Site-directed mutagenesis in single cells: transitions produced by DNA carrying a single O6-alkylguanine residue

Chemical biology of mutagenesis and DNA repair: cellular responses to DNA alkylation

The reaction of DNA-damaging agents with the genome results in a plethora of lesions, commonly referred to as adducts. Adducts may cause DNA to mutate, they may represent the chemical precursors of lethal events and they can disrupt expression of genes. Determination of which adduct is responsible for each of these biological endpoints is difficult, but this task has been accomplished for some carcinogenic DNA-damaging agents. Here, we describe the respective contributions of specific DNA lesions to the biological effects of low molecular weight alkylating agents.

Mutagenesis by exocyclic alkylamino purine adducts in Escherichia coli

Exocyclic alkylamino purine adducts, including N(2)-ethyldeoxyguanosine, N(2)-isopropyldeoxyguanosine, and N(6)-isopropyldeoxyadenosine, occur as a consequence of reactions of DNA with toxins such as the ethanol metabolite acetaldehyde, diisopropylnitrosamine, and diisopropyltriazene. However, there are few data addressing the biological consequences of these adducts when present in DNA. Therefore, we assessed the mutagenicities of these single, chemically synthesized exocyclic amino adducts when placed site-specifically in the supF gene in the reporter plasmid pLSX and replicated in Escherichia coli, comparing the mutagenic potential of these exocyclic amino adducts to that of O(6)-ethyldeoxyguanosine. Inclusion of deoxyuridines on the strand complementary to the adducts at 5' and 3' flanking positions resulted in mutant fractions of N(2)-ethyldeoxyguanosine and N(2)-isopropyldeoxyguanosine-containing plasmid of 1.4+/-0.5% and 5.7+/-2.5%, respectively, both of which were significantly greater than control plasmid containing deoxyuridines but no adduct (p=0.04 and 0.003, respectively). The mutagenicities of the three exocyclic alkylamino purine adducts tested were of smaller magnitude than O(6)-ethyldeoxyguanosine (mutant fraction=21.2+/-1.2%, p=0.00001) with the N(6)-isopropyldeoxyadenosine being the least mutagenic (mutant fraction=1.2+/-0.5%, p=0.13). The mutation spectrum generated by the N(2)-ethyl and -isopropyldeoxyguanosine adducts included adduct site-targeted G:C-->T:A transversions, adduct site single base deletions, and single base deletions three bases downstream from the adduct, which contrasted sharply with the mutation spectrum generated by the O(6)-ethyldeoxyguanosine lesion of 95% adduct site-targeted transitions. We conclude that N(2)-ethyl and -isopropyldeoxyguanosine are mutagenic adducts in E. coli whose mutation spectra differ markedly from that of O(6)-ethyldeoxyguanosine.

Response of repair-competent and repair-deficient Escherichia coli to three O6-substituted guanines and involvement of methyl-directed mismatch repair in the processing of O6-methylguanine residues

Plasmids containing a site-specifically incorporated O6-methyl- (m6G), O6-ethyl- (e6G), or O6-benzylguanine (b6G) within the ATG initiation codon of the lacZ' gene were used to transform Escherichia coli that were repair proficient or deficient in one or both of the E. coli O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferases, the uvr(ABC) excision repair system, the recA-mediated recombination system, or the methylation-directed mismatch repair system. Colonies were scored phenotypically for adduct-induced mutations. With plasmids containing either e6G or b6G, the frequency of adduct-induced mutation was low and independent of the repair proficiency of the strain transformed. Plasmids containing an m6G residue elicited similar responses in all but the mismatch repair-deficient strain. The generally low mutagenicity of all the O6-substituted guanines was interpreted as reflecting an adduct-induced arrest of replication of the modified strand while the unmodified complementary strand was replicated normally. Studies of the involvement of mismatch repair in m6G mutagenesis showed that m6G:T base pairs were more readily processed than m6G:C base pairs, indicating that mismatch repair involving m6G residues occurs after replication. These data support a model in which the E. coli methylation-directed mismatch repair system diverts plasmids containing promutagenic m6G:T base pairs into replication-arrested complexes providing another line of defense against O6-methylguanine mutagenicity in addition to O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase repair and excision repair mechanisms.