Sample records for break repair gene

  1. Mechanisms of double-strand-break repair during gene targeting in mammalian cells.

    PubMed Central

    Ng, P; Baker, M D

    1999-01-01

    In the present study, the mechanism of double-strand-break (DSB) repair during gene targeting at the chromosomal immunoglobulin mu-locus in a murine hybridoma was examined. The gene-targeting assay utilized specially designed insertion vectors genetically marked in the region of homology to the chromosomal mu-locus by six diagnostic restriction enzyme site markers. The restriction enzyme markers permitted the contribution of vector-borne and chromosomal mu-sequences in the recombinant product to be determined. The use of the insertion vectors in conjunction with a plating procedure in which individual integrative homologous recombination events were retained for analysis revealed several important features about the mammalian DSB repair process:The presence of the markers within the region of shared homology did not affect the efficiency of gene targeting.In the majority of recombinants, the vector-borne marker proximal to the DSB was absent, being replaced with the corresponding chromosomal restriction enzyme site. This result is consistent with either formation and repair of a vector-borne gap or an "end" bias in mismatch repair of heteroduplex DNA (hDNA) that favored the chromosomal sequence. Formation of hDNA was frequently associated with gene targeting and, in most cases, began approximately 645 bp from the DSB and could encompass a distance of at least 1469 bp.The hDNA was efficiently repaired prior to DNA replication.The repair of adjacent mismatches in hDNA occurred predominantly on the same strand, suggesting the involvement of a long-patch repair mechanism. PMID:10049929

  2. The democratization of gene editing: Insights from site-specific cleavage and double-strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Jasin, Maria; Haber, James E

    2016-08-01

    DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are dangerous lesions that if not properly repaired can lead to genomic change or cell death. Organisms have developed several pathways and have many factors devoted to repairing DSBs, which broadly occurs by homologous recombination, which relies on an identical or homologous sequence to template repair, or nonhomologous end-joining. Much of our understanding of these repair mechanisms has come from the study of induced DNA cleavage by site-specific endonucleases. In addition to their biological role, these cellular pathways can be co-opted for gene editing to study gene function or for gene therapy or other applications. While the first gene editing experiments were done more than 20 years ago, the recent discovery of RNA-guided endonucleases has simplified approaches developed over the years to make gene editing an approach that is available to the entire biomedical research community. Here, we review DSB repair mechanisms and site-specific cleavage systems that have provided insight into these mechanisms and led to the current gene editing revolution. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  3. The Democratization of Gene Editing: Insights from site-specific cleavage and double-strand break repair

    PubMed Central

    Jasin, Maria; Haber, James E.

    2017-01-01

    DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are dangerous lesions that if not properly repaired can lead to genomic change or cell death. Organisms have developed several pathways and have many factors devoted to repairing DSBs, which broadly occur by homologous recombination that relies on an identical or homologous sequence to template repair, or nonhomologous end-joining. Much of our understanding of these repair mechanisms has come from the study of induced DNA cleavage by site-specific endonucleases. In addition to their biological role, these cellular pathways can be co-opted for gene editing to study gene function or for gene therapy or other applications. While the first gene editing experiments were done more than 20 years ago, the recent discovery of RNA-guided endonucleases has simplified approaches developed over the years to make gene editing an approach that is available to the entire biomedical research community. Here, we review DSB repair mechanisms and site-specific cleavage systems that have provided insight into these mechanisms and led to the current gene editing revolution. PMID:27261202

  4. Defective double-strand DNA break repair and chromosomal translocations by MYC overexpression.

    PubMed

    Karlsson, Asa; Deb-Basu, Debabrita; Cherry, Athena; Turner, Stephanie; Ford, James; Felsher, Dean W

    2003-08-19

    DNA repair mechanisms are essential for the maintenance of genomic integrity. Disruption of gene products responsible for DNA repair can result in chromosomal damage. Improperly repaired chromosomal damage can result in the loss of chromosomes or the generation of chromosomal deletions or translocations, which can lead to tumorigenesis. The MYC protooncogene is a transcription factor whose overexpression is frequently associated with human neoplasia. MYC has not been previously implicated in a role in DNA repair. Here we report that the overexpression of MYC disrupts the repair of double-strand DNA breaks, resulting in a several-magnitude increase in chromosomal breaks and translocations. We found that MYC inhibited the repair of gamma irradiation DNA breaks in normal human cells and blocked the repair of a single double-strand break engineered to occur in an immortal cell line. By spectral karyotypic analysis, we found that MYC even within one cell division cycle resulted in a several-magnitude increase in the frequency of chromosomal breaks and translocations in normal human cells. Hence, MYC overexpression may be a previously undescribed example of a dominant mutator that may fuel tumorigenesis by inducing chromosomal damage.

  5. Contribution of DNA double-strand break repair gene XRCC3 genotypes to oral cancer susceptibility in Taiwan.

    PubMed

    Tsai, Chia-Wen; Chang, Wen-Shin; Liu, Juhn-Cherng; Tsai, Ming-Hsui; Lin, Cheng-Chieh; Bau, Da-Tian

    2014-06-01

    The DNA repair gene X-ray repair cross complementing protein 3 (XRCC3) is thought to play a major role in double-strand break repair and in maintaining genomic stability. Very possibly, defective double-strand break repair of cells can lead to carcinogenesis. Therefore, a case-control study was performed to reveal the contribution of XRCC3 genotypes to individual oral cancer susceptibility. In this hospital-based research, the association of XRCC3 rs1799794, rs45603942, rs861530, rs3212057, rs1799796, rs861539, rs28903081 genotypes with oral cancer risk in a Taiwanese population was investigated. In total, 788 patients with oral cancer and 956 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were genotyped. The results showed that there was significant differential distribution among oral cancer and controls in the genotypic (p=0.001428) and allelic (p=0.0013) frequencies of XRCC3 rs861539. As for the other polymorphisms, there was no difference between case and control groups. In gene-lifestyle interaction analysis, we have provided the first evidence showing that there is an obvious joint effect of XRCC3 rs861539 genotype with individual areca chewing habits on oral cancer risk. In conclusion, the T allele of XRCC3 rs861539, which has an interaction with areca chewing habit in oral carcinogenesis, may be an early marker for oral cancer in Taiwanese. Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

  6. Genetic variation in a DNA double strand break repair gene in saudi population: a comparative study with worldwide ethnic groups.

    PubMed

    Areeshi, Mohammed Yahya

    2013-01-01

    DNA repair capacity is crucial in maintaining cellular functions and homeostasis. However, it can be altered based on DNA sequence variations in DNA repair genes and this may lead to the development of many diseases including malignancies. Identification of genetic polymorphisms responsible for reduced DNA repair capacity is necessary for better prevention. Homologous recombination (HR), a major double strand break repair pathway, plays a critical role in maintaining the genome stability. The present study was performed to determine the frequency of the HR gene XRCC3 Exon 7 (C18067T, rs861539) polymorphisms in Saudi Arabian population in comparison with epidemiological studies by "MEDLINE" search to equate with global populations. The variant allelic (T) frequency of XRCC3 (C>T) was found to be 39%. Our results suggest that frequency of XRCC3 (C>T) DNA repair gene exhibits distinctive patterns compared with the Saudi Arabian population and this might be attributed to ethnic variation. The present findings may help in high-risk screening of humans exposed to environmental carcinogens and cancer predisposition in different ethnic groups.

  7. The transcription fidelity factor GreA impedes DNA break repair.

    PubMed

    Sivaramakrishnan, Priya; Sepúlveda, Leonardo A; Halliday, Jennifer A; Liu, Jingjing; Núñez, María Angélica Bravo; Golding, Ido; Rosenberg, Susan M; Herman, Christophe

    2017-10-12

    Homologous recombination repairs DNA double-strand breaks and must function even on actively transcribed DNA. Because break repair prevents chromosome loss, the completion of repair is expected to outweigh the transcription of broken templates. However, the interplay between DNA break repair and transcription processivity is unclear. Here we show that the transcription factor GreA inhibits break repair in Escherichia coli. GreA restarts backtracked RNA polymerase and hence promotes transcription fidelity. We report that removal of GreA results in markedly enhanced break repair via the classic RecBCD-RecA pathway. Using a deep-sequencing method to measure chromosomal exonucleolytic degradation, we demonstrate that the absence of GreA limits RecBCD-mediated resection. Our findings suggest that increased RNA polymerase backtracking promotes break repair by instigating RecA loading by RecBCD, without the influence of canonical Chi signals. The idea that backtracked RNA polymerase can stimulate recombination presents a DNA transaction conundrum: a transcription fidelity factor that compromises genomic integrity.

  8. Mitochondrial DNA repairs double-strand breaks in yeast chromosomes.

    PubMed

    Ricchetti, M; Fairhead, C; Dujon, B

    1999-11-04

    The endosymbiotic theory for the origin of eukaryotic cells proposes that genetic information can be transferred from mitochondria to the nucleus of a cell, and genes that are probably of mitochondrial origin have been found in nuclear chromosomes. Occasionally, short or rearranged sequences homologous to mitochondrial DNA are seen in the chromosomes of different organisms including yeast, plants and humans. Here we report a mechanism by which fragments of mitochondrial DNA, in single or tandem array, are transferred to yeast chromosomes under natural conditions during the repair of double-strand breaks in haploid mitotic cells. These repair insertions originate from noncontiguous regions of the mitochondrial genome. Our analysis of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial genome indicates that the yeast nuclear genome does indeed contain several short sequences of mitochondrial origin which are similar in size and composition to those that repair double-strand breaks. These sequences are located predominantly in non-coding regions of the chromosomes, frequently in the vicinity of retrotransposon long terminal repeats, and appear as recent integration events. Thus, colonization of the yeast genome by mitochondrial DNA is an ongoing process.

  9. DNA mismatch repair and oligonucleotide end-protection promote base-pair substitution distal from a CRISPR/Cas9-induced DNA break

    PubMed Central

    Harmsen, Tim; Klaasen, Sjoerd; van de Vrugt, Henri; te Riele, Hein

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Single-stranded oligodeoxyribonucleotide (ssODN)-mediated repair of CRISPR/Cas9-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) can effectively be used to introduce small genomic alterations in a defined locus. Here, we reveal DNA mismatch repair (MMR) activity is crucial for efficient nucleotide substitution distal from the Cas9-induced DNA break when the substitution is instructed by the 3′ half of the ssODN. Furthermore, protecting the ssODN 3′ end with phosphorothioate linkages enhances MMR-dependent gene editing events. Our findings can be exploited to optimize efficiencies of nucleotide substitutions distal from the DSB and imply that oligonucleotide-mediated gene editing is effectuated by templated break repair. PMID:29447381

  10. Atypical Role for PhoU in Mutagenic Break Repair under Stress in Escherichia coli

    PubMed Central

    Aponyi, Ildiko; Vera Cruz, Diana; Ray, Mellanie P.; Rosenberg, Susan M.

    2015-01-01

    Mechanisms of mutagenesis activated by stress responses drive pathogen/host adaptation, antibiotic and anti-fungal-drug resistance, and perhaps much of evolution generally. In Escherichia coli, repair of double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination is high fidelity in unstressed cells, but switches to a mutagenic mode using error-prone DNA polymerases when the both the SOS and general (σS) stress responses are activated. Additionally, the σE response promotes spontaneous DNA breakage that leads to mutagenic break repair (MBR). We identified the regulatory protein PhoU in a genetic screen for functions required for MBR. PhoU negatively regulates the phosphate-transport and utilization (Pho) regulon when phosphate is in excess, including the PstB and PstC subunits of the phosphate-specific ABC transporter PstSCAB. Here, we characterize the PhoU mutation-promoting role. First, some mutations that affect phosphate transport and Pho transcriptional regulation decrease mutagenesis. Second, the mutagenesis and regulon-expression phenotypes do not correspond, revealing an apparent new function(s) for PhoU. Third, the PhoU mutagenic role is not via activation of the σS, SOS or σE responses, because mutations (or DSBs) that restore mutagenesis to cells defective in these stress responses do not restore mutagenesis to phoU cells. Fourth, the mutagenesis defect in phoU-mutant cells is partially restored by deletion of arcA, a gene normally repressed by PhoU, implying that a gene(s) repressed by ArcA promotes mutagenic break repair. The data show a new role for PhoU in regulation, and a new regulatory branch of the stress-response signaling web that activates mutagenic break repair in E. coli. PMID:25961709

  11. Lack of dependence on p53 for DNA double strand break repair of episomal vectors in human lymphoblasts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kohli, M.; Jorgensen, T. J.

    1999-01-01

    The p53 tumor suppressor gene has been shown to be involved in a variety of repair processes, and recent findings have suggested that p53 may be involved in DNA double strand break repair in irradiated cells. The role of p53 in DNA double strand break repair, however, has not been fully investigated. In this study, we have constructed a novel Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-based shuttle vector, designated as pZEBNA, to explore the influence of p53 on DNA strand break repair in human lymphoblasts, since EBV-based vectors do not inactivate the p53 pathway. We have compared plasmid survival of irradiated, restriction enzyme linearized, and calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase (CIP)-treated pZEBNA with a Simian virus 40 (SV40)-based shuttle vector, pZ189, in TK6 (wild-type p53) and WTK1 (mutant p53) lymphoblasts and determined that p53 does not modulate DNA double strand break repair in these cell lines. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

  12. Polymorphic Variation in Double Strand Break Repair Gene in Indian Population: A Comparative Approach with Worldwide Ethnic Group Variations.

    PubMed

    Mandal, Raju Kumar; Mittal, Rama Devi

    2018-04-01

    DNA repair capacity is essential in maintaining cellular functions and homeostasis. Identification of genetic polymorphisms responsible for reduced DNA repair capacity may allow better cancer prevention. Double strand break repair pathway plays critical roles in maintaining genome stability. Present study was conducted to determine distribution of XRCC3 Exon 7 (C18067T, rs861539) and XRCC7 Intron 8 (G6721T, rs7003908) gene polymorphisms in North Indian population and compare with different populations globally. The genotype assays were performed in 224 normal healthy individuals of similar ethnicity using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Allelic frequencies of wild type were 79% (C) in XRCC3 Exon 7 C > T and 57% (G) in XRCC7 Intron 8 (G > T) 57% (G) observed. On the other hand, the variant allele frequency were 21% (T) in XRCC3 Exon 7 C > T and 43% (T) in XRCC7 Intron 8 G > T respectively. Major differences from other ethnic populations were observed. Our results suggest that frequency in these DNA repair genes exhibit distinctive pattern in India that could be attributed to ethnicity variation. This could assist in high-risk screening of humans exposed to environmental carcinogens and cancer predisposition in different ethnic groups.

  13. Classical non-homologous end-joining pathway utilizes nascent RNA for error-free double-strand break repair of transcribed genes

    PubMed Central

    Chakraborty, Anirban; Tapryal, Nisha; Venkova, Tatiana; Horikoshi, Nobuo; Pandita, Raj K.; Sarker, Altaf H.; Sarkar, Partha S.; Pandita, Tej K.; Hazra, Tapas K.

    2016-01-01

    DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) leading to loss of nucleotides in the transcribed region can be lethal. Classical non-homologous end-joining (C-NHEJ) is the dominant pathway for DSB repair (DSBR) in adult mammalian cells. Here we report that during such DSBR, mammalian C-NHEJ proteins form a multiprotein complex with RNA polymerase II and preferentially associate with the transcribed genes after DSB induction. Depletion of C-NHEJ factors significantly abrogates DSBR in transcribed but not in non-transcribed genes. We hypothesized that nascent RNA can serve as a template for restoring the missing sequences, thus allowing error-free DSBR. We indeed found pre-mRNA in the C-NHEJ complex. Finally, when a DSB-containing plasmid with several nucleotides deleted within the E. coli lacZ gene was allowed time to repair in lacZ-expressing mammalian cells, a functional lacZ plasmid could be recovered from control but not C-NHEJ factor-depleted cells, providing important mechanistic insights into C-NHEJ-mediated error-free DSBR of the transcribed genome. PMID:27703167

  14. Genes and Junk in Plant Mitochondria—Repair Mechanisms and Selection

    PubMed Central

    Christensen, Alan C.

    2014-01-01

    Plant mitochondrial genomes have very low mutation rates. In contrast, they also rearrange and expand frequently. This is easily understood if DNA repair in genes is accomplished by accurate mechanisms, whereas less accurate mechanisms including nonhomologous end joining or break-induced replication are used in nongenes. An important question is how different mechanisms of repair predominate in coding and noncoding DNA, although one possible mechanism is transcription-coupled repair (TCR). This work tests the predictions of TCR and finds no support for it. Examination of the mutation spectra and rates in genes and junk reveals what DNA repair mechanisms are available to plant mitochondria, and what selective forces act on the repair products. A model is proposed that mismatches and other DNA damages are repaired by converting them into double-strand breaks (DSBs). These can then be repaired by any of the DSB repair mechanisms, both accurate and inaccurate. Natural selection will eliminate coding regions repaired by inaccurate mechanisms, accounting for the low mutation rates in genes, whereas mutations, rearrangements, and expansions generated by inaccurate repair in noncoding regions will persist. Support for this model includes the structure of the mitochondrial mutS homolog in plants, which is fused to a double-strand endonuclease. The model proposes that plant mitochondria do not distinguish a damaged or mismatched DNA strand from the undamaged strand, they simply cut both strands and perform homology-based DSB repair. This plant-specific strategy for protecting future generations from mitochondrial DNA damage has the side effect of genome expansions and rearrangements. PMID:24904012

  15. Nuclear ARP2/3 drives DNA break clustering for homology-directed repair.

    PubMed

    Schrank, Benjamin R; Aparicio, Tomas; Li, Yinyin; Chang, Wakam; Chait, Brian T; Gundersen, Gregg G; Gottesman, Max E; Gautier, Jean

    2018-06-20

    DNA double-strand breaks repaired by non-homologous end joining display limited DNA end-processing and chromosomal mobility. By contrast, double-strand breaks undergoing homology-directed repair exhibit extensive processing and enhanced motion. The molecular basis of this movement is unknown. Here, using Xenopus laevis cell-free extracts and mammalian cells, we establish that nuclear actin, WASP, and the actin-nucleating ARP2/3 complex are recruited to damaged chromatin undergoing homology-directed repair. We demonstrate that nuclear actin polymerization is required for the migration of a subset of double-strand breaks into discrete sub-nuclear clusters. Actin-driven movements specifically affect double-strand breaks repaired by homology-directed repair in G2 cell cycle phase; inhibition of actin nucleation impairs DNA end-processing and homology-directed repair. By contrast, ARP2/3 is not enriched at double-strand breaks repaired by non-homologous end joining and does not regulate non-homologous end joining. Our findings establish that nuclear actin-based mobility shapes chromatin organization by generating repair domains that are essential for homology-directed repair in eukaryotic cells.

  16. Characterizing DNA Repair Processes at Transient and Long-lasting Double-strand DNA Breaks by Immunofluorescence Microscopy.

    PubMed

    Murthy, Vaibhav; Dacus, Dalton; Gamez, Monica; Hu, Changkun; Wendel, Sebastian O; Snow, Jazmine; Kahn, Andrew; Walterhouse, Stephen H; Wallace, Nicholas A

    2018-06-08

    The repair of double-stranded breaks (DSBs) in DNA is a highly coordinated process, necessitating the formation and resolution of multi-protein repair complexes. This process is regulated by a myriad of proteins that promote the association and disassociation of proteins to these lesions. Thanks in large part to the ability to perform functional screens of a vast library of proteins, there is a greater appreciation of the genes necessary for the double-strand DNA break repair. Often knockout or chemical inhibitor screens identify proteins involved in repair processes by using increased toxicity as a marker for a protein that is required for DSB repair. Although useful for identifying novel cellular proteins involved in maintaining genome fidelity, functional analysis requires the determination of whether the protein of interest promotes localization, formation, or resolution of repair complexes. The accumulation of repair proteins can be readily detected as distinct nuclear foci by immunofluorescence microscopy. Thus, association and disassociation of these proteins at sites of DNA damage can be accessed by observing these nuclear foci at representative intervals after the induction of double-strand DNA breaks. This approach can also identify mis-localized repair factor proteins, if repair defects do not simultaneously occur with incomplete delays in repair. In this scenario, long-lasting double-strand DNA breaks can be engineered by expressing a rare cutting endonuclease (e.g., I-SceI) in cells where the recognition site for the said enzyme has been integrated into the cellular genome. The resulting lesion is particularly hard to resolve as faithful repair will reintroduce the enzyme's recognition site, prompting another round of cleavage. As a result, differences in the kinetics of repair are eliminated. If repair complexes are not formed, localization has been impeded. This protocol describes the methodology necessary to identify changes in repair kinetics as

  17. Dual Roles for DNA Polymerase Theta in Alternative End-Joining Repair of Double-Strand Breaks in Drosophila

    PubMed Central

    McVey, Mitch

    2010-01-01

    DNA double-strand breaks are repaired by multiple mechanisms that are roughly grouped into the categories of homology-directed repair and non-homologous end joining. End-joining repair can be further classified as either classical non-homologous end joining, which requires DNA ligase 4, or “alternative” end joining, which does not. Alternative end joining has been associated with genomic deletions and translocations, but its molecular mechanism(s) are largely uncharacterized. Here, we report that Drosophila melanogaster DNA polymerase theta (pol theta), encoded by the mus308 gene and previously implicated in DNA interstrand crosslink repair, plays a crucial role in DNA ligase 4-independent alternative end joining. In the absence of pol theta, end joining is impaired and residual repair often creates large deletions flanking the break site. Analysis of break repair junctions from flies with mus308 separation-of-function alleles suggests that pol theta promotes the use of long microhomologies during alternative end joining and increases the likelihood of complex insertion events. Our results establish pol theta as a key protein in alternative end joining in Drosophila and suggest a potential mechanistic link between alternative end joining and interstrand crosslink repair. PMID:20617203

  18. Contribution of sleep to the repair of neuronal DNA double-strand breaks: evidence from flies and mice.

    PubMed

    Bellesi, Michele; Bushey, Daniel; Chini, Mattia; Tononi, Giulio; Cirelli, Chiara

    2016-11-10

    Exploration of a novel environment leads to neuronal DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). These DSBs are generated by type 2 topoisomerase to relieve topological constrains that limit transcription of plasticity-related immediate early genes. If not promptly repaired, however, DSBs may lead to cell death. Since the induction of plasticity-related genes is higher in wake than in sleep, we asked whether it is specifically wake associated with synaptic plasticity that leads to DSBs, and whether sleep provides any selective advantage over wake in their repair. In flies and mice, we find that enriched wake, more than simply time spent awake, induces DSBs, and their repair in mice is delayed or prevented by subsequent wake. In both species the repair of irradiation-induced neuronal DSBs is also quicker during sleep, and mouse genes mediating the response to DNA damage are upregulated in sleep. Thus, sleep facilitates the repair of neuronal DSBs.

  19. Role of Double-Strand Break End-Tethering during Gene Conversion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    PubMed Central

    Haber, James E.

    2016-01-01

    Correct repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is critical for maintaining genome stability. Whereas gene conversion (GC)-mediated repair is mostly error-free, repair by break-induced replication (BIR) is associated with non-reciprocal translocations and loss of heterozygosity. We have previously shown that a Recombination Execution Checkpoint (REC) mediates this competition by preventing the BIR pathway from acting on DSBs that can be repaired by GC. Here, we asked if the REC can also determine whether the ends that are engaged in a GC-compatible configuration belong to the same break, since repair involving ends from different breaks will produce potentially deleterious translocations. We report that the kinetics of repair are markedly delayed when the two DSB ends that participate in GC belong to different DSBs (termed Trans) compared to the case when both DSB ends come from the same break (Cis). However, repair in Trans still occurs by GC rather than BIR, and the overall efficiency of repair is comparable. Hence, the REC is not sensitive to the “origin” of the DSB ends. When the homologous ends for GC are in Trans, the delay in repair appears to reflect their tethering to sequences on the other side of the DSB that themselves recombine with other genomic locations with which they share sequence homology. These data support previous observations that the two ends of a DSB are usually tethered to each other and that this tethering facilitates both ends encountering the same donor sequence. We also found that the presence of homeologous/repetitive sequences in the vicinity of a DSB can distract the DSB end from finding its bona fide homologous donor, and that inhibition of GC by such homeologous sequences is markedly increased upon deleting Sgs1 but not Msh6. PMID:27074148

  20. Mammalian DNA single-strand break repair: an X-ra(y)ted affair.

    PubMed

    Caldecott, K W

    2001-05-01

    The genetic stability of living cells is continuously threatened by the presence of endogenous reactive oxygen species and other genotoxic molecules. Of particular threat are the thousands of DNA single-strand breaks that arise in each cell, each day, both directly from disintegration of damaged sugars and indirectly from the excision repair of damaged bases. If un-repaired, single-strand breaks can be converted into double-strand breaks during DNA replication, potentially resulting in chromosomal rearrangement and genetic deletion. Consequently, cells have adopted multiple pathways to ensure the rapid and efficient removal of single-strand breaks. A general feature of these pathways appears to be the extensive employment of protein-protein interactions to stimulate both the individual component steps and the overall repair reaction. Our current understanding of DNA single-strand break repair is discussed, and testable models for the architectural coordination of this important process are presented. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

  1. Lifespan and Stress Resistance in Drosophila with Overexpressed DNA Repair Genes

    PubMed Central

    Shaposhnikov, Mikhail; Proshkina, Ekaterina; Shilova, Lyubov; Zhavoronkov, Alex; Moskalev, Alexey

    2015-01-01

    DNA repair declines with age and correlates with longevity in many animal species. In this study, we investigated the effects of GAL4-induced overexpression of genes implicated in DNA repair on lifespan and resistance to stress factors in Drosophila melanogaster. Stress factors included hyperthermia, oxidative stress, and starvation. Overexpression was either constitutive or conditional and either ubiquitous or tissue-specific (nervous system). Overexpressed genes included those involved in recognition of DNA damage (homologs of HUS1, CHK2), nucleotide and base excision repair (homologs of XPF, XPC and AP-endonuclease-1), and repair of double-stranded DNA breaks (homologs of BRCA2, XRCC3, KU80 and WRNexo). The overexpression of different DNA repair genes led to both positive and negative effects on lifespan and stress resistance. Effects were dependent on GAL4 driver, stage of induction, sex, and role of the gene in the DNA repair process. While the constitutive/neuron-specific and conditional/ubiquitous overexpression of DNA repair genes negatively impacted lifespan and stress resistance, the constitutive/ubiquitous and conditional/neuron-specific overexpression of Hus1, mnk, mei-9, mus210, and WRNexo had beneficial effects. This study demonstrates for the first time the effects of overexpression of these DNA repair genes on both lifespan and stress resistance in D. melanogaster. PMID:26477511

  2. DNA strand breaks signal the induction of DNA double-strand break repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Singh, Rakesh Kumar; Krishna, Malini

    2005-12-01

    Genotoxic stress induces a checkpoint signaling cascade to generate a stress response. Saccharomyces cerevisiae shows an altered radiation response under different type of stress. Although the induction of repair has been implicated in enhanced survival after exposure to the challenging stress, the nature of the signal remains poorly understood. This study demonstrates that low doses of gamma radiation and bleomycin induce RAD52-dependent recombination repair pathway in the wild-type strain D-261. Prior exposure of cells to DNA-damaging agents (gamma radiation or bleomycin) equips them better for the subsequent damage caused by challenging doses. However, exposure to UV light, which does not cause strand breaks, was ineffective. This was confirmed by PFGE studies. This indicates that the strand breaks probably serve as the signal for induction of the recombination repair pathway while pyrimidine dimers do not. The nature of the induced repair was investigated by mutation scoring in special strain D-7, which showed that the induced repair is essentially error free.

  3. Chlamydomonas chloroplasts can use short dispersed repeats and multiple pathways to repair a double-strand break in the genome.

    PubMed

    Odom, Obed W; Baek, Kwang-Hyun; Dani, Radhika N; Herrin, David L

    2008-03-01

    Certain group I introns insert into intronless DNA via an endonuclease that creates a double-strand break (DSB). There are two models for intron homing in phage: synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA) and double-strand break repair (DSBR). The Cr.psbA4 intron homes efficiently from a plasmid into the chloroplast psbA gene in Chlamydomonas, but little is known about the mechanism. Analysis of co-transformants selected using a spectinomycin-resistant 16S gene (16S(spec)) provided evidence for both pathways. We also examined the consequences of the donor DNA having only one-sided or no homology with the psbA gene. When there was no homology with the donor DNA, deletions of up to 5 kb involving direct repeats that flank the psbA gene were obtained. Remarkably, repeats as short as 15 bp were used for this repair, which is consistent with the single-strand annealing (SSA) pathway. When the donor had one-sided homology, the DSB in most co-transformants was repaired using two DNAs, the donor and the 16S(spec) plasmid, which, coincidentally, contained a region that is repeated upstream of psbA. DSB repair using two separate DNAs provides further evidence for the SDSA pathway. These data show that the chloroplast can repair a DSB using short dispersed repeats located proximally, distally, or even on separate molecules relative to the DSB. They also provide a rationale for the extensive repertoire of repeated sequences in this genome.

  4. Repair of DNA Strand Breaks in a Minichromosome In Vivo: Kinetics, Modeling, and Effects of Inhibitors

    PubMed Central

    Kumala, Slawomir; Fujarewicz, Krzysztof; Jayaraju, Dheekollu; Rzeszowska-Wolny, Joanna; Hancock, Ronald

    2013-01-01

    To obtain an overall picture of the repair of DNA single and double strand breaks in a defined region of chromatin in vivo, we studied their repair in a ∼170 kb circular minichromosome whose length and topology are analogous to those of the closed loops in genomic chromatin. The rate of repair of single strand breaks in cells irradiated with γ photons was quantitated by determining the sensitivity of the minichromosome DNA to nuclease S1, and that of double strand breaks by assaying the reformation of supercoiled DNA using pulsed field electrophoresis. Reformation of supercoiled DNA, which requires that all single strand breaks have been repaired, was not slowed detectably by the inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 NU1025 or 1,5-IQD. Repair of double strand breaks was slowed by 20–30% when homologous recombination was supressed by KU55933, caffeine, or siRNA-mediated depletion of Rad51 but was completely arrested by the inhibitors of nonhomologous end-joining wortmannin or NU7441, responses interpreted as reflecting competition between these repair pathways similar to that seen in genomic DNA. The reformation of supercoiled DNA was unaffected when topoisomerases I or II, whose participation in repair of strand breaks has been controversial, were inhibited by the catalytic inhibitors ICRF-193 or F11782. Modeling of the kinetics of repair provided rate constants and showed that repair of single strand breaks in minichromosome DNA proceeded independently of repair of double strand breaks. The simplicity of quantitating strand breaks in this minichromosome provides a usefull system for testing the efficiency of new inhibitors of their repair, and since the sequence and structural features of its DNA and its transcription pattern have been studied extensively it offers a good model for examining other aspects of DNA breakage and repair. PMID:23382828

  5. Mammalian RAD52 Functions in Break-Induced Replication Repair of Collapsed DNA Replication Forks.

    PubMed

    Sotiriou, Sotirios K; Kamileri, Irene; Lugli, Natalia; Evangelou, Konstantinos; Da-Ré, Caterina; Huber, Florian; Padayachy, Laura; Tardy, Sebastien; Nicati, Noemie L; Barriot, Samia; Ochs, Fena; Lukas, Claudia; Lukas, Jiri; Gorgoulis, Vassilis G; Scapozza, Leonardo; Halazonetis, Thanos D

    2016-12-15

    Human cancers are characterized by the presence of oncogene-induced DNA replication stress (DRS), making them dependent on repair pathways such as break-induced replication (BIR) for damaged DNA replication forks. To better understand BIR, we performed a targeted siRNA screen for genes whose depletion inhibited G1 to S phase progression when oncogenic cyclin E was overexpressed. RAD52, a gene dispensable for normal development in mice, was among the top hits. In cells in which fork collapse was induced by oncogenes or chemicals, the Rad52 protein localized to DRS foci. Depletion of Rad52 by siRNA or knockout of the gene by CRISPR/Cas9 compromised restart of collapsed forks and led to DNA damage in cells experiencing DRS. Furthermore, in cancer-prone, heterozygous APC mutant mice, homozygous deletion of the Rad52 gene suppressed tumor growth and prolonged lifespan. We therefore propose that mammalian RAD52 facilitates repair of collapsed DNA replication forks in cancer cells. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Double-strand break repair processes drive evolution of the mitochondrial genome in Arabidopsis.

    PubMed

    Davila, Jaime I; Arrieta-Montiel, Maria P; Wamboldt, Yashitola; Cao, Jun; Hagmann, Joerg; Shedge, Vikas; Xu, Ying-Zhi; Weigel, Detlef; Mackenzie, Sally A

    2011-09-27

    The mitochondrial genome of higher plants is unusually dynamic, with recombination and nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) activities producing variability in size and organization. Plant mitochondrial DNA also generally displays much lower nucleotide substitution rates than mammalian or yeast systems. Arabidopsis displays these features and expedites characterization of the mitochondrial recombination surveillance gene MSH1 (MutS 1 homolog), lending itself to detailed study of de novo mitochondrial genome activity. In the present study, we investigated the underlying basis for unusual plant features as they contribute to rapid mitochondrial genome evolution. We obtained evidence of double-strand break (DSB) repair, including NHEJ, sequence deletions and mitochondrial asymmetric recombination activity in Arabidopsis wild-type and msh1 mutants on the basis of data generated by Illumina deep sequencing and confirmed by DNA gel blot analysis. On a larger scale, with mitochondrial comparisons across 72 Arabidopsis ecotypes, similar evidence of DSB repair activity differentiated ecotypes. Forty-seven repeat pairs were active in DNA exchange in the msh1 mutant. Recombination sites showed asymmetrical DNA exchange within lengths of 50- to 556-bp sharing sequence identity as low as 85%. De novo asymmetrical recombination involved heteroduplex formation, gene conversion and mismatch repair activities. Substoichiometric shifting by asymmetrical exchange created the appearance of rapid sequence gain and loss in association with particular repeat classes. Extensive mitochondrial genomic variation within a single plant species derives largely from DSB activity and its repair. Observed gene conversion and mismatch repair activity contribute to the low nucleotide substitution rates seen in these genomes. On a phenotypic level, these patterns of rearrangement likely contribute to the reproductive versatility of higher plants.

  7. Double-strand break repair-adox: Restoration of suppressed double-strand break repair during mitosis induces genomic instability

    PubMed Central

    Terasawa, Masahiro; Shinohara, Akira; Shinohara, Miki

    2014-01-01

    Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are one of the severest types of DNA damage. Unrepaired DSBs easily induce cell death and chromosome aberrations. To maintain genomic stability, cells have checkpoint and DSB repair systems to respond to DNA damage throughout most of the cell cycle. The failure of this process often results in apoptosis or genomic instability, such as aneuploidy, deletion, or translocation. Therefore, DSB repair is essential for maintenance of genomic stability. During mitosis, however, cells seem to suppress the DNA damage response and proceed to the next G1 phase, even if there are unrepaired DSBs. The biological significance of this suppression is not known. In this review, we summarize recent studies of mitotic DSB repair and discuss the mechanisms of suppression of DSB repair during mitosis. DSB repair, which maintains genomic integrity in other phases of the cell cycle, is rather toxic to cells during mitosis, often resulting in chromosome missegregation and aberration. Cells have multiple safeguards to prevent genomic instability during mitosis: inhibition of 53BP1 or BRCA1 localization to DSB sites, which is important to promote non-homologous end joining or homologous recombination, respectively, and also modulation of the non-homologous end joining core complex to inhibit DSB repair. We discuss how DSBs during mitosis are toxic and the multiple safeguard systems that suppress genomic instability. PMID:25287622

  8. Excess single-stranded DNA inhibits meiotic double-strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Rebecca; Borde, Valérie; Neale, Matthew J; Bishop-Bailey, Anna; North, Matthew; Harris, Sheila; Nicolas, Alain; Goldman, Alastair S H

    2007-11-01

    During meiosis, self-inflicted DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are created by the protein Spo11 and repaired by homologous recombination leading to gene conversions and crossovers. Crossover formation is vital for the segregation of homologous chromosomes during the first meiotic division and requires the RecA orthologue, Dmc1. We analyzed repair during meiosis of site-specific DSBs created by another nuclease, VMA1-derived endonuclease (VDE), in cells lacking Dmc1 strand-exchange protein. Turnover and resection of the VDE-DSBs was assessed in two different reporter cassettes that can repair using flanking direct repeat sequences, thereby obviating the need for a Dmc1-dependent DNA strand invasion step. Access of the single-strand binding complex replication protein A, which is normally used in all modes of DSB repair, was checked in chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments, using antibody against Rfa1. Repair of the VDE-DSBs was severely inhibited in dmc1Delta cells, a defect that was associated with a reduction in the long tract resection required to initiate single-strand annealing between the flanking repeat sequences. Mutants that either reduce Spo11-DSB formation or abolish resection at Spo11-DSBs rescued the repair block. We also found that a replication protein A component, Rfa1, does not accumulate to expected levels at unrepaired single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) in dmc1Delta cells. The requirement of Dmc1 for VDE-DSB repair using flanking repeats appears to be caused by the accumulation of large quantities of ssDNA that accumulate at Spo11-DSBs when Dmc1 is absent. We propose that these resected DSBs sequester both resection machinery and ssDNA binding proteins, which in wild-type cells would normally be recycled as Spo11-DSBs repair. The implication is that repair proteins are in limited supply, and this could reflect an underlying mechanism for regulating DSB repair in wild-type cells, providing protection from potentially harmful effects of overabundant

  9. Excess Single-Stranded DNA Inhibits Meiotic Double-Strand Break Repair

    PubMed Central

    Bishop-Bailey, Anna; North, Matthew; Harris, Sheila; Nicolas, Alain; Goldman, Alastair S. H

    2007-01-01

    During meiosis, self-inflicted DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are created by the protein Spo11 and repaired by homologous recombination leading to gene conversions and crossovers. Crossover formation is vital for the segregation of homologous chromosomes during the first meiotic division and requires the RecA orthologue, Dmc1.We analyzed repair during meiosis of site-specific DSBs created by another nuclease, VMA1-derived endonuclease (VDE), in cells lacking Dmc1 strand-exchange protein. Turnover and resection of the VDE-DSBs was assessed in two different reporter cassettes that can repair using flanking direct repeat sequences, thereby obviating the need for a Dmc1-dependent DNA strand invasion step. Access of the single-strand binding complex replication protein A, which is normally used in all modes of DSB repair, was checked in chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments, using antibody against Rfa1. Repair of the VDE-DSBs was severely inhibited in dmc1Δ cells, a defect that was associated with a reduction in the long tract resection required to initiate single-strand annealing between the flanking repeat sequences. Mutants that either reduce Spo11-DSB formation or abolish resection at Spo11-DSBs rescued the repair block. We also found that a replication protein A component, Rfa1, does not accumulate to expected levels at unrepaired single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) in dmc1Δ cells. The requirement of Dmc1 for VDE-DSB repair using flanking repeats appears to be caused by the accumulation of large quantities of ssDNA that accumulate at Spo11-DSBs when Dmc1 is absent. We propose that these resected DSBs sequester both resection machinery and ssDNA binding proteins, which in wild-type cells would normally be recycled as Spo11-DSBs repair. The implication is that repair proteins are in limited supply, and this could reflect an underlying mechanism for regulating DSB repair in wild-type cells, providing protection from potentially harmful effects of overabundant repair

  10. KDM5A demethylase: Erasing histone modifications to promote repair of DNA breaks

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    Repairing DNA breaks within the complexity of the cell chromatin is challenging. In this issue, Gong et al. (2017. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201611135) identify the histone demethylase KDM5A as a critical editor of the cells’ “histone code” that is required to recruit DNA repair complexes to DNA breaks. PMID:28572116

  11. Generating and repairing genetically programmed DNA breaks during immunoglobulin class switch recombination

    PubMed Central

    Nicolas, Laura; Cols, Montserrat; Choi, Jee Eun; Chaudhuri, Jayanta; Vuong, Bao

    2018-01-01

    Adaptive immune responses require the generation of a diverse repertoire of immunoglobulins (Igs) that can recognize and neutralize a seemingly infinite number of antigens. V(D)J recombination creates the primary Ig repertoire, which subsequently is modified by somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination (CSR). SHM promotes Ig affinity maturation whereas CSR alters the effector function of the Ig. Both SHM and CSR require activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) to produce dU:dG mismatches in the Ig locus that are transformed into untemplated mutations in variable coding segments during SHM or DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in switch regions during CSR. Within the Ig locus, DNA repair pathways are diverted from their canonical role in maintaining genomic integrity to permit AID-directed mutation and deletion of gene coding segments. Recently identified proteins, genes, and regulatory networks have provided new insights into the temporally and spatially coordinated molecular interactions that control the formation and repair of DSBs within the Ig locus. Unravelling the genetic program that allows B cells to selectively alter the Ig coding regions while protecting non-Ig genes from DNA damage advances our understanding of the molecular processes that maintain genomic integrity as well as humoral immunity. PMID:29744038

  12. Double-strand break repair-adox: Restoration of suppressed double-strand break repair during mitosis induces genomic instability.

    PubMed

    Terasawa, Masahiro; Shinohara, Akira; Shinohara, Miki

    2014-12-01

    Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are one of the severest types of DNA damage. Unrepaired DSBs easily induce cell death and chromosome aberrations. To maintain genomic stability, cells have checkpoint and DSB repair systems to respond to DNA damage throughout most of the cell cycle. The failure of this process often results in apoptosis or genomic instability, such as aneuploidy, deletion, or translocation. Therefore, DSB repair is essential for maintenance of genomic stability. During mitosis, however, cells seem to suppress the DNA damage response and proceed to the next G1 phase, even if there are unrepaired DSBs. The biological significance of this suppression is not known. In this review, we summarize recent studies of mitotic DSB repair and discuss the mechanisms of suppression of DSB repair during mitosis. DSB repair, which maintains genomic integrity in other phases of the cell cycle, is rather toxic to cells during mitosis, often resulting in chromosome missegregation and aberration. Cells have multiple safeguards to prevent genomic instability during mitosis: inhibition of 53BP1 or BRCA1 localization to DSB sites, which is important to promote non-homologous end joining or homologous recombination, respectively, and also modulation of the non-homologous end joining core complex to inhibit DSB repair. We discuss how DSBs during mitosis are toxic and the multiple safeguard systems that suppress genomic instability. © 2014 The Authors. Cancer Science published by Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.

  13. Gene Therapy for Cartilage Repair

    PubMed Central

    Madry, Henning; Orth, Patrick; Cucchiarini, Magali

    2011-01-01

    The concept of using gene transfer strategies for cartilage repair originates from the idea of transferring genes encoding therapeutic factors into the repair tissue, resulting in a temporarily and spatially defined delivery of therapeutic molecules to sites of cartilage damage. This review focuses on the potential benefits of using gene therapy approaches for the repair of articular cartilage and meniscal fibrocartilage, including articular cartilage defects resulting from acute trauma, osteochondritis dissecans, osteonecrosis, and osteoarthritis. Possible applications for meniscal repair comprise meniscal lesions, meniscal sutures, and meniscal transplantation. Recent studies in both small and large animal models have demonstrated the applicability of gene-based approaches for cartilage repair. Chondrogenic pathways were stimulated in the repair tissue and in osteoarthritic cartilage using genes for polypeptide growth factors and transcription factors. Although encouraging data have been generated, a successful translation of gene therapy for cartilage repair will require an ongoing combined effort of orthopedic surgeons and of basic scientists. PMID:26069580

  14. Non-functional genes repaired at the RNA level.

    PubMed

    Burger, Gertraud

    2016-01-01

    Genomes and genes continuously evolve. Gene sequences undergo substitutions, deletions or nucleotide insertions; mobile genetic elements invade genomes and interleave in genes; chromosomes break, even within genes, and pieces reseal in reshuffled order. To maintain functional gene products and assure an organism's survival, two principal strategies are used - either repair of the gene itself or of its product. I will introduce common types of gene aberrations and how gene function is restored secondarily, and then focus on systematically fragmented genes found in a poorly studied protist group, the diplonemids. Expression of their broken genes involves restitching of pieces at the RNA-level, and substantial RNA editing, to compensate for point mutations. I will conclude with thoughts on how such a grotesquely unorthodox system may have evolved, and why this group of organisms persists and thrives since tens of millions of years. Copyright © 2016 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

  15. Genetic Requirements for the Single-Strand Annealing Pathway of Double-Strand Break Repair in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

    PubMed Central

    Ivanov, E. L.; Sugawara, N.; Fishman-Lobell, J.; Haber, J. E.

    1996-01-01

    HO endonuclease-induced double-strand breaks (DSBs) within a direct duplication of Escherichia coli lacZ genes are repaired either by gene conversion or by single-strand annealing (SSA), with >80% being SSA. Previously it was demonstrated that the RAD52 gene is required for DSB-induced SSA. In the present study, the effects of other genes belonging to the RAD52 epistasis group were analyzed. We show that RAD51, RAD54, RAD55, and RAD57 genes are not required for SSA irrespective of whether recombination occurred in plasmid or chromosomal DNA. In both plasmid and chromosomal constructs with homologous sequences in direct orientation, the proportion of SSA events over gene conversion was significantly elevated in the mutant strains. However, gene conversion was not affected when the two lacZ sequences were in inverted orientation. These results suggest that there is a competition between SSA and gene conversion processes that favors SSA in the absence of RAD51, RAD54, RAD55 and RAD57. Mutations in RAD50 and XRS2 genes do not prevent the completion, but markedly retard the kinetics, of DSB repair by both mechanisms in the lacZ direct repeat plasmid, a result resembling the effects of these genes during mating-type (MAT) switching. PMID:8849880

  16. Histone H3 and the histone acetyltransferase Hat1p contribute to DNA double-strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Qin, Song; Parthun, Mark R

    2002-12-01

    The modification of newly synthesized histones H3 and H4 by type B histone acetyltransferases has been proposed to play a role in the process of chromatin assembly. The type B histone acetyltransferase Hat1p and specific lysine residues in the histone H3 NH(2)-terminal tail (primarily lysine 14) are redundantly required for telomeric silencing. As many gene products, including other factors involved in chromatin assembly, have been found to participate in both telomeric silencing and DNA damage repair, we tested whether mutations in HAT1 and the histone H3 tail were also sensitive to DNA-damaging agents. Indeed, mutations both in specific lysine residues in the histone H3 tail and in HAT1 resulted in sensitivity to methyl methanesulfonate. The DNA damage sensitivity of the histone H3 and HAT1 mutants was specific for DNA double-strand breaks, as these mutants were sensitive to the induction of an exogenous restriction endonuclease, EcoRI, but not to UV irradiation. While histone H3 mutations had minor effects on nonhomologous end joining, the primary defect in the histone H3 and HAT1 mutants was in the recombinational repair of DNA double-strand breaks. Epistasis analysis indicates that the histone H3 and HAT1 mutants may influence DNA double-strand break repair through Asf1p-dependent chromatin assembly.

  17. Application of Laser Micro-irradiation for Examination of Single and Double Strand Break Repair in Mammalian Cells.

    PubMed

    Holton, Nathaniel W; Andrews, Joel F; Gassman, Natalie R

    2017-09-05

    Highly coordinated DNA repair pathways exist to detect, excise and replace damaged DNA bases, and coordinate repair of DNA strand breaks. While molecular biology techniques have clarified structure, enzymatic functions, and kinetics of repair proteins, there is still a need to understand how repair is coordinated within the nucleus. Laser micro-irradiation offers a powerful tool for inducing DNA damage and monitoring the recruitment of repair proteins. Induction of DNA damage by laser micro-irradiation can occur with a range of wavelengths, and users can reliably induce single strand breaks, base lesions and double strand breaks with a range of doses. Here, laser micro-irradiation is used to examine repair of single and double strand breaks induced by two common confocal laser wavelengths, 355 nm and 405 nm. Further, proper characterization of the applied laser dose for inducing specific damage mixtures is described, so users can reproducibly perform laser micro-irradiation data acquisition and analysis.

  18. Drosha drives the formation of DNA:RNA hybrids around DNA break sites to facilitate DNA repair.

    PubMed

    Lu, Wei-Ting; Hawley, Ben R; Skalka, George L; Baldock, Robert A; Smith, Ewan M; Bader, Aldo S; Malewicz, Michal; Watts, Felicity Z; Wilczynska, Ania; Bushell, Martin

    2018-02-07

    The error-free and efficient repair of DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) is extremely important for cell survival. RNA has been implicated in the resolution of DNA damage but the mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we show that miRNA biogenesis enzymes, Drosha and Dicer, control the recruitment of repair factors from multiple pathways to sites of damage. Depletion of Drosha significantly reduces DNA repair by both homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Drosha is required within minutes of break induction, suggesting a central and early role for RNA processing in DNA repair. Sequencing of DNA:RNA hybrids reveals RNA invasion around DNA break sites in a Drosha-dependent manner. Removal of the RNA component of these structures results in impaired repair. These results show how RNA can be a direct and critical mediator of DNA damage repair in human cells.

  19. Efficient repair of DNA double-strand breaks in malignant cells with structural instability

    PubMed Central

    Cheng, Yue; Zhang, Zhenhua; Keenan, Bridget; Roschke, Anna V.; Nakahara, Kenneth; Aplan, Peter D.

    2009-01-01

    Aberrant repair of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) is thought to be important in the generation of gross chromosomal rearrangements (GCRs). To examine how DNA DSBs might lead to GCRs, we investigated the repair of a single DNA DSB in a structurally unstable cell line. An I-SceI recognition site was introduced into OVCAR-8 cells between a constitutive promoter (EF1α) and the Herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (TK) gene, which confers sensitivity to gancyclovir (GCV). Expression of I-SceI in these cells caused a single DSB. Clones with aberrant repair could acquire resistance to GCV by separation of the EF1α promoter from the TK gene, or deletion of either the EF1α promoter or the TK gene. All mutations that we identified were interstitial deletions. Treatment of cells with etoposide or bleomycin, agents known to produce DNA DSBs following expression of I-SceI also did not generate GCRs. Because we identified solely interstitial deletions using the aforementioned negative selection system, we developed a positive selection system to produce GCR. A construct containing an I-SceI restriction site immediately followed by a hygromycin phosphotransferase cDNA, with no promoter, was stably integrated into OVCAR-8 cells. DNA DSBs were produced by an I-SceI expression vector. None of the hygromycin resistant clones recovered had linked the hygromycin phosphotransferase cDNA to an endogenous promoter, but had instead captured a portion of the I-SceI expression vector. These results indicate that even in a structurally unstable malignant cell line, the majority of DNA DSBs are repaired by religation of the two broken chromosome ends, without the introduction of a GCR. PMID:19909760

  20. Efficient repair of DNA double-strand breaks in malignant cells with structural instability.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Yue; Zhang, Zhenhua; Keenan, Bridget; Roschke, Anna V; Nakahara, Kenneth; Aplan, Peter D

    2010-01-05

    Aberrant repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is thought to be important in the generation of gross chromosomal rearrangements (GCRs). To examine how DNA DSBs might lead to GCRs, we investigated the repair of a single DNA DSB in a structurally unstable cell line. An I-SceI recognition site was introduced into OVCAR-8 cells between a constitutive promoter (EF1alpha) and the Herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (TK) gene, which confers sensitivity to gancyclovir (GCV). Expression of I-SceI in these cells caused a single DSB. Clones with aberrant repair could acquire resistance to GCV by separation of the EF1alpha promoter from the TK gene, or deletion of either the EF1alpha promoter or the TK gene. All mutations that we identified were interstitial deletions. Treatment of cells with etoposide or bleomycin, agents known to produce DNA DSBs following expression of I-SceI also did not generate GCRs. Because we identified solely interstitial deletions using the aforementioned negative selection system, we developed a positive selection system to produce GCR. A construct containing an I-SceI restriction site immediately followed by a hygromycin phosphotransferase cDNA, with no promoter, was stably integrated into OVCAR-8 cells. DNA DSBs were produced by an I-SceI expression vector. None of the hygromycin resistant clones recovered had linked the hygromycin phosphotransferase cDNA to an endogenous promoter, but had instead captured a portion of the I-SceI expression vector. These results indicate that even in a structurally unstable malignant cell line, the majority of DNA DSBs are repaired by religation of the two broken chromosome ends, without the introduction of a GCR.

  1. The Human L1 Element Causes DNA Double-Strand Breaks in Breast Cancer

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-08-01

    cancer is complex. However, defects in DNA repair genes in the double-strand break repair pathway are cancer predisposing. My lab has characterized...a new potentially important source of double-strand breaks (DSBs) in human cells and are interested in characterizing which DNA repair genes act on...this particular source of DNA damage. Selfish DNA accounts for 45% of the human genome. We have recently demonstrated that one particular selfish

  2. Phenotypic Analysis of ATM Protein Kinase in DNA Double-Strand Break Formation and Repair.

    PubMed

    Mian, Elisabeth; Wiesmüller, Lisa

    2017-01-01

    Ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) encodes a serine/threonine protein kinase, which is involved in various regulatory processes in mammalian cells. Its best-known role is apical activation of the DNA damage response following generation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). When DSBs appear, sensor and mediator proteins are recruited, activating transducers such as ATM, which in turn relay a widespread signal to a multitude of downstream effectors. ATM mutation causes Ataxia telangiectasia (AT), whereby the disease phenotype shows differing characteristics depending on the underlying ATM mutation. However, all phenotypes share progressive neurodegeneration and marked predisposition to malignancies at the organismal level and sensitivity to ionizing radiation and chromosome aberrations at the cellular level. Expression and localization of the ATM protein can be determined via western blotting and immunofluorescence microscopy; however, detection of subtle alterations such as resulting from amino acid exchanges rather than truncating mutations requires functional testing. Previous studies on the role of ATM in DSB repair, which connects with radiosensitivity and chromosomal stability, gave at first sight contradictory results. To systematically explore the effects of clinically relevant ATM mutations on DSB repair, we engaged a series of lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) derived from AT patients and controls. To examine DSB repair both in a quantitative and qualitative manners, we used an EGFP-based assay comprising different substrates for distinct DSB repair mechanisms. In this way, we demonstrated that particular signaling defects caused by individual ATM mutations led to specific DSB repair phenotypes. To explore the impact of ATM on carcinogenic chromosomal aberrations, we monitored chromosomal breakage at a breakpoint cluster region hotspot within the MLL gene that has been associated with therapy-related leukemia. PCR-based MLL-breakage analysis of HeLa cells

  3. Cytogenetic Response to Ionizing Radiation Exposure in Human Fibroblasts with Suppressed Expression of Non-DSB Repair Genes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zhang, Ye; Rohde, Larry H.; Emami, Kamal; Hammond, Dianne; Mehta, Satish K.; Jeevarajan, Antony S.; Pierson, Duane L.; Wu, Honglu

    2009-01-01

    Changes of gene expression profile are one of the most important biological responses in living cells after ionizing radiation (IR) exposure. Although some studies have shown that genes up-regulated by IR may play important roles in DNA damage repair, the relationship between the regulation of gene expression by IR, particularly genes not known for their roles in double-strand break (DSB) repair, and its impact on cytogenetic responses has not been well studied. The purpose of this study is to identify new roles of IR inducible genes in radiation-induced chromosome aberrations and micronuclei formation. In the study, the expression of 25 genes selected on the basis of their transcriptional changes in response to IR was individually knocked down by small interfering RNA in human fibroblast cells. Frequencies of micronuclei (MN) formation and chromosome aberrations were measured to determine the efficiency of cytogenetic repair, and the fraction of bi-nucleated cells in the MN analysis was used as a marker for cell cycle progression. In response to gamma radiation, the formation of MN was significantly increased by suppressed expression of five genes: Ku70 (DSB repair pathway), XPA (nucleotide excision repair pathway), RPA1 (mismatch repair pathway), RAD17 and RBBP8 (cell cycle control). Knocked-down expression of four genes (MRE11A, RAD51 in the DSB pathway, SESN1, and SUMO1) significantly inhibited cell cycle progression, possibly because of severe impairment of DNA damage repair. Moreover, decreased XPA, p21, or MLH1 expression resulted in both significantly enhanced cell cycle progression and increased yields of chromosome aberrations, indicating that these gene products modulate both cell cycle control and DNA damage repair. Nine of these eleven genes, whose knock-down expression affected cytogenetic repair, were up-regulated in cells exposed to gamma radiation, suggesting that genes transcriptionally modulated by IR were critical to regulate IR

  4. Genes on chromosomes 1 and 4 in the mouse are associated with repair of radiation-induced chromatin damage.

    PubMed

    Potter, M; Sanford, K K; Parshad, R; Tarone, R E; Price, F M; Mock, B; Huppi, K

    1988-04-01

    Early-passage skin fibroblasts from different inbred and congenic strains of mice were X-irradiated (1 Gy), and the number of chromatid breaks was determined at 2.0 h after irradiation. The cells from DBA/2N, C3H/HeN, STS/A, C57BL/6N, BALB/cJ, and AKR/N had 25 to 42 chromatid breaks per 100 metaphase cells (efficient repair phenotype). NZB/NJ had greater than 78 and BALB/cAn had 87 to 110 chromatid breaks per 100 cells (inefficient repair phenotype). Differences between BALB/cAn and BALB/c. DBA/2 congenic strains which carry less than 1% of the DBA/2 genome indicate that two genes, one on chromosome 1 linked to bcl-2-Pep-3 and the other on chromosome 4 closely linked to Fv-1, affect the efficiency with which the cells repair radiation-induced chromatin damage.

  5. p73 coordinates with Δ133p53 to promote DNA double-strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Gong, Hongjian; Zhang, Yuxi; Jiang, Kunpeng; Ye, Shengfan; Chen, Shuming; Zhang, Qinghe; Peng, Jinrong; Chen, Jun

    2018-03-06

    Tumour repressor p53 isoform Δ133p53 is a target gene of p53 and an antagonist of p53-mediated apoptotic activity. We recently demonstrated that Δ133p53 promotes DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair by upregulating transcription of the repair genes RAD51, LIG4 and RAD52 in a p53-independent manner. However, Δ133p53 lacks the transactivation domain of full-length p53, and the mechanism by which it exerts transcriptional activity independently of full-length p53 remains unclear. In this report, we describe the accumulation of high levels of both Δ133p53 and p73 (a p53 family member) at 24 h post γ-irradiation (hpi). Δ133p53 can form a complex with p73 upon γ-irradiation. The co-expression of Δ133p53 and p73, but not either protein alone, can significantly promote DNA DSB repair mechanisms, including homologous recombination (HR), non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and single-strand annealing (SSA). p73 and Δ133p53 act synergistically to promote the expression of RAD51, LIG4 and RAD52 by joining together to bind to region containing a Δ133p53-responsive element (RE) and a p73-RE in the promoters of all three repair genes. In addition to its accumulation at 24 hpi, p73 protein expression also peaks at 4 hpi. The depletion of p73 not only reduces early-stage apoptotic frequency (4-6 hpi), but also significantly increases later-stage DNA DSB accumulation (48 hpi), leading to cell cycle arrest in the G2 phase and, ultimately, cell senescence. In summary, the apoptotic regulator p73 also coordinates with Δ133p53 to promote DNA DSB repair, and the loss of function of p73 in DNA DSB repair may underlie spontaneous and carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis in p73 knockout mice.

  6. Zinc-finger Nuclease-induced Gene Repair With Oligodeoxynucleotides: Wanted and Unwanted Target Locus Modifications

    PubMed Central

    Radecke, Sarah; Radecke, Frank; Cathomen, Toni; Schwarz, Klaus

    2010-01-01

    Correcting a mutated gene directly at its endogenous locus represents an alternative to gene therapy protocols based on viral vectors with their risk of insertional mutagenesis. When solely a single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotide (ssODN) is used as a repair matrix, the efficiency of the targeted gene correction is low. However, as shown with the homing endonuclease I-SceI, ssODN-mediated gene correction can be enhanced by concomitantly inducing a DNA double-strand break (DSB) close to the mutation. Because I-SceI is hardly adjustable to cut at any desired position in the human genome, here, customizable zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) were used to stimulate ssODN-mediated repair of a mutated single-copy reporter locus stably integrated into human embryonic kidney-293 cells. The ZFNs induced faithful gene repair at a frequency of 0.16%. Six times more often, ZFN-induced DSBs were found to be modified by unfaithful addition of ssODN between the termini and about 60 times more often by nonhomologous end joining-related deletions and insertions. Additionally, ZFN off-target activity based on binding mismatch sites at the locus of interest was detected in in vitro cleavage assays and also in chromosomal DNA isolated from treated cells. Therefore, the specificity of ZFN-induced ssODN-mediated gene repair needs to be improved, especially regarding clinical applications. PMID:20068556

  7. On the mutagenicity of homologous recombination and double-strand break repair in bacteriophage.

    PubMed

    Shcherbakov, Victor P; Plugina, Lidiya; Shcherbakova, Tamara; Sizova, Svetlana; Kudryashova, Elena

    2011-01-02

    The double-strand break (DSB) repair via homologous recombination is generally construed as a high-fidelity process. However, some molecular genetic observations show that the recombination and the recombinational DSB repair may be mutagenic and even highly mutagenic. Here we developed an effective and precise method for studying the fidelity of DSB repair in vivo by combining DSBs produced site-specifically by the SegC endonuclease with the famous advantages of the recombination analysis of bacteriophage T4 rII mutants. The method is based on the comparison of the rate of reversion of rII mutation in the presence and in the absence of a DSB repair event initiated in the proximity of the mutation. We observed that DSB repair may moderately (up to 6-fold) increase the apparent reversion frequency, the effect of being dependent on the mutation structure. We also studied the effect of the T4 recombinase deficiency (amber mutation in the uvsX gene) on the fidelity of DSB repair. We observed that DSBs are still repaired via homologous recombination in the uvsX mutants, and the apparent fidelity of this repair is higher than that seen in the wild-type background. The mutator effect of the DSB repair may look unexpected given that most of the normal DNA synthesis in bacteriophage T4 is performed via a recombination-dependent replication (RDR) pathway, which is thought to be indistinguishable from DSB repair. There are three possible explanations for the observed mutagenicity of DSB repair: (1) the origin-dependent (early) DNA replication may be more accurate than the RDR; (2) the step of replication initiation may be more mutagenic than the process of elongation; and (3) the apparent mutagenicity may just reflect some non-randomness in the pool of replicating DNA, i.e., preferential replication of the sequences already involved in replication. We discuss the DSB repair pathway in the absence of UvsX recombinase. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Genes on chromosomes 1 and 4 in the mouse are associated with repair of radiation-induced chromatin damage

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Potter, M.; Sanford, K.K.; Parshad, R.

    Early-passage skin fibroblasts from different inbred and congenic strains of mice were X-irradiated (1 Gy), and the number of chromatid breaks was determined at 2.0 h after irradiation. The cells from DBA/2N, C3H/HeN, STS/A, C57BL/6N, BALB/cJ, and AKR/N had 25 to 42 chromatid breaks per 100 metaphase cells (efficient repair phenotype). NZB/NJ had greater than 78 and BALB/cAn had 87 to 110 chromatid breaks per 100 cells (inefficient repair phenotype). Differences between BALB/cAn and BALB/c. DBA/2 congenic strains which carry less than 1% of the DBA/2 genome indicate that two genes, one on chromosome 1 linked to bcl-2-Pep-3 and themore » other on chromosome 4 closely linked to Fv-1, affect the efficiency with which the cells repair radiation-induced chromatin damage.« less

  9. Genetic polymorphisms in 85 DNA repair genes and bladder cancer risk.

    PubMed

    Michiels, Stefan; Laplanche, Agnès; Boulet, Thomas; Dessen, Philippe; Guillonneau, Bertrand; Méjean, Arnaud; Desgrandchamps, François; Lathrop, Mark; Sarasin, Alain; Benhamou, Simone

    2009-05-01

    Several defense mechanisms have been developed and maintained during the evolution to protect human cells against damage produced from exogenous or endogenous sources. We examined the associations between bladder cancer and a panel of 652 polymorphisms from 85 genes involved in maintenance of genetic stability [base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, double-strand break repair (DSBR) and mismatch repair, as well as DNA synthesis and cell cycle regulation pathways] in 201 incident bladder cancer cases and 326 hospital controls. Score statistics were used to test differences in haplotype frequencies between cases and controls in an unconditional logistic regression model. To account for multiple testing, we associated to each P-value the expected proportion of false discoveries (q-value). Haplotype analysis revealed significant associations (P < 0.01) between bladder cancer and two genes (POLB and FANCA) with an associated q-value of 24%. A permutation test was also used to determine whether, in each pathway analyzed, there are more variants whose allelic frequencies are different between cases and controls as compared with what would be expected by chance. Differences were found for cell cycle regulation (P = 0.02) and to a lesser extent for DSBR (P = 0.05) pathways. These results hint to a few potential candidate genes; however, our study was limited by the small sample size and therefore low statistical power to detect associations. It is anticipated that genome-wide association studies will open new perspectives for interpretation of the results of extensive candidate gene studies such as ours.

  10. Induction and repair of DNA strand breaks in bovine lens epithelial cells after high LET irradiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baumstark-Khan, C.; Heilmann, J.; Rink, H.

    The lens epithelium is the initiation site for the development of radiation induced cataracts. While in the cortex and nucleus radiation interacts with proteins, experimental results from cultured lenses and lens epithelial cells demonstrate mutagenic and cytotoxic effects in the epithelium. It is suggested that incorrectly repaired DNA damage may be lethal in terms of cellular reproduction and also may initiate the development of mutations or transformations in surviving cells. The occurrence of such genetically modified cells may lead to lens opacification. For a quantitative risk estimation for astronauts and space travelers it is necessary to know the radiation's relative biological effectiveness (RBE), because cosmic rays differ significantly from X-rays. RBEs for the induction of DNA strand breaks and the efficiency of repair of these breaks were measured in cultured diploid bovine lens epithelial cells exposed to different LET irradiations. Irradiations were performed either with 300 kV X-rays or at the UNILAC accelerator at GSI. Accelerated ions from Z=8 (O) to Z=92 (U) were used. For strand break measurements hydroxyapatite chromatography of alka-line unwound DNA (overall strand breaks) and non-denaturing filter elution technique (double strand breaks) were applied. Experiments showed that DNA damage occurs as a function of dose, of kinetic energy and of LET. For particles having the same LET the severity of the DNA damage increases with dose. For a given particle dose, as the LET rises, the numbers of DNA strand breaks increase to a maximum and then reach a plateau or decrease. Repair kinetics depend on the fluence (irradiation dose). At any LET value, repair is much slower after heavy ion exposure than after X-irradiation. For ions with an LET of less than 10,000 keV/μm more than 90 percent of the strand breaks induced are repaired within 24 hours. At higher particle fluences, especially for low energetic particles with a very high local density of

  11. Toll pathway is required for wound-induced expression of barrier repair genes in the Drosophila epidermis

    PubMed Central

    Capilla, Amalia; Karachentsev, Dmitry; Patterson, Rachel A.; Hermann, Anita; Juarez, Michelle T.; McGinnis, William

    2017-01-01

    The epidermis serves as a protective barrier in animals. After epidermal injury, barrier repair requires activation of many wound response genes in epidermal cells surrounding wound sites. Two such genes in Drosophila encode the enzymes dopa decarboxylase (Ddc) and tyrosine hydroxylase (ple). In this paper we explore the involvement of the Toll/NF-κB pathway in the localized activation of wound repair genes around epidermal breaks. Robust activation of wound-induced transcription from ple and Ddc requires Toll pathway components ranging from the extracellular ligand Spätzle to the Dif transcription factor. Epistasis experiments indicate a requirement for Spätzle ligand downstream of hydrogen peroxide and protease function, both of which are known activators of wound-induced transcription. The localized activation of Toll a few cell diameters from wound edges is reminiscent of local activation of Toll in early embryonic ventral hypoderm, consistent with the hypothesis that the dorsal–ventral patterning function of Toll arose from the evolutionary cooption of a morphogen-responsive function in wound repair. Furthermore, the combinatorial activity of Toll and other signaling pathways in activating epidermal barrier repair genes can help explain why developmental activation of the Toll, ERK, or JNK pathways alone fail to activate wound repair loci. PMID:28289197

  12. Altered Gene Expressions and Cytogenetic Repair Efficiency in Cells with Suppressed Expression of XPA after Proton Exposure

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zhang, Ye; Rohde, Larry H.; Gridley, Daila S.; Mehta, Satish K.; Pierson, Duane L.; Wu, Honglu

    2009-01-01

    Cellular responses to damages from ionizing radiation (IR) exposure are influenced not only by the genes involved in DNA double strand break (DSB) repair, but also by non- DSB repair genes. We demonstrated previously that suppressed expression of several non-DSB repair genes, such as XPA, elevated IR-induced cytogenetic damages. In the present study, we exposed human fibroblasts that were treated with control or XPA targeting siRNA to 250 MeV protons (0 to 4 Gy), and analyzed chromosome aberrations and expressions of genes involved in DNA repair. As expected, after proton irradiation, cells with suppressed expression of XPA showed a significantly elevated frequency of chromosome aberrations compared with control siRNA treated (CS) cells. Protons caused more severe DNA damages in XPA knock-down cells, as 36% cells contained multiple aberrations compared to 25% in CS cells after 4Gy proton irradiation. Comparison of gene expressions using the real-time PCR array technique revealed that expressions of p53 and its regulated genes in irradiated XPA suppressed cells were altered similarly as in CS cells, suggesting that the impairment of IR induced DNA repair in XPA suppressed cells is p53-independent. Except for XPA, which was more than 2 fold down regulated in XPA suppressed cells, several other DNA damage sensing and repair genes (GTSE1, RBBP8, RAD51, UNG and XRCC2) were shown a more than 1.5 fold difference between XPA knock-down cells and CS cells after proton exposure. The possible involvement of these genes in the impairment of DNA repair in XPA suppressed cells will be further investigated.

  13. Phosphorylation of Exo1 modulates homologous recombination repair of DNA double-strand breaks

    PubMed Central

    Bolderson, Emma; Tomimatsu, Nozomi; Richard, Derek J.; Boucher, Didier; Kumar, Rakesh; Pandita, Tej K.; Burma, Sandeep; Khanna, Kum Kum

    2010-01-01

    DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair via the homologous recombination pathway is a multi-stage process, which results in repair of the DSB without loss of genetic information or fidelity. One essential step in this process is the generation of extended single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) regions at the break site. This ssDNA serves to induce cell cycle checkpoints and is required for Rad51 mediated strand invasion of the sister chromatid. Here, we show that human Exonuclease 1 (Exo1) is required for the normal repair of DSBs by HR. Cells depleted of Exo1 show chromosomal instability and hypersensitivity to ionising radiation (IR) exposure. We find that Exo1 accumulates rapidly at DSBs and is required for the recruitment of RPA and Rad51 to sites of DSBs, suggesting a role for Exo1 in ssDNA generation. Interestingly, the phosphorylation of Exo1 by ATM appears to regulate the activity of Exo1 following resection, allowing optimal Rad51 loading and the completion of HR repair. These data establish a role for Exo1 in resection of DSBs in human cells, highlighting the critical requirement of Exo1 for DSB repair via HR and thus the maintenance of genomic stability. PMID:20019063

  14. CRISPR/Cas9-Induced Double-Strand Break Repair in Arabidopsis Nonhomologous End-Joining Mutants.

    PubMed

    Shen, Hexi; Strunks, Gary D; Klemann, Bart J P M; Hooykaas, Paul J J; de Pater, Sylvia

    2017-01-05

    Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are one of the most harmful DNA lesions. Cells utilize two main pathways for DSB repair: homologous recombination (HR) and nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ). NHEJ can be subdivided into the KU-dependent classical NHEJ (c-NHEJ) and the more error-prone KU-independent backup-NHEJ (b-NHEJ) pathways, involving the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs). However, in the absence of these factors, cells still seem able to adequately maintain genome integrity, suggesting the presence of other b-NHEJ repair factors or pathways independent from KU and PARPs. The outcome of DSB repair by NHEJ pathways can be investigated by using artificial sequence-specific nucleases such as CRISPR/Cas9 to induce DSBs at a target of interest. Here, we used CRISPR/Cas9 for DSB induction at the Arabidopsis cruciferin 3 (CRU3) and protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) genes. DSB repair outcomes via NHEJ were analyzed using footprint analysis in wild-type plants and plants deficient in key factors of c-NHEJ (ku80), b-NHEJ (parp1 parp2), or both (ku80 parp1 parp2). We found that larger deletions of >20 bp predominated after DSB repair in ku80 and ku80 parp1 parp2 mutants, corroborating with a role of KU in preventing DSB end resection. Deletion lengths did not significantly differ between ku80 and ku80 parp1 parp2 mutants, suggesting that a KU- and PARP-independent b-NHEJ mechanism becomes active in these mutants. Furthermore, microhomologies and templated insertions were observed at the repair junctions in the wild type and all mutants. Since these characteristics are hallmarks of polymerase θ-mediated DSB repair, we suggest a possible role for this recently discovered polymerase in DSB repair in plants. Copyright © 2017 Shen et al.

  15. Repair of Double-Strand Breaks by End Joining

    PubMed Central

    Chiruvella, Kishore K.; Liang, Zhuobin; Wilson, Thomas E.

    2013-01-01

    Nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) refers to a set of genome maintenance pathways in which two DNA double-strand break (DSB) ends are (re)joined by apposition, processing, and ligation without the use of extended homology to guide repair. Canonical NHEJ (c-NHEJ) is a well-defined pathway with clear roles in protecting the integrity of chromosomes when DSBs arise. Recent advances have revealed much about the identity, structure, and function of c-NHEJ proteins, but many questions exist regarding their concerted action in the context of chromatin. Alternative NHEJ (alt-NHEJ) refers to more recently described mechanism(s) that repair DSBs in less-efficient backup reactions. There is great interest in defining alt-NHEJ more precisely, including its regulation relative to c-NHEJ, in light of evidence that alt-NHEJ can execute chromosome rearrangements. Progress toward these goals is reviewed. PMID:23637284

  16. Time-lapse crystallography snapshots of a double-strand break repair polymerase in action.

    PubMed

    Jamsen, Joonas A; Beard, William A; Pedersen, Lars C; Shock, David D; Moon, Andrea F; Krahn, Juno M; Bebenek, Katarzyna; Kunkel, Thomas A; Wilson, Samuel H

    2017-08-15

    DNA polymerase (pol) μ is a DNA-dependent polymerase that incorporates nucleotides during gap-filling synthesis in the non-homologous end-joining pathway of double-strand break repair. Here we report time-lapse X-ray crystallography snapshots of catalytic events during gap-filling DNA synthesis by pol μ. Unique catalytic intermediates and active site conformational changes that underlie catalysis are uncovered, and a transient third (product) metal ion is observed in the product state. The product manganese coordinates phosphate oxygens of the inserted nucleotide and PP i . The product metal is not observed during DNA synthesis in the presence of magnesium. Kinetic analyses indicate that manganese increases the rate constant for deoxynucleoside 5'-triphosphate insertion compared to magnesium. The likely product stabilization role of the manganese product metal in pol μ is discussed. These observations provide insight on structural attributes of this X-family double-strand break repair polymerase that impact its biological function in genome maintenance.DNA polymerase (pol) μ functions in DNA double-strand break repair. Here the authors use time-lapse X-ray crystallography to capture the states of pol µ during the conversion from pre-catalytic to product complex and observe a third transiently bound metal ion in the product state.

  17. Role of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Msh2 and Msh3 repair proteins in double-strand break-induced recombination

    PubMed Central

    Sugawara, Neal; Pâques, Frédéric; Colaiácovo, Mónica; Haber, James E.

    1997-01-01

    When gene conversion is initiated by a double-strand break (DSB), any nonhomologous DNA that may be present at the ends must be removed before new DNA synthesis can be initiated. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, removal of nonhomologous ends depends not only on the nucleotide excision repair endonuclease Rad1/Rad10 but also on Msh2 and Msh3, two proteins that are required to correct mismatched bp. These proteins have no effect when DSB ends are homologous to the donor, either in the kinetics of recombination or in the proportion of gene conversions associated with crossing-over. A second DSB repair pathway, single-strand annealing also requires Rad1/Rad10 and Msh2/Msh3, but reveals a difference in their roles. When the flanking homologous regions that anneal are 205 bp, the requirement for Msh2/Msh3 is as great as for Rad1/Rad10; but when the annealing partners are 1,170 bp, Msh2/Msh3 have little effect, while Rad1/Rad10 are still required. Mismatch repair proteins Msh6, Pms1, and Mlh1 are not required. We suggest Msh2 and Msh3 recognize not only heteroduplex loops and mismatched bp, but also branched DNA structures with a free 3′ tail. PMID:9256462

  18. Role of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Msh2 and Msh3 repair proteins in double-strand break-induced recombination.

    PubMed

    Sugawara, N; Pâques, F; Colaiácovo, M; Haber, J E

    1997-08-19

    When gene conversion is initiated by a double-strand break (DSB), any nonhomologous DNA that may be present at the ends must be removed before new DNA synthesis can be initiated. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, removal of nonhomologous ends depends not only on the nucleotide excision repair endonuclease Rad1/Rad10 but also on Msh2 and Msh3, two proteins that are required to correct mismatched bp. These proteins have no effect when DSB ends are homologous to the donor, either in the kinetics of recombination or in the proportion of gene conversions associated with crossing-over. A second DSB repair pathway, single-strand annealing also requires Rad1/Rad10 and Msh2/Msh3, but reveals a difference in their roles. When the flanking homologous regions that anneal are 205 bp, the requirement for Msh2/Msh3 is as great as for Rad1/Rad10; but when the annealing partners are 1,170 bp, Msh2/Msh3 have little effect, while Rad1/Rad10 are still required. Mismatch repair proteins Msh6, Pms1, and Mlh1 are not required. We suggest Msh2 and Msh3 recognize not only heteroduplex loops and mismatched bp, but also branched DNA structures with a free 3' tail.

  19. Induction and repair of DNA strand breaks in bovine lens epithelial cells after high LET irradiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baumstark-Khan, C.; Heilmann, J.; Rink, H.

    The lens epithelium is the initiation site for the development of radiation induced cataracts. Radiation in the cortex and nucleus interacts with proteins, while in the epithelium, experimental results reveal mutagenic and cytotoxic effects. It is suggested that incorrectly repaired DNA damage may be lethal in terms of cellular reproduction and also may initiate the development of mutations or transformations in surviving cells. The occurrence of such genetically modified cells may lead to lens opacification. For a quantitative risk estimation for astronauts and space travelers it is necessary to know the relative biological effectiveness (RBE), because the spacial and temporal distribution of initial physical damage induced by cosmic radiation differ significantly from that of X-rays. RBEs for the induction of DNA strand breaks and the efficiency of repair of these breaks were measured in cultured diploid bovine lens epithelial cells exposed to different LET irradiation to either 300 kV X-rays or to heavy ions at the UNILAC accelerator at GSI. Accelerated ions from Z=8 (O) to Z=92 (U) were used. Strand breaks were measured by hydroxyapatite chromatography of alkaline unwound DNA (overall strand breaks). Results showed that DNA damage occurs as a function of dose, of kinetic energy and of LET. For particles having the same LET the severity of the DNA damage increases with dose. For a given particle dose, as the LET rises, the numbers of DNA strand breaks increase to a maximum and then reach a plateau or decrease. Repair kinetics depend on the fluence (irradiation dose). At any LET value, repair is much slower after heavy ion exposure than after X-irradiation. For ions with an LET of less than 10,000 keV μ -1 more than 90 percent of the strand breaks induced are repaired within 24 hours. At higher particle fluences, especially for low energetic particles with a very high local density of energy deposition within the particle track, a higher proportion of non

  20. Induction and repair of DNA strand breaks in bovine lens epithelial cells after high LET irradiation.

    PubMed

    Baumstark-Khan, C; Heilmann, J; Rink, H

    2003-01-01

    The lens epithelium is the initiation site for the development of radiation induced cataracts. Radiation in the cortex and nucleus interacts with proteins, while in the epithelium, experimental results reveal mutagenic and cytotoxic effects. It is suggested that incorrectly repaired DNA damage may be lethal in terms of cellular reproduction and also may initiate the development of mutations or transformations in surviving cells. The occurrence of such genetically modified cells may lead to lens opacification. For a quantitative risk estimation for astronauts and space travelers it is necessary to know the relative biological effectiveness (RBE), because the spacial and temporal distribution of initial physical damage induced by cosmic radiation differ significantly from that of X-rays. RBEs for the induction of DNA strand breaks and the efficiency of repair of these breaks were measured in cultured diploid bovine lens epithelial cells exposed to different LET irradiation to either 300 kV X-rays or to heavy ions at the UNILAC accelerator at GSI. Accelerated ions from Z=8 (O) to Z=92 (U) were used. Strand breaks were measured by hydroxyapatite chromatography of alkaline unwound DNA (overall strand breaks). Results showed that DNA damage occurs as a function of dose, of kinetic energy and of LET. For particles having the same LET the severity of the DNA damage increases with dose. For a given particle dose, as the LET rises, the numbers of DNA strand breaks increase to a maximum and then reach a plateau or decrease. Repair kinetics depend on the fluence (irradiation dose). At any LET value, repair is much slower after heavy ion exposure than after X-irradiation. For ions with an LET of less than 10,000 keV micrometers-1 more than 90 percent of the strand breaks induced are repaired within 24 hours. At higher particle fluences, especially for low energetic particles with a very high local density of energy deposition within the particle track, a higher proportion of

  1. Functional characterization of polymorphisms in DNA repair genes using cytogenetic challenge assays.

    PubMed

    Au, William W; Salama, Salama A; Sierra-Torres, Carlos H

    2003-11-01

    A major barrier to understanding the role of polymorphic DNA repair genes for environmental cancer is that the functions of variant genotypes are largely unknown. Using our cytogenetic challenge assays, we conducted an investigation to address the deficiency. Using X-rays or ultraviolet (UV) light, we irradiated blood lymphocytes from 80 nonsmoking donors to challenge the cells to repair the induced DNA damage, and we analyzed expression of chromosome aberrations (CA) specific to the inducing agents. We have genotyped polymorphic DNA repair genes preferentially involved with base excision repair (BER) and nucleotide excision repair (NER) activities (XRCC1, XRCC3, APE1, XPD) corresponding to the repair of X-ray- and UV light-induced DNA damage, respectively. We expected that defects in specific DNA repair pathways due to polymorphisms would cause corresponding increases of specific CA. From our data, XRCC1 399Gln and XRCC3 241Met were associated with significant increases in chromosome deletions compared with the corresponding homozygous wild types (18.27 1.1 vs 14.79 1.2 and 18.22 0.99 vs 14.20 1.39, respectively); XPD 312Asn and XPD 751Gln were associated with significant increases in chromatid breaks compared with wild types (16.09 1.36 vs 11.41 0.98 and 16.87 1.27 vs 10.54 0.87, respectively), p < 0.05. The data indicate that XRCC1 399Gln and XRCC3 241Met are significantly defective in BER, and the XPD 312Asn and XPD 751Gln are significantly defective in NER. In addition, the variant genotypes interact significantly, with limited overlap of the two different repair pathways.

  2. Deficient Repair of Particulate Hexavalent chromium-Induced DNA Double Strand Breaks Leads To Neoplastic Transformation

    PubMed Central

    Xie, Hong; Wise, Sandra S.; Wise, John. P.

    2008-01-01

    Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a potent respiratory toxicant and carcinogen. The most carcinogenic forms of Cr(VI) are the particulate salts such as lead chromate, which deposit and persist in the respiratory tract after inhalation. We demonstrate here that particulate chromate induces DNA double strand breaks in human lung cells with 0.1, 0.5, and 1 ug/cm2 lead chromate inducing 1.5, 2 and 5 relative increases in the percent of DNA in the comet tail, respectively. These lesions are repaired within 24 h and require Mre11 expression for their repair. Particulate chromate also caused Mre11 to co-localize with gamma-H2A.X and ATM. Failure to repair these breaks with Mre11 induced neoplastic transformation including loss of cell contact inhibition and anchorage independent growth. A 5-day exposure to lead chromate induced loss of cell contact inhibition in a concentration-dependent manner with 0, 0.1, 0.5 and 1 ug/cm2 lead chromate inducing 1, 78 and 103 foci in 20 dishes, respectively. These data indicate that Mre11 is critical to repairing particulate Cr(VI)-induced double strand breaks and preventing Cr(VI)-induced neoplastic transformation. PMID:18023605

  3. A single double-strand break system reveals repair dynamics and mechanisms in heterochromatin and euchromatin

    DOE PAGES

    Janssen, Aniek; Breuer, Gregory A.; Brinkman, Eva K.; ...

    2016-07-15

    Repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) must be properly orchestrated in diverse chromatin regions to maintain genome stability. The choice between two main DSB repair pathways, nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR), is regulated by the cell cycle as well as chromatin context. Pericentromeric heterochromatin forms a distinct nuclear domain that is enriched for repetitive DNA sequences that pose significant challenges for genome stability. Heterochromatic DSBs display specialized temporal and spatial dynamics that differ from euchromatic DSBs. Although HR is thought to be the main pathway used to repair heterochromatic DSBs, direct tests of this hypothesis are lacking. Here,more » we developed an in vivo single DSB system for both heterochromatic and euchromatic loci in Drosophila melanogaster. Live imaging of single DSBs in larval imaginal discs recapitulates the spatio-temporal dynamics observed for irradiation (IR)-induced breaks in cell culture. Importantly, live imaging and sequence analysis of repair products reveal that DSBs in euchromatin and heterochromatin are repaired with similar kinetics, employ both NHEJ and HR, and can use homologous chromosomes as an HR template. This direct analysis reveals important insights into heterochromatin DSB repair in animal tissues and provides a foundation for further explorations of repair mechanisms in different chromatin domains.« less

  4. A single double-strand break system reveals repair dynamics and mechanisms in heterochromatin and euchromatin

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Janssen, Aniek; Breuer, Gregory A.; Brinkman, Eva K.

    Repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) must be properly orchestrated in diverse chromatin regions to maintain genome stability. The choice between two main DSB repair pathways, nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR), is regulated by the cell cycle as well as chromatin context. Pericentromeric heterochromatin forms a distinct nuclear domain that is enriched for repetitive DNA sequences that pose significant challenges for genome stability. Heterochromatic DSBs display specialized temporal and spatial dynamics that differ from euchromatic DSBs. Although HR is thought to be the main pathway used to repair heterochromatic DSBs, direct tests of this hypothesis are lacking. Here,more » we developed an in vivo single DSB system for both heterochromatic and euchromatic loci in Drosophila melanogaster. Live imaging of single DSBs in larval imaginal discs recapitulates the spatio-temporal dynamics observed for irradiation (IR)-induced breaks in cell culture. Importantly, live imaging and sequence analysis of repair products reveal that DSBs in euchromatin and heterochromatin are repaired with similar kinetics, employ both NHEJ and HR, and can use homologous chromosomes as an HR template. This direct analysis reveals important insights into heterochromatin DSB repair in animal tissues and provides a foundation for further explorations of repair mechanisms in different chromatin domains.« less

  5. HTLV-I Tax Increases Genetic Instability by Inducing DNA Double Strand Breaks during DNA Replication and Switching Repair to NHEJ

    PubMed Central

    Baydoun, Hicham H.; Bai, Xue Tao; Shelton, Shary; Nicot, Christophe

    2012-01-01

    Background Appropriate responses to damaged DNA are indispensible for preserving genome stability and preventing cancer. Tumor viruses often target DNA repair machinery to achieve transformation. The Human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) is the only known transforming human retrovirus and the etiological agent of Adult T-cell Leukemia (ATLL). Although HTLV-I-transformed leukemic cells have numerous genetic lesions, the precise role of the viral tax gene in this process is not fully understood. Results Our results show a novel function of HTLV-I oncoprotein Tax as an inducer of genomic DNA double strand breaks (DDSB) during DNA replication. We also found that Tax acts as a potent inhibitor of homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair through the activation of the NF-kB pathway. These results were confirmed using HTLV-I molecular clones expressing Tax at physiological levels in a natural context. We further found that HTLV-I- and Tax-transformed cells are not more susceptible to DNA damaging agents and repair DNA lesions at a rate similar to that of normal cells. Finally, we demonstrated that during S phase, Tax-associated DDSB are preferentially repaired using the error-prone non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway. Conclusions This study provides new insights in Tax effects on DNA repair and genome instability. Although it may not be self sufficient, the creation of DNA breaks and subsequent abnormal use of the non-conservative NHEJ DNA repair during the S phase in HTLV-I-infected Tax-expressing cells may cooperate with other factors to increase genetic and genome instability and favor transformation. PMID:22916124

  6. Genetic polymorphisms in DNA double-strand break repair genes XRCC5, XRCC6 and susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma.

    PubMed

    Li, Rui; Yang, Yuan; An, Yu; Zhou, Yun; Liu, Yanhong; Yu, Qing; Lu, Daru; Wang, Hongyang; Jin, Li; Zhou, Weiping; Qian, Ji; Shugart, Yin Yao

    2011-04-01

    Environmental risk factors cause DNA damages. Imprecise DNA repair leads to chromosome aberrations, genome destabilization and hepatocarcinogenesis. Ku is a key DNA double-strand break repair protein. We hypothesized that the genetic variants in Ku subunits encoding genes, XRCC5/XRCC6, may contribute to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) susceptibility. We genotyped 13 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in XRCC5 and XRCC6 and evaluated their associations with HCC risk in 689 pathologically confirmed cases and 690 cancer-free controls from a Chinese population. We found that a significantly reduced risk for HCC was associated with XRCC5 rs16855458 [odds ratio (OR)=0.59; 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.43-0.81; CA+AA versus CC] and a significantly increased risk for HCC was associated with XRCC5 rs9288516 (OR=2.02; 95% CI=1.42-2.86; TA+AA versus TT) even after Bonferroni correction (Pcorrected=0.026 and 0.002, respectively). The effects of rs16855458 (OR=0.57; 95% CI=0.37-0.86, P=0.008) and rs9288516 (OR=1.86; 95% CI=1.19-2.90, P=0.007) were more significant in hepatitis B surface antigen-infected subjects than non-infected subjects. The haplotype-based analysis revealed that in XRCC5, AA in block 1 (OR=0.63; 95% CI=0.48-0.83) and CGGTT in block 2 (OR=0.52; 95% CI=0.39-0.69) were associated with decreased HCC risk (Pcorrected=0.013 and <0.001, respectively). The aforementioned two SNPs exhibited a significant cumulative risk effect (Ptrend<0.001). Additionally, potential interaction among XRCC5 rs9288516 and rs2267437, rs5751131 in XRCC6 was indicated by the multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis. In conclusion, XRCC5 variants may play a role in determining individual's HCC susceptibility, which warranted validation in larger studies.

  7. GeneBreak: detection of recurrent DNA copy number aberration-associated chromosomal breakpoints within genes.

    PubMed

    van den Broek, Evert; van Lieshout, Stef; Rausch, Christian; Ylstra, Bauke; van de Wiel, Mark A; Meijer, Gerrit A; Fijneman, Remond J A; Abeln, Sanne

    2016-01-01

    Development of cancer is driven by somatic alterations, including numerical and structural chromosomal aberrations. Currently, several computational methods are available and are widely applied to detect numerical copy number aberrations (CNAs) of chromosomal segments in tumor genomes. However, there is lack of computational methods that systematically detect structural chromosomal aberrations by virtue of the genomic location of CNA-associated chromosomal breaks and identify genes that appear non-randomly affected by chromosomal breakpoints across (large) series of tumor samples. 'GeneBreak' is developed to systematically identify genes recurrently affected by the genomic location of chromosomal CNA-associated breaks by a genome-wide approach, which can be applied to DNA copy number data obtained by array-Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) or by (low-pass) whole genome sequencing (WGS). First, 'GeneBreak' collects the genomic locations of chromosomal CNA-associated breaks that were previously pinpointed by the segmentation algorithm that was applied to obtain CNA profiles. Next, a tailored annotation approach for breakpoint-to-gene mapping is implemented. Finally, dedicated cohort-based statistics is incorporated with correction for covariates that influence the probability to be a breakpoint gene. In addition, multiple testing correction is integrated to reveal recurrent breakpoint events. This easy-to-use algorithm, 'GeneBreak', is implemented in R ( www.cran.r-project.org ) and is available from Bioconductor ( www.bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/GeneBreak.html ).

  8. Repair of DNA double-strand breaks and cell killing by charged particles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eguchi-Kasai, K.; Murakami, M.; Itsukaichi, H.; Fukutsu, K.; Yatagai, F.; Kanai, T.; Ohara, H.; Sato, K.

    It has been suggested that it is not simple double-strand breaks (dsb) but the non-reparable breaks which correlate well with the high biological effectiveness of high LET radiations for cell killing. We have compared the effects of charged particles on cell death in 3 pairs of cell lines which are normal or defective in the repair of DNA dsbs. For the cell lines SL3-147, M10, and SX10 which are deficient in DNA dsb repair, RBE values were close to unity for cell killing induced by charged particles with linear energy transfer (LET) up to 200 keV/mum and were even smaller than unity for the LET region greater than 300 keV/mum. The inactivation cross section (ICS) increased with LET for all 3 pairs. The ICS of dsb repair deficient mutants was always larger than that of their parents for all the LET ranges, but with increasing LET the difference in ICS between the mutant and its parent became smaller. Since a small difference in ICS remained at LET of about 300 keV/mum, dsb repair may still take place at this high LET, even if its role is apparently small. These results suggest that the DNA repair system does not play a major role in protection against the attack of high LET radiations and that a main cause of cell death is non-reparable dsb which are produced at a higher yield compared with low LET radiations. No correlation was observed between DNA content or nuclear area and ICS.

  9. Single nucleotide polymorphisms of DNA repair genes as predictors of radioresponse.

    PubMed

    Parliament, Matthew B; Murray, David

    2010-10-01

    Radiation therapy is a key modality in the treatment of cancer. Substantial progress has been made in unraveling the molecular events which underpin the responses of malignant and surrounding normal tissues to ionizing radiation. An understanding of the genes involved in processes such as DNA double-strand break repair, DNA damage response, cell-cycle control, apoptosis, cellular antioxidant defenses, and cytokine production, has evolved toward examination of how genetic variants, most often, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), may influence interindividual radioresponse. Experimental approaches, such as candidate SNP-association studies, genome-wide association studies, and massively parallel sequencing are being proposed to address these questions. We present a focused review of the evidence supporting an association between SNPs in DNA repair genes and radioresponse in normal tissues and tumors. Although preliminary results indicate possible associations, there are methodological weaknesses in many of the studies, and independent validation of SNPs as biomarkers of radioresponse in much larger cohorts will likely require research cooperation through international consortia. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Phenothiazine Inhibitors of TLKs Affect Double-Strand Break Repair and DNA Damage Response Recovery and Potentiate Tumor Killing with Radiomimetic Therapy

    PubMed Central

    Ronald, Sharon; Awate, Sanket; Rath, Abhijit; Carroll, Jennifer; Galiano, Floyd; Dwyer, Donard; Kleiner-Hancock, Heather; Mathis, J. Michael; Vigod, Simone

    2013-01-01

    The Tousled-like kinases (TLKs) are involved in chromatin assembly, DNA repair, and transcription. Two TLK genes exist in humans, and their expression is often dysregulated in cancer. TLKs phosphorylate Asf1 and Rad9, regulating double-strand break (DSB) repair and the DNA damage response (DDR). TLKs maintain genomic stability and are important therapeutic intervention targets. We identified specific inhibitors of TLKs from several compound libraries, some of which belong to the family of phenothiazine antipsychotics. The inhibitors prevented the TLK-mediated phosphorylation of Rad9(S328) and impaired checkpoint recovery and DSB repair. The inhibitor thioridazine (THD) potentiated tumor killing with chemotherapy and also had activity alone. Staining for γ-H2AX revealed few positive cells in untreated tumors, but large numbers in mice treated with low doxorubicin or THD alone, possibly the result of the accumulation of DSBs that are not promptly repaired as they may occur in the harsh tumor growth environment. PMID:23946870

  11. Adrenergic Receptor Stimulation Prevents Radiation-Induced DNA Strand Breaks, Apoptosis and Gene Expression in Simulated Microgravity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Moreno-Villanueva, Maria; Krieger, Stephanie; Feiveson, Alan; Kovach, Annie Marie; Buerkle, Alexander; Wu, Honglu

    2017-01-01

    Under Earth gravity conditions cellular damage can be counteracted by activation of the physiological defense mechanisms or through medical interventions. The mode of action of both, physiological response and medical interventions can be affected by microgravity leading to failure in repairing the damage. There are many studies reporting the effects of microgravity and/or radiation on cellular functions. However, little is known about the synergistic effects on cellular response to radiation when other endogenous cellular stress-response pathways are previously activated. Here, we investigated whether previous stimulation of the adrenergic receptor, which modulates immune response, affects radiation-induced apoptosis in immune cells under simulated microgravity conditions. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were stimulated with isoproterenol (a sympathomimetic drug) and exposed to 0.8 or 2Gy gamma-radiation in simulated microgravity versus Earth gravity. Expression of genes involved in adrenergic receptor pathways, DNA repair and apoptosis as well as the number of apoptotic cells and DNA strand breaks were determined. Our results showed that, under simulated microgravity conditions, previous treatment with isoproterenol prevented radiation-induced i) gene down regulation, ii) DNA strand breaks formation and iii) apoptosis induction. Interestedly, we found a radiation-induced increase of adrenergic receptor gene expression, which was also abolished in simulated microgravity. Understanding the mechanisms of isoproterenol-mediated radioprotection in simulated microgravity can help to develop countermeasures for space-associated health risks as well as radio-sensitizers for cancer therapy.

  12. Detection of DNA double-strand breaks and chromosome translocations using ligation-mediated PCR and inverse PCR.

    PubMed

    Villalobos, Michael J; Betti, Christopher J; Vaughan, Andrew T M

    2006-01-01

    Current techniques for examining the global creation and repair of DNA double-strand breaks are restricted in their sensitivity, and such techniques mask any site-dependent variations in breakage and repair rate or fidelity. We present here a system for analyzing the fate of documented DNA breaks, using the MLL gene as an example, through application of ligation-mediated PCR. Here, a simple asymmetric double-stranded DNA adapter molecule is ligated to experimentally induced DNA breaks and subjected to seminested PCR using adapter and gene-specific primers. The rate of appearance and loss of specific PCR products allows detection of both the break and its repair. Using the additional technique of inverse PCR, the presence of misrepaired products (translocations) can be detected at the same site, providing information on the fidelity of the ligation reaction in intact cells. Such techniques may be adapted for the analysis of DNA breaks introduced into any identifiable genomic location.

  13. Concepts in Gene Therapy for Cartilage Repair

    PubMed Central

    Steinert, Andre F.; Nöth, Ulrich; Tuan, Rocky S.

    2009-01-01

    Summary Once articular cartilage is injured, it has a very limited capacity for self-repair. Although current surgical therapeutic procedures to cartilage repair are clinically useful, they cannot restore a normal articular surface. Current research offers a growing number of bioactive reagents, including proteins and nucleic acids, that may be used to augment different aspects of the repair process. As these agents are difficult to administer effectively, gene transfer approaches are being developed to provide their sustained synthesis at sites of repair. To augment regeneration of articular cartilage, therapeutic genes can be delivered to the synovium, or directly to the cartilage lesion. Gene delivery to the cells of the synovial lining is generally considered more suitable for chondroprotective approaches, based on the expression of anti-inflammatory mediators. Gene transfer targeted to cartilage defects can be achieved by either direct vector administration to cells located at or surrounding the defects, or by transplantation of genetically modified chondrogenic cells into the defect. Several studies have shown that exogenous cDNAs encoding growth factors can be delivered locally to sites of cartilage damage, where they are expressed at therapeutically relevant levels. Furthermore, data is beginning to emerge indicating, that efficient delivery and expression of these genes is capable of influencing a repair response toward the synthesis of a more hyaline cartilage repair tissue in vivo. This review presents the current status of gene therapy for cartilage healing and highlights some of the remaining challenges. PMID:18313477

  14. DNA damage and gene therapy of xeroderma pigmentosum, a human DNA repair-deficient disease.

    PubMed

    Dupuy, Aurélie; Sarasin, Alain

    2015-06-01

    Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a genetic disease characterized by hypersensitivity to ultra-violet and a very high risk of skin cancer induction on exposed body sites. This syndrome is caused by germinal mutations on nucleotide excision repair genes. No cure is available for these patients except a complete protection from all types of UV radiations. We reviewed the various techniques to complement or to correct the genetic defect in XP cells. We, particularly, developed the correction of XP-C skin cells using the fidelity of the homologous recombination pathway during repair of double-strand break (DSB) in the presence of XPC wild type sequences. We used engineered nucleases (meganuclease or TALE nuclease) to induce a DSB located at 90 bp of the mutation to be corrected. Expression of specific TALE nuclease in the presence of a repair matrix containing a long stretch of homologous wild type XPC sequences allowed us a successful gene correction of the original TG deletion found in numerous North African XP patients. Some engineered nucleases are sensitive to epigenetic modifications, such as cytosine methylation. In case of methylated sequences to be corrected, modified nucleases or demethylation of the whole genome should be envisaged. Overall, we showed that specifically-designed TALE-nuclease allowed us to correct a 2 bp deletion in the XPC gene leading to patient's cells proficient for DNA repair and showing normal UV-sensitivity. The corrected gene is still in the same position in the human genome and under the regulation of its physiological promoter. This result is a first step toward gene therapy in XP patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Persistent damaged bases in DNA allow mutagenic break repair in Escherichia coli

    PubMed Central

    Moore, Jessica M.; Correa, Raul; Rosenberg, Susan M.

    2017-01-01

    Bacteria, yeast and human cancer cells possess mechanisms of mutagenesis upregulated by stress responses. Stress-inducible mutagenesis potentially accelerates adaptation, and may provide important models for mutagenesis that drives cancers, host pathogen interactions, antibiotic resistance and possibly much of evolution generally. In Escherichia coli repair of double-strand breaks (DSBs) becomes mutagenic, using low-fidelity DNA polymerases under the control of the SOS DNA-damage response and RpoS general stress response, which upregulate and allow the action of error-prone DNA polymerases IV (DinB), II and V to make mutations during repair. Pol IV is implied to compete with and replace high-fidelity DNA polymerases at the DSB-repair replisome, causing mutagenesis. We report that up-regulated Pol IV is not sufficient for mutagenic break repair (MBR); damaged bases in the DNA are also required, and that in starvation-stressed cells, these are caused by reactive-oxygen species (ROS). First, MBR is reduced by either ROS-scavenging agents or constitutive activation of oxidative-damage responses, both of which reduce cellular ROS levels. The ROS promote MBR other than by causing DSBs, saturating mismatch repair, oxidizing proteins, or inducing the SOS response or the general stress response. We find that ROS drive MBR through oxidized guanines (8-oxo-dG) in DNA, in that overproduction of a glycosylase that removes 8-oxo-dG from DNA prevents MBR. Further, other damaged DNA bases can substitute for 8-oxo-dG because ROS-scavenged cells resume MBR if either DNA pyrimidine dimers or alkylated bases are induced. We hypothesize that damaged bases in DNA pause the replisome and allow the critical switch from high fidelity to error-prone DNA polymerases in the DSB-repair replisome, thus allowing MBR. The data imply that in addition to the indirect stress-response controlled switch to MBR, a direct cis-acting switch to MBR occurs independently of DNA breakage, caused by ROS

  16. Persistent damaged bases in DNA allow mutagenic break repair in Escherichia coli.

    PubMed

    Moore, Jessica M; Correa, Raul; Rosenberg, Susan M; Hastings, P J

    2017-07-01

    Bacteria, yeast and human cancer cells possess mechanisms of mutagenesis upregulated by stress responses. Stress-inducible mutagenesis potentially accelerates adaptation, and may provide important models for mutagenesis that drives cancers, host pathogen interactions, antibiotic resistance and possibly much of evolution generally. In Escherichia coli repair of double-strand breaks (DSBs) becomes mutagenic, using low-fidelity DNA polymerases under the control of the SOS DNA-damage response and RpoS general stress response, which upregulate and allow the action of error-prone DNA polymerases IV (DinB), II and V to make mutations during repair. Pol IV is implied to compete with and replace high-fidelity DNA polymerases at the DSB-repair replisome, causing mutagenesis. We report that up-regulated Pol IV is not sufficient for mutagenic break repair (MBR); damaged bases in the DNA are also required, and that in starvation-stressed cells, these are caused by reactive-oxygen species (ROS). First, MBR is reduced by either ROS-scavenging agents or constitutive activation of oxidative-damage responses, both of which reduce cellular ROS levels. The ROS promote MBR other than by causing DSBs, saturating mismatch repair, oxidizing proteins, or inducing the SOS response or the general stress response. We find that ROS drive MBR through oxidized guanines (8-oxo-dG) in DNA, in that overproduction of a glycosylase that removes 8-oxo-dG from DNA prevents MBR. Further, other damaged DNA bases can substitute for 8-oxo-dG because ROS-scavenged cells resume MBR if either DNA pyrimidine dimers or alkylated bases are induced. We hypothesize that damaged bases in DNA pause the replisome and allow the critical switch from high fidelity to error-prone DNA polymerases in the DSB-repair replisome, thus allowing MBR. The data imply that in addition to the indirect stress-response controlled switch to MBR, a direct cis-acting switch to MBR occurs independently of DNA breakage, caused by ROS

  17. Non-DBS DNA Repair Genes Regulate Radiation-induced Cytogenetic Damage Repair and Cell Cycle Progression

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zhang, Ye; Rohde, Larry H.; Emami, Kamal; Casey, Rachael; Wu, Honglu

    2008-01-01

    Changes of gene expression profile are one of the most important biological responses in living cells after ionizing radiation (IR) exposure. Although some studies have shown that genes up-regulated by IR may play important roles in DNA damage repair, the relationship between the regulation of gene expression by IR, particularly genes not known for their roles in DSB repair, and its impact on cytogenetic responses has not been systematically studied. In the present study, the expression of 25 genes selected on the basis of their transcriptional changes in response to IR was individually knocked down by transfection with small interfering RNA in human fibroblast cells. The purpose of this study is to identify new roles of these selected genes on regulating DSB repair and cell cycle progression , as measured in the micronuclei formation and chromosome aberration. In response to IR, the formation of MN was significantly increased by suppressed expression of 5 genes: Ku70 in the DSB repair pathway, XPA in the NER pathway, RPA1 in the MMR pathway, and RAD17 and RBBP8 in cell cycle control. Knocked-down expression of 4 genes (MRE11A, RAD51 in the DSB pathway, SESN1, and SUMO1) significantly inhibited cell cycle progression, possibly because of severe impairment of DNA damage repair. Furthermore, loss of XPA, P21, or MLH1 expression resulted in both significantly enhanced cell cycle progression and increased yields of chromosome aberrations, indicating that these gene products modulate both cell cycle control and DNA damage repair. Most of the 11 genes that affected cytogenetic responses are not known to have clear roles influencing DBS repair. Nine of these 11 genes were up-regulated in cells exposed to gamma radiation, suggesting that genes transcriptionally modulated by IR were critical to regulate the biological consequences after IR.

  18. Cell birth, cell death, cell diversity and DNA breaks: how do they all fit together?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gilmore, E. C.; Nowakowski, R. S.; Caviness, V. S. Jr; Herrup, K.

    2000-01-01

    Substantial death of migrating and differentiating neurons occurs within the developing CNS of mice that are deficient in genes required for repair of double-stranded DNA breaks. These findings suggest that large-scale, yet previously unrecognized, double-stranded DNA breaks occur normally in early postmitotic and differentiating neurons. Moreover, they imply that cell death occurs if the breaks are not repaired. The cause and natural function of such breaks remains a mystery; however, their occurrence has significant implications. They might be detected by histological methods that are sensitive to DNA fragmentation and mistakenly interpreted to indicate cell death when no relationship exists. In a broader context, there is now renewed speculation that DNA recombination might be occurring during neuronal development, similar to DNA recombination in developing lymphocytes. If this is true, the target gene(s) of recombination and their significance remain to be determined.

  19. Telomere-Internal Double-Strand Breaks Are Repaired by Homologous Recombination and PARP1/Lig3-Dependent End-Joining.

    PubMed

    Doksani, Ylli; de Lange, Titia

    2016-11-01

    Shelterin protects chromosome ends from the DNA damage response. Although the mechanism of telomere protection has been studied extensively, the fate of double-strand breaks (DSBs) inside telomeres is not known. Here, we report that telomere-internal FokI-induced DSBs activate ATM kinase-dependent signaling in S-phase but are well tolerated and repaired efficiently. Homologous recombination contributes to repair, leading to increased telomere length heterogeneity typical of the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) pathway. Furthermore, cells accumulate extra chromosomal telomeric signals (ECTS), a second hallmark of ALT. Telomere-internal DSBs are also repaired by a PARP1- and Ligase3-dependent reaction, suggesting alternative non-homologous end-joining (alt-NHEJ), which relies on microhomology at DSBs. However, as resected telomere-internal DSBs have perfect homology, their PARP1/Lig3-dependent end-joining may be more akin to single strand break repair. We conclude that shelterin does not repress ATM kinase signaling or DSB repair at telomere-internal sites, thereby allowing DNA repair to maintain telomere integrity. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Evidence that MEK1 positively promotes interhomologue double-strand break repair

    PubMed Central

    Terentyev, Yaroslav; Johnson, Rebecca; Neale, Matthew J.; Khisroon, Muhammad; Bishop-Bailey, Anna; Goldman, Alastair S. H.

    2010-01-01

    During meiosis there is an imperative to create sufficient crossovers for homologue segregation. This can be achieved during repair of programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), which are biased towards using a homologue rather than sister chromatid as a repair template. Various proteins contribute to this bias, one of which is a meiosis specific kinase Mek1. It has been proposed that Mek1 establishes the bias by creating a barrier to sister chromatid repair, as distinct from enforcing strand invasion with the homologue. We looked for evidence that Mek1 positively stimulates strand invasion of the homologue. This was done by analysing repair of DSBs induced by the VMA1-derived endonuclease (VDE) and flanked by directly repeated sequences that can be used for intrachromatid single-strand annealing (SSA). SSA competes with interhomologue strand invasion significantly more successfully when Mek1 function is lost. We suggest the increase in intrachromosomal SSA reflects an opportunistic default repair pathway due to loss of a MEK1 stimulated bias for strand invasion of the homologous chromosome. Making use of an inhibitor sensitive mek1-as1 allele, we found that Mek1 function influences the repair pathway throughout the first4–5 h of meiosis. Perhaps reflecting a particular need to create bias for successful interhomologue events before chromosome pairing is complete. PMID:20223769

  1. DNA repair goes hip-hop: SMARCA and CHD chromatin remodellers join the break dance.

    PubMed

    Rother, Magdalena B; van Attikum, Haico

    2017-10-05

    Proper signalling and repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) is critical to prevent genome instability and diseases such as cancer. The packaging of DNA into chromatin, however, has evolved as a mere obstacle to these DSB responses. Posttranslational modifications and ATP-dependent chromatin remodelling help to overcome this barrier by modulating nucleosome structures and allow signalling and repair machineries access to DSBs in chromatin. Here we recap our current knowledge on how ATP-dependent SMARCA- and CHD-type chromatin remodellers alter chromatin structure during the signalling and repair of DSBs and discuss how their dysfunction impacts genome stability and human disease.This article is part of the themed issue 'Chromatin modifiers and remodellers in DNA repair and signalling'. © 2017 The Authors.

  2. PARP-1 and Ku compete for repair of DNA double strand breaks by distinct NHEJ pathways

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Minli; Wu, Weizhong; Wu, Wenqi; Rosidi, Bustanur; Zhang, Lihua; Wang, Huichen; Iliakis, George

    2006-01-01

    Poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase 1 (PARP-1) recognizes DNA strand interruptions in vivo and triggers its own modification as well as that of other proteins by the sequential addition of ADP-ribose to form polymers. This modification causes a release of PARP-1 from DNA ends and initiates a variety of responses including DNA repair. While PARP-1 has been firmly implicated in base excision and single strand break repair, its role in the repair of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) remains unclear. Here, we show that PARP-1, probably together with DNA ligase III, operates in an alternative pathway of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) that functions as backup to the classical pathway of NHEJ that utilizes DNA-PKcs, Ku, DNA ligase IV, XRCC4, XLF/Cernunnos and Artemis. PARP-1 binds to DNA ends in direct competition with Ku. However, in irradiated cells the higher affinity of Ku for DSBs and an excessive number of other forms of competing DNA lesions limit its contribution to DSB repair. When essential components of the classical pathway of NHEJ are absent, PARP-1 is recruited for DSB repair, particularly in the absence of Ku and non-DSB lesions. This form of DSB repair is sensitive to PARP-1 inhibitors. The results define the function of PARP-1 in DSB repair and characterize a candidate pathway responsible for joining errors causing genomic instability and cancer. PMID:17088286

  3. Mdt1 Facilitates Efficient Repair of Blocked DNA Double-Strand Breaks and Recombinational Maintenance of Telomeres▿

    PubMed Central

    Pike, Brietta L.; Heierhorst, Jörg

    2007-01-01

    DNA recombination plays critical roles in DNA repair and alternative telomere maintenance. Here we show that absence of the SQ/TQ cluster domain-containing protein Mdt1 (Ybl051c) renders Saccharomyces cerevisiae particularly hypersensitive to bleomycin, a drug that causes 3′-phospho-glycolate-blocked DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). mdt1Δ also hypersensitizes partially recombination-defective cells to camptothecin-induced 3′-phospho-tyrosyl protein-blocked DSBs. Remarkably, whereas mdt1Δ cells are unable to restore broken chromosomes after bleomycin treatment, they efficiently repair “clean” endonuclease-generated DSBs. Epistasis analyses indicate that MDT1 acts in the repair of bleomycin-induced DSBs by regulating the efficiency of the homologous recombination pathway as well as telomere-related functions of the KU complex. Moreover, mdt1Δ leads to severe synthetic growth defects with a deletion of the recombination facilitator and telomere-positioning factor gene CTF18 already in the absence of exogenous DNA damage. Importantly, mdt1Δ causes a dramatic shift from the usually prevalent type II to the less-efficient type I pathway of recombinational telomere maintenance in the absence of telomerase in liquid senescence assays. As telomeres resemble protein-blocked DSBs, the results indicate that Mdt1 acts in a novel blocked-end-specific recombination pathway that is required for the efficiency of both drug-induced DSB repair and telomerase-independent telomere maintenance. PMID:17636027

  4. Coupling between nucleotide excision repair and gene expression.

    PubMed

    Cambindo Botto, Adrián E; Muñoz, Juan C; Muñoz, Manuel J

    2018-05-17

    Gene expression and DNA repair are fundamental processes for life. During the last decade, accumulating experimental evidence point towards different modes of coupling between these processes. Here we discuss the molecular mechanisms by which RNAPII-dependent transcription affects repair by the Nucleotide Excision Repair system (NER) and how NER activity, through the generation of single stranded DNA intermediates and activation of the DNA damage response kinase ATR, drives gene expression in a genotoxic scenario. Since NER-dependent repair is compromised in Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) patients, and having in mind that these patients present a high degree of clinical heterogeneity, we speculate that some of the clinical features of XP patients can be explained by misregulation of gene expression.

  5. Chemical repair of base lesions, AP-sites, and strand breaks on plasmid DNA in dilute aqueous solution by ascorbic acid

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hata, Kuniki; Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4 Shirakatashirane, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki 319-1195; Urushibara, Ayumi

    Highlights: •We report a novel mechanism of radiation protection of DNA by chemical activity of ascorbic acid. •The “chemical repair” of DNA damage was revealed using biochemical assay and chemical kinetics analysis. •We found that ascorbic acid significantly repairs precursors of nucleobase lesions and abasic sites. •However, ascorbic acid seldom repairs precursors of DNA-strand breaks. -- Abstract: We quantified the damage yields produced in plasmid DNA by γ-irradiation in the presence of low concentrations (10–100 μM) of ascorbic acid, which is a major antioxidant in living systems, to clarify whether it chemically repairs radiation damage in DNA. The yield ofmore » DNA single strand breaks induced by irradiation was analyzed with agarose gel electrophoresis as conformational changes in closed circular plasmids. Base lesions and abasic sites were also observed as additional conformational changes by treating irradiated samples with glycosylase proteins. By comparing the suppression efficiencies to the induction of each DNA lesion, in addition to scavenging of the OH radicals derived from water radiolysis, it was found that ascorbic acid promotes the chemical repair of precursors of AP-sites and base lesions more effectively than those of single strand breaks. We estimated the efficiency of the chemical repair of each lesion using a kinetic model. Approximately 50–60% of base lesions and AP-sites were repaired by 10 μM ascorbic acid, although strand breaks were largely unrepaired by ascorbic acid at low concentrations. The methods in this study will provide a route to understanding the mechanistic aspects of antioxidant activity in living systems.« less

  6. Day and night variations in the repair of ionizing-radiation-induced DNA damage in mouse splenocytes.

    PubMed

    Palombo, Philipp; Moreno-Villanueva, Maria; Mangerich, Aswin

    2015-04-01

    In mammals, biological rhythms synchronize physiological and behavioral processes to the 24-h light-dark (LD) cycle. At the molecular level, self-sustaining processes, such as oscillations of transcription-translation feedback loops, control the circadian clock, which in turn regulates a wide variety of cellular processes, including gene expression and cell cycle progression. Furthermore, previous studies reported circadian oscillations in the repair capacity of DNA lesions specifically repaired by nucleotide excision repair (NER). However, it is so far only poorly understood if DNA repair pathways other than NER are under circadian control, in particular base excision and DNA strand break repair. In the present study, we analyzed potential day and night variations in the repair of DNA lesions induced by ionizing radiation (i.e., mainly oxidative damage and DNA strand breaks) in living mouse splenocytes using a modified protocol of the automated FADU assay. Our results reveal that splenocytes isolated from mice during the light phase (ZT06) displayed higher DNA repair activity than those of the dark phase (ZT18). As analyzed by highly sensitive and accurate qPCR arrays, these alterations were accompanied by significant differences in expression profiles of genes involved in the circadian clock and DNA repair. Notably, the majority of the DNA repair genes were expressed at higher levels during the light phase (ZT06). This included genes of all major DNA repair pathways with the strongest differences observed for genes of base excision and DNA double strand break repair. In conclusion, here we provide novel evidence that mouse splenocytes exhibit significant differences in the repair of IR-induced DNA damage during the LD cycle, both on a functional and on a gene expression level. It will be interesting to test if these findings could be exploited for therapeutic purposes, e.g. time-of-the-day-specific application of DNA-damaging treatments used against blood

  7. Detection of DNA double-strand breaks and chromosome translocations using ligation-mediated PCR and inverse PCR.

    PubMed

    Singh, Sheetal; Shih, Shyh-Jen; Vaughan, Andrew T M

    2014-01-01

    Current techniques for examining the global creation and repair of DNA double-strand breaks are restricted in their sensitivity, and such techniques mask any site-dependent variations in breakage and repair rate or fidelity. We present here a system for analyzing the fate of documented DNA breaks, using the MLL gene as an example, through application of ligation-mediated PCR. Here, a simple asymmetric double-stranded DNA adapter molecule is ligated to experimentally induced DNA breaks and subjected to seminested PCR using adapter- and gene-specific primers. The rate of appearance and loss of specific PCR products allows detection of both the break and its repair. Using the additional technique of inverse PCR, the presence of misrepaired products (translocations) can be detected at the same site, providing information on the fidelity of the ligation reaction in intact cells. Such techniques may be adapted for the analysis of DNA breaks and rearrangements introduced into any identifiable genomic location. We have also applied parallel sequencing for the high-throughput analysis of inverse PCR products to facilitate the unbiased recording of all rearrangements located at a specific genomic location.

  8. The MutSβ complex is a modulator of p53-driven tumorigenesis through its functions in both DNA double strand break repair and mismatch repair

    PubMed Central

    van Oers, Johanna M. M.; Edwards, Yasmin; Chahwan, Richard; Zhang, Weijia; Smith, Cameron; Pechuan, Joaquín; Schaetzlein, Sonja; Jin, Bo; Wang, Yuxun; Bergman, Aviv; Scharff, Matthew D.; Edelmann, Winfried

    2014-01-01

    Loss of the DNA mismatch repair protein MSH3 leads to the development of a variety of tumors in mice without significantly affecting survival rates, suggesting a modulating role for the MutSβ (MSH2-MSH3) complex in late onset tumorigenesis. To better study the role of MSH3 in tumor progression, we crossed Msh3−/− mice onto a tumor predisposing p53-deficient background. Survival of Msh3/p53 mice was not reduced compared to single p53 mutant mice; however, the tumor spectrum changed significantly from lymphoma to sarcoma, indicating MSH3 as a potent modulator of p53-driven tumorigenesis. Interestingly, Msh3−/− mouse embryonic fibroblasts displayed increased chromatid breaks and persistence of γH2AX foci following ionizing radiation, indicating a defect in DNA double strand break repair. Msh3/p53 tumors showed increased loss of heterozygosity, elevated genome-wide copy number variation, and a moderate microsatellite instability phenotype compared to Msh2/p53 tumors, revealing that MSH2-MSH3 suppresses tumorigenesis by maintaining chromosomal stability. Our results show that the MSH2-MSH3 complex is important for the suppression of late onset tumors due to its role in DNA double strand break repair as well as in DNA mismatch repair. Furthermore, they demonstrate that MSH2-MSH3 suppresses chromosomal instability and modulates the tumor spectrum in p53-deficient tumorigenesis, and possibly plays a role in other chromosomally unstable tumors as well. PMID:24013230

  9. Gene conversion is strongly induced in human cells by double-strand breaks and is modulated by the expression of BCL-x(L)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wiese, Claudia; Pierce, Andrew J.; Gauny, Stacey S.; Jasin, Maria; Kronenberg, Amy; Chatterjee, A. (Principal Investigator)

    2002-01-01

    Homology-directed repair (HDR) of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) contributes to the maintenance of genomic stability in rodent cells, and it has been assumed that HDR is of similar importance in DSB repair in human cells. However, some outcomes of homologous recombination can be deleterious, suggesting that factors exist to regulate HDR. We demonstrated previously that overexpression of BCL-2 or BCL-x(L) enhanced the frequency of X-ray-induced TK1 mutations, including loss of heterozygosity events presumed to arise by mitotic recombination. The present study was designed to test whether HDR is a prominent DSB repair pathway in human cells and to determine whether ectopic expression of BCL-x(L) affects HDR. Using TK6-neo cells, we find that a single DSB in an integrated HDR reporter stimulates gene conversion 40-50-fold, demonstrating efficient DSB repair by gene conversion in human cells. Significantly, DSB-induced gene conversion events are 3-4-fold more frequent in TK6 cells that stably overexpress the antiapoptotic protein BCL-X(L). Thus, HDR plays an important role in maintaining genomic integrity in human cells, and ectopic expression of BCL-x(L) enhances HDR of DSBs. This is the first study to highlight a function for BCL-x(L) in modulating DSB repair in human cells.

  10. High-coverage methylation data of a gene model before and after DNA damage and homologous repair.

    PubMed

    Pezone, Antonio; Russo, Giusi; Tramontano, Alfonso; Florio, Ermanno; Scala, Giovanni; Landi, Rosaria; Zuchegna, Candida; Romano, Antonella; Chiariotti, Lorenzo; Muller, Mark T; Gottesman, Max E; Porcellini, Antonio; Avvedimento, Enrico V

    2017-04-11

    Genome-wide methylation analysis is limited by its low coverage and the inability to detect single variants below 10%. Quantitative analysis provides accurate information on the extent of methylation of single CpG dinucleotide, but it does not measure the actual polymorphism of the methylation profiles of single molecules. To understand the polymorphism of DNA methylation and to decode the methylation signatures before and after DNA damage and repair, we have deep sequenced in bisulfite-treated DNA a reporter gene undergoing site-specific DNA damage and homologous repair. In this paper, we provide information on the data generation, the rationale for the experiments and the type of assays used, such as cytofluorimetry and immunoblot data derived during a previous work published in Scientific Reports, describing the methylation and expression changes of a model gene (GFP) before and after formation of a double-strand break and repair by homologous-recombination or non-homologous-end-joining. These data provide: 1) a reference for the analysis of methylation polymorphism at selected loci in complex cell populations; 2) a platform and the tools to compare transcription and methylation profiles.

  11. High-coverage methylation data of a gene model before and after DNA damage and homologous repair

    PubMed Central

    Pezone, Antonio; Russo, Giusi; Tramontano, Alfonso; Florio, Ermanno; Scala, Giovanni; Landi, Rosaria; Zuchegna, Candida; Romano, Antonella; Chiariotti, Lorenzo; Muller, Mark T.; Gottesman, Max E.; Porcellini, Antonio; Avvedimento, Enrico V.

    2017-01-01

    Genome-wide methylation analysis is limited by its low coverage and the inability to detect single variants below 10%. Quantitative analysis provides accurate information on the extent of methylation of single CpG dinucleotide, but it does not measure the actual polymorphism of the methylation profiles of single molecules. To understand the polymorphism of DNA methylation and to decode the methylation signatures before and after DNA damage and repair, we have deep sequenced in bisulfite-treated DNA a reporter gene undergoing site-specific DNA damage and homologous repair. In this paper, we provide information on the data generation, the rationale for the experiments and the type of assays used, such as cytofluorimetry and immunoblot data derived during a previous work published in Scientific Reports, describing the methylation and expression changes of a model gene (GFP) before and after formation of a double-strand break and repair by homologous-recombination or non-homologous-end-joining. These data provide: 1) a reference for the analysis of methylation polymorphism at selected loci in complex cell populations; 2) a platform and the tools to compare transcription and methylation profiles. PMID:28398335

  12. Epigenetic changes of DNA repair genes in cancer.

    PubMed

    Lahtz, Christoph; Pfeifer, Gerd P

    2011-02-01

    'Every Hour Hurts, The Last One Kills'. That is an old saying about getting old. Every day, thousands of DNA damaging events take place in each cell of our body, but efficient DNA repair systems have evolved to prevent that. However, our DNA repair system and that of most other organisms are not as perfect as that of Deinococcus radiodurans, for example, which is able to repair massive amounts of DNA damage at one time. In many instances, accumulation of DNA damage has been linked to cancer, and genetic deficiencies in specific DNA repair genes are associated with tumor-prone phenotypes. In addition to mutations, which can be either inherited or somatically acquired, epigenetic silencing of DNA repair genes may promote tumorigenesis. This review will summarize current knowledge of the epigenetic inactivation of different DNA repair components in human cancer.

  13. Hematopoietic Stem Cells from Ts65Dn Mice Are Deficient in the Repair of DNA Double-Strand Breaks.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yingying; Chang, Jianhui; Shao, Lijian; Feng, Wei; Luo, Yi; Chow, Marie; Du, Wei; Meng, Aimin; Zhou, Daohong

    2016-06-01

    Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra partial or whole copy of chromosome 21. In addition to musculoskeletal and neurodevelopmental abnormalities, children with DS exhibit various hematologic disorders and have an increased risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute megakaryocytic leukemia. Using the Ts65Dn mouse model, we investigated bone marrow defects caused by trisomy for 132 orthologs of the genes on human chromosome 21. The results showed that, although the total bone marrow cellularity as well as the frequency of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) was comparable between Ts65Dn mice and their age-matched euploid wild-type (WT) control littermates, human chromosome 21 trisomy led to a significant reduction in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) numbers and clonogenic function in Ts65Dn mice. We also found that spontaneous DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) were significantly increased in HSCs from the Ts65Dn mice, which was correlated with the significant reduction in HSC clonogenic activity compared to those from WT controls. Moreover, analysis of the repair kinetics of radiation-induced DSBs revealed that HSCs from Ts65Dn mice were less proficient in DSB repair than the cells from WT controls. This deficiency was associated with a higher sensitivity of Ts65Dn HSCs to radiation-induced suppression of HSC clonogenic activity than that of euploid HSCs. These findings suggest that an additional copy of genes on human chromosome 21 may selectively impair the ability of HSCs to repair DSBs, which may contribute to DS-associated hematological abnormalities and malignancies.

  14. Hematopoietic Stem Cells from Ts65Dn Mice Are Deficient in the Repair of DNA Double-Strand Breaks

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Yingying; Chang, Jianhui; Shao, Lijian; Feng, Wei; Luo, Yi; Chow, Marie; Du, Wei; Meng, Aimin; Zhou, Daohong

    2016-01-01

    Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra partial or whole copy of chromosome 21. In addition to musculoskeletal and neurodevelopmental abnormalities, children with DS exhibit various hematologic disorders and have an increased risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute megakaryocytic leukemia. Using the Ts65Dn mouse model, we investigated bone marrow defects caused by trisomy for 132 orthologs of the genes on human chromosome 21. The results showed that, although the total bone marrow cellularity as well as the frequency of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) was comparable between Ts65Dn mice and their age-matched euploid wild-type (WT) control littermates, human chromosome 21 trisomy led to a significant reduction in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) numbers and clonogenic function in Ts65Dn mice. We also found that spontaneous DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) were significantly increased in HSCs from the Ts65Dn mice, which was correlated with the significant reduction in HSC clonogenic activity compared to those from WT controls. Moreover, analysis of the repair kinetics of radiation-induced DSBs revealed that HSCs from Ts65Dn mice were less proficient in DSB repair than the cells from WT controls. This deficiency was associated with a higher sensitivity of Ts65Dn HSCs to radiation-induced suppression of HSC clonogenic activity than that of euploid HSCs. These findings suggest that an additional copy of genes on human chromosome 21 may selectively impair the ability of HSCs to repair DSBs, which may contribute to DS-associated hematological abnormalities and malignancies. PMID:27243896

  15. The Intertwined Roles of Transcription and Repair Proteins

    PubMed Central

    Fong, Yick W.; Cattoglio, Claudia; Tjian, Robert

    2014-01-01

    Transcription is apparently risky business. Its intrinsic mutagenic potential must be kept in check by networks of DNA repair factors that monitor the transcription process to repair DNA lesions that could otherwise compromise transcriptional fidelity and genome integrity. Intriguingly, recent studies point to an even more direct function of DNA repair complexes as co-activators of transcription and the unexpected role of “scheduled” DNA damage/repair at gene promoters. Paradoxically, spontaneous DNA double-strand breaks also induce ectopic transcription that is essential for repair. Thus, transcription, DNA damage and repair may be more physically and functionally intertwined than previously appreciated. PMID:24207023

  16. DNA repair gene XRCC1 polymorphisms, smoking, and bladder cancer risk.

    PubMed

    Stern, M C; Umbach, D M; van Gils, C H; Lunn, R M; Taylor, J A

    2001-02-01

    Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the United States. The main identified risk factor is cigarette smoking, which is estimated to contribute to up to 50% of new cases in men and 20% in women. Besides containing other carcinogens, cigarette smoke is a rich source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can induce a variety of DNA damage, some of which is repaired by the base excision repair (BER) pathway. The XRCC1 gene protein plays an important role in BER by serving as a scaffold for other repair enzymes and by recognizing single-strand DNA breaks. Three polymorphisms that induce amino acid changes have been found in codon 194 (exon 6), codon 280 (exon 9), and codon 399 (exon 10) of this gene. We tested whether polymorphisms in XRCC1 were associated with bladder cancer risk and whether this association was modified by cigarette smoking. Therefore, we genotyped for the three polymorphisms in 235 bladder cancer cases and 213 controls who had been frequency matched to cases on age, sex, and ethnicity. We found no evidence of an association between the codon 280 variant and bladder cancer risk [odds ratio (OR), 1.2; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.6-2.6]. We found some evidence of a protective effect for subjects that carried at least one copy of the codon 194 variant allele relative to those homozygous for the common allele (OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.3-1.0). The combined analysis with smoking history suggested a possible gene-exposure interaction; however, the results were not statistically significant. Similarly, for the codon 399 polymorphism, our data suggested a protective effect of the homozygous variant genotype relative to carriers of either one or two copies of the common allele (OR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.4-1.3), and provided limited evidence, albeit not statistically significant, for a gene-smoking interaction.

  17. Impact of Charged Particle Exposure on Homologous DNA Double-Strand Break Repair in Human Blood-Derived Cells

    PubMed Central

    Rall, Melanie; Kraft, Daniela; Volcic, Meta; Cucu, Aljona; Nasonova, Elena; Taucher-Scholz, Gisela; Bönig, Halvard; Wiesmüller, Lisa; Fournier, Claudia

    2015-01-01

    Ionizing radiation generates DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) which, unless faithfully repaired, can generate chromosomal rearrangements in hematopoietic stem and/or progenitor cells (HSPC), potentially priming the cells towards a leukemic phenotype. Using an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-based reporter system, we recently identified differences in the removal of enzyme-mediated DSB in human HSPC versus mature peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), particularly regarding homologous DSB repair (HR). Assessment of chromosomal breaks via premature chromosome condensation or γH2AX foci indicated similar efficiency and kinetics of radiation-induced DSB formation and rejoining in PBL and HSPC. Prolonged persistence of chromosomal breaks was observed for higher LET charged particles which are known to induce more complex DNA damage compared to X-rays. Consistent with HR deficiency in HSPC observed in our previous study, we noticed here pronounced focal accumulation of 53BP1 after X-ray and carbon ion exposure (intermediate LET) in HSPC versus PBL. For higher LET, 53BP1 foci kinetics was similarly delayed in PBL and HSPC suggesting similar failure to repair complex DNA damage. Data obtained with plasmid reporter systems revealed a dose- and LET-dependent HR increase after X-ray, carbon ion and higher LET exposure, particularly in HR-proficient immortalized and primary lymphocytes, confirming preferential use of conservative HR in PBL for intermediate LET damage repair. HR measured adjacent to the leukemia-associated MLL breakpoint cluster sequence in reporter lines revealed dose dependency of potentially leukemogenic rearrangements underscoring the risk of leukemia-induction by radiation treatment. PMID:26618143

  18. DNA double-strand break repair of blood lymphocytes and normal tissues analysed in a preclinical mouse model: implications for radiosensitivity testing.

    PubMed

    Rübe, Claudia E; Grudzenski, Saskia; Kühne, Martin; Dong, Xiaorong; Rief, Nicole; Löbrich, Markus; Rübe, Christian

    2008-10-15

    Radiotherapy is an effective cancer treatment, but a few patients suffer severe radiation toxicities in neighboring normal tissues. There is increasing evidence that the variable susceptibility to radiation toxicities is caused by the individual genetic predisposition, by subtle mutations, or polymorphisms in genes involved in cellular responses to ionizing radiation. Double-strand breaks (DSB) are the most deleterious form of radiation-induced DNA damage, and DSB repair deficiencies lead to pronounced radiosensitivity. Using a preclinical mouse model, the highly sensitive gammaH2AX-foci approach was tested to verify even subtle, genetically determined DSB repair deficiencies known to be associated with increased normal tissue radiosensitivity. By enumerating gammaH2AX-foci in blood lymphocytes and normal tissues (brain, lung, heart, and intestine), the induction and repair of DSBs after irradiation with therapeutic doses (0.1-2 Gy) was investigated in repair-proficient and repair-deficient mouse strains in vivo and blood samples irradiated ex vivo. gammaH2AX-foci analysis allowed to verify the different DSB repair deficiencies; even slight impairments caused by single polymorphisms were detected similarly in both blood lymphocytes and solid tissues, indicating that DSB repair measured in lymphocytes is valid for different and complex organs. Moreover, gammaH2AX-foci analysis of blood samples irradiated ex vivo was found to reflect repair kinetics measured in vivo and, thus, give reliable information about the individual DSB repair capacity. gammaH2AX analysis of blood and tissue samples allows to detect even minor genetically defined DSB repair deficiencies, affecting normal tissue radiosensitivity. Future studies will have to evaluate the clinical potential to identify patients more susceptible to radiation toxicities before radiotherapy.

  19. Genetic variation in DNA repair gene XRCC7 (G6721T) and susceptibility to breast cancer.

    PubMed

    Nasiri, Meysam; Saadat, Iraj; Omidvari, Shahpour; Saadat, Mostafa

    2012-08-15

    The human XRCC7 is a DNA double-strand break (DSBs) repair gene, involved in non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). It is speculated that DNA DSBs repair have an important role during development of breast cancer. The human XRCC7 is a NHEJ DSBs repair gene. Genetic variation G6721T of XRCC7 (rs7003908) is located in the intron 8 of the gene. This polymorphism may regulate splicing and cause mRNA instability. In the present study, we specifically investigated whether common G6721T genetic variant of XRCC7 was associated with an altered risk of breast cancer. The present study included 362 females with breast cancer. Age frequency-matched controls (362 persons) were randomly selected from the healthy female blood donors, according to the age distribution of the cases. Using RFLP-PCR based method, the polymorphism of XRCC7 was determined. The TG (OR=1.20, 95% CI: 0.83-1.74, P=0.320) and TT (OR=1.01, 95% CI: 0.67-1.53, P=0.933) genotypes had no significant effect on risk of breast cancer, in comparison with the GG genotype. Our present findings indicate that the TT and TG genotypes were not associated with an altered breast cancer risk. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. UCHL3 Regulates Topoisomerase-Induced Chromosomal Break Repair by Controlling TDP1 Proteostasis.

    PubMed

    Liao, Chunyan; Beveridge, Ryan; Hudson, Jessica J R; Parker, Jacob D; Chiang, Shih-Chieh; Ray, Swagat; Ashour, Mohamed E; Sudbery, Ian; Dickman, Mark J; El-Khamisy, Sherif F

    2018-06-12

    Genomic damage can feature DNA-protein crosslinks whereby their acute accumulation is utilized to treat cancer and progressive accumulation causes neurodegeneration. This is typified by tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterase 1 (TDP1), which repairs topoisomerase-mediated chromosomal breaks. Although TDP1 levels vary in multiple clinical settings, the mechanism underpinning this variation is unknown. We reveal that TDP1 is controlled by ubiquitylation and identify UCHL3 as the deubiquitylase that controls TDP1 proteostasis. Depletion of UCHL3 increases TDP1 ubiquitylation and turnover rate and sensitizes cells to TOP1 poisons. Overexpression of UCHL3, but not a catalytically inactive mutant, suppresses TDP1 ubiquitylation and turnover rate. TDP1 overexpression in the topoisomerase therapy-resistant rhabdomyosarcoma is driven by UCHL3 overexpression. In contrast, UCHL3 is downregulated in spinocerebellar ataxia with axonal neuropathy (SCAN1), causing elevated levels of TDP1 ubiquitylation and faster turnover rate. These data establish UCHL3 as a regulator of TDP1 proteostasis and, consequently, a fine-tuner of protein-linked DNA break repair. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Heat exposure enhances radiosensitivity by depressing DNA-PK kinase activity during double strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Ihara, Makoto; Takeshita, Satoshi; Okaichi, Kumio; Okumura, Yutaka; Ohnishi, Takeo

    2014-03-01

    From the role of double strand DNA dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) activity of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair for DNA double strand breaks (DSBs), we aim to define possible associations between thermo-sensitisation and the enzyme activities in X-ray irradiated cells. DNA-PKcs deficient mouse, Chinese hamster and human cultured cells were compared to the parental wild-type cells. The radiosensitivities, the number of DSBs and DNA-PKcs activities after heat-treatment were measured. Both DNA-PKcs deficient cells and the wild-type cells showed increased radiosensitivities after heat-treatment. The wild-type cells have two repair processes; fast repair and slow repair. In contrast, DNA-PKcs deficient cells have only the slow repair process. The fast repair component apparently disappeared by heat-treatment in the wild-type cells. In both cell types, additional heat exposure enhanced radiosensitivities. Although DNA-PKcs activity was depressed by heat, the inactivated DNA-PKcs activity recovered during an incubation at 37 °C. DSB repair efficiency was dependent on the reactivation of DNA-PKcs activity. It was suggested that NHEJ is the major process used to repair X-ray-induced DSBs and utilises DNA-PKcs activity, but homologous recombination repair provides additional secondary levels of DSB repair. The thermo-sensitisation in X-ray-irradiated cells depends on the inhibition of NHEJ repair through the depression of DNA-PKcs activities.

  2. The Mechanism of Double-Strand DNA Break Repair by the Nonhomologous DNA End Joining Pathway

    PubMed Central

    Lieber, Michael R.

    2011-01-01

    Double-strand DNA breaks are common events in eukaryotic cells, and there are two major pathways for repairing them: homologous recombination and nonhomologous DNA end joining (NHEJ). The diverse causes of DSBs result in a diverse chemistry of DNA ends that must be repaired. Across NHEJ evolution, the enzymes of the NHEJ pathway exhibit a remarkable degree of structural tolerance in the range of DNA end substrate configurations upon which they can act. In vertebrate cells, the nuclease, polymerases and ligase of NHEJ are the most mechanistically flexible and multifunctional enzymes in each of their classes. Unlike repair pathways for more defined lesions, NHEJ repair enzymes act iteratively, act in any order, and can function independently of one another at each of the two DNA ends being joined. NHEJ is critical not only for the repair of pathologic DSBs as in chromosomal translocations, but also for the repair of physiologic DSBs created during V(D)J recombination and class switch recombination. Therefore, patients lacking normal NHEJ are not only sensitive to ionizing radiation, but also severely immunodeficient. PMID:20192759

  3. DNA Repair in Drosophila: Mutagens, Models, and Missing Genes

    PubMed Central

    Sekelsky, Jeff

    2017-01-01

    The numerous processes that damage DNA are counterbalanced by a complex network of repair pathways that, collectively, can mend diverse types of damage. Insights into these pathways have come from studies in many different organisms, including Drosophila melanogaster. Indeed, the first ideas about chromosome and gene repair grew out of Drosophila research on the properties of mutations produced by ionizing radiation and mustard gas. Numerous methods have been developed to take advantage of Drosophila genetic tools to elucidate repair processes in whole animals, organs, tissues, and cells. These studies have led to the discovery of key DNA repair pathways, including synthesis-dependent strand annealing, and DNA polymerase theta-mediated end joining. Drosophila appear to utilize other major repair pathways as well, such as base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, and interstrand crosslink repair. In a surprising number of cases, however, DNA repair genes whose products play important roles in these pathways in other organisms are missing from the Drosophila genome, raising interesting questions for continued investigations. PMID:28154196

  4. Aging impairs double-strand break repair by homologous recombination in Drosophila germ cells.

    PubMed

    Delabaere, Laetitia; Ertl, Henry A; Massey, Dashiell J; Hofley, Carolyn M; Sohail, Faraz; Bienenstock, Elisa J; Sebastian, Hans; Chiolo, Irene; LaRocque, Jeannine R

    2017-04-01

    Aging is characterized by genome instability, which contributes to cancer formation and cell lethality leading to organismal decline. The high levels of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) observed in old cells and premature aging syndromes are likely a primary source of genome instability, but the underlying cause of their formation is still unclear. DSBs might result from higher levels of damage or repair defects emerging with advancing age, but repair pathways in old organisms are still poorly understood. Here, we show that premeiotic germline cells of young and old flies have distinct differences in their ability to repair DSBs by the error-free pathway homologous recombination (HR). Repair of DSBs induced by either ionizing radiation (IR) or the endonuclease I-SceI is markedly defective in older flies. This correlates with a remarkable reduction in HR repair measured with the DR-white DSB repair reporter assay. Strikingly, most of this repair defect is already present at 8 days of age. Finally, HR defects correlate with increased expression of early HR components and increased recruitment of Rad51 to damage in older organisms. Thus, we propose that the defect in the HR pathway for germ cells in older flies occurs following Rad51 recruitment. These data reveal that DSB repair defects arise early in the aging process and suggest that HR deficiencies are a leading cause of genome instability in germ cells of older animals. © 2016 The Authors. Aging Cell published by the Anatomical Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. The DNA-dependent protein kinase: a multifunctional protein kinase with roles in DNA double strand break repair and mitosis

    PubMed Central

    Jette, Nicholas; Lees-Miller, Susan P.

    2015-01-01

    The DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is a serine/threonine protein kinase composed of a large catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) and the Ku70/80 heterodimer. Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made in elucidating the role of DNA-PK in non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), the major pathway for repair of ionizing radiation-induced DNA double strand breaks in human cells and recently, additional roles for DNA-PK have been reported. In this review, we will describe the biochemistry, structure and function of DNA-PK, its roles in DNA double strand break repair and its newly described roles in mitosis and other cellular processes. PMID:25550082

  6. Histone Variant Regulates DNA Repair via Chromatin Condensation | Center for Cancer Research

    Cancer.gov

    Activating the appropriate DNA repair pathway is essential for maintaining the stability of the genome after a break in both strands of DNA. How a pathway is selected, however, is not well understood. Since these double strand breaks (DSBs) occur while DNA is packaged as chromatin, changes in its organization are necessary for repair to take place. Numerous alterations have been associated with DSBs, including modifications of histone tails and exchange of histone variants, some increasing chromatin accessibility, others reducing it. In fact, distinct domains flanking a single DSB have been observed that are bound by opposing repair pathway proteins 53BP1and BRCA1, which promote non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR), respectively. To investigate whether DSB-proximal chromatin reorganization affects repair pathway selection, Philipp Oberdoerffer, Ph.D., of CCR’s Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, and his colleagues performed a high-throughput RNA interference (RNAi) screen for chromatin-related genes that modulate HR.

  7. The Seed Repair Response during Germination: Disclosing Correlations between DNA Repair, Antioxidant Response, and Chromatin Remodeling in Medicago truncatula

    PubMed Central

    Pagano, Andrea; Araújo, Susana de Sousa; Macovei, Anca; Leonetti, Paola; Balestrazzi, Alma

    2017-01-01

    This work provides novel insights into the effects caused by the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) during Medicago truncatula seed germination, with emphasis on the seed repair response. Seeds treated with H2O and TSA (10 and 20 μM) were collected during imbibition (8 h) and at the radicle protrusion phase. Biometric data showed delayed germination and impaired seedling growth in TSA-treated samples. Comet assay, performed on radicles at the protrusion phase and 4-days old M. truncatula seedlings, revealed accumulation of DNA strand breaks upon exposure to TSA. Activation of DNA repair toward TSA-mediated genotoxic damage was evidenced by the up-regulation of MtOGG1(8-OXOGUANINE GLYCOSYLASE/LYASE) gene involved in the removal of oxidative DNA lesions, MtLIGIV(LIGASE IV) gene, a key determinant of seed quality, required for the rejoining of DNA double strand breaks and TDP(TYROSYL-DNA PHOSPHODIESTERASE) genes encoding the multipurpose DNA repair enzymes tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterases. Since radical scavenging can prevent DNA damage, the specific antioxidant activity (SAA) was measured by DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and Folin-Ciocalteu reagent assays. Fluctuations of SAA were observed in TSA-treated seeds/seedlings concomitant with the up-regulation of antioxidant genes MtSOD(SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE, MtAPX(ASCORBATE PEROXIDASE) and MtMT2(TYPE 2 METALLOTHIONEIN). Chromatin remodeling, required to facilitate the access of DNA repair enzymes at the damaged sites, is also part of the multifaceted seed repair response. To address this aspect, still poorly explored in plants, the MtTRRAP(TRANSFORMATION/TRANSACTIVATION DOMAIN-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN) gene was analyzed. TRRAP is a transcriptional adaptor, so far characterized only in human cells where it is needed for the recruitment of histone acetyltransferase complexes to chromatin during DNA repair. The MtTRRAP gene and the predicted interacting partners MtHAM2 (HISTONE ACETYLTRANSFERASE OF THE MYST

  8. The Small RNA GcvB Promotes Mutagenic Break Repair by Opposing the Membrane Stress Response

    PubMed Central

    Barreto, Brittany; Rogers, Elizabeth; Xia, Jun; Frisch, Ryan L.; Richters, Megan; Fitzgerald, Devon M.

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT Microbes and human cells possess mechanisms of mutagenesis activated by stress responses. Stress-inducible mutagenesis mechanisms may provide important models for mutagenesis that drives host-pathogen interactions, antibiotic resistance, and possibly much of evolution generally. In Escherichia coli, repair of DNA double-strand breaks is switched to a mutagenic mode, using error-prone DNA polymerases, via the SOS DNA damage and general (σS) stress responses. We investigated small RNA (sRNA) clients of Hfq, an RNA chaperone that promotes mutagenic break repair (MBR), and found that GcvB promotes MBR by allowing a robust σS response, achieved via opposing the membrane stress (σE) response. Cells that lack gcvB were MBR deficient and displayed reduced σS-dependent transcription but not reduced σS protein levels. The defects in MBR and σS-dependent transcription in ΔgcvB cells were alleviated by artificially increasing σS levels, implying that GcvB promotes mutagenesis by allowing a normal σS response. ΔgcvB cells were highly induced for the σE response, and blocking σE response induction restored both mutagenesis and σS-promoted transcription. We suggest that GcvB may promote the σS response and mutagenesis indirectly, by promoting membrane integrity, which keeps σE levels lower. At high levels, σE might outcompete σS for binding RNA polymerase and so reduce the σS response and mutagenesis. The data show the delicate balance of stress response modulation of mutagenesis. IMPORTANCE Mutagenesis mechanisms upregulated by stress responses promote de novo antibiotic resistance and cross-resistance in bacteria, antifungal drug resistance in yeasts, and genome instability in cancer cells under hypoxic stress. This paper describes the role of a small RNA (sRNA) in promoting a stress-inducible-mutagenesis mechanism, mutagenic DNA break repair in Escherichia coli. The roles of many sRNAs in E. coli remain unknown. This study shows that ΔgcvB cells

  9. The Small RNA GcvB Promotes Mutagenic Break Repair by Opposing the Membrane Stress Response.

    PubMed

    Barreto, Brittany; Rogers, Elizabeth; Xia, Jun; Frisch, Ryan L; Richters, Megan; Fitzgerald, Devon M; Rosenberg, Susan M

    2016-12-15

    Microbes and human cells possess mechanisms of mutagenesis activated by stress responses. Stress-inducible mutagenesis mechanisms may provide important models for mutagenesis that drives host-pathogen interactions, antibiotic resistance, and possibly much of evolution generally. In Escherichia coli, repair of DNA double-strand breaks is switched to a mutagenic mode, using error-prone DNA polymerases, via the SOS DNA damage and general (σ S ) stress responses. We investigated small RNA (sRNA) clients of Hfq, an RNA chaperone that promotes mutagenic break repair (MBR), and found that GcvB promotes MBR by allowing a robust σ S response, achieved via opposing the membrane stress (σ E ) response. Cells that lack gcvB were MBR deficient and displayed reduced σ S -dependent transcription but not reduced σ S protein levels. The defects in MBR and σ S -dependent transcription in ΔgcvB cells were alleviated by artificially increasing σ S levels, implying that GcvB promotes mutagenesis by allowing a normal σ S response. ΔgcvB cells were highly induced for the σ E response, and blocking σ E response induction restored both mutagenesis and σ S -promoted transcription. We suggest that GcvB may promote the σ S response and mutagenesis indirectly, by promoting membrane integrity, which keeps σ E levels lower. At high levels, σ E might outcompete σ S for binding RNA polymerase and so reduce the σ S response and mutagenesis. The data show the delicate balance of stress response modulation of mutagenesis. Mutagenesis mechanisms upregulated by stress responses promote de novo antibiotic resistance and cross-resistance in bacteria, antifungal drug resistance in yeasts, and genome instability in cancer cells under hypoxic stress. This paper describes the role of a small RNA (sRNA) in promoting a stress-inducible-mutagenesis mechanism, mutagenic DNA break repair in Escherichia coli The roles of many sRNAs in E. coli remain unknown. This study shows that ΔgcvB cells

  10. SAW1 is required for SDSA double-strand break repair in S. cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Diamante, Graciel; Phan, Claire; Celis, Angie S; Krueger, Jonas; Kelson, Eric P; Fischhaber, Paula L

    2014-03-14

    SAW1, coding for Saw1, is required for single-strand annealing (SSA) DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair in Saccharomycescerevisiae. Saw1 physically associates with Rad1 and Rad52 and recruits the Rad1-Rad10 endonuclease. Herein we show by fluorescence microscopy that SAW1 is similarly required for recruitment of Rad10 to sites of Synthesis-Dependent Strand Annealing (SDSA) and associates with sites of SDSA repair in a manner temporally overlapped with Rad10. The magnitude of induction of colocalized Saw1-CFP/Rad10-YFP/DSB-RFP foci in SDSA is more dramatic in S and G2 phase cells than in M phase, consistent with the known mechanism of SDSA. We observed a substantial fraction of foci in which Rad10 was localized to the repair site without Saw1, but few DSB sites that contained Saw1 without Rad10. Together these data are consistent with a model in which Saw1 recruits Rad1-Rad10 to SDSA sites, possibly even binding as a protein-protein complex, but departs the repair site in advance of Rad1-Rad10. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. XPD polymorphisms: effects on DNA repair proficiency.

    PubMed

    Lunn, R M; Helzlsouer, K J; Parshad, R; Umbach, D M; Harris, E L; Sanford, K K; Bell, D A

    2000-04-01

    XPD codes for a DNA helicase involved in transcription and nucleotide excision repair. Rare XPD mutations diminish nucleotide excision repair resulting in hypersensitivity to UV light and increased risk of skin cancer. Several polymorphisms in this gene have been identified but their impact on DNA repair is not known. We compared XPD genotypes at codons 312 and 751 with DNA repair proficiency in 31 women. XPD genotypes were measured by PCR-RFLP. DNA repair proficiency was assessed using a cytogenetic assay that detects X-ray induced chromatid aberrations (breaks and gaps). Chromatid aberrations were scored per 100 metaphase cells following incubation at 37 degrees C (1.5 h after irradiation) to allow for repair of DNA damage. Individuals with the Lys/Lys codon 751 XPD genotype had a higher number of chromatid aberrations (132/100 metaphase cells) than those having a 751Gln allele (34/100 metaphase cells). Individuals having greater than 60 chromatid breaks plus gaps were categorized as having sub-optimal repair. Possessing a Lys/Lys751 genotype increased the risk of sub-optimal DNA repair (odds ratio = 7.2, 95% confidence interval = 1.01-87.7). The Asp312Asn XPD polymorphism did not appear to affect DNA repair proficiency. These results suggest that the Lys751 (common) allele may alter the XPD protein product resulting in sub-optimal repair of X-ray-induced DNA damage.

  12. Oxidized Base Damage and Single-Strand Break Repair in Mammalian Genomes: Role of Disordered Regions and Posttranslational Modifications in Early Enzymes

    PubMed Central

    Hegde, Muralidhar L.; Izumi, Tadahide; Mitra, Sankar

    2012-01-01

    Oxidative genome damage induced by reactive oxygen species includes oxidized bases, abasic (AP) sites, and single-strand breaks, all of which are repaired via the evolutionarily conserved base excision repair/single-strand break repair (BER/SSBR) pathway. BER/SSBR in mammalian cells is complex, with preferred and backup sub-pathways, and is linked to genome replication and transcription. The early BER/SSBR enzymes, namely, DNA glycosylases (DGs) and the end-processing proteins such as abasic endonuclease 1 (APE1), form complexes with downstream repair (and other noncanonical) proteins via pairwise interactions. Furthermore, a unique feature of mammalian early BER/ SSBR enzymes is the presence of a disordered terminal extension that is absent in their Escherichia coli prototypes. These nonconserved segments usually contain organelle-targeting signals, common interaction interfaces, and sites of posttranslational modifications that may be involved in regulating their repair function including lesion scanning. Finally, the linkage of BER/SSBR deficiency to cancer, aging, and human neurodegenerative diseases, and therapeutic targeting of BER/SSBR are discussed. PMID:22749145

  13. An alternative mechanism for radioprotection by dimethyl sulfoxide; possible facilitation of DNA double-strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Kashino, Genro; Liu, Yong; Suzuki, Minoru; Masunaga, Shin-ichiro; Kinashi, Yuko; Ono, Koji; Tano, Keizo; Watanabe, Masami

    2010-01-01

    The radioprotective effects of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) have been known for many years, and the suppression of hydroxyl (OH) radicals induced by ionizing radiation has been thought to be the main cause of this effect. However, the DMSO concentration used was very high, and might be toxic, in earlier studies. In the present study, we administered a lower, non-toxic concentration (0.5%, i.e., 64 mM) of DMSO before irradiation and examined its radioprotective effects. Colony formation assay and micronucleus assay showed significant radioprotective effects in CHO, but not in xrs5, which is defective in the repair function of DNA double-strand breaks. The levels of phosphorylated H2AX and the formation of 53BP1 foci 15 minutes after irradiation, which might reflect initial DNA double-strand breaks, in DMSO-treated CHO cells were similar to those in non-treated cells, suggesting that the radioprotective effects were not attributable to the suppression of general indirect action in the lower concentration of DMSO. On the other hand, 2 hours after irradiation, the average number of 53BP1 foci, which might reflect residual DNA double-strand breaks, was significantly decreased in DMSO-treated CHO cells compared to non-treated cells. The results indicated that low concentration of DMSO exerts radioprotective effects through the facilitation of DNA double-strand break repair rather than through the suppression of indirect action.

  14. A critical role for topoisomerase IIb and DNA double strand breaks in transcription

    PubMed Central

    Calderwood, Stuart K.

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT Recent studies have indicated a novel role for topoisomerase IIb in transcription. Transcription of heat shock genes, serum-induced immediate early genes and nuclear receptor-activated genes, each required DNA double strands generated by topoisomerase IIb. Such strand breaks seemed both necessary and sufficient for transcriptional activation. In addition, such transcription was associated with initiation of the DNA damage response pathways, including the activation of the enzymes: ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM), DNA-dependent protein kinase and poly (ADP ribose) polymerase 1. DNA damage response signaling was involved both in transcription and in repair of DNA breaks generated by topoisomerase IIb. PMID:27100743

  15. A critical role for topoisomerase IIb and DNA double strand breaks in transcription.

    PubMed

    Calderwood, Stuart K

    2016-05-26

    Recent studies have indicated a novel role for topoisomerase IIb in transcription. Transcription of heat shock genes, serum-induced immediate early genes and nuclear receptor-activated genes, each required DNA double strands generated by topoisomerase IIb. Such strand breaks seemed both necessary and sufficient for transcriptional activation. In addition, such transcription was associated with initiation of the DNA damage response pathways, including the activation of the enzymes: ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM), DNA-dependent protein kinase and poly (ADP ribose) polymerase 1. DNA damage response signaling was involved both in transcription and in repair of DNA breaks generated by topoisomerase IIb.

  16. Human Cell Assays for Synthesis-Dependent Strand Annealing and Crossing over During Double-Strand Break Repair.

    PubMed

    Zapotoczny, Grzegorz; Sekelsky, Jeff

    2017-04-03

    DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are one of the most deleterious types of lesions to the genome. Synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA) is thought to be a major pathway of DSB repair, but direct tests of this model have only been conducted in budding yeast and Drosophila To better understand this pathway, we developed an SDSA assay for use in human cells. Our results support the hypothesis that SDSA is an important DSB repair mechanism in human cells. We used siRNA knockdown to assess the roles of a number of helicases suggested to promote SDSA. None of the helicase knockdowns reduced SDSA, but knocking down BLM or RTEL1 increased SDSA. Molecular analysis of repair products suggests that these helicases may prevent long-tract repair synthesis. Since the major alternative to SDSA (repair involving a double-Holliday junction intermediate) can lead to crossovers, we also developed a fluorescent assay that detects crossovers generated during DSB repair. Together, these assays will be useful in investigating features and mechanisms of SDSA and crossover pathways in human cells. Copyright © 2017 Zapotoczny and Sekelsky.

  17. Human Cell Assays for Synthesis-Dependent Strand Annealing and Crossing over During Double-Strand Break Repair

    PubMed Central

    Zapotoczny, Grzegorz; Sekelsky, Jeff

    2017-01-01

    DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are one of the most deleterious types of lesions to the genome. Synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA) is thought to be a major pathway of DSB repair, but direct tests of this model have only been conducted in budding yeast and Drosophila. To better understand this pathway, we developed an SDSA assay for use in human cells. Our results support the hypothesis that SDSA is an important DSB repair mechanism in human cells. We used siRNA knockdown to assess the roles of a number of helicases suggested to promote SDSA. None of the helicase knockdowns reduced SDSA, but knocking down BLM or RTEL1 increased SDSA. Molecular analysis of repair products suggests that these helicases may prevent long-tract repair synthesis. Since the major alternative to SDSA (repair involving a double-Holliday junction intermediate) can lead to crossovers, we also developed a fluorescent assay that detects crossovers generated during DSB repair. Together, these assays will be useful in investigating features and mechanisms of SDSA and crossover pathways in human cells. PMID:28179392

  18. Dynamic dependence on ATR and ATM for double-strand break repair in human embryonic stem cells and neural descendants.

    PubMed

    Adams, Bret R; Golding, Sarah E; Rao, Raj R; Valerie, Kristoffer

    2010-04-02

    The DNA double-strand break (DSB) is the most toxic form of DNA damage. Studies aimed at characterizing DNA repair during development suggest that homologous recombination repair (HRR) is more critical in pluripotent cells compared to differentiated somatic cells in which nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) is dominant. We have characterized the DNA damage response (DDR) and quality of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), and in vitro-derived neural cells. Resolution of ionizing radiation-induced foci (IRIF) was used as a surrogate for DSB repair. The resolution of gamma-H2AX foci occurred at a slower rate in hESCs compared to neural progenitors (NPs) and astrocytes perhaps reflective of more complex DSB repair in hESCs. In addition, the resolution of RAD51 foci, indicative of active homologous recombination repair (HRR), showed that hESCs as well as NPs have high capacity for HRR, whereas astrocytes do not. Importantly, the ATM kinase was shown to be critical for foci formation in astrocytes, but not in hESCs, suggesting that the DDR is different in these cells. Blocking the ATM kinase in astrocytes not only prevented the formation but also completely disassembled preformed repair foci. The ability of hESCs to form IRIF was abrogated with caffeine and siRNAs targeted against ATR, implicating that hESCs rely on ATR, rather than ATM for regulating DSB repair. This relationship dynamically changed as cells differentiated. Interestingly, while the inhibition of the DNA-PKcs kinase (and presumably non-homologous endjoining [NHEJ]) in astrocytes slowed IRIF resolution it did not in hESCs, suggesting that repair in hESCs does not utilize DNA-PKcs. Altogether, our results show that hESCs have efficient DSB repair that is largely ATR-dependent HRR, whereas astrocytes critically depend on ATM for NHEJ, which, in part, is DNA-PKcs-independent.

  19. Activation induced deaminase C-terminal domain links DNA breaks to end protection and repair during class switch recombination

    PubMed Central

    Zahn, Astrid; Eranki, Anil K.; Patenaude, Anne-Marie; Methot, Stephen P.; Fifield, Heather; Cortizas, Elena M.; Foster, Paul; Imai, Kohsuke; Durandy, Anne; Larijani, Mani; Verdun, Ramiro E.; Di Noia, Javier M.

    2014-01-01

    Activation-induced deaminase (AID) triggers antibody class switch recombination (CSR) in B cells by initiating DNA double strand breaks that are repaired by nonhomologous end-joining pathways. A role for AID at the repair step is unclear. We show that specific inactivation of the C-terminal AID domain encoded by exon 5 (E5) allows very efficient deamination of the AID target regions but greatly impacts the efficiency and quality of subsequent DNA repair. Specifically eliminating E5 not only precludes CSR but also, causes an atypical, enzymatic activity-dependent dominant-negative effect on CSR. Moreover, the E5 domain is required for the formation of AID-dependent Igh-cMyc chromosomal translocations. DNA breaks at the Igh switch regions induced by AID lacking E5 display defective end joining, failing to recruit DNA damage response factors and undergoing extensive end resection. These defects lead to nonproductive resolutions, such as rearrangements and homologous recombination that can antagonize CSR. Our results can explain the autosomal dominant inheritance of AID variants with truncated E5 in patients with hyper-IgM syndrome 2 and establish that AID, through the E5 domain, provides a link between DNA damage and repair during CSR. PMID:24591601

  20. DNA Double Strand Break Response and Limited Repair Capacity in Mouse Elongated Spermatids.

    PubMed

    Ahmed, Emad A; Scherthan, Harry; de Rooij, Dirk G

    2015-12-16

    Spermatids are extremely sensitive to genotoxic exposures since during spermiogenesis only error-prone non homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair pathways are available. Hence, genomic damage may accumulate in sperm and be transmitted to the zygote. Indirect, delayed DNA fragmentation and lesions associated with apoptotic-like processes have been observed during spermatid elongation, 27 days after irradiation. The proliferating spermatogonia and early meiotic prophase cells have been suggested to retain a memory of a radiation insult leading later to this delayed fragmentation. Here, we used meiotic spread preparations to localize phosphorylate histone H2 variant (γ-H2AX) foci marking DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) in elongated spermatids. This technique enabled us to determine the background level of DSB foci in elongated spermatids of RAD54/RAD54B double knockout (dko) mice, severe combined immunodeficiency SCID mice, and poly adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribose polymerase 1 (PARP1) inhibitor (DPQ)-treated mice to compare them with the appropriate wild type controls. The repair kinetics data and the protein expression patterns observed indicate that the conventional NHEJ repair pathway is not available for elongated spermatids to repair the programmed and the IR-induced DSBs, reflecting the limited repair capacity of these cells. However, although elongated spermatids express the proteins of the alternative NHEJ, PARP1-inhibition had no effect on the repair kinetics after IR, suggesting that DNA damage may be passed onto sperm. Finally, our genetic mutant analysis suggests that an incomplete or defective meiotic recombinational repair of Spo11-induced DSBs may lead to a carry-over of the DSB damage or induce a delayed nuclear fragmentation during the sensitive programmed chromatin remodeling occurring in elongated spermatids.

  1. MOF phosphorylation by ATM regulates 53BP1-mediated double-strand break repair pathway choice.

    PubMed

    Gupta, Arun; Hunt, Clayton R; Hegde, Muralidhar L; Chakraborty, Sharmistha; Chakraborty, Sharmistha; Udayakumar, Durga; Horikoshi, Nobuo; Singh, Mayank; Ramnarain, Deepti B; Hittelman, Walter N; Namjoshi, Sarita; Asaithamby, Aroumougame; Hazra, Tapas K; Ludwig, Thomas; Pandita, Raj K; Tyler, Jessica K; Pandita, Tej K

    2014-07-10

    Cell-cycle phase is a critical determinant of the choice between DNA damage repair by nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) or homologous recombination (HR). Here, we report that double-strand breaks (DSBs) induce ATM-dependent MOF (a histone H4 acetyl-transferase) phosphorylation (p-T392-MOF) and that phosphorylated MOF colocalizes with γ-H2AX, ATM, and 53BP1 foci. Mutation of the phosphorylation site (MOF-T392A) impedes DNA repair in S and G2 phase but not G1 phase cells. Expression of MOF-T392A also blocks the reduction in DSB-associated 53BP1 seen in wild-type S/G2 phase cells, resulting in enhanced 53BP1 and reduced BRCA1 association. Decreased BRCA1 levels at DSB sites correlates with defective repairosome formation, reduced HR repair, and decreased cell survival following irradiation. These data support a model whereby ATM-mediated MOF-T392 phosphorylation modulates 53BP1 function to facilitate the subsequent recruitment of HR repair proteins, uncovering a regulatory role for MOF in DSB repair pathway choice during S/G2 phase. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Molecular Mechanisms of Ultraviolet Radiation-Induced DNA Damage and Repair

    PubMed Central

    Rastogi, Rajesh P.; Richa; Kumar, Ashok; Tyagi, Madhu B.; Sinha, Rajeshwar P.

    2010-01-01

    DNA is one of the prime molecules, and its stability is of utmost importance for proper functioning and existence of all living systems. Genotoxic chemicals and radiations exert adverse effects on genome stability. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) (mainly UV-B: 280–315 nm) is one of the powerful agents that can alter the normal state of life by inducing a variety of mutagenic and cytotoxic DNA lesions such as cyclobutane-pyrimidine dimers (CPDs), 6-4 photoproducts (6-4PPs), and their Dewar valence isomers as well as DNA strand breaks by interfering the genome integrity. To counteract these lesions, organisms have developed a number of highly conserved repair mechanisms such as photoreactivation, base excision repair (BER), nucleotide excision repair (NER), and mismatch repair (MMR). Additionally, double-strand break repair (by homologous recombination and nonhomologous end joining), SOS response, cell-cycle checkpoints, and programmed cell death (apoptosis) are also operative in various organisms with the expense of specific gene products. This review deals with UV-induced alterations in DNA and its maintenance by various repair mechanisms. PMID:21209706

  3. Polymorphisms in DNA double-strand break repair genes and risk of breast cancer: two population-based studies in USA and Poland, and meta-analyses.

    PubMed

    García-Closas, Montserrat; Egan, Kathleen M; Newcomb, Polly A; Brinton, Louise A; Titus-Ernstoff, Linda; Chanock, Stephen; Welch, Robert; Lissowska, Jolanta; Peplonska, Beata; Szeszenia-Dabrowska, Neonila; Zatonski, Witold; Bardin-Mikolajczak, Alicja; Struewing, Jeffery P

    2006-05-01

    The double-strand break DNA repair pathway has been implicated in breast carcinogenesis. We evaluated the association between 19 polymorphisms in seven genes in this pathway (XRCC2, XRCC3, BRCA2, ZNF350, BRIP1, XRCC4, LIG4) and breast cancer risk in two population-based studies in USA (3,368 cases and 2,880 controls) and Poland (1,995 cases and 2,296 controls). These data suggested weak associations with breast cancer risk for XRCC3 T241M and IVS7-14A>G (pooled odds ratio (95% confidence interval): 1.18 (1.04-1.34) and 0.85 (0.73-0.98) for homozygous variant vs wild-type genotypes, respectively), and for an uncommon variant in ZNF350 S472P (1.24 (1.05-1.48)), with no evidence for study heterogeneity. The remaining variants examined had no significant relationships to breast cancer risk. Meta-analyses of studies in Caucasian populations, including ours, provided some support for a weak association for homozygous variants for XRCC3 T241M (1.16 (1.04-1.30); total of 10,979 cases and 10,423 controls) and BRCA2 N372H (1.13 (1.10-1.28); total of 13,032 cases and 13,314 controls), and no support for XRCC2 R188H (1.06 (0.59-1.91); total of 8,394 cases and 8,404 controls). In conclusion, the genetic variants evaluated are unlikely to have a substantial overall association with breast cancer risk; however, weak associations are possible for XRCC3 (T241M and IVS7-14A>G), BRCA2 N372H, and ZNF350 S472P. Evaluation of potential underlying gene-gene interactions or associations in population subgroups will require even larger sample sizes.

  4. A mechanistic explanation of popularity: genes, rule breaking, and evocative gene-environment correlations.

    PubMed

    Burt, Alexandra

    2009-04-01

    Previous work has suggested that the serotonergic system plays a key role in "popularity" or likeability. A polymorphism within the 5HT-sub(2A) serotonin receptor gene (-G1438A) has also been associated with popularity, suggesting that genes may predispose individuals to particular social experiences. However, because genes cannot code directly for others' reactions, any legitimate association should be mediated via the individual's behavior (i.e., genes-->behaviors-->social consequences), a phenomenon referred to as an evocative gene-environment correlation (rGE). The current study aimed to identify one such mediating behavior. The author focused on rule breaking given its prior links to both the serotonergic system and to increased popularity during adolescence. Two samples of previously unacquainted late-adolescent boys completed a peer-based interaction paradigm designed to assess their popularity. Analyses revealed that rule breaking partially mediated the genetic effect on popularity, thereby furthering our understanding of the biological mechanisms that underlie popularity. Moreover, the present results represent the first meaningfully explicated evidence that genes predispose individuals not only to particular behaviors but also to the social consequences of those behaviors. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

  5. Inherited DNA-Repair Gene Mutations in Men with Metastatic Prostate Cancer.

    PubMed

    Pritchard, Colin C; Mateo, Joaquin; Walsh, Michael F; De Sarkar, Navonil; Abida, Wassim; Beltran, Himisha; Garofalo, Andrea; Gulati, Roman; Carreira, Suzanne; Eeles, Rosalind; Elemento, Olivier; Rubin, Mark A; Robinson, Dan; Lonigro, Robert; Hussain, Maha; Chinnaiyan, Arul; Vinson, Jake; Filipenko, Julie; Garraway, Levi; Taplin, Mary-Ellen; AlDubayan, Saud; Han, G Celine; Beightol, Mallory; Morrissey, Colm; Nghiem, Belinda; Cheng, Heather H; Montgomery, Bruce; Walsh, Tom; Casadei, Silvia; Berger, Michael; Zhang, Liying; Zehir, Ahmet; Vijai, Joseph; Scher, Howard I; Sawyers, Charles; Schultz, Nikolaus; Kantoff, Philip W; Solit, David; Robson, Mark; Van Allen, Eliezer M; Offit, Kenneth; de Bono, Johann; Nelson, Peter S

    2016-08-04

    Inherited mutations in DNA-repair genes such as BRCA2 are associated with increased risks of lethal prostate cancer. Although the prevalence of germline mutations in DNA-repair genes among men with localized prostate cancer who are unselected for family predisposition is insufficient to warrant routine testing, the frequency of such mutations in patients with metastatic prostate cancer has not been established. We recruited 692 men with documented metastatic prostate cancer who were unselected for family history of cancer or age at diagnosis. We isolated germline DNA and used multiplex sequencing assays to assess mutations in 20 DNA-repair genes associated with autosomal dominant cancer-predisposition syndromes. A total of 84 germline DNA-repair gene mutations that were presumed to be deleterious were identified in 82 men (11.8%); mutations were found in 16 genes, including BRCA2 (37 men [5.3%]), ATM (11 [1.6%]), CHEK2 (10 [1.9% of 534 men with data]), BRCA1 (6 [0.9%]), RAD51D (3 [0.4%]), and PALB2 (3 [0.4%]). Mutation frequencies did not differ according to whether a family history of prostate cancer was present or according to age at diagnosis. Overall, the frequency of germline mutations in DNA-repair genes among men with metastatic prostate cancer significantly exceeded the prevalence of 4.6% among 499 men with localized prostate cancer (P<0.001), including men with high-risk disease, and the prevalence of 2.7% in the Exome Aggregation Consortium, which includes 53,105 persons without a known cancer diagnosis (P<0.001). In our multicenter study, the incidence of germline mutations in genes mediating DNA-repair processes among men with metastatic prostate cancer was 11.8%, which was significantly higher than the incidence among men with localized prostate cancer. The frequencies of germline mutations in DNA-repair genes among men with metastatic disease did not differ significantly according to age at diagnosis or family history of prostate cancer. (Funded by

  6. QUANTITATION OF INTRACELLULAR NAD(P)H IN LIVING CELLS CAN MONITOR AN IMBALANCE OF DNA SINGLE STRAND BREAK REPAIR IN REAL TIME

    EPA Science Inventory

    Quantitation of intracellular NAD(P)H in living cells can monitor an imbalance of DNA single strand break repair in real time.

    ABSTRACT

    DNA single strand breaks (SSBs) are one of the most frequent DNA lesions in genomic DNA generated either by oxidative stress or du...

  7. Mouse embryonic stem cells, but not somatic cells, predominantly use homologous recombination to repair double-strand DNA breaks.

    PubMed

    Tichy, Elisia D; Pillai, Resmi; Deng, Li; Liang, Li; Tischfield, Jay; Schwemberger, Sandy J; Babcock, George F; Stambrook, Peter J

    2010-11-01

    Embryonic stem (ES) cells give rise to all cell types of an organism. Since mutations at this embryonic stage would affect all cells and be detrimental to the overall health of an organism, robust mechanisms must exist to ensure that genomic integrity is maintained. To test this proposition, we compared the capacity of murine ES cells to repair DNA double-strand breaks with that of differentiated cells. Of the 2 major pathways that repair double-strand breaks, error-prone nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) predominated in mouse embryonic fibroblasts, whereas the high fidelity homologous recombinational repair (HRR) predominated in ES cells. Microhomology-mediated end joining, an emerging repair pathway, persisted at low levels in all cell types examined. The levels of proteins involved in HRR and microhomology-mediated end joining were highly elevated in ES cells compared with mouse embryonic fibroblasts, whereas those for NHEJ were quite variable, with DNA Ligase IV expression low in ES cells. The half-life of DNA Ligase IV protein was also low in ES cells. Attempts to increase the abundance of DNA Ligase IV protein by overexpression or inhibition of its degradation, and thereby elevate NHEJ in ES cells, were unsuccessful. When ES cells were induced to differentiate, however, the level of DNA Ligase IV protein increased, as did the capacity to repair by NHEJ. The data suggest that preferential use of HRR rather than NHEJ may lend ES cells an additional layer of genomic protection and that the limited levels of DNA Ligase IV may account for the low level of NHEJ activity.

  8. Members of the RAD52 Epistasis Group Contribute to Mitochondrial Homologous Recombination and Double-Strand Break Repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Stein, Alexis; Kalifa, Lidza; Sia, Elaine A

    2015-11-01

    Mitochondria contain an independently maintained genome that encodes several proteins required for cellular respiration. Deletions in the mitochondrial genome have been identified that cause several maternally inherited diseases and are associated with certain cancers and neurological disorders. The majority of these deletions in human cells are flanked by short, repetitive sequences, suggesting that these deletions may result from recombination events. Our current understanding of the maintenance and repair of mtDNA is quite limited compared to our understanding of similar events in the nucleus. Many nuclear DNA repair proteins are now known to also localize to mitochondria, but their function and the mechanism of their action remain largely unknown. This study investigated the contribution of the nuclear double-strand break repair (DSBR) proteins Rad51p, Rad52p and Rad59p in mtDNA repair. We have determined that both Rad51p and Rad59p are localized to the matrix of the mitochondria and that Rad51p binds directly to mitochondrial DNA. In addition, a mitochondrially-targeted restriction endonuclease (mtLS-KpnI) was used to produce a unique double-strand break (DSB) in the mitochondrial genome, which allowed direct analysis of DSB repair in vivo in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We find that loss of these three proteins significantly decreases the rate of spontaneous deletion events and the loss of Rad51p and Rad59p impairs the repair of induced mtDNA DSBs.

  9. Members of the RAD52 Epistasis Group Contribute to Mitochondrial Homologous Recombination and Double-Strand Break Repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    PubMed Central

    Stein, Alexis; Kalifa, Lidza; Sia, Elaine A.

    2015-01-01

    Mitochondria contain an independently maintained genome that encodes several proteins required for cellular respiration. Deletions in the mitochondrial genome have been identified that cause several maternally inherited diseases and are associated with certain cancers and neurological disorders. The majority of these deletions in human cells are flanked by short, repetitive sequences, suggesting that these deletions may result from recombination events. Our current understanding of the maintenance and repair of mtDNA is quite limited compared to our understanding of similar events in the nucleus. Many nuclear DNA repair proteins are now known to also localize to mitochondria, but their function and the mechanism of their action remain largely unknown. This study investigated the contribution of the nuclear double-strand break repair (DSBR) proteins Rad51p, Rad52p and Rad59p in mtDNA repair. We have determined that both Rad51p and Rad59p are localized to the matrix of the mitochondria and that Rad51p binds directly to mitochondrial DNA. In addition, a mitochondrially-targeted restriction endonuclease (mtLS-KpnI) was used to produce a unique double-strand break (DSB) in the mitochondrial genome, which allowed direct analysis of DSB repair in vivo in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We find that loss of these three proteins significantly decreases the rate of spontaneous deletion events and the loss of Rad51p and Rad59p impairs the repair of induced mtDNA DSBs. PMID:26540255

  10. Genomic survey and expression analysis of DNA repair genes in the genus Leptospira.

    PubMed

    Martins-Pinheiro, Marinalva; Schons-Fonseca, Luciane; da Silva, Josefa B; Domingos, Renan H; Momo, Leonardo Hiroyuki Santos; Simões, Ana Carolina Quirino; Ho, Paulo Lee; da Costa, Renata M A

    2016-04-01

    Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonosis with important economic and public health consequences and is caused by pathogenic leptospires. The genus Leptospira belongs to the order Spirochaetales and comprises saprophytic (L. biflexa), pathogenic (L. interrogans) and host-dependent (L. borgpetersenii) members. Here, we present an in silico search for DNA repair pathways in Leptospira spp. The relevance of such DNA repair pathways was assessed through the identification of mRNA levels of some genes during infection in animal model and after exposition to spleen cells. The search was performed by comparison of available Leptospira spp. genomes in public databases with known DNA repair-related genes. Leptospires exhibit some distinct and unexpected characteristics, for instance the existence of a redundant mechanism for repairing a chemically diverse spectrum of alkylated nucleobases, a new mutS-like gene and a new shorter version of uvrD. Leptospira spp. shares some characteristics from Gram-positive, as the presence of PcrA, two RecQ paralogs and two SSB proteins; the latter is considered a feature shared by naturally competent bacteria. We did not find a significant reduction in the number of DNA repair-related genes in both pathogenic and host-dependent species. Pathogenic leptospires were enriched for genes dedicated to base excision repair and non-homologous end joining. Their evolutionary history reveals a remarkable importance of lateral gene transfer events for the evolution of the genus. Up-regulation of specific DNA repair genes, including components of SOS regulon, during infection in animal model validates the critical role of DNA repair mechanisms for the complex interplay between host/pathogen.

  11. Explanation for excessive DNA single-strand breaks and endogenous repair foci in pluripotent mouse embryonic stem cells.

    PubMed

    Banáth, J P; Bañuelos, C A; Klokov, D; MacPhail, S M; Lansdorp, P M; Olive, P L

    2009-05-01

    Pluripotent mouse embryonic stem cells (mES cells) exhibit approximately 100 large gammaH2AX repair foci in the absence of measurable numbers of DNA double-strand breaks. Many of these cells also show excessive numbers of DNA single-strand breaks (>10,000 per cell) when analyzed using the alkaline comet assay. To understand the reasons for these unexpected observations, various methods for detecting DNA strand breaks were applied to wild-type mES cells and to mES cells lacking H2AX, ATM, or DNA-PKcs. H2AX phosphorylation and expression of other repair complexes were measured using flow and image analysis of antibody-stained cells. Results indicate that high numbers of endogenous gammaH2AX foci and single-strand breaks in pluripotent mES cells do not require ATM or DNA-PK kinase activity and appear to be associated with global chromatin decondensation rather than pre-existing DNA damage. This will limit applications of gammaH2AX foci analysis in mES cells to relatively high levels of initial or residual DNA damage. Excessive numbers of single-strand breaks in the alkaline comet assay can be explained by the vulnerability of replicating chromatin in mES cells to osmotic shock. This suggests that caution is needed in interpreting results with the alkaline comet assay when applied to certain cell types or after treatment with agents that make chromatin vulnerable to osmotic changes. Differentiation of mES cells caused a reduction in histone acetylation, gammaH2AX foci intensity, and DNA single-strand breakage, providing a link between chromatin structural organization, excessive gammaH2AX foci, and sensitivity of replicating mES cell chromatin to osmotic shock.

  12. [Studies of the repair of radiation-induced genetic damage in Drosophila]. Final progress report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hawley, R.S.

    1998-11-01

    This research focuses on the structure of the mei-41 gene and elucidation of the role the mei-41 gene product plays in both recombination and repair. Genetic and molecular studies are continuing on the mus308 locus and the mus312 and mei-9 genes. The author views mus312 as a very likely candidate for a gene required for both chromosome pairing/synopsis and for double strand break repair. A thorough genetic study has been initiated of this locus and of the cytology of the meiotic and mitotic defects of mutations at this locus.

  13. A soluble RecN homologue provides means for biochemical and genetic analysis of DNA double-strand break repair in Escherichia coli.

    PubMed

    Grove, Jane I; Wood, Stuart R; Briggs, Geoffrey S; Oldham, Neil J; Lloyd, Robert G

    2009-12-03

    RecN is a highly conserved, SMC-like protein in bacteria. It plays an important role in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks and is therefore a key factor in maintaining genome integrity. The insolubility of Escherichia coli RecN has limited efforts to unravel its function. We overcame this limitation by replacing the resident coding sequence with that of Haemophilus influenzae RecN. The heterologous construct expresses Haemophilus RecN from the SOS-inducible E. coli promoter. The hybrid gene is fully functional, promoting survival after I-SceI induced DNA breakage, gamma irradiation or exposure to mitomycin C as effectively as the native gene, indicating that the repair activity is conserved between these two species. H. influenzae RecN is quite soluble, even when expressed at high levels, and is readily purified. Its analysis by ionisation-mass spectrometry, gel filtration and glutaraldehyde crosslinking indicates that it is probably a dimer under physiological conditions, although a higher multimer cannot be excluded. The purified protein displays a weak ATPase activity that is essential for its DNA repair function in vivo. However, no DNA-binding activity was detected, which contrasts with RecN from Bacillus subtilis. RecN proteins from Aquifex aeolicus and Bacteriodes fragilis also proved soluble. Neither binds DNA, but the Aquifex RecN has weak ATPase activity. Our findings support studies indicating that RecN, and the SOS response in general, behave differently in E. coli and B. subtilis. The hybrid recN reported provides new opportunities to study the genetics and biochemistry of how RecN operates in E. coli.

  14. Mutagenic repair of double-stranded DNA breaks in vaccinia virus genomes requires cellular DNA ligase IV activity in the cytosol.

    PubMed

    Luteijn, Rutger David; Drexler, Ingo; Smith, Geoffrey L; Lebbink, Robert Jan; Wiertz, Emmanuel J H J

    2018-06-01

    Poxviruses comprise a group of large dsDNA viruses that include members relevant to human and animal health, such as variola virus, monkeypox virus, cowpox virus and vaccinia virus (VACV). Poxviruses are remarkable for their unique replication cycle, which is restricted to the cytoplasm of infected cells. The independence from the host nucleus requires poxviruses to encode most of the enzymes involved in DNA replication, transcription and processing. Here, we use the CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering system to induce DNA damage to VACV (strain Western Reserve) genomes. We show that targeting CRISPR/Cas9 to essential viral genes limits virus replication efficiently. Although VACV is a strictly cytoplasmic pathogen, we observed extensive viral genome editing at the target site; this is reminiscent of a non-homologous end-joining DNA repair mechanism. This pathway was not dependent on the viral DNA ligase, but critically involved the cellular DNA ligase IV. Our data show that DNA ligase IV can act outside of the nucleus to allow repair of dsDNA breaks in poxvirus genomes. This pathway might contribute to the introduction of mutations within the genome of poxviruses and may thereby promote the evolution of these viruses.

  15. Non-homologous end joining mediated DNA repair is impaired in the NUP98-HOXD13 mouse model for myelodysplastic syndrome.

    PubMed

    Puthiyaveetil, Abdul Gafoor; Reilly, Christopher M; Pardee, Timothy S; Caudell, David L

    2013-01-01

    Chromosomal translocations typically impair cell differentiation and often require secondary mutations for malignant transformation. However, the role of a primary translocation in the development of collaborating mutations is debatable. To delineate the role of leukemic translocation NUP98-HOXD13 (NHD13) in secondary mutagenesis, DNA break and repair mechanisms in stimulated mouse B lymphocytes expressing NHD13 were analyzed. Our results showed significantly reduced expression of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ)-mediated DNA repair genes, DNA Pkcs, DNA ligase4, and Xrcc4 leading to cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase. Our results showed that expression of NHD13 fusion gene resulted in impaired NHEJ-mediated DNA break repair. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. A double-strand break can trigger immunoglobulin gene conversion

    PubMed Central

    Bastianello, Giulia; Arakawa, Hiroshi

    2017-01-01

    All three B cell-specific activities of the immunoglobulin (Ig) gene re-modeling system—gene conversion, somatic hypermutation and class switch recombination—require activation-induced deaminase (AID). AID-induced DNA lesions must be further processed and dissected into different DNA recombination pathways. In order to characterize potential intermediates for Ig gene conversion, we inserted an I-SceI recognition site into the complementarity determining region 1 (CDR1) of the Ig light chain locus of the AID knockout DT40 cell line, and conditionally expressed I-SceI endonuclease. Here, we show that a double-strand break (DSB) in CDR1 is sufficient to trigger Ig gene conversion in the absence of AID. The pattern and pseudogene usage of DSB-induced gene conversion were comparable to those of AID-induced gene conversion; surprisingly, sometimes a single DSB induced multiple gene conversion events. These constitute direct evidence that a DSB in the V region can be an intermediate for gene conversion. The fate of the DNA lesion downstream of a DSB had more flexibility than that of AID, suggesting two alternative models: (i) DSBs during the physiological gene conversion are in the minority compared to single-strand breaks (SSBs), which are frequently generated following DNA deamination, or (ii) the physiological gene conversion is mediated by a tightly regulated DSB that is locally protected from non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or other non-homologous DNA recombination machineries. PMID:27701075

  17. More efficient repair of DNA double-strand breaks in skeletal muscle stem cells compared to their committed progeny.

    PubMed

    Vahidi Ferdousi, Leyla; Rocheteau, Pierre; Chayot, Romain; Montagne, Benjamin; Chaker, Zayna; Flamant, Patricia; Tajbakhsh, Shahragim; Ricchetti, Miria

    2014-11-01

    The loss of genome integrity in adult stem cells results in accelerated tissue aging and is possibly cancerogenic. Adult stem cells in different tissues appear to react robustly to DNA damage. We report that adult skeletal stem (satellite) cells do not primarily respond to radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) via differentiation and exhibit less apoptosis compared to other myogenic cells. Satellite cells repair these DNA lesions more efficiently than their committed progeny. Importantly, non-proliferating satellite cells and post-mitotic nuclei in the fiber exhibit dramatically distinct repair efficiencies. Altogether, reduction of the repair capacity appears to be more a function of differentiation than of the proliferation status of the muscle cell. Notably, satellite cells retain a high efficiency of DSB repair also when isolated from the natural niche. Finally, we show that repair of DSB substrates is not only very efficient but, surprisingly, also very accurate in satellite cells and that accurate repair depends on the key non-homologous end-joining factor DNA-PKcs. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  18. Activating Akt1 mutations alter DNA double strand break repair and radiosensitivity

    PubMed Central

    Oeck, S.; Al-Refae, K.; Riffkin, H.; Wiel, G.; Handrick, R.; Klein, D.; Iliakis, G.; Jendrossek, V.

    2017-01-01

    The survival kinase Akt has clinical relevance to radioresistance. However, its contributions to the DNA damage response, DNA double strand break (DSB) repair and apoptosis remain poorly defined and often contradictory. We used a genetic approach to explore the consequences of genetic alterations of Akt1 for the cellular radiation response. While two activation-associated mutants with prominent nuclear access, the phospho-mimicking Akt1-TDSD and the clinically relevant PH-domain mutation Akt1-E17K, accelerated DSB repair and improved survival of irradiated Tramp-C1 murine prostate cancer cells and Akt1-knockout murine embryonic fibroblasts in vitro, the classical constitutively active membrane-targeted myrAkt1 mutant had the opposite effects. Interestingly, DNA-PKcs directly phosphorylated Akt1 at S473 in an in vitro kinase assay but not vice-versa. Pharmacological inhibition of DNA-PKcs or Akt restored radiosensitivity in tumour cells expressing Akt1-E17K or Akt1-TDSD. In conclusion, Akt1-mediated radioresistance depends on its activation state and nuclear localization and is accessible to pharmacologic inhibition. PMID:28209968

  19. Determination of human DNA polymerase utilization for the repair of a model ionizing radiation-induced DNA strand break lesion in a defined vector substrate

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Winters, T. A.; Russell, P. S.; Kohli, M.; Dar, M. E.; Neumann, R. D.; Jorgensen, T. J.

    1999-01-01

    Human DNA polymerase and DNA ligase utilization for the repair of a major class of ionizing radiation-induced DNA lesion [DNA single-strand breaks containing 3'-phosphoglycolate (3'-PG)] was examined using a novel, chemically defined vector substrate containing a single, site-specific 3'-PG single-strand break lesion. In addition, the major human AP endonuclease, HAP1 (also known as APE1, APEX, Ref-1), was tested to determine if it was involved in initiating repair of 3'-PG-containing single-strand break lesions. DNA polymerase beta was found to be the primary polymerase responsible for nucleotide incorporation at the lesion site following excision of the 3'-PG blocking group. However, DNA polymerase delta/straightepsilon was also capable of nucleotide incorporation at the lesion site following 3'-PG excision. In addition, repair reactions catalyzed by DNA polymerase beta were found to be most effective in the presence of DNA ligase III, while those catalyzed by DNA polymerase delta/straightepsilon appeared to be more effective in the presence of DNA ligase I. Also, it was demonstrated that the repair initiating 3'-PG excision reaction was not dependent upon HAP1 activity, as judged by inhibition of HAP1 with neutralizing HAP1-specific polyclonal antibody.

  20. IDN2 Interacts with RPA and Facilitates DNA Double-Strand Break Repair by Homologous Recombination in Arabidopsis.

    PubMed

    Liu, Mingming; Ba, Zhaoqing; Costa-Nunes, Pedro; Wei, Wei; Li, Lanxia; Kong, Fansi; Li, Yan; Chai, Jijie; Pontes, Olga; Qi, Yijun

    2017-03-01

    Repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is critical for the maintenance of genome integrity. We previously showed that DSB-induced small RNAs (diRNAs) facilitate homologous recombination-mediated DSB repair in Arabidopsis thaliana Here, we show that INVOLVED IN DE NOVO2 (IDN2), a double-stranded RNA binding protein involved in small RNA-directed DNA methylation, is required for DSB repair in Arabidopsis. We find that IDN2 interacts with the heterotrimeric replication protein A (RPA) complex. Depletion of IDN2 or the diRNA binding ARGONAUTE2 leads to increased accumulation of RPA at DSB sites and mislocalization of the recombination factor RAD51. These findings support a model in which IDN2 interacts with RPA and facilitates the release of RPA from single-stranded DNA tails and subsequent recruitment of RAD51 at DSB sites to promote DSB repair. © 2017 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.

  1. p53 isoform Δ113p53/Δ133p53 promotes DNA double-strand break repair to protect cell from death and senescence in response to DNA damage.

    PubMed

    Gong, Lu; Gong, Hongjian; Pan, Xiao; Chang, Changqing; Ou, Zhao; Ye, Shengfan; Yin, Le; Yang, Lina; Tao, Ting; Zhang, Zhenhai; Liu, Cong; Lane, David P; Peng, Jinrong; Chen, Jun

    2015-03-01

    The inhibitory role of p53 in DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair seems contradictory to its tumor-suppressing property. The p53 isoform Δ113p53/Δ133p53 is a p53 target gene that antagonizes p53 apoptotic activity. However, information on its functions in DNA damage repair is lacking. Here we report that Δ113p53 expression is strongly induced by γ-irradiation, but not by UV-irradiation or heat shock treatment. Strikingly, Δ113p53 promotes DNA DSB repair pathways, including homologous recombination, non-homologous end joining and single-strand annealing. To study the biological significance of Δ113p53 in promoting DNA DSB repair, we generated a zebrafish Δ113p53(M/M) mutant via the transcription activator-like effector nuclease technique and found that the mutant is more sensitive to γ-irradiation. The human ortholog, Δ133p53, is also only induced by γ-irradiation and functions to promote DNA DSB repair. Δ133p53-knockdown cells were arrested at the G2 phase at the later stage in response to γ-irradiation due to a high level of unrepaired DNA DSBs, which finally led to cell senescence. Furthermore, Δ113p53/Δ133p53 promotes DNA DSB repair via upregulating the transcription of repair genes rad51, lig4 and rad52 by binding to a novel type of p53-responsive element in their promoters. Our results demonstrate that Δ113p53/Δ133p53 is an evolutionally conserved pro-survival factor for DNA damage stress by preventing apoptosis and promoting DNA DSB repair to inhibit cell senescence. Our data also suggest that the induction of Δ133p53 expression in normal cells or tissues provides an important tolerance marker for cancer patients to radiotherapy.

  2. Constitutional chromothripsis rearrangements involve clustered double-stranded DNA breaks and nonhomologous repair mechanisms.

    PubMed

    Kloosterman, Wigard P; Tavakoli-Yaraki, Masoumeh; van Roosmalen, Markus J; van Binsbergen, Ellen; Renkens, Ivo; Duran, Karen; Ballarati, Lucia; Vergult, Sarah; Giardino, Daniela; Hansson, Kerstin; Ruivenkamp, Claudia A L; Jager, Myrthe; van Haeringen, Arie; Ippel, Elly F; Haaf, Thomas; Passarge, Eberhard; Hochstenbach, Ron; Menten, Björn; Larizza, Lidia; Guryev, Victor; Poot, Martin; Cuppen, Edwin

    2012-06-28

    Chromothripsis represents a novel phenomenon in the structural variation landscape of cancer genomes. Here, we analyze the genomes of ten patients with congenital disease who were preselected to carry complex chromosomal rearrangements with more than two breakpoints. The rearrangements displayed unanticipated complexity resembling chromothripsis. We find that eight of them contain hallmarks of multiple clustered double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) on one or more chromosomes. In addition, nucleotide resolution analysis of 98 breakpoint junctions indicates that break repair involves nonhomologous or microhomology-mediated end joining. We observed that these eight rearrangements are balanced or contain sporadic deletions ranging in size between a few hundred base pairs and several megabases. The two remaining complex rearrangements did not display signs of DSBs and contain duplications, indicative of rearrangement processes involving template switching. Our work provides detailed insight into the characteristics of chromothripsis and supports a role for clustered DSBs driving some constitutional chromothripsis rearrangements. Copyright © 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Low joining efficiency and non-conservative repair of two distant double-strand breaks in mouse embryonic stem cells.

    PubMed

    Boubakour-Azzouz, Imenne; Ricchetti, Miria

    2008-02-01

    Efficient and faithful repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is critical for genome stability. To understand whether cells carrying a functional repair apparatus are able to efficiently heal two distant chromosome ends and whether this DNA lesion might result in genome rearrangements, we induced DSBs in genetically modified mouse embryonic stem cells carrying two I-SceI sites in cis separated by a distance of 9 kbp. We show that in this context non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) can repair using standard DNA pairing of the broken ends, but it also joins 3' non-complementary overhangs that require unusual joining intermediates. The repair efficiency of this lesion appears to be dramatically low and the extent of genome alterations was high in striking contrast with the spectra of repair events reported for two collinear DSBs in other experimental systems. The dramatic decline in accuracy suggests that significant constraints operate in the repair process of these distant DSBs, which may also control the low efficiency of this process. These findings provide important insights into the mechanism of repair by NHEJ and how this process may protect the genome from large rearrangements.

  4. DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Genes and Oxidative Damage in Brain Metastasis of Breast Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Evans, Lynda; Duchnowska, Renata; Reed, L. Tiffany; Palmieri, Diane; Qian, Yongzhen; Badve, Sunil; Sledge, George; Gril, Brunilde; Aladjem, Mirit I.; Fu, Haiqing; Flores, Natasha M.; Gökmen-Polar, Yesim; Biernat, Wojciech; Szutowicz-Zielińska, Ewa; Mandat, Tomasz; Trojanowski, Tomasz; Och, Waldemar; Czartoryska-Arlukowicz, Bogumiła; Jassem, Jacek; Mitchell, James B.

    2014-01-01

    Background Breast cancer frequently metastasizes to the brain, colonizing a neuro-inflammatory microenvironment. The molecular pathways facilitating this colonization remain poorly understood. Methods Expression profiling of 23 matched sets of human resected brain metastases and primary breast tumors by two-sided paired t test was performed to identify brain metastasis–specific genes. The implicated DNA repair genes BARD1 and RAD51 were modulated in human (MDA-MB-231-BR) and murine (4T1-BR) brain-tropic breast cancer cell lines by lentiviral transduction of cDNA or short hairpin RNA (shRNA) coding sequences. Their functional contribution to brain metastasis development was evaluated in mouse xenograft models (n = 10 mice per group). Results Human brain metastases overexpressed BARD1 and RAD51 compared with either matched primary tumors (1.74-fold, P < .001; 1.46-fold, P < .001, respectively) or unlinked systemic metastases (1.49-fold, P = .01; 1.44-fold, P = .008, respectively). Overexpression of either gene in MDA-MB-231-BR cells increased brain metastases by threefold to fourfold after intracardiac injections, but not lung metastases upon tail-vein injections. In 4T1-BR cells, shRNA-mediated RAD51 knockdown reduced brain metastases by 2.5-fold without affecting lung metastasis development. In vitro, BARD1- and RAD51-overexpressing cells showed reduced genomic instability but only exhibited growth and colonization phenotypes upon DNA damage induction. Reactive oxygen species were present in tumor cells and elevated in the metastatic neuro-inflammatory microenvironment and could provide an endogenous source of genotoxic stress. Tempol, a brain-permeable oxygen radical scavenger suppressed brain metastasis promotion induced by BARD1 and RAD51 overexpression. Conclusions BARD1 and RAD51 are frequently overexpressed in brain metastases from breast cancer and may constitute a mechanism to overcome reactive oxygen species–mediated genotoxic stress in the metastatic

  5. DNA double-strand break repair genes and oxidative damage in brain metastasis of breast cancer.

    PubMed

    Woditschka, Stephan; Evans, Lynda; Duchnowska, Renata; Reed, L Tiffany; Palmieri, Diane; Qian, Yongzhen; Badve, Sunil; Sledge, George; Gril, Brunilde; Aladjem, Mirit I; Fu, Haiqing; Flores, Natasha M; Gökmen-Polar, Yesim; Biernat, Wojciech; Szutowicz-Zielińska, Ewa; Mandat, Tomasz; Trojanowski, Tomasz; Och, Waldemar; Czartoryska-Arlukowicz, Bogumiła; Jassem, Jacek; Mitchell, James B; Steeg, Patricia S

    2014-07-01

    Breast cancer frequently metastasizes to the brain, colonizing a neuro-inflammatory microenvironment. The molecular pathways facilitating this colonization remain poorly understood. Expression profiling of 23 matched sets of human resected brain metastases and primary breast tumors by two-sided paired t test was performed to identify brain metastasis-specific genes. The implicated DNA repair genes BARD1 and RAD51 were modulated in human (MDA-MB-231-BR) and murine (4T1-BR) brain-tropic breast cancer cell lines by lentiviral transduction of cDNA or short hairpin RNA (shRNA) coding sequences. Their functional contribution to brain metastasis development was evaluated in mouse xenograft models (n = 10 mice per group). Human brain metastases overexpressed BARD1 and RAD51 compared with either matched primary tumors (1.74-fold, P < .001; 1.46-fold, P < .001, respectively) or unlinked systemic metastases (1.49-fold, P = .01; 1.44-fold, P = .008, respectively). Overexpression of either gene in MDA-MB-231-BR cells increased brain metastases by threefold to fourfold after intracardiac injections, but not lung metastases upon tail-vein injections. In 4T1-BR cells, shRNA-mediated RAD51 knockdown reduced brain metastases by 2.5-fold without affecting lung metastasis development. In vitro, BARD1- and RAD51-overexpressing cells showed reduced genomic instability but only exhibited growth and colonization phenotypes upon DNA damage induction. Reactive oxygen species were present in tumor cells and elevated in the metastatic neuro-inflammatory microenvironment and could provide an endogenous source of genotoxic stress. Tempol, a brain-permeable oxygen radical scavenger suppressed brain metastasis promotion induced by BARD1 and RAD51 overexpression. BARD1 and RAD51 are frequently overexpressed in brain metastases from breast cancer and may constitute a mechanism to overcome reactive oxygen species-mediated genotoxic stress in the metastatic brain. Published by Oxford University Press

  6. SIRT6 stabilizes DNA-dependent Protein Kinase at chromatin for DNA double-strand break repair

    PubMed Central

    McCord, Ronald A.; Michishita, Eriko; Hong, Tao; Berber, Elisabeth; Boxer, Lisa D.; Kusumoto, Rika; Guan, Shenheng; Shi, Xiaobing; Gozani, Or; Burlingame, Alma L.; Bohr, Vilhelm A.; Chua, Katrin F.

    2009-01-01

    The Sir2 chromatin regulatory factor links maintenance of genomic stability to life span extension in yeast. The mammalian Sir2 family member SIRT6 has been proposed to have analogous functions, because SIRT6-deficiency leads to shortened life span and an aging-like degenerative phenotype in mice, and SIRT6 knockout cells exhibit genomic instability and DNA damage hypersensitivity. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these defects are not fully understood. Here, we show that SIRT6 forms a macromolecular complex with the DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair factor DNA-PK (DNA-dependent protein kinase) and promotes DNA DSB repair. In response to DSBs, SIRT6 associates dynamically with chromatin and is necessary for an acute decrease in global cellular acetylation levels on histone H3 Lysine 9. Moreover, SIRT6 is required for mobilization of the DNA-PK catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) to chromatin in response to DNA damage and stabilizes DNA-PKcs at chromatin adjacent to an induced site-specific DSB. Abrogation of these SIRT6 activities leads to impaired resolution of DSBs. Together, these findings elucidate a mechanism whereby regulation of dynamic interaction of a DNA repair factor with chromatin impacts on the efficiency of repair, and establish a link between chromatin regulation, DNA repair, and a mammalian Sir2 factor. PMID:20157594

  7. Inactivation of the budding yeast cohesin loader Scc2 alters gene expression both globally and in response to a single DNA double strand break

    PubMed Central

    Lindgren, Emma; Hägg, Sara; Giordano, Fosco; Björkegren, Johan; Ström, Lena

    2014-01-01

    Genome integrity is fundamental for cell survival and cell cycle progression. Important mechanisms for keeping the genome intact are proper sister chromatid segregation, correct gene regulation and efficient repair of damaged DNA. Cohesin and its DNA loader, the Scc2/4 complex have been implicated in all these cellular actions. The gene regulation role has been described in several organisms. In yeast it has been suggested that the proteins in the cohesin network would effect transcription based on its role as insulator. More recently, data are emerging indicating direct roles for gene regulation also in yeast. Here we extend these studies by investigating whether the cohesin loader Scc2 is involved in regulation of gene expression. We performed global gene expression profiling in the absence and presence of DNA damage, in wild type and Scc2 deficient G2/M arrested cells, when it is known that Scc2 is important for DNA double strand break repair and formation of damage induced cohesion. We found that not only the DNA damage specific transcriptional response is distorted after inactivation of Scc2 but also the overall transcription profile. Interestingly, these alterations did not correlate with changes in cohesin binding. PMID:25483075

  8. Synthetic lethality in DNA repair network: A novel avenue in targeted cancer therapy and combination therapeutics.

    PubMed

    Bhattacharjee, Sonali; Nandi, Saikat

    2017-12-01

    Synthetic lethality refers to a lethal phenotype that results from the simultaneous disruptions of two genes, while the disruption of either gene alone is viable. Many DNA double strand break repair (DSBR) genes have synthetic lethal relationships with oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, which can be exploited for targeted cancer therapy, an approach referred to as combination therapy. DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are one of the most toxic lesions to a cell and can be repaired by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or homologous recombination (HR). HR and NHEJ genes are particularly attractive targets for cancer therapy because these genes have altered expression patterns in cancer cells when compared with normal cells and these genetic abnormalities can be targeted for selectively killing cancer cells. Here, we review recent advances in the development of small molecule inhibitors against HR and NHEJ genes to induce synthetic lethality and address the future directions and clinical relevance of this approach. © 2017 IUBMB Life, 69(12):929-937, 2017. © 2017 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

  9. DNA repair genes polymorphisms and genetic susceptibility to Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms in a Portuguese population: The role of base excision repair genes polymorphisms.

    PubMed

    Azevedo, Ana P; Silva, Susana N; De Lima, João P; Reichert, Alice; Lima, Fernando; Júnior, Esmeraldina; Rueff, José

    2017-06-01

    The role of base excision repair (BER) genes in Philadelphia-negative (PN)-myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) susceptibility was evaluated by genotyping eight polymorphisms [apurinic/apyrimidinic endodeoxyribonuclease 1, mutY DNA glycosylase, earlier mutY homolog ( E. coli ) (MUTYH), 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) 1, PARP4 and X-ray repair cross-complementing 1 (XRCC1)] in a case-control study involving 133 Caucasian Portuguese patients. The results did not reveal a correlation between individual BER polymorphisms and PN-MPNs when considered as a whole. However, stratification for essential thrombocythaemia revealed i) borderline effect/tendency to increased risk when carrying at least one variant allele for XRCC1_399 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP); ii) decreased risk for Janus kinase 2-positive patients carrying at least one variant allele for XRCC1_399 SNP; and iii) decreased risk in females carrying at least one variant allele for MUTYH SNP. Combination of alleles demonstrated an increased risk to PN-MPNs for one specific haplogroup. These findings may provide evidence for gene variants in susceptibility to MPNs. Indeed, common variants in DNA repair genes may hamper the capacity to repair DNA, thus increasing cancer susceptibility.

  10. DNA repair genes polymorphisms and genetic susceptibility to Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms in a Portuguese population: The role of base excision repair genes polymorphisms

    PubMed Central

    Azevedo, Ana P.; Silva, Susana N.; De Lima, João P.; Reichert, Alice; Lima, Fernando; Júnior, Esmeraldina; Rueff, José

    2017-01-01

    The role of base excision repair (BER) genes in Philadelphia-negative (PN)-myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) susceptibility was evaluated by genotyping eight polymorphisms [apurinic/apyrimidinic endodeoxyribonuclease 1, mutY DNA glycosylase, earlier mutY homolog (E. coli) (MUTYH), 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) 1, PARP4 and X-ray repair cross-complementing 1 (XRCC1)] in a case-control study involving 133 Caucasian Portuguese patients. The results did not reveal a correlation between individual BER polymorphisms and PN-MPNs when considered as a whole. However, stratification for essential thrombocythaemia revealed i) borderline effect/tendency to increased risk when carrying at least one variant allele for XRCC1_399 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP); ii) decreased risk for Janus kinase 2-positive patients carrying at least one variant allele for XRCC1_399 SNP; and iii) decreased risk in females carrying at least one variant allele for MUTYH SNP. Combination of alleles demonstrated an increased risk to PN-MPNs for one specific haplogroup. These findings may provide evidence for gene variants in susceptibility to MPNs. Indeed, common variants in DNA repair genes may hamper the capacity to repair DNA, thus increasing cancer susceptibility. PMID:28599464

  11. Mutational analysis of the human nucleotide excision repair gene ERCC1.

    PubMed Central

    Sijbers, A M; van der Spek, P J; Odijk, H; van den Berg, J; van Duin, M; Westerveld, A; Jaspers, N G; Bootsma, D; Hoeijmakers, J H

    1996-01-01

    The human DNA repair protein ERCC1 resides in a complex together with the ERCC4, ERCC11 and XP-F correcting activities, thought to perform the 5' strand incision during nucleotide excision repair (NER). Its yeast counterpart, RAD1-RAD10, has an additional engagement in a mitotic recombination pathway, probably required for repair of DNA cross-links. Mutational analysis revealed that the poorly conserved N-terminal 91 amino acids of ERCC1 are dispensable for both repair functions, in contrast to a deletion of only four residues from the C-terminus. A database search revealed a strongly conserved motif in this C-terminus sharing sequence homology with many DNA break processing proteins, indicating that this part is primarily required for the presumed structure-specific endonuclease activity of ERCC1. Most missense mutations in the central region give rise to an unstable protein (complex). Accordingly, we found that free ERCC1 is very rapidly degraded, suggesting that protein-protein interactions provide stability. Survival experiments show that the removal of cross-links requires less ERCC1 than UV repair. This suggests that the ERCC1-dependent step in cross-link repair occurs outside the context of NER and provides an explanation for the phenotype of the human repair syndrome xeroderma pigmentosum group F. PMID:8811092

  12. Altered Hematopoiesis in Mice Lacking DNA Polymerase μ Is Due to Inefficient Double-Strand Break Repair

    PubMed Central

    Lucas, Daniel; Escudero, Beatriz; Ligos, José Manuel; Segovia, Jose Carlos; Estrada, Juan Camilo; Terrados, Gloria; Blanco, Luis; Samper, Enrique; Bernad, Antonio

    2009-01-01

    Polymerase mu (Polμ) is an error-prone, DNA-directed DNA polymerase that participates in non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) repair. In vivo, Polμ deficiency results in impaired Vκ-Jκ recombination and altered somatic hypermutation and centroblast development. In Polμ−/− mice, hematopoietic development was defective in several peripheral and bone marrow (BM) cell populations, with about a 40% decrease in BM cell number that affected several hematopoietic lineages. Hematopoietic progenitors were reduced both in number and in expansion potential. The observed phenotype correlates with a reduced efficiency in DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair in hematopoietic tissue. Whole-body γ-irradiation revealed that Polμ also plays a role in DSB repair in non-hematopoietic tissues. Our results show that Polμ function is required for physiological hematopoietic development with an important role in maintaining early progenitor cell homeostasis and genetic stability in hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic tissues. PMID:19229323

  13. XLS (c9orf142) is a new component of mammalian DNA double-stranded break repair.

    PubMed

    Craxton, A; Somers, J; Munnur, D; Jukes-Jones, R; Cain, K; Malewicz, M

    2015-06-01

    Repair of double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) in mammalian cells primarily occurs by the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway, which requires seven core proteins (Ku70/Ku86, DNA-PKcs (DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit), Artemis, XRCC4-like factor (XLF), XRCC4 and DNA ligase IV). Here we show using combined affinity purification and mass spectrometry that DNA-PKcs co-purifies with all known core NHEJ factors. Furthermore, we have identified a novel evolutionary conserved protein associated with DNA-PKcs-c9orf142. Computer-based modelling of c9orf142 predicted a structure very similar to XRCC4, hence we have named c9orf142-XLS (XRCC4-like small protein). Depletion of c9orf142/XLS in cells impaired DSB repair consistent with a defect in NHEJ. Furthermore, c9orf142/XLS interacted with other core NHEJ factors. These results demonstrate the existence of a new component of the NHEJ DNA repair pathway in mammalian cells.

  14. Tetrameric Ctp1 coordinates DNA binding and DNA bridging in DNA double-strand-break repair

    DOE PAGES

    Andres, Sara N.; Appel, C. Denise; Westmoreland, James W.; ...

    2015-01-12

    Ctp1 (also known as CtIP or Sae2) collaborates with Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 to initiate repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), but its functions remain enigmatic. In this paper, we report that tetrameric Schizosaccharomyces pombe Ctp1 contains multivalent DNA-binding and DNA-bridging activities. Through structural and biophysical analyses of the Ctp1 tetramer, we define the salient features of Ctp1 architecture: an N-terminal interlocking tetrameric helical dimer-of-dimers (THDD) domain and a central intrinsically disordered region (IDR) linked to C-terminal 'RHR' DNA-interaction motifs. The THDD, IDR and RHR are required for Ctp1 DNA-bridging activity in vitro, and both the THDD and RHR are required for efficientmore » DSB repair in S. pombe. Finally, our results establish non-nucleolytic roles of Ctp1 in binding and coordination of DSB-repair intermediates and suggest that ablation of human CtIP DNA binding by truncating mutations underlie the CtIP-linked Seckel and Jawad syndromes.« less

  15. DNA double-strand-break complexity levels and their possible contributions to the probability for error-prone processing and repair pathway choice.

    PubMed

    Schipler, Agnes; Iliakis, George

    2013-09-01

    Although the DNA double-strand break (DSB) is defined as a rupture in the double-stranded DNA molecule that can occur without chemical modification in any of the constituent building blocks, it is recognized that this form is restricted to enzyme-induced DSBs. DSBs generated by physical or chemical agents can include at the break site a spectrum of base alterations (lesions). The nature and number of such chemical alterations define the complexity of the DSB and are considered putative determinants for repair pathway choice and the probability that errors will occur during this processing. As the pathways engaged in DSB processing show distinct and frequently inherent propensities for errors, pathway choice also defines the error-levels cells opt to accept. Here, we present a classification of DSBs on the basis of increasing complexity and discuss how complexity may affect processing, as well as how it may cause lethal or carcinogenic processing errors. By critically analyzing the characteristics of DSB repair pathways, we suggest that all repair pathways can in principle remove lesions clustering at the DSB but are likely to fail when they encounter clusters of DSBs that cause a local form of chromothripsis. In the same framework, we also analyze the rational of DSB repair pathway choice.

  16. DNA double-strand–break complexity levels and their possible contributions to the probability for error-prone processing and repair pathway choice

    PubMed Central

    Schipler, Agnes; Iliakis, George

    2013-01-01

    Although the DNA double-strand break (DSB) is defined as a rupture in the double-stranded DNA molecule that can occur without chemical modification in any of the constituent building blocks, it is recognized that this form is restricted to enzyme-induced DSBs. DSBs generated by physical or chemical agents can include at the break site a spectrum of base alterations (lesions). The nature and number of such chemical alterations define the complexity of the DSB and are considered putative determinants for repair pathway choice and the probability that errors will occur during this processing. As the pathways engaged in DSB processing show distinct and frequently inherent propensities for errors, pathway choice also defines the error-levels cells opt to accept. Here, we present a classification of DSBs on the basis of increasing complexity and discuss how complexity may affect processing, as well as how it may cause lethal or carcinogenic processing errors. By critically analyzing the characteristics of DSB repair pathways, we suggest that all repair pathways can in principle remove lesions clustering at the DSB but are likely to fail when they encounter clusters of DSBs that cause a local form of chromothripsis. In the same framework, we also analyze the rational of DSB repair pathway choice. PMID:23804754

  17. Chromosome End Repair and Genome Stability in Plasmodium falciparum.

    PubMed

    Calhoun, Susannah F; Reed, Jake; Alexander, Noah; Mason, Christopher E; Deitsch, Kirk W; Kirkman, Laura A

    2017-08-08

    The human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum replicates within circulating red blood cells, where it is subjected to conditions that frequently cause DNA damage. The repair of DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) is thought to rely almost exclusively on homologous recombination (HR), due to a lack of efficient nonhomologous end joining. However, given that the parasite is haploid during this stage of its life cycle, the mechanisms involved in maintaining genome stability are poorly understood. Of particular interest are the subtelomeric regions of the chromosomes, which contain the majority of the multicopy variant antigen-encoding genes responsible for virulence and disease severity. Here, we show that parasites utilize a competitive balance between de novo telomere addition, also called "telomere healing," and HR to stabilize chromosome ends. Products of both repair pathways were observed in response to DSBs that occurred spontaneously during routine in vitro culture or resulted from experimentally induced DSBs, demonstrating that both pathways are active in repairing DSBs within subtelomeric regions and that the pathway utilized was determined by the DNA sequences immediately surrounding the break. In combination, these two repair pathways enable parasites to efficiently maintain chromosome stability while also contributing to the generation of genetic diversity. IMPORTANCE Malaria is a major global health threat, causing approximately 430,000 deaths annually. This mosquito-transmitted disease is caused by Plasmodium parasites, with infection with the species Plasmodium falciparum being the most lethal. Mechanisms underlying DNA repair and maintenance of genome integrity in P. falciparum are not well understood and represent a gap in our understanding of how parasites survive the hostile environment of their vertebrate and insect hosts. Our work examines DNA repair in real time by using single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing focused on the subtelomeric

  18. UVA-induced DNA double-strand breaks result from the repair of clustered oxidative DNA damages

    PubMed Central

    Greinert, R.; Volkmer, B.; Henning, S.; Breitbart, E. W.; Greulich, K. O.; Cardoso, M. C.; Rapp, Alexander

    2012-01-01

    UVA (320–400 nm) represents the main spectral component of solar UV radiation, induces pre-mutagenic DNA lesions and is classified as Class I carcinogen. Recently, discussion arose whether UVA induces DNA double-strand breaks (dsbs). Only few reports link the induction of dsbs to UVA exposure and the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Using the Comet-assay and γH2AX as markers for dsb formation, we demonstrate the dose-dependent dsb induction by UVA in G1-synchronized human keratinocytes (HaCaT) and primary human skin fibroblasts. The number of γH2AX foci increases when a UVA dose is applied in fractions (split dose), with a 2-h recovery period between fractions. The presence of the anti-oxidant Naringin reduces dsb formation significantly. Using an FPG-modified Comet-assay as well as warm and cold repair incubation, we show that dsbs arise partially during repair of bi-stranded, oxidative, clustered DNA lesions. We also demonstrate that on stretched chromatin fibres, 8-oxo-G and abasic sites occur in clusters. This suggests a replication-independent formation of UVA-induced dsbs through clustered single-strand breaks via locally generated reactive oxygen species. Since UVA is the main component of solar UV exposure and is used for artificial UV exposure, our results shine new light on the aetiology of skin cancer. PMID:22941639

  19. Sibling rivalry: competition between Pol X family members in V(D)J recombination and general double strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Nick McElhinny, Stephanie A; Ramsden, Dale A

    2004-08-01

    The nonhomologous end-joining pathway is a major means for repairing double-strand breaks (DSBs) in all mitotic cell types. This repair pathway is also the only efficient means for resolving DSB intermediates in V(D)J recombination, a lymphocyte-specific genome rearrangement required for assembly of antigen receptors. A role for polymerases in end-joining has been well established. They are a major factor in determining the character of repair junctions but, in contrast to 'core' end-joining factors, typically appear to have a subtle impact on the efficiency of end-joining. Recent work implicates several members of the Pol X family in end-joining and suggests surprising complexity in the control of how these different polymerases are employed in this pathway.

  20. Influence of Morinda citrifolia (Noni) on Expression of DNA Repair Genes in Cervical Cancer Cells.

    PubMed

    Gupta, Rakesh Kumar; Bajpai, Deepti; Singh, Neeta

    2015-01-01

    Previous studies have suggested that Morinda citrifolia (Noni) has potential to reduce cancer risk. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Noni, cisplatin, and their combination on DNA repair genes in the SiHa cervical cancer cell line. SiHa cells were cultured and treated with 10% Noni, 10 μg/dl cisplatin or their combination for 24 hours. Post culturing, the cells were pelleted, RNA extracted, and processed for investigating DNA repair genes by real time PCR. The expression of nucleotide excision repair genes ERCC1, ERCC2, and ERCC4 and base excision repair gene XRCC1 was increased 4 fold, 8.9 fold, 4 fold, and 5.5 fold, respectively, on treatment with Noni as compared to untreated controls (p<0.05). In contrast, expression was found to be decreased 22 fold, 13 fold, 16 fold, and 23 fold on treatment with cisplatin (p<0.05). However, the combination of Noni and cisplatin led to an increase of 2 fold, 1.6 fold, 3 fold, 1.2 fold, respectively (p<0.05). Noni enhanced the expression of DNA repair genes by itself and in combination with cisplatin. However, high expression of DNA repair genes at mRNA level only signifies efficient DNA transcription of the above mentioned genes; further investigations are needed to evaluate the DNA repair protein expression.

  1. Photosensitization by iodinated DNA minor groove binding ligands: Evaluation of DNA double-strand break induction and repair.

    PubMed

    Briggs, Benjamin; Ververis, Katherine; Rodd, Annabelle L; Foong, Laura J L; Silva, Fernando M Da; Karagiannis, Tom C

    2011-05-03

    Iodinated DNA minor groove binding bibenzimidazoles represent a unique class of UVA photosensitizer and their extreme photopotency has been previously characterized. Earlier studies have included a comparison of three isomers, referred to as ortho-, meta- and para-iodoHoechst, which differ only in the location of the iodine substituent in the phenyl ring of the bibenzimidazole. DNA breakage and clonogenic survival studies in human erythroleukemic K562 cells have highlighted the higher photo-efficiency of the ortho-isomer (subsequently designated UV(A)Sens) compared to the meta- and para-isomers. In this study, the aim was to compare the induction and repair of DNA double-strand breaks induced by the three isomers in K562 cells. Further, we examined the effects of the prototypical broad-spectrum histone deacetylase inhibitor, Trichostatin A, on ortho-iodoHoechst/UVA-induced double-strand breaks in K562 cells. Using γH2AX as a molecular marker of the DNA lesions, our findings indicate a disparity in the induction and particularly, in the repair kinetics of double-strand breaks for the three isomers. The accumulation of γH2AX foci induced by the meta- and para-isomers returned to background levels within 24 and 48 h, respectively; the number of γH2AX foci induced by ortho-iodoHoechst remained elevated even after incubation for 96 h post-irradiation. These findings provide further evidence that the extreme photopotency of ortho-iodoHoechst is due to not only to the high quantum yield of dehalogenation, but also to the severity of the DNA lesions which are not readily repaired. Finally, our findings which indicate that Trichostatin A has a remarkable potentiating effect on ortho-iodoHoechst/UVA-induced DNA lesions are encouraging, particularly in the context of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, for which a histone deacetylase inhibitor is already approved for therapy. This finding prompts further evaluation of the potential of combination therapies. Copyright © 2011

  2. High-Resolution Mapping of Two Types of Spontaneous Mitotic Gene Conversion Events in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    PubMed Central

    Yim, Eunice; O’Connell, Karen E.; St. Charles, Jordan; Petes, Thomas D.

    2014-01-01

    Gene conversions and crossovers are related products of the repair of double-stranded DNA breaks by homologous recombination. Most previous studies of mitotic gene conversion events have been restricted to measuring conversion tracts that are <5 kb. Using a genetic assay in which the lengths of very long gene conversion tracts can be measured, we detected two types of conversions: those with a median size of ∼6 kb and those with a median size of >50 kb. The unusually long tracts are initiated at a naturally occurring recombination hotspot formed by two inverted Ty elements. We suggest that these long gene conversion events may be generated by a mechanism (break-induced replication or repair of a double-stranded DNA gap) different from the short conversion tracts that likely reflect heteroduplex formation followed by DNA mismatch repair. Both the short and long mitotic conversion tracts are considerably longer than those observed in meiosis. Since mitotic crossovers in a diploid can result in a heterozygous recessive deleterious mutation becoming homozygous, it has been suggested that the repair of DNA breaks by mitotic recombination involves gene conversion events that are unassociated with crossing over. In contrast to this prediction, we found that ∼40% of the conversion tracts are associated with crossovers. Spontaneous mitotic crossover events in yeast are frequent enough to be an important factor in genome evolution. PMID:24990991

  3. Gene-breaking: A new paradigm for human retrotransposon-mediated gene evolution

    PubMed Central

    Wheelan, Sarah J.; Aizawa, Yasunori; Han, Jeffrey S.; Boeke, Jef D.

    2005-01-01

    The L1 retrotransposon is the most highly successful autonomous retrotransposon in mammals. This prolific genome parasite may on occasion benefit its host through genome rearrangements or adjustments of host gene expression. In examining possible effects of L1 elements on host gene expression, we investigated whether a full-length L1 element inserted in the antisense orientation into an intron of a cellular gene may actually split the gene's transcript into two smaller transcripts: (1) a transcript containing the upstream exons and terminating in the major antisense polyadenylation site (MAPS) of the L1, and (2) a transcript derived from the L1 antisense promoter (ASP) that includes the downstream exons of the gene. Bioinformatic analysis and experimental follow-up provide evidence for this L1 “gene-breaking” hypothesis. We identified three human genes apparently “broken” by L1 elements, as well as 12 more candidate genes. Most of the inserted L1 elements in our 15 candidate genes predate the human/chimp divergence. If indeed split, the transcripts of these genes may in at least one case encode potentially interacting proteins, and in another case may encode novel proteins. Gene-breaking represents a new mechanism through which L1 elements remodel mammalian genomes. PMID:16024818

  4. DNA Double-Strand Break Repair as Determinant of Cellular Radiosensitivity to Killing and Target in Radiation Therapy

    PubMed Central

    Mladenov, Emil; Magin, Simon; Soni, Aashish; Iliakis, George

    2013-01-01

    Radiation therapy plays an important role in the management of a wide range of cancers. Besides innovations in the physical application of radiation dose, radiation therapy is likely to benefit from novel approaches exploiting differences in radiation response between normal and tumor cells. While ionizing radiation induces a variety of DNA lesions, including base damages and single-strand breaks, the DNA double-strand break (DSB) is widely considered as the lesion responsible not only for the aimed cell killing of tumor cells, but also for the general genomic instability that leads to the development of secondary cancers among normal cells. Homologous recombination repair (HRR), non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ), and alternative NHEJ, operating as a backup, are the major pathways utilized by cells for the processing of DSBs. Therefore, their function represents a major mechanism of radiation resistance in tumor cells. HRR is also required to overcome replication stress – a potent contributor to genomic instability that fuels cancer development. HRR and alternative NHEJ show strong cell-cycle dependency and are likely to benefit from radiation therapy mediated redistribution of tumor cells throughout the cell-cycle. Moreover, the synthetic lethality phenotype documented between HRR deficiency and PARP inhibition has opened new avenues for targeted therapies. These observations make HRR a particularly intriguing target for treatments aiming to improve the efficacy of radiation therapy. Here, we briefly describe the major pathways of DSB repair and review their possible contribution to cancer cell radioresistance. Finally, we discuss promising alternatives for targeting DSB repair to improve radiation therapy and cancer treatment. PMID:23675572

  5. Roles for the Rad27 Flap Endonuclease in Mitochondrial Mutagenesis and Double-Strand Break Repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Nagarajan, Prabha; Prevost, Christopher T; Stein, Alexis; Kasimer, Rachel; Kalifa, Lidza; Sia, Elaine A

    2017-06-01

    The structure-specific nuclease, Rad27p/FEN1, plays a crucial role in DNA repair and replication mechanisms in the nucleus. Genetic assays using the rad27-∆ mutant have shown altered rates of DNA recombination, microsatellite instability, and point mutation in mitochondria. In this study, we examined the role of Rad27p in mitochondrial mutagenesis and double-strand break (DSB) repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Our findings show that Rad27p is essential for efficient mitochondrial DSB repair by a pathway that generates deletions at a region flanked by direct repeat sequences. Mutant analysis suggests that both exonuclease and endonuclease activities of Rad27p are required for its role in mitochondrial DSB repair. In addition, we found that the nuclease activities of Rad27p are required for the prevention of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) point mutations, and in the generation of spontaneous mtDNA rearrangements. Overall, our findings underscore the importance of Rad27p in the maintenance of mtDNA, and demonstrate that it participates in multiple DNA repair pathways in mitochondria, unlinked to nuclear phenotypes. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

  6. XLS (c9orf142) is a new component of mammalian DNA double-stranded break repair

    PubMed Central

    Craxton, A; Somers, J; Munnur, D; Jukes-Jones, R; Cain, K; Malewicz, M

    2015-01-01

    Repair of double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) in mammalian cells primarily occurs by the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway, which requires seven core proteins (Ku70/Ku86, DNA-PKcs (DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit), Artemis, XRCC4-like factor (XLF), XRCC4 and DNA ligase IV). Here we show using combined affinity purification and mass spectrometry that DNA-PKcs co-purifies with all known core NHEJ factors. Furthermore, we have identified a novel evolutionary conserved protein associated with DNA-PKcs—c9orf142. Computer-based modelling of c9orf142 predicted a structure very similar to XRCC4, hence we have named c9orf142—XLS (XRCC4-like small protein). Depletion of c9orf142/XLS in cells impaired DSB repair consistent with a defect in NHEJ. Furthermore, c9orf142/XLS interacted with other core NHEJ factors. These results demonstrate the existence of a new component of the NHEJ DNA repair pathway in mammalian cells. PMID:25941166

  7. A histone H3K36 chromatin switch coordinates DNA double-strand break repair pathway choice.

    PubMed

    Pai, Chen-Chun; Deegan, Rachel S; Subramanian, Lakxmi; Gal, Csenge; Sarkar, Sovan; Blaikley, Elizabeth J; Walker, Carol; Hulme, Lydia; Bernhard, Eric; Codlin, Sandra; Bähler, Jürg; Allshire, Robin; Whitehall, Simon; Humphrey, Timothy C

    2014-06-09

    DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair is a highly regulated process performed predominantly by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or homologous recombination (HR) pathways. How these pathways are coordinated in the context of chromatin is unclear. Here we uncover a role for histone H3K36 modification in regulating DSB repair pathway choice in fission yeast. We find Set2-dependent H3K36 methylation reduces chromatin accessibility, reduces resection and promotes NHEJ, while antagonistic Gcn5-dependent H3K36 acetylation increases chromatin accessibility, increases resection and promotes HR. Accordingly, loss of Set2 increases H3K36Ac, chromatin accessibility and resection, while Gcn5 loss results in the opposite phenotypes following DSB induction. Further, H3K36 modification is cell cycle regulated with Set2-dependent H3K36 methylation peaking in G1 when NHEJ occurs, while Gcn5-dependent H3K36 acetylation peaks in S/G2 when HR prevails. These findings support an H3K36 chromatin switch in regulating DSB repair pathway choice.

  8. Synapsis-defective mutants reveal a correlation between chromosome conformation and the mode of double-strand break repair during Caenorhabditis elegans meiosis.

    PubMed

    Smolikov, Sarit; Eizinger, Andreas; Hurlburt, Allison; Rogers, Eric; Villeneuve, Anne M; Colaiácovo, Mónica P

    2007-08-01

    SYP-3 is a new structural component of the synaptonemal complex (SC) required for the regulation of chromosome synapsis. Both chromosome morphogenesis and nuclear organization are altered throughout the germlines of syp-3 mutants. Here, our analysis of syp-3 mutants provides insights into the relationship between chromosome conformation and the repair of meiotic double-strand breaks (DSBs). Although crossover recombination is severely reduced in syp-3 mutants, the production of viable offspring accompanied by the disappearance of RAD-51 foci suggests that DSBs are being repaired in these synapsis-defective mutants. Our studies indicate that once interhomolog recombination is impaired, both intersister recombination and nonhomologous end-joining pathways may contribute to repair during germline meiosis. Moreover, our studies suggest that the conformation of chromosomes may influence the mode of DSB repair employed during meiosis.

  9. To Nick or Not to Nick: Comparison of I-SceI Single- and Double-Strand Break-Induced Recombination in Yeast and Human Cells

    PubMed Central

    Katz, Samantha S.; Gimble, Frederick S.; Storici, Francesca

    2014-01-01

    Genetic modification of a chromosomal locus to replace an existing dysfunctional allele with a corrected sequence can be accomplished through targeted gene correction using the cell's homologous recombination (HR) machinery. Gene targeting is stimulated by generation of a DNA double-strand break (DSB) at or near the site of correction, but repair of the break via non-homologous end-joining without using the homologous template can lead to deleterious genomic changes such as in/del mutations, or chromosomal rearrangements. By contrast, generation of a DNA single-strand break (SSB), or nick, can stimulate gene correction without the problems of DSB repair because the uncut DNA strand acts as a template to permit healing without alteration of genetic material. Here, we examine the ability of a nicking variant of the I-SceI endonuclease (K223I I-SceI) to stimulate gene targeting in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cells. K223I I-SceI is proficient in both yeast and human cells and promotes gene correction up to 12-fold. We show that K223I I-SceI-driven recombination follows a different mechanism than wild-type I-SceI-driven recombination, thus indicating that the initial DNA break that stimulates recombination is not a low-level DSB but a nick. We also demonstrate that K223I I-SceI efficiently elevates gene targeting at loci distant from the break site in yeast cells. These findings establish the capability of the I-SceI nickase to enhance recombination in yeast and human cells, strengthening the notion that nicking enzymes could be effective tools in gene correction strategies for applications in molecular biology, biotechnology, and gene therapy. PMID:24558436

  10. A novel nonsense mutation in the APTX gene associated with delayed DNA single-strand break removal fails to enhance sensitivity to different genotoxic agents.

    PubMed

    Crimella, Claudia; Cantoni, Orazio; Guidarelli, Andrea; Vantaggiato, Chiara; Martinuzzi, Andrea; Fiorani, Mara; Azzolini, Catia; Orso, Genny; Bresolin, Nereo; Bassi, Maria Teresa

    2011-04-01

    APTX is the gene involved in ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 1 (AOA1), a recessive disorder with early-onset cerebellar ataxia, oculomotor apraxia and peripheral neuropathy. The encoded protein, aprataxin, is a DNA repair protein processing the products of abortive ligations, 5'-adenylated DNA. We describe a novel nonsense mutation in APTX, c.892C>T (p.Gln298X), segregating in two AOA1 patients and leading to the loss of aprataxin protein in patient's cells. These cells, while exhibiting reduced catalase activity, are not hypersensitive to toxicity elicited by H(2)O(2) exposure at either physiologic or ice-bath temperature. On the other hand, the rate of repair of DNA single-strand-breaks (SSBs) induced in both conditions is always significantly slower in AOA1 cells. By using the alkylating agent methyl methane sulphonate (MMS) we confirmed the association of the APTX mutation with a DNA repair defect in the absence of detectable changes in susceptibility to toxicity. These results, while consistent with a role of aprataxin in the repair of SSBs induced by H(2)O(2), or MMS, demonstrate that other mechanisms may be recruited in AOA1 cells to complete the repair process, although at a slower rate. Lack of hypersensitivity to the oxidant, or MMS, also implies that delayed repair is not per se a lethal event. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  11. Mutagen Sensitivity and DNA Repair Gene Polymorphisms in Hereditary and Sporadic Breast Cancer

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-03-01

    exposures trigger breast cancer in the general population; BRCA] mutation carriers are just substantially more susceptible to these gene -environment...repair complex Genes that affect BRCAJ mutation penetrance might be those involved in DNA repair, because BRCA1 is itself believed to be involved in...without founder mutations (187delAG and 5382insC) had complete BRCA] and BRCA2 gene sequencing. Some patients are related (n=34). Patient demographics

  12. Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1 and DNA-Dependent Protein Kinase Have Equivalent Roles in Double Strand Break Repair Following Ionizing Radiation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mitchell, Jody; Smith, Graeme; Curtin, Nicola J., E-mail: n.j.curtin@ncl.ac.u

    2009-12-01

    Purpose: Radiation-induced DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) are predominantly repaired by nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), involving DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK). Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1), well characterized for its role in single strand break repair, may also facilitate DSB repair. We investigated the activation of these enzymes by differing DNA ends and their interaction in the cellular response to ionizing radiation (IR). Methods and Materials: The effect of PARP and DNA-PK inhibitors (KU-0058684 and NU7441) on repair of IR-induced DSBs was investigated in DNA-PK and PARP-1 proficient and deficient cells by measuring gammaH2AX foci and neutral comets. Complementary in vitro enzyme kineticsmore » assays demonstrated the affinities of DNA-PK and PARP-1 for DSBs with varying DNA termini. Results: DNA-PK and PARP-1 both promoted the fast phase of resolution of IR-induced DSBs in cells. Inactivation of both enzymes was not additive, suggesting that PARP-1 and DNA-PK cooperate within the same pathway to promote DSB repair. The affinities of the two enzymes for oligonucleotides with blunt, 3' GGG or 5' GGG overhanging termini were similar and overlapping (K{sub dapp} = 2.6-6.4nM for DNA-PK; 1.7-4.5nM for PARP-1). DNA-PK showed a slightly greater affinity for overhanging DNA and was significantly more efficient when activated by a 5' GGG overhang. PARP-1 had a preference for blunt-ended DNA and required a separate factor for efficient stimulation by a 5' GGG overhang. Conclusion: DNA-PK and PARP-1 are both required in a pathway facilitating the fast phase of DNA DSB repair.« less

  13. Induction and repair of DNA double-strand breaks in rat cerebellar cortex exposed to 60Co γ-rays

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bulanova, T. S.; Zadneprianetc, M. G.; Ježková, L.; Kruglyakova, E. A.; Smirnova, E. V.; Boreyko, A. V.

    2018-01-01

    The induction and repair of DNA double-strand breaks are studied using the immunohistochemical staining procedure of paraffin-embedded rat cerebellum tissues after exposure to γ-rays of 60Co. The dose dependence of radiation-induced colocalized γH2AX/53BP1 foci is studied and its linear character is established. It is shown that these foci are efficiently eliminated 24 h after irradiation.

  14. The contribution of alu elements to mutagenic DNA double-strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Morales, Maria E; White, Travis B; Streva, Vincent A; DeFreece, Cecily B; Hedges, Dale J; Deininger, Prescott L

    2015-03-01

    Alu elements make up the largest family of human mobile elements, numbering 1.1 million copies and comprising 11% of the human genome. As a consequence of evolution and genetic drift, Alu elements of various sequence divergence exist throughout the human genome. Alu/Alu recombination has been shown to cause approximately 0.5% of new human genetic diseases and contribute to extensive genomic structural variation. To begin understanding the molecular mechanisms leading to these rearrangements in mammalian cells, we constructed Alu/Alu recombination reporter cell lines containing Alu elements ranging in sequence divergence from 0%-30% that allow detection of both Alu/Alu recombination and large non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) deletions that range from 1.0 to 1.9 kb in size. Introduction of as little as 0.7% sequence divergence between Alu elements resulted in a significant reduction in recombination, which indicates even small degrees of sequence divergence reduce the efficiency of homology-directed DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair. Further reduction in recombination was observed in a sequence divergence-dependent manner for diverged Alu/Alu recombination constructs with up to 10% sequence divergence. With greater levels of sequence divergence (15%-30%), we observed a significant increase in DSB repair due to a shift from Alu/Alu recombination to variable-length NHEJ which removes sequence between the two Alu elements. This increase in NHEJ deletions depends on the presence of Alu sequence homeology (similar but not identical sequences). Analysis of recombination products revealed that Alu/Alu recombination junctions occur more frequently in the first 100 bp of the Alu element within our reporter assay, just as they do in genomic Alu/Alu recombination events. This is the first extensive study characterizing the influence of Alu element sequence divergence on DNA repair, which will inform predictions regarding the effect of Alu element sequence divergence on both

  15. Polymorphisms of LIG4, BTBD2, HMGA2, and RTEL1 Genes Involved in the Double-Strand Break Repair Pathway Predict Glioblastoma Survival

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Yanhong; Shete, Sanjay; Etzel, Carol J.; Scheurer, Michael; Alexiou, George; Armstrong, Georgina; Tsavachidis, Spyros; Liang, Fu-Wen; Gilbert, Mark; Aldape, Ken; Armstrong, Terri; Houlston, Richard; Hosking, Fay; Robertson, Lindsay; Xiao, Yuanyuan; Wiencke, John; Wrensch, Margaret; Andersson, Ulrika; Melin, Beatrice S.; Bondy, Melissa

    2010-01-01

    Purpose Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive type of glioma and has the poorest survival. However, a small percentage of patients with GBM survive well beyond the established median. Therefore, identifying the genetic variants that influence this small number of unusually long-term survivors may provide important insight into tumor biology and treatment. Patients and Methods Among 590 patients with primary GBM, we evaluated associations of survival with the 100 top-ranking glioma susceptibility single nucleotide polymorphisms from our previous genome-wide association study using Cox regression models. We also compared differences in genetic variation between short-term survivors (STS; ≤ 12 months) and long-term survivors (LTS; ≥ 36 months), and explored classification and regression tree analysis for survival data. We tested results using two independent series totaling 543 GBMs. Results We identified LIG4 rs7325927 and BTBD2 rs11670188 as predictors of STS in GBM and CCDC26 rs10464870 and rs891835, HMGA2 rs1563834, and RTEL1 rs2297440 as predictors of LTS. Further survival tree analysis revealed that patients ≥ 50 years old with LIG4 rs7325927 (V) had the worst survival (median survival time, 1.2 years) and exhibited the highest risk of death (hazard ratio, 17.53; 95% CI, 4.27 to 71.97) compared with younger patients with combined RTEL1 rs2297440 (V) and HMGA2 rs1563834 (V) genotypes (median survival time, 7.8 years). Conclusion Polymorphisms in the LIG4, BTBD2, HMGA2, and RTEL1 genes, which are involved in the double-strand break repair pathway, are associated with GBM survival. PMID:20368557

  16. Polymorphisms of LIG4, BTBD2, HMGA2, and RTEL1 genes involved in the double-strand break repair pathway predict glioblastoma survival.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yanhong; Shete, Sanjay; Etzel, Carol J; Scheurer, Michael; Alexiou, George; Armstrong, Georgina; Tsavachidis, Spyros; Liang, Fu-Wen; Gilbert, Mark; Aldape, Ken; Armstrong, Terri; Houlston, Richard; Hosking, Fay; Robertson, Lindsay; Xiao, Yuanyuan; Wiencke, John; Wrensch, Margaret; Andersson, Ulrika; Melin, Beatrice S; Bondy, Melissa

    2010-05-10

    Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive type of glioma and has the poorest survival. However, a small percentage of patients with GBM survive well beyond the established median. Therefore, identifying the genetic variants that influence this small number of unusually long-term survivors may provide important insight into tumor biology and treatment. Among 590 patients with primary GBM, we evaluated associations of survival with the 100 top-ranking glioma susceptibility single nucleotide polymorphisms from our previous genome-wide association study using Cox regression models. We also compared differences in genetic variation between short-term survivors (STS; or= 36 months), and explored classification and regression tree analysis for survival data. We tested results using two independent series totaling 543 GBMs. We identified LIG4 rs7325927 and BTBD2 rs11670188 as predictors of STS in GBM and CCDC26 rs10464870 and rs891835, HMGA2 rs1563834, and RTEL1 rs2297440 as predictors of LTS. Further survival tree analysis revealed that patients >or= 50 years old with LIG4 rs7325927 (V) had the worst survival (median survival time, 1.2 years) and exhibited the highest risk of death (hazard ratio, 17.53; 95% CI, 4.27 to 71.97) compared with younger patients with combined RTEL1 rs2297440 (V) and HMGA2 rs1563834 (V) genotypes (median survival time, 7.8 years). Polymorphisms in the LIG4, BTBD2, HMGA2, and RTEL1 genes, which are involved in the double-strand break repair pathway, are associated with GBM survival.

  17. Sequence homology and expression profile of genes associated with DNA repair pathways in Mycobacterium leprae.

    PubMed

    Sharma, Mukul; Vedithi, Sundeep Chaitanya; Das, Madhusmita; Roy, Anindya; Ebenezer, Mannam

    2017-01-01

    Survival of Mycobacterium leprae, the causative bacteria for leprosy, in the human host is dependent to an extent on the ways in which its genome integrity is retained. DNA repair mechanisms protect bacterial DNA from damage induced by various stress factors. The current study is aimed at understanding the sequence and functional annotation of DNA repair genes in M. leprae. T he genome of M. leprae was annotated using sequence alignment tools to identify DNA repair genes that have homologs in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Escherichia coli. A set of 96 genes known to be involved in DNA repair mechanisms in E. coli and Mycobacteriaceae were chosen as a reference. Among these, 61 were identified in M. leprae based on sequence similarity and domain architecture. The 61 were classified into 36 characterized gene products (59%), 11 hypothetical proteins (18%), and 14 pseudogenes (23%). All these genes have homologs in M. tuberculosis and 49 (80.32%) in E. coli. A set of 12 genes which are absent in E. coli were present in M. leprae and in Mycobacteriaceae. These 61 genes were further investigated for their expression profiles in the whole transcriptome microarray data of M. leprae which was obtained from the signal intensities of 60bp probes, tiling the entire genome with 10bp overlaps. It was noted that transcripts corresponding to all the 61 genes were identified in the transcriptome data with varying expression levels ranging from 0.18 to 2.47 fold (normalized with 16SrRNA). The mRNA expression levels of a representative set of seven genes ( four annotated and three hypothetical protein coding genes) were analyzed using quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) assays with RNA extracted from skin biopsies of 10 newly diagnosed, untreated leprosy cases. It was noted that RNA expression levels were higher for genes involved in homologous recombination whereas the genes with a low level of expression are involved in the direct repair pathway. This study provided

  18. Glycogen synthase kinase 3beta inhibition enhances repair of DNA double-strand breaks in irradiated hippocampal neurons.

    PubMed

    Yang, Eddy S; Nowsheen, Somaira; Wang, Tong; Thotala, Dinesh K; Xia, Fen

    2011-05-01

    Prevention of cranial radiation-induced morbidity following the treatment of primary and metastatic brain cancers, including long-term neurocognitive deficiencies, remains challenging. Previously, we have shown that inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) results in protection of hippocampal neurons from radiation (IR)-induced apoptosis and attenuation of neurocognitive dysfunction resulting from cranial IR. In this study, we examined whether regulation of the repair of IR-induced DNA damage is one of the mechanisms involved in the radioprotective effects of neurons by inhibition of GSK3β. Specifically, this study showed that inhibition of GSK3β accelerated double strand-break (DSB) repair efficiency in irradiated mouse hippocampal neurons, as assessed by the neutral comet assay. This coincided with attenuation of IR-induced γ-H2AX foci, a well characterized in situ marker of DSBs. To confirm the effect of GSK3 activity on the efficacy of DSB repair, we further demonstrated that biochemical or genetic inhibition of GSK3 activity resulted in enhanced capacity in nonhomologous end-joining-mediated repair of DSBs in hippocampal neurons. Importantly, none of these effects were observed in malignant glioma cells. Taken together, these results suggested that enhanced repair of IR-induced DNA damage may be a novel mechanism by which inhibition of GSK3β specifically protects hippocampal neurons from IR-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, these findings warrant future investigations of the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of GSK3β in the DSB repair of normal neurons and the potential clinical application of neuroprotection with GSK3β inhibitors during cranial IR.

  19. A renal epithelioid angiomyolipoma/perivascular epithelioid cell tumor with TFE3 gene break visualized by FISH.

    PubMed

    Ohe, Chisato; Kuroda, Naoto; Hes, Ondrej; Michal, Michal; Vanecek, Tomas; Grossmann, Petr; Tanaka, Yukichi; Tanaka, Mio; Inui, Hidekazu; Komai, Yoshihiro; Matsuda, Tadashi; Uemura, Yoshiko

    2012-12-01

    We present a case of renal epithelioid angiomyolipoma (eAML)/perivascular epithelioid cell tumor (PEComa) with a TFE3 gene break visible by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Histologically, the tumor was composed of mainly epithelioid cells forming solid arrangements with small foci of spindle cells. In a small portion of the tumor, neoplastic cells displayed nuclear pleomorphism, such as polygonal and enlarged vesicular nuclei with prominent nucleoli. Marked vascularity was noticeable in the background, and perivascular hyaline sclerosis was also seen. Immunohistochemically, neoplastic cells were diffusely positive for α-smooth muscle actin and melanosome in the cytoplasm. Nuclei of many neoplastic cells were positive for TFE3. FISH analysis of the TFE3 gene break using the Poseidon TFE3 (Xp11) Break probe revealed positive results. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR) for ASPL/TFE3, PRCC/TFE3, CLTC/TFE3, PSF/TFE3, and NonO/TFE3 gene fusions all revealed negative results. This is the first reported case of renal eAML/PEComa with a TFE3 gene break, and it has unique histological findings as compared to previously reported TFE3 gene fusion-positive PEComas. Pathologists should recognize that PEComa with TFE3 gene fusion can arise even in the kidney.

  20. Influence of XRCC1 Genetic Polymorphisms on Ionizing Radiation-Induced DNA Damage and Repair.

    PubMed

    Sterpone, Silvia; Cozzi, Renata

    2010-07-25

    It is well known that ionizing radiation (IR) can damage DNA through a direct action, producing single- and double-strand breaks on DNA double helix, as well as an indirect effect by generating oxygen reactive species in the cells. Mammals have evolved several and distinct DNA repair pathways in order to maintain genomic stability and avoid tumour cell transformation. This review reports important data showing a huge interindividual variability on sensitivity to IR and in susceptibility to developing cancer; this variability is principally represented by genetic polymorphisms, that is, DNA repair gene polymorphisms. In particular we have focussed on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of XRCC1, a gene that encodes for a scaffold protein involved basically in Base Excision Repair (BER). In this paper we have reported and presented recent studies that show an influence of XRCC1 variants on DNA repair capacity and susceptibility to breast cancer.

  1. Distinct requirements within the Msh3 nucleotide binding pocket for mismatch and double-strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Charanya; Williams, Gregory M; Havens, Brett; Dinicola, Michelle K; Surtees, Jennifer A

    2013-06-12

    In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, repair of insertion/deletion loops is carried out by Msh2-Msh3-mediated mismatch repair (MMR). Msh2-Msh3 is also required for 3' non-homologous tail removal (3' NHTR) in double-strand break repair. In both pathways, Msh2-Msh3 binds double-strand/single-strand junctions and initiates repair in an ATP-dependent manner. However, the kinetics of the two processes appear different; MMR is likely rapid in order to coordinate with the replication fork, whereas 3' NHTR has been shown to be a slower process. To understand the molecular requirements in both repair pathways, we performed an in vivo analysis of well-conserved residues in Msh3 that are hypothesized to be required for MMR and/or 3' NHTR. These residues are predicted to be involved in either communication between the DNA-binding and ATPase domains within the complex or nucleotide binding and/or exchange within Msh2-Msh3. We identified a set of aromatic residues within the FLY motif of the predicted Msh3 nucleotide binding pocket that are essential for Msh2-Msh3-mediated MMR but are largely dispensable for 3' NHTR. In contrast, mutations in other regions gave similar phenotypes in both assays. Based on these results, we suggest that the two pathways have distinct requirements with respect to the position of the bound ATP within Msh3. We propose that the differences are related, at least in part, to the kinetics of each pathway. Proper binding and positioning of ATP is required to induce rapid conformational changes at the replication fork, but is less important when more time is available for repair, as in 3' NHTR. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Distinct requirements within the Msh3 nucleotide binding pocket for mismatch and double-strand break repair

    PubMed Central

    Kumar, Charanya; Williams, Gregory M.; Havens, Brett; Dinicola, Michelle; Surtees, Jennifer A.

    2013-01-01

    In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, repair of insertion/deletion loops is carried out by Msh2-Msh3-mediated mismatch repair (MMR). Msh2-Msh3 is also required for 3’ non-homologous tail removal (3’NHTR) in double-strand break repair. In both pathways, Msh2-Msh3 binds double-strand/single-strand junctions and initiates repair in an ATP-dependent manner. However, the kinetics of the two processes appear different; MMR is likely rapid in order to coordinate with the replication fork, whereas 3’ NHTR has been shown to be a slower process. To understand the molecular requirements in both repair pathways, we performed an in vivo analysis of well conserved residues in Msh3 that are hypothesized to be required for MMR and/or 3’NHTR. These residues are predicted to be involved in either communication between the DNA-binding and ATPase domains within the complex or nucleotide binding and/or exchange within Msh2-Msh3. We identified a set of aromatic residues within the FLY motif of the predicted Msh3 nucleotide binding pocket that are essential for Msh2-Msh3-mediated MMR but are largely dispensable for 3’NHTR. In contrast, mutations in other regions gave similar phenotypes in both assays. Based on these results, we suggest the two pathways have distinct requirements with respect to the position of the bound ATP within Msh3. We propose that the differences are related, at least in part, to the kinetics of each pathway. Proper binding and positioning of ATP is required to induce rapid conformational changes at the replication fork, but is less important when more time is available for repair, as in 3’ NHTR. PMID:23458407

  3. Gene repair of an Usher syndrome causing mutation by zinc-finger nuclease mediated homologous recombination.

    PubMed

    Overlack, Nora; Goldmann, Tobias; Wolfrum, Uwe; Nagel-Wolfrum, Kerstin

    2012-06-26

    Human Usher syndrome (USH) is the most frequent cause of inherited deaf-blindness. It is clinically and genetically heterogeneous, assigned to three clinical types of which the most severe type is USH1. No effective treatment for the ophthalmic component of USH exists. Gene augmentation is an attractive strategy for hereditary retinal diseases. However, several USH genes, like USH1C, are expressed in various isoforms, hampering gene augmentation. As an alternative treatment strategy, we applied the zinc-finger nuclease (ZFN) technology for targeted gene repair of an USH1C, causing mutation by homologous recombination. We designed ZFNs customized for the p.R31X nonsense mutation in Ush1c. We evaluated ZFNs for DNA cleavage capability and analyzed ZFNs biocompatibilities by XTT assays. We demonstrated ZFNs mediated gene repair on genomic level by digestion assays and DNA sequencing, and on protein level by indirect immunofluorescence and Western blot analyses. The specifically designed ZFNs did not show cytotoxic effects in a p.R31X cell line. We demonstrated that ZFN induced cleavage of their target sequence. We showed that simultaneous application of ZFN and rescue DNA induced gene repair of the disease-causing mutation on the genomic level, resulting in recovery of protein expression. In our present study, we analyzed for the first time ZFN-activated gene repair of an USH gene. The data highlight the ability of ZFNs to induce targeted homologous recombination and mediate gene repair in USH. We provide further evidence that the ZFN technology holds great potential to recover disease-causing mutations in inherited retinal disorders.

  4. Adeno-associated virus inverted terminal repeats stimulate gene editing.

    PubMed

    Hirsch, M L

    2015-02-01

    Advancements in genome editing have relied on technologies to specifically damage DNA which, in turn, stimulates DNA repair including homologous recombination (HR). As off-target concerns complicate the therapeutic translation of site-specific DNA endonucleases, an alternative strategy to stimulate gene editing based on fragile DNA was investigated. To do this, an episomal gene-editing reporter was generated by a disruptive insertion of the adeno-associated virus (AAV) inverted terminal repeat (ITR) into the egfp gene. Compared with a non-structured DNA control sequence, the ITR induced DNA damage as evidenced by increased gamma-H2AX and Mre11 foci formation. As local DNA damage stimulates HR, ITR-mediated gene editing was investigated using DNA oligonucleotides as repair substrates. The AAV ITR stimulated gene editing >1000-fold in a replication-independent manner and was not biased by the polarity of the repair oligonucleotide. Analysis of additional human DNA sequences demonstrated stimulation of gene editing to varying degrees. In particular, inverted yet not direct, Alu repeats induced gene editing, suggesting a role for DNA structure in the repair event. Collectively, the results demonstrate that inverted DNA repeats stimulate gene editing via double-strand break repair in an episomal context and allude to efficient gene editing of the human chromosome using fragile DNA sequences.

  5. Process for Self-Repair of Insulation Material

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Parrish, Clyde F. (Inventor)

    2007-01-01

    A self-healing system for an insulation material initiates a self-repair process by rupturing a plurality of microcapsules disposed on the insulation material. When the plurality of microcapsules are ruptured reactants witlun the plurality of microcapsules react to form a replacement polymer in a break of the insulation material. This self-healing system has the ability to repair multiple breaks in a length of insulation material without exhausting the repair properties of the material.

  6. Process for self-repair of insulation material

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Parrish, Clyde F. (Inventor)

    2007-01-01

    A self-healing system for an insulation material initiates a self-repair process by rupturing a plurality of microcapsules disposed on the insulation material. When the plurality of microcapsules are ruptured reactants within the plurality of microcapsules react to form a replacement polymer in a break of the insulation material. This self-healing system has the ability to repair multiple breaks in a length of insulation material without exhausting the repair properties of the material.

  7. The MutSβ complex is a modulator of p53-driven tumorigenesis through its functions in both DNA double-strand break repair and mismatch repair.

    PubMed

    van Oers, J M M; Edwards, Y; Chahwan, R; Zhang, W; Smith, C; Pechuan, X; Schaetzlein, S; Jin, B; Wang, Y; Bergman, A; Scharff, M D; Edelmann, W

    2014-07-24

    Loss of the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) protein MSH3 leads to the development of a variety of tumors in mice without significantly affecting survival rates, suggesting a modulating role for the MutSβ (MSH2-MSH3) complex in late-onset tumorigenesis. To better study the role of MSH3 in tumor progression, we crossed Msh3(-/-) mice onto a tumor predisposing p53-deficient background. Survival of Msh3/p53 mice was not reduced compared with p53 single mutant mice; however, the tumor spectrum changed significantly from lymphoma to sarcoma, indicating MSH3 as a potent modulator of p53-driven tumorigenesis. Interestingly, Msh3(-/-) mouse embryonic fibroblasts displayed increased chromatid breaks and persistence of γH2AX foci following ionizing radiation, indicating a defect in DNA double-strand break repair (DSBR). Msh3/p53 tumors showed increased loss of heterozygosity, elevated genome-wide copy-number variation and a moderate microsatellite instability phenotype compared with Msh2/p53 tumors, revealing that MSH2-MSH3 suppresses tumorigenesis by maintaining chromosomal stability. Our results show that the MSH2-MSH3 complex is important for the suppression of late-onset tumors due to its roles in DNA DSBR as well as in DNA MMR. Further, they demonstrate that MSH2-MSH3 suppresses chromosomal instability and modulates the tumor spectrum in p53-deficient tumorigenesis and possibly has a role in other chromosomally unstable tumors as well.

  8. The influence of DNA inhibitor synthesis on the induction and repair of double-strand DNA breaks in human lymphocytes under action of radiation with a different linear energy transfer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boreyko, A. V.; Chausov, V. N.; Krasavin, E. A.; Ravnachka, I.; Stukova, S. I.

    2011-07-01

    The influence that inhibitors of repair and replicative DNA synthesis, 1-β-D-arabinofuranosyl-cytosine and hydroxyurea, have on the formation and repair kinetics of double-strand breaks (DSBs) in peripheral human blood lymphocytes under the influence of radiation with a different linear energy transfer (LET) (gamma quanta and accelerated heavy ions) is studied. It is demonstrated that lithium and boron ions with LETs of 20 and 40 keV/μm, respectively, possess higher biological effectiveness with respect to the DNA DSB induction criterion. The value of the relative biological effectiveness of accelerated lithium and boron ions is 1.5 ± 0.1 and 1.6 ± 0.1, respectively. It is found that, upon cell irradiation by gamma quanta in the absence of inhibitors, efficient DNA DSB repair is observed during incubation. Under the conditions of cell incubation and in the presence of inhibitors, some growth in the number of DNA DSBs, rather than a reduction, is observed after 5-h incubation. In the case of the action of accelerated boron ions (as well as gamma quanta), under normal conditions, the efficient repair of induced DNA lesions takes place. Unlike the action of gamma quanta, in the case of cell incubation in the presence of radiomodifiers, the number of induced DNA DSBs falls. These results may testify to the fact that the repair of double-strand DNS breaks takes place under the action of ionizing radiation with a different LET on mammalian cells in the presence of DNA synthesis inhibitors Ara-C and HU. It is concluded that, for cells subject to gamma irradiation, no DNA DSB repair is observed due to the large contribution of single-strand incision DNA breaks formed in the postradiation period in the course of excision nucleotide repair.

  9. Double-strand break repair and genetic recombination in topoisomerase and primase mutants of bacteriophage T4.

    PubMed

    Shcherbakov, Victor P; Kudryashova, Elena

    2014-09-01

    The effects of primase and topoisomerase II deficiency on the double-strand break (DSB) repair and genetic recombination in bacteriophage T4 were studied in vivo using focused recombination. Site-specific DSBs were induced by SegC endonuclease in the rIIB gene of one of the parents. The frequency/distance relationship was determined in crosses of the wild-type phage, topoisomerase II mutant amN116 (gene 39), and primase mutant E219 (gene 61). Ordinary two-factor (i×j) and three-factor (i k×j) crosses between point rII mutations were also performed. These data provide information about the frequency and distance distribution of the single-exchange (splice) and double-exchange (patch) events. In two-factor crosses ets1×i, the topoisomerase and primase mutants had similar recombinant frequencies in crosses at ets1-i distances longer than 1000 bp, comprising about 80% of the corresponding wild-type values. They, however, differ remarkably in crosses at shorter distances. In the primase mutant, the recombinant frequencies are similar to those in the wild-type crosses at distances less than 100 bp, being a bit diminished at longer distances. In two-factor crosses ets1×i of the topoisomerase mutant, the recombinant frequencies were reduced ten-fold at the shortest distances. In three-factor crosses a6 ets1×i, where we measure patch-related recombination, the primase mutant was quite proficient across the entire range of distances. The topoisomerase mutant crosses demonstrated virtually complete absence of rII(+) recombinants at distances up to 33 bp, with the frequencies increasing steadily at longer distances. The data were interpreted as follows. The primase mutant is fully recombination-proficient. An obvious difference from the wild-type state is some shortage of EndoVII function leading to prolonged existence of HJs and thus stretched out ds-branch migration. This is also true for the topoisomerase mutant. However, the latter is deficient in the ss

  10. The barley EST DNA Replication and Repair Database (bEST-DRRD) as a tool for the identification of the genes involved in DNA replication and repair.

    PubMed

    Gruszka, Damian; Marzec, Marek; Szarejko, Iwona

    2012-06-14

    The high level of conservation of genes that regulate DNA replication and repair indicates that they may serve as a source of information on the origin and evolution of the species and makes them a reliable system for the identification of cross-species homologs. Studies that had been conducted to date shed light on the processes of DNA replication and repair in bacteria, yeast and mammals. However, there is still much to be learned about the process of DNA damage repair in plants. These studies, which were conducted mainly using bioinformatics tools, enabled the list of genes that participate in various pathways of DNA repair in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh to be outlined; however, information regarding these mechanisms in crop plants is still very limited. A similar, functional approach is particularly difficult for a species whose complete genomic sequences are still unavailable. One of the solutions is to apply ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags) as the basis for gene identification. For the construction of the barley EST DNA Replication and Repair Database (bEST-DRRD), presented here, the Arabidopsis nucleotide and protein sequences involved in DNA replication and repair were used to browse for and retrieve the deposited sequences, derived from four barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) sequence databases, including the "Barley Genome version 0.05" database (encompassing ca. 90% of barley coding sequences) and from two databases covering the complete genomes of two monocot models: Oryza sativa L. and Brachypodium distachyon L. in order to identify homologous genes. Sequences of the categorised Arabidopsis queries are used for browsing the repositories, which are located on the ViroBLAST platform. The bEST-DRRD is currently used in our project during the identification and validation of the barley genes involved in DNA repair. The presented database provides information about the Arabidopsis genes involved in DNA replication and repair, their expression patterns and models

  11. Identification of defective illegitimate recombinational repair of oxidatively-induced DNA double-strand breaks in ataxia-telangiectasia cells

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dar, M. E.; Winters, T. A.; Jorgensen, T. J.

    1997-01-01

    Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is an autosomal-recessive lethal human disease. Homozygotes suffer from a number of neurological disorders, as well as very high cancer incidence. Heterozygotes may also have a higher than normal risk of cancer, particularly for the breast. The gene responsible for the disease (ATM) has been cloned, but its role in mechanisms of the disease remain unknown. Cellular A-T phenotypes, such as radiosensitivity and genomic instability, suggest that a deficiency in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) may be the primary defect; however, overall levels of DSB rejoining appear normal. We used the shuttle vector, pZ189, containing an oxidatively-induced DSB, to compare the integrity of DSB rejoining in one normal and two A-T fibroblast cells lines. Mutation frequencies were two-fold higher in A-T cells, and the mutational spectrum was different. The majority of the mutations found in all three cell lines were deletions (44-63%). The DNA sequence analysis indicated that 17 of the 17 plasmids with deletion mutations in normal cells occurred between short direct-repeat sequences (removing one of the repeats plus the intervening sequences), implicating illegitimate recombination in DSB rejoining. The combined data from both A-T cell lines showed that 21 of 24 deletions did not involve direct-repeats sequences, implicating a defect in the illegitimate recombination pathway. These findings suggest that the A-T gene product may either directly participate in illegitimate recombination or modulate the pathway. Regardless, this defect is likely to be important to a mechanistic understanding of this lethal disease.

  12. Chromosome territories reposition during DNA damage-repair response

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Local higher-order chromatin structure, dynamics and composition of the DNA are known to determine double-strand break frequencies and the efficiency of repair. However, how DNA damage response affects the spatial organization of chromosome territories is still unexplored. Results Our report investigates the effect of DNA damage on the spatial organization of chromosome territories within interphase nuclei of human cells. We show that DNA damage induces a large-scale spatial repositioning of chromosome territories that are relatively gene dense. This response is dose dependent, and involves territories moving from the nuclear interior to the periphery and vice versa. Furthermore, we have found that chromosome territory repositioning is contingent upon double-strand break recognition and damage sensing. Importantly, our results suggest that this is a reversible process where, following repair, chromosome territories re-occupy positions similar to those in undamaged control cells. Conclusions Thus, our report for the first time highlights DNA damage-dependent spatial reorganization of whole chromosomes, which might be an integral aspect of cellular damage response. PMID:24330859

  13. A Biallelic Mutation in the Homologous Recombination Repair Gene SPIDR Is Associated With Human Gonadal Dysgenesis.

    PubMed

    Smirin-Yosef, Pola; Zuckerman-Levin, Nehama; Tzur, Shay; Granot, Yaron; Cohen, Lior; Sachsenweger, Juliane; Borck, Guntram; Lagovsky, Irina; Salmon-Divon, Mali; Wiesmüller, Lisa; Basel-Vanagaite, Lina

    2017-02-01

    Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) is caused by ovarian follicle depletion or follicle dysfunction, characterized by amenorrhea with elevated gonadotropin levels. The disorder presents as absence of normal progression of puberty. To elucidate the cause of ovarian dysfunction in a family with POI. We performed whole-exome sequencing in 2 affected individuals. To evaluate whether DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair activities are altered in biallelic mutation carriers, we applied an enhanced green fluorescent protein-based assay for the detection of specific DSB repair pathways in blood-derived cells. Diagnoses were made at the Pediatric Endocrine Clinic, Clalit Health Services, Sharon-Shomron District, Israel. Genetic counseling and sample collection were performed at the Pediatric Genetics Unit, Schneider Children's Medical Center Israel, Petah Tikva, Israel. Two sisters born to consanguineous parents of Israeli Muslim Arab ancestry presented with a lack of normal progression of puberty, high gonadotropin levels, and hypoplastic or absent ovaries on ultrasound. Blood samples for DNA extraction were obtained from all family members. Exome analysis to elucidate the cause of POI in 2 affected sisters. Analysis revealed a stop-gain homozygous mutation in the SPIDR gene (KIAA0146) c.839G>A, p.W280*. This mutation altered SPIDR activity in homologous recombination, resulting in the accumulation of 53BP1-labeled DSBs postionizing radiation and γH2AX-labeled damage during unperturbed growth. SPIDR is important for ovarian function in humans. A biallelic mutation in this gene may be associated with ovarian dysgenesis in cases of autosomal recessive inheritance. Copyright © 2017 by the Endocrine Society

  14. Role for Artemis nuclease in the repair of radiation-induced DNA double strand breaks by alternative end joining.

    PubMed

    Moscariello, Mario; Wieloch, Radi; Kurosawa, Aya; Li, Fanghua; Adachi, Noritaka; Mladenov, Emil; Iliakis, George

    2015-07-01

    Exposure of cells to ionizing radiation or radiomimetic drugs generates DNA double-strand breaks that are processed either by homologous recombination repair (HRR), or by canonical, DNA-PKcs-dependent non-homologous end-joining (C-NHEJ). Chemical or genetic inactivation of factors involved in C-NHEJ or HRR, but also their local failure in repair proficient cells, promotes an alternative, error-prone end-joining pathway that serves as backup (A-EJ). There is evidence for the involvement of Artemis endonuclease, a protein deficient in a human radiosensitivity syndrome associated with severe immunodeficiency (RS-SCID), in the processing of subsets of DSBs by HRR or C-NHEJ. It is thought that within HRR or C-NHEJ Artemis processes DNA termini at complex DSBs. Whether Artemis has a role in A-EJ remains unknown. Here, we analyze using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and specialized reporter assays, DSB repair in wild-type pre-B NALM-6 lymphocytes, as well as in their Artemis(-/-), DNA ligase 4(-/-) (LIG4(-/-)), and LIG4(-/-)/Artemis(-/-) double mutant counterparts, under conditions allowing evaluation of A-EJ. Our results substantiate the suggested roles of Artemis in C-NHEJ and HRR, but also demonstrate a role for the protein in A-EJ that is confirmed in Artemis deficient normal human fibroblasts. We conclude that Artemis is a nuclease participating in DSB repair by all major repair pathways. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. High levels of BRC4 induced by a Tet-On 3G system suppress DNA repair and impair cell proliferation in vertebrate cells

    PubMed Central

    Abe, Takuya; Branzei, Dana

    2014-01-01

    Transient induction or suppression of target genes is useful to study the function of toxic or essential genes in cells. Here we apply a Tet-On 3G system to DT40 lymphoma B cell lines, validating it for three different genes. Using this tool, we then show that overexpression of the chicken BRC4 repeat of the tumor suppressor BRCA2 impairs cell proliferation and induces chromosomal breaks. Mechanistically, high levels of BRC4 suppress double strand break-induced homologous recombination, inhibit the formation of RAD51 recombination repair foci, reduce cellular resistance to DNA damaging agents and induce a G2 damage checkpoint-mediated cell-cycle arrest. The above phenotypes are mediated by BRC4 capability to bind and inhibit RAD51. The toxicity associated with BRC4 overexpression is exacerbated by chemotherapeutic agents and reversed by RAD51 overexpression, but it is neither aggravated nor suppressed by a deficit in the non-homologous end-joining pathway of double strand break repair. We further find that the endogenous BRCA2 mediates the cytotoxicity associated with BRC4 induction, thus underscoring the possibility that BRC4 or other domains of BRCA2 cooperate with ectopic BRC4 in regulating repair activities or mitotic cell division. In all, the results demonstrate the utility of the Tet-On 3G system in DT40 research and underpin a model in which BRC4 role on cell proliferation and chromosome repair arises primarily from its suppressive role on RAD51 functions. PMID:25218467

  16. High levels of BRC4 induced by a Tet-On 3G system suppress DNA repair and impair cell proliferation in vertebrate cells.

    PubMed

    Abe, Takuya; Branzei, Dana

    2014-10-01

    Transient induction or suppression of target genes is useful to study the function of toxic or essential genes in cells. Here we apply a Tet-On 3G system to DT40 lymphoma B cell lines, validating it for three different genes. Using this tool, we then show that overexpression of the chicken BRC4 repeat of the tumor suppressor BRCA2 impairs cell proliferation and induces chromosomal breaks. Mechanistically, high levels of BRC4 suppress double strand break-induced homologous recombination, inhibit the formation of RAD51 recombination repair foci, reduce cellular resistance to DNA damaging agents and induce a G2 damage checkpoint-mediated cell-cycle arrest. The above phenotypes are mediated by BRC4 capability to bind and inhibit RAD51. The toxicity associated with BRC4 overexpression is exacerbated by chemotherapeutic agents and reversed by RAD51 overexpression, but it is neither aggravated nor suppressed by a deficit in the non-homologous end-joining pathway of double strand break repair. We further find that the endogenous BRCA2 mediates the cytotoxicity associated with BRC4 induction, thus underscoring the possibility that BRC4 or other domains of BRCA2 cooperate with ectopic BRC4 in regulating repair activities or mitotic cell division. In all, the results demonstrate the utility of the Tet-On 3G system in DT40 research and underpin a model in which BRC4 role on cell proliferation and chromosome repair arises primarily from its suppressive role on RAD51 functions. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Annealing of Complementary DNA Sequences During Double-Strand Break Repair in Drosophila Is Mediated by the Ortholog of SMARCAL1.

    PubMed

    Holsclaw, Julie Korda; Sekelsky, Jeff

    2017-05-01

    DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) pose a serious threat to genomic integrity. If unrepaired, they can lead to chromosome fragmentation and cell death. If repaired incorrectly, they can cause mutations and chromosome rearrangements. DSBs are repaired using end-joining or homology-directed repair strategies, with the predominant form of homology-directed repair being synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA). SDSA is the first defense against genomic rearrangements and information loss during DSB repair, making it a vital component of cell health and an attractive target for chemotherapeutic development. SDSA has also been proposed to be the primary mechanism for integration of large insertions during genome editing with CRISPR/Cas9. Despite the central role for SDSA in genome stability, little is known about the defining step: annealing. We hypothesized that annealing during SDSA is performed by the annealing helicase SMARCAL1, which can anneal RPA-coated single DNA strands during replication-associated DNA damage repair. We used unique genetic tools in Drosophila melanogaster to test whether the fly ortholog of SMARCAL1, Marcal1, mediates annealing during SDSA. Repair that requires annealing is significantly reduced in Marcal1 null mutants in both synthesis-dependent and synthesis-independent (single-strand annealing) assays. Elimination of the ATP-binding activity of Marcal1 also reduced annealing-dependent repair, suggesting that the annealing activity requires translocation along DNA. Unlike the null mutant, however, the ATP-binding defect mutant showed reduced end joining, shedding light on the interaction between SDSA and end-joining pathways. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

  18. Decreased DNA repair gene expression among individuals exposed to arsenic in United States drinking water.

    PubMed

    Andrew, Angeline S; Karagas, Margaret R; Hamilton, Joshua W

    2003-04-10

    Arsenic is well established as a human carcinogen, but its precise mechanism of action remains unknown. Arsenic does not directly damage DNA, but may act as a carcinogen through inhibition of DNA repair mechanisms, leading indirectly to increased mutations from other DNA damaging agents. The molecular mechanism underlying arsenic inhibition of nucleotide excision repair after UV irradiation (Hartwig et al., Carcinogenesis 1997;18:399-405) is unknown, but could be due to decreased expression of critical genes involved in nucleotide excision repair of damaged DNA. This hypothesis was tested by analyzing expression of repair genes and arsenic exposure in a subset of 16 individuals enrolled in a population based case-control study investigating arsenic exposure and cancer risk in New Hampshire. Toenail arsenic levels were inversely correlated with expression of critical members of the nucleotide excision repair complex, ERCC1 (r(2) = 0.82, p < 0.0001), XPF (r(2) = 0.56, p < 0.002), and XPB (r(2) = 0.75, p < 0.0001). The internal dose marker, toenail arsenic level, was more strongly associated with changes in expression of these genes than drinking water arsenic concentration. Our findings, based on human exposure to arsenic in a US population, show an association between biomarkers of arsenic exposure and expression of DNA repair genes. Although our findings need verification in a larger study group, they are consistent with the hypothesis that inhibition of DNA repair capacity is a potential mechanism for the co-carcinogenic activity of arsenic. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  19. APOBEC3 Cytidine Deaminases in Double-Strand DNA Break Repair and Cancer Promotion

    PubMed Central

    Nowarski, Roni; Kotler, Moshe

    2013-01-01

    High frequency of cytidine to thymidine conversions were identified in the genome of several types of cancer cells. In breast cancer cells these mutations are clustered in long DNA regions associated with ssDNA, double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) and genomic rearrangements. The observed mutational pattern resembles the deamination signature of cytidine to uridine carried out by members of the APOBEC3 family of cellular deaminases. Consistently, APOBEC3B (A3B) was recently identified as the mutational source in breast cancer cells. A3G is another member of the cytidine deaminases family predominantly expressed in lymphoma cells, where it is involved in mutational DSB repair following ionizing radiation treatments. This activity provides us with a new paradigm for cancer cell survival and tumor promotion and a mechanistic link between ssDNA, DSBs and clustered mutations. PMID:23598277

  20. Acetylation of hMOF Modulates H4K16ac to Regulate DNA Repair Genes in Response to Oxidative Stress.

    PubMed

    Zhong, Jianing; Ji, Liying; Chen, Huiqian; Li, Xianfeng; Zhang, Jian'an; Wang, Xingxing; Wu, Weilin; Xu, Ying; Huang, Fei; Cai, Wanshi; Sun, Zhong Sheng

    2017-01-01

    Oxidative stress is considered to be a key risk state for a variety of human diseases. In response to oxidative stress, the regulation of transcriptional expression of DNA repair genes would be important to DNA repair and genomic stability. However, the overall pattern of transcriptional expression of DNA repair genes and the underlying molecular response mechanism to oxidative stress remain unclear. Here, by employing colorectal cancer cell lines following exposure to hydrogen peroxide, we generated expression profiles of DNA repair genes via RNA-seq and identified gene subsets that are induced or repressed following oxidative stress exposure. RRBS-seq analyses further indicated that transcriptional regulation of most of the DNA repair genes that were induced or repressed is independent of their DNA methylation status. Our analyses also indicate that hydrogen peroxide induces deacetylase SIRT1 which decreases chromatin affinity and the activity of histone acetyltransferase hMOF toward H4K16ac and results in decreased transcriptional expression of DNA repair genes. Taken together, our findings provide a potential mechanism by which oxidative stress suppresses DNA repair genes which is independent of the DNA methylation status of their promoters.

  1. The multifaceted influence of histone deacetylases on DNA damage signalling and DNA repair

    PubMed Central

    Roos, Wynand Paul; Krumm, Andrea

    2016-01-01

    Histone/protein deacetylases play multiple roles in regulating gene expression and protein activation and stability. Their deregulation during cancer initiation and progression cause resistance to therapy. Here, we review the role of histone deacetylases (HDACs) and the NAD+ dependent sirtuins (SIRTs) in the DNA damage response (DDR). These lysine deacetylases contribute to DNA repair by base excision repair (BER), nucleotide excision repair (NER), mismatch repair (MMR), non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), homologous recombination (HR) and interstrand crosslink (ICL) repair. Furthermore, we discuss possible mechanisms whereby these histone/protein deacetylases facilitate the switch between DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair pathways, how SIRTs play a central role in the crosstalk between DNA repair and cell death pathways due to their dependence on NAD+, and the influence of small molecule HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) on cancer cell resistance to genotoxin based therapies. Throughout the review, we endeavor to identify the specific HDAC targeted by HDACi leading to therapy sensitization. PMID:27738139

  2. Knock-in of large reporter genes in human cells via CRISPR/Cas9-induced homology-dependent and independent DNA repair

    PubMed Central

    He, Xiangjun; Tan, Chunlai; Wang, Feng; Wang, Yaofeng; Zhou, Rui; Cui, Dexuan; You, Wenxing; Zhao, Hui; Ren, Jianwei; Feng, Bo

    2016-01-01

    CRISPR/Cas9-induced site-specific DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) can be repaired by homology-directed repair (HDR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathways. Extensive efforts have been made to knock-in exogenous DNA to a selected genomic locus in human cells; which, however, has focused on HDR-based strategies and was proven inefficient. Here, we report that NHEJ pathway mediates efficient rejoining of genome and plasmids following CRISPR/Cas9-induced DNA DSBs, and promotes high-efficiency DNA integration in various human cell types. With this homology-independent knock-in strategy, integration of a 4.6 kb promoterless ires-eGFP fragment into the GAPDH locus yielded up to 20% GFP+ cells in somatic LO2 cells, and 1.70% GFP+ cells in human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Quantitative comparison further demonstrated that the NHEJ-based knock-in is more efficient than HDR-mediated gene targeting in all human cell types examined. These data support that CRISPR/Cas9-induced NHEJ provides a valuable new path for efficient genome editing in human ESCs and somatic cells. PMID:26850641

  3. Reduction of spontaneous somatic mutation frequency by a low-dose X irradiation of Drosophila larvae and possible involvement of DNA single-strand damage repair.

    PubMed

    Koana, Takao; Takahashi, Takashi; Tsujimura, Hidenobu

    2012-03-01

    The third instar larvae of Drosophila were irradiated with X rays, and the somatic mutation frequency in their wings was measured after their eclosion. In the flies with normal DNA repair and apoptosis functions, 0.2 Gy irradiation at 0.05 Gy/min reduced the frequency of the so-called small spot (mutant cell clone with reduced reproductive activity) compared with that in the sham-irradiated flies. When apoptosis was suppressed using the baculovirus p35 gene, the small spot frequency increased four times in the sham-irradiated control group, but the reduction by the 0.2-Gy irradiation was still evident. In a non-homologous end joining-deficient mutant, the small spot frequency was also reduced by 0.2 Gy radiation. In a mutant deficient in single-strand break repair, no reduction in the small spot frequency by 0.2 Gy radiation was observed, and the small spot frequency increased with the radiation dose. Large spot (mutant cell clone with normal reproductive activity) frequency was not affected by suppression of apoptosis and increased monotonically with radiation dose in wild-type larvae and in mutants for single- or double-strand break repair. It is hypothesized that some of the small spots resulted from single-strand damage and, in wild-type larvae, 0.2 Gy radiation activated the normal single-strand break repair gene, which reduced the background somatic mutation frequency.

  4. Insertional Mutagenesis by CRISPR/Cas9 Ribonucleoprotein Gene Editing in Cells Targeted for Point Mutation Repair Directed by Short Single-Stranded DNA Oligonucleotides.

    PubMed

    Rivera-Torres, Natalia; Banas, Kelly; Bialk, Pawel; Bloh, Kevin M; Kmiec, Eric B

    2017-01-01

    CRISPR/Cas9 and single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides (ssODNs) have been used to direct the repair of a single base mutation in human genes. Here, we examine a method designed to increase the precision of RNA guided genome editing in human cells by utilizing a CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex to initiate DNA cleavage. The RNP is assembled in vitro and induces a double stranded break at a specific site surrounding the mutant base designated for correction by the ssODN. We use an integrated mutant eGFP gene, bearing a single base change rendering the expressed protein nonfunctional, as a single copy target in HCT 116 cells. We observe significant gene correction activity of the mutant base, promoted by the RNP and single-stranded DNA oligonucleotide with validation through genotypic and phenotypic readout. We demonstrate that all individual components must be present to obtain successful gene editing. Importantly, we examine the genotype of individually sorted corrected and uncorrected clonally expanded cell populations for the mutagenic footprint left by the action of these gene editing tools. While the DNA sequence of the corrected population is exact with no adjacent sequence modification, the uncorrected population exhibits heterogeneous mutagenicity with a wide variety of deletions and insertions surrounding the target site. We designate this type of DNA aberration as on-site mutagenicity. Analyses of two clonal populations bearing specific DNA insertions surrounding the target site, indicate that point mutation repair has occurred at the level of the gene. The phenotype, however, is not rescued because a section of the single-stranded oligonucleotide has been inserted altering the reading frame and generating truncated proteins. These data illustrate the importance of analysing mutagenicity in uncorrected cells. Our results also form the basis of a simple model for point mutation repair directed by a short single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides and

  5. Insertional Mutagenesis by CRISPR/Cas9 Ribonucleoprotein Gene Editing in Cells Targeted for Point Mutation Repair Directed by Short Single-Stranded DNA Oligonucleotides

    PubMed Central

    Rivera-Torres, Natalia; Bialk, Pawel; Bloh, Kevin M.; Kmiec, Eric B.

    2017-01-01

    CRISPR/Cas9 and single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides (ssODNs) have been used to direct the repair of a single base mutation in human genes. Here, we examine a method designed to increase the precision of RNA guided genome editing in human cells by utilizing a CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex to initiate DNA cleavage. The RNP is assembled in vitro and induces a double stranded break at a specific site surrounding the mutant base designated for correction by the ssODN. We use an integrated mutant eGFP gene, bearing a single base change rendering the expressed protein nonfunctional, as a single copy target in HCT 116 cells. We observe significant gene correction activity of the mutant base, promoted by the RNP and single-stranded DNA oligonucleotide with validation through genotypic and phenotypic readout. We demonstrate that all individual components must be present to obtain successful gene editing. Importantly, we examine the genotype of individually sorted corrected and uncorrected clonally expanded cell populations for the mutagenic footprint left by the action of these gene editing tools. While the DNA sequence of the corrected population is exact with no adjacent sequence modification, the uncorrected population exhibits heterogeneous mutagenicity with a wide variety of deletions and insertions surrounding the target site. We designate this type of DNA aberration as on-site mutagenicity. Analyses of two clonal populations bearing specific DNA insertions surrounding the target site, indicate that point mutation repair has occurred at the level of the gene. The phenotype, however, is not rescued because a section of the single-stranded oligonucleotide has been inserted altering the reading frame and generating truncated proteins. These data illustrate the importance of analysing mutagenicity in uncorrected cells. Our results also form the basis of a simple model for point mutation repair directed by a short single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides and

  6. Chromosomal Integrity after UV Irradiation Requires FANCD2-Mediated Repair of Double Strand Breaks.

    PubMed

    Federico, María Belén; Vallerga, María Belén; Radl, Analía; Paviolo, Natalia Soledad; Bocco, José Luis; Di Giorgio, Marina; Soria, Gastón; Gottifredi, Vanesa

    2016-01-01

    Fanconi Anemia (FA) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by hypersensitivity to inter-strand crosslinks (ICLs). FANCD2, a central factor of the FA pathway, is essential for the repair of double strand breaks (DSBs) generated during fork collapse at ICLs. While lesions different from ICLs can also trigger fork collapse, the contribution of FANCD2 to the resolution of replication-coupled DSBs generated independently from ICLs is unknown. Intriguingly, FANCD2 is readily activated after UV irradiation, a DNA-damaging agent that generates predominantly intra-strand crosslinks but not ICLs. Hence, UV irradiation is an ideal tool to explore the contribution of FANCD2 to the DNA damage response triggered by DNA lesions other than ICL repair. Here we show that, in contrast to ICL-causing agents, UV radiation compromises cell survival independently from FANCD2. In agreement, FANCD2 depletion does not increase the amount of DSBs generated during the replication of UV-damaged DNA and is dispensable for UV-induced checkpoint activation. Remarkably however, FANCD2 protects UV-dependent, replication-coupled DSBs from aberrant processing by non-homologous end joining, preventing the accumulation of micronuclei and chromatid aberrations including non-homologous chromatid exchanges. Hence, while dispensable for cell survival, FANCD2 selectively safeguards chromosomal stability after UV-triggered replication stress.

  7. Splicing stimulates siRNA formation at Drosophila DNA double-strand breaks

    PubMed Central

    Merk, Karin; Breinig, Marco; Böttcher, Romy; Krebs, Stefan; Blum, Helmut; Boutros, Michael

    2017-01-01

    DNA double-strand breaks trigger the production of locus-derived siRNAs in fruit flies, human cells and plants. At least in flies, their biogenesis depends on active transcription running towards the break. Since siRNAs derive from a double-stranded RNA precursor, a major question is how broken DNA ends can generate matching sense and antisense transcripts. We performed a genome-wide RNAi-screen in cultured Drosophila cells, which revealed that in addition to DNA repair factors, many spliceosome components are required for efficient siRNA generation. We validated this observation through site-specific DNA cleavage with CRISPR-cas9 followed by deep sequencing of small RNAs. DNA breaks in intron-less genes or upstream of a gene’s first intron did not efficiently trigger siRNA production. When DNA double-strand breaks were induced downstream of an intron, however, this led to robust siRNA generation. Furthermore, a downstream break slowed down splicing of the upstream intron and a detailed analysis of siRNA coverage at the targeted locus revealed that unspliced pre-mRNA contributes the sense strand to the siRNA precursor. Since splicing factors are stimulating the response but unspliced transcripts are entering the siRNA biogenesis, the spliceosome is apparently stalled in a pre-catalytic state and serves as a signaling hub. We conclude that convergent transcription at DNA breaks is stimulated by a splicing dependent control process. The resulting double-stranded RNA is converted into siRNAs that instruct the degradation of cognate mRNAs. In addition to a potential role in DNA repair, the break-induced transcription may thus be a means to cull improper RNAs from the transcriptome of Drosophila melanogaster. Since the splicing factors identified in our screen also stimulated siRNA production from high copy transgenes, it is possible that this surveillance mechanism serves in genome defense beyond DNA double-strand breaks. PMID:28628606

  8. Thyroid nodules, polymorphic variants in DNA repair and RET-related genes, and interaction with ionizing radiation exposure from nuclear tests in Kazakhstan

    PubMed Central

    Sigurdson, Alice J.; Land, Charles E.; Bhatti, Parveen; Pineda, Marbin; Brenner, Alina; Carr, Zhanat; Gusev, Boris I.; Zhumadilov, Zhaxibay; Simon, Steven L.; Bouville, Andre; Rutter, Joni L.; Ron, Elaine; Struewing, Jeffery P.

    2010-01-01

    Risk factors for thyroid cancer remain largely unknown except for ionizing radiation exposure during childhood and a history of benign thyroid nodules. Because thyroid nodules are more common than thyroid cancers and are associated with thyroid cancer risk, we evaluated several polymorphisms potentially relevant to thyroid tumors and assessed interaction with ionizing radiation exposure to the thyroid gland. Thyroid nodules were detected in 1998 by ultrasound screening of 2997 persons who lived near the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan when they were children (1949-62). Cases with thyroid nodules (n=907) were frequency matched (1:1) to those without nodules by ethnicity (Kazakh or Russian), gender, and age at screening. Thyroid gland radiation doses were estimated from fallout deposition patterns, residence history, and diet. We analyzed 23 polymorphisms in 13 genes and assessed interaction with ionizing radiation exposure using likelihood ratio tests (LRT). Elevated thyroid nodule risks were associated with the minor alleles of RET S836S (rs1800862, p = 0.03) and GFRA1 -193C>G (rs not assigned, p = 0.05) and decreased risk with XRCC1 R194W (rs1799782, p-trend = 0.03) and TGFB1 T263I (rs1800472, p = 0.009). Similar patterns of association were observed for a small number of papillary thyroid cancers (n=25). Ionizing radiation exposure to the thyroid gland was associated with significantly increased risk of thyroid nodules (age and gender adjusted excess odds ratio/Gy = 0.30, 95% confidence interval 0.05-0.56), with evidence for interaction by genotype found for XRCC1 R194W (LRT p value = 0.02). Polymorphisms in RET signaling, DNA repair, and proliferation genes may be related to risk of thyroid nodules, consistent with some previous reports on thyroid cancer. Borderline support for gene-radiation interaction was found for a variant in XRCC1, a key base excision repair protein. Other pathways, such as genes in double strand break repair, apoptosis, and

  9. Differential expression of thymic DNA repair genes in low-dose-rate irradiated AKR/J mice

    PubMed Central

    Bong, Jin Jong; Kang, Yu Mi; Shin, Suk Chul; Choi, Seung Jin

    2013-01-01

    We previously determined that AKR/J mice housed in a low-dose-rate (LDR) (137Cs, 0.7 mGy/h, 2.1 Gy) γ-irradiation facility developed less spontaneous thymic lymphoma and survived longer than those receiving sham or high-dose-rate (HDR) (137Cs, 0.8 Gy/min, 4.5 Gy) radiation. Interestingly, histopathological analysis showed a mild lymphomagenesis in the thymus of LDR-irradiated mice. Therefore, in this study, we investigated whether LDR irradiation could trigger the expression of thymic genes involved in the DNA repair process of AKR/J mice. The enrichment analysis of Gene Ontology terms and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways showed immune response, nucleosome organization, and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors signaling pathway in LDR-irradiated mice. Our microarray analysis and quantitative polymerase chain reaction data demonstrated that mRNA levels of Lig4 and RRM2 were specifically elevated in AKR/J mice at 130 days after the start of LDR irradiation. Furthermore, transcriptional levels of H2AX and ATM, proteins known to recruit DNA repair factors, were also shown to be upregulated. These data suggest that LDR irradiation could trigger specific induction of DNA repair-associated genes in an attempt to repair damaged DNA during tumor progression, which in turn contributed to the decreased incidence of lymphoma and increased survival. Overall, we identified specific DNA repair genes in LDR-irradiated AKR/J mice. PMID:23820165

  10. Genetic variants of the DNA repair genes from Exome Aggregation Consortium (EXAC) database: significance in cancer.

    PubMed

    Das, Raima; Ghosh, Sankar Kumar

    2017-04-01

    DNA repair pathway is a primary defense system that eliminates wide varieties of DNA damage. Any deficiencies in them are likely to cause the chromosomal instability that leads to cell malfunctioning and tumorigenesis. Genetic polymorphisms in DNA repair genes have demonstrated a significant association with cancer risk. Our study attempts to give a glimpse of the overall scenario of the germline polymorphisms in the DNA repair genes by taking into account of the Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC) database as well as the Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD) for evaluating the disease link, particularly in cancer. It has been found that ExAC DNA repair dataset (which consists of 228 DNA repair genes) comprises 30.4% missense, 12.5% dbSNP reported and 3.2% ClinVar significant variants. 27% of all the missense variants has the deleterious SIFT score of 0.00 and 6% variants carrying the most damaging Polyphen-2 score of 1.00, thus affecting the protein structure and function. However, as per HGMD, only a fraction (1.2%) of ExAC DNA repair variants was found to be cancer-related, indicating remaining variants reported in both the databases to be further analyzed. This, in turn, may provide an increased spectrum of the reported cancer linked variants in the DNA repair genes present in ExAC database. Moreover, further in silico functional assay of the identified vital cancer-associated variants, which is essential to get their actual biological significance, may shed some lights in the field of targeted drug development in near future. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  11. Correction of xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group D mutant cell phenotypes by chromosome and gene transfer: Involvement of the human ERCC2 DNA repair gene

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Flejter, W.L.; McDaniel, L.D.; Johns, D.

    1992-01-01

    Cultured cells from individuals afflicted with the genetically heterogeneous autosomal recessive disorder xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) exhibit sensitivity to UV radiation and defective nucleotide excision repair. Complementation of these mutant phenotypes after the introduction of single human chromosomes from repair-proficient cells into XP cells has provided a means of mapping the genes involved in this disease. The authors now report the phenotypic correction of XP cells from genetic complementation group D (XP-D) by a single human chromosome designated Tneo. Detailed molecular characterization of Tneo revealed a rearranged structure involving human chromosomes 16 and 19, including the excision repair cross-complementing 2 (ERCC2)more » gene from the previously described human DNA repair gene cluster at 19q13.2-q13.3. Direct transfer of a cosmid bearing the ERCC2 gene conferred UV resistance to XP-D cells.« less

  12. DNA double strand break repair in human bladder cancer is error prone and involves microhomology-associated end-joining

    PubMed Central

    Bentley, Johanne; Diggle, Christine P.; Harnden, Patricia; Knowles, Margaret A.; Kiltie, Anne E.

    2004-01-01

    In human cells DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) can be repaired by the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway. In a background of NHEJ deficiency, DSBs with mismatched ends can be joined by an error-prone mechanism involving joining between regions of nucleotide microhomology. The majority of joins formed from a DSB with partially incompatible 3′ overhangs by cell-free extracts from human glioblastoma (MO59K) and urothelial (NHU) cell lines were accurate and produced by the overlap/fill-in of mismatched termini by NHEJ. However, repair of DSBs by extracts using tissue from four high-grade bladder carcinomas resulted in no accurate join formation. Junctions were formed by the non-random deletion of terminal nucleotides and showed a preference for annealing at a microhomology of 8 nt buried within the DNA substrate; this process was not dependent on functional Ku70, DNA-PK or XRCC4. Junctions were repaired in the same manner in MO59K extracts in which accurate NHEJ was inactivated by inhibition of Ku70 or DNA-PKcs. These data indicate that bladder tumour extracts are unable to perform accurate NHEJ such that error-prone joining predominates. Therefore, in high-grade tumours mismatched DSBs are repaired by a highly mutagenic, microhomology-mediated, alternative end-joining pathway, a process that may contribute to genomic instability observed in bladder cancer. PMID:15466592

  13. Glial kon/NG2 gene network for central nervous system repair.

    PubMed

    Losada-Perez, Maria; Harrison, Neale; Hidalgo, Alicia

    2017-01-01

    The glial regenerative response to central nervous system (CNS) injury, although limited, can be harnessed to promote regeneration and repair. Injury provokes the proliferation of ensheathing glial cells, which can differentiate to remyelinate axons, and partially restore function. This response is evolutionarily conserved, strongly implying an underlying genetic mechanism. In mammals, it is elicited by NG2 glia, but most often newly generated cells fail to differentiate. Thus an important goal had been to find out how to promote glial differentiation following the proliferative response. A gene network involving Notch and prospero (pros) controls the balance between glial proliferation and differentiation in flies and mice, and promotes CNS repair at least in fruit-flies. A key missing link had been how to relate the function of NG2 to this gene network. Recent findings by Losada-Perez et al., published in JCB, demonstrated that the Drosophila NG2 homologue kon-tiki (kon) is functionally linked to Notch and pros in glia. By engaging in two feedback loops with Notch and Pros, in response to injury, Kon can regulate both glial cell number and glial shape homeostasis, essential for repair. Drosophila offers powerful genetics to unravel the control of stem and progenitor cells for regeneration and repair.

  14. Involvement of DNA polymerase beta in repairing oxidative damages induced by antitumor drug adriamycin

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liu Shukun; Wu Mei; Zhang Zunzhen, E-mail: zhangzunzhen@163.co

    2010-08-01

    Adriamycin (ADM) is a widely used antineoplastic drug. However, the increasing cellular resistance has become a serious limitation to ADM clinical application. The most important mechanism related to ADM-induced cell death is oxidative DNA damage mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Base excision repair (BER) is a major pathway in the repair of DNA single strand break (SSB) and oxidized base. In this study, we firstly applied the murine embryo fibroblasts wild-type (pol {beta} +/+) and homozygous pol {beta} null cell (pol {beta} -/-) as a model to investigate ADM DNA-damaging effects and the molecular basis underlying these effects. Here,more » cellular sensitivity to ADM was examined using colorimetric assay and colony forming assay. ADM-induced cellular ROS level and the alteration of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were measured by commercial kits. Further, DNA strand break, chromosomal damage and gene mutation were assessed by comet assay, micronucleus test and hprt gene mutation assay, respectively. The results showed that pol {beta} -/- cells were more sensitive to ADM compared with pol {beta} +/+ cells and more severe SSB and chromosomal damage as well as higher hprt gene mutation frequency were observed in pol {beta} -/- cells. ROS level in pol {beta} -/- cells increased along with decreased activity of SOD. These results demonstrated that pol {beta} deficiency could enable ROS accumulation with SOD activity decrease, further elevate oxidative DNA damage, and subsequently result in SSB, chromosome cleavage as well as gene mutation, which may be partly responsible for the cytotoxicity of ADM and the hypersensitivity of pol {beta} -/- cells to ADM. These findings suggested that pol {beta} is vital for repairing oxidative damage induced by ADM.« less

  15. Quantitative, non-invasive imaging of radiation-induced DNA double strand breaks in vivo

    PubMed Central

    Li, Wenrong; Li, Fang; Huang, Qian; Shen, Jingping; Wolf, Frank; He, Yujun; Liu, Xinjian; Hu, Y. Angela; Bedford, Joel. S.; Li, Chuan-Yuan

    2011-01-01

    DNA double strand breaks is a major form of DNA damage and a key mechanism through which radiotherapy and some chemotherapeutic agents kill cancer cells. Despite its importance, measuring DNA double strand breaks is still a tedious task that is normally carried out by gel electrophoresis or immunofluorescence staining. Here we report a novel approach to image and quantify DNA double strand breaks in live mammalian cells through bi-fragment luciferase reconstitution. N- and C- terminal fragments of firefly luciferase gene were fused with H2AX and MDC1 genes, respectively. Our strategy was based on the established fact that at the sites of DNA double strand breaks, H2AX protein is phosphoryated and physically associates with the MDC1 protein, thus bringing together N- and C- luciferase fragments and reconstituting luciferase activity. Our strategy allowed serial, non-invasive quantification of DNA double strand breaks in cells irradiated with x-rays and 56Fe ions. Furthermore, it allowed for the evaluation of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) non-invasively in vivo in irradiated tumors over two weeks. Surprisingly, we detected a second wave of DSB induction in irradiated tumor cells days after radiation exposure in addition to the initial rapid induction of DSBs. We conclude that our new split-luciferase based method for imaging γ-H2AX-MDC1 interaction is a powerful new tool to study DNA double strand break repair kinetics in vivo with considerable advantage for experiments requiring observations over an extended period of time. PMID:21527553

  16. Restoration of G1 chemo/radioresistance and double-strand-break repair proficiency by wild-type but not endonuclease-deficient Artemis.

    PubMed

    Mohapatra, Susovan; Kawahara, Misako; Khan, Imran S; Yannone, Steven M; Povirk, Lawrence F

    2011-08-01

    Deficiency in Artemis is associated with lack of V(D)J recombination, sensitivity to radiation and radiomimetic drugs, and failure to repair a subset of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Artemis harbors an endonuclease activity that trims both 5'- and 3'-ends of DSBs. To examine whether endonucleolytic trimming of terminally blocked DSBs by Artemis is a biologically relevant function, Artemis-deficient fibroblasts were stably complemented with either wild-type Artemis or an endonuclease-deficient D165N mutant. Wild-type Artemis completely restored resistance to γ-rays, bleomycin and neocarzinostatin, and also restored DSB-repair proficiency in G0/G1 phase as measured by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and repair focus resolution. In contrast, cells expressing the D165N mutant, even at very high levels, remained as chemo/radiosensitive and repair deficient as the parental cells, as evidenced by persistent γ-H2AX, 53BP1 and Mre11 foci that slowly increased in size and ultimately became juxtaposed with promyelocytic leukemia protein nuclear bodies. In normal fibroblasts, overexpression of wild-type Artemis increased radioresistance, while D165N overexpression conferred partial repair deficiency following high-dose radiation. Restoration of chemo/radioresistance by wild-type, but not D165N Artemis suggests that the lack of endonucleolytic trimming of DNA ends is the principal cause of sensitivity to double-strand cleaving agents in Artemis-deficient cells.

  17. In Vitro Expansion of Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Alters DNA Double Strand Break Repair of Etoposide Induced DNA Damage.

    PubMed

    Hare, Ian; Gencheva, Marieta; Evans, Rebecca; Fortney, James; Piktel, Debbie; Vos, Jeffrey A; Howell, David; Gibson, Laura F

    2016-01-01

    Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are of interest for use in diverse cellular therapies. Ex vivo expansion of MSCs intended for transplantation must result in generation of cells that maintain fidelity of critical functions. Previous investigations have identified genetic and phenotypic alterations of MSCs with in vitro passage, but little is known regarding how culturing influences the ability of MSCs to repair double strand DNA breaks (DSBs), the most severe of DNA lesions. To investigate the response to DSB stress with passage in vitro, primary human MSCs were exposed to etoposide (VP16) at various passages with subsequent evaluation of cellular damage responses and DNA repair. Passage number did not affect susceptibility to VP16 or the incidence and repair kinetics of DSBs. Nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) transcripts showed little alteration with VP16 exposure or passage; however, homologous recombination (HR) transcripts were reduced following VP16 exposure with this decrease amplified as MSCs were passaged in vitro. Functional evaluations of NHEJ and HR showed that MSCs were unable to activate NHEJ repair following VP16 stress in cells after successive passage. These results indicate that ex vivo expansion of MSCs alters their ability to perform DSB repair, a necessary function for cells intended for transplantation.

  18. DNA Damage Repair Genes Controlling Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Episome Levels under Conditions of Stability and Extreme Instability

    PubMed Central

    Edwards, Terri G.; Vidmar, Thomas J.; Koeller, Kevin; Bashkin, James K.; Fisher, Chris

    2013-01-01

    DNA damage response (DDR) genes and pathways controlling the stability of HPV episomal DNA are reported here. We set out to understand the mechanism by which a DNA-binding, N-methylpyrrole-imidazole hairpin polyamide (PA25) acts to cause the dramatic loss of HPV DNA from cells. Southern blots revealed that PA25 alters HPV episomes within 5 hours of treatment. Gene expression arrays identified numerous DDR genes that were specifically altered in HPV16 episome-containing cells (W12E) by PA25, but not in HPV-negative (C33A) cells or in cells with integrated HPV16 (SiHa). A siRNA screen of 240 DDR genes was then conducted to identify enhancers and repressors of PA25 activity. Serendipitously, the screen also identified many novel genes, such as TDP1 and TDP2, regulating normal HPV episome stability. MRN and 9-1-1 complexes emerged as important for PA25-mediated episome destruction and were selected for follow-up studies. Mre11, along with other homologous recombination and dsDNA break repair genes, was among the highly significant PA25 repressors. The Mre11 inhibitor Mirin was found to sensitize HPV episomes to PA25 resulting in a ∼5-fold reduction of the PA25 IC50. A novel assay that couples end-labeling of DNA to Q-PCR showed that PA25 causes strand breaks within HPV DNA, and that Mirin greatly enhances this activity. The 9-1-1 complex member Rad9, a representative PA25 enhancer, was transiently phosphorylated in response to PA25 treatment suggesting that it has a role in detecting and signaling episome damage by PA25 to the cell. These results establish that DNA-targeted compounds enter cells and specifically target the HPV episome. This action leads to the activation of numerous DDR pathways and the massive elimination of episomal DNA from cells. Our findings demonstrate that viral episomes can be targeted for elimination from cells by minor groove binding agents, and implicate DDR pathways as important mediators of this process. PMID:24098381

  19. Bacterial genes mutL, mutS, and dcm participate in repair of mismatches at 5-methylcytosine sites.

    PubMed Central

    Lieb, M

    1987-01-01

    Certain amber mutations in the cI gene of bacteriophage lambda appear to recombine very frequently with nearby mutations. The aberrant mutations included C-to-T transitions at the second cytosine in 5'CC(A/T)GG sequences (which are subject to methylation by bacterial cytosine methylase) and in 5'CCAG and 5'CAGG sequences. Excess cI+ recombinants arising in crosses that utilize these mutations are attributable to the correction of mismatches by a bacterial very-short-patch (VSP) mismatch repair system. In the present study I found that two genes required for methyladenine-directed (long-patch) mismatch repair, mutL and mutS, also functioned in VSP mismatch repair; mutH and mutU (uvrD) were dispensable. VSP mismatch repair was greatly reduced in a dcm Escherichia coli mutant, in which 5-methylcytosine was not methylated. However, mismatches in heteroduplexes prepared from lambda DNA lacking 5-methylcytosine were repaired in dcm+ bacteria. These results indicate that the product of gene dcm has a repair function in addition to its methylase activity. PMID:2959653

  20. Nbs1 ChIP-Seq Identifies Off-Target DNA Double-Strand Breaks Induced by AID in Activated Splenic B Cells

    PubMed Central

    Linehan, Erin K.; Schrader, Carol E.; Stavnezer, Janet

    2015-01-01

    Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is required for initiation of Ig class switch recombination (CSR) and somatic hypermutation (SHM) of antibody genes during immune responses. AID has also been shown to induce chromosomal translocations, mutations, and DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) involving non-Ig genes in activated B cells. To determine what makes a DNA site a target for AID-induced DSBs, we identify off-target DSBs induced by AID by performing chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) for Nbs1, a protein that binds DSBs, followed by deep sequencing (ChIP-Seq). We detect and characterize hundreds of off-target AID-dependent DSBs. Two types of tandem repeats are highly enriched within the Nbs1-binding sites: long CA repeats, which can form Z-DNA, and tandem pentamers containing the AID target hotspot WGCW. These tandem repeats are not nearly as enriched at AID-independent DSBs, which we also identified. Msh2, a component of the mismatch repair pathway and important for genome stability, increases off-target DSBs, similar to its effect on Ig switch region DSBs, which are required intermediates during CSR. Most of the off-target DSBs are two-ended, consistent with generation during G1 phase, similar to DSBs in Ig switch regions. However, a minority are one-ended, presumably due to conversion of single-strand breaks to DSBs during replication. One-ended DSBs are repaired by processes involving homologous recombination, including break-induced replication repair, which can lead to genome instability. Off-target DSBs, especially those present during S phase, can lead to chromosomal translocations, deletions and gene amplifications, resulting in the high frequency of B cell lymphomas derived from cells that express or have expressed AID. PMID:26263206

  1. Induction and repair of DNA double strand breaks: the increasing spectrum of non-homologous end joining pathways.

    PubMed

    Mladenov, Emil; Iliakis, George

    2011-06-03

    A defining characteristic of damage induced in the DNA by ionizing radiation (IR) is its clustered character that leads to the formation of complex lesions challenging the cellular repair mechanisms. The most widely investigated such complex lesion is the DNA double strand break (DSB). DSBs undermine chromatin stability and challenge the repair machinery because an intact template strand is lacking to assist restoration of integrity and sequence in the DNA molecule. Therefore, cells have evolved a sophisticated machinery to detect DSBs and coordinate a response on the basis of inputs from various sources. A central function of cellular responses to DSBs is the coordination of DSB repair. Two conceptually different mechanisms can in principle remove DSBs from the genome of cells of higher eukaryotes. Homologous recombination repair (HRR) uses as template a homologous DNA molecule and is therefore error-free; it functions preferentially in the S and G2 phases. Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), on the other hand, simply restores DNA integrity by joining the two ends, is error prone as sequence is only fortuitously preserved and active throughout the cell cycle. The basis of DSB repair pathway choice remains unknown, but cells of higher eukaryotes appear programmed to utilize preferentially NHEJ. Recent work suggests that when the canonical DNA-PK dependent pathway of NHEJ (D-NHEJ), becomes compromised an alternative NHEJ pathway and not HRR substitutes in a quasi-backup function (B-NHEJ). Here, we outline aspects of DSB induction by IR and review the mechanisms of their processing in cells of higher eukaryotes. We place particular emphasis on backup pathways of NHEJ and summarize their increasing significance in various cellular processes, as well as their potential contribution to carcinogenesis. 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Comprehensive Pathway-Based Association Study of DNA Repair Gene Variants and the Risk of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

    PubMed Central

    Qin, Hai-De; Shugart, Yin Yao; Bei, Jin-Xin; Pan, Qing-Hua; Chen, Lina; Feng, Qi-Sheng; Chen, Li-Zhen; Huang, Wei; Liu, Jian Jun; Jorgensen, Timothy J.; Zeng, Yi-Xin; Jia, Wei-Hua

    2011-01-01

    DNA repair plays a central role in protecting against environmental carcinogenesis, and genetic variants of DNA repair genes have been reported to be associated with several human malignancies. To assess whether DNA gene variants were associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) risk, a candidate gene association study was conducted among the Cantonese population within the Guangdong Province, China --the ethnic group with the highest risk for NPC. A two-stage study design was utilized. In the discovery stage, 676 tagging SNPs covering 88 DNA repair genes were genotyped in a matched case-control study (cases/controls = 755/755). Eleven SNPs with Ptrend <0.01 were identified. Seven of these SNPs were located within three genes, RAD51L1, BRCA2 and TP53BP1. In the validation stage, these 11 SNPs were genotyped in a separate Cantonese population (cases/controls = 1,568/1,297). Two of the SNPs (rs927220 and rs11158728) – both in RAD51L1 – remained strongly associated with NPC. The SNP rs927220 had a significant Pcombined of 5.55 × 10−5, with OR = 1.20 (95%CI = 1.10 to 1.30), Bonferroni corrected P = 0.0381. The other SNP (rs11158728), which is in strong LD with rs927220 (r2 = 0.7), had a significant Pcombined of 2.0 × 10−4, Bonferroni corrected P = 0.1372. Gene-environment interaction analysis suggested that the exposures of salted-fish consumption and cigarette smoking had potential interactions with DNA repair gene variations, but need to be further investigated. Our findings support the notion that DNA repair genes, in particular RAD51L1, play a role in NPC etiology and development. PMID:21368091

  3. Hyper-Acetylation of Histone H3K56 Limits Break-Induced Replication by Inhibiting Extensive Repair Synthesis

    PubMed Central

    Che, Jun; Smith, Stephanie; Kim, Yoo Jung; Shim, Eun Yong; Myung, Kyungjae; Lee, Sang Eun

    2015-01-01

    Break-induced replication (BIR) has been implicated in restoring eroded telomeres and collapsed replication forks via single-ended invasion and extensive DNA synthesis on the recipient chromosome. Unlike other recombination subtypes, DNA synthesis in BIR likely relies heavily on mechanisms enabling efficient fork progression such as chromatin modification. Herein we report that deletion of HST3 and HST4, two redundant de-acetylases of histone H3 Lysine 56 (H3K56), inhibits BIR, sensitizes checkpoint deficient cells to deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate pool depletion, and elevates translocation-type gross chromosomal rearrangements (GCR). The basis for deficiency in BIR and gene conversion with long gap synthesis in hst3Δ hst4Δ cells can be traced to a defect in extensive DNA synthesis. Distinct from other cellular defects associated with deletion of HST3 and HST4 including thermo-sensitivity and elevated spontaneous mutagenesis, the BIR defect in hst3Δ hst4Δ cannot be offset by the deletion of RAD17 or MMS22, but rather by the loss of RTT109 or ASF1, or in combination with the H3K56R mutation, which also restores tolerance to replication stress in mrc1 mutants. Our studies suggest that acetylation of H3K56 limits extensive repair synthesis and interferes with efficient fork progression in BIR. PMID:25705897

  4. Dissecting transcription-coupled and global genomic repair in the chromatin of yeast GAL1-10 genes.

    PubMed

    Li, Shisheng; Smerdon, Michael J

    2004-04-02

    Transcription-coupled repair (TCR) and global genomic repair (GGR) of UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers were investigated in the yeast GAL1-10 genes. Both Rpb9- and Rad26-mediated TCR are confined to the transcribed strands, initiating at upstream sites approximately 100 nucleotides from the upstream activating sequence shared by the two genes. However, TCR initiation sites do not correlate with either transcription start sites or TATA boxes. Rad16-mediated GGR tightly correlates with nucleosome positioning when the genes are repressed and are slow in the nucleosome core and fast in linker DNA. Induction of transcription enhanced GGR in nucleosome core DNA, especially in the nucleosomes around and upstream of the transcription start sites. Furthermore, when the genes were induced, GGR was slower in the transcribed regions than in the upstream regions. Finally, simultaneous deletion of RAD16, RAD26, and RPB9 resulted in no detectable repair in all sites along the region analyzed. Our results suggest that (a). TCR may be initiated by a transcription activator, presumably through the loading of RNA polymerase II, rather than by transcription initiation or elongation per se; (b). TCR and nucleosome disruption-enhanced GGR are the major causes of rapid repair in regions around and upstream of transcription start sites; (c). transcription machinery may hinder access of NER factors to a DNA lesion in the absence of a transcription-repair coupling factor; and (d). other than GGR mediated by Rad16 and TCR mediated by Rad26 and Rpb9, no other nucleotide excision repair pathway exists in these RNA polymerase II-transcribed genes.

  5. Chromosomal Integrity after UV Irradiation Requires FANCD2-Mediated Repair of Double Strand Breaks

    PubMed Central

    Federico, María Belén; Vallerga, María Belén; Radl, Analía; Paviolo, Natalia Soledad; Bocco, José Luis; Di Giorgio, Marina; Soria, Gastón; Gottifredi, Vanesa

    2016-01-01

    Fanconi Anemia (FA) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by hypersensitivity to inter-strand crosslinks (ICLs). FANCD2, a central factor of the FA pathway, is essential for the repair of double strand breaks (DSBs) generated during fork collapse at ICLs. While lesions different from ICLs can also trigger fork collapse, the contribution of FANCD2 to the resolution of replication-coupled DSBs generated independently from ICLs is unknown. Intriguingly, FANCD2 is readily activated after UV irradiation, a DNA-damaging agent that generates predominantly intra-strand crosslinks but not ICLs. Hence, UV irradiation is an ideal tool to explore the contribution of FANCD2 to the DNA damage response triggered by DNA lesions other than ICL repair. Here we show that, in contrast to ICL-causing agents, UV radiation compromises cell survival independently from FANCD2. In agreement, FANCD2 depletion does not increase the amount of DSBs generated during the replication of UV-damaged DNA and is dispensable for UV-induced checkpoint activation. Remarkably however, FANCD2 protects UV-dependent, replication-coupled DSBs from aberrant processing by non-homologous end joining, preventing the accumulation of micronuclei and chromatid aberrations including non-homologous chromatid exchanges. Hence, while dispensable for cell survival, FANCD2 selectively safeguards chromosomal stability after UV-triggered replication stress. PMID:26765540

  6. Reduced expression of DNA repair genes and chemosensitivity in 1p19q codeleted lower-grade gliomas.

    PubMed

    Tang, Lei; Deng, Lu; Bai, Harrison X; Sun, James; Neale, Natalie; Wu, Jing; Wang, Yinyan; Chang, Ken; Huang, Raymond Y; Zhang, Paul J; Li, Xuejun; Xiao, Bo; Cao, Ya; Tao, Yongguang; Yang, Li

    2018-06-19

    Lower-grade gliomas (LGGs, defined as WHO grades II and III) with 1p19q codeletion have increased chemosensitivity when compared to LGGs without 1p19q codeletion, but the mechanism is currently unknown. RNAseq data from 515 LGG patients in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were analyzed to compare the effect of expression of the 9 DNA repair genes located on chromosome arms 1p and 19q on progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) between patients who received chemotherapy and those who did not. Chemosensitivity of cells with DNA repair genes knocked down was tested using MTS cell proliferation assay in HS683 cell line and U251 cell line. The expression of 9 DNA repair genes on 1p and 19q was significantly lower in 1p19q-codeleted tumors (n = 175) than in tumors without the codeletion (n = 337) (p < 0.001). In LGG patients who received chemotherapy, lower expression of LIG1, POLD1, PNKP, RAD54L and MUTYH was associated with longer PFS and OS. This difference between chemotherapy and non-chemotherapy groups in the association of gene expression with survival was not observed in non-DNA repair genes located on chromosome arms 1p and 19q. MTS assays showed that knockdown of DNA repair genes LIG1, POLD1, PNKP, RAD54L and MUTYH significantly inhibited recovery in response to temozolomide when compared with control group (p < 0.001). Our results suggest that reduced expression of DNA repair genes on chromosome arms 1p and 19q may account for the increased chemosensitivity of LGGs with 1p19q codeletion.

  7. MEIOTIC F-BOX Is Essential for Male Meiotic DNA Double-Strand Break Repair in Rice[OPEN

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Chong; Yu, Junping; Zong, Jie; Lu, Pingli

    2016-01-01

    F-box proteins constitute a large superfamily in plants and play important roles in controlling many biological processes, but the roles of F-box proteins in male meiosis in plants remain unclear. Here, we identify the rice (Oryza sativa) F-box gene MEIOTIC F-BOX (MOF), which is essential for male meiotic progression. MOF belongs to the FBX subfamily and is predominantly active during leptotene to pachytene of prophase I. mof meiocytes display disrupted telomere bouquet formation, impaired pairing and synapsis of homologous chromosomes, and arrested meiocytes at late prophase I, followed by apoptosis. Although normal, programmed double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) form in mof mutants, foci of the phosphorylated histone variant γH2AX, a marker for DSBs, persist in the mutant, indicating that many of the DSBs remained unrepaired. The recruitment of Completion of meiosis I (COM1) and Radiation sensitive51C (RAD51C) to DSBs is severely compromised in mutant meiocytes, indicating that MOF is crucial for DSB end-processing and repair. Further analyses showed that MOF could physically interact with the rice SKP1-like Protein1 (OSK1), indicating that MOF functions as a component of the SCF E3 ligase to regulate meiotic progression in rice. Thus, this study reveals the essential role of an F-box protein in plant meiosis and provides helpful information for elucidating the roles of the ubiquitin proteasome system in plant meiotic progression. PMID:27436711

  8. Break-induced telomere synthesis underlies alternative telomere maintenance

    PubMed Central

    Dilley, Robert L.; Verma, Priyanka; Cho, Nam Woo; Winters, Harrison D.; Wondisford, Anne R.; Greenberg, Roger A.

    2017-01-01

    Homology-directed DNA repair is essential for genome maintenance through templated DNA synthesis. Alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) necessitates homology-directed DNA repair to maintain telomeres in about 10–15% of human cancers. How DNA damage induces assembly and execution of a DNA replication complex (break-induced replisome) at telomeres or elsewhere in the mammalian genome is poorly understood. Here we define break-induced telomere synthesis and demonstrate that it utilizes a specialized replisome, which underlies ALT telomere maintenance. DNA double-strand breaks enact nascent telomere synthesis by long-tract unidirectional replication. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) loading by replication factor C (RFC) acts as the initial sensor of telomere damage to establish predominance of DNA polymerase δ (Pol δ) through its POLD3 subunit. Break-induced telomere synthesis requires the RFC–PCNA–Pol δ axis, but is independent of other canonical replisome components, ATM and ATR, or the homologous recombination protein Rad51. Thus, the inception of telomere damage recognition by the break-induced replisome orchestrates homology-directed telomere maintenance. PMID:27760120

  9. APOBEC3 cytidine deaminases in double-strand DNA break repair and cancer promotion.

    PubMed

    Nowarski, Roni; Kotler, Moshe

    2013-06-15

    High frequency of cytidine to thymidine conversions was identified in the genome of several types of cancer cells. In breast cancer cells, these mutations are clustered in long DNA regions associated with single-strand DNA (ssDNA), double-strand DNA breaks (DSB), and genomic rearrangements. The observed mutational pattern resembles the deamination signature of cytidine to uridine carried out by members of the APOBEC3 family of cellular deaminases. Consistently, APOBEC3B (A3B) was recently identified as the mutational source in breast cancer cells. A3G is another member of the cytidine deaminases family predominantly expressed in lymphoma cells, where it is involved in mutational DSB repair following ionizing radiation treatments. This activity provides us with a new paradigm for cancer cell survival and tumor promotion and a mechanistic link between ssDNA, DSBs, and clustered mutations. Cancer Res; 73(12); 3494-8. ©2013 AACR. ©2013 AACR.

  10. hMSH5 Facilitates the Repair of Camptothecin-induced Double-strand Breaks through an Interaction with FANCJ*

    PubMed Central

    Xu, Yang; Wu, Xiling; Her, Chengtao

    2015-01-01

    Replication stress from stalled or collapsed replication forks is a major challenge to genomic integrity. The anticancer agent camptothecin (CPT) is a DNA topoisomerase I inhibitor that causes fork collapse and double-strand breaks amid DNA replication. Here we report that hMSH5 promotes cell survival in response to CPT-induced DNA damage. Cells deficient in hMSH5 show elevated CPT-induced γ-H2AX and RPA2 foci with concomitant reduction of Rad51 foci, indicative of impaired homologous recombination. In addition, CPT-treated hMSH5-deficient cells exhibit aberrant activation of Chk1 and Chk2 kinases and therefore abnormal cell cycle progression. Furthermore, the hMSH5-FANCJ chromatin recruitment underlies the effects of hMSH5 on homologous recombination and Chk1 activation. Intriguingly, FANCJ depletion desensitizes hMSH5-deficient cells to CPT-elicited cell killing. Collectively, our data point to the existence of a functional interplay between hMSH5 and FANCJ in double-strand break repair induced by replication stress. PMID:26055704

  11. Low-level infrared laser modulates muscle repair and chromosome stabilization genes in myoblasts.

    PubMed

    da Silva Neto Trajano, Larissa Alexsandra; Stumbo, Ana Carolina; da Silva, Camila Luna; Mencalha, Andre Luiz; Fonseca, Adenilson S

    2016-08-01

    Infrared laser therapy is used for skeletal muscle repair based on its biostimulative effect on satellite cells. However, shortening of telomere length limits regenerative potential in satellite cells, which occurs after each cell division cycle. Also, laser therapy could be more effective on non-physiologic tissues. This study evaluated low-level infrared laser exposure effects on mRNA expression from muscle injury repair and telomere stabilization genes in myoblasts in normal and stressful conditions. Laser fluences were those used in clinical protocols. C2C12 myoblast cultures were exposed to low-level infrared laser (10, 35, and 70 J/cm(2)) in standard or normal (10 %) and reduced (2 %) fetal bovine serum concentrations; total RNA was extracted for mRNA expression evaluation from muscle injury repair (MyoD and Pax7) and chromosome stabilization (TRF1 and TRF2) genes by real time quantitative polymerization chain reaction. Data show that low-level infrared laser increases the expression of MyoD and Pax7 in 10 J/cm(2) fluence, TRF1 expression in all fluences, and TRF2 expression in 70 J/cm(2) fluence in both 10 and 2 % fetal bovine serum. Low-level infrared laser increases mRNA expression from genes related to muscle repair and telomere stabilization in myoblasts in standard or normal and stressful conditions.

  12. The RSF1 histone-remodelling factor facilitates DNA double-strand break repair by recruiting centromeric and Fanconi Anaemia proteins.

    PubMed

    Pessina, Fabio; Lowndes, Noel F

    2014-05-01

    ATM is a central regulator of the cellular responses to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Here we identify a biochemical interaction between ATM and RSF1 and we characterise the role of RSF1 in this response. The ATM-RSF1 interaction is dependent upon both DSBs and ATM kinase activity. Together with SNF2H/SMARCA5, RSF1 forms the RSF chromatin-remodelling complex. Although RSF1 is specific to the RSF complex, SNF2H/SMARCA5 is a catalytic subunit of several other chromatin-remodelling complexes. Although not required for checkpoint signalling, RSF1 is required for efficient repair of DSBs via both end-joining and homology-directed repair. Specifically, the ATM-dependent recruitment to sites of DSBs of the histone fold proteins CENPS/MHF1 and CENPX/MHF2, previously identified at centromeres, is RSF1-dependent. In turn these proteins recruit and regulate the mono-ubiquitination of the Fanconi Anaemia proteins FANCD2 and FANCI. We propose that by depositing CENPS/MHF1 and CENPX/MHF2, the RSF complex either directly or indirectly contributes to the reorganisation of chromatin around DSBs that is required for efficient DNA repair.

  13. The RSF1 Histone-Remodelling Factor Facilitates DNA Double-Strand Break Repair by Recruiting Centromeric and Fanconi Anaemia Proteins

    PubMed Central

    Pessina, Fabio; Lowndes, Noel F.

    2014-01-01

    ATM is a central regulator of the cellular responses to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Here we identify a biochemical interaction between ATM and RSF1 and we characterise the role of RSF1 in this response. The ATM–RSF1 interaction is dependent upon both DSBs and ATM kinase activity. Together with SNF2H/SMARCA5, RSF1 forms the RSF chromatin-remodelling complex. Although RSF1 is specific to the RSF complex, SNF2H/SMARCA5 is a catalytic subunit of several other chromatin-remodelling complexes. Although not required for checkpoint signalling, RSF1 is required for efficient repair of DSBs via both end-joining and homology-directed repair. Specifically, the ATM-dependent recruitment to sites of DSBs of the histone fold proteins CENPS/MHF1 and CENPX/MHF2, previously identified at centromeres, is RSF1-dependent. In turn these proteins recruit and regulate the mono-ubiquitination of the Fanconi Anaemia proteins FANCD2 and FANCI. We propose that by depositing CENPS/MHF1 and CENPX/MHF2, the RSF complex either directly or indirectly contributes to the reorganisation of chromatin around DSBs that is required for efficient DNA repair. PMID:24800743

  14. Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters in Pediatric Patients: To Repair or Not Repair

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gnannt, Ralph, E-mail: ralph.gnannt@usz.ch; Patel, Premal; Temple, Michael

    IntroductionPreservation of venous access in children is a major concern in pediatric interventional radiology. If a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) breaks, there are two options: repair the line with a repair kit or exchange the line over a wire in the interventional suite. The purpose of this study is to assess the outcome of PICC repairs in children and to compare these with the outcomes of PICC exchange.Materials and MethodsThis is a single-center, retrospective study of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) following management of externally broken PICCs (2010–2014). The occurrence of CLABSI within 30 days after repair (Group A) ormore » exchange (Group B) of a line was analyzed, as well as PICCs exchanged following an initial and failed repair.ResultsA total of 235 PICC breaks were included in the study, of which 161 were repaired, and 116 of whom were successful (68%, Group A). No repair was performed in 74 PICCs—55/74 of these were exchanged over a wire (74%, Group B), and 19/74 lines were removed. The 30 days post-repair CLABSI rate (Group A) was 2.0 infections per 1000 catheter days, and the calculated risk was 4.3%. In comparison the 30 days post-exchange CLABSI rate (Group B) was 4.0 per 1000 catheter days and the calculated risk 10.9%. This difference was significant when adjusted for antibiotic use (OR 3.87; 95% CI 1.07–14.0, p = 0.039).ConclusionThe results of this study support repairing a broken PICC instead of removing or replacing the line.« less

  15. Downregulation of Homologous Recombination DNA Repair Genes by HDAC Inhibition in Prostate Cancer Is Mediated through the E2F1 Transcription Factor

    PubMed Central

    Kachhap, Sushant K.; Rosmus, Nadine; Collis, Spencer J.; Kortenhorst, Madeleine S. Q.; Wissing, Michel D.; Hedayati, Mohammad; Shabbeer, Shabana; Mendonca, Janet; Deangelis, Justin; Marchionni, Luigi; Lin, Jianqing; Höti, Naseruddin; Nortier, Johan W. R.; DeWeese, Theodore L.; Hammers, Hans; Carducci, Michael A.

    2010-01-01

    Background Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) re-express silenced tumor suppressor genes and are currently undergoing clinical trials. Although HDACis have been known to induce gene expression, an equal number of genes are downregulated upon HDAC inhibition. The mechanism behind this downregulation remains unclear. Here we provide evidence that several DNA repair genes are downregulated by HDAC inhibition and provide a mechanism involving the E2F1 transcription factor in the process. Methodology/Principal Findings Applying Analysis of Functional Annotation (AFA) on microarray data of prostate cancer cells treated with HDACis, we found a number of genes of the DNA damage response and repair pathways are downregulated by HDACis. AFA revealed enrichment of homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair genes of the BRCA1 pathway, as well as genes regulated by the E2F1 transcription factor. Prostate cancer cells demonstrated a decreased DNA repair capacity and an increased sensitization to chemical- and radio-DNA damaging agents upon HDAC inhibition. Recruitment of key HR repair proteins to the site of DNA damage, as well as HR repair capacity was compromised upon HDACi treatment. Based on our AFA data, we hypothesized that the E2F transcription factors may play a role in the downregulation of key repair genes upon HDAC inhibition in prostate cancer cells. ChIP analysis and luciferase assays reveal that the downregulation of key repair genes is mediated through decreased recruitment of the E2F1 transcription factor and not through active repression by repressive E2Fs. Conclusions/Significance Our study indicates that several genes in the DNA repair pathway are affected upon HDAC inhibition. Downregulation of the repair genes is on account of a decrease in amount and promoter recruitment of the E2F1 transcription factor. Since HDAC inhibition affects several pathways that could potentially have an impact on DNA repair, compromised DNA repair upon HDAC inhibition could

  16. Knock-in of large reporter genes in human cells via CRISPR/Cas9-induced homology-dependent and independent DNA repair.

    PubMed

    He, Xiangjun; Tan, Chunlai; Wang, Feng; Wang, Yaofeng; Zhou, Rui; Cui, Dexuan; You, Wenxing; Zhao, Hui; Ren, Jianwei; Feng, Bo

    2016-05-19

    CRISPR/Cas9-induced site-specific DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) can be repaired by homology-directed repair (HDR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathways. Extensive efforts have been made to knock-in exogenous DNA to a selected genomic locus in human cells; which, however, has focused on HDR-based strategies and was proven inefficient. Here, we report that NHEJ pathway mediates efficient rejoining of genome and plasmids following CRISPR/Cas9-induced DNA DSBs, and promotes high-efficiency DNA integration in various human cell types. With this homology-independent knock-in strategy, integration of a 4.6 kb promoterless ires-eGFP fragment into the GAPDH locus yielded up to 20% GFP+ cells in somatic LO2 cells, and 1.70% GFP+ cells in human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Quantitative comparison further demonstrated that the NHEJ-based knock-in is more efficient than HDR-mediated gene targeting in all human cell types examined. These data support that CRISPR/Cas9-induced NHEJ provides a valuable new path for efficient genome editing in human ESCs and somatic cells. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  17. Differential repair of radiation-induced DNA damage in cells of human squamous cell carcinoma and the effect of caffeine and cysteamine on induction and repair of DNA double-strand breaks

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Smeets, M.F.M.A.; Mooren, E.H.M.; Abdel-Wahab, A.H.A.

    1994-11-01

    The goal of these experiments was to investigate further the relationship between DNA double-strand breaks and cell killing in human tumor cells, first by comparing different cell lines, and second by radiomodification studies. Field-inversion gel electrophoresis was used to quantify double-strand breaks. Two subclones of the radioresistant human squamous cell carcinoma line SQ20B (SQD9 and SQG6) were compared. These subclones differed in DNA index by a factor of 1.7 but showed the same resistance to radiation as cells of the parental cell line. It was found that, although induction of DSBs was not significantly different in the two cell lines,more » the t{sub 1/2} of the fast component of repair was significantly shorter for SQD9 cells, leading to greater overall repair which was not reflected in increased survival. Caffeine and cysteamine were tested as modifiers of radiosensitivity, using the radioresistant SQ20B line and the radiosensitive SCC61 cell line. No effect of caffeine was seen when the drug was present only during irradiation. Postirradiation incubations with caffeine, however, resulted in a dose reduction factor greater than 2.0 in cell survival for both cell lines. In contrast, induction of DSBs was reduced by caffeine, and no effect on DSB repair was observed. Cysteamine led to a dose protection factor greater than 1.8 in cell survival in both cell lines. A reduction in induced DSBs was found at high doses corresponding approximately with the increase in cell survival. Over the same (low) dose range, however, the correlation between DSB induction and cell killing was poor. These data indicate that DSB induction does not correlate well with cell killing either for different cell lines, for radiochemical modification (cysteamine) or for some other types of modification (caffeine). 31 refs., 8 figs.« less

  18. Cascade of chromosomal rearrangements caused by a heterogeneous T-DNA integration supports the double-stranded break repair model for T-DNA integration.

    PubMed

    Hu, Yufei; Chen, Zhiyu; Zhuang, Chuxiong; Huang, Jilei

    2017-06-01

    Transferred DNA (T-DNA) from Agrobacterium tumefaciens can be integrated into the plant genome. The double-stranded break repair (DSBR) pathway is a major model for T-DNA integration. From this model, we expect that two ends of a T-DNA molecule would invade into a single DNA double-stranded break (DSB) or independent DSBs in the plant genome. We call the later phenomenon a heterogeneous T-DNA integration, which has never been observed. In this work, we demonstrated it in an Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion mutant seb19. To resolve the chromosomal structural changes caused by T-DNA integration at both the nucleotide and chromosome levels, we performed inverse PCR, genome resequencing, fluorescence in situ hybridization and linkage analysis. We found, in seb19, a single T-DNA connected two different chromosomal loci and caused complex chromosomal rearrangements. The specific break-junction pattern in seb19 is consistent with the result of heterogeneous T-DNA integration but not of recombination between two T-DNA insertions. We demonstrated that, in seb19, heterogeneous T-DNA integration evoked a cascade of incorrect repair of seven DSBs on chromosomes 4 and 5, and then produced translocation, inversion, duplication and deletion. Heterogeneous T-DNA integration supports the DSBR model and suggests that two ends of a T-DNA molecule could be integrated into the plant genome independently. Our results also show a new origin of chromosomal abnormalities. © 2017 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. [Polymorphism of genes encoding proteins of DNA repair vs. occupational and environmental exposure to lead, arsenic and pesticides].

    PubMed

    Bukowski, Karol; Woźniak, Katarzyna

    2018-03-09

    Genetic polymorphism is associated with the occurrence of at least 2 different alleles in the locus with a frequency higher than 1% in the population. Among polymorphisms we can find single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and polymorphism of variable number of tandem repeats. The presence of certain polymorphisms in genes encoding DNA repair enzymes is associated with the speed and efficiency of DNA repair and can protect or expose humans to the effects provoked by xenobiotics. Chemicals, such as lead, arsenic pesticides are considered to exhibit strong toxicity. There are many different polymorphisms in genes encoding DNA repair enzymes, which determine the speed and efficiency of DNA damage repair induced by these xenobiotics. In the case of lead, the influence of various polymorphisms, such as APE1 (apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1) (rs1130409), hOGG1 (human 8-oxoguanine glycosylase) (rs1052133), XRCC1 (X-ray repair cross-complementing protein group 1) (rs25487), XRCC1 (rs1799782) and XRCC3 (X-ray repair cross-complementing protein group 3) (rs861539) were described. For arsenic polymorphisms, such as ERCC2 (excision repair cross-complementing) (rs13181), XRCC3 (rs861539), APE1 (rs1130409) and hOGG1 (rs1052133) were examined. As to pesticides, separate and combined effects of polymorphisms in genes encoding DNA repair enzymes, such as XRCC1 (rs1799782), hOGG1 (rs1052133), XRCC4 (X-ray repair cross-complementing protein group 4) (rs28360135) and the gene encoding the detoxification enzyme PON1 paraoxonase (rs662) were reported. Med Pr 2018;69(2):225-235. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

  20. Tumor-treating fields elicit a conditional vulnerability to ionizing radiation via the downregulation of BRCA1 signaling and reduced DNA double-strand break repair capacity in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines.

    PubMed

    Karanam, Narasimha Kumar; Srinivasan, Kalayarasan; Ding, Lianghao; Sishc, Brock; Saha, Debabrata; Story, Michael D

    2017-03-30

    The use of tumor-treating fields (TTFields) has revolutionized the treatment of recurrent and newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM). TTFields are low-intensity, intermediate frequency, alternating electric fields that are applied to tumor regions and cells using non-invasive arrays. The predominant mechanism by which TTFields are thought to kill tumor cells is the disruption of mitosis. Using five non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines we found that there is a variable response in cell proliferation and cell killing between these NSCLC cell lines that was independent of p53 status. TTFields treatment increased the G2/M population, with a concomitant reduction in S-phase cells followed by the appearance of a sub-G1 population indicative of apoptosis. Temporal changes in gene expression during TTFields exposure was evaluated to identify molecular signaling changes underlying the differential TTFields response. The most differentially expressed genes were associated with the cell cycle and cell proliferation pathways. However, the expression of genes found within the BRCA1 DNA-damage response were significantly downregulated (P<0.05) during TTFields treatment. DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair foci increased when cells were exposed to TTFields as did the appearance of chromatid-type aberrations, suggesting an interphase mechanism responsible for cell death involving DNA repair. Exposing cells to TTFields immediately following ionizing radiation resulted in increased chromatid aberrations and a reduced capacity to repair DNA DSBs, which were likely responsible for at least a portion of the enhanced cell killing seen with the combination. These findings suggest that TTFields induce a state of 'BRCAness' leading to a conditional susceptibility resulting in enhanced sensitivity to ionizing radiation and provides a strong rationale for the use of TTFields as a combined modality therapy with radiation or other DNA-damaging agents.

  1. Mismatch repair deficiency associated with overexpression of the MSH3 gene.

    PubMed

    Marra, G; Iaccarino, I; Lettieri, T; Roscilli, G; Delmastro, P; Jiricny, J

    1998-07-21

    We tested the ability of recombinant hMutSalpha (hMSH2/hMSH6) and hMutSbeta (hMSH2/hMSH3) heterodimers to complement the mismatch repair defect of HEC59, a human cancer cell line whose extracts lack all three MutS homologues. Although repair of both base/base mispairs and insertion-deletion loops was restored by hMutSalpha, only the latter substrates were addressed in extracts supplemented with hMutSbeta. hMutSalpha was also able to complement a defect in the repair of base/base mispairs in CHO R and HL60R cell extracts. In these cells, methotrexate-induced amplification of the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) locus, which also contains the MSH3 gene, led to an overexpression of MSH3 and thus to a dramatic change in the relative levels of MutSalpha and MutSbeta. As a rule, MSH2 is primarily complexed with MSH6. MutSalpha is thus relatively abundant in mammalian cell extracts, whereas MutSbeta levels are generally low. In contrast, in cells that overexpress MSH3, the available MSH2 protein is sequestered predominantly into MutSbeta. This leads to degradation of the partnerless MSH6 and depletion of MutSalpha. CHO R and HL60R cells therefore lack correction of base/base mispairs, whereas loop repair is maintained by MutSbeta. Consequently, frameshift mutations in CHO R are rare, whereas transitions and transversions are acquired at a rate two orders of magnitude above background. Our data thus support and extend the findings of Drummond et al. [Drummond, J. T., Genschel, J., Wolf, E. & Modrich, P. (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 10144-10149] and demonstrate that mismatch repair deficiency can arise not only through mutation or transcriptional silencing of a mismatch repair gene, but also as a result of imbalance in the relative amounts of the MSH3 and MSH6 proteins.

  2. The Mechanism of Gene Targeting in Human Somatic Cells

    PubMed Central

    Kan, Yinan; Ruis, Brian; Lin, Sherry; Hendrickson, Eric A.

    2014-01-01

    Gene targeting in human somatic cells is of importance because it can be used to either delineate the loss-of-function phenotype of a gene or correct a mutated gene back to wild-type. Both of these outcomes require a form of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair known as homologous recombination (HR). The mechanism of HR leading to gene targeting, however, is not well understood in human cells. Here, we demonstrate that a two-end, ends-out HR intermediate is valid for human gene targeting. Furthermore, the resolution step of this intermediate occurs via the classic DSB repair model of HR while synthesis-dependent strand annealing and Holliday Junction dissolution are, at best, minor pathways. Moreover, and in contrast to other systems, the positions of Holliday Junction resolution are evenly distributed along the homology arms of the targeting vector. Most unexpectedly, we demonstrate that when a meganuclease is used to introduce a chromosomal DSB to augment gene targeting, the mechanism of gene targeting is inverted to an ends-in process. Finally, we demonstrate that the anti-recombination activity of mismatch repair is a significant impediment to gene targeting. These observations significantly advance our understanding of HR and gene targeting in human cells. PMID:24699519

  3. NF-κB regulates DNA double-strand break repair in conjunction with BRCA1-CtIP complexes.

    PubMed

    Volcic, Meta; Karl, Sabine; Baumann, Bernd; Salles, Daniela; Daniel, Peter; Fulda, Simone; Wiesmüller, Lisa

    2012-01-01

    NF-κB is involved in immune responses, inflammation, oncogenesis, cell proliferation and apoptosis. Even though NF-κB can be activated by DNA damage via Ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) signalling, little was known about an involvement in DNA repair. In this work, we dissected distinct DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair mechanisms revealing a stimulatory role of NF-κB in homologous recombination (HR). This effect was independent of chromatin context, cell cycle distribution or cross-talk with p53. It was not mediated by the transcriptional NF-κB targets Bcl2, BAX or Ku70, known for their dual roles in apoptosis and DSB repair. A contribution by Bcl-xL was abrogated when caspases were inhibited. Notably, HR induction by NF-κB required the targets ATM and BRCA2. Additionally, we provide evidence that NF-κB interacts with CtIP-BRCA1 complexes and promotes BRCA1 stabilization, and thereby contributes to HR induction. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed accelerated formation of replication protein A (RPA) and Rad51 foci upon NF-κB activation indicating HR stimulation through DSB resection by the interacting CtIP-BRCA1 complex and Rad51 filament formation. Taken together, these results define multiple NF-κB-dependent mechanisms regulating HR induction, and thereby providing a novel intriguing explanation for both NF-κB-mediated resistance to chemo- and radiotherapies as well as for the sensitization by pharmaceutical intervention of NF-κB activation.

  4. Evolutionary maintenance of selfish homing endonuclease genes in the absence of horizontal transfer.

    PubMed

    Yahara, Koji; Fukuyo, Masaki; Sasaki, Akira; Kobayashi, Ichizo

    2009-11-03

    Homing endonuclease genes are "selfish" mobile genetic elements whose endonuclease promotes the spread of its own gene by creating a break at a specific target site and using the host machinery to repair the break by copying and inserting the gene at this site. Horizontal transfer across the boundary of a species or population within which mating takes place has been thought to be necessary for their evolutionary persistence. This is based on the assumption that they will become fixed in a host population, where opportunities of homing will disappear, and become susceptible to degeneration. To test this hypothesis, we modeled behavior of a homing endonuclease gene that moves during meiosis through double-strand break repair. We mathematically explored conditions for persistence of the homing endonuclease gene and elucidated their parameter dependence as phase diagrams. We found that, if the cost of the pseudogene is lower than that of the homing endonuclease gene, the 2 forms can persist in a population through autonomous periodic oscillation. If the cost of the pseudogene is higher, 2 types of dynamics appear that enable evolutionary persistence: bistability dependent on initial frequency or fixation irrespective of initial frequency. The prediction of long persistence in the absence of horizontal transfer was confirmed by stochastic simulations in finite populations. The average time to extinction of the endonuclease gene was found to be thousands of meiotic generations or more based on realistic parameter values. These results provide a solid theoretical basis for an understanding of these and other extremely selfish elements.

  5. Evolutionary maintenance of selfish homing endonuclease genes in the absence of horizontal transfer

    PubMed Central

    Yahara, Koji; Fukuyo, Masaki; Sasaki, Akira; Kobayashi, Ichizo

    2009-01-01

    Homing endonuclease genes are “selfish” mobile genetic elements whose endonuclease promotes the spread of its own gene by creating a break at a specific target site and using the host machinery to repair the break by copying and inserting the gene at this site. Horizontal transfer across the boundary of a species or population within which mating takes place has been thought to be necessary for their evolutionary persistence. This is based on the assumption that they will become fixed in a host population, where opportunities of homing will disappear, and become susceptible to degeneration. To test this hypothesis, we modeled behavior of a homing endonuclease gene that moves during meiosis through double-strand break repair. We mathematically explored conditions for persistence of the homing endonuclease gene and elucidated their parameter dependence as phase diagrams. We found that, if the cost of the pseudogene is lower than that of the homing endonuclease gene, the 2 forms can persist in a population through autonomous periodic oscillation. If the cost of the pseudogene is higher, 2 types of dynamics appear that enable evolutionary persistence: bistability dependent on initial frequency or fixation irrespective of initial frequency. The prediction of long persistence in the absence of horizontal transfer was confirmed by stochastic simulations in finite populations. The average time to extinction of the endonuclease gene was found to be thousands of meiotic generations or more based on realistic parameter values. These results provide a solid theoretical basis for an understanding of these and other extremely selfish elements. PMID:19837694

  6. 46 CFR 196.30-20 - Breaking of safety valve seal.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 7 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Breaking of safety valve seal. 196.30-20 Section 196.30... OPERATIONS Reports of Accidents, Repairs, and Unsafe Equipment § 196.30-20 Breaking of safety valve seal. (a) If at any time it is necessary to break the seal on a safety valve for any purpose, the Chief...

  7. 46 CFR 196.30-20 - Breaking of safety valve seal.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Breaking of safety valve seal. 196.30-20 Section 196.30... OPERATIONS Reports of Accidents, Repairs, and Unsafe Equipment § 196.30-20 Breaking of safety valve seal. (a) If at any time it is necessary to break the seal on a safety valve for any purpose, the Chief...

  8. Irreparable complex DNA double-strand breaks induce chromosome breakage in organotypic three-dimensional human lung epithelial cell culture

    PubMed Central

    Asaithamby, Aroumougame; Hu, Burong; Delgado, Oliver; Ding, Liang-Hao; Story, Michael D.; Minna, John D.; Shay, Jerry W.; Chen, David J.

    2011-01-01

    DNA damage and consequent mutations initiate the multistep carcinogenic process. Differentiated cells have a reduced capacity to repair DNA lesions, but the biological impact of unrepaired DNA lesions in differentiated lung epithelial cells is unclear. Here, we used a novel organotypic human lung three-dimensional (3D) model to investigate the biological significance of unrepaired DNA lesions in differentiated lung epithelial cells. We showed, consistent with existing notions that the kinetics of loss of simple double-strand breaks (DSBs) were significantly reduced in organotypic 3D culture compared to kinetics of repair in two-dimensional (2D) culture. Strikingly, we found that, unlike simple DSBs, a majority of complex DNA lesions were irreparable in organotypic 3D culture. Levels of expression of multiple DNA damage repair pathway genes were significantly reduced in the organotypic 3D culture compared with those in 2D culture providing molecular evidence for the defective DNA damage repair in organotypic culture. Further, when differentiated cells with unrepaired DNA lesions re-entered the cell cycle, they manifested a spectrum of gross-chromosomal aberrations in mitosis. Our data suggest that downregulation of multiple DNA repair pathway genes in differentiated cells renders them vulnerable to DSBs, promoting genome instability that may lead to carcinogenesis. PMID:21421565

  9. Repair of DNA double-strand breaks by templated nucleotide sequence insertions derived from distant regions of the genome.

    PubMed

    Onozawa, Masahiro; Zhang, Zhenhua; Kim, Yoo Jung; Goldberg, Liat; Varga, Tamas; Bergsagel, P Leif; Kuehl, W Michael; Aplan, Peter D

    2014-05-27

    We used the I-SceI endonuclease to produce DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and observed that a fraction of these DSBs were repaired by insertion of sequences, which we termed "templated sequence insertions" (TSIs), derived from distant regions of the genome. These TSIs were derived from genic, retrotransposon, or telomere sequences and were not deleted from the donor site in the genome, leading to the hypothesis that they were derived from reverse-transcribed RNA. Cotransfection of RNA and an I-SceI expression vector demonstrated insertion of RNA-derived sequences at the DNA-DSB site, and TSIs were suppressed by reverse-transcriptase inhibitors. Both observations support the hypothesis that TSIs were derived from RNA templates. In addition, similar insertions were detected at sites of DNA DSBs induced by transcription activator-like effector nuclease proteins. Whole-genome sequencing of myeloma cell lines revealed additional TSIs, demonstrating that repair of DNA DSBs via insertion was not restricted to experimentally produced DNA DSBs. Analysis of publicly available databases revealed that many of these TSIs are polymorphic in the human genome. Taken together, these results indicate that insertional events should be considered as alternatives to gross chromosomal rearrangements in the interpretation of whole-genome sequence data and that this mutagenic form of DNA repair may play a role in genetic disease, exon shuffling, and mammalian evolution.

  10. XRCC1 suppresses somatic hypermutation and promotes alternative nonhomologous end joining in Igh genes.

    PubMed

    Saribasak, Huseyin; Maul, Robert W; Cao, Zheng; McClure, Rhonda L; Yang, William; McNeill, Daniel R; Wilson, David M; Gearhart, Patricia J

    2011-10-24

    Activation-induced deaminase (AID) deaminates cytosine to uracil in immunoglobulin genes. Uracils in DNA can be recognized by uracil DNA glycosylase and abasic endonuclease to produce single-strand breaks. The breaks are repaired either faithfully by DNA base excision repair (BER) or mutagenically to produce somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination (CSR). To unravel the interplay between repair and mutagenesis, we decreased the level of x-ray cross-complementing 1 (XRCC1), a scaffold protein involved in BER. Mice heterozygous for XRCC1 showed a significant increase in the frequencies of SHM in Igh variable regions in Peyer's patch cells, and of double-strand breaks in the switch regions during CSR. Although the frequency of CSR was normal in Xrcc1(+/-) splenic B cells, the length of microhomology at the switch junctions decreased, suggesting that XRCC1 also participates in alternative nonhomologous end joining. Furthermore, Xrcc1(+/-) B cells had reduced Igh/c-myc translocations during CSR, supporting a role for XRCC1 in microhomology-mediated joining. Our results imply that AID-induced single-strand breaks in Igh variable and switch regions become substrates simultaneously for BER and mutagenesis pathways.

  11. Homologous recombination and non-homologous end-joining repair pathways in bovine embryos with different developmental competence

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Henrique Barreta, Marcos; Laboratorio de Biotecnologia e Reproducao Animal-BioRep, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS; Garziera Gasperin, Bernardo

    2012-10-01

    This study investigated the expression of genes controlling homologous recombination (HR), and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) DNA-repair pathways in bovine embryos of different developmental potential. It also evaluated whether bovine embryos can respond to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) induced with ultraviolet irradiation by regulating expression of genes involved in HR and NHEJ repair pathways. Embryos with high, intermediate or low developmental competence were selected based on the cleavage time after in vitro insemination and were removed from in vitro culture before (36 h), during (72 h) and after (96 h) the expected period of embryonic genome activation. All studied genes weremore » expressed before, during and after the genome activation period regardless the developmental competence of the embryos. Higher mRNA expression of 53BP1 and RAD52 was found before genome activation in embryos with low developmental competence. Expression of 53BP1, RAD51 and KU70 was downregulated at 72 h and upregulated at 168 h post-insemination in response to DSBs induced by ultraviolet irradiation. In conclusion, important genes controlling HR and NHEJ DNA-repair pathways are expressed in bovine embryos, however genes participating in these pathways are only regulated after the period of embryo genome activation in response to ultraviolet-induced DSBs.« less

  12. 46 CFR 176.704 - Breaking of safety valve seals.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 7 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Breaking of safety valve seals. 176.704 Section 176.704... TONS) INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION Repairs and Alterations § 176.704 Breaking of safety valve seals... the seal on a boiler safety valve on a vessel is broken. ...

  13. 46 CFR 176.704 - Breaking of safety valve seals.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Breaking of safety valve seals. 176.704 Section 176.704... TONS) INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION Repairs and Alterations § 176.704 Breaking of safety valve seals... the seal on a boiler safety valve on a vessel is broken. ...

  14. DNA breaks and chromatin structural changes enhance the transcription of autoimmune regulator target genes.

    PubMed

    Guha, Mithu; Saare, Mario; Maslovskaja, Julia; Kisand, Kai; Liiv, Ingrid; Haljasorg, Uku; Tasa, Tõnis; Metspalu, Andres; Milani, Lili; Peterson, Pärt

    2017-04-21

    The autoimmune regulator (AIRE) protein is the key factor in thymic negative selection of autoreactive T cells by promoting the ectopic expression of tissue-specific genes in the thymic medullary epithelium. Mutations in AIRE cause a monogenic autoimmune disease called autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy. AIRE has been shown to promote DNA breaks via its interaction with topoisomerase 2 (TOP2). In this study, we investigated topoisomerase-induced DNA breaks and chromatin structural alterations in conjunction with AIRE-dependent gene expression. Using RNA sequencing, we found that inhibition of TOP2 religation activity by etoposide in AIRE-expressing cells had a synergistic effect on genes with low expression levels. AIRE-mediated transcription was not only enhanced by TOP2 inhibition but also by the TOP1 inhibitor camptothecin. The transcriptional activation was associated with structural rearrangements in chromatin, notably the accumulation of γH2AX and the exchange of histone H1 with HMGB1 at AIRE target gene promoters. In addition, we found the transcriptional up-regulation to co-occur with the chromatin structural changes within the genomic cluster of carcinoembryonic antigen-like cellular adhesion molecule genes. Overall, our results suggest that the presence of AIRE can trigger molecular events leading to an altered chromatin landscape and the enhanced transcription of low-expressed genes. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  15. DNA breaks and chromatin structural changes enhance the transcription of autoimmune regulator target genes

    PubMed Central

    Guha, Mithu; Saare, Mario; Maslovskaja, Julia; Kisand, Kai; Liiv, Ingrid; Haljasorg, Uku; Tasa, Tõnis; Metspalu, Andres; Milani, Lili; Peterson, Pärt

    2017-01-01

    The autoimmune regulator (AIRE) protein is the key factor in thymic negative selection of autoreactive T cells by promoting the ectopic expression of tissue-specific genes in the thymic medullary epithelium. Mutations in AIRE cause a monogenic autoimmune disease called autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy. AIRE has been shown to promote DNA breaks via its interaction with topoisomerase 2 (TOP2). In this study, we investigated topoisomerase-induced DNA breaks and chromatin structural alterations in conjunction with AIRE-dependent gene expression. Using RNA sequencing, we found that inhibition of TOP2 religation activity by etoposide in AIRE-expressing cells had a synergistic effect on genes with low expression levels. AIRE-mediated transcription was not only enhanced by TOP2 inhibition but also by the TOP1 inhibitor camptothecin. The transcriptional activation was associated with structural rearrangements in chromatin, notably the accumulation of γH2AX and the exchange of histone H1 with HMGB1 at AIRE target gene promoters. In addition, we found the transcriptional up-regulation to co-occur with the chromatin structural changes within the genomic cluster of carcinoembryonic antigen-like cellular adhesion molecule genes. Overall, our results suggest that the presence of AIRE can trigger molecular events leading to an altered chromatin landscape and the enhanced transcription of low-expressed genes. PMID:28242760

  16. TLR9 agonists oppositely modulate DNA repair genes in tumor versus immune cells and enhance chemotherapy effects.

    PubMed

    Sommariva, Michele; De Cecco, Loris; De Cesare, Michelandrea; Sfondrini, Lucia; Ménard, Sylvie; Melani, Cecilia; Delia, Domenico; Zaffaroni, Nadia; Pratesi, Graziella; Uva, Valentina; Tagliabue, Elda; Balsari, Andrea

    2011-10-15

    Synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides expressing CpG motifs (CpG-ODN) are a Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist that can enhance the antitumor activity of DNA-damaging chemotherapy and radiation therapy in preclinical mouse models. We hypothesized that the success of these combinations is related to the ability of CpG-ODN to modulate genes involved in DNA repair. We conducted an in silico analysis of genes implicated in DNA repair in data sets obtained from murine colon carcinoma cells in mice injected intratumorally with CpG-ODN and from splenocytes in mice treated intraperitoneally with CpG-ODN. CpG-ODN treatment caused downregulation of DNA repair genes in tumors. Microarray analyses of human IGROV-1 ovarian carcinoma xenografts in mice treated intraperitoneally with CpG-ODN confirmed in silico findings. When combined with the DNA-damaging drug cisplatin, CpG-ODN significantly increased the life span of mice compared with individual treatments. In contrast, CpG-ODN led to an upregulation of genes involved in DNA repair in immune cells. Cisplatin-treated patients with ovarian carcinoma as well as anthracycline-treated patients with breast cancer who are classified as "CpG-like" for the level of expression of CpG-ODN modulated DNA repair genes have a better outcome than patients classified as "CpG-untreated-like," indicating the relevance of these genes in the tumor cell response to DNA-damaging drugs. Taken together, the findings provide evidence that the tumor microenvironment can sensitize cancer cells to DNA-damaging chemotherapy, thereby expanding the benefits of CpG-ODN therapy beyond induction of a strong immune response.

  17. The yeast MSH1 gene is not involved in DNA repair or recombination during meiosis.

    PubMed

    Sia, Elaine A; Kirkpatrick, David T

    2005-02-03

    Six strong homologs of the bacterial MutS DNA mismatch repair (MMR) gene have been identified in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. With the exception of the MSH1 gene, the involvement of each homolog in DNA repair and recombination during meiosis has been determined previously. Five of the homologs have been demonstrated to act in meiotic DNA repair (MSH2, MSH3, MSH6 and MSH4) and/or meiotic recombination (MSH4 and MSH5). Unfortunately the loss of mitochondrial function that results from deletion of MSH1 disrupts meiotic progression, precluding an analysis of MSH1 function in meiotic DNA repair and recombination. However, the recent identification of two separation-of-function alleles of MSH1 that interfere with protein function but still maintain functional mitochondria allow the meiotic activities of MSH1 to be determined. We show that the G776D and F105A alleles of MSH1 exhibit no defects in meiotic recombination, repair base-base mismatches and large loop mismatches efficiently during meiosis, and have high levels of spore viability. These data indicate that the MSH1 protein, unlike other MutS homologs in yeast, plays no role in DNA repair or recombination during meiosis.

  18. Polymorphisms in DNA repair genes and MDR1 and the risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

    PubMed

    Kim, Hee Nam; Kim, Nan Young; Yu, Li; Kim, Yeo-Kyeoung; Lee, Il-Kwon; Yang, Deok-Hwan; Lee, Je-Jung; Shin, Min-Ho; Park, Kyeong-Soo; Choi, Jin-Su; Kim, Hyeoung-Joon

    2014-04-21

    The damage caused by oxidative stress and exposure to cigarette smoke and alcohol necessitate DNA damage repair and transport by multidrug resistance-1 (MDR1). To explore the association between polymorphisms in these genes and non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk, we analyzed 15 polymorphisms of 12 genes in a population-based study in Korea (694 cases and 1700 controls). Four genotypes of DNA repair pathway genes (XRCC1 399 GA, OGG1 326 GG, BRCA1 871 TT, and WRN 787 TT) were associated with a decreased risk for NHL [odds ratio (OR)XRCC1 GA=0.80, p=0.02; OROGG1 GG=0.70, p=0.008; ORBRCA1 TT=0.71, p=0.048; ORWRN TT=0.68, p=0.01]. Conversely, the MGMT 115 CT genotype was associated with an increased risk for NHL (OR=1.25, p=0.04). In the MDR1 gene, the 1236 CC genotype was associated with a decreased risk for NHL (OR=0.74, p=0.04), and the 3435 CT and TT genotypes were associated with an increased risk (OR3435CT=1.50, p<0.0001; OR3435TT=1.43, p=0.02). These results suggest that polymorphisms in the DNA repair genes XRCC1, OGG1, BRCA1, WRN1, and MGMT and in the MDR1 gene may affect the risk for NHL in Korean patients.

  19. DNA Repair Defects and Chromosomal Aberrations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hada, Megumi; George, K. A.; Huff, J. L.; Pluth, J. M.; Cucinotta, F. A.

    2009-01-01

    Yields of chromosome aberrations were assessed in cells deficient in DNA doublestrand break (DSB) repair, after exposure to acute or to low-dose-rate (0.018 Gy/hr) gamma rays or acute high LET iron nuclei. We studied several cell lines including fibroblasts deficient in ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated; product of the gene that is mutated in ataxia telangiectasia patients) or NBS (nibrin; product of the gene mutated in the Nijmegen breakage syndrome), and gliomablastoma cells that are proficient or lacking in DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity. Chromosomes were analyzed using the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) chromosome painting method in cells at the first division post irradiation, and chromosome aberrations were identified as either simple exchanges (translocations and dicentrics) or complex exchanges (involving >2 breaks in 2 or more chromosomes). Gamma irradiation induced greater yields of both simple and complex exchanges in the DSB repair-defective cells than in the normal cells. The quadratic dose-response terms for both simple and complex chromosome exchanges were significantly higher for the ATM- and NBS-deficient lines than for normal fibroblasts. However, in the NBS cells the linear dose-response term was significantly higher only for simple exchanges. The large increases in the quadratic dose-response terms in these repair-defective cell lines points the importance of the functions of ATM and NBS in chromatin modifications to facilitate correct DSB repair and minimize the formation of aberrations. The differences found between ATM- and NBS-deficient cells at low doses suggest that important questions should with regard to applying observations of radiation sensitivity at high dose to low-dose exposures. For aberrations induced by iron nuclei, regression models preferred purely linear dose responses for simple exchanges and quadratic dose responses for complex exchanges. Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) factors of all of

  20. The HTLV-1 basic leucine zipper factor (HBZ) attenuates repair of double-stranded DNA breaks via non-homologous end joining (NHEJ).

    PubMed

    Rushing, A W; Hoang, K; Polakowski, N; Lemasson, I

    2018-05-16

    Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is a fatal malignancy of CD4 + T-cells infected with human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-1). ATL cells often exhibit random gross chromosomal rearrangements that are associated with the induction and improper repair of double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs). The viral oncoprotein Tax has been reported to impair DSB repair, but is not shown to be consistently expressed throughout all phases of infection. The viral oncoprotein HTLV-1 basic leucine zipper factor (HBZ) is consistently expressed prior to and throughout disease progression, but it is unclear whether it also influences DSB repair. We report that HBZ attenuates DSB repair by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), in a manner dependent upon the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) domain. HBZ was found to interact with two vital members of the NHEJ core machinery, Ku70 and Ku80, and to be recruited to DSBs in a bZIP-dependent manner in vitro We observed that HBZ expression also resulted in a bZIP-dependent delay in DNA-PK activation following treatment with etoposide. Though Tax is reported to interact with Ku70, we did not find Tax expression to interfere with HBZ:Ku complex formation. However, as Tax was reported to saturate NHEJ, we found this effect masked the attenuation of NHEJ by HBZ. Overall, these data suggest that DSB repair mechanisms are impaired not only by Tax, but also by HBZ, and show that HBZ expression may significantly contribute to the accumulation of chromosomal abnormalities during HTLV-1 mediated oncogenesis. IMPORTANCE Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infects 15-20 million people worldwide. Approximately 90% of infected individuals are asymptomatic and may remain undiagnosed, increasing the risk that they will unknowingly transmit the virus. About 5% of the HTLV-1 positive population to develop Adult T-cell Leukemia (ATL), a fatal disease that is not highly responsive to treatment. Though ATL development remains poorly understood, two viral proteins, Tax and

  1. Gene interactions in the DNA damage-response pathway identified by genome-wide RNA-interference analysis of synthetic lethality

    PubMed Central

    van Haaften, Gijs; Vastenhouw, Nadine L.; Nollen, Ellen A. A.; Plasterk, Ronald H. A.; Tijsterman, Marcel

    2004-01-01

    Here, we describe a systematic search for synthetic gene interactions in a multicellular organism, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We established a high-throughput method to determine synthetic gene interactions by genome-wide RNA interference and identified genes that are required to protect the germ line against DNA double-strand breaks. Besides known DNA-repair proteins such as the C. elegans orthologs of TopBP1, RPA2, and RAD51, eight genes previously unassociated with a double-strand-break response were identified. Knockdown of these genes increased sensitivity to ionizing radiation and camptothecin and resulted in increased chromosomal nondisjunction. All genes have human orthologs that may play a role in human carcinogenesis. PMID:15326288

  2. The germline variants in DNA repair genes in pediatric medulloblastoma: a challenge for current therapeutic strategies.

    PubMed

    Trubicka, Joanna; Żemojtel, Tomasz; Hecht, Jochen; Falana, Katarzyna; Piekutowska-Abramczuk, Dorota; Płoski, Rafał; Perek-Polnik, Marta; Drogosiewicz, Monika; Grajkowska, Wiesława; Ciara, Elżbieta; Moszczyńska, Elżbieta; Dembowska-Bagińska, Bożenna; Perek, Danuta; Chrzanowska, Krystyna H; Krajewska-Walasek, Małgorzata; Łastowska, Maria

    2017-04-04

    The defects in DNA repair genes are potentially linked to development and response to therapy in medulloblastoma. Therefore the purpose of this study was to establish the spectrum and frequency of germline variants in selected DNA repair genes and their impact on response to chemotherapy in medulloblastoma patients. The following genes were investigated in 102 paediatric patients: MSH2 and RAD50 using targeted gene panel sequencing and NBN variants (p.I171V and p.K219fs*19) by Sanger sequencing. In three patients with presence of rare life-threatening adverse events (AE) and no detected variants in the analyzed genes, whole exome sequencing was performed. Based on combination of molecular and immunohistochemical evaluations tumors were divided into molecular subgroups. Presence of variants was tested for potential association with the occurrence of rare life-threatening AE and other clinical features. We have identified altogether six new potentially pathogenic variants in MSH2 (p.A733T and p.V606I), RAD50 (p.R1093*), FANCM (p.L694*), ERCC2 (p.R695C) and EXO1 (p.V738L), in addition to two known NBN variants. Five out of twelve patients with defects in either of MSH2, RAD50 and NBN genes suffered from rare life-threatening AE, more frequently than in control group (p = 0.0005). When all detected variants were taken into account, the majority of patients (8 out of 15) suffered from life-threatening toxicity during chemotherapy. Our results, based on the largest systematic study performed in a clinical setting, provide preliminary evidence for a link between defects in DNA repair genes and treatment related toxicity in children with medulloblastoma. The data suggest that patients with DNA repair gene variants could need special vigilance during and after courses of chemotherapy.

  3. Low-level laser irradiation alters mRNA expression from genes involved in DNA repair and genomic stabilization in myoblasts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Trajano, L. A. S. N.; Sergio, L. P. S.; Silva, C. L.; Carvalho, L.; Mencalha, A. L.; Stumbo, A. C.; Fonseca, A. S.

    2016-07-01

    Low-level lasers are used for the treatment of diseases in soft and bone tissues, but few data are available regarding their effects on genomic stability. In this study, we investigated mRNA expression from genes involved in DNA repair and genomic stabilization in myoblasts exposed to low-level infrared laser. C2C12 myoblast cultures in different fetal bovine serum concentrations were exposed to low-level infrared laser (10, 35 and 70 J cm-2), and collected for the evaluation of DNA repair gene expression. Laser exposure increased gene expression related to base excision repair (8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1), nucleotide excision repair (excision repair cross-complementation group 1 and xeroderma pigmentosum C protein) and genomic stabilization (ATM serine/threonine kinase and tumor protein p53) in normal and low fetal bovine serum concentrations. Results suggest that genomic stability could be part of a biostimulation effect of low-level laser therapy in injured muscles.

  4. Genetic Variation in DNA Repair Genes and Prostate Cancer Risk: Results from a Population-Based Study

    PubMed Central

    Agalliu, Ilir; Kwon, Erika M; Salinas, Claudia A.; Koopmeiners, Joseph S.; Ostrander, Elaine A.; Stanford, Janet L.

    2009-01-01

    Objective DNA repair pathways are crucial to prevent accumulation of DNA damage and maintain genomic stability. Alterations of this pathway have been reported in many cancers. An increase in oxidative DNA damage or decrease of DNA repair capacity with aging or due to germline genetic variation may affect prostate cancer risk. Methods Pooled data from two population-based studies (1,457 cases and 1,351 controls) were analyzed to examine associations between 28 SNPs in 9 DNA repair genes (APEX1, BRCA2, ERCC2, ERCC4, MGMT, MUTYH, OGG1, XPC, and XRCC1) and prostate cancer risk. We also explored whether associations varied by smoking, by family history or clinical features of prostate cancer. Results There were no associations between these SNPs and overall risk of prostate cancer. Risks did not vary either by smoking or by family history of prostate cancer. Although, two SNPs in BRCA2 (rs144848, rs1801406) and two SNPs in ERCC2 (rs1799793, rs13181) showed stronger associations with high Gleason score or advanced stage tumors when comparing homozygous men carrying the minor vs. major allele, results were not statistically significantly different between clinically aggressive and non-aggressive tumors. Conclusion Overall this study found no associations between prostate cancer and the SNPs in DNA repair genes. Given the complexity of this pathway and its crucial role in maintenance of genomic stability a pathway-based analysis of all 150 genes in DNA repair pathways, as well as exploration of gene-environment interactions may be warranted. PMID:19902366

  5. DNA repair targeted therapy: the past or future of cancer treatment?

    PubMed Central

    Gavande, Navnath S.; VanderVere-Carozza, Pamela S.; Hinshaw, Hilary D.; Jalal, Shadia I.; Sears, Catherine R.; Pawelczak, Katherine S.; Turchi, John J.

    2016-01-01

    The repair of DNA damage is a complex process that relies on particular pathways to remedy specific types of damage to DNA. The range of insults to DNA includes small, modest changes in structure including mismatched bases and simple methylation events to oxidized bases, intra- and interstrand DNA crosslinks, DNA double strand breaks and protein-DNA adducts. Pathways required for the repair of these lesions include mismatch repair, base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, and the homology directed repair/Fanconi anemia pathway. Each of these pathways contributes to genetic stability, and mutations in genes encoding proteins involved in these pathways have been demonstrated to promote genetic instability and cancer. In fact, it has been suggested all cancers display defects in DNA repair. It has also been demonstrated that the ability of cancer cells to repair therapeutically induced DNA damage impacts therapeutic efficacy. This has led to targeting DNA repair pathways and proteins to develop anti-cancer agents that will increase sensitivity to traditional chemotherapeutics. While initial studies languished and were plagued by a lack of specificity and a defined mechanism of action, more recent approaches to exploit synthetic lethal interaction and develop high affinity chemical inhibitors have proven considerably more effective. In this review we will highlight recent advances and discuss previous failures in targeting DNA repair to pave the way for future DNA repair targeted agents and their use in cancer therapy. PMID:26896565

  6. Mitosis, double strand break repair, and telomeres: a view from the end: how telomeres and the DNA damage response cooperate during mitosis to maintain genome stability.

    PubMed

    Cesare, Anthony J

    2014-11-01

    Double strand break (DSB) repair is suppressed during mitosis because RNF8 and downstream DNA damage response (DDR) factors, including 53BP1, do not localize to mitotic chromatin. Discovery of the mitotic kinase-dependent mechanism that inhibits DSB repair during cell division was recently reported. It was shown that restoring mitotic DSB repair was detrimental, resulting in repair dependent genome instability and covalent telomere fusions. The telomere DDR that occurs naturally during cellular aging and in cancer is known to be refractory to G2/M checkpoint activation. Such DDR-positive telomeres, and those that occur as part of the telomere-dependent prolonged mitotic arrest checkpoint, normally pass through mitosis without covalent ligation, but result in cell growth arrest in G1 phase. The discovery that suppressing DSB repair during mitosis may function primarily to protect DDR-positive telomeres from fusing during cell division reinforces the unique cooperation between telomeres and the DDR to mediate tumor suppression. © 2014 The Author. Bioessays published by WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Chromosomal localization of three repair genes: The xeroderma pigmentosum group C gene and two human homologs of yeast RAD23

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Spek, P.J. van der; Smit, E.M.E.; Beverloo, H.B.

    1994-10-01

    The nucleotide excision repair (NER) disorder xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is characterized by sun (UV) sensitivity, predisposition to skin cancer, and extensive genetic heterogeneity. Recently, we reported the cloning and analysis of three human NER genes, XPC, HHR23A, and HHR23B. The previously cloned XPC gene is involved in the common XP complementation group C, which is defective in excision repair of nontranscribed sequences in the genome. The XPC protein was found to be complexed with the product of HHR23B, one of the two human homologs of the Saccharomyes cerevisiae NER gene RAD23. Here we present the chromosomal localization by in situmore » hybridization using haptenized probes of all three genes. The HHR23A gene was assigned to chromosome 19p13.2. Interestingly, the HHR23B and XPC genes, the product of which forms a tight complex, were found to colocalize on band 3p25.1. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed that the HHR23B and XPC genes possibly share a MluI restriction fragment of about 625 kb. Potential involvement of the HHR23 genes in human genetic disorders is discussed. 53 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.« less

  8. Nucleolar Reorganization Upon Site-Specific Double-Strand Break Induction.

    PubMed

    Franek, Michal; Kovaříková, Alena; Bártová, Eva; Kozubek, Stanislav

    2016-11-01

    DNA damage response (DDR) in ribosomal genes and mechanisms of DNA repair in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are less explored nuclear events. DDR in ESCs should be unique due to their high proliferation rate, expression of pluripotency factors, and specific chromatin signature. Given short population doubling time and fast progress through G1 phase, ESCs require a sustained production of rRNA, which leads to the formation of large and prominent nucleoli. Although transcription of rRNA in the nucleolus is relatively well understood, little is known about DDR in this nuclear compartment. Here, we directed formation of double-strand breaks in rRNA genes with I- PpoI endonuclease, and we studied nucleolar morphology, DDR, and chromatin modifications. We observed a pronounced formation of I- PpoI-induced nucleolar caps, positive on BRCA1, NBS1, MDC1, γH2AX, and UBF1 proteins. We showed interaction of nucleolar protein TCOF1 with HDAC1 and TCOF1 with CARM1 after DNA injury. Moreover, H3R17me2a modification mediated by CARM1 was found in I- PpoI-induced nucleolar caps. Finally, we report that heterochromatin protein 1 is not involved in DNA repair of nucleolar caps.

  9. Nucleolar Reorganization Upon Site-Specific Double-Strand Break Induction

    PubMed Central

    Franek, Michal; Kovaříková, Alena; Bártová, Eva; Kozubek, Stanislav

    2016-01-01

    DNA damage response (DDR) in ribosomal genes and mechanisms of DNA repair in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are less explored nuclear events. DDR in ESCs should be unique due to their high proliferation rate, expression of pluripotency factors, and specific chromatin signature. Given short population doubling time and fast progress through G1 phase, ESCs require a sustained production of rRNA, which leads to the formation of large and prominent nucleoli. Although transcription of rRNA in the nucleolus is relatively well understood, little is known about DDR in this nuclear compartment. Here, we directed formation of double-strand breaks in rRNA genes with I-PpoI endonuclease, and we studied nucleolar morphology, DDR, and chromatin modifications. We observed a pronounced formation of I-PpoI-induced nucleolar caps, positive on BRCA1, NBS1, MDC1, γH2AX, and UBF1 proteins. We showed interaction of nucleolar protein TCOF1 with HDAC1 and TCOF1 with CARM1 after DNA injury. Moreover, H3R17me2a modification mediated by CARM1 was found in I-PpoI-induced nucleolar caps. Finally, we report that heterochromatin protein 1 is not involved in DNA repair of nucleolar caps. PMID:27680669

  10. DNA Resection at Chromosome Breaks Promotes Genome Stability by Constraining Non-Allelic Homologous Recombination

    PubMed Central

    Koshland, Douglas

    2012-01-01

    DNA double-strand breaks impact genome stability by triggering many of the large-scale genome rearrangements associated with evolution and cancer. One of the first steps in repairing this damage is 5′→3′ resection beginning at the break site. Recently, tools have become available to study the consequences of not extensively resecting double-strand breaks. Here we examine the role of Sgs1- and Exo1-dependent resection on genome stability using a non-selective assay that we previously developed using diploid yeast. We find that Saccharomyces cerevisiae lacking Sgs1 and Exo1 retains a very efficient repair process that is highly mutagenic to genome structure. Specifically, 51% of cells lacking Sgs1 and Exo1 repair a double-strand break using repetitive sequences 12–48 kb distal from the initial break site, thereby generating a genome rearrangement. These Sgs1- and Exo1-independent rearrangements depend partially upon a Rad51-mediated homologous recombination pathway. Furthermore, without resection a robust cell cycle arrest is not activated, allowing a cell with a single double-strand break to divide before repair, potentially yielding multiple progeny each with a different rearrangement. This profusion of rearranged genomes suggests that cells tolerate any dangers associated with extensive resection to inhibit mutagenic pathways such as break-distal recombination. The activation of break-distal recipient repeats and amplification of broken chromosomes when resection is limited raise the possibility that genome regions that are difficult to resect may be hotspots for rearrangements. These results may also explain why mutations in resection machinery are associated with cancer. PMID:22479212

  11. Dietary choline deficiency causes DNA strand breaks and alters epigenetic marks on DNA and histones.

    PubMed

    Zeisel, Steven H

    2012-05-01

    Dietary choline is an important modulator of gene expression (via epigenetic marks) and of DNA integrity. Choline was discovered to be an essential nutrient for some humans approximately one decade ago. This requirement is diminished in young women because estrogen drives endogenous synthesis of phosphatidylcholine, from which choline can be derived. Almost half of women have a single nucleotide polymorphism that abrogates estrogen-induction of endogenous synthesis, and these women require dietary choline just as do men. In the US, dietary intake of choline is marginal. Choline deficiency in people is associated with liver and muscle dysfunction and damage, with apoptosis, and with increased DNA strand breaks. Several mechanisms explain these modifications to DNA. Choline deficiency increases leakage of reactive oxygen species from mitochondria consequent to altered mitochondrial membrane composition and enhanced fatty acid oxidation. Choline deficiency impairs folate metabolism, resulting in decreased thymidylate synthesis and increased uracil misincorporation into DNA, with strand breaks resulting during error-prone repair attempts. Choline deficiency alters DNA methylation, which alters gene expression for critical genes involved in DNA mismatch repair, resulting in increased mutation rates. Any dietary deficiency which increases mutation rates should be associated with increased risk of cancers, and this is the case for choline deficiency. In rodent models, diets low in choline and methyl-groups result in spontaneous hepatocarcinomas. In human epidemiological studies, there are interesting data that suggest that this also may be the case for humans, especially those with SNPs that increase the dietary requirement for choline. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Dietary Choline Deficiency causes DNA Strand Breaks and Alters Epigenetic Marks on DNA and Histones

    PubMed Central

    Zeisel, Steven H.

    2011-01-01

    Dietary choline is an important modulator of gene expression (via epigenetic marks) and of DNA integrity. Choline was discovered to be an essential nutrient for some humans approximately one decade ago. This requirement is diminished in young women because estrogen drives endogenous synthesis of phosphatidylcholine, from which choline can be derived. Almost half of women have a single nucleotide polymorphism that abrogates estrogen-induction of endogenous synthesis, and these women require dietary choline just as do men. In the US, dietary intake of choline is marginal. Choline deficiency in people is associated with liver and muscle dysfunction and damage, with apoptosis, and with increased DNA strand breaks. Several mechanisms explain these modifications to DNA. Choline deficiency increases leakage of reactive oxygen species from mitochondria consequent to altered mitochondrial membrane composition and enhanced fatty acid oxidation. Choline deficiency impairs folate metabolism, resulting in decreased thymidylate synthesis and increased uracil misincorporation into DNA, with strand breaks resulting during error-prone repair attempts. Choline deficiency alters DNA methylation, which alters gene expression for critical genes involved in DNA mismatch repair, resulting in increased mutation rates. Any dietary deficiency which increases mutation rates should be associated with increased risk of cancers, and this is the case for choline deficiency. In rodent models, diets low in choline and methyl-groups result in spontaneous hepatocarcinomas. In human epidemiological studies, there are interesting data that suggest that this also may be the case for humans, especially those with SNPs that increase the dietary requirement for choline. PMID:22041500

  13. Zebrafish: swimming towards a role for fanconi genes in DNA repair.

    PubMed

    Scata, Kimberly A; El-Deiry, Wafik S

    2004-06-01

    The zebrafish, Danio rerio, has become a favorite model organism for geneticists and developmental biologists. Recently cancer biologists have turned to this tiny fish to help them unravel the mysteries of conserved pathways such as the Fanconi Anemia (FA) pathway. Although a relatively rare disease, the genes involved in FA are part of a large network of DNA damage response/repair genes. Liu and colleagues have recapitulated some of the clinical manifestations of human FA by knocking down the zebrafish FANC-D2 gene thereby providing a new model for probing the underlying causes of these phenotypes.

  14. Mismatch repair gene MSH3 polymorphism is associated with the risk of sporadic prostate cancer.

    PubMed

    Hirata, Hiroshi; Hinoda, Yuji; Kawamoto, Ken; Kikuno, Nobuyuki; Suehiro, Yutaka; Okayama, Naoko; Tanaka, Yuichiro; Dahiya, Rajvir

    2008-05-01

    The mismatch repair system is a DNA repair mechanism that corrects mispaired bases during DNA replication errors. Cancer cells deficient in MMR proteins have a 10(2) to 10(3)-fold increase in the mutation rate. Single nucleotide polymorphisms of mismatch repair genes have been shown to cause a decrease in DNA repair activity. We hypothesized that mismatch repair gene polymorphism could be a risk factor for prostate cancer and p53 Pro/Pro genotype carriers could influence MSH3 and MSH6 polymorphisms. DNA samples from 110 patients with prostate cancer and 110 healthy controls were analyzed by single strand conformational polymorphism and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism to determine the genotypic frequency of 5 polymorphic loci on 2 MMR genes (MSH3 and MSH6) and p53 codon72. The chi-square test was applied to compare genotype frequency between patients and controls. A significant increase in the G/A+A/A genotype of MSH3 Pro222Pro was observed in patients compared to controls (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.0-3.5). The frequency of A/G + G/G genotypes of MSH3 exon23 Thr1036Ala also tended to increase in patients (OR 1.57, 95% CI 0.92-2.72). In p53 codon72 Arg/Pro + Pro/Pro carriers the frequency of the AG + GG genotype of MSH3 exon23 was significantly increased in patients compared to controls (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.05-4.34). To our knowledge this is the first report of the association of MSH3 gene polymorphisms in prostate cancer. These results suggest that the MSH3 polymorphism may be a risk factor for prostate cancer.

  15. DNA Repair Deficiency in Neurodegeneration

    PubMed Central

    Jeppesen, Dennis Kjølhede; Bohr, Vilhelm A.; Stevnsner, Tinna

    2011-01-01

    Deficiency in repair of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA damage has been linked to several neurodegenerative disorders. Many recent experimental results indicate that the post-mitotic neurons are particularly prone to accumulation of unrepaired DNA lesions potentially leading to progressive neurodegeneration. Nucleotide excision repair is the cellular pathway responsible for removing helix-distorting DNA damage and deficiency in such repair is found in a number of diseases with neurodegenerative phenotypes, including Xeroderma Pigmentosum and Cockayne syndrome. The main pathway for repairing oxidative base lesions is base excision repair, and such repair is crucial for neurons given their high rates of oxygen metabolism. Mismatch repair corrects base mispairs generated during replication and evidence indicates that oxidative DNA damage can cause this pathway to expand trinucleotide repeats, thereby causing Huntington’s disease. Single-strand breaks are common DNA lesions and are associated with the neurodegenerative diseases, ataxia-oculomotor apraxia-1 and spinocerebellar ataxia with axonal neuropathy-1. DNA double-strand breaks are toxic lesions and two main pathways exist for their repair: homologous recombination and non-homologous end-joining. Ataxia telangiectasia and related disorders with defects in these pathways illustrate that such defects can lead to early childhood neurodegeneration. Aging is a risk factor for neurodegeneration and accumulation of oxidative mitochondrial DNA damage may be linked with the age-associated neurodegenerative disorders Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Mutation in the WRN protein leads to the premature aging disease Werner syndrome, a disorder that features neurodegeneration. In this article we review the evidence linking deficiencies in the DNA repair pathways with neurodegeneration. PMID:21550379

  16. Sensitization to radiation and alkylating agents by inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase is enhanced in cells deficient in DNA double-strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Löser, Dana A; Shibata, Atsushi; Shibata, Akiko K; Woodbine, Lisa J; Jeggo, Penny A; Chalmers, Anthony J

    2010-06-01

    As single agents, chemical inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) are nontoxic and have clinical efficacy against BRCA1- and BRCA2-deficient tumors. PARP inhibitors also enhance the cytotoxicity of ionizing radiation and alkylating agents but will only improve clinical outcomes if tumor sensitization exceeds effects on normal tissues. It is unclear how tumor DNA repair proficiency affects the degree of sensitization. We have previously shown that the radiosensitizing effect of PARP inhibition requires DNA replication and will therefore affect rapidly proliferating tumors more than normal tissues. Because many tumors exhibit defective DNA repair, we investigated the impact of double-strand break (DSB) repair integrity on the sensitizing effects of the PARP inhibitor olaparib. Sensitization to ionizing radiation and the alkylating agent methylmethane sulfonate was enhanced in DSB repair-deficient cells. In Artemis(-/-) and ATM(-/-) mouse embryo fibroblasts, sensitization was replication dependent and associated with defective repair of replication-associated damage. Radiosensitization of Ligase IV(-/-) mouse embryo fibroblasts was independent of DNA replication and is explained by inhibition of "alternative" end joining. After methylmethane sulfonate treatment, PARP inhibition promoted replication-independent accumulation of DSB, repair of which required Ligase IV. Our findings predict that the sensitizing effects of PARP inhibitors will be more pronounced in rapidly dividing and/or DNA repair defective tumors than normal tissues and show their potential to enhance the therapeutic ratio achieved by conventional DNA-damaging agents.

  17. A Simple and Universal System for Gene Manipulation in Aspergillus fumigatus: In Vitro-Assembled Cas9-Guide RNA Ribonucleoproteins Coupled with Microhomology Repair Templates.

    PubMed

    Al Abdallah, Qusai; Ge, Wenbo; Fortwendel, Jarrod R

    2017-01-01

    CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat)-Cas9 is a novel genome-editing system that has been successfully established in Aspergillus fumigatus . However, the current state of the technology relies heavily on DNA-based expression cassettes for delivering Cas9 and the guide RNA (gRNA) to the cell. Therefore, the power of the technology is limited to strains that are engineered to express Cas9 and gRNA. To overcome such limitations, we developed a simple and universal CRISPR-Cas9 system for gene deletion that works across different genetic backgrounds of A. fumigatus . The system employs in vitro assembly of dual Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) for targeted gene deletion. Additionally, our CRISPR-Cas9 system utilizes 35 to 50 bp of flanking regions for mediating homologous recombination at Cas9 double-strand breaks (DSBs). As a proof of concept, we first tested our system in the Δ akuB (Δ akuB ku80 ) laboratory strain and generated high rates (97%) of gene deletion using 2 µg of the repair template flanked by homology regions as short as 35 bp. Next, we inspected the portability of our system across other genetic backgrounds of A. fumigatus , namely, the wild-type strain Af293 and a clinical isolate, A. fumigatus DI15-102. In the Af293 strain, 2 µg of the repair template flanked by 35 and 50 bp of homology resulted in highly efficient gene deletion (46% and 74%, respectively) in comparison to classical gene replacement systems. Similar deletion efficiencies were also obtained in the clinical isolate DI15-102. Taken together, our data show that in vitro -assembled Cas9 RNPs coupled with microhomology repair templates are an efficient and universal system for gene manipulation in A. fumigatus . IMPORTANCE Tackling the multifactorial nature of virulence and antifungal drug resistance in A. fumigatus requires the mechanistic interrogation of a multitude of genes, sometimes across multiple genetic backgrounds. Classical fungal gene

  18. Homologous Recombination Repair Signaling in Chemical Carcinogenesis: Prolonged Particulate Hexavalent Chromium Exposure Suppresses the Rad51 Response in Human Lung Cells

    PubMed Central

    Qin, Qin; Xie, Hong; Wise, Sandra S.; Browning, Cynthia L.; Thompson, Kelsey N.; Holmes, Amie L.; Wise, John Pierce

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study was to focus on hexavalent chromium, [Cr(VI)], a chemical carcinogen and major public health concern, and consider its ability to impact DNA double strand break repair. We further focused on particulate Cr(VI), because it is the more potent carcinogenic form of Cr(VI). DNA double strand break repair serves to protect cells against the detrimental effects of DNA double strand breaks. For particulate Cr(VI), data show DNA double strand break repair must be overcome for neoplastic transformation to occur. Acute Cr(VI) exposures reveal a robust DNA double strand break repair response, however, longer exposures have not been considered. Using the comet assay, we found longer exposures to particulate zinc chromate induced concentration-dependent increases in DNA double strand breaks indicating breaks were occurring throughout the exposure time. Acute (24 h) exposure induced DNA double strand break repair signaling by inducing Mre11 foci formation, ATM phosphorylation and phosphorylated ATM foci formation, Rad51 protein levels and Rad51 foci formation. However, longer exposures reduced the Rad51 response. These data indicate a major chemical carcinogen can simultaneously induce DNA double strand breaks and alter their repair and describe a new and important aspect of the carcinogenic mechanism for Cr(VI). PMID:25173789

  19. Germline mutations in DNA repair genes predispose asbestos-exposed patients to malignant pleural mesothelioma.

    PubMed

    Betti, Marta; Casalone, Elisabetta; Ferrante, Daniela; Aspesi, Anna; Morleo, Giulia; Biasi, Alessandra; Sculco, Marika; Mancuso, Giuseppe; Guarrera, Simonetta; Righi, Luisella; Grosso, Federica; Libener, Roberta; Pavesi, Mansueto; Mariani, Narciso; Casadio, Caterina; Boldorini, Renzo; Mirabelli, Dario; Pasini, Barbara; Magnani, Corrado; Matullo, Giuseppe; Dianzani, Irma

    2017-10-01

    Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare, aggressive cancer caused by asbestos exposure. An inherited predisposition has been suggested to explain multiple cases in the same family and the observation that not all individuals highly exposed to asbestos develop the tumor. Germline mutations in BAP1 are responsible for a rare cancer predisposition syndrome that includes predisposition to mesothelioma. We hypothesized that other genes involved in hereditary cancer syndromes could be responsible for the inherited mesothelioma predisposition. We investigated the prevalence of germline variants in 94 cancer-predisposing genes in 93 MPM patients with a quantified asbestos exposure. Ten pathogenic truncating variants (PTVs) were identified in PALB2, BRCA1, FANCI, ATM, SLX4, BRCA2, FANCC, FANCF, PMS1 and XPC. All these genes are involved in DNA repair pathways, mostly in homologous recombination repair. Patients carrying PTVs represented 9.7% of the panel and showed lower asbestos exposure than did all the other patients (p = 0.0015). This suggests that they did not efficiently repair the DNA damage induced by asbestos and leading to carcinogenesis. This study shows that germline variants in several genes may increase MPM susceptibility in the presence of asbestos exposure and may be important for specific treatment. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Breaks in the 45S rDNA Lead to Recombination-Mediated Loss of Repeats.

    PubMed

    Warmerdam, Daniël O; van den Berg, Jeroen; Medema, René H

    2016-03-22

    rDNA repeats constitute the most heavily transcribed region in the human genome. Tumors frequently display elevated levels of recombination in rDNA, indicating that the repeats are a liability to the genomic integrity of a cell. However, little is known about how cells deal with DNA double-stranded breaks in rDNA. Using selective endonucleases, we show that human cells are highly sensitive to breaks in 45S but not the 5S rDNA repeats. We find that homologous recombination inhibits repair of breaks in 45S rDNA, and this results in repeat loss. We identify the structural maintenance of chromosomes protein 5 (SMC5) as contributing to recombination-mediated repair of rDNA breaks. Together, our data demonstrate that SMC5-mediated recombination can lead to error-prone repair of 45S rDNA repeats, resulting in their loss and thereby reducing cellular viability. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. GANP regulates the choice of DNA repair pathway by DNA-PKcs interaction in AID-dependent IgV region diversification.

    PubMed

    Eid, Mohammed Mansour Abbas; Maeda, Kazuhiko; Almofty, Sarah Ameen; Singh, Shailendra Kumar; Shimoda, Mayuko; Sakaguchi, Nobuo

    2014-06-15

    RNA export factor germinal center-associated nuclear protein (GANP) interacts with activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) and shepherds it from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and toward the IgV region loci in B cells. In this study, we demonstrate a role for GANP in the repair of AID-initiated DNA damage in chicken DT40 B cells to generate IgV region diversity by gene conversion and somatic hypermutation. GANP plays a positive role in IgV region diversification of DT40 B cells in a nonhomologous end joining-proficient state. DNA-PKcs physically interacts with GANP, and this interaction is dissociated by dsDNA breaks induced by a topoisomerase II inhibitor, etoposide, or AID overexpression. GANP affects the choice of DNA repair mechanism in B cells toward homologous recombination rather than nonhomologous end joining repair. Thus, GANP presumably plays a critical role in protection of the rearranged IgV loci by favoring homologous recombination of the DNA breaks under accelerated AID recruitment. Copyright © 2014 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.

  2. A decade of understanding spatio-temporal regulation of DNA repair by the nuclear architecture.

    PubMed

    Saad, Hicham; Cobb, Jennifer A

    2016-10-01

    The nucleus is a hub for gene expression and is a highly organized entity. The nucleoplasm is heterogeneous, owing to the preferential localization of specific metabolic factors, which lead to the definition of nuclear compartments or bodies. The genome is organized into chromosome territories, as well as heterochromatin and euchromatin domains. Recent observations have indicated that nuclear organization is important for maintaining genomic stability. For example, nuclear organization has been implicated in stabilizing damaged DNA, repair-pathway choice, and in preventing chromosomal rearrangements. Over the past decade, several studies have revealed that dynamic changes in the nuclear architecture are important during double-strand break repair. Stemming from work in yeast, relocation of a damaged site prior to repair appears to be at least partially conserved in multicellular eukaryotes. In this review, we will discuss genome and nucleoplasm architecture, particularly the importance of the nuclear periphery in genome stability. We will also discuss how the site of relocation regulates repair-pathway choice.

  3. Cobalt-induced genotoxicity in male zebrafish (Danio rerio), with implications for reproduction and expression of DNA repair genes.

    PubMed

    Reinardy, Helena C; Syrett, James R; Jeffree, Ross A; Henry, Theodore B; Jha, Awadhesh N

    2013-01-15

    Although cobalt (Co) is an environmental contaminant of surface waters in both radioactive (e.g. (60)Co) and non-radioactive forms, there is relatively little information about Co toxicity in fishes. The objective of this study was to investigate acute and chronic toxicity of Co in zebrafish, with emphasis on male genotoxicity and implications for reproductive success. The lethal concentration for 50% mortality (LC(50)) in larval zebrafish exposed (96 h) to 0-50 mg l(-1) Co was 35.3 ± 1.1 (95%C.I.) mg l(-1) Co. Adult zebrafish were exposed (13 d) to sub-lethal (0-25 mg l(-1)) Co and allowed to spawn every 4 d and embryos were collected. After 12-d exposure, fertilisation rate was reduced (6% total eggs fertilised, 25 mg l(-1)) and embryo survival to hatching decreased (60% fertilised eggs survived, 25 mg l(-1)). A concentration-dependent increase in DNA strand breaks was detected in sperm from males exposed (13 d) to Co, and DNA damage in sperm returned to control levels after males recovered for 6 d in clean water. Induction of DNA repair genes (rad51, xrcc5, and xrcc6) in testes was complex and not directly related to Co concentration, although there was significant induction in fish exposed to 15 and 25 mg l(-1) Co relative to controls. Induction of 4.0 ± 0.9, 2.5 ± 0.7, and 3.1 ± 0.7-fold change (mean ± S.E.M. for rad51, xrcc5, and xrcc6, respectively) was observed in testes at the highest Co concentration (25 mg l(-1)). Expression of these genes was not altered in offspring (larvae) spawned after 12-d exposure. Chronic exposure to Co resulted in DNA damage in sperm, induction of DNA repair genes in testes, and indications of reduced reproductive success. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Requirement of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae APN1 Gene for the Repair of Mitochondrial DNA Alkylation Damage

    PubMed Central

    Acevedo-Torres, Karina; Fonseca-Williams, Sharon; Ayala-Torres, Sylvette; Torres-Ramos, Carlos A.

    2010-01-01

    The Saccharomyces cerevisiae APN1 gene that participates in base excision repair has been localized both in the nucleus and the mitochondria. APN1 deficient cells (apn1Δ) show increased mutation frequencies in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggesting that APN1 is also important for mtDNA stability. To understand APN1-dependent mtDNA repair processes we studied the formation and repair of mtDNA lesions in cells exposed to methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). We show that MMS induces mtDNA damage in a dose-dependent fashion and that deletion of the APN1 gene enhances the susceptibility of mtDNA to MMS. Repair kinetic experiments demonstrate that in wild-type cells (WT) it takes 4 hr to repair the damage induced by 0.1% MMS, whereas in the apn1Δ strain there is a lag in mtDNA repair that results in significant differences in the repair capacity between the two yeast strains. Analysis of lesions in nuclear DNA (nDNA) after treatment with 0.1% MMS shows a significant difference in the amount of nDNA lesions between WT and apn1Δ cells. Interestingly, comparisons between nDNA and mtDNA damage show that nDNA is more sensitive to the effects of MMS treatment. However, both strains are able to repair the nDNA lesions, contrary to mtDNA repair, which is compromised in the apn1Δ mutant strain. Therefore, although nDNA is more sensitive than mtDNA to the effects of MMS, deletion of APN1 has a stronger phenotype in mtDNA repair than in nDNA. These results highlight the prominent role of APN1 in the repair of environmentally induced mtDNA damage. PMID:19197988

  5. Precision genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9 and linear repair templates in C. elegans.

    PubMed

    Paix, Alexandre; Folkmann, Andrew; Seydoux, Geraldine

    2017-05-15

    The ability to introduce targeted edits in the genome of model organisms is revolutionizing the field of genetics. State-of-the-art methods for precision genome editing use RNA-guided endonucleases to create double-strand breaks (DSBs) and DNA templates containing the edits to repair the DSBs. Following this strategy, we have developed a protocol to create precise edits in the C. elegans genome. The protocol takes advantage of two innovations to improve editing efficiency: direct injection of CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes and use of linear DNAs with short homology arms as repair templates. The protocol requires no cloning or selection, and can be used to generate base and gene-size edits in just 4days. Point mutations, insertions, deletions and gene replacements can all be created using the same experimental pipeline. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Effect of sodium benzoate preservative on micronucleus induction, chromosome break, and Ala40Thr superoxide dismutase gene mutation in lymphocytes.

    PubMed

    Pongsavee, Malinee

    2015-01-01

    Sodium benzoate is food preservative that inhibits microbial growth. The effects of sodium benzoate preservative on micronucleus induction, chromosome break, and Ala40Thr superoxide dismutase gene mutation in lymphocytes were studied. Sodium benzoate concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mg/mL were treated in lymphocyte cell line for 24 and 48 hrs, respectively. Micronucleus test, standard chromosome culture technique, PCR, and automated sequencing technique were done to detect micronucleus, chromosome break, and gene mutation. The results showed that, at 24- and 48-hour. incubation time, sodium benzoate concentrations of 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mg/mL increased micronucleus formation when comparing with the control group (P < 0.05). At 24- and 48-hour. incubation time, sodium benzoate concentrations of 2.0 mg/mL increased chromosome break when comparing with the control group (P < 0.05). Sodium benzoate did not cause Ala40Thr (GCG→ACG) in superoxide dismutase gene. Sodium benzoate had the mutagenic and cytotoxic toxicity in lymphocytes caused by micronucleus formation and chromosome break.

  7. The Impact of Individual In Vivo Repair of DNA Double-Strand Breaks on Oral Mucositis in Adjuvant Radiotherapy of Head-and-Neck Cancer

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fleckenstein, Jochen, E-mail: rajfle@uks.eu; Kuehne, Martin; Seegmueller, Katharina

    2011-12-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the impact of individual in vivo DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair capacity on the incidence of severe oral mucositis in patients with head-and-neck cancer undergoing adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) or radiochemotherapy (RCT). Patients and Methods: Thirty-one patients with resected head-and-neck cancer undergoing adjuvant RT or RCT were examined. Patients underwent RT of the primary tumor site and locoregional lymph nodes with a total dose of 60-66 Gy (single dose 2 Gy, five fractions per week). Chemotherapy consisted of two cycles of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil. To assess DSB repair, {gamma}-H2AX foci in blood lymphocytes were quantified before and 0.5more » h, 2.5 h, 5 h, and 24 h after in vivo radiation exposure (the first fraction of RT). World Health Organization scores for oral mucositis were documented weekly and correlated with DSB repair. Results: Sixteen patients received RT alone; 15 patients received RCT. In patients who developed Grade {>=} 3 mucositis (n = 18) the amount of unrepaired DSBs 24 h after radiation exposure and DSB repair half-times did not differ significantly from patients with Grade {<=}2 mucositis (n = 13). Patients with a proportion of unrepaired DSBs after 24 h higher than the mean value + one standard deviation had an increased incidence of severe oral mucositis. Conclusions: Evaluation of in vivo DSB repair by determination of {gamma}-H2AX foci loss is feasible in clinical practice and allows identification of patients with impaired DSB repair. The incidence of oral mucositis is not closely correlated with DSB repair under the evaluated conditions.« less

  8. 46 CFR 115.704 - Breaking of safety valve seals.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Breaking of safety valve seals. 115.704 Section 115.704... CERTIFICATION Repairs and Alterations § 115.704 Breaking of safety valve seals. The owner, managing operator, or master shall notify the cognizant OCMI as soon as practicable after the seal on a boiler safety valve on...

  9. 46 CFR 115.704 - Breaking of safety valve seals.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Breaking of safety valve seals. 115.704 Section 115.704... CERTIFICATION Repairs and Alterations § 115.704 Breaking of safety valve seals. The owner, managing operator, or master shall notify the cognizant OCMI as soon as practicable after the seal on a boiler safety valve on...

  10. Enzymatic repair of selected cross-linked homoduplex molecules enhances nuclear gene rescue from Pompeii and Herculaneum remains.

    PubMed

    Di Bernardo, Giovanni; Del Gaudio, Stefania; Cammarota, Marcella; Galderisi, Umberto; Cascino, Antonino; Cipollaro, Marilena

    2002-02-15

    Ancient DNA (aDNA) samples extracted from the bone remains of six equids buried by the Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD were investigated to test pre-amplification and enzymatic repair procedures designed to enhance the rescue of nuclear genes. The extracts, which proved all positive for Equidae mtDNA amplification, proved positive only four times out of 18 when tested for single-copy Equidae nuclear genes (epsilon globin, p53 and gamma interferon). Pre-amplification did not change the number of retrieved aDNA sequences but 10 times out of 14 enzymatic repair restored the amplifiability of the genes analysed, proving that repair increases the rate of successful rescue from 22 to alpha(lambda)mu(omicron)sigma(tau) 80%. These findings support the hypothesis that some of these cross-linked aDNA molecules, which are not completely separated when DNA is extracted under denaturing conditions, become homoduplex substrates for Pol I and/or T4 ligase action upon renaturation. aDNA authenticity is proved by the homology of the nucleotide sequences of loci tested to the corresponding modern Equidae sequences. Data also indicate that cross-linked homoduplex molecules selected by denaturation of the extract are repaired without any chimera formation. The general features of aDNA amplification with and without denaturation and enzymatic repair are discussed.

  11. Enzymatic repair of selected cross-linked homoduplex molecules enhances nuclear gene rescue from Pompeii and Herculaneum remains

    PubMed Central

    Di Bernardo, Giovanni; Del Gaudio, Stefania; Cammarota, Marcella; Galderisi, Umberto; Cascino, Antonino; Cipollaro, Marilena

    2002-01-01

    Ancient DNA (aDNA) samples extracted from the bone remains of six equids buried by the Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD were investigated to test pre-amplification and enzymatic repair procedures designed to enhance the rescue of nuclear genes. The extracts, which proved all positive for Equidae mtDNA amplification, proved positive only four times out of 18 when tested for single-copy Equidae nuclear genes (ɛ globin, p53 and γ interferon). Pre-amplification did not change the number of retrieved aDNA sequences but 10 times out of 14 enzymatic repair restored the amplifiability of the genes analysed, proving that repair increases the rate of successful rescue from 22 to αλµοστ 80%. These findings support the hypothesis that some of these cross-linked aDNA molecules, which are not completely separated when DNA is extracted under denaturing conditions, become homoduplex substrates for Pol I and/or T4 ligase action upon renaturation. aDNA authenticity is proved by the homology of the nucleotide sequences of loci tested to the corresponding modern Equidae sequences. Data also indicate that cross-linked homoduplex molecules selected by denaturation of the extract are repaired without any chimera formation. The general features of aDNA amplification with and without denaturation and enzymatic repair are discussed. PMID:11842122

  12. The DNA mismatch repair genes Msh3 and Msh6 cooperate in intestinal tumor suppression.

    PubMed

    Edelmann, W; Umar, A; Yang, K; Heyer, J; Kucherlapati, M; Lia, M; Kneitz, B; Avdievich, E; Fan, K; Wong, E; Crouse, G; Kunkel, T; Lipkin, M; Kolodner, R D; Kucherlapati, R

    2000-02-15

    Repair of mismatches in DNA in mammalian cells is mediated by a complex of proteins that are members of two highly conserved families of genes referred to as MutS and MutL homologues. Germline mutations in several members of these families, MSH2, MSH6, MLH1, and PMS2, but not MSH3, are responsible for hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer. To examine the role of MSH3, we generated a mouse with a null mutation in this gene. Cells from Msh3-/- mice are defective in repair of insertion/ deletion mismatches but can repair base-base mismatches. Msh3-/- mice develop tumors at a late age. When the Msh3-/- and Msh6-/- mutations are combined, the tumor predisposition phenotype is indistinguishable from Msh2-/- or Mlh1-/- mice. These results suggest that MSH3 cooperates with MSH6 in tumor suppression.

  13. Repair of exogenous DNA double-strand breaks promotes chromosome synapsis in SPO11-mutant mouse meiocytes, and is altered in the absence of HORMAD1.

    PubMed

    Carofiglio, Fabrizia; Sleddens-Linkels, Esther; Wassenaar, Evelyne; Inagaki, Akiko; van Cappellen, Wiggert A; Grootegoed, J Anton; Toth, Attila; Baarends, Willy M

    2018-03-01

    Repair of SPO11-dependent DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) via homologous recombination (HR) is essential for stable homologous chromosome pairing and synapsis during meiotic prophase. Here, we induced radiation-induced DSBs to study meiotic recombination and homologous chromosome pairing in mouse meiocytes in the absence of SPO11 activity (Spo11 YF/YF model), and in the absence of both SPO11 and HORMAD1 (Spo11/Hormad1 dko). Within 30 min after 5 Gy irradiation of Spo11 YF/YF mice, 140-160 DSB repair foci were detected, which specifically localized to the synaptonemal complex axes. Repair of radiation-induced DSBs was incomplete in Spo11 YF/YF compared to Spo11 +/YF meiocytes. Still, repair of exogenous DSBs promoted partial recovery of chromosome pairing and synapsis in Spo11 YF/YF meiocytes. This indicates that at least part of the exogenous DSBs can be processed in an interhomolog recombination repair pathway. Interestingly, in a seperate experiment, using 3 Gy of irradiation, we observed that Spo11/Hormad1 dko spermatocytes contained fewer remaining DSB repair foci at 48 h after irradiation compared to irradiated Spo11 knockout spermatocytes. Together, these results show that recruitment of exogenous DSBs to the synaptonemal complex, in conjunction with repair of exogenous DSBs via the homologous chromosome, contributes to homology recognition. In addition, the data suggest a role for HORMAD1 in DNA repair pathway choice in mouse meiocytes. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Do chromatin changes around a nascent double strand DNA break spread spherically into linearly non-adjacent chromatin?

    PubMed

    Savic, Velibor

    2013-01-01

    In the last decade, a lot has been done in elucidating the sequence of events that occur at the nascent double strand DNA break. Nevertheless, the overall structure formed by the DNA damage response (DDR) factors around the break site, the repair focus, remains poorly understood. Although most of the data presented so far only address events that occur in chromatin in cis around the break, there are strong indications that in mammalian systems it may also occur in trans, analogous to the recent findings showing this if budding yeast. There have been attempts to address the issue but the final proof is still missing due to lack of a proper experimental system. If found to be true, the spatial distribution of DDR factors would have a major impact on the neighboring chromatin both in cis and in trans, significantly affecting local chromatin function; gene transcription and potentially other functions.

  15. Transcription profiling of the chilling requirement for bud break in apples: a putative role for FLC-like genes.

    PubMed

    Porto, Diogo Denardi; Bruneau, Maryline; Perini, Pâmela; Anzanello, Rafael; Renou, Jean-Pierre; dos Santos, Henrique Pessoa; Fialho, Flávio Bello; Revers, Luís Fernando

    2015-05-01

    Apple production depends on the fulfilment of a chilling requirement for bud dormancy release. Insufficient winter chilling results in irregular and suboptimal bud break in the spring, with negative impacts on apple yield. Trees from apple cultivars with contrasting chilling requirements for bud break were used to investigate the expression of the entire set of apple genes in response to chilling accumulation in the field and controlled conditions. Total RNA was analysed on the AryANE v.1.0 oligonucleotide microarray chip representing 57,000 apple genes. The data were tested for functional enrichment, and differential expression was confirmed by real-time PCR. The largest number of differentially expressed genes was found in samples treated with cold temperatures. Cold exposure mostly repressed expression of transcripts related to photosynthesis, and long-term cold exposure repressed flavonoid biosynthesis genes. Among the differentially expressed selected candidates, we identified genes whose annotations were related to the circadian clock, hormonal signalling, regulation of growth, and flower development. Two genes, annotated as FLOWERING LOCUS C-like and MADS AFFECTING FLOWERING, showed strong differential expression in several comparisons. One of these two genes was upregulated in most comparisons involving dormancy release, and this gene's chromosomal position co-localized with the confidence interval of a major quantitative trait locus for the timing of bud break. These results indicate that photosynthesis and auxin transport are major regulatory nodes of apple dormancy and unveil strong candidates for the control of bud dormancy. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  16. Two different types of double-strand breaks in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are repaired by similar RAD52-independent, nonhomologous recombination events.

    PubMed Central

    Kramer, K M; Brock, J A; Bloom, K; Moore, J K; Haber, J E

    1994-01-01

    In haploid rad52 Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains unable to undergo homologous recombination, a chromosomal double-strand break (DSB) can be repaired by imprecise rejoining of the broken chromosome ends. We have used two different strategies to generate broken chromosomes: (i) a site-specific DSB generated at the MAT locus by HO endonuclease cutting or (ii) a random DSB generated by mechanical rupture during mitotic segregation of a conditionally dicentric chromosome. Broken chromosomes were repaired by deletions that were highly variable in size, all of which removed more sequences than was required either to prevent subsequent HO cleavage or to eliminate a functional centromere, respectively. The junction of the deletions frequently occurred where complementary strands from the flanking DNA could anneal to form 1 to 5 bp, although 12% (4 of 34) of the events appear to have occurred by blunt-end ligation. These types of deletions are very similar to the junctions observed in the repair of DSBs by mammalian cells (D. B. Roth and J. H. Wilson, Mol. Cell. Biol. 6:4295-4304, 1986). When a high level of HO endonuclease, expressed in all phases of the cell cycle, was used to create DSBs, we also recovered a large class of very small (2- or 3-bp) insertions in the HO cleavage site. These insertions appear to represent still another mechanism of DSB repair, apparently by annealing and filling in the overhanging 3' ends of the cleavage site. These types of events have also been well documented for vertebrate cells. PMID:8289808

  17. Histone Variant Regulates DNA Repair via Chromatin Condensation | Center for Cancer Research

    Cancer.gov

    Activating the appropriate DNA repair pathway is essential for maintaining the stability of the genome after a break in both strands of DNA. How a pathway is selected, however, is not well understood. Since these double strand breaks (DSBs) occur while DNA is packaged as chromatin, changes in its organization are necessary for repair to take place. Numerous alterations have

  18. Modulation of DNA repair capacity and mRNA expression levels of XRCC1, hOGG1 and XPC genes in styrene-exposed workers.

    PubMed

    Hanova, Monika; Stetina, Rudolf; Vodickova, Ludmila; Vaclavikova, Radka; Hlavac, Pavel; Smerhovsky, Zdenek; Naccarati, Alessio; Polakova, Veronika; Soucek, Pavel; Kuricova, Miroslava; Manini, Paola; Kumar, Rajiv; Hemminki, Kari; Vodicka, Pavel

    2010-11-01

    Decreased levels of single-strand breaks in DNA (SSBs), reflecting DNA damage, have previously been observed with increased styrene exposure in contrast to a dose-dependent increase in the base-excision repair capacity. To clarify further the above aspects, we have investigated the associations between SSBs, micronuclei, DNA repair capacity and mRNA expression in XRCC1, hOGG1 and XPC genes on 71 styrene-exposed and 51 control individuals. Styrene concentrations at workplace and in blood characterized occupational exposure. The workers were divided into low (below 50 mg/m³) and high (above 50 mg/m³)) styrene exposure groups. DNA damage and DNA repair capacity were analyzed in peripheral blood lymphocytes by Comet assay. The mRNA expression levels were determined by qPCR. A significant negative correlation was observed between SSBs and styrene concentration at workplace (R=-0.38, p=0.001); SSBs were also significantly higher in men (p=0.001). The capacity to repair irradiation-induced DNA damage was the highest in the low exposure group (1.34±1.00 SSB/10⁹ Da), followed by high exposure group (0.72±0.81 SSB/10⁹ Da) and controls (0.65±0.82 SSB/10⁹ Da). The mRNA expression levels of XRCC1, hOGG1 and XPC negatively correlated with styrene concentrations in blood and at workplace (p<0.001) and positively with SSBs (p<0.001). Micronuclei were not affected by styrene exposure, but were higher in older persons and in women (p<0.001). In this study, we did not confirm previous findings on an increased DNA repair response to styrene-induced genotoxicity. However, negative correlations of SSBs and mRNA expression levels of XRCC1, hOGG1 and XPC with styrene exposure warrant further highly-targeted study. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Repair of Clustered Damage and DNA Polymerase Iota.

    PubMed

    Belousova, E A; Lavrik, O I

    2015-08-01

    Multiple DNA lesions occurring within one or two turns of the DNA helix known as clustered damage are a source of double-stranded DNA breaks, which represent a serious threat to the cells. Repair of clustered lesions is accomplished in several steps. If a clustered lesion contains oxidized bases, an individual DNA lesion is repaired by the base excision repair (BER) mechanism involving a specialized DNA polymerase after excising DNA damage. Here, we investigated DNA synthesis catalyzed by DNA polymerase iota using damaged DNA templates. Two types of DNA substrates were used as model DNAs: partial DNA duplexes containing breaks of different length, and DNA duplexes containing 5-formyluracil (5-foU) and uracil as a precursor of apurinic/apyrimidinic sites (AP) in opposite DNA strands. For the first time, we showed that DNA polymerase iota is able to catalyze DNA synthesis using partial DNA duplexes having breaks of different length as substrates. In addition, we found that DNA polymerase iota could catalyze DNA synthesis during repair of clustered damage via the BER system by using both undamaged and 5-foU-containing templates. We found that hPCNA (human proliferating cell nuclear antigen) increased efficacy of DNA synthesis catalyzed by DNA polymerase iota.

  20. Human Fanconi anemia monoubiquitination pathway promotes homologous DNA repair

    PubMed Central

    Nakanishi, Koji; Yang, Yun-Gui; Pierce, Andrew J.; Taniguchi, Toshiyasu; Digweed, Martin; D'Andrea, Alan D.; Wang, Zhao-Qi; Jasin, Maria

    2005-01-01

    Fanconi anemia (FA) is a recessive disorder characterized by congenital abnormalities, progressive bone-marrow failure, and cancer susceptibility. Cells from FA patients are hypersensitive to agents that produce DNA crosslinks and, after treatment with these agents, have pronounced chromosome breakage and other cytogenetic abnormalities. Eight FANC genes have been cloned, and the encoded proteins interact in a common cellular pathway. DNA-damaging agents activate the monoubiquitination of FANCD2, resulting in its targeting to nuclear foci that also contain BRCA1 and BRCA2/FANCD1, proteins involved in homology-directed DNA repair. Given the interaction of the FANC proteins with BRCA1 and BRCA2, we tested whether cells from FA patients (groups A, G, and D2) and mouse Fanca–/– cells with a targeted mutation are impaired for this repair pathway. We find that both the upstream (FANCA and FANCG) and downstream (FANCD2) FA pathway components promote homology-directed repair of chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs). The FANCD2 monoubiquitination site is critical for normal levels of repair, whereas the ATM phosphorylation site is not. The defect in these cells, however, is mild, differentiating them from BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutant cells. Surprisingly, we provide evidence that these proteins, like BRCA1 but unlike BRCA2, promote a second DSB repair pathway involving homology, i.e., single-strand annealing. These results suggest an early role for the FANC proteins in homologous DSB repair pathway choice. PMID:15650050

  1. Human Fanconi anemia monoubiquitination pathway promotes homologous DNA repair.

    PubMed

    Nakanishi, Koji; Yang, Yun-Gui; Pierce, Andrew J; Taniguchi, Toshiyasu; Digweed, Martin; D'Andrea, Alan D; Wang, Zhao-Qi; Jasin, Maria

    2005-01-25

    Fanconi anemia (FA) is a recessive disorder characterized by congenital abnormalities, progressive bone-marrow failure, and cancer susceptibility. Cells from FA patients are hypersensitive to agents that produce DNA crosslinks and, after treatment with these agents, have pronounced chromosome breakage and other cytogenetic abnormalities. Eight FANC genes have been cloned, and the encoded proteins interact in a common cellular pathway. DNA-damaging agents activate the monoubiquitination of FANCD2, resulting in its targeting to nuclear foci that also contain BRCA1 and BRCA2/FANCD1, proteins involved in homology-directed DNA repair. Given the interaction of the FANC proteins with BRCA1 and BRCA2, we tested whether cells from FA patients (groups A, G, and D2) and mouse Fanca-/- cells with a targeted mutation are impaired for this repair pathway. We find that both the upstream (FANCA and FANCG) and downstream (FANCD2) FA pathway components promote homology-directed repair of chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs). The FANCD2 monoubiquitination site is critical for normal levels of repair, whereas the ATM phosphorylation site is not. The defect in these cells, however, is mild, differentiating them from BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutant cells. Surprisingly, we provide evidence that these proteins, like BRCA1 but unlike BRCA2, promote a second DSB repair pathway involving homology, i.e., single-strand annealing. These results suggest an early role for the FANC proteins in homologous DSB repair pathway choice.

  2. Methylation profile analysis of DNA repair genes in hepatocellular carcinoma with MS-MLPA.

    PubMed

    Ozer, Ozge; Bilezikci, Banu; Aktas, Sema; Sahin, Feride I

    2013-12-01

    Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the rare tumors with well-defined risk factors. The multifactorial etiology of HCC can be explained by its complex molecular pathogenesis. In the current study, the methylation status of 7 genes involved in DNA repair mechanisms, namely MLH1, PMS2, MSH6, MSH2, MGMT, MSH3, and MLH3, was investigated in tumor samples from HCC patients, using the methylation-specific-multiplex ligated probe amplification method and the results were correlated with available clinical findings. The most common etiological factor in these cases was the presence of hepatitis B alone (47.2%). Among the 56 cases that were studied, promoter methylation was detected in at least one of the genes in 27 (48.2%) cases, only in 1 gene in 13 (23.2%) cases, and in >1 gene in 14 (25%) cases. Of the 7 genes investigated, methylation was most frequently observed in MSH3, in 14 (25%) cases. Methylation of at least 1 gene was significantly more frequent in patients with single tumors than multifocal tumors. There were significant differences regarding hepatitis B status, Child Class, tumor number, grade, and TNM stage in cases where PMS2 methylation was detected. Our results suggest that methylation of genes involved in mismatch repair may be responsible in the pathogenesis of HCC, and evaluating changes in multiple genes in these pathways simultaneously would be more informative. Despite being a robust and relatively inexpensive method, the methylation-specific-multiplex ligated probe amplification assay could be more extensively applied with improvements in the currently intricate data analysis component.

  3. Low intensity infrared laser affects expression of oxidative DNA repair genes in mitochondria and nucleus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fonseca, A. S.; Magalhães, L. A. G.; Mencalha, A. L.; Geller, M.; Paoli, F.

    2014-11-01

    Practical properties and physical characteristics of low intensity lasers have made possible their application to treat soft tissue diseases. Excitation of intracellular chromophores by red and infrared radiation at low energy fluences with increase of mitochondrial metabolism is the basis of the biostimulation effect but free radicals can be produced. DNA lesions induced by free radicals are repaired by the base excision repair pathway. In this work, we evaluate the expression of POLγ and APEX2 genes related to repair of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, respectively. Skin and muscle tissue of Wistar rats were exposed to low intensity infrared laser at different fluences. One hour and 24 hours after laser exposure, tissue samples were withdrawn for total RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, and evaluation of POLγ and APEX2 mRNA expression by real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Skin and muscle tissue of Wistar rats exposed to laser radiation show different expression of POLγ and APEX2 mRNA depending of the fluence and time after exposure. Our study suggests that a low intensity infrared laser affects expression of genes involved in repair of oxidative lesions in mitochondrial and nuclear DNA.

  4. DNA Strand Breaks in Mitotic Germ Cells of Caenorhabditis elegans Evaluated by Comet Assay

    PubMed Central

    Park, Sojin; Choi, Seoyun; Ahn, Byungchan

    2016-01-01

    DNA damage responses are important for the maintenance of genome stability and the survival of organisms. Such responses are activated in the presence of DNA damage and lead to cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and DNA repair. In Caenorhabditis elegans, double-strand breaks induced by DNA damaging agents have been detected indirectly by antibodies against DSB recognizing proteins. In this study we used a comet assay to detect DNA strand breaks and to measure the elimination of DNA strand breaks in mitotic germline nuclei of C. elegans. We found that C. elegans brc-1 mutants were more sensitive to ionizing radiation and camptothecin than the N2 wild-type strain and repaired DNA strand breaks less efficiently than N2. This study is the first demonstration of direct measurement of DNA strand breaks in mitotic germline nuclei of C. elegans. This newly developed assay can be applied to detect DNA strand breaks in different C. elegans mutants that are sensitive to DNA damaging agents. PMID:26903030

  5. Fibrin patch-based insulin-like growth factor-1 gene-modified stem cell transplantation repairs ischemic myocardium.

    PubMed

    Li, Jun; Zhu, Kai; Yang, Shan; Wang, Yulin; Guo, Changfa; Yin, Kanhua; Wang, Chunsheng; Lai, Hao

    2015-05-01

    Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), tissue-engineered cardiac patch, and therapeutic gene have all been proposed as promising therapy strategies for cardiac repair after myocardial infarction. In our study, BMSCs were modified with insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) gene, loaded into a fibrin patch, and then transplanted into a porcine model of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) myocardium injury. The results demonstrated that IGF-1 gene overexpression could promote proliferation of endothelial cells and cardiomyocyte-like differentiation of BMSCs in vitro. Four weeks after transplantation of fibrin patch loaded with gene-modified BMSCs, IGF-1 overexpression could successfully promote angiogenesis, inhibit remodeling, increase grafted cell survival and reduce apoptosis. In conclusion, the integrated strategy, which combined fibrin patch with IGF-1 gene modified BMSCs, could promote the histological cardiac repair for a clinically relevant porcine model of I/R myocardium injury. © 2015 by the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

  6. Coevolution between Nuclear-Encoded DNA Replication, Recombination, and Repair Genes and Plastid Genome Complexity

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Jin; Ruhlman, Tracey A.; Sabir, Jamal S. M.; Blazier, John Chris; Weng, Mao-Lun; Park, Seongjun; Jansen, Robert K.

    2016-01-01

    Disruption of DNA replication, recombination, and repair (DNA-RRR) systems has been hypothesized to cause highly elevated nucleotide substitution rates and genome rearrangements in the plastids of angiosperms, but this theory remains untested. To investigate nuclear–plastid genome (plastome) coevolution in Geraniaceae, four different measures of plastome complexity (rearrangements, repeats, nucleotide insertions/deletions, and substitution rates) were evaluated along with substitution rates of 12 nuclear-encoded, plastid-targeted DNA-RRR genes from 27 Geraniales species. Significant correlations were detected for nonsynonymous (dN) but not synonymous (dS) substitution rates for three DNA-RRR genes (uvrB/C, why1, and gyrA) supporting a role for these genes in accelerated plastid genome evolution in Geraniaceae. Furthermore, correlation between dN of uvrB/C and plastome complexity suggests the presence of nucleotide excision repair system in plastids. Significant correlations were also detected between plastome complexity and 13 of the 90 nuclear-encoded organelle-targeted genes investigated. Comparisons revealed significant acceleration of dN in plastid-targeted genes of Geraniales relative to Brassicales suggesting this correlation may be an artifact of elevated rates in this gene set in Geraniaceae. Correlation between dN of plastid-targeted DNA-RRR genes and plastome complexity supports the hypothesis that the aberrant patterns in angiosperm plastome evolution could be caused by dysfunction in DNA-RRR systems. PMID:26893456

  7. Homologous recombination contributes to the repair of DNA double-strand breaks induced by high-energy iron ions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zafar, Faria; Seidler, Sara B.; Kronenberg, Amy

    2010-06-29

    To test the contribution of homologous recombinational repair (HRR) in repairing DNA damaged sites induced by high-energy iron ions, we used: (1) HRR-deficient rodent cells carrying a deletion in the RAD51D gene and (2) syngeneic human cells impaired for HRR by RAD51D or RAD51 knockdown using RNA interference. We show that in response to iron ions, HRR contributes to cell survival in rodent cells, and that HRR-deficiency abrogates RAD51 foci formation. Complementation of the HRR defect by human RAD51D rescues both enhanced cytotoxicity and RAD51 foci formation. For human cells irradiated with iron ions, cell survival is decreased, and, inmore » p53 mutant cells, the levels of mutagenesis are increased when HRR is impaired. Human cells synchronized in S phase exhibit more pronounced resistance to iron ions as compared with cells in G1 phase, and this increase in radioresistance is diminished by RAD51 knockdown. These results implicate a role for RAD51-mediated DNA repair (i.e. HRR) in removing a fraction of clustered lesions induced by charged particle irradiation. Our results are the first to directly show the requirement for an intact HRR pathway in human cells in ensuring DNA repair and cell survival in response to high-energy high LET radiation.« less

  8. Mismatch repair gene MSH3 polymorphism is associated with the risk of sporadic prostate cancer

    PubMed Central

    Hirata, Hiroshi; Hinoda, Yuji; Kawamoto, Ken; Kikuno, Nobuyuki; Suehiro, Yutaka; Okayama, Naoko; Tanaka, Yuichiro; Dahiya, Rajvir

    2014-01-01

    Purpose The mismatch repair (MMR) system is a DNA repair mechanism that corrects mispaired bases during DNA replication errors. Cancer cells deficient in the MMR proteins have a 102 –103-fold increase in the mutation rate. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of MMR genes have been shown to cause a reduction in DNA repair activity. We hypothesized that mismatch repair gene polymorphism could be a risk factor for prostate cancer (PC) and that p53 Pro/Pro genotype carriers could influence MSH3 and MSH6 polymorphisms. Material and Methods DNA samples from 110 cases of prostate cancer and healthy controls (n=110) were analyzed by SSCP and PCR-RFLP to determine the genotypic frequency of five different polymorphic loci on two MMR genes (MSH3 and MSH6) and p53 codon72. The chi-square test was applied to compare the genotype frequency between patients and controls. Results A significant increase in the G/A+A/A genotype of MSH3 Pro222Pro was observed in patients compared to controls (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.0–3.5). The frequency of A/G + G/G genotypes of MSH3 exon23 Thr1036Ala also tended to increase in patients (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 0.92–2.72). Among p53 codon72 Arg/Pro + Pro/Pro carriers, the frequency of the AG + GG genotype of MSH3 exon23 was significantly increased in patients compared to controls (OR = 2.1, 95% CI; 1.05–4.34). Conclusion This is the first report on the association of MSH3 gene polymorphisms in prostate cancer. These results suggest that the MSH3 polymorphism may be a risk factor for prostate cancer. PMID:18355840

  9. Induction and repair of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks in human fibroblasts are not affected by terminal differentiation.

    PubMed

    Brammer, Ingo; Herskind, Carsten; Haase, Oliver; Rodemann, H Peter; Dikomey, Ekkehard

    2004-02-03

    It was studied for human skin fibroblasts, whether the induction or repair of DNA double-strand breaks (dsb) depend on the differentiation status. These studies were performed (a) with a fibroblast strain (HSF1) kept in progenitor state (mitotic fibroblasts, MF) or triggered to premature terminal differentiation (postmitotic fibrocytes, PMF) by exposure to mitomycin C or (b) with 20 fibroblast strains differing intrinsically in their differentiation status. The differentiation status was quantified by determining the fraction of postmitotic fibrocytes by light microscopy. DNA dsb were measured by constant-field gel electrophoresis, and the fraction of apoptotic cells by comet assay. MF and PMF cultures of HSF1 cells were irradiated with X-ray doses up to 160 Gy, and dsb were measured either immediately after irradiation or after a repair incubation of 4 or 24 h. There were a difference neither in the number of initial nor residual dsb. PMF cultures, however, showed a slightly higher number of dsb already present in non-irradiated cells, which was measured to result from a small fraction of 5% apoptotic cells. The 20 analysed fibroblast strains showed a substantial variation in the fraction of postmitotic fibrocytes (9-51%) as well as in the number of dsb remaining at 24 h after irradiation (1.9-4.9%), but there was no correlation between these two parameters. These data demonstrate that for fibroblasts the terminal differentiation has an effect neither on the induction nor the repair of radiation-induced dsb. This result indicates that the variation in dsb-repair capacity previously observed for fibroblast strains and which was considered to be the main cause for the variation in the cellular radiosensitivity, cannot be ascribed to differences in the differentiation status.

  10. The Exonuclease Homolog OsRAD1 Promotes Accurate Meiotic Double-Strand Break Repair by Suppressing Nonhomologous End Joining.

    PubMed

    Hu, Qing; Tang, Ding; Wang, Hongjun; Shen, Yi; Chen, Xiaojun; Ji, Jianhui; Du, Guijie; Li, Yafei; Cheng, Zhukuan

    2016-10-01

    During meiosis, programmed double-strand breaks (DSBs) are generated to initiate homologous recombination, which is crucial for faithful chromosome segregation. In yeast, Radiation sensitive1 (RAD1) acts together with Radiation sensitive9 (RAD9) and Hydroxyurea sensitive1 (HUS1) to facilitate meiotic recombination via cell-cycle checkpoint control. However, little is known about the meiotic functions of these proteins in higher eukaryotes. Here, we characterized a RAD1 homolog in rice (Oryza sativa) and obtained evidence that O. sativa RAD1 (OsRAD1) is important for meiotic DSB repair. Loss of OsRAD1 led to abnormal chromosome association and fragmentation upon completion of homologous pairing and synapsis. These aberrant chromosome associations were independent of OsDMC1. We found that classical nonhomologous end-joining mediated by Ku70 accounted for most of the ectopic associations in Osrad1 In addition, OsRAD1 interacts directly with OsHUS1 and OsRAD9, suggesting that these proteins act as a complex to promote DSB repair during rice meiosis. Together, these findings suggest that the 9-1-1 complex facilitates accurate meiotic recombination by suppressing nonhomologous end-joining during meiosis in rice. © 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

  11. The HTLV-1 Tax Oncoprotein Represses Ku80 Gene Expression

    PubMed Central

    Ducu, Razvan I.; Dayaram, Tajhal; Marriott, Susan J.

    2011-01-01

    The HTLV-I oncoprotein Tax interferes with DNA double strand break repair. Since non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) is a major pathway used to repair DNA double strand breaks we examined the effect of Tax on this pathway, with particular interest in the expression and function of Ku80, a critical component of the NHEJ pathway. Tax expression decreased Ku80 mRNA and protein levels, and repressed transcription from the Ku80 promoter. Conversely, Ku80 mRNA increased following siRNA knockdown of Tax in HTLV-I infected cells. Tax expression was associated with an elevated number of micronuclei and nucleoplasmic bridges, hallmarks of improper DNA double strand break repair. Our studies identified Tax as a transcriptional repressor of Ku80 that correlates with decreased DNA repair function. The reduction of Ku80 transcription by Tax may deplete the cell of an essential DNA break binding protein, resulting in reduced repair of DNA double strand breaks and accumulation genomic mutations. PMID:21571351

  12. Do chromatin changes around a nascent double strand DNA break spread spherically into linearly non-adjacent chromatin?

    PubMed Central

    Savic, Velibor

    2013-01-01

    In the last decade, a lot has been done in elucidating the sequence of events that occur at the nascent double strand DNA break. Nevertheless, the overall structure formed by the DNA damage response (DDR) factors around the break site, the repair focus, remains poorly understood. Although most of the data presented so far only address events that occur in chromatin in cis around the break, there are strong indications that in mammalian systems it may also occur in trans, analogous to the recent findings showing this if budding yeast. There have been attempts to address the issue but the final proof is still missing due to lack of a proper experimental system. If found to be true, the spatial distribution of DDR factors would have a major impact on the neighboring chromatin both in cis and in trans, significantly affecting local chromatin function; gene transcription and potentially other functions. PMID:23882282

  13. DNA Repair: The Search for Homology.

    PubMed

    Haber, James E

    2018-05-01

    The repair of chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination is essential to maintain genome integrity. The key step in DSB repair is the RecA/Rad51-mediated process to match sequences at the broken end to homologous donor sequences that can be used as a template to repair the lesion. Here, in reviewing research about DSB repair, I consider the many factors that appear to play important roles in the successful search for homology by several homologous recombination mechanisms. See also the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/vm7-X5uIzS8. © 2018 WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Microhomology-mediated End Joining and Homologous Recombination share the initial end resection step to repair DNA double-strand breaks in mammalian cells

    PubMed Central

    Truong, Lan N.; Li, Yongjiang; Shi, Linda Z.; Hwang, Patty Yi-Hwa; He, Jing; Wang, Hailong; Razavian, Niema; Berns, Michael W.; Wu, Xiaohua

    2013-01-01

    Microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ) is a major pathway for Ku-independent alternative nonhomologous end joining, which contributes to chromosomal translocations and telomere fusions, but the underlying mechanism of MMEJ in mammalian cells is not well understood. In this study, we demonstrated that, distinct from Ku-dependent classical nonhomologous end joining, MMEJ—even with very limited end resection—requires cyclin-dependent kinase activities and increases significantly when cells enter S phase. We also showed that MMEJ shares the initial end resection step with homologous recombination (HR) by requiring meiotic recombination 11 homolog A (Mre11) nuclease activity, which is needed for subsequent recruitment of Bloom syndrome protein (BLM) and exonuclease 1 (Exo1) to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) to promote extended end resection and HR. MMEJ does not require S139-phosphorylated histone H2AX (γ-H2AX), suggesting that initial end resection likely occurs at DSB ends. Using a MMEJ and HR competition repair substrate, we demonstrated that MMEJ with short end resection is used in mammalian cells at the level of 10–20% of HR when both HR and nonhomologous end joining are available. Furthermore, MMEJ is used to repair DSBs generated at collapsed replication forks. These studies suggest that MMEJ not only is a backup repair pathway in mammalian cells, but also has important physiological roles in repairing DSBs to maintain cell viability, especially under genomic stress. PMID:23610439

  15. Impact of DNA repair genes polymorphism (XPD and XRCC1) on the risk of breast cancer in Egyptian female patients.

    PubMed

    Hussien, Yousry Mostafa; Gharib, Amal F; Awad, Hanan A; Karam, Rehab A; Elsawy, Wael H

    2012-02-01

    The genes involved in DNA repair system play a crucial role in the protection against mutations. It has been hypothesized that functional deficiencies in highly conserved DNA repair processes resulting from polymorphic variation may increase genetic susceptibility to breast cancer (BC). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association of genetic polymorphisms in 2 DNA repair genes, XPD (Asp312Asn) and XRCC1 (A399G), with BC susceptibility. We further investigated the potential combined effect of these DNA repair variants on BC risk. Both XPD (xeroderma pigmentosum group D) and XRCC1 (X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1) polymorphisms were characterized in 100 BC Egyptian females and 100 healthy women who had no history of any malignancy by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) method and PCR with confronting two-pair primers (PCR-CTPP), using DNA from peripheral blood in a case control study. Our results revealed that the frequencies of AA genotype of XPD codon 312 polymorphism were significantly higher in the BC patients than in the normal individuals (P ≤ 0.003), and did not observe any association between the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism and risk of developing BC. Also, no association between both XPD Asp312Asn and XRCC1 A399G polymorphisms and the clinical characteristics of disease. Finally, the combination of AA(XPD) + AG(XRCC1) were significantly associated with BC risk. Our results suggested that, XPD gene is an important candidate gene for susceptibility to BC. Also, gene-gene interaction between XPD(AA) + XRCC1(AG) polymorphism may be associated with increased risk of BC in Egyptian women.

  16. Coevolution between Nuclear-Encoded DNA Replication, Recombination, and Repair Genes and Plastid Genome Complexity.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jin; Ruhlman, Tracey A; Sabir, Jamal S M; Blazier, John Chris; Weng, Mao-Lun; Park, Seongjun; Jansen, Robert K

    2016-02-17

    Disruption of DNA replication, recombination, and repair (DNA-RRR) systems has been hypothesized to cause highly elevated nucleotide substitution rates and genome rearrangements in the plastids of angiosperms, but this theory remains untested. To investigate nuclear-plastid genome (plastome) coevolution in Geraniaceae, four different measures of plastome complexity (rearrangements, repeats, nucleotide insertions/deletions, and substitution rates) were evaluated along with substitution rates of 12 nuclear-encoded, plastid-targeted DNA-RRR genes from 27 Geraniales species. Significant correlations were detected for nonsynonymous (dN) but not synonymous (dS) substitution rates for three DNA-RRR genes (uvrB/C, why1, and gyrA) supporting a role for these genes in accelerated plastid genome evolution in Geraniaceae. Furthermore, correlation between dN of uvrB/C and plastome complexity suggests the presence of nucleotide excision repair system in plastids. Significant correlations were also detected between plastome complexity and 13 of the 90 nuclear-encoded organelle-targeted genes investigated. Comparisons revealed significant acceleration of dN in plastid-targeted genes of Geraniales relative to Brassicales suggesting this correlation may be an artifact of elevated rates in this gene set in Geraniaceae. Correlation between dN of plastid-targeted DNA-RRR genes and plastome complexity supports the hypothesis that the aberrant patterns in angiosperm plastome evolution could be caused by dysfunction in DNA-RRR systems. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

  17. Sulforaphane induces DNA double strand breaks predominantly repaired by homologous recombination pathway in human cancer cells

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sekine-Suzuki, Emiko; Graduate School of Advanced Integration Science, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522; Yu, Dong

    2008-12-12

    Cytotoxicity and DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) were studied in HeLa cells treated with sulforaphane (SFN), a well-known chemo-preventive agent. Cell survival was impaired by SFN in a concentration and treatment time-dependent manner. Both constant field gel electrophoresis (CFGE) and {gamma}-H2AX assay unambiguously indicated formation of DSBs by SFN, reflecting the cell survival data. These DSBs were predominantly processed by homologous recombination repair (HRR), judging from the SFN concentration-dependent manner of Rad51 foci formation. On the other hand, the phosphorylation of DNA-PKcs, a key non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) protein, was not observed by SFN treatment, suggesting that NHEJ may notmore » be involved in DSBs induced by this chemical. G2/M arrest by SFN, a typical response for cells exposed to ionizing radiation was also observed. Our new data indicate the clear induction of DSBs by SFN and a useful anti-tumor aspect of SFN through the induction of DNA DSBs.« less

  18. Transcriptome analyses of rhesus monkey preimplantation embryos reveal a reduced capacity for DNA double-strand break repair in primate oocytes and early embryos

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Xinyi; Liu, Denghui; He, Dajian; Suo, Shengbao; Xia, Xian; He, Xiechao; Han, Jing-Dong J.; Zheng, Ping

    2017-01-01

    Preimplantation embryogenesis encompasses several critical events including genome reprogramming, zygotic genome activation (ZGA), and cell-fate commitment. The molecular basis of these processes remains obscure in primates in which there is a high rate of embryo wastage. Thus, understanding the factors involved in genome reprogramming and ZGA might help reproductive success during this susceptible period of early development and generate induced pluripotent stem cells with greater efficiency. Moreover, explaining the molecular basis responsible for embryo wastage in primates will greatly expand our knowledge of species evolution. By using RNA-seq in single and pooled oocytes and embryos, we defined the transcriptome throughout preimplantation development in rhesus monkey. In comparison to archival human and mouse data, we found that the transcriptome dynamics of monkey oocytes and embryos were very similar to those of human but very different from those of mouse. We identified several classes of maternal and zygotic genes, whose expression peaks were highly correlated with the time frames of genome reprogramming, ZGA, and cell-fate commitment, respectively. Importantly, comparison of the ZGA-related network modules among the three species revealed less robust surveillance of genomic instability in primate oocytes and embryos than in rodents, particularly in the pathways of DNA damage signaling and homology-directed DNA double-strand break repair. This study highlights the utility of monkey models to better understand the molecular basis for genome reprogramming, ZGA, and genomic stability surveillance in human early embryogenesis and may provide insights for improved homologous recombination-mediated gene editing in monkey. PMID:28223401

  19. Prolonged Particulate Hexavalent Chromium Exposure Suppresses Homologous Recombination Repair in Human Lung Cells

    PubMed Central

    Browning, Cynthia L.; Qin, Qin; Kelly, Deborah F.; Prakash, Rohit; Vanoli, Fabio; Jasin, Maria

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Genomic instability is one of the primary models of carcinogenesis and a feature of almost all cancers. Homologous recombination (HR) repair protects against genomic instability by maintaining high genomic fidelity during the repair of DNA double strand breaks. The defining step of HR repair is the formation of the Rad51 nucleofilament, which facilitates the search for a homologous sequence and invasion of the template DNA strand. Particulate hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), a human lung carcinogen, induces DNA double strand breaks and chromosome instability. Since the loss of HR repair increases Cr(VI)-induced chromosome instability, we investigated the effect of extended Cr(VI) exposure on HR repair. We show acute (24 h) Cr(VI) exposure induces a normal HR repair response. In contrast, prolonged (120 h) exposure to particulate Cr(VI) inhibited HR repair and Rad51 nucleofilament formation. Prolonged Cr(VI) exposure had a profound effect on Rad51, evidenced by reduced protein levels and Rad51 mislocalization to the cytoplasm. The response of proteins involved in Rad51 nuclear import and nucleofilament formation displayed varying responses to prolonged Cr(VI) exposure. BRCA2 formed nuclear foci after prolonged Cr(VI) exposure, while Rad51C foci formation was suppressed. These results suggest that particulate Cr(VI), a major chemical carcinogen, inhibits HR repair by targeting Rad51, causing DNA double strand breaks to be repaired by a low fidelity, Rad51-independent repair pathway. These results further enhance our understanding of the underlying mechanism of Cr(VI)-induced chromosome instability and thus, carcinogenesis. PMID:27449664

  20. Application of the gene editing tool, CRISPR-Cas9, for treating neurodegenerative diseases.

    PubMed

    Kolli, Nivya; Lu, Ming; Maiti, Panchanan; Rossignol, Julien; Dunbar, Gary L

    2018-01-01

    Increased accumulation of transcribed protein from the damaged DNA and reduced DNA repair capability contributes to numerous neurological diseases for which effective treatments are lacking. Gene editing techniques provide new hope for replacing defective genes and DNA associated with neurological diseases. With advancements in using such editing tools as zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), meganucleases, and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), etc., scientists are able to design DNA-binding proteins, which can make precise double-strand breaks (DSBs) at the target DNA. Recent developments with the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology has proven to be more precise and efficient when compared to most other gene-editing techniques. Two methods, non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homology-direct repair (HDR), are used in CRISPR-Cas9 system to efficiently excise the defective genes and incorporate exogenous DNA at the target site. In this review article, we provide an overview of the CRISPR-Cas9 methodology, including its molecular mechanism, with a focus on how in this gene-editing tool can be used to counteract certain genetic defects associated with neurological diseases. Detailed understanding of this new tool could help researchers design specific gene editing strategies to repair genetic disorders in selective neurological diseases. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. DNA mismatch repair gene MSH6 implicated in determining age at natural menopause

    PubMed Central

    Perry, John R.B.; Hsu, Yi-Hsiang; Chasman, Daniel I.; Johnson, Andrew D.; Elks, Cathy; Albrecht, Eva; Andrulis, Irene L.; Beesley, Jonathan; Berenson, Gerald S.; Bergmann, Sven; Bojesen, Stig E.; Bolla, Manjeet K.; Brown, Judith; Buring, Julie E.; Campbell, Harry; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Chenevix-Trench, Georgia; Corre, Tanguy; Couch, Fergus J.; Cox, Angela; Czene, Kamila; D'adamo, Adamo Pio; Davies, Gail; Deary, Ian J.; Dennis, Joe; Easton, Douglas F.; Engelhardt, Ellen G.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Esko, Tõnu; Fasching, Peter A.; Figueroa, Jonine D.; Flyger, Henrik; Fraser, Abigail; Garcia-Closas, Montse; Gasparini, Paolo; Gieger, Christian; Giles, Graham; Guenel, Pascal; Hägg, Sara; Hall, Per; Hayward, Caroline; Hopper, John; Ingelsson, Erik; Kardia, Sharon L.R.; Kasiman, Katherine; Knight, Julia A.; Lahti, Jari; Lawlor, Debbie A.; Magnusson, Patrik K.E.; Margolin, Sara; Marsh, Julie A.; Metspalu, Andres; Olson, Janet E.; Pennell, Craig E.; Polasek, Ozren; Rahman, Iffat; Ridker, Paul M.; Robino, Antonietta; Rudan, Igor; Rudolph, Anja; Salumets, Andres; Schmidt, Marjanka K.; Schoemaker, Minouk J.; Smith, Erin N.; Smith, Jennifer A.; Southey, Melissa; Stöckl, Doris; Swerdlow, Anthony J.; Thompson, Deborah J.; Truong, Therese; Ulivi, Sheila; Waldenberger, Melanie; Wang, Qin; Wild, Sarah; Wilson, James F; Wright, Alan F.; Zgaga, Lina; Ong, Ken K.; Murabito, Joanne M.; Karasik, David; Murray, Anna

    2014-01-01

    The length of female reproductive lifespan is associated with multiple adverse outcomes, including breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and infertility. The biological processes that govern the timing of the beginning and end of reproductive life are not well understood. Genetic variants are known to contribute to ∼50% of the variation in both age at menarche and menopause, but to date the known genes explain <15% of the genetic component. We have used genome-wide association in a bivariate meta-analysis of both traits to identify genes involved in determining reproductive lifespan. We observed significant genetic correlation between the two traits using genome-wide complex trait analysis. However, we found no robust statistical evidence for individual variants with an effect on both traits. A novel association with age at menopause was detected for a variant rs1800932 in the mismatch repair gene MSH6 (P = 1.9 × 10−9), which was also associated with altered expression levels of MSH6 mRNA in multiple tissues. This study contributes to the growing evidence that DNA repair processes play a key role in ovarian ageing and could be an important therapeutic target for infertility. PMID:24357391

  2. New polymorphisms of Xeroderma Pigmentosum DNA repair genes in myelodysplastic syndrome.

    PubMed

    Santiago, Sabrina Pinheiro; Junior, Howard Lopes Ribeiro; de Sousa, Juliana Cordeiro; de Paula Borges, Daniela; de Oliveira, Roberta Taiane Germano; Farias, Izabelle Rocha; Costa, Marília Braga; Maia, Allan Rodrigo Soares; da Nóbrega Ito, Mayumi; Magalhães, Silvia Maria Meira; Pinheiro, Ronald Feitosa

    2017-07-01

    The association between Xeroderma Pigmentosum DNA repair genes (XPA rs1800975, XPC rs2228000, XPD rs1799793 and XPF rs1800067) polymorphisms and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) have not been reported. To assess the functional role between these polymorphisms and MDS, we evaluated 189 samples stratified in two groups: 95 bone marrow samples from MDS patients and 94 from healthy elderly volunteers used as controls. Genotypes for all polymorphisms were identified in DNA samples in an allelic discrimination experiment by real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). We also studied the mRNA expression of XPA and XPC genes to evaluate if its polymorphisms were functional in 53 RNAm MDS patients by qPCR methodologies. To the rs2228000 polymorphism, the CT and TT polymorphic genotype were associated with increased odds ratio (OR) of more profound cytopenia (hemoglobin and neutrophils count). To the rs1799793 polymorphism, we found that the GG homozygous wild-type genotype was associated with a decreased chance of developing MDS. We observed low expression of XPA in younger patients, in hypoplastic MDS and patients with abnormal karyotype when presented AG or AA polymorphic genotypes. We also found that there was a statistically significant interaction between the presence of micromegakaryocyte on down regulation of XPC regarding the CT heterozygous genotype of the rs1800975 polymorphism. Our results suggest that new functional polymorphisms of Xeroderma Pigmentosum DNA repair genes in MDS are related to its pathogenesis and prognosis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. RAD25 (SSL2), the yeast homolog of the human xeroderma pigmentosum group B DNA repair gene, is essential for viability

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Park, E.; Prakash, L.; Guzder, S.N.

    1992-12-01

    Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) patients are extremely sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light and suffer from a high incidence of skin cancers, due to a defect in nucleotide excision repair. The disease is genetically heterogeneous, and seven complementation groups, A-G, have been identified. Homologs of human excision repair genes ERCC1, XPDC/ERCC2, and XPAC have been identified in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Since no homolog of human XPBC/ERCC3 existed among the known yeast genes, we cloned the yeast homolog by using XPBC cDNA as a hybridization probe. The yeast homolog, RAD25 (SSL2), encodes a protein of 843 amino acids (M[sub r] 95,356). Themore » RAD25 (SSL2)- and XPCX-encoded proteins share 55% identical and 72% conserved amino acid residues, and the two proteins resemble one another in containing the conserved DNA helicase sequence motifs. A nonsense mutation at codon 799 that deletes the 45 C-terminal amino acid residues in RAD25 (SSL2) confers UV sensitivity. This mutation shows epistasis with genes in the excision repair group, whereas a synergistic increase in UN sensitivity occurs when it is combined with mutations in genes in other DNA repair pathways, indicating that RAD25 (SSL2) functions in excision repair but not in other repair pathways. We also show that RAD25 (SSL2) is an essential gene. A mutation of the Lys[sup 392] residue to arginine in the conserved Walker type A nucleotide-binding motif is lethal, suggesting an essential role of the putative RAD 25 (SSL2) ATPase/DNA helicase activity in viability. 40 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.« less

  4. A critical re-assessment of DNA repair gene promoter methylation in non-small cell lung carcinoma

    PubMed Central

    Do, Hongdo; Wong, Nicholas C.; Murone, Carmel; John, Thomas; Solomon, Benjamin; Mitchell, Paul L.; Dobrovic, Alexander

    2014-01-01

    DNA repair genes that have been inactivated by promoter methylation offer potential therapeutic targets either by targeting the specific repair deficiency, or by synthetic lethal approaches. This study evaluated promoter methylation status for eight selected DNA repair genes (ATM, BRCA1, ERCC1, MGMT, MLH1, NEIL1, RAD23B and XPC) in 56 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumours and 11 lung cell lines using the methylation-sensitive high resolution melting (MS-HRM) methodology. Frequent methylation in NEIL1 (42%) and infrequent methylation in ERCC1 (2%) and RAD23B (2%) are reported for the first time in NSCLC. MGMT methylation was detected in 13% of the NSCLCs. Contrary to previous studies, methylation was not detected in ATM, BRCA1, MLH1 and XPC. Data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was consistent with these findings. The study emphasises the importance of using appropriate methodology for accurate assessment of promoter methylation. PMID:24569633

  5. ATP binding and hydrolysis by Saccharomyces cerevisiae Msh2-Msh3 are differentially modulated by mismatch and double-strand break repair DNA substrates.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Charanya; Eichmiller, Robin; Wang, Bangchen; Williams, Gregory M; Bianco, Piero R; Surtees, Jennifer A

    2014-06-01

    In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Msh2-Msh3-mediated mismatch repair (MMR) recognizes and targets insertion/deletion loops for repair. Msh2-Msh3 is also required for 3' non-homologous tail removal (3'NHTR) in double-strand break repair. In both pathways, Msh2-Msh3 binds double-strand/single-strand junctions and initiates repair in an ATP-dependent manner. However, we recently demonstrated that the two pathways have distinct requirements with respect to Msh2-Msh3 activities. We identified a set of aromatic residues in the nucleotide binding pocket (FLY motif) of Msh3 that, when mutated, disrupted MMR, but left 3'NHTR largely intact. One of these mutations, msh3Y942A, was predicted to disrupt the nucleotide sandwich and allow altered positioning of ATP within the pocket. To develop a mechanistic understanding of the differential requirements for ATP binding and/or hydrolysis in the two pathways, we characterized Msh2-Msh3 and Msh2-msh3Y942A ATP binding and hydrolysis activities in the presence of MMR and 3'NHTR DNA substrates. We observed distinct, substrate-dependent ATP hydrolysis and nucleotide turnover by Msh2-Msh3, indicating that the MMR and 3'NHTR DNA substrates differentially modify the ATP binding/hydrolysis activities of Msh2-Msh3. Msh2-msh3Y942A retained the ability to bind DNA and ATP but exhibited altered ATP hydrolysis and nucleotide turnover. We propose that both ATP and structure-specific repair substrates cooperate to direct Msh2-Msh3-mediated repair and suggest an explanation for the msh3Y942A separation-of-function phenotype. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. ATP binding and hydrolysis by Saccharomyces cerevisiae Msh2-Msh3 are differentially modulated by Mismatch and Double-strand Break Repair DNA substrates

    PubMed Central

    Kumar, Charanya; Eichmiller, Robin; Wang, Bangchen; Williams, Gregory M.; Bianco, Piero R.; Surtees, Jennifer A.

    2014-01-01

    In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Msh2-Msh3-mediated mismatch repair (MMR) recognizes and targets insertion/deletion loops for repair. Msh2-Msh3 is also required for 3′ non-homologous tail removal (3′NHTR) in double-strand break repair. In both pathways, Msh2-Msh3 binds double-strand/single-strand junctions and initiates repair in an ATP-dependent manner. However, we recently demonstrated that the two pathways have distinct requirements with respect to Msh2-Msh3 activities. We identified a set of aromatic residues in the nucleotide binding pocket (FLY motif) of Msh3 that, when mutated, disrupted MMR, but left 3′ NHTR largely intact. One of these mutations, msh3Y942A, was predicted to disrupt the nucleotide sandwich and allow altered positioning of ATP within the pocket. To develop a mechanistic understanding of the differential requirements for ATP binding and/or hydrolysis in the two pathways, we characterized Msh2-Msh3 and Msh2-msh3Y942A ATP binding and hydrolysis activities in the presence of MMR and 3′ NHTR DNA substrates. We observed distinct, substrate-dependent ATP hydrolysis and nucleotide turnover by Msh2-Msh3, indicating that the MMR and 3′ NHTR DNA substrates differentially modify the ATP binding/hydrolysis activities of Msh2-Msh3. Msh2-msh3Y942A retained the ability to bind DNA and ATP but exhibited altered ATP hydrolysis and nucleotide turnover. We propose that both ATP and structure-specific repair substrates cooperate to direct Msh2-Msh3-mediated repair and suggest an explanation for the msh3Y942A separation-of-function phenotype. PMID:24746922

  7. DNA repair gene XPD and susceptibility to arsenic-induced hyperkeratosis.

    PubMed

    Ahsan, Habibul; Chen, Yu; Wang, Qiao; Slavkovich, Vesna; Graziano, Joseph H; Santella, Regina M

    2003-07-20

    Chronic exposure to inorganic arsenic is known to cause non-melanocytic skin and internal cancers in humans. An estimated 50-70 million people in Bangladesh have been chronically exposed to arsenic from drinking water and are at risk of skin and other cancers. We undertook the first study to examine whether genetic susceptibility, as determined by the codon 751 SNP (A-->C) of the DNA repair gene XPD, influences the risk of arsenic-induced hyperkeratotic skin lesions, precursors of skin cancer, in a case-control study of 29 hyperkeratosis cases and 105 healthy controls from the same community in an area of Bangladesh. As expected, there was a monotonic increase in risk of hyperkeratosis in relation to urinary arsenic measures but the XPD genotype was not independently associated with the risk. However, the increase in hyperkeratosis risk in relation to urinary arsenic measures genotype was borderline significant for urinary total arsenic (P for trend=0.06) and statistically significant for urinary creatinine adjusted arsenic (P for trend=0.01) among subjects with the XPD A allele (AA) but not among subjects with the other XPD genotypes. Among AA carriers, the risk for the highest arsenic exposed group compared with the lowest was more than 7-fold for urinary total arsenic and about 11-fold for urinary creatinine adjusted arsenic. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the DNA repair gene XPD may influence the risk of arsenic-induced premalignant hyperkeratotic skin lesions. Future larger studies are needed to confirm this novel finding and investigate how combinations of different candidate genes and/or other host and environmental factors may influence the risk of arsenic induced skin and other cancers.

  8. The rate of X-ray-induced DNA double-strand break repair in the embryonic mouse brain is unaffected by exposure to 50 Hz magnetic fields.

    PubMed

    Woodbine, Lisa; Haines, Jackie; Coster, Margaret; Barazzuol, Lara; Ainsbury, Elizabeth; Sienkiewicz, Zenon; Jeggo, Penny

    2015-06-01

    Following in utero exposure to low dose radiation (10-200 mGy), we recently observed a linear induction of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) and activation of apoptosis in the embryonic neuronal stem/progenitor cell compartment. No significant induction of DSB or apoptosis was observed following exposure to magnetic fields (MF). In the present study, we exploited this in vivo system to examine whether exposure to MF before and after exposure to 100 mGy X-rays impacts upon DSB repair rates. 53BP1 foci were quantified following combined exposure to radiation and MF in the embryonic neuronal stem/progenitor cell compartment. Embryos were exposed in utero to 50 Hz MF at 300 μT for 3 h before and up to 9 h after exposure to 100 mGy X-rays. Controls included embryos exposed to MF or X-rays alone plus sham exposures. Exposure to MF before and after 100 mGy X-rays did not impact upon the rate of DSB repair in the embryonic neuronal stem cell compartment compared to repair rates following radiation exposure alone. We conclude that in this sensitive system MF do not exert any significant level of DNA damage and do not impede the repair of X-ray induced damage.

  9. CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated Single-Gene and Gene Family Disruption in Trypanosoma cruzi

    PubMed Central

    Peng, Duo; Kurup, Samarchith P.; Yao, Phil Y.; Minning, Todd A.

    2014-01-01

    ABSTRACT Trypanosoma cruzi is a protozoan parasite of humans and animals, affecting 10 to 20 million people and innumerable animals, primarily in the Americas. Despite being the largest cause of infection-induced heart disease worldwide, even among the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) T. cruzi is considered one of the least well understood and understudied. The genetic complexity of T. cruzi as well as the limited set of efficient techniques for genome engineering contribute significantly to the relative lack of progress in and understanding of this pathogen. Here, we adapted the CRISPR-Cas9 system for the genetic engineering of T. cruzi, demonstrating rapid and efficient knockout of multiple endogenous genes, including essential genes. We observed that in the absence of a template, repair of the Cas9-induced double-stranded breaks (DSBs) in T. cruzi occurs exclusively by microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ) with various-sized deletions. When a template for DNA repair is provided, DSB repair by homologous recombination is achieved at an efficiency several orders of magnitude higher than that in the absence of CRISPR-Cas9-induced DSBs. We also demonstrate the high multiplexing capacity of CRISPR-Cas9 in T. cruzi by knocking down expression of an enzyme gene family consisting of 65 members, resulting in a significant reduction of enzymatic product with no apparent off-target mutations. Lastly, we show that Cas9 can mediate disruption of its own coding sequence, rescuing a growth defect in stable Cas9-expressing parasites. These results establish a powerful new tool for the analysis of gene functions in T. cruzi, enabling the study of essential genes and their functions and analysis of the many large families of related genes that occupy a substantial portion of the T. cruzi genome. PMID:25550322

  10. Double silencing of relevant genes suggests the existence of the direct link between DNA replication/repair and central carbon metabolism in human fibroblasts.

    PubMed

    Wieczorek, Aneta; Fornalewicz, Karolina; Mocarski, Łukasz; Łyżeń, Robert; Węgrzyn, Grzegorz

    2018-04-15

    Genetic evidence for a link between DNA replication and glycolysis has been demonstrated a decade ago in Bacillus subtilis, where temperature-sensitive mutations in genes coding for replication proteins could be suppressed by mutations in genes of glycolytic enzymes. Then, a strong influence of dysfunctions of particular enzymes from the central carbon metabolism (CCM) on DNA replication and repair in Escherichia coli was reported. Therefore, we asked if such a link occurs only in bacteria or it is a more general phenomenon. Here, we demonstrate that effects of silencing (provoked by siRNA) of expression of genes coding for proteins involved in DNA replication and repair (primase, DNA polymerase ι, ligase IV, and topoisomerase IIIβ) on these processes (less efficient entry into the S phase of the cell cycle and decreased level of DNA synthesis) could be suppressed by silencing of specific genes of enzymes from CMM. Silencing of other pairs of replication/repair and CMM genes resulted in enhancement of the negative effects of lower expression levels of replication/repair genes. We suggest that these results may be proposed as a genetic evidence for the link between DNA replication/repair and CMM in human cells, indicating that it is a common biological phenomenon, occurring from bacteria to humans. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Induction and repair of DNA double-strand breaks in hippocampal neurons of mice of different age after exposure to 60Co γ-rays in vivo and in vitro

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kozhina, R. A.; Chausov, V. N.; Kuzmina, E. A.; Boreyko, A. V.

    2018-04-01

    One of the central problems of modern radiobiology is the study of DNA damage induction and repair mechanisms in central nervous system cells, in particular, in hippocampal cells. The study of the regularities of molecular damage formation and repair in the hippocampus cells is of special interest, because these cells, unlike most cells of the central nervous system (CNS), keep proliferative activity, i.e. ability to neurogenesis. Age-related changes in hippocampus play an important role, which could lead to radiosensitivity changes in neurons to the ionizing radiation exposure. Regularities in DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) induction and repair in different aged mice hippocampal cells in vivo and in vitro under the action of γ-rays 60Co were studied with DNA comet-assay. The obtained dose dependences of DNA DSB induction are linear both in vivo and in vitro. It is established that in young animals' cells, the degree of DNA damage is higher than in older animals. It is shown that repair kinetics is basically different for exposure in vivo and in vitro.

  12. Genetic mapping of the rice resistance-breaking gene of the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens

    PubMed Central

    Kobayashi, Tetsuya; Yamamoto, Kimiko; Suetsugu, Yoshitaka; Kuwazaki, Seigo; Hattori, Makoto; Jairin, Jirapong; Sanada-Morimura, Sachiyo; Matsumura, Masaya

    2014-01-01

    Host plant resistance has been widely used for controlling the major rice pest brown planthopper (BPH, Nilaparvata lugens). However, adaptation of the wild BPH population to resistance limits the effective use of resistant rice varieties. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis was conducted to identify resistance-breaking genes against the anti-feeding mechanism mediated by the rice resistance gene Bph1. QTL analysis in iso-female BPH lines with single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers detected a single region on the 10th linkage group responsible for the virulence. The QTL explained from 57 to 84% of the total phenotypic variation. Bulked segregant analysis with next-generation sequencing in F2 progenies identified five SNPs genetically linked to the virulence. These analyses showed that virulence to Bph1 was controlled by a single recessive gene. In contrast to previous studies, the gene-for-gene relationship between the major resistance gene Bph1 and virulence gene of BPH was confirmed. Identified markers are available for map-based cloning of the major gene controlling BPH virulence to rice resistance. PMID:24870048

  13. Condensin suppresses recombination and regulates double-strand break processing at the repetitive ribosomal DNA array to ensure proper chromosome segregation during meiosis in budding yeast

    PubMed Central

    Li, Ping; Jin, Hui; Yu, Hong-Guo

    2014-01-01

    During meiosis, homologues are linked by crossover, which is required for bipolar chromosome orientation before chromosome segregation at anaphase I. The repetitive ribosomal DNA (rDNA) array, however, undergoes little or no meiotic recombination. Hyperrecombination can cause chromosome missegregation and rDNA copy number instability. We report here that condensin, a conserved protein complex required for chromosome organization, regulates double-strand break (DSB) formation and repair at the rDNA gene cluster during meiosis in budding yeast. Condensin is highly enriched at the rDNA region during prophase I, released at the prophase I/metaphase I transition, and reassociates with rDNA before anaphase I onset. We show that condensin plays a dual role in maintaining rDNA stability: it suppresses the formation of Spo11-mediated rDNA breaks, and it promotes DSB processing to ensure proper chromosome segregation. Condensin is unnecessary for the export of rDNA breaks outside the nucleolus but required for timely repair of meiotic DSBs. Our work reveals that condensin coordinates meiotic recombination with chromosome segregation at the repetitive rDNA sequence, thereby maintaining genome integrity. PMID:25103240

  14. Effect of Amalaki rasayana on DNA damage and repair in randomized aged human individuals.

    PubMed

    Vishwanatha, Udupi; Guruprasad, Kanive P; Gopinath, Puthiya M; Acharya, Raviraj V; Prasanna, Bokkasa V; Nayak, Jayakrishna; Ganesh, Rajeshwari; Rao, Jayalaxmi; Shree, Rashmi; Anchan, Suchitra; Raghu, Kothanahalli S; Joshi, Manjunath B; Paladhi, Puspendu; Varier, Panniampilly M; Muraleedharan, Kollath; Muraleedharan, Thrikovil S; Satyamoorthy, Kapaettu

    2016-09-15

    Preparations from Phyllanthus emblica called Amalaki rasayana is used in the Indian traditional medicinal system of Ayurveda for healthy living in elderly. The biological effects and its mechanisms are not fully understood. Since the diminishing DNA repair is the hallmark of ageing, we tested the influence of Amalaki rasayana on recognized DNA repair activities in healthy aged individuals. Amalaki rasayana was prepared fresh and healthy aged randomized human volunteers were administrated with either rasayana or placebo for 45 days strictly as per the traditional text. The DNA repair was analyzed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells before and after rasayana administration and after 45 days post-rasayana treatment regimen. UVC-induced DNA strand break repair (DSBR) based on extent of DNA unwinding by fluorometric analysis, nucleotide excision repair (NER) by flow cytometry and constitutive base excision repair (BER) by gap filling method were analyzed. Amalaki rasayana administration stably maintained/enhanced the DSBR in aged individuals. There were no adverse side effects. Further, subjects with different body mass index showed differential DNA strand break repair capacity. No change in unscheduled DNA synthesis during NER and BER was observed between the groups. Intake of Amalaki rasayana by aged individuals showed stable maintenance of DNA strand break repair without toxic effects. However, there was no change in nucleotide and base excision repair activities. Results warrant further studies on the effects of Amalaki rasayana on DSBR activities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. DNA double strand break repair defect and sensitivity to poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibition in human papillomavirus 16-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

    PubMed Central

    Weaver, Alice N.; Cooper, Tiffiny S.; Rodriguez, Marcela; Trummell, Hoa Q.; Bonner, James A.; Rosenthal, Eben L.; Yang, Eddy S.

    2015-01-01

    Patients with human papillomavirus-positive (HPV+) head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) have increased response to radio- and chemotherapy and improved overall survival, possibly due to an impaired DNA damage response. Here, we investigated the correlation between HPV status and repair of DNA damage in HNSCC cell lines. We also assessed in vitro and in vivo sensitivity to the PARP inhibitor veliparib (ABT-888) in HNSCC cell lines and an HPV+ patient xenograft. Repair of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) was significantly delayed in HPV+ compared to HPV− HNSCCs, resulting in persistence of γH2AX foci. Although DNA repair activators 53BP1 and BRCA1 were functional in all HNSCCs, HPV+ cells showed downstream defects in both non-homologous end joining and homologous recombination repair. Specifically, HPV+ cells were deficient in protein recruitment and protein expression of DNA-Pk and BRCA2, key factors for non-homologous end joining and homologous recombination respectively. Importantly, the apparent DNA repair defect in HPV+ HNSCCs was associated with increased sensitivity to the PARP inhibitor veliparib, resulting in decreased cell survival in vitro and a 10–14 day tumor growth delay in vivo. These results support the testing of PARP inhibition in combination with DNA damaging agents as a novel therapeutic strategy for HPV+ HNSCC. PMID:26336991

  16. Non-Homologous End Joining and Homology Directed DNA Repair Frequency of Double-Stranded Breaks Introduced by Genome Editing Reagents.

    PubMed

    Zaboikin, Michail; Zaboikina, Tatiana; Freter, Carl; Srinivasakumar, Narasimhachar

    2017-01-01

    Genome editing using transcription-activator like effector nucleases or RNA guided nucleases allows one to precisely engineer desired changes within a given target sequence. The genome editing reagents introduce double stranded breaks (DSBs) at the target site which can then undergo DNA repair by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or homology directed recombination (HDR) when a template DNA molecule is available. NHEJ repair results in indel mutations at the target site. As PCR amplified products from mutant target regions are likely to exhibit different melting profiles than PCR products amplified from wild type target region, we designed a high resolution melting analysis (HRMA) for rapid identification of efficient genome editing reagents. We also designed TaqMan assays using probes situated across the cut site to discriminate wild type from mutant sequences present after genome editing. The experiments revealed that the sensitivity of the assays to detect NHEJ-mediated DNA repair could be enhanced by selection of transfected cells to reduce the contribution of unmodified genomic DNA from untransfected cells to the DNA melting profile. The presence of donor template DNA lacking the target sequence at the time of genome editing further enhanced the sensitivity of the assays for detection of mutant DNA molecules by excluding the wild-type sequences modified by HDR. A second TaqMan probe that bound to an adjacent site, outside of the primary target cut site, was used to directly determine the contribution of HDR to DNA repair in the presence of the donor template sequence. The TaqMan qPCR assay, designed to measure the contribution of NHEJ and HDR in DNA repair, corroborated the results from HRMA. The data indicated that genome editing reagents can produce DSBs at high efficiency in HEK293T cells but a significant proportion of these are likely masked by reversion to wild type as a result of HDR. Supplying a donor plasmid to provide a template for HDR (that

  17. Alteration of gene conversion tract length and associated crossing over during plasmid gap repair in nuclease-deficient strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Symington, L S; Kang, L E; Moreau, S

    2000-12-01

    A plasmid gap repair assay was used to assess the role of three known nucleases, Exo1, Mre11 and Rad1, in the processing of DNA ends and resolution of recombination intermediates during double-strand gap repair. In this assay, alterations in end processing or branch migration are reflected by the frequency of co-conversion of a chromosomal marker 200 bp from the gap. Gap repair associated with crossing over results in integration at the homologous chromosomal locus, whereas the plasmid remains episomal for non-crossover repair events. In mre11 strains, the frequency of gap repair was reduced 3- to 10-fold and conversion tracts were shorter than in the wild-type strain, consistent with a role for this nuclease in processing double-strand breaks. However, conversion tracts were longer in a strain containing the nuclease deficient allele, mre11-H125N, suggesting increased end processing by redundant nucleases. The frequency of gap repair was reduced 2-fold in rad1 mutants and crossing over was reduced, consistent with a role for Rad1 in cleaving recombination intermediates. The frequency of gap repair was increased in exo1 mutants with a significant increase in crossing over. In exo1 mre11 double mutants gap repair was reduced to below the mre11 single mutant level.

  18. RRP6/EXOSC10 is required for the repair of DNA double-strand breaks by homologous recombination.

    PubMed

    Marin-Vicente, Consuelo; Domingo-Prim, Judit; Eberle, Andrea B; Visa, Neus

    2015-03-15

    The exosome acts on different RNA substrates and plays important roles in RNA metabolism. The fact that short non-coding RNAs are involved in the DNA damage response led us to investigate whether the exosome factor RRP6 of Drosophila melanogaster and its human ortholog EXOSC10 play a role in DNA repair. Here, we show that RRP6 and EXOSC10 are recruited to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in S2 cells and HeLa cells, respectively. Depletion of RRP6/EXOSC10 does not interfere with the phosphorylation of the histone variant H2Av (Drosophila) or H2AX (humans), but impairs the recruitment of the homologous recombination factor RAD51 to the damaged sites, without affecting RAD51 levels. The recruitment of RAD51 to DSBs in S2 cells is also inhibited by overexpression of RRP6-Y361A-V5, a catalytically inactive RRP6 mutant. Furthermore, cells depleted of RRP6 or EXOSC10 are more sensitive to radiation, which is consistent with RRP6/EXOSC10 playing a role in DNA repair. RRP6/EXOSC10 can be co-immunoprecipitated with RAD51, which links RRP6/EXOSC10 to the homologous recombination pathway. Taken together, our results suggest that the ribonucleolytic activity of RRP6/EXOSC10 is required for the recruitment of RAD51 to DSBs. © 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  19. Dimethylarsinic acid in drinking water changed the morphology of urinary bladder but not the expression of DNA repair genes of bladder transitional epithelium in F344 rats.

    PubMed

    Wang, Amy; Wolf, Douglas C; Sen, Banalata; Knapp, Geremy W; Holladay, Steven D; Huckle, William R; Caceci, Thomas; Robertson, John L

    2009-06-01

    Inorganic arsenic increases urinary bladder transitional cell carcinoma in humans. In F344 rats, dimethylarsinic acid (DMA[V]) increases transitional cell carcinoma. Arsenic-induced inhibition of DNA repair has been reported in cultured cell lines and in lymphocytes of arsenic-exposed humans, but it has not been studied in urinary bladder. Should inhibition of DNA damage repair in transitional epithelium occur, it may contribute to carcinogenesis or cocarcinogenesis. We investigated morphology and expression of DNA repair genes in F344 rat transitional cells following up to 100 ppm DMA(V) in drinking water for four weeks. Mitochondria were very sensitive to DMA(V), and swollen mitochondria appeared to be the main source of vacuoles in the transitional epithelium. Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (Real-Time RT PCR) showed the mRNA levels of tested DNA repair genes, ataxia telangectasia mutant (ATM), X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1), excision repair cross-complementing group 3/xeroderma pigmentosum B (ERCC3/XPB), and DNA polymerase beta (Polbeta), were not altered by DMA(V). These data suggested that either DMA(V) does not affect DNA repair in the bladder or DMA(V) affects DNA repair without affecting baseline mRNA levels of repair genes. The possibility remains that DMA(V) may lower damage-induced increases in repair gene expression or cause post-translational modification of repair enzymes.

  20. RTEL1 contributes to DNA replication and repair and telomere maintenance.

    PubMed

    Uringa, Evert-Jan; Lisaingo, Kathleen; Pickett, Hilda A; Brind'Amour, Julie; Rohde, Jan-Hendrik; Zelensky, Alex; Essers, Jeroen; Lansdorp, Peter M

    2012-07-01

    Telomere maintenance and DNA repair are important processes that protect the genome against instability. mRtel1, an essential helicase, is a dominant factor setting telomere length in mice. In addition, mRtel1 is involved in DNA double-strand break repair. The role of mRtel1 in telomere maintenance and genome stability is poorly understood. Therefore we used mRtel1-deficient mouse embryonic stem cells to examine the function of mRtel1 in replication, DNA repair, recombination, and telomere maintenance. mRtel1-deficient mouse embryonic stem cells showed sensitivity to a range of DNA-damaging agents, highlighting its role in replication and genome maintenance. Deletion of mRtel1 increased the frequency of sister chromatid exchange events and suppressed gene replacement, demonstrating the involvement of the protein in homologous recombination. mRtel1 localized transiently at telomeres and is needed for efficient telomere replication. Of interest, in the absence of mRtel1, telomeres in embryonic stem cells appeared relatively stable in length, suggesting that mRtel1 is required to allow extension by telomerase. We propose that mRtel1 is a key protein for DNA replication, recombination, and repair and efficient elongation of telomeres by telomerase.

  1. Clinical heterogeneity within xeroderma pigmentosum associated with mutations in the DNA repair and transcription gene ERCC3

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Vermeulen, W.; Kleijer, W.J.; Bootsma, D.

    1994-02-01

    The human DNA excision repair gene ERCC3 specifically corrects the nucleotide excision repair (NER) defect of xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) complementation group B. In addition to its function in NER, the ERCC3 DNA helicase was recently identified as one of the components of the human BTF2/TFIIH transcription factor complex, which is required for initiation of transcription of class II genes. To date, a single patient (XP11BE) has been assigned to this XP group B (XP-B), with the remarkable conjunction of two autosomal recessive DNA repair deficiency disorders: XP and Cockayne syndrome (CS). The intriguing involvement of the ERCC3 protein in themore » vital process of transcription may provide an explanation for the rarity, severity, and wide spectrum of clinical features in this complementation group. Here the authors report the identification of two new XP-B patients: XPCS1BA and XPCS2BA (siblings), by microneedle injection of the cloned ERCC3 repair gene as well as by cell hybridization. Molecular analysis of the ERCC3 gene in both patients revealed a single base substitution causing a missense mutation in a region that is completely conserved in yeast, Drosophila, mouse, and human ERCC3. As in patient XP11BE, the expression of only one allele (paternal) is detected. The mutation causes a virtually complete inactivation of the NER function of the protein. Despite this severe NER defect, both patients display a late onset of neurologic impairment, mild cutaneous symptoms, and a striking absence of skin tumors even at an age of >40 years. Analysis of the frequency of hprt[sup [minus

  2. Targeted Gene Knock Out Using Nuclease-Assisted Vector Integration: Hemi- and Homozygous Deletion of JAG1.

    PubMed

    Gapinske, Michael; Tague, Nathan; Winter, Jackson; Underhill, Gregory H; Perez-Pinera, Pablo

    2018-01-01

    Gene editing technologies are revolutionizing fields such as biomedicine and biotechnology by providing a simple means to manipulate the genetic makeup of essentially any organism. Gene editing tools function by introducing double-stranded breaks at targeted sites within the genome, which the host cells repair preferentially by Non-Homologous End Joining. While the technologies to introduce double-stranded breaks have been extensively optimized, this progress has not been matched by the development of methods to integrate heterologous DNA at the target sites or techniques to detect and isolate cells that harbor the desired modification. We present here a technique for rapid introduction of vectors at target sites in the genome that enables efficient isolation of successfully edited cells.

  3. Simulated microgravity influenced the expression of DNA damage repair genes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Meng; Sun, Yeqing; Jiawei, Liu; Wang, Ting

    2016-07-01

    Ionizing radiation and microgravity were considered to be the most important stress factors of space environmental the respective study of the biological effects of the radiation and microgravity carried out earlier, but the interaction of the effects of radiation with microgravity started later, and due to difference of the materials and methods the result of this experiment were not consistent. To further investigate the influence of microgravity on the expression of the radiation damage repair genes, the seed of Arabidopsis (Col) and its gravity-insensitive mutant (PIN2) were exposed to 0.1Gy of the dose of energetic carbon-ion beam radiation (LET = 30KeV / μm), and the germinated seed were than fixed in the 3D random positioning apparatus immediately for a 10-day simulated microgravity. By measuring the deflection angle of root tip and the changes of the expression of Ku70 and RAD51 protein, we investigated the impact of microgravity effect on radiation damage repair systems. The results shown that radiation, microgravity and microgravity with radiation could increase the angle of the root of the Col significantly, but no obvious effect on PIN2 type. The radiation could increase the expression of Ku70 significantly in both Col and PIN2, microgravity does not affect the expression, but the microgravity with radiation could decrease the expression of Ku70. This result shown that the microgravity could influence the radiation damage repair systems in molecular level. Moreover, our findings were important to understand the molecular mechanism of the impact of microgravity effect on radiation damage repair systems in vivo.

  4. Repair of Oxidative DNA Damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Chalissery, Jisha; Jalal, Deena; Al-Natour, Zeina; Hassan, Ahmed H

    2017-03-01

    Malfunction of enzymes that detoxify reactive oxygen species leads to oxidative attack on biomolecules including DNA and consequently activates various DNA repair pathways. The nature of DNA damage and the cell cycle stage at which DNA damage occurs determine the appropriate repair pathway to rectify the damage. Oxidized DNA bases are primarily repaired by base excision repair and nucleotide incision repair. Nucleotide excision repair acts on lesions that distort DNA helix, mismatch repair on mispaired bases, and homologous recombination and non-homologous end joining on double stranded breaks. Post-replication repair that overcomes replication blocks caused by DNA damage also plays a crucial role in protecting the cell from the deleterious effects of oxidative DNA damage. Mitochondrial DNA is also prone to oxidative damage and is efficiently repaired by the cellular DNA repair machinery. In this review, we discuss the DNA repair pathways in relation to the nature of oxidative DNA damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Redox regulation of genome stability by effects on gene expression, epigenetic pathways and DNA damage/repair

    PubMed Central

    Mikhed, Yuliya; Görlach, Agnes; Knaus, Ulla G.; Daiber, Andreas

    2015-01-01

    Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (e.g. H2O2, nitric oxide) confer redox regulation of essential cellular signaling pathways such as cell differentiation, proliferation, migration and apoptosis. In addition, classical regulation of gene expression or activity, including gene transcription to RNA followed by translation to the protein level, by transcription factors (e.g. NF-κB, HIF-1α) and mRNA binding proteins (e.g. GAPDH, HuR) is subject to redox regulation. This review will give an update of recent discoveries in this field, and specifically highlight the impact of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species on DNA repair systems that contribute to genomic stability. Emphasis will be placed on the emerging role of redox mechanisms regulating epigenetic pathways (e.g. miRNA, DNA methylation and histone modifications). By providing clinical correlations we discuss how oxidative stress can impact on gene regulation/activity and vise versa, how epigenetic processes, other gene regulatory mechanisms and DNA repair can influence the cellular redox state and contribute or prevent development or progression of disease. PMID:26079210

  6. The Convergence of Fracture Repair and Stem Cells: Interplay of Genes, Aging, Environmental Factors and Disease

    PubMed Central

    Hadjiargyrou, Michael; O’Keefe, Regis J

    2015-01-01

    The complexity of fracture repair makes it an ideal process for studying the interplay between the molecular, cellular, tissue, and organ level events involved in tissue regeneration. Additionally, as fracture repair recapitulates many of the processes that occur during embryonic development, investigations of fracture repair provide insights regarding skeletal embryogenesis. Specifically, inflammation, signaling, gene expression, cellular proliferation and differentiation, osteogenesis, chondrogenesis, angiogenesis, and remodeling represent the complex array of interdependent biological events that occur during fracture repair. Here we review studies of bone regeneration in genetically modified mouse models, during aging, following environmental exposure, and in the setting of disease that provide insights regarding the role of multipotent cells and their regulation during fracture repair. Complementary animal models and ongoing scientific discoveries define an increasing number of molecular and cellular targets to reduce the morbidity and complications associated with fracture repair. Last, some new and exciting areas of stem cell research such as the contribution of mitochondria function, limb regeneration signaling, and microRNA (miRNA) posttranscriptional regulation are all likely to further contribute to our understanding of fracture repair as an active branch of regenerative medicine. PMID:25264148

  7. Targeting DNA double strand break repair with hyperthermia and DNA-PKcs inhibition to enhance the effect of radiation treatment.

    PubMed

    van Oorschot, Bregje; Granata, Giovanna; Di Franco, Simone; Ten Cate, Rosemarie; Rodermond, Hans M; Todaro, Matilde; Medema, Jan Paul; Franken, Nicolaas A P

    2016-10-04

    Radiotherapy is based on the induction of lethal DNA damage, primarily DNA double-strand breaks (DSB). Efficient DSB repair via Non-Homologous End Joining or Homologous Recombination can therefore undermine the efficacy of radiotherapy. By suppressing DNA-DSB repair with hyperthermia (HT) and DNA-PKcs inhibitor NU7441 (DNA-PKcsi), we aim to enhance the effect of radiation.The sensitizing effect of HT for 1 hour at 42°C and DNA-PKcsi [1 μM] to radiation treatment was investigated in cervical and breast cancer cells, primary breast cancer sphere cells (BCSCs) enriched for cancer stem cells, and in an in vivo human tumor model. A significant radio-enhancement effect was observed for all cell types when DNA-PKcsi and HT were applied separately, and when both were combined, HT and DNA-PKcsi enhanced radio-sensitivity to an even greater extent. Strikingly, combined treatment resulted in significantly lower survival rates, 2 to 2.5 fold increase in apoptosis, more residual DNA-DSB 6 h post treatment and a G2-phase arrest. In addition, tumor growth analysis in vivo showed significant reduction in tumor growth and elevated caspase-3 activity when radiation was combined with HT and DNA-PKcsi compared to radiation alone. Importantly, no toxic side effects of HT or DNA-PKcsi were found.In conclusion, inhibiting DNA-DSB repair using HT and DNA-PKcsi before radiotherapy leads to enhanced cytotoxicity in cancer cells. This effect was even noticed in the more radio-resistant BCSCs, which are clearly sensitized by combined treatment. Therefore, the addition of HT and DNA-PKcsi to conventional radiotherapy is promising and might contribute to more efficient tumor control and patient outcome.

  8. Scanning fluorescence correlation spectroscopy techniques to quantify the kinetics of DNA double strand break repair proteins after γ-irradiation and bleomycin treatment

    PubMed Central

    Abdisalaam, Salim; Davis, Anthony J.; Chen, David J.; Alexandrakis, George

    2014-01-01

    A common feature of DNA repair proteins is their mobilization in response to DNA damage. The ability to visualizing and quantifying the kinetics of proteins localizing/dissociating from DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) via immunofluorescence or live cell fluorescence microscopy have been powerful tools in allowing insight into the DNA damage response, but these tools have some limitations. For example, a number of well-established DSB repair factors, in particular those required for non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), do not form discrete foci in response to DSBs induced by ionizing radiation (IR) or radiomimetic drugs, including bleomycin, in living cells. In this report, we show that time-dependent kinetics of the NHEJ factors Ku80 and DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunits (DNA–PKcs) in response to IR and bleomycin can be quantified by Number and Brightness analysis and Raster-scan Image Correlation Spectroscopy. Fluorescent-tagged Ku80 and DNA–PKcs quickly mobilized in response to IR and bleomycin treatments consistent with prior reports using laser-generated DSBs. The response was linearly dependent on IR dose, and blocking NHEJ enhanced immobilization of both Ku80 and DNA–PKcs after DNA damage. These findings support the idea of using Number and Brightness and Raster-scan Image Correlation Spectroscopy as methods to monitor kinetics of DSB repair proteins in living cells under conditions mimicking radiation and chemotherapy treatments. PMID:24137007

  9. Radiation dose effect of DNA repair-related gene expression in mouse white blood cells.

    PubMed

    Li, Ming-juan; Wang, Wei-wei; Chen, Shi-wei; Shen, Qian; Min, Rui

    2011-10-01

    The aim of this study was to screen molecular biomarkers for biodosimetry from DNA repair-related gene expression profiles. Mice were subjected to whole-body exposure with 60Co gamma rays with a dose range of 0-8 Gy at a dose rate of 0.80 Gy/min. RNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of irradiated mice at 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48hrs post-irradiation. The mRNA transcriptional changes of 11 genes related to DNA damage and repair were detected using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Of the 11 genes examined, CDKN1A (cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A or p21, Cip1) and ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated) expression levels were found to be heavily up- and down-regulated, respectively, with exposure dose increasing at different post-irradiation times. RAD50 (RAD50 homolog), PLK3 (polo-like kinase 3), GADD45A (growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible, alpha), DDB2 (damage-specific DNA-binding protein 2), BBC3 (BCL2-binding component 3) and IER5 (immediate early response 5) gene expression levels were found to undergo significant oscillating changes over a broad dose range of 2-8 Gy at post-exposure time points observed. Three of the genes were found not to change within the observed exposure dose and post-radiation time ranges. The results of this study add to the biodosimetry with biomarker data pool and will be helpful for constructing appropriate gene expression biomarker systems to evaluate radiation exposure doses.

  10. Genetic mapping of the rice resistance-breaking gene of the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens.

    PubMed

    Kobayashi, Tetsuya; Yamamoto, Kimiko; Suetsugu, Yoshitaka; Kuwazaki, Seigo; Hattori, Makoto; Jairin, Jirapong; Sanada-Morimura, Sachiyo; Matsumura, Masaya

    2014-07-22

    Host plant resistance has been widely used for controlling the major rice pest brown planthopper (BPH, Nilaparvata lugens). However, adaptation of the wild BPH population to resistance limits the effective use of resistant rice varieties. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis was conducted to identify resistance-breaking genes against the anti-feeding mechanism mediated by the rice resistance gene Bph1. QTL analysis in iso-female BPH lines with single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers detected a single region on the 10th linkage group responsible for the virulence. The QTL explained from 57 to 84% of the total phenotypic variation. Bulked segregant analysis with next-generation sequencing in F2 progenies identified five SNPs genetically linked to the virulence. These analyses showed that virulence to Bph1 was controlled by a single recessive gene. In contrast to previous studies, the gene-for-gene relationship between the major resistance gene Bph1 and virulence gene of BPH was confirmed. Identified markers are available for map-based cloning of the major gene controlling BPH virulence to rice resistance. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  11. Towards mastering CRISPR-induced gene knock-in in plants: Survey of key features and focus on the model Physcomitrella patens.

    PubMed

    Collonnier, Cécile; Guyon-Debast, Anouchka; Maclot, François; Mara, Kostlend; Charlot, Florence; Nogué, Fabien

    2017-05-15

    Beyond its predominant role in human and animal therapy, the CRISPR-Cas9 system has also become an essential tool for plant research and plant breeding. Agronomic applications rely on the mastery of gene inactivation and gene modification. However, if the knock-out of genes by non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ)-mediated repair of the targeted double-strand breaks (DSBs) induced by the CRISPR-Cas9 system is rather well mastered, the knock-in of genes by homology-driven repair or end-joining remains difficult to perform efficiently in higher plants. In this review, we describe the different approaches that can be tested to improve the efficiency of CRISPR-induced gene modification in plants, which include the use of optimal transformation and regeneration protocols, the design of appropriate guide RNAs and donor templates and the choice of nucleases and means of delivery. We also present what can be done to orient DNA repair pathways in the target cells, and we show how the moss Physcomitrella patens can be used as a model plant to better understand what DNA repair mechanisms are involved, and how this knowledge could eventually be used to define more performant strategies of CRISPR-induced gene knock-in. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Caffeine inhibits homology-directed repair of I-SceI-induced DNA double-strand breaks.

    PubMed

    Wang, Huichen; Boecker, Wilfried; Wang, Hongyan; Wang, Xiang; Guan, Jun; Thompson, Larry H; Nickoloff, Jac A; Iliakis, George

    2004-01-22

    We recently reported that two Chinese hamster mutants deficient in the RAD51 paralogs XRCC2 and XRCC3 show reduced radiosensitization after treatment with caffeine, thus implicating homology-directed repair (HDR) of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in the mechanism of caffeine radiosensitization. Here, we investigate directly the effect of caffeine on HDR initiated by DSBs induced by a rare cutting endonuclease (I-SceI) into one of two direct DNA repeats. The results demonstrate a strong inhibition by caffeine of HDR in wild-type cells, and a substantial reduction of this effect in HDR-deficient XRCC3 mutant cells. Inhibition of HDR and cell radiosensitization to killing shows similar dependence on caffeine concentration suggesting a cause-effect relationship between these effects. UCN-01, a kinase inhibitor that effectively abrogates checkpoint activation in irradiated cells, has only a small effect on HDR, indicating that similar to radiosensitization, inhibition of checkpoint signaling is not sufficient for HDR inhibition. Recombination events occurring during treatment with caffeine are characterized by rearrangements reminiscent to those previously reported for the XRCC3 mutant, and immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrates significantly reduced formation of IR-specific RAD51 foci after caffeine treatment. In summary, our results identify inhibition of HDR as a significant contributor to caffeine radiosensitization.

  13. Genomic and chromatin features shaping meiotic double-strand break formation and repair in mice

    PubMed Central

    Jasin, Maria; Lange, Julian

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT The SPO11-generated DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) that initiate meiotic recombination occur non-randomly across genomes, but mechanisms shaping their distribution and repair remain incompletely understood. Here, we expand on recent studies of nucleotide-resolution DSB maps in mouse spermatocytes. We find that trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 36 around DSB hotspots is highly correlated, both spatially and quantitatively, with trimethylation of H3 lysine 4, consistent with coordinated formation and action of both PRDM9-dependent histone modifications. In contrast, the DSB-responsive kinase ATM contributes independently of PRDM9 to controlling hotspot activity, and combined action of ATM and PRDM9 can explain nearly two-thirds of the variation in DSB frequency between hotspots. DSBs were modestly underrepresented in most repetitive sequences such as segmental duplications and transposons. Nonetheless, numerous DSBs form within repetitive sequences in each meiosis and some classes of repeats are preferentially targeted. Implications of these findings are discussed for evolution of PRDM9 and its role in hybrid strain sterility in mice. Finally, we document the relationship between mouse strain-specific DNA sequence variants within PRDM9 recognition motifs and attendant differences in recombination outcomes. Our results provide further insights into the complex web of factors that influence meiotic recombination patterns. PMID:28820351

  14. Mutational Analysis of Mismatch Repair Genes, hMLH1 and hMSH2, in Sporadic Endometrial Carcinomas with Microsatellite Instability

    PubMed Central

    Kobayashi, Kanji; Matsushima, Mieko; Koi, Sumiko; Saito, Hiroko; Sagae, Satoru; Kudo, Ryuichi

    1996-01-01

    Microsatellite instability, monitored by replication error (RER), bas been observed in both sporadic and hereditary types of endometrial carcinoma. In the hereditary tumors, this instability is considered to be caused by a germline defect in the DNA mismatch‐repair system. We previously reported that nearly one‐quarter of sporadic endometrial carcinomas examined revealed an RER‐positive phenotype at multiple microsatellite loci. To investigate the role of genetic alterations of DNA mismatch‐repair genes in sporadic endometrial carcinomas, we screened 18 RER(+) endometrial carcinomas for mutations of hMLH1 and hMSH2. Although we found no germline mutations, we detected two somatic mutations of hMLH1 in a single endometrial cancer; these two mutations had occurred on different alleles, suggesting that two separate mutational events had affected both copies of hMLH1 in this particular tumor. These data implied that mutations of hMLH1 or hMSH2 play limited roles in the development of sporadic endometrial carcinomas, and that the tumors with genetic instability might have alterations of other mismatch‐repair genes, such as hPMS1 and hPMS2, or of unknown genes related to the mismatch‐repair system. PMID:8609062

  15. Repair kinetics of DNA double-strand breaks and incidence of apoptosis in mouse neural stem/progenitor cells and their differentiated neurons exposed to ionizing radiation.

    PubMed

    Kashiwagi, Hiroki; Shiraishi, Kazunori; Sakaguchi, Kenta; Nakahama, Tomoya; Kodama, Seiji

    2018-05-01

    Neuronal loss leads to neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. Because of their long lifespans, neurons are assumed to possess highly efficient DNA repair ability and to be able to protect themselves from deleterious DNA damage such as DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) produced by intrinsic and extrinsic sources. However, it remains largely unknown whether the DSB repair ability of neurons is more efficient compared with that of other cells. Here, we investigated the repair kinetics of X-ray-induced DSBs in mouse neural cells by scoring the number of phosphorylated 53BP1 foci post irradiation. We found that p53-independent apoptosis was induced time dependently during differentiation from neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) into neurons in culture for 48 h. DSB repair in neurons differentiated from NSPCs in culture was faster than that in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), possibly due to the higher DNA-dependent protein kinase activity, but it was similar to that in NSPCs. Further, the incidence of p53-dependent apoptosis induced by X-irradiation in neurons was significantly higher than that in NSPCs. This difference in response of X-ray-induced apoptosis between neurons and NSPCs may reflect a difference in the fidelity of non-homologous end joining or a differential sensitivity to DNA damage other than DSBs.

  16. Prolonged Particulate Hexavalent Chromium Exposure Suppresses Homologous Recombination Repair in Human Lung Cells.

    PubMed

    Browning, Cynthia L; Qin, Qin; Kelly, Deborah F; Prakash, Rohit; Vanoli, Fabio; Jasin, Maria; Wise, John Pierce

    2016-09-01

    Genomic instability is one of the primary models of carcinogenesis and a feature of almost all cancers. Homologous recombination (HR) repair protects against genomic instability by maintaining high genomic fidelity during the repair of DNA double strand breaks. The defining step of HR repair is the formation of the Rad51 nucleofilament, which facilitates the search for a homologous sequence and invasion of the template DNA strand. Particulate hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), a human lung carcinogen, induces DNA double strand breaks and chromosome instability. Since the loss of HR repair increases Cr(VI)-induced chromosome instability, we investigated the effect of extended Cr(VI) exposure on HR repair. We show acute (24 h) Cr(VI) exposure induces a normal HR repair response. In contrast, prolonged (120 h) exposure to particulate Cr(VI) inhibited HR repair and Rad51 nucleofilament formation. Prolonged Cr(VI) exposure had a profound effect on Rad51, evidenced by reduced protein levels and Rad51 mislocalization to the cytoplasm. The response of proteins involved in Rad51 nuclear import and nucleofilament formation displayed varying responses to prolonged Cr(VI) exposure. BRCA2 formed nuclear foci after prolonged Cr(VI) exposure, while Rad51C foci formation was suppressed. These results suggest that particulate Cr(VI), a major chemical carcinogen, inhibits HR repair by targeting Rad51, causing DNA double strand breaks to be repaired by a low fidelity, Rad51-independent repair pathway. These results further enhance our understanding of the underlying mechanism of Cr(VI)-induced chromosome instability and thus, carcinogenesis. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. Regulation of SNM1, an inducible Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene required for repair of DNA cross-links.

    PubMed

    Wolter, R; Siede, W; Brendel, M

    1996-02-05

    The interstrand cross-link repair gene SNM1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was examined for regulation in response to DNA-damaging agents. Induction of SNM1-lacZ fusions was detected in response to nitrogen mustard, cis-platinum (II) diamine dichloride, UV light, and 8-methoxypsoralen + UVA, but not after heat-shock treatment or incubation with 2-dimethylaminoethylchloride, methylmethane sulfonate or 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide. The promoter of SNM1 contains a 15 bp motif, which shows homology to the DRE2 box of the RAD2 promoter. Similar motifs have been found in promoter regions of other damage-inducible DNA repair genes. Deletion of this motif results in loss of inducibility of SNM1. Also, a putative negative upstream regulation sequence was found to be responsible for repression of constitutive transcription of SNM1. Surprisingly, no inducibility of SNM1 was found after treatment with DNA-damaging agents in strains without an intact DUN1 gene, while regulation seems unchanged in sad1 mutants.

  18. Low concentration of arsenite exacerbates UVR-induced DNA strand breaks by inhibiting PARP-1 activity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Qin Xujun; Department of Toxicology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710032; Hudson, Laurie G.

    2008-10-01

    Epidemiological studies have associated arsenic exposure with many types of human cancers. Arsenic has also been shown to act as a co-carcinogen even at low concentrations. However, the precise mechanism of its co-carcinogenic action is unknown. Recent studies indicate that arsenic can interfere with DNA-repair processes. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-1 is a zinc-finger DNA-repair protein, which can promptly sense DNA strand breaks and initiate DNA-repair pathways. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that low concentrations of arsenic could inhibit PAPR-1 activity and so exacerbate levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced DNA strand breaks. HaCat cells were treated with arsenite and/ormore » UVR, and then DNA strand breaks were assessed by comet assay. Low concentrations of arsenite ({<=} 2 {mu}M) alone did not induce significant DNA strand breaks, but greatly enhanced the DNA strand breaks induced by UVR. Further studies showed that 2 {mu}M arsenite effectively inhibited PARP-1 activity. Zinc supplementation of arsenite-treated cells restored PARP-1 activity and significantly diminished the exacerbating effect of arsenite on UVR-induced DNA strand breaks. Importantly, neither arsenite treatment, nor zinc supplementation changed UVR-triggered reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, suggesting that their effects upon UVR-induced DNA strand breaks are not through a direct free radical mechanism. Combination treatments of arsenite with PARP-1 inhibitor 3-aminobenzamide or PARP-1 siRNA demonstrate that PARP-1 is the target of arsenite. Together, these findings show that arsenite at low concentration exacerbates UVR-induced DNA strand breaks by inhibiting PARP-1 activity, which may represent an important mechanism underlying the co-carcinogenicity of arsenic.« less

  19. RUBIC identifies driver genes by detecting recurrent DNA copy number breaks

    PubMed Central

    van Dyk, Ewald; Hoogstraat, Marlous; ten Hoeve, Jelle; Reinders, Marcel J. T.; Wessels, Lodewyk F. A.

    2016-01-01

    The frequent recurrence of copy number aberrations across tumour samples is a reliable hallmark of certain cancer driver genes. However, state-of-the-art algorithms for detecting recurrent aberrations fail to detect several known drivers. In this study, we propose RUBIC, an approach that detects recurrent copy number breaks, rather than recurrently amplified or deleted regions. This change of perspective allows for a simplified approach as recursive peak splitting procedures and repeated re-estimation of the background model are avoided. Furthermore, we control the false discovery rate on the level of called regions, rather than at the probe level, as in competing algorithms. We benchmark RUBIC against GISTIC2 (a state-of-the-art approach) and RAIG (a recently proposed approach) on simulated copy number data and on three SNP6 and NGS copy number data sets from TCGA. We show that RUBIC calls more focal recurrent regions and identifies a much larger fraction of known cancer genes. PMID:27396759

  20. Repair and recombination of X-irradiated plasmids in Xenopus laevis oocytes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sweigert, S.E.; Carroll, D.

    1990-11-01

    Plasmid DNA substrates were X-irradiated and injected into the nuclei of Xenopus laevis oocytes. After incubation for 20 h, DNA was recovered from the oocytes and analyzed simultaneously for repair and for intermolecular homologous recombination by electrophoresis and bacterial transformation. Oocyte-mediated repair of DNA strand breaks was observed with both methods. Using a repair-deficient mutant Escherichia coli strain and its repair-proficient parent as hosts for the transformation assay, we also demonstrated that oocytes repaired oxidative-type DNA base damage induced by X-rays. X-irradiation of a circular DNA stimulated its potential to recombine with a homologous linear partner. Recombination products were detectedmore » directly by Southern blot hybridization and as bacterial transformant clones expressing two antibiotic resistance markers originally carried separately on the two substrates. The increase in recombination was dependent on X-ray dose. There is some suggestion that lesions other than double-strand breaks contribute to the stimulation of oocyte-mediated homologous recombination. In summary, oocytes have considerable capacity to repair X-ray-induced damage, and some X-ray lesions stimulate homologous recombination in these cells.« less

  1. Differential effects of silver nanoparticles on DNA damage and DNA repair gene expression in Ogg1-deficient and wild type mice.

    PubMed

    Nallanthighal, Sameera; Chan, Cadia; Murray, Thomas M; Mosier, Aaron P; Cady, Nathaniel C; Reliene, Ramune

    2017-10-01

    Due to extensive use in consumer goods, it is important to understand the genotoxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and identify susceptible populations. 8-Oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 (OGG1) excises 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2-deoxyguanine (8-oxoG), a pro-mutagenic lesion induced by oxidative stress. To understand whether defects in OGG1 is a possible genetic factor increasing an individual's susceptibly to AgNPs, we determined DNA damage, genome rearrangements, and expression of DNA repair genes in Ogg1-deficient and wild type mice exposed orally to 4 mg/kg of citrate-coated AgNPs over a period of 7 d. DNA damage was examined at 3 and 7 d of exposure and 7 and 14 d post-exposure. AgNPs induced 8-oxoG, double strand breaks (DSBs), chromosomal damage, and DNA deletions in both genotypes. However, 8-oxoG was induced earlier in Ogg1-deficient mice and 8-oxoG levels were higher after 7-d treatment and persisted longer after exposure termination. AgNPs downregulated DNA glycosylases Ogg1, Neil1, and Neil2 in wild type mice, but upregulated Myh, Neil1, and Neil2 glycosylases in Ogg1-deficient mice. Neil1 and Neil2 can repair 8-oxoG. Thus, AgNP-mediated downregulation of DNA glycosylases in wild type mice may contribute to genotoxicity, while upregulation thereof in Ogg1-deficient mice could serve as an adaptive response to AgNP-induced DNA damage. However, our data show that Ogg1 is indispensable for the efficient repair of AgNP-induced damage. In summary, citrate-coated AgNPs are genotoxic in both genotypes and Ogg1 deficiency exacerbates the effect. These data suggest that humans with genetic polymorphisms and mutations in OGG1 may have increased susceptibility to AgNP-mediated DNA damage.

  2. Resistance-breaking population of Meloidogyne incognita utilizes plant peroxidase to scavenge reactive oxygen species, thereby promoting parasitism on tomato carrying Mi-1 gene.

    PubMed

    Guan, Tinglong; Shen, Jinhua; Fa, Yang; Su, Yishi; Wang, Xuan; Li, Hongmei

    2017-01-01

    Resistance conferred by the Mi-1 gene from Solanum peruvianum is effective and widely used for controlling root-knot nematodes (RKNs, Meloidogyne spp.). However, breakdown of resistance by RKNs seriously threatens the durable application of the resistance resource. Here, a resistance-breaking population of M. incognita was selected from an avirulent population by continuously inoculating on Mi-1-carrying tomato. Histological observations showed the resistance-breaking population would not induce hypersensitive response (HR) when infecting Mi-1-carrying tomato, while avirulent population did. A total of 308 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified from Mi-1-carrying tomato upon infection with resistance-breaking versus avirulent populations by RNA-seq. The expression patterns of 23 selected DEGs were validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Subsequently, seven out of nine highly up-regulated DEGs were successfully knocked down in Mi-1-carrying tomato by tobacco rattle virus (TRV) mediated RNAi. The TRV line targeting a peroxidase gene showed a much higher magnitude of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and distinct reduction of pathogenicity upon infection of the resistance-breaking population compared with that of TRV::gfp line. Our results suggested that plant peroxidase might be exploited by resistance-breaking population of M. incognita to scavenge ROS, so as to overcome Mi-1-mediated resistance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. ALC1/CHD1L, a chromatin-remodeling enzyme, is required for efficient base excision repair.

    PubMed

    Tsuda, Masataka; Cho, Kosai; Ooka, Masato; Shimizu, Naoto; Watanabe, Reiko; Yasui, Akira; Nakazawa, Yuka; Ogi, Tomoo; Harada, Hiroshi; Agama, Keli; Nakamura, Jun; Asada, Ryuta; Fujiike, Haruna; Sakuma, Tetsushi; Yamamoto, Takashi; Murai, Junko; Hiraoka, Masahiro; Koike, Kaoru; Pommier, Yves; Takeda, Shunichi; Hirota, Kouji

    2017-01-01

    ALC1/CHD1L is a member of the SNF2 superfamily of ATPases carrying a macrodomain that binds poly(ADP-ribose). Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) 1 and 2 synthesize poly(ADP-ribose) at DNA-strand cleavage sites, promoting base excision repair (BER). Although depletion of ALC1 causes increased sensitivity to various DNA-damaging agents (H2O2, UV, and phleomycin), the role played by ALC1 in BER has not yet been established. To explore this role, as well as the role of ALC1's ATPase activity in BER, we disrupted the ALC1 gene and inserted the ATPase-dead (E165Q) mutation into the ALC1 gene in chicken DT40 cells, which do not express PARP2. The resulting ALC1-/- and ALC1-/E165Q cells displayed an indistinguishable hypersensitivity to methylmethane sulfonate (MMS), an alkylating agent, and to H2O2, indicating that ATPase plays an essential role in the DNA-damage response. PARP1-/- and ALC1-/-/PARP1-/- cells exhibited a very similar sensitivity to MMS, suggesting that ALC1 and PARP1 collaborate in BER. Following pulse-exposure to H2O2, PARP1-/- and ALC1-/-/PARP1-/- cells showed similarly delayed kinetics in the repair of single-strand breaks, which arise as BER intermediates. To ascertain ALC1's role in BER in mammalian cells, we disrupted the ALC1 gene in human TK6 cells. Following exposure to MMS and to H2O2, the ALC1-/- TK6 cell line showed a delay in single-strand-break repair. We therefore conclude that ALC1 plays a role in BER. Following exposure to H2O2, ALC1-/- cells showed compromised chromatin relaxation. We thus propose that ALC1 is a unique BER factor that functions in a chromatin context, most likely as a chromatin-remodeling enzyme.

  4. Increased DNA double-strand break was associated with downregulation of repair and upregulation of apoptotic factors in rat hippocampus after alcohol exposure.

    PubMed

    Suman, Shubhankar; Kumar, Santosh; N'Gouemo, Prosper; Datta, Kamal

    2016-08-01

    Binge drinking is known to cause damage in critical areas of the brain, including the hippocampus, which is important for relational memory and is reported to be sensitive to alcohol toxicity. However, the roles of DNA double-strand break (DSB) and its repair pathways, homologous recombination (HR), and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) in alcohol-induced hippocampal injury remain to be elucidated. The purpose of this first study was to assess alcohol-induced DNA DSB and the mechanism by which alcohol affects DSB repair pathways in rat hippocampus. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (8-10 weeks old) were put on a 4-day binge ethanol treatment regimen. Control animals were maintained under similar conditions but were given the vehicle without ethanol. All animals were humanely euthanized 24 h after the last dose of ethanol administration and the hippocampi were dissected for immunoblot and immunohistochemistry analysis. Ethanol exposure caused increased 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) staining as well as elevated γH2AX and 53BP1 foci in hippocampal cells. Immunoblot analysis showed decreased Mre11, Rad51, Rad50, and Ku86 as well as increased Bax and p21 in samples from ethanol-treated rats. Additionally, we also observed increased activated caspase3 staining in hippocampal cells 24 h after ethanol withdrawal. Taken together, our data demonstrated that ethanol concurrently induced DNA DSB, downregulated DSB repair pathway proteins, and increased apoptotic factors in hippocampal cells. We believe these findings will provide the impetus for further research on DNA DSB and its repair pathways in relation to alcohol toxicity in brain. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. I-SceI-Induced Gene Replacement at a Natural Locus in Embryonic Stem Cells

    PubMed Central

    Cohen-Tannoudji, Michel; Robine, Sylvie; Choulika, André; Pinto, Daniel; El Marjou, Fatima; Babinet, Charles; Louvard, Daniel; Jaisser, Frédéric

    1998-01-01

    Gene targeting is a very powerful tool for studying mammalian development and physiology and for creating models of human diseases. In many instances, however, it is desirable to study different modifications of a target gene, but this is limited by the generally low frequency of homologous recombination in mammalian cells. We have developed a novel gene-targeting strategy in mouse embryonic stem cells that is based on the induction of endogenous gap repair processes at a defined location within the genome by induction of a double-strand break (DSB) in the gene to be mutated. This strategy was used to knock in an NH2-ezrin mutant in the villin gene, which encodes an actin-binding protein expressed in the brush border of the intestine and the kidney. To induce the DSB, an I-SceI yeast meganuclease restriction site was first introduced by gene targeting to the villin gene, followed by transient expression of I-SceI. The repair of the ensuing DSB was achieved with high efficiency (6 × 10−6) by a repair shuttle vector sharing only a 2.8-kb region of homology with the villin gene and no negative selection marker. Compared to conventional gene-targeting experiments at the villin locus, this represents a 100-fold stimulation of gene-targeting frequency, notwithstanding a much lower length of homology. This strategy will be very helpful in facilitating the targeted introduction of several types of mutations within a gene of interest. PMID:9488460

  6. The RAD24 (= Rs1) Gene Product of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Participates in Two Different Pathways of DNA Repair

    PubMed Central

    Eckardt-Schupp, Friederike; Siede, Wolfram; Game, John C.

    1987-01-01

    The moderately UV- and X-ray-sensitive mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae originally designated rs1 complements all rad and mms mutants available. Therefore, the new nomination rad24-1 according to the RAD nomenclature is suggested. RAD24 maps on chromosome V, close to RAD3 (1.3 cM). In order to associate the RAD24 gene with one of the three repair pathways, double mutants of rad24 and various representative genes of each pathway were constructed. The UV and X-ray sensitivities of the double mutants compared to the single mutants indicate that RAD24 is involved in excision repair of UV damage (RAD3 epistasis group), as well as in recombination repair of UV and X-ray damage (RAD52 epistasis group). Properties of the mutant are discussed which hint at the control of late steps in the pathways. PMID:3549445

  7. Gene and pathway level analyses of germline DNA-repair gene variants and prostate cancer susceptibility using the iCOGS-genotyping array.

    PubMed

    Saunders, Edward J; Dadaev, Tokhir; Leongamornlert, Daniel A; Al Olama, Ali Amin; Benlloch, Sara; Giles, Graham G; Wiklund, Fredrik; Gronberg, Henrik; Haiman, Christopher A; Schleutker, Johanna; Nordestgaard, Borge G; Travis, Ruth C; Neal, David; Pasayan, Nora; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Stanford, Janet L; Blot, William J; Thibodeau, Stephen N; Maier, Christiane; Kibel, Adam S; Cybulski, Cezary; Cannon-Albright, Lisa; Brenner, Hermann; Park, Jong Y; Kaneva, Radka; Batra, Jyotsna; Teixeira, Manuel R; Pandha, Hardev; Govindasami, Koveela; Muir, Ken; Easton, Douglas F; Eeles, Rosalind A; Kote-Jarai, Zsofia

    2016-04-12

    Germline mutations within DNA-repair genes are implicated in susceptibility to multiple forms of cancer. For prostate cancer (PrCa), rare mutations in BRCA2 and BRCA1 give rise to moderately elevated risk, whereas two of B100 common, low-penetrance PrCa susceptibility variants identified so far by genome-wide association studies implicate RAD51B and RAD23B. Genotype data from the iCOGS array were imputed to the 1000 genomes phase 3 reference panel for 21 780 PrCa cases and 21 727 controls from the Prostate Cancer Association Group to Investigate Cancer Associated Alterations in the Genome (PRACTICAL) consortium. We subsequently performed single variant, gene and pathway-level analyses using 81 303 SNPs within 20 Kb of a panel of 179 DNA-repair genes. Single SNP analyses identified only the previously reported association with RAD51B. Gene-level analyses using the SKAT-C test from the SNP-set (Sequence) Kernel Association Test (SKAT) identified a significant association with PrCa for MSH5. Pathway-level analyses suggested a possible role for the translesion synthesis pathway in PrCa risk and Homologous recombination/Fanconi Anaemia pathway for PrCa aggressiveness, even though after adjustment for multiple testing these did not remain significant. MSH5 is a novel candidate gene warranting additional follow-up as a prospective PrCa-risk locus. MSH5 has previously been reported as a pleiotropic susceptibility locus for lung, colorectal and serous ovarian cancers.

  8. Polymorphisms in RAI and in genes of nucleotide and base excision repair are not associated with risk of testicular cancer.

    PubMed

    Laska, Magdalena J; Nexø, Bjørn A; Vistisen, Kirsten; Poulsen, Henrik Enghusen; Loft, Steffen; Vogel, Ulla

    2005-07-28

    Testicular cancer has been suggested to be primed in utero and there is familiar occurrence, particularly brothers and sons of men with testicular cancer have increased risk. Although no specific causative genotoxic agents have been identified, variations in DNA repair capacity could be associated with the risk of testicular cancer. A case-control study of 184 testicular cancer cases and 194 population-based controls living in the Copenhagen Greater Area in Denmark was performed. We found that neither polymorphisms in several DNA repair genes nor alleles of several polymorphisms in the chromosomal of region 19q13.2-3, encompassing the genes ASE, ERCC1, RAI and XPD, were associated with risk of testicular cancer in Danish patients. This is in contrast to other cancers, where we reported strong associations between polymorphisms in ERCC1, ASE and RAI and occurrence of basal cell carcinoma, breast cancer and lung. To our knowledge this is the first study of DNA repair gene polymorphisms and risk of testicular cancer.

  9. DNA Repair Alterations in Children With Pediatric Malignancies: Novel Opportunities to Identify Patients at Risk for High-Grade Toxicities

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ruebe, Claudia E., E-mail: claudia.ruebe@uks.e; Fricke, Andreas; Schneider, Ruth

    Purpose: To evaluate, in a pilot study, the phosphorylated H2AX ({gamma}H2AX) foci approach for identifying patients with double-strand break (DSB) repair deficiencies, who may overreact to DNA-damaging cancer therapy. Methods and Materials: The DSB repair capacity of children with solid cancers was analyzed compared with that of age-matched control children and correlated with treatment-related normal-tissue responses (n = 47). Double-strand break repair was investigated by counting {gamma}H2AX foci in blood lymphocytes at defined time points after irradiation of blood samples. Results: Whereas all healthy control children exhibited proficient DSB repair, 3 children with tumors revealed clearly impaired DSB repair capacities,more » and 2 of these repair-deficient children developed life-threatening or even lethal normal-tissue toxicities. The underlying mutations affecting regulatory factors involved in DNA repair pathways were identified. Moreover, significant differences in mean DSB repair capacity were observed between children with tumors and control children, suggesting that childhood cancer is based on genetic alterations affecting DSB repair function. Conclusions: Double-strand break repair alteration in children may predispose to cancer formation and may affect children's susceptibility to normal-tissue toxicities. Phosphorylated H2AX analysis of blood samples allows one to detect DSB repair deficiencies and thus enables identification of children at risk for high-grade toxicities.« less

  10. A Preliminary Study: Human Fibroid Stro-1+/CD44+ Stem Cells Isolated From Uterine Fibroids Demonstrate Decreased DNA Repair and Genomic Integrity Compared to Adjacent Myometrial Stro-1+/CD44+ Cells.

    PubMed

    Prusinski Fernung, Lauren E; Al-Hendy, Ayman; Yang, Qiwei

    2018-01-01

    Although uterine fibroids (UFs) continue to place a major burden on female reproductive health, the mechanisms behind their origin remain undetermined. Normal myometrial stem cells may be transformed into tumor-initiating stem cells, causing UFs, due to unknown causes of somatic mutations in MED12, found in up to 85% of sporadically formed UFs. It is well established in other tumor types that defective DNA repair increases the risk of such tumorigenic somatic mutations, mechanisms not yet studied in UFs. To examine the putative cause(s) of this stem cell transformation, we analyzed DNA repair within stem cells from human UFs compared to those from adjacent myometrium to determine whether DNA repair in fibroid stem cells is compromised. Human fibroid (F) and adjacent myometrial (Myo) stem cells were isolated from fresh tissues, and gene expression relating to DNA repair was analyzed. Fibroid stem cells differentially expressed DNA repair genes related to DNA double- (DSBs) and single-strand breaks. DNA damage was measured using alkaline comet assay. Additionally, DNA DSBs were induced in these stem cells and DNA DSB repair evaluated (1) by determining changes in phosphorylation of DNA DSB-related proteins and (2) by determining differences in γ-H2AX foci formation and relative DNA repair protein RAD50 expression. Overall, F stem cells demonstrated increased DNA damage and altered DNA repair gene expression and signaling, suggesting that human F stem cells demonstrate impaired DNA repair. Compromised F stem cell DNA repair may contribute to further mutagenesis and, consequently, further growth and propagation of UF tumors.

  11. Gene promoter methylation and DNA repair capacity in monozygotic twins with discordant smoking habits.

    PubMed

    Ottini, Laura; Rizzolo, Piera; Siniscalchi, Ester; Zijno, Andrea; Silvestri, Valentina; Crebelli, Riccardo; Marcon, Francesca

    2015-02-01

    The influence of DNA repair capacity, plasma nutrients and tobacco smoke exposure on DNA methylation was investigated in blood cells of twenty-one couples of monozygotic twins with discordant smoking habits. All study subjects had previously been characterized for mutagen sensitivity with challenge assays with ionizing radiation in peripheral blood lymphocytes. Plasma levels of folic acid, vitamin B12 and homocysteine were also available from a previous investigation. In this work DNA methylation in the promoter region of a panel of ten genes involved in cell cycle control, differentiation, apoptosis and DNA repair (p16, FHIT, RAR, CDH1, DAPK1, hTERT, RASSF1A, MGMT, BRCA1 and PALB2) was assessed in the same batches of cells isolated for previous studies, using the methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting technique. Fairly similar profiles of gene promoter methylation were observed within co-twins compared to unrelated subjects (p= 1.23 × 10(-7)), with no significant difference related to smoking habits (p = 0.23). In a regression analysis the methylation index of study subjects, used as synthetic descriptor of overall promoter methylation, displayed a significant inverse correlation with radiation-induced micronuclei (p = 0.021) and plasma folic acid level (p = 0.007) both in smokers and in non-smokers. The observed association between repair of radiation-induced DNA damage and promoter methylation suggests the involvement of the DNA repair machinery in DNA modification. Data also highlight the possible modulating effect of folate deficiency on DNA methylation and the strong influence of familiarity on the individual epigenetic profile. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Gene Expression, DNA Methylation and Prognostic Significance of DNA Repair Genes in Human Bladder Cancer.

    PubMed

    Wojtczyk-Miaskowska, Anita; Presler, Malgorzata; Michajlowski, Jerzy; Matuszewski, Marcin; Schlichtholz, Beata

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the gene expression and DNA methylation of selected DNA repair genes (MBD4, TDG, MLH1, MLH3) and DNMT1 in human bladder cancer in the context of pathophysiological and prognostic significance. To determine the relationship between the gene expression pattern, global methylation and promoter methylation status, we performed real-time PCR to quantify the mRNA of selected genes in 50 samples of bladder cancer and adjacent non-cancerous tissue. The methylation status was analyzed by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) or digestion of genomic DNA with a methylation-sensitive restriction enzyme and PCR with gene-specific primers (MSRE-PCR). The global DNA methylation level was measured using the antibody-based 5-mC detection method. The relative levels of mRNA for MBD4, MLH3, and MLH1 were decreased in 28% (14/50), 34% (17/50) and 36% (18/50) of tumor samples, respectively. The MBD4 mRNA expression was decreased in 46% of non-muscle invasive tumors (Ta/T1) compared with 11% found in muscle invasive tumors (T2-T4) (P<0.003). Analysis of mRNA expression for TDG did not show any significant differences between Ta/T1 and T2-T4 tumors. The frequency of increased DNMT1 mRNA expression was higher in T2-T4 (52%) comparing to Ta/T1 (16%). The overall methylation rates in tumor tissue were 18% for MBD4, 25% for MLH1 and there was no evidence of MLH3 promoter methylation. High grade tumors had significantly lower levels of global DNA methylation (P=0.04). There was a significant association between shorter survival and increased expression of DNMT1 mRNA (P=0.002), decreased expression of MLH1 mRNA (P=0.032) and the presence of MLH1 promoter methylation (P=0.006). This study highlights the importance of DNA repair pathways and provides the first evidence of the role of MBD4 and MLH3 in bladder cancer. In addition, our findings suggest that DNMT1 mRNA and MLH1 mRNA expression, as well as the status of MLH1 promoter methylation, are attractive

  13. Impaired Cytogenetic Damage Repair and Cell Cycle Regulation in Response to Ionizing Radiation in Human Fibroblast Cells with Individual Knock-down of 25 Genes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zhang, Ye; Rohde, Larry; Emami, Kamal; Hammond, Dianne; Casey, Rachael; Mehta, Satish; Jeevarajan, Antony; Pierson, Duane; Wu, Honglu

    2008-01-01

    Changes of gene expression profile are one of the most important biological responses in living cells after ionizing radiation (IR) exposure. Although some studies have demonstrated that genes with upregulated expression induced by IR may play important roles in DNA damage sensing, cell cycle checkpoint and chromosomal repair, the relationship between the regulation of gene expression by IR and its impact on cytogenetic responses to ionizing radiation has not been systematically studied. In our present study, the expression of 25 genes selected based on their transcriptional changes in response to IR or from their known DNA repair roles were individually knocked down by siRNA transfection in human fibroblast cells. Chromosome aberrations (CA) and micronuclei (MN) formation were measured as the cytogenetic endpoints. Our results showed that the yield of MN and/or CA formation were significantly increased by suppressed expression of 5 genes that included Ku70 in the DSB repair pathway; XPA in the NER pathway; RPA1 in the MMR pathway; RAD17 and RBBP8 in cell cycle control. Knocked-down expression of 4 genes including MRE11A, RAD51 in the DSB pathway, and SESN1 and SUMO1 showed significant inhibition of cell cycle progression, possibly because of severe impairment of DNA damage repair. Furthermore, loss of XPA, p21 and MLH1 expression resulted in both enhanced cell cycle progression and significantly higher yield of cytogenetic damage, indicating the involvement of these gene products in both cell cycle control and DNA damage repair. Of these 11 genes that affected the cytogenetic response, 9 were up-regulated in the cells exposed to gamma radiation, suggesting that genes transcriptionally modulated by IR were critical to regulating the biological consequences after IR. Failure to express these IR-responsive genes, such as by gene mutation, could seriously change the outcome of the post IR scenario and lead to carcinogenesis.

  14. mre11S—a yeast mutation that blocks double-strand-break processing and permits nonhomologous synapsis in meiosis

    PubMed Central

    Nairz, Knud; Klein, Franz

    1997-01-01

    During meiotic prophase the repair of self-inflicted DNA double-strand break (DSB) damage leads to meiotic recombination in yeast. We employed a genetic screen to specifically characterize cellular functions that become essential after this DSB formation. As a result a new allele of MRE11, termed mre11S (for Separation of functions) was isolated that allows initiation but not processing and repair of meiotic DSBs similar to the well-characterized rad50S allele. In contrast, the mre11-1 allele blocks initiation of meiotic DSBs as reported previously by others. The mre11S allele, which is mutated in the 5′ part of the gene, can partially complement mre11 alleles disrupted close to the 3′ end that cannot initiate DSBs when homozygous. This suggests homodimerization of the Mre11 protein and the presence of separate domains for DSB initiation and 5′ resection. The fact that two genes, RAD50 and MRE11, required for DSB processing are also essential for DSB initiation dictates a model in which a bifunctional initiation/repair complex is required to initiate meiotic recombination. A subset of mre11S nuclei was shown to perform extensive but partially nonhomologous synapsis. We propose that the unprocessed DSBs present in mre11S allow for synapsis, but that homologous synapsis is only ensured at a later stage of recombination. PMID:9303542

  15. Are SNP-Smoking Association Studies Needed in Controls? DNA Repair Gene Polymorphisms and Smoking Intensity

    PubMed Central

    Verde, Zoraida; Reinoso, Luis; Chicharro, Luis Miguel; Resano, Pilar; Sánchez-Hernández, Ignacio; Rodríguez González-Moro, Jose Miguel; Bandrés, Fernando

    2015-01-01

    Variations in tobacco-related cancers, incidence and prevalence reflect differences in tobacco consumption in addition to genetic factors. Besides, genes related to lung cancer risk could be related to smoking behavior. Polymorphisms altering DNA repair capacity may lead to synergistic effects with tobacco carcinogen-induced lung cancer risk. Common problems in genetic association studies, such as presence of gene-by-environment (G x E) correlation in the population, may reduce the validity of these designs. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the independence assumption for selected SNPs and smoking behaviour in a cohort of 320 healthy Spanish smokers. We found an association between the wild type alleles of XRCC3 Thr241Met or KLC3 Lys751Gln and greater smoking intensity (OR = 12.98, 95% CI = 2.86–58.82 and OR=16.90, 95% CI=2.09-142.8; respectively). Although preliminary, the results of our study provide evidence that genetic variations in DNA-repair genes may influence both smoking habits and the development of lung cancer. Population-specific G x E studies should be carried out when genetic and environmental factors interact to cause the disease. PMID:26017978

  16. Tissue repair genes: the TiRe database and its implication for skin wound healing.

    PubMed

    Yanai, Hagai; Budovsky, Arie; Tacutu, Robi; Barzilay, Thomer; Abramovich, Amir; Ziesche, Rolf; Fraifeld, Vadim E

    2016-04-19

    Wound healing is an inherent feature of any multicellular organism and recent years have brought about a huge amount of data regarding regular and abnormal tissue repair. Despite the accumulated knowledge, modulation of wound healing is still a major biomedical challenge, especially in advanced ages. In order to collect and systematically organize what we know about the key players in wound healing, we created the TiRe (Tissue Repair) database, an online collection of genes and proteins that were shown to directly affect skin wound healing. To date, TiRe contains 397 entries for four organisms: Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, Sus domesticus, and Homo sapiens. Analysis of the TiRe dataset of skin wound healing-associated genes showed that skin wound healing genes are (i) over-conserved among vertebrates, but are under-conserved in invertebrates; (ii) enriched in extracellular and immuno-inflammatory genes; and display (iii) high interconnectivity and connectivity to other proteins. The latter may provide potential therapeutic targets. In addition, a slower or faster skin wound healing is indicative of an aging or longevity phenotype only when assessed in advanced ages, but not in the young. In the long run, we aim for TiRe to be a one-station resource that provides researchers and clinicians with the essential data needed for a better understanding of the mechanisms of wound healing, designing new experiments, and the development of new therapeutic strategies. TiRe is freely available online at http://www.tiredb.org.

  17. Tissue repair genes: the TiRe database and its implication for skin wound healing

    PubMed Central

    Yanai, Hagai; Budovsky, Arie; Tacutu, Robi; Barzilay, Thomer; Abramovich, Amir; Ziesche, Rolf; Fraifeld, Vadim E.

    2016-01-01

    Wound healing is an inherent feature of any multicellular organism and recent years have brought about a huge amount of data regarding regular and abnormal tissue repair. Despite the accumulated knowledge, modulation of wound healing is still a major biomedical challenge, especially in advanced ages. In order to collect and systematically organize what we know about the key players in wound healing, we created the TiRe (Tissue Repair) database, an online collection of genes and proteins that were shown to directly affect skin wound healing. To date, TiRe contains 397 entries for four organisms: Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, Sus domesticus, and Homo sapiens. Analysis of the TiRe dataset of skin wound healing-associated genes showed that skin wound healing genes are (i) over-conserved among vertebrates, but are under-conserved in invertebrates; (ii) enriched in extracellular and immuno-inflammatory genes; and display (iii) high interconnectivity and connectivity to other proteins. The latter may provide potential therapeutic targets. In addition, a slower or faster skin wound healing is indicative of an aging or longevity phenotype only when assessed in advanced ages, but not in the young. In the long run, we aim for TiRe to be a one-station resource that provides researchers and clinicians with the essential data needed for a better understanding of the mechanisms of wound healing, designing new experiments, and the development of new therapeutic strategies. TiRe is freely available online at http://www.tiredb.org. PMID:27049721

  18. Rejoining and misrejoining of radiation-induced chromatin breaks. II. Biophysical Model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wu, H.; Durante, M.; George, K.; Goodwin, E. H.; Yang, T. C.

    1996-01-01

    A biophysical model for the kinetics of the formation of radiation-induced chromosome aberrations is developed to account for the recent experimental results obtained with a combination of the premature chromosome condensation (PCC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) techniques. In this model, we consider the broken ends of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) to be reactant and make use of the interaction distance hypothesis. The repair/misrepair process between broken ends is suggested to consist of two steps; the first step represents the two break ends approaching each other, and the second step represents the enzymatic processes leading to DNA end-to-end rejoining. Only the second step is reflected in the kinetics observed in experiments using PCC. The model appears to be able to fit existing data for human cells. It is shown that the kinetics of the formation of chromosome aberrations can be explained by a single rate that characterizes both rejoining and misrejoining of DSBs, suggesting that repair and misrepair share the same mechanism. Fast repair (completed in minutes) in a subset of DSBs is suggested as an explanation of the complete exchanges observed with PCC in human lymphocytes immediately after irradiation. The fast repair component seems to be absent in human fibroblasts.

  19. Relative contribution of homologous recombination and non-homologous end-joining to DNA double-strand break repair after oxidative stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Letavayová, Lucia; Marková, Eva; Hermanská, Katarína; Vlcková, Viera; Vlasáková, Danusa; Chovanec, Miroslav; Brozmanová, Jela

    2006-05-10

    Oxidative damage to DNA seems to be an important factor in developing many human diseases including cancer. It involves base and sugar damage, base-free sites, DNA-protein cross-links and DNA single-strand (SSB) and double-strand (DSB) breaks. Oxidative DSB can be formed in various ways such as their direct induction by the drug or their generation either through attempted and aborted repair of primary DNA lesions or through DNA replication-dependent conversion of SSB. In general, two main pathways are responsible for repairing DSB, homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ), with both of them being potential candidates for the repair of oxidative DSB. We have examined relative contribution of HR and NHEJ to cellular response after oxidative stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Therefore, cell survival, mutagenesis and DSB induction and repair in the rad52, yku70 and rad52 yku70 mutants after hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), menadione (MD) or bleomycin (BLM) exposure were compared to those obtained for the corresponding wild type. We show that MD exposure does not lead to observable DSB induction in yeast, suggesting that the toxic effects of this agent are mediated by other types of DNA damage. Although H(2)O(2) treatment generates some DSB, their yield is relatively low and hence DSB may only partially be responsible for toxicity of H(2)O(2), particularly at high doses of the agent. On the other hand, the basis of the BLM toxicity resides primarily in DSB induction. Both HR and NHEJ act on BLM-induced DSB, although their relative participation in the process is not equal. Based on our results we suggest that the complexity and/or the quality of the BLM-induced DSB might represent an obstacle for the NHEJ pathway.

  20. Microsatellites in the Eukaryotic DNA Mismatch Repair Genes as Modulators of Evolutionary Mutation Rate

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chang, Dong Kyung; Metzgar, David; Wills, Christopher; Boland, C. Richard

    2003-01-01

    All "minor" components of the human DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system-MSH3, MSH6, PMS2, and the recently discovered MLH3-contain mononucleotide microsatellites in their coding sequences. This intriguing finding contrasts with the situation found in the major components of the DNA MMR system-MSH2 and MLH1-and, in fact, most human genes. Although eukaryotic genomes are rich in microsatellites, non-triplet microsatellites are rare in coding regions. The recurring presence of exonal mononucleotide repeat sequences within a single family of human genes would therefore be considered exceptional.

  1. Recognition and repair of chemically heterogeneous structures at DNA ends

    PubMed Central

    Andres, Sara N.; Schellenberg, Matthew J.; Wallace, Bret D.; Tumbale, Percy; Williams, R. Scott

    2014-01-01

    Exposure to environmental toxicants and stressors, radiation, pharmaceutical drugs, inflammation, cellular respiration, and routine DNA metabolism all lead to the production of cytotoxic DNA strand breaks. Akin to splintered wood, DNA breaks are not “clean”. Rather, DNA breaks typically lack DNA 5'-phosphate and 3'-hydroxyl moieties required for DNA synthesis and DNA ligation. Failure to resolve damage at DNA ends can lead to abnormal DNA replication and repair, and is associated with genomic instability, mutagenesis, neurological disease, ageing and carcinogenesis. An array of chemically heterogeneous DNA termini arises from spontaneously generated DNA single-strand and double-strand breaks (SSBs and DSBs), and also from normal and/or inappropriate DNA metabolism by DNA polymerases, DNA ligases and topoisomerases. As a front line of defense to these genotoxic insults, eukaryotic cells have accrued an arsenal of enzymatic first responders that bind and protect damaged DNA termini, and enzymatically tailor DNA ends for DNA repair synthesis and ligation. These nucleic acid transactions employ direct damage reversal enzymes including Aprataxin (APTX), Polynucleotide kinase phosphatase (PNK), the tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterases (TDP1 and TDP2), the Ku70/80 complex and DNA polymerase β (POLβ). Nucleolytic processing enzymes such as the MRE11/RAD50/NBS1/CtIP complex, Flap endonuclease (FEN1) and the apurinic endonucleases (APE1 and APE2) also act in the chemical "cleansing" of DNA breaks to prevent genomic instability and disease, and promote progression of DNA- and RNA-DNA damage response (DDR and RDDR) pathways. Here, we provide an overview of cellular first responders dedicated to the detection and repair of abnormal DNA termini. PMID:25111769

  2. Arabidopsis DNA polymerase lambda mutant is mildly sensitive to DNA double strand breaks but defective in integration of a transgene

    PubMed Central

    Furukawa, Tomoyuki; Angelis, Karel J.; Britt, Anne B.

    2015-01-01

    The DNA double-strand break (DSB) is a critical type of damage, and can be induced by both endogenous sources (e.g., errors of oxidative metabolism, transposable elements, programmed meiotic breaks, or perturbation of the DNA replication fork) and exogenous sources (e.g., ionizing radiation or radiomimetic chemicals). Although higher plants, like mammals, are thought to preferentially repair DSBs via nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), much remains unclear about plant DSB repair pathways. Our reverse genetic approach suggests that DNA polymerase λ is involved in DSB repair in Arabidopsis. The Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion mutant (atpolλ-1) displayed sensitivity to both gamma-irradiation and treatment with radiomimetic reagents, but not to other DNA damaging treatments. The atpolλ-1 mutant showed a moderate sensitivity to DSBs, while Arabidopsis Ku70 and DNA ligase 4 mutants (atku70-3 and atlig4-2), both of which play critical roles in NHEJ, exhibited a hypersensitivity to these treatments. The atpolλ-1/atlig4-2 double mutant exhibited a higher sensitivity to DSBs than each single mutant, but the atku70/atpolλ-1 showed similar sensitivity to the atku70-3 mutant. We showed that transcription of the DNA ligase 1, DNA ligase 6, and Wee1 genes was quickly induced by BLM in several NHEJ deficient mutants in contrast to wild-type. Finally, the T-DNA transformation efficiency dropped in NHEJ deficient mutants and the lowest transformation efficiency was scored in the atpolλ-1/atlig4-2 double mutant. These results imply that AtPolλ is involved in both DSB repair and DNA damage response pathway. PMID:26074930

  3. Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in lymphoma patients is associated with a decrease in the double strand break repair capacity of peripheral blood lymphocytes.

    PubMed

    Lacoste, Sandrine; Bhatia, Smita; Chen, Yanjun; Bhatia, Ravi; O'Connor, Timothy R

    2017-01-01

    Patients who undergo autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHCT) for treatment of a relapsed or refractory lymphoma are at risk of developing therapy related- myelodysplasia/acute myeloid leukemia (t-MDS/AML). Part of the risk likely resides in inherent interindividual differences in their DNA repair capacity (DRC), which is thought to influence the effect chemotherapeutic treatments have on the patient's stem cells prior to aHCT. Measuring DRC involves identifying small differences in repair proficiency among individuals. Initially, we investigated the cell model in healthy individuals (primary lymphocytes and/or lymphoblastoid cell lines) that would be appropriate to measure genetically determined DRC using host-cell reactivation assays. We present evidence that interindividual differences in DRC double-strand break repair (by non-homologous end-joining [NHEJ] or single-strand annealing [SSA]) are better preserved in non-induced primary lymphocytes. In contrast, lymphocytes induced to proliferate are required to assay base excision (BER) or nucleotide excision repair (NER). We established that both NHEJ and SSA DRCs in lymphocytes of healthy individuals were inversely correlated with the age of the donor, indicating that DSB repair in lymphocytes is likely not a constant feature but rather something that decreases with age (~0.37% NHEJ DRC/year). To investigate the predictive value of pre-aHCT DRC on outcome in patients, we then applied the optimized assays to the analysis of primary lymphocytes from lymphoma patients and found that individuals who later developed t-MDS/AML (cases) were indistinguishable in their DRC from controls who never developed t-MDS/AML. However, when DRC was investigated shortly after aHCT in the same individuals (21.6 months later on average), aHCT patients (both cases and controls) showed a significant decrease in DSB repair measurements. The average decrease of 6.9% in NHEJ DRC observed among aHCT patients was much higher

  4. Loss of transcription factor early growth response gene 1 results in impaired endochondral bone repair

    PubMed Central

    Reumann, Marie K.; Strachna, Olga; Yagerman, Sarah; Torrecilla, Daniel; Kim, Jihye; Doty, Steven B.; Lukashova, Lyudmila; Boskey, Adele L.; Mayer-Kuckuk, Philipp

    2011-01-01

    Transcription factors that play a role in ossification during development are expected to participate in postnatal fracture repair since the endochondral bone formation that occurs in embryos is recapitulated during fracture repair. However, inherent differences exist between bone development and fracture repair, including a sudden disruption of tissue integrity followed by an inflammatory response. This raises the possibility that repair-specific transcription factors participate in bone healing. Here, we assessed the consequence of loss of early growth response gene 1 (EGR-1) on endochondral bone healing because this transcription factor has been shown to modulate repair in vascularized tissues. Model fractures were created in ribs of wild type (wt) and EGR-1−/− mice. Differences in tissue morphology and composition between these two animal groups were followed over 28 post fracture days (PFDs). In wt mice, bone healing occurred in healing phases characteristic of endochondral bone repair. A similar healing sequence was observed in EGR-1−/− mice but was impaired by alterations. A persistent accumulation of fibrin between the disconnected bones was observed on PFD7 and remained pronounced in the callus on PFD14. Additionally, the PFD14 callus was abnormally enlarged and showed increased deposition of mineralized tissue. Cartilage ossification in the callus was associated with hyper-vascularity and -proliferation. Moreover, cell deposits located in proximity to the callus within skeletal muscle were detected on PFD14. Despite these impairments, repair in EGR-1−/− callus advanced on PFD28, suggesting EGR-1 is not essential for healing. Together, this study provides genetic evidence that EGR-1 is a pleiotropic regulator of endochondral fracture repair. PMID:21726677

  5. Loss of transcription factor early growth response gene 1 results in impaired endochondral bone repair.

    PubMed

    Reumann, Marie K; Strachna, Olga; Yagerman, Sarah; Torrecilla, Daniel; Kim, Jihye; Doty, Stephen B; Lukashova, Lyudmila; Boskey, Adele L; Mayer-Kuckuk, Philipp

    2011-10-01

    Transcription factors that play a role in ossification during development are expected to participate in postnatal fracture repair since the endochondral bone formation that occurs in embryos is recapitulated during fracture repair. However, inherent differences exist between bone development and fracture repair, including a sudden disruption of tissue integrity followed by an inflammatory response. This raises the possibility that repair-specific transcription factors participate in bone healing. Here, we assessed the consequence of loss of early growth response gene 1 (EGR-1) on endochondral bone healing because this transcription factor has been shown to modulate repair in vascularized tissues. Model fractures were created in ribs of wild type (wt) and EGR-1(-/-) mice. Differences in tissue morphology and composition between these two animal groups were followed over 28 post fracture days (PFDs). In wt mice, bone healing occurred in healing phases characteristic of endochondral bone repair. A similar healing sequence was observed in EGR-1(-/-) mice but was impaired by alterations. A persistent accumulation of fibrin between the disconnected bones was observed on PFD7 and remained pronounced in the callus on PFD14. Additionally, the PFD14 callus was abnormally enlarged and showed increased deposition of mineralized tissue. Cartilage ossification in the callus was associated with hyper-vascularity and -proliferation. Moreover, cell deposits located in proximity to the callus within skeletal muscle were detected on PFD14. Despite these impairments, repair in EGR-1(-/-) callus advanced on PFD28, suggesting EGR-1 is not essential for healing. Together, this study provides genetic evidence that EGR-1 is a pleiotropic regulator of endochondral fracture repair. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Removal of N-6-methyladenine by the nucleotide excision repair pathway triggers the repair of mismatches in yeast gap-repair intermediates.

    PubMed

    Guo, Xiaoge; Jinks-Robertson, Sue

    2013-12-01

    Gap-repair assays have been an important tool for studying the genetic control of homologous recombination in yeast. Sequence analysis of recombination products derived when a gapped plasmid is diverged relative to the chromosomal repair template additionally has been used to infer structures of strand-exchange intermediates. In the absence of the canonical mismatch repair pathway, mismatches present in these intermediates are expected to persist and segregate at the next round of DNA replication. In a mismatch repair defective (mlh1Δ) background, however, we have observed that recombination-generated mismatches are often corrected to generate gene conversion or restoration events. In the analyses reported here, the source of the aberrant mismatch removal during gap repair was examined. We find that most mismatch removal is linked to the methylation status of the plasmid used in the gap-repair assay. Whereas more than half of Dam-methylated plasmids had patches of gene conversion and/or restoration interspersed with unrepaired mismatches, mismatch removal was observed in less than 10% of products obtained when un-methylated plasmids were used in transformation experiments. The methylation-linked removal of mismatches in recombination intermediates was due specifically to the nucleotide excision repair pathway, with such mismatch removal being partially counteracted by glycosylases of the base excision repair pathway. These data demonstrate that nucleotide excision repair activity is not limited to bulky, helix-distorting DNA lesions, but also targets removal of very modest perturbations in DNA structure. In addition to its effects on mismatch removal, methylation reduced the overall gap-repair efficiency, but this reduction was not affected by the status of excision repair pathways. Finally, gel purification of DNA prior to transformation reduced gap-repair efficiency four-fold in a nucleotide excision repair-defective background, indicating that the collateral

  7. Removal of N-6-methyladenine by the nucleotide excision repair pathway triggers the repair of mismatches in yeast gap-repair intermediates

    PubMed Central

    Guo, Xiaoge; Jinks-Robertson, Sue

    2013-01-01

    Gap-repair assays have been an important tool for studying the genetic control of homologous recombination in yeast. Sequence analysis of recombination products derived when a gapped plasmid is diverged relative to the chromosomal repair template additionally has been used to infer structures of strand-exchange intermediates. In the absence of the canonical mismatch repair pathway, mismatches present in these intermediates are expected to persist and segregate at the next round of DNA replication. In a mismatch repair defective (mlh1Δ) background, however, we have observed that recombination-generated mismatches are often corrected to generate gene conversion or restoration events. In the analyses reported here, the source of the aberrant mismatch removal during gap repair was examined. We find that most mismatch removal is linked to the methylation status of the plasmid used in the gap-repair assay. Whereas more than half of Dam-methylated plasmids had patches of gene conversion and/or restoration interspersed with unrepaired mismatches, mismatch removal was observed in less than 10% of products obtained when un-methylated plasmids were used in transformation experiments. The methylation-linked removal of mismatches in recombination intermediates was due specifically to the nucleotide excision repair pathway, with such mismatch removal being partially counteracted by glycosylases of the base excision repair pathway. These data demonstrate that nucleotide excision repair activity is not limited to bulky, helix-distorting DNA lesions, but also targets removal of very modest perturbations in DNA structure. In addition to its effects on mismatch removal, methylation reduced the overall gap-repair efficiency, but this reduction was not affected by the status of excision repair pathways. Finally, gel purification of DNA prior to transformation reduced gap-repair efficiency four-fold in a nucleotide excision repair-defective background, indicating that the cillateral

  8. Break-induced replication and recombinational telomere elongation in yeast.

    PubMed

    McEachern, Michael J; Haber, James E

    2006-01-01

    When a telomere becomes unprotected or if only one end of a chromosomal double-strand break succeeds in recombining with a template sequence, DNA can be repaired by a recombination-dependent DNA replication process termed break-induced replication (BIR). In budding yeasts, there are two BIR pathways, one dependent on the Rad51 recombinase protein and one Rad51 independent; these two repair processes lead to different types of survivors in cells lacking the telomerase enzyme that is required for normal telomere maintenance. Recombination at telomeres is triggered by either excessive telomere shortening or disruptions in the function of telomere-binding proteins. Telomere elongation by BIR appears to often occur through a "roll and spread" mechanism. In this process, a telomeric circle produced by recombination at a dysfunctional telomere acts as a template for a rolling circle BIR event to form an elongated telomere. Additional BIR events can then copy the elongated sequence to all other telomeres.

  9. Effects of physical exercise training in DNA damage and repair activity in humans with different genetic polymorphisms of hOGG1 (Ser326Cys).

    PubMed

    Soares, Jorge Pinto; Silva, Ana Inês; Silva, Amélia M; Almeida, Vanessa; Teixeira, João Paulo; Matos, Manuela; Gaivão, Isabel; Mota, Maria Paula

    2015-12-01

    The main purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the possible influence of genetic polymorphisms of the hOGG1 (Ser326Cys) gene in DNA damage and repair activity by 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 (OGG1 enzyme) in response to 16 weeks of combined physical exercise training. Thirty-two healthy Caucasian men (40-74 years old) were enrolled in this study. All the subjects were submitted to a training of 16 weeks of combined physical exercise. The subjects with Ser/Ser genotype were considered as wild-type group (WTG), and Ser/Cys and Cys/Cys genotype were analysed together as mutant group (MG). We used comet assay in conjunction with formamidopyrimidine DNA glycoslyase (FPG) to analyse both strand breaks and FPG-sensitive sites. DNA repair activity were also analysed with the comet assay technique. Our results showed no differences between DNA damage (both strand breaks and FPG-sensitive sites) and repair activity (OGG1) between genotype groups (in the pre-training condition). Regarding the possible influence of genotype in the response to 16 weeks of physical exercise training, the results revealed a decrease in DNA strand breaks in both groups, a decrease in FPG-sensitive sites and an increase in total antioxidant capacity in the WTG, but no changes were found in MG. No significant changes in DNA repair activity was observed in both genotype groups with physical exercise training. This preliminary study suggests the possibility of different responses in DNA damage to the physical exercise training, considering the hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Radiosensitization of tumour cell lines by the polyphenol Gossypol results from depressed double-strand break repair and not from enhanced apoptosis.

    PubMed

    Kasten-Pisula, Ulla; Windhorst, Sabine; Dahm-Daphi, Jochen; Mayr, Georg; Dikomey, Ekkehard

    2007-06-01

    New drugs are needed to increase the efficiency of radiotherapy in order to improve the therapeutic outcome of tumour patients. In this respect, the polyphenol Gossypol might be of interest, because of its effect on apoptosis and DNA repair, which is either mediated directly or indirectly via the inositol phosphate metabolism. It was investigated, whether these effects result in enhanced radiosensitivity of tumour cells. Tumour cell lines investigated: A549, FaDu, H1299, MCF7 and Du145. Cell cycle distribution was determined by FACS analysis, apoptosis was measured by DAPI staining and caspase3/7 activity. Double-strand breaks (DSB) were investigated via gammaH2AX-foci and cell survival by colony formation assay. The level of inositol phosphates was determined by HPLC, protein expression by Western blot. In A549 cells, Gossypol at concentrations 1microM strongly affects proliferation with only a modest arrest in the G1-phase, but with no increase in the fraction of apoptotic cells or the number of additional DSB. Additional DSB were only seen in FaDu cells, where Gossypol (2microM) was extremely toxic with a plating efficiency <0.002. When combined with irradiation, incubation with Gossypol (1-2microM) was found to result in an enhanced radiosensitivity with, however, a substantial variation. While there was a strong radiosensitization for FaDu and Du145 cells, there was an intermediate response for A549 cells, but almost no effect for H1299 and MCF7 cells. This sensitization was not caused from an elevated rate of apoptosis, but primarily resulted from reduced DSB repair capacity. The reduction in DSB repair could be ascribed neither to changes in the level of repair proteins relevant for non-homologous end-joining (Ku70, Ku80, DNA-PKcs) nor to changes in the level of higher phosphorylated inositols, whereby the latter were even found to be enhanced by Gossypol. For some tumour cell lines treatment with low concentrations of Gossypol can be used to inhibit DSB

  11. DNA repair gene polymorphisms and risk of cutaneous melanoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Mocellin, Simone; Verdi, Daunia; Nitti, Donato

    2009-10-01

    Polymorphisms of DNA repair-related genes might modulate cancer predisposition. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available evidence regarding the relationship between these polymorphisms and the risk of developing cutaneous melanoma. Relevant studies were searched using PubMed, Medline, Embase, Cancerlit, Cochrane and ISI Web of Knowledge databases. Data were gathered according to the Meta-analysis Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines. The model-free approach was adopted to perform the meta-analysis of the retrieved data. We identified 20 original reports that describe the relationship between melanoma risk and the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 16 genes (cases = 4195). For seven SNPs considered in at least two studies, the findings were heterogeneous. Data were suitable for meta-analysis only in the case of the XPD/ERCC2 SNP rs13181 (cases = 2308, controls = 3698) and demonstrated that the variant C allele is associated with increased melanoma risk (odds ratio = 1.12, 95% confidence interval = 1.03-1.21, P = 0.01; population attributable risk = 9.6%). This is the first meta-analysis suggesting that XPD/ERCC2 might represent a low-penetrance melanoma susceptibility gene. Much work is still to be done before definitive conclusions can be drawn on the role of DNA repair alterations in melanomagenesis since for the other genes involved in this highly complex process, the available information is scarce or null.

  12. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA polymerase IV: possible involvement in double strand break DNA repair.

    PubMed

    Leem, S H; Ropp, P A; Sugino, A

    1994-08-11

    We identified and purified a new DNA polymerase (DNA polymerase IV), which is similar to mammalian DNA polymerase beta, from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and suggested that it is encoded by YCR14C (POLX) on chromosome III. Here, we provided a direct evidence that the purified DNA polymerase IV is indeed encoded by POLX. Strains harboring a pol4 deletion mutation exhibit neither mitotic growth defect nor a meiosis defect, suggesting that DNA polymerase IV participates in nonessential functions in DNA metabolism. The deletion strains did not exhibit UV-sensitivity. However, they did show weak sensitivity to MMS-treatment and exhibited a hyper-recombination phenotype when intragenic recombination was measured during meiosis. Furthermore, MAT alpha pol4 delta segregants had a higher frequency of illegitimate mating with a MAT alpha tester strain than that of wild-type cells. These results suggest that DNA polymerase IV participates in a double-strand break repair pathway. A 3.2kb of the POL4 transcript was weakly expressed in mitotically growing cells. During meiosis, a 2.2 kb POL4 transcript was greatly induced, while the 3.2 kb transcript stayed at constant levels. This induction was delayed in a swi4 delta strain during meiosis, while no effect was observed in a swi6 delta strain.

  13. PMS2 gene mutation results in DNA mismatch repair system failure in a case of adult granulosa cell tumor.

    PubMed

    Wang, Wen-Chung; Lee, Ya-Ting; Lai, Yen-Chein

    2017-03-27

    Granulosa cell tumors are rare ovarian malignancies. Their characteristics include unpredictable indolent growth with malignant potential and late recurrence. Approximately 95% are of adult type. Recent molecular studies have characterized the FOXL2 402C > G mutation in adult granulosa cell tumor. Our previous case report showed that unique FOXL2 402C > G mutation and defective DNA mismatch repair system are associated with the development of adult granulosa cell tumor. In this study, the DNA sequences of four genes, MSH2, MLH1, MSH6, and PMS2, in the DNA mismatch repair system were determined via direct sequencing to elucidate the exact mechanism for the development of this granulosa cell tumor. The results showed that two missense germline mutations, T485K and N775L, inactivate the PMS2 gene. The results of this case study indicated that although FOXL2 402C > G mutation determines the development of granulosa cell tumor, PMS2 mutation may be the initial driver of carcinogenesis. Immunohistochemistry-based tumor testing for mismatch repair gene expression may be necessary for granulosa cell tumors to determine their malignant potential or if they are part of Lynch syndrome.

  14. Chromosomal location and genetic mapping of the mismatch repair gene homologs MSH2, MSH3, and MSH6 in rye and wheat

    PubMed

    Korzun; Borner; Siebert; Malyshev; Hilpert; Kunze; Puchta

    1999-12-01

    The efficiency of homeologous recombination is influenced by mismatch repair genes in bacteria, yeast, and mammals. To elucidate a possible role of these genes in homeologous pairing and cross-compatibility in plants, gene probes of wheat (Triticum aestivum) specific for the mismatch repair gene homologues MSH2, MSH3, and MSH6 were used to map them to their genomic positions in rye (Secale cereale). Whereas MSH2 was mapped to the short arm of chromosome 1R, MSH3 was mapped to the long arm of chromosome 2R and MSH6 to the long arm of chromosome 5R. Southern blots with nullisomic-tetrasomic (NT) lines of wheat indicated the presence of the sequences on the respective homeologous group of wheat chromosomes. Additionally, an MSH6-specific homologue could also be detected on homoeologous group 3 of wheat. However, in the well-known, highly homoeologous pairing wheat mutant ph1b the MSH6-specific sequence is not within the deleted part of chromosome 5BL, indicating that the pairing phenotype is not due to a loss of one of the mismatch repair genes tested.

  15. Hydrogen cyanamide breaks grapevine bud dormancy in the summer through transient activation of gene expression and accumulation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species.

    PubMed

    Sudawan, Boonyawat; Chang, Chih-Sheng; Chao, Hsiu-Fung; Ku, Maurice S B; Yen, Yung-Fu

    2016-09-15

    Hydrogen cyanamide (HC) and pruning (P) have frequently been used to break dormancy in grapevine floral buds. However, the exact underlying mechanism remains elusive. This study aimed to address the early mode of action of these treatments on accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and expression of related genes in the dormancy breaking buds of grapevine in the summer. The budbreak rates induced by pruning (P), hydrogen cyanamide (HC), pruning plus hydrogen cyanamide (PHC) and water (control) after 8 days were 33, 53, 95, and 0 %, respectively. Clearly, HC was more effective in stimulating grapevine budbreak and P further enhanced its potency. In situ staining of longitudinal bud sections after 12 h of treatments detected high levels of ROS and nitric oxide (NO) accumulated in the buds treated with PHC, compared with HC or P alone. The amounts of ROS and NO accumulated were highly correlated with the rates of budbreak among these treatments, highlighting the importance of a rapid, transient accumulation of sublethal levels of ROS and RNS in dormancy breaking. Microarray analysis revealed specific alterations in gene expression in dormancy breaking buds induced by P, HC and PHC after 24 h of treatment. Relative to control, PHC altered the expression of the largest number of genes, while P affected the expression of the least number of genes. PHC also exerted a greater intensity in transcriptional activation of these genes. Gene ontology (GO) analysis suggests that alteration in expression of ROS related genes is the major factor responsible for budbreak. qRT-PCR analysis revealed the transient expression dynamics of 12 specific genes related to ROS generation and scavenge during the 48 h treatment with PHC. Our results suggest that rapid accumulation of ROS and NO at early stage is important for dormancy release in grapevine in the summer, and the identification of the commonly expressed specific genes among the

  16. DNA repair in Chromobacterium violaceum.

    PubMed

    Duarte, Fábio Teixeira; Carvalho, Fabíola Marques de; Bezerra e Silva, Uaska; Scortecci, Kátia Castanho; Blaha, Carlos Alfredo Galindo; Agnez-Lima, Lucymara Fassarella; Batistuzzo de Medeiros, Silvia Regina

    2004-03-31

    Chromobacterium violaceum is a Gram-negative beta-proteobacterium that inhabits a variety of ecosystems in tropical and subtropical regions, including the water and banks of the Negro River in the Brazilian Amazon. This bacterium has been the subject of extensive study over the last three decades, due to its biotechnological properties, including the characteristic violacein pigment, which has antimicrobial and anti-tumoral activities. C. violaceum promotes the solubilization of gold in a mercury-free process, and has been used in the synthesis of homopolyesters suitable for the production of biodegradable polymers. The complete genome sequence of this organism has been completed by the Brazilian National Genome Project Consortium. The aim of our group was to study the DNA repair genes in this organism, due to their importance in the maintenance of genomic integrity. We identified DNA repair genes involved in different pathways in C. violaceum through a similarity search against known sequences deposited in databases. The phylogenetic analyses were done using programs of the PHILYP package. This analysis revealed various metabolic pathways, including photoreactivation, base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, recombinational repair, and the SOS system. The similarity between the C. violaceum sequences and those of Neisserie miningitidis and Ralstonia solanacearum was greater than that between the C. violaceum and Escherichia coli sequences. The peculiarities found in the C. violaceum genome were the absence of LexA, some horizontal transfer events and a large number of repair genes involved with alkyl and oxidative DNA damage.

  17. Frameshift mutational target gene analysis identifies similarities and differences in constitutional mismatch repair-deficiency and Lynch syndrome.

    PubMed

    Maletzki, Claudia; Huehns, Maja; Bauer, Ingrid; Ripperger, Tim; Mork, Maureen M; Vilar, Eduardo; Klöcking, Sabine; Zettl, Heike; Prall, Friedrich; Linnebacher, Michael

    2017-07-01

    Mismatch-repair deficient (MMR-D) malignancies include Lynch Syndrome (LS), which is secondary to germline mutations in one of the MMR genes, and the rare childhood-form of constitutional mismatch repair-deficiency (CMMR-D); caused by bi-allelic MMR gene mutations. A hallmark of LS-associated cancers is microsatellite instability (MSI), characterized by coding frameshift mutations (cFSM) in target genes. By contrast, tumors arising in CMMR-D patients are thought to display a somatic mutation pattern differing from LS. This study has the main goal to identify cFSM in MSI target genes relevant in CMMR-D and to compare the spectrum of common somatic mutations, including alterations in DNA polymerases POLE and D1 between LS and CMMR-D. CMMR-D-associated tumors harbored more somatic mutations compared to LS cases, especially in the TP53 gene and in POLE and POLD1, where novel mutations were additionally identified. Strikingly, MSI in classical mononucleotide markers BAT40 and CAT25 was frequent in CMMR-D cases. MSI-target gene analysis revealed mutations in CMMR-D-associated tumors, some of them known to be frequently hit in LS, such as RNaseT2, HT001, and TGFβR2. Our results imply a general role for these cFSM as potential new drivers of MMR-D tumorigenesis. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. DNA Damage Induced by Alkylating Agents and Repair Pathways

    PubMed Central

    Kondo, Natsuko; Takahashi, Akihisa; Ono, Koji; Ohnishi, Takeo

    2010-01-01

    The cytotoxic effects of alkylating agents are strongly attenuated by cellular DNA repair processes, necessitating a clear understanding of the repair mechanisms. Simple methylating agents form adducts at N- and O-atoms. N-methylations are removed by base excision repair, AlkB homologues, or nucleotide excision repair (NER). O6-methylguanine (MeG), which can eventually become cytotoxic and mutagenic, is repaired by O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase, and O6MeG:T mispairs are recognized by the mismatch repair system (MMR). MMR cannot repair the O6MeG/T mispairs, which eventually lead to double-strand breaks. Bifunctional alkylating agents form interstrand cross-links (ICLs) which are more complex and highly cytotoxic. ICLs are repaired by complex of NER factors (e.g., endnuclease xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group F-excision repair cross-complementing rodent repair deficiency complementation group 1), Fanconi anemia repair, and homologous recombination. A detailed understanding of how cells cope with DNA damage caused by alkylating agents is therefore potentially useful in clinical medicine. PMID:21113301

  19. Base Excision Repair Facilitates a Functional Relationship Between Guanine Oxidation and Histone Demethylation

    PubMed Central

    Li, Jianfeng; Braganza, Andrea

    2013-01-01

    Abstract Significance: Appropriately controlled epigenetic regulation is critical for the normal development and health of an organism. Misregulation of epigenetic control via deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation or histone methylation has been associated with cancer and chromosomal instability syndromes. Recent Advances: The main function of the proteins in the base excision repair (BER) pathway is to repair DNA single-strand breaks and deamination, oxidation, and alkylation-induced DNA base damage that may result from chemotherapy, environmental exposure, or byproducts of cellular metabolism. Recent studies have suggested that one or more BER proteins may also participate in epigenetic regulation to facilitate gene expression modulation via alteration of the state of DNA methylation or via a reaction coupled to histone modification. BER proteins have also been reported to play an essential role in pluripotent stem cell reprogramming. Critical Issues: One emerging function for BER in epigenetic regulation is the repair of base lesions induced by hydrogen peroxide as a byproduct of lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) enzymatic activity (LSD1/LSD2-coupled BER) for transcriptional regulation. Future Directions: To shed light on this novel role of BER, this review focuses on the repair of oxidative lesions in nuclear DNA that are induced during LSD1-mediated histone demethylation. Further, we highlight current studies suggesting a role for BER proteins in transcriptional regulation of gene expression via BER-coupled active DNA demethylation in mammalian cells. Such efforts to address the role of BER proteins in epigenetic regulation could broaden cancer therapeutic strategies to include epigenetic modifiers combined with BER inhibitors. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 18, 2429–2443. PMID:23311711

  20. Role of UME6 in transcriptional regulation of a DNA repair gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Sweet, D H; Jang, Y K; Sancar, G B

    1997-11-01

    In Saccharomyces cerevisiae UV radiation and a variety of chemical DNA-damaging agents induce the transcription of specific genes, including several involved in DNA repair. One of the best characterized of these genes is PHR1, which encodes the apoenzyme for DNA photolyase. Basal-level and damage-induced expression of PHR1 require an upstream activation sequence, UAS(PHR1), which has homology with DRC elements found upstream of at least 19 other DNA repair and DNA metabolism genes in yeast. Here we report the identification of the UME6 gene of S. cerevisiae as a regulator of UAS(PHR1) activity. Multiple copies of UME6 stimulate expression from UAS(PHR1) and the intact PHR1 gene. Surprisingly, the effect of deletion of UME6 is growth phase dependent. In wild-type cells PHR1 is induced in late exponential phase, concomitant with the initiation of glycogen accumulation that precedes the diauxic shift. Deletion of UME6 abolishes this induction, decreases the steady-state concentration of photolyase molecules and PHR1 mRNA, and increases the UV sensitivity of a rad2 mutant. Despite the fact that UAS(PHR1) does not contain the URS1 sequence, which has been previously implicated in UME6-mediated transcriptional regulation, we find that Ume6p binds to UAS(PHR1) with an affinity and a specificity similar to those seen for a URS1 site. Similar binding is also seen for DRC elements from RAD2, RAD7, and RAD53, suggesting that UME6 contributes to the regulated expression of a subset of damage-responsive genes in yeast.

  1. Cardiogenic Genes Expressed in Cardiac Fibroblasts Contribute to Heart Development and Repair

    PubMed Central

    Furtado, Milena B.; Costa, Mauro W.; Pranoto, Edward Adi; Salimova, Ekaterina; Pinto, Alex; Lam, Nicholas T.; Park, Anthony; Snider, Paige; Chandran, Anjana; Harvey, Richard P.; Boyd, Richard; Conway, Simon J.; Pearson, James; Kaye, David M.; Rosenthal, Nadia A.

    2014-01-01

    Rationale Cardiac fibroblasts are critical to proper heart function through multiple interactions with the myocardial compartment but appreciation of their contribution has suffered from incomplete characterization and lack of cell-specific markers. Objective To generate an unbiased comparative gene expression profile of the cardiac fibroblast pool, identify and characterize the role of key genes in cardiac fibroblast function, and determine their contribution to myocardial development and regeneration. Methods and Results High-throughput cell surface and intracellular profiling of cardiac and tail fibroblasts identified canonical MSC and a surprising number of cardiogenic genes, some expressed at higher levels than in whole heart. Whilst genetically marked fibroblasts contributed heterogeneously to interstitial but not cardiomyocyte compartments in infarcted hearts, fibroblast-restricted depletion of one highly expressed cardiogenic marker, Tbx20, caused marked myocardial dysmorphology and perturbations in scar formation upon myocardial infarction. Conclusions The surprising transcriptional identity of cardiac fibroblasts, the adoption of cardiogenic gene programs and direct contribution to cardiac development and repair provokes alternative interpretations for studies on more specialized cardiac progenitors, offering a novel perspective for reinterpreting cardiac regenerative therapies. PMID:24650916

  2. The incidence of MYB gene breaks in adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary glands and its prognostic significance.

    PubMed

    Broz, Martin; Steiner, Petr; Salzman, Richard; Hauer, Lukas; Starek, Ivo

    2016-09-01

    To detect MYB gene breaks in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the salivary glands and its correlation with prognosis and selected clinical parameters MYB gene break was detected by FISH assay in 23 adenoid cystic carcinomas using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to estimate prognosis. Fifteen of 23 evaluated tumours were MYB positive and 8 MYB negative. The 10-year cumulative survival, respectively disease free interval, was 60.0%, respectively 59.3%, in MYB positive patients and 88.5%, respectively 80.0%, in MYB negative patients (long rank test, P=0.23). There were no significant differences in age, gender, perineural invasion, the presence of hematogenic or nodal metastases or degree of histopathological grading between MYB positive and MYB negative patients. A tendency to differences in the survival of patients with ACC, depending on their MYB status. MYB negative patients were predisposed to better prognosis.

  3. RPA Stabilization of Single-Stranded DNA Is Critical for Break-Induced Replication.

    PubMed

    Ruff, Patrick; Donnianni, Roberto A; Glancy, Eleanor; Oh, Julyun; Symington, Lorraine S

    2016-12-20

    DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are cytotoxic lesions that must be accurately repaired to maintain genome stability. Replication protein A (RPA) plays an important role in homology-dependent repair of DSBs by protecting the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) intermediates formed by end resection and by facilitating Rad51 loading. We found that hypomorphic mutants of RFA1 that support intra-chromosomal homologous recombination are profoundly defective for repair processes involving long tracts of DNA synthesis, in particular break-induced replication (BIR). The BIR defects of the rfa1 mutants could be partially suppressed by eliminating the Sgs1-Dna2 resection pathway, suggesting that Dna2 nuclease attacks the ssDNA formed during end resection when not fully protected by RPA. Overexpression of Rad51 was also found to suppress the rfa1 BIR defects. We suggest that Rad51 binding to the ssDNA formed by excessive end resection and during D-loop migration can partially compensate for dysfunctional RPA. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Electron Transfer Mechanisms of DNA Repair by Photolyase

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhong, Dongping

    2015-04-01

    Photolyase is a flavin photoenzyme that repairs two DNA base damage products induced by ultraviolet (UV) light: cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and 6-4 photoproducts. With femtosecond spectroscopy and site-directed mutagenesis, investigators have recently made significant advances in our understanding of UV-damaged DNA repair, and the entire enzymatic dynamics can now be mapped out in real time. For dimer repair, six elementary steps have been characterized, including three electron transfer reactions and two bond-breaking processes, and their reaction times have been determined. A unique electron-tunneling pathway was identified, and the critical residues in modulating the repair function at the active site were determined. The dynamic synergy between the elementary reactions for maintaining high repair efficiency was elucidated, and the biological nature of the flavin active state was uncovered. For 6-4 photoproduct repair, a proton-coupled electron transfer repair mechanism has been revealed. The elucidation of electron transfer mechanisms and two repair photocycles is significant and provides a molecular basis for future practical applications, such as in rational drug design for curing skin cancer.

  5. Inactivation of DNA mismatch repair by variants of uncertain significance in the PMS2 gene.

    PubMed

    Drost, Mark; Koppejan, Hester; de Wind, Niels

    2013-11-01

    Lynch syndrome (LS) is a common cancer predisposition caused by an inactivating mutation in one of four DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes. Frequently a variant of uncertain significance (VUS), rather than an obviously pathogenic mutation, is identified in one of these genes. The inability to define pathogenicity of such variants precludes targeted healthcare. Here, we have modified a cell-free assay to test VUS in the MMR gene PMS2 for functional activity. We have analyzed nearly all VUS in PMS2 found thus far and describe loss of MMR activity for five, suggesting the applicability of the assay for diagnosis of LS. © 2013 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.

  6. Aberrant methylation of nucleotide excision repair genes is associated with chronic arsenic poisoning.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Aihua; Li, Huiyao; Xiao, Yun; Chen, Liping; Zhu, Xiaonian; Li, Jun; Ma, Lu; Pan, Xueli; Chen, Wen; He, Zhini

    2017-07-01

    To define whether aberrant methylation of DNA repair genes is associated with chronic arsenic poisoning. Hundred and two endemic arsenicosis patients and 36 healthy subjects were recruited. Methylight and bisulfite sequencing (BSP) assays were used to examine the methylation status of ERCC1, ERCC2 and XPC genes in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) and skin lesions of arsenicosis patients and NaAsO 2 -treated HaCaT cells. Hypermethylation of ERCC1 and ERCC2 and suppressed gene expression were found in PBLs and skin lesions of arsenicosis patients and was correlated with the level of arsenic exposure. Particularly, the expression of ERCC1 and ERCC2 was associated with the severity of skin lesions. In vitro studies revealed an induction of ERCC2 hypermethylation and decreased mRNA expression in response to NaAsO 2 treatment. Hypermethylation of ERCC1 and ERCC2 and concomitant suppression of gene expression might be served as the epigenetic marks associated with arsenic exposure and adverse health effects.

  7. RNA repair: an antidote to cytotoxic eukaryal RNA damage.

    PubMed

    Nandakumar, Jayakrishnan; Schwer, Beate; Schaffrath, Raffael; Shuman, Stewart

    2008-07-25

    RNA healing and sealing enzymes drive informational and stress response pathways entailing repair of programmed 2',3' cyclic PO(4)/5'-OH breaks. Fungal, plant, and phage tRNA ligases use different strategies to discriminate the purposefully broken ends of the anticodon loop. Whereas phage ligase recognizes the tRNA fold, yeast and plant ligases do not and are instead hardwired to seal only the tRNA 3'-OH, 2'-PO(4) ends formed by healing of a cyclic phosphate. tRNA anticodon damage inflicted by secreted ribotoxins such as fungal gamma-toxin underlies a rudimentary innate immune system. Yeast cells are susceptible to gamma-toxin because the sealing domain of yeast tRNA ligase is unable to rectify a break at the modified wobble base of tRNA(Glu(UUC)). Plant andphage tRNA repair enzymes protect yeast from gamma-toxin because they are able to reverse the damage. Our studies underscore how a ribotoxin exploits an Achilles' heel in the target cell's tRNA repair system.

  8. DNA repair variants and breast cancer risk.

    PubMed

    Grundy, Anne; Richardson, Harriet; Schuetz, Johanna M; Burstyn, Igor; Spinelli, John J; Brooks-Wilson, Angela; Aronson, Kristan J

    2016-05-01

    A functional DNA repair system has been identified as important in the prevention of tumour development. Previous studies have hypothesized that common polymorphisms in DNA repair genes could play a role in breast cancer risk and also identified the potential for interactions between these polymorphisms and established breast cancer risk factors such as physical activity. Associations with breast cancer risk for 99 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from genes in ten DNA repair pathways were examined in a case-control study including both Europeans (644 cases, 809 controls) and East Asians (299 cases, 160 controls). Odds ratios in both additive and dominant genetic models were calculated separately for participants of European and East Asian ancestry using multivariate logistic regression. The impact of multiple comparisons was assessed by correcting for the false discovery rate within each DNA repair pathway. Interactions between several breast cancer risk factors and DNA repair SNPs were also evaluated. One SNP (rs3213282) in the gene XRCC1 was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in the dominant model of inheritance following adjustment for the false discovery rate (P < 0.05), although no associations were observed for other DNA repair SNPs. Interactions of six SNPs in multiple DNA repair pathways with physical activity were evident prior to correction for FDR, following which there was support for only one of the interaction terms (P < 0.05). No consistent associations between variants in DNA repair genes and breast cancer risk or their modification by breast cancer risk factors were observed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Structure and expression of the human XPBC/ERCC-3 gene involved in DNA repair disorders xeroderma pigmentosum and Cockayne's syndrome.

    PubMed Central

    Weeda, G; Ma, L B; van Ham, R C; van der Eb, A J; Hoeijmakers, J H

    1991-01-01

    The human XPBC/ERCC-3 was cloned by virtue of its ability to correct the excision repair defect of UV-sensitive rodent mutants of complementation group 3. The gene appeared to be in addition implicated in the human, cancer prone repair disorder xeroderma pigmentosum group B, which is also associated with Cockayne's syndrome. Here we present the genomic architecture of the gene and its expression. The XPBC/ERCC-3 gene consists of at least 14 exons spread over approximately 45 kb. Notably, the donor splice site of the third exon contains a GC instead of the canonical GT dinucleotide. The promoter region, first exon and intron comprise a CpG island with several putative GC boxes. The promoter was confined to a region of 260 bp upstream of the presumed cap site and acts bidirectionally. Like the promoter of another excision repair gene, ERCC-1, it lacks classical promoter elements such as CAAT and TATA boxes, but it shares with ERCC-1 a hitherto unknown 12 nucleotide sequence element, preceding a polypyrimidine track. Despite the presence of (AU)-rich elements in the 3'-untranslated region, which are thought to be associated with short mRNA half-life actinomycin-D experiments indicate that the mRNA is very stable (t 1/2 greater than 3h). Southern blot analysis revealed the presence of XPBC/ERCC-3 cross-hybridizing fragments elsewhere in the genome, which may belong to a related gene. Images PMID:1956789

  10. Homologous Recombination Repair Protects Against Particulate Chromate-induced Chromosome Instability in Chinese Hamster Cells

    PubMed Central

    Stackpole, Megan M.; Wise, Sandra S.; Duzevik, Eliza Grlickova; Munroe, Ray C.; Thompson, W. Douglas; Thacker, John; Thompson, Larry H.; Hinz, John M.; Wise, John Pierce

    2008-01-01

    Particulate hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] compounds are well-established human carcinogens. Cr(VI)-induced tumors are characterized by chromosomal instability (CIN); however, the mechanisms of this effect are unknown. We investigated the hypothesis that homologous recombination (HR) repair of DNA double strand breaks protect cells from Cr(VI)-induced CIN by focusing on the XRCC3 and RAD51C genes, which play an important role in cellular resistance to DNA double strand breaks. We used Chinese hamster cells defective in each HR gene (irs3 for RAD51C and irs1SF for XRCC3) and compared with their wildtype parental and cDNA-complemented controls. We found that the intracellular Cr ion levels varied among the cell lines after particulate chromate treatment. Importantly, accounting for differences in Cr ion levels, we discovered that XRCC3 and RAD51C cells treated with lead chromate had increased cytotoxicity and chromosomal aberrations, relative to wild-type and cDNA-complimented cells. We also observed the emergence of high levels of chromatid exchanges in the two mutant cell lines. For example, 1 ug/cm2 lead chromate induced 20 and 32 exchanges in XRCC3- and RAD51C-deficient cells, respectively, whereas no exchanges were detected in the wildtype and cDNA-complemented cells. These observations suggest that HR protects cells from Cr(VI)-induced CIN, consistent with the ability of particulate Cr(VI) to induce double strand breaks. PMID:17662313

  11. Discovery of DNA repair inhibitors by combinatorial library profiling

    PubMed Central

    Moeller, Benjamin J.; Sidman, Richard L.; Pasqualini, Renata; Arap, Wadih

    2011-01-01

    Small molecule inhibitors of DNA repair are emerging as potent and selective anti-cancer therapies, but the sheer magnitude of the protein networks involved in DNA repair processes poses obstacles to discovery of effective candidate drugs. To address this challenge, we used a subtractive combinatorial selection approach to identify a panel of peptide ligands that bind DNA repair complexes. Supporting the concept that these ligands have therapeutic potential, we show that one selected peptide specifically binds and non-competitively inactivates DNA-PKcs, a protein kinase critical in double-strand DNA break repair. In doing so, this ligand sensitizes BRCA-deficient tumor cells to genotoxic therapy. Our findings establish a platform for large-scale parallel screening for ligand-directed DNA repair inhibitors, with immediate applicability to cancer therapy. PMID:21343400

  12. Both base excision repair and nucleotide excision repair in humans are influenced by nutritional factors.

    PubMed

    Brevik, Asgeir; Karlsen, Anette; Azqueta, Amaya; Tirado, Anna Estaban; Blomhoff, Rune; Collins, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    Lack of reliable assays for DNA repair has largely prevented measurements of DNA repair from being included in human biomonitoring studies. Using newly developed modifications of the comet assay we tested whether a fruit- and antioxidant-rich plant-based intervention could affect base excision repair (BER) and nucleotide excision repair (NER) in a group of 102 male volunteers. BER and NER repair capacities were measured in lymphocytes before and after a dietary intervention lasting 8 weeks. The study had one control group, one group consuming three kiwifruits per day and one group consuming a variety of antioxidant-rich fruits and plant products in addition to their normal diet. DNA strand breaks were reduced following consumption of both kiwifruits (13%, p = 0.05) and antioxidant-rich plant products (20%, p = 0.02). Increased BER (55%, p = 0.01) and reduced NER (-39%, p < 0.01) were observed in the group consuming a wide variety of plant products. Reduced NER was also observed in the kiwifruit group (-38%, p = 0.05), but BER was not affected in this group. Here we have demonstrated that DNA repair is affected by diet and that modified versions of the comet assay can be used to assess activity of different DNA repair pathways in human biomonitoring studies. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Genetic polymorphisms of genes involved in DNA repair and metabolism influence micronucleus frequencies in human peripheral blood lymphocytes.

    PubMed

    Dhillon, Varinderpal S; Thomas, Philip; Iarmarcovai, G; Kirsch-Volders, Micheline; Bonassi, Stefano; Fenech, Michael

    2011-01-01

    The cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome (CBMNCyt) assay is a widely used technique for measuring DNA damage in human populations. The formation of micronuclei (MN) in dividing cells can result from chromosome breakage due to unrepaired or mis-repaired DNA lesions or chromosome malsegregation due to mitotic malfunction. The sensitivity of the MN assay to polymorphisms in various genes involved in DNA repair, activation/deactivation of carcinogens/chemicals/drugs/alcohol, folate metabolism pathway and micronutrient transport has been extensively reported in the literature. MN frequency is also an important index for determining DNA repair efficiency phenotype (including mis-repair), response to environmental exposure and identifying various dietary factors required for optimal genome stability. The aim of the present study is to review the reported in vivo associations between genotype and MN frequency in humans taking into considerations the presence of interactions with nutrients levels and/or exposure to genotoxins. One hundred and eleven publications linking MN frequency in peripheral blood lymphocytes to gene polymorphism were retrieved from PubMed. After applying exclusion criteria, only 37 studies were evaluated in the present review. Polymorphisms in XRCC1 (Arg280His), ERCC2 (Lys751Gln), CYP2E1 (c1/c2) and MTR (A2756G) were consistently associated with the MN formation. These results contribute substantial evidence to the hypothesis that genotype may influence MN frequency in human cells.

  14. Construction of a series of congenic mice with recombinant chromosome 1 regions surrounding the genetic loci for resistance to intracellular parasites (Ity, Lsh, and Bcg), DNA repair responses (Rep-1), and the cytoskeletal protein villin (Vil).

    PubMed

    Mock, B A; Holiday, D L; Cerretti, D P; Darnell, S C; O'Brien, A D; Potter, M

    1994-01-01

    The interval of mouse chromosome 1 extending from Idh-1 to Pep-3 harbors the natural resistance gene Ity/Lsh/Bcg; it controls the outcome of infection with Salmonella typhimurium, Leishmania donovani, and several Mycobacterium species. This region also contains a DNA repair gene, Rep-1, which determines the rapidity with which double-strand breaks in chromatin are repaired. BALB/cAnPt and DBA/2N mice differ in their phenotypic expression of these genes. To generate appropriate strains of mice for the study of these genes, a series of 10 C.D2 congenic strains recombinant across a 28-centimorgan interval of mouse chromosome 1 extending from Idh-1 to Pep-3 were derived from crosses of the C.D2-Idh-1 Pep-3 congenic strain back to BALB/cAn. Analyses of these recombinant strains will allow the correlation of biological-immunological phenotypes with defined genetic regions.

  15. Recruitment of RecA homologs Dmc1p and Rad51p to the double-strand break repair site initiated by meiosis-specific endonuclease VDE (PI-SceI).

    PubMed

    Fukuda, Tomoyuki; Ohya, Yoshikazu

    2006-02-01

    During meiosis, VDE (PI-SceI), a homing endonuclease in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, introduces a double-strand break (DSB) at its recognition sequence and induces homologous recombinational repair, called homing. Meiosis-specific RecA homolog Dmc1p, as well as mitotic RecA homolog Rad51p, acts in the process of meiotic recombination, being required for strand invasion and exchange. In this study, recruitment of Dmc1p and Rad51p to the VDE-induced DSB repair site is investigated by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. It is revealed that Dmc1p and Rad51p are loaded to the repair site in an independent manner. Association of Rad51p requires other DSB repair proteins of Rad52p, Rad55p, and Rad57p, while loading of Dmc1p is facilitated by the different protein, Sae3p. Absence of Tid1p, which can bind both RecA homologs, appears specifically to cause an abnormal distribution of Dmc1p. Lack of Hop2, Mnd1p, and Sae1p does not impair recruitment of both RecA homologs. These findings reveal the discrete functions of each strand invasion protein in VDE-initiated homing, confirm the similarity between VDE-initiated homing and Spo11p-initiated meiotic recombination, and demonstrate the availability of VDE-initiated homing for the study of meiotic recombination.

  16. Potential of the homeopathic remedy, Arnica Montana 30C, to reduce DNA damage in Escherichia coli exposed to ultraviolet irradiation through up-regulation of nucleotide excision repair genes.

    PubMed

    Das, Sreemanti; Saha, Santu Kumar; De, Arnab; Das, Durba; Khuda-Bukhsh, Anisur Rahman

    2012-03-01

    To examine to what degree an ultra-highly diluted homeopathic remedy, Arnica Montana 30C (AM-30C), used in the treatment of shock and injury, can modulate the expression of nucleotide excision repair genes in Escherichia coli exposed to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. E. coli were cultured to their log phase in a standard Luria-Bertani medium and then exposed to sublethal doses of UV irradiation at 25 and 50 J/m(2) for 22.5 and 45 s, respectively. The UV-exposed bacteria were then supplemented with either AM-30C (drug) or placebo (P-30C). The drug-treated and placebo-treated bacteria were subjected to assay for DNA damage and oxidative stress 90 min after UV exposure. Several protocols like comet assay, gel electrophoresis for DNA ladder and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and biomarker measurement like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and reduced glutathione (GSH) were conducted. The mRNA expressions of the excision repair genes like ultraviolet repair uvrA, B and C genes (or also known as excision repair genes) were estimated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction method. The UV-exposed bacteria showed DNA damage and oxidative stress, as revealed by an increase in ROS generation, and a decrease in SOD, CAT and GSH activities. As compared to placebo, the AM-30C-treated bacteria showed less DNA damage and oxidative stress as manifested by a decrease in ROS generation, and an increase in SOD, CAT and GSH activities. AM-30C also up-regulated the expression of repair genes as compared to the control. AM-30C helped repair the DNA damage through up-regulation of repair genes and also ameliorated the oxidative stress through the reduction of ROS generation and suitable modulation of anti-oxidative stress enzymes.

  17. Phosphoramide mustard exposure induces DNA adduct formation and the DNA damage repair response in rat ovarian granulosa cells

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ganesan, Shanthi, E-mail: shanthig@iastate.edu; Keating, Aileen F., E-mail: akeating@iastate.edu

    Phosphoramide mustard (PM), the ovotoxic metabolite of the anti-cancer agent cyclophosphamide (CPA), destroys rapidly dividing cells by forming NOR-G-OH, NOR-G and G-NOR-G adducts with DNA, potentially leading to DNA damage. A previous study demonstrated that PM induces ovarian DNA damage in rat ovaries. To investigate whether PM induces DNA adduct formation, DNA damage and induction of the DNA repair response, rat spontaneously immortalized granulosa cells (SIGCs) were treated with vehicle control (1% DMSO) or PM (3 or 6 μM) for 24 or 48 h. Cell viability was reduced (P < 0.05) after 48 h of exposure to 3 or 6more » μM PM. The NOR-G-OH DNA adduct was detected after 24 h of 6 μM PM exposure, while the more cytotoxic G-NOR-G DNA adduct was formed after 48 h by exposure to both PM concentrations. Phosphorylated H2AX (γH2AX), a marker of DNA double stranded break occurrence, was also increased by PM exposure, coincident with DNA adduct formation. Additionally, induction of genes (Atm, Parp1, Prkdc, Xrcc6, and Brca1) and proteins (ATM, γH2AX, PARP-1, PRKDC, XRCC6, and BRCA1) involved in DNA repair were observed in both a time- and dose-dependent manner. These data support that PM induces DNA adduct formation in ovarian granulosa cells, induces DNA damage and elicits the ovarian DNA repair response. - Highlights: • PM forms ovarian DNA adducts. • DNA damage marker γH2AX increased by PM exposure. • PM induces ovarian DNA double strand break repair.« less

  18. The over-expression of the β2 catalytic subunit of the proteasome decreases homologous recombination and impairs DNA double-strand break repair in human cells.

    PubMed

    Collavoli, Anita; Comelli, Laura; Cervelli, Tiziana; Galli, Alvaro

    2011-01-01

    By a human cDNA library screening, we have previously identified two sequences coding two different catalytic subunits of the proteasome which increase homologous recombination (HR) when overexpressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we investigated the effect of proteasome on spontaneous HR and DNA repair in human cells. To determine if the proteasome has a role in the occurrence of spontaneous HR in human cells, we overexpressed the β2 subunit of the proteasome in HeLa cells and determined the effect on intrachromosomal HR. Results showed that the overexpression of β2 subunit decreased HR in human cells without altering the cell proteasome activity and the Rad51p level. Moreover, exposure to MG132 that inhibits the proteasome activity reduced HR in human cells. We also found that the expression of the β2 subunit increases the sensitivity to the camptothecin that induces DNA double-strand break (DSB). This suggests that the β2 subunit has an active role in HR and DSB repair but does not alter the intracellular level of the Rad51p.

  19. The Over-expression of the β2 Catalytic Subunit of the Proteasome Decreases Homologous Recombination and Impairs DNA Double-Strand Break Repair in Human Cells

    PubMed Central

    Collavoli, Anita; Comelli, Laura; Cervelli, Tiziana; Galli, Alvaro

    2011-01-01

    By a human cDNA library screening, we have previously identified two sequences coding two different catalytic subunits of the proteasome which increase homologous recombination (HR) when overexpressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we investigated the effect of proteasome on spontaneous HR and DNA repair in human cells. To determine if the proteasome has a role in the occurrence of spontaneous HR in human cells, we overexpressed the β2 subunit of the proteasome in HeLa cells and determined the effect on intrachromosomal HR. Results showed that the overexpression of β2 subunit decreased HR in human cells without altering the cell proteasome activity and the Rad51p level. Moreover, exposure to MG132 that inhibits the proteasome activity reduced HR in human cells. We also found that the expression of the β2 subunit increases the sensitivity to the camptothecin that induces DNA double-strand break (DSB). This suggests that the β2 subunit has an active role in HR and DSB repair but does not alter the intracellular level of the Rad51p. PMID:21660142

  20. Predictive models for mutations in mismatch repair genes: implication for genetic counseling in developing countries.

    PubMed

    Monteiro Santos, Erika Maria; Valentin, Mev Dominguez; Carneiro, Felipe; de Oliveira, Ligia Petrolini; de Oliveira Ferreira, Fabio; Junior, Samuel Aguiar; Nakagawa, Wilson Toshihiko; Gomy, Israel; de Faria Ferraz, Victor Evangelista; da Silva Junior, Wilson Araujo; Carraro, Dirce Maria; Rossi, Benedito Mauro

    2012-02-09

    Lynch syndrome (LS) is the most common form of inherited predisposition to colorectal cancer (CRC), accounting for 2-5% of all CRC. LS is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by mutations in the mismatch repair genes mutL homolog 1 (MLH1), mutS homolog 2 (MSH2), postmeiotic segregation increased 1 (PMS1), post-meiotic segregation increased 2 (PMS2) and mutS homolog 6 (MSH6). Mutation risk prediction models can be incorporated into clinical practice, facilitating the decision-making process and identifying individuals for molecular investigation. This is extremely important in countries with limited economic resources. This study aims to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of five predictive models for germline mutations in repair genes in a sample of individuals with suspected Lynch syndrome. Blood samples from 88 patients were analyzed through sequencing MLH1, MSH2 and MSH6 genes. The probability of detecting a mutation was calculated using the PREMM, Barnetson, MMRpro, Wijnen and Myriad models. To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the models, receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed. Of the 88 patients included in this analysis, 31 mutations were identified: 16 were found in the MSH2 gene, 15 in the MLH1 gene and no pathogenic mutations were identified in the MSH6 gene. It was observed that the AUC for the PREMM (0.846), Barnetson (0.850), MMRpro (0.821) and Wijnen (0.807) models did not present significant statistical difference. The Myriad model presented lower AUC (0.704) than the four other models evaluated. Considering thresholds of ≥ 5%, the models sensitivity varied between 1 (Myriad) and 0.87 (Wijnen) and specificity ranged from 0 (Myriad) to 0.38 (Barnetson). The Barnetson, PREMM, MMRpro and Wijnen models present similar AUC. The AUC of the Myriad model is statistically inferior to the four other models.

  1. Stochastic properties of radiation-induced DSB: DSB distributions in large scale chromatin loops, the HPRT gene and within the visible volumes of DNA repair foci.

    PubMed

    Ponomarev, Artem L; Costes, Sylvain V; Cucinotta, Francis A

    2008-11-01

    We computed probabilities to have multiple double-strand breaks (DSB), which are produced in DNA on a regional scale, and not in close vicinity, in volumes matching the size of DNA damage foci, of a large chromatin loop, and in the physical volume of DNA containing the HPRT (human hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase) locus. The model is based on a Monte Carlo description of DSB formation by heavy ions in the spatial context of the entire human genome contained within the cell nucleus, as well as at the gene sequence level. We showed that a finite physical volume corresponding to a visible DNA repair focus, believed to be associated with one DSB, can contain multiple DSB due to heavy ion track structure and the DNA supercoiled topography. A corrective distribution was introduced, which was a conditional probability to have excess DSB in a focus volume, given that there was already one present. The corrective distribution was calculated for 19.5 MeV/amu N ions, 3.77 MeV/amu alpha-particles, 1000 MeV/amu Fe ions, and X-rays. The corrected initial DSB yield from the experimental data on DNA repair foci was calculated. The DSB yield based on the corrective function converts the focus yield into the DSB yield, which is comparable with the DSB yield based on the earlier PFGE experiments. The distribution of DSB within the physical limits of the HPRT gene was analyzed by a similar method as well. This corrective procedure shows the applicability of the model and empowers the researcher with a tool to better analyze focus statistics. The model enables researchers to analyze the DSB yield based on focus statistics in real experimental situations that lack one-to-one focus-to-DSB correspondance.

  2. Gene manipulated peritoneal cell patch repairs infarcted myocardium

    PubMed Central

    Huang, Wei; Zhang, Dongsheng; Millard, Ronald W.; Wang, Tao; Zhao, Tiemin; Fan, Guo-Chang; Ashraf, Atif; Xu, Meifeng; Ashraf, Muhammad; Wang, Yigang

    2010-01-01

    A gene manipulated cell patch using a homologous peritoneum substrate was developed and applied after myocardial infarction to repair scarred myocardium. We genetically engineered male rat mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) using adenoviral transduction to over-express CXCR4/green fluorescent protein (GFP) (MSCCXCR4) or MSCNull or siRNA targeting CXCR4 (MSCsiRNA). Gene expression was studied by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cells were cultured on excised peritoneum for 9 days. Two weeks after left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery ligation in female hearts, the peritoneum patch was applied over the scarred myocardium, cell side down. Efficacy of engraftment was determined by presence of GFP positive cells. One month after cell implantation, echocardiography was performed and hearts were harvested for histological analysis. Left ventricle (LV) fibrosis, LV anterior wall thickness (AWT) and blood vessel density at the margins of the graft were measured. There was significant up-regulation of the chemokines in the MSCCXCR4 group cultured under normoxic conditions when compared to the MSCNull group and a further increase was observed after exposure to hypoxia. One month after cell transplantation with the peritoneum patch, substantial numbers of GFP-positive cells were observed in and around the infarcted myocardium in MSCCXCR4 group. LV AWT, LV fibrosis and LV function were significantly improved in the MSCCXCR4 group as compared to these same variables in the MSCNull control. These salutary effects were absent in MSCsiRNA group. The gene manipulated MSC-seeded peritoneum patch promotes tissue nutrition (angiogenesis), reduces myocardial remodeling, and enhances heart function after myocardial infarction. PMID:19913551

  3. DNA damage induction and/or repair as mammalian cell biomarker for the prediction of cellular radiation response

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baumstark-Khan, C.

    DNA damage and its repair processes are key factors in cancer induction and also in the treatment of malignancies. Cancer prevention during extended space missions becomes a topic of great importance for space radiobiology. The knowledge of individual responsiveness would allow the protection strategy to be tailored optimally in each case. Radiobiological analysis of cultured cells derived from tissue explants from individuals has shown that measurement of the surviving fraction after 2 Gy (SF2) may be used to predict the individual responsiveness. However, clonogenic assays are timeconsuming, thus alternative assays for the determination of radiore-sponse are being sought. For that reason CHO cell strains having different repair capacities were used for examining whether DNA strand break repair is a suitable experimental design to allow predictive statements. Cellular survival (CFA assay) and DNA strand breaks (total DNA strand breaks: FADU technique; DSBs: non-denaturing elution) were determined in parallel immediately after irradiation as well as after a 24 hour recovery period according to dose. There were no correlations between the dose-response curves of the initial level of DNA strand breaks and parameters that describe clonogenic survival curves (SF2). A good correlation exists between intrinsic cellular radioresistance and the extent of residual DNA strand breaks.

  4. Replication factor C1 (RFC1) is required for double-strand break repair during meiotic homologous recombination in Arabidopsis.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yang; Deng, Yingtian; Li, Gang; Zhao, Jie

    2013-01-01

    Replication factor C1 (RFC1), which is conserved in eukaryotes, is involved in DNA replication and checkpoint control. However, a RFC1 product participating in DNA repair at meiosis has not been reported in Arabidopsis. Here, we report functional characterization of AtRFC1 through analysis of the rfc1-2 mutant. The rfc1-2 mutant displayed normal vegetative growth but showed silique sterility because the male gametophyte was arrested at the uninucleus microspore stage and the female at the functional megaspore stage. Expression of AtRFC1 was concentrated in the reproductive organ primordia, meiocytes and developing gametes. Chromosome spreads showed that pairing and synapsis were normal, and the chromosomes were broken when desynapsis began at late prophase I, and chromosome fragments remained in the subsequent stages. For this reason, homologous chromosomes and sister chromatids segregated unequally, leading to pollen sterility. Immunolocalization revealed that the AtRFC1 protein localized to the chromosomes during zygotene and pachytene in wild-type but were absent in the spo11-1 mutant. The chromosome fragmentation of rfc1-2 was suppressed by spo11-1, indicating that AtRFC1 acted downstream of AtSPO11-1. The similar chromosome behavior of rad51 rfc1-2 and rad51 suggests that AtRFC1 may act with AtRAD51 in the same pathway. In summary, AtRFC1 is required for DNA double-strand break repair during meiotic homologous recombination of Arabidopsis. © 2012 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  5. A mutation in the XPB/ERCC3 DNA repair transcription gene, associated with trichothiodystrophy.

    PubMed Central

    Weeda, G; Eveno, E; Donker, I; Vermeulen, W; Chevallier-Lagente, O; Taïeb, A; Stary, A; Hoeijmakers, J H; Mezzina, M; Sarasin, A

    1997-01-01

    Trichothiodystrophy (TTD) is a rare, autosomal recessive disorder characterized by sulfur-deficient brittle hair and nails, mental retardation, impaired sexual development, and ichthyosis. Photosensitivity has been reported in approximately 50% of the cases, but no skin cancer is associated with TTD. Virtually all photosensitive TTD patients have a deficiency in the nucleotide excision repair (NER) of UV-induced DNA damage that is indistinguishable from that of xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) complementation group D (XP-D) patients. DNA repair defects in XP-D are associated with two additional, quite different diseases; XP, a sun-sensitive and cancer-prone repair disorder, and Cockayne syndrome (CS), a photosensitive condition characterized by physical and mental retardation and wizened facial appearance. One photosensitive TTD case constitutes a new repair-deficient complementation group, TTD-A. Remarkably, both TTD-A and XP-D defects are associated with subunits of TFIIH, a basal transcription factor with a second function in DNA repair. Thus, mutations in TFIIH components may, on top of a repair defect, also cause transcriptional insufficiency, which may explain part of the non-XP clinical features of TTD. Besides XPD and TTDA, the XPB gene product is also part of TFIIH. To date, three patients with the remarkable conjunction of XP and CS but not TTD have been assigned to XP complementation group B (XP-B). Here we present the characterization of the NER defect in two mild TTD patients (TTD6VI and TTD4VI) and confirm the assignment to X-PB. The causative mutation was found to be a single base substitution resulting in a missense mutation (T119P) in a region of the XPB protein completely conserved in yeast, Drosophila, mouse, and man. These findings define a third TTD complementation group, extend the clinical heterogeneity associated with XP-B, stress the exclusive relationship between TTD and mutations in subunits of repair/transcription factor TFIIH, and strongly

  6. Expression of DNA repair genes in burned skin exposed to low-level red laser.

    PubMed

    Trajano, Eduardo Tavares Lima; Mencalha, Andre Luiz; Monte-Alto-Costa, Andréa; Pôrto, Luís Cristóvão; de Souza da Fonseca, Adenilson

    2014-11-01

    Although red laser lights lie in the region of non-ionizing radiations in the electromagnetic spectrum, there are doubts whether absorption of these radiations causes lesions in the DNA molecule. Our aim was to investigate the expression of the genes involved with base excision and nucleotide excision repair pathways in skin tissue submitted to burn injury and exposed to low-level red laser. Wistar rats were divided as follows: control group-rats burned and not irradiated, laser group-rats burned and irradiated 1 day after injury for five consecutive days, and later laser group-rats injured and treated 4 days after injury for five consecutive days. Irradiation was performed according to a clinical protocol (20 J/cm(2), 100 mW, continuous wave emission mode). The animals were sacrificed on day 10, and scarred tissue samples were withdrawn for total RNA extraction, complementary DNA (cDNA) synthesis, and evaluation of gene expression by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Low-level red laser exposure (1) reduces the expression of APE1 messenger (mRNA), (2) increases the expression of OGG1 mRNA, (3) reduces the expression of XPC mRNA, and (4) increases the expression of XPA mRNA both in laser and later laser groups. Red laser exposure at therapeutic fluences alters the expression of genes related to base excision and nucleotide excision pathways of DNA repair during wound healing of burned skin.

  7. Nontoxic concentration of DNA-PK inhibitor NU7441 radio-sensitizes lung tumor cells with little effect on double strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Sunada, Shigeaki; Kanai, Hideki; Lee, Younghyun; Yasuda, Takeshi; Hirakawa, Hirokazu; Liu, Cuihua; Fujimori, Akira; Uesaka, Mitsuru; Okayasu, Ryuichi

    2016-09-01

    High-linear energy transfer (LET) heavy ions have been increasingly employed as a useful alternative to conventional photon radiotherapy. As recent studies suggested that high LET radiation mainly affects the nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway of DNA double strand break (DSB) repair, we further investigated this concept by evaluating the combined effect of an NHEJ inhibitor (NU7441) at a non-toxic concentration and carbon ions. NU7441-treated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) A549 and H1299 cells were irradiated with X-rays and carbon ions (290 MeV/n, 50 keV/μm). Cell survival was measured by clonogenic assay. DNA DSB repair, cell cycle distribution, DNA fragmentation and cellular senescence induction were studied using a flow cytometer. Senescence-associated protein p21 was detected by western blotting. In the present study, 0.3 μM of NU7441, nontoxic to both normal and tumor cells, caused a significant radio-sensitization in tumor cells exposed to X-rays and carbon ions. This concentration did not seem to cause inhibition of DNA DSB repair but induced a significant G2/M arrest, which was particularly emphasized in p53-null H1299 cells treated with NU7441 and carbon ions. In addition, the combined treatment induced more DNA fragmentation and a higher degree of senescence in H1299 cells than in A549 cells, indicating that DNA-PK inhibitor contributes to various modes of cell death in a p53-dependent manner. In summary, NSCLC cells irradiated with carbon ions were radio-sensitized by a low concentration of DNA-PK inhibitor NU7441 through a strong G2/M cell cycle arrest. Our findings may contribute to further effective radiotherapy using heavy ions. © 2016 The Authors. Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.

  8. Optimised detection of mitochondrial DNA strand breaks.

    PubMed

    Hanna, Rebecca; Crowther, Jonathan M; Bulsara, Pallav A; Wang, Xuying; Moore, David J; Birch-Machin, Mark A

    2018-05-04

    Intrinsic and extrinsic factors that induce cellular oxidative stress damage tissue integrity and promote ageing, resulting in accumulative strand breaks to the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome. Limited repair mechanisms and close proximity to superoxide generation make mtDNA a prominent biomarker of oxidative damage. Using human DNA we describe an optimised long-range qPCR methodology that sensitively detects mtDNA strand breaks relative to a suite of short mitochondrial and nuclear DNA housekeeping amplicons, which control for any variation in mtDNA copy number. An application is demonstrated by detecting 16-36-fold mtDNA damage in human skin cells induced by hydrogen peroxide and solar simulated radiation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. and Mitochondria Research Society. All rights reserved.

  9. Repair of clustered DNA damage caused by high LET radiation in human fibroblasts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rydberg, B.; Lobrich, M.; Cooper, P. K.; Chatterjee, A. (Principal Investigator)

    1998-01-01

    It has recently been demonstrated experimentally that DNA damage induced by high LET radiation in mammalian cells is non-randomly distributed along the DNA molecule in the form of clusters of various sizes. The sizes of such clusters range from a few base-pairs to at least 200 kilobase-pairs. The high biological efficiency of high LET radiation for induction of relevant biological endpoints is probably a consequence of this clustering, although the exact mechanisms by which the clustering affects the biological outcome is not known. We discuss here results for induction and repair of base damage, single-strand breaks and double-strand breaks for low and high LET radiations. These results are discussed in the context of clustering. Of particular interest is to determine how clustering at different scales affects overall rejoining and fidelity of rejoining of DNA double-strand breaks. However, existing methods for measuring repair of DNA strand breaks are unable to resolve breaks that are close together in a cluster. This causes problems in interpretation of current results from high LET radiation and will require new methods to be developed.

  10. Polymorphism in the DNA repair gene XPD, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts, cigarette smoking, and breast cancer risk.

    PubMed

    Terry, Mary Beth; Gammon, Marilie D; Zhang, Fang Fang; Eng, Sybil M; Sagiv, Sharon K; Paykin, Andrea B; Wang, Qiao; Hayes, Sharon; Teitelbaum, Susan L; Neugut, Alfred I; Santella, Regina M

    2004-12-01

    DNA repair is essential to an individual's ability to respond to damage caused by environmental carcinogens. Alterations in DNA repair genes may affect cancer risk by influencing individual susceptibility to environmental exposures. XPD, a gene involved in nucleotide excision repair, may influence individual DNA repair capacity particularly of bulky adducts. Using a population-based breast cancer case-control study that was specifically conducted to examine markers of environmental exposures, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), on Long Island, NY, we examined whether XPD genotype modified the associations among PAH-DNA adducts, cigarette smoking, and breast cancer risk. Specifically, we examined the XPD polymorphism at exon 23, position 751 in 1,053 breast cancer cases and 1,102 population-based controls. The presence of at least one variant allele (Lys/Gln or Gln/Gln) was associated with a 20% increase in risk of breast cancer [odds ratio (OR), 1.21; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.01-1.44]. The increase in risk for homozygosity of the variant allele (Gln/Gln) seemed limited to those with PAH-DNA adduct levels above the median(OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 0.99-2.63 for adducts above the median versus OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.64-1.74 for adductsbelow the median), although the multiplicative interaction was not statistically significant. The increasein risk for homozygosity of the variant allele (Gln/Gln) was only seen among current smokers (OR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.02-3.81 for current smokers versus OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.57-1.32 for never smokers); the multiplicative interaction was statistically significant. Overall, this study suggests that those individuals with this polymorphism in the XPD gene may face an increased risk of breast cancer from PAH-DNA adducts and cigarette smoking.

  11. Homozygous germ-line mutation of the PMS2 mismatch repair gene: a unique case report of constitutional mismatch repair deficiency (CMMRD).

    PubMed

    Ramchander, N C; Ryan, N A J; Crosbie, E J; Evans, D G

    2017-04-05

    Constitutional mismatch repair deficiency syndrome results from bi-allelic inheritance of mutations affecting the key DNA mismatch repair genes: MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 or PMS2. Individuals with bi-allelic mutations have a dysfunctional mismatch repair system from birth; as a result, constitutional mismatch repair deficiency syndrome is characterised by early onset malignancies. Fewer than 150 cases have been reported in the literature over the past 20 years. This is the first report of the founder PMS2 mutation - NM_000535.5:c.1500del (p.Val501TrpfsTer94) in exon 11 and its associated cancers in this family. The proband is 30 years old and is alive today. She is of Pakistani ethnic origin and a product of consanguinity. She initially presented aged 24 with painless bleeding per-rectum from colorectal polyps and was referred to clinical genetics. Clinical examination revealed two café-au-lait lesions, lichen planus, and a dermoid cyst. Her sister had been diagnosed in childhood with an aggressive brain tumour followed by colorectal cancer. During follow up, the proband developed 37 colorectal adenomatous polyps, synchronous ovarian and endometrial adenocarcinomas, and ultimately a metachronous gastric adenocarcinoma. DNA sequencing of peripheral lymphocytes revealed a bi-allelic inheritance of the PMS2 mutation NM_000535.5:c.1500del (p.Val501TrpfsTer94) in exon 11. Ovarian tumour tissue demonstrated low microsatellite instability. To date, she has had a total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and a total gastrectomy. Aspirin and oestrogen-only hormone replacement therapy provide some chemoprophylaxis and manage postmenopausal symptoms, respectively. An 18-monthly colonoscopy surveillance programme has led to the excision of three high-grade dysplastic colorectal tubular adenomatous polyps. The proband's family pedigree displays multiple relatives with cancers including a likely case of 'true' Turcot syndrome. Constitutional mismatch repair

  12. Epigenetic alteration of mismatch repair genes in the population chronically exposed to arsenic in West Bengal, India.

    PubMed

    Bhattacharjee, Pritha; Sanyal, Tamalika; Bhattacharjee, Sandip; Bhattacharjee, Pritha

    2018-05-01

    Arsenic exposure and its adverse health outcome, including the association with cancer risk are well established from several studies across the globe. The present study aims to analyze the epigenetic regulation of key mismatch repair (MMR) genes in the arsenic-exposed population. A case-control study was conducted involving two hundred twenty four (N=224) arsenic exposed [with skin lesion (WSL=110) and without skin lesion (WOSL=114)] and one hundred and two (N=102) unexposed individuals. The methylation status of key MMR genes i.e. MLH1, MSH2, and PMS2 were analyzed using methylation-specific PCR (MSP). The gene expression was studied by qRTPCR. The expression of H3K36me3, which was earlier reported to be an important regulator of MMR pathway, was assessed using ELISA. Arsenic-exposed individuals showed significant promoter hypermethylation (p < 0.0001) of MLH1 and MSH2 compared to those unexposed with consequent down-regulation in their gene expression [MLH1 (p=0.001) and MSH2 (p<0.05)]. However, no significant association was found in expression and methylation of PMS2 with arsenic exposure. We found significant down-regulation of H3K36me3 in the arsenic-exposed group, most significantly in the WSL group (p<0.0001). The expression of SETD2, the methyltransferase of an H3K36me3 moiety was found to be unaltered in arsenic exposure, suggesting the involvement of other regulatory factors yet to be identified. In summary, the epigenetic repression of DNA damage repair genes due to promoter hypermethylation of MLH1 and MSH2 and inefficient recruitment of MMR complex at the site of DNA damage owing to the reduced level of H3K36me3 impairs the mismatch repair pathway that might render the arsenic-exposed individuals more susceptible towards DNA damage and associated cancer risk. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Genome-wide mapping of nuclear mitochondrial DNA sequences links DNA replication origins to chromosomal double-strand break formation in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

    PubMed Central

    Lenglez, Sandrine; Hermand, Damien; Decottignies, Anabelle

    2010-01-01

    Chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs) threaten genome integrity and repair of these lesions is often mutagenic. How and where DSBs are formed is a major question conveniently addressed in simple model organisms like yeast. NUMTs, nuclear DNA sequences of mitochondrial origin, are present in most eukaryotic genomes and probably result from the capture of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragments into chromosomal breaks. NUMT formation is ongoing and was reported to cause de novo human genetic diseases. Study of NUMTs is likely to contribute to the understanding of naturally occurring chromosomal breaks. We show that Schizosaccharomyces pombe NUMTs are exclusively located in noncoding regions with no preference for gene promoters and, when located into promoters, do not affect gene transcription level. Strikingly, most noncoding regions comprising NUMTs are also associated with a DNA replication origin (ORI). Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that chromosomal NUMTs are probably not acting as ORI on their own but that mtDNA insertions occurred directly next to ORIs, suggesting that these loci may be prone to DSB formation. Accordingly, induction of excessive DNA replication origin firing, a phenomenon often associated with human tumor formation, resulted in frequent nucleotide deletion events within ORI3001 subtelomeric chromosomal locus, illustrating a novel aspect of DNA replication-driven genomic instability. How mtDNA is fragmented is another important issue that we addressed by sequencing experimentally induced NUMTs. This highlighted regions of S. pombe mtDNA prone to breaking. Together with an analysis of human NUMTs, we propose that these fragile sites in mtDNA may correspond to replication pause sites. PMID:20688779

  14. BRCA Mutations, DNA Repair Deficiency, and Ovarian Aging1

    PubMed Central

    Oktay, Kutluk; Turan, Volkan; Titus, Shiny; Stobezki, Robert; Liu, Lin

    2015-01-01

    Oocyte aging has a significant impact on reproductive outcomes both quantitatively and qualitatively. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the age-related decline in reproductive success have not been fully addressed. BRCA is known to be involved in homologous DNA recombination and plays an essential role in double-strand DNA break repair. Given the growing body of laboratory and clinical evidence, we performed a systematic review on the current understanding of the role of DNA repair in human reproduction. We find that BRCA mutations negatively affect ovarian reserve based on convincing evidence from in vitro and in vivo results and prospective studies. Because decline in the function of the intact gene occurs at an earlier age, women with BRCA1 mutations exhibit accelerated ovarian aging, unlike those with BRCA2 mutations. However, because of the still robust function of the intact allele in younger women and because of the masking of most severe cases by prophylactic oophorectomy or cancer, it is less likely one would see an effect of BRCA mutations on fertility until later in reproductive age. The impact of BRCA2 mutations on reproductive function may be less visible because of the delayed decline in the function of normal BRCA2 allele. BRCA1 function and ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated (ATM)-mediated DNA repair may also be important in the pathogenesis of age-induced increase in aneuploidy. BRCA1 is required for meiotic spindle assembly, and cohesion function between sister chromatids is also regulated by ATM family member proteins. Taken together, these findings strongly suggest the implication of BRCA and DNA repair malfunction in ovarian aging. PMID:26224004

  15. Significant accumulation of persistent organic pollutants and dysregulation in multiple DNA damage repair pathways in the electronic-waste-exposed populations.

    PubMed

    He, Xiaobo; Jing, Yaqing; Wang, Jianhai; Li, Keqiu; Yang, Qiaoyun; Zhao, Yuxia; Li, Ran; Ge, Jie; Qiu, Xinghua; Li, Guang

    2015-02-01

    Electronic waste (e-waste) has created a worldwide environmental and health problem, by generating a diverse group of hazardous compounds such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Our previous studies demonstrated that populations from e-waste exposed region have a significantly higher level of chromosomal aberrancy and incidence of DNA damage. In this study, we further demonstrated that various POPs persisted at a significantly higher concentration in the exposed group than those in the unexposed group. The level of reactive oxygen species and micronucleus rate were also significantly elevated in the exposed group. RNA sequencing analysis revealed 31 genes in DNA damage responses and repair pathways that were differentially expressed between the two groups (Log2 ratio >1 or <-1). Our data demonstrated that both females and males of the exposed group have activated a series of DNA damage response genes; however many important DNA repair pathways have been dysregulated. Expressions of NEIL1/3 and RPA3, which are critical in initiating base pair and nucleotide excision repairs respectively, have been downregulated in both females and males of the exposed group. In contrast, expression of RNF8, an E3 ligase involved in an error prone non-homologous end joining repair for DNA double strand break, was upregulated in both genders of the exposed group. The other genes appeared to be differentially expressed only when the males or females of the two groups were compared respectively. Importantly, the expression of cell cycle regulatory gene CDC25A that has been implicated in multiple kinds of malignant transformation was significantly upregulated among the exposed males while downregulated among the exposed females. In conclusion, our studies have demonstrated significant correlations between e-waste disposing and POPs accumulation, DNA lesions and dysregulation of multiple DNA damage repair mechanisms in the residents of the e-waste exposed region. Copyright © 2014

  16. Mechanisms and Consequences of Double-strand DNA Break Formation in Chromatin

    PubMed Central

    Cannan, Wendy J.; Pederson, David S.

    2016-01-01

    All organisms suffer double-strand breaks (DSBs) in their DNA as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation. DSBs can also form when replication forks encounter DNA lesions or repair intermediates. The processing and repair of DSBs can lead to mutations, loss of heterozygosity, and chromosome rearrangements that result in cell death or cancer. The most common pathway used to repair DSBs in metazoans (non-homologous DNA end joining) is more commonly mutagenic than the alternative pathway (homologous recombination mediated repair). Thus, factors that influence the choice of pathways used DSB repair can affect an individual’s mutation burden and risk of cancer. This review describes radiological, chemical and biological mechanisms that generate DSBs, and discusses the impact of such variables as DSB etiology, cell type, cell cycle, and chromatin structure on the yield, distribution, and processing of DSBs. The final section focuses on nucleosome-specific mechanisms that influence DSB production, and the possible relationship between higher order chromosome coiling and chromosome shattering (chromothripsis). PMID:26040249

  17. Xrcc1-dependent and Ku-dependent DNA double-strand break repair kinetics in Arabidopsis plants.

    PubMed

    Charbonnel, Cyril; Gallego, Maria E; White, Charles I

    2010-10-01

    Double-strand breakage (DSB) of DNA involves loss of information on the two strands of the DNA fibre and thus cannot be repaired by simple copying of the complementary strand which is possible with single-strand DNA damage. Homologous recombination (HR) can precisely repair DSB using another copy of the genome as template and non-homologous recombination (NHR) permits repair of DSB with little or no dependence on DNA sequence homology. In addition to the well-characterised Ku-dependent non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway, much recent attention has been focused on Ku-independent NHR. The complex interrelationships and regulation of NHR pathways remain poorly understood, even more so in the case of plants, and we present here an analysis of Ku-dependent and Ku-independent repair of DSB in Arabidopsis thaliana. We have characterised an Arabidopsis xrcc1 mutant and developed quantitative analysis of the kinetics of appearance and loss of γ-H2AX foci as a tool to measure DSB repair in dividing root tip cells of γ-irradiated plants in vivo. This approach has permitted determination of DSB repair kinetics in planta following a short pulse of γ-irradiation, establishing the existence of a Ku-independent, Xrcc1-dependent DSB repair pathway. Furthermore, our data show a role for Ku80 during the first minutes post-irradiation and that Xrcc1 also plays such a role, but only in the absence of Ku. The importance of Xrcc1 is, however, clearly visible at later times in the presence of Ku, showing that alternative end-joining plays an important role in DSB repair even in the presence of active NHEJ. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  18. Construction of a series of congenic mice with recombinant chromosome 1 regions surrounding the genetic loci for resistance to intracellular parasites (Ity, Lsh, and Bcg), DNA repair responses (Rep-1), and the cytoskeletal protein villin (Vil).

    PubMed Central

    Mock, B A; Holiday, D L; Cerretti, D P; Darnell, S C; O'Brien, A D; Potter, M

    1994-01-01

    The interval of mouse chromosome 1 extending from Idh-1 to Pep-3 harbors the natural resistance gene Ity/Lsh/Bcg; it controls the outcome of infection with Salmonella typhimurium, Leishmania donovani, and several Mycobacterium species. This region also contains a DNA repair gene, Rep-1, which determines the rapidity with which double-strand breaks in chromatin are repaired. BALB/cAnPt and DBA/2N mice differ in their phenotypic expression of these genes. To generate appropriate strains of mice for the study of these genes, a series of 10 C.D2 congenic strains recombinant across a 28-centimorgan interval of mouse chromosome 1 extending from Idh-1 to Pep-3 were derived from crosses of the C.D2-Idh-1 Pep-3 congenic strain back to BALB/cAn. Analyses of these recombinant strains will allow the correlation of biological-immunological phenotypes with defined genetic regions. PMID:8262646

  19. The role of ADP-ribosylation in regulating DNA interstrand crosslink repair

    PubMed Central

    Gunn, Alasdair R.; Banos-Pinero, Benito; Paschke, Peggy; Sanchez-Pulido, Luis; Ariza, Antonio; Day, Joseph; Emrich, Mehera; Leys, David; Ponting, Chris P.

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT ADP-ribosylation by ADP-ribosyltransferases (ARTs) has a well-established role in DNA strand break repair by promoting enrichment of repair factors at damage sites through ADP-ribose interaction domains. Here, we exploit the simple eukaryote Dictyostelium to uncover a role for ADP-ribosylation in regulating DNA interstrand crosslink repair and redundancy of this pathway with non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). In silico searches were used to identify a protein that contains a permutated macrodomain (which we call aprataxin/APLF-and-PNKP-like protein; APL). Structural analysis reveals that this permutated macrodomain retains features associated with ADP-ribose interactions and that APL is capable of binding poly(ADP-ribose) through this macrodomain. APL is enriched in chromatin in response to cisplatin treatment, an agent that induces DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs). This is dependent on the macrodomain of APL and the ART Adprt2, indicating a role for ADP-ribosylation in the cellular response to cisplatin. Although adprt2− cells are sensitive to cisplatin, ADP-ribosylation is evident in these cells owing to redundant signalling by the double-strand break (DSB)-responsive ART Adprt1a, promoting NHEJ-mediated repair. These data implicate ADP-ribosylation in DNA ICL repair and identify that NHEJ can function to resolve this form of DNA damage in the absence of Adprt2. PMID:27587838

  20. Premature aging and cancer in nucleotide excision repair-disorders

    PubMed Central

    Diderich, K.; Alanazi, M.; Hoeijmakers, J.H.J.

    2014-01-01

    During past decades the major impact of DNA damage on cancer as ‘disease of the genes’ has become abundantly apparent. In addition to cancer recent years have also uncovered a very strong association of DNA damage with many features of (premature) aging. The notion that DNA repair systems not only protect against cancer but equally against too fast aging has become evident from a systematic, integral analysis of a variety of mouse mutants carrying defects in e.g. transcription-coupled repair with or without an additional impairment of global genome nucleotide excision repair and the corresponding segmental premature aging syndromes in man. A striking correlation between the degree of the DNA repair deficiency and the acceleration of specific progeroid symptoms has been discovered for those repair systems that primarily protect from the cytotoxic and cytostatic effects of DNA damage. These observations are explained from the perspective of nucleotide excision repair mouse mutant and human syndromes. However, similar principles likely apply to other DNA repair pathways including interstrand crosslink repair and double strand break repair and genome maintenance systems in general, supporting the notion that DNA damage constitutes an important intermediate in the process of aging. PMID:21680258

  1. [Biomarkers of radiation-induced DNA repair processes].

    PubMed

    Vallard, Alexis; Rancoule, Chloé; Guy, Jean-Baptiste; Espenel, Sophie; Sauvaigo, Sylvie; Rodriguez-Lafrasse, Claire; Magné, Nicolas

    2017-11-01

    The identification of DNA repair biomarkers is of paramount importance. Indeed, it is the first step in the process of modulating radiosensitivity and radioresistance. Unlike tools of detection and measurement of DNA damage, DNA repair biomarkers highlight the variations of DNA damage responses, depending on the dose and the dose rate. The aim of the present review is to describe the main biomarkers of radiation-induced DNA repair. We will focus on double strand breaks (DSB), because of their major role in radiation-induced cell death. The most important DNA repair biomarkers are DNA damage signaling proteins, with ATM, DNA-PKcs, 53BP1 and γ-H2AX. They can be analyzed either using immunostaining, or using lived cell imaging. However, to date, these techniques are still time and money consuming. The development of "omics" technologies should lead the way to new (and usable in daily routine) DNA repair biomarkers. Copyright © 2017 Société Française du Cancer. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  2. DNA Repair Mechanisms and Their Biological Roles in the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Andrew H.; Symington, Lorraine S.

    2014-01-01

    SUMMARY Research into the complex genetic underpinnings of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is entering a new era with the arrival of site-specific genome engineering. Previously restricted only to model systems but now expanded to most laboratory organisms, and even to humans for experimental gene therapy studies, this technology allows researchers to rapidly generate previously unattainable genetic modifications. This technological advance is dependent on DNA double-strand break repair (DSBR), specifically homologous recombination in the case of Plasmodium. Our understanding of DSBR in malaria parasites, however, is based largely on assumptions and knowledge taken from other model systems, which do not always hold true in Plasmodium. Here we describe the causes of double-strand breaks, the mechanisms of DSBR, and the differences between model systems and P. falciparum. These mechanisms drive basic parasite functions, such as meiosis, antigen diversification, and copy number variation, and allow the parasite to continually evolve in the contexts of host immune pressure and drug selection. Finally, we discuss the new technologies that leverage DSBR mechanisms to accelerate genetic investigations into this global infectious pathogen. PMID:25184562

  3. Significant accumulation of persistent organic pollutants and dysregulation in multiple DNA damage repair pathways in the electronic-waste-exposed populations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    He, Xiaobo; Jing, Yaqing; Wang, Jianhai

    Electronic waste (e-waste) has created a worldwide environmental and health problem, by generating a diverse group of hazardous compounds such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Our previous studies demonstrated that populations from e-waste exposed region have a significantly higher level of chromosomal aberrancy and incidence of DNA damage. In this study, we further demonstrated that various POPs persisted at a significantly higher concentration in the exposed group than those in the unexposed group. The level of reactive oxygen species and micronucleus rate were also significantly elevated in the exposed group. RNA sequencing analysis revealed 31 genes in DNA damage responsesmore » and repair pathways that were differentially expressed between the two groups (Log 2 ratio >1 or <−1). Our data demonstrated that both females and males of the exposed group have activated a series of DNA damage response genes; however many important DNA repair pathways have been dysregulated. Expressions of NEIL1/3 and RPA3, which are critical in initiating base pair and nucleotide excision repairs respectively, have been downregulated in both females and males of the exposed group. In contrast, expression of RNF8, an E3 ligase involved in an error prone non-homologous end joining repair for DNA double strand break, was upregulated in both genders of the exposed group. The other genes appeared to be differentially expressed only when the males or females of the two groups were compared respectively. Importantly, the expression of cell cycle regulatory gene CDC25A that has been implicated in multiple kinds of malignant transformation was significantly upregulated among the exposed males while downregulated among the exposed females. In conclusion, our studies have demonstrated significant correlations between e-waste disposing and POPs accumulation, DNA lesions and dysregulation of multiple DNA damage repair mechanisms in the residents of the e-waste exposed region

  4. Functional conservation of the yeast and Arabidopsis RAD54-like genes.

    PubMed

    Klutstein, Michael; Shaked, Hezi; Sherman, Amir; Avivi-Ragolsky, Naomi; Shema, Efrat; Zenvirth, Drora; Levy, Avraham A; Simchen, Giora

    2008-04-01

    The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD54 gene has critical roles in DNA double-strand break repair, homologous recombination, and gene targeting. Previous results show that the yeast gene enhances gene targeting when expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this work we address the trans-species compatibility of Rad54 functions. We show that overexpression of yeast RAD54 in Arabidopsis enhances DNA damage resistance severalfold. Thus, the yeast gene is active in the Arabidopsis homologous-recombination repair system. Moreover, we have identified an A. thaliana ortholog of yeast RAD54, named AtRAD54. This gene, with close sequence similarity to RAD54, complements methylmethane sulfonate (MMS) sensitivity but not UV sensitivity or gene targeting defects of rad54Delta mutant yeast cells. Overexpression of AtRAD54 in Arabidopsis leads to enhanced resistance to DNA damage. This gene's assignment as a RAD54 ortholog is further supported by the interaction of AtRad54 with AtRad51 and the interactions between alien proteins (i.e., yeast Rad54 with AtRAD51 and yeast Rad51 with AtRad54) in a yeast two-hybrid experiment. These interactions hint at the molecular nature of this interkingdom complementation, although the stronger effect of the yeast Rad54 in plants than AtRad54 in yeast might be explained by an ability of the Rad54 protein to act alone, independently of its interaction with Rad51.

  5. Regulation of Immunoglobulin Class-Switch Recombination: Choreography of Noncoding Transcription, Targeted DNA Deamination, and Long-Range DNA Repair

    PubMed Central

    Matthews, Allysia J.; Zheng, Simin; DiMenna, Lauren J.; Chaudhuri, Jayanta

    2014-01-01

    Upon encountering antigens, mature IgM-positive B lymphocytes undergo class-switch recombination (CSR) wherein exons encoding the default Cμ constant coding gene segment of the immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy-chain (Igh) locus are excised and replaced with a new constant gene segment (referred to as “Ch genes”, e.g., Cγ, Cε, or Cα). The B cell thereby changes from expressing IgM to one producing IgG, IgE, or IgA, with each antibody isotype having a different effector function during an immune reaction. CSR is a DNA deletional-recombination reaction that proceeds through the generation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in repetitive switch (S) sequences preceding each Ch gene and is completed by end-joining between donor Sμ and acceptor S regions. CSR is a multistep reaction requiring transcription through S regions, the DNA cytidine deaminase AID, and the participation of several general DNA repair pathways including base excision repair, mismatch repair, and classical nonhomologous end-joining. In this review, we discuss our current understanding of how transcription through S regions generates substrates for AID-mediated deamination and how AID participates not only in the initiation of CSR but also in the conversion of deaminated residues into DSBs. Additionally, we review the multiple processes that regulate AID expression and facilitate its recruitment specifically to the Ig loci, and how deregulation of AID specificity leads to oncogenic translocations. Finally, we summarize recent data on the potential role of AID in the maintenance of the pluripotent stem cell state during epigenetic reprogramming. PMID:24507154

  6. Risk of colorectal cancer for people with a mutation in both a MUTYH and a DNA mismatch repair gene.

    PubMed

    Win, Aung Ko; Reece, Jeanette C; Buchanan, Daniel D; Clendenning, Mark; Young, Joanne P; Cleary, Sean P; Kim, Hyeja; Cotterchio, Michelle; Dowty, James G; MacInnis, Robert J; Tucker, Katherine M; Winship, Ingrid M; Macrae, Finlay A; Burnett, Terrilea; Le Marchand, Loïc; Casey, Graham; Haile, Robert W; Newcomb, Polly A; Thibodeau, Stephen N; Lindor, Noralane M; Hopper, John L; Gallinger, Steven; Jenkins, Mark A

    2015-12-01

    The base excision repair protein, MUTYH, functionally interacts with the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system. As genetic testing moves from testing one gene at a time, to gene panel and whole exome next generation sequencing approaches, understandin g the risk associated with co-existence of germline mutations in these genes will be important for clinical interpretation and management. From the Colon Cancer Family Registry, we identified 10 carriers who had both a MUTYH mutation (6 with c.1187G>A p.(Gly396Asp), 3 with c.821G>A p.(Arg274Gln), and 1 with c.536A>G p.(Tyr179Cys)) and a MMR gene mutation (3 in MLH1, 6 in MSH2, and 1 in PMS2), 375 carriers of a single (monoallelic) MUTYH mutation alone, and 469 carriers of a MMR gene mutation alone. Of the 10 carriers of both gene mutations, 8 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Using a weighted cohort analysis, we estimated that risk of colorectal cancer for carriers of both a MUTYH and a MMR gene mutation was substantially higher than that for carriers of a MUTYH mutation alone [hazard ratio (HR) 21.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 9.19-50.1; p < 0.001], but not different from that for carriers of a MMR gene mutation alone (HR 1.94, 95% CI 0.63-5.99; p = 0.25). Within the limited power of this study, there was no evidence that a monoallelic MUTYH gene mutation confers additional risk of colorectal cancer for carriers of a MMR gene mutation alone. Our finding suggests MUTYH mutation testing in MMR gene mutation carriers is not clinically informative.

  7. Condensin suppresses recombination and regulates double-strand break processing at the repetitive ribosomal DNA array to ensure proper chromosome segregation during meiosis in budding yeast.

    PubMed

    Li, Ping; Jin, Hui; Yu, Hong-Guo

    2014-10-01

    During meiosis, homologues are linked by crossover, which is required for bipolar chromosome orientation before chromosome segregation at anaphase I. The repetitive ribosomal DNA (rDNA) array, however, undergoes little or no meiotic recombination. Hyperrecombination can cause chromosome missegregation and rDNA copy number instability. We report here that condensin, a conserved protein complex required for chromosome organization, regulates double-strand break (DSB) formation and repair at the rDNA gene cluster during meiosis in budding yeast. Condensin is highly enriched at the rDNA region during prophase I, released at the prophase I/metaphase I transition, and reassociates with rDNA before anaphase I onset. We show that condensin plays a dual role in maintaining rDNA stability: it suppresses the formation of Spo11-mediated rDNA breaks, and it promotes DSB processing to ensure proper chromosome segregation. Condensin is unnecessary for the export of rDNA breaks outside the nucleolus but required for timely repair of meiotic DSBs. Our work reveals that condensin coordinates meiotic recombination with chromosome segregation at the repetitive rDNA sequence, thereby maintaining genome integrity. © 2014 Li et al. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  8. The Effect of Polymorphisms in DNA Repair Genes and Carcinogen Metabolizers on Leukocyte Telomere Length: A Cohort of Healthy Spanish Smokers.

    PubMed

    Verde, Zoraida; Reinoso-Barbero, Luis; Chicharro, Luis; Resano, Pilar; Sánchez-Hernández, Ignacio; Rodríguez González-Moro, Jose Miguel; Bandrés, Fernando; Gómez-Gallego, Félix; Santiago, Catalina

    2016-04-01

    Smoking implies exposure to carcinogenic agents that causes DNA damage, which could be suspected to enhance telomere attrition. To protect and deal with DNA damage, cells possess mechanisms that repair and neutralize harmful substances. Polymorphisms altering DNA repair capacity or carcinogen metabolism may lead to synergistic effects with tobacco carcinogen-induced shorter telomere length independently of cancer interaction. The aim of this study was to explore the association between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and several genetic polymorphisms in DNA repair genes and carcinogen metabolizers in a cohort of healthy smokers. We evaluated the effect of six genetic polymorphisms in cytochrome P1A1 (Ile462Val), XRCC1 (Arg399Gln), APEX1 (Asp148Glu), XRCC3 (Thr241Met), and XPD (Asp312Asn; Lys751Gln) on LTL in a cohort of 145 healthy smokers in addition to smoking habits. Logistic regression analysis showed an association between XRCC1 399Gln allele and shorter telomere length (OR = 5.03, 95% CI = 1.08% to 23.36%). There were not association between the rest of polymorphisms analyzed and LTL. Continuous exposure to tobacco could overwhelm the DNA repair machinery, making the effect of the polymorphisms that reduce repair capacity more pronounced. Analyzing the function of smoking-induced DNA-repair genes and LTL is an important goal in order to identify therapeutic targets to treat smoking-induced diseases. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  9. A mediator methylation mystery: JMJD1C demethylates MDC1 to regulate DNA repair.

    PubMed

    Lu, Jian; Matunis, Michael J

    2013-12-01

    Mediator of DNA-damage checkpoint 1 (MDMDC1) has a central role in repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by both homologous recombination and nonhomologous end joining, and its function is regulated by post-translational phosphorylation, ubiquitylation and sumoylation. In this issue, a new study by Watanabe et al. reveals that methylation of MDMDC1 is also critical for its function in DSB repair and specifically affects repair through BRCA1-dependent homologous recombination.

  10. Exo1 plays a major role in DNA end resection in humans and influences double-strand break repair and damage signaling decisions

    PubMed Central

    Tomimatsu, Nozomi; Mukherjee, Bipasha; Deland, Katherine; Kurimasa, Akihiro; Bolderson, Emma; Khanna, Kum Kum; Burma, Sandeep

    2012-01-01

    The resection of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) to generate ssDNA tails is a pivotal event in the cellular response to these breaks. In the two-step model of resection, primarily elucidated in yeast, initial resection by Mre11/CtIP is followed by extensive resection by two distinct pathways involving Exo1 or BLM/WRN/Dna2. However, resection pathways and their exact contributions in humans in vivo are not as clearly worked out as in yeast. Here, we examined the contribution of Exo1 to DNA end resection in humans in vivo in response to ionizing radiation (IR) and its relationship with other resection pathways (Mre11/CtIP or BLM/WRN). We find that Exo1 plays a predominant role in resection in human cells along with an alternate pathway dependent on WRN. While Mre11 and CtIP stimulate resection in human cells, they are not absolutely required for this process and Exo1 can function in resection even in the absence of Mre11/CtIP. Interestingly, the recruitment of Exo1 to DNA breaks appears to be inhibited by the NHEJ protein Ku80, and the higher level of resection that occurs upon siRNA-mediated depletion of Ku80 is dependent on Exo1. In addition, Exo1 may be regulated by 53BP1 and Brca1, and the restoration of resection in BRCA1-deficient cells upon depletion of 53BP1 is dependent on Exo1. Finally, we find that Exo1-mediated resection facilitates a transition from ATM- to ATR-mediated cell cycle checkpoint signaling. Our results identify Exo1 as a key mediator of DNA end resection and DSB repair and damage signaling decisions in human cells. PMID:22326273

  11. Increased methylation of repetitive elements and DNA repair genes is associated with higher DNA oxidation in children in an urbanized, industrial environment.

    PubMed

    Alvarado-Cruz, Isabel; Sánchez-Guerra, Marco; Hernández-Cadena, Leticia; De Vizcaya-Ruiz, Andrea; Mugica, Violeta; Pelallo-Martínez, Nadia Azenet; Solís-Heredia, María de Jesús; Byun, Hyang-Min; Baccarelli, Andrea; Quintanilla-Vega, Betzabet

    2017-01-01

    DNA methylation in DNA repair genes participates in the DNA damage regulation. Particulate matter (PM), which has metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) adsorbed, among others has been linked to adverse health outcomes and may modify DNA methylation. To evaluate PM exposure impact on repetitive elements and gene-specific DNA methylation and DNA damage, we conducted a cross-sectional study in 150 schoolchildren (7-10 years old) from an urbanized, industrial area of the metropolitan area of Mexico City (MAMC), which frequently exhibits PM concentrations above safety standards. Methylation (5mC) of long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE1) and DNA repair gene (OGG1, APEX, and PARP1) was assessed by pyrosequencing in peripheral mononuclear cells, DNA damage by comet assay and DNA oxidation by 8-OHdG content. PAH and metal contents in PM 10 (≤10μm aerodynamic diameter) were determined by HPLC-MS and ICP-AES, respectively. Multiple regression analysis between DNA methylation, DNA damage, and PM 10 exposure showed that PM 10 was significantly associated with oxidative DNA damage; a 1% increase in 5mC at all CpG sites in PARP1 promoter was associated with a 35% increase in 8-OHdG, while a 1% increase at 1, 2, and 3 CpG sites resulted in 38, 9, and 56% increments, respectively. An increase of 10pg/m 3 in benzo[b]fluoranthene content of PM 10 was associated with a 6% increase in LINE1 methylation. Acenaphthene, indene [1,2,3-cd] pyrene, and pyrene concentrations correlated with higher dinucleotide methylation in OGG1, APEX and PARP1 genes, respectively. Vanadium concentration correlated with increased methylation at selected APEX and PARP1 CpG sites. DNA repair gene methylation was significantly correlated with DNA damage and with specific PM 10 -associated PAHs and Vanadium. Data suggest that exposure to PM and its components are associated with differences in DNA methylation of repair genes in children, which may contribute to DNA damage. Copyright © 2016

  12. Chromosomal Aberrations in DNA Repair Defective Cell Lines: Comparisons of Dose Rate and Radiation Quality

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    George, K. A.; Hada, M.; Patel, Z.; Huff, J.; Pluth, J. M.; Cucinotta, F. A.

    2009-01-01

    Chromosome aberration yields were assessed in DNA double-strand break repair (DSB) deficient cells after acute doses of gamma-rays or high-LET iron nuclei, or low dose-rate (0.018 Gy/hr) gamma-rays. We studied several cell lines including fibroblasts deficient in ATM (product of the gene that is mutated in ataxia telangiectasia patients) or NBS (product of the gene mutated in the Nijmegen breakage syndrome), and gliomablastoma cells that are proficient or lacking in DNA-dependent protein kinase, DNA-PK activity. Chromosomes were analyzed using the fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) chromosome painting method in cells at the first division post-irradiation and chromosome aberrations were identified as either simple exchanges (translocations and dicentrics) or complex exchanges (involving >2 breaks in 2 or more chromosomes). Gamma radiation induced higher yields of both simple and complex exchanges in the DSB repair defective cells than in the normal cells. The quadratic dose-response terms for both chromosome exchange types were significantly higher for the ATM and NBS defective lines than for normal fibroblasts. However, the linear dose-response term was significantly higher only for simple exchanges in the NBS cells. Large increases in the quadratic dose response terms indicate the important roles of ATM and NBS in chromatin modifications that facilitate correct DSB repair and minimize aberration formation. Differences in the response of AT and NBS deficient cells at lower doses suggests important questions about the applicability of observations of radiation sensitivity at high dose to low dose exposures. For all iron nuclei irradiated cells, regression models preferred purely linear and quadratic dose responses for simple and complex exchanges, respectively. All the DNA repair defective cell lines had lower Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) values than normal cells, the lowest being for the DNA-PK-deficient cells, which was near unity. To further

  13. The effect of repair costs on the profitability of a ureteroscopy program.

    PubMed

    Tosoian, Jeffrey J; Ludwig, Wesley; Sopko, Nikolai; Mullins, Jeffrey K; Matlaga, Brian R

    2015-04-01

    Ureteroscopy (URS) is a common treatment for patients with stone disease. One of the disadvantages of this approach is the great capital expense associated with the purchase and repair of endoscopic equipment. In some cases, these costs can outpace revenues and lead to an unprofitable and unsustainable enterprise. We sought to characterize the profitability of our URS program when accounting for endoscope maintenance and repair costs. We identified all URS cases performed at a single hospital during fiscal year 2013 (FY2013). Charges, collection rates, and fixed and variable costs including annual equipment repair costs were obtained. The net margin and break-even point of URS were derived on a per-case basis. For 190 cases performed in FY2013, total endoscope repair costs totaled $115,000, resulting in an average repair cost of $605 per case. The vast majority of cases (94.2%) were conducted in the outpatient setting, which generated a net margin of $659 per case, while inpatient cases yielded a net loss of $455. URS was ultimately associated with a net positive margin approaching $600 per case. On break-even analysis, URS remained profitable until repair costs reached $1200 per case. Based on these findings, an established URS program can sustain profitability even with large equipment repair costs. Nonetheless, our findings serve to emphasize the importance of controlling costs, particularly in the current setting of decreasing reimbursement. A multifaceted approach, based on improving endoscope durability and exploring digital and disposable platforms, will be critical in maintaining the sustainability of URS.

  14. Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms of Genes Involved in Repair of Oxidative DNA Damage and the Risk of Recurrent Depressive Disorder.

    PubMed

    Czarny, Piotr; Kwiatkowski, Dominik; Toma, Monika; Gałecki, Piotr; Orzechowska, Agata; Bobińska, Kinga; Bielecka-Kowalska, Anna; Szemraj, Janusz; Berk, Michael; Anderson, George; Śliwiński, Tomasz

    2016-11-20

    BACKGROUND Depressive disorder, including recurrent type (rDD), is accompanied by increased oxidative stress and activation of inflammatory pathways, which may induce DNA damage. This thesis is supported by the presence of increased levels of DNA damage in depressed patients. Such DNA damage is repaired by the base excision repair (BER) pathway. BER efficiency may be influenced by polymorphisms in BER-related genes. Therefore, we genotyped nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in six genes encoding BER proteins. MATERIAL AND METHODS Using TaqMan, we selected and genotyped the following SNPs: c.-441G>A (rs174538) of FEN1, c.2285T>C (rs1136410) of PARP1, c.580C>T (rs1799782) and c.1196A>G (rs25487) of XRCC1, c.*83A>C (rs4796030) and c.*50C>T (rs1052536) of LIG3, c.-7C>T (rs20579) of LIG1, and c.-468T>G (rs1760944) and c.444T>G (rs1130409) of APEX1 in 599 samples (288 rDD patients and 311 controls). RESULTS We found a strong correlation between rDD and both SNPs of LIG3, their haplotypes, as well as a weaker association with the c.-468T>G of APEXI which diminished after Nyholt correction. Polymorphisms of LIG3 were also associated with early onset versus late onset depression, whereas the c.-468T>G polymorphism showed the opposite association. CONCLUSIONS The SNPs of genes involved in the repair of oxidative DNA damage may modulate rDD risk. Since this is an exploratory study, the results should to be treated with caution and further work needs to be done to elucidate the exact involvement of DNA damage and repair mechanisms in the development of this disease.

  15. Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms of Genes Involved in Repair of Oxidative DNA Damage and the Risk of Recurrent Depressive Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Czarny, Piotr; Kwiatkowski, Dominik; Toma, Monika; Gałecki, Piotr; Orzechowska, Agata; Bobińska, Kinga; Bielecka-Kowalska, Anna; Szemraj, Janusz; Berk, Michael; Anderson, George; Śliwiński, Tomasz

    2016-01-01

    Background Depressive disorder, including recurrent type (rDD), is accompanied by increased oxidative stress and activation of inflammatory pathways, which may induce DNA damage. This thesis is supported by the presence of increased levels of DNA damage in depressed patients. Such DNA damage is repaired by the base excision repair (BER) pathway. BER efficiency may be influenced by polymorphisms in BER-related genes. Therefore, we genotyped nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in six genes encoding BER proteins. Material/Methods Using TaqMan, we selected and genotyped the following SNPs: c.-441G>A (rs174538) of FEN1, c.2285T>C (rs1136410) of PARP1, c.580C>T (rs1799782) and c.1196A>G (rs25487) of XRCC1, c.*83A>C (rs4796030) and c.*50C>T (rs1052536) of LIG3, c.-7C>T (rs20579) of LIG1, and c.-468T>G (rs1760944) and c.444T>G (rs1130409) of APEX1 in 599 samples (288 rDD patients and 311 controls). Results We found a strong correlation between rDD and both SNPs of LIG3, their haplotypes, as well as a weaker association with the c.-468T>G of APEXI which diminished after Nyholt correction. Polymorphisms of LIG3 were also associated with early onset versus late onset depression, whereas the c.-468T>G polymorphism showed the opposite association. Conclusions The SNPs of genes involved in the repair of oxidative DNA damage may modulate rDD risk. Since this is an exploratory study, the results should to be treated with caution and further work needs to be done to elucidate the exact involvement of DNA damage and repair mechanisms in the development of this disease. PMID:27866211

  16. Cartilage-Repair Innovation at a Standstill: Methodologic and Regulatory Pathways to Breaking Free.

    PubMed

    Lyman, Stephen; Nakamura, Norimasa; Cole, Brian J; Erggelet, Christoph; Gomoll, Andreas H; Farr, Jack

    2016-08-03

    Articular cartilage defects strongly predispose patients to developing early joint degeneration and osteoarthritis, but for more than 15 years, no new cartilage-repair technologies that we know of have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Many studies examining novel approaches to cartilage repair, including cell, tissue, or matrix-based techniques, have shown great promise, but completing randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to establish safety and efficacy has been challenging, providing a major barrier to bringing these innovations into clinical use. In this article, we review reasons that surgical innovations are not well-suited for testing through RCTs. We also discuss how analytical methods for reducing bias, such as propensity scoring, make prospective observational studies a potentially viable alternative for testing the safety and efficacy of cartilage-repair and other novel therapies, offering the real possibility of therapeutic innovation. Copyright © 2016 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Incorporated.

  17. Bridging of double-stranded breaks by the nonhomologous end-joining ligation complex is modulated by DNA end chemistry.

    PubMed

    Reid, Dylan A; Conlin, Michael P; Yin, Yandong; Chang, Howard H; Watanabe, Go; Lieber, Michael R; Ramsden, Dale A; Rothenberg, Eli

    2017-02-28

    The nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway is the primary repair pathway for DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) in humans. Repair is mediated by a core complex of NHEJ factors that includes a ligase (DNA Ligase IV; L4) that relies on juxtaposition of 3΄ hydroxyl and 5΄ phosphate termini of the strand breaks for catalysis. However, chromosome breaks arising from biological sources often have different end chemistries, and how these different end chemistries impact the way in which the core complex directs the necessary transitions from end pairing to ligation is not known. Here, using single-molecule FRET (smFRET), we show that prior to ligation, differences in end chemistry strongly modulate the bridging of broken ends by the NHEJ core complex. In particular, the 5΄ phosphate group is a recognition element for L4 and is critical for the ability of NHEJ factors to promote stable pairing of ends. Moreover, other chemical incompatibilities, including products of aborted ligation, are sufficient to disrupt end pairing. Based on these observations, we propose a mechanism for iterative repair of DSBs by NHEJ. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  18. The Fanconi Anemia Pathway in Replication Stress and DNA Crosslink Repair

    PubMed Central

    Jones, Mathew JK.; Huang, Tony T.

    2013-01-01

    Interstand crosslinks (ICLs) are DNA lesions where the bases of opposing DNA strands are covalently linked, inhibiting critical cellular processes such as transcription and replication. Chemical agents that generate ICLs cause chromosomal abnormalities including breaks, deletions and rearrangements, making them highly genotoxic compounds. This toxicity has proven useful for chemotherapeutic treatment against a wide variety of cancer types. The majority of our understanding of ICL repair in humans has been uncovered thorough analysis of the rare genetic disorder Fanconi anemia, in which patients are extremely sensitive to crosslinking agents. Here, we discuss recent insights into ICL repair gained through new ICL repair assays and highlight the role of the Fanconi Anemia repair pathway during replication stress. PMID:22744751

  19. Entropy in DNA Double-Strand Break, Detection and Signaling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Yang; Schindler, Christina; Heermann, Dieter

    2014-03-01

    In biology, the term entropy is often understood as a measure of disorder - a restrictive interpretation that can even be misleading. Recently it has become clearer and clearer that entropy, contrary to conventional wisdom, can help to order and guide biological processes in living cells. DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are among the most dangerous lesions and efficient damage detection and repair is essential for organism viability. However, what remains unknown is the precise mechanism of targeting the site of damage within billions of intact nucleotides and a crowded nuclear environment, a process which is often referred to as recruitment or signaling. Here we show that the change in entropy associated with inflicting a DSB facilitates the recruitment of damage sensor proteins. By means of computational modeling we found that higher mobility and local chromatin structure accelerate protein association at DSB ends. We compared the effect of different chromatin architectures on protein dynamics and concentrations in the vicinity of DSBs, and related these results to experiments on repair in heterochromatin. Our results demonstrate how entropy contributes to a more efficient damage detection. We identify entropy as the physical basis for DNA double-strand break signaling.

  20. Nucleotide excision repair-dependent DNA double-strand break formation and ATM signaling activation in mammalian quiescent cells.

    PubMed

    Wakasugi, Mitsuo; Sasaki, Takuma; Matsumoto, Megumi; Nagaoka, Miyuki; Inoue, Keiko; Inobe, Manabu; Horibata, Katsuyoshi; Tanaka, Kiyoji; Matsunaga, Tsukasa

    2014-10-10

    Histone H2A variant H2AX is phosphorylated at Ser(139) in response to DNA double-strand break (DSB) and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) formation. UV light dominantly induces pyrimidine photodimers, which are removed from the mammalian genome by nucleotide excision repair (NER). We previously reported that in quiescent G0 phase cells, UV induces ATR-mediated H2AX phosphorylation plausibly caused by persistent ssDNA gap intermediates during NER. In this study, we have found that DSB is also generated following UV irradiation in an NER-dependent manner and contributes to an earlier fraction of UV-induced H2AX phosphorylation. The NER-dependent DSB formation activates ATM kinase and triggers the accumulation of its downstream factors, MRE11, NBS1, and MDC1, at UV-damaged sites. Importantly, ATM-deficient cells exhibited enhanced UV sensitivity under quiescent conditions compared with asynchronously growing conditions. Finally, we show that the NER-dependent H2AX phosphorylation is also observed in murine peripheral T lymphocytes, typical nonproliferating quiescent cells in vivo. These results suggest that in vivo quiescent cells may suffer from NER-mediated secondary DNA damage including ssDNA and DSB. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  1. MMEJ-assisted gene knock-in using TALENs and CRISPR-Cas9 with the PITCh systems.

    PubMed

    Sakuma, Tetsushi; Nakade, Shota; Sakane, Yuto; Suzuki, Ken-Ichi T; Yamamoto, Takashi

    2016-01-01

    Programmable nucleases enable engineering of the genome by utilizing endogenous DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair pathways. Although homologous recombination (HR)-mediated gene knock-in is well established, it cannot necessarily be applied in every cell type and organism because of variable HR frequencies. We recently reported an alternative method of gene knock-in, named the PITCh (Precise Integration into Target Chromosome) system, assisted by microhomology-mediated end-joining (MMEJ). MMEJ harnesses independent machinery from HR, and it requires an extremely short homologous sequence (5-25 bp) for DSB repair, resulting in precise gene knock-in with a more easily constructed donor vector. Here we describe a streamlined protocol for PITCh knock-in, including the design and construction of the PITCh vectors, and their delivery to either human cell lines by transfection or to frog embryos by microinjection. The construction of the PITCh vectors requires only a few days, and the entire process takes ∼ 1.5 months to establish knocked-in cells or ∼ 1 week from injection to early genotyping in frog embryos.

  2. Lentivirus-meditated frataxin gene delivery reverses genome instability in Friedreich ataxia patient and mouse model fibroblasts.

    PubMed

    Khonsari, H; Schneider, M; Al-Mahdawi, S; Chianea, Y G; Themis, M; Parris, C; Pook, M A; Themis, M

    2016-12-01

    Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by deficiency of frataxin protein, with the primary sites of pathology being the large sensory neurons of the dorsal root ganglia and the cerebellum. FRDA is also often accompanied by severe cardiomyopathy and diabetes mellitus. Frataxin is important in mitochondrial iron-sulfur cluster (ISC) biogenesis and low-frataxin expression is due to a GAA repeat expansion in intron 1 of the FXN gene. FRDA cells are genomically unstable, with increased levels of reactive oxygen species and sensitivity to oxidative stress. Here we report the identification of elevated levels of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) in FRDA patient and YG8sR FRDA mouse model fibroblasts compared to normal fibroblasts. Using lentivirus FXN gene delivery to FRDA patient and YG8sR cells, we obtained long-term overexpression of FXN mRNA and frataxin protein levels with reduced DSB levels towards normal. Furthermore, γ-irradiation of FRDA patient and YG8sR cells revealed impaired DSB repair that was recovered on FXN gene transfer. This suggests that frataxin may be involved in DSB repair, either directly by an unknown mechanism, or indirectly via ISC biogenesis for DNA repair enzymes, which may be essential for the prevention of neurodegeneration.

  3. Hsp90α regulates ATM and NBN functions in sensing and repair of DNA double-strand breaks.

    PubMed

    Pennisi, Rosa; Antoccia, Antonio; Leone, Stefano; Ascenzi, Paolo; di Masi, Alessandra

    2017-08-01

    The molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90α) regulates cell proteostasis and mitigates the harmful effects of endogenous and exogenous stressors on the proteome. Indeed, the inhibition of Hsp90α ATPase activity affects the cellular response to ionizing radiation (IR). Although the interplay between Hsp90α and several DNA damage response (DDR) proteins has been reported, its role in the DDR is still unclear. Here, we show that ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated kinase (ATM) and nibrin (NBN), but not 53BP1, RAD50, and MRE11, are Hsp90α clients as the Hsp90α inhibitor 17-(allylamino)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) induces ATM and NBN polyubiquitination and proteosomal degradation in normal fibroblasts and lymphoblastoid cell lines. Hsp90α-ATM and Hsp90α-NBN complexes are present in unstressed and irradiated cells, allowing the maintenance of ATM and NBN stability that is required for the MRE11/RAD50/NBN complex-dependent ATM activation and the ATM-dependent phosphorylation of both NBN and Hsp90α in response to IR-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Hsp90α forms a complex also with ph-Ser1981-ATM following IR. Upon phosphorylation, NBN dissociates from Hsp90α and translocates at the DSBs, while phThr5/7-Hsp90α is not recruited at the damaged sites. The inhibition of Hsp90α affects nuclear localization of MRE11 and RAD50, impairs DDR signaling (e.g., BRCA1 and CHK2 phosphorylation), and slows down DSBs repair. Hsp90α inhibition does not affect DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity, which possibly phosphorylates Hsp90α and H2AX after IR. Notably, Hsp90α inhibition causes H2AX phosphorylation in proliferating cells, this possibly indicating replication stress events. Overall, present data shed light on the regulatory role of Hsp90α on the DDR, controlling ATM and NBN stability and influencing the DSBs signaling and repair. © 2017 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

  4. Functional role of DNA mismatch repair gene PMS2 in prostate cancer cells.

    PubMed

    Fukuhara, Shinichiro; Chang, Inik; Mitsui, Yozo; Chiyomaru, Takeshi; Yamamura, Soichiro; Majid, Shahana; Saini, Sharanjot; Deng, Guoren; Gill, Ankurpreet; Wong, Darryn K; Shiina, Hiroaki; Nonomura, Norio; Lau, Yun-Fai C; Dahiya, Rajvir; Tanaka, Yuichiro

    2015-06-30

    DNA mismatch repair (MMR) enzymes act as proofreading complexes that maintains genomic integrity and MMR-deficient cells show an increased mutation rate. MMR has also been shown to influence cell signaling and the regulation of tumor development. MMR consists of various genes and includes post-meiotic segregation (PMS) 2 which is a vital component of mutL-alpha. In prostate, the functional role of this gene has never been reported and in this study, our aim was to investigate the effect of PMS2 on growth properties of prostate cancer (PCa) cells. Previous studies have shown PMS2 to be deficient in DU145 cells and this lack of expression was confirmed by Western blotting whereas normal prostatic PWR-1E and RWPE-1 cells expressed this gene. PMS2 effects on various growth properties of DU145 were then determined by creating stable gene transfectants. Interestingly, PMS2 caused decreased cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and in vivo growth; and increased apoptosis as compared to vector control. We further analyzed genes affected by PMS2 expression and observe the apoptosis-related TMS1 gene to be significantly upregulated whereas anti-apoptotic BCL2A1 was downregulated. These results demonstrate a functional role for PMS2 to protect against PCa progression by enhancing apoptosis of PCa cells.

  5. Functional role of DNA mismatch repair gene PMS2 in prostate cancer cells

    PubMed Central

    Mitsui, Yozo; Chiyomaru, Takeshi; Yamamura, Soichiro; Majid, Shahana; Saini, Sharanjot; Deng, Guoren; Gill, Ankurpreet; Wong, Darryn K.; Shiina, Hiroaki; Nonomura, Norio; Lau, Yun-Fai C.; Dahiya, Rajvir; Tanaka, Yuichiro

    2015-01-01

    DNA mismatch repair (MMR) enzymes act as proofreading complexes that maintains genomic integrity and MMR-deficient cells show an increased mutation rate. MMR has also been shown to influence cell signaling and the regulation of tumor development. MMR consists of various genes and includes post-meiotic segregation (PMS) 2 which is a vital component of mutL-alpha. In prostate, the functional role of this gene has never been reported and in this study, our aim was to investigate the effect of PMS2 on growth properties of prostate cancer (PCa) cells. Previous studies have shown PMS2 to be deficient in DU145 cells and this lack of expression was confirmed by Western blotting whereas normal prostatic PWR-1E and RWPE-1 cells expressed this gene. PMS2 effects on various growth properties of DU145 were then determined by creating stable gene transfectants. Interestingly, PMS2 caused decreased cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and in vivo growth; and increased apoptosis as compared to vector control. We further analyzed genes affected by PMS2 expression and observe the apoptosis-related TMS1 gene to be significantly upregulated whereas anti-apoptotic BCL2A1 was downregulated. These results demonstrate a functional role for PMS2 to protect against PCa progression by enhancing apoptosis of PCa cells. PMID:26036629

  6. Inhibition of NHEJ repair by type II-A CRISPR-Cas systems in bacteria.

    PubMed

    Bernheim, Aude; Calvo-Villamañán, Alicia; Basier, Clovis; Cui, Lun; Rocha, Eduardo P C; Touchon, Marie; Bikard, David

    2017-12-12

    Type II CRISPR-Cas systems introduce double-strand breaks into DNA of invading genetic material and use DNA fragments to acquire novel spacers during adaptation. These breaks can be the substrate of several DNA repair pathways, paving the way for interactions. We report that non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) and type II-A CRISPR-Cas systems only co-occur once among 5563 fully sequenced prokaryotic genomes. We investigated experimentally the possible molecular interactions using the NHEJ pathway from Bacillus subtilis and the type II-A CRISPR-Cas systems from Streptococcus thermophilus and Streptococcus pyogenes. Our results suggest that the NHEJ system has no effect on CRISPR immunity. On the other hand, we provide evidence for the inhibition of NHEJ repair by the Csn2 protein. Our findings give insights on the complex interactions between CRISPR-Cas systems and repair mechanisms in bacteria, contributing to explain the scattered distribution of CRISPR-Cas systems in bacterial genome.

  7. Mismatch repair genes Mlh1 and Mlh3 modify CAG instability in Huntington's disease mice: genome-wide and candidate approaches.

    PubMed

    Pinto, Ricardo Mouro; Dragileva, Ella; Kirby, Andrew; Lloret, Alejandro; Lopez, Edith; St Claire, Jason; Panigrahi, Gagan B; Hou, Caixia; Holloway, Kim; Gillis, Tammy; Guide, Jolene R; Cohen, Paula E; Li, Guo-Min; Pearson, Christopher E; Daly, Mark J; Wheeler, Vanessa C

    2013-10-01

    The Huntington's disease gene (HTT) CAG repeat mutation undergoes somatic expansion that correlates with pathogenesis. Modifiers of somatic expansion may therefore provide routes for therapies targeting the underlying mutation, an approach that is likely applicable to other trinucleotide repeat diseases. Huntington's disease Hdh(Q111) mice exhibit higher levels of somatic HTT CAG expansion on a C57BL/6 genetic background (B6.Hdh(Q111) ) than on a 129 background (129.Hdh(Q111) ). Linkage mapping in (B6x129).Hdh(Q111) F2 intercross animals identified a single quantitative trait locus underlying the strain-specific difference in expansion in the striatum, implicating mismatch repair (MMR) gene Mlh1 as the most likely candidate modifier. Crossing B6.Hdh(Q111) mice onto an Mlh1 null background demonstrated that Mlh1 is essential for somatic CAG expansions and that it is an enhancer of nuclear huntingtin accumulation in striatal neurons. Hdh(Q111) somatic expansion was also abolished in mice deficient in the Mlh3 gene, implicating MutLγ (MLH1-MLH3) complex as a key driver of somatic expansion. Strikingly, Mlh1 and Mlh3 genes encoding MMR effector proteins were as critical to somatic expansion as Msh2 and Msh3 genes encoding DNA mismatch recognition complex MutSβ (MSH2-MSH3). The Mlh1 locus is highly polymorphic between B6 and 129 strains. While we were unable to detect any difference in base-base mismatch or short slipped-repeat repair activity between B6 and 129 MLH1 variants, repair efficiency was MLH1 dose-dependent. MLH1 mRNA and protein levels were significantly decreased in 129 mice compared to B6 mice, consistent with a dose-sensitive MLH1-dependent DNA repair mechanism underlying the somatic expansion difference between these strains. Together, these data identify Mlh1 and Mlh3 as novel critical genetic modifiers of HTT CAG instability, point to Mlh1 genetic variation as the likely source of the instability difference in B6 and 129 strains and suggest that MLH1

  8. Mismatch Repair Genes Mlh1 and Mlh3 Modify CAG Instability in Huntington's Disease Mice: Genome-Wide and Candidate Approaches

    PubMed Central

    Pinto, Ricardo Mouro; Dragileva, Ella; Kirby, Andrew; Lloret, Alejandro; Lopez, Edith; St. Claire, Jason; Panigrahi, Gagan B.; Hou, Caixia; Holloway, Kim; Gillis, Tammy; Guide, Jolene R.; Cohen, Paula E.; Li, Guo-Min; Pearson, Christopher E.; Daly, Mark J.; Wheeler, Vanessa C.

    2013-01-01

    The Huntington's disease gene (HTT) CAG repeat mutation undergoes somatic expansion that correlates with pathogenesis. Modifiers of somatic expansion may therefore provide routes for therapies targeting the underlying mutation, an approach that is likely applicable to other trinucleotide repeat diseases. Huntington's disease HdhQ111 mice exhibit higher levels of somatic HTT CAG expansion on a C57BL/6 genetic background (B6.HdhQ111) than on a 129 background (129.HdhQ111). Linkage mapping in (B6x129).HdhQ111 F2 intercross animals identified a single quantitative trait locus underlying the strain-specific difference in expansion in the striatum, implicating mismatch repair (MMR) gene Mlh1 as the most likely candidate modifier. Crossing B6.HdhQ111 mice onto an Mlh1 null background demonstrated that Mlh1 is essential for somatic CAG expansions and that it is an enhancer of nuclear huntingtin accumulation in striatal neurons. HdhQ111 somatic expansion was also abolished in mice deficient in the Mlh3 gene, implicating MutLγ (MLH1–MLH3) complex as a key driver of somatic expansion. Strikingly, Mlh1 and Mlh3 genes encoding MMR effector proteins were as critical to somatic expansion as Msh2 and Msh3 genes encoding DNA mismatch recognition complex MutSβ (MSH2–MSH3). The Mlh1 locus is highly polymorphic between B6 and 129 strains. While we were unable to detect any difference in base-base mismatch or short slipped-repeat repair activity between B6 and 129 MLH1 variants, repair efficiency was MLH1 dose-dependent. MLH1 mRNA and protein levels were significantly decreased in 129 mice compared to B6 mice, consistent with a dose-sensitive MLH1-dependent DNA repair mechanism underlying the somatic expansion difference between these strains. Together, these data identify Mlh1 and Mlh3 as novel critical genetic modifiers of HTT CAG instability, point to Mlh1 genetic variation as the likely source of the instability difference in B6 and 129 strains and suggest that MLH1 protein

  9. Risk of colorectal cancer for people with a mutation in both a MUTYH and a DNA mismatch repair gene

    PubMed Central

    Win, Aung Ko; Reece, Jeanette C.; Buchanan, Daniel D.; Clendenning, Mark; Young, Joanne P.; Cleary, Sean P.; Kim, Hyeja; Cotterchio, Michelle; Dowty, James G.; MacInnis, Robert J.; Tucker, Katherine M.; Winship, Ingrid M.; Macrae, Finlay A.; Burnett, Terrilea; Le Marchand, Loïc; Casey, Graham; Haile, Robert W.; Newcomb, Polly A.; Thibodeau, Stephen N.; Lindor, Noralane M.; Hopper, John L.; Gallinger, Steven; Jenkins, Mark A.

    2015-01-01

    The base excision repair protein, MUTYH, functionally interacts with the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system. As genetic testing moves from testing one gene at a time, to gene panel and whole exome next generation sequencing approaches, understanding the risk associated with co-existence of germline mutations in these genes will be important for clinical interpretation and management. From the Colon Cancer Family Registry, we identified 10 carriers who had both a MUTYH mutation (6 with c.1187G>A p.(Gly396Asp), 3 with c.821G>A p.(Arg274Gln), and 1 with c.536A>G p.(Tyr179Cys)) and a MMR gene mutation (3 in MLH1, 6 in MSH2, and 1 in PMS2), 375 carriers of a single (monoallelic) MUTYH mutation alone, and 469 carriers of a MMR gene mutation alone. Of the 10 carriers of both gene mutations, 8 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Using a weighted cohort analysis, we estimated that risk of colorectal cancer for carriers of both a MUTYH and a MMR gene mutation was substantially higher than that for carriers of a MUTYH mutation alone [hazard ratio (HR) 21.5, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 9.19–50.1; p < 0.001], but not different from that for carriers of a MMR gene mutation alone (HR 1.94, 95 % CI 0.63–5.99; p = 0.25). Within the limited power of this study, there was no evidence that a monoallelic MUTYH gene mutation confers additional risk of colorectal cancer for carriers of a MMR gene mutation alone. Our finding suggests MUTYH mutation testing in MMR gene mutation carriers is not clinically informative. PMID:26202870

  10. p53 downregulates the Fanconi anaemia DNA repair pathway.

    PubMed

    Jaber, Sara; Toufektchan, Eléonore; Lejour, Vincent; Bardot, Boris; Toledo, Franck

    2016-04-01

    Germline mutations affecting telomere maintenance or DNA repair may, respectively, cause dyskeratosis congenita or Fanconi anaemia, two clinically related bone marrow failure syndromes. Mice expressing p53(Δ31), a mutant p53 lacking the C terminus, model dyskeratosis congenita. Accordingly, the increased p53 activity in p53(Δ31/Δ31) fibroblasts correlated with a decreased expression of 4 genes implicated in telomere syndromes. Here we show that these cells exhibit decreased mRNA levels for additional genes contributing to telomere metabolism, but also, surprisingly, for 12 genes mutated in Fanconi anaemia. Furthermore, p53(Δ31/Δ31) fibroblasts exhibit a reduced capacity to repair DNA interstrand crosslinks, a typical feature of Fanconi anaemia cells. Importantly, the p53-dependent downregulation of Fanc genes is largely conserved in human cells. Defective DNA repair is known to activate p53, but our results indicate that, conversely, an increased p53 activity may attenuate the Fanconi anaemia DNA repair pathway, defining a positive regulatory feedback loop.

  11. Genetic polymorphisms in 19q13.3 genes associated with alteration of repair capacity to BPDE-DNA adducts in primary cultured lymphocytes.

    PubMed

    Xiao, Mingyang; Xiao, Sha; Straaten, Tahar van der; Xue, Ping; Zhang, Guopei; Zheng, Xiao; Zhang, Qianye; Cai, Yuan; Jin, Cuihong; Yang, Jinghua; Wu, Shengwen; Zhu, Guolian; Lu, Xiaobo

    2016-12-01

    Benzo[a]pyrene(B[a]P), and its ultimate metabolite Benzo[a]pyrene 7,8-diol 9,10-epoxide (BPDE), are classic DNA damaging carcinogens. DNA damage in cells caused by BPDE is normally repaired by Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) and Base Excision Repair (BER). Genetic variations in NER and BER can change individual DNA repair capacity to DNA damage induced by BPDE. In the present study we determined the number of in vitro induced BPDE-DNA adducts in lymphocytes, to reflect individual susceptibility to Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-induced carcinogenesis. The BPDE-DNA adduct level in lymphocytes were assessed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in 281 randomly selected participants. We genotyped for 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in NER (XPB rs4150441, XPC rs2228001, rs2279017 and XPF rs4781560), BER (XRCC1 rs25487, rs25489 and rs1799782) and genes located on chromosome 19q13.2-3 (PPP1R13L rs1005165 and CAST rs967591). We found that 3 polymorphisms in chromosome 19q13.2-3 were associated with lower levels of BPDE-DNA adducts (MinorT allele in XRCC1 rs1799782, minor T allele in PPP1R13L rs1005165 and minor A allele in CAST rs967571). In addition, a modified comet assay was performed to further confirm the above conclusions. We found both minor T allele in PPP1R13L rs1005165 and minor A allele in CAST rs967571 were associated with the lower levels of BPDE-adducts. Our data suggested that the variant genotypes of genes in chromosome 19q13.2-3 are associated with the alteration of repair efficiency to DNA damage caused by Benzo[a]pyrene, and may contribute to enhance predictive value for individual's DNA repair capacity in response to environmental carcinogens. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Repair genes expression profile of MLH1, MSH2 and ATM in the normal oral mucosa of chronic smokers.

    PubMed

    Alves, Mônica Ghislaine Oliveira; Carta, Celina Faig Lima; de Barros, Patrícia Pimentel; Issa, Jaqueline Scholz; Nunes, Fábio Daumas; Almeida, Janete Dias

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of chronic smoking on the expression profile of the repair genes MLH1, MSH2 and ATM in the normal oral mucosa of chronic smokers and never smokers. The sample consisted of thirty exfoliative cytology smears per group obtained from Smokers and Never Smokers. Total RNA was extracted and expression of the MLH1, MSH2 and ATM genes were evaluated by quantitative real-time and immunocytochemistry. The gene and protein expression data were correlated to the clinical data. Gene expression was analyzed statistically using the Student t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficient, with p<0.05. MLH1, MSH2 and ATM genes were downregulated in the smoking group compared to the control with significant values for MLH1 (p=0.006), MSH2 (p=0.0001) and ATM (p=0.0001). Immunocytochemical staining for anti-MLH1, anti-MSH2 and anti-ATM was negative in Never Smokers; in Smokers it was rarely positive. No significant correlation was observed among the expression of MLH1, MSH2, ATM and age, number of cigarettes consumed per day, time of smoking during life, smoking history or levels of CO in expired air. The expression of genes and proteins related to DNA repair mechanism MLH1, MSH2 and ATM in the normal oral mucosa of chronic smokers was reduced. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. MRE11 and RAD50, but not NBS1, are essential for gene targeting in the moss Physcomitrella patens.

    PubMed

    Kamisugi, Yasuko; Schaefer, Didier G; Kozak, Jaroslav; Charlot, Florence; Vrielynck, Nathalie; Holá, Marcela; Angelis, Karel J; Cuming, Andrew C; Nogué, Fabien

    2012-04-01

    The moss Physcomitrella patens is unique among plant models for the high frequency with which targeted transgene insertion occurs via homologous recombination. Transgene integration is believed to utilize existing machinery for the detection and repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). We undertook targeted knockout of the Physcomitrella genes encoding components of the principal sensor of DNA DSBs, the MRN complex. Loss of function of PpMRE11 or PpRAD50 strongly and specifically inhibited gene targeting, whilst rates of untargeted transgene integration were relatively unaffected. In contrast, disruption of the PpNBS1 gene retained the wild-type capacity to integrate transforming DNA efficiently at homologous loci. Analysis of the kinetics of DNA-DSB repair in wild-type and mutant plants by single-nucleus agarose gel electrophoresis revealed that bleomycin-induced fragmentation of genomic DNA was repaired at approximately equal rates in each genotype, although both the Ppmre11 and Pprad50 mutants exhibited severely restricted growth and development and enhanced sensitivity to UV-B and bleomycin-induced DNA damage, compared with wild-type and Ppnbs1 plants. This implies that while extensive DNA repair can occur in the absence of a functional MRN complex; this is unsupervised in nature and results in the accumulation of deleterious mutations incompatible with normal growth and development.

  14. MRE11 and RAD50, but not NBS1, are essential for gene targeting in the moss Physcomitrella patens

    PubMed Central

    Kamisugi, Yasuko; Schaefer, Didier G.; Kozak, Jaroslav; Charlot, Florence; Vrielynck, Nathalie; Holá, Marcela; Angelis, Karel J.; Cuming, Andrew C.; Nogué, Fabien

    2012-01-01

    The moss Physcomitrella patens is unique among plant models for the high frequency with which targeted transgene insertion occurs via homologous recombination. Transgene integration is believed to utilize existing machinery for the detection and repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). We undertook targeted knockout of the Physcomitrella genes encoding components of the principal sensor of DNA DSBs, the MRN complex. Loss of function of PpMRE11 or PpRAD50 strongly and specifically inhibited gene targeting, whilst rates of untargeted transgene integration were relatively unaffected. In contrast, disruption of the PpNBS1 gene retained the wild-type capacity to integrate transforming DNA efficiently at homologous loci. Analysis of the kinetics of DNA-DSB repair in wild-type and mutant plants by single-nucleus agarose gel electrophoresis revealed that bleomycin-induced fragmentation of genomic DNA was repaired at approximately equal rates in each genotype, although both the Ppmre11 and Pprad50 mutants exhibited severely restricted growth and development and enhanced sensitivity to UV-B and bleomycin-induced DNA damage, compared with wild-type and Ppnbs1 plants. This implies that while extensive DNA repair can occur in the absence of a functional MRN complex; this is unsupervised in nature and results in the accumulation of deleterious mutations incompatible with normal growth and development. PMID:22210882

  15. The production and repair of aflatoxin B sub 1 -induced DNA damage

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Leadon, S.A.

    To investigate the influence of function or activity of a DNA sequence on its repair, we have studied excision repair of aflatoxin B{sub 1} (AFB{sub 1})-induced damage in the nontranscribed, heterochromatic alpha DNA of monkey cells and in the metallothionein genes of human cells. In confluent cells, AFB{sub 1} adducts are produced in similar frequencies in alpha and in the rest of the DNA, but removal from alpha DNA is severely deficient, however, removal of AFB{sub 1} adducts from alpha DNA is enhanced by small doses of UV. The repair deficiencies are not observed in actively growing cells. We havemore » also shown that there is preferential repair of AFB{sub 1} damage in active genes. AFB{sub 1} damage is efficiently repaired in the active human metallothionein (hMT) genes, but deficiently repaired in inactive hMT genes. 51 refs., 3 tabs.« less

  16. Gene Expression Profiling in the Injured Spinal Cord of Trachemys scripta elegans: An Amniote with Self-Repair Capabilities.

    PubMed

    Valentin-Kahan, Adrián; García-Tejedor, Gabriela B; Robello, Carlos; Trujillo-Cenóz, Omar; Russo, Raúl E; Alvarez-Valin, Fernando

    2017-01-01

    Slider turtles are the only known amniotes with self-repair mechanisms of the spinal cord that lead to substantial functional recovery. Their strategic phylogenetic position makes them a relevant model to investigate the peculiar genetic programs that allow anatomical reconnection in some vertebrate groups but are absent in others. Here, we analyze the gene expression profile of the response to spinal cord injury (SCI) in the turtle Trachemys scripta elegans . We found that this response comprises more than 1000 genes affecting diverse functions: reaction to ischemic insult, extracellular matrix re-organization, cell proliferation and death, immune response, and inflammation. Genes related to synapses and cholesterol biosynthesis are down-regulated. The analysis of the evolutionary distribution of these genes shows that almost all are present in most vertebrates. Additionally, we failed to find genes that were exclusive of regenerating taxa. The comparison of expression patterns among species shows that the response to SCI in the turtle is more similar to that of mice and non-regenerative Xenopus than to Xenopus during its regenerative stage. This observation, along with the lack of conserved "regeneration genes" and the current accepted phylogenetic placement of turtles (sister group of crocodilians and birds), indicates that the ability of spinal cord self-repair of turtles does not represent the retention of an ancestral vertebrate character. Instead, our results suggest that turtles developed this capability from a non-regenerative ancestor (i.e., a lineage specific innovation) that was achieved by re-organizing gene expression patterns on an essentially non-regenerative genetic background. Among the genes activated by SCI exclusively in turtles, those related to anoxia tolerance, extracellular matrix remodeling, and axonal regrowth are good candidates to underlie functional recovery.

  17. Co-expression of antioxidant enzymes with expression of p53, DNA repair, and heat shock protein genes in the gamma ray-irradiated hermaphroditic fish Kryptolebias marmoratus larvae.

    PubMed

    Rhee, Jae-Sung; Kim, Bo-Mi; Kim, Ryeo-Ok; Seo, Jung Soo; Kim, Il-Chan; Lee, Young-Mi; Lee, Jae-Seong

    2013-09-15

    To investigate effects of gamma ray irradiation in the hermaphroditic fish, Kryptolebias marmoratus larvae, we checked expression of p53, DNA repair, and heat shock protein genes with several antioxidant enzyme activities by quantitative real-time RT-PCR and biochemical methods in response to different doses of gamma radiation. As a result, the level of gamma radiation-induced DNA damage was initiated after 4Gy of radiation, and biochemical and molecular damage became substantial from 8Gy. In particular, several DNA repair mechanism-related genes were significantly modulated in the 6Gy gamma radiation-exposed fish larvae, suggesting that upregulation of such DNA repair genes was closely associated with cell survival after gamma irradiation. The mRNA expression of p53 and most hsps was also significantly upregulated at high doses of gamma radiation related to cellular damage. This finding indicates that gamma radiation can induce oxidative stress with associated antioxidant enzyme activities, and linked to modulation of the expression of DNA repair-related genes as one of the defense mechanisms against radiation damage. This study provides a better understanding of the molecular mode of action of defense mechanisms upon gamma radiation in fish larvae. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Emergence of a daptomycin-non-susceptible Enterococcus faecium strain that encodes mutations in DNA repair genes after high-dose daptomycin therapy.

    PubMed

    Matono, Takashi; Hayakawa, Kayoko; Hirai, Risen; Tanimura, Akira; Yamamoto, Kei; Fujiya, Yoshihiro; Mawatari, Momoko; Kutsuna, Satoshi; Takeshita, Nozomi; Mezaki, Kazuhisa; Ohmagari, Norio; Miyoshi-Akiyama, Tohru

    2016-04-01

    An increasing number of reports have documented the emergence of daptomycin-nonsusceptible Enterococcus in patients during daptomycin therapy. Even though several mechanisms for daptomycin-nonsusceptibility have been suggested, the potential genetic mutations which might contribute to the daptomycin-nonsusceptibility are not fully understood. We isolated a vancomycin-susceptible, daptomycin nonsusceptible Enterococcus faecium strain from a patient with acute lymphocytic leukemia who received high-dose daptomycin therapy for E. faecium endocarditis. Whole-genome sequencing analysis revealed mutations within genes encoding DNA repair proteins MutL and RecJ of the daptomycin-nonsusceptible Enterococcus strain which might have facilitated its emergence. We identified the mutations of DNA mismatch repair genes in a clinical isolate of daptomycin nonsusceptible E. faecium which emerged in spite of high-dose daptomycin therapy. The finding implicates the possible association of DNA repair mechanism and daptomycin resistance. Careful monitoring is necessary to avoid the emergence of daptomycin non-susceptible isolates of E. faecium and particularly in cases of long-term daptomycin use or in immunocompromised patients.

  19. Roles for the yeast RAD18 and RAD52 DNA repair genes in UV mutagenesis.

    PubMed

    Armstrong, J D; Chadee, D N; Kunz, B A

    1994-11-01

    Experimental evidence indicates that although the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD18 and RAD52 genes are not required for nucleotide excision repair, they function in the processing of UV-induced DNA damage in yeast. Conflicting statements regarding the UV mutability of strains deleted for RAD18 prompted us to re-examine the influence of RAD18, and RAD52, on UV mutagenesis. To do so, we characterized mutations induced by UV in SUP4-o, a yeast suppressor tRNA gene. SUP4-o was maintained on a plasmid in isogenic strains that either carried one of two different rad18 deletions (rad18 delta) or had RAD52 disrupted. Both rad18 deletions decreased the frequency of UV-induced SUP4-o mutations to levels close to those for spontaneous mutagenesis in the rad18 delta backgrounds, and prevented a net increase in mutant yield. A detailed analysis of mutations isolated after UV irradiation of one of the rad18 delta strains uncovered little evidence of the specificity features typical for UV mutagenesis in the isogenic repair-proficient (RAD) parent (e.g., predominance of G.C-->A.T transitions). Evidently, UV induction of SUP4-o mutations is highly dependent on the RAD18 gene. Compared to the RAD strain, disruption of RAD52 reduced the frequency and yield of UV mutagenesis by about two-thirds. Closer inspection revealed that 80% of this reduction was due to a decrease in the frequency of G.C-->A.T transitions. In addition, there were differences in the distributions and site specificities of single base-pair substitutions. Thus, RAD52 also participates in UV mutagenesis of a plasmid-borne gene in yeast, but to a lesser extent than RAD18.

  20. Traditional Chinese Medicine Curcumin Sensitizes Human Colon Cancer to Radiation by Altering the Expression of DNA Repair-related Genes.

    PubMed

    Yang, Guangen; Qiu, Jianming; Wang, Dong; Tao, Yong; Song, Yihuan; Wang, Hongtao; Tang, Juping; Wang, Xing; Sun, Y U; Yang, Zhijian; Hoffman, Robert M

    2018-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to investigate the radio-sensitizing efficacy of curcumin, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on colon cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Human colon cancer HT-29 cells were treated with curcumin (2.5 μM), irradiation (10 Gy) and the combination of irradiation and curcumin. Cell proliferation was assessed using the MTT assay. Apoptotic cells were detected by Annexin V-PE/7-AAD analysis. PCR was performed to determine differential-expression profiling of 95 DNA-repair genes in irradiated cells and cells treated with both irradiation and curcumin. Differentially-expressed genes were confirmed by Western blotting. In vivo radio-sensitizing efficacy of curcumin was assessed in a xenograft mouse model of HT-29 colon cancer. Curcumin was administrated daily by intraperitoneal injection at 20 mg/kg/dose. Mice received irradiation (10 Gy) twice weekly. Apoptosis of the cancer cells following treatment was determined by TUNEL staining. Irradiation induced proliferation inhibition and apoptosis of HT-29 cells in vitro. Concurrent curcumin treatment sensitized the HT-29 tumor to irradiation (p<0.01). DNA repair-related genes CCNH and XRCC5 were upregulated and LIG4 and PNKP downregulated by the combination of curcumin and irradiation compared with irradiation alone (p<0.05). Combined treatment of curcumin and irradiation resulted in a significantly greater tumor-growth inhibition and apoptosis compared to irradiation treatment alone (p<0.01). Curcumin sensitizes human colon cancer in vitro and in vivo to radiation. Downregulation of LIG4 and PNKP and upregulation of XRCC5 and CCNH DNA-repair-related genes were involved in the radio-sensitizing efficacy of curcumin in colon cancer. Copyright© 2018, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

  1. DNA Repair Mechanism Gene, XRCC1A ( Arg194Trp) but not XRCC3 ( Thr241Met) Polymorphism Increased the Risk of Breast Cancer in Premenopausal Females: A Case-Control Study in Northeastern Region of India.

    PubMed

    Devi, K Rekha; Ahmed, Jishan; Narain, Kanwar; Mukherjee, Kaustab; Majumdar, Gautam; Chenkual, Saia; Zonunmawia, Jason C

    2017-12-01

    X-ray repair cross complementary group gene is one of the most studied candidate gene involved in different types of cancers. Studies have shown that X-ray repair cross complementary genes are significantly associated with increased risk of breast cancer in females. Moreover, studies have revealed that X-ray repair cross complementary gene polymorphism significantly varies between and within different ethnic groups globally. The present case-control study was aimed to investigate the association of X-ray repair cross complementary 1A (Arg194Trp) and X-ray repair cross complementary 3 (Thr241Met) polymorphism with the risk of breast cancer in females from northeastern region of India. The present case-control study includes histopathologically confirmed and newly diagnosed 464 cases with breast cancer and 534 apparently healthy neighborhood community controls. Information on sociodemographic factors and putative risk factors were collected from each study participant by conducting face-to-face interviews. Genotyping of X-ray repair cross complementary 1A (Arg194Trp) and X-ray repair cross complementary 3 (Thr241Met) was carried out by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. For statistical analysis, both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. We also performed stratified analysis to find out the association of X-ray repair cross complementary genes with the risk of breast cancer stratified based on menstrual status. This study revealed that tryptophan allele (R/W-W/W genotype) in X-ray repair cross complementary 1A (Arg194Trp) gene significantly increased the risk of breast cancer (adjusted odds ratio = 1.44, 95% confidence interval = 1.06-1.97, P < .05 for R/W-W/W genotype). Moreover, it was found that tryptophan allele (W/W genotype) at codon 194 of X-ray repair cross complementary 1A (Arg194Trp) gene significantly increased the risk of breast cancer in premenopausal females (crude odds ratio = 1.66, 95

  2. DNA Repair Mechanism Gene, XRCC1A (Arg194Trp) but not XRCC3 (Thr241Met) Polymorphism Increased the Risk of Breast Cancer in Premenopausal Females: A Case–Control Study in Northeastern Region of India

    PubMed Central

    Ahmed, Jishan; Narain, Kanwar; Mukherjee, Kaustab; Majumdar, Gautam; Chenkual, Saia; Zonunmawia, Jason C.

    2017-01-01

    X-ray repair cross complementary group gene is one of the most studied candidate gene involved in different types of cancers. Studies have shown that X-ray repair cross complementary genes are significantly associated with increased risk of breast cancer in females. Moreover, studies have revealed that X-ray repair cross complementary gene polymorphism significantly varies between and within different ethnic groups globally. The present case–control study was aimed to investigate the association of X-ray repair cross complementary 1A (Arg194Trp) and X-ray repair cross complementary 3 (Thr241Met) polymorphism with the risk of breast cancer in females from northeastern region of India. The present case–control study includes histopathologically confirmed and newly diagnosed 464 cases with breast cancer and 534 apparently healthy neighborhood community controls. Information on sociodemographic factors and putative risk factors were collected from each study participant by conducting face-to-face interviews. Genotyping of X-ray repair cross complementary 1A (Arg194Trp) and X-ray repair cross complementary 3 (Thr241Met) was carried out by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. For statistical analysis, both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. We also performed stratified analysis to find out the association of X-ray repair cross complementary genes with the risk of breast cancer stratified based on menstrual status. This study revealed that tryptophan allele (R/W-W/W genotype) in X-ray repair cross complementary 1A (Arg194Trp) gene significantly increased the risk of breast cancer (adjusted odds ratio = 1.44, 95% confidence interval = 1.06-1.97, P < .05 for R/W-W/W genotype). Moreover, it was found that tryptophan allele (W/W genotype) at codon 194 of X-ray repair cross complementary 1A (Arg194Trp) gene significantly increased the risk of breast cancer in premenopausal females (crude odds ratio = 1

  3. Genotoxic chemical carcinogens target inducible genes in vivo

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hamilton, J.W.; McCaffrey, J.; Caron, R.M.

    1994-12-31

    Our laboratory is interested in whether carcinogen-induced DNA damage is distributed nonrandomly in the genome - that is, {open_quotes}targeted{close_quotes} to specific genes or gene regions in vivo. As an indirect measure of whether targeting occurs at the gene level, we have examined whether carcinogens differentially alter the expression of individual genes. We have compared the effects of model genotoxic carcinogens that principally induce either strand breaks, simple alkylations, bulky lesions, or DNA cross-links on the expression of several constitutive and inducible genes in a simple in vivo system, the chick embryo. Each agent was examined for its effects on genemore » expression over a 24 hour period corresponding to the period of maximal DNA damage and repair induced by each compound. The doses used in these studies represented the maximum doses that caused no overt toxicity over a 96 hour period but that induced significant levels of DNA damage. Our results demonstrate that inducible genes are targeted by chemical carcinogens. We hypothesize that such effects may be a result of DNA damage specifically altering DNA-protein interactions within the promoters of inducible genes.« less

  4. Direct bone morphogenetic protein 2 and Indian hedgehog gene transfer for articular cartilage repair using bone marrow coagulates.

    PubMed

    Sieker, J T; Kunz, M; Weißenberger, M; Gilbert, F; Frey, S; Rudert, M; Steinert, A F

    2015-03-01

    Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2, encoded by BMP2) and Indian hedgehog protein (IHH, encoded by IHH) are well known regulators of chondrogenesis and chondrogenic hypertrophy. Despite being a potent chondrogenic factor BMP-2 was observed to induce chondrocyte hypertrophy in osteoarthritis (OA), growth plate cartilage and adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). IHH might induce chondrogenic differentiation through different intracellular signalling pathways without inducing subsequent chondrocyte hypertrophy. The primary objective of this study is to test the efficacy of direct BMP2 and IHH gene delivery via bone marrow coagulates to influence histological repair cartilage quality in vivo. Vector-laden autologous bone marrow coagulates with 10(11) adenoviral vector particles encoding BMP2, IHH or the Green fluorescent protein (GFP) were delivered to 3.2 mm osteochondral defects in the trochlea of rabbit knees. After 13 weeks the histological repair cartilage quality was assessed using the ICRS II scoring system and the type II collagen positive area. IHH treatment resulted in superior histological repair cartilage quality than GFP controls in all of the assessed parameters (with P < 0.05 in five of 14 assessed parameters). Results of BMP2 treatment varied substantially, including severe intralesional bone formation in two of six joints after 13 weeks. IHH gene transfer is effective to improve repair cartilage quality in vivo, whereas BMP2 treatment, carried the risk intralesional bone formation. Therefore IHH protein can be considered as an attractive alternative candidate growth factor for further preclinical research and development towards improved treatments for articular cartilage defects. Copyright © 2014 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. DNA repair and tumorigenesis: lessons from hereditary cancer syndromes.

    PubMed

    Heinen, Christopher D; Schmutte, Christoph; Fishel, Richard

    2002-01-01

    The discovery that alterations of the DNA mismatch repair system (MMR) were linked to the common human cancer susceptibility syndrome hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC) resulted in the declaration of a third class of genes involved in tumor development. In addition to oncogenes and tumor suppressors, alterations of DNA repair genes involved in maintaining genomic stability were found to be a clear cause of tum the level of the single nucleotides or chromosomes. This observation suggested that the establishment of genomic instability, termed the Mutator Phenotype, was an important aspect of tumor development.(1,2) Since the initial identification of the human MutS homolog hMSH2 nearly a decade ago,(3,4) more links have been described between human cancers and genes involved in maintaining genomic stability. Work in recent years has revealed that DNA repair proteins may also function in signaling pathways that provoke cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. This review will focus on the genetic and biochemical functions of DNA repair genes linked to hereditary cancer predisposition characterized by genomic instability (Table 1). Interestingly, the protein products of these genes have been directly or indirectly linked to the DNA damage-induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. We conclude that a robust connection between DNA repair proteins and damage-induced apoptosis may be as important for tumorigenesis as their role in maintaining genome stability.

  6. FANCJ helicase controls the balance between short- and long-tract gene conversions between sister chromatids

    PubMed Central

    Nath, Sarmi; Somyajit, Kumar; Mishra, Anup; Scully, Ralph

    2017-01-01

    Abstract The FANCJ DNA helicase is linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancers as well as bone marrow failure disorder Fanconi anemia (FA). Although FANCJ has been implicated in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination (HR), the molecular mechanism underlying the tumor suppressor functions of FANCJ remains obscure. Here, we demonstrate that FANCJ deficient human and hamster cells exhibit reduction in the overall gene conversions in response to a site-specific chromosomal DSB induced by I-SceI endonuclease. Strikingly, the gene conversion events were biased in favour of long-tract gene conversions in FANCJ depleted cells. The fine regulation of short- (STGC) and long-tract gene conversions (LTGC) by FANCJ was dependent on its interaction with BRCA1 tumor suppressor. Notably, helicase activity of FANCJ was essential for controlling the overall HR and in terminating the extended repair synthesis during sister chromatid recombination (SCR). Moreover, cells expressing FANCJ pathological mutants exhibited defective SCR with an increased frequency of LTGC. These data unravel the novel function of FANCJ helicase in regulating SCR and SCR associated gene amplification/duplications and imply that these functions of FANCJ are crucial for the genome maintenance and tumor suppression. PMID:28911102

  7. RADH, a gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encoding a putative DNA helicase involved in DNA repair. Characteristics of radH mutants and sequence of the gene.

    PubMed

    Aboussekhra, A; Chanet, R; Zgaga, Z; Cassier-Chauvat, C; Heude, M; Fabre, F

    1989-09-25

    A new type of radiation-sensitive mutant of S. cerevisiae is described. The recessive radH mutation sensitizes to the lethal effect of UV radiations haploids in the G1 but not in the G2 mitotic phase. Homozygous diploids are as sensitive as G1 haploids. The UV-induced mutagenesis is depressed, while the induction of gene conversion is increased. The mutation is believed to channel the repair of lesions engaged in the mutagenic pathway into a recombination process, successful if the events involve sister-chromatids but lethal if they involve homologous chromosomes. The sequence of the RADH gene reveals that it may code for a DNA helicase, with a Mr of 134 kDa. All the consensus domains of known DNA helicases are present. Besides these consensus regions, strong homologies with the Rep and UvrD helicases of E. coli were found. The RadH putative helicase appears to belong to the set of proteins involved in the error-prone repair mechanism, at least for UV-induced lesions, and could act in coordination with the Rev3 error-prone DNA polymerase.

  8. Editorial Commentary: A Model for Shoulder Rotator Cuff Repair and for Basic Science Investigations.

    PubMed

    Brand, Jefferson C

    2018-04-01

    "Breaking the fourth wall" is a theater convention where the narrator or character speaks directly to the audience. As an Assistant Editor-in-Chief, as I comment on a recent basic science study investigating rotator cuff repair, I break the fourth wall and articulate areas of basic science research excellence that align with the vision that we hold for our journal. Inclusion of a powerful video strengthens the submission. We prefer to publish clinical videos in our companion journal, Arthroscopy Techniques, and encourage basic science video submissions to Arthroscopy. Basic science research requires step-by-tedious-step analogous to climbing a mountain. Establishment of a murine rotator cuff repair model was rigorous and research intensive, biomechanically, radiographically, histologically, and genetically documented, a huge step toward the bone-to-tendon healing research summit. This research results in a model for both rotator cuff repair and the pinnacle of quality, basic science research. Copyright © 2018 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Nucleotide excision repair by dual incisions in plants.

    PubMed

    Canturk, Fazile; Karaman, Muhammet; Selby, Christopher P; Kemp, Michael G; Kulaksiz-Erkmen, Gulnihal; Hu, Jinchuan; Li, Wentao; Lindsey-Boltz, Laura A; Sancar, Aziz

    2016-04-26

    Plants use light for photosynthesis and for various signaling purposes. The UV wavelengths in sunlight also introduce DNA damage in the form of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and pyrimidine (6-4) pyrimidone photoproducts [(6-4)PPs] that must be repaired for the survival of the plant. Genome sequencing has revealed the presence of genes for both CPD and (6-4)PP photolyases, as well as genes for nucleotide excision repair in plants, such as Arabidopsis and rice. Plant photolyases have been purified, characterized, and have been shown to play an important role in plant survival. In contrast, even though nucleotide excision repair gene homologs have been found in plants, the mechanism of nucleotide excision repair has not been investigated. Here we used the in vivo excision repair assay developed in our laboratory to demonstrate that Arabidopsis removes CPDs and (6-4)PPs by a dual-incision mechanism that is essentially identical to the mechanism of dual incisions in humans and other eukaryotes, in which oligonucleotides with a mean length of 26-27 nucleotides are removed by incising ∼20 phosphodiester bonds 5' and 5 phosphodiester bonds 3' to the photoproduct.

  10. [Fanconi anemia: genes and function(s) revisited].

    PubMed

    Papadopoulo, Dora; Moustacchi, Ethel

    2005-01-01

    Fanconi anemia (FA), a rare inherited disorder, exhibits a complex phenotype including progressive bone marrow failure, congenital malformations and increased risk of cancers, mainly acute myeloid leukaemia. At the cellular level, FA is characterized by hypersensitivity to DNA cross-linking agents and by high frequencies of induced chromosomal aberrations, a property used for diagnosis. FA results from mutations in one of the eleven FANC (FANCA to FANCJ) genes. Nine of them have been identified. In addition, FANCD1 gene has been shown to be identical to BRCA2, one of the two breast cancer susceptibility genes. Seven of the FANC proteins form a complex, which exists in four different forms depending of its subcellular localisation. Four FANC proteins (D1(BRCA2), D2, I and J) are not associated to the complex. The presence of the nuclear form of the FA core complex is necessary for the mono-ubiquitinylation of FANCD2 protein, a modification required for its re-localization to nuclear foci, likely to be sites of DNA repair. A clue towards understanding the molecular function of the FANC genes comes from the recently identified connection of FANC to the BRCA1, ATM, NBS1 and ATR genes. Two of the FANC proteins (A and D2) directly interact with BRCA1, which in turn interacts with the MRE11/RAD50/NBS1 complex, which is one of the key components in the mechanisms involved in the cellular response to DNA double strand breaks (DSB). Moreover, ATM, a protein kinase that plays a central role in the network of DSB signalling, phosphorylates in vitro and in vivo FANCD2 in response to ionising radiations. Moreover, the NBS1 protein and the monoubiquitinated form of FANCD2 seem to act together in response to DNA crosslinking agents. Taken together with the previously reported impaired DSB and DNA interstrand crosslinks repair in FA cells, the connection of FANC genes to the ATM, ATR, NBS1 and BRCA1 links the FANC genes function to the finely orchestrated network involved in the

  11. Genetic characterization of cells of homocystinuria patients with disrupted DNA repair system

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sinel'shchikova, T.A.; L'vova, G.N.; Shoniya, N.N.

    1986-08-01

    Fibroblasts obtained from biopsy material and lymphocytes of patients with homocystinuria were investigated for repair activity according to the following criteria: rejoined DNA breaks, induced by 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide and ..gamma..-radiation; indices of reactivation and induced mutagenesis of smallpox vaccine virus treated with these mutagens. In lymphocytes a defect of DNA repair was observed according to all criteria investigated. During passage of fibroblast cultures, inhibition of repair activity of cells was preserved according to ..gamma..-type. Increase in the number of spontaneous and ..gamma..-induced mutations of virus was noted according to degree of passage of fibroblasts.

  12. Gene Expression Profiling in the Injured Spinal Cord of Trachemys scripta elegans: An Amniote with Self-Repair Capabilities

    PubMed Central

    Valentin-Kahan, Adrián; García-Tejedor, Gabriela B.; Robello, Carlos; Trujillo-Cenóz, Omar; Russo, Raúl E.; Alvarez-Valin, Fernando

    2017-01-01

    Slider turtles are the only known amniotes with self-repair mechanisms of the spinal cord that lead to substantial functional recovery. Their strategic phylogenetic position makes them a relevant model to investigate the peculiar genetic programs that allow anatomical reconnection in some vertebrate groups but are absent in others. Here, we analyze the gene expression profile of the response to spinal cord injury (SCI) in the turtle Trachemys scripta elegans. We found that this response comprises more than 1000 genes affecting diverse functions: reaction to ischemic insult, extracellular matrix re-organization, cell proliferation and death, immune response, and inflammation. Genes related to synapses and cholesterol biosynthesis are down-regulated. The analysis of the evolutionary distribution of these genes shows that almost all are present in most vertebrates. Additionally, we failed to find genes that were exclusive of regenerating taxa. The comparison of expression patterns among species shows that the response to SCI in the turtle is more similar to that of mice and non-regenerative Xenopus than to Xenopus during its regenerative stage. This observation, along with the lack of conserved “regeneration genes” and the current accepted phylogenetic placement of turtles (sister group of crocodilians and birds), indicates that the ability of spinal cord self-repair of turtles does not represent the retention of an ancestral vertebrate character. Instead, our results suggest that turtles developed this capability from a non-regenerative ancestor (i.e., a lineage specific innovation) that was achieved by re-organizing gene expression patterns on an essentially non-regenerative genetic background. Among the genes activated by SCI exclusively in turtles, those related to anoxia tolerance, extracellular matrix remodeling, and axonal regrowth are good candidates to underlie functional recovery. PMID:28223917

  13. SAMHD1 Sheds Moonlight on DNA Double-Strand Break Repair.

    PubMed

    Cabello-Lobato, Maria Jose; Wang, Siyue; Schmidt, Christine Katrin

    2017-12-01

    SAMHD1 (sterile α motif and histidine (H) aspartate (D) domain-containing protein 1) is known for its antiviral activity of hydrolysing deoxynucleotides required for virus replication. Daddacha et al. identify a hydrolase-independent, moonlighting function of SAMHD1 that facilitates homologous recombination of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by promoting recruitment of C-terminal binding protein interacting protein (CTIP), a DNA-end resection factor, to damaged DNA. These findings could benefit anticancer treatment. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  14. International congress on DNA damage and repair: Book of abstracts

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    This document contains the abstracts of 105 papers presented at the Congress. Topics covered include the Escherichia coli nucleotide excision repair system, DNA repair in malignant transformations, defective DNA repair, and gene regulation. (TEM)

  15. I-SceI-mediated double-strand break does not increase the frequency of homologous recombination at the Dct locus in mouse embryonic stem cells.

    PubMed

    Fenina, Myriam; Simon-Chazottes, Dominique; Vandormael-Pournin, Sandrine; Soueid, Jihane; Langa, Francina; Cohen-Tannoudji, Michel; Bernard, Bruno A; Panthier, Jean-Jacques

    2012-01-01

    Targeted induction of double-strand breaks (DSBs) at natural endogenous loci was shown to increase the rate of gene replacement by homologous recombination in mouse embryonic stem cells. The gene encoding dopachrome tautomerase (Dct) is specifically expressed in melanocytes and their precursors. To construct a genetic tool allowing the replacement of Dct gene by any gene of interest, we generated an embryonic stem cell line carrying the recognition site for the yeast I-SceI meganuclease embedded in the Dct genomic segment. The embryonic stem cell line was electroporated with an I-SceI expression plasmid, and a template for the DSB-repair process that carried sequence homologies to the Dct target. The I-SceI meganuclease was indeed able to introduce a DSB at the Dct locus in live embryonic stem cells. However, the level of gene targeting was not improved by the DSB induction, indicating a limited capacity of I-SceI to mediate homologous recombination at the Dct locus. These data suggest that homologous recombination by meganuclease-induced DSB may be locus dependent in mammalian cells.

  16. p53 downregulates the Fanconi anaemia DNA repair pathway

    PubMed Central

    Jaber, Sara; Toufektchan, Eléonore; Lejour, Vincent; Bardot, Boris; Toledo, Franck

    2016-01-01

    Germline mutations affecting telomere maintenance or DNA repair may, respectively, cause dyskeratosis congenita or Fanconi anaemia, two clinically related bone marrow failure syndromes. Mice expressing p53Δ31, a mutant p53 lacking the C terminus, model dyskeratosis congenita. Accordingly, the increased p53 activity in p53Δ31/Δ31 fibroblasts correlated with a decreased expression of 4 genes implicated in telomere syndromes. Here we show that these cells exhibit decreased mRNA levels for additional genes contributing to telomere metabolism, but also, surprisingly, for 12 genes mutated in Fanconi anaemia. Furthermore, p53Δ31/Δ31 fibroblasts exhibit a reduced capacity to repair DNA interstrand crosslinks, a typical feature of Fanconi anaemia cells. Importantly, the p53-dependent downregulation of Fanc genes is largely conserved in human cells. Defective DNA repair is known to activate p53, but our results indicate that, conversely, an increased p53 activity may attenuate the Fanconi anaemia DNA repair pathway, defining a positive regulatory feedback loop. PMID:27033104

  17. Chromatin remodelling and DNA repair genes are frequently mutated in endometrioid endometrial carcinoma.

    PubMed

    García-Sanz, Pablo; Triviño, Juan Carlos; Mota, Alba; Pérez López, María; Colás, Eva; Rojo-Sebastián, Alejandro; García, Ángel; Gatius, Sonia; Ruiz, María; Prat, Jaime; López-López, Rafael; Abal, Miguel; Gil-Moreno, Antonio; Reventós, Jaume; Matias-Guiu, Xavier; Moreno-Bueno, Gema

    2017-04-01

    In developed countries, endometrial carcinoma is the most common cancer that affects the female genital tract. Endometrial carcinoma is divided into two main histological types, type I or endometrioid and type II or non-endometrioid, each of which have characteristic, although not exclusive, molecular alterations and mutational profiles. Nevertheless, information about the implication and relevance of some of these genes in this disease is lacking. We sought here to identify new recurrently mutated genes in endometrioid cancers that play a role in tumourigenesis and that influence the clinical outcome. We focused on low-grade, non-ultramutated tumours as these tumours have a worse prognosis than the ultramutated POLE-positive endometrioid endometrial carcinomas (EECs). We performed exome-sequencing of 11 EECs with matched normal tissue and subsequently validated 15 candidate genes in 76 samples. For the first time, we show that mutations in chromatin remodelling-related genes (KMT2D, KMT2C, SETD1B and BCOR) and in DNA-repair-related genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD50 and CHD4) are frequent in this subtype of endometrial cancer. The alterations to these genes occurred with frequencies ranging from 35.5% for KMT2D to 10.5% for BRCA1 and BCOR, with some showing a tendency toward co-occurrence (RAD50-KMT2D and RAD50-SETD1B). All these genes harboured specific mutational hotspots. In addition, the mutational status of KMT2C, KMT2D and SETD1B helps to predict the degree of myometrial invasion, a critical prognostic feature. These results highlight the possible implication of these genes in this disease, creating opportunities for new therapeutic approaches. © 2016 UICC.

  18. Transcription-associated processes cause DNA double-strand breaks and translocations in neural stem/progenitor cells.

    PubMed

    Schwer, Bjoern; Wei, Pei-Chi; Chang, Amelia N; Kao, Jennifer; Du, Zhou; Meyers, Robin M; Alt, Frederick W

    2016-02-23

    High-throughput, genome-wide translocation sequencing (HTGTS) studies of activated B cells have revealed that DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) capable of translocating to defined bait DSBs are enriched around the transcription start sites (TSSs) of active genes. We used the HTGTS approach to investigate whether a similar phenomenon occurs in primary neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs). We report that breakpoint junctions indeed are enriched around TSSs that were determined to be active by global run-on sequencing analyses of NSPCs. Comparative analyses of transcription profiles in NSPCs and B cells revealed that the great majority of TSS-proximal junctions occurred in genes commonly expressed in both cell types, possibly because this common set has higher transcription levels on average than genes transcribed in only one or the other cell type. In the latter context, among all actively transcribed genes containing translocation junctions in NSPCs, those with junctions located within 2 kb of the TSS show a significantly higher transcription rate on average than genes with junctions in the gene body located at distances greater than 2 kb from the TSS. Finally, analysis of repair junction signatures of TSS-associated translocations in wild-type versus classical nonhomologous end-joining (C-NHEJ)-deficient NSPCs reveals that both C-NHEJ and alternative end-joining pathways can generate translocations by joining TSS-proximal DSBs to DSBs on other chromosomes. Our studies show that the generation of transcription-associated DSBs is conserved across divergent cell types.

  19. A Novel Way Of Repair Of Insulation Breaks During Pacemaker Generator Replacement

    PubMed Central

    Manzoor Ali, Syed; Iqbal, Khurshid; Tramboo, Nisar A; Lone, Aijaz A; Kaul, Suresh; Kaul, Neelam; Hafiz, Imran

    2009-01-01

    Minor abrasions can occur while mobilising old lead during pacemaker generator replacement necesittating placement of additional lead adding to the financial burden and junk in heart. We describe a novel way of repair of old pacemaker lead preventing additional lead placement. PMID:19763196

  20. Kinetics of chromatid break repair in G2-human fibroblasts exposed to low- and high-LET radiations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kawata, T.; Durante, M.; George, K.; Furusawa, Y.; Gotoh, E.; Takai, N.; Wu, H.; Cucinotta, F. A.

    2001-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to determine the kinetics of chromatid break rejoining following exposure to radiations of different quality. Exponentially growing human fibroblast cells AG1522 were irradiated with gamma-rays, energetic carbon (290 MeV/u), silicon (490 MeV/u) and iron (200 MeV/u, 600 MeV/u). Chromosomes were prematurely condensed using calyculin A. Prematurely condensed chromosomes were collected after several post-irradiation incubation times, ranging from 5 to 600 minutes, and the number of chromatid breaks and exchanges in G2 cells were scored. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for initial chromatid breaks per unit dose showed LET dependency having a peak at 55 keV/micrometers silicon (2.4) or 80 keV/micrometers carbon particles (2.4) and then decreased with increasing LET. The kinetics of chromatid break rejoining following low- or high-LET irradiation consisted of two exponential components. Chromatid breaks decreased rapidly after exposure, and then continued to decrease at a slower rate. The rejoining kinetics was similar for exposure to each type of radiation, although the rate of unrejoined breaks was higher for high-LET radiation. Chromatid exchanges were also formed quickly.