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A unique conformation of deoxynucleoside triphosphate substrates bound to Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I has been determined by nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. The effects of Mn(II) bound at the active site of the enzyme on the longitudinal (T1p-1) and transverse (T2p-1) relaxation rates of the alpha, beta, and gamma phosphorus atoms and 5 protons of enzyme-bound thymidine 5'-triphosphate (dTTP) were measured at 40.5 MHz (31P), 100 and 220 MHz (1H). From frequency dependence of T1p-1, a correlation time of 7 X 10(-10) s and Mn(II) to proton distances of 10.4, 9.9, 10.3, 10.8, and 8.4 A were calculated for the --CH3, H6, H'1, H'2, and H'4 protons. The calculated Mn(II) to phosphorus distances of 4.2, 4.8, and 3.2 A for the alpha, beta, and gamma phosphorus atoms indicates that Mn(II) corrdinates directly only with the gamma-phosphoryl group and that a puckered triphpsphate conformation exists for the enzyme-bound dTTP. This differs from the binary Mn(II)-dTTP complex in which alpha, beta, and gamma phosphoryl coordination occurs, and a thymine-deoxyribose torsion angly (chi) about the glycosidic bond of 40 degrees is detected. The eight manganese-substrate distances on the enzyme are fit by a unique Mn-dTTP conformation, with a torsion angle equal to 90 degrees, indistinguishable from that found for a deoxynucleotidyl unit in double helical DNA-B. Hence, binding to DNA polymerase appears to adjust the conformation of dTTP for Watson-Crick basepairing. Similarly, the binding of Mn-dATP to DNA polymerase I increased the distances from Mn(II) to the H2, H8, H'1, and H'4 protons of dATP but the adenine-deoxyribose torsion angle of 90 degrees was preserved. Such preorientation of substrates could facilitate incorporation of the complementary nucleotide. When positioned within the DNA structure, the conformation of enzyme-bound Mn-dTTP requires an inline nucleophilic attack on the alpha phosphorus with Mn(II) promoting pyrophosphate departure.

The high error rate characteristic of DNA polymerases from RNA tumor viruses has permitted measurements on the simultaneous incorporation of complementary and noncomplementary nucleotides during DNA synthesis. For example, avian myeloblastosis virus DNA polymerase incorporates 1 molecule of dCMP for approximately 500 molecules of dTMP polymerized using polyriboadenylic acid as a template. The parallel incorporation of complementary and noncomplementary nucleotides afer gel filtration of avian myeloblastosis virus DNA polymerase indicates that the observed fidelity is catalyzed by the polymerase itself. Nearest neighbor analysis of the product indicates that noncomplementary nucleotides are incorporated as single base substitutions. The incorporation of the noncomplementary dCMP is not reduced by a 20-fold greater amount of the complementary nucleotide, dTTP. Conversely, the concentration of the noncomplementary nucleotides does not effect the rate of incorporation of the complementary nucleotide. A similar lack of competition between complementary dGTP and noncomplementary dATP is exhibited using poly(rC)-oligo(dG) as a template-primer. Furthermore, there was no detectable competition between the different noncomplementary nucleotides. Possible explanations for this lack of competition are considered.

The effect of several divalent cations on the accuracy of DNA replication in vitro has been examined. Only Be2+ altered the accuracy of DNA synthesis using purified DNA polymerase (DNA nucleotidyltransferase; deoxynucleosidetriphosphate:DNA deoxynucleotidyltransferase; EC 2.7.7.7) from avian myeloblastosis virus. The Be2+-induced base substitutions occurred with all templates and with all nucleotides tested. Analysis of the product by equilibrium density centrifugation and processive hydrolysis with snake venom phosphodiesterase suggested that the noncomplementary nucleotides were present in phosphodiester linkage. Nearest neighbor studies indicated that many of the Be2+-induced errors were present as single base substitutions. The enhancement of error frequency could be duplicated by the pretreatment of the enzyme, but not the template, with Be2+. Glycerol gradient centrifugation dissociated the Be2+-DNA polymerase complex and restored the initial error frequency of the polymerase. Thus, the weak binding of a metal cation to a DNA polymerase could alter the accuracy with which that polymerase copied DNA. Beryllium is a known carcinogen. The potential use of this system as a screening technique to detect chemical mutagens and carcinogens is considered.

The kinetic properties of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I were simplified to those of a 1 deoxynucleotide substrate reaction by the use of polynucleotide templates. With poly(dA)-oligo(dT) as the template-primer complex, Mg2+ decreases the Km of the substrate dTTP but has little or no effect on the Km of the substrate Mg-dTTP, suggesting that multiple pathways involving the binding of Mg2+, dTTP, and Mg-dTTP are operative in forming the active complex. The Km of free Mg2+, extrapolated to zero concentration of substrate (830 = 62 muM), agrees within a factor of 2 with the dissociation constant of magnesium from 4 +/- 1 sites on the enzyme determined previously by binding studies (Slater, J.P., Tamir, I., Loeb, L.A., and Mildvan, A.S. (1972) J. Biol. Chem. 247, 6784-6794). The maximal turnover number with poly(dA) as template is 5.7 +/- 0.7 s-1. Changing the nature of the base in the polydeoxynucleotide template alters the maximal rate of polydeoxynucleotide synthesis by an overall factor of 31 with poly(dC) is greater than poly(dT) is greater than poly(dA) is greater than poly(dG), indicating that pyrimidine templates are copied faster than purine templates. Changing the sugar structure from poly(dA) to poly(rA) causes a 3-fold increase in the rate of template copying. A study of the kinetic effects of all noncomplementary deoxynucleotides with all deoxynucleotide templates, as well as with poly(rA)-oligo(dT), yields complex patterns of activation and inhibition requiring from 1 to 2 additional binding sites for the noncomplementary nucleotides. The kinetically determined affinities of the active site of the enzyme-template-primer complex for the complementary free nucleotide (as measured by Km) generally exceed those for the noncomplementary neuclotides (as measured by KI slope) by 1 or more than 3 orders of magnitude.

We have addressed the possibility of terminal transferase involvement in somatic mutagenesis and the creation of N-region diversity, by measuring the ability of TdT to enhance single-base substitution mutagenesis during in vitro DNA synthesis. Using 3 independent assays we find that terminal transferase produces only a small increase in base-substitution mutagenesis when assayed in the presence of DNA polymerase-beta. In the presence of either polymerase-alpha or E. coli polymerase-I, however, no detectable increase in TdT-induced mutagenesis is seen. Furthermore, in an assay capable of detecting a variety of mutational events, terminal transferase primarily produces complex addition/deletion mutations, as well as a few multiple, tightly-clustered, single-base mutations. We conclude that the majority of the scattered single-base changes that occur during antibody gene differentiation are not catalyzed by terminal transferase, but instead result from another error-prone DNA synthetic process (possibly utilizing DNA polymerase-beta).

Polynucleotide templates were copied by avian myeloblastosis virus DNA polymerase ("reverse transcriptase") and the frequency and distribution of errors were determined. The error rate with [r(pA)2500-d(pT)12-18] template-initiator under a variety of conditions was approximately 1/600, i.e. one incorrect dCMP incorporated for 600 correct dTMP polymerized. Addition of the metal chelator o-phenanthroline to the reaction inhibited the incorporation of correct and incorrect nucleotides proportionately. The enzyme inhibited a pH optimum of 8.5 and the error rate remained constant over a range of pH (6.0 to 10.0). The rate of polymerization was greater at higher temperatures and approximately doubled for every 10 degrees increase. The error rate was constant at all temperatures. These results indicate that the purified avian myeloblastosis virus DNA polymerase synthesizes polydeoxynucleotides with an unusually large number of errors in base-pairing. Velocity sedimentation of the products of the reaction obtained at various times during the course of synthesis indicate that: (a) the entire length of the 14 S template was copied, and (b) the incorporation of the incorrect nucleotide did not terminate chain propagation. Isopyknic banding in neutral and alkaline cesium sulfate gradients showed that the noncomplementary nucleotides are incorporated into the polydeoxynucleotide product. Stepwise degradation and nearest neighbor analysis of the reaction product indicated that (a) the correct and incorrect nucleotides are present in phosphodiester linkages, (b) the errors are not concentrated at either termini; and (c) the errors are uniformly distributed throughout the newly synthesized polydeoxynucleotide.

DNA polymerase from RNA tumor viruses ("reverse transcriptase") has been analyzed for activities which have been associated with other DNA polymerases. Homogeneous DNA polymerase from avian myeoblastosis virus catalyzes pyrophosphate exchange and pyrophosphorolysis. Pyrophosphate exchange is dependent on a template and is base-specific. With avian myeloblastosis virus DNA polymerase, ribonucleotide templates are more efficient for synthesis while deoxyribonucleotide templates are more effective for pyrophosphate exchange. Synthesis, pyrophosphate exchange, and pyrophosphorolysis were inhibited by the chelating agent 1,10-phenanthroline, suggesting that enzyme-bound zinc is required for each of these reactions. The pyrophosphate exchange reaction was also demonstrated with the DNA polymerase from a mutant of Rous sarcoma virus that possesses a temperature-sensitive DNA polymerase. The pyrophosphate exchange reaction with the mutant polymerase is temperature-sensitive which demonstrates that pyrophosphate exchange is indeed catalyzed by the viral DNA polymerase and that the same mutation effects both DNA polymerase and pyrophosphatase activity. Unlike Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I, the DNA polymerase from avian myeloblastosis virus fails to degrade polydeoxyribonucleotides or to convert deoxynucleoside triphosphates into monophosphates. This lack of hydrolytic activities in avian myeoblastosis DNA polymerase should facilitate kinetic studies on the mechanism of DNA synthesis by this enzyme.

To assess the involvement of terminal transferase in generating immunoglobulin diversity, the mutagenic potential of this enzyme has been measured. The frequency of single base substitutions during copying of phi X174 DNA by DNA polymerase beta is increased by, at most, 3-fold upon the addition of terminal transferase. However, terminal transferase is highly mutagenic, either alone or with DNA polymerase beta, in a forward mutation assay using M13mp2 DNA. The frequency of complex mutants, as determined by DNA sequence, is increased by greater than 100-fold. These mutants involve the deletion of a variable number of bases initially present in the template sequence and the addition of a sequence of nucleotides rich in guanine residues. Analysis of these mutants suggests an antibody diversity model implicating terminal transferase in the imprecise linkage of variable, joining, and diversity segments during the formation of functional immunoglobulin genes.

The ability of peripheral blood lymphocytes to respond to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) in vitro was studied in patients with Down's syndrome. The response was measured by the increase in DNA polymerase activity and the rate of incorporation of tritiated thymidine by the cultured lymphocytes. These activities were significantly lower in PHA-stimulated lymphocytes from patients with Down's syndrome compared with age- and sex-matched, mentally retarded patients without Down's syndrome from the same institution and the normal healthy volunteers. The impairment in response to PHA does not seem to be related to the presence of Australia antigen in patients with Down's syndrome or to institutionalization itself. In contrast to DNA polymerase activity and thymidine-(3)H uptake, there was no significant difference in the percentage of blast transformation in the three groups studied. The poor response of the lymphocytes from patients with Down's syndrome to a mitogenic stimulus could reflect an impairment of cellular immune functions in these patients which may be one of the factors contributing to the vulnerability of these patients to repeated or persistent infections.

Evidence is presented that DNA polymerases from human leukemic cells are mutagenic. Nucleic acid-free extracts of acute lymphoblastic leukemic cells polymerized about 10-times more dCTP using poly(dA-dT).poly(dA-dT) as a template than did extracts from normal lymphocytes. Mutagenic DNA polymerases could perhaps play an important role in tumor progression.