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Biomedical subjects

D Mu

Publications and source records attributed to D Mu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

DNA interstrand cross-links induce futile repair synthesis in mammalian cell extracts.

DNA interstrand cross-links are induced by many carcinogens and anticancer drugs. It was previously shown that mammalian DNA excision repair nuclease makes dual incisions 5' to the cross-linked base of a psoralen cross-link, generating a gap of 22 to 28 nucleotides adjacent to the cross-link. We wished to find the fates of the gap and the cross-link in this complex structure under conditions conducive to repair synthesis, using cell extracts from wild-type and cross-linker-sensitive mutant cell lines. We found that the extracts from both types of strains filled in the gap but were severely defective in ligating the resulting nick and incapable of removing the cross-link. The net result was a futile damage-induced DNA synthesis which converted a gap into a nick without removing the damage. In addition, in this study, we showed that the structure-specific endonuclease, the XPF-ERCC1 heterodimer, acted as a 3'-to-5' exonuclease on cross-linked DNA in the presence of RPA. Collectively, these observations shed some light on the cellular processing of DNA cross-links and reveal that cross-links induce a futile DNA synthesis cycle that may constitute a signal for specific cellular responses to cross-linked DNA.

Animals↗

(6-4) photolyase: light-dependent repair of DNA damage.

DNA photolyase represents a phenomenal class of DNA repair enzymes in that it harvests the light energy to repair DNA lesions caused by ultraviolet light. Mother Nature evolves two types of photolyases, one specific for repairing cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and the other for pyrimidine-(6-4)-pyrimidone photoproducts. Together, these two kinds of DNA photolesions account for the majority of ultraviolet light-induced DNA lesions. So far, the basic chemical steps of the enzyme mechanism of the two classes of photolyases appear to be very similar. Therefore, it will be very interesting to uncover the determinants of the different substrate specificity between the two photolyases. In this review, we focus on the discussion of the photolyase specific for repairing pyrimidine-(6-4)-pyrimidone photoproducts mainly because the research of the cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer photolyase has recently been reviewed quite extensively.

Animals↗

Characterization of reaction intermediates of human excision repair nuclease.

Nucleotide excision repair in humans is a complex reaction involving 14 polypeptides in six repair factors for dual incisions on either sides of a DNA lesion. To identify the reaction intermediates that form by the human excision repair nuclease, we adopted three approaches: purification of functional DNA.protein complexes, permanganate footprinting, and the employment as substrate of presumptive DNA reaction intermediates containing unwound sequences 5' to, 3' to, or encompassing the DNA lesion. The first detectable reaction intermediate was formed by substrate binding of XPA, RPA, XPC.HHR23B plus TFIIH (preincision complex 1, PIC1). In this complex the DNA was unwound on either side of the lesion by no more than 10 bases. Independent of the XPG nuclease function, the XPG protein stabilized this complex, forming a long lived preincision complex 2 (PIC2). The XPF.ERCC1 complex bound to PIC2, forming PIC3, which led to dual incisions and the release of the excised oligomer. With partially unwound DNAs, thymine cyclobutane dimer was excised at a fast rate independent of XPC.HHR23B, indicating that a major function of this protein is to stabilize the unwound DNA or to aid lesion unwinding in preincision complexes.

Base Sequence↗

Model for XPC-independent transcription-coupled repair of pyrimidine dimers in humans.

In humans, DNA lesions such as pyrimidine dimers in the template strand of genes transcribed by RNA polymerase II are repaired faster than those in the coding strand and nontranscribed regions of the genome. This phenomenon, referred to as transcription-coupled repair (i) requires active transcription, (ii) does not require the XPC gene product which is essential for general/basal repair reactions, and (iii) requires the CSA and CSB proteins. We have developed an in vitro model system that consists of purified human excision repair factors and a DNA substrate analogous to a transcription bubble terminating at a cyclobutane thymine dimer. In this system the thymine dimer was excised independent of XPC. Furthermore, the thymine dimer in the bubble-containing substrate was removed approximately 3-fold faster by the excision repair nuclease reconstituted with or without XPC, compared with the removal of thymine dimer from a base paired duplex by the entire set of excision nuclease factors. These results provide important insight into the mechanism of transcription-coupled repair in humans.

Base Sequence↗

Initiation of DNA interstrand cross-link repair in humans: the nucleotide excision repair system makes dual incisions 5' to the cross-linked base and removes a 22- to 28-nucleotide-long damage-free strand.

Most DNA repair mechanisms rely on the redundant information inherent to the duplex to remove damaged nucleotides and replace them with normal ones, using the complementary strand as a template. Interstrand cross-links pose a unique challenge to the DNA repair machinery because both strands are damaged. To study the repair of interstrand cross-links by mammalian cells, we tested the activities of cell extracts of wild-type or excision repair-defective rodent cell lines and of purified human excision nuclease on a duplex with a site-specific cross-link. We found that in contrast to monoadducts, which are removed by dual incisions bracketing the lesion, the cross-link causes dual incisions, both 5' to the cross-link in one of the two strands. The net result is the generation of a 22- to 28-nucleotide-long gap immediately 5' to the cross-link. This gap may act as a recombinogenic signal to initiate cross-link removal.

Animals↗

Recognition and repair of compound DNA lesions (base damage and mismatch) by human mismatch repair and excision repair systems.

Nucleotide excision repair and the long-patch mismatch repair systems correct abnormal DNA structures arising from DNA damage and replication errors, respectively. DNA synthesis past a damaged base (translesion replication) often causes misincorporation at the lesion site. In addition, mismatches are hot spots for DNA damage because of increased susceptibility of unpaired bases to chemical modification. We call such a DNA lesion, that is, a base damage superimposed on a mismatch, a compound lesion. To learn about the processing of compound lesions by human cells, synthetic compound lesions containing UV photoproducts or cisplatin 1,2-d(GpG) intrastrand cross-link and mismatch were tested for binding to the human mismatch recognition complex hMutS alpha and for excision by the human excision nuclease. No functional overlap between excision repair and mismatch repair was observed. The presence of a thymine dimer or a cisplatin diadduct in the context of a G-T mismatch reduced the affinity of hMutS alpha for the mismatch. In contrast, the damaged bases in these compound lesions were excised three- to fourfold faster than simple lesions by the human excision nuclease, regardless of the presence of hMutS alpha in the reaction. These results provide a new perspective on how excision repair, a cellular defense system for maintaining genomic integrity, can fix mutations under certain circumstances.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

[The changes of glutamate receptor and free Ca2+i in hypoxic-ischemic cerebral injury: experimental study].

This experiment was designed to explore the pathogenesis in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Sixteen newborn pigs were divided into two groups: (Group A) normal control and (Group B) HIE 24 hours. The glutamate receptor (Glu R) in forebrain crude synaptic membrane (SPM) and free Ca2+i in RBC were tested respectively. The results revealed that the binding sites (Bmax) of Glu R in Group B was much lower than that in Group A, but the affinity (Kd) showed no statistic difference between Group A and Group B. In addition, free Ca2+i of RBC in Group B was much higher than that in Group A. This study demonstrates that the changes of Glu R and Ca2+i are involved in the pathogenesis of hypoxic-ischemic cerebral injury in newborn animals.

Animals↗

Overproduction, purification, and characterization of the XPC subunit of the human DNA repair excision nuclease.

Xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group C gene (XPC) encodes a protein of 125 kDa which is present in a tight complex with a 58-kDa protein encoded by the human homolog of the yeast RAD23 gene, HHR23B (Masutani, C., Sugasawa, K., Yanagisawa, J., Sonoyama, T., Ui, M., Enomoto, T., Takio, K., Tanaka, K., van der Spek, P. J., Bootsma, D., Hoeijmakers, J. H. J., and Hanaoka, F.(1994) EMBO J. 13, 1831-1843). The XPC-HHR23B complex is required for excision of thymine dimers from DNA in a human excision nuclease system reconstituted from purified proteins. In order to understand the role of the XPC-HHR23B complex in excision repair, we have overexpressed each subunit alone and the heterodimer in heterologous systems, purified them, and characterized their biochemical properties. We find that both XPC and the heterodimer bind DNA with high affinity and UV-damaged DNA with slightly higher preference. Surprisingly, we find that the XPC subunit alone is sufficient for reconstitution of the human excision nuclease and that the HHR23B subunit has no detectable effect on the excision activity of the reconstituted system.

Animals↗

Repair of cisplatin--DNA adducts by the mammalian excision nuclease.

Nucleotide excision repair is one of the many cellular defense mechanisms against the toxic effects of cisplatin. An in vitro excision repair assay employing mammalian cell-free extracts was used to determine that the 1,2-d(ApG) intrastrand cross-link, a prevalent cisplatin-DNA adduct, is excised by the excinuclease from a site-specifically modified oligonucleotide 156 base pairs in length. Repair of the minor interstrand d(G)/d(G) cross-link was not detected by using this system. Proteins containing the high mobility group (HMG) domain DNA-binding motif, in particular, rat HMG1 and a murine testis-specific HMG-domain protein, specifically inhibit excision repair of the intrastrand 1,2-d(GpG) and -d(ApG) cross-links. This effect was also exhibited by a single HMG domain from HMG1. Similar inhibition of repair of a site-specific 1,2-d(GpG) intrastrand cross-link by an HMG-domain protein also occurred in a reconstituted system containing highly purified repair factors. These results indicate that HMG-domain proteins can block excision repair of the major cisplatin-DNA adducts and suggest that such an activity could contribute to the unique sensitivity of certain tumors to the drug. The reconstituted excinuclease was more efficient at excising the 1,3-d(GpTpG) intrastrand adduct than either the 1,2-d(GpG) or d(ApG) intrastrand adducts, in agreement with previous experiments using whole cell extracts [Huang, J. -C., Zamble, D. B., Reardon, J. T., Lippard, S. J., Sancar, A. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 91, 10394-10398]. This result suggests that structural differences among the platinated DNA substrates, and not the presence of unidentified cellular factors, determine the relative excision repair rates of cisplatin-DNA intrastrand cross-links in the whole cell extracts.

Animals↗

Functional complementation of xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group E by replication protein A in an in vitro system.

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is caused by a defect in nucleotide excision repair. Patients in the complementation group E (XP-E) have the mildest form of the disease and the highest level of residual repair activity. About 20% of the cell strains derived from XP-E patients lack a damaged DNA-binding protein (DDB) activity that binds to ultraviolet-induced (6-4) photoproducts with high affinity. We report here that cell-free extracts prepared from XP-E cell strains that either lacked or contained DDB activity were severely defective in excising DNA damage including (6-4) photoproducts. However, this excision activity defect was not restored by addition of purified DDB that, in fact, inhibited removal of (6-4) photoproducts by the human excision nuclease reconstituted from purified proteins. Extensive purification of correcting activity from HeLa cells revealed that the correcting activity is inseparable from the human replication/repair protein A [RPA (also known as human single stranded DNA binding protein, HSSB)]. Indeed, supplementing XP-E extracts with recombinant human RPA purified from Escherichia coli restored excision activity. However, no mutation was found in the genes encoding the three subunits of RPA in an XP-E (DDB-) cell line. It is concluded that RPA functionally complements XP-E extracts in vitro, but it is not genetically altered in XP-E patients.

Base Sequence↗

Replication protein A confers structure-specific endonuclease activities to the XPF-ERCC1 and XPG subunits of human DNA repair excision nuclease.

XPF-ERCC1 and XPG proteins are nucleases that are involved in human nucleotide excision repair. In this study, we characterized the structure-specific junction-cutting activities of both nucleases using DNA substrates containing a bubble or loop structure. We found that the junction-cutting activities of XPF-ERCC1 and XPG were greatly stimulated by human replication protein A (RPA), while heterologous single-stranded DNA-binding proteins could not substitute for human RPA. To test for specific interaction between RPA and XPF-ERCC1 as is known to occur between RPA and XPG, we employed a pull-down assay with immobilized "bubble" substrate. We found that the binding of XPF-ERCC1 complex to the bubble substrate was enhanced by RPA, suggesting a possible mechanism for RPA in the excision nuclease system, that is the targeting of the nuclease subunits to their specific sites of action. Furthermore, the RPA-promoted junction cutting by XPF-ERCC1 and XPG nucleases was observed with "loop" substrates as well, raising the possibility that XPF-ERCC1, XPG, and RPA may function in removing loop structures from DNA, independent of the other subunits of the human excinuclease.

Base Sequence↗

Reaction mechanism of human DNA repair excision nuclease.

Nucleotide excision repair consists of removal of the damaged nucleotide(s) from DNA by dual incision of the damaged strand on both sides of the lesion, followed by filling of the resulting gap and ligation. In humans, 14-16 polypeptides are required for the dual incision step. We have purified the required proteins to homogeneity and reconstituted the dual incision activity (excision nuclease) in a defined enzyme/substrate system. The system was highly efficient, removing >30% of the thymine dimers under optimal conditions. All of the six fractions that constitute the excision nuclease were required for dual incision of the thymine dimer substrate. However, when a cholesterol-substituted oligonucleotide was used as substrate, excision occurred in the absence of the XPC-HHR23B complex, reminiscent of transcription-coupled repair in the XP-C mutant cell line. Replication protein A is absolutely required for both incisions. The XPG subunit is essential to the formation of the preincision complex, but the repair complex can assemble and produce normal levels of 3'-incision in the absence of XPF-ERCC1. Kinetic experiments revealed that the 3'-incision precedes the 5'-incision. Consistent with the kinetic data, uncoupled 5'-incision was never observed in the reconstituted system. Two forms of TFIIH were used in the reconstitution reaction, one containing the CDK7-cyclin H pair and one lacking it. Both forms were equally active in excision. The excised oligomer dissociated from the gapped DNA in a nucleoprotein complex. In total, these results provide a detailed account of the reactions occurring during damage removal by human excision nuclease.

Cholesterol↗

[Dexamethasone's effect on glutamate receptor in experimental hypoxic-ischemic cerebral injury].

In order to probe into dexamethasone's effect on glutamate receptor (Glu R) in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) of newborn, we established newborn pigs' model of HIE to investigate Glu R in their forebrain crude synaptic membrane and the effect of dexamethasone in different HIE times and different dosages on the changes of Glu R. This study included five groups: HIE group (no medication); dexamethasone treatment group (10 mg/kg before HIE); dexamethasone treatment group (10 mg/kg after HIE); dexamethasone treatment group (5 mg/kg before HIE); dexamethasone treatment group (5 mg/kg after HIE). The results showed that the mean receptor density (Bmax) of dexamethasone treatment group (10 mg/kg before HIE) was significantly lower than that of the other groups (P < 0.05), but there was no statistic difference in the affinity of Glu R between all the experimental groups. These findings suggested that the preventive use of dexamethasone in large dosage would reduce the binding of Glu, and could possibly protect the brain tissues from damage in HIE.

Animals↗

[The treated effects of nimodipine on calcium of erythrocyte in experimental hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy].

An animal model of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in newborn pigs was set up to study the histopathological changes of brain injury by light- and electron-microscopy, the changes in total calcium content and calcium iron of RBC, and the effects of two different doses of Nimodipine on HIE. Sixty-one newborn pigs were randomly divided into seven groups, the normal control group (n = 9); the HIE 1-hour group (n = 8) and 24-hour group (n = 8); HIE+ Nimodipine (1 microgram/kg.min-1) 1-hour group (n = 8) and 24-hour group (n = 8). The results showed that these were apparent brain edema, hematencephalon, neuron necrosis, and intracellular body degeneration in the HIE 1-hour group. The levels of RBC TCa and RBC Cai2+ in the HIE 1-hour group were significantly higher than those in the normal control group (P < 0.01). The brain tissues in all groups treated with Nimodipine showed histopathological betterment Compared with the HIE groups. The levels of RBC TCa and RBC Cai2+ in the Nimodipine treatment groups were significantly lower than those in HIE groups (P < 0.01) and were close to the levels in the normal control group (P < 0.05). The authors suggested that early application of Nimodipine in case of postnatal asphyxia might protect the newborn from severe hypoxicischemic brain lesions.

Animals↗

Human DNA repair excision nuclease. Analysis of the roles of the subunits involved in dual incisions by using anti-XPG and anti-ERCC1 antibodies.

Human DNA repair excision nuclease removes DNA damage by incising on both sides of the lesion in a precise manner. The activity requires participation of 16-17 polypeptides. Of these, the XPF.ERCC1 complex and XPG were predicted to carry the nuclease active sites based on studies with the recombinant proteins and the yeast homologs of these proteins. Furthermore, recent work with model (undamaged) substrates have led to predictions of the roles of these proteins in incising 5' or 3' to the lesion. We have used damaged DNA substrates and antibodies to XPG and ERCC1 to test these predictions. Our results reveal that anti-XPG antibodies change the site of 3' incision and at high concentration inhibit the 3' incision without significantly affecting the 5' incision, indicating that XPG makes the 3' incision and further that under this condition 5' incision can occur without 3' incision. In contrast, anti-ERCC1 antibodies inhibit both the 3' and 5' incisions. Using a defined system for excision repair we also demonstrate that the 3' incision can occur without the 5' incision, leading us to conclude that under certain conditions the two incisions can occur independently.

Animals↗

The general transcription-repair factor TFIIH is recruited to the excision repair complex by the XPA protein independent of the TFIIE transcription factor.

Recent studies have revealed that the general transcription factor TFIIH is also a general excision repair factor which, along with several other proteins, is required for transcription-independent excision reaction. As a general transcription factor, TFIIH is recruited to RNA polymerase II-promoter complex by another general transcription factor called TFIIE. We were interested in knowing whether TFIIE is also involved in recruiting TFIIH to the excision repair complex. We found that cell-free extract depleted of TFIIE carried out excision repair at a normal rate, leading us to conclude that TFIIE is not involved in recruiting TFIIH to the damage site and has no role in general excision repair. In contrast, the human damage recognition protein XPA specifically binds to TFIIH and apparently recruits it to the damage site. The carboxyl-terminal half of XPA is responsible for specific interaction with TFIIH. The C261S/C264S mutant of XPA bound the ERCC1-XPF complex normally, but failed to bind TFIIH and failed to complement an XP-A mutant cell-free extract indicating that the XPA-TFIIH interaction is essential to effecting the excision reaction. Interestingly, XPA also binds to the p34 subunit of TFIIE specifically and in competition with the p56 subunit of TFIIE. This latter interaction has no apparent role in general excision repair but may be relevant in the transcription-coupled repair reaction.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Reconstitution of human DNA repair excision nuclease in a highly defined system.

Xeroderma pigmentosum is a hereditary disease caused by defective DNA repair. Somatic cell genetics and biochemical studies with cell-free extracts indicate that at least 16 polypeptides are required to carry out the repair reaction proper, i.e. the removal of the lesion from the DNA by the dual incisions of the damaged strand. To find out if these proteins are necessary and sufficient for excision repair, they were obtained at a high level of purity in five fractions. The mixture of these five fractions reconstituted the excision nuclease (excinuclease) activity. Using the reconstituted excinuclease, we found that the excised fragment remains associated with the post-incision DNA-protein complex, suggesting that accessory proteins are needed to release the excised oligomer.

Animals↗