BRCA1 promotes homologous recombination-mediated DNA repair (HRR). However, HRR must be tightly regulated to prevent illegitimate recombination. We previously found that BRCA1 HRR function is regulated by the RAP80 complex, but the mechanism was unclear. We have now observed that PARP1 interacts with and poly-ADP-ribosylates (aka. PARsylates) BRCA1. PARsylation is directed at the BRCA1 DNA binding domain and down-modulates its function. Moreover, RAP80 contains a poly-ADP-ribose (PAR) interacting domain that binds PARsylated BRCA1 and helps to maintain the stability of PARP1-BRCA1-RAP80 complexes. BRCA1 PARsylation is a key step in BRCA1 HRR control. When BRCA1 PARsylation is defective, it gives rise to excessive HRR and manifestations of genome instability. BRCA1 PARsylation and/or RAP80 expression is defective in a subset of sporadic breast cancer cell lines and patient-derived tumor xenograft (PDX) models. These observations are consistent with the possibility that such defects, when chronic, contribute to tumor development in BRCA1+/+ individuals.

Summary An abnormal differentiation state is common in BRCA1-deficient mammary epithelial cells, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. Here we report a convergence between DNA repair and normal, cultured human mammary epithelial (HME) cell differentiation. Surprisingly, depleting BRCA1 or FANCD2 (Fanconi Anemia [FA] proteins), or BRG1, a mSWI/SNF subunit, caused HME cells to undergo spontaneous epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and aberrant differentiation. This also occurred when WT HMEs were exposed to chemicals that generate interstrand DNA cross links (repaired by FA proteins) but not in response to double strand breaks. Suppressed expression of ΔNP63 also occurred in each of these settings, an effect that links DNA damage to the aberrant differentiation outcome. Taken together with somatic breast cancer genome data, these results point to a breakdown in a BRCA/FA--mSWI/SNF-ΔNP63- mediated DNA repair and differentiation maintenance process in mammary epithelial cells that may contribute to sporadic breast cancer development.

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