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Biomedical subjects

J J Champoux

Publications and source records attributed to J J Champoux.

80 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1977

Deletions affecting the transposition of an antibiotic resistance gene.

The structural gene for plasmid-mediated ampicillin resistance resides upon a 3.2 X 10(6) dalton transposable sequence (TnA) flanked by short inverted repeated sequences that accompany its insertion. TnA was transposed to pMB8, a 1.8 X 10(6) dalton derivative of the colicingenic plasmid ColE1. Random deletions were introduced in the resultant 5 X 10(6) dalton recombinant plasmid by a combination of nuclease treatments in vitro. From this set of deletions a subset was isolated that contained deletions affecting the transposition of TnA. The deletions were mapped by digestion with restriction nucleases and electron microscopic analysis of DNA hetero-duplexes and were found to include one of the inverted repeated sequences or lie in the central portion of TnA. Complementation experiments were attempted between these plasmids and another compatible plasmid carrying a deletion in TnA that abolished its ampicillin resistance. The results of the deletion data indicate that approximately 2 X 10(6) daltons of TnA is required for transposition; the complementation experiments suggest that the terminal inverted repetition and the central region of TnA play different essential roles in TnA transposition.

Crosses, Genetic↗
PubMed1977

Strand breakage by the DNA untwisting enzyme results in covalent attachment of the enzyme to DNA.

Strands of DNA that have been broken by the DNA untwisting enzyme exhibit a reduced buoyant density in alkaline CsCl due to bound protein. A covalent linkage between the DNA and the enzyme was indicated by the stability of the complex in alkali (pH greaterthan 12.7), in 7 M guanidine-HCl, and at 90 degrees in 1% Sarkosyl for 5 min. The single-strand breaks generated by the enzyme are resistant to exonuclease III, indicating that the protein is attached to one of the ends of the broken strands. The free end of the broken strand bears a 5'-hydroxyl group, indicating attachment of the protein to the 3'-phosphoryl terminus. A nucleotide-peptide linkage involving a phosphoamide bond is unlikely since the complex is resistant to 3.5 M hydroxylamine at pH 4.75.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Purification and characterization of the DNA untwisting enzyme from rat liver.

The DNA untwisting enzyme has been purified approximately 300-fold from rat liver nuclei. The protein is greater than 90% pure as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate-acrylamide gel electrophoresis. The native enzyme has a molecular weight between 64 000 and 68 000 and is composed of a single polypeptide chain. Evidence is presented that the protein can act catalytically. A trace amount of endonuclease activity associated with the most pure fraction could be a contaminant or it could be due to the action of the DNA untwisting enzyme itself.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Evidence for an intermediate with a single-strand break in the reaction catalyzed by the DNA untwisting enzyme.

The DNA untwisting enzyme relaxes covalently closed circylar DNAs by the sequential breaking (nicking) and closure of one strand of the duplex. The use of highly purified enzyme from rat liver nuclei at very high protein concentrations has permitted the detection of the nicked intermediate in the reaction. The nicking of closed circular simian virus 40 DNA was measured by alkaline sucrose gradient sedimentation or by equilibrium centrifugation in CsCl gradients containing propidium diiodide. The following observations support the hypothesis that the nicked DNA represents an intermediate in the untwisting reaction. The extent of nicking does not increase with time. Nicking is observed in the range of salt concentrations where the enzyme is active (0.01-0.25 M KCl), but is not observed at 0.50 Mkdl, where enzyme activity is undetectable. The nicked DNA that is generated during the reaction carried out in low salt rapidly disappears if the KCl concentration is raised to 0.50 M. At constant enzyme concentration, the number of nicks in the reaction mixture is independent of DNA concentration in the range from 3 to 14 mug/ml. The addition of an excess of unlabeled DNA to a reaction initially containing labeled nicked DNA partially chases the label from the nicked intermediate into covalently closed circular DNA.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Priming of superhelical SV40 DNA by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase for in vitro DNA synthesis.

When closed circular SV40 DNA containing 58 negative superhelical turns is used as a template for RNA synthesis with Escherichia coli RNA polymerase, a fraction of the RNA product remains complexed with the DNA. The RNA in the complex is resistant to ribonuclease in high salt, and the Tm indicates that it is hydrogen bonded to the DNA. The mole ratio of RNA to DNA nucleotides in the complex ranges from 0.01 to 0.08; the RNA ranges in length from 80 to 600 nucleotides. The formation of the complex is dependent on the circular DNA being topologically underwound since no complex is formed when closed circular DNA containing zero superhelical turns is used as the template. The DNA-RNA complex can serve as a primer-template combination for in vitro DNA synthesis by E. coli DNA polymerase I. After synthesis with (alpha-32P)-labeled deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates followed by alkaline hydrolysis, the isolation of 32P-labeled ribonucleotides is evidence for a covalent linkage between the RNA and the DNA synthesized. During the in vitro DNA synthesis, the template is nicked at a low rate, and the nicked molecules support extensive DNA synthesis. This observation indicates that only limited synthesis can occur on unnicked molecules possibly owing to the topological constraints against unwinding of the helix. Possible models for in vivo priming of double-stranded DNA by E. coli RNA polymerase are discussed.

Centrifugation, Density Gradient↗
PubMed1972

An activity from mammalian cells that untwists superhelical DNA--a possible swivel for DNA replication (polyoma-ethidium bromide-mouse-embryo cells-dye binding assay).

Nuclei from secondary mouse-embryo cells contain an activity capable of untwisting closed-circular DNAs containing either negative or positive superhelical turns. The activity has no apparent effect on a closed-circular DNA containing no superhelical turns, and is not due to the combined action of an endonuclease and polynucleotide ligase. The enzyme apparently acts by introducing a single-strand nick into the DNA, forming a DNA-enzyme complex that allows the strands to rotate relative to the helix axis before reversing the reaction and sealing the break. The enzyme might possibly serve as a swivel during DNA replication.

Animals↗