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Nickoloff JA, Sharma N, Taylor L, Allen SJ, Lee SH, Hromas R. Metnase and EEPD1: DNA Repair Functions and Potential Targets in Cancer Therapy. Front Oncol 2022; 12:808757. [PMID: 35155245 PMCID: PMC8831698 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.808757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Cells respond to DNA damage by activating signaling and DNA repair systems, described as the DNA damage response (DDR). Clarifying DDR pathways and their dysregulation in cancer are important for understanding cancer etiology, how cancer cells exploit the DDR to survive endogenous and treatment-related stress, and to identify DDR targets as therapeutic targets. Cancer is often treated with genotoxic chemicals and/or ionizing radiation. These agents are cytotoxic because they induce DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) directly, or indirectly by inducing replication stress which causes replication fork collapse to DSBs. EEPD1 and Metnase are structure-specific nucleases, and Metnase is also a protein methyl transferase that methylates histone H3 and itself. EEPD1 and Metnase promote repair of frank, two-ended DSBs, and both promote the timely and accurate restart of replication forks that have collapsed to single-ended DSBs. In addition to its roles in HR, Metnase also promotes DSB repair by classical non-homologous recombination, and chromosome decatenation mediated by TopoIIα. Although mutations in Metnase and EEPD1 are not common in cancer, both proteins are frequently overexpressed, which may help tumor cells manage oncogenic stress or confer resistance to therapeutics. Here we focus on Metnase and EEPD1 DNA repair pathways, and discuss opportunities for targeting these pathways to enhance cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jac A Nickoloff
- Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Neelam Sharma
- Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Lynn Taylor
- Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Sage J Allen
- Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Suk-Hee Lee
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Robert Hromas
- Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine and the Mays Cancer Center, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, United States
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2
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Zhang Y, Cheng TC, Huang G, Lu Q, Surleac MD, Mandell JD, Pontarotti P, Petrescu AJ, Xu A, Xiong Y, Schatz DG. Transposon molecular domestication and the evolution of the RAG recombinase. Nature 2019; 569:79-84. [PMID: 30971819 PMCID: PMC6494689 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1093-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2018] [Accepted: 03/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Domestication of a transposon (a DNA sequence that can change its position in a genome) to give rise to the RAG1-RAG2 recombinase (RAG) and V(D)J recombination, which produces the diverse repertoire of antibodies and T cell receptors, was a pivotal event in the evolution of the adaptive immune system of jawed vertebrates. The evolutionary adaptations that transformed the ancestral RAG transposase into a RAG recombinase with appropriately regulated DNA cleavage and transposition activities are not understood. Here, beginning with cryo-electron microscopy structures of the amphioxus ProtoRAG transposase (an evolutionary relative of RAG), we identify amino acid residues and domains the acquisition or loss of which underpins the propensity of RAG for coupled cleavage, its preference for asymmetric DNA substrates and its inability to perform transposition in cells. In particular, we identify two adaptations specific to jawed-vertebrates-arginine 848 in RAG1 and an acidic region in RAG2-that together suppress RAG-mediated transposition more than 1,000-fold. Our findings reveal a two-tiered mechanism for the suppression of RAG-mediated transposition, illuminate the evolution of V(D)J recombination and provide insight into the principles that govern the molecular domestication of transposons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhang Zhang
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Tat Cheung Cheng
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Qingyi Lu
- Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
| | - Marius D Surleac
- Department of Bioinformatics and Structural Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Jeffrey D Mandell
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Pierre Pontarotti
- Aix Marseille Univ IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Marseille, France
| | - Andrei J Petrescu
- Department of Bioinformatics and Structural Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Anlong Xu
- Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China. .,State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Yong Xiong
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
| | - David G Schatz
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
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3
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Nickoloff JA, Boss MK, Allen CP, LaRue SM. Translational research in radiation-induced DNA damage signaling and repair. Transl Cancer Res 2017; 6:S875-S891. [PMID: 30574452 PMCID: PMC6298755 DOI: 10.21037/tcr.2017.06.02] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Radiotherapy is an effective tool in the fight against cancer. It is non-invasive and painless, and with advanced tumor imaging and beam control systems, radiation can be delivered to patients safely, generally with minor or no adverse side effects, accounting for its increasing use against a broad range of tumors. Tumors and normal cells respond to radiation-induced DNA damage by activating a complex network of DNA damage signaling and repair pathways that determine cell fate including survival, death, and genome stability. DNA damage response (DDR) proteins represent excellent targets to augment radiotherapy, and many agents that inhibit key response proteins are being combined with radiation and genotoxic chemotherapy in clinical trials. This review focuses on how insights into molecular mechanisms of DDR pathways are translated to small animal preclinical studies, to clinical studies of naturally occurring tumors in companion animals, and finally to human clinical trials. Companion animal studies, under the umbrella of comparative oncology, have played key roles in the development of clinical radiotherapy throughout its >100-year history. There is growing appreciation that rapid translation of basic knowledge of DNA damage and repair systems to improved radiotherapy practice requires a comprehensive approach that embraces the full spectrum of cancer research, with companion animal clinical trials representing a critical bridge between small animal preclinical studies, and human clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jac A Nickoloff
- Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Flint Animal Cancer Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Mary-Keara Boss
- Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Flint Animal Cancer Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Christopher P Allen
- Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Flint Animal Cancer Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Susan M LaRue
- Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Flint Animal Cancer Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
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4
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Ciubotaru M, Surleac M, Musat MG, Rusu AM, Ionita E, Albu PCC. DNA bending in the synaptic complex in V(D)J recombination: turning an ancestral transpososome upside down. Discoveries (Craiova) 2014; 2:e13. [PMID: 32309545 PMCID: PMC6941560 DOI: 10.15190/d.2014.5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In all jawed vertebrates RAG (recombination activating gene) recombinase orchestrates V(D)J recombination in B and T lymphocyte precursors, assembling the V, D and J germline gene segments into continuous functional entities which encode the variable regions of their immune receptors. V(D)J recombination is the process by which most of the diversity of our specific immune receptors is acquired and is thought to have originated by domestication of a transposon in the genome of a vertebrate. RAG acts similarly to the cut and paste transposases, by first binding two recombination signal DNA sequences (RSSs), which flank the two coding genes to be adjoined, in a process called synaptic or paired complex (PC) formation. At these RSS-coding borders, RAG first nicks one DNA strand, then creates hairpins, thus cleaving the duplex DNA at both RSSs. Although RAG reaction mechanism resembles that of insect mobile element transposases and RAG itself can inefficiently perform intramolecular and intermolecular integration into the target DNA, inside the nuclei of the developing lymphocytes transposition is extremely rare and is kept under proper surveillance. Our review may help understand how RAG synaptic complex organization prevents deleterious transposition. The phosphoryl transfer reaction mechanism of RNAseH-like fold DDE motif enzymes, including RAG, is discussed accentuating the peculiarities described for various transposases from the light of their available high resolution structures (Tn5, Mu, Mos1 and Hermes). Contrasting the structural 3D organization of DNA in these transpososomes with that of the RSSs-DNA in RAG PC allows us to propose several clues for how evolutionarily RAG may have become “specialized” in recombination versus transposition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mihai Ciubotaru
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 Cedar St., TAC S620, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.,National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering Horia Hulubei, Department of Life and Environmental Physics, Atomistilor Str., 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
| | - Marius Surleac
- Department of Bioinformatics and Structural Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Splaiul Independentei 296, 060031, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Mihaela G Musat
- National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering Horia Hulubei, Department of Life and Environmental Physics, Atomistilor Str., 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
| | - Andreea M Rusu
- National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering Horia Hulubei, Department of Life and Environmental Physics, Atomistilor Str., 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
| | - Elena Ionita
- National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering Horia Hulubei, Department of Life and Environmental Physics, Atomistilor Str., 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
| | - Paul C C Albu
- National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering Horia Hulubei, Department of Life and Environmental Physics, Atomistilor Str., 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
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5
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Alt FW, Zhang Y, Meng FL, Guo C, Schwer B. Mechanisms of programmed DNA lesions and genomic instability in the immune system. Cell 2013; 152:417-29. [PMID: 23374339 PMCID: PMC4382911 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 351] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2012] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Chromosomal translocations involving antigen receptor loci are common in lymphoid malignancies. Translocations require DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) at two chromosomal sites, their physical juxtaposition, and their fusion by end-joining. Ability of lymphocytes to generate diverse repertoires of antigen receptors and effector antibodies derives from programmed genomic alterations that produce DSBs. We discuss these lymphocyte-specific processes, with a focus on mechanisms that provide requisite DSB target specificity and mechanisms that suppress DSB translocation. We also discuss recent work that provides new insights into DSB repair pathways and the influences of three-dimensional genome organization on physiological processes and cancer genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederick W Alt
- Departments of Genetics and Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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6
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Ramsden DA, Weed BD, Reddy YVR. V(D)J recombination: Born to be wild. Semin Cancer Biol 2010; 20:254-60. [PMID: 20600921 PMCID: PMC2942997 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2010.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2009] [Revised: 06/08/2010] [Accepted: 06/24/2010] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Vertebrates employ V(D)J recombination to generate diversity for an adaptive immune response. Born of a transposon, V(D)J recombination could conceivably cause more trouble than its worth. However, of the two steps required for transposon mobility (excision and integration) this particular transposon's integration step appears mostly blocked in cells. The employment of a transposon as raw material to develop adaptive immunity was thus a less-risky choice than it might have been … but is it completely risk-free?
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Affiliation(s)
- Dale A Ramsden
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.
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7
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A mouse model for chronic lymphocytic leukemia based on expression of the SV40 large T antigen. Blood 2009; 114:119-27. [DOI: 10.1182/blood-2009-01-198937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
The simian virus 40 (SV40) T antigen is a potent oncogene able to transform many cell types and has been implicated in leukemia and lymphoma. In this report, we have achieved sporadic SV40 T-antigen expression in mature B cells in mice, by insertion of a SV40 T antigen gene in opposite transcriptional orientation in the immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy (H) chain locus between the D and JH segments. SV40 T-antigen expression appeared to result from retention of the targeted germline allele and concomitant antisense transcription of SV40 large T in mature B cells, leading to chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Although B-cell development was unperturbed in young mice, aging mice showed accumulation of a monoclonal B-cell population in which the targeted IgH allele was in germline configuration and the wild-type IgH allele had a productive V(D)J recombination. These leukemic B cells were IgDlowCD5+ and manifested nonrandom usage of V, D, and J segments. VH regions were either unmutated, with preferential usage of the VH11 family, or manifested extensive somatic hypermutation. Our findings provide an animal model for B-CLL and show that pathways activated by SV40 T antigen play important roles in the pathogenesis of B-CLL.
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8
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Paleo-immunology: evidence consistent with insertion of a primordial herpes virus-like element in the origins of acquired immunity. PLoS One 2009; 4:e5778. [PMID: 19492059 PMCID: PMC2686171 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2008] [Accepted: 04/22/2009] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The RAG encoded proteins, RAG-1 and RAG-2 regulate site-specific recombination events in somatic immune B- and T-lymphocytes to generate the acquired immune repertoire. Catalytic activities of the RAG proteins are related to the recombinase functions of a pre-existing mobile DNA element in the DDE recombinase/RNAse H family, sometimes termed the “RAG transposon”. Methodology/Principal Findings Novel to this work is the suggestion that the DDE recombinase responsible for the origins of acquired immunity was encoded by a primordial herpes virus, rather than a “RAG transposon.” A subsequent “arms race” between immunity to herpes infection and the immune system obscured primary amino acid similarities between herpes and immune system proteins but preserved regulatory, structural and functional similarities between the respective recombinase proteins. In support of this hypothesis, evidence is reviewed from previous published data that a modern herpes virus protein family with properties of a viral recombinase is co-regulated with both RAG-1 and RAG-2 by closely linked cis-acting co-regulatory sequences. Structural and functional similarity is also reviewed between the putative herpes recombinase and both DDE site of the RAG-1 protein and another DDE/RNAse H family nuclease, the Argonaute protein component of RISC (RNA induced silencing complex). Conclusions/Significance A “co-regulatory” model of the origins of V(D)J recombination and the acquired immune system can account for the observed linked genomic structure of RAG-1 and RAG-2 in non-vertebrate organisms such as the sea urchin that lack an acquired immune system and V(D)J recombination. Initially the regulated expression of a viral recombinase in immune cells may have been positively selected by its ability to stimulate innate immunity to herpes virus infection rather than V(D)J recombination Unlike the “RAG-transposon” hypothesis, the proposed model can be readily tested by comparative functional analysis of herpes virus replication and V(D)J recombination.
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9
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Zhang J, Yu C, Pulletikurti V, Lamb J, Danilova T, Weber DF, Birchler J, Peterson T. Alternative Ac/Ds transposition induces major chromosomal rearrangements in maize. Genes Dev 2009; 23:755-65. [PMID: 19299561 PMCID: PMC2661611 DOI: 10.1101/gad.1776909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2008] [Accepted: 02/11/2009] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Barbara McClintock reported that the Ac/Ds transposable element system can generate major chromosomal rearrangements (MCRs), but the underlying mechanism has not been determined. Here, we identified a series of chromosome rearrangements derived from maize lines containing pairs of closely linked Ac transposable element termini. Molecular and cytogenetic analyses showed that the MCRs in these lines comprised 17 reciprocal translocations and two large inversions. The breakpoints of all 19 MCRs are delineated by Ac termini and characteristic 8-base-pair target site duplications, indicating that the MCRs were generated by precise transposition reactions involving the Ac termini of two closely linked elements. This alternative transposition mechanism may have contributed to chromosome evolution and may also occur during V(D)J recombination resulting in oncogenic translocations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianbo Zhang
- Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, and Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA
| | - Chuanhe Yu
- Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, and Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA
| | - Vinay Pulletikurti
- School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois 61790, USA
| | - Jonathan Lamb
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
| | - Tatiana Danilova
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
| | - David F. Weber
- School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois 61790, USA
| | - James Birchler
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
| | - Thomas Peterson
- Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, and Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA
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Kisielow P, Miazek A, Cebrat M. NWC, a new gene within RAG locus: could it keep GOD under control? Int J Immunogenet 2009; 35:395-9. [PMID: 18976445 DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-313x.2008.00791.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
NWC, newly discovered, evolutionarily conserved gene within recombination activating gene (RAG) locus is constitutively expressed in all cells except lymphocytes, in which it is developmentally regulated by RAG1 promoter. In lymphocytes, NWC promoter, which is located within RAG2 intron and drives expression of NWC in non-lymphocytes, is inactive. Here, a hypothesis on the role of transcription of NWC in lymphocyte-specific regulation of RAG expression and their suppression in all other cells is presented. It is proposed that during development, inactivation of NWC promoter and the placement of NWC under the control of RAG1 promoter releases RAG genes from permanent suppression and allows their lymphocyte specific expression but at the same time subjects them to transcriptional feedback inhibition type of suppression which could permit for a stringent control over their threat to genome stability and oncogenic potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Kisielow
- Department of Tumor Immunology, Laboratory of Transgenesis and Lymphocyte Biology, Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland.
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11
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Lu H, Shimazaki N, Raval P, Gu J, Watanabe G, Schwarz K, Swanson PC, Lieber MR. A biochemically defined system for coding joint formation in V(D)J recombination. Mol Cell 2008; 31:485-497. [PMID: 18722175 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2008.05.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2008] [Revised: 03/13/2008] [Accepted: 05/29/2008] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
V(D)J recombination is one of the most complex DNA transactions in biology. The RAG complex makes double-stranded breaks adjacent to signal sequences and creates hairpin coding ends. Here, we find that the kinase activity of the Artemis:DNA-PKcs complex can be activated by hairpin DNA ends in cis, thereby allowing the hairpins to be nicked and then to undergo processing and joining by nonhomologous DNA end joining. Based on these insights, we have reconstituted many aspects of the antigen receptor diversification of V(D)J recombination by using 13 highly purified polypeptides, thereby permitting variable domain exon assembly by using this fully defined system in accord with the 12/23 rule for this process. The features of the recombination sites created by this system include all of the features observed in vivo (nucleolytic resection, P nucleotides, and N nucleotide addition), indicating that most, if not all, of the end modification enzymes have been identified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haihui Lu
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Room 5428, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, 1441 Eastlake Avenue, MC9176, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Noriko Shimazaki
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Room 5428, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, 1441 Eastlake Avenue, MC9176, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Prafulla Raval
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Creighton University School of Medicine, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Jiafeng Gu
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Room 5428, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, 1441 Eastlake Avenue, MC9176, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Go Watanabe
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Room 5428, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, 1441 Eastlake Avenue, MC9176, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Klaus Schwarz
- Institute for Clinical Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics, Ulm and Institute for Transfusion Medicine, University Hospital Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Patrick C Swanson
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Creighton University School of Medicine, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Michael R Lieber
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Room 5428, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, 1441 Eastlake Avenue, MC9176, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
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12
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An integrative view of dynamic genomic elements influencing human brain evolution and individual neurodevelopment. Med Hypotheses 2008; 71:360-73. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2008.03.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2008] [Revised: 03/01/2008] [Accepted: 03/06/2008] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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13
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Chromosomal translocations in cancer. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 2008; 1786:139-52. [PMID: 18718509 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2008.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2008] [Revised: 07/15/2008] [Accepted: 07/19/2008] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Genetic alterations in DNA can lead to cancer when it is present in proto-oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, DNA repair genes etc. Examples of such alterations include deletions, inversions and chromosomal translocations. Among these rearrangements chromosomal translocations are considered as the primary cause for many cancers including lymphoma, leukemia and some solid tumors. Chromosomal translocations in certain cases can result either in the fusion of genes or in bringing genes close to enhancer or promoter elements, hence leading to their altered expression. Moreover, chromosomal translocations are used as diagnostic markers for cancer and its therapeutics. In the first part of this review, we summarize the well-studied chromosomal translocations in cancer. Although the mechanism of formation of most of these translocations is still unclear, in the second part we discuss the recent advances in this area of research.
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14
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Edry E, Melamed D. Class switch recombination: a friend and a foe. Clin Immunol 2007; 123:244-51. [PMID: 17500041 DOI: 10.1016/j.clim.2007.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2007] [Revised: 02/06/2007] [Accepted: 02/06/2007] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The effector functions of the antibody are determined by the heavy chain constant region (CH). During CSR the primarily expressed mu constant region (Cmu) of the heavy chain is replaced with a downstream isotype Cgamma, Calpha or Cepsilon. The murine immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) locus contains eight different CH genes. Class switch recombination (CSR) involves a recombination between two different repetitive switch (S) region sequences, located upstream of each CH gene and the deletion of the intervening DNA. However, this protecting mechanism is also involved in aberrant chromosomal translocations and generation of B cell malignancies. It is also involved in susceptibility to autoimmunity. The current review focuses on the basic mechanism of CSR and the adverse outcomes that it may cause.
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Affiliation(s)
- Efrat Edry
- Department of Immunology, Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
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15
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Matei IR, Guidos CJ, Danska JS. ATM-dependent DNA damage surveillance in T-cell development and leukemogenesis: the DSB connection. Immunol Rev 2006; 209:142-58. [PMID: 16448540 DOI: 10.1111/j.0105-2896.2006.00361.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
The immune system is capable of recognizing and eliminating an enormous array of pathogens due to the extremely diverse antigen receptor repertoire of T and B lymphocytes. However, the development of lymphocytes bearing receptors with unique specificities requires the generation of programmed double strand breaks (DSBs) coupled with bursts of proliferation, rendering lymphocytes susceptible to mutations contributing to oncogenic transformation. Consequently, mechanisms responsible for monitoring global genomic integrity must be activated during lymphocyte development to limit the oncogenic potential of antigen receptor locus recombination. Mutations in ATM (ataxia-telangiectasia mutated), a kinase that coordinates DSB monitoring and the response to DNA damage, result in impaired T-cell development and predispose to T-cell leukemia. Here, we review recent evidence providing insight into the mechanisms by which ATM promotes normal lymphocyte development and protects from neoplastic transformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irina R Matei
- Program in Developmental Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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16
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Finette BA. Analysis of mutagenic V(D)J recombinase mediated mutations at the HPRT locus as an in vivo model for studying rearrangements with leukemogenic potential in children. DNA Repair (Amst) 2006; 5:1049-64. [PMID: 16807138 DOI: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2006.05.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Pediatric acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a multifactorial malignancy with many distinctive developmentally specific features that include age specific acquisition of deletions, insertions and chromosomal translocations. The analysis of breakpoint regions involved in these leukemogenic genomic rearrangements has provided evidence that many are the consequence of V(D)J recombinase mediated events at both immune and non-immune loci. Hence, the direct investigation of in vivo genetic and epigenetic features in human peripheral lymphocytes is necessary to fully understand the mechanisms responsible for the specificity and frequency of these leukemogenic non-immune V(D)J recombinase events. In this review, I will present the utility of analyzing mutagenic V(D)J recombinase mediated genomic rearrangements at the HPRT locus in humans as an in vivo model system for understanding the mechanisms responsible for leukemogenic genetic alterations observed in children with leukemia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barry A Finette
- Department of Pediatrics, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Vermont College of Medicine, E203 Given Building, 89 Beaumont Ave., Burlington, VT 05405, USA.
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17
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Hernández Prada JA, Haire RN, Allaire M, Jakoncic J, Stojanoff V, Cannon JP, Litman GW, Ostrov DA. Ancient evolutionary origin of diversified variable regions demonstrated by crystal structures of an immune-type receptor in amphioxus. Nat Immunol 2006; 7:875-82. [PMID: 16799561 PMCID: PMC3707131 DOI: 10.1038/ni1359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2006] [Accepted: 05/25/2006] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Although the origins of genes encoding the rearranging binding receptors remain obscure, it is predicted that their ancestral forms were nonrearranging immunoglobulin-type domains. Variable region-containing chitin-binding proteins (VCBPs) are diversified immune-type molecules found in amphioxus (Branchiostoma floridae), an invertebrate that diverged early in deuterostome phylogeny. To study the potential evolutionary relationships between VCBPs and vertebrate adaptive immune receptors, we solved the structures of both a single V-type domain (to 1.15 A) and a pair of V-type domains (to 1.85 A) from VCBP3. The deduced structures show integral features of the ancestral variable-region fold as well as unique features of variable-region pairing in molecules that may reflect characteristics of ancestral forms of diversified immune receptors found in modern-day vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- José A Hernández Prada
- Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA
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18
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Litman GW, Cannon JP, Dishaw LJ. Reconstructing immune phylogeny: new perspectives. Nat Rev Immunol 2005; 5:866-79. [PMID: 16261174 PMCID: PMC3683834 DOI: 10.1038/nri1712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 217] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies of the mammalian immune system have begun to uncover profound interrelationships, as well as fundamental differences, between the adaptive and innate systems of immune recognition. Coincident with these investigations, the increasing experimental accessibility of non-mammalian jawed vertebrates, jawless vertebrates, protochordates and invertebrates has provided intriguing new information regarding the likely patterns of emergence of immune-related molecules during metazoan phylogeny, as well as the evolution of alternative mechanisms for receptor diversification. Such findings blur traditional distinctions between adaptive and innate immunity and emphasize that, throughout evolution, the immune system has used a remarkably extensive variety of solutions to meet fundamentally similar requirements for host protection.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Evolution, Molecular
- Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte/genetics
- Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte/immunology
- Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte/genetics
- Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte/immunology
- Genes, Immunoglobulin/genetics
- Genes, Immunoglobulin/immunology
- Genes, RAG-1/immunology
- Immunity, Innate/genetics
- Immunity, Innate/immunology
- Invertebrates/genetics
- Invertebrates/immunology
- Phylogeny
- Receptors, Immunologic/genetics
- Receptors, Immunologic/immunology
- Vertebrates/genetics
- Vertebrates/immunology
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary W Litman
- Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida College of Medicine, All Children's Hospital Children's Research Institute, 830 First Street South, Saint Petersburg, Florida 33701, USA.
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19
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Aplan PD. Causes of oncogenic chromosomal translocation. Trends Genet 2005; 22:46-55. [PMID: 16257470 PMCID: PMC1762911 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2005.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2005] [Revised: 08/16/2005] [Accepted: 10/10/2005] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Non-random chromosomal translocations are frequently associated with a variety of cancers, particularly hematologic malignancies and childhood sarcomas. In addition to their diagnostic utility, chromosomal translocations are increasingly being used in the clinic to guide therapeutic decisions. However, the mechanisms that cause these translocations remain poorly understood. Illegitimate V(D)J recombination, class switch recombination, homologous recombination, non-homologous end-joining and genome fragile sites all have potential roles in the production of non-random chromosomal translocations. In addition, mutations in DNA-repair pathways have been implicated in the production of chromosomal translocations in humans, mice and yeast. Although initially surprising, the identification of these same oncogenic chromosomal translocations in peripheral blood from healthy individuals strongly suggests that the translocation is not sufficient to induce malignant transformation, and that complementary mutations are required to produce a frank malignancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter D Aplan
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 8901 Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda, Maryland, MD 20889-5105, USA.
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