The Relationship Between Dntp Pool Levels and Mutagenesis in an Escherichia Coli NDP Kinase Mutant
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The relationship between dNTP pool levels and mutagenesis in an Escherichia coli NDP kinase mutant Jared Nordman and Andrew Wright* Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111 Edited by Jonathan Beckwith, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, and approved May 6, 2008 (received for review March 27, 2008) Loss of nucleoside diphosphate kinase (Ndk) function in Escherichia The human genome contains eight Ndk paralogues, Nm23 coli results in an increased frequency of spontaneous mutation and H1–H8, which have been implicated in multiple cellular pro- an imbalance in dNTP pool levels. It is presumed that the imbalance cesses. For example, human NDP kinase (nm23-H1) was initially in dNTP pool levels is responsible for the mutator phenotype of an identified as a suppressor of tumor metastasis by using meta- E. coli ndk mutant. A human homologue of Ndk and potential static melanoma cell lines (17). Nm23-H2 has been shown to suppressor of tumor metastasis, nm23-H2, can complement the cleave DNA in a mechanism similar to that of the AP lyase family mutagenic phenotype of an E. coli ndk mutant. Here, we show that of DNA repair enzymes, and directly regulate expression of the the antimutagenic property of nm23-H2 in E. coli is independent of c-MYC oncogene (18, 19). Mutational loss of NDP kinase dNTP pool levels, indicating that dNTP pool imbalance is not function in Drosophila leads to developmental defects (20). responsible for the mutator phenotype associated with the loss of Interestingly, restoration of NDP kinase enzymatic activity is ndk function. We have identified multiple genetic interactions necessary but not sufficient to complement this mutant pheno- between ndk and genes involved in the metabolism of dUTP, a type (21). potentially mutagenic precursor of thymidine biosynthesis. We E. coli ndk mutants have an alteration in dNTP pool levels, show that loss of ndk function is synergistic with a dut-1 mutation which is thought to give rise to a weak mutator phenotype and synthetically lethal with the loss of thymidine kinase function. associated with the loss of ndk function (13). Expression of Our results suggest that Ndk prevents the accumulation of dUTP in human nm23-H2 complements the mutagenic phenotype of an vivo. Based on these results and biochemical studies of Ndk, we E. coli ndk mutant (22). Ndk has also been shown to cleave DNA MICROBIOLOGY propose that the mutagenic phenotype of an ndk mutant is caused and functionally interact with the uracil glycosylase, Ung (23, by excess misincorporation of uracil in place of thymidine com- 24). The interaction between Ndk and Ung is reported to lower bined with a defect in the uracil base excision pathway. the Km of Ung for its substrate, uracil containing DNA (23). Ung is responsible for the excision of uracil, which can be misincor- DNA replication ͉ dNTP synthesis porated in place of thymidine (25). Although dUTP is an essential precursor in the de novo synthesis of thymidine, it is n Escherichia coli the DnaA protein initiates bidirectional necessary that its concentration be kept low to prevent such IDNA replication at a unique origin of replication, oriC,ina misincorporation (26). Indeed, because of the action of the cell-cycle dependent manner (1). In addition to its role as the essential enzyme dUTPase, which converts dUTP to dUMP, the initiator of DNA replication, DnaA is a transcriptional regulator, dUTP concentration is estimated to be Ͻ1% of the total dTTP coordinately regulating the expression of numerous genes with concentration (27, 28). respect to the cell cycle (2, 3). One set of genes directly regulated In an effort to better understand the role of Ndk in DNA by the DnaA protein encodes the enzyme ribonucleotide reduc- replication and mutagenesis, we used a human nm23-H2 con- tase, known as NrdAB or RNR (4). Because reduction of struct to determine whether its antimutagenic effect was caused nucleoside diphosphates (NDPs) is the rate-limiting step in the solely by NDP kinase phosphotransferase activity. Here, we production of dNTPs, regulated expression of RNR with respect show that human nm23-H2 is able to complement the mutagenic to initiation of DNA replication ensures sufficient dNTPs will be phenotype of an E. coli ndk mutant without restoring dNTP pool produced during the replication period (5). levels. This finding provides definitive evidence that the dNTP dNTP pools are limiting for DNA replication, their levels in pool imbalance associated with loss of ndk function is not the cell being only Ϸ1% of the amount necessary for a single responsible for its mutator phenotype. Furthermore, we show round of chromosomal replication (1, 6). Furthermore, reducing that ndk genetically interacts with dut and tdk, two genes the concentration of a single dNTP can cause a decrease in the specifically involved in dUTP/dUMP metabolism, and provide rate of replication fork progression in vivo (7). Improperly evidence that increased mutagenesis in an ndk mutant is likely regulated synthesis of dNTPs by altered expression and/or occurring from misincorporaton of uracil in place of thymidine. activity of RNR in Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be mutagenic Based on these results, we propose that Ndk functions to prevent and affect cell-cycle progression (8, 9). excess dUTP accumulation in vivo and that E. coli Ndk and We have previously shown that mutations in ndk, which human Nm23-H2 possess DNA repair activities specific to uracil encodes nucleoside diphosphate kinase (Ndk), decrease the base excision repair. relative rate of replication fork progression in vivo, suggesting an important link between proper regulation of dNTP synthesis and replication fork elongation (10). NDP kinases are a broad and Author contributions: J.N. and A.W. designed research, performed research, contributed well conserved family of enzymes present in all domains of life. new reagents/analytic tools, analyzed data, and wrote the paper. In vitro, NDP kinases are capable of generating all (d)NTPs from The authors declare no conflict of interest. their corresponding (d)NDPs through a well characterized phos- This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. photransferase reaction (11). Based on the ability of NDP kinase Freely available online through the PNAS open access option. to generate all (d)NTPs in vitro it is assumed to be the major *To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]. enzyme involved in dNTP synthesis in vivo. But NDP kinases This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/ from many organisms are dispensable; their loss has little or no 0802816105/DCSupplemental. effect on cell growth (12–16). © 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.0802816105 PNAS ͉ July 22, 2008 ͉ vol. 105 ͉ no. 29 ͉ 10197–10202 Downloaded by guest on September 24, 2021 initiation of DNA replication. Furthermore, we showed that loss of Ndk function results in a decreased rate of replication fork progression, which is likely responsible for the suppression of overinitiation (10). To test whether mutagenesis has a role in this novel phenotype associated with loss of Ndk function in E. coli, we introduced the pnm23-H2 plasmid into a dnaA(cos) ndk double mutant to ask whether nm23-H2 could complement the double mutant and restore cold sensitivity. As shown in Fig. 1B, the pnm23-H2 construct did not restore cold sensitivity to the dnaA(cos) ndk double mutant. This finding suggests that Nm23-H2 lacks an activity associated with E. coli Ndk function. Loss of Ndk in E. coli results in an imbalance in dNTP pool levels, which is thought to give rise to the mutator phenotype. Specifically, the level of dCTP was reported to increase Ϸ20-fold and the level of dGTP Ϸ7-fold with only modest changes in dATP and dTTP when compared with WT cells (13). However, the fluctuation in dNTP pool levels and their role in mutagenesis became unclear when it was reported that strain background differences affected dNTP pool levels, but not the frequency of Fig. 1. Human nm23-H2 does not fully complement an E. coli ndk mutant. spontaneous mutagenesis in an ndk mutant (29). Furthermore, (A) Frequency of spontaneous Rif resistance in four to seven independent mutational bias in an ndk mutant is inconsistent with the notion cultures for each strain tested. Median and interquartile ranges are presented. that changes in dNTP pool levels, specifically an increase in The median values are 2.5, 38.46, 1.38, and 2.10 for WT, ndk, ndk/pndk, and dCTP and dGTP, are responsible for mutagenesis (22). ndk/pnm23-H2, respectively. (B) Cells of a dnaA(cos) or dnaA(cos) ndk double mutant harboring the indicated plasmid were grown to log phase at 42°C, 10- To address these issues, dNTP pool levels were assayed in WT fold serially diluted, and incubated at 42°C or 30°C for 18 or 24 h, respectively. and ndk mutant cells complemented with either E. coli ndk or nm23-H2. As shown in Table 1, loss of ndk function gives rise to a modest change in dNTP pool levels, with Ϸ2- to 3-fold Results increases in dCTP, dTTP, and dGTP and a Ϸ4-fold decrease in dNTP Pool Imbalances Are Not Responsible for Increased Mutation dATP. These values are consistent with results reported by Shen Frequency in an ndk Mutant. To gain further insight into the role et al. (29) and support the notion that dNTP pool measurements of Ndk in DNA replication and mutagenesis, we fused the human are affected by strain background differences. Imbalances in ndk homologue, nm23-H2,totheE. coli ndk promoter and dNTP pool levels could be corrected by providing E.