Search PubMedSearch

Biomedical subjects

K L Beattie

Publications and source records attributed to K L Beattie.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Consequences of 6-thioguanine incorporation into DNA on polymerase, ligase, and endonuclease reactions.

The incorporation of 6-thioguanine (S6G) in place of guanine proceeds readily in DNA synthesis reactions catalyzed by mammalian and bacterial polymerases. This report summarizes the consequences of such incorporation studied to date. S6G was incorporated into one strand of a defined M13mp18 phage sequence in a (+)reaction catalyzed by the Klenow fragment of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I. After denaturation of the newly synthesized strand (containing S6G) and annealing with a reverse (-) 32P-labeled primer, polymerization catalyzed by the Klenow enzyme as well as by human DNA polymerases alpha, gamma, and delta was slowed considerably, compared with that across the corresponding guanine-containing template. To evaluate S6G-containing DNA as a substrate for DNA ligases, two oligodeoxynucleotides (19- and 20-mers) antisense to a 40-mer were synthesized so that the 40-mer coded for guanine at the 3' terminus of the 19-mer. After annealing of the synthetic oligonucleotides to form a duplex DNA containing a one-nucleotide gap (opposite cytosine in the 40-mer), the 19-mer was extended with 2'-deoxythioguanosine 5'-triphosphate using DNA polymerase, forming a nicked duplex DNA. The abilities of T4 DNA ligase and HeLa and calf thymus DNA ligase I to join the 5'-phosphate with the 3'-S6G-OH were severely inhibited, compared with the 3'-guanine-extended control. This finding suggests that incorporation of S6G at the 3' terminus of Okazaki fragments would inhibit lagging strand DNA synthesis. In other experiments, cleavage of S6G-containing DNA by some but not all restriction endonucleases progressed poorly, compared with the control guanine-containing DNA, independently of the location of S6G at recognition or cleavage sites, as previously observed by Iwaniec et al. [Mol. Pharmacol. 39:299-306 (1991)] with a different spectrum of enzymes. These findings indicate altered DNA-protein interactions due to S6G incorporation. The poor template function of S6G-containing DNA is consistent with the known delayed cytotoxicity and DNA damage previously reported to occur in S6G-treated cells.

Autoradiography

Solid-phase gene assembly.

New technologies for multiple chemical synthesis of oligonucleotides and stepwise hybridization on a solid-phase support enable the rapid and cost-effective preparation of long duplex DNA regions. Will these new technologies usher in a new era in protein engineering?

DNA

In vitro mutagenesis in the lacI gene of Escherichia coli: fate of 3'-terminal mispairs versus internal base mispairs in a transfection assay.

The fate of G.T mismatches and frameshifts, present at the 3'-terminus of primer-template or internally, has been studied with a combined transfection and electrophoretic assay following in vitro polymerization by DNA polymerase I (Klenow enzyme) of Escherichia coli. Several synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide primers were synthesized and annealed to uracil-containing single-stranded DNA of M13 phage bearing the lacI gene, to produce 1-3 consecutive G.T mismatches in the middle of the duplex region or at the 3'-OH end of the primer. Additional mismatched primer-templates were prepared, in which the primer had a deleted nucleotide, an extra nucleotide or both G.T mismatch and an extra nucleotide. The extension or degradation of these primers during in vitro DNA synthesis in the presence of all 4 dNTPs ('complete' reaction) or in the absence of dATP ('-A' reaction) was monitored by gel electrophoresis. Duplex DNA products were used in a transfection assay and the nucleotide changes in i-mutant progeny were determined by sequence analysis. The results suggest that whereas a single 3'-terminal G.T mismatch is relatively stable in chain elongation by Klenow enzyme, multiple terminal G.T mismatches are degraded by the 3'-exonuclease activity of this polymerase prior to primer extension. This editing activity is increased with the number of 3'-terminal mispairs. Single, double and triple T----C base substitutions were efficiently recovered when the mismatches occurred internally. Also, single-base eliminations or additions were readily recovered when the mutagenic primers contained an internal base deletion or addition, respectively. When products of the '-A' misincorporation reaction (catalyzed by Klenow enzyme) were assayed by transfection, base substitutions (exclusively T----C), but no frameshifts, were recovered. The results indicate that the absence of multiple tandem base substitutions among i- mutants recovered following primer elongation under mutagenic 'minus' conditions was due to the efficient action of the 3'-exonuclease activity of the Klenow enzyme on multiple terminal mismatches during in vitro polymerization, rather than to in vivo events (lack of expression or occurrence of mismatch repair) in the M13-lacI transfection assay.

Bacterial Proteins

Genetic assay of misincorporation.

A system to characterize mutations arising from in vitro nucleotide misincorporation, which avoids the effects of in vivo mismatch repair on recovery of mutants, was constructed and evaluated. The lacI gene of Escherichia coli was inserted into phage M13 and the M13-lacI recombinant was introduced into a strain of E. coli lacking a resident lacI gene. In this system the function of the M13-bearing lacI gene can be detected by plaque color. Mutants in the 5'-region of the lacI gene (encoding operator-binding domain) are seen as blue plaques when the host strain is grown in the presence of chromogenic substrate, X-gal, in the absence of inducer. The use of uracil-containing single stranded DNA from M13-lacI as template for DNA synthesis avoids the contribution of mismatch repair (in transfection recipients) on the recovery of mutants. To demonstrate the usefulness of the M13-lacI system we produced nucleotide misincorporations by in vitro DNA synthesis in the N-terminal region of the lacI template in the presence of only 3 deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs). Such mutagenic reactions were conducted in the absence of dATP with 4 different primers and in the absence of dGTP with 2 primers. The type of mutants produced by these reactions were identified through sequencing of DNA from progeny phage after screening for i- (blue plaque) phenotype. Mutations recovered in this system consisted of single and multiple base substitutions in the region of the template near the 3'-terminus of the primer. Nearly all of the mutants induced by '-A' conditions were T----C base substitutions, and those induced by '-G' conditions were C----T transitions. In general, the results were consistent with the spectrum of spontaneous mutants produced in strains deficient in mismatch repair, although some differences were noted. Several new base substitutions within the lacI gene (producing i- phenotype and unobserved by others) were isolated by the procedures described in this paper.

Bacteriophages

Influence of neighboring base sequence on mutagenesis induced by in vitro misincorporation in the lacI gene of Escherichia coli.

Genetic and electrophoretic assays of misincorporation were used to assess the effect of DNA sequence on mutagenesis arising from in vitro DNA synthesis within the lacI gene of Escherichia coli. The viral strand of a derivative of phage M13 containing the entire lacI gene was annealed with a series of synthetic oligonucleotides complementary to the N-terminal region of the lacI gene. Each primer-template was incubated with E. coli DNA polymerase I (Klenow fragment) under conditions favoring misincorporation, wherein one of the 4 dNTPs was lacking ('minus' reaction) or present at very low concentration ('micro' reaction). The extent of elongation of each primer was assessed by gel electrophoresis, and lacI mutants arising during the misincorporation reactions were detected by a transfection assay in which i- base substitutions within the in vitro synthesized strand were selectively recovered by the use of uracil-containing templates. Direct dideoxy sequencing of the '-A' reaction products and sequence analysis of i- mutant progeny revealed a vast predominance of single and non-tandem multiple base transitions. The addition of small quantities of dATP to a '-A' reaction increased the mutation yield and broadened the distribution of base substitutions along the template. We detected a general bias towards increased base substitution at template positions flanked by G.C base pairs or 5'-pyrimidine, 3'-purine nearest neighbors, although considerable site-to-site variation in the occurrence of base substitutions was seen, even within identical nearest neighbor contexts.

Base Sequence

2'-Deoxy-6-thioguanosine 5'-triphosphate as a substrate for purified human DNA polymerases and calf thymus terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase in vitro.

2'-Deoxy-6-thioguanosine 5'-triphosphate (S6dGTP), a metabolite of the antileukemia agent 6-thioguanine, was evaluated as a substrate for purified human DNA polymerases. Using bacteriophage M13 single-strand DNA as a template, S6dGTP substituted efficiently for dGTP and stimulated DNA synthesis in reactions without dGTP, with DNA polymerases alpha, delta, and gamma from the human leukemia cell line K562. The apparent Km values for dGTP and S6dGTP were very similar, i.e., 1.2 microM each for polymerase alpha, 2.8 and 3.6 microM, respectively, for polymerase delta, and 0.8 microM each for polymerase gamma; however, the relative Vmax values for the modified nucleotide were 25-50% lower than those of the corresponding natural substrate. Using a highly sensitive electrophoretic assay of chain elongation across M13mp9 (+)-strand DNA by the aforementioned human DNA polymerases, S6dGTP was shown to be incorporated at the 3' end of the nascent growing DNA chain, and the patterns of chain extension with S6dGTP as substrate were identical to those obtained in the presence of dGTP. There were no major differences using S6dGTP in place of dGTP with these DNA polymerases; however, at higher concentrations (1-10 microM) the analog stimulated primer elongation in reactions without dATP, indicating some misincorporation at sites of S6G.T base pairs during DNA synthesis. Using p(dA)12-18 as the initiator for calf thymus terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase, S6dGTP inhibited the incorporation of all four natural deoxyribonucleoside 5'-triphosphates into the primer, in a competitive manner. The apparent Ki values for the analog were 6-20 times lower than the Km values for the four endogenous substrates. As a substrate, S6dGTP was added to the 3'-hydroxyl termini of primer, although tailing efficiency with the analog was lower than that in the presence of the natural substrate. These findings indicate that S6dGTP is a relatively good substrate for several mammalian DNA polymerases, including terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase.

Animals

N-Nitrosocarbaryl-induced mutagenesis in Haemophilus influenzae strains deficient in repair and recombination.

Mutagenesis was studied in repair- and recombination-deficient strains of Haemophilus influenzae after treatment with N-nitrosocarbaryl (NC). Three different strains of H. influenzae carrying mutations affecting excision-repair of UV-induced pyrimidine dimers exhibited normal repair of premutational lesions (as detected by decreased mutation yield resulting from post-treatment DNA synthesis delay) and normal nonreplicative mutation fixation. This indicated that neither of these phenomena are caused by the smae repair mechanism that removes UV-induced pyrimidine dimers from the DNA. The recombination-deficient mutant recI is apparently deficient in the replication-dependent mode of NC-induced mutation fixation. This conclusion is based on the following results: (I) NC-induced mutagenesis is lower in the recI strain than in rec+ cells. (2) Repair of premutational lesions (which depends on the existence of replication-dependent mutation fixation for its detection) was not detected in the recI strain. (3) When nonreplicative mutation fixation and final mutation frequency were measured in the same experiment, about I/4 to I/3 of the final mutation yield could be accounted for by nonreplicative mutation fixation in the rec+ strain, whereas all of the mutation could be accounted for in the recI strain by the nonreplicative mutation fixation. (4) When mutation fixation in strain dna9 recI was followed at the permissive (36 degrees) and nonpermissive (41 degrees) temperatures, it became apparent that in the recI strain replication-dependent mutation fixation occurs at early times, but these newly fixed mutations are unstable and disappear at later times, leaving only the mutations fixed by the nonreplicative process. The recI strain exhibits normal repair of NC-induced single-strand breaks or alkali-labile bonds in the DNA labeled before treatment, but is slow in joining discontinuties present in DNA synthesized after treatment. The results are consistent with the idea that in NC-treated H. influenzae cells the replication-dependent mode of mutation fixation occurs by error-prone joining of interruptions present in the DNA synthesized after treatment. The possibility still exists, however, that during DNA replication mispairing occurs opposite certain alkylation-induced lesions and that mutations arising during replication of strain recI later disappear as a result of degradation of newly synthesized DNA, which is excessive in this strain.

Carbaryl