scholarly journals Nucleotide Excision Repair in Caenorhabditis elegans

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Lans ◽  
Wim Vermeulen

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) plays an essential role in many organisms across life domains to preserve and faithfully transmit DNA to the next generation. In humans, NER is essential to prevent DNA damage-induced mutation accumulation and cell death leading to cancer and aging. NER is a versatile DNA repair pathway that repairs many types of DNA damage which distort the DNA helix, such as those induced by solar UV light. A detailed molecular model of the NER pathway has emerged from in vitro and live cell experiments, particularly using model systems such as bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cell cultures. In recent years, the versatility of the nematode C. elegans to study DNA damage response (DDR) mechanisms including NER has become increasingly clear. In particular, C. elegans seems to be a convenient tool to study NER during the UV response in vivo, to analyze this process in the context of a developing and multicellular organism, and to perform genetic screening. Here, we will discuss current knowledge gained from the use of C. elegans to study NER and the response to UV-induced DNA damage.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelley N. Newton ◽  
Charmain T. Courcelle ◽  
Justin Courcelle

UvrD is a DNA helicase that participates in nucleotide excision repair and several replication-associated processes, including methyl-directed mismatch repair and recombination. UvrD is capable of displacing oligonucleotides from synthetic forked DNA structuresin vitroand is essential for viability in the absence of Rep, a helicase associated with processing replication forks. These observations have led others to propose that UvrD may promote fork regression and facilitate resetting of the replication fork following arrest. However, the molecular activity of UvrD at replication forksin vivohas not been directly examined. In this study, we characterized the role UvrD has in processing and restoring replication forks following arrest by UV-induced DNA damage. We show that UvrD is required for DNA synthesis to recover. However, in the absence of UvrD, the displacement and partial degradation of the nascent DNA at the arrested fork occur normally. In addition, damage-induced replication intermediates persist and accumulate inuvrDmutants in a manner that is similar to that observed in other nucleotide excision repair mutants. These data indicate that, following arrest by DNA damage, UvrD is not required to catalyze fork regressionin vivoand suggest that the failure ofuvrDmutants to restore DNA synthesis following UV-induced arrest relates to its role in nucleotide excision repair.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (10) ◽  
pp. 976-985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunhua Han ◽  
Ran Zhao ◽  
John Kroger ◽  
Jinshan He ◽  
Gulzar Wani ◽  
...  

Abstract Subunit 2 of DNA damage-binding protein complex (DDB2) is an early sensor of nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway for eliminating DNA damage induced by UV radiation (UVR) and cisplatin treatments of mammalian cells. DDB2 is modified by ubiquitin and poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) in response to UVR, and these modifications play a crucial role in regulating NER. Here, using immuno-analysis of irradiated cell extracts, we have identified multiple post-irradiation modifications of DDB2 protein. Interestingly, although the DNA lesions induced by both UVR and cisplatin are corrected by NER, only the UV irradiation, but not the cisplatin treatment, induces any discernable DDB2 modifications. We, for the first time, show that the appearance of UVR-induced DDB2 modifications depend on the binding of DDB2 to the damaged chromatin and the participation of functionally active 26S proteasome. The in vitro and in vivo analysis revealed that SUMO-1 conjugations comprise a significant portion of these UVR-induced DDB2 modifications. Mapping of SUMO-modified sites demonstrated that UVR-induced SUMOylation occurs on Lys-309 residue of DDB2 protein. Mutation of Lys-309 to Arg-309 diminished the DDB2 SUMOylation observable both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, K309R mutated DDB2 lost its function of recruiting XPC to the DNA damage sites, as well as the ability to repair cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers following cellular UV irradiation. Taken together, our results indicate that DDB2 is modified by SUMOylation upon UV irradiation, and this post-translational modification plays an important role in the initial recognition and processing of UVR-induced DNA damage occurring within the context of chromatin.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
JT Barnett ◽  
J Kuper ◽  
W Koelmel ◽  
C Kisker ◽  
NM Kad

AbstractNucleotide excision repair (NER) protects the genome following exposure to diverse types of DNA damage, including UV light and chemotherapeutics. Mutations in mammalian NER genes lead to diseases such as xeroderma pigmentosum, trichothiodystrophy, and Cockayne syndrome. In eukaryotes, the major transcription factor TFIIH is the central hub of NER. The core components of TFIIH include the helicases XPB, XPD, and five ‘structural’ subunits. Two of these structural TFIIH proteins, p44 and p62 remain relatively unstudied; p44 is known to regulate the helicase activity of XPD during NER whereas p62’s role is thought to be structural. However, a recent cryo-EM structure shows that p44, p62, and XPD make extensive contacts within TFIIH, with part of p62 occupying XPD’s DNA binding site. This observation implies a more extensive role in DNA repair beyond the structural integrity of TFIIH. Here, we show that p44 stimulates XPD’s ATPase but upon encountering DNA damage, further stimulation is only observed when p62 is part of the ternary complex; suggesting a role for the p44/p62 heterodimer in TFIIH’s mechanism of damage detection. Using single molecule imaging, we demonstrate that p44/p62 independently interacts with DNA; it is seen to diffuse, however, in the presence of UV-induced DNA lesions the complex stalls. Combined with the analysis of a recent cryo-EM structure we suggest that p44/p62 acts as a novel DNA-binding entity within TFIIH that is capable of recognizing DNA damage. This revises our understanding of TFIIH and prompts more extensive investigation into the core subunits for an active role during both DNA repair and transcription.


2004 ◽  
Vol 279 (45) ◽  
pp. 46674-46677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Nakajima ◽  
Li Lan ◽  
Shin-ichiro Kanno ◽  
Masashi Takao ◽  
Kazuo Yamamoto ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia G. Fast ◽  
Brittany Gentry ◽  
Liah Strouth ◽  
Madison B. Niece ◽  
Floyd A. Beckford ◽  
...  

Abstract Ruthenium organometallic compounds represent an attractive avenue in developing alternatives to platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents. While evidence has been presented indicating ruthenium-based compounds interact with isolated DNA in vitro, it is unclear what effect these compounds exert in cells. Moreover, the antibiotic efficacy of polynuclear ruthenium organometallic compounds remains uncertain. In the present study, we report that exposure to polynuclear ruthenium organometallic compounds induces recruitment of damaged DNA sensing protein Xeroderma pigmentosum Group C into chromatin-immobilized foci. Additionally, we observed one of the tested polynuclear ruthenium organometallic compounds displayed increased cytotoxicity against human cells deficient in nucleotide excision repair (NER). Taken together, these results suggest that polynuclear ruthenium organometallic compounds induce DNA damage in cells, and that cellular resistance to these compounds may be influenced by the NER DNA repair phenotype of the cells.


Open Biology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 190166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia J. Araújo ◽  
Isao Kuraoka

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a highly conserved mechanism to remove helix-distorting DNA lesions. A major substrate for NER is DNA damage caused by environmental genotoxins, most notably ultraviolet radiation. Xeroderma pigmentosum, Cockayne syndrome and trichothiodystrophy are three human disorders caused by inherited defects in NER. The symptoms and severity of these diseases vary dramatically, ranging from profound developmental delay to cancer predisposition and accelerated ageing. All three syndromes include developmental abnormalities, indicating an important role for optimal transcription and for NER in protecting against spontaneous DNA damage during embryonic development. Here, we review the current knowledge on genes that function in NER that also affect embryonic development, in particular the development of a fully functional nervous system.


2017 ◽  
Vol 217 (2) ◽  
pp. 527-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shalaka Chitale ◽  
Holger Richly

Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation triggers the recruitment of DNA repair factors to the lesion sites and the deposition of histone marks as part of the DNA damage response. The major DNA repair pathway removing DNA lesions caused by exposure to UV light is nucleotide excision repair (NER). We have previously demonstrated that the endoribonuclease DICER facilitates chromatin decondensation during lesion recognition in the global-genomic branch of NER. Here, we report that DICER mediates the recruitment of the methyltransferase MMSET to the DNA damage site. We show that MMSET is required for efficient NER and that it catalyzes the dimethylation of histone H4 at lysine 20 (H4K20me2). H4K20me2 at DNA damage sites facilitates the recruitment of the NER factor XPA. Our work thus provides evidence for an H4K20me2-dependent mechanism of XPA recruitment during lesion recognition in the global-genomic branch of NER.


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