Characterization of two independent amino acid substitutions that disrupt the DNA repair functions of the yeast Apn1

The members of the Endo IV family of DNA repair enzymes, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae Apn1 and Escherichia coli endonuclease IV, possess the capacity to cleave abasic sites and to remove 3'-blocking groups at single-strand breaks via apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease and 3'-diesterase activities, respectively. In addition, Endo IV family members are able to recognize and incise oxidative base damages on the 5'-side of such lesions. We previously identified eight amino acid substitutions that prevent E. coli endonuclease IV from repairing damaged DNA in vivo. Two of these substitutions were glycine replacements of Glu145 and Asp179. Both Glu145 and Asp179 are among nine amino acid residues within the active site pocket of endonuclease IV that coordinate the position of a trinuclear Zn cluster required for efficient phosphodiester bond cleavage. We now report the first structure-function analysis of the eukaryotic counterpart of endonuclease IV, yeast Apn1. We show that glycine substitutions at the corresponding conserved amino acid residues of yeast Apn1, i.e., Glu158 and Asp192, abolish the biological function of this enzyme. However, these Apn1 variants do not exhibit the same characteristics as the corresponding E. coli mutants. Indeed, the Apn1 Glu158Gly mutant, but not the E. coli endonuclease IV Glu145Gly mutant, is able to bind DNA. Moreover, Apn1 Asp192Gly completely lacks enzymatic activity, while the activity of the E. coli counterpart Asp179Gly is reduced by approximately 40-fold. The data suggest that although yeast Apn1 and E. coli endonuclease IV exhibit a high degree of structural and functional similarity, differences exist within the active site pockets of these two enzymes.     

Complementation of DNA repair-deficient Escherichia coli by the yeast Apn1 apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease gene

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae APN1 gene encoding an AP endonuclease/3'-diesterase was engineered in vitro for expression in Escherichia coli. The expression vector directs the synthesis in E. coli of a Mr 40,500 protein that reacts with anti-Apn1 antibodies and has the DNA-repair activities characteristic of Apn1 isolated from yeast. A band corresponding to Apn1 was observed in DNA repair activity gels only with extracts of E. coli harbouring the APN1 expression plasmid. Expression of Apn1 conferred resistance to oxidants and alkylating agents in E. coli lacking exonuclease III and endonuclease IV. For H2O2 damage, this rescue effect was correlated with the repair of oxidative lesions in the bacterial chromosome by the Apn1 protein. Thus, Apn1 can function in bacteria in a manner similar to its proposed multiple functions in yeast.     

Relationships between yeast Rad27 and Apn1 in response to apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites in DNA.

Yeast Rad27 is a 5'-->3' exonuclease and a flap endo-nuclease. Apn1 is the major apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease in yeast. The rad27 deletion mutants are highly sensitive to methylmethane sulfonate (MMS). By examining the role of Rad27 in different modes of DNA excision repair, we wish to understand why the cytotoxic effect of MMS is dramatically enhanced in the absence of Rad27. Base excision repair (BER) of uracil-containing DNA was deficient in rad27 mutant extracts in that (i) the Apn1 activity was reduced, and (ii) after DNA incision by Apn1, hydrolysis of 1-5 nucleotides 3' to the baseless sugar phosphate was deficient. Thus, some AP sites may lead to unprocessed DNA strand breaks in rad27 mutant cells. The severe MMS sensitivity of rad27 mutants is not caused by a reduction of the Apn1 activity. Surprisingly, we found that Apn1 endonuclease sensitizes rad27 mutant cells to MMS. Deleting the APN1 gene largely restored the resistance of rad27 mutants to MMS. These results suggest that unprocessed DNA strand breaks at AP sites are mainly responsible for the MMS sensitivity of rad27 mutants. In contrast, nucleotide excision repair and BER of oxidative damage were not affected in rad27 mutant extracts, indicating that Rad27 is specifically required for BER of AP sites in DNA.     

Schizosaccharomyces pombe encodes a mutated AP endonuclease 1

Mutagenic and cytotoxic apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites are among the most frequent lesions in DNA. Repair of AP sites is initiated by AP endonucleases and most organisms possess two or more of these enzymes. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has AP endonuclease 1 (Apn1) as the major enzymatic activity with AP endonuclease 2 (Apn2) being an important backup. Schizosaccharomyces pombe also encodes two potential AP endonucleases, and Apn2 has been found to be the main repair activity, while Apn1 has no, or only a limited role in AP site repair. Here we have identified a new 5' exon (exon 1) in the apn1 gene and show that the inactivity of S. pombe Apn1 is due to a nonsense mutation in the fifth codon of this new exon. Reversion of this mutation restored the AP endonuclease activity of S. pombe Apn1. Interestingly, the apn1 nonsense mutation was only found in laboratory strains derived from L972 h(-) and not in unrelated isolates of S. pombe. Since all S. pombe laboratory strains originate from L972 h(-), it appears that all experiments involving S. pombe have been conducted in an apn1(-) mutant strain with a corresponding DNA repair deficiency. These observations have implications both for future research in S. pombe and for the interpretation of previously conducted epistatis analysis.     

AP endonuclease independent repair of abasic sites in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Abasic (AP) sites are formed spontaneously and are inevitably intermediates during base excision repair of DNA base damages. AP sites are both mutagenic and cytotoxic and key enzymes for their removal are AP endonucleases. However, AP endonuclease independent repair initiated by DNA glycosylases performing β,δ-elimination cleavage of the AP sites has been described in mammalian cells. Here, we describe another AP endonuclease independent repair pathway for removal of AP sites in Schizosaccharomyces pombe that is initiated by a bifunctional DNA glycosylase, Nth1 and followed by cleavage of the baseless sugar residue by tyrosyl phosphodiesterase Tdp1. We propose that repair is completed by the action of a polynucleotide kinase, a DNA polymerase and finally a DNA ligase to seal the gap. A fission yeast double mutant of the major AP endonuclease Apn2 and Tdp1 shows synergistic increase in MMS sensitivity, substantiating that Apn2 and Tdp1 process the same substrate. These results add new knowledge to the complex cellular response to AP sites, which could be exploited in chemotherapy where synthetic lethality is a key strategy of treatment.     

Cellular role of yeast Apn1 apurinic endonuclease/3''-diesterase: repair of oxidative and alkylation DNA damage and control of spontaneous mutation.

The APN1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes the major apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease and 3'-repair DNA diesterase in yeast cell extracts. The Apn1 protein is a homolog of Escherichia coli endonuclease IV, which functions in the repair of some oxidative and alkylation damages in that organism. We show here that yeast strains lacking Apn1 (generated by targeted gene disruption or deletion-replacement) are hypersensitive to both oxidative (hydrogen peroxide and t-butylhydroperoxide) and alkylating (methyl- and ethylmethane sulfonate) agents that damage DNA. These cellular hypersensitivities are correlated with the accumulation of unrepaired damages in the chromosomal DNA of apn1 mutant yeast cells. Hydrogen peroxide-treated APN1+ but not apn1 mutant cells regenerate high-molecular-weight DNA efficiently after the treatment. The DNA strand breaks that accumulate in the Apn1-deficient mutant contain lesions that block the action of DNA polymerase but can be removed in vitro by purified Apn1. An analogous result with DNA from methylmethane sulfonate-treated cells corresponded to the accumulation of unrepaired DNA apurinic sites in the apn1 mutant cells. The rate of spontaneous mutation in apn1 mutant S. cerevisiae was 6- to 12-fold higher than that measured for wild-type yeast cells. This increase indicates that under normal growth conditions, the production of DNA damages that are targets for Apn1 is substantial and that such lesions can be mutagenic when left unrepaired.     

The role of Schizosaccharomyces pombe DNA repair enzymes Apn1p and Uve1p in the base excision repair of apurinic/apyrimidinic sites

In Schizosaccharomyces pombe the repair of apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites is mainly initiated by AP lyase activity of DNA glycosylase Nth1p. In contrast, the major AP endonuclease Apn2p functions by removing 3'-alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehyde ends induced by Nth1p, rather than by incising the AP sites. S. pombe possesses other minor AP endonuclease activities derived from Apn1p and Uve1p. In this study, we investigated the function of these two enzymes in base excision repair (BER) for methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) damage using the nth1 and apn2 mutants. Deletion of apn1 or uve1 from nth1Delta cells did not affect sensitivity to MMS. Exogenous expression of Apn1p failed to suppress the MMS sensitivity of nth1Delta cells. Although Apn1p and Uve1p incised the oligonucleotide containing an AP site analogue, these enzymes could not initiate repair of the AP sites in vivo. Despite this, expression of Apn1p partially restored the MMS sensitivity of apn2Delta cells, indicating that the enzyme functions as a 3'-phosphodiesterase to remove 3'-blocked ends. Localization of Apn1p in the nucleus and cytoplasm hints at an additional function of the enzyme other than nuclear DNA repair. Heterologous expression of Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologue of Apn1p completely restored the MMS resistance of the nth1Delta and apn2Delta cells. This result confirms a difference in the major pathway for processing the AP site between S. pombe and S. cerevisiae cells.     

A general role of the DNA glycosylase Nth1 in the abasic sites cleavage step of base excision repair in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

One of the most frequent lesions formed in cellular DNA are abasic (apurinic/apyrimidinic, AP) sites that are both cytotoxic and mutagenic, and must be removed efficiently to maintain genetic stability. It is generally believed that the repair of AP sites is initiated by the AP endonucleases; however, an alternative pathway seems to prevail in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. A mutant lacking the DNA glycosylase/AP lyase Nth1 is very sensitive to the alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), suggesting a role for Nth1 in base excision repair (BER) of alkylation damage. Here, we have further evaluated the role of Nth1 and the second putative S.pombe AP endonuclease Apn2, in abasic site repair. The deletion of the apn2 open reading frame dramatically increased the sensitivity of the yeast cells to MMS, also demonstrating that the Apn2 has an important function in the BER pathway. The deletion of nth1 in the apn2 mutant strain partially relieves the MMS sensitivity of the apn2 single mutant, indicating that the Apn2 and Nth1 act in the same pathway for the repair of abasic sites. Analysis of the AP site cleavage in whole cell extracts of wild-type and mutant strains showed that the AP lyase activity of Nth1 represents the major AP site incision activity in vitro. Assays with DNA substrates containing base lesions removed by monofunctional DNA glycosylases Udg and MutY showed that Nth1 will also cleave the abasic sites formed by these enzymes and thus act downstream of these enzymes in the BER pathway. We suggest that the main function of Apn2 in BER is to remove the resulting 3′-blocking termini following AP lyase cleavage by Nth1.     

Isolation of cDNA clones encoding a human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease that corrects DNA repair and mutagenesis defects in E. coli xth (exonuclease III) mutants.

Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites in cellular DNA are considered to be both cytotoxic and mutagenic, and can arise spontaneously or following exposure to DNA damaging agents. We have isolated cDNA clones which encode an endonuclease, designated HAP1 (human AP endonuclease 1), that catalyses the initial step in AP site repair in human cells. The predicted HAP1 protein has an Mr of 35,500 and shows striking sequence similarity (93% identity) to BAP 1, a bovine AP endonuclease enzyme. Significant sequence homology to two bacterial DNA repair enzymes, E. coli exonuclease III and S. pneumoniae ExoA proteins, and to Drosophila Rrp1 protein is also apparent. We have expressed the HAP1 cDNA in E. coli mutants lacking exonuclease III (xth), endonuclease IV (nfo), or both AP endonucleases. The HAP1 protein can substitute for exonuclease III, but not for endonuclease IV, in respect of some, but not all, DNA repair and mutagenesis functions. Moreover, a dut xth (ts) double mutant, which is nonviable at 42 degrees C due to an accumulation of unrepaired AP sites following excision of uracil from DNA, was rescued by expression of the HAP1 cDNA. These results indicate that AP endonucleases show remarkable conservation of both primary sequence and function. We would predict that the HAP1 protein is important in human cells for protection against the toxic and mutagenic effects of DNA damaging agents.     

Analysis of class II (hydrolytic) and class I (beta-lyase) apurinic/apyrimidinic endonucleases with a synthetic DNA substrate.

We have developed simple and sensitive assays that distinguish the main classes of apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonucleases: Class I enzymes that cleave on the 3' side of AP sites by beta-elimination, and Class II enzymes that cleave by hydrolysis on the 5' side. The distinction of the two types depends on the use of a synthetic DNA polymer that contains AP sites with 5'-[32P]phosphate residues. Using this approach, we now show directly that Escherichia coli endonuclease IV and human AP endonuclease are Class II enzymes, as inferred previously on the basis of indirect assays. The assay method does not exhibit significant interference by nonspecific nucleases or primary amines, which allows the ready determination of different AP endonuclease activities in crude cell extracts. In this way, we show that virtually all of the Class II AP endonuclease activity in E. coli can be accounted for by two enzymes: exonuclease III and endonuclease IV. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Class II AP endonuclease activity is totally dependent on a single enzyme, the Apn1 protein, but there are probably multiple Class I enzymes. The versatility and ease of our approach should be useful for characterizing this important class of DNA repair enzymes in diverse systems.     

Identification of two apurinic/apyrimidinic endonucleases from Caenorhabditis elegans by cross-species complementation

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant strain YW778, which lacks apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease and 3'-diesterase DNA repair activities, displays high levels of spontaneous mutations and hypersensitivities to several DNA damaging agents. We searched a cDNA library derived from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans for gene products that would rescue the DNA repair defects of this yeast mutant. We isolated two genes, apn-1 and exo-3, encoding proteins that have not been previously characterized. Both APN-1 and EXO-3 share significant identity with the functionally established Escherichia coli AP endonucleases, endonuclease IV and exonuclease III, respectively. Strain YW778 expressing either apn-1 or exo-3 shows parental levels of spontaneous mutations, as well as resistance to DNA damaging agents that produce AP sites and DNA single strand breaks with blocked 3'-ends. Using an in vitro assay, we show that the apn-1 and exo-3 genes independently express AP endonuclease activity in the yeast mutant. We further characterize the EXO-3 protein and three of its mutated variants E68A, D190A, and H279A. The E68A variant retains both AP endonuclease and 3'-diesterase repair activities in vitro, yet severely lacks the ability to protect strain YW778 from spontaneous and drug-induced DNA lesions, suggesting that this variant E68A may possess a defect that interferes with the repair process in vivo. In contrast, D190A and H279A are completely devoid of DNA repair activities and fail to rescue the genetic instability of strain YW778. Our data strongly suggest that EXO-3 and APN-1 are enzymes possessing intrinsic AP endonuclease and 3'-diesterase activities.     

Normal processing of AP sites in Apn1-deficient Saccharomyces cerevisiae is restored by Escherichia coli genes expressing either exonuclease III or endonuclease III

Escherichia coli exonuclease III and endonuclease III are two distinct DNA-repair enzymes that can cleave apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites by different mechanisms. While the AP endonuclease activity of exonuclease III generates a 3'-hydroxyl group at AP sites, the AP lyase activity of endonuclease III produces a 3'-α,β unsaturated aldehyde that prevents DNA-repair synthesis. Saccharomyces cerevisiae Apn1 is the major AP endonuclease/3'-diesterase that also produces a 3'-hydroxyl group at the AP site, but it is unrelated to either exonuclease III or endonuclease III. apn1 deletion mutants are unable to repair AP sites generated by the alkylating agent methyl methane sulphonate and display a spontaneous mutator phenotype. This work shows that either exonuclease III or endonuclease III can functionally replace yeast Apn1 in the repair of AP sites. Two conclusions can be derived from these findings. The first of these conclusions is that yeast cells can complete the repair of AP sites even though they are cleaved by AP lyase. This implies that AP lyase can contribute significantly to the repair of AP sites and that yeast cells have the ability to process the α,β unsaturated aldehyde produced by endonuclease III. The second of these conclusions is that unrepaired AP sites are strictly the cause of the high spontaneous mutation rate in the apn1 deletion mutant.     

Base excision repair activities required for yeast to attain a full chronological life span

The chronological life span of yeast, the survival of stationary (G0) cells over time, provides a model for investigating certain of the factors that may influence the aging of non-dividing cells and tissues in higher organisms. This study measured the effects of defined defects in the base excision repair (BER) system for DNA repair on this life span. Stationary yeast survives longer when it is pre-grown on respiratory, as compared to fermentative (glucose), media. It is also less susceptible to viability loss as the result of defects in DNA glycosylase/AP lyases (Ogg1p, Ntg1p, Ntg2p), apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonucleases (Apn1p, Apn2p) and monofunctional DNA glycosylase (Mag1p). Whereas single BER glycosylase/AP lyase defects exerted little influence over such optimized G0 survival, this survival was severely shortened with the loss of two or more such enzymes. Equally, the apn1delta and apn2delta single gene deletes survived as well as the wild type, whereas a apn1delta apn2delta double mutant totally lacking in any AP endonuclease activity survived poorly. Both this shortened G0 survival and the enhanced mutagenicity of apn1delta apn2delta cells were however rescued by the over-expression of either Apn1p or Apn2p. The results highlight the vital importance of BER in the prevention of mutation accumulation and the attainment of the full yeast chronological life span. They also reveal an appreciable overlap in the G0 maintenance functions of the different BER DNA glycosylases and AP endonucleases.     

Roles of base excision repair enzymes Nth1p and Apn2p from Schizosaccharomyces pombe in processing alkylation and oxidative DNA damage

Schizosaccharomyces pombe Nthpl, an ortholog of the endonuclease III family, is the sole bifunctional DNA glycosylase encoded in its genome. The enzyme removes oxidative pyrimidine and incises 3' to the apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site, leaving 3'-alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehyde. Analysis of nth1 cDNA revealed an intronless structure including 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions. An Nth1p-green fluorescent fusion protein was predominantly localized in the nuclei of yeast cells, indicating a nuclear function. Deletion of nth1 confirmed that Nth1p is responsible for the majority of activity for thymine glycol and AP site incision in the absence of metal ions, while nth1 mutants exhibit hypersensitivity to methylmethanesulfonate (MMS). Complementation of sensitivity by heterologous expression of various DNA glycosylases showed that the methyl-formamidopyrimidine (me-fapy) and/or AP sites are plausible substrates for Nth1p in repairing MMS damage. Apn2p, the major AP endonuclease in S. pombe, also greatly contributes to the repair of MMS damage. Deletion of nth1 from an apn2 mutant resulted in tolerance to MMS damage, indicating that Nth1p-induced 3'-blocks are responsible for MMS sensitivity in apn2 mutants. Overexpression of Apn2p in nth1 mutants failed to suppress MMS sensitivity. These results indicate that Nth1p, not Apn2p, primarily incises AP sites and that the resultant 3'-blocks are removed by the 3'-phosphodiesterase activity of Apn2p. Nth1p is dispensable for cell survival against low levels of oxidative stress, but wild-type yeast became more sensitive than the nth1 mutant at high levels. Overexpression of Nth1p in heavily damaged cells probably induced cell death via the formation of 3'-blocked single-strand breaks.     

Characterization of amino acid substitutions that severely alter the DNA repair functions of Escherichia coli endonuclease IV

Escherichia coli endo IV is a bifunctional DNA repair protein, i.e., possessing both apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease and 3'-diesterase activities. The former activity cleaves AP sites, whereas the latter one removes a variety of 3'-blocking groups present at single-strand breaks in damaged DNA. However, the precise reaction mechanism by which endo IV cleaves DNA lesions is unknown. To probe this mechanism, we have identified eight amino acid substitutions that alter endo IV function in vivo. Seven of these mutant proteins are variably expressed in E. coli and, when purified, show a 10-60-fold reduction in both AP endonuclease and 3'-diesterase activities. The most severe defect was observed with the one remaining mutant (E145G) that showed normal protein expression. This mutant has lost the ability to bind double-stranded DNA and showed a dramatic 150-fold reduction in enzymatic activities. We conclude that the AP endonuclease and the 3'-diesterase activities of endo IV are associated with a single active site, that is perhaps remote from the DNA binding domain.     

Repair of DNA strand breaks by the overlapping functions of lesion-specific and non-lesion-specific DNA 3' phosphatases

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonucleases Apn1 and Apn2 act as alternative pathways for the removal of various 3'-terminal blocking lesions from DNA strand breaks and in the repair of abasic sites, which both result from oxidative DNA damage. Here we demonstrate that Tpp1, a homologue of the 3' phosphatase domain of polynucleotide kinase, is a third member of this group of redundant 3' processing enzymes. Unlike Apn1 and Apn2, Tpp1 is specific for the removal of 3' phosphates at strand breaks and does not possess more general 3' phosphodiesterase, exonuclease, or AP endonuclease activities. Deletion of TPP1 in an apn1 apn2 mutant background dramatically increased the sensitivity of the double mutant to DNA damage caused by H2O2 and bleomycin but not to damage caused by methyl methanesulfonate. The triple mutant was also deficient in the repair of 3' phosphate lesions left by Tdp1-mediated cleavage of camptothecin-stabilized Top1-DNA covalent complexes. Finally, the tpp1 apn1 apn2 triple mutation displayed synthetic lethality in combination with rad52, possibly implicating postreplication repair in the removal of unrepaired 3'-terminal lesions resulting from endogenous damage. Taken together, these results demonstrate a clear role for the lesion-specific enzyme, Tpp1, in the repair of a subset of DNA strand breaks.     

The 3'->5' exonuclease of Apn1 provides an alternative pathway to repair 7,8-dihydro-8-oxodeoxyguanosine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The 8-oxo-7,8-dihydrodeoxyguanosine (8oxoG), a major mutagenic DNA lesion, results either from direct oxidation of guanines or misincorporation of 8oxodGTP by DNA polymerases. At present, little is known about the mechanisms preventing the mutagenic action of 8oxodGTP in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Herein, we report for the first time the identification of an alternative repair pathway for 8oxoG residues initiated by S. cerevisiae AP endonuclease Apn1, which is endowed with a robust progressive 3'-->5' exonuclease activity towards duplex DNA. We show that yeast cell extracts, as well as purified Apn1, excise misincorporated 8oxoG, providing a damage-cleansing function to DNA synthesis. Consistent with these results, deletion of both OGG1 encoding 8oxoG-DNA glycosylase and APN1 causes nearly 46-fold synergistic increase in the spontaneous mutation rate, and this enhanced mutagenesis is primarily due to G . C to T . A transversions. Expression of the bacterial 8oxodGTP triphosphotase MutT in the apn1Delta ogg1Delta mutant reduces the mutagenesis. Taken together, our results indicate that Apn1 is involved in an S. cerevisiae 8-oxoguanine-DNA glycosylase (Ogg1)-independent repair pathway for 8oxoG residues. Interestingly, the human major AP endonuclease, Ape1, also exhibits similar exonuclease activity towards 8oxoG residues, raising the possibility that this enzyme could participate in the prevention of mutations that would otherwise result from the incorporation of 8oxodGTP.     

A new Schizosaccharomyces pombe base excision repair mutant,nth1, reveals overlapping pathways for repair of DNA base damage

Endonuclease III (Nth) enzyme from Escherichia coli is involved in base excision repair of oxidised pyrimidine residues in DNA. The Schizosaccharomyces pombe Nth1 protein is a sequence and functional homologue of E. coli Nth, possessing both DNA glycosylase and apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) lyase activity. Here, we report the construction and characterization of the S. pombe nth1 mutant. The nth1 mutant exhibited no enhanced sensitivity to oxidising agents, UV or gamma-irradiation, but was hypersensitive to the alkylating agent methyl methanesulphonate (MMS). Analysis of base excision from DNA exposed to [3H]methyl-N-nitrosourea showed that the purified Nth1 enzyme did not remove alkylated bases such as 3-methyladenine and 7-methylguanine whereas methyl-formamidopyrimidine was excised efficiently. The repair of AP sites in S. pombe has previously been shown to be independent of Apn1-like AP endonuclease activity, and the main reason for the MMS sensitivity of nth1 cells appears to be their lack of AP lyase activity. The nth1 mutant also exhibited elevated frequencies of spontaneous mitotic intrachromosomal recombination, which is a phenotype shared by the MMS-hypersensitive DNA repair mutants rad2, rhp55 and NER repair mutants rad16, rhp14, rad13 and swi10. Epistasis analyses of nth1 and these DNA repair mutants suggest that several DNA damage repair/tolerance pathways participate in the processing of alkylation and spontaneous DNA damage in S. pombe.     

Characterisation of new substrate specificities of Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae AP endonucleases

Despite the progress in understanding the base excision repair (BER) pathway it is still unclear why known mutants deficient in DNA glycosylases that remove oxidised bases are not sensitive to oxidising agents. One of the back-up repair pathways for oxidative DNA damage is the nucleotide incision repair (NIR) pathway initiated by two homologous AP endonucleases: the Nfo protein from Escherichia coli and Apn1 protein from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These endonucleases nick oxidatively damaged DNA in a DNA glycosylase-independent manner, providing the correct ends for DNA synthesis coupled to repair of the remaining 5′-dangling nucleotide. NIR provides an advantage compared to DNA glycosylase-mediated BER, because AP sites, very toxic DNA glycosylase products, do not form. Here, for the first time, we have characterised the substrate specificity of the Apn1 protein towards 5,6-dihydropyrimidine, 5-hydroxy-2′-deoxyuridine and 2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-N-methylformamidopyrimidine deoxynucleotide. Detailed kinetic comparisons of Nfo, Apn1 and various DNA glycosylases using different DNA substrates were made. The apparent K_m and k_cat/K_m values of the reactions suggest that in vitro DNA glycosylase/AP lyase is somewhat more efficient than the AP endonuclease. However, in vivo, using cell-free extracts from paraquat-induced E.coli and from S.cerevisiae, we show that NIR is one of the major pathways for repair of oxidative DNA base damage.