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Excision repair in Cockayne syndrome.

Cockayne syndrome (CS) is a genetic disorder showing cellular sensitivity to the lethal effects of UV-irradiation. No defects in unscheduled DNA synthesis or in daughter-strand repair have been detected after UV-irradiation of CS cells. We have studied several aspects of excision repair, particularly at early times after UV-irradiation, and with one exception, we have not been able to detect any difference in the response of normal and CS cells to UV-irradiation, by measuring: (1) the rate of formation of incision breaks in the presence of 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (araC); (2) the amount of repair replication as measured by equilibrium centrifugation; (3) the ligation of repaired DNA to pre-existing DNA; (4) the digestibility of repaired DNA after treatment of nuclei with micrococcal nuclease. The single exception was a pair of CS strains from sibling donors in which the rate of uncoupled incision due to the presence of either araC or the specific inhibitor of DNA polymerase alpha, aphidicolin, was slightly faster than in other cells studied. This effect was absent in the heterozygous parents. However, since this was not seen in two other CS strains in the same genetic complementation group, we can not attribute this increased rate of incision to the defective CS gene. We conclude that, within the limits of resolution of these techniques, CS cells do not have a detectable defect in excision repair.

Cells, Cultured↗

Mutations in XPA that prevent association with ERCC1 are defective in nucleotide excision repair.

The human repair proteins XPA and ERCC1 have been shown to be absolutely required for the incision step of nucleotide excision repair, and recently we identified an interaction between these two proteins both in vivo and in vitro (L. Li, S. J. Elledge, C. A. Peterson, E. S. Bales, and R. J. Legerski, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:5012-5016, 1994). In this report, we demonstrate the functional relevance of this interaction. The ERCC1-binding domain on XPA was previously mapped to a region containing two highly conserved XPA sequences, Gly-72 to Phe-75 and Glu-78 to Glu-84, which are termed the G and E motifs, respectively. Site-specific mutagenesis was used to independently delete these motifs and create two XPA mutants referred to as delta G and delta E. In vitro, the binding of ERCC1 to delta E was reduced by approximately 70%, and binding to delta G was undetectable; furthermore, both mutants failed to complement XPA cell extracts in an in vitro DNA repair synthesis assay. In vivo, the delta E mutant exhibited an intermediate level of complementation of XPA cells and the delta G mutant exhibited little or no complementation. In addition, the delta G mutant inhibited repair synthesis in wild-type cell extracts, indicating that it is a dominant negative mutant. The delta E and delta G mutations, however, did not affect preferential binding of XPA to damaged DNA. These results suggest that the association between XPA and ERCC1 is a required step in the nucleotide excision repair pathway and that the probable role of the interaction is to recruit the ERCC1 incision complex to the damage site. Finally, the affinity of the XPA-ERCC1 complex was found to increase as a function of salt concentration, indicating a hydrophobic interaction; the half-life of the complex was determined to be approximately 90 min.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Comparative Studies on Bulky DNA Damage Binding by Nucleotide Excision Repair Proteins Using Surface Plasmon Resonance, Differential Scanning Fluorometry, and DNase I Footprinting.

Nucleotide excision repair is a crucial cellular mechanism that ensures genomic stability, thereby preventing mutations that can lead to cancer. The human XPC and its yeast ortholog Rad4 protein complexes are central to this process and were the focus of the study. We used surface plasmon resonance and differential scanning fluorimetry to study the binding characteristics of XPC and Rad4 when bound to the bulky cluster di-FAAF-containing 55-mer duplex DNA. Our findings revealed that XPC binds 10 times more significant affinity to control and di-FAAF-modified DNA than Rad4 with greater protein-DNA interactions. Differential scanning fluorimetry indicates that Rad4 causes comparatively more significant conformational changes upon complexation with the damaged DNA. We conducted DNase I footprinting of the Rad4/DNA complex for the first time by determining the regions protected from DNase I digestion. The DNA at the lesion is entirely resistant to digestion by DNase I in the absence of Rad4 several nucleotides to the 3'-side of the first FAAF lesion. The lack of DNase I cleavage at the lesions did not change upon adding Rad4. However, in the presence of Rad4, a footprint is observed on the 7-nucleotide region (5'-TGGTGAT-3') of the complementary strand to the 3' side of the lesion.

Surface Plasmon Resonance↗

Synergistic interaction between yeast nucleotide excision repair factors NEF2 and NEF4 in the binding of ultraviolet-damaged DNA.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD4, RAD7, RAD16, and RAD23 genes function in the nucleotide excision repair (NER) of ultraviolet light (UV)-damaged DNA. Previous biochemical studies have shown that the Rad4 and Rad23 proteins are associated in a stoichiometric complex named NEF2, and the Rad7 and Rad16 proteins form another stoichiometric complex named NEF4. While NEF2 is indispensable for the incision of UV-damaged DNA in the in vitro reconstituted system, NEF4 stimulates the incision reaction. Both NEF2 and NEF4 bind UV-damaged DNA, which raises the intriguing possibility that these two complexes cooperate to achieve the high degree of specificity for DNA damage demarcation required for nucleotide excision repair in vivo. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that NEF2 and NEF4 bind in a synergistic fashion to UV-damaged DNA in a reaction that is dependent on ATP. We also purify the Rad7 protein and show that it binds DNA but has no preference for UV-damaged DNA. Rad7 physically interacts with NEF2, suggesting a role for Rad7 in linking NEF2 with NEF4.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Excision repair cross complementing 3 expression is involved in patient prognosis and tumor progression in esophageal cancer.

The prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer remains poor. TNM classification is not sufficient to predict the prognosis. Therefore, novel predictive markers of the prognosis of esophageal cancer patients are awaited. The abnormality of the nucleotide excision repair (NER) is often involved in human cancers. Excision repair cross complementing 3 (ERCC3) contributes to NER. In esophageal cancer, ERCC3 expression has not been studied. Expression of ERCC3 was quantified by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using LightCycler in 43 primary esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCCs) and their paired normal esophageal mucosa. We examined the correlation between the ERCC3 expression and the clinicopathological factors and prognosis of ESCC patients. ERCC3 expression level was significantly correlated with the pathologic stage, tumor size and local invasiveness (t-factor) in esophageal cancer tissues. Reduced expression of ERCC3 was accompanied with tumor progression (p=0.0049) and higher pathologic stage (p=0.020). Moreover, ESCC patients with low ERCC3 mRNA expression had significantly shorter post-operative survival time than those with high expression (p=0.0003). In esophageal cancer, reduced expression of ERCC3 was correlated with local tumor progression and poor prognosis after operation.

Aged↗

The function of DNA topoisomerases in UV-induced DNA excision repair: studies with specific inhibitors in permeabilized human fibroblasts.

Fifteen specific inhibitors of DNA topoisomerases I and II were used to elucidate whether these enzymes participate in the excision repair of UV-induced DNA damage, monitoring DNA repair synthesis in confluent saponin-permeabilized human fibroblasts. To achieve a sufficient degree of accuracy dose--response experiments were performed, analysed by linear regression, and the concentrations at which repair activity was reduced to 50% were calculated and designated K50. Camptothecin, a specific inhibitor of topoisomerase I did not markedly diminish DNA repair synthesis. Similarly, when combined with topoisomerase II inhibitors [nalidixic acid, oxolinic acid, 4'-demethylepipodophyllotoxin-9-(4,6-O-ethylidene-beta-D-glucop yra noside) (etoposide), 4'-demethylepipodophyllotoxin-thenylidene-beta-D-glucoside (teniposide), 1,4-dihydroxy-5,8-bis ((2-[(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]ethyl)amino)-9,10-anthracenedione (mitoxantrone), 5-(N-phenyl-carboxamido)-2-thiobarbituric acid (merbarone) or 4'-(9-acridinylamino)methanesulfon-m-anisidide (m-AMSA)], it did not lower K50 values determined for topoisomerase II-specific drugs in separate experiments. The effects observed can be classified according to the mechanism of action the inhibitors exhibit. (i) Novobiocin and coumermycin, inhibitors of the ATPase subunit of topoisomerase II, completely reduced DNA repair synthesis. (ii) Inhibition of repair was also found for ethidium bromide, quinacrine and distamycin, drugs known to modify the DNA substrate by intercalation or binding to the DNA minor groove. (iii) Inhibitors acting through intercalation and, simultaneously, binding to the cleavable DNA-topoisomerase complex (m-AMSA, mitoxantrone, doxorubicin and daunorubicin) also suppressed reparative DNA synthesis. (iv) Only small effects were observed for etoposide, nalidixic acid and oxolinic acid, whereas teniposide caused marked inhibition of DNA repair synthesis. (v) Merbarone, a novel type of topoisomerase II inhibitor, blocked UV-induced DNA repair drastically. The results are best explained by assuming that in UV-irradiated human fibroblasts the 180 kDa form of topoisomerase II is the main target enzyme for inhibitors which suppressed DNA excision repair and that this isozyme is involved in steps preceding repair-specific DNA incision.

Cells, Cultured↗

Modulation of human nucleotide excision repair by 5-methylcytosines.

Previous reports showed that methylated CpG sites are primary targets of bulky lesions induced by UV radiation, benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), or other environmental genotoxic agents. This study was performed to determine whether the repair of DNA damage formed preferentially at CpG dinucleotides is sensitive to 5-methylcytosine substitutions. Reactivation assays using UV- or B[a]P diol epoxide-damaged shuttle vectors established that human nucleotide excision repair enzymes are able to process fully methylated target DNA molecules. Repair reactions in human cell extracts suggested that 5-methylcytosines modulate local repair efficiency in a seemingly unpredictable manner. In fact, excision of the predominant (+)-trans-anti-B[a]P-dG adduct situated in a mutational hot spot sequence (codon 273 of the p53 gene) was stimulated by CpG methylation. Interestingly, excision activity was increased by a single 5-methylcytosine residue flanking the adduct in the damaged strand, but the same stimulatory effect was also induced by a single 5-methylcytosine residue located opposite the adduct in the undamaged strand. No such stimulation was observed when the (+)-trans-anti-B[a]P-dG lesion was placed in a different site containing a sequence of contiguous guanines, and strong inhibition was detected when a representative of the rare (+)-cis-anti-B[a]P-dG isomer was tested in the same assay. These results raise the possibility that 5-methylcytosines in CpG dinucleotides modulate not only the distribution of bulky DNA lesions but, at least in some cases, also the kinetics of subsequent excision repair reactions. This study confirms that the efficiency of bulky lesion repair is determined by the configuration of base pairs at damaged sites.

5-Methylcytosine↗

Site-specific excision repair of 1-nitrosopyrene-induced DNA adducts at the nucleotide level in the HPRT gene of human fibroblasts: effect of adduct conformation on the pattern of site-specific repair.

Studies showing that different types of DNA adducts are repaired in human cells at different rates suggest that DNA adduct conformation is the major determinant of the rate of nucleotide excision repair. However, recent studies of repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers or benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE)-induced adducts at the nucleotide level in DNA of normal human fibroblasts indicate that the rate of repair of the same adduct at different nucleotide positions can vary up to 10-fold, suggesting an important role for local DNA conformation. To see if site-specific DNA repair is a common phenomenon for bulky DNA adducts, we determined the rate of repair of 1-nitrosopyrene (1-NOP)-induced adducts in exon 3 of the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase gene at the nucleotide level using ligation-mediated PCR. To distinguish between the contributions of adduct conformation and local DNA conformation to the rate of repair, we compared the results obtained with 1-NOP with those we obtained previously using BPDE. The principal DNA adduct formed by either agent involves guanine. We found that rates of repair of 1-NOP-induced adducts also varied significantly at the nucleotide level, but the pattern of site-specific repair differed from that of BPDE-induced adducts at the same guanine positions in the same region of DNA. The average rate of excision repair of 1-NOP adducts in exon 3 was two to three times faster than that of BPDE adducts, but at particular nucleotides the rate was slower or faster than that of BPDE adducts or, in some cases, equal to that of BPDE adducts. These results indicate that the contribution of the local DNA conformation to the rate of repair at a particular nucleotide position depends upon the specific DNA adduct involved. However, the data also indicate that the conformation of the DNA adduct is not the only factor contributing to the rate of repair at different nucleotide positions. Instead, the rate of repair at a particular nucleotide position depends on the interaction between the specific adduct conformation and the local DNA conformation at that nucleotide.

Base Sequence↗

Differential effects of procaine and phenethyl alcohol on excision repair of DNA in u.v.-irradiated Escherichia coli.

Experiments were performed to investigate the involvement of the cell membrane in the excision DNA repair process in Escherichia coli. Two membrane-binding drugs, procaine and phenethyl alcohol (PEA), inhibited liquid-holding recovery (LHR) in u.v.-irradiated E. coli wild-type and recA strains. In uvrB and polA strains where, after u.v.-irradiation, LHR was absent the two drugs had no effect. Both drugs markedly reduced the removal of u.v.-induced thymine dimers in the DNA of wild-type cells (H/r30). Analysis by alkaline sucrose gradients revealed that PEA inhibited the incision step in excision repair. In contrast, procaine had no effect on incision but apparently inhibited the late steps in excision repair. PEA dissociated DNA from the cell membrane, whereas procaine did not. The results suggest that the two drugs PEA and procaine inhibit LHR and the excision repair process operating on u.v.-induced damage in E. coli by at least two different mechanisms each of which may involve the cell membrane.

Cell Membrane↗

Nuclear extracts of chicken embryos promote an active demethylation of DNA by excision repair of 5-methyldeoxycytidine.

Here I show that nuclear extracts of chicken embryos can promote the active demethylation of DNA. The evidence shows that in hemimethylated DNA (i.e., methylated on one strand only) demethylation of 5mCpG occurs through nucleotide excision repair. The first step of demethylation is the formation of specific nicks 5' from 5-methyldeoxycytidine. Nicks are also observed in vitro on symmetrically methylated CpGs (i.e., methylated on both strands) but they result in breakage of the oligonucleotide with no repair. No specific nicks are observed on the nonmethylated CpG. Nicks are strictly 5mCpG specific and do not occur on 5mCpC, 5mCpT, 5mCpA, or 6mApT. The effect of nonspecific nuclease(s) has been ruled out. The nicking of mCpG takes place in the presence of 20 mM EDTA irrespective of the nature of the sequence surrounding the 5mCpG. No methylcytosine glycosylase activity could be detected. The repair is aphidicolin and N-ethylmaleimide resistant, suggesting a repair action by DNA polymerase beta. In extracts of chicken embryos, the excision repair of mCpG is highest between the 6th and the 12th day of development, whereas it is barely detectable in nuclear extracts from different organs of adults. The possible implications of 5mCpG endonuclease activity in active demethylation of DNA during differentiation is discussed.

5-Methylcytosine↗

Influence of nucleotide excision repair and of dose on the types of vermilion mutations induced by diethyl sulfate in postmeiotic male germ cells of Drosophila.

The role of a defect for nucleotide excision repair (NER) in oocytes on the repair of DNA ethyl adducts induced by diethyl sulfate (DES) in male germ cells of Drosophila was analysed. Frequencies of mutations at multiple loci (recessive lethal mutations) and at the vermilion gene induced in NER+ conditions (cross NER+ x NER+) were compared with those fixed in a NER- background (NER- x NER+). The M(NER-)/M(NER+) mutability ratios for two DES concentrations, 10 mM and 15 mM, were 2.21 and 1.49, respectively, indicating that NER repairs part of the DES-induced damage. The majority of 28 fertile vermilion mutations produced by DES in NER- are transitions, both GC-AT (46.4%) and AT-GC (21.4%) transitions are found, the consequences of O6-ethylguanine and O4-ethylthymine, respectively. Transversions (21.5%), one +1 frameshift mutation (3.6%) and two deletions (7.1%) are most likely the result of N-alkylation damage. Furthermore, the DES-induced mutation spectra show interesting differences in relation to the exposure dose. All 10 mutants isolated in this and a previous [L.M. Sierra, A. Pastink, M.J.M. Nivard, E.W. Vogel, DNA base sequence changes induced by DES in postmeiotic male germ cells of Drosophila melanogaster, Mol. Gen. Genet. 237 (1993) 370-374] study from experiments with low DES-effectiveness are exclusively transitions, independent whether the females were of the NER+ or NER-genotype. This indicates that at lower DES effectiveness only O-alkylation damage is relevant, and that N-alkylation damage is repaired. In experiments revealing high DES-effectiveness, vermilion mutations representing N-alkylation damage reached 43% (9/21) with NER- and 26% (7/27) with NER+ females, suggesting (i) that NER becomes involved at high adduct levels because then the base excision repair (BER) may be saturated, and (ii) that this involvement of NER causes the relative decrease from 43% to 26% N-alkylation mediated sequence changes.

Alkylating Agents↗

Yeast nucleotide excision repair proteins Rad2 and Rad4 interact with RNA polymerase II basal transcription factor b (TFIIH).

The Rad2, Rad3, Rad4, and Ss12 proteins are required for nucleotide excision repair in yeast cells and are homologs of four human proteins which are involved in a group of hereditary repair-defective diseases. We have previously shown that Rad3 protein is one of the five subunits of purified RNA polymerase II basal transcription initiation factor b (TFIIH) and that Ss12 protein physically associates with factor b (W.J. Feaver, J.Q. Svejstrup, L. Bardwell, A.J. Bardwell, S. Buratowski, K.D. Gulyas, T.F. Donahue, E.C. Friedberg, and R.D. Kornberg, Cell 75:1379-1387, 1993). Here we show that the Rad2 and Rad4 proteins interact with purified factor b in vitro. Rad2 (a single-stranded DNA endonuclease) specifically interacts with the Tfb1 subunit of factor b, and we have mapped a limited region of the Rad2 polypeptide which is sufficient for this interaction. Rad2 also interacts directly with Ss12 protein (a putative DNA helicase). The binding of Rad2 and Rad4 proteins to factor b may define intermediates in the assembly of the nucleotide excision repair repairosome. Furthermore, the loading of factor b (or such intermediates) onto promoters during transcription initiation provides a mechanism for the preferential targeting of repair proteins to actively transcribing genes.

Base Sequence↗

Enhanced excision repair of DNA damage due to cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) in resistant cervix carcinoma HeLa cells.

We have previously reported a cisplatin-resistant HeLa cell line which exhibits overproduction of nuclear proteins preferential for cisplatin-modified DNA (Chao et al., Cancer Res. 51:601-605, 1991; Biochem. J. 277: 875-878, 1991). In this study, excision repair of cisplatin-DNA adducts in a resistant and a revertant cell lines was investigated using in situ detection of cisplatin-DNA adducts by an immunoassay and the measurement of repair-associated DNA strand breaks by a sensitive alkaline elution method. The resistant cells exhibited a 2-fold decrease in the accumulation of cisplatin-DNA adducts; whereas, the revertant cells showed a similar level of cisplatin-DNA adducts as the parental cells in the parallel experiment. Immediately following cisplatin treatment, the resistant and the revertant cells accumulated respectively approximately 50% and 90% cisplatin-DNA adducts of the parental cells. However, the kinetic patterns of repair rate following peak accumulation of cisplatin-DNA adducts (which took approximately 4 h) was the same in the three cell lines. This finding was supported by the measurement of repair-associated DNA strand breaks using alkaline elution which showed 1.6- and 1.5-fold increase in the resistant and the revertant cells respectively. In addition, following transfection with plasmid DNA carrying cisplatin damage, the resistant and the revertant cells displayed a 2.4- and 1.4-fold enhancement in host cell reactivation, respectively. Furthermore, the acquired resistance in HeLa cells was partially reversed by nontoxic aphidicolin, a DNA polymerase-alpha and DNA repair inhibitor. The results strongly suggest the improved excision repair of cisplatin-DNA adducts as a mechanism of phenotypic resistance of cells to cisplatin.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Detection of DNA base-excision repair activity for oxidative lesions in adult rat brain mitochondria.

Endogenous oxidative damage to brain mitochondrial DNA and consequential disturbances of gene expression and mitochondrial dysfunction have long been implicated in aging and the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. It has yet to be determined, however, whether mitochondria in brain cells contain an active DNA repair system and, if so, how this system functions. Therefore, the capacity for the repair of defined types of oxidative DNA lesions has been investigated in adult rat brain mitochondria. Using in vitro DNA incorporation repair assay, we have detected base excision repair (BER) activity for the common oxidative DNA adduct 8-hydroxyl-2'-deoxyguanine (8-oxodG) in mitochondria protein extracts from cortical tissues and cultured primary cortical neurons and astrocytes. The levels of BER activity were both protein concentration-dependent and repair-incubation time-dependent. To resolve the BER pathway, the activity of essential BER enzymes was examined in mitochondria using oligonucleotide incision assay, DNA polymerase assay, and DNA ligase assay employing specific DNA substrates. Mitochondrial extracts were able to remove specifically 8-oxodG, uracil, and the apurinic/apyrimidinic abasic site from substrates. Moreover, a gamma-like DNA polymerase activity and a DNA ligase activity were detected in mitochondiral extracts, based on the formation of specific repair products. These results demonstrate that adult brain mitochondria possess an active BER system for repairing oxidative DNA lesions. This repair system appears to function by sequential actions of DNA repair enzymes that are homologous to, but not identical to, that in the nucleus. Thus, BER may represent an endogenous protective mechanism against oxidative damage to mitochondrial, as well as nuclear, genomes in brain cells.

Animals↗

Involvement of the RE V3 gene in the methylated base-excision repair system. Co-operation of two DNA polymerases, delta and Rev3p, in the repair of MMS-induced lesions in the DNA of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The ability of four yeast DNA polymerase mutant strains to carry out the repair of DNA treated with MMS was studied. Mutation in DNA polymerase Rev3, as well as the already known mutation in the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase delta, were both found to lead to the accumulation of single-strand breaks, which indicates defective repair. A double-mutant strain carrying mutations in DNA polymerase delta and a deletion in the REV3 gene had a complete repair defect, both at permissive (23 degrees C) and restrictive (38 degrees C) temperatures, which was not observed in other pairwise combinations of tested polymerase mutants. Other polymerases are not involved in the repair of exogenous DNA methylation damage, since neither mutation in the DNA polymerase epsilon, nor deletion in the DNA polymerase IV (beta70) gene, caused defective repair. The data obtained suggest that DNA polymerases delta and Rev3p are both necessary to perform repair synthesis in the base-excision repair of methylation damage. The results are discussed in the light of current concepts on the role of DNA polymerase Rev3 in mutagenesis.

DNA Damage↗

Tumor suppressor p53 dependent recruitment of nucleotide excision repair factors XPC and TFIIH to DNA damage.

Functional tumor suppressor p53 is mainly required for efficient global genomic repair (GGR), a subpathway of nucleotide excisions repair (NER). In this study, the regulatory effect of p53, on the spaciotemporal recruitment of XPC and TFIIH to DNA damage sites, was investigated in repair-proficient and -deficient human cells in situ. Photoproducts were induced through micropore UV irradiation of discrete subnuclear areas of intact cells and the specific lesions, as well as recruited repair factors, were detected by immunofluorescent intensity and density of the damaged DNA subnuclear spots (SNS). Both cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPD) and 6-4 photoproducts (6-4PP) were visualized in situ at SNS within irradiated nuclear foci. The in situ repair kinetics revealed that p53-WT normal fibroblasts are proficient for the repair of both CPD and 6-4PP, whereas, p53-Null Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) fibroblasts fail to efficiently repair CPD but not 6-4PP. Colocalization experiments of the NER factors showed that in normal human cells, XPC and TFIIH are rapidly and efficiently recruited to DNA damage within SNS. By contrast, recruitment of both XPC and TFIIH to DNA damage in SNS occurred much less efficiently in p53-Null or p53-compromised cells. The total cellular levels of XPC and XPB were similar in both p53-WT and -Null cells and remained unchanged up to 24h following UV irradiation. The results also showed that dispersal of recruited XPC and TFIIH from DNA damage SNS occurs within a short period after DNA damage. Such dispersal requires functional XPA, XPF and XPG proteins. Taken together, the results demonstrated that p53 plays a pronounced role in the damage recognition and subsequent assembly of repair machinery during GGR and the recruitment of XPC and TFIIH to CPD is p53-dependent. Most likely mechanism of this p53 action is through its downstream effector protein, DDB2.

Blotting, Western↗

Multiple conformational states of repair patches in chromatin during DNA excision repair.

In mammalian cells, newly synthesized DNA repair patches are highly sensitive to digestion by staphylococcal nuclease (SN), but with time, they acquire approximately the same nuclease resistance as the DNA in bulk chromatin. We refer to the process which restores native SN sensitivity to repaired DNA as chromatin rearrangement. We find that during repair of ultraviolet damage in human fibroblasts, repair patch synthesis and ligation occur at approximately the same rate, with ligation delayed by about 4 min, but that chromatin rearrangement is only 75% as rapid. Thus, repair-incorporated nucleotides can exist in at least three distinct states: unligated/unrearranged, ligated/unrearranged, and ligated/rearranged. Inhibition of repair patch synthesis by aphidicolin or hydroxyurea results in inhibition of both patch ligation and chromatin rearrangement, confirming that repair patch completion and/or ligation are prerequisites for rearrangement. We also analyze the kinetics of SN digestion of repair-incorporated nucleotides at various extents of rearrangement and find the data to be consistent with the existence of two or more forms of unrearranged repair patch which have different sensitivities to digestion by SN. These data indicate that the chromatin rearrangement which restores native SN sensitivity to repaired DNA is a multistep process. The multiple forms of unrearranged chromatin with different SN sensitivities may include the unligated/unrearranged and ligated/unrearranged states. If so, the differences in SN sensitivity must arise from differences in chromatin structure, because SN does not differentiate between ligated and unligated repair patches in naked DNA.

Aphidicolin↗

Response of base excision repair enzymes to complex DNA lesions.

There is now increasing evidence that ionizing radiation generates complex DNA damage, i.e. two or more lesions--single-strand breaks or modified nucleosides--located within one to two helical turns on the same strand or on opposite strands. Double-strand breaks are the most readily recognizable clustered lesions, but they may constitute a relatively minor fraction of the total. It is anticipated that clustered lesions may play a significant role in cellular response to ionizing radiation since they may present a major challenge to the DNA repair machinery. The degree of lesion complexity increases with increasing LET. This has potential implications for space travel because of exposure to high-LET cosmic radiation. It is therefore critical that we begin to understand the consequences of such damaged sites, including their influence on DNA repair enzymes. This paper presents a short review of our current knowledge of the action of purified DNA repair enzymes belonging to the base excision repair pathway, including DNA glycosylases and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonucleases, on model complex lesions.

Carbon-Oxygen Lyases↗