Oxidative DNA-protein crosslinks formed in mammalian cells by abasic site lyases involved in DNA repair

Free radical attack on C1′ of deoxyribose forms the oxidized abasic (AP) site 2-deoxyribonolactone (dL). In vitro, dL traps the major base excision DNA repair enzyme DNA polymerase beta (Polβ) in covalent DNA-protein crosslinks (DPC) via the enzyme’s N-terminal lyase activity acting on 5′-deoxyribose-5-phosphate residues. We previously demonstrated formation of Polβ-DPC in cells challenged with oxidants generating significant levels of dL....