Lectures 1-18 Flashcards
Polymerase I is used mainly to
replace RNA primers in DNA replication, due to the presence of a 5’ to 3’ exonuclease
Polyerase II is used mainly for
DNA repair
Polymerase III is used mainly for
General DNA synthesis, has a 3’ to 5’ exonuclease that can “proofread” for errors
DNA ligase links
3’ hydroxyl to a 5’ phosphate
DNA replication in prokaryotes is triggered by
accumulation of dnaA protein which binds to recognition sequences at the ori and promoting strand separation
FACT protein
binds to proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and destabilises nucleosomes to allow replication to occur
Linear chromosomes present an issues because of
telomeres; there is perpetual degradation of the DNA at the end of the linear chromosome. This is overcome by telomerase, which acts on the highly repetitive nature of telomeres to add bases and protect the coding DNA
Mutation is
a heritable change in the DNA sequence (not the same as damage to DNA)
Transitions occur when
a purine is swapped for another purine (G and A) or a pyrimadine is swapped for another pyrimadine (C and T)
Transversions occur when
a purine becomes a pyrimadine
Streisinger model of slippage
during DNA replication, where strands don’t reanneal with the correct base esp. in sequences of many same-base repeats
Depurination occurs when
a base is lost, sugar phosphate backbone remains intact but a nucleotide is cleaved off
Deamination occurs when
Deamination of 5 methile C bases results in T production for which there are no mechanisms to fix it, and this results in an increase in spontaneous mutation, specifically, a transion
Oxidation occurs when
uncontrolled free radicals cause damage to the DNA such that G pairs with A and causes a transversion
Mutagens are
any agent that causes an increase in mutation rate above the spontaneous level
base analogues
Similar enough to a normal base to be incorporated into DNA and undergo tautomeric shift at increased frequency. - Example: 5-Bomouracil which causes transitions
Mis-pairings can be caused by
Different mutations within this class cause different mutation through the same mechanism Hydroxlyamine which causes C to pair with A, alkylating agents which are very potent mutagens causing G to pair with T, intercollating agents which cause additions and deletions of single base pairs - possibly by stabiliging loops made in the Streizinger model
DNA strand breakage
Strand breaks can occur spontaneously but is increased by high energy ionizing radiation such as gamma and X-rays. In general these issues can be repaired without loss of information however if the breaks are double stranded this can be lethal to the cell. Incorrect re-joining can result in chromosomal rearrangements such as inversions, deletions, duplications and translocations
The Ames test looks at
reversion rates in salmonella typhi to show how commonly mutation is being caused
photoreactivation acts to
reverse pyrimidine dimers - requires light to function
Nucleotide excision repair
uvrA, B and C, all needed for successful repair system. When it finds a bulky lesion (pyrimadine dimers and others) it has the capacity to cleave DNA phosphodiester bonds and cut the mutation out, so that uvrD (helicase) can release the fragment and DNA PolI can fill the gap while DNA ligase seals this
Mismatch repair
- MutS binds to the mismatch, MutH recognises the helimethlyated GATC and complexes with MutS and MutL which requires DNA looping
- MutH cuts the unmethylated strand and creates a SS region that can be corrected by an exonuclease, PolIII and Ligase
SOS Bypass Replication (Translesion Synthesis)
- In E.coli:
○ SOS genes UmuC and UmuD can form DNA Pol V (bypass polymerase) does not have ability to proofread and have lower specificity - meaning they can randomly pair up bases in areas that are damaged and are skipped by PNA Pol III. In the context of a highly damaged cell this is ideal over having highly damaged DNA even thought it results in mutation
○ recA mutant is more UV sensitive due to the accumulation of mutations that the cell cant deal with due to the lack of SOS genes being expressed - In Eukaryotes:
○ Bypass polymerase is expressed constitutively but remains inactive until ubiquitin and Rad6 bind to it
Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ)
Ku70/Ku80 heterodimer detects and binds the two strands of broken DNA together with a protein kinase and ligase.Ends are joined back together without the need for homology - this can explain translocations