Project description:Ultraviolet (UV) light induces the formation of bulky UV photoproducts in the genome that interfere with DNA replication and transcription. It is well-established how human cells repair UV light-induced DNA lesions, however the signaling pathways and mechanisms that regulate transcription after exposure to UV light are poorly understood. Here, we provide a systematic view on dynamic protein phosphorylation patterns induced by UV light and uncover the dependencies of phosphorylation events on canonical DNA damage kinases and the p38 MAP kinase pathway. Notably, we demonstrate that p38 and its downstream effector kinase MK2 are responsible for one quarter of protein phosphorylation induced by UV light. We identify RNA binding proteins as primary targets and 14-3-3 family proteins as direct readers of UV light-induced, p38-MK2-dependent phosphorylation. Importantly, we demonstrate that UV light triggers rapid and dynamic phosphorylation of the negative elongation factor (NELF) complex subunit NELFE on serine 115 that mediates its binding to 14-3-3. NELFE interaction with 14-3-3 stabilizes NELFE and RNA pol II interaction on the chromatin and inhibits transcriptional elongation, thereby promoting cell survival after UV light.
Project description:Ultraviolet (UV) light induces the formation of bulky UV photoproducts in the genome that interfere with DNA replication and transcription. It is well-established how human cells repair UV light-induced DNA lesions, however the signaling pathways and mechanisms that regulate transcription after exposure to UV light are poorly understood. Here, we provide a systematic view on dynamic protein phosphorylation patterns induced by UV light and uncover the dependencies of phosphorylation events on canonical DNA damage kinases and the p38 MAP kinase pathway. Notably, we demonstrate that p38 and its downstream effector kinase MK2 are responsible for one quarter of protein phosphorylation induced by UV light. We identify RNA binding proteins as primary targets and 14-3-3 family proteins as direct readers of UV light-induced, p38-MK2-dependent phosphorylation. Importantly, we demonstrate that UV light triggers rapid and dynamic phosphorylation of the negative elongation factor (NELF) complex subunit NELFE on serine 115 that mediates its binding to 14-3-3. NELFE interaction with 14-3-3 stabilizes NELFE and RNA pol II interaction on the chromatin and inhibits transcriptional elongation, thereby promoting cell survival after UV light.
Project description:Ultraviolet (UV) light radiation induces the formation of bulky photoproducts in the DNA that globally affect transcription and splicing. However, the signaling pathways and mechanisms that link UV-light-induced DNA damage to changes in RNA metabolism remain poorly understood. Here we employ quantitative phosphoproteomics and protein kinase inhibition to provide a systems view on protein phosphorylation patterns induced by UV light and uncover the dependencies of phosphorylation events on the canonical DNA damage signaling by ATM/ATR and the p38 MAP kinase pathway. We identify RNA-binding proteins as primary substrates and 14-3-3 as direct readers of p38-MK2-dependent phosphorylation induced by UV light. Mechanistically, we show that MK2 phosphorylates the RNA-binding subunit of the NELF complex NELFE on Serine 115. NELFE phosphorylation promotes the recruitment of 14-3-3 and rapid dissociation of the NELF complex from chromatin, which is accompanied by RNA polymerase II elongation.
Project description:Ultraviolet (UV) light radiation induces the formation of bulky photoproducts in the DNA that globally affect transcription and splicing. However, the signaling pathways and mechanisms that link UV light-induced DNA damage to changes in RNA metabolism remain poorly understood. Here, we employ quantitative phosphoproteomics and protein kinase inhibition to provide a systems view on protein phosphorylation patterns induced by UV light, and uncover the dependencies of phosphorylation events on the canonical DNA damage signaling by ATM/ATR and the p38 MAP kinase pathway. We identify RNA binding proteins as primary substrates and 14-3-3 as direct readers of p38-MK2-dependent phosphorylation induced by UV light. Mechanistically, we show that MK2 phosphorylates the RNA binding subunit of the NELF complex NELFE on Serine 115. NELFE phosphorylation promotes the recruitment of 14-3-3 and rapid dissociation of the NELF complex from chromatin, which is accompanied by RNA polymerase II elongation.
Project description:Ultraviolet (UV) light radiation induces the formation of bulky photoproducts in the DNA that interfere with replication and transcription. Recent studies showed that exposure of human cells to UV light globally affects transcription and alternative splicing, however, the signaling pathways and mechanisms that link UV light-induced DNA damage to RNA metabolism regulation remain poorly understood. Here, we provide a systems view on protein phosphorylation patterns induced by UV light, and uncover the dependencies of phosphorylation events on the canonical DNA damage signaling mediated by ATM/ATR or p38 MAP kinase pathway. We identify RNA binding proteins as primary targets and 14-3-3 family as direct readers of p38-MK2-dependent phosphorylation induced by UV light. Moreover, we show that MK2 phosphorylates the RNA binding subunit of the NELF complex NELFE on S115. NELFE phosphorylation promotes the recruitment of 14-3-3 and rapid dissociation of the NELF complex from chromatin that is accompanied with an increase in transcriptional elongation.
Project description:The DNA damage response activates several pathways that stall the cell cycle and allow DNA repair. These consist of the well-characterized ATR (Ataxia telangiectasia and Rad-3 related)/CHK1 and ATM (Ataxia telangiectasia mutated)/CHK2 pathways in addition to a newly identified ATM/ATR/p38MAPK/MK2 checkpoint. Crucial to maintaining the integrity of the genome is the S-phase checkpoint that functions to prevent DNA replication until damaged DNA is repaired. Inappropriate expression of the proto-oncogene c-Myc is known to cause DNA damage. One mechanism by which c-Myc induces DNA damage is through binding directly to components of the prereplicative complex thereby promoting DNA synthesis, resulting in replication-associated DNA damage and checkpoint activation due to inappropriate origin firing. Here we show that following etoposide-induced DNA damage translation of c-Myc is repressed by miR-34c via a highly conserved target-site within the 3(') UTR. While miR-34c is induced by p53 following DNA damage, we show that in cells lacking p53 this is achieved by an alternative pathway which involves p38 MAPK signalling to MK2. The data presented here suggest that a major physiological target of miR-34c is c-Myc. Inhibition of miR-34c activity prevents S-phase arrest in response to DNA damage leading to increased DNA synthesis, DNA damage, and checkpoint activation in addition to that induced by etoposide alone, which are all reversed by subsequent c-Myc depletion. These data demonstrate that miR-34c is a critical regulator of the c-Myc expression following DNA damage acting downstream of p38 MAPK/MK2 and suggest that miR-34c serves to remove c-Myc to prevent inappropriate replication which may otherwise lead to genomic instability.
Project description:SUMOylation is a posttranslational protein modification which is characterized by the covalent attachment of a small 11kDa protein, called Small Ubiquitin-like MOdifier (SUMO). SUMOylation plays a pivotal role in a multitude of cellular pathways including cellular responses upon DNA damage. Here, we identified multiple proteins which are SUMOylated in U2OS cells in response to ultraviolet light (UV) irradiation and ionizing radiation (IR). We show that the SUMOylation response upon UV irradiation was more pronounced compared to the response upon IR. The major SUMOylation target upon UV-irradiation was the transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER) protein, Cockayne Syndrome B (CSB). This protein plays an important role in the repair of UV-induced lesions in actively transcribed genes. In a second proteomic approach we identified SUMOylation-dependent and independent protein interactors of the N-terminus of CSB. Here, we uncovered that the affinity of multiple RNA polymerase-associated proteins towards CSB is influenced by SUMOylation. Finally, we set out to identify ubiquitination events upon UV-irradiation which are influenced by the CSA-ubiquitin ligase complex, which is also involved in TC-NER and is closely connected to CSB, because mutations in either CSA or CSB result in the same phenotype, Cockayne syndrome. We found that RPB1, the major subunit of RNA polymerase II, was ubiquitinated in a CSA-dependent manner upon UV which finally led to its degradation.
Project description:RNA polymerase I (Pol I) transcribes ribosomal DNA (rDNA) to produce the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) precursor, which accounts for up to 60% of the total transcriptional activity in growing cells. Pol I monitors rDNA integrity and influences cell survival, but little is known about how this enzyme processes UV-induced lesions. We report the electron cryomicroscopy structure of Pol I in an elongation complex containing a cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD) at a resolution of 3.6 Å. The structure shows that the lesion induces an early translocation intermediate exhibiting unique features. The bridge helix residue Arg1015 plays a major role in CPD-induced Pol I stalling, as confirmed by mutational analysis. These results, together with biochemical data presented here, reveal the molecular mechanism of Pol I stalling by CPD lesions, which is distinct from Pol II arrest by CPD lesions. Our findings open the avenue to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying cell endurance to lesions on rDNA.
Project description:In eukaryotic cells, DNA damage triggers activation of checkpoint signaling pathways that coordinate cell cycle arrest and repair of damaged DNA. These DNA damage responses serve to maintain genome stability and prevent accumulation of genetic mutations and development of cancer. The p38 MAPK was previously implicated in cellular responses to several types of DNA damage. However, the role of each of the four p38 isoforms and the mechanism for their involvement in DNA damage responses remained poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrate that p38γ, but not the other p38 isoforms, contributes to the survival of UV-treated cells. Deletion of p38γ sensitizes cells to UV exposure, accompanied by prolonged S phase cell cycle arrest and increased rate of apoptosis. Further investigation reveal that p38γ is essential for the optimal activation of the checkpoint signaling caused by UV, and for the efficient repair of UV-induced DNA damage. These findings have established a novel role of p38γ in UV-induced DNA damage responses, and suggested that p38γ contributes to the ability of cells to cope with UV exposure by regulating the checkpoint signaling pathways and the repair of damaged DNA.