Multiple enzymatic activities are required for transcriptional initiation. The enzyme DNA topoisomerase II associates with gene promoter regions and can generate breaks in double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). Therefore, it is of interest to know whether this enzyme is critical for regulated gene activation. We report that the signal-dependent activation of gene transcription by nuclear receptors and other classes of DNA binding transcription factors, including activating protein 1, requires DNA topoisomerase IIbeta-dependent, transient, site-specific dsDNA break formation. Subsequent to the break, poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase-1 enzymatic activity is induced, which is required for a nucleosome-specific histone H1-high-mobility group B exchange event and for local changes of chromatin architecture. Our data mechanistically link DNA topoisomerase IIbeta-dependent dsDNA breaks and the components of the DNA damage and repair machinery in regulated gene transcription.

Summary Chromosomal translocations are a hallmark of leukemia/lymphoma and also appear in solid tumors, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. By establishing a cellular model that mimics the relative frequency of authentic translocation events without proliferation selection, we report mechanisms of nuclear receptor-dependent tumor translocations. Intronic binding of liganded-AR first juxtaposes translocation loci by triggering intra- and interchromosomal interactions. AR then promotes site-specific DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) at translocation loci by recruiting two types of enzymatic machinery induced by genotoxic stress and liganded-AR, including Activation-Induced Cytidine Deaminase (AID) and the LINE-1 repeat-encoded ORF2 endonuclease. These enzymatic machineries synergistically generate site-selective DSBs at juxtaposed translocation loci that are ligated by Non-Homologous Ending Joining (NHEJ) pathway for specific translocations. Our data suggest that the confluence of two parallel pathways initiated by liganded-nuclear receptor and genotoxic stress underlie non-random tumor translocations, which may function in many types of tumors and pathological processes.