Model studies on the photorepair of (6-4) dimeric lesions of dna

Abstract

Ultraviolet radiation is associated with the formation of certain lesions in the DNA that are at the origin of skin cancer. Among the most relevant are the damages that occur at pyrimidine bases: cyclobutane dimers (CPDs) and (6-4) photoproducts (6-4) (6-4PPs). To obtain protection from DNA photolesions, living organisms have enzymes that restore the lesions to their original form, thus maintaining genetic integ-rity. In some organisms, CPDs and 6-4PPs show an additional repair process, which corresponds to photoreactivation and involves enzymes called CPD and (6-4) photol-yases. In particular, there is currently a lively discussion about the mechanism of repair by (6-4) photolyase. The general objective of this doctoral thesis has been to study the cycloreversion of the proposed intermediate of 6-4PP lesions as a key to support one of the mechanisms proposed so far. In a first place, a model of the intermediate azetidine of the 6-4PP lesion for TC sequences was prepared to investigate its repair by means of electron donation by photosensitizers with suitable redox potential, mimicking the flavin cofactor of the (6-4) photolyase. Electrochemical, spectroscopic, analytical measurements as well as computational studies showed that the injection of an electron into the azetidine ring leads to a cycloreversion of the bipyrimidine azetidine to the thymine and 6-azauracil bases. It has also been shown that electron transfer only takes place if the thymine component is present in the model. Secondly, the cycloreversion of azetidine has been investigated by means of an oxidative process in which the azetidine ring donates an electron to the photosensitiz-er. The comparison with a cyclobutane derivative showed that the presence of the nitrogen in the four-membered ring decreases the redox potential, facilitating thus the oxidation process. Third, the cycloversion step has been studied with two intrinsic photosensitizers, guanine and the oxidatively generated damage 8-oxoguanine (OG), covalently bound to a CPD or to an oxetane, as a model for the intermediate of 6-4PP repair. Altogeth-er, the spectroscopic and analytical data showed that these endogenous photosensitiz-ers can act as electron donors mimicking, thus, the function of the flavin cofactor in photolyase. Finally, azetidine ring has been incorporated in an oligonucleotide to study its cy-cloreversion by electron transfer. Based on the results of the previous chapter, OG has been chosen as a natural photoreductant. In a first step, a methodology has been developed to insert the azetidine within the oligonucleotide sequence. Then, steady-state irradiation of the duplex containing OG and the azetidine has demonstrated that the electron transfer takes place and leads to the cycloreversion of the heterocycle. In addition, preliminary experiments have been carried out to evaluate the repair of this four-membered ring, as an analog to the (6-4) photoproduct intermediate, by real CPD and (6-4) photolyases.