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Methylating agents are widely distributed environmental carcinogens. Moreover, they are being used in cancer chemotherapy. The primary target of methylating agents is DNA, and therefore, DNA repair is the first-line barrier in defense against their toxic and carcinogenic effects. Methylating agents induce in the DNA O[superscript 6]-methylguanine (O[superscript 6]MeG) and methylations of the ring nitrogens of purines. The lesions are repaired by O[superscript 6]-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (Mgmt) and by enzymes of the base excision repair (BER) pathway, respectively. Whereas O[superscript 6]MeG is well established as a pre-carcinogenic lesion, little is known about the carcinogenic potency of base N-alkylation products such as N3-methyladenine and N3-methylguanine. To determine their role in cancer formation and the role of BER in cancer protection, we checked the response of mice with a targeted gene disruption of Mgmt or N-alkylpurine-DNA glycosylase (Aag) or both Mgmt and Aag, to azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon carcinogenesis, using non-invasive mini-colonoscopy. We demonstrate that both Mgmt- and Aag-null mice show a higher colon cancer frequency than the wild-type. With a single low dose of AOM (3 mg/kg) Aag-null mice showed an even stronger tumor response than Mgmt-null mice. The data provide evidence that both BER initiated by Aag and O[superscript 6]MeG reversal by Mgmt are required for protection against alkylation-induced colon carcinogenesis. Further, the data indicate that non-repaired N-methylpurines are not only pre-toxic but also pre-carcinogenic DNA lesions., Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (FOR 527), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (DFG KA 724/13-3), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (WI 3304/1-1)

Cancer susceptibility varies between people, affected by genotoxic exposures, genetic makeup and physiological state. Yet, how these factors interact among each other to define cancer risk is largely unknown. Here, we uncover the interactive effects of genetical, environmental and physiological factors on genome rearrangements driven by homologous recombination (HR). Using FYDR mice to quantify HR-driven rearrangements in pancreas tissue, we show that DNA methylation damage (induced by methylnitrosourea) and cell proliferation (induced by thyroid hormone) each induce HR and together act synergistically to induce HR-driven rearrangements in vivo. These results imply that developmental or regenerative proliferation as well as mitogenic exposures may sensitize tissues to DNA damaging exposures. We exploited mice genetically deficient in alkyl-adenine DNA glycosylase (Aag) to analyse the relative contributions of unrepaired DNA base lesions versus intermediates formed during base excision repair (BER). Remarkably, results show that, in the pancreas, Aag is a major driver of spontaneous HR, indicating that BER intermediates (including abasic sites and single strand breaks) are more recombinogenic than the spontaneous base lesions removed by Aag. Given that mammals have about a dozen DNA glycosylases, these results point to BER as a major source of pressure on the HR pathway in vivo. Taken together, methylation damage, cell proliferation and Aag interact to define the risk of HR-driven sequence rearrangements in vivo. These data identify important sources of sequence changes in a cancer-relevant organ, and advance the effort to identify populations at high-risk for cancer.

In Escherichia coli, the repair of 3-methyladenine (3MeA) DNA lesions by DNA glycosylases prevents alkylation induced cell death. We described previously the isolation of a human 3MeA DNA glycosylase (AAG) cDNA that maps to chromosome 16 and hybridizes to specific genomic DNA fragments from a number of mammals, including mouse. As a first step in the generation of a 3MeA DNA glycosylase deficient mouse by homologous replacement in embryonic stem cells, we have cloned the mouse 3MeA DNA glycosylase cDNA. The cloned 1095 base pair cDNA contains a complete 333 amino acid open reading frame that predicts a 36.5 kDa protein and hybridizes to a 1.5 kb mRNA transcript. Mouse 3MeA DNA glycosylase (Aag) transcript levels vary by up to 21 fold among tissues, being highest in the testes and lowest in the heart. The Aag cDNA encodes a glycosylase able to release 3MeA, 7-methylguanine (7MeG) and 3-methylguanine (3MeG) from alkylated DNA. The expression of Aag in E. coli provides substantial resistance against killing by methylating agents, but, unlike its E. coli counterparts, the Aag glycosylase fails to protect against killing by ethylating and propylating agents. A 232 amino acid stretch of the predicted mouse protein shares extensive amino acid identity with rat (93%) and human (83%) 3MeA DNA glycosylases and we observe that all three mammalian glycosylases have a bipartite nuclear localization signal. The Aag gene maps to mouse chromosome 11, suggesting a segment of conserved synteny between mouse chromosome 11 and human chromosome 16, which bears the human 3MeA DNA glycosylase gene. Cloning the mouse 3MeA DNA glycosylase cDNA is a step toward understanding the role of this DNA repair enzyme in mammals.

The DNA repair protein O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) protects from toxicity and mutations incurred following alkylating agents by removing O(6)-alkylguanine lesions. Using Mgmt-/- mice, we examined MGMT's role in protecting from in vivo mutations induced by three different alkylating agents, temozolomide (TMZ), 1,3-bis (2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) and cyclophosphamide. Mutant frequencies were determined in the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase gene of splenic T-lymphocytes from C57BL/6 mice (Mgmt+/+ and Mgmt-/-) following TMZ, BCNU or cyclophosphamide. Following TMZ, the mutation frequency was significantly greater in Mgmt-/- mice (5.5 and 9.8 x 10(-6) for 7 and 10 mg/kg TMZ, respectively) compared with vehicle-treated mice (1.0 x 10(-6), P

3-Methyladenine DNA glycosylases initiate base excision repair by flipping the nucleotide bearing the target base out of double-stranded DNA into an active site pocket for glycosylic bond cleavage and base release. Substrate bases for the murine 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase (other than 3-methyladenine) include hypoxanthine and 1,N(6)-ethenoadenine, two mutagenic adducts formed by both endogenous and exogenous agents. Using double-stranded DNA oligonucleotides containing damaged bases at specific sites, we studied the relative removal rates for these two adducts when located in different sequence contexts. One of the sequence contexts was an A:T tract, chosen because DNA secondary structure is known to change along the length of this tract, due to a progressive narrowing of the minor groove. Here we report that removal rates for hypoxanthine, but not for 1,N(6)-ethenoadenine, are dramatically affected by its location within the A:T tract. In addition, the removal rates of hypoxanthine and 1,N(6)-ethenoadenine when paired opposite thymine or cytosine were examined, and in each sequence context hypoxanthine removal decreased by at least 20-fold when paired opposite cytosine versus thymine. In contrast, 1, N(6)-ethenoadenine removal was unaffected by the identity of the opposing pyrimidine. We conclude that the removal of certain bases by the mouse 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase can be modulated by both adjacent and opposing sequence contexts. The influence of DNA sequence context upon DNA repair rates, such as those described here, may contribute to the creation of mutational hot spots in mammalian cells.

AlkG lesions can trigger such programmed cell death.Alkylating agents are commonly used for cancer chemotherapybecause they are highly cytotoxic, and it now appears that atleast some of that cytotoxicity can be accounted for byapoptosis. It is generally assumed that DNA damage constitutesthe primary signal for the induction of apoptosis in responseto DNA damaging agents, but it is important to note that theseagents also damage proteins, lipids, RNA and other cellularcomponents. It is currently unclear exactly which cellulartargets are responsible for triggering alkylation-inducedapoptosis. Indeed, apoptosis in response to a variety of toxicagents can be induced in the absence of a nucleus (1,2) andradiation-induced apoptosis in non-thymic tissues requiresactivation of the ceramide signaling pathway at the cellmembrane (3,4). Similarly, UV-induced responses are initiated,at least in part, by signals generated at the plasma membrane(5). Alkylating agents produce a spectrum of DNA damagecomprising over a dozen DNA lesions. Among these, the O

DNA mismatch repair defects in certain cell types confer resistance to the cytotoxic effects of alkylating agents, suggesting that a normally functioning DNA mismatch repair pathway can actually mediate alkylation-induced cell death. In eukaryotic cells this phenomenon is only observed in cells lacking adequate DNA methyltransferase for the repair of O 6 -methylguanine (O 6 MeG) DNA lesions. It has been proposed that O 6 MeG may act as a substrate for DNA mismatch repair when paired with cytosine and when mispaired with thymine and that repeated futile DNA mismatch repair at O 6 MeG DNA lesions is cytotoxic. Here we show that the Escherichia coli MutS DNA mismatch repair binding protein does indeed bind specifically to O 6 MeG DNA lesions. In contrast, MutS does not bind DNA containing another O-alkylated base, namely O 4 -methylthymine, or another kind of modified guanine, namely 8-oxoguanine. These results provide direct biochemical evidence for the involvement of DNA mismatch repair in specifically processing O 6 MeG DNA lesions.

Mer- human cells, which lack O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase activity, are extremely sensitive to alkylation induced killing, mutation and sister chromatid exchange. We have analyzed a Mer+, a Mer-, and a Mer- revertant HeLa cell line and found that the methyltransferase deficiency correlates with increased levels of mutation and sister chromatid exchange, but does not correlate with increased killing of Mer- HeLa cells by alkylating agents. Furthermore, we show that HeLa Mer- cells repair N-3-methylguanine and N-3-methyladenine just as efficiently as HeLa Mer+ cells.