Formaldehyde catabolism is essential in cells deficient for the Fanconi anemia DNA-repair pathway

Metabolism is predicted to generate formaldehyde, a toxic, simple, reactive aldehyde that can damage DNA. Here we report a synthetic lethal interaction in avian cells between ADH5, encoding the main formaldehyde-detoxifying enzyme, and the Fanconi anemia (FA) DNA-repair pathway. These results define a fundamental role for the combined action of formaldehyde catabolism and DNA cross-link repair in vertebrate cell survival.

Sex reversal in zebrafish fancl mutants is caused by Tp53-mediated germ cell apoptosis

The molecular genetic mechanisms of sex determination are not known for most vertebrates, including zebrafish. We identified a mutation in the zebrafish fancl gene that causes homozygous mutants to develop as fertile males due to female-to-male sex reversal. Fancl is a member of the Fanconi Anemia/BRCA DNA repair pathway. Experiments showed that zebrafish fancl was expressed in developing germ cells in bipotential gonads at the critical time of sexual fate determination. Caspase-3 immunoassays revealed increased germ cell apoptosis in fancl mutants that compromised oocyte survival. In the absence of oocytes surviving through meiosis, somatic cells of mutant gonads did not maintain expression of the ovary gene cyp19a1a and did not down-regulate expression of the early testis gene amh; consequently, gonads masculinized and became testes. Remarkably, results showed that the introduction of a tp53 (p53) mutation into fancl mutants rescued the sex-reversal phenotype by reducing germ cell apoptosis and, thus, allowed fancl mutants to become fertile females. Our results show that Fancl function is not essential for spermatogonia and oogonia to become sperm or mature oocytes, but instead suggest that Fancl function is involved in the survival of developing oocytes through meiosis. This work reveals that Tp53-mediated germ cell apoptosis induces sex reversal after the mutation of a DNA-repair pathway gene by compromising the survival of oocytes and suggests the existence of an oocyte-derived signal that biases gonad fate towards the female developmental pathway and thereby controls zebrafish sex determination.

Drosophila homologs of FANCD2 and FANCL function in DNA repair

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a genetically heterogeneous disease characterized by developmental defects, progressive bone marrow failure and cancer susceptibility. Cells derived from patients with FA show spontaneous chromosomal aberrations and hypersensitivity to cross-linking agents, indicating a cellular defect in DNA repair. Among the 12 FA genes, only FANCD2, FANCL and FANCM have Drosophila homologs. Given this difference between the human and Drosophila FA pathways, it is unknown whether the fly homologs function in DNA repair. Here, we report that knockdown of Drosophila FANCD2 or FANCL leads to specific hypersensitivity to cross-linking agents. Further analysis revealed that FANCD2 and FANCL function in a linear pathway with FANCL being necessary for the monoubiquitination of FANCD2. FANCD2 mutants also exhibited the same defect in the ionizing radiation-inducible S-phase checkpoint that is seen in mammalian cells deficient for this gene. Finally, in an assay for inactivating mutations, FANCD2 mutants have an elevated mutation rate in response to nitrogen mustard, indicating that these flies are hypermutable. Taken together, these data demonstrate that Drosophila FANCD2 and FANCL play a critical role in DNA repair. Because of the lack of other FA genes, further studies will determine whether the conserved FA genes function as the minimal machinery or whether additional genes are involved in the Drosophila FA pathway.

[Functions of FANCL in primordial germ cell formation and Fanconi anemia]

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized clinically by congenital abnormalities, progressive bone marrow failure and cancer susceptibility. Cells from individuals with Fanconi anemia manifest features of spontaneous chromosomal instability and hypersensitivity to DNA cross-linking agents such as mitomycin C. Over 11 known Fanconi anemia gene products are involved in DNA damage response pathway. In the pathway, monoubiquitination of FANCD2 is a key step. A novel protein FANCL is a component of the nuclear FA complex, functioned as an ubiquitin E3 ligase and monoubiquitinylated FANCD2. FANCD2-Ub is targeted to chromatin, where it interacts with BRCA2 to repair DNA damage. In early embryo stage, FA pathway is probably involved in proliferation of PGCs. Mice deficient in FA proteins, such as FANCL, FANCC and FANCA, have a drastic reduction of primordial germ cells (PGC), resulting in male and female infertility in adult. In the adult male, FANCL and a few testis-specific proteins, GGN1 (gametogenetin protein 1), GGNBP1 (gametogenetin binding protein 1), GGNBP2 and OAZ3 (ornithine decarboxylase antizyme 3) form a novel testis-specific complex functioning in spermatogenesis. FANCL is involved in proliferation of PGCs in early embryo stage, and development of germ cells in adult.