Sekiko Watanabe

A mouse DNA repair enzyme (APEX nuclease) having exonuclease and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease activities : purification and characterization

A mouse repair enzyme having priming activity on bleomycin-damaged DNA for DNA polymerase was purified to apparent homogeneity and characterized. The enzyme extracted from permeabilized mouse ascites sarcoma (SR-C3H/He) cells with 0.2 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.5) was purified by successive chromatographies on phosphocellulose, DEAE-cellulose, phosphocellulose (a second time), Sephadex G-100, single-stranded DNA cellulose and hydroxyapatite. The purified enzyme has an Mr of 34,000 as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Enzymatical studies indicated that it is a multifunctional enzyme having exonuclease, apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease and phosphatase activities, similar to Escherichia coli exonuclease III. This enzyme is tentatively designated as APEX nuclease for apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease and exonuclease activities. The amino acid composition, amino-terminal amino acid sequence and an internal amino acid sequence of APEX nuclease are determined.

Human papillomavirus type 16 DNA detected by the polymerase chain reaction in non-cancer tissues of the head and neck

Cancer-free tissues from various anatomical subsites in the head and neck were examined by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18. We detected HPV 16 DNA in 9 of 103 samples (8.7%), including specimens from the paranasal sinuses, tonsil, hypopharynx and larynx. However, no HPV-16/18 DNA was detected by Southern hybridization in these 9 samples. The significance of the presence of HPV 16 DNA in non-cancer tissues is still unknown, but PCR detection only of high-risk HPV DNA in head and neck cancer should be evaluated cautiously because of its ubiquity in this region.

Detection of possible DNA repair enzymes on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels by protein blotting to damaged DNA-fixed membranes

A novel method for detecting possible DNA repair enzymes on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels by blotting them onto a damaged DNA-fixed membrane is presented. To prepare the membrane, highly polymerized calf thymus DNA immobilized on a nylon membrane is damaged chemically. Enzymes, either homogeneous or crude, that are possibly involved in the priming step of DNA repair are fractionated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and are renatured to active form by incubating the gel in an appropriate buffer. The renatured enzyme is then blotted onto the damaged DNA-fixed membrane, a process during which incision and/or excision are introduced to the damaged DNA by the enzymes. The incision and/or excision provide priming sites for repair DNA synthesis in the subsequent step in which the membrane is incubated with DNA polymerase in the presence of alpha-32P-labeled substrate. The site of substrate incorporation on the membrane reflecting the molecular weight of the repair enzyme is finally visualized by autoradiography. The present technique is established using Escherichia coli exonuclease III and a DNA-fixed membrane treated with bleomycin or acid-depurinated. By application of this method, a priming factor (an exonuclease) involved in the initiation of bleomycin-induced DNA repair is detected in the extract of mouse ascites sarcoma cells, and thus the molecular weight of the enzyme is estimated. Some apurinic/apyrimidinic endonucleases of mammals are also detected by the present procedure.

Comparison of Virapap filter hybridization with polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot hybridization methods for detection of human papillomavirus in tonsillar and pharyngeal cancers.

SummaryA method using a commercial dot filter hybridization kit, Virapap, was compared with Southern blot hybridization and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 in pharyngeal and tonsillar cancers of 12 patients as well as tonsillar biopsies from 28 patients with chronic tonsillitis. Concordant results between Virapap and PCR, Virapap and Southern hybridization, and PCR and Southern hybridization methods were obtained respectively in 41.7%, 58.3% and 83.3% of the cancer cases, and 67.9%, 67,9% and 85.7% of the control (tonsillitis) cases. Virapap false-positive results were found in 5 cancer cases and 5 control cases. Although the Virapap method is reported to be useful for detecting HPV in gynecological tissues, this method cannot be recommended for the detection of HPV in pharyngeal and tonsillar cancers.

Detection of Human Papillomavirus Type 6f Genome in Nasal Papillomatosis

Five cases of nasal papillomatosis were studied clinicopathologically and virologically. In a case of recurrent papillomatosis of non-inverted type located on the nasal septum, human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA was detected by dot blot hybridization with an RNA cocktail probe of mucosal HPVs. In Southern blot hybridization, the DNA hybridized with that of HPV types 6 and 11 but not with those of types 16 and 18. Its restriction endonuclease-cleavage patterns corresponded well to those of HPV type 6f. These results suggested that HPV type 6 would also be associated with nasal non-inverted papillomatosis.

Activity gel and activity blotting methods for detecting DNA-modifying (repair) enzymes

Zymographical methods (activity gel, overlay gel, activity blot and activity blotting) for detecting DNA-modifying (repair) enzymes are reviewed. Emphasis is put on the novel activity blotting method in which DNA repair enzymes electrophoresed on a gel are blotted and detected on a damaged DNA-fixed nylon membrane. Its practical procedures, including a non-radioactive detection procedure, and representative results are also described.

Replicative DNA synthesis and unscheduled DNA synthesis in permeable sarcoma cells studied by nuclease digestion.

About 20% of DNA replicated in vitro in permeable mouse ascites sarcoma cells showed higher sensitivity to staphylococcal nuclease than the sensitivity of bulk DNA, and the remaining part showed the same nuclease sensitivity as that of parental chromatin DNA. The sensitivity of DNA replicated in permeable cells was higher than that of DNA newly replicated in vivo in intact cells, and close to that of DNA newly replicated in vivo in the presence of cycloheximide. Bleomycin-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis in permeable cells was highly sensitive to the nuclease. The results suggest that DNA replicated in vitro and parental nuclear protein form immature nucleosomes, probably in the same way as in vivo chromatin replication in the presence of protein synthesis inhibitors. It also appears that bleomycin-induced, unscheduled DNA synthesis occurs largely in the internucleosomal region.