Diet induced mitochondrial DNA replication instability in mutant mice drives sex-bias in anemia of inflammation.

Anemia of inflammation (AI) is a common comorbidity associated with obesity, diabetes, cardiac disease, aging, and during anti-cancer therapies. Mounting evidence illustrates that males are disproportionally affected by AI, but not why. Here we demonstrate a molecular cause for a sex-bias in inflammation.

Mitochondrial Replication Assay (MIRA) for Efficient in situ Quantification of Nascent mtDNA and Protein Interactions with Nascent mtDNA (mitoSIRF).

Mitochondria play decisive roles in bioenergetics and intracellular communication. These organelles contain a circular mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome that is duplicated within one to two hours by a mitochondrial replisome, independently from the nuclear replisome. mtDNA stability is regulated in part at the level of mtDNA replication.

Hypomorphic Brca2 and Rad51c double mutant mice display Fanconi anemia, cancer and polygenic replication stress.

The prototypic cancer-predisposition disease Fanconi Anemia (FA) is identified by biallelic mutations in any one of twenty-three FANC genes. Puzzlingly, inactivation of one Fanc gene alone in mice fails to faithfully model the pleiotropic human disease without additional external stress. Here we find that FA patients frequently display FANC co-mutations.

APOBEC3A drives deaminase domain-independent chromosomal instability to promote pancreatic cancer metastasis.

Despite efforts in understanding its underlying mechanisms, the etiology of chromosomal instability (CIN) remains unclear for many tumor types. Here, we identify CIN initiation as a previously undescribed function for APOBEC3A (A3A), a cytidine deaminase upregulated across cancer types. Using genetic mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) and genomics analyses in human tumor cells we show that A3A-induced CIN leads to aggressive tumors characterized by enhanced early dissemination and metastasis in a STING-dependent manner and independently of the canonical deaminase functions of A3A.

MRE11-dependent instability in mitochondrial DNA fork protection activates a cGAS immune signaling pathway.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) instability activates cGAS-dependent innate immune signaling by unknown mechanisms. Here, we find that Fanconi anemia suppressor genes are acting in the mitochondria to protect mtDNA replication forks from instability. Specifically, Fanconi anemia patient cells show a loss of nascent mtDNA through MRE11 nuclease degradation.

EXO5-DNA structure and BLM interactions direct DNA resection critical for ATR-dependent replication restart.

Stalled DNA replication fork restart after stress as orchestrated by ATR kinase, BLM helicase, and structure-specific nucleases enables replication, cell survival, and genome stability. Here we unveil human exonuclease V (EXO5) as an ATR-regulated DNA structure-specific nuclease and BLM partner for replication fork restart. We find that elevated EXO5 in tumors correlates with increased mutation loads and poor patient survival, suggesting that EXO5 upregulation has oncogenic potential.

Comprehensive Molecular Characterization Identifies Distinct Genomic and Immune Hallmarks of Renal Medullary Carcinoma.

Renal medullary carcinoma (RMC) is a highly lethal malignancy that mainly afflicts young individuals of African descent and is resistant to all targeted agents used to treat other renal cell carcinomas. Comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic profiling of untreated primary RMC tissues was performed to elucidate the molecular landscape of these tumors. We found that RMC was characterized by high replication stress and an abundance of focal copy-number alterations associated with activation of the stimulator of the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase interferon genes (cGAS-STING) innate immune pathway.

SIRF: A Single-cell Assay for Protein Interaction with Nascent DNA Replication Forks.

The duplication of DNA is a fundamental process that is required for the transfer of the genetic information from parent to daughter cells. Aberrant DNA replication processes are associated with diverse disease phenotypes, including developmental defects, ageing disorders, blood disorders such as Fanconi Anemia, increased inflammation and cancer. Therefore, the development of tools to study proteins associated with error-free DNA replication processes is of paramount importance.

Detection and Quantitation of Acetylated Histones on Replicating DNA Using In Situ Proximity Ligation Assay and Click-It Chemistry.

Histone acetylation plays important roles in the regulation of DNA transcription, repair, and replication. Here we detail a method for quantitative detection of specific histone modifications in the nascent chromatin at or behind replication forks in vivo in cultured cells. The method involves labeling DNA with EdU, using Click chemistry to biotinylate EdU moieties in DNA, and then using in situ proximity ligation assay (PLA) to selectively visualize co-localization of EdU with a modified histone of choice recognized by a modification-specific antibody.

GnRH-R-Targeted Lytic Peptide Sensitizes Wild-type Ovarian Cancer to PARP Inhibition.

EP-100 is a synthetic lytic peptide that specifically targets the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor on cancer cells. To extend the utility of EP-100, we aimed to identify effective combination therapies with EP-100 for ovarian cancer and explore potential mechanisms of this combination. A series of (MTT assay, immunoblot analysis, reverse-phase protein array, comet assay, and immunofluorescence staining) and experiments were carried out to determine the biological effects of EP-100 alone and in combination with standard-of-care drugs.

Sense and sensibility: ATM oxygen stress signaling manages brain cell energetics.

The ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene regulates DNA damage repair, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial processes. In this issue, Chow et al. (2019.

SIRF: Quantitative in situ analysis of protein interactions at DNA replication forks.

DNA replication reactions are central to diverse cellular processes including development, cancer etiology, drug treatment, and resistance. Many proteins and pathways exist to ensure DNA replication fidelity and protection of stalled or damaged replication forks. Consistently, mutations in proteins involved in DNA replication are implicated in diverse diseases that include defects during embryonic development and immunity, accelerated aging, increased inflammation, blood disease, and cancer.

p53 orchestrates DNA replication restart homeostasis by suppressing mutagenic RAD52 and POLθ pathways.

Classically, p53 tumor suppressor acts in transcription, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest. Yet, replication-mediated genomic instability is integral to oncogenesis, and p53 mutations promote tumor progression and drug-resistance. By delineating human and murine separation-of-function p53 alleles, we find that p53 null and gain-of-function (GOF) mutations exhibit defects in restart of stalled or damaged DNA replication forks that drive genomic instability, which isgenetically separable from transcription activation.

Deletion in Head and Neck Cancer Cells Is Associated with CDK2 Activation, Replication Stress, and Vulnerability to CHK1 Inhibition.

Checkpoint kinase inhibitors (CHKi) exhibit striking single-agent activity in certain tumors, but the mechanisms accounting for hypersensitivity are poorly understood. We screened a panel of 49 established human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines and report that nearly 20% are hypersensitive to CHKi monotherapy. Hypersensitive cells underwent early S-phase arrest at drug doses sufficient to inhibit greater than 90% of CHK1 activity.

PARPi focus the spotlight on replication fork protection in cancer.

PARP inhibitors (PARPi) kill BRCA1/2-mutated cancers, which become resistant when DNA repair functions are restored. Now, MUS81 nuclease inhibition due to EZH2 downregulation is found to restore DNA replication fork protection but not repair, leading to PARPi-resistance in mutant BRCA2 cells and patients. This challenges the DNA repair dominance in synthetic lethality.

Constitutive role of the Fanconi anemia D2 gene in the replication stress response.

In response to DNA cross-linking damage, the Fanconi anemia (FA) core complex activates the FA pathway by monoubiquitinating Fanconi anemia complementation group D2 (FANCD2) for the initiation of the nucleolytic processing of the DNA cross-links and stabilization of stalled replication forks. Given that all the classic FA proteins coordinately monoubiquitinate FANCD2, it is unclear why losses of individual classic FA genes yield varying cellular sensitivities to cross-linking damage. To address this question, we generated cellular knock-out models of FA core complex components and FANCD2 and found that FANCD2-null mutants display higher levels of spontaneous chromosomal damage and hypersensitivity to replication-blocking lesions than Fanconi anemia complementation group L (FANCL)-null mutants, suggesting that FANCD2 provides a basal level of DNA protection countering endogenous lesions in the absence of monoubiquitination.

Abro1 maintains genome stability and limits replication stress by protecting replication fork stability.

Protection of the stalled replication fork is crucial for responding to replication stress and minimizing its impact on chromosome instability, thus preventing diseases, including cancer. We found a new component, Abro1, in the protection of stalled replication fork integrity. Abro1 deficiency results in increased chromosome instability, and Abro1-null mice are tumor-prone.

A Selective Small Molecule DNA2 Inhibitor for Sensitization of Human Cancer Cells to Chemotherapy.

Cancer cells frequently up-regulate DNA replication and repair proteins such as the multifunctional DNA2 nuclease/helicase, counteracting DNA damage due to replication stress and promoting survival. Therefore, we hypothesized that blocking both DNA replication and repair by inhibiting the bifunctional DNA2 could be a potent strategy to sensitize cancer cells to stresses from radiation or chemotherapeutic agents. We show that homozygous deletion of DNA2 sensitizes cells to ionizing radiation and camptothecin (CPT).