Repair of damaged DNA is essential for maintaining genome integrity and for preventing genome-instability-associated diseases, such as cancer. By combining proximity labeling with quantitative mass spectrometry, we generated high-resolution interaction neighborhood maps of the endogenously expressed DNA repair factors 53BP1, BRCA1, and MDC1. Our spatially resolved interaction maps reveal rich network intricacies, identify shared and bait-specific interaction modules, and implicate previously concealed regulators in this process. We identified a novel vertebrate-specific protein complex, shieldin, comprising REV7 plus three previously uncharacterized proteins, RINN1 (CTC-534A2.2), RINN2 (FAM35A), and RINN3 (C20ORF196). Recruitment of shieldin to DSBs, via the ATM-RNF8-RNF168-53BP1-RIF1 axis, promotes NHEJ-dependent repair of intrachromosomal breaks, immunoglobulin class-switch recombination (CSR), and fusion of unprotected telomeres. Shieldin functions as a downstream effector of 53BP1-RIF1 in restraining DNA end resection and in sensitizing BRCA1-deficient cells to PARP inhibitors. These findings have implications for understanding cancer-associated PARPi resistance and the evolution of antibody CSR in higher vertebrates.

Repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in mammals is coordinated by the ubiquitin-dependent accumulation of 53BP1 at DSB-flanking chromatin. Owing to its ability to limit DNA-end processing, 53BP1 is thought to promote nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) and to suppress homology-directed repair (HDR). Here, we show that silencing 53BP1 or exhausting its capacity to bind damaged chromatin changes limited DSB resection to hyper-resection and results in a switch from error-free gene conversion by RAD51 to mutagenic single-strand annealing by RAD52. Thus, rather than suppressing HDR, 53BP1 fosters its fidelity. These findings illuminate causes and consequences of synthetic viability acquired through 53BP1 silencing in cells lacking the BRCA1 tumor suppressor. We show that such cells survive DSB assaults at the cost of increasing reliance on RAD52-mediated HDR, which may fuel genome instability. However, our findings suggest that when challenged by DSBs, BRCA1- and 53BP1-deficient cells may become hypersensitive to, and be eliminated by, RAD52 inhibition.

DNA replication requires coordination between replication fork progression and deoxynucleotide triphosphate (dNTP)-generating metabolic pathways. We find that perturbation of ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) in humans elevates reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are detected by peroxiredoxin 2 (PRDX2). In the oligomeric state, PRDX2 forms a replisome-associated ROS sensor, which binds the fork accelerator TIMELESS when exposed to low levels of ROS. Elevated ROS levels generated by RNR attenuation disrupt oligomerized PRDX2 to smaller subunits, whose dissociation from chromatin enforces the displacement of TIMELESS from the replisome. This process instantly slows replication fork progression, which mitigates pathological consequences of replication stress. Thus, redox signaling couples fluctuations of dNTP biogenesis with replisome activity to reduce stress during genome duplication. We propose that cancer cells exploit this pathway to increase their adaptability to adverse metabolic conditions.