Comprehensive Interactome Mapping of the DNA Repair Scaffold SLX4 Using Proximity Labeling and Affinity Purification.

The DNA repair scaffold SLX4 has pivotal roles in cellular processes that maintain genome stability, most notably homologous recombination. Germline mutations in SLX4 are associated with Fanconi anemia, a disease characterized by chromosome instability and cancer susceptibility. The role of mammalian SLX4 in homologous recombination depends critically on binding and activating structure-selective endonucleases, namely SLX1, MUS81-EME1, and XPF-ERCC1. Increasing evidence indicates that cells rely on distinct SLX4-dependent complexes to remove DNA lesions in specific regions of the genome. Despite our understanding of SLX4 as a scaffold for DNA repair proteins, a detailed repertoire of SLX4 interactors has never been reported. Here, we provide a comprehensive map of the human SLX4 interactome using proximity-dependent biotin identification (BioID) and affinity purification coupled to mass spectrometry (AP-MS). We identified 221 unique high-confidence interactors, of which the vast majority represent novel SLX4-binding proteins. Network analysis of these hits revealed pathways with known involvement of SLX4, such as DNA repair, and several emerging pathways of interest, including RNA metabolism and chromatin remodeling. In summary, the comprehensive SLX4 interactome we report here provides a deeper understanding of how SLX4 functions in DNA repair while revealing new cellular processes that may involve SLX4.

A new group of phage anti-CRISPR genes inhibits the type I-E CRISPR-Cas system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

CRISPR-Cas systems are one of the most widespread phage resistance mechanisms in prokaryotes. Our lab recently identified the first examples of phage-borne anti-CRISPR genes that encode protein inhibitors of the type I-F CRISPR-Cas system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A key question arising from this work was whether there are other types of anti-CRISPR genes. In the current work, we address this question by demonstrating that some of the same phages carrying type I-F anti-CRISPR genes also possess genes that mediate inhibition of the type I-E CRISPR-Cas system of P. aeruginosa. We have discovered four distinct families of these type I-E anti-CRISPR genes. These genes do not inhibit the type I-F CRISPR-Cas system of P. aeruginosa or the type I-E system of Escherichia coli. Type I-E and I-F anti-CRISPR genes are located at the same position in the genomes of a large group of related P. aeruginosa phages, yet they are found in a variety of combinations and arrangements. We have also identified functional anti-CRISPR genes within nonprophage Pseudomonas genomic regions that are likely mobile genetic elements. This work emphasizes the potential importance of anti-CRISPR genes in phage evolution and lateral gene transfer and supports the hypothesis that more undiscovered families of anti-CRISPR genes exist. Finally, we provide the first demonstration that the type I-E CRISPR-Cas system of P. aeruginosa is naturally active without genetic manipulation, which contrasts with E. coli and other previously characterized I-E systems. IMPORTANCE The CRISPR-Cas system is an adaptive immune system possessed by the majority of prokaryotic organisms to combat potentially harmful foreign genetic elements. This study reports the discovery of bacteriophage-encoded anti-CRISPR genes that mediate inhibition of a well-studied subtype of CRISPR-Cas system. The four families of anti-CRISPR genes described here, which comprise only the second group of anti-CRISPR genes to be identified, encode small proteins that bear no sequence similarity to previously studied phage or bacterial proteins. Anti-CRISPR genes represent a newly discovered and intriguing facet of the ongoing evolutionary competition between phages and their bacterial hosts.