title: A novel fruitfly protein under developmental control degrades uracil-DNA.
abstract: Uracil in DNA may arise by cytosine deamination or thymine replacement and is removed during DNA repair. Fruitfly larvae lack two repair enzymes, the major uracil-DNA glycosylase and dUTPase, and may accumulate uracil-DNA. We asked if larval tissues contain proteins that specifically recognize uracil-DNA. We show that the best hit of pull-down on uracil-DNA is the protein product of the Drosophila melanogaster gene CG18410. This protein binds to both uracil-DNA and normal DNA but degrades only uracil-DNA; it is termed Uracil-DNA Degrading Factor (UDE). The protein has detectable homology only to a group of sequences present in genomes of pupating insects. It is under detection level in the embryo, most of the larval stages and in the imago, but is strongly upregulated right before pupation. In Schneider 2 cells, UDE mRNA is upregulated by ecdysone. UDE represents a new class of proteins that process uracil-DNA with potential involvement in metamorphosis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Enzymology, Karolina út 29. H-1113, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Angéla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Békési
authors.forename: Mária
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pukáncsik
authors.forename: Villo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Muha
authors.forename: Imre
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zagyva
authors.forename: Ibolya
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Leveles
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hunyadi-Gulyás
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Klement
authors.forename: Katalin F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Medzihradszky
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kele
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Erdei
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Felföldi
authors.forename: Emese
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kónya
authors.forename: Beáta G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Vértessy
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D045647:DNA Glycosylases / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014498:Uracil / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C519400:UDE protein, Drosophila; D014498:Uracil; D004247:DNA; D045647:DNA Glycosylases