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Molecular and Cellular Biology, December 2001, p. 8437-8451, Vol. 21, No. 24
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.24.8437-8451.2001
Transcriptional Consequences of Topoisomerase
Inhibition
Irene
Collins,
Achim
Weber,
and
David
Levens*
Laboratory of Pathology, Center for Cancer
Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1500
Received 14 June 2001/Returned for modification 17 July
2001/Accepted 17 September 2001
In principle, the generation, transmission, and dissipation of
supercoiling forces are determined by the arrangement of the physical
barriers defining topological boundaries and the disposition of enzymes
creating (polymerases and helicases, etc.) or releasing (topoisomerases) torsional strain in DNA. These features are likely to
be characteristic for individual genes. By using topoisomerase inhibitors to alter the balance between supercoiling forces in vivo, we
monitored changes in the basal transcriptional activity and DNA
conformation for several genes. Every gene examined displayed an
individualized profile in response to inhibition of topoisomerase I or
II. The expression changes elicited by camptothecin (topoisomerase I
inhibitor) or adriamycin (topoisomerase II inhibitor) were not equivalent. Camptothecin generally caused transcription complexes to
stall in the midst of transcription units, while provoking little
response at promoters. Adriamycin, in contrast, caused dramatic changes
at or near promoters and prevented transcription. The response to
topoisomerase inhibition was also context dependent, differing between
chromosomal or episomal c-myc promoters. In addition to
being well-characterized DNA-damaging agents, topoisomerase inhibitors
may evoke a biological response determined in part from transcriptional
effects. The results have ramifications for the use of these drugs as
antineoplastic agents.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of
Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bldg. 10, Rm. 2N106, Bethesda, MD 20892-1500. Phone: (301) 496-2176. Fax:
(301) 594-5227. E-mail: levens{at}helix.nih.gov.

Present address: Institute for Molecular Pathology,
Eberhard-Karls-Universität, 72076 Tübingen,
Germany.
Molecular and Cellular Biology, December 2001, p. 8437-8451, Vol. 21, No. 24
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.24.8437-8451.2001
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