An Oxidized Abasic Lesion as an Intramolecular Source of DNA Adducts

Rapid Histone-Catalyzed DNA Lesion Excision and Accompanying Protein Modification in Nucleosomes and Nucleosome Core Particles

C5'-Hydrogen atoms are frequently abstracted during DNA oxidation. The oxidized abasic lesion 5'-(2-phosphoryl-1,4-dioxobutane) (DOB) is an electrophilic product of the C5'-radical. DOB is a potent irreversible inhibitor of DNA polymerase β, and forms interstrand cross-links in free DNA. We examined the reactivity of DOB within nucleosomes and nucleosome core particles (NCPs), the monomeric component of chromatin. Depending upon the position at which DOB is generated within a NCP, it is excised from nucleosomal DNA at a rate 275-1500-fold faster than that in free DNA. The half-life of DOB (7.0-16.8 min) in NCPs is shorter than any other abasic lesion. DOB's lifetime in NCPs is also significantly shorter than the estimated lifetime of an abasic site within a cell, suggesting that the observed chemistry would occur intracellularly. Histones also catalyze DOB excision when the lesion is present in the DNA linker region of a nucleosome. Schiff-base formation between DOB and histone proteins is detected in nucleosomes and NCPs, resulting in pyrrolone formation at the lysine residues. The lysines modified by DOB are often post-translationally modified. Consequently, the histone modifications described herein could affect the regulation of gene expression and may provide a chemical basis for the cytotoxicity of the DNA damaging agents that produce this lesion.

DNA polymerase λ inactivation by oxidized abasic sites

Base excision repair (BER) plays a vital role in maintaining genomic integrity in mammalian cells. DNA polymerase λ (Pol λ) is believed to play a backup role to DNA polymerase β (Pol β) in base excision repair. Two oxidized abasic lesions that are produced by a variety of DNA-damaging agents, including several antitumor antibiotics, the C4'-oxidized abasic site following Ape1 incision (pC4-AP), and 5'-(2-phosphoryl-1,4-dioxobutane) (DOB), irreversibly inactivate Pol β and Pol λ. The interactions of DOB and pC4-AP with Pol λ are examined in detail using DNA substrates containing these lesions at defined sites. Single-turnover kinetic experiments show that Pol λ excises DOB almost 13 times more slowly than a 5'-phosphorylated 2-deoxyribose (dRP). pC4-AP is excised approximately twice as fast as DOB. The absolute rate constants are considerably slower than those reported for Pol β for the respective reactions, suggesting that Pol λ may be an inefficient backup in BER. DOB inactivates Pol λ approximately 3-fold less efficiently than it does Pol β, and the difference can be attributed to a higher K(I) (33 ± 7 nM). Inactivation of Pol λ's lyase activity by DOB also prevents the enzyme from conducting polymerization following preincubation of the protein and DNA. Mass spectral analysis of GluC-digested Pol λ inactivated by DOB shows that Lys324 is modified. There is inferential support for the idea that Lys312 may also be modified. Both residues are within the Pol λ lyase active site. When acting on pC4-AP, Pol λ achieves approximately four turnovers on average before being inactivated. Lyase inactivation by pC4-AP is also accompanied by loss of polymerase activity, and mass spectrometry indicates that Lys312 and Lys324 are modified by the lesion. The ability of DOB and pC4-AP to inactivate Pol λ provides additional evidence that these lesions are significant sources of the cytotoxicity of DNA-damaging agents that produce them.

Biologically relevant oxidants cause bound proteins to readily oxidatively cross-link at Guanine

Oxidative DNA-protein cross-links have received less attention than other types of DNA damage and remain as one of the least understood types of oxidative lesion. A model system using ribonuclease A and a 27-nucleotide DNA was used to determine the propensity of oxidative cross-linking to occur in the presence of oxidants. Cross-link formation was examined using four different oxidation systems that generate singlet oxygen, superoxide, and metal-based Fenton reactions. It is shown that oxidative cross-linking occurs in yields ranging from 14% to a maximal yield of 61% in all oxidative systems when equivalent concentrations of DNA and protein are present. Because singlet oxygen is the most efficient oxidation system in generating DNA-protein cross-links, it was chosen for further analyses. Cross-linking occurred with single-stranded DNA binding protein and not with bovine serum albumin. Addition of salt lowered nonspecific binding affinity and lowered cross-link yield by up to 59%. The yield of cross-linking increased with increased ratios of protein compared with DNA. Cross-linking was highly dependent on the number of guanines in a DNA sequence. Loss of guanine content on the 27-nucleotide DNA led to nearly complete loss in cross-linking, while primer extension studies showed cross-links to predominantly occur at guanine base on a 100-nucleotide DNA. The chemical species generated were examined using two peptides derived from the ribonuclease A sequence, N-acetyl-AAAKF and N-acetyl-AYKTT, which were cross-linked to 2'-deoxyguanosine. The cross-link products were spiroiminodihydantoin, guanidinohydantoin, and tyrosyl-based adducts. Formation of tyrosine-based adducts may be competitive with the more well-studied lysine-based cross-links. We conclude that oxidative cross-links may be present at high levels in cells since the propensity to oxidatively cross-link is high and so much of the genomic DNA is coated with protein.