The increase in cell death rates in caloric restricted cells of the yeast helicase mutant rrm3 is Sir complex dependent.

Calorie restriction (CR), which is a reduction in calorie intake without malnutrition, usually extends lifespan and improves tissue integrity. This report focuses on the relationship between nuclear genomic instability and dietary-restriction and its effect on cell survival. We demonstrate that the cell survival rates of the genomic instability yeast mutant rrm3 change under metabolic restricted conditions.

Aging: Fewer Obstacles to DNA Replication?

Many cancers are initiated by loss-of-heterozygosity (LOH) events that lead to the replacement of single, functional tumor suppressor genes by the mutant alleles. The underlying mechanisms, of why LOH rates increase with age, are not well understood. We discuss the possible involvement of difficult-to-replicate (fragile) chromosomal sites in this process.

Absence of Non-histone Protein Complexes at Natural Chromosomal Pause Sites Results in Reduced Replication Pausing in Aging Yeast Cells.

There is substantial evidence that genomic instability increases during aging. Replication pausing (and stalling) at difficult-to-replicate chromosomal sites may induce genomic instability. Interestingly, in aging yeast cells, we observed reduced replication pausing at various natural replication pause sites (RPSs) in ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and non-rDNA locations (e.

Reversible mitochondrial DNA accumulation in nuclei of pluripotent stem cells.

According to the endosymbiotic hypothesis, the precursor of mitochondria invaded the precursor of eukaryotic cells, a process that began roughly 2 billion years ago. Since then, the majority of the genetic material translocated from the mitochondria to the nucleus, where now almost all mitochondrial proteins are expressed. Only a tiny amount of DNA remained in the mitochondria, known as mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

Directionality of replication fork movement determined by two-dimensional native-native DNA agarose gel electrophoresis.

The analysis of replication intermediates by the neutral-neutral two-dimensional agarose gel technique allows determining the chromosomal positions where DNA replication initiates, whether replication forks pause or stall at specific sites, or whether two DNA molecules undergo DNA recombination events. This technique does not, however, immediately tell in which direction replication forks migrate through the DNA region under investigation. Here, we describe the procedure to determine the direction of replication fork progression by carrying out a restriction enzyme digest of DNA imbedded in agarose after the completion of the first dimension of a 2D gel.

Analysis of DNA structures from eukaryotic cells by two-dimensional native-native DNA agarose gel electrophoresis.

The neutral-neutral two-dimensional agarose gel technique is mainly used to determine the chromosomal positions where DNA replication starts, but it is also applied to visualize replication fork progression and breakage as well as intermediates in DNA recombination. Here we provide a step-by-step protocol to analyze the fairly underrepresented and fragile replication intermediates in yeast chromosomal DNA. The technique can also be adapted to analyze replication intermediates in chromosomal DNA of higher eukaryotic organisms.

Accumulation of linear mitochondrial DNA fragments in the nucleus shortens the chronological life span of yeast.

Translocation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragments to the nucleus and insertion of those fragments into nuclear DNA has been observed in several organisms ranging from yeast to plants and mammals. Disruption of specific nuclear genes by de novo insertions of mtDNA fragments has even been linked to the initiation of several human diseases. Recently, we demonstrated that baker's yeast strains with high rates of mtDNA fragments migrating to the nucleus (yme1-1 mutant) exhibit short chronological life spans (CLS).

Association of the yeast DNA helicase Pif1p with mitochondrial membranes and mitochondrial DNA.

Previously we demonstrated that the mitochondrial form of the yeast Pif1p DNA helicase, which we found to be attached to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), is required for the maintenance of mtDNA under genotoxic stress conditions. Here, we demonstrated that mitochondrial Pif1p is exclusively bound to mitochondrial membranes and part of an about 900kDa protein complex. Pif1p might be incorporated into this complex immediately after its translocation from the cytoplasm into the mitochondrial matrix.

The migration of mitochondrial DNA fragments to the nucleus affects the chronological aging process of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Migration of fragmented mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to the nucleus has been shown to occur in multiple species including yeast, plants, and mammals. Several human diseases, including Pallister-Hall syndrome and mucolipidosis, can be initiated by mtDNA insertion mutagenesis of nuclear DNA. In yeast, we demonstrated that the rate of mtDNA fragments translocating to the nucleus increases during chronological aging.

Loss of mitochondrial DNA under genotoxic stress conditions in the absence of the yeast DNA helicase Pif1p occurs independently of the DNA helicase Rrm3p.

How the cellular amount of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is regulated under normal conditions and in the presence of genotoxic stress is less understood. We demonstrate that the inefficient mtDNA replication process of mutant yeast cells lacking the PIF1 DNA helicase is partly rescued in the absence of the DNA helicase RRM3. The rescue effect is likely due to the increase in the deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs) pool caused by the lack of RRM3.

The role of Pif1p, a DNA helicase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in maintaining mitochondrial DNA.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is highly susceptible to oxidative and chemically induced damage, and these insults lead to a number of diseases. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the DNA helicase Pif1p is localized to the nucleus and mitochondria. We show that pif1 mutant cells are sensitive to ethidium bromide-induced damage and this mtDNA is prone to fragmentation.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae helicase Rrm3p facilitates replication past nonhistone protein-DNA complexes.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RRM3 gene encodes a 5' to 3' DNA helicase. While replication of most of the yeast genome was not dependent upon Rrm3p, in its absence, replication forks paused and often broke at an estimated 1400 discrete sites, including tRNA genes, centromeres, inactive replication origins, and transcriptional silencers. These replication defects were associated with activation of the intra-S phase checkpoint.

Saccharomyces Rrm3p, a 5' to 3' DNA helicase that promotes replication fork progression through telomeric and subtelomeric DNA.

In wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae, replication forks slowed during their passage through telomeric C(1-3)A/TG(1-3) tracts. This slowing was greatly exacerbated in the absence of RRM3, shown here to encode a 5' to 3' DNA helicase. Rrm3p-dependent fork progression was seen at a modified Chromosome VII-L telomere, at the natural X-bearing Chromosome III-L telomere, and at Y'-bearing telomeres.