Applications of Accelerators and Detectors to Cancer Treatment

Abstract:

Synthesis of a 25-mer oligonucleotide template containing O4-methylthymine (m4T) at a unique site is reported. The sequence used is analogous to that studied previously to determine the mutation frequency of O6-methylguanine in vitro and in vivo. The templates containing m4T or unmodified T were used in a primer-extension gel assay to determine kinetic parameters for incorporation by DNA polymerases of dGTP and dATP opposite either m4T or T. Both Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I (Klenow fragment, Kf) and Drosophila melanogaster polymerase alpha-primase complex (pol alpha) were used. On the basis of the Vmax/Km ratios, the pairing of m4T.G was preferred over that of both m4T.A and T.G by more than 10-fold. The two polymerases gave almost identical values for the frequency of formation of all pairs investigated including m4T.G pairs, suggesting that the 3'----5' exonuclease activity of the Klenow fragment does not efficiently edit such pairs. Extension beyond m4T.G was demonstrated with both Klenow and pol alpha. In similar kinetic experiments, bacteriophage T4 DNA polymerase, which has a very high 3'----5' exonuclease activity, allows stable incorporation of G opposite m4T in contrast to G opposite T. This kinetic approach allows quantitation of the mutagenic potential in the absence of alkylation repair and additionally provides qualitative data on mutagenesis that are in accord with our previous in vivo studies showing that replication of m4T causes T----C transitions.

Abstract:

O6-Methylguanine (m6G) was incorporated site-specifically into two 25-base oligonucleotides differing only in the nucleotide on the 3' side of the modified base. Templates were primed with oligonucleotides terminating one or two bases prior to the site at which incorporation kinetics were to be investigated. Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I (Klenow fragment) was used to determine the apparent Km and relative Vmax of incorporation of either dCTP or dTTP opposite m6G or G. These data were used to calculate the relative frequency of incorporation opposite the m6G or the unmodified G. When the sequence was 3'-Cm6G-5', there was a 6- to 7-fold preference for formation of a m6G.T pair compared with m6G.C. The m6G.T frequency, based on Vmax/Km, was at least 50-fold greater than that of a G.T pair at the same site. Changing the sequence to 3'-Tm6G-5' had a marked effect on both Km and Vmax of pairs containing m6G and on the incorporation frequency of T opposite m6G, which was then only slightly favored over m6G.C. When replication was started directly opposite m6G, the kinetics appeared unaffected. These data indicate that the frequency of incorporation of C or T opposite m6G in a DNA template is dependent on the flanking neighbors and that a change of even a single base at the 3' position can have a major effect on mutagenic efficiency. Replication using Drosophila Pol alpha gave the same values for relative frequencies. Pairing of either C or T with m6G on the primer terminus did not significantly inhibit extension of the next normal base pair, in contrast to terminal mismatches of unmodified bases. It is concluded that, in the absence of repair, m6G can exhibit widely differing mutation frequencies which, in these experiments, can be as high as 85% of the replicated base. This variation in frequency of changed pairing could contribute to the occurrence of mutational "'hot spots" after replication of damaged DNA.