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We report a systematic and quantitative structure-function relationship study of the major N-[deoxyguanosin-8-yl]-2-aminofluorene adduct (AF) derived from the prototype carcinogen 2-aminofluorene and its derivatives. The AF adduct is known to exist in two distinct conformational motifs, depending upon the location of the hydrophobic fluorine moiety: major groove binding "B type" (B) conformation (AF-dG anti ) and base-displaced "stacked" (S) conformation (AF-dG syn ). The AF-induced S/B conformational heterogeneity is sequence-dependent and follows a typical two-site dynamic chemical exchange. The population of S conformation decreases in the order of 3'-G > A » C > T, indicating the importance of the purine flanking bases in promoting the stacking structure. Line-shape analysis showed that the S/B interconversion energy barriers (ΔG ‡ ) are in the narrow 14-16 kcal/mol range. The energy differences of the two conformers are relatively small (

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of DNA by removing various types of bulky or distorting DNA adducts in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. In Escherichia coli, the excision repair proteins UvrA, UvrB, and UvrC recognize and incise the bulky DNA damages induced by UV light and chemical carcinogens. In this process, when a putative lesion in DNA is identified initially by UvrA, a subsequent strand opening is carried out by UvrB that not only ensures that the distortion is indeed due to a damaged nucleotide but also recognizes the chemical structure of the modified nucleotides with varying efficiencies. UvrB also recruits UvrC that catalyzes both the 3'- and the 5'-incisions. Herein, we examined the interaction of UvrABC with a DNA substrate containing a single G[8,5-Me]T cross-link and compared it with T[6,4]T (the 6-4 pyrimidine-pyrimidone photoproduct) and the C8 guanine adduct of N-acetyl-2-aminofluorene (AAF). The intrastrand vicinal cross-link G[8,5-Me]T containing a covalent bond between the C8 position of guanine and the 5-methyl carbon of the 3'-thymine is formed by X-radiation, while T[6,4]T is a vicinal cross-link induced by the UV light. We also selected the AAF adduct for comparison because it represents a highly distorting monoadduct containing a covalent linkage at the C8 position of guanine. The dissociation constants (K(d)) for UvrA protein binding to DNA substrates containing the G[8,5-Me]T, T[6,4]T, and AAF adducts, as determined by gel mobility shift assays, were 3.1 +/- 1.3, 2.8 +/- 0.9, and 8.2 +/- 1.9, respectively. Although UvrA had a considerably higher affinity for G[8,5-Me]T than for the AAF adduct, the G[8,5-Me]T intrastrand cross-link was incised by UvrABC much less efficiently than the T[6,4]T intrastrand cross-link and the AAF adduct. Similar incision results also were obtained with the DNA substrates containing the adducts in a six-nucleotide bubble, indicating that the inefficient incision of G[8,5-Me]T cross-link by UvrABC was probably due to the lack of efficient recognition of the adduct by UvrB at the second step of DNA damage recognition in the E. coli NER. Indeed, as compared to T[6,4]T and AAF substrates, which clearly showed UvrB-DNA complex formation, very little UvrB complex was detectable with the G[8,5-Me]T substrate. Our result suggests that G[8,5-Me]T intrastrand cross-link is more resistant to excision repair in comparison with the T[6,4]T and AAF adducts and thus will likely persist longer in E. coli cells.

Pierisin-1 is a potent apoptosis-inducing protein found in the pupal extract of the cabbage white butterfly. Pierisin-1 catalyzes the mono(ADP-ribosyl)ation of the 2'-deoxyguanosine residue and produces a bulky adduct, N2-(ADP-ribos-1-yl)-2'-deoxyguanosine (N2-ADPR-dG) in DNA. Here, we examined the involvement of the nucleotide excision repair (NER) system in the removal of N2-ADPR-dG in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and human cells. The results of mobility shift gel electrophoresis assays using a 50-mer oligodeoxynucleotide containing a single N2-ADPR-dG showed that E. coli UvrAB proteins bound to the N2-ADPR-dG in vitro. Incubation of the adducted oligodeoxynucleotides with UvrABC resulted in the incision of the oligonucleotides in vitro. The results of filter binding and gel mobility shift assays using human XPA protein showed that XPA bound to DNA containing N2-ADPR-dGs in vitro. Finally, we introduced plasmids containing N2-ADPR-dGs into E. coli and human cells. N2-ADPR-adducted plasmids replicated l0 times and 20 times less efficiently in NER-deficient E. coli and human cells than in their wild-type counterparts, respectively. More mutations were induced in the plasmid propagated in NER-deficient cells than that in wild-type human cells. These results indicate the involvement of the NER system in the repair of N2-ADPR-dG in both E. coli and human cells.