Top

Published in:

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Editorial

The biological functions of DNA: from the sublime to the slime

Author: David S. Pisetsky

Published in: Arthritis Research & Therapy | Issue 1/2017

Excerpt

Of all the molecules in nature, DNA is the most exalted. The blueprint of life, DNA bears the genetic code inscribed in the famous double helix. The structure of DNA is elegant, magisterial, even sublime. In the conceptualization of DNA’s role in biology, two overarching ideas have long dominated. First, DNA is an informational macromolecule. Second, DNA’s locus of action is intracellular. In the past decades, this conceptualization has undergone a paradigm shift that has left many investigators positively shaking. …

Allesen-Holm M, Barken KB, Yang L, Klausen M, Webb JS, Kjelleberg S, et al. A characterization of DNA release in Pseudomonas aeruginosa cultures and biofilms. Mol Microbiol. 2006;59(4):1114–28.CrossRefPubMed

Das T, Sehar S, Manefield M. The roles of extracellular DNA in the structural integrity of extracellular polymeric substance and bacterial biofilm development. Environ Microbiol Rep. 2013;5(6):778–86.CrossRefPubMed

Flemming HC, Wingender J, Szewzyk U, Steinberg P, Rice SA, Kjelleberg S. Biofilms: an emergent form of bacterial life. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2016;14(9):563–75.CrossRefPubMed

Gallo PM, Rapsinski GJ, Wilson RP, Oppong GO, Sriram U, Goulian M, et al. Amyloid-DNA composites of bacterial biofilms stimulate autoimmunity. Immunity. 2015;42(6):1171–84.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

de Aldecoa AL I, Zafra O, Gonzalez-Pastor JE. Mechanisms and regulation of extracellular DNA release and its biological roles in microbial communities. Front Microbiol. 2017;8:1390.CrossRef

Schooling SR, Hubley A, Beveridge TJ. Interactions of DNA with biofilm-derived membrane vesicles. J Bacteriol. 2009;191(13):4097–102.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Turnbull L, Toyofuku M, Hynen AL, Kurosawa M, Pessi G, Petty NK, et al. Explosive cell lysis as a mechanism for the biogenesis of bacterial membrane vesicles and biofilms. Nat Commun. 2016;7:11220.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Tursi SA, Lee EY, Medeiros NJ, Lee MH, Nicastro LK, Buttaro B, et al. Bacterial amyloid curli acts as a carrier for DNA to elicit an autoimmune response via TLR2 and TLR9. PLoS Pathog. 2017;13(4), e1006315.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Vorkapic D, Pressler K, Schild S. Multifaceted roles of extracellular DNA in bacterial physiology. Curr Genet. 2016;62(1):71–9.CrossRefPubMed

10.

Whitchurch CB, Tolker-Nielsen T, Ragas PC, Mattick JS. Extracellular DNA required for bacterial biofilm formation. Science. 2002;295(5559):1487.CrossRefPubMed

Title: The biological functions of DNA: from the sublime to the slime
Author: David S. Pisetsky
Publication date: 01-12-2017
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: Arthritis Research & Therapy / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1478-6362
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13075-017-1464-0

ACC 2024 Congress Coverage

Heart Failure Video

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

The biological functions of DNA: from the sublime to the slime

Excerpt

ACC 2024 Congress Coverage

Year in Review: Heart failure and cardiomyopathies

Semaglutide benefits people with type 2 diabetes and obesity-related heart failure

Incentivised to exercise

New intervention for STEMI-related cardiogenic shock

» View more highlights on the ACC 2024 congress hub page

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Excerpt

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2017

Effect of FCGR polymorphism on the occurrence of late-onset neutropenia and flare-free survival in rheumatic patients treated with rituximab

Ultrasound verified inflammation and structural damage in patients with hereditary haemochromatosis-related arthropathy

Low levels of antibodies against common viruses associate with anti-citrullinated protein antibody-positive rheumatoid arthritis; implications for disease aetiology

T-bet+CD11c+ B cells are critical for antichromatin immunoglobulin G production in the development of lupus

RANK/RANKL/OPG system in the intervertebral disc

Changes in clinical disease activity are weakly linked to changes in MRI inflammation on treat-to-target escalation of therapy in rheumatoid arthritis

ACC 2024 Congress Coverage

Year in Review: Heart failure and cardiomyopathies

Semaglutide benefits people with type 2 diabetes and obesity-related heart failure

Incentivised to exercise

New intervention for STEMI-related cardiogenic shock

» View more highlights on the ACC 2024 congress hub page