A new approach to the study of the base-excision repair pathway using methoxyamine.

This paper describes the use of methoxyamine to study the enzymatic reactions catalyzed by uracil-DNA glycosylase and by AP (apurinic/apyrimidinic) endodeoxyribonuclease isolated from mammalian cells. [14C]Methoxyamine permits one to follow the formation of AP sites in a uracil-containing polydeoxyribonucleotide incubated with calf thymus uracil-DNA glycosylase. The number of methoxyamine-reacted AP sites is equal to that of uracil released. Methoxyamine has no effect on the uracil-DNA glycosylase activity and may be added together with the enzyme in order to block the AP sites and prevent the degradation of the polynucleotide by the AP endonucleases that may be present in a crude preparation. Addition of methoxyamine to AP sites prevents not only the enzymatic hydrolysis of the adjacent phosphodiester bond but also the degradation of the polynucleotide by NaOH. This protective effect disappears after methoxyamine is removed by acetaldehyde.