Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:2.7.1.21 (thymidine kinase)
7,561 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The thymidine kinase encoded by herpes simplex virus type 1 contains an amino acid sequence homologous to a consensus sequence related to the ATP-binding site in many proteins. We have used site-directed mutagenesis to investigate the importance of the five highly conserved amino acids within this segment. When any one of the three glycines was changed to valine the corresponding mutant enzyme was inactive. The mutation of lysine 63 to isoleucine destroyed the enzymatic activity. When threonine 64 was changed to alanine the mutant enzyme lost its activity. However, when this threonine was changed to serine the enzyme was still active but with different apparent Michaelis constants (Km) for thymidine and ATP. The wild-type thymidine kinase has apparent Km's of 0.5 and 20 microM for thymidine and ATP, respectively, while the mutant enzyme displayed Km's of 2.3 and 60 microM for thymidine and ATP. These results indicate that this homologous segment is essential for the function of the thymidine kinase and is involved in the substrate binding domain of the enzyme.
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PMID:Site-directed mutagenesis of a nucleotide-binding domain in HSV-1 thymidine kinase: effects on catalytic activity. 283 27

In order to estimate the effects of protein and amino acids on regenerating liver, the induction of enzymes involved in synthesis of DNA was studied in rats fed protein free diet. In the regenerating livers of rats of the protein free diet, increase of liver weight and DNA content were stopped 48 hours after hepatectomy, and induction of DNA synthesizing enzymes such as dCMP deaminase, ribonucleotide reductase, and thymidine kinase were depressed and shortened. On the other hand, induction of protein or RNA synthesizing enzymes such as polyamine, ornithine decarboxylase, and tyrosine aminotransferase were not depressed by protein deprivation. The results indicate that protein deprivation inhibits the DNA synthesizing enzymes specifically, and regenerating liver cells can not enter S phase of cell cycle. When rats were maintained solely by total parenteral nutrition after hepatectomy, amino acids were essential for induction of DNA synthesizing enzymes. In particular, induction of these enzymes were regulated by 7 amino acids include Val, Leu, Ile, Met, Trp, Phe, and Thr, and most of these plasma amino acid levels were depressed after hepatectomy. By administration of amino acids for 12 hours just after hepatectomy, the DNA synthesizing enzymes were almost normally induced. This suggests that amino acids administration just after hepatectomy is effective to induce the DNA synthesizing enzymes for hepatic regeneration.
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PMID:[The effects of protein and amino acids on DNA synthesis in regenerating liver]. 308 37

The growth of MCF-7 cells was arrested by 24 h of isoleucine deprivation. Following replenishment of the medium, the incorporation of uridine and thymidine into trichloroacetic acid-precipitable material began to increase slowly and gradually rose to the level of cycling cells. The addition of 5 X 10(-9) M estradiol to growth-arrested cells dramatically shortened the time of onset of macromolecular synthesis and increased the overall amount of precursor incorporation 2- to 4-fold over the level obtained by arrested control cells. The increase in uridine incorporation preceded the increase in thymidine incorporation by 6 h. Inhibition of protein synthesis with cycloheximide blocked the recovery of macromolecular synthesis in both control and estrogen-treated cells. Actinomycin D was ineffective in blocking the estrogen-stimulated recovery of macromolecular synthesis at concentrations known to inhibit pre-rRNA synthesis (10(-8) M). At higher concentrations, uridine and thymidine incorporation were inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. Inhibition of RNA polymerase II activity with alpha-amanitin similarly blocked both the recovery of the cells from isoleucine starvation and the potentiation of this by estradiol. Dihydrofolate reductase and thymidine kinase activities are both stimulated by estradiol in MCF-7 cells. In cycling cells, estrogen stimulates a 2-fold increase in their messenger RNAs (mRNAs) within 24 h. The level of dihydrofolate reductase mRNA is unaffected by isoleucine starvation, and estrogen caused no change in dihydrofolate reductase mRNA levels over a 24-h period following reversal of growth arrest. Similar results were observed for the 600-nucleotide pS2 mRNA that has been identified as an estrogen-induced RNA in MCF-7 cells. In contrast, thymidine kinase mRNA was found to be increased by estrogen at 24 h, but not at 12 h, following reversal of growth arrest. This increase correlates with increases in thymidine, but not uridine incorporation. These data indicate that the estrogen-stimulated increase in thymidine incorporation following release from growth arrest is dependent on new RNA synthesis. However, the hormone did not increase the levels of three estrogen-regulated mRNAs coordinately with the increases observed in uridine incorporation.
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PMID:Relationship between the expression of estrogen-regulated genes and estrogen-stimulated proliferation of MCF-7 mammary tumor cells. 398 99

We have analyzed mutations in the thymidine kinase (TK) gene of varicella zoster virus (VZV) which showed resistance to 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (IDU) and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrDU). Through sequencing of the TK gene, we found three amino acids were exchanged (41 Asn-->Ser, 266 Cys-->Ile, 288 Ser-->Leu). These mutations were not located at either the nucleoside- or the ATP-binding site. This result suggests that the resistance to IDU and BrDU in this particular strain is due to the change in conformation of TK rather than the replacement of amino acids in the binding sites.
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PMID:Analysis of mutations in the thymidine kinase gene of varicella zoster virus associated with resistance to 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine. 748 53

In this study, we have utilized thymidine kinase (TK) mRNA induction as a model for investigating regulatory events at the G1-S boundary of the cell cycle. Using three independent methods for synchronizing diploid, nontumorigenic CHEF/18 cells, we found that the mechanism(s) underlying TK mRNA accumulation varied with the method of cell synchrony used. When cells were arrested by serum deprivation, both transcriptional and posttranscriptional controls contributed to the observed accumulation of TK mRNA at the G1-S boundary. When synchronized by isoleucine deprivation, mature TK mRNA and TK pre-mRNAs increased significantly at the G1-S boundary of the cell cycle with no detectable change in the rate of TK gene transcription. Following lovastatin treatment, which appears to arrest cells at a point very early in G1, posttranscriptional mechanisms were solely responsible for the subsequent accumulation of TK mRNA observed upon mevalonate repletion. We confirmed that transcriptional mechanisms were involved in TK mRNA regulation only when cells progressed from G0 into S phase using reporter genes transcribed from the heterologous human TK promoter. Taken together, these results indicate that posttranscriptional mechanism(s) are primarily responsible for regulating the abundance of TK mRNA during the cell cycle in CHEF/18 cells and further suggest uncoupling of transcriptional and posttranscriptional controls following different physiological conditions of cell cycle arrest.
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PMID:Posttranscriptional control of thymidine kinase messenger RNA accumulation in cells released from G0-G1 phase blocks. 851 35

Suicide gene therapy systems such as the herpes simplex thymidine kinase/ganciclovir system (TK/GCV) may kill cancer cells by apoptosis through as yet undefined mechanisms. Here we show that TK/GCV treatment induces p53 accumulation and increases cell surface expression of CD95 and tumor necrosis factor receptor, which is likely to involve p53-mediated translocation of CD95 to the cell surface. TK/GCV-induced apoptosis involves CD95-L-independent CD95 aggregation leading to the formation of a Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) and caspase-8-containing, death-inducing signaling complex. Dominant negative FADD, the caspase-8 inhibitor zIETD-fmk [Z-Ile-Glu(OMe)-Thr-Asp(OMe)-fluoromethylketone], and zVAD-fmk (Z-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone) partially abrogate TK/GCV-induced apoptosis. In addition to apoptosis induction, TK/GCV treatment strongly sensitizes for CD95-L-, TNF-, and TNF-related, apoptosis-inducing, ligand (TRAIL)-induced cell death in constitutively resistant cells. These findings may be used to increase the efficacy of TK/GCV and other suicide gene therapy systems for the treatment of cancer.
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PMID:Herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase/ganciclovir-induced apoptosis involves ligand-independent death receptor aggregation and activation of caspases. 1041 38

Allelic loss is an important mutational mechanism in human carcinogenesis. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at an autosomal locus is one outcome of the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and can occur by deletion or by mitotic recombination. We report that mitotic recombination between homologous chromosomes occurred in human lymphoid cells exposed to densely ionizing radiation. We used cells derived from the same donor that express either normal TP53 (TK6 cells) or homozygous mutant TP53 (WTK1 cells) to assess the influence of TP53 on radiation-induced mutagenesis. Expression of mutant TP53 (Met 237 Ile) was associated with a small increase in mutation frequencies at the hemizygous HPRT (hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase) locus, but the mutation spectra were unaffected at this locus. In contrast, WTK1 cells (mutant TP53) were 30-fold more susceptible than TK6 cells (wild-type TP53) to radiation-induced mutagenesis at the TK1 (thymidine kinase) locus. Gene dosage analysis combined with microsatellite marker analysis showed that the increase in TK1 mutagenesis in WTK1 cells could be attributed, in part, to mitotic recombination. The microsatellite marker analysis over a 64-cM region on chromosome 17q indicated that the recombinational events could initiate at different positions between the TK1 locus and the centromere. Virtually all of the recombinational LOH events extended beyond the TK1 locus to the most telomeric marker. In general, longer LOH tracts were observed in mutants from WTK1 cells than in mutants from TK6 cells. Taken together, the results demonstrate that the incidence of radi-ation-induced mutations is dependent on the genetic background of the cell at risk, on the locus examined, and on the mechanisms for mutation available at the locus of interest.
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PMID:Different mechanisms of radiation-induced loss of heterozygosity in two human lymphoid cell lines from a single donor. 1122 43

The mitochondrial deoxyribonucleotide (dNTP) pool is separated from the cytosolic pool because the mitochondria inner membrane is impermeable to charged molecules. The mitochondrial pool is maintained by either import of cytosolic dNTPs through dedicated transporters or by salvaging deoxynucleosides within the mitochondria; apparently, enzymes of the de novo dNTP synthesis pathway are not present in the mitochondria. In non-replicating cells, where cytosolic dNTP synthesis is down-regulated, mtDNA synthesis depends solely on the mitochondrial salvage pathway enzymes, the deoxyribonucleosides kinases. Two of the four human deoxyribonucleoside kinases, deoxyguanosine kinase (dGK) and thymidine kinase-2 (TK2), are expressed in mitochondria. Human dGK efficiently phosphorylates deoxyguanosine and deoxyadenosine, whereas TK2 phosphorylates deoxythymidine, deoxycytidine and deoxyuridine. Here we identify two mutations in TK2, histidine 90 to asparagine and isoleucine 181 to asparagine, in four individuals who developed devastating myopathy and depletion of muscular mitochondrial DNA in infancy. In these individuals, the activity of TK2 in muscle mitochondria is reduced to 14-45% of the mean value in healthy control individuals. Mutations in TK2 represent a new etiology for mitochondrial DNA depletion, underscoring the importance of the mitochondrial dNTP pool in the pathogenesis of mitochondrial depletion.
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PMID:Mutant mitochondrial thymidine kinase in mitochondrial DNA depletion myopathy. 1168 1

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