No description available.

L'ADN subit en permanence des agressions modifiant l'information pour laquelle il code. Plusieurs mécanismes, dont la réparation par excision de bases (BER) et la réparation par excision de nucléotides (NER), permettent à la cellule de restaurer la séquence de l'ADN. Le Xeroderma pigmentosum est une maladie caractérisée par une déficience pour la réparation par la voie NER. L'objectif de ce travail était de proposer un test fiable et rapide pour le diagnostic de cette maladie comme alternative au test existant, l'UDS. Les activités de réparation de l'ADN de lignées XP ont été quantifiées à l'aide de tests in vitro miniaturisés et multiparamétriques afin d'établir les phénotypes de réparation de l'ADN de cellules déficientes pour la protéine XPA ou XPC. L'avantage des tests utilisés dans cette étude réside dans la mesure conjointe soit de l'excision soit de l'excision-resynthèse (ER) de plusieurs lésions à partir d'un seul lysat cellulaire. <br />Nous montrons que l'importance relative de l'ES des différentes lésions dépend fortement de la concentration protéique du lysat nucléaire testé. Ainsi, lorsque la concentration protéique augmente, il devient possible de discriminer le phénotype XP du phénotype témoin, ce qui est impossible en dessous d'une concentration seuil. D'autre part, alors que l'irradiation des cellules témoins aux UVB stimule leurs activités de réparation, cet effet n'est pas observé pour les cellules XP.<br />Cette étude apporte donc de nouvelles informations quant aux rôles des protéines XPA et XPC lors des mécanismes de réparation BER et NER et souligne la complexité des régulations mises en jeu.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 2003. / Vita. Bibliography: References located after each study.

No description available.

A common feature of progeria syndromes is a premature aging phenotype and an enhanced accumulation of DNA damage arising from a compromised repair system. HGPS (Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome) is a severe form of progeria in which patients accumulate progerin, a mutant lamin A protein derived from a splicing variant of the lamin A/C gene (LMNA). Progerin causes chromatin perturbations which result in the formation of DSBs (double-strand breaks) and abnormal DDR (DNA-damage response). In the present article, we review recent findings which resolve some mechanistic details of how progerin may disrupt DDR pathways in HGPS cells. We propose that progerin accumulation results in disruption of functions of some replication and repair factors, causing the mislocalization of XPA (xeroderma pigmentosum group A) protein to the replication forks, replication fork stalling and, subsequently, DNA DSBs. The binding of XPA to the stalled forks excludes normal binding by repair proteins, leading to DSB accumulation, which activates ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated) and ATR (ATM- and Rad3-related) checkpoints, and arresting cell-cycle progression.

Deux phénomènes liés au TFIIH ont été étudiés : l'influence des mutations spécifiques dans la sous-unité XPD de TFIIH sur la réponse transcriptionnelle de certains gènes après l'irradiation UV, et l'interaction entre le TFIIH et la transcription des gènes de classe III. Une analyse détaillée de la dynamique du transcriptome a été effectuée pour la réponse des cellules humaines mutantes XP-D/CS à l'UV. Il a été démontré que la dysrégulation sélective observée de l'expression des gènes était liée à l'incapacité pour la ré-initiation transcriptionnelle et à l'hétérochromatinisation suivante, où l'histonedésacétylase SIRT1 a été identifiée comme le principal facteur. Son inhibition a permis de recouvrer l'expression normale d'un nombre substantiel des gènes affectés. Une étude de la participation pangénomique du coeur de TFIIH dans latranscription a découvert son association avec les gènes actifs de classe III. Cette association a été démontrée être indépendante de Pol II. Le coeur de TFIIH a été montré participer directement à la transcription effectuée in vitro par Pol III.

No description available.

No description available.

This study demonstrates the use of an adenovirus vector system to study the effect of a DNA repair gene on untransformed human fibroblasts. The bacteriophage T4 pyrimidine dimer DNA glycosylase (den V) gene has been inserted into the E3 region of human adenovirus type 5. The resulting recombinant virus Ad Den V was determined to be producing correctly initiated RNA from the RSV 3' LTR promoter used in the den V expression cartridge inserted into the virus. The effect of the den V gene product on human fibroblasts 'liras examined by assaying for the percent host cell reactivation (%HCR) of Vag production for UV irradiated Ad Den V in comparison to that for a control virus. It was shown that the %HCR was significantly greater for Ad Den V as compared to the control virus in xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) cells. UV survival of adenovirus in XP cells exhibited a two component nature. Introduction of the den V gene into XP group A cells increased the D0 value of the first component of the viral survival curve to a level similar to that of XPC cells, which showed no change in this component irrespective of the presence of the den V gene. It has been suggested that the den V gene is able to partially complement the deficiency in some XP cells because of its small size, allowing it to gain access to the DNA damage site where as the cellular repair enzyme complex can not. Since XPC cells are proficient in their alteration of DNA secondary structure prior to DNA excision repair, these results are consistant with the hypothesis that the first component of UV viral survival curves reflects the pathway involved in accessing the damaged sites. The manuscript of a paper has been included as an appendix. The work theorizes on the origin of mammalian immune system diversity and bacteriophage lambda, and their possible relationship to prokaryotic DNA repair genes. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

A via de Reparo por Excisão de Nucleotídeos (NER) é responsável pelo reparo das lesões causadas pela luz ultravioleta (UV) e de outras lesões capazes de distorcer a dupla hélice, bloqueando a replicação e a transcrição. Os pacientes que apresentam as síndromes recessivas raras Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), tricotiodistrofia (TTD) e síndrome de Cockayne (CS) possuem mutações em algum dos 11 genes relacionados ao NER e à transcrição basal. Mutações na proteína XPD levam ao surgimento de diferentes fenótipos: XP, TTD, XP/CS ou COFS (Cerebro-Oculo-Facio-Skeletal Syndrome), uma forma rara de CS. Os pacientes XP apresentam alta incidência de câncer de pele, o que não ocorre com os pacientes TTD e CS, além de poderem apresentar perda neuronal progressiva, enquanto todos os CS e TTD apresentam uma diminuição na mielinização do cérebro. As neuropatologias são provavelmente associadas a problemas no reparo de danos endógenos no DNA das células nervosas. Diversos trabalhos mostraram o envolvimento do NER no reparo desses danos, os quais pensava-se serem reparados apenas por outro mecanismo, o Reparo por Excisão de Base. Neste trabalho mostramos que fibroblastos de pacientes XP-D, XP-D/CS e TTD, portadores de mutações em XPD, são sensíveis ao estresse oxidativo induzido pelo tratamento com azul de metileno fotoativado, apresentando bloqueio prolongado no ciclo celular e permanência da sinalização de danos ao DNA. A complementação das diferentes linhagens com o gene XPD/ERCC2 foi capaz de restaurar a sobrevivência celular. Foram detectadas diferenças importantes na capacidade de reparo/retomada da transcrição após danos gerados por estresse oxidativo em DNA plasmidial, além da ativação de vias diferentes de morte celular: fibroblastos XP-D apresentam maior capacidade de reparo e apresentam morte por apoptose após estresse oxidativo, enquanto os fibroblastos XP-D/CS e TTD apresentam menor capacidade de reparo ativação de mais de uma via de morte celular (apoptose e necrose), diferenças que podem estar ligadas ao fenótipo dos pacientes. Mutações no gene codificante para a DNA polimerase n, POLH, estão associadas à forma variante de XP (XP-V). Pol n é uma polimerase especializada na síntese translesão (TLS) de fotoprodutos, além de estar implicada na TLS de outros tipos de lesões como bases oxidadas, e em vias não relacionadas à TLS como a hipermutação somática e à replicação de regiões de DNA com arquiteturas não-canônicas. Neste trabalho mostramos que os fibroblastos de pacientes XP-V apresentam sensibilidade ao estresse oxidativo. Mostramos uma indução da proteína pol n em fibroblastos primários após danos genotóxicos, associada ao aumento da capacidade de lidar com a parada na forquilha de replicação, possibilitando a continuidade da replicação do DNA e ao aumento da sobrevivência celular. Mostramos uma diferença na estabilidade genômica nos genes das imunoglobulinas dos pacientes XP-V idosos em comparação com os pacientes jovens e controles de idade pareada, mostrando que a ausência dessa polimerase pode estar ligada ao aumento da instabilidade genômica nesses genes / The Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) pathway is responsible for the repair of UV photoproducts and other bulky lesions that block both replication and transcription. Patients with the rare recessive disorders Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), trichothiodystrophy (TTD) and Cockayne Syndrome (CS) carry mutations in one of the 11 NER genes, linked to repair and basal transcription. Mutations in XPD lead to different phenotypes: XP, TTD, XP/CS or COFS (Cerebro-Oculo-Facio-Skeletal Syndrome), a rare form of CS. XP patients have high incidence of skin cancer, which does not occur in TTD or CS patients, although ther may present neurodegeneration, while all CS and TTD patients have neurodevelopmental symptoms linked to dysmielynation. The pathology of these neurological diseases is probably associated with deficient repair of DNA lesions in nervous cells, generated by endogenous processes. Many groups including ours have demonstrated the involvement of NER in the repair of these lesions, previously thought to be exclusively repaired by Base Excision Repair. In this work we show high sensitivity of both primary and transformed XP-D, XP-D/CS and TTD human fibroblasts in response to oxidative stress generated by photoactivated methylene blue, with prolonged cell cycle arrest and DNA damage signaling. The complementation of the three different cell lines with the XPD/ERCC2 gene was able to restore cell survival. We detected important differences in repair capacity/transcription resumption after damage generated by oxidative stress in plasmid DNA, besides the activation of different cell death pathways: XP-D cells have higher repair capacity and die by apoptosis, while XP-D/CS and TTD cells have little repair capacity and activate more than one death pathway (apoptosis and necrosis). We believe these differences can be related to the patients\' phenotypes. Mutations in DNA polymerase n coding gene, POLH, are associated with the variant form of XP (XP-V). Pol n is a translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerase specialized in the TLS past CPD photoproducts, besides other lesions like oxidized bases, and in other processes like somatic hypermutation and DNA replication in structured regions. In this work we show XP-V human fibroblasts are sensitive to oxidative stress. We detected an induction of pol n after genotoxic stress in primary cells, associated with increased ability to deal with the stalled replication fork, and consequently to DNA replication restart and cell survival. In addition, we detected a difference in genomic stability in immunoglobulin genes in aged XP-V patients in comparison to both young patients and age-matched controls, showing the absence of this polymerase may be linked to increased genomic instability in these genes