Monoclonal antibody-based, selective isolation of DNA fragments containing an alkylated base to be quantified in defined gene sequences.

We have established a sensitive, monoclonal antibody (Mab)-based procedure permitting the selective enrichment of sequences containing the miscoding alkylation product O6-ethylguanine (O6-EtGua) from mammalian DNA. H5 rat hepatoma cells were reacted with the N-nitroso carcinogen N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea in vitro, to give overall levels of greater than or equal to 25 O6-EtGua residues per diploid genome (corresponding to O6-EtGua/guanine molar ratios of greater than or equal to 10(-8). For analysis, enzymatically restricted DNA from these cells is incubated with an antibody specific for O6-ethyl-2'-deoxyguanosine, the resulting Mab-DNA complexes are separated from (O6-EtGua)-free fragments by filtration through a nitrocellulose (NC) membrane, and the DNA is recovered from the filter-bound complexes quantitatively. The efficiency of Mab binding to DNA fragments containing O6-EtGua is constant over a range of O6-EtGua/guanine molar ratios between 10(-5) and 10(-8). (O6-EtGua)-containing restriction fragments encompassing known gene sequences (e.g., the immunoglobulin E heavy chain gene of H5 rat hepatoma cells used as a model in this study) are subsequently amplified by PCR and quantified by slot-blot hybridisation. The content and distribution of a specific carcinogen-DNA adduct in defined sequences of genomic DNA can thus be analyzed as well as the kinetics of intragenomic (toposelective) repair of any DNA lesion for which a suitable Mab is available.