PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

F L Brown

Publications and source records attributed to F L Brown.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Cae I: an endonuclease isolated from the African green monkey with properties indicating site-specific cleavage of homologous and heterologous mammalian DNA.

Component alpha DNA is a highly repetitive sequence that comprises nearly a quarter of the African green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops) genome. A previous microbial restriction enzyme analysis showed that the repeat structure of component alpha DNA is based upon a monomeric unit of 176 +/- 4 base-pairs. An endonuclease, provisionally termed Case I, has been isolated from African green monkey testes that cleaves component alpha DNA into multimeric segments based upon the same repeat periodicity as that revealed by microbial restriction enzymes. The primary sites of Cae I cleavage in the component alpha sequence appear to be 120 +/- 6 base-pairs distant from the Hind III sites and 73 +/- 6 base-pairs distant from the Eco RI* sites. Cae I has been partially characterized with special reference to the effects of ATP and S-adenosylmethionine on the cleavage of component alpha DNA. Cae I may be a member of a class of similar site-specific nucleases present in mammalian cells. Cae I also cleaves mouse satellite DNA into a multimeric series of discrete segments: the periodicity of this series is shorter than that revealed by Eco RII retriction analysis of mouse satellite DNA.

Adenosine Triphosphate

Subunit structure of chromatin and the organization of eukaryotic highly repetitive DNA: nucleosomal proteins associated with a highly repetitive mammalian DNA.

Component alpha DNA is a homogeneous, highly repetitive fraction that comprises nearly a quarter of the African green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops) genome. By restriction enzyme analysis, it has a repeat periodicity of 176 +/- 4 nucleotide base pairs, corresponding closely with the length of DNA contained within a nucleosome. The sequence is organized into large blocks of constitutive heterochromatin. A method is described here for the isolation of intact polynucleosomal arrays containing only component alpha sequences. Isolated monkey nuclei are treated with EcoRI, which releases only component alpha nucleosomal arrays; the arrays are then fractionated and purified by sedimentation in sucrose gradients. The method permits a compositional analysis of the proteins associated with a constitutively repressed, heterochromatic sequence. The major differences in the proteins associated with component alpha nucleosomes that distinguish them from the bulk DNA nucleosomes are a decrease in the content of the H1 histones in the component alpha nucleosomes and a concomitant increase in the amount of certain nonhistone proteins. The specific observations are: (i) In the component alpha nucleosomes, 65-70% of the proteins were nonhistone proteins; this contrasts with the value, 40%, for nonhistone proteins associated with nucleosomes containing bulk DNA. (ii) The amount of H1 histone in chromatin containing predominantly bulk DNA was about 13.7%. However, the H1 histone was depleted and possibly absent in component alpha oligonucleosomes. (iii) Coincident with the decrease in the H1 histones and in the same molecular weight range (24,000-43,000), there appeared five minor nonhistone proteins. The minor, low-molecular-weight, nonhistone proteins were not detected in chromatin containing bulk DNA but they represented nearly 12% of the protein in component alpha nucleosomes. The resistance to salt extraction (0.6-2.0 M NaCl) indicates that the low-molecular-weight nonhistone proteins are tenaciously bound to the component alpha nucleosomes. In addition, a class of high-molecular-weight (>100,000) nonhistone proteins was enriched 5- or 6-fold in component alpha oligonucleosomes. The relative amounts of the nucleosome core histones were not changed.

Cell Line

Sex guilt and preferences for illegal drugs among drug abusers.

This study investigated the relationship between sex guilt and drug preferences. Seventy polydrug users completed a drug preference inventory and the Mosher Forced-Choice Sex Guilt Subscale. Results indicated that individuals who prefer sedatives are higher in sex guilt than either individuals who prefer stimulants or individuals with no definite preference.

Adolescent