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The repair of psoralen interstrand cross-links in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae involves the DNA repair groups nucleotide excision repair (NER), homologous recombination (HR), and post-replication repair (PRR). In repair-proficient yeast cells cross-links induce double-strand breaks, in an NER-dependent process; the double-strand breaks are then repaired by HR. An alternate error-prone repair pathway generates mutations at cross-link sites. We have characterized the repair of plasmid molecules carrying a single psoralen cross-link, psoralen monoadduct, or double-strand break in yeast cells with deficiencies in NER, HR, or PRR genes, measuring the repair efficiencies and the levels of gene conversions, crossing over, and mutations. Strains with deficiencies in the NER genes RAD1, RAD3, RAD4, and RAD10 had low levels of cross-link-induced recombination but higher mutation frequencies than repair-proficient cells. Deletion of the HR genes RAD51, RAD52, RAD54, RAD55, and RAD57 also decreased induced recombination and increased mutation frequencies above those of NER-deficient yeast. Strains lacking the PRR genes RAD5, RAD6, and RAD18 did not have any crosslink-induced mutations but showed increased levels of recombination; rad5 and rad6 cells also had altered patterns of cross-link-induced gene conversion in comparison with repair-proficient yeast. Our observations suggest that psoralen cross-links can be repaired by three pathways: an error-free recombinational pathway requiring NER and HR and two PRR-dependent errorprone pathways, one NER-dependent and one NERindependent.DNA interstrand cross-links are complex lesions, highly toxic to cells, and difficult to repair because of the involvement of both strands of the DNA duplex. A single unrepaired interstrand cross-link is sufficient to kill a cell, and multiple DNA repair pathways may be required to complete cross-link removal (1-7).The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has three major DNA repair epistasis groups, all of which are involved in cross-link repair; they are nucleotide excision repair, recombinational repair, and post-replication repair (8). Nucleotide excision repair (NER) 1 is a general system that recognizes bulky and helix-distorting lesions (9, 10). Endonucleases nick the affected DNA strand on both the 5Ј and 3Ј sides of the lesion; after removal of the damaged oligonucleotide, the resulting singlestrand gap is filled in by polymerase activity using the undamaged strand as a template. This mechanism produces error-free repair of single-strand damage. Recombinational repair is the major pathway for repair of double-strand damage, such as double-strand breaks (DSBs) or gaps in yeast (11,12). In homologous recombination (HR) the broken DNA molecule is repaired, and missing genetic information is restored through interactions with intact homologous sequences. This pathway is also non-mutagenic but can result in DNA rearrangements. Post-replication repair (PRR) acts on damage in the context of DNA replication, allowing for bypass of replication fork-...

Psoralen photoreacts with DNA to form interstrand cross-links, which can be repaired by both nonmutagenic nucleotide excision repair and recombinational repair pathways and by mutagenic pathways. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, psoralen cross-links are processed by nucleotide excision repair to form double-strand breaks (DSBs). In yeast, DSBs are repaired primarily by homologous recombination, predicting that cross-link and DSB repair should induce similar recombination end points. We compared psoralen cross-link, psoralen monoadduct, and DSB repair using plasmid substrates with site-specific lesions and measured the patterns of gene conversion, crossing over, and targeted mutation. Psoralen cross-links induced both recombination and mutations, whereas DSBs induced only recombination, and monoadducts were neither recombinogenic nor mutagenic. Although the cross-link-and DSB-induced patterns of plasmid integration and gene conversion were similar in most respects, they showed opposite asymmetries in their unidirectional conversion tracts: primarily upstream from the damage site for cross-links but downstream for DSBs. Cross-links induced targeted mutations in 5% of the repaired plasmids; all were base substitutions, primarily T 3 C transitions. The major pathway of psoralen cross-link repair in yeast is error-free and involves the formation of DSB intermediates followed by homologous recombination. A fraction of the cross-links enter an error-prone pathway, resulting in mutations at the damage site.DNA interstrand cross-linkers are used widely in cancer chemotherapy because of their high cytotoxicity in replicating cells (1). These lesions are complex, and their repair involves several different DNA repair pathways. As with other forms of chemical damage, excision repair systems incise the damaged DNA strands; however, there is no undamaged strand to act as a template, and full repair requires the participation of additional pathways. Recombinational repair pathways are involved in restoring the intact duplex structure after excision (2-7). Additionally, cross-links efficiently induce mutations, implicating error-prone pathways in their repair (8,9).Psoralens are photoreactive DNA cross-linking agents that react with pyrimidine bases on opposite DNA strands in the presence of near ultraviolet light; 5Ј-TpA-3Ј sequences are preferred cross-linking sites (10, 11). There are two photoreactive positions in the psoralen molecule, the 4Ј,5Ј furan and the 3,4 pyrone double bonds, which can undergo sequential photoreactions to form cross-links. The major products of the first photoreaction step are furan-side monoadducts; these can undergo a second photoreaction at the pyrone side to generate interstrand cross-links. Psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA) therapy is used to treat the skin disorders psoriasis and vitiligo; although effective, this treatment has been found to induce nonmelanoma skin cancers in a dose-dependent manner (12).Both nucleotide excision repair (NER) 1 and recombinational repair pathways partic...

Single strand and double strand DNA damage-induced recombination were compared in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The non-replicating plasmid pUC18-HIS3 was damaged in vitro and introduced into yeast cells; plasmid-chromosome recombinants were selected as stable His+ transformants. Single strand damage was produced by UV irradiation at 254 nm or by psoralen photoreaction at 390 nm. Double strand damage was produced by psoralen photoreaction at 350 nm or by restriction endonuclease digestion. Recombinants were classified as resulting from gene conversion without crossing over, single plasmid integration, or multiple plasmid integration. Single and double strand DNA damage produced different patterns of recombination. In repair proficient cells double strand damage induced primarily multiple plasmid integrations, while single strand damage induced higher proportions of gene conversions and single integrations. Reciprocal recombination depended on the RAD1 gene, which is involved in both excision repair and recombination; plasmid integration induced by all forms of damage was decreased in a rad1 disruption strain. Mutation of the RAD3 excision repair gene decreased plasmid integration induced by far UV irradiation and psoralen crosslinks, but not by double strand breaks, which are not substrates of nucleotide excision repair. Double strand break-induced plasmid integration was also decreased by disruption of RAD10, which forms a complex with RAD1; disruption of RAD4 had no effect. Thus, while nucleotide excision repair genes are involved in the processing of damaged DNA to generate recombination intermediates, RAD1 and RAD10 are additionally involved in reciprocal exchange.

DNA damage-induced multiple recombination was studied by cotransforming yeast cells with pairs of nonreplicating plasmids carrying different genetic markers. Reaction of one of the plasmids with the interstrand crosslinking agent, psoralen, stimulated cellular transformation by the undamaged plasmid. The cotransformants carried copies of both plasmids cointegrated in tandem arrays at chromosomal sites homologous to either the damaged or the undamaged DNA. Plasmid linearization, by restriction endonuclease digestion, was also found to stimulate the cointegration of unmodified plasmids. Disruption of the RAD1 gene reduced the psoralen damage-induced cotransformation of intact plasmid, but had no effect on the stimulation by double strand breaks. Placement of the double strand breaks within yeast genes produced cointegration only at sequences homologous to the damaged plasmids, while digestion within vector sequences produced integration at chromosomal sites homologous to either the damaged or the undamaged plasmid molecules. These observations suggest a model for multiple recombination events in which an initial exchange occurs between the damaged DNA and homologous sequences on an undamaged molecule. Linked sequences on the undamaged molecule up to 870 base pairs distant from the break site participate in subsequent exchanges with other intact DNA molecules. These events result in recombinants produced by reciprocal exchange between three or more DNA molecules.

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The wavelength dependence for 4′aminomethyl‐4,5′,8‐trimethylpsoralen crosslinking of a linearized plasmid DNA (pBR322) by narrow band UV‐A light (298–382 nm) has been determined. Maximal levels of crosslinking occurred with light in the 322–346 nm range. Crosslinks were shown to be photoreversible by shorter wavelength photons (298 and 310 nm). The correlation between the wavelength dependence for crosslink formation and the optimal wavelength for most psoralen action spectra further supports the notion that crosslinks are the major lesion responsible for the effectiveness of psoralen plus ultraviolet A therapies.