Molecular understanding of aluminum-induced topological changes in (CCG)12 triplet repeats:: relevance to neurological disorders

Recent studies have shown that gene mutations are involved in the pathology of neurological disorders. CCG repeats cause genetic instability and are localized at the 5' end of the non-coding regions of the FMR1 gene in fragile X syndrome. Our studies for the first time showed that aluminum (Al) levels were elevated in the serum samples of fragile X syndrome and also provide evidence for the interaction of aluminum with (CCG)(12)-repeats. Circular dichroism spectroscopic studies of (CCG)(12) indicated B-DNA conformation and in the presence of Al (10(-5) M) CCG repeats attained Z-DNA conformation. Further spectroscopic studies, which included melting profiles, ethidium bromide binding patterns and interaction of Z-DNA specific polyclonal antibodies confirmed the Z-conformation in (CCG)(12)-repeats in the presence of Al (10(-5) M). It is interesting to mention that Al-induced Z-conformation is stable even after the total removal of Al from CCG by desferoximine, a chelating drug. This is the first report to proof the role of Al in modulating the DNA (CCG repeats) topology and this information provides a clue about the possible involvement of Al at a molecular level in neurological/neurodegenerative disorders. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.