Roles of specialized DNA polymerases in mutagenesis by oxidized guanine

To assess the involvement of specialized DNA polymerases in the mutagenesis induced by an oxidized form of dGTP, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine 5'-triphosphate (8-OH-dGTP, 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine 5'-triphosphate), shuttle plasmid DNA containing the supF gene and 8-OH-dGTP were introduced into human 293T cells in which specialized DNA polymerases were knocked-down by siRNAs. The knock-downs of DNA polymerases eta and zeta, and REV1 reduced the A:T-->C:G substitution mutations, suggesting that these DNA polymerases are involved in the misincorporation of 8-OH-dGTP opposite A. In contrast, the knock-down of DNA polymerase tau did not affect the mutations induced by 8-OH-dGTP. The decrease in the induced mutation frequency was more evident by double knock-downs of DNA pols eta plus zeta and REV1 plus DNA pol zeta (but not by that of DNA pol eta plus REV1), suggesting that REV1-DNA pol eta and DNA pol zeta work in different steps. These results indicate that specialized DNA polymerases are involved in the mutagenesis induced by 8-OH-dGTP.