The eukaryotic Pso2/Snm1/Artemis proteins and their function as genomic and cellular caretakers

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) represent a major threat to the genomic stability of eukaryotic cells. DNA repair mechanisms such as non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) are responsible for the maintenance of eukaryotic genomes. Dysfunction of one or more of the many protein complexes that function in NHEJ can lead to sensitivity to DNA damaging agents, apoptosis, genomic instability, and severe combined immunodeficiency. One protein, Pso2p, was shown to participate in the repair of DSBs induced by DNA inter-strand cross-linking (ICL) agents such as cisplatin, nitrogen mustard or photo-activated bi-functional psoralens. The molecular function of Pso2p in DNA repair is unknown, but yeast and mammalian cell line mutants for PSO2 show the same cellular responses as strains with defects in NHEJ, e.g., sensitivity to ICLs and apoptosis. The Pso2p human homologue Artemis participates in V(D)J recombination. Mutations in Artemis induce a variety of immunological deficiencies, a predisposition to lymphomas, and an increase in chromosomal aberrations. In order to better understand the role of Pso2p in the repair of DSBs generated as repair intermediates of ICLs, an in silico approach was used to characterize the catalytic domain of Pso2p, which led to identification of novel Pso2p homologues in other organisms. Moreover, we found the catalytic core of Pso2p fused to different domains. In plants, a specific ATP-dependent DNA ligase I contains the catalytic core of Pso2p, constituting a new DNA ligase family, which was named LIG6. The possible functions of Pso2p/Artemis/Lig6p in NHEJ and V(D)J recombination and in other cellular metabolic reactions are discussed.

Human FEN-1 can process the 5'-flap DNA of CTG/CAG triplet repeat derived from human genetic diseases by length and sequence dependent manner

Trinucleotide repeat (TNR) instability can cause a variety of human genetic diseases including myotonic dystrophy and Huntington's disease. Recent genetic data show that instability of the CAG/CTG repeat DNA is dependent on its length and replication origin. In yeast, the RAD27 (human FEN-1 homologue) null mutant has a high expansion frequency at the TNR loci. We demonstrate here that FEN-1 processes the 5'-flap DNA of CTG/CAG repeats, which is dependent on the length in vitro. FEN-1 protein can cleave the 5'-flap DNA containing triplet repeating sequence up to 21 repeats, but the activity decreases with increasing size of flap above 11 repeats. In addition, FEN-1 processing of 5'-flap DNA depends on sequence, which play a role in the replication origin-dependent TNR instability. Interestingly, FEN-1 can cleave the 5'-flap DNA of CTG repeats better than CAG repeats possibly through the flap-structure. Our biochemical data of FEN-1's activity with triplet repeat DNA clearly shows length dependence, and aids our understanding on the mechanism of TNR instability.

Human FEN-1 can process the 5'-flap DNA of CTG/CAG triplet repeat derived from human genetic diseases by length and sequence dependent manner

Trinucleotide repeat (TNR) instability can cause a variety of human genetic diseases including myotonic dystrophy and Huntington's disease. Recent genetic data show that instability of the CAG/CTG repeat DNA is dependent on its length and replication origin. In yeast, the RAD27 (human FEN-1 homologue) null mutant has a high expansion frequency at the TNR loci. We demonstrate here that FEN-1 processes the 5'-flap DNA of CTG/CAG repeats, which is dependent on the length in vitro. FEN-1 protein can cleave the 5'-flap DNA containing triplet repeating sequence up to 21 repeats, but the activity decreases with increasing size of flap above 11 repeats. In addition, FEN-1 processing of 5'-flap DNA depends on sequence, which play a role in the replication origin-dependent TNR instability. Interestingly, FEN-1 can cleave the 5'-flap DNA of CTG repeats better than CAG repeats possibly through the flap-structure. Our biochemical data of FEN-1's activity with triplet repeat DNA clearly shows length dependence, and aids our understanding on the mechanism of TNR instability.

Down-regulation of human FEN-1 gene expression during differentiation of promyelocytic leukemia cells

Flap endo/exonuclease-1 (FEN-1) recognizes 5'-flap DNA structures that have been proposed to be important intermediates in DNA replication, repair and recombination, and cleaves the double strand-single strand junction of flap substrates. Using an in vitro model system, recent studies have shown that FEN-1 is a necessary enzyme for the removal of RNA primers in Okazaki fragment maturation during lagging strand DNA synthesis. In this report, the FEN-1 gene expression was examined during cell cycle and differentiation. Although FEN-1 mRNA and protein could be detected at all stages of the cell cycle, their levels were more elevated in exponentially proliferating cells than in G1 or G2/M-synchronized cells. Moreover, a significant increase of FEN-1 protein was observed when temporarily quiescent fibroblasts were induced to proliferate by serum stimulation. In contrast, the FEN-1 mRNA level showed a sharp decrease in HL-60 cells differentiated by dimethyl-sulfoxide, all-trans retinoic acid or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. These results demonstrate that the FEN-1 gene expression is up-regulated during entrance into the mitotic cell cycle and down-regulated in nongrowing cells, as in the case of differentiated promyelocytic leukemia cells.