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Uracil-DNA glycosylase is involved in DNA demethylation and required for embryonic development in the zebrafish embryo.

ABSTRACT: Uracil-DNA glycosylase (Ung) is a component of the base excision repair process and has the ability to remove uracil from U:G mispairs in DNA. However, its implications in development of vertebrate embryos are poorly understood. In this study, we found that zebrafish uracil-DNA glycosylase a (Unga) is maternally expressed at high levels and accumulated in nuclei during cleavage and blastulation periods. Knockdown of unga in zebrafish embryos causes an increase of the global DNA methylation level concomitantly with a reduction of overall transcriptional activity in the nucleus, ultimately resulting in embryonic lethality during segmentation period. Conversely, unga overexpression is sufficient to reduce the global DNA methylation level, to increase H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 marks, and to activate genome transcription. Furthermore, overexpression of unga(D132A) mRNA, encoding a mutant Unga without DNA glycosylase activity, does not affect global DNA methylation level, indicating that its involvement in DNA demethylation is dependent on its glycosylase activity. These results together suggest that Unga is implicated in postfertilization genomic DNA demethylation, zygotic gene transcription, and normal embryonic development in zebrafish.

SUBMITTER: Wu D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4140902 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Uracil-DNA glycosylase is involved in DNA demethylation and required for embryonic development in the zebrafish embryo.

Wu Di D Chen Luxi L Sun Qingrui Q Wu Xiaotong X Jia Shunji S Meng Anming A

The Journal of biological chemistry 20140416 22

Uracil-DNA glycosylase (Ung) is a component of the base excision repair process and has the ability to remove uracil from U:G mispairs in DNA. However, its implications in development of vertebrate embryos are poorly understood. In this study, we found that zebrafish uracil-DNA glycosylase a (Unga) is maternally expressed at high levels and accumulated in nuclei during cleavage and blastulation periods. Knockdown of unga in zebrafish embryos causes an increase of the global DNA methylation level ...[more]

PMID: 24739389

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Project description:Two dimensional (2D) NMR and molecular dynamics simulations have been used to determine the three dimensional (3D) structure of a hairpin DNA, d-CTA-GAGGATCC-TUTT-GGATCCT (22mer; abbreviated as U2-hairpin), which has uracil at the second position from the 5' end of the tetraloop. The(1)H resonances of this hairpin have been assigned almost completely. NMR restrained molecular dynamics and energy minimization procedures have been used to describe the 3D structure of U2-hairpin. This study establishes that the stem of the hairpin adopts a right-handed B-DNA conformation, while the T(12)and T(15)nucleotides stack upon 3' and 5' ends of the stem, respectively. Further, T(14)stacks upon both T(12)and T(15). Though U(13)partially stacks upon T(14), no stacking interaction is observed between U(13)and T(12). All the individual nucleotide bases belonging to the stem and T(12)and T(15)of the loop adopt ' anti ' conformation with respect to their sugar moiety, while the U(13)and T(14)of the loop are in ' syn ' conformation. The turning phosphate in the loop is located between T(13)and T(14). This study and a concurrent NMR structural study on yet another hairpin DNA d-CTAGAGGAATAA-TTTU-GGATCCT (22mer; abbreviated as U4-hairpin), with uracil at the fourth position from the 5' end of the tetraloop throw light upon various interactions which have been reported between Escherichia coli uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG) and uracil containing DNA. The epsilon of T(12)and alpha, beta, gamma, epsilon and zeta of U(13)and gamma of T(14), which partially influence the local conformation of U(13)in U2-hairpin are all locked in ' trans ' conformation. Such stretched out backbone conformation in the vicinity of U(13)could be the reason as to why the U2-hairpin is found to be the poor substrate for its interaction with UDG compared to the other substrates in which the uracil is at first, third and fourth positions of the tetraloop from its 5' end, as reported earlier by Vinay and Varshney. This study shows that UDG actively promotes the flipping of uracil from a stacked conformation and rules out the possibility of UDG recognizing the flipped out uracil bases.

Dataset Information

Uracil-DNA glycosylase is involved in DNA demethylation and required for embryonic development in the zebrafish embryo.

Publications

Uracil-DNA glycosylase is involved in DNA demethylation and required for embryonic development in the zebrafish embryo.

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