Effects of analogs of the DNA minor groove binder Hoechst 33258 on topoisomerase II and I mediated activities

Developing minor groove-binding drugs to selectively inhibit transcription factor (TF)͞DNA interactions and accompanying gene expression is a current goal in drug development studies. Equipping minor groove-binding agents with positively charged, major groove-contacting side chains yields microgonotropens (MGTs). Previously, we demonstrated that MGTs were superior inhibitors of TF͞DNA complexes in cell-free assays compared with ''classical'' groove binders, but MGTs showed limited ability to inhibit gene expression. To determine what chemical characteristics contribute to or improve activity, we evaluate five MGTs for their effectiveness in inhibiting TF complex formation and resultant transcription by using the c-fos serum response element (SRE) as a target. MGT L1 binds DNA via a bisbenzimidazole equipped with a tripyrrole moiety. It is compared with analog L2, which has been functionalized with propylamines on each of the three pyrroles. L2, which binds DNA at subpicomolar concentrations, was at least three orders of magnitude more potent than L1 at inhibiting TF binding to the c-fos SRE in cell-free assays. Unlike L1 and previous MGTs, L2 also inhibited endogenous c-fos expression in NIH 3T3 cells at micromolar levels. Structure͞activity relationships suggest that, although the tripyrrole͞polyamine functional group of L2 may be largely responsible for its inhibition of TF complexes in cell-free assays, its bisbenzimidazole moiety appears to impart improved cellular uptake and activity. These findings make L2 a promising lead candidate for future, rational MGT design.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Effect Of the Agents On Cellular Gene Expressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Inhibition of transcription factor-DNA complexes and gene expression by a microgonotropen

White

Satz

Bruice

et al. 2001

“…Furthermore, fluorescent visualization of cell viability for drug screening often requires the use of cell-permeant minor-groove binding dyes. However, it has been reported that these minor-groove DNA-binding dyes, including Hoechst 33342, induce DNA fragmentation by disrupting the activity of topoisomerase I (35,36). These effects are observed independently from the fluorescence excitation of the dye but are accelerated upon UV excitation (36).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Label-free imaging of the native, living cellular nanoarchitecture using partial-wave spectroscopic microscopy

Almassalha

Bauer

Chandler

et al. 2016

The organization of chromatin is a regulator of molecular processes including transcription, replication, and DNA repair. The structures within chromatin that regulate these processes span from the nucleosomal (10-nm) to the chromosomal (>200-nm) levels, with little known about the dynamics of chromatin structure between these scales due to a lack of quantitative imaging technique in live cells. Previous work using partial-wave spectroscopic (PWS) microscopy, a quantitative imaging technique with sensitivity to macromolecular organization between 20 and 200 nm, has shown that transformation of chromatin at these length scales is a fundamental event during carcinogenesis. As the dynamics of chromatin likely play a critical regulatory role in cellular function, it is critical to develop live-cell imaging techniques that can probe the real-time temporal behavior of the chromatin nanoarchitecture. Therefore, we developed a livecell PWS technique that allows high-throughput, label-free study of the causal relationship between nanoscale organization and molecular function in real time. In this work, we use live-cell PWS to study the change in chromatin structure due to DNA damage and expand on the link between metabolic function and the structure of higherorder chromatin. In particular, we studied the temporal changes to chromatin during UV light exposure, show that live-cell DNA-binding dyes induce damage to chromatin within seconds, and demonstrate a direct link between higher-order chromatin structure and mitochondrial membrane potential. Because biological function is tightly paired with structure, live-cell PWS is a powerful tool to study the nanoscale structure-function relationship in live cells.E very cellular and extracellular structure has a complex nanoscale organization ranging from individual macromolecules that are a few nanometers in size (e.g., protein and DNA) to macromolecular assemblies that are tens to hundreds of nanometers in size (e.g., cell membranes, higher-order chromatin structure, cytoskeleton, and extracellular matrix fibers). A major scientific challenge is to understand these macromolecular structures, specifically their function and interactions in structurally and dynamically complex living cellular systems. To meet these goals, the ideal live-cell imaging technology would satisfy six key requirements: being (i) nanoscale sensitive (<200 nm), (ii) label free, (iii) nonperturbing, (iv) quantitative, (v) high throughput, and (vi) molecularly informative.Current approaches are unable to meet all of these criteria alone. The breakthroughs in superresolution fluorescence microscopy (SRM) have enabled new imaging technologies capable of providing unprecedented molecular identification at the highest resolutions currently available in live cells, but require the use of exogenous fluorophores to visualize macromolecular structures (1-3). For some applications, these labels are indispensable to achieve molecular specificity. However, there are significant drawbacks to the exclusive use of molec...

“…To date, the vast majority of strategies used to image structures formed by nucleic acids require methods that label DNA-associated proteins instead of DNA itself or use small molecules that may alter the structure and function of the native structures (15,16). For superresolution imaging, most methods take advantage of the wider availability of protein labeling, thereby using proteins commonly conjugated with nucleic acids, such as histone 2B (H2B) in eukaryotic cells (13), centromeric partition protein in bacteria (14), or centromere-associated proteins to target specific regions of chromosomes (12).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Superresolution intrinsic fluorescence imaging of chromatin utilizing native, unmodified nucleic acids for contrast

Dong

Almassalha

Stypula-Cyrus

et al. 2016

Visualizing the nanoscale intracellular structures formed by nucleic acids, such as chromatin, in nonperturbed, structurally and dynamically complex cellular systems, will help expand our understanding of biological processes and open the next frontier for biological discovery. Traditional superresolution techniques to visualize subdiffractional macromolecular structures formed by nucleic acids require exogenous labels that may perturb cell function and change the very molecular processes they intend to study, especially at the extremely high label densities required for superresolution. However, despite tremendous interest and demonstrated need, label-free optical superresolution imaging of nucleotide topology under native nonperturbing conditions has never been possible. Here we investigate a photoswitching process of native nucleotides and present the demonstration of subdiffraction-resolution imaging of cellular structures using intrinsic contrast from unmodified DNA based on the principle of single-molecule photon localization microscopy (PLM). Using DNA-PLM, we achieved nanoscopic imaging of interphase nuclei and mitotic chromosomes, allowing a quantitative analysis of the DNA occupancy level and a subdiffractional analysis of the chromosomal organization. This study may pave a new way for label-free superresolution nanoscopic imaging of macromolecular structures with nucleotide topologies and could contribute to the development of new DNA-based contrast agents for superresolution imaging.superresolution fluorescence microscopy | label-free imaging | nucleic acids | chromatin topology | chromosome A dvances in genomics and molecular biology over the past decades revolutionized our knowledge of biological systems. Despite our expanded understanding of biological interactions, there continues to be a limited understanding of these complex molecular processes in nonperturbed, structurally and dynamically complex cellular systems (1). As such, it is of critical importance to develop methods that allow direct visualization of nanoscale structures where these processes take place in their native states. Recently, superresolution fluorescence microscopy techniques, including stimulated emission depletion microscopy, structured illumination microscopy, and photon localization microscopy (PLM), such as photoactivated localization microscopy and stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM), have extended the ultimate resolving power of optical microscopy far beyond the diffraction limit (2-6), facilitating access to the organization of cells at the nanoscale by optical means. Although superresolution imaging of biological structures using labeled proteins has been well documented due to a wide range of methodologies that provide desirable labeling properties (7,8), and despite tremendous interest and demonstrated need, there are few nanoscopic methods to image macromolecular structures formed by nucleic acids due to constraints in labeling (9-14). Likewise, the limited techniques that currently exist cannot ...