Timely completion of DNA replication in each cell cycle is crucial for maintaining genomic integrity. This is often challenged by the presence of various replication fork barriers (RFBs). On collision with a RFB, the fate of the replication fork remains uncertain. In some cases, the integrity of the fork is maintained until the barrier is removed or the fork is rescued by merging with the incoming fork. However, fork stalling can cause dissociation of all of the associated replication proteins (fork collapse). If this occurs, the cell's recombination machinery can intervene to help restart replication in a process called recombination-dependent replication (RDR). Programmed protein-DNA barriers like the Replication Terminator Sequence-1 (RTS1) have been used to demonstrate that replication fork blockage can induce recombination. However, it remains unclear how efficiently this recombination gives rise to replication restart and whether the restarted replication fork exhibits the same fidelity as an origin-derived fork. It is also unknown whether accidental replication barriers induce recombination in the same manner as programmed barriers. In this study, I introduce recombination reporters at various sites downstream of RTS1 to obtain information on both the fidelity and efficiency of replication restart. I find that unlike break induced replication (BIR), the restarted fork gives rise to hyper-recombination at least 75 kb downstream of the barrier. Surprisingly, fork convergence, rather than inducing recombination, acts to prevent or curtail genetic instability associated with RDR. I also investigate a number of genetic factors that have a role in either preventing or promoting genome instability associated with the progression of the restarted fork. To compare RTS1 with an accidental protein-DNA barrier, a novel site-specific barrier system (called MarBl) was established based on the human mariner transposase, Hsmar1, binding to its transposon end. Replication fork blockage at MarBl strongly induces recombination, more so than at RTS1. This appears to be a general feature of accidental barriers as introduction of the E. coli TusB-TerB site-specific barrier in S. pombe gives rise to a similar effect. Here, I compare and contrast accidental barriers with programmed barriers. I observe that there is very little replication restart, if any, at MarBl measured by direct repeat recombination downstream. This points to the fact that accidental barriers do not trigger fork collapse in the same way as programmed RFBs and that the increased recombination that they cause may be a consequence of the inability of replication forks to terminate correctly, owing to the bi-directional nature of the barrier. Several genetic factors are assessed for their impact on MarBl-induced recombination, which further highlights both similarities and differences with RTS1-induced recombination.

A comparação de genomas é uma importante tarefa na qual a bioinformática pode ser aplicada, uma vez que ela permite a identificação de genes patogênicos, o que, por sua vez, pode auxiliar a combater ou a prevenir o surgimento de doenças. A partir da comparação de genomas, também é possível realizar a análise filogenética, que permite entender as relações evolutivas entre diferentes organismos. Em genomas de bactérias, essa análise geralmente é realizada com base no gene 16S rRNA. Entretanto, apesar de ser amplamente utilizado, filogenias com base nesse gene podem ter dificuldades para diferenciar organismos muito próximos evolutivamente. Essa importância da comparação de genomas e a necessidade de uma metodologia que permita distinguir organismos evolutivamente próximos na análise filogenética motivaram este trabalho, que teve como objetivo implementar ferramentas computacionais para identificar genes homólogos em genomas e, com base nesses genes, gerar filogenias e analisar se é possível distinguir os organismos evolutivamente próximos nessas filogenias. Para tanto, as ferramentas desenvolvidas para identificação de genes homólogos recebem resultados de alinhamentos e os filtram, de modo que dois genes são considerados homólogos se o alinhamento entre eles satisfizer os limiares definidos. Após a identificação das famílias de genes homólogos, tabelas são geradas com informações a respeito dos genes homólogos em cada genoma e, com base nessas tabelas, é possível gerar matrizes de distância e utilizar métodos de agrupamento hierárquico para a geração da filogenia ou realizar alinhamentos múltiplos com os genes identificados para posterior reconstrução filogenética. Além disso, também é possível representar os genes e famílias de genes homólogos por meio de um grafo, que pode auxiliar na escolha dos limiares para filtrar os alinhamentos. Para demonstrar e analisar a aplicabilidade das ferramentas desenvolvidas e das abordagens adotadas, experimentos foram realizados utilizando genomas de bactérias do gênero Xanthomonas, que contém um grande grupo de bactérias que causam doenças em plantas. Os resultados obtidos foram então comparados com filogenias de referência e com resultados de outros experimentos realizados. Essas comparações demonstraram que as famílias de genes homólogos podem ser úteis para distinguir genomas de organismos muito próximos evolutivamente, apesar de que essa abordagem apresentou dificuldades para separar os grupos de genomas mais distantes. Em contrapartida, na filogenia gerada a partir da região 16S rRNA, foi possível diferenciar esses organismos mais distantes, mas não foi possível distinguir os organismos muito próximos. Por fim, os experimentos realizados fornecem indícios de que as ferramentas desenvolvidas e as abordagens adotadas podem ser úteis para diferenciar genomas muito próximos evolutivamente de outros procariotos além das bactérias estudadas neste trabalho / Genome comparison is an important task on which bioinformatics can be used because it allows the identification of pathogen genes which can aid the combat of diseases and to avoid the emerging of new ones. Genome comparison also allows the phylogenetic analysis which provides the understanding of evolutional relations of different organisms. In bacterial genomes, this analysis is commonly based on 16S rRNA gene. Unfortunately, it can present some difficulties to distinguish closely related organisms. This importance of genome comparison and the necessity of a methodology to distinguish organisms that are closely related motivated this study, which aimed the development of computational tools to identify homologous genes in genomes, to use these genes to reconstruct phylogenies and to analyze if it is possible to distinguish closely related organisms on these phylogenies. To achieve this purpose, the developed tools to identify homologous genes receive the alignments results and filter it, such that two genes are homologous if their alignment satisfies the thresholds. After the identification of homologous gene families, the tools generates tables with information about the homologous genes presents in each genome and with these tables it is possible to create distance matrix to be used by hierarchical clustering methods to generate phylogenies or it is possible to perform multiple alignments with the identified genes to accomplish a phylogenetic reconstruction. Besides that, it is possible to represent the genes and homologous gene families in a graph, which can aid the choice of the thresholds to filter the alignments. To demonstrate and analyze the applicability of the developed tools and the approaches chosen in this study, experiments were performed using genomes of the bacterial genus Xanthomonas, which include a group of phytopathogenic bacteria. The results obtained were compared with reference phylogenies and with results of other experiments. These comparisons showed that homologous gene families can be used to differentiate closely related organisms, despite the fact that it presented difficulties to distinguish the groups of genomes that were evolutionarily far from each other. On the other hand, the phylogeny based on 16S rRNA region allows to distinguish the groups of genomes that were distant, but it was not possible to differentiate closely related organisms. As a conclusion, the experiments performed give pieces of evidence that the developed tools and the approaches adopted can be useful to distinguish genomes of closely related organisms of other prokaryotes besides the bacterias considered in this study

Efficient and accurate repair of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) is required to maintain genomic stability in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. In Escherichia coli, DSBs are repaired by homologous recombination (HR). During this process, DNA synthesis needs to be primed and templated from an intact homologous sequence to restore any information that may have been lost on the broken DNA molecule. Two critical late stages of the pathway are repair DNA synthesis and the processing of Holliday junctions (HJs). However, our knowledge of the detailed mechanisms of these steps is still limited. Our laboratory has developed a system that permits the induction of a site-specific DSB in the bacterial chromosome. This break forms in a replication dependent manner on one of the sister chromosomes, leaving the second sister chromosome intact for repair by HR. Unlike previously available systems, the repairable nature of these breaks has made it possible to physically investigate the different stages of DNA double-strand break repair (DSBR) in a chromosomal context. In this thesis, I have addressed some fundamental questions relating to repair DNA synthesis and processing of HJs by using a combination of mutants defective in specific biochemical reactions and an assay that I have developed to detect repair DNA synthesis, using a polar termination sequence (terB). First, by using terB sites located at different locations around the break point, it was shown that the DnaB-dependent repair forks are established in a coordinated manner, meaning that the collision of the repair forks occurs between two repair DNA synthesis initiation sites. Second, DSBR was shown to require the PriB protein known to transduce the DNA synthesis initiation signal from PriA protein to DnaT. Conversely, the PriC protein (known as an alternative to PriB in some reactions) was not required in this process. PriB was also shown to be required to establish DnaB-dependent repair synthesis using the terB assay. Third, the establishment and termination of repair DNA synthesis by collision of converging repair forks were shown to occur independently of HJ resolution. This conclusion results from the comparison of the viability of single and double mutants, deficient in either the establishment of DNA synthesis, HJ resolution or in both reactions, subjected to DSBs and from the study of the DNA intermediates that accumulated in these mutants as detected by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Fourth, the role of RecG protein during DSB repair was investigated. Solexa sequencing analyses showed that recG null mutant cells undergoing DSBs accumulate more DNA around the break point (Mawer and Leach, unpublished data). This phenomenon was further investigated by two different approaches. Using terB sites in different locations around the break point and ChIP-Seq analyses to investigate the distribution of RecA in a recG null mutant demonstrating that the establishment of repair forks depends on the presence of RecG. Further studies using PriA helicase-dead mutant showed that the interplay between RecG and PriA proteins is essential for the establishment of correctly oriented repair forks during DSBR. As a whole, this work provides evidence on the coordinated nature of the establishment and termination of DNA synthesis during DSBR and how this requires a correct interplay between PriA-PriB and RecG. A new adapted model of homologous recombination is presented.

Orientador: Marcos Roberto de Mattos Fontes / Resumo: Acidentes ofídicos são considerados um problema de saúde pública global, dada sua alta ocorrência de mortes, onde alguns casos resultam em sequelas irreparáveis, deixando o indivíduo desabilitado por toda a vida. Somente no Brasil, em média 20 mil mortes ao ano são registradas. Desta forma, alguns pesquisadores têm buscado estudar a estrutura-função de componentes dos venenos de serpentes peçonhentas à fim de desenvolver alternativas terapêuticas para esse problema de grande interesse médico. Um dos componentes que tem recebido atenção nas últimas décadas é a BthTX-I, uma proteína PLA2s-homóloga não catalítica, devido seu efeitos farmacológico notadamente miotóxico. Embora diversas técnicas tenham sido empregadas na compreensão do mecanismo de ação dessas proteínas, o conhecimento nessa área permanece controverso, tornando-se necessário a continuidade de estudos. O estudo estrutural e computacional de proteínas constitui uma alternativa viável para identificar as várias conformações de uma dada proteína, bem como seu comportamento dinâmico. Sendo assim, o presente trabalho buscou aplicar métodos computacionais, como simulação de MD, análise de Modos Normais (NM) e Dinâmica Molecular excitada por Modos Normais (MDeNM) à BthTX-I em pH ácido ou básico e nativa ou em complexo com o α-tocoferol – molécula tida como ativadora alostérica – na descrição do seu espaço conformacional, buscando compreender os aspectos estruturais do seu mecanismo de ação. Além disso, foram empregadas té... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Ophidian accidents constitute a global public health problem due its high mortality, with some cases leading to permanent sequels. In Brazil, around 20 thousand deaths are registered. Therefore, researchers have been studying the snake venom composition in order to develop therapeutic alternatives to this medical problem. Some components from snake venom are highlighted in the past decades, as BthTX-I, a non-catalytic PLA2s-homologous protein, due its many pharmacological effects, notably myotoxic. Although many techniques have been employed to better understand the molecular mechanism of action for these proteins, this knowledge remains controversial, emphasizing the need to progress this field. The structural and computational study of proteins is a valuable tool to access the various conformations of a given protein, as well its dynamical behavior. Thus, the present work applied computational methods as MD, Normal Modes (NM) analysis and Molecular Dynamics with excited Normal Modes (MDeNM) to BthTX-I in acidic or basic pH and unbound or bound to α-tocopherol – a molecule identified as an allosteric activator – in order to describe the conformational space of this protein and determine the structural aspects of its mechanism of action. Further, biophysical experiments as Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) were employed in order to comprehend the oligomeric form of BthTX-I with or without α-tocopherol. MD simulations showed that dimeric form of BthTX-I is stable when in neutral/... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Maintaining genome integrity is indispensible for cells to prevent and limit accruement of deleterious mutations and to promote viable cell growth and proliferation. Cells possess a myriad of mechanisms to detect, prevent and repair incurred cellular damage. Here we discuss various proteins and their accompanying cellular pathways that promote genome stability. We first investigate the NEDD8 protein and its role in promoting homologous recombination repair via multiple Cullin E3 ubiquitin ligases. We provide specific mechanisms through which, UBE2M, an E2 conjugating enzyme, neddylates various Cullin ligases to render them catalytically active to degrade their substrates by the proteasome. We show that CUL1, CUL2 and CUL4 are important in regulating various steps in the DNA damage response. Our data indicates that UBE2M and the neddylation pathway are important for genome stability. Our second topic discusses the role of the USP1- UAF1 deubiquitinating enzyme in promoting homologous recombination. We show that USP1-UAF1 interact with and stabilize RAD51AP1 (RAD51- Associated Protein 1). RAD51AP1 has previously been reported to promote homologous recombination by facilitating recombinase activity of RAD51, an essential protein involved in homologous recombination repair. We show that USP1, UAF1 and RAD51AP1 depletion leads to genome instability. Our data demonstrates the importance of these proteins in promoting genome integrity via homologous recombination.

Together with the advancements in animal cloning, the ability to efficiently target specific genes in somatic cells would greatly enhance several areas of research. While it has been possible for quite some time to target specific genes in the germ cells of mice, the advancements in somatic cell gene targeting has been slowed for two main reasons. First, the finite lifespan of somatic cells, due mainly to the inability of the somatic cells to regenerate or maintain their telomeres, poses a major problem given the lengthy selection process needed to identify a targeting event. The second problem is the overall inefficiency of homologous recombination. A double strand break or introduction of foreign DNA into a cell can be processed either through the homologous recombination or non-homologous end joining pathways. Of these two, non-homologous end joining is dominant in somatic cells. A two plasmid recombination system was used to study the effects of the manipulation of several non-homologous end joining and homologous recombination pathway molecules on the rates of homologous recombination in porcine fetal fibroblasts. In addition, the effect of telomerase expression, cell synchrony, and DNA nuclear delivery was examined. Results indicate a strong positive relationship between inactivation of p53, cell synchronization, and efficient DNA nuclear delivery in enhancing the rate of homologous recombination. These findings were then applied to an actual locus in the pig, the α1,3 galactosyltransferase gene. Results from these transfections are compared to published accounts of successful targeting at this locus and possibilities for the differences found are discussed.

No description available.

<p>The genetic information necessary for the survival and propagation of a species is contained within a physical structure, DNA. However, this molecule is sensitive to damage arising from both exogenous and endogenous sources. DNA damage can prevent metabolic processes such as replication and transcription; thus, systems to bypass or repair DNA lesions are essential. One type of lesion in particular - the double strand break (DSB) - is extremely dangerous as inappropriate repair of DSBs can lead to deletions, mutations and rearrangements. Homologous recombination (HR) uses a template with sequence homology to the region near the DSB to restore the damaged molecule. However, this high-fidelity pathway can contribute to genome instability when recombination occurs between diverged substrates. To further our understanding of the regulation of HR during vegetative growth, we have used the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system and a plasmid-based assay to model repair of a DSB. In the first part of this work, the molecular structures of noncrossover (NCO) and crossover (CO) products of recombination were examined. While the majority of NCOs had regions of heteroduplex DNA (hDNA) on one side of the gap in the repaired allele and no change to the donor allele, most COs had two tracts of hDNA. They were present on opposite sides of the gap, one in each allele. Our results suggest that the majority of NCOs are generated through synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA), and COs are the result of constrained cleavage of a Holliday junction (HJ) intermediate. To clarify the mechanisms regulating NCO production, the effects of three DNA helicases - Mph1, Sgs1 and Srs2 - on the structures of NCO events were examined. All three helicases promote NCO formation by SDSA, but Sgs1 and Srs2 also assist in NCO formation arising from an HJ-containing intermediate, consistent with HJ-dissolution. To study how CO products are generated, we have investigated the contribution of the following candidate HJ resolvases to the structures of CO events: Mus81, Yen1 and Rad1. The results suggest that Rad1 is important to normal CO formation in this assay, but Mus81 and Yen1 are largely dispensable. Together, this work advances our knowledge of how the NCO versus CO outcome is determined during HR, expanding our understanding of how mitotic recombination is regulated.</p> / Dissertation

Homologous genetic recombination occurs during the life cycle of virtually every organism Genetic studies especially in prokaryotes and fungi have defined the rules of recombination, led to the characterization of alternate pathways and to the development of molecular models The biochemistry of homologous genetic recombination has advanced most productively in bacteria and fungi due to the extensive genetic understanding of these organisms The identification of mutants defective in homologous recombination, purification and characterization of the gene products that participate in recombination has brought the ultimate goal of reconstituting a cell-k free system for Eschenchia coli, at least with naked DNA substrates, closer to reality.

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a genome instability syndrome that is clinically manifested by bone marrow failure, congenital defects, and elevated cancer susceptibility. The FA pathway is known to regulate the repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks in part through DNA homologous recombination (HR) repair. Up to today 16 FA proteins have been discovered that may participate in the common pathway. Cells that have mutations in the FA genes are hypersensitive to DNA damaging agents and display chromosome instability. A key regulatory event in the FA pathway is monoubiquitination of FANCD2-FANCI heterodimer that is mediated by a multi-component E3 ubiquitin ligase complex called FA core complex. Current model suggests that once the FANCD2-FANCI heterodimer is monoubiquitinated it relocates to chromatin where it interacts with other key repair proteins to facilitate DNA repair. More than 90% of the FA cases are presumed to be associated with defects in the monoubiquitination reaction, suggesting the significance of the modification in the pathogenesis of the disease. Despite the significance, the molecular interplay between the FA core complex and the FANCD2-FANCI heterodimer remains enigmatic. We are interested in the assembly mechanism of the various FA subcomplexes into the core complex, and we are actively investigating how the FANCD2-FANCI heterodimer is recruited to these putative subcomplexes. As the FA pathway is a crucial determinant for cellular resistance to DNA damaging agents, there have been hypotheses that disruption of this pathway may be beneficial in enhancing chemosensitivity of certain cancer cells. In collaboration with Dr. Cai’s chemistry lab, we will develop a screen platform to identify a small molecules to interrupt the monoubiquitination reaction. Completion of these studies will enhance the much-needed knowledge of the key enzymatic reaction in the pathway, and perhaps the information can be used for development of novel chemotherapeutic strategies.