The Rad5 Helicase and RING Domains Contribute to Genome Stability through their Independent Catalytic Activities.

Genomic stability is compromised by DNA damage that obstructs replication. Rad5 plays a prominent role in DNA damage bypass processes that evolved to ensure the continuation of stalled replication. Like its human orthologs, the HLTF and SHPRH tumor suppressors, yeast Rad5 has a RING domain that supports ubiquitin ligase activity promoting PCNA polyubiquitylation and a helicase domain that in the case of HLTF and Rad5 was shown to exhibit an ATPase-linked replication fork reversal activity. The RING domain is embedded in the helicase domain, confusing their separate investigation and the understanding of the exact role of Rad5 in DNA damage bypass. Particularly, it is still debated whether the helicase domain plays a catalytic or a non-enzymatic role during error-free damage bypass and whether it facilitates a function separately from the RING domain. In this study, through in vivo and in vitro characterization of domain-specific mutants, we delineate the contributions of the two domains to Rad5 function. Yeast genetic experiments and whole-genome sequencing complemented with biochemical assays demonstrate that the ubiquitin ligase and the ATPase-linked activities of Rad5 exhibit independent catalytic activities in facilitating separate pathways during error-free lesion bypass. Our results also provide important insights into the mutagenic role of Rad5 and indicate its tripartite contribution to DNA damage tolerance.

DNA-dependent protease activity of human Spartan facilitates replication of DNA-protein crosslink-containing DNA.

Mutations in SPARTAN are associated with early onset hepatocellular carcinoma and progeroid features. A regulatory function of Spartan has been implicated in DNA damage tolerance pathways such as translesion synthesis, but the exact function of the protein remained unclear. Here, we reveal the role of human Spartan in facilitating replication of DNA-protein crosslink-containing DNA. We found that purified Spartan has a DNA-dependent protease activity degrading certain proteins bound to DNA. In concert, Spartan is required for direct DPC removal in vivo; we also show that the protease Spartan facilitates repair of formaldehyde-induced DNA-protein crosslinks in later phases of replication using the bromodeoxyuridin (BrdU) comet assay. Moreover, DNA fibre assay indicates that formaldehyde-induced replication stress dramatically decreases the speed of replication fork movement in Spartan-deficient cells, which accumulate in the G2/M cell cycle phase. Finally, epistasis analysis mapped these Spartan functions to the RAD6-RAD18 DNA damage tolerance pathway. Our results reveal that Spartan facilitates replication of DNA-protein crosslink-containing DNA enzymatically, as a protease, which may explain its role in preventing carcinogenesis and aging.