The inhibitory effect of novel triterpenoid compounds, fomitellic acids, on DNA polymerase β

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Abstract
We previously found new triterpenoid compounds, designated fomitellic acid A and B, which selectively inhibit the activities of mammalian DNA polymerase α and β in vitro. On DNA polymerase β, the fomitellic acids acted by competing with both the substrate and the template primer, but on DNA polymerase α, they acted non-competitively. At least on DNA polymerase β, the evidence suggests that each of the fomitellic acids bind to the active region competing with the substrate and/or template primer, and subsequently inhibits the catalytic activity. We therefore further investigated the enzyme-binding properties by using DNA polymerase β and its proteolytic fragments. The 39 kDa enzyme was proteolytically separated into two fragments of the template-primer-binding domain (8 kDa) and the catalytic domain (31 kDa). The fomitellic acids bound tightly to the 8 kDa fragment, but not to the 31 kDa fragment. The immuno-precipitation by antibodies against the enzyme or each of the fragments also proved the binding. These results suggest that the fomitellic acid molecule competes with the template-primer molecule on its 8 kDa binding site, binds to the site, and the fomitellic acid molecule simultaneously disturbs the substrate incorporation into the template primer.