No abstract

Polynucleotide kinase phosphatase (PNKP) has enzymatic activities as 3′ phosphatase and 5′ kinase of DNA ends to promote DNA ligation. Here, we show that PNKP is involved in progression of DNA replication through end-processing of Okazaki fragments (OFs). Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) regulate phosphorylation on threonine 118 (T118) of PNKP, and which phosphorylation allows it to be recruited to OFs. Loss of PNKP and T118 phosphorylation significantly increased unligated OFs and high-speed DNA synthesis in replication forks, suggesting that PNKP T118 phosphorylation is required for OFs ligation for its maturation. Furthermore, phosphatase-dead PNKP also exhibited an accumulation of unligated OFs and high-speed DNA synthesis. Overall, our data suggested that CDK-mediated PNKP phosphorylation at T118 is important for its recruitment to OFs and PNKP subsequently promotes end-processing for OFs maturation for stable cell proliferation.

Aprataxin (APTX), the product of the causative gene for hereditary neurogenerative syndromes Ataxia-oculomotor apraxia 1 and early onset ataxia with oculomotor apraxia and hypoalbuminemia, has an enzymatic activity of removing adenosine monophosphate from DNA 5′-end, which arises from abortive ligation by DNA ligases. It is also reported that APTX physically binds to XRCC1 and XRCC4, suggesting its involvement in DNA single-strand break repair (SSBR) and DNA double-strand break repair (DSBR) via non-homologous end joining pathway. Although the involvement of APTX in SSBR in association with XRCC1 has been established, the significance of APTX in DSBR and its interaction with XRCC4 have remained unclear. Here, we generated APTX knock-out (APTX−/−) cell from human osteosarcoma U2OS through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing system. APTX−/− cells exhibited increased sensitivity toward ionizing radiation (IR) and Camptothecin in association with retarded DSBR, as shown by increased number of retained γH2AX foci. However, the number of retained 53BP1 foci in APTX−/− cell was not discernibly different from wild-type cells, in stark contrast to XRCC4-depleted cells. The recruitment of GFP-tagged APTX (GFP-APTX) to the DNA damage sites was examined by laser micro-irradiation and live-cell imaging analysis using confocal microscope. The accumulation of GFP-APTX on the laser track was attenuated by siRNA-mediated depletion of XRCC1, but not XRCC4. Moreover, the deprivation of APTX and XRCC4 displayed additive inhibitory effects on DSBR after IR exposure and end joining of GFP reporter. These findings collectively suggest that APTX acts in DSBR in a manner distinct from XRCC4.