Is the repair of oxidative DNA base modifications inducible by a preceding DNA damage induction?

In mammalian cells, 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) and some other oxidative guanine modifications are removed from the DNA by base excision repair, which is initiated by OGG1 protein. We have tested whether this repair is inducible in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), MCF-7 breast cancer cells and primary human fibroblasts by a pretreatment with the photosensitizer Ro19-8022 plus light, which generates predominantly 8-oxoG, or with methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), which generates alkylated bases and abasic sites (AP sites). The results indicate that the repair rate of the oxidative guanine modifications induced by the photosensitizer was not increased if a priming dose of the oxidative or alkylating agent was applied 6 or 18h prior to a challenging dose, although pretreatments with both agents resulted in two-fold elevated glutathione levels as an indication for an adaptive response.

APE1 overexpression in XRCC1-deficient cells complements the defective repair of oxidative single strand breaks but increases genomic instability.

XRCC1 protein is essential for mammalian viability and is required for the efficient repair of single strand breaks (SSBs) and damaged bases in DNA. XRCC1-deficient cells are genetically unstable and sensitive to DNA damaging agents. XRCC1 has no known enzymatic activity and is thought to act as a scaffold protein for both SSB and base excision repair activities.