Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire Illkirch Cedex, C.U. Equipe Labellisée Ligue contre le Cancer, 2022, Strasbourg, France.
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR7104, Illkirch, France.
Nat Commun. 2023 Jan 20;14(1):341. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-35922-5.
The transcriptional response to genotoxic stress involves gene expression arrest, followed by recovery of mRNA synthesis (RRS) after DNA repair. We find that the lack of the EXD2 nuclease impairs RRS and decreases cell survival after UV irradiation, without affecting DNA repair. Overexpression of wild-type, but not nuclease-dead EXD2, restores RRS and cell survival. We observe that UV irradiation triggers the relocation of EXD2 from mitochondria to the nucleus. There, EXD2 is recruited to chromatin where it transiently interacts with RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII) to promote the degradation of nascent mRNAs synthesized at the time of genotoxic attack. Reconstitution of the EXD2-RNAPII partnership on a transcribed DNA template in vitro shows that EXD2 primarily interacts with an elongation-blocked RNAPII and efficiently digests mRNA. Overall, our data highlight a crucial step in the transcriptional response to genotoxic attack in which EXD2 interacts with elongation-stalled RNAPII on chromatin to potentially degrade the associated nascent mRNA, allowing transcription restart after DNA repair.
基因毒性应激的转录反应包括基因表达停滞,随后在 DNA 修复后恢复 mRNA 合成(RRS)。我们发现,缺乏 EXD2 核酸酶会损害 RRS,并降低紫外线照射后的细胞存活率,而不影响 DNA 修复。野生型 EXD2 的过表达,但不是核酸酶失活的 EXD2,可恢复 RRS 和细胞存活。我们观察到紫外线照射会触发 EXD2 从线粒体转移到细胞核。在那里,EXD2 被招募到染色质上,与 RNA 聚合酶 II(RNAPII)短暂相互作用,以促进在基因毒性攻击时合成的新生 mRNA 的降解。体外重建 EXD2-RNAPII 在转录 DNA 模板上的伙伴关系表明,EXD2 主要与延伸受阻的 RNAPII 相互作用,并有效地消化 mRNA。总的来说,我们的数据突出了基因毒性攻击转录反应中的一个关键步骤,其中 EXD2 在染色质上与延伸受阻的 RNAPII 相互作用,可能降解相关的新生 mRNA,从而在 DNA 修复后允许转录重新启动。