2014-01-09
DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Pathway Choice Is Directed by Distinct MRE11 Nuclease Activities
Publication
Publication
Molecular Cell , Volume 53 - Issue 1 p. 7- 18
MRE11 within the MRE11-RAD50-NBS1 (MRN) complex acts in DNA double-strand break repair (DSBR), detection, and signaling; yet, how its endo- and exonuclease activities regulate DSBR by nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) versus homologous recombination (HR) remains enigmatic. Here, we employed structure-based design with a focused chemical library to discover specific MRE11 endo- or exonuclease inhibitors. With these inhibitors, we examined repair pathway choice at DSBs generated in G2 following radiation exposure. While nuclease inhibition impairs radiation-induced replication protein A (RPA) chromatin binding, suggesting diminished resection, the inhibitors surprisingly direct different repair outcomes. Endonuclease inhibition promotes NHEJ in lieu of HR, while exonuclease inhibition confers a repair defect. Collectively, the results describe nuclease-specific MRE11 inhibitors, define distinct nuclease roles in DSB repair, and support a mechanism whereby MRE11 endonuclease initiates resection, thereby licensing HR followed by MRE11 exonuclease and EXO1/BLM bidirectional resection toward and away from the DNA end, which commits to HR.
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| doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2013.11.003, hdl.handle.net/1765/55260 | |
| Molecular Cell | |
| Organisation | Department of Molecular Genetics |
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Shibata, A., Moiani, D., Arvai, A., Perry, J., Harding, S., Genois, M.-M., … Tainer, J. (2014). DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Pathway Choice Is Directed by Distinct MRE11 Nuclease Activities. Molecular Cell, 53(1), 7–18. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2013.11.003 |
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