MIT Libraries logoDSpace@MIT

MIT
View Item 
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • View Item
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Impact of DNA lesion repair, replication and formation on the mutational spectra of environmental carcinogens: Aflatoxin B1 as a case study

Author(s)
Fedeles, Bogdan I.; Essigmann, John M.
Thumbnail
DownloadAccepted version (776.2Kb)
Publisher with Creative Commons License

Publisher with Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution

Terms of use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
In a multicellular organism, somatic mutations represent a permanent record of the past chemical and biochemical perturbations experienced by a cell in its local microenvironment. Akin to a perpetual recording device, with every replication, genomic DNA accumulates mutations in patterns that reflect: i) the sequence context-dependent formation of DNA damage, due to environmental or endogenous reactive species, including spontaneous processes; ii) the activity of DNA repair pathways, which, depending on the type of lesion, can erase, ignore or exacerbate the mutagenic consequences of that DNA damage; and iii) the choice of replication machinery that synthesizes the nascent genomic copy. These three factors result in a richly contoured sequence context-dependent mutational spectrum that, from appearances, is distinct for most individual forms of DNA damage. Such a mutagenic legacy, if appropriately decoded, can reveal the local history of genome-altering events such as chemical or pathogen exposures, metabolic stress, and inflammation, which in turn can provide an indication of the underlying causes and mechanisms of genetic disease. Modern tools have positioned us to develop a deep mechanistic understanding of the cellular factors and pathways that modulate a mutational process and, in turn, provide opportunities for better diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, better exposure risk assessment and even actionable therapeutic targets. The goal of this Perspective is to present a bottom-up, lesion-centric framework of mutagenesis that integrates the contributions of lesion replication, lesion repair and lesion formation to explain the complex mutational spectra that emerge in the genome following exposure to mutagens. The mutational spectra of the well-studied hepatocarcinogen aflatoxin B 1 are showcased here as specific examples, but the implications are meant to be generalizable.
Date issued
2018-11
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/124792
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Environmental Health Sciences
Journal
DNA Repair
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Citation
Fedeles, Bogdan I. et al. “Impact of DNA lesion repair, replication and formation on the mutational spectra of environmental carcinogens: Aflatoxin B1 as a case study.” DNA Repair 71 (2018): 12-22 © 2018 The Author(s)
Version: Final published version
ISSN
1568-7864
Keywords
Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology

Collections
  • MIT Open Access Articles

Browse

All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

OA StatisticsStatistics by CountryStatistics by Department
MIT Libraries
PrivacyPermissionsAccessibilityContact us
MIT
Content created by the MIT Libraries, CC BY-NC unless otherwise noted. Notify us about copyright concerns.