(a) The Robins reagent [2-acetamido-6-O-(diphenylcarbamoyl)purine] was utilized for glycosylation under Lewis acid conditions. Regioselectivity of glycosylation depends on the glycosyl donor and its 2-O- or 2-N-protecting group. Regioselective N9 glycosylation of 2-acetamido-6-O-(diphenylcarbamoyl)purine with problematic glucosamine has been accomplished by protecting the amino function as a phthalimido group with consequent stabilization of the oxocarbenium cation, and lowering the activation energy by introduction of trichloroacetimidate at the anomeric carbon. (b) 6-Heteroaryl functions [6-(1,2,4-triazol-4-yl) and 6-(imidazol-1-yl)] were introduced into purine derivatives for regioselective N9 alkylation. The regiospecificity of alkylation mainly results from steric effects due to the coplanar conformation of the two linked heterocyclic rings governed by conjugation. Several of the obtained acyclic derivatives showed antiviral and antitumor activities. (c) Glycosylation of purine derivatives with 2-deoxy-3,5-di-O-(p-toluoyl)-a-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl chloride using the sodium salt method usually gave a mixture of both anomers. Lipophilic groups were introduced into the imidazole ring of 6-(imidazol-1-yl)purine derivatives to increase the solubility of the sodium salts in moderately polar solvents. Differential solvation effects in binary solvent mixtures were utilized to improve the stereoselectivity of glycosylation. The stereoselectivity varied with the sizes of lipophilic groups and the polarity of solvents. With the propyl group, and in CH3CN/toluene (1:1) and/or CH3CN/CH2Cl2 (1:1), regiospecfic and highly stereoselective glycosylation of purines with 2-deoxy-3,5-di-O-(p-toluoyl)-a-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl chloride was achieved. (d) Using the above method, a low cost and efficient synthesis of 2-chloro-2'-deoxyadenosine (2-CdA, cladribine) was accomplished with an overall yield of 48% from inexpensive guanosine and 57% from 2,6-dichloropurine. 2-Chloro-6-(2-propylimidazol-1-yl)purine was prepared either from guanosine in a yield of 61% in 5 steps or from 2,6-dichloropurine in a yield of 72% in one step. Coupling of this 2-chloro-6-heteroarylpurine with 2-deoxy-3,5-di-O-(p-toluoyl)-α-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl chloride in binary solvent mixtures, followed by activation of imidazolyl as a better leaving group via benzylation at N3 and then ammonolysis gave cladribine in good yield (79%) for 3 steps. Analogs of purine derivatives with lipophilic groups (butyl, pentyl and 2-phenylpropyl) worked almost as well.

Les analogues de nucléosides sont d'une importance considérable dans la recherche de nouveaux candidats médicaments antiviraux et anticancéreux. La ribavirine est en effet le premier nucléoside triazole antiviral synthétique. Elle est toujours activement utilisée en milieu hospitalier pour le traitement de l'hépatite C et celui des pandémies virales émergentes. Récemment, le besoin de nouveaux agents thérapeutiques efficaces dotés de nouveaux mécanismes d'action a donc créé un regain d'intérêt dans la création de nouvelles entités structurelles de nucléosides triazoles. Au cours de mon doctorat, j’ai été activement engagée dans l’élaboration de nouvelles structures O-arylées et S-arylées de nucléosides triazoles. Les nucléosides triazoles O-arylés ont été obtenus par substitution nucléophile aromatique initiée par micro-ondes, tandis que les nucléosides triazoles S-arylés ont été synthétisés par réaction de couplage C-S en utilisant un catalyseur palladié possédant des ligands mixtes nouvellement mis au point dans notre laboratoire. Le concept du système de catalyseur à ligands mixtes est extrêmement avantageux et enrichissant puisqu’il permet de combiner de façon rationnelle des ligands possédant des fonctionnalités complémentaires afin de promouvoir des réactions avec des substrats pour lesquels ces réactions sont très compliquées. Enfin, afin d'améliorer la solubilité dans l'eau des analogues nucléosidiques triazoles actifs que nous avons identifiés, j’ai tenté de conjuguer le nucléoside triazole à un dendrimère amphiphile dans le but d'élaborer un système de délivrance efficace des médicaments et ainsi d’améliorer leur biodisponibilité. / Nucleoside mimics are of considerable importance in the search of antiviral and anticancer drug candidates. One noteworthy example is ribavirin, the first synthetic antiviral triazole nucleoside discovered 40 years ago, which is still actively in clinic use for treating hepatitis C infection and emerging viral pandemics. Recently, ribavirin has been also reported to demonstrate apoptosis-related anticancer effects and is in clinical trial for treating leukemia. Consequently, there is a renewed interest in creating new structural entities of triazole nucleosides with the aim of developing potent therapeutic agents with novel mechanisms of action. During my PhD program, I have been actively engaged in constructing structurally novel O-arylated and S-arylated triazole nucleosides. The O-arylated triazole nucleosides were obtained via microwave promoted aromatic nucleophilic substitution, whereas the S-arylated triazole nucleosides were synthesized via C-S coupling reaction using our newly developed mixed ligand Pd catalyst (Pd2(dba)3/Xantphos/CyPF-tBu). The concept of the mixed ligand catalyst system is extremely advantageous and rewarding, offering a unique opportunity to rationally combine ligands with complementary features in order to promote the reactions with challenging substrates which are otherwise difficult to proceed. Finally, in order to improve bioavailability of the active triazole nucleoside analogues identified in our group, I have attempted to conjugate the triazole nucleoside to an amphiphilic dendrimer in the view to establishing an effective drug delivery system and offering a better bioavailability.

Several lipopeptidyl nucleoside antibiotics that inhibit bacterial translocase I (MraY) involved in peptidoglycan cell wall biosynthesis contain an aminoribosyl moiety, an unusual sugar appendage in natural products. A-90289 and muraminomicin are the two representative antibiotics that belong to this family. Bioinformatic analysis of the biosynthetic A-90289 gene clusters revealed that five enzymes are likely involved in the assembly and attachment of the aminoribosyl unit. These enzymes of A-90289 are functionally assigned by in vitro characterization. The results reveal a unique ribosylation pathway that highlighted by uridine-5′-monophosphate as the source of the sugar, a phosphorylase strategy to generate a sugar-1-phosphate, and a primary amine-requiring nucleotidylyltransferase that generates the NDP-sugar donor. Muraminomicin, which has a structure similar to A-90289, holds the distinction in that both ribose units are 2-deoxy sugars. The biosynthetic gene cluster of muraminomicin has been identified, cloned and sequenced, and bioinformatic analysis revealed a minimum of 24 open reading frames putatively involved in the biosynthesis, resistance, and regulation of muraminomicin. Similar to the A-90289 pathway, fives enzymes are still likely involved in the assembly of the 2,5-dideoxy-5-aminoribose saccharide unit, and two are now functionally assigned and characterized: Mra20, a 5′-amino-2′,5′-dideoxyuridine phosphorylase and Mra23, a UTP:5-amino-2,5-dideoxy-α-D-ribose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase. The cumulative results are consistent with the incorporation of the ribosyl appendage of muraminomicin via the archetypical sugar biosynthetic pathway that parallels A-90289 biosynthesis

The synthetic routes to three types of phosphate prodrugs of 6-hetaryl-7-deazapurine ribonucleosides based on palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions have been developed. CycloSal- and phosphoramidate pronucleotides and octadecyl phosphates derived from 6- hetaryl-7-deazapurine ribonucleosides were screened for their in vitro cytostatic activity. It was shown that cytostatic activity of cycloSal phosphates was similar or slightly lower compared to the parent nucleosides. Significant drop of cytostatic activity was observed in phosphoramidate pronucleotides. Octadecyl phosphates were devoid of any cytostatic activity. 6-Hetaryl-7-deazapurine ribonucleosides with bulky groups in position 6 showed very strong and selective inhibition of adenosine kinase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 2'-Modified 6-hetaryl-7-deazapurine nucleosides: 2'-O-methylribonucleosides, arabinonucleosides and 2'- deoxy-2'-fluororibonucleosides, were prepared by multistep functional group transformations from a ribonucleoside. The synthesis of 2'-deoxy-2',2'-difluoro-erythro-pentofuranosyl nucleosides was based on a glycosylation of 6-chloro-7-deazapurine with a sugar synthon followed by palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction and deprotection. Despite the low yields and laborious separation of the anomers,...

Malgré des progrès importants réalisés ces dernières années, la lutte contre les infections virales (SIDA, hépatites etc.) et les cancers demeurent un problème de santé mondiale. Ce bref bilan met en évidence la nécessité de développer de nouvelles molécules pour contourner les limites des traitements disponibles actuellement. Cette thèse, articulée autour de trois grands thèmes, s’inscrit dans ce contexte. Nous avons d’abord mis au point de manière rationnelle de nouveaux ligands d’ARN capables de se lier sélectivement à certaines structures secondaires de type tige-boucle ou tige-renflement de l’ARN TAR du VIH-1. Ces ligands interagissent avec l’ARN grâce à l’action coopérative de deux motifs de reconnaissance : (i) une nucléobase modifiée qui peut reconnaitre spécifiquement une paire de base de l’ARN et (ii) des acides aminés qui agissent avec les bases non appariées de l’ARN. Ces deux motifs sont reliés grâce à une matrice aliphatique (ligands non nucléosidiques) ou une matrice 2-désoxyribose (ligands nucléosidiques). Des études biophysiques et biologiques ont été menés en collaboration avec l’équipe du Dr. L. Briant (CEAPBS, UMR5236-CNRS) pour connaitre leur activité antivirale et leur site d’interaction sur la cible. Nous avons ensuite développé des molécules de type benzènesulfonamide thiazoles pour cibler le mélanome résistant aux inhibiteurs de B-Raf. Des modulations effectuées sur ce squelette nous ont permis d’établir des relations structure/activité, en collaboration avec l’équipe de Dr. S. Rocchi (C3M, INSERM U895). Enfin, nous avons développé une stratégie de modification post-synthétique d’oligonucléotides en position anomérique par réaction clic. / Despite significant progress made in recent years, the fight against viral infections (AIDS, Hepatitis, etc.) and cancer remains a global health problem. This brief summary underlines the need for new compounds in order to overcome the limitations of currently available drugs. To this end, the main objective of this thesis is to address these issues by the investigation of three major research projects. We first developed new RNA ligands that selectively bind to RNA secondary structures such as the stem-loop or the stem-bulge of HIV-1 TAR RNA. These ligands interact with RNA thanks to the presence of two RNA binding domains acting in a cooperative manner: (i) a modified nucleobase that can specifically recognize an RNA base pair and (ii) basic amino acids that interact with strong affinity with surrounding free RNA nucleobases. These two patterns are connected by an aliphatic matrix (non-nucleoside ligands) or a 2-desoxyribose matrix (nucleoside-based ligands). Biophysical and biological studies were conducted in collaboration with the team of Dr. L. Briant (CEAPBS, UMR5236-CNRS) in order to study their antiviral activity and their mode of action. We next developed new bioactive molecules featuring a thiazole benzenesulfonamide scaffold to target melanoma cells resistant to B-Raf inhibitors. The modular synthesis of a large number of analogs allowed us to establish the structure/activity relationships, in collaboration with the team of Dr. S. Rocchi (C3M, INSERM U895). Finally, we developed a straightforward and convenient strategy for post-synthetic modification of oligonucleotides at the anomeric position using click chemistry.

La squalénisation est la base d’une nouvelle et très prometteuse nanotechnologie. Le concept repose sur l’observation que la conjugaison d’un analogue nucléosidique ayant une activité thérapeutique à une molécule de squalène conduit à la formation spontanée dans l’eau de nanoparticules, de diamètre compris entre 100 et 300 nm, montrant une activité très supérieure à celle de l’analogue nucléosidique seul. Au cours de cette thèse nous avons cherché à comprendre les relations entre la nature de la paire drogue-terpénoide, la structure des nanoparticules et leur activité biologique. Pour cela, d’une part différents nucléosides et analogues nucléosidiques ont été couplés de façon covalente au squalène et d’autre part la gemcitabine a été couplée à des dérivés terpénoides de longueurs croissantes. L’organisation supramoléculaire de ces composés a été déterminée par diffusion des rayons X aux petits angles et cryo-microscopie électronique. L’influence des conditions de nanoprécipitation sur la structure des nanoparticules a été étudiée. L’impact de l’organisation supramoléculaire des nanoparticules sur leur internalisation cellulaire et leur cytotoxicité a été mis en évidence pour certaines lignées. / Squalenoylation is a new and very promising nanotechnology. The concept consists in coupling nucleoside derivatives that have therapeutic activity to a molecule of squalene: whatever the nucleoside, nanoparticles with a diameter around 100 - 300 nm are spontaneously obtained upon nanoprecipitation of the nucleolipid in an aqueous medium. These nanoparticles display an increased biological activity compared with the nucleoside. The aim of this PhD thesis was to understand the link between the nature of the drug-terpenoid pair, the supramolecular structure of nanoparticles and the biological activity.Therefore, in a first part, several nucleosides and nucleoside derivatives were covalently coupled to squalene, and in a second part gemcitabine was coupled to terpenoid chains with increasing length. The supramolecular organization of the nanoparticles was determined by Small Angle X-rays Scattering and cryogenic transmission electronic microscopy. The influence of the condition of nanoprecipitation on the supramolecular structure of nanoparticles was studied. The impact of the supramolecular organization on the cell internalization and cytotoxicity was highlighted for some cell lines.

Die hydrolysestabile C-C-Bindung von Nukleosiden, deren Nukleobase über ein aromatisches oder methylen-verbrücktes Kohlenstoffatom an Ribose oder 2-Desoxyribose gebunden ist, ermöglicht die Synthese von neuartigen Strukturen und Eigenschaften, die bei N-Nukleosiden nicht stabil oder nicht gegeben wären. In dieser Arbeit wurde die die Cuprat-vermittelte Glycosylierung und die Friedel-Crafts-Alkylierung als Methoden zur Darstellung von Desoxyribose-basierenden C-Nukleosiden weiterentwickelt. Die Cuprat-vermittelte Glycosilierung ermöglichte die Synthese von C-Nukleosiden in bis zu 93% Ausbeute, wenn Grignard-basierende Normant-Cuprate verwendet wurden. Die Verwendung Organolithium-basierender Gilman-Cuprate war ebenfalls möglich. In Gegenwart von Sauerstoff wurden O-Glycoside isoliert in über 80 % Ausbeute isoliert. Mit den C-Nukleosiden wurden modifizierte Oligonukleotide, die als potentiell verbesserte Binder an M.TaqI und E.coli Dam dienen, dargestellt. Nach ihrer Charakterisierung über Schmelzwerte und Fluoreszenzeigenschaften wurde diese an die Arbeitsgruppe von Prof. Elmar Weinhold weitergereicht und dort erfolgreich als optimierte Binder an an M.TaqI und E.coli Dam getestet. Oligonukleotide, die ein oder mehrere 1,1-Binaphthyl-Chromophore als einen neuen Typus eines torsionsflexiblen Farbstoffes enthalten, wurden untersucht. Die Einführung mehrerer aufeinander folgender Binaphthyle führte zu einer thermodynamischen Stabilisierung von Duplex-Oligonukleotiden. Die geringe Neigung Binaphthyls zur Selbstlöschung bewirkte dabei einen starken Anstieg der Fluoreszenz. / The stable C-C-bond of ncleosides, whose nucleobase is attached to the ribose or 2-deoxyribose via an aromatic or methylen-bridged carbon atom, is stable to hydrolyses. This allows the synthesis of new structures and properties, which would not be available in N-nucleosides. In this work, a cuprate-mediated glycosilation and the Friedel-Crafts-alkylation as methods for the preparation of doxyribose-based C-nucleosides were developed. The cuprate-mediated glycosilation allowed the synthesis of C-nucleosides in up to 93 % yield, when Grignard-based Normant-Cuprates were used. The use of Organolithium-based Gilman-Cuprates was also possible. In the presence of oxygen O-glycosides were isolated in over 80 % yield. With the C-nucleosides modified oligonucleotides, which serve as potentially improved binders of the DNA-methyltransferases M.TaqI und E.coli, were prepared. After their charakterisation via melting point measurements and fluorescence properties, the oligonucleotides were given to the working group of Prof. Elmar Weinhold and successfully tested as improved binders of the DNA-methyltransferases M.TaqI und E.coli. Oligonucleotides, which contain one or multiple 1,1-binaphthyles as a new type of a torsionally flexible chromophore, were charakterised. The incorporation of several successive binaphthyls led to a thermodynamical stabilisation of the duplex-oligonucleotides. The low tendency of the Binaphthyl for self-quenching caused a remarkable increase of the fluorescence.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / The unit of sugar and base connected by a N-β-glycosyl linkage is named a nucleoside. In the present work the nucleoside thymidine, whose molecular formula is C10N2O5H14, was studied by Raman spectroscopy, subjecting it extreme conditions of pressure and temperature, as well as X ray diffraction measurements. An auxiliary analysis of normal crystal vibration modes was performed using first principles calculations using the B3LYP functional together with the Gaussian bases 6-31G+(d) and potential energy distribution analysis (PED). These results, together with literature data and Raman spectroscopy measurements in several thymidine scattering geometries, allowed the identification of the various normal modes of crystal vibration. X-ray diffraction experiments were performed in the temperature range between 83 and 413 K. Experiments of Raman spectroscopy under extreme temperature conditions (20 to 380 K) were performed in the spectral range of 20 to 3400 cm-1. From the analysis of the results, it is possible to draw some conclusions. (i) The thymidine crystal remained stable throughout the investigated temperature range, indicating that the temperature effect is not sufficient to modify the hydrogen bonds present between the molecules in such a way as to modify the symmetry of the crystal. (ii) The material studied showed some slight changes in the vibrational spectra in the experiment performed at low temperatures, suggesting, if not a structural phase transition, at least some conformational modification of the thymidine molecules. Raman spectra of thymidine crystal were obtained for pressures up to 5.0 GPa in a diamond anvil cell. The results show the presence of anomaly in the Raman spectrum at pressures close to 3.0 GPa. This anomaly is characterized by disappearance of lattice modes, appearance of some internal modes, splitting of high wavenumbers modes, downshift of modes associated with hydrogen bonds, changes in the intensity of internal modes and discontinuities of the slopes of the wavenumbers versus pressure for several Raman modes. This set of modifications was interpreted as consequence of a phase transition undergone by thymidine close to 3.0 GPa. Further, decompression to atmospheric pressure generates the original Raman spectrum, showing that the pressure-induced phase transition undergone by thymidine crystals is reversible. A comparison with results on other nucleosides submitted to high pressure is also furnished. / Quando a pentose (glicose) e uma base nitrogenada unem-se por meio de uma ligaÃÃo N-β glicosÃdica forma-se uma molÃcula denominada de nucleosÃdeo. No presente trabalho o nucleosÃdeo timidina, cuja fÃrmula molecular à C10N2O5H14, foi estudado atravÃs de espectroscopia Raman, submetendo-o a condiÃÃes extremas de pressÃo e de temperatura, alÃm de medidas de difraÃÃo de raios X. Uma anÃlise auxiliar a respeito dos modos normais de vibraÃÃo do cristal foi realizada atravÃs de cÃlculos de primeiros princÃpios utilizando-se o funcional B3LYP em conjunto com as bases gaussianas 6-31G+(d) e anÃlise de distribuiÃÃo de energia potencial (PED). Esses resultados, juntamente com dados da literatura e medidas de espectrocopia Raman em diversas geometrias de esplalhamento na timidina permitiram uma identificaÃÃo dos vÃrios modos normais de vibraÃÃo do cristal. Os experimentos por difraÃÃo de raios X foram realizados no intervalo de temperatura entre 83 e 413 K. Experimentos de espectroscopia Raman sob condiÃÃes extremas de temperatura (20 a 380 K) foram realizados no intervalo espectral compreendido entre 20 e 3400 cm-1. Da anÃlise dos resultados, à possÃvel tirar algumas conclusÃes. (i) O cristal de timidina manteve-se estÃvel em todo o intervalo de temperatura investigado, indicando que o efeito de temperatura nÃo à suficiente para modificar as ligaÃÃes de hidrogÃnio presentes entre as molÃculas de tal forma que haja modificaÃÃo da simetria do cristal. (ii) O material estudado apresentou algumas leves mudanÃas nos espectros vibracionais no experimento realizado a baixas temperaturas, sugerindo, se nÃo uma transiÃÃo de fase estrutural, pelo menos alguma modificaÃÃo conformacional das molÃculas da timidina. Experimentos submetendo o cristal a pressÃes de atà 5 GPa foram realizados utilizando-se uma cÃlula de pressÃo a extremos de diamantes. Os resultados mostraram anomalias nos espectros Raman por volta de 3.0 GPa. Essas anomalias foram caracterizadas pelo desaparecimento de alguns modos de rede, surgimento de alguns modos internos, deslocamento para menores nÃmeros de onda de modos associados a ligaÃÃes de hidrogÃnio e descontinuidades dos coeficientes lineares de vÃrios modos nos grÃficos de nÃmero de onda em funÃÃo da pressÃo. Essa sÃrie de modificaÃÃes foram interpretadas como consequÃncia de uma transiÃÃo de fase sofrida pela timidina por volta de 3.0 GPa. AlÃm disso, a descompressÃo da amostra atà a pressÃo atmosfÃrica mostrou que a transiÃÃo de fase à reversÃvel. TambÃm fornecemos uma comparaÃÃo com resultados de outros nucleosÃdeos submetidos a altas pressÃes.

Including inherited genetic diseases, like lipoprotein lipase deficiency, and acquired diseases, such as cancer and HIV, gene therapy has the potential to treat or cure afflicted people by driving an affected cell to produce a therapeutic protein. Using primarily viral vectors, gene therapies are involved in a number of ongoing clinical trials and have already been approved by multiple international regulatory drug administrations for several diseases. However, viral vectors suffer from serious disadvantages including poor transduction of many cell types, immunogenicity, direct tissue toxicity and lack of targetability. Non-viral polymeric gene delivery vectors (polyplexes) provide an alternative solution but are limited by poor transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity. Microfluidic (MF) nano-precipitation is an emerging field in which researchers seek to tune the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles by controlling the flow regime during synthesis. Using this approach, several groups have demonstrated the successful production of enhanced polymeric gene delivery vectors. It has been shown that polyplexes created in the diffusive flow environment have a higher transfection efficiency and lower cytotoxicity. Other groups have demonstrated that charge-stabilizing polyplexes by sequentially adding polymers of alternating charges improves transfection efficiency and serum stability, also addressing major challenges to the clinical implementation of non-viral gene delivery vectors. To advance non-viral gene delivery towards clinical relevance, we have developed a microfluidic platform (MS) that produces conventional polyplexes with increased transfection efficiency and decreased toxicity and then extended this platform for the production of ternary polyplexes. This work involves first designing microfluidic devices using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), fabricating the devices, and validating the devices using fluorescence flow characterization and absorbance measurements of the resulting products. With an integrated separation mechanism, excess polyethylenimine (PEI) is removed from the outer regions of the stream leaving purified polyplexes that can go on to be used directly in transfections or be charge stabilized by addition of polyanions such as polyglutamic acid (PGA) for the creation of ternary polyplexes. Following the design portion of the research, the device was used to produce binary particle characterization was carried out and particle sizes, polydispersity and zeta potential of both conventional and MS polyplexes was compared. MS-produced polyplexes exhibited up to a 75% reduction in particle size compared to BM-produced polyplexes, while exhibiting little difference in zeta potential and polydispersity. A variety of standard biological assays were carried out to test the effects of the vectors on a variety of cell lines – and in this case the MS polyplexes proved to be both less toxic and have higher transfection efficiency in most cell lines. HeLa cells demonstrated the highest increase in transgene expression with a 150-fold increase when comparing to conventional bulk mixed polyplexes at the optimum formulation. A similar set of experiments were carried out with ternary polyplexes produced by the separation device. In this case it was shown that there were statistically significant increases in transfection efficiency for the MS-produced ternary polyplexes compared to BM-produced poyplexes, with a 23-fold increase in transfection activity at the optimum PEI/DNA ratio in MDAMB-231 cells. These MS-produced ternary polyplexes exhibited higher cell viability in many instances, a result that may be explained but the reduction in both free polymer and ghost particles.

DNA damage can cause genome instability, which may lead to human cancer. The most common form of DNA damage is DNA base damage, which is efficiently repaired by DNA base excision repair (BER). Thus BER is the major DNA repair pathway that maintains the stability of the genome. On the other hand, BER mediates DNA demethylation that can occur on the promoter region of important tumor suppressor genes such as Breast Cancer 1 (BRCA1) gene that is also involved in prevention and development of cancer. In this study, employing cell-based and in vitro biochemical approaches along with bisulfite DNA sequencing, we initially discovered that an oxidized nucleotide, 5’,2-cyclo-2-deoxyadenosine in DNA duplex can either cause misinsertion by DNA polymerase β (pol β) during pol β-mediated BER or inhibit lesion bypass of pol β resulting in DNA strand breaks. We then explored how a T/G mismatch resulting from active DNA demethylation can affect genome integrity during BER and found that pol β can extend the mismatched T to cause mutation. We found that AP endonuclease 1 (APE1) can use its 3'-5' exonuclease to remove the mismatched T before pol β can extend the nucleotide preventing a C to T mutation. The results demonstrate that the 3'-5' exonuclease activity of APE1 can serve as a proofreader for pol β to prevent mutation. We further explored the effects of exposure of environmental toxicants, bromate and chromate on the DNA methylation pattern on the promoter region of BRCA1 gene with bisulfite DNA sequencing. We found that bromate and chromate induced demethylation of 5-methylcytosines (5mC) at the CpG sites as well as created additional methylation at several unmethylated CpG sites at BRCA1 gene in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells. We further demonstrated that the demethylation was mediated by pol β nucleotide misinsertion and an interaction between pol β and DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) suggesting a cross-talk between BER and DNA methyltransferases. We suggest that DNA base damage and BER govern the interactions among the environment, the genome and epigenome, modulating the stability of the genome and epigenome and disease development.