UV-irradiated Poly Research Articles

Inhibition of DNA polymerase activity by thymine hydrates

Ultraviolet irradiation of DNA results in various pyrimidine modifications. We have demonstrated formation of both cis-thymine hydrate and trans-thymine hydrate (6-hydroxy-5,6-dihydrothymine) in UV-irradiated poly(dA-dT): poly(dA-dT). Both are released from DNA as free bases by bacterial and human glycosylases. Thymine hydrates are stable in DNA and can be detected in control, unirradiated substrate. We examined the effects of thymine hydrates in UV-irradiated substrate poly(dA-dT): poly(dA-dT) on E. coli DNA polymerase I activity. Enzymic incorporation of labeled thymidine-5′-monophosphate significantly decreased with increasing UV dose. Reversal of DNA thymine hydrates to thymines by mild heating of the substrate prior to enzymic reaction resulted in partial recovery of nucleotide incorporation. Cyclobutane thymine dimers are formed between non-adjacent thymines in UV-irradiated poly(dA-dT): poly(dA-dT). These are responsible for the incomplete recovery of DNA polymerase activity following heating due to their heat stability. Analyses of the irradiated and hydrolyzed substrate also demonstrated formation of minor yields of photoproducts formed by covalent linkaage of adjacent thymines and adenines by UV-irradiation. Therefore, the thymine hydrates formed in UV-irradiated DNA partially inhibit polymerase activity during DNA synthesis and thus could be potentially lethal if unrepaired.

Enzymatic Analysis of Isomeric Trithymidylates Containing Ultraviolet Light-induced Cyclobutane Pyrimidine Dimers: II. Phosphorylation by phage T4 polynucleotide kinase

Abstract Phage T4 polynucleotide kinase (EC 2.7.1.78) proved incapable of catalyzing the phosphorylation of thymidylyl-(3'----5')-thymidine containing either a cis-syn-cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (d-T less than p greater than T) or a 6-4'-[pyrimidin-2'-one]pyrimidine photoproduct (d-T[p]-T), and similarly the UV-modified compounds of (dT)3 bearing either photoproduct at their 5'-end (d-T less than p greater than TpT and d-T[p]TpT). In contrast, the 3'-structural isomers of these trinucleotides (d-TpT less than p greater than T and d-TpT[p]T) were phosphorylated at the same rate as the parent compound. These phosphorylatable lesion-containing oligonucleotides are quantitatively released from UV-irradiated poly(dA):poly(dT) by enzymatic hydrolysis with snake venom phosphodiesterase and alkaline phosphatase (Liuzzi, M., Weinfeld, M., and Paterson, M. C. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 6355-6363). By combining this digestion regimen with phosphorylation by polynucleotide kinase and [gamma-32P]ATP, pyrimidine dimers were quantitated at the fmol level following exposure of poly(dA):poly(dT) and herring sperm DNA to biologically relevant UV fluences. The rate of dimer induction in the synthetic polymer, approximately 10 dimers/10(6) nucleotides/Jm-2, was in close agreement with that obtained by conventional methods. Dimers were induced at one-fourth of this rate in the natural DNA. Further treatment of the phosphorylated oligonucleotides derived from irradiated herring sperm DNA with nuclease P1 released the labeled 5'-nucleotide, thus permitting analysis of the nearest-neighbor bases 5' to the lesions. We observed a ratio for pyrimidine-to-purine bases of almost 6:1, implicating tripyrimidine stretches as hotspots for UV-induced DNA damage.

Direct Evidence for the Creation of Micropores in UV-Irradiated Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)

ABSTRACTFilms of PMMA containing azobenzene were prepared by casting from polymer solutions containing the probe or by exposing pre-irradiated films to the vapor of azobenzene. These materials were irradiated at 335 nm and the amount of trans azobenzene which had been photoisomerized was monitored spectrophotometrically. The largest amount of photoisomerization was observed for the pre-irradiated samples which had been penetrated by azobenzene from the vapor, indicating that the created free volume allowed the isomerization to proceed more easily.

Primary photochemical processes in UV-irradiated poly(vinyl chloride) and chlorinated PVC

The kinetics of the photodegradation of poly(vinyl chloride) and of chlorinated PVC films were studied both in the presence and in the absence of oxygen and quantum yields Φ of the major photochemical processes were determined. Dehydrochlorination develops more intensively in chlorinated PVC than in PVC, leading to long polyene sequences which are responsible for the rapid discoloration of the irradiated film. Φ values indicate that only a small fraction of the photons absorbed induces the polymer degradation. In the photooxidation of PVC and of chlorinated PVC two radicals play a predominant role: (1) the β-chloro-alkyl radical which, by splitting off the β chlorine, initiates the zip-dehydrochlorination, and (2) the γ-chloroperoxy radical which is responsible for the production of carbonyl and hydroperoxide groups as well as for the chain scissions and crosslinks. The reasons for the higher photosensitivity of chlorinated PVC are discussed and an overall reaction scheme is suggested for each polymer.

Pyrimidine dimer-DNA glycosylases: Studies on bacteriophage T4-infected and on uninfected Escherichia coli

Pyrimidine dimer (PD)-DNA glycosylase activity has been reported in both the M. luteus and phage T4 UV endonucleases. In the present studies the T4 PD-DNA glycosylase has been purified close to physical homogeneity using an assay that measures the release of free thymine from UV-irradiated poly ([H5] dT):poly (dA), after the photo-reversal of thymine-thymine dimers. The activity has also been demonstrated in vivo following infection of UV-irradiated E. coli uvr- cells with phage T4. Under these conditions the T4 PD-DNA glycosylase accounts quantitatively for all thymine-containing PD excised from [3H] labeled E. coli DNA. In vitro the T4 PD-DNA glycosylase has an associated AP endonuclease activity that incises UV-irradiated DNA 3 to the apyrimidinic sites created by the glycosylase. However, the glycosylase/AP endonuclease reaction mechanism in vitro does not appear to be a concerted one. In addition, a T4 phage with a temperature-sensitive mutation in the denV gene shows wild-type levels of survival at the permissive temperature, despite the fact that in vitro, extracts of E. coli infected with this mutant show no detectable phage-coded AP endonuclease at 28 degrees C. Thus the exact role of the T4 AP endonuclease in the incision of UV-irradiated DNA dimer in vivo is not clear. The ratio of excised non-containing nucleotides to dimer-containing nucleotides following infection of UV-irradiated E. coli with phage T4 denV+ yields a calculated average repair patch size of approximately 7 nucleotides. In contrast, the calculated average patch size in uninfected E. coli is approximately 70 nucleotides. Thus the extent of excision/resynthesis of UV-irradiated DNA may be determined by the specific mode of incision of the DNA at PD. When uninfected E. coli (uvr+) is exposed to UV radiation, a fraction of the excised thymine-containing PD contain photolabile thymine, suggesting the presence of PD-DNA glycosylase in E. coli. The role of this putative activity in the metabolism of UV-irradiated DNA is under investigation.

Purification and characterization of normal and mutant forms of T4 endonuclease V.

Endonuclease V of bacteriophage T4 has been purified to physical homogeneity from T4D-infected Escherichia coli 1100. The enzyme, whose molecular weight is 16,000, possessed two distinct catalytic activities, a pyrimidine dimer-DNA glycosylase and an apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease. They acted on UV-irradiated poly(dA) . poly(dT) in a sequential manner; the glycosylase cleaved the N-glycosyl bond between the 5'-pyrimidine of a dimer and the corresponding sugar and then the endonuclease hydrolyzed a phosphodiester bond on the 3'-side of the apyrimidinic site. The 5'-termini thus generated were phosphorylated by T4 polynucleotide kinase only after they had been subjected to direct photoreversal and then treated with alkaline phosphatase. By using two phage mutants, uvs-5 and uvs-13, it was shown that occurrence of an amber mutation in the denV gene caused a simultaneous loss of the two activities. Suppression of the mutation of uvs-5 rendered both activities partially active. When the mutation of uvs-13 was suppressed, a mutant form of enzyme that possessed only a glycosylase activity was produced. This suggests that there are two distinct domains in a single enzyme, each of which corresponds to one of the activities.

Physical association of pyrimidine dimer DNA glycosylase and apurinic/apyrimidinic DNA endonuclease essential for repair of ultraviolet-damaged DNA.

T4 endonuclease V [endodeoxyribonuclease (pyrimidine dimer), EC 3.1.25.1)], which is involved in repair of UV-damaged DNA, has been purified to apparent physical homogeneity. Incubation of UV-irradiated poly(dA).poly(dT) with the purified enzyme preparations resulted in production of alkali-labile apyrimidinic sites, followed by formation of nicks in the polymer. The activity to produce alkali-labile sites was optimal in a relatively broad pH range (pH 6.0-8.5), whereas the activity to form nicks had a narrow optimum near pH 6.5. By performing a limited reaction with T4 endonuclease V at pH 8.5, irradiated polymer was converted to an intermediate form that carried a large number of alkali-labile sites but only a few nicks. The intermediate was used as substrate for the assay of apurinic/apyrimidinic DNA endonuclease activity [endodeoxyribonuclease (apurinic or apyrimidinic, EC 2.1.25.2]. The two activities, a pyrimidine dimer DNA glycosylase and an apurinic/apyrimidinic DNA endonuclease, were copurified and found in enzyme preparations that contained only a 16,000-dalton polypeptide. An enzyme fraction from cells infected with bacteriophage T4v1, a mutant that is sensitive to UV radiation, was defective in both glycosylase and endonuclease activities. Moreover, occurrence of an amber mutation in the denV gene caused a simultaneous loss of the two activities, and suppression of the mutation rendered both activities partially active. These results strongly suggested that a DNA glycosylase specific for pyrimidine dimers and an apurinic/apyrimidinic DNA endonuclease reside in a single polypeptide chain coded by the denV gene of bacteriophage T4. Because the two activities exhibited different thermosensitivity, it was further suggested that conformation of the active sites for these activities may be different.

Mechanism of ultraviolet-induced mutagenesis: the coding properties of ultraviolet-irradiated poly(dC) replicated by E. coli DNA polymerase I.

We have identified three lesions rather than cyclobutane dimers which alter the properties of UV-irradiated poly(dC) as a template for E.coli DNA polymerase I, and have characterised these lesions with respect to their coding properties, rates of formation and decay, and their sensitivity to uracil DNA glycosylase. Our results lead us to conclude that these lesions are (1) cytosine hydrates, which code for cytosine and to a lesser extent thymine, (2) uracil hydrates, which code for adenine and are not sensitive to uracil DNA glycosylase, and (3) uracils, which code for adenine and are removed by uracil DNA glycosylase.

Pyrimidine dimers in UV-irradiated poly dI:dC.

Pyrimidine dimers in UV-irradiated poly dI:dC.