Failure to relax negative supercoiling of DNA is a primary cause of mitotic hyper-recombination in topoisomerase-deficient yeast cells

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, DNA topoisomerases I and II can functionally substitute for each other in removing positive and negative DNA supercoils. Yeast Delta top1 top2(ts) mutants grow slowly and present structural instability in the genome; over half of the rDNA repeats are excised in the form of extrachromosomal rings, and small circular minichromosomes strongly multimerize. Because these traits can be reverted by the extrachromosomal expression of either eukaryotic topoisomerase I or II, their origin is attributed to the persistence of unconstrained DNA supercoiling. Here, we examine whether the expression of the Escherichia coli topA gene, which encodes the bacterial topoisomerase I that removes only negative supercoils, compensates the phenotype of Delta top1 top2(ts) yeast cells. We found that Delta top1 top2(ts) mutants expressing E. coli topoisomerase I grow faster and do not manifest rDNA excision and minichromosome multimerization. Furthermore, the recombination frequency in repeated DNA sequences, which is increased by nearly two orders of magnitude in Delta top1 top2(ts) mutants relative to the parental TOP+ cells, is restored to normal levels when the bacterial topoisomerase is expressed. These results indicate that the suppression of mitotic hyper-recombination caused by eukaryotic topoisomerases I and II is effected mainly by the relaxation of negative rather than positive supercoils; they also highlight the potential of unconstrained negative supercoiling to promote homologous recombination.     

Mitotic recombination in the rDNA of S. cerevisiae is suppressed by the combined action of DNA topoisomerases I and II

We have found that mitotic recombination within the S. cerevisiae rDNA cluster (200 tandemly repeated 9.1 kb units) is strongly suppressed and that this suppression requires the combined action of DNA topoisomerases I and II. Strains with a null mutation in the TOP1 gene (encoding topoisomerase I) or a ts mutation in the TOP2 gene (encoding topoisomerase II) grown at a semipermissive temperature show 50- to 200-fold higher frequencies of mitotic recombination in rDNA relative to TOP+ controls. Suppression of recombination is specific to the rDNA because the recombination frequency at another tandem array, the CUP1 locus, at a simple HIS4 duplication, or among dispersed repeats (MAT and HML or HMR) is not elevated in top1 or top2 mutants. The high frequency of mitotic recombination within the rDNA cluster in topoisomerase mutants shows that both TOP1 and TOP2 are required for suppression of recombination in this region of the genome.     

Topoisomerase II plays an essential role as a swivelase in the late stage of SV40 chromosome replication in vitro.

The effects of topoisomerases I and II on the replication of SV40 DNA were examined using an in vitro replication system of purified proteins that constitutes the monopolymerase system. In the presence of the two topoisomerases, two distinct nascent DNAs were formed. One product arising from the replication of the leading template strand was approximately half the size of the template DNA, whereas the other product derived from the lagging template strand consisted of short DNAs. These products were synthesized from both SV40 naked DNA and SV40 chromosomes. For the replication of SV40 naked DNA, either topoisomerase I or II maintained replication fork movement and supported complete leading strand synthesis. When SV40 chromosomes were replicated with the same proteins, reactions containing only topoisomerase I produced shorter leading strands. However, mature size DNA products accumulated in reactions supplemented with topoisomerase II, as well as in reactions containing only topoisomerase II. In the presence of crude extracts of HeLa cells, VP-16, a specific inhibitor of topoisomerase II, blocked elongation of the nascent DNA during the replication of SV40 chromosomes. These results indicate that topoisomerase II plays a crucial role as a swivelase in the late stage of SV40 chromosome replication in vitro.     

Topoisomerase function during replication-independent chromatin assembly in yeast.

DNA topoisomerases I and II are the two major nuclear enzymes capable of relieving torsional strain in DNA. Of these enzymes, topoisomerase I plays the dominant role in relieving torsional strain during chromatin assembly in cell extracts from oocytes, eggs, and early embryos. We tested if the topoisomerases are used differentially during chromatin assembly in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by a combined biochemical and pharmacological approach. As measured by plasmid supercoiling, nucleosome deposition is severely impaired in assembly extracts from a yeast mutant with no topoisomerase I and a temperature-sensitive form of topoisomerase II (strain top1-top2). Expression of wild-type topoisomerase II in strain top1-top2 fully restored assembly-driven supercoiling, and assembly was equally efficient in extracts from strains expressing either topoisomerase I or II alone. Supercoiling in top1-top2 extract was rescued by adding back either purified topoisomerase I or II. Using the topoisomerase II poison VP-16, we show that topoisomerase II activity during chromatin assembly is the same in the presence and absence of topoisomerase I. We conclude that both topoisomerases I and II can provide the DNA relaxation activity required for efficient chromatin assembly in mitotically cycling yeast cells.     

Overexpression of type I topoisomerases sensitizes yeast cells to DNA damage

DNA topoisomerases play essential roles in many DNA metabolic processes. It has been suggested that topoisomerases play an essential role in DNA repair. Topoisomerases can introduce DNA damage upon exposure to drugs that stabilize the covalent protein-DNA intermediate of the topoisomerase reaction. Lesions in DNA are also able to trap topoisomerase-DNA intermediates, suggesting that topoisomerases have the potential to either assist in DNA repair by locating sites of damage or exacerbating DNA damage by generation of additional damage at the site of a lesion. We have shown that overexpression of yeast topoisomerase I (TOP1) conferred hypersensitivity to methyl methanesulfonate and other DNA-damaging agents, whereas expression of a catalytically inactive enzyme did not. Overexpression of topoisomerase II did not change the sensitivity of cells to these DNA-damaging agents. Yeast cells lacking TOP1 were not more resistant to DNA damage than cells expressing wild type levels of the enzyme. Yeast topoisomerase I covalent complexes can be trapped efficiently on UV-damaged DNA. We suggest that TOP1 does not participate in the repair of DNA damage in yeast cells. However, the enzyme has the potential of exacerbating DNA damage by forming covalent DNA-protein complexes at sites of DNA damage.     

Werner's syndrome cell lines are hypersensitive to camptothecin-induced chromosomal damage

Werner's syndrome (WS) is a recessive human genetic disorder associated with an elevated incidence of many types of cancer. The WS gene product, WRNp, belongs to the RecQ family of DNA helicases and is required for the maintenance of genomic stability in human cells. A possible interaction between helicases and topoisomerases that could co-operate in many aspects of DNA metabolism such as progression of the replication forks, recombination and repair has been recently suggested. In addition, sgs1 gene product in yeast, homologous to WS gene, has been shown to physically interact with topoisomerase types I and II. Earlier data from our laboratory suggested that WRN helicase might play a role in a G2 recombinational pathway of double strand breaks (DSBs) repair, co-operating with topoisomerase II. In this work, the effect of the topoisomerase I inhibitor camptothecin in WS cells has been investigated at the chromosomal level.The data from the present work suggest that the inhibition of topoisomerase I activity by camptothecin results in a higher induction of chromosomal damage in WS cell lines in the G2-phase and in the S-phase of the cell cycle compared to normal cells, perhaps associated with the defects in DNA replication synthesis.     

The structure of the transition state of the heterodimeric topoisomerase I of Leishmania donovani as a vanadate complex with nicked DNA

Type IB topoisomerases are essential enzymes that are responsible for relaxing superhelical tension in DNA by forming a transient covalent nick in one strand of the DNA duplex. Topoisomerase I is a target for anti-cancer drugs such as camptothecin, and these drugs also target the topoisomerases I in pathogenic trypanosomes including Leishmania species and Trypanosoma brucei. Most eukaryotic enzymes, including human topoisomerase I, are monomeric. However, for Leishmania donovani, the DNA-binding activity and the majority of residues involved in catalysis are located in a large subunit, designated TOP1L, whereas the catalytic tyrosine residue responsible for covalent attachment to DNA is located in a smaller subunit, called TOP1S. Here, we present the 2.27A crystal structure of an active truncated L.donovani TOP1L/TOP1S heterodimer bound to nicked double-stranded DNA captured as a vanadate complex. The vanadate forms covalent linkages between the catalytic tyrosine residue of the small subunit and the nicked ends of the scissile DNA strand, mimicking the previously unseen transition state of the topoisomerase I catalytic cycle. This structure fills a critical gap in the existing ensemble of topoisomerase I structures and provides crucial insights into the catalytic mechanism.     

Identification of the yeast TOP3 gene product as a single strand-specific DNA topoisomerase.

The TOP3 gene of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was postulated to encode a DNA topoisomerase, based on its sequence homology to Escherichia coli DNA topoisomerase I and the suppression of the poor growth phenotype of top3 mutants by the expression of the E. coli enzyme (Wallis, J.W., Chrebet, G., Brodsky, G., Golfe, M., and Rothstein, R. (1989) Cell 58, 409-419). We have purified the yeast TOP3 gene product to near homogeneity as a 74-kDA protein from yeast cells lacking DNA topoisomerase I and overexpressing a plasmid-borne TOP3 gene linked to a phosphate-regulated yeast PHO5 gene promoter. The purified protein possesses a distinct DNA topoisomerase activity: similar to E. coli DNA topoisomerases I and III, it partially relaxes negatively but not positively supercoiled DNA. Several experiments, including the use of a negatively supercoiled heteroduplex DNA containing a 29-nucleotide single-stranded loop, indicate that the activity has a strong preference for single-stranded DNA. A protein-DNA covalent complex in which the 74-kDa protein is linked to a 5' DNA phosphoryl group has been identified, and the nucleotide sequences of 30 sites of DNA-protein covalent complex formation have been determined. These sequences differ from those recognized by E. coli DNA topoisomerase I but resemble those recognized by E. coli DNA topoisomerase III. Based on these results, the yeast TOP3 gene product can formally be termed S. cerevisiae DNA topoisomerase III. Analysis of supercoiling of intracellular yeast plasmids in various DNA topoisomerase mutants indicates that yeast DNA topoisomerase III has at most a weak activity in relaxing negatively supercoiled double-stranded DNA in vivo, in accordance with the characteristics of the purified enzyme.     

Functional interactions of DNA topoisomerases with a human replication origin

The human DNA replication origin, located in the lamin B2 gene, interacts with the DNA topoisomerases I and II in a cell cycle-modulated manner. The topoisomerases interact in vivo and in vitro with precise bonds ahead of the start sites of bidirectional replication, within the pre-replicative complex region; topoisomerase I is bound in M, early G1 and G1/S border and topoisomerase II in M and the middle of G1. The Orc2 protein competes for the same sites of the origin bound by either topoisomerase in different moments of the cell cycle; furthermore, it interacts on the DNA with topoisomerase II during the assembly of the pre-replicative complex and with DNA-bound topoisomerase I at the G1/S border. Inhibition of topoisomerase I activity abolishes origin firing. Thus, the two topoisomerases are closely associated with the replicative complexes, and DNA topology plays an essential functional role in origin activation.     

Genetic analyses of Schizosaccharomyces pombe dna2(+) reveal that dna2 plays an essential role in Okazaki fragment metabolism

In this report, we investigated the phenotypes caused by temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant alleles of dna2(+) of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a homologue of DNA2 of budding yeast, in an attempt to further define its function in vivo with respect to lagging-strand synthesis during the S-phase of the cell cycle. At the restrictive temperature, dna2 (ts) cells arrested at late S-phase but were unaffected in bulk DNA synthesis. Moreover, they exhibited aberrant mitosis when combined with checkpoint mutations, in keeping with a role for Dna2 in Okazaki fragment maturation. Similarly, spores in which dna2(+) was disrupted duplicated their DNA content during germination and also arrested at late S-phase. Inactivation of dna2(+) led to chromosome fragmentation strikingly similar to that seen when cdc17(+), the DNA ligase I gene, is inactivated. The temperature-dependent lethality of dna2 (ts) mutants was suppressed by overexpression of genes encoding subunits of polymerase delta (cdc1(+) and cdc27(+)), DNA ligase I (cdc17(+)), and Fen-1 (rad2(+)). Each of these gene products plays a role in the elongation or maturation of Okazaki fragments. Moreover, they all interacted with S. pombe Dna2 in a yeast two-hybrid assay, albeit to different extents. On the basis of these results, we conclude that dna2(+) plays a direct role in the Okazaki fragment elongation and maturation. We propose that dna2(+) acts as a central protein to form a complex with other proteins required to coordinate the multienzyme process for Okazaki fragment elongation and maturation.     

Topoisomerase III acts upstream of Rad53p in the S-phase DNA damage checkpoint

Deletion of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae TOP3 gene, encoding Top3p, leads to a slow-growth phenotype characterized by an accumulation of cells with a late S/G2 content of DNA (S. Gangloff, J. P. McDonald, C. Bendixen, L. Arthur, and R. Rothstein, Mol. Cell. Biol. 14:8391-8398, 1994). We have investigated the function of TOP3 during cell cycle progression and the molecular basis for the cell cycle delay seen in top3Delta strains. We show that top3Delta mutants exhibit a RAD24-dependent delay in the G2 phase, suggesting a possible role for Top3p in the resolution of abnormal DNA structures or DNA damage arising during S phase. Consistent with this notion, top3Delta strains are sensitive to killing by a variety of DNA-damaging agents, including UV light and the alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate, and are partially defective in the intra-S-phase checkpoint that slows the rate of S-phase progression following exposure to DNA-damaging agents. This S-phase checkpoint defect is associated with a defect in phosphorylation of Rad53p, indicating that, in the absence of Top3p, the efficiency of sensing the existence of DNA damage or signaling to the Rad53 kinase is impaired. Consistent with a role for Top3p specifically during S phase, top3Delta mutants are sensitive to the replication inhibitor hydroxyurea, expression of the TOP3 mRNA is activated in late G1 phase, and DNA damage checkpoints operating outside of S phase are unaffected by deletion of TOP3. All of these phenotypic consequences of loss of Top3p function are at least partially suppressed by deletion of SGS1, the yeast homologue of the human Bloom's and Werner's syndrome genes. These data implicate Top3p and, by inference, Sgs1p in an S-phase-specific role in the cellular response to DNA damage. A model proposing a role for these proteins in S phase is presented.     

Genome rearrangement in top3 mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires a functional RAD1 excision repair gene.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells that are mutated at TOP3, a gene that encodes a protein homologous to bacterial type I topoisomerases, have a variety of defects, including reduced growth rate, altered gene expression, blocked sporulation, and elevated rates of mitotic recombination at several loci. The rate of ectopic recombination between two unlinked, homologous loci, SAM1 and SAM2, is sixfold higher in cells containing a top3 null mutation than in wild-type cells. Mutations in either of the two other known topoisomerase genes in S. cerevisiae, TOP1 and TOP2, do not affect the rate of recombination between the SAM genes. The top3 mutation also changes the distribution of recombination events between the SAM genes, leading to the appearance of novel deletion-insertion events in which conversion tracts extend beyond the coding sequence, replacing the DNA flanking the 3' end of one SAM gene with nonhomologous DNA flanking the 3' end of the other. The effects of the top3 null mutation on recombination are dependent on the presence of an intact RAD1 excision repair gene, because both the rate of SAM ectopic gene conversion and the conversion tract length were reduced in rad1 top3 mutant cells compared with top3 mutants. These results suggest that a RAD1-dependent function is involved in the processing of damaged DNA that results from the loss of Top3 activity, targeting such DNA for repair by recombination.