Biomedical subjects
M Czyz
Publications and source records attributed to M Czyz.
Inhibition of dna methylation by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine correlates with induction of K562 cells differentiation.
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Evidence of inhibition of DNA methylation by fludarabine.
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Selective Sp1 and Sp3 binding is crucial for activity of the integrin alphaV promoter in cultured endothelial cells.
Human integrin alphavbeta receptors are expressed in a number of cells and their expression is regulated at the level of transcription and by post-transcriptional mechanisms. A substantial body of research exists on the structure, function, molecular biology and physiological significance of alphav integrin receptors. However, the importance of particular cis-acting DNA elements or trans-acting nuclear factors in the regulation of the alphav gene promoter is still not adequately understood. Previous functional analysis of the alphav gene 5' flanking region in transfected cultured cells identified cis elements critical for alphav transcription within a 222-bp region. To define further the location of this enhancing element, we performed DNase I footprinting of the human alphav gene promoter between -522 and the translation initiation site. For this purpose, nuclear extracts of alphavbeta3-positive cells, human umbilical vein endothelial cells, were used. Nuclear proteins of endothelial cells strongly protected essentially one region corresponding to the sequence between -194 and -172 of the alphav promoter region. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays with different oligonucleotides, and competition analysis identified a CTCCTCCTC sequence that is directly involved in the transcriptional activity of the alphav promoter. Purified Sp1 alone produced an identical footprint, and DNA binding assays using anti-Sp1 and anti-Sp3 antibodies showed that transcription factors Sp1 and Sp3 were the major nuclear proteins bound to this region.
Transcription factors as targets of anticancer drugs.
Several general and gene- and cell-selective transcription factors are required for specific transcription to occur. Many of them exert their functions through specific contacts either in the promoter region or at distant sequences regulating the initiation. These contacts may be altered by anticancer drugs which form non-covalent complexes with DNA. Covalent modifications of DNA by alkylating agents may prevent transcription factors from recognizing their specific sequences or may constitute multiple "unnatural" binding sites in DNA which attract the factors thus decreasing their availability in the cell. The anticancer drug-transcription factor interplay which is based on specific interactions with DNA may contribute to pharmacological properties of the former and provide a basis for the search for new drugs.
Actinomycin D specifically inhibits the interaction between transcription factor Sp1 and its binding site.
The mode of action of many anticancer drugs involves DNA interactions. We here examine the ability of actinomycin D to alter the specific binding of transcription factors Spl and NFkappaB to their DNA sequences. Employing an electrophoretic mobility shift assay, it is shown that actinomycin D inhibits complex formation between nuclear proteins present in the extracts from stimulated human umbilical vein endothelial cells and the Sp1-binding site. Actinomycin D is also able to induce disruption of preformed DNA-protein complexes, pointing to the importance of an equilibrium of three components: actinomycin D, protein and DNA for drug action. The effect of actinomycin D is sequence-specific, since no inhibition is observed for interaction of nuclear proteins with the NFkappaB binding site. The results support the view that DNA-binding drugs displaying high sequence-selectivity can exhibit distinct effects on the interaction between DNA and different DNA-binding proteins.
Regulation of the tissue factor promoter in endothelial cells. Binding of NF kappa B-, AP-1-, and Sp1-like transcription factors.
Tissue factor is up-regulated on endothelial cells and monocytes in response to cytokines and endotoxin and is the main trigger of the extrinsic pathway of the coagulation cascade. We have isolated the porcine tissue factor gene and studied the regulation of the promoter, which has not been investigated previously in endothelial cells. Comparison of the promoter sequences with the respective human and murine genes reveals short stretches of homology, which encompass potential binding sites for AP-1, NF kappa B, and Sp1 transcription factors. Using DNase I footprinting, we detect binding of nuclear factors to these promoter elements. Transfection experiments demonstrate that a 300-base pair fragment containing the conserved elements can mediate induced transcription and that the NF kappa B-like element is essential. In accordance, electrophoretic mobility shift assays show a strong increase in the binding of factors to the NF kappa B-like site following induction. We further provide evidence that RelA (p65), c-Rel, and possibly novel polypeptides bind to the tissue factor NF kappa B element. In addition, we show constitutive binding of members of the Fos/Jun and Sp1 families to the AP-1 and Sp1 sites, respectively. We propose a concerted action of AP-1-, NF kappa B-, and Sp1-like factors in transcription from the tissue factor promoter in endothelial cells.
Autoregulation of GAL4 transcription is essential for rapid growth of Kluyveromyces lactis on lactose and galactose.
Transcriptional induction of genes in the lactose-galactose regulon of the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis requires the GAL4 transcription activator protein. Previous data indicated that the concentration of GAL4 was tightly regulated under basal, inducing, and glucose repressing conditions but the mechanisms were unknown. In this paper we demonstrate that transcription of the GAL4 gene (KI-GAL4) increases 3- to 4-fold during induction of the regulon. This increase requires a KI-GAL4 binding site, UASG, in front of the KI-GAL4 gene, indicating that the KI-GAL4 protein autoregulates transcription of its own gene. Our data demonstrate that the autoregulatory circuit is essential for full induction of the lactose-galactose regulon and, hence, for rapid growth on lactose or galactose. Other data indicate that basal transcription of the KI-GAL4 gene is governed by unidentified promoter elements. The existence of the autoregulatory circuit reveals an important difference between the lactose-galactose regulon and its homologue in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the melibiose-galactose regulon. This difference may have evolved in response to different selective pressures encountered by the two organisms.
Inhibition of RNA synthesis in vitro by 9-aminoacridine carboxamide antitumor agents. Effects on overall RNA synthesis and synthesis of the initiating dinucleotide.
A series of 9-aminoacridine carboxamide derivatives of systematically varied structure was assayed in an RNA synthesis in vitro system. Escherichia coli DNA-dependent RNA polymerase and DNA derived from phage T7 or calf thymus were used to measure the effect of the drugs on overall RNA and the initiating dinucleotide (pppApU) syntheses. By means of multiple linear regression analysis it was shown that the inhibition of these reactions depends both on the drug equilibrium binding constant and kinetic parameters of dissociation of drug-DNA complexes.
[Psoralens as probes in the study of the structure and function of nucleic acids].
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Inhibition of DNA-dependent RNA synthesis by 8-methoxypsoralen.
The effect of the photobinding of 8-methoxypsoralen to phage T7 DNA on different steps of RNA synthesis in vitro was assayed. Total RNA synthesis is reduced to a few percent and the transcript size is decreased, as shown by means of gel filtration on a Sepharose 4B column when DNA of the adduct content of six drug molecules per 10(3) nucleotides is used. The initiation of RNA chains seems to be less affected, as inferred from an abortive initiation assay. Synthesis of pppApU on DNA of the same adduct content is inhibited to 34% of the corresponding controls, while the overall RNA synthesis is inhibited to 6%. The amount of the enzyme needed for maximal retention of DNA, the kinetics of its binding and the decay of the polymerase-DNA complex at high ionic strength (or on decrease of the temperature) are similar with DNA either irradiated in the absence of the drug or DNA bearing six 8-methoxypsoralen molecules per 10(3) nucleotides. It is concluded from this study that 8-methoxypsoralen partially inhibits initiation and blocks movement of RNA polymerase along the template, inducing premature termination. It does not appear to influence the binding of the enzyme to DNA.
Effect of 8-methoxypsoralen and 4,5'-dimethylangelicin on ribonucleic acid synthesis in vitro.
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Inhibition of RNA synthesis in vitro by acridines--relation between structure and activity.
The effects of acridine derivatives (proflavine and 2,7-dialkyl derivatives, diacridines and triacridines, 9-aminoacridine carboxamides, and 9-anilinoacridine, amsacrine and its congeners) on overall RNA synthesis in vitro, on synthesis of initiating oligonucleotides and the binding of the enzyme to DNA were studied. The primary mechanism of action is related to inhibition of the enzyme binding to DNA. The acridines (intercalating or non-intercalating and bis-intercalating ligands) assayed here differ in the properties of their complexes with DNA. Correlation is generally observed between inhibition of RNA synthesis in vitro and cytotoxicity in cell cultures for di- and triacridines and 9-aminoacridine carboxamide derivatives. No relationship was found between the effect on RNA polymerase system and biological effects for amsacrine and its derivatives in contrast to the other series of acridines studied here. The aniline ring seems to decrease the inhibitory potency of a ligand. The discrepancy between the biological effect and RNA synthesis inhibition may be due to a different mechanism of cytotoxicity action of amsacrine which is a potent topoisomerase II poison.
Effects of anticancer drugs on transcription in vitro.
The effects of DNA interacting drugs on: (1) total RNA synthesis catalyzed by E. coli and T7 RNA polymerase; (2) synthesis of the initiating dinucleotide (pppApU) by E. coli RNA polymerase ("abortive initiation"); (3) elongation of RNA chains synthesized by T7 RNA polymerase on pT7-7 plasmid DNA bearing T7 RNA polymerase promoter phi 10 with human Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase coding sequence, (4) interaction of transcription factor Sp1 and its binding site were studied. Intercalating ligands which form quickly dissociating complexes with DNA (anthracyclines, proflavine, ethidium bromide) are compared with the slowly dissociating drug of d(G x C) specificity (actinomycin D), the non-intercalating, d(A x T) specific pyrrole antibiotics (netropsin and distamycin A) and covalently binding to DNA 1-nitroacridine derivative (nitracrine). The obtained results indicate that rapidly dissociating ligands, proflavine and ethidium bromide, inhibit total RNA synthesis in vitro and the abortive initiation to a similar extent while they do not induce discrete elongation stops of RNA polymerase. Actinomycin D and nitracrine exhibit a high inhibitory effect on total RNA synthesis and induce stops of RNA polymerase while not affecting abortive initiation. Pyrrole antibiotics primarily inhibit the initiation, while no elongation stops are induced. Actinomycin D inhibits complex formation between nuclear proteins and the Sp1 binding site. Netropsin, ethidium bromide, proflavine and other intercalating acridines do not affect Sp1 binding. The results indicate that the effects primarily depend on sequence specificity and secondarily on the dissociation rate of ligands from their complexes with DNA.