Fenn, Dickson. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-81). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Title Page --- p.i / Thesis Committee --- p.ii / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Tables --- p.ix / List of Figures --- p.x / List of Abbreviations and Symbols --- p.xv / Abstract --- p.xvii / Chapter 1.Chapter One: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Oxidation and Hyperoxidation of Guanine --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2. --- DNA Replication --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Mutagenesis --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Literature Survey on Spiroiminodihydantoin (Sp) --- p.4 / Chapter 1.5 --- Purpose of This Work --- p.5 / Chapter 1.6 --- DNA Structure --- p.6 / Chapter 1.6.1 --- Nomenclature --- p.6 / Chapter 1.6.2 --- Torsion Angles --- p.6 / Chapter 1.6.3 --- Sugar Pucker Conformation --- p.7 / Chapter 1.6.4 --- Secondary Structures of DNA --- p.8 / Chapter 2.Chapter Two: --- Materials and Methodology --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1 --- Sample Design --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2 --- Sample Preparation --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- DNA Synthesis and Purification --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- HPLC Separation --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- NMR Samples Preparation --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3 --- NMR Analysis --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Resonance Assignment --- p.14 / Chapter 2.3.1.1 --- Proton --- p.14 / Chapter 2.3.1.2 --- Phosphorous --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Sugar Pucker Conformation --- p.17 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Backbone Conformation --- p.18 / Chapter 2.4 --- UV Melting Analysis --- p.19 / Chapter 3.Chapter Three: --- "HPLC, NMR and UV Results" --- p.21 / Chapter 3.1 --- HPLC Separation of Sp Diastereoisomers --- p.21 / Chapter 3.2 --- NMR Resonance Assignments --- p.24 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- 5'-GG Sample --- p.24 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- 5'-G(oG) Sample --- p.26 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- 5'-G(Sp) Sample --- p.29 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- 5'-T(oG) Sample --- p.31 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- 5'-T(Sp) Sample --- p.34 / Chapter 3.3 --- Sugar Pucker Conformation --- p.38 / Chapter 3.4 --- Backbone Conformation --- p.41 / Chapter 3.5 --- UV Melting --- p.43 / Chapter 4.Chapter Four: --- Effect of Spiroiminodihydantoin and 7-hydro-8-oxoguanine on Primer-Template Structures --- p.44 / Chapter 4.1 --- Overview --- p.42 / Chapter 4.2 --- NMR Investigations of the Primer-Template Models --- p.45 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Incorporation of a dCTP Opposite a 5'-GG Template --- p.45 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Incorporation of a dCTP Opposite a 5'-G(oG) Template --- p.46 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Incorporation of a dCTP Opposite a 5'-G(Sp) Template --- p.48 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Incorporation of a dATP Opposite a 5'-T(oG) Template --- p.50 / Chapter 4.2.5 --- Incorporation of a dATP Opposite a 5'-T(Sp) Template --- p.51 / Chapter 4.3 --- Effect of Sp and oG on Primer-Template Structures --- p.52 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Misaligned Structure with a Sp-Bulge --- p.52 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- C·oG Base Pair in 5'-G(oG) --- p.54 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Biological Implications --- p.54 / Chapter 5. --- Chapter Five: Preliminary Structural Calculations on Primer- Template Structures --- p.56 / Chapter 5.1 --- Experimental Restraints Extraction --- p.56 / Chapter 5.2 --- Experimental Restraints Distribution --- p.58 / Chapter 5.3 --- Structural Calculations --- p.60 / Chapter 5.4 --- Structural Results --- p.62 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- 5'-GG --- p.63 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- 5'-G(oG) --- p.64 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- 5'-T(oG) --- p.65 / Chapter 5.4.4 --- 5'-T(SpR) with 5'-T(Spl) Restraints --- p.66 / Chapter 5.4.5 --- 5'-T(SpR) with 5'-T(Sp2) Restraints --- p.67 / Chapter 5.4.6 --- 5'-T(SpS) with 5'-T(Spl) Restraints --- p.68 / Chapter 5.4.7 --- 5'-T(SpS) with 5'-T(Sp2) Restraints --- p.69 / Chapter 5.6 --- Structural Analysis --- p.70 / Chapter 6. --- Chapter Six: Conclusions and Future Work --- p.72 / Appendix --- p.73 / References --- p.74

Dans Escherichia coli la Dam Methyl Transferase (DamMT) est responsable du transfert d’un groupement méthyle sur les adénosines situés au cœur du tétranucléotide GATC; il s’agit donc d’une activité post réplicative. Ainsi, après le passage de la fourche de réplication, le brin d’ADN nouvellement synthétisé est non méthylé – l’ADN est dit hémimethylé. L’ADN reste hémimethylé pendent une brève période - de l’ordre de la minute - avant d’être reméthylé par la DamMT. L’hypothèse de l’implication de la méthylation de l’ADN dans le contrôle général du programme de maintenance de l’ADN repose essentiellement sur cette observation, puisque l’ADN hemimethyle – exception faite de l’origine de réplication et de la région promotrice du gène dnaA – est diagnostique du passage récent de la fourche de réplication. Cette hypothèse, et le criblage phylogénomique qui en a découlé a conduit a l’identification de plusieurs gènes dont les produits sont supposes être impliqués dans la maintenance de l’ADN. yjaG est l’un de ces gènes. Il a été renomme cycC en raison des dérèglements de la progression du cycle cellulaire associés a un mutant nul de ce gène. L’étude effectuée au cours de ma thèse s’attachera à expliquer l’état actuel de nos connaissances sur la protéine CycC et de son implication dans le processus de réplication de l’ADN. Nos résultats montrent que la protéine CycC est impliquée dans la processivité de la réplication lorsqu’il y a un dommage au niveau de l’ADN. CycC spécifie une activité qui conduit à freiner les fourches de réplication, afin de prévenir des avortements des réplisomes. La surexpression de CycC bloque l’initiation de la réplication entre l’ouverture de la molécule d’ADN et le chargement de l’hélicase réplicative. Nous proposons que CycC interagisse avec le complexe réplicative et ralentit les fourches de réplication. Ce ralentissement prévient de nouvelles collisions lorsque les cellules sont dans des conditions de stress-qui cause des arrêts de la réplication. / In Escherichia coli the Dam Methyl Transferase (DamMT) is responsible for the transfer of a methyl group on the adenosine located in tetranucleotide GATC, so this is a post-replicative activity. Thus, after the passage of the replication fork, the newly synthesized DNA strand is unmethylated - DNA is called hemimethylated. DNA remains hemimethylated in a brief period - about a minute - before being reméthylé by DamMT. The hypothesis of the involvement of DNA methylation in the general control of the maintenance program of the DNA is essentially on this observation, since the hemimethylated DNA - except the origin of replication and the region dnaA gene promoter - is diagnostic of the recent passage of the replication fork. This assumption and phylogenomics screening has led to the identification of several genes whose protein are supposed to be involved in the maintenance of DNA. yjaG is one of these genes. It was renamed cycC, the cell cycle progression is deregulated with a null mutant of this gene. The study in my thesis will focus on explaining the current state of our knowledge of the cycC protein and its involvement in the process of DNA replication. Our results show that the CycC protein is involved in the processivity of replication when there is damage into the DNA. CycC specifies an activity that leads to slow replication forks to prevent abortions of replisomes. CycC overexpression blocks the initiation of replication between the open complex of the DNA at oriC and the loading of the replicative helicase. We propose that CycC interacts with the replicative complex and slows replication forks. This slowdown replication prevents new collisions when cells are under stress, causing replication stops.

<p>Abstract</p><p>DNA replication is an integral part of the cell cycle. Every time a cell divides, the entire genome has to be copied once and only once in a timely manner. In order to accomplish this, DNA replication begins at many points throughout the genome. These start sites are called origins of replication, and they are initiated in a temporal manner throughout S phase. How these origins are selected and regulated is poorly understood. Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe have autonomously replicating sequences (ARS) that can replicate plasmids extrachromosomally and function as origins in the genome. Metazoans, however, have shown no evidence of ARS activity.</p><p>DNA replication is a multistep process with several opportunities for regulation. Potential origins are marked with the origin recognition complex (ORC), a six subunit complex. In S. cerevisiae, ORC binds to the ARS consensus sequence (ACS), but no sequence specificity is seen in S. pombe or in metazoans. Therefore, factors other than sequence play a role in origin selection.</p><p>In G1, the pre-replicative (pre-RC) complex assembles at potential origins. This involves the recruitment of Cdc6 and Cdt1 to ORC, which then recruits MCM2-7 to the origin. In S phase, a subset of these pre-RC marked origins are initiated for replication. These origins are not fired simultaneously; instead, origins are fired in a temporal manner, with some firing early, some firing late, and some not firing at all.</p><p>The temporal firing of origins leads to wide regions of the genome being copied at different times during S phase. , which makes up the replication timing profile of the genome. These regions are not random, and several correlations between replication timing and both transcriptional activity and chromosomal landscape. Regions of the genome with high transcriptional activity tend to replicate earlier in S phase, and it is well know that the gene rich euchromatin replicates earlier than the gene poor heterochromatin. Additionally, areas of the genome with activating chromatin marks also replicate earlier than regions with repressive marks. Though many correlations have been observed, no single mark or transcriptional player has been shown to directly influence replication timing.</p><p>We mapped the replication timing profiles of three cell lines derived from Drosophila melanogaster by pulsing cells with the nucleotide analog bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), enriching for actively replicating DNA labeled with BrdU, sequencing with high throughput sequencing and mapping the sequences back to the genome. We found that the X chromosome of the male cell lines replicated earlier than the X chromosome in the female cell line or the autosomes. We were then able to compare the replication timing profiles to data sets for chromatin marks acquired through the modENCODE (model organism Encyclopedia Of DNA Elements). We found that the early replicating regions of the male X chromosomes correlates with acetylation of lysine 16 on histone 4 (H4K16).</p><p>Hyperacetylation of H4K16 on the X chromosome in males is a consequence of dosage compensation in D. melanogaster. Like many organisms, D. melanogaster females have two X chromosomes while males have one. To compensate for this difference, males upregulate the genes on the X chromosome two-fold. This upregulation is regulated by the dosage compensation complex (DCC), which is restricted to the X chromosome. This complex includes a histone acetyl transferase, MOF, which acetylates H4K16. This hyperacetylation allows for increased transcription of the X chromosome. </p><p>We hypothesized that the activities of the DCC and the hyperacetylation of H4K16 also influences DNA replication timing. To test this, I knocked down components of the DCC (MSL2 and MOF) using RNAi. Cells were arrested in early S phase with hydroxyurea, released, and pulsed with the nucleotide analog EdU. The cells were arrested in metaphase and labeled for H4K16 acetylation and EdU. We found that male cells were preferentially labeled with EdU on the X chromosome, which corresponded with H4k16 acetylation. When the DCC was knocked down, H4K16 acetylation was lost along with preferential EdU labeling on the X chromosome. These results suggest that the DCC and H4K16 acetylation are necessary for early replication of the X chromosome. Additionally, early origin mapping of different cell lines showed that while ORC density does not differ between male and female cell lines, early origin usage is increased on the X chromosome of males, suggesting that this phenomenon is regulated at the level of activation, not pre-RC formation. Other experiments in female cell lines have been unclear about whether the DCC and subsequent H4K16Ac is sufficient for early X replication. However, these results are exciting because this is, to our knowledge, the first mark that has been found to directly influence replication timing.</p><p>In addition to these timing studies, I attempted to design a new way to map origins. A consequence of unidirectional replication with bidirectional replication fork movement is Okazaki fragments. These are short nascent strands on the lagging strand of replicating DNA. Because these fragments are small, we can isolate them by size and map them back to the genome. Okazaki density could tell us about origin usage and any directional preferences of origins. The process proved to be tedious, and although they mapped back with a higher density around ORC binding sites than randomly sheared DNA, little information about origin usage was garnered from the data. Additionally, the process proved difficult to repeat.</p><p>In these studies, we examined the replication timing program in D. melanogaster. We found that the male X chromosome replicates earlier in S phase, and this early replication is regulated by the DCC. However, it is unclear if the change in chromatin landscape directly influences replication or if the replication program is responding to other dosage compensation cues on the X chromosome. Regardless, we have found one the first conditions in which a mark directly influences the DNA replication timing program.&#8195;</p> / Dissertation

<p>Distributed real-time databases can be used to support data sharing</p><p>for applications in wireless ad-hoc networks. In such networks, topology changes frequently and partitions may be unpredictable and last for an unbounded period. In this thesis, the existing database replication protocol PRiDe is extended to handle such long-lasting partitions. The protocol uses optimistic and detached replication to provide predictable response times in unpredictable networks and forward conflict resolution to guarantee progress.</p><p>The extension, pPRiDe, combines update and state transfer strategies. Update transfer for intra-partition communication can reduce bandwidth usage and ease conflict resolution. State transfer for inter partition conflicts removes dependency on a common state between partitions prior to the merge to apply update messages on. This makes the resource usage independent of the life span of partitions. This independence comes at the cost of global data stability guarantees and pPRiDe can thus only provide per partition guarantees. The protocol supports application specific conflict resolution routines for both</p><p>state and update conflicts. A basic simulator for mobile ad-hoc networks has been developed to validate that pPRiDe provides eventual consistency.</p><p>pPRiDe shows that a hybrid approach to change propagation strategy can be beneficial in networks where collaboration by data sharing within long lasting partitions and predictable resource usage is necessary. These types of systems already require the conflict management routines necessary for pPRiDe and can benefit from an existing protocol.</p><p>In addition to pPRiDe and the simulator this thesis provides a flexible object database suitable for future works and an implementation of PRiDe on top of that database.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-117).

科学研究費補助金 研究種目:基盤研究(C) 課題番号:16570143 研究代表者:小川 徹 研究期間:2004-2005年度

Mitochondria are organelles present in most eukaryotic cells. They generate most of the cells adenosine triphosphate (ATP) supply which make them essential for cell viability. It is assumed that they are derived from a proteobacterial ancestor as they retain their own, drastically small genome. The importance in studying mitochondrial genome evolution came from the discovery of a large number of human diseases that are caused by mitochondrial dysfunction (e.g., Parkinson and Alzheimer). Many of these diseases are a result of a mutation in one of the mitochondrial genes or a defective mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) maintenance, mostly caused by genetic defects in proteins involved in mtDNA replication. In order to explore the diversity and understand the evolution of mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) in animals, multiple methods have been developed in this study to deal with two biological problems related to the mitochondrial genome evolution. A new method for identifying the mitochondrial origins of replication is presented. This method deals with the problem of determining the origins of replication, which despite many previous efforts has remained non-trivial even in the small genomes of animal mitochondria. The replication mechanism is of central interest to understand the evolution of mitochondrial genomes since it allows the duplication of the genetic information. The extensive work that has been done to study the replication of mitochondrial genomes has generated the assumption of the strand displacement model (SDM) also known as the standard model of replication that is known to leave the mitochondrial H-strand in a single stranded state exposing it to mutation and damage. Later on, other models of replication have been suggested such as the strand coupled bidirectional replication model, its refinement which assumes the bidirectional mode but with a unidirectional start, and the \"RNA incorporation throughout the lagging strand\" (RITOLS) model proposed as a refinement of the strand displacement model. Based on the observation that the GC-skew is correlated with the distance from the replication origins in the light of the strand displacement model of replication, a new computational method to infer the position of both the heavy strand and the light strand origins from nucleotide skew data has been developed. The method has been applied in a comprehensive survey of deuterostome mitochondria where conserved positions of the replication origins for the vast majority of vertebrates and cephalochordates have been inferred. Deviations from the consensus picture are presumably associated with genome rearrangements. Additionally, two methods for the identification of tRNA remolding events throughout Metazoa have been developed. Remolding changes the identity of a tRNA by a duplication and a point mutation(s) of the anticodon. This new tRNA takes the identity of another tRNA which is then lost. This can lead to artifacts in the annotation of mitogenomes and thus in studies of mitogenomic evolution. In this work, novel methods are developed to detect tRNA remolding in large-scale data sets. The first method represents an extension of the similarity-based approach to determine remolding candidates with high confidence. This approach uses an extended set of criteria based on both sequence and structural similarities of the tRNAs in conjunction with statistical tests. The second method is a novel phylogeny-based likelihood method which evaluates specific topologies of gene phylogenies of the two tRNA families relevant to a putative remolding event. Both methods have been applied to survey tRNA remolding throughout animal evolution. At least three novel remolding events are identified in addition to the ones previously mentioned in the literature. A detailed analysis of these remoldings showed that many of them are derived ancestral events.

Maintaining replication fork integrity is vital to preserve genomic stability and avoid cancer. Physical DNA damage and altered nucleotide or protein pools represent replication obstacles, generating replicative stress. Numerous cellular responses have evolved to ensure faithful DNA replication despite such challenges. Understanding those responses is essential to understand and prevent or treat replication-associated diseases, such as cancer. Re-priming is a mechanism to allow resumption of DNA synthesis past a fork-stalling lesion. This was recently suggested in yeast and explains the formation of gaps during DNA replication on damaged DNA. Using a combination of assays, we indicate the existence of re-priming also in human cells following UV irradiation. The gap left behind a re-primed fork must be stabilised to avoid replication-associated collapse. Our results show that the checkpoint signalling protein CHK1 is dispensable for stabilisation of replication forks after UV irradiation, despite its role in replication fork progression on UV-damaged DNA. It is not known what proteins are necessary for collapse of an unsealed gap or a stalled fork. We exclude one, previously suggested, endonuclease from this mechanism in UV-irradiated human fibroblasts. We also show that focus formation of repair protein RAD51 is not necessarily associated with cellular sensitivity to agents inducing replicative stress, in rad51d CHO mutant cells. Multiple factors are required for replication fork stability, also under unperturbed conditions. We identify the histone methyltransferase SET8 as an important player in the maintenance of replication fork stability. SET8 is required for replication fork progression, and depletion of SET8 led to the formation of replication-associated DNA damage. In summary, our results increase the knowledge about mechanisms and signalling at replication forks in unperturbed cells and after induction of replicative stress. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 2: Submitted. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 5: Submitted.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Vita. "August 2007" Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Feb 10, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.