A novel role for Escherichia coli endonuclease VIII in prevention of spontaneous G-->T transversions

Consequences and repair of radiation-induced DNA damage: fifty years of fun questions and answers

PURPOSE

To summarize succinctly the 50 years of research undertaken in my laboratory and to provide an overview of my career in science. It is certainly a privilege to have been asked by Carmel Mothersill and Penny Jeggo to contribute to this special issue of the International Journal of Radiation Biology focusing on the work of women in the radiation sciences.

CONCLUSION

My students, post-docs and I identified and characterized a number of the enzymes that recognize and remove radiation-damaged DNA bases, the DNA glycosylases, which are the first enzymes in the Base Excision Repair (BER) pathway. Although this pathway actually evolved to repair oxidative and other endogenous DNA damages, it is also responsible for removing the vast majority of radiation-induced DNA damages including base damages, alkali-labile lesions and single strand breaks. However, because of its high efficiency, attempted BER of clustered lesions produced by ionizing radiation, can have disastrous effects on cellular DNA. We also evaluated the potential biological consequences of many of the radiation-induced DNA lesions. In addition, with collaborators, we employed computational techniques, x-ray crystallography and single molecule approaches to answer many questions at the molecular level.

DNA glycosylases for 8-oxoguanine repair in Staphylococcus aureus

GO system is part of base excision DNA repair and is required for the correct repair of 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG), one of the most abundant oxidative lesions. Due to the ability of 8-oxoG to mispair with A, this base is highly mutagenic, and its repair requires two enzymes: Fpg that removes 8-oxoG from 8-oxoG:C pairs, and MutY that excises the normal A from 8-oxoG:A mispairs. Here we characterize the properties of putative GO system DNA glycosylases from Staphylococcus aureus, an important human opportunistic pathogen that causes hospital infections and presents a serious health concern due to quick spread of antibiotic-resistant strains. In addition to Fpg and MutY from the reference NCTC 8325 strain (SauFpg1 and SauMutY), we have also studied an Fpg homolog from a multidrug-resistant C0673 isolate (SauFpg2), which is different from SauFpg1 in its sequence. Both SauFpg enzymes showed the highest activity at pH 7.0-9.0 and NaCl concentrations 25-75 mM (SauFpg1) or 50-100 mM (SauFpg2), whereas SauMutY was active at a broad pH range and had a salt optimum at ∼75 mM NaCl. Both SauFpg1 and SauFpg2 bound and cleaved duplexes containing 8-oxoG, 5-hydroxyuracil, 5,6-dihydrouracil or apurinic/apyrimidinic site paired with C, T, or G, but not with A. For SauFpg1 and SauFpg2, 8-oxoG was the best substrate tested, and 5,6-dihydrouracil was the worst one. SauMutY efficiently excised adenine from duplex substrates containing A:8-oxoG or A:G pairs. SauFpg enzymes were readily trapped on DNA by NaBH₄ treatment, indicating formation of a Schiff base reaction intermediate. Surprisingly, SauMutY was also trapped significantly better than its E. coli homolog. All three S. aureus GO glycosylases drastically reduced spontaneous mutagenesis when expressed in an fpg mutY E. coli double mutant. Overall, we conclude that S. aureus possesses an active GO system, which could possibly be targeted for sensitization of this pathogen to oxidative stress.

Inhibitors of DNA Glycosylases as Prospective Drugs

DNA glycosylases are enzymes that initiate the base excision repair pathway, a major biochemical process that protects the genomes of all living organisms from intrinsically and environmentally inflicted damage. Recently, base excision repair inhibition proved to be a viable strategy for the therapy of tumors that have lost alternative repair pathways, such as BRCA-deficient cancers sensitive to poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase inhibition. However, drugs targeting DNA glycosylases are still in development and so far have not advanced to clinical trials. In this review, we cover the attempts to validate DNA glycosylases as suitable targets for inhibition in the pharmacological treatment of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, chronic inflammation, bacterial and viral infections. We discuss the glycosylase inhibitors described so far and survey the advances in the assays for DNA glycosylase reactions that may be used to screen pharmacological libraries for new active compounds.

Biochemical reconstitution and genetic characterization of the major oxidative damage base excision DNA repair pathway in Thermococcus kodakarensis

Reactive oxygen species drive the oxidation of guanine to 8-oxoguanine (8oxoG), which threatens genome integrity. The repair of 8oxoG is carried out by base excision repair enzymes in Bacteria and Eukarya, however, little is known about archaeal 8oxoG repair. This study identifies a member of the Ogg-subfamily archaeal GO glycosylase (AGOG) in Thermococcus kodakarensis, an anaerobic, hyperthermophilic archaeon, and delineates its mechanism, kinetics, and substrate specificity. TkoAGOG is the major 8oxoG glycosylase in T. kodakarensis, but is non-essential. In addition to TkoAGOG, the major apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease (TkoEndoIV) required for archaeal base excision repair and cell viability was identified and characterized. Enzymes required for the archaeal oxidative damage base excision repair pathway were identified and the complete pathway was reconstituted. This study illustrates the conservation of oxidative damage repair across all Domains of life.

Manganese Is Required for the Rapid Recovery of DNA Synthesis following Oxidative Challenge in Escherichia coli

Divalent metals such as iron and manganese play an important role in the cellular response to oxidative challenges and are required as cofactors by many enzymes. However, how these metals affect replication after oxidative challenge is not known. Here, we show that replication in Escherichia coli is inhibited following a challenge with hydrogen peroxide and requires manganese for the rapid recovery of DNA synthesis. We show that the manganese-dependent recovery of DNA synthesis occurs independent of lesion repair, modestly improves cell survival, and is associated with elevated rates of mutagenesis. The Mn-dependent mutagenesis involves both replicative and translesion polymerases and requires prior disruption by H₂O₂ to occur. Taking these findings together, we propose that replication in E. coli is likely to utilize an iron-dependent enzyme(s) that becomes oxidized and inactivated during oxidative challenges. The data suggest that manganese remetallates these or alternative enzymes to allow genomic DNA replication to resume, although with reduced fidelity.IMPORTANCE Iron and manganese play important roles in how cell's cope with oxygen stress. However, how these metals affect the ability of cells to replicate after oxidative challenges is not known. Here, we show that replication in Escherichia coli is inhibited following a challenge with hydrogen peroxide and requires manganese for the rapid recovery of DNA synthesis. The manganese-dependent recovery of DNA synthesis occurs independently of lesion repair and modestly improves survival, but it also increases the mutation rate in cells. The results imply that replication in E. coli is likely to utilize an iron-dependent enzyme(s) that becomes oxidized and inactivated during oxidative challenges. We propose that manganese remetallates these or alternative enzymes to allow genomic DNA replication to resume, although with reduced fidelity.

Identification of a nth-Like Gene Encoding an Endonuclease III in Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacter jejuni is a leading cause of foodborne illnesses worldwide. As a microaerobic pathogen, C. jejuni is subjected to DNA damages caused by various stresses such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and UV radiations. The base excision repair (BER) system plays an important role in preventing mutations associated with oxidative DNA damage, but the system remains poorly characterized in Campylobacter. In this study, a BER homolog encoded by cj0595c (named nth) in C. jejuni was analyzed for endonuclease III activity and for its role in maintaining genomic stability. It was found that inactivation of nth resulted in elevated frequencies of spontaneous fluoroquinolone-resistant (FQ^R) and oxidative stress resistant (OX^R) mutants, compared with the wild-type strain in C. jejuni. Sequencing analysis of the FQ^R and OX^R mutants revealed that the elevated mutation rates were associated with C → T or G → A transition in gyrA (FQ^R mutants) or perR (for OX^R mutants). In an in vitro assay, a purified recombinant C. jejuni Nth protein demonstrated endonuclease III activity that recognized and excised the thymine glycol (Tg) base from a double stranded DNA. These findings indicate that Nth functions as a BER repair enzyme in C. jejuni and is important for the repair of DNA damage, protecting the bacteria from stresses encountered within a host and in the environment.

Coping with Reactive Oxygen Species to Ensure Genome Stability in Escherichia coli

The facultative aerobic bacterium Escherichia coli adjusts its cell cycle to environmental conditions. Because of its lifestyle, the bacterium has to balance the use of oxygen with the potential lethal effects of its poisonous derivatives. Oxidative damages perpetrated by molecules such as hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anions directly incapacitate metabolic activities relying on enzymes co-factored with iron and flavins. Consequently, growth is inhibited when the bacterium faces substantial reactive oxygen insults coming from environmental or cellular sources. Although hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anions do not oxidize DNA directly, these molecules feed directly or indirectly the generation of the highly reactive hydroxyl radical that damages the bacterial chromosome. Oxidized bases are normally excised and the single strand gap repaired by the base excision repair pathway (BER). This process is especially problematic in E. coli because replication forks do not sense the presence of damages or a stalled fork ahead of them. As consequence, single-strand breaks are turned into double-strand breaks (DSB) through replication. Since E. coli tolerates the presence of DSBs poorly, BER can become toxic during oxidative stress. Here we review the repair strategies that E. coli adopts to preserve genome integrity during oxidative stress and their relation to cell cycle control of DNA replication.

Repair of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells: Properties and biological roles of the Fpg and OGG1 DNA N-glycosylases

Oxidatively damaged DNA results from the attack of sugar and base moieties by reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are formed as byproducts of normal cell metabolism and during exposure to endogenous or exogenous chemical or physical agents. Guanine, having the lowest redox potential, is the DNA base the most susceptible to oxidation, yielding products such as 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoG) and 2-6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-formamidopyrimidine (FapyG). In DNA, 8-oxoG was shown to be mutagenic yielding GC to TA transversions upon incorporation of dAMP opposite this lesion by replicative DNA polymerases. In prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, 8-oxoG is primarily repaired by the base excision repair pathway (BER) initiated by a DNA N-glycosylase, Fpg and OGG1, respectively. In Escherichia coli, Fpg cooperates with MutY and MutT to prevent 8-oxoG-induced mutations, the "GO-repair system". In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, OGG1 cooperates with nucleotide excision repair (NER), mismatch repair (MMR), post-replication repair (PRR) and DNA polymerase η to prevent mutagenesis. Human and mouse cells mobilize all these pathways using OGG1, MUTYH (MutY-homolog also known as MYH), MTH1 (MutT-homolog also known as NUDT1), NER, MMR, NEILs and DNA polymerases η and λ, to prevent 8-oxoG-induced mutations. In fact, mice deficient in both OGG1 and MUTYH develop cancer in different organs at adult age, which points to the critical impact of 8-oxoG repair on genetic stability in mammals. In this review, we will focus on Fpg and OGG1 proteins, their biochemical and structural properties as well as their biological roles. Other DNA N-glycosylases able to release 8-oxoG from damaged DNA in various organisms will be discussed. Finally, we will report on the role of OGG1 in human disease and the possible use of 8-oxoG DNA N-glycosylases as therapeutic targets.

Inactivation of genes involved in base excision repair of Corynebacterium glutamicum and survival of the mutants in presence of various mutagens

Base Excision Repair (BER) is considered as the most active DNA repair pathway in vivo, which is initiated by recognition of the nucleotide lesions and excision of the damaged DNA base. The genome of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 contains various DNA glycosylases encoding genes (ung, fpg/mutM, tagI, alkA, mutY), two AP-endonuclease encoding genes (nei and nth) and an exonuclease encoding gene xth. To investigate the role of these genes during DNA repair in C. glutamicum, mutants with deletions of one or more genes in BER pathway were created. After treatment with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), mitomycin C (MMC), zeocin and UV-light, we characterised the function of the different BER genes by determination of the survival capability. DNA lesions caused by MNNG strongly reduced survival of the tagI, mutY and alkA mutants but had a negligible effect on the ung and mutM mutants. The endonucleases Nth and Nei turned out to be essential for the repair of base modifications caused by MMC while UV-light and zeocin did not seem to address the BER. So far, BER in C. glutamicum appears to be very similar to that in E. coli.

Repair of oxidatively induced DNA damage by DNA glycosylases: Mechanisms of action, substrate specificities and excision kinetics

Endogenous and exogenous reactive species cause oxidatively induced DNA damage in living organisms by a variety of mechanisms. As a result, a plethora of mutagenic and/or cytotoxic products are formed in cellular DNA. This type of DNA damage is repaired by base excision repair, although nucleotide excision repair also plays a limited role. DNA glycosylases remove modified DNA bases from DNA by hydrolyzing the glycosidic bond leaving behind an apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site. Some of them also possess an accompanying AP-lyase activity that cleaves the sugar-phosphate chain of DNA. Since the first discovery of a DNA glycosylase, many studies have elucidated the mechanisms of action, substrate specificities and excision kinetics of these enzymes present in all living organisms. For this purpose, most studies used single- or double-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides with a single DNA lesion embedded at a defined position. High-molecular weight DNA with multiple base lesions has been used in other studies with the advantage of the simultaneous investigation of many DNA base lesions as substrates. Differences between the substrate specificities and excision kinetics of DNA glycosylases have been found when these two different substrates were used. Some DNA glycosylases possess varying substrate specificities for either purine-derived lesions or pyrimidine-derived lesions, whereas others exhibit cross-activity for both types of lesions. Laboratory animals with knockouts of the genes of DNA glycosylases have also been used to provide unequivocal evidence for the substrates, which had previously been found in in vitro studies, to be the actual substrates in vivo as well. On the basis of the knowledge gained from the past studies, efforts are being made to discover small molecule inhibitors of DNA glycosylases that may be used as potential drugs in cancer therapy.

Determinants of spontaneous mutation in the bacterium Escherichia coli as revealed by whole-genome sequencing

A complete understanding of evolutionary processes requires that factors determining spontaneous mutation rates and spectra be identified and characterized. Using mutation accumulation followed by whole-genome sequencing, we found that the mutation rates of three widely diverged commensal Escherichia coli strains differ only by about 50%, suggesting that a rate of 1-2 × 10(-3) mutations per generation per genome is common for this bacterium. Four major forces are postulated to contribute to spontaneous mutations: intrinsic DNA polymerase errors, endogenously induced DNA damage, DNA damage caused by exogenous agents, and the activities of error-prone polymerases. To determine the relative importance of these factors, we studied 11 strains, each defective for a major DNA repair pathway. The striking result was that only loss of the ability to prevent or repair oxidative DNA damage significantly impacted mutation rates or spectra. These results suggest that, with the exception of oxidative damage, endogenously induced DNA damage does not perturb the overall accuracy of DNA replication in normally growing cells and that repair pathways may exist primarily to defend against exogenously induced DNA damage. The thousands of mutations caused by oxidative damage recovered across the entire genome revealed strong local-sequence biases of these mutations. Specifically, we found that the identity of the 3' base can affect the mutability of a purine by oxidative damage by as much as eightfold.

A combinatorial role for MutY and Fpg DNA glycosylases in mutation avoidance in Mycobacterium smegmatis

Hydroxyl radical (OH) among reactive oxygen species cause damage to nucleobases with thymine being the most susceptible, whilst in contrast, the singlet oxygen ((1)02) targets only guanine bases. The high GC content of mycobacterial genomes predisposes these organisms to oxidative damage of guanine. The exposure of cellular DNA to OH and one-electron oxidants results in the formation of two main degradation products, the pro-mutagenic 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoGua) and the cytotoxic 2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-formamidopyrimidine (FapyGua). These lesions are repaired through the base excision repair (BER) pathway and we previously, demonstrated a combinatorial role for the mycobacterial Endonuclease III (Nth) and the Nei family of DNA glycosylases in mutagenesis. In addition, the formamidopyrimidine (Fpg/MutM) and MutY DNA glycosylases have also been implicated in mutation avoidance and BER in mycobacteria. In this study, we further investigate the combined role of MutY and the Fpg/Nei DNA glycosylases in Mycobacterium smegmatis and demonstrate that deletion of mutY resulted in enhanced sensitivity to oxidative stress, an effect which was not exacerbated in Δfpg1 Δfpg2 or Δnei1 Δnei2 double mutant backgrounds. However, combinatorial loss of the mutY, fpg1 and fpg2 genes resulted in a significant increase in mutation rates suggesting interplay between these enzymes. Consistent with this, there was a significant increase in C → A mutations with a corresponding change in cell morphology of rifampicin resistant mutants in the Δfpg1 Δfpg2 ΔmutY deletion mutant. In contrast, deletion of mutY together with the nei homologues did not result in any growth/survival defects or changes in mutation rates. Taken together these data indicate that the mycobacterial mutY, in combination with the Fpg DNA N-glycosylases, plays an important role in controlling mutagenesis under oxidative stress.

Oxidative DNA damage is instrumental in hyperreplication stress-induced inviability of Escherichia coli

In Escherichia coli, an increase in the ATP bound form of the DnaA initiator protein results in hyperinitiation and inviability. Here, we show that such replication stress is tolerated during anaerobic growth. In hyperinitiating cells, a shift from anaerobic to aerobic growth resulted in appearance of fragmented chromosomes and a decrease in terminus concentration, leading to a dramatic increase in ori/ter ratio and cessation of cell growth. Aerobic viability was restored by reducing the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) or by deleting mutM (Fpg glycosylase). The double-strand breaks observed in hyperinitiating cells therefore results from replication forks encountering single-stranded DNA lesions generated while removing oxidized bases, primarily 8-oxoG, from the DNA. We conclude that there is a delicate balance between chromosome replication and ROS inflicted DNA damage so the number of replication forks can only increase when ROS formation is reduced or when the pertinent repair is compromised.

MutY-glycosylase: an overview on mutagenesis and activities beyond the GO system

MutY is a glycosylase known for its role in DNA base excision repair (BER). It is critically important in the prevention of DNA mutations derived from 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG), which are the major lesions resulting from guanine oxidation. MutY has been described as a DNA repair enzyme in the GO system responsible for removing adenine residues misincorporated in 8-oxoG:A mispairs, avoiding G:C to T:A mutations. Further studies have shown that this enzyme binds to other mispairs, interacts with several enzymes, avoids different transversions/transitions in DNA, and is involved in different repair pathways. Additional activities have been reported for MutY, such as the repair of replication errors in newly synthesized DNA strands through its glycosylase activity. Moreover, MutY is a highly conserved enzyme present in several prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. MutY defects are associated with a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome termed MUTYH-associated polyposis (MAP). Here, we have reviewed the roles of MutY in the repair of mispaired bases in DNA as well as its activities beyond the GO system.

ATP insertion opposite 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine by Pol4 mediates error-free tolerance in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

7,8-Dihydro-8-oxo-deoxyguanosine (8oxodG) is a highly premutagenic DNA lesion due to its ability to mispair with adenine. Schizosaccharomyces pombe lacks homologs for relevant enzymes that repair 8oxodG, which suggests that this lesion could be persistent and must be tolerated. Here we show that SpPol4, the unique PolX in fission yeast, incorporates ATP opposite 8oxodG almost exclusively when all nucleotides (ribos and deoxys) are provided at physiological concentrations. Remarkably, this SpPol4-specific reaction could also occur during the NHEJ of DSBs. In cell extracts, misincorporation of ATP opposite 8oxodG was shown to be SpPol4-specific, although RNase H2 efficiently recognized the 8oxodG:AMP mispair to remove AMP and trigger error-free incorporation of dCTP. These data are the first evidence that ribonucleotides can be used safely for 8oxodG tolerance, suggesting that insertion of the highly abundant ATP substrate could be beneficial to promote efficient and error-free repair of 8oxodG-associated DSBs. Moreover, we demonstrate that purified SpPol4 uses 8oxo-dGTP and 8oxo-GTP as substrates for DNA polymerization, although with poor efficiency compared to the incorporation of undamaged nucleotides opposite either 8oxodG or undamaged templates. This suggests that SpPol4 is specialized in tolerating 8oxodG as a DNA template, without contributing significantly to the accumulation of this lesion in the DNA.

Genome and cancer single nucleotide polymorphisms of the human NEIL1 DNA glycosylase: activity, structure, and the effect of editing

The repair of free-radical oxidative DNA damage is carried out by lesion-specific DNA glycosylases as the first step of the highly conserved base excision repair (BER) pathway. In humans, three orthologs of the prototypical endonuclease VIII (Nei), the Nei-like NEIL1-3 enzymes are involved in the repair of oxidized DNA lesions. In recent years, several genome and cancer single-nucleotide polymorphic variants of the NEIL1 glycosylase have been identified. In this study we characterized four variants of human NEIL1: S82C, G83D, P208S, and ΔE28, and tested their ability to excise pyrimidine-derived lesions such as thymine glycol (Tg), 5-hydroxyuracil (5-OHU), and dihydrouracil (DHU) and the purine-derived guanidinohydantoin (Gh), spiroiminodihydantoin 1 (Sp1), and methylated 2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-formamidopyrimidine (MeFapyG). The P208S variant has near wild-type activity on all substrates tested. The S82C and ΔE28 variants exhibit decreased Tg excision compared to wild-type. G83D displays little to no activity with any of the substrates tested, with the exception of Gh and Sp1. Human NEIL1 is known to undergo editing whereby the lysine at position 242 is recoded into an arginine. The non-edited form of NEIL1 is more efficient at cleaving Tg than the R242 form, but the G83D variant does not cleave Tg regardless of the edited status of NEIL1. The corresponding G86D variant in Mimivirus Nei1 similarly lacks glycosylase activity. A structure of a G86D-DNA complex reveals a rearrangement in the β4/5 loop comprising Leu84, the highly-conserved void-filling residue, thereby providing a structural rationale for the decreased glycosylase activity of the glycine to aspartate variant.

The contribution of Nth and Nei DNA glycosylases to mutagenesis in Mycobacterium smegmatis

The increased prevalence of drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) indicates that significant mutagenesis occurs during tuberculosis disease in humans. DNA damage by host-derived reactive oxygen/nitrogen species is hypothesized to be critical for the mutagenic process in Mtb thus, highlighting an important role for DNA repair enzymes in maintenance of genome fidelity. Formamidopyrimidine (Fpg/MutM/Fapy) and EndonucleaseVIII (Nei) constitute the Fpg/Nei family of DNA glycosylases and together with EndonucleaseIII (Nth) are central to the base excision repair pathway in bacteria. In this study we assess the contribution of Nei and Nth DNA repair enzymes in Mycobacterium smegmatis (Msm), which retains a single nth homologue and duplications of the Fpg (fpg1 and fpg2) and Nei (nei1 and nei2) homologues. Using an Escherichia coli nth deletion mutant, we confirm the functionality of the mycobacterial nth gene in the base excision repair pathway. Msm mutants lacking nei1, nei2 and nth individually or in combination did not display aberrant growth in broth culture. Deletion of nth individually results in increased UV-induced mutagenesis and combinatorial deletion with the nei homologues results in reduced survival under oxidative stress conditions and an increase in spontaneous mutagenesis to rifampicin. Deletion of nth together with the fpg homolgues did not result in any growth/survival defects or changes in mutation rate. Furthermore, no differential emergence of the common rifampicin resistance conferring genotypes were noted. Collectively, these data confirm a role for Nth in base excision repair in mycobacteria and further highlight a novel interplay between the Nth and Nei homologues in spontaneous mutagenesis.

Direct DNA Lesion Reversal and Excision Repair in Escherichia coli

Cellular DNA is constantly challenged by various endogenous and exogenous genotoxic factors that inevitably lead to DNA damage: structural and chemical modifications of primary DNA sequence. These DNA lesions are either cytotoxic, because they block DNA replication and transcription, or mutagenic due to the miscoding nature of the DNA modifications, or both, and are believed to contribute to cell lethality and mutagenesis. Studies on DNA repair in Escherichia coli spearheaded formulation of principal strategies to counteract DNA damage and mutagenesis, such as: direct lesion reversal, DNA excision repair, mismatch and recombinational repair and genotoxic stress signalling pathways. These DNA repair pathways are universal among cellular organisms. Mechanistic principles used for each repair strategies are fundamentally different. Direct lesion reversal removes DNA damage without need for excision and de novo DNA synthesis, whereas DNA excision repair that includes pathways such as base excision, nucleotide excision, alternative excision and mismatch repair, proceeds through phosphodiester bond breakage, de novo DNA synthesis and ligation. Cell signalling systems, such as adaptive and oxidative stress responses, although not DNA repair pathways per se, are nevertheless essential to counteract DNA damage and mutagenesis. The present review focuses on the nature of DNA damage, direct lesion reversal, DNA excision repair pathways and adaptive and oxidative stress responses in E. coli.

DNA damage by singlet oxygen and cellular protective mechanisms

Reactive oxygen species, as singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) and hydrogen peroxide, are continuously generated by aerobic organisms, and react actively with biomolecules. At excessive amounts, (1)O(2) induces oxidative stress and shows carcinogenic and toxic effects due to oxidation of lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. Singlet oxygen is able to react with DNA molecule and may induce G to T transversions due to 8-oxodG generation. The nucleotide excision repair, base excision repair and mismatch repair have been implicated in the correction of DNA lesions induced by (1)O(2) both in prokaryotic and in eukaryotic cells. (1)O(2) is also able to induce the expression of genes involved with the cellular responses to oxidative stress, such as NF-κB, c-fos and c-jun, and genes involved with tissue damage and inflammation, as ICAM-1, interleukins 1 and 6. The studies outlined in this review reinforce the idea that (1)O(2) is one of the more dangerous reactive oxygen species to the cells, and deserves our attention.

The miscoding potential of 5-hydroxycytosine arises due to template instability in the replicative polymerase active site

5-Hydroxycytosine (5-OHC) is a stable oxidation product of cytosine associated with an increased frequency of C → T transition mutations. When this lesion escapes recognition by the base excision repair pathway and persists to serve as a templating base during DNA synthesis, replicative DNA polymerases often misincorporate dAMP at the primer terminus, which can lead to fixation of mutations and subsequent disease. To characterize the dynamics of DNA synthesis opposite 5-OHC, we initiated a comparison of unmodified dCMP to 5-OHC, 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), and 5-methylcytosine (5-MEC) in which these bases act as templates in the active site of RB69 gp43, a high-fidelity DNA polymerase sharing homology with human replicative DNA polymerases. This study presents the first crystal structure of any DNA polymerase binding this physiologically important premutagenic DNA lesion, showing that while dGMP is stabilized by 5-OHC through normal Watson-Crick base pairing, incorporation of dAMP leads to unstacking and instability in the template. Furthermore, the electronegativity of the C5 substituent appears to be important in the miscoding potential of these cytosine-like templates. While dAMP is incorporated opposite 5-OHC ~5 times more efficiently than opposite unmodified dCMP, an elevated level of incorporation is also observed opposite 5-FC but not 5-MEC. Taken together, these data imply that the nonuniform templating by 5-OHC is due to weakened stacking capabilities, which allows dAMP incorporation to proceed in a manner similar to that observed opposite abasic sites.

Escherichia coli Fpg glycosylase is nonrendundant and required for the rapid global repair of oxidized purine and pyrimidine damage in vivo

Endonuclease (Endo) III and formamidopyrimidine-N-glycosylase (Fpg) are two of the predominant DNA glycosylases in Escherichia coli that remove oxidative base damage. In cell extracts and purified form, Endo III is generally more active toward oxidized pyrimidines, while Fpg is more active towards oxidized purines. However, the substrate specificities of these enzymes partially overlap in vitro. Less is known about the relative contribution of these enzymes in restoring the genomic template following oxidative damage. In this study, we examined how efficiently Endo III and Fpg repair their oxidative substrates in vivo following treatment with hydrogen peroxide. We found that Fpg was nonredundant and required to rapidly remove its substrate lesions on the chromosome. In addition, Fpg also repaired a significant portion of the lesions recognized by Endo III, suggesting that it plays a prominent role in the global repair of both purine damage and pyrimidine damage in vivo. By comparison, Endo III did not affect the repair rate of Fpg substrates and was only responsible for repairing a subset of its own substrate lesions in vivo. The absence of Endo VIII or nucleotide excision repair did not significantly affect the global repair of either Fpg or Endo III substrates in vivo. Surprisingly, replication recovered after oxidative DNA damage in all mutants examined, even when lesions persisted in the DNA, suggesting the presence of an efficient mechanism to process or overcome oxidative damage encountered during replication.

Variant base excision repair proteins: contributors to genomic instability

Cells sustain endogenous DNA damage at rates greater than 20,000 DNA lesions per cell per day. These damages occur largely as a result of the inherently unstable nature of DNA and the presence of reactive oxygen species within cells. The base excision repair system removes the majority of DNA lesions resulting from endogenous DNA damage. There are several enzymes that function during base excision repair. Importantly, there are over 100 germline single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes that function in base excision repair and that result in non-synonymous amino acid substitutions in the proteins they encode. Somatic variants of these enzymes are also found in human tumors. Variant repair enzymes catalyze aberrant base excision repair. Aberrant base excision repair combined with continuous endogenous DNA damage over time has the potential to lead to a mutator phenotype. Mutations that arise in key growth control genes, imbalances in chromosome number, chromosomal translocations, and loss of heterozygosity can result in the initiation of human cancer or its progression.

A MATE-family efflux pump rescues the Escherichia coli 8-oxoguanine-repair-deficient mutator phenotype and protects against H(2)O(2) killing

Hypermutation may accelerate bacterial evolution in the short-term. In the long-term, however, hypermutators (cells with an increased rate of mutation) can be expected to be at a disadvantage due to the accumulation of deleterious mutations. Therefore, in theory, hypermutators are doomed to extinction unless they compensate the elevated mutational burden (deleterious load). Different mechanisms capable of restoring a low mutation rate to hypermutators have been proposed. By choosing an 8-oxoguanine-repair-deficient (GO-deficient) Escherichia coli strain as a hypermutator model, we investigated the existence of genes able to rescue the hypermutable phenotype by multicopy suppression. Using an in vivo-generated mini-MudII4042 genomic library and a mutator screen, we obtained chromosomal fragments that decrease the rate of mutation in a mutT-deficient strain. Analysis of a selected clone showed that the expression of NorM is responsible for the decreased mutation rate in 8-oxoguanine-repair-deficient (mutT, mutY, and mutM mutY) strains. NorM is a member of the multidrug and toxin extrusion (MATE) family of efflux pumps whose role in E. coli cell physiology remains unknown. Our results indicate that NorM may act as a GO-system backup decreasing AT to CG and GC to TA transversions. In addition, the ability of NorM to reduce the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a GO-deficient strain and protect the cell from oxidative stress, including protein carbonylation, suggests that it can extrude specific molecules—byproducts of bacterial metabolism—that oxidize the guanine present in both DNA and nucleotide pools. Altogether, our results indicate that NorM protects the cell from specific ROS when the GO system cannot cope with the damage.

Some bacteria and eukaryotic cells produce a higher-than-normal number of mutations (so-called “mutators”). Because some of the mutations produced can be favorable (such as antibiotic resistance in bacteria or resistance to anticancer drugs in human tumor cells), the high mutation rate may provide a short-term advantage. However, the production of huge numbers of mutations may compromise the future of these cells because they also accumulate disadvantageous mutations. Consequently, cells may contain backup mechanisms to reduce the accumulation of mutations. We have found that some types of hypermutable mutants can escape this fate by increasing the expression of an efflux pump predicted to export specific oxidative substances, the precursors of many mutations, and consequently reducing their number. Amazingly, this over-expression may confer several advantageous phenotypes simultaneously, such as antibiotic resistance, protection against reactive oxygen species and antimutability.

The mouse ortholog of NEIL3 is a functional DNA glycosylase in vitro and in vivo

To protect cells from oxidative DNA damage and mutagenesis, organisms possess multiple glycosylases to recognize the damaged bases and to initiate the Base Excision Repair pathway. Three DNA glycosylases have been identified in mammals that are homologous to the Escherichia coli Fpg and Nei proteins, Neil1, Neil2, and Neil3. Neil1 and Neil2 in human and mouse have been well characterized while the properties of the Neil3 protein remain to be elucidated. In this study, we report the characterization of Mus musculus (house mouse) Neil3 (MmuNeil3) as an active DNA glycosylase both in vitro and in vivo. In duplex DNA, MmuNeil3 recognizes the oxidized purines, spiroiminodihydantoin (Sp), guanidinohydantoin (Gh), 2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-formamidopyrimidine (FapyG) and 4,6-diamino- 5-formamidopyrimidine (FapyA), but not 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoG). Interestingly, MmuNeil3 prefers lesions in single-stranded DNA and in bubble structures. In contrast to other members of the family that use the N-terminal proline as the nucleophile, MmuNeil3 forms a Schiff base intermediate via its N-terminal valine. We expressed the glycosylase domain of MmuNeil3 (MmuNeil3Delta324) in an Escherichia coli triple mutant lacking Fpg, Nei, and MutY glycosylase activities and showed that MmuNeil3 greatly reduced both the spontaneous mutation frequency and the level of FapyG in the DNA, suggesting that Neil3 plays a role in repairing FapyG in vivo.

The oxidative DNA glycosylases of Mycobacterium tuberculosis exhibit different substrate preferences from their Escherichia coli counterparts

The DNA glycosylases that remove oxidized DNA bases fall into two general families: the Fpg/Nei family and the Nth superfamily. Based on protein sequence alignments, we identified four putative Fpg/Nei family members, as well as a putative Nth protein in Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. All four Fpg/Nei proteins were successfully overexpressed using a bicistronic vector created in our laboratory. The MtuNth protein was also overexpressed in soluble form. The substrate specificities of the purified enzymes were characterized in vitro with oligodeoxynucleotide substrates containing single lesions. Some were further characterized by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis of products released from gamma-irradiated DNA. MtuFpg1 has substrate specificity similar to that of EcoFpg. Both EcoFpg and MtuFpg1 are more efficient at removing spiroiminodihydantoin (Sp) than 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG). However, MtuFpg1 shows a substantially increased opposite base discrimination compared to EcoFpg. MtuFpg2 contains only the C-terminal domain of an Fpg protein and has no detectable DNA binding activity or DNA glycosylase/lyase activity and thus appears to be a pseudogene. MtuNei1 recognizes oxidized pyrimidines on both double-stranded and single-stranded DNA and exhibits uracil DNA glycosylase activity. MtuNth recognizes a variety of oxidized bases, including urea, 5,6-dihydrouracil (DHU), 5-hydroxyuracil (5-OHU), 5-hydroxycytosine (5-OHC) and methylhydantoin (MeHyd). Both MtuNei1 and MtuNth excise thymine glycol (Tg); however, MtuNei1 strongly prefers the (5R) isomers, whereas MtuNth recognizes only the (5S) isomers. MtuNei2 did not demonstrate activity in vitro as a recombinant protein, but like MtuNei1 when expressed in Escherichia coli, it decreased the spontaneous mutation frequency of both the fpg mutY nei triple and nei nth double mutants, suggesting that MtuNei2 is functionally active in vivo recognizing both guanine and cytosine oxidation products. The kinetic parameters of the MtuFpg1, MtuNei1 and MtuNth proteins on selected substrates were also determined and compared to those of their E. coli homologs.

Genetic analysis of repair and damage tolerance mechanisms for DNA-protein cross-links in Escherichia coli

DNA-protein cross-links (DPCs) are unique among DNA lesions in their unusually bulky nature. We have recently shown that nucleotide excision repair (NER) and RecBCD-dependent homologous recombination (HR) collaboratively alleviate the lethal effect of DPCs in Escherichia coli. In this study, to gain further insight into the damage-processing mechanism for DPCs, we assessed the sensitivities of a panel of repair-deficient E. coli mutants to DPC-inducing agents, including formaldehyde (FA) and 5-azacytidine (azaC). We show here that the damage tolerance mechanism involving HR and subsequent replication restart (RR) provides the most effective means of cell survival against DPCs. Translesion synthesis does not serve as an alternative damage tolerance mechanism for DPCs in cell survival. Elimination of DPCs from the genome relies primarily on NER, which provides a second and moderately effective means of cell survival against DPCs. Interestingly, Cho rather than UvrC seems to be an effective nuclease for the NER of DPCs. Together with the genes responsible for HR, RR, and NER, the mutation of genes involved in several aspects of DNA repair and transactions, such as recQ, xth nfo, dksA, and topA, rendered cells slightly but significantly sensitive to FA but not azaC, possibly reflecting the complexity of DPCs or cryptic lesions induced by FA. UvrD may have an additional role outside NER, since the uvrD mutation conferred a slight azaC sensitivity on cells. Finally, DNA glycosylases mitigate azaC toxicity, independently of the repair of DPCs, presumably by removing 5-azacytosine or its degradation product from the chromosome.

Insights into the role of Val45 and Gln182 of Escherichia coli MutY in DNA substrate binding and specificity

BACKGROUND

Escherichia coli MutY (EcMutY) reduces mutagenesis by removing adenines paired with guanines or 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-guanines (8-oxoG). V45 and Q182 of EcMutY are considered to be the key determinants of adenine specificity. Both residues are spatially close to each other in the active site and are conserved in MutY family proteins but not in Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum Mig.MthI T/G mismatch DNA glycosylase (A50 and L187 at the corresponding respective positions).

RESULTS

Targeted mutagenesis study was performed to determine the substrate specificities of V45A, Q182L, and V45A/Q182L double mutant of EcMutY. All three mutants had significantly lower binding and glycosylase activities for A/G and A/8-oxoG mismatches than the wild-type enzyme. The double mutant exhibited an additive reduction in binding to both the A/G and A/GO in comparison to the single mutants. These mutants were also tested for binding and glycosylase activities with T/G- or T/8-oxoG-containing DNA. Both V45A and Q182L mutants had substantially increased affinities towards T/G, however, they did not exhibit any T/G or T/8-oxoG glycosylase activity. Surprisingly, the V45A/Q182L double mutant had similar binding affinities to T/G as the wild-type EcMutY. V45A, Q182L, and V45A/Q182L EcMutY mutants could not reduce the G:C to T:A mutation frequency of a mutY mutant. Expression of the V45A mutant protein caused a dominant negative phenotype with an increased G:C to A:T mutation frequency.

CONCLUSION

The substrate specificities are altered in V45A, Q182L, and V45A/Q182L EcMutY mutants. V45A and Q182L mutants had reduced binding and glycosylase activities for A/G and A/8-oxoG mismatches and increased affinities towards T/G mismatch. However, in contrast to a previous report that Mig.MthI thymine DNA glycosylase can be converted to a MutY-like adenine glycosylase by replacing two residues (A50V and L187Q), both V45A and Q182L EcMutY mutants did not exhibit any T/G or T/8-oxoG glycosylase activity. The dominant negative phenotype of V45A EcMutY mutant protein is probably caused by its increased binding affinity to T/G mismatch and thus inhibiting other repair pathways.

The Base Excision Repair system of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium counteracts DNA damage by host nitric oxide

Intracellular pathogens must withstand nitric oxide (NO.) generated by host phagocytes. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium interferes with intracellular trafficking of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and possesses multiple systems to detoxify NO.. Consequently, the level of NO. stress encountered by S. Typhimurium during infection in vivo has been unknown. The Base Excision Repair (BER) system recognizes and repairs damaged DNA bases including cytosine and guanine residues modified by reactive nitrogen species. Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites generated by BER glycosylases require subsequent processing by AP endonucleases. S. Typhimurium xth nfo mutants lacking AP endonuclease activity exhibit increased NO. sensitivity resulting from chromosomal fragmentation at unprocessed AP sites. BER mutant strains were thus used to probe the nature and extent of nitrosative damage sustained by intracellular bacteria during infection. Here we show that an xth nfo S. Typhimurium mutant is attenuated for virulence in C3H/HeN mice, and virulence can be completely restored by the iNOS inhibitor L-NIL. Inactivation of the ung or fpg glycosylase genes partially restores virulence to xth nfo mutant S. Typhimurium, demonstrating that NO. fluxes in vivo are sufficient to modify cytosine and guanine bases, respectively. Mutants lacking ung or fpg exhibit NO.-dependent hypermutability during infection, underscoring the importance of BER in protecting Salmonella from the genotoxic effects of host NO.. These observations demonstrate that host-derived NO. damages Salmonella DNA in vivo, and the BER system is required to maintain bacterial genomic integrity.

Characterization of the meningococcal DNA glycosylase Fpg involved in base excision repair

Background

Neisseria meningitidis, the causative agent of meningococcal disease, is exposed to high levels of reactive oxygen species inside its exclusive human host. The DNA glycosylase Fpg of the base excision repair pathway (BER) is a central player in the correction of oxidative DNA damage. This study aimed at characterizing the meningococcal Fpg and its role in DNA repair.

Results

The deduced N. meningitidis Fpg amino acid sequence was highly homologous to other Fpg orthologues, with particularly high conservation of functional domains. As for most N. meningitidis DNA repair genes, the fpg gene contained a DNA uptake sequence mediating efficient transformation of DNA. The recombinant N. meningitidis Fpg protein was over-expressed, purified to homogeneity and assessed for enzymatic activity. N. meningitidis Fpg was found to remove 2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-formamidopyrimidine (faPy) lesions and 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8oxoG) opposite of C, T and G and to a lesser extent opposite of A. Moreover, the N. meningitidis fpg single mutant was only slightly affected in terms of an increase in the frequency of phase variation as compared to a mismatch repair mutant.

Conclusion

Collectively, these findings show that meningococcal Fpg functions are similar to those of prototype Fpg orthologues in other bacterial species.

Base excision repair and its role in maintaining genome stability

For all living organisms, genome stability is important, but is also under constant threat because various environmental and endogenous damaging agents can modify the structural properties of DNA bases. As a defense, organisms have developed different DNA repair pathways. Base excision repair (BER) is the predominant pathway for coping with a broad range of small lesions resulting from oxidation, alkylation, and deamination, which modify individual bases without large effect on the double helix structure. As, in mammalian cells, this damage is estimated to account daily for 10(4) events per cell, the need for BER pathways is unquestionable. The damage-specific removal is carried out by a considerable group of enzymes, designated as DNA glycosylases. Each DNA glycosylase has its unique specificity and many of them are ubiquitous in microorganisms, mammals, and plants. Here, we review the importance of the BER pathway and we focus on the different roles of DNA glycosylases in various organisms.

Base excision repair enzyme endonuclease III suppresses mutagenesis caused by 8-hydroxy-dGTP

To examine whether base excision repair suppresses mutations induced by oxidized deoxyribonucleotide 5'-triphosphates in the nucleotide pool, 8-hydroxy-dGTP (8-OH-dGTP) and 2-hydroxy-dATP were introduced into Escherichia coli strains deficient in endonucleases III (Nth) and VIII (Nei) and MutY, and mutations in the chromosomal rpoB gene were analyzed. The spontaneous rpoB mutant frequency was also examined in mutT/nth and mutT/nei strains, to assess the influence on the mutations induced by the endogenous 8-OH-dGTP accumulated in the mutT mutant. The mutations induced by exogenous 2-hydroxy-dATP were similar in all of the strains tested. Exogenous 8-OH-dGTP increased the rpoB mutant frequency more efficiently in the nth strain than that in the wild-type strain. The spontaneous mutant frequency in the mutT/nth strain was 2-fold higher than that in the mutT strain. These results suggest that E. coli endonuclease III also acts as a defense against the mutations caused by 8-OH-dGTP in the nucleotide pool.

A distinct role of formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (MutM) in down-regulation of accumulation of G, C mutations and protection against oxidative stress in mycobacteria

Reactive oxygen species produced as a part of cellular metabolism or environmental agent cause a multitude of damages in cell. Oxidative damages to DNA or the free nucleotide pool result in occurrence of 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) in DNA, and failure to replace it with the correct base results in a variety of mutations in the genome. Formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (Fpg/MutM), a functionally conserved repair enzyme initiates the 8-oxoG repair pathway in all eubacteria. DNA in mycobacteria with G+C rich genomes is particularly vulnerable to the oxidative damage. In this study, we disrupted fpg gene in Mycobacterium smegmatis to generate an Fpg deficient strain. The strain showed an enhanced mutator phenotype and susceptibility to hydrogen peroxide. Analyses of rifampicin resistance determining region (RRDR) revealed that, in contrast to Fpg deficient Escherichia coli where C to A mutations predominate, Fpg deficient M. smegmatis shows a remarkable increase in accumulation of A to G (or T to C) mutations. Interestingly, exposure of the mutant to sub-lethal level of hydrogen peroxide results in a major shift towards C to G (or G to C) mutations. Biochemical analysis showed that mycobacterial Fpg; and MutY (which excises misincorporated A against 8-oxoG) possess substrate specificities similar to their counterparts in E. coli. However, the DNA polymerase assays with cell-free extracts showed preferential incorporation of G in M. smegmatis as opposed to an A in E. coli. Our studies highlight the importance and the distinctive features of Fpg mediated DNA repair in mycobacteria.

Oxidative DNA damage defense systems in avoidance of stationary-phase mutagenesis in Pseudomonas putida

Oxidative damage of DNA is a source of mutation in living cells. Although all organisms have evolved mechanisms of defense against oxidative damage, little is known about these mechanisms in nonenteric bacteria, including pseudomonads. Here we have studied the involvement of oxidized guanine (GO) repair enzymes and DNA-protecting enzyme Dps in the avoidance of mutations in starving Pseudomonas putida. Additionally, we examined possible connections between the oxidative damage of DNA and involvement of the error-prone DNA polymerase (Pol)V homologue RulAB in stationary-phase mutagenesis in P. putida. Our results demonstrated that the GO repair enzymes MutY, MutM, and MutT are involved in the prevention of base substitution mutations in carbon-starved P. putida. Interestingly, the antimutator effect of MutT was dependent on the growth phase of bacteria. Although the lack of MutT caused a strong mutator phenotype under carbon starvation conditions for bacteria, only a twofold increased effect on the frequency of mutations was observed for growing bacteria. This indicates that MutT has a backup system which efficiently complements the absence of this enzyme in actively growing cells. The knockout of MutM affected only the spectrum of mutations but did not change mutation frequency. Dps is known to protect DNA from oxidative damage. We found that dps-defective P. putida cells were more sensitive to sudden exposure to hydrogen peroxide than wild-type cells. At the same time, the absence of Dps did not affect the accumulation of mutations in populations of starved bacteria. Thus, it is possible that the protective role of Dps becomes essential for genome integrity only when bacteria are exposed to exogenous agents that lead to oxidative DNA damage but not under physiological conditions. Introduction of the Y family DNA polymerase PolV homologue rulAB into P. putida increased the proportion of A-to-C and A-to-G base substitutions among mutations, which occurred under starvation conditions. Since PolV is known to perform translesion synthesis past damaged bases in DNA (e.g., some oxidized forms of adenine), our results may imply that adenine oxidation products are also an important source of mutation in starving bacteria.

Isolation and analyses of MutY homologs (MYH)

The base excision repair carried out by the bacterial MutY DNA glycosylase and eukaryotic MutY homolog (MYH) is responsible for removing adenines misincorporated into DNA opposite 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-guanines (8-oxoG), thereby preventing G:C to T:A mutations. MutY and MYH can also remove adenines from A/G and A/C and can remove guanines from G/8-oxoG mismatches at reduced rates. Biallelic germline mutations in the human MYH gene predispose individuals to multiple colorectal adenomas and carcinoma. Four functional assays are usually employed to characterize the MutY and MYH. Gel mobility shift or fluorescence anisotropy assays measures DNA-binding affinity and the apparent dissociation constants. Glycosylase assay determines the catalytic parameters of the enzyme. By using a trapping assay in the presence of sodium borohydride, the protein-DNA covalent intermediate can be identified. The in vivo activity of MutY or MYH can be measured by complementation in Escherichia coli mutY mutants or fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe MYH knockout cells. MutY and MYH interacting proteins can be analyzed by the glutathione S-transferase pull-down assay, Far-western, and coimmunoprecipitation. The in vitro and in vivo activities of MYH can be modulated by several proteins, including mismatch recognition enzymes MSH2/MSH6, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease.

Physical and functional interactions between Escherichia coli MutY glycosylase and mismatch repair protein MutS

Escherichia coli MutY and MutS increase replication fidelity by removing adenines that were misincorporated opposite 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-deoxyguanines (8-oxoG), G, or C. MutY DNA glycosylase removes adenines from these mismatches through a short-patch base excision repair pathway and thus prevents G:C-to-T:A and A:T-to-G:C mutations. MutS binds to the mismatches and initiates the long-patch mismatch repair on daughter DNA strands. We have previously reported that the human MutY homolog (hMYH) physically and functionally interacts with the human MutS homolog, hMutSalpha (Y. Gu et al., J. Biol. Chem. 277:11135-11142, 2002). Here, we show that a similar relationship between MutY and MutS exists in E. coli. The interaction of MutY and MutS involves the Fe-S domain of MutY and the ATPase domain of MutS. MutS, in eightfold molar excess over MutY, can enhance the binding activity of MutY with an A/8-oxoG mismatch by eightfold. The MutY expression level and activity in mutS mutant strains are sixfold and twofold greater, respectively, than those for the wild-type cells. The frequency of A:T-to-G:C mutations is reduced by two- to threefold in a mutS mutY mutant compared to a mutS mutant. Our results suggest that MutY base excision repair and mismatch repair defend against the mutagenic effect of 8-oxoG lesions in a cooperative manner.

Catalytic mechanism of Escherichia coli endonuclease VIII: roles of the intercalation loop and the zinc finger

Endonuclease VIII (Nei) excises oxidatively damaged pyrimidines from DNA and shares structural and functional homology with formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase. Although the structure of Escherichia coli Nei is solved [Zharkov et al. (2002) EMBO J. 21, 789-800], the functions of many of its amino acid residues involved in catalysis and substrate specificity are not known. We constructed a series of Nei mutants that interfere with eversion of the damaged base from the helix (QLY69-71AAA, DeltaQLY69-71) or perturb the conserved zinc finger (R171A, Q261A). Steady-state kinetics were measured with these mutant enzymes using substrates containing 5,6-dihydrouracil, two enantiomers of thymine glycol, 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine, and an abasic site positioned opposite each of the four canonical DNA bases. To some extent, all Nei mutants were deficient in processing damaged DNA, with mutations in the zinc finger generally having a more profound effect. Wild-type Nei showed prominent opposite-base specificity (G > C approximately = T > A) when the lesion was 5,6-dihydrouracil or cis-(5S,6R)-thymine glycol but not for other lesions tested. Mutations in the Q69-Y71 loop eliminated this effect. Only wild-type Nei and Nei-Q261A mutants could be reductively cross-linked to damaged base-containing DNA. Experiments involving trapping with NaBH4 and the kinetics of DNA cleavage catalyzed by Nei-Q261A suggested that this mutant was deficient in regenerating free enzyme from the Nei-DNA covalent complex formed during the reaction. We conclude that the opposite-base specificity of Nei is primarily governed by residues in the Q69-Y71 loop and that both this loop and the zinc finger contribute significantly to the substrate specificity of Nei.

Meningococcal genome dynamics

Neisseria meningitidis (the meningococcus) is an important commensal, pathogen and model organism that faces up to the environment in its exclusive human host with a small but hyperdynamic genome. Compared with Escherichia coli, several DNA-repair genes are absent in N. meningitidis, whereas the gene products of others interact differently. Instead of responding to external stimuli, the meningococcus spontaneously produces a plethora of genetic variants. The frequent genomic alterations and polymorphisms have profound consequences for the interaction of this microorganism with its host, impacting structural and antigenic changes in crucial surface components that are relevant for adherence and invasion as well as antibiotic resistance and vaccine development.

Physical and functional interactions between Escherichia coli MutY and endonuclease VIII

Both GO (7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine) and hoU (5-hydroxyuracil) are highly mutagenic because DNA polymerase frequently misincorporates adenine opposite these damaged bases. In Escherichia coli, MutY DNA glycosylase can remove misincorporated adenine opposite G or GO on the template strand during DNA replication. MutY remains bound to the product that contains an AP (apurinic/apyrimidinic) site. Endo VIII (endonuclease VIII) can remove oxidized pyrimidine and weakly remove GO by its DNA glycosylase and beta/delta-elimination activities. In the present paper, we demonstrate that Endo VIII can promote MutY dissociation from AP/G, but not from AP/GO, and can promote beta/delta-elimination on the products of MutY. MutY interacts physically with Endo VIII through its C-terminal domain. MutY has a moderate affinity for DNA containing a hoU/A mismatch, which is a substrate of Endo VIII. MutY competes with Endo VIII and inhibits Endo VIII activity on DNA that contains a hoU/A mismatch. Moreover, MutY has a weak adenine glycosylase activity on hoU/A mismatches. These results suggest that MutY may have some role in reducing the mutagenic effects of hoU.

Development of enzymatic probes of oxidative and nitrosative DNA damage caused by reactive nitrogen species

Chronic inflammation is associated with a variety of human diseases, including cancer, with one possible mechanistic link involving over-production of nitric oxide (NO*) by activated macrophages. Subsequent reaction of NO* with superoxide in the presence of carbon dioxide yields nitrosoperoxycarbonate (ONOOCO2-), a strong oxidant that reacts with guanine in DNA to form a variety of oxidation and nitration products, such 2'-deoxy-8-oxoguanosine. Alternatively, the reaction of NO and O2 leads to the formation of N2O3, a nitrosating agent that causes nucleobase deamination to form 2'-deoxyxanthosine (dX) and 2'-deoxyoxanosine (dO) from dG; 2'-deoxyinosine (dI) from dA; and 2'-deoxyuridine (dU) from dC, in addition to abasic sites and dG-dG cross-links. The presence of both ONOOCO2- and N2O3 at sites of inflammation necessitates definition of the relative roles of oxidative and nitrosative DNA damage in the genetic toxicology of inflammation. To this end, we sought to develop enzymatic probes for oxidative and nitrosative DNA lesions as a means to quantify the two types of DNA damage in in vitro DNA damage assays, such as the comet assay and as a means to differentially map the lesions in genomic DNA by the technique of ligation-mediated PCR. On the basis of fragmentary reports in the literature, we first systematically assessed the recognition of dX and dI by a battery of DNA repair enzymes. Members of the alkylpurine DNA glycosylase family (E. coli AlkA, murine Aag, and human MPG) all showed repair activity with dX (k(cat)/Km 29 x 10(-6), 21 x 10(-6), and 7.8 x 10(-6) nM(-1) min(-1), respectively), though the activity was considerably lower than that of EndoV (8 x 10(-3) nM(-1) min(-1)). Based on these results and other published studies, we focused the development of enzymatic probes on two groups of enzymes, one with activity against oxidative damage (formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (Fpg); endonuclease III (EndoIII)) and the other with activity against nucleobase deamination products (uracil DNA glycosylase (Udg); AlkA). These combinations were assessed for recognition of DNA damage caused by N2O3 (generated with a NO*/O2 delivery system) or ONOOCO2- using a plasmid nicking assay and by LC-MS analysis. Collectively, the results indicate that a combination of AlkA and Udg react selectively with DNA containing only nitrosative damage, while Fpg and EndoIII react selectively with DNA containing oxidative base lesions caused by ONOOCO2-. The results suggest that these enzyme combinations can be used as probes to define the location and quantity of the oxidative and nitrosative DNA lesions produced by chemical mediators of inflammation in systems, such as the comet assay, ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction, and other assays of DNA damage and repair.

Structure of the uncomplexed DNA repair enzyme endonuclease VIII indicates significant interdomain flexibility

Escherichia coli endonuclease VIII (Nei) excises oxidized pyrimidines from DNA. It shares significant sequence homology and similar mechanism with Fpg, a bacterial 8-oxoguanine glycosylase. The structure of a covalent Nei–DNA complex has been recently determined, revealing critical amino acid residues which are important for DNA binding and catalysis. Several Fpg structures have also been reported; however, analysis of structural dynamics of Fpg/Nei family proteins has been hindered by the lack of structures of uncomplexed and DNA-bound enzymes from the same source. We report a 2.8 Å resolution structure of free wild-type Nei and two structures of its inactive mutants, Nei-E2A (2.3 Å) and Nei-R252A (2.05 Å). All three structures are virtually identical, demonstrating that the mutations did not affect the overall conformation of the protein in its free state. The structures show a significant conformational change compared with the Nei structure in its complex with DNA, reflecting a ∼50° rotation of the two main domains of the enzyme. Such interdomain flexibility has not been reported previously for any DNA glycosylase and may present the first evidence for a global DNA-induced conformational change in this class of enzymes. Several local but functionally relevant structural changes are also evident in other parts of the enzyme.

Base-excision repair of oxidative DNA damage by DNA glycosylases

Oxidative damage to DNA caused by free radicals and other oxidants generate base and sugar damage, strand breaks, clustered sites, tandem lesions and DNA-protein cross-links. Oxidative DNA damage is mainly repaired by base-excision repair in living cells with the involvement of DNA glycosylases in the first step and other enzymes in subsequent steps. DNA glycosylases remove modified bases from DNA, generating an apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site. Some of these enzymes that remove oxidatively modified DNA bases also possess AP-lyase activity to cleave DNA at AP sites. DNA glycosylases possess varying substrate specificities, and some of them exhibit cross-activity for removal of both pyrimidine- and purine-derived lesions. Most studies on substrate specificities and excision kinetics of DNA glycosylases were performed using oligonucleotides with a single modified base incorporated at a specific position. Other studies used high-molecular weight DNA containing multiple pyrimidine- and purine-derived lesions. In this case, substrate specificities and excision kinetics were found to be different from those observed with oligonucleotides. This paper reviews substrate specificities and excision kinetics of DNA glycosylases for removal of pyrimidine- and purine-derived lesions in high-molecular weight DNA.

Excision of formamidopyrimidine lesions by endonucleases III and VIII is not a major DNA repair pathway in Escherichia coli

Proper maintenance of the genome is of great importance. Consequently, damaged nucleotides are repaired through redundant pathways. We considered whether the genome is protected from formamidopyrimidine nucleosides (Fapy•dA, Fapy•dG) via a pathway distinct from the Escherichia coli guanine oxidation system. The formamidopyrimidines are produced in significant quantities in DNA as a result of oxidative stress and are efficiently excised by formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase. Previous reports suggest that the formamidopyrimidine nucleosides are substrates for endonucleases III and VIII, enzymes that are typically associated with pyrimidine lesion repair in E.coli. We investigated the possibility that Endo III and/or Endo VIII play a role in formamidopyrimidine nucleoside repair by examining Fapy•dA and Fapy•dG excision opposite all four native 2′-deoxyribonucleotides. Endo VIII excises both lesions more efficiently than does Endo III, but the enzymes exhibit similar selectivity with respect to their action on duplexes containing the formamidopyrimidines opposite native deoxyribonucleotides. Fapy•dA is removed more rapidly than Fapy•dG, and duplexes containing purine nucleotides opposite the lesions are superior substrates compared with those containing formamidopyrimidine–pyrimidine base pairs. This dependence upon opposing nucleotide indicates that Endo III and Endo VIII do not serve as back up enzymes to formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase in the repair of formamidopyrimidines. When considered in conjunction with cellular studies [J. O. Blaisdell, Z. Hatahet and S. S. Wallace (1999) J. Bacteriol., 181, 6396–6402], these results also suggest that Endo III and Endo VIII do not protect E.coli against possible mutations attributable to formamidopyrimidine lesions.

DNA glycosylase activities for thymine residues oxidized in the methyl group are functions of the hNEIL1 and hNTH1 enzymes in human cells

Bacteria and eukaryotes possess redundant activities that recognize and remove oxidatively damaged bases from DNA through base excision repair. DNA glycosylases excise damaged bases to initiate the base excision repair pathway. hOgg1 and hNTH1, homologues of E. coli MutM and Nth, respectively, had been identified and characterized in human cells. Recent works revealed that human cells have three orthologues of E. coli Nei, hNEIL1, hNEIL2 and hNEIL3. In the present experiments, hNEIL1 protected the E. coli nth nei mutant from lethal effect of hydrogen peroxide and high frequency of spontaneous mutations under aerobic conditions. Furthermore, hNEIL1 efficiently cleaved double stranded oligonucleotides containing 5-formyluracil (5-foU) and 5-hydroxymethyluracil (5-hmU) in vitro via beta- and delta-elimination reactions. Similar activities were detected with hNTH1. These results indicate that hNEIL1 and hNTH1 are DNA glycosylases that excise 5-foU and 5-hmU as efficiently as Tg in human cells.

Transcription activities at 8-oxoG lesions in DNA

7,8-Dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) is the most frequent mutagenic lesion caused by oxidative stress. Eukaryotic cells use a specific DNA glycosylase, OGG1, to excise 8-oxoG from DNA. The mild phenotype of OGG1 null mice has been attributed to the existence of alternative pathways, including Cockayne syndrome B (CSB)-dependent transcription coupled repair (TCR), for removal of 8-oxoG. We have studied repair and transcription activities at 8-oxoG lesions with a reconstituted transcription system (RTS; RNA polymerase II, TBP, TFIIA, TFIIB, TFIIE, TFIIF and TFIIH), as well as in cellular extracts and in vivo. All measurable repair activity at 8-oxoG lesions takes place in the 3'-direction from the lesion, indicating base excision repair (BER) activity and negligible role of nucleotide excision repair (NER). Although 8-oxoG has been shown to be preferentially removed from the transcribed strand, in vitro experiments with purified transcription factors failed to identify a definite block for RNA polymerase II at the lesion. However, a weak block was observed at the lesion during transcription carried out with RTS as well as with cellular extracts. RNA polymerase II was identified at the site of the lesion on obstructed templates. Wild-type cells, as well as cells carrying targeted mutations of genes required for removal of 8-oxoG, were transfected with a luciferase expression vector containing an 8-oxoG lesion. No significant obstruction at 8-oxoG lesions was observed by this in vivo approach. In control experiments transcription elongation was completely blocked by cisplatin.

Distinct signatures for mutator sensitivity of lacZ reversions and for the spectrum of lacI/lacO forward mutations on the chromosome of nondividing Escherichia coli

A conditional lethal galE(Ts)-based strategy was employed in Escherichia coli, first to eliminate all growth-associated chromosomal reversions in lacZ or forward mutations in lacI/lacO by incubation at the restrictive temperature and subsequently to recover (as papillae) spontaneous mutations that had arisen in the population of nondividing cells after shift to the permissive temperature. Data from lacZ reversion studies in mutator strains indicated that the products of all genes for mismatch repair (mutHLS, dam, uvrD), of some for oxidative damage repair (mutMT), and of that for polymerase proofreading (dnaQ) are required in dividing cells; some others for oxidative damage repair (mutY, nth nei) are required in both dividing and nondividing cells; and those for alkylation damage repair (ada ogt) are required in nondividing cells. The spectrum of lacI/lacO mutations in nondividing cells was distinguished both by lower frequencies of deletions and IS1 insertions and by the unique occurrence of GC-to-AT transitions at lacO +5. In the second approach to study mutations that had occurred in nondividing cells, lacI/lacO mutants were selected as late-arising papillae from the lawn of a galE+ strain; once again, transitions at lacO +5 were detected among the mutants that had been obtained from populations initially grown on poor carbon sources such as acetate, palmitate, or succinate. Our results indicate that the lacO +5 site is mutable only in nondividing cells, one possible mechanism for which might be that random endogenous alkylation (or oxidative) damage to DNA in these cells is efficiently corrected by the Ada Ogt (or Nth Nei) repair enzymes at most sites but not at lacO +5. Furthermore, the late-arising papillae from the second approach were composed almost exclusively of dominant lacI/lacO mutants. This finding lends support to "instantaneous gratification" models in which a spontaneous lesion, occurring at a random site in DNA of a nondividing cell, is most likely to be fixed as a mutation if it allows the cell to immediately exit the nondividing state.

Two clustered 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxodG) lesions increase the point mutation frequency of 8-oxodG, but do not result in double strand breaks or deletions in Escherichia coli

Multiply damaged sites (MDSs) are generated in DNA by ionizing radiation. In vitro studies predict that base excision repair in cells will convert MDSs to lethal double strand breaks (DSBs) when two opposing base damages are situated >/=2 bp apart. If the lesions are situated immediately 5' or 3' to each other, repair is predicted to occur sequentially due to inhibition of the DNA glycosylase by a single strand break repair intermediate. In this study, we examined how the distance between two opposing lesions alters the mutation frequency of an 8-oxodG in an MDS, and whether repair generates DSBs and deletions in bacteria. The 8-oxodG mutation frequency declined in MutY-deficient bacteria when the opposing 8-oxodG was 6 bp away, and was similar to a single 8-oxodG when the lesions were separated by 14 bp. However, the number of deletions detected for the MDSs was equivalent to the undamaged sequence. Using a separate assay, MDSs consisting of two 8-oxodG or an 8-oxodG opposite a uracil were not converted to DSBs in the absence of DNA replication in wild-type and transcription-coupled repair-deficient bacteria. This is the first study showing that DSB-repair intermediates and deletions are not formed during repair of clustered 8-oxodGs in cells.

Cleavage of deoxyoxanosine-containing oligodeoxyribonucleotides by bacterial endonuclease V

Oxanine (O) is a deamination product derived from guanine with the nitrogen at the N1 position substituted by oxygen. Cytosine, thymine, adenine, guanine as well as oxanine itself can be incorporated by Klenow Fragment to pair with oxanine in a DNA template with similar efficiency, indicating that oxanine in DNA may cause various mutations. As a nucleotide, deoxyoxanosine may substitute for deoxyguanosine to complete a primer extension reaction. Endonuclease V, an enzyme known for its enzymatic activity on uridine-, inosine- and xanthosine-containing DNA, can cleave oxanosine-containing DNA at the second phosphodiester bond 3' to the lesion. Mg2+ or Mn2+, and to a small extent Co2+ or Ni2+, support the oxanosine-containing DNA cleavage activity. All four oxanosine-containing base pairs (A/O, T/O, C/O and G/O) were cleaved with similar efficiency. The cleavage of double-stranded oxanosine-containing DNA was approximately 6-fold less efficient than that of double-stranded inosine-containing DNA. Single-stranded oxanosine-containing DNA was cleaved with a lower efficiency as compared with double-stranded oxanosine-containing DNA. A metal ion enhances the binding of endonuclease V to double-stranded and single-stranded oxanosine-containing DNA 6- and 4-fold, respectively. Hypothetic models of oxanine-containing base pairs and deaminated base recognition mechanism are presented.

The crystal structure of human endonuclease VIII-like 1 (NEIL1) reveals a zincless finger motif required for glycosylase activity

In prokaryotes, two DNA glycosylases recognize and excise oxidized pyrimidines: endonuclease III (Nth) and endonuclease VIII (Nei). The oxidized purine 8-oxoguanine, on the other hand, is recognized by Fpg (also known as MutM), a glycosylase that belongs to the same family as Nei. The recent availability of the human genome sequence allowed the identification of three human homologs of Escherichia coli Nei. We report here the crystal structure of a human Nei-like (NEIL) enzyme, NEIL1. The structure of NEIL1 exhibits the same overall fold as E. coli Nei, albeit with an unexpected twist. Sequence alignments had predicted that NEIL1 would lack a zinc finger, and it was therefore expected to use a different DNA-binding motif instead. Our structure revealed that, to the contrary, NEIL1 contains a structural motif composed of two antiparallel beta-strands that mimics the antiparallel beta-hairpin zinc finger found in other Fpg/Nei family members but lacks the loops that harbor the zinc-binding residues and, therefore, does not coordinate zinc. This "zincless finger" appears to be required for NEIL1 activity, because mutating a very highly conserved arginine within this motif greatly reduces the glycosylase activity of the enzyme.

Endonuclease III and endonuclease VIII conditionally targeted into mitochondria enhance mitochondrial DNA repair and cell survival following oxidative stress

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is exposed to reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced during oxidative phosphorylation. Accumulation of several kinds of oxidative lesions, including oxidized pyrimidines, in mtDNA may lead to structural genomic alterations, mitochondrial dysfunction and associated degenerative diseases. In Escherichia coli, oxidative pyrimidines are repaired by endonuclease III (EndoIII) and endonuclease VIII (EndoVIII). To determine whether the overexpression of two bacterial glycosylase/AP lyases which predominantly remove oxidized pyrimidines from DNA, could improve mtDNA repair and cell survival, we constructed vectors containing sequences for the EndoIII and EndoVIII downstream of the mitochondrial targeting sequence (MTS) from manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and placed them under the control of the tetracycline (Tet)-response element. Successful integrations of MTS-EndoIII or MTS-EndoVIII into the HeLa Tet-On genome were confirmed by Southern blot. Western blots of mitochondrial extracts from MTS-EndoIII and MTS-EndoVIII clones revealed that the recombinant proteins are targeted into mitochondria and their expressions are doxycycline (Dox) dependent. Enzyme activity assays and mtDNA repair studies showed that the Dox-dependent expressions of MTS-EndoIII and MTS-EndoVIII are functional, and both MTS-EndoIII and MTS-EndoVIII (Dox+) clones were significantly more proficient at repair of oxidative damage in their mtDNA. This enhanced repair led to increased cellular resistance to oxidative stress.