Type I fibrillar collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, crucial for the formation and strength of bones, skin, and tendon. Proteolytic enzymes are essential for initiation of the assembly of collagen fibrils by cleaving off the propeptides. We report that Mep1a −/− and Mep1b −/− mice revealed lower amounts of mature collagen I compared with WT mice and exhibited significantly reduced collagen deposition in skin, along with markedly decreased tissue tensile strength. While exploring the mechanism of this phenotype, we found that cleavage of full-length human procollagen I heterotrimers by either meprin α or meprin β led to the generation of mature collagen molecules that spontaneously assembled into collagen fibrils. Thus, meprin α and meprin β are unique in their ability to process and release both C-and N-propeptides from type I procollagen in vitro and in vivo and contribute to the integrity of connective tissue in skin, with consequent implications for inherited connective tissue disorders.proteolysis | Ehlers-Danlos syndrome | proteomics | fibrosis | connective tissue

Quadruplex structures that result from stacking of guanine quartets in nucleic acids possess such thermodynamic stability that their resolution in vivo is likely to require specific recognition by specialized enzymes. We previously identified the major tetramolecular quadruplex DNA resolving activity in HeLa cell lysates as the gene product of DHX36 (Vaughn, J. P., Creacy, S. D., Routh, E. D., Joyner-Butt, C., Jenkins, G. S., Pauli, S., Nagamine, Y., and Akman, S. A. (2005) J. Biol Chem. 280, 38117-38120), naming the enzyme G4 Resolvase 1 (G4R1). G4R1 is also known as RHAU, an RNA helicase associated with the AU-rich sequence of mRNAs. We now show that G4R1/RHAU binds to and resolves tetramolecular RNA quadruplex as well as tetramolecular DNA quadruplex structures. The apparent K d values of G4R1/RHAU for tetramolecular RNA quadruplex and tetramolecular DNA quadruplex were exceptionally low: 39 ؎ 6 and 77 ؎ 6 pM, respectively, as measured by gel mobility shift assay. In competition studies tetramolecular RNA quadruplex structures inhibited tetramolecular DNA quadruplex structure resolution by G4R1/RHAU more efficiently than tetramolecular DNA quadruplex structures inhibited tetramolecular RNA quadruplex structure resolution. Down-regulation of G4R1/ RHAU in HeLa T-REx cells by doxycycline-inducible short hairpin RNA caused an 8-fold loss of RNA and DNA tetramolecular quadruplex resolution, consistent with G4R1/RHAU representing the major tetramolecular quadruplex helicase activity for both RNA and DNA structures in HeLa cells. This study demonstrates for the first time the RNA quadruplex resolving enzymatic activity associated with G4R1/RHAU and its exceptional binding affinity, suggesting a potential novel role for G4R1/ RHAU in targeting in vivo RNA quadruplex structures.The nucleobase guanine is unique among bases in nucleic acids because of its great tendency toward self-association. Stable cyclic guanine quartets form by self-assembly through Hoogsteen hydrogen bonding between each of the four guanine molecules (N 1 -H and N 2 -H share hydrogen with O 6 and N 7 of the adjacent guanine). In the presence of physiological monovalent cations these quartets can self-associate into vertical stacks that coordinately bond a cation at the center of the G quartets, and the assemblies are further stabilized through stacking interactions (reviewed in Ref. 1). This vertical assembly of G quartets is known as G-quadruplex; this self-associating phenomenon is responsible for the observation that over 30 different derivatives of guanine can form gels in water (2). These are also the forces that stabilize the formation of quadruplex structures in nucleic acids that are also termed G4-DNA and G4-RNA. Since the initial observation by Sen and Gilbert (3) of the formation of tetramolecular G4-DNA, it has been shown that DNA or RNA molecules possessing runs of as few as three guanines in a row can form a variety of extraordinarily stable quadruplex structures (reviewed in Ref. 4). In fact, guanine quadruplex structures create th...

Genetic variations in DNA repair may impact repair functions, DNA damage and breast cancer risk. Using data/samples collected from the first 752 Caucasians and 141 African-Americans in an ongoing case-control study, we examined the association between breast cancer risk and 18 non-synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) in four DNA repair pathways-(i) base excision repair: ADPRT V762A, APE1 D148E, XRCC1 R194W/R280H/R399Q and POLD1 R119H; (ii) nucleotide excision repair: ERCC2 D312N/K751Q, ERCC4 R415Q, ERCC5 D1104H and XPC A499V/K939Q; (iii) mismatch repair: MLH1 I219V, MSH3 R940Q/T1036A and MSH6 G39E and (iv) double-strand break repair: NBS1 E185Q and XRCC3 T241M. In Caucasians, breast cancer risk was significantly associated with ADPRT 762VV [odds ratio (OR) = 1.45; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.03, 2.03], APE1 148DD (OR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.03, 2.00), MLH1 219II/IV (OR = 1.87; 95% CI = 1.11, 3.16) and ERCC4 415QQ (OR = 8.64; 95% CI = 1.04, 72.02) genotypes. With a limited sample size, we did not observe any significant association in African-Americans. However, there were significant trends in breast cancer risk with increasing numbers of risk genotypes for ADPRT 762VV, APE1 148DD, ERCC4 415RQ/QQ and MLH1 219II/IV (P(trend) < 0.001) in Caucasians and ADPRT 762VA, ERCC2 751KQ/QQ and NBS1 185EQ/QQ in African-Americans (P(trend) = 0.006), respectively. Our results suggest that combined nsSNPs in multiple DNA repair pathways may contribute to breast cancer risk and larger studies are warranted to further evaluate polygenic models of DNA repair in breast cancer risk.

G4-DNA is a highly stable alternative DNA structure that can form spontaneously in guanine-rich regions of single-stranded DNA under physiological conditions. Since a number of biological processes create such single-stranded regions, G4-DNA occurrence must be regulated. To date, resolution of tetramolecular G4-DNA into single strands (G4-resolvase activity) has been observed only in recombinant RecQ DNA helicases. We previously reported that human cell lysates possess tetramolecular G4-DNA resolving activity (Harrington, C., Lan, Y., and Akman, S. (1997) J. Biol Chem. 272, 24631-24636). Here we report the first complete purification of a major non-RecQ, NTP-dependent G4-DNA resolving enzyme from human cell lysates. This enzyme is identified as the DEXH helicase product of gene DHX36 (also known as RHAU). G4-DNA resolving activity was captured from HeLa cell lysates on G4-DNA affinity beads and further purified by gel filtration chromatography. The DHX36 gene product was identified by mass spectrometric sequencing of a tryptic digest from the protein band on SDS-PAGE associated with activity. DHX36 was cloned within a His 6 -tagging vector, expressed, and purified from Escherichia coli. Inhibition and substrate resolution assays showed that recombinant DHX36 protein displayed robust, highly specific G4-DNA resolving activity. Immunodepletion of HeLa lysates by a monoclonal antibody to the DHX36 product removed ca. 77% of the enzyme from lysates and reduced G4-DNA resolving activity to 46.0 ؎ 0.4% of control, demonstrating that DHX36 protein is responsible for the majority of tetramolecular G4-DNA resolvase activity.G4-DNA is an alternative highly stable DNA structure forming within runs of guanine bases. It has been amply described previously (1). G4-DNA structures have the potential to disrupt normal duplex DNA; therefore, it might be expected that the genome would have minimized the usage of runs of deoxyguanosine. On the contrary, a growing body of data support the hypothesis that formation of G4-DNA in vivo is a recognized structural motif of specialized utility for key biological processes. Recent studies with a fluorescent G4-DNAbinding ligand, as well as a specific G4-DNA-binding protein, support the presence of G4-DNA structures located at human telomeres in vivo (2, 3). In addition to the aforementioned telomeres, other guanine-rich regions in human DNA readily form G4-DNA structures in vitro and make up specific genetic control elements, including the immunoglobin heavy chain switch region (4), guanine-rich regions of ribosomal DNA (5), the d(pCGG) repeats of the fragile X mental retardation gene (6), promoters of proliferation-associated genes, such as the c-MYC (7, 8), PDGF-A (9), RET (10), and the diabetes susceptibility locus IDDM2 promoter (11). It has been shown that a unimolecular G4-DNA structure has a repressor function in the c-MYC promoter (8). Compounds that stabilize G4-DNA in vivo have generated much interest because of their antitumor activity, suggesting that G4-DNA structures might be ...

Under physiological conditions, guanine-rich sequences of DNA and RNA can adopt stable and atypical four-stranded helical structures called G-quadruplexes (G4). Such G4 structures have been shown to occur in vivo and to play a role in various processes such as transcription, translation and telomere maintenance. Owing to their high-thermodynamic stability, resolution of G4 structures in vivo requires specialized enzymes. RHAU is a human RNA helicase of the DEAH-box family that exhibits a unique ATP-dependent G4-resolvase activity with a high affinity and specificity for its substrate in vitro. How RHAU recognizes G4-RNAs has not yet been established. Here, we show that the amino-terminal region of RHAU is essential for RHAU to bind G4 structures and further identify within this region the evolutionary conserved RSM (RHAU-specific motif) domain as a major affinity and specificity determinant. G4-resolvase activity and strict RSM dependency are also observed with CG9323, the Drosophila orthologue of RHAU, in the amino terminal region of which the RSM is the only conserved motif. Thus, these results reveal a novel motif in RHAU protein that plays an important role in recognizing and resolving G4-RNA structures, properties unique to RHAU among many known RNA helicases.

Guanine-quadruplexes (G4) consist of non-canonical four-stranded helical arrangements of guanine-rich nucleic acid sequences. The bulky and thermodynamically stable features of G4 structures have been shown in many respects to affect normal nucleic acid metabolism. In vivo conversion of G4 structures to single-stranded nucleic acid requires specialized proteins with G4 destabilizing/unwinding activity. RHAU is a human DEAH-box RNA helicase that exhibits G4-RNA binding and resolving activity. In this study, we employed RIP-chip analysis to identify en masse RNAs associated with RHAU in vivo. Approximately 100 RNAs were found to be associated with RHAU and bioinformatics analysis revealed that the majority contained potential G4-forming sequences. Among the most abundant RNAs selectively enriched with RHAU, we identified the human telomerase RNA template TERC as a true target of RHAU. Remarkably, binding of RHAU to TERC depended on the presence of a stable G4 structure in the 5′-region of TERC, both in vivo and in vitro. RHAU was further found to associate with the telomerase holoenzyme via the 5′-region of TERC. Collectively, these results provide the first evidence that intramolecular G4-RNAs serve as physiologically relevant targets for RHAU. Furthermore, our results suggest the existence of alternatively folded forms of TERC in the fully assembled telomerase holoenyzme.

It has been previously shown that the DHX36 gene product, G4R1/RHAU, tightly binds tetramolecular G4-DNA with high affinity and resolves these structures into single strands. Here, we test the ability of G4R1/RHAU to bind and unwind unimolecular G4-DNA. Gel mobility shift assays were used to measure the binding affinity of G4R1/RHAU for unimolecular G4-DNA-formed sequences from the Zic1 gene and the c-Myc promoter. Extremely tight binding produced apparent Kd’s of 6, 3 and 4 pM for two Zic1 G4-DNAs and a c-Myc G4-DNA, respectively. The low enzyme concentrations required for measuring these Kd’s limit the precision of their determination to upper boundary estimates. Similar tight binding was not observed in control non-G4 forming DNA sequences or in single-stranded DNA having guanine-rich runs capable of forming tetramolecular G4-DNA. Using a peptide nucleic acid (PNA) trap assay, we show that G4R1/RHAU catalyzes unwinding of unimolecular Zic1 G4-DNA into an unstructured state capable of hybridizing to a complementary PNA. Binding was independent of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), but the PNA trap assay showed that unwinding of G4-DNA was ATP dependent. Competition studies indicated that unimolecular Zic1 and c-Myc G4-DNA structures inhibit G4R1/RHAU-catalyzed resolution of tetramolecular G4-DNA. This report provides evidence that G4R1/RHAU tightly binds and unwinds unimolecular G4-DNA structures.

The ability of the carcinogenic mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA) to react with reduced glutathione (GSH) has been assessed using electrospray ionization (ES)-MS techniques. On the basis of the assumption that OTA undergoes biotransformation into the reactive quinone species OTQ (6), a synthetic sample of the reduced form of OTQ (6), hydroquinone OTHQ (5), was prepared and photoreacted with 6 M equiv of GSH to yield an authentic sample of the conjugate 8 that was definitively identified by mass spectrometry, UV-vis spectroscopy and NMR. With the authentic sample of 8 in hand, it was demonstrated that the same conjugate is produced from reaction of 100 microM OTA (1) in the presence of 5 mM GSH following incubation for 1 h with either horseradish peroxidase (HRP)/H(2)O(2), rat liver microsomes (RLM)/NADPH or free Fe(II). In each of these oxidative systems the conjugate 8 was generated in less than 1% yield and the parent OTA molecule is poorly metabolized. Comparison of the peak area ratio of the conjugate 8 to that for the hydroxyOTA metabolite from the RLM/NADPH system implied that the conjugate was produced at a rate of approximately 1-3 pmol min(-)(1) (mg of protein)(-)(1). These studies are the first to demonstrate that OTA undergoes biotransformation to a reactive intermediate [OTQ (6)] that covalently reacts with GSH to yield the conjugate 8. The biological implications of the reactivity of OTA toward GSH are discussed.