Hu - HR Flashcards
What can break ds DNA?
- gamma radiation
How are DNA DSBs gen?
- when 2 complementary strands of DNA double helix are broken simultaneously at adj sites –> not at exactly the same bp
What happens after DSB gen?
- 2 DNA fragments gen become physically dissoc from each other
- these ssDNAs can be degraded in cells
- formation of DSB likely cause bp deletion
What happens if DSB occurs w/in gene?
- prob compromises function of prot encoded or lead to ORF shift
What can happen if DSBs not repaired correctly?
- can cause various genomic rearrangements, eg. DNA deletion, translocations and fusion –> common in cancer cells
What are the 2 main sources of DNA damage?
- random DNA damage events and programmed ds break formation
How can random DNA damage occur?
- ionising radiation and radio-mimetic chemicals (eg. sulphur mustard) –> can break dsDNA and gen DSBs
How can mechanical stress lead to DNA damage?
- mechanical stress on chroms also leads to DSBs
- eg. if not properly condensed during mitosis lagging chrom will be cut into 2 by cytokinesis
How can other types of DNA damage be transformed into DSBs?
- eg. ss break, once rep fork catches site, rep of undamaged strand completed as normal, but for nicked strand rep stops at nick site and forms DSB
- DIAG*
How does programmed DSB formation occur?
- can occur as intermediates in biological events, eg. DSB induces V(D)J recomb in dev lymphoid cells (essential in prod of highly diverse pool of Abs)
- eg. during meiosis cells form DSBs to initiate HR
What are the 2 options for repair of DSBs?
- NHEJ
- HR
What does NHEJ involve?
- direct ligation of 2 DNA fragments w/o need for homologous template
What does HR involve?
- damaged chrom uses homologous seqs from undamaged DNA mol as template to repair break
- error-free (ie. high fidelity)
Is HR conserved?
- highly conserved from bacteria to humans
What process is HR similar to?
- DNA rep of leading strand in certain scenarios
How doe DNA rep of leading strand occur, and how is this similar to HR?
- 5’ to 3’ end
- pairing of ssDNA w/ template DNA req for ssDNA extension
- HR is the same –> 1st requirement is to have this ssDNA
What are the diff steps of HR?
1) DNA end resection
2) strand invasion
3) strand extension and 2nd end capture
4) DNA ligation and formation of double Holliday junction
5) resolve holliday junction
6) resolve double holliday junction
What occurs during DNA end resection (1)?
- prod 3’-ssDNA tail from DSB → vital to allow pairing of damaged DNA w/ template DNA
- formation of 3’-ssDNA req nucleolytic degrad of 5’ terminated strands = 5’-3’ end resection
What occurs during strand invasion (2)?
- gen 3’-ssDNA searched homologous region in template DNA through bping
- displaces other strand from template DNA and forms bps w/ its complement
- this forms a D-loop structure –> similar to rep fork but lack lagging strand
- then damaged DNA extended through DNA synthesis
- therefore role of strand invasion is to establish rep fork like structure and prepare it for DNA synthesis
What occurs during strand extension and 2nd end capture (3)?
- extension of invading strand in D loop = 1st end synthesis (similar to leading strand extension in DNA rep)
- other end will pair w/ displaced strand and also extended by DNA synthesis
What occurs during DNA ligation and formation of double Holliday junction (4)?
- once damaged DNA sequences filled, 2 DNA fragments ligated by DNA ligase
- strands of rep DNA will still pair w/ template DNA
- at pairing transition sites, forms 2 X shaped structures = double Holliday junction
- damaged DNA seq repaired, but 2 DNA mols intertwined
What is a Holliday junction?
- branched nucleic acid structure that contains 4 double stranded arms joined together
What occurs during resolution of holliday junction (5)?
- opp 2 strands are cut or nicked to sep 2 double helixes and nicks ligated
- ligation results in 2 sep molecules
- either cut horizontally or vertically w/ 50/50 chance
What occurs during resolution of double holliday junction (6)?
- if have DNA mol carrying alleles A and B, and other carries a and b
- HR takes place in between and forms double Holliday junction
- during resolution there are 2 cuts at 2 Holliday junctions
- if both cuts on same strands it is straightforward and get repair w/o CO –> after 2 DNA mols sep and ligated, A/B and a/b still linked, so no exchange between 2 mols
- if 2 cuts on diff strands then get repair w/ CO
- -> to sep 2 DNA mols junction has to be turned 180°
- -> after ligation A linked w/ b in 1 DNA mol and a linked w/ B in other mol
- -> so damaged chrom and template chrom exchange genetic material = chromosomal CO
What are the diff sources of homologous templates?
- sister chroms
- homologous chroms
- homologous seqs from non homologous chrom
How can sister chroms be used as a source of homologous template, and when are they used?
- identical copies formed by DNA rep, exchange between them wont alter genetic composition (as exactly the same)
- used high freq in mitosis, low freq in meiosis
- CO has no effect
How can homologous chroms be used as a source of homologous template, and when are they used?
- chrom pairs of same length, centromere position and staining pattern, w/ genes for same prots at corresponding loci, but can be diff alleles
- high freq in meiosis (as need to break gene linkage and create genetic variation), low freq in mitosis
- CO has effect
How can homologous seqs from non-homologous chrom be used as a source of homologous template, and when are they used?
- repetitive elements make up 1/3 human genome, if DSB occurs here then other repetitive seqs in non-homologous chroms can be used as repair template, leading to chromosomal translocation
- low freq in mitosis/meiosis, as rare type of repair
- CO has effect
What are the consequences of COs in meiosis?
- CO between homologous chroms breaks linkage in meiosis
- CO formation during meiosis prod 50% germ cells which have recomb genotypes
What are the consequences of a CO in mitosis?
- if have heterozygosity between 2 homologous chroms, then DSB between this locus and centromere, repaired using homologous chrom as template, CO formation causes DNA exchange
- this pair of sister chroms sep into 2 daughter cells
- homologous chroms randomly sorted into 2 daughter cells
- so 50% chance that daughter cells contain homozygous alleles = loss of heterozygosity –> can have serious consequences
How is heterozygosity defined?
- homologous chroms have 2 diff alleles at locus in diploid cell
How can LOH have such serious consequences?
- most mutations recessive, heterozygosity provides genetic buffering of toxic mutations
- LOH common genetic event in cancer dev and involved w/ loss of WT tumour suppressor gene in many inherited cancer syndromes
What is the genetic consequences of CO using diff homologous templates?
- sister chroms = no genetic change as identical
- homologous chroms
= in meiosis can break genetic linkage and lead to recomb in meiosis (important for creating genetic variation)
= in mitosis could cause LOH (may increase cancer risk) - homologous seqs from diff chroms = chrom translocation, can cause many diseases, eg. cancer, infertility, Down Syndrome
Why is end resection 5’ to 3’?
- if had 3’-5’ resection, would prod 5’-ssDNA, could invade DNA by pairing w/ complementary strand of template DNA, would create D loop
- but would have 5’-ssDNA so DNA synthesis can’t extend it
What is nucleolytic degrad?
- hydrolytic cleavage of phosphodiester bond linking 2 nts in DNA backbone, by a water mol, breaks DNA chain, carried out by DNAse
What does DNA resection involve?
- formation of 3’-ssDNA req nucleolytic degrad of 5’ terminated strands
What are the 2 types of DNAses, and where do they cleave?
- endonuclease –> cleaves phosphodiester bond w/in DNA chain
- exonuclease –> cleaves nts 1 at a time from 3’ or 5’ end, have polarity of digestion (either 3’-5’ or 5’-3’)
If looking for key prot(s) for initiation of DNA resection, what characteristics are expected?
- role in DNA damage repair –> so mutation makes cells sensitive to DNA damage
- binds DNA damage sites at early stage (as resection is 1st step in repair)
- nuclease activity
- mutation defects gen of 3’-ssDNA during DSB repair
- based on this prot Mre11 found as the nuclease initiating resection
What evidence is there for the fact that Mre11 is req for DNA damage repair?
- budding yeast cells treated w/ 2 chemicals to induce DSBs
- -> HU (hydroxyurea) = decreases dNTP prod by inhibiting ribonucleotide reductase, causing stalked DNA rep forks, eventually leads to DSBs
- -> CPT (camptothecin) = a TOPI inhibitor, stab TOPI-DNA covalent adducts and induces SSBs, which eventually leads to DSBs
- in cells w/ WT Mre11, DSB can be repaired and cells able to grow w/ media containing HU and CPT
- if Δmre11, failure to repair DSBs, inhibits growth under DNA damage conditions
What is ribonucleotide reductase req for?
- biosynthesis of dNTPs
What evidence is there that Mre11p recruited to DNA damage sites at early stages of DNA damage repair?
- Mre11 labelled w/ fluorescent prot
- induced DSBs
- repair prots should be recruited to this region
- before damage Mre11 floating around nucleus, but 1 min after DSB induction, Mre11 recruited to damage sites and formed strip of fluorescence
- entire repair process between 30 mins and up to several hours, so 1 min is early stages
What evidence is there for exonuclease activity of Mre11?
- Mre11 has nuclease domain, but nuclease activity undetectable –> implies other prots might be req for its nuclease activity
- when Mre11 purified from cells, prots Rad50 and Nbs1 co-purified
- form MRN complex –> has nuclease activity
- these prots highly conserved in euks
What is the yeast ortholog of Nbs1 and the MRN complex?
- Nbs1 = Xrs2
- MRN = MRX complex
What direction of exonuclease activity does MRN complex have, and how was this found out?
- would expect 5’ to 3’ in order to prod 3’-ssDNA
- to test this DNA mols labelled w/ radioactive P32 (at either 5’ or 3’ end), which prod autoradiographic signals
- after incubation w/ MRN complex, 3’-P32 removed, but not 5’ end –> revealed that MRN complex degraded 3’ end nts and has unexpected 3’ to 5’ exonuclease activity
Does the MRN complex have endonuclease activity, how was this shown?
- yes, shown by digestion of circular DNA (which resists exonuclease activity as no 3’ or 5’ end)
How does MRN complex prod 3’-ssDNA using its nuclease activity?
- both endo and exonuclease activities req for resection in sequential manner
- Mre11 nicks dsDNA by endonuclease activity
- then degrades DNA in 3’-5’ direction towards DSB end, by exonuclease activity
- thus prod 100-300nt 3’-ssDNA
How do cells reg endo and exonuclease activity of MRN complex?
- req Sae2 (yeast)
- ortholog = CtIP
What is the effect of Sae2 on Mre11s nuclease activity, how was this determined experimentally?
- 50bp dsDNA used as substrate, 1 of 3’ ends labelled w/ P32
- DNA incubated w/ MRN complex or MRN complex + Sae2 for up to 1 hr
- dsDNA denatured to ssDNA
- size of the 1st product is 1nt, as prod by hydrolysing 1st nt at 3’ end, so represents exonuclease activity
- sizes of 2nd product vary, as prod from random cut in middle of DNA, represents endonuclease activity
- product 2 req Sae2, but has little effect on product 1 –> therefore Sae stimulates endonuclease activity, but has no effect on exonuclease activity
What is the result of CtIP mutations in humans?
- Seckel and Jawad syndrome
- belong to group of genome instability disorders, collectively referred to as DNA damage response (DDR) and repair defective syndrome
Why do cells use such a complicated pathway to initiate DNA resection, instead of just 5’ - 3’ digestion (straightforward and high efficiency)?
- complicated as time consuming, energy consuming and low efficiency
- 5’-3’ nucleolytic degrad req accessible 5’ end for exonuclease, but often accessibility blocked
- -> by covalently bound prots at 5’ end (attached by eg. DSBs prod by TOPII in cancer treatment, or Spo11 during meiosis)
- -> or 2° structure at DSB site can prevent 5’-3- digestion, eg. when inverted repeat seqs form cruciform DNA structure through self folding, structure cut and transformed to DSB, ends capped by hairpin structure, but no free 5’ ends for exonuclease
- DIAG*
What is the main function of Mre11 in DNA resection?
- to initiate DNA resection by cleaning DSB ends
How does Mre11 perform its role in DNA resection?
- MRN complex cuts at internal site, 100-300bp away from DSB ends, and degrades DNA towards the ends
- so can release covalently bound prots from DSB sites or prod 5’ end in the hairpin capped ends
Why is DNA end resection by MRN complex and Sae2 not efficient for HR, and what is the result of this?
- slow and limited to only 100‐300 nt
- resection can be processed up to 3.5 kb in human cells –> suggests there’s other resection pathways which are more efficient
What redundant pathways can take over DNA end resection form MRN complex and Sae2?
- Exo1 pathway
- Sgs1/Dna2 pathway
What is Exo1?
- a 5’-3’ exonuclease
Is Exo1 more efficient than MRN complex?
- carries out resection faster –> more efficient and can prod 5-10kb ssDNA
How was it experimentally proven that dsDNA w/ short 3’-ssDNA gen by Mre11 is preferential substrate for Exo1?
- 3 types of dsDNA used as substrates for Exo1
- 1st w/ 4 extra nts at 3’ ends, mimicking Mre11 resection DNA
- showed resection of dsDNA w/ 3’-ssDNA by Exo1 most efficient and those w/ 5’-ssDNA the least efficient, thus indicating Mre11 resected DNA is preferred substrate of Exo1
How does binding of RPA w/ ssDNA prevent over resection by Exo1?
- RPA has much higher affinity for ssDNA than dsDNA and isn’t directly involve w/ resection process
- w/ RPA resection stops at a certain point and prod uniform ssDNA (rather than cont until DNA completely degrad), as RPA binds ssDNA prod by Exo1 and prevents further resection
- in vivo RPA also protects 3’-ssDNA from other nucleases
What is the role of RPA?
- to protect ssDNA prod by resection
How was an experiment carried out to examine how Sgs1/Dna2 resects DNA, and what were the findings?
- dsDNAs incubated w/ either Sgs1, Dna2 or Sgs1+Dna2.
- heat treatment prod ssDNA, as breaks H bonds holding 2 strands together
- Sgs1 unwound 2 annealed strands of dsDNA and sep dsDNA into single strand = a DNA helicase
What is the role of Sgs1 in DNA resection?
- to unwind dsDNA to prod special type of DNA as Dna2’s substrate
What is the function of Dna2?
- has flap endonuclease activity
- substrate is dsDNA w/ 5’-ssDNA overhang
- Dna2 randomly cleaves w/in ss regions of substrate that form flaps, eg. 5’-ssDNA overhang
What is an overall summary of DNA resection?
- Mre11 complex binds DSB and Sae2 stim endonuclease activity to nick DNA
- Mre11 resects DNA by 3’-5’ exonuclease activity to prod short 3’-ssDNA tail
- RPA binds ssDNA to protect from degraf
- then 2 redundant pathways take over resection: Exo1 or Sgs1/Dna2 and prod 3’-ssDNAs up to 3.5kb
What is the purpose of resection?
- to prod a 3’ ssDNA tail