Characterization of DNA–Hv1 histone interactions; discrimination of DNA size and shape

Papadakis, George; Tsortos, Achilleas; Mitsakakis, Konstantinos; Gizeli, Electra

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2010.01.030

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Volume 584, Issue 5 , Pages 935-940, 5 March 2010

Characterization of DNA–Hv1 histone interactions; discrimination of DNA size and shape

Edited by Richard Cogdell

George Papadakis
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Vassilika Vouton, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
Achilleas Tsortos
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Vassilika Vouton, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
Konstantinos Mitsakakis
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Vassilika Vouton, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
- Department of Materials Science and Technology, University of Crete, Vassilika Vouton, 71003 Heraklion, Greece
Electra Gizeli
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Vassilika Vouton, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
- Department of Biology, University of Crete, Vassilika Vouton, 71409 Heraklion, Greece
- Corresponding author. Address: University of Crete, Department of Biology, Vassilika Vouton, 394408 Heraklion, Greece. Fax: +30 2810 394408.

Received 29 September 2009; received in revised form 14 January 2010; accepted 14 January 2010. published online 18 January 2010.

Abstract

We have studied the formation of histone Hv1–DNA complexes using an acoustic biosensor and AFM imaging. Our results show that DNA and histone molecules aggregate into amorphous accumulations which form a compact rigid layer on the sensor’s surface. By measuring changes in the acoustic wave amplitude, it was possible to titrate surface bound DNA with Hv1 and discriminate between DNA molecules of different size and shape. From the kinetic analysis of real time data, K_eq was found equal to 3×10⁵M⁻¹.