aphidicolin and 7-hydroxystaurosporine

FRAXA is one of a number of fragile sites in human chromosomes that are induced by agents like fluorodeoxyuridine (FdU) that affect intracellular thymidylate levels. FRAXA coincides with a >200 CGG*CCG repeat tract in the 5' UTR of the FMR1 gene, and alleles prone to fragility are associated with Fragile X (FX) syndrome, one of the leading genetic causes of intellectual disability. Using siRNA depletion, we show that ATR is involved in protecting the genome against FdU-induced chromosome fragility. We also show that FdU increases the number of gamma-H2AX foci seen in both normal and patient cells and increases the frequency with which the FMR1 gene colocalizes with these foci in patient cells. In the presence of FdU and KU55933, an ATM inhibitor, the incidence of chromosome fragility is reduced, suggesting that ATM contributes to FdU-induced chromosome fragility. Since both ATR and ATM are involved in preventing aphidicolin-sensitive fragile sites, our data suggest that the lesions responsible for aphidicolin-induced and FdU-induced fragile sites differ. FRAXA also displays a second form of chromosome fragility in absence of FdU, which our data suggest is normally prevented by an ATM-dependent process.

Topics: Aphidicolin; Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; Cell Cycle Proteins; Cell Line; Chromosome Breakage; Chromosome Fragile Sites; Chromosome Fragility; DNA Damage; DNA Repair; DNA-Binding Proteins; Floxuridine; Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein; Fragile X Syndrome; Gene Knockdown Techniques; Histones; Humans; Male; Morpholines; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; Pyrones; Staurosporine; Tumor Suppressor Proteins

This study provides evidence for the importance of p21(CDKN1A) for the repair of replication-mediated DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) induced by topoisomerase I. We report that defects of p21(CDKN1A) and p53 enhance camptothecin-induced histone H2AX phosphorylation (gammaH2AX), a marker for DNA DSBs. In human colon carcinoma HCT116 cells with wild-type (wt) p53, gammaH2AX reverses after camptothecin removal. By contrast, gammaH2AX increases after camptothecin removal in HCT116 cells deficient for p53 (p53-/-) or p21(CDKN1A) (p21-/-) as the cells reach the late-S and G2 phases. Since p21-/- cells exhibit similar S-phase arrest as wt cells in response to camptothecin and aphidicolin does not abrogate the enhanced gammaH2AX formation in p21-/- cells, we conclude that enhanced gammaH2AX formation in p21-/- cells is not due to re-replication. The cell cycle checkpoint abrogator and Chk1/Chk2 inhibitor 7-hydroxystaurosporine (UCN-01) also increases camptothecin-induced gammaH2AX formation and inhibits camptothecin-induced p21(CDKN1A) upregulation in HCT116 wt cells. TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling) assays demonstrate that gammaH2AX formation in late S and G2 cells following CPT treatment corresponds to DNA breaks. However, these breaks are not related to apoptotic DNA fragmentation. We propose that p21(CDKN1A) prevents the collapse of replication forks damaged by stabilized topoisomerase I cleavage complexes.

Topics: Aphidicolin; Apoptosis; Chromosome Breakage; Colonic Neoplasms; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; DNA; DNA Damage; DNA Repair; DNA Replication; DNA Topoisomerases, Type I; HCT116 Cells; Histones; Humans; In Situ Nick-End Labeling; Phosphorylation; Protein Kinase C; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; S Phase; Staurosporine; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53

We investigated mitotic delay during replication arrest (the S-M checkpoint) in DT40 B-lymphoma cells deficient in the Chk1 or Chk2 kinase. We show here that cells lacking Chk1, but not those lacking Chk2, enter mitosis with incompletely replicated DNA when DNA synthesis is blocked, but only after an initial delay. This initial delay persists when S-M checkpoint failure is induced in Chk2-/- cells with the Chk1 inhibitor UCN-01, indicating that it does not depend on Chk1 or Chk2 activity. Surprisingly, dephosphorylation of tyrosine 15 did not accompany Cdc2 activation during premature entry to mitosis in Chk1-/- cells, although mitotic phosphorylation of cyclin B2 did occur. Previous studies have shown that Chk1 is required to stabilize stalled replication forks during replication arrest, and strikingly, premature mitosis occurs only in Chk1-deficient cells which have lost the capacity to synthesize DNA as a result of progressive replication fork inactivation. These results suggest that Chk1 maintains the S-M checkpoint indirectly by preserving the viability of replication structures and that it is the continued presence of such structures, rather than the activation of Chk1 per se, which delays mitosis until DNA replication is complete.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Aphidicolin; CDC2 Protein Kinase; Cell Line, Tumor; Checkpoint Kinase 1; Checkpoint Kinase 2; Chickens; DNA Replication; Gene Targeting; Mitosis; Nocodazole; Nucleic Acid Conformation; Phosphorylation; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; Protein Kinases; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; Staurosporine

Checkpoints maintain order and fidelity in the cell cycle by blocking late-occurring events when earlier events are improperly executed. Here we describe evidence for the participation of Chk1 in an intra-S phase checkpoint in mammalian cells. We show that both Chk1 and Chk2 are phosphorylated and activated in a caffeine-sensitive signaling pathway during S phase, but only in response to replication blocks, not during normal S phase progression. Replication block-induced activation of Chk1 and Chk2 occurs normally in ataxia telangiectasia (AT) cells, which are deficient in the S phase response to ionizing radiation (IR). Resumption of synthesis after removal of replication blocks correlates with the inactivation of Chk1 but not Chk2. Using a selective small molecule inhibitor, cells lacking Chk1 function show a progressive change in the global pattern of replication origin firing in the absence of any DNA replication. Thus, Chk1 is apparently necessary for an intra-S phase checkpoint, ensuring that activation of late replication origins is blocked and arrested replication fork integrity is maintained when DNA synthesis is inhibited.

Topics: Alkaloids; Animals; Aphidicolin; Ataxia Telangiectasia; Caffeine; Cell Fractionation; Cell Line; Cell Separation; Checkpoint Kinase 1; Checkpoint Kinase 2; DNA Replication; Enzyme Inhibitors; Flow Cytometry; Humans; Hydroxyurea; Immunoblotting; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors; Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; Protein Kinases; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; Radiation, Ionizing; Replication Origin; S Phase; Staurosporine

A variety of agents, such as caffeine, have been shown to abrogate the DNA damage-dependent G2 checkpoint and enhance cytotoxicity. However, these agents are too toxic for clinical use. We have reported that the potent protein kinase inhibitor 7-hydroxystaurosporine (UCN-01) at nontoxic doses abrogates the G2 arrest caused by the DNA-damaging agent cisplatin. Here, using Chinese hamster ovary cells, we show that cisplatin causes predominantly an S-phase arrest; UCN-01 abrogates this S-phase arrest, causing progression of cells to G2 and, subsequently, apoptotic cell death. In searching for an explanation for this accelerate DNA synthesis, we discovered that UCN-01 caused translocation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) to the detergent-insoluble, DNA-bound fraction. PCNA acts as a sliding clamp for DNA polymerase delta. Sequestering of PCNA by p21waf1/cip1 is required for p53-dependent G1 arrest in damaged cells. However, the S-phase arrest occurs independently of p53 and p21waf1/cip1. Our results suggest that PCNA is also a component of this S-phase checkpoint, despite the fact that CHO cells are defective for p53, and no increase in p21waf1/cip1 was observed. The mechanism by which PCNA is sequestered in the absence of p21waf1/cip1 and the mechanism by which UCN-01 disrupts this sequestration remain to be elucidated.

Topics: Alkaloids; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Aphidicolin; CDC2 Protein Kinase; Cell Fractionation; CHO Cells; Cisplatin; Cricetinae; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; Cyclins; DNA; DNA Fragmentation; Enzyme Inhibitors; G2 Phase; Phosphorylation; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; S Phase; Staurosporine; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53