Abstract
BackgroundLens epithelium derived growth factor splice variant of 75 kDa (LEDGF/p75), is overexpressed in different solid cancers and cancer cell lines and various autoinflammatory diseases. Due to its ability to bind chromatin, it acts as a transcriptional co-activator and promotes anti-apoptotic signalling pathways that lead to increased tumour aggressiveness and resistance to chemotherapy. The role of LEDGF/p75 in DNA-damage repair (DDR) is still not completely elucidated particularly regarding the ubiquitin-dependent regulation and degradation of DDR signalling molecules.MethodsDifferent LEDGF model cell lines were generated, a complete knock-out of LEDGF (KO) as well as the re-expression of LEDGF/p75 or LEDGF/p52 using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Then, various assays were performed to determine their proliferation and migration capacity as well as their chemosensitivity. Moreover, DDR signalling pathways were investigated by western blot and immunofluorescence.ResultsLEDGF-deficient cells exhibited a decreased proliferation (dt (WT) = 21 h, dt (KO) = 26 h) , 60 % decreased migration, as well as an 30-50 % increased sensitivity towards the topoisomerase II inhibitor etoposide. Moreover, LEDGF depleted cells showed a significant reduction by 65 % in the recruitment of downstream DDR-related proteins like replication protein A 32 kDa subunit (RPA32) after exposure to etoposide. Re-expression of LEDGF/p75 rescued all knock-out effects, while re-expression of LEDGF/p52 had no effect.Surprisingly, untreated LEDGF KO cells showed an increased amount of DNA fragmentation combined with an increased formation of γH2AX and Breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein (BRCA1). In contrast, the protein levels of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme UBC13 and nuclear proteasome activator PA28γ were substantially reduced upon LEDGF KO. ConclusionsThis study provides evidence that LEDGF is not only an important player in the DDR after chemotherapeutic treatments but is also involved in the maintenance of the general genome integrity. Moreover, this study provides for the first time an insight into the possible role of LEDGF in the ubiquitin-dependent regulation of DDR signalling molecules and highlights the involvement of LEDGF/p75 in homology-directed DNA repair.
Molecular effects of topoisomerase II inhibitors in AML cell lines: correlation of apoptosis with topoisomerase II activity but not with DNA damage