Selective chromatid segregation mechanism invoked for the human congenital mirror hand movement disorder development by RAD51 mutations: a hypothesis

The Inherent Asymmetry of DNA Replication

Semiconservative DNA replication has provided an elegant solution to the fundamental problem of how life is able to proliferate in a way that allows cells, organisms, and populations to survive and replicate many times over. Somewhat lost, however, in our admiration for this mechanism is an appreciation for the asymmetries that occur in the process of DNA replication. As we discuss in this review, these asymmetries arise as a consequence of the structure of the DNA molecule and the enzymatic mechanism of DNA synthesis. Increasing evidence suggests that asymmetries in DNA replication are able to play a central role in the processes of adaptation and evolution by shaping the mutagenic landscape of cells. Additionally, in eukaryotes, recent work has demonstrated that the inherent asymmetries in DNA replication may play an important role in the process of chromatin replication. As chromatin plays an essential role in defining cell identity, asymmetries generated during the process of DNA replication may play critical roles in cell fate decisions related to patterning and development.

Split hand/foot malformation genetics supports the chromosome 7 copy segregation mechanism for human limb development

Genetic aberrations of several unlinked loci cause human congenital split hand/foot malformation (SHFM) development. Mutations of the DLX5 (distal-less) transcription factor-encoding gene in chromosome 7 cause SHFM through haploinsufficiency, but the vast majority of cases result from heterozygous chromosomal aberrations of the region without mutating the DLX5 gene. To resolve this paradox, we invoke a chromosomal epigenetic mechanism for limb development. It is composed of a monochromatid gene expression phenomenon that we discovered in two fission yeasts with the selective chromosome copy segregation phenomenon that we discovered in mouse cells. Accordingly, one daughter cell inherits both expressed DLX5 copies while the other daughter inherits both epigenetically silenced ones from a single deterministic cell of the developing limb. Thus, differentiated daughter cells after further proliferation will correspondingly produce proximal/distal-limb tissues. Published results of a Chr. 7 translocation with a centromere-proximal breakpoint situated over 41 million bases away from the DLX locus, centromeric and DLX5-region inversions have satisfied key genetic and developmental biology predictions of the mechanism. Further genetic tests of the mechanism are proposed. We propose that the DNA double helical structure itself causes the development of sister cells' gene regulation asymmetry. We also argue against the conventionally invoked morphogen model of development.This article is part of the themed issue 'Provocative questions in left-right asymmetry'.

Selective chromatid segregation mechanism proposed for the human split hand/foot malformation development by chromosome 2 translocations: A perspective

Three unrelated chromosome 2q14.1-14.2 region translocations caused the split hand/foot limb malformation development in humans by an unknown mechanism. Their etiology was described by the autosomal dominant inheritance with incomplete penetrance genetic model although authors stated, "the understanding of the genotype-to-phenotype relationship has been most challenging". The conundrums are that no mutation was found in known genes located at or near the translocation breakpoints, some limbs were malformed while others were not in the same patient and surprisingly breakpoints lie at relatively large distance of more than 2.5 million bases to have caused disorder-causing gene mutations in a single gene. To help understand translocations etiology for limb development, we invoke the selective DNA strand/chromatid-specific epigenetic imprinting and segregation mechanism employed by the two highly diverged fission yeasts to produce daughter cells of different cell types by mitosis. By this mechanism, an anterior- and posterior-limb-tissues-generating pair of daughter cells is produced by a single deterministic cell dividing in the anlagen of the limb bud. Accordingly, malformation develops simply because translocations hinder the proper distribution of chromatid-specific epialleles of a limb developmental gene during the deterministic cell's mitosis. It is tempting to speculate that such a mechanism might involve the HOXD-cluster genes situated centromere-distal to the translocation breakpoints many million bases away at the 2q31.1 region. Further genetic tests of the hypothesis are proposed for the human and mouse limb development. In sum, genetic analysis of translocations suggests that the sequence asymmetry of strands in the double-helical DNA structure of a developmental gene forms the physical basis of daughter cells' developmental asymmetry, thus opposing the morphogen-gradient research paradigm of limb development.

A Unique DNA Recombination Mechanism of the Mating/Cell-type Switching of Fission Yeasts: a Review

Cells of the highly diverged Schizosaccharomyces (S.) pombe and S. japonicus fission yeasts exist in one of two sex/mating types, called P (for plus) or M (for minus), specified by which allele, M or P, resides at mat1. The fission yeasts have evolved an elegant mechanism for switching P or M information at mat1 by a programmed DNA recombination event with a copy of one of the two silent mating-type genes residing nearby in the genome. The switching process is highly cell-cycle and generation dependent such that only one of four grandchildren of a cell switches mating type. Extensive studies of fission yeast established the natural DNA strand chirality at the mat1 locus as the primary basis of asymmetric cell division. The asymmetry results from a unique site- and strand-specific epigenetic "imprint" at mat1 installed in one of the two chromatids during DNA replication. The imprint is inherited by one daughter cell, maintained for one cell cycle, and is then used for initiating recombination during mat1 replication in the following cell cycle. This mechanism of cell-type switching is considered to be unique to these two organisms, but determining the operation of such a mechanism in other organisms has not been possible for technical reasons. This review summarizes recent exciting developments in the understanding of mating-type switching in fission yeasts and extends these observations to suggest how such a DNA strand-based epigenetic mechanism of cellular differentiation could also operate in diploid organisms.