Abstract IA20: Phosphorylation of BRCA1 by CHK2 mediates resection activity and recruitment of BRCA2

Abstract

Abstract There is genetic evidence that Chk2, BRCA1 and BRCA2 are functioning in the same pathway of DNA repair, but the links between the proteins are poorly understood. We have previously shown that BRCA1's regulation of homologous recombination (HR) is dependent on Chk2-mediated phosphorylation of BRCA1 at serine 988 (BRCA1-S988). We also found that BRCA1 regulates BRCA2 recruitment in response to DNA damage, which is also dependent on the phosphorylation of BRCA1 at Serine-988. Furthermore, in HCT116/Chk2-/- cells and in MCF7 cells with depleted Chk2, the same effects on HR and BRCA2 recruitment has been found as found in cells expressing the BRCA1-S988A protein. However, in both cases, BRCA1 is recruited to chromatin and into nuclear foci, so the effect of Chk2 is not affecting the recruitment of BRCA1. BRCA1-S988A shows a defect in RPA phosphorylation in response to replication stress and DNA damage. After global DNA damage with X-rays, MRE11 foci form at double-strand breaks, and in S and G2 phases of the cell cycle, an association with CTIP is observed transiently. In the presence of BRCA1-S988A, MRE11 co-localized with CTIP persists for much longer, and results in reduced single-stranded DNA bound by RPA. In response to a site-specific DSB induced by I-SceI nuclease, BRCA1-S988A can localize to the vicinity of the break, but not directly at the broken end, as observed by chromatin immuno-precipitation. A physical assay of resection, which distinguishes single-stranded DNA from double-stranded DNA by its susceptibility to restriction enzyme digestion, shows that BRCA1-S988A expressing cells have an initiation of resection, but a failure to extend resection up to 2 kb observed in wild-type cells. The recruitment of Exo1 is being investigated. Therefore, these results demonstrate that BRCA1-S988 plays key role in regulating the extent of resection, which in turn impedes the recruitment of BRCA2 to sites of resected DSB. Chk2 inhibition may exacerbate the defect in HR, particularly in cells with a partial or mild HR-deficiency, which is found quite commonly in human tumor cells, suggesting that combination of Chk2 and PARP inhibitors may be a useful combination DNA repair based therapy. Citation Format: Simon N. Powell. Phosphorylation of BRCA1 by CHK2 mediates resection activity and recruitment of BRCA2 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on DNA Repair: Tumor Development and Therapeutic Response; 2016 Nov 2-5; Montreal, QC, Canada. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2017;15(4_Suppl):Abstract nr IA20.