scholarly journals RAD51 promotes non-homologous genetic rearrangements that are prevented by 53BP1

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josée Guirouilh-Barbat ◽  
Wei Yu ◽  
Loelia Babin ◽  
Elisa Yaniz Galende ◽  
Tatiana Popova ◽  
...  

AbstractHomologous recombination (HR), which requires long sequence homologies, is considered a high fidelity mechanism, preserving genome stability. In contrast, we show here that the central HR players RAD51 or BRCA2, promote genetic instability, fostering translocations and capture of ectopic chromosomal sequences when joining distant DNA breaks. Surprisingly, these events do not involve sequence homologies. Moreover, our data reveal that 53BP1 protects against RAD51-mediated non-homologous genetic rearrangements. Finally, analysis of a large panel of breast tumors revealed that BRCA2 proficiency is associated with increased frequency of capture of non-homologous sequences at junctions of structural variants (translocations, duplications, inversions, deletions). These data reveal that HR proteins (RAD51, BRCA2) possess the intrinsic capacity to generate genetic instability through sequence homology-independent processes, and that 53BP1 protects against it. We propose that BRCA2/RAD51-mediated genome instability occurs in the course of sequence homology search for HR.

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (36) ◽  
pp. 18021-18030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiajia Tang ◽  
Giada Frascaroli ◽  
Robert J. Lebbink ◽  
Eleonore Ostermann ◽  
Wolfram Brune

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), like many other DNA viruses, can cause genome instability and activate a DNA damage response (DDR). Activation of ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM), a kinase activated by DNA breaks, is a hallmark of the HCMV-induced DDR. Here we investigated the activation of caspase-2, an initiator caspase activated in response to DNA damage and supernumerary centrosomes. Of 7 HCMV strains tested, only strain AD169 activated caspase-2 in infected fibroblasts. Treatment with an ATM inhibitor or inactivation of PIDD or RAIDD inhibited caspase-2 activation, indicating that caspase-2 was activated by the PIDDosome. A set of chimeric HCMV strains was used to identify the genetic basis of this phenotype. Surprisingly, we found a single nucleotide polymorphism within the AD169 UL55 ORF, resulting in a D275Y amino acid exchange within glycoprotein B (gB), to be responsible for caspase-2 activation. As gB is an envelope glycoprotein required for fusion with host cell membranes, we tested whether gB(275Y) altered viral entry into fibroblasts. While entry of AD169 expressing gB(275D) proceeded slowly and could be blocked by a macropinocytosis inhibitor, entry of wild-type AD169 expressing gB(275Y) proceeded more rapidly, presumably by envelope fusion with the plasma membrane. Moreover, gB(275Y) caused the formation of syncytia with numerous centrosomes, suggesting that cell fusion triggered caspase-2 activation. These results suggest that gB variants with increased fusogenicity accelerate viral entry, cause cell fusion, and thereby compromise genome stability. They further suggest the ATM-PIDDosome-caspase-2 signaling axis alerts the cell of potentially dangerous cell fusion.


NAR Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Matos-Rodrigues ◽  
Josée Guirouilh-Barbat ◽  
Emmanuelle Martini ◽  
Bernard S Lopez

Abstract Genetic instability is a hallmark of cancer cells. Homologous recombination (HR) plays key roles in genome stability and variability due to its roles in DNA double-strand break and interstrand crosslink repair, and in the protection and resumption of arrested replication forks. HR deficiency leads to genetic instability, and, as expected, many HR genes are downregulated in cancer cells. The link between HR deficiency and cancer predisposition is exemplified by familial breast and ovarian cancers and by some subgroups of Fanconi anaemia syndromes. Surprisingly, although RAD51 plays a pivotal role in HR, i.e., homology search and in strand exchange with a homologous DNA partner, almost no inactivating mutations of RAD51 have been associated with cancer predisposition; on the contrary, overexpression of RAD51 is associated with a poor prognosis in different types of tumours. Taken together, these data highlight the fact that RAD51 differs from its HR partners with regard to cancer susceptibility and expose what we call the ‘RAD51 paradox’. Here, we catalogue the dysregulations of HR genes in human pathologies, including cancer and Fanconi anaemia or congenital mirror movement syndromes, and we discuss the RAD51 paradox.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca E. Brown ◽  
Xiaofeng A. Su ◽  
Stacey Fair ◽  
Katherine Wu ◽  
Lauren Verra ◽  
...  

AbstractExpansion of structure-forming CAG/CTG repetitive sequences is the cause of several neurodegenerative disorders and deletion of repeats is a potential therapeutic strategy. Transcription-associated mechanisms are known to cause CAG repeat instability. In this study, we discovered that Thp2, an RNA export factor and member of the THO complex, and Trf4, a key component of the TRAMP complex involved in nuclear RNA degradation, are necessary to prevent CAG fragility and repeat contractions in a S. cerevisiae model system. Depletion of both Thp2 and Trf4 proteins causes a highly synergistic increase in CAG repeat fragility, indicating a complementary role of the THO and TRAMP complexes in preventing genome instability. Loss of either Thp2 or Trf4 causes an increase in RNA polymerase stalling at the CAG repeats and genome-wide transcription-replication conflicts (TRCs), implicating impairment of transcription elongation as a cause of CAG fragility and instability in their absence. Analysis of the effect of RNase H1 overexpression on CAG fragility and TRCs suggests that co-transcriptional R-loops are the main cause of CAG fragility in the thp2Δ mutants. In contrast, CAG fragility and TRCs in the trf4Δ mutant can be compensated for by RPA overexpression, suggesting that excess unprocessed RNA in TRAMP4 mutants leads to reduced RPA availability and high levels of TRCs. Our results show the importance of RNA surveillance pathways in preventing RNAPII stalling, TRCs, and DNA breaks, and show that RNA export and RNA decay factors work collaboratively to maintain genome stability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (8) ◽  
pp. e2017497118
Author(s):  
Guangxue Liu ◽  
Jiaqi Yan ◽  
Xuejie Wang ◽  
Junliang Chen ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
...  

The ubiquitin E3 ligase Bre1-mediated H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub) is essential for proper DNA replication and repair in eukaryotes. Deficiency in H2Bub causes genome instability and cancer. How the Bre1–H2Bub pathway is evoked in response to DNA replication or repair remains unknown. Here, we identify that the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding factor RPA acts as a key mediator that couples Bre1-mediated H2Bub to DNA replication and repair in yeast. We found that RPA interacts with Bre1 in vitro and in vivo, and this interaction is stimulated by ssDNA. This association ensures the recruitment of Bre1 to replication forks or DNA breaks but does not affect its E3 ligase activity. Disruption of the interaction abolishes the local enrichment of H2Bub, resulting in impaired DNA replication, response to replication stress, and repair by homologous recombination, accompanied by increased genome instability and DNA damage sensitivity. Notably, we found that RNF20, the human homolog of Bre1, interacts with RPA70 in a conserved mode. Thus, RPA functions as a master regulator for the spatial–temporal control of H2Bub chromatin landscape during DNA replication and recombination, extending the versatile roles of RPA in guarding genome stability.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (29) ◽  
pp. 7671-7676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Yves Bleuyard ◽  
Marjorie Fournier ◽  
Ryuichiro Nakato ◽  
Anthony M. Couturier ◽  
Yuki Katou ◽  
...  

The partner and localiser of BRCA2 (PALB2) plays important roles in the maintenance of genome integrity and protection against cancer. Although PALB2 is commonly described as a repair factor recruited to sites of DNA breaks, recent studies provide evidence that PALB2 also associates with unperturbed chromatin. Here, we investigated the previously poorly described role of chromatin-associated PALB2 in undamaged cells. We found that PALB2 associates with active genes through its major binding partner, MRG15, which recognizes histone H3 trimethylated at lysine 36 (H3K36me3) by the SETD2 methyltransferase. Missense mutations that ablate PALB2 binding to MRG15 confer elevated sensitivity to the topoisomerase inhibitor camptothecin (CPT) and increased levels of aberrant metaphase chromosomes and DNA stress in gene bodies, which were suppressed by preventing DNA replication. Remarkably, the level of PALB2 at genic regions was frequently decreased, rather than increased, upon CPT treatment. We propose that the steady-state presence of PALB2 at active genes, mediated through the SETD2/H3K36me3/MRG15 axis, ensures an immediate response to DNA stress and therefore effective protection of these regions during DNA replication. This study provides a conceptual advance in demonstrating that the constitutive chromatin association of repair factors plays a key role in the maintenance of genome stability and furthers our understanding of why PALB2 defects lead to human genome instability syndromes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 3485
Author(s):  
Marta Osrodek ◽  
Michal Wozniak

Despite recent groundbreaking advances in the treatment of cutaneous melanoma, it remains one of the most treatment-resistant malignancies. Due to resistance to conventional chemotherapy, the therapeutic focus has shifted away from aiming at melanoma genome stability in favor of molecularly targeted therapies. Inhibitors of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK (MAPK) pathway significantly slow disease progression. However, long-term clinical benefit is rare due to rapid development of drug resistance. In contrast, immune checkpoint inhibitors provide exceptionally durable responses, but only in a limited number of patients. It has been increasingly recognized that melanoma cells rely on efficient DNA repair for survival upon drug treatment, and that genome instability increases the efficacy of both MAPK inhibitors and immunotherapy. In this review, we discuss recent developments in the field of melanoma research which indicate that targeting genome stability of melanoma cells may serve as a powerful strategy to maximize the efficacy of currently available therapeutics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan G. Chitwood ◽  
Qinghua Wang ◽  
Kathryn Elliott ◽  
Aiyana Bullock ◽  
Dwon Jordana ◽  
...  

Abstract Background As bioprocess intensification has increased over the last 30 years, yields from mammalian cell processes have increased from 10’s of milligrams to over 10’s of grams per liter. Most of these gains in productivity can be attributed to increasing cell densities within bioreactors. As such, strategies have been developed to minimize accumulation of metabolic wastes, such as lactate and ammonia. Unfortunately, neither cell growth nor biopharmaceutical production can occur without some waste metabolite accumulation. Inevitably, metabolic waste accumulation leads to decline and termination of the culture. While it is understood that the accumulation of these unwanted compounds imparts a suboptimal culture environment, little is known about the genotoxic properties of these compounds that may lead to global genome instability. In this study, we examined the effects of high and moderate extracellular ammonia on the physiology and genomic integrity of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Results Through whole genome sequencing, we discovered 2394 variant sites within functional genes comprised of both single nucleotide polymorphisms and insertion/deletion mutations as a result of ammonia stress with high or moderate impact on functional genes. Furthermore, several of these de novo mutations were found in genes whose functions are to maintain genome stability, such as Tp53, Tnfsf11, Brca1, as well as Nfkb1. Furthermore, we characterized microsatellite content of the cultures using the CriGri-PICR Chinese hamster genome assembly and discovered an abundance of microsatellite loci that are not replicated faithfully in the ammonia-stressed cultures. Unfaithful replication of these loci is a signature of microsatellite instability. With rigorous filtering, we found 124 candidate microsatellite loci that may be suitable for further investigation to determine whether these loci may be reliable biomarkers to predict genome instability in CHO cultures. Conclusion This study advances our knowledge with regards to the effects of ammonia accumulation on CHO cell culture performance by identifying ammonia-sensitive genes linked to genome stability and lays the foundation for the development of a new diagnostic tool for assessing genome stability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (14) ◽  
pp. 5048
Author(s):  
Chih-Wei Chen ◽  
Ning Tsao ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Zee-Fen Chang

NME3 is a member of the nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK) family that binds to the mitochondrial outer membrane to stimulate mitochondrial fusion. In this study, we showed that NME3 knockdown delayed DNA repair without reducing the cellular levels of nucleotide triphosphates. Further analyses revealed that NME3 knockdown increased fragmentation of mitochondria, which in turn led to mitochondrial oxidative stress-mediated DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs) in nuclear DNA. Re-expression of wild-type NME3 or inhibition of mitochondrial fission markedly reduced SSBs and facilitated DNA repair in NME3 knockdown cells, while expression of N-terminal deleted mutant defective in mitochondrial binding had no rescue effect. We further showed that disruption of mitochondrial fusion by knockdown of NME4 or MFN1 also caused mitochondrial oxidative stress-mediated genome instability. In conclusion, the contribution of NME3 to redox-regulated genome stability lies in its function in mitochondrial fusion.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. e103833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuji Suzuki ◽  
Masanori Kakuta ◽  
Takashi Ishida ◽  
Yutaka Akiyama

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-223.e7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelia Meisenberg ◽  
Sarah I. Pinder ◽  
Suzanna R. Hopkins ◽  
Sarah K. Wooller ◽  
Graeme Benstead-Hume ◽  
...  

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