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Showing papers on "Alu element published in 1988"


Journal ArticleDOI
06 May 1988-Cell
TL;DR: This finding links genome organization with chromosome structure and function with the exception of some telomeric regions, and the chromosomal regions of simple sequence DNA, Alu and L1 are precisely inversely distributed, suggesting an inverse functional relationship.

563 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It appears that there has existed a series of conserved genes that are the primary sources of the Alu repeat family, presumably through retroposition, and these genes have probably replaced each other in overlapping relays during the evolution of primates.
Abstract: Alu repeated sequences arising in DNA of the human lineage during about the last 30 million years are closely similar to a modern consensus. Alu repeats arising at earlier times share correlated blocks of differences from the current consensus at diagnostic positions in the sequence. Using these 26 positions, we can recognize four subfamilies and the older ones are each successively closer to the 7SL sequence. It appears that there has existed a series of conserved genes that are the primary sources of the Alu repeat family, presumably through retroposition. These genes have probably replaced each other in overlapping relays during the evolution of primates.

352 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: These findings revise the previous picture of the Alu family and expose their complex evolutionary dynamics, and reveal sequence variations of potential importance for the proliferation of Alu repeats and relate them to their structural features.
Abstract: The Alu family of repeated sequences from the human genome contains two distinct subfamilies. This division is based on different base preferences in a number of diagnostic sequence positions. One subfamily of the sequences, referred to as the Alu-J subfamily, is very similar to 7SL DNA in these positions. The other subfamily, Alu-S, can be divided further into well-defined branches of sequences. These findings revise the previous picture of the Alu family and expose their complex evolutionary dynamics. They reveal sequence variations of potential importance for the proliferation of Alu repeats and relate them to their structural features. In addition, they open the possibility of using different types of Alu sequences as natural markers for studying genetic rearrangements in the genome.

346 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The nucleotide sequence of the human plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) gene and significant stretches of DNA which extend into its 5'-and 3'-flanking DNA regions are determined; a total sequence of 15,867 base pairs is presented.

170 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The gene for human platelet glycoprotein Ib alpha-chain has been cloned from a genomic cosmid library using a partial cDNA clone as probe and an exceptionally long exon was identical to the recently published cDNA sequence.

112 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The phylogenetic relationships of the sequences indicate that the human sequence shares a most recent coancestor with the chimpanzee sequence and that great apes have accumulated fewer mutations in this part of the genome than has the rhesus monkey.
Abstract: A 3.1-kb intergenic DNA fragment located between the VP-globin and 8-globin genes in the @globin gene cluster was cloned from gorilla, orangutan, rhesus monkey, and spider monkey, and the nucleotide sequence of each fragment was determined. The phylogeny of these four sequences, together with two previously published allelic sequences from humans and one from chimpanzee, was constructed, and the accumulation of mutations in the region was analyzed. The sites of base substitutions are not evenly distributed within the region: two Alu repeats have accumulated 0.2 1 + 0.02 substitutions/site with 0.15 + 0.008 substitutions/site in the remainder of the fragment. The occurrence of substitutions at neighboring sites is more frequent than would be expected if they were independent. The observed excesses disappear when ancestral -CC- dinucleotide sites are excluded. The phylogenetic relationships of the sequences indicate that the human sequence shares a most recent coancestor with the chimpanzee sequence. The data also show that great apes have accumulated fewer mutations in this part of the genome than has the rhesus monkey. The relative rates of accumulation of 12 kinds of nucleotide substitution in the region during primate evolution are asymmetric in the DNA strands. From these rates of accumulation, the origin of a simple stretch of sequence near the 3’ end of the 3. I-kb fragment was deduced to be a sequence comprising 50% T and 50% C on one strand. The two oppositely oriented Alu sequences in the 3.1-kb region were inserted at their present positions before the divergence of the New-World monkeys from other lineages. Our analysis shows that the nucleotide sequences of the two Alu repeats in spider monkey are unexpectedly similar both to each other and to the deduced ancestral sequence of Alu repeats. The data suggest that there has been some type of recombinational event between the spider monkey Alu repeats but that it was not a simple gene conversion.

96 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: DNA sequence analysis demonstrates that the deletion in a patient with ADA-deficient SCID created a novel, complete Alu repeat by homologous recombination between two existing Alu repeats that flanked the deletion.
Abstract: In 15-20% of children with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), the underlying defect is adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency. The goal of this study was to determine the precise molecular defect in a patient with ADA-deficient SCID whom we previously have shown to have a total absence of ADA mRNA and a structural alteration of the ADA gene. By detailed Southern analysis, we now have determined that the structural alteration is a deletion of approximately 3.3 kb, which included exon 1 and the promoter region of the ADA gene. DNA sequence analysis demonstrates that the deletion created a novel, complete Alu repeat by homologous recombination between two existing Alu repeats that flanked the deletion. The 26-bp recombination joint in the Alu sequence includes the 10-bp "B" sequence homologous to the RNA polymerase III promoter. This is the first example of homologous recombination involving the B sequence in Alu repeats. Similar recombination events have been identified involving Alu repeats in which the recombination joint was located between the A and B sequences of the polymerase III split promoter. The nonrandom location of these events suggests that these segments may be hot spots for recombination.

88 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results indicate that the presence of highly homologous DNA sequences flanking GH1 predispose to recurrent unequal recombinational events presumably through chromosomal misalignment.
Abstract: Crossover sites resulting from unequal recombination within the human growth hormone (GH) gene cluster that cause GH1 gene deletions and isolated GH deficiency type 1A were localized in nine patients. In eight unrelated subjects homozygous for 6.7-kilobase (kb) deletions, the breakpoints are within two blocks of highly homologous DNA sequences that lie 5' and 3' to the GH1 gene. In seven of these eight cases, the breakpoints map within a 1250-base-pair (bp) region composed of 300-bp Alu sequences of 86% homology and flanking non-Alu sequences that are 600 and 300 bp in length and are of 96% and 88% homology, respectively. In the eighth patient, the breakpoints are 5' to these Alu repeats and are most likely within a 700-bp region of 96% homologous DNA sequences. In the ninth patient homozygous for a 7.6-kb deletion, the breakpoints are contained within a 29-bp perfect repeat lying 5' to GH1 and the human chorionic somatomammotropin pseudogene (CSHP1). Together, these results indicate that the presence of highly homologous DNA sequences flanking GH1 predispose to recurrent unequal recombinational events presumably through chromosomal misalignment.

87 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Although individual Alu family members are not under any apparent evolutionary constraint, the sequences of these active members are being moderately conserved.
Abstract: Three of the most recently inserted primate Alu family members are exceptionally closely related. Therefore, one, or a few, Alu family members are dominating the amplification process and the vast majority are not actively involved in retroposition. Although individual Alu family members are not under any apparent evolutionary constraint, the sequences of these active members are being moderately conserved.

81 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
15 Jul 1988-Cell
TL;DR: It is shown that UV irradiation increased the frequency of inactivated gpt genes in the fusion cells by 100-fold and created a 5 bp insertion site duplication in the coding region of the gpt gene.

37 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The SDS-induced nicking of DNA helix by Hela topoisomerase I in vitro has been studied and several tandemly arranged minirepeats of the form (TxAy)z, that are usually found at the 3' ends of the primate Alu family or Kpnl family repeats, can be cleaved efficiently in a regular pattern by the enzyme.
Abstract: The SDS-induced nicking of DNA helix by Hela topoisomerase I in vitro has been studied by using 2.9 kb of cloned human DNA as the substrate. The frequency of nicking is increased from 1/23 (nick/nt) to 1/19 (nick/nt) when camptothecin is present in the nicking reaction. The cytotoxic drug also induces DNA nicks without the addition of SDS. Although the consensus built from DNA sequences from -20 to +20 of more than one hundred of the nicking sites only shows a preference for T at position -1, the distributions of the topoisomerae I-cleavable sites among different categories of specific DNA sequences are apparently non- random. Long stretches of tandem (CA), A, or T residues, and the GC-rich promoter region of alpha 1 globin gene are all refractory to the nicking reaction. However, the nicking frequencies of short direct repeats flanking different Alu type sequences are as high as 1/6 (nick/nt). Finally, several tandemly arranged minirepeats of the form (TxAy)z, that are usually found at the 3' ends of the primate Alu family or Kpnl family repeats, can be cleaved efficiently in a regular pattern by the enzyme. These data are discussed in terms of the mode of recognition of DNA sequences/structures by topoisomerase I, and its possible roles in the nonhomologous insertion of repetitive DNA sequences.

Journal ArticleDOI
15 Nov 1988-Gene
TL;DR: A gene containing a transposon-like human repeat element, called THE 1, has been isolated and characterized, and a comparison suggests a retroviral-related mechanism of THE 1 insertion in the 3'-untranslated region of its message.



Journal Article
TL;DR: The dispersion of the Alu-family DNA repeats in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocytes from peripheral blood of normal donors as well as in nonstimulated bone marrow cells of four patients suffering from acute leukemia was studied by hybridization on metaphase chromosomes in situ.
Abstract: The dispersion of the Alu-family DNA repeats in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocytes from peripheral blood of normal donors as well as in nonstimulated bone marrow cells of four patients suffering from acute leukemia was studied by hybridization on metaphase chromosomes in situ. DNA of bacteriophage lambda CAR42 clone containing the insertion of at least 8 copies of Alu-family DNA-repeats and labelled with tritium was used as a probe in hybridization. All patients with acute leukemia had the same pattern of changes in hybridization of the bone marrow cells. It consists of silver grains clustering over 3q26, 8p12, 14q24. The pattern may reflect amplification transposition of Alu-family DNA repeats in the human genome connected with cellular differentiation or malignant transformation of blood cells.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The increase in Alu-transcripts in the early phase of insulin stimulation in hepatoma cells suggests that the Alu sequences may play some important regulatory roles in gene expression.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The distribution of the sites of recombinational resolution is inversely correlated with that of the gradient of sequence divergence, with only approximately 7% of the X recombinants resolved within the 3' third of theX blocks where two diverged Alu family repeats reside.
Abstract: Human alpha-thalassemia-2 genotype -alpha 4.2 is the result of meiotic recombination between two 1.3 kb long, homologous DNA segments, X(alpha 2) and X(alpha 1), located in the adult alpha globin locus. The two segments can also undergo intramolecular recombination on extrachromosomal vectors transfected into mitotically dividing primate cells (COS 7). The existence of a gradient of sequence divergence between X(alpha 2) and X(alpha 1) makes them an interesting system to study the relationship between efficiencies of homologous DNA recombination and the extent of dispersed and localized base mismatches. By partial restriction mapping and DNA sequencing of plasmids recombined in COS 7 cells and rescued from bacteria HB 101, we have determined the distribution of recombinational resolution sites along the two X blocks. Most, if not all, of the homologous recombination events between the two X blocks appear to be single crossing-over without efficient gene correction or repair of base mismatches. The distribution of the sites of recombinational resolution is inversely correlated with that of the gradient of sequence divergence, with only approximately 7% of the X recombinants resolved within the 3' third of the X blocks where two diverged Alu family repeats reside. The Alu sequence within which one of the X recombinants resolved is homologous to a previously characterized alpha thalassemia deletion point.