A cloned gene, designated nfo, caused overproduction of an EDTA-resistant endonuclease specific for apurinic-apyrimidinic sites in DNA. The sedimentation coefficient of the enzyme was similar to that of endonuclease IV. An insertion mutation was constructed in vitro and transferred from a plasmid to the Escherichia coli chromosome. nfo mutants had an increased sensitivity to the alkylating agents methyl methanesulfonate and mitomycin C and to the oxidants tert-butyl hydroperoxide and bleomycin. The nfo mutation enhanced the killing of xth (exonuclease III) mutants by methyl methanesulfonate, H202, tert-butyl hydroperoxide, and gamma rays, and it enhanced their mutability by methyl methanesulfonate. It also increased the temperature sensitivity of an xth dut (dUTPase) mutant that is defective in the repair of uracil-containing DNA. These results are consistent with earlier findings that endonuclease IV and exonuclease III both cleave DNA 5' to an apurinic-apyrimidinic site and that exonuclease III is more active. However, nfo mutants were more sensitive to tert-butyl hydroperoxide and to bleomycin than were xth mutants, suggesting that endonuclease IV might recognize some lesions that exonuclease III does not. The mutants displayed no marked increase in sensitivity to 254-nm UV radiation, and the addition of an nth (endonuclease III) mutation to nfo or nfo xth mutants did not significantly increase their sensitivity to any of the agents tested.Endonuclease IV (23) of Escherichia coli is an apurinicapyrimidinic (AP) DNA endonuclease, i.e., a DNase specific for apurinic and apyrimidinic sites in DNA. It catalyzes the cleavage of a phosphodiester bond 5' to the AP site and is an example of the most prevalent form of AP endonuclease found throughout nature. Within E. coli, however, the enzyme is a minor one; it accounts for no more than 10% of the AP endonucleolytic activity measured in crude extracts (24). The major AP endonucleolytic activity of E.

Human plasma contains a factor Xadependent inhibitor of tissue factor/factor VI~a complex termed lipoprotein-associated coagulation inhibitor (LACI). The present study examines the site(s) of LACI synthesis. In this study, cultured hepatocytes isolated from normal human liver were found to be essentially negative in LACI mRNA as revealed by Northern blot analysis using a full-length LACI cDNA as probe. The conditioned media from these cultures were also essentially negative for LACI activity. Similarly, poly(A)+ RNA obtained from normal human liver did not contain detectable LACI mRNA. In contrast, cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells and human lung tissue (rich in endothelium) both contained abundant amounts of LACI mRNA. Moreover, erythrocyte lysates and culture media from normal monocytes, lymphocytes, or neutrophils did not contain measurable LACI activity; these cells were also negative for LACI mRNA. Platelets, however, contained LACI activity. The likely source of platelet LACI is the megakaryocyte cell since a megakaryocyte cell line (MEG-01) was found to contain LACI mRNA and to secrete small amounts of LACI activity.Additionally, human vascular smooth muscle cells and lung fibroblasts were also found to synthesize only small amounts of LACI. From these observations, we conclude that normal liver does not synthesize LACI and that endothelium is the principal source of plasma LACI. The undegraded LACI synthesized by endothelial cells had a molecular weight of 41,000.

In this report, we describe an approach to detect the presence of abnormal alleles in those genetic diseases in which frequency of occurrence of the same mutation is high (e.g., cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease), and in others in which multiple mutations cause the disease and the sequence variation in an affected member of a given family is known (e.g., hemophilia B). Initially, from each subject, the DNA fragment containing the putative mutation site is amplified by the polymerase chain reaction. For each fragment two reaction mixtures are then prepared. Each contains the amplified fragment, a primer (18-mer or longer) whose sequence is identical to the coding sequence of the normal gene immediately flanking the 5' end of the mutation site, and either an a-32P-labeled nucleotide corresponding to the normal coding sequence at the mutation site or an a-32P-labeled nucleotide corresponding to the mutant sequence. Single nucleotide primer extensions are then carried out and analyzed by denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. As predicted by the Watson-Crick base-pair rule, in the wild type only the normal base, in an affected member only the mutant base, and in carriers both the normal and the mutant base are incorporated into the primer. Thus, an essential feature of the present methodology is that the base immediately 3' to the template-bound primer is one of those altered in the mutant, since in this way an extension of the primer by a single base will give an extended molecule characteristic of either the mutant or the wild type. The method is rapid and should be useful in carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis of every genetic disease with a known sequence variation.One goal of molecular biology is to identify the mutations that cause genetic diseases and to develop strategies and related technologies to diagnose them. Toward this end, in the past decade or so many methodological advances have been made to detect the human genetic abnormalities at the DNA level. These include indirect methods such as linkage analysis by the Southern blotting technique (1) in which the inheritance of a disorder is associated with the presence of a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)-e.g., Duchenne muscular dystrophy (2). Other indirect methods include RNase A cleavage at mismatches in probe RNA-sample DNA duplexes or denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis for mismatches in probe DNA-sample DNA duplexes-e.g., 3-thalassemia (3, 4). The direct methods include detection with the restriction enzymes or with the allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO) probes-e.g., the sickle cell mutation (5, 6).A majority of the above approaches have now been combined with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for diagnosis of the sequence variations (7,8). Initially, the target DNA is amplified by PCR followed by analysis of the sequence variation by ASO hybridization (e.g., the sickle cell mutation; ref. 9), restriction enzyme analysis (e.g., the sickle cell mutation and a hemophilia B mutation;...

Previously, from the plasma of unrelated haemophilia-B patients, we isolated two non-functional Factor IX variants, namely Los Angeles (IXLA) and Long Beach (IXLB). Both variants could be cleaved to yield Factor IXa-like molecules, but were defective in catalysing the cleavage of Factor X (macromolecular substrate) and in binding to antithrombin III (macromolecular inhibitor). In the present study we have identified the mutation of IXLA by amplifying the exons (including flanking regions) as well as the 5' end of the gene by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) method and sequencing the amplified DNA by the dideoxy chain-termination method. Comparison of the normal IX and IXLA sequences revealed only one base substitution (T----C) in exon VIII of IXLA, with a predicted replacement of Ile-397 to Thr in the mature protein. This mutation is the same as found recently for IXLB. The observation that IXLB and IXLA have the same mutation is an unexpected finding, since, on the basis of their ox brain prothrombin time (PT, a test that measures the ability of the variant Factor IX molecules to inhibit the activation of Factor X by Factor VIIa-tissue factor complex), these variants have been classified into two different groups and were thought to be genetically different. Our observation thus suggests that the ox brain PT does not reflect the locus of mutation in the coding region of the variant molecules. However, our analysis suggests that the ox brain PT is related to Factor IX antigen concentration in the patient's plasma. Importantly, although the mutation in IXLA or IXLB protein is in the catalytic domain, purified IXaLA and IXaLB hydrolyse L-tosylarginine methyl ester at rates very similar to that of normal IXa. These data, in conjunction with our recent data on Factor IXBm Lake Elsinore (Ala-390----Val mutant), strengthen a conclusion that the peptide region containing residues 390-397 of normal Factor IXa plays an essential role in macromolecular substrate catalysis and inhibitor binding. However, the two mutations noted thus far in this region do not distort S1 binding site in the Factor IXa enzyme.

Factor IX is a multidomain protein essential for hemostasis. We describe a mutation in a patient affecting the first epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domain of the protein. All exons and the promoter region of the gene were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction method, and sequenced. Only a single mutation (C----G), that predicts the substitution of Pro55 by Ala in the first EGF domain was found in the patient's gene. This mutation leads to new restriction sites for four enzymes. One new site (Nsi) was tested in the amplified exon IV fragment and was shown to provide a rapid and reliable marker for carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis in the affected family. The factor IX protein, termed factor IXHollywood (IXHW), was isolated to homogeneity from the patient's plasma. As compared with normal factor IX (IXN), IXHW contained the same amount of gamma-carboxy glutamic acid but twice the amount of beta-OH aspartic acid. Both IXHW and IXN contained no detectable free -SH groups. Further, IXHW could be readily cleaved to yield a factor IXa-like molecule by factor Xla/Ca2+. However, IXaHW (compared with IXaN) activated factor X approximately twofold slower in the presence of Ca2+ and phospholipid (PL), and 8- to 12-fold slower in the presence of Ca2+, PL, and factor VIIIa. Additionally, IXaHW had only approximately 10% of the activity of IXaN in an aPTT assay. In agreement with the nuclear magnetic resonance- derived structure of EGF, the Chou-Fasman algorithm strongly predicted a beta turn involving residues Asn-Pro55-Cys-Leu in IXN. Replacement of Pro55 by Ala gave a fourfold decrease in the beta turn probability for this peptide, suggesting a change(s) in the secondary structure in the EGF domain of IXHW. Since this domain of IXN is thought to have one high-affinity Ca2+ binding site and may be involved in PL and/or factor VIIIa binding, the localized secondary structural changes in IXHW could lead to distortion of the binding site(s) for the cofactor(s) and, thus, a dysfunctional molecule.