Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.6 (RNA polymerase)
34,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Ricin B chain (RTB) is an N-glycosylated galactose-specific lectin which folds into two globular domains. Each domain binds one galactoside. The x-ray crystallographic structure has shown that the two binding sites are structurally similar and contain key binding residues which hydrogen bond to the sugar, and a conserved tripeptide, Asp-Val-Arg. We have used oligonucleotide site-directed mutagenesis to change either the binding residues or the homologous tripeptide in one or other or in both of the sites. The 5' signal sequence and RTB coding region were excised from preproricin cDNA and fused in frame to generate preRTB cDNA. Transcripts synthesized in vitro from wild-type or mutant preRTB cloned into the Xenopus transcription vector pSP64T using SP6 RNA polymerase, were microinjected into Xenopus oocytes. The recombinant products were segregated into the oocyte rough endoplasmic reticulum and core-glycosylated, and the N-terminal signal peptide was removed. Mutating sugar binding sites individually did not abrogate the lectin activity of RTB. When both sites were changed simultaneously, RTB was produced which was soluble and stable but no longer able to bind galactose. Changing the Asn residues of the two RTB N-glycosylation sites to Gln showed that oligosaccharide side chains were essential for both the stability and biological activity of recombinant RTB.
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PMID:Mutational analysis of the galactose binding ability of recombinant ricin B chain. 171 62

Infectious monomers of citrus exocortis viroid (CEV) were synthesized in vitro precisely to predetermined sequences in microgram quantities without resorting to cloning procedures. Amplification of CEV double-stranded cDNAs fused with a T7 RNA polymerase promoter was followed by transcription of the DNA resulting in the production of an infectious linear CEV monomer. This is the first demonstration of an infectious unit length viroid synthesized in vitro. Transcripts containing 3'-OH terminal groups were infectious, demonstrating that a 2',3'-cyclic phosphate terminus is not a prerequisite for viroid infectivity as previously suggested. Conversion of the 5'-triphosphate terminus to either 5'-monophosphate or 5'-OH had little effect on infectivity. The linear RNA could be circularized using T4 RNA ligase to produce an authentic CEV molecule. This procedure, which results in the production of biologically active RNA, would allow routine application of oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis to the study of viroids and other circular RNAs. It would also enable the in vitro synthesis and mutagenesis of infectious viral RNAs containing a 5'-G residue.
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PMID:In vitro synthesis of an infectious viroid: analysis of the infectivity of monomeric linear CEV. 172 98

RNA polymerase II is transcriptionally engaged but paused approximately 25 nucleotides from the start site of the hsp70 gene of Drosophila melanogaster in uninduced (non-heat-shocked) flies. Here, we identify regions of the hsp70 promoter that are required for formation of this paused polymerase. Various hsp70 promoter sequences are substituted for promoter sequences of a yolk protein gene, yp1, which, in males, is normally not expressed and has no paused polymerase. Run-on assays with nuclei of male transgenic flies are used to measure the level of paused polymerase on the hybrid genes. Sequences that reside upstream of the hsp70 TATA element, when fused upstream of the yp1 TATA element, specify the formation of a paused polymerase on the 5' end of this hybrid gene. Within this region are multiple copies of the GAGA element, which is known to bind a constitutively expressed factor. This element appears to play a role in generating the pause. Also, in the absence of much of this upstream region, hsp70 sequences in the vicinity of the transcriptional start and pause site participate in specifying the pause. Deletions of the pause site reduce the level of paused polymerase but do not lead to constitutive transcription. However, a connection between transcription and pausing is seen. The level of paused polymerase on the various hybrid hsp70-yp1 promoters correlates with the promoter's potential to direct heat-induced transcription.
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PMID:DNA sequence requirements for generating paused polymerase at the start of hsp70. 173 19

Two immunogenic proteins, Sm31 and Sm32, originating from the gut of Schistosoma mansoni were evaluated for their potential as recombinant immunodiagnostic reagents. Sm31 and Sm32 cDNA fragments were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli as polypeptides fused to RNA polymerase of bacteriophage MS2. The recombinant proteins were tested in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) with paired sera of 182 persons from Mali with S. mansoni and S. haematobium infections collected before and one year after treatment with praziquantel. Pretreatment sera of the study population gave a strong antibody response to Sm31 and Sm32 in immunoblots of total worm extract with the sera. The sensitivities of both western blotting (86%) and ELISA (75%) using Sm31 and Sm32 fusion proteins compared well with a single egg count (84%). Chemotherapy resulted in an overall decline of egg counts. Posttreatment sera gave significantly lower reactivities than the pretreatment sera. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of detecting circulating antibodies with recombinant antigens in schistosomiasis.
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PMID:Immunological analysis of cloned Schistosoma mansoni antigens Sm31 and Sm32 with sera of schistosomiasis patients. 179 25

Fusion of a prokaryotic promoter to a yeast tRNA gene provides a means for uncoupling analyses of mutations affecting splicing from requirements for transcription and other processing steps. For this purpose, a phage lambda promoter was fused to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae tRNATyr(SUP3a) coding sequence. This fusion allows the synthesis of an end-mature precursor by in vitro transcription with Escherichia coli RNA polymerase. This precursor was accurately spliced by purified yeast endonuclease and ligase fractions. However, both the initial rate and the extent of the endonuclease cleavage reaction were reduced in comparison to those for substrates produced by yeast RNA polymerase III. Efficient splicing could be restored in a magnesium- and temperature-dependent renaturation step, suggesting a conformational transition was required. Enzymatic solution structure probing of transcripts from wild-type and intron-variant templates revealed that the essential conformational transition involved a segment of the tRNA-like portion of the precursor. These results (1) suggest that the primary sequence of the precursor alone may not be sufficient to ensure formation of the active conformer during synthesis, (2) provide direct evidence that endonuclease recognizes mature tRNA-like structure in the precursor, and (3) suggest a general caution for the use of semisynthetic transcripts in RNA processing reactions. Potentially, transcription and processing of tRNATyr in yeast may provide a useful paradigm for examining active control of conformation in RNA biosynthesis.
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PMID:Conformational transition required for efficient splicing of transcripts from hybrid lambda promoter yeast tRNA gene fusion. 182 90

Previous studies of the structure and expression of the ribosome-releasing factor (RRF) cistron (frr) have suggested that an efficient promoter region is located in the RRF cistron. We report here on the nucleotide sequence and in vivo function of the RRF promoter. The transcriptional start site was determined by primer extension to be 58 bp upstream of the translational initiation codon of frr. The location of the RRF promoter region was confirmed by means of (i) deletion analysis of the 5' proximal sequences of frr fused to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene, (ii) analysis of RRF produced in vivo from the deletion derivatives of frr cloned into pUC19, and (iii) gel retardation analysis with Escherichia coli RNA polymerase. The -35 and -10 regions were TTacCc and TATAcT, respectively. The strength of the RRF promoter was similar to that of the lac promoter, as determined by in vivo expression of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity. However, the RRF promoter was not affected by the intracellular cyclic AMP level despite the presence of a cyclic AMP receptor protein binding site downstream of the RRF promoter.
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PMID:Identification of the promoter region of the ribosome-releasing factor cistron (frr). 186 Aug 27

We have developed a method to isolate mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that are primarily defective in the transcription of 35S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes by RNA polymerase I. The method uses a system in which the 35S rRNA gene is fused to the GAL7 promoter and is transcribed by RNA polymerase II under control of the GAL regulatory system. Chromosomal mutations affecting components specifically involved in synthesis of 35S rRNA by RNA polymerase I can be suppressed by this hybrid gene in the presence of inducer (galactose) but not in its absence. We looked for mutants the growth of which depended on the presence of plasmid expressing the hybrid gene. For this purpose, we used a red/white-colony color assay as the initial screen followed by a test for galactose-dependent growth. We have thus isolated many mutants and identified at least nine genes (RRN1-RRN9) involved in 35S rRNA synthesis, two of which correspond to known RNA polymerase I subunit genes RPA190 and RPA135.
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PMID:An approach for isolation of mutants defective in 35S ribosomal RNA synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. 187 Nov 18

Many of the changes in gene expression observed when Escherichia coli cells enter stationary phase are regulated at the level of transcription initiation. A group of stationary-phase-inducible promoters, known as "gearbox" promoter, display a characteristic sequence in the -10 region which differs greatly from the consensus sequence for sigma 70-dependent promoters. Here we describe our studies on the gearbox promoters bolAp1 and mcbAp, responsible for the temporally regulated transcription of bolA and the genes involved in the synthesis of the peptide antibiotic microcin B17, respectively. Deletion analysis of mcbAp demonstrated that the stationary-phase-inducible properties of this promoter are found in a DNA fragment extending from -54 to +11 bp, surrounding the transcriptional start site, and are separable from DNA sequences responsible for the OmpR-dependent stimulation of transcription of mcbAp. In vitro transcription studies indicate that the RNA polymerase holoenzyme involved in the transcription of mcbAp contains sigma 70. In this and an accompanying paper (R. Lange and R. Hengge-Aronis, J. Bacteriol. 173: 4474-4481, 1991), experiments are described which show that the product of katF, a global regulator of stationary-phase gene expression and a putative sigma factor, is required for the expression of bolAp1 fused to the reporter gene lacZ. In contrast, mcbAp appears to be negatively regulated by katF. We discuss the implications of these results for postexponential gene expression and the role of gearbox sequences in the regulation of promoter activity.
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PMID:Stationary-phase-inducible "gearbox" promoters: differential effects of katF mutations and role of sigma 70. 190 64

Transcription of the predominant surface antigen genes in Trypanosoma brucei is unusual in its resistance to the RNA polymerase inhibitor alpha-amanitin, a property typical for rDNA transcription in eukaryotes. Transcription of most other protein-coding genes in trypanosomes is sensitive to alpha-amanitin. To investigate whether RNA polymerase I, the polymerase that transcribes rRNA genes, can give rise to functional mRNAs in trypanosomes, we have fused the putative promoter of the T.brucei rRNA genes to the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene and determined CAT activity after transient expression of chimeric constructs in procyclic trypanosomes. We show here that the rRNA promoter yields the same high CAT activity as the promoters for the two predominant surface antigen genes of trypanosomes, the Variant-specific Surface Glycoprotein (VSG) gene of bloodstream trypanosomes and the procyclin gene of insect-form trypanosomes, both of which are also transcribed by an alpha-amanitin-insensitive RNA polymerase. RNA polymerase I of trypanosomes seems therefore able to synthesize pre-mRNAs that are effectively processed into translatable mRNAs. Dissection of the promoter segments showed the minimal elements for a VSG gene expression site promoter to be confined to a segment of -60 to +77 bp, overlapping the most 5' putative transcription start sites as determined in vivo by RNase protection experiments. For the ribosomal promoter region a segment of -258 to +200 bp relative to the putative transcription start site was sufficient for maximal CAT activity. There is a precise requirement for specific nucleotides at the rRNA transcription start site. We detect no homology between the sequences required for promoter function of the three alpha-amanitin-resistant transcription units, rRNA, VSG and procyclin (parp) genes. This suggests that the sequence-specific recognition of these promoters either occurs by common factors detecting sequence homologies that escape us, or by separate factors that bind to different DNA sequences but interact with a common alpha-amanitin-resistant RNA polymerase.
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PMID:Alpha-amanitin-resistant transcription units in trypanosomes: a comparison of promoter sequences for a VSG gene expression site and for the ribosomal RNA genes. 192 1

Maturation-promoting factor (MPF) was examined in maturing pig oocytes by electrofusing them with germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes. Oocytes containing high levels of MPF (MI or MII stages) induced the breakdown of the GV introduced by fusion and the formation of the metaphase plate in 1 hr. A similar effect was seen when two or three GV oocytes were fused with a MII oocyte and then incubated for 1 hr in the presence of cycloheximide (a specific protein synthesis inhibitor), indicating that high levels of preformed MPF are present at the metaphase stage. During the maturation in vitro of cumulus-enclosed oocytes, a first sharp rise in MPF was seen between 26 and 29 hr of culture (MI stage); MPF declined after 2 hr (AI-TI stages) and again reached high levels at 35 hr, where it remained for the rest of maturation. Denuded oocytes showed a similar behavior, but MPF appeared 9 hr earlier and the rise, due to the asynchronous maturation of these oocytes, was not as sharp as in cumulus enclosed oocytes. Cycloheximide was used to study protein synthesis requirements for oocyte maturation. Intact GV were observed after 44 hr of culture when cycloheximide was added at 26 hr or earlier, and chromosome decondensation and pronuclear formation were observed when the drug was added at 32 hr. Transcriptional requirements were investigated by treating the oocytes with alpha-amanitin, an RNA polymerase inhibitor. This drug could completely inhibit the maturation of cumulus-enclosed oocytes, but this was a somatic cell-mediated effect since denuded oocytes were insensitive to this treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Changes in maturation-promoting activity in the cytoplasm of pig oocytes throughout maturation. 195 26


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