scholarly journals A Ddc2-Rad53 Fusion Protein Can Bypass the Requirements for RAD9 and MRC1 in Rad53 Activation

2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 5443-5455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soo-Jung Lee ◽  
Jimmy K. Duong ◽  
David F. Stern

Activation of Rad53p by DNA damage plays an essential role in DNA damage checkpoint pathways. Rad53p activation requires coupling of Rad53p to Mec1p through a “mediator” protein, Rad9p or Mrc1p. We sought to determine whether the mediator requirement could be circumvented by making fusion proteins between the Mec1 binding partner Ddc2p and Rad53p. Ddc2-Rad53p interacted with Mec1p and other Ddc2-Rad53p molecules under basal conditions and displayed an increased oligomerization upon DNA damage. Ddc2-Rad53p was activated in a Mec1p- and Tel1p-dependent manner upon DNA damage. Expression of Ddc2-Rad53p in Δrad9 or Δrad9Δmrc1 cells increased viability on plates containing the alkylating agent methyl methane sulfonate. Ddc2-Rad53p was activated at least partially by DNA damage in Δrad9Δmrc1 cells. In addition, expression of Ddc2-Rad53p in Δrad24Δrad17Δmec3 cells increased cell survival. These results reveal minimal requirements for function of a core checkpoint signaling system.

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 819-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Willis ◽  
Nicholas Rhind

The S-phase DNA damage checkpoint slows the rate of DNA synthesis in response to damage during replication. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Cds1, the S-phase-specific checkpoint effector kinase, is required for checkpoint signaling and replication slowing; upon treatment with the alkylating agent methyl methane sulfonate, cds1Δ mutants display a complete checkpoint defect. We have identified proteins downstream of Cds1 required for checkpoint-dependant slowing, including the structure-specific endonuclease Mus81 and the helicase Rqh1, which are implicated in replication fork stability and the negative regulation of recombination. Removing Rhp51, the Rad51 recombinase homologue, suppresses the slowing defect of rqh1Δ mutants, but not that of mus81Δ mutant, defining an epistatic pathway in which mus81 is epistatic to rhp51 and rhp51 is epistatic to rqh1. We propose that restraining recombination is required for the slowing of replication in response to DNA damage.


2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (21) ◽  
pp. 9478-9486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaochun Yu ◽  
Junjie Chen

ABSTRACT The BRCA1 C-terminal (BRCT) domain has recently been implicated as a phospho-protein binding domain. We demonstrate here that a CTBP-interacting protein CtIP interacts with BRCA1 BRCT domains in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. The CtIP/BRCA1 complex only exists in G2 phase and is required for DNA damage-induced Chk1 phosphorylation and the G2/M transition checkpoint. However, the CtIP/BRCA1 complex is not required for the damage-induced G2 accumulation checkpoint, which is controlled by a separate BRCA1/BACH1 complex. Taken together, these data not only implicate CtIP as a critical player in cell cycle checkpoint control but also provide molecular mechanisms by which BRCA1 controls multiple cell cycle transitions after DNA damage.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 498-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connor A.H. Thompson ◽  
Judy M.Y. Wong

Increasing evidence from research on telomerase suggests that in addition to its catalytic telomere repeat synthesis activity, telomerase may have other biologically important functions. The canonical roles of telomerase are at the telomere ends where they elongate telomeres and maintain genomic stability and cellular lifespan. The catalytic protein component Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (TERT) is preferentially expressed at high levels in cancer cells despite the existence of an alternative mechanism for telomere maintenance (alternative lengthening of telomeres or ALT). TERT is also expressed at higher levels than necessary for maintaining functional telomere length, suggesting other possible adaptive functions. Emerging non-canonical roles of TERT include regulation of non-telomeric DNA damage responses, promotion of cell growth and proliferation, acceleration of cell cycle kinetics, and control of mitochondrial integrity following oxidative stress. Non-canonical activities of TERT primarily show cellular protective effects, and nuclear TERT has been shown to protect against cell death following double-stranded DNA damage, independent of its role in telomere length maintenance. TERT has been suggested to act as a chromatin modulator and participate in the transcriptional regulation of gene expression. TERT has also been reported to regulate transcript levels through an RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase (RdRP) activity and produce siRNAs in a Dicer-dependent manner. At the mitochondria, TERT is suggested to protect against oxidative stress-induced mtDNA damage and promote mitochondrial integrity. These extra-telomeric functions of TERT may be advantageous in the context of increased proliferation and metabolic stress often found in rapidly-dividing cancer cells. Understanding the spectrum of non-canonical functions of telomerase may have important implications for the rational design of anti-cancer chemotherapeutic drugs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lama Tarayrah-Ibraheim ◽  
Elital Chass Maurice ◽  
Guy Hadary ◽  
Sharon Ben-Hur ◽  
Alina Kolpakova ◽  
...  

AbstractDuring Drosophila embryonic development, cell death eliminates 30% of the primordial germ cells (PGCs). Inhibiting apoptosis does not prevent PGC death, suggesting a divergence from the conventional apoptotic program. Here, we demonstrate that PGCs normally activate an intrinsic alternative cell death (ACD) pathway mediated by DNase II release from lysosomes, leading to nuclear translocation and subsequent DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). DSBs activate the DNA damage-sensing enzyme, Poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) and the ATR/Chk1 branch of the DNA damage response. PARP-1 and DNase II engage in a positive feedback amplification loop mediated by the release of PAR polymers from the nucleus and the nuclear accumulation of DNase II in an AIF- and CypA-dependent manner, ultimately resulting in PGC death. Given the anatomical and molecular similarities with an ACD pathway called parthanatos, these findings reveal a parthanatos-like cell death pathway active during Drosophila development.


2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 539-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania M. Roberts ◽  
Michael S. Kobor ◽  
Suzanne A. Bastin-Shanower ◽  
Miki Ii ◽  
Sonja A. Horte ◽  
...  

RTT107 (ESC4, YHR154W) encodes a BRCA1 C-terminal-domain protein that is important for recovery from DNA damage during S phase. Rtt107 is a substrate of the checkpoint protein kinase Mec1, although the mechanism by which Rtt107 is targeted by Mec1 after checkpoint activation is currently unclear. Slx4, a component of the Slx1-Slx4 structure-specific nuclease, formed a complex with Rtt107. Deletion of SLX4 conferred many of the same DNA-repair defects observed in rtt107Δ, including DNA damage sensitivity, prolonged DNA damage checkpoint activation, and increased spontaneous DNA damage. These phenotypes were not shared by the Slx4 binding partner Slx1, suggesting that the functions of the Slx4 and Slx1 proteins in the DNA damage response were not identical. Of particular interest, Slx4, but not Slx1, was required for phosphorylation of Rtt107 by Mec1 in vivo, indicating that Slx4 was a mediator of DNA damage-dependent phosphorylation of the checkpoint effector Rtt107. We propose that Slx4 has roles in the DNA damage response that are distinct from the function of Slx1-Slx4 in maintaining rDNA structure and that Slx4-dependent phosphorylation of Rtt107 by Mec1 is critical for replication restart after alkylation damage.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1591-1604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca A. Petruccelli ◽  
Filippa Pettersson ◽  
Sonia V. del Rincón ◽  
Cynthia Guilbert ◽  
Jonathan D. Licht ◽  
...  

Circulation ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 118 (suppl_18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Dobaczewski ◽  
Marcin Bujak ◽  
Carlos Gonzalez ◽  
Na Li ◽  
Xiao-Fan Wang ◽  
...  

We have recently demonstrated that the Transforming Growth Factor (TGF)-β/Smad3 pathway is activated in healing infarcts and plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of cardiac remodeling. Smad3 −/− mice were protected from the development of ventricular dilation following infarction and exhibited markedly reduced fibrosis of the peri-infarct area and the remodeling non-infarcted heart. Accordingly, we hypothesized that Smad3 signaling plays an essential role in regulating cardiac fibroblast function and gene expression in myocardial infarction. Surprisingly, Smad3 −/− infarcts exhibited increased peak infiltration with myofibroblasts, associated with evidence of enhanced proliferative activity. Smad3 −/− mice had a higher density of Ki-67-positive proliferating myofibroblasts in the infarcted myocardium in comparison with wildtype (WT) animals (Smad3−/− 917±291 cells/mm 2 vs. WT 614±115 cells/mm 2 , p<0.05). In vitro experiments suggested that TGF-β inhibits murine cardiac fibroblast proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner and that the antiproliferative effects of TGF-β are abrogated in Smad3 −/− fibroblasts. On the other hand Smad3 signaling was essential for extracellular matrix protein synthesis by cardiac fibroblasts. TGF-β-mediated induction of procollagen type III and of the matricellular protein tenascin-C in cardiac fibroblasts was dependent on Smad3. In addition, TGF-β-induced Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1 and -2 upregulation was also abrogated in Smad3 −/− fibroblasts, suggesting that Smad3 signaling regulates matrix metabolism. In vivo, Smad3 −/− infarcts exhibited attenuated tenascin-C and collagen deposition in the infarct and in the remodeling non-infarcted heart. Our findings suggest that the Smad3 pathway critically regulates fibroblast function in healing myocardial infarction. In Smad3 −/− mice, the healing infarct contains abundant myofibroblasts that exhibit enhanced proliferative activity, but have markedly decreased ability to synthesize extracellular matrix proteins and to produce TIMPs. In the absence of Smad3, attenuated matrix deposition in the remodeling non-infarcted heart results in decreased dilation and ameliorated diastolic dysfunction. This research has received full or partial funding support from the American Heart Association, AHA South Central Affiliate (Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma & Texas).


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (22) ◽  
pp. 11226-11234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Long ◽  
Xiaoyu Pan ◽  
Marcel Westenberg ◽  
Just M. Vlak

ABSTRACT F proteins from baculovirus nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV) group II members are the major budded virus (BV) viral envelope fusion proteins. They undergo furin-like proteolysis processing in order to be functional. F proteins from different baculovirus species have a long cytoplasmic tail domain (CTD), ranging from 48 (Spodoptera litura multicapsid NPV [MNPV]) to 78 (Adoxophyes honmai NPV) amino acid (aa) residues, with a nonassigned function. This CTD is much longer than the CTD of GP64-like envelope fusion proteins (7 aa), which appear to be nonessential for BV infectivity. Here we have investigated the functional role of the CTD of Helicoverpa armigera single-capsid NPV (HearNPV), a group II NPV. We combined a newly constructed HearNPV f-null bacmid knockout-repair system and an Autographa californica MNPV (AcMNPV) gp64-null bacmid knockout-pseudotype system with mutation and rescue experiments to study the functional role of the baculovirus F protein CTD. We show that except for the 16 C-terminal aa, the HearNPV F CTD is essential for virus spread from cell to cell. In addition, the CTD of HearNPV F is involved in BV production in a length-dependent manner and is essential for BV infectivity. The tyrosine residue Y658, located 16 aa from the C terminus, seems to be critical. However, HearNPV F without a CTD still rescues the infectivity of gp64-null AcMNPV BV, indicating that the CTD is not involved in processing and fusogenicity. Altogether, our results indicate that the F protein is essential for baculovirus BV infectivity and that the CTD is important for F protein incorporation into BV.


2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 573-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Cheng Wu ◽  
Xiaohua Wu ◽  
Jiahuai Han ◽  
Peiqing Sun

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