BackgroundOct4 is a specific marker of embryonic stem cell (ESC) pluripotency. However, little is known regarding how Oct4 responds to DNA damage. Here, we investigated whether Oct4 recognizes damaged chromatin in mouse ESCs stably expressing GFP-Oct4. These experiments should contribute to the knowledge of how ESC genomic integrity is maintained, which is crucial for potential application of human ESCs in regenerative medicine.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe used time-lapse confocal microscopy, microirradiation by UV laser (355 nm), induction of DNA lesions by specific agents, and GFP technology to study the Oct4 response to DNA damage. We found that Oct4 accumulates in UV-damaged regions immediately after irradiation in an adenosine triphosphate-dependent manner. Intriguingly, this event was not accompanied by pronounced Nanog and c-MYC recruitment to the UV-damaged sites. The accumulation of Oct4 to UV-damaged chromatin occurred simultaneously with H3K9 deacetylation and H2AX phosphorylation (γH2AX). Moreover, we observed an ESC-specific nuclear distribution of γH2AX after interference to cellular processes, including histone acetylation, transcription, and cell metabolism. Inhibition of histone deacetylases mostly prevented pronounced Oct4 accumulation at UV-irradiated chromatin.Conclusions/SignificanceOur studies demonstrate pluripotency-specific events that accompany DNA damage responses. Here, we discuss how ESCs might respond to DNA damage caused by genotoxic injury that might lead to unwanted genomic instability.

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins, organized into Polycomb bodies, are important regulatory components of epigenetic processes involved in the heritable transcriptional repression of target genes. Here, we asked whether acetylation can influence the nuclear arrangement and function of the BMI1 protein, a core component of the Polycomb group complex, PRC1. We used time-lapse confocal microscopy, micro-irradiation by UV laser (355 nm) and GFP technology to study the dynamics and function of the BMI1 protein. We observed that BMI1 was recruited to UV-damaged chromatin simultaneously with decreased lysine acetylation, followed by the recruitment of heterochromatin protein HP1β to micro-irradiated regions. Pronounced recruitment of BMI1 was rapid, with half-time τ = 15 sec; thus, BMI1 is likely involved in the initiation step leading to the recognition of UV-damaged sites. Histone hyperacetylation, stimulated by HDAC inhibitor TSA, suppression of transcription by actinomycin D, and ATP-depletion prevented increased accumulation of BMI1 to γH2AX-positive irradiated chromatin. Moreover, BMI1 had slight ability to recognize spontaneously occurring DNA breaks caused by other pathophysiological processes. Taken together, our data indicate that the dynamics of recognition of UV-damaged chromatin, and the nuclear arrangement of BMI1 protein can be influenced by acetylation and occur as an early event prior to the recruitment of HPβ to UV-irradiated chromatin.

The DNA damage response is mediated by both DNA repair proteins and epigenetic markers. Here, we observe that N6-methyladenosine (m6A), a mark of the epitranscriptome, was common in RNAs accumulated at UV-damaged chromatin; however, inhibitors of RNA polymerases I and II did not affect the m6A RNA level at the irradiated genomic regions. After genome injury, m6A RNAs either diffused to the damaged chromatin or appeared at the lesions enzymatically. DNA damage did not change the levels of METTL3 and METTL14 methyltransferases. In a subset of irradiated cells, only the METTL16 enzyme, responsible for m6A in non-coding RNAs as well as for splicing regulation, was recruited to microirradiated sites. Importantly, the levels of the studied splicing factors were not changed by UVA light. Overall, if the appearance of m6A RNAs at DNA lesions is regulated enzymatically, this process must be mediated via the coregulatory function of METTL-like enzymes. This event is additionally accompanied by radiation-induced depletion of 2,2,7-methylguanosine (m3G/TMG) in RNA. Moreover, UV-irradiation also decreases the global cellular level of N1-methyladenosine (m1A) in RNAs. Based on these results, we prefer a model in which m6A RNAs rapidly respond to radiation-induced stress and diffuse to the damaged sites. The level of both (m1A) RNAs and m3G/TMG in RNAs is reduced as a consequence of DNA damage, recognized by the nucleotide excision repair mechanism.

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Methylation of histones H4 at lysine 20 position (H4K20me), which is functional in DNA repair, represents a binding site for the 53BP1 protein. Here, we show a radiation-induced increase in the level of H4K20me3 while the levels of H4K20me1 and H4K20me2 remained intact. H4K20me3 was significantly pronounced at DNA lesions in only the G1 phase of the cycle, while this histone mark was reduced in very late S and G2 phases when PCNA was recruited to locally micro-irradiated chromatin. H4K20me3 was diminished in locally irradiated Suv39h1/h2 double knockout (dn) fibroblasts, and the same phenomenon was observed for H3K9me3 and its binding partner, the HP1β protein. Immunoprecipitation showed the existence of an interaction between H3K9me3-53BP1 and H4K20me3-53BP1; however, HP1β did not interact with 53BP1. Together, H3K9me3 and H4K20me3 represent epigenetic markers that are important for the function of the 53BP1 protein in non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair. The very late S phase represents the cell cycle breakpoint when a DDR function of the H4K20me3-53BP1 complex is abrogated due to recruitment of the PCNA protein and other DNA repair factors of homologous recombination to DNA lesions.

Our conclusions highlight the significant role of the spatiotemporal dynamics of DNA repair-related proteins and their specific assembly/disassembly at DNA lesions, which can be cell type- and cell cycle dependent.

Although histone acetylation is one of the most widely studied epigenetic modifications, there is still a lack of information regarding how the acetylome is regulated during brain development and pathophysiological processes. We demonstrate that the embryonic brain (E15) is characterized by an increase in H3K9 acetylation as well as decreases in the levels of HDAC1 and HDAC3.Moreover, experimental induction of H3K9 hyperacetylation led to the overexpression of NCAM in the embryonic cortex and depletion of Sox2 in the subventricular ependyma, which mimicked the differentiation processes. Inducing differentiation in HDAC1-deficient mouse ESCs resulted in early H3K9 deacetylation, Sox2 downregulation, and enhanced astrogliogenesis, whereas neuro-differentiation was almost suppressed. Neuro-differentiation of (wt) ESCs was characterized by H3K9 hyperacetylation that was associated with HDAC1 and HDAC3 depletion. Conversely, the hippocampi of schizophrenia-like animals showed H3K9 deacetylation that was regulated by an increase in both HDAC1 and HDAC3. The hippocampi of schizophrenialike brains that were treated with the cannabinoid receptor-1 inverse antagonist AM251 expressed H3K9ac at the level observed in normal brains. Together, the results indicate that coregulation of H3K9ac by HDAC1 and HDAC3 is important to both embryonic brain development and neuro-differentiation as well as the pathophysiology of a schizophrenia-like phenotype. 530 |

BackgroundThe repair of spontaneous and induced DNA lesions is a multistep process. Depending on the type of injury, damaged DNA is recognized by many proteins specifically involved in distinct DNA repair pathways.ResultsWe analyzed the DNA-damage response after ultraviolet A (UVA) and γ irradiation of mouse embryonic fibroblasts and focused on upstream binding factor 1 (UBF1), a key protein in the regulation of ribosomal gene transcription. We found that UBF1, but not nucleolar proteins RPA194, TCOF, or fibrillarin, was recruited to UVA-irradiated chromatin concurrently with an increase in heterochromatin protein 1β (HP1β) level. Moreover, Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) confirmed interaction between UBF1 and HP1β that was dependent on a functional chromo shadow domain of HP1β. Thus, overexpression of HP1β with a deleted chromo shadow domain had a dominant-negative effect on UBF1 recruitment to UVA-damaged chromatin. Transcription factor UBF1 also interacted directly with DNA inside the nucleolus but no interaction of UBF1 and DNA was confirmed outside the nucleolus, where UBF1 recruitment to DNA lesions appeared simultaneously with cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers; this occurrence was cell-cycle-independent.ConclusionsWe propose that the simultaneous presence and interaction of UBF1 and HP1β at DNA lesions is activated by the presence of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and mediated by the chromo shadow domain of HP1β. This might have functional significance for nucleotide excision repair.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1756-8935-7-39) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.