title: Selective inhibition by methoxyamine of the apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease activity associated with pyrimidine dimer-DNA glycosylases from Micrococcus luteus and bacteriophage T4.
abstract: The UV endonucleases [endodeoxyribonuclease (pyrimidine dimer), EC 3.1.25.1] from Micrococcus luteus and bacteriophage T4 possess two catalytic activities specific for the site of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in UV-irradiated DNA: a DNA glycosylase that cleaves the 5'-glycosyl bond of the dimerized pyrimidines and an apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease that thereupon incises the phosphodiester bond 3' to the resulting apyrimidinic site. We have explored the potential use of methoxyamine, a chemical that reacts at neutral pH with AP sites in DNA, as a selective inhibitor of the AP endonuclease activities residing in the M. luteus and T4 enzymes. The presence of 50 mM methoxyamine during incubation of UV- (4 kJ/m2, 254 nm) treated, [3H]thymine-labeled poly(dA).poly(dT) with either enzyme preparation was found to protect completely the irradiated copolymer from endonucleolytic attack at dimer sites, as assayed by yield of acid-soluble radioactivity. In contrast, the dimer-DNA glycosylase activity of each enzyme remained fully functional, as monitored retrospectively by release of free thymine after either photochemical- (5 kJ/m2, 254 nm) or photoenzymic- (Escherichia coli photolyase plus visible light) induced reversal of pyrimidine dimers in the UV-damaged substrate. Our data demonstrate that the inhibition of the strand-incision reaction arises because of chemical modification of the AP sites and is not due to inactivation of the enzyme by methoxyamine. Our results, combined with earlier findings for 5'-acting AP endonucleases, strongly suggest that methoxyamine is a highly specific inhibitor of virtually all AP endonucleases, irrespective of their modes of action, and may therefore prove useful in a wide variety of DNA repair studies.
mesh_terms: D045647:DNA Glycosylases; D043603:DNA-(Apurinic or Apyrimidinic Site) Lyase; D043223:Deoxyribonuclease IV (Phage T4-Induced); D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D006898:Hydroxylamines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007700:Kinetics; D008837:Micrococcus / Q000201:enzymology*; D009699:N-Glycosyl Hydrolases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D011067:Poly dA-dT / Q000528:radiation effects; D013604:T-Phages / Q000201:enzymology*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D006898:Hydroxylamines; D011067:Poly dA-dT; C005214:methoxyamine; D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases; D043223:Deoxyribonuclease IV (Phage T4-Induced); C468972:endonuclease IV, E coli; D045647:DNA Glycosylases; D009699:N-Glycosyl Hydrolases; C036401:deoxyribopyrimidine endonucleosidase; D043603:DNA-(Apurinic or Apyrimidinic Site) Lyase