Increased human AP endonuclease 1 level confers protection against the paternal age effect in mice

Jamila R. Sanchez, Traci L. Reddick, Marissa Perez, Victoria E. Centonze, Sankar Mitra, Tadahide Izumi, C. Alex McMahan, Christi A. Walter

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Increased paternal age is associated with a greater risk of producing children with genetic disorders originating from de novo germline mutations. Mice mimic the human condition by displaying an age-associated increase in spontaneous mutant frequency in spermatogenic cells. The observed increase in mutant frequency appears to be associated with a decrease in the DNA repair protein, AP endonuclease 1 (APEX1) and Apex1 heterozygous mice display an accelerated paternal age effect as young adults. In this study, we directly tested if APEX1 over-expression in cell lines and transgenic mice could prevent increases in mutagenesis. Cell lines with ectopic expression of APEX1 had increased APEX1 activity and lower spontaneous and induced mutations in the lacI reporter gene relative to the control. Spermatogenic cells obtained from mice transgenic for human APEX1 displayed increased APEX1 activity, were protected from the age-dependent increase in spontaneous germline mutagenesis, and exhibited increased apoptosis in the spermatogonial cell population. These results directly indicate that increases in APEX1 level confer protection against the murine paternal age effect, thus highlighting the role of APEX1 in preserving reproductive health with increasing age and in protection against genotoxin-induced mutagenesis in somatic cells.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)124-133
Number of pages10
JournalMutation Research - Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis
Volume779
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2015

Keywords

  • APEX1
  • DNA repair
  • LacI
  • Mutagenesis
  • Paternal age
  • Spermatogenesis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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