Human endonuclease VIII-like (NEIL) proteins in the giant DNA Mimivirus

Endonuclease VIII (Nei), which recognizes and repairs oxidized pyrimidines in the base excision repair (BER) pathway, is sparsely distributed among both the prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Recently, we and others identified three homologs of Escherichia coli endonuclease VIII-like (NEIL) proteins in humans. Here, we report identification of human NEIL homologs in Mimivirus, a giant DNA virus that infects Acanthamoeba. Characterization of the two mimiviral homologs, MvNei1 and MvNei2, showed that they share not only sequence homology but also substrate specificity with the human NEIL proteins, that is, they recognize oxidized pyrimidines in duplex DNA and in bubble substrates and as well show 5'2-deoxyribose-5-phosphate lyase (dRP lyase) activity. However, unlike MvNei1 and the human NEIL proteins, MvNei2 preferentially cleaves oxidized pyrimidines in single stranded DNA forming products with a different end chemistry. Interestingly, opposite base specificity of MvNei1 resembles human NEIL proteins for pyrimidine base damages whereas it resembles E. coli formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (Fpg) for guanidinohydantoin (Gh), an oxidation product of 8-oxoguanine. Finally, a conserved arginine residue in the "zincless finger" motif, previously identified in human NEIL1, is required for the DNA glycosylase activity of MvNei1. Thus, Mimivirus represents the first example of a virus to carry oxidative DNA glycosylases with substrate specificities that resemble human NEIL proteins. Based on the sequence homology to the human NEIL homologs and novel bacterial NEIL homologs identified here, we predict that Mimivirus may have acquired the DNA glycosylases through the host-mediated lateral transfer from either a bacterium or from vertebrates.     

Plant and fungal Fpg homologs are formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylases but not 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylases

Formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (Fpg) and endonuclease VIII (Nei) share an overall common three-dimensional structure and primary amino acid sequence in conserved structural motifs but have different substrate specificities, with bacterial Fpg proteins recognizing formamidopyrimidines, 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) and its oxidation products guanidinohydantoin (Gh), and spiroiminodihydantoin (Sp) and bacterial Nei proteins recognizing primarily damaged pyrimidines. In addition to bacteria, Fpg has also been found in plants, while Nei is sparsely distributed among the prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Phylogenetic analysis of Fpg and Nei DNA glycosylases demonstrated, with 95% bootstrap support, a clade containing exclusively sequences from plants and fungi. Members of this clade exhibit sequence features closer to bacterial Fpg proteins than to any protein designated as Nei based on biochemical studies. The Candida albicans (Cal) Fpg DNA glycosylase and a previously studied Arabidopsis thaliana (Ath) Fpg DNA glycosylase were expressed, purified and characterized. In oligodeoxynucleotides, the preferred glycosylase substrates for both enzymes were Gh and Sp, the oxidation products of 8-oxoG, with the best substrate being a site of base loss. GC/MS analysis of bases released from γ-irradiated DNA show FapyAde and FapyGua to be excellent substrates as well. Studies carried out with oligodeoxynucleotide substrates demonstrate that both enzymes discriminated against A opposite the base lesion, characteristic of Fpg glycosylases. Single turnover kinetics with oligodeoxynucleotides showed that the plant and fungal glycosylases were most active on Gh and Sp, less active on oxidized pyrimidines and exhibited very little or no activity on 8-oxoG. Surprisingly, the activity of AthFpg1 on an AP site opposite a G was extremely robust with a k_obs of over 2500 min^?1.     

Structural characterization of viral ortholog of human DNA glycosylase NEIL1 bound to thymine glycol or 5-hydroxyuracil-containing DNA

Thymine glycol (Tg) and 5-hydroxyuracil (5-OHU) are common oxidized products of pyrimidines, which are recognized and cleaved by two DNA glycosylases of the base excision repair pathway, endonuclease III (Nth) and endonuclease VIII (Nei). Although there are several structures of Nei enzymes unliganded or bound to an abasic (apurinic or apyrimidinic) site, until now there was no structure of an Nei bound to a DNA lesion. Mimivirus Nei1 (MvNei1) is an ortholog of human NEIL1, which was previously crystallized bound to DNA containing an apurinic site (Imamura, K., Wallace, S. S., and Doublié, S. (2009) J. Biol. Chem. 284, 26174-26183). Here, we present two crystal structures of MvNei1 bound to two oxidized pyrimidines, Tg and 5-OHU. Both lesions are flipped out from the DNA helix. Tg is in the anti conformation, whereas 5-OHU adopts both anti and syn conformations in the glycosylase active site. Only two protein side chains (Glu-6 and Tyr-253) are within hydrogen-bonding contact with either damaged base, and mutating these residues did not markedly affect the glycosylase activity. This finding suggests that lesion recognition by Nei occurs before the damaged base flips into the glycosylase active site.     

Identification of a zinc finger domain in the human NEIL2 (Nei-like-2) protein

The recently identified human NEIL2 (Nei-like-2) protein, a DNA glycosylase/AP lyase specific for oxidatively damaged bases, shares structural features and reaction mechanism with the Escherichia coli DNA glycosylases, Nei and Fpg. Amino acid sequence analysis of NEIL2 suggested it to have a zinc finger-like Nei/Fpg. However, the Cys-X2-His-X16-Cys-X2-Cys (CHCC) motif present near the C terminus of NEIL2 is distinct from the zinc finger motifs of Nei/Fpg, which are of the C4 type. Here we show the presence of an equimolar amount of zinc in NEIL2 by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Individual mutations of Cys-291, His-295, Cys-315, and Cys-318, candidate residues for coordinating zinc, inactivated the enzyme by abolishing its DNA binding activity. H295A and C318S mutants were also shown to lack bound zinc, and a significant change in their secondary structure was revealed by CD spectra analysis. Molecular modeling revealed Arg-310 of NEIL2 to be a critical residue in its zinc binding pocket, which is highly conserved throughout the Fpg/Nei family. A R310Q mutation significantly reduced the activity of NEIL2. We thereby conclude that the zinc finger motif in NEIL2 is essential for its structural integrity and enzyme activity.     

Genome and cancer single nucleotide polymorphisms of the human NEIL1 DNA glycosylase: Activity,structure, and the effect of editing

The repair of free-radical oxidative DNA damage is carried out by lesion-specific DNA glycosylases as the first step of the highly conserved base excision repair (BER) pathway. In humans, three orthologs of the prototypical endonuclease VIII (Nei), the Nei-like NEIL1-3 enzymes are involved in the repair of oxidized DNA lesions. In recent years, several genome and cancer single-nucleotide polymorphic variants of the NEIL1 glycosylase have been identified. In this study we characterized four variants of human NEIL1: S82C, G83D, P208S, and ΔE28, and tested their ability to excise pyrimidine-derived lesions such as thymine glycol (Tg), 5-hydroxyuracil (5-OHU), and dihydrouracil (DHU) and the purine-derived guanidinohydantoin (Gh), spiroiminodihydantoin 1 (Sp1), and methylated 2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-formamidopyrimidine (MeFapyG). The P208S variant has near wild-type activity on all substrates tested. The S82C and ΔE28 variants exhibit decreased Tg excision compared to wild-type. G83D displays little to no activity with any of the substrates tested, with the exception of Gh and Sp1. Human NEIL1 is known to undergo editing whereby the lysine at position 242 is recoded into an arginine. The non-edited form of NEIL1 is more efficient at cleaving Tg than the R242 form, but the G83D variant does not cleave Tg regardless of the edited status of NEIL1. The corresponding G86D variant in Mimivirus Nei1 similarly lacks glycosylase activity. A structure of a G86D–DNA complex reveals a rearrangement in the β4/5 loop comprising Leu84, the highly-conserved void-filling residue, thereby providing a structural rationale for the decreased glycosylase activity of the glycine to aspartate variant.     

Single Qdot-labeled glycosylase molecules use a wedge amino acid to probe for lesions while scanning along DNA

Within the base excision repair (BER) pathway, the DNA N-glycosylases are responsible for locating and removing the majority of oxidative base damages. Endonuclease III (Nth), formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (Fpg) and endonuclease VIII (Nei) are members of two glycosylase families: the helix–hairpin–helix (HhH) superfamily and the Fpg/Nei family. The search mechanisms employed by these two families of glycosylases were examined using a single molecule assay to image quantum dot (Qdot)-labeled glycosylases interacting with YOYO-1 stained λ-DNA molecules suspended between 5 µm silica beads. The HhH and Fpg/Nei families were found to have a similar diffusive search mechanism described as a continuum of motion, in keeping with rotational diffusion along the DNA molecule ranging from slow, sub-diffusive to faster, unrestricted diffusion. The search mechanism for an Fpg variant, F111A, lacking a phenylalanine wedge residue no longer displayed slow, sub-diffusive motion compared to wild type, suggesting that Fpg base interrogation may be accomplished by Phe¹¹¹ insertion.     

Structural Characterization of a Viral NEIL1 Ortholog Unliganded and Bound to Abasic Site-containing DNA

Endonuclease VIII (Nei) is a DNA glycosylase of the base excision repair pathway that recognizes and excises oxidized pyrimidines. We determined the crystal structures of a NEIL1 ortholog from the giant Mimivirus (MvNei1) unliganded and bound to DNA containing tetrahydrofuran (THF), which is the first structure of any Nei with an abasic site analog. The MvNei1 structures exhibit the same overall architecture as other enzymes of the Fpg/Nei family, which consists of two globular domains joined by a linker region. MvNei1 harbors a zincless finger, first described in human NEIL1, rather than the signature zinc finger generally found in the Fpg/Nei family. In contrast to Escherichia coli Nei, where a dramatic conformational change was observed upon binding DNA, the structure of MvNei1 bound to DNA does not reveal any substantial movement compared with the unliganded enzyme. A protein segment encompassing residues 217–245 in MvNei1 corresponds to the “missing loop” in E. coli Nei and the “αF–β10 loop” in E. coli Fpg, which has been reported to be involved in lesion recognition. Interestingly, the corresponding loop in MvNei1 is ordered in both the unliganded and furan-bound structures, unlike other Fpg/Nei enzymes where the loop is generally ordered in the unliganded enzyme or in complexes with a lesion, and disordered otherwise. In the MvNei1·tetrahydrofuran complex a tyrosine located at the tip of the putative lesion recognition loop stacks against the furan ring; the tyrosine is predicted to adopt a different conformation to accommodate a modified base.All organisms must cope with the generation of potentially lethal or mutagenic oxidative DNA base damage produced by endogenous free radicals. The enzymes that recognize and initiate the repair of these lesions are the DNA glycosylases, which are found ubiquitously in all three kingdoms of life (for reviews see Refs. 1–4). Some of these enzymes are bifunctional, i.e. they catalyze the hydrolysis of the N-glycosyl bond linking a base to a deoxyribose (glycosylase activity) and subsequently cleave the DNA 3′ to the apurinic/apyrimidinic site (lyase activity), whereas others are monofunctional and only carry out the glycosylase reaction, generating abasic sites as products. Structural studies indicate that the DNA glycosylases that recognize oxidative DNA damages fall into two family groups: the helix-hairpin-helix superfamily and the Fpg/Nei family (for reviews see Refs. 1, 5, 6). The helix-hairpin-helix superfamily includes a diverse group of enzymes with varying substrate specificities which nonetheless share a helix-hairpin-helix motif that consists of two α-helices connected by a hairpin loop, followed by a Gly/Pro-rich loop and a conserved catalytic aspartate residue (7). Glycosylase members of the second family, the Fpg/Nei family, share a two-domain architecture: The N-terminal domain consists of a two-layered β-sandwich with two α-helices, whereas the C-terminal domain contains four α-helices, of which two are involved in a conserved helix-two-turn-helix (H2TH)³ motif, and two β-strands that make up the zinc finger motif (2, 6). Both these motifs are involved in DNA binding. Escherichia coli formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (Fpg) was the first identified member of this family and was characterized by its ability to recognize and remove formamidopyrimidines (8); however, the principal biological substrate for Fpg is 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) (9, 10).More than a decade ago a second DNA glycosylase, which recognizes oxidized pyrimidines, Nei (endonuclease VIII), was identified in E. coli and found to be similar in sequence to Fpg (11, 12). In contrast to Fpg, Nei is only sparsely distributed among prokaryotes (2). Several years ago homologs of this enzyme were identified and characterized in vertebrates, the so-called Nei-like or Neil proteins (13–17). The evolutionary origin of the Neil proteins in vertebrates is unclear (2), and this issue was further confounded several years ago when two Nei-like proteins were identified in the giant Mimivirus (mimicking microbe) (18). This is the largest virus characterized to date with a genomic size of 1.2 Mb, larger than many bacteria (19) and with more than 900 protein coding genes (20). The host for Mimivirus is Acanthamoeba polyphaga, a soil and freshwater protozoan (18).We have recently cloned and characterized the two Nei glycosylases from Mimivirus, MvNei1 (L315) and MvNei2 (L720) (21). Sequence analysis suggests that Mimivirus Nei1 possesses a zincless finger β-hairpin motif first described in human NEIL1, rather than the signature zinc finger (22–24) characteristic of the Fpg/Nei family. Furthermore, we have shown that MvNei1 and MvNei2 have enzymatic properties very similar to their human homologs, NEIL1 and NEIL2 (21). MvNei1 and NEIL1 share substrate preferences for oxidized pyrimidines in duplex DNA. Although MvNei1 and NEIL1 do not recognize 8-oxoguanine, both enzymes cleave its further oxidation products (25, 26), guanidinohydantoin (Gh) and spiroiminodihydantoin, when paired with C (21, 27). Single stranded DNA with the same base lesions, as well as bubble structures, are also substrates for both enzymes (15, 21, 28).Here we report the crystal structures of MvNei1 unliganded and in complex with DNA containing tetrahydrofuran (THF), a structural analog of the cyclic hemiacetal form of an abasic site. Human NEIL1 and MvNei1 bind DNA containing THF but do not cleave the DNA backbone. The MvNei1·THF complex is the first structure of an Nei with an abasic site analog. MvNei1 shares significant structural similarity with human NEIL1 (29). In contrast to E. coli Nei where a dramatic conformational change was observed upon binding DNA (30), the structure of MvNei1 bound to furan containing DNA does not reveal any substantial conformational change compared with the unliganded protein. The MvNei1 loop corresponding to the αF-β9/10 lesion recognition loop of Fpg is ordered in both the unliganded and furan-bound structures, unlike what was reported for other Fpg/Nei enzymes where the loop is generally ordered when the enzyme is unliganded or bound to a lesion, and disordered otherwise. In the MvNei1·THF complex a tyrosine located at the tip of the putative lesion recognition loop stacks against the furan ring; the tyrosine and/or the tip of the loop are predicted to adopt a different conformation in the presence of a modified base.     

Expression and purification of NEIL3, a human DNA glycosylase homolog

The base excision repair (BER) pathway is mainly responsible for the repair of a vast number of non-bulky lesions produced by alkylation, oxidation or deamination of bases. DNA glycosylases are the key enzymes that recognize damaged bases and initiate BER by catalyzing the cleavage of the N-glycosylic bond between the base and the sugar. Many of the mammalian DNA glycosylases have been identified by a combination of biochemical and bioinformatics analysis. Thus, a mammalian family of three proteins (NEIL1, NEIL2 and NEIL3) that showed homology to the Escherichia coli Fpg/Nei DNA glycosylases was identified. Two of the proteins, NEIL1 and NEIL2 have been thoroughly characterized and shown to initiate BER of a diverse number of oxidized lesions. However, much less is known about NEIL3. The biochemical properties of NEIL3 have not been elucidated. This is mainly due to the difficulty in the expression and purification of NEIL3. Here, we describe the expression and partial purification of full-length human NEIL3 and the expression, purification and characterization of a truncated human core-NEIL3 (amino acids 1–301) that contains the complete E. coli Fpg/Nei-like domain but lacks the C-terminal region.     

Zinc finger oxidation of Fpg/Nei DNA glycosylases by 2-thioxanthine: biochemical and X-ray structural characterization

DNA glycosylases from the Fpg/Nei structural superfamily are base excision repair enzymes involved in the removal of a wide variety of mutagen and potentially lethal oxidized purines and pyrimidines. Although involved in genome stability, the recent discovery of synthetic lethal relationships between DNA glycosylases and other pathways highlights the potential of DNA glycosylase inhibitors for future medicinal chemistry development in cancer therapy. By combining biochemical and structural approaches, the physical target of 2-thioxanthine (2TX), an uncompetitive inhibitor of Fpg, was identified. 2TX interacts with the zinc finger (ZnF) DNA binding domain of the enzyme. This explains why the zincless hNEIL1 enzyme is resistant to 2TX. Crystal structures of the enzyme bound to DNA in the presence of 2TX demonstrate that the inhibitor chemically reacts with cysteine thiolates of ZnF and induces the loss of zinc. The molecular mechanism by which 2TX inhibits Fpg may be generalized to all prokaryote and eukaryote ZnF-containing Fpg/Nei-DNA glycosylases. Cell experiments show that 2TX can operate in cellulo on the human Fpg/Nei DNA glycosylases. The atomic elucidation of the determinants for the interaction of 2TX to Fpg provides the foundation for the future design and synthesis of new inhibitors with high efficiency and selectivity.     

Heavy metal ions affect the activity of DNA glycosylases of the Fpg family

Prokaryotic enzymes formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (Fpg) and endonuclease VIII (Nei) and their eukaryotic homologs NEIL1, NEIL2, and NEIL3 define the Fpg family of DNA glycosylases, which initiate the process of repair of oxidized DNA bases. The repair of oxidative DNA lesions is known to be impaired in vivo in the presence of ions of some heavy metals. We have studied the effect of salts of several alkaline earth and transition metals on the activity of Fpg-family DNA glycosylases in the reaction of excision of 5,6-dihydrouracil, a typical DNA oxidation product. The reaction catalyzed by NEIL1 was characterized by values K _m = 150 nM and k _cat = 1.2 min⁻¹, which were in the range of these constants for excision of other damaged bases by this enzyme. NEIL1 was inhibited by Al³⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, and Fe²⁺ in Tris-HCl buffer and by Cd²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Fe²⁺ in potassium phosphate buffer. Fpg and Nei, the prokaryotic homologs of NEIL1, were inhibited by the same metal ions as NEIL1. The values of I₅₀ for NEIL1 inhibition were 7 μM for Cd²⁺, 16 μM for Zn²⁺, and 400 μM for Cu²⁺. The inhibition of NEIL1 by Cd²⁺, Zn²⁺, and Cu²⁺ was at least partly due to the formation of metal-DNA complexes. In the case of Cd²⁺ and Cu²⁺, which preferentially bind to DNA bases rather than phosphates, the presence of metal ions caused the enzyme to lose the ability for preferential binding to damaged DNA. Therefore, the inhibition of NEIL1 activity in removal of oxidative lesions by heavy metal ions may be a reason for their comutagenicity under oxidative stress.     

AP endonuclease-independent DNA base excision repair in human cells

The paradigm for repair of oxidized base lesions in genomes via the base excision repair (BER) pathway is based on studies in Escherichia coli, in which AP endonuclease (APE) removes all 3' blocking groups (including 3' phosphate) generated by DNA glycosylase/AP lyases after base excision. The recently discovered mammalian DNA glycosylase/AP lyases, NEIL1 and NEIL2, unlike the previously characterized OGG1 and NTH1, generate DNA strand breaks with 3' phosphate termini. Here we show that in mammalian cells, removal of the 3' phosphate is dependent on polynucleotide kinase (PNK), and not APE. NEIL1 stably interacts with other BER proteins, DNA polymerase beta (pol beta) and DNA ligase IIIalpha. The complex of NEIL1, pol beta, and DNA ligase IIIalpha together with PNK suggests coordination of NEIL1-initiated repair. That NEIL1/PNK could also repair the products of other DNA glycosylases suggests a broad role for this APE-independent BER pathway in mammals.     

Biochemical characterization and novel inhibitor identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Endonuclease VIII 2 (Rv3297)

Nei2 (Rv3297) is a DNA Base Excision Repair (BER) glycosylase that is essential for survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in primates. We show that MtbNei2 is a bifunctional glycosylase that specifically acts on oxidized pyrimidine-containing single-stranded, double-stranded, 5’/3’ fork and bubble DNA substrates. MtbNei2 possesses Uracil DNA glycosylase activity unlike E. coli Nei. Mutational studies demonstrate that Pro2 and Glu3 located in the active site are essential for glycosylase activity of MtbNei2. Mutational analysis demonstrated that an unstructured C-terminal zinc finger domain that was important for activity in E. coli Nei and Fpg, was not required for the glycosylase activity of MtbNei2. Lastly, we screened the NCI natural product compound database and identified three natural product inhibitors with IC50 values ranging between 41.8 μM-92.7 μM against MtbNei2 in in vitro inhibition assays. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) experiments showed that the binding affinity of the best inhibitor, NSC31867, was 74 nM. The present results set the stage for exploiting this important target in developing new therapeutic strategies that target Mycobacterial BER.     

Structural and biochemical studies of a plant formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase reveal why eukaryotic Fpg glycosylases do not excise 8-oxoguanine

Formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (Fpg; MutM) is a DNA repair enzyme widely distributed in bacteria. Fpg recognizes and excises oxidatively modified purines, 4,6-diamino-5-formamidopyrimidine, 2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-formamidopyrimidine and 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG), with similar excision kinetics. It exhibits some lesser activity toward 8-oxoadenine. Fpg enzymes are also present in some plant and fungal species. The eukaryotic Fpg homologs exhibit little or no activity on DNA containing 8-oxoG, but they recognize and process its oxidation products, guanidinohydantoin (Gh) and spiroiminohydantoin (Sp). To date, several structures of bacterial Fpg enzymes unliganded or in complex with DNA containing a damaged base have been published but there is no structure of a eukaryotic Fpg. Here we describe the first crystal structure of a plant Fpg, Arabidopsis thaliana (AthFpg), unliganded and bound to DNA containing an abasic site analog, tetrahydrofuran (THF). Although AthFpg shares a common architecture with other Fpg glycosylases, it harbors a zincless finger, previously described in a subset of Nei enzymes, such as human NEIL1 and Mimivirus Nei1. Importantly the "αF-β9/10 loop" capping 8-oxoG in the active site of bacterial Fpg is very short in AthFpg. Deletion of a segment encompassing residues 213-229 in Escherichia coli Fpg (EcoFpg) and corresponding to the "αF-β9/10 loop" does not affect the recognition and removal of oxidatively damaged DNA base lesions, with the exception of 8-oxoG. Although the exact role of the loop remains to be further explored, it is now clear that this protein segment is specific to the processing of 8-oxoG.     

The novel DNA glycosylase,NEIL1, protects mammalian cells from radiation-mediated cell death

DNA damage mediated by reactive oxygen species generates miscoding and blocking lesions that may lead to mutations or cell death. Base excision repair (BER) constitutes a universal mechanism for removing oxidatively damaged bases and restoring the integrity of genomic DNA. In Escherichia coli, the DNA glycosylases Nei, Fpg, and Nth initiate BER of oxidative lesions; OGG1 and NTH1 proteins fulfill a similar function in mammalian cells. Three human genes, designated NEIL1, NEIL2 and NEIL3, encode proteins that contain sequence homologies to Nei and Fpg. We have cloned the corresponding mouse genes and have overexpressed and purified mNeil1, a DNA glycosylase that efficiently removes a wide spectrum of mutagenic and cytotoxic DNA lesions. These lesions include the two cis-thymineglycol(Tg) stereoisomers, guanine- and adenine-derived formamidopyrimidines, and 5,6-dihydrouracil. Two of these lesions, fapyA and 5S,6R thymine glycol, are not excised by mOgg1 or mNth1. We have also used RNA interference technology to establish embryonic stem cell lines deficient in Neil1 protein and showed them to be sensitive to low levels of gamma-irradiation. The results of these studies suggest that Neil1 is an essential component of base excision repair in mammalian cells; its presence may contribute to the redundant repair capacity observed in Ogg1 -/- and Nth1 -/- mice.     

Non-specific DNA binding interferes with the efficient excision of oxidative lesions from chromatin by the human DNA glycosylase,NEIL1

Although DNA in eukaryotes is packaged in nucleosomes, it remains vulnerable to oxidative damage that can result from normal cellular metabolism, ionizing radiation, and various chemical agents. Oxidatively damaged DNA is repaired in a stepwise fashion via the base excision repair (BER) pathway, which begins with the excision of damaged bases by DNA glycosylases. We reported recently that the human DNA glycosylase hNTH1 (human Endonuclease III), a member of the HhH GpG superfamily of glycosylases, can excise thymine glycol lesions from nucleosomes without requiring or inducing nucleosome disruption; optimally oriented lesions are excised with an efficiency approaching that seen for naked DNA [1]. To determine if this property is shared by human DNA glycoylases in the Fpg/Nei family, we investigated the activity of NEIL1 on defined nucleosome substrates. We report here that the cellular concentrations and apparent k_cat/K_M ratios for hNTH1 and NEIL1 are similar. Additionally, after adjustment for non-specific DNA binding, hNTH1 and NEIL1 proved to have similar intrinsic activities toward nucleosome substrates. However, NEIL1 and hNTH1 differ in that NEIL1 binds undamaged DNA far more avidly than hNTH1. As a result, hNTH1 is able to excise both accessible and sterically occluded lesions from nucleosomes at physiological concentrations, while the high non-specific DNA affinity of NEIL1 would likely hinder its ability to process sterically occluded lesions in cells. These results suggest that, in vivo, NEIL1 functions either at nucleosome-free regions (such as those near replication forks) or with cofactors that limit its non-specific binding to DNA.     

Effects of base excision repair proteins on mutagenesis by 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-hydroxyguanine) paired with cytosine and adenine

8-Oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxo-Gua, also known as 8-hydroxyguanine) is a major base lesion that is generated by reactive oxygen species in both the DNA and nucleotide pool. The role of DNA glycosylases, which initiate base excision repair, in the mutagenic processes of 8-oxo-Gua in DNA and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine 5′-triphosphate (8-oxo-dGTP, also known as 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine 5′-triphosphate) were investigated using supF shuttle plasmids propagated in human cells. The DNA glycosylases, OGG1, MUTYH, NTH1, and NEIL1, in 293T cells were individually knocked-down by siRNAs and plasmid DNAs containing an 8-oxo-Gua:C/8-oxo-Gua:A pair, and 8-oxo-dGTP plus unmodified plasmid DNA were then introduced into the knocked-down cells. The knock-down of OGG1, MUTYH, NTH1, and NEIL1 resulted in a significant increase in G:C → T:A transversions caused by the 8-oxo-Gua:C pair in the shuttle plasmid. The knock-down of MUTYH resulted in a reduction in A:T → C:G transversions induced by 8-oxo-dGTP and the 8-oxo-Gua:A pair, but the knockdown of OGG1, NTH1, and NEIL1 had no effect on mutagenesis. These results indicate that all of the above DNA glycosylases suppress mutations caused by 8-oxo-Gua:C in DNA. In contrast, it appears that MUTYH enhances A:T → C:G mutations caused by 8-oxo-dGTP.     

Recognition of the oxidized lesions spiroiminodihydantoin and guanidinohydantoin in DNA by the mammalian base excision repair glycosylases NEIL1 and NEIL2

8-Oxoguanine (8-oxoG) is an unstable mutagenic DNA lesion that is prone to further oxidation. High valent metals such as Cr(V) and Ir(IV) readily oxidize 8-oxoG to form guanidinohydantoin (Gh), its isomer iminoallantoin (Ia), and spiroiminodihydantoin (Sp). When present in DNA, these lesions show enhanced base misincorporation over the parent 8-oxoG lesion leading to G --> T and G --> C transversion mutations and polymerase arrest. These findings suggested that further oxidized lesions of 8-oxoG are more mutagenic and toxic than 8-oxoG itself. Repair of oxidatively damaged bases, including Sp and Gh/Ia, are initiated by the base excision repair (BER) system that involves the DNA glycosylases Fpg, Nei, and Nth in E. coli. Mammalian homologs of two of these BER enzymes, OGG1 and NTH1, have little or no affinity for Gh/Ia and Sp. Herein we report that two recently identified mammalian glycosylases, NEIL1 and NEIL2, showed a high affinity for recognition and cleavage of DNA containing Gh/Ia and Sp lesions. NEIL1 and NEIL2 recognized both of these lesions in single-stranded DNA and catalyzed the removal of the lesions through a beta- and delta-elimination mechanism. NEIL1 and NEIL2 also recognized and excised the Gh/Ia lesion opposite all four natural bases in double-stranded DNA. NEIL1 was able to excise the Sp lesion opposite the four natural bases in double-stranded DNA, however, NEIL2 showed little cleavage activity against the Sp lesion in duplex DNA although DNA trapping studies show recognition and binding of NEIL2 to this lesion. This work suggests that NEIL1 and NEIL2 are essential in the recognition of further oxidized lesions arising from 8-oxoG and implies that these BER glycosylases may play an important role in the repair of DNA damage induced by carcinogenic metals.     

Conformational Dynamics of Damage Processing by Human DNA Glycosylase NEIL1

Endonuclease VIII-like protein 1 (NEIL1) is a DNA repair enzyme found in higher eukaryotes, including humans. It belongs to the helix–two turn–helix (H2TH) structural superfamily together with Escherichia coli formamidopyrimidine–DNA glycosylase (Fpg) and endonuclease VIII (Nei), and removes a variety of oxidized purine and pyrimidine bases from DNA. Structural, modeling and kinetic studies have established that the bacterial H2TH superfamily enzymes proceed through several conformational intermediates while recognizing and removing their cognate lesions. Here we apply stopped-flow kinetics with detection of intrinsic Trp fluorescence and Förster resonance energy transfer fluorescence to follow the conformational dynamics of human NEIL1 and DNA when the enzyme interacts with undamaged DNA, or DNA containing cleavable or non-cleavable abasic sites, or dihydrouracil lesions. NEIL1 processed a natural abasic site and a damaged base in DNA equally well but showed an additional fluorescently discernible step when DHU was present, likely reflecting additional rearrangements during base eversion into the enzyme's active site. With undamaged DNA and DNA containing a non-cleavable abasic site analog, (3-hydroxytetrahydrofuran-2-yl)methyl phosphate, NEIL1 was diverted to a non-productive DNA conformation early in the reaction. Our results support the view of NEIL1 as an enzyme that actively destabilizes damaged DNA and uses multiple checkpoints along the reaction coordinate to drive substrate lesions into the active site while rejecting normal bases and non-substrate lesions.