U.S.-France Cooperative Research: Biochemical and Genetic Dissection of Tn10 Transposon Termini

该奖项将支持哈佛大学Nancy Kleckner教授和巴黎巴斯德研究所Olivier Huisman博士在突变蛋白基因分析领域的合作研究。这项工作的目的是在一个基因片段的末端DNA序列的结构和功能解剖，这是能够从一个地方移动到另一个地方的生物体的染色体。这样的基因片段被称为转座子；在这项工作中要研究的特定转座子称为Tn10。转座子的转位导致突变，发生的突变需要用遗传学和生物化学的方法来研究。在后者中，对重要蛋白质与特定DNA序列结合的分析应该揭示特定突变对已知过程的影响。并且可以显示由于中间突变步骤而在反应中积累的新的中间产物。法国合作者在基因分析方面有相当丰富的经验。美国研究者将为该项目提供额外的材料，以及使用体外生化系统分析Tn10转位的专业知识。从这项研究中获得的关于DNA和蛋白质之间复杂相互作用的知识，可能会使我们对生命本身的产生和改变过程的理解取得更大的进展。

This award will support collaborative research between Prof. Nancy Kleckner of Harvard University and Dr. Olivier Huisman of the Institut Pasteur, Paris, in the area of genetic analysis of mutant proteins. The objective of this work is the structural and functional dissection of DNA sequences at the ends of a gene segment, which is capable of moving from place to place in the chromosomes of an organism. Such a gene segment is called a transposon; the particular transposon to be studied in this work is called Tn10. Transposition of transposons leads to mutation, and the mutations which occur are to be studied by both genetic and biochemical methods. In the latter, assays for the binding of important proteins to specific DNA sequences should reveal the effects of specific mutations on known processes, and could show new intermediates in the reaction which might accumulate due to intermediate mutational steps. The French collaborators have considerable experience in genetic analysis. Additional materials, as well as expertise in use of an in vitro biochemical system for analysis of the Tn10 transposition, will be brought to the project by the U.S. investigator. The knowledge of complex interactions between DNA and proteins that is expected to result from this research could lead to enhanced progress in our understanding of the processes of the generation, and therefore of alteration, of life itself.