Properties of and Substrate Determinants for the Exonuclease Activity of Human Apurinic Endonuclease Ape1

Ape1 is the major human abasic endonuclease, initiating repair of this common DNA lesion by incising the phosphodiester backbone 5′ to the damage site. This enzyme also functions in specific contexts to excise 3′-blocking termini, e.g. phosphate and phosphoglycolate residues, from DNA. Recently, the comparatively “minor” 3′ to 5′ exonuclease activity of Ape1 was found to contribute to the excision of certain 3′-mismatched nucleotides. In this study, I characterize more thoroughly the 3′-nuclease properties of Ape1 and define the effects of specific DNA determinants on this function. Data within shows that Ape1 is a non- or poorly processive exonuclease, which degrades one nucleotide gap, 3′-recessed, and nicked DNAs, but exhibits no detectable activity on blunt end or single-stranded DNA. A 5′-phosphate, compared to a 5′-hydroxyl group, reduced Ape1 degradation activity roughly tenfold, suggesting that the biological impact of certain DNA single strand breaks may be influenced by the terminal chemistry. In the context of a base excision repair-like DNA intermediate, a 5′-abasic residue exerted an about tenfold attenuation on the 3′ to 5′ exonuclease efficiency of Ape1. A 3′-phosphate group had little impact on Ape1 exonuclease activity, and oligonucleotides harboring these blocking termini were activated by Ape1 for DNA polymerase β extension. Ape1 was also found to remove 3′-tyrosyl residues from 3′-recessed and nicked DNAs, suggesting a potential role in processing covalent topoisomerase I–DNA intermediates formed during chromosome relaxation. While exhibiting preferential excision of thymine in a T:G mismatch context, Ape1 was unable to degrade a triple 3′-thymine mispair. However, Ape1 was able to excise double nucleotide mispairs, apparently through a novel 3′-flap-type endonuclease activity, again activating these substrates for polymerase β extension.