Demonstration of IgE Antibodies to Nucleic Acid Antigens in Patients with Sle

Using a combination of avidin-biotin microELISA and solid phase radioimmunoassay, we examined sera from 23 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), two patients with established sensitivity to ingested shrimp, and 15 healthy normal subjects. In addition to IgG antibodies, varying amounts of IgE antibodies specific for native DNA (nDNA), denatured or single-stranded DNA (dnDNA), RNA, and tRNA were demonstrable in the sera of SLE patients, but not in the sera of normal subjects. A comparison of the specificity of nucleic acid-specific IgE antibodies present in the sera of shrimp-sensitive patients with those present in the sera of seven SLE patients revealed that the IgE antibodies in the sera of shrimp-sensitive patients specifically recognized shrimp tRNA but not yeast tRNA, calf thymus RNA, or calf thymus DNA, while those present in the sera of patients with SLE recognized all these nucleic acid antigens. The IgE antibodies directed against nDNA, dnDNA, RNA, and tRNA may mediate mast cell and basophil degranulation and thus contribute both to immediate-type hypersensitivity phenomena including hives seen in patients with SLE and to the localization of IgE-nucleic acid complexes in target

Definitions and nomenclature of nucleic acid structure parameters

At an EMBO Workshop on DNA Curvature and Bending, held at Churchill College, Cambridge, on 10-15 September 1988, two sessions were scheduled on definitions of parameters used to describe the geometry of nucleic acid chains and helices, and a common nomenclature for these parameters. The most widely used library of helix analysis programs, HELIB (Fratini et al., 1982; Dickerson, 1985) suffers from the fact that the translations and rotations as defined are not fully independent and depend to a certain extent upon the choice of overall helix axis. Several research groups have been engaged independently in developing alternative programs for the geometrical analysis of polynucleotide chains, but with different definitions of quantities calculated and with widely different nomenclature even when the same parameter was involved.

Effects of halogen substitution in nucleic acid components. Structure of sodium 5-bromocytidine 5'-phosphate hydrate

The conformation of 5-bromocytidine 5'-monophosphate in the title compound, Na+.C9H11BrN3O8P-.1.25H2O, is anti, C(3')-endo and gauche-gauche, similar to that in analogous non-halogenated nucleosides/nucleotides. The Na ion coordinates directly with phosphate O atoms and base atoms. Br is not involved in any stacking interaction.

Interaction of rat testis protein, TP, with nucleic acids in vitro. Fluorescence quenching, UV absorption, and thermal denaturation studies

The nucleic acid binding properties of the testis protein, TP, were studied with the help of physical techniques, namely, fluorescence quenching, UV difference absorption spectroscopy, and thermal melting. Results of quenching of tyrosine fluorescence of TP upon its binding to double-stranded and denatured rat liver nucleosome core DNA and poly(rA) suggest that the tyrosine residues of TP interact/intercalate with the bases of these nucleic acids. From the fluorescence quenching data, obtained at 50 mM NaCl concentration, the apparent association constants for binding of TP to native and denatured DNA and poly(rA) were calculated to be 4.4 X 10(3) M-1, 2.86 X 10(4) M-1, and 8.5 X 10(4) M-1, respectively. UV difference absorption spectra upon TP binding to poly(rA) and rat liver core DNA showed a TP-induced hyperchromicity at 260 nm which is suggestive of local melting of poly(rA) and DNA. The results from thermal melting studies of binding of TP to calf thymus DNA at 1 mM NaCl as well as 50 mM NaCl showed that although at 1 mM NaCl TP brings about a slight stabilization of the DNA against thermal melting, a destabilization of the DNA was observed at 50 mM NaCl. From these results it is concluded that TP, having a higher affinity for single-stranded nucleic acids, destabilizes double- stranded DNA, thus behaving like a DNA-melting protein.

Immunologic studies on nucleic acids and their components. I. An analysis of the specificity of anti-deoxyadenylate antibodies by a membrane-binding technique

Anti-deoxyadenylate antibodies were produced in rabbits by injecting a conjugate of deoxyadenosine 5′-phosphate with bovine serum albumin. The antisera, as analyzed by double diffusion in agar and the quantitative precipitin reaction, showed hapten-specific antibodies. The specific interaction between [3H]deoxyadenylate and antiserum was studied by a sensitive nitrocellulose membrane-binding assay. The specificity of the antibodies was analyzed by measuring the effectiveness of other nucleotides or derivatives to inhibit the hapten-antibody binding. The requirements for recognition by the antibody sites were studied by using a series of naturally occurring nucleic acid components as well as some synthetic derivatives as inhibitors. The antibodies were found to show a high degree of specificity for the whole nucleotide, the base, sugar and phosphate playing almost equally important roles. There was cross reactivity with other mononucleotides, although of a low order. The antibodies were able to react with DNA and tRNA.

Specificity in proteinânucleic acid interaction: Solubility study on amino acidânucleoside interaction

The chemical basis of the specificity of proteinnucleic acid interaction, as seen in many biochemical phenomena such as the organization of nucleoprotein complexes (~hro~atin. ribosomes) and gene expression and its regulation, IS not yet understood.A knowledge of such specific interactions is also essential for tracing the chemical evolution of life based an the coupling between protein and nucleic acid and the origin of genetic code [I ,I?].

Theoretical calculations of base-base interactions in nucleic acids: I Stacking interactions in free bases

Stacking interactions in free bases were computed on the basis of molecular association. The results of the calculations were compared with the stacking patterns observed in a few single crystals of nucleic acid components as examples. The following are the conclusions: (i) there can be two types of stacking pattern classified as normal and inverted types for any two interacting bases and both can be energetically favourable (ii) in both the types the stacking interaction is a combined effect of the overlap of the interacting bases and relative positions and orientations of the atomic centres of the two bases (iii) crystal symmetry and H-bonding interaction may influence stacking patterns.

Development of specific DNA probes and their usage in the detection of Plasmodium vivax infection in blood

The application of nucleic acid probes, in the detection of pathogenic micro-organisms, has become an integral part of diagnostic technologies. In this study, Plasmodium vivax-specific DNA probes have been identified by carrying out genomic subtractive hybridization. In this approach, the recombinant clones from a P. vivax genomic library are screened with radiolabelled human and P. falciparum DNA. The colonies which react with labelled P. falciparum and human DNA are eliminated and those which do not produce any autoradiographic signal have been subjected to further screening procedures. Three Fl vivax specific DNA probes have been obtained by these repeated screenings. Further analyses indicate that these probes are specific and sensitive enough to detect P. vivax infection in clinical blood samples when used in a non-radioactive DNA hybridization assay. (C) 1995 Academic Press Limited

Interaction of nucleic acids with carbon nanotubes and dendrimers

Nucleic acid interaction with nanoscale objects like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and dendrimers is of fundamental interest because of their potential application in CNT separation, gene therapy and antisense therapy. Combining nucleic acids with CNTs and dendrimers also opens the door towards controllable self-assembly to generate various supra-molecular and nano-structures with desired morphologies. The interaction between these nanoscale objects also serve as a model system for studying DNA compaction, which is a fundamental process in chromatin organization. By using fully atomistic simulations, here we report various aspects of the interactions and binding modes of DNA and small interfering RNA (siRNA) with CNTs, graphene and dendrimers. Our results give a microscopic picture and mechanism of the adsorption of single- and double-strand DNA (ssDNA and dsDNA) on CNT and graphene. The nucleic acid-CNT interaction is dominated by the dispersive van der Waals (vdW) interaction. In contrast, the complexation of DNA (both ssDNA and dsDNA) and siRNA with various generations of poly-amido-amine (PAMAM) dendrimers is governed by electrostatic interactions. Our results reveal that both the DNA and siRNA form stable complex with the PAMAM dendrimer at a physiological pH when the dendrimer is positively charged due to the protonation of the primary amines. The size and binding energy of the complex increase with increase in dendrimer generation. We also give a summary of the current status in these fields and discuss future prospects.

Comparison of Interproton Distances in DNA Models with Nuclear Overhauser Enhancement Data

The conformational flexibility inherent in the polynucleotide chain plays an important role in deciding its three-dimensonal structure and enables it to undergo structural transitions in order to fulfil all its functions. Following certain stereochemical guidelines, both right and left handed double-helical models have been built in our laboratory and they are in reasonably good agreement with the fibre patterns for various polymorphous forms of DNA. Recently, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has become an important technique for studying the solution conformation and polymorphism of nucleic acids. Several workers have used 1H nuclear magnetic resonance nuclear Overhauser enhancement measurements to estimate the interproton distances for the various DNA oligomers and compared them with the interproton distances for particular models of A and Β form DNA. In some cases the solution conformation does not seem to fit either of these models. We have been studying various models for DNA with a view to exploring the full conformational space allowed for nucleic acid polymers. In this paper, the interproton distances calculated for the different stereochemically feasible models of DNA are presented and they are compared and correlated against those obtained from 1Η nuclear magnetic resonance nuclear Overhauser enhancement measurements of various nucleic acid oligomers.

Polymorphism and conformational flexibility of DNA: right and left handed duplexes

Left handed duplexes are shown to be in agreement with the X-ray intensity data of A-, B- and D-forms of DNA. The structures are stereochemically satisfactory because they were obtained following a stereochemical guideline derived from theory and single crystal structure data of nucleic acid components. The same stereochemical guideline also led to right handed duplexes for B- and D-forms of DNA which have stereochemically preferred conformation and hence are superior to those given by Arnott and coworkers.

Stability and structural transitions of tomato aspermy virus and cucumber mosaic virus

The properties of the S-strain of cucumber mosaic virus (S-CMV) and the B-strain of tomato aspermy virus (B-TAV) have been studied with respect to their (i) size and sedimentation behavior, (ii) requirement of divalent metal ions for stability, (iii) sensitivity towards chloride salts and the anionic detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate, (iv) solubility in ammonium sulfate-containing buffers, and (v) pH-dependent structural transitions. The results indicate that the coat protein of B-TAV is more hydrophobic than the other well-studied strains of TAV and CMV. Circular dichroism and uv absorption studies reveal pH-dependent structural transitions, although these do not result in particle swelling. These transitions appear to alter the strength of protein-nucleic acid interactions in these viruses.