DNA binding as an anti-inflammatory: Mice that lack the gene encoding 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 (OGG1) show resistance to inflammation. This enzyme binds to sites of oxidative DNA damage and initiates DNA base excision repair. Visnes et al. developed a small-molecule drug that acts as a potent and selective active-site inhibitor that stops OGG1 from recognizing its DNA substrate (see the Perspective by Samson). The drug inhibited DNA repair and modified OGG1 chromatin dynamics, which resulted in the inhibition of proinflammatory pathway genes. The drug was well tolerated by mice and suppressed lipopolysaccharide- and tumor necrosis factor–α–mediated neutrophilic inflammation in the lungs. Science , this issue p. 834 ; see also p. 748

Oxidative stress and the resulting damage to genomic DNA are inevitable consequences of endogenous physiological processes, and they are amplified by cellular responses to environmental exposures. One of the most frequent reactions of reactive oxygen species with DNA is the oxidation of guanine to pre-mutagenic 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoG). Despite the vulnerability of guanine to oxidation, vertebrate genes are primarily embedded in GC-rich genomic regions, and over 72% of the promoters of human genes belong to a class with a high GC content. In the promoter, 8-oxoG may serve as an epigenetic mark, and when complexed with the oxidatively inactivated repair enzyme 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1, provide a platform for the coordination of the initial steps of DNA repair and the assembly of the transcriptional machinery to launch the prompt and preferential expression of redox-regulated genes. Deviations/variations from this artful coordination may be the etiological links between guanine oxidation and various cellular pathologies and diseases during ageing processes.

A large percentage of redox-responsive gene promoters contain evolutionarily conserved guanine-rich clusters; guanines are the bases most susceptible to oxidative modification(s). Consequently, 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) is one of the most abundant base lesions in promoters and is primarily repaired via the 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase-1 (OOG1)-initiated base excision repair pathway. In view of a prompt cellular response to oxidative challenge, we hypothesized that the 8-oxoG lesion and the cognate repair protein OGG1 are utilized in transcriptional gene activation. Here, we document TNFα-induced enrichment of both 8-oxoG and OGG1 in promoters of pro-inflammatory genes, which precedes interaction of NF-κB with its DNA-binding motif. OGG1 bound to 8-oxoG upstream from the NF-κB motif increased its DNA occupancy by promoting an on-rate of both homodimeric and heterodimeric forms of NF-κB. OGG1 depletion decreased both NF-κB binding and gene expression, whereas Nei-like glycosylase-1 and -2 had a marginal effect. These results are the first to document a novel paradigm wherein the DNA repair protein OGG1 bound to its substrate is coupled to DNA occupancy of NF-κB and functions in epigenetic regulation of gene expression.

Among the insidious DNA base lesions, 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoG) is one of the most abundant, a lesion that arises through the attack by reactive oxygen species on guanine, especially when located in cis-regulatory elements. 8-oxoG is repaired by the 8-oxoguanine glycosylase 1 (OGG1)–initiated DNA base excision repair pathway. In this study, we investigated whether 8-oxoG repair by OGG1 in promoter regions is compatible with a prompt gene expression and a host innate immune response. For this purpose, we used a mouse model of airway inflammation, supplemented with cell cultures, chromatin immunoprecipitation, small interfering RNA knockdown, real-time PCR, and comet and reporter transcription assays. Our data show that exposure of cells to TNF-α altered cellular redox, increased the 8-oxoG level in DNA, recruited OGG1 to promoter sequences, and transiently inhibited base excision repair of 8-oxoG. Promoter-associated OGG1 then enhanced NF-κB/RelA binding to cis-elements and facilitated recruitment of specificity protein 1, transcription initiation factor II-D, and p-RNA polymerase II, resulting in the rapid expression of chemokines/cytokines and inflammatory cell accumulation in mouse airways. Small interfering RNA depletion of OGG1 or prevention of guanine oxidation significantly decreased TNF-α–induced inflammatory responses. Taken together, these results show that nonproductive binding of OGG1 to 8-oxoG in promoter sequences could be an epigenetic mechanism to modulate gene expression for a prompt innate immune response.

In this study, we demonstrate that human cardiomyocytes (AC16) produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammatory cytokines in response to Trypanosoma cruzi. ROS were primarily produced by mitochondria, some of which diffused to cytosol of infected cardiomyocytes. These ROS resulted in an increase in 8-hydroxyguanine lesions and DNA fragmentation that signaled PARP-1 activation evidenced by poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) modification of PARP-1 and other proteins in infected cardiomyocytes. Phenyl-alpha-tert-butylnitrone blocked the mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) formation, DNA damage, and PARP-1 activation in infected cardiomyocytes. Further inhibition studies demonstrated that ROS and PARP-1 signaled TNF-alpha and IL-1beta expression in infected cardiomyocytes. ROS directly signaled the nuclear translocation of RelA (p65), NF-kappaB activation, and cytokine gene expression. PARP-1 exhibited no direct interaction with p65 and did not signal its translocation to nuclei in infected cardiomyocytes. Instead, PARP-1 contributed to PAR modification of p65-interacting nuclear proteins and assembly of the NF-kappaB transcription complex. PJ34 (PARP-1 inhibitor) also prevented mitochondrial poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation (PARylation) and ROS formation. We conclude that T. cruzi-mediated mtROS provide primary stimulus for PARP-1-NF-kappaB activation and cytokine gene expression in infected cardiomyocytes. PAR modification of mitochondrial membranes then results in a feedback cycle of mtROS formation and DNA damage/PARP-1 activation. ROS, either through direct modulation of cytosolic NF-kappaB, or via PARP-1-dependent PAR modification of p65-interacting nuclear proteins, contributes to cytokine gene expression. Our results demonstrate a link between ROS and inflammatory responses in cardiomyocytes infected by T. cruzi and provide a clue to the pathomechanism of sustained inflammation in Chagas disease.