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Rudimentary G-quadruplex–based telomere capping in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 18, pages 478–485 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Telomere capping conceals chromosome ends from exonucleases and checkpoints, but the full range of capping mechanisms is not well defined. Telomeres have the potential to form G-quadruplex (G4) DNA, although evidence for telomere G4 DNA function in vivo is limited. In budding yeast, capping requires the Cdc13 protein and is lost at nonpermissive temperatures in cdc13-1 mutants. Here, we use several independent G4 DNA–stabilizing treatments to suppress cdc13-1 capping defects. These include overexpression of three different G4 DNA binding proteins, loss of the G4 DNA unwinding helicase Sgs1, or treatment with small molecule G4 DNA ligands. In vitro, we show that protein-bound G4 DNA at a 3′ overhang inhibits 5′→3′ resection of a paired strand by exonuclease I. These findings demonstrate that, at least in the absence of full natural capping, G4 DNA can play a positive role at telomeres in vivo.

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Figure 1: Overexpression of the G4 DNA binding protein Stm1 rescues growth defects caused by telomere uncapping and is independent of RAD52-dependent homologous recombination.
Figure 2: Expression of two additional, distinct G4 DNA binding proteins rescues the cdc13-1 temperature-sensitive phenotype.
Figure 3: Loss of the SGS1 activities associated with G4 DNA binding and unwinding rescues cdc13-1 temperature sensitivity and is independent of RAD52-dependent homologous recombination.
Figure 4: Telomere-proximal single-stranded (ss) DNA accumulation at NPT (37 °C) is attenuated by two G4 DNA-stabilizing mechanisms.
Figure 5: Diminished rescue of cdc13-1 growth at SPT by sgs1 deletion in cells with mutant telomerase RNA templates that decrease QFP at telomeres.
Figure 6: G4 DNA-binding proteins and G4 DNA-forming sequences cooperate to inhibit end-resection by Exo1 in vitro.
Figure 7

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Acknowledgements

We thank the members of the Johnson and Yatsunyk labs for helpful discussions and comments on the manuscript; N. Maizels, M. Fry, K. Runge, V. Zakian, J.-L. Mergny, S. Berger, R. Marmorstein and P. Adams for discussions; S. Murakami (Kanazawa University), E. Blackburn (University of California, San Francisco), M. Charbonneau (École Normale Supérieure), S. Brill (Rutgers University), S. Gasser (Friedrich Miescher Institute) and M. Van Dyke (MD Anderson Cancer Center) for providing strains and plasmids, and D. Durocher (University of Toronto) for the Rad53 antibody. This work was supported by US National Institutes of Health grants R01 AG021521 (F.B.J.), P01 AG031862 (F.B.J.), T32 GM008216-22 (J.S.S.) and T32 GM07229 (J.S.S.), a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Faculty Startup Award (L.A.Y.), Research Corporation Award no. 7843 (L.A.Y.), a Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst Fellowship (R.K.) and by a Cancer Research UK program grant (S.B.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Jasmine S Smith, Qijun Chen, Mark S Garcia, Lara Abramowitz & F Brad Johnson

  2. Cell and Molecular Biology Group, Biomedical Graduate Studies, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Jasmine S Smith, Mark S Garcia, Lara Abramowitz & F Brad Johnson

  3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, USA

    Liliya A Yatsunyk & John M Nicoludis

  4. Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Ramon Kranaster & Shankar Balasubramanian

  5. School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Shankar Balasubramanian

  6. Cancer Research UK, Cambridge Research Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre, Cambridge, UK

    Shankar Balasubramanian

  7. Institut Curie, Section de Recherche, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR176, Centre Universitaire Paris XI, Orsay, France

    David Monchaud & Marie-Paule Teulade-Fichou

  8. Protein Expression, Libraries and Molecular Screening Facility, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    David C Schultz

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Contributions

J.S.S. and F.B.J. conceived of and carried out experiments, interpreted results and wrote the manuscript. L.A.Y. and J.M.N. conducted and designed CD, thermal difference spectroscopy and fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments, along with F.B.J. and J.S.S., and provided comments on the manuscript. R.K. and S.B. provided the HF1 cDNA and protein, designed and conducted CD and ELISA experiments (Supplementary Fig. 3) and provided comments on the manuscript. D.C.S. provided purified proteins and comments on the manuscript. D.M. and M.-P. T.-F. synthesized the bisquinolinium G4 DNA ligands and provided comments on the manuscript. Q.C., M.S.G. and L.A. carried out experiments.

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Correspondence to F Brad Johnson.

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Smith, J., Chen, Q., Yatsunyk, L. et al. Rudimentary G-quadruplex–based telomere capping in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nat Struct Mol Biol 18, 478–485 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2033

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