Reduced Levels of Lagging Strand Polymerases Shape Stem Cell Chromatin

Stem cells display asymmetric histone inheritance while non-stem progenitor cells exhibit symmetric patterns in the Drosophila male germline lineage. Here, we report that components involved in lagging strand synthesis, such as DNA polymerase α and δ (Polα and Polδ), have significantly reduced levels in stem cells compared to progenitor cells. Compromising Polα genetically induces the replication-coupled histone incorporation pattern in progenitor cells to be indistinguishable from that in stem cells, which can be recapitulated using a Polα inhibitor in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, stem cell-derived chromatin fibers display a higher degree of old histone recycling by the leading strand compared to progenitor cell-derived chromatin fibers. However, upon reducing Polα levels in progenitor cells, the chromatin fibers now display asymmetric old histone recycling just like GSC-derived fibers. The old versus new histone asymmetry is comparable between stem cells and progenitor cells at both S-phase and M-phase. Together, these results indicate that developmentally programmed expression of key DNA replication components is important to shape stem cell chromatin. Furthermore, manipulating one crucial DNA replication component can induce replication-coupled histone dynamics in non-stem cells in a manner similar to that in stem cells.

Exploring RAD18-dependent replication of damaged DNA and discontinuities: A collection of advanced tools

DNA damage tolerance (DDT) pathways mitigate the effects of DNA damage during replication by rescuing the replication fork stalled at a DNA lesion or other barriers and also repair discontinuities left in the newly replicated DNA. From yeast to mammalian cells, RAD18-regulated translesion synthesis (TLS) and template switching (TS) represent the dominant pathways of DDT. Monoubiquitylation of the polymerase sliding clamp PCNA by HRAD6A-B/RAD18, an E2/E3 protein pair, enables the recruitment of specialized TLS polymerases that can insert nucleotides opposite damaged template bases. Alternatively, the subsequent polyubiquitylation of monoubiquitin-PCNA by Ubc13-Mms2 (E2) and HLTF or SHPRH (E3) can lead to the switching of the synthesis from the damaged template to the undamaged newly synthesized sister strand to facilitate synthesis past the lesion. When immediate TLS or TS cannot occur, gaps may remain in the newly synthesized strand, partly due to the repriming activity of the PRIMPOL primase, which can be filled during the later phases of the cell cycle. The first part of this review will summarize the current knowledge about RAD18-dependent DDT pathways, while the second part will offer a molecular toolkit for the identification and characterization of the cellular functions of a DDT protein. In particular, we will focus on advanced techniques that can reveal single-stranded and double-stranded DNA gaps and their repair at the single-cell level as well as monitor the progression of single replication forks, such as the specific versions of the DNA fiber and comet assays. This collection of methods may serve as a powerful molecular toolkit to monitor the metabolism of gaps, detect the contribution of relevant pathways and molecular players, as well as characterize the effectiveness of potential inhibitors.

DNA Fiber Assay for the Analysis of DNA Replication Progression in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Human pluripotent stem cells (PSC) acquire recurrent chromosomal instabilities during prolonged in vitro culture that threaten to preclude their use in cell-based regenerative medicine. The rapid proliferation of pluripotent cells leads to constitutive replication stress, hindering the progression of DNA replication forks and in some cases leading to replication-fork collapse. Failure to overcome replication stress can result in incomplete genome duplication, which, if left to persist into the subsequent mitosis, can result in structural and numerical chromosomal instability. We have recently applied the DNA fiber assay to the study of replication stress in human PSC and found that, in comparison to somatic cells states, these cells display features of DNA replication stress that include slower replication fork speeds, evidence of stalled forks, and replication initiation from dormant replication origins. These findings have expanded on previous work demonstrating that extensive DNA damage in human PSC is replication associated. In this capacity, the DNA fiber assay has enabled the development of an advanced nucleoside-enriched culture medium that increases replication fork progression and decreases DNA damage and mitotic errors in human PSC cultures. The DNA fiber assay allows for the study of replication fork dynamics at single-molecule resolution. The assay relies on cells incorporating nucleotide analogs into nascent DNA during replication, which are then measured to monitor several replication parameters. Here we provide an optimized protocol for the fiber assay intended for use with human PSC, and describe the methods employed to analyze replication fork parameters. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: DNA fiber labeling Basic Protocol 2: DNA fiber spreading Basic Protocol 3: Immunostaining Support Protocol 1: Microscopy/data acquisition Support Protocol 2: Data analysis.

Visualizing replication fork encounters with DNA interstrand crosslinks

Replication forks encounter numerous challenges as they move through eu- and hetero-chromatin during S phase in mammalian cells. These include a variety of impediments to the unwinding of DNA by the replicative helicase such as alternate DNA structures, transcription complexes and R-loops, DNA-protein complexes, and DNA chemical adducts. Much of our knowledge of these events is based on analysis of markers of the replication stress and DNA Damage Response that follow stalling of replisomes. To examine consequences for the replisomes more directly, we developed an approach for imaging collisions of replication forks with the potent block presented by an interstrand crosslink (ICL). The strategy is based on the visualization on DNA fibers of the encounter of replication tracts and an antigen tagged ICL. Our studies revealed an unexpected restart of DNA synthesis past an intact ICL. In addition, and also unexpected, we found two distinct versions of the replisome, one biased toward euchromatin and the other more prominent in heterochromatin. Here, we present details of our experimental procedures that led to these observations.

Single-Molecule DNA Fiber Analyses to Characterize Replication Fork Dynamics in Living Cells

Understanding the molecular dynamics of DNA replication in vivo has been a formidable challenge requiring the development of advanced technologies. Over the past 50 years or so, studies involving DNA autoradiography in bacterial cells have led to sophisticated DNA tract analyses in human cells to characterize replication dynamics at the single-molecule level. Our own lab has used DNA fiber analysis to characterize replication in helicase-deficient human cells. This work led us to propose a model in which the human DNA helicase RECQ1 acts as a governor of the single-stranded DNA binding protein RPA and regulates its bioavailability for DNA synthesis. We have also used the DNA fiber approach to investigate the interactive role of DDX11 helicase with a replication fork protection protein (Timeless) in human cells when they are under pharmacologically induced stress. In this methods chapter, we present a step-by-step protocol for the single-molecule DNA fiber assay. We describe experimental designs to study replication stress and staining patterns from pulse-chase labeling experiments to address the dynamics of replication forks in stressed cells.

Single Molecule Analysis of Laser Localized Interstrand Crosslinks

DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) block unwinding of the double helix, and have always been regarded as major challenges to replication and transcription. Compounds that form these lesions are very toxic and are frequently used in cancer chemotherapy. We have developed two strategies, both based on immunofluorescence (IF), for studying cellular responses to ICLs. The basis of each is psoralen, a photoactive (by long wave ultraviolet light, UVA) DNA crosslinking agent, to which we have linked an antigen tag. In the one approach, we have taken advantage of DNA fiber and immuno-quantum dot technologies for visualizing the encounter of replication forks with ICLs induced by exposure to UVA lamps. In the other, psoralen ICLs are introduced into nuclei in live cells in regions of interest defined by a UVA laser. The antigen tag can be displayed by conventional IF, as can the recruitment and accumulation of DNA damage response proteins to the laser localized ICLs. However, substantial difference between the technologies creates considerable uncertainty as to whether conclusions from one approach are applicable to those of the other. In this report, we have employed the fiber/quantum dot methodology to determine lesion density and spacing on individual DNA molecules carrying laser localized ICLs. We have performed the same measurements on DNA fibers with ICLs induced by exposure of psoralen to UVA lamps. Remarkably, we find little difference in the adduct distribution on fibers prepared from cells exposed to the different treatment protocols. Furthermore, there is considerable similarity in patterns of replication in the vicinity of the ICLs introduced by the two techniques.

Detection of Transgenes on DNA Fibers

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was developed for detecting specific DNA sequences directly on mitotic or meiotic chromosomes. However, the resolution of FISH on chromosomes is limited by condensed structure of chromatin, and it is difficult to differentiate two target sites close to each other. To overcome this issue, the objects was changed to stretched DNA fibers, and this fiber FISH technique has now been used for revealing genome structure at molecular level. Hybridization and detection procedures of fiber FISH are common with FISH on chromosomes. Therefore, application of fiber FISH is not difficult for the researchers of some experience in ordinary FISH. DNA fibers can be released from nuclei fixed on glass slides using a detergent. The DNA fibers were shred in FISH procedure, and the resultant fragments became small bead-like shape. This makes FISH signals on DNA fibers a series of dots. The size of DNA in the dot is estimated to be approximately 1 kb, it corresponding to the resolution of fiber FISH. This makes it possible to analyze structures of transgenes on DNA fibers in detail.

Interaction of DNA with Simple and Mixed Ligand Copper(II) Complexes of 1,10-Phenanthrolines as Studied by DNA-Fiber EPR Spectroscopy

The interaction of simple and ternary Cu(II) complexes of 1,10-phenanthrolines with DNA has been studied extensively because of their various interesting and important functions such as DNA cleavage activity, cytotoxicity towards cancer cells, and DNA based asymmetric catalysis. Such functions are closely related to the DNA binding modes of the complexes such as intercalation, groove binding, and electrostatic surface binding. A variety of spectroscopic methods have been used to study the DNA binding mode of the Cu(II) complexes. Of all these methods, DNA-fiber electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy affords unique information on the DNA binding structures of the complexes. In this review we summarize the results of our DNA-fiber EPR studies on the DNA binding structure of the complexes and discuss them together with the data accumulated by using other measurements.