Uchimura Arikuni, Hidaka Yuko, Hirabayashi Takahiro, Hirabayashi Masumi, Yagi Takeshi
Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
PLoS One. 2009;4(1):e4184. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004184. Epub 2009 Jan 15.
In eukaryotic cells, DNA polymerase delta (Poldelta), whose catalytic subunit p125 is encoded in the Pold1 gene, plays a central role in chromosomal DNA replication, repair, and recombination. However, the physiological role of the Poldelta in mammalian development has not been thoroughly investigated.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To examine this role, we used a gene targeting strategy to generate two kinds of Pold1 mutant mice: Poldelta-null (Pold1(-/-)) mice and D400A exchanged Poldelta (Pold1(exo/exo)) mice. The D400A exchange caused deficient 3'-5' exonuclease activity in the Poldelta protein. In Poldelta-null mice, heterozygous mice developed normally despite a reduction in Pold1 protein quantity. In contrast, homozygous Pold1(-/-) mice suffered from peri-implantation lethality. Although Pold1(-/-) blastocysts appeared normal, their in vitro culture showed defects in outgrowth proliferation and DNA synthesis and frequent spontaneous apoptosis, indicating Poldelta participates in DNA replication during mouse embryogenesis. In Pold1(exo/exo) mice, although heterozygous Pold1(exo/+) mice were normal and healthy, Pold1(exo/exo) and Pold1(exo/-) mice suffered from tumorigenesis.
These results clearly demonstrate that DNA polymerase delta is essential for mammalian early embryogenesis and that the 3'-5' exonuclease activity of DNA polymerase delta is dispensable for normal development but necessary to suppress tumorigenesis.
在真核细胞中,DNA聚合酶δ(Poldelta)的催化亚基p125由Pold1基因编码,在染色体DNA复制、修复和重组中起核心作用。然而,Poldelta在哺乳动物发育中的生理作用尚未得到充分研究。
方法/主要发现:为了研究这一作用,我们采用基因靶向策略生成了两种Pold1突变小鼠:Poldelta缺失(Pold1(-/-))小鼠和D400A交换的Poldelta(Pold1(exo/exo))小鼠。D400A交换导致Poldelta蛋白的3'-5'核酸外切酶活性缺陷。在Poldelta缺失小鼠中,杂合小鼠尽管Pold1蛋白量减少,但发育正常。相比之下,纯合Pold1(-/-)小鼠在植入前致死。虽然Pold1(-/-)囊胚看起来正常,但它们的体外培养显示出生长增殖和DNA合成缺陷以及频繁的自发凋亡,表明Poldelta参与小鼠胚胎发生过程中的DNA复制。在Pold1(exo/exo)小鼠中,虽然杂合Pold1(exo/+)小鼠正常健康,但Pold1(exo/exo)和Pold1(exo/-)小鼠发生了肿瘤。
这些结果清楚地表明,DNA聚合酶δ对哺乳动物早期胚胎发育至关重要,并且DNA聚合酶δ的3'-5'核酸外切酶活性对于正常发育是可有可无的,但对于抑制肿瘤发生是必需的。