Project description:Most genotoxic anticancer agents fail in tumors with intact DNA repair. Therefore, trabectedin, anagent more toxic to cells with active DNA repair, specifically transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER), provides therapeutic opportunities. To unlock the potential of trabectedin and inform its application in precision oncology, an understanding of the mechanism of the drug's TC-NER-dependent toxicity is needed. Here, we determine that abortive TC-NER of trabectedin-DNA adducts forms persistent single-strand breaks (SSBs) as the adducts block the second of the two sequential NER incisions. We map the 3'-hydroxyl groups of SSBs originating from the first NER incision at trabectedin lesions, recording TC-NER on a genome-wide scale. Trabectedin-induced SSBs primarily occur in transcribed strands of active genes and peak near transcription start sites. Frequent SSBs are also found outside gene bodies, connecting TC-NER to divergent transcription from promoters. This work advances the use of trabectedin for precision oncology and for studying TC-NER and transcription.
Project description:Most genotoxic anticancer agents fail in tumors with intact DNA repair. Therefore, trabectedin, a unique agent more toxic to cells with active DNA repair, specifically transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER), provides new therapeutic opportunities. To unlock the potential of trabectedin and inform its application in precision oncology, a full mechanistic understanding of the drug’s TC-NER-dependent toxicity is needed. Here, we determined that abortive TC-NER of trabectedin-DNA adducts forms persistent single-strand breaks (SSBs) by blocking the second of the two sequential NER incisions by XPG. We mapped the 3’-hydroxyl groups of SSBs originating from the first NER incision at trabectedin lesions, recording TC-NER on a genome-wide scale. We showed that trabectedin-induced SSBs primarily occur in transcribed strands of active genes and peak near transcription start sites. Frequent SSBs were also found outside gene bodies, revealing TC-NER connection to divergent transcription from promoters. This work advances trabectedin as a tool compound for precision oncology and for studying TC-NER and transcription.
Project description:PurposeEcteinascidin 743 (Et743; trabectedin, Yondelis) has recently been approved in Europe for the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas and is undergoing clinical trials for other solid tumors. Et743 selectively targets cells proficient for TC-NER, which sets it apart from other DNA alkylating agents. In the present study, we examined the effects of Et743 on RNA Pol II.Experimental design and resultsWe report that Et743 induces the rapid and massive degradation of transcribing Pol II in various cancer cell lines and normal fibroblasts. Pol II degradation was abrogated by the proteasome inhibitor MG132 and was dependent on TC-NER. Cockayne syndrome (CS) cells and xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) cells (XPD, XPA, XPG, and XPF) were defective in Pol II degradation, whereas XPC cells whose defect is limited to global genome NER in nontranscribing regions were proficient for Pol II degradation. Complementation of the CSB and XPD cells restored Pol II degradation. We also show that cells defective for the VHL complex were defective in Pol II degradation and that complementation of those cells restores Pol II degradation. Moreover, VHL deficiency rendered cells resistant to Et743-induced cell death, a similar effect to that of TC-NER deficiency.ConclusionThese results suggest that both TC-NER-induced and VHL-mediated Pol II degradation play a role in cell killing by Et743.
Project description:Abasic (AP) sites are potent blocks to DNA and RNA polymerases, and their repair is essential for maintaining genome integrity. Although AP sites are efficiently dealt with through the base excision repair (BER) pathway, genetic studies suggest that repair also can occur via nucleotide excision repair (NER). The involvement of NER in AP-site removal has been puzzling, however, as this pathway is thought to target only bulky lesions. Here, we examine the repair of AP sites generated when uracil is removed from a highly transcribed gene in yeast. Because uracil is incorporated instead of thymine under these conditions, the position of the resulting AP site is known. Results demonstrate that only AP sites on the transcribed strand are efficient substrates for NER, suggesting the recruitment of the NER machinery by an AP-blocked RNA polymerase. Such transcription-coupled NER of AP sites may explain previously suggested links between the BER pathway and transcription.
Project description:Transcription-coupled repair (TCR) is a subpathway of nucleotide excision repair (NER) that is regulated by multiple facilitators, such as Rad26, and repressors, such as Rpb4 and Spt4/Spt5. How these factors interplay with each other and with core RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) remains largely unknown. In this study, we identified Rpb7, an essential RNAPII subunit, as another TCR repressor and characterized its repression of TCR in the AGP2, RPB2, and YEF3 genes, which are transcribed at low, moderate, and high rates, respectively. The Rpb7 region that interacts with the KOW3 domain of Spt5 represses TCR largely through the same common mechanism as Spt4/Spt5, as mutations in this region mildly enhance the derepression of TCR by spt4Δ only in the YEF3 gene but not in the AGP2 or RPB2 gene. The Rpb7 regions that interact with Rpb4 and/or the core RNAPII repress TCR largely independently of Spt4/Spt5, as mutations in these regions synergistically enhance the derepression of TCR by spt4Δ in all the genes analyzed. The Rpb7 regions that interact with Rpb4 and/or the core RNAPII may also play positive roles in other (non-NER) DNA damage repair and/or tolerance mechanisms, as mutations in these regions can cause UV sensitivity that cannot be attributed to derepression of TCR. Our study reveals a novel function of Rpb7 in TCR regulation and suggests that this RNAPII subunit may have broader roles in DNA damage response beyond its known function in transcription.
Project description:The cellular activity of Yondelis (trabectedin, Ecteinascidin 743, Et743) is known to depend on transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TCR). However, the subsequent cellular effects of Et743 are not fully understood. Here we show that Et743 induces both transcription- and replication-coupled DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) that are detectible by neutral COMET assay and as gamma-H2AX foci that colocalize with 53BP1, Mre11, Ser(1981)-pATM, and Thr(68)-pChk2. The transcription coupled-DSBs (TC-DSBs) induced by Et743 depended both on TCR and Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) and were associated with DNA-PK-dependent gamma-H2AX foci. In contrast to DNA-PK, ATM phosphorylated H2AX both in NER-proficient and -deficient cells, but its full activation was dependent on H2AX as well as DNA-PK, suggesting a positive feedback loop: DNA-PK-gamma-H2AX-ATM. Knocking-out H2AX or inactivating DNA-PK reduced Et743's antiproliferative activity, whereas ATM and MRN tended to act as survival factors. Our results highlight the interplays between ATM and DNA-PK and their impacts on H2AX phosphorylation and cell survival. They also suggest that gamma-H2AX may serve as a biomarker in patients treated with Et743 and that molecular profiling of tumors for TCR, MRN, ATM, and DNA-PK might be useful to anticipate tumor response to Et743 treatment.
Project description:Hereditary defects in the transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER) pathway of damaged DNA cause severe neurodegenerative disease Cockayne syndrome (CS), however the origin and chemical nature of the underlying DNA damage had remained unknown. To find out, to which degree the structural properties of DNA lesions determine the extent of transcription arrest in human CS cells, we performed quantitative host cell reactivation analyses of expression vectors containing various synthetic adducts. We found that a single 3-(deoxyguanosin-N2-yl)-2-acetylaminofluorene adduct (dG(N2)-AAF) constitutes an unsurmountable obstacle to transcription in both CS-A and CS-B cells and is removed exclusively by the CSA- and CSB-dependent pathway. In contrast, contribution of the CS proteins to the removal of two other transcription-blocking DNA lesions - N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-acetylaminofluorene (dG(C8)-AAF) and cyclobutane thymine-thymine (TT) dimer - is only minor (TT dimer) or none (dG(C8)-AAF). The unique properties of dG(N2)-AAF identify this adduct as a prototype for a new class of DNA lesions that escape the alternative global genome repair and could be critical for the CS pathogenesis.
Project description:Repair of UV damage from the transcribed strand (TS) of yeast genes is rapid due to the transcription coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER) pathway. TC-NER is triggered when RNA polymerase stalls at UV damage, such as a UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD). During transcription, the histone methyltransferase Set2 methylates histone H3K36, but it is not known if Set2 regulates TC-NER. Here, we report genome-wide repair maps of UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) in yeast cells lacking Set2.
Project description:We characterized the role of H3K36 methylation in regulating repair of UV damage from the transcribed strand (TS) of yeast genes by the transcription coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER) pathway. TC-NER is triggered when RNA polymerase stalls at UV damage, such as a UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD). During transcription, the histone methyltransferase Set2 methylates histone H3K36, but it is not known if H3K36 methylation regulates TC-NER. Here, we report genome-wide repair maps of UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) in yeast cells containing mutants in histone H3K36 (or set2).