Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.7.7 (DNA polymerase)
 17,007 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The activities of the DNA repair enzymes O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase and uracil-DNA glycosylase, and the replicative enzyme DNA polymerase alpha, were measured in extracts of human fetal tissues at 18-20 weeks of gestation. In general, O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase activities in fetal tissues were in the same range as in the corresponding adult tissues, except for fetal liver which had approximately 5-fold lower activity. Uracil-DNA glycosylase was, surprisingly, approximately 4-fold lower in fetal tissues compared with adult tissues. Since a critical factor in carcinogenesis may be the rate of repair relative to DNA replication, the activities of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase and uracil-DNA glycosylase were compared with the DNA polymerase alpha activity in the same extract. When expressed in this way, O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase activity was lowest in liver and brain and 2- to 14-fold higher in kidney, lung, colon, stomach, small intestine and pancreas. The ratio of uracil-DNA glycosylase to DNA polymerase alpha varied less between different organs. These findings indicate that several fetal organs may be more sensitive than adult organs to some alkylating agents that are known to occur in the environment. Furthermore, the lower capacity of DNA repair is not restricted to repair of alkylation damage, since the activity of uracil-DNA glycosylase is also lower than in adult tissues.
 ...
PMID:Repair of premutagenic DNA lesions in human fetal tissues: evidence for low levels of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase and uracil-DNA glycosylase activity in some tissues. 665 68

Exposure to exogenous alkylating agents, particularly N-nitroso compounds, has been associated with increased incidence of primary human brain tumors, while intrinsic risk factors are currently unknown. The DNA repair protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is a major defense against the carcinogenicity of N-nitroso compounds and other alkylators. We report here that in 55% (64/117) of cases, histologically normal brain tissue adjacent to primary human brain tumors lacked detectable MGMT activity [methyl excision repair-defective (Mer-) status]. The incidence of Mer- status in normal brain tissue from brain tumor patients was age-dependent, increasing from 21% in children 0.25-19 years of age to 75% in adults over 50. In contrast, Mer- status was found in 12% (5/43) of normal brain specimens from patients operated for conditions other than primary brain tumors and was not age-dependent. The 4.6-fold elevation in incidence of Mer- status in brain tumor patients is highly significant (chi2 = 24; p < or = 0.001). MGMT activity was independent of age in the lymphocytes of brain tumor patients and was present in lymphocytes from six of nine tumor patients whose normal brain specimen was Mer-. DNA polymerase beta, apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease, and lactate dehydrogenase activities were present in all specimens tested, including Mer- specimens from brain tumor patients. Our data are consistent with a model of carcinogenesis in human brain in which epigenetically regulated lack of MGMT is a predisposing factor and alkylation-related mutagenesis is a driving force.
 ...
PMID:Lack of the DNA repair protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase in histologically normal brain adjacent to primary human brain tumors. 869 23

We have established four cell lines, UW228-1, UW228-2, UW228-3 and UW443, from two posterior fossa medulloblastomas. The three UW228 sublines originated from a tumor with a diploid DNA content, while the tumor of origin of UW443 was predominantly tetraploid. Both tumors displayed areas of immunopositivity for synaptophysin and glial fibrillary acidic protein. All four cell lines have been grown as monolayers in continuous culture for 50 to 200 passages, are not contact inhibited at high density, and form colonies in soft agar. The UW228 sublines are aneuploid, have similar modal chromosome numbers, similar chromosomal duplications and identical marker chromosomes, and display loss of heterozygosity for identical sequences at the distal end of chromosome 17p. UW443 is diploid and also shows loss of heterozygosity for a distal sequence on chromosome 17p. All lines are immunopositive for two or more neurofilament proteins, three lines (UW228-1, UW228-2 and UW443) are immunopositive for synaptophysin, and none are immunopositive for glial fibrillary acidic protein. The lines differ in sensitivity to the alkylating agents 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. They also differ in dependence on the DNA repair protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase for alkylating agent resistance and in levels of the DNA repair activities apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease and DNA polymerase beta. These properties establish UW228-1, UW228-2, UW228-3 and UW443 as four new, phenotypically distinct medulloblastoma-derived cell lines.
 ...
PMID:Establishment and characterization of four human medulloblastoma-derived cell lines. 886 61

We investigated the expression of DNA polymerase beta (beta-pol) and O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) in human glioma cells with acquired resistance to 1-(4-amino-2-methyl-5-pyrimidinyl)-methyl-3-(2-chloroethyl)-3-nitrosoure a (ACNU) and in the parent cells. ACNU-resistant T430 (T430R) and A172 (A172R) glioma cell lines were established following repeated exposure to ACNU. The level of MGMT mRNA expression was elevated in T430R, but not in A172R. In contrast, the level of beta-pol mRNA expression and the level of beta-pol protein were elevated in A172R, compared with the parent cells. While the mechanism of MGMT repair has been considered to be important in the drug resistance of human brain tumors to ACNU, our present results demonstrate that beta-pol may also play an important role in the acquisition of tumor cell resistance to ACNU in human gliomas.
 ...
PMID:Elevated expression of DNA polymerase beta gene in glioma cell lines with acquired resistance to 1-(4-amino-2-methyl-5-pyrimidinyl)methyl-3-(2-chloroethyl)-3- nitrosourea. 887 52

Repair of alkylated bases in DNA is performed by O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) and a set of enzymes of the base excision repair pathway involving N-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase (MPG), apurinic endonuclease (APE), DNA polymerase beta (Pol beta) and DNA ligase. The level of expression of these enzymes may exert a profound effect on resistance of cells towards alkylating drugs. We have comparatively analyzed the expression of MGMT and the different base excision repair genes in rat hepatoma cells (line H4IIE) after exposure to alkylating agents, X-rays and the glucocorticoid hormone dexamethasone. Furthermore, the effect of these agents on the activity of the cloned human MGMT promoter was assayed. Exposure of cells to N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) or ionizing radiation increased MGMT mRNA levels up to 4.5-fold. Under the same conditions of treatment, exerting only a weak toxic effect, MPG and DNA ligase I mRNA levels were not enhanced, whereas the amounts of APE and Pol beta mRNA transiently increased by approximately 2-fold after X-ray and MNNG treatment, respectively. Dexamethasone induced both MGMT, APE and Pol beta mRNA and the induction paralleled the increase in mRNA of the glucocorticoid-dependent gene tyrosine aminotransferase. The observed increase in MGMT mRNA was due to promoter activation, which was shown in transient transfection assays with MGMT promoter-CAT reporter constructs in H4IIE cells. In these assays, the human MGMT promoter was found to be induced by methylating agents (MNNG and methyl methanesulfonate), ionizing radiation and dexamethasone. Weak induction of the promoter was observed after UV irradiation. Treatment with the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate was ineffective in promoter activation. The transfected MGMT promoter was not inducible by mutagens in HeLa S3 cells, which do not respond with induction of the endogenous MGMT gene. This is the first report showing hormone induction of a DNA repair gene (MGMT). The induction of MGMT and other genes encoding enzymes involved in DNA alkylation damage repair may be relevant in cancer therapy by causing resistance of tumor cells to alkylating drugs.
 ...
PMID:Induction of the alkyltransferase (MGMT) gene by DNA damaging agents and the glucocorticoid dexamethasone and comparison with the response of base excision repair genes. 896 45

Only two DNA repair enzymes, DNA polymerase beta and O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase, have been shown to be inducible in mammalian cells by genotoxic agents. We show here that crocidolite asbestos induces the DNA repair enzyme, apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP)-endonuclease, in isolated mesothelial cells, the progenitor cells of malignant mesothelioma. Asbestos at nontoxic concentrations of 1.25 and 2.5 microg/cm2 significantly increased AP-endonuclease mRNA and protein levels as well as enzyme activity (P < 0.05) in a dose-dependent manner in rat pleural mesothelial cells. These increases were persistent from 24 to 72 h after initial exposure to fibers. Changes were not observed with glass beads, a noncarcinogenic particle. Confocal scanning laser microscopy showed that AP-endonuclease was primarily localized in the nucleus but also in mitochondria. Our data are the first to demonstrate the inducibility of AP-endonuclease by a human class I carcinogen associated with oxidant stress in normal cells of the lung.
 ...
PMID:Asbestos increases mammalian AP-endonuclease gene expression, protein levels, and enzyme activity in mesothelial cells. 944 89

DNA-alkylating agents have a central role in the curative therapy of many human tumors; yet, resistance to these agents limits their effectiveness. The efficacy of the alkylating agent temozolomide has been attributed to the induction of O6-MeG, a DNA lesion repaired by the protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT). Resistance to temozolomide has been ascribed to elevated levels of MGMT and/or reduced mismatch repair. However, >80% of the DNA lesions induced by temozolomide are N-methylated bases that are recognized by DNA glycosylases and not by MGMT, and so resistance to temozolomide may also be due, in part, to robust base excision repair (BER). We used isogenic cells deficient in the BER enzymes DNA polymerase-beta (pol-beta) and alkyladenine DNA glycosylase (Aag) to determine the role of BER in the cytotoxic effect of temozolomide. Pol-beta-deficient cells were significantly more susceptible to killing by temozolomide than wild-type or Aag-deficient cells, a hypersensitivity likely caused by accumulation of BER intermediates. RNA interference-mediated pol-beta suppression was sufficient to increase temozolomide efficacy, whereas a deficiency in pol-iota or pol-lambda did not increase temozolomide-mediated cytotoxicity. Overexpression of Aag (the initiating BER enzyme) triggered a further increase in temozolomide-induced cytotoxicity. Enhanced Aag expression, coupled with pol-beta knockdown, increased temozolomide efficacy up to 4-fold. Furthermore, loss of pol-beta coupled with temozolomide treatment triggered the phosphorylation of H2AX, indicating the activation of the DNA damage response pathway as a result of unrepaired lesions. Thus, the BER pathway is a major contributor to cellular resistance to temozolomide and its efficacy depends on specific BER gene expression and activity.
 ...
PMID:The role of base excision repair in the sensitivity and resistance to temozolomide-mediated cell death. 1602 43