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ATR-Chk1 activation mitigates replication stress caused by mismatch repair-dependent processing of DNA damage.

ABSTRACT: The mismatch repair pathway (MMR) is essential for removing DNA polymerase errors, thereby maintaining genomic stability. Loss of MMR function increases mutation frequency and is associated with tumorigenesis. However, how MMR is executed at active DNA replication forks is unclear. This has important implications for understanding how MMR repairs O⁶-methylguanine/thymidine (^MeG/T) mismatches created upon exposure to DNA alkylating agents. If ^MeG/T lesion recognition by MMR initiates mismatch excision, the reinsertion of a mismatched thymidine during resynthesis could initiate futile repair cycles. One consequence of futile repair cycles might be a disruption of overall DNA replication in the affected cell. Herein, we show that in MMR-proficient HeLa cancer cells, treatment with a DNA alkylating agent slows S phase progression, yet cells still progress into the next cell cycle. In the first S phase following treatment, they activate ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR)-Checkpoint Kinase 1 (Chk1) signaling, which limits DNA damage, while inhibition of ATR kinase activity accelerates DNA damage accumulation and sensitivity to the DNA alkylating agent. We also observed that exposure of human embryonic stem cells to alkylation damage severely compromised DNA replication in a MMR-dependent manner. These cells fail to activate the ATR-Chk1 signaling axis, which may limit their ability to handle replication stress. Accordingly, they accumulate double-strand breaks and undergo immediate apoptosis. Our findings implicate the MMR-directed response to alkylation damage as a replication stress inducer, suggesting that repeated MMR processing of mismatches may occur that can disrupt S phase progression.

SUBMITTER: Gupta D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5816205 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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ATR-Chk1 activation mitigates replication stress caused by mismatch repair-dependent processing of DNA damage.

Gupta Dipika D Lin Bo B Cowan Ann A Heinen Christopher D CD

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20180129 7

The mismatch repair pathway (MMR) is essential for removing DNA polymerase errors, thereby maintaining genomic stability. Loss of MMR function increases mutation frequency and is associated with tumorigenesis. However, how MMR is executed at active DNA replication forks is unclear. This has important implications for understanding how MMR repairs O6-methylguanine/thymidine (MeG/T) mismatches created upon exposure to DNA alkylating agents. If MeG/T lesion r ...[more]

PMID: 29378956

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Project description:The related PIK-like kinases Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) and ATM- and Rad3-related (ATR) play major roles in the regulation of cellular responses to DNA damage or replication stress. The pro-apoptotic role of ATM and p53 in response to ionizing radiation (IR) has been widely investigated. Much less is known about the control of apoptosis following DNA replication stress. Recent work indicates that Chk1, the downstream phosphorylation target of ATR, protects cells from apoptosis induced by DNA replication inhibitors as well as IR. The aim of the work reported here was to determine the roles of ATM- and ATR-protein kinase cascades in the control of apoptosis following replication stress and the relationship between Chk1-suppressed apoptotic pathways responding to replication stress or IR. ATM and ATR/Chk1 signalling pathways were manipulated using siRNA-mediated depletions or specific inhibitors in two tumour cell lines or fibroblasts derived from patients with inherited mutations. We show that depletion of ATM or its downstream phosphorylation targets, NBS1 and BID, has relatively little effect on apoptosis induced by DNA replication inhibitors, while ATR or Chk1 depletion strongly enhances cell death induced by such agents in all cells tested. Furthermore, early events occurring after the disruption of DNA replication (accumulation of RPA foci and RPA34 hyperphosphorylation) in ATR- or Chk1-depleted cells committed to apoptosis are not detected in ATM-depleted cells. Unlike the Chk1-suppressed pathway responding to IR, the replication stress-triggered apoptotic pathway did not require ATM and is characterized by activation of caspase 3 in both p53-proficient and -deficient cells. Taken together, our results show that the ATR-Chk1 signalling pathway plays a major role in the regulation of death in response to DNA replication stress and that the Chk1-suppressed pathway protecting cells from replication stress is clearly distinguishable from that protecting cells from IR.

Dataset Information

ATR-Chk1 activation mitigates replication stress caused by mismatch repair-dependent processing of DNA damage.

Publications

ATR-Chk1 activation mitigates replication stress caused by mismatch repair-dependent processing of DNA damage.

Similar Datasets

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