Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.5.4.1 (cytosine deaminase)
 747 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The phenomenon of repeat-induced point mutation (RIP), acting during the sexual phase of the model eukaryote Neurospora crassa, is considered to study the putative in vivo relationships existing between cellular levels of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), cytosine methylation and the occurrence of C-->T transition mutations. We analyse the kinetic behaviour of the different enzymatic models proposed to explain the underlying mutagenic mechanisms of RIP. The dependence of the mutation rate on the cellular levels of the methyl group donor SAM was evaluated for the models of mutation catalysed by a DNA-cytosine deaminase, a DNA-(5-methylcytosine) deaminase, a DNA-(5-cytosine) methyltransferase, and for a model combining the activities of the last two enzymes. We propose that these models can be distinguished by studying the dependence of RIP on intracellular SAM levels.
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PMID:Analysis of models involving enzymatic activities for the occurrence of C-->T transition mutations during repeat-induced point mutation (RIP) in Neurospora crassa. 962 39

The prokaryotic DNA(cytosine-5)methyltransferase M.SssI shares the specificity of eukaryotic DNA methyltransferases (CG) and is an important model and experimental tool in the study of eukaryotic DNA methylation. Previously, M.SssI was shown to be able to catalyze deamination of the target cytosine to uracil if the methyl donor S-adenosyl-methionine (SAM) was missing from the reaction. To test whether this side-activity of the enzyme can be used to distinguish between unmethylated and C5-methylated cytosines in CG dinucleotides, we re-investigated, using a sensitive genetic reversion assay, the cytosine deaminase activity of M.SssI. Confirming previous results we showed that M.SssI can deaminate cytosine to uracil in a slow reaction in the absence of SAM and that the rate of this reaction can be increased by the SAM analogue 5'-amino-5'-deoxyadenosine. We could not detect M.SssI-catalyzed deamination of C5-methylcytosine ((m5)C). We found conditions where the rate of M.SssI mediated C-to-U deamination was at least 100-fold higher than the rate of (m5)C-to-T conversion. Although this difference in reactivities suggests that the enzyme could be used to identify C5-methylated cytosines in the epigenetically important CG dinucleotides, the rate of M.SssI mediated cytosine deamination is too low to become an enzymatic alternative to the bisulfite reaction. Amino acid replacements in the presumed SAM binding pocket of M.SssI (F17S and G19D) resulted in greatly reduced methyltransferase activity. The G19D variant showed cytosine deaminase activity in E. coli, at physiological SAM concentrations. Interestingly, the C-to-U deaminase activity was also detectable in an E. coli ung (+) host proficient in uracil excision repair.
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PMID:Cytosine-to-uracil deamination by SssI DNA methyltransferase. 2420 58