The repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is of utmost importance for the preservation of genomic stability. If DSBs are repaired incorrectly, chromosomal aberrations (e. g. translocations) can arise. Translocations result from misrejoining of wrong DNA ends during DSB repair. Several studies describe that translocations are found in malignant tumors and therefore postulated a correlation between translocations and carcinogenesis. Hence, it is of particular interest in the field of cancer research to understand the DSB repair mechanisms that facilitate translocation formation. The two major repair pathways for the repair of DSBs are canonical non-homologous end joining (c-NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR). DSBs can be repaired by c-NHEJ in all cell cycle phases although the contribution of an alternative (alt-) NHEJ pathway is discussed in the literature. HR, on the other hand, is only available in S and G2 phase as this repair pathway requires the presence of the sister chromatid which serves as a template for repair synthesis.
In this thesis, the repair of radiation-induced DSBs and the formation of translocations were analyzed by chromosomal studies in human G1 phase cells. Chromosomal breaks were studied to assess repair quantity, while chromosomal translocations were analyzed to assess repair quality and to gain further insight into the underlying mechanisms of translocation formation. Therefore, in the first part of this thesis a method for premature chromosome condensation (PCC) in G1 phase using polyethylene-mediated cell fusion was established. Subsequently, the PCC method was combined with 3-color-FISH technology, which made the analysis of chromosomal breaks and chromosomal translocations in G1 phase cells possible.
In the second part of this thesis, the repair of chromosomal breaks and the generation of chromosomal translocations were compared between wild type (wt) cells and cells deficient in specific repair factors. In G1 wt cells, chromosome break repair and translocation formation showed a fast and a slow component. Although the majority of chromosome breaks (approximately 80 %) are repaired with fast kinetics, the slow repair of the remaining 20 % formed approximately 50 % of all detected translocations. Consequently, the data presented in this thesis demonstrate that the slow repair component in G1 wt cells is more error prone. Additional chromosomal studies showed that the repair quality of the slow component is dependent on CtIP, a protein involved in DSB end resection. Moreover, the data indicate that protein kinase Plk3 is involved in the generation of translocations in the slow repair component. Previous studies were able to show that Plk3-mediated phosphorylation of CtIP promotes end resection in G1. This CtIP- and Plk3-dependent repair pathway was further characterized using chromosomal analyses and the influence of the alt-NHEJ factors PARP1 and Lig1/3 on DSB repair was investigated. The results indicated that DSB repair and translocation formation in G1 wt cells is not completed by alt-NHEJ. Analysis of XLF- and Lig4-deficient c-NHEJ mutant cells showed that repair quality and quantity decreased in these cells but alt-NHEJ still does not play a role. Furthermore, the results show that the slow DSB repair component depends on the c-NHEJ core protein DNA-PK and the nuclease Artemis. Consequently, the results in this study argue that the repair of DSBs in G1 wt cells is completed exclusively by c-NHEJ and that the formation of translocations during the slow repair component seems to be dependent on DSB end resection.
In the third part of this thesis, the formation of translocations during the fast repair component was analyzed. Previous studies have reported that translocations arise in transcriptionally active regions. Thus, the interplay between chromosomal repair and transcription was analyzed. After depletion of BAF180, the quantity of repair was delayed only during the fast repair component due to erroneous chromatin remodeling. After inhibition of RNA-Polymerase II, the repair quantity and quality in the fast repair component was not affected. Surprisingly, however, the data revealed that the repair quality in the slow repair component depends on transcription.
In summary, the results in this thesis show that DSB end resection as well as transcription play essential roles during translocation formation in the slow component in G1 phase. The influence of transcription during slow DSB repair might indicate that a synthesis of repair proteins is triggered after damage induction. Alternatively, transcription-induced changes in the chromatin dynamic could play a role. Future studies should be conducted to gain further insight. | English |