skip to main content


Title: Cdc6 ATPase activity disengages Cdc6 from the pre-replicative complex to promote DNA replication

To initiate DNA replication, cells first load an MCM helicase double hexamer at origins in a reaction requiring ORC, Cdc6, and Cdt1, also called pre-replicative complex (pre-RC) assembly. The essential mechanistic role of Cdc6 ATP hydrolysis in this reaction is still incompletely understood. Here, we show that although Cdc6 ATP hydrolysis is essential to initiate DNA replication, it is not essential for MCM loading. Using purified proteins, an ATPase-defective Cdc6 mutant ‘Cdc6-E224Q’ promoted MCM loading on DNA. Cdc6-E224Q also promoted MCM binding at origins in vivo but cells remained blocked in G1-phase. If after loading MCM, Cdc6-E224Q was degraded, cells entered an apparently normal S-phase and replicated DNA, a phenotype seen with two additional Cdc6 ATPase-defective mutants. Cdc6 ATP hydrolysis is therefore required for Cdc6 disengagement from the pre-RC after helicase loading to advance subsequent steps in helicase activation in vivo.

 
more » « less
NSF-PAR ID:
10000714
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd.
Date Published:
Journal Name:
eLife
Volume:
4
ISSN:
2050-084X
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract

    Dbf4 is the cyclin-like subunit for the Dbf4-dependent protein kinase (DDK), required for activating the replicative helicase at DNA replication origin that fire during S phase. Dbf4 also functions as an adaptor, targeting the DDK to different groups of origins and substrates. Here we report a genome-wide analysis of origin firing in a budding yeast mutant,dbf4-zn, lacking the Zn2+finger domain within the C-terminus of Dbf4. At one group of origins, which we call dromedaries, we observe an unanticipated DNA replication phenotype: accumulation of single-stranded DNA spanning ± 5kbp from the center of the origins. A similar accumulation of single-stranded DNA at origins occurs more globally inpri1-m4mutants defective for the catalytic subunit of DNA primase andrad53mutants defective for the S phase checkpoint following DNA replication stress. We propose the Dbf4 Zn2+finger suppresses single-stranded gaps at replication forks emanating from dromedary origins. Certain origins may impose an elevated requirement for the DDK to fully initiate DNA synthesis following origin activation. Alternatively,dbf4-znmay be defective for stabilizing/restarting replication forks emanating from dromedary origins during replication stress.

     
    more » « less
  2. null (Ed.)
    The origin recognition complex (ORC) cooperates with CDC6, MCM2-7, and CDT1 to form pre-RC complexes at origins of DNA replication. Here, using tiling-sgRNA CRISPR screens, we report that each subunit of ORC and CDC6 is essential in human cells. Using an auxin-inducible degradation system, we created stable cell lines capable of ablating ORC2 rapidly, revealing multiple cell division cycle phenotypes. The primary defects in the absence of ORC2 were cells encountering difficulty in initiating DNA replication or progressing through the cell division cycle due to reduced MCM2-7 loading onto chromatin in G1 phase. The nuclei of ORC2-deficient cells were also large, with decompacted heterochromatin. Some ORC2-deficient cells that completed DNA replication entered into, but never exited mitosis. ORC1 knockout cells also demonstrated extremely slow cell proliferation and abnormal cell and nuclear morphology. Thus, ORC proteins and CDC6 are indispensable for normal cellular proliferation and contribute to nuclear organization. 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    In rapidly growing cells, with recombinational DNA repair required often and a new replication fork passing every 20 min, the pace of RecA-mediated DNA strand exchange is potentially much too slow for bacterial DNA metabolism. The enigmatic RadD protein, a putative SF2 family helicase, exhibits no independent helicase activity on branched DNAs. Instead, RadD greatly accelerates RecA-mediated DNA strand exchange, functioning only when RecA protein is present. The RadD reaction requires the RadD ATPase activity, does not require an interaction with SSB, and may disassemble RecA filaments as it functions. We present RadD as a new class of enzyme, an accessory protein that accelerates DNA strand exchange, possibly with a helicase-like action, in a reaction that is entirely RecA-dependent. RadD is thus a DNA strand exchange (recombination) synergist whose primary function is to coordinate closely with and accelerate the DNA strand exchange reactions promoted by the RecA recombinase. Multiple observations indicate a uniquely close coordination of RadD with RecA function.

     
    more » « less
  4. Abstract

    Eukaryotic chromosomes contain regions of varying accessibility, yet DNA replication factors must access all regions. The first replication step is loading MCM complexes to license replication origins during the G1 cell cycle phase. It is not yet known how mammalian MCM complexes are adequately distributed to both accessible euchromatin regions and less accessible heterochromatin regions. To address this question, we combined time-lapse live-cell imaging with immunofluorescence imaging of single human cells to quantify the relative rates of MCM loading in euchromatin and heterochromatin throughout G1. We report here that MCM loading in euchromatin is faster than that in heterochromatin in early G1, but surprisingly, heterochromatin loading accelerates relative to euchromatin loading in middle and late G1. This differential acceleration allows both chromatin types to begin S phase with similar concentrations of loaded MCM. The different loading dynamics require ORCA-dependent differences in origin recognition complex distribution. A consequence of heterochromatin licensing dynamics is that cells experiencing a truncated G1 phase from premature cyclin E expression enter S phase with underlicensed heterochromatin, and DNA damage accumulates preferentially in heterochromatin in the subsequent S/G2 phase. Thus, G1 length is critical for sufficient MCM loading, particularly in heterochromatin, to ensure complete genome duplication and to maintain genome stability.

     
    more » « less
  5. Abstract

    Treating yeast cells with the replication inhibitor hydroxyurea activates the S phase checkpoint kinase Rad53, eliciting responses that block DNA replication origin firing, stabilize replication forks, and prevent premature extension of the mitotic spindle. We previously found overproduction of Stn1, a subunit of the telomere-binding Cdc13–Stn1–Ten1 complex, circumvents Rad53 checkpoint functions in hydroxyurea, inducing late origin firing and premature spindle extension even though Rad53 is activated normally. Here, we show Stn1 overproduction acts through remarkably similar pathways compared to loss ofRAD53, converging on the MCM complex that initiates origin firing and forms the catalytic core of the replicative DNA helicase. First, mutations affecting Mcm2 and Mcm5 block the ability of Stn1 overproduction to disrupt the S phase checkpoint. Second, loss of functionstn1mutations compensaterad53S phase checkpoint defects. Third Stn1 overproduction suppresses a mutation in Mcm7. Fourth,stn1mutants accumulate single-stranded DNA at non-telomeric genome locations, imposing a requirement for post-replication DNA repair. We discuss these interactions in terms of a model in which Stn1 acts as an accessory replication factor that facilitates MCM activation atORIs and potentially also maintains MCM activity at replication forks advancing through challenging templates.

     
    more » « less