DNA oxidation

DNA oxidation is the process of oxidative damage of deoxyribonucleic acid. As described in detail by Burrows et al., 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dG) is the most common oxidative lesion observed in duplex DNA because guanine has a lower one-electron reduction potential than the other nucleosides in DNA. The one electron reduction potentials of the nucleosides (in volts versus NHE) are guanine 1.29, adenine 1.42, cytosine 1.6 and thymine 1.7. About 1 in 40,000 guanines in the genome are present as 8-oxo-dG under normal conditions. This means that >30,000 8-oxo-dGs may exist at any given time in the genome of a human cell. Another product of DNA oxidation is 8-oxo-dA. 8-oxo-dA occurs at about 1/3 the frequency of 8-oxo-dG. The reduction potential of guanine may be reduced by as much as 50%, depending on the particular neighboring nucleosides stacked next to it within DNA. DNA oxidation is the process of oxidative damage of deoxyribonucleic acid. As described in detail by Burrows et al., 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dG) is the most common oxidative lesion observed in duplex DNA because guanine has a lower one-electron reduction potential than the other nucleosides in DNA. The one electron reduction potentials of the nucleosides (in volts versus NHE) are guanine 1.29, adenine 1.42, cytosine 1.6 and thymine 1.7. About 1 in 40,000 guanines in the genome are present as 8-oxo-dG under normal conditions. This means that >30,000 8-oxo-dGs may exist at any given time in the genome of a human cell. Another product of DNA oxidation is 8-oxo-dA. 8-oxo-dA occurs at about 1/3 the frequency of 8-oxo-dG. The reduction potential of guanine may be reduced by as much as 50%, depending on the particular neighboring nucleosides stacked next to it within DNA. Excess DNA oxidation is linked to certain diseases and cancers, while normal levels of oxidized nucleotides, due to normal levels of ROS, may be necessary for memory and learning. More than 20 oxidatively damaged DNA base lesions were identified in 2003 by Cooke et al. and these overlap the 12 oxidized bases reported in 1992 by Dizdaroglu. Two of the most frequently oxidized bases found by Dizdaroglu after ionizing radiation (causing oxidative stress) were the two oxidation products of guanine shown in the figure. One of these products was 8-OH-Gua (8-hydroxyguanine). (The article 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine refers to the same damaged base since the keto form 8-oxo-Gua described there may undergo a tautomeric shift to the enol form 8-OH-Gua shown here.) The other product was FapyGua (2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-formamidopyrimidine). Another frequent oxidation product was 5-OH-Hyd (5-hydroxyhydantoin) derived from cytosine. Most oxidized bases are removed from DNA by enzymes operating within the base excision repair pathway. Removal of oxidized bases in DNA is fairly rapid. For example, 8-oxo-dG was increased 10-fold in the livers of mice subjected to ionizing radiation, but the excess 8-oxo-dG was removed with a half-life of 11 minutes. Steady-state levels of endogenous DNA damages represent the balance between formation and repair. Swenberg et al. measured average amounts of steady state endogenous DNA damages in mammalian cells. The seven most common damages they found are shown in Table 1. Only one directly oxidized base, 8-hydroxyguanine, at about 2,400 8-OH-G per cell, was among the most frequent DNA damages present in the steady-state. As reviewed by Valavanidis et al. increased levels of 8-oxo-dG in a tissue can serve as a biomarker of oxidative stress. They also noted that increased levels of 8-oxo-dG are frequently found associated with carcinogenesis and disease. In the figure shown in this section, the colonic epithelium from a mouse on a normal diet has a low level of 8-oxo-dG in its colonic crypts (panel A). However, a mouse likely undergoing colonic tumorigenesis (due to deoxycholate added to its diet) has a high level of 8-oxo-dG in its colonic epithelium (panel B). Deoxycholate increases intracellular production of reactive oxygen resulting in increased oxidative stress, and this may contribute to tumorigenesis and carcinogenesis. Of 22 mice fed the diet supplemented with deoxycholate, 20 (91%) developed colonic tumors after 10 months on the diet, and the tumors in 10 of these mice (45% of mice) included an adenocarcinoma (cancer). Cooke et al. point out that a number of diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and systemic lupus erythematosus, have elevated 8-oxo-dG but no increased carcinogenesis. Valavanidis et al. pointed out that oxidative DNA damage, such as 8-oxo-dG, may contribute to carcinogenesis by two mechanisms. The first mechanism involves modulation of gene expression, whereas the second is through the induction of mutations. Epigenetic alteration, for instance by methylation of CpG islands in a promoter region of a gene, can repress expression of the gene (see DNA methylation in cancer). In general, epigenetic alteration can modulate gene expression. As reviewed by Bernstein and Bernstein, the repair of various types of DNA damages can, with low frequency, leave remnants of the different repair processes and thereby cause epigenetic alterations. 8-oxo-dG is primarily repaired by base excision repair (BER). Li et al. reviewed studies indicating that one or more BER proteins also participate(s) in epigenetic alterations involving DNA methylation, demethylation or reactions coupled to histone modification. Nishida et al. examined 8-oxo-dG levels and also evaluated promoter methylation of 11 tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) in 128 liver biopsy samples. These biopsies were taken from patients with chronic hepatitis C, a condition causing oxidative damages in the liver. Among 5 factors evaluated, only increased levels of 8-oxo-dG was highly correlated with promoter methylation of TSGs (p<0.0001). This promoter methylation could have reduced expression of these tumor suppressor genes and contributed to carcinogenesis.