ATR and H2AX Cooperate in Maintaining Genome Stability under Replication
Stress |
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Authors: | Rebecca A Chanoux Bu Yin Karen A Urtishak Amma Asare Craig H Bassing and Eric J Brown |
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Institution: | ‡Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute and §Department of Cancer Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the ¶Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children''s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 |
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Abstract: | Chromosomal abnormalities are frequently caused by problems encountered
during DNA replication. Although the ATR-Chk1 pathway has previously been
implicated in preventing the collapse of stalled replication forks into
double-strand breaks (DSB), the importance of the response to fork collapse in
ATR-deficient cells has not been well characterized. Herein, we demonstrate
that, upon stalled replication, ATR deficiency leads to the phosphorylation of
H2AX by ATM and DNA-PKcs and to the focal accumulation of Rad51, a marker of
homologous recombination and fork restart. Because H2AX has been shown to play
a facilitative role in homologous recombination, we hypothesized that H2AX
participates in Rad51-mediated suppression of DSBs generated in the absence of
ATR. Consistent with this model, increased Rad51 focal accumulation in
ATR-deficient cells is largely dependent on H2AX, and dual deficiencies in ATR
and H2AX lead to synergistic increases in chromatid breaks and translocations.
Importantly, the ATM and DNA-PK phosphorylation site on H2AX
(Ser139) is required for genome stabilization in the absence of
ATR; therefore, phosphorylation of H2AX by ATM and DNA-PKcs plays a pivotal
role in suppressing DSBs during DNA synthesis in instances of ATR pathway
failure. These results imply that ATR-dependent fork stabilization and
H2AX/ATM/DNA-PKcs-dependent restart pathways cooperatively suppress
double-strand breaks as a layered response network when replication
stalls.Genome maintenance prevents mutations that lead to cancer and age-related
diseases. A major challenge in preserving genome integrity occurs in the
simple act of DNA replication, in which failures at numerous levels can occur.
Besides the mis-incorporation of nucleotides, it is during this phase of the
cell cycle that the relatively stable double-stranded nature of DNA is
temporarily suspended at the replication fork, a structure that is susceptible
to collapse into
DSBs.2 Replication
fork stability is maintained by a variety of mechanisms, including activation
of the ATR-dependent checkpoint pathway.The ATR pathway is activated upon the generation and recognition of
extended stretches of single-stranded DNA at stalled replication forks
(1-4).
Genome maintenance functions for ATR and orthologs in yeast were first
indicated by increased chromatid breaks in ATR-/- cultured cells
(5) and by the
“cut” phenotype observed in Mec1 (Saccharomyces
cerevisiae) and Rad3 (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) mutants
(6-9).
Importantly, subsequent studies in S. cerevisiae demonstrated that
mutation of Mec1 or the downstream checkpoint kinase Rad53 led to increased
chromosome breaks at regions of the genome that are inherently difficult to
replicate (10), and a
decreased ability to reinitiate replication fork progression following DNA
damage or deoxyribonucleotide depletion
(11-14).In vertebrates, similar replication fork stabilizing functions have been
demonstrated for ATR and the downstream protein kinase Chk1
(15-20).
Several possible mechanisms have been put forward to explain how ATR-Chk1 and
orthologous pathways in yeast maintain replication fork stability, including
maintenance of replicative polymerases (α, δ, and ε) at forks
(17,
21), regulation of branch
migrating helicases, such as Blm
(22-25),
and regulation of homologous recombination, either positively or negatively
(26-29).Consistent with the role of the ATR-dependent checkpoint in replication
fork stability, common fragile sites, located in late-replicating regions of
the genome, are significantly more unstable (5-10-fold) in the absence of ATR
or Chk1 (19,
20). Because these sites are
favored regions of instability in oncogene-transformed cells and preneoplastic
lesions (30,
31), it is possible that the
increased tumor incidence observed in ATR haploinsufficient mice
(5,
32) may be related to subtle
increases in genomic instability. Together, these studies indicate that
maintenance of replication fork stability may contribute to tumor
suppression.It is important to note that prevention of fork collapse represents an
early response to problems occurring during DNA replication. In the event of
fork collapse into DSBs, homologous recombination (HR) has also been
demonstrated to play a key role in genome stability during S phase by
catalyzing recombination between sister chromatids as a means to re-establish
replication forks (33).
Importantly, a facilitator of homologous recombination, H2AX, has been shown
to be phosphorylated under conditions that cause replication fork collapse
(18,
34).Phosphorylation of H2AX occurs predominantly upon DSB formation
(34-38)
and has been reported to require ATM, DNA-PKcs, or ATR, depending on the
context
(37-42).
Although H2AX is not essential for HR, studies have demonstrated that H2AX
mutation leads to deficiencies in HR
(43,
44), and suppresses events
associated with homologous recombination, such as the focal accumulation of
Rad51, BRCA1, BRCA2, ubiquitinated-FANCD2, and Ubc13-mediated chromatin
ubiquitination (43,
45-51).
Therefore, through its contribution to HR, it is possible that H2AX plays an
important role in replication fork stability as part of a salvage pathway to
reinitiate replication following collapse.If ATR prevents the collapse of stalled replication forks into DSBs, and
H2AX facilitates HR-mediated restart, the combined deficiency in ATR and H2AX
would be expected to dramatically enhance the accumulation of DSBs upon
replication fork stalling. Herein, we utilize both partial and complete
elimination of ATR and H2AX to demonstrate that these genes work cooperatively
in non-redundant pathways to suppress DSBs during S phase. As discussed, these
studies imply that the various components of replication fork protection and
regeneration cooperate to maintain replication fork stability. Given the large
number of genes involved in each of these processes, it is possible that
combined deficiencies in these pathways may be relatively frequent in humans
and may synergistically influence the onset of age-related diseases and
cancer. |
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