DNA Double-Strand Breaks,Potential Targets for HBV Integration

Hepatitis B virus(HBV)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) is one of the most fre-quently occurring cancers.Hepadnaviral DNA integrations are considered to be essential agents which can promote the process of the hepatocarcinogenesis.More and more researches were designed to find the relationship of the two.In this study,we investigated whether HBV DNA integration occurred at sites of DNA double-strand breaks(DSBs),one of the most detrimental DNA damage.An 18-bp I-SceI homing endonuclease recognition site was introduced into the DNA of HepG2 cell line by stable DNA transfection,then cells were incubated in patients’ serum with high HBV DNA copies and at the same time,DSBs were induced by transient expression of I-SceI after transfection of an I-SceI expression vector.By using nest PCR,the viral DNA was detected at the sites of the break.It appeared that integra-tion occurred between part of HBV x gene and the I-SceI induced breaks.The results suggested that DSBs,as the DNA damages,may serve as potential targets for hepadnaviral DNA insertion and the integrants would lead to widespread host genome changes necessarily.It provided a new site to investi-gate the integration.

Exposure to Long Magnetic Resonance Imaging Thermometry Does Not Cause Significant DNA Double-Strand Breaks on CF-1 Mice

The purpose of the study was to investigate if the high gradient strength and slew rate used for long MRI-thermometry monitoring could cause DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs). To this end, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to quantify γH2AX, a molecular marker for DSBs, in the blood of mice after a 6-hour exposure to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Fourteen CF-1 female mice were separated into 4 experimental groups: Untreated negative control, MRI-treated, MRI-Control, and exposed to ionizing radiation positive control. Untreated negative control was used as a baseline for ELISA to quantify γH2AX. MRI-treated consisted of a 6-hour continuous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence with a slew rate of 192 mT/m/s constituting a significantly longer imaging time than routine clinical imaging. MRI-control mice were maintained under the same conditions outside the MRI scanner for 6-hours. Mice in the irradiation group served as a positive control of DSBs and were exposed to either 2 Gy, 5 Gy or 10 Gy of ionizing radiation. DSBs in the blood lymphocytes from the treatment groups were analyzed using the γH2AX ELISA and compared. Total protein concentration in lysates was determined for each blood sample and averaged 1 ± 0.35 mg/mL. Irradiated positive controls were used to test radiation dose-dependency of the γH2AX ELISA assay where a linear dependency on radiation exposure was observed (r2 = 0.93) between untreated and irradiated samples. Mean and standard error mean of γH2AX formation were calculated and compared between each treatment group. Repeated measures 1-way ANOVA showed statistically significant differences between the means of irradiated controls and both the MRI-control and MRI-treated groups. There was no statistically significant difference between the MRI-treated samples and the MRI-control groups. Our results show that long MRI exposure at a high slew rate did not cause increased levels of γH2AX when compared to control mice, suggesting that no increase in DSBs was caused by the long MR thermometry imaging session. The novelty of this work contradicts other studies that have suggested MRI may cause DSBs;this work suggests an alternative cause of DNA damage.

Comparison of DNA double-strand breaks induced by ^(16)O^(8+) in deproteinized DNA and intact cells

The yield of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is sure to be influenced by theenvironment around DNA molecule. Inverse pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PIGE) has beenapplied to compare the sensitivity of B16 cells and their DNA in DSBs induced by 75 MeV/u16O8+ beam. Results show that the percentages of DNA released from the plug(PR) in bothkinds of tile samples increase with the dose and approach a similar quasi-threshold of about81%. A simple new equation was presented to calculate the break level of DNA molecules.Within a certain dose, the relationship between the break level and the dose is linear. Theyield of DSBs in deproteinized DNA was 1.11 DSBs/100 Mbp/Gy, while that in intact cells was0.60DSBs/100Mbp/Gy. It is testified that deproteinized DNA is more sensitive to oxygen ionsirradiation than intact cells.

Across two phylogeographic breaks: Quaternary evolutionary history of a mountain aspen (Populus rotundifolia) in the Hengduan Mountains

Biogeographical barriers to gene flow are central to plant phylogeography.In East Asia,plant distribution is greatly influenced by two phylogeographic breaks,the Mekong-Salween Divide and Tanaka-Kaiyong Line,however,few studies have investigated how these barriers affect the genetic diversity of species that are distributed across both.Here we used 14 microsatellite loci and four chloroplast DNA fragments to examine genetic diversity and distribution patterns of 49 populations of Populus rotundifolia,a species that spans both the Mekong-Salween Divide and the Tanaka-Kaiyong Line in southwestern China.Demographic and migration hypotheses were tested using coalescent-based approaches.Limited historical gene flow was observed between the western and eastern groups of P.rotundifolia,but substantial flow occurred across both the Mekong-Salween Divide and Tanaka-Kaiyong Line,manifesting in clear admixture and high genetic diversity in the central group.Wind-borne pollen and seeds may have facilitated the dispersal of P.rotundifolia following prevalent northwest winds in the spring.We also found that the Hengduan Mountains,where multiple genetic barriers were detected,acted on the whole as a barrier between the western and eastern groups of P.rotundifolia.Ecological niche modeling suggested that P.rotundifolia has undergone range expansion since the last glacial maximum,and demographic reconstruction indicated an earlier population expansion around 600 Ka.The phylogeographic pattern of P.rotundifolia reflects the interplay of biological traits,wind patterns,barriers,niche differentiation,and Quaternary climate history.This study emphasizes the need for multiple lines of evidence in understanding the Quaternary evolution of plants in topographically complex areas.

Effect of prolonging interval time between coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention on X-ray-induced DNA double-strand breaks in blood lymphocytes

Background It is desirable to minimize the risk of adverse radiation effects associated with percutaneous coronary intervention.The aim of this study was to determine the impact of prolonging the interval between coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention on X-ray-induced DNA double-strand breaks in blood lymphocytes using γ-H2AX immunofluorescence microscopy.Methods Blood samples of eight patients were taken before the first exposure to ionizing radiation,10 minutes,20 minutes,30 minutes,1 hour,and 24 hours after the last exposure to determine the γ-H2AX foci repair kinetics.Fifty-eight patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention were randomized to an intermittent radiation exposure group and a continuous radiation exposure group.Blood samples were taken before coronary angiography and 15 minutes after the last exposure.By enumerating γ-H2AX foci,the impact of prolonging the interval on DNA double-strand breaks was investigated.Student t-test was used to compare the difference in DNA double-strand breaks between the two groups.Results An increase in foci was found in all patients received percutaneous coronary intervention.The maximum number of γ-H2AX foci was found 10-20 minutes after the end of the last exposure.There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in γ-H2AX foci at baseline.On average there were （0.79±0.15） γ-H2AX foci induced by interventional X-rays per lymphocyte in the continuous radiation exposure group and （0.66±0.21） in the intermittent radiation exposure group after exposure （P〈0.05）.Conclusions A significant number of γ-H2AX foci develop following the percutaneous coronary intervention procedures.The number of X-ray-induced DNA double-strand breaks may be decreased by prolonging the interval time between coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention to 30 minutes.

Hot spots of DNA double-strand breaks and genomic contacts of human rDNA units are involved in epigenetic regulation

DNA double-strand breaks(DSBs)are involved in many cellular mechanisms,including replication,transcription,and genome rearrangements.The recent observation that hot spots of DSBs in human chromosomes delimit DNA domains that possess coordinately expressed genes suggests a strong relationship between the organization of transcription patterns and hot spots of DSBs.In this study,we performed mapping of hot spots of DSBs in a human 43-kb ribosomal DNA(rDNA)repeated unit.We observed that rDNA units corresponded to the most fragile sites in human chromosomes and that these units possessed at least nine specific regions containing clusters of extremely frequently occurring DSBs,which were located exclusively in non-coding intergenic spacer(IGS)regions.The hot spots of DSBs corresponded to only a specific subset of DNase-hypersensitive sites,and coincided with CTCF,PARP1,and HNRNPA2B1 binding sites,and H3K4me3 marks.Our rDNA-4C data indicate that the regions of IGS containing the hot spots of DSBs often form contacts with specific regions in different chromosomes,including the pericentromeric regions,as well as regions that are characterized by H3K27ac and H3K4me3 marks,CTCF binding sites,ChIA-PET and RIP signals,and high levels of DSBs.The data suggest a strong link between chromosome breakage and several different mechanisms of epigenetic regulation of gene expression.

Double-stranded DNA breaks and gene functions in recombination and meiosis

Meiotic 前期我是一个长、复杂的阶段。相应再结合是在 meiotic 前期期间发生在相应染色体之间的一个重要过程我。chiasmata 的形成，它一起保持相应染色体直到中期我到后期，我转移，为合适的染色体分离是批评的。最近的研究建议了 SPO11 蛋白质在产生被认为是相应再结合的起点的双 stranded DNA 裂缝(DSB ) 的地点在很多个有机体保存了功能。DSB 的这些地点处理要求 RecA 相当或相同的事物的功能，例如 RAD51， DMC1，和其它，由变异的研究建议了；因此，修理这些 meiotic DSB 的失败导致反常 chromosomal 引申，导致破坏成熟分裂。这些 RecA 相当或相同的事物的功能上的最近的发现改进了位于 meiotic 下面的机制的理解相应再结合。

Adsorption dynamics of double-stranded DNA on a graphene oxide surface with both large unoxidized and oxidized regions

The adsorption dynamics of double-stranded DNA(dsDNA)molecules on a graphene oxide(GO)surface are important for applications of DNA/GO functional structures in biosensors,biomedicine and materials science.In this work,molecular dynamics simulations were used to examine the adsorption of different length dsDNA molecules(from 4 bp to24 bp)on the GO surface.The dsDNA molecules could be adsorbed on the GO surface through the terminal bases and stand on the GO surface.For short dsDNA(4 bp)molecules,the double-helix structure was partially or totally broken and the adsorption dynamics was affected by the structural fluctuation of short dsDNA and the distribution of the oxidized groups on the GO surface.For long dsDNA molecules(from 8 bp to 24 bp)adsorption is stable.By nonlinear fitting of the contact angle between the axis of the dsDNA molecule and the GO surface,we found that a dsDNA molecule adsorbed on a GO surface has the chance of orienting parallel to the GO surface if the length of the dsDNA molecule is longer than 54 bp.We attributed this behavior to the flexibility of dsDNA molecules.With increasing length,the flexibility of dsDNA molecules also increases,and this increasing flexibility gives an adsorbed dsDNA molecule more chance of reaching the GO surface with the free terminal.This work provides a whole picture of adsorption of dsDNA molecules on the GO surface and should be of benefit for the design of DNA/GO based biosensors.

DNA聚合酶θ:易错的多功能DNA末端修复分子

DNA聚合酶θ(DNA polymerase theta,Polθ)是一种广泛存在于动植物中的DNA修复酶。它在选择性末端连接(alternative end-joining,Alt-EJ)途径中发挥着关键作用,常参与DNA双链断裂(DNA double-strand breaks,DSB)损伤修复。在正常生理状态下,Polθ主要调控基因组稳定性。然而,在恶性肿瘤发生时,Polθ表现出异常高表达水平,并参与调控肿瘤细胞的恶性转变过程。研究表明,抑制Polθ活性可导致同源重组(homologous recombination,HR)缺陷的肿瘤细胞发生合成致死(synthetic lethality,SL)。因此,已经开发出多种针对Polθ的小分子抑制剂,可与其他化疗药物联合使用以抑制恶性肿瘤的发展。此外,敲除或抑制Polθ活性还能增加HR修复效率,从而提高外源基因靶向整合效果。本文综述了Polθ及其介导的Alt-EJ修复机制在生物学功能方面的最新研究进展,为靶向Polθ在肿瘤治疗和基因编辑方面的应用提供理论基础。

Maternal gene Ooep may participate in homologous recombination-mediated DNA double-strand break repair in mouse oocytes

DNA damage in oocytes can cause infertility and birth defects. DNA double-strand breaks （DSBs） are highly deleterious and can substantially impair genome integrity. Homologous recombination （HR）-mediated DNA DSB repair plays dominant roles in safeguarding oocyte quantity and quality. However, little is known regarding the key players of the HR repair pathway in oocytes. Here, we identified oocyte-specific gene Ooep as a novel key component of the HR repair pathway in mouse oocytes. OOEP was required for efficient ataxia telangiectasia mutated （ATM） kinase activation and Rad51 recombinase （RAD51） focal accumulation at DNA DSBs. Ooep null oocytes were defective in DNA DSB repair and prone to apoptosis upon exogenous DNA damage insults. Moreover, Ooep null oocytes exhibited delayed meiotic maturation. Therefore, OOEP played roles in preserving oocyte quantity and quality by maintaining genome stability. Ooep expression decreased with the advance of maternal age, suggesting its involvement in maternal aging.

DETECTION OF STRAND BREAKS OF DNA IN HUMAN EARLY CHORIONIC VILLUS CELLS INDUCED BY DIAGNOSTIC ULTRASOUND USING ^(32)P-LABELED ALU HYBRIDIZATION

Objective To explore if strand breaks of DNA in human early chorionic villus cells in uterus were induced by diagnostic ultrasound and to evaluate the method used for detection of single-stranded breaks and double-stranded breaks in human DNA. Methods 60 normal pregnant women aged 20-30, who underwent artificial abortion during 6-8 weeks of gestation, were randomly divided into 2 experimental groups: All 30 cases were exposed to diagnostic ultrasound in uterus for 10 minutes, and 24 hours later chorionic villi were extracted; the other 30 cases were taken as the control group. Single-stranded DNA and double-stranded DNA in villus cells in all cases were isolated by the alkaline unwinding combined with hydroxylapatite chromatography, and were quantitatively detected using 32 P-labeled Alu probe for dot-blotting hybridization. Results There was no significant difference in quantity and percentage in single-stranded DNA and double-stranded DNA between 2 groups (P>0.05). 32 P-Alu probe could only hybridize with human DNA, and could detect DNA isolated from as few as 2.5×10 3 chorionic villus cells and 0.45ng DNA in human leukocytes. Conclusion The results suggested that there were no DNA strand damages in human chorionic villus cells when the uterus was exposed to diagnostic ultrasound for 10 minutes. The method,^(32)P-Alu probe for dot-blotting hybridization, was even more specific, sensitive and accurate than conventional approaches.

Application of Artificially Induced Double-strand Breaks (DSB) and Triplex-forming Oligonucleotides (TFO) in the Improvement of Gene Targeting Efficiency

Gene targeting technology is an important means to investigate gene functions, but its efficiency of gene targeting is very low, especially for somatic cell targeting. Artificially induced double-strand breaks （DSB） and triplex forming oligonucleotide （TFO） are currently developed methods to improve the targeting efficiency. This paper summarized the basic principles, design ideas and application in gene targeting efficiency improvement of these two methods, analyzed and com- pared their characteristics, and finally proposed prospects for their future development.

Analysis of heavy-ion-induced DNA strand breaks in plasmid pUC18

Plasmid DNA was irradiated or implanted by mixed particle field(CR) or lithium-ion-beam to detect strand breaks.The primary results showed that mixed particle field could induce single and double strand breaks with positive linear-dose-effects;most of sequence changes induced by CR were point mutant.Lithium-ion-beam could induce strand breaks also,but it was only at dose of 20Gy.

月球辐射环境致DNA链断裂损伤规律的仿真研究

月球表面缺乏磁场和大气的保护,其辐射环境长期处于极端恶劣的水平,对探月航天员的健康构成了严重威胁。针对月表面无屏蔽、航天服屏蔽和月面基地屏蔽条件下的空间辐射环境,运用基于蒙特卡洛方法的Geant4-DNA仿真软件,研究了单细胞核内DNA在上述环境下的链断裂损伤规律。结果表明:质子引起的双链断裂比例低于铁离子;无屏蔽状态下,若爆发太阳粒子事件,DNA结构将在短期内受到严重破坏,链断裂总数可达2×10^(6)个以上,约占细胞核内碱基对总数的0.039%;银河宇宙线环境中,辐射风险主要由长期累计剂量引起,质子凭借更高的通量,拥有了比铁离子更强的DNA破坏效果;但在有屏蔽状态下,DNA结构的损伤状况得到了明显改善,尤其是爆发太阳粒子事件这种极端情况下,最多减少了99.96%的链断裂数。

川芎嗪通过RAD52调控乳腺癌细胞DNA损伤修复

目的:探究TMP对乳腺癌BT474细胞增殖、细胞周期及其调控蛋白表达与DNA双链断裂修复通路的相关性。方法:CCK8法测定TMP对乳腺癌BT474细胞的增殖抑制情况;流式细胞术测定TMP对细胞周期的影响;单细胞凝胶电泳测定分析TMP对损伤后细胞DSBs累积情况的影响;Isce-I内切酶系统检测TMP对修复通路活性的影响;Western blotting检测DSBs修复通路相关染色体结合蛋白表达水平变化。结果:TMP通过使细胞阻滞在G_(1)期呈浓度依赖性抑制BT474细胞增殖,显著减少体内由Zeocin导致的细胞拖尾DNA含量(P<0.05);TMP显著增加BT474细胞对RAD52、ERCC1、XRCC4以及DNA LigⅣ蛋白募集,减少对KU80蛋白募集,促进了SSA以及NHEJ通路修复活性(P<0.05)。结论:TMP通过阻滞BT474细胞停留在G_(1)期使其发挥增殖抑制作用的机制之一;TMP通过增强损伤缺口对各个通路的关键染色体结合蛋白募集,促进SSA与NHEJ修复通路活性从而减少DNA损伤。

A New Mechanism of Nonrandom Distribution of DNA Double Strand Breaks

Since 1996, it has been widely accepted that the distribution of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) induced by ionizing radiation is nonrandom. The explanation to this phenomenon is focused in two parts. One is the ionizing characteristic of the particles and the other is the high-ordered configuration of chromosome in eukaryote~[1,2]. As reported before~[3], we revealed the nonrandom distribution of DSBs when the

The role of NBS1 in DNA double strand break repair, telomere stability, and cell cycle checkpoint control

真核细胞的房间的染色体在由环境代理人和内长的新陈代谢的副产品的连续袭击下面。在 DNA 导致的损坏通常导致细胞的事件的串联， DNA 损坏反应。DNA 损坏反应的失败能由减少 DNA 修理的效率和忠实导致恶意的开发。NBS1 蛋白质是在对 DNA 损坏和 chromosomal 正直的维护的细胞的反应起一个关键作用的 MRE11/RAD50/NBS1 建筑群(MRN ) 的一个部件。在 NBS1 基因的变化为 Nijmegen 破裂症候群(NBS ) 负责，给予增加的倾向到恶意的开发的世袭混乱。从病人们在 DNA 双海滨裂缝的修理指向缺乏的 NBS 孤立的房间的 phenotypic 特征。这里，我们在 DNA 损坏反应考察 NBS1 的角色的当前的知识。强调在 DNA 双海滨修理，察觉到并且发信号的 DNA 损坏的调整，房间周期检查点控制和 telomere 稳定性的维护被放在 NBS1 的角色上。

Codon evolution in double-stranded organelle DNA: strong regulation of homonucleotides and their analog alternations

In our previous study, complete single DNA strands which were obtained from nuclei, chloroplasts and plant mitochondria obeyed Chargaff’s second parity rule, although those which were obtained from animal mitochondria deviated from the rule. On the other hand, plant mitochondria obeyed another different rule after their classification. Complete single DNA strand sequences obtained from chloroplasts, plant mitochondria, and animal mitochondria, were divided into the coding and non-coding regions. The non-coding region, which was the complementary coding region on the reverse strand, was incorporated as a coding region in the forward strand. When the nucleotide contents of the coding region or non-coding regions were plotted against the composition of the four nucleotides in the complete single DNA strand, it was determined that chloroplast and plant mitochondrial DNA obeyed Chargaff’s second parity rule in both the coding and non-coding regions. However, animal mitochondrial DNA deviated from this rule. In chloroplast and plant mitochondrial DNA, which obey Chargaff’s second parity rule, the lines of regression for G (purine) and C (pyrimidine) intersected with regression lines for A (purine) and T (pyrimidines), respectively, at around 0.250 in all cases. On the other hand, in animal mitochondrial DNA, which deviates from Chargaff’s second parity rule, only regression lines due to the content of homonucleotides or their analogs in the coding or non-coding region against those in the complete single DNA strand intersected at around 0.250 at the horizontal axis. Conversely, the intersection of the two lines of regression (G and A or C and T) against the contents of heteronucleotides or their analogs shifted from 0.25 in both coding and non-coding regions. Nucleotide alternations in chloroplasts and plant mitochondria are strictly regulated, not only by the proportion of homonucleotides and their analogs, but also by the heteronucleotides and their analogs. They are strictly regulated in animal mitochondria only by the content of homonucleotides and their analogs.

Mechanical properties of double-stranded DNA biofilm with Gaussian distribution

In microcantilever-based label-free biodetection technologies, deflection changes induced by adsorptions of double-stranded DNA （dsDNA） molecules on Au-layer surface are greatly affected by the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of DNA biofilm. In this paper, the elastic properties of dsDNA biofilm are studied. First, the Parsegian＇s empirical potential based on a mesoscopic liq- uid crystal theory is employed to describe the interaction energy among coarse-grained DNA cylinders. Then, con- sidering a Gaussian distribution of DNA interaxial distance, the thought experiment method is used to derive an analyti- cal expression for Young＇s modulus of DNA biofilm with a stochastic packing pattern for the first time. Results show that Young＇s modulus of DNA biofilm is on the order of 10 MPa. These findings could provide a simple and effective method to evaluate the mechanical properties of soft biofilm on snbstrate.