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Mutation Research, 181 (1987) 227 234 227 Elsevier MTR 04437 DNA methods for detecting and analyzing mutations in vivo P.H.M. Lohman a, j . V i j g b, A . G . U i t t e r l i n d e n a n d F. B e r e n d s b p. S l a g b o o m b J . A . G o s s e n a.b a " TNO - - Medical Biological Laboratoo', P.O. Box 45. 2280 AA Rijswijk (The Netherhmds) and h TNO Institute for Experimental Gerontolo~,, P.O. Box 5815, 2280 H V R~jsuijk (The Netherlands) (Received 25 February 1987) (Accepted 11 May 1987) Kevwor&." DNA methods; Mutations in vivo; Detection: Analysis; Aging, biological process. The major adverse health effects in man attributable to exposure of somatic and germ cells to carcinogens a n d / o r mutagens are tumor formation and, possibly, induction of heritable diseases. In addition, the biological process of aging has been suggested to be caused by the cumulative effects of the continuous exposure to low levels of in particular - - endogenous genotoxic agents. The induction of damage in cellular D N A (adduct formation, depurination, strand breakage) is considered as the initial step in the series of events that leads to the above-mentioned adverse health effects (Fig. 1). In this view, the subsequent step would be the induction of mutations. Probably, mutations predominantly result from so-called error-prone D N A repair, that is, the action of cellular repair systems that act on the induced D N A damage and thereby alter the nucleotide sequence of the D N A regions involved. The mutations resulting from this erroneous processing of induced D N A lesions may comprise substitutions of one nucleotide for another, deletions, insertions, D N A rearrangements and various other types of changes. When induced in certain crucial D N A sequences, mutations may have severe biological consequences. For instance, they may prime the processes of cancer induction (Reddy et al., 1982) - - Correspondence: Prof. Dr. P.H.M. Lohman, Department of Radiation Genetics and Chemical Mutagenesis, Sylvius Laboratories, State University of Leiden, Wassenaarseweg 72, 2333 AL Leiden (The Netherlands). and contribute to aging (Vijg et al., 1985a). Sensitive techniques for the assessment of the first step in the above described sequence of events (the induction of D N A damage) have brought us closer to (1) the firm association of adverse health effects with suspected chemicals and (2) the estimation of the risk run by individuals possibly exposed to genotoxic agents (Lohman et al., 1985). Application of such recently developed techniques revealed that most chemicals induce a whole spectrum of adducts in cellular DNA. These adducts can be repaired in different ways and with different efficiencies. Moreover, both the induction and repair of a specific lesion can vary between different organs and tissues in the individual, and also as a function of the species or in relation to age. Presently, sensitive immunochemical and biochemical methods are routinely used in various laboratories, including our own, to establish the (age-related) organ- and tissue-specific patterns of the induction and repair of various forms of D N A damage in experimental animals (Gupta et al., 1982; Poirier et al., 1983; Baan et al., 1985; Lohman et al., 1985). In principle, a similar approach can be followed to determine the effect of exposures of human populations to carcinogens. In this way even the risk involved in exposures to mutagens might be established were it not for the lack of information about the relation between D N A damage and the molecular endpoints at the D N A sequence level in mammals. Information 002%5107/87/$03.50 © 1987 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division) 228 CatJSAL ACT VITIE ~ E,,'F kTS PH~NONF~A physimt and ~J~cnemlcal cellular barr,ers ! [,NA ]es~ons i ~)NA ~ : rerc,r remG nlng Qnd /or rood, i ] CO:I~ 1 I .~bo J , o ~ s ~ , . i nferma[iCn L Fig. l. Hypothetical pathw'ays via which induced D N A damage may lead to adverse heMth effects. about the induction and persistency of DNA lesions does not specify the harm that can be done in terms of specific mutations. Therefore, an analysis of DNA damage and repair in vivo is especially valuable in combination with data on their molecular consequences at the DNA sequence level. Mutation analysis in vivo Thus far, studies on mutagenesis in mammalian cells have been limited almost entirely to the in vitro situation. It is not inconceivable, however, that the spectrum of mutations induced in cells that are removed from their natural environment differs from that induced in the in vivo situation. Indeed, both the induction of DNA damage and their (attempted) repair are highly complicated processes which are influenced by various regulatory systems, part of which are only present in the intact animal. Especially established (immortal) cell lines can hardly be considered to represent the in vivo situation as most cell lines lose many specific properties upon culturing. Moreover, since not all cell types can be cultured, a comparative analysis of mutation induction in cultured cells from various organs and tissues is not possible. Therefore, the eventual system for studying the relationship between DNA damage induction, DNA repair and mutation induction is necessarily the intact animal. Recently, methods have become available for studying somatic mutations in human and animal cells in vivo. One of these methods is based on the development of procedures for the enumeration and clonal expansion of lymphocytes mutated at the hprt locus in vivo (Albertini et al., 1982). Apart from the specific cloning and culturing requirements, the principle of mutation detection and characterization (by restriction-enzyme analysis of genomic DNA, isolated from expanded mutant clones) is not different from that of in vitro systems. The availability of this technology is essential for comparing mutagenesis in vivo with that in vitro. With respect to the occurrence of spontaneous mutations in vivo, the first results have appeared already. Data from Turner et al. (1985) and Albertini et al. (1985) revealed that in human T lymphocytes the frequency of 6-thioguanine-resistant cells is about 10 6-10 5 and that a large part of the mutations involved are major gene alterations (deletions, amplifications). Turner et al. (1985) also pointed at the observed accumulation of mutations at the hprt locus with age (Morley et al., 1982; Vijayalaxmi and Evans, 1984; Trainor et al., 1984) which corresponds to earlier observations of an increased frequency of chromosomal aberrations with age (Brooks et al., 1973; Hedner et al., 1982; Evans, t984). In view of the possibility that somatic mutations may be involved in the aetiology of aging, it seems most relevant to analyse spontaneous mutation induction in vivo in relation to age, in order to obtain information about how such changes can lead to the progressive deterioration of cellular functioning. For extensively studying mutation induction in vivo, the above-described cell cloning technique is not sufficient, however. Like its in vitro counterpart the method is too time-consuming and it does not allow rapid and detailed characterization of mutation. Furthermore, the method is limited to cell types that can be cloned and cultured. It will be necessary to search for mutation analysis assays that in principle are applicable to all human and animal tissues subject to the phenotypic effects (cancer, aging and heritable disorders). Shuttle vector analysis in transgenic mice Shuttle vectors are cloning vehicles that can be propagated in both mammalian and bacterial cells, 229 Provided with a suitable target for mutagenesis (for instance lac target sequences derived from the M13 sequencing system), these systems are extremely powerful for the sensitive detection and characterization of mutations (for a review, see Lehman, 1985; Mekler et al., 1985). After the rescue of the vectors from mammalian cells that have been subjected to a mutagenic treatment, the resulting mutated vectors can be selected and expanded in bacteria, which permits a subsequent rapid characterization procedure based on restriction enzyme analysis and nucleotide sequencing. A logical extension of the above-described studies on mutation induction at the hprt locus in vivo would be to apply shuttle vector systems adapted to the in vivo situation. This might be accomplished by the application of transgenic mice technology. In the ideal case, transgenic mice harbor in all cells of their body a copy of an experimentally introduced DNA fragment (Palmiter and Brinster, 1985). Such mice can be obtained by injection of a few hundred copies of the particular DNA sequence in one of the pronuclei of a fertilized egg and subsequent implantation of the egg in the oviduct of a pseudopregnant mouse. The efficiency of producing transgenic mice amounts to about 25% when linear molecules are microinjected (Brinster et al., 1985). A strain of mice harboring a shuttle vector system for mutation analysis would be an ideal tool for studying mutation induction in a specific marker gene (bacterial or viral mutagenesis target) in various organs and tissues of an experimental animal (Fig. 2). Mutation induction can then be studied following treatment with carcinogens a n d / o r in relation to age. Such an approach would introduce the advantages of shuttle vector systems (rapid selection and characterization of the mutants at the DNA sequence level in bacteria) in the in vivo mutagenicity studies with mammals. This would provide the possibility to comparatively study mutation induction in various organs and tissues, in relation to the initial genotoxic effects of DNA damage induction. It is even not inconceivable that such an approach would circumvent the high background mutation frequency of shuttle vectors that has often been observed for mammalian cells in vitro (Razzaque et al., 1983; Sarkar et al., 1984; Lebkowski et al., 1984). If the fertilized egg w i t h pronuclei mjection ~'~ ° ° ~ , " oviducial ,mplantai~on , v i r a l vector DhA c a r r y i n g JacZ ab a ~dr~el gene for mutations i q? empty v , r u s capsule J pseudopregnanl ~ i ~ mutagen treatment ;b [ DNA iso[abon p l a t i n g on lacZ bacteria w , l h X Cat and IPTG 9 0 mutant • wild type ~-~-- rescue of i n t e g r a t e d ~ector by in vitro © Fig. 2. Mutation analysis in transgenic bacteriophage lambda-derived shuttle vector. mice. using a hypermutability of many shuttle vectors is not inherent to their sequence but is a phenomenon due to the vulnerability of the DNA during and shortly after the introduction into the host cell, a stable situation may be reached after integration in the DNA of the egg. The only biological disadvantage of the transgenic mouse mutation model would then involve the artificial target for mutagenesis. However, if the system can be developed successfully, a similar approach to analyse mutagenesis of endogenous (naturally present) genes may have come within reach. Direct analysis of mutations in endogenous genes Direct detection and analysis of mutant sequences in total genomic DNA is theoretically possible by Southern blot restriction-enzyme analysis, because DNA probes are available for a variety of human and animal sequences. Understandably, the crucial problems in such a direct analysis are the low sensitivity (bands representing mutants can not be detected in a Southern blot) in addition to the limited number of mutations that can be detected, namely those that are present in restriction sites. Recent developments in DNA diagnostics may offer new possibilities. In 1979 Fischer and Lerman reported on a novel DNA separation technology which allows DNA fragments to be separated on the basis of their base-pair composition (Fischer 230 and Lerman, 1979). Separation of DNA-restriction fragments by neutral gel electrophoresis is based on the higher migration rates of small fragments in comparison to larger ones. Separation of DNA fragments of the same size differing in their base-pair composition is possible by using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (Fischer and Lerman, 1980+ 1983). This is based on the fact that partially melted DNA molecules have a different migration in agarose rID "O 13 1 Fig. 3. Ethidium bromide-stained two-dimensional gel separation pattern of a mixture of the RsaI-digested plasmids pOS184 and pOS185 (Mattern et al., 1985). The largest (2305 bp) Rsal fragment of pOS184 differs from the corresponding fragment of pOS185 by a single base-pair substitution. A mixture of the RsaI fragments of pOS184 and pOS185 was fractionated according to size on 1% agarose (lst dimension). The gel-lane was then attached to a 4% polyacrylamide slabgel with a gradient of denaturant (0-32% formamide, 0-5.6 M urea). After electrophoresis in the 2nd dimension, the single agarose band was separated into two spots in the denaturing gradient owing to a single base-sequence difference between the two fragments. The sequence diversity suggested by the similar behavior of the second largest Rsal fragments of pOS184 and pOSl85 is presently being investigated. electrophoretic mobility in polyacrylamide gels than their native equivalents (Lerman et al., 1984). A transition of a perfectly double-stranded DNA fragment to its partially melted form can be achieved by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at elevated temperatures in a denaturing gradient of urea/formamide, parallel to the direction of migration. It has been shown that these transition points are highly sequence-specific. Control of electrophoretic mobility by sequence specific melting equilibria provides a means for the separation of DNA fragments differing only by single basepair substitutions (Fig. 3). Novel developments have demonstrated that virtually all types of single-base substitutions can be detected in a DNA sequence of interest (by separation from the wildtype sequence), provided the sequence is attached to a GC-rich sequence, a so-called GC-clamp (Myers et al., 1985a,b). Recently it has been shown that the denaturing gradient technology makes it possible to detect single base-pair substitutions in single copy genes (Myers et al., 1985c) and to analyse sequence diversity in repetitive sequences (Uitterlinden et al., 1987). In another recent report, a general method was presented in which denaturing gradient analysis was successfully applied for the separation, isolation and characterization of DNA fragments, chemically mutated in vitro (Myers et al., 1985d). Important advantages of mutation detection by denaturing gradient technology are evident: (1) It is possible to physically separate mutant DNA fragments by preparative denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and to rapidly isolate them in the absence of phenotypic selection and, (2) in principle all types of mutations, including single base-pair substitutions and small deletions, can be detected in any cloned DNA sequence. This will allow the direct detection of mutations in the human population newly arising from generation to generation (Delehanty et al., 1986). Mutation analysis using tongue clamp constructs In collaboration with Dr. S.G. Fischer (Lifecodes Corporation, New York) we are presently developing a system for direct mutation analysis in endogenous genes (schematically depicted in Fig. 4). The system is based on the use of so-called 231 4" BaiH' EciR' "'°i'" clamp tongue "~/////////////////~ - hybridization - S 1 nuclease - kinase/ligase denatured genomic digest (Eco R I / H i n d III) wild type sequence mismatched (mutant) ,///////////////////~ II seq. . . . . . Polymerase Chain Reaction amplification ~ preparative denaturing gradient analysis mutants ~c~ -,~-- wild type cloning of mutants Fig. 4. Detection and isolation of mutant DNA sequences by using ' tongue-clamp' constructs. tongue-clamp constructs, designed by Dr. Fischer for diagnostic purposes. As shown in Fig. 4, a tongue-clamp construct consists of a singlestranded D N A probe, specific for the fragment of interest, attached to a double-stranded GC-clamp; because of the GC-clamp virtually all mutations in the fragment of interest will be detected (Myers et al., 1985a,b). With an excess of a tongue-clamp, specific for the fragment of interest, all copies of this sequence can in principle be isolated from (restriction-enzyme digested) denatured genomic D N A by means of solution hybridization. Upon renaturation, hybridization of most genomic D N A fragments will be imperfect (as a consequence of the presence of repeats). Such fragments are a good substrate for Sl-nuclease, and can be removed in this way. (Since the same is true for large mutations in the sequence of interest, this method is only suitable for the detection and analysis of small mutations.) The perfectly fitting wild-type sequences as well as small mismatches (due to base substitutions or small deletions) will be saved after hybridization to the tongue-clamp. Subsequent denaturing gradient electrophoresis of the purified homologous fragments allows the separation of heteroduplex (mutated) DNA fragments from the homoduplex (unmutated) ones. The sensitivity of this system is expected to be about the same as that of a Southern blot, which is about one single copy gene per genome. This means that theoretically a mutation frequency of about 10 - 6 should still be detectable. However, a recently published method concerning restrictionenzyme analysis of the /~-globin gene allows for the enzymatic amplification of specific sequences up to 220000-fold (Saiki et al., 1985). When this amplification step is included in the above-described mutation detection system, it is theoretically possible to detect one single mutant per D N A sample, irrespective of the number of cells the sample represents. Cloning of the mutated DNA fragments will allow further analysis at the D N A sequence level. Mutations due to transposable elements Denaturing gradient technology can also be applied for the analysis of transposition type of events. Such alterations, that occur at certain sites of the genome with high frequencies, can in principle be detected with current restriction-enzyme analysis. The problem, however, is to identify such hypothetical sites in the DNA of the mammalian genome. DNA sequences shown to be a source of variability and which are able to exert influence on gene expression are transposable elements (Nevers and Saedler, 1977). This type of mobile DNA sequences are well documented in prokaryotes, some lower eukaryotes, plants and Drosophila, but it is by no means clear whether such sequences tend to move from one site to another in the genome of somatic cells of mammals in vivo (Sankaranarayanan, 1986). This possibility, however, should be considered and it has recently been speculated that transposition events may be involved in aging and age-related disorders such as cancer (Sager, 1983; Vijg et al., 1985b). A first selection of the sequences that may be involved in D N A rearrangements in mammals is provided by a novel cloning system allowing the isolation of unstable sequences, which, due to certain structural features, especially inverted rep- 232 etitions, could thus far not be cloned by using regular (E. coli) vector-host systems (Wyman et al., 1985). In this cloning system, hosts carrying mutations in the recB, recC and sbcB genes are used instead of rec + hosts. Such mutants have reduced recombination efficiencies. Thus, mammalian DNA sequences that can be cloned in recBC sbcB- strains and not in normal rec ~ strains may act as specific recombination substrates in the prokaryotic cell. Sequences selected via this cloning system could be useful probes for the detection of site-specific recombinations in mammals. In this respect dispersed repetitive sequences, which are likely candidates for transposable elements (Nevers and Saedler, 1977), are especially interesting. If such sequences appear to be among the selected unstable sequences, they can be used as probes in a two-dimensional analysis of the genome. That is, if total genomic DNA is digested by a restriction enzyme to fragments of a sufficiently small average size, which are then subjected to electrophoresis in 2 dimensions (on the basis of both length and base-pair composition) and subsequently blotted onto a filter, hybridization analysis can be carried out with the above-described unstable DNA fragments as probes. In this way specific unstable parts of the DNA of various organs and tissues can be screened for minute alterations with a much higher resolution than can be obtained with one-dimensional sizing gels (Uitterlinden et al., 1987). Any consistent changes in the D N A sequence organization in samples from organs/tissues revealed in this way can be further characterized by isolating the relevant D N A sequences from a 2-D gel, clone them and subsequent analysis by conventional methods. Concluding remarks Although many methods are currently successfully applied for detecting exposure to mutagens and carcinogens, no method is yet available to quantify an increased carcinogenic or mutagenic risk in populations exposed to suspected agents. Biological monitoring of human exposure will be the first approach in this direction. However, the ultimate aim is estimation of risk (eventually perhaps even personal risk), which current biological monitoring methodology does not allow. Most techniques for biological monitoring of genotoxic chemicals are still under development; the whole field is in its infancy. At this moment there is no proof that any of the phenomena used as criterion for exposure, not even, for instance, the presence of specific DNA adducts, is relevant for an increase of the number of mutations in germ cells or for the appearance of clinically verifiable tumors. The methodology that we propose represents a first attempt to study mutation induction in various organs and tissues of animals treated with genotoxic agents. We anticipate that combining molecular dosimetry of specific DNA lesions with measurements of genetic effects in various organs and tissues of the treated animals will give information on the relative importance of certain lesions for the induction of mutations. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Dr. S.G. Fischer, Lifecodes Corporation, New York, (U.S.A,), for collaborating in part of this study and for his helpful discussions. References Albertini, R.J., K.L. Castle and W.R. Barcherding (1982) T-cell cloning to detect the mutant 6-thioguanosine resistant lymphocytes present in human peripheral blood, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.), 19, 6617 6621. Albertini, R.J., J. Patrick O'Neill, J.A. Nicklas, N.H. Heintz and P.C. 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