Persistent structural change in replicating hepatic DNA isolated from diethylnitrosamine-treated rats

Functional uncoupling of MCM helicase and DNA polymerase activities activates the ATR-dependent checkpoint

The ATR-dependent DNA damage response pathway can respond to a diverse group of lesions as well as inhibitors of DNA replication. Using the Xenopus egg extract system, we show that lesions induced by UV irradiation and cis-platinum cause the functional uncoupling of MCM helicase and DNA polymerase activities, an event previously shown for aphidicolin. Inhibition of uncoupling during elongation with inhibitors of MCM7 or Cdc45, a putative helicase cofactor, results in abrogation of Chk1 phosphorylation, indicating that uncoupling is necessary for activation of the checkpoint. However, uncoupling is not sufficient for checkpoint activation, and DNA synthesis by Polalpha is also required. Finally, using plasmids of varying size, we demonstrate that all of the unwound DNA generated at a stalled replication fork can contribute to the level of Chk1 phosphorylation, suggesting that uncoupling amplifies checkpoint signaling at each individual replication fork. Taken together, these observations indicate that functional uncoupling of MCM helicase and DNA polymerase activities occurs in response to multiple forms of DNA damage and that there is a general mechanism for generation of the checkpoint-activating signal following DNA damage.

Changes in secondary structure of DNA of rat embryos following treatment with 1,2-diethylhydrazine and dimethylnitrosamine in vivo

1,2-Diethylhydrazine (DEH) and dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) are indirect acting carcinogens that require metabolic activation to exert their potency. DEH is a transplacental carcinogen and teratogen in Wistar rats when administered by i.p. injection on day 12 of gestation. DMN is embryotoxic during this period. In this study, gravid Wistar rats were injected i.v. with DEH (10, 15, or 20 mg/kg) or i.p. with DMN (10 or 30 mg/kg) and the effects on the embryos 24 hours later were observed. Controls were similarly injected with saline vehicle. The incidence of resorptions increased after treatment with 20 mg DEH/kg. DEH treatment also resulted in decreases in embryo wet weights and total DNA that were not dose dependent. Treatment with DMN did not affect embryonic wet weights and total embryonic DNA amount when compared to the saline-treated controls. The effects of DEH and DMN on DNA synthesis in vivo were monitored by injecting [methyl-14C]-thymidine 1 hour prior to embryo death. DEH induced significant increases in thymidine incorporation into embryo DNA but the increases were not proportional to the doses administered. DNA synthesis was significantly decreased in embryos treated with 30 mg DMN/kg. The DNA of treated and control embryos was fractionated by benzoylated DEAE-cellulose (BD-cellulose) chromatography to determine differences in DNA secondary structure following treatment. BD-cellulose chromatography separates double-stranded DNA from DNA containing single-stranded regions by step elution with 1 M NaCl solution and caffeine solution, respectively. Embryonic DNA was monitored by in vivo labelling with [methyl-3H]-thymidine on days 6 and 7 of gestation. Significant dose dependent increases in percentages of caffeine-eluted DNA (%CE-DNA) compared to controls were detected after treatment with 10, 15, and 20 mg DEH/kg and 10 and 30 mg DMN/kg. The relative %CE-DNA is expressed as the ratio of %CE-14C-labeled DNA to %CE-3H-labeled DNA. Litters treated with 10, 15, and 20 mg DEH/kg had relative %CE-DNA values significantly lower than controls. The results support the hypothesis that initiation mechanisms of transplacental carcinogenesis and teratogenesis are different. The pertinence of %CE-DNA and relative %CE-DNA values to the study of transplacental carcinogenesis and teratogenesis is discussed.

Changes in secondary structure of DNA of rat embryos following treatment with diethylnitrosamine and methylazoxymethanol acetate in vivo

Diethylnitrosamine (DEN) and methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) are not transplacental carcinogenic but embryotoxic to Wistar rats when administered by i.p. injection on day 12 of gestation. MAM, a weak teratogen to rats during this period, induced a dose dependent increase in the number of resorptions to 15% and 40% of the litters following doses of 15 and 25 mg/kg bw, respectively. Rats similarly treated with 70, 150, and 180 mg DEN/kg bw resulted in increases in total DNA mass of day 13 embryos by 31%, 45% and 52%, respectively, compared to the saline treated controls. Twenty percent reduction in total DNA amount was detected following 25 mg MAM/kg bw. Benzoylated DEAE-cellulose (BD-cellulose) chromatography fractionates DNA on the basis of secondary structure by stepwise elution of double-stranded DNA with 1.0M NaCl solution (SE-DNA) followed by elution of DNA containing single-stranded regions with caffeine solution (CE-DNA). Day 13 embryonic DNA was monitored by in vivo labelling with [methyl-3H]-thymidine (3H-TdR) on days 6 and 7 of gestation. Significant increases in percentages of caffeine-eluted DNA (%CE-DNA) compared to control values were detected 24 h after treatment of day 12 embryos with 70, 150, and 180 mg DEN/kg bw. Such increases were not observed after MAM. Incorporation of [methyl-14C]-thymidine (14C-TdR) into embryonic DNA demonstrated the effects of treatment with these compounds on DNA synthesis in vivo. When compared to saline controls, DEN induced significant increases in 14C-TdR incorporation into embryo DNA, 1 h prior to analysis, but the increases were not proportional to the doses administered. Similar analysis of MAM treated samples showed no significant changes to %CE-DNA values. The relative %CE-DNA is expressed as the ratio of the percentage of caffeine-eluted 14C-labelled DNA to %CE-DNA (i.e., %CE-14C-DNA:%CE-3H-DNA). In the majority of control embryos the 14C-specific activity of CE-DNA was higher than the 14C-specific activity of SE-DNA. No significant change to relative %CE-DNA values of embryos to those of the controls was observed 24 h after treatment of day 12 gestation rats with single doses of DEN and MAM. The results of this study support the hypothesis that initiation mechanisms of teratogenesis and transplacental carcinogenesis are different. The pertinence of %CE-DNA and relative %CE-DNA values to teratogenesis and transplacental carcinogenesis is also discussed.