UVA-induced binding of 8-methoxypsoralen to cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: separation and characterization of DNA photoadducts

Phage nucleoprotein-psoralen interaction: quantitative characterization of dark and photoreactions

The irradiation of the phage T7 system containing psoralen as photosensitizer causes many processes, each of them leading to phage inactivation. These processes include the UV-induced photoreactions in the phage nucleic acid, and photoreactions in the nucleic acid sensitized by either psoralen or psoralen photobreakdown products. In addition the intercalation of the psoralen molecule itself in the phage nucleic acid as well as the psoralen photobreakdown products cause phage inactivation. Under appropriate experimental conditions these reactions can be studied and characterized separately. The quantitative characteristics (e.g. inactivation cross-section, action spectra and index for dark genotoxicity) are demonstrated for different linear and angular psoralens. Some theoretical and practical consequences of the results obtained are discussed.

Molecular dosimetry of 8-MOP + UVA-induced DNA photoadducts in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: correlation of lesions number with genotoxic potential

Acid hydrolysis of purified DNA extracted from cells of a haploid repair-proficient (RAD) yeast strain that had been treated with 8-MOP + UVA revealed the existence of two major and one minor thymine photoproduct. At survival levels of the RAD strain between 100% and 1% furanside monoadducts constituted the major DNA lesion, followed by diadducts that, at the lowest survival level, nearly reached 50% of the thymine photoproducts; pyrone-side monoadducts were only detectable at the highest UVA exposure dose applied and clearly constitute a minority photoproduct. The number of induced diadducts was verified by determination of interstrand cross-links via denaturation and renaturation of 8-MOP + UVA-treated DNA from RAD and rad2 yeast strain. 8-MOP + UVA was shown to induce two types of locus-specific mutations: reversion of the lys1-1 ochre allele was between 20- to 50-fold higher than that of the his4-38 frameshift allele. Mutant yield for the lys 1-1 reversion was the same in RAD and excision repair-deficient rad2-20 strains whereas frameshift mutagenesis was about eightfold higher in the rad2-20 background.

Reassessing the genotoxic potential of 8-MOP + UVA-induced DNA damage in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Two different UVA irradiation systems were initially biologically calibrated with two haploid yeast strains proficient and deficient, respectively, in nucleotide excision repair. The number of DNA lesions introduced into the cell's genome by the photoactivated bifunctional furocoumarin 8-MOP was then calculated by means of the applied UVA exposure doses. At LD37 the repair-proficient wild type had about 14 ICL and 34 furan-side monoadducts in its DNA, while doubly blocked repair mutant rad3-12 pso1-1 had 2 ICL and 3 monoadducts. Locus-specific reversion of lys1-1 followed two-hit kinetics in the repair-proficient wild type and one-hit kinetics in an excision-deficient rad2-20 mutant, as would be expected if ICL was the main type of mutagenic lesion in the wild type and monoadducts the main mutagenic lesion type in the excision-deficient strain. Quantitative comparison of 8-MOP + UVA-induced ICL with those induced by bifunctional mustard revealed the former to have a much higher genotoxicity.

Molecular cloning of SNM1, a yeast gene responsible for a specific step in the repair of cross-linked DNA

We have isolated yeast gene SNM1 via complementation of sensitivity towards bi- and tri-functional alkylating agents in haploid and diploid yeast DNA repair-deficient snm1-1 mutants. Four independent clones of plasmid DNA containing the SNM1 locus were isolated after transformation with a YEp24-based yeast gene bank. Subcloned SNM1-containing DNA showed (i) complementation of the repair-deficiency phenotype caused by either one of the two different mutant alleles snm1-1 and snm1-2ts; (ii) complementation in haploid and diploid yeast snm1-1 mutants by either single or multiple copies of the SNM1 locus; and (iii) that the SNM1 gene is at most 2.4 kb in size. Expression of SNM1 on the smallest subclone, however, was under the control of the GAL1 promotor. Gene size and direction of transcription was further verified by mutagenesis of SNM1 by Tn10-LUK transposon insertion. Five plasmids containing Tn10-LUK insertions at different sites of the SNM1-containing DNA were able to disrupt the function of genomic SNM1 after gene transplacement. Correct integration of the disrupted SNM1::Tn10-LUK at the genomic site of SNM1 was verified via tetrad analysis of the sporulated diploid obtained after mating of the SNM1::Tn10-LUK transformant to a haploid strain containing the URA3 SNM1 wild-type alleles. The size of the poly(A)+ RNA transcript of the SNM1 gene is 1.1 kb as determined by Northern analysis.