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The GPN proteins are a conserved family of GTP-binding proteins that are involved in the assembly and subsequent import of RNA polymerase II and III. In this study, we sought to ascertain the specificity of yeast GPN2 for RNA polymerases by screening the localization of a collection of 1350 GFP-tagged nuclear proteins in WT or GPN2 mutant cells. We found that the strongest mislocalization occurred for RNA polymerase II and III subunits and only a handful of other RNAPII associated proteins were altered in GPN2 mutant cells. Our screen identified Ess1, an Rpb1 C-terminal domain (CTD) prolyl isomerase, as mislocalized in GPN2 mutants. Building on this observation we tested for effects of mutations in other factors which regulate Rpb1-CTD phosphorylation status. This uncovered significant changes in nuclear-cytoplasmic distribution of Rpb1-GFP in strains with disrupted RNA polymerase CTD kinases or phosphatases. Overall, this screen shows the exquisite specificity of GPN2 for RNA polymerase transport, and reveals a previously unappreciated role for CTD modification in RNAPII nuclear localization.

ARID1A is a core DNA-binding subunit of the BAF chromatin remodeling complex, and is lost in up to 7% of all cancers. The frequency of ARID1A loss increases in certain cancer types, such as clear cell ovarian carcinoma where ARID1A protein is lost in about 50% of cases. While the impact of ARID1A loss on the function of the BAF chromatin remodeling complexes is likely to drive oncogenic gene expression programs in specific contexts, ARID1A also binds genome stability regulators such as ATR and TOP2. Here we show that ARID1A loss leads to DNA replication stress associated with R-loops and transcription-replication conflicts in human cells. These effects correlate with altered transcription and replication dynamics in ARID1A knockout cells and to reduced TOP2A binding at R-loop sites. Together this work extends mechanisms of replication stress in ARID1A deficient cells with implications for targeting ARID1A deficient cancers., Author summary DNA is an incredibly busy molecule. It is bound by an ever-changing array of proteins, which control how our cells read the instructions encoded within DNA, through a process called transcription. DNA also must be replicated, condensed, and segregated every time a cell divides. These processes of DNA replicating and transcribing must not interfere with one another or the cell risks damage to DNA and potentially changes to the DNA code called mutations. In cancer many DNA transactions are perturbed, and this has been associated with damaging collisions between replication and transcription. Here we find that a gene called ARID1A, which is frequently lost in cancer cells, prevents such collisions between replication and transcription machinery. Loss of ARID1A has many effects on the cell, but in this context it seems to change the location and activity of an important regulator of DNA twisting and untangling called Topoisomerase 2A. Understanding how loss of ARID1A creates stresses on dividing cancer cells provides new opportunities to develop or apply therapies that could exploit this stress.

Proteins with nucleotide binding and leucine-rich repeat domains (NLRs) serve as immune receptors in animals and plants that recognize pathogens and activate downstream defense responses. As high accumulation of NLRs can result in unwarranted autoimmune responses, their cellular concentrations must be tightly regulated. However, the molecular mechanisms of this process are poorly detailed. The F-box protein Constitutive expressor of PR genes 1 (CPR1) was previously identified as a component of a Skp1, Cullin1, F-box protein E3 complex that targets NLRs, including Suppressor of NPR1, Constitutive 1 (SNC1) and Resistance to Pseudomonas syringae 2 (RPS2), for ubiquitination and further protein degradation. From a forward genetic screen, we identified Mutant, snc1-enhancing 3 (MUSE3), an E4 ubiquitin ligase involved in polyubiquitination of its protein targets. Knocking out MUSE3 in Arabidopsis thaliana results in increased levels of NLRs, including SNC1 and RPS2, whereas overexpressing MUSE3 together with CPR1 enhances polyubiquitination and protein degradation of these immune receptors. This report on the functional role of an E4 ligase in plants provides insight into the scarcely understood NLR degradation pathway.

The GPN proteins are a poorly characterized and deeply evolutionarily conserved family of three paralogous small GTPases, Gpn1, 2, and 3. The founding member, GPN1/NPA3/XAB1, is proposed to function in nuclear import of RNA polymerase II along with a recently described protein called Iwr1. Here we show that the previously uncharacterized protein Gpn2 binds both Gpn3 and Npa3/Gpn1 and that temperature-sensitive alleles of Saccharomyces cerevisiae GPN2 and GPN3 exhibit genetic interactions with RNA polymerase II mutants, hypersensitivity to transcription inhibition, and defects in RNA polymerase II nuclear localization. Importantly, we identify previously unrecognized RNA polymerase III localization defects in GPN2, GPN3, and IWR1 mutant backgrounds but find no localization defects of unrelated nuclear proteins or of RNA polymerase I. Previously, it was unclear whether the GPN proteins and Iwr1 had overlapping function in RNA polymerase II assembly or import. In this study, we show that the nuclear import defect of iwr1Δ, but not the GPN2 or GPN3 mutant defects, is partially suppressed by fusion of a nuclear localization signal to the RNA polymerase II subunit Rpb3. These data, combined with strong genetic interactions between GPN2 and IWR1, suggest that the GPN proteins function upstream of Iwr1 in RNA polymerase II and III biogenesis. We propose that the three GPN proteins execute a common, and likely essential, function in RNA polymerase assembly and transport.

The concept of synthetic lethality has gained popularity as a rational guide for predicting chemotherapeutic targets based on negative genetic interactions between tumor-specific somatic mutations and a second-site target gene. One hallmark of most cancers that can be exploited by chemotherapies is chromosome instability (CIN). Because chromosome replication, maintenance, and segregation represent conserved and cell-essential processes, they can be modeled effectively in simpler eukaryotes such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we analyze and extend genetic networks of CIN cancer gene orthologs in yeast, focusing on essential genes. This identifies hub genes and processes that are candidate targets for synthetic lethal killing of cancer cells with defined somatic mutations. One hub process in these networks is DNA replication. A nonessential, fork-associated scaffold, CTF4, is among the most highly connected genes. As Ctf4 lacks enzymatic activity, potentially limiting its development as a therapeutic target, we exploited its function as a physical interaction hub to rationally predict synthetic lethal interactions between essential Ctf4-binding proteins and CIN cancer gene orthologs. We then validated a subset of predicted genetic interactions in a human colorectal cancer cell line, showing that siRNA-mediated knockdown of MRE11A sensitizes cells to depletion of various replication fork-associated proteins. Overall, this work describes methods to identify, predict, and validate in cancer cells candidate therapeutic targets for tumors with known somatic mutations in CIN genes using data from yeast. We affirm not only replication stress but also the targeting of DNA replication fork proteins themselves as potential targets for anticancer therapeutic development.

Genome instability via RNA:DNA hybrid-mediated R loops has been observed in mutants involved in various aspects of transcription and RNA processing. The prevalence of this mechanism among essential chromosome instability (CIN) genes remains unclear. In a secondary screen for increased Rad52 foci in CIN mutants, representing ∼25% of essential genes, we identified seven essential subunits of the mRNA cleavage and polyadenylation (mCP) machinery. Genome-wide analysis of fragile sites by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and microarray (ChIP–chip) of phosphorylated H2A in these mutants supported a transcription-dependent mechanism of DNA damage characteristic of R loops. In parallel, we directly detected increased RNA:DNA hybrid formation in mCP mutants and demonstrated that CIN is suppressed by expression of the R-loop-degrading enzyme RNaseH. To investigate the conservation of CIN in mCP mutants, we focused on FIP1L1, the human ortholog of yeast FIP1, a conserved mCP component that is part of an oncogenic fusion in eosinophilic leukemia. We found that truncation fusions of yeast FIP1 analogous to those in cancer cause loss of function and that siRNA knockdown of FIP1L1 in human cells increases DNA damage and chromosome breakage. Our findings illuminate how mCP maintains genome integrity by suppressing R-loop formation and suggest that this function may be relevant to certain human cancers.