Edited by Varda RotterKeywords: cH2AX CHK2 DNA-PKcs DNA damage Mitosis a b s t r a c t Phosphorylated H2AX is considered to be a biomarker for DNA double-strand breaks (DSB), but recent evidence suggests that cH2AX does not always indicate the presence of DSB. Here we demonstrate the bimodal dynamic of H2AX phosphorylation induced by ionizing radiation, with the second peak appearing when G2/M arrest is induced. An increased level of cH2AX occurred in mitotic cells, and this increase was attenuated by DNA-PKcs inactivation or Chk2 depletion, but not by ATM inhibition. The phosphorylation-mimic CHK2-T68D abrogated the attenuation of mitotic cH2AX induced by DNA-PKcs inactivation. Thus, the DNA-PKcs/CHK2 pathway mediates the mitotic phosphorylation of H2AX in the absence of DNA damage.

Radiation-induced bystander effect (RIBE) describes a set of biological effects in non-targeted cells that receive bystander signals from the irradiated cells. RIBE brings potential hazards to adjacent normal tissues in radiotherapy, and imparts a higher risk than previously thought. Excessive release of some substances from irradiated cells into extracellular microenvironment has a deleterious effect. For example, cytokines and reactive oxygen species have been confirmed to be involved in RIBE process via extracellular medium or gap junctions. However, RIBE-mediating signals and intercellular communication pathways are incompletely characterized. Here, we first identified a set of differentially expressed miRNAs in the exosomes collected from 2 Gy irradiated human bronchial epithelial BEP2D cells, from which miR-7-5p was found to induce autophagy in recipient cells. This exosome-mediated autophagy was significantly attenuated by miR-7-5p inhibitor. Moreover, our data demonstrated that autophagy induced by exosomal miR-7-5p was associated with EGFR/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Together, our results support the involvement of secretive exosomes in propagation of RIBE signals to bystander cells. The exosomes-containing miR-7-5p is a crucial mediator of bystander autophagy.

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Background An increasing number of studies have recently reported that microRNAs packaged in exosomes contribute to multiple biological processes such as cancer progression; however, little is known about their role in the development of radiation-induced bystander effects. Methods The exosomes were isolated from the culture medium of BEP2D cells with or without γ-ray irradiation by ultracentrifugation. To monitor DNA damage and repair efficiency, the DNA double-strand break biomarker 53BP1 foci, comet, micronuclei, expression of DNA repair genes and NHEJ repair activity were detected. The miR-1246 targeting sequence of the DNA ligase 4 ( LIG4 ) mRNA 3′UTR was assessed by luciferase reporter vectors. Results miR-1246 was increased in exosomes secreted from 2 Gy-irradiated BEP2D cells and inhibited the proliferation of nonirradiated cells. The miR-1246 mimic, exosomes from irradiated cells, and radiation-conditioned cell culture medium increased the yields of 53BP1 foci, comet tail and micronuclei in nonirradiated cells, and decreased NHEJ efficiency. miR-1246 downregulated LIG4 expression by directly targeting its 3′UTR. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that miR-1246 packaged in exosomes could act as a transfer messenger and contribute to DNA damage by directly repressing the LIG4 gene. Exosomal miR-1246 may be a critical predictor of and player in radiation-induced bystander DNA damage.

The essential function of eIF4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) in translation initiation has been well established; however, the role of 4E-BP1 in normal cell cycle progression is coming to attention. Here, we revealed the role of 4E-BP1 on mitotic regulation and chromosomal DNA dynamics during mitosis. First, we have observed the co-localization of the phosphorylated 4E-BP1 at T37/46 with Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) at the centrosomes during. Depression of 4E-BP1 by small interfering RNA in HepG2 or HeLa cells resulted in an increased outcome of polyploidy and aberrant mitosis, including chromosomal DNA misaligned and multi-polar spindles or multiple centrosomes. We observed that 4E-BP1 interacted with PLK1 directly in vitro and in vivo in mitotic cells, and the C-terminal aa 77-118 of 4E-BP1 mediates its interaction with PLK1. PLK1 can phosphorylate 4E-BP1 in vitro. Furthermore, the depletion of 4E-BP1 sensitized HepG2 and HeLa cells to the microtubule disruption agent paclitaxel. These results demonstrate that 4E-BP1, beyond its role in translation regulation, can function as a regulator of mitosis via interacting with PLK1, and possibly plays a role in genomic stability maintaining.

TNKS1BP1 was originally identified as an interaction protein of tankyrase 1, which belongs to the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) superfamily. PARP members play important roles for example in DNA repair, telomere stability and mitosis regulation. Although the TNKS1BP1 protein was considered to be a poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation acceptor of tankyrase 1, its function is still unknown. Here we firstly identified that TNKS1BP1 was up-regulated by ionizing radiation (IR) and the depletion of TNKS1BP1 significantly sensitized cancer cells to IR. Neutral comet assay, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and γH2AX foci analysis indicated that TNKS1BP1 is required for the efficient repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB). The TNKS1BP1 protein was demonstrated to interact with DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1), by co-immunoprecipitation analysis. Moreover, TNKS1BP1 was shown to promote the association of PARP-1 and DNA-PKcs. Overexpression of TNKS1BP1 induced the autophosphorylation of DNA-PKcs/Ser2056 in a PARP-1 dependent manner, which contributed to an increased capability of DNA DSB repair. Inhibition of PARP-1 blocked the TNKS1BP1-mediated DNA-PKcs autophosphorylation and attenuated the PARylation of DNA-PKcs. TNKS1BP1 is a newly described component of the DNA DSB repair machinery, which provides much more mechanistic evidence for the rationale of developing effective anticancer measures by targeting PARP-1 and DNA-PKcs.

Accurate mitotic regulation is as important as intrinsic DNA repair for maintaining genomic stability. It is believed that these two cellular mechanisms are interconnected with DNA damage. DNA-PKcs is a critical component of the non-homologous end-joining pathway of DNA double-stranded break repair, and it was recently discovered to be involved in mitotic processing. However, the underlying mechanism of DNA-PKcs action in mitotic control is unknown. Here, we demonstrated that depletion of DNA-PKcs led to the dysregulation of mitotic progression in response to DNA damage, which eventually resulted in multiple failures, including failure to segregate sister chromatids and failure to complete cytokinesis, with daughter cells becoming fused again. The depletion of DNA-PKcs resulted in a notable failure of cytokinesis, with a high incidence of multinucleated cells. There were also cytoplasmic bridges containing DNA that continuously connected the daughter cells after DNA damage was induced. Phosphorylated DNA-PKcs (T2609) colocalizes with PLK1 throughout mitosis, including at the centrosomes from prophase to anaphase and at the kinetochores from prometaphase to metaphase, with accumulation at the midbody during cytokinesis. Importantly, DNA-PKcs was found to associate with PLK1 in the mitotic phase, and the depletion of DNA-PKcs resulted in the overexpression of PLK1 due to increased protein stability. However, deficiency in DNA-PKcs attenuated the recruitment of phosphorylated PLK1 to the midbody but not to the kinetochores and centrosomes. Our results demonstrate the functional association of DNA-PKcs with PLK1, especially in chromosomal segregation and cytokinesis control.

Deregulation of c-Myc often occurs in various human cancers, which not only contributes to the genesis and progression of cancers but also affects the outcomes of cancer radio- or chemotherapy. In this study, we have investigated the function of c-Myc in the repair of DNA double-strand break (DSB) induced by γ-ray irradiation. A c-Myc-silenced Hela-630 cell line was generated from HeLa cells using RNA interference technology. The DNA DSBs were detected by γ-H2AX foci, neutral comet assay and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. We found that the capability of DNA DSB repair in Hela-630 cells was significantly reduced, and the repair kinetics of DSB was delayed as compared to the control Hela-NC cells. Silence of c-myc sensitized the cellular sensitivity to ionizing radiation. The phosphorylated c-Myc (Thr58/pSer62) formed the consistent co-localisation foci with γ-H2AX as well as the phosphorylated DNA-PKcs/S2056 in the irradiated cells. Moreover, depression of c-Myc largely attenuated the ionizing radiation-induced phosphorylation of the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and decreased the in vitro kinase activity of DNA-PKcs. Taken together, our results demonstrated that c-Myc protein functions in the process of DNA double-strand break repair, at least partially, through affecting the ATM phosphorylation and DNA-PKcs kinase activity. The overexpression of c-Myc in tumours can account for the radioresistance of some tumour cell types.