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PubMed2002

The sensitivity of MCF10A breast epithelial cells to alkylating drugs is enhanced by the inhibition of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase transcription with a synthetic double strand DNA oligonucleotide.

Cytoxicity of alkylating chemotherapeutic drugs is affected by the cellular content of the enzyme O6_ methylguanine-DNA methyl transferase (MGMT). Since high levels of the enzyme confer the efficient repair of DNA alkylation, the chemotherapeutic potential of alkylating chemicals can be maintained either increasing drug dosage or reducing the amount of endogenous MGMT. This study strives to the latter end by competing away a transcriptional activator of the MGMT gene from its native enhancer sequence using a synthetic double strand DNA oligonucleotide (MEBP-ODN). MEBP-ODN was administered in culture medium to MCF10A human breast epithelial cells expressing high level of MGMT. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting analyses showed decrease in both MGMT mRNA and protein content. Concomitantly, MEBP-ObN exposed cells were more sensitive to the alkylating drug mitozolomide than their controls, which were not exposed to MEBP-ODN. These results indicate that the cis-acting MEBP-ODN can efficiently deplete MGMT protein by working as decoy binding site for the transcriptional activator MEBP. This approach represents a successful strategy to counteract the protective role of MGMT repair enzyme during an alkylating drug based chemotherapeutic regimen.

Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating↗
PubMed2003

Membrane disruption and cytotoxicity of hydrophobic N-alkylated imino sugars is independent of the inhibition of protein and lipid glycosylation.

The N-alkyl moiety of N-alkylated imino sugars is crucial for therapeutic activities of these compounds as inhibitors of glycosphingolipid (GSL) biosynthesis and as antivirals. The improved potency afforded by a long N-alkyl moiety is coincident with increased compound-induced cytotoxicity. Therefore, in the present study, we examined the mechanism of this cytotoxicity in detail. Despite N-butyl-deoxynojirimycin and N-butyl-deoxygalactonojirimycin inhibiting the glycosylation of ceramide to glucosylceramide, ceramide levels did not increase in HL60 cells treated with these compounds. Long-chain N-alkylated imino sugars were toxic to cells at concentrations considerably lower than the critical micellar concentrations for these compounds and consequently did not solubilize radioactively labelled cellular proteins and lipids. However, membrane disruption and cell fragmentation did increase in a concentration- and chain-length-dependent manner. These results are consistent with previously proposed interactions between surface-active amphiphiles and protein-containing lipid membranes when drug concentrations are below the critical micellar concentration. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the cellular toxicity of hydrophobic N-alkylated imino sugars is due to cell lysis and cell fragmentation and, most importantly, is not related to the beneficial therapeutic effects of these compounds on protein and in lipid glycosylation. This information will aid in the future development of more selective imino sugar therapeutics for the treatment of human disease.

1-Deoxynojirimycin↗
PubMed1998

Site-specific modification of 4.5S RNA apical domain by complementary oligodeoxynucleotides carrying an alkylating group.

Site-specific alkylation of RNA by reactive oligodeoxynucleotides provides structural information and represents the first step towards the design of RNA derivatives to be used for functional studies. Specific alkylation of 4.5S RNA at G53, the first base of the apical tetraloop, was achieved by incubation with oligodeoxynucleotide ON2, complementary to nucleotides 38-53, which carries a p-(N-2-chloroethyl-N-methylamino)benzylamidophosphate group at the 5' end. Alkylation efficiency was increased by a factor of 6, without alteration of specificity, in the presence of a helper oligodeoxynucleotide, ON1, complementary to nucleotides 58-71 of the opposite strand of the RNA helix. A second reactive oligodeoxynucleotide, ON1-3'-R, was obtained by attaching the alkylating group to the 3' end of ON1. ON1-3'-R was able to modify G58. In the presence of ON2 as a helper oligodeoxynucleotide, the specificity of ON1-3'-R changes and efficient alkylation of nucleotides G54, A56 and G57 of the apical region of 4.5S RNA was observed.

Alkylating Agents↗
PubMed1999

Alkyl-dihydroxyacetone phosphate synthase and dihydroxyacetone phosphate acyltransferase form a protein complex in peroxisomes.

Dihydroxyacetone phosphate (GrnP) acyltransferase and alkyl-GrnP synthase are the key enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of ether phospholipids. Both enzymes are located on the inside of the peroxisomal membrane. Here we report evidence for a direct interaction between these enzymes obtained by the use of chemical cross-linking. After cross-linking and immunoblot analysis alkyl-GrnP synthase could be detected in a 210-kDa complex which was located entirely on the lumenal side of the peroxisomal membrane. Two-dimensional SDS/PAGE demonstrated that GrnP-acyltransferase is also cross-linked in a 210-kDa complex. Co-immunoprecipitation confirmed that the two enzymes interact, in a heterotrimeric complex. Furthermore, alkyl-GrnP synthase can form a homotrimeric complex in the absence of GrnP-acyltransferase as was demonstrated by immunoblot analysis after cross-linking experiments with either GrnP-acyltransferase deficient human fibroblast homogenates or recombinant (His)6-tagged alkyl-GrnP synthase. We conclude that alkyl-GrnP synthase interacts selectively with GrnP-acyltransferase in a heterotrimeric complex and in the absence of GrnP-acyltransferase can also form a homotrimeric complex.

Acyltransferases↗
PubMed1984

Induction of specific Escherichia coli genes by sublethal treatments with alkylating agents.

Fusions of the lac operon to genes induced by treatment with sublethal levels of alkylating agents have been selected from random insertions of the Mu-dl(ApRlac) phage by screening for induction of beta-galactosidase activity in the presence of methyl methanesulfonate. Genetic analysis reveals that these fusions resulted from insertion of Mu-dl(ApRlac) into two regions of the chromosome. One region (aidA) is near his and, based on phenotypic effects, appears to represent insertion into the alkA gene. The other region (aidB) is in the 92.3- to 98-min region, which harbors no previously identified genes involved in repair of alkylation damage. The aidB fusions caused increased resistance to alkylating agents and caused little or no change in the biological effects of adaptation to alkylating agents. Unlike the aidA fusions, aidB fusions showed increased beta-galactosidase activity in untreated cells in a growth phase-dependent fashion. The ada-5 mutation, which blocks expression of the adaptive response, decreased induction of beta-galactosidase activity in both aidA and aidB fusions after alkylation treatments. Thus, both aidA and aidB share with adaptive response a common regulatory mechanism involving the ada gene. The growth phase-dependent control of the aidB fusions, however, is unaffected by ada, suggesting that a second regulatory mechanism exists that controls only aidB.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1995

CC-1065 and the duocarmycins: unraveling the keys to a new class of naturally derived DNA alkylating agents.

Key studies defining the DNA alkylation properties and selectivity of a new class of exceptionally potent, naturally occurring antitumor antibiotics including CC-1065, duocarmycin A, and duocarmycin SA are reviewed. Recent studies conducted with synthetic agents containing deep-seated structural changes and the unnatural enantiomers of the natural products and related analogs have defined the structural basis for the sequence-selective alkylation of duplex DNA and fundamental relationships between chemical structure, functional reactivity, and biological properties. The agents undergo a reversible, stereoelectronically controlled adenine-N3 addition to the least substituted carbon of the activated cyclopropane within selected AT-rich sites. The preferential AT-rich non-covalent binding selectivity of the agents within the narrower, deeper AT-rich minor groove and the steric accessibility to the alkylation site that accompanies deep AT-rich minor groove penetration control the sequence-selective DNA alkylation reaction and stabilize the resulting adduct. For the agents that possess sufficient reactivity to alkylate DNA, a direct relationship between chemical or functional stability and biological potency has been defined.

Alkylating Agents↗
PubMed1995

Histidine 289 is essential for hydrolysis of the alkyl-enzyme intermediate of haloalkane dehalogenase.

Haloalkane dehalogenase (DhlA) from Xanthobacter autotrophicus GJ10 catalyzes the hydrolytic cleavage of carbon-halogen bonds in a broad range of halogenated aliphatic compounds. Previous work has shown that Asp124, which is located close to the internal substrate-binding cavity, carries out a nucleophilic attack on the C-alpha of the alkylhalide, displacing the halogen. The resulting alkyl-enzyme intermediate is subsequently hydrolyzed. In order to study the role of His289 in the hydrolysis of the intermediate, a His289-->Gln mutant was constructed by site-directed mutagenesis. The purified mutant enzyme was not catalytically active with haloalkanes, but a halide burst stoichiometric to the amount of enzyme was observed with 1,2-dibromoethane. Using ion spray mass spectrometry, accumulation of the covalent alkyl-enzyme and binding of the alkyl moiety of the substrate to an Asp124-containing tryptic peptide were shown. Fluorescence-quenching experiments indicated that halide ions are strongly bound by the alkyl-enzyme but not by the substrate-free enzyme. The results show that His289 is the base catalyst for the dealkylation of the covalent intermediate, but that it is not essential for the initial nucleophilic attack of Asp124 on the C-1 atom of the haloalkane. Furthermore, the halide ion that is released in the first step probably leaves the active site only after hydrolysis of the alkyl-enzyme.

Alkylation↗
PubMed2002

DNA-binding mechanism of O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase. Effects of protein and DNA alkylation on complex stability.

The mutagenic and cytotoxic effects of many endogenous and exogenous alkylating agents are mitigated by the actions of O(6)-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (AGT). In humans this protein protects the integrity of the genome, but it also contributes to the resistance of tumors to DNA-alkylating chemotherapeutic agents. Here we report properties of the interaction between AGT and short DNA oligonucleotides. We show that although AGT sediments as a monomer in the absence of DNA, it binds cooperatively to both single-stranded and double-stranded deoxyribonucleotides. This strong cooperative interaction is only slightly perturbed by active site mutation of AGT or by alkylation of either AGT or DNA. The stoichiometry of complex formation with 16-mer oligonucleotides, assessed by analytical ultracentrifugation and electrophoretic mobility shift assays, is 4:1 on single-stranded and duplex DNA and is unchanged by several active site mutations or by protein or DNA alkylation. These results have significant implications for the mechanisms by which AGT locates and interacts with repairable alkyl lesions to effect DNA repair.

Alkylation↗
PubMed1989

The relationship between O6-alkylguanine alkyltransferase activity and sensitivity to alkylation-induced sister chromatid exchanges in human lymphoblastoid cell lines.

We investigated the relationship between the ability to repair the O6-alkylguanine lesions and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) induction. Six human lymphoblastoid cell lines, with O6-alkylguanine alkyltransferase (AGT) activities ranging from 0 to 13.2 fmol/micrograms DNA, were tested for their sensitivity to N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG)-, methyl methanesulfonate (MMS)- and 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU)-induced SCEs. L33, a long established lymphoblastoid cell line with no AGT activity, was sensitive to all three alkylating agents. In the other more recently established Epstein-Barr virus transformed cell lines, no correlation between AGT activity (ranging from 2.4 to 13.2 fmol/micrograms DNA) and sensitivity to MMS or MNNG was noted. In fact, of these five cell lines, the cell line with the highest AGT activity, line 852A, was the most sensitive to MNNG-induced SCEs. While cell lines differed in overall alkylation by MNNG, no relationship between overall akylation and sensitivity to MNNG-induced SCE formation was noted. In contrast to the results with the monofunctional alkylating agents, there was a correlation between AGT activity and BCNU-sensitivity to SCE induction. Cell lines with low AGT activities were more sensitive to the bifunctional alkylating agent than cells with higher activities. Therefore, while DNA interstrand cross-links produced by BCNU exposure probably underlie SCE induction by this agent, the lesions and processes that lead to SCE induction after exposure to monofunctional alkylating agents remain unclear.

Alkylating Agents↗
PubMed1992

Methoxyamine modification of abasic sites protects CHO cells from the cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of oxygen alkylation.

The biological effects of the interaction of methoxyamine (MX) with apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites produced in CHO cells by treatment with alkylating agents were examined. A decrease in cytotoxicity was observed after a 10 min treatment with the SN1 alkylating agents ethylnitrosourea (ENU), N-ethyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (ENNG) and N-methyl-nitrosourea when MX was present in the culture medium. Furthermore MX reduced the number of mutations to 6-thioguanine resistance induced by ENU and ENNG and the number of sister chromatid exchanges induced by ENU. In contrast, no protective effect of MX on survival was observed after a 10 min treatment with the SN2 alkylating agents diethylsulfate (DES), ethyl methane sulfonate and methyl methane sulfonate. A 3 h exposure to MX abolished the protective effect of MX on ENU-induced cytotoxicity and increased the cytotoxicity of DES. In vitro studies with synthetic oligonucleotides containing a single AP site opposite a normal guanine or O6-methylguanine showed that MX inhibits the cleavage of AP sites by the CHO AP endonuclease(s). A model is proposed in which different DNA lesions are involved in AP site formation after treatment with SN2 or SN2 alkylating agents. The involvement of specific alkylation products in cytotoxicity and mutagenesis is also discussed.

Alkylating Agents↗
PubMed1994

3T3 NIH murine fibroblasts and B78 murine melanoma cells expressing the Escherichia coli N3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase I do not become resistant to alkylating agents.

The role of alkylation of the N3 position of adenine in the cytotoxicity of alkylating agents in mammalian cells is still undefined. By co-transfecting NIH3T3 murine fibroblast and murine B78 H1 melanoma cells with pSG5tag and pSV2neo, we obtained clones expressing the mRNA of the bacterial tag gene coding for N3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase I (Gly I), which specifically repairs N3-methyladenine. The levels of Gly I were 400 times higher in NIH3T3 pSG5tag (clone 3.9.4) and 12-33 times higher in B78 H1 tag clones (2A4, 2A6, 2C3 and 2D1) than in the respective control cells. The sensitivity to alkylating agents was evaluated in tag-expressing cells in comparison with pSG5, pSV2neo co-transfected control cells. As regards the cytotoxic activity of methylating agents (N-methylnitrosourea, N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, dimethylsulfate and temozolomide) and other alkylators with different structure and different interactions with DNA such as CC-1065 and FCE-24517 (minor groove binders known to bind to N3 of adenine), 4-[bis(2-chloroethyl)amino]-L-phenylalanine and cis-diamminedichloroplatinum II, cytotoxicity was the same for tag-expressing and non-expressing cells. These results suggest that the increased expression of N3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase is not necessarily a crucial mechanism for the resistance of cells to alkylating agents.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1981

Fractionated dose studies with X-rays and various alkylating agents in P388 mouse lymphoma cells.

The fractionated dose technique has been used in P388F cells to examine the effects of X-rays and four alkylating agents on survival and induction of 5-iodo-2-deoxyuridine (IudR) resistant variants. Fractionation intervals up to 5 1/2 h were used for X-rays and for the alkylating agents up to 192 h. Fractionation of the X-ray dose resulted in a sparing effect for survival and variant induction. A sparing effect was also observed for survival after treatment with alkylating agents. However, variant frequencies were observed as large as or greater than those produced by the full doses of alkylating agents. For such agents this would suggest that survival and variant induction are independent events. Differences in the effects of X-rays and alkylating agents cannot be explained by differences in growth rate or the recovery of viability after treatment.

Alkylating Agents↗
PubMed2002

Degradation of the alkylated form of the DNA repair protein, O(6)-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase.

O(6)-Alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (AGT) is a DNA repair protein that removes alkyl groups from DNA by transferring them to an internal Cys-145 residue. As the S-alkylcysteine is not converted back to cysteine, the protein can only act once and the resulting alkylated AGT molecule is rapidly degraded. The mechanism underlying the disappearance of the alkylated AGT has been studied in vivo in CHO cells and in vitro in reticulocyte lysates by using the pseudosubstrate O(6)-benzylguanine (BG) and mutant forms of AGT. The wild-type AGT was stable but was ubiquitinated and degraded rapidly by the proteasome after treatment with BG or with an oligodeoxyribonucleotide, which contained O(6)-methylguanine. Mutants C145F (and other mutants with bulky substituents at position 145), which have alterations that cause a steric alteration at the active site and also prevent hydrogen bonding involving Cys-145 resembled the alkylated AGT and were ubiquitinated and degraded rapidly irrespective of treatment with BG. Mutant M134F, which causes a steric alteration without interfering directly with the hydrogen-bonding network involving Cys-145, partially destabilized AGT and its degradation was increased further by reaction with BG. Mutant C145S, which maintains the hydrogen-binding network and causes no distortion, was not rapidly degraded. The results indicate that the conformational change resulting in the opening of the asparagine hinge region in the structure, which is brought about by formation of an S-alkyl adduct, leads to an increased recognition by a ubiquitin ligase targeting the protein for degradation. This is a novel type of post-translational modification causing ubiquitination.

Alkylation↗
PubMed1990

The identification and quantitation of alkylated nucleobases by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV photodiode array detection.

The application of UV diode array detection in high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) identification and quantitation of several classes of synthetic and commercially available alkylated nucleobases is investigated. Quantitative spectral overlays of these compounds to methyl standard references from a spectral library and absorbance ratios at two maximal wavelengths (lambda max) are found to be useful in categorizing the solutes. They can be grouped into classes of compounds originating from a specific nucleobase and classes of analogs having different alkyl substituents (e.g., methyl, ethyl, propyl, allyl, and benzyl) at the same position of the heterocycle. At a selected wavelength for alkylated nucleobases in the same class, the detector response factors are independent of the alkyl group (+/- 10%). This technique provides a practical means for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of product distribution of DNA base alkylation by using only readily obtainable methylated derivatives as the reference standards.

Adenine↗
PubMed1979

Mutagenesis by cytostatic alkylating agents in yeast strains of differing repair capacities.

Reversion of two nulcear ochre nonsense alleles and cell inactivation induced by mono-, bi-, and tri-functional alkylating agents and by UV has been investigated in stationary-phase haploid cells of yeast strains with differing capacities for DNA repair. The ability to survive alkylation damage is correlated with UV repair capacity, a UV-resistant and UV-mutable strain (RAD REV) being least and a UV-sensitive and UV-nonmutable strain (radi rev3) most sensitive. Mutagenicity of alkylating agents is highest in the former and is abolished in the latter strain. Deficiency in excision repair (rad1 rad2) or in the RAD18 function does not lead to enhanced mutability. Mutagenesis by the various agents is characterized by a common pattern of induction of locus-specific revertants and suppressor mutants. Induction kinetics are mostly linear, but UV-induced reversion in the RAD REV strain follows higher-than-linear (probably "quadratic") kinetics. The alkylating agent cyclophosphamide, usually considered inactive without metabolic conversion, reduces colony-forming ability and induces revertants in a manner similar but not identical to the other chemicals tested. These findings are taken to support the concept of mutagenesis by misrepair after alkylation, which albeit sharing common features with the mechanism of UV-induced reversion, can be distinguished therefrom.

Alkylating Agents↗
PubMed1992

DNA sequence selectivity of guanine-N7 alkylation by nitrogen mustards is preserved in intact cells.

Nitrogen mustard alkylating agents react with isolated DNA in a sequence selective manner, and the substituent attached to the drug reactive group can impose a distinct sequence preference. It is not clear however to what extent the observed DNA sequence preferences are preserved in intact cells. The highly reiterated sequence of human alpha DNA has been used to determine the sites of guanine-N7 alkylation following treatment of cells with three nitrogen mustards, mechlorethamine, uracil mustard and quinacrine mustard, known to react in isolated DNA with distinctly different sequence preferences. Alpha DNA from drug treated cells was extracted, purified, end-labeled, and a 296 base pair, singly end-labelled, fragment isolated. Following the quantitative conversion of alkylation sites to strand breaks the fragments were separated on DNA sequencing gels. Clear differences were observed between the alkylation patterns of the three compounds, and the selectivities were qualitatively similar to those predicted and observed in the same sequence alkylated in vitro. In particular the unique preferences of uracil and quinacrine mustards for 5'-PyGC-3' and 5'-GT/GPu-3' sequences, respectively, were preserved in intact cells suggesting that the pattern of sequence dependent reactivity is not grossly affected by the nuclear milieu.

Alkylation↗
PubMed1993

Excision of 3-methylguanine from alkylated DNA by 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase I of Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli has two DNA glycosylases for repair of DNA damage caused by simple alkylating agents. The inducible AlkA DNA glycosylase (3-methyladenine [m3A] DNA glycosylase II) removes several different alkylated bases including m3A and 3-methylguanine (m3G) from DNA, whereas the constitutively expressed Tag enzyme (m3A DNA glycosylase I) has appeared to be specific for excision of m3A. In this communication we have reexamined the substrate specificity of Tag by using synthetic DNA rich in GC base pairs to facilitate detection of any possible methyl-G removal. In such DNA alkylated with [3H]dimethyl sulphate, we found that m3G was excised from double-stranded DNA by both glycosylases, although more efficiently by AlkA than by Tag. This was further confirmed using both N-[3H]methyl-N-nitrosourea- and [3H]dimethyl sulphate-treated native DNA, from which Tag excised m3G with an efficiency that was about 70 times lower than for AlkA. These results can explain the previous observation that high levels of Tag expression will suppress the alkylation sensitivity of alkA mutant cells, further implying that m3G is formed in quantity sufficient to represent an important cytotoxic lesion if left unrepaired in cells exposed to alkylating agents.

Alkylation↗
PubMed2026

Human MutLα activates methylpurine DNA glycosylase to induce alkylation damage cytotoxicity.

Alkylation chemotherapy is commonly used against tumors such as glioblastoma, yet resistance often develops through downregulation of mismatch repair (MMR). Previous work has established that loss of MMR prevents the excision of the thymine-containing strand across O 6meG-T mismatches, thereby avoiding the futile repair cycle that ultimately leads to cell death. Here, we provide an alternative explanation to this prevailing mechanism of chemoresistance by MMR loss. We found that the MMR protein MutLα physically and functionally interacts with the base excision repair (BER) enzyme methylpurine DNA glycosylase (MPG), which processes common alkylation adducts, such as 7meG and 3meA. Biochemical reconstitution demonstrates that MutLα activates MPG glycosylase activity by promoting MPG substrate binding, and enhancing MPG release from the abasic site product, thereby facilitating enzyme turnover. This glycosylase stimulation requires ATP hydrolysis as well as the MLH1-interacting region on MPG. Both MutLα or its ability to interact with MPG promote the generation of alkylation-induced abasic sites in cells, which contribute to the cytotoxicity of methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), an SN2 alkylating agent that does not produce O 6meG. Our results provide new insight into the mechanism of alkylation chemoresistance and uncover an unappreciated cross-talk between MMR and BER.

DNA repair↗