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Biomedical subjects

J Laval

Publications and source records attributed to J Laval.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Fpg protein releases a ring-opened N-7 guanine adduct from DNA that has been modified by sulfur mustard.

Transfection of the Escherichia coli fpg gene into Chinese hamster ovary cells has been reported to enhance survival after exposure to aziridine (C. Cussac and F.Laval, 1996, Nucleic Acids Res., 24, 1742-1746). This result suggests that Fpg protein protects cells from toxicity by removing ring-opened N-7 guanine adducts from DNA, and raises the possibility that Fpg protein would offer protection from other agents that alkylate the N-7 position of guanine. Since the major adduct formed by sulfur mustard in DNA is 7-hydroxyethyl-thioethylguanine (HETEG), we have investigated the action of Fpg protein on the ring-opened form of this adduct (ro-HETEG). A substrate containing ro-HETEG was prepared by alkaline treatment of DNA modified by [14C]sulfur mustard. Fpg protein purified from an over-producing strain of E. coli released ro-HETEG from this substrate in an enzyme- and time-dependent manner, and at a rate that is similar to that at which it releases ring-opened 7-methylguanine. Thus, Fpg protein acts efficiently on ro-HETEG, and may offer some protection against the toxic action of sulfur mustard.

Adenine

Effects of nitrous acid treatment on the survival and mutagenesis of Escherichia coli cells lacking base excision repair (hypoxanthine-DNA glycosylase-ALK A protein) and/or nucleotide excision repair.

Deoxyinosine occurs in DNA by spontaneous deamination of adenine or by incorporation of dITP during replication. Hypoxanthine residues (HX) are mutagenic and give rise to A-T-->G-C transition. They are substrates for the Escherichia coli product of the alkA gene, the 3-methyl-adenine-DNA glycosylase II (ALK A protein). In mammalian cells and in yeast, HX is excised by the counterpart of ALK A protein, the ANPG or the MAG proteins respectively. We have investigated in vivo the contribution of the alkA gene to counteract the lethal and/or mutagenic effects of HX residues induced by nitrous acid treatment. Using an E.coli strain allowing the detection of A-T-->G-C transition, we show that the alkA mutant has a slightly increased spontaneous rate of mutation and about the same sensitivity when treated with HNO2 as compared with the wild-type strain. Using the E.coli alkA mutant carrying a multicopy plasmid expressing the ALK A protein or the ANPG protein, we barely observe any effect of HNO2 treatment on sensitivity and mutation rate of the bacteria. In contrast, the same experiment performed with a uvrA- strain, deficient in nucleotide excision repair (NER), shows that this mutant is extremely sensitive to HNO2 treatment. Furthermore, the sensitivity and the spontaneous mutation rate observed in the double mutant alkA- uvrA- are almost identical to those of the uvrA- mutant. Hence, NER has the major role in vivo for the repair of lethal and mutagenic lesions induced by HNO2.

Adenosine Triphosphatases

Gene-specific nuclear and mitochondrial repair of formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase-sensitive sites in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

This study examines the capacity of a mammalian cell to repair, at the gene level, DNA base lesions generated by photoactivation of acridine orange. Chinese hamster ovary fibroblasts were exposed to acridine orange and visible light, and gene-specific DNA repair was measured in the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene and in the mitochondrial genome. DNA lesions were recognized by Escherichia coli formamidepyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (FPG) which removes predominantly 8-oxodG and the corresponding formamidopyrimidine ring opened bases, and subsequently cleaves the DNA at the resulting apurinic site. FPG-recognized DNA lesions increased linearly with increasing photo-activation of AO, while cell survival was not affected by light alone and was negligibly affected by preincubation with AO in the dark. The frequency of induction of FPG-sensitive DNA damage by photoactivation of AO was similar in the transcribed and non-transcribed nuclear DNA as well as in the mitochondrial DNA. FPG-sensitive sites in the DHFR gene were repaired quickly, with 84% of adducts repaired within 4 h. The lesion frequency, kinetics and percent of repair of non-transcribed genomic DNA did not differ significantly from repair in the active DHFR gene up to 1 h postexposure. At late time points, transcribed DNA was repaired faster than the non-transcribed DNA. Mitochondrial DNA was efficiently repaired, at a rate similar to that in the active nuclear DNA.

Acridine Orange

Excision of DNA adducts of nitrogen mustards by bacterial and mammalian 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylases.

Nitrogen mustards are among the DNA alkylating agents most widely used in chemotherapy. The homogeneous Escherichia coli AlkA protein (3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase II) is shown to excise damaged guanine and adenine bases from DNA modified by mechlorethamine, uracil mustard, phenylalanine mustard and chlorambucil, and less efficiently acridine mustard adducts. Homogeneous recombinant human and rat 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylases excise adducts formed by nitrogen mustards less efficiently than the AlkA protein. In addition to the in vitro excision of adducts, the AlkA protein eliminates cytotoxic mechlorethamine adducts from DNA in vivo.

Animals

Role of DNA repair enzymes in the cellular resistance to oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress occurs in cells when the equilibrium between prooxidant and antioxidant species is broken in favor of the prooxidant state. It is due to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated either by the cellular metabolism such as phagocytosis, mitochondrial respiration, xenobiotic detoxification, or by exogenous factors such as ionizing radiation or chemical compounds performing red-ox reactions. Some ROS are extremely reactive and interact with all the macromolecules including lipids, nucleic acids and proteins. Cells have numerous defence systems to counteract the deleterious effects of ROS. Proteins and small molecules specifically eliminate ROS when they are formed. There are three species of superoxyde dismutases which transform the superoxyde anion O2- in hydrogen peroxyde H2O2 which in turn will be destroyed by peroxysomal catalase or by various peroxydases. There are numerous small molecules in the cell such as glutathion, alpha-tocopherol, vitamines A and C, melanine, etc. which are antioxydant molecules. ROS escaping destruction generate various lesions in DNA such as base modifications, degradation products of deoxyribose, chain breaks. These various lesions have been characterized and it is possible to quantitate them in the DNA of cells which have been irradiated or treated by free radical generating systems. The biological properties of the bases modified by ROS have been established. For example C8-hydroxyguanine (8-oxoG) is promutagenic since, if present in DNA during replication, it leads to incorporation of dAMP residues, leading to transversion mutation (GC-->TA). Purines whose imidazole ring is opened (Fapy residues) are stops for the DNA polymerase during DNA replication and are therefore potentially lethal lesions for the cell. Oxidized pyrimidines have comparable coding properties. Efficient DNA repair mechanisms remove these oxidized bases. In Escherichia coli cells, endonuclease III (NTH protein) and endonuclease VIII (NEI protein) excise many oxidized pyrimidines, whereas the FPG protein (formamidopyrimidine-DNA-glycosylase) eliminates 8-oxoG and Fapy lesions. Besides its DNA glycosylase activity, the protein FPG has a beta-lyase activity incising DNA at abasic site by a beta-delta elimination mechanism, and a dRPase activity. The FPG protein has a zinc finger motive which is mandatory for the recognition of its substrate. Mammalian cells have similar DNA repair proteins and it should be emphazized that there is conservation of the different functions and in most cases a remarquable homology of the amino acids sequences from E. coli to man.

Aging

Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, rat and human 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylases repair 1,N6-ethenoadenine when present in DNA.

The human carcinogen vinyl chloride is metabolized in the liver to reactive intermediates which generate various ethenobases in DNA. It has been reported that 1,N6-ethenoadenine (epsilon A) is excised by a DNA glycosylase present in human cell extracts, whereas protein extracts from Escherichia coli and yeast were devoid of such an activity. We confirm that the human 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase (ANPG protein) excises epsilon A residues. This finding was extended to the rat (ADPG protein). We show, at variance with the previous report, that pure E.coli 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase II (AlkA protein) as well as its yeast counterpart, the MAG protein, excise epsilon A from double stranded oligodeoxynucleotides that contain a single epsilon A. Both enzymes act as DNA glycosylases. The full length and the truncated human (ANPG 70 and 40 proteins, respectively) and the rat (ADPG protein) 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylases activities towards epsilon A are 2-3 orders of magnitude more efficient than the E.coli or yeast enzyme for the removal of epsilon A. The Km of the various proteins were measured. They are 24, 200 and 800 nM for the ANPG, MAG and AlkA proteins respectively. These three proteins efficiently cleave duplex oligonucleotides containing epsilon A positioned opposite T, G, C or epsilon A. However the MAG protein excises A opposite cytosine much faster than opposite thymine, guanine or adenine.

Adenine

Mapping of copper/hydrogen peroxide-induced DNA damage at nucleotide resolution in human genomic DNA by ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction.

The ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction was used to map the frequency of reactive oxygen species-induced DNA damage at nucleotide resolution in genomic DNA purified from cultured human male fibroblasts. Damaged pyrimidine and purine bases were recognized and cleaved by the Nth and Fpg proteins from Escherichia coli, respectively. Strand breaks and modified bases were induced in vitro by copper ion-mediated reduction of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of ascorbate; reactant concentrations were adjusted to induce lesions at a frequency of 1 per 2-3 kilobases in purified genomic DNA. Glyoxal gel analysis demonstrated that the ratio of induced strand breaks to induced base damage was 0.8/2.7 in DNA dialyzed extensively to remove adventitious transition metal ions. Ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction analysis of the damage frequency in the promoter region of the transcriptionally active phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK 1) gene revealed that (Cu(II)/ascorbate/H2O2 caused DNA base damage by a sequence-dependent mechanism, with the 5' bases of d(pGn) and d(pCn) being damage hot spots, as were the most internal guanines of d(pGGGCCC) and d(pCCCGGG). Since base damage occurs after formation of a DNA-Cu(I)-H2O2 complex, these data suggest that the local DNA sequence affects formation of DNA-Cu(I)-H2O2 complexes and/or the efficiency of base oxidation during resolution of this complex.

Base Sequence

HU protein of Escherichia coli binds specifically to DNA that contains single-strand breaks or gaps.

In this study, we have identified a protein in Escherichia coli that specifically binds to double-stranded DNA containing a single-stranded gap of one nucleotide. The gap-DNA binding (GDB) protein was purified to apparent homogeneity. The analysis of the amino-terminal sequencing of the GDB protein shows two closely related sequences we identify as the alpha and beta subunits of the HU protein. Furthermore, the GDB protein is not detected in the crude extract of an E. coli double mutant strain hupA hupB that has no functional HU protein. These results led us to identify the GDB protein as the HU protein. HU binds strongly to double-stranded 30-mer oligonucleotides containing a nick or a single-stranded gap of one or two nucleotides. Apparent dissociation constants were measured for these various DNA duplexes using a gel retardation assay. The KD(app) values were 8 nM for the 30-mer duplex that contains a nick and 4 and 2 nM for those that contain a 1-or a 2-nucleotide gap, respectively. The affinity of HU for these ligands is at least 100-fold higher than for the same 30-mer DNA duplex without nick or gap. Other single-stranded breaks or gaps, which are intermediate products in the repair of abasic sites after incision by the Fpg, Nth, or Nfo proteins, are also preferentially bound by the HU protein. Due to specific binding to DNA strand breaks, HU may play a role in replication, recombination, and repair.

Amino Acid Sequence

Excision of hypoxanthine from DNA containing dIMP residues by the Escherichia coli, yeast, rat, and human alkylpurine DNA glycosylases.

The deamination of adenine residues in DNA generates hypoxanthine, which is mutagenic since it gives rise to an A.T to G.C transition. Hypoxanthine is removed by hypoxanthine DNA glycosylase activity present in Escherichia coli and mammalian cells. Using polydeoxyribonucleotides or double-stranded synthetic oligonucleotides that contain dIMP residues, we show that this activity in E. coli is associated with the 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase II coded for by the alkA gene. This conclusion is based on the following facts: (i) the two enzymatic activities have the same chromatographic behavior on various supports and they have the same molecular weight, (ii) both are induced during the adaptive response, (iii) a multicopy plasmid bearing the alkA gene overproduces both activities, (iv) homogeneous preparation of AlkA has both enzymatic activities, (v) the E. coli alkA- mutant does not show any detectable hypoxanthine DNA glycosylase activity. Under the same experimental conditions, but using different substrates, the same amount of AlkA protein liberates 1 pmol of 3-methyladenine from alkylated DNA and 1.2 fmol of hypoxanthine from dIMP-containing DNA. The Km for the latter substrate is 420 x 10(-9) M as compared to 5 x 10(-9) M for alkylated DNA. Hypoxanthine is released as a free base during the reaction. Duplex oligodeoxynucleotides containing hypoxanthine positioned opposite T, G, C, and A were cleaved efficiently. ANPG protein, APDG protein, and MAG protein--the 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylases of human, rat, and yeast origin, respectively--were also able to release hypoxanthine from various DNA substrates containing dIMP residues. The mammalian enzyme is by far the most efficient hypoxanthine DNA glycosylase of all the enzymes tested.

Alternative Splicing

The Fpg protein, a DNA repair enzyme, is inhibited by the biomediator nitric oxide in vitro and in vivo.

Nitric oxide has been shown to be a mediator molecule in the regulation of many physiological functions. However, this small diatomic molecule in the presence of O2 generates reactive intermediates which modify DNA bases and inactive enzymes at high concentrations (100 microM). We report that NO generated by 1,1-diethyl-2-hydroxy-2-nitrosohydrazine (DEA/NO, Et2NN(O)NO-Na+), a compound known to release NO in a predictable manner, caused irreversible damage at physiological concentrations to the zinc finger-containing DNA repair enzyme formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycolyase (Fpg protein). The inhibition of the enzyme activity was DEA/NO dose and time dependent with IC50s with respect to total NO released from this compound of approximately 110 and approximately 120 mumol/l respectively. This inhibitory effect by P3 was not reversible over time in the presence of reducing agents and/or Zn2+. Nitrite and diethylamine, the nitrogenous products of the decomposition of DEA/NO, did not inhibit the enzyme. The presence of 500 micrograms/ml bovine serum albumin did not protect the protein from the inhibitory effects of DEA/NO, however, the presence of 10 mM cysteine did dramatically abate the inhibition of the Fpg protein by DEA/NO. Other DNA glycosylases tested were not inhibited by exposure to these concentrations of NO. These results, together with reports of site-directed mutagenesis of this protein, suggest that the cysteine residues contained within the zinc finger motif of the Fpg protein are the primary sites of NO interaction. Our studies were then extended to intact cells. The Fpg protein activity was decreased following treatment in vivo when Escherichia coli MH321 (acr A-) cells were treated with DEA/NO. Furthermore, the Fapy-DNA glycosylase activity in H4 cells, a rat hepatoma line, was decreased when intact cells were incubated with DEA/NO.

Animals

Substrate specificity of the Escherichia coli endonuclease III: excision of thymine- and cytosine-derived lesions in DNA produced by radiation-generated free radicals.

The excision of modified bases from DNA by Escherichia coli endonuclease III was investigated. Modified bases were produced in DNA by exposure of dilute buffered solutions of DNA to ionizing radiation under oxic or anoxic conditions. The technique of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to identify and quantify 16 pyrimidine- and purine-derived DNA lesions. DNA substrates were incubated either with the native enzyme or with the heat-inactivated enzyme. Subsequently, DNA was precipitated. Pellets were analyzed by GC/MS after hydrolysis and derivatization. Supernatant fractions were analyzed after derivatization without hydrolysis. The results provided unequivocal evidence for the excision by E. coli endonuclease III of a number of thymine- and cytosine-derived lesions from DNA. These were 5,6-dihydrothymine, 5-hydroxy-5-methylhydantoin, thymine glycol, 5-hydroxy-6-hydrothymine, 5,6-dihydrouracil, alloxan, uracil glycol, and 5-hydroxy-6-hydrouracil. None of the purine-derived lesions was excised by endonuclease III. The present work extends the substrate specificity of E. coli endonuclease III to another thymine-derived and four cytosine-derived lesions. It is the first investigation of the substrate specificity of this repair enzyme in the context of a large number of pyrimidine- and purine-derived lesions in DNA.

Animals

Cleavage and binding of a DNA fragment containing a single 8-oxoguanine by wild type and mutant FPG proteins.

A 34-mer oligonucleotide containing a single 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-OxoG) residue was used to study the enzymatic and DNA binding properties of the Fpg protein from E. coli. The highest rates of incision of the 8-OxoG containing strand by the Fpg protein were observed for duplexes where 8-OxoG was opposite C (*G/C) or T (*G/T). In contrast, the rates of incision of duplexes containing 8-OxoG opposite G (*G/G) and A (*G/A) were 5-fold and 200-fold slower. Gel retardation studies showed that the Fpg protein had a strong affinity for duplexes where the 8-OxoG was opposite pyrimidines and less affinity for duplexes where the 8-OxoG was opposite purines. KDapp values were 0.6 nM (*G/C), 1.0 nM (*G/T), 6.0 nM (*G/G) and 16.0 nM (*G/A). The Fpg protein also binds to unmodified (G/C) duplex and a KDapp of 90 nM was measured. The cleavage and binding of the (*G/C) duplex were also studied using bacterial crude lysates. Wild type E. coli crude extract incised the 8-OxoG containing strand and formed a specific retardation complex with the (*G/C) duplex. These two reactions were mediated by the Fpg protein, since they were not observed with a crude extract from a bacterial strain whose fpg gene was inactivated. Furthermore, we have studied the properties of 6 mutant Fpg proteins with Cys-->Gly mutations. The results showed that the 2 Fpg proteins with Cys-->Gly mutations outside the zinc finger sequence cleaved the 8-OxoG containing strand, formed complexes with the (*G/C) duplex and suppressed the mutator phenotype of the fpg-1 mutant. In contrast, the 4 Fpg proteins with Cys-->Gly mutations within the zinc finger motif neither cleave nor bind the (*G/C) duplex, nor do these proteins suppress the fpg-1 mutator phenotype.

Amino Acid Sequence

Fpg protein of Escherichia coli is a zinc finger protein whose cysteine residues have a structural and/or functional role.

The Fpg protein of Escherichia coli is a DNA repair enzyme with DNA glycosylase, abasic site nicking, and deoxyribose excising activities. Analysis of the amino acid sequence of this protein suggests that the Fpg protein is a zinc finger protein with a Cys-X2-Cys-X16-Cys-X2-Cys motif. Competition experiments show that the Fpg protein substitutes Cu(II), Cd(II), and Hg(II), metal ions classically associated with substitutions in zinc finger proteins. The Fpg protein activities are inhibited following the reaction with a Cys-specific reagent at low protein:reagent ratios, suggesting that these residues are important for the enzymatic activities. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to produce 6 mutant Fpg proteins with Cys-->Gly mutations. Substitution of the zinc in these proteins by 65Zn(II) indicates that all the proteins bind zinc, but the Zn(II) is not retained as strongly in the zinc finger mutants. The mutations in the Fpg protein outside the zinc finger consensus sequence do not eliminate the Fapy-DNA glycosylase and abasic site nicking. One of the Fpg mutant proteins outside the zinc finger has a reduced capacity to release deoxyribose from abasic sites. Cys-->Gly mutations in the zinc finger consensus sequence reduce all three aforementioned activities substantially. The purified Fpg proteins with Cys-->Gly mutations in the zinc finger consensus sequence do not incise DNA at abasic sites with the same efficiency nor mechanism as the native Fpg protein. The wild type Fpg protein and the Fpg proteins mutated outside the zinc finger sequence bind an oligonucleotide with a unique chemically reduced abasic site in a defined sequence as assayed by retention on nitrocellulose filters, whereas the mutant Fpg proteins within the zinc finger sequence do not bind to the same oligonucleotide. Therefore, the disruption of zinc coordination in the zinc finger of the Fpg protein is associated with decreased binding capacity to DNA as well as decreased enzymatic activities.

Amino Acid Sequence

SOS-independent mutagenesis in lacZ induced by methylene blue plus visible light.

In vitro photosensitization by visible light in the presence of methylene blue (MB-light) produces lesions in M13mp18 lacZ phage DNA, the lethal and mutagenic potential of which was analyzed after transfection into various bacterial hosts. Mutagenesis was determined with a forward mutation assay using the lacZ gene of M13mp18 as a target. When, MB-light-treated double-stranded (ds) M13mp18 DNA was used to transfect wild-type cells which were not induced for SOS functions, a fivefold increase in mutation frequency was observed at 10% survival compared to that observed with untreated DNA. Mutation frequency obtained with MB-light-treated ds M13mp18 DNA was greater when transfected into the uvr A fpg-1 double mutant than that seen in uvr A, fpg-1, or umuC single mutants or in the wild-type. Sequence analysis shows that in the wild-type strain, MB-light treatment of ds M13mp18 DNA results mostly in single base substitutions. The most frequent base change is the GC-->TA transversion. MB-light treatment of single-stranded (ss) M13mp18 DNA also results in an increased mutation frequency after transfection into the wild-type strain, yielding mostly G-->T transversions. Our results show that MB-light-induced mutagenesis is at least partially independent of the induction of SOS functions in Escherichia coli. The mutation spectra suggest that 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine is the major promutagenic lesion in DNA.

Bacteriophage M13