N-nitrosation of
glycine and its derivatives generates potent
alkylating agents that can lead to the formation of O(6)-carboxymethylguanine (O(6)-CMG) in
DNA. O(6)-CMG has been identified in
DNA derived from human colon tissue, and its occurrence has been linked to diets high in red and processed meats. By analogy to
O(6)-methylguanine, O(6)-CMG is expected to be highly mutagenic, inducing G to A mutations during DNA replication that can increase the risk of gastrointestinal and other
cancers. Two crystal structures of
DNA dodecamers
d(CGCG[O(6)-CMG]ATTCGCG) and d(CGC[O(6)-CMG]AATTCGCG) in complex with Hoechst33258 reveal that each can form a self-complementary duplex to retain the B-form conformation. Electron density maps clearly show that O(6)-CMG forms a Watson-Crick-type pair with
thymine similar to the canonical A:T pair, and it forms a reversed wobble pair with
cytosine. In situ structural modeling suggests that
a DNA polymerase can accept the Watson-Crick-type pair of O(6)-CMG with
thymine, but might also accept the reversed wobble pair of O(6)-CMG with
cytosine. Thus, O(6)-CMG would permit the mis-incorporation of
dTTP during DNA replication. Alternatively, the
triphosphate that would be formed by carboxymethylation of the
nucleotide triphosphate pool d[O(6)-CMG]TP might compete with dATP incorporation opposite
thymine in
a DNA template.