DNA-RNA Hybrid Antibody

DNA-RNA hybrids are a natural occurrence within eukaryotic cells and their level are high at sites of high transcriptional activity. They are non-canonical nucleic acid structures with transcriptional regulatory functions. Their presence is reported to predispose a locus to chromosomal breakage. A locus forming an DNA:RNA creates a double-stranded A/B intermediate conformation, with a second target for single-stranded nucleic acid binding proteins on the complementary, displaced DNA strand. They are shown to be resistant to the activity of DNA methyltransferases. The formation of DNA:RNA hybrids has been associated with a number of neurological diseases. Mutations in the DNA:RNA helicase senataxin (SETX) are implicated in the dominant juvenile form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis type 4 and a recessive form of ataxia oculomotor apraxia type 2. Clone S9.6 bound the DNA-RNA heteropolymer and poly (I) -poly (dC) equally, but 100-fold higher levels of poly (A) -poly (dT) were required to achieve a similar degree of binding. Single-stranded DNA, double-stranded DNA and RNA, and ribosomal RNA were not bound by clone S9.6 (Boguslawski, S.J., et al. (1986) . J. Immunol Methods. 89 (1) :123-130) .