Earticle

This study was investigated to test whether the zygote recognized the topoisomerase II beta (TOP2B) mediated DNA fragmentation in epididymal spermatozoa or the nuclease degradation in vas deferens spermatozoa by testing for the presence of gammaH2AX (γH2AX). The γH2AX is phosphorylation of histone protein H2AX on serine 139 occurs at sites flanking DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs). The presence of γH2AX in the pronuclei of mouse zygotes which were injected with DNA broke epididymal spermatozoa was tested by immunohistochemistry at 5 and 9 h post fertilization, respectively. Paternal pronuclei that arose from epididymal spermatozoa treated with divalent cations did not stain for γH2AX at 5 h. On the other hand, in embryos injected with vas deferences spermatozoa that had been treated with divalent cations, γH2AX was only present in paternal pronuclei, and not the maternal pronuclei at 5 h. Interestingly, both pronuclei stained positively for γH2AX for all treatments and controls at 9 h after sperm injection. In conclusion, the embryos recognize DNA that is damaged by nuclease, but not by TOP2B because H2AX in phosphorylated in paternal pronuclei resulting from spermatozoa treated with fragmented DNA from vas deferens spermatozoa treated with divalent cations, but not from epididymal spermatozoa treated the same way.

Mitochondrial biogenesis is a complex process requiring coordinated expression of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1-alpha (PGC-$1{\alpha}$) is a key regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis, and it controls mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication within diverse tissues, including muscle tissue. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on mtDNA copy number and PGC-$1{\alpha}$ promoter activity in $C_2C_{12}$ muscle cells. mtDNA copy number and mRNA levels of genes related to mitochondrial biogenesis such as PGC-$1{\alpha}$, nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1) and mitochondrial transcription factor A (Tfam) were assayed by quantitative real-time PCR. The PGC-$1{\alpha}$ promoter from -970 to +412 bp was subcloned into the pGL3-basic vector, which includes a luciferase reporter gene. Both EPA and DHA significantly increased mtDNA copy number, dose and time dependently, and up-regulated mRNA levels of PGC-$1{\alpha}$, NRF1, and Tfam. Furthermore, EPA and DHA stimulated PGC-$1{\alpha}$ promoter activity in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that EPA and DHA may modulate mitochondrial biogenesis, which was partially associated with increased mtDNA replication and PGC-$1{\alpha}$ gene expression in $C_2C_{12}$ muscle cells.

Mammalian DNA replication occurs only at the fixed place, termed the origin of replication, origin of replication is not recognized by the DNA sequence. It is recognized by the DNA licensing, which indicate that DNA replication is prepared. Furthermore, in the case of mammalian one-cell embryo is separated into paternal and maternal pronuclei, and DNA licensing and DNA replication takes place each in a separate pronuclei. Based on the characteristics of these mammalian one-cell embryo, we tested whether paternal DNA that was destined for degradation was properly licensed, by testing for the presence of MCM7 and ORC2, two licensing proteins, in the paternal pronuclei. We also tested whether the zygote recognized the TOP2B mediated DNA fragmentation in epididymal spermatozoa or the nuclease degradation in vas deferens spermatozoa, by testing for the presence of gamma-H2AX. Sperm DNA fragmentation does not prevent licensing of DNA replication origins. The embryo recognizes DNA that is damaged by nucleases, but not by TOP2B because H2AX is phosphorylated in paternal pronuclei resulting from spermatozoa with fragmented DNA from vas deferens spermatozoa treated with divalent cations, but not from epididymal spermatozoa treated the same way. Our data indicate that the one-cell embryo does harbor a mechanism to prevent the replication of severely damaged DNA from spermatozoa, even though the embryos do not undergo classical apoptosis.

Under the condition of expression of $\lambda$ P protein at lethal level, the oriC DNA-binding activity is significantly affected in wild-type E. coli but not in the rpl mutant. In purified system, the $\lambda$ P protein inhibits the binding of both oriC DNA and ATP to the wild-type DnaA protein but not to the rpl DnaA protein. We conclude that the $\lambda$ P protein inhibits the binding of oriC DNA and ATP to the wild-type DnaA protein, which causes the inhibition of host DNA synthesis initiation that ultimately leads to bacterial death. A possible beneficial effect of this interaction of $\lambda$ P protein with E. coli DNA initiator protein DnaA for phage DNA replication has been proposed.

This study was investigated to test whether paternal DNA that was destined for degradation was properly licensed by testing for the presence of mini-chromosome maintenance protein (MCM) 7 and origin recognition complex (ORC) 2 in the paternal pronuclei. ORC2 is one of the first licensing protein to come on and MCM7 is one of the last licensing protein to come on. Zygotes were prepared by injection of control and treated sperm injection (ICSI). To control for DNA breakage, epididymal spermatozoa were treated with DNase I to fragment the DNA, then injected into oocytes. The presence of MCM7 and ORC2 in the pronuclei of mouse zygotes was tested by immunohistochemistry, just before the onset of DNA synthesis, at 5 h after fertilization, and after DNA synthesis began, at 9 h post fertilization. We found that in all cases, both MCM7 and ORC2 were present in both pronuclei at 5 h after sperm injection, just before DNA synthesis began. This indicates that no matter how extensive the DNA damage, recruitment of licensing proteins to the origins of replication was not inhibited. Sperm DNA fragmentation does not prevent licensing of DNA replication origins. Furthermore, the embryo recognizes DNA that is damaged by nucleases. Our data indicate that the one-cell embryo does harbor a mechanism to prevent the replication of severely damaged DNA from spermatozoa, even though the embryos do not undergo classical apoptosis.

DNA end resection has a key role in double-strand break repair and DNA replication. Defective DNA end resection can cause malfunctions in DNA repair and replication, leading to greater genomic instability. DNA end resection is initiated by MRN-CtIP generating short, 3′-single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). This newly generated ssDNA is further elongated by multiple nucleases and DNA helicases, such as EXO1, DNA2, and BLM. Effective DNA end resection is essential for error-free homologous recombination DNA repair, the degradation of incorrectly replicated DNA and double-strand break repair choice. Because of its importance in DNA repair, DNA end resection is strictly regulated. Numerous mechanisms have been reported to regulate the initiation, extension, and termination of DNA end resection. Here, we review the general process of DNA end resection and its role in DNA replication and repair pathway choice.

We have exmained the re-establishment of HIMRE mediated silencing function on the transcriptional activity of yeast heast shock gene HSP82. To test whether the onset of SIR repression can occur in growing cells in the rpesence of a potent inhibitor of DNA replication, HMRa/HSP82 strains with SIR4- and SIR4S$^{+}$ genetic backgrounds were arrested in S phase by incubation of a culture in 200 mM hydroxyurea for 120 min. It was clear that following a 20 minute heat shock, silencing of the HMRa/HSP82 allele in cells pretreated with hydroxyurea does occur in a SIR4-dependen fashion, even though the kinetics of repression appears to be substantially delayed. We also have tested whether re- establishement of silencing at the HMR/hsp82 locus can occur in G1-arrested cells. Cell cycle arrest at G1 phase was achieved by treatment of early log a cell cultures with .alpha.-factor mating pheromone, which induces G1 arrest. The result suggests that passage through S phase (and therefore DNA replication) is nor required for re-establishing silencer-mediated repression at the HMNRa/HSP82 locus. Finally, to test whether de nono protein synthesis is required for re-establishment of silencer-mediated repression, cells were pretreated with cycloheximide (500 /.mu.g/ml) 120 min. It was apparent that inhibiting protein synthesis delays, but does not prevent, re-establishment of silencer-mediated repression. Altogether, these results indicate that re-establishment of silencer-mediated repression is not dependent on the DNA replication and has no requirement for protein synthesis.s.

The product of bacteriophage T7 gene 2.5 is a single-stranded DNA binding protein and plays an important role in T7 DNA replication, recombination, and repair. Genetic analysis of T7 phage defective in gene 2.5 shows that the gene 2.5 protein is essential for T7 DNA replication and growth (Kim and Richardson, 1993). The C-terminal truncated gene 2.5 protein ($GP2.5-{\Delta}21C$) cannot substitute for wild-type gene 2.5 protein in vivo; suggesting that the C-terminal domain of gene 2.5 protein is essential for protein-protein interactions (Kim and Richardson, 1994; J. Biol. Chem. 269, 5070-5078). Truncated gene 2.5 proteins lacking 19 residues ($GP2.5-{\Delta}19N$) and 39 residues ($GP2.5-{\Delta}39N$) from the amino-terminal domain were constructed by in vitro mutagenesis. $GP2.5-{\Delta}19N$ can support the growth of T7 phage lacking gene 2.5 while $GP2.5-{\Delta}39N$ cannot substitute for wild-type gene 2.5 protein in vivo; however, its ability to bind to single-stranded DNA is not affected. These results clearly demonstrate that the 20~39 amino-terminal region of gene 2.5 protein is required for T7 growth in vivo but may not be involved in DNA binding activity.

The oxygen dependent regulation of DNA replication is an essential property of proliferating mammalian cells. In human T24 bladder cancer cells, several hours of hypoxia leads to reversible DNA replication arrest and re-entry of oxygen induces a burst of replication initiation. This short communication provides strong evidence that PD184352 initiates DNA replication in living hypoxic cells without elevating the oxygen level. PD184352 releases the regular hypoxic replicon arrest, however, at a low intensity compared to the effect of reoxygenation. Moreover, PD184352 shows no effect on normoxically incubated as well as reoxygenated T24 cells.

When DNA replication of simian virus 40 (SV40) is initiated on the replication origin, the regions containing the initiation sites of DNA primase, which participates in the transient RNA primer synthesis for formation of Okazaki fragments in the lagging strand, were chosen as the target sites of antisense RNA for studies of the inhibition of SV40 DNA replication. Four recombinant transcription vectors, pUC-PrI, pUC-PrII, pGEM-PrBS, and pGEM-PrSN, coding antisense RNA, were constructed. Four antisense RNAs (named as I, II, BS, and SN) having the size of 18, 19,58, and 123 nts, respectively, were made from the transcription vectors by in vitro transcription. And then, antisense RNA in the concentration of 2${\mu}m$ were added to COS cells transfected with pATSV-W which is a recombinant plasmid containing the SV40 origin of replication. The inhibitory extent of DNA replication was measured by DpnI resistance and was confirmed by measurement of transient RNA primer synthesis. The result shows that six combinations of antisense RNA (I, II, BS, SN, I+SN, and BS+SN) lead to the inhibition of SV40 DNA replication by up to 85%.

Genotoxic anticancer therapies exploit the heightened DNA replication stress of cancer cells. Members of the phosphoinositide-3-kinase-related kinase (PIKK) family, including ATR, ATM and DNA-PKcs, orchestrate the DNA damage response at stalled and broken replication forks, triggering complex signaling cascades that dictate cell fate. p53 plays a pivotal role in regulating the processes of cell cycle, DNA repair and programmed cell death, although p53-independent regulatory mechanisms are also evident. Genotoxic drugs often induce therapy-induced senescence, a state of dynamic and reversible cytostasis that promotes drug resistance and unfavorable patient outcomes. Conversely, severe replication stress culminates in DNA replication catastrophe, a manifestation of irreversible fork collapse with extensive single-stranded DNA accumulation that ultimately results in cell death. Therefore, the magnitude of DNA replication damage and engaged signal transduction pathways determine the outcome of genotoxic therapy. Understanding the molecular basis of the replication stress response that drives therapy-induced senescence versus cell death has far-reaching implications for enhancing the cytotoxic efficacy of anticancer regimens. Here we review the mechanisms of the DNA replication stress response, focusing on pharmacological interventions designed to shift the balance from survival to cell death.

DNA replication of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a highly regulated process that requires specific interactions between cis-acting lytic origin of replication (oriLyt) and trans-acting viral proteins. Formation of the replication initiation complex is also regulated by specific interactions among viral replication proteins. HCMV replication proteins include origin-binding proteins, core proteins that work in replication forks, and regulatory proteins that modulate host cell functions. This letter describes intriguing questions regarding how HCMV origin-binding proteins interact with oriLyt to initiate DNA replication and how the regulatory UL112-113 proteins, which are found only in beta-herpesviruses, function to promote viral DNA replication.

Using a mutant M13 phage derivative lacking a great part of the complementary strand synthesis origin, we identified six single-strand initiation (ssi) signals for DNA replication in pACYC184, pLG214, pGKV21, and pDPT270 plasmids, and named them $ssiA_{YC}$, $ssiA_{LG}$, $ssiB_{LG}$, $ssiA_{KV}$, $ssiA_{PT}$, and $ssiB_{PT}$, respectively. Two of them were from pDPT270, one from downstream the on of pACYC184, two from pLG214, one from upstream the plus origin of pGKV21. Introduction of these ssi signals into the deleted $ori_c$ site of a mutant filamentous M13 phage ($M13{\Delta}lac182$) resulted in the restoration of growth activity of this phage. These ssi signals were classified into a number of groups on the basis of sequence similarity. $ssiA_{YC}$ and $ssiA_{LG}$ show extensive sequence homology to the n'-site (primosome assembly sites) of ColE1, whereas $ssiB_{PT}$ is homologous to the n'-site of ${\Phi}X174$. $ssiA_{PT}$ belongs to G4-type ssi signals which require only dnaG primase and SSB protein for the priming of replication. In addition, possible biological roles of these ssi signals are discussed.

Evaluation of plant extracts that might inhibit hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication was performed to find potent anti-HBV agents. Eighty-five species of plants from forty-three families were tested for their anti-HBV activities using HBV-producing HepG2-derived 2.2.15 cells. The anti-HBV activity of plant extracts was measured by slot blot hybridization technique and cytotoxicity was determined by crystal violet staining procedure. All plants were extracted with methanol and the extracts were partitioned into n-hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous layer. The ethyl acetate fractions of Rhus verniciflua $(stem:\;EC_{50},\;8.2{\mu}g/ml;\;CC_{50},\;9.4{\mu}g/ml)$, Gastrodia elata $(root:\;EC_{50},\;17.7{\mu}g/ml;\;CC_{50},\;>20{\mu}g/ml)$, Raphanus sativus $(seeds:\;EC_{50},\;17.3{\mu}g/ml;\;CC_{50},\;>20{\mu}g/ml)$, and Angelica gigas $(root:\;EC_{50},\;8.3{\mu}g/ml;\;CC_{50},\;15.6{\mu}g/ml)$ revealed the anti-HBV activity in 2.2.15 cell culture system and these fractions are under the process of further sequential fractionation by column chromatography to find the active principles against HBV.

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an important enzyme which catalyzes superoxide radicals to hydrogen peroxide. A Cu, Zn sod-like gene was found in Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus encoding 151 amino acids. To demonstrate its function, a recombinant virus named dsBmNPV with deleted sod gene was constructed. It was discovered that the sod gene was not essential for viral replication. Studies on growth of budded virus in BmN cells and superoxide dismutase and catalase activities in vivo after dsBmNPV infection showed that the titer of dsBmNPV decreased obviously comparing to wild type BmNPV, the sod gene was effective on genomic DNA replication of baculovirus, the peak of SOD activity of silkworm infected with wt-BmNPV appeared between 36 and 48 hrs post infection, and with dsBmNPV, it did not appear. And the changes of CAT activity after infection were similar to SOD activity.