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Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (Mol)
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Asparagine synthetase (AS) mRNA in Pisum sativum accumulates preferentially in plants grown in the dark. Nuclear run-on experiments demonstrate that expression of both the AS1 and AS2 genes is negatively regulated by light at the level of transcription. A decrease in the transcriptional rate of the AS1 gene can be detected as early as 20 min after exposure to light. Time course experiments reveal that the levels of AS mRNA fluctuate dramatically during a "normal" light/dark cycle. This is due to a direct effect of light and not to changes associated with circadian rhythm. A novel finding is that the light-repressed expression of the AS1 gene is as dramatic in nonphotosynthetic organs such as roots as it is in leaves. Experiments demonstrate that the small amount of light which passes through the soil is sufficient to repress AS1 expression in roots, indicating that light has a direct effect on AS1 gene expression in roots. The negative regulation of AS gene expression by light was shown to be a general phenomenon in plants which also occurs in nonlegumes such as Nicotiana plumbaginifolia and Nicotiana tabacum. Thus, the AS genes can serve as a model with which to dissect the molecular basis for light-regulated transcriptional repression in plants.
Mol Cell Biol 1991 Oct
PMID:Light represses transcription of asparagine synthetase genes in photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic organs of plants. 168 24

We have studied the regulation of expression of the asparagine synthetase (AS) gene in ts11 cells, a mutant of BHK hamster cells which encodes a temperature-sensitive AS and therefore does not produce endogenous asparagine at 39.5 degrees C. Incubation of ts11 cells at the nonpermissive temperature drastically increases the level of AS mRNA, and the stimulation of AS mRNA expression is effectively suppressed by the addition of asparagine to the medium. We show here that regulation of AS gene expression involves cis-acting elements which are contained in the mRNA as well as in the 5' genomic region. When a plasmid containing the human AS cDNA under the control of the human AS promoter region was stably transfected into ts11 cells, the expression of human AS RNAs was regulated as that of the endogenous hamster transcripts, indicating that this construct contained all cis elements necessary for regulation. Expression of the AS cDNA in ts11 cells under the control of a constitutive foreign promoter was also regulated by the concentration of asparagine, and this regulation required translation. When we introduced by mutagenesis a number of stop codons in the AS cDNA, the mutant mRNAs with short open reading frames were expressed at low levels that were not increased by asparagine deprivation. Inhibition of protein and RNA synthesis also prevented down-regulation of AS mRNA levels by high concentrations of asparagine. In a parallel series of experiments, we showed that an AS DNA fragment including the promoter and first exon can also regulate RNA expression in response to asparagine concentration. Furthermore, similar increases in the levels of AS RNAs are produced not only by asparagine deprivation in ts11 cells but also by deprivation of human and wild-type BHK cells of leucine, isoleucine, or glutamine. Thus, regulation of AS gene expression is a response to amino acid starvation through mechanisms which appear to involve both changes in RNA stability and change in the rates of transcription initiation or elongation.
Mol Cell Biol 1991 Dec
PMID:Regulation of asparagine synthetase gene expression by amino acid starvation. 168 98

From a Plasmodium falciparum cDNA expression library derived from mRNA of the asexual blood stages, we isolated and sequenced five different cDNA clones whose predicted protein products were unusually rich in asparagine (Asn). Two of the clones, R5 and G5, contain tandem imperfectly repeated sequences based on Asn-Asn-Thr (NNT) and Asn-Asn-Met (NNM) respectively. The other three, E4, C5 and R13, as well as G5, contain stretches of polyasparagine varying in length from 2 to 26 residues. Results of DNA blotting experiments with the individual cDNA sequences as probes suggest that each of the five clones corresponds to a different P. falciparum gene. The fragments of P. falciparum proteins expressed by the cDNA clones shared cross-reactive antigenic determinants which were present on multiple P. falciparum proteins. In immunoblotting experiments, owl monkey antibodies selected for binding to the polypeptide expressed by clone E4, C5 or G5 reacted with the expressed proteins from all 5 clones, and with at least 10 proteins from schizont infected erythrocytes. The cross-reactive epitopes could be modeled by two Asn-rich peptide structures: (1) (NNT)8, whose sequence was based on the R5 repeat; and (2) (NPNA)6, whose sequence was based on the Asn-rich repeat of the P. falciparum circumsporozoite protein (CSP). Antibodies that bound to each peptide were selected from sera of immune monkeys that had never been exposed to sporozoites. The selected antibodies bound all 5 expressed proteins in immunoblotting assays and also bound to several proteins from parasitized erythrocytes. Such cross reactivity between the CSP repeating unit and several blood-stage antigens has not been previously reported.
Mol Biochem Parasitol 1990 Apr
PMID:Cross-reactive asparagine-rich determinants shared between several blood-stage antigens of Plasmodium falciparum and the circumsporozoite protein. 169 14

The P1 gene codes for a major RNA, which accumulates specifically in the fat body cells at the late third larval stage of Drosophila melanogaster development under the positive control of the insect molting hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone. The primary structure of the P1 gene and the 5' upstream flanking region to position -776 relative to the transcription start was determined by sequence analysis of a cloned genomic DNA segment and two cDNAs containing sequences complementary to the 5' and 3' ends of the P1 transcript. The RNA coding region spans 3469 nucleotides and contains a 59-base-pair intron close to its 5' end, as predicted by computer analysis and established by S1 nuclease protection, primer extension and cDNA sequencing. The predicted P1 polypeptide contains 1030 amino acids, including a putative 16-amino acid signal peptide and two stretches of 12 and 11 aspartic and asparagine residues. Short stretches of nucleotide sequences similar to sequences located in the 5' regions of other genes expressed in the D. melanogaster fat body were found in the proximal promoter and transcribed region of the P1 gene.
J Mol Biol 1990 Jul 20
PMID:Structure of the ecdysone-inducible P1 gene of Drosophila melanogaster. 169 17

Each of the two mutants isolated from a fliC (= hag, flagellin-deficient) Escherichia coli strain made motile by a plasmid carrying the fliC gene of Salmonella muenchen by selection for motility in the presence of anti-d (Salmonella flagellar antigen) serum had both lost and gained one or more subfactors of the wild-type antigen. In one mutant codon 246 was GAC (alanine) instead of GCC (asparagine); the other had a deletion of 105 base pairs, explicable by a 10bp direct repeat, starting at bases 782 and 887. The in vitro removal of a 48bp EcoRV(631)/EcoRV(679) fragment produced plasmid pLS408, which was found to lack a subfactor of wild-type antigen d but able to confer motility on flagellin-negative Salmonella sp. (and used for insertion of epitope-specifying oligonucleotides at its EcoRV site). Immunoblotting with absorbed and unabsorbed sera from rabbits immunized with E. coli with wild-type or mutated antigen d showed that the fusion proteins specified by lambda gt11 with the N-terminal part of gene lacZ joined to a restriction fragment coding for residues 145-391 of flagellin gave the same pattern of parent-specific and mutant-specific reactions as the flagellate bacteria. Four out of five similarly selected mutants had the same 105 bp deletion as the first-isolated mutant; the fifth had a 72 bp deletion made possible by a 7-base pair direct repeat, starting at positions 649 and 721. All these changes in serological character without loss of function affected segment IV, specifying residues 182 to 308 of the total of 505, where there is little homology between different flagellar-antigen alleles.
Mol Microbiol 1991 Feb
PMID:Segment IV of a Salmonella flagellin gene specifies flagellar antigen epitopes. 171 Mar 14

The human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) is a protein of 66 kDa, p66, which contains two domains, an amino-terminal DNA polymerase and an RNase H at the carboxy terminus of the molecule. In order to characterize the mode of action of the RNase H, two previously described mutant enzymes were used, with substitutions in the highly conserved histidine 539, which was mutated to the neutral amino acid asparagine and to the negatively charged aspartate. The purified wild-type (wt) and mutant (mt) enzyme activities are analyzed here using RNA-DNA hybrids consisting of in vitro transcribed RNA that harbors the polypurine tract (PPT) from HIV-1 and DNA oligonucleotides complementary to the PPT or to other regions of the RNA. Analysis of the radioactively labeled RNA of these model hybrids after RNase H treatment indicates that both, wt and mt enzymes, are capable of cleaving the RNA in an endonucleolytic manner. The mt enzymes exhibit a severely reduced exonuclease activity. They are more sensitive towards salt and competition with excess of unlabeled hybrid, suggesting a reduced substrate binding affinity. DNA elongation by the RT is coupled with RNA hydrolysis by the 3'-5' exonuclease of the wt RNase H. The RNase Hmt of the mt enzymes, however, does not exhibit such processive 3'-5' exonuclease activity during DNA synthesis but gives rise to sporadic endonucleolytic cuts, whereas the RT is not affected. The endonuclease activities of the RNase H mt enzymes exhibit cleavage preferences in the absence or presence of DNA synthesis different from those of the wt enzyme. They cannot recognize specific sequences required to generate a PPT-primer and therefore cannot initiate plus-strand DNA synthesis in vitro at the 3' end of the PPT, which is essential for viral replication.
J Mol Biol 1991 Aug 05
PMID:Mutations of a conserved residue within HIV-1 ribonuclease H affect its exo- and endonuclease activities. 171 5

The role of histidine residues in the formation of channels by the cytolytic toxin aerolysin has been studied in planar lipid bilayers by substituting each of the six histidines in the native protein with asparagine. His341 or His186 mutants had the same channel-forming ability as native toxin, whereas the His332 and His121 mutants were less active. Mutations at His132 and His107, which interfere with the oligomerization of the toxin, drastically reduce pore formation. These findings support the conclusion that oligomerization of the toxin must precede channel formation, and that at least two of the six histidine residues are essential for this to occur. The aerolysin channel is a water-filled pore with an approximate diameter of 9.3 +/- 0.4 A.
Mol Microbiol 1991 Nov
PMID:Site-directed mutagenesis at histidines of aerolysin from Aeromonas hydrophila: a lipid planar bilayer study. 172 72

Yeast transformants containing integrated copies of a galactose-regulated, ricin toxin A chain (RTA) expression plasmid were constructed and used in an attempt to isolate RTA-resistant yeast mutants. Analysis of RNA from mutant strains demonstrated that approximately half contained ribosomes that had been partially modified by RTA, although all the strains analysed transcribed full-length RTA RNA. The mutant strains could have mutations in yeast genes giving rise to RTA-resistant ribosomes or they could contain alterations within the RTA-encoding DNA causing production of mutant toxin. Ribosomes isolated from mutant strains were shown to be susceptible to RTA modification in vitro suggesting that the strains contain alterations in RTA. This paper describes the detailed analysis of one mutant strain which has a point mutation that changes serine 203 to asparagine in RTA protein. Although serine 203 lies outside the proposed active site of RTA its alteration leads to the production of RTA protein with a greatly reduced level of ribosome modifying activity. This decrease in activity apparently allows yeast cells to survive expression of RTA as only a proportion of the ribosomes become modified. We demonstrate that the mutant RTA preferentially modifies 26S rRNA in free 60S subunits and has lower catalytic activity compared with native RTA when produced in Escherichia coli. Such mutations provide a valuable means of identifying residues important in RTA catalysis and of further understanding the precise mechanism of action of RTA.
Mol Gen Genet 1991 Nov
PMID:Alteration of an amino acid residue outside the active site of the ricin A chain reduces its toxicity towards yeast ribosomes. 174 46

We have identified two different single nucleotide alterations in codon 686 (GAC; aspartic acid) in exon 4 of the human androgen receptor gene in three unrelated families with the complete form of androgen insensitivity. One mutation (G----C) results in an aspartic acid----histidine substitution (with 15-20% of wild-type androgen-binding capacity), whereas the other mutation (G----A) leads to an aspartic acid----asparagine substitution (with normal androgen-binding capacity, but a rapidly dissociating ligand-receptor complex). The mutations eliminate a Hinfl restriction site. Screening for the loss of the Hinfl site in both families with the Asp----Asn mutation resulted in the recognition of heterozygous carriers in successive generations of each. Both mutant androgen receptors were generated in vitro and transiently expressed in COS and HeLa cells. The receptor proteins produced had the same altered binding characteristics as those measured in fibroblasts from the affected subjects. R1881-activated transcription of a GRE-tk-CAT reporter gene construct was strongly diminished by both mutant receptors and was only partially restored using a 100-fold higher concentration of ligand compared with wild-type receptor. Thus, aspartic acid-686 appears essential for normal androgen receptor function. Substitution of this amino acid residue, by either histidine or asparagine, results in androgen insensitivity and lack of androgen-dependent male sexual differentiation.
Mol Endocrinol 1991 Oct
PMID:Substitution of aspartic acid-686 by histidine or asparagine in the human androgen receptor leads to a functionally inactive protein with altered hormone-binding characteristics. 177 37

Recombinant A' protein could be reconstituted into U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs) upon addition to HeLa cell extracts as determined by coimmunoprecipitation and particle density; however, direct binding to U2 RNA could not be demonstrated except in the presence of the U2 snRNP B" protein. Mutational analysis indicated that a central core region of A' was required for particle reconstitution. This region consists of five tandem repeats of approximately 24 amino acids each that exhibit a periodicity of leucine and asparagine residues that is distinct from the leucine zipper. Similar leucine-rich (Leu-Leu motif) repeats are characteristic of a diverse array of soluble and membrane-associated proteins from yeasts to humans but have not been reported previously to reside in nuclear proteins. Several of these proteins, including Toll, chaoptin, RNase/angiogenin inhibitors, lutropin-choriogonadotropin receptor, carboxypeptidase N, adenylyl cyclase, CD14, and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Rev, may be involved in protein-protein interactions. Our findings suggest that in cell extracts the Leu-Leu motif of A' is required for reconstitution with U2 snRNPs and perhaps with other components involved in splicing through protein-protein interactions.
Mol Cell Biol 1991 Mar
PMID:Leucine periodicity of U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (snRNP) A' protein is implicated in snRNP assembly via protein-protein interactions. 182 47


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