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Ivaylo P Ivanov

Publications and source records attributed to Ivaylo P Ivanov.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Novel antizyme gene in Danio rerio expressed in brain and retina.

The synthesis of the protein antizyme requires a +1 ribosomal frameshift event. The frameshifting serves as a regulatory sensor. Antizyme homologs have been identified in diverse organisms ranging from yeast to human and characterized in a disparate subset. Most vertebrates have multiple antizyme paralogs. Here we present identification in the zebrafish Danio rerio of a heretofore unknown member of the antizyme gene family. This novel antizyme does not correspond to any of the known orthologous groups in vertebrates and unlike most other antizymes is preferentially expressed in the retinal ganglion cell layer of the eye. In addition to the retina, it is also expressed in the brain and somites.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Identification of polymorphisms and balancing selection in the male infertility candidate gene, ornithine decarboxylase antizyme 3.

BACKGROUND: The antizyme family is a group of small proteins that play a role in cell growth and division by regulating the biosynthesis of polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, spermine). Antizymes regulate polyamine levels primarily through binding ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), an enzyme key to polyamine production, and targeting ODC for destruction by the 26S proteosome. Ornithine decarboxylase antizyme 3 (OAZ3) is a testis-specific antizyme paralog and the only antizyme expressed in the mid to late stages of spermatogenesis. METHODS: To see if mutations in the OAZ3 gene are responsible for some cases of male infertility, we sequenced and evaluated the genomic DNA of 192 infertile men, 48 men of known paternity, and 34 African aborigines from the Mbuti tribe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The coding sequence of OAZ3 was further screened for polymorphisms by SSCP analysis in the infertile group and an additional 250 general population controls. Identified polymorphisms in the OAZ3 gene were further subjected to a haplotype analysis using PHASE 2.02 and Arlequin 2.0 software programs. RESULTS: A total of 23 polymorphisms were identified in the promoter, exons or intronic regions of OAZ3. The majority of these fell within a region of less than two kilobases. Two of the polymorphisms, -239 A/G in the promoter and 4280 C/T, a missense polymorphism in exon 5, may show evidence of association with male infertility. Haplotype analysis identified 15 different haplotypes, which can be separated into two divergent clusters. CONCLUSION: Mutations in the OAZ3 gene are not a common cause of male infertility. However, the presence of the two divergent haplotypes at high frequencies in all three of our subsamples (infertile, control, African) suggests that they have been maintained in the genome by balancing selection, which was supported by a test of Tajima's D statistic. Evidence for natural selection in this region implies that these haplotypes may be associated with a trait other than infertility. This trait may be related to another function of OAZ3 or a region in tight linkage disequilibrium to the gene.

Base Sequence↗

Evolutionary specialization of recoding: frameshifting in the expression of S. cerevisiae antizyme mRNA is via an atypical antizyme shift site but is still +1.

An autoregulatory translational shift to the +1 frame is required for the expression of ornithine decarboxylase antizyme from fungi to mammals. In most eukaryotes, including all vertebrates and a majority of the studied fungi/yeast, the site on antizyme mRNA where the shift occurs is UCC-UGA. The mechanism of the frameshift on this sequence likely involves nearly universal aspects of the eukaryotic translational machinery. Nevertheless, a mammalian antizyme frameshift cassette yields predominantly -2 frameshift in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, instead of the +1 in mammals. The recently identified endogenous S. cerevisiae antizyme mRNA has an atypical shift site: UGC-GCG-UGA. It is shown here that endogenous S. cerevisiae antizyme frameshifting is +1 rather than -2. We discuss how antizyme frameshifting in budding yeasts exploits peculiarities of their tRNA balance, and relate this to prior studies on Ty frameshifting.

Animals↗

Sequencing and haplotype analysis of the activator of CREM in the testis (ACT) gene in populations of fertile and infertile males.

cAMP-responsive element modulator (CREM) is a key transcription factor in the differentiation of round spermatids into mature spermatozoa. During spermiogenesis, CREM is regulated in part by activator of CREM in the testis (ACT), which activates CREM in a phosphorylation-independent fashion. We hypothesized that the ACT gene, which is expressed exclusively in the testis, could be involved in male factor infertility in patients with idiopathic-impaired spermatogenesis. To test this hypothesis, we sequenced the coding regions and flanking intronic regions of the ACT gene in 96 azoo- or oligospermic patients and 69 fertile controls. A total of 12 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was identified, and four of them leading to amino acid substitutions. An association study was performed based on calculated haplotype frequencies, and statistically significant differences were found between the patient and control populations for some haplotypes. To help establish the evolutionary relationships between the haplotypes, the coding regions of both the chimpanzee and the gorilla ACT gene were sequenced and evaluated. To test whether the different haplotypes conferred a functional change to the ACT protein, a yeast two-hybrid assay was designed to test the interaction between the two most divergent ACT haplotypes and their known binding partners, CREM and KIF17b. We identified one ACT haplotype that had a 45% reduction in its interaction with CREM. Our results suggest that different haplotypes within the ACT gene may contribute to male factor subfertility.

Animals↗

Identification of a new antizyme mRNA +1 frameshifting stimulatory pseudoknot in a subset of diverse invertebrates and its apparent absence in intermediate species.

The expression of eukaryotic antizyme genes requires +1 translational frameshifting. The frameshift in decoding most vertebrate antizyme mRNAs is stimulated by an RNA pseudoknot 3' of the frameshift site. Although the frameshifting event itself is conserved in a wide variety of organisms from yeast to mammals, until recently no corresponding 3' RNA pseudoknot was known in invertebrate antizyme mRNAs. A pseudoknot, different in structure and origin from its vertebrate counterparts, is now shown to be encoded by the antizyme genes of distantly related invertebrates. Identification of the 3' frameshifting stimulator in intermediate species or other invertebrates remains unresolved.

Animals↗

Maintenance of the correct open reading frame by the ribosome.

During translation, a string of non-overlapping triplet codons in messenger RNA is decoded into protein. The ability of a ribosome to decode mRNA without shifting between reading frames is a strict requirement for accurate protein biosynthesis. Despite enormous progress in understanding the mechanism of transfer RNA selection, the mechanism by which the correct reading frame is maintained remains unclear. In this report, evidence is presented that supports the idea that the translational frame is controlled mainly by the stability of codon-anticodon interactions at the P site. The relative instability of such interactions may lead to dissociation of the P-site tRNA from its codon, and formation of a complex with an overlapping codon, the process known as P-site tRNA slippage. We propose that this process is central to all known cases of +1 ribosomal frameshifting, including that required for the decoding of the yeast transposable element Ty3. An earlier model for the decoding of this element proposed 'out-of-frame' binding of A-site tRNA without preceding P-site tRNA slippage.

Anticodon↗

Computational identification of putative programmed translational frameshift sites.

MOTIVATION: In an effort to identify potential programmed frameshift sites by statistical analysis, we explore the hypothesis that selective pressure would have rendered such sites underabundant and underrepresented in protein-coding sequences. We developed a computer program to compare the frequencies of k-length subsequences of nucleotides with the frequencies predicted by a zero order Markov chain determined by the codon bias of the same set of sequences. The program was used to calculate and evaluate the distribution of 7-base oligonucleotides in the 6000+ putative protein-coding sequences of S. cerevisiae preliminary to the laboratory testing of the most highly underrepresented oligos for frameshifting efficiency. RESULTS: Among the most significant results is the finding that the heptanucleotides CUU-AGG-C and CUU-AGU-U, sites of the programmed +1 translational frameshifts required for the production in yeast of actin filament-binding protein ABP140 and telomerase subunit EST3, respectively, rank among the least represented of phase I heptanucleotides in the coding sequences of S. cerevisiae. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that other underrepresented heptanucleotides identified by the program, for example GGU-CAG-A, are also prone to significant translational frameshifting, suggesting the possibility that genes containing other underrepresented heptamers may also encode transframe products. AVAILABILITY: The program is available for download from http://www.gesteland.genetics.utah.edu/freqAnalysis SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Complete results from the analysis of S. cerevisiae are available on http://www.gesteland.genetics.utah.edu/freqAnalysis

Algorithms↗