S(N)1-type alkylating agents that produce cytotoxic O(6)-methyl-G (O(6)-meG) DNA adducts induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in a manner requiring the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) proteins MutSalpha and MutLalpha. Here, we show that checkpoint signaling in response to DNA methylation occurs during S phase and requires DNA replication that gives rise to O(6)-meG/T mispairs. DNA binding studies reveal that MutSalpha specifically recognizes O(6)-meG/T mispairs, but not O(6)-meG/C. In an in vitro assay, ATR-ATRIP, but not RPA, is preferentially recruited to O(6)-meG/T mismatches in a MutSalpha- and MutLalpha-dependent manner. Furthermore, ATR kinase is activated to phosphorylate Chk1 in the presence of O(6)-meG/T mispairs and MMR proteins. These results suggest that MMR proteins can act as direct sensors of methylation damage and help recruit ATR-ATRIP to sites of cytotoxic O(6)-meG adducts to initiate ATR checkpoint signaling.
During tumorigenesis, cells acquire immortality in association with the
development of genomic instability. However, it is still elusive how genomic
instability spontaneously generates during the process of tumorigenesis. Here,
we show that precancerous DNA lesions induced by oncogene acceleration, which
induce situations identical to the initial stages of cancer development, trigger
tetraploidy/aneuploidy generation in association with mitotic aberration.
Although oncogene acceleration primarily induces DNA replication stress and the
resulting lesions in the S phase, these lesions are carried over into the M
phase and cause cytokinesis failure and genomic instability. Unlike directly
induced DNA double-strand breaks, DNA replication stress-associated lesions are
cryptogenic and pass through cell-cycle checkpoints due to limited and
ineffective activation of checkpoint factors. Furthermore, since damaged M-phase
cells still progress in mitotic steps, these cells result in chromosomal
mis-segregation, cytokinesis failure and the resulting tetraploidy generation.
Thus, our results reveal a process of genomic instability generation triggered
by precancerous DNA replication stress.
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