Checkpoint genes cause cell cycle arrest when DNA is damaged or DNA replication is blocked. Although a human homolog of Chk1 (hChk1) has recently been reported to be involved in the DNA damage checkpoint through phosphorylation of Cdc25A, B, and C, it is not known at which phase(s) of the cell cycle hChk1 functions and how hChk1 causes cell cycle arrest in response to DNA damage. In the present study, we demonstrate that in normal human ®broblasts (MJ90), hChk1 is expressed speci®cally at the S to M phase of the cell cycle at both the RNA and protein levels and that it is localized to the nucleus at this time. hChk1 activity, as determined by phosphorylation of Cdc25C, is readily detected at the S to M phase of the cell cycle, and DNA damage induced by UV or ionizing radiation does not enhance the expression of hChk1 or its activity. Furthermore, hChk1 exists in an active form at the S to M phase in ®broblasts derived from patients with ataxia telangiectasia (AT) which lack the functional AT mutated (ATM) gene product, suggesting that hChk1 expression is independent of functional ATM. Taken together with the ®ndings that phosphorylation of Cdc25C on serine 216 is increased at the S to M phase, it is suggested that at this particular phase of the cell cycle, even in the absence of DNA damage, hChk1 phosphorylates Cdc25C on serine 216, which is considered to be a prerequisite for the G2/M checkpoint. Thus, hChk1 may play an important role in keeping Cdc25C prepared for responding to DNA damage by phosphorylating its serine residue at 216 during the S to M phase.

In response to DNA damage, mammalian cells adopt checkpoint regulation, by phosphorylation and stabilization of p53, to delay cell cycle progression. However, most cancer cells that lack functional p53 retain an unknown checkpoint mechanism(s) by which cells are arrested at the G 2 /M phase. Here we demonstrate that a human homolog of Cds1/Rad53 kinase (hCds1) is rapidly phosphorylated and activated in response to DNA damage not only in normal cells but in cancer cells lacking functional p53. A survey of various cancer cell lines revealed that the expression level of hCds1 mRNA is inversely related to the presence of functional p53. In addition, transfection of normal human fibroblasts with SV40 T antigen or human papilloma viruses E6 or E7 causes a marked induction of hCds1 mRNA, and the introduction of functional p53 into SV40 T antigen-and E6-, but not E7-, transfected cells decreases the hCds1 level, suggesting that p53 negatively regulates the expression of hCds1. In cells without functional ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) protein, phosphorylation and activation of hCds1 were observed in response to DNA damage induced by UV but not by ionizing irradiation. These results suggest that hCds1 is activated through an ATM-dependent as well as -independent pathway and that it may complement the function of p53 in DNA damage checkpoints in mammalian cells.

SummaryPeriodontitis is an inflammatory disease caused by periodontal bacteria in subgingival plaque. These bacteria are able to colonize the periodontal region by evading the host immune response. Neutrophils, the host's first line of defense against infection, use various strategies to kill invading pathogens, including neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). These are extracellular net‐like fibers comprising DNA and antimicrobial components such as histones, LL‐37, defensins, myeloperoxidase, and neutrophil elastase from neutrophils that disarm and kill bacteria extracellularly. Bacterial nuclease degrades the NETs to escape NET killing. It has now been shown that extracellular nucleases enable bacteria to evade this host antimicrobial mechanism, leading to increased pathogenicity. Here, we compared the DNA degradation activity of major Gram‐negative periodontopathogenic bacteria, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. We found that Pr. intermedia showed the highest DNA degradation activity. A genome search of Pr. intermedia revealed the presence of two genes, nucA and nucD, putatively encoding secreted nucleases, although their enzymatic and biological activities are unknown. We cloned nucA‐ and nucD‐encoding nucleases from Pr. intermedia ATCC 25611 and characterized their gene products. Recombinant NucA and NucD digested DNA and RNA, which required both Mg2+ and Ca2+ for optimal activity. In addition, NucA and NucD were able to degrade the DNA matrix comprising NETs.

Although crystal structural analysis of cyclin A/cyclindependent kinase 2 (Cdk2)/p27 (Russo, A. A., Jeffrey, P. D., Pattern, A. K., Massague, J., and Pavletich, N. P. (1996) Nature 382, 325-331) has suggested that the 3 10 helix region in Cdk inhibitors of the Cip/Kip family may be involved in the inhibition of cyclin/Cdk activities, there is no biochemical evidence supporting this hypothesis. In the present study, we demonstrated that cyclin and Cdk binding domains of p57 were necessary but were not sufficient in themselves for the inhibition of cyclin A/Cdk2 and cyclin E/Cdk2, and that the 3 10 helix region of this protein is indispensable for the inhibition of these complexes. In contrast, the 3 10 helix regions of p21 and p27 were not required, and cyclinand Cdk-binding domains alone were sufficient for the inhibition of all cyclin/Cdk complexes examined. Sitedirected mutagenesis identified phenylalanine 79 and tyrosine 80 within the 3 10 helix region of p57 as crucial residues for kinase inhibition, supporting the structural evidence that the 3 10 helix binds deep inside the catalytic cleft of Cdk2, mimicking ATP. Mutations within the 3 10 helix region of the p57 molecule completely abolished the ability to arrest the cell cycle at G 1 in vivo. These results indicate that this region is specifically utilized by p57 in selectively inhibiting cyclin A or E/Cdk2 activities. Thus the 3 10 helix motif may confer a specific regulatory mechanism by which p57 differentially regulates Cdk2 and Cdk4 activities.

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Dextranase (Dex) is an enzyme that hydrolyzes glucan, a polymer of glucose synthesized from sucrose by glucosyltransferases (GTFs). By comparing amino acid sequences of Dexs and GTFs, we found that the Dex enzymes of Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sobrinus, Streptococcus downei and Streptococcus salivarius had similar amino acid sequences to those of the catalytic sites of GTFs of mutans streptococci. We therefore examined the amino acid essential in Dex catalysis by molecular genetic approaches in this study. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to convert the Asp-385 of the Dex molecule of S. mutans Ingbritt to Glu, Asn, Thr or Val. Replacement of Asp-385 with any of the amino acids resulted in complete disappearance of Dex activity. However, replacement of other Asp residues did not affect the enzyme activity. The inactive enzymes still retained dextran-binding ability. These results suggest that Asp-385 of the Dex of S. mutans Ingbritt was essential for enzyme activity and the catalytic and substrate-binding sites were located at different sites within the Dex molecule.

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