Divergent Molecular and Cellular Responses to Low and High-Dose Ionizing Radiation.

Cancer risk after ionizing radiation (IR) is assumed to be linear with the dose; however, for low doses, definite evidence is lacking. Here, using temporal multi-omic systems analyses after a low (LD; 0.1 Gy) or a high (HD; 1 Gy) dose of X-rays, we show that, although the DNA damage response (DDR) displayed dose proportionality, many other molecular and cellular responses did not. Phosphoproteomics uncovered a novel mode of phospho-signaling via S12-PPP1R7, and large-scale dephosphorylation events that regulate mitotic exit control in undamaged cells and the G2/M checkpoint upon IR in a dose-dependent manner. The phosphoproteomics of irradiated DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) repair-deficient cells unveiled extended phospho-signaling duration in either a dose-dependent (DDR signaling) or independent (mTOR-ERK-MAPK signaling) manner without affecting signal magnitude. Nascent transcriptomics revealed the transcriptional activation of genes involved in NRF2-regulated antioxidant defense, redox-sensitive ERK-MAPK signaling, glycolysis and mitochondrial function after LD, suggesting a prominent role for reactive oxygen species (ROS) in molecular and cellular responses to LD exposure, whereas DDR genes were prominently activated after HD. However, how and to what extent the observed dose-dependent differences in molecular and cellular responses may impact cancer development remain unclear, as the induction of chromosomal damage was found to be dose-proportional (10-200 mGy).

Small tandem DNA duplications result from CST-guided Pol α-primase action at DNA break termini.

Small tandem duplications of DNA occur frequently in the human genome and are implicated in the aetiology of certain human cancers. Recent studies have suggested that DNA double-strand breaks are causal to this mutational class, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, we identify a crucial role for DNA polymerase α (Pol α)-primase in tandem duplication formation at breaks having complementary 3' ssDNA protrusions. By including so-called primase deserts in CRISPR/Cas9-induced DNA break configurations, we reveal that fill-in synthesis preferentially starts at the 3' tip, and find this activity to be dependent on 53BP1, and the CTC1-STN1-TEN1 (CST) and Shieldin complexes. This axis generates near-blunt ends specifically at DNA breaks with 3' overhangs, which are subsequently repaired by non-homologous end-joining. Our study provides a mechanistic explanation for a mutational signature abundantly observed in the genomes of species and cancer cells.

Enhanced DDB2 expression protects mice from carcinogenic effects of chronic UV-B irradiation.

UV-damaged DNA-binding protein (UV-DDB) is essential for global genome repair (GGR) of UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPD). Unlike human cells, rodent epidermal cells are deficient in GGR of CPDs and express a subunit of UV-DDB, DDB2, at a low level. In this study, we generated mice (K14-DDB2) ectopically expressing mouse DDB2 at elevated levels. Enhanced expression of DDB2 both delayed the onset of squamous cell carcinoma and decreased the number of tumors per mouse in chronically UV-B light-exposed hairless mice. Enhanced expression of DDB2 improved repair of both CPDs and pyrimidine(6-4)pyrimidone photoproducts (6-4PP) in dermal fibroblasts. However, GGR of CPDs in K14-DDB2 mice did not reach the level of efficiency of human cells, suggesting that another repair protein may become rate limiting when DDB2 is abundantly present. To complement these studies, we generated mice in which the DDB2 gene was disrupted. DDB2-/- and DDB2+/- mice were found to be hypersensitive to UV-induced skin carcinogenesis. On the cellular level, we detected a delay in the repair of 6-4PPs in DDB2-/- dermal fibroblasts. Neither the absence nor the enhanced expression of DDB2 affected the levels of UV-induced apoptosis in epidermal keratinocytes or cultured dermal fibroblasts. Our results show an important role for DDB2 in the protection against UV-induced cancer and indicate that this protection is most likely mediated by accelerating the repair of photolesions.

The UV-damaged DNA binding protein mediates efficient targeting of the nucleotide excision repair complex to UV-induced photo lesions.

Previous studies point to the XPC-hHR23B complex as the principal initiator of global genome nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway, responsible for the repair of UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPD) and 6-4 photoproducts (6-4PP) in human cells. However, the UV-damaged DNA binding protein (UV-DDB) has also been proposed as a damage recognition factor involved in repair of UV-photoproducts, especially CPD. Here, we show in human XP-E cells (UV-DDB deficient) that the incision complex formation at UV-induced lesions was severely diminished in locally damaged nuclear spots. Repair kinetics of CPD and 6-4PP in locally and globally UV-irradiated normal human and XP-E cells demonstrate that UV-DDB can mediate efficient targeting of XPC-hHR23B and other NER factors to 6-4PP. The data is consistent with a mechanism in which UV-DDB forms a stable complex when bound to a 6-4PP, allowing subsequent repair proteins--starting with XPC-hHR23B--to accumulate, and verify the lesion, resulting in efficient 6-4PP repair. These findings suggest that (i) UV-DDB accelerates repair of 6-4PP, and at later time points also CPD, (ii) the fraction of 6-4PP that can be bound by UV-DDB is limited due to its low cellular quantity and fast UV dependent degradation, and (iii) in the absence of UV-DDB a slow XPC-hHR23B dependent pathway is capable to repair 6-4PP, and to some extent also CPD.

Chemical carcinogens induce varying patterns of LOH in mouse T-lymphocytes.

We have shown previously that a wide range of mutagenic carcinogens are capable of inducing loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the endogenous Aprt locus in mouse splenic lymphocytes. To investigate whether LOH might be caused by a single common mechanism, we set out to determine the extent of LOH by microsatellite analysis along (the Aprt gene containing) mouse chromosome 8. Aprt+/- hybrid B6C3F1 mice were treated with mutagens that induce different classes of DNA lesions, i.e. bulky DNA adducts, DNA methylation, DNA inter-strand crosslinks or DNA strand breaks. Aprt mutant frequencies (MF) in this C57Bl/6-C3H hybrid background were significantly reduced for mitomycin C (MMC) and methylmethanesulfonate (MMS) in comparison with MF in C57Bl/6 background, suggesting either enhanced repair or reduced formation of MMC- or MMS-induced mutagenic lesions in a hybrid B6C3F1 background. In contrast, Aprt MF after dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), methylnitrosurea (MNU) and etoposide treatment were similar in both genetic backgrounds. Microsatellite analysis of Aprt mutant clones indicated a dominant role for mitotic recombination (MR) in generating spontaneous, DMBA- and etoposide-induced LOH at APRT: However, over 80% of the MMC-induced Aprt LOH mutants had lost heterozygosity for all markers tested, suggesting that either the crossover points were located close to the centromere or that these mutants arose by chromosome loss and duplication of the remaining chromosome 8. A substantial fraction (40%) of MNU-induced Aprt mutants had lost the wild-type Aprt allele, but had retained heterozygosity at all polymorphic markers tested at chromosome 8 indicating an important role for deletions in LOH formation by MNU. Patterns of MR differed quite dramatically for the various chemical mutagens tested, suggesting different mechanisms to be involved in inducing recombination between homologous chromosomes. In addition, non-random adduct formation and repair between chromosomal regions, i.e. heterochromatin versus euchromatin, may contribute to a non-random distribution of recombinational crossover points.