DNA backbone interactions impact the sequence specificity of DNA sulfur-binding domains: revelations from structural analyses

The sulfur atom of phosphorothioated DNA (PT-DNA) is coordinated by a surface cavity in the conserved sulfur-binding domain (SBD) of type IV restriction enzymes. However, some SBDs cannot recognize the sulfur atom in some sequence contexts. To illustrate the structural determinants for sequence specificity, we resolved the structure of SBDSpr, from endonuclease SprMcrA, in complex with DNA of GPSGCC, GPSATC and GPSAAC contexts. Structural and computational analyses explained why it binds the above PT-DNAs with an affinity in a decreasing order. The structural analysis of SBDSpr–GPSGCC and SBDSco–GPSGCC, the latter only recognizes DNA of GPSGCC, revealed that a positively charged loop above the sulfur-coordination cavity electrostatically interacts with the neighboring DNA phosphate linkage. The structural analysis indicated that the DNA–protein hydrogen bonding pattern and weak non-bonded interaction played important roles in sequence specificity of SBD protein. Exchanges of the positively-charged amino acid residues with the negatively-charged residues in the loop would enable SBDSco to extend recognization for more PT-DNA sequences, implying that type IV endonucleases can be engineered to recognize PT-DNA in novel target sequences.

In vitro characterization of the yeast DcpS, a scavenger mRNA decapping enzyme

Eukaryotic mRNAs are modified at their 5’ end early during transcription by the addition of N7-methylguanosine (m7G), which forms the “cap” on the first 5’ nucleotide. Identification of the 5’ nucleotide on mRNA is necessary for determination of the Transcription Start Site (TSS). We explored the effect of various reaction conditions on the activity of the yeast scavenger mRNA decapping enzyme DcpS (yDcpS) and examined decapping of 30 chemically distinct cap structures varying the state of methylation, sugar, phosphate linkage, and base composition on 25mer RNA oligonucleotides. Contrary to the generally accepted belief that DcpS enzymes only decap short oligonucleotides, we found that yDcpS efficiently decaps RNA transcripts as long as 1400 nucleotides. Further, we validated the application of yDcpS for enriching capped RNA using a strategy of specifically tagging the 5’ end of capped RNA by first decapping and then recapping it with an affinity-tagged guanosine nucleotide.

Synthesis, physico-chemical and biological properties of DNA and RNA oligonucleotides containing short alkylamino internucleotide bond

The condensation of the 5′-O-DMT-3′-deoxy-3′-aminothymidine with 3′-O-TBDMS-thymidine- 5′-aldehyde, followed by reduction of the resultant imine derivative and removal of tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) protecting group, provided a dimer (denoted as TNHT), which is a congener of dithymidine phosphate with the phosphate linkage 3′-O-P(O)(OH)-O-5′ replaced with an amino group (–NH–). After phosphitylation of the 3′-OH group, the dimer TNHT was introduced (by the standard phosphoramidite approach) into a central part of the nonadecathymidylate. This oligomer exhibited lower affinity to the complementary single and double stranded DNA complements as compared to unmodified T19 oligonucleotide. The cleavage of modified oligomer with the snake venom and calf spleen phosphodiesterases was completely suppressed at the site of modification. RNA oligomers containing the TNHT dimer were used for preparation of siRNA molecules directed towards mRNA of BACE1 (beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme). The presence of the TNHT units at the 3′-ends of the RNA strands of the siRNA molecule (the siRNA itself is an effective gene expression inhibitor for BACE1) preserved the gene silencing activity and improved the stability of the modified siRNA in 10% fetal bovine serum.

Structural and Genetic Characterization of the Shigella boydii Type 13 O Antigen

ABSTRACT Shigella is an important human pathogen. It is generally agreed that Shigella and Escherichia coli constitute a single species; the only exception is Shigella boydii type 13, which is more distantly related to E. coli and other Shigella forms and seems to represent another species. This gives S. boydii type 13 an important status in evolution. O antigen is the polysaccharide part of the lipopolysaccharide in the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria and plays an important role in pathogenicity. The chemical structure and genetic organization of the S. boydii type 13 O antigen were investigated. The O polysaccharide was found to be acid labile owing to the presence of a glycosyl phosphate linkage in the main chain. The structure of the linear pentasaccharide phosphate repeating unit (O unit) was established by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, including two-dimensional COSY, TOCSY, ROESY, and H-detected 1H,13C and 1H,31P HMQC experiments, along with chemical methods. The O antigen gene cluster of S. boydii type 13 was located and sequenced. Genes for synthesis of UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-l-glucose and genes that encode putative sugar transferases, O unit flippase, and O antigen polymerase were identified. Seven genes were found to be specific to S. boydii type 13. The S. boydii type 13 O antigen gene cluster has higher levels of sequence similarity with Vibrio cholerae gene clusters and may be evolutionarily related to these gene clusters.

Infrared Spectroscopic Studies of Major Cellular Components. Part II: The Effect of Hydration on the Spectra of Nucleic Acids

Infrared absorption spectra of DNA and RNA as dry, lyophilized powders in KBr pellets, as hydrated KBr pellets, and in solution phase are reported. We find the symmetric and antisymmetric stretching vibrations of the phosphate linkage, νs(PO2−) and νas(PO2−), to be very sensitive to hydration, as intensity changes as well as frequency shifts are observed. An increase in water content causes DNA to undergo a structural transition form A-form to B-form. This observation leads us to believe that the frequency shifts are associated mostly with the conformational change, whereas the increase in intensities may be due to an increase in the local dielectric in the vicinity of the polar and solvent exposed phosphate groups. A similar effect was reported recently for the amide groups of proteins. The structure of RNA is less sensitive to hydration, and only the phophodiester stretching vibrations are affected by hydration. The solution transmission and ATR spectra of DNA and RNA solution are also compared and found to be identical to one another in the 950–1300 cm−1 frequency region. Furthermore, solution spectra resemble the fully hydrated solid-phase spectra.