Essential role of Tip60-dependent recruitment of ribonucleotide reductase at DNA damage sites in DNA repair during G1 phase

102

155

Even small variations in dNTP concentrations decrease DNA replication fidelity, and this observation prompted us to analyze genomic cancer data for mutations in enzymes involved in dNTP metabolism. We found that sterile alpha motif and histidine-aspartate domain-containing protein 1 (SAMHD1), a deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate triphosphohydrolase that decreases dNTP pools, is frequently mutated in colon cancers, that these mutations negatively affect SAMHD1 activity, and that several SAMHD1 mutations are found in tumors with defective mismatch repair. We show that minor changes in dNTP pools in combination with inactivated mismatch repair dramatically increase mutation rates. Determination of dNTP pools in mouse embryos revealed that inactivation of one SAMHD1 allele is sufficient to elevate dNTP pools. These observations suggest that heterozygous cancer-associated SAMHD1 mutations increase mutation rates in cancer cells.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterozygous colon cancer-associated mutations of SAMHD1 have functional significance

Rentoft

Lindell

Tran

et al. 2016

102

155

“…One study indicates that dNTP pools in human cells are weakly elevated in response to DNA damage, and this elevation is only observed during the G1 phase of the cell cycle, when dNTP pools are very low (74). Another study indicates that RNR in human cells localizes to sites of DNA damage, where it might locally expand dNTP pools (75). Tumor cells appear to have elevated dNTP pools in comparison to normal human cells (reviewed in ref.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colon cancer-associated mutator DNA polymerase δ variant causes expansion of dNTP pools increasing its own infidelity

Mertz

Sharma²,

Chabes

et al. 2015

Defects in DNA polymerases δ (Polδ) and e (Pole) cause hereditary colorectal cancer and have been implicated in the etiology of some sporadic colorectal and endometrial tumors. We previously reported that the yeast pol3-R696W allele mimicking a human cancer-associated variant, POLD1-R689W, causes a catastrophic increase in spontaneous mutagenesis. Here, we describe the mechanism of this extraordinary mutator effect. We found that the mutation rate increased synergistically when the R696W mutation was combined with defects in Polδ proofreading or mismatch repair, indicating that pathways correcting DNA replication errors are not compromised in pol3-R696W mutants. DNA synthesis by purified Polδ-R696W was error-prone, but not to the extent that could account for the unprecedented mutator phenotype of pol3-R696W strains. In a search for cellular factors that augment the mutagenic potential of Polδ-R696W, we discovered that pol3-R696W causes S-phase checkpoint-dependent elevation of dNTP pools. Abrogating this elevation by strategic mutations in dNTP metabolism genes eliminated the mutator effect of pol3-R696W, whereas restoration of high intracellular dNTP levels restored the mutator phenotype. Further, the use of dNTP concentrations present in pol3-R696W cells for in vitro DNA synthesis greatly decreased the fidelity of Polδ-R696W and produced a mutation spectrum strikingly similar to the spectrum observed in vivo. The results support a model in which (i) faulty synthesis by Polδ-R696W leads to a checkpoint-dependent increase in dNTP levels and (ii) this increase mediates the hypermutator effect of Polδ-R696W by facilitating the extension of mismatched primer termini it creates and by promoting further errors that continue to fuel the mutagenic pathway.DNA polymerase δ | colon cancer | dNTP pools | mutagenesis | DNA replication fidelity W hen functioning properly, DNA replication is phenomenally accurate, making ∼10 −10 mutations per base pair during each replication cycle (1). In respect to human biology, it means that, on average, less than one mutation occurs each time the human genome is replicated. This amazing exactitude is contingent upon the serial action of DNA polymerase selectivity, exonucleolytic proofreading, and DNA mismatch repair (MMR). MMR defects increase spontaneous mutagenesis in numerous model systems (2) and give rise to cancer in mice (3). In humans, inherited mutations in MMR genes predispose to colorectal cancer (CRC) in Lynch syndrome (4, 5). Additionally, MMR genes are inactivated via hypermethylation in ∼15% of sporadic CRC, endometrial cancer (EC), and gastric cancer (6).Like defects in MMR, mutations that decrease the base selectivity or proofreading activity of replicative DNA polymerases elevate spontaneous mutagenesis in eukaryotic cells (7-14) and cancer incidence in mice (15)(16)(17)(18). Germline mutations affecting the exonuclease domains of DNA polymerases δ (Polδ) and e (Pole) cause hereditary CRC (19), and somatic changes in the exonuclease domain of Pole were found in sporad...

“…Activation of mammalian p53 by checkpoint signaling does induce the production of the RRM2 paralog, p53R2 (100, 101), but its role is limited to the maintenance of mtDNA and DNA repair in nondividing differentiated cells (102). Checkpoint signaling also leads to translocation of the RRM1/RRM2 complex into the nucleus and recruitment to the sites of DNA damage through an interaction with the histone acetylase, Tip60 (103), where it presumably increases the local concentration of dNTPs. In principle, it is possible that RNR is also recruited to replication forks slowed by mutator variants of Pol e. Such RNR localization could elevate dNTP pools just in the vicinity of the polymerase, thereby increasing mutagenesis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

dNTP pool levels modulate mutator phenotypes of error-prone DNA polymerase ε variants

Williams

Marjavaara

Knowels

et al. 2015

Mutator phenotypes create genetic diversity that fuels tumor evolution. DNA polymerase (Pol) e mediates leading strand DNA replication. Proofreading defects in this enzyme drive a number of human malignancies. Here, using budding yeast, we show that mutator variants of Pol e depend on damage uninducible (Dun)1, an S-phase checkpoint kinase that maintains dNTP levels during a normal cell cycle and up-regulates dNTP synthesis upon checkpoint activation. Deletion of DUN1 (dun1Δ) suppresses the mutator phenotype of pol2-4 (encoding Pol e proofreading deficiency) and is synthetically lethal with pol2-M644G (encoding altered Pol e base selectivity). Although pol2-4 cells cycle normally, pol2-M644G cells progress slowly through S-phase. The pol2-M644G cells tolerate deletions of mediator of the replication checkpoint (MRC) 1 (mrc1Δ) and radiation sensitive (Rad) 9 (rad9Δ), which encode mediators of checkpoint responses to replication stress and DNA damage, respectively. The pol2-M644G mutator phenotype is partially suppressed by mrc1Δ but not rad9Δ; neither deletion suppresses the pol2-4 mutator phenotype. Thus, checkpoint activation augments the Dun1 effect on replication fidelity but is not required for it. Deletions of genes encoding key Dun1 targets that negatively regulate dNTP synthesis, suppress the dun1Δ pol2-M644G synthetic lethality and restore the mutator phenotype of pol2-4 in dun1Δ cells. DUN1 pol2-M644G cells have constitutively high dNTP levels, consistent with checkpoint activation. In contrast, pol2-4 and POL2 cells have similar dNTP levels, which decline in the absence of Dun1 and rise in the absence of the negative regulators of dNTP synthesis. Thus, dNTP pool levels correlate with Pol e mutator severity, suggesting that treatments targeting dNTP pools could modulate mutator phenotypes for therapy.DNA replication and repair | polymerase fidelity | cancer | lethal mutagenesis