Specificity of hammerhead ribozyme cleavage

To be effective in gene inactivation, the hammerhead ribozyme must cleave a complementary RNA target without deleterious effects from cleaving non-target RNAs that contain mismatches and shorter stretches of complementarity. The specificity of hammerhead cleavage was evaluated using HH16, a well-characterized ribozyme designed to cleave a target of 17 residues. Under standard reaction conditions, HH16 is unable to discriminate between its full-length substrate and 3'-truncated substrates, even when six fewer base pairs are formed between HH16 and the substrate. This striking lack of specificity arises because all the substrates bind to the ribozyme with sufficient affinity so that cleavage occurs before their affinity differences are manifested. In contrast, HH16 does exhibit high specificity towards certain 3'-truncated versions of altered substrates that either also contain a single base mismatch or are shortened at the 5' end. In addition, the specificity of HH16 is improved in the presence of p7 nucleocapsid protein from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1, which accelerates the association and dissociation of RNA helices. These results support the view that the hammerhead has an intrinsic ability to discriminate against incorrect bases, but emphasizes that the high specificity is only observed in a certain range of helix lengths.     

Serologic survey for Toxoplasma gondii in grizzly bears from Alaska

Aquaporin-4 is a mammalian water channel protein that is predominately expressed in brain, where it is believed to mediate water homeostasis. Here we report the isolation and characterization of the cDNA for mouse Aqp4 and map the gene to the proximal region of mouse chromosome 18. This region contains the neurological mutation ataxia, but further analysis reveals that Aqp4 is not responsible for the ataxia phenotype.     

Correlation between the onset age of Huntington's disease and length of the trinucleotide repeat in IT-15

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant disorder with a variable age of onset that is influenced by the sex of the affected parent. The recent recognition that HD is caused by an expanded triplet repeat suggests the possibility that the onset age may be predicted by the length of the repeat. This hypothesis was tested by assaying the length of the repeat in 114 individuals who were clinically diagnosed with HD and had a known onset age. Every individual had an expanded allele. The range was from 36 to 82 repeats (mean = 48.4 +/- 9.51) and larger than the normal range (6 to 31). The size of the expanded allele was correlated with the age of onset (r = -0.65 p < .0001). Despite the highly significant correlation, the repeat size explains less than half of the variance in onset age. Furthermore, the age of onset cannot be predicted from the size of the triplet repeat, particularly if the number of repeats is in the smaller end of the expanded range. If the repeat is < or = 50 triplets, the amount of variation in the age of onset explained by the length of the triplet repeat is less than 10%. As an illustration, the onset age of individuals with 39 repeats ranges from 30 to 65 years old. The sex of the affected parent had no effect in our sample beyond the effect of the length of the repeat. Affected offspring of affected fathers had longer repeats and a larger variance in allele size than offspring of affected mothers, perhaps reflecting greater instability in paternal transmission.     

Regulation of activity and apical targeting of the Cl-/HCO3- exchanger in rat hepatocytes

To test the hypothesis that rat hepatocyte canalicular Cl-/HCO3- exchange activity might be regulated by HCO3- or protein kinase-induced changes in the apical targeting of vesicles, isolated rat hepatocytes were cultured in the presence or absence of HCO3-/CO2.Cl-/HCO3- exchange activity increased in cells cultured in the presence of HCO3-/CO2 or when stimulated by dibutyryl cAMP. Both of these effects were blocked by either colchicine or the protein kinase C agonist phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate. Fluorescence and confocal microscopy, respectively, revealed increased pericanalicular-apical membrane localization of two canalicular markers, peanut agglutinin and a 110-kDa canalicular ecto-ATPase, when hepatocyte couplets were preincubated in HCO3-/CO2-containing medium, an effect that was again blocked by colchicine. Dibutyryl cAMP also stimulated canalicular localization of the 110-kDa protein. These findings suggest that hepatocyte Cl-/HCO3- exchange activity is regulated by HCO3-/CO2 and by protein kinase A and protein kinase C agonists through microtubule-dependent targeting of vesicles containing this exchanger to the canalicular domain.     

Cloning and analysis of the mating type genes from Cochliobolus heterostrophus

Cochliobolus heterostrophus, a heterothallic Ascomycete, has a single mating type locus with two alternate forms called MAT-1 and MAT-2. MAT-1 was cloned by complementing a MAT-2 strain using a cosmid library from a MAT-1 strain and screening for a homothallic transformant. The cosmid recovered from this transformant was able to re-transform a MAT-2 strain to homothallism and MAT identity was proven by restriction fragment length polymorphism and conventional genetic mapping. All homothallic transformants could mate with either MAT-1 or MAT-2 strains, although the number of ascospores produced by self matings or crosses to MAT-2 strains was low. Progeny of selfed homothallic transformants were themselves homothallic. MAT-2 was cloned by probing a cosmid library from a MAT-2 strain with a fragment of insert DNA from a MAT-1 cosmid. A 1.5 kb subclone of either MAT-containing cosmid was sufficient to confer mating function in transformants. Examination of the DNA sequence of these subclones revealed that MAT-1 and MAT-2 contain 1297 bp and 1171 bp, respectively, of completely dissimilar DNA flanked by DNA common to both mating types. Putative introns were found (one in each MAT gene) which, when spliced out, would yield open reading frames (ORFs) that occupied approximately 90% of the dissimilar DNA sequences. Translation of the MAT-1 ORF revealed similarity to the Neurospora crassa MATA, Podospora anserina mat-, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae MAT alpha 1 proteins; translation of the MAT-2 ORF revealed similarity to the N. crassa MATa, P. anserina mat+, and Schizosaccharomyces pombe mat-Mc proteins. These gene products are all proven or proposed DNA binding proteins. Those with similarity to MAT-2 are members of the high mobility group.     

Backup compass mechanisms in pigeon orientation with the sun in the zenith

The sun is known to guide homing pigeons as a priority cue. The literature indicates that under total overcast conditions pigeons rely on a backup mechanism akin to the magnetic inclination compass for which there is much laboratory evidence in migratory birds. Total overcast conditions are not favorable for orientation research in the State of S?o Paulo, Brazil. The orientation of homing pigeons raised near the tropic of Capricorn was therefore observed around the time of the December solstice, when the sun culminated directly overhead, with a consequent interruption of the sun compass for a short time every day. In these experiments, carried out between 1981 and 1993, local geomagnetic field inclination was -25 degrees to -29 degrees 30', so that a functioning magnetic inclination compass should have been available to the birds. Whereas the birds released with sun to zenith angles between 10 degrees and 30 degrees were well oriented, both in the morning (99 vanishing bearings) and in the afternoon (143 vanishing bearings), those released with the sun less than 5 degrees away from the zenith showed random orientation (105 vanishing bearings), with no evidence of an alternative magnetic compass mechanism.