Biomedical subjects

K van Holde

Publications and source records attributed to K van Holde.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

On the location of histones H1 and H5 in the chromatin fiber. Studies with immobilized trypsin and chymotrypsin.

The location of linker histones H1 and H5 in chicken erythrocyte chromatin was studied as a function of the fiber structure by the use of proteolytic enzymes immobilized onto Immobilon membranes. The immobilization of trypsin and chymotrypsin creates proteolytic probes, specific respectively to the terminal portions of the molecules or to the phenylalanine in the globular domain, that are incapable of penetrating into the interior of the condensed fiber. The chromatin fiber was studied in three different conformations: open zig-zag (in Tris buffer), closed zig-zag (upon addition of 10 mM-NaCl), or 30 nm fiber (upon addition of 0.35 mM-MgCl2). The results from digestion experiments performed on linker histones either in chicken erythrocyte chromatin, or free in solution or bound in mononucleosomes revealed several features relevant to linker histone location: (1) histone H5 is more protected than histone H1 in the fiber; (2) the N and C-terminal portions of histone H1 do not change their accessibility, and hence their location, upon compaction of the fiber; this behavior of H1 is in contrast to that of histone H5, whose tails become significantly internalized in the 30 nm fiber; (3) phenylalanine in the globular domain of both H1 and H5 is inaccessible (buried) both in the fiber and in the mononucleosomal particle. Sedimentation velocity measurements performed during the course of trypsin digestion demonstrate that the conformation of the fiber is highly sensitive to even a few cuts in some of the linker histone molecules; hence, the linker histones are an important factor in the organization of the fiber in all its different condensation states.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Replication blocks and sequence interaction specificities in the codon 12 region of the c-Ha-ras proto-oncogene induced by four carcinogens in vitro.

We have examined the region surrounding codon 12 in the human c-Ha-ras proto-oncogene in vitro to determine the reaction intensities at the guanine nucleotides after exposure to the mycotoxin aflatoxin B1, to one of its human metabolites aflatoxin M1, to dimethyl sulfate, and to the major ultimate carcinogen of benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(a)pyrene diol-epoxide. Among the adducts produced, those at N-7-guanyl sites are alkali-labile and can be identified using a variation of the Maxam-Gilbert sequencing procedure. Data indicate that the guanine nucleotides of codon 12 have above average potential for adduct formation by the genotoxins when compared to other guanine sites, but were not the strongest sites. This codon 12 region has been inserted into single-stranded M13 phage, exposed to several of the genotoxins, and used as a template for DNA synthesis in vitro. There is a sequence-specific variation in polymerase inhibition at various adducted nucleotide sites, but replication blocks are not preferentially seen at the carcinogen-adducted guanines of codon 12. These results indicate that the predominance of point mutations which are detected in vivo at codon 12 do not reflect sequence-mediated preferential susceptibility of these sites to initial DNA adduction or to replication errors. The mechanisms controlling these sequence effects are not currently understood, and attempts to predict relative alkylation or termination frequencies based solely on local DNA sequence are not reliable.

Aflatoxin B1↗

PubMed1989

Site-specific aflatoxin B1 adduction of sequence-positioned nucleosome core particles.

The question of how the presence of nucleosomal packing of DNA modifies carcinogen interaction at specific sites cannot be answered by studies on whole chromatin or bulk nucleosomes because of the heterogeneity of DNA sequences in the particles. We have circumvented this problem by using nucleosomes that are homogenous in DNA sequence and hence in DNA-histone contact points. A cloned DNA fragment containing a sea urchin 5 S gene which precisely positions a histone octamer was employed. By using 32P end-labeled DNA and genotoxins that allow cleavage at sites of attack, the frequency of adduction at every susceptible nucleotide can be determined on sequencing gels. The small methylating agent dimethyl sulfate and the bulky alkylating agent aflatoxin B1-dichloride (AFB1-Cl2) were used to probe the influence of DNA-histone interactions on DNA alkylation patterns in the sequence-positioned core particle. We find dimethyl sulfate to bind with equal preference to naked or nucleosomal DNA. In contrast, AFB1-Cl2 binding is suppressed an average of 2.4-fold at guanyl sites within nucleosomes compared with AFB1-Cl2 affinity at the corresponding site in naked DNA. The DNA is more accessible in regions near the particle boundary. We observe no other histone-imposed localized changes in AFB1-Cl2 sequence specificity. Further, sites of DNase I cleavage or proposed DNA bending show neither enhanced nor reduced AFB1-Cl2 adduction to N7-guanine. Since AFB1-Cl2 binding sites lie in the major groove, nucleosomal DNA appears accessible to AFB1-Cl2 at all points of analysis but with an access which is uniformly restricted in the central 100 nucleotides of the core particle. The data available do not indicate further localized or site-specific perturbations in DNA interactions with the two carcinogens studied.

Aflatoxin B1↗

PubMed1987

A reexamination of the reported B----Z DNA transition in nucleosomes reconstituted with poly(dG-m5dC).poly(dG-m5dC).

Polynucleosomes with poly(dG-m5dC).poly(dG-m5dC) have been reconstituted, and well-defined nucleosome core particles from these have been prepared. Upon addition of MgCl2 to the levels used to induce the B to Z transition in this highly methylated DNA, significant changes in the circular dichroism spectrum are observed in solutions of these particles. However, such core particles also exhibit a noticeable instability when compared to chicken erythrocyte core particles under the same conditions. The change in circular dichroism can be entirely accounted for on the assumption that only free nucleotide, released by core particle dissociation, undergoes the B----Z transition. Therefore, no evidence has been found for "Z nucleosomes" in these solutions. In fact, the histone-DNA interaction in the nucelosome seems to partially inhibit the B to Z transition of the DNA. The analysis of our results is consistent with a model in which all of the DNA that remains bound to the histone octamer retains the B form.

Animals↗