Fluorogenic polymerase, endonuclease, and ligase assays based on DNA substrates labeled with a single fluorophore

An acid precipitation technique: A strip assay for the large-scale DNA polymerase activity screening

A new format of a very rapid, low-cost and high-productive analysis based on the acid precipitation of radiolabeled DNA was developed. By contrast to the conventional processing of a large number of GF/C discs, the method employs one GF/C strip containing samples on individual teeth. The strip assay was validated by comparison with the glass fiber disk technique; the efficiency was demonstrated by screening E. coli superproducers and fractions obtained at the steps of Bst DNA polymerase, Large Fragment purification by the protocol we developed. The principle proposed allows simultaneous assaying many samples for the activity of different polymerases.

Adapting capillary gel electrophoresis as a sensitive, high-throughput method to accelerate characterization of nucleic acid metabolic enzymes

Detailed biochemical characterization of nucleic acid enzymes is fundamental to understanding nucleic acid metabolism, genome replication and repair. We report the development of a rapid, high-throughput fluorescence capillary gel electrophoresis method as an alternative to traditional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to characterize nucleic acid metabolic enzymes. The principles of assay design described here can be applied to nearly any enzyme system that acts on a fluorescently labeled oligonucleotide substrate. Herein, we describe several assays using this core capillary gel electrophoresis methodology to accelerate study of nucleic acid enzymes. First, assays were designed to examine DNA polymerase activities including nucleotide incorporation kinetics, strand displacement synthesis and 3′-5′ exonuclease activity. Next, DNA repair activities of DNA ligase, flap endonuclease and RNase H2 were monitored. In addition, a multicolor assay that uses four different fluorescently labeled substrates in a single reaction was implemented to characterize GAN nuclease specificity. Finally, a dual-color fluorescence assay to monitor coupled enzyme reactions during Okazaki fragment maturation is described. These assays serve as a template to guide further technical development for enzyme characterization or nucleoside and non-nucleoside inhibitor screening in a high-throughput manner.

Fluorogenic DNA ligase and base excision repair enzyme assays using substrates labeled with single fluorophores

Continuing our work on fluorogenic substrates labeled with single fluorophores for nucleic acid modifying enzymes, here we describe the development of such substrates for DNA ligases and some base excision repair enzymes. These substrates are hairpin-type synthetic DNA molecules with a single fluorophore located on a base close to the 3' ends, an arrangement that results in strong fluorescence quenching. When such substrates are subjected to an enzymatic reaction, the position of the dyes relative to that end of the molecules is altered, resulting in significant fluorescence intensity changes. The ligase substrates described here were 5' phosphorylated and either blunt-ended or carrying short, self-complementary single-stranded 5' extensions. The ligation reactions resulted in the covalent joining of the ends of the molecules, decreasing the quenching effect of the terminal bases on the dyes. To generate fluorogenic substrates for the base excision repair enzymes formamido-pyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (FPG), human 8-oxo-G DNA glycosylase/AP lyase (hOGG1), endonuclease IV (EndoIV), and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease (APE1), we introduced abasic sites or a modified nucleotide, 8-oxo-dG, at such positions that their enzymatic excision would result in the release of a short fluorescent fragment. This was also accompanied by strong fluorescence increases. Overall fluorescence changes ranged from approximately 4-fold (ligase reactions) to more than 20-fold (base excision repair reactions).

Generic assay format for endo- and exonucleases based on fluorogenic substrates labeled with single fluorophores

We previously described the development of fluorogenic assays for nucleic acid-modifying enzymes based on synthetic oligonucleotides labeled with a single fluorophore. In the current work, we studied the performance of such singly labeled substrates as a function of the nucleotide sequence in the vicinity of the fluorophore and the nature of the fluorophore itself. In agreement with published studies, we found that a 3' end of the primer terminating in a dC residue opposite a 5' dG provides the greatest degree of fluorophore quenching. Adding a second dC residue at the 3' penultimate position opposite another dG increased the quenching further. Among the various dyes tested, the difluoro substituted fluorescein derivative Oregon Green emerged as a superior fluorophore for this assay format. We have now combined these findings into a new generic format for endonuclease assays. This format allows a substrate for any endonuclease to be obtained rapidly by simply replacing the enzyme's recognition sequence within the generic labeled molecule. Compared with our previous format, the new assays show greatly expanded signal dynamic ranges. The format is applicable to other nucleic acid-modifying enzymes such as exonucleases (e.g., T7 gene 6 exonuclease) and DNA repair enzymes (e.g., uracil-DNA glycosylase).

Oligonucleotides labeled with single fluorophores as sensors for deoxynucleotide triphosphate binding by DNA polymerases

Oligonucleotides labeled with a single fluorophore (fluorescein or tetramethylrhodamine) have been used previously as fluorogenic substrates for a number of DNA modifying enzymes. Here, it is shown that such molecules can be used as fluorogenic probes to detect the template-dependent binding of deoxynucleotide triphosphates by DNA polymerases. Two polymerases were used in this work: the Klenow fragment of the Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I and the Bacillus stearothermophilus polymerase, Bst. When complexes of these polymerases with dye-labeled hairpin-type oligonucleotides were mixed with various deoxynucleotide triphosphates in the presence of Sr²⁺ as the divalent metal cation, the formation of ternary DNA-polymerase-dNTP complexes was detected by concentration-dependent changes in the fluorescence intensities of the dyes. Fluorescein- and tetramethylrhodamine-labeled probes of identical sequences responded differently to the two polymerases. With Bst polymerase, the fluorescence intensities of all probes increased with the next correct dNTP; with Klenow polymerase, tetramethylrhodamine-labeled probes increased their fluorescence, but the intensity of fluorescein-labeled probes decreased on formation of ternary complexes with the correct incoming nucleotides. The use of Sr²⁺ as the divalent metal ion allowed the formation of catalytically inactive ternary complexes and obviated the need for using 2',3'-dideoxy-terminated oligonucleotides as would have been needed in the case of Mg²⁺ as the metal ion.

Fluorogenic substrates with single fluorophores for nucleic acid-modifying enzymes: design principles and new applications

Nucleic acid-modifying enzymes are widely used in numerous applications. Many of these proteins are also important drug targets. Thus, better assays for the evaluation of their activities are always needed and are continuously being developed. Recently, I reported on a set of assays for several DNA-modifying enzymes (polymerases, endonucleases, and ligase) based on simple, hairpin-type oligonucleotide substrates labeled with a single fluorophore (Anal. Biochem. 412 (2011) 229-236). The present paper reports further studies on the mechanism of action of these substrates. It was assumed that the single fluorophore of these substrates is substantially quenched by stacking onto the terminal base(s) of the duplex, and that any perturbation of that stacking causes an increase in fluorescence. Based on this assumption, substrates of the same type for a variety of additional enzymes were developed and tested. The new assays described herein are for T4 polynucleotide kinase, the DNA repair enzymes uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG) and formamido-pyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (FPG), 3'-5' exonucleases, and enzymes with template-independent terminal transferase activity such as Taq polymerase. All of these molecules are easy to synthesize, and similar substrates for other enzymes can rapidly be designed based on the principles outlined in this work.