Examination of association of genes in the serotonin system to autism.

Autism is characterized as one of the pervasive developmental disorders, a spectrum of often severe behavioral and cognitive disturbances of early development. The high heritability of autism has driven multiple efforts to identify genetic variation that increases autism susceptibility. Numerous studies have suggested that variation in peripheral and central metabolism of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) may play a role in the pathophysiology of autism. We screened 403 autism families for 45 single nucleotide polymorphisms in ten serotonin pathway candidate genes. Although genome-wide linkage scans in autism have provided support for linkage to various loci located within the serotonin pathway, our study does not provide strong evidence for linkage to any specific gene within the pathway. The most significant association (p = 0.0002; p = 0.02 after correcting for multiple comparisons) was found at rs1150220 (HTR3A) located on chromosome 11 ( approximately 113 Mb). To test specifically for multilocus effects, multifactor dimensionality reduction was employed, and a significant two-way interaction (p value = 0.01) was found between rs10830962, near MTNR1B (chromosome11; 92,338,075 bp), and rs1007631, near SLC7A5 (chromosome16; 86,413,596 bp). These data suggest that variation within genes on the serotonin pathway, particularly HTR3A, may have modest effects on autism risk.

Structure of the malondialdehyde deoxyguanosine adduct M1G when placed opposite a two-base deletion in the (CpG)3 frameshift hotspot of the Salmonella typhimurium hisD3052 gene.

Malondialdehyde (MDA) is a toxic and mutagenic metabolite produced by lipid peroxidation, and prostaglandin biosynthesis. MDA induces frameshift mutations in tester strains of Salmonella typhimurium. It reacts with DNA, and at physiological pH the major adduct is a pyrimidopurinone formed by reaction with guanine: M1G [3-(2'-deoxy-beta-D-erythropentofuranosyl)pyrimido[1,2-alpha]-purin-10(3H)-one]. When site-specifically incorporated into a duplex oligodeoxynucleotide containing a frameshift-prone (CG)3 repeat derived from the Salmonella typhimurium hisd3052 gene, spontaneous opening of M1G to the N2-(3-oxo-1-propenyl)-dG species occurred. In this work d(ATCGCMCGGCATG), (M=M1G) was annealed to d(CATGCCGCGAT) to model the putative strand slippage intermediate which would precede a two base deletion in the (CG)3 iterated repeat. 1H NMR studies indicate that in contrast to the duplex DNA structure, M1G remains intact. A single bulge conformation exists. M1G and its 3'-neighbor cytosine are unpaired. The M1G is intrahelical and stacked, whereas the unpaired cytosine is poorly stacked and appears to be extrahelical.

Examination of tetrahydrobiopterin pathway genes in autism.

Autism is a complex disorder with a high degree of heritability and significant phenotypic and genotypic heterogeneity. Although candidate gene studies and genome-wide screens have failed to identify major causal loci associated with autism, numerous studies have proposed association with several variations in genes in the dopaminergic and serotonergic pathways. Because tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) is the essential cofactor in the synthesis of these two neurotransmitters, we genotyped 25 SNPs in nine genes of the BH4 pathway in a total of 403 families. Significant nominal association was detected in the gene for 6-pyruvoyl-tetrahydropterin synthase, PTS (chromosome 11), with P = 0.009; this result was not restricted to an affected male-only subset. Multilocus interaction was detected in the BH4 pathway alone, but not across the serotonin, dopamine and BH4 pathways.

Synthesis of oligonucleotides containing the alkali-labile pyrimidopurinone adduct, M(1)G.

An improved method for the synthesis of oligodeoxyribonucleotides containing the endogenous adduct, pyrimido[1,2-a]purin-10(3H)-one (M(1)G), is reported. The key features of the methodology include improved synthesis of the deoxynucleoside of M(1)G by transribosylation with deoxycytidine catalyzed by nucleoside 2'-deoxyribosyltransferase and the use of commercially available 4-tert-butylphenoxyacetyl protecting groups for normal nucleotides. Facile deprotection and removal of the M(1)G-containing oligomers from the solid support were achieved by treatment with a solution of potassium carbonate in methanol. NMR studies were performed to determine the stability of the oligonucleotides at different pHs.

The exocyclic 1,N2-deoxyguanosine pyrimidopurinone M1G is a chemically stable DNA adduct when placed opposite a two-base deletion in the (CpG)3 frameshift hotspot of the Salmonella typhimurium hisD3052 gene.

The pyrimidopurinone adduct M1G [3-(2'-deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)pyrimido[1,2-a]-purin-10(3H)-one], formed in DNA upon exposure to malondialdehyde or base propenals, was incorporated into 5'-d(ATCGCMCGGCATG)-3'-5'-d(CATGCCGCGAT)-3', where M = M1G. This duplex contained a two-nucleotide bulge in the modified strand, and was named the M1G-2BD oligodeoxynucleotide. It provided a model for -2 bp strand slippage deletions associated with the (CpG)3-iterated repeat hotspot for frameshift mutations from the Salmonella typhimurium hisD3052 gene. M1G was chemically stable in the M1G-2BD duplex at neutral pH. The two-base bulge in the M1G-2BD oligodeoxynucleotide was localized and consisted of M1G and the 3'-neighbor deoxycytosine. The intrahelical orientation of M1G was established from a combination of NOE and chemical shift data. M1G was in the anti conformation about the glycosyl bond. The 3'-neighbor deoxycytosine appeared to be extruded toward the major groove. In contrast, when M1G was placed into the corresponding fully complementary (CpG)3-iterated repeat duplex at neutral pH, spontaneous and quantitative ring-opening to N(2)-(3-oxo-1-propenyl)-dG (the OPG adduct) was facilitated [Mao, H., Reddy, G. R., Marnett, L. J., and Stone, M. P. (1999) Biochemistry 38, 13491-13501]. The structure of the M1G-2BD duplex suggested that the bulged sequence lacked a cytosine amino group properly positioned to facilitate opening of M1G and supports the notion that proper positioning of deoxycytosine complementary to M1G is necessary to promote ring-opening of the exocyclic adduct in duplex DNA. The structure of the M1G-2BD duplex was similar to that of the structural analogue 1,N(2)-propanodeoxyguanosine (PdG) in the corresponding PdG-2BD duplex [Weisenseel, J. P., Moe, J. G., Reddy, G. R., Marnett, L. J., and Stone, M. P. (1995) Biochemistry 34, 50-64]. The fixed position of the bulged bases in both instances suggests that these exocyclic adducts do not facilitate transient bulge migration.

Enzymatic synthesis of M(1)G-deoxyribose.

Adducts formed between electrophiles and nucleic acid bases are believed to play a key role in chemically induced mutations and cancer. M(1)G-dR is an endogenous exocyclic DNA adduct formed by the reaction of the dicarbonyl compound malondialdehyde with a dG residue in DNA. It is an intermediate in the synthesis of a class of modified oligodeoxyribonucleotides that are used to study the mutagenicity and repair of M(1)G. This unit presents methods for synthesizing M(1)G-dR by enzymatic coupling.

Duplex DNA catalyzes the chemical rearrangement of a malondialdehyde deoxyguanosine adduct.

The primary DNA lesion induced by malondialdehyde, a byproduct of lipid peroxidation and prostaglandin synthesis, is 3-(2'-deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)-pyrimido[1, 2-a]purin-10(3H)-one (M1G). When placed opposite cytosine (underlined) at neutral pH in either the d(GGTMTCCG).d(CGGACACC) or d(ATCGCMCGGCATG). d(CATGCCGCGCGAT) duplexes, M1G spontaneously and quantitatively converts to the ring-opened derivative N2-(3-oxo-1-propenyl)-dG. Ring-opening is reversible on thermal denaturation. Ring-opening does not occur at neutral pH in single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides or when T is placed opposite to M1G in a duplex. The presence of a complementary cytosine is not required to stabilize N2-(3-oxo-1-propenyl)-dG in duplex DNA at neutral pH. When N2-(3-oxo-1-propenyl)-dG is placed opposite to thymine in a duplex, it does not revert to M1G. A mechanism for the conversion of M1G to N2-(3-oxo-1-propenyl)-dG is proposed in which the exocyclic amino group of the complementary cytosine attacks the C8 position of the M1G exocyclic ring and facilitates ring opening via formation of a transient Schiff base. Addition of water to the Schiff base regenerates the catalytic cytosine and generates N2-(3-oxo-1-propenyl)-dG. These results document the ability of duplex DNA to catalyze the transformation of one adduct into another, which may have important consequences for mutagenesis and repair.