@phdthesis{Spohn1999,
  author    = {Spohn, Gunther},
  title     = {The transcriptional control of virulence gene expression in Helicobacter pylori},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-2334},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {1999},
  abstract  = {The Gram-negative, spiral-shaped, microaerophilic bacterium Helicobacter pylori is the causative agent of various disorders of the upper gastrointestinal tract, such as chronic superficial gastritis, chronic active gastritis, peptic ulceration and adenocarcinoma. Although many of the bacterial factors associated with disease development have been analysed in some detail in the recent years, very few studies have focused so far on the mechanisms that regulate expression of these factors at the molecular level. In an attempt to obtain an overview of the basic mechanisms of virulence gene expression in H. pylori, three important virulence factors of this pathogen, representative of different pathogenic mechanisms and different phases of the infectious process, are investigated in detail in the present thesis regarding their transcriptional regulation. As an essential factor for the early phase of infection, including the colonisation of the gastric mucosa, the flagella are analysed; the chaperones including the putative adhesion factors GroEL and DnaK are investigated as representatives of the phase of adherence to the gastric epithelium and persistence in the mucus layer; and finally the cytotoxin associated antigen CagA is analysed as representative of the cag pathogenicity island, which is supposed to account for the phenomena of chronic inflammation and tissue damage observed in the later phases of infection. RNA analyses and in vitro transcription demonstrate that a single promoter regulates expression of cagA, while two promoters are responsible for expression of the upstream divergently transcribed cagB gene. All three promoters are shown to be recognised by RNA polymerase containing the vegetative sigma factor sigma 80. Promoter deletion analyses establish that full activation of the cagA promoter requires sequences up to -70 and binding of the C-terminal portion of the alpha subunit of RNA polymerase to an UP-like element located between -40 and -60, while full activation of the major cagB promoter requires sequences upstream of -96 which overlap with the cagA promoter. These data suggest that the promoters of the pathogenicity island represent a class of minimum promoters, that ensure a basic level of transcription, while full activation requires regulatory elements or structural DNA binding proteins that provide a suitable DNA context. Regarding flagellar biosynthesis, a master transcriptional factor is identified that regulates expression of a series of flagellar basal body and hook genes in concert with the alternative sigma factor sigma 54. Evidence is provided that this regulator, designated FlgR (for flagellar regulatory protein), is necessary for motility and transcription of five promoters for seven basal body and hook genes. In addition, FlgR is shown to act as a repressor of transcription of the sigma 28-regulated promoter of the flaA gene, while changes in DNA topology are shown to affect transcription of the sigma 54-regulated flaB promoter. These data indicate that the regulatory network that governs flagellar gene expression in H. pylori shows similarities to the systems of both Salmonella spp. and Caulobacter crescentus. In contrast to the flagellar genes which are regulated by three different sigma factors, the three operons encoding the major chaperones of H. pylori are shown to be transcribed by RNA polymerase containing the vegetative sigma factor sigma 80. Expression of these operons is shown to be regulated negatively by the transcriptional repressor HspR, a homologue of a repressor protein of Streptomyces spp., known to be involved in negative regulation of heat shock genes. In vitro studies with purified recombinant HspR establish that the protein represses transcription by binding to large DNA regions centered around the transcription initiation site in the case of one promoter, and around -85 and -120 in the case of the the other two promoters. In contrast to the situation in Streptomyces, where transcription of HspR-regulated genes is induced in response to heat shock, transcription of the HspR-dependent genes in H. pylori is not inducible with thermal stimuli. Transcription of two of the three chaperone encoding operons is induced by osmotic shock, while transcription of the third operon, although HspR-dependent, is not affected by salt treatment. Taken together, the analyses carried out indicate that H. pylori has reduced its repertoire of specific regulatory proteins to a basic level that may ensure coordinate regulation of those factors that are necessary during the initial phase of infection including the passage through the gastric lumen and the colonisation of the gastric mucosa. The importance of DNA topology and/or context for transcription of many virulence gene promoters may on the other hand indicate, that a sophisticated global regulatory network is present in H. pylori, which influences transcription of specific subsets of virulence genes in response to changes in the microenvironment.},
  subject      = {Helicobacter-pylori-Infektion},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Niederfuehr1999,
  author    = {Niederf{\"u}hr, Alexandra},
  title     = {Expressionskartierung des menschlichen Chromosoms 11p13},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-1803},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {1999},
  abstract  = {In die Region p13 des menschlichen Chromosoms 11 kartieren mehrere krankheitsrelevante Gene wie das Wilms' Tumor Gen WT1 oder das f{\"u}r die Aniridie verantwortliche Gen PAX6. Beide Gene k{\"o}nnen bei Patienten mit dem WAGR-Syndrom deletiert sein, was das Auftreten von Wilms' Tumoren oder Aniridie bei diesen Patienten erkl{\"a}rt. Die genetische Ursache f{\"u}r weitere Symptome des WAGR-Syndroms, wie beispielsweise die geistige Retardierung, ist bisher nicht gekl{\"a}rt. Des weiteren wurden Allelverluste auf 11p13 in Verbindung mit verschiedenen Tumoren (Lunge, Blase, Brust, Ovar) beobachtet, ohne daß die urs{\"a}chlichen Gene hierf{\"u}r beschrieben werden konnten. Eine Kartierung und anschließende Sequenzierung dieser Region dient als Grundlage f{\"u}r die Identifizierung neuer Gene, die m{\"o}glicherweise im Zusammenhang mit diesen Krankheiten stehen. Mit dem Ziel der Sequenzierung dieser Region wurde ausgehend von einem YAC-Contig, das 8 Mb des Chromosoms 11p13-14.1 abdeckt, eine Feinkartierung der Region 11p13 durchgef{\"u}hrt. {\"U}ber ein Screening einer humanen PAC-Bibliothek mit 11p13-spezifischen Proben, wurden PAC-Klone erhalten, die aus dieser Region stammen. Mit einem Teil dieser Klone konnte mittels "chromosome walking" ein 4,5 Mb großes PAC-Contig erstellt werden. Zur Sequenzierung des Chromosomenabschnitts 11p13 am Sanger Centre/UK wurden die PAC-Klone des "minimal tiling path" gew{\"a}hlt. Auf der Grundlage des PAC-Contigs wurden auf experimentellem Weg mit Hilfe des Exontrappings neue Transkripte isoliert. Hierf{\"u}r wurden sechs PAC-Klone, die etwa 700 kb des Chromosoms 11p13 abdecken, herangezogen. Zus{\"a}tzlich wurden erste Sequenzabschnitte (insgesamt ca. 640 kb) der PAC-Klone {\"u}ber eine computergest{\"u}tze Auswertung mit dem Programmpaket NIX/HGMP analysiert. Insgesamt konnten mit Hilfe des Exontrappings und der in silico Analyse f{\"u}nf neue potentielle Transkripte identifiziert werden. Eine erste Untersuchung dieser Transkripte wurde mit Hilfe von Datenbankvergleichen und Expressionsstudien auf Northern Blots und in situ Hybridisierungen durchgef{\"u}hrt. Aussagen {\"u}ber eine m{\"o}gliche Funktion konnten bei zwei der identifizierten Transkripte anhand von Datenbankvergleichen getroffen werden. Es handelt sich zum einen um ein Transkript mit Homologien zum Gen cca3 aus der Ratte, f{\"u}r das aufgrund der enthaltenen BTB-Dom{\"a}ne eine regulatorische Funktion auf DNA-Ebene postuliert werden kann. Zum anderen wurde ein Gen mit {\"A}hnlichkeiten zu einem Transkript aus Achlya ambisexualis isoliert. Letzteres besitzt m{\"o}glicherweise die Funktion eines Steroidrezeptors. Zus{\"a}tzlich zu den hier beschriebenen Transkripten, k{\"o}nnen aus dem erstellten PAC-Contig neue Gene auf der Basis von cDNA-Selektion, Exontrapping oder, nach Fertigstellung der gesamten Sequenz, {\"u}ber in silico Analysen identifiziert werden.},
  subject      = {Mensch},
  language  = {de}
}