Involvement of apurinic sites in the synergistic action of alkylating and intercalating drugs in Escherichia coli.

The toxicity of the intercalating compounds 9-aminoellipticine (9AE) and isopropyl-oxazolopyridocarbazole (Ipr-OPC) were studied. The inhibitory effect of non-toxic doses of 9AE, which incises DNA at apurinic (AP) sites, or Ipr-OPC, which does not cleave DNA at AP sites, with non-toxic doses of the alkylating agent dimethylsulphate (DMS) on the growth of Escherichia coli strain AB1157, is additive. The same result has been observed with an exonuclease III mutant which has only 10% of the AP endonuclease activity. However, 9AE or Ipr-OPC display a synergistic toxic effect with a DMS concentration which allows 20% of E. coli AB1157 survival. This synergy is increased for 9AE in the AP endonuclease mutant when compared to the wild-type strain. Under identical conditions 9AE and Ipr-OPC have no synergistic effect on a mutant deficient in the enzymes which generate AP sites. Therefore AP sites are involved in the synergistic toxicity of DMS and the studied intercalating agents. However, the precise role of the interaction of intercalating agents with AP sites, either without cleavage (type 1 compounds) or with cleavage (type 2 compounds), in the observed effect remains an open question.