Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Temporally coordinated assembly and disassembly of replication factories in the absence of DNA synthesis

Abstract

Here we show that exposure of aphidicolin-arrested Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to the protein-kinase inhibitors 2-aminopurine or caffeine results in initiation of replication at successively later-replicating chromosomal domains, loss of the capacity to synthesize DNA at earlier-replicating sites, release of Mcm2 proteins from chromatin, and redistribution of PCNA and RPA from early- to late-replicating domains in the absence of detectable elongation of replication forks. These results provide evidence that, under conditions of replicational stress, checkpoint controls not only prevent further initiation but may also be required to actively maintain the integrity of stalled replication complexes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Treatment of aphidicolin-arrested cells with 2-AP results in the appearance of late-replication patterns.
Figure 2: Treatment of aphidicolin-arrested cells with 2-AP reveals the temporal program for replication.
Figure 3: Temporally coordinated firing of replicons in the absence of DNA synthesis.
Figure 4: 2-AP and caffeine do not directly inhibit DNA synthesis.
Figure 5: Inhibition of the S-phase checkpoint is accompanied by redistribution of replication proteins.
Figure 6: Initiation at late-firing origins is accompanied by abandonment of primers at early origins.
Figure 7: ATM is not involved in the replication checkpoint.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gilbert, D. M. Temporal order of replication of Xenopus laevis 5S ribosomal RNA genes in somatic cells. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 83, 2924–2928 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hatton, K. S. et al. Replication program of active and inactive multigene families in mammalian cells. Mol. Cell Biol. 8, 2149–2158 (1988).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Ma, H. et al. Spatial and temporal dynamics of DNA replication sites in mammalian cells. J. Cell Biol. 143, 1415–1425 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Dimitrova, D. S. & Gilbert, D. M. The spatial position and replication timing of chromosomal domains are both established in early G1-phase. Mol. Cell 4, 983–993 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Diffley, J. F. Replication control: choreographing replication origins. Curr. Biol. 8, R771–R773 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Hamlin, J. L. Effect of damage to early, middle, and late-replicating DNA on progress through the S period in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Exp. Cell Res. 112, 225–232 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Larner, J. M., Lee, H. & Hamlin, J. L. Radiation effects on DNA synthesis in a defined chromosomal replicon. Mol. Cell Biol. 14, 1901–1908 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Santocanale, C., Sharma, K. & Diffley, J. F. Activation of dormant origins of DNA replication in budding yeast. Genes Dev. 13, 2360–2364 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Santocanale, C. & Diffley, J. F. A Mec1- and Rad53- dependent checkpoint controls late-firing origins of DNA replication. Nature 395, 615–618 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Shirahige, K. et al. Regulation of DNA-replication origins during cell-cycle progression. Nature 395, 618–621 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Desany, B. A., Alcasabas, A. A., Bachant, J. B. & Elledge, S. J. Recovery from DNA replicational stress is the essential function of the S-phase checkpoint pathway. Genes Dev. 12, 2956–2970 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Zhao, X., Muller, E. G. D. & Rothstein, R. A suppressor of two essential checkpoint genes identified a novel protein that negatively affects dNTP pools. Mol. Cell 2, 329–340 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Weinberger, M. et al. Induction by adozelesin and hydroxyurea of origin recognition complex- dependent DNA damage and DNA replication checkpoints in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J. Biol. Chem. 274, 35975–35984 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Raghuraman, M., Brewer, B. & Fangman, W. Cell cycle-dependent establishment of a late replication program. Science 276, 806–809 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Andreassen, P. & Margolis, R. 2-aminopurine overrides multiple cell cycle checkpoints in BHK cells. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 89, 2272–2276 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Schlegel, R., Belinsky, G. S. & Harris, M. O. Premature mitosis induced in mammalian cells by the protein kinase inhibitors 2-aminopurine and 6-dimethylaminopurine. Cell Growth Differ. 1, 171–178 (1990).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Schlegel, R. & Pardee, A. B. Caffeine-induced uncoupling of mitosis from the completion of DNA replication in mammalian cells. Science 232, 1264–1266 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hall-Jackson, C. A., Cross, D. A., Morrice, N. & Smythe, C. ATR is a caffeine-sensitive, DNA-activated protein kinase with a substrate specificity distinct from DNA-PK. Oncogene 18, 6707–6713 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Blasina, A., Price, B. D., Turenne, G. A. & McGowan, C. H. Caffeine inhibits the checkpoint kinase ATM. Curr. Biol. 9, 1135–1138 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Sarkaria, J. N. et al. Inhibition of ATM and ATR kinase activities by the radiosensitizing agent, caffeine. Cancer Res. 59, 4375–4382 (1999).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Dimitrova, D. S., Todorov, I. T., Melendy, T. & Gilbert, D. M. Mcm2, but not RPA, is a component of the mammalian early G1-phase pre-replication complex. J. Cell Biol. 146, 709–722 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Nakamura, H., Morita, T. & Sato, C. Structural organization of replicon domains during DNA synthetic phase in the mammalian nucleus. Exp. Cell Res. 165, 291–297 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Nethanel, T. & Kaufmann, G. Two DNA polymerases may be required for synthesis of the lagging DNA strand of simian virus 40. J. Virol. 64, 5912–5918 (1990).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Aten, J. A., Bakker, P. J. M., Stap, J., Boschman, G. A. & Veenhof, C. H. N. DNA double labelling with IdUrd and CldUrd for spatial and temporal analysis of cell proliferation and DNA replication. Histochem. J. 24, 251–259 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Meijer, L. et al. Biochemical and cellular effects of roscovitine, a potent and selective inhibitor of the cyclin-dependent kinases cdc2, cdk2 and cdk5. Eur. J. Biochem. 243, 527–536 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Dimitrova, D. S. & Gilbert, D. M. Stability and nuclear distribution of mammalian replication protein A heterotrimeric complex. Exp. Cell Res. 254, 321–327 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Holmquist, G. P. & Caston, L. A. Replication time of interspersed repetitive DNA sequences in hamsters. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 868, 164–177 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Caddle, M. S. & Heintz, N. H. The replication timing of the amplified dihydrofolate reductase genes in the Chinese hamster ovary cell line CHOC 400. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 170, 134–139 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Dijkwel, P. A. & Hamlin, J. L. The chinese hamster dihidrofolate reductase origin consists of multiple potential nascent-strand start sites. Mol. Cell Biol. 15, 3023–3031 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Painter, R. B. & Young, B. R. Radiosensitivity in ataxia-telangiectasia: a new explanation. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 77, 7315–7317 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Zakian, V. ATM-related genes: what do they tell us about functions of the human gene? Cell 82, 685–687 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Santocanale, C. & Diffley, J.F. ORC- and Cdc6-dependent complexes at active and inactive chromosomal replication origins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. EMBO J. 15, 6671–6679 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Tibbetts, R. S. et al. A role for ATR in the DNA damage-induced phosphorylation of p53. Genes Dev. 13, 152–157 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Xu, Y. & Baltimore, D. Dual roles of ATM in the cellular response to radiation and in cell growth control. Genes Dev. 10, 2401–2410 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Smith, G. C. et al. Purification and DNA binding properties of the ataxia-telangiectasia gene product ATM. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 96, 11134–11139 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Vassilev, L. T. & DePamphilis, M. L. Guide to identification of origins of DNA replication in eukaryotic cell chromosomes. Crit. Rev. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 27, 445–472 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Hamlin, J. L., Mosca, P. J. & Levenson, V. V. Defining origins of replication in mammalian cells. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1198, 85–111 (1994).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Gilbert, D. M., Miyazawa, H. & DePamphilis, M. L. Site-specific initiation of DNA replication in Xenopus egg extract requires nuclear structure. Mol. Cell Biol. 15, 2942–2954 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Lawlis, S. J., Keezer, S. M., Wu, J -R. & Gilbert, D. M. Chromosome architecture can dictate site-specific initiation of DNA replication in Xenopus egg extracts. J. Cell Biol. 135, 1–12 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Visser, A. E. & Aten, J. A. Chromosomes as well as chromosomal subdomains constitute distinct units in interphase nuclei. J. Cell Sci. 112, 3353–3360 (1999).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Jackson, D. A. & Pombo, A. Replicon clusters are stable units of chromosome structure: evidence that nuclear organization contributes to the efficient activation and propagation of S phase in human cells. J. Cell Biol. 140, 1285–1295 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank J. Chen for technical assistance with flow cytometry, and P. Hahn, A. McNairn and B. Knox for critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by NIH grant GM57233-01 (to D.M.G.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David M. Gilbert.

Additional information

Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to D.M.G.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dimitrova, D., Gilbert, D. Temporally coordinated assembly and disassembly of replication factories in the absence of DNA synthesis. Nat Cell Biol 2, 686–694 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35036309

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35036309

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing