Role of the Escherichia coli and human DNA glycosylases that remove 5-formyluracil from DNA in the prevention of mutations.

Ionizing radiation induces a wide variety of modifications to purine and pyrimidine residues. The exocyclic methyl group of thymine does not escape oxidative damage. Any 5-hydroperoxymethyluracil produced is spontaneously decomposed to form 5-formyluracil (5-foU) and 5-hydroxymethyluracil. The yield of 5-foU by ionizing radiation is roughly the same as that of 8-oxoguanine. 5-foU is a potential mutagenic damage in vitro and in vivo. Mammalian cells have an activity that removes 5-foU from X-irradiated DNA. Furthermore, the Nth, Nei and MutM proteins of E. coli have DNA glycosylase/AP lyase activities that recognize and remove 5-foU in DNA. The mutation frequency of 5-foU-containing plasmid increases when replicated in E. coli nthneimutMalkA. Single mutations in the nth, nei or mutM gene do not affect the mutation frequency. Therefore, these gene products are likely backup enzymes used to repair 5-foU in DNA. Furthermore, the human hNTH1 enzyme, a homologue of E. coli Nth, is found to have similar DNA glycosylase activity to that of the Nth protein.