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Cell Death & Disease Nov 2023DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are the fatal type of DNA damage mostly induced by exposure genome to ionizing radiation or genotoxic chemicals. DSBs are mainly repaired... (Review)
Review
DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are the fatal type of DNA damage mostly induced by exposure genome to ionizing radiation or genotoxic chemicals. DSBs are mainly repaired by homologous recombination (HR) and nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ). To repair DSBs, a large amount of DNA repair factors was observed to be concentrated at the end of DSBs in a specific spatiotemporal manner to form a repair center. Recently, this repair center was characterized as a condensate derived from liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of key DSBs repair factors. LLPS has been found to be the mechanism of membraneless organelles formation and plays key roles in a variety of biological processes. In this review, the recent advances and mechanisms of LLPS in the formation of DSBs repair-related condensates are summarized.
Topics: DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded; DNA Repair; DNA End-Joining Repair; DNA Damage; DNA
PubMed: 37968256
DOI: 10.1038/s41419-023-06267-0 -
BioEssays : News and Reviews in... May 2018The repair of chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination is essential to maintain genome integrity. The key step in DSB repair is the... (Review)
Review
The repair of chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination is essential to maintain genome integrity. The key step in DSB repair is the RecA/Rad51-mediated process to match sequences at the broken end to homologous donor sequences that can be used as a template to repair the lesion. Here, in reviewing research about DSB repair, I consider the many factors that appear to play important roles in the successful search for homology by several homologous recombination mechanisms. See also the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/vm7-X5uIzS8.
Topics: Animals; DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded; DNA Repair; Humans; Rad51 Recombinase; Rec A Recombinases; Recombinational DNA Repair
PubMed: 29603285
DOI: 10.1002/bies.201700229 -
Trends in Genetics : TIG Jul 2023DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are one of the most genotoxic DNA lesions, driving a range of pathological defects from cancers to immunodeficiencies. To combat genomic... (Review)
Review
DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are one of the most genotoxic DNA lesions, driving a range of pathological defects from cancers to immunodeficiencies. To combat genomic instability caused by DSBs, evolution has outfitted cells with an intricate protein network dedicated to the rapid and accurate repair of these lesions. Pioneering studies have identified and characterized many crucial repair factors in this network, while the advent of genome manipulation tools like clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) has reinvigorated interest in DSB repair mechanisms. This review surveys the latest methodological advances and biological insights gained by utilizing Cas9 as a precise 'damage inducer' for the study of DSB repair. We highlight rapidly inducible Cas9 systems that enable synchronized and efficient break induction. When combined with sequencing and genome-specific imaging approaches, inducible Cas9 systems greatly expand our capability to spatiotemporally characterize cellular responses to DSB at specific genomic coordinates, providing mechanistic insights that were previously unobtainable.
Topics: DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded; CRISPR-Cas Systems; DNA Repair; DNA End-Joining Repair; DNA; Gene Editing
PubMed: 36967246
DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.02.015 -
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences :... May 2017The genome integrity of all organisms is constantly threatened by replication errors and DNA damage arising from endogenous and exogenous sources. Such base pair... (Review)
Review
The genome integrity of all organisms is constantly threatened by replication errors and DNA damage arising from endogenous and exogenous sources. Such base pair anomalies must be accurately repaired to prevent mutagenesis and/or lethality. Thus, it is not surprising that cells have evolved multiple and partially overlapping DNA repair pathways to correct specific types of DNA errors and lesions. Great progress in unraveling these repair mechanisms at the molecular level has been made by several talented researchers, among them Tomas Lindahl, Aziz Sancar, and Paul Modrich, all three Nobel laureates in Chemistry for 2015. Much of this knowledge comes from studies performed in bacteria, yeast, and mammals and has impacted research in plant systems. Two plant features should be mentioned. Plants differ from higher eukaryotes in that they lack a reserve germline and cannot avoid environmental stresses. Therefore, plants have evolved different strategies to sustain genome fidelity through generations and continuous exposure to genotoxic stresses. These strategies include the presence of unique or multiple paralogous genes with partially overlapping DNA repair activities. Yet, in spite (or because) of these differences, plants, especially Arabidopsis thaliana, can be used as a model organism for functional studies. Some advantages of this model system are worth mentioning: short life cycle, availability of both homozygous and heterozygous lines for many genes, plant transformation techniques, tissue culture methods and reporter systems for gene expression and function studies. Here, I provide a current understanding of DNA repair genes in plants, with a special focus on A. thaliana. It is expected that this review will be a valuable resource for future functional studies in the DNA repair field, both in plants and animals.
Topics: Animals; DNA Damage; DNA Repair; Light; Mammals; Plants
PubMed: 27999897
DOI: 10.1007/s00018-016-2436-2 -
International Journal of Molecular... Aug 2021Modification of the human genome has immense potential for preventing or treating disease. Modern genome editing techniques based on CRISPR/Cas9 show great promise for... (Review)
Review
Modification of the human genome has immense potential for preventing or treating disease. Modern genome editing techniques based on CRISPR/Cas9 show great promise for altering disease-relevant genes. The efficacy of precision editing at CRISPR/Cas9-induced double-strand breaks is dependent on the relative activities of nuclear DNA repair pathways, including the homology-directed repair and error-prone non-homologous end-joining pathways. The competition between multiple DNA repair pathways generates mosaic and/or therapeutically undesirable editing outcomes. Importantly, genetic models have validated key DNA repair pathways as druggable targets for increasing editing efficacy. In this review, we highlight approaches that can be used to achieve the desired genome modification, including the latest progress using small molecule modulators and engineered CRISPR/Cas proteins to enhance precision editing.
Topics: Animals; CRISPR-Cas Systems; DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded; DNA End-Joining Repair; Gene Editing; Humans; Models, Genetic; Recombinational DNA Repair
PubMed: 34445274
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22168571 -
Nature Biotechnology Oct 2023Most short sequences can be precisely written into a selected genomic target using prime editing; however, it remains unclear what factors govern insertion. We design a...
Most short sequences can be precisely written into a selected genomic target using prime editing; however, it remains unclear what factors govern insertion. We design a library of 3,604 sequences of various lengths and measure the frequency of their insertion into four genomic sites in three human cell lines, using different prime editor systems in varying DNA repair contexts. We find that length, nucleotide composition and secondary structure of the insertion sequence all affect insertion rates. We also discover that the 3' flap nucleases TREX1 and TREX2 suppress the insertion of longer sequences. Combining the sequence and repair features into a machine learning model, we can predict relative frequency of insertions into a site with R = 0.70. Finally, we demonstrate how our accurate prediction and user-friendly software help choose codon variants of common fusion tags that insert at high efficiency, and provide a catalog of empirically determined insertion rates for over a hundred useful sequences.
Topics: Humans; DNA Repair; DNA Transposable Elements; Gene Editing; CRISPR-Cas Systems
PubMed: 36797492
DOI: 10.1038/s41587-023-01678-y -
Cell Reports Aug 2022A critical determinant of DNA repair pathway choice is REV7, an adaptor that binds to various DNA repair proteins through its C-terminal seatbelt domain. The REV7...
A critical determinant of DNA repair pathway choice is REV7, an adaptor that binds to various DNA repair proteins through its C-terminal seatbelt domain. The REV7 seatbelt binds to either REV3, activating translesion synthesis, or to SHLD3, activating non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair. Recent studies have identified another REV7 seatbelt-binding protein, CHAMP1 (chromosome alignment-maintaining phosphoprotein 1), though its possible role in DNA repair is unknown. Here, we show that binding of CHAMP1 to REV7 activates homologous recombination (HR) repair. Mechanistically, CHAMP1 binds directly to REV7 and reduces the level of the Shieldin complex, causing an increase in double-strand break end resection. CHAMP1 also interacts with POGZ in a heterochromatin complex further promoting HR repair. Importantly, in human tumors, CHAMP1 overexpression promotes HR, confers poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor resistance, and correlates with poor prognosis. Thus, by binding to either SHLD3 or CHAMP1 through its seatbelt, the REV7 protein can promote either NHEJ or HR repair, respectively.
Topics: Cell Cycle Proteins; Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; DNA End-Joining Repair; DNA Repair; Homologous Recombination; Humans; Mad2 Proteins; Phosphoproteins; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors; Recombinational DNA Repair; Transposases
PubMed: 36044844
DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111297 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) May 2020Epigenetic research has rapidly evolved into a dynamic field of genome biology. Chromatin regulation has been proved to be an essential aspect for all genomic processes,... (Review)
Review
Epigenetic research has rapidly evolved into a dynamic field of genome biology. Chromatin regulation has been proved to be an essential aspect for all genomic processes, including DNA repair. Chromatin structure is modified by enzymes and factors that deposit, erase, and interact with epigenetic marks such as DNA and histone modifications, as well as by complexes that remodel nucleosomes. In this review we discuss recent advances on how the chromatin state is modulated during this multi-step process of damage recognition, signaling, and repair. Moreover, we examine how chromatin is regulated when different pathways of DNA repair are utilized. Furthermore, we review additional modes of regulation of DNA repair, such as through the role of global and localized chromatin states in maintaining expression of DNA repair genes, as well as through the activity of epigenetic enzymes on non-nucleosome substrates. Finally, we discuss current and future applications of the mechanistic interplays between chromatin regulation and DNA repair in the context cancer treatment.
Topics: Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; DNA Damage; DNA Repair; Epigenesis, Genetic; Humans
PubMed: 32471288
DOI: 10.3390/molecules25112496 -
International Journal of Molecular... Oct 2022Microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ) is a highly mutagenic pathway to repair double-strand breaks (DSBs). MMEJ was thought to be a backup pathway of homologous... (Review)
Review
Microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ) is a highly mutagenic pathway to repair double-strand breaks (DSBs). MMEJ was thought to be a backup pathway of homologous recombination (HR) and canonical nonhomologous end joining (C-NHEJ). However, it attracts more attention in cancer research due to its special function of microhomology in many different aspects of cancer. In particular, it is initiated with DNA end resection and upregulated in homologous recombination-deficient cancers. In this review, I summarize the following: (1) the recent findings and contributions of MMEJ to genome instability, including phenotypes relevant to MMEJ; (2) the interaction between MMEJ and other DNA repair pathways; (3) the proposed mechanistic model of MMEJ in DNA DSB repair and a new connection with microhomology-mediated break-induced replication (MMBIR); and (4) the potential clinical application by targeting MMEJ based on synthetic lethality for cancer therapy.
Topics: Humans; DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded; DNA End-Joining Repair; DNA Repair; Homologous Recombination; Genomic Instability; DNA
PubMed: 36361724
DOI: 10.3390/ijms232112937 -
Cells Apr 2021bacteria are extremely resistant to radiation and able to repair a shattered genome in an essentially error-free manner after exposure to high doses of radiation or... (Review)
Review
bacteria are extremely resistant to radiation and able to repair a shattered genome in an essentially error-free manner after exposure to high doses of radiation or prolonged desiccation. An efficient, SOS-independent response mechanism to induce various DNA repair genes such as is essential for radiation resistance. This pathway, called radiation/desiccation response, is controlled by metallopeptidase IrrE and repressor DdrO that are highly conserved in . Among various species, has been studied most extensively. Its genome encodes classical DNA repair proteins for error-free repair but no error-prone translesion DNA polymerases, which may suggest that absence of mutagenic lesion bypass is crucial for error-free repair of massive DNA damage. However, many other radiation-resistant species do possess translesion polymerases, and radiation-induced mutagenesis has been demonstrated. At least dozens of species contain a mutagenesis cassette, and some even two cassettes, encoding error-prone translesion polymerase DnaE2 and two other proteins, ImuY and ImuB-C, that are probable accessory factors required for DnaE2 activity. Expression of this mutagenesis cassette is under control of the SOS regulators RecA and LexA. In this paper, we review both the RecA/LexA-controlled mutagenesis and the IrrE/DdrO-controlled radiation/desiccation response in .
Topics: DNA Repair; Deinococcus; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Mutagenesis; Radiation Tolerance; SOS Response, Genetics
PubMed: 33923690
DOI: 10.3390/cells10040924