The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe rad9 gene promotes cell survival through activation of cell cycle checkpoints induced by DNA damage. Mouse embryonic stem cells with a targeted deletion of Mrad9, the mouse ortholog of this gene, were created to evaluate its function in mammals. Mrad9؊/؊ cells demonstrated a marked increase in spontaneous chromosome aberrations and HPRT mutations, indicating a role in the maintenance of genomic integrity. These cells were also extremely sensitive to UV light, gamma rays, and hydroxyurea, and heterozygotes were somewhat sensitive to the last two agents relative to Mrad9 ؉/؉ controls. Mrad9 ؊/؊ cells could initiate but not maintain gamma-ray-induced G 2 delay and retained the ability to delay DNA synthesis rapidly after UV irradiation, suggesting that checkpoint abnormalities contribute little to the radiosensitivity observed. Ectopic expression of Mrad9 or human HRAD9 complemented Mrad9 ؊/؊ cell defects, indicating that the gene has radioresponse and genomic maintenance functions that are evolutionarily conserved. Mrad9 ؉/؊ mice were generated, but heterozygous intercrosses failed to yield Mrad9 ؊/؊ pups, since embryos died at midgestation. Furthermore, Mrad9 ؊/؊ mouse embryo fibroblasts were not viable. These investigations establish Mrad9 as a key mammalian genetic element of pathways that regulate the cellular response to DNA damage, maintenance of genomic integrity, and proper embryonic development.

The protein products of several rad checkpoint genes of Schizosaccharomyces pombe (rad1؉ , rad26 ؉ , and hus1 ؉ ) play crucial roles in sensing changes in DNA structure, and several function in the maintenance of telomeres. When the mammalian homologue of S. pombe Rad9 was inactivated, increases in chromosome end-to-end associations and frequency of telomere loss were observed. This telomere instability correlated with enhanced S-and G 2 -phase-specific cell killing, delayed kinetics of ␥-H2AX focus appearance and disappearance, and reduced chromosomal repair after ionizing radiation (IR) exposure, suggesting that Rad9 plays a role in cell cycle phase-specific DNA damage repair. Furthermore, mammalian Rad9 interacted with Rad51, and inactivation of mammalian Rad9 also resulted in decreased homologous recombinational (HR) repair, which occurs predominantly in the S and G 2 phases of the cell cycle. Together, these findings provide evidence of roles for mammalian Rad9 in telomere stability and HR repair as a mechanism for promoting cell survival after IR exposure.

Rad9, a key component of genotoxin-activated checkpoint signaling pathways, associates with Hus1 and Rad1 in a heterotrimeric complex (the 9-1-1 complex). Rad9 is inducibly and constitutively phosphorylated. However, the role of Rad9 phosphorylation is unknown. Here we identified nine phosphorylation sites, all of which lie in the carboxyl-terminal 119-amino acid Rad9 tail and examined the role of phosphorylation in genotoxin-triggered checkpoint activation. Rad9 mutants lacking a Ser-272 phosphorylation site, which is phosphorylated in response to genotoxins, had no effect on survival or checkpoint activation in Mrad9 ؊/؊ mouse ES cells treated with hydroxyurea (HU), ionizing radiation (IR), or ultraviolet radiation (UV). In contrast, additional Rad9 tail phosphorylation sites were essential for Chk1 activation following HU, IR, and UV treatment. Consistent with a role for Chk1 in S-phase arrest, HUand UV-induced S-phase arrest was abrogated in the Rad9 phosphorylation mutants. In contrast, however, Rad9 did not play a role in IR-induced S-phase arrest. Clonogenic assays revealed that cells expressing a Rad9 mutant lacking phosphorylation sites were as sensitive as Rad9؊/؊ cells to UV and HU. Although Rad9 contributed to survival of IR-treated cells, the identified phosphorylation sites only minimally contributed to survival following IR treatment. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the Rad9 phospho-tail is a key participant in the Chk1 activation pathway and point to additional roles for Rad9 in cellular responses to IR.

DNA damage induces apoptosis through a signalling pathway that can be suppressed by the BCL-2 protein, but the mechanism by which DNA damage does this is unknown. Here, using yeast two-hybrid and co-immunoprecipitation studies, we show that RAD9, a human protein involved in the control of a cell-cycle checkpoint, interacts with the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2-family proteins BCL-2 and BCL-x L, but not with the pro-apoptotic BAX and BAD. When overexpressed in mammalian cells, RAD9 induces apoptosis that can be blocked by BCL-2 or BCL-x L. Conversely, antisense RAD9 RNA suppresses cell death induced by methyl methanesulphonate. These findings indicate that RAD9 may have a new role in regulating apoptosis after DNA damage, in addition to its previously described checkpoint-control and other radioresistance-promoting functions.

Two signaling pathways are activated by antineoplastic therapies that damage DNA and stall replication. In one pathway, double-strand breaks activate ataxia-telangiectasia mutated kinase (ATM) and checkpoint kinase 2 (Chk2), two protein kinases that regulate apoptosis, cell-cycle arrest, and DNA repair. In the second pathway, other types of DNA lesions and replication stress activate the Rad9-Hus1-Rad1 complex and the protein kinases ataxia-telangiectasia mutated and Rad3-related kinase (ATR) and checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1), leading to changes that block cell-cycle progression, stabilize stalled replication forks, and influence DNA repair. Gemcitabine and cytarabine are two highly active chemotherapeutic agents that disrupt DNA replication. Here, we examine the roles these pathways play in tumor cell survival after treatment with these agents. Cells lacking Rad9, Chk1, or ATR were more sensitive to gemcitabine and cytarabine, consistent with the fact that these agents stall replication forks, and this sensitization was independent of p53 status. Interestingly, ATM depletion sensitized cells to gemcitabine and ionizing radiation but not cytarabine. Together, these results demonstrate that 1) gemcitabine triggers both checkpoint signaling pathways, 2) both pathways contribute to cell survival after gemcitabine-induced replication stress, and 3) although gemcitabine and cytarabine both stall replication forks, ATM plays differential roles in cell survival after treatment with these agents.Gemcitabine (2Ј,2Ј-difluoro 2Ј-deoxycytidine), a pyrimidine-based antimetabolite, is currently licensed for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Recent clinical studies have also demonstrated extensive activity of this agent against a variety of additional neoplasms, including carcinomas of the ovary, lung, and breast, acute leukemias, and refractory lymphomas (Carmichael, 1998;Nabhan et al., 2001). Because of its widespread use, there is considerable interest in understanding factors that affect sensitivity and resistance to this agent. Earlier studies demonstrated that gemcitabine is taken into cells on concentrative nucleoside transporter 1 and phosphorylated to gemcitabine 5Ј-monophosphate by deoxycytidine kinase (Plunkett et al., 1996). Subsequent addition of 5Ј-phosphates results in the formation of gemcitabine diphosphate and gemcitabine triphosphate, both of which contribute to the antiproliferative effects of gemcitabine (Plunkett et al., 1996). Gemcitabine diphosphate inhibits ribonucleotide reductase, thereby depleting deoxyribonucleotide levels. Gemcitabine triphosphate is a substrate for replicative DNA polymerases and causes chain termination one base pair beyond the site of incorporation.Because gemcitabine inhibits replication, this drug is predicted to activate the S-phase checkpoint, a series of reactions that inhibit DNA synthesis and enhance survival when cells experience replication stress. According to current understanding, the kinases ATR and Chk1 play critical roles in this checkpoint. When replicati...