Revised Escherichia coli selenocysteine insertion requirements determined by in vivo screening of combinatorial libraries of SECIS variants.

To investigate the stringency of the Escherichia coli selenocysteine insertion sequence (SECIS) requirements, libraries of SECIS variants were screened via a novel method in which suppression of the selenocysteine (Sec) opal codon was coupled to bacteriophage plaque formation. The SECIS variant libraries were designed with a mostly paired lower stem, so that randomization could be focused on the upper stem and loop regions. We identified 19 functional non-native SECIS sequences that violated the expected pairing requirements for the SECIS upper stem.

Testis-specific HMG-domain protein alters the responses of cells to cisplatin.

Cisplatin is an effective agent for the treatment of testicular cancer. In the present study with mouse testicular teratocarcinoma cell extracts, we observed a deficiency in nucleotide excision repair (NER) of a DNA probe bearing a cisplatin 1,2-d(GpG) intrastrand cross-link. In contrast, repair of the cisplatin 1,3-d(GpTpG) intrastrand cross-link was still active in these cell extracts.