Rad52 prevents excessive replication fork reversal and protects from nascent strand degradation.

ABSTRACT: Stabilisation of stalled replication forks prevents excessive fork reversal and their pathological degradation, which can undermine genome integrity. Here we investigate a physiological role of RAD52 at stalled replication forks by using human cell models depleted of RAD52, a specific small-molecule inhibitor of the RAD52-ssDNA interaction, in vitro and single-molecule analyses. We demonstrate that RAD52 prevents excessive degradation of reversed replication forks by MRE11. Mechanistically, RAD52 binds to the stalled replication fork, promotes its occlusion and counteracts loading of SMARCAL1 in vitro and in vivo. Loss of the RAD52 function results in a slightly-defective replication restart, persistence of under-replicated regions and chromosome instability. Moreover, the RAD52-inhibited

SUBMITTER: Malacaria E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6441034 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature