scholarly journals Genome-wide mapping implicates R-loops in lineage-specific processes and formation of DNA break hotspots in neural stem/progenitor cells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Supawat Thongthip ◽  
Annika Carlson ◽  
Madzia P. Crossley ◽  
Bjoern Schwer

ABSTRACTRecent work has revealed classes of recurrent DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in neural stem/progenitor cells, including transcription-associated, promoter-proximal breaks and recurrent DSB clusters in late-replicating, long neural genes. However, the mechanistic factors promoting these different classes of DSBs in neural stem/progenitor cells are not understood. Here, we elucidated the genome-wide landscape of DNA:RNA hybrid structures called “R-loops” in primary neural stem/progenitor cells in order to assess their contribution to the different classes of DNA break “hotspots”. We report that R-loops in neural stem/progenitor cells are associated primarily with transcribed regions that replicate early and genes that show GC skew in their promoter region. Surprisingly, the majority of genes with recurrent DSB clusters in long, neural genes does not show substantial R-loop accumulation. We implicate R-loops in promoter-proximal DNA break formation in highly transcribed, early replicating regions and conclude that R-loops are not a driver of recurrent double-strand break cluster formation in most long, neural genes. Together, our study provides an understanding of how R-loops may contribute to DNA break hotspots and affect lineage-specific processes in neural stem/progenitor cells.

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Biernacka ◽  
Yingjie Zhu ◽  
Magdalena Skrzypczak ◽  
Romain Forey ◽  
Benjamin Pardo ◽  
...  

AbstractMaintenance of genome stability is a key issue for cell fate that could be compromised by chromosome deletions and translocations caused by DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Thus development of precise and sensitive tools for DSBs labeling is of great importance for understanding mechanisms of DSB formation, their sensing and repair. Until now there has been no high resolution and specific DSB detection technique that would be applicable to any cells regardless of their size. Here, we present i-BLESS, a universal method for direct genome-wide DNA double-strand break labeling in cells immobilized in agarose beads. i-BLESS has three key advantages: it is the only unbiased method applicable to yeast, achieves a sensitivity of one break at a given position in 100,000 cells, and eliminates background noise while still allowing for fixation of samples. The method allows detection of ultra-rare breaks such as those forming spontaneously at G-quadruplexes.


Science ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 355 (6320) ◽  
pp. 40-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni P. Mimitou ◽  
Shintaro Yamada ◽  
Scott Keeney

DNA double-strand breaks that initiate meiotic recombination are exonucleolytically processed. This 5′→3′ resection is a central, conserved feature of recombination but remains poorly understood. To address this lack, we mapped resection endpoints genome-wide at high resolution inSaccharomyces cerevisiae. Full-length resection requires Exo1 exonuclease and the DSB-responsive kinase Tel1, but not Sgs1 helicase. Tel1 also promotes efficient and timely resection initiation. Resection endpoints display pronounced heterogeneity between genomic loci that reflects a tendency for nucleosomes to block Exo1, yet Exo1 also appears to digest chromatin with high processivity and at rates similar to naked DNA in vitro. This paradox points to nucleosome destabilization or eviction as a defining feature of the meiotic resection landscape.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy J. Ballinger ◽  
Britta Bouwman ◽  
Reza Mirzazadeh ◽  
Silvano Garnerone ◽  
Nicola Crosetto ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundStructural variants (SVs) are known to play important roles in a variety of cancers, but their origins and functional consequences are still poorly understood. Many SVs are thought to emerge via errors in the repair processes following DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) and previous studies have experimentally measured DSB frequencies across the genome in cell lines.ResultsUsing these data we derive the first quantitative genome-wide models of DSB susceptibility, based upon underlying chromatin and sequence features. These models are accurate and provide novel insights into the mutational mechanisms generating DSBs. Models trained in one cell type can be successfully applied to others, but a substantial proportion of DSBs appear to reflect cell type specific processes. Using model predictions as a proxy for susceptibility to DSBs in tumours, many SV enriched regions appear to be poorly explained by selectively neutral mutational bias alone. A substantial number of these regions show unexpectedly high SV breakpoint frequencies given their predicted susceptibility to mutation, and are therefore credible targets of positive selection in tumours. These putatively positively selected SV hotspots are enriched for genes previously shown to be oncogenic. In contrast, several hundred regions across the genome show unexpectedly low levels of SVs, given their relatively high susceptibility to mutation. These novel ‘coldspot’ regions appear to be subject to purifying selection in tumours and are enriched for active promoters and enhancers.ConclusionsWe conclude that models of DSB susceptibility offer a rigorous approach to the inference of SVs putatively subject to selection in tumours.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (44) ◽  
pp. eaba0682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingzheng Li ◽  
Yafang Shang ◽  
Lin Wang ◽  
Bo Zhao ◽  
Chunli Sun ◽  
...  

Endogenous DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) formation and repair in neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) play fundamental roles in neurogenesis and neurodevelopmental disorders. NSPCs exhibit heterogeneity in terms of lineage fates and neurogenesis activity. Whether NSPCs also have heterogeneous regulations on DSB formation and repair to accommodate region-specific neurogenesis has not been explored. Here, we identified a regional regulator Filia, which is predominantly expressed in mouse hippocampal NSPCs after birth and regulates DNA DSB formation and repair. On one hand, Filia protects stalling replication forks and prevents the replication stress-associated DNA DSB formation. On the other hand, Filia facilitates the homologous recombination–mediated DNA DSB repair. Consequently, Filia−/− mice had impaired hippocampal NSPC proliferation and neurogenesis and were deficient in learning, memory, and mood regulations. Thus, our study provided the first proof of concept demonstrating the region-specific regulations of DSB formation and repair in subtypes of NSPCs.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni P. Mimitou ◽  
Shintaro Yamada ◽  
Scott Keeney

AbstractThe DNA double-strand breaks that initiate homologous recombination during meiosis are subject to extensive 5′→3′ exonucleolytic processing. This resection is a central and conserved feature of recombination, yet its mechanism is poorly understood. Using a purpose-made deep-sequencing method, we mapped meiotic resection endpoints genome-wide at high spatial resolution inSaccharomyces cerevisiae. Generating full-length resection tracts requires Exo1 exonuclease activity and the DNA-damage responsive kinase Tel1, but not the helicase Sgs1. Tel1 is also required for efficient and timely initiation of resection. We find that distributions of resection endpoints at individual genomic loci display pronounced heterogeneity that reflects a tendency for nucleosomes to block Exo1 in vivo, yet modeling experiments indicate that Exo1 digests chromatin with high apparent processivity and at rates approaching those for naked DNA in vitro. This paradox points to nucleosome destabilization or eviction as a determining feature of the meiotic resection landscape.


Cell ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 164 (4) ◽  
pp. 644-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei-Chi Wei ◽  
Amelia N. Chang ◽  
Jennifer Kao ◽  
Zhou Du ◽  
Robin M. Meyers ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Abhishek Mitra ◽  
Norbert Dojer ◽  
Bernard Fongang ◽  
Jules Nde ◽  
Yingjie Zhu ◽  
...  

AbstractDNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), are a major threat to genomic stability and may lead to cancer. Several technologies to accurately detect DSBs genome-wide have been developed recently, but still lacking publicly available tools for analysis of the resulting data. Here, we present a step-by-step iSeq package (http://breakome.utmb.edu/software.html), custom designed for analysis and interpretation of DSB-sequencing data. iSeq performs barcode trimming and read counting, and identifies DSB-enriched regions by statistical test and annotate them to the desired genomic features. Applying this package, users can identify and annotate DSB-enriched regions from base pair (eg. Cas9 cleavage sites) up to megabase (eg. DNA replication stress-induced) resolution, and if possible quantify DSB frequencies per cell genome-wide by combining with qDSB-Seq. iSeq can be used for any sequencing-based DSB detection techniques. The analysis for Steps 1-19 can be performed within ~4 hours.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (8) ◽  
pp. 2258-2263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjoern Schwer ◽  
Pei-Chi Wei ◽  
Amelia N. Chang ◽  
Jennifer Kao ◽  
Zhou Du ◽  
...  

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.


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