• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.509-514
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• 1995

A putative secondary structure of the mRNA for the human hepatitis B virus (HBV) X gene is proposed based on not only chemical and enzymatic determination of its single- and double-stranded regions but also selection by the computer program MFOLD for energy minimum conformation under the constraints that the experimentally determined nucleotides were forced or prohibited to base pair. An RNA of 536 nucleotides including the 461-nucleotide HBV X mRNA sequence was synthesized in vitro by the phage T7 RNA polymerase transcription. The thermally renatured transcripts were subjected to chemical modifications with dimethylsulfate and kethoxal and enzymatic hydrolysis with single strand-specific RNase T1 and double strand-specific RNase V1, separately. The sites of modification and cleavage were detected by reverse transcriptase extension of 4 different primers. Many nucleotides could be assigned with high confidence, twenty in double-stranded and thirty-seven in Single-stranded regions. These nucleotides were forced and prohibited, respectively, to base pair in running the recursive RNA folding program MFOLD. The results suggest that 6 different regions (5 within X mRNA) of 14~23 nucleotides are Single-stranded. This putative structure provides a good working model and suggests potential target sites for antisense and ribozyme inhibitors and hybridization probes for the HBV X mRNA.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.228-233
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• 2008

Effects of chaperones on mRNA stability and gene expression were studied in order to develop an efficient Escherichia coli expression system that can maximize gene expression. The stability of mRNA was modulated by introducing various secondary structures at the 5'-end of mRNA. Four vector systems providing different 5'-end structures were constructed, and genes encoding GFPuv and endoxylanase were cloned into the four vector systems. Primer extension assay revealed different mRNA half-lives depending on the 5'-end secondary structures of mRNA. In addition to the stem-loop structure at the 5'-end of mRNA, coexpression of dnaK-dnaJ-grpE or groEL-groES, representative heat-shock genes in E. coli, increased the mRNA stability and the level of gene expression further, even though the degree of stabilization was varied. Our work suggests that some of the heat-shock proteins can function as mRNA stabilizers as well s protein chaperones.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.422-430
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• 2000

In order to search for the effects of Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence and nucleotide sequence of spacer region (SD-ATG) on bGH expression, oligonucleotides containing random SD sequences and a spacer region were chemically synthesized. The distance between SD region and initiation codon (ATG) was fixed to 9 nucleotides in length. The expression vectors have been constructed using pT7-1 vector containing a T7 promoter. Positive clones were screened with colony hybridization and named pT7A or pT7B plasmid series. The selected clones were confirmed by DNA sequencing and finally, 19 clones having various SD combinations were obtained. When bovine growth hormone was induced by IPTG in E. coli BL21(DE3), all cells harboring these plasmids produced a detectable level of bGH in western blot analysis. However, various SD sequences did not affect on bGH expression, indicating that the sequences of SD and the spacer region did not sufficiently destabilize mRNA secondary structure of bGH gene. Therefore, these results indicate that the disruption of mRNA secondary structure might be a major factor for regulating bGH expression in the translational initiation process.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1999-2009
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• 2017

The secretion efficiency of a protein in a Sec-type secretion system is mainly determined by an N-terminal signal peptide and its combination with its cognate protein. Five signal peptides, namely, two synthetic Sec-type and three Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase-derived signal peptides, were compared for periplasmic expression of the human growth hormone (hGH) in E. coli. Based on in silico predictions on the signal peptides' cleavage efficiencies and their corresponding mRNA secondary structures, a number of amino acid substitutions and silent mutations were considered in the modified signal sequences. The two synthetic signal peptides, specifically designed for hGH secretion in E. coli, differ in their N-terminal positively charged residues and hydrophobic region lengths. According to the mRNA secondary structure predictions, combinations of the protein and each of the five signal sequences could lead to different outcomes, especially when accessibility of the initiator ATG and ribosome binding sites were considered. In the experimental stage, the two synthetic signal peptides displayed complete processing and resulted in efficient secretion of the mature hGH in periplasmic regions, as was demonstrated by protein analysis. The three alpha-amylase-derived signal peptides, however, were processed partially from their precursors. Therefore, to achieve efficient secretion of a protein in a heterologous system, designing a specific signal peptide by using a combined approach of optimizations of the mRNA secondary structure and the signal peptide H-domain and cleavage site is recommended.

• Bioinformatics and Biosystems
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2007

Shot interfering RNA (siRNA) can be used to silence specific gene expression and have many potential therapeutic applications. However, how to design an effective siRNA is still not clear. Highly effective siRNA has sequence-specific properties which are low G/C content, low internal stability at the sense strand 3'-terminus, sense strand base bias(position 1 is G/C, position 19 is /AU). Recently, mRNA secondary structure playsan important role in RNAi. Target site of siRNA in high-ordered structure (i.e hairpin loop, multi loop) or base pair of many hydrogen bonds dramatically reduce function of siRNA mediated gene silencing. Possible off-target effects of siRNA is detecting from BLAST search.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.94-102
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• 1987

Rat liver LDH A-cDNA has been isolated from a .lambda.gt11-rat lover cDNA library and partially characterized. The size of the isolated rat liver LDH A-cDNA if shown to be 1.6Kb and restriction enzyme sites for the rat liver LDH A-cDNA are also mapped. 682-nucleotide sequence coding for 3'-end of rat liver LDH A-cDNA has been analyzed and compared to the nucleotide sequence of the same region of rat $C_6$-glioma cell LDH A-cDNA which has been cloned from the hormonally stimulated cell cultures. The result shows that 177 nucleotide sequences coding for the C-terminal 59-amino acids are identical but 505 nucleotide sequences of 3'-nontranslated region of the two LSH A-cDNA exhibit characteristic differences in thier nucleotide sequences. Computer analysis for the folding structures for 3'-end 400 nucleotide sequences of the two LDH A-cDNA shows a possibility implying that the two LDH A-mRNAs isolated from different tissues of rats may have different half life and therefore their translational efficiency may be different. It has been previously demonstrated that isoproterenol stimulated rat $C_6$ -glioma cell cultures produce LDH A-mRNA showing 2 to 3-fold longer half life in comparison to that of noninduced LHD A-mRNA. The result therefore support for the idea that hormonally stimulated rat $C_6$-glioma cells may produce LDH A-mRNA containing different nucleotide sequences at the 3'-end nontranslated region by which the hormonally induced LDH A-mRNA could have more stable secondary mRAN structure in comparison to that of noninduced LDH A-mRNA.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.472-478
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• 1992

Synthesis of the pol gene products of HTLV-I requires rihosomes to shift frame twice in - I direction while translating genome-size mRNA. We havc made a lI1utagcni/cd RNA in which the gag and pro genes are aligned to allow synthe,.is of a largcr amount of the Gag-Pro-Pol polyproteins by a single frameshifting. Using this mutant, wc could examine the questions whether the predicted RNA secondary or tertiary structure downstream of the shift site is operative as a determinant for - I frameshifting. Deletion analysis showed that the stem-loop structure is essential for efficient frameshifting in the pro-pol overlap, but formation of a pseudoknot is less important.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.46-51
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• 2002

The recognition and cleavage of 5S rRNA from P. alcaligenes by metallopeptides to the form $Ni(II){\cdot}Gly$-Gly-His(Arg)COOH and $Cu(II){\cdot}Gly$-Gly-His(Arg)COOH were investigated. The results of RNA cleavage analyses suggest that metallopeptides selectively target the unpaired or unstably paired bases of stem-loop structure of 5S rRNA. The selectivity of metallopeptides was little affected by the species of metal ion, Ni(II) or Cu(II). When the result of cleavage by metallopeptides was compared with that of by metal complexes M(II)CR, the recognition by metallopeptides was more selective and structure specific. The cleavage data by metallopeptides and other metal complexes were used to probe the secondary structure of 5S rRNA from P. alcaligenes.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2008

The plasmid pJB01, a member of the pMV158 family isolated from Enterococcus faecium JC1, contains three open reading frames, copA, repB, and repC. Plasmids included in this family produce counter-transcribed RNA (ctRNA) that contributes to copy number control. The pJB01 ctRNA, a transcript which consists of 54 nucleotides (nts), is encoded on the opposite strand from the copA/repB intergenic region and partially overlaps an atypical ribosome binding site (ARBS) for repB. The ARBS is integrated by the two underlined conserved regions: 5'-TTTTTGTNNNNTAANNNNNNNNNATG-3', and the ctRNA is complementary only to the 5' conserved sequence 5'-TTTTTGT-3'. This complementary sequence is located at a distance from the terminal loop of the ctRNA secondary structure. The ctRNA structure predicted by the mfold program suggests the possible generation of a terminal and an internal hairpin loop. The amount of in vitro translation product of repB mRNA was inversely proportional to the ctRNA concentration. Mutations in the terminal and internal hairpin loops of the ctRNA had inhibitory effects on its binding to the target mRNA. We propose that the intact structures of the terminal and internal hairpin loops, respectively, play important roles in forming the initial kissing and extending complexes between the ctRNA and target mRNA and that these regulate the copy number of this plasmid.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.4773-4780
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• 2014

Background: To investigate the effects of small interference RNA (siRNA) targeting BCR/ABL mRNA on proliferation and apoptosis in the K562 human chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell line and to provide a theoretical rationale and experimental evidence for its potential clinical application for anti-CML treatment. Materials and Methods: The gene sequence for BCR/ABL mRNA was found from the GeneBank. The target gene site on the BCR/ABL mRNA were selected according to Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) and rational siRNA design rules, the secondary structure of the candidate targeted mRNA was predicted, the relevant thermodynamic parameters were analyzed, and the targeted gene sequences were compared with BLAST to eliminate any sequences with significant homology. Inhibition of proliferation was evaluated by MTT assay and colony-formation inhibiting test. Apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry (FCM) and the morphology of apoptotic cells was identified by Giemsa-Wright staining. Western blotting was used to analyze the expression of BCR/ABL fusion protein in K562 cells after siRNA treatment. Results: The mRNA local secondary structure calculated by RNA structure software, and the optimal design of specific siRNA were contributed by bioinformatics rules. Five sequences of BCR/ABL siRNAs were designed and synthesized in vitro. Three sequences, siRNA1384, siRNA1276 and siRNA1786, which showed the most effective inhibition of K562 cell growth, were identified among the five candidate siRNAs, with a cell proliferative inhibitory rate nearly 50% after exposure to 12.5nmol/L~50nmol/L siRNA1384 for 24,48 and 72 hours. The 50% inhibitory concentrations ($IC_{50}$) of siRNA1384, siRNA1276 and siRNA1786 for 24hours were 46.6 nmol/L, 59.3 nmol/L and 62.6 nmol/L, respectively, and 65.668 nmol/L, 76.6 nmol/L, 74.4 nmol/L for 72 hours. The colony-formation inhibiting test also indicated that, compared with control, cell growth of siRNA treated group was inhibited. FCM results showed that the rate of cell apoptosis increased 24 hours after transfecting siRNA. The results of annexinV/PI staining indicated that the rate of apoptosis imcreased (1.53%, 15.3%, 64.5%, 57.5% and 21.5%) following treamtne with siRNAs (siRNA34, siRNA372, siRNA1384, siRNA1276 and siRNA1786). Morphological analysis showed td typical morphologic changes of apoptosis such as shrunken, fragmentation nucleus as well as "apoptotic bodies" after K562 cell exposure to siRNA. Western blot analysis showed that BCR/ABL protein was reduced sharply after a single dose of 50nmol/L siRNA transfection. Conclusions: Proliferation of K562 cells was remarkbly inhibited by siRNAs (siRNA1384, siRNA1276 and siRNA1786) in a concentration-dependent manner in vitro, with effective induction of apoptosis at a concentration of 50 nmol/L. One anti-leukemia mechanism in K562 cells appeared that BCR/ABL targeted protein was highly down-regulated. The siRNAs (siRNA1384, siRNA1276 and siRNA1786) may prove valuable in the treatment of CML.