Project description:The end replication problem refers to the incomplete replication of parental DNA at telomeres, a process whose molecular depiction is hampered by the complex nature of telomere ends. Here we recapitulate this process using a synthetic de novo telomere in yeast and delineate distinct molecular fates of telomere ends in vivo. We show that the lagging strand telomere carries a ~10 nt 3’ overhang, while the leading strand telomere has a Yku-protected blunt end, which is prevalent on native telomeres. Moreover, we find that RNase H2 is mainly responsible for the removal of the last RNA primer. In the absence of RNase H2 activity, RNA primer retention on the lagging strand telomere attenuates telomere erosion and delays senescence in telomerase-null cells. These findings highlight incongruent end structures on telomeres and clarify that the primary culprit behind end replication problem is the incompletely replicated lagging strand telomere.
Project description:Telomere end-protection by the shelterin complex prevents DNA damage signalling and promiscuous repair at chromosome ends. Evidence suggests that the 3’ single-stranded telomere end can assemble into a lasso-like t-loop configuration, which has been proposed to safeguard chromosome ends from being recognized as DNA double strand breaks. Mechanisms must also exist to transiently disassemble t-loops to allow faithful telomere replication and to permit telomerase access to the 3’-end to solve the end replication problem. However, the regulation and physiological importance of t-loops in end-protection remains uncertain. Here, we identify a CDK phosphorylation site in the shelterin subunit, TRF2 (Ser365), whose dephosphorylation in S-phase by the PP6C/R3 phosphatase provides a narrow window during which the helicase RTEL1 is able to transiently access and unwind t-loops to facilitate telomere replication. Re-phosphorylation of TRF2 on Ser365 outside of S-phase is required to release RTEL1 from telomeres, which not only protects t-loops from promiscuous unwinding and inappropriate ATM activation, but also counteracts replication conflicts at DNA secondary structures arising within telomeres and across the genome. Hence, a phospho-switch in TRF2 coordinates assembly and disassembly of t-loops during the cell cycle, which protects telomeres from replication stress and an unscheduled DNA damage response.
Project description:In response to DNA replication stress, DNA replication checkpoint is activated to maintain fork stability, a process critical for maintenance of genome stability. However, how DNA replication checkpoint regulates replication forks remain elusive. Here we show that Rad53, a highly conserved replication checkpoint kinase, functions to couple leading and lagging strand DNA synthesis. In wild type cells under HU induced replication stress, synthesis of lagging strand, which contains ssDNA gaps, is comparable to leading strand DNA. In contrast, synthesis of lagging strand is much more than leading strand, and consequently, leading template ssDNA coated with ssDNA binding protein RPA was detected in rad53-1 mutant cells, suggesting that synthesis of leading strand and lagging strand DNA is uncoupled. Mechanistically, we show that replicative helicase MCM and leading strand DNA polymerase Pole move beyond actual DNA synthesis and that an increase in dNTP pools largely suppresses the uncoupled leading and lagging strand DNA synthesis. Our studies reveal an unexpected mechanism whereby Rad53 regulates replication fork stability.
Project description:How parental histone H3-H4 tetramers, the primary carrier of epigenetic modifications, are transferred to leading and lagging strands of DNA replication forks following DNA replication is an important question that remains not well understood. Here we show that DNA polymerase clamp PCNA and its partner involved in lagging strand DNA synthesis, Pol d, regulate parental histone transfer to lagging strands. Mutations at PCNA as well as at subunits of Pol d that impair the PCNA-Pol d interaction affect parental histone transfer to lagging strands, and this defect unlikely arises from their impacts on DNA synthesis. Moreover, Pol d interacts with H3-H4 in vitro. We suggest that the PCNA-Pol d complex, best known for its role in lagging strand DNA synthesis and DNA repair, couples lagging strand DNA synthesis to the transfer of the parental histones H3-H4 for the inheritance of chromatin structures following DNA replication and possibly DNA repair.
Project description:Faithful duplication of DNA is essential for the maintenance of genomic stability in all organisms. DNA synthesis proceeds bi-directionally with continuous synthesis of leading strand DNA and discontinuous synthesis of lagging strand DNA. Herein, we describe a method of enriching and Sequencing of Protein-Associated Nascent strand DNA (eSPAN) to detect whether a protein binds the leading- and lagging-strands of DNA replication forks. We show that Pol-epsilon, PCNA, Cdc45, Mcm6 and Mcm10 preferentially associate with leading strands, whereas Pol-alpha, Pol32, Pol-delta, Rfa1 and Rfc1 associate with lagging strands of hydroxyurea (HU)-stalled replication forks. In contrast, PCNA is enriched at lagging strands of normal replication forks in wild type cells and HU-stalled forks in cells lacking Elg1. These studies demonstrate a strategy to reveal proteins at leading and lagging strands of DNA replication forks, and suggest that the unloading of PCNA from lagging strands of HU-stalled replication forks helps maintain genome integrity.
Project description:Faithful duplication of DNA is essential for the maintenance of genomic stability in all organisms. DNA synthesis proceeds bi-directionally with continuous synthesis of leading strand DNA and discontinuous synthesis of lagging strand DNA. Herein, we describe a method of enriching and Sequencing of Protein-Associated Nascent strand DNA (eSPAN) to detect whether a protein binds the leading- and lagging-strands of DNA replication forks. We show that Pol-epsilon, PCNA, Cdc45, Mcm6 and Mcm10 preferentially associate with leading strands, whereas Pol-alpha, Pol32, Pol-delta, Rfa1 and Rfc1 associate with lagging strands of hydroxyurea (HU)-stalled replication forks. In contrast, PCNA is enriched at lagging strands of normal replication forks in wild type cells and HU-stalled forks in cells lacking Elg1. These studies demonstrate a strategy to reveal proteins at leading and lagging strands of DNA replication forks, and suggest that the unloading of PCNA from lagging strands of HU-stalled replication forks helps maintain genome integrity. We synchronized yeast cells at G1 and released into early S phase in the presence of BrdU, a nucleotide analog that can be incorporated into newly synthesized DNA strand, and hydroxyurea (HU), a ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor. HU has no effect on initiation of DNA replication at early replication origins, but inhibit late replication firing. In addition, replication forks are stalled due to depletion of dNTPs. We then performed chromatin-immunoprecipitation of 12 proteins of interest following a standard procedure. Protein-bound DNAs were then reverse-crosslinked and double strand DNA was denatured. Nascent DNA was enriched by immunoprecipitation using anti-BrdU antibodies. The recovered ssDNA was first marked with ligation to one oligo at 3M-bM-^@M-^Y end before conversion to dsDNA for library preparation and sequencing. In this way, the directionality of ssDNA and therefore strand information of each sequenced DNA were known. The sequencing tag was mapped to both Watson (red) and Crick (blue) strands of the reference genome. In addition to ChIP-eSPAN, we also performed BrdU-IP and single strand DNA sequence (BrdU-ssSeq) and protein ChIP followed by single-strand DNA sequencing (ChIP-ssSeq) for each corresponding ChIP-eSPAN experiment. We also performed Mcm4 and Mcm6 ChIP-seq using cells synchronized at G1 phase of the cell cycle for identification of replication origins in comparison with published dataset. Some protein ChIP-ssSeq and ChIP-eSPAN experiments were repeated and the data fits well each other. Therefore, we did not repeat all protein ChIP-ssSeq and ChIP-eSPAN experiments.
Project description:Chromatin replication is intricately intertwined with DNA replication, and the recycling of parental histones is essential for epigenetic inheritance. The transfer of parental histones to both the DNA replication leading and lagging strands involves two distinct pathways: the leading strand utilizes DNA polymerase ε subunits Dpb3/Dpb4, while the lagging strand is facilitated by the MCM helicase subunit Mcm2. However, the process by which Mcm2, moving along the leading strand, facilitates the transfer of parental histones to the lagging strand remains unclear. Our study reveals that the deletion of Pol32, a non-essential subunit of major lagging-strand DNA polymerase δ, results in a predominant transfer of parental histone H3-H4 to the replication leading strand. Biochemical analyses further demonstrate that Pol32 can bind histone H3-H4 both in vivo and in vitro. The interaction of Pol32 with parental histone H3-H4 is disrupted by the mutation of Mcm2's histone H3-H4 binding domain. In conclusion, our findings identify the DNA polymerase delta subunit Pol32 as a novel key histone chaperone downstream of Mcm2, mediating the transfer of parental histones to the lagging strand during DNA replication.
Project description:Telomere shortening can cause detrimental diseases and contribute to aging. It occurs due to the end replication problem in cells lacking telomerase. In addition, recent evidence revealed that telomere shortening can be attributed to difficulties of the semi-conservative DNA replication machinery to replicate through the bulk of telomeric DNA repeats. To investigate telomere replication in a comprehensive manner, we developed QTIP-iPOND, which enables purification of the proteins that associate with telomeres during their replication. We identify in addition to the core replisome a large number of proteins that specifically associate with telomere replication forks and validate their importance.
Project description:Replication forks terminate at TERs and telomeres. Forks that converge or encounter transcription generate topological stress. Combining genetic, genomic and imaging approaches we found that Rrm3hPif1 and Sen1hSenataxin helicases assist termination at TERs, Sen1 at telomeres. rrm3 and sen1 are synthetic lethal, fail to terminate replication exhibiting lagging chromosomes and fragility at TERs and telomeres. sen1 rrm3 build up RNA-DNA hybrids at TERs, sen1 accumulates RNPII at TERs and telomeres. Double mutants exhibit X-shaped gapped or reversed converging forks. Rrm3 and Sen1 restrain Top1 and Top2 activities, preventing toxic accumulation of positive supercoil at TERs and telomeres. We suggest that Rrm3 and Sen1 coordinate the activities of fork-associated Top1 and Top2 with those of gene loop-associated Top1 and Top2 by preventing DNA and RNA polymerases slowing down when forks encounter transcription head-on or codirectionally, respectively. Hence Rrm3 and Sen1 are essential to generate permissive topological conditions for replication termination.