Nick-translation of metaphase chromosomes: in vitro labeling of nuclease-hypersensitive regions in chromosomes

Ultrastructural methods for nucleic acid detection by immunocytology

In the present review are summarized recent developments in immunocytochemical detection of nucleic acids in biological materials at the ultrastructural level. Not only the approaches using antibodies to natural nucleic acids are described but also the techniques involving the use of antibodies raised against various nucleotide analogs incorporated beforehand into nucleic acids. Special emphasis is placed on each method's potential and limitations. These methods, combined or not with molecular biotechnology, are powerful tools for studying the structure and function of nucleic acids. They can be used to investigate the distribution and topological organization of DNA and RNA molecules or of specialized within these molecules in the cells.

Robert Feulgen Prize Lecture 1995. New approaches to in situ detection of nucleic acids

The present paper reviews recent results obtained by different molecular biology-based, immunocytological approaches to the localization and identification of nucleic acids in sections of biological material. Examples of sensitive, high-resolution detection methods for RNA, DNA or specialized DNA regions are presented. Special emphasis is placed on the potential values and limitations of these new methods.

Localization of DNase I-hypersensitive regions during rat spermatogenesis: stage-dependent patterns and unique sensitivity of elongating spermatids

DNase I-hypersensitivity of rat spermatogenic cells was analyzed 1) to establish overall patterns of hypersensitivity in individual cell types, 2) to correlate these patterns with known changes in chromatin organization and function, and 3) to provide a foundation for further analyses examining DNase I-hypersensitivity and the localization of specific genes during spermatogenesis. Parameters for in situ nick translation, using radioactive and fluorescent probes to visualize DNase I-hypersensitive regions (DHR), were established for fixed and sectioned testicular preparations, permeabilized cells, and isolated germ cell nuclei. As anticipated, the pattern of DHR changed in a cell-type specific manner during the course of spermatogenesis, reflective of known stage-dependent alterations in the composition and structure of both the chromatin and the nuclear lamina/matrix as well as changes in gene expression. DHR in preleptotene spermatocytes were primarily peripheral, while in pachytene spermatocytes they were localized along the condensed chromosomes. The pattern of DHR changed from "checkerboard" in steps 7-8 round spermatid nuclei to "lamellar" in steps 10-11 elongating spermatids. In steps 12-13 elongating spermatids. DHR were localized throughout the nuclei or in a graded manner--increasing from anterior to posterior and mirroring the pattern of chromatin condensation. However, unlike the case in other stages, DNA of steps 12-13 elongating spermatids was exquisitely sensitive to nick translation even in the absence of exogenous DNase I. In contrast to the labeling of earlier stages, steps 16-19 spermatids and mature spermatozoa did not demonstrate DNase I-hypersensitivity under any conditions employed. A variety of agents that interact with topoisomerase II and DNA (teniposide, novobiocin, ethidium bromide, and adenosine triphosphate) were tested to determine the basis for the unique sensitivity to nick translation of steps 12-13 elongating spermatids. None of the agents tested, however, affected this unique labeling. The sensitivity of steps 12-13 elongating spermatids to nick translation in the absence of exogenous nuclease indicators the presence of endogenous nicks, which may relieve torsional stress and aid rearrangement as the chromatin is packaged into a form characteristic of the mature spermatozoon.

DNase I-sensitive sites within the nuclear architecture visualized by immunoelectron microscopy

Nick-translation using mild digestion with DNase I allows preferential labeling of actively transcribing or potentially active genes, as compared with inactive genes. We have adapted this method to the level of electron microscopy to see the DNase I-sensitive regions in situ in Ehrlich tumor cells. In interphase cells treated with very low concentrations of DNase I, labeled sequences are found at the borders and in the close vicinity of condensed chromatin blocks. Labeling of condensed areas of chromatin requires higher DNase I concentrations and longer incubation in the nick-translation medium. In the nucleolus, the first sites to be nick-translated are the fibrillar centers and the interstices surrounding them, whereas the dense fibrillar component never contains labeled sequences. When cells are pretreated with actinomycin D, only a few perinucleolar clumps of condensed chromatin are labeled under the same conditions. This method provides a new tool for studying the functional organization of chromatin within a cell. The precise location of nick-translated sites in nucleolar components observed could change classical views concerning the functional organization of the nucleolus.

Chromosomally derived sterile mice have a 'fertile' active XY chromatin conformation but no XY body

We have previously shown that the sex chromosome bivalent of normal, fertile male mice possesses extensive regions of potentially active chromatin, even though, as has been shown by others, certain X-linked genes, and perhaps most of the X chromosome, become inactivated during pachytene. The male meiosis of a fertile (2;11) translocation carrier mouse, a chromosomally derived sterile (11; 19) translocation carrier and that of normal mice is compared. In situ nick translation shows a similar DNase I sensitivity pattern in the sex chromosomes of all examined mice. The X chromosome has four regions of potentially active chromatin conformation, two at the ends of the chromosome and two interstitial ones, coinciding with flexures which become prominent towards late pachytene. The Y chromosome is almost uniformly sensitive to DNase I. The similarity of chromatin conformation patterns in fertile and sterile mice is compatible with the hypothesis that unscheduled transcription of particular genes, possibly included in the active conformation regions, occurs in mice which become sterile. In the sterile (11;19) translocation carrier, a vast majority of all pachytenes are "associated": usually one unpaired segment of chromosome 19 is in end-to-end contact with the X chromosome. The tips of both unpaired segments of chromosome 19 have a thickened axis and display a peculiar chromatin appearance, similar to the modification of the centromeric tip of the X chromosome. Telomeric unpairedness of certain chromosome segments seems to be conducive to autosome-X chromosome association. We suggest that compartmentalization of the nucleus into an autosome mass and a fully developed, protruding, metabolically quiescent XY body, is a precondition for the normal progressing of meiosis. In the associated cells, the autosomal quadrivalent anchors the XY bivalent among the autosomes; as a consequence no XY body is formed. This interference with the course of compartmentalization leads to the abolishment of inactivation of part or all of the potentially active genes and results in meiotic arrest, and hence in sterility.

Non random distribution of lesions induced by deoxyribonuclease I in human chromosomes

We studied the action of deoxyribonuclease I on human lymphocytes in order to determine the localization of the DNAase induced aberrations. Our results indicate a non-random distribution of the lesions on chromosome regions which may reflect a differential pattern of sensitivity to the enzyme. Furthermore we observed a correspondence between the preferential DNAase induced breaks and fragile sites that are expressed in lymphocytes maintained in medium without folic acid. A possible interpretation of our findings is that the accessibility to DNAase and/or the efficiency of the repair systems depend on the chromatin structure that influences also the expression of some common fragile sites.

Human homologs of TU transposon sequences: polypurine/polypyrimidine sequence elements that can alter DNA conformation in vitro and in vivo

We previously have shown that homologs of the outer domain segment of the inverted repeat termini (IVR-OD) of the sea urchin TU transposons are conserved among multiple eucaryotic species, including humans. We report here that two cloned human DNA IVR-OD homologs, Hut2 and Hut17, consist of a series of tandem repeats of the trimer AGG/TCC, forming segments (313 and 221 base pairs in length, respectively) of polypurine/polypyrimidine (pPu/pPy or "Puppy") asymmetry in the two DNA strands; these are punctuated at certain sites with variant trimers, which are different for the two clones. Sequences homologous to the Hut2 pPu/pPy tract exist at multiple sites in the DNA of a wide variety of eucaryotes. Hybridization of human DNA with a Hut2 probe or with a previously described chicken DNA pPu/pPy sequence indicates that pPu/pPy sequences can be grouped into families distinguishable by the extent of their homology with each probe at different hybridization stringencies. Moreover, particular pPu/pPy tracts show species-specific differences in their distribution. Both the Hut2 and Hut17 pPu/pPy tracts are cleaved by S1 nuclease when tested on supercoiled plasmids. Most if not all of the 313-base-pair Hut2 pPu/pPy tract is also sensitive to S1 in its native location in HeLa cell chromatin, indicating that the sequence contains conformational information that can be expressed in vivo. This view is supported by evidence that exogenously derived Hut2 pPu/pPy tracts introduced into mouse L cells and integrated in chromatin can assume an S1-sensitive conformation.

Foreign DNA introduced by calcium phosphate is integrated into repetitive DNA elements of the mouse L cell genome

We investigated the sites of integration of exogenous DNA fragments introduced by DNA-mediated gene transfer. Mouse Ltk- cells were transformed with the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene and pBR322 DNA by the calcium phosphate precipitation method. Some of the integrated exogenous DNA sequences were recovered from the stable tk+ transformants in the form of plasmids that were capable of propagation in bacteria. Four plasmids derived from two cloned cell lines were analyzed in detail by nucleotide sequencing and hybridization techniques. These plasmids contained a total of seven cellular-exogenous DNA junctions. In all cases, there was no sequence homology between the exogenous and cellular DNA sequences adjacent to the joining sites, and no specific exogenous or cellular sequences occurred at the junctions. Rearrangement or deletion of Ltk- DNA was always associated with the integration of exogenous DNA. All of the assignable cellular sequences at the junctions were repetitive sequences. Two of these sequences were from the MIF-1 repetitive sequence family, and a third consisted of a 40-base pair simple copolymer of alternating deoxyadenosine-deoxythymidine. Our results suggest that repetitive sequences are relatively favorable sites for the integration of exogenous DNA.

Human homologs of TU transposon sequences: polypurine/polypyrimidine sequence elements that can alter DNA conformation in vitro and in vivo

We previously have shown that homologs of the outer domain segment of the inverted repeat termini (IVR-OD) of the sea urchin TU transposons are conserved among multiple eucaryotic species, including humans. We report here that two cloned human DNA IVR-OD homologs, Hut2 and Hut17, consist of a series of tandem repeats of the trimer AGG/TCC, forming segments (313 and 221 base pairs in length, respectively) of polypurine/polypyrimidine (pPu/pPy or "Puppy") asymmetry in the two DNA strands; these are punctuated at certain sites with variant trimers, which are different for the two clones. Sequences homologous to the Hut2 pPu/pPy tract exist at multiple sites in the DNA of a wide variety of eucaryotes. Hybridization of human DNA with a Hut2 probe or with a previously described chicken DNA pPu/pPy sequence indicates that pPu/pPy sequences can be grouped into families distinguishable by the extent of their homology with each probe at different hybridization stringencies. Moreover, particular pPu/pPy tracts show species-specific differences in their distribution. Both the Hut2 and Hut17 pPu/pPy tracts are cleaved by S1 nuclease when tested on supercoiled plasmids. Most if not all of the 313-base-pair Hut2 pPu/pPy tract is also sensitive to S1 in its native location in HeLa cell chromatin, indicating that the sequence contains conformational information that can be expressed in vivo. This view is supported by evidence that exogenously derived Hut2 pPu/pPy tracts introduced into mouse L cells and integrated in chromatin can assume an S1-sensitive conformation.

Foreign DNA introduced by calcium phosphate is integrated into repetitive DNA elements of the mouse L cell genome

We investigated the sites of integration of exogenous DNA fragments introduced by DNA-mediated gene transfer. Mouse Ltk- cells were transformed with the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene and pBR322 DNA by the calcium phosphate precipitation method. Some of the integrated exogenous DNA sequences were recovered from the stable tk+ transformants in the form of plasmids that were capable of propagation in bacteria. Four plasmids derived from two cloned cell lines were analyzed in detail by nucleotide sequencing and hybridization techniques. These plasmids contained a total of seven cellular-exogenous DNA junctions. In all cases, there was no sequence homology between the exogenous and cellular DNA sequences adjacent to the joining sites, and no specific exogenous or cellular sequences occurred at the junctions. Rearrangement or deletion of Ltk- DNA was always associated with the integration of exogenous DNA. All of the assignable cellular sequences at the junctions were repetitive sequences. Two of these sequences were from the MIF-1 repetitive sequence family, and a third consisted of a 40-base pair simple copolymer of alternating deoxyadenosine-deoxythymidine. Our results suggest that repetitive sequences are relatively favorable sites for the integration of exogenous DNA.