Most eukaryotic mRNA precursors (pre-mRNAs) must undergo extensive processing, including cleavage and polyadenylation at the 3′-end. Processing at the 3′-end is controlled by sequence elements in the pre-mRNA (cis elements) as well as protein factors. Despite the seeming biochemical simplicity of the processing reactions, more than 14 proteins have been identified for the mammalian complex, and more than 20 proteins have been identified for the yeast complex. The 3′-end processing machinery also has important roles in transcription and splicing. The mammalian machinery contains several sub-complexes, including cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor (CPSF), cleavage stimulation factor (CstF), cleavage factor I (CF I m ), and cleavage factor II (CF II m ). Additional protein factors include poly(A) polymerase (PAP), poly(A) binding protein (PABP), symplekin, and the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II largest subunit. The yeast machinery includes cleavage factor IA (CF IA), cleavage factor IB (CF IB), and cleavage and polyadenylation factor (CPF).

With the use of an intrachromosomal inverted-repeat as a recombination reporter we have previously shown that mitotic recombination is dependent on the RAD52 gene. However, recombination was found to be reduced only 4-fold by mutation of RAD51, which encodes a homolog of bacterial RecA proteins. A rad51, which strain containing the recombination reporter was mutagenized to identify components of the RAD51-independent pathway. One mutation identified, rad59, reduced recombination 1200-fold in the presence of a rad51 mutation, but only 4-to 5-fold in a wild-type background. Thus the rad51 and rad59 mutations reduce recombination synergistically. The rad59 mutation reduced both spontaneous and double-strand-break-induced recombination between inverted repeats. However, the rate of interchromosomal recombination was increased in a rad59 homozygous diploid. These observations suggest that RAD59 functions specifically in intrachromosomal recombination. The rad59 mutant strain was sensitive to ionizing radiation, and this phenotype was used to clone the RAD59 gene by complementation. The gene encodes a protein of 238 amino acids with significant homology to members of the Rad52 family. Overexpression of RAD52 was found to suppress the DNA repair and recombination defects conferred by the rad59 mutation, suggesting that these proteins have overlapping roles or function as a complex. [Key Words: Recombination; gene conversion; RAD51; RAD52; Saccharomyces cerevisiae]Received April 26, 1996; revised version accepted July 8, 1996.Genes in the RAD52 epistasis group (RAD50-57, XRS2, and MRE11) were identified initially as essential for the repair of ionizing radiation-induced DNA damage or for meiosis (Game and Mortimer 1974;Ajimura et al. 1993). Although the members of this family share the property of conferring resistance to ionizing radiation, they show considerable heterogeneity in other assays for doublestrand break (DSB) repair and recombination. The RAD50, XRS2, and MRE11 genes form a subgroup with similar properties, and interactions between these gene products have been detected by the two-hybrid system (Johzuka and Ogawa 1995). Mutation of other members of this group (RAD51, RAD52, RAD54, RAD55, and RAD5 7) results in the inability to repair DSBs, reduction in spontaneous and induced mitotic recombination, and defects in mating-type switching and sporulation. Of these mutants, rad52 confers the most severe defects in DSB repair and recombination, suggesting that RAD52

Relapse is the leading cause of mortality in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Among chemotherapeutics, thiopurines are key drugs in the backbone of ALL combination therapy. Using whole-exome sequencing, we identified relapse-specific mutations in phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase 1 (PRPS1), a rate-limiting purine biosynthesis enzyme, in 24/358 (6.7%) relapse B-ALL cases. All individuals who harbored PRPS1 mutations relapsed early on-treatment, and mutated ALL clones expanded exponentially prior to clinical relapse. Our functional analyses of PRPS1 mutants uncovered a new chemotherapy resistance mechanism involving reduced feedback inhibition of de novo purine biosynthesis and competitive inhibition of thiopurine activation. Notably, the de novo purine synthesis inhibitor lometrexol can effectively abrogate PRPS1 mutant-driven drug resistance. Overall these results highlight the importance of constitutive activation of de novo purine pathway in thiopurine resistance, and offer therapeutic strategies for the treatment of relapsed and resistant ALL.

Protein fate in higher eukaryotes is controlled by three complexes that share conserved architectural elements: the proteasome, COP9 signalosome, and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 (eIF3). Here we reconstitute the 13-subunit human eIF3 in Escherichia coli , revealing its structural core to be the eight subunits with conserved orthologues in the proteasome lid complex and COP9 signalosome. This structural core in eIF3 binds to the small (40S) ribosomal subunit, to translation initiation factors involved in mRNA cap-dependent initiation, and to the hepatitis C viral (HCV) internal ribosome entry site (IRES) RNA. Addition of the remaining eIF3 subunits enables reconstituted eIF3 to assemble intact initiation complexes with the HCV IRES. Negative-stain EM reconstructions of reconstituted eIF3 further reveal how the approximately 400 kDa molecular mass structural core organizes the highly flexible 800 kDa molecular mass eIF3 complex, and mediates translation initiation.