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The SLX4 tumor suppressor is a scaffold that plays a pivotal role in several aspects of genome protection, including homologous recombination, interstrand DNA crosslink repair and the maintenance of common fragile sites and telomeres. Here, we unravel an unexpected direct interaction between SLX4 and the DNA helicase RTEL1, which, until now, were viewed as having independent and antagonistic functions. We identify cancer and Hoyeraal–Hreidarsson syndrome-associated mutations in SLX4and RTEL1, respectively, that abolish SLX4–RTEL1 complex formation. We show that both proteins are recruited to nascent DNA, tightly co-localize with active RNA pol II, and that SLX4, in complex with RTEL1, promotes FANCD2/RNA pol II co-localization. Importantly, disrupting the SLX4–RTEL1 interaction leads to DNA replication defects in unstressed cells, which are rescued by inhibiting transcription. Our data demonstrate that SLX4 and RTEL1 interact to prevent replication–transcription conflicts and provide evidence that this is independent of the nuclease scaffold function of SLX4.

A panel of somatic cell hybrids specific for human chromosome 8 was used to localize 64 expressed sequence-tagged site (ESTS) markers to six individual regions by PCR amplification. Nine ESTS correspond to 8 known human genes and 6 others show similarities with vertebrate genes, whereas the remaining 49 ESTS markers correspond to novel genes with no database similarities. These gene transcript markers will contribute to the developing physical and expression maps of chromosome 8, and to the search for candidate genes for various human diseases.

To map human chromosome 12p aberrations by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), cosmids were isolated or obtained for 14 known 12p loci (D12S119, D12S158, D12S178, D12S370, D12S380E, A2M, CACNLlAl, FGF6, GAPD, KRAS2, PRB1, PZP, TPI1, and VWF). Using two-color FISH with three labeled probes to interphase nuclei, and to prometaphase chromosomes where possible, the order of these loci was sequentially determined to be pter-D12S158- D12S380E-CACNL1A1-FGF6-D12S370-VWF-GAPD-TPIl-A2M-PZP-PRBl-D12S178-D12S119-KRAS2-cen. Two cell lines were analyzed with this set of cosmids. The EBV-transformed cell line TA carries a der(12) with a deletion of bands 12p13.1→p11.2. D12S178, D12S119, and KRAS2 were absent in the der(12), whereas the other loci were present. The second cell line, GM01203A, exhibits a balanced t(4;12)(4q25; 12p13.3) with a breakpoint between FGF6 and D12S370.

The locus for Werner syndrome (WRN) has been localized to human chromosome 8p21→p 12, close to the anonymous marker D8S339. A 3.1-Mb contig of yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) was assembled around D8S339. Results from analyses of somatic cell hybrids, FISH, and physical mapping suggest the following loci order: tel-NEFL-D8S131-D8S339-[D8S540/GSR]-D8S124-D8S259-D8S87-FGFRl-cen. Close physical linkage between D8S540 and GSR was established within a DNA fragment of 200 kb. These two loci are not more than 400 kb from D8S339. In addition, D8S339, D8S540, D8S124, and GSR are within 1.1 Mb. These data establish a primary physical map of the Werner syndrome region and identify useful YAC clones for the isolation of new markers and of the corresponding gene.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.