A Checkpoint-Related Function of the MCM Replicative Helicase Is Required to Avert Accumulation of RNA:DNA Hybrids during S-phase and Ensuing DSBs during G2/M

The Mcm2-7 complex is the catalytic core of the eukaryotic replicative helicase. Here, we identify a new role for this complex in maintaining genome integrity. Using both genetic and cytological approaches, we find that a specific mcm allele (mcm2DENQ) causes elevated genome instability that correlates with the appearance of numerous DNA-damage associated foci of γH2AX and Rad52. We further find that the triggering events for this genome instability are elevated levels of RNA:DNA hybrids and an altered DNA topological state, as over-expression of either RNaseH (an enzyme specific for degradation of RNA in RNA:DNA hybrids) or Topoisomerase 1 (an enzyme that relieves DNA supercoiling) can suppress the mcm2DENQ DNA-damage phenotype. Moreover, the observed DNA damage has several additional unusual properties, in that DNA damage foci appear only after S-phase, in G2/M, and are dependent upon progression into metaphase. In addition, we show that the resultant DNA damage is not due to spontaneous S-phase fork collapse. In total, these unusual mcm2DENQ phenotypes are markedly similar to those of a special previously-studied allele of the checkpoint sensor kinase ATR/MEC1, suggesting a possible regulatory interplay between Mcm2-7 and ATR during unchallenged growth. As RNA:DNA hybrids primarily result from transcription perturbations, we suggest that surveillance-mediated modulation of the Mcm2-7 activity plays an important role in preventing catastrophic conflicts between replication forks and transcription complexes. Possible relationships among these effects and the recently discovered role of Mcm2-7 in the DNA replication checkpoint induced by HU treatment are discussed

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mcm6/2 and Mcm5/3 ATPase active sites contribute to the function of the putative Mcm2-7 ‘gate’

The Mcm2-7 complex is the eukaryotic replicative helicase, a toroidal AAA+ molecular motor that uses adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding and hydrolysis to separate duplex DNA strands during replication. This heterohexameric helicase contains six different and essential subunits (Mcm2 through Mcm7), with the corresponding dimer interfaces forming ATPase active sites from conserved motifs of adjacent subunits. As all other known hexameric helicases are formed from six identical subunits, the function of the unique heterohexameric organization of Mcm2-7 is of particular interest. Indeed, prior work using mutations in the conserved Walker A box ATPase structural motif strongly suggests that individual ATPase active sites contribute differentially to Mcm2-7 activity. Although only a specific subset of active sites is required for helicase activity, another ATPase active site (Mcm2/5) may serve as a reversible ATP-dependent discontinuity (‘gate’) within the hexameric ring structure. This study analyzes the contribution that two other structural motifs, the Walker B box and arginine finger, make to each Mcm2-7 ATPase active site. Mutational analysis of these motifs not only confirms that Mcm ATPase active sites contribute unequally to activity but implicates the involvement of at least two additional active sites (Mcm5/3 and 6/2) in modulating the activity of the putative Mcm2/5 gate

Interhomolog Bias during Meiotic Recombination: Meiotic Functions Promote a Highly Differentiated Interhomolog-Only Pathway

AbstractMeiotic recombination occurs preferentially between homologous nonsister chromatids rather than between sisters, opposite to the bias of mitotic recombinational repair. We have examined formation of joint molecule recombination intermediates (JMs) between homologs and between sisters in yeast strains lacking the meiotic chromosomal protein Red1, the meiotic recA homolog Dmc1, and/or mitotic recA homolog(s), Rad51, Rad55, and Rad57. Mutant phenotypes imply that most meiotic recombination occurs via an interhomolog-only pathway along which interhomolog bias is established early, prior to or during double strand break (DSB) formation, and then enforced, just at the time when DSBs initiate JM formation. A parallel, less differentiated pathway yields intersister and, probably, a few interhomolog events. Coordinate action of mitotic recA homologs as one functional unit, two functions of RED1, and an interhomolog interaction function of DMC1 are also revealed

The Mcm Complex: Unwinding the Mechanism of a Replicative Helicase

Summary: The Mcm2-7 complex serves as the eukaryotic replicative helicase, the molecular motor that both unwinds duplex DNA and powers fork progression during DNA replication. Consistent with its central role in this process, much prior work has illustrated that Mcm2-7 loading and activation are landmark events in the regulation of DNA replication. Unlike any other hexameric helicase, Mcm2-7 is composed of six unique and essential subunits. Although the unusual oligomeric nature of this complex has long hampered biochemical investigations, recent advances with both the eukaryotic as well as the simpler archaeal Mcm complexes provide mechanistic insight into their function. In contrast to better-studied homohexameric helicases, evidence suggests that the six Mcm2-7 complex ATPase active sites are functionally distinct and are likely specialized to accommodate the regulatory constraints of the eukaryotic process

A Checkpoint-Related Function of the MCM Replicative Helicase Is Required to Avert Accumulation of RNA:DNA Hybrids during S-phase and Ensuing DSBs during G2/M

<div><p>The Mcm2-7 complex is the catalytic core of the eukaryotic replicative helicase. Here, we identify a new role for this complex in maintaining genome integrity. Using both genetic and cytological approaches, we find that a specific <i>mcm</i> allele (<i>mcm2DENQ</i>) causes elevated genome instability that correlates with the appearance of numerous DNA-damage associated foci of γH2AX and Rad52. We further find that the triggering events for this genome instability are elevated levels of RNA:DNA hybrids and an altered DNA topological state, as over-expression of either RNaseH (an enzyme specific for degradation of RNA in RNA:DNA hybrids) or Topoisomerase 1 (an enzyme that relieves DNA supercoiling) can suppress the <i>mcm2DENQ</i> DNA-damage phenotype. Moreover, the observed DNA damage has several additional unusual properties, in that DNA damage foci appear only after S-phase, in G2/M, and are dependent upon progression into metaphase. In addition, we show that the resultant DNA damage is not due to spontaneous S-phase fork collapse. In total, these unusual <i>mcm2DENQ</i> phenotypes are markedly similar to those of a special previously-studied allele of the checkpoint sensor kinase ATR/<i>MEC1</i>, suggesting a possible regulatory interplay between Mcm2-7 and ATR during unchallenged growth. As RNA:DNA hybrids primarily result from transcription perturbations, we suggest that surveillance-mediated modulation of the Mcm2-7 activity plays an important role in preventing catastrophic conflicts between replication forks and transcription complexes. Possible relationships among these effects and the recently discovered role of Mcm2-7 in the DNA replication checkpoint induced by HU treatment are discussed.</p></div