Repair of O6-methylguanine damage in normal human tissues

Differential expression of the O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase gene in normal human breast and skin tissue: in situ mapping of cell type-specific expression

O6-Alkylguanine is a major toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic lesion in cellular DNA that is repaired by O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (ATase). The expression of this gene is directly related to the cellular sensitivity of alkylating agents, with levels of this protein varying widely among human organs, tumors, and cell types. To better understand specific cell-type responses to repairing O6-alkylguanine lesions in DNA, we used colorimetric in situ hybridization, with an ATase-specific antisense oligomer probe, to map the cellular distribution of ATase mRNA in tissue sections of normal adult human breast and neonatal foreskin tissues. This is the first report of mapping ATase gene expression directly in normal human breast and skin tissues. Paraffin-embedded tissue sections were hybridized with a digoxigenin-labeled, 39-base antisense ATase oligomer. Hybridization of the probe to cells expressing the ATase gene was visualized after immunodetection with an alkaline phosphatase-conjugated anti-digoxigenin antibody. After color development, we simultaneously identified tissue architecture and cell types and measured the expression of the ATase gene. There was no hybridization-specific color when sections were mock hybridized, hybridized with a sense probe, or treated with RNase. In the breast tissue, 93% of the cells in the loosely connective tissue and 84% of the myoepithelial cells expressed high levels of ATase mRNA. Most of the luminal ductal epithelial cells (61%) were devoid of stain, indicating undetectable levels of ATase mRNA. In skin dermis, 93% of the fibroblasts appeared to express high levels of ATase mRNA. Within the epidermis, approximately 64% of the basal and 65% of the granular epithelial cells expressed ATase mRNA. Expression was undetectable in the epithelial cells of the suprabasal layer of the epidermis. There was very little interindividual variation (< 17%) in the distribution of expression of ATase within the same cell types of different individuals. These data illustrate the differential potential of individual cell types within the organ matrix to repair O6-alkylguanine damage in cellular DNA. This data may provide insights into the understanding of cell type-specific responses to carcinogens.

Repair of O6-alkylguanines in the nuclear DNA of human lymphocytes and leukaemic cells: analysis at the single-cell level

Inter-individual and cell-cell variability of repair of O6-alkylguanines (O6-AlkGua) in nuclear DNA was studied at the single-cell level in peripheral lymphocytes from healthy donors and in leukaemic cells isolated from patients with chronic lymphatic leukaemia (CLL) or acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Cells were pulse exposed to N-ethyl- or N-(n-)butyl-N-nitrosourea in vitro, and O6-AlkGua residues in DNA were quantified using an anti-(O6-AlkGua) monoclonal antibody and electronically intensified fluorescence. The kinetics of O6-AlkGua elimination revealed considerable inter-individual differences in O6-ethylguanine (O6-EtGua) half-life (t1/2) values in DNA, ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 h (five AML patients), from 0.8 to 2.8 h (five CLL patients) and from 1.2 to 7.3 h (five healthy donors). The elimination from DNA of equimolar amounts of O6-butylguanine was generally 3-5 times slower in comparison with O6-EtGua. The t1/2 values of individual samples varied in parallel for both DNA alkylation products. Upon preincubation with O6-benzylguanine, the activity of the DNA repair protein O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (AT) in both lymphocytes and leukaemic blasts was reduced to < or = 1%. However, while the rate of O6-EtGua elimination from DNA was decelerated it was not abolished, suggesting the possible involvement of additional repair systems that might be co-regulated with AT. Within individual samples, no major cell subpopulations were observed whose repair kinetics would differ significantly from the remaining cells.

Alkylation and oxidative-DNA damage repair activity in blood leukocytes of smokers and non-smokers

The levels of 3 DNA repair enzymes involved in alkylation and oxidative DNA damage repair in human peripheral blood leukocytes were measured in 20 smokers and 17 non-smokers. No differences in O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase (AGT) activity were found between the 2 groups and the AGT distribution within the population appeared to be unimodal. In contrast, the mean activities of both the methylpurine (MeP)- and the 2-6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5N formamidopyrimidine (FaPy)-DNA glycosylases were higher in the smokers, although only the difference between the MeP-DNA glycosylase means was statistically significant. The standard deviations of these 2 enzymes were also higher in the smokers. The MeP-DNA glycosylase activity showed a bimodal distribution when all subjects were considered. This may in part be due to the smoking habit; 83% of the subjects with enzyme activities higher than 500 fmoles/mg protein were current smokers, whilst 85% of the non-smokers had lower enzyme activities. However, if the smokers were considered separately, a bimodal distribution of this enzyme activity could still be observed. No strong correlation was observed between enzyme activity and age, although the slopes of the regression lines of enzyme activity on age were all negative. The relationship between enzyme activities was studied by bivariate distribution and a strong correlation was only found between the MeP-DNA glycosylase and the FaPy-glycosylase, with the highest values of both enzyme activities being observed in the smokers and the lowest in the non-smokers. Our results suggest that the activity of certain DNA repair enzymes can be modulated by environmental exposure.