Parallel multiplicative target screening against divergent bacterial replicases: identification of specific inhibitors with broad spectrum potential.

Typically, biochemical screens that employ pure macromolecular components focus on single targets or a small number of interacting components. Researches rely on whole cell screens for more complex systems. Bacterial DNA replicases contain multiple subunits that change interactions with each stage of a complex reaction. Thus, the actual number of targets is a multiple of the proteins involved. It is estimated that the overall replication reaction includes up to 100 essential targets, many suitable for discovery of antibacterial inhibitors. We have developed an assay, using purified protein components, in which inhibitors of any of the essential targets can be detected through a common readout. Use of purified components allows each protein to be set within the linear range where the readout is proportional to the extent of inhibition of the target. By performing assays against replicases from model Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria in parallel, we show that it is possible to distinguish compounds that inhibit only a single bacterial replicase from those that exhibit broad spectrum potential.

Truncation of the C-terminus of human MLH1 blocks intracellular stabilization of PMS2 and disrupts DNA mismatch repair.

The human DNA mismatch repair (MMR) protein MLH1 has essential roles in the correction of replication errors and the activation of cell cycle checkpoints and cytotoxic responses to DNA damage that contribute to suppression of cancer risk. MLH1 functions as a heterodimer with the PMS2 protein, and steady state levels of PMS2 are very low in MLH1-deficient cells. Unique to MLH1 among MutL-homolog proteins, and conserved in identified eukaryotic MLH1 proteins, is the so-called C-terminal homology domain (CTH). The function of these C-terminal 20-30 amino acids is not known. We investigated the effect of a C-terminal truncation of human MLH1 (MLH1-L749X) on mammalian MMR by testing its activity in MLH1-deficient cells. We found the CTH to be essential for suppression of spontaneous mutation, activation of a cytotoxic response to 6-thioguanine, and maintenance of normal steady state levels of PMS2. Co-expression in doubly mutant Mlh1-/-; Pms2-/- fibroblasts showed that MLH1-L749X was unable to stabilize PMS2. Over-expression of MLH1-L749X did not reduce stabilization of PMS2 mediated by wild-type MLH1, indicating that truncation of the CTH reduces the ability to compete with wild-type MLH1 for interaction with PMS2. Lack of PMS2 stabilization also was observed with a previously reported pathogenic truncation (MLH1-Y750X), but not with two different point mutations in the CTH. Biochemical assays demonstrated that truncation of the CTH reduced the stability of heterodimers, although MLH1-L749X retained significant capacity for interaction with PMS2. Thus, the CTH of human MLH1 is necessary for error correction, checkpoint signaling, and for promoting interaction with, and the stability of, PMS2. Analysis of the CTH role in stabilizing PMS2 was facilitated by a novel intracellular assay for MLH1-PMS2 interaction. This assay should prove useful for identifying additional amino acids in MLH1 and PMS2 necessary for interaction in cells, and for determining the functional consequences of MLH1 mutations identified in human cancers.

The E705K mutation in hPMS2 exerts recessive, not dominant, effects on mismatch repair.

The hPMS2 mutation E705K is associated with Turcot syndrome. To elucidate the pathogenesis of hPMS2-E705K, we modeled this mutation in yeast and characterized its expression and effects on mutation avoidance in mammalian cells. We found that while hPMS2-E705K (pms1-E738K in yeast) did not significantly affect hPMS2 (Pms1p in yeast) stability or interaction with MLH1, it could not complement the mutator phenotype in MMR-deficient mouse or yeast cells. Furthermore, hPMS2-E705K/pms1-E738K inhibited MMR in wild-type (WT) mammalian cell extracts or yeast cells only when present in excess amounts relative to WT PMS2. Our results strongly suggest that hPMS2-E705K is a recessive loss-of-function allele.

Contribution of human mlh1 and pms2 ATPase activities to DNA mismatch repair.

MutLalpha, a heterodimer composed of Mlh1 and Pms2, is the major MutL activity in mammalian DNA mismatch repair. Highly conserved motifs in the N termini of both subunits predict that the protein is an ATPase. To study the significance of these motifs to mismatch repair, we have expressed in insect cells wild type human MutLalpha and forms altered in conserved glutamic acid residues, predicted to catalyze ATP hydrolysis of Mlh1, Pms2, or both. Using an in vitro assay, we showed that MutLalpha proteins altered in either glutamic acid residue were each partially defective in mismatch repair, whereas the double mutant showed no detectable mismatch repair. Neither strand specificity nor directionality of repair was affected in the single mutant proteins. Limited proteolysis studies of MutLalpha demonstrated that both Mlh1 and Pms2 N-terminal domains undergo ATP-induced conformational changes, but the extent of the conformational change for Mlh1 was more apparent than for Pms2. Furthermore, Mlh1 was protected at lower ATP concentrations than Pms2, suggesting Mlh1 binds ATP with higher affinity. These findings imply that ATP hydrolysis is required for MutLalpha activity in mismatch repair and that this activity is associated with differential conformational changes in Mlh1 and Pms2.