Observations on the Affinity between Polyamines and Nucleic Acids

Heby, Olle; Agrell, Ivar

doi:10.1515/bchm2.1971.352.1.29

Cited by 23 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…In our experiments, we confirmed that the condensation of DNA induced by the addition of spermidine occurs over a short range of concentration, as previously discussed (Osland and Kleppe, 1977;Bloomfield, 1991), but also that this precipitation can be suppressed by increasing the monovalent salt concentration (Heby and Agrell, 1971) or by raising the spermidine concentration. We did not find a simple relationship between the amount of DNA precipitated in the pellet and the nature of the condensed DNA phase.…”

Section: Precipitation and Suppression Of Precipitationsupporting

confidence: 90%

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DNA mesophases induced by spermidine: structural properties and biological implications

Pelta

Durand

Doucet

et al. 1996

Biophysical Journal

151

162

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Conditions of formation of DNA aggregates by the addition of spermidine were determined with 146 base pair DNA fragments as a function of spermidine and NaCl concentration. Two different phases of spermidine-DNA complexes are obtained: a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase with a large helical pitch, with interhelix distances ranging from 31.6 to 32.6 A, and a columnar hexagonal phase with a restricted fluidity in which DNA molecules are more closely packed (29.85 +/- 0.05 A). In both phases, the DNA molecule retains its B form. These phases are always observed in equilibrium with the dilute isotropic solution, and their phase diagram is defined for a DNA concentration of 1 mg/ml. DNA liquid crystalline phases induced by spermidine are compared with the DNA mesophases already described in concentrated solutions in the absence of spermidine. We propose that the liquid crystalline character of the spermidine DNA complexes is involved in the stimulation of the functional properties of the DNA reported in numerous experimental articles, and we discuss how the nature of the phase could regulate the degree of activity of the molecule.

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Section: Precipitation and Suppression Of Precipitationsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…The DNA precipitation is nearly suppressed above 70 mM spermidine. As already observed by Heby and Agrell (1971), precipitation of DNA is completely suppressed in the presence of 100 mM Na+ (Fig. 1), whatever the concentration of spermidine may be (up to 180 mM).…”

Section: Effects Of Salts and Spermidine On Dna Precipitationsupporting

confidence: 82%

DNA mesophases induced by spermidine: structural properties and biological implications

Pelta

Durand

Doucet

et al. 1996

Biophysical Journal

151

162

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“…The observed shift in the threshold Sp/DNA ratio is not, however, likely to be caused by a change in spermine affinity for ssDNA compared with dsDNA. This is suggested by a previous study showing that the affinity of polyamines for heat‐denatured DNA was indistinguishable from that for native DNA (17).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…An elevated dielectric constant will hinder the phosphate charge neutralization of DNA by spermine, allowing the free phosphate sites on the DNA backbone to increase due to the increased medium solvating power (16). The action of spermine for heat‐denatured DNA is indistinguishable from that for native DNA, and the capacity of spermine to precipitate nucleic acid was found to be higher than that of histone (17). It is, however, difficult to predict whether urea denaturation will inhibit spermine−DNA complexation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Selective Precipitation of DNA by Spermine during the Chemical Extraction of Insoluble Cytoplasmic Protein

Choe

Middelberg

2001

Biotechnol. Prog.

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The direct chemical extraction of recombinant L1 protein (the major capsid protein of human papillomavirus type 16) from the cytoplasm of E. coli HMS174(DE3) has recently been demonstrated at high cell density (to OD(600) = 160) without the use of reducing agent (1). Coextraction of DNA at high concentration prevents direct coupling to postextraction recovery operations including expanded bed adsorption. In this study, spermine is used to selectively precipitate DNA during chemical extraction. Highly efficient and selective DNA precipitation was achieved. An approximate 10-fold increase in the specific spermine concentration (mg of spermine/mg of DNA) was required to precipitate DNA when 8 M urea was added to the extraction buffer. EDTA (3 mM), required for effective chemical extraction, does not significantly inhibit DNA precipitation. Precipitation selectivity was demonstrated in a bovine serum albumin spiking test, with almost complete recovery of the spiked protein. During studies on the direct extraction of L1 protein from cells at OD(600) = 80, high DNA removal efficiency (>85%) and negligible L1 protein coprecipitation were achieved. This selective precipitation technique simply requires the addition of spermine to the chemical extraction buffer and therefore does not increase technique complexity. This modification enhances the method's general applicability and enables direct coupling to downstream recovery units following chemical extraction at high cell and product concentrations.

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“…Because of their polycationic character, they bind t o nucleic acids in vitro, and this binding phenomena has been extensively studied (Liquori, Constantino, Crescenzi, Elia, Giglio, Puliti, DeSantis Savino, and Vitagliano, 1967;Gabbay, Glasser, and Gaffner, 1970;Heby and Agrell, 1971). Polyamines affect RNA metabolism in vivo leading to the hypothesis that they participate in mechanisms that control RNA synthesis (Cohen, 1971).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution of putrescine, spermidine, and spermine in rhesus monkey brain: Decrease in spermidine and spermine concentrations in motor cortex after electrical stimulation

Russell¹,

Gfeller²,

Marton³

et al. 1974

J. Neurobiol.

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Polyamine levels vary markedly throughout the brain of the rhesus monkey. In general, there is an inverse relationship between spermine and spermidine concentrations; i.e., areas with high spermine levels have low spermidine levels and vice versa. The ratio of spermidine to spermine is as high as 13 in the optic nerve, and as low as 1.2 in the vermis. The variability of this ratio suggests that the functions of the polyamines in the adult brain may be different from those in other tissues. For instance, the ratio of spermidine to spermine in adult rat liver and most other organs is approximately 1, and this ratio increases in growthstimulated systems. The precursor of spermidine, diaminobutane, is present in very low quantities in the brain. Electrical stimulation of the precentral gyrus was found to decrease the content of both spermidine and spermine, and these data provide further evidence for a separate brain function of the polyamines. Depletion of spermidine and spermine in the motor cortex by electrical stimulation suggests that these amines may be involved in transmission phenomena.

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Observations on the Affinity between Polyamines and Nucleic Acids

Abstract: The affinity between polyamines and nucleic acids was studied in terms of their mutual precipitability. The precipitates formed were analyzed for their nucleic acid/polyamine molar ratios.

Cited by 23 publications

References 4 publications

DNA mesophases induced by spermidine: structural properties and biological implications

DNA mesophases induced by spermidine: structural properties and biological implications

Selective Precipitation of DNA by Spermine during the Chemical Extraction of Insoluble Cytoplasmic Protein

Distribution of putrescine, spermidine, and spermine in rhesus monkey brain: Decrease in spermidine and spermine concentrations in motor cortex after electrical stimulation

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