DNA polymerases II and V mediate respectively mutagenic (-2 frameshift) and error-free bypass of a single N-2-acetylaminofluorene adduct.

The NarI sequence represents a strong mutation hot spot for -2 frameshift mutations induced by N-2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF), a strong chemical carcinogen. Only when bound to the third (underlined) guanine (5'-GGCGCC-->GGCC) can AAF trigger frameshift mutations, suggesting the involvement of a slipped replication intermediate with a two-nucleotide bulge. While base substitutions induced by UV light or abasic sites require DNA polymerase V (Pol V; umuDC), the AAF-induced -2 frameshift pathway requires DNA polymerase II, the polB gene product. Interestingly, error-free bypass of the G-AAF adduct requires Pol V. The genes encoding both Pol II and Pol V are induced by the SOS regulon, a co-ordinated cellular response to environmental stress. A given lesion, G-AAF, can thus be bypassed by two SOS-controlled DNA polymerases (II and V), generating mutagenic (-2 frameshifts) and error-free replication products respectively. Therefore both Pol II and Pol V can compete for the blocked replication intermediate in the vicinity of the lesion and engage in replication by transiently replacing the replicative DNA Pol III. Our data suggest that, in order to cope with the large diversity of existing DNA lesions, cells use a single or a combination of translesional DNA polymerases to achieve translesion synthesis.

The early detection of frameshift mutations induced by a food-borne carcinogen in rats: a new tool for molecular epidemiology.

The accumulation of genetic changes is considered as the main factor that determines the development of cancer. Recent progresses in genetics and molecular biology led to the discovery of many new molecular markers and to the development of techniques able to monitor these markers. As a consequence, molecular epidemiology has emerged as a powerful approach to study the ternary relationship between the environment, the behaviour and the genetic predisposition of each individual. Susceptibility to cancer is determined at different levels such as the genetic polymorphism of enzymes involved in the activation and detoxification of carcinogens, the polymorphism of genes that maintains the genome stability, like those involved in DNA repair or recombination processes, and finally the polymorphism in oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes. Consequently, the full assessment of each individual's genetic predisposition is a long and difficult task. As the accumulation of mutations in somatic cells integrates all these parameters, its measurement would facilitate the evaluation of the individual predisposition status, provided that a marker common to a large spectrum of carcinogens could be found. Our current studies on the molecular mechanisms of carcinogen-induced mutagenesis has revealed that G-rich repetitive sequences are mutational hot spots for several major classes of environmental genotoxins such as aromatic and heterocyclic amines, polycyclic hydrocarbons and oxidative agents. We thus consider the possibility that these sequences form a new class of biomarkers for carcinogen exposure. In order to validate this hypothesis, we designed a sensitive PCR-based assay able to detect specific mutations induced by a common food-borne carcinogen in the colon epithelium of rats exposed for a short period to this carcinogen. This assay is sensitive enough to allow early detection of induced mutations and therefore allows to differentiate between unexposed animal and those exposed for a period as short as 1 week.

Sequence context modulation of translesion synthesis at a single N-2-acetylaminofluorene adduct located within a mutation hot spot.

Oligonucleotides containing a single N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)acetylaminofluorene lesion (dGuo-C8-AAF) at each guanine residue of the sequence (5'-G1G2G3) have been used as templates for in vitro primer extension reactions by several DNA polymerases [Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme, its alpha subunit, DNA polymerase I Klenow fragment proficient (exo+) or deficient (exo-) in its 3' --> 5' exonuclease activity, and Sequenase]. The dGuo-C8-AAF lesion appears to be a strong block for all DNA polymerases: exo+ DNA polymerases stop one nucleotide before encountering the lesion, while partial incorporation opposite the lesion is observed only with enzymes devoid of the exonuclease activity. The efficiency of incorporation across from the adduct depends on both the DNA polymerase and the position of the lesion. When polymerase I Klenow fragment exo- is used, translesion synthesis (TLS) is observed with efficiencies varying according to the position of the adduct (G2 > G1 > G3). Sequencing of the TLS products shows that error-free TLS is observed only when the AAF lesion is bound to G1, while all TLS events occurring at G2- or G3-AAF adducts are mutagenic. The major mutational event is a G deletion (27, 76, and 55% of the events for G1, G2, and G3, respectively), while two-G deletions occur to a lesser extent (17-30%). These results are discussed in view of the slippage model developed for frameshift mutagenesis occurring during translesion synthesis at replication blocking lesions.

A single N-2-acetylaminofluorene adduct alters the footprint of T7 (exo-) DNA polymerase bound to a model primer-template junction.

Bovine pancreatic deoxyribonuclease I (DNaseI) has been used to footprint T7 (exo-) DNA polymerase bound to a model primer-template junction. The polymerase was blocked at a specific position either by the omission of dCTP from the reaction mix or by the presence of a N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-acetylaminofluorene (dGuo-AAF) adduct. This lesion has been shown to be a severe block for several DNA polymerases, both in in vitro primer elongation experiments, and during the in vivo replication of AAF-monomodified single-stranded vectors. The footprints obtained with unmodified primer-template DNA define two protected domains separated by an inter-region that remains sensitive to DNaseI, and several hypersensitive sites located on both strands. Binding of the polymerase to AAF monomodified duplexes results in the same protection pattern as that obtained with the unmodified duplexes. However, the hypersensitive sites either disappear or are dramatically reduced. The results suggest that the AAF lesion alters the correct positioning of the duplex DNA within the polymerase cleft.