Size- and Stereochemistry-Dependent Transcriptional Bypass of DNA Alkyl Phosphotriester Adducts in Mammalian Cells

Environmental, endogenous and therapeutic alkylating agents can react with internucleotide phosphate groups in DNA to yield alkyl phosphotriester (PTE) adducts. Alkyl-PTEs are induced at relatively high frequencies and are persistent in mammalian tissues; however, their biological consequences in mammalian cells have not been examined. Herein, we assessed how alkyl-PTEs with different alkyl group sizes and stereochemical configurations (S(P) and R(P) diastereomers of Me and nPr) affect the efficiency and fidelity of transcription in mammalian cells. We found that, while the R(P) diastereomer of Me- and nPr-PTEs constituted moderate and strong blockages to transcription, respectively, the S(P) diastereomer of the two lesions did not appreciably perturb transcription efficiency. In addition, none of the four alkyl-PTEs induced mutant transcripts. Furthermore, polymerase η assumed an important role in promoting transcription across the S(P)-Me-PTE, but not any of other three lesions. Loss of other translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerases tested, including Pol κ, Pol ι, Pol ξ and REV1, did not alter the transcription bypass efficiency or mutation frequency for any of the alkyl-PTE lesions. Together, our study provided important new knowledge about the impact of alkyl-PTE lesions on transcription and expanded the substrate pool of Pol η in transcriptional bypass.