Howard SM, Yanez DA, Stark JM. DNA damage response factors from diverse pathways, including DNA crosslink repair, mediate alternative end joining.
PLoS Genet 2015;
11:e1004943. [PMID:
25629353 PMCID:
PMC4309583 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pgen.1004943]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2014] [Accepted: 12/09/2014] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Alternative end joining (Alt-EJ) chromosomal break repair involves bypassing classical non-homologous end joining (c-NHEJ), and such repair causes mutations often with microhomology at the repair junction. Since the mediators of Alt-EJ are not well understood, we have sought to identify DNA damage response (DDR) factors important for this repair event. Using chromosomal break reporter assays, we surveyed an RNAi library targeting known DDR factors for siRNAs that cause a specific decrease in Alt-EJ, relative to an EJ event that is a composite of Alt-EJ and c-NHEJ (Distal-EJ between two tandem breaks). From this analysis, we identified several DDR factors that are specifically important for Alt-EJ relative to Distal-EJ. While these factors are from diverse pathways, we also found that most of them also promote homologous recombination (HR), including factors important for DNA crosslink repair, such as the Fanconi Anemia factor, FANCA. Since bypass of c-NHEJ is likely important for both Alt-EJ and HR, we disrupted the c-NHEJ factor Ku70 in Fanca-deficient mouse cells and found that Ku70 loss significantly diminishes the influence of Fanca on Alt-EJ. In contrast, an inhibitor of poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) causes a decrease in Alt-EJ that is enhanced by Ku70 loss. Additionally, the helicase/nuclease DNA2 appears to have distinct effects from FANCA and PARP on both Alt-EJ, as well as end resection. Finally, we found that the proteasome inhibitor Bortezomib, a cancer therapeutic that has been shown to disrupt FANC signaling, causes a significant reduction in both Alt-EJ and HR, relative to Distal-EJ, as well as a substantial loss of end resection. We suggest that several distinct DDR functions are important for Alt-EJ, which include promoting bypass of c-NHEJ and end resection.
Alternative EJ (Alt-EJ) is a chromosomal double strand break (DSB) repair pathway that often uses short stretches of homology (microhomology) to bridge the break during repair. Alt-EJ involves bypass of the classical non-homologous end joining (c-NHEJ) pathway, and hence may be important for DSBs that are not readily repaired by c-NHEJ, such as DSBs requiring extensive end processing prior to ligation. Since the factors that mediate Alt-EJ are unclear, we identified DNA damage response factors that differentially promote Alt-EJ relative to an EJ event that is a composite of c-NHEJ and Alt-EJ. Several of these factors promote other repair events that are enhanced by loss of c-NHEJ, namely homologous recombination (HR), including DNA crosslink repair factors, such as FANCA. We then investigated distinctions among individual factors. For instance, we found that loss of c-NHEJ appears to diminish the influence of FANCA on Alt-EJ, but enhances the effect of PARP inhibition. Furthermore, we find that FANCA and DNA2 differentially affect another aspect of the DNA damage response, namely end resection. Based on these findings, we suggest that several aspects of the DNA damage response are important for Alt-EJ.
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