Fission Yeast Rad26 Is a Regulatory Subunit of the Rad3 Checkpoint Kinase

Fission yeast Rad3 is a member of a family of phosphoinositide 3-kinase -related kinases required for the maintenance of genomic stability in all eukaryotic cells. In fission yeast, Rad3 regulates the cell cycle arrest and recovery activities associated with the G2/M checkpoint. We have developed an assay that directly measures Rad3 kinase activity in cells expressing physiological levels of the protein. Using the assay, we demonstrate directly that Rad3 kinase activity is stimulated by checkpoint signals. Of the five other G2/M checkpoint proteins (Hus1, Rad1, Rad9, Rad17, and Rad26), only Rad26 was required for Rad3 kinase activity. Because Rad26 has previously been shown to interact constitutively with Rad3, our results demonstrate that Rad26 is a regulatory subunit, and Rad3 is the catalytic subunit, of the Rad3/Rad26 kinase complex. Analysis of Rad26/Rad3 kinase activation in rad26.T12, a mutant that is proficient for cell cycle arrest, but defective in recovery, suggests that these two responses to checkpoint signals require quantitatively different levels of kinase activity from the Rad3/Rad26 complex

Cellular adaptation to hypoxia and p53 transcription regulation*

Tumor suppressor p53 is the most frequently mutated gene in human tumors. Meanwhile, under stress conditions, p53 also acts as a transcription factor, regulating the expression of a series of target genes to maintain the integrity of genome. The target genes of p53 can be classified into genes regulating cell cycle arrest, genes involved in apoptosis, and genes inhibiting angiogenesis. p53 protein contains a transactivation domain, a sequence-specific DNA binding domain, a tetramerization domain, a non-specific DNA binding domain that recognizes damaged DNA, and a later identified proline-rich domain. Under stress, p53 proteins accumulate and are activated through two mechanisms. One, involving ataxia telangiectasia-mutated protein (ATM), is that the interaction between p53 and its down-regulation factor murine double minute 2 (MDM2) decreases, leading to p53 phosphorylation on Ser15, as determined by the post-translational mechanism; the other holds that p53 increases and is activated through the binding of ribosomal protein L26 (RPL26) or nucleolin to p53 mRNA 5′ untranslated region (UTR), regulating p53 translation. Under hypoxia, p53 decreases transactivation and increases transrepression. The mutations outside the DNA binding domain of p53 also contribute to tumor progress, so further studies on p53 should also be focused on this direction. The subterranean blind mole rat Spalax in Israel is a good model for hypoxia-adaptation. The p53 of Spalax mutated in residue 172 and residue 207 from arginine to lysine, conferring it the ability to survive hypoxic conditions. This model indicates that p53 acts as a master gene of diversity formation during evolution

Cell Proliferation and DNA Breaks Are Involved in Ultraviolet Light-induced Apoptosis in Nucleotide Excision Repair-deficient Chinese Hamster Cells

UV light targets both membrane receptors and nuclear DNA, thus evoking signals triggering apoptosis. Although receptor-mediated apoptosis has been extensively investigated, the role of DNA damage in apoptosis is less clear. To analyze the importance of DNA damage induced by UV-C light in apoptosis, we compared nucleotide excision repair (NER)-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cells (lines 27-1 and 43-3B mutated for the repair genes ERCC3 and ERCC1, respectively) with the corresponding DNA repair-proficient fibroblasts (CHO-9 and ERCC1 complemented 43-3B cells). NER-deficient cells were hypersensitive as to the induction of apoptosis, indicating that apoptosis induced by UV-C light is due to unrepaired DNA base damage. Unrepaired lesions, however, do not activate the apoptotic pathway directly because apoptosis upon UV-C irradiation requires DNA replication and cell proliferation. It is also shown that in NER-deficient cells unrepaired lesions are converted into DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and chromosomal aberrations by a replication-dependent process that precedes apoptosis. We therefore propose that DSBs arising from replication of DNA containing nonrepaired lesions act as an ultimate trigger of UV-C–induced apoptosis. Induction of apoptosis by UV-C light was related to decline in the expression level of Bcl-2 and activation of caspases. Decline of Bcl-2 and subsequent apoptosis might also be caused, at least in part, by UV-C–induced blockage of transcription, which was more pronounced in NER-deficient than in wild-type cells. This is in line with experiments with actinomycin D, which provoked Bcl-2 decline and apoptosis. UV-C–induced apoptosis due to nonrepaired DNA lesions, replication-dependent formation of DSBs, and activation of the mitochondrial damage pathway is independent of functional p53 for which the cells are mutated

The Yeast<i>TEL1</i>Gene Partially Substitutes for Human<i>ATM</i>in Suppressing Hyperrecombination, Radiation-Induced Apoptosis and Telomere Shortening in A-T Cells

Homozygous mutations in the human ATM gene lead to a pleiotropic clinical phenotype of ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) patients and correlating cellular deficiencies in cells derived from A-T donors. Saccharomyces cerevisiae tel1 mutants lacking Tel1p, which is the closest sequence homologue to the ATM protein, share some of the cellular defects with A-T. Through genetic complementation of A-T cells with the yeast TEL1 gene, we provide evidence that Tel1p can partially compensate for ATM in suppressing hyperrecombination, radiation-induced apoptosis, and telomere shortening. Complementation appears to be independent of p53 activation. The data provided suggest that TEL1 is a functional homologue of human ATM in yeast, and they help to elucidate different cellular and biochemical pathways in human cells regulated by the ATM protein.</jats:p