X-ray structure of T4 endonuclease V: an excision repair enzyme specific for a pyrimidine dimer

Computational investigations on target-site searching and recognition mechanisms by thymine DNA glycosylase during DNA repair process

DNA glycosylase, as one member of DNA repair machineries, plays an essential role in correcting mismatched/damaged DNA nucleotides by cleaving the N-glycosidic bond between the sugar and target nucleobase through the base excision repair (BER) pathways. Efficient corrections of these DNA lesions are critical for maintaining genome integrity and preventing premature aging and cancers. The target-site searching/recognition mechanisms and the subsequent conformational dynamics of DNA glycosylase, however, remain challenging to be characterized using experimental techniques. In this review, we summarize our recent studies of sequential structural changes of thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) during the DNA repair process, achieved mostly by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Computational simulations allow us to reveal atomic-level structural dynamics of TDG as it approaches the target-site, and pinpoint the key structural elements responsible for regulating the translocation of TDG along DNA. Subsequently, upon locating the lesions, TDG adopts a base-flipping mechanism to extrude the mispaired nucleobase into the enzyme active-site. The constructed kinetic network model elucidates six metastable states during the base-extrusion process and suggests an active role of TDG in flipping the intrahelical nucleobase. Finally, the molecular mechanism of product release dynamics after catalysis is also summarized. Taken together, we highlight to what extent the computational simulations advance our knowledge and understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the conformational dynamics of TDG, as well as the limitations of current theoretical work.

DNA Repair by DNA: The UV1C DNAzyme Catalyzes Photoreactivation of Cyclobutane Thymine Dimers in DNA More Effectively than Their de Novo Formation

UV1C, a 42-nt DNA oligonucleotide, is a deoxyribozyme (DNAzyme) that optimally uses 305 nm wavelength light to catalyze photoreactivation of a cyclobutane thymine dimer placed within a gapped, unnatural DNA substrate, TDP. Herein we show that UV1C is also capable of photoreactivating thymine dimers within an authentic single-stranded DNA substrate, LDP. This bona fide UV1C substrate enables, for the first time, investigation of whether UV1C catalyzes only photoreactivation or also the de novo formation of thymine dimers. Single-turnover experiments carried out with LDP and UV1C, relative to control experiments with LDP alone in single-stranded and double-stranded contexts, show that while UV1C does modestly promote thymine dimer formation, its major activity is indeed photoreactivation. Distinct photostationary states are reached for LDP in its three contexts: as a single strand, as a constituent of a double-helix, and as a 1:1 complex with UV1C. The above results on the cofactor-independent photoreactivation capabilities of a catalytic DNA reinforce a series of recent, unexpected reports that purely nucleotide-based photoreactivation is also operational within conventional double-helical DNA.

Single-molecule imaging of dynamic motions of biomolecules in DNA origami nanostructures using high-speed atomic force microscopy

CONSPECTUS: Direct imaging of molecular motions is one of the most fundamental issues for elucidating the physical properties of individual molecules and their reaction mechanisms. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) enables direct molecular imaging, especially for biomolecules in the physiological environment. Because AFM can visualize the molecules at nanometer-scale spatial resolution, a versatile observation scaffold is needed for the precise imaging of molecule interactions in the reactions. The emergence of DNA origami technology allows the precise placement of desired molecules in the designed nanostructures and enables molecules to be detected at the single-molecule level. In our study, the DNA origami system was applied to visualize the detailed motions of target molecules in reactions using high-speed AFM (HS-AFM), which enables the analysis of dynamic motions of biomolecules in a subsecond time resolution. In this system, biochemical properties such as the placement of various double-stranded DNAs (dsDNAs) containing unrestricted DNA sequences, modified nucleosides, and chemical functions can be incorporated. From a physical point of view, the tension and rotation of dsDNAs can be controlled by placement into the DNA nanostructures. From a topological point of view, the orientations of dsDNAs and various shapes of dsDNAs including Holliday junctions can be incorporated for studies on reaction mechanisms. In this Account, we describe the combination of the DNA origami system and HS-AFM for imaging various biochemical reactions including enzymatic reactions and DNA structural changes. To observe the behaviors and reactions of DNA methyltransferase and DNA repair enzymes, the substrate dsDNAs were incorporated into the cavity of the DNA frame, and the enzymes that bound to the target dsDNA were observed using HS-AFM. DNA recombination was also observed using the recombination substrates and Holliday junction intermediates placed in the DNA frame, and the direction of the reactions was controlled by introducing structural stress to the substrates. In addition, the movement of RNA polymerase and its reaction were visualized using a template dsDNA attached to the origami structure. To observe DNA structural changes, G-quadruplex formation and disruption, the switching behaviors of photoresponsive oligonucleotides, and B-Z transition were visualized using the DNA frame observation system. For the formation and disruption of G-quadruplex and double-helix DNA, the two dsDNA chains incorporated into the DNA frame could amplify the small structural change to the global structural change, which enabled the visualization of their association and dissociation by HS-AFM. The dynamic motion of the helical rotation induced by the B-Z transition was also directly imaged in the DNA frame. Furthermore, the stepwise motions of mobile DNA along the DNA track were visualized on the DNA origami surface. These target-orientated observation systems should contribute to the detailed analysis of biomolecule motions in real time and at molecular resolution.

Recent advances in the structural mechanisms of DNA glycosylases

DNA glycosylases safeguard the genome by locating and excising a diverse array of aberrant nucleobases created from oxidation, alkylation, and deamination of DNA. Since the discovery 28years ago that these enzymes employ a base flipping mechanism to trap their substrates, six different protein architectures have been identified to perform the same basic task. Work over the past several years has unraveled details for how the various DNA glycosylases survey DNA, detect damage within the duplex, select for the correct modification, and catalyze base excision. Here, we provide a broad overview of these latest advances in glycosylase mechanisms gleaned from structural enzymology, highlighting features common to all glycosylases as well as key differences that define their particular substrate specificities.

Modulation of the processive abasic site lyase activity of a pyrimidine dimer glycosylase

The repair of cis-syn cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) can be initiated via the base excision repair (BER) pathway, utilizing pyrimidine dimer-specific DNA glycosylase/lyase enzymes (pdgs). However, prior to incision at lesion sites, these enzymes bind to non-damaged DNAs through charge-charge interactions. Following initial binding to DNA containing multiple lesions, the enzyme incises at most of these sites prior to dissociation. If a subset of these lesions are in close proximity, clustered breaks may be produced that could lead to decreased cell viability or increased mutagenesis. Based on the co-crystal structures of bacteriophage T4-pdg and homology modeling of a related enzyme from Paramecium bursaria Chlorella virus-1, the structure-function basis for the processive incision activity for both enzymes was investigated using site-directed mutagenesis. An assay was developed that quantitatively measured the rates of incision by these enzymes at clustered apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites. Mathematical modeling of random (distributive) versus processive incisions predicted major differences in the rate and extent of the accumulation of singly nicked DNAs between these two mechanisms. Comparisons of these models with biochemical nicking data revealed significant changes in the damage search mechanisms between wild-type pdgs and most of the mutant enzymes. Several conserved arginine residues were shown to be critical for the processivity of the incision activity, without interfering with catalysis at AP sites. Comparable results were measured for incision at clustered CPD sites in plasmid DNAs. These data reveal that pdgs can be rationally engineered to retain full catalytic activity, while dramatically altering mechanisms of target site location.

DNA base repair--recognition and initiation of catalysis

Endogenous DNA damage induced by hydrolysis, reactive oxygen species and alkylation modifies DNA bases and the structure of the DNA duplex. Numerous mechanisms have evolved to protect cells from these deleterious effects. Base excision repair is the major pathway for removing base lesions. However, several mechanisms of direct base damage reversal, involving enzymes such as transferases, photolyases and oxidative demethylases, are specialized to remove certain types of photoproducts and alkylated bases. Mismatch excision repair corrects for misincorporation of bases by replicative DNA polymerases. The determination of the 3D structure and visualization of DNA repair proteins and their interactions with damaged DNA have considerably aided our understanding of the molecular basis for DNA base lesion repair and genome stability. Here, we review the structural biochemistry of base lesion recognition and initiation of one-step direct reversal (DR) of damage as well as the multistep pathways of base excision repair (BER), nucleotide incision repair (NIR) and mismatch repair (MMR).

A new protein architecture for processing alkylation damaged DNA: the crystal structure of DNA glycosylase AlkD

DNA glycosylases safeguard the genome by locating and excising chemically modified bases from DNA. AlkD is a recently discovered bacterial DNA glycosylase that removes positively charged methylpurines from DNA, and was predicted to adopt a protein fold distinct from from those of other DNA repair proteins. The crystal structure of Bacillus cereus AlkD presented here shows that the protein is composed exclusively of helical HEAT-like repeats, which form a solenoid perfectly shaped to accommodate a DNA duplex on the concave surface. Structural analysis of the variant HEAT repeats in AlkD provides a rationale for how this protein scaffolding motif has been modified to bind DNA. We report 7mG excision and DNA binding activities of AlkD mutants, along with a comparison of alkylpurine DNA glycosylase structures. Together, these data provide important insight into the requirements for alkylation repair within DNA and suggest that AlkD utilizes a novel strategy to manipulate DNA in its search for alkylpurine bases.

A model for the induction of DNA damages by fast neutrons and their evolution into cell clonogenic inactivation

It has been long stated that cellular inactivation through neutron irradiation is mainly caused by energy deposition in DNA molecules from recoiled secondary charged particles. Complexities associated with neutrons, such as the generally broad energy spectrum and the inherently wide energy spectrum of the induced charged particles, not to mention that the dependence of cellular inactivation by charged particles on radiation quality is yet to be fully understood, make it difficult to check this statement. Recently a molecular model has been proposed that improves the quantitative explanation of the dependence of cellular inactivation by charged particles on radiation quality. An attempt was made to apply this model for analysis of neutron cellular inactivation. As a preliminary result it is suggested that neutron cellular inactivation is caused not only by secondary charged particles but also by an "atomic deletion" effect, generated by a stripped atom recoiling from a DNA molecule. This effect seems to be of significant importance, the inactivation cross section of this effect for fission neutrons is as much as 15% (aerobic conditions) or 55% (hypoxic) of the total, and the severity of one occurrence of atomic deletion by a single neutron is estimated as much as 3.1 +/- 1.1 times (aerobic) or 6.8 +/- 1.2 times (hypoxic) higher than the severity of one event by a single track of a charged particle interacting with DNA.

Postnatal maturation attenuates pressure-evoked myogenic tone and stretch-induced increases in Ca2+ in rat cerebral arteries

Although postnatal maturation potently modulates agonist-induced cerebrovascular contractility, its effects on the mechanisms mediating cerebrovascular myogenic tone remain poorly understood. Because the regulation of calcium influx and myofilament calcium sensitivity change markedly during early postnatal life, the present study tested the general hypothesis that early postnatal maturation increases the pressure sensitivity of cerebrovascular myogenic tone via age-dependent enhancement of pressure-induced calcium mobilization and myofilament calcium sensitivity. Pressure-induced myogenic tone and changes in artery wall intracellular calcium concentrations ([Ca(2+)](i)) were measured simultaneously in endothelium-denuded, fura-2-loaded middle cerebral arteries (MCA) from pup [postnatal day 14 (P14)] and adult (6-mo-old) Sprague-Dawley rats. Increases in pressure from 20 to 80 mmHg enhanced myogenic tone in MCA from both pups and adults although the normalized magnitudes of these increases were significantly greater in pup than adult MCA. At each pressure step, vascular wall [Ca(2+)](i) was also significantly greater in pup than in adult MCA. Nifedipine significantly attenuated pressure-evoked constrictions in pup MCA and essentially eliminated all responses to pressure in the adult MCA. Both pup and adult MCA exhibited pressure-dependent increases in calcium sensitivity, as estimated by changes in the ratio of pressure-induced myogenic tone to wall [Ca(2+)](i). However, there were no differences in the magnitudes of these increases between pup and adult MCA. The results support the view that regardless of postnatal age, changes in both calcium influx and myofilament calcium sensitivity contribute to the regulation of cerebral artery myogenic tone. The greater cerebral myogenic response in P14 compared with adult MCA appears to be due to greater pressure-induced increases in [Ca(2+)](i), rather than enhanced augmentation of myofilament calcium sensitivity.

Nucleotide excision repair and cancer

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is the most versatile and best studied DNA repair system in humans. NER can repair a variety of bulky DNA damages including UV-light induced DNA photoproducts. NER consists of a multistep process in which the DNA lesion is recognized and demarcated by DNA unwinding. Then, an approximately 28 bp DNA damage containing oligonucleotide is excised followed by gap filling using the undamaged DNA strand as a template. The consequences of defective NER are demonstrated by three rare autosomal-recessive NER-defective syndromes: xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), Cockayne syndrome (CS), and trichothiodystrophy (TTD). XP patients show severe sun sensitivity, freckling in sun exposed skin, and develop skin cancers already during childhood. CS patients exhibit sun sensitivity, severe neurologic abnormalities, and cachectic dwarfism. Clinical symptoms of TTD patients include sun sensitivity, freckling in sun exposed skin areas, and brittle sulfur-deficient hair. In contrast to XP patients, CS and TTD patients are not skin cancer prone. Studying these syndromes can increase the knowledge of skin cancer development including cutaneous melanoma as well as basal and squamous cell carcinoma in general that may lead to new preventional and therapeutic anticancer strategies in the normal population.

Structure of T4 pyrimidine dimer glycosylase in a reduced imine covalent complex with abasic site-containing DNA

The base excision repair (BER) pathway for ultraviolet light (UV)-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers is initiated by DNA glycosylases that also possess abasic (AP) site lyase activity. The prototypical enzyme known to catalyze these reactions is the T4 pyrimidine dimer glycosylase (T4-Pdg). The fundamental chemical reactions and the critical amino acids that lead to both glycosyl and phosphodiester bond scission are known. Catalysis proceeds via a protonated imine covalent intermediate between the alpha-amino group of the N-terminal threonine residue and the C1' of the deoxyribose sugar of the 5' pyrimidine at the dimer site. This covalent complex can be trapped as an irreversible, reduced cross-linked DNA-protein complex by incubation with a strong reducing agent. This active site trapping reaction is equally efficient on DNA substrates containing pyrimidine dimers or AP sites. Herein, we report the co-crystal structure of T4-Pdg as a reduced covalent complex with an AP site-containing duplex oligodeoxynucleotide. This high-resolution structure reveals essential precatalytic and catalytic features, including flipping of the nucleotide opposite the AP site, a sharp kink (approximately 66 degrees ) in the DNA at the dimer site and the covalent bond linking the enzyme to the DNA. Superposition of this structure with a previously published co-crystal structure of a catalytically incompetent mutant of T4-Pdg with cyclobutane dimer-containing DNA reveals new insights into the structural requirements and the mechanisms involved in DNA bending, nucleotide flipping and catalytic reaction.

Prediction of functional class of novel bacterial proteins without the use of sequence similarity by a statistical learning method

A substantial percentage of the putative protein-encoding open reading frames (ORFs) in bacterial genomes have no homolog of known function, and their function cannot be confidently assigned on the basis of sequence similarity. Methods not based on sequence similarity are needed and being developed. One method, SVMProt (http://jing.cz3.nus.edu.sg/cgi-bin/svmprot.cgi), predicts protein functional family irrespective of sequence similarity (Nucleic Acids Res. 2003;31:3692-3697). While it has been tested on a large number of proteins, its capability for non-homologous proteins has so far been evaluated for a relatively small number of proteins, and additional tests are needed to more fully assess SVMProt. In this work, 90 novel bacterial proteins (non-homologous to known proteins) are used to evaluate the capability of SVMProt. These proteins are such that none of their homologs are in the Swiss-Prot database, their functions not clearly described in the literature, and they themselves and their homologs are not included in the training sets of SVMProt. They represent proteins whose function cannot be confidently predicted by sequence similarity methods at present. The predicted functional class of 76.7% of each of these proteins shows various levels of consistency with the literature-described function, compared to the overall accuracy of 87% for the SVMProt functional class assignment of 34,582 proteins that have at least one homolog of known function. Our study suggests that SVMProt is capable of assigning functional class for novel bacterial proteins at a level not too much lower than that of sequence alignment methods for homologous proteins.

Investigations of pyrimidine dimer glycosylases--a paradigm for DNA base excision repair enzymology

The most prevalent forms of cancer in humans are the non-melanoma skin cancers, with over a million new cases diagnosed in the United States annually. The portions of the body where these cancers arise are almost exclusively on the most heavily sun-exposed tissues. It is now well established that exposure to ultraviolet light (UV) causes not only damage to DNA that subsequently generates mutations and a transformed phenotype, but also UV-induced immunosuppression. Human cells have only one mechanism to remove the UV-induced dipyrimidine DNA photoproducts: nucleotide excision repair (NER). However, simpler organisms such as bacteria, bacteriophages and some eukaryotic viruses contain up to three distinct mechanisms to initiate the repair of UV-induced dipyrimidine adducts: NER, base excision repair (BER) and photoreversal. This review will focus on the biology and the mechanisms of DNA glycosylase/AP lyases that initiate BER of cis-syn cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers. One of these enzymes, the T4 pyrimidine dimer glycosylase (T4-pdg), formerly known as T4 endonuclease V has served as a model in the study of this entire class of enzymes. It was the first DNA repair enzyme: (1) for which a biologically significant processive nicking activity was demonstrated; (2) to have its active site determined, (3) to have its crystal structure solved, (4) to be shown to carry out nucleotide flipping, and (5) to be used in human clinical trials for disease prevention.

DNA base damage recognition and removal: new twists and grooves

The discoveries of nucleotide excision repair and transcription-coupled repair led by Phil Hanawalt and a few colleagues sparked a dramatic evolution in our understanding of DNA and molecular biology by revealing the intriguing systems of DNA repair essential to life. In fact, modifications of the cut-and-patch principles identified by Phil Hanawalt and colleagues underlie many of the common themes for the recognition and removal of damaged DNA bases outlined in this review. The emergence of these common themes and a unified understanding have been greatly aided from the direct visualizations of repair proteins and their interactions with damaged DNA by structural biology. These visualizations of DNA repair structures have complemented the increasing wealth of biochemical and genetic information on DNA base damage responses by revealing general themes for the recognition of damaged bases, such as sequence-independent DNA recognition motifs, minor groove reading heads for initial damage recognition, and nucleotide flipping from the major groove into active-site pockets for high specificity of base damage recognition and removal. We know that repair intermediates are as harmful as the initial damage itself, and that these intermediates are protected from one repair step to the next by the enzymes involved, such that pathway-specific handoffs must be efficiently coordinated. Here we focus on the structural biology of the repair enzymes and proteins that recognize specific base lesions and either initiate the base excision repair pathway or directly repair the damage in one step. This understanding of the molecular basis for DNA base integrity is fundamental to resolving key scientific, medical, and public health issues, including the evaluation of the risks from inherited repair protein mutations, environmental toxins, and medical procedures.

The DNA trackwalkers: principles of lesion search and recognition by DNA glycosylases

DNA glycosylases, the pivotal enzymes in base excision repair, are faced with the difficult task of recognizing their substrates in a large excess of unmodified DNA. We present here a kinetic analysis of DNA glycosylase substrate specificity, based on the probability of error. This novel approach to this subject explains many features of DNA surveillance and catalysis of lesion excision by DNA glycosylases. This approach also is applicable to the general issue of substrate specificity. We discuss determinants of substrate specificity in damaged DNA and in the enzyme, as well as methods by which these determinants can be identified.

Reaction intermediates in the catalytic mechanism of Escherichia coli MutY DNA glycosylase

The Escherichia coli adenine DNA glycosylase, MutY, plays an important role in the maintenance of genomic stability by catalyzing the removal of adenine opposite 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine or guanine in duplex DNA. Although the x-ray crystal structure of the catalytic domain of MutY revealed a mechanism for catalysis of the glycosyl bond, it appeared that several opportunistically positioned lysine side chains could participate in a secondary beta-elimination reaction. In this investigation, it is established via site-directed mutagenesis and the determination of a 1.35-A structure of MutY in complex with adenine that the abasic site (apurinic/apyrimidinic) lyase activity is alternatively regulated by two lysines, Lys142 and Lys20. Analyses of the crystallographic structure also suggest a role for Glu161 in the apurinic/apyrimidinic lyase chemistry. The beta-elimination reaction is structurally and chemically uncoupled from the initial glycosyl bond scission, indicating that this reaction occurs as a consequence of active site plasticity and slow dissociation of the product complex. MutY with either the K142A or K20A mutation still catalyzes beta and beta-delta elimination reactions, and both mutants can be trapped as covalent enzyme-DNA intermediates by chemical reduction. The trapping was observed to occur both pre- and post-phosphodiester bond scission, establishing that both of these intermediates have significant half-lives. Thus, the final spectrum of DNA products generated reflects the outcome of a delicate balance of closely related equilibrium constants.

Interaction of T4 endonuclease V with DNA: importance of the flexible loop regions in protein-DNA interaction

T4 endonuclease V (T4 endo V), a thymine dimer-specific DNA repair enzyme, and its interaction with DNA were investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Backbone resonance assignment, chemical shift mapping, and 15N relaxation measurements were employed to the free and DNA-bound enzymes. The secondary structure and the tertiary fold of T4 endo V in solution were consistent with those from the crystallographic study. The backbone 1H and 15N chemical shift perturbation upon the addition of DNA without a lesion revealed that the residues including Arg3, Arg22-Arg26, Lys45-Phe60, and Lys86-Thr88 participate in DNA binding. However, when DNA with a lesion was added to the enzyme and concomitantly the catalytic reaction was completed, the resonances of Arg22, Glu23, and Arg26, which constitute the catalytic active site, and the resonance of Thr88, were perturbed in a different manner. The region around Lys45-Ser47 was found to be involved in DNA binding, which have not been reported elsewhere. The backbone relaxation measurements of the free and DNA-bound enzymes indicated that two loop regions, Lys45-Phe60 and Lys86-Asp92, show the high degree of backbone flexibility. These results imply that two flexible loop regions may play an important role in DNA binding and in scanning along DNA duplex to search the thymine dimer sites in UV-damaged DNA.

Bacteriophage T4 genome

Phage T4 has provided countless contributions to the paradigms of genetics and biochemistry. Its complete genome sequence of 168,903 bp encodes about 300 gene products. T4 biology and its genomic sequence provide the best-understood model for modern functional genomics and proteomics. Variations on gene expression, including overlapping genes, internal translation initiation, spliced genes, translational bypassing, and RNA processing, alert us to the caveats of purely computational methods. The T4 transcriptional pattern reflects its dependence on the host RNA polymerase and the use of phage-encoded proteins that sequentially modify RNA polymerase; transcriptional activator proteins, a phage sigma factor, anti-sigma, and sigma decoy proteins also act to specify early, middle, and late promoter recognition. Posttranscriptional controls by T4 provide excellent systems for the study of RNA-dependent processes, particularly at the structural level. The redundancy of DNA replication and recombination systems of T4 reveals how phage and other genomes are stably replicated and repaired in different environments, providing insight into genome evolution and adaptations to new hosts and growth environments. Moreover, genomic sequence analysis has provided new insights into tail fiber variation, lysis, gene duplications, and membrane localization of proteins, while high-resolution structural determination of the "cell-puncturing device," combined with the three-dimensional image reconstruction of the baseplate, has revealed the mechanism of penetration during infection. Despite these advances, nearly 130 potential T4 genes remain uncharacterized. Current phage-sequencing initiatives are now revealing the similarities and differences among members of the T4 family, including those that infect bacteria other than Escherichia coli. T4 functional genomics will aid in the interpretation of these newly sequenced T4-related genomes and in broadening our understanding of the complex evolution and ecology of phages-the most abundant and among the most ancient biological entities on Earth.

Enhanced DNA repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers changes the biological response to UV-B radiation

The goal of DNA repair enzyme therapy is the same as that for gene therapy: to rescue a defective proteome/genome by introducing a substitute protein/DNA. The danger of inadequate DNA repair is highlighted in the genetic disease xeroderma pigmentosum. These patients are hypersensitive to sunlight and develop multiple cutaneous neoplasms very early in life. The bacterial DNA repair enzyme T4 endonuclease V was shown over 25 years ago to be capable of reversing the defective repair in xeroderma pigmentosum cells. This enzyme, packaged in an engineered delivery vehicle, has been shown to traverse the stratum corneum, reach the nuclei of living cells of the skin, and enhance the repair of UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPD). In such a system, changes in DNA repair, mutagenesis, and cell signaling can be studied without manipulation of the genome.

Combining structural and bioinformatics methods for the analysis of functionally important residues in DNA glycosylases

An essential function of DNA glycosylases is the recognition and excision of damaged bases in DNA, thereby preserving genomic integrity. Lesion recognition is a multistep process, which is only partially revealed by structural analysis of the catalytically competent complex. The functional role of additional residues can be predicted by combining structural data with analysis of amino acid conservation. The following postulate underlies this approach: if a family or superfamily can be broken into subgroups with different substrate specificities, residues highly conserved between these subgroups represent those important for enzyme catalysis and structure maintenance while residues highly conserved within a subgroup but not between subgroups represent residues important for substrate specificity. We review the bioinformatics approach used for this quantitative analysis and describe its application to the Nth superfamily and Fpg family of DNA glycosylases. These results serve as a starting point in planning site-directed mutagenesis experiments to elucidate the functional role of similar and dissimilar residues in DNA repair and other proteins.

A stochastic algorithm for global optimization and for best populations: a test case of side chains in proteins

The problem of global optimization is pivotal in a variety of scientific fields. Here, we present a robust stochastic search method that is able to find the global minimum for a given cost function, as well as, in most cases, any number of best solutions for very large combinatorial "explosive" systems. The algorithm iteratively eliminates variable values that contribute consistently to the highest end of a cost function's spectrum of values for the full system. Values that have not been eliminated are retained for a full, exhaustive search, allowing the creation of an ordered population of best solutions, which includes the global minimum. We demonstrate the ability of the algorithm to explore the conformational space of side chains in eight proteins, with 54 to 263 residues, to reproduce a population of their low energy conformations. The 1,000 lowest energy solutions are identical in the stochastic (with two different seed numbers) and full, exhaustive searches for six of eight proteins. The others retain the lowest 141 and 213 (of 1,000) conformations, depending on the seed number, and the maximal difference between stochastic and exhaustive is only about 0.15 Kcal/mol. The energy gap between the lowest and highest of the 1,000 low-energy conformers in eight proteins is between 0.55 and 3.64 Kcal/mol. This algorithm offers real opportunities for solving problems of high complexity in structural biology and in other fields of science and technology.

Nucleotide excision repair "a legacy of creativity"

The first half of the 20th century has seen an enormous growth in our knowledge of DNA repair, in no small part due to the work of Dirk Bootsma, Philip Hanawalt and Bryn Bridges; those honored by this issue. For the new millennium, we have asked three general questions: (A) Do we know all possible strategies of nucleotide excision repair (NER) in all organisms? (B) How is NER integrated and regulated in cells and tissues? (C) Does DNA replication represent a new frontier in the roles of DNA repair? We make some suggestions for the kinds of answers the next generation may provide. The kingdom of archea represents an untapped field for investigation of DNA repair in organisms with extreme lifestyles. NER appears to involve a similar strategy to the other kingdoms of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, but subtle differences suggest that individual components of the system may differ. NER appears to be regulated by several major factors, especially p53 and Rb which interact with transcription coupled repair and global genomic repair, respectively. Examples can be found of major regulatory changes in repair in testicular tissue and melanoma cells. Our understanding of replication of damaged DNA has undergone a revolution in recent years, with the discovery of multiple low-fidelity DNA polymerases that facilitate replicative bypass. A secondary mechanism of replication in the absence of NER or of one or more of these polymerases involves sister chromatid exchange and recombination (hMre11/hRad50/Nbs1). The relative importance of bypass and recombination is determined by the action of p53. We hypothesise that these polymerases may be involved in resolution of complex DNA structures during completion of replication and sister chromatid resolution. With these fascinating problems to investigate, the field of DNA repair will surely not disappoint the next generation.

Three-dimensional structural views of damaged-DNA recognition: T4 endonuclease V, E. coli Vsr protein, and human nucleotide excision repair factor XPA

Genetic information is frequently disturbed by introduction of modified or mismatch bases into duplex DNA, and hence all organisms contain DNA repair systems to restore normal genetic information by removing such damaged bases or nucleotides and replacing them by correct ones. The understanding of this repair mechanism is a central subject in cell biology. This review focuses on the three-dimensional structural views of damaged DNA recognition by three proteins. The first protein is T4 endonuclease V (T4 endo V), which catalyzes the first reaction step of the excision repair pathway to remove pyrimidine-dimers (PD) produced within duplex DNA by UV irradiation. The crystal structure of this enzyme complexed with DNA containing a thymidine-dimer provided the first direct view of DNA lesion recognition by a repair enzyme, indicating that the DNA kink coupled with base flipping-out is important for damaged DNA recognition. The second is very short patch repair (Vsr) endonuclease, which recognizes a TG mismatch within the five base pair consensus sequence. The crystal structure of this enzyme in complex with duplex DNA containing a TG mismatch revealed a novel mismatch base pair recognition scheme, where three aromatic residues intercalate from the major groove into the DNA to strikingly deform the base pair stacking but the base flipping-out does not occur. The third is human nucleotide excision repair (NER) factor XPA, which is a major component of a large protein complex. This protein has been shown to bind preferentially to UV- or chemical carcinogen-damaged DNA. The solution structure of the XPA central domain, essential for the interaction of damaged DNA, was determined by NMR. This domain was found to be divided mainly into a (Cys)4-type zinc-finger motif subdomain for replication protein A (RPA) recognition and the carboxyl terminal subdomain responsible for DNA binding.

Initiation of base excision repair: glycosylase mechanisms and structures

The base excision repair pathway is an organism's primary defense against mutations induced by oxidative, alkylating, and other DNA-damaging agents. This pathway is initiated by DNA glycosylases that excise the damaged base by cleavage of the glycosidic bond between the base and the DNA sugar-phosphate backbone. A subset of glycosylases has an associated apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) lyase activity that further processes the AP site to generate cleavage of the DNA phosphate backbone. Chemical mechanisms that are supported by biochemical and structural data have been proposed for several glycosylases and glycosylase/AP lyases. This review focuses on the chemical mechanisms of catalysis in the context of recent structural information, with emphasis on the catalytic residues and the active site conformations of several cocrystal structures of glycosylases with their substrate DNAs. Common structural motifs for DNA binding and damage specificity as well as conservation of acidic residues and amino groups for catalysis are discussed.

Mechanistic link between DNA methyltransferases and DNA repair enzymes by base flipping

Rotation of a DNA nucleotide out of the double helix and into a protein binding pocket ("base flipping") was first observed in the structure of a DNA methyltransferase. There is now evidence that a variety of proteins, particularly DNA repair enzymes, use base flipping in their interactions with DNA. Though the mechanisms for base movement into extrahelical positions are still unclear, the focus of this review is how base recognition is modulated by the stringency of binding to the extrahelical base(s) or sugar moiety.

Crystal structure of the 64M-2 antibody Fab fragment in complex with a DNA dT(6-4)T photoproduct formed by ultraviolet radiation

DNA photoproducts with (6-4) pyrimidine-pyrimidone adducts formed by ultraviolet radiation are implicated in mutagenesis and cancer, particularly skin cancer. The crystal structure of the Fab fragment of the murine 64M-2 antibody specific to DNA T(6-4)T photoproducts is determined as a complex with dT(6-4)T, a (6-4) pyrimidine-pyrimidone photodimer of dTpT, at 2.4 A resolution to a crystallographic R-factor of 0.199 and an R(free) value of 0.279. The 64M-2 Fab molecule is in an extended arrangement with an elbow angle of 174 degrees, and its five complementarity-determining regions, except L2, are involved in the ligand binding. The bound dT(6-4)T ligand adopting a ring structure with (6-4) linked 5' thymine-3' pyrimidone bases is fully accommodated in an antigen-binding pocket of about 15 Ax10 A. The 5'-thymine and 3'-pyrimidone bases are in half-chair and planar conformations, respectively, and are nearly perpendicular to each other. The 5'-thymine base is hydrogen-bonded to Arg95H and Ser96H, and is in van der Waals contact with Tyr100iH. The 3'-pyrimidone base is hydrogen-bonded to His35H, and is in contact with Trp33H. Three water molecules are located at the interface between the bases and the Fab residues. Hydrogen bonds involving these water molecules also contribute to Fab recognition of the dT(6-4)T bases. The sugar-phosphate backbone connecting the bases is surrounded by residues His27dL, Tyr32L, Ser92L, Trp33H, and Ser58H, but is not hydrogen-bonded to these residues.

Purification and characterization of a novel UV lesion-specific DNA glycosylase/AP lyase from Bacillus sphaericus

The purification and characterization of a pyrimidine dimer-specific glycosylase/AP lyase from Bacillus sphaericus (Bsp-pdg) are reported. Bsp-pdg is highly specific for DNA containing the cis-syn cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer, displaying no detectable activity on oligonucleotides with trans-syn I, trans-syn II, (6-4), or Dewar photoproducts. Like other glycosylase/AP lyases that sequentially cleave the N--glycosyl bond of the 5' pyrimidine of a cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer, and the phosphodiester backbone, this enzyme appears to utilize a primary amine as the attacking nucleophile. The formation of a covalent enzyme-DNA imino intermediate is evidenced by the ability to trap this protein-DNA complex by reduction with sodium borohydride. Also consistent with its AP lyase activity, Bsp-pdg was shown to incise an AP site-containing oligonucleotide, yielding beta- and delta-elimination products. N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of this 26 kDa protein revealed little amino acid homology to any previously reported protein. This is the first report of a glycosylase/AP lyase enzyme from Bacillus sphaericus that is specific for cis-syn pyrimidine dimers.

Specificity of damage recognition and catalysis of DNA repair

A common feature of DNA repair enzymes is their ability to recognize the damage independently of sequence in which they are found. The presence of a flipped out base inserted into the protein in several DNA-enzyme complexes suggests a contribution to enzyme specificity. Molecular simulations of damaged DNA indicate that the damage produces changes in DNA structure and changes the dynamics of DNA bending. The reduced bending force constant can be used by the enzyme to induce DNA bending and facilitate base flipping. We show that a thymine dimer (TD) containing DNA requires less energy to bend, lowering the barrier for base flipping. On the other hand, bending in DNA with U-G mismatch is affected only by a small amount and flipping is not enhanced significantly. T4 endonuclease V (endoV), which recognizes TD, utilizes the reduced barrier for flipping as a specific recognition element. In uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG), which recognizes U-G mismatches, base flipping is not enhanced and recognition is encoded in a highly specific binding pocket for the flipped base. Simulations of UDG and endoV in complex with damaged DNA provide insight into the essential elements of the catalytic mechanism. Calculations of pKas of active site residues in endoV and endoV-DNA complex show that the pKa, of the N-terminus is reduced from 8.01 to 6.52 while that of Glu-23 increases from 1.52 to 7.82. Thus, the key catalytic residues are in their neutral form. The simulations also show that Glu-23 is also H-bonded to O4' of the 5'-TD enhancing the nucleophilic attack on Cl and that Arg-26 enhances the hydrolysis by electrostatic stabilization but does not participate in proton transfer. In the enzyme-substrate complex of UDG, the role of electrostatic stabilization is played by His-268, whose pKa increases to 7.1 from 4.9 in the free enzyme. The pKa of Asp-145, the other important catalytic residue, remains around 4.2 in the free enzyme and in the complex. Thus, it can not act as a proton acceptor. In the complex the 3'-phosphate of uracil is stabilized next to Asp-145 by two bridging water molecules. Such a configuration activates one water molecule to act as a proton acceptor to produce a stabilizing hydronium ion and the other as a proton donor to produce the nucleophilic hydroxide. It appears that DNA glycosylases share commonalties in recognition of damage but differ in their catalytic mechanisms.

Active-site determination of a pyrimidine dimer glycosylase

One mechanism for the repair of UV-induced DNA damage is the base excision repair pathway. The initial step in this pathway and the specificity for the type of damage that is to be repaired reside in DNA glycosylase/abasic (AP) lyases. Cleavage of the glycosyl bond of the 5' pyrimidine of a cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer is hypothesized to occur through the destabilization of the glycosyl bond by protonation of the base or sugar with a concomitant nucleophilic attack on C1' of the deoxyribose moiety. Based on mechanistic biochemical information from several glycosylase/AP lyases and the structural information on the bacteriophage T4 pyrimidine dimer glycosylase (T4-pdg), the catalytic mechanism has been investigated for the Chlorella virus pyrimidine dimer glycosylase (cv-pdg). As predicted from modeling studies and reaction mechanisms, the primary amine that initiates the nucleophilic displacement reaction could be trapped as a covalent imine intermediate and its identity determined by sequential Edman degradation. The primary amine was identified as the alpha-amino group on the N-terminal Thr2. Site-directed mutagenesis was subsequently used to confirm the conclusions that the alpha-amino group of cv-pdg is the active-site nucleophile.

DNA repair mechanisms for the recognition and removal of damaged DNA bases

Recent structural and biochemical studies have begun to illuminate how cells solve the problems of recognizing and removing damaged DNA bases. Bases damaged by environmental, chemical, or enzymatic mechanisms must be efficiently found within a large excess of undamaged DNA. Structural studies suggest that a rapid damage-scanning mechanism probes for both conformational deviations and local deformability of the DNA base stack. At susceptible lesions, enzyme-induced conformational changes lead to direct interactions with specific damaged bases. The diverse array of damaged DNA bases are processed through a two-stage pathway in which damage-specific enzymes recognize and remove the base lesion, creating a common abasic site intermediate that is processed by damage-general repair enzymes to restore the correct DNA sequence.

The catalytic mechanism of a pyrimidine dimer-specific glycosylase (pdg)/abasic lyase, Chlorella virus-pdg

The repair of UV light-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers can proceed via the base excision repair pathway, in which the initial step is catalyzed by DNA glycosylase/abasic (AP) lyases. The prototypical enzyme studied for this pathway is endonuclease V from the bacteriophage T4 (T4 bacteriophage pyrimidine dimer glycosylase (T4-pdg)). The first homologue for T4-pdg has been found in a strain of Chlorella virus (strain Paramecium bursaria Chlorella virus-1), which contains a gene that predicts an amino acid sequence homology of 41% with T4-pdg. Because both the structure and critical catalytic residues are known for T4-pdg, homology modeling of the Chlorella virus pyrimidine dimer glycosylase (cv-pdg) predicted that a conserved glutamic acid residue (Glu-23) would be important for catalysis at pyrimidine dimers and abasic sites. Site-directed mutations were constructed at Glu-23 to assess the necessity of a negatively charged residue at that position (Gln-23) and the importance of the length of the negatively charged side chain (Asp-23). E23Q lost glycosylase activity completely but retained low levels of AP lyase activity. In contrast, E23D retained near wild type glycosylase and AP lyase activities on cis-syn dimers but completely lost its activity on the trans-syn II dimer, which is very efficiently cleaved by the wild type cv-pdg. As has been shown for other glyscosylases, the wild type cv-pdg catalyzes the cleavage at dimers or AP sites via formation of an imino intermediate, as evidenced by the ability of the enzyme to be covalently trapped on substrate DNA when the reactions are carried out in the presence of a strong reducing agent; in contrast, E23D was very poorly trapped on cis-syn dimers but was readily trapped on DNA containing AP sites. It is proposed that Glu-23 protonates the sugar ring, so that the imino intermediate can be formed.

The initiation of DNA base excision repair of dipyrimidine photoproducts

One of the major DNA repair pathways is base excision repair, in which DNA bases that have been damaged by endogenous or exogenous agents are removed by the action of a class of enzymes known as DNA glycosylases. One subset of the known DNA glycosylases has an associated abasic lyase activity that generates a phosphodiester bond scission. The base excision pathway is completed by the sequential action of abasic endonucleases, DNA polymerases, and DNA ligases. Base excision repair of ultraviolet (UV) light-induced dipyrimidine photoproducts has been described in a variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms and phages. These enzymes vary significantly in their exact substrate specificity and in the catalytic mechanism by which repair is initiated. The prototype enzyme within this class of UV-specific DNA glycosylases is T4 endonuclease V. Endonuclease V holds the distinction of being the first glycosylase (1) to have its structure solved by X-ray diffraction of the enzyme alone as well as in complex with pyrimidine dimer-containing DNA, (2) to have its key catalytic active site residues identified, and (3) to have its mechanism of target DNA site location determined and the biological relevance of this process established. Thus, the study of endonuclease V has been critical in gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms of all DNA glycosylases.

AP site structural determinants for Fpg specific recognition

The binding of Escherichia coli and Lactococcus lactis Fapy-DNA glyosylase (Fpg) proteins to DNA containing either cyclic or non-cyclic abasic (AP) site analogs was investigated by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and by footprinting experiments. We showed that the reduced AP site is the best substrate analog for the E.coli and L.lactis enzymes ( K Dapp = 0.26 and 0.5 nM, respectively) as compared with the other analogs tested in this study ( K Dapp >2.8 nM). The 1,3-propanediol (Pr) residue-containing DNA seems to be the minimal AP site structure allowing a Fpg specific DNA binding, since the ethyleneglycol residue is not specifically bound by these enzymes. The newly described cyclopentanol residue is better recognized than tetrahydrofuran (for the E.coli Fpg, K Dapp = 2.9 and 25 nM, respectively). These results suggest that the hemiacetal form of the AP site is negatively discriminated by the Fpg protein suggesting a hydrogen bond between the C4'-hydroxyl group of the sugar and a Fpg residue. High-resolution hydroxyl radical footprinting using a duplex containing Pr shows that Fpg binds to six nucleotides on the strand containing the AP site and only the base opposite the lesion on the undamaged complementary strand. This comparative study provides new information about the molecular mechanism involved in the Fpg AP lyase activity.

Antibodies specific for (6-4) DNA photoproducts: cloning, antibody modeling and construction of a single-chain Fv derivative

We have investigated a series of four monoclonal antibodies that specifically recognize pyrimidine (6-4) pyrimidone photoproducts. One of these antibodies (64M4), bound all four possible pyrimidine-pyrimidone photoadducts with equal affinities whereas the others (64M2, 64M3 and 64M5) were selective for TC and TT sequences. In addition, 64M5 had the highest binding affinity for photodamaged DNA of the four [T. Mori et al., Photochem. Photobiol. 54 (1991) 225-232]. To help understand the differences between these antibodies, we have cloned and sequenced the variable region genes from all four. Comparing these sequences revealed that all four were highly similar to one another, although there were some differences in potential antigen-contact regions. To assess the influences of these sequence differences at the structural level, computer models were constructed for all four antibodies. Most of the sequence differences occurred in potential antigen contact regions, suggesting specific positions that might account for the observed differences in binding affinities and selectivities. A single-chain Fv derivative of 64M5 was therefore constructed and characterized to provide an experimental system in which structure-function relationships can be tested. This derivative could be isolated from Escherichia coli using two chromatographic steps and possessed the same binding specificity as the parent monoclonal antibody.

Characterization of a novel cis-syn and trans-syn-II pyrimidine dimer glycosylase/AP lyase from a eukaryotic algal virus, Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus-1

Endonuclease V from bacteriophage T4, is a cis-syn pyrimidine dimer-specific glycosylase. Recently, the first sequence homolog of T4 endonuclease V was identified from chlorella virus Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus-1 (PBCV-1). Here we present the biochemical characterization of the chlorella virus pyrimidine dimer glycosylase, cv-PDG. Interestingly, cv-PDG is specific not only for the cis-syn cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer, but also for the trans-syn-II isomer. This is the first trans-syn-II-specific glycosylase identified to date. Kinetic analysis demonstrates that DNAs containing both types of pyrimidine dimers are cleaved by the enzyme with similar catalytic efficiencies. Cleavage analysis and covalent trapping experiments demonstrate that the enzyme mechanism is consistent with the model proposed for glycosylase/AP lyase enzymes in which the glycosylase action is mediated via an imino intermediate between the C1' of the sugar and an amino group in the enzyme, followed by a beta-elimination reaction resulting in cleavage of the phosphodiester bond. cv-PDG exhibits processive cleavage kinetics which are diminished at salt concentrations greater than those determined for T4 endonuclease V, indicating a possibly stronger electrostatic attraction between enzyme and DNA. The identification of this new enzyme with broader pyrimidine dimer specificity raises the intriguing possibility that there may be other T4 endonuclease V-like enzymes with specificity toward other DNA photoproducts.

Essential dynamics of DNA containing a cis.syn cyclobutane thymine dimer lesion

Conformational properties of a UV-damaged DNA decamer containing a cis.syn cyclobutane thymine dimer (PD) have been investigated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Results from MD simulations of the damaged decamer DNA show a kink of approximately 21.7 degrees at the PD damaged site and a disruption of H bonding between the 5'-thymine of the PD and its complementary adenine. However, no extra-helical flipping of the 3'-adenine complementary to the PD was observed. Comparison to two undamaged DNA decamers, one with the same sequence and the other with an AT replacing the TT sequence, indicates that these properties are specific to the damaged DNA. Essential dynamics (ED) derived from the MD trajectories of the three DNAs show that the backbone phosphate between the two adenines complementary to the PD of the damaged DNA has considerably larger mobility than the rest of the molecule and occurs only in the damaged DNA. As observed in the crystal structure of T4 endonuclease V in a complex with the damaged DNA, the interaction of the enzyme with the damaged DNA can lead to bending along the flexible joint and to induction of adenine flipping into an extra-helical position. Such motions may play an important role in damage recognition by repair enzymes.

Epitope mapping of T4 endonuclease VII with monoclonal antibodies reveals importance of both ends of the protein for target binding

Endonuclease VII (endo VII) of bacteriophage T4 is a Holliday-structure resolving enzyme that can also recognize many other defects in DNA via an altered secondary structure. The protein has a molecular mass of 18 kDa and exists as a dimer in solution. Here we report the production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against the highly purified enzyme. From one fusion 15 hybrid cell lines producing mAbs with high affinity for endo VII could be established. The mAbs were used for epitope mapping of the protein by using N-terminal, C-terminal and internal peptides of endo VII as antigens in enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assays. Three classes of mAbs were distinguished as follows: (1) the predominant class with 13 mAbs recognized a C-terminal epitope located between amino acid residues 115 and 145; (2) a second class, represented by one mAb, recognized an epitope located at the N terminus between amino acid residues 16 and 65; (3) a third class, represented by one mAb, recognized an epitope built from nearly the entire native protein including amino acid residues from the C and N terminus of endo VII. The latter finding suggests close proximity of the two ends, which are provided apparently by the same monomer, since the mAb from class III does also react with a mutant protein deficient in dimerization. Internal sequences of endo VII between amino acid residues 78 and 145 did not react with any of the mAbs.

The role of base flipping in damage recognition and catalysis by T4 endonuclease V

The process of moving a DNA base extrahelical (base flipping) has been shown in the co-crystal structure of a UV-induced pyrimidine dimer-specific glycosylase, T4 endonuclease V, with its substrate DNA. Compared with other enzymes known to use base flipping, endonuclease V is unique in that it moves the base opposite the target site extrahelical, rather than moving the target base itself. Utilizing substrate analogs and catalytically inactive mutants of T4 endonuclease V, this study investigates the discrete steps involved in damage recognition by this DNA repair enzyme. Specifically, fluorescence spectroscopy analysis shows that fluorescence changes attributable to base flipping are specific for only the base directly opposite either abasic site analogs or the 5'-thymine of a pyrimidine dimer, and no changes are detected if the 2-aminopurine is moved opposite the 3'-thymine of the pyrimidine dimer. Interestingly, base flipping is not detectable with every specific binding event suggesting that damage recognition can be achieved without base flipping. Thus, base flipping does not add to the stability of the specific enzyme-DNA complex but rather induces a conformational change to facilitate catalysis at the appropriate target site. When used in conjunction with structural information, these types of analyses can yield detailed mechanistic models and critical amino acid residues for extrahelical base movement as a mode of damage recognition.