DNA & RNA Flashcards
Dinucleotide sequence marking the 5’ end of intron
GU
Dinucleotide sequence marking the 3; end of intron
AG
What is the spliceosome made of?
Small nuclear ribonuclear proteins (snRPS) and snRNAs U1, U2, U4, U5, U6
U1 snRNA
Contains a sequence complementary to the mRNA sequence near the 5’ splice site of introns
Relative solubility of DNA components
Nucleotide > Nucleosides > Base
Pyrimidines > Purines
Gout
A defect in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase; leads to the accumulation of purines (uric acid) in tissues, often presenting as red/swollen, most commonly in the big toe
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
A genetic defect in hypoxanthine-guanine phophoribosyl transferase (HGPRT); leads to the accumulation of purines (uric acid) in tissues; presents as severe gout, kidney problems, cognitive defects, and self-injuring behavior
Chargaff’s Rule
The ratio of purines (G + A) and pyrimidines (T + C) must be equal as a result of G-C and A-T base pairing; %G = %C and %A = %T
Tm
Temperature at which a given DNA strand is 50% denatured; affected by salt concentration, pH, DNA chain length, and GC content
Deamination
Deamination of 5-methyl cytosine converts 5mC to thymine
Depurination
Spontaneous hydrolysis of a purine base from it’s sugar-phosphate backbone, leaving the DNA backbone vulnerable to cleavage
Nucleoside analogue drugs
Inhibit DNA synthesis by mimicking normal nucleotide substrates in the DNApoly active site; ex: AZT inhibits HIV viral DNA synthesis by reverse transcriptase
Classes of RNA
Structural (rRNA, tRNA, snRNA, snoRNA)
Information-containing (mRNA)
Regulatory (miRNA, siRNA)
Puromycin
Antibiotic; inhibits bacterial translation by mimicking the 3’ tRNA acceptor region and interacting with the ribosome to cause premature peptide release
B form DNA
The most common form of DNA; two anti-parallel strands intertwined in a right-handed helix
DNA Methylation
Usually occurs on C within CpG dinucleotide sequences; performed by DNA methyltransferase; generally down regulates gene expression
Alkylating agents
React with nucleophilic groups on purine/pyramidine bases
RNA Polymerase I
Synthesizes pre-ribosomal RNA
RNA Polymerase II
synthesizes mRNA
RNA Polymerase III
synthesizes tRNA
TATA Box / Initiator sequence
DNA control element located 25-30 bp upstream from the transcription start site; bound by TATA-binding protein (TBP); this is the site at which general TFs bind
TFIID
Contains TATA-binding protein (TBP) as well as TBP-associated factors (TAFs)
a-amanitin
Death cap mushroom toxin; blocks the translocation of RNA polymerase II by interacting with its bridge helix
Rifampicin
Antibiotic; binds to RNA polymerase at the exit channel and sterically occludes the formation of mRNA chains > 2-3 nucleotides long
RNA Polymerase II pre-initiation complex
RNA Polymerase II
TFIID (TBP + TAFs)
TFIIA, TFIIB, TFIIE, TFIIF, TFIIH
TFIIF
Part of RNA polymerase II preinitiation complex; phosphorylates RNA polymerase II, which activates it
TFIIH
Part of RNA Polymerase II pre-initiation complex; CDK7 subunit phosphorylates Pol II CTD; has some helicase activity, and functions in nucleotide excision repair (NER)
Xeroderma Pigmentosum
Autosomal recessive disorder of DNA repair, usually caused by mutation in one of the nucleotide excision repair pathways - often TFIIH
5’ splice site consensus sequence
GU
3’ splice site consensus sequence
AG
PolyA tail cleavage site consensus sequence
AAUAAA 10 to 30 nucleotides upstream from the cleavage site
U2 snRNA
Base pairs with the intron at a position corresponding with the branch point A residue, causing a local distortion in the primary transcript that activates the branch point A