Mgmt deficiency alters the in vivo mutational spectrum of tissues exposed to the tobacco carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK).

It has been proposed that O(6)-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) gene silencing in premalignant lesions and cancers of the lung might result in the acquisition of a 'mutator' phenotype. Previously, however, we found that Mgmt(-/-) mouse DNA failed to show an increase in spontaneous mutations. We thus hypothesized that only during exposure to specific environmental carcinogens would the consequences of MGMT deficiency become evident.

Mutational-reporter transgenes rescued from mice lacking either Mgmt, or both Mgmt and Msh6 suggest that O6-alkylguanine-induced miscoding does not contribute to the spontaneous mutational spectrum.

O6-methylguanine methyltransferase, Mgmt, constitutes the first line of defense against O6-alkylguanine, which can result in G : C to A : T transitions upon DNA replication. Mgmt has been found in organisms as diverse as archaebacteria and mammals. This evolutionary conservation suggests that all organisms may be exposed to either endogenous or environmental alkylating agents.