4p2h

Publication Abstract from PubMed

N7-Methyl-2'-deoxyguanosine (m7dG) is the predominant lesion formed by methylating agents. A systematic investigation on the effect of m7dG on DNA replication has been difficult due to the chemical instability of m7dG. To gain insights into the m7dG effect, we employed a 2'-fluorine-mediated transition-state destabilzation strategy. Specifically, we determined kinetic parameters for dCTP insertion opposite a chemically stable m7dG analogue, 2'-fluoro-m7dG (Fm7dG), by human DNA polymerase beta (polbeta) and solved three X-ray structures of polbeta in complex with the templating Fm7dG paired with incoming dCTP or dTTP analogues. The kinetic studies reveal that the templating Fm7dG slows polbeta catalysis approximately 300-fold, suggesting that m7dG in genomic DNA may impede replication by some DNA polymerases. The structural analysis reveals that Fm7dG forms a canonical Watson-Crick base pair with dCTP, but metal ion coordination is suboptimal for catalysis in the polbeta-Fm7dG:dCTP complex, which partially explains the slow insertion of dCTP opposite Fm7dG by polbeta. In addition, the polbeta-Fm7dG:dTTP structure shows open protein conformations and staggered base pair conformations, indicating that N7-methylation of dG does not promote a promutagenic replication. Overall, the first systematic studies on the effect of m7dG on DNA replication reveal that polbeta catalysis across m7dG is slow, yet highly accurate.

Transition-state destabilization reveals how human DNA polymerase beta proceeds across the chemically unstable lesion N7-methylguanine.,Koag MC, Kou Y, Ouzon-Shubeita H, Lee S Nucleic Acids Res. 2014 Jun 25. pii: gku554. PMID:24966350^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.