TL;DR: It is reported here that Staphylococcus aureus escapes these defenses by converting NETs to deoxyadenosine, which triggers the caspase-3–mediated death of immune cells, and evolved to anticipate host defenses and to repurpose them for the destruction of the immune system.
Abstract: One spectacular response to bacterial infection is the release of NETs (neutrophil extracellular traps) of DNA from polymorphonuclear leukocytes that immobilize the pathogens and prevent phagocytosis by macrophages. Staphylococcus aureus evades NETs by degrading the DNA into deoxyadenosine (dAdo). Thammavongsa et al. (p. [863][1]) found that dAdo also promotes immune cell death, which appears to ensure the exclusion of macrophages from the center of abscesses within which the bacteria survive.
[1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1242255
TL;DR: Findings document that this cDNA encodes the T-lymphoblast dCyd kinase responsible for the phosphorylation of dAdo and dGuo as well as dDCyd and arabinofuranosylcytosine.
Abstract: Deoxycytidine (dCyd) kinase is required for the phosphorylation of several deoxyribonucleosides and certain nucleoside analogs widely employed as antiviral and chemotherapeutic agents. Detailed analysis of this enzyme has been limited, however, by its low abundance and instability. Using oligonucleotides based on primary amino acid sequence derived from purified dCyd kinase, we have screened T-lymphoblast cDNA libraries and identified a cDNA sequence that encodes a 30.5-kDa protein corresponding to the subunit molecular mass of the purified protein. Expression of the cDNA in Escherichia coli results in a 40-fold increase in dCyd kinase activity over control levels. In dCyd kinase-deficient murine L cells, transfection with dCyd kinase cDNA in a mammalian expression vector produces a 400-fold increase over control in dCyd phosphorylating activity. The expressed enzyme has an apparent Km of 1.0 microM for dCyd and is also capable of phosphorylating dAdo and dGuo. Northern blot analysis reveals a single 2.8-kilobase mRNA expressed in T lymphoblasts at 5- to 10-fold higher levels than in B lymphoblasts, and decreased dCyd kinase mRNA levels are present in T-lymphoblast cell lines resistant to arabinofuranosylcytosine and dideoxycytidine. These findings document that this cDNA encodes the T-lymphoblast dCyd kinase responsible for the phosphorylation of dAdo and dGuo as well as dCyd and arabinofuranosylcytosine.
TL;DR: To detect and quantitate these DNA adducts in vivo, a series of specific monoclonal antibodies (Mab) were raised and used for detection and quantitated in the DNA of lung and liver tissue of young Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to 2000 p.p.m. of VC for 10 days.
Abstract: 1,N6-Etheno-2'-deoxyadenosine (epsilon dAdo) and 3,N4-etheno-2'-deoxycytidine (epsilon dCyd) are formed in vitro by reaction of DNA with the electrophilic metabolites of vinyl chloride (VC), chloroethylene oxide and chloroacetaldehyde To detect and quantitate these DNA adducts in vivo, we have raised a series of specific monoclonal antibodies (Mab) Among those, Mab EM-A-1 and Mab EM-C-1, respectively, were used for detection of epsilon dAdo and epsilon dCyd by competitive radioimmunoassay (RIA), following pre-separation of the etheno adducts from DNA hydrolysates by high performance liquid chromatography At 50% inhibition of tracer-antibody binding, both Mab had a detection limit of 187 fmol and antibody affinity constants (K) of 2 x 10(9) l/mol The levels of epsilon dAdo and epsilon dCyd were quantitated in the DNA of lung and liver tissue of young Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to 2000 ppm of VC for 10 days The epsilon dAdo/2'-deoxyadenosine and epsilon dCyd/2'-deoxycytidine molar ratios were 13 x 10(-7) and 33 x 10(-7), respectively, in lung DNA, and 50 x 10(-8) and 16 x 10(-7) in liver DNA When hydrolysates of 3 mg of DNA were analyzed by RIA at 25% inhibition of tracer-antibody binding, epsilon dAdo and epsilon dCyd were not detected in liver DNA from untreated rats above the limiting epsilon dAdo/2'-deoxyadenosine and epsilon dCyd/2'-deoxycytidine molar ratios of 22 x 10(-8) and 31 x 10(-8), respectively
TL;DR: It is suggested that inactivation of AdoHcyase, as well as dATP accumulation, contributes to dAdo toxicity.
Abstract: Accumulation of dATP derived from 2'-deoxyadenosine (dAdo), causing inhibition of ribonucleotide reductase and depletion of the other deoxynucleotide substrates required for DNA synthesis, has been suggested as the cause of the lymphopenia and immune defect in inheritable deficiency of adenosine deaminase (adenosine aminohydrolase, EC 3.5.4.4). dAdo also inactivates the enzyme S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (AdoHcyase; S-adenosyl-L-homocystein hydrolase EC 3.3.1.1) which is involved in the catabolism of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (AdoHcy), both a product and a potent inhibitor of S-adenosylmethionine-dependent transmethylation. We have tried to determine whether inactivation of AdoHcyase might also contribute to dAdo toxicity to adenosine deaminase-inhibited cells. dAdo rapidly inactivates intracellular AdoHcyase and causes the accumulation of AdoHcy in WI-L2 human B lymphoblastoid cells. Low concentrations of adenosine (Ado), which block binding of dAdo to purified AdoHcyase, prevented inactivation of intracellular AdoHcyase and also lessened the growth-inhibitory effect of dAdo. A mutant of this cell line which lacks Ado kinase and accumulated endogenously synthesized Ado was resistant to the effects of dAdo on both growth and AdoHcyase activity. The mutant also accumulated far less dATP from dAdo than did its parent and was resistant to the inhibitory effect of dAdo on DNA synthesis, indicating the Ado kinase is involved in dAdo phosphorylation in these cells. Combinations of deoxycytidine, thymidine, and deoxyguanosine that could prevent dATP-mediated depletion of deoxynucleotide pools but not AdoHcyase inactivation were less effective than Ado in preventing dAdo toxicity to normal lymphoblasts. Our results suggest that inactivation of AdoHcyase, as well as dATP accumulation, contributes to dAdo toxicity.
TL;DR: Findings indicate that sequence context effects need more thorough evaluation if the goal of understanding the mechanism through which DNA adducts lead to mutation is to be achieved.
Abstract: The postoligomerization method was used to prepare oligonucleotide 16-mers that contained dAdo or dGuo adducts, derived from trans opening of each enantiomer of the two diastereomeric benzo[a]pyrene 7,8-diol 9,10-epoxides, in two sequence contexts. These 16 oligonucleotides, along with the four corresponding oligonucleotides containing unsubstituted purines, were ligated into single-stranded DNA from bacteriophage M13mp7L2 and transfected into Escherichia coli SMH77. The mutagenic effects of replication past these adducts were then evaluated. The various adduct isomers induced point mutations at different frequencies and with different distributions of mutation types, as was anticipated. However, sequence context had the most substantial effects on mutation frequency. A high frequency of deletions of a single guanine was found in a context where the dGuo adduct was at the 3'-end of a run of five guanines, whereas no single base deletion was found in the other context studied, 5'-CGA-3'. Mutation frequencies in constructs containing dAdo adducts were much higher in a 5'-TAG-3' context (37-58%, depending on the individual isomer) than in a 5'-GAT-3' context (5-20%), and for a given adduct, mutation frequency was up to 10-fold higher in the former sequence than in the latter. These findings indicate that sequence context effects need more thorough evaluation if the goal of understanding the mechanism through which DNA adducts lead to mutation is to be achieved.