18.01.01 DNA structure Flashcards
Describe the basic structure of DNA.
1) Contains polymers of nucleotide repeat units
2) Linear backbone of alternating sugar and phosphate residues
3) Cellular DNA forms a double helix - two strands of DNA held together by H bonds to form a duplex.
4) Anti-parallel strands form major and minor grooves
What is a nucleotide composed of? What bonds adjacent nucleotides?
5x carbon sugar deoxyribose
1-3x phosphate groups
1x nitrogenous bases (A,C,T,G). attached to C1 of the sugar
C3 of one sugar linked to the C5 of the next by phosphodiester bonds
What is a nucleoside composed of?
Base and a sugar unit.
Give three differences between the structure of RNA and DNA.
1) Single strand
2) Adenine pairs with uracil
3) Additional OH group at the C2 position makes it more unstable
What form of helix does RNA take?
‘A’ form - right handed helix with 11 base pairs per turn.
DNA can adopt different types of conformation dependent on its environment. Give two examples.
1) B-DNA: right-handed helix, 10bp per turn. DNA in bacterial or eukaryotic cells.
2) A-DNA: right-handed helix, 11bp per turn. Not found in vivo DNA.
3) Z-DNA: left-handed helix, 12bp per turn. High GC content favours this conformation. Cannot form nucleosomes. Conformation during gene transcription.
4) H-DNA: Triple-helix structure can be caused by inverted repeats polyurine/polypyrimidine DNA stretches. May have a role in functional regulation of gene expression.
5) G4-DNA: quadruplex DNA. Double stranded GC-rich DNA can fold back onto itself and form base pairing between 4x Gs. Often found near promoters and telomeres. Linked to transcription inhibition of C-MYC.
6) Cruciform and hairpin structures
Which DNA structure cannot form nucleosomes?
Z-DNA
Which DNA structure is linked to inhibition of C-MYC transcription?
G4-DNA
How are hairpin and cruciform structures formed in DNA?
Hairpin: Inverted repeated of polyurine/polypyrimidine DNA stretches through intra-strand pairing (DNA folds back on itself).
Cruciform: 2x hairpin loops arranged in a four way junction e.g. Holliday junctions which are formed during recombination
Briefly explain the stages of DNA compaction from double-stranded DNA helix - chromsome.
1) Simplest level - DNA has ds helical structure
2) DNA is complex with histones to form nucleosomes
3) Nucleosomes fold up to produce a 30nm fibre
4) 30nm fibre forms loops averaging 300nm in length
5) 300nm fibres are compressed and folded to form a 250nm wide fibre
6) Supercoiling of 250nm fibre producing chromatid of a chromosome
What is the structure of a nucleosome? How are adjacent nucleosomes joined?
147bp of 2nm DNA helix coiled in less than two turns around a central core of 8 histone proteins
8 histone proteins: 2(H2A, H2B, H3, H4) forms 10nm nucleosome
Nucleosomes joined by 8-11bp of linker DNA (length varies between species). H1 histone binds the linker DNA and helps to package into 30nm fibre.
What is the composition of chromatin?
Nucleosomes packed into a solenoid arrangemennt with 6-8 nucleosomes per turn. Packaging into chromatin 0 fifty fold linear condensation.
What is the structure of chromosomes at metaphase?
Metaphase - 1/10,000 of its stretched out length. Chromsomes contain high levels of topisomerase II and condensins for tight packaging of chromatin.
Give some differences between the structure and function of heterochromatin and euchromatin.
Euchromatin - extended conformation. Weak binding of H1 histones and acetylation of the 4 nucleosomal histones. Contains transcriptionally active DNA>
Heterochromatin - highly condensed throughout cell cycle. Genes not expressed. Tight H1 histone binding. Silencing linked to two classes of mRNAs
What are the two forms of heterochromatin?
1) Constitutive: condensed and generally inactive. Consists largely of repetitive DNA.
2) Facultative: sometimes inactive (condensed) and sometimes active (decondensed) e.g. X-inactivation