UVB-Induced formation of intrastrand cross-link products of DNA in MCF-7 cells treated with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine

Nucleoside 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine ((Br)dU), after being incorporated into cellular DNA, is well-known to sensitize cells to ionizing radiation and UV irradiation. We reported here, for the first time, the sequence-dependent formation of intrastrand cross-link products from the UVB irradiation of (Br)dU-treated MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. Our results showed that (Br)dU replaced more than 30% dT in genomic DNA after the cells were treated with 10 mu M (Br)dU for 48 h. LC-MS/MS data revealed that more than 50% of the incorporated (Br)dU was consumed during UVB irradiation, of which more than half was dehalogenated to yield dU. Low-dose (5.0 kJ/m(2)) UVB irradiation of (Br)dU-treated cells yielded four intrastrand cross-link products, where the C5 of uracil is covalently bonded to the C8 of its neighboring 5' or 3' guanine to give G[8-5]U and U[5-8]G, respectively, and the C5 of uracil could couple with the C2 or C8 of its vicinal 5' adenine to give A[2-5]U and A[8-5]U, respectively. All the above cross-link products except A[2-5]U could also be induced in (Br)dU-treated cells upon UVB irradiation at a dose of 39 kJ/m(2). We further demonstrated, by using LC-MS/MS, that the yield of G[8-5]U was much greater than the total yields of A[2-5]U and A[8-5]U. In addition, our results revealed that (Br)dU treatment stimulated considerably the UVB-induced formation of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dG) in vivo. The formation of these intrastrand cross-link products and 8-oxo-dG in vivo underscores the importance of these products in the photosensitizing effect of (Br)dU.