Transformation/transcription domain-associated protein (TRRAP)-mediated regulation of Wee1

An insight into understanding the coupling between homologous recombination mediated DNA repair and chromatin remodeling mechanisms in plant genome: an update

Plants, with their obligatory immobility, are vastly exposed to a wide range of environmental agents and also various endogenous processes, which frequently cause damage to DNA and impose genotoxic stress. These factors subsequently increase genome instability, thus affecting plant growth and productivity. Therefore, to survive under frequent and extreme environmental stress conditions, plants have developed highly efficient and powerful defense mechanisms to repair the damages in the genome for maintaining genome stability. Such multi-dimensional signaling response, activated in presence of damage in the DNA, is collectively known as DNA Damage Response (DDR). DDR plays a crucial role in the remarkably efficient detection, signaling, and repair of damages in the genome for maintaining plant genome stability and normal growth responses. Like other highly advanced eukaryotic systems, chromatin dynamics play a key role in regulating cell cycle progression in plants through remarkable orchestration of environmental and developmental signals. The regulation of chromatin architecture and nucleosomal organization in DDR is mainly modulated by the ATP dependent chromatin remodelers (ACRs), chromatin modifiers, and histone chaperones. ACRs are mainly responsible for transcriptional regulation of several homologous recombination (HR) repair genes in plants under genotoxic stress. The HR-based repair of DNA damage has been considered as the most error-free mechanism of repair and represents one of the essential sources of genetic diversity and new allelic combinations in plants. The initiation of DDR signaling and DNA damage repair pathway requires recruitment of epigenetic modifiers for remodeling of the damaged chromatin while accumulating evidence has shown that chromatin remodeling and DDR share part of the similar signaling pathway through the altered epigenetic status of the associated chromatin region. In this review, we have integrated information to provide an overview on the association between chromatin remodeling mediated regulation of chromatin structure stability and DDR signaling in plants, with emphasis on the scope of the utilization of the available knowledge for the improvement of plant health and productivity.Abbreviation: ADH: Alcohol Dehydrogenase; AGO2: Argonaute 2; ARP: Actin-Related Protein; ASF:1- Anti-Silencing Function-1; ATM: Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated; ATR: ATM and Rad3- Related; AtSWI3c: Arabidopsis thaliana Switch 3c; ATXR5: Arabidopsis Trithorax-Related5; ATXR6: Arabidopsis Trithorax-Related6; BER: Base Excision Repair; BRCA1: Breast Cancer Associated 1; BRM: BRAHMA; BRU1: BRUSHY1; CAF:1- Chromatin Assembly Factor-1; CHD: Chromodomain Helicase DNA; CHR5: Chromatin Remodeling Protein 5; CHR11/17: Chromatin Remodeling Protein 11/17; CIPK11- CBL- Interacting Protein Kinase 11; CLF: Curly Leaf; CMT3: Chromomethylase 3; COR15A: Cold Regulated 15A; COR47: Cold Regulated 47; CRISPR: Clustered Regulatory Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats; DDM1: Decreased DNA Methylation1; DRR: DNA Repair and Recombination; DSBs: Double-Strand Breaks; DDR: DNA Damage Response; EXO1: Exonuclease 1; FAS1/2: Fasciata1/2; FACT: Facilitates Chromatin Transcription; FT: Flowering Locus T; GMI1: Gamma-Irradiation And Mitomycin C Induced 1; HAC1: Histone Acetyltransferase of the CBP Family 1; HAM1: Histone Acetyltransferase of the MYST Family 1; HAM2: Histone Acetyltransferase of the MYST Family 2; HAF1: Histone Acetyltransferase of the TAF Family 1; HAT: Histone Acetyl Transferase; HDA1: Histone Deacetylase 1; HDA6: Histone Deacetylase 6; HIRA: Histone Regulatory Homolog A; HR- Homologous recombination; HAS: Helicase SANT Associated; HSS: HAND-SLANT-SLIDE; ICE1: Inducer of CBF Expression 1; INO80: Inositol Requiring Mutant 80; ISW1: Imitation Switch 1; KIN1/2: Kinase 1 /2; MET1: Methyltransferase 1; MET2: Methyltransferase 2; MINU: MINUSCULE; MMS: Methyl Methane Sulfonate; MMS21: Methyl Methane Sulfonate Sensitivity 21; MRN: MRE11, RAD50 and NBS1; MSI1: Multicopy Suppressor Of Ira1; NAP1: Nucleosome Assembly Protein 1; NRP1/NRP2: NAP1-Related Protein; NER: Nucleotide Excision Repair; NHEJ: Non-Homologous End Joining; PARP1: Poly-ADP Ribose Polymerase; PIE1: Photoperiod Independent Early Flowering 1; PIKK: Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase-Like Kinase; PKL: PICKLE; PKR1/2: PICKLE Related 1/2; RAD: Radiation Sensitive Mutant; RD22: Responsive To Desiccation 22; RD29A: Responsive To Desiccation 29A; ROS: Reactive Oxygen Species; ROS1: Repressor of Silencing 1; RPA1E: Replication Protein A 1E; SANT: Swi3, Ada2, N-Cor and TFIIIB; SEP3: SEPALLATA3; SCC3: Sister Chromatid Cohesion Protein 3; SMC1: Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes Protein 1; SMC3: Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes Protein 3; SOG1: Suppressor of Gamma Response 1; SWC6: SWR1 Complex Subunit 6; SWR1: SWI2/SNF2-Related 1; SYD: SPLAYED; SMC5: Structural Maintenance of Chromosome 5; SWI/SNF: Switch/Sucrose Non-Fermentable; TALENs: Transcription Activators Like Effector Nucleases; TRRAP: Transformation/Transactivation Domain-Associated Protein; ZFNs: Zinc Finger Nucleases.

New insights into the evolutionary conservation of the sole PIKK pseudokinase Tra1/TRRAP

Phosphorylation by protein kinases is a fundamental mechanism of signal transduction. Many kinase families contain one or several members that, although evolutionarily conserved, lack the residues required for catalytic activity. Studies combining structural, biochemical, and functional approaches revealed that these pseudokinases have crucial roles in vivo and may even represent attractive targets for pharmacological intervention. Pseudokinases mediate signal transduction by a diversity of mechanisms, including allosteric regulation of their active counterparts, assembly of signaling hubs, or modulation of protein localization. One such pseudokinase, named Tra1 in yeast and transformation/transcription domain-associated protein (TRRAP) in mammals, is the only member lacking all catalytic residues within the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase related kinase (PIKK) family of kinases. PIKKs are related to the PI3K family of lipid kinases, but function as Serine/Threonine protein kinases and have pivotal roles in diverse processes such as DNA damage sensing and repair, metabolic control of cell growth, nonsense-mediated decay, or transcription initiation. Tra1/TRRAP is the largest subunit of two distinct transcriptional co-activator complexes, SAGA and NuA4/TIP60, which it recruits to promoters upon transcription factor binding. Here, we review our current knowledge on the Tra1/TRRAP pseudokinase, focusing on its role as a scaffold for SAGA and NuA4/TIP60 complex assembly and recruitment to chromatin. We further discuss its evolutionary history within the PIKK family and highlight recent findings that reveal the importance of molecular chaperones in pseudokinase folding, function, and conservation.

H2A.Z-dependent regulation of cohesin dynamics on chromosome arms

Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) complexes and DNA topoisomerases are major determinants of chromosome structure and dynamics. The cohesin complex embraces sister chromatids throughout interphase, but during mitosis most cohesin is stripped from chromosome arms by early prophase, while the remaining cohesin at kinetochores is cleaved at anaphase. This two-step removal of cohesin is required for sister chromatids to separate. The cohesin-related Smc5/6 complex has been studied mostly as a determinant of DNA repair via homologous recombination. However, chromosome segregation fails in Smc5/6 null mutants or cells treated with small interfering RNAs. This also occurs in Smc5/6 hypomorphs in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe following genotoxic and replication stress, or topoisomerase II dysfunction, and these mitotic defects are due to the postanaphase retention of cohesin on chromosome arms. Here we show that mitotic and repair roles for Smc5/6 are genetically separable in S. pombe. Further, we identified the histone variant H2A.Z as a critical factor to modulate cohesin dynamics, and cells lacking H2A.Z suppress the mitotic defects conferred by Smc5/6 dysfunction. Together, H2A.Z and the SMC complexes ensure genome integrity through accurate chromosome segregation.

Fission yeast nucleolar protein Dnt1 regulates G2/M transition and cytokinesis by downregulating Wee1 kinase

Cytokinesis involves temporally and spatially coordinated action of the cell cycle, cytoskeletal and membrane systems to achieve separation of daughter cells. The septation initiation network (SIN) and mitotic exit network (MEN) signaling pathways regulate cytokinesis and mitotic exit in the yeasts Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively. Previously, we have shown that in fission yeast, the nucleolar protein Dnt1 negatively regulates the SIN pathway in a manner that is independent of the Cdc14-family phosphatase Clp1/Flp1, but how Dnt1 modulates this pathway has remained elusive. By contrast, it is clear that its budding yeast relative, Net1/Cfi1, regulates the homologous MEN signaling pathway by sequestering Cdc14 phosphatase in the nucleolus before mitotic exit. In this study, we show that dnt1(+) positively regulates G2/M transition during the cell cycle. By conducting epistasis analyses to measure cell length at septation in double mutant (for dnt1 and genes involved in G2/M control) cells, we found a link between dnt1(+) and wee1(+). Furthermore, we showed that elevated protein levels of the mitotic inhibitor Wee1 kinase and the corresponding attenuation in Cdk1 activity is responsible for the rescuing effect of dnt1Δ on SIN mutants. Finally, our data also suggest that Dnt1 modulates Wee1 activity in parallel with SCF-mediated Wee1 degradation. Therefore, this study reveals an unexpected missing link between the nucleolar protein Dnt1 and the SIN signaling pathway, which is mediated by the Cdk1 regulator Wee1 kinase. Our findings also define a novel mode of regulation of Wee1 and Cdk1, which is important for integration of the signals controlling the SIN pathway in fission yeast.

Regulatory motifs in Chk1

Chk1 is the effector kinase of the G 2 DNA damage checkpoint. Chk1 homologs possess a highly conserved N-terminal kinase domain and a less conserved C-terminal regulatory domain. In response to DNA damage, Chk1 is recruited to mediator proteins assembled at lesions on replication protein A (RPA)-coated single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). Chk1 is then activated by phosphorylation on S345 in the C-terminal regulatory domain by the PI3 kinase-related kinases ATM and ATR to enforce a G 2 cell cycle arrest to allow time for DNA repair. Models have emerged in which this C-terminal phosphorylation relieves auto-inhibitory regulation of the kinase domain by the regulatory domain. However, experiments in fission yeast have shown that deletion of this putative auto-inhibitory domain actually inactivates Chk1 function. We show here that Chk1 homologs possess a kinase-associated 1 (KA1) domain that possesses residues previously implicated in Chk1 auto-inhibition. In addition, all Chk1 homologs have a small and highly conserved C-terminal extension (CTE domain). In fission yeast, both of these motifs are essential for Chk1 activation through interaction with the mediator protein Crb2, the homolog of human 53BP1. Thus, through different intra- and intermolecular interactions, these motifs explain why the regulatory domain exerts both positive and negative control over Chk1 activation. Such motifs may provide alternative targets to the ATP-binding pocket on which to dock Chk1 inhibitors as anticancer therapeutics.

Connecting chromatin modifying factors to DNA damage response

Cells are constantly damaged by factors that can induce DNA damage. Eukaryotic cells must rapidly load DNA repair proteins onto damaged chromatin during the DNA damage response (DDR). Chromatin-remodeling complexes use the energy from ATP hydrolysis to remodel nucleosomes and have well-established functions in transcription. Emerging lines of evidence indicate that chromatin-remodeling complexes are important and may remodel nucleosomes during DNA damage repair. New studies also reveal that ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling is involved in cell cycle progression, signal transduction pathways, and interaction and modification of DDR-related proteins that are specifically and intimately connected with the process of DNA damage. This article summarizes the recent advances in our understanding of the interplay between chromatin remodeling and DNA damage response.

Initiation of DNA damage responses through XPG-related nucleases

Lesion-specific enzymes repair different forms of DNA damage, yet all lesions elicit the same checkpoint response. The common intermediate required to mount a checkpoint response is thought to be single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), coated by replication protein A (RPA) and containing a primer-template junction. To identify factors important for initiating the checkpoint response, we screened for genes that, when overexpressed, could amplify a checkpoint signal to a weak allele of chk1 in fission yeast. We identified Ast1, a novel member of the XPG-related family of endo/exonucleases. Ast1 promotes checkpoint activation caused by the absence of the other XPG-related nucleases, Exo1 and Rad2, the homologue of Fen1. Each nuclease is recruited to DSBs, and promotes the formation of ssDNA for checkpoint activation and recombinational repair. For Rad2 and Exo1, this is independent of their S-phase role in Okazaki fragment processing. This XPG-related pathway is distinct from MRN-dependent responses, and each enzyme is critical for damage resistance in MRN mutants. Thus, multiple nucleases collaborate to initiate DNA damage responses, highlighting the importance of these responses to cellular fitness.

The SAGA histone acetyltransferase complex regulates leucine uptake through the Agp3 permease in fission yeast

Metabolic responses of unicellular organisms are mostly acute, transient, and cell-autonomous. Regulation of nutrient uptake in yeast is one such rapid response. High quality nitrogen sources such as NH(4)(+) inhibit uptake of poor nitrogen sources, such as amino acids. Both transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms operate in nutrient uptake regulation; however, many components of this system remain uncharacterized in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Here, we demonstrate that the Spt-Ada-Gcn acetyltransferase (SAGA) complex modulates leucine uptake. Initially, we noticed that a branched-chain amino acid auxotroph exhibits a peculiar adaptive growth phenotype on solid minimal media containing certain nitrogen sources. In fact, the growth of many auxotrophic strains is inhibited by excess NH(4)Cl, possibly through nitrogen-mediated uptake inhibition of the corresponding nutrients. Surprisingly, DNA microarray analysis revealed that the transcriptional reprogramming during the adaptation of the branched-chain amino acid auxotroph was highly correlated with reprogramming observed in deletions of the SAGA histone acetyltransferase module genes. Deletion of gcn5(+) increased leucine uptake in the prototrophic background and rendered the leucine auxotroph resistant to NH(4)Cl. Deletion of tra1(+) caused the opposite phenotypes. The increase in leucine uptake in the gcn5Δ mutant was dependent on an amino acid permease gene, SPCC965.11c(+). The closest budding yeast homolog of this permease is a relatively nonspecific amino acid permease AGP3, which functions in poor nutrient conditions. Our analysis identified the regulation of nutrient uptake as a physiological function for the SAGA complex, providing a potential link between cellular metabolism and chromatin regulation.

New insights into the SAGA complex from studies of the Tra1 subunit in budding and fission yeast

The SAGA complex is a conserved, multifunctional co-activator that controls the transcription of many inducible genes in response to environmental changes. Recent studies have provided new insights into the functions of one of its subunits, Tra1/TRRAP, and suggest that it controls SAGA activity in response to external stimuli.

Brc1-dependent recovery from replication stress

BRCT-containing protein 1 (Brc1) is a multi-BRCT (BRCA1 carboxyl terminus) domain protein in Schizosaccharomyces pombe that is required for resistance to chronic replicative stress, but whether this reflects a repair or replication defect is unknown and the subject of this study. We show that brc1Δ cells are significantly delayed in recovery from replication pausing, though this does not activate a DNA damage checkpoint. DNA repair and recombination protein Rad52 is a homologous recombination protein that loads the Rad51 recombinase at resected double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) breaks and is also recruited to stalled replication forks, where it may stabilize structures through its strand annealing activity. Rad52 is required for the viability of brc1Δ cells, and brc1Δ cells accumulate Rad52 foci late in S phase that are potentiated by replication stress. However, these foci contain the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein RPA, but not Rad51 or γH2A. Further, these foci are not associated with increased recombination between repeated sequences, or increased post-replication repair. Thus, these Rad52 foci do not represent sites of recombination. Following the initiation of DNA replication, the induction of these foci by replication stress is suppressed by defects in origin recognition complex (ORC) function, which is accompanied by loss of viability and severe mitotic defects. This suggests that cells lacking Brc1 undergo an ORC-dependent rescue of replication stress, presumably through the firing of dormant origins, and this generates RPA-coated ssDNA and recruits Rad52. However, as Rad51 is not recruited, and the checkpoint effector kinase Chk1 is not activated, these structures must not contain the unprotected primer ends found at sites of DNA damage that are required for recombination and checkpoint activation.

SAGA function in tissue-specific gene expression

The Spt-Ada-Gcn5-acetyltransferase (SAGA) transcription coactivator plays multiple roles in regulating transcription because of the presence of functionally independent modules of subunits within the complex. We have recently identified a role for the ubiquitin protease activity of SAGA in regulating tissue-specific gene expression in Drosophila. Here, we discuss the modular nature of SAGA and the different mechanisms through which SAGA is recruited to target promoters. We propose that the genes sensitive to loss of the ubiquitin protease activity of SAGA share functional characteristics that require deubiquitination of monoubiquitinated histone H2B (ubH2B) for full activation. We hypothesize that deubiquitination of ubH2B by SAGA destabilizes promoter nucleosomes, thus enhancing recruitment of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) to weak promoters. In addition, SAGA-mediated deubiquitination of ubH2B may facilitate binding of factors that are important for the transition of paused Pol II into transcription elongation.

mRNA export and gene expression: the SAGA-TREX-2 connection

In the gene expression field, different steps have been traditionally viewed as discrete and unconnected events. Nowadays, genetic and functional studies support the model of a coupled network of physical and functional connections to carry out mRNA biogenesis. Gene expression is a coordinated process that comprises different linked steps like transcription, RNA processing, export to the cytoplasm, translation and degradation of mRNAs. Its regulation is essential for cellular survival and can occur at many different levels. Transcription is the central function that occurs in the nucleus, and RNAPII plays an essential role in mRNA biogenesis. During transcription, nascent mRNA is associated with the mRNA-binding proteins involved in processing and export of the mRNA particle. Cells have developed a network of multi-protein complexes whose functions regulate the different factors involved both temporally and spatially. This coupling mechanism acts as a quality control to solve some of the organization problems of gene expression in vivo, where all the factors implicated ensure that mRNAs are ready to be exported and translated. In this review, we focus on the functional coupling of gene transcription and mRNA export, and place particular emphasis on the relationship between the NPC-associated complex, TREX2, and the transcription co-activator, SAGA. We have pinpointed the experimental evidence for Sus1's roles in transcription initiation, transcription elongation and mRNA export. In addition, we have reviewed other NPC-related processes such as gene gating to the nuclear envelope, the chromatin structure and the cellular context in which these processes take place. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Nuclear Transport and RNA Processing.

Nse1-dependent recruitment of Smc5/6 to lesion-containing loci contributes to the repair defects of mutant complexes

The Smc5/6 complex is widely believed to be required for homologous recombination. It is shown that repair defects of Smc5/6 mutants are due to the Nse1-dependent recruitment of dysfunctional complexes to lesions.

Of the three structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) complexes, Smc5/6 remains the most poorly understood. Genetic studies have shown that Smc5/6 mutants are defective in homologous recombination (HR), and consistent with this, Smc5/6 is enriched at lesions. However, Smc5/6 is essential for viability, but HR is not, and the terminal phenotype of null Smc5/6 mutants is mitotic failure. Here we analyze the function of Nse1, which contains a variant RING domain that is characteristic of ubiquitin ligases. Whereas deletion of this domain causes DNA damage sensitivity and mitotic failure, serine mutations in conserved cysteines do not. However, these mutations suppress the DNA damage sensitivity of Smc5/6 hypomorphs but not that of HR mutants and remarkably decrease the recruitment of Smc5/6 to loci containing lesions marked for HR-mediated repair. Analysis of DNA repair pathways in suppressed double mutants suggests that lesions are channeled into recombination-dependent and error-free postreplication repair. Thus the HR defect in Smc5/6 mutants appears to be due to the presence of dysfunctional complexes at lesions rather than to reflect an absolute requirement for Smc5/6 to complete HR.

Deep sequencing of gastric carcinoma reveals somatic mutations relevant to personalized medicine

BACKGROUND

Globally, gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death, with the majority of the health burden borne by economically less-developed countries.

METHODS

Here, we report a genetic characterization of 50 gastric adenocarcinoma samples, using affymetrix SNP arrays and Illumina mRNA expression arrays as well as Illumina sequencing of the coding regions of 384 genes belonging to various pathways known to be altered in other cancers.

RESULTS

Genetic alterations were observed in the WNT, Hedgehog, cell cycle, DNA damage and epithelial-to-mesenchymal-transition pathways.

CONCLUSIONS

The data suggests targeted therapies approved or in clinical development for gastric carcinoma would be of benefit to ~22% of the patients studied. In addition, the novel mutations detected here, are likely to influence clinical response and suggest new targets for drug discovery.

Tra1 has specific regulatory roles, rather than global functions, within the SAGA co-activator complex

The SAGA complex is a conserved, multifunctional co-activator that has broad roles in eukaryotic transcription. Previous studies suggested that Tra1, the largest SAGA component, is required either for SAGA assembly or for SAGA recruitment by DNA-bound transcriptional activators. In contrast to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and mouse, a tra1Δ mutant is viable in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, allowing us to test these issues in vivo. We find that, in a tra1Δ mutant, SAGA assembles and is recruited to some, but not all, promoters. Consistent with these findings, Tra1 regulates the expression of only a subset of SAGA-dependent genes. We previously reported that the SAGA subunits Gcn5 and Spt8 have opposing regulatory roles during S. pombe sexual differentiation. We show here that, like Gcn5, Tra1 represses this pathway, although by a distinct mechanism. Thus, our study reveals that Tra1 has specific regulatory roles, rather than global functions, within SAGA.