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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 282, Issue 19, 14403-14412, May 11, 2007
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From the
Groupe de Pharmacologie Moléculaire INSERM E347 and ||Institut Bergonié, 229 Cours de l'Argonne, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux II, 146 Rue Léo Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France, the
Department of Molecular Pharmacology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, ¶Preclinical Development Team, Johnson & Johnson Research Pty. Ltd., Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh, New South Wales 1430, Australia, and **Pôle Chimie Organique et Bioorganique, Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie, 2 Rue Robert Escarpit, 33607 Pessac, France
Received for publication, December 20, 2006 , and in revised form, March 8, 2007.
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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poisoning by
-lapachone and related naphthoquinones may result from the alkylation of exposed thiol residues of the enzyme when it is bound to DNA (15, 16). More recently, Wang et al. (17) reported a correlation between the potency of menadione and related quinones to stimulate Top2-mediated DNA cleavage with their ability to undergo Michael-type nucleophilic addition but not with their reduction potential. Other studies in trypanosomatids and in human leukemia cell lines have also demonstrated the capability of
-lapachone to induce reactive oxygen species that could target Top1 and lead to activation of apoptosis (1820).
Several crystal structures of a 70-kDa C-terminal fragment of human Top1 (Topo70) in complex with DNA revealed that the enzyme is a bi-lobed protein that clamps tightly around duplex DNA via protein-DNA phosphate interactions (5, 21). Top1 activity relies on two essential domains of the enzyme as follows: the C-terminal domain (residues 713765) containing the catalytic tyrosine and the core domain (residues 215636) that is connected to the C terminus by a linker region (22). Although the paired
-helical structure of the linker domain may be a common structural feature of eukaryotic Top1, the relative lengths and primary amino acid sequence of the linker (residues 637712) and N-terminal domains (residues 1215) are poorly conserved among species, and both are dispensable for Top1 activity. Human nuclear Top1 contains eight cysteines (Cys-300, -341, -386, -453, -504, -505, -630, and -733), including two vicinal residues 504 and 505. All cysteines are located in two domains that are essential for Top1 activity (23) and are highly conserved. Thus, we inferred that they may play a critical role in Top1-catalyzed DNA cleavage complex formation and could be the potential target of thiol-reactive compounds.
In this study, we investigated whether Top1 cysteines are the target of thiol-reactive compounds such as N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and phenylarsine oxide (PAO) and whether Top1 thiolation alters enzyme activity. We show that thiolation selectively inhibited the cleavage step of the Top1 reaction, without affecting enzyme binding to DNA. This inhibition was even more pronounced when Top1 was preincubated with the thiol-reactive compound. We show that vicinal cysteines 504 and 505 play a critical role in the PAO-mediated inhibition of Top1 cleavage as this effect was abrogated by mutation of these residues to alanine. Interestingly, the combination of these Cys substitutions did not significantly alter Top1-catalyzed relaxation of supercoiled DNA but conferred resistance to the Top1 poison camptothecin, indicating that these conserved vicinal cysteines are a critical determinant of human Top1 sensitivity to thiol-reactive inhibitors as well as chemotherapeutic agents that stabilize the covalent Top1-DNA complex.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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-32P]Cordycepin was purchased from PerkinElmer Life Sciences. Terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase was purchased from Invitrogen. Full-length human Top1 was purified as described below or purchased along with pHot1 plasmid DNA from Topogen (Columbus, OH). Human recombinant Topo70 was a kind gift from Dr. Y. Pommier (NCI, Bethesda MD) (24). Proteinase K was purchased from Roche Applied Science.
Plasmids and Yeast StrainsYeast strain EKY3 (MAT
, top1
::TRP1, trp1
63, leu2
1, his3
200, ura3-52) has been described (25, 26). Yeast cells were transformed and cultured using standard methods.
Site-directed mutagenesis of Top1 cysteines was performed using the QuikChange site-directed mutagenesis kit from Stratagene (Amsterdam, Netherlands). Sequences of sense primers (Eurogentec, Herstal, Belgium) used for mutagenesis were as follows (5' to 3'): GCGGACACTGTGGGCgcCTGCTCACTTCG for C504A, GCGGACACTGTGGGCTGCgcCTCACTTCG for C505A, and GCGGACACTGTGGGCgcCgcCTCACTTCGTGTGG for the double mutant. 125 ng of complementary primers were annealed to 50 ng of the pZIP GFP-top1 plasmid (kind gift from Dr. J. Tazi, Institut de Genetique Moleculaire de Montpellier, France) in the presence of 2.5 units of PfuTurbo DNA polymerase. PCR was performed as follows: denaturation of 30 s at 95 °C followed by 16 cycles of 30 s 95 °C, 1 min 55 °C, and a final extension of 7 min at 68 °C. Reactions were cooled down to 4 °C and incubated for 1 h at 37 °C with 10 units of DpnI. One µl of each reaction was used to transform XL1-blue super-competent cells (Stratagene). Transformants were selected on LB medium plates containing kanamycin (30 µg/ml). Purification of plasmid DNAs was performed using the Qiaprep spin miniprep kit from Qiagen according to the manufacturer's protocol. Mutations were confirmed by DNA sequencing.
Plasmids YCpGAL1-ehTOP1, YCpGAL1-ehtop1N722S, and YCpGAL1-ehtop1Y723F encode FLAG epitope-tagged human wild-type Top1, the CPT-resistant Top1N722S, or the catalytically inactive Top1Y723F under the control of a galactose-inducible promoter (25). The h prefix, designating human TOP1, is dropped in the following discussions. The FLAG epitope, designated by the e prefix, was included in all TOP1 constructs to facilitate protein purification. The C504A mutant sequences, excised in a BamHI-NheI DNA fragment from top1C504A sequences in pZIP GFP-top1, were first ligated into a LEU-based vector YCpGAL1-top1C504A·L and then subcloned in a BamHI-NotI DNA fragment into the URA3 marked vector YCpGAL1-top1C504A. The FLAG epitope was subsequently introduced in a BamHI-SacII DNA fragment, from YCpGAL1-eTOP1, to yield YCpGAL1-etop1C504A. The vectors YCpGAL1-etop1C505A and YCpGAL1-etop1C504A,C505A were generated by homologous recombination of PCR products amplified from pZIP vectors containing the mutant top1 cDNAs with YCpGAL1-eTOP1 linearized with SphI, as described (27). In all cases, mutations were confirmed by DNA sequencing.
Top1 Protein PurificationFull-length human Top1, Top1C504A, Top1C505A, Top1C504A,C505A, and Top1Y723F proteins, all containing an N-terminal FLAG epitope, were partially purified as described (28) from galactose-induced cultures of top1
yeast cells, transformed with YCpGAL1-eTOP1 vectors. To obtain homogeneous protein preparations, Top1 fractions were applied to an anti-FLAG M2 affinity gel (Sigma), and the proteins were eluted with an excess of FLAG peptide in TBS (50 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 150 mM KCl). To remove the peptide, the fractions were bound to a phosphocellulose column, and the homogeneous Top1 proteins were eluted in TEEG buffer (50 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 1 mM EDTA, 1 mM EGTA, 10% glycerol) plus 1.0 M KCl and protease inhibitors, diluted with 50% glycerol and stored at -20 °C. Protein integrity was assessed in immunoblots as described (25).
Top1-catalyzed Relaxation AssaysTop1 catalytic activity was assessed in plasmid DNA relaxation assays, using pHot1 or pHC624 as substrates. pHot1 reaction mixtures (10 µl each), containing 0.25 µg of supercoiled DNA in reaction buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.9, 1 mM EDTA, 0.1% bovine serum albumin, 0.1 mM spermidine, 5% glycerol and NaCl at the indicated concentrations), were incubated with 2 units of human Top1 in the absence or in the presence of NEM for 25 min at 37 °C. For some experiments Top1 was preincubated with NEM for 1 or 5 min prior to the addition of plasmid DNA. Reactions were terminated by the addition of stop buffer (5% Sarkosyl, 0.0025% bromphenol blue, 25% glycerol) and directly electrophoresed in 1% agarose gels. The reaction products were visualized by ethidium bromide staining, and relaxed DNA topoisomers were quantified using SigmaGel software (Jandel Scientific, San Rafael, CA). Plasmid pHC624 DNA relaxation was assessed as described previously (25).
Oligonucleotide LabelingHigh pressure liquid chromatography-purified oligonucleotides used in this study were purchased from Eurogentec (Angers) and are shown in Fig. 2A. 3'-End labeling (Fig. 2B, A*) of the scissile strands were performed as described previously (29). Briefly, 10 pmol of oligonucleotides were incubated with 3 µl of [
-32P]cordycepin and 1 µl of terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase in labeling buffer (100 mM potassium cacodylate, pH 7.2, 2 mM CaCl2, 200 µM DTT) for 1 h at 37 °C. The reaction mixture was passed through a G-25 Sephadex spin column by centrifugation at 1,000 x g for 5 min to remove the excess of unincorporated nucleotide. The 3'-labeled oligonucleotide was mixed with the same amount of unlabeled complementary strand in annealing buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.8, 100 mM NaCl, 1 mM Na2EDTA) and annealed by heating the reaction mixture for 5 min at 95 °C followed by a slow cool down at room temperature.
Top1-catalyzed Cleavage AssaysTop1-catalyzed cleavage assays were performed as described previously (24) using either full duplex oligonucleotides (Fig. 2B, panel a) or partially double-stranded oligonucleotides, referred to as suicide substrates (Fig. 2B, panel b). For each reaction (10 µl each)
20 fmol of 3'-labeled substrate was incubated with 0.2 pmol of purified human recombinant Top1 in a buffer containing 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 50 mM KCl, 5 mM MgCl2, 0.1 mM Na2 EDTA, 15 µg of bovine serum albumin, 0.2 mM DTT, 10 µM CPT (in the case of the full duplex only), with or without thiol-reactive compound for different times at room temperature. In some experiments Top1 was preincubated with the thiol-reactive compound prior to the addition of the DNA substrate. Reactions were stopped by the addition of 0.5% SDS; loading buffer (80% formamide, 10 mM NaOH, 1 mM Na2EDTA, 0.1% xylene cyanol, 0.1% bromphenol blue) was added (3:1), and the samples were resolved in 16 or 20% acrylamide DNA sequencing gels containing 7 M urea. Imaging and quantitation of the cleavage products were performed using a Typhoon PhosphorImager (Amersham Biosciences).
Top1 Binding to DNANoncovalent binding of catalytically inactive human Top1Y723F to DNA was measured by electrophoretic mobility shift assay according to previously published procedures (24). Incubation of Top1 was performed in the presence or absence of PAO for 5 min at room temperature prior to electrophoresis on a 6% nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel. Gels were dried, autoradiographed, and quantitated using a PhosphorImager.
Top1-DNA Religation AssaysTop1-catalyzed religation assays were performed as described previously using a donor-acceptor system (Fig. 2B, panel c) (24). Briefly, 3'-end Top1-linked oligonucleotides were obtained following a 10-min incubation of 0.2 nmol of Top1 with 20 fmol of unlabeled 18-mer suicide substrate where the nonscissile strands were 5'-phosphorylated to avoid recombination (29). An equivalent amount of 3'-end-labeled single-stranded 23-mer oligonucleotide, complementary to the 5'-end of the nonscissible strand, was then added to the reaction mixture in the absence or in the presence of the thiol-reactive compound. The formation of 37-mer religated products was measured as a function of time.
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Yeast Cell Viability AssaysTo assess cell sensitivity to CPT, exponential cultures of top1
cells, transformed with the indicated YCpGAL1-eTOP1 vector, were adjusted to A600 = 0.3 and serially diluted, and 5-µl aliquots were spotted onto selective media supplemented with 25 mM HEPES, pH 7.2, 2% dextrose or galactose and 0, 0.005, or 0.05 µg/ml CPT in a final volume of 0.15% Me2SO. Colony formation was assessed following incubation at 30 °C for 3 days.
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| RESULTS |
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NEM Inhibits the Cleavage Step of the Top1 Cleavage/Religation EquilibriumTo identify which step in the Top1 reaction is impaired by NEM-induced thiolation, a series of 3'-end-labeled oligonucleotide substrates that contained a unique Top1 cleavage site was used in an in vitro assay, which allowed us to assess any effects of NEM on steady-state levels of covalent DNA-Top1 complexes and on the relative rates of Top1-catalyzed DNA cleavage or religation. CPT reversibly stabilizes a covalent Top1-DNA complex by inhibiting DNA religation. The sequences of the oligonucleotides used and experimental design are diagrammed in Fig. 2, A and B. For example, in the scheme of Fig. 2B (panel a), the formation of CPT-induced Top1-DNA complexes with the 37-mer duplex DNA substrate would result in the accumulation of a cleaved 23-mer product. Thus, under steady-state conditions, we can directly assess an effect of Top1 thiolation on CPT-induced covalent complex formation by measuring 23-mer product levels. Indeed, as seen in Fig. 3, A (left panel) and B, NEM inhibited the formation of CPT-Top1-DNA complexes in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, consistent with the relaxation experiments in Fig. 1, preincubating the enzyme with NEM completely abrogated the formation of CPT-Top1-DNA complexes (Fig. 3, A, right panel, and B). Thus, the formation of human Top1 covalent complexes is inhibited by NEM thiolation of sulfhydryl groups.
A decrease in covalent complexes can either result from decreased rates of DNA cleavage by Top1 or increased rates of religation, either because of an intrinsic increase in enzyme-catalyzed DNA religation or a decrease in CPT affinity for the covalent Top1-DNA intermediate. To distinguish between these possibilities, we used a DNA substrate containing a truncated scissile strand, which acts as a suicide substrate to uncouple the DNA cleavage from religation reactions of the Top1 catalytic cycle. As diagrammed in Fig. 2B (panel b), cleavage of the 3'-end-labeled 19-mer liberates a 5-mer cleavage product that dissociates from its complementary strand and cannot be religated by the enzyme (24, 33, 34). The lower strand was phosphorylated in order to avoid intramolecular religation (29). Under these conditions, the kinetics of DNA cleavage was assessed in the absence or in the presence of increasing concentrations of NEM (Fig. 4A), by monitoring the accumulation of the 5-mer product. An approximate 2-fold reduction in the cleavage rate was observed in the presence of NEM, demonstrating that NEM thiolation of Top1 inhibits the cleavage step of the catalytic cycle. Inhibition was drastically enhanced when NEM was preincubated with Top1 prior to the addition of the DNA substrate (data not shown). We next analyzed the effect of NEM on DNA religation using the "donor-acceptor" system diagrammed in Fig. 2B (panel c). In this assay, the unlabeled suicide substrate is incubated with Top1 for 10 min to generate "acceptor" complexes, where Top1 is covalently linked to the 3'-end of the scissile strand (Fig. 2B (panel c)). The "acceptor" complexes are then incubated with a 10-fold excess of a 3'-end-labeled, complementary single-stranded 23-mer oligonucleotide referred to as "donor" molecule, and the amount of 37-mer religated product is quantitated as a function of time. The kinetics of Top1-catalyzed DNA religation were evaluated under these conditions in the absence or in the presence of 2 and 5 mM NEM concentrations (Fig. 4B). The initial slopes (Fig. 4B, inset) did not indicate any difference in the rate of DNA religation, suggesting that NEM does not affect this step of Top1 catalysis. The final levels of religated product reflect the differences in the amount of Top1-DNA acceptor complexes generated in the presence of increasing NEM concentrations. Taken together, these results indicate that the reduction in Top1 cleavage complex formation induced by NEM results from an inhibition of Top1-catalyzed DNA cleavage. Thus, NEM thiolation acts as a Top1 catalytic inhibitor.
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NEM- and PAO-induced Inhibition of Top1 DNA Cleavage Is ReversibleTo determine whether Top1 thiolation was reversible, we used the reducing agent dithiothreitol (DTT), which reverses the inhibitory effect of thiol-reactive compounds (35, 3740). To assess the effects of DTT on NEM- or PAO-induced alterations in Top1-DNA complex formation, the 3'-end-labeled suicide substrate (Fig. 2B (panel b)) was incubated with Top1 in the presence of 1 mM NEM or 0.5 µM PAO for 5 min at 25 °C. This led to an approximate 50% reduction in Top1-DNA complex formation (Fig. 6A, compare lane 2 with 1 and lane 6 with 5, respectively). However, further incubation with 1 mM DTT for 30 min restored the cleavage activity of Top1 in the case of NEM and partially reversed the inhibitory effects of PAO (Fig. 6A, compare lane 4 with 2 and lane 8 with 6, respectively). Thus, NEM adduction of Top1 sulfhydryl groups by NEM and, to a lesser extent by PAO, could be reversed by DTT.
Vicinal Cysteines 504 and 505 Are Involved in PAO-mediated Inhibition of Top1 CleavagePAO specifically reacts with closely spaced cysteine sulfhydryl groups. The primary sequence of human Top1 reveals eight cysteines, only two of which are vicinal (Cys-504 and Cys-505) and conserved across species (23). Fig. 7A shows the location of the eight cysteines within the noncovalent co-crystal structure of human Topo70 bound to duplex DNA. In this configuration (Fig. 7B), the distance between the sulfur atoms of the vicinal Cys-504 and Cys-505 thiol groups is 5.4 Å, which is in close enough proximity to support a reaction with PAO. To test this hypothesis, alanine mutations of these two residues were engineered individually and in combination, and the mutant proteins were purified. In plasmid DNA relaxation assays (Fig. 8A), the specific activities of equal concentrations of the single mutant enzymes, Top1C504A and Top1C505A, were
50- to 20-fold lower, respectively, than wild-type Top1. The lower salt optimum (100 mM KCl) of Top1C504A further suggests a defect in DNA binding. Surprisingly, however, the combination of the two mutations restored the specific activity and salt optimum of the double Top1C504A,C505A mutant enzyme to that observed for wild-type Top1. We then tested the effects of PAO on plasmid DNA relaxation catalyzed by the Top1 mutants. Relative to the reduction in DNA relaxation induced by PAO treatment of wild-type Top1, all three mutants exhibited resistance to the inhibitory effects of PAO (Fig. 8B). In the comparison of wild-type Top1 with Top1C504A, PAO treatment produced a much more pronounced inhibition of wild-type Top1, despite the more than 50-fold difference in enzyme activity. These data demonstrate that the conserved vicinal cysteines 504 and 505 are required for PAO-mediated inhibition of Top1 cleavage and suggest that these residues may regulate enzyme activity in response to cellular stresses.
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We then assessed the CPT sensitivity of top1-deficient yeast cells expressing human Top1, Top1C504A, Top1C505A, or the double Top1C504A,C505A mutant from the galactose-inducible GAL1 promoter. As reported previously (25, 26), expression of wild-type Top1 conferred yeast cell sensitivity to CPT, whereas cells expressing the CPT-resistant Top1N722S mutant (41, 42) were viable in the presence of high concentrations of the drug (Fig. 8D). Cells expressing Top1C504A exhibited more robust cell growth on galactose plates than cells expressing wild-type Top1, yet exhibited the same sensitivity to CPT. In contrast, cells expressing either the single Top1C505A or the double Top1C504A,C505A mutant enzyme exhibited a slow growth phenotype at 0.05 µg/ml CPT, such that small colonies were evident at 10- and 100-fold dilutions of cells (Fig. 8D, 2nd and 3rd columns of spots). The increased resistance of these cells to CPT is consistent with the pattern of CPT sensitivity observed in vitro (Fig. 8C). These data suggest that in contrast to the role of the vicinal cysteines 504 and 505 in mediating Top1 sensitivity to PAO, cysteine 505 alone is a determinant of enzyme sensitivity to CPT.
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| DISCUSSION |
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-integrase, various phosphatases, NADPH oxidase, or Rho GTPAses (36, 4144). As discussed previously, human Top1 contains eight highly conserved cysteines, of which two are vicinal (Cys-504 and Cys-505) (23). All of the cysteines are located within the conserved core and C-terminal domains of the protein, which are both essential for Top1 activity and CPT sensitivity (5, 21, 45). In this study, we examined the mechanistic basis upon which reactions of cysteinyl moieties of Top1 with thiol-reactive compounds impair the catalytic activity of the enzyme (31, 32). We first tested the effect of NEM on purified human Top1. In this case, the reaction involves the addition of a singleSH group to the olefinic double bond of NEM to form a thioether (46). This reaction is highly specific at low concentrations of the thiol reactant (15 mM). We showed that millimolar concentrations of NEM inhibited Top1-catalyzed DNA relaxation. Using oligonucleotides containing a unique Top1 cleavage site, we then showed that NEM suppressed CPT-induced Top1 poisoning. This suppression was even more pronounced when the enzyme was preincubated with NEM prior to the addition of the DNA substrate, suggesting a direct interaction of NEM with cysteinyl thiol group(s) of the free enzyme or of the enzyme bound to the DNA in its noncovalent form. It is also possible that the formation of Top1 thiol adducts decreased the affinity of the covalent Top1-DNA complex for CPT, thereby reducing the levels of cleaved DNA products under the steady-state conditions used in these assays.
These considerations were addressed using suicide oligonucleotides to uncouple the cleavage and religation reactions catalyzed by Top1 in the absence of CPT. Here the effect of NEM was to inhibit the rate of DNA cleavage by Top1, with no apparent alteration in the rate of enzyme-catalyzed DNA religation. These data refute the notion that NEM modification of reactive Top1 thiols inhibits CPT poisoning solely by suppressing drug binding to the covalent Top1-DNA complex. Although alterations in CPT binding may be a contributing factor, these results support a model whereby covalent modification of Top1 thiol groups that are accessible in the free enzyme either prevents or alters the conformational changes in the Top1-protein clamp, which are required for DNA binding and/or DNA cleavage. Interestingly, using DTT to promote the transesterification of the presumed thioether linkages between NEM and Top1 cysteinyl residues, Top1 cleavage of DNA was almost completely restored, demonstrating that the overall conformation of the enzyme was not irreversibly altered. Thus, our results demonstrate the important role of cysteinyl thiol groups in the catalytic activity of Top1. Cysteines were also shown to play an important role in the human Top2 catalytic activity. However, in that case, NEM had an opposite effect in stimulating covalent complex formation by interacting with sulfhydryl groups that are accessible to the thiol-reactive compound only when the enzyme was covalently bound to the DNA (17). Taken together, these data indicate that the reactivity of such a thiol-reactive agent depends on both the positioning and accessibility of the cysteinyl units in the tertiary structure of the enzyme.
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Cysteines 504 and 505 are located near the base of a loop that includes the Lip 2 region (residues 496505) of the Top1 DNA complex (see Fig. 7A) (21, 45, 51). The interaction of this region with an opposable loop in Lip 1 completes the circumscription of the Top1 protein clamp around duplex DNA. Because mutation of Cys-504 and Cys-505 in the double mutant did not alter enzyme catalytic activity, the two cysteines are not required for effective binding of the protein to DNA or enzyme catalysis (DNA strand cleavage, rotation, or religation). However, our data suggest adduction of PAO alters the rate of Top1-catalyzed DNA cleavage without affecting substrate binding. As there are no crystal structures of the Top1 protein alone, it is unclear whether the juxtaposition of the active site tyrosine within the catalytic pocket formed by the clamp core domain is affected by protein clamp closure around the DNA. Our findings are consistent with a model where the introduction of a bulky residue at the base of the Lip 2 loop alters the architecture of the active site so as to diminish the rate of DNA cleavage, but not DNA binding, effectively uncoupling the closure of the Top1 protein clamp around duplex DNA from the geometry of the active site tyrosine necessary for DNA strand scission.
The CPT resistance of a G365C mutant of human Top1 was suppressed by an S534C mutation in the lower Lip (28), suggesting that the functional interaction between the two Lip domains also dictates enzyme sensitivity to CPT. Lip 2 also contains glycine 503, mutation of which to a serine confers CPT resistance (51, 52). Interestingly, we found that mutation of Cys-505, but not Cys-504, to alanine also induced a CPT-resistant phenotype in yeast, with the effect being evident for both the single Top1C505A mutant and double Top1C504A,C505A mutant. It could well be that alteration of the Lip 2 region, either as a consequence of Cys-505 mutation or thiol adduction by sulfhydryl reactive agents, induces a similar shift in the orientation of aspartate 533 and subsequent drug binding as that observed for the G503S mutation (51). Thus, our results demonstrate a critical role of the two vicinal cysteines 504 and 505 in the DNA cleavage reaction catalyzed by human Top1 activity and for Cys-505 in the optimal poisoning of Top1 by the camptothecin class of chemotherapeutics.
There are two classes of Top1-targeted agents as follows: (i) Top1 poisons that stabilize covalent Top1-DNA intermediates by inhibiting the religation step of the Top1 reaction. These include camptothecin derivatives, which have significant activity against adult and pediatric solid tumors and FDA approval for the treatment of colon, ovarian, and lung cancers (53). (ii) Top1 catalytic inhibitors that inhibit binding of the enzyme to the DNA and/or the cleavage step of the Top1 reaction (54, 55). A growing number of compounds fall in this category but are often nonselective or too toxic for clinical development (54, 55). Among them, a series of naphthoquinone derivatives were shown to be active against a variety of cancer cell lines indicating their potential clinical utility (17, 56). In this study, we showed NEM and PAO mimic the effects of Top1 catalytic inhibitors. In contrast to arsenic trioxide, which was recently shown to indirectly induce the formation of Top1 cleavage complexes via the generation of reactive oxygen species (57), our data indicate Top1 inhibition by PAO is a direct consequence of cysteine 504 and 505 cross-linking. These results provide a new approach in the search for catalytic inhibitors based on the selective targeting of Top1 cysteinyl residues, which may be exploited in the development of novel chemotherapeutics that target Top1 to complement the existing regime of Top1 poison-based cancer therapy.
| FOOTNOTES |
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1 Both authors contributed equally to this work. ![]()
2 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 33-5-56-33-04-29; Fax: 33-5-56-33-32-06; E-mail: pourquier{at}bergonie.org.
3 The abbreviations used are: Top1, DNA topoisomerase I; CPT, camptothecin; Me2SO, dimethyl sulfoxide; NEM, N-ethylmaleimide; PAO, phenylarsine oxide; DTT, dithiothreitol. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| REFERENCES |
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