Homologous DNA recombination in vertebrate cells.

The RAD52 epistasis group genes are involved in homologous DNA recombination, and their primary structures are conserved from yeast to humans. Although biochemical studies have suggested that the fundamental mechanism of homologous DNA recombination is conserved from yeast to mammals, recent studies of vertebrate cells deficient in genes of the RAD52 epistasis group reveal that the role of each protein is not necessarily the same as that of the corresponding yeast gene product. This review addresses the roles and mechanisms of homologous recombination-mediated repair with a special emphasis on differences between yeast and vertebrate cells.

Reverse genetic studies of homologous DNA recombination using the chicken B-lymphocyte line, DT40.

DT40 is an avian leucosis virus-transformed chicken B-lymphocyte line which exhibits high ratios of targeted to random integration of transfected DNA constructs. This efficient targeted integration may be related to the ongoing diversification of the variable segment of the immunoglobulin gene through homologous DNA recombination-controlled gene conversion. DT40s are a convenient model system for making gene-targeted mutants. Another advantage is the relative tractability of these cells, which makes it possible to disrupt multiple genes in a single cell and to generate conditionally gene-targeted mutants including temperature-sensitive mutants. There are strong phenotypic similarities between murine and DT40 mutants of various genes involved in DNA recombination. These similarities confirm that the DT40 cell line is a reasonable model for the analysis of vertebrate DNA recombination, despite obvious concerns associated with the use of a transformed cell line, which may have certain cell-line-specific characteristics. Here we describe our studies of homologous DNA recombination in vertebrate somatic cells using reverse genetics in DT40 cells.

DNA repair studies: experimental evidence in support of chicken DT40 cell line as a unique model.

DT40 is a chicken B lymphocyte cell line that exhibits a high ratio of targeted and random integration of transfected DNA constructs. Using the DT40 cell line makes it comparatively easy to disrupt multiple genes in a single cell and to generate conditional targeted mutants including tet-controlled cre-lox-mediated and temperature-sensitive mutants. The DT40 mutants show a strong phenotypic resemblance to murine mutants with respect to genes involved in DNA recombination and repair. Because of these characteristics, DT40 is an attractive model for the analysis of DNA recombination and repair studies in vertebrates despite obvious concerns associated with the use of a transformed cell line that may have certain cell-line-specific characteristics. We present experimental evidence to demonstrate the usefulness of the DT40 cell line as a unique model to study DNA damaging events and their associated repair pathways.

Control of metaphase-anaphase progression by proteolysis: cyclosome function regulated by the protein kinase A pathway, ubiquitination and localization.

Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis is fundamental to cell cycle progression. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a mitotic cyclin (Cdc13), a key cell cycle regulator, is degraded for exiting mitosis, while Cut2 has to be destroyed for the onset of sister chromatid separation in anaphase. Ubiquitination of these proteins requires the special destruction box (DB) sequences locating in their N-termini and the large, 20S complex called the anaphase-promoting complex or cyclosome. Here we show that cyclosome function during metaphase-anaphase progression is regulated by the protein kinase A (PKA) inactivation pathway, ubiquitination of the cyclosome subunit, and cellular localization of the target substrates. Evidence is provided that the cyclosome plays pleiotropic roles in the cell cycle: mutations in the subunit genes show a common anaphase defect, but subunit-specific phenotypes such as in G1/S or G2/M transition, septation and cytokinesis, stress response and heavy metal sensitivity, are additionally produced, suggesting that different subunits take distinct parts of complex cyclosome functions. Inactivation of PKA is important for the activation of the cyclosome for promoting anaphase, perhaps through dephosphorylation of the subunits such as Cut9 (Apc6). Cut4 (Apc1), the largest subunit, plays an essential role in the assembly and functional regulation of the cyclosome in response to cell cycle arrest and stresses. Cut4 is highly modified, probably by ubiquitination, when it is not assembled into the 20S cyclosome. Sds23 is implicated in DB-mediated ubiquitination possibly through regulating de-ubiquitination, while Cut8 is necessary for efficient proteolysis of Cdc13 and Cut2 coupled with cytokinesis. Unexpectedly, the timing of proteolysis is dependent on cellular localization of the substrate. Cdc13 enriched along the spindle disappears first, followed by decay of the nuclear signal, whereas Cut2 in the nucleus disappears first, followed by decline in the spindle signal during metaphase-anaphase progression.

Mre11 is essential for the maintenance of chromosomal DNA in vertebrate cells.

Yeast Mre11 functions with Rad50 and Xrs2 in a complex that has pivotal roles in homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair pathways. Vertebrate Mre11 is essential. Conditionally, MRE11 null chicken DT40 cells accumulate chromosome breaks and die upon Mre11 repression, showing frequent centrosome amplification. Mre11 deficiency also causes increased radiosensitivity and strongly reduced targeted integration frequencies. Mre11 is, therefore, crucial for HR and essential in mitosis through its role in chromosome maintenance by recombinational repair. Surprisingly perhaps, given the role of Mre11 in yeast NHEJ, disruption of NHEJ by deletion of KU70 greatly exacerbates the effects of MRE11 deficiency, revealing a significant Mre11-independent component of metazoan NHEJ.

Fission yeast APC/cyclosome subunits, Cut20/Apc4 and Cut23/Apc8, in regulating metaphase-anaphase progression and cellular stress responses.

BACKGROUND: The 20S cyclosome/APC complex promotes metaphase-anaphase transition by ubiquitinating its specific substrates such as mitotic cyclins and anaphase inhibitor Cut2/Pds1/securin. The complex has been shown to contain more than 10 proteins in budding yeast and frog. In fission yeast, however, only five (Cut4, Cut9, Nuc2, Apc10, Hcn1) have been identified. RESULTS: More than five hundred temperature-sensitive mutants were screened for identifying those defective in mitotic anaphase. Fifty-five showed the cut (cell untimely torn) phenotype or metaphase-arrest phenotypes, 27 of them locating at new loci. Their extracts were run in sucrose gradient centrifugation, and four showed alterations in the sedimentation profiles. The gene products of cut20+ and cut23+ were thus identified. Phenotypes of cut20-100 mutant highly resemble cut4-533 in many ways: they are hypersensitive to canavanine and CdCl2, and suppressed by PKA-inactivating regulators, cAMP-dependent phosphodiesterase and PKA regulatory subunits. Cut20 interacts closely with Cut4 in the assembly process of cyclosome. But cut20 mutant differs from cut4, as a novel gene stw1+ suppresses cut20 mutant but not cut4. cut23-194 mutant cells are sterile and blocked at metaphase, but does not show sensitivity to the stress and cAMP. TPR repeat-containing Cut23 may not be the stable component of APC/cyclosome, and its level significantly fluctuates during cell cycle. Cut23 may be ubiquitinated and degraded in a cell cycle dependent fashion. CONCLUSIONS: We identified two new subunits of fission yeast cyclosome/APC complex. Our observations indicate that cyclosome components are divided into several subgroups with distinctly different roles.

Dynamics of centromeres during metaphase-anaphase transition in fission yeast: Dis1 is implicated in force balance in metaphase bipolar spindle.

In higher eukaryotic cells, the spindle forms along with chromosome condensation in mitotic prophase. In metaphase, chromosomes are aligned on the spindle with sister kinetochores facing toward the opposite poles. In anaphase A, sister chromatids separate from each other without spindle extension, whereas spindle elongation takes place during anaphase B. We have critically examined whether such mitotic stages also occur in a lower eukaryote, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Using the green fluorescent protein tagging technique, early mitotic to late anaphase events were observed in living fission yeast cells. S. pombe has three phases in spindle dynamics, spindle formation (phase 1), constant spindle length (phase 2), and spindle extension (phase 3). Sister centromere separation (anaphase A) rapidly occurred at the end of phase 2. The centromere showed dynamic movements throughout phase 2 as it moved back and forth and was transiently split in two before its separation, suggesting that the centromere was positioned in a bioriented manner toward the poles at metaphase. Microtubule-associating Dis1 was required for the occurrence of constant spindle length and centromere movement in phase 2. Normal transition from phase 2 to 3 needed DNA topoisomerase II and Cut1 but not Cut14. The duration of each phase was highly dependent on temperature.

20S cyclosome complex formation and proteolytic activity inhibited by the cAMP/PKA pathway.

The 20S cyclosome complex (also known as the anaphase-promoting complex) has ubiquitin ligase activity and is required for mitotic cyclin destruction and sister chromatid separation. The formation and activation of the 20S cyclosome complex is regulated by an unknown mechanism. Here we show that Cut4 (ref. 6) is an essential component of the cyclosome in fission yeast. Cut4 shares sequence similarity with BimE, a protein that regulates mitosis in Aspergillus nidulans. Mutations in cut4 result in hypersensitivity to cyclic AMP and to stress-inducing heavy metals, inhibition of the onset of anaphase, disruption of the 20S complex, and inhibition of mitotic cyclin ubiquitination. These phenotypes are fully suppressed by cAMP phosphodiesterase and the protein kinase A (PKA) regulatory subunit and weakly suppressed by Sti1 (an activator of the Hsp70 and Hsp90 chaperones). Suppression correlates with the amount of 20S complex, indicating that cyclosome formation and activation is inhibited by the cAMP/PKA pathway.