Abstract
Tandem DNA lesions containing two contiguously damaged nucleotides are commonly formed by ionizing radiation. Their effects on replication in mammalian cells are largely unknown. Replication of isolated 2-deoxyribonolactone (L), thymine glycol (Tg), and tandem lesion 5'-LTg was examined in human cells. Although nearly 100% of Tg was bypassed in HEK 293T cells, L was a significant replication block. 5'-LTg was an even stronger replication block with 5% TLS efficiency. The mutation frequency (MF) of Tg was 3.4%, which increased to 3.9% and 4.8% in pol ι- and pol κ-deficient cells, respectively. An even greater increase in the MF of Tg (to ∼5.5%) was observed in cells deficient in both pol κ and pol ζ, suggesting that they work together to bypass Tg in an error-free manner. Isolated L bypass generated 12-18% one-base deletions, which increased as much as 60% in TLS polymerase-deficient cells. The fraction of deletion products also increased in TLS polymerase-deficient cells upon 5'-LTg bypass. In full-length products and in all cell types, dA was preferentially incorporated opposite an isolated L as well as when it was part of a tandem lesion. However, misincorporation opposite Tg increased significantly when it was part of a tandem lesion. In wild type cells, targeted mutations increased about 3-fold to 9.7% and to 17.4, 15.9, and 28.8% in pol κ-, pol ζ-, and pol ι-deficient cells, respectively. Overall, Tg is significantly more miscoding as part of a tandem lesion, and error-free Tg replication in HEK 293T cells requires participation of the TLS polymerases.