5-formyl-2--deoxycytidine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine

Our hereby presented methodology is suitable for reliable assessment of the most common unavoidable DNA modifications which arise as a product of fundamental metabolic processes. 8-Oxoguanine, one of the oxidatively modified DNA bases, is a typical biomarker of oxidative stress. A noncanonical base, uracil, may be also present in small quantities in DNA. A set of ten-eleven translocation (TET) proteins are involved in oxidation of 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine which can be further oxidized to 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxycytosine. 5-Hydroxymethyluracil may be formed in deamination reaction of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine or can be also generated by TET enzymes. All of the aforementioned modifications seem to play some regulatory roles. We applied isotope-dilution automated online two-dimensional ultraperformance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (2D-UPLC-MS/MS) for direct measurement of the 5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine, 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2'-deoxycytidine, 5-formyl-2'-deoxycytidine, 5-carboxy-2'-deoxycytidine, 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2'-deoxyuridine, 2'-deoxyuridine, and 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine. Analyses of DNA extracted from matched human samples showed that the 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2'-deoxycytidine level was 5-fold lower in colorectal carcinoma tumor in comparison with the normal one from the tumor's margin; also 5-formyl-2'-deoxycytidine and 5-carboxy-2'-deoxycytidine were lower in colorectal carcinoma tissue (ca. 2.5- and 3.5-fold, respectively). No such differences was found for 2'-deoxyuridine and 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2'-deoxyuridine. The presented methodology is suitable for fast, accurate, and complex evaluation of an array of endogenously generated DNA deoxynucleosides modifications. This novel technique could be used for monitoring of cancer and other diseases related to oxidative stress, aberrant metabolism, and environmental exposure. Furthermore, the fully automated two-dimensional separation is extremely useful for analysis of material containing a considerable amount of coeluting interferents with mass-spectrometry-based methods.

Topics: 5-Methylcytosine; Animals; Biomarkers; Brain; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Colorectal Neoplasms; Deoxycytidine; DNA; Humans; Isotope Labeling; Mixed Function Oxygenases; Nucleotidases; Reproducibility of Results; Swine; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Thymus Gland

The rediscovery of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, the ten-eleven translocation (TET) family, thymine-DNA glycosylase (TDG) and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) have opened new avenues in the study of DNA demethylation pathways in gastric cancer (GC). We performed a comprehensive and robust analysis of these genes and modified cytosines in gastric cancer.. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to assess 5-methyldeoxycytidine (5-mC), 5-hydroxymethyldeoxycytidine (5-hmC), 5-formyldeoxycytidine (5-fC) and 5-carboxyldeoxycytidine (5-caC) quantitatively in tumorous and non-tumorous regions of GCs; [D2]-5-hmC was used as an internal standard. Expression levels of the genes TET1, TET2, TET3, TDG, IDH1 and IDH2 were measured using a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and were compared to the clinical attributes of each case. Using HEK293T cells the effects of introducing plasmids containing full-length TET1, TET2, and TET3 and 7 variants of the TET2 catalytic domain were evaluated in terms of their effect on cytosine demethylation.. LC-MS/MS showed that 5-hmC was significantly decreased in tumorous portions. 5-mC was also moderately decreased in tumors, while 5-fC and 5-caC were barely detectable. The expressions of TET1, TET2, TET3, TDG and IDH2, but not IDH1, were notably decreased in GCs, compared with the adjacent non-tumor portion. TET1 expression and the 5-hmC levels determined using LC-MS/MS had a significantly positive correlation and TET1 protein had a greater effect on the increase in 5-hmC than TET2 and TET3 in HEK293T cells.. The loss of 5-hmC and the down-regulation of TET1-3, TDG and IDH2 were found in GCs. The loss of 5-hmC in GCs was mainly correlated with the down-regulation of TET1.

Topics: 5-Methylcytosine; Aged; Chromatography, Liquid; Cytosine; Deoxycytidine; Dioxygenases; DNA-Binding Proteins; Enzymes; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; HEK293 Cells; Humans; Isocitrate Dehydrogenase; Male; Middle Aged; Mixed Function Oxygenases; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Stomach Neoplasms; Tandem Mass Spectrometry