Restriction Enzymes

Restriction enzymes are bacterial proteins that recognize specific DNA sequences and cut DNA at or near the recognition site. These enzymes are widely used in molecular genetics for analyzing DNA and creating recombinant DNA molecules.

Biological Function and Historical Background

Restriction enzymes apparently evolved as a primitive immune system in bacteria. If viruses enter a bacterial cell containing restriction enzymes, the viral DNA is fragmented. Destruction of the viral DNA prevents destruction of the bacterial cell by the virus. The term "restriction" derives from the phenomenon in which bacterial viruses are restricted from replicating in certain strains of bacteria by enzymes that cleave the viral DNA, but leave the bacterial DNA untouched. In bacteria, restriction enzymes form a system with modification enzymes that methylate the bacterial DNA. Methylation of DNA at the recognition sequence typically protects the microbe from cleaving its own DNA.

Since the 1970s, restriction enzymes have had a very important role in recombinant DNA techniques, in both the creation and analysis of recombinant DNA molecules. The first restriction enzyme was isolated and characterized in 1968, and over 3,400 restriction enzymes have been discovered since. Of these enzymes, over 540 are currently commercially available.

Nomenclature and Classification

Restriction enzymes are named based on the organism in which they were discovered. For example, the enzyme Hind III was isolated from Haemophilus influenzae, strain Rd. The first three letters of the name are italicized because they abbreviate the genus and species names of the organism. The fourth letter typically comes from the bacterial strain designation. The Roman numerals are used to identify specific enzymes from bacteria that contain multiple restriction enzymes. Typically, the Roman numeral indicates the order in which restriction enzymes were discovered in a particular strain.

There are three classes of restriction enzymes, labeled types I, II, and III. Type I restriction systems consist of a single enzyme that performs both modification (methylation) and restriction activities. These enzymes recognize specific DNA sequences, but cleave the DNA strand randomly, at least 1,000 base pairs (bp) away from the recognition site. Type III restriction systems have separate enzymes for restriction and methylation, but these enzymes share a common subunit. These enzymes recognize specific DNA sequences, but cleave DNA at random sequences approximately twenty-five bp from the recognition sequence. Neither type I nor type III restriction systems have found much application in recombinant DNA techniques.

Type II restriction enzymes, in contrast, are heavily used in recombinant DNA techniques. Type II enzymes consist of single, separate proteins for restriction and modification. One enzyme recognizes and cuts DNA, the other enzyme recognizes and methylates the DNA. Type II restriction enzymes cleave the DNA sequence at the same site at which they recognize it. The only exception are type IIs (shifted) restriction enzymes, which cleave DNA on one side of the recognition sequence, within twenty nucleotides of the recognition site. Type II restriction enzymes discovered to date collectively recognize over 200 different DNA sequences.

Type II restriction enzymes can cleave DNA in one of three possible ways. In one case, these enzymes cleave both DNA strands in the middle of a recognition sequence, generating blunt ends. For example: (The notations 5′ and 3′ are used to indicate the orientation of a DNA molecule. The numbers 5 and 3 refer to specific carbon atoms in the deoxyribose sugar in DNA.)

These blunt ended fragments can be joined to any other DNA fragment with blunt ends, making these enzymes useful for certain types of DNA cloning experiments.

Type II restriction enzymes can also cleave DNA to leave a 3′ ("three prime") overhang. (An overhang means that the restriction enzyme leaves a short single-stranded "tail" of DNA at the site where the DNA was cut.) These 3′ overhanging ends can only join to another compatible 3′ overhanging end (that is, an end with the same sequence in the overhang). Finally, some type II enzymes can generate 5′ overhanging DNA ends, which can only be joined to a compatible 5′ end.

In the type II restriction enzymes discovered to date, the recognition sequences range from 4 bp to 9 bp long. Cleavage will not occur unless the full length of the recognition sequence is encountered. Enzymes with a short recognition sequence cut DNA frequently; restriction enzymes with 8 or 9 bp sequences typically cut DNA very infrequently, because these longer sequences are less common in the target DNA.

Use of Restriction Enzymes in Biotechnology

The ability of restriction enzymes to reproducibly cut DNA at specific sequences has led to the widespread use of these tools in many molecular genetics techniques. Restriction enzymes can be used to map DNA fragments or genomes. Mapping means determining the order of the restriction enzyme sites in the genome. These maps form a foundation for much other genetic analysis. Restriction enzymes are also frequently used to verify the identity of a specific DNA fragment, based on the known restriction enzyme sites that it contains.

Perhaps the most important use of restriction enzymes has been in the generation of recombinant DNA molecules, which are DNAs that consist of genes or DNA fragments from two different organisms. Typically, bacterial DNA in the form of a plasmid (a small, circular DNA molecule) is joined to another piece of DNA (a gene) from another organism of interest. Restriction enzymes are used at several points in this process. They are used to digest the DNA from the experimental organism, in order to prepare the DNA for cloning. Then a bacterial plasmid or bacterial virus is digested with an enzyme that yields compatible ends. These compatible ends could be blunt (no overhang), or have complementary overhanging sequences. DNA from the experimental organism is mixed with DNA from the plasmid or virus, and the DNAs are joined with an enzyme called DNA ligase. As noted above, the identity of the recombinant DNA molecule is often verified by restriction enzyme digestion.

Restriction enzymes also have applications in several methods for identifying individuals or strains of a particular species. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis is a technique for separating large DNA fragments, typically fragments resulting from digesting a bacterial genome with a rare-cutting restriction enzyme. The reproducible pattern of DNA bands that is produced can be used to distinguish different strains of bacteria, and help pinpoint if a particular strain was the cause of a widespread disease outbreak, for example.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis has been widely used for identification of individuals (humans and other species). In this technique, genomic DNA is isolated, digested with a restriction enzyme, separated by size in an agarose gel, then transferred to a membrane. The digested DNA on the membrane is allowed to bind to a radioactively or fluorescently labeled probe that targets specific sequences that are bracketed by restriction enzyme sites. The size of these fragments varies in different individuals, generating a "biological bar code" of restriction enzyme-digested DNA fragments, a pattern that is unique to each individual.

Restriction enzymes are likely to remain an important tool in modern genetics. The reproducibility of restriction enzyme digestion has made these enzymes critical components of many important recombinant DNA techniques.

Patrick G. Guilfoile

Bibliography

Bloom, Mark V., Greg A. Freyer, and David A. Micklos. Laboratory DNA Science: An Introduction to Recombinant DNA Techniques and Methods of Genome Analysis. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley, 1996.

Cooper, Geoffrey. The Cell: A Molecular Approach. Washington, DC: ASM Press, 1997.

Kreuzer, Helen, and Adrianne Massey. Recombinant DNA and Biotechnology, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: ASM Press, 2000.

Lodish, Harvey, et al. Molecular Cell Biology, 4th ed. New York: W. H. Freeman, 2000.

Old, R. W., and S. B. Primrose. Principles of Gene Manipulation, 5th ed. London: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1994.

Internet Resource

Roberts, Richard J., and Dana Macelis. Rebase. <http://rebase.neb.com>.