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Defects in nucleic acid metabolizing enzymes can lead to spontaneous but selective activation of either cGAS/STING or RIG-like receptor (RLR) signaling, causing type I interferon–driven inflammatory diseases. In these pathophysiological conditions, activation of the DNA sensor cGAS and IFN production are linked to spontaneous DNA damage. Physiological, or tonic, IFN signaling on the other hand is essential to functionally prime nucleic acid sensing pathways. Here, we show that low-level chronic DNA damage in mice lacking the Aicardi-Goutières syndrome gene SAMHD1 reduced tumor-free survival when crossed to a p53-deficient, but not to a DNA mismatch repair-deficient background. Increased DNA damage did not result in higher levels of type I interferon. Instead, we found that the chronic interferon response in SAMHD1-deficient mice was driven by the MDA5/MAVS pathway but required functional priming through the cGAS/STING pathway. Our work positions cGAS/STING upstream of tonic IFN signaling in Samhd1-deficient mice and highlights an important role of the pathway in physiological and pathophysiological innate immune priming.

Cell-intrinsic response patterns control risks arising from genome-damage, preventing malignant transformation. The DNA sensor cyclic-GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) has emerged as a new principle detecting genome damage, as it can be triggered by aberrant self-DNA. Stimulator of interferon genes (STING)-activation downstream of cGAS can drive cells into senescence or cell death and induces antiproliferative type I interferon (IFN) and pro-apoptotic tumor necrosis factor responses. Herein, we investigated how DNA damage-driven activation of cGAS/STING signaling impacts on hematopoiesis. Defective ribonucleotide excision repair (RER) in the hematopoietic system caused chromosomal instability as well as robust activation of the cGAS/STING/IFN axis, and compromised hematopoietic stem cell function, resulting in cytopenia and ultimately leukemia. Whereas loss of p53 largely rescued RER-deficient hematopoiesis at the cost of further accelerated leukemogenesis, the additional inactivation of cGAS, STING or type I IFN signaling had no detectable effect on blood cell generation and leukemia development. Moreover, cGAS-deficient hematopoiesis showed unaltered responses to spontaneous or acute DNA damage. Our data demonstrate that the cGAS/STING pathway is dispensable for the hematopoietic system coping with chronic or acute DNA damage and does not protect against leukemic transformation in the absence of RER.

Defects in nucleic acid metabolizing enzymes lead to spontaneous but selective activation of either cGAS/STING or RIG-like receptor (RLR) signaling, causing a pathogenic type I interferon response and inflammatory diseases. In these pathophysiological conditions, cGAS-driven IFN production is linked to spontaneous DNA damage. Physiological, or tonic, IFN signaling on the other hand is essential to functionally prime nucleic acid sensing pathways. Here we show that low-level chronic DNA damage in mice lacking the Aicardi-Goutières syndrome gene SAMHD1 reduced tumor-free survival when crossed to a p53-deficient, but not to DNA mismatch repair-deficient background. Increased DNA damage did not result in higher levels of type I interferon. Instead, we found that the chronic interferon response in SAMHD1-deficient mice was driven by the MDA5/MAVS pathway but required functional priming through the cGAS/STING pathway. Our work positions cGAS/STING upstream of tonic IFN signaling and highlights an important role of the pathway in physiological and pathophysiological innate immune priming.SummaryLoss of the dNTPase and DNA repair enzyme SAMHD1 is associated with cancer and causes systemic autoimmunity. We show transformation-promoting spontaneous DNA damage and MDA5-driven but cGAS/STING-dependent chronic type I interferon production in SAMHD1-deficient mice.