Adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribosylation is a post-translational protein modification implicated in the regulation of a range of cellular processes. A family of proteins that catalyse ADP-ribosylation reactions are the poly(ADPribose) (PAR) polymerases (PARPs). PARPs covalently attach an ADP-ribose nucleotide to target proteins and some PARP family members can subsequently add additional ADP-ribose units to generate a PAR chain. The hydrolysis of PAR chains is catalysed by PAR glycohydrolase (PARG). PARG is unable to cleave the mono(ADP-ribose) unit directly linked to the protein and although the enzymatic activity that catalyses this reaction has been detected in mammalian cell extracts, the protein(s) responsible remain unknown. Here, we report the homozygous mutation of the c6orf130 gene in patients with severe neurodegeneration, and identify C6orf130 as a PARP-interacting protein that removes mono(ADP-ribosyl)ation on glutamate amino acid residues in PARP-modified proteins. X-ray structures and biochemical analysis of C6orf130 suggest a mechanism of catalytic reversal involving a transient C6orf130 lysyl-(ADP-ribose) intermediate. Furthermore, depletion of C6orf130 protein in cells leads to proliferation and DNA repair defects. Collectively, our data suggest that C6orf130 enzymatic activity has a role in the turnover and recycling of protein ADP-ribosylation, and we have implicated the importance of this protein in supporting normal cellular function in humans.

Sirtuins are a family of protein lysine deacetylases, which regulate gene silencing, metabolism, life span, and chromatin structure. Sirtuins utilize NAD ؉ to deacetylate proteins, yielding O-acetyl-ADP-ribose (OAADPr) as a reaction product. The macrodomain is a ubiquitous protein module known to bind ADP-ribose derivatives, which diverged through evolution to support many different protein functions and pathways. The observation that some sirtuins and macrodomains are physically linked as fusion proteins or genetically coupled through the same operon, provided a clue that their functions might be connected. Indeed, here we demonstrate that the product of the sirtuin reaction OAADPr is a substrate for several related macrodomain proteins: human MacroD1, human MacroD2, Escherichia coli YmdB, and the sirtuin-linked MacroD-like protein from Staphylococcus aureus. In addition, we show that the cell extracts derived from MacroD-deficient Neurospora crassa strain exhibit a major reduction in the ability to hydrolyze OAADPr. Our data support a novel function of macrodomains as OAADPr deacetylases and potential in vivo regulators of cellular OAADPr produced by NAD ؉ -dependent deacetylation.Macrodomains are evolutionarily conserved structural domains found in proteins with diverse cellular functions (1, 2). Prior evidence suggested that macrodomains function as binding modules of NAD ϩ metabolites, including ADP-ribose/ poly(ADP-ribose) (3-7) and O-acetyl-ADP-ribose (OAADPr) 5 (8, 9). OAADPr is produced in reactions catalyzed by NAD ϩ -dependent protein/histone deacetylases (10, 11), which regulate gene silencing, metabolic enzymes, life span, and many other cellular processes (12)(13)(14). OAADPr has been implicated as a signaling molecule, modulating cellular processes affected by NAD ϩ -dependent protein/histone deacetylation (15-17). The binding of OAADPr and other NAD ϩ metabolites to macrodomains such as the histone variant macroH2A1.1 (1, 5, 8, 9) suggests a possible connection between metabolic regulation, gene activity, and chromatin structure. The mechanism by which cells regulate and utilize OAADPr is not well understood. In yeast, the NUDIX ADP-ribose pyrophosphatase Ysa1 modulates the cellular levels of both ADPr and OAADPr, converting each to AMP and the corresponding ribose-phosphate (17). Cells lacking ysa1 exhibit an increased resistance to oxidative insults and produce lower levels of endogenous reactive oxygen species. In vitro, the poly (ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase ARH3 was capable of removing the acetyl group from OAADPr (18), though the activity was orders of magnitude slower than that observed for the NUDIX family (19). In eukaryotic cell extracts at least two different cellular activities were shown to contribute to OAADPr deacetylation (19), but the identities of these factors remain unknown.Here we report a direct functional connection between sirtuins and a family of macrodomain proteins. We demonstrate that proteins belonging to this distinct branch of macrodomains are OAADPr deacetylases that...

Poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase-1 (PARP-1) is a predominantly nuclear enzyme that exerts numerous functions in cellular physiology and pathology, from maintenance of DNA stability to transcriptional regulation. Through a proteomic analysis of PARP-1 co-immunoprecipitation complexes, we identified Mitofilin, a mitochondrial protein, as a new PARP-1 interactor. This result prompted us to further investigate the presence and the role of the enzyme in mitochondria. Using laser confocal microscopy and Western blot analysis of purified mitochondria, we demonstrated the mitochondrial localization of a fraction of PARP-1. Further, the effects of overexpressing or down-regulating Mitofilin showed that this protein promotes and is required for PARP-1 mitochondrial localization. We also report several lines of evidence suggesting that intramitochondrial PARP-1 plays a role in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage signaling and/or repair. First, we show that PARP-1 binds to different regions throughout the mtDNA. Moreover, we demonstrated that the depletion of either PARP-1 or Mitofilin, which abrogates the mitochondrial localization of the enzyme, leads to the accumulation of mtDNA damage. Finally, we show that DNA ligase III, known to be required for mtDNA repair, participates in a PARP-1-containing complex bound to mtDNA. This work highlights a new environment for PARP-1, opening the possibility that at least some of the nuclear functions of the enzyme can be also extended to mtDNA metabolism.

Polyamine oxidase (PAO) is a flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent enzyme involved in polyamine catabolism. Animal PAOs oxidize spermine (Spm), spermidine (Spd), and/or their acetyl derivatives to produce H 2 O 2 , an aminoaldehyde, and Spd or putrescine, respectively, thus being involved in a polyamine back-conversion pathway. On the contrary, plant PAOs that have been characterized to date oxidize Spm and Spd to produce 1,3-diaminopropane, H 2 O 2 , and an aminoaldehyde and are therefore involved in the terminal catabolism of polyamines. A database search within the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genome sequence showed the presence of a gene (AtPAO1) encoding for a putative PAO with 45% amino acid sequence identity with maize (Zea mays) PAO. The AtPAO1 cDNA was isolated and cloned in a vector for heterologous expression in Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein was purified by affinity chromatography on guazatine-Sepharose 4B and was shown to be a flavoprotein able to oxidize Spm, norspermine, and N 1 -acetylspermine with a pH optimum at 8.0. Analysis of the reaction products showed that AtPAO1 produces Spd from Spm and norspermidine from norspermine, demonstrating a substrate oxidation mode similar to that of animal PAOs. To our knowledge, AtPAO1 is the first plant PAO reported to be involved in a polyamine back-conversion pathway.