Cruciforms are an alternative secondary structure which may be adopted by DNA containing inverted repeats, under conditions of adequate torsional strain. Inverted repeats are distributed, in a non-random fashion, throughout the genomes of prokaryotes and eucaryotes. Mounting evidence suggests that they are involved in the initiation of DNA replication. A structure-specific cruciform DNA binding protein (CBP) has previously been enriched from HeLa cells, and demonstrated to be a member of the 14-3-3 family of proteins. This thesis reports the dimethylsulfate (DMS) protection footprinting of this protein on a stable cruciform, with the goal of testing a model proposed for this interaction. The footprint obtained was not clear or reproducible enough to allow this verification, however, it does support previously identified regions of binding on the cruciform DNA. Possible explanations for the nature of the footprint obtained, and suggestions which may allow the achievement of verification of the model, are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.30736 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Robinson, Fiona. |
| Contributors | Zannis-Hadjopoulos, M. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Biochemistry.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001740519, proquestno: MQ64441, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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