Life in the (Pluripotent) Fast Lane: Cdk1 Preserves the Epigenome to Maintain Pluripotency.

Michowski and colleagues (2020) engineered analog-sensitive Cdk1 knockin mice to identify Cdk1 targets in embryonic stem cells, which led them to discover a novel function for Cdk1 in shaping the epigenetic landscape by direct regulation of epigenetic modulators.

Persistent repair intermediates induce senescence.

Double-stranded DNA breaks activate a DNA damage checkpoint in G2 phase to trigger a cell cycle arrest, which can be reversed to allow for recovery. However, damaged G2 cells can also permanently exit the cell cycle, going into senescence or apoptosis, raising the question how an individual cell decides whether to recover or withdraw from the cell cycle. Here we find that the decision to withdraw from the cell cycle in G2 is critically dependent on the progression of DNA repair. We show that delayed processing of double strand breaks through HR-mediated repair results in high levels of resected DNA and enhanced ATR-dependent signalling, allowing p21 to rise to levels at which it drives cell cycle exit. These data imply that cells have the capacity to discriminate breaks that can be repaired from breaks that are difficult to repair at a time when repair is still ongoing.

Inhibition of Polo-like kinase 1 during the DNA damage response is mediated through loss of Aurora A recruitment by Bora.

When cells in G2 phase are challenged with DNA damage, several key mitotic regulators such as Cdk1/Cyclin B, Aurora A and Plk1 are inhibited to prevent entry into mitosis. Here we have studied how inhibition of Plk1 is established after DNA damage. Using a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based biosensor for Plk1 activity, we show that inhibition of Plk1 after DNA damage occurs with relatively slow kinetics and is entirely dependent on loss of Plk1-T210 phosphorylation. As T210 is phosphorylated by the kinase Aurora A in conjunction with its co-factor Bora, we investigated how they are affected by DNA damage. Interestingly, we find that the interaction between Bora and Plk1 remains intact during the early phases of the DNA damage response (DDR), whereas Plk1 activity is already inhibited at this stage. Expression of an Aurora A mutant that is refractory to inhibition by the DDR failed to prevent inhibition of Plk1 and loss of T210 phosphorylation, suggesting that inhibition of Plk1 may be established by perturbing recruitment of Aurora A by Bora. Indeed, expression of a fusion in which Aurora A was directly coupled to Bora prevented DNA damage-induced inhibition of Plk1 activity, as well as inhibition of T210 phosphorylation. Taken together, these data demonstrate that DNA damage affects the function of Aurora A at multiple levels: both by direct inhibition of Aurora A activity, as well as by perturbing the interaction with its co-activator Bora. We propose that the DDR targets recruitment of Aurora A to the Plk1/Bora complex to prevent activation of Plk1 during DNA damage in G2.

RNF168 cooperates with RNF8 to mediate FOXM1 ubiquitination and degradation in breast cancer epirubicin treatment.

The forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) transcription factor has a central role in genotoxic agent response in breast cancer. FOXM1 is regulated at the post-translational level upon DNA damage, but the key mechanism involved remained enigmatic. RNF168 is a ubiquitination E3-ligase involved in DNA damage response. Western blot and gene promoter-reporter analyses showed that the expression level and transcriptional activity of FOXM1 reduced upon RNF168 overexpression and increased with RNF168 depletion by siRNA, suggesting that RNF168 negatively regulates FOXM1 expression. Co-immunoprecipitation studies in MCF-7 cells revealed that RNF168 interacted with FOXM1 and that upon epirubicin treatment FOXM1 downregulation was associated with an increase in RNF168 binding and conjugation to the protein degradation-associated K48-linked polyubiquitin chains. Consistently, RNF168 overexpression resulted in an increase in turnover of FOXM1 in MCF-7 cells treated with the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. Conversely, RNF168, knockdown significantly enhanced the half-life of FOXM1 in both absence and presence of epirubicin. Using a SUMOylation-defective FOXM1-5x(K>R) mutant, we demonstrated that SUMOylation is required for the recruitment of RNF168 to mediate FOXM1 degradation. In addition, clonogenic assays also showed that RNF168 mediates epirubicin action through targeting FOXM1, as RNF168 could synergise with epirubicin to repress clonal formation in wild-type but not in FOXM1-deficient mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs). The physiological relevance of RNF168-mediated FOXM1 repression is further emphasized by the significant inverse correlation between FOXM1 and RNF168 expression in breast cancer patient samples. Moreover, we also obtained evidence that RNF8 recruits RNF168 to FOXM1 upon epirubicin treatment and cooperates with RNF168 to catalyse FOXM1 ubiquitination and degradation. Collectively, these data suggest that RNF168 cooperates with RNF8 to mediate the ubiquitination and degradation of SUMOylated FOXM1 in breast cancer genotoxic response.

OTUB1 inhibits the ubiquitination and degradation of FOXM1 in breast cancer and epirubicin resistance.

The forkhead transcription factor FOXM1 has a key role in DNA damage response, and its deregulated overexpression is associated with genotoxic drug resistance in breast cancer. However, little is known about the posttranslational mechanisms by which FOXM1 expression is regulated by genotoxic agents and how they are deregulated in resistant cells. Initial co-immunoprecipitation studies verified previous proteomic analysis finding that the OTUB1 is a novel FOXM1-interacting protein. Western blot analysis showed that both OTUB1 and FOXM1 expression reduced upon genotoxic agent treatment in MCF-7 cells, but remained relatively constant in resistant cells. FOXM1 expression reduced upon OTUB1 depletion by siRNA and increased with OTUB1 overexpression in MCF-7 cells, arguing that OTUB1 positively regulates FOXM1 expression. In agreement, co-immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that FOXM1 expression is associated with OTUB1 binding but inversely correlates with conjugation to the protein degradation-associated Lys-48-linked ubiquitin-chains. Overexpression of wild-type (WT) OTUB1, but not the OTUB1(C91S) mutant, disrupted the formation of Lys48-linked ubiquitin-conjugates on FOXM1. Importantly, knockdown of OTUB1 by siRNA resulted in an increase in turnover of FOXM1 in MCF-7 cells treated with the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide, whereas overexpression of WT OTUB1, but not the OTUB1(C91S) mutant, significantly enhances the half-life of FOXM1. In addition, proliferative and clonogenic assays also show that OTUB1 can enhance the proliferative rate and epirubicin resistance through targeting FOXM1, as OTUB1 has little effect on FOXM1-deficient cells. The physiological relevance of the regulation of FOXM1 by OTUB1 is further underscored by the significant correlations between FOXM1 and OTUB1 expression in breast cancer patient samples. Cox-regression survival analysis indicates that OTUB1 overexpression is linked to poorer outcome in particular in patients treated with chemotherapy. Collectively, these data suggest that OTUB1 limits the ubiquitination and degradation of FOXM1 in breast cancer and has a key role in genotoxic agent resistance.

Paclitaxel targets FOXM1 to regulate KIF20A in mitotic catastrophe and breast cancer paclitaxel resistance.

FOXM1 has been implicated in taxane resistance, but the molecular mechanism involved remains elusive. In here, we show that FOXM1 depletion can sensitize breast cancer cells and mouse embryonic fibroblasts into entering paclitaxel-induced senescence, with the loss of clonogenic ability, and the induction of senescence-associated ß-galactosidase activity and flat cell morphology. We also demonstrate that FOXM1 regulates the expression of the microtubulin-associated kinesin KIF20A at the transcriptional level directly through a Forkhead response element (FHRE) in its promoter. Similar to FOXM1, KIF20A expression is downregulated by paclitaxel in the sensitive MCF-7 breast cancer cells and deregulated in the paclitaxel-resistant MCF-7Tax(R) cells. KIF20A depletion also renders MCF-7 and MCF-7Tax(R) cells more sensitive to paclitaxel-induced cellular senescence. Crucially, resembling paclitaxel treatment, silencing of FOXM1 and KIF20A similarly promotes abnormal mitotic spindle morphology and chromosome alignment, which have been shown to induce mitotic catastrophe-dependent senescence. The physiological relevance of the regulation of KIF20A by FOXM1 is further highlighted by the strong and significant correlations between FOXM1 and KIF20A expression in breast cancer patient samples. Statistical analysis reveals that both FOXM1 and KIF20A protein and mRNA expression significantly associates with poor survival, consistent with a role of FOXM1 and KIF20A in paclitaxel action and resistance. Collectively, our findings suggest that paclitaxel targets the FOXM1-KIF20A axis to drive abnormal mitotic spindle formation and mitotic catastrophe and that deregulated FOXM1 and KIF20A expression may confer paclitaxel resistance. These findings provide insights into the underlying mechanisms of paclitaxel resistance and have implications for the development of predictive biomarkers and novel chemotherapeutic strategies for paclitaxel resistance.

Molecular basis underlying resistance to Mps1/TTK inhibitors.

Mps1/TTK is a dual-specificity kinase, with an essential role in mitotic checkpoint signaling, which has emerged as a potential target in cancer therapy. Several Mps1/TTK small-molecule inhibitors have been described that exhibit promising activity in cell culture and xenograft models. Here, we investigated whether cancer cells can develop resistance to these drugs. To this end, we treated various cancer cell lines with sublethal concentrations of a potent Mps1/TTK inhibitor in order to isolate inhibitor-resistant monoclonal cell lines. We identified four point mutations in the catalytic domain of Mps1/TTK that gave rise to inhibitor resistance but retained wild-type catalytic activity. Interestingly, cross-resistance of the identified mutations to other Mps1/TTK inhibitors is limited. Our studies predict that Mps1/TTK inhibitor-resistant tumor cells can arise through the acquisition of mutations in the adenosine triphosphate-binding pocket of the kinase that prevent stable binding of the inhibitors. In addition, our results suggest that combinations of inhibitors could be used to prevent acquisition of drug resistance. Interestingly, cross-resistance seems nonspecific for inhibitor scaffolds, a notion that can be exploited in future drug design to evict possible resistance mutations during clinical treatment.

Inhibition of the spindle assembly checkpoint kinase TTK enhances the efficacy of docetaxel in a triple-negative breast cancer model.

BACKGROUND: Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) are considered the most aggressive type of breast cancer, for which no targeted therapy exists at the moment. These tumors are characterized by having a high degree of chromosome instability and often overexpress the spindle assembly checkpoint kinase TTK. To explore the potential of TTK inhibition as a targeted therapy in TNBC, we developed a highly potent and selective small molecule inhibitor of TTK, NTRC 0066-0. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The compound is characterized by long residence time on the target and inhibits the proliferation of a wide variety of human cancer cell lines with potency in the same range as marketed cytotoxic agents. In cell lines and in mice, NTRC 0066-0 inhibits the phosphorylation of a TTK substrate and induces chromosome missegregation. NTRC 0066-0 inhibits tumor growth in MDA-MB-231 xenografts as a single agent after oral application. To address the effect of the inhibitor in breast cancer, we used a well-defined mouse model that spontaneously develops breast tumors that share key morphologic and molecular features with human TNBC. Our studies show that combination of NTRC 0066-0 with a therapeutic dose of docetaxel resulted in doubling of mouse survival and extended tumor remission, without toxicity. Furthermore, we observed that treatment efficacy is only achieved upon co-administration of the two compounds, which suggests a synergistic in vivo effect. Therefore, we propose TTK inhibition as a novel therapeutic target for neoadjuvant therapy in TNBC.

Delaying mitotic exit downregulates FLIP expression and strongly sensitizes tumor cells to TRAIL.

Many of the current antitumor therapeutic strategies are based on the perturbation of the cell cycle, especially during mitosis. Antimitotic drugs trigger mitotic checkpoint activation, mitotic arrest and eventually cell death. However, mitotic slippage represents a major mechanism of resistance to these treatments. In an attempt to circumvent the process of slippage, targeting mitotic exit has been proposed as a better strategy to kill tumor cells. In this study, we show that treatments that induce mitotic checkpoint activation and mitotic arrest downregulate FLICE-like inhibitory protein (FLIP) levels and sensitize several tumor cell lines to TRAIL (tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand)-induced apoptosis. Interestingly, we also demonstrate that in absence of mitotic checkpoint activation, mitotic arrest induced either by Cdc20 knockdown or overexpression of nondegradable cyclin B is sufficient to induce both FLIP downregulation and sensitivity to TRAIL. In summary, our data suggest that a combination of antimitotic drugs targeting cyclin B degradation and TRAIL might prevent mitotic slippage and allow tumor cells to reach the threshold for apoptosis induction, thereby facilitating tumor suppression.

Function and regulation of dynein in mitotic chromosome segregation.

Cytoplasmic dynein is a large minus-end-directed microtubule motor complex, involved in many different cellular processes including intracellular trafficking, organelle positioning, and microtubule organization. Furthermore, dynein plays essential roles during cell division where it is implicated in multiple processes including centrosome separation, chromosome movements, spindle organization, spindle positioning, and mitotic checkpoint silencing. How is a single motor able to fulfill this large array of functions and how are these activities temporally and spatially regulated? The answer lies in the unique composition of the dynein motor and in the interactions it makes with multiple regulatory proteins that define the time and place where dynein becomes active. Here, we will focus on the different mitotic processes that dynein is involved in, and how its regulatory proteins act to support dynein. Although dynein is highly conserved amongst eukaryotes (with the exception of plants), there is significant variability in the cellular processes that depend on dynein in different species. In this review, we concentrate on the functions of cytoplasmic dynein in mammals but will also refer to data obtained in other model organisms that have contributed to our understanding of dynein function in higher eukaryotes.

FOXM1 targets NBS1 to regulate DNA damage-induced senescence and epirubicin resistance.

FOXM1 is implicated in genotoxic drug resistance but its mechanism of action remains elusive. We show here that FOXM1-depletion can sensitize breast cancer cells and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) into entering epirubicin-induced senescence, with the loss of long-term cell proliferation ability, the accumulation of γH2AX foci, and the induction of senescence-associated ß-galactosidase activity and cell morphology. Conversely, reconstitution of FOXM1 in FOXM1-deficient MEFs alleviates the accumulation of senescence-associated γH2AX foci. We also demonstrate that FOXM1 regulates NBS1 at the transcriptional level through an forkhead response element on its promoter. Like FOXM1, NBS1 is overexpressed in the epirubicin-resistant MCF-7Epi(R) cells and its expression level is low but inducible by epirubicin in MCF-7 cells. Consistently, overexpression of FOXM1 augmented and FOXM1 depletion reduced NBS1 expression and epirubicin-induced ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM)phosphorylation in breast cancer cells. Together these findings suggest that FOXM1 increases NBS1 expression and ATM phosphorylation, possibly through increasing the levels of the MRN(MRE11/RAD50/NBS1) complex. Consistent with this idea, the loss of P-ATM induction by epirubicin in the NBS1-deficient NBS1-LBI fibroblasts can be rescued by NBS1 reconstitution. Resembling FOXM1, NBS1 depletion also rendered MCF-7 and MCF-7Epi(R) cells more sensitive to epirubicin-induced cellular senescence. In agreement, the DNA repair-defective and senescence phenotypes in FOXM1-deficent cells can be effectively rescued by overexpression of NBS1. Moreover, overexpression of NBS1 and FOXM1 similarly enhanced and their depletion downregulated homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair activity. Crucially, overexpression of FOXM1 failed to augment HR activity in the background of NBS1 depletion, demonstrating that NBS1 is indispensable for the HR function of FOXM1. The physiological relevance of the regulation of NBS1 expression by FOXM1 is further underscored by the strong and significant correlation between nuclear FOXM1 and total NBS1 expression in breast cancer patient samples, further suggesting that NBS1 as a key FOXM1 target gene involved in DNA damage response, genotoxic drug resistance and DNA damage-induced senescence.

The Forkhead Box M1 protein regulates BRIP1 expression and DNA damage repair in epirubicin treatment.

FOXM1 is implicated in genotoxic drug resistance but its role and mechanism of action remain unclear. Here, we establish that γH2AX foci, indicative of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), accumulate in a time-dependent manner in the drug-sensitive MCF-7 cells but not in the resistant counterparts in response to epirubicin. We find that FOXM1 expression is associated with epirubicin sensitivity and DSB repair. Ectopic expression of FOXM1 can increase cell viability and abrogate DSBs sustained by MCF-7 cells following epirubicin, owing to an enhancement in repair efficiency. Conversely, alkaline comet and γH2AX foci formation assays show that Foxm1-null cells are hypersensitive to DNA damage, epirubicin and γ-irradiation. Furthermore, we find that FOXM1 is required for DNA repair by homologous recombination (HR) but not non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), using HeLa cell lines harbouring an integrated direct repeat green fluorescent protein reporter for DSB repair. We also identify BRIP1 as a direct transcription target of FOXM1 by promoter analysis and chromatin-immunoprecipitation assay. In agreement, depletion of FOXM1 expression by small interfering RNA downregulates BRIP1 expression at the protein and mRNA levels in MCF-7 and the epirubicin-resistant MCF-7 Epi(R) cells. Remarkably, the requirement for FOXM1 for DSB repair can be circumvented by reintroduction of BRIP1, suggesting that BRIP1 is an important target of FOXM1 in DSB repair. Indeed, like FOXM1, BRIP1 is needed for HR. These data suggest that FOXM1 regulates BRIP1 expression to modulate epirubicin-induced DNA damage repair and drug resistance.

Genetic instability: tipping the balance.

Tumor cells typically contain a genome that is highly divergent from the genome of normal, non-transformed cells. This genetic divergence is caused by a number of distinct changes that the tumor cell acquires during its transformation from a normal cell into a tumorigenic counterpart. Changes to the genome include mutations, deletions, insertions, and also gross chromosomal aberrations, such as chromosome translocations and whole chromosome gains or losses. This genetic disorder of the tumor cell has complicated the identification of crucial driver mutations that cause cancer. Moreover, the large genetic divergence between different tumors causes them to behave very differently, and makes it difficult to predict response to therapy. In addition, tumor cells are genetically unstable and frequently acquire new mutations and/or gross chromosomal aberrations as they divide. This is beneficial for the overall capacity of a tumor to adapt to changes in its environment, but newly acquired genetic alterations can also compromise the genetic dominance of the tumor cell and thus affect tumor cell viability. Here, we review the mechanisms that can cause gross chromosomal aberrations, and discuss how these affect tumor cell viability.

Checkpoint control and cancer.

DNA-damaging therapies represent the most frequently used non-surgical anticancer strategies in the treatment of human tumors. These therapies can kill tumor cells, but at the same time they can be particularly damaging and mutagenic to healthy tissues. The efficacy of DNA-damaging treatments can be improved if tumor cell death is selectively enhanced, and the recent application of poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors in BRCA1/2-deficient tumors is a successful example of this. DNA damage is known to trigger cell-cycle arrest through activation of DNA-damage checkpoints. This arrest can be reversed once the damage has been repaired, but irreparable damage can promote apoptosis or senescence. Alternatively, cells can reenter the cell cycle before repair has been completed, giving rise to mutations. In this review we discuss the mechanisms involved in the activation and inactivation of DNA-damage checkpoints, and how the transition from arrest and cell-cycle re-entry is controlled. In addition, we discuss recent attempts to target the checkpoint in anticancer strategies.

Mitosis as an anti-cancer target.

Most of the current drugs used to treat cancer can be classified as anti-proliferative drugs. These drugs perturb the proliferative cycle of tumor cells at diverse stages of the cell cycle. Examples of such drugs are DNA-damaging agents and inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases that arrest cell cycle progression at different stages of interphase. Another class of anti-proliferative drugs is the so-called anti-mitotic drugs, which selectively perturb progression through mitosis. Mitosis is the shortest and final stage in the cell cycle and has evolved to accurately divide the duplicated genome over the two daughter cells. This review deals with the different strategies that are currently considered to perturb mitotic progression in the treatment of cancer.

Activation of nuclear factor-kappa B signalling promotes cellular senescence.

Cellular senescence is a programme of irreversible cell cycle arrest that normal cells undergo in response to progressive shortening of telomeres, changes in telomeric structure, oncogene activation or oxidative stress. The underlying signalling pathways, of major clinicopathological relevance, are unknown. We combined genome-wide expression profiling with genetic complementation to identify genes that are differentially expressed when conditionally immortalised human fibroblasts undergo senescence upon activation of the p16-pRB and p53-p21 tumour suppressor pathways. This identified 816 up and 961 downregulated genes whose expression was reversed when senescence was bypassed. Overlay of this data set with the meta-signatures of genes upregulated in cancer showed that nearly 50% of them were downregulated upon senescence showing that even though overcoming senescence may only be one of the events required for malignant transformation, nearly half of the genes upregulated in cancer are related to it. Moreover 65 of the up and 26 of the downregulated genes are known downstream targets of nuclear factor (NF)-κB suggesting that senescence was associated with activation of the NF-κB pathway. Direct perturbation of this pathway bypasses growth arrest indicating that activation of NF-κB signalling has a causal role in promoting senescence.

Structure of the FoxM1 DNA-recognition domain bound to a promoter sequence.

FoxM1 is a member of the Forkhead family of transcription factors and is implicated in inducing cell proliferation and some forms of tumorigenesis. It binds promoter regions with a preference for tandem repeats of a consensus 'TAAACA' recognition sequence. The affinity of the isolated FoxM1 DNA-binding domain for this site is in the micromolar range, lower than observed for other Forkhead proteins. To explain these FoxM1 features, we determined the crystal structure of its DNA-binding domain in complex with a tandem recognition sequence. FoxM1 adopts the winged-helix fold, typical of the Forkhead family. Neither 'wing' of the fold however, makes significant contacts with the DNA, while the second, C-terminal, wing adopts an unusual ordered conformation across the back of the molecule. The lack of standard DNA-'wing' interactions may be a reason for FoxM1's relatively low affinity. The role of the 'wings' is possibly undertaken by other FoxM1 regions outside the DBD, that could interact with the target DNA directly or mediate interactions with other binding partners. Finally, we were unable to show a clear preference for tandem consensus site recognition in DNA-binding, transcription activation or bioinformatics analysis; FoxM1's moniker, 'Trident', is not supported by our data.

FOXM1 is a transcriptional target of ERalpha and has a critical role in breast cancer endocrine sensitivity and resistance.

In this study, we investigated the regulation of FOXM1 expression by estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) and its role in hormonal therapy and endocrine resistance. FOXM1 protein and mRNA expression was regulated by ER-ligands, including estrogen, tamoxifen (OHT) and fulvestrant (ICI182780; ICI) in breast carcinoma cell lines. Depletion of ERalpha by RNA interference (RNAi) in MCF-7 cells downregulated FOXM1 expression. Reporter gene assays showed that ERalpha activates FOXM1 transcription through an estrogen-response element (ERE) located within the proximal promoter region. The direct binding of ERalpha to the FOXM1 promoter was confirmed in vitro by mobility shift and DNA pull-down assays and in vivo by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis. Our data also revealed that upon OHT treatment ERalpha recruits histone deacetylases to the ERE site of the FOXM1 promoter, which is associated with a decrease in histone acetylation and transcription activity. Importantly, silencing of FOXM1 by RNAi abolished estrogen-induced MCF-7 cell proliferation and overcame acquired tamoxifen resistance. Conversely, ectopic expression of FOXM1 abrogated the cell cycle arrest mediated by the anti-estrogen OHT. OHT repressed FOXM1 expression in endocrine sensitive but not resistant breast carcinoma cell lines. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis of breast cancer patient samples revealed that there was a strong and significant positive correlation between ERalpha and FOXM1 mRNA expression. Collectively, these results show FOXM1 to be a key mediator of the mitogenic functions of ERalpha and estrogen in breast cancer cells, and also suggest that the deregulation of FOXM1 may contribute to anti-estrogen insensitivity.

Wip1 phosphatase is associated with chromatin and dephosphorylates gammaH2AX to promote checkpoint inhibition.

DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) elicit a checkpoint response that causes a delay in cell cycle progression. Early in the checkpoint response, histone H2AX is phosphorylated in the chromatin region flanking the DSB by ATM/ATR and DNA-PK kinases. The resulting foci of phosphorylated H2AX (gamma-H2AX) serve as a platform for recruitment and retention of additional components of the checkpoint-signaling cascade that enhance checkpoint signaling and DSB repair. Upon repair, both the assembled protein complexes and the chromatin modifications are removed to quench the checkpoint signal. In this study, we show that the DNA damage-responsive Wip1 phosphatase is bound to chromatin. Moreover, Wip1 directly dephosphorylates gamma-H2AX and cells depleted of Wip1 fail to dephosphorylate gamma-H2AX during checkpoint recovery. Conversely, premature activation of Wip1 leads to displacement of MDC1 from damage foci and prevents activation of the checkpoint. Taken together, our data show that Wip1 has an essential role in dephosphorylation of gamma-H2AX to silence the checkpoint and restore chromatin structure once DNA damage is repaired.

Quaternary structure of the human Cdt1-Geminin complex regulates DNA replication licensing.

All organisms need to ensure that no DNA segments are rereplicated in a single cell cycle. Eukaryotes achieve this through a process called origin licensing, which involves tight spatiotemporal control of the assembly of prereplicative complexes (pre-RCs) onto chromatin. Cdt1 is a key component and crucial regulator of pre-RC assembly. In higher eukaryotes, timely inhibition of Cdt1 by Geminin is essential to prevent DNA rereplication. Here, we address the mechanism of DNA licensing inhibition by Geminin, by combining X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering, and functional studies in Xenopus and mammalian cells. Our findings show that the Cdt1:Geminin complex can exist in two distinct forms, a "permissive" heterotrimer and an "inhibitory" heterohexamer. Specific Cdt1 residues, buried in the heterohexamer, are important for licensing. We postulate that the transition between the heterotrimer and the heterohexamer represents a molecular switch between licensing-competent and licensing-defective states.