Hairpin structures are the primary amplification products: a novel mechanism for generation of inverted repeats during gene amplification.

Early events of DNA amplification which occur during perturbed replication were studied by using simian virus 40 (SV40)-transformed Chinese hamster cells (CO60) as a model system. The amplification is observed shortly after carcinogen treatment, and the amplified sequences contain molecules organized as inverted repeats (IRs). SV40 amplification in vitro was studied by using extracts from carcinogen-treated CO60 cells. In the amplified DNA the SV40 origin region was rereplicated, while more distal sequences were not replicated even once. Using several experimental procedures such as sucrose gradients, "snap-back" assay, and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, we show that the overreplicated DNA contains IRs which are synthesized de novo as hairpins or stem-loop structures which were detached from the template molecules. The fully replicated SV40 molecules synthesized by the HeLa extracts do not contain such IRs. We propose "U-turn replication" as a novel mechanism for gene amplification, accounting for the generation of extrachromosomal inverted duplications as a result of perturbed replication and template switching of the DNA polymerases.     

The mechanism of carcinogen-induced DNA amplification: in vivo and in vitro studies.

Exposure to chemical carcinogens provides a means for the enhancement of the frequency of gene amplification and for the facilitation of research into its mechanism(s). Using carcinogen-induced SV40 amplification as a model system it was shown that amplification of the viral sequences occurs via a replication-dependent mode. This process involves overactivation of the origin region and the generation of inverted repeats. Carcinogen-induced enhancement of gene amplification is triggered by cellular factors that could act in trans. An in vitro amplification system, based on extracts from carcinogen-treated cells and SV40 template sequences, was used to further characterize the amplification intermediates. The major products of overreplication in this system consist of sequences derived from the origin region. Our studies suggest that the ability to overreplicate the origin region in vitro derives from the combined action of carcinogen-induced factors that trigger overinitiation, with the inherent inability of Chinese hamster cell extracts to fully replicate large plasmid templates. The newly replicated sequences are not associated with the parental molecule and contain hairpin or stem and loop structures. Based on these findings we propose a novel replicative mechanism for DNA amplification that allows the de novo formation of hairpin structures. According to this model, an obstruction of the replication fork may cause an overturning of the DNA polymerase, followed by a template switch that leads to the use of the newly replicated strand as a template. This mode of replication results in the generation of hairpin structures which can function as precursors for the duplicated inverted repeats which are commonly observed in amplified genomes. This model is supported by our in vitro and in vivo studies. The relevance of this model for the amplification of cellular sequences is discussed.     

Simian virus 40 DNA replication in vitro: specificity of initiation and evidence for bidirectional replication.

We recently described a soluble cell-free system derived from monkey cells that is capable of replicating exogenous plasmid DNA molecules containing the simian virus 40 (SV40) origin of replication (J.J. Li, and T.J. Kelly, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 81:6973-6977, 1984). Replication in the system is completely dependent upon the addition of the SV40 large T antigen. In this report we describe additional properties of the in vitro replication reaction. Extracts prepared from cells of several nonsimian species were tested for the ability to support origin-dependent replication in the presence of T antigen. The activities of extracts derived from human cell lines HeLa and 293 were approximately the same as those of monkey cell extracts. Chinese hamster ovary cell extracts also supported SV40 DNA replication in vitro, but the extent of replication was approximately 1% of that observed with human or monkey cell extracts. No replication activity was detectable in extracts derived from BALB/3T3 mouse cells. The ability of these extracts to support replication in vitro closely parallels the ability of the same cells to support replication in vivo. We also examined the ability of various DNA molecules containing sequences homologous to the SV40 origin to serve as templates in the cell-free system. Plasmids containing the origins of human papovaviruses BKV and JCV replicated with an efficiency 10 to 20% of that of plasmids containing the SV40 origin. Plasmids containing Alu repeat sequences (BLUR8) did not support detectable DNA replication in vitro. Circular DNA molecules were found to be the best templates for DNA replication in the cell-free system; however, linear DNA molecules containing the SV40 origin also replicated to a significant extent (10 to 20% of circular molecules). Finally, electron microscopy of replication intermediates demonstrated that the initiation of DNA synthesis in vivo takes place at a unique site corresponding to the in vivo origin and that replication is bidirectional. These findings provide further evidence that replication in the cell-free system faithfully mimics SV40 DNA replication in vivo.     

Initiation of simian virus 40 DNA replication in vitro.

Exogenously added simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA can be replicated semiconservatively in vitro by a mixture of a soluble extract of HeLa cell nuclei and the cytoplasm from SV40-infected CosI cells. When cloned DNA was used as a template, the clone containing the SV40 origin of DNA replication was active, but a clone lacking the SV40 origin was inactive. The major products of the in vitro reaction were form I and form II SV40 DNAs and a small amount of form III. DNA synthesis in extracts began at or near the in vivo origin of SV40 DNA synthesis and proceeded bidirectionally. The reaction was inhibited by the addition of anti-large T hamster serum, aphidicolin, or RNase but not by ddNTP. Furthermore, this system was partially reconstituted between HeLa nuclear extract and the semipurified SV40 T antigen instead of the CosI cytoplasm. It is clear from these two systems that the proteins containing SV40 T antigen change the nonspecific repair reaction performed by HeLa nuclear extract alone to the specific semiconservative DNA replication reaction. These results show that these in vitro systems closely resemble SV40 DNA replication in vivo and provide an assay that should be useful for the purification and subsequent characterization of viral and cellular proteins involved in DNA replication.     

Infectious linear DNA sequences replicating in simian virus 40-infected cells.

A new class of linear duplex DNA structures that contain simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA sequences and that are replicated during productive infection of cells with SV40 is described. These structures comprise up to 35% of the radioactively labeled DNA molecules that can be isolated by selective extraction. These molecules represent a unique size class corresponding to the length of an open SV40 DNA molecule (FO III), and they contain a heterogeneous population of DNA sequences either of host or of viral origin, as shown by restriction endonuclease analysis and nucleic acid hybridization. Part of the FO III DNA molecules contain viral-host DNA sequences covalently linked with each other. They start to replicate with the onset of SV40 superhelix replication 1 day after infection. Their rate of synthesis is most pronounced 3 days after infection when superhelix replication is already declining. Furthermore, they cannot be chased into other structures. At least a fraction of these molecules is infectious when administered together with DEAE-dextran to permissive cells. After intracellular circularization, superhelical DNA FO I with an aberrant cleavage pattern accumulates. In addition, tumor and viral capsid antigen are induced, and infectious viral progeny is obtained. Infection of cells with purified SV40 FO I DNA does not result in FO III DNA molecules in the infected cells or in the viral progeny. It is suggested, therefore, that these FO III DNA molecules are perpetuated within SV40 virus pools by encapsidation into pseudovirions.     

DNA helicase and duplex DNA fragment unwinding activities of polyoma and simian virus 40 large T antigen display similarities and differences.

We have characterized the biochemical activities of purified polyoma (Py) large T antigen (T Ag) that was capable of mediating the replication of a plasmid containing the Py origin (ori(+) DNA) in mouse cell extracts. We report here that like the T Ag encoded by simian virus 40 (SV40), Py T Ag has DNA helicase and double-stranded DNA fragment unwinding activities. Py T Ag displaced DNA fragments greater than 1,600 nucleotides which were annealed to complementary sequences in single-stranded M13 by translocating in the 3' to 5' direction. Both helicase and double-stranded DNA fragment unwinding reactions were completely dependent upon NTP hydrolysis, displaying a strong preference for ATP and dATP. At low T Ag concentrations, significantly more Py ori(+) DNA fragment was unwound compared with a fragment lacking the replication origin. However, at higher ratios of Py T Ag to DNA, equivalent to those used in replication reactions, unwinding of both ori-containing and -lacking fragments was equally efficient. This is in contrast to SV40 T Ag which exhibited a more stringent requirement for SV40 origin sequences under similar conditions. Furthermore, some of the nucleotides that supported the helicase and unwinding activities of Py T Ag were different from those for the same SV40 T Ag reactions. We have also observed that in contrast to the very poor replication of linear SV40 ori(+) DNA by SV40 T Ag in human cell extracts, linear Py ori(+) DNA was replicated efficiently in mouse cell extracts by Py T Ag. However, despite the fact that linear Py ori(+), SV40 ori(+), and ori(-) DNA fragments could be unwound with comparable efficiency by Py T Ag, only fragments containing the Py replication origin were replicated in vitro. These results suggest that the initiation of DNA synthesis at the Py origin of replication requires features in addition to unwinding of the template.     

Replication of simian virus 40 origin-containing DNA during infection with a recombinant Autographa californica multiple nuclear polyhedrosis virus expressing large T antigen.

Autographica californica multiple nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) has been shown to encode many of the enzymes involved in the replication of its own DNA. Although the AcMNPV genome contains multiple sets of reiterated sequences that are thought to function as origins of DNA replication, no initiator protein has yet been identified in the set of viral replication enzymes. In this study, the ability of a heterologous origin initiator system to promote DNA replication in AcMNPV-infected cells was examined. A recombinant AcMNPV that expressed the simian virus 40 (SV40) large T antigen was surprisingly found to induce the efficient replication of a transfected plasmid containing an SV40 origin. This replication was subsequently found to involve three essential components: (i) T antigen, since replication of SV40 origin-containing plasmids was not induced by wild-type AcMNPV which did not express this protein; (ii) an intact SV40 core origin, since deletion of specific functional motifs within the origin resulted in a loss of replicative abilities; and (iii) one or more AcMNPV-encoded proteins, since viral superinfection was required for plasmid amplification. Characterization of the replicated DNA revealed that it existed as a high-molecular-weight concatemer and underwent significant levels of homologous recombination between inverted repeat sequences. These properties were consistent with an AcMNPV-directed mode of DNA synthesis rather than that of SV40 and suggested that T antigen-SV40 origin complexes may be capable of initiating DNA replication reactions that can be completed by AcMNPV-encoded enzymes.     

Herpes simplex virus induces the replication of foreign DNA.

Plasmids containing the simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA replication origin and the large T gene are replicated efficiently in Vero monkey cells but not in rabbit skin cells. Efficient replication of the plasmids was observed in rabbit skin cells infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2. The HSV-induced replication required the large T antigen and the SV40 replication origin. However, it produced concatemeric molecules resembling replicative intermediates of HSV DNA and was sensitive to phosphonoacetate at concentrations known to inhibit the HSV DNA polymerase. Therefore, it involved the HSV DNA polymerase itself or a viral gene product(s) which was expressed following the replication of HSV DNA. Analyses of test plasmids lacking SV40 or HSV DNA sequences showed that, under some conditions, HSV also induced low-level replication of test plasmids containing no known eucaryotic replication origins. Together, these results show that HSV induces a DNA replicative activity which amplifies foreign DNA. The relevance of these findings to the putative transforming potential of HSV is discussed.     

Preirradiation of host (monkey) cells mitigates the effects of UV upon simian virus 40 DNA replication

We are examining the effects of preirradiation of host (monkey) cells upon the replication of UV-damaged SV40. Control cells and cells preirradiated with low fluences (5 or 10 J/m2) of UV were infected with undamaged SV40, and the immediate effects of a subsequent irradiation were determined. UV inhibited total SV 40 DNA synthesis (incorporation of thymidine into viral DNA) in both preirradiated and control cells, but the extent of inhibition was less in the preirradiated cells. A test fluence of 60 J/m2 to SV40 replicating in preirradiated cells reduced synthesis only as much as a test fluence of 25 J/m2 in control cells. The fraction of recently replicated SV40 molecules that re-entered the replication pool and subsequently completed one round of replication in the first 2 h after UV was also decreased less in the preirradiated cells. Thus preirradiation of the host cell mitigates the immediate inhibitory effects of a subsequent UV exposure upon SV40 replication.     

Maturation of replicating simian virus 40 DNA molecules in isolated nuclei by continued bidirectional replication to the normal termination region.

Mature SV40 DNA synthesized for different periods of time either in isolated nuclei or in intact cells was highly purified and then digested with restriction endonucleases in order to relate the time of synthesis of newly replicated viral DNA to its location in the genome. Replication in nuclei supplemented with a cytosol fraction from uninfected cells was a faithful continuation of the bidirectional process observed in intact cells, but did not exhibit significant initiation of new replicons. SV40 DNA replication in cells at 37 degrees C proceeded at about 145 nucleotides/min per replication fork. In the absence of cytosol, when DNA synthesis was limited and joining of Okazaki fragments was retarded, bidirectional SV40 DNA replication continued into the normal region where separation yeilded circular duplex DNA molecules containing one or more interruptions in the nascent DNA strands. In the presence of cytosol, this type of viral DNA was shown to be a precursor of covalently closed, superhelical SV40 DNA, the mature from of viral DNA.     

Initiation of simian virus 40 DNA replication in vitro: identification of RNA-primed nascent DNA chains.

Cell-free extracts of simian virus 40 (SV40)-infected CV-1 cells can initiate large tumor antigen dependent bidirectional replication in circular DNA molecules containing a functional SV40 origin of replication (ori). To determine whether or not DNA replication under these conditions involves RNA-primed DNA synthesis, replication was carried out in the presence of 5-mercuri-deoxycytidine triphosphate to label nascent DNA chains. Newly synthesized mercurated DNA was isolated by its affinity for thiol-agarose, and the 5'-ends of the isolated chains were radiolabeled to allow identification of RNA primers. At least 50% of the isolated chains contained 4 to 7 ribonucleotides covalently linked to their 5'-end; 80% of the oligoribonucleotides began with adenosine and 19% began with guanosine. About 60% of the nascent DNA chains annealed to the SV40 ori region, and about 80% of these chains were synthesized in the same direction as early mRNA. These results are consistent with the properties of SV40 DNA replication in vivo and support a model for initiation of SV40 DNA replication in which DNA primase initiates DNA synthesis on that strand of ori that encodes early mRNA.     

Species specificity of simian virus 40 DNA replication in vitro requires multiple functions of human DNA polymerase alpha

Human cell extracts support the replication of SV40 DNA, whereas mouse cell extracts do not. Species specificity is determined at the level of initiation of DNA replication, and it was previously found that this requires the large subunit, p180, of DNA polymerase alpha-primase to be of human origin. Furthermore, a functional interaction between SV40 large T antigen (TAg) and p180 is essential for viral DNA replication. In this study we determined that the N-terminal regions of human p180, which contain the TAg-binding sites, can be replaced with those of murine origin without losing the ability to support SV40 DNA replication in vitro. The same substitutions do not prevent SV40 TAg from stimulating the activity of DNA polymerase alpha-primase on single-stranded DNA in the presence of replication protein A. Furthermore, biophysical studies show that the interactions of human and murine DNA polymerase alpha-primase with SV40 TAg are of a similar magnitude. These studies strongly suggest that requirement of SV40 DNA replication for human DNA polymerase alpha depends neither on the TAg-binding site being of human origin nor on the strength of the binary interaction between SV40 TAg and DNA polymerase alpha-primase but rather on sequences in the C-terminal region of human p180.     

Analysis of DNA replication forks encountering a pyrimidine dimer in the template to the leading strand.

Electron microscopy (EM) was used to visualize intermediates of in vitro replication of closed circular DNA plasmids. Cell-free extracts were prepared from human cells that are proficient (IDH4, HeLa) or deficient (CTag) in bypass replication of pyrimidine dimers. The DNA substrate was either undamaged or contained a single cis, syn thymine dimer. This lesion was inserted 385 bp downstream from the center of the SV40 origin of replication and sited specifically in the template to the leading strand of the newly synthesized DNA. Products from 30 minute reactions were crosslinked with psoralen and UV, linearized with restriction enzymes and spread for EM visualization. Extended single-stranded DNA regions were detected in damaged molecules replicated by either bypass-proficient or deficient extracts. These regions could be coated with Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA binding protein. The length of duplex DNA from a unique restriction site to the single-stranded DNA region was that predicted from blockage of leading strand synthesis by the site-specific dimer. These results were confirmed by S1nuclease treatment of replication products linearized with single cutting restriction enzymes, followed by detection of the diagnostic fragments by gel electrophoresis. The absence of an extended single-stranded DNA region in replication forks that were clearly beyond the dimer was taken as evidence of bypass replication. These criteria were fulfilled in 17 % of the molecules replicated by the IDH4 extract.     

Topoisomerase II plays an essential role as a swivelase in the late stage of SV40 chromosome replication in vitro.

The effects of topoisomerases I and II on the replication of SV40 DNA were examined using an in vitro replication system of purified proteins that constitutes the monopolymerase system. In the presence of the two topoisomerases, two distinct nascent DNAs were formed. One product arising from the replication of the leading template strand was approximately half the size of the template DNA, whereas the other product derived from the lagging template strand consisted of short DNAs. These products were synthesized from both SV40 naked DNA and SV40 chromosomes. For the replication of SV40 naked DNA, either topoisomerase I or II maintained replication fork movement and supported complete leading strand synthesis. When SV40 chromosomes were replicated with the same proteins, reactions containing only topoisomerase I produced shorter leading strands. However, mature size DNA products accumulated in reactions supplemented with topoisomerase II, as well as in reactions containing only topoisomerase II. In the presence of crude extracts of HeLa cells, VP-16, a specific inhibitor of topoisomerase II, blocked elongation of the nascent DNA during the replication of SV40 chromosomes. These results indicate that topoisomerase II plays a crucial role as a swivelase in the late stage of SV40 chromosome replication in vitro.     

Molecular analysis of enhanced replication of UV-damaged simian virus 40 DNA in UV-treated mammalian cells.

Irradiation of simian virus 40 (SV40)-infected cells with low fluences of UV light (20 to 60 J/m2, inducing one to three pyrimidine dimers per SV40 genome) causes a dramatic inhibition of viral DNA replication. However, treatment of cells with UV radiation (20 J/m2) before infection with SV40 virus enhances the replication of UV-damaged viral DNA. To investigate the mechanism of this enhancement of replication, we analyzed the kinetics of synthesis and interconversion of viral replicative intermediates synthesized after UV irradiation of SV40-infected cells that had been pretreated with UV radiation. This enhancement did not appear to be due to an expansion of the size of the pool of replicative intermediates after irradiation of pretreated infected cells; the kinetics of incorporation of labeled thymidine into replicative intermediates were very similar after irradiation of infected control and pretreated cells. The major products of replication of SV40 DNA after UV irradiation at the low UV fluences used here were form II molecules with single-stranded gaps (relaxed circular intermediates). There did not appear to be a change in the proportion of these molecules synthesized when cells were pretreated with UV radiation. Thus, it is unlikely that a substantial amount of DNA synthesis occurs past pyrimidine dimers without leaving gaps. This conclusion is supported by the observation that the proportion of newly synthesized SV40 form I molecules that contain pyrimidine dimers was not increased in pretreated cells. Pulse-chase experiments suggested that there is a more efficient conversion of replicative intermediates into form I molecules in pretreated cells. This could be due to more efficient gap filling in relaxed circular intermediate molecules or to the release of blocked replication forks. Alternatively, the enhanced replication observed here may be due to an increase in the excision repair capacity of the pretreated cells.     

Replication of SV40 chromatin in extracts from eggs of Xenopus laevis.

Simian virus 40 (SV40) nucleoprotein complexes were prepared from lytically infected cells and used as primer-templates for DNA replication in protein extracts from Xenopus eggs. We found that nucleoprotein containing replicating SV40 DNA served as primer-template while nucleoprotein with nonreplicating SV40 DNA was ineffective. In vitro DNA synthesis begins with short DNA fragments ("Okazaki fragments") which are, in later steps, joined to give unit length SV40 DNA strands, suggesting that in vivo initiated rounds of replication are completed in vitro in the Xenopus system. This conclusion is supported by a restriction enzyme analysis showing that in vitro DNA synthesis occurs in fragments distal to the SV40 origin of replication. Our studies indicate that SV40 DNA replication in Xenopus extracts can be used an an experimental system to study the biochemistry of replicative DNA chain elongation in vitro.     

Herpes simplex virus infection generates large tandemly reiterated simian virus 40 DNA molecules in a transformed hamster cell line.

When the simian virus 40 (SV40)-transformed Syrian hamster cell line Elona is infected with herpes simplex virus type 1, an excessive amplification of SV40-specific DNA sequences occurs. Analysis of total DNA from herpes simplex virus-infected cells revealed that amplified DNA sequences were present predominantly in a high-molecular-weight form, consisting of a tandem array of many unit-length SV40 DNA molecules. Repeat units of amplified DNA were found to be very similar to standard SV40 DNA as was shown by restriction analyses, except for a small deletion close to the origin of replication, which could also be detected in the chromosomal DNA of uninfected cells. A procedure, devised for selective enrichment of amplified SV40 DNA molecules from the bulk of cellular and herpesviral DNA, allowed molecular cloning of single repeat units and nucleotide sequence analysis of the relative genomic region.     

Bizelesin, a bifunctional cyclopropylpyrroloindole alkylating agent, inhibits simian virus 40 replication in trans by induction of an inhibitor.

Bizelesin, a bifunctional DNA minor groove alkylating agent, inhibits both cellular and viral (SV40) DNA replication in whole cells. Bizelesin inhibition of SV40 DNA replication was analyzed in SV40-infected cells, using two-dimensional (2D) neutral agarose gel electrophoresis, and in a cell-free SV40 DNA replication assay. Within 1 h of bizelesin addition to infected cells, a similar rapid decrease in both the level of SV40 replication intermediates and replication activity was observed, indicating inhibition of initiation of SV40 DNA replication. However, prolonged bizelesin treatment (>/=2 h) was associated with a reduced extent of elongation of SV40 replicons, as well as the appearance on 2D gels of intense spots, suggestive of replication pause sites. Inhibition of elongation and induction of replication pause sites may result from the formation of bizelesin covalent bonds on replicating SV40 molecules. The level of in vitro replication of SV40 DNA also was reduced when extracts from bizelesin-treated HeLa cells were used. This effect was not dependent upon the formation of bizelesin covalent bonds with the template DNA. Mixing experiments, using extracts from control and bizelesin-treated cells, indicated that reduced DNA replication competence was due to the presence of a trans-acting DNA replication inhibitor, rather than to decreased levels or inactivation of essential replication factor(s).