Effective molarity in a nucleic acid-controlled reaction

Unprecedented reactivity of polyamines with aldehydic DNA modifications: structural determinants of reactivity, characterization and enzymatic stability of adducts

Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites, 5-formyluracil (fU) and 5-formylcytosine (fC) are abundant DNA modifications that share aldehyde-type reactivity. Here, we demonstrate that polyamines featuring at least one secondary 1,2-diamine fragment in combination with aromatic units form covalent DNA adducts upon reaction with AP sites (with concomitant cleavage of the AP strand), fU and, to a lesser extent, fC residues. Using small-molecule mimics of AP site and fU, we show that reaction of secondary 1,2-diamines with AP sites leads to the formation of unprecedented 3'-tetrahydrofuro[2,3,4-ef]-1,4-diazepane ('ribodiazepane') scaffold, whereas the reaction with fU produces cationic 2,3-dihydro-1,4-diazepinium adducts via uracil ring opening. The reactivity of polyamines towards AP sites versus fU and fC can be tuned by modulating their chemical structure and pH of the reaction medium, enabling up to 20-fold chemoselectivity for AP sites with respect to fU and fC. This reaction is efficient in near-physiological conditions at low-micromolar concentration of polyamines and tolerant to the presence of a large excess of unmodified DNA. Remarkably, 3'-ribodiazepane adducts are chemically stable and resistant to the action of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) and tyrosyl-DNA phosphoesterase 1 (TDP1), two DNA repair enzymes known to cleanse a variety of 3' end-blocking DNA lesions.

Effects of Local Sequence, Reaction Conditions, and Various Additives on the Formation and Stability of Interstrand Cross-Links Derived from the Reaction of an Abasic Site with an Adenine Residue in Duplex DNA

The experiments described here examined the effects of reaction conditions, various additives, and local sequence on the formation and stability interstrand cross-links (ICLs) derived from the reaction of an apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site with the exocyclic amino group of an adenine residue on the opposing strand in duplex DNA. Cross-link formation was observed in a range of different buffers, with faster formation rates observed at pH 5. Inclusion of the base excision repair enzyme alkyladenine DNA glycosylase (hAAG) which binds tightly to AP-containing duplexes decreased, but did not completely prevent, formation of the dA-AP ICL. Formation of the dA-AP ICL was not altered by the presence of the biological metal ion Mg²⁺ or the biological thiol, glutathione. Several organocatalysts of imine formation did not enhance the rate of dA-AP ICL formation. Duplex length did not have a large effect on dA-AP yield, so long as the melting temperature of the duplex was not significantly below the reaction temperature (the duplex must remain hybridized for efficient ICL formation). Formation of the dA-AP ICL was examined in over 40 different sequences that varied the neighboring and opposing bases at the cross-linking site. The results indicate that ICL formation can occur in a wide variety of sequence contexts under physiological conditions. Formation of the dA-AP ICL was strongly inhibited by the aldehyde-trapping agents methoxyamine and hydralazine, by NaBH₃CN, by the intercalator ethidium bromide, and by the minor groove-binding agent netropsin. ICL formation was inhibited to some extent in bicarbonate and Tris buffers. The dA-AP ICL showed substantial inherent stability under a variety of conditions and was not a substrate for AP-processing enzymes APE1 or Endo IV. Finally, we characterized cross-link formation in a small (11 bp) stem-loop (hairpin) structure and in DNA-RNA hybrid duplexes.

Unexpected Complexity in the Products Arising from NaOH-, Heat-, Amine-, and Glycosylase-Induced Strand Cleavage at an Abasic Site in DNA

Hydrolytic loss of nucleobases from the deoxyribose backbone of DNA is one of the most common unavoidable types of damage in synthetic and cellular DNA. The reaction generates abasic sites in DNA, and it is important to understand the properties of these lesions. The acidic nature of the α-protons of the ring-opened abasic aldehyde residue facilitates the β-elimination of the 3'-phosphoryl group. This reaction is expected to generate a DNA strand break with a phosphoryl group on the 5'-terminus and a trans-α,β-unsaturated aldehyde residue on the 3'-terminus; however, a handful of studies have identified noncanonical sugar remnants on the 3'-terminus, suggesting that the products arising from strand cleavage at apurinic/apyrimidinic sites in DNA may be more complex than commonly thought. We characterized the strand cleavage induced by the treatment of an abasic site-containing DNA oligonucleotide with heat, NaOH, piperidine, spermine, and the base excision repair glycosylases Fpg and Endo III. The results showed that under multiple conditions, cleavage at an abasic site in a DNA oligomer generated noncanonical sugar remnants including cis-α,β-unsaturated aldehyde, 2-deoxyribose, and 3-thio-2,3-dideoxyribose products on the 3'-terminus of the strand break.

Formation and Repair of an Interstrand DNA Cross-Link Arising from a Common Endogenous Lesion

Interstrand DNA cross-links (ICLs) are cytotoxic because they block the strand separation required for read-out and replication of the genetic information in duplex DNA. The unavoidable formation of ICLs in cellular DNA may contribute to aging, neurodegeneration, and cancer. Here, we describe the formation and properties of a structurally complex ICL derived from an apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site, which is one of the most common endogenous lesions in cellular DNA. The results characterize a cross-link arising from aza-Michael addition of the N²-amino group of a guanine residue to the electrophilic sugar remnant generated by spermine-mediated strand cleavage at an AP site in duplex DNA. An α,β-unsaturated iminium ion is the critical intermediate involved in ICL formation. Studies employing the bacteriophage φ29 polymerase provided evidence that this ICL can block critical DNA transactions that require strand separation. The results of biochemical studies suggest that this complex strand break/ICL might be repaired by a simple mechanism in which the 3'-exonuclease action of the enzyme apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease (APE1) unhooks the cross-link to initiate repair via the single-strand break repair pathway.

Formation and repair of unavoidable, endogenous interstrand cross-links in cellular DNA

Genome integrity is essential for life and, as a result, DNA repair systems evolved to remove unavoidable DNA lesions from cellular DNA. Many forms of life possess the capacity to remove interstrand DNA cross-links (ICLs) from their genome but the identity of the naturally-occurring, endogenous substrates that drove the evolution and retention of these DNA repair systems across a wide range of life forms remains uncertain. In this review, we describe more than a dozen chemical processes by which endogenous ICLs plausibly can be introduced into cellular DNA. The majority involve DNA degradation processes that introduce aldehyde residues into the double helix or reactions of DNA with endogenous low molecular weight aldehyde metabolites. A smaller number of the cross-linking processes involve reactions of DNA radicals generated by oxidation.

Boronic Acid-Mediated Activity Control of Split 10-23 DNAzymes

The 10-23 DNAzyme is an artificially developed Mg2+ -dependent catalytic oligonucleotide that can cleave an RNA substrate in a sequence-specific fashion. In this study, new split 10-23 DNAzymes made of two nonfunctional fragments, one of which carries a boronic acid group at its 5' end, while the other has a ribonucleotide at its 3' end, were designed. Herein it is demonstrated that the addition of Mg2+ ions leads to assembly of the fragments, which in turn induces the formation of a new boronate internucleoside linkage that restores the DNAzyme activity. A systematic evaluation identified the best-performing system. The results highlight key features for efficient control of DNAzyme activity through the formation of boronate linkages.

Unhooking of an interstrand cross-link at DNA fork structures by the DNA glycosylase NEIL3

Interstrand DNA-DNA cross-links (ICLs) are generated by endogenous processes, drugs, and environmental toxins. Understanding the cellular pathways by which various ICLs are repaired is critical to understanding their biological effects. Recent studies showed that replication-dependent repair of an ICL derived from the reaction of an abasic (AP) site with an adenine residue (dA) on the opposing strand of duplex DNA proceeds via a novel mechanism in which the DNA glycosylase NEIL3 unhooks the ICL. Here we examined the ability of the glycosylase domain of murine NEIL3 (MmuNEIL3-GD) to unhook dA-AP ICLs. The enzyme selectively unhooks the dA-AP ICL located at the duplex/single-strand junction of splayed duplexes that model the strand-separated DNA at the leading edge of a replication fork. We show that the ability to unhook the dA-AP ICL is a specialized function of NEIL3 as this activity is not observed in other BER enzymes. Importantly, NEIL3 only unhooks the dA-AP ICL when the AP residue is located on what would be the leading template strand of a model replication fork. The same specificity for the leading template strand was observed with a 5,6-dihydrothymine monoadduct, demonstrating that this preference is a general feature of the glycosylase and independent of the type of DNA damage. Overall, the results show that the glycosylase domain of NEIL3, lacking the C-terminal NPL4 and GRF zinc finger motifs, is competent to unhook the dA-AP ICL in splayed substrates and independently enforces important substrate preferences on the repair process.

Selective covalent capture of a DNA sequence corresponding to a cancer-driving C>G mutation in theKRASgene by a chemically reactive probe: optimizing a cross-linking reaction with non-canonical duplex structures

A covalent cross-linking reaction used for selective capture of a disease-relevant DNA sequence.

Interstrand cross-links arising from strand breaks at true abasic sites in duplex DNA

Interstrand cross-links are exceptionally bioactive DNA lesions. Endogenous generation of interstrand cross-links in genomic DNA may contribute to aging, neurodegeneration, and cancer. Abasic (Ap) sites are common lesions in genomic DNA that readily undergo spontaneous and amine-catalyzed strand cleavage reactions that generate a 2,3-didehydro-2,3-dideoxyribose sugar remnant (3’ddR5p) at the 3’-terminus of the strand break. Interestingly, this strand scission process leaves an electrophilic α,β-unsaturated aldehyde residue embedded within the resulting nicked duplex. Here we present evidence that 3’ddR5p derivatives generated by spermine-catalyzed strand cleavage at Ap sites in duplex DNA can react with adenine residues on the opposing strand to generate a complex lesion consisting of an interstrand cross-link adjacent to a strand break. The cross-link blocks DNA replication by ϕ29 DNA polymerase, a highly processive polymerase enzyme that couples synthesis with strand displacement. This suggests that 3’ddR5p-derived cross-links have the potential to block critical cellular DNA transactions that require strand separation. LC-MS/MS methods developed herein provide powerful tools for studying the occurrence and properties of these cross-links in biochemical and biological systems.

Sequence-Specific Covalent Capture Coupled with High-Contrast Nanopore Detection of a Disease-Derived Nucleic Acid Sequence

Hybridization-based methods for the detection of nucleic acid sequences are important in research and medicine. Short probes provide sequence specificity, but do not always provide a durable signal. Sequence-specific covalent crosslink formation can anchor probes to target DNA and might also provide an additional layer of target selectivity. Here, we developed a new crosslinking reaction for the covalent capture of specific nucleic acid sequences. This process involved reaction of an abasic (Ap) site in a probe strand with an adenine residue in the target strand and was used for the detection of a disease-relevant T→A mutation at position 1799 of the human BRAF kinase gene sequence. Ap-containing probes were easily prepared and displayed excellent specificity for the mutant sequence under isothermal assay conditions. It was further shown that nanopore technology provides a high contrast-in essence, digital-signal that enables sensitive, single-molecule sensing of the cross-linked duplexes.

DNA-encoded chemistry: enabling the deeper sampling of chemical space

DNA-encoded chemical library technologies are increasingly being adopted in drug discovery for hit and lead generation. DNA-encoded chemistry enables the exploration of chemical spaces four to five orders of magnitude more deeply than is achievable by traditional high-throughput screening methods. Operation of this technology requires developing a range of capabilities including aqueous synthetic chemistry, building block acquisition, oligonucleotide conjugation, large-scale molecular biological transformations, selection methodologies, PCR, sequencing, sequence data analysis and the analysis of large chemistry spaces. This Review provides an overview of the development and applications of DNA-encoded chemistry, highlighting the challenges and future directions for the use of this technology.

A New Cross-Link for an Old Cross-Linking Drug: The Nitrogen Mustard Anticancer Agent Mechlorethamine Generates Cross-Links Derived from Abasic Sites in Addition to the Expected Drug-Bridged Cross-Links

Nitrogen mustard anticancer drugs generate highly reactive aziridinium ions that alkylate DNA. Monoadducts arising from reaction with position N7 of guanine residues are the major DNA adducts generated by these agents. Interstrand cross-links in which the drug bridges position N7 of two guanine residues are formed in low yields relative to those of the monoadducts but are generally thought to be central to medicinal activity. The N7-alkylguanine residues generated by nitrogen mustards are depurinated to yield abasic (Ap) sites in duplex DNA. Here, we show that Ap sites generated by the nitrogen mustard mechlorethamine lead to interstrand cross-links of a type not previously associated with this drug. Gel electrophoretic data were consistent with early evolution of the expected drug-bridged cross-links, followed by the appearance of Ap-derived cross-links. The evidence is further consistent with a reaction pathway involving alkylation of a guanine residue in a 5'-GT sequence, followed by depurination to generate the Ap site, and cross-link formation via reaction of the Ap aldehyde residue with the opposing adenine residue at this site [Price, N. E., Johnson, K. M., Wang, J., Fekry, M. I., Wang, Y., and Gates, K. S. (2014) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 136, 3483-3490]. The monofunctional DNA-alkylating agents 2-chloro-N,N-diethylethanamine 5, (2-chloroethyl)ethylsulfide 6, and natural product leinamycin similarly were found to induce the formation of Ap-derived cross-links in duplex DNA. This work provides the first characterization of Ap-derived cross-links at sequences in which a cytosine residue is located directly opposing the Ap site. Cross-linking processes of this type could be relevant in medicine and biology because Ap sites with directly opposing cytosine residues occur frequently in genomic DNA via spontaneous or enzymatic depurination of guanine and N7-alkylguanine residues.