Interaction of Nucleotide Excision Repair Protein XPC-RAD23B with DNA Containing Benzo[a]pyrene-Derived Adduct and Apurinic/Apyrimidinic Site within a Cluster

The combined action of reactive metabolites of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and oxidative stress can lead to cluster-type DNA damage that includes both a bulky lesion and an apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site, which are repaired by the nucleotide and base excision repair mechanisms - NER and BER, respectively. Interaction of NER protein XPC-RAD23B providing primary damage recognition with DNA duplexes containing a B[a]P-derived residue linked to the exocyclic amino group of a guanine (BPDE-N(2)-dG) in the central position of one strand and AP site in different positions of the other strand was analyzed. It was found that XPC-RAD23B crosslinks to DNA containing (+)-trans-BPDE-N(2)-dG more effectively than to DNA containing cis-isomer, independently of the AP site position in the opposite strand; protein affinity to DNA containing one of the BPDE-N(2)-dG isomers depends on the AP site position in the opposite strand. The influence of XPC-RAD23B on hydrolysis of an AP site clustered with BPDE-N(2)-dG catalyzed by the apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) was examined. XPC-RAD23B was shown to stimulate the endonuclease and inhibit the 3'-5' exonuclease activity of APE1. These data demonstrate the possibility of cooperation of two proteins belonging to different DNA repair systems in the repair of cluster-type DNA damage.

Interaction of nucleotide excision repair proteins with DNA containing bulky lesion and apurinic/apyrimidinic site

The interaction of nucleotide excision repair (NER) proteins (XPC-HR23b, RPA, and XPA) with 48-mer DNA duplexes containing the bulky lesion-mimicking fluorescein-substituted derivative of dUMP (5-{3-[6-(carboxyamidofluoresceinyl)amidocapromoyl]allyl}-2'-deoxyuridine-5'-monophosphate) in a cluster with a lesion of another type (apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site) has been studied. It is shown that XPC-HR23b is modified to a greater extent by the DNA duplex containing an AP site opposite nucleotide adjacent to the fluorescein residue than by DNA containing an AP site shifted to the 3'- or 5'-end of the DNA strand. The efficiency of XPA modification by DNA duplexes containing both AP site and fluorescein residue is higher than that by DNA lacking the bulky lesion; the modification pattern in this case depends on the AP site position. In accordance with its major function, RPA interacts more efficiently with single-stranded DNA than with DNA duplexes, including those bearing bulky lesions. The observed interaction between the proteins involved in nucleotide excision repair and DNA structures containing a bulky lesion processed by NER and the AP site repaired via base excision repair may be significant for both these repair pathways in cells and requires the specific sequence of repair of clustered DNA lesions.

Photoactivated DNA analogs of substrates of the nucleotide excision repair system and their interaction with proteins of NER-competent extract of HeLa cells. Synthesis and application of long model DNA

Long linear DNA analogs of nucleotide excision repair (NER) substrates have been synthesized. They are 137-mer duplexes containing in their internal positions nucleotides with bulky substitutes imitating lesions with fluorochloroazidopyridyl and fluorescein groups introduced using spacer fragments at the 4N and 5C positions of dCMP and dUMP (Fap-dC- and Flu-dU-DNA) and DNA containing a (+)-cis-stereoisomer of benzo[a]pyrene-N2-deoxyguanidine (BP-dG-DNA, 131 bp). The interaction of the modified DNA duplexes with the proteins of NER-competent HeLa extract was investigated. The substrate properties of the model DNA in the reaction of specific excision were shown to vary in the series Fap-dC-DNA << Flu-dU-DNA < BP-dG-DNA. During the experiments on affinity modification of the proteins of NER-competent extract, Fap-dC-DNA (137 bp) containing a (32)P-label in the photoactive nucleotide demonstrated properties of a highly efficient and selective probe. The set of the main targets of labeling included polypeptides of the extract with the same values of apparent molecular weights (35-90 kDa) as when using the shorter (48 bp) Fap-dC-DNA. Besides, some of the extract proteins were shown capable of specific and effective interaction with the long analog of NER substrate. Electrophoretic mobility of these proteins coincided with the mobilities of DNA-binding subunits of XPC-HR23B and PARP1 (~127 and ~115 kDa, respectively). The 115-kDa target protein was identified as PARP1 using NAD+-based functional testing. The results suggest that the linear Fap-dC-DNA is an unrepairable substrate analog that can compete with effective NER substrates in the binding of the proteins responsible for lesion recognition and excision.

Mechanisms of single-stranded DNA-binding protein functioning in cellular DNA metabolism

This review deals with analysis of mechanisms involved in coordination of DNA replication and repair by SSB proteins; characteristics of eukaryotic, prokaryotic, and archaeal SSB proteins are considered, which made it possible to distinguish general mechanisms specific for functioning of proteins from organisms of different life domains. Mechanisms of SSB protein interactions with DNA during metabolism of the latter are studied; structural organization of the SSB protein complexes with DNA, as well as structural and functional peculiarities of different SSB proteins are analyzed.

Interaction between DNA Polymerase lambda and RPA during translesion synthesis

Replication of damaged DNA (translesion synthesis, TLS) is realized by specialized DNA polymerases. Additional protein factors such as replication protein A (RPA) play important roles in this process. However, details of the interaction are unknown. Here we analyzed the influence of the hRPA and its mutant hABCD lacking domains responsible for protein-protein interactions on ability of DNA polymerase lambda to catalyze TLS. The primer-template structures containing varying parts of extended strand (16 and 37 nt) were used as model systems imitating DNA intermediate of first stage of TLS. The 8-oxoguanine disposed in +1 position of the template strand in relation to 3 -end of primer was exploited as damage. It was shown that RPA stimulated TLS DNA synthesis catalyzed by DNA polymerase lambda in its globular but not in extended conformation. Moreover, this effect is dependent on the presence of p70N and p32C domains in RPA molecule.

Synthesis of base-substituted dUTP analogues carrying a photoreactive group and their application to study human replication protein A

Analogues of dUTP bearing a photoreactive 2-nitro-5-azidobenzoyl (NAB) group linked via spacers of varying length (n = 2, 4, 7-13 atoms) to the 5-position of the uridine ring (NAB-n-dUTP) were synthesized and characterized. DNA polymerase beta efficiently incorporated these analogues into synthetic primer-template substrates in place of TTP, which allowed us to selectively introduce a photoreactive group at the 3' primer terminus. After completing photoreactive primer synthesis, the reaction mixtures were irradiated with monochromatic UV light (315 nm) in the presence of human replication protein A (RPA), a heterotrimer consisting of three subunits with molecular mass 70 kDa (p70), 32 kDa (p32), and 14 kDa (p14), and were separated by SDS-PAGE. The photoreactive primers cross-linked directly with p70 and p32, but cross-linking of p14 was not achieved even by varying the length of the spacer group. The data speak in favor of the protection of p14 by other RPA subunits from the interaction with 3'-end of the primer. Cross-linking of substrates to pol beta is inhibited when the analogue bears a short spacer (n = 2, 4, 7, and 8), but this is abrogated somewhat when longer spacers (n = 9-13) are examined. On the basis of these observations, we suggest that RPA and pol beta form a complex on primer-template substrates.

Study of interaction of human replication factor A with DNA using new photoreactive analogs of dTTP

Replication factor A (RPA) is a protein that binds single-stranded DNA in eukaryotic cells; it participates in replication, repair, and recombination of DNA. RPA is composed of three subunits with molecular masses 70 (p70), 32 (p32), and 14 kD (p14). The photoaffinity labeling method was used to study the interaction of RPA with the 3;-end of duplex DNA containing extended 5;-end of a single strand. We have synthesized dTTP analogs containing photoreactive 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-4-azidobenzoyl group attached to the 5th position of the uracil residue with linkers of variable length (9, 11, and 13 atom chains). Using these analogs and dTTP analog containing the same photoreactive residue attached to the 5th position of the uracil residue with a 4-atom linker, a number of oligonucleotide primers carrying a single photoreactive group on the 3;-end were enzymatically synthesized. Using the complex of the photoreactive primers with DNA template containing extended 19-base 5;-end, human RPA was photoaffinity modified. The primers were covalently bound to the p70 and p32 subunits of RPA and the p14 subunit was not labeled by the primers. The data are discussed considering the previously suggested model of interaction of RPA with DNA during replication.