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H Saluz

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Beyond silver staining.

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Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel

A simple high-resolution procedure to study DNA methylation and in vivo DNA-protein interactions on a single-copy gene level in higher eukaryotes.

We describe a method that permits the study of the state of cytosine methylation and of in vivo protein-DNA interactions in higher eukaryotes. This powerful technique is applicable to any gene of interest at the single-copy level. To study DNA methylation, the total uncloned genomic DNA, digested with a restriction endonuclease is subjected to a cytosine-specific hydrazine reaction and chemical cleavage. The DNA fragments of interest are linearly amplified with Taq polymerase and a sequence-specific radioactivity labeled synthetic primer. Following amplification, the DNA fragments are separated on a sequencing gel that is directly autoradiographed. To study protein-DNA interactions in vivo, we use a similar method, except that the DNA of interest is isolated from cells treated either with dimethyl sulfate or UV light. The resolution power of this technique is demonstrated by two examples, which have been studied previously by the conventional methods of genomic sequencing and "footprinting."

5-Methylcytosine

Estradiol-dependent trans-acting factor binds preferentially to a dyad-symmetry structure within the third intron of the avian vitellogenin gene.

The secondary activation of the avian vitellogenin II gene in isolated liver nuclei by cytoplasmatic liver extracts of estradiol-treated chicks is accompanied by the binding of a protein from the extract to the structural part of the cloned gene. Both the DNA-binding and gene-stimulatory activities, which cochromatograph on heparin-Sepharose, are apparently present only in the cytoplasmatic liver extracts of estradiol-treated roosters and in the oviduct extracts of egg-laying hens. DNA-binding competition assays combined with exonuclease III footprinting showed that the factor binds to the imperfect dyad-symmetry structure 5'GTCTTGTTCCAAAC3' within the third intron of the gene. The factor is sequence specific and binds equally well to both single-and double-stranded DNA with an estimated dissociation constant of 3.5 X 10(-10) M.

Animals

Optimized genomic sequencing as a tool for the study of cytosine methylation in the regulatory region of the chicken vitellogenin II gene.

Some critical parameters of genomic sequencing are described. As an example we show a 200-nucleotide (nt) sequence of the estradiol-regulated avian vitellogenin gene II upstream region containing four CpG nt pairs. The two CpG's at positions -612 and -618 are in the sequence binding estradiol-receptor complex. While all four CpG's are methylated in erythrocytes, they are hypomethylated in the DNA of estradiol-responsive organs of egg-laying hens. A simple electroblot DNA transfer system which gives no distortion of DNA bands and quantitative transfer of denatured DNA from the gel to the filter membrane is described. Using Gene Screen membranes, a maximal hybridization signal was obtained when 30-50% of the input DNA was stably bound to the filters. Hybridization background signal and exposure time could be largely reduced by using highly purified fractionated DNA. Using a 90-120 nt long homogeneous single-stranded DNA probe of high specific activity it was possible to read a genomic sequence of up to 200 nt. The resolution was further improved by reducing the extent of chemical modifications of the DNA during the Maxam-Gilbert sequencing reactions.

Animals

In vitro secondary activation (memory effect) of avian vitellogenin II gene in isolated liver nuclei.

The vitellogenin II gene is specifically reactivated in vitro (secondary stimulation, memory effect) in purified liver nuclei that had ceased to express the gene in vivo a month after the roosters had received a single injection of estradiol (primary stimulation). The in vitro reactivation depends on the addition to the nuclei of nuclear and cytoplasmic extracts from estradiol-stimulated livers, polyamines (0.1-1.0 mM), and calmodulin (0.1 mM). Under identical incubation conditions the vitellogenin gene could not be reactivated in oviduct, embryonic, and immature chicken liver nuclei. Two other genes, those for ovalbumin and lysozyme, which are regulated by estradiol in the oviduct, could not be activated in the liver nuclei. The correct initiation of vitellogenin gene transcription in the liver nuclei was tested by primer extension studies. Addition of the antiestrogen tamoxifen (0.1 microM) to the system decreased vitellogenin mRNA synthesis by about 45% without affecting total RNA synthesis. Addition of quercetin (0.1 mM) and trans-flupenthixol (0.2 mM), inhibitors of nuclear protein kinase II and calmodulin-dependent kinase, respectively, inhibited the synthesis of vitellogenin mRNA by about 55% without affecting total RNA synthesis. The inhibitory effects of the antiestrogen and the kinase inhibitors were not additive, suggesting that both classes of inhibitor act on the same target or related targets. Depleting the estradiol receptors from the cell and nuclear extracts by means of estradiol-receptor antibodies covalently bound to Matrex beads reduced the stimulation of the vitellogenin gene by 40%. We conclude that in addition to the estradiol receptor and phosphorylation of nuclear protein(s) there are additional factors responsible for the in vitro secondary activation of the avian vitellogenin II gene.

Animals