Degradation and extraction of high molecular weight DNA from formaldehyde fixed tissues suitable for gene analysis are presented. We previously reported that DNase might play an important role in the degradation of DNA extracted from formaldehyde fixed tissues (Tokuda et al. 1990). In the present study, DNase activity of the supernatant from rat tissues fixed in buffered formaldehyde at room temperature was negligible within 3 hr. Analysis of DNA extracted from reconstituted chromatin revealed that the degradation increased in the absence of DNase depending on the duration of the formaldehyde fixation. Furthermore, high molecular weight DNA could be extracted from tissues devoid of DNase activity fixed in buffered formaldehyde containing EDTA. These results demonstrated that DNA degradation was due mainly to a mechanism other than DNAse which was inhibited by EDTA. For clinical application, v-H-ras gene was successfully detected by Southern blotting from rat spleen tissues fixed in buffered formaldehyde especially at 4 C. Fixation at low temperature is useful for gene analysis.
An in vivo 5'-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) labeled DNA probe was used for in situ DNA-RNA hybridization. BrdUrd was incorporated into plasmid DNA by inoculating E. coli with Luria-Bertani (LB) culture medium containing 500 mg/L of BrdUrd. After purification of the plasmid DNA, specific probes of the defined DNA fragments, which contained the cloned insert and short stretches of the vector DNA, were generated by restriction endonuclease. The enzymatic digestion pattern of the BrdUrd-labeled plasmid DNA was the same as that of the non-labeled one. BrdUrd was incorporated in 15%-20% of the total DNA, that is, about 80% of the thymidine was replaced by BrdUrd. Picogram amounts of the BrdUrd-labeled DNA probe itself and the target DNA were detectable on nitrocellulose filters in dot-blot spot and hybridization experiments using a peroxidase/diaminobenzidine combination. The BrdUrd-labeled DNA probe was efficiently hybridized with both single stranded DNA on nitrocellulose filters and cellular mRNA in in situ hybridization experiments. Through the reaction with BrdUrd in single stranded tails, hybridized probes were clearly detectable with fluorescent microscopy using a FITC-conjugated monoclonal anti-BrdUrd antibody. The in vivo labeling method did not require nick translation steps or in vitro DNA polymerase reactions. Sensitive, stable and efficient DNA probes were easily obtainable with this method.
We investigated the role of reactive oxygen intermediates and protein kinase C in the induction of expression of the c-jun gene in human ML-2 leukemic cells and normal human DET-551 fibroblasts by comparing the effects of exposure to either ionizing radiation or H2O2 in the presence or absence of appropriate inhibitors. In these cell types, the radiation- and H2O2-mediated increase in c-jun mRNA levels could be prevented by pretreatment of the cells with N-acetylcysteine, an antioxidant, or H7, an inhibitor of protein kinase C and protein kinase A, but not by HA1004, a specific inhibitor of protein kinase A and G. These results suggest a role for protein kinase C and reactive oxygen intermediates in the induction of c-jun gene expression in both normal and tumor cells. We also investigated potential differences in c-jun gene expression induced by radiation or H2O2 in normal and tumor cells by examining steady-state c-jun mRNA levels in a number of human fibroblast, leukemia, melanoma, sarcoma and carcinoma cell types. We observed heterogeneity in the steady-state level of c-jun mRNA in both the untreated normal and tumor cells and in such cells exposed to ionizing radiation or to H2O2. Exposure to radiation produced a varied response which ranged from little or no induction to an increase in the steady-state level of the c-jun mRNA of more than two orders of magnitude. Exposure to H2O2 gave a pattern similar to that of ionizing radiation. The basis for the differential induction in response to these agents may be attributable to either cell lineage or genetic heterogeneity or a combination of these two parameters.
We analyzed six different tissue DNA samples from a leukemic individual who received an injection of Thorotrast for alterations in proto-oncogene or tumor-suppressor gene structure. Our examination of the DNA indicated an alteration of the c-fms gene in the blood sample from this individual. This locus showed a deletion in which the 3' end of the deleted region maps between exons 11 and 12. In this particular case, the type of leukemia is unknown but myeloid leukemia is a neoplasm associated with individuals injected with Thorotrast. It is possible that the alteration in the c-fms gene of this individual is a consequence of the radiation exposure. No apparent alterations in the c-mos gene were observed in any of the tissues from the individual. This is in contrast to previous studies that described alterations in methylation patterns associated with the c-mos locus in radium-exposed individuals. A number of the individuals exposed to radium also had alterations of the retinoblastoma gene while no such alterations were observed in any tissue DNA samples from this Thorotrast case. It is possible that our inability to detect alterations of the c-mos and retinoblastoma gene may be attributable to the nature of alpha-emitting radionuclides or their distribution, or to the limited set of tissues available for analysis.
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