Disruption of a Topoisomerase-DNA Cleavage Complex by a DNA Helicase
Abstract
The type II DNA topoisomerases are targets for a variety of chemotherapeutic agents, including the antibacterial quinolones and several families of antitumor drugs. These agents stabilize an enzyme-DNA cleavage complex that consists of the topoisomerase covalently linked to the 5' phosphates of a double-stranded DNA break. Although the drug-stabilized cleavage complex is readily reversible, it can result in cell death by a mechanism that remains uncertain. Here we demonstrate that the action of a DNA helicase can convert the cleavage complex into a nonreversible DNA break by displacing DNA strands from the complex. Formation of a nonreversible DNA break, induced by a DNA helicase, could explain the cytotoxicity of these topoisomerase poisons.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- December 1994
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.91.25.12031
- Bibcode:
- 1994PNAS...9112031H