5-Formylcytosine-induced DNA-peptide cross-links reduce transcription efficiency, but do not cause transcription errors in human cells.

5-Formylcytosine (5fC) is an endogenous epigenetic DNA mark introduced via enzymatic oxidation of 5-methyl-dC in DNA. We and others recently reported that 5fC can form reversible DNA-protein conjugates with histone proteins, likely contributing to regulation of nucleosomal organization and gene expression. The protein component of DNA-protein cross-links can be proteolytically degraded, resulting in smaller DNA-peptide cross-links. Unlike full-size DNA-protein cross-links that completely block replication and transcription, DNA-peptide cross-links can be bypassed by DNA and RNA polymerases and can potentially be repaired via the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway. In the present work, we constructed plasmid molecules containing reductively stabilized, site-specific 5fC-polypeptide lesions and employed a quantitative MS-based assay to assess their effects on transcription in cells. Our results revealed that the presence of DNA-peptide cross-link significantly inhibits transcription in human HEK293T cells but does not induce transcription errors. Furthermore, transcription efficiency was similar in WT and NER-deficient human cell lines, suggesting that the 5fC-polypeptide lesion is a weak substrate for NER. This finding was confirmed by in vitro NER assays in cell-free extracts from human HeLa cells, suggesting that another mechanism is required for 5fC-polypeptide lesion removal. In summary, our findings indicate that 5fC-mediated DNA-peptide cross-links dramatically reduce transcription efficiency, are poor NER substrates, and do not cause transcription errors.

Excision of Oxidatively Generated Guanine Lesions by Competing Base and Nucleotide Excision Repair Mechanisms in Human Cells.

The interchange between different repair mechanisms in human cells has long been a subject of interest. Here, we provide a direct demonstration that the oxidatively generated guanine lesions spiroiminodihydantoin (Sp) and 5-guanidinohydantoin (Gh) embedded in double-stranded DNA are substrates of both base excision repair (BER) and nucleotide excision repair (NER) mechanisms in intact human cells. Site-specifically modified, 32P-internally labeled double-stranded DNA substrates were transfected into fibroblasts or HeLa cells, and the BER and/or NER mono- and dual incision products were quantitatively recovered after 2-8 h incubation periods and lysis of the cells. DNA duplexes bearing single benzo[ a]pyrene-derived guanine adduct were employed as positive controls of NER. The NER activities, but not the BER activities, were abolished in XPA-/- cells, while the BER yields were strongly reduced in NEIL1-/- cells. Co-transfecting different concentrations of analogous DNA sequences bearing the BER substrates 5-hydroxyuracil diminish the BER yields of Sp lesions and enhance the yields of NER products. These results are consistent with a model based on the local availability of BER and NER factors in human cells and their competitive binding to the same Sp or Gh BER/NER substrates.

Nucleotide Excision Repair and Impact of Site-Specific 5',8-Cyclopurine and Bulky DNA Lesions on the Physical Properties of Nucleosomes.

The nonbulky 5',8-cyclopurine DNA lesions (cP) and the bulky, benzo[ a]pyrene diol epoxide-derived stereoisomeric cis- and trans- N2-guanine adducts (BPDE-dG) are good substrates of the human nucleotide excision repair (NER) mechanism. These DNA lesions were embedded at the In or Out rotational settings near the dyad axis in nucleosome core particles reconstituted either with native histones extracted from HeLa cells (HeLa-NCP) or with recombinant histones (Rec-NCP). The cP lesions are completely resistant to NER in human HeLa cell extracts. The BPDE-dG adducts are also NER-resistant in Rec-NCPs but are good substrates of NER in HeLa-NCPs. The four BPDE-dG adduct samples are excised with different efficiencies in free DNA, but in HeLa-NCPs, the efficiencies are reduced by a common factor of 2.2 ± 0.2 relative to the NER efficiencies in free DNA. The NER response of the BPDE-dG adducts in HeLa-NCPs is not directly correlated with the observed differences in the thermodynamic destabilization of HeLa-NCPs, the Förster resonance energy transfer values, or hydroxyl radical footprint patterns and is weakly dependent on the rotational settings. These and other observations suggest that NER is initiated by the binding of the DNA damage-sensing NER factor XPC-RAD23B to a transiently opened BPDE-modified DNA sequence that corresponds to the known footprint of XPC-DNA-RAD23B complexes (≥30 bp). These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that post-translational modifications and the dimensions and properties of the DNA lesions are the major factors that have an impact on the dynamics and initiation of NER in nucleosomes.

Base and Nucleotide Excision Repair of Oxidatively Generated Guanine Lesions in DNA.

The well known biomarker of oxidative stress, 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine, is more susceptible to further oxidation than the parent guanine base and can be oxidatively transformed to the genotoxic spiroiminodihydantoin (Sp) and 5-guanidinohydantoin (Gh) lesions. Incubation of 135-mer duplexes with single Sp or Gh lesions in human cell extracts yields a characteristic nucleotide excision repair (NER)-induced ladder of short dual incision oligonucleotide fragments in addition to base excision repair (BER) incision products. The ladders were not observed when NER was inhibited either by mouse monoclonal antibody (5F12) to human XPA or in XPC(-/-) fibroblast cell extracts. However, normal NER activity appeared when the XPC(-/-) cell extracts were complemented with XPC-RAD23B proteins. The Sp and Gh lesions are excellent substrates of both BER and NER. In contrast, 5-guanidino-4-nitroimidazole, a product of the oxidation of guanine in DNA by peroxynitrite, is an excellent substrate of BER only. In the case of mouse embryonic fibroblasts, BER of the Sp lesion is strongly reduced in NEIL1(-/-) relative to NEIL1(+/+) extracts. In summary, in human cell extracts, BER and NER activities co-exist and excise Gh and Sp DNA lesions, suggesting that the relative NER/BER product ratios may depend on competitive BER and NER protein binding to these lesions.

Resistance to Nucleotide Excision Repair of Bulky Guanine Adducts Opposite Abasic Sites in DNA Duplexes and Relationships between Structure and Function.

The nucleotide excision repair of certain bulky DNA lesions is abrogated in some specific non-canonical DNA base sequence contexts, while the removal of the same lesions by the nucleotide excision repair mechanism is efficient in duplexes in which all base pairs are complementary. Here we show that the nucleotide excision repair activity in human cell extracts is moderate-to-high in the case of two stereoisomeric DNA lesions derived from the pro-carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (cis- and trans-B[a]P-N2-dG adducts) in a normal DNA duplex. By contrast, the nucleotide excision repair activity is completely abrogated when the canonical cytosine base opposite the B[a]P-dG adducts is replaced by an abasic site in duplex DNA. However, base excision repair of the abasic site persists. In order to understand the structural origins of these striking phenomena, we used NMR and molecular spectroscopy techniques to evaluate the conformational features of 11mer DNA duplexes containing these B[a]P-dG lesions opposite abasic sites. Our results show that in these duplexes containing the clustered lesions, both B[a]P-dG adducts adopt base-displaced intercalated conformations, with the B[a]P aromatic rings intercalated into the DNA helix. To explain the persistence of base excision repair in the face of the opposed bulky B[a]P ring system, molecular modeling results suggest how the APE1 base excision repair endonuclease, that excises abasic lesions, can bind productively even with the trans-B[a]P-dG positioned opposite the abasic site. We hypothesize that the nucleotide excision repair resistance is fostered by local B[a]P residue-DNA base stacking interactions at the abasic sites, that are facilitated by the absence of the cytosine partner base in the complementary strand. More broadly, this study sets the stage for elucidating the interplay between base excision and nucleotide excision repair in processing different types of clustered DNA lesions that are substrates of nucleotide excision repair or base excision repair mechanisms.

Differences in the Access of Lesions to the Nucleotide Excision Repair Machinery in Nucleosomes.

In nucleosomes, the access of DNA lesions to nucleotide excision repair is hindered by histone proteins. However, evidence that the nature of the DNA lesions may play a role in facilitating access is emerging, but these phenomena are not well-understood. We have used molecular dynamics simulations to elucidate the structural, dynamic, and energetic properties of the R and S 5'-8-cyclo-2'-dG and the (+)-cis-anti-B[a]P-dG lesions in a nucleosome. Our results show that the (+)-cis-anti-B[a]P-dG adduct is more dynamic and more destabilizing than the smaller and more constrained 5',8-cyclo-2'-dG lesions, suggesting more facile access to the more bulky (+)-cis-anti-B[a]P-dG lesion.

Structural basis for the recognition of diastereomeric 5',8-cyclo-2'-deoxypurine lesions by the human nucleotide excision repair system.

The hydroxyl radical is a powerful oxidant that generates DNA lesions including the stereoisomeric R and S 5',8-cyclo-2'-deoxyadenosine (cdA) and 5',8-cyclo-2'-deoxyguanosine (cdG) pairs that have been detected in cellular DNA. Unlike some other oxidatively generated DNA lesions, cdG and cdA are repaired by the human nucleotide excision repair (NER) apparatus. The relative NER efficiencies of all four cyclopurines were measured and compared in identical human HeLa cell extracts for the first time under identical conditions, using identical sequence contexts. The cdA and cdG lesions were excised with similar efficiencies, but the efficiencies for both 5'R cyclopurines were greater by a factor of ∼2 than for the 5'S lesions. Molecular modeling and dynamics simulations have revealed structural and energetic origins of this difference in NER-incision efficiencies. These lesions cause greater DNA backbone distortions and dynamics relative to unmodified DNA in 5'R than in 5'S stereoisomers, producing greater impairment in van der Waals stacking interaction energies in the 5'R cases. The locally impaired stacking interaction energies correlate with relative NER incision efficiencies, and explain these results on a structural basis in terms of differences in dynamic perturbations of the DNA backbone imposed by the R and S covalent 5',8 bonds.

Adenine-DNA adduct derived from the nitroreduction of 6-nitrochrysene is more resistant to nucleotide excision repair than guanine-DNA adducts.

Previous studies in rats, mice, and in vitro systems showed that 6-NC can be metabolically activated by two major pathways: (1) the formation of N-hydroxy-6-aminochrysene by nitroreduction to yield three major adducts, N-(dG-8-yl)-6-AC, 5-(dG-N(2)-yl)-6-AC, and N-(dA-8-yl)-6-AC, and (2) the formation of trans-1,2-dihydroxy-1,2-dihydro-6-hydroxylaminochrysene (1,2-DHD-6-NHOH-C) by a combination of nitroreduction and ring oxidation pathways to yield N-(dG-8-yl)-1,2-DHD-6-AC, 5-(dG-N(2)-yl)-1,2-DHD-6-AC and N-(dA-8-yl)-1,2-DHD-6-AC. These DNA lesions are likely to cause mutations if they are not removed by cellular defense mechanisms before DNA replication occurs. Here, we compared for the first time, in HeLa cell extracts in vitro, the relative nucleotide excision repair (NER) efficiencies of DNA lesions derived from simple nitroreduction and from a combination of nitroreduction and ring oxidation pathways. We show that the N-(dG-8-yl)-1,2-DHD-6-AC adduct is more resistant to NER than the N-(dG-8-yl)-6-AC adduct by a factor of ∼2. Furthermore, the N-(dA-8-yl)-6-AC is much more resistant to repair since its NER efficiency is ∼8-fold lower than that of the N-(dG-8-yl)-6-AC adduct. On the basis of our previous study and the present investigation, lesions derived from 6-NC and benzo[a]pyrene can be ranked from the most to the least resistant lesion as follows: N-(dA-8-yl)-6-AC > N-(dG-8-yl)-1,2-DHD-6-AC > 5-(dG-N(2)-yl)-6-AC ≃ N-(dG-8-yl)-6-AC ≃ (+)-7R,8S,9S,10S-benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide-derived trans-anti-benzo[a]pyrene-N(2)-dG adduct. The slow repair of the various lesions derived from 6-NC and thus their potential persistence in mammalian tissue could in part account for the powerful carcinogenicity of 6-NC as compared to B[a]P in the rat mammary gland.

Role of structural and energetic factors in regulating repair of a bulky DNA lesion with different opposite partner bases.

Extensive molecular modeling with molecular dynamics simulations and van der Waals energy analyses were used to elucidate the striking finding that a mutagenic benzo[a]pyrene-derived DNA lesion, the base-displaced intercalated 10R-(+)-cis-anti-B[a]P-N(2)-dG (G*), manifests large differences in nucleotide excision repair (NER) efficiencies in DNA duplexes, which depend on the identities of the partner base opposite G*. The nature of the partner base causes marked differences in the extent of its major groove extrusion and dynamics, as well as energetic stability of the intercalation pocket that parallels the relative NER efficiencies.

Generation of guanine-thymine cross-links in human cells by one-electron oxidation mechanisms.

The one-electron oxidation of cellular DNA in cultured human HeLa cells initiated by intense nanosecond 266 nm laser pulse irradiation produces cross-links between guanine and thymine bases (G*-T*), characterized by a covalent bond between C8 guanine (G*) and N3 thymine (T*) atoms. The DNA lesions were quantified by isotope dilution LC-MS/MS methods in the multiple reaction-monitoring mode using isotopically labeled [(15)N, (13)C]-nucleotides as internal standards. Among several known pyrimidine and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine lesions, the G*-T* cross-linked lesions were detected at levels of ~0.21 and 1.19 d(G*-T*) lesions per 10(6) DNA bases at laser intensities of 50 and 280 mJ/cm(2)/pulse, respectively.

Free energy profiles of base flipping in intercalative polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-damaged DNA duplexes: energetic and structural relationships to nucleotide excision repair susceptibility.

The crystal structure of Rad4/Rad23, the yeast homolog of the human nucleotide excision repair (NER) lesion recognition factor XPC-RAD23B ( Min , J. H. and Pavletich , N. P. ( 2007 ) Nature 449 , 570 - 575 ) reveals that the lesion-partner base is flipped out of the helix and binds to amino acids of the protein. This suggests the hypothesis that the flipping of this partner base must overcome a free energy barrier, which constitutes one element contributing to changes in the thermodynamic properties induced by the DNA damage and sensed by the recognition protein. We explored this hypothesis by computing complete flipping free energy profiles for two lesions derived from the procarcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DB[a,l]P) and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), R-trans-anti-DB[a,l]P-N(6)-dA (R-DB[a,l]P-dA) and R-trans-anti-B[a]P-N(6)-dA (R-B[a]P-dA), and the corresponding unmodified duplex. The DB[a,l]P and B[a]P adducts differ in number and organization of their aromatic rings. We integrate these results with prior profiles for the R-trans-anti-DB[a,l]P-dG adduct ( Zheng , H. et al. ( 2010 ) Chem. Res. Toxicol. 23 , 1868 - 1870 ). All adopt conformational themes involving intercalation of the PAH aromatic ring system into the DNA duplex; however, R-DB[a,l]P-dA and R-B[a]P-dA intercalate from the major groove, while R-DB[a,l]P-dG intercalates from the minor groove. These structural differences produce different computed van der Waals stacking interaction energies between the flipping partner base with the lesion aromatic ring system and adjacent bases; we find that the better the stacking, the higher the relative flipping free energy barrier and hence lower flipping probability. The better relative NER susceptibilities correlate with greater ease of flipping in these three differently intercalated lesions. In addition to partner base flipping, the Rad4/Rad23 crystal structure shows that a protein-ß-hairpin, BHD3, intrudes from the major groove side between the DNA strands at the lesion site. We present a molecular modeling study for the R-DB[a,l]P-dG lesion in Rad4/Rad23 showing BHD3 ß-hairpin intrusion with lesion eviction, and we hypothesize that lesion steric effects play a role in the recognition of intercalated adducts.

Adenine-DNA adducts derived from the highly tumorigenic Dibenzo[a,l]pyrene are resistant to nucleotide excision repair while guanine adducts are not.

The structural origins of differences in susceptibilities of various DNA lesions to nucleotide excision repair (NER) are poorly understood. Here we compared, in the same sequence context, the relative NER dual incision efficiencies elicited by two stereochemically distinct pairs of guanine (N(2)-dG) and adenine (N(6)-dA) DNA lesions, derived from enantiomeric genotoxic diol epoxides of the highly tumorigenic fjord region polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DB[a,l]P). Remarkably, in cell-free HeLa cell extracts, the guanine adduct with R absolute chemistry at the N(2)-dG linkage site is ∼35 times more susceptible to NER dual incisions than the stereochemically identical N(6)-dA adduct. For the guanine and adenine adducts with S stereochemistry, a similar but somewhat smaller effect (factor of ∼15) is observed. The striking resistance of the bulky N(6)-dA in contrast to the modest to good susceptibilities of the N(2)-dG adducts to NER is interpreted in terms of the balance between lesion-induced DNA distorting and DNA stabilizing van der Waals interactions in their structures, that are partly reflected in the overall thermal stabilities of the modified duplexes. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the high genotoxic activity of DB[a,l]P is related to the formation of NER-resistant and persistent DB[a,l]P-derived adenine adducts in cellular DNA.

Nucleotide excision repair of 2-acetylaminofluorene- and 2-aminofluorene-(C8)-guanine adducts: molecular dynamics simulations elucidate how lesion structure and base sequence context impact repair efficiencies.

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) efficiencies of DNA lesions can vary by orders of magnitude, for reasons that remain unclear. An example is the pair of N-(2'-deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-aminofluorene (dG-C8-AF) and N-(2'-deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-acetylaminofluorene (dG-C8-AAF) adducts that differ by a single acetyl group. The NER efficiencies in human HeLa cell extracts of these lesions are significantly different when placed at G(1), G(2) or G(3) in the duplex sequence (5'-CTCG(1)G(2)CG(3)CCATC-3') containing the NarI mutational hot spot. Furthermore, the dG-C8-AAF adduct is a better substrate of NER than dG-C8-AF in all three NarI sequence contexts. The conformations of each of these adducts were investigated by Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation methods. In the base-displaced conformational family, the greater repair susceptibility of dG-C8-AAF in all sequences stems from steric hindrance effects of the acetyl group which significantly diminish the adduct-base stabilizing van der Waals stacking interactions relative to the dG-C8-AF case. Base sequence context effects for each adduct are caused by differences in helix untwisting and minor groove opening that are derived from the differences in stacking patterns. Overall, the greater NER efficiencies are correlated with greater extents of base sequence-dependent local untwisting and minor groove opening together with weaker stacking interactions.

Structural, energetic and dynamic properties of guanine(C8)-thymine(N3) cross-links in DNA provide insights on susceptibility to nucleotide excision repair.

The one-electron oxidation of guanine in DNA by carbonate radical anions, a decomposition product of peroxynitrosocarbonate which is associated with the inflammatory response, can lead to the formation of intrastrand cross-links between guanine and thymine bases [Crean et al. (Oxidation of single-stranded oligonucleotides by carbonate radical anions: generating intrastrand cross-links between guanine and thymine bases separated by cytosines. Nucleic Acids Res. 2008; 36: 742-755.)]. These involve covalent bonds between the C8 positions of guanine (G*) and N3 of thymine (T*) in 5'-d(…G*pT*…) and 5'-d(…G*pCpT*…) sequence contexts. We have performed nucleotide excision repair (NER) experiments in human HeLa cell extracts which show that the G*CT* intrastrand cross-link is excised with approximately four times greater efficiency than the G*T* cross-link embedded in 135-mer DNA duplexes. In addition, thermal melting studies reveal that both lesions significantly destabilize duplex DNA, and that the destabilization induced by the G*CT* cross-link is considerably greater. Consistent with this difference in NER, our computations show that both lesions dynamically distort and destabilize duplex DNA. They disturb Watson-Crick base-pairing and base-stacking interactions, and cause untwisting and minor groove opening. These structural perturbations are much more pronounced in the G*CT* than in the G*T* cross-link. Our combined experimental and computational studies provide structural and thermodynamic understanding of the features of the damaged duplexes that produce the most robust NER response.

Probing for DNA damage with ß-hairpins: similarities in incision efficiencies of bulky DNA adducts by prokaryotic and human nucleotide excision repair systems in vitro.

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is an important prokaryotic and eukaryotic defense mechanism that removes a large variety of structurally distinct lesions in cellular DNA. While the proteins involved are completely different, the mode of action of these two repair systems is similar, involving a cut-and-patch mechanism in which an oligonucleotide sequence containing the lesion is excised. The prokaryotic and eukaryotic NER damage-recognition factors have common structural features of ß-hairpin intrusion between the two DNA strands at the site of the lesion. In the present study, we explored the hypothesis that this common ß-hairpin intrusion motif is mirrored in parallel NER incision efficiencies in the two systems. We have utilized human HeLa cell extracts and the prokaryotic UvrABC proteins to determine their relative NER incision efficiencies. We report here comparisons of relative NER efficiencies with a set of stereoisomeric DNA lesions derived from metabolites of benzo[a]pyrene and equine estrogens in different sequence contexts, utilizing 21 samples. We found a general qualitative trend toward similar relative NER incision efficiencies for ∼65% of these substrates; the other cases deviate mostly by ∼30% or less from a perfect correlation, although several more distant outliers are also evident. This resemblance is consistent with the hypothesis that lesion recognition through ß-hairpin insertion, a common feature of the two systems, is facilitated by local thermodynamic destabilization induced by the lesions in both cases. In the case of the UvrABC system, varying the nature of the UvrC endonuclease, while maintaining the same UvrA/B proteins, can markedly affect the relative incision efficiencies. These observations suggest that, in addition to recognition involving the initial modified duplexes, downstream events involving UvrC can also play a role in distinguishing and processing different lesions in prokaryotic NER.

Resistance of bulky DNA lesions to nucleotide excision repair can result from extensive aromatic lesion-base stacking interactions.

The molecular basis of resistance to nucleotide excision repair (NER) of certain bulky DNA lesions is poorly understood. To address this issue, we have studied NER in human HeLa cell extracts of two topologically distinct lesions, one derived from benzo[a]pyrene (10R-(+)-cis-anti-B[a]P-N(2)-dG), and one from the food mutagen 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (C8-dG-PhIP), embedded in either full or 'deletion' duplexes (the partner nucleotide opposite the lesion is missing). All lesions adopt base-displaced intercalated conformations. Both full duplexes are thermodynamically destabilized and are excellent substrates of NER. However, the identical 10R-(+)-cis-anti-B[a]P-N(2)-dG adduct in the deletion duplex dramatically enhances the thermal stability of this duplex, and is completely resistant to NER. Molecular dynamics simulations show that B[a]P lesion-induced distortion/destabilization is compensated by stabilizing aromatic ring system-base stacking interactions. In the C8-dG-PhIP-deletion duplex, the smaller size of the aromatic ring system and the mobile phenyl ring are less stabilizing and yield moderate NER efficiency. Thus, a partner nucleotide opposite the lesion is not an absolute requirement for the successful initiation of NER. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that carcinogen-base stacking interactions, which contribute to the local DNA stability, can prevent the successful insertion of an XPC ß-hairpin into the duplex and the normal recruitment of other downstream NER factors.

Inefficient nucleotide excision repair in human cell extracts of the N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-6-aminochrysene and 5-(deoxyguanosin-N(2)-yl)-6-aminochrysene adducts derived from 6-nitrochrysene.

Ubiquitous environmental agents [e.g., polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their nitrated derivatives (NO(2)-PAHs)] that are known to induce mammary cancer in rodents are regarded as potential human risk factors for inducing analogous human cancers. Although 6-nitrochrysene (6-NC) is less abundant than other NO(2)-PAHs in the environment, it is the most potent mammary carcinogen in the rat; its carcinogenic potency is not only higher than that of the carcinogenic PAH, benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), but also of the well-known carcinogenic heterocylic aromatic amine, 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5- b]pyridine (PhIP). Studies in rats and in vitro assays have indicated that 6-NC can be activated by simple nitroreduction leading to the formation of 6-hydroxylaminochrysene (N-OH-6-AC); this metabolite yielded N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-6-aminochrysene (N-[dG-8-yl]-6-AC) and 5-(deoxyguanosin-N(2)-yl)-6-aminochrysene (5-[dG-N(2)-yl]-6-AC. These lesions are likely to cause mutations if they are not removed by cellular defense mechanisms before DNA replication occurs. However, nothing is known about the susceptibility of these adducts to nucleotide excision repair (NER), the major cellular repair system that removes bulky adducts. In order to address this issue, we synthesized the N-(dG-8-yl)-6-AC and 5-(dG- N(2)-yl)-6-AC lesions and site-specifically inserted these lesions into 135-mer DNA duplexes. These constructs were incubated with NER-competent nuclear extracts from human HeLa cells. The efficiency of repair of these lesions was ∼ 8 times less efficient than that in the case of the well-known and excellent substrate of NER, the intrastrand cross-linked cis-diaminodichloroplatinum II adduct in double-stranded DNA (cis-Pt), but similar to N(2)-dG adducts derived from the (+)-bay region diol epoxide of B[a]P [(+)-trans-B[a]P-N(2)-dG]. The results support the hypothesis that the N-(dG-8-yl)-6-AC and 5-(dG-N(2)-yl)-6-AC lesions may be slowly repaired and thus persistent in mammalian tissue which could, in part, account for the potent tumorigenic activity of 6-NC in the rat mammary gland.

Base flipping free energy profiles for damaged and undamaged DNA.

Lesion-induced thermodynamic destabilization is believed to facilitate ß-hairpin intrusion by the human XPC/hHR23B nucleotide excision repair (NER) recognition factor, accompanied by partner-base flipping, as suggested by the crystal structure of the yeast orthologue (Min, J. H., and Pavletich, N. P. (2007) Nature 449, 570-575). To investigate this proposed mechanism, we employed the umbrella sampling method to compute partner base flipping free energies for the repair susceptible 14R (+)-trans-anti-DB[a,l]P-N(2)-dG modified duplex 11-mer, derived from the fjord region polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon dibenzo[a,l]pyrene, and for the undamaged duplex. Our flipping free energy profiles show that the adduct has a lower flipping barrier by ∼7.7 kcal/mol, consistent with its thermally destabilizing impact on the damaged DNA duplex and its susceptibility to NER.

Distant neighbor base sequence context effects in human nucleotide excision repair of a benzo[a]pyrene-derived DNA lesion.

The effects of non-nearest base sequences, beyond the nucleotides flanking a DNA lesion on either side, on nucleotide excision repair (NER) in extracts from human cells were investigated. We constructed two duplexes containing the same minor groove-aligned 10S (+)-trans-anti-B[a]P-N(2)-dG (G*) DNA adduct, derived from the environmental carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P): 5'-C-C-A-T-C-G*-C-T-A-C-C-3' (CG*C-I), and 5'-C-A-C3-A4-C5-G*-C-A-C-A-C-3' (CG*C-II). We used polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to compare the extent of DNA bending, and molecular dynamics simulations to analyze the structural characteristics of these two DNA duplexes. The NER efficiencies are 1.6(+/-0.2)-fold greater in the case of the CG*C-II than the CG*C-I sequence context in 135-mer duplexes. Gel electrophoresis and self-ligation circularization experiments revealed that the CG*C-II duplex is more bent than the CG*C-I duplex, while molecular dynamics simulations showed that the unique -C3-A4-C5- segment in the CG*C-II duplex plays a key role. The presence of a minor groove-positioned guanine amino group, the Watson-Crick partner to C3, acts as a wedge; facilitated by a highly deformable local -C3-A4- base step, this amino group allows the B[a]P ring system to produce a more enlarged minor groove in CG*C-II than in CG*C-I, as well as a local untwisting and enlarged and flexible Roll only in the CG*C-II sequence. These structural properties fit well with our earlier findings that in the case of the family of minor groove 10S (+)-trans-anti-B[a]P-N(2)-dG lesions, flexible bends and enlarged minor groove widths constitute NER recognition signals, and extend our understanding of sequence context effects on NER to the neighbors that are distant to the lesion.