Altering DNA base excision repair: use of nuclear and mitochondrial-targeted N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase to sensitize astroglia to chemotherapeutic agents.
Primary astrocyte cultures were used to investigate the modulation of DNA repair as a tool for sensitizing astrocytes to genotoxic agents. Base excision repair (BER) is the principal mechanism by which mammalian cells repair alkylation damage to DNA and involves the processing of relatively nontoxic DNA adducts through a series of cytotoxic intermediates during the course of restoring normal DNA integrity. An adenoviral expression system was employed to target high levels of the BER pathway initiator, N-methylpurine glycosylase (MPG), to either the mitochondria or nucleus of primary astrocytes to test the hypothesis that an alteration in BER results in increased alkylation sensitivity. Increasing MPG activity significantly increased BER kinetics in both the mitochondria and nuclei. Although modulating MPG activity in mitochondria appeared to have little effect on alkylation sensitivity, increased nuclear MPG activity resulted in cell death in astrocyte cultures treated with methylnitrosourea (MNU). Caspase-3 cleavage was not detected, thus indicating that these alkylation sensitive astrocytes do not undergo a typical programmed cell death in response to MNU. Astrocytes were found to express relatively high levels of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL and very low levels of proapoptotic Bad and Bid suggesting that the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis may be blocked making astrocytes less vulnerable to proapoptotic stimuli compared with other cell types. Consequently, this unique characteristic of astrocytes may be responsible, in part, for resistance of astrocytomas to chemotherapeutic agents.
Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama 36688, USA.
Jason F
JF
Harrison
Mikael L
ML
Rinne
Mark R
MR
Kelley
Nadiya M
NM
Druzhyna
Glenn L
GL
Wilson
Susan P
SP
Ledoux
D000478:Alkylation / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D020137:Base Pair Mismatch / Q000235:genetics; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D045647:DNA Glycosylases / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D008770:Methylnitrosourea / Q000494:pharmacology; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009153:Mutagens / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D009153:Mutagens; D008770:Methylnitrosourea; D045647:DNA Glycosylases; C076131:DNA-3-methyladenine glycosidase II