The use of biomedical SNP markers of diseases can improve effectiveness of treatment. Genotyping of patients with subsequent searching for SNPs more frequent than in norm is the only commonly accepted method for identification of SNP markers within the framework of translational research. The bioinformatics applications aimed at millions of unannotated SNPs of the “1000 Genomes” can make this search for SNP markers more focused and less expensive. We used our Web service involving Fisher's Z-score for candidate SNP markers to find a significant change in a gene's expression. Here we analyzed the change caused by SNPs in the gene's promoter via a change in affinity of the TATA-binding protein for this promoter. We provide examples and discuss how to use this bioinformatics application in the course of practical analysis of unannotated SNPs from the “1000 Genomes” project. Using known biomedical SNP markers, we identified 17 novel candidate SNP markers nearby: rs549858786 (rheumatoid arthritis); rs72661131 (cardiovascular events in rheumatoid arthritis); rs562962093 (stroke); rs563558831 (cyclophosphamide bioactivation); rs55878706 (malaria resistance, leukopenia), rs572527200 (asthma, systemic sclerosis, and psoriasis), rs371045754 (hemophilia B), rs587745372 (cardiovascular events); rs372329931, rs200209906, rs367732974, and rs549591993 (all four: cancer); rs17231520 and rs569033466 (both: atherosclerosis); rs63750953, rs281864525, and rs34166473 (all three: malaria resistance, thalassemia).

We have used a stepwise increase in ligand complexity approach to estimate the relative contributions of the nucleotide units of DNA containing 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (oxoG) to its total affinity for human 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (OGG1) and construct thermodynamic models of the enzyme interaction with cognate and non-cognate DNA. Non-specific OGG1 interactions with 10–13 nt pairs within its DNA-binding cleft provides approximately 5 orders of magnitude of its affinity for DNA (ΔG° approximately −6.7 kcal/mol). The relative contribution of the oxoG unit of DNA (ΔG° approximately −3.3 kcal/mol) together with other specific interactions (ΔG° approximately −0.7 kcal/mol) provide approximately 3 orders of magnitude of the affinity. Formation of the Michaelis complex of OGG1 with the cognate DNA cannot account for the major part of the enzyme specificity, which lies in the kcat term instead; the rate increases by 6–7 orders of magnitude for cognate DNA as compared with non-cognate one. The kcat values for substrates of different sequences correlate with the DNA twist, while the KM values correlate with ΔG° of the DNA fragments surrounding the lesion (position from −6 to +6). The functions for predicting the KM and kcat values for different sequences containing oxoG were found.

Human genome sequencing has resulted in a great body of data, including a stunningly large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with unknown phenotypic manifestations. Identification and comprehensive analysis of regulatory SNPs in human gene promoters will help quantify the effects of these SNPs on human health. Based on our experimental and computer-aided study of SNPs in TATA boxes and the use of literature data, we have derived an equation for TBP/TATA equilibrium binding in three successive steps: TATA-binding protein (TBP) sliding along DNA due to their nonspecific affinity for each other ↔ recognition of the TATA box ↔ stabilization of the TBP/TATA complex. Using this equation, we have analyzed TATA boxes containing SNPs associated with human diseases and made in silico predictions of changes in TBP/TATA affinity. An electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA)-based experimental study performed under the most standardized conditions demonstrates that the experimentally measured values are highly correlated with the predicted values: the coefficient of linear correlation, r, was 0.822 at a significance level of α<10−7 for equilibrium K D values, (-ln K D), and 0.785 at a significance level of α<10−3 for changes in equilibrium K D (δ) due to SNPs in the TATA boxes (). It has been demonstrated that the SNPs associated with increased risk of human diseases such as α-, β- and δ-thalassemia, myocardial infarction and thrombophlebitis, changes in immune response, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, lung cancer and hemophilia B Leyden cause 2–4-fold changes in TBP/TATA affinity in most cases. The results obtained strongly suggest that the TBP/TATA equilibrium binding equation derived can be used for analysis of TATA-box sequences and identification of SNPs with a potential of being functionally important.

No abstract