The role of DNA polymerases in DNA repair in Escherichia coli: DNA polymerase I-dependent repair following chemical alkylation of permeabilized bacteria.

Many mutagens and carcinogens damage DNA and elicit repair synthesis in cells. In the present study we report that alkylation of the DNA of Escherichia coli that have been made permeable to nucleotides by toluene treatment results in the expression of a DNA polymerase I-directed repair synthesis. The advantage of the system described here is that it permits measurement of only DNA polymerase I-directed repair synthesis and serves as a simple, rapid method for determining the ability of a given chemical to elicit “excision-repair” in bacteria.DNA ligation is intentionally prevented in our system by addition of the inhibitor nicotinamide mononucleotide. In the absence of DNA ligase activity, nick translation is extensive and an “exaggerated” repair synthesis occurs. This amplification of repair synthesis is unique for DNA polymerase I since it is not observed in mutant cells deficient in this polymerase. DNA ligase apparently controls the extent of nucleotide replacement by this repair enzyme through its ability to rejoin “nicks” thereby terminating the DNA elongation process.The nitrosoamides N-methyl-N-nitrosourea and N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea, as well as the nitrosoamidines N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and N-ethyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, elicit DNA polymerase I-directed repair synthesis. Methyl methanesulphonate is especially potent in this regard, while its ethyl derivative, ethyl methanesulphonate, is a poor inducer of DNA polymerase I activity in permeabilized cells.     

Cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of alkylating agents in cultured mammalian cells (CHO/HGPRT system): mutagen treatment in the presence or absence of serum

Cytotoxicity and mutation induction at the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase locus in Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO/HGPRT system) were measured for a range of concentrations of 6 alkylating agents [methyl and ethyl methanesulfonate (MMS, EMS), N-methyl- and N-ethyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG, ENNG), and methyl- and ethyl-nitrosourea (MNU, ENU)] to determine the effect of the presence or absence of serum during the time of mutagen treatment. Cultures were treated with the mutagens for 5 h, a time period which results in no growth inhibition in the absence of serum, to estimate the potential decrease in effective mutagen dose to the cells which might result from reactivity with the serum proteins. With all 6 agents, identical results were found for cytotoxicity and for mutagenicity regardless of the presence or absence of serum during treatment. This finding demonstrates that the use of serum in cell-culture medium does not present any problems in apparent dosimetry studies, at least with these alkylating agents.     

Chemical induction of streptomycin-resistant mutations in Escherichia coli. Dose and mutagenic effects of dichlorvos and methyl methanesulfonate

A procedure for the quantitative determination of induced streptomycin-resistant mutants in E. coli was applied to study and compare mutation induction by the organophosphate dichlorvos and by methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). Both compounds increased the frequency of mutants even under conditions where no inactivation of cell was observed. Mutation induction by these agents as a function of both concentration and exposure time was measured. The dose-response curves found with both mutagens were non-linear; atp higher doses more mutants were induced per unit dose than at lower doses. Possible relationships between dose-effect curves and the chemical nature of alkylating mutagenic agents are discussed.     

In vitro breakage of plasmid DNA by mutagens and pesticides.

Covalently closed circular molecules of the colicinogenic plasmid E1 can serve as sensitive indicators for detecting in vitro breakage of DNA. After these molecules are radioactively labeled and purified by cesium chloride density-gradient centrifugation, they are incubated with the compounds to be tested. Samples are analyzed on alkaline sucrose gradients to determine the fraction of unbroken molecules and a breakage rate is calculated. Positive results were obtained for all three mutagenic alkylating agents (MMS, EMS, and MNNG) and of the 11 pesticides tested, dexon, dichlorvos, malathion, and methyl parathion induced breaks in molecules at a rate significantly greater than the controls.     

The relationship between reaction kinetics and mutagenic action of monofunctional alkylating agents in higher eukaryotic systems. IV. The effects of the excision-defective mei-9L1 and mus(2)201D1 mutants on alkylation-induced genetic damage in Drosophila

Repair-defective mutants of Drosophila melanogaster which identify two major DNA excision repair loci have been examined for their effects on alkylation-induced mutagenesis using the sex-linked recessive lethal assay as a measure of genotoxic endpoint. The alkylating agents (AAs) chosen for comparative analysis were selected on the basis of their reaction kinetics with DNA and included MMS, EMS, MNU, DMN, ENU, DEN and ENNG. Repair-proficient males were treated with the AAs and mated with either excision-defective mei-9L1 or mus(2)201D1 females or appropriate excision-proficient control females. The results of the present work suggest that a qualitative and quantitative relationship exists between the nature and the extent of chemical modification of DNA and the induction of of genetic alterations. The presence of either excision-defective mutant can enhance the frequency of mutation (hypermutability) and this hypermutability can be correlated with the Swain-Scott constant S of specific AAs such that as the SN1 character of the DNA alkylation reaction increases, the difference in response between repair-deficient and repair-proficient females decreases. The order of hypermutability of AAs with mei-9L1 relative to mei-9+ is MMS greater than MNU greater than DMN = EMS greater than iPMS = ENU = DEN = ENNG. When the percentage of lethal mutations induced in mei-9L1 females are plotted against those determined for control females, straight lines of different slopes are obtained. These mei-9L1/mei-9+ indices are: MMS = 7.6, MNU = 5.4, DMN = 2.4, EMS = 2.4 and iPMS = ENU = DEN = ENNG = 1. An identical order of hypermutability with similar indices is obtained for the mus(2)201 mutants: MMS(7.3) greater than MNU (5.4) greater than EMS(2.0) greater than ENU(1.1). Thus, absence of excision repair function has a significant effect on mutation production by AAs efficient in alkylating N-atoms in DNA but no measurable influence on mutation production by AAs most efficient in alkylating O-atoms in DNA. The possible nature of these DNA adducts has been discussed in relation to repair of alkylated DNA. In another series of experiments, the effect on alkylation mutagenesis of mei-9L1 was studied in males, by comparing mutation induction in mei-9L1 males vs. activity in Berlin K (control). Although these experiments suggested the existence of DNA repair in postmeiotic cells during spermatogenesis, no quantitative comparisons could be made.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Facilitation by pyrimidine deoxyribonucleosides and hypoxanthine of mutagenic and cytotoxic effects of monofunctional alkylating agents in Chinese hamster cells.

Hypoxanthine (Hx), thymidine (TdR) and deoxycytidine (CdR), at concentrations of 10(-5) M increased the yield of 8-azaguanine-resistant (AzGr) mutants induced by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) in cultured Chinese hamster V79 cells. The cytotoxicity of MNNG was increased 2-fold in the presence of Hx, and more than 10-fold in the presence of TdR. This cytotoxic effect of TdR was abolished by equal concentrations of CdR, which by itself did not increase the cytotoxicity of MNNG. However, the yield of MNNG-induced AzGr colonies was increased 2--10-fold in the presence of both CdR and TdR. The AzGr colonies displayed phenotypes characteristic of hypoxanthine: guaninephosphoribosyltransferase-deficient (HGPRT-) mutants, or indicative of mutant HGPRT with altered substrate affinities. The nucleosides did not affect the growth or expression time of the HGPRT- mutants; the same extent of alkali-labile DNA damage occurred in cells treated with alkylating agents in the presence and absence of TdR and CdR; and the increase in mutation frequency in the presence of these nucleosides occurred not only with MNNG, but also with ethylating agents. Nucleosides treated with MNNG were not mutagenic, and treatment of the cells with TdR and CdR only prior to treatment with MNNG or only during selection with AzG did not increase the induced mutation frequency. Therefore, the interpretation is proposed that CdR, TdR and Hx produce nucleotide-pool imbalances that increase lethal and mutagenic errors of replication of alkylated DNA.     

Evidence that UV-inducible error-prone repair is absent in Haemophilus influenzae Rd, with a discussion of the relation to error-prone repair of alkylating-agent damage.

Haemophilus influenzae Rd and its derivatives are mutated either not at all or to only a very small extent by ultraviolet (UV) radiation, X-rays, methyl methanesulfonate, and nitrogen mustard, though they are readily mutated by such agents as N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, ethyl methanesulfonate, and nitrosocarbaryl. In these respects H. influenzae Rd resembles the lexA mutants of Escherichia coli that lack the SOS or reclex UV-inducible error-prone repair system. This similarity is further brought out by the observation that chloramphenicol has little or no effect on post-replication repair after UV irradiation. In E. coli, chloramphenicol has been reported to considerably inhibit post-replication repair in the wild type but not in the lexA mutant. Earlier work has suggested that most or all the mutations induced in H. influenzae by NC result from error-prone repair. Combined treatment with NC and either X-rays or UV shows that the NC error-prone repair system does not produce mutations from the lesions induced by these radiations even while it is producing them from its own lesions. It is concluded that the NC error-prone repair system or systems and the reclex error-prone system are different.     

An evaluation of Tween 80 effects on the survival and DNA repair in Escherichia coli following UV or gamma irradiation.

The notion that Tween 80 may be a DNA-repair inhibitor was tested with Escherichia coli. The results indicate that cell growth, colony-forming ability, and the rate and extent of removal of thymine-containing dimers from DNA are unchanged in the presence of Tween 80. We conclude that this detergent does not increase or diminish the effect of UV or gamma irradiation to bacteria.     

Effect of mutagens, chemotherapeutic agents and defects in DNA repair genes on recombination in F' partial diploid Escherichia coli.

The ability of mutagenic agents, nonmutagenic substances and defects in DNA repair to alter the genotype of F' partial diploid (F30) Escherichia coli was determined. The frequency of auxotrophic mutants and histidine requiring (His-) haploid colonies was increased by mutagen treatment but Hfr colonies were not detected in F30 E. coli even with specific selection techniques. Genotype changes due to nonreciprocal recombination were determined by measuring the frequency of His- homogenotes, eg. F' hisC780, hisI+/hisC780, hisI+, arising from a His+ heterogenote, F' hisC780 hisI+/hisC+, his1903. At least 75% of the recombinants were homozygous for histidine alleles which were present on the F' plasmid (exogenote) of the parental hetergenote rather than for histidine alleles on the chromosome. Mutagens, chemotherapeutic agents which histidine alleles on the chromosome. Mutagens, chemotherapeutic agents which block DNA synthesis and a defective DNA polymerase I gene, polA1, were found to increase the frequency of nonreciprocal recombination. A defect in the ability to excise thymine dimers, uvrC34, did not increase spontaneous nonreciprocal recombination. However, UV irradiation but not methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) induced greater recombination in this excision-repair defective mutant than in DNA-repair-proficient strains. Mutagenic agents, with the exception of ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS), induced greater increases in recombination than the chemotherapeutic agents or the polA1 mutation. EMS, which causes relatively little degradation of DNA, was more mutagenic but less recombinogenic than MMS, a homologous compound ths that inhibition of DNA occurring single-stranded regions in replicative intermediates of the DNA. Mutagens which cause the rapid breakdown of DNA may, in addition, introduce lesions into the genome that increase the number of single-stranded regions thus inducing even higher frequencies of recombination.     

Potentiation of cell killing by inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in four rodent cell lines exposed to N-methyl-N-nitrosourea or UV light

The sensitivities (Do-values) of the cytotoxic effect of MNU on four rodent cell lines were: mouse L1210, 0.07 mM; rat Yoshida sarcoma, 0.52 mM; Chinese hamster V79A, 0.70 mM and the UV sensitive, X-ray sensitive V79/79, 0.35 mM. The abilities of maximum non-toxic doses of the poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors, 5-methyl nicotinamide (5MeN), 3-methoxybenzamide (3MBA) and caffeine to potentiate this cytotoxicity and that of UV light in V79A and V79/79 was measured. The degree of potentiation (ratio Do without inhibitor/Do with inhibitor) was both agent and cell line dependent. In general the lymphoid cell lines L1210 and YS showed greater potentiation, up to 4-fold, than did the fibroblast lines V79A and V79/79. The use of inhibitors in pairs suggested that 5MeN and 3MBA affect one process whereas caffeine affects additional processes. The data provide further support for a role for poly(ADP-ribose) in DNA repair, but indicate that metabolic factors may modify the effectiveness of individual inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in different cell lines.     

Comparative analysis of deletion and base-change mutabilities of Escherichia coli B strains differing in DNA repair capacity (wild-type, uvrA-, polA-, recA-) by various mutagens.

Dose-response curves were compared for deletions [ColBR (resistant to colicin B) mutations being more than 80% deletions] and base changes (reversion of argFam to prototrophy argplus) induced in the same set of E. coli strains (wild-type for DNA repair, uvrA-, polA- and recA-) by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (NTG), ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS), hydroxylamine (HA), 4-nitroquinoline I-oxide (4NQO), mitomycin C (MTC, UV and X-rays. All these agents induced deletions as well as base changes in the wild-type strain. Thus chemical mutagenesis differed in E. coli and bacteriophages in vitro, for HA, NTG, EMS and perhaps UV produced only point mutations in phage Tr. The patterns of deletion and base-change mutability in E. coli were surprisingly similar. (I) The recombination less recA- strain was mutable by only three (NTG, EMS, HA) of the seven mutagens for either deletions or base changes. (2) The uvrA- strain, unable to excise pyrimidine dimers, was very highly mutable by 4NQO and UV but immutable by MTC for both deletions and base changes. (3) The polA- strain, defective in DNA polymerase I due to a non-suppressible mutation, was very highly mutable by HA and highly mutable by MTC and 4NQO for both deletions and base changes but was highly mutable only for deletions by UV and X-rays, remaining normally mutable by the other agents for both deletions and base changes despite its high sensitivity to their inactivating action. We conclude that errors in the recA-dependent repair of induced DNA damage (after 4NQO, MTC, UV and X-rays) or errors in replication enhanced by damage to the replication system or to the template strands (after NTG, EMS, and HA) give rise to deletions as well as to base changes. From a comparative analysis of 14 dose-response curves for deletions and base changes, we conclude that the order of mutagenic efficiency relative to killing is (EMS, NTG) greater than (UV, 4NQO) greater than HA greater than (X-rays, MTC), and that X-rays, 4NQO, HA and MTC induce more ColBR deletions than Argplus base changes, whereas UV and EMS induce ColBR deletions and Argplus base changes at nearly equal rates and the specificity of NTG is intermediate between these two types.     

Comparison of the frequency of diphtheria toxin and thioguanine resistance induced by a series of carcinogens to analyze their mutational specificities in diploid human fibroblasts

The mutagenic specificities of ethylnitrosourea (ENU), X-rays (+/-)7 beta,8 alpha-dihydroxy-9 alpha,10 alpha-epoxy-7, 8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (BPDE), ICR-191, and N-acetoxy-2-acetylaminofluorene (N-AcO-AAF) were analyzed and compared in diploid human fibroblasts and Salmonella typhimurium. In the human fibroblasts, we compared the frequency of diphtheria toxin (DT)-resistant mutants, presumably induced in the gene coding for elongation factor-2, with the frequency of 6-thioguanine (TG) resistance induced by mutations in the gene coding for hypoxanthine(guanine)phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT). Recovery of DT-resistant (DTr) cells requires that the mutant EF-2 retain the ability to carry on protein synthesis since the normal EF-2 will be inactivated by DT selection. Therefore, the DTr mutation cannot involve major changes in the gene. In contrast, cells can acquire TG resistance by any mechanism which eliminates HPRT activity, e.g., base substitution, frameshift, deletion, loss of chromosomes. Each agent was assessed by calculating the ratio of the slopes of the dose-response plots (induced variant frequency as a function of dose of the agent used) for the two markers (DTr/TGr variants.). In S. typhimurium we examined the reversion frequency in four histidine-requiring strains bearing forward mutations of the frameshift (TA1538, TA98) or missense (TA1535, TA100) type. ENU, which was predominantly a base substitution mutagen in the bacteria, gave a ratio of DTr to TGr variants of 1.5. As expected of an agent inducing gross chromosomal changes, X-rays induced no revertants in bacteria and in human cells gave a ratio of 0.1. ICR-191 which was predominantly a frameshift mutagen in bacteria gave a ratio of 0.15. In the set of bacterial strains containing the plasmid pKM101, BPDE reverted both frameshift and base substitution mutations. It did not cause reversions in the other set of strains. In human cells BPDE gave a response similar to ENU, i.e., a ratio of DTr/TGr variants of 1.5. As reported by others, N-AcO-AAF was predominantly a frameshift mutagen in bacteria. However, in the human cells it gave a ratio of DTr/TGr variants of 1.5, similar to ENU and BPDE. These results suggest that in human cells, BPDE and N-AcO-AAF, like ENU, yield predominantly base substitutions, while ICR-191 and X-rays largely produce mutations by mechanisms which result in more extensive alterations in the gene.