Project description:AID (activation-induced cytidine deaminase) is expressed at low levels in many tissue types but is most highly expressed in germinal center B cells where it deaminates cytidine to uracil during somatic hypermutation and class switch recombination of the immunoglobulin genes. In addition to this critical role in immune diversification, aberrant targeting of AID contributes to oncogenic point mutations and chromosome translocations associated with B cell malignancies. Thus, to explore a role for AID in DNA demethylation in B cell lymphoma, we performed genome-wide methylation profiling in BL2 and AID-deficient (AID-/-) BL2 cell lines (Burkitt lymphoma that can be induced to express high levels of AID).
Project description:AID (activation-induced cytidine deaminase) is expressed at low levels in many tissue types but is most highly expressed in germinal center B cells where it deaminates cytidine to uracil during somatic hypermutation and class switch recombination of the immunoglobulin genes. In addition to this critical role in immune diversification, aberrant targeting of AID contributes to oncogenic point mutations and chromosome translocations associated with B cell malignancies. Thus, to explore a role for AID in DNA demethylation in B cell lymphoma, we performed genome-wide gene expression profiling in BL2 and AID-deficient (AID-/-) BL2 cell lines (Burkitt lymphoma that can be induced to express high levels of AID).
Project description:Gene expression profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells with hTERT/E6/E7 transfected MSCs. hTERT may change gene expression in MSCs. Goal was to determine the gene expressions of immortalized MSCs.
Project description:Kynureninase is a member of a large family of catalytically diverse but structurally homologous pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzymes known as the aspartate aminotransferase superfamily or alpha-family. The Homo sapiens and other eukaryotic constitutive kynureninases preferentially catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine to produce 3-hydroxyanthranilate and l-alanine, while l-kynurenine is the substrate of many prokaryotic inducible kynureninases. The human enzyme was cloned with an N-terminal hexahistidine tag, expressed, and purified from a bacterial expression system using Ni metal ion affinity chromatography. Kinetic characterization of the recombinant enzyme reveals classic Michaelis-Menten behavior, with a Km of 28.3 +/- 1.9 microM and a specific activity of 1.75 micromol min-1 mg-1 for 3-hydroxy-dl-kynurenine. Crystals of recombinant kynureninase that diffracted to 2.0 A were obtained, and the atomic structure of the PLP-bound holoenzyme was determined by molecular replacement using the Pseudomonas fluorescens kynureninase structure (PDB entry 1qz9) as the phasing model. A structural superposition with the P. fluorescens kynureninase revealed that these two structures resemble the "open" and "closed" conformations of aspartate aminotransferase. The comparison illustrates the dynamic nature of these proteins' small domains and reveals a role for Arg-434 similar to its role in other AAT alpha-family members. Docking of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine into the human kynureninase active site suggests that Asn-333 and His-102 are involved in substrate binding and molecular discrimination between inducible and constitutive kynureninase substrates.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of human mesenchymal stem cells comparing normoxic MSCs cells with hypoxic MSCs cells. Hypoxia may inhibit senescence of MSCs during expansion. Goal was to determine the effects of hypoxia on global MSCs gene expression.
Project description:Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is required for both somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class-switch recombination (CSR) in activated B cells. AID is also known to target non-immunoglobulin genes and introduce mutations or chromosomal translocations, eventually causing tumors. To identify as-yet-unknown AID targets, we screened early AID-induced DNA breaks using two independent genome-wide approaches. Along with known AID targets, this screen identified a set of novel genes (SNHG3, MALAT1, BCL7A, and CUX1), and confirmed that these new loci accumulated mutations as high as Ig locus after AID activation. Moreover, these genes share three important characteristics with the immunoglobulin gene: translocations in tumors, repetitive sequences and the epigenetic modification of chromatin by H3K4 trimethylation in the vicinity of cleavage sites.