This year we celebrate seventy years since the establishment of the Institute of Biophysics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (IBP) (founded on January 1, 1955). If we look into the biography of Professor Emil Paleček (born on October 3, 1930), one of the most world-recognized personalities associated with the Institute and one of the most cited Czech scientists, known as the founder of nucleic acids electrochemistry, we are drawn to the same year, i.e. 1955, as the year in which Emil Paleček finished his studies in biochemistry and joined the IBP, where he worked with admirable vitality, enthusiasm and dedication until his death (October 30, 2018). In the context of celebration of founding of the Institute, we would like to commemorate in this article a personality who significantly influenced the history of the Institute alongside the important discoveries and research directions that defined his extremely successful career. We prefer this form, which is a sort of a mini-review of the most important results of the laboratory obtained under EP's leadership over 63 years, presented in mutual context and natural relations. For his life's work, Professor Paleček received many prestigious awards, with the Czech Head Award in 2014 and the Neuron Foundation Award in 2017 being the most distinguished.

• Klíčová slova
• Electrochemistry, Glycans, Modification, Nucleic acids, Proteins, Structure,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Studies have shown that 9.4 Tesla (9.4 T) high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has obvious advantages in improving image resolution and capacity, but their safety issues need to be further validated before their clinical approval. Meanwhile, emerging experimental evidences show that moderate to high intensity Static Magnetic Fields (SMFs) have some anti-cancer effects. We examined the effects of two opposite SMF directions on lung cancer bearing mice and found when the lung cancer cell-bearing mice were treated with 9.4 T SMFs for 88 h in total, the upward 9.4 T SMF significantly inhibited A549 tumor growth (tumor growth inhibition=41%), but not the downward 9.4 T SMF. In vitro cellular analysis shows that 9.4 T upward SMF treatment for 24 h not only inhibited A549 DNA synthesis, but also significantly increased ROS and P53 levels, and arrested G2 cell cycle. Moreover, the 9.4 T SMF-treatments for 88 h had no severe impairment to the key organs or blood cell count of the mice. Our findings demonstrated the safety of 9.4 T SMF long-term exposure for their future applications in MRI, and revealed the anti-cancer potential of the upward direction 9.4 T SMF.

• Klíčová slova
• 9.4 T static magnetic field (SMF), Cell cycle, Lung cancer, P53, ROS,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

P53, P63, and P73 proteins belong to the P53 family of transcription factors, sharing a common gene organization that, from the P1 and P2 promoters, produces two groups of mRNAs encoding proteins with different N-terminal regions; moreover, alternative splicing events at C-terminus further contribute to the generation of multiple isoforms. P53 family proteins can influence a plethora of cellular pathways mainly through the direct binding to specific DNA sequences known as response elements (REs), and the transactivation of the corresponding target genes. However, the transcriptional activation by P53 family members can be regulated at multiple levels, including the DNA topology at responsive promoters. Here, by using a yeast-based functional assay, we evaluated the influence that a G-quadruplex (G4) prone sequence adjacent to the p53 RE derived from the apoptotic PUMA target gene can exert on the transactivation potential of full-length and N-terminal truncated P53 family α isoforms (wild-type and mutant). Our results show that the presence of a G4 prone sequence upstream or downstream of the P53 RE leads to significant changes in the relative activity of P53 family proteins, emphasizing the potential role of structural DNA features as modifiers of P53 family functions at target promoter sites.

• Klíčová slova
• G-quadruplex (G4) prone sequence, P53 family, transactivation potential, wild-type and mutant P53/P63 proteins, yeast,
• MeSH
• apoptóza genetika   MeSH
• DNA genetika   ultrastruktura   MeSH
• G-kvadruplexy * MeSH
• konformace nukleové kyseliny MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• membránové proteiny genetika   ultrastruktura   MeSH
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 genetika   ultrastruktura   MeSH
• promotorové oblasti (genetika) genetika   MeSH
• protein p73 genetika   ultrastruktura   MeSH
• proteiny regulující apoptózu genetika   MeSH
• protoonkogenní proteiny genetika   MeSH
• responzivní elementy genetika   MeSH
• Saccharomyces cerevisiae genetika   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• BBC3 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• CKAP4 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• DNA MeSH
• membránové proteiny MeSH
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 MeSH
• protein p73 MeSH
• proteiny regulující apoptózu MeSH
• protoonkogenní proteiny MeSH
• TP73 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč

p53 is one of the most studied tumor suppressor proteins that plays an important role in basic biological processes including cell cycle, DNA damage response, apoptosis, and senescence. The human TP53 gene contains alternative promoters that produce N-terminally truncated proteins and can produce several isoforms due to alternative splicing. p53 function is realized by binding to a specific DNA response element (RE), resulting in the transactivation of target genes. Here, we evaluated the influence of quadruplex DNA structure on the transactivation potential of full-length and N-terminal truncated p53α isoforms in a panel of S. cerevisiae luciferase reporter strains. Our results show that a G-quadruplex prone sequence is not sufficient for transcription activation by p53α isoforms, but the presence of this feature in proximity to a p53 RE leads to a significant reduction of transcriptional activity and changes the dynamics between co-expressed p53α isoforms.

• Klíčová slova
• p53 protein, protein-DNA interaction, transactivation potential,
• MeSH
• G-kvadruplexy * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• promotorové oblasti (genetika) genetika   MeSH
• protein - isoformy genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• proteiny regulující apoptózu genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• protoonkogenní proteiny genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• responzivní elementy genetika   MeSH
• vazba proteinů MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• BBC3 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 MeSH
• protein - isoformy MeSH
• proteiny regulující apoptózu MeSH
• protoonkogenní proteiny MeSH

The tumor suppressor functions of p53 and its roles in regulating the cell cycle, apoptosis, senescence, and metabolism are accomplished mainly by its interactions with DNA. p53 works as a transcription factor for a significant number of genes. Most p53 target genes contain so-called p53 response elements in their promoters, consisting of 20 bp long canonical consensus sequences. Compared to other transcription factors, which usually bind to one concrete and clearly defined DNA target, the p53 consensus sequence is not strict, but contains two repeats of a 5'RRRCWWGYYY3' sequence; therefore it varies remarkably among target genes. Moreover, p53 binds also to DNA fragments that at least partially and often completely lack this consensus sequence. p53 also binds with high affinity to a variety of non-B DNA structures including Holliday junctions, cruciform structures, quadruplex DNA, triplex DNA, DNA loops, bulged DNA, and hemicatenane DNA. In this review, we summarize information of the interactions of p53 with various DNA targets and discuss the functional consequences of the rich world of p53 DNA binding targets for its complex regulatory functions.

• Klíčová slova
• consensus sequence, cruciform, local DNA structures, p53, protein-DNA interactions,
• MeSH
• DNA chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• konformace nukleové kyseliny MeSH
• konformace proteinů MeSH
• konsenzuální sekvence MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• molekulární modely MeSH
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• sekvence aminokyselin MeSH
• vazba proteinů MeSH
• vazebná místa MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• DNA MeSH
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 MeSH

p73 is a member of the p53 protein family and has essential functions in several signaling pathways involved in development, differentiation, DNA damage responses and cancer. As a transcription factor, p73 achieves these functions by binding to consensus DNA sequences and p73 shares at least partial target DNA binding sequence specificity with p53. Transcriptional activation by p73 has been demonstrated for more than fifty p53 targets in yeast and/or human cancer cell lines. It has also been shown previously that p53 binding to DNA is strongly dependent on DNA topology and the presence of inverted repeats that can form DNA cruciforms, but whether p73 transcriptional activity has similar dependence has not been investigated. Therefore, we evaluated p73 binding to a set of p53-response elements with identical theoretical binding affinity in their linear state, but different probabilities to form extra helical structures. We show by a yeast-based assay that transactivation in vivo correlated more with the relative propensity of a response element to form cruciforms than to its expected in vitro DNA binding affinity. Structural features of p73 target sites are therefore likely to be an important determinant of its transactivation function.

• MeSH
• aktivace transkripce MeSH
• konformace nukleové kyseliny MeSH
• kvasinky genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 metabolismus   MeSH
• obrácené repetice * MeSH
• protein p73 chemie   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• sekvence nukleotidů MeSH
• vazba proteinů MeSH
• vazebná místa * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 MeSH
• protein p73 MeSH

p53 plays critical roles in regulating cell cycle, apoptosis, senescence and metabolism and is commonly mutated in human cancer. These roles are achieved by interaction with other proteins, but particularly by interaction with DNA. As a transcription factor, p53 is well known to bind consensus target sequences in linear B-DNA. Recent findings indicate that p53 binds with higher affinity to target sequences that form cruciform DNA structure. Moreover, p53 binds very tightly to non-B DNA structures and local DNA structures are increasingly recognized to influence the activity of wild-type and mutant p53. Apart from cruciform structures, p53 binds to quadruplex DNA, triplex DNA, DNA loops, bulged DNA and hemicatenane DNA. In this review, we describe local DNA structures and summarize information about interactions of p53 with these structural DNA motifs. These recent data provide important insights into the complexity of the p53 pathway and the functional consequences of wild-type and mutant p53 activation in normal and tumor cells.

• Klíčová slova
• local DNA structures, p53 protein, protein-DNA interactions,
• MeSH
• B-DNA MeSH
• DNA chemie   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• konformace nukleové kyseliny * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• vazba proteinů MeSH
• vazebná místa MeSH
• vztahy mezi strukturou a aktivitou MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• B-DNA MeSH
• DNA MeSH
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 MeSH
• triplex DNA MeSH Prohlížeč

BACKGROUND: The breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 encodes a multifunctional tumor suppressor protein BRCA1, which is involved in regulating cellular processes such as cell cycle, transcription, DNA repair, DNA damage response and chromatin remodeling. BRCA1 protein, located primarily in cell nuclei, interacts with multiple proteins and various DNA targets. It has been demonstrated that BRCA1 protein binds to damaged DNA and plays a role in the transcriptional regulation of downstream target genes. As a key protein in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks, the BRCA1-DNA binding properties, however, have not been reported in detail. RESULTS: In this study, we provided detailed analyses of BRCA1 protein (DNA-binding domain, amino acid residues 444-1057) binding to topologically constrained non-B DNA structures (e.g. cruciform, triplex and quadruplex). Using electrophoretic retardation assay, atomic force microscopy and DNA binding competition assay, we showed the greatest preference of the BRCA1 DNA-binding domain to cruciform structure, followed by DNA quadruplex, with the weakest affinity to double stranded B-DNA and single stranded DNA. While preference of the BRCA1 protein to cruciform structures has been reported previously, our observations demonstrated for the first time a preferential binding of the BRCA1 protein also to triplex and quadruplex DNAs, including its visualization by atomic force microscopy. CONCLUSIONS: Our discovery highlights a direct BRCA1 protein interaction with DNA. When compared to double stranded DNA, such a strong preference of the BRCA1 protein to cruciform and quadruplex structures suggests its importance in biology and may thus shed insight into the role of these interactions in cell regulation and maintenance.

• Klíčová slova
• BRCA1 protein, DNA binding, Protein-DNA complex,
• MeSH
• B-DNA chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• konformace nukleové kyseliny MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• protein BRCA1 chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• proteinové domény MeSH
• vazba proteinů MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• B-DNA MeSH
• BRCA1 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• protein BRCA1 MeSH

A study of the effects of salt conditions on the association and dissociation of wild type p53 with different ~3 kbp long plasmid DNA substrates (supercoiled, relaxed circular and linear, containing or lacking a specific p53 binding site, p53CON) using immunoprecipitation at magnetic beads is presented. Salt concentrations above 200 mM strongly affected association of the p53 protein to any plasmid DNA substrate. Strikingly different behavior was observed when dissociation of pre-formed p53-DNA complexes in increased salt concentrations was studied. While contribution from the p53CON to the stability of the p53-DNA complexes was detected between 100 and 170 mM KCl, p53 complexes with circular DNAs (but not linear) exhibited considerable resistance towards salt treatment for KCl concentrations as high as 2 M provided that the p53 basic C-terminal DNA binding site (CTDBS) was available for DNA binding. On the contrary, when the CTDBS was blocked by antibody used for immunoprecipitation, all p53-DNA complexes were completely dissociated from the p53 protein in KCl concentrations≥200 mM under the same conditions. These observations suggest: (a) different ways for association and dissociation of the p53-DNA complexes in the presence of the CTDBS; and (b) a critical role for a sliding mechanism, mediated by the C-terminal domain, in the dissociation process.

• MeSH
• chlorid draselný farmakologie   MeSH
• konformace nukleové kyseliny MeSH
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 metabolismus   MeSH
• plazmidy chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• soli farmakologie   MeSH
• vazba proteinů účinky léků   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• chlorid draselný MeSH
• nádorový supresorový protein p53 MeSH
• soli MeSH

Four-stranded DNA structures were structurally characterized in vitro by NMR, X-ray and Circular Dichroism spectroscopy in detail. Among the different types of quadruplexes (i-Motifs, minor groove quadruplexes, G-quadruplexes, etc.), the best described are G-quadruplexes which are featured by Hoogsteen base-paring. Sequences with the potential to form quadruplexes are widely present in genome of all organisms. They are found often in repetitive sequences such as telomeric ones, and also in promoter regions and 5' non-coding sequences. Recently, many proteins with binding affinity to G-quadruplexes have been identified. One of the initially portrayed G-rich regions, the human telomeric sequence (TTAGGG)n, is recognized by many proteins which can modulate telomerase activity. Sequences with the potential to form G-quadruplexes are often located in promoter regions of various oncogenes. The NHE III1 region of the c-MYC promoter has been shown to interact with nucleolin protein as well as other G-quadruplex-binding proteins. A number of G-rich sequences are also present in promoter region of estrogen receptor alpha. In addition to DNA quadruplexes, RNA quadruplexes, which are critical in translational regulation, have also been predicted and observed. For example, the RNA quadruplex formation in telomere-repeat-containing RNA is involved in interaction with TRF2 (telomere repeat binding factor 2) and plays key role in telomere regulation. All these fundamental examples suggest the importance of quadruplex structures in cell processes and their understanding may provide better insight into aging and disease development.

• MeSH
• DNA vazebné proteiny chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• DNA chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• G-kvadruplexy * MeSH
• konformace nukleové kyseliny MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• promotorové oblasti (genetika) MeSH
• RNA chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• stárnutí MeSH
• telomery MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• DNA vazebné proteiny MeSH
• DNA MeSH
• RNA MeSH