3-methyladenine DNA glycosylases initiate repair of cytotoxic and promutagenic alkylated bases in DNA. We demonstrate by comparative modelling that Bacillus cereus AlkD belongs to a new, fifth, structural superfamily of DNA glycosylases with an alpha-alpha superhelix fold comprising six HEAT-like repeats. The structure reveals a wide, positively charged groove, including a putative base recogni...

Alkylated DNA-protein alkyltransferases repair alkylated DNA bases, which are among the most common DNA lesions, and are evolutionary conserved, from prokaryotes to higher eukaryotes. The human ortholog, hAGT, is involved in resistance to alkylating chemotherapy drugs. We report here on the alkylated DNA-protein alkyltransferase, SsOGT, from an archaeal species living at high temperature, a con...

Alkaloids such as cinchonidine, quinine and N-methylephedrine have been N-alkylated using polymeric benzyl halides or co-polymerized and then N-alkylated, thus affording a series of polymer-supported chiral ammonium salts which have been employed as phase-transfer catalysts in the asymmetric benzylation of an N-(diphenylmethylene)glycine ester. These new polymeric catalysts can be easily recove...

Etiology of myelodysplastic syndromes The models for the development of sporadic MDS suggest the role of cumulative environmental exposures in genetically predisposed individuals. There is increasing evidence for a complex genetic predisposition to MDS involving naturally occurring DNA polymorphisms in genes that mediate DNA repair and metabolize environmental carcinogens.3 Large epidemiologic ...

S1 nuclease hydrolysis and hydroxyapatite chromatography were used to study the effect of the alkylating antibiotic, streptozotocin, on the secondary structure of DNA. Native calf thymus DNA was alkylated in vitro with increasing concentrations of streptozotocin and subjected to S1 nuclease hydrolysis. An increasing degree of DNA degradation was seen, suggesting a destabilization of the seconda...

1. Propylene oxide reacts with DNA in aqueous buffer solution at about neutral pH to yield two principal products, identified as 7-(2-hydroxypropyl)guanine and 3-(2-hydroxypropyl)adenine, which hydrolyse out of the alkylated DNA at neutral pH values at 37 degrees C. 2. These products were obtained in quantity by reactions between propylene oxide and guanosine or adenine respectively. 3. The rea...

AIM Several published studies suggest that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are promising anticancer agents. This study examined the in vitro effect of O-alkylated NSAID hydroxamic acid derivatives 3a-i on cell survival for a panel of human tumour cell lines, their cytotoxicity on normal human fibroblasts and their antiviral activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS Established methods of ...

The lowest triplet state of tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminium(III) (Alq3) has been prepared by pulse radiolysis/energy transfer from appropriate donors in benzene solutions and has an absorption maximum around 510 nm with a lifetime of about 50 mus. It is quenched by molecular oxygen, leading to singlet oxygen formation. From flash photolysis and singlet oxygen formation measurements, a quantum...

A new gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method is proffered for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and their alkylated homologs in complex samples. Recent work elucidated the fragmentation pathways of alkylated PAH, concluding that multiple fragmentation patterns per homolog (MFPPH) are needed to correctly identify all isomers. Programming the MS in selected ion m...

An endonuclease of Escherichia coli active on a DNA treated with methylmethane sulfonate has been separated from an endonuclease active on depurinated sites. The former enzyme is disignated here as endonuclease II, while the latter enzyme is designated as apurinic acid endonuclease. Endonuclease II is also active on DNA treated with methylnitrosourea, 7-bromomethyl-12-methylbenz[a]anthracene, a...