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J T Reardon

Publications and source records attributed to J T Reardon.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Reconstitution of human DNA repair excision nuclease in a highly defined system.

Xeroderma pigmentosum is a hereditary disease caused by defective DNA repair. Somatic cell genetics and biochemical studies with cell-free extracts indicate that at least 16 polypeptides are required to carry out the repair reaction proper, i.e. the removal of the lesion from the DNA by the dual incisions of the damaged strand. To find out if these proteins are necessary and sufficient for excision repair, they were obtained at a high level of purity in five fractions. The mixture of these five fractions reconstituted the excision nuclease (excinuclease) activity. Using the reconstituted excinuclease, we found that the excised fragment remains associated with the post-incision DNA-protein complex, suggesting that accessory proteins are needed to release the excised oligomer.

Animals↗

HMG-domain proteins specifically inhibit the repair of the major DNA adduct of the anticancer drug cisplatin by human excision nuclease.

The most frequent DNA adduct made by the anticancer drug cisplatin, the 1,2-intrastrand d(GpG) cross-link, as well as the minor 1,3-intrastrand d(GpTpG) adduct, were both repaired by an in vitro human excision repair system. Fragments of 27-29 nt containing the platinum damage were excised. The high mobility group (HMG)-domain proteins HMG1 and human mitochondrial transcription factor specifically inhibited repair of the 1,2-intrastrand cross-link by the human excision nuclease. These results suggest that the types and levels of HMG-domain proteins in a given tumor may influence the responsiveness of that cancer to cisplatin chemotherapy and they provide a rational basis for the synthesis of new platinum anticancer drug candidates.

Base Sequence↗

Molecular cloning of the human nucleotide-excision-repair gene ERCC4.

ERCC4 was previously identified in somatic cell hybrids as a human gene that corrects the nucleotide-excision-repair deficiency in mutant hamster cells. The cloning strategy for ERCC4 involved transfection of the repair-deficient hamster cell line UV41 with a human sCos-1 cosmid library derived from chromosome 16. Enhanced UV resistance was seen with one cosmid-library transformant and two secondary transformants of UV41. Cosmid clones carrying a functional ERCC4 gene were isolated from a library of a secondary transformant by selecting in Escherichia coli for expression of a linked neomycin-resistance gene that was present in the sCos-1 vector. The cosmids mapped to 16p13.13-p13.2, the location assigned to ERCC4 by using somatic cell hybrids. Upon transfection into UV41, six cosmid clones gave partial correction ranging from 30% to 64%, although all appeared to contain the complete gene. The capacity for in vitro excision of thymine dimers from a plasmid by transformant cell extracts correlated qualitatively with enhanced UV resistance.

Animals↗

Dual role of TFIIH in DNA excision repair and in transcription by RNA polymerase II.

The RNA polymerase II general transcription factor TFIIH is composed of several polypeptides. The observation that the largest subunit of TFIIH is the excision-repair protein XPB/ERCC3 (ref. 1), a helicase implicated in the human DNA-repair disorders xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) and Cockayne's syndrome, suggests a functional link between transcription and DNA repair. To understand the connection between these two cellular processes, we have extensively purified and functionally analysed TFIIH. We find that TFIIH has a dual role, being required for basal transcription of class II genes and for participation in DNA-excision repair. TFIIH is shown to complement three different cell extracts deficient in excision repair: XPB/ERCC3, XPC and XPD/ERCC2. The complementation of XPB and XPD is a consequence of ERCC3 and ERCC2 being integral subunits of TFIIH, whereas complementation of XPC is due to an association of this polypeptide with TFIIH. We found that the general transcription factor IIE negatively modulates the helicase activity of TFIIH through a direct interaction between TFIIE and the ERCC3 subunit of TFIIH.

DNA Helicases↗

Comparative analysis of binding of human damaged DNA-binding protein (XPE) and Escherichia coli damage recognition protein (UvrA) to the major ultraviolet photoproducts: T[c,s]T, T[t,s]T, T[6-4]T, and T[Dewar]T.

Human cells contain a protein that binds to UV-irradiated DNA with high affinity. This protein, the damaged DNA-binding protein (DDB), is absent from some xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group E cell strains; therefore, it has been suggested that it may be the damage recognition subunit of a human excision nuclease complex. However, the identity of the UV photoproduct bound by DDB and the role of this protein in nucleotide excision repair have been controversial. In this study, we used several synthetic DNA substrates, each of which contains one of the major UV photoproducts, and DDB purified to apparent homogeneity to quantify the specific binding of DDB to various photoproducts. For comparison, the binding of the same photoproducts by the Escherichia coli damage recognition protein UvrA, which is known to be a subunit of the E. coli excision nuclease, was also measured. UvrA and DDB each bound with high affinity to T[t,s]T, T[6-4]T, and T[Dewar]T, but only marginally discriminated between an undamaged oligomer and an oligomer with a T[c,s]T. In contrast to these similarities with regard to the binding to UV photoproducts, UvrA bound to another excision repair substrate, the psoralen-thymine monoadduct, with high specificity, whereas DDB was unable to distinguish between psoralen-adducted DNA and undamaged DNA. We conclude that DDB may play a special role in the repair of UV damage, but it cannot be the sole damage recognition subunit of human excision nuclease.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Human nucleotide excision nuclease removes thymine dimers from DNA by incising the 22nd phosphodiester bond 5' and the 6th phosphodiester bond 3' to the photodimer.

By using a human cell-free system capable of nucleotide excision repair, a synthetic substrate consisting of a plasmid containing four thymidine dimers at unique locations, and deoxyribonucleoside 5'-[alpha-thio]triphosphates for repair synthesis, we obtained DNA fragments containing repair patches with phosphorothioate linkages. Based on the resistance of these linkages to digestion by exonuclease III and their sensitivity to cleavage by I2, we were able to delineate the borders of the repair patch to single-nucleotide resolution and found an asymmetric patch with sharp boundaries. That the repair patch was produced by filling in a gap generated by an excision nuclease and not by nick-translation was confirmed by the finding that the thymidine dimer was released in a 27- to 29-nucleotide oligomer.

Base Sequence↗

Removal of psoralen monoadducts and crosslinks by human cell free extracts.

Human cell free extracts are capable of carrying out damage-induced DNA synthesis in response to DNA damage by UV, psoralen, and cisplatin. We show that this damage-induced DNA synthesis is associated with removal of psoralen adducts and therefore is 'repair synthesis' and not an aberrant DNA synthesis reaction potentiated by DNA deformed by adducts. By comparing the denaturable fraction of psoralen adducted DNA which becomes labeled in the repair reaction to that of terminally labeled DNA (without repair) we have found that all DNA synthesis induced by psoralen monoadducts is the consequence of removal of these adducts. By the same approach we have obtained preliminary evidence that this in vitro system is capable of removing psoralen crosslinks as well.

Cell-Free System↗