Rev1 and Polζ influence toxicity and mutagenicity of Me-lex, a sequence selective N3-adenine methylating agent

The relative toxicity and mutagenicity of Me-lex, which selectively generates 3-methyladenine (3-MeA), is dependent on the nature of the DNA repair background. Base excision repair (BER)-defective S. cerevisiae strains mag1 and apn1apn2 were both significantly more sensitive to Me-lex toxicity, but only the latter is significantly more prone to Me-lex-induced mutagenesis. To examine the contribution of translesion synthesis (TLS) DNA polymerases in the bypass of Me-lex-induced lesions, the REV3 and REV1 genes were independently deleted in the parental yeast strain and in different DNA repair-deficient derivatives: the nucleotide excision repair (NER)-deficient rad14, and the BER-deficient mag1 or apn1apn2 strains. The strains contained an integrated ADE2 reporter gene under control of the transcription factor p53. A centromeric yeast expression vector containing the wild-type p53 cDNA was treated in vitro with increasing concentrations of Me-lex and transformed into the different yeast strains. The toxicity of Me-lex-induced lesions was evaluated based on the plasmid transformation efficiency compared to the untreated vector, while Me-lex mutagenicity was assessed using the p53 reporter assay. In the present study, we demonstrate that disruption of Polζ (through deletion of its catalytic subunit coded by REV3) or Rev1 (by REV1 deletion) increased Me-lex lethality and decreased Me-lex mutagenicity in both the NER-defective (rad14) and BER-defective (mag1; apn1apn2) strains. Therefore, Polζ and Rev1 contribute to resistance of the lethal effects of Me-lex-induced lesions (3-MeA and derived AP sites) by bypassing lesions and fixing some mutations.