scholarly journals CRL4 ubiquitin ligase stimulates Fanconi anemia pathway-induced single-stranded DNA-RPA signaling

BMC Cancer ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Codilupi ◽  
Doreen Taube ◽  
Hanspeter Naegeli

Abstract Background DNA-crosslinking agents like cisplatin and mitomycin C (MMC) are indispensible for the treatment of many solid malignancies. These anticancer drugs generate DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) that cause cell death by blocking replication forks. Many factors counteracting ICL-induced DNA replication stress, including the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway, are regulated by ubiquitination and, therefore, ubiquitin ligases are potential targets for the sensitization of cancer cells to crosslinking agents. In this study, we investigated the function of the CRL4 ubiquitin ligase in modulating the response of cancer cells to ICL induction. Methods The two cullin paralogs CUL4A and CUL4B, which form the CRL4 ligase scaffold, were depleted in cancer cells by small interfering RNA followed by analysis of the cellular and biochemical responses to ICLs elicited upon cisplatin or MMC treatment. Results We report that the combined depletion of CUL4A and CUL4B weakens an FA pathway-dependent S phase checkpoint response. CRL4 positively stimulates the monoubiquitination of FANCD2 required for the recruitment of XPF-ERCC1, a structure-specific endonuclease that, in turn, contributes to the display of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) at ICLs. After CRL4 down regulation, the missing ssDNA results in reduced recruitment of RPA, thereby dampening activation of ATR and CHK1 checkpoint kinases and allowing for S phase progression despite ICL induction. Conclusion Our findings indicate that CRL4 promotes cell survival by potentiating an FA pathway-dependent ssDNA-RPA signaling platform installed at ICLs. The anticancer efficacy of crosslinking agents may, therefore, be enhanced by down regulating CRL4 activity.

Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 723-723
Author(s):  
Alexandra Sobeck ◽  
Stacie Stone ◽  
Bendert deGraaf ◽  
Vincenzo Costanzo ◽  
Johan deWinter ◽  
...  

Abstract Fanconi anemia (FA) is a genetic disorder characterized by hypersensitivity to DNA crosslinking agents and diverse clinical symptoms, including developmental anomalies, progressive bone marrow failure, and predisposition to leukemias and other cancers. FA is genetically heterogeneous, resulting from mutations in any of at least eleven different genes. The FA proteins function together in a pathway composed of a mulitprotein core complex that is required to trigger the DNA-damage dependent activation of the downstream FA protein, FANCD2. This activation is thought to be the key step in a DNA damage response that functionally links FA proteins to major breast cancer susceptibility proteins BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA2 is FA gene FANCD1). The essential function of the FA proteins is unknown, but current models suggest that FA proteins function at the interface between cell cycle checkpoints, DNA repair and DNA replication, and are likely to play roles in the DNA damage response during S phase. To provide a platform for dissecting the key functional events during S-phase, we developed cell-free assays for FA proteins based on replicating extracts from Xenopus eggs. We identified the Xenopus homologs of human FANCD2 (xFANCD2) and several of the FA core complex proteins (xCCPs), and biochemically characterized these proteins in replicating cell-free extracts. We found that xCCPs and a modified isoform of xFANCD2 become associated with chromatin during normal and disrupted DNA replication. Blocking initiation of replication with geminin demonstrated that association of xCCPs and xFANCD2 with chromatin occurs in a strictly replication-dependent manner that is enhanced following DNA damage by crosslinking agents or by addition of aphidicolin, an inhibitor of replicative DNA polymerases. In addition, chromatin binding of xFANCD2, but not xBRCA2, is abrogated when xFANCA is quantitatively depleted from replicating extracts suggesting that xFANCA promotes the loading of xFANCD2 on chromatin. The chromatin-association of xFANCD2 and xCCPs is diminished in the presence of caffeine, an inhibitor of checkpoint kinases. Taken together, our data suggest a model in which the ordered loading of FA proteins on chromatin is required for processing a subset of DNA replication-blocking lesions that are resolved during late stages of replication.


2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 3527-3540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohui Bi ◽  
Laura R. Barkley ◽  
Damien M. Slater ◽  
Satoshi Tateishi ◽  
Masaru Yamaizumi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We have investigated mechanisms that recruit the translesion synthesis (TLS) DNA polymerase Polκ to stalled replication forks. The DNA polymerase processivity factor PCNA is monoubiquitinated and interacts with Polκ in cells treated with the bulky adduct-forming genotoxin benzo[a]pyrene dihydrodiol epoxide (BPDE). A monoubiquitination-defective mutant form of PCNA fails to interact with Polκ. Small interfering RNA-mediated downregulation of the E3 ligase Rad18 inhibits BPDE-induced PCNA ubiquitination and association between PCNA and Polκ. Conversely, overexpressed Rad18 induces PCNA ubiquitination and association between PCNA and Polκ in a DNA damage-independent manner. Therefore, association of Polκ with PCNA is regulated by Rad18-mediated PCNA ubiquitination. Cells from Rad18 −/− transgenic mice show defective recovery from BPDE-induced S-phase checkpoints. In Rad18 −/− cells, BPDE induces elevated and persistent activation of checkpoint kinases, indicating persistently stalled forks due to defective TLS. Rad18-deficient cells show reduced viability after BPDE challenge compared with wild-type cells (but survival after hydroxyurea or ionizing radiation treatment is unaffected by Rad18 deficiency). Inhibition of RPA/ATR/Chk1-mediated S-phase checkpoint signaling partially inhibited BPDE-induced PCNA ubiquitination and prevented interactions between PCNA and Polκ. Taken together, our results indicate that ATR/Chk1 signaling is required for Rad18-mediated PCNA monoubiquitination. Recruitment of Polκ to ubiquitinated PCNA enables lesion bypass and eliminates stalled forks, thereby attenuating the S-phase checkpoint.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 107 (11) ◽  
pp. 4223-4233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiyasu Taniguchi ◽  
Alan D. D'Andrea

AbstractA rare genetic disease, Fanconi anemia (FA), now attracts broader attention from cancer biologists and basic researchers in the DNA repair and ubiquitin biology fields as well as from hematologists. FA is a chromosome instability syndrome characterized by childhood-onset aplastic anemia, cancer or leukemia susceptibility, and cellular hypersensitivity to DNAcrosslinking agents. Identification of 11 genes for FA has led to progress in the molecular understanding of this disease. FA proteins, including a ubiquitin ligase (FANCL), a monoubiquitinated protein (FANCD2), a helicase (FANCJ/BACH1/BRIP1), and a breast/ovarian cancer susceptibility protein (FANCD1/BRCA2), appear to cooperate in a pathway leading to the recognition and repair of damaged DNA. Molecular interactions among FA proteins and responsible proteins for other chromosome instability syndromes (BLM, NBS1, MRE11, ATM, and ATR) have also been found. Furthermore, inactivation of FA genes has been observed in a wide variety of human cancers in the general population. These findings have broad implications for predicting the sensitivity and resistance of tumors to widely used anticancer DNA crosslinking agents (cisplatin, mitomycin C, and melphalan). Here, we summarize recent progress in the molecular biology of FA and discuss roles of the FA proteins in DNA repair and cancer biology.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Ballabeni ◽  
Raffaella Zamponi

Geminin has a dual role in the regulation of DNA replication: it inhibits replication factor CDT1 activity during the G2 phase of the cell cycle and promotes its accumulation at the G2/M transition. In this way Geminin prevents DNA re-replication during G2 phase and ensures that DNA replication is efficiently executed in the next S phase. CDT1 was shown to associate with SKP2, the substrate recognition factor of the SCF ubiquitin ligase complex. We investigated the interplay between these three proteins in cancer cell lines. We show that Geminin, CDT1 and SKP2 could possibly form a complex and propose the putative regions of CDT1 and Geminin involved in the binding. We also show that, despite the physical interaction, SKP2 depletion does not substantially affect CDT1 and Geminin protein levels. Moreover, we show that while Geminin and CDT1 levels fluctuate, SKP2 levels, differently than in normal cells, are almost steady during the cell cycle of the tested cancer cells.


2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (24) ◽  
pp. 8421-8430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arno Alpi ◽  
Frederic Langevin ◽  
Georgina Mosedale ◽  
Yuichi J. Machida ◽  
Anindya Dutta ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The Fanconi anemia (FA) nuclear core complex and the E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme UBE2T are required for the S phase and DNA damage-restricted monoubiquitination of FANCD2. This constitutes a key step in the FA tumor suppressor pathway, and much attention has been focused on the regulation at this point. Here, we address the importance of the assembly of the FA core complex and the subcellular localization of UBE2T in the regulation of FANCD2 monoubiquitination. We establish three points. First, the stable assembly of the FA core complex can be dissociated of its ability to function as an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Second, the actual E3 ligase activity is not determined by the assembly of the FA core complex but rather by its DNA damage-induced localization to chromatin. Finally, UBE2T and FANCD2 access this subcellular fraction independently of the FA core complex. FANCD2 monoubiquitination is therefore not regulated by multiprotein complex assembly but by the formation of an active E2/E3 holoenzyme on chromatin.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Ballabeni ◽  
Raffaella Zamponi

Geminin has a dual role in the regulation of DNA replication: it inhibits replication factor CDT1 activity during the G2 phase of the cell cycle and promotes its accumulation at the G2/M transition. In this way Geminin prevents DNA re-replication during G2 phase and ensures that DNA replication is efficiently executed in the next S phase. CDT1 was shown to associate with SKP2, the substrate recognition factor of the SCF ubiquitin ligase complex. We investigated the interplay between these three proteins in cancer cell lines. We show that Geminin, CDT1 and SKP2 could possibly form a complex and propose the putative regions of CDT1 and Geminin involved in the binding. We also show that, despite the physical interaction, SKP2 depletion does not substantially affect CDT1 and Geminin protein levels. Moreover, we show that while Geminin and CDT1 levels fluctuate, SKP2 levels, differently than in normal cells, are almost steady during the cell cycle of the tested cancer cells.


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