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Peña-Guerrero J, Fernández-Rubio C, García-Sosa AT, Nguewa PA. BRCT Domains: Structure, Functions, and Implications in Disease-New Therapeutic Targets for Innovative Drug Discovery against Infections. Pharmaceutics 2023; 15:1839. [PMID: 37514027 PMCID: PMC10386641 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15071839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The search for new therapeutic targets and their implications in drug development remains an emerging scientific topic. BRCT-bearing proteins are found in Archaea, Bacteria, Eukarya, and viruses. They are traditionally involved in DNA repair, recombination, and cell cycle control. To carry out these functions, BRCT domains are able to interact with DNA and proteins. Moreover, such domains are also implicated in several pathogenic processes and malignancies including breast, ovarian, and lung cancer. Although these domains exhibit moderately conserved folding, their sequences show very low conservation. Interestingly, sequence variations among species are considered positive traits in the search for suitable therapeutic targets, since non-specific drug interactions might be reduced. These main characteristics of BRCT, as well as its critical implications in key biological processes in the cell, have prompted the study of these domains as therapeutic targets. This review explores the possible roles of BRCT domains as therapeutic targets for drug discovery. We describe their common structural features and relevant interactions and pathways, as well as their implications in pathologic processes. Drugs commonly used to target these domains are also presented. Finally, based on their structures, we describe new drug design possibilities using modern and innovative techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Peña-Guerrero
- ISTUN Institute of Tropical Health, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Navarra, IdiSNA (Navarra Institute for Health Research), E-31008 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain
| | - Celia Fernández-Rubio
- ISTUN Institute of Tropical Health, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Navarra, IdiSNA (Navarra Institute for Health Research), E-31008 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain
| | - Alfonso T García-Sosa
- Chair of Molecular Technology, Institute of Chemistry, University of Tartu, Ravila 14a, 50411 Tartu, Estonia
| | - Paul A Nguewa
- ISTUN Institute of Tropical Health, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Navarra, IdiSNA (Navarra Institute for Health Research), E-31008 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain
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Cicconi A, Rai R, Xiong X, Broton C, Al-Hiyasat A, Hu C, Dong S, Sun W, Garbarino J, Bindra RS, Schildkraut C, Chen Y, Chang S. Microcephalin 1/BRIT1-TRF2 interaction promotes telomere replication and repair, linking telomere dysfunction to primary microcephaly. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5861. [PMID: 33203878 PMCID: PMC7672075 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19674-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Telomeres protect chromosome ends from inappropriately activating the DNA damage and repair responses. Primary microcephaly is a key clinical feature of several human telomere disorder syndromes, but how microcephaly is linked to dysfunctional telomeres is not known. Here, we show that the microcephalin 1/BRCT-repeats inhibitor of hTERT (MCPH1/BRIT1) protein, mutated in primary microcephaly, specifically interacts with the TRFH domain of the telomere binding protein TRF2. The crystal structure of the MCPH1-TRF2 complex reveals that this interaction is mediated by the MCPH1 330YRLSP334 motif. TRF2-dependent recruitment of MCPH1 promotes localization of DNA damage factors and homology directed repair of dysfunctional telomeres lacking POT1-TPP1. Additionally, MCPH1 is involved in the replication stress response, promoting telomere replication fork progression and restart of stalled telomere replication forks. Our work uncovers a previously unrecognized role for MCPH1 in promoting telomere replication, providing evidence that telomere replication defects may contribute to the onset of microcephaly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Cicconi
- grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA
| | - Rekha Rai
- grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA
| | - Xuexue Xiong
- grid.507739.fState Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031 China
| | - Cayla Broton
- grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA ,grid.5386.8000000041936877XTri- Institutional MD/PhD Program, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065 USA
| | - Amer Al-Hiyasat
- grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA ,grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA
| | - Chunyi Hu
- grid.507739.fState Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031 China
| | - Siying Dong
- grid.507739.fState Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031 China
| | - Wenqi Sun
- grid.507739.fState Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031 China
| | - Jennifer Garbarino
- grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA ,grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA
| | - Ranjit S. Bindra
- grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA ,grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Experimental Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA
| | - Carl Schildkraut
- grid.251993.50000000121791997Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461 USA
| | - Yong Chen
- grid.507739.fState Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031 China
| | - Sandy Chang
- grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA ,grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA ,grid.47100.320000000419368710Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520 USA
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Chang HY, Lee CY, Lu CH, Lee W, Yang HL, Yeh HY, Li HW, Chi P. Microcephaly family protein MCPH1 stabilizes RAD51 filaments. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:9135-9146. [PMID: 32735676 PMCID: PMC7498314 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2019] [Revised: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Microcephalin 1 (MCPH1) was identified from genetic mutations in patients with primary autosomal recessive microcephaly. In response to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), MCPH1 forms damage-induced foci and recruits BRCA2-RAD51 complex, a key component of the DSB repair machinery for homologous recombination (HR), to damage sites. Accordingly, the efficiency of HR is significantly attenuated upon depletion of MCPH1. The biochemical characteristics of MCPH1 and its functional interaction with the HR machinery had remained unclear due to lack of highly purified MCPH1 recombinant protein for functional study. Here, we established a mammalian expression system to express and purify MCPH1 protein. We show that MCPH1 is a bona fide DNA-binding protein and provide direct biochemical analysis of this MCPH family protein. Furthermore, we reveal that MCPH1 directly interacts with RAD51 at multiple contact points, providing evidence for how MCPH1 physically engages with the HR machinery. Importantly, we demonstrate that MCPH1 enhances the stability of RAD51 on single-strand DNA, a prerequisite step for RAD51-mediated recombination. Single-molecule tethered particle motion analysis showed a ∼2-fold increase in the lifetime of RAD51-ssDNA filaments in the presence of MCPH1. Thus, our study demonstrates direct crosstalk between microcephaly protein MCPH1 and the recombination component RAD51 for DSB repair.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao-Yen Chang
- Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Yi Lee
- Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Chih-Hao Lu
- Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Wei Lee
- Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Han-Lin Yang
- Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Hsin-Yi Yeh
- Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Hung-Wen Li
- Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Peter Chi
- Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.,Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Road, Section 2, Nankang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
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Nicolas L, Cols M, Choi JE, Chaudhuri J, Vuong B. Generating and repairing genetically programmed DNA breaks during immunoglobulin class switch recombination. F1000Res 2018; 7:458. [PMID: 29744038 PMCID: PMC5904731 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.13247.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Adaptive immune responses require the generation of a diverse repertoire of immunoglobulins (Igs) that can recognize and neutralize a seemingly infinite number of antigens. V(D)J recombination creates the primary Ig repertoire, which subsequently is modified by somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination (CSR). SHM promotes Ig affinity maturation whereas CSR alters the effector function of the Ig. Both SHM and CSR require activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) to produce dU:dG mismatches in the Ig locus that are transformed into untemplated mutations in variable coding segments during SHM or DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in switch regions during CSR. Within the Ig locus, DNA repair pathways are diverted from their canonical role in maintaining genomic integrity to permit AID-directed mutation and deletion of gene coding segments. Recently identified proteins, genes, and regulatory networks have provided new insights into the temporally and spatially coordinated molecular interactions that control the formation and repair of DSBs within the Ig locus. Unravelling the genetic program that allows B cells to selectively alter the Ig coding regions while protecting non-Ig genes from DNA damage advances our understanding of the molecular processes that maintain genomic integrity as well as humoral immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Nicolas
- Immunology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Montserrat Cols
- Immunology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jee Eun Choi
- Department of Biology, The City College of New York and The Graduate Center of The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jayanta Chaudhuri
- Immunology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Bao Vuong
- Department of Biology, The City College of New York and The Graduate Center of The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
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