Molecular understanding of aluminum-induced topological changes in (CCG)12 triplet repeats: relevance to neurological disorders.
Recent studies have shown that gene mutations are involved in the pathology of neurological disorders. CCG repeats cause genetic instability and are localized at the 5' end of the non-coding regions of the FMR1 gene in fragile X syndrome. Our studies for the first time showed that aluminum (Al) levels were elevated in the serum samples of fragile X syndrome and also provide evidence for the interaction of aluminum with (CCG)12-repeats. Circular dichroism spectroscopic studies of (CCG)12 indicated B-DNA conformation and in the presence of Al (10(-5) M) CCG repeats attained Z-DNA conformation. Further spectroscopic studies, which included melting profiles, ethidium bromide binding patterns and interaction of Z-DNA specific polyclonal antibodies confirmed the Z-conformation in (CCG)12-repeats in the presence of Al (10(-5) M). It is interesting to mention that Al-induced Z-conformation is stable even after the total removal of Al from CCG by desferoximine, a chelating drug. This is the first report to proof the role of Al in modulating the DNA (CCG repeats) topology and this information provides a clue about the possible involvement of Al at a molecular level in neurological/neurodegenerative disorders.
Latha
Kallur Siddaramaiah
KS
Centre for Human Genetics, Institute of Biotechnology, G-05, Discoverer, ITPL, Whitefield Road, Bangalore, India.
Anitha
Suram
S
Rao
Kosagi Sharaf Jagannatha
KS
Viswamitra
Mysore Ananthamurthy
MA
D000535:Aluminum / Q000097:blood; D020137:Base Pair Mismatch; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004996:Ethidium / Q000737:chemistry; D051860:Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1; D005600:Fragile X Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D011753:Pyrones; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013696:Temperature; D018911:Trinucleotide Repeats / Q000187:drug effects*
D000535:Aluminum; D004247:DNA; D004996:Ethidium; D051860:Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D011753:Pyrones; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; C497683:FMR1 protein, human; C067527:aluminum maltolate