Complexes of nuclear DNA-polymerases with 3'----5'-exonucleases from the rat liver

"Editing" 3'----5' exonuclease activity of DNA polymerases corrects replication errors. This activity associated with procaryotic DNA polymerases is not intrinsic to purified mammalian DNA polymerases. By means of extraction and subsequent gel filtration, several subspecies of complexes of 3'----5' exonuclease (E.C. 3.1.4.26) with DNA polymerases alpha, beta (E.C. 2.7.7.7) and some other proteins were isolated from chromatin, nucleoplasm, nuclear membrane, and cytosol. Complexes containing 3'----5' exonuclease manifest from 40 to 70% of total DNA polymerase activity revealed in different compartments of a hepatocyte. Molecular masses of the complexes amount from 250 to 1500 kDa They dissociate as a result of solution hydrophobization. DNA polymerase alpha activity enhances 5--8 folds during cell transition from G0 to S-period. The value of the ratio of 3'----5' exonuclease activity of different complexes to their DNA polymerase activity varies from 0.5 to 12. Other cases of discovery of the complexes of DNA polymerases with 3'----5' exonucleases are discussed. It is suggested that the absence of 3'----5' exonuclease active site in the DNA polymerase polypeptide is compensated by the complex formation of the corresponding enzymes.     

Binding of captan to DNA polymerase I from Escherichia coli and the concomitant effect on 5'----3' exonuclease activity

Captan (N-[(trichloromethyl)thio]-4-cyclohexene-1,2-dicarboximide) was shown to bind to DNA polymerase I from Escherichia coli. The ratio of [14C] captan bound to DNA pol I was 1:1 as measured by filter binding studies and sucrose gradient analysis. Preincubation of enzyme with polynucleotide prevented the binding of captan, but preincubation of enzyme with dGTP did not. Conversely, when the enzyme was preincubated with captan, neither polynucleotide nor dGTP binding was blocked. The modification of the enzyme by captan was described by an irreversible second-order rate process with a rate of 68 +/- 0.7 M-1 s-1. The interaction of captan with DNA pol I altered each of the three catalytic functions. The 3'----5' exonuclease and polymerase activities were inhibited, and the 5'----3' exonuclease activity was enhanced. In order to study the 5'----3' exonuclease activity more closely, [3H]hpBR322 (DNA-[3H]RNA hybrid) was prepared from pBR322 plasmid DNA and used as a specific substrate for 5'----3' exonuclease activity. When either DNA pol I or polynucleotide was preincubated with 100 microM captan, 5'----3' exonuclease activity exhibited a doubling of reaction rate as compared to the untreated sample. When 100 microM captan was added to the reaction in progress, 5'----3' exonuclease activity was enhanced to 150% of the control value. Collectively, these data support the hypothesis that captan acts on DNA pol I by irreversibly binding in the template-primer binding site associated with polymerase and 3'----5' exonuclease activities. It is also shown that the chemical reaction between DNA pol I and a single captan molecule proceeds through a Michaelis complex.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Aphidicolin inhibits DNA polymerizing activity but not nucleolytic activity of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase II.

We have purified the DNA polymerase II of Escherichia coli from the recombinant strain carrying the plasmid which encodes the polB gene. We confirmed that the purified protein, of molecular weight 90,000, possesses a 3'----5' exonuclease activity in addition to DNA polymerizing activity in a single polypeptide. Its DNA polymerizing activity was sensitive to the drug aphidicoline, which is a specific and direct inhibitor of the alpha-like DNA polymerases including eukaryotic replicative DNA polymerases. Aphidicolin had no detectable effect on the 3'----5' exonuclease activity. The inhibition by aphidicolin on the polymerizing activity of polymerase II was competitive with respect to dNTP and uncompetitive with respect to template DNA. This mode of action is the same as that on eukaryotic DNA polymerase alpha. The apparent Ki value calculated from Lineweaver-Burk plots was 55.6 microM.     

Polymerization activity of an alpha-like DNA polymerase requires a conserved 3'-5' exonuclease active site.

Most DNA polymerases are multifunctional proteins that possess both polymerizing and exonucleolytic activities. For Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I and its relatives, polymerase and exonuclease activities reside on distinct, separable domains of the same polypeptide. The catalytic subunits of the alpha-like DNA polymerase family share regions of sequence homology with the 3'-5' exonuclease active site of DNA polymerase I; in certain alpha-like DNA polymerases, these regions of homology have been shown to be important for exonuclease activity. This finding has led to the hypothesis that alpha-like DNA polymerases also contain a distinct 3'-5' exonuclease domain. We have introduced conservative substitutions into a 3'-5' exonuclease active site homology in the gene encoding herpes simplex virus DNA polymerase, an alpha-like polymerase. Two mutants were severely impaired for viral DNA replication and polymerase activity. The mutants were not detectably affected in the ability of the polymerase to interact with its accessory protein, UL42, or to colocalize in infected cell nuclei with the major viral DNA-binding protein, ICP8, suggesting that the mutation did not exert global effects on protein folding. The results raise the possibility that there is a fundamental difference between alpha-like DNA polymerases and E. coli DNA polymerase I, with less distinction between 3'-5' exonuclease and polymerase functions in alpha-like DNA polymerases.     

The DNA polymerase-encoding gene of Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage SPO1.

The bacteriophage SPO1 DNA polymerase-encoding gene, which contains a self-splicing intron, has been sequenced and its amino acid (aa) sequence has been deduced. The aa sequence of SPO1 DNA polymerase shows a high degree of similarity with that of DNA polymerase I from Escherichia coli (Po1I). Alignment with the sequences of Po1I, and the phi 29 and SPO1 DNA polymerases indicate that the aa residues that have been implicated in 3'----5' exonuclease activities are conserved.     

Primary structure of T4 DNA polymerase. Evolutionary relatedness to eucaryotic and other procaryotic DNA polymerases

Bacteriophage T4 gene 43 codes for the viral DNA polymerase. We report here the sequence of gene 43 and about 70 nucleotides of 5'- and 3'-flanking sequences, determined by both DNA and RNA sequencing. We have also purified T4 DNA polymerase from T4 infected Escherichia coli and from E. coli containing a gene 43 overexpression vector. A major portion of the deduced amino acid sequence has been verified by peptide mapping and sequencing of the purified DNA polymerase. All these results are consistent with T4 DNA polymerase having 898 amino acids with a calculated Mr = 103,572. Comparison of the primary structure of T4 DNA polymerase with the sequence of other procaryotic and eucaryotic DNA polymerases indicates that T4 DNA polymerase has regions of striking similarity with animal virus DNA polymerases and human DNA polymerase alpha. Surprisingly, T4 DNA polymerase shares only limited similarity with E. coli polymerase I and no detectable similarity with T7 DNA polymerase. Based on the location of specific mutations in T4 DNA polymerase and the conservation of particular sequences in T4 and eucaryotic DNA polymerases, we propose that the NH2-terminal half of T4 DNA polymerase forms a domain that carries out the 3'----5' exonuclease activity whereas the COOH-terminal half of the polypeptide contains the dNTP-binding site and is necessary for DNA synthesis.     

Evidence favouring the hypothesis of a conserved 3'-5' exonuclease active site in DNA-dependent DNA polymerases.

The complete amino acid (aa) alignment of the N-terminal domain of 33 DNA-dependent DNA polymerases encompassing the putative segments Exo I, Exo II and Exo III, proposed by Bernad et al. [Cell 59 (1989) 219-228] to form a conserved 3'-5' exonuclease active site in prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA polymerases, allowed us to identify and/or correct some of the most conserved segments (Exo I, II and III) in certain DNA polymerases. In particular, the aa region of T4 DNA polymerase and other eukaryotic (viral and cellular) DNA polymerases previously proposed as Exo I segment 1, did not align with the Exo I segment of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I (PolI)-like and protein-primed DNA polymerases; instead, a new conserved region of aa similarity was identified in T4 DNA polymerase and eukaryotic (viral and cellular) DNA polymerases as their corresponding Exo I segment. Therefore, according to our alignment, the recently reported T4 DNA polymerase site-directed mutants, D189A and E191A [Reha-Krantz et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88 (1991) 2417-2421], do not correspond to what we now consider the critical Exo I motif of PolI. As discussed in this communication, the functional importance of conserved segments Exo I, Exo II and Exo III is supported by site-directed mutagenesis in PolI, and in phi 29, T7 and delta(Sc) DNA polymerases. Furthermore, genetically selected T4 DNA polymerase mutator mutants form two main clusters, centered in the conserved segment Exo III and in the newly identified Exo I segment.     

Mutations in the spacer region of Drosophila mitochondrial DNA polymerase affect DNA binding, processivity, and the balance between Pol and Exo function

The catalytic subunit (alpha) of mitochondrial DNA polymerase (pol gamma) shares conserved DNA polymerase and 3'-5' exonuclease active site motifs with Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I and bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase. A major difference between the prokaryotic and mitochondrial proteins is the size and sequence of the region between the exonuclease and DNA polymerase domains, referred to as the spacer in pol gamma-alpha. Four gamma-specific conserved sequence elements are located within the spacer region of the catalytic subunit in eukaryotic species from yeast to humans. To elucidate the functional roles of the spacer region, we pursued deletion and site-directed mutagenesis of Drosophila pol gamma. Mutant proteins were expressed from baculovirus constructs in insect cells, purified to near homogeneity, and analyzed biochemically. We find that mutations in three of the four conserved sequence elements within the spacer alter enzyme activity, processivity, and/or DNA binding affinity. In addition, several mutations affect differentially DNA polymerase and exonuclease activity and/or functional interactions with mitochondrial single-stranded DNA-binding protein. Based on these results and crystallographic evidence showing that the template-primer binds in a cleft between the exonuclease and DNA polymerase domains in family A DNA polymerases, we propose that conserved sequences within the spacer of pol gamma may position the substrate with respect to the enzyme catalytic domains.     

On the fidelity of DNA replication: herpes DNA polymerase and its associated exonuclease.

Procaryotic DNA polymerases contain an associated 3'----5' exonuclease activity which provides a proofreading function and contributes substantially to replication fidelity. DNA polymerases of the eucaryotic herpes-type viruses contain similar associated exonuclease activities. We have investigated the fidelity of polymerases purified from wild type herpes simplex virus, as well as from mutator and antimutator strains. On synthetic templates, the herpes enzymes show greater relative exonuclease activities, and greater ability to excise a terminal mismatched base, than procaryotic DNA polymerases which proofread. On a phi X174 natural DNA template, the herpes enzymes are more accurate than purified eucaryotic DNA polymerases; the error rate is similar to E. coli polymerase I. However, conditions which abnegate proofreading by E. coli polymerase I have little effect on the herpes enzymes. We conclude that either these viral polymerases are accurate in the absence of proofreading, or the conditions examined have little effect on proofreading by the herpes DNA polymerases.     

Purification and properties of 2-aminoadipate: 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase from bovine kidney.

Escherichia coli endonuclease IV hydrolyses the C(3')-O-P bond 5' to a 3'-terminal base-free deoxyribose. It also hydrolyses the C(3')-O-P bond 5' to a 3'-terminal base-free 2',3'-unsaturated sugar produced by nicking 3' to an AP (apurinic or apyrimidinic) site by beta-elimination; this explains why the unproductive end produced by beta-elimination is converted by the enzyme into a 3'-OH end able to prime DNA synthesis. The action of E. coli endonuclease IV on an internal AP site is more complex: in a first step the C(3')-O-P bond 5' to the AP site is hydrolysed, but in a second step the 5'-terminal base-free deoxyribose 5'-phosphate is lost. This loss is due to a spontaneous beta-elimination reaction in which the enzyme plays no role. The extreme lability of the C(3')-O-P bond 3' to a 5'-terminal AP site contrasts with the relative stability of the same bond 3' to an internal AP site; in the absence of beta-elimination catalysts, at 37 degrees C the half-life of the former is about 2 h and that of the latter 200 h. The extreme lability of a 5'-terminal AP site means that, after nicking 5' to an AP site with an AP endonuclease, in principle no 5'----3' exonuclease is needed to excise the AP site: it falls off spontaneously. We have repaired DNA containing AP sites with an AP endonuclease (E. coli endonuclease IV or the chromatin AP endonuclease from rat liver), a DNA polymerase devoid of 5'----3' exonuclease activity (Klenow polymerase or rat liver DNA polymerase beta) and a DNA ligase. Catalysts of beta-elimination, such as spermine, can drastically shorten the already brief half-life of a 5'-terminal AP site; it is what very probably happens in the chromatin of eukaryotic cells. E. coli endonuclease IV also probably participates in the repair of strand breaks produced by ionizing radiations: as E. coli endonuclease VI/exonuclease III, it is a 3'-phosphoglycollatase and also a 3'-phosphatase. The 3'-phosphatase activity of E. coli endonuclease VI/exonuclease III and E. coli endonuclease IV can also be useful when the AP site has been excised by a beta delta-elimination reaction.