Project description:Ultraviolet (UV) light induces the formation of bulky UV photoproducts in the genome that interfere with DNA replication and transcription. It is well-established how human cells repair UV light-induced DNA lesions, however the signaling pathways and mechanisms that regulate transcription after exposure to UV light are poorly understood. Here, we provide a systematic view on dynamic protein phosphorylation patterns induced by UV light and uncover the dependencies of phosphorylation events on canonical DNA damage kinases and the p38 MAP kinase pathway. Notably, we demonstrate that p38 and its downstream effector kinase MK2 are responsible for one quarter of protein phosphorylation induced by UV light. We identify RNA binding proteins as primary targets and 14-3-3 family proteins as direct readers of UV light-induced, p38-MK2-dependent phosphorylation. Importantly, we demonstrate that UV light triggers rapid and dynamic phosphorylation of the negative elongation factor (NELF) complex subunit NELFE on serine 115 that mediates its binding to 14-3-3. NELFE interaction with 14-3-3 stabilizes NELFE and RNA pol II interaction on the chromatin and inhibits transcriptional elongation, thereby promoting cell survival after UV light.
Project description:Ultraviolet (UV) light induces the formation of bulky UV photoproducts in the genome that interfere with DNA replication and transcription. It is well-established how human cells repair UV light-induced DNA lesions, however the signaling pathways and mechanisms that regulate transcription after exposure to UV light are poorly understood. Here, we provide a systematic view on dynamic protein phosphorylation patterns induced by UV light and uncover the dependencies of phosphorylation events on canonical DNA damage kinases and the p38 MAP kinase pathway. Notably, we demonstrate that p38 and its downstream effector kinase MK2 are responsible for one quarter of protein phosphorylation induced by UV light. We identify RNA binding proteins as primary targets and 14-3-3 family proteins as direct readers of UV light-induced, p38-MK2-dependent phosphorylation. Importantly, we demonstrate that UV light triggers rapid and dynamic phosphorylation of the negative elongation factor (NELF) complex subunit NELFE on serine 115 that mediates its binding to 14-3-3. NELFE interaction with 14-3-3 stabilizes NELFE and RNA pol II interaction on the chromatin and inhibits transcriptional elongation, thereby promoting cell survival after UV light.
Project description:Ultraviolet (UV) light radiation induces the formation of bulky photoproducts in the DNA that globally affect transcription and splicing. However, the signaling pathways and mechanisms that link UV light-induced DNA damage to changes in RNA metabolism remain poorly understood. Here, we employ quantitative phosphoproteomics and protein kinase inhibition to provide a systems view on protein phosphorylation patterns induced by UV light, and uncover the dependencies of phosphorylation events on the canonical DNA damage signaling by ATM/ATR and the p38 MAP kinase pathway. We identify RNA binding proteins as primary substrates and 14-3-3 as direct readers of p38-MK2-dependent phosphorylation induced by UV light. Mechanistically, we show that MK2 phosphorylates the RNA binding subunit of the NELF complex NELFE on Serine 115. NELFE phosphorylation promotes the recruitment of 14-3-3 and rapid dissociation of the NELF complex from chromatin, which is accompanied by RNA polymerase II elongation.
Project description:Ultraviolet (UV) light radiation induces the formation of bulky photoproducts in the DNA that interfere with replication and transcription. Recent studies showed that exposure of human cells to UV light globally affects transcription and alternative splicing, however, the signaling pathways and mechanisms that link UV light-induced DNA damage to RNA metabolism regulation remain poorly understood. Here, we provide a systems view on protein phosphorylation patterns induced by UV light, and uncover the dependencies of phosphorylation events on the canonical DNA damage signaling mediated by ATM/ATR or p38 MAP kinase pathway. We identify RNA binding proteins as primary targets and 14-3-3 family as direct readers of p38-MK2-dependent phosphorylation induced by UV light. Moreover, we show that MK2 phosphorylates the RNA binding subunit of the NELF complex NELFE on S115. NELFE phosphorylation promotes the recruitment of 14-3-3 and rapid dissociation of the NELF complex from chromatin that is accompanied with an increase in transcriptional elongation.
Project description:LAP-35 and SK-N_MC cells were treated with 10 J/m2 UV light versus untreated Alternative pre-mRNA processing plays a key role in the response to DNA damage as well as in neoplastic transformation. We found that two Ewing Sarcoma (ES) cell lines exhibit different sensitivity to UV light irradiation, with SK-N-MC cells being more sensitive than LAP-35 cells. RNA profiling during the response to low doses of UV light irradiation revealed genes differentially regulated between the two cell lines. In particular, UV light irradiation induced a novel isoform of the RNA helicase DHX9 which is targeted to nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) and therefore causes down-regulation of DHX9 in SK-N-MC cells, but not in LAP-35 cells. DHX9 protein forms a complex with RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) and EWS-FLI1 to enhance transcription, and we found that down-regulation of DHX9 by UV light irradiation in SK-N-MC cells impairs the recruitment of EWS-FLI1 to target genes and increases sensitivity to DNA damage. Notably, sensitivity of SK-N-MC cells to irradiation correlated with enhanced phosphorylation and decreased processivity of RNAPII upon irradiation, which in turn causes inclusion of the novel DHX9 exon in SK-N-MC cells exposed to UV light, an observation that could be recapitulated in LAP35 cells by pharmacological reduction of RNAPII processivity. Our data suggest that EWS-FLI1 oncogene activity could be targeted by modulation of DHX9 gene expression.