scholarly journals RNF4 Regulates the BLM Helicase in Recovery From Replication Fork Collapse

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Ellis ◽  
Jianmei Zhu ◽  
Mary K Yagle ◽  
Wei-Chih Yang ◽  
Jing Huang ◽  
...  

Sumoylation is an important enhancer of responses to DNA replication stress and the SUMO-targeted ubiquitin E3 ligase RNF4 regulates these responses by ubiquitylation of sumoylated DNA damage response factors. The specific targets and functional consequences of RNF4 regulation in response to replication stress, however, have not been fully characterized. Here we demonstrated that RNF4 is required for the restart of DNA replication following prolonged hydroxyurea (HU)-induced replication stress. Contrary to its role in repair of γ-irradiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), our analysis revealed that RNF4 does not significantly impact recognition or repair of replication stress-associated DSBs. Rather, using DNA fiber assays, we found that the firing of new DNA replication origins, which is required for replication restart following prolonged stress, was inhibited in cells depleted of RNF4. We also provided evidence that RNF4 recognizes and ubiquitylates sumoylated Bloom syndrome DNA helicase BLM and thereby promotes its proteosome-mediated turnover at damaged DNA replication forks. Consistent with it being a functionally important RNF4 substrate, co-depletion of BLM rescued defects in the firing of new replication origins observed in cells depleted of RNF4 alone. We concluded that RNF4 acts to remove sumoylated BLM from collapsed DNA replication forks, which is required to facilitate normal resumption of DNA synthesis after prolonged replication fork stalling and collapse.

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (38) ◽  
pp. eabc0330 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. T. Gruszka ◽  
S. Xie ◽  
H. Kimura ◽  
H. Yardimci

During replication, nucleosomes are disrupted ahead of the replication fork, followed by their reassembly on daughter strands from the pool of recycled parental and new histones. However, because no previous studies have managed to capture the moment that replication forks encounter nucleosomes, the mechanism of recycling has remained unclear. Here, through real-time single-molecule visualization of replication fork progression in Xenopus egg extracts, we determine explicitly the outcome of fork collisions with nucleosomes. Most of the parental histones are evicted from the DNA, with histone recycling, nucleosome sliding, and replication fork stalling also occurring but at lower frequencies. Critically, we find that local histone recycling becomes dominant upon depletion of endogenous histones from extracts, revealing that free histone concentration is a key modulator of parental histone dynamics at the replication fork. The mechanistic details revealed by these studies have major implications for our understanding of epigenetic inheritance.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Malacaria ◽  
Masayoshi Honda ◽  
Annapaola Franchitto ◽  
Maria Spies ◽  
Pietro Pichierri

Understanding basic molecular mechanisms underlying the biology of cancer cells is of outmost importance for identification of novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers for patient stratification and better therapy selection. One of these mechanisms, the response to replication stress, fuels cancer genomic instability. It is also an Achille’s heel of cancer. Thus, identification of pathways used by the cancer cells to respond to replication-stress may assist in the identification of new biomarkers and discovery of new therapeutic targets. Alternative mechanisms that act at perturbed DNA replication forks and involve fork degradation by nucleases emerged as crucial for sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapeutics agents inducing replication stress. Despite its important role in homologous recombination and recombinational repair of DNA double strand breaks in lower eukaryotes, RAD52 protein has been considered dispensable in human cells and the full range of its cellular functions remained unclear. Very recently, however, human RAD52 emerged as an important player in multiple aspects of replication fork metabolism under physiological and pathological conditions. In this review, we describe recent advances on RAD52’s key functions at stalled or collapsed DNA replication forks, in particular, the unexpected role of RAD52 as a gatekeeper, which prevents unscheduled processing of DNA. Last, we will discuss how these functions can be exploited using specific inhibitors in targeted therapy or for an informed therapy selection.


2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 2396-2408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica A. Vaisica ◽  
Anastasija Baryshnikova ◽  
Michael Costanzo ◽  
Charles Boone ◽  
Grant W. Brown

Mms1 and Mms22 form a Cul4Ddb1-like E3 ubiquitin ligase with the cullin Rtt101. In this complex, Rtt101 is bound to the substrate-specific adaptor Mms22 through a linker protein, Mms1. Although the Rtt101Mms1/Mms22ubiquitin ligase is important in promoting replication through damaged templates, how it does so has yet to be determined. Here we show that mms1Δ and mms22Δ cells fail to properly regulate DNA replication fork progression when replication stress is present and are defective in recovery from replication fork stress. Consistent with a role in promoting DNA replication, we find that Mms1 is enriched at sites where replication forks have stalled and that this localization requires the known binding partners of Mms1—Rtt101 and Mms22. Mms1 and Mms22 stabilize the replisome during replication stress, as binding of the fork-pausing complex components Mrc1 and Csm3, and DNA polymerase ε, at stalled replication forks is decreased in mms1Δ and mms22Δ. Taken together, these data indicate that Mms1 and Mms22 are important for maintaining the integrity of the replisome when DNA replication forks are slowed by hydroxyurea and thereby promote efficient recovery from replication stress.


Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 343 (6166) ◽  
pp. 88-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Costantino ◽  
Sotirios K. Sotiriou ◽  
Juha K. Rantala ◽  
Simon Magin ◽  
Emil Mladenov ◽  
...  

In budding yeast, one-ended DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and damaged replication forks are repaired by break-induced replication (BIR), a homologous recombination pathway that requires the Pol32 subunit of DNA polymerase delta. DNA replication stress is prevalent in cancer, but BIR has not been characterized in mammals. In a cyclin E overexpression model of DNA replication stress, POLD3, the human ortholog of POL32, was required for cell cycle progression and processive DNA synthesis. Segmental genomic duplications induced by cyclin E overexpression were also dependent on POLD3, as were BIR-mediated recombination events captured with a specialized DSB repair assay. We propose that BIR repairs damaged replication forks in mammals, accounting for the high frequency of genomic duplications in human cancers.


2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 1693-1705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Wen ◽  
Jennifer Scorah ◽  
Geraldine Phear ◽  
Gary Rodgers ◽  
Sheila Rodgers ◽  
...  

The interaction of ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and the Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 (MRN) complex is critical for the response of cells to DNA double-strand breaks; however, little is known of the role of these proteins in response to DNA replication stress. Here, we report a mutant allele of MRE11 found in a colon cancer cell line that sensitizes cells to agents causing replication fork stress. The mutant Mre11 weakly interacts with Rad50 relative to wild type and shows little affinity for Nbs1. The mutant protein lacks 3′-5′ exonuclease activity as a result of loss of part of the conserved nuclease domain; however, it retains binding affinity for single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), double-stranded DNA with a 3′ single-strand overhang, and fork-like structures containing ssDNA regions. In cells, the mutant protein shows a time- and dose-dependent accumulation in chromatin after thymidine treatment that corresponds with increased recruitment and hyperphosphorylation of replication protein A. ATM autophosphorylation, Mre11 foci, and thymidine-induced homologous recombination are suppressed in cells expressing the mutant allele. Together, our results suggest that the mutant Mre11 suppresses the cellular response to replication stress by binding to ssDNA regions at disrupted forks and impeding replication restart in a dominant negative manner.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Kataoka ◽  
Makoto Iimori ◽  
Ryo Fujisawa ◽  
Tomomi Morikawa-Ichinose ◽  
Shinichiro Niimi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTDNA replication stress is a predominant cause of genome instability, a driver of tumorigenesis and malignant progression. Nucleoside analog-type chemotherapeutic drugs introduce DNA damage and exacerbate DNA replication stress in tumor cells. However, the mechanisms underlying tumor cytotoxicity triggered by the drugs are not fully understood. Here, we show that the fluorinated thymidine analog trifluridine (FTD), an active component of the chemotherapeutic drug trifluridine/tipiracil, delayed DNA synthesis by human replicative DNA polymerases. FTD acted as an inefficient deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate source (FTD triphosphate) and as an obstacle base (trifluorothymine) in the template DNA strand. At the cellular level, FTD decreased thymidine triphosphate in the dNTP pool and induced FTD triphosphate accumulation, resulting in replication fork stalling caused by FTD incorporation into DNA. DNA lesions involving single-stranded DNA were generated as a result of replication fork stalling, and the p53-p21 pathway was activated. Although FTD suppressed tumor cell growth irrespective of p53 status, tumor cell fate diverged at the G2/M phase transition according to p53 status; tumor cells with wild-type p53 underwent cellular senescence via mitosis skip, whereas tumor cells that lost wild-type p53 underwent apoptotic cell death via aberrant late mitosis with severely impaired separation of sister chromatids. These results suggest that DNA replication stress induced by a nucleoside analog-type chemotherapeutic drug triggers tumor cytotoxicity by determining tumor cell fate according to p53 status.SignificanceThis study identified a unique type of DNA replication stress induced by trifluridine, which directs tumor cell fate either toward cellular senescence or apoptotic cell death according to p53 status.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Divya Ramalingam Iyer ◽  
Nicholas Rhind

AbstractIn response to DNA damage during S phase, cells slow DNA replication. This slowing is orchestrated by the intra-S checkpoint and involves inhibition of origin firing and reduction of replication fork speed. Slowing of replication allows for tolerance of DNA damage and suppresses genomic instability. Although the mechanisms of origin inhibition by the intra-S checkpoint are understood, major questions remain about how the checkpoint regulates replication forks: Does the checkpoint regulate the rate of fork progression? Does the checkpoint affect all forks, or only those encountering damage? Does the checkpoint facilitate the replication of polymerase-blocking lesions? To address these questions, we have analyzed the checkpoint in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe using a single-molecule DNA combing assay, which allows us to unambiguously separate the contribution of origin and fork regulation towards replication slowing, and allows us to investigate the behavior of individual forks. Moreover, we have interrogated the role of forks interacting with individual sites of damage by using three damaging agents—MMS, 4NQO and bleomycin—that cause similar levels of replication slowing with very different frequency of DNA lesions. We find that the checkpoint slows replication by inhibiting origin firing, but not by decreasing fork rates. However, the checkpoint appears to facilitate replication of damaged templates, allowing forks to more quickly pass lesions. Finally, using a novel analytic approach, we rigorously identify fork stalling events in our combing data and show that they play a previously unappreciated role in shaping replication kinetics in response to DNA damage.Author SummaryFaithful duplication of the genome is essential for genetic stability of organisms and species. To ensure faithful duplication, cells must be able to replicate damaged DNA. To do so, they employ checkpoints that regulate replication in response to DNA damage. However, the mechanisms by which checkpoints regulate DNA replication forks, the macromolecular machines that contain the helicases and polymerases required to unwind and copy the parental DNA, is unknown. We have used DNA combing, a single-molecule technique that allows us to monitor the progression of individual replication forks, to characterize the response of fission yeast replication forks to DNA damage that blocks the replicative polymerases. We find that forks pass most lesions with only a brief pause and that this lesion bypass is checkpoint independent. However, at a low frequency, forks stall at lesions, and that the checkpoint is required to prevent these stalls from accumulating single-stranded DNA. Our results suggest that the major role of the checkpoint is not to regulate the interaction of replication forks with DNA damage, per se, but to mitigate the consequences of fork stalling when forks are unable to successfully navigate DNA damage on their own.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Razie Yousefi ◽  
Maga Rowicka

AbstractEukaryotic DNA replication is elaborately orchestrated to duplicate the genome timely and faithfully. Replication initiates at multiple origins from which replication forks emanate and travel bi-directionally. The complex spatio-temporal regulation of DNA replication remains incompletely understood. To study it, computational models of DNA replication have been developed in S. cerevisiae. However, in spite of the experimental evidence of replication speed stochasticity, all models assumed that replication fork speed is constant or varies only with genomic coordinates. Here, we present the first model of DNA replication assuming stochastic speed of the replication fork. Utilizing data from both wild-type and hydroxyurea-treated yeast cells, we show that our model is more accurate than models assuming constant fork speed and reconstructs dynamics of DNA replication faithfully starting both from population-wide data and data reflecting fork movement in individual cells. Completion of replication in a timely manner is a challenge due to its stochasticity; we propose an empirically derived modification to replication speed based on the distance to the approaching fork, which promotes timely completion of replication. In summary, our work discovers a key role that stochasticity of the fork speed plays in the dynamics of DNA replication. We show that without including stochasticity of fork speed it is not possible to accurately reconstruct movement of individual replication forks, measured by DNA combing.Author summaryDNA replication in eukaryotes starts from multiple sites termed replication origins. Replication timing at individual sites is stochastic, but reproducible population-wide. Complex and not yet completely understood mechanisms ensure that genome is replicated exactly once and that replication is finished in time. This complex spatio-temporal organization of DNA replication makes computational modeling a useful tool to study replication mechanisms. For simplicity, all previous models assumed constant replication fork speed. Here, we show that such models are incapable of accurately reconstructing distances travelled by individual replication forks. Therefore, we propose a model with a stochastic replication fork speed. We show that such model reproduces faithfully distances travelled by individual replication forks. Moreover, our model is simpler than previous model and thus avoids over-learning (fitting noise). We also discover how replication speed may be attuned to timely complete replication. We propose that fork speed exponentially increases with diminishing distance to the approaching fork, which we show promotes timely completion of replication. Such speed up can be e.g. explained by a synergy effect of chromatin unwinding by both forks. Our model can be used to simulate phenomena beyond replication, e.g. DNA double-strand breaks resulting from broken replication forks.


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