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)

The mechanism by which tumor necrosis factor (TNF) induces cytotoxicity of murine fibroblasts was investigated. Electrophoresis of DNA extracted from TNF-treated L929 targets showed fragmentation of DNA into a ladder-like pattern, typical of cells dying by apoptosis. Morphologic analysis also indicated apoptotic cell death, demonstrating clumping and crescentic condensation of chromatin. In contrast, chromatin condensation and ladder-like DNA fragmentation were not detected in L929 targets dying by necrosis from exposure to heat, repeated cycles of freeze-thaw, and sodium azide. Chromatin condensation was an early event, detected as early as 6 h of incubation. However, DNA fragmentation (assayed by double-stranded fragmentation assay and gel electrophoresis), as well as the apoptotic changes detected by Hoechst fluorescence, both occurred later and did not precede TNF cytotoxicity (membrane permeabilization detected by trypan blue or propidium iodide staining). This atypical pattern of apoptosis was a characteristic of L929 target cells rather than a generalized cytotoxic response to TNF because TNF-treated squamous cancer cells showed typical features of apoptosis (DNA fragmentation before cytotoxicity) and etoposide-treated L929 cells demonstrated the same atypical kinetics as TNF-treated cells. Zinc significantly inhibited TNF cytotoxicity as well as DNA fragmentation of L929. However, because DNA fragmentation occurred belatedly in TNF-treated targets, lagging behind cytotoxicity, the protection by zinc against TNF appears mediated by events that occur before the ultimate endonuclease-induced cleavage of DNA into small fragments.
...
PMID:Atypical apoptotic cell death induced in L929 targets by exposure to tumor necrosis factor. 764 36

At the end of a nonconception estrous cycle, the sheep corpus luteum undergoes involution (luteolysis), a process thought to involve apoptotic deletion of cells. It is not yet clear which of the heterogeneous luteal cell types is involved or what mechanisms drive the apoptotic progression. We examined intact paraffin-embedded corpora lutea (in situ terminal dUTP nick end-labeling method) and found direct evidence for apoptotic deletion of cells during luteolysis, but not in healthy, nonregressing corpora lutea. We then sought to implement in vitro models to dissect apoptotic mechanisms in the constituent cells of the corpus luteum. Cells prepared using standard collagenase dispersion of corpus luteum were evaluated for evidence of apoptosis (DNA laddering) by direct agarose gel electrophoresis, a method that obviates the need for DNA extraction, so allowing examination of relatively few cells (< or = 0.5 x 10(6)). When cells were prepared from nonregressing corpus luteum for in vitro manipulation, a population(s) of cells undergoing spontaneous apoptosis was detected. Apoptosis was inhibited by Zn2+ (5 mM), by the tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor sodium orthovanadate (100 microM), or by maintenance at 4 degrees C. It appears that simple collagenase digestion of intact corpus luteum removes a subset of constituent cells from their survival signal, leading to rapid initiation of endonuclease activity and apoptotic cell death. Identification of the required survival factors and their actions is being pursued to facilitate development of appropriate in vitro models for this endocrine system.
...
PMID:Spontaneous apoptosis of cells prepared from the nonregressing corpus luteum. 765 26

Human neutrophils are terminally differentiated cells that spontaneously undergo apoptosis in tissue culture. Apoptosis in these cells can be delayed by culture in the presence of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor or other inflammatory mediators. Neutrophils were found to contain an acid endonuclease that appeared to be responsible for the internucleosomal DNA cleavage that accompanies apoptosis. As measured by a plasmid nicking assay, this endonuclease had a molecular weight (M(r)) of 35,000, a pH optimum of 5.5, and a threshold for activity of pH 6.6 to 6.8. It was weakly inhibited by divalent cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, and Zn2+) and more strongly inhibited by aurintricarboxylic acid and N-bromosuccinimide. DNA from neutrophils treated with nigericin in buffers of defined pH displayed nucleosomal ladders whose prominence varied with pH in a manner that paralleled the pH dependence of the plasmid cleavage assays, consistent with internucleosomal DNA cleavage by the acid endonuclease. We have previously shown that neutrophils undergo acidification to a pH value as low as 6.0 during apoptosis; we suggest that this endonuclease may be responsible for the DNA cleavage seen in apoptotic neutrophils.
...
PMID:The acid deoxyribonuclease of neutrophils: a possible participant in apoptosis-associated genome destruction. 766 89

During germinal center reactions, a minority of B lymphocytes are selected after successful binding to follicular dendritic cells (FDCs). The majority of the B cells, however, die by apoptosis. One of the characteristics of apoptosis is rapid fragmentation of DNA by an endogenous endonuclease. The regulation of apoptosis and endonuclease activity in germinal center (GC) B cells is largely unknown. In this study we have investigated the induction and inhibition of endonuclease activity in GC B cells. We also investigated the role of FDCs, surface Ig (sIg), sIgM, CD21, CD22 CD40, and intracellular Zn2+ in the regulation of endonuclease activity. We have found that DNA fragmentation in GC B cells is caused by a preexisting endonuclease very similar to NUC-18 (an 18-kD endonuclease identified in rat thymocytes). Endonuclease activity in GC B cells appears to be rapidly and irreversibly blocked after interaction with FDCs, but not after cross-linkage of sIg, sIgM, CD21, CD22, or CD40. Addition of soluble CD40-human IgM fusion protein (sCD40) to FDC-B cell cultures also did not interfere with FDC-mediated B cell rescue. Chelation of intracellular Zn2+ during FDC-B cell cultures resulted in abrogated B cell rescue. These data suggest that FDCs inhibit apoptosis in GC B cells by a rapid inactivation of preexisting endonuclease using a mechanism distinct from CD40 ligation.
...
PMID:Follicular dendritic cells inhibit apoptosis in human B lymphocytes by a rapid and irreversible blockade of preexisting endonuclease. 775 94

This review summarizes the evidence that apoptosis is modulated by intracellular excess or deficiency of Zn2+, considers mechanisms whereby Zn2+ may influence apoptosis, and delineates gaps in current knowledge and opportunities for research. The experimental evidence supports four major conclusions: [1] Zinc deficiency, resulting from dietary deprivation of mice, or exposure of cultured cells to membrane-permeable Zn(2+)-chelators, can induce apoptosis; [2] Zinc supplementation, either by pretreating mice with ZnSO4, or adding Zn2+ to the media of cell cultures, can prevent apoptotic death. Zn2+ protects against the apoptosis induced by diverse physical, chemical, or immunologic stimuli in cultured cells of lymphoid, hepatic, or neoplastic origin; [3] Zn2+ does not affect the triggering events or earliest signs of apoptosis, but acts later in the apoptotic pathway, preventing endonucleosomal fragmentation and subsequent cytolysis; and [4] An intracellular pool of chelatable Zn2+ plays a critical role in apoptosis, possibly by modulating the activation or activity of endonuclease(s). These conclusions should alert pharmacologists and physicians to the potential therapeutic applications of zinc compounds and zinc chelators in clinical disorders and diseases that involve apoptosis, and to the relevance of zinc nutrition in such conditions.
...
PMID:The influence of zinc on apoptosis. 778 63

Isolated nuclei from mammalian cells contain a calcium-dependent endonuclease. The produced DNA fragmentation is a necessary step in the sequence of events resulting in apoptosis (programmed cell death). We report here that zinc and cadmium inhibit the calcium-dependent endonuclease. The essential metal ion zinc may counterbalance the calcium-mediated apoptosis. In contrast to zinc, cadmium alone stimulates the endonuclease by replacing calcium. Thus cadmium exerts a dual effect: micromolar concentrations inhibit the apoptotic endonuclease in the presence but activate the enzyme in the absence of calcium.
...
PMID:Effects of zinc and cadmium on apoptotic DNA fragmentation in isolated bovine liver nuclei. 784 11

All the reported Japanese patients with group A xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) have two or three mutations at codon 116 in exon 3, codon 228 in exon 6, and the splicing acceptor site of intron 3 of XP group A complementing (XPAC) gene. A homozygote (XP39OS) with a nonsense mutation at codon 228 has less severe neurological abnormalities than patients with the splicing mutation at the acceptor site of intron 3. As homozygotes for the nonsense mutation at codon 116, which truncates a carboxyl-terminal site of XPAC protein at an early part of its zinc-finger domain, have not been reported previously, the possible severity of associated neurological abnormalities was not known. We report a group A XP patient, XP18OS, who had neurological abnormalities which were more severe than those in patients homozygous for the splicing mutation. The polymerase chain reaction product from exon 3 of the patient's XPAC gene was digested completely into three fragments by MseI restriction endonuclease. Thus, the patient was homozygous for the mutation at codon 116.
...
PMID:Severe neurological abnormalities associated with a mutation in the zinc-finger domain in a group A xeroderma pigmentosum patient. 794 12

Analyses of cleavage ends of DNA fragments in apoptotic rat thymocytes induced by gamma-ray irradiation or by treatment with dexamethasone revealed that in both cases the fragments produced had 3'-hydroxyl (OH) and 5'-phosphoryl (P) ends of DNA chains. Rat thymocyte nuclei contained at least three endonuclease activities (deoxyribonucleases alpha, beta and gamma) that were able to cleave chromatin to mononucleosomal and oligonucleosomal fragments. The nuclei of apoptotic rat thymocytes induced by gamma-ray irradiation or dexamethasone retained considerable deoxyribonuclease gamma activity, but not alpha or beta deoxyribonuclease activity. During the induction of apoptosis, treatment with cycloheximide, which suppressed apoptosis, resulted in marked decreases of deoxyribonucleases alpha and beta activities. After release of cycloheximide inhibition, DNA fragmentation associated with apoptosis occurred in the cycloheximide-treated thymocyte nuclei, in which deoxyribonuclease gamma activity was only observed. The purified deoxyribonucleases alpha and beta were divalent cation-independent acidic endonucleases, which were separated on a CM5PW column by HPLC. The molecular masses of deoxyribonucleases alpha and beta were 28 kDa and 30 kDa, respectively, as determined by TSK G-2000SW gel-filtration HPLC, and both were 32 kDa in molecular mass as determined by SDS/PAGE. In contrast, deoxyribonuclease gamma, a neutral endonuclease, required both Ca2+ and Mg2+ for full activity and was inhibited by Zn2+. The molecular mass of deoxyribonuclease gamma was 31 kDa and 33 kDa when measured by gel filtration and SDS/PAGE, respectively. Under these optimal conditions, deoxyribonuclease gamma was shown to produce 3'-OH/5'-P ends of nucleosomal DNA fragments, while deoxyribonucleases alpha and beta both formed DNA fragments with 3'-P/5'-OH ends. The ends formed by cleavage with deoxyribonuclease gamma were the same as those produced in apoptotic rat thymocytes. On the basis of these results, it seems likely that deoxyribonuclease gamma is responsible for internucleosomal cleavage of chromatin during thymic apoptosis.
...
PMID:Identification of an endonuclease responsible for apoptosis in rat thymocytes. 795 53

The Escherichia coli Uvr(A)BC endonuclease acts in a progression of several distinct steps accompanied by changes in the conformation of macromolecular constituents, the overall architecture of the complex, and its stoichiometry. In order to probe these structural changes, we generated monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to Uvr proteins. The anti-UvrA mAb, A2D1, recognizing the N-terminal zinc-finger region of UvrA, and the anti-UvrB mAb, B2E2, having an epitope within the 43 C-terminal amino acids of UvrB, were purified and further characterized. It was found that A2D1 mAb interacts in solution both with UvrA-UvrB and UvrA-DNA complexes in the presence of the requisite ATP. This implies that the N-terminal zinc-finger of UvrA doesn't play a direct role in its interactions with UvrB and DNA. On the other hand, A2D1 does inhibit formation of the UvrB-damaged DNA preincision complex, apparently by preventing UvrB delivery by UvrA. The interaction of B2E2 with UvrA-UvrB and nucleoprotein complexes, including UvrB, suggests that the highly hydrophobic C-terminal domain of UvrB (i) doesn't participate in its interaction with UvrA, (ii) is accessible to this mAb in an intermediate UvrA-UvrB DNA helix-tracking complex, and (iii) seems to be directly involved in the formation of the preincision complex. These conclusions are supported by the finding that the neutralizing effect of A2D1 and B2E2 on the Uvr(A)BC endonuclease is significantly decreased if the preincision complex is preformed prior to mAbs addition.
...
PMID:The use of monoclonal antibodies for studying intermediates in DNA repair by the Escherichia coli Uvr(A)BC endonuclease. 796 54

Upon exposures of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells to heat shock (44 degrees, 1 hr), oxidative stress or energy deprivation, their DNA undergoes fragmentation (35-45% after 5 hrs of incubation) which is considered as a hallmark of apoptosis. Prior to DNA fragmentation the cells exhibited blebbing (55-90% after 1 hr), thus being suggestive of cytoskeletal damage and a 1.5-2-fold increase in the Triton-insoluble protein concentration (protein aggregation) after 3 hrs. Rapid cell death (75% after 4 hrs) occurred only under oxidative stress. Electrophoresis of the Triton-insoluble protein fraction revealed that the common feature of all stress exposures used in this study was a dramatic increase in the aggregation of cytoskeletal proteins--actin and the 57 kDa protein. No dependence of DNA fragmentation on intracellular Ca2+ increase was found. Both DNA fragmentation and protein aggregation were suppressed by glucose, whereas Zn2+, an endonuclease inhibitor, suppressed only DNA fragmentation without any effect on protein aggregation. It is suggested that cytoskeletal damage may trigger tumor cell apoptosis.
...
PMID:[Fragmentation of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma DNA during influences causing aggregation of cytoskeletal proteins]. 801 77


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>