The research proposed is aimed at understandng the chemical and cytological features of human chromosome structure, replication and the response to DNA damage. Fluorescent dyes, including new dyes with red fluorescence, will be used singly and in pairs, the latter sensing energy transfer, together with flow cytometry, to characterize better the DNA content, DNA replication kinetics, and chromatin condensation of normal and genetically abnormal cells (from patients with diseases (Fanconi's anemia (FA) and ataxia telangiectasia (AT), associated with a predisposition for the development of cancer), before and after DNA damage. Cytochemical detection of BrdU incorporation will contribute to this work and to experiments focusing on sister chromatid exchange (SCE) formation. Cytological and biochemical studies of factors, e.g. DNA methylation, which influence SCE formation, a sensitive index of cellular exposure to environmental mutagens, will be performed, and controlled damage(e.g. with psoralens) of DNA used to test hypotheses for the mechanism of SCE formation and to search for biochemical evidence of DNA interchange associated with SCE formation in defined DNA sequences. Cloned DNA probes complementary to highly amplified DNA sequences, localizable at a cytological level, and employed in Southern blots will be important for this work. Biochemical studies probing the repair defects in FA and AT are planned, as are DNA transformation experiments, using human DNA and rodent cells with DNA repair defects modelling these diseases, with the goal of better diagnosis and understanding of the genetic changes and molecular pathology of FA and AT. Analysis of DNA methylation, chromatin condensation, and DNA replication kinetics will also be extended to a molecular level to study the control of gene expression associated with human X chromosome inactivation. Several cloned genomic and cDNA probes, with homology to the human X, will be employed, together with quantitative Southern blotting, selective photodegradation of BrdU-substituted DNA sequences, northern blotting, digestion of DNA with isoschizomer restriction enzyme pairs, DNA'se digestion of chromatin, and protein analysis on flow sorted active and inactive human X chromosomes to investigate the molecular correlates and mechanism of X inactivation, particularly as they vary between different regions of the X or different cell types. The results should aid diagnosis and understanding of the phenotypic consequences of human X chromosome abnormalities.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM033579-06
Application #
3283481
Study Section
Mammalian Genetics Study Section (MGN)
Project Start
1983-01-01
Project End
1989-01-31
Budget Start
1987-02-01
Budget End
1988-01-31
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
1987
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Children's Hospital Boston
Department
Type
DUNS #
076593722
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02115
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Rudolph, N S; Latt, S A (1989) Flow cytometric analysis of X-ray sensitivity in ataxia telangiectasia. Mutat Res 211:31-41
Muller, U; Lalande, M; Donlon, T A et al. (1989) Breakage of the human Y-chromosome short arm between two blocks of tandemly repeated DNA sequences. Genomics 5:153-6
Heartlein, M W; Knoll, J H; Latt, S A (1988) Chromosome instability associated with human alphoid DNA transfected into the Chinese hamster genome. Mol Cell Biol 8:3611-8
Tsuji, H; Heartlein, M W; Latt, S A (1988) Disparate effects of 5-bromodeoxyuridine on sister-chromatid exchanges and chromosomal aberrations in Bloom syndrome fibroblasts. Mutat Res 198:241-53
Heartlein, M W; Tsuji, H; Latt, S A (1987) 5-Bromodeoxyuridine-dependent increase in sister chromatid exchange formation in Bloom's syndrome is associated with reduction in topoisomerase II activity. Exp Cell Res 169:245-54
Kaplan, L C; Wharton, R; Elias, E et al. (1987) Clinical heterogeneity associated with deletions in the long arm of chromosome 15: report of 3 new cases and their possible genetic significance. Am J Med Genet 28:45-53
Muller, U; Latt, S A; Donlon, T (1987) Y-specific DNA sequences in male patients with 46,XX and 47,XXX karyotypes. Am J Med Genet 28:393-401
Muller, U; Lalande, M; Donlon, T et al. (1986) Moderately repeated DNA sequences specific for the short arm of the human Y chromosome are present in XX males and reduced in copy number in an XY female. Nucleic Acids Res 14:1325-40
Muller, U; Donlon, T; Schmid, M et al. (1986) Deletion mapping of the testis determining locus with DNA probes in 46,XX males and in 46,XY and 46,X,dic(Y) females. Nucleic Acids Res 14:6489-505

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