The human cyclin B1 protein modulates sensitivity of DNA mismatch repair deficient prostate cancer cell lines to alkylating agents

DNA damage caused by alkylating agents results in a G2 checkpoint arrest. DNA mismatch repair (MMR) deficient cells are resistant to killing by alkylating agents and are unable to arrest the cell cycle in G2 phase after alkylation damage. We investigated the response of two MMR-deficient prostate cancer cell lines DU145 and LNCaP to the alkylating agent MNNG. Our studies reveal that DU145 cancer cells are more sensitive to killing by MNNG than LNCaP. Investigation of the underlying reasons for lower resistance revealed that the DU145 cells contain low endogenous levels of cyclin B1. We provide direct evidence that the endogenous level of cyclin B1 modulates the sensitivity of MMR-deficient prostate cancer cells to alkylating agents.     

The 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 (ogg1) decreases the vulnerability of the developing brain to DNA damage

The developing brain is particularly vulnerable to oxidative DNA damage, which may be the cause of most major congenital mental anomalies. The repair enzyme ogg1 initiates the highly conserved base-excision repair pathway. However, its function in the embryonic brain is largely unknown.This study is the first to validate the function of ogg1 during brain development using zebrafish embryos. Ogg1 was found to be highly expressed in the brain throughout early embryonic development, with particularly enrichment observed in the midbrain. The lack of ogg1 causes severe brain defects including changes in brain volume and integrity, destruction of the midbrain–hindbrain boundary, and balance and motor impairment, while overexpression of ogg1 can partially rescue these defects.Multiple cellular and molecular events were involved in the manifestation of brain defects due primarily to the lack of ogg1. These included (1) increased apoptosis; (2) decreased proliferation; and (3) aberrant axon distribution and extension from the inner surface towards the outer layers. The results of a microarray analysis showed that the expression of genes involved in cell cycle checkpoint, apoptosis, and neurogenesis were significantly changed in response to ogg1 knockdown. Cmyb was the key downstream gene that responses to DNA damage caused by ogg1 deficiency. Notably, the recruitment of ogg1 mRNA can alleviate the effects on the brain due to neural DNA damage.In summary, we introduce here that ogg1 is fundamentally required for protecting the developing brain, which may be helpful in understanding the aetiology of congenital brain deficits.     

Gene expression analysis of tumor spheroids reveals a role for suppressed DNA mismatch repair in multicellular resistance to alkylating agents

Drug resistance is a major obstacle in the successful treatment of cancer. Thus, elucidation of the mechanisms responsible is a critical first step in trying to prevent or delay such manifestations of resistance. In this regard, three-dimensional multicellular tumor cell spheroids are intrinsically more resistant to virtually all anticancer cytotoxic drugs than conventional monolayer cultures. We have employed the EMT-6 subline PC5T, which forms highly compact spheroids, and differential display to identify candidate genes whose expression differs between monolayer and spheroids. Approximately 5,000 bands were analyzed, revealing 26 to be differentially expressed. Analysis of EMT-6 tumor variants selected in vivo for acquired resistance to alkylating agents identified eight genes whose expression correlated with drug resistance in tumor spheroids. Four genes (encoding Nop56, the NADH SDAP subunit, and two novel sequences) were found to be down-regulated in EMT-6 spheroids and four (encoding 2-oxoglutarate carrier protein, JTV-1, and two novel sequences) were up-regulated. Analysis of the DNA mismatch repair-associated PMS2 gene, which overlaps at the genomic level with the JTV-1 gene, revealed PMS2 mRNA to be down-regulated in tumor spheroids, which was confirmed at the protein level. Analysis of PMS2(-/-) mouse embryo fibroblasts confirmed a role for PMS2 in sensitivity to cisplatin, and DNA mismatch repair activity was found to be reduced in EMT-6 spheroids compared to monolayers. Dominant negative PMS2 transfection caused increased resistance to cisplatin in EMT-6 and CHO cells. Our results implicate reduced DNA mismatch repair as a determinant factor of reversible multicellular resistance of tumor cells to alkylating agents.     

Inhibition of RecBCD enzyme by antineoplastic DNA alkylating agents

To understand how bulky adducts might perturb DNA helicase function, three distinct DNA-binding agents were used to determine the effects of DNA alkylation on a DNA helicase. Adozelesin, ecteinascidin 743 (Et743) and hedamycin each possess unique structures and sequence selectivity. They bind to double-stranded DNA and alkylate one strand of the duplex in cis, adding adducts that alter the structure of DNA significantly. The results show that Et743 was the most potent inhibitor of DNA unwinding, followed by adozelesin and hedamycin. Et743 significantly inhibited unwinding, enhanced degradation of DNA, and completely eliminated the ability of the translocating RecBCD enzyme to recognize and respond to the recombination hotspot chi. Unwinding of adozelesin-modified DNA was accompanied by the appearance of unwinding intermediates, consistent with enzyme entrapment or stalling. Further, adozelesin also induced "apparent" chi fragment formation. The combination of enzyme sequestering and pseudo-chi modification of RecBCD, results in biphasic time-courses of DNA unwinding. Hedamycin also reduced RecBCD activity, albeit at increased concentrations of drug relative to either adozelesin or Et743. Remarkably, the hedamycin modification resulted in constitutive activation of the bottom-strand nuclease activity of the enzyme, while leaving the ability of the translocating enzyme to recognize and respond to chi largely intact. Finally, the results show that DNA alkylation does not significantly perturb the allosteric interaction that activates the enzyme for ATP hydrolysis, as the efficiency of ATP utilization for DNA unwinding is affected only marginally. These results taken together present a unique response of RecBCD enzyme to bulky DNA adducts. We correlate these effects with the recently determined crystal structure of the RecBCD holoenzyme bound to DNA.     

Radiation-induced DNA strand breaks and their repair in the developing rat brain.

Rats, 5, 10 or 25 days old, were 60 Co gamma irradiated. The induction of DNA strand breaks was studied after killing the rats within 1 min after irradiation, and the repair of the induced breaks after various intervals up to 180 min. Cell suspensions were prepared from the brain and samples were transferred into alkaline solutions. The fraction of DNA remaining double-stranded after 30 min alkali treatment was estimated after separation of single- and double-stranded DNA on hydroxylapatite. The amount of DNA strand breaks induced per Gray (1--8 Gray) was found to be in accordance with earlier in vivo studies of the mouse small intestine and mouse spleen. The DNA strand breaks in the rat brain induced by 4 Gray 60Co gamma irradiation were repaired 30 min after irradiation in all age groups studied.     

Nicotinamide inhibits alkylating agent-induced apoptotic neurodegeneration in the developing rat brain

Background

Exposure to the chemotherapeutic alkylating agent thiotepa during brain development leads to neurological complications arising from neurodegeneration and irreversible damage to the developing central nerve system (CNS). Administration of single dose of thiotepa in 7-d postnatal (P7) rat triggers activation of apoptotic cascade and widespread neuronal death. The present study was aimed to elucidate whether nicotinamide may prevent thiotepa-induced neurodegeneration in the developing rat brain.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Neuronal cell death induced by thiotepa was associated with the induction of Bax, release of cytochrome-c from mitochondria into the cytosol, activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP-1). Post-treatment of developing rats with nicotinamide suppressed thiotepa-induced upregulation of Bax, reduced cytochrome-c release into the cytosol and reduced expression of activated caspase-3 and cleavage of PARP-1. Cresyl violet staining showed numerous dead cells in the cortex hippocampus and thalamus; post-treatment with nicotinamide reduced the number of dead cells in these brain regions. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) and immunohistochemical analysis of caspase-3 show that thiotepa-induced cell death is apoptotic and that it is inhibited by nicotinamide treatment.

Conclusion

Nicotinamide (Nic) treatment with thiotepa significantly improved neuronal survival and alleviated neuronal cell death in the developing rat. These data demonstrate that nicotinamide shows promise as a therapeutic and neuroprotective agent for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders in newborns and infants.     

DNA strand breaks and repair synthesis in Yoshida sarcoma cells with differential sensitivities to bifunctional alkylating agents and UV light

The induction of DNA-strand breaks and repair synthesis has been examined in cultured Yoshida sarcoma cell lines sensitive (YS) and resistant (YR) to methylene dimethanesulphonate (MDMS). Using an alkaline DNA unwinding-hydroxylapatite technique, we were able to detect breaks in DNA immediately after MDMS treatment and at similar levels in both YS and YR cells. MDMS treatment and post-treatment incubation in the presence of 1-β-D-arabino-furanosylcytosine (araC) lead to a large increase in the numbers of breaks when compared with MDMS treatment alone which indicated that many of the DNA-strand breaks seen after MDMS treatment were intermediates in excision repair. The magnitude of break incidence with the araC treatment was again equal in YS and YR cells indicating that these 2 lines made enzymic incision next to MDMS-induced lesions with equal capacities.During incubation following MDMS treatment, the levels of DNA-strand breaks in YR cells were found to decrease more rapidly than in YS cells. Parallel DNA-repair synthesis estimations, using BND-cellulose chromatography, revealed that the increased rate of decline in breaks in YR cells was accompanied by an increase in repair-synthesis activity compared to YS cells. This was interpreted as indicating that an intermediate step in an excision-repair pathway for MDMS-induced lesions was relatively deficient in YS compared to YR cells.A similar difference in the rates of decline of DNA-strand breaks between YS and YR cells was also observed following treatment with UV light to which MDMS-resistant YR cells also display cross-resistance. However, no such difference was detected following treatment with the monofunctional alkylating agent, methyl methanesulphonate, to which YS and YR cells are equally sensitive. These results suggest that resistance to MDMS in the YR cell line is achieved by an increased efficiency in the gap-sealing component of the excision-repair process.     

Decreased stability of DNA in cells treated with alkylating agents

A modified highly sensitive procedure for the evaluation of DNA damage in individual cells treated with alkylating agents is reported. The new methodology is based on the amplification of single-strandedness in alkylated DNA by heating in the presence of Mg2+. Human ovarian carcinoma cells A2780 were treated with nitrogen mustard (HN2), fixed in methanol, and stained with monoclonal antibody (MOAB) F7-26 generated against HN2-treated DNA. Binding of MOAB was measured by flow cytometry with indirect immunofluorescence. The maximal difference in fluorescence between untreated and HN2-treated cells was observed after heating at 100 degrees C for 5 min in PBS containing 1.25 mM MgCl2. Higher concentrations of MgCl2 inhibited MOAB binding to HN2-treated cells and heating at lower concentrations induced binding to control cells. Intensive binding of MOAB to control and drug-treated cells was observed after heating in Tris buffer supplemented with MgCl2. Thus, the presence of phosphates and MgCl2 during heating was necessary for the detection of HN2-induced changes in DNA stability. Fluorescence of HN2-treated cells decreased to background levels after treatment with single-strand-specific S1 nuclease. MOAB F7-26 interacted with single-stranded regions in DNA and did not bind to dsDNA or other cellular antigens. Specific reactivity of MOAB F7-26 with deoxycytidine was established by avidin-biotin ELISA. Single-stranded conformation was necessary for the binding of MOAB to deoxycytidine on the DNA molecule. It is suggested that alkylation of guanines decreased the stability of the DNA molecule and increased the access of MOAB F7-26 to deoxycytidines on the opposite DNA strand.     

Glycidol-carbohydrate hybrids: a new family of DNA alkylating agents

Novel and chiral glycidol-carbohydrate hybrids possessing an epoxy group as a DNA alkylating moiety were designed and synthesized. These artificial hybrids selectively alkylated DNA at the N-7 sites of the guanines and cleaved DNA without any additives. The binding ability of the glycidol was significantly enhanced by the attachment of the carbohydrate.     

Poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis is involved in the toxic effects of alkylating agents but does not regulate DNA repair

Poly(ADP-ribose) is a nuclear polymer that is synthesized in response to DNA-strand breaks and covently modifies numerous nuclear proteins. Inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase by 3-amino-benzamide in cells exposed to DNA-damaging agents has a variety of cellular effects, including increases in cell killing, frequency of single-strand breaks, reapir replication, and sister-chromatid exchange. These increases have been interpreted as an indication that poly(ADP-ribose) polymerization regulates the rate of ligation. Because of slow ligation, continued repair polymerization should therefore generate longer repair patches. Direct measurement of the rate of ligation of intracellular repair patches and of the size of repair patches indicates that they are unchanged when poly(ADP-ribose) polymerization is inhibited. We therefore conclude that poly(ADP-ribose) does not regulate the ligation stage of repair but instead may regulate the activity of intracellular nucleases and other enzymes that can cause additional DNA damage and changes in chromatin struture.     

Detection of cells resistant to alkylating agents by flow cytometric analysis of DNA damage

DNA damage was measured by flow cytometric analysis of cells sensitive and resistant to alkylating agents. Human ovarian carcinoma cell line A2780 and a subline which is 7 times more resistant to L-phenylalanine mustard (L-PAM) were treated with the drug, fixed, and stained with monoclonal antibody (MOAB) F7-26 which detects single-stranded regions in alkylated DNA. Mean fluorescent intensity was measured on a flow cytometer. Cells were heated before staining to amplify single-strandedness in alkylated DNA. Significantly larger amount of MOAB was bound to DNA in sensitive than in resistant cells. Fluorescence increased by 80 channels per micrograms L-PAM insensitive cells and only by 17 channels in resistant cells. Sensitive and resistant cells were treated with L-PAM, mixed in different proportions, and stained with MOAB. Populations of sensitive and resistant cells were clearly separated on fluorescence histograms by more than a decade difference in fluorescence intensity. Presence of 2-5% resistant cells was detected among sensitive cells as a separate cell subset. We conclude that staining with MOAB F7-26 can be used as an indicator of cell sensitivity or resistance to alkylating agents. Detection of minor subsets of resistant cells in heterogeneous populations by FCM analysis may be useful for monitoring emerging drug resistance.     

Deoxycytidine kinase-deficient mutants of Chinese hamster ovary cells are hypersensitive to DNA alkylating agents

Chinese hamster ovary cell strains deficient in deoxycytidine kinase activity were selected by isolating mutants resistant to high concentrations of the analogue arabinosyl cytosine. Mutants isolated were deficient in the pool of dCTP, supporting earlier a suggestion that the deoxycytidine kinase may play a role in the turnover and maintenance of the dCTP pool. Consistent with earlier observations that increased intracellular levels of dTTP relative to dCTP lead to increased sensitivy to monofunctional DNA alkylating agents, deoxycytidine kinase-deficient mutants showed a 2–5-fold increase in sensitivity to the cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of one agent, ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS). The survival of the two kinase-deficient strains after mutagen treatment was clearly related to dCTP level as the strain with lowest dCTP was most sensitive to EMS. Thus hypersensitivity to this class of DNA damaging agents can result from cellular mutations decreasing the intracellular level of dCTP.     

The influence of some alkylating agents on the structure of DNA in vitro

The influence of the industrially used mutagenic agents β-propiolactone (BPL), propylene oxide (PO) and butylene oxide (BO) on the structure of DNA in vitro was studied. The heat denaturation of DNA and its reversibility were used as a criterion of the structural change in the DNA molecule. The rate constants for the reaction of the different compounds with DNA were determined. The effects were correlated with the degree of alkylation. Butylene oxide and propylene oxide caused a decrease of the reversibility of the heat denaturation at a degree of alkylation at which the melting temperature was only slightly decreased. β-propiolactone had no influence on the reversibility, but decreased the melting temperature of DNA as a function of the degree of alkylation.