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Dna Disentangled: Roles For Sgs1 And Top3 In Rec-X Resolution And Replication Fork Restart
Abstract and Figures
Homologous recombination (HR), becomes important for repair during replication where completion of DNA synthesis relies on recombination intermediate-mediated lesion bypass. For decades, Holliday Junctions (HJs) were considered the primary recombination intermediate utilized during this repair process, but increasing evidence points out two strong discrepancies: 1) X-structures, when present, are often biochemically inconsistent with being HJs, and 2) despite HR mutants being sensitive to numerous DNA damaging agents, most insults don’t result in X-structure accumulation, suggesting alternative HR pathways are at play. The Sgs1-Top3-Rmi1 (STR) complex, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is vital for maintaining genome integrity, and is known to resolve recombination intermediates. We took advantage of this function to identify the recombination intermediates employed, and consequently, the distinct HR pathways at play in response to damage induced by methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), and the ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor, hydroxyurea.^ Using genetic manipulation, 2D-gel electrophoresis and in vitro biochemical and enzymatic assays, we find that Top3, unassisted by Sgs1 and Rmi1, is able to function through two distinct HR-dependent mechanisms. In the presence of MMS, Top3 is able to provide rescue and reduce recombination-dependent X-structures in sgs1? mutants. We find that these X-structures are biochemically consistent with being hemicatenane-related template switch recombination intermediates (Rec-Xs) and not HJs. Furthermore, Top3 and the entire STR complex are capable of resolving Rec-Xs but not equivalent dHJs in vitro. We also find that in the absence of the sumo-targeted ubiquitin ligase, Uls1, Top3 provides rescue to sgs1? mutants on HU through a mechanism entirely distinct from Rec-X resolution. We show that in the absence of Sgs1 and Uls1, Top3 is required to promote site specific breaks, and subsequent Rad51-dependent D-loop-mediated fork restart, distinct from a Rad51-independent mechanism in sgs1? mutants, and indicative of a Uls1-mediated repair pathway switch. These activities point to the use of template-switch recombination (via gap repair) as a primary mechanism for bypassing MMS-induced damage and coordinated break and D-loop-meditated fork reestablishment in response to HU-induced fork stalling. Importantly, this work highlights novel differences between primary HR repair mechanisms in response to different types of DNA damage, and provides evidence for context-dependent repair pathway choice.
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Timely removal of DNA recombination intermediates is critical for genome stability. The DNA helicase-topoisomerase complex, Sgs1-Top3-Rmi1 (STR), is the major pathway for processing these intermediates to generate conservative products. However, the mechanisms that promote STR-mediated functions remain to be defined. Here we show that Sgs1 binds to poly-SUMO chains and associates with the Smc5/6 SUMO E3 complex in yeast. Moreover, these interactions contribute to the sumoylation of Sgs1, Top3, and Rmi1 upon the generation of recombination structures. We show that reduced STR sumoylation leads to accumulation of recombination structures, and impaired growth in conditions when these structures arise frequently, highlighting the importance of STR sumoylation. Mechanistically, sumoylation promotes STR inter-subunit interactions and accumulation at DNA repair centers. These findings expand the roles of sumoylation and Smc5/6 in genome maintenance by demonstrating that they foster STR functions in the removal of recombination intermediates.
The RecQ helicase Sgs1 plays critical roles during DNA repair by homologous recombination, fromend resection to Holliday junction (HJ) dissolution. Sgs1 has both pro- and anti-recombinogenic roles, and therefore its activity must be tightly regulated. However, the controls involved in recruitment and activation of Sgs1 at damaged sites are unknown. Here we show a two-step role for Smc5/6 in recruiting and activating Sgs1 through SUMOylation. First, auto-SUMOylation of Smc5/6 subunits leads to recruitment of Sgs1 as part of the STR (Sgs1–Top3–Rmi1) complex, mediated by two SUMO-interacting motifs (SIMs) on Sgs1 that specifically recognize SUMOylated Smc5/6. Second, Smc5/6-dependent SUMOylation of Sgs1 and Top3 is required for the efficient function of STR. Sgs1 mutants impaired in recognition of SUMOylated Smc5/6 (sgs1-SIMΔ) or SUMO-dead alleles (sgs1-KR) exhibit unprocessed HJs at damaged replication forks, increased crossover frequencies during double-strand break repair, and severe impairment in DNA end resection. Smc5/6 is a key regulator of Sgs1’s recombination functions.
We have previously shown that a "Recombination Execution Checkpoint" (REC) regulates the choice of the homologous recombination pathway used to repair a given DNA double-strand break (DSB) based on the homology status of the DSB ends. If the two DSB ends are synapsed with closely positioned and correctly oriented homologous donors, repair proceeds rapidly by the gene conversion (GC) pathway. If, however, homology to only one of the ends is present, or if homologies to the two ends are situated far away from each other or in the wrong orientation, REC blocks the rapid initiation of new DNA synthesis from the synpased end(s) and repair is carried out by the break-induced replication (BIR) machinery after a long pause. Here we report that the simultaneous deletion of two 3'→5' helicases, Sgs1 and Mph1, largely abolishes the REC-mediated lag normally observed during the repair of large gaps and BIR substrates, which now get repaired nearly as rapidly and efficiently as GC substrates. Deletion ofSGS1andMPH1also produces a nearly additive increase in the efficiency of both BIR and long gap-repair; this increase is epistatic to that seen upon Rad51 overexpression. However, Rad51 overexpression fails to mimic the acceleration in repair kinetics that is produced bysgs1Δmph1Δ double deletion.
Homologous recombination (HR) deficient cells are sensitive to methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). HR is usually involved in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae implying that MMS somehow induces DSBs in vivo. Indeed there is evidence, based on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), that MMS causes DNA fragmentation. However, the mechanism through which MMS induces DSBs has not been demonstrated. Here, we show that DNA fragmentation following MMS treatment, and detected by PFGE is not the consequence of production of cellular DSBs. Instead, DSBs seen following MMS treatment are produced during sample preparation where heat-labile methylated DNA is converted into DSBs. Furthermore, we show that the repair of MMS-induced heat-labile damage requires the base excision repair protein XRCC1, and is independent of HR in both S.cerevisiae and mammalian cells. We speculate that the reason for recombination-deficient cells being sensitive to MMS is due to the role of HR in repair of MMS-induced stalled replication forks, rather than for repair of cellular DSBs or heat-labile damage.
Complex genomic rearrangements (CGRs) are a hallmark of many human diseases. Recently, CGRs were suggested to result from microhomology-mediated break-induced replication (MMBIR), a replicative mechanism involving template switching at positions of microhomology. Currently, the cause of MMBIR and the proteins mediating this process remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate in yeast that a collapse of homology-driven break-induced replication (BIR) caused by defective repair DNA synthesis in the absence of Pif1 helicase leads to template switches involving 0-6 nt of homology, followed by resolution of recombination intermediates into chromosomal rearrangements. Importantly, we show that these microhomology-mediated template switches, indicative of MMBIR, are driven by translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerases Polζ and Rev1. Thus, an interruption of BIR involving fully homologous chromosomes in yeast triggers a switch to MMBIR catalyzed by TLS polymerases. Overall, our study provides important mechanistic insights into the initiation of MMBIR associated with genomic rearrangements, similar to those promoting diseases in humans.
Most spontaneous DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) result from replication-fork breakage. Break-induced replication (BIR), a genome rearrangement-prone repair mechanism that requires the Pol32/POLD3 subunit of eukaryotic DNA Polδ, was proposed to repair broken forks, but how genome destabilization is avoided was unknown. We show that broken fork repair initially uses error-prone Pol32-dependent synthesis, but that mutagenic synthesis is limited to within a few kilobases from the break by Mus81 endonuclease and a converging fork. Mus81 suppresses template switches between both homologous sequences and diverged human Alu repetitive elements, highlighting its importance for stability of highly repetitive genomes. We propose that lack of a timely converging fork or Mus81 may propel genome instability observed in cancer.
Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Replication fork reversal protects forks from breakage after poisoning of Topoisomerase 1. We here investigated fork progression and chromosomal breakage in human cells in response to a panel of sublethal genotoxic treatments, using other topoisomerase poisons, DNA synthesis inhibitors, interstrand cross-linking inducers, and base-damaging agents. We used electron microscopy to visualize fork architecture under these conditions and analyzed the association of specific molecular features with checkpoint activation. Our data identify replication fork uncoupling and reversal as global responses to genotoxic treatments. Both events are frequent even after mild treatments that do not affect fork integrity, nor activate checkpoints. Fork reversal was found to be dependent on the central homologous recombination factor RAD51, which is consistently present at replication forks independently of their breakage, and to be antagonized by poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase/RECQ1-regulated restart. Our work establishes remodeling of uncoupled forks as a pivotal RAD51-regulated response to genotoxic stress in human cells and as a promising target to potentiate cancer chemotherapy.
© 2015 Zellweger et al.
Accurate processing of stalled or damaged DNA replication forks is paramount to genomic integrity and recent work points to replication fork reversal and restart as a central mechanism to ensuring high-fidelity DNA replication. Here, we identify a novel DNA2- and WRN-dependent mechanism of reversed replication fork processing and restart after prolonged genotoxic stress. The human DNA2 nuclease and WRN ATPase activities functionally interact to degrade reversed replication forks with a 5'-to-3' polarity and promote replication restart, thus preventing aberrant processing of unresolved replication intermediates. Unexpectedly, EXO1, MRE11, and CtIP are not involved in the same mechanism of reversed fork processing, whereas human RECQ1 limits DNA2 activity by preventing extensive nascent strand degradation. RAD51 depletion antagonizes this mechanism, presumably by preventing reversed fork formation. These studies define a new mechanism for maintaining genome integrity tightly controlled by specific nucleolytic activities and central homologous recombination factors.
© 2015 Thangavel et al.
The RecQ family of DNA helicases is highly conserved throughout-evolution, and is important for the maintenance of genome stability. In humans, five RecQ family members have been identified: BLM, WRN, RECQ4, RECQ1 and RECQ5. Defects in three of these give rise to Bloom's syndrome (BLM), Werner's syndrome (WRN) and Rothmund-Thomson/RAPADILINO/Baller-Gerold (RECQ4) syndromes. These syndromes are characterised by cancer predisposition and/or premature ageing. In this review, we focus on the roles of BLM and its S. cerevisiae homologue, Sgs1, in genome maintenance. BLM/Sgs1 has been shown to play a critical role in homologous recombination at multiple steps, including end-resection, displacement loop formation, branch migration and double Holliday junction dissolution. In addition, recent evidence has revealed a role for BLM/Sgs1 in the stabilisation and repair of replication forks damaged during a perturbed S-phase. Finally BLM also plays a role in the suppression and/or resolution of ultra-fine anaphase DNA bridges that form between sister-chromatids during mitosis.
The remodelling of replication forks into four-way junctions following replication perturbation, known as fork reversal, was hypothesized to promote DNA damage tolerance and repair during replication. Albeit conceptually attractive, for a long time fork reversal in vivo was found only in prokaryotes and specific yeast mutants, calling its evolutionary conservation and physiological relevance into question. Based on the recent visualization of replication forks in metazoans, fork reversal has emerged as a global, reversible and regulated process, with intriguing implications for replication completion, chromosome integrity and the DNA damage response. The study of the putative in vivo roles of recently identified eukaryotic factors in fork remodelling promises to shed new light on mechanisms of genome maintenance and to provide novel attractive targets for cancer therapy.