title: Increased spontaneous mutation frequency in human cells expressing the phage PBS2-encoded inhibitor of uracil-DNA glycosylase.
abstract: The Ugi protein inhibitor of uracil-DNA glycosylase encoded by bacteriophage PBS2 inactivates human uracil-DNA glycosylases (UDG) by forming a tight enzyme:inhibitor complex. To create human cells that are impaired for UDG activity, the human glioma U251 cell line was engineered to produce active Ugi protein. In vitro assays of crude cell extracts from several Ugi-expressing clonal lines showed UDG inactivation under standard assay conditions as compared to control cells, and four of these UDG defective cell lines were characterized for their ability to conduct in vivo uracil-DNA repair. Whereas transfected plasmid DNA containing either a U:G mispair or U:A base pairs was efficiently repaired in the control lines, uracil-DNA repair was not evident in the lines producing Ugi. Experiments using a shuttle vector to detect mutations in a target gene showed that Ugi-expressing cells exhibited a 3-fold higher overall spontaneous mutation frequency compared to control cells, due to increased C:G to T:A base pair substitutions. The growth rate and cell cycle distribution of Ugi-expressing cells did not differ appreciably from their parental cell counterpart. Further in vitro examination revealed that a thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) previously shown to mediate Ugi-insensitive excision of uracil bases from DNA was not detected in the parental U251 cells. However, a Ugi-insensitive UDG activity of unknown origin that recognizes U:G mispairs and to a lesser extent U:A base pairs in duplex DNA, but which was inactive toward uracil residues in single-stranded DNA, was detected under assay conditions previously shown to be efficient for detecting TDG.
authors.affiliation: Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Irvine School of Medicine, Orange, CA 92868, USA. eradany@uci.edu
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Radany
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Dornfeld
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Sanderson
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Majumdar
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Seidman
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Mosbaugh
mesh_terms: D017103:Bacillus Phages / Q000201:enzymology; D002453:Cell Cycle; D045647:DNA Glycosylases; D004260:DNA Repair; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D005910:Glioma / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D016296:Mutagenesis; D009699:N-Glycosyl Hydrolases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D051981:Uracil-DNA Glycosidase; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; C027619:uracil-DNA glycosylase inhibitor protein, B. subtilis bacteriophage; D045647:DNA Glycosylases; D009699:N-Glycosyl Hydrolases; D051981:Uracil-DNA Glycosidase