Structural alterations of pathologically or physiologically modified DNA.

We have studied the alterations of DNA conformation in in vitro depurinated or methylated topological isomers of the plasmid pAT 153. Depurination by heat/acid treatment or alkylation by methyl methanesulfonate (pathological modifications) result in DNA unwinding detected as a reduction in the degree of supercoiling of DNA topoisomers as measured by the alteration of electrophoretic mobility on agarose gel. On the contrary, in vitro enzymic methylation at the C-5 position of cytosine (physiological modification) does not measurably alter the tertiary structure of the circular substrates. From the average number of modified sites needed to remove one superhelical twist from each single topoisomer of a population of partially relaxed DNA molecules, we have calculated an unwinding angle smaller than -3.4 degree per methylated purine and of approximately -12.0 degree per apurinic site. These results, together with previously reported values of unwinding by pyrimidine dimers, suggest a possible mechanism of recognition of damaged sites by repair mechanisms that are not single-damage specific.