Multiple thymine dimer excising nuclease activities in extracts of human KB cells

Nature of DNA repair synthesis resistant to inhibitors of polymerase alpha in human cells

Arabinocytidine and aphidicolin are inhibitors of alpha-DNA polymerase that have been shown to affect both normal DNA replication and repair synthesis in mammalian cells. In contradiction to the prevalent hypothesis that these inhibitors merely slow the polymerization rate at incision sites near lesions, our results suggest that the repair synthesis resistant to inhibitors is mediated by a separate pathway. Repair synthesis in contact-inhibited human cells following UV irradiation was inhibited 75-80% by arabinocytidine or aphidicolin, and most of the repair patches were not ligated into parental DNA, as judged by an enzymatic assay. However, the patches were not demonstrably shorter than those in untreated cells. Even following low-UV doses at which no inhibition of repair synthesis by the inhibitors was observed, a majority of the patches were not ligated. DNA polymerase beta is implicated in this alternate pathway, both by the known specificity of the inhibitors and by evidence from their sensitivity to S1 nuclease that the patches arise from displacement synthesis. The unligated patches are not degraded in vivo and eventually become ligated into parental DNA, very slowly in the presence of inhibitors but much more rapidly following their removal. Thus, under conditions of alpha-polymerase inhibition, a limited number of normal length repair patches are made, apparently by displacement synthesis, leaving displaced strands that remain substantially undegraded.

The DNA polymerase beta reaction with ultraviolet-irradiated DNA incised by correndonuclease

Covalently closed circular Col E1 DNA was ultraviolet-irradiated with a dose of 60 J/m2, thus introducing about 3.2 pyrimidine dimers per DNA molecule. Treatment of irradiated Col E1 DNA with Micrococcus luteus correndonuclease resulted, in the vicinity of pyrimidine dimers, in an average of 3.3 incisions per DNA molecule, and converted DNA to the open circular form. Incised Col E1 DNA stimulated no reaction with calf thymus DNA polymerase alpha but was recognized as a template by DNA polymerase beta. The latter enzyme incorporated about 1.6 molecules of dTMP (corresponding to 6 molecules od dNMP) per one correndonuclease incision. The length of the DNA polymerase beta product was comparable to the anticipated length of the DNA region within which the hydrogen bonds were disrupted owing to dimer formation. The enzyme required Mg(2)=nd four dNTPs for reaction and was resistant to N-ethylmaleimide or p-mercuribenzoate. The average numbers of deoxynucleotides incorporated per one DNAase I incision or per one nonspecific break, measured in control samples, were equal, amounting to 0.3 dTMP molecule. This value corresponded to 1.2 dNMP molecule; in our opinion, this reflects contaminating nuclease activity of the system used. The present results testify to the ability of DNA polymerase beta to repair synthesis by the "patch and cut' mechanism.