Protein phosphatase PP1 is required for normal DNA methylation in Neurospora

Covalent modifications of histones integrate intracellular and extracellular cues to regulate the genome. H3 Lys 9 methylation (H3K9me) can direct heterochromatin formation and DNA methylation, while phosphorylation of H3 Ser 10 (H3S10p) drives gene activation and chromosome condensation. To examine the relationship between H3S10p, H3K9me, and DNA methylation in Neurospora crassa, we built and tested mutants of the putative H3S10 phosphatase, PP1. A PP1-impaired mutant showed increased H3S10p and selective reduction of methylation of H3K9 and DNA. Similarly, amino acid substitutions of H3S10 abolished methylation of H3K9 and DNA. Thus, H3S10 dephosphorylation by PP1 is required for DNA methylation of some loci.     

The apoptosis-inducing activity of the two protein phosphatase inhibitors, tautomycin and thyrsiferyl 23-acetate, is not due to the inhibition of protein phosphatases PP1 and PP2A (review).

Thyrsiferyl 23-acetate (TF-23A) has been shown to potently and specifically inhibit PP2A. TF-23A also induced a rapid cell death in various leukemic T- and B-cell lines. The TF-23A induced cell death with a typical apoptotic process. TF-23A and its several analogous compounds showed apoptosis-inducing activity. However, only TF-23A out of these compounds showed an inhibitory activity for PP2A. These results suggest that a portion of TF-23A involved in induction of apoptosis is different from that involved in the PP2A inhibition. Then, the effects of tautomycin and its derivatives on PP1 and PP2A and their apoptosis-inducing activity were examined. The C22-C26 moiety was essential for inhibition of protein phosphatase activity, whereas the C1-C18 moiety was essential for induction of apoptosis. Therefore, different moieties of tautomycin are involved in protein phosphatase inhibition and induction of apoptosis. From these results, it was concluded that the biological effects of phosphatase inhibitors are not necessarily induced by the inhibition of PP1 and PP2A but through other different molecular mechanisms which remain to be elucidated.     

Mouse brain localization of the protein kinase C-enhanced phosphatase 1 inhibitor KEPI (kinase C-enhanced PP1 inhibitor)

We recently identified the protein kinase C-enhanced protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) inhibitor KEPI based on its morphine-induced upregulation in striatum. Regulation of protein serine/threonine dephosphorylation by PP1 can modulate important brain signaling pathways. To improve understanding of KEPI's role in the brain, we have developed anti-KEPI sera in rabbits immunized with a hemocyanin conjugate of KEPI residues 66-80, characterized the specificity that this serum provides, mapped the distribution of immunoreactive KEPI (iKEPI) in mouse brain, rat dorsal root ganglia and striatal cultures and documented KEPI binding to PP1 in vitro. Staining is found in apparently neuronal processes and, often less intensely, in neuronal perikarya in primary cultures and in neurons and neuronal elements from a number of brain regions. iKEPI fiber/terminal patterns are relatively densely distributed in striatum, nucleus accumbens, septum, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, hippocampus, paraventricular thalamus, ventromedial hypothalamus, interpeduncular nucleus, raphe nuclei, nucleus caudalis of the spinal tract of the trigeminal and dorsal horn of the spinal cord. iKEPI-positive cell bodies lie in the nucleus accumbens, striatum, lateral septal nucleus, granular layer of dentate gyrus, interpeduncular nucleus, dorsal root ganglia and cerebellar vermis. These expression patterns point to possible roles for KEPI in regulating protein dephosphorylation by inhibiting PP1 activities in a number of brain pathways likely to use several different neurotransmitters and to participate in a number of brain functions. Dense KEPI immunoreactivity in nucleus accumbens perikarya, combined with evidence for its regulation by opiates, supports possible roles for KEPI in molecular signal transduction pathways important for drug reward and addiction.     

Human papillomavirus E1 and E2 mediated DNA replication is not arrested by DNA damage signalling

Integration of human papillomaviruses into that of the host promotes genomic instability and progression to cancer; factors that promote integration remain to be fully identified. DNA damage agents can promote double strand breaks during DNA replication providing substrates for integration and we investigated the ability of DNA damage to regulate HPV E1 and E2 mediated DNA replication. Results demonstrate that HPV E1 and E2 replication is not arrested following DNA damage, both in vivo and in vitro, while replication by SV40 Large T antigen is arrested and ATR is the candidate kinase for mediating the arrest. LTAg is a target for PIKK DNA damage signalling kinases, while E1 is not. We propose that the failure of E1 to be targeted by PIKKs allows HPV replication in the presence of DNA damaging agents. Such replication will result in double strand breaks in the viral genome ultimately promoting viral integration and cervical cancer.     

Schizosaccharomyces pombe cell division cycle under limited glucose requires Ssp1 kinase, the putative CaMKK, and Sds23, a PP2A-related phosphatase inhibitor

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) is required for diverse cellular functions, and similar kinases exist in fungi. Although mammalian CaMK kinase (CaMKK) activates CaMK and also evolutionarily-conserved AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), CaMKK is yet to be established in yeast. We here report that the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe Ssp1 kinase, which controls G2/M transition and response to stress, is the putative CaMKK. Ssp1 has a CaM binding domain (CBD) and associates with 14-3-3 proteins as mammalian CaMKK does. Temperature-sensitive ssp1 mutants isolated are defective in the tolerance to limited glucose, and this tolerance requires the conserved stretch present between the kinase domain and CBD. Sds23, multi-copy suppressor for mutants defective in type 1 phosphatase and APC/cyclosome, also suppresses the ssp1 phenotype, and is required for the tolerance to limited glucose. We demonstrate that Sds23 binds to type 2A protein phosphatases (PP2A) and PP2A-related phosphatase Ppe1, and that Sds23 inhibits Ppe1 phosphatase activity. Ssp1 and Ppe1 thus seem to antagonize in utilizing limited glucose. We also show that Ppk9 and Ssp2 are the catalytic subunits of AMPK and AMPK-related kinases, respectively, which bind to common β-(Amk2) and γ-(Cbs2) subunits.     

DNA damage, oxidative mutagen sensitivity, and repair of oxidative DNA damage in nonmelanoma skin cancer patients

Nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most frequent type of cancer in humans. Exposure to UV radiation is a major risk factor for NMSC, and oxidative DNA damage, caused either by UV radiation itself or by other agents, may be involved in its induction. Increased sensitivity to oxidative damage and an altered DNA repair capacity (DRC) increase the risk of many types of cancer; however, sensitivity to oxidizing agents has not been evaluated for NMSC, and results regarding DRC in NMSC are inconclusive. In the present study, we evaluated DNA damage and repair in leukocytes from 41 NMSC patients and 45 controls. The Comet assay was used to measure basal and H(2)O(2)-induced DNA damage, as well as the DRC, while the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay was used to measure the basal level of chromosome damage. Although basal DNA damage was higher for the controls than for the patients, this finding was mainly due to sampling more controls in the summer, which was associated with longer comet tails. In contrast, H(2)O(2)-induced DNA damage was significantly higher in cases than in controls, and this parameter was not influenced by the season of the year. The DRC for the H(2)O(2)-induced damage was similar for cases and controls and unrelated to seasonality. Finally, the frequency of binucleated lymphocytes with micronuclei was similar for cases and controls. The results of this study indicate that NMSC patients are distinguished from controls by an increased sensitivity to oxidative DNA damage.     

The mcm2-1 mutation of yeast causes DNA damage with a RAD9 requirement for repair

The minichromosome maintenance mutation, mcm2-1, has been found to synthesize damaged DNA at 35°C. Growth at this temperature rendered the mutant strain more sensitive to killing by ultraviolet irradiation. DNA damage could also be detected by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, where a higher fraction of the DNA loaded was retained in the inserts at the wells. During the exponential phase of growth at this temperature about 50% of the cells had large buds, with the nucleus at or near the neck of the bud in most cases. The incorporation of the rad9 deletion in the mcm2-1-carrying strain caused a reduction in the percentage of large-budded cells and a moderate loss of cell viability. The results are consistent with mcm2-1 causing DNA damage leading to the arrest of cells in the S/G₂ phase of the cell cycle, which was partially dependent on the RAD9 gene product.     

The repair of DNA methylation damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

 The major genotoxicity of methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) is due to the production of a lethal 3-methyladenine (3MeA) lesion. An alkylation-specific base-excision repair pathway in yeast is initiated by a Mag1 3MeA DNA glycosylase that removes the damaged base, followed by an Apn1 apurinic/ apyrimidinic endonuclease that cleaves the DNA strand at the abasic site for subsequent repair. MMS is also regarded as a radiomimetic agent, since a number of DNA radiation-repair mutants are also sensitive to MMS. To understand how these radiation-repair genes are involved in DNA methylation repair, we performed an epistatic analysis by combining yeast mag1 and apn1 mutations with mutations involved in each of the RAD3, RAD6 and RAD52 groups. We found that cells carrying rad6, rad18, rad50 and rad52 single mutations are far more sensitive to killing by MMS than the mag1 mutant, that double mutants were much more sensitive than either of the corresponding single mutants, and that the effects of the double mutants were either additive or synergistic, suggesting that post-replication and recombination-repair pathways recognize either the same lesions as MAG1 and APN1, or else some differ- ent lesions produced by MMS treatment. Lesions handled by recombination and post replication repair are not simply 3MeA, since over-expression of the MAG1 gene does not offset the loss of these pathways. Based on the above analyses, we discuss possible mechanisms for the repair of methylation damage by various pathways. Received: 13 June/24 July 1996     

Age dependency of DNA repair in rats after DNA damage by carcinogens

Damage to DNA seems to be an important cause of cancer and to play a role in aging. Much of this damage results from the action of chemical agents in the environment. These chemicals provide a chance to study DNA repair mechanisms and to construct a model for the investigation of changes in repair with aging. To damage the DNA of male Sprague-Dawley rats aged 6, 22–24 and 24–26 months, three carcinogens were used: N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU), methyl methane sulfonate (MMS) and N,N-dimethylnitrosamine (DMN). DNA repair was measured as unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) in ten (MNU and DMN) and five (MMS) different organs. MNU and MMS react with DNA without being first metabolized and show a higher UDS in lower concentration than DMN which is metabolized enzymatically prior to the reaction. This result suggests that MNU and MMS produce more damage in the DNA. There are distinct differences in the spleen, lung, liver, kidney and heart in young animals as well as in the tissues of the kidney and the duodenum in old rats. Clearly we can see a reduction of UDS in the old as compared to the young animals after damage by MNU in the skin, lung, brain and heart, by MMS in the heart and liver, and by DMN in the kidney, duodenum, lung and liver, and by all three mutagens in the spleen and testes. These results confirm those obtained after damaging DNA by means of γ- and UV-irradiation.     

2nd German-French DNA repair meeting - DNA damage and repair in ageing and degenerative diseases, Konstanz, Germany, September 20-23, 2009

In September 2009, the French Society of Genetic Toxicology and the German Society for Research on DNA Repair jointly organized the ‘2nd German-French DNA repair meeting - DNA damage and repair in ageing and degenerative diseases’, which was held in Konstanz, Germany. Here we summarize the content of the oral presentations given in the various scientific sessions and of prize-winning posters.     

C. elegans mre-11 is required for meiotic recombination and DNA repair but is dispensable for the meiotic G(2) DNA damage checkpoint

We investigated the roles of Caenorhabditis elegans MRE-11 in multiple cellular processes required to maintain genome integrity. Although yeast Mre11 is known to promote genome stability through several diverse pathways, inviability of vertebrate cells that lack Mre11 has hindered elucidation of the in vivo roles of this conserved protein in metazoan biology. Worms homozygous for an mre-11 null mutation are viable, allowing us to demonstrate in vivo requirements for MRE-11 in meiotic recombination and DNA repair. In mre-11 mutants, meiotic crossovers are not detected, and oocyte chromosomes lack chiasmata but appear otherwise intact. gamma-irradiation of mre-11 mutant germ cells during meiotic prophase eliminates progeny survivorship and induces chromosome fragmentation and other cytologically visible abnormalities, indicating a defect in repair of radiation-induced chromosome damage. Whereas mre-11 mutant germ cells are repair-deficient, they retain function of the meiotic G(2) DNA damage checkpoint that triggers germ cell apoptosis in response to ionizing radiation. Although mre-11/mre-11 animals derived from heterozygous parents are viable and produce many embryos, there is a marked drop both in the number and survivorship of embryos produced by succeeding generations. This progressive loss of fecundity and viability indicates that MRE-11 performs a function essential for maintaining reproductive capacity in the species.     

Effect of dietary restriction on DNA repair and DNA damage

Dietary restriction is the only experimental manipulation known to extend lifespan and retard aging in mammals. Therefore, it is a powerful tool for identifying cellular processes that are involved in aging and senescence. Recently, several laboratories have begun to examine the effects of dietary restriction on the integrity of the genome and the ability of cells to repair DNA. In most studies, it was found that the repair of DNA damage, as measured by unscheduled DNA synthesis, was significantly higher in cells isolated from rodents fed calorie-restricted diets compared to cells isolated from rodents fed ad libitum. Dietary restriction also was observed to be associated with a reduction of the levels of certain types of DNA damage; however, preliminary experiments suggest that the effect of dietary restriction on the age-related accumulation of DNA damage depends on the type of DNA damage studied.