Project description:Yeast Mrc1, ortholog of metazoan Claspin, is both a central component of normal DNA replication forks and a mediator of the S phase checkpoint. We report that Mrc1 interacts with Pol2, the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase ε, essential for leading strand DNA replication and for the checkpoint. In unperturbed cells, Mrc1 interacts independently with both the N-terminal and C-terminal halves of Pol2 (Pol2N and Pol2C). Strikingly, phosphorylation of Mrc1 during the S phase checkpoint abolishes Pol2N binding but not Pol2C interaction. Mrc1 is required to stabilize Pol2 at replication forks stalled in HU. The bimodal Mrc1/Pol2 interaction may identify a novel step in regulating the S phase checkpoint response to DNA damage on the leading strand. We propose that Mrc1, which also interacts with the MCMs, may modulate coupling of polymerization and unwinding at the replication fork.
Project description:Here we show that the asymmetric DNA synthesis is also observed in mec1-100 and mrc1-AQ cells defective in replication checkpoint, but surprisingly, not in mrc1∆ cells in which both DNA replication and checkpoint functions of Mrc1 are missing. Furthermore, depletion of Mrc1 or its partner in DNA replication, Tof1, suppresses the asymmetric DNA synthesis in rad53-1 mutant cells.
Project description:In budding yeast, DNA lesions and stalled replication forks are sensed by the apical checkpoint kinase Mec1/ATR, which leads to the downstream activation of the effector kinase Rad53/CHK1. This activation depends on Rad9 and Mrc1, two checkpoint mediators that integrate the nature of the challenge in different phases of the cell cycle. Rad9 mediates the activation of the DNA damage checkpoint throughout the cell cycle, while the function of Mrc1 is restricted to the S phase of the cell cycle, when it travels with the replication fork and activates the DNA replication checkpoint in response to a variety of replication impediments. In this scenario, the role of Rad9 in S phase has been largely disregarded since the discovery of Mrc1, because Rad9 is dispensable for the timely activation of Rad53 in response to the drug hydroxyurea, which halts forks, and is only recruited to those stalled forks when Mrc1 is absent. Thus, Rad9 is simply believed to act as a backup pathway for Mrc1 during replication. We have re-evaluated the role of Rad9 when DNA damage arises during replication and characterized its functional interplay with Mrc1. To this end, we have used genome-wide approaches, single-molecule analysis, pulsed-field and 2D gel electrophoresis, as well as a careful combination of different replication-challenging drugs. We have found that both Mrc1 and Rad9 play distinct but complementary functions in the replication stress response during S phase, for they coordinate the early and late functions of Rad53, respectively. While Mrc1 is responsible for the fast activation of Rad53 in response to fork-halting drugs in order to repress late origins, Rad9 maintains Rad53 in an active state during prolonged fork arrest and is necessary to sustain this response for long periods. Remarkably, we also have found that Rad9 possesses the unprecedented activity of slowing down replication fork progression in response to DNA damage. This work thus restores the legitimate role of Rad9 as a central actor in the maintenance of genome integrity during replication. This has important implications for our understanding of the management of the checkpoint during perturbed replication in human cells, for Rad9 has three orthologues, 53BP1, BRCA1 and MDC1, whose contribution to this aspect of genome integrity remains largely unexplored.
Project description:Cdc7/Hsk1 is a conserved kinase required for initiation of DNA replication that potentially regulates timing and locations of replication origin firing. Here, we show that viability of fission yeast hsk1∆ cells can be restored by loss of mrc1, which is required for maintenance of replication fork integrity, by cds1∆, or by a checkpoint-deficient mutant of mrc1. In these mutants, normally inactive origins are activated in the presence of HU and binding of Cdc45 to MCM is stimulated. mrc1∆ bypasses hsk1∆ more efficiently because of its checkpoint-independent inhibitory functions. Unexpectedly, hsk1∆ is viable at 37°C. More DNA is synthesized, and some dormant origins fire in the presence of HU at 37°C. On the other hand, hsk1∆ bypass strains grow poorly at 25°C compared to at higher temperatures. Our results show that Hsk1 functions for DNA replication can be bypassed by different genetic backgrounds as well as under varied physiological conditions, providing additional evidence for plasticity of the replication program in eukaryotes. BrdU incorporation profiles at early S-phase in mrc1∆, cds1∆ and hsk1-89 mutants.
Project description:DNA replication forks that are stalled by DNA damage activate an S phase checkpoint that prevents irreversible fork arrest and cell death. The increased cell death caused by DNA damage in budding yeast cells lacking the Rad53 checkpoint protein kinase is partially suppressed by deletion of the EXO1 gene. Here,we identified that loss of the histone deacetylase complex Rpd3L promotes survival of rad53∆ cells exposed to DNA damaging agents. From epistasis analysis, we show that this suppression operates in a separate pathway from the previously described suppression by deletion of EXO1.
Project description:A network governing DNA integrity was identified in yeast by a global genetic analysis of synthetic fitness or lethality defect (SFL) interactions. Within this network, multiple functional modules or mini-pathways were defined according to their common patterns of global SFL interactions and available protein-protein interaction information. Modules or genes involved in DNA replication, DNA replication checkpoint signaling, and oxidative stress response were identified as the major guardians against lethal spontaneous DNA damage, efficient repair of which requires the functions of the DNA damage checkpoint signaling and multiple DNA repair pathways. This genome-wide genetic interaction network also revealed potential roles of a number of genes and modules in mitotic DNA replication and maintenance of genomic stability. These include DIA2, NPT1, HST3, HST4, and the CSM1/LRS4 module (CSM1m). Likewise, the CTF18 module (CTF18m), previously implicated in sister chromatid cohesion, was found to participate in the DNA replication checkpoint. Keywords: dose response
Project description:Background: Chromatin remodeling complexes facilitate the access of enzymes that mediate transcription, replication or repair of DNA by modulating nucleosome position and/or composition. Ino80 is the DNA-dependent Snf2-like ATPase subunit of a complex whose nucleosome remodeling activity requires actin-related proteins, Arp4, Arp5 and Arp8, as well as two RuvB-like DNA helicase subunits. Budding yeast mutants deficient for Ino80 function are not only hypersensitive to reagents that induce DNA double strand breaks, but also to those that impair replication fork progression. Results: To understand why ino80 mutants are sensitive to agents that perturb DNA replication, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation to map the binding sites of the Ino80 chromatin remodeling complex on four budding yeast chromosomes. We found that Ino80 and Arp5 binding sites coincide with origins of DNA replication and tRNA genes. In addition, Ino80 was bound at 67% of the promoters of genes that are sensitive to ino80 mutation. When replication forks were arrested near origins in the presence of hydroxyurea (HU), the presence of the Ino80 complex at stalled forks and at unfired origins increased dramatically. Importantly, the resumption of DNA replication after release from a HU block was impaired in the absence of Ino80 activity. Mutant cells accumulated double-strand breaks as they attempted to restart replication. Consistently, ino80-deficient cells, although proficient for checkpoint activation, delay recovery from the checkpoint response. Conclusions: The Ino80 chromatin remodeling complex is enriched at stalled replication forks where it promotes the resumption of replication upon recovery from fork arrest. Keywords: ChIP-chip • The goal of the experiment Genome-wide localization of Ino80 on chromosome in Saccharomyces cerevisiae • Keywords DNA replication, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Genome tilling array (chromosome III, IV, V, VI) • Experimental factor Distribution of Ino80 in random culture Distribution of Ino80 in G1 phase Distribution of Ino80 in early S phase • Experimental design ChIP analyses: W303 background cells expressing Myc-tagged Ino80 were used for the ChIP using anti-Myc monoclonal antibody (9E11). ChIP-chip analyses: In all cases, hybridization data for ChIP fraction was compared with WCE (whole cell extract) fraction. Saccharomyces cerevisiae affymetrix genome tiling array (SC3456a520015F for chromosome III, IV, V, VI) was used. • Quality control steps taken Confirmation of several loci by quantitative real time PCR.