Proteasome inhibitors alter the orderly progression of DNA synthesis during S-phase in HeLa cells and lead to rereplication of DNA.

Replication of the mammalian genome occurs only once per cell cycle and is under strict spatiotemporal control. DNA synthesis first takes place in the inner nucleus and moves gradually to the area subjacent to the nuclear membrane as S-phase progresses. We found that proteasome inhibitors specifically reduce DNA synthesis from later replicating origins but not that from earlier replicating origins. When MG132 was added in mid S-phase and washed off in late S-phase, however, DNA synthesis resumed not at the nuclear periphery, where it was last seen, but back in the inner nucleus. Analysis of DNA from these cells showed that mid to late replicating genes were rereplicated resulting in the overreplication of DNA. Our results suggest the existence of proteasome-dependent mechanisms regulating the orderly progression of S-phase. The transient treatment of mid S-phase cells with MG132 resulted in overreplication of DNA providing an easy experimental method to perturb the "once per cell cycle" control of genome replication in mammalian cells.