Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is the most versatile DNA repair system that deals with the major UV photoproducts in DNA, as well as many other DNA adducts. The early steps of NER are well understood, whereas the later steps of repair synthesis and ligation are not. In particular, which polymerases are definitely involved in repair synthesis and how they are recruited to the damaged sites has not yet been established. We report that, in human fibroblasts, approximately half of the repair synthesis requires both pol kappa and pol delta, and both polymerases can be recovered in the same repair complexes. Pol kappa is recruited to repair sites by ubiquitinated PCNA and XRCC1 and pol delta by the classical replication factor complex RFC1-RFC, together with a polymerase accessory factor, p66, and unmodified PCNA. The remaining repair synthesis is dependent on pol epsilon, recruitment of which is dependent on the alternative clamp loader CTF18-RFC.

SummaryBAF180, a subunit of the PBAF chromatin remodeling complex, is frequently mutated in cancer. Although PBAF regulates transcription, it remains unclear whether this is what drives tumorigenesis in cells lacking BAF180. Based on data from yeast, we hypothesized that BAF180 may prevent tumorigenesis by promoting cohesion. Here, we show BAF180 is required for centromeric cohesion in mouse and human cells. Mutations identified in tumor samples are unable to support this activity, and also compromise cohesion-dependent functions in yeast. We provide evidence of genome instability in line with loss of cohesion, and importantly, we find dynamic chromosome instability following DNA damage in cells lacking BAF180. These data demonstrate a function for BAF180 in promoting genome stability that is distinct from its well-characterized role in transcriptional regulation, uncovering a potent mechanism for its tumor-suppressor activity.

UV light induces DNA lesions, which are removed by nucleotide excision repair (NER). Exonuclease 1 (EXO1) is highly conserved from yeast to human and is implicated in numerous DNA metabolic pathways, including repair, recombination, replication, and telomere maintenance. Here we show that hEXO1 is involved in the cellular response to UV irradiation in human cells. After local UV irradiation, fluorescent-tagged hEXO1 localizes, together with NER factors, at the sites of damage in nonreplicating cells. hEXO1 accumulation requires XPF-dependent processing of UV-induced lesions and is enhanced by inhibition of DNA repair synthesis. In nonreplicating cells, depletion of hEXO1 reduces unscheduled DNA synthesis after UV irradiation, prevents ubiquitylation of histone H2A, and impairs activation of the checkpoint signal transduction cascade in response to UV damage. These findings reveal a key role for hEXO1 in the UV-induced DNA damage response linking NER to checkpoint activation in human cells.local UV damage | UV lesion processing | ssDNA | ubiquitin

Summary53BP1 plays multiple roles in mammalian DNA damage repair, mediating pathway choice and facilitating DNA double-strand break repair in heterochromatin. Although it possesses a C-terminal BRCT2 domain, commonly involved in phospho-peptide binding in other proteins, initial recruitment of 53BP1 to sites of DNA damage depends on interaction with histone post-translational modifications—H4K20me2 and H2AK13/K15ub—downstream of the early γH2AX phosphorylation mark of DNA damage. We now show that, contrary to current models, the 53BP1-BRCT2 domain binds γH2AX directly, providing a third post-translational mark regulating 53BP1 function. We find that the interaction of 53BP1 with γH2AX is required for sustaining the 53BP1-dependent focal concentration of activated ATM that facilitates repair of DNA double-strand breaks in heterochromatin in G1.

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