Methylation of the 5' flanking sequences of the ribosomal DNA in human cell lines and in a human-hamster hybrid cell line.

Autor: Dante R; Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48201., Percy ME, Baldini A, Markovic VD, Miller DA, Rocchi M, Niveleau A, Miller OJ
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of cellular biochemistry [J Cell Biochem] 1992 Dec; Vol. 50 (4), pp. 357-62.
DOI: 10.1002/jcb.240500404
Abstrakt: In a human lymphoblastoid cell line (Z83) in which rDNA genes on chromosome 22 are amplified but transcribed at a low level, immunocytological studies with antibodies to 5 methylcytidine provided evidence for hypermethylation of the rDNA. The extent of methylation of the 5' flanking sequences of the ribosomal DNA was examined by comparing the size of restriction fragments obtained by digestion of genomic DNA with EcoRI and HpaII or EcoRI and MspI. Southern blots indicated hypermethylation of the 5' flanking sequences of many copies of rRNA genes in these cells, but not in a control lymphoblastoid cell line without rDNA amplification. Results obtained with a somatic hybrid human-hamster cell line, in which the rRNA genes on the single human chromosome 22 are inactive, showed that only a small fraction of the CCGG sites in the 5' flanking sequences of the transcriptionally silent rRNA genes in this hybrid were methylated. Since inactive rRNA genes can show such a minimal level of methylation, it is likely that the extreme hypermethylation of the amplified rRNA genes in Z83 occurred in association with their inactivation rather than following it.
Databáze: MEDLINE