Spatial regulation of DNA damage tolerance protein Rad5 interconnects genome stability maintenance and proteostasis networks

Abstract

The Rad5/HLTF protein has a central role in the tolerance to DNA damage by mediating an error-free mode of bypassing unrepaired DNA lesions, and is therefore critical for the maintenance of genome stability. We show in this work that, following cellular stress, Rad5 is regulated by relocalization into two types of nuclear foci that coexist within the same cell, which we termed ‘S’ and ‘I’. Rad5 S-foci form in response to genotoxic stress and are associated with Rad5’s function in maintaining genome stability, whereas I-foci form in the presence of proteotoxic stress and are related to Rad5’s own proteostasis. Rad5 accumulates into S-foci at DNA damage tolerance sites by liquid-liquid phase separation, while I-foci constitute sites of chaperone-mediated sequestration of Rad5 at the intranuclear quality control compartment (INQ). Relocalization of Rad5 into each type of foci involves different pathways and recruitment mechanisms, but in both cases is driven by the evolutionarily conserved E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme Rad6. This coordinated differential relocalization of Rad5 interconnects DNA damage response and proteostasis networks, highlighting the importance of studying these homeostasis mechanisms in tandem. Spatial regulation of Rad5 under cellular stress conditions thus provides a useful biological model to study cellular homeostasis as a whole.