Project description:While DNA:RNA hybrids contribute to multiple genomic transactions, their unscheduled formation is a recognized source of DNA lesions. Here, through a suite of systematic screens, we rather observed that a wide range of yeast mutant situations primarily triggering DNA damage actually leads to hybrid accumulation. Focusing on Okazaki fragment processing, we established that genic hybrids can actually form as a consequence of replication-born discontinuities such as unprocessed flaps or unligated Okazaki fragments. Strikingly, such “post-lesion” DNA:RNA hybrids neither detectably contribute to genetic instability, nor disturb gene expression, as opposed to “pre-lesion” hybrids formed upon defective mRNA biogenesis, e.g., THO complex mutants. Post-lesion hybrids similarly arise in distinct genomic instability situations, triggered by pharmacological or genetic manipulation of DNA-dependent processes, both in yeast and human cells. Altogether, our data establish that the accumulation of transcription-born DNA:RNA hybrids can occur as a consequence of various types of natural or pathological DNA lesions, yet do not necessarily aggravate their genotoxicity.
Project description:While DNA:RNA hybrids contribute to multiple genomic transactions, their unscheduled formation is a recognized source of DNA lesions. Here, through a suite of systematic screens, we rather observed that a wide range of yeast mutant situations primarily triggering DNA damage actually leads to hybrid accumulation. Focusing on Okazaki fragment processing, we established that genic hybrids can actually form as a consequence of replication-born discontinuities such as unprocessed flaps or unligated Okazaki fragments. Strikingly, such “post-lesion” DNA:RNA hybrids neither detectably contribute to genetic instability, nor disturb gene expression, as opposed to “pre-lesion” hybrids formed upon defective mRNA biogenesis, e.g., THO complex mutants. Post-lesion hybrids similarly arise in distinct genomic instability situations, triggered by pharmacological or genetic manipulation of DNA-dependent processes, both in yeast and human cells. Altogether, our data establish that the accumulation of transcription-born DNA:RNA hybrids can occur as a consequence of various types of natural or pathological DNA lesions, yet do not necessarily aggravate their genotoxicity.
Project description:Experiment to obtain the genome-wide distribution of DNA:RNA hybrid prone loci in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by DNA:RNA immunoprecipitation and tiling microarray (DRIP-chip). Samples: wild type, Rnase H deletion mutant, hpr1 deletion mutant, sen1-1 temperature sensitive mutant.
Project description:Strand asymmetry in the distribution of guanines and cytosines, measured by GC skew, predisposes DNA sequences towards R-loop formation upon transcription. Previous work revealed that GC skew and R-loop formation associate with a core set of unmethylated CpG island (CGI) promoters in the human genome. Here, we show that GC skew can distinguish four classes of promoters, including three types of CGI promoters, each associated with unique epigenetic and gene ontology signatures. In particular, we identify a strong and a weak class of CGI promoters and show that these loci are enriched in distinct chromosomal territories reflecting the intrinsic strength of their protection against DNA methylation. Interestingly, we show that strong CGI promoters are depleted from the X chromosome while weak CGIs are enriched, a property consistent with the acquisition of DNA methylation during dosage compensation. Furthermore, we identify a third class of CGI promoters based on its unique GC skew profile and show that this gene set is enriched for Polycomb group targets. Lastly, we show that nearly 2,000 genes harbor GC skew at their 3’ ends and that these genes are preferentially located in gene-dense regions and tend to be closely arranged. Genomic profiling of R-loops accordingly showed that a large proportion of genes with terminal GC skew form R-loops at their 3’-ends, consistent with a role for these structures in permitting efficient transcription termination. Altogether, we show that GC skew and R-loop formation offer significant insights into the epigenetic regulation, genomic organization, and function of human genes. DRIP-seq was performed on genomic DNA extracted from human pluripotent Ntera2 cells. The DNA was either fragmented using HindIII, EcoRI, BsrGI, XbaI and SspI (DRIP-seq 1) or BamHI, NcoI, ApaLI, NheI and PvuII (DRIP-seq 2, two technical replicates). Input DNA was also fragmented with each restriction enzyme cocktail and sequenced alongside.
Project description:DNA topoisomerases assist DNA replication & transcription events by controlling supercoiling alterations. We investigated supercoil distribution across the yeast genome and compared with the accumulation of RNA pol2 and DNA topoisomerases particularly in S-phase. Our data indicate that Top2 along with Hmo1 maintain negative supercoil at gene boundaries by stabilizing alternative DNA structures. To understand how DNA superhelical tension accumulates across the genome we have adopted previously described method [Naughton C et al., 2013] to budding yeast where a biotin molecule was attached to TMP via a linker (bTMP). The Chip on chip analysis for proteins was carried out as described (Bermejo R et al., 2009). For RNA-DNA hybrids DRIP-chip is carried out as described previously (Chan YA et al., 2014). Supercoiled regions are then compared with RNA pol2 (RPB3-chip), DNA Topoisomerase (Top1-chip) & RNA-DNA hybrid (DRIP-chip).
Project description:This study profiles RNA:DNA hybrid formation in human and mouse cell lines. DRIPc-seq (strand-specific R-loop mapping) was performed on human NT2 cells and mouse 3T3 cells. DRIP-seq (R-loop mapping) was performed on human NT2 and K562 and mouse E14 and 3T3 cell lines. MethylC-seq and RNA-seq were performed on NT2.
Project description:Determining the role of DDX17 in the formation of DNA:RNA-hybrids around active DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) using DRIP-seq in the damaged induced via AsiSI (DIvA) cell system that induced DSBs at known genomic loci in response to hydroxytamoxifen (OHT) treatment via and AsiSI enzyme fused to an oestrogen receptor. Sequencing was done using either control or DDX17 siRNA, and mock or 4 hours 300nM OHT treatment. Paired-end 150 cycles was completed on an Illumina NextSeq 500 and library prep was completed using the NEB NEBNext Ultra II library prep kit.