Guanine is indispensable for immunoglobulin switch region RNA-DNA hybrid formation

J Electron Microsc (Tokyo). 2005 Aug;54(4):403-8. doi: 10.1093/jmicro/dfi058. Epub 2005 Sep 5.

Abstract

It is suggested that the formation of the switch (S) region RNA-DNA hybrid and the subsequent generation of higher-order chromatin structures including R-loop initiate a class switch recombination of the immunoglobulin gene. The primary factor of this recombination is the S-region derived noncoding RNA. However, the biochemical character of this guanine-rich (G-rich) transcript is poorly understood. The present study was performed to analyze the structure of this G-rich RNA using atomic force microscope (AFM). The in vitro transcribed S-region RNA was spread on a mica plate, air-dried and observed by non-contact mode AFM in air. The G-rich transcripts tend to aggregate on the template DNA and to generate a higher-order RNA-DNA complex. However, the transcripts that incorporated guanine analogues as substitutes for guanine neither aggregated nor generated higher-order structures. Incorporation of guanine analogues in transcribed RNA partially disrupts hydrogen bonds related to guanine, such as Watson-Crick GC-base pair and Hoogsteen bond GG-base pair. Thus, aggregation of S-region RNA and generation of the higher-order RNA-DNA complex are attributed to hydrogen bonds of guanine.

MeSH terms

  • DNA / chemistry
  • DNA / metabolism*
  • DNA / ultrastructure
  • Guanine / chemistry*
  • Immunoglobulin Class Switching
  • Immunoglobulin Switch Region / genetics*
  • Microscopy, Atomic Force / methods*
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation
  • RNA / chemistry*
  • RNA / metabolism*
  • RNA / ultrastructure
  • Recombination, Genetic*

Substances

  • Guanine
  • RNA
  • DNA