Mutagenesis by Peroxy Radical Is Dominated by Transversions at Deoxyguanosine: Evidence for the Lack of Involvement of 8-oxo-dG1 and/or Abasic Site Formation

Oxidative damage of DNA by endogenously generated oxygen radicals contributes to the mutagenic process. Hydroxy, alkoxy, and peroxy radicals all have the potential to react with DNA, giving rise to strand breaks and potentially mutagenic oxidative base damage. Although reactions of the hydroxy radical with DNA have been well studied, far less is known about the reactivities of these other radicals with DNA and their mutation-inducing potential. Frequencies of DNA base modifications and strand break densities caused by peroxy radical (ROO*) oxidation were measured by glyoxal gel electrophoretic analysis. We report the spectrum of mutations induced in Escherichia coli upon transfection with peroxy radical treated DNA carrying the lacZ alpha gene as a reporter. Transfection of DNA exposed to micromolar amounts of peroxy radical resulted in a 30-fold increase in mutation frequency in non-SOS-inducible cells. Sequencing analysis of DNA isolated from mutants showed that among base substitution mutants 88% consisted of transversions at G, with a nearly equal number of G --> C and G --> T mutants. Transition mutations were rarely detected, in contrast to control experiments. Electrophoretic analysis of peroxy radical treated DNA exposed to NaOH, Nth, and Fpg proteins demonstrated that abasic sites are not formed to any detectable degree. The oxidative G lesions are sensitive to digestion by the Fpg protein. We were unable to detect the formation of 8-oxo-dG by HPLC/electrochemical analysis of peroxy radical oxidation of dG, suggesting that the G --> T transversions were not caused by this base lesion.