Bypass of a hydrocarbon adduct in an oligonucleotide template mediated by mispairing adjacent to the adduct

The action of DNA polymerase (Sequenase Version 2.0) on an oligonucleotide template containing a 7-bromomethyl-benz[a]anthracene-deoxyadenosine adduct flanked by thymidine residues was investigated. The polymerase incorporated deoxyadenosine or deoxyguanosine residues opposite the thymidine 3' to the adduct with similar efficiencies. Whereas the normal A.T base pair led to arrest of polymerase progression along the template, formation of the G.T mismatch allowed incorporation of thymidine opposite the adduct and further primer extension. This mispair-mediated bypass was also seen with AMV reverse transcriptase and may represent a novel mechanism for overcoming the replication block of a bulky carcinogen--DNA adduct.