Transcription inhibition by 5,6-dichloro-1-beta-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole (DRB) causes DNA damage and triggers homologous recombination repair in mammalian cells

The mammalian FBXL10-RNF68-RNF2 ubiquitin ligase complex (FRRUC) mono-ubiquitylates H2A at Lys119 to repress transcription in unstressed cells. We found that the FRRUC is rapidly and transiently recruited to sites of DNA damage in a PARP1- and TIMELESS-dependent manner to promote mono-ubiquitylation of H2A at Lys119, a local decrease of H2A levels, and an increase of H2A.Z incorporation. Both the FRRUC and H2A.Z promote transcriptional repression, double strand break signaling, and homologous recombination repair (HRR). All these events require both the presence and activity of the FRRUC. Moreover, the FRRUC and its activity are required for the proper recruitment of BMI1-RNF2 and MEL18-RNF2, two other ubiquitin ligases that mono-ubiquitylate Lys119 in H2A upon genotoxic stress. Notably, whereas H2A.Z is not required for H2A mono-ubiquitylation, impairment of the latter results in the inhibition of H2A.Z incorporation. We propose that the recruitment of the FRRUC represents an early and critical regulatory step in HRR.

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Proton Irradiation Increases the Necessity for Homologous Recombination Repair Along with the Indispensability of Non-Homologous End Joining

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells9040889 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 889 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Klaudia Szymonowicz ◽

Adam Krysztofiak ◽

Jansje van der Linden ◽

Ajvar Kern ◽

Simon Deycmar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Damage ◽

Homologous Recombination ◽

Proton Irradiation ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Particle Therapy ◽

Homologous Recombination Repair ◽

End Joining ◽

X Ray ◽

Recombination Repair ◽

Non Homologous End Joining

Technical improvements in clinical radiotherapy for maximizing cytotoxicity to the tumor while limiting negative impact on co-irradiated healthy tissues include the increasing use of particle therapy (e.g., proton therapy) worldwide. Yet potential differences in the biology of DNA damage induction and repair between irradiation with X-ray photons and protons remain elusive. We compared the differences in DNA double strand break (DSB) repair and survival of cells compromised in non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), homologous recombination repair (HRR) or both, after irradiation with an equal dose of X-ray photons, entrance plateau (EP) protons, and mid spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) protons. We used super-resolution microscopy to investigate potential differences in spatial distribution of DNA damage foci upon irradiation. While DNA damage foci were equally distributed throughout the nucleus after X-ray photon irradiation, we observed more clustered DNA damage foci upon proton irradiation. Furthermore, deficiency in essential NHEJ proteins delayed DNA repair kinetics and sensitized cells to both, X-ray photon and proton irradiation, whereas deficiency in HRR proteins sensitized cells only to proton irradiation. We assume that NHEJ is indispensable for processing DNA DSB independent of the irradiation source, whereas the importance of HRR rises with increasing energy of applied irradiation.

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Inhibition of the ATR kinase enhances 5-FU sensitivity independently of nonhomologous end-joining and homologous recombination repair pathways

Journal of Biological Chemistry ◽

10.1074/jbc.ra120.013726 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 295 (37) ◽

pp. 12946-12961

Author(s):

Soichiro S. Ito ◽

Yosuke Nakagawa ◽

Masaya Matsubayashi ◽

Yoshihiko M. Sakaguchi ◽

Shinko Kobashigawa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Homologous Recombination ◽

Mammalian Cells ◽

Cell Cycle Checkpoint ◽

Nonhomologous End Joining ◽

Homologous Recombination Repair ◽

Dna Breaks ◽

End Joining ◽

Nucleotide Synthesis ◽

Recombination Repair ◽

Repair Pathways

The anticancer agent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is cytotoxic and often used to treat various cancers. 5-FU is thought to inhibit the enzyme thymidylate synthase, which plays a role in nucleotide synthesis and has been found to induce single- and double-strand DNA breaks. ATR Ser/Thr kinase (ATR) is a principal kinase in the DNA damage response and is activated in response to UV– and chemotherapeutic drug–induced DNA replication stress, but its role in cellular responses to 5-FU is unclear. In this study, we examined the effect of ATR inhibition on 5-FU sensitivity of mammalian cells. Using immunoblotting, we found that 5-FU treatment dose-dependently induced the phosphorylation of ATR at the autophosphorylation site Thr-1989 and thereby activated its kinase. Administration of 5-FU with a specific ATR inhibitor remarkably decreased cell survival, compared with 5-FU treatment combined with other major DNA repair kinase inhibitors. Of note, the ATR inhibition enhanced induction of DNA double-strand breaks and apoptosis in 5-FU–treated cells. Using gene expression analysis, we found that 5-FU induced the activation of the intra-S cell-cycle checkpoint. Cells lacking BRCA2 were sensitive to 5-FU in the presence of ATR inhibitor. Moreover, ATR inhibition enhanced the efficacy of the 5-FU treatment, independently of the nonhomologous end-joining and homologous recombination repair pathways. These findings suggest that ATR could be a potential therapeutic target in 5-FU–based chemotherapy.

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