Project description:<p>Many tumors maintain chromosome ends through a telomerase-independent, homologous recombination based mechanism called alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). While ALT occurs in only a subset of tumors, it is strongly associated with mutations in the genes encoding components of the histone H3.3 chaperone complex, ATRX and DAXX. To date the mechanistic role of ATRX and particularly DAXX mutations in potentiating ALT remains poorly understood. We identify an osteosarcoma cell line, G292, with a unique chromosomal translocation resulting in loss of DAXX function, while retaining functional ATRX. Using this distinctive resource, we demonstrate that introduction of wild type DAXX suppresses the ALT phenotype and restores localization of the ATRX/DAXX complex to PML bodies. This provides the first direct molecular evidence that ongoing DAXX deficiency is essential for maintenance of the ALT phenotype and highlights the potential for therapeutic targeting of this oncogenic pathway.</p>
Project description:DAXX and ATRX are tumor suppressor proteins that form a complex with histone H3.3 chaperone and are frequently mutated in cancers with the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT), such as pediatric glioblastoma. Rapid loss of function of either DAXX or ATRX are not by themselves sufficient to induce the ALT phenotype. However, cells lacking DAXX or ATRX can be readily selected for ALT-like features. Here, we show that a key feature of ALT selected DAXX and ATRX null glioblastoma cells is the attenuation of p53 function. RNA-seq analysis of DAXX or ATRX null U87 glioblastoma cells with ALT-like features revealed that p53 pathway is among perturbed. ALT-selected DAXX and ATRX-null cells had aberrant response to DNA damaging agent etoposide. Both DAXX and ATRX-null ALT cells showed a loss of p53 binding at a subset of response elements. Complementation of DAXX null cells with wt DAXX rescued p53 binding and transcription, while the tumor associated mutation L130R, that disrupts ATRX binding, was incapable of rescuing p53 chromatin binding. We show that histone H3.3 binding is reduced in DAXX-null cells especially at subtelomeric p53 binding sites and telomere repeats. These findings indicate that DAXX and ATRX function to enable p53 chromatin binding through modulation of histone H3.3 binding, especially at sub-telomeric sites.
Project description:DAXX and ATRX are tumor suppressor proteins that form a complex with histone H3.3 chaperone and are frequently mutated in cancers with the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT), such as pediatric glioblastoma. Rapid loss of function of either DAXX or ATRX are not by themselves sufficient to induce the ALT phenotype. However, cells lacking DAXX or ATRX can be readily selected for ALT-like features. Here, we show that a key feature of ALT selected DAXX and ATRX null glioblastoma cells is the attenuation of p53 function. RNA-seq analysis of DAXX or ATRX null U87 glioblastoma cells with ALT-like features revealed that p53 pathway is among perturbed. ALT-selected DAXX and ATRX-null cells had aberrant response to DNA damaging agent etoposide. Both DAXX and ATRX-null ALT cells showed a loss of p53 binding at a subset of response elements. Complementation of DAXX null cells with wt DAXX rescued p53 binding and transcription, while the tumor associated mutation L130R, that disrupts ATRX binding, was incapable of rescuing p53 chromatin binding. We show that histone H3.3 binding is reduced in DAXX-null cells especially at subtelomeric p53 binding sites and telomere repeats. These findings indicate that DAXX and ATRX function to enable p53 chromatin binding through modulation of histone H3.3 binding, especially at sub-telomeric sites.
Project description:DAXX and ATRX are tumor suppressor proteins that form a complex with histone H3.3 chaperone and are frequently mutated in cancers with the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT), such as pediatric glioblastoma. Rapid loss of function of either DAXX or ATRX are not by themselves sufficient to induce the ALT phenotype. However, cells lacking DAXX or ATRX can be readily selected for ALT-like features. Here, we show that a key feature of ALT selected DAXX and ATRX null glioblastoma cells is the attenuation of p53 function. RNA-seq analysis of DAXX or ATRX null U87 glioblastoma cells with ALT-like features revealed that p53 pathway is among perturbed. ALT-selected DAXX and ATRX-null cells had aberrant response to DNA damaging agent etoposide. Both DAXX and ATRX-null ALT cells showed a loss of p53 binding at a subset of response elements. Complementation of DAXX null cells with wt DAXX rescued p53 binding and transcription, while the tumor associated mutation L130R, that disrupts ATRX binding, was incapable of rescuing p53 chromatin binding. We show that histone H3.3 binding is reduced in DAXX-null cells especially at subtelomeric p53 binding sites and telomere repeats. These findings indicate that DAXX and ATRX function to enable p53 chromatin binding through modulation of histone H3.3 binding, especially at sub-telomeric sites.
Project description:Alterations to chromatin modifiers, such as the inactivating mutations in the ATRX-DAXX chromatin remodeling/histone H3.3 deposition complex, are implicated as drivers of the cancer-specific Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) pathway. Prior studies revealed that HIRA adapts to compensate for ATRX-DAXX loss to sustain ALT cancer cell survival. However, the specific mechanisms underlying HIRA’s ability to rescue telomeres from the consequences of ATRX-DAXX loss remain unclear. Here, using ATAC-seq and CUT&RUN, we demonstrate that HIRA-mediated deposition of new H3.3 is essential to maintain chromatin accessibility and to prevent the detrimental accumulation of nucleosome-free single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) at telomeres in ATRX-deficient ALT cancer cells. We provide evidence that the timely deposition of new H3.3 by HIRA and interacting partners UBN1 and UBN2 is crucial to prevent unwarranted TERRA R-loop formation and transcription-replication conflicts (TRCs) at telomeres. Furthermore, we determined that the delivery of H3.3 to telomeric chromatin by HIRA may link the phosphorylation of an H3.3-specific amino acid, serine 31, by Chk1 with mechanisms that promote productive ALT. Therefore, these studies identify a role for HIRA-mediated histone H3.3 deposition in TERRA R-loop homeostasis that we propose is essential for ensuring the survival of ALT cancer cells where the ATRX-DAXX complex is activated.
Project description:Alterations to chromatin modifiers, such as the inactivating mutations in the ATRX-DAXX chromatin remodeling/histone H3.3 deposition complex, are implicated as drivers of the cancer-specific Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) pathway. Prior studies revealed that HIRA adapts to compensate for ATRX-DAXX loss to sustain ALT cancer cell survival. However, the specific mechanisms underlying HIRA’s ability to rescue telomeres from the consequences of ATRX-DAXX loss remain unclear. Here, using ATAC-seq and CUT&RUN, we demonstrate that HIRA-mediated deposition of new H3.3 is essential to maintain chromatin accessibility and to prevent the detrimental accumulation of nucleosome-free single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) at telomeres in ATRX-deficient ALT cancer cells. We provide evidence that the timely deposition of new H3.3 by HIRA and interacting partners UBN1 and UBN2 is crucial to prevent unwarranted TERRA R-loop formation and transcription-replication conflicts (TRCs) at telomeres. Furthermore, we determined that the delivery of H3.3 to telomeric chromatin by HIRA may link the phosphorylation of an H3.3-specific amino acid, serine 31, by Chk1 with mechanisms that promote productive ALT. Therefore, these studies identify a role for HIRA-mediated histone H3.3 deposition in TERRA R-loop homeostasis that we propose is essential for ensuring the survival of ALT cancer cells where the ATRX-DAXX complex is activated.
Project description:The presence of ALT is strongly associated with recurrent cancer-specific somatic inactivating mutations in the ATRX-DAXX chromatin remodeling complex. Here, we generate an ALT-positive adenocarcinoma cell line following functional inactivation of ATRX and telomerase in a telomerase-positive carcinoma cell line.
Project description:Many tumors maintain chromosome-ends through a telomerase-independent, DNA-templated mechanism called alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). While ALT occurs in only a subset of tumors, it is strongly associated with mutations in the genes ATRX and DAXX, which encode components of an H3.3 histone chaperone complex. The role of ATRX and DAXX mutations in potentiating the mechanism of ALT remains incompletely understood. Here we characterize an osteosarcoma cell line, G292, with wild-type ATRX but a unique chromosome translocation resulting in loss of DAXX function. While ATRX and DAXX form a complex in G292, this complex fails to localize to nuclear PML bodies. We demonstrate that introduction of wild type DAXX suppresses the ALT phenotype and restores the localization of ATRX/DAXX to PML bodies. Using an inducible system, we show that ALT-associated PML bodies are disrupted rapidly following DAXX induction and that ALT is again restored following withdrawal of DAXX.
Project description:Our previous studies have implicated CHIP as a co-chaperone/ubiquitin ligase, whose activities yield protection against stress-induced apoptotic events. In this report, we demonstrate a stress-dependent interaction between CHIP (carboxyl terminus of Hsp70-interacting protein) and Daxx, death domain-associated protein. This interaction interferes with the stress-dependent association of HIPK2 with Daxx, blocking phosphorylation of serine 46 in p53 and inhibiting the p53-dependent apoptotic program. Microarray analysis confirmed suppression of the p53-dependent transcriptional portrait in CHIP (+/+) but not in CHIP (-/-) heat shocked MEFs. The interaction between CHIP and Daxx results in ubiquitination of Daxx which is then partitioned to an insoluble compartment of the cell. In vitro ubiquitination of Daxx by CHIP revealed that Ub chain formation utilizes non canonical lysine linkages associated with resistance to proteasomal degradation. CHIP's ubiquitination of Daxx utilizes lysines 630 and 631 and competes with the cell's sumoylation machinery at these residues. These studies implicate CHIP as a stress-dependent regulator of Daxx that counters Daxx's pro-apoptotic influence in the cell. By abrogating p53-dependent apoptotic pathways and by ubiquitination competitive with Daxx sumoylation, CHIP integrates the cell's proteotoxic stress response with cell cycle pathways that influence cell survival. Keywords: p53, apoptosis, cell stress, ubiquitination We utilized a âsample x referenceâ experimental design strategy in which RNA extracted from mouse embryonic fibroblasts was hybridized to the microarray slide in the presence of labeled Universal Mouse Reference RNA (UMRR, Stratagene, LaJolla, CA). A total of 24 RNA samples were used in this analysis. Briefly, five hundred nanograms of total RNA were used for gene expression profiling following reverse transcription and T-7 polymerase-mediated amplification/labeling with Cyanine-5 CTP. Labeled subject cRNA was co-hybridized to Agilent G4112F Whole Mouse Genome 4x44K oligonucleotide arrays with equimolar amounts of Cyanine-3 labeled UHRR. Slides were hybridized, washed, and scanned on an Axon 4000b microarray scanner. The data were processed using Feature Extaction software (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA).