Browsing by Subject "Cell Cycle Checkpoints"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    A Switch in p53 Dynamics Marks Cells That Escape from DSB-Induced Cell Cycle Arrest.
    (Cell reports, 2020-08) Tsabar, Michael; Mock, Caroline S; Venkatachalam, Veena; Reyes, Jose; Karhohs, Kyle W; Oliver, Trudy G; Regev, Aviv; Jambhekar, Ashwini; Lahav, Galit
    Cellular responses to stimuli can evolve over time, resulting in distinct early and late phases in response to a single signal. DNA damage induces a complex response that is largely orchestrated by the transcription factor p53, whose dynamics influence whether a damaged cell will arrest and repair the damage or will initiate cell death. How p53 responses and cellular outcomes evolve in the presence of continuous DNA damage remains unknown. Here, we have found that a subset of cells switches from oscillating to sustained p53 dynamics several days after undergoing damage. The switch results from cell cycle progression in the presence of damaged DNA, which activates the caspase-2-PIDDosome, a complex that stabilizes p53 by inactivating its negative regulator MDM2. This work defines a molecular pathway that is activated if the canonical checkpoints fail to halt mitosis in the presence of damaged DNA.
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    Evolution of networks and sequences in eukaryotic cell cycle control.
    (Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 2011-12-27) Cross, Frederick R; Buchler, Nicolas E; Skotheim, Jan M
    The molecular networks regulating the G1-S transition in budding yeast and mammals are strikingly similar in network structure. However, many of the individual proteins performing similar network roles appear to have unrelated amino acid sequences, suggesting either extremely rapid sequence evolution, or true polyphyly of proteins carrying out identical network roles. A yeast/mammal comparison suggests that network topology, and its associated dynamic properties, rather than regulatory proteins themselves may be the most important elements conserved through evolution. However, recent deep phylogenetic studies show that fungal and animal lineages are relatively closely related in the opisthokont branch of eukaryotes. The presence in plants of cell cycle regulators such as Rb, E2F and cyclins A and D, that appear lost in yeast, suggests cell cycle control in the last common ancestor of the eukaryotes was implemented with this set of regulatory proteins. Forward genetics in non-opisthokonts, such as plants or their green algal relatives, will provide direct information on cell cycle control in these organisms, and may elucidate the potentially more complex cell cycle control network of the last common eukaryotic ancestor.
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    Suppression of DNA-damage checkpoint signaling by Rsk-mediated phosphorylation of Mre11.
    (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2013-12-17) Chen, Chen; Zhang, Liguo; Huang, Nai-Jia; Huang, Bofu; Kornbluth, Sally
    Ataxia telangiectasia mutant (ATM) is an S/T-Q-directed kinase that is critical for the cellular response to double-stranded breaks (DSBs) in DNA. Following DNA damage, ATM is activated and recruited by the MRN protein complex [meiotic recombination 11 (Mre11)/DNA repair protein Rad50/Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 proteins] to sites of DNA damage where ATM phosphorylates multiple substrates to trigger cell-cycle arrest. In cancer cells, this regulation may be faulty, and cell division may proceed even in the presence of damaged DNA. We show here that the ribosomal s6 kinase (Rsk), often elevated in cancers, can suppress DSB-induced ATM activation in both Xenopus egg extracts and human tumor cell lines. In analyzing each step in ATM activation, we have found that Rsk targets loading of MRN complex components onto DNA at DSB sites. Rsk can phosphorylate the Mre11 protein directly at S676 both in vitro and in intact cells and thereby can inhibit the binding of Mre11 to DNA with DSBs. Accordingly, mutation of S676 to Ala can reverse inhibition of the response to DSBs by Rsk. Collectively, these data point to Mre11 as an important locus of Rsk-mediated checkpoint inhibition acting upstream of ATM activation.
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    The bromodomain protein Brd4 insulates chromatin from DNA damage signalling.
    (Nature, 2013-06-13) Floyd, Scott R; Pacold, Michael E; Huang, Qiuying; Clarke, Scott M; Lam, Fred C; Cannell, Ian G; Bryson, Bryan D; Rameseder, Jonathan; Lee, Michael J; Blake, Emily J; Fydrych, Anna; Ho, Richard; Greenberger, Benjamin A; Chen, Grace C; Maffa, Amanda; Del Rosario, Amanda M; Root, David E; Carpenter, Anne E; Hahn, William C; Sabatini, David M; Chen, Clark C; White, Forest M; Bradner, James E; Yaffe, Michael B
    DNA damage activates a signalling network that blocks cell-cycle progression, recruits DNA repair factors and/or triggers senescence or programmed cell death. Alterations in chromatin structure are implicated in the initiation and propagation of the DNA damage response. Here we further investigate the role of chromatin structure in the DNA damage response by monitoring ionizing-radiation-induced signalling and response events with a high-content multiplex RNA-mediated interference screen of chromatin-modifying and -interacting genes. We discover that an isoform of Brd4, a bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) family member, functions as an endogenous inhibitor of DNA damage response signalling by recruiting the condensin II chromatin remodelling complex to acetylated histones through bromodomain interactions. Loss of this isoform results in relaxed chromatin structure, rapid cell-cycle checkpoint recovery and enhanced survival after irradiation, whereas functional gain of this isoform compacted chromatin, attenuated DNA damage response signalling and enhanced radiation-induced lethality. These data implicate Brd4, previously known for its role in transcriptional control, as an insulator of chromatin that can modulate the signalling response to DNA damage.