Biomedical subjects

B Jwang

Publications and source records attributed to B Jwang.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

An scFv phage clone that binds to human beta2-microglobulin.

Using phage display technology, a novel mouse scFv phage clone D1 was generated from mice immunized with single-chain HLA-A2, the human MHC class I molecules. D1 recognized a determinant in beta2-microglobulin. It reacted with beta2-microglobulin associated with the heavy chain of HLA-A2, recombinant beta2-microglobulin made in Escherichia coli or beta2-microglobulin prepared from human urine. The heavy chain variable region of D1 belongs to gene family VII and the light chain variable region belongs to the kappa chain gene family XI according to the Kabat database.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1995

Borrelia burgdorferi genes selectively expressed in the infected host.

An immunological screening strategy was used to select microbial genes expressed only in the host. Differential screening of a Borrelia burgdorferi (the Lyme disease agent) expression library identified a gene (p21) encoding a 20.7-kDa antigen that reacted with antibodies in serum from actively infected mice but not serum from mice immunized with heat-killed B. burgdorferi. Selective expression of p21 in the infected host was confirmed by Northern blot analysis and RNA PCR. Further differential screening of the expression library identified at least five additional B. burgdorferi genes are selectively expressed in vivo. This screening method can be used to identify genes induced in vivo in a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms for which a gene transfer system is not currently available.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1995

The hook protein of Borrelia burgdorferi, encoded by the flgE gene, is serologically recognized in Lyme disease.

The periplasmic flagellum of Borrelia burgdorferi consists of a unipeptide flagellar filament, a hook, and a basal body. Here, we report the cloning and expression of the hook gene, flgE, of B. burgdorferi N40. The flgE gene is 1,119 nucleotides long and is located on the 950-kb linear chromosome of B. burgdorferi. The primary protein sequence of FlgE shows 73% similarity to the FlgE protein of Treponema phagedenis and approximately 50% similarity to the FlgG proteins of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The flgE gene was cloned into an Escherichia coli expression plasmid, pMX, to produce FlgE protein. Subsequently, FlgE murine antiserum was prepared by immunizing mice with the partially purified B. burgdorferi FlgE protein. By Western blot (immunoblot) analysis, the antiserum was found to react with a 40-kDa peptide in the whole-cell lysates, confirming the expression of the flgE gene in B. burgdorferi. Additionally, antibodies to FlgE were found in serum specimens from 19 of 42 patients with Lyme disease. Moreover, when other antigens, including 41G (the immunodominant domain of flagellin), OspE, OspF, and p22, were used to test for the development of corresponding antibodies in these patients, 67% of these patients (28 of 42) reacted to at least one of these five antigens, suggesting that a combination of FlgE with other available B. burgdorferi recombinant proteins is a good candidate for substrates in assays to aid in the diagnosis of Lyme disease.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1994

Joints made by RecA protein in the interior of linear duplex DNA: effects of single-stranded ends, length of homology, and dynamic state.

The importance of 3' single-stranded ends in homologous recombination led us to reevaluate reactions of single strands at homologous sites in the interior of linear duplex DNA. As the length of homology increased, the yield of joints increased up to about 2 kb of homology, at which the apparent yields were the same at either 3' or 5' single-stranded ends, or away from ends, although such joints were qualitatively different. In the presence of RecA protein and ATP, joints that formed between any of these single strands and interior sequences in duplex DNA were in a dynamic state in which they constantly recycled. Consequently, their apparent yields at steady state were sensitive to conditions of reaction, such as the concentrations of DNA, salt, and ATP vs ADP, observations which rationalize conflicting reports in the literature. The dynamic state of joints in the interior of duplex DNA strengthens the conclusion [see Burnett et al. (1994)] that RecA protein dissociates joints when it cannot displace the 5' end of a strand from the recipient duplex.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

PubMed1994

Resolution of the three-stranded recombination intermediate made by RecA protein. An essential role of ATP hydrolysis.

Previous work has shown that triplex DNA is an intermediate in homologous pairing and strand exchange promoted by RecA protein. Heterology at the proximal end of duplex DNA blocks strand exchange, but triplex joints form nonetheless at the homologous distal end. Experiments on the formation and processing of distal joints revealed that the yield of distal joints depends critically on the concentration of RecA-coated single strands and the adequacy of the ATP-regeneration system, and reflects a steady state. Distal joints reversibly formed and dissociated, as shown by several methods, including a chase with unlabeled duplex DNA. Controls excluded a contribution of exonucleolytic nibbling to the formation of distal joints and the stability of the deproteinized product. RecA protein was bound preferentially by putative triplex sites both in isolated proximal and distal joints. These high affinity sites disappeared from proximal joints as strand exchange progressed, and disappeared from distal joints as the joints dissociated. Dissociation of distal joints under all conditions, however, was completely arrested by the addition of ATP gamma S. Distal triplex joints can be as long as six kilobases. The observed inhibition of the dissociation of such long non-productive triplex intermediates by ATP gamma S leads us to propose that an essential role of ATP hydrolysis in RecA recombinational exchanges may be to ensure that no potentially troublesome triplex DNA remains in the cell.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed1992

Torsional stress generated by RecA protein during DNA strand exchange separates strands of a heterologous insert.

Previous studies have shown that the helical RecA nucleoprotein filament formed on a circular single strand of DNA causes the progressive, directional transfer of a complementary strand from naked linear duplex DNA to the nucleoprotein filament, even when the duplex contains a sizable heterologous insertion. Since RecA protein lacks demonstrable helicase activity, the mechanism by which it pushes strand exchange through long heterologous inserts has been a quandary. In the present study, a linear duplex substrate with an insertion of 110 base pairs in its middle yielded the expected products, whereas much less of the heteroduplex product was seen when the insertion was located at either end of the duplex substrate or 160 base pairs from the far end of the duplex substrate. In an ongoing reaction of the substrate with an insertion in its middle, P1 nuclease cleaved intermediates from the point of the insertion to various distal sites. Acting on a duplex substrate that contained a single nick located in the complementary strand just beyond the insertion, RecA protein formed joint molecules but failed to complete strand exchange. These data show that negative torsional stress is generated by distant homologous interactions that occur beyond the heterologous insertion and that such stress is essential for unwinding a heterologous insertion that otherwise halts strand exchange.

Base Composition↗

PubMed1991

Production of triple-stranded recombination intermediates by RecA protein, in vitro.

During the directional strand exchange that is promoted by RecA protein between linear duplex DNA and circular single-stranded DNA, a triple-stranded DNA intermediate was formed and persisted even after the completion of strand transfer followed by deproteinization. In the deproteinized three-stranded DNA complexes, the sequestered linear third strand resisted digestion by E coli exonuclease I. In relation to polarity of strand exchange which defines the proximal and distal ends of the duplex DNA, when homology was restricted to the distal region of duplex substrate, the joints formed efficiently and were stable even upon complete deproteinization. Enzymatic probing of deproteinized distal joints with nuclease P1 revealed that the joints consist of long three-stranded structures that at neutral pH lack significant single-stranded character in any of the three strands. Instead of circular single-stranded DNA, when a linear single strand is recombined with partially homologous duplex DNA, in the presence of SSB, the formation of homologous joints by RecA protein, is significantly more efficient at distal end than at the proximal. Taken together, these observations suggest that with any single-stranded DNA (circular or linear), RecA protein efficiently promotes the formation of distal joints, from which, however, authentic strand exchange may not occur. Moreover, these joints might represent an intermediate which is trapped into a stable triple stranded state.

DNA Replication↗

PubMed1990

RecA protein reinitiates strand exchange on isolated protein-free DNA intermediates. An ADP-resistant process.

Efficient homologous pairing de novo of linear duplex DNA with a circular single strand (plus strand) coated with RecA protein requires saturation and extension of the single strand by the protein. However, strand exchange, the transfer of a strand from duplex DNA to the nucleoprotein filament, which follows homologous pairing, does not require the stable binding of RecA protein to single-stranded DNA. When RecA protein was added back to isolated protein-free DNA intermediates in the presence of sufficient ADP to inhibit strongly the binding of RecA protein to single-stranded DNA, strand exchange nonetheless resumed at the original rate and went to completion. Characterization of the protein-free DNA intermediate suggested that it has a special site or region to which RecA protein binds. Part of the nascent displaced plus strand of the deproteinized intermediate was unavailable as a cofactor for the ATPase activity of RecA protein, and about 30% resisted digestion by P1 endonuclease, which acts preferentially on single-stranded DNA. At the completion of strand exchange, when the distal 5' end of the linear minus strand had been fully incorporated into heteroduplex DNA, a nucleoprotein complex remained that contained all three strands of DNA from which the nascent displaced strand dissociated only over the next 50 to 60 minutes. Deproteinization of this intermediate yielded a complex that also contained three strands of DNA in which the nascent displaced strand was partially resistant to both Escherichia coli exonuclease I and P1 endonuclease. The deproteinized complex showed a broad melting transition between 37 degrees C and temperatures high enough to melt duplex DNA. These results show that strand exchange can be subdivided into two stages: (1) the exchange of base-pairs, which creates a new heteroduplex pair in place of a parental pair; and (2) strand separation, which is the physical displacement of the unpaired strand from the nucleoprotein filament. Between the creation of new heteroduplex DNA and the eventual separation of a third strand, there exists an unusual DNA intermediate that may contain three-stranded regions of natural DNA that are several thousand bases in length.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗