BRCA1 deficiency specific base substitution mutagenesis is dependent on translesion synthesis and regulated by 53BP1.

Defects in BRCA1, BRCA2 and other genes of the homology-dependent DNA repair (HR) pathway cause an elevated rate of mutagenesis, eliciting specific mutation patterns including COSMIC signature SBS3. Using genome sequencing of knock-out cell lines we show that Y family translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerases contribute to the spontaneous generation of base substitution and short insertion/deletion mutations in BRCA1 deficient cells, and that TLS on DNA adducts is increased in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutants. The inactivation of 53BP1 in BRCA1 mutant cells markedly reduces TLS-specific mutagenesis, and rescues the deficiency of template switch-mediated gene conversions in the immunoglobulin V locus of BRCA1 mutant chicken DT40 cells. 53BP1 also promotes TLS in human cellular extracts in vitro. Our results show that HR deficiency-specific mutagenesis is largely caused by TLS, and suggest a function for 53BP1 in regulating the choice between TLS and error-free template switching in replicative DNA damage bypass.

A genetic study based on PCNA-ubiquitin fusions reveals no requirement for PCNA polyubiquitylation in DNA damage tolerance.

Post-translational modifications of Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA) play a key role in regulating the bypass of DNA lesions during DNA replication. PCNA can be monoubiquitylated at lysine 164 by the RAD6-RAD18 ubiquitin ligase complex. Through this modification, PCNA can interact with low fidelity Y family DNA polymerases to promote translesion synthesis. Monoubiquitylated PCNA can be polyubiquitylated on lysine 63 of ubiquitin by a further ubiquitin-conjugating complex. This modification promotes a template switching bypass process in yeast, while its role in higher eukaryotes is less clear. We investigated the function of PCNA ubiquitylation using a PCNAK164R mutant DT40 chicken B lymphoblastoma cell line, which is hypersensitive to DNA damaging agents such as methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), cisplatin or ultraviolet radiation (UV) due to the loss of PCNA modifications. In the PCNAK164R mutant we also detected cell cycle arrest following UV treatment, a reduced rate of damage bypass through translesion DNA synthesis on synthetic UV photoproducts, and an increased rate of genomic mutagenesis following MMS treatment. PCNA-ubiquitin fusion proteins have been reported to mimic endogenous PCNA ubiquitylation. We found that the stable expression of a PCNAK164R-ubiquitin fusion protein fully or partially rescued the observed defects of the PCNAK164R mutant. The expression of a PCNAK164R-ubiquitinK63R fusion protein, on which the formation of lysine 63-linked polyubiquitin chains is not possible, similarly rescued the cell cycle arrest, DNA damage sensitivity, reduction of translesion synthesis and increase of MMS-induced genomic mutagenesis. Template switching bypass was not affected by the genetic elimination of PCNA polyubiquitylation, but it was reduced in the absence of the recombination proteins BRCA1 or XRCC3. Our study found no requirement for PCNA polyubiquitylation to protect cells from replication-stalling DNA damage.

Molecular Network Dynamics of Cell Cycle Control: Periodicity of Start and Finish.

The cell division cycle is controlled by a complex regulatory network which ensures that the phases of the cell cycle are executed in the right order. This regulatory network receives signals from the environment, monitors the state of the DNA, and decides timings of cell cycle events. The underlying transcriptional and post-translational regulatory interactions lead to complex dynamical responses, such as the oscillations in the levels of cell cycle proteins driven by intertwined biochemical reactions. A cell moves between different phases of its cycle similar to a dynamical system switching between its steady states. The complex molecular network driving these phases has been investigated in previous computational systems biology studies. Here, we review the critical physiological and molecular transitions that occur in the cell cycle and discuss the role of mathematical modeling in elucidating these transitions and understand cell cycle synchronization.

Cooperative interactions between p53 and NFκB enhance cell plasticity.

The p53 and NFκB sequence-specific transcription factors play crucial roles in cell proliferation and survival with critical, even if typically opposite, effects on cancer progression. To investigate a possible crosstalk between p53 and NFκB driven by chemotherapy-induced responses in the context of an inflammatory microenvironment, we performed a proof of concept study using MCF7 cells. Transcriptome analyses upon single or combined treatments with doxorubicin (Doxo, 1.5µM) and the NFκB inducer TNF-alpha (TNFα, 5ng/ml) revealed 432 up-regulated (log2 FC> 2), and 390 repressed genes (log2 FC< -2) for the Doxo+TNFα treatment. 239 up-regulated and 161 repressed genes were synergistically regulated by the double treatment. Annotation and pathway analyses of Doxo+TNFα selectively up-regulated genes indicated strong enrichment for cell migration terms. A panel of genes was examined by qPCR coupled to p53 activation by Doxo, 5-Fluoruracil and Nutlin-3a, or to p53 or NFκB inhibition. Transcriptome data were confirmed for 12 of 15 selected genes and seven (PLK3, LAMP3, ETV7, UNC5B, NTN1, DUSP5, SNAI1) were synergistically up-regulated after Doxo+TNFα and dependent both on p53 and NFκB. Migration assays consistently showed an increase in motility for MCF7 cells upon Doxo+TNFα. A signature of 29 Doxo+TNFα highly synergistic genes exhibited prognostic value for luminal breast cancer patients, with adverse outcome correlating with higher relative expression. We propose that the crosstalk between p53 and NFκB can lead to the activation of specific gene expression programs that may impact on cancer phenotypes and potentially modify the efficacy of cancer therapy.

Neurospora crassa as a model organism to explore the interconnected network of the cell cycle and the circadian clock.

Budding and fission yeast pioneered uncovering molecular mechanisms of eukaryotic cell division cycles. However, they do not possess canonical circadian clock machinery that regulates physiological processes with a period of about 24h. On the other hand, Neurospora crassa played a critical role in elucidating molecular mechanisms of circadian rhythms, but have not been utilized frequently for cell cycle studies. Recent findings demonstrate that there exists a conserved coupling between the cell cycle and the circadian clock from N.crassa to Mus musculus, which poses Neurospora as an ideal model organism to investigate molecular mechanisms and emerging behavior of the coupled network of the cell cycle and circadian rhythms. In this review, we briefly describe generic eukaryotic cell cycle regulation focusing on G1/S and G2/M transitions, and highlight that these transitions may be targeted for the circadian clock to influence timing of cell division cycles.

Circadian rhythms synchronize mitosis in Neurospora crassa.

The cell cycle and the circadian clock communicate with each other, resulting in circadian-gated cell division cycles. Alterations in this network may lead to diseases such as cancer. Therefore, it is critical to identify molecular components that connect these two oscillators. However, molecular mechanisms between the clock and the cell cycle remain largely unknown. A model filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa, is a multinucleate system used to elucidate molecular mechanisms of circadian rhythms, but not used to investigate the molecular coupling between these two oscillators. In this report, we show that a conserved coupling between the circadian clock and the cell cycle exists via serine/threonine protein kinase-29 (STK-29), the Neurospora homolog of mammalian WEE1 kinase. Based on this finding, we established a mathematical model that predicts circadian oscillations of cell cycle components and circadian clock-dependent synchronized nuclear divisions. We experimentally demonstrate that G1 and G2 cyclins, CLN-1 and CLB-1, respectively, oscillate in a circadian manner with bioluminescence reporters. The oscillations of clb-1 and stk-29 gene expression are abolished in a circadian arrhythmic frq(ko) mutant. Additionally, we show the light-induced phase shifts of a core circadian component, frq, as well as the gene expression of the cell cycle components clb-1 and stk-29, which may alter the timing of divisions. We then used a histone hH1-GFP reporter to observe nuclear divisions over time, and show that a large number of nuclear divisions occur in the evening. Our findings demonstrate the circadian clock-dependent molecular dynamics of cell cycle components that result in synchronized nuclear divisions in Neurospora.

Molecular network dynamics of cell cycle control: transitions to start and finish.

The cell cycle is controlled by complex regulatory network to ensure that the phases of the cell cycle happen in the right order and transitions between phases happen only if the earlier phase is properly finished. This regulatory network receives signals from the environment, monitors the state of the DNA, and decides when the cell can proceed in its cycle. The transcriptional and post-translational regulatory interactions in this network can lead to complex dynamical responses. The cell cycle dependent oscillations in protein activities are driven by these interactions as the regulatory system moves between steady states that correspond to different phases of the cell cycle. The analysis of such complex molecular network behavior can be investigated with the tools of computational systems biology. Here we review the basic physiological and molecular transitions in the cell cycle and present how the system-level emergent properties were found by the help of mathematical/computational modeling.

Minimum criteria for DNA damage-induced phase advances in circadian rhythms.

Robust oscillatory behaviors are common features of circadian and cell cycle rhythms. These cyclic processes, however, behave distinctively in terms of their periods and phases in response to external influences such as light, temperature, nutrients, etc. Nevertheless, several links have been found between these two oscillators. Cell division cycles gated by the circadian clock have been observed since the late 1950s. On the other hand, ionizing radiation (IR) treatments cause cells to undergo a DNA damage response, which leads to phase shifts (mostly advances) in circadian rhythms. Circadian gating of the cell cycle can be attributed to the cell cycle inhibitor kinase Wee1 (which is regulated by the heterodimeric circadian clock transcription factor, BMAL1/CLK), and possibly in conjunction with other cell cycle components that are known to be regulated by the circadian clock (i.e., c-Myc and cyclin D1). It has also been shown that DNA damage-induced activation of the cell cycle regulator, Chk2, leads to phosphorylation and destruction of a circadian clock component (i.e., PER1 in Mus or FRQ in Neurospora crassa). However, the molecular mechanism underlying how DNA damage causes predominantly phase advances in the circadian clock remains unknown. In order to address this question, we employ mathematical modeling to simulate different phase response curves (PRCs) from either dexamethasone (Dex) or IR treatment experiments. Dex is known to synchronize circadian rhythms in cell culture and may generate both phase advances and delays. We observe unique phase responses with minimum delays of the circadian clock upon DNA damage when two criteria are met: (1) existence of an autocatalytic positive feedback mechanism in addition to the time-delayed negative feedback loop in the clock system and (2) Chk2-dependent phosphorylation and degradation of PERs that are not bound to BMAL1/CLK.

Computational analysis of mammalian cell division gated by a circadian clock: quantized cell cycles and cell size control.

Cell cycle and circadian rhythms are conserved from cyanobacteria to humans with robust cyclic features. Recently, molecular links between these two cyclic processes have been discovered. Core clock transcription factors, Bmal1 and Clock (Clk), directly regulate Wee1 kinase, which inhibits entry into the mitosis. We investigate the effect of this connection on the timing of mammalian cell cycle processes with computational modeling tools. We connect a minimal model of circadian rhythms, which consists of transcription-translation feedback loops, with a modified mammalian cell cycle model from Novak and Tyson (2004). As we vary the mass doubling time (MDT) of the cell cycle, stochastic simulations reveal quantized cell cycles when the activity of Wee1 is influenced by clock components. The quantized cell cycles disappear in the absence of coupling or when the strength of this link is reduced. More intriguingly, our simulations indicate that the circadian clock triggers critical size control in the mammalian cell cycle. A periodic brake on the cell cycle progress via Wee1 enforces size control when the MDT is quite different from the circadian period. No size control is observed in the absence of coupling. The issue of size control in the mammalian system is debatable, whereas it is well established in yeast. It is possible that the size control is more readily observed in cell lines that contain circadian rhythms, since not all cell types have a circadian clock. This would be analogous to an ultradian clock intertwined with quantized cell cycles (and possibly cell size control) in yeast. We present the first coupled model between the mammalian cell cycle and circadian rhythms that reveals quantized cell cycles and cell size control influenced by the clock.