  12. Mediator links transcription and DNA repair by facilitating Rad2/XPG recruitment.

    PubMed

    Eyboulet, Fanny; Cibot, Camille; Eychenne, Thomas; Neil, Helen; Alibert, Olivier; Werner, Michel; Soutourina, Julie

    2013-12-01

    Mediator is a large multiprotein complex conserved in all eukaryotes. The crucial function of Mediator in transcription is now largely established. However, we found that this complex also plays an important role by connecting transcription with DNA repair. We identified a functional contact between the Med17 Mediator subunit and Rad2/XPG, the 3' endonuclease involved in nucleotide excision DNA repair. Genome-wide location analyses revealed that Rad2 is associated with RNA polymerase II (Pol II)- and Pol III-transcribed genes and telomeric regions in the absence of exogenous genotoxic stress. Rad2 occupancy of Pol II-transcribed genes is transcription-dependent. Genome-wide Rad2 occupancy of class II gene promoters is well correlated with that of Mediator. Furthermore, UV sensitivity of med17 mutants is correlated with reduced Rad2 occupancy of class II genes and concomitant decrease of Mediator interaction with Rad2 protein. Our results suggest that Mediator is involved in DNA repair by facilitating Rad2 recruitment to transcribed genes.

  13. The Genetic Variant I148M in PNPLA3 Is Associated With Increased Hepatic Retinyl-Palmitate Storage in Humans.

    PubMed

    Kovarova, Marketa; Königsrainer, Ingmar; Königsrainer, Alfred; Machicao, Fausto; Häring, Hans-Ulrich; Schleicher, Erwin; Peter, Andreas

    2015-12-01

    Previous studies revealed that the common sequence variant I148M in patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 (PNPLA3) is associated with liver fat content and liver diseases, but not with insulin resistance. Recent data suggest that the PNPLA3 I148M variant has reduced retinyl-palmitate lipase activity in hepatic stellate cells. We hypothesized that the PNPLA3 I148M variant is associated with elevated retinyl-palmitate storage in human liver as a potential link to the clinical pathology. Design/Setting and Participants: Using HPLC, we quantified the retinoid metabolites in liver tissue extracts obtained from 42 human subjects, including 13 heterozygous and six homozygous carriers of the minor PNPLA3 I148M variant. Retinyl-palmitate is elevated in human livers of homozygous PNPLA3 I148M allele carriers Results: The PNPLA3 I148M variant was associated with a significant increase (1.4-fold) in liver fat. The content of retinyl-palmitate was elevated and the ratio of retinol/retinyl-palmitate was reduced in liver extracts obtained from homozygous PNPLA3 I148M minor allele carriers. In a multivariate model including liver fat content, these differences remained significant independent of liver fat content. The content of the minor retinyl-fatty acid esters was similarly increased in homozygous PNPLA3 I148M carriers. The increased content of hepatic retinyl-palmitate and the reduced ratio of retinol/retinyl-palmitate in PNPLA3 I148M minor allele carriers support in vitro findings of an altered retinyl-palmitate lipase activity. Our results indicate that the PNPLA3 I148M variant is relevant for the retinyl-palmitate content in human liver, providing a possible link to chronic liver disease.

  14. CAD-RADS - a new clinical decision support tool for coronary computed tomography angiography.

    PubMed

    Foldyna, Borek; Szilveszter, Bálint; Scholtz, Jan-Erik; Banerji, Dahlia; Maurovich-Horvat, Pál; Hoffmann, Udo

    2018-04-01

    Coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) has been established as an accurate method to non-invasively assess coronary artery disease (CAD). The proposed 'Coronary Artery Disease Reporting and Data System' (CAD-RADS) may enable standardised reporting of the broad spectrum of coronary CTA findings related to the presence, extent and composition of coronary atherosclerosis. The CAD-RADS classification is a comprehensive tool for summarising findings on a per-patient-basis dependent on the highest-grade coronary artery lesion, ranging from CAD-RADS 0 (absence of CAD) to CAD-RADS 5 (total occlusion of a coronary artery). In addition, it provides suggestions for clinical management for each classification, including further testing and therapeutic options. Despite some limitations, CAD-RADS may facilitate improved communication between imagers and patient caregivers. As such, CAD-RADS may enable a more efficient use of coronary CTA leading to more accurate utilisation of invasive coronary angiograms. Furthermore, widespread use of CAD-RADS may facilitate registry-based research of diagnostic and prognostic aspects of CTA. • CAD-RADS is a tool for standardising coronary CTA reports. • CAD-RADS includes clinical treatment recommendations based on CTA findings. • CAD-RADS has the potential to reduce variability of CTA reports.

  15. MR (Mre11-Rad50) complex in Giardia duodenalis: In vitro characterization and its response upon DNA damage.

    PubMed

    Sandoval-Cabrera, A; Zarzosa-Álvarez, A L; Martínez-Miguel, R M; Bermúdez-Cruz, R M

    2015-04-01

    Giardia duodenalis is a well-known protozoan parasite of humans and other mammals. The repair of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) is crucial for genomic stability and homologous recombination is one of the primary mechanisms used by cells to repair DNA. The Mre11 complex is comprised by Mre11, an endonuclease and 3'-5' exonuclease known to resect ends during homologous recombination, and Rad50, a member of the structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) family of ATPases. In this work we cloned, expressed and characterized the catalytic activities of the giardial Mre11 (GdMre11) and Rad50 (GdRad50) proteins. Our results show that while purified recombinant GdMre11 and GdRad50 proteins bind DNA, GdMre11 contains a 3'-5' exonuclease and purified recombinant GdRad50 has ATPase activity. The predicted structure for GdMre11 revealed a conserved Mn(2+) dependent binding pocket. We also explored the expression of giardial mre11 and rad50 genes after ionizing radiation, and our results indicate that both specific transcripts were increased after 1-2 h while their protein levels were found to be significantly increased 4 h after gamma radiation treatment. These proteins were localized in the nuclei before and after irradiation. The implication of these observations is discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. and Société Française de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire (SFBBM). All rights reserved.

  16. RadNet Air Data From Salt Lake City, UT

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Salt Lake City, UT from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  17. RadNet Air Data From New York City, NY

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for New York City, NY from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

  18. GWAS4D: multidimensional analysis of context-specific regulatory variant for human complex diseases and traits.

    PubMed

    Huang, Dandan; Yi, Xianfu; Zhang, Shijie; Zheng, Zhanye; Wang, Panwen; Xuan, Chenghao; Sham, Pak Chung; Wang, Junwen; Li, Mulin Jun

    2018-05-16

    Genome-wide association studies have generated over thousands of susceptibility loci for many human complex traits, and yet for most of these associations the true causal variants remain unknown. Tissue/cell type-specific prediction and prioritization of non-coding regulatory variants will facilitate the identification of causal variants and underlying pathogenic mechanisms for particular complex diseases and traits. By leveraging recent large-scale functional genomics/epigenomics data, we develop an intuitive web server, GWAS4D (http://mulinlab.tmu.edu.cn/gwas4d or http://mulinlab.org/gwas4d), that systematically evaluates GWAS signals and identifies context-specific regulatory variants. The updated web server includes six major features: (i) updates the regulatory variant prioritization method with our new algorithm; (ii) incorporates 127 tissue/cell type-specific epigenomes data; (iii) integrates motifs of 1480 transcriptional regulators from 13 public resources; (iv) uniformly processes Hi-C data and generates significant interactions at 5 kb resolution across 60 tissues/cell types; (v) adds comprehensive non-coding variant functional annotations; (vi) equips a highly interactive visualization function for SNP-target interaction. Using a GWAS fine-mapped set for 161 coronary artery disease risk loci, we demonstrate that GWAS4D is able to efficiently prioritize disease-causal regulatory variants.

  19. Role of genetic variants in ADIPOQ in human eating behavior.

    PubMed

    Rohde, Kerstin; Keller, Maria; Horstmann, Annette; Liu, Xuanshi; Eichelmann, Fabian; Stumvoll, Michael; Villringer, Arno; Kovacs, Peter; Tönjes, Anke; Böttcher, Yvonne

    2015-01-01

    The beneficial effects of adiponectin and its negative correlation with BMI are well described. Adiponectin serum levels are altered in eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating. Here, we tested the hypothesis that (1) adiponectin serum levels correlate with human eating behavior factors and (2) that genetic variants of the ADIPOQ locus influence both serum levels and eating behavior. We analyzed 11 SNPs within ADIPOQ and in the 5' UTR and measured serum adiponectin levels in 1,036 individuals from the German Sorbs population. The German version of the three-factor eating questionnaire (FEV) was completed by 548 Sorbs. For replication purposes, we included an independent replication cohort from Germany (N = 350). In the Sorbs, we observed positive correlations of restraint with adiponectin serum levels (P = 0.001; r = 0.148) which, however, did not withstand adjustment for covariates (P = 0.083; r = 0.077). In addition, four SNPs were nominally associated with serum adiponectin levels (all P < 0.05). Of these, two variants (rs3774261; rs1501229, all P < 0.05) were also related to disinhibition. Furthermore, three variants were exclusively associated with hunger (rs2036373, P = 0.049) and disinhibition (rs822396; rs864265, all P < 0.05). However, none of these associations withstood Bonferroni corrections for multiple testing (all P > 9.3 × 10(-4)). In our replication cohort, we observed similar effect directions at rs1501229 for disinhibition and hunger. A meta-analysis resulted in nominal statistical significance P = 0.036 (Z score 2.086) and P = 0.017 (Z score 2.366), respectively. Given the observed relationship of the SNPs with adiponectin levels and eating behavior, our data support a potential role of adiponectin in human eating behavior. Whether the relationship with eating behavior is mediated by the effects of circulating adiponectin warrants further investigations.

  20. Variations in the sonographic measurement techniques of BI-RADS 3 breast masses.

    PubMed

    Francisco, Juliana; Jales, Rodrigo Menezes; de Oliveira, André Desuó Bueno; Arguello, Carlos Henrique Francisco; Derchain, Sophie

    2017-06-01

    To evaluate the differences in sonographic (US) distance and volume measurements from different sonologists and identify the optimal parameters to avoid clinically relevant variations in the measurement of BI-RADS 3 breast masses. For this cross-sectional study with prospectively collected data, four physicians with various levels of experience in US, herein called sonologists, performed distance and volume US measurements of 80 masses classified as BI-RADS 3. The Cochran Q test was used to compare the matched sets of rates of clinically relevant variability between all pairs of sonologists' measurements. There were clinically relevant differences between sonologists in the measurements of the longest diameter (range, 17.5-43.7%, p = 0.003), the longest diameter perpendicular to the previous one (anteroposterior diameter) (17.5-33.7%, p = 0.06), the third diameter orthogonal to the plane defined by the previous two (transverse diameter) (28.7-55%, p = 0.001), and at least two of those three diameters (18.7-38.7%, p = 0.015). The smallest clinically relevant differences were observed with volume measurements (range of differences, 6.2-13.7%, p = 0.51). Volume measurement technique was associated with the least variations, whereas distance measurements, which are used routinely, were associated with unacceptable rates of clinically relevant variations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 45:252-260, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  1. Mediator links transcription and DNA repair by facilitating Rad2/XPG recruitment

    PubMed Central

    Eyboulet, Fanny; Cibot, Camille; Eychenne, Thomas; Neil, Helen; Alibert, Olivier; Werner, Michel; Soutourina, Julie

    2013-01-01

    Mediator is a large multiprotein complex conserved in all eukaryotes. The crucial function of Mediator in transcription is now largely established. However, we found that this complex also plays an important role by connecting transcription with DNA repair. We identified a functional contact between the Med17 Mediator subunit and Rad2/XPG, the 3′ endonuclease involved in nucleotide excision DNA repair. Genome-wide location analyses revealed that Rad2 is associated with RNA polymerase II (Pol II)- and Pol III-transcribed genes and telomeric regions in the absence of exogenous genotoxic stress. Rad2 occupancy of Pol II-transcribed genes is transcription-dependent. Genome-wide Rad2 occupancy of class II gene promoters is well correlated with that of Mediator. Furthermore, UV sensitivity of med17 mutants is correlated with reduced Rad2 occupancy of class II genes and concomitant decrease of Mediator interaction with Rad2 protein. Our results suggest that Mediator is involved in DNA repair by facilitating Rad2 recruitment to transcribed genes. PMID:24298055

  2. A thyroid nodule classification method based on TI-RADS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Hao; Yang, Yang; Peng, Bo; Chen, Qin

    2017-07-01

    Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System(TI-RADS) is a valuable tool for differentiating the benign and the malignant thyroid nodules. In clinic, doctors can determine the extent of being benign or malignant in terms of different classes by using TI-RADS. Classification represents the degree of malignancy of thyroid nodules. TI-RADS as a classification standard can be used to guide the ultrasonic doctor to examine thyroid nodules more accurately and reliably. In this paper, we aim to classify the thyroid nodules with the help of TI-RADS. To this end, four ultrasound signs, i.e., cystic and solid, echo pattern, boundary feature and calcification of thyroid nodules are extracted and converted into feature vectors. Then semi-supervised fuzzy C-means ensemble (SS-FCME) model is applied to obtain the classification results. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can help doctors diagnose the thyroid nodules effectively.

  3. Instability, unfolding and aggregation of human lysozyme variants underlying amyloid fibrillogenesis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Booth, David R.; Sunde, Margaret; Bellotti, Vittorio; Robinson, Carol V.; Hutchinson, Winston L.; Fraser, Paul E.; Hawkins, Philip N.; Dobson, Christopher M.; Radford, Sheena E.; Blake, Colin C. F.; Pepys, Mark B.

    1997-02-01

    Tissue deposition of soluble proteins as amyloid fibrils underlies a range of fatal diseases. The two naturally occurring human lysozyme variants are both amyloidogenic, and are shown here to be unstable. They aggregate to form amyloid fibrils with transformation of the mainly helical native fold, observed in crystal structures, to the amyloid fibril cross-β fold. Biophysical studies suggest that partly folded intermediates are involved in fibrillogenesis, and this may be relevant to amyloidosis generally.

  4. Role of a non-canonical surface of Rad6 in ubiquitin conjugating activity

    PubMed Central

    Kumar, Pankaj; Magala, Pearl; Geiger-Schuller, Kathryn R.; Majumdar, Ananya; Tolman, Joel R.; Wolberger, Cynthia

    2015-01-01

    Rad6 is a yeast E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzyme that monoubiquitinates histone H2B in conjunction with the E3, Bre1, but can non-specifically modify histones on its own. We determined the crystal structure of a Rad6∼Ub thioester mimic, which revealed a network of interactions in the crystal in which the ubiquitin in one conjugate contacts Rad6 in another. The region of Rad6 contacted is located on the distal face of Rad6 opposite the active site, but differs from the canonical E2 backside that mediates free ubiquitin binding and polyubiquitination activity in other E2 enzymes. We find that free ubiquitin interacts weakly with both non-canonical and canonical backside residues of Rad6 and that mutations of non-canonical residues have deleterious effects on Rad6 activity comparable to those observed to mutations in the canonical E2 backside. The effect of non-canonical backside mutations is similar in the presence and absence of Bre1, indicating that contacts with non-canonical backside residues govern the intrinsic activity of Rad6. Our findings shed light on the determinants of intrinsic Rad6 activity and reveal new ways in which contacts with an E2 backside can regulate ubiquitin conjugating activity. PMID:26286193

  5. Interdependence of the rad50 hook and globular domain functions.

    PubMed

    Hohl, Marcel; Kochańczyk, Tomasz; Tous, Cristina; Aguilera, Andrés; Krężel, Artur; Petrini, John H J

    2015-02-05

    Rad50 contains a conserved Zn(2+) coordination domain (the Rad50 hook) that functions as a homodimerization interface. Hook ablation phenocopies Rad50 deficiency in all respects. Here, we focused on rad50 mutations flanking the Zn(2+)-coordinating hook cysteines. These mutants impaired hook-mediated dimerization, but recombination between sister chromatids was largely unaffected. This may reflect that cohesin-mediated sister chromatid interactions are sufficient for double-strand break repair. However, Mre11 complex functions specified by the globular domain, including Tel1 (ATM) activation, nonhomologous end joining, and DNA double-strand break end resection were affected, suggesting that dimerization exerts a broad influence on Mre11 complex function. These phenotypes were suppressed by mutations within the coiled-coil and globular ATPase domains, suggesting a model in which conformational changes in the hook and globular domains are transmitted via the extended coils of Rad50. We propose that transmission of spatial information in this manner underlies the regulation of Mre11 complex functions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Reorganization of Damaged Chromatin by the Exchange of Histone Variant H2A.Z-2

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Nishibuchi, Ikuno; Department of Radiation Oncology, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima; Department of Radiation Oncology, Hiroshima Prefectural Hospital, Hiroshima

    2014-07-15

    Purpose: The reorganization of damaged chromatin plays an important role in the regulation of the DNA damage response. A recent study revealed the presence of 2 vertebrate H2A.Z isoforms, H2A.Z-1 and H2A.Z-2. However, the roles of the vertebrate H2A.Z isoforms are still unclear. Thus, in this study we examined the roles of the vertebrate H2A.Z isoforms in chromatin reorganization after the induction of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Methods and Materials: To examine the dynamics of H2A.Z isoforms at damaged sites, we constructed GM0637 cells stably expressing each of the green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labeled H2A.Z isoforms, and performed fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP)more » analysis and inverted FRAP analysis in combination with microirradiation. Immunofluorescence staining using an anti-RAD51 antibody was performed to study the kinetics of RAD51 foci formation after 2-Gy irradiation of wild-type (WT), H2A.Z-1- and H2A.Z-2-deficient DT40 cells. Colony-forming assays were also performed to compare the survival rates of WT, H2A.Z-1-, and H2A.Z-2-deficient DT40 cells with control, and H2A.Z-1- and H2A.Z-2-depleted U2OS cells after irradiation. Results: FRAP analysis revealed that H2A.Z-2 was incorporated into damaged chromatin just after the induction of DSBs, whereas H2A.Z-1 remained essentially unchanged. Inverted FRAP analysis showed that H2A.Z-2 was released from damaged chromatin. These findings indicated that H2A.Z-2 was exchanged at DSB sites immediately after the induction of DSBs. RAD51 focus formation after ionizing irradiation was disturbed in H2A.Z-2-deficient DT40 cells but not in H2A.Z-1-deficient cells. The survival rate of H2A.Z-2-deficient cells after irradiation was lower than those of WT and H2A.Z-1- DT40 cells. Similar to DT40 cells, H2A.Z-2-depleted U2OS cells were also radiation-sensitive compared to control and H2A.Z-1-depleted cells. Conclusions: We found that vertebrate H2A.Z-2 is involved in the regulation of

  7. Jab1 Mediates Protein Degradation of Rad9/Rad1/Hus1 Checkpoint Complex

    PubMed Central

    Huang, Jin; Yuan, Honglin; Lu, Chongyuan; Liu, Ximeng; Cao, Xu; Wan, Mei

    2009-01-01

    Summary The Rad1-Rad9-Hus1 (9-1-1) complex serves a dual role as a DNA-damage sensor in checkpoint signaling and as a mediator in DNA repair pathway. However, the intercellular mechanisms that regulate 9-1-1 complex are poorly understood. Jab1, the fifth component of the COP9 signalosome complex, plays a central role in the degradation of multiple proteins and is emerging as an important regulator in cancer development. Here, we tested the hypothesis that Jab1 controls the protein stability of the 9-1-1 complex via the proteosome pathway. We provide evidence that Jab1 physically associates with the 9-1-1 complex. This association is mediated through direct interaction between Jab1 and Rad1, one of the subunits of 9-1-1 complex. Importantly, Jab1 causes the translocation of the 9-1-1 complex from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, mediating rapid degradation of the 9-1-1 complex via 26S proteasome. Furthermore, Jab1 significantly suppresses checkpoint signaling activation, DNA synthesis recovery from blockage and cell viability after replication stresses such as UV exposure, γ radiation and hydroxyurea treatment. These results suggest that Jab1 is an important regulator for 9-1-1 protein stability control in cells, which may provide novel information on the involvement of Jab1 in checkpoint and DNA repair signaling in response to DNA damage. PMID:17583730

  8. Rare key functional domain missense substitutions in MRE11A, RAD50, and NBN contribute to breast cancer susceptibility: results from a Breast Cancer Family Registry case-control mutation-screening study

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Introduction The MRE11A-RAD50-Nibrin (MRN) complex plays several critical roles related to repair of DNA double-strand breaks. Inherited mutations in the three components predispose to genetic instability disorders and the MRN genes have been implicated in breast cancer susceptibility, but the underlying data are not entirely convincing. Here, we address two related questions: (1) are some rare MRN variants intermediate-risk breast cancer susceptibility alleles, and if so (2) do the MRN genes follow a BRCA1/BRCA2 pattern wherein most susceptibility alleles are protein-truncating variants, or do they follow an ATM/CHEK2 pattern wherein half or more of the susceptibility alleles are missense substitutions? Methods Using high-resolution melt curve analysis followed by Sanger sequencing, we mutation screened the coding exons and proximal splice junction regions of the MRN genes in 1,313 early-onset breast cancer cases and 1,123 population controls. Rare variants in the three genes were pooled using bioinformatics methods similar to those previously applied to ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, and CHEK2, and then assessed by logistic regression. Results Re-analysis of our ATM, BRCA1, and BRCA2 mutation screening data revealed that these genes do not harbor pathogenic alleles (other than modest-risk SNPs) with minor allele frequencies >0.1% in Caucasian Americans, African Americans, or East Asians. Limiting our MRN analyses to variants with allele frequencies of <0.1% and combining protein-truncating variants, likely spliceogenic variants, and key functional domain rare missense substitutions, we found significant evidence that the MRN genes are indeed intermediate-risk breast cancer susceptibility genes (odds ratio (OR) = 2.88, P = 0.0090). Key domain missense substitutions were more frequent than the truncating variants (24 versus 12 observations) and conferred a slightly higher OR (3.07 versus 2.61) with a lower P value (0.029 versus 0.14). Conclusions These data establish

  9. NF-κB and androgen receptor variant expression correlate with human BPH progression.

    PubMed

    Austin, David C; Strand, Douglas W; Love, Harold L; Franco, Omar E; Jang, Alex; Grabowska, Magdalena M; Miller, Nicole L; Hameed, Omar; Clark, Peter E; Fowke, Jay H; Matusik, Robert J; Jin, Ren J; Hayward, Simon W

    2016-04-01

    Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common, chronic progressive disease. Inflammation is associated with prostatic enlargement and resistance to 5α-reductase inhibitor (5ARI) therapy. Activation of the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway is linked to both inflammation and ligand-independent prostate cancer progression. NF-κB activation and androgen receptor variant (AR-V) expression were quantified in transition zone tissue samples from patients with a wide range of AUASS from incidental BPH in patients treated for low grade, localized peripheral zone prostate cancer to advanced disease requiring surgical intervention. To further investigate these pathways, human prostatic stromal and epithelial cell lines were transduced with constitutively active or kinase dead forms of IKK2 to regulate canonical NF-κB activity. The effects on AR full length (AR-FL) and androgen-independent AR-V expression as well as cellular growth and differentiation were assessed. Canonical NF-κB signaling was found to be upregulated in late versus early stage BPH, and to be strongly associated with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Elevated expression of AR-variant 7 (AR-V7), but not other AR variants, was found in advanced BPH samples. Expression of AR-V7 significantly correlated with the patient AUASS and TRUS volume. Forced activation of canonical NF-κB in human prostatic epithelial and stromal cells resulted in elevated expression of both AR-FL and AR-V7, with concomitant ligand-independent activation of AR reporters. Activation of NF-κB and over expression of AR-V7 in human prostatic epithelial cells maintained cell viability in the face of 5ARI treatment. Activation of NF-κB and AR-V7 in the prostate is associated with increased disease severity. AR-V7 expression is inducible in human prostate cells by forced activation of NF-κB resulting in resistance to 5ARI treatment, suggesting a potential mechanism by which patients may become resistant to 5ARI therapy.

  10. Analysis of parenchymal patterns using conspicuous spatial frequency features in mammograms applied to the BI-RADS density rating scheme

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Perconti, Philip; Loew, Murray

    2006-03-01

    Automatic classification of the density of breast parenchyma is shown using a measure that is correlated to the human observer performance, and compared against the BI-RADS density rating. Increasingly popular in the United States, the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) is used to draw attention to the increased screening difficulty associated with greater breast density; however, the BI-RADS rating scheme is subjective and is not intended as an objective measure of breast density. So, while popular, BI-RADS does not define density classes using a standardized measure, which leads to increased variability among observers. The adaptive thresholding technique is a more quantitative approach for assessing the percentage breast density, but considerable reader interaction is required. We calculate an objective density rating that is derived using a measure of local feature salience. Previously, this measure was shown to correlate well with radiologists' localization and discrimination of true positive and true negative regions-of-interest. Using conspicuous spatial frequency features, an objective density rating is obtained and correlated with adaptive thresholding, and the subjectively ascertained BI-RADS density ratings. Using 100 cases, obtained from the University of South Florida's DDSM database, we show that an automated breast density measure can be derived that is correlated with the interactive thresholding method for continuous percentage breast density, but not with the BI-RADS density rating categories for the selected cases. Comparison between interactive thresholding and the new salience percentage density resulted in a Pearson correlation of 76.7%. Using a four-category scale equivalent to the BI-RADS density categories, a Spearman correlation coefficient of 79.8% was found.

  11. Discovery of a novel HLA-B*51 variant, B*51:112, in a Taiwanese bone marrow donor and identification of the plausible HLA haplotype in association with B*51:112.

    PubMed

    Yang, K L; Lee, S K; Lin, P Y

    2012-10-01

    The sequence of B*51:112 is identical to the sequence of B*51:01:01 in exons 2, 3 and 4, except the nucleotides at positions 206 (C→A) and 213 (C→G). The nucleotide replacement caused one amino acid substitution at residue 45 (T→K). The plausible HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 haplotype in association with B*51:112 may be deduced as HLA-A*02-B*51:112-DRB1*12. The generation of B*51:112 was probably as the result of a DNA recombination event where B*40:01:01 acted as a sequence donor donating a segment of the DNA sequence to the recipient sequence B*51:01:01. The donor carrying B*51:112 was a Minna Taiwanese whose ancestor came to Taiwan from the southern region of China. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  12. ChemRad Sample Form Instructions

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    These instructons are intended to assist registered users of the EPA Region 8 Drinking Water Watch website who would like to create ChemRad Sample Forms for monitoring that is required during the current year.

  13. The Reach Address Database (RAD)

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The Reach Address Database (RAD) stores reach address information for each Water Program feature that has been linked to the underlying surface water features (streams, lakes, etc) in the National Hydrology Database (NHD) Plus dataset.

  14. Genetic variants of human serum cholinesterase influence metabolism of the muscle relaxant succinylcholine.

    PubMed

    Lockridge, O

    1990-01-01

    People with genetic variants of cholinesterase respond abnormally to succinylcholine, experiencing substantial prolongation of muscle paralysis with apnea rather than the usual 2-6 min. The structure of usual cholinesterase has been determined including the complete amino acid and nucleotide sequence. This has allowed identification of altered amino acids and nucleotides. The variant most frequently found in patients who respond abnormally to succinylcholine is atypical cholinesterase, which occurs in homozygous form in 1 out of 3500 Caucasians. Atypical cholinesterase has a single substitution at nucleotide 209 which changes aspartic acid 70 to glycine. This suggests that Asp 70 is part of the anionic site, and that the absence of this negatively charged amino acid explains the reduced affinity of atypical cholinesterase for positively charged substrates and inhibitors. The clinical consequence of reduced affinity for succinylcholine is that none of the succinylcholine is hydrolyzed in blood and a large overdose reaches the nerve-muscle junction where it causes prolonged muscle paralysis. Silent cholinesterase has a frame shift mutation at glycine 117 which prematurely terminates protein synthesis and yields no active enzyme. The K variant, named in honor of W. Kalow, has threonine in place of alanine 539. The K variant is associated with 33% lower activity. All variants arise from a single locus as there is only one gene for human cholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8). Comparison of amino acid sequences of esterases and proteases shows that cholinesterase belongs to a new family of serine esterases which is different from the serine proteases.

  15. Investigations into the binding affinities of different human 5-HT4 receptor splice variants.

    PubMed

    Irving, Helen R; Tochon-Danguy, Nathalie; Chinkwo, Kenneth A; Li, Jian G; Grabbe, Carmen; Shapiro, Marina; Pouton, Colin W; Coupar, Ian M

    2010-01-01

    This study examined whether the drug-receptor-binding sites of 5 selected human 5-HT(4) receptor splice variants [h5-HT4(a), h5-HT4(b), h5-HT4(c), h5-HT4(d) and h5-HT4(g)] display preferential affinities towards agonists. The agonists selected on the basis of chemical diversity and clinical relevance were: 5-HT4 benzamides, renzapride, zacopride and prucalopride; the benzimidazolones, DAU 6236 and BIMU 1; the aromatic ketone, RS67333, and the indole carbazimidamide tegaserod. The rank order of affinities ranging across the splice variants was: tegaserod (pKi: 7.38-7.91) > or = Y-36912 (pKi: 7.03-7.85) = BIMU 1 (pKi: 6.92-7.78) > or = DAU 6236 (pKi: 6.79-7.99) > or = 5-HT (pKi: 5.82-7.29) > or = 5-MeOT (pKi: 5.64-6.83) > or = renzapride (pKi: 4.85-5.56). We obtained affinity values for the 5-HT4(b), (d) and (g) variants for RS67333 (pKi: 7:48-8.29), prucalopride (pKi: 6.86-7.37) and zacopride (pKi: 5.88-7.0). These results indicate that the ligands interact with the same conserved site in each splice variant. Some splice variants have a higher affinity for certain agonists and the direction of selectivity followed a common trend of lowest affinity at the (d) variant. However, this trend was not evident in functional experiments. Our findings suggest that it may be possible to design splice variant selective ligands, which may be of relevance for experimental drugs but may be difficult to develop clinically. 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  16. The rem Mutations in the ATP-Binding Groove of the Rad3/XPD Helicase Lead to Xeroderma pigmentosum-Cockayne Syndrome-Like Phenotypes

    PubMed Central

    Montelone, Beth A.; Aguilera, Andrés

    2014-01-01

    The eukaryotic TFIIH complex is involved in Nucleotide Excision Repair and transcription initiation. We analyzed three yeast mutations of the Rad3/XPD helicase of TFIIH known as rem (recombination and mutation phenotypes). We found that, in these mutants, incomplete NER reactions lead to replication fork breaking and the subsequent engagement of the homologous recombination machinery to restore them. Nevertheless, the penetrance varies among mutants, giving rise to a phenotype gradient. Interestingly, the mutations analyzed reside at the ATP-binding groove of Rad3 and in vivo experiments reveal a gain of DNA affinity upon damage of the mutant Rad3 proteins. Since mutations at the ATP-binding groove of XPD in humans are present in the Xeroderma pigmentosum-Cockayne Syndrome (XP-CS), we recreated rem mutations in human cells, and found that these are XP-CS-like. We propose that the balance between the loss of helicase activity and the gain of DNA affinity controls the capacity of TFIIH to open DNA during NER, and its persistence at both DNA lesions and promoters. This conditions NER efficiency and transcription resumption after damage, which in human cells would explain the XP-CS phenotype, opening new perspectives to understand the molecular basis of the role of XPD in human disease. PMID:25500814

  17. The rem mutations in the ATP-binding groove of the Rad3/XPD helicase lead to Xeroderma pigmentosum-Cockayne syndrome-like phenotypes.

    PubMed

    Herrera-Moyano, Emilia; Moriel-Carretero, María; Montelone, Beth A; Aguilera, Andrés

    2014-12-01

    The eukaryotic TFIIH complex is involved in Nucleotide Excision Repair and transcription initiation. We analyzed three yeast mutations of the Rad3/XPD helicase of TFIIH known as rem (recombination and mutation phenotypes). We found that, in these mutants, incomplete NER reactions lead to replication fork breaking and the subsequent engagement of the homologous recombination machinery to restore them. Nevertheless, the penetrance varies among mutants, giving rise to a phenotype gradient. Interestingly, the mutations analyzed reside at the ATP-binding groove of Rad3 and in vivo experiments reveal a gain of DNA affinity upon damage of the mutant Rad3 proteins. Since mutations at the ATP-binding groove of XPD in humans are present in the Xeroderma pigmentosum-Cockayne Syndrome (XP-CS), we recreated rem mutations in human cells, and found that these are XP-CS-like. We propose that the balance between the loss of helicase activity and the gain of DNA affinity controls the capacity of TFIIH to open DNA during NER, and its persistence at both DNA lesions and promoters. This conditions NER efficiency and transcription resumption after damage, which in human cells would explain the XP-CS phenotype, opening new perspectives to understand the molecular basis of the role of XPD in human disease.

  18. Melanocortin-1 receptor gene variants affect pain and µ-opioid analgesia in mice and humans

    PubMed Central

    Mogil, J; Ritchie, J; Smith, S; Strasburg, K; Kaplan, L; Wallace, M; Romberg, R; Bijl, H; Sarton, E; Fillingim, R; Dahan, A

    2005-01-01

    Background: A recent genetic study in mice and humans revealed the modulatory effect of MC1R (melanocortin-1 receptor) gene variants on κ-opioid receptor mediated analgesia. It is unclear whether this gene affects basal pain sensitivity or the efficacy of analgesics acting at the more clinically relevant µ-opioid receptor. Objective: To characterise sensitivity to pain and µ-opioid analgesia in mice and humans with non-functional melanocortin-1 receptors. Methods: Comparisons of spontaneous mutant C57BL/6-Mc1re/e mice to C57BL/6 wildtype mice, followed by a gene dosage study of pain and morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G) analgesia in humans with MC1R variants. Results: C57BL/6-Mc1re/e mutant mice and human redheads—both with non-functional MC1Rs—display reduced sensitivity to noxious stimuli and increased analgesic responsiveness to the µ-opioid selective morphine metabolite, M6G. In both species the differential analgesia is likely due to pharmacodynamic factors, as plasma levels of M6G are similar across genotype. Conclusions: Genotype at MC1R similarly affects pain sensitivity and M6G analgesia in mice and humans. These findings confirm the utility of cross species translational strategies in pharmacogenetics. PMID:15994880

  19. The role of different PI-RADS versions in prostate multiparametric magnetic resonance tomography assessment.

    PubMed

    Aliukonis, Paulius; Letauta, Tadas; Briedienė, Rūta; Naruševičiūtė, Ieva; Letautienė, Simona

    2017-01-01

    Background . Standardised Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) guidelines for the assessment of prostate alterations were designed for the assessment of prostate pathology. Published by the ESUR in 2012, PI-RADS v1 was based on the total score of different MRI sequences with subsequent calculation. PI-RADS v2 was published by the American College of Radiology in 2015 and featured different assessment criteria for prostate peripheral and transitory zones. Aim . To assess the correlations of PI-RADS v1 and PI-RADS v2 with Gleason score values and to define their predictive values of the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Materials and methods . A retrospective analysis of 66 patients. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) value and the Gleason score (GS) were assessed. One the most malignant focal lesion was selected in the peripheral zone of each lobe of the prostate (91 in total). Statistical analysis was carried out applying SPSS software, v.23, p < 0.05. Results . Focal lesions assessed by PI-RADS v1 score: 10% - 1, 12% - 2, 41% - 3, 23% - 4, 14% - 5. Assessment applying PI-RADS v.2: 20% - 1, 7.5% - 2, 26%, 29.5%, and 17% were assessed by 3, 4, and 5 scores. Statistically relevant correlation was found only between GS and PI-RADS ( p = 0.033). The positive predictive value of both versions of PI-RADS - 75%, negative predictive value of PI-RADS v1 - 46%, PI-RADS v2 - 43%. Conclusions . PI-RADS v1 was more statistically relevant in assessing the grade of tumour. Prediction values were similar in both versions.

  20. Whole-exome sequencing of 228 patients with sporadic Parkinson's disease.

    PubMed

    Sandor, Cynthia; Honti, Frantisek; Haerty, Wilfried; Szewczyk-Krolikowski, Konrad; Tomlinson, Paul; Evetts, Sam; Millin, Stephanie; Keane, Thomas; McCarthy, Shane A; Durbin, Richard; Talbot, Kevin; Hu, Michele; Webber, Caleb; Ponting, Chris P; Wade-Martins, Richard

    2017-01-24

    Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder, affecting 1% of the population over 65 years characterized clinically by both motor and non-motor symptoms accompanied by the preferential loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Here, we sequenced the exomes of 244 Parkinson's patients selected from the Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre Discovery Cohort and, after quality control, 228 exomes were available for analyses. The PD patient exomes were compared to 884 control exomes selected from the UK10K datasets. No single non-synonymous (NS) single nucleotide variant (SNV) nor any gene carrying a higher burden of NS SNVs was significantly associated with PD status after multiple-testing correction. However, significant enrichments of genes whose proteins have roles in the extracellular matrix were amongst the top 300 genes with the most significantly associated NS SNVs, while regions associated with PD by a recent Genome Wide Association (GWA) study were enriched in genes containing PD-associated NS SNVs. By examining genes within GWA regions possessing rare PD-associated SNVs, we identified RAD51B. The protein-product of RAD51B interacts with that of its paralogue RAD51, which is associated with congenital mirror movements phenotypes, a phenotype also comorbid with PD.

  1. RNF168 forms a functional complex with RAD6 during the DNA damage response

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Chao; Wang, Degui; Wu, Jiaxue; Keller, Jennifer; Ma, Teng; Yu, Xiaochun

    2013-01-01

    Summary Protein ubiquitination plays an important role in initiating the DNA damage response. Following DNA damage, E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzymes are crucial for catalyzing substrate ubiquitination that recruits downstream DNA repair factors to DNA lesions. To identify novel E2 conjugating enzymes important for initiating the DNA-damage-induced ubiquitination cascade, we screened most of the known E2 enzymes and found that RAD6A and RAD6B function together with RNF168 in the ionizing radiation (IR)-induced DNA damage response. Similarly to RNF168-deficient cells, RAD6A- or RAD6B-deficient cells exhibit a reduction in DNA-damage-induced protein ubiquitination. Correspondingly, DNA-damage-induced foci formation of DNA damage repair proteins, such as BRCA1 and 53BP1, is impaired in the absence of RAD6A or RAD6B. Moreover, the RNF168–RAD6 complex targeted histone H1.2 for ubiquitination in vitro and regulated DNA-damage-induced histone H1.2 ubiquitination in vivo. Collectively, these data demonstrate that RNF168, in complex with RAD6A or RAD6B, is activated in the DNA-damage-induced protein ubiquitination cascade. PMID:23525009

  2. Kinetic gating mechanism of DNA damage recognition by Rad4/XPC

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Xuejing; Velmurugu, Yogambigai; Zheng, Guanqun; Park, Beomseok; Shim, Yoonjung; Kim, Youngchang; Liu, Lili; van Houten, Bennett; He, Chuan; Ansari, Anjum; Min, Jung-Hyun

    2015-01-01

    The xeroderma pigmentosum C (XPC) complex initiates nucleotide excision repair by recognizing DNA lesions before recruiting downstream factors. How XPC detects structurally diverse lesions embedded within normal DNA is unknown. Here we present a crystal structure that captures the yeast XPC orthologue (Rad4) on a single register of undamaged DNA. The structure shows that a disulphide-tethered Rad4 flips out normal nucleotides and adopts a conformation similar to that seen with damaged DNA. Contrary to many DNA repair enzymes that can directly reject non-target sites as structural misfits, our results suggest that Rad4/XPC uses a kinetic gating mechanism whereby lesion selectivity arises from the kinetic competition between DNA opening and the residence time of Rad4/XPC per site. This mechanism is further supported by measurements of Rad4-induced lesion-opening times using temperature-jump perturbation spectroscopy. Kinetic gating may be a general mechanism used by site-specific DNA-binding proteins to minimize time-consuming interrogations of non-target sites.

  3. Differences in Transcriptional Activity of Human Papillomavirus Type 6 Molecular Variants in Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis

    PubMed Central

    Measso do Bonfim, Caroline; Simão Sobrinho, João; Lacerda Nogueira, Rodrigo; Salgado Kupper, Daniel; Cardoso Pereira Valera, Fabiana; Lacerda Nogueira, Maurício; Villa, Luisa Lina; Rahal, Paula; Sichero, Laura

    2015-01-01

    A significant proportion of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is caused by human papillomavirus type 6 (HPV-6). The long control region (LCR) contains cis-elements for regulation of transcription. Our aim was to characterize LCR HPV-6 variants in RRP cases, compare promoter activity of these isolates and search for cellular transcription factors (TFs) that could explain the differences observed. The complete LCR from 13 RRP was analyzed. Transcriptional activity of 5 variants was compared using luciferase assays. Differences in putative TFs binding sites among variants were revealed using the TRANSFAC database. Chromatin immunoprecipation (CHIP) and luciferase assays were used to evaluate TF binding and impact upon transcription, respectively. Juvenile-onset RRP cases harbored exclusively HPV-6vc related variants, whereas among adult-onset cases HPV-6a variants were more prevalent. The HPV-6vc reference was more transcriptionally active than the HPV-6a reference. Active FOXA1, ELF1 and GATA1 binding sites overlap variable nucleotide positions among isolates and influenced LCR activity. Furthermore, our results support a crucial role for ELF1 on transcriptional downregulation. We identified TFs implicated in the regulation of HPV-6 early gene expression. Many of these factors are mutated in cancer or are putative cancer biomarkers, and must be further studied. PMID:26151558

  4. β Subunits Functionally Differentiate Human Kv4.3 Potassium Channel Splice Variants

    PubMed Central

    Abbott, Geoffrey W.

    2017-01-01

    The human ventricular cardiomyocyte transient outward K+ current (Ito) mediates the initial phase of myocyte repolarization and its disruption is implicated in Brugada Syndrome and heart failure (HF). Human cardiac Ito is generated primarily by two Kv4.3 splice variants (Kv4.3L and Kv4.3S, diverging only by a C-terminal, S6-proximal, 19-residue stretch unique to Kv4.3L), which are differentially remodeled in HF, but considered functionally alike at baseline. Kv4.3 is regulated in human heart by β subunits including KChIP2b and KCNEs, but their effects were previously assumed to be Kv4.3 isoform-independent. Here, this assumption was tested experimentally using two-electrode voltage-clamp analysis of human subunits co-expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Unexpectedly, Kv4.3L-KChIP2b channels exhibited up to 8-fold lower current augmentation, 40% slower inactivation, and 5 mV-shifted steady-state inactivation compared to Kv4.3S-KChIP2b. A synthetic peptide mimicking the 19-residue stretch diminished these differences, reinforcing the importance of this segment in mediating Kv4.3 regulation by KChIP2b. KCNE subunits induced further functional divergence, including a 7-fold increase in Kv4.3S-KCNE4-KChIP2b current compared to Kv4.3L-KCNE4-KChIP2b. The discovery of β-subunit-dependent functional divergence in human Kv4.3 splice variants suggests a C-terminal signaling hub is crucial to governing β-subunit effects upon Kv4.3, and demonstrates the potential significance of differential Kv4.3 gene-splicing and β subunit expression in myocyte physiology and pathobiology. PMID:28228734

  5. β Subunits Functionally Differentiate Human Kv4.3 Potassium Channel Splice Variants.

    PubMed

    Abbott, Geoffrey W

    2017-01-01

    The human ventricular cardiomyocyte transient outward K + current ( I to ) mediates the initial phase of myocyte repolarization and its disruption is implicated in Brugada Syndrome and heart failure (HF). Human cardiac I to is generated primarily by two Kv4.3 splice variants (Kv4.3L and Kv4.3S, diverging only by a C-terminal, S6-proximal, 19-residue stretch unique to Kv4.3L), which are differentially remodeled in HF, but considered functionally alike at baseline. Kv4.3 is regulated in human heart by β subunits including KChIP2b and KCNEs, but their effects were previously assumed to be Kv4.3 isoform-independent. Here, this assumption was tested experimentally using two-electrode voltage-clamp analysis of human subunits co-expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Unexpectedly, Kv4.3L-KChIP2b channels exhibited up to 8-fold lower current augmentation, 40% slower inactivation, and 5 mV-shifted steady-state inactivation compared to Kv4.3S-KChIP2b. A synthetic peptide mimicking the 19-residue stretch diminished these differences, reinforcing the importance of this segment in mediating Kv4.3 regulation by KChIP2b. KCNE subunits induced further functional divergence, including a 7-fold increase in Kv4.3S-KCNE4-KChIP2b current compared to Kv4.3L-KCNE4-KChIP2b. The discovery of β-subunit-dependent functional divergence in human Kv4.3 splice variants suggests a C-terminal signaling hub is crucial to governing β-subunit effects upon Kv4.3, and demonstrates the potential significance of differential Kv4.3 gene-splicing and β subunit expression in myocyte physiology and pathobiology.

  6. Kangaroo IGF-II is structurally and functionally similar to the human [Ser29]-IGF-II variant.

    PubMed

    Yandell, C A; Francis, G L; Wheldrake, J F; Upton, Z

    1999-06-01

    Kangaroo IGF-II has been purified from western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus) serum and characterised in a number of in vitro assays. In addition, the complete cDNA sequence of mature IGF-II has been obtained by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Comparison of the kangaroo IGF-II cDNA sequence with known IGF-II sequences from other species revealed that it is very similar to the human variant, [Ser29]-hIGF-II. Both the variant and kangaroo IGF-II contain an insert of nine nucleotides that encode the amino acids Leu-Pro-Gly at the junction of the B and C domains of the mature protein. The deduced kangaroo IGF-II protein sequence also contains three other amino acid changes that are not observed in human IGF-II. These amino acid differences share similarities with the changes described in many of the IGF-IIs reported for non-mammalian species. Characterisation of human IGF-II, kangaroo IGF-II, chicken IGF-II and [Ser29]-hIGF-II in a number of in vitro assays revealed that all four proteins are functionally very similar. No significant differences were observed in the ability of the IGF-IIs to bind to the bovine IGF-II/cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor or to stimulate protein synthesis in rat L6 myoblasts. However, differences were observed in their abilities to bind to IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) present in human serum. Kangaroo, chicken and [Ser29]-hIGF-II had lower apparent affinities for human IGFBPs than did human IGF-II. Thus, it appears that the major circulating form of IGF-II in the kangaroo and a minor form of IGF-II found in human serum are structurally and functionally very similar. This suggests that the splice site that generates both the variant and major form of human IGF-II must have evolved after the divergence of marsupials from placental mammals.

  7. dNTP pool levels modulate mutator phenotypes of error-prone DNA polymerase ε variants.

    PubMed

    Williams, Lindsey N; Marjavaara, Lisette; Knowels, Gary M; Schultz, Eric M; Fox, Edward J; Chabes, Andrei; Herr, Alan J

    2015-05-12

    Mutator phenotypes create genetic diversity that fuels tumor evolution. DNA polymerase (Pol) ε mediates leading strand DNA replication. Proofreading defects in this enzyme drive a number of human malignancies. Here, using budding yeast, we show that mutator variants of Pol ε depend on damage uninducible (Dun)1, an S-phase checkpoint kinase that maintains dNTP levels during a normal cell cycle and up-regulates dNTP synthesis upon checkpoint activation. Deletion of DUN1 (dun1Δ) suppresses the mutator phenotype of pol2-4 (encoding Pol ε proofreading deficiency) and is synthetically lethal with pol2-M644G (encoding altered Pol ε base selectivity). Although pol2-4 cells cycle normally, pol2-M644G cells progress slowly through S-phase. The pol2-M644G cells tolerate deletions of mediator of the replication checkpoint (MRC) 1 (mrc1Δ) and radiation sensitive (Rad) 9 (rad9Δ), which encode mediators of checkpoint responses to replication stress and DNA damage, respectively. The pol2-M644G mutator phenotype is partially suppressed by mrc1Δ but not rad9Δ; neither deletion suppresses the pol2-4 mutator phenotype. Thus, checkpoint activation augments the Dun1 effect on replication fidelity but is not required for it. Deletions of genes encoding key Dun1 targets that negatively regulate dNTP synthesis, suppress the dun1Δ pol2-M644G synthetic lethality and restore the mutator phenotype of pol2-4 in dun1Δ cells. DUN1 pol2-M644G cells have constitutively high dNTP levels, consistent with checkpoint activation. In contrast, pol2-4 and POL2 cells have similar dNTP levels, which decline in the absence of Dun1 and rise in the absence of the negative regulators of dNTP synthesis. Thus, dNTP pool levels correlate with Pol ε mutator severity, suggesting that treatments targeting dNTP pools could modulate mutator phenotypes for therapy.

  8. The human TLR4 variant D299G mediates inflammation-associated cancer progression in the intestinal epithelium.

    PubMed

    Cario, Elke

    2013-07-01

    Homeostatic TLR4 signaling protects the intestinal epithelium in health. Evidence suggests that perturbed TLR4 signaling is linked to carcinogenesis. We have recently demonstrated that the common human TLR4 variant D299G exerts pro-inflammatory effects and drives malignant tumor progression in human colon cancer.

  9. RadVel: General toolkit for modeling Radial Velocities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fulton, Benjamin J.; Petigura, Erik A.; Blunt, Sarah; Sinukoff, Evan

    2018-01-01

    RadVel models Keplerian orbits in radial velocity (RV) time series. The code is written in Python with a fast Kepler's equation solver written in C. It provides a framework for fitting RVs using maximum a posteriori optimization and computing robust confidence intervals by sampling the posterior probability density via Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). RadVel can perform Bayesian model comparison and produces publication quality plots and LaTeX tables.

  10. Extracting BI-RADS Features from Portuguese Clinical Texts.

    PubMed

    Nassif, Houssam; Cunha, Filipe; Moreira, Inês C; Cruz-Correia, Ricardo; Sousa, Eliana; Page, David; Burnside, Elizabeth; Dutra, Inês

    2012-01-01

    In this work we build the first BI-RADS parser for Portuguese free texts, modeled after existing approaches to extract BI-RADS features from English medical records. Our concept finder uses a semantic grammar based on the BIRADS lexicon and on iterative transferred expert knowledge. We compare the performance of our algorithm to manual annotation by a specialist in mammography. Our results show that our parser's performance is comparable to the manual method.

  11. HUMAN LIVER FATTY ACID BINDING PROTEIN (L-FABP) T94A VARIANT ALTERS STRUCTURE, STABILITY, AND INTERACTION WITH FIBRATES

    PubMed Central

    Martin, Gregory G.; McIntosh, Avery L.; Huang, Huan; Gupta, Shipra; Atshaves, Barbara P.; Landrock, Kerstin K.; Landrock, Danilo; Kier, Ann B.; Schroeder, Friedhelm

    2014-01-01

    Although the human L-FABP T94A variant arises from the most commonly occurring SNP in the entire FABP family, there is a complete lack of understanding regarding the role of this polymorphism in human disease. It has been hypothesized that the T94A substitution results in complete loss of ligand binding ability and function analogous to L-FABP gene ablation. This possibility was addressed using recombinant human WT T94T and T94A variant L-FABP and cultured primary human hepatocytes. Non-conservative replacement of the medium sized, polar, uncharged T residue by a smaller, nonpolar, aliphatic A residue at position 94 of human L-FABP significantly increased L-FABP protein α-helical structure at the expense of β-sheet and concomitantly decreased thermal stability. T94A did not alter binding affinities for PPARα agonist ligands (phytanic acid, fenofibrate, fenofibric acid). While T94A did not alter the impact of phytanic acid and only slightly altered that of fenofibrate on human L-FABP secondary structure, the active metabolite fenofibric acid altered T94A secondary structure much more than that of WT T94T L-FABP. Finally, in cultured primary human hepatocytes the T94A variant exhibited significantly reduced fibrate-mediated induction of PPARα-regulated proteins such as L-FABP, FATP5, and PPARα itself. Thus, while T94A substitution did not alter the affinity of human L-FABP for PPARα agonist ligands, it significantly altered human L-FABP structure, stability, as well as conformational and functional response to fibrate. PMID:24299557

  12. Functional variants of human papillomavirus type 16 demonstrate host genome integration and transcriptional alterations corresponding to their unique cancer epidemiology.

    PubMed

    Jackson, Robert; Rosa, Bruce A; Lameiras, Sonia; Cuninghame, Sean; Bernard, Josee; Floriano, Wely B; Lambert, Paul F; Nicolas, Alain; Zehbe, Ingeborg

    2016-11-02

    Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are a worldwide burden as they are a widespread group of tumour viruses in humans. Having a tropism for mucosal tissues, high-risk HPVs are detected in nearly all cervical cancers. HPV16 is the most common high-risk type but not all women infected with high-risk HPV develop a malignant tumour. Likely relevant, HPV genomes are polymorphic and some HPV16 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are under evolutionary constraint instigating variable oncogenicity and immunogenicity in the infected host. To investigate the tumourigenicity of two common HPV16 variants, we used our recently developed, three-dimensional organotypic model reminiscent of the natural HPV infectious cycle and conducted various "omics" and bioinformatics approaches. Based on epidemiological studies we chose to examine the HPV16 Asian-American (AA) and HPV16 European Prototype (EP) variants. They differ by three non-synonymous SNPs in the transforming and virus-encoded E6 oncogene where AAE6 is classified as a high- and EPE6 as a low-risk variant. Remarkably, the high-risk AAE6 variant genome integrated into the host DNA, while the low-risk EPE6 variant genome remained episomal as evidenced by highly sensitive Capt-HPV sequencing. RNA-seq experiments showed that the truncated form of AAE6, integrated in chromosome 5q32, produced a local gene over-expression and a large variety of viral-human fusion transcripts, including long distance spliced transcripts. In addition, differential enrichment of host cell pathways was observed between both HPV16 E6 variant-containing epithelia. Finally, in the high-risk variant, we detected a molecular signature of host chromosomal instability, a common property of cancer cells. We show how naturally occurring SNPs in the HPV16 E6 oncogene cause significant changes in the outcome of HPV infections and subsequent viral and host transcriptome alterations prone to drive carcinogenesis. Host genome instability is closely linked to viral

  13. Identification and functional characterization of genetic variants of human organic cation transporters in a Korean population.

    PubMed

    Kang, Ho-Jin; Song, Im-Sook; Shin, Ho Jung; Kim, Woo-Young; Lee, Choong-Hee; Shim, Joo-Cheol; Zhou, Hong-Hao; Lee, Sang Seop; Shin, Jae-Gook

    2007-04-01

    Genetic variants of three human organic cation transporter genes (hOCTs) were extensively explored in a Korean population. The functional changes of hOCT2 variants were evaluated in vitro, and those genetic polymorphisms of hOCTs were compared among different ethnic populations. From direct DNA sequencing, 7 of 13 coding variants were nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including four variants from hOCT1 (F160L, P283L, P341L, and M408V) and three from hOCT2 (T199I, T201M, and A270S), whereas 6 were synonymous SNPs. The linkage disequilibrium analysis presented for three independent LD blocks for each hOCT gene showed no significant linkage among all three hOCT genes. The transporter activities of MDCK cells that overexpress the hOCT2-T199I, -T201M, and -A270S variants showed significantly decreased uptake of [(3)H]methyl-4-phenylpyridinium acetate (MPP(+)) or [(14)C]tetraethylammonium compared with those cells that overexpress wild-type hOCT2, and the estimated kinetic parameters of these variants for [(3)H]MPP(+) uptake in oocytes showed a 2- to 5-fold increase in K(m) values and a 10- to 20-fold decrease in V(max) values. The allele frequencies of the five functional variants hOCT1-P283L, -P341L, and hOCT2-T199I, -T201M, and -A270S were 1.3, 17, 0.7, 0.7, and 11%, respectively, in a Korean population; the frequency distributions of these variants were not significantly different from those of Chinese and Vietnamese populations. These findings suggest that genetic variants of hOCTs are not linked among three genes in a Korean population, and several of the hOCT genetic variants cause decreased transport activity in vitro compared with the wild type, although the clinical relevance of these variants remains to be evaluated.

  14. A human APOC3 missense variant and monoclonal antibody accelerate apoC-III clearance and lower triglyceride-rich lipoprotein levels.

    PubMed

    Khetarpal, Sumeet A; Zeng, Xuemei; Millar, John S; Vitali, Cecilia; Somasundara, Amritha Varshini Hanasoge; Zanoni, Paolo; Landro, James A; Barucci, Nicole; Zavadoski, William J; Sun, Zhiyuan; de Haard, Hans; Toth, Ildikó V; Peloso, Gina M; Natarajan, Pradeep; Cuchel, Marina; Lund-Katz, Sissel; Phillips, Michael C; Tall, Alan R; Kathiresan, Sekar; DaSilva-Jardine, Paul; Yates, Nathan A; Rader, Daniel J

    2017-09-01

    Recent large-scale genetic sequencing efforts have identified rare coding variants in genes in the triglyceride-rich lipoprotein (TRL) clearance pathway that are protective against coronary heart disease (CHD), independently of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. Insight into the mechanisms of protection of these variants may facilitate the development of new therapies for lowering TRL levels. The gene APOC3 encodes apoC-III, a critical inhibitor of triglyceride (TG) lipolysis and remnant TRL clearance. Here we report a detailed interrogation of the mechanism of TRL lowering by the APOC3 Ala43Thr (A43T) variant, the only missense (rather than protein-truncating) variant in APOC3 reported to be TG lowering and protective against CHD. We found that both human APOC3 A43T heterozygotes and mice expressing human APOC3 A43T display markedly reduced circulating apoC-III levels. In mice, this reduction is due to impaired binding of A43T apoC-III to lipoproteins and accelerated renal catabolism of free apoC-III. Moreover, the reduced content of apoC-III in TRLs resulted in accelerated clearance of circulating TRLs. On the basis of this protective mechanism, we developed a monoclonal antibody targeting lipoprotein-bound human apoC-III that promotes circulating apoC-III clearance in mice expressing human APOC3 and enhances TRL catabolism in vivo. These data reveal the molecular mechanism by which a missense variant in APOC3 causes reduced circulating TG levels and, hence, protects from CHD. This protective mechanism has the potential to be exploited as a new therapeutic approach to reduce apoC-III levels and circulating TRL burden.

  15. Human leukocyte antigen B27 and B51 double-positive Behçet uveitis.

    PubMed

    Ahn, Jae Kyoun; Park, Yeoung Geol

    2007-10-01

    To describe the clinical characteristics of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B27 and B51 double-positive Behçet uveitis and to determine whether the coexistence of HLA-B27 can affect Behçet uveitis. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with Behçet uveitis and patients with HLA-B27-associated non-Behçet uveitis who underwent HLA-B27 and HLA-B51 typing and were followed up for more than 3 years. We divided the patients into 3 groups according to HLA-B27/B51 status and compared the clinical outcomes. Main outcome measures were demographic features, uveitis characteristics, complications, treatments, and visual prognosis. Fourteen patients with HLA-B27(+)B51(+) Behçet uveitis, 43 patients with HLA-B27(-)B51(+) Behçet uveitis, and 41 patients with HLA-B27(+)B51(-) non-Behçet uveitis were identified. HLA-B27(+)B51(+) Behçet uveitis showed the demographic features similar to HLA-B27(-) counterparts. However, HLA-B27(+)B51(+) Behçet uveitis showed less involvement of posterior segments, a less chronic course, fewer complications in posterior segments, and less use of systemic medication or surgical intervention for inflammatory control, similar to HLA-B27(+)B51(-) non-Behçet uveitis. The long-term vision prognosis of HLA-B27(+)B51(+) Behçet uveitis was more favorable than that of HLA-B27(-)B51(+) Behçet uveitis. Our results indicate that HLA-B27(+)B51(+) Behçet uveitis is a benign subgroup of Behçet uveitis. The positivity of HLA-B27 may be a good prognostic factor in Behçet uveitis.

  16. Evaluating the performance of PI-RADS v2 in the non-academic setting.

    PubMed

    Jordan, Eric J; Fiske, Charles; Zagoria, Ronald J; Westphalen, Antonio C

    2017-11-01

    To evaluate the utility of PI-RADS v2 to diagnose clinically significant prostate cancer (CS-PCa) with magnetic resonance ultrasound (MR/US) fusion-guided prostate biopsies in the non-academic setting. Retrospective analysis of men whom underwent prostate multiparametric MRI and subsequent MR/US fusion biopsies at a single non-academic center from 11/2014 to 3/2016. Prostate MRIs were performed on a 3-Tesla scanner with a surface body coil. The Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) v2 scoring algorithm was utilized and MR/US fusion biopsies were performed in selected cases. Mixed effect logistic regression analyses and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed on PI-RADS v2 alone and combined with PSA density (PSAD) to predict CS-PCa. 170 patients underwent prostate MRI with 282 PI-RADS lesions. MR/US fusion diagnosed 71 CS-PCa, 33 Gleason score 3+3, and 168 negative. PI-RADS v2 score is a statistically significant predictor of CS-PCa (P < 0.001). For each one-point increase in the overall PI-RADS v2 score, the odds of having CS-PCa increases by 4.2 (95% CI 2.2-8.3). The area under the ROC curve for PI-RADS v2 is 0.69 (95% CI 0.63-0.76) and for PI-RADS v2 + PSAD is 0.76 (95% CI 0.69-0.82), statistically higher than PI-RADS v2 alone (P < 0.001). The rate of CS-PCa was about twice higher in men with high PSAD (≥0.15) compared to men with low PSAD (<0.15) when a PI-RADS 4 or 5 lesion was detected (P = 0.005). PI-RADS v2 is a strong predictor of CS-PCa in the non-academic setting and can be further strengthened when utilized with PSA density.

  17. Reach Address Database (RAD)

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The Reach Address Database (RAD) stores the reach address of each Water Program feature that has been linked to the underlying surface water features (streams, lakes, etc) in the National Hydrology Database (NHD). (A reach is the portion of a stream between two points of confluence. A confluence is the location where two or more streams flow together.)

  18. Find Recycling Facilities Servicing RAD Partners

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    RAD partners help protect the ozone layer and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by disposing of older, inefficient refrigerated appliances using the best environmental practices and technologies available.

  19. RAD21L, a novel cohesin subunit implicated in linking homologous chromosomes in mammalian meiosis.

    PubMed

    Lee, Jibak; Hirano, Tatsuya

    2011-01-24

    Cohesins are multi-subunit protein complexes that regulate sister chromatid cohesion during mitosis and meiosis. Here we identified a novel kleisin subunit of cohesins, RAD21L, which is conserved among vertebrates. In mice, RAD21L is expressed exclusively in early meiosis: it apparently replaces RAD21 in premeiotic S phase, becomes detectable on the axial elements in leptotene, and stays on the axial/lateral elements until mid pachytene. RAD21L then disappears, and is replaced with RAD21. This behavior of RAD21L is unique and distinct from that of REC8, another meiosis-specific kleisin subunit. Remarkably, the disappearance of RAD21L at mid pachytene correlates with the completion of DNA double-strand break repair and the formation of crossovers as judged by colabeling with molecular markers, γ-H2AX, MSH4, and MLH1. RAD21L associates with SMC3, STAG3, and either SMC1α or SMC1β. Our results suggest that cohesin complexes containing RAD21L may be involved in synapsis initiation and crossover recombination between homologous chromosomes.

  20. The human TLR4 variant D299G mediates inflammation-associated cancer progression in the intestinal epithelium

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Homeostatic TLR4 signaling protects the intestinal epithelium in health. Evidence suggests that perturbed TLR4 signaling is linked to carcinogenesis. We have recently demonstrated that the common human TLR4 variant D299G exerts pro-inflammatory effects and drives malignant tumor progression in human colon cancer. PMID:24073372

  1. Radiomic modeling of BI-RADS density categories

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wei, Jun; Chan, Heang-Ping; Helvie, Mark A.; Roubidoux, Marilyn A.; Zhou, Chuan; Hadjiiski, Lubomir

    2017-03-01

    Screening mammography is the most effective and low-cost method to date for early cancer detection. Mammographic breast density has been shown to be highly correlated with breast cancer risk. We are developing a radiomic model for BI-RADS density categorization on digital mammography (FFDM) with a supervised machine learning approach. With IRB approval, we retrospectively collected 478 FFDMs from 478 women. As a gold standard, breast density was assessed by an MQSA radiologist based on BI-RADS categories. The raw FFDMs were used for computerized density assessment. The raw FFDM first underwent log-transform to approximate the x-ray sensitometric response, followed by multiscale processing to enhance the fibroglandular densities and parenchymal patterns. Three ROIs were automatically identified based on the keypoint distribution, where the keypoints were obtained as the extrema in the image Gaussian scale-space. A total of 73 features, including intensity and texture features that describe the density and the parenchymal pattern, were extracted from each breast. Our BI-RADS density estimator was constructed by using a random forest classifier. We used a 10-fold cross validation resampling approach to estimate the errors. With the random forest classifier, computerized density categories for 412 of the 478 cases agree with radiologist's assessment (weighted kappa = 0.93). The machine learning method with radiomic features as predictors demonstrated a high accuracy in classifying FFDMs into BI-RADS density categories. Further work is underway to improve our system performance as well as to perform an independent testing using a large unseen FFDM set.

  2. Kinetic gating mechanism of DNA damage recognition by Rad4/XPC

    DOE PAGES

    Chen, Xuejing; Velmurugu, Yogambigai; Zheng, Guanqun; ...

    2015-01-06

    The xeroderma pigmentosum C (XPC) complex initiates nucleotide excision repair by recognizing DNA lesions before recruiting downstream factors. How XPC detects structurally diverse lesions embedded within normal DNA is unknown. Here we present a crystal structure that captures the yeast XPC orthologue (Rad4) on a single register of undamaged DNA. The structure shows that a disulphide-tethered Rad4 flips out normal nucleotides and adopts a conformation similar to that seen with damaged DNA. Contrary to many DNA repair enzymes that can directly reject non-target sites as structural misfits, our results suggest that Rad4/XPC uses a kinetic gating mechanism whereby lesion selectivitymore » arises from the kinetic competition between DNA opening and the residence time of Rad4/XPC per site. This mechanism is further supported by measurements of Rad4-induced lesion-opening times using temperature-jump perturbation spectroscopy. Lastly, kinetic gating may be a general mechanism used by site-specific DNA-binding proteins to minimize time-consuming interrogations of non-target sites.« less

  3. Affinity purification of human factor H on polypeptides derived from streptococcal m protein: enrichment of the Y402 variant.

    PubMed

    Nilsson, O Rickard; Lannergård, Jonas; Morgan, B Paul; Lindahl, Gunnar; Gustafsson, Mattias C U

    2013-01-01

    Recent studies indicate that defective activity of complement factor H (FH) is associated with several human diseases, suggesting that pure FH may be used for therapy. Here, we describe a simple method to isolate human FH, based on the specific interaction between FH and the hypervariable region (HVR) of certain Streptococcus pyogenes M proteins. Special interest was focused on the FH polymorphism Y402H, which is associated with the common eye disease age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and has also been implicated in the binding to M protein. Using a fusion protein containing two copies of the M5-HVR, we found that the Y402 and H402 variants of FH could be efficiently purified by single-step affinity chromatography from human serum containing the corresponding protein. Different M proteins vary in their binding properties, and the M6 and M5 proteins, but not the M18 protein, showed selective binding of the FH Y402 variant. Accordingly, chromatography on a fusion protein derived from the M6-HVR allowed enrichment of the Y402 protein from serum containing both variants. Thus, the exquisite binding specificity of a bacterial protein can be exploited to develop a simple and robust procedure to purify FH and to enrich for the FH variant that protects against AMD.

  4. Extracting BI-RADS Features from Portuguese Clinical Texts

    PubMed Central

    Nassif, Houssam; Cunha, Filipe; Moreira, Inês C.; Cruz-Correia, Ricardo; Sousa, Eliana; Page, David; Burnside, Elizabeth; Dutra, Inês

    2013-01-01

    In this work we build the first BI-RADS parser for Portuguese free texts, modeled after existing approaches to extract BI-RADS features from English medical records. Our concept finder uses a semantic grammar based on the BIRADS lexicon and on iterative transferred expert knowledge. We compare the performance of our algorithm to manual annotation by a specialist in mammography. Our results show that our parser’s performance is comparable to the manual method. PMID:23797461

  5. 42 CFR 136.51 - Applicability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Applicability. 136.51 Section 136.51 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH Abortions and Related Medical Services in Indian Health Service...

  6. 42 CFR 136.51 - Applicability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Applicability. 136.51 Section 136.51 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH Abortions and Related Medical Services in Indian Health Service...

  7. 42 CFR 136.51 - Applicability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Applicability. 136.51 Section 136.51 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH Abortions and Related Medical Services in Indian Health Service...

  8. 42 CFR 136.51 - Applicability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Applicability. 136.51 Section 136.51 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH Abortions and Related Medical Services in Indian Health Service...

  9. 42 CFR 136.51 - Applicability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Applicability. 136.51 Section 136.51 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH Abortions and Related Medical Services in Indian Health Service...

  10. Human papillomavirus type 18 variant lineages in United States populations characterized by sequence analysis of LCR-E6, E2, and L1 regions.

    PubMed

    Arias-Pulido, Hugo; Peyton, Cheri L; Torrez-Martínez, Norah; Anderson, D Nelson; Wheeler, Cosette M

    2005-07-20

    While HPV 16 variant lineages have been well characterized, the knowledge about HPV 18 variants is limited. In this study, HPV 18 nucleotide variations in the E2 hinge region were characterized by sequence analysis in 47 control and 51 tumor specimens. Fifty of these specimens were randomly selected for sequencing of an LCR-E6 segment and 20 samples representative of LCR-E6 and E2 sequence variants were examined across the L1 region. A total of 2770 nucleotides per HPV 18 variant genome were considered in this study. HPV 18 variant nucleotides were linked among all gene segments analyzed and grouped into three main branches: Asian-American (AA), European (E), and African (Af). These three branches were equally distributed among controls and cases and when stratified by Hispanic and non-Hispanic ethnicities. Among invasive cervical cancer cases, no significant differences in the three HPV variant branches were observed among ethnic groups or when stratified by histopathology (squamous vs. adenocarcinoma). The Af branch showed the greatest nucleotide variability when compared to the HPV 18 reference sequence and was more closely related to HPV 45 than either AA or E branches. Our data also characterize nucleotide and amino acid variations in the L1 capsid gene among HPV 18 variants, which may be relevant to vaccine strategies and subsequent studies of naturally occurring HPV 18 variants. Several novel HPV 18 nucleotide variations were identified in this study.

  11. Asian-American variants of human papillomavirus 16 and risk for cervical cancer: a case-control study.

    PubMed

    Berumen, J; Ordoñez, R M; Lazcano, E; Salmeron, J; Galvan, S C; Estrada, R A; Yunes, E; Garcia-Carranca, A; Gonzalez-Lira, G; Madrigal-de la Campa, A

    2001-09-05

    Human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) has a number of variants, each with a different geographic distribution and some that are associated more often with invasive neoplasias. We investigated whether the high incidence of cervical cancer in Mexico (50 cases per 100 000 women) may be associated with a high prevalence of oncogenic HPV16 variants. Cervical samples were collected from 181 case patients with cervical cancer and from 181 age-matched control subjects, all from Mexico City. HPV16 was detected with an E6/E7 gene-specific polymerase chain reaction, and variant HPV classes and subclasses were identified by sequencing regions of the E6 and L1/MY genes. Clinical data and data on tumor characteristics were also collected. All statistical tests were two-sided. HPV16 was detected in cervical scrapes from 50.8% (92 of 181) of case patients and from 11% (20 of 181) of control subjects. All HPV16-positive samples, except one, contained European (E) or Asian-American (AA) variants. AA and E variants were found statistically significantly more often in case patients (AA = 23.2% [42 of 181]; E = 27.1% [49 of 181]) than in control subjects (AA = 1.1% [two of 181]; E = 10% [18 of 181]) (P<.001 for case versus control subjects for either E or AA variants, chi2 test). However, the frequency of AA variants was 21 times higher in cancer patients than in control subjects, whereas that ratio for E variants was only 2.7 (P =.006, chi2 test). The odds ratio (OR) for cervical cancer associated with AA variants (OR = 27.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.4 to 113.7) was higher than that associated with E variants (OR = 3.4; 95% CI = 1.9 to 6.0). AA-positive case patients (46.2 +/- 12.5 years [mean +/- standard deviation]) were 7.7 years younger than E-positive case patients (53.9 +/- 12.2 years) (P =.004, Student's t test). AA variants were associated with squamous cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas, but E variants were associated with only squamous cell carcinomas (P =.014, Fisher

  12. Automated measurement of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin using the Bio-Rad %CDT by the HPLC test on a Variant HPLC system: evaluation and comparison with other routine procedures.

    PubMed

    Schellenberg, François; Mennetrey, Louise; Girre, Catherine; Nalpas, Bertrand; Pagès, Jean Christophe

    2008-01-01

    In this study, we evaluated the new %CDT by the HPLC method (Bio-Rad, Germany) on a Varianttrade mark HPLC system (Bio-Rad), checked the correlation with well-known methods and calculated the diagnostic value of the test. Intra-run and day-to-day precision values were calculated for samples with extreme serum transferrin concentrations, high trisialotransferrin and interfering conditions (haemolysed, lactescent and icteric samples). The method was compared with two routine procedures, the %CDT TIA (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) and the Capillarystrade mark CDT (Sebia, France). A total of 350 clinical sera samples were used for a case-control study. Precision values were better in high CDT and medium CDT pools than in low CDT pools. The serum transferrin concentration had no effect on CDT measurement, except in samples with serum transferrin <1 g/L. Haemolysis was the only interfering situation. The method showed high correlation (r(2) > 0.95) with the two other methods (%CDT TIA and CZE %CDT). The global predictive value of the test was >0.90 at 1.9% cut-off. These results demonstrate that the %CDT by the HPLC test is suitable for CDT routine measurement; the results from the high-throughput Varianttrade mark system are well correlated with other methods and are of high diagnostic value.

  13. Protein Phosphatase Pph3 and Its Regulatory Subunit Psy2 Regulate Rad53 Dephosphorylation and Cell Morphogenesis during Recovery from DNA Damage in Candida albicans ▿

    PubMed Central

    Sun, Ling Ling; Li, Wan Jie; Wang, Hai Tao; Chen, Jie; Deng, Ping; Wang, Yue; Sang, Jian Li

    2011-01-01

    The ability of the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans to switch cellular morphologies is important for infection and virulence. Recent studies have revealed that C. albicans yeast cells can switch to filamentous growth under genotoxic stress in a manner dependent on the DNA replication/damage checkpoint. Here, we have investigated the functions of Pph3 (orf19.4378) and Psy2 (orf19.3685), whose orthologues in Saccharomyces cerevisiae mediate the dephosphorylation of the DNA damage checkpoint kinase Rad53 and the histone variant H2AX during recovery from DNA damage. Deleting PPH3 or PSY2 causes hypersensitivity to DNA-damaging agents, including cisplatin, methylmethane sulfonate (MMS), and UV light. In addition, pph3Δ and psy2Δ cells exhibit strong filamentous growth under genotoxic stress. Flow cytometry analysis shows that the mutant cells have lost the ability to adapt to genotoxic stress and remain arrested even after the stress is withdrawn. Furthermore, we show that Pph3 and Psy2 are required for the dephosphorylation of Rad53, but not H2AX, during DNA damage recovery. Taken together, these results show that C. albicans Pph3 and Psy2 have important roles in mediating genotoxin-induced filamentous growth and regulating Rad53 dephosphorylation. PMID:21890819

  14. Variant Interpretation: Functional Assays to the Rescue.

    PubMed

    Starita, Lea M; Ahituv, Nadav; Dunham, Maitreya J; Kitzman, Jacob O; Roth, Frederick P; Seelig, Georg; Shendure, Jay; Fowler, Douglas M

    2017-09-07

    Classical genetic approaches for interpreting variants, such as case-control or co-segregation studies, require finding many individuals with each variant. Because the overwhelming majority of variants are present in only a few living humans, this strategy has clear limits. Fully realizing the clinical potential of genetics requires that we accurately infer pathogenicity even for rare or private variation. Many computational approaches to predicting variant effects have been developed, but they can identify only a small fraction of pathogenic variants with the high confidence that is required in the clinic. Experimentally measuring a variant's functional consequences can provide clearer guidance, but individual assays performed only after the discovery of the variant are both time and resource intensive. Here, we discuss how multiplex assays of variant effect (MAVEs) can be used to measure the functional consequences of all possible variants in disease-relevant loci for a variety of molecular and cellular phenotypes. The resulting large-scale functional data can be combined with machine learning and clinical knowledge for the development of "lookup tables" of accurate pathogenicity predictions. A coordinated effort to produce, analyze, and disseminate large-scale functional data generated by multiplex assays could be essential to addressing the variant-interpretation crisis. Copyright © 2017 American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. A Novel Variant of Narrow-Spectrum Antifungal Bacterial Lipopeptides That Strongly Inhibit Ganoderma boninense.

    PubMed

    Pramudito, Theodorus Eko; Agustina, Delia; Nguyen, Thi Kim Ngan; Suwanto, Antonius

    2018-03-01

    Bacterial antifungal cyclic lipopeptides (ACLs) have become a promising alternative to synthetic fungicide to control pathogenic fungi. Bacillus sp. is known to produce three families of ACL, namely iturin, surfactin, and fengycin. In this paper, we characterized the ACLs produced by B. methylotrophicus HC51 (referred as HC51) mainly regarding its composition and effectivity against fungal plant pathogen. HC51 culture was tested against various pathogenic fungi and the ACLs were extracted and analyzed using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. HC51 showed strong antifungal activity against the plant pathogens Ganoderma sp. and Fusarium sp. Cell-free methanol extract of HC51 contains iturin A and various variants of fengycin. C16 fengycin A was present in four fractions which indicates it as a major component of ACL from HC51. Five variants of fengycin were detected, four of which had been previously reported. We found a novel C17 fengycin F that is characterized by a substitution of L-ornithine into lysine. Considering that L-ornithine is an important building block of fengycin, this substitution suggests the possibility of an alternative pathway for fengycin biosynthesis.

  16. RAD21L, a novel cohesin subunit implicated in linking homologous chromosomes in mammalian meiosis

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Jibak

    2011-01-01

    Cohesins are multi-subunit protein complexes that regulate sister chromatid cohesion during mitosis and meiosis. Here we identified a novel kleisin subunit of cohesins, RAD21L, which is conserved among vertebrates. In mice, RAD21L is expressed exclusively in early meiosis: it apparently replaces RAD21 in premeiotic S phase, becomes detectable on the axial elements in leptotene, and stays on the axial/lateral elements until mid pachytene. RAD21L then disappears, and is replaced with RAD21. This behavior of RAD21L is unique and distinct from that of REC8, another meiosis-specific kleisin subunit. Remarkably, the disappearance of RAD21L at mid pachytene correlates with the completion of DNA double-strand break repair and the formation of crossovers as judged by colabeling with molecular markers, γ-H2AX, MSH4, and MLH1. RAD21L associates with SMC3, STAG3, and either SMC1α or SMC1β. Our results suggest that cohesin complexes containing RAD21L may be involved in synapsis initiation and crossover recombination between homologous chromosomes. PMID:21242291

  17. Rad5, HLTF, and SHPRH: A Fresh View of an Old Story.

    PubMed

    Elserafy, Menattallah; Abugable, Arwa A; Atteya, Reham; El-Khamisy, Sherif F

    2018-05-25

    Not only have helicase-like transcription factor (HLTF) and SNF2 histone-linker PHD-finger RING-finger helicase (SHPRH) proved to be important players in post-replication repair like their yeast counterpart, Rad5, but they are also involved in multiple biological functions and are associated with several human disorders. We provide here an updated view of their functions, associated diseases, and potential therapeutic approaches. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  18. Use of deep whole-genome sequencing data to identify structure risk variants in breast cancer susceptibility genes.

    PubMed

    Guo, Xingyi; Shi, Jiajun; Cai, Qiuyin; Shu, Xiao-Ou; He, Jing; Wen, Wanqing; Allen, Jamie; Pharoah, Paul; Dunning, Alison; Hunter, David J; Kraft, Peter; Easton, Douglas F; Zheng, Wei; Long, Jirong

    2018-03-01

    Functional disruptions of susceptibility genes by large genomic structure variant (SV) deletions in germlines are known to be associated with cancer risk. However, few studies have been conducted to systematically search for SV deletions in breast cancer susceptibility genes. We analysed deep (> 30x) whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data generated in blood samples from 128 breast cancer patients of Asian and European descent with either a strong family history of breast cancer or early cancer onset disease. To identify SV deletions in known or suspected breast cancer susceptibility genes, we used multiple SV calling tools including Genome STRiP, Delly, Manta, BreakDancer and Pindel. SV deletions were detected by at least three of these bioinformatics tools in five genes. Specifically, we identified heterozygous deletions covering a fraction of the coding regions of BRCA1 (with approximately 80kb in two patients), and TP53 genes (with ∼1.6 kb in two patients), and of intronic regions (∼1 kb) of the PALB2 (one patient), PTEN (three patients) and RAD51C genes (one patient). We confirmed the presence of these deletions using real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR). Our study identified novel SV deletions in breast cancer susceptibility genes and the identification of such SV deletions may improve clinical testing.

  19. Productive replication of human papillomavirus 31 requires DNA repair factor Nbs1.

    PubMed

    Anacker, Daniel C; Gautam, Dipendra; Gillespie, Kenric A; Chappell, William H; Moody, Cary A

    2014-08-01

    Activation of the ATM (ataxia telangiectasia-mutated kinase)-dependent DNA damage response (DDR) is necessary for productive replication of human papillomavirus 31 (HPV31). We previously found that DNA repair and homologous recombination (HR) factors localize to sites of HPV replication, suggesting that ATM activity is required to recruit factors to viral genomes that can productively replicate viral DNA in a recombination-dependent manner. The Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) complex is an essential component of the DDR that is necessary for ATM-mediated HR repair and localizes to HPV DNA foci. In this study, we demonstrate that the HPV E7 protein is sufficient to increase levels of the MRN complex and also interacts with MRN components. We have found that Nbs1 depletion blocks productive viral replication and results in decreased localization of Mre11, Rad50, and the principal HR factor Rad51 to HPV DNA foci upon differentiation. Nbs1 contributes to the DDR by acting as an upstream activator of ATM in response to double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) and as a downstream effector of ATM activity in the intra-S-phase checkpoint. We have found that phosphorylation of ATM and its downstream target Chk2, as well as SMC1 (structural maintenance of chromosome 1), is maintained upon Nbs1 knockdown in differentiating cells. Given that ATM and Chk2 are required for productive replication, our results suggest that Nbs1 contributes to viral replication outside its role as an ATM activator, potentially through ensuring localization of DNA repair factors to viral genomes that are necessary for efficient productive replication. The mechanisms that regulate human papillomavirus (HPV) replication during the viral life cycle are not well understood. Our finding that Nbs1 is necessary for productive replication even in the presence of ATM (ataxia telangiectasia-mutated kinase) and Chk2 phosphorylation offers evidence that Nbs1 contributes to viral replication downstream of facilitating ATM

  20. Productive Replication of Human Papillomavirus 31 Requires DNA Repair Factor Nbs1

    PubMed Central

    Anacker, Daniel C.; Gautam, Dipendra; Gillespie, Kenric A.; Chappell, William H.

    2014-01-01

    ABSTRACT Activation of the ATM (ataxia telangiectasia-mutated kinase)-dependent DNA damage response (DDR) is necessary for productive replication of human papillomavirus 31 (HPV31). We previously found that DNA repair and homologous recombination (HR) factors localize to sites of HPV replication, suggesting that ATM activity is required to recruit factors to viral genomes that can productively replicate viral DNA in a recombination-dependent manner. The Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) complex is an essential component of the DDR that is necessary for ATM-mediated HR repair and localizes to HPV DNA foci. In this study, we demonstrate that the HPV E7 protein is sufficient to increase levels of the MRN complex and also interacts with MRN components. We have found that Nbs1 depletion blocks productive viral replication and results in decreased localization of Mre11, Rad50, and the principal HR factor Rad51 to HPV DNA foci upon differentiation. Nbs1 contributes to the DDR by acting as an upstream activator of ATM in response to double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) and as a downstream effector of ATM activity in the intra-S-phase checkpoint. We have found that phosphorylation of ATM and its downstream target Chk2, as well as SMC1 (structural maintenance of chromosome 1), is maintained upon Nbs1 knockdown in differentiating cells. Given that ATM and Chk2 are required for productive replication, our results suggest that Nbs1 contributes to viral replication outside its role as an ATM activator, potentially through ensuring localization of DNA repair factors to viral genomes that are necessary for efficient productive replication. IMPORTANCE The mechanisms that regulate human papillomavirus (HPV) replication during the viral life cycle are not well understood. Our finding that Nbs1 is necessary for productive replication even in the presence of ATM (ataxia telangiectasia-mutated kinase) and Chk2 phosphorylation offers evidence that Nbs1 contributes to viral replication downstream of