Increasing the Analytical Sensitivity by Oligonucleotides Modified with Para- and Ortho-Twisted Intercalating Nucleic Acids – TINA

The sensitivity and specificity of clinical diagnostic assays using DNA hybridization techniques are limited by the dissociation of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) antiparallel duplex helices. This situation can be improved by addition of DNA stabilizing molecules such as nucleic acid intercalators. Here, we report the synthesis of a novel ortho-Twisted Intercalating Nucleic Acid (TINA) amidite utilizing the phosphoramidite approach, and examine the stabilizing effect of ortho- and para-TINA molecules in antiparallel DNA duplex formation. In a thermal stability assay, ortho- and para-TINA molecules increased the melting point (Tm) of Watson-Crick based antiparallel DNA duplexes. The increase in Tm was greatest when the intercalators were placed at the 5′ and 3′ termini (preferable) or, if placed internally, for each half or whole helix turn. Terminally positioned TINA molecules improved analytical sensitivity in a DNA hybridization capture assay targeting the Escherichia coli rrs gene. The corresponding sequence from the Pseudomonas aeruginosa rrs gene was used as cross-reactivity control. At 150 mM ionic strength, analytical sensitivity was improved 27-fold by addition of ortho-TINA molecules and 7-fold by addition of para-TINA molecules (versus the unmodified DNA oligonucleotide), with a 4-fold increase retained at 1 M ionic strength. Both intercalators sustained the discrimination of mismatches in the dsDNA (indicated by ΔTm), unless placed directly adjacent to the mismatch – in which case they partly concealed ΔTm (most pronounced for para-TINA molecules). We anticipate that the presented rules for placement of TINA molecules will be broadly applicable in hybridization capture assays and target amplification systems

Removal of Uracil by Uracil DNA Glycosylase Limits Pemetrexed Cytotoxicity: Overriding the Limit with Methoxyamine to Inhibit Base Excision Repair

Uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG) specifically removes uracil bases from DNA, and its repair activity determines the sensitivity of the cell to anticancer agents that are capable of introducing uracil into DNA. In the present study, the participation of UDG in the response to pemetrexed-induced incorporation of uracil into DNA was studied using isogenic human tumor cell lines with or without UDG (UDG+/+/UDG−/−). UDG−/− cells were very sensitive to pemetrexed. Cell killing by pemetrexed was associated with genomic uracil accumulation, stalled DNA replication, and catastrophic DNA strand breaks. By contrast, UDG+/+ cells were \u3e10 times more resistant to pemetrexed due to the rapid removal of uracil from DNA by UDG and subsequent repair of the resultant AP sites (abasic sites) via the base excision repair (BER). The resistance to pemetrexed in UDG+/+ cells could be reversed by the addition of methoxyamine (MX), which binds to AP sites and interrupts BER pathway. Furthermore, MX-bound AP sites induced cell death was related to their cytotoxic effect of dual inactivation of UDG and topoisomerase IIα, two genes that are highly expressed in lung cancer cells in comparison with normal cells. Thus, targeting BER-based therapy exhibits more selective cytotoxicity on cancer cells through a synthetic lethal mechanism

Unexpected Role for Helicobacter pylori DNA Polymerase I As a Source of Genetic Variability

Helicobacter pylori, a human pathogen infecting about half of the world population, is characterised by its large intraspecies variability. Its genome plasticity has been invoked as the basis for its high adaptation capacity. Consistent with its small genome, H. pylori possesses only two bona fide DNA polymerases, Pol I and the replicative Pol III, lacking homologues of translesion synthesis DNA polymerases. Bacterial DNA polymerases I are implicated both in normal DNA replication and in DNA repair. We report that H. pylori DNA Pol I 5′- 3′ exonuclease domain is essential for viability, probably through its involvement in DNA replication. We show here that, despite the fact that it also plays crucial roles in DNA repair, Pol I contributes to genomic instability. Indeed, strains defective in the DNA polymerase activity of the protein, although sensitive to genotoxic agents, display reduced mutation frequencies. Conversely, overexpression of Pol I leads to a hypermutator phenotype. Although the purified protein displays an intrinsic fidelity during replication of undamaged DNA, it lacks a proofreading activity, allowing it to efficiently elongate mismatched primers and perform mutagenic translesion synthesis. In agreement with this finding, we show that the spontaneous mutator phenotype of a strain deficient in the removal of oxidised pyrimidines from the genome is in part dependent on the presence of an active DNA Pol I. This study provides evidence for an unexpected role of DNA polymerase I in generating genomic plasticity