At elevated salt concentrations, the structure of chromatin is destabilized. This paper is concerned with the processes by which DNA is released from nucleosome core particles in free, uncomplexed form. Our experiments indicate that the DNA release reaction has distinctly different characteristics below and above approximately 0.75 M NaCl. Below this concentration of salt, release of the histon...

Three basic amino acid–based cationic lipids bearing a fluorescent naphthalimide moiety and reducible disulfide linkage are synthesized applied as non-viral gene vehicles. Their DNA interactions investigated by agarose-gel retardant ethidium bromide replacement assays. The sizes zeta potentials of the liposome/DNA complexes measured dynamic light scattering. cytotoxicities examined using HeLa 7...

High mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) is a non-histone nuclear protein with dual function. Inside the cell, HMGB1 binds DNA and regulates transcription, whereas outside the cell, it serves as a cytokine and mediates the late effects of LPS. The movement of HMGB1 into the extracellular space has been demonstrated for macrophages stimulated with LPS as well as cells undergoing necrosis but no...

Agents that inhibit DNA synthesis increase the frequency of methotrexate resistance and gene amplification in cultured mammalian cells. Chinese hamster ovary cells blocked with hydroxyurea rereplicated dihydrofolate reductase gene sequences within a single cell cycle upon release from the block (Mariani, B.D., and Schimke, R.T. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 1901-1910). Perturbation of DNA synthesi...

We describe biophysical and ultrastructural differences in genome release from adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids packaging wild-type DNA, recombinant single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), or dimeric, self-complementary DNA (scDNA) genomes. Atomic force microscopy and electron microscopy (EM) revealed that AAV particles release packaged genomes and undergo marked changes in capsid morphology upon heat...

The cooperative condensation of DNA and cationic liposomes to form ordered aggregates in aqueous solution is associated with the release of partially bound counterions. We directly determine the extent of counterion release by separating the supernatant from the precipitated condensates, measuring the conductivity of the solution before and after the phase transition. The extent of counterion r...

Following V(D)J cleavage, the newly liberated DNA signal ends can be either fused together into a signal joint or used as donor DNA in RAG-mediated transposition. We find that both V(D)J cleavage and release of flanking coding DNA occur before the target capture step of transposition can proceed; no coding DNA is ever detected in the target capture complex. Separately from its role in V(D)J cle...

A general understanding of interactions between DNA and oppositely charged compounds forms the basis for developing novel DNA-based materials, including gel particles. The association strength, which is altered by varying the chemical structure of the cationic cosolute, determines the spatial homogeneity of the gelation process, creating DNA reservoir devices and DNA matrix devices that can be ...

Four E. ruminantium 1H12 open reading frames and their proteins known to protect sheep against heartwater needle challenge were encapsulated into, or adsorbed onto poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) microparticles. Microspheres with smooth surface and smaller than 5 μm diameters were produced, with high adsorption and encapsulation efficiencies. Gel electrophoresis showed that neither encapsulation...

The focus of the present study was to functionalize multilayered DNA-coatings with the osteoinductive factor bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) using different loading modalities. The multilayered DNA-coatings were built up from either poly-d-lysine (PDL) or poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and DNA using electrostatic self-assembly (ESA). The amounts of BMP-2 loaded into the multilayered ...