Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.1.1.37 (DNA methyltransferase)
4,983 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The expression of several inducible enzymes for repair of alkylated DNA in Escherichia coli is controlled by the ada+ gene. This regulatory gene has been cloned into a multicopy plasmid and shown to code for a 37-kd protein. Antibodies raised against homogeneous O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (the main repair activity for mutagenic damage in alkylated DNA) were found to cross-react with this 37-kd protein. Cell extracts from several independently derived ada mutants contain variable amounts of an altered 37-kd protein after an inducing alkylation treatment. In addition, an 18-kd protein identical with the previously isolated O6-methyl-guanine-DNA methyltransferase has been identified as a product of the ada+ gene. The smaller polypeptide is derived from the 37-kd protein by proteolytic processing.
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PMID:Induction of resistance to alkylating agents in E. coli: the ada+ gene product serves both as a regulatory protein and as an enzyme for repair of mutagenic damage. 609 60

The ada+ gene of E. coli is a regulatory gene of the adaptive response to simple alkylating agents. ada mutants are sensitive to both the mutagenicity and toxicity of alkylating agents, and are unable to induce O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase and 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase II. The ada+ gene was cloned from wild type E. coli B by ligating bacterial DNA partially digested with Sau3A into the cosmid vector pJB8. The hybrid cosmid, pCS33, conveyed N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine resistance to ada mutants of E. coli B and E. coli K12, and resulted in the constitutive synthesis of the two DNA repair enzymes at high levels. An alk mutation, which results in a deficiency of only the DNA glycosylase, was not complemented by this cosmid. It was concluded that the product of the ada+ gene is a positive regulator of the adaptive response. The cosmid insert DNA was subcloned into the plasmid vector pAT153, and the ada+ plasmids pCS42 and pCS58 selected. The ada+ gene was located in pCS58 by transposon mutagenesis and subcloning. Two polypeptides of Mr 37,000 and 27,000, were identified in 'maxi-cells' as products of the ada+ gene(s). It is as yet unclear whether they represent different forms of the same gene product, or are encoded by separate ada+ genes within the same operon.
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PMID:Molecular cloning of a gene which regulates the adaptive response to alkylating agents in Escherichia coli. 635 69

Our previous studies of Bacillus subtilis showed that the genes responsible for the adaptive response to DNA alkylation were organized as a divergent regulon, in contrast to scattered operons in Escherichia coli ada regulon. To study the generality and diversity of gene organization, several species and strains of Bacillus were examined for the responsiveness to DNA alkylation. B. cereus cells exhibited the highest resistance to MNNG treatment. When the cells were grown in the presence of MNNG, 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase and two species of DNA methyltransferase were induced as in B. subtilis 168 cells. B. licheniformis 749 and B. amyloliquefaciens H cells exhibited a partial response that manifested itself as the induction of one species of DNA methyltransferase. On the other hand, B. thuringiensis var. Tohokuensis, B. megaterium KMT, and B. subtilis W23 cells were totally deficient in this response, and were hypersensitive to alkylating agents. To determine the cause of this deficiency in strain W23, we examined the genomic structure of the corresponding region where three genes (alkA, adaA, and adaB) were located in 168. No homologues for the three genes were detected in W23 DNA by Southern hybridization. Two genes (glmS and ndhF) flanking the adaptive response regulon in 168 were also present in W23. A sequence of about 2750 bp that carried the entire regulon in 168 was replaced with a sequence of about 250 bp that was unique to W23. At the ends of the conserved segments, palindromic sequences corresponding to the transcriptional termination sites of the adaB and glmS genes were observed. The regulon in 168 could be artificially replaced by the W23 sequence, and be regained through DNA-mediated transformation.
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PMID:Diverse capacities for the adaptive response to DNA alkylation in Bacillus species and strains. 756 65

The ada gene of Escherichia coli K-12 encodes the 39-kDa Ada protein, which consists of two domains joined by a hinge region that is sensitive to proteolytic cleavage in vitro. The amino-terminal domain has a DNA methyltransferase activity that repairs the S-diastereoisomer of methylphosphotriesters while the carboxyl-terminal domain has a DNA methyltransferase activity that repairs O6-methylguanine and O4-methylthymine lesions. Transfer of a methyl group to Cys-69 by repair of a methylphosphotriester lesion converts Ada into a transcriptional activator of the ada and alkA genes. Activation of ada, but not alkA, requires elements contained within the carboxyl-terminal domain of Ada. In addition, physiologically relevant concentrations of the unmethylated form of Ada specifically inhibit methylated Ada-promoted ada transcription both in vitro and in vivo and it has been suggested that this phenomenon plays a pivotal role in the down-regulation of the adaptive response. A set of site-directed mutations were generated within the hinge region, changing the lysine residue at position 178 to leucine, valine, glycine, tyrosine, arginine, cysteine, proline, and serine. All eight mutant proteins have deficiencies in their ability to activate ada transcription in the presence or absence of a methylating agent but are proficient in alkA activation. AdaK178P (lysine 178 changed to proline) is completely defective for the transcriptional activation function of ada while it is completely proficient for transcriptional activation of alkA. In addition, AdaK178P possesses both classes of DNA repair activities both in vitro and in vivo. Transcriptional activation of ada does not occur if both the amino- and carboxyl-terminal domains are produced separately within the same cell. The mutation at position 178 might interfere with activation of ada transcription by changing a critical contact with RNA polymerase, by causing a conformational change of Ada, or by interfering with the communication of conformational information between the amino- and the carboxyl-terminal domains. These results indicate that the hinge region of Ada is important for ada but not alkA transcription and further support the notion that the mechanism(s) by which Ada activates ada transcription differs from that by which it activates transcription at alkA.
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PMID:Alteration of lysine 178 in the hinge region of the Escherichia coli ada protein interferes with activation of ada, but not alkA, transcription. 786 1

In Bacillus subtilis, the adaptive response to DNA alkylation depends on the ada operon, which consists of the adaA and adaB genes, which encode methylphosphotriester DNA methyltransferase (AdaA protein) and O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (AdaB protein), respectively. A structural gene (alkA) that encodes 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase was found upstream of the ada operon, but in the opposite orientation. This cluster of genes was mapped at about 235 kb from the SfiI recognition site near the origin of replication in the physical map of the B. subtilis chromosome. Disruption of the alkA gene sensitized cells to N-propyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, while its overproduction rendered cells highly resistant to N-propyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, indicating that lethal DNA damage produced by bulky alkylating agents was effectively counteracted by AlkA glycosylase. Transcription of the alkA gene was induced by treating adaA+ cells with methylating agents concurrent with transcription of the ada operon. This was accomplished by using methylated AdaA protein bound to a 30-bp segment in the middle of the 100-bp sequence between the transcriptional start sites of the alkA gene and ada operon. Thus, in this organism, the adaptive response to DNA alkylation is achieved by autologous activation of a divergent regulon composed of the genes for a DNA glycosylase and two species of DNA alkyltransferase.
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PMID:Bacillus subtilis alkA gene encoding inducible 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase is adjacent to the ada operon. 837 46

Cysteine residue 69 of the Escherichia coli Ada transcription factor, which accepts a methyl group from methylphosphotriester in methylated DNA, was substituted by each of 19 other amino acids. Only the mutant Ada (C69H), carrying a histidine substitution of Cys69, exhibited a limited degree of transactivating potential for the ada promoter in E. coli cells although the mutant protein was completely devoid of methylphosphotriester-DNA methyltransferase activity. Using a multicopy plasmid system for the expression of Ada protein, we have shown that Ada C69H has a transactivating capacity equivalent to that of wild-type Ada protein in the absence of an alkylating agent. This indicates that the zinc-binding capacity of histidine at residue 69 is likely to be sufficient for Ada to recognize and bind to the ada promoter. Furthermore, transactivation of the ada promoter by Ada C69H was enhanced up to 6-fold by treatment with methylating agents. An additional substitution was made with alanine in Ada C69H, replacing Cys321, the site for acceptance of a methyl group from O6-methylguanine and O4-methylthymine residues in DNA, with alanine. This renders the protein completely inactive as a methyltransferase but this derivative is constitutively active as a transactivator for the ada promoter. Therefore, acquisition of a methyl group at Cys321 apparently enhances the transactivating capacity of Ada protein on the ada promoter. We propose that the transcription-regulating function of Ada protein is under dual control by methylation of cysteine residues at positions 69 and 321; the former enhances DNA binding, while the latter enhances the transactivating capacity of the protein.
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PMID:Requirement for two conserved cysteine residues in the Ada protein of Escherichia coli for transactivation of the ada promoter. 867 55

In Japan, the Chemical Substances Control Law requires evaluation of the genotoxic potential of chemical substances semi-quantitatively by application of a ranking system. During the past 10 years under the law, 1049 new chemical substances were evaluated by a reverse mutation assay in bacteria (RMA) and a chromosome aberration test in cultured mammalian cells (CAT). Of them, 130 (12.4%) were positive in the RMA and 402 (38.3%) were positive in the CAT. Eighty (7.6%) were positive in both tests. Fifty (4.8%) were positive only in the RMA, 322 (30.7%) were positive only in the CAT, and 452 (43.1%) were positive in either the RMA or the CAT. Thus, the tests complement each other in detecting genotoxic substances in vitro. To explore the "threshold" concept, we compared the genotoxic responses of Salmonella typhimurium tester strains with and without DNA repair capacity. Recently constructed strains of TA1535 lacking O(6)-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase genes (ogt(ST) or ada(ST) and ogt(ST)) showed dose-related increases in the number of revertants induced by N-ethyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, methyl methanesulfonate, dimethylnitrosamine, and ethylnitrosourea, while in the same dose ranges the parental strain TA1535 did not. This finding suggests that there is a threshold at which all DNA damage induced by low dose levels of genotoxic chemicals are repaired. That biological threshold seems to exist for both DNA and non-DNA targeting chemicals.
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PMID:Semi-quantitative evaluation of genotoxic activity of chemical substances and evidence for a biological threshold of genotoxic activity. 1063 81

Chlorambucil (CLB) is a bifunctional alkylating drug widely used as an anticancer agent and as an immunosuppressant. It is known to be mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic. The cellular actions of CLB have remained poorly investigated. It is very likely that DNA damage and its repair are the key elements determining the destiny of CLB-exposed cells. We investigated the role of two specific DNA repair pathways involved in CLB-induced mutagenicity and gene expression changes by using Escherichia coli strains lacking either (i) two DNA methyltransferase functions (O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase I (ada) and II (ogt)), or (ii) mismatch repair (MutS (mutS)). Mutagenicity was determined as the development of ciproxin and rifampicin resistance and the gene expression changes were assessed using expression profiling of all E. coli 4290 open reading frames (ORFs) by cDNA array. Chlorambucil-induced mutants in mutS cells, implying the importance of mismatch repair in preventing CLB-induced mutations. It also induced mutants in the ada, ogt strain, but to a lesser extent than in the wild-type strain. The simultaneous upregulation of several genes of the SOS response, cellular efflux and oxidative stress response, was demonstrated in both of the DNA repair-deficient strains but not in the wild-type cells. These and our previous results show that single-gene knock-out cells use specific gene regulation strategies to avoid mutations and cell death induced by agents such as chlorambucil.
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PMID:Induction of SOS response, cellular efflux and oxidative stress response genes by chlorambucil in DNA repair-deficient Escherichia coli cells (ada, ogt and mutS). 1251 10

To elucidate the mechanism of antimutagenicity of caraway, we examined the effects of caraway seed extract on N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG)-induced mutagenesis in DNA methyltransferase-deficient Salmonella typhimurium strains, O6-methylguanine DNA adduct formation, and thiol content in S. typhimurium cells. MNNG was highly mutagenic for ogt- strains YG7104 (ogt- ada+) and YG7108 (ogt- ada-), and it showed slightly higher mutagenicity in strain YG7100 (ogt+ ada-) than in strains TA100 and TA1535. Hot water extract of caraway seeds inhibited MNNG-induced mutation only in the ogt+ strains. In the presence of caraway extract, O6-methylguanine DNA adducts in strain YG7100 were decreased in proportion to the decrease of MNNG-induced mutagenesis. Although MNNG is known to degrade in the presence of thiols to produce methyl cation which can react with DNA, caraway had no effect on cellular concentrations of acid-soluble thiols. These results indicate that caraway does not directly inactivate MNNG and that Ogt-O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase may be involved in the antimutagenic activity of caraway.
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PMID:Inhibitory effects of caraway (Carum carvi L. ) and its component on N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-induced mutagenicity. 1653 5

Alkylating agents, which are widespread in the environment, also occur endogenously as primary and secondary metabolites. Such compounds have intrinsically extremely cytotoxic and frequently mutagenic effects, to which organisms have developed resistance by evolving multiple repair mechanisms to protect cellular DNA. One such defense against alkylation lesions is an inducible Adaptive (Ada) response. In Escherichia coli, the Ada response enhances cell resistance by the biosynthesis of four proteins: Ada, AlkA, AlkB, and AidB. The glycosidic bonds of the most cytotoxic lesion, N3-methyladenine (3meA), together with N3-methylguanine (3meG), O(2)-methylthymine (O(2)-meT), and O(2)-methylcytosine (O(2)-meC), are cleaved by AlkA DNA glycosylase. Lesions such as N1-methyladenine (1meA) and N3-methylcytosine (3meC) are removed from DNA and RNA by AlkB dioxygenase. Cytotoxic and mutagenic O(6)-methylguanine (O(6)meG) is repaired by Ada DNA methyltransferase, which transfers the methyl group onto its own cysteine residue from the methylated oxygen. We review (i) the individual Ada proteins Ada, AlkA, AlkB, AidB, and COG3826, with emphasis on the ubiquitous and versatile AlkB and its prokaryotic and eukaryotic homologs; (ii) the organization of the Ada regulon in several bacterial species; (iii) the mechanisms underlying activation of Ada transcription. In vivo and in silico analysis of various microorganisms shows the widespread existence and versatile organization of Ada regulon genes, including not only ada, alkA, alkB, and aidB but also COG3826, alkD, and other genes whose roles in repair of alkylated DNA remain to be elucidated. This review explores the comparative organization of Ada response and protein functions among bacterial species beyond the classical E. coli model.
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PMID:Inducible repair of alkylated DNA in microorganisms. 2579 27


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