Transcription-coupled DNA repair in yeast transcription factor IIE (TFIIE) mutants

Transcription coupled repair at the interface between transcription elongation and mRNP biogenesis

During transcription, the nascent pre-mRNA associates with mRNA-binding proteins and undergoes a series of processing steps, resulting in export competent mRNA ribonucleoprotein complexes (mRNPs) that are transported into the cytoplasm. Throughout transcription elongation, RNA polymerases frequently deal with a number of obstacles that need to be removed for transcription resumption. One important type of hindrance consists of helix-distorting DNA lesions. Transcription-coupled repair (TC-NER), a specific sub-pathway of nucleotide excision repair, ensures a fast repair of such transcription-blocking lesions. While the nucleotide excision repair reaction is fairly well understood, its regulation and the way it deals with DNA transcription remains largely unknown. In this review, we update our current understanding of the factors involved in TC-NER and discuss their functional interplay with the processes of transcription elongation and mRNP biogenesis. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: RNA polymerase II Transcript Elongation.

Rapamycin inhibits yeast nucleotide excision repair independently of tor kinases

The yeast target of rapamycin (Tor) kinases, Tor1 and Tor2, belong to the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-related family of proteins, which are involved in the cellular response to DNA damage and changes in nutrient conditions. In contrast to yeast, many eukaryotes possess a single Tor kinase. Regardless of the number of Tor kinases in an organism, two distinct complexes involving Tor proteins exist in eukaryotes, TORC1 and TORC2. The yeast TORC1, containing Tor1 or Tor2, is sensitive to the antibiotic rapamycin. The yeast TORC2 is insensitive to rapamycin. We examined the influence of rapamycin treatment upon yeast transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair in a gene transcribed by RNA polymerase II. We also examined tor mutants for their ability to perform transcription-coupled repair in the absence or presence of rapamycin. Ostensibly lacking TORC1 and TORC2 function, a tor1tor2(ts) mutant grown at the nonpermissive temperature exhibited similar rates of repair as the wild-type strain. However, repair of both strands in genes decreases in the wild-type strain and the tor1tor2(ts) mutant exposed to rapamycin. Rapamycin may be inhibiting DNA repair independently of the Tor kinases. In yeast, FPR1 encodes the rapamycin-binding protein Fpr1 that inhibits the TORC1 kinase in the presence of rapamycin. Fap1 competes with rapamycin for Fpr1 binding. Deletion of the FPR1 or FAP1 gene abolishes the inhibitory effect of rapamycin on repair. Thus, the decreased repair observed following rapamycin treatment is independent of TORC1/2 function and likely due to a function of Fap1. We suggest that Fap1 and peptidyl-prolyl isomerases, particularly Fpr1, function in the cellular response to genotoxic stress. Our findings have clinical implications for genetic toxicities associated with genotoxic agents when coadministered with rapamycin.

Genome-wide analysis of factors affecting transcription elongation and DNA repair: a new role for PAF and Ccr4-not in transcription-coupled repair

RNA polymerases frequently deal with a number of obstacles during transcription elongation that need to be removed for transcription resumption. One important type of hindrance consists of DNA lesions, which are removed by transcription-coupled repair (TC-NER), a specific sub-pathway of nucleotide excision repair. To improve our knowledge of transcription elongation and its coupling to TC-NER, we used the yeast library of non-essential knock-out mutations to screen for genes conferring resistance to the transcription-elongation inhibitor mycophenolic acid and the DNA-damaging agent 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide. Our data provide evidence that subunits of the SAGA and Ccr4-Not complexes, Mediator, Bre1, Bur2, and Fun12 affect transcription elongation to different extents. Given the dependency of TC-NER on RNA Polymerase II transcription and the fact that the few proteins known to be involved in TC-NER are related to transcription, we performed an in-depth TC-NER analysis of a selection of mutants. We found that mutants of the PAF and Ccr4-Not complexes are impaired in TC-NER. This study provides evidence that PAF and Ccr4-Not are required for efficient TC-NER in yeast, unraveling a novel function for these transcription complexes and opening new perspectives for the understanding of TC-NER and its functional interconnection with transcription elongation.

Dealing with DNA lesions is one of the most important tasks of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. This is particularly relevant for damage occurring inside genes, in the DNA strands that are actively transcribed, because transcription cannot proceed through a damaged site and the persisting lesion can cause either genome instability or cell death. Cells have evolved specific mechanisms to repair these DNA lesions, the malfunction of which leads to severe genetic syndromes in humans. Despite many years of intensive research, the mechanisms underlying transcription-coupled repair is still poorly understood. To gain insight into this phenomenon, we undertook a genome-wide screening in the model eukaryotic organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae for genes that affect this type of repair that is coupled to transcription. Our study has permitted us to identify and demonstrate new roles in DNA repair for factors with a previously known function in transcription, opening new perspectives for the understanding of DNA repair and its functional interconnection with transcription.

BRCA1/BARD1 inhibition of mRNA 3' processing involves targeted degradation of RNA polymerase II

Mammalian cells exhibit a complex response to DNA damage. The tumor suppressor BRCA1 and associated protein BARD1 are thought to play an important role in this response, and our previous work demonstrated that this includes transient inhibition of the pre-mRNA 3' processing machinery. Here we provide evidence that this inhibition involves proteasomal degradation of a component necessary for processing, RNA polymerase II (RNAP II). We further show that RNAP IIO, the elongating form of the enzyme, is a specific in vitro target of the BRCA1/BARD1 ubiquitin ligase activity. Significantly, siRNA-mediated knockdown of BRCA1 and BARD1 resulted in stabilization of RNAP II after DNA damage. In addition, inhibition of 3' cleavage induced by DNA damage was reverted in extracts of BRCA1-, BARD1-, or BRCA1/BARD1-depleted cells. We also describe corresponding changes in the nuclear localization and/or accumulation of these factors following DNA damage. Our results support a model in which a BRCA1/BARD1-containing complex functions to initiate degradation of stalled RNAP IIO, inhibiting the coupled transcription-RNA processing machinery and facilitating repair.

In UV-irradiated Saccharomyces cerevisiae, overexpression of Swi2/Snf2 family member Rad26 increases transcription-coupled repair and repair of the non-transcribed strand

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) in eukaryotes is a pathway conserved from yeast to humans that removes many bulky chemical adducts and UV-induced photoproducts from DNA in a relatively error-free manner. In addition to the recognition and excision of DNA damage throughout the genome (GGR), there exists a mechanism, transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TCR), for recognizing some types of DNA damage in the transcribed strand of genes in Escherichia coli, yeast and mammalian cells. An obstacle in the repair of the transcribed strand of active genes is the RNA polymerase complex stalled at sites of DNA damage. The stalled RNA polymerase complex may then mediate recruitment of repair proteins to damage in the transcribed strand. Proteins enabling TCR are the Cockayne syndrome B (CSB) protein in humans and its yeast homologue Rad26. Both CSB and Rad26 belong to the Swi2/Snf2 family of DNA-dependent ATPases, which change DNA accessibility to proteins by altering chromatin structure. To address how Rad26 functions in yeast repair, we used the genetic approach of overexpressing Rad26 and examined phenotypic changes, i.e. changes in NER. We found that repair of both the transcribed and the non-transcribed strands is increased. In addition, overexpression of Rad26 partially bypasses the requirement for Rad7 in GGR, specifically in the repair of non-transcribed sequences. As TCR takes place in very localized regions of DNA (i.e. within genes) in wild-type cells, we propose that overexpression of recombinant Rad26 increases accessibility of the damaged DNA in chromatin for interaction with repair proteins.

The defect in transcription-coupled repair displayed by a Saccharomyces cerevisiae rad26 mutant is dependent on carbon source and is not associated with a lack of transcription

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that removes DNA damage induced by ultraviolet irradiation and various chemical agents that cause bulky adducts. Two subpathways within NER remove damage from the genome overall or the transcribed strands of transcribing genes (TCR). TCR is a faster repair process than overall genomic repair and has been thought to require the RAD26 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Rad26 is a member of the SWI/SNF family of proteins that either disrupt chromatin or facilitate interactions between the RNA Pol II and transcription activators. SWI/SNF proteins are required for the expression or repression of a diverse set of genes, many of which are differentially transcribed in response to particular carbon sources. The remodeling of chromatin by Rad26 could affect transcription and/or TCR following formation of DNA damage and other stress-inducing conditions. We speculate that another factor(s) can substitute for Rad26 under particular growth conditions. We therefore measured the level of repair and transcription in two different carbon sources and found that the defect in the rad26 mutant for TCR was dependent on the type of carbon source. Furthermore, TCR did not correlate with transcription rate, suggesting that disruption of RAD26 leads to a specific defect in DNA repair and not transcription.