Using Modified Synthetic Oligonucleotides to Assay Nucleic Acid-Metabolizing Enzymes

Summary

Here, a protocol for assaying nucleic acid metabolizing enzymes is presented, using examples of ligase, nuclease, and polymerase enzymes. The assay utilizes fluorescently labeled and unlabeled oligonucleotides that can be combined to form duplexes mimicking RNA and/or DNA damages or pathway intermediates, allowing for the characterization of enzyme behavior.

Abstract

The availability of a range of modified synthetic oligonucleotides from commercial vendors has allowed the development of sophisticated assays to characterize diverse properties of nucleic acid metabolizing enzymes that can be run in any standard molecular biology lab. The use of fluorescent labels has made these methods accessible to researchers with standard PAGE electrophoresis equipment and a fluorescent-enabled imager, without using radioactive materials or requiring a lab designed for the storage and preparation of radioactive materials, i.e., a Hot Lab. The optional addition of standard modifications such as phosphorylation can simplify assay setup, while the specific incorporation of modified nucleotides that mimic DNA damages or intermediates can be used to probe specific aspects of enzyme behavior. Here, the design and execution of assays to interrogate several aspects of DNA processing by enzymes using commercially available synthetic oligonucleotides are demonstrated. These include the ability of ligases to join or nucleases to degrade different DNA and RNA hybrid structures, differential cofactor usage by the DNA ligase, and evaluation of the DNA-binding capacity of enzymes. Factors to consider when designing synthetic nucleotide substrates are discussed, and a basic set of oligonucleotides that can be used for a range of nucleic acid ligase, polymerase, and nuclease enzyme assays are provided.

Introduction

All life forms require nucleic acid processing enzymes to carry out fundamental biological processes, including replication, transcription, and DNA repair. Key enzymatic functionalities for these pathways are polymerases, which generate copies of RNA/DNA molecules, ligases which join polynucleotide substrates, nucleases that degrade them, and helicases and topoisomerases, which melt nucleic acid duplexes or change their topology^1,2,3,4,5,6,....

Protocol

1. Design and purchase of oligonucleotides

NOTE: Design single-stranded oligonucleotides to be assembled and annealed into the desired duplexes. One or more of the strands in a duplex must bear a fluorescent moiety for tracking oligonucleotide processing by the enzyme of interest. A basis set of single-stranded sequences that can be assembled for a range of activities is provided in Table 1.

1. Incorporate the specific modifications needed for the enz.......

Discussion

Critical steps in the protocol
Oligonucleotide design and purchase: When purchasing the oligonucleotides for duplex formation, it is essential to consider sequence design. It is recommended to use an oligo analyzer tool to predict properties of the nucleotide sequence, such as GC content, melting temperature, secondary structure, and dimerization potential, before ordering⁵⁷.

Assembly and annealing of nucleic acid duplexes: When preparing RNA/RNA-.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
30% Acrylamide/Bis Solution (29:1)	BioRad	1610156
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)	Many suppliers
Ammonium persulfate (APS)	Many suppliers
Benchtop centrifuge	Many suppliers
Borate	Many suppliers
Bromophenol blue	Many suppliers
Dithiothreitol (DTT)	Many suppliers
Electrophoresis system with circulating water bath	Many suppliers
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)	Many suppliers
Fluoresnence imager, e.g. iBright FL1000	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A32752
Formamide	Many suppliers
Gel casting system	Many suppliers
Heating block	Many suppliers
Magnesium Chloride	Many suppliers		Other metal ions may be preferred depending on the protein studied
Microcentrifuge tubes (1.5 mL)	Many suppliers
Micropipettes and tips	Many suppliers		1 mL, 0.2 mL, 0.02 mL, 0.002 mL
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)	Many suppliers
Oligonucleotides	Integrated DNA Technologies	NA	Thermo Fisher, Sigma-Aldrich,  Genscript and others also supply these
pasture pipette	Many suppliers
PCR thermocycler	Many suppliers
PCR tubes	Many suppliers
RNAse away	ThermoFisher	7002PK	Only needed when working with RNA oligos
RNase AWAY	Merck	83931-250ML	Surfactant for removal of RNAse contamination on surfaces
RNAse-free water	New England Biolabs	B1500L	Only needed when working with RNA oligos
Sodium Chloride	Many suppliers
SUPERase IN RNase inhibitor	Thermo Fisher Scientific	AM2694	Broad spectrum RNAse inhibitir (protein-based)
SYBR Gold	Thermo Fisher Scientific	S11494	This may be used to post-stain gels and visualise unlabelled oligonucleotides
Tetramethylethylenediamine (TMED)	Many suppliers
Tris, or tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane	Many suppliers
Ultrapure water (Milli-Q)	Merck
urea	Many suppliers
Vortex	Many suppliers