Yeast hEST1A/B (SMG5/6)- Like proteins contribute to environment-sensing adaptive gene expression responses

During its natural life cycle, budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) has to adapt to drastically changing environments, but how environmental-sensing pathways are linked to adaptive gene expression changes remains incompletely understood. Here, we des

Rad9 BRCT domain interaction with phosphorylated H2AX regulates the G1 checkpoint in budding yeast

Phosphorylation of histone H2A or H2AX is an early and sensitive marker of DNA damage in eukaryotic cells, although mutation of the conserved damage-dependent phosphorylation site is well tolerated. Here, we show that H2A phosphorylation is required for cell-cycle arrest in response to DNA damage at the G1/S transition in budding yeast. Furthermore, we show that the tandem BRCT domain of Rad9 interacts directly with phosphorylated H2A in vitro and that a rad9 point mutation that abolishes this interaction results in in vivo phenotypes that are similar to those caused by an H2A phosphorylation site mutation. Remarkably, similar checkpoint defects are also caused by a Rad9 Tudor domain mutation that impairs Rad9 chromatin association already in undamaged cells. These findings indicate that constitutive Tudor domain-mediated and damage-specific BRCT domain–phospho-H2A-dependent interactions of Rad9 with chromatin cooperate to establish G1 checkpoint arrest

Ccr4-Not Complex mRNA Deadenylase Activity Contributes to DNA Damage Responses in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

DNA damage checkpoints regulate gene expression at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. Some components of the yeast Ccr4-Not complex, which regulates transcription as well as transcript turnover, have previously been linked to DNA damage responses, but it is unclear if this involves transcriptional or post-transcriptional functions. Here we show that CCR4 and CAF1, which together encode the major cytoplasmic mRNA deadenylase complex, have complex genetic interactions with the checkpoint genes DUN1, MRC1, RAD9, and RAD17 in response to DNA-damaging agents hydroxyurea (HU) and methylmethane sulfonate (MMS). The exonuclease-inactivating ccr4-1 point mutation mimics ccr4Δ phenotypes, including synthetic HU hypersensitivity with dun1Δ, demonstrating that Ccr4-Not mRNA deadenylase activity is required for DNA damage responses. However, ccr4Δ and caf1Δ DNA damage phenotypes and genetic interactions with checkpoint genes are not identical, and deletions of some Not components that are believed to predominantly function at the transcriptional level rather than mRNA turnover, e.g., not5Δ, also lead to increased DNA damage sensitivity and synthetic HU hypersensitivity with dun1Δ. Taken together, our data thus suggest that both transcriptional and post-transcriptional functions of the Ccr4-Not complex contribute to the DNA damage response affecting gene expression in a complex manner

Is RNASEL:p.Glu265* a modifier of early-onset breast cancer risk for carriers of high-risk mutations?

Abstract Background Breast cancer risk for BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic mutation carriers is modified by risk factors that cluster in families, including genetic modifiers of risk. We considered genetic modifiers of risk for carriers of high-risk mutations in other breast cancer susceptibility genes. Methods In a family known to carry the high-risk mutation PALB2:c.3113G>A (p.Trp1038*), whole-exome sequencing was performed on germline DNA from four affected women, three of whom were mutation carriers. Results RNASEL:p.Glu265* was identified in one of the PALB2 carriers who had two primary invasive breast cancer diagnoses before 50 years. Gene-panel testing of BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2 and RNASEL in the Australian Breast Cancer Family Registry identified five carriers of RNASEL:p.Glu265* in 591 early onset breast cancer cases. Three of the five women (60%) carrying RNASEL:p.Glu265* also carried a pathogenic mutation in a breast cancer susceptibility gene compared with 30 carriers of pathogenic mutations in the 586 non-carriers of RNASEL:p.Glu265* (5%) (p < 0.002). Taqman genotyping demonstrated that the allele frequency of RNASEL:p.Glu265* was similar in affected and unaffected Australian women, consistent with other populations. Conclusion Our study suggests that RNASEL:p.Glu265* may be a genetic modifier of risk for early-onset breast cancer predisposition in carriers of high-risk mutations. Much larger case-case and case-control studies are warranted to test the association observed in this report