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Project description:Werner Syndrome (WS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by premature aging due to mutations of the WRN gene. A classical sign in WS patients is short stature, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here we report that WRN is indispensable for chondrogenesis, which is the engine driving the elongation of bones and determines height.
2022-07-28 | GSE206213 | GEO
Project description:Werner Syndrome (WS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by premature aging due to mutations of the WRN gene. A classical sign in WS patients is short stature, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here we report that WRN is indispensable for chondrogenesis, which is the engine driving the elongation of bones and determines height.
2022-07-28 | GSE206210 | GEO
Project description:Mutations in the chromosome 8p WRN gene cause Werner syndrome (WRN), a human autosomal recessive disease that mimics premature aging and is associated with genetic instability and an increased risk of cancer. All of the WRN mutations identified in WRN patients are predicted to truncate the WRN protein with loss of a C-terminal nuclear localization signal. However, many of these truncated proteins would retain WRN helicase and/or nuclease functional domains. We have used a combination of immune blot and immune precipitation assays to quantify WRN protein and its associated 3'-->5' helicase activity in genetically characterized WRN patient cell lines. None of the cell lines from patients harboring four different WRN mutations contained detectable WRN protein or immune-precipitable WRN helicase activity. Cell lines from WRN heterozygous individuals contained reduced amounts of both WRN protein and helicase activity. Quantitative immune blot analyses indicate that both lymphoblastoid cell lines and fibroblasts contain approximately 6 x 10(4)WRN molecules/cell. Our results indicate that most WRN mutations result in functionally equivalent null alleles, that WRN heterozygote effects may result from haploinsufficiency and that successful modeling of WRN pathogenesis in the mouse or in other model systems will require the use of WRN mutations that eliminate WRN protein expression.
| S-EPMC102521 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe Werner protein (WRNp), a member of the RecQ helicase family, is strongly associated with the nucleolus, as is nucleolin (NCL), an important nucleolar constituent protein. Both WRNp and NCL respond to the effects of DNA damaging agents. Therefore, we have investigated if these nuclear proteins interact and if this interaction has a possible functional significance in DNA damage repair.Methodology/principal findingsHere we report that WRNp interacts with the RNA-binding protein, NCL, based on immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescent co-localization in live and fixed cells, and direct binding of purified WRNp to nucleolin. We also map the binding region to the C-terminal domains of both proteins. Furthermore, treatment of U2OS cells with 15 µM of the Topoisomerase I inhibitor, camptothecin, causes the dissociation of the nucleolin-Werner complex in the nucleolus, followed by partial re-association in the nucleoplasm. Other DNA damaging agents, such as hydroxyurea, Mitomycin C, and aphidicolin do not have these effects. Nucleolin or its C-terminal fragment affected the helicase, but not the exonuclease activity of WRNp, by inhibiting WRN unwinding of G4 tetraplex DNA structures, as seen in activity assays and electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA).Conclusions/significanceThese data suggest that nucleolin may regulate G4 DNA unwinding by WRNp, possibly in response to certain DNA damaging agents. We postulate that the NCL-WRNp complex may contain an inactive form of WRNp, which is released from the nucleolus upon DNA damage. Then, when required, WRNp is released from inhibition and can participate in the DNA repair processes.
| S-EPMC3366963 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Modulation of DNA repair proteins by small molecules has attracted great interest. An in vitro helicase activity screen was used to identify molecules that modulate DNA unwinding by Werner syndrome helicase (WRN), mutated in the premature aging disorder Werner syndrome. A small molecule from the National Cancer Institute Diversity Set designated NSC 19630 [1-(propoxymethyl)-maleimide] was identified that inhibited WRN helicase activity but did not affect other DNA helicases [Bloom syndrome (BLM), Fanconi anemia group J (FANCJ), RECQ1, RecQ, UvrD, or DnaB). Exposure of human cells to NSC 19630 dramatically impaired growth and proliferation, induced apoptosis in a WRN-dependent manner, and resulted in elevated γ-H2AX and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) foci. NSC 19630 exposure led to delayed S-phase progression, consistent with the accumulation of stalled replication forks, and to DNA damage in a WRN-dependent manner. Exposure to NSC 19630 sensitized cancer cells to the G-quadruplex-binding compound telomestatin or a poly(ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor. Sublethal dosage of NSC 19630 and the chemotherapy drug topotecan acted synergistically to inhibit cell proliferation and induce DNA damage. The use of this WRN helicase inhibitor molecule may provide insight into the importance of WRN-mediated pathway(s) important for DNA repair and the replicational stress response.
| S-EPMC3029756 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Loss-of-function mutations in the WRN helicase gene cause Werner syndrome- a progeroid syndrome with an elevated risk of cancer and other age-associated diseases. Large numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms have been identified in WRN. We report here the organismal, cellular, and molecular phenotypes of variant rs3087425 (c. 2500C > T) that results in an arginine to cysteine substitution at residue 834 (R834C) and up to 90% reduction of WRN helicase activity. This variant is present at a high (5%) frequency in Mexico, where we identified 153 heterozygous and three homozygous individuals among 3,130 genotyped subjects. Family studies of probands identified ten additional TT homozygotes. Biochemical analysis of WRN protein purified from TT lymphoblast cell lines confirmed that the R834C substitution strongly and selectively reduces WRN helicase, but not exonuclease activity. Replication track analyses showed reduced replication fork progression in some homozygous cells following DNA replication stress. Among the thirteen TT homozygotes, we identified a previously unreported and statistically significant gender bias in favor of males (p = 0.0016), but none of the clinical findings associated with Werner syndrome. Our results indicate that WRN helicase activity alone is not rate-limiting for the development of clinical WS.
| S-EPMC5343477 | biostudies-literature
Project description:XPG is a structure-specific endonuclease required for nucleotide excision repair (NER). XPG incision defects result in the cancer-prone syndrome xeroderma pigmentosum, whereas truncating mutations of XPG cause the severe postnatal progeroid developmental disorder Cockayne syndrome. We show that XPG interacts directly with WRN protein, which is defective in the premature aging disorder Werner syndrome, and that the two proteins undergo similar subnuclear redistribution in S phase and colocalize in nuclear foci. The co-localization was observed in mid- to late S phase, when WRN moves from nucleoli to nuclear foci that have been shown to contain both protein markers of stalled replication forks and telomeric proteins. We mapped the interaction between XPG and WRN to the C-terminal domains of each, and show that interaction with the C-terminal domain of XPG strongly stimulates WRN helicase activity. WRN also possesses a competing DNA single-strand annealing activity that, combined with unwinding, has been shown to coordinate regression of model replication forks to form Holliday junction/chicken foot intermediate structures. We tested whether XPG stimulated WRN annealing activity, and found that XPG itself has intrinsic strand annealing activity that requires the unstructured R- and C-terminal domains but not the conserved catalytic core or endonuclease activity. Annealing by XPG is cooperative, rather than additive, with WRN annealing. Taken together, our results suggest a novel function for XPG in S phase that is, at least in part, performed coordinately with WRN, and which may contribute to the severity of the phenotypes that occur upon loss of XPG.
| S-EPMC3154418 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Werner syndrome (WS), an autosomal recessive genetic disorder, displays accelerated clinical symptoms of aging leading to a mean lifespan less than 50 years. The WS helicase-nuclease (WRN) is involved in many important pathways including DNA replication, recombination and repair. Replicating cells are dependent on helicase activity, leading to the pursuit of human helicases as potential therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. Small molecule inhibitors of DNA helicases can be used to induce synthetic lethality, which attempts to target helicase-dependent compensatory DNA repair pathways in tumor cells that are already genetically deficient in a specific pathway of DNA repair. Alternatively, helicase inhibitors may be useful as tools to study the specialized roles of helicases in replication and DNA repair. In this study, approximately 350,000 small molecules were screened based on their ability to inhibit duplex DNA unwinding by a catalytically active WRN helicase domain fragment in a high-throughput fluorometric assay to discover new non-covalent small molecule inhibitors of the WRN helicase. Select compounds were screened to exclude ones that inhibited DNA unwinding by other helicases in the screen, bound non-specifically to DNA, acted as irreversible inhibitors, or possessed unfavorable chemical properties. Several compounds were tested for their ability to impair proliferation of cultured tumor cells. We observed that two of the newly identified WRN helicase inhibitors inhibited proliferation of cancer cells in a lineage-dependent manner. These studies represent the first high-throughput screen for WRN helicase inhibitors and the results have implications for anti-cancer strategies targeting WRN in different cancer cells and genetic backgrounds.
| S-EPMC6326523 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Werner syndrome (WS) is a premature aging disorder caused by mutations in a RecQ-family DNA helicase, WRN. Mice lacking part of the helicase domain of the WRN orthologue exhibit many phenotypic features of WS, including metabolic abnormalities and a shorter mean life span. In contrast, mice lacking the entire Wrn protein (i.e. Wrn null mice) do not exhibit a premature aging phenotype. In this study, we used a targeted mass spectrometry-based metabolomic approach to identify serum metabolites that are differentially altered in young Wrn helicase mutant and Wrn null mice. An antibody-based quantification of 43 serum cytokines and markers of cardiovascular disease risk complemented this study. We found that Wrn helicase mutants exhibited elevated and decreased levels, respectively, of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 and the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-18. Wrn helicase mutants also exhibited an increase in serum hydroxyproline and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, markers of extracellular matrix remodeling of the vascular system and inflammation in aging. We also observed an abnormal increase in the ratio of very long chain to short chain lysophosphatidylcholines in the Wrn helicase mutants underlying a peroxisome perturbation in these mice. Remarkably, the Wrn mutant helicase protein was mislocalized to the endoplasmic reticulum and the peroxisomal fractions in liver tissues. Additional analyses with mouse embryonic fibroblasts indicated a severe defect of the autophagy flux in cells derived from Wrn helicase mutants compared to wild type and Wrn null animals. These results indicate that the deleterious effects of the helicase-deficient Wrn protein are mediated by the dysfunction of several cellular organelles.
| S-EPMC4598085 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The International Registry of Werner syndrome (www.wernersyndrome.org) has been providing molecular diagnosis of the Werner syndrome (WS) for the past decade. The present communication summarizes, from among 99 WS subjects, the spectrum of 50 distinct mutations discovered by our group and by others since the WRN gene (also called RECQL2 or REQ3) was first cloned in 1996; 25 of these have not previously been published. All WRN mutations reported thus far have resulted in the elimination of the nuclear localization signal at the C-terminus of the protein, precluding functional interactions in the nucleus; thus, all could be classified as null mutations. We now report two new mutations in the N-terminus that result in instability of the WRN protein. Clinical data confirm that the most penetrant phenotype is bilateral ocular cataracts. Other cardinal signs were seen in more than 95% of the cases. The median age of death, previously reported to be in the range of 46-48 years, is 54 years. Lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) have been cryopreserved from the majority of our index cases, including material from nuclear pedigrees. These, as well as inducible and complemented hTERT (catalytic subunit of human telomerase) immortalized skin fibroblast cell lines are available to qualified investigators.
| S-EPMC1868417 | biostudies-literature