Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.1.30.2 (endonuclease)
 18,621 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A filter binding assay that measures internucleosomal DNA fragmentation associated with apoptosis is described. The assay is based on a novel principle that consists of using simultaneously two kinds of glass fiber filters to harvest [3H]thymidine-prelabeled cells following their incubation with inducers of apoptosis. One filter, which is neutral, traps intact chromatin and high-molecular-weight DNA. The other filter, which is positively charged with DEAE active groups, traps low-molecular-weight DNA fragments. DNA fragmentation is quantified by measuring the radioactivity retained by each of the filters. The assay was evaluated with the histiocytic lymphoma cell line U937 and the topoisomerase inhibitors camptothecin, etoposide, and doxorubicin. These agents caused a dose-dependent decrease of radioactivity in the neutral filter and a parallel increase of radioactivity in the DEAE filter. Irradiation-induced single strand breaks and topoisomerase-mediated primary DNA damage were not detected by this method. Consistent with the detection of internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, the effects measured by this assay were prevented by the endonuclease inhibitor zinc acetate and by the metabolic inhibitor sodium azide. Results obtained using this assay were validated by observation of DNA ladders on agarose gels and by morphologic examination of apoptotic features. Evaluation of the assay in a mock screen demonstrated that the introduction of the DEAE filter increases the assay sensitivity and eliminates false positives. Thus, this assay may be used in high-throughput screening approaches to discover novel modulators of apoptosis.
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PMID:A glass fiber/diethylaminoethyl double filter binding assay that measures apoptotic internucleosomal DNA fragmentation. 893 61

We have tested the specific hypothesis that the pathway of nuclear collapse in apoptosis is governed by the early attack on active chromatin at spatially restricted nuclear sites. Cell death in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells deprived of serum growth factors, in HL-60 leukemic cells treated with inhibitors of protein or RNA biosynthesis, and in U937 histiocytic lymphoma cells exposed to the cytokine tumor necrosis factor alpha showed a common mechanism in the targeting of DNA for degradation. An incorporation assay with labeled nucleotide revealed an early selective nicking in peripheral nuclear chromatin with concomitant diminution in the amount of immunoreactive lamin B protein. This was followed by a phase of more extensive cleavages, continued nuclear protein loss, chromatin collapse, and fragmentation of nuclei. The spatial restriction of early cleavages is similar to the nicking obtained by the application of exogenous DNase I to fixed nuclei of normal cells and to that obtained in the activation of the endogenous endonuclease of liver nuclei by Ca2+. These similarities suggest that, in apoptosis, activation of an endonuclease preferentially recognizing a specific chromatin configuration, such as that of active (DNase I-sensitive) genes, underlies the early spatial demarcation of cleavages.
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PMID:Preferential sites of early DNA cleavage in apoptosis and the pathway of nuclear damage. 1021 26