We explore the role of DNA damage processing in the progression of cognitive decline by creating a new mouse model. The new model is a cross of a common Alzheimer's disease (AD) mouse (3xTgAD), with a mouse that is heterozygous for the critical DNA base excision repair enzyme, DNA polymerase β. A reduction of this enzyme causes neurodegeneration and aggravates the AD features of the 3xTgAD mouse, inducing neuronal dysfunction, cell death and impairing memory and synaptic plasticity. Transcriptional profiling revealed remarkable similarities in gene expression alterations in brain tissue of human AD patients and 3xTg/Polβ+/− mice including abnormalities suggestive of impaired cellular bioenergetics. Our findings demonstrate that a modest decrement in base excision repair capacity can render the brain more vulnerable to AD-related molecular and cellular alterations.

We have detected DNA polymerase beta (Pol␤), known as a key nuclear base excision repair (BER) protein, in mitochondrial protein extracts derived from mammalian tissue and cells. Manipulation of the N-terminal sequence affected the amount of Pol␤ in the mitochondria. Using Pol␤ fragments, mitochondrion-specific protein partners were identified, with the interactors functioning mainly in DNA maintenance and mitochondrial import. Of particular interest was the identification of the proteins TWINKLE, SSBP1, and TFAM, all of which are mitochondrion-specific DNA effectors and are known to function in the nucleoid. Pol␤ directly interacted functionally with the mitochondrial helicase TWINKLE. Human kidney cells with Pol␤ knockout (KO) had higher endogenous mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage. Mitochondrial extracts derived from heterozygous Pol␤ mouse tissue and KO cells had lower nucleotide incorporation activity. Mouse-derived Pol␤ null fibroblasts had severely affected metabolic parameters. Indeed, gene knockout of Pol␤ caused mitochondrial dysfunction, including reduced membrane potential and mitochondrial content. We show that Pol␤ is a mitochondrial polymerase involved in mtDNA maintenance and is required for mitochondrial homeostasis.KEYWORDS DNA polymerase beta, mitochondrial DNA repair, TFAM, base excision repair, mitochondria, mitochondrial health, mutational studies C ellular DNA repair is critical for genomic stability, and the accumulation of DNA damage has been linked to many debilitating human disorders, including accelerated aging, cancer, and neurodegeneration (reviewed in references 1 and 2). Mammalian cells have two genomes, nuclear and mitochondrial, and both have the ability to replicate, accumulate DNA damage, and propagate mutations. The nucleus contains the vast majority of the mammalian genome and has extensive ability to repair complex bulky adducts, double-strand breaks (DSB), single-strand breaks (SSB), and hundreds of chemical DNA modifications. The ability to effectively repair this breadth of damage is achieved through multiple, often overlapping, DNA repair pathways. In contrast, the repair of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a more limited version of nuclear DNA (nDNA) repair. Mitochondria lack nucleotide excision repair, and the presence of double-strand break repair is debated (recently reviewed in reference 3). Despite the mitochondria having attenuated DNA repair capabilities compared to the nucleus, the accumulation of mtDNA damage is not without consequence. Ineffective mtDNA maintenance is the underlying cause of many human diseases, including Alpers syndrome and chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia (CPEO) caused by mutations in mitochondrial polymerase gamma (Pol␥) or the TWINKLE helicase (4-6). The accu-

Autophagy and DNA repair are biological processes vital for cellular homeostasis maintenance and when dysfunctional, they lead to several human disorders including premature aging, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. The interchange between these pathways is complex and it may occur in both directions. Autophagy is activated in response to several DNA lesions types and it can regulate different mechanisms and molecules involved in DNA damage response (DDR), such as cell cycle checkpoints, cell death, and DNA repair. Thus, autophagy may modulate DNA repair pathways, the main focus of this review. In addition to the already well-documented autophagy positive effects on homologous recombination (HR), autophagy has also been implicated with other DNA repair mechanisms, such as base excision repair (BER), nucleotide excision repair (NER), and mismatch repair (MMR). Given the relevance of these cellular processes, the clinical applications of drugs targeting this autophagy-DNA repair interface emerge as potential therapeutic strategies for many diseases, especially cancer.

The aging process and several age-related neurodegenerative disorders have been linked to elevated levels of DNA damage induced by ROS and deficiency in DNA repair mechanisms. DNA damage induced by ROS is a byproduct of cellular respiration and accumulation of damage over time, is a fundamental aspect of a main theory of aging. Mitochondria have a pivotal role in generating cellular oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction has been associated with several diseases. DNA base excision repair is considered the major pathway for repair of oxidized bases in DNA both in the nuclei and in mitochondria, and in neurons this mechanism is particularly important because non-diving cells have limited back-up DNA repair mechanisms. An association between elevated oxidative stress and a decrease in BER is strongly related to the aging process and has special relevance in age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we review the role of DNA repair in aging, focusing on the implications of the DNA base excision repair pathways and how alterations in expression of these DNA repair proteins are related to the aging process and to age-related neurodegenerative diseases.