Publications by authors named "Leizhen Wei"

Recruitment of DNA repair proteins to DNA damage sites is a critical step for DNA repair. Post-translational modifications of proteins at DNA damage sites serve as DNA damage codes to recruit specific DNA repair factors. Here, we show that mRNA is locally modified by mC at sites of DNA damage.

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ELL2 is an androgen-responsive gene that is expressed by prostate epithelial cells and is frequently down-regulated in prostate cancer. Deletion of Ell2 in the murine prostate induced murine prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia and ELL2 knockdown enhanced proliferation and migration in C4-2 prostate cancer cells. Here, knockdown of ELL2 sensitized prostate cancer cells to DNA damage and overexpression of ELL2 protected prostate cancer cells from DNA damage.

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DNA single-strand breaks (SSB) are the most common form of DNA damage, requiring repair processes that to initiate must overcome chromatin barriers. The FACT complex comprised of the SSRP1 and SPT16 proteins is important for maintaining chromatin integrity, with SSRP1 acting as an histone H2A/H2B chaperone in chromatin disassembly during DNA transcription, replication, and repair. In this study, we show that SSRP1, but not SPT16, is critical for cell survival after ionizing radiation or methyl methanesulfonate-induced single-strand DNA damage.

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Multisubunit protein assemblies offer integrated functionalities for efficient cell signal transduction control. One example of such protein assemblies, the BRCA1-A macromolecular complex, couples ubiquitin recognition and metabolism and promotes cellular responses to DNA damage. Specifically, the BRCA1-A complex not only recognizes Lys(63)-linked ubiquitin (K63-Ub) adducts at the damaged chromatin but is endowed with K63-Ub deubiquitylase (DUB) activity.

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Oxidative DNA damage induces genomic instability and may lead to mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. As severe blockades to RNA polymerase II (RNA POLII) during transcription, oxidative DNA damage and the associated DNA strand breaks have a profoundly deleterious impact on cell survival. To protect the integrity of coding regions, high fidelity DNA repair at a transcriptionally active site in non-dividing somatic cells, (i.

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Damage repair mechanisms at transcriptionally active sites during the G0/G1 phase are largely unknown. To elucidate these mechanisms, we introduced genome site-specific oxidative DNA damage and determined the role of transcription in repair factor assembly. We find that KU and NBS1 are recruited to damage sites independent of transcription.

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Unlabelled: ARID1A, SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex subunit, is a recently identified tumor suppressor that is mutated in a broad spectrum of human cancers. Thus, it is of fundamental clinical importance to understand its molecular functions and determine whether ARID1A deficiency can be exploited therapeutically. In this article, we report a key function of ARID1A in regulating the DNA damage checkpoint.

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Unlabelled: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is closely associated with latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Although EBV infection of preneoplastic epithelial cells is not immortalizing, EBV can modulate oncogenic and cell death mechanisms. The viral latent membrane proteins 1 (LMP1) and LMP2A are consistently expressed in NPC and can cooperate in bitransgenic mice expressed from the keratin-14 promoter to enhance carcinoma development in an epithelial chemical carcinogenesis model.

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Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) is a major pathway to repair DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), which can display different types of broken ends. However, it is unclear how NHEJ factors organize to repair diverse types of DNA breaks. Here, through systematic analysis of the human NHEJ factor interactome, we identify PAXX as a direct interactor of Ku.

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Ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) mediates DNA damage response by controling irradiation-induced foci formation, cell cycle checkpoint, and apoptosis. However, how upstream signaling regulates ATM is not completely understood. Here, we show that upon irradiation stimulation, ATM associates with and is phosphorylated by epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) at Tyr370 (Y370) at the site of DNA double-strand breaks.

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Cellular DNA repair processes are crucial to maintain genome stability and integrity. In DNA base excision repair, a tight heterodimer complex formed by DNA polymerase β (Polβ) and XRCC1 is thought to facilitate repair by recruiting Polβ to DNA damage sites. Here we show that disruption of the complex does not impact DNA damage response or DNA repair.

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During the DNA damage response (DDR), ubiquitination plays an important role in the recruitment and regulation of repair proteins. However, little is known about elimination of the ubiquitination signal after repair is completed. Here we show that the ubiquitin-specific protease 5 (USP5), a deubiquitinating enzyme, is involved in the elimination of the ubiquitin signal from damaged sites and is required for efficient DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair.

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Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced DNA damage is repaired by the base excision repair pathway. However, the effect of chromatin structure on BER protein recruitment to DNA damage sites in living cells is poorly understood. To address this problem, we developed a method to specifically produce ROS-induced DNA damage by fusing KillerRed (KR), a light-stimulated ROS-inducer, to a tet-repressor (tetR-KR) or a transcription activator (TA-KR).

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The breast and ovarian cancer-specific tumor suppressor BRCA1, along with its heterodimer partner BRCA1-associated RING domain protein (BARD1), plays important roles in DNA repair, centrosome regulation, and transcription. To explore further functions of BRCA1/BARD1, we performed mass spectrometry analysis and identified Obg-like ATPase 1 (OLA1) as a protein that interacts with the carboxy-terminal region of BARD1. OLA1 directly bound to the amino-terminal region of BRCA1 and γ-tubulin.

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MUS81-EME1 is a DNA endonuclease involved in replication-coupled repair of DNA interstrand cross-links (ICLs). A prevalent hypothetical role of MUS81-EME1 in ICL repair is to unhook the damage by incising the leading strand at the 3' side of an ICL lesion. In this study, we report that purified MUS81-EME1 incises DNA at the 5' side of a psoralen ICL residing in fork structures.

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Single-strand breaks (SSBs) are the most common type of oxidative DNA damage and they are related to aging and many genetic diseases. The scaffold protein for repair of SSBs, XRCC1, accumulates at sites of poly(ADP-ribose) (pAR) synthesized by PARP, but it is retained at sites of SSBs after pAR degradation. How XRCC1 responds to SSBs after pAR degradation and how this affects repair progression are not well understood.

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The maintenance of genomic stability requires accurate genome replication, repair of DNA damage, and the precise segregation of chromosomes in mitosis. GEN1 possesses Holliday junction resolvase activity in vitro and presumably functions in homology driven repair of DNA double strand breaks. However, little is currently known about the cellular functions of human GEN1.

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BRCA1 is an important gene involved in susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer and its product regulates the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks. Here, we present evidence that BRCA1 also contributes to the transcription-coupled repair (TCR) of ultraviolet (UV) light-induced DNA damage. BRCA1 immediately accumulates at the sites of UV irradiation-mediated damage in cell nuclei in a manner that is fully dependent on both Cockayne syndrome B (CSB) protein and active transcription.

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BRCA1 is the first susceptibility gene to be linked to breast and ovarian cancers. Although mounting evidence has indicated that BRCA1 participates in DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair pathways, its precise mechanism is still unclear. Here, we analyzed the in situ response of BRCA1 at DSBs produced by laser microirradiation.

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