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Uracil moieties in Plasmodium falciparum genomic DNA.

ABSTRACT: Plasmodium falciparum parasites undergo multiple genome duplication events during their development. Within the intraerythrocytic stages, parasites encounter an oxidative environment and DNA synthesis necessarily proceeds under these circumstances. In addition to these conditions, the extreme AT bias of the P. falciparum genome poses further constraints for DNA synthesis. Taken together, these circumstances may allow appearance of damaged bases in the Plasmodium DNA. Here, we focus on uracil that may arise in DNA either via oxidative deamination or thymine-replacing incorporation. We determine the level of uracil at the ring, trophozoite, and schizont intraerythrocytic stages and evaluate the base-excision repair potential of P. falciparum to deal with uracil-DNA repair. We find approximately 7-10 uracil per million bases in the different parasite stages. This level is considerably higher than found in other wild-type organisms from bacteria to mammalian species. Based on a systematic assessment of P. falciparum genome and transcriptome databases, we conclude that uracil-DNA repair relies on one single uracil-DNA glycosylase and proceeds through the long-patch base-excision repair route. Although potentially efficient, the repair route still leaves considerable level of uracils in parasite DNA, which may contribute to mutation rates in P. falciparum.

SUBMITTER: Molnar P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6212640 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Uracil moieties in Plasmodium falciparum genomic DNA.

Molnár Petra P Marton Lívia L Izrael Richard R Pálinkás Hajnalka L HL Vértessy Beáta G BG

FEBS open bio 20180929 11

Plasmodium falciparum parasites undergo multiple genome duplication events during their development. Within the intraerythrocytic stages, parasites encounter an oxidative environment and DNA synthesis necessarily proceeds under these circumstances. In addition to these conditions, the extreme AT bias of the P. falciparum genome poses further constraints for DNA synthesis. Taken together, these circumstances may allow appearance of damaged bases in the Plasmodium DNA. Here, w ...[more]

PMID: 30410856

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Project description:BackgroundBased on resistance of currently used anti-malarials, a new anti-malarial drug target against Plasmodium falciparum is urgently needed. Damaged DNA cannot be transcribed without prior DNA repair; therefore, uracil-DNA glycosylase, playing an important role in base excision repair, may act as a candidate for a new anti-malarial drug target.MethodsInitially, the native PfUDG from parasite crude extract was partially purified using two columns, and the glycosylase activity was monitored. The existence of malarial UDG activity prompted the recombinant expression of PfUDG for further characterization. The PfUDG from chloroquine and pyrimethamine resistant P. falciparum strain K1 was amplified, cloned into the expression vector, and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant PfUDG was analysed by SDS-PAGE and identified by LC-MS/MS. The three dimensional structure was modelled. Biochemical properties were characterized. Inhibitory effects of 12 uracil-derivatives on PfUDG activity were investigated. Inhibition of parasite growth was determined in vitro using SYBR Green I and compared with results from human cytotoxicity tests.ResultsThe native PfUDG was partially purified with a specific activity of 1,811.7 units/mg (113.2 fold purification). After cloning of 966-bp PCR product, the 40-kDa hexa-histidine tagged PfUDG was expressed and identified. The amino acid sequence of PfUDG showed only 24.8% similarity compared with the human enzyme. The biochemical characteristics of PfUDGs were quite similar. They were inhibited by uracil glycosylase inhibitor protein as found in other organisms. Interestingly, recombinant PfUDG was inhibited by two uracil-derived compounds; 1-methoxyethyl-6-(p-n-octylanilino)uracil (IC50 of 16.75 μM) and 6-(phenylhydrazino)uracil (IC50 of 77.5 μM). Both compounds also inhibited parasite growth with IC50s of 15.6 and 12.8 μM, respectively. Moreover, 1-methoxyethyl-6-(p-n-octylanilino)uracil was not toxic to HepG2 cells, with IC50 of > 160 μM while 6-(phenylhydrazino)uracil exhibited cytoxicity, with IC50 of 27.5 μM.ConclusionsThe recombinant PfUDG was expressed, characterized and compared to partially purified native PfUDG. Their characteristics were not significantly different. PfUDG differs from human enzyme in its size and predicted amino acid sequence. Two uracil derivatives inhibited PfUDG and parasite growth; however, only one non-cytotoxic compound was found. Therefore, this selective compound can act as a lead compound for anti-malarial development in the future.

Project description:BackgroundThe burden of falciparum malaria is especially high in sub-Saharan Africa. Differences in pressure from host immunity and antimalarial drugs lead to adaptive changes responsible for high level of genetic variations within and between the parasite populations. Population-specific genetic studies to survey for genes under positive or balancing selection resulting from drug pressure or host immunity will allow for refinement of interventions.MethodsWe performed a pooled sequencing (pool-seq) of the genomes of 100 Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Nigeria. We explored allele-frequency based neutrality test (Tajima's D) and integrated haplotype score (iHS) to identify genes under selection.ResultsFourteen shared iHS regions that had at least 2 SNPs with a score > 2.5 were identified. These regions code for genes that were likely to have been under strong directional selection. Two of these genes were the chloroquine resistance transporter (CRT) on chromosome 7 and the multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) on chromosome 5. There was a weak signature of selection in the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene on chromosome 4 and MDR5 genes on chromosome 13, with only 2 and 3 SNPs respectively identified within the iHS window. We observed strong selection pressure attributable to continued chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine use despite their official proscription for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria. There was also a major selective sweep on chromosome 6 which had 32 SNPs within the shared iHS region. Tajima's D of circumsporozoite protein (CSP), erythrocyte-binding antigen (EBA-175), merozoite surface proteins - MSP3 and MSP7, merozoite surface protein duffy binding-like (MSPDBL2) and serine repeat antigen (SERA-5) were 1.38, 1.29, 0.73, 0.84 and 0.21, respectively.ConclusionWe have demonstrated the use of pool-seq to understand genomic patterns of selection and variability in P. falciparum from Nigeria, which bears the highest burden of infections. This investigation identified known genomic signatures of selection from drug pressure and host immunity. This is evidence that P. falciparum populations explore common adaptive strategies that can be targeted for the development of new interventions.

Project description:HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) belong to a new group of chemotherapeutics that are increasingly used to treat B-cell-derived malignancies. Such malignancies regularly carry mutational signatures that conform to off-target induction of uracil by the AID/APOBEC family of cytidine deaminases, or downstream processing of uracil. . HDACi suppress thymidylate synthase increasing the cellular dUTP/dTTP ratio and leading to increased pressure on uracil repair machinery due to misincorporated uracil lesions. To investigate potential effect upon other enzymes involved in genomic uracil induction and processing, Jurkat (T-cell lymphoma) and SUDHL5 (B-cell lymphoma) cells were treated with pan-HDACi SAHA prior to SILAC based MS/MS investigation. HDACi treatment mediated significant differential expression of xx and xx proteins in Jurkat and SUDHL5, respectively, and had a substantial impact upon enzymes involved in in pyrimidine metabolism. Surprisingly, uracil N-glycosylase, UNG, was strongly downregulated by HDACi treatment. Further analysis in HEK and HeLa cells revealed that HDACis induce specific loss of the nuclear isoform UNG2 independent of transcription and cell-cycle alterations. More than 80% of UNG2 is degraded proteasomally after 24 hours treatment with SAHA, MS275, Valproate or Na-butyrate, indicating a universal ability of HDACis to mediate loss of UNG2. Targeted MS/MS analysis in HEK cells against a panel of proteins involved in DNA repair, translesion synthesis and nucleotide metabolism, revealed that UNG2 was the most pronounced differentially expressed among these after HDACi treatment. 48 hour treatment lead to a 30-40% increase in uracil lesions in the nuclear genome of HeLa and HEK cells and MS275 treatment in murine CH12F3 cell line mediated robust UNG2-loss accompanied by reduced class switch recombination. Furthermore, our analysis identified the PCNA-associated factor PAF15 among the downregulated proteins. PAF15 is overexpressed in many cancers and suppress TLS by inducing double monoubiquitinylation of PCNA and recruitment of the replicative polymerases. In summary, our findings demonstrate that HDAC inhibition affects the levels of proteins involved in DNA base excision repair, translesion synthesis and pyrimidine metabolism. These findings are important for a wide range of clinical applications of HDACi, such as in rheumatology, HIV-, and cancer treatment.

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Uracil moieties in Plasmodium falciparum genomic DNA.

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Uracil moieties in <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> genomic DNA.

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