In attempting to understand the molecular basis of the control of chicken thymidine kinase (cTK) gene expression, we have examined the steady state cTK RNA content, and the patterns of DNA methylation, chromatin structure and endogenous nuclear runoff transcription of this gene in dividing and non-dividing cells. Our results reveal that the steady state level of cTK poly A+ RNA is correlated with the divisional activity of normal avian cells and tissues. However, no differences in the pattern of Hpa II site methylation or chromatin structure are found among cells containing high or undetectable levels of steady state cTK RNA. In addition, no differences in cTK transcription as assayed by nuclear runoff experiments are detectable in isolated nuclei derived from dividing or non-dividing cells containing high or low levels of steady state cTK RNA. These results suggest that the principal control of chicken thymidine kinase gene expression is post-transcriptional in nature.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare inherited condition rendering neutrophils incapable of killing invading pathogens. This condition is due to the failure of a multicomponent microbicidal oxidase that normally yields a low-midpoint-potential b cytochrome (cytochrome bm). Although defects in the X chromosome-linked cytochrome account for the mijority of CGD patients, as many as 30% of CGD cases are due to an autosomal recessive disease. Of these, >90% have been shown to be defective in the synthesis of a 47-kDa cytosolic component of the oxidase. We demonstrate here in three unrelated cases of autosomal recessive CGD that the identical underlying molecular lesion is a dinucleotide deletion at a GTGT tandem repeat, corresponding to the acceptor site of the first intron-exon junction. Slippage of the DNA duplex at this site may contribute to the high frequency of defects in this gene.

Dyskeratosis congenita (DC) is a heterogeneous bone marrow failure disorder with known mutations in components of telomerase and telomere shelterin. Recent work in a mouse model with a dyskerin mutation has implicated an increased DNA damage response as part of the cellular pathology, while mouse models with Terc and Tert mutations displayed a normal response. To clarify how these contradictory results might apply to DC pathology in humans, we studied the cellular phenotype in primary cells from DC patients of several genetic subtypes, focussing on T lymphocytes to remain close to the haematopoietic system. We observed novel cell cycle abnormalities in conjunction with impaired growth and an increase in apoptosis. Using flow cytometry and confocal microscopy we examined induction of the DNA damage proteins γ-H2AX and 53BP1 and the cell cycle protein TP53 (p53). We found an increase in damage foci at telomeres in lymphocytes and an increase in the basal level of DNA damage in fibroblasts, but crucially no increased response to DNA damaging agents in either cell type. As the response to induced DNA damage was normal and levels of global DNA damage were inconsistent between cell types, DNA damage may contribute differently to the pathology in different tissues.

A full-length cDNA clone was isolated for the 47-kilodalton (kDa) subunit of the NADPH oxidase system, whose absence is responsible for the most common form of autosomally inherited chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). It encodes a 44.7-kDa polypeptide, which contains two src homology (SH3) domains and several possible sites for phosphorylation by protein kinase C. We speculate that the SH3 domains may interact with Dinauer, and A. Jesaitis, Nature [London] 342:198-200, 1989). An antiserum raised to the predicted C terminus of the protein detects a polypeptide with an apparent molecular mass of 47 kDa in normal neutrophil granulocytes but not in those from patients with autosomal CGD. The antibody has been used to show that the protein associates with the vacuolar membrane and is phosphorylated in response to phorbol ester treatment.Analysis of a number of tissue types and cell lines shows that expression of the gene is confined to phagocytic cells and B lymphocytes. This observation suggests that patients with CGD may also have a defect in lymphocyte function. p47 protein and mRNA levels increase during retinoic acid-induced neutrophil differentiation of HL60 cells. Nuclear run-on transcription assays show that the gene for p47 is induced at the transcriptional level in a cycloheximide-insensitive manner. These data indicate that this gene is a primary target for regulation by retinoic acid.Human chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is an inherited syndrome characterized by the inability of phagocytic cells to destroy many of the organisms which they ingest. This disorder makes the patients prone to prolonged and sometimes fatal infections. The dysfunction of phagocyte killing results from an inability to generate superoxide (02) via the NADPH oxidase system (reviewed in reference 41).

SummaryDyskeratosis congenita (DC) is an inherited multi-system disorder characterised by muco-cutaneous abnormalities, bone marrow failure and a predisposition to malignancy. Bone marrow failure is the principal cause of mortality and is thought to be the result of premature cell death in the haematopoietic compartment because DC cells age prematurely and tend to have short telomeres. DC is genetically heterogeneous and patients have mutations in genes that encode components of the telomerase complex (DKC1, TERC, TERT, NOP10 and NHP2), and telomere shelterin complex (TINF2), both important in telomere maintenance. Here, we transduced primary T lymphocytes and B lymphocyte lines established from patients with TERC and DKC1 mutations with wild type TERC-bearing lentiviral vectors. We found that transduction with exogenous TERC alone was capable of increasing telomerase activity in mutant T lymphocytes and B lymphocyte lines and improved the survival and thus overall growth of B-lymphocyte lines over a prolonged period, regardless of their disease mutation. Telomeres in TERC-treated lines were longer than in the untreated cultures. This is the first study of its kind in DC lymphocytes and the first to demonstrate that transduction with TERC alone can improve cell survival and telomere length without the need for exogenous TERT.