Levels of some enzymes acting on DNA in xeroderma pigmentosum

DNA repair defects and chromosome instability disorders

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), Fanconi anaemia (FA), ataxia telangiectasia (AT) and Bloom disease (BS) are four rare autosomal recessive disorders in which there is defective DNA repair and/or chromosome instability and proneness to malignancy. Between 80 and 90% of patients with XP have a defect, demonstrable at cell level, of excision of DNA lesions induced by ultraviolet rays, while the remainder have a cellular error of post-replication repair. XP cells are also deficient in repairing DNA damage caused by a variety of chemical mutagens. There are at least five different complementation groups of the first, or classical, type of XP (A to D, etc.) Apparently group C patients, as well as those with defective post-replication repair, do not show the progressive neurological illness found in a proportion of the other patients. AT is heterogeneous clinically and genetically. Clinically it presents with a progressive neurological illness, progressive telangiectases and a developmental disorder of the thymus. AT is characterized by sensitivity to X-rays and AT cells are unable to repair gamma-ray-induced damage to bases in the DNA. It appears that in many cases of the disorder a chromosomally marked cellular clone is found. In BS the main defect, which results in growth retardation, sun-induced lesions of the face and susceptibility to infection, appears to be a slow DNA chain maturation during DNA synthesis. An increase of sister chromatid exchanges is characteristically seen in the chromosomes of cultured BS cells. In FA, in which there is progressive pancytopenia with eventual bone marrow exhaustion and a tendency to haemorrhage and infection, the cellular defect seems to consist of faulty removal of repair of cross-links in the DNA. In this condition, as in BS and AT, various structural chromosome changes are detected in cultured cells. Patients with XP develop skin cancers in early life and often maligant melanomas. In the other three disorders, in which an immune deficiency is often present, leukaemia and related proliferative disorders are a frequent cause of death while other malignancies also occur. There is some evidence that points to an increased risk of malignancy in heterozygotes who carry the FA and AT genes.

DNA polymerases alpha beta and gamma in inherited diseases affecting DNA repair

Fibroblasts derived from patients with diseases affecting DNA repair processes, such as Xeroderma Pigmentosum (classical and variant), Fanconi's anemia, Bloom's syndrome, Ataxia Telangiectasica, Progeria and Werner's syndrome, were assayed for the three DNA polymerases. The specific activities of these enzymes were found within the limits observed in normal human fibroblasts. Also the sedimentation properties of the three polymerases were unaltered.

Purification and properties of polynucleotide kinase of calf thymus

Polynucleotide kinase (ATP:5'-dephosphopolynucleotide 5'-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.78) has been purified approx. 1500-fold from calf thymus. This enzyme phosphorylates 5'-hydroxyl termini in DNA using ATP as phosphate donor. RNA is phosphorylated at a much lower rate than DNA. The reaction requires the presence of a divalent cation, preferably Mg2+ or Mn2+ and is sensitive to sulfhydryl antagonists. The optimum pH for enzyme activity is 5.5. Enzyme activity is inhibited by low concentrations of inorganic sulfate and by some sulfate polymers. The kinase-catalyzed incorporation of the terminal phosphate of ATP into polynucleotides is inhibited by other nucleoside and deoxynucleoside triphosphates. The enzyme molecule has a molecular weight of about 70 000 and a Stokes radius of 4.3 nm. It has a frictional ratio of 1.44 indicating an asymmetrical structure. Calf thymus tissue should provide a useful alternative source for preparation of mammalian polynucleotide kinase.

Levels of DNA polymerase-alpha and beta in normal and xeroderma pigmentosum fibroblasts

We have determined the levels of DNA-polymerases-alpha and-beta in fibroblasts obtained from normal subjects and from patients with Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) belonging to three different complementation groups and to the variant form. The assays have been performed in crude extracts and after fractionation on sucrose gradients. The levels of alpha and beta-polymerases in the different cases of XP were found to lie within the same range as the control values, and no correlation was found with the severity of the symptoms. The sedimentation coefficients of the two polymerases from all the pathological lines were identical to those of the normal fibroblasts.

An altered apurinic DNA endonuclease activity in group A and group D xeroderma pigmentosum fibroblasts

Endonuclease activity upon depurinated DNA was measured in extracts of cultured fibroblasts from xeroderma pigmentosum patients. Cell lines from complementation groups A, B, C, E, and the XP-variant had slightly reduced levels of activity, but cell lines from complementation group D had one-sixth of the normal activity. An altered pH dependence and a higher apparent Km for substrate in D-cell lines indicate that the remaining activity is also qualitatively different from the activity found in normal cells. A higher Km was also found in cell lines from the A-complementation group but not in cell lines from the C-complementation group. These defects in apurinic DNase might account for the neurological disorders in patients from the D- and the A-complementation groups.

Deoxyribonucleases activities in human leukemic cells and mouse lymphoblasts

The deoxyribonuclease activities from human lymphocytes have been compared with the activities from acute lymphocytic leukemic cells and mouse leukemic cells L5178Y using the in situ detection of deoxyribonucleases in DNA-containing polyacrylamide gels following their separation by micro-disc-electrophoresis. A neutral deoxyribonuclease activity is completely missing in leukemic cells of untreated patients while a group of acid deoxyribonuclease activities is increased. A similar deoxyribonuclease pattern can be seen in L5178Y cells. Under medical treatment the increment of the acid deoxyribonuclease activities disappears and the neutral deoxyribonuclease activity reappears.