RESUMO
Homologous recombination (HR) is an essential DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair mechanism, which is frequently inactivated in cancer. During HR, RAD51 forms nucleoprotein filaments on RPA-coated, resected DNA and catalyzes strand invasion into homologous duplex DNA. How RAD51 displaces RPA and assembles into long HR-proficient filaments remains uncertain. Here, we employed single-molecule imaging to investigate the mechanism of nematode RAD-51 filament growth in the presence of BRC-2 (BRCA2) and RAD-51 paralogs, RFS-1/RIP-1. BRC-2 nucleates RAD-51 on RPA-coated DNA, whereas RFS-1/RIP-1 acts as a "chaperone" to promote 3' to 5' filament growth via highly dynamic engagement with 5' filament ends. Inhibiting ATPase or mutation in the RFS-1 Walker box leads to RFS-1/RIP-1 retention on RAD-51 filaments and hinders growth. The rfs-1 Walker box mutants display sensitivity to DNA damage and accumulate RAD-51 complexes non-functional for HR in vivo. Our work reveals the mechanism of RAD-51 nucleation and filament growth in the presence of recombination mediators.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans/genética , Caenorhabditis elegans/genética , Proteínas de Transporte/genética , DNA de Helmintos/genética , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/genética , Rad51 Recombinase/genética , Reparo de DNA por Recombinação , Animais , Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolismo , Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolismo , Proteínas de Transporte/metabolismo , Quebras de DNA de Cadeia Dupla , DNA de Helmintos/metabolismo , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/metabolismo , Regulação da Expressão Gênica , Chaperonas Moleculares/genética , Chaperonas Moleculares/metabolismo , Mutação , Ligação Proteica , Rad51 Recombinase/metabolismo , Proteína de Replicação A/genética , Proteína de Replicação A/metabolismo , Transdução de Sinais , Imagem Individual de MoléculaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Chromosome segregation and the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination require cohesin, the protein complex that mediates sister chromatid cohesion (SCC). In addition, cohesin is also required for the integrity of DNA damage checkpoints in somatic cells, where cohesin loading depends on a conserved complex containing the Scc2/Nipbl protein. Although cohesin is required for the completion of meiotic recombination, little is known about how cohesin promotes the repair of meiotic DSBs and about the factors that promote loading of cohesin during meiosis. RESULTS: Here we show that during Caenorhabditis elegans meiosis, loading of cohesin requires SCC-2, whereas the cohesin-related complexes condensin and SMC-5/6 can be loaded by mechanisms independent of both SCC-2 and cohesin. Although the lack of cohesin in scc-2 mutants impairs the repair of meiotic DSBs, surprisingly, the persistent DNA damage fails to trigger an apoptotic response of the conserved pachytene DNA damage checkpoint. Mutants carrying an scc-3 allele that abrogates loading of meiotic cohesin are also deficient in the apoptotic response of the pachytene checkpoint, and both scc-2 and scc-3 mutants fail to recruit the DNA damage sensor 9-1-1 complex onto persistent damage sites during meiosis. Furthermore, we show that meiotic cohesin is also required for the timely loading of the RAD-51 recombinase to irradiation-induced DSBs. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that meiotic cohesin promotes DSB processing and recruitment of DNA damage checkpoint proteins, thus implicating cohesin in the earliest steps of the DNA damage response during meiosis.