MGMT: Key node in the battle against genotoxicity, carcinogenicity and apoptosis induced by alkylating agents

O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) plays a crucial role in the defense against alkylating agents that generate, among other lesions, O6-alkylguanine in DNA (collectively termed O6-alkylating agents [O6AA]). The defense is highly important, since O6AA are common environmental carcinogens, are formed endogenously during normal cellular metabolism and possibly inflammation, and are being used in cancer therapy. O6AA induced DNA damage is subject to repair, which is executed by MGMT, AlkB homologous proteins (ABH) and base excision repair (BER). Although this review focuses on MGMT, the mechanism of repair by ABH and BER will also be discussed. Experimental systems, in which MGMT has been modulated, revealed that O6-methylguanine (O6MeG) and O6-chloroethylguanine are major mutagenic, carcinogenic, recombinogenic, clastogenic and killing lesions. O6MeG-induced clastogenicity and cell death require MutSα-dependent mismatch repair (MMR), whereas O6-chloroethylguanine-induced killing occurs independently of MMR. Extensive DNA replication is required for O6MeG to provoke cytotoxicity. In MGMT depleted cells, O6MeG induces apoptosis almost exclusively, barely any necrosis, which is presumably due to the remarkable ability of secondarily formed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) to trigger apoptosis via ATM/ATR, Chk1, Chk2, p53 and p73. Depending on the cellular background, O6MeG activates both the death receptor and the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. The inter-individual expression of MGMT in human lymphocytes is highly variable. Given the key role of MGMT in cellular defense, determination of MGMT activity could be useful for assessing a patient's drug sensitivity. MGMT is expressed at highly variable amounts in human tumors. In gliomas, a correlation was found between MGMT activity, MGMT promoter methylation and response to O6AA. Although the human MGMT gene is inducible by glucocorticoids and genotoxins such as radiation and alkylating agents, the role of this induction in the protection against carcinogens and the development of chemotherapeutic alkylating drug resistance are still unclear. Modulation of MGMT expression in tumors and normal tissue is currently being investigated as a possible strategy for improving cancer therapy.