Defective control of mitotic and post-mitotic checkpoints in poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1(-/-) fibroblasts after mitotic spindle disruption

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP), a DNA damage-responsive nuclear enzyme present in higher eukaryotes, is well-known for its roles in protecting the genome after DNA damage. However, even without exogenous DNA damage, PARP may play a role in stabilizing the genome because cells or mice deficient in PARP exhibit various signs of genomic instability, such as tetraploidy, aneuploidy, chromosomal abnormalities and susceptibility to spontaneous carcinogenesis. Normally, cell cycle checkpoints ensure elimination of cells with genomic abnormalities. Therefore, we examined efficiency of mitotic and post-mitotic checkpoints in PARP-/- and PARP+/+ mouse embryonic fibroblasts treated with mitotic spindle disrupting agent colcemid. PARP+/+ cells, like most mammalian cells, eventually escaped from spindle disruption-induced mitotic checkpoint arrest by 60 h. In contrast, PARP-/- cells rapidly escaped from mitotic arrest within 24 h by downregulation of cyclin B1/CDK-1 kinase activity. After escaping from mitotic arrest; both the PARP genotypes arrive in G1 tetraploid state, where they face post-mitotic checkpoints which either induce apoptosis or prevent DNA endoreduplication. While all the G1 tetraploid PARP+/+ cells were eliminated by apoptosis, the majority of the G1 tetraploid PARP-/- cells became polyploid by resisting apoptosis and carrying out DNA endoreduplication. Introduction of PARP in PARP-/- fibroblasts partially increased the stringency of mitotic checkpoint arrest and fully restored susceptibility to G1 tetraploidy checkpoint-induced apoptosis; and thus prevented formation of polyploid cells. Our results suggest that PARP may serve as a guardian angel of the genome even without exogenous DNA damage through its role in mitotic and post-mitotic G1 tetraploidy checkpoints.