INO80 haploinsufficiency inhibits colon cancer tumorigenesis via replication stress-induced apoptosis.

The INO80 chromatin-remodeling complex performs functions in many chromosomal processes that are crucial for genome stability, such as DNA replication and stalled replication fork recovery. Although these functions suggest that INO80 acts as a tumor suppressor, its specific role in tumorigenesis has remained obscure. Here, we show that a haploinsufficient mutation of Ino80, the catalytic ATPase of the INO80 complex, decreased intestinal adenomatous polyps and increased survival in an Apcmin/+ mouse model of colon cancer. Experiments using tumors obtained from Apcmin/+ mice and cells from human colon cancers showed that this Ino80 defect induced stalled replication forks, the concomitant activation of ATR-Chk1 signaling and an increase in apoptosis, suggesting that Ino80 haploinsufficiency inhibited colon cancer tumorigenesis by activating replication stress-induced ATR-Chk1 signaling to increase apoptosis. Importantly, in human colon cancer, we observed that the INO80 subunits were frequently present in high copy numbers and exhibited a high rate of amplification and increased protein expression. These results show that in contrast to our original prediction that INO80 acts as a tumor suppressor, INO80 actually functions oncogenically to promote colon tumorigenesis. INO80 therefore represents a novel therapeutic target in colon cancer. The results of this study also reinforce the emerging notion that while genomic instability can promote tumorigenesis, in certain genetic contexts, it can also act as a tumor suppressor.

Stabilization and targeting of INO80 to replication forks by BAP1 during normal DNA synthesis.

The INO80 chromatin-remodelling complex has been implicated in DNA replication during stress in yeast. However, its role in normal DNA replication and its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that INO80 binds to replication forks and promotes fork progression in human cells under unperturbed, normal conditions. We find that Ino80, which encodes the catalytic ATPase of INO80, is essential for mouse embryonic DNA replication and development. Ino80 is recruited to replication forks through interaction with ubiquitinated H2A--aided by BRCA1-associated protein-1 (BAP1), a tumour suppressor and nuclear de-ubiquitinating enzyme that also functions to stabilize Ino80. Importantly, Ino80 is downregulated in BAP1-defective cancer cells due to the lack of an Ino80 stabilization mechanism via BAP1. Our results establish a role for INO80 in normal DNA replication and uncover a mechanism by which this remodeler is targeted to replication forks, suggesting a molecular basis for the tumour-suppressing function of BAP1.

The human Ino80 binds to microtubule via the E-hook of tubulin: implications for the role in spindle assembly.

The human INO80 chromatin remodeling complex, comprising the Ino80 ATPase (hIno80) and the associated proteins such as Tip49a, has been implicated in a variety of nuclear processes other than transcription. We previously have found that hIno80 interacts with tubulin and co-localizes with the mitotic spindle and is required for spindle formation. To better understand the role of hIno80 in spindle formation, we further investigated the interaction between hIno80 and microtubule. Here, we show that the N-terminal domain, dispensable for the nucleosome remodeling activity, is important for hIno80 to interact with tubulin and co-localize with the spindle. The hIno80 N-terminal domain binds to monomeric tubulin and polymerized microtubule in vitro, and the E-hook of tubulin, involved in the polymerization of microtubule, is critical for this binding. Tip49a, which has been reported to associate with the spindle, does not bind to microtubule in vitro and dispensable for spindle formation in vivo. These results suggest that hIno80 can play a direct role in the spindle assembly independent of its chromatin remodeling activity.

Human INO80 chromatin-remodelling complex contributes to DNA double-strand break repair via the expression of Rad54B and XRCC3 genes.

Recent studies have shown that the SWI/SNF family of ATP-dependent chromatin-remodelling complexes play important roles in DNA repair as well as in transcription. The INO80 complex, the most recently described member of this family, has been shown in yeast to play direct role in DNA DSB (double-strand break) repair without affecting the expression of the genes involved in this process. However, whether this function of the INO80 complex is conserved in higher eukaryotes has not been investigated. In the present study, we found that knockdown of hINO80 (human INO80) confers DNA-damage hypersensitivity and inefficient DSB repair. Microarray analysis and other experiments have identified the Rad54B and XRCC3 (X-ray repair complementing defective repair in Chinese-hamster cells 3) genes, implicated in DSB repair, to be repressed by hINO80 deficiency. Chromatin immunoprecipitation studies have shown that hINO80 binds to the promoters of the Rad54B and XRCC3 genes. Re-expression of the Rad54B and XRCC3 genes rescues the DSB repair defect in hINO80-deficient cells. These results suggest that hINO80 assists DSB repair by positively regulating the expression of the Rad54B and XRCC3 genes. Therefore, unlike yeast INO80, hINO80 can contribute to DSB repair indirectly via gene expression, suggesting that the mechanistic role of this chromatin remodeller in DSB repair is evolutionarily diversified.

Roles of human INO80 chromatin remodeling enzyme in DNA replication and chromosome segregation suppress genome instability.

Although INO80 chromatin remodeling enzyme has been shown in yeast to play roles in non-transcriptional nuclear processes such as DNA replication, its cellular functions in higher eukaryotes have remained largely unexplored. Here, we provide evidence that human INO80 (hINO80) participates in both DNA replication and chromosome segregation during the normal cell division cycle. hINO80 binds to chromatin localizing at replication forks during the S-phase, and is required for efficient DNA synthesis and S-phase progression. Unexpectedly, hINO80 associates with spindle microtubule during mitosis, and its deficiency leads to defective microtubule assembly and abnormal chromosome segregation. Consistent with these results, hINO80 is critical for suppressing aneuploidy and structural chromosome abnormalities. This work therefore not only emphasizes the evolutionary importance of INO80 in DNA replication but also reveals a new role for this remodeler in chromosome segregation, both of which likely come into play in maintaining the genome integrity.

Mammalian SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes are required to prevent apoptosis after DNA damage.

Although SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes play important roles in transcription, recent studies suggest that they also participate directly in DNA repair. In yeast, SWI/SNF and related RSC complexes have been shown to be recruited to the sites of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) to facilitate DNA repair. We recently have shown that mammalian SWI/SNF complexes contribute to DBS repair by direct mechanisms of stimulating the phosphorylation of histone H2AX at DSB-surrounding chromatin. Here we investigated the role of mammalian SWI/SNF complexes in cell survival after DNA damage. When SWI/SNF was inactivated by means of dominant negativity or its catalytic subunit BRG1 was knockdowned by small interfering RNA, cells became highly susceptible to DNA damage-induced apoptosis. SWI/SNF inactivation had no effect on the activation and establishment of G2/M DNA damage checkpoint. However, SWI/SNF-defective cells could not sustain the G2/M checkpoint long enough to survive DNA damage, and rather underwent apoptosis before entering mitosis. We also found that, although the basal state and DNA damage-triggered activation of p53 were normal, the kinetics of p53 downregulation was significantly delayed in SWI/SNF-defective cells. Finally, the sustained p53 activation in SWI/SNF-defective cells was accompanied by accumulation of unrepaired DSBs owing to inefficient DNA repair. These results suggest that mammalian SWI/SNF complexes prevent DNA damage-induced apoptosis in part by facilitating efficient repair and thereby ensuring timely elimination of unrepaired DSBs that could otherwise lead to excessive prolongation of p53 activation.

Mammalian SWI/SNF complexes facilitate DNA double-strand break repair by promoting gamma-H2AX induction.

Although mammalian SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes have been well established to play important role in transcription, their role in DNA repair has remained largely unexplored. Here we show that inactivation of the SWI/SNF complexes and downregulation of the catalytic core subunits of the complexes both result in inefficient DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair and increased DNA damage sensitivity as well as a large defect in H2AX phosphorylation (gamma-H2AX) and nuclear focus formation after DNA damage. The expression of most DSB repair genes remains unaffected and DNA damage checkpoints are grossly intact in the cells inactivated for the SWI/SNF complexes. Although the SWI/SNF complexes do not affect the expression of ATM, DNA-PK and ATR, or their activation and/or recruitment to DSBs, they rapidly bind to DSB-surrounding chromatin via interaction with gamma-H2AX in the manner that is dependent on the amount of DNA damage. Given the crucial role for gamma-H2AX in efficient DSB repair, these results suggest that the SWI/SNF complexes facilitate DSB repair, at least in part, by promoting H2AX phosphorylation by directly acting on chromatin.